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an easy veg recipe.
Posted March 20th, 2009 - 10:45 pm by from Varkala, India (Permalink)
so sitting here on my couch surfing couchsurfing,i was just thinking it might be a smart idea to post something on my group site. i should make sure that you guys are enjoying being veggies here in south america and maybe if it gets difficult sometimes with the unavailibility of veg food and the indian spices,i can try and pour in some recipe from my treasure chest which will not need that many spices. The name of the recipe is PULAV.

THE AMOUNT MENTIONED BELOW MIGHT BE FOR 1 OR 2 PEOPLE.(DEPENDS HOW MUCH ONE EATS.)

INGRIDIENTS:

OIL.

2 FINELY DICED CARROTS
1 FINELY DICED TOMATO
1 FINELY DICED POTATO
1 FINELY CHOPPED ONION.
50 GRAMS GREEN PEAS (BOIL THE PEAS FOR 10 MINS ON LOW FLAME)
LITTLE BIT OF GARLIC AND GINGER PASTE.
2 SMALL CHILLIES.FINELY CHOPPED.
FEW CORRIANDER LEAVES.
HALF TABLESPOON CURRY POWDER.
HALF TABLESPOON PIMIENTA POWDER.
(ADD A PINCH OR TWO OF CHILLIE + TURMERIC POWDER IF YOU CAN FIND SOME.)

LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST RICE.(YOU DON'T NEED TO HAVE THE RICE READY AND STEAMED AND ALL THAT, IF YOU ARE LAZY LIKE ME THEN YOU WOULD LOVE THIS RECIPE.)

METHOD:

HEAT THE OIL IN THE POT. ADD THE CHOPPED CHILLY THEN ADD THE CHOPPED ONION & POTATO. LEAVE THEM TILL THEY TURN LIGHT BROWN.THEN ADD HALF TABLESPOON OF GARLIC AND GINGER PASTE. MIX THE VEGETABLES WELL AFTER ADDING THE PASTE THEN ADD THE CHOPPED TOMOATO. LEAVE IT FOR SOMETIME.LATER, ADD THE PEAS AND THEN THE SPICES.MIX THEM WELL. NOW ADD THE RICE.(WELL WASHED.)ADD THE RICE AND 2CUPS WATER AND COVER THE POT.ADD SALT ACCORDIGN TO YOUR TASTE. LEAVE THE POT ON LOW FIRE FOR ABOUT 20 MINS BUT OCCASSIONALY STIR THE RICE,SO IT DOES NOT STICK TO THE BOTTOM.ADD MORE WATER IF YOU THINK IT REQUIRES.
WHEN THE RICE IS SOFT ENOGUH AND THE WATER TOTALLY SOAKED BY THE RICE AND VEGETABLE THAT MEANS THE RECIPE IS COOKED.
CHOP THE CORRIANDER LEAVES REAL FINE AND AFTER YOU PUT THE PULAV ON A PLATE GARNISH WITH THESE FINELY CHOPPED CORRIANDER.
ENJOY, PULAV.

YOU CAN ALWAYS IMPROVISE AND MAKE A BETTER DISH THAN LISTED ABOVE. YOU CAN INCREASE OR DECREASE THE SPICES.

UN ABRAZO A TODOS MIEMBRES DE MI GRUPO.
MANISHA.

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Posted November 6th, 2009 - 1:45 am by from Stockholm, Sweden (Permalink)
Thank you for the recipe Manisha!

Wanted to revive this thread to ask if there are more easy, spicy, tasteful veg recipies out there? Preferebly Indian, or Italian... But at this point, anything will do! I am so tired of eating bland pizzas and pastas... I can't bear it anymore!
We are currently in Chile and looking back, Peru and Bolivia were fantastic in comparison. We haven't found one single veg restaurant for 3 weeks here. (Actually, it's not entirely true - there was a half-veg restaurant that we went to in Santiago, but they seemed to boycot spices ;)

On a more positive note, if you like Indian food and want to splash out, go to Restaurant Majestic in Best Western Majestic hotel, Santiago. The chef is a Bengali guy and he cooks REAL Indian food. It's as good as a 5 star restaurant in India! (But also a lot more expensive ;)

Here's a recipe for those who like a slight Indian flavour:

lentils (here in Chile we only find green lentils, those that have not been split - but if you can find split dal, yellow lentils preferably, that's better)
onion
salt, pepper
turmeric (colorante amarillo - we found it in Bolivia)
garlic
cumin seeds
oil
fresh coriander (optional)
ginger (adds flavour and sting, but it's OK without)
green chillies (if you can find them! We have not been able to)
bay leaves
(optional: tomatoes, boil them and crush them and put them in at the end)

Boil the lentils with plenty of water. Add bay leaves, salt and turmeric to the water as you cook it. Boil until the lentils sog and become crushed. May take 30-40 minutes or more.
Fry onion in a separate pan. Then put it into the lentil bowl.
Add pepper as per taste.
If you are using tomatoes, boil in a separate bowl until soft, mash them and put them in.
In the separate pan, fry finely chopped garlic, mashed ginger (about 1 cms for 3-4 portions - don't overdose) and cumin seeds in a generous portion of oil (3-4 tablespoons). Be careful as the oil might "pop" and splash as you fry the seeds. Also be careful not to burn it - only fry for a few minutes.
Put the "tadka", as the fried mix is called, in the lentil stew. Stir and add more salt and pepper as per taste.

Voilà - your daal (lentils) is done!
Serve with freshly cut coriander on top, with boiled rice or bread. The Mexican tortillas you can buy in some S American supermarkets taste pretty good with this dish.

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Posted November 7th, 2009 - 2:18 pm by from Varkala, India (Permalink)
thanks lisa for posting that receipe...i love lentils.well, you can try and squeeze a bit of lime..hmmm and the tortilla wow...i do that often.
well, i am going to post the recipe for vegetarian cutlet or vegetarian hamburgers as westerners put it.

1 BEETROOT
4 POTATOES (IN SOUTH AMERICA YOU CAN BUY POTATOES WHICH ARE QUICK FOR FRYING AND FEW WHICH CAN BE BOILED QUICKER. WE NEED TO BOIL THESE IN WATER.)
1 RED ONION
SOME GREEN PEAS.
SOME WHITE FLOUR OR PAN MOLIDO
1 OR 2 EGG YOLK.
GARLIC AND GINGER ACCORDING TO TASTE.
WELL, CHILLIES IF YOU CAN FIND SOME.

BOIL THE BEETROOT +POTATOES +ONION+GREEN PEAS TOGETHER. AFTER SOME TIME CHECK IF THE POTATOES &THE BEETROOT ARE REALLY SOFT (BECAUSE THESE 2 TAKE A LOT OF TIME TO BOIL AS YOU HAVE TO MASH THEM WITH YOUR HANDS.)

SO LETS SAY AFTER 20 MINS DRAIN THE WATER. AND MASH THE POTATOES AND THE ONION AND THE PEAS TOGETHER.BEETROOT - I RECOMMEND LEAVE THE INNER STONE PART OF THE BEET AND JUST TRY TO MASH THE SOFT PARTS OF IT OR JUST GRATE EM ALL TOGETHER. ON THE OTHER SIDE DICE GARLIC AND GINGER AND THE CHILLIES IN VERY FINE DICES AND MIX IT WITH THE ABOVE VEGETABLES. ADD SALT , CUMMIN POWDER AND ALL THE POWDERS YOU LOVE TO ADD FOR TASTE AND MIX ALL OF IT TOGETHER. NO NEED FOR ANY WATER AS THE POTATO HELPS YOU MASH ALL THE VEGETABLES EASILY. ADD THE EGG YOLK + WHITE FLOUR OR PAN MOLIDO SO IT HELPS YOU MAKE A GOOD FIRM BURGER.
AFTER MIXING EVERYTHING MAKE SURE THE MIXTURE IS NOT VERY FLUIDY BUT A BIT THICK. ADD FLOUR OR IMPROVISE BY ADDING BREAD CRUMBS...

MAKE THE ROUNDED OR THE SQUARE BURGERS AND DEEP FRY THEM IN A PAN OR USE A BIT OF OIL.
THEY ARE SO GOOD.
THE ABOVE AMOUNT WILL SERVE 2 PEOPLE.

WELL, ON THE INTERNET I FOUND THIS RECIEPE BUT THERE ARE MANY THINGS NOT AVAILABLE IN SOUTH AMERICA AND MANY THINGS THAT I JUST ADDED AND FELT LIKE HMM...GOOD CHOICE. YES, AND YOU CAN ALSO ADD CORRIANDER.EVERY OTHER TIME I COOKED I HAD TO COOK FOR AT LEAST 5 TO 6 PEOPLE BECAUSE EVERYBODY LOVES IT. THE BEETROOT DOES THE TRICK FOR REPLACING RED MEAT AND THE POTATOES AND THE FLOUR FOR THE FIRMNESS.

TRY IT AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU KNOW ANY SIMILAR RECIPIES. I AM MAKING THIS IN HOSTELS IN SOUTH AMERICA AS IT DOES NOT TAKE A LOT OF TIME.




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Posted November 7th, 2009 - 2:26 pm by from Varkala, India (Permalink)
A RECIPE I ROBBED FROM A RESTAURANT IN SAMAIPATA, BOLIVIA.

EGGPLANT OR BRINJALS FRIED.

AS MANY EGGPLANTS AS YOU WANT.
WHITE FLOUR /WHEAT WHITE FLOUR
EGG YOLKS + PAN MOLIDO.

SLICE THE EGGPLANTS REAL FINE .LETS SAY A MEDIUM SIZED EGGPLANT YOU CAN GET AROUND 5 TO 6 FINE PIECES.(NOT DICED, NOT CUBED, JUST PASSING THE KNIFE FROM THE TOP TO THE BOTTOM TO GET FINE SLICES.)

IN 1 BOWL PREPARE THE MIXTURE OF FLOUR +EGG YOLK +SALT + A BIT OF WATER AND ON A SEPARATE PLATE HAVE THE PAN MOLIDO. DONT MAKE A VERY THIN PASTE AS THE EGGPLANTS NEED TO BE PASSED IN THIS MIXTURE AND THEN PASS THE SLICE OF THIS EGGPLANT INTO THE PAN MOLIDO AND DEEP FRY IT. TURN IT OFTEN AND WAIT TILL IT IS GOLDEN BROWN.


A GREAT GREAT DISH. ROBBED IT AND THEN COOKED IT FOR MY FRIENDS BIRTHDAY AND EVERYBODY WANTED MORE.

HEHEHE.

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