Chikkudukaya (Broad Beans) Stir Fry

Ingredients

- 1 lb Chikkudukaya* (broad beans), remove the fibers from the sides and snap into 1" pieces

- ½ tsp Red chili powder, or to taste

- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder

- 1 tsp brown sugar

- ½ tsp salt, or to taste

- 1 Tbsp Roasted Sesame powder (optional)

Seasoning ingredients

- 2 Tbsp Vegetable oil

- ½ tsp mustard seeds

- ¼ tsp whole Cumin

- ½ tsp Urad dal (Black gram lentil)

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a pressure pan or saucepan on medium heat, add ural dal and toss it until it becomes golden brown. Add mustard and cumin seeds, when they splutter, add turmeric and chili powder and stir for 10 seconds. 
2. Immediately add the chopped chikkudukaya (broad beans), salt, and brown sugar. Sprinkle some water and if using a pressure cooker, place the lid and the weight and pressure cook under low to medium heat until to hear two whistles. 
1. If using a saucepan, cook under a tight lid until the beans are cooked (turns bright green to dull green and soft to touch), maybe 10 or more minutes. Sprinkle more water as needed. 
3. When the beans are cooked (pressure is released from the cooker), on low heat stir until any remaining moisture is gone and oil comes out. Add sesame powder and mix well and remove from heat. 
4. Serve hot with white rice. 

Quick Tip

- These beans are typically available at Indian grocers: Patel Brothers, Subzi Mandi, Delight Bazaar (in NJ). Search for local Indian grocers in your area. 

Simple Guvar Beans Stir Fry

I visited my parents this past weekend and enjoyed some good ol' home cooking. I love simple stir fry dishes especially if those stir fries are made with guvar, tindora or snake gourd. 

It can be difficult to find these vegetables in the fresh produce section in supermarkets. That's why we buy them frozen in the Indian supermarkets. Check out the recipe below for simple Guvar Stir Fry.   

Ingredients

- 12 oz packet of Cut Guvar beans (frozen)

- 2 green chilies or per taste, chopped finely

- 3 gloves of garlic, sliced finely

- 1 Tbsp brown sugar

- 1/2 Tbsp salt

- 2 Tbsp sesame powder (sesame seeds roasted and powdered)

- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Ingredients for seasoning

- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

- 1 Tbsp Urad dal (also known as black gram lentil)

- 1 tsp whole cumin

- 1 tsp mustard seeds

Procedure

In a small pressure cooker, heat oil on medium and when you feel heat on your palm, add the seasoning ingredients: urad dal, cumin, and mustard seeds. 

When the dal is roasted and the mustard seeds splutter, add the green chilies and garlic. Toss until the garlic aroma comes out (about 1 minute). 

Now add turmeric, guvar beans, salt and brown sugar. 

Mix well and add 50 ml of water and pressure cook on low to medium heat until 3 whistles. Wait until the pressure is released from the pressure cooker and heat the curry on low heat to allow the extra water to evaporate and then add the sesame powder. Mix well and serve hot. 

You can serve this stir fry as a side dish or with rice. I like eating it with warm rice, topped with ghee (clarified butter). 

Quick Tips

- If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can make this dish in a skillet as well. Cook under tight lid mixing intermittently until the beans are cooked well and soft. Add sesame powder, mix well and serve hot. 

Mushroom and Bell Pepper Schezwan Stir Fry

Inspiration can come to you at any given time...when you're dining at your favorite restaurant and you get a whiff of the dish that's passing by. 

When you are roasting a blend of spices and the aroma of these spices hits your nose just right and you think of your next dish.

It can also happen when you open your fridge and see the ingredients laid out in front you. I'm pretty sure the last one is what inspired my mom to make I will be talking about today. 

My mom likes Indo- Chinese cuisine; some dishes that she likes are Cauliflower Manchurian, Chili Paneer, and Szechuan noodles with vegetable stir fry. There are restaurants in my hometown that specialize in this cuisine but we can't go there all the time. Whenever we like a dish, we try to re-create it at home.

She likes the idea of vegetable tempura where the vegetables are lightly battered and fried. You can still taste the vegetable inside and it's crispy. She also likes the various sauces in Chinese cuisine that are spicy and salty. However, these sauces aren't always made with vegetarian ingredients. That's when she discovered Ching's Secret products. Ching's Secret is an Indian brand of Indian Chinese cuisine with a product portfolio which includes instant noodles, instant soups, Desi Chinese masala, sauces and Schezwan chutney.

With vegetables: white button mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions...and the Ching's Secret Schezwan sauce in hand, she sprang into action to create something yummy.

Ingredients
- 8 oz white button mushrooms (large size), sliced
- 2 medium green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1" cubes
- 1 medium yellow onion, cut into 1" cubes
- 2-1/2 to 3 Tbsp Ching's Schezwan sauce
- Approximately 1/2 cup of vegetable oil*, for frying 
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour* (add a pinch of salt to the all-purpose flour and mix it with some water to make a sauce like consistency for the batter)


Procedure

1) Toss the sliced mushroomed into the flour mixture or batter.

Heat oil in a saucepan on high to low medium flame and add the flour coated mushrooms into the oil, ensuring they lay flat in small batches.

2) Fry them for 5 minutes turning them over intermittently. When the mushrooms turn slightly brown, remove them from the oil and set aside. *Helpful hint: Let the mushrooms cool in a bowl covered with paper towel so it can absorb the excess oil.

Then, add handful of bell pepper pieces in the remaining batter and fry them too. Transfer the fried pieces into the bowl as well. 

Next, add the remaining bell pepper and onion into the oil and fry them lightly on medium to high heat. When they start to brown lightly, remove them and add them to the bowl with the other fried vegetables. 

3) Transfer the remaining oil and bring back the pan to the stove with medium heat and add all the vegetables, the Szechuan sauce and two pinches of salt. Mix well and stir fry with sauce for 3 to 4 minutes.

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4) Transfer into a serving dish and garnish with chopped scallions. This dish can be served as an appetizer or as a main dish with brown rice. 

We love re-creating dishes we tried when we go out for dinner. We can add our own little touch to them. We are so fortunate to have brands like Ching's Secret that make it easy for us to experiment with new cuisine.


*Quick Tips: 

• A low calorie and gluten free version of this recipe can be done by skipping the tempura frying with all-purpose flour. Quickly stir fry the veggies in 3 tablespoons of oil on high heat with a pinch of salt and toss them further with the Schezwan sauce.
• Not all of the oil is consumed in the final recipe