LIVE TO COOK

When I prepared Manipuri khichdi for our lunch, I was thinking about serving Pickle and Yogurt as sides. But, Anthony mentioned that Khichdi will go very well with Manipuri Ootti. I got interested and decided to prepare Ootti to serve with Manipuri Kichdi. Like adding fuel to fire, the ingredients for Ooti were very few and were my pantry staples setting my interest ablaze. So, I jumped in to action and set up another crock pot for Manipuri Ootti.

Anthony was right! Manipuri Ootti and Khichdi are the perfect duo. Thanks to him that we had a wonderful lunch.

Since I was planning Ootti as a side for two of our meals and the amount of soaked and sprouted green peas that I had in hand was not sufficient, I added some field beans sprouts too.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Dried Green Peas (soaked for 8 hours or more. I Sprouted the peas. But it is optional)
1/2 Cup Dried Field Beans (Dried Lablab or Fava beans, Mochchai paruppu in Tamil, Avarekkalu in Kannada) (soaked for 8 hours or more. I Sprouted the beans. But it is optional)
2 tsp Oil
1 1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 tsp Baking soda
1/4 tsp Black Mustard seeds
1 medium sized onion (chopped)
1/4 inch piece of Ginger (Minced)
1 pinch Turmeric powder
2 Dried Red chillies (broken into large pieces)

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a small pan and add the black mustard seeds. When they splutter, add turmeric and red chilli pieces. Stir for a minute.
2. Add the chopped onion and minced ginger. Fry till the onion turns slightly brown.
3. Add this tempering to a 5 quart slow cooker insert.
4. Drain the peas and beans well and add to the tempering above.
5. Pour 2 and 1/2 cups of water. Add salt and the baking soda.
6. Cover and cook in low for 8 - 12 hours.
7. Serve with cooked rice, flat breads or Khichidi.

I am serving Manipuri Khichdi and Oooti to all of you through RCI - North east India hosted by Bhags.

Every week it has been fun to create recipes for Nupur’s A-Z of Vegetables event. It gave us an opportunity to eat “The Alphabets” and to try new variety of vegetables. I was waiting for the last alphabet “Z” to celebrate the event and to pay tribute to the host, to all who eagerly participated, to all who eagerly read our posts and to all those who eagerly accepted to be the lab rat for the recipes we created ……

The alphabet is here at last, We are visiting the alphabet “Z” this week. What would be a better way to remember a food event more than creating a nice dish? So, I am presenting this “Zucchini Tower” as my tribute.

It is the recipe for “Kudalai Idly” from Meenakshi Ammal’s recipe book. I love this recipe for two reasons. The first reason is, it has no Rice in it, which gives me a variation in idly recipes. The other reason is, it calls for “Mung dal”, which I can replace with “Mung Sprouts”. Usually this idly is steamed in a cup made up of tender Banana leaves. As I am not able to find banana leaves in US, I use stainless steel cups or glasses (Tumblers), instead. I added Zucchini and it gave very soft Idli. The taste was amazing.

The Recipe is:

Ingredients:

1 cup whole Mung Bean
1 cup Urad dal
1 cup Shredded Zucchini
1 tablespoon Cashew nuts Chopped
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 teaspoon Ghee or Oil
3 teaspoons Salt

Method:

1. Soak and sprout the Mung Beans.
2. Soak the Urad dal for 2 hours.
3. Grind the Mung bean and Urad dal to a smooth Batter.
4. Add the salt and mix well. Ferment overnight.

5. Heat the ghee in a small pan. Add the Black Pepper and Cumin seeds. When they splutter, add the cashew nuts and fry till golden brown.
6. Add to the Batter and Mix in the shredded zucchini.
7. Grease the cups with oil and spoon the batter, 2/3 full.
8. Steam for 10 minutes in a big pot or pressure cooker.
9. Allow to cool for 2 minutes. Remove from mold and serve.

I thank Nupur for hosting this wonderful Event.