Going green: Chard and mushrooms :)

Having gotten back to blogging very recently, i have been full of enthusiasm :). So after posting the recipes celebrating kokum, the plan was to post another recipe the very next day. That would have made it a hat-trick :-D. A post a day, i would have been onto a blogging spree! But how could i, Ms. Musical (the lazy one), get around doing that :-D. So, here i am, after having put the pictures in draft a cpl. of days ago, finally typing the recipe ;).

This is a quick one, but immensly delish! A hearty combination of the beautiful chard and the delectable mushrooms,
something that can be prepared in a matter of minutes and is a great accompaniment to any meal :).

I've used rainbow chard and baby-bella mushrooms here, but other varieties also work fine. Here's how we go about it.

Chard and mushroom sabzi:



We need:

• 1 bunch (7-8 leaves) Swiss chard (regular, red, rainbow-they all are good. I love red and rainbow varieties though, because they look so pretty)-chopped coarse.
  
• 1 and half cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 onion, sliced fine
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• Salt to taste
• red chilli powder to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• A pinch of garam masala (equal proportions of cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds: roasted, cooled and ground into a fine powder. This recipe is one of my favorite masala recipes and works really well with green leafy vegetables. Its a very typical Kerala style spice recipe and i was first introduced to this one by my very dear friend, Ms. Moon).
• 1 tsp. oil
  

We start by the obligatory (ahem!) step of heating the oil in a pan and spluttering the cumin seeds (which can be replaced by mustard seeds for another delicious variation). Next, sliced onions are added and saute'ed. We then add the chopped mushrooms and stir fry them till tender (takes about 4-5 minutes). Next, we add the chopped greens and stir in the salt, red chilli powder and turmeric. We let the veggies cook on low heat till done.
Finally, we sprinkle a pinch or two of the garam masala powder and enjoy this dish with chapatis and dahi or sambar- rice or (you guessed it right) as a sandwich stuffing :).


Other variations:

Add a lil' bit of grated coconut to this dish (use some chopped green chillies in this case, instead of red chilli powder). Try eggplants (the Chinese and Japanese varities) instead of mushrooms, or even green peas or corn. Each results in a delicious quick fix side-dish. Enjoy :).

Salad, sabzi, or both and a weekend brunch idea :)

I am sure you are all familiar with the days, when you get back home tired and really hungry: the times when you don't have much energy to do some elaborate cooking, but would still love to have some yummy food! On one such day last week, i felt really lazy to cook much, yet craved something spicy and filling. In this bus, i had been dreaming about making some baked vegetables in some cilantro based marinade. When i got home, i checked out the vegetables in the fridge and wondered what all to use. Finally, i decided to go for some bell peppers, some mushrooms, a lil' paneer and some spring onions and marinate them in a cilantro based marinade. The cilantro chutney/marinade was made by simply blending together cilantro, green chillies, ginger, garlic salt, salt and lime juice. I mixed the marinade with the veggies in the baking dish and the whole thing looked really appetizing. I then wondered, if i should go for a salad, a sabzi or both :-D. I decided to take some in a bowl as a salad, which was yummy! and put the rest in the oven. As i feasted myself upon the lip-smacking chutney-vegetables combo, i simultaneously had been making some baked vegetables, which turned out to be equally delicious, if not more :-D. I am sure you all have your own variations on this theme, here's my version:

Baked vegetables in cilantro marinade:

We need:

• 1 big bell pepper (chopped into bite-sized pieces)
• 2 Roma tomatoes (sliced)
  
• 20 or so bite sized pieces of paneer
• 1/2 cup sliced crimini or baby bella mushrooms
• 1 bunch spring onions (chopped)

For marinade:

• 1 small bunch/3/4 th cup equivalent chopped cilantro
• 1 serrano pepper or 2 green chillies (adjust chillies to your taste)
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1 tsp. lime/lemon juice
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• Salt to taste

Grind together the ingredients for the marinade. Mix these with the chopped vegetables. In case you are making the salad, leave the spring onions and chill the salad in the fridge. Mix the chopped spring onions before serving.

The salad :)

For making baked vegetables, mix the marinade with all the chopped vegetables and let rest for 15-20 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F meanwhile. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, mixing once in between (or till the bell peppers are tender-rest of the stuff doesn't take long to cook). The end result should have slightly crisped paneer and well done bell peppers, with some thick gravy. If you want grilled vegetables, add less marinade, and bake a lil' longer. Enjoy the baked vegetables with crispy toast :).

The sabzi :)

As i was having the salad, i wondered about all those laments that one gets to hear from time to time, as to how Indian food doesn't have much to do with salads! Indian cuisine boast of such an enormous variety of salads, from the lovely koshimbirs, to kosumbari, to the sundals, raitas and pachidis and the regular kheera-tamatar with lime, salt an pepper and many many more. Just that we don't label them as "salad" :-D.

Oh, and here's a quick weekend brunch idea. i am sure again that many of you make this in your own way as well. i am talking about the sandwich made with (aloo ki) sabzi :-D. i use left over aloo sabzi (dry) or any dry sabzi, stuff it in the sourdough or rye bread, along with a lil' skim mozzarella or five cheese blend and toast it on tava/griddle. i'll be honest with you, i use a lil' ghee (just a cpl. of drops) to toast :-D. It gives such a heavenly aroma!



Here's a quick aloo ki sabzi-a zero oil version:

We need:

• 1-2 potatoes (boiled/microwaved and mashed)
• 1/2 tsp jeera/cumin
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1 bunch spring onions (optional)
  
• 1 tsp. grated ginger
• 1 clove garlic (chopped fine, optional)
  
• 1 chopped green chilli
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. lime juice or 1 tsp. sour curds
• Chopped cilantro for garnish
  

Wash the potatoes and keep them in the microwave for cooking. It takes about 4 minutes per potato, and 7 minutes for two potatoes in my micrwave. Alternatively you can boil the potatoes. Meanwhile, heat a pan and dry roast the cumin seeds till they release the aroma. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the grated ginger and onions and garlic, if using. Stir and cook for a cpl. of minutes. (By now the potatoes should be done. Quickly peel them and mash them roughly). Add the microwaved/boiled and mashed potatoes to the pan and mix. Add the salt and souring agent of your choice (lime juice or curds) and mix well. If the mixture is getting too dry or sticking to the pan, drizzle some water. Cook for another 5 minutes with occasional stirring. Add the green chillies and cilantro.

Enjoy as a sabzi/side dish or as a sandwich/parantha stuffing :). Don't go by the picture, it tastes really good :).

Enjoying eggplants and mushrooms :)

Eggplants are really good, so are mushrooms. What's even better is the two of them together! Few days back (actually many days ago, when we were enjoying poori-bhaaji. Yes! that long back!), i had mentioned about an eggplant-mushroom recipe :). And then i just waited and waited to post it.....and came up with another eggplant-mushroom recipe, and still kept on waiting.....and finally, i am posting these :). and did i tell you that like many of the recipes here, these recipes originated while i was enjoying my bus ride ;).

Today, we'll enjoy the eggplant mushroom combo two ways: a yogurt based gravy dish and a coconut based dry sabzi! So yes, eggplants rule, as do mushrooms and together they are just divine!




Eggplant-mushrooms in yogurt gravy:

We need:

• 4-5 small eggplants or 2 Chinese or Japanese eggplants (cut into 2" pieces)
• 1 cup baby bella or crimini mushrooms (diced, i used dried crimini mushrooms, soaked. Fresh mushrooms work equally well).
• 1/2 tsp. each jeera/cumin and dhania/coriander
• 1 big, ripe tomato (chopped)
  
• 1 heaped tsp. chopped ginger
• Turmeric and red chilli powder (to taste)
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 cup beaten curds (preferably sour)
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp. oil
• A pinch of garam masala
• Cilantro (for garnishing)
  

In a pan, heat oil and splutter the cumin and coriander seeds. Add half of the chopped ginger and saute'. Now add the eggplant pieces and stir fry. This should take about 6-7 minutes. Add the diced mushrooms and stir fry another 5 minutes. Add rest of the chopped ginger and tomatoes, salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Stir , cover and cook on low flame with 1/4 cup water to allow the vegetables to abosrb the flavors of the spices. Now add the curds slowly and mix. Cook another 5 minutes for the gravy to thicken. Add a pinch of garam masala. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!


The brown color of this dish is from dried mushrooms and tomatoes. I enjoyed this dish with pooris and also with rice.

Eggplant-mushrooms stir fry:

We need:

• 4-5 small eggplants orr 2 Chinese or Japanese eggplants (cut into 2" pieces)
• 1 cup baby bella or crimini mushrooms (diced)
• 2 bunches (8-10 pieces) spring onions (chopped)
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 1 tbsp. Sriracha chilli sauce (or any hot sauce, my favorite substitute is green chilli chutney)
• Turmeric (a pinch)
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp. lime/lemon juice
  
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp. oil

In a pan, heat 1/2 tbsp. oil and saute' the spring onions, followed by grated coconut. Now add the eggplant slices and stir fry till crisp. Add the mushrooms and stir fry another 8-10 minutes. Add the turmeric, salt, chilli sauce and lime/lemon juice. Cook for another 5 minutes. Enjoy the heavenly aroma of coconuts and chillies. Serve hot with chapatis, paranthas or as a side dish with rice. My favorite way of enjoying this: as a sandwich stuffing!



I decided to make this dish, because i still had some eggplants and mushrooms in my fridge and wanted to enjoy these vegetables in a different way. I am glad i thought of this! The taste and aroma of this dish was amazing, so was the texture: soft mushrooms and eggplant pieces and crunchy grated coconut and spring onions! Oh and if you don't enjoy eggplants as much, chances are that you will, after this :)). And yes, it works well with just mushrooms or eggplants too :).Don't go by the pictures, this one is really yummy!

Guchhi te Paneer di sabzi :)

Fashion-holics, i am not talking about Gucci here :)). This "Guchhi" is something totally different-something for the mushroom fan in you. Yup, Guchhis or Dhingris are dried mushrooms./morels. Drying vegetables imparts a different flavor to them. Punjabis are also into drying vegetables and produce.....like i said in one of my earlier posts, it was a common practice till recently, to dry turnips, radishes, cauliflower, carrots, spinach and fenugreek (the veggies dried strung as garlands). Mushrooms/morels on the other hand aren't dried at home, but bought from the Pansari/Kiryana/Kirana (masale wallah and grocer) instead. They are usually quite expensive back home and used only on special occassions.



However, i haven't seen them often in Indian stores here. You do see dried mushrooms occassionally in regular grocery stores, but they are no good, because one pack hardly has anything. I resorted to making my own :). And you don't need much sun for this. Just get baby bella or crimini musrooms from the store, slice them, put them in a bowl and keep them in the fridge for more than a week without covering the bowl. Make sure that the fridge is set for the lowest temperatures. The mushrooms would dehydrate in a week or so.....after this, just shade dry them for a day or two and we are good to go. Don't have dried mushrooms, no worries, this tastes just as good with fresh mushrooms :).

This recipe, co-starring paneer and cashew/almond paste and ginger as the chief magic-maker, is one great ode to the Guchhi :)


We need:

• Guchhis (dried morels/mushrooms)
• Cubed Paneer (fresh/frozen)
• 1/4 tsp. each Shah-jeera (black cumin) and dhania (coriander)
• 2 tsp. Ginger paste
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
  
• 2 big, ripe tomatoes (cubed)
• 10-15 cashwes/blanched almonds as paste
  
• 1/4 tsp. or less turmeric
• Red chilli powder (to taste)
  
• 1 tsp. melted ghee
• 1 stick dalchini (cinnamon) and two badi elaichi (black cardamoms), cracked open
• 1/4 tsp. Kasuri methi

Lets soak the guchhis in warm water and set aside. Also deep fry/toast/saute'/bake the paneer cubes till lightly brown and set aside. In hot ghee, splutter the shah-jeera and dhania, saute the chopped onion and then saute' the ginger paste/grated ginger. You may add garlic too, but not more than one clove (crushed). Next, lets add the cubed tomatoes, turmeric and red chilli powder and cook till we get a smooth gravy. Now lets stir the cashew/almond paste in. Cashew paste would impart a certain mellow flavor to the whole dish and balances the ginger. Once in a while, i replace this with 2 tbsp. of beaten yogurt to get some tangy taste. Add some water and the soaked guchhis. If using fresh mushrooms, saute' after onions and ginger and cook for 5-10 mins. Bring to boil and add the paneer cubes. Now add the cinnamon and cardamoms. Cover the pot and cook on low heat till the gravy thickens.

Garnish with kasoori methi and serve hot with bread or rice of your choice.



Notes: If you plan to store and re-heat this dish again, remove the cinnamon and cardamom-as boiling these spice again and again would change the flavor of the dish.

This dish gets the spice factor from ginger (the major aromatic ingredient) and the body from tomatoes and cashew paste. Enjoy the flavors and have fun :)