Authentic Vegetarian Recipes
Vazhakkai Podi / Grated Raw banana spice mix – an authentic and flavourful South Indian dry curry made with raw banana. Raw banana is cooked, grated or crumbled and blended with a freshly prepared spice mix. Addition of the freshly prepared spice mix enhances the taste of this raw banana curry. This flavourful and piquant dry curry is a very good accompaniment in South Indian meals.
Stuffed Tindora / Stuffed Kovakkai – a delicious Andhra style stuffed dry curry. This popular petite Indian vegetable is ellipsoid in shape and is known for its nutritional and medicinal values in Indian cuisine. These tiny vegetables are carefully slit and stuffed with freshly ground masala powder. The masala for stuffing the vegetable is made by freshly roasting and grinding the spices and this makes this dry curry absolutely flavourful and piquant. Serve this stuffed tindora / kovakkai along with South Indian meals / North Indian meals / Indian flatbreads.
Stuffed Okra – a flavourful Indian dry curry where the okra is stuffed with a spicy masala. The okra is slit vertically and is stuffed with a peanut flavoured spicy masala powder and is sautéed until golden brown. This delicious stuffed okra can be served as an accompaniment to Indian flat breads like chappathi / parathas.
Kale – a cruciferous leafy green packed with all the nutrients has a strong and earthy taste. This nutrient dense dark leafy green when cooked along with some lentils like black-eyed bean becomes a wholesome food. This Kale & black-eyed bean curry /dry subzi is made by sautéing the kale leaves along with already cooked black-eyed beans, grated carrot, ginger and spices. The addition of lemon juice before serving adds some tanginess and brightness to this earthy green. It can be served along with South Indian meals as dry curry / porial or as a dry subzi with roti /jeera rice.
Asparagus spears are a healthy and nutritious addition to meals. This green vegetable is known for its diuretic properties and are a rich source of various vitamins and minerals. It is usually served as an appetizer or as a vegetable side dish. There are several ways to prepare this and I have tried the restaurant style sesame toasted and oven roasted asparagus few times. But Indian tastebuds never get the complete satisfaction unless it is spiced up. So here is my maiden attempt of a desi style spicy, crunchy and flavourful Asparagus.
Pumpkins are a variety of squash and are very popular and easily available in North America especially during fall & winter months. In the month of October, when the leaves start to wither, kids look forward to Halloween celebration. Its a tradition in North America to carve and decorate the pumpkins as Jack-O-lantern for Halloween Celebrations. Its a wonderful delight to watch the bright and carved pumpkins displayed outside everybody’s porch. Apart from its artistic look and usage, pumpkins are widely used in different cuisines because of its sweet taste and rich nutritional value. There are many ways to include this squash in our diet by way of soups, desserts, salads, pies and much more. In South Indian cuisine, it is often prepared as porial/dry subzi or cooked and tossed in sambar/gravies. Today’s recipe – Sweet and sour pumpkin porial is prepared by tossing some easily available spices at home that complements very well with the sweetness of the squash. This tangy, sweet and sour pumpkin curry can be served with rice or rotis.
Sowmya's Spicy Corner 