Stuffed Jalapeno Curry

This goes out to all the Heat Seekers!!

I think every family has a network of culinary experts. I know it's true in my own family. One of my aunts is an expert in making spicy curries. Her husband has a high tolerance for spicy dishes. I boast about his tolerance to all my friends. So for this year's Diwali celebration, my mom and I decided to add a spicy dish to the menu. And who better to consult, than my aunt. When I was inquiring about her dishes, she said, "Are you sure you want those recipes?" After some persuasion, she came around to it and sent us the recipe for Stuffed Jalapeno Curry. 

How to prepare the peppers for the stuffing (Gloves may be useful when handling the peppers): Wash and dry 7-8 peppers thoroughly. Slit each pepper with stalk end intact. Carefully pry it open and with the handle of the spoon, scrape out the seeds. This step depends on your spice tolerance. If you are a Hot Head, then leave some in there. However, let it be stated that, We Warned You. Then apply salt to the inner surface of each pepper. Once all of them have been prepped, please keep aside.

Stuffing Ingredients:

- 1 Medium Onion, chopped

- 2 tbsp of Coconut Milk Powder

- ½ bunch of Coriander (Cilantro), chopped

- ¾ tsp of cumin powder, roasted

- 3 to 4 tbsp of Vegetable Oil

- Salt, adjust as per taste

Procedure:

1) Heat one tablespoon of oil in a pan, add the chopped onion and stir fry for a few minutes. Then take it off heat and put aside for cooling.  

2) Blend the following ingredients together: dry coconut powder, stir fried onions, coriander/cilantro, and roasted cumin powder. Pulse the mixture for 3-4 minutes, but do not over grind. Adjust the salt as per your taste. Then stuff the peppers with the mixture and put aside for frying. 
3) Heat two tablespoons oil in the pan and gently place the stuffed peppers into the pan. Cook on low to medium flame. (Please Note: if necessary, add more oil for sauteing the peppers) 

4) Gently flip each pepper over to cook them evenly. When the peppers are more than half done, add the remaining stuffing. (The remaining stuffing amount depends on how much was stuffed into the peppers prior to this step. Don't worry if there isn't any left over)

5) Saute the peppers until they have a brownish tint and are cooked thoroughly.

***Quick Tip:

- This curry can be enjoyed on its own or with some hot rice (plain or brown) or quinoa.

Green Apple Salsa

Have we got a treat for you! Today's recipe highlights two ingredients that are quite different from each other, both in taste and texture. One is an herb used as a garnish in many Indian dishes and the other is used to make America's famous apple pie. You guessed it, coriander and Granny Smith apples.

These two ingredients are combined to make one sweet and tangy flavored sauce which we like to call Green Apple Salsa. It's great for dipping your favorite chips. Ours is hearty pita chips.

Here's what you need to get started:
- 1 Green Apple (Granny Smith variety), cored and chopped into small cubes

- ¾ cup of Coriander/Cilantro leaves, chopped finely

- 3 Garlic cloves, peeled & chopped

- 2 Green chilies, chopped small

- 1 tsp of Peanut butter

- A pinch of Turmeric powder (optional)

- ½ tsp of Salt (Adjust to your taste)

Put all the ingredients except for the peanut butter and grind to a coarse texture. Now add the peanut butter and blend again to mix well. Taste to check the salt and adjust if needed. 

***Quick Tip: It can also be used as a spread on finger sandwiches instead of mint chutney. 

Ended Summer With A BANG-AN!

I can’t believe summer has come to end. One of my favorite memories this past summer was going fruit picking at a local farm with my family.  Even my grandmother had fun; she especially enjoyed the hayride around the orchard.  We were so famished from picking “all day” that we stayed at the farm for some grub.

The staff served up free samples of dishes cooked with the fresh produce. It was such a delight! My favorite was the Charred eggplant, zucchini and red bell peppers. It closely resembled a dish we prepare called Baigan Bharta; baigan means eggplant in Hindi. We don't grill that often so it was nice trying the dishes at the farm.

Over  Labor Day weekend, we finally set up the grill and had ourselves a mini barbecue with corn on the cob and Baigan bharta sandwiches. I brushed the corn on the cob with a little bit of lemon juice, chili powder and salt and it delicious. The sandwiches came out so well, I thought I would share the wealth.

Below is the recipe for the filling and it is good enough for 6-7 sandwiches.

Ingredients:

Main Ingredients

- 1 medium sized Eggplant, peeled and chopped into small cubes

- ½ cup of Crushed Tomato (use equivalent amount blending fresh tomatoes)

- 1 medium sized Onion (red or regular), chopped finely

- ½ cup of Coriander, chopped

- 1 tsp of Chili powder
- ½ tsp of Turmeric
- ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds
- ½ tsp of Whole Cumin seeds

- 1 tsp of Salt (Adjust to taste)

- 2 tbsp of Vegetable oil

- 2 to 3 tbsp of BBQ sauce (preferably Smoky flavored)*  

Procedure:           

1)  In a skillet heat oil and season with mustard and cumin seeds, when they start to splatter, add a pinch of hing (optional), turmeric and chili powder. Then mix well.

2) Add onions and stir until transparent, add tomato and cook well. Add chopped eggplant and salt, cook well under covered lid mixing intermittently.

3) When the eggplant is cooked well and blended into tomato, remove the lid and add chopped coriander and mix. Lastly, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the Smoky flavored bbq sauce.

Baigan bharta can be served as a side dish for any meal. It can be also be served with roti, naan or rice. For our sandwiches, we toasted whole wheat bread and topped the bharta with Monterrey Jack (love the spicy kick). It was like eating sandwiches hot off the grill; especially with the addition of the smoky barbecue sauce in the recipe and the hot gooey cheese.

***Quick Tip: We used the smoky flavored BBQ sauce to add the charred flavor to the dish; similar to making it with roasted or grilled eggplant.

Check out the review of this dish on Wanderlust Wednesday. Have some feedback about our dishes, please feel free to post your comments and/or send us an email. 

Ginger & Coriander Relish

The most popular relish in the United States is made with pickled cucumbers and it's commonly used on hot dogs or burgers. In Indian cooking, relishes or chutneys can be eaten with just about anything. There's one in particular that we prepare on Ganesh Chavithi that goes great with steamed rice and lentil dumplings and that is Ginger and Coriander relish. Along with the dumplings, this chutney goes great with moong dosa, namkeen (savory) pongal, and sooji (semolina) upma.

The main ingredients of course are ginger and coriander. The only prep work involved in this recipe is chopping up the coriander and soaking the tamarind.

Ingredients:
- 4" piece of Ginger, peeled and grated
- ⅓ bunch (1 ½ cups chopped) of fresh Coriander/Cilantro
- ¼ cup of Chutney powder
- 2 tbsp of Brown Sugar/Jaggery
- Size of a lemon of Tamarind or (1 tbsp if using concentrate)
- 1 tsp of Salt (to be adjusted per taste)

Remove any seeds and soak the tamarind in ½ cup of warm water for 15 minutes (if using concentrate, then skip this step). Next blend all the ingredients together on high speed to a smooth paste. If needed, add additional water to make a paste. Lastly, sample the chutney to check for salt and desired sweetness. Adjust as needed.

I think I'll go have some dumplings with the chutney...see you later!

"Corny" Rainbow Salad

Click image to enlarge

One of the best ways to lose weight and boost your health is to add more color to your diet. So we played with that idea and created the Rainbow Salad. It's so easy that even my sister who always claims she's too busy, took the time to make it and loved it. Now that's saying something!!

- 16 oz frozen bag of Yellow Sweet Corn
- 16 oz frozen bag of White Sweet Corn
- 1 Red Bell pepper, cut into 1cm cubes
- 1 English Cucumber, cut into 1cm cubes
- ½ cup of Coriander, chopped
-  2-3 of Carrots, peeled & grated
- 2 tbsp of Lemon juice

1) Microwave both yellow & white corn for 4 min each and allow them to cool.
2) Then microwave bell pepper for 3 min and cool.
3) Mix corn, pepper, carrots, cucumber and coriander in a large bowl along with lemon juice. Serve cold.

We make it for all our backyard parties and whenever we need a side dish for lunch or dinner. It requires minimal assembly and spices. And these types of salads are very popular in South India, specifically in the Karnataka region.

Substitutions:

- If coriander/cilantro is not available, parsley can be added.

- English cucumber can be replaced with regular cucumber (peel and seed to avoid watery consistency) or green squash.
- Moong Dal sprouts can be used instead of corn. 

- Use chat masala instead of lemon juice for a zesty flavor.