Corn in a Cup

I do not remember seeing sweet corn ever in my life till a few years ago unless they were found in sweet corn soup in a Chinese restaurant. I was then under the impression that the soup tasted sweet and it contained corn,  hence the name. I didn't know that "sweet corn" existed.
But a few years ago there seemed to be a revolution where sweet corn was getting popularized in India by small stalls which sold "corn in a cup" as an eat-in-between snack. You could find these stalls outside malls, multiplexes, supermarkets, amusement parks etc. In fact the first place where I found it was in Infy campus. Of course these days its found at every street corner, but back then it was available only at places where you come with a mindset of paying more than what the stuff is worth and you can guess why.  The cup used to be "small","medium" or "large". I personally felt they should have been called "extremely small", "very small" and "small". Of course the price for these used to be "expensive", "very expensive" and "extremely expensive".
Soon we started getting corn in different forms - frozen; fresh,but processed with seeds separated; fresh sweet corn packed etc; which made it feasible for us to make "corn in a big cup" at home. Among the various available forms, I suggest you go for the "fresh sweet corn with the cob" version. The seeds are juicier and fresher in this case. You get these in all supermarkets or even on the roadside in some places like Commercial Street or Chat Street.

Ingredients:

1. Fresh Sweet Corn - 2 cobs
2. Seasoning as per requirement.

Procedure:

1. Boil the sweet corn in a cooker (with enough water to submerge) it for 3-4 whistles. Break the corn cob into two if it doesn't fit into the cooker.
2. After cooling it to room temperature, remove the seeds from the cob. This is much easier than it sounds, actually. You just need to use a blunt knife as a wedge between the vertical rows of corn seeds as shown in pic 1. The seeds will come off easily with a little pressure. 
3. The seeds will look as shown in pic 2. Season it as follows according to your favorite flavor.

Seasoning:

1. Classic Salted: In a kadai, mildly heat a tsp of butter ( just enough for it to melt). Add 2 tbsp of corn seeds. Add salt as per taste. stir well and serve.
2. Lemon Pepper: To the classic version, add half a tsp. of pepper and a dash of lemon juice. Stir well and serve.
3. Masala: To the classic version, add chilli powder/sambhar powder/pav bhaji masala and a dash of lemon. Stir well and serve.
4. Chat: To the classic version, add chat masala powder and a dash of lemon. Stir well and serve.
5. Italian: In the classic version, along with butter add a tsp. of cheese spread and add Italian seasoning ( Oregano+ Chilli flakes leftover from a pizza delivery will also do). Stir well and serve.
6. Chinese: Crush 1/4 inch of ginger, 2 pods of garlic, 1/2 tsp. soya sauce and 1/2 tsp. vinegar. Add this paste to the classic version. Stir well and serve.
7. Pudina: Grind 2 green chillies and around 10-15 mint leaves. Add one tsp. of this paste and a dash of lemon to the classic version. Stir well and serve.

pic 1

pic 2

Yield from one sweet corn

Milagu (Pepper) Rasam

Ingredients:

1. Toor Dal - 2 tsp.
2. Coriander seeds - 1 tsp.
3. Pepper - 1 tsp.
4. Red chilly - 1
5. Jeera - 1 tsp.
6. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
7. Thick tamarind extract - 1/2 cup
8. Turmeric - a pinch
9. Tomato - 1 finely chopped
10. Salt - to taste
11. Ghee - 2-3 tsp.
12. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
13. Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp.
14. Coriander leaves - for garnishing.

Procedure:

1. Lightly roast pepper, red chilli, toor dal, coriander seeds, jeera and curry leaves in a tsp. of ghee and grind them to a powder. Do not roast them till they change colour. They should be very lightly roasted.
2. In a vessel, heat the tamarind pulp with tomatoes and a pinch of turmeric powder and allow to cook till the raw smell of tamarind is gone. 
3. Add the ground powder, salt and cook on medium flame for 5 minutes or till  the rasam starts boiling.
4. Add more water (around 250 ml) to dilute the rasam and bring to a boil.
5. In a small kadai, heat a tsp. of ghee, splutter mustard seeds. Add Hing powder to it and season the rasam with it.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves.
7. Serve with hot rice.

Milagu rasam is supposedly good for you when you catch a cold.

Vattal Kozhambu

Vattal means dried food. This kozhambu called so because it is not generally made with fresh vegetables, but with dried vegetables, usually, dried manathakkali or sundakkai, but in rare cases it is prepared with other vattal like lady's finger vattal also.
Kozhambu can also be made with fresh onions or fresh lady's finger or methi leaves. For the fresh vegetable version of this Kozhambu refer to Vendhaya Keerai Kozhambu. That recipe differs from this slightly, although both recipes can be used interchangeably.
This is Paatti's version of Vattal Kozhambu.

Ingredients:

1. Manathakkali (Black Nighshade) or Sundakkai (Turkey Berry) Vattal (dried form) - 2 tsp.
2. Tamarind pulp - 1 cup
3. Asafoetida - 1 inch piece
4. Urad dal - 2 tsp.
5. Methi seeds - 1 tsp.
6. Curry leaves - 2-3 sprigs.
7. Coriander seeds - 1 tsp.
8. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
9. Toor Dal - 1 tsp.
10. Red chillies - 2 (optional)
11. Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp.
12. Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. Dry roast Methi seeds. Roast Urad Dal, Hing, Dhania and Curry leaves in 1 tsp. of oil. Grind them all together to make the powdered masala.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Season with mustard seeds,. When the mustard splutters add toor dal and fry lightly till toor dal starts turning reddish. 
3. Add the vattal and roast till the aroma emanates. Add one or two red chillies if you like a little extra spice.
4. Add tamarind pulp and the masala powder and boil till the raw smell of tamarind is gone.
5. Add salt as required and boil for 3-5 minutes or till the gravy thickens.
6. Switch off the flame.
7. Serve with hot rice with a spoon of gingelly oil and sutta appalam (roasted rice papad).

Apple Fritters (Bajji)

I wouln't say this is the tastiest snack I have ever made, but if you have bought apples and they turn out to be sour and you don't feel like eating it as fruit, this is a good alternative.
This is paatti's recipe and she suggested it when I was bugging her for some idea for a snack this evening.

Ingredients:

1. Apple - 1
2. Besan - 1 cup
3. Rice flour - 1/2 cup
4. Cooking soda - a pinch
5. Asafoetida powder- a pinch
6. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp. or as per taste
7. Salt - as per taste
8. Oil - for frying ( around 5-6 tbsp)

Procedure:

1. Mix all ingredients except the apple and oil in a bowl, add water and mix to make a thick homogeneous batter ( pic 1). The batter must be thicker than idli batter. When u take it in a spoon and pour it, it should drop down in blobs and not smoothly like dosa batter. Cooking soda is optional. Paatti's tip: If you do not want to use cooking soda, you can add a tbsp. of dosa batter instead for the fermented effect.
2. Core the apple and cut it into semi circular discs (pic 2).
3. Heat oil in a kadai.
4. Dip the apple slices in the batter so that they are coated with a thin layer of batter all over and fry it in the oil on a medium flame. You can add 5-6 such pieces at a time ( pic 3).
5. Turn over and fry evenly till they turn golden brown.
6. Remove the fritters using a strainer, and place on a paper napkin to remove the excess oil ( pic 4).
7. Serve with imli chutney.

Experimental variation:
Try adding a pinch of cinnamon powder instead of asafoetida powder in the batter.

pic 1

pic 2

pic 3

pic 4

Gajar (Carrot) ka Halwa

This is one of the most popular sweets and also one of the first sweets any Indian would try their hand at, probably second only to Gulab Jamun, in both aspects.
I found these really tempting juicy red carrots in Yelahanka Farmers' market the other day and immediately decided to make halwa for no particular occasion. I could not see any better reason for those red carrots to be born in this world than to be part of my halwa. Although carrot halwa can be made with both red and orange carrots, red carrots are sweeter and give a deeper colour to the halwa, enhancing its taste and visual appeal.
The recipe is a classic one with no improvisation. One basic thumb rule that I apply in making most sweets is "Do not improvise or experiment. It could be disastrous". This is exactly the opposite of the philosophy I follow for my other dishes, where I always give a signature twist to the existing recipe, use my intuition a lot and remix multiple recipes from the net and create one that suits me best. But probably sweet dishes were meant to be made akkakka... akkakka means "copy paste". Or WYGMIWYM ( What your grandmom made is what you make). Of course, I safely make minor variations like adjusting the amount of sugar/ghee depending on my momentary health-consciousness-index, but I havent ventured farther than that.....yet.

Ingredients:

1. Carrots - 1 kg
2. Milk - 1 litre
3. Sugar - 200- 300 grams ( depends on how sweet you like the halwa to be)
4. Ghee - 1 tbsp or even less if you like it less fatty.
5. Cardamom - 3 pods ( powdered)
6. Raisins - 2 tsp
7. Cashews ( broken in half ) - 2 tsp.



pic 1



pic 2



pic 3



pic 4



pic 5



pic 6

 
Procedure:

1. Grate the carrots ( pic 1)
2. In a large (preferably non-stick) pan, add the grated carrots and milk and boil on medium flame. (pic 2)
3. Keep stirring occasionally, making sure the milk does not boil over and the mixture does not stick to the pan.The carrots should get cooked in the milk and the remaining milk should condense/evaporate.  This would take around 45 minutes to an hour. After this stage the mixture would look lighter in colour. (pic 3)
4. Now, when there is no liquid milk remaining in the mixture, add sugar and cardamom powder and stir continuously. As soon as we add sugar and stir, the mixture will become more liquid and also darken in colour. ( pic 4). Keep stirring until the liquid evaporates. (pic 5)
5. In another small pan, heat the ghee and roast the cashews in it till they turn light golden. Add only the cashews to the mixture and in the remaining ghee, mix in the raisins. There is no need to heat/fry the raisins. The raisins will swell up in the hot ghee even without being on flame. Add the raisins and the ghee to the mixture and stir in well till the ghee is absorbed. (pic 6)
6. Switch off the flame.
7. Serve as dessert. It can be served hot or cold. Best served with ice-cream.

Carrot Palya

Ingredients:

1. Carrots - 5-6 grated
2. Green chillies - 2-3 slit length-wise
3. Chana Dal/Urad Dal - 1 tsp.
4. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
5. Oil - 2-3 tsp.
6. Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
7. Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - for garnishing
8. Curry leaves (finely chopped) - 1 sprig
9. Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. Sprinkle salt on the grated carrots and mix them well in a bowl.
2. In a kadai, heat oil and season with mustard seeds. 
3. When the mustard splutters, add chana/urad dal an fry till it turns light brown.
4. Add curry leaves, green chillies and the grated carrots and saute for a minute or two on low flame.
5. Garnish with grated coconut and coriander leaves.
6. Serve with rasam rice or sambhar rice.

The curry need not be completely cooked. It has to be half-cooked. This is one of the quickest side-dishes that can be made to accompany a South-Indian meal.

Avarekalu Bas Saaru

Its the AvareKalu season here and its considered a sin in my family if a single day passes without an AvareKalu dish being cooked.
Although I was not used to eating AvareKalu (Mocha Kottai) before marriage, I have learnt to give AvareKalu its space in my life after seeing how crazy the Kannadigas are about it.
Yesterday it was the turn of AvareKalu Bas Saaru to make its way into our home.
The recipe is quite simple. The end product is in 2 parts:

1. Saaru, a tangy thin soup somewhat like Rasam which is mixed with rice or eaten with Ragi Mudde.
2. Husili, which is a savoury dry side-dish made of the beans, somewhat like Sundal, to be eaten along with the above

Ingredients:

1. Tender AvareKalu (Hyacinth Beans) seeds - 2-3 cups
2. Onions - 3 or 4 medium sized. ( One smoked, others chopped finely)
3. Green chillies - 3 or 4 slit length-wise.
4. Garlic pods - 5-6
5. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
6. Coriander leaves - a handful
7. Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp.
8. Grated coconut - 1 tbsp.
9. Thick tamarind extract - 1/2 cup
10. Sambhar powder - 2 tsp.
11. Salt  - to taste
12. Oil - as needed

Procedure:

1. Cook AvareKalu with water and salt in a pressure cooker till tender. You can do it using separators while cooking rice.
2. Drain the water (stock of AvareKalu) into a vessel ( to be used for Saaru) and keep the AvareKalu aside ( to be used for the Husili)
3. For the masala for Saaru: Grind  together one smoked onion, 5-6 pods of garlic, a sprig of curry leaves, 2-3 strands of coriander leaves and a handful of the boiled AvareKalu.
4. To make the Husili: In a Kadai, heat oil, season with mustard seeds. Add slit green chillies, asafoetida powder, chopped onions, few curry leaves and saute till onions turn translucent. Add the AvareKalu and saute again for 2-3 minutes. Add grated coconut and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.
5.  To make the Saaru: To the stock of AvareKalu, add tamarind extract, sambhar powder and the ground masala. Let it boil. Lower the flame and boil for 5 more minutes. Temper with mustard seeds spluttered in oil.

Note: Since the AvareKalu has salt added to it while being pressure cooked, we need not add salt explicitly to the Husili or Saaru. Add more salt if required after tasting.