Showing posts with label Turmeric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turmeric. Show all posts

15 February, 2017

Fresh Turmeric and Ginger Pickle Recipe | Kachchi Haldi Aur Adrak Ka Achar

Learn how to make Fresh Turmeric and Ginger Pickle or Kachchi Haldi Aur Adrak Ka Achar ~ Pickled fresh turmeric and ginger in salt and lime juice

There's something soul satisfying about working with fresh ingredients which takes you down the memory lane and warms your heart with nostalgia! Especially when it something that’s difficult to source when you are thousands of miles away from home, like this fresh turmeric roots. After making a unique winter dish of Rajasthani Raw Turmeric Curry (do check this recipe and cook some if you haven’t already), I decided to make another favourite recipe that takes me back home, to the carefree days which coloured my hands and heart with sunshine yellow hues... I am talking about a very simple and easy to make Kachchi Haldi aur Adrak Ka Achar or Raw Turmeric and Ginger Pickle.



The word ‘pickle’ comes from the Dutch pekel or German pókel, meaning salt or brine, two very important components in the pickling process. Throughout history pickling was a necessity, as it was the best way to preserve food for a long period of time before canning came into picture. Pickles are created by immersing fresh fruits or vegetables in an acidic liquid or saltwater brine until they are no longer considered raw or vulnerable to spoilage, hence extending their shelf life to months and some for years. Pickles have been around for thousands of years, dating as far back as 2030 BC in India. It is believed that pickles originated in India and the cucumbers were the first to be pickled in the Tigris Valley. As one of the earliest mobile foods, pickles filled the stomachs of hungry sailors and travelers, while also providing families with a source of food during harsh cold winter months when fresh produce were hard to grow or source. (Source: History in a jar)

03 February, 2017

Rajasthani Haldi Ki Subji Recipe | Fresh Turmeric Curry Recipe

Learn how to make Rajasthani Haldi Ki Subji or Fresh Turmeric Curry ~ Fresh turmeric and green peas cooked in a spicy, creamy tomato and yogurt curry

Curry lovers all over the world are familiar with one ingredient without which you can’t imagine cooking curry! I am talking about one of the most popular spice turmeric which leaves yellow stains on everything which it comes in contact with. It’s one spice that’s been traditionally used as a spice in Indian, Asian and African cuisines for more than 4,500 years! So what made this quintessential ingredient for curries and stews to migrate to fancy (not) things like Turmeric Lattes, cold pressed juices, smoothie bowls etc? What is it about this stone age staple that suddenly graduated into some kind of super food in the last couple of years?



Turmeric has always found its way into our dinner plates every single day. There isn’t a savoury dish in our home that goes untouched without a sprinkle of this gold dust. I grew up hearing about the healing properties of turmeric since I was a toddler. One sneeze and my grandma would run to her kitchen to make me a cup of Turmeric Milk or Kashaya with a generous pinch of turmeric. According to her there isn’t a cold or sore throat can’t be healed with a warm cup of turmeric milk. A scratch, a cut or deep wound was healed with a coat of turmeric paste either prepared by grinding the fresh turmeric root or by mixing ground turmeric with water. Pimples, skin problems? No problem. Ground turmeric from fresh roots or powdered form mixed with sandal wood paste or gram flour or milk or fresh cream had always been our choice of face mask for any beauty treatments. The trust we have on this golden hued spice was not born a year or couple of years ago, but since over 4,500 years ago which is now backed with scientific researches making turmeric one of the most admired super foods of the century.

10 October, 2013

No Oil Spicy Cut Mango Pickle Recipe | Step by Step Indian Mango Pickle Recipe

Learn how to make Spicy Cut Mango Pickle ~ No Oil Spicy Raw Mango Pickle Recipe

Family recipes, the recipes that have been cooked for decades and some even for centuries are the most treasured ones and close to my heart. Our taste, preference and choice change with time, but certain recipes withstand the test of time as they tie us to our roots and happy memories. Recipes like these need to be treasured, preserved and cherished for honoring the previous generations and for the new generations who are yet to sample the goodness of life!

14 February, 2013

Microwave Masala Peanuts/Masale Kadle Recipe | How to Make Masala Peanuts in a Microwave

Learn how to make Microwave Masala Peanuts/Masale Kadle ~Simple and quick recipe for crunchy and spicy gram flour coated roasted peanuts cooked in a microwave in less than 15 minutes

Love to me is something that is very different from the stories told in romantic movies and the types of ‘happily ever afters’ in fairy tales and mills and boon novels. Love is not a dozen of red roses, a box of Belgian chocolates or heart shaped balloons. Love is not a gift of expensive bottles of perfumes or an exquisite diamond ring. Love to me is not romantic candle light dinners or a holiday in a romantic city! The very definition of ‘Love’ has changed over the years and now it means a whole new world of things to me…

17 January, 2009

Thai Yellow Curry: Sunshine in Bowl to Lift Your Spirit...

Photobucket
Thai Yellow Curry
“How do they taste? They taste like more.”
-H.L. Mencken
And that’s exactly how I feel when ever I am served real good Thai food. I like everything about Thai cuisine; the ingredients used, its flavour, the way it’s cooked, the fresh herbs and aromatic spices and above all the way it tastes. And another reason for my love affair with Thai food is the use of coconut in most of the recipes. A typical Mangalorean girl that I am, my heart skips a beat and makes me do cartwheels in air whenever I find this favourite ingredient of mine in any recipe.

Since the day we have had come back from our India trip, we haven’t been cooking anything elaborate in our tiny kitchen. Although we would like to blame our mothers for spoiling us by not letting us cook in their kitchen, it was plain laziness that has kept us away from pots and pans. All these days we have been satisfying ourselves with soups and breads and simple dal/rasam and rice. But it didn’t take much longer for stomachs to start grumbling for something exotic and our taste buds to crave for something packed with flavours.

It’s not easy to tackle the situation when you are faced with laziness and desire to eat something delicious. And to add to our misery we stumbled upon some really delicious looking Thai Curries on one of the cookery shows. Did we have any choice left? Na…da… So it was decided on simple Thai menu for the day and of course for the blog also ;)

With typical cold and grey winter days and sun god gone missing for days together we were left with no choice but to create this sunshine in a bowl to lift our mood and spirit. We chose to cook this delicious bowl of Thai Yellow Curry and served it with fragrant Thai Jasmine Rice which resembled the snow flakes that had turned our neck of woods into snow kingdom. The colourful and delightful vegetables cooked in creamy and sweet coconut milk and flavoursome curry paste made using freshest of herbs and spices is sure to bowled any foodie’s heart and soul. Thai Yellow Curry is my entry for AWED-Thai event hosted by dear DK at Culinary Bazaar.

Photobucket
Thai Yellow Curry

Photobucket Print This Recipe
Thai Yellow Curry Paste
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 2 mins for roasting the spices
Makes: 1 big Cup
Shelf Life: 1 month when refrigerated or 1 day if kept outside
Recipe Source: Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott
Recipe Level: Easy
Spice Level: Medium

Ingredients:
1 medium Onion, peeled and quartered
8-10 finger length Dry Red Chillies, soaked in warm water for 20 mins
1½ inch Ginger or Galangal
1 cup Coriander Leaves, including its root and stems
4-6 Large Garlic Flakes
1 tbsp Lemongrass Paste or 3 stalks of Lemongrass, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
½ tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Curry Powder (I used Kitchen King Powder)
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
2 tbsp Lime Juice
1 tsp Salt

Spices to Roast and Ground to Powder:
1½ tbsp Coriander Seeds
½ tbsp Cumin Seeds
10 Black or White Pepper Corns
Photobucket
Thai Yellow Curry Paste

Method:
Heat a pan and dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds and pepper on slow flame till they change colour and are aromatic, about 2 minutes. Transfer them to clean bowl and let them cool completely. With a help of coffee grinder or mortar and pestle grind them to fine powder.
Add this powder to all the ingredients listed above and grind them to smooth paste adding little water at time. Make sure that you add water only when it is required to get fairly thick and smooth paste.
You can store this paste in an air tight container and refrigerate for upto one month and use as and when needed.

Photobucket Print This Recipe
Veg Thai Yellow Curry
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serves: 4-6
Recipe Source: Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner to Intermediary
Spice Level: Medium
Serving Suggestion: With Jasmine Rice or Basmati Rice

Ingredients:
5-6 cups of Mixed Vegetables of your choice cut into bite size pieces (I have used half each of Red/Yellow/Orange Peppers, 1 medium Potato, 1 medium Carrot, 5 Baby Corns, Few French Beans, 5 Button Mushrooms, and Green Peas)
1 medium Onion or 4 Spring Onions, thinly sliced
1 can Coconut Milk or 2-3 cups of Coconut Milk
2-3 cups of Vegetable Stock or Water
2-3 tbsp Yellow Curry Paste
2 Kaffir Lime Leaves, thinly cut
1-2 tsp Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Soya Sauce
Coriander leaves of Spring Onion Greens for garnishing
Salt to taste
Photobucket
Thai Yellow Curry

Method:
Heat a heavy bottomed pan and empty 1/3rd of Coconut milk in a pan. Stir this coconut milk on medium heat till its sweet fragrance is released and starts to thicken, about 4-5 minutes, in a medium flame.
Now add 2-3 tbsp of Yellow Curry Paste and stir well. Keep stirring for 2-3 minutes till the curry paste blends well with the coconut milk and its raw smell disappears. Add the vegetables and spring onions to it and mix them well so that each piece is coated with coconut and curry paste mixture.
Mix in vegetable stock or water, remaining coconut milk, Soya sauce, kaffir lime leaves if using, brown sugar and salt to taste. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Open the lid and adjust the seasonings. Simmer the heat and let it cook uncovered for another 5 minutes till the vegetables are cooked to tender. Make sure that the vegetables are not overcooked and retain their crunch.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and greens of spring onion and serve with aromatic bowl of Jasmine Rice and enjoy.


Notes:
Other Thai recipes blogged so far,