Spinanch Poriyal / Spinach Thoran/ Spinach Stir fry

Go Green Go!!!!. Lets go green today.. Before my college days, my mom used to make the red spinach very often. I like the color of it, specially when you mix it with the curd rice.

So after coming here, i don't feel like buying this green spinach, because i love the red spinach very much. One day one of my friend was on the phone and she told me that she is making spinach poriyal. That day i was thinking Ohhhh even in America our Tamilians are eating green vegetables. Ohh let me buy some this week when i go for shopping. That's how i got this green spinach before 7 years back. That day i got the Spinach bunch and cleaned it 5 times i think. Then i cooked it and ate it. Hmmm what to say even after all this wash, i was munching on sand while i had my lunch. But  ow i always buy the washed spinach in the pack or the frozen spinach.

Now that's the easiest poriyal which i love to make. Because the one that i buy from the nearby Farmers market is "triple washed". So i don't have to wash it and look for sand. Ooooh i don't like munching on sand in my spinach. I make spinach with paruppu and this poriyal at home. Sometimes i even add spinach to the chicken gravy to make healthy chicken gravy.

Here comes the recipe to make it typical Nagercoil style with some coconut.


You will need:

• 1 pack of spinach (rough chopped)
• 1 big onion finely chopped
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• salt to taste

To Grind:

• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 gloves of garlic
• 2 pinch of  LG powder-- Asofoetida powder
• pinch of turmeic powder
• 1 green chilli (Can add 1 more if you like spicy dish)

Procedure:

Step 1:

Heat a pan and add oil to the pan. When the oil becomes hot add the mustard seeds and wait for it to splutter. When you hear the spluttering sound just add the chopped onions.

Step 2:

When the onions are getting fried in the oil, you can go ahead and give a rough chop to the spinach.  Saute the onions just for 3 mins and add the chopped spinach to it and continue to saute it, untill it looks like this.

Step 3:

Now add the ingredients under "To Grind" in your small mixie jar and dry grind it coarsely. You can even use the Pulse option. DO NOT ADD WATER TO IT. 

The ground mixture look like this. 

Step 4:

Add the ground mixture to the sauteed spinach and stir it for 3 more minutes, untill you get rid off the raw smell of garlic. 

Step 5:

Add salt to taste and switch off the stove and enjoy with rice.  . The final item looks like this.. 

You can serve this yummy stir fry with mor kulambhu, Paruppu curry (Dal curry), . Simple healthy  easy to make dish at home in less than 30 minutes from start to finish. 

Gods ways are higher than our ways!!!

My God watches over me!!!!!

God's eyes are beautiful. Let me start with a song about God's eyes written by my relative, who is a very good song writer and a worship leader. 

All Glory to God. Yes my God watches over me.Thank you Dina for your continuous encouraging words to update my blog with Bible messages. What a mighty God we serve. Yes He is our all mighty God and with Him we can do anything.

Read an article last week about an Old farmer who was driving down a Highway. When he was driving on the Highway, his cell phone rang. He answered his wife's call. There His wife urgently warned him " John I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on Highway 59. Please be careful honey!!!!!"

John replied "Darling, It's not just one car. Its hundreds of them!!!".

       Sometimes even our perspective varies the way we see things. We can simply look at the Facts of a situation that we are going through Alone, or we can even see the Facts in the light of the Truth of Gods word.

There is no promise anywhere in the Bible which says that while we are in these earthly bodies, we will not face any trouble. But we do have a beautiful promise from God, that He will give us peace in the midst of the trouble. May

Isaiah 26 verse 3, we read that the quiet confidence is called Perfect peace. "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you"

May be you are the one who says, " I don't really have eyes of faith. The problem is too big, its too close. Ohhh i'm totally blind. You know, i can't sem to see any way out.  But my dear friend "My God's ways are higher than your ways". May be the "Thing"  has crowded your whole life. But we have a God who can help us to come of the problem that you are going through.

Let me tell you one interesting story about 2 horses.

Illustration: Horse Bell

       Two horses were living on a rural field. From a distance, the horses look alike. But if you near the horse, you will notice something quite amazing. Looking closer to one of the horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner made a good home for him to stay even thou the horse is blind.

If you are near by the blind horse, you will hear the sound of a bell. The bell sound comes from the baby horse in the field. Attached to her halter is a small bell. The bell lets her blind friend know where she is, so he can follow her.

The blind horse always listens to the bell sound and follow that sound, trusting that she will not lead him astray.

When the baby horse returns to the shelter each evening, she stops occasionally and looks back. Making sure her friend isn't too far behind to hear the sound of the bell.

Conclusion:

Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have lots of challenges and problems . He watches over us. He even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in a need.

Many of the times, we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those whom God places in our lives. At other times we are the guide horse, helping others to see.

John 6:46 we read ""Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.". 

Just like this verse, we don't always see Him, But you know He is always there to help us when we are in trouble.  When you can't see Him, look around or just listen for the one He has assigned to help you. They will be there. God never leaves us alone. He is always there with us.

God's eyes are beautiful.  All glory to God...

Red Capsicum Chutney / Yellow Capsicum Chutney

After i published my last post, i got lots of phone calls and messages from my friends asking me to update the blog very often with more recipes.  So here you go friends. Hope you will like it, love it and share it.. He he he.

       Last Saturday my neighbor gave me the Restaurant depot card for us to visit that store. With lots of curiosity , our family went to that store just to see what do they really carry  To my surprise, we found yummy fruits, vegetables, all kinds of meat and all that you need to cook at home/ restaurant except the canned goods.

We bought 1 full box of mangoes, 5lb red peppers, 25 lemons in a bag, 5 lb apples in a bag, and some sauces and cookies.

Red pepper.. Yumm yumm. Mummy i want more of that red vegetable!!!! Thats what i hear whenever i make this red pepper/capsicum vegetable.So tried the red pepper chutney after seeing it in my friend Mullais's website. I did some changes  and tried it, and we just loved it. My little girl asked me " Mom can you please make more of this Chutney. I love this Chutney and I love you too Mom". That made my day..

 I add this red veggie with the mushrooms to make mushroom red pepper masala, Sometimes i make mixed vegetable rice with the bright red veggie. Very often i add it to the Chicken stir fry and Pasta dishes Sometimes i add this to the fish curry to make it more colorful. Trust me , it does taste good. Ok ennoda kathayae sollitu iruntha appuram eppo recipe pathi sollurathu.. Let me share my recipe.

To make this chutney, you need just 30 minutes of your time from start to finish.

You will need:

• 1 Red Pepper / Yellow or even Orange pepper
• 1 Big Tomato / 2 small tomatoes
• 1/4 of big onion / 2 small onion
• 1/2 cup of grated coconut
• Handful of coriander leaves
• 2 Red chilies
• 5 Garlic Pods
• 1/2 inch ginger(finely chopped)
• curry leaves (optional)
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp oil 

Procedure:

Step 1:

Wash the red pepper and take off the seeds and rough chop them and keep it aside. 

Step 2:

Wash the tomatoes and chop them and keep it aside. Just do the same thing with the onions too. 

Step 3:

Some of the  ingredients that you need to make this yummy chutney.

Step 4:

Heat a pan and add some oil to it. When its hot just add the curry leaves (optional)red chilli, onions, garlic and ginger and saute it just for 2 minutes. 

Step 5:

Now add the chopped red peppers and saute it for 5 to 7 minutes in a medium flame. 

Step 6:

Now add the tomatoes and saute it for 5 more mins. Now you can add the grated coconut and the chopped coriander leaves and saute it just for a minute and switch off the stove. 

Step 7:

Let it cool for 5 minutes. 

Step 8:

 Now add the water and salt to the mixture and grind it to the Chutney consistency. We prefer the smooth consistency chutney, not the course consistency. 

I did not do the extra tempering to give the final touch  to add the extra taste and extra fat. 

Chutney tastes yumm yumm.. We had it with South Indian Dosa. You can even have this chutney with Chapathi.

Hint:

You can even add some urad dal to the oil before adding onions.

Turkey Kheema Wrap -- Indian Style Quick and Easy dinner

   

Turkey Kheema Wrap

Turkey Kheema wrap is a quick and easy recipe to make in less than 30 mins. You can even take it for lunch in your lunch box.. Kids friendly and Adults friendly recipe. You can easily substitute the minced turkey meat with Eggs, Minced Chicken, and Minced Beef. I learned this recipe from my sister in law Angela, when I visited her during last Christmas. Thank you Angie akka for this easy peasy recipe. I did some modification to make it Indian style. 

You will need:

• 1 Onion (finely chopped)
• 1 lb minced turkey meat
• 2 tbsp Crushed Ginger and Garlic (Use Mortar and Pestle to do this work)
• 2 tsp fennel powder
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• 1 tsp pepper powder (Optional)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Cumin Powder
• 2 tsp Dry Mango Powder/ Chat Masala Powder (Optional)
• Salt to taste
• Few curry leaves (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp Oil

To build a Wrap :

• 1 cup tomato finely chopped
• coriander leaves finely chopped
• Your all time favorite lettuce (Iceberg or Romaine) Optional
• 1 cucumber thinly sliced
• Chili flakes
• Mayonnaise/ Thick Yogurt(curd)
• Pepper powder
• Chapathi/Roti/ Whole wheat Ready made Roll-ups

Procedure:

Step 1:

Take a frying pan and add 1 tbsp oil to it, Now add the mustard seeds to it. Allow it to splutter and add the chopped curry leaves and the onion. Saute it just for 2 minutes. Now add the crushed ginger and garlic and saute it until it gets rid of the raw smell. 

Step 2: 

Reduce the flame to Low and add the Marsala powders one by one (Turmeric powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, Chili Powder). Just stir it for a minute and Increase the flame to High. Now add the washed minced meat. Keep sauteing for 5 mins. Now add the salt and stir it continuously.  At this time the mixture would look like this.

Turkey Kheema

Now just to enlighten the taste sprinkle some mango powder and pepper powder on this mixture and give it a stir. Check for salt one more time. 

Step 3:

Building the Wrap:

1. I used the ready made Whole wheat roll to make my job easier. 

Rectangle shape Roll-up.. You can substitute it with Homemade Chapathi/ Roti

2. Warm the roll on the dosa pan/ Griddle, if you don't like Cold Foods. 

3. Now keep the warm chapathi/ roll up on a plate and spread Mayonnaise on it. On the center of the Roll Up, Keep one spoon full of prepared Turkey Kheema .  Top it up with chopped tomaoes, chili flakes too.  I didn't add Chili flakes to my kids wrap. 

Roll up topped with Turkey Kheema, chopped tomatoes, chilli flakes

4. You can add all your favorite veggies. I had cucumber handy. So I added thinly sliced cucumber and some fresh finely chopped cilantro(coriander leaves). Sorry my fridge is running out of lettuce. :). So I did not add lettuce today.

Roll Up loaded with Turkey Kheema, tomatoes, chilli flakes, cucumber and Coriander Leaves

5. Just fold it, cut it in half and serve. 

My loving 3 year old picky eater loves to eat Ketch Up with everything. So just added some ketch up on top to invite her picky tummy to try this, Wow she just loved it.  

Hints:

1. You can add green peas to the Kheema

2. Can make the same recipe with Scrambled eggs, Ground chicken, and with Tofu.

3. You can eat this Warm / Cold. 

4. It doesn't need any extra side dish. 

5. This dish has all the nutrients that you need.. Fiber from Whole wheat, Protein for Turkey meat, Vitamins and Minerals for the veggies. 

6. One Pot Meal, Kids friendly, Lunch box friendly, Easy to make, Everyone's favorite, What else do we need. 

Ground Beef Kothu curry recipe

You will need:

• 2 lb minced beef
• 1 red onion (Chopped finely)
• ½ tomato (chopped finely)
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp fennel seed powder
• 1 tsp meat masala (optional)
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp salt

To Grind (Home made masala)

• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 red chilli
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp whole pepper 
• ½ tsp fennel seeds

Procedure:

Step 1:

Take pressure cooker add just 1 tbsp oil to it. Now add the minced(ground) meat along with chopped red onion, tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, pepper powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, meat masala and salt.  Saute it just for 5 mins. Then add 2 cups of water  and cook it for 8 to 10 whistle.

Step 2: 

In the mean time heat a small pan/ wok and add coriander seeds, cumin seeds, whole pepper, fennel seeds and saute it in a low flame for few mins untill you get good smell.  When you get good aroma, switch off the stove and let it cool for couple of mins. They dry grind it in a mixie without adding water and keep it aside.

Step 3:

In a big wok(Vada chatti or cheeni chatti) add 3 tbsp oil . When it becomes hot add cinnamon stick and curry leaves. When it splutters add the home made masala and saute it just for 1 min.

Step 4:

Immediately add the cooked meat and saute it untill you get nice dried texture as shown in the picture. It will take minimum 10 mins. Check for salt. You can even add more oil to it if it get sticks to the bottom.

Hint; You can even add fresh green peas to this recipe.

You can serve this with paratha,  rasam rice  and sambhar rice.