Hashed Brussel Sprouts with Toasted Coconut Flakes

I’ve got to admit that the only reason I brought home the pack of brussel sprouts from the grocery store was to experience first-hand how bad those things really are! What can I say…years of reading blogs and magazines and books mentioning how yucky they taste and even watching ads and movies that show how people (adults and kids, alike) find ways of hiding the brussel sprouts on their plates, I was very sure that the pack of broussel sprouts was going to be money down the drain. Little did I realize I was in for a pleasant surprise :)

Since I have never cooked or tasted these cute-looking vegetable, I confided in my buddy Google to give me ideas and tips on how to prepare a brussel sprouts dish. As usual, I found more than what I was looking for (cheers to the army of brussel sprouts’ lovers out there!) and settled for a recipe that required almost no effort. Well based on most of the articles I read, the key to cooking these miniature cabbages was to not overcook them and as a novice with brussel sprouts, I took in that repeated tip readily.

Out of the many cooking ways that were suggested, I chose to sauté my sprouts and I think the thing that made my dish good was the way I selected to cut ‘em sprouts – by hashing them! So I hashed those babies and sautéed them with olive oil, chopped onions and garlic, some red pepper flakes and salt to taste…all along keeping in mind not to overcook them.

And here is my own twist to the recipe: I added a couple of spoonfuls of coconut flakes that I had dry-roasted at the beginning to the sautéed brussel sprouts and mama mia…simply loved the dish! (The taste was pretty similar to the regular cabbage.)

This is a classic example of how a person should not take in everything he/she sees and hears without finding out the truth for his/herself. Hmmm….cooking can be enlightening at times :D

Medhu Vada with Coconut-Mint Chutney Dip

Most people in the world are probably aware that vada is traditionally a South Indian savory snack. These people would be in for a surprise when they get to eat this crispy delicacy in Malaysia prepared by a Malay (my neighbor in Melaka has a pasar malam stall where she prepares and sells masala vadas) or even Malaysian Chinese. Oh yes, I still remember eating this hot and tantalizing snack prepared and served by a Chinese man in his roadside stall in Gajah Berang. In fact, his variation was special as they were prawn vadas served with chili sauce. Well, that’s how diversely united we Malaysians are :)

It’s not an uncommon sight to see a Malay preparing and selling the vadas or even the popular Chinese snack, pao (or bao), a kind of steamed bun with a variety of filling, both sweet and savory; a Malaysian Chinese preparing and selling Malay kuihs, rendang and nasi lemak or a Malaysian Indian preparing and selling char kway teow! That’s why we mostly prefer to identify ourselves as Malaysians first and then by cultural heritage because we share, give and take so many things among ourselves, especially when it comes to the Malaysian cuisine :)

As for me, this is yet another item that I have never bothered making them when I was in Malaysia mainly because whenever I wanted them, vadas are easily available in all Indian restaurants (all day) and roadside stalls during teatime. Out of the two common vadas, medhu (the donut-like vada with the hole) and dhal (prepared with lentils), I love medhu vada. Prepared the right way, it is usually crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inseide and pairs well with coconut chutney or even yogurt (medhu vada eaten soaked in flavored yogurt becomes dahi vada!).

I’d have to presoak the black gram dhal the night before and then grind it to a thick batter and then flavor the batter with salt, cumin seeds, cut green chilies, onions and ginger. A little long a procedure…so I usually take it easy when I don’t get the hole in the middle like :) and mostly just fry them up by pouring the batter in the hot oil without even trying to shape them. I usually target for perfection in taste and once I achieve that, the shape is really not a concern! I prepared some coconut-mint chutney to dip my vadas in this time. In little oil, I roast some cut onion, ginger, green chilies and a bunch of mint leaves together with some chana dhal before blending them in my food processor.

A wonderful savory snack, best enjoyed piping hot on a cold fall day!

Gobi Manchurian (Crispy Cauliflower Florets in Manchurian Sauce)

At home in Malaysia, mom usually adds cauliflower florets to her Chinese style mixed-veggie dish and we seldom use cauliflower in Indian dishes. It’s only after marriage that I learned to make this dish which happens to be one of hubby’s preferred vegetarian dishes. It’s not just simple to make this dish that can be served as an appetizer but also easy to like eating it :)

Although chlorophyll-lacking, cauliflower is one of the ‘white’ veggies known to be laden with health benefits. As it is the cauliflower may be as not as appealing as other vegetables but when cooked the right way and with the right flavoring, it can become as scrumptious.

Manchurian dishes are kind of popular in India and are a must in Indo-Chinese cuisine. The Manchurian sauce is basically sweet and sour sauce (soy sauce, ketchup, chili sauce and maybe some sweet rice wine vinegar) with individually favored level of spiciness. This sauce is used together with non-veg items such as chicken and fish as well as in vegetarian dishes using paneer (Indian cottage cheese) and like the post here, cauliflower florets.

First, the florets are coated in a batter made of rice flour, besan flour, chili powder and salt and are fried till crispy and golden brown. At this stage itself the fried cauliflower florets become tempting…hmmph…they are deep-fried after all! The crispy florets are then tossed with the prepared Manchurian sauce to make a tantalizing side-dish.

Stir-fried Amaranth Leaves

Amaranth leaves also known as Chinese spinach is indeed very popular in India with each region having a special way to cook it. The name may sound unique but it belongs to the more familiar family of the spinach we all know: the regular spinach leaves are all green whereas the Amaranth leaves are green with red and purplish hue.

Just like how I had previously captured the vibrant green of my Chinese style stir-fried baby bok choy here, this time around it’s a dish of leafy Amaranth leaves.

The addition of split pigeon peas (chana dhal) and grated coconut as well as dried chilies and dry spices such as urad dhal (ulunthu), cumin seeds and mustard seeds makes this dish Indian inspired.

However it's cooked, we just can’t get enough of leafy greens in our diet…luv ‘em…gotta have ‘em! :)

My South Indian Thali

Thali is a Hindi word that means ‘plate’. A thali set basically refers to a selection of different dishes, usually served in a steel tray with multiple compartments. In India as well as here in the US, many Indian restaurants offer Indian dishes for lunch or dinner in a thali set. In India, different regions offer different types of thalis. Whatever it is, the dishes in a thali can be as simple or elaborate as one desires.

I have heard of many other cultures having this same concept too. For instance, thali is a Japanese version of the bento box: a lunch set that comes in a compartmentalized box.

This is my simple version of a South Indian Thali: rice, tomato cooked in lentils, fried tindora, papads and sweet mango pickle.

Tomato cooked in lentils – Back in Malaysia, many of my lentils-loving non-Indian friends used to ask me for recipes using the variety of available lentils. I wish I knew this back then because it’s just so simple and yet can satisfy any lentil-lovers palate. Lentils and fresh tomatoes are cooked for 10 minutes in a pressure cooker. Separately, sliced onion, crushed ginger and garlic, curry leaves, sliced green chilies with some dried spices (cumin, mustard seeds etc.) are fried till fragrant. This is then added to the cooked lentils and tomatoes and with salt to taste, voila….all ready to be savored! Good with chapatis, too!

Fried tindora – I never had this vegetable back in Malaysia. In fact, never had an idea until hubby mentioned to me about this vegetable as it is very popular in Andhra. The first time I bought this vegetable in the frozen section, I did some online search on how to prepare it and glad the cooking process is indeed simple and hence it is a regular now in my kitchen. The texture of this vegetable, also known as ivy gourd, is similar to that of green beans. Here, I fried my tindora with onions, ginger, garlic and some split chickpeas and added some fresh grated coconut at the end.

A wonderful vegetarian lunch!

Bitter Melon Rings

Well this may not be something that you’d gobble up like you would a plate full of onion rings but hey, you may be surprised by how this bitter vegetable tastes good when done this way! These crisps are always available at my grandma’s place except that she uses the Indian bitter gourd which are smaller in size and more bitter.

Bitter melons are used in various ways in the Indian cuisine: more typically in stir fries with spices. In some Chinese restaurants in Malaysia, I have tried bitter melon cooked with either chicken, eggs, dried prawns or even in soups and I enjoyed them all the same.

Since everyone in my family is a bitter gourd/melon lover, I love experimenting on the different ways of serving up this vegetable at my dining table. I may be posting more dishes made with this high-valued, medicinal vegetable but now here are crispy, fried bitter melon rings.

I cut the medium-sized bitter melon into 2-inch thick rings, remove the pit and seeds and then coat them well with enough sprinkles of gram flour, rice flour, corn flour, salt, turmeric, chili powder and salt. These rings are fried till they are golden brown and pairs well with most dishes in the Indian vegetarian cuisine.

* Some like to wash the uncooked bitter melon with salt to remove the excess bitterness but I usually don’t because the more the bitter the better it is for me! :)

Bellam Garelu – Sweet Vadais

I am sure my fellow Malaysian Indian friends would go “really?!” reading the above title. Believe me when I first heard of this, I too went “hmmm….” rather doubtfully. I mean vadais are so popular among Malaysians – the Malays, Chinese and Indians alike - and we like it hot, crispy and with extra green chilies at the side, please!

There are basically two types of vadais – the ones made with chana dhal (paruppu vadai) and the ones made with urad dhal (methu vadai: crunchy on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside). Methu vadas are also ‘lovingly’ called the vadais with the hole by some ;) But bellam garelu (Telugu) takes your love for methu vada to a different, sweet level.

Three years plus into my marriage and learning about the varieties of Indian sweets, I can say we Malaysian Indians no nothing much about the real Indian sweets! If laddoo, jelebi, halva, kesari, athirasam, paal kova, Mysore pak were (among few others) the most regular sweets we indulge in during Hindu festivals in Malaysia, in India the above are the most basic selection of sweets!

Well, first stop during my marriage in Andhra, there was a host of unfamiliar looking and tasting Indian sweets that were served but, I was the bride then: I wasn’t too interested in trying out the different types of sweets, if you know what I mean :) The second time I was in India was for my bro-in-law’s wedding in Bangalore early this year. I got acquainted to even more varieties of Indian sweets and this time they were all different from the ones I already knew during my marriage in Andhra! Phew…I couldn’t help but think how India is the perfect place for a person who loves Indian sweets (like my sweet-toothed cousin) :)

This dessert happens to be a traditional, festival favorite in Andhra where my hubby is from. For this dessert, unlike the regular vadai-making, no onions or green chillis go into the batter - just whole urad dhal soaked (overnight) in water, drained, ground to a fine paste with salt, beaten till fluffy and white, shaped into vadais (no holes necessary- like mine), deep-fried till crisp and golden brown and dropped immediately in warm syrup till they absorb the syrup. I used simple syprup for my sweet vadais: 1 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup water. The traditional recipe actually requires the use of jaggery (palm sugar). I add a pinch of cardamom powder to enhance the aroma of the simple syrup.

Biting into a crunchy vadai, bursting with the sweet syrup is…hmmm….crunchy, salty, sweet all in one big, juicy bite!

Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy

Vegetables, including leafy greens, are indispensable in Indian cuisine. When I was growing up, leafy greens were served at my home almost daily.

Most Indian recipes involving leafy greens require a longer cooking time and while this is necessary in some recipes, it may cause the leaves to lose their vibrant green color and deplete their vitamins and minerals content in the process. That’s the reason why I like using the Chinese style of stir-frying my leafy greens: cooking on high heat (with less oil) for a shorter period of time. I remember eating at Chinese restaurants back in Malaysia where usually an order of leafy greens hits the table almost immediately.

Baby Bok Choy, with light green stems and dark green leaves, are perfect when stir-fried as the stems stay crunchy and leaves succulent that way. I add a handful of garlic slices to my hot oil to infuse the dish with its wonderful aroma and taste before hitting the pan with a couple of dashes of oyster sauce.

No salt necessary here as the oyster sauce gives enough saltiness and flavor to this simple yet healthfully satisfying dish.

Cabbage Fry – South Indian Style

I know many who only prefer to have their cabbage in the form of the coleslaw served up at KFC restaurants :) That’s because on its own, cabbage may not be tastefully appealing. Cabbage, especially the Napa variety, is generally used in soups or in noodle dishes in Malaysia. On a bigger scale, one can find cabbage being used as the topping on their Ramly burgers :D We sometimes use shredded purple cabbage to add color to our salads.

Actually it’s worth taking the effort to create a nice cabbage dish especially since it has pretty good medicinal properties namely an excellent source of vitamins and minerals and dietary fiber. Adding the right spices can create a rather wonderful flavor to the otherwise ordinary cabbage.

The entry here showcases thinly cut cabbage, fried with sliced onions, ginger and garlic, some chana dhal (split chick peas) and grated coconut with a hint of turmeric for the vibrant color. This dish is special in its own way: a hint of sweetness and crunchiness from the cabbage topped with the crunchiness of the chana dhal and not forgetting the texture added by the grated coconut, makes it a nice side dish especially in an Indian vegetarian meal.

Spicy Plantain Fry

Unlike the regular banana, which is sweeter and eaten raw when ripe, the plantain has to be cooked before serving. Plantains are native to India and it is commonly prepared as a vegetable (like potatoes) in the Indian cuisine as a savory dish. In Malaysia, plantain chips (sweet and savory) are very popular snack and are even exported to overseas.

In the South Indian cuisine, the other parts of the plantain tree, namely its flowers and shoots, are also widely used. At my home in Malaysia, my mom made sure she gets hold of the plantain shoots every time she came across them in the market mainly because it happens to be my dad’s favorite.

These plantain shoots (vazhai thandu) are not available all the time because the plantain tree will only fruit once and only after the fruit is harvested, the plant is cut and the layers of the thick stem are peeled till the cylinder-shaped soft shoot is found. The shoots are not only delicious when fried with spices, they are also high in fiber and so, good for the digestive system.

Also special, but something I have never eaten in such a long time and something that is also not that easily available, are the plantain flowers. Mom has cooked this too but not in recent times. All I remember is that the cleaning and preparing of the flowers and shoots before the actually cooking process is a little lengthy. Being someone who loves to cook without having to spend too much time in the kitchen, I don’t think I’d be attempting those!

 

The more easily available and easier to prepare part of the plant is of course, the fruit itself – the plantain. In the U.S market, the plantain is sometimes referred to as the green banana. At the grocery store where I get my plantains, this sticker is on each of the plantains and serves as a convenient guide.

For my dish here, I used the plantain while still green. The first time I attempted this in my kitchen, I called mom to get some help: peel off the thick skin and then cube the plantains, boil them in salted water with a little turmeric for a couple of minutes (don’t let them overcook). This process actually helps to eliminate the excess starch. Then, after you drain them, you may use them to fry how you would potatoes.

I add a heaping teaspoon of chili powder, a dash of cumin and turmeric powder and the most special part of it all: add a handful of grated coconut towards the end. Yummy!

Avial: Vegetable Stew

Avial is a very popular dish in Kerala, India where it is certainly served during all festivals and even at weddings. It is basically the definite dish in Kerala vegetarian cuisine. My mom has made her own version of this dish several times in Malaysia. She probably got the idea from my grandpa (paternal) who hailed from Kerala :)

This vegetable stew is made of a combination of julienned vegetables (any kind that your heart desires) stir-fried with a spice mixture that primarily includes turmeric, cumin powder and green chilies. The stir-fry is then thickened with coconut milk and towards the end, some creamy yogurt is added. This dish goes well with steaming hot rice or even with chapattis, like how we had it this time around.

The selection of vegetables in my avial dish includes chickpeas (garbanzo beans), green beans, broccoli, carrots, red and green peppers, onions and also a handful of lima beans.

Upma: Savory Semolina

Tiffin is an Indian English word that basically means light meal. In South India, where my husband is from, the term is generally used for between-meals snacks: this could be anything from dosas, idlis, pooris, and even the dish featured here: upma. Sometimes, the word tiffin may also refer to a light meal of lunch or dinner. In Malaysia, we don’t use this word for light meals although Malaysians are probably familiar with the term tiffin carrier – a multi-tiered food carrier.

Upma is a very easy to prepare dish and we usually have it either as a hearty breakfast or for dinner when we want to end the day with something light. Since upma happens to be hubby and baby’s favorite, it's a regular in my home. Back in Malaysia, I remember savoring this dish in temples, usually served after certain special prayers are held.

Upma is the Indian version of a dish which is now popular in America as couscous. Cream of wheat, semolina or more popularly known in Malaysia as suji is cooked in flavored boiling water till fluffy.



While couscous may be cooked in chicken broth, upma is usually made as a vegetarian dish – cut vegetable pieces stir fried with peanuts or cashews, onions, curry leaves and dried chilies and even grated coconut. To this savory stir fry, water is added (semolina:water = 1:2) and brought to a boil. Then, the semolina is added into the boiling water and stirred consistently till all the water is absorbed.

It can be eaten on its own or with chutneys, vegetable gravy, yogurt or even with some sprinkled sugar.

Cili Garam Terung (Fried eggplant in chili gravy)

This is an authentic recipe of the Peranakan community in Malaysia. My mom acquired this recipe from our Peranakan family in Melaka and used to make it quite regularly at home. I remember helping her pound the chilies with a mortar and pestle (the original way of getting the chilies pounded) before we opted for the faster and easier short-cut = food processor :)

Cili garam (a thick chili gravy consisting of pounded fresh red chilies, shallots and candlenuts) is wonderful with all types of fried fish (especially pomfret) or even tofu. Here, I made cili garam with quartered and fried brinjals. A wonderful dish on a non-meat eating day!