Steamed Spinach and Fenugreek dumplings

Steamed Spinach and Fenugreek dumplings

Was thinking to make some new dish today. What to make? With Spinach or fenugreek? Then thought to make something different using both. And here I came up with the idea to make some healthy starter. Idea of making something like pakoda of it is nothing new now, also my mind is always in search with some substitutes of frying food, as far as possible, so I tried it today to steam cook it. Here is How I made this.

Ingredients:
1 bunch spinach leaves, chopped
1/2 bunch fenugreek leaves (methi), chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons green chilli paste ,
4 tsp whole wheat flour ,
2 tsp Bengal gram flour (besan) ,
2 tsp semolina (rawa) ,
1/3 tsp pepper powder ,
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) ,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
1/4 tsp baking soda,
3 tablespoons oil,
1 teaspoon chopped garlic ,
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion ,
1 tablespoon lemon juice ,
salt to taste

Method :
In a bowl, combine the fenugreek and spinach leaves. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt, mix it well and squeeze out all the liquid.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and knead into a soft dough, using water.
Apply a little oil on your hands and divide the mixture into bite sized portions and place in a steamer.
Top with a little grated paneer and Steam for 15 to 20 minutes .
Steamed Spinach and Fenugreek dumplings are ready to serve hot !

Steamed spinach and fenugreek dumplings topped with grated paneer and tomato.

Serve with chopped tomato & garnish with coriander leaves accompanied by green chutney or anything you like... This dish can be used as a starter or snack.
A healthy dish is here to start your day with. :) Have a healthy life with such nutritious dish . :D

Entries for the third day for Spinach & fenugreek

Dear friend Swapna was just little late for the entry of yesterday and so she is here with the first entry I got for today. She prepared Palak Paratha , to share with us:) . I find this idea so original, that I think almost everyone would try it once. At least I am surely gonna try it Swapna. Thanks for sharing this yummy Paratha recipe with us.
Swapna - http://susarlas-kitchen.blogspot.com/2006/11/palak-paratha.html


From her normal routine to keep on spreading the whirl of aroma everywhere, Vini has taken a halt here to show us how to make tasty Palakoora-aava-pulusu. . Hey Vini, I have never come across any such recipe. Thanks for sharing it with us.


Adorable Asha is here again to make our mouth watering. Here she presented a quick and healthy recipe with Spinach. For me ingredients of this Dal Palak recipe was enough to prompt me to make it as earliest as possible. So nice of you Asha, to make it on time for this vegetable of the week event. Thank you dear friend!


Usha, my recent blog buddy , has presented here fenugreek leaves with mung dal .
Thanks Usha for adding one more variety to my list. : ) . I remember that You and Asha were the only two initially to show your willingness in participating to my idea of vegetable of the vegetable, though i have got many blog buddies with me for celebrating this idea, i haven't forgotten you. Many Thanks to both of you. : )



And the final entry for today I got is from Revathi who also made fenugreek with dal .
A slight variant from the one of Usha’s . But still not to be forgotten. : ) thank you Revathi for being a part of this idea.
So many options of dal with methi and palak is possible! I came to know all these varieties of dals, with these two leafy vegetables, only after I got all your entries with different dals with Spinach and fenugreek.


Thank you all for your timely effort and publishing for this.The most important of all is to be with me in this idea of vegetable of the week. I really find myself out of words to express your efforts and appreciations.
I would like to remind you all that you can send me your ideas about choosing vegetable for coming weeks. I would love to choose it by being with you. : ) .

Palak Corn Soup

Ingredients:
1 bunch of Fresh Palak (Spinach),
1 Onion,
2 Tomatoes,
3 Green Chilli,
8-10 fresh mint leaves,
4 garlic flakes cut lengthwise,
1/2 cup of milk,
1 cup of loose corn( I used sweet corn , simple corn will also do),
1/2 tsp of ghee,
salt to taste , Black pepper powder .

Method:
Cut onion, tomatoes, green chilli and palak. Boil the chopped onion ,mint leaves and tomatoes with little water for about 10 to 15 mins. When it is boiled first remove skin from tomato.

Boil palak and green chilli until palak is tender enough. Blend all of the boiled ingredients together to a smooth pulp. Heat the ghee in a pot and fry the garlic for a minute. Add the pulp, corn, salt and bring to boil. Add milk and boil for another 1 minute. Sprinkle black pepper powder and Serve hot ! (just as shown in picture below :P , it was too hot when I took this picture that the steam of it came to camera lense for first few trials, I had to wait to take pic of it. :) , in this pic too, the hotness of this soup is visible. :D , I am gald that I can capture such picture of my soup finally :P ) .

If you want to make this a little richer, then you can add cream instead of milk and add a cube of butter while serving. I had this simple way with milk only. That is very good choice if you are looking for a low calorie , healthy and tasty soup that also cane be preapred within few minutes.. :)

(P.s- I had been little busy with my schedule lately , sorry if I keep waiting anyone for this. ) today after this I m going to post the enteries for the third day of Vegetable of the week.

Palak Pulao

Palak(Spinach) Pulao

Ingredients :
A bunch of fresh spinach (Palak)
Green peas,
Small florets of Cauliflower ,
Carrot cut into small pieces,
2-3 green chilli finely chopped,
1 tsp Cumin seeds,
1 tsp oil.
Cooked Basmati rice.

Method:
Wash Spinach and cut them, in a big bowl, take little water and let the spinach boil for a while. Do not boil much. Boil until the original green color of spinach is maintained. This will take 2-3 minutes maximum. When done, crush it using grinder or hand mixer, and put it aside.
Cut cauliflower and carrot into small pieces.
In a large kadhai take 1 tsp oil, add cumin seeds to it, when it starts crackling, add chopped green chillies to it. Next add carrot and cauliflower pieces. Let it cook for a while, until carrot pieces are well cooked. Now add crushed Palak to it cook it till extra water from the crushed Palak evaporate then add cooked rice to this. Finally
Mix well all of it, and serve hot with Dal fry or anything you like. : ) .

A simple yet healthy meal is ready for you. : )

here , I have decorated it with flower made up of a big Carrot. :)

This is my submission to Kalyn for her Weekend Herb Blogging , she is hosting on 3rd dec..

Second day entries for Veg. Of the Week

First entry for the second day of this week is from Adorable friend Asha, whose blog I just don’t like to read, I cherish each line of it. : ) . she made this on Halloween , and here it is for all of us. “Spinach-Cream Cheese Tortilla Snack” – name itself is enough for me to feel hungry again :P . thank you Asha for sharing this wonderful recipe with all of us. Here it is in her own words for all of us...

Spinach-Cream Cheese Tortilla Snack
To make the snack, you need:
1-2 Flour Tortillas or crisp Chapatis , cut into rectangles 3x7",
1 cup frozen or 2 cups fresh Spinach chopped fine,salt, pepper,
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese,any spices you like,
1/2 cup grated Mozzarella or cheddar cheese.
How To:
1. Grill Tortillas until golden brown and crispy,sprinkle some Mozzarella and cool.
2. Cook spinach in the microwave with salt, pepper and a tbsp water.Make sure spinach is completely dry.
3. Mix in all the spice and cheese. Spread it on the Tortilla to cover the rectangle. To make the Cream cheese spread, you need:1/2 a block of Cream cheese, 2 tsp milk. Mix cream cheese with 1-2 tsp milk,pinch of salt to make it thick enough to squeeze through the piping bag but not too thin. Using a ribbon nozzle, pipe on the spinach to make swirls.Delicious Spinach-cream cheese snacks which tastes like Spinach Alfredo pizza are ready to dig in .Kids will love these and healthy for them too. YUM!



Laxmi of Myrasoi is again here with us to share some of her recipes she has already posted. Have fun with Methi- paratha and Fenugreek Dal and enjoy the healthy Fenugreek . : ) thank you Laxmi , for sharing this delicious Dal and Yummy paratha with us.


One more recipe is here from Laxmik .She presented Green Puris made up of Spinach. She publish it today itself to be a part of this Veg. of the week event. It looks so crispy and yummy! Laxmi thanks for sharing such a fantastic recipe of Spinach. I loved it. I appreciate your timely effort and preparation for this.

Methi-Bajra-Wheat Flour Triangles-My entry for WBB#7

Here is What I made For the first day of this Vegetable of the Week :

Methi-Bajra-Wheat Flour Triangles

Ingredients:

Fenugreek leaves(Methi) chopped Finely,

1 tsp Jeera,

1 tsp Red chilli powder,

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder,

1 tsp garlic paste,

Salt to taste,

2 tsp oil for dough,

Bajra flour & Wheat Flour (in same proportion)

Method:

First make dough with bajra flour & wheat flour . Add finely chopped methi leaves, jeera , salt, turmeric powder, garlic paste ,red chilli powder & oil . Add water necessary to make dough normal soft. Take care it should not be much smooth( as we make it for chapati.) let it be little hard (as shown in picture here) . Make big sized balls of it, and roll out each into big chapati like shape, it should be little thick . give it shape with anything you have, I used triangle shape for it. When ready, heat tawa or flat pan and bake it on low flame , until it turns to brow and crispy from both sides.

Serve hot with anything you like. A healthy tasty breakfast is ready for you. :)
I had it with my tea, while hubby likes it with tomato sauce . I Even like it much when accompanied with Yogurt.

This is my entry for WBB#7 to Nandita .

Entries for First day for Veg. Of the Week

First entry for this week I got from a Dear friend Viji, all the way from Kuwait, Who made this loving "Spinach Kootu "For all of US. She is so nice to email me this rather than posting this on her own post. Thank you Viji for being a part of this event.
Here is the whole recipe along with the pictures she sent in email to me , in her original words.

Spinach Kootu
Ingredients:
Spinach 2 bundles
Boiled moong dhal ½ cup
Salt to taste
For grinding
Fresh coconut 3 tbsp
Jeera 1 tsp
Green chili 3 medium
Raw rice flour ½ tsp
For Tempering:
Coconut oil 2 tsp
Mustard seeds
Urud dhal 2 tsp
Red Chili 1 ,Hing powder ¼ tsp

Preparation:
Wash the spinach before cutting. Cut into small pieces; add salt and little water and MW for 3 – 4 minutes. This will retain its original color. Wash the moong dhal and soak in water for 30 minutes. Then cook it in pressure cooker. Grind the ingredients with little water and mix it well with moong dhal. Add this to spinach mixture and MW high for 2 more minutes. Temper as given. A simple, healthy kootu is ready for rice / chapatti. Adding green chili will give a different taste to this kootu.

Next was From Dear friend Trupti, Who made lovely “Spinach-Red Pepper pasta Bake with Home Made Pasta Sauce” . I Still wonder how one can get this much time with two little kids, study and Job duties. If anyone of you ever have time management problem, I think Trupti can surely help you, the way she manages her time for everything, is very hard to manage. At least if I come across any such situation, I will be counting on you Dear Trupti to get some really helpful advice!

This is a Busy world, who gets time for even own self? Isn’t it considerable if Supriya gets time for this vegetable of the week, when she is all busy with packing& shopping for her Visit to India? Well I must say thanks to Supriya with a warm hug! Appreciation for lovely Supriya to get time for making and posting this for me! Even she has got one other nice recipe with Spinach. Check it out for Dal Palak and Spinach with Aloo Kofta . And have fun with Spinach.

If you think making the same item twice is little boring, Laxmi has something to change your mind. Laxmi prepared SpinachDal which is different than how Supriya did. 2 version for the same name ! Great! Isn’t it? Thank you Laxmi for your effort and publishing it on your blog and informing with email about this, a day prior to the week starting.

Never ever in my craziest dream I ever thought that I will have friends from Kuwait to Australia, from Us of A to Singapore, and from Canda to U.K. This is what blog made possible for us,I have friends today from all over the world, different regions but by heart Indians. :) .All you friends made me feel touching by your efforts to make this idea lively and interactive. Sometimes words are certainly not sufficient to show appreciation, and that’s what I feel today. I can't find right words to show how gratifying I am feeling for all your efforts.

If you think you also have something to share with all our blog buddies for this vegetable of the week , you can do it upto this friday noon. Send me an email about your recipe & pics , or if you are going to post it, inform me about that , if possible mention it on your post , so that I would not be confused with which one to choose. Thanks for being there.

Suran Pickle

Yam Elephant(Suran) Pickle
Today is the last day with Yam Elephant (Suran) as - "Vegetable of the week ". Ending here with the last (of course not the least :) ) recipe for this week of Yam Elephant. It is Pickle made of It.Here it Goes...

Ingredients:
Yam Elephant peeled &cut lengthwise in 2 inch long strips,

1 tsp mustard seeds,
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds,
3-4 dried red chillies,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
8-10 curry leaves ,

tamarind plup mixed with 1 small piece jaggery,
¼ cup fenugreek leaves,
1/4 tsp asafoetida ,
2 tbsp oil,
salt to taste

Method:
Cut Yam elephant into long stips , wash and drain off water. Apply salt, toss to mix and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
Roast 1 tsp mustard & fenugreek.. Grind the roasted ingredients,red chillies along with tamarind and jaggery into fine paste add asafoetida &turmeric powder to it.


Heat oil in a frying pan, squeeze Yam Elephant pieces to remove water and drop them into oil and fry until brown.

heat 1 tsp of oil in a frying pan, add curry leaves and dry red chillies to it , next add ground masala and let t cook for a while.now mix the fried suran pieces in it. add salt as per taste .Suran pickle is ready :D .
I am not much fan of any kind of pickle , so was little doubtful with, how the final outcome will be! Even I never made simple pickles, which my Mom used to make every year at home, so it was fun to try one pickle on hand, I was feeling exciting just by the feelings that I am making a pickle on my own :) . finally when I finished it, I like it so much that I need no words from hubby for approving it. :P .

Similar pickle can be made with Bitter gourd... just substitute Yam Elephant with bitter gourd!!!
UPCOMING:
Vegetable of Next week is -Spinach & fenugreek Leaves. You can participate by presenting any of your recipe made up of either spinach or fenugreek. for that you can email me that on blogpooja@gmail.com with picture(if u have any) and recipe, or just provide me info if you have already that post on your blog... let it be fun and little interactive... So all my blog buddies put your thinking cap on to create something new with this lovely green vegetable and make winter green rather than pink this year :)) .
I have selcted this veggies with the hope that spinach and fenugreek leaves will be available to you at this time, doesn't matter in which part of the world you are ! As for the last week even i felt bad by knowing that some of my dearest buddies there in US of A are not able to get it. :( . Hope that will not be a problem this time.
From monday to friday this week will be celebrated. have fun on weekends :) .
Do let me know, how do u find this week with Yam Elephant(Suran) as vegetable of the week.

Roasted Suran with Tomato.

Here is one quick easy snack enriched with Vitamin B, for all my blog buddies on Thanks Giving Day. Thanks you all for your support , for being with me, for encouraging me and boosting my creativity with your loving words everyday !

Dedicating this dish to you all sweethearts !

Ingredients:

Suran-250-300 gms,
2 ripe tomatoes,
2 red chillies, 2-3 garlic clove, ginger 1 inch
Salt to taste,
1tbsp Ghee
1 small onion to serve with .

Method:
Cut suran into 1 inch square shape .Roast suran on tawa with low flame. Roast it from all sides till brown and crispy (as shown in the third picture below).
Cut tomatoes into small pieces. Make a paste of red chillies,ginger,garlic.

In a kadhai take 1 tsp ghee, and put the ground paste & stir. When done put the tomatoes &stir until it forms thick gravy of tomato. Now add roasted suran cubes to it & add salt. Let it cook for a while, stirring occasionally. Serve hot with chopped onion. Serve as it is or as a side dish accompanied by rice.
This is a slight twist with traditional dish – ‘Rogan Josh ‘ , enriched with Vitamin B. In addition to it`s nutritious values this dish also tastes excellent .

Yummy Undhiyu...!

Yummy Undhiyu...!

Today is something to share here , is one famous dish of Gujarat “Undhiyu”(people call it Undhiya or undhiyo too, but the real pronounciation is Undhiyu J ) - Un, the thought of which is not possible without Suran, though it is not the most part of that dish. That dish is incomplete without having suran in it.
Ingredients:
3 - 4 baby brinjals,6 -8 baby potatoes small,100 gms yam elephant( suran) , cut into medium sized cubes,
½ cup string beans (chauli dana),
½ cup lima beans (valore liva),
½ cup green peas (mutter)2 inch ginger,
6- 8 cloves garlic,
3-4 green chillies,1 cup coriander leaves,
1 tsp turmeric powder,a pinch asafetida,1 tsp Ajawain ,3-4 tsp oil .

For Muthiya :
1/4 cup besan
1/2 cup Fenugreek Leaves (methi), washed and chopped finely,
½ tsp red chili powder,
¼ tsp turmeric powder,
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method:

To prepare Methi na Muthiya :
Mix all the muthiya ingredients except oil and prepare a firm dough. Divide into small portions and shape each into one-inch long half-inch thick rolls. Deep fry in hot oil, remove and keep aside.

To make Undhiyu :
Peel off & wash potatoes & yam. Cut yam(suran) into medium sized cubes. Wash brinjals. slit brinjal and baby potato into four .
Make a paste of coriander leaves ,garlic, green chillies and ginger.
Pressure cook baby potatos, baby brinjals and lima beans and Suran in salted water. Do not boil much. Cook until soft.
Heat up oil in a thick-bottomed kadhai, mix in asafoetida and Ajwain. Add all boiled vegetables, green peas and string bean to it. Add little water to it, sprinkle salt and turmeric powder. Stir fry for five minutes on high flame heat. Pour out the green mixture of coriander leaves, garlic, ginger & green chillies . add half cup of water, cover and simmer (boil slowly at low temperature) on a very low heat up for 10-15 minutes.
Mix in fried muthiyas and again simmer (boil slowly at low temperature) for 15 minutes. Shake the vegetables occasionally but do not use a spoon to stir.
When water is totally eavaporated, remove from heat. Serve hot either as it is, or with puri or paratha.

Undhiyu is a very traditional recipe of Gujarat, and the way it can be prepared varies from region to region in Gujarat. I make it my way. :P . It is Normally prepared in most of the home On the festival of “Makar Sankrati” 0r “Uttarayan”(which falls on 14th January every year). It is almost accompanied by hot Kesar Jalebi…. Oh those good old days ,when we just have to fly kites at terrace since early morning to late evening, and had these delicious dish made by Mom at home to enjoy… : ) this year I am planning to visit my Mom on “Uttarayan” to have all those golden memories to share with hubby dear ! :)

Note:
One can also include broad beans (sem fali or surti papdi ) and pigeon beans (tuver lilva) for making undhiyu. Here I havent got any at this time in market. May be their season starts from late December. If using broad beans then cut them into long strips and boil it along with other vegetables . Pigeon beans should be added along with green peas at the time of making.

Suran ke Dahi Vade

Ingredients:
Yam peeled and cut into medium sized pieces,
2 to 3 tbsp corn flour
2 tsp cumin seeds(jeera)
1/2 tsp ginger paste
3-4 green chilli finely chopped
salt to taste
curd , beaten finely
jeera powder-1/4 tsp
Red chilli Powder-1/4 tsp

Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

Clean & Pressure cook the yam.Drain off the water immediately.Now mash the yam, add Corn flour, cumin seeds, salt, ginger paste and chopped green chillies to it.Mix it properly. Make small balls of it.Heat the oil in a wok.Deep fry mixture balls, remove when golden brown.



Place them on a blotting paper so that extra oil will be absorbed.
Suran vada is ready. Now take the curd in a bowl & Add salt to it,Whip it thoroughly such that there will be no lumps in it. Take 5-6 suran vada in a plate & pour the whipped curd over it.Decorate the curd with jeera powder,red chilli powder & Coriander leaves. Refrigerate before serving.

Note:
In place of corn flour, you can also use Rajgira Atta . When made this way it can also be used as eatable while observing “Fast”. This is one of farali(some thing which we can eat while observing fast) recipe . Normally it is made this way only. Just as a slight variation to it , I have used corn flour instead of Rajgira atta. That gave it crispiness. One can also use sago flour, if want to make it as eatable for fast.

Suran Pakoda

Suran Pakoda

Ingredients:
suran roughly cut into large pieces, and boiled,
1 cup bengal gram flour (besan),
3-4 green chillies,
A small piece ginger,
Sugar to taste,
Juice of one lemon,
A few coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste,
Oil for deep frying,
¼ tsp turmeric powder,
1/2 tsp Ajwain,
A pinch of soda-bi carbonate (baking soda)

Method:
Pressure cook the suran till soft.Peel and mash. Set aside.chop green chillies finely, and shred ginger.
Mix together the suran, ginger, chopped chilli & coriander leaves, sugar, lime juiceand salt to taste.Mix well.
Make a smooth batter with the bengal gram flour,salt to taste, Ajwain and turmeric powder.
Add a teaspoon of hot oil when making the batter.Let the batter remain thick , add a pinch of baking soda.Divide the suran mixture into equal sizedportions, the size of a lemon.
Heat oil in a deepa kadhai , Dip each ball in the batter and deep fry till little brown in color.Serve hot with chutney/ketchup.

When this idea came to my mind, I was little confused about the final output of the whole process :P , but when I make it, the expression of hubby while tasting it was enough for me to know how it was!
I think I am gonna make it again soon, as this time I made it little in amount, next time going to have a large dish of it :D.


Note:
Take care so that the material of suran should be hard enough to make balls of it .
There are certain reason by which it can’t be much stuff
1 . if suran is boiled more than required
2. adding more lemon juice to it will also make the material more soft
If such thing happens then the mixure cant form balls easily. If happens so, mix just a little of corn flour to it. This will solve problem. Better to make it firm enough in original form, i.e. without adding corn flour from it, as adding corn flour will slightly change the taste.

Delicious Sooran Cubes

Delicious Sooran Cubes

My adorable blog friend Asha has told me that in US of A, yam is the sweet potato. Here is something worth to know -why they are considered same there, and what the actual difference is. So that my other blog buddies will not be confused with that. I have already shown picture of Yam(Sooran) in the previous post,so no need to fo in further detail with that . Basically there are two types of Yams too: Yam ordinary (Ratalu) and Yam elephant (Sooran).

Not to confuse you more here is some nutritious breakfast item with sooran today. A quick healthy recipe cooked within 7 to10 minutes.

Ingredients:
Fresh Yam(Sooran) cut into long medium sized cubes,
1 green chilli finely chopped,
1 tsp oil for cooking,
½ tsp cumin seeds,
½ tsp mustard seeds,
Salt to taste,
½ tsp sugar,
¼ tsp turmeric powder,
¼ tsp red chilli powder,
Coriander leaves,

Method:

Peel off the Sooran and cut it into medium sized cubes. Take 1 green chilli, and chop it finely. Heat oil in a pan or kadhai , and add mustard seeds, when they start spluttering , add cumin seeds and chopped chilli. Add turmeric powder and immediately add Sooran cubes, mix it well, and cover with lead, on slow heat let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Stirring occasionally, when sooran cubes turn little tender, add sugar, salt and red chilli powder to it. Let it cook for a while. And turn off heat. Garnish with coriander leaves. A quick, hot and healthy breakfast is ready. :)