Stuffed Lady's Finger

More and more vegetables get added to my repertoire every week and this is something that I am very proud of. People tell me that Lady’s Finger is the first vegetable they learnt to cook. I can’t say the same. The very first time that I cooked this vegetable was only last year. Prior to that, all I ever did with it was out it in Sambar... which reminds me of this conversation with my colleague:


A: So, you’ll make sam-burr tonight?
Raaga: Yeah. I have some bhindi sitting in the fridge. I think I’ll use that up to make sam-baar.
A: Eeks… you never put things like bhindi in sam-burr! You can use carrot, beans and lauki, not bhindi yaar.
Raaga: No, no. Bhindi, baingan etc in sam-baar are considered delicacies.
A: Oh God, no! You really are a cocktail case yaar.


I suppose that last sentence defines me. Hybrid, cocktail, mixed parentage. Any deviations from traditional cooking is usually blamed on this thing. Coming back to the recipe here and this particular vegetable in question. I never really liked Lady's Finger much. I think it was because my brother loved it so much. I will post the recipe of Amma’s famous Vendakkai Karumadhu someday soon. That was the staple I grew up with. Pachadi and Huli were never standard fare. Fried lady’s finger featured in my hostel menu once a week and I would allow it to soak in my bowl of curds, allowing my thoughts to wander home. This recipe was picked up off the internet by a friend who brought it for us one evening. I learnt the recipe from her and made it a few weeks later. That one weekend, I did a lot of work. I chopped all the vegetables for the week and froze them. I even prepared vegetables for stuffed vegetable dishes and this is the result of just that.

¼ kg Lady’s Finger


To be mixed together:

1 tbsp Chopped Garlic
1/4 cup Gram Flour (Besan)
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
¼ tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Lime Juice
Salt to taste

For the tempering:

2 tsp Oil

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

Wash the lady’s finger well and dry on a towel until completely dry. Chop the crown off and make slits in each.

Stuff the prepared mixture into the lady's fingers.

In a pan, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the asafoetida and the stuffed lady's fingers. Cover and cook on a low flame till the lady's fingers are done (about 15 minutes). Remove the lid and allow to crispen.

This makes for a great side with rice and dal. I'm fairly certain it would make a great snack with cocktails. Thanks Ginny. This is a keeper recipe!

Instant Karamani Sundal

Navaratri and Sundal are sort of synonymous. For me at least. One of my colleagues, D, loves sundal of any kind as she says it reminds her of her childhood in neighbouring Faridabad where a Tamilian neighbour invited her over every year for Golu. What are the chances that a very Punjabi young lady from Faridabad has memories of a dish that is so very Tamilian? It is something that I took for granted all my life. But when I see folks around me and think back about my childhood, I know that what I had was special. I can't believe that at one point, I thought everybody had parents who spoke different languages and that a different language is spoken in each house.


I come from a multicultural family. My extended family has representatives from almost all over India and some parts of the world as well. I understand many traditions. I may not know why someone follows a particular tradition, but I am aware that they do. For years, the grandmother of a Punjabi friend invited me during the Navaratri Ashtami for the Kanchak Pooja. I loved the poori-halwa-chana I got, not to mention the thrill of getting a red chunni and some money. Year after year, we got sandesh from our Bengali neighbours around Durga Pooja. And at Ganesh Chaturthi, our Kashmiri neighbours would send us Roth and some walnuts soaked in water. And I remember decorating Easter eggs with a German neighbour. One street with 18 houses had people from different states (not to forget some foreigners) and our entire campus must have had every state represented. Yet, people tell me I grew up in narrow minded, conservative, orthodox Madras.


Most people I meet these days grow up in what I would consider uni-cultural environments. And I find I have limited tolerance for people who know absolutely nothing about other cultures and talk like experts. How would you deal with this situation?


M: What did you eat for breakfast?
Raaga: I had Dosas.
M: For breakfast??? Come on yaar, dosa is a dinner item.


I told her that it was quite the same way that Aloo Parathas are eaten for breakfast in her house. Coming back to Navaratri and sundal, the only reason I can think of to postpone making sundal would be that one does not have presoaked beans. Black eyed beans, a.k.a. karamani/chawli/lobia, helps you work around this reason as well. As I discovered last year, these beans need no soaking. I pressure cook them directly and that gives them just the right amount of softness. I woke up on the first day of Navaratri this year and wanted to make sundal. I had not soaked any beans the previous night. I had some soaked and cooked legumes in the freezer. I didn’t feel like using them as I feared they had become too mushy for sundal. So I decided to make it with Karamani. On the first day of Navaratri, I made this and we ate it in the car on the way to a college for campus recruitment.

1/2 cup Black Eyed Beans
1 tsp Oil7-8 Curry Leaves
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Urad Dal
1/4 tsp Chana Dal
1 tsp Ginger Paste
½ tsp Chilli Paste
1 Red Chilli
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
1 tbsp Coconut, scraped
Salt to taste

Pressure cook the beans with salt for 4-5 whistles. Drain when done. In a kadhai, heat oil. Add the urad and chana dals, mustard seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves, ginger and chilli pastes, and the red chilli. Fry for a minute. Add the cooked beans, and a little salt. Cover and cook 4-5 minutes. Garnish with the scraped coconut and enjoy.

I hope all of you had a nice Navaratri. Wishing everyone here a very Happy Vijayadashami.

Bansi Rava Sheera

Many of you out there are good at cooking. But how many of you are proficient in the art or science of cooking? I know that I am. How exactly do I know this? Simple! I have a “Cooking Badge” and a certificate that says “Proficiency Badge in Cooking”.


I was a proud member of the Bharat Scouts and Guides when at school. I was a Bulbul before I became a Girl Guide. I am a President’s Guide, in other words, a recipient of the Rashtrapati Puraskar. One chilly November evening in 1991, I, along with many other Scouts & Guides, was invited to tea with the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan . Tea was preceded by the award ceremony. In all, it was an evening I will never forget for as long as I live. One of the things took me closer to that award was this proficiency badge in cooking.


I made this dish for the very first time when I was in class 7. In my school playground on a fire that we’d gotten going using firewood (no kerosene, no paper and just one matchstick). Thankfully, I didn’t have to memorize the recipe. It is one of the simplest recipes that I have and while I normally make it with normal semolina, this time I tried it with Bansi Rava (Samba Godumai) - a variant of cracked wheat. I must say I prefer the normal one, but this was almost as tasty. I do not make too many Indian sweets and that is something I am trying to change.


1 cup Bansi Rava (or normal Semolina)
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Milk
1 cup Water
2-4 tbsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)
1 tbsp Cashews
1 tbsp Raisins
¼ tsp Cardamom Powder


Roast the rava in 1 tbsp of ghee over a low flame till it lets out a lovely aroma and turns light brown.


In a separate vessel, heat the milk, sugar and water. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the cardamom powder. Add the roasted rava and cover and cook for 5-10 minutes.


In a frying ladle, heat 1 tbsp of ghee and fry the cashews until brown. Add the raisins and take the ladle of the heat. Add this to the cooked rava mixture. Add the remaining ghee to the sheera and mix well. Enjoy this fresh.


I have had a lot of people tell me that I must add the sugar at the end as the rava won’t cook in sweet milk. I have never faced any problems and absolutely love the texture and taste of this “anytime” dessert. Try it.

Rangoon Mochai Sundal

The festival season is on us now and I am trying to make sundal almost everyday. Not that I am particularly religious (in fact I am quite the opposite), but eating sundal during Navaratri is one more of those feelings of absolute “comfort”. The “all must be well with the world” feeling that I so seem to need these days. I don’t dress up and go visiting people. Not that anyone has invited me to their house. Of the few people we do know in and around Delhi, almost no one is TamBram. And I think we do many things when there are children in the house. Ive noticed that Diwali is a lot quieter in households where the children are all grown up. I think Golu is usually set up in homes where children are enthusiastic about the entire 9-day festival. And then you have people like me. When someone asks me the significance of a certain festival, I start reeling off the names of the different dishes that are made. I am a foodie afterall I suppose. And with this post, which I will send to Valli for her JFI, I hope to resume food blogging in full swing.


Rangoon Mochai has to be my favourite bean. Considering my love for Avrya Bendi, it is but natural. I love the melt-in-the-mouth texture that these hyacinth beans get as soon as they are cooked. I don’t get these beans here and so I tend to use them very sparingly.



1/2 cup Hyacinth Beans, soaked overnight

1 tsp Oil
7-8 Curry Leaves

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Urad Dal

1/4 tsp Chana Dal

¼ tsp Amchur (Dry Mango Powder)

1 Red Chilli

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1 tbsp Coconut, scraped

Salt to taste

Pressure cook the soaked beans with salt for 4-5 whistles. Drain when done.

In a kadhai, heat oil. Add the urad and chana dals, mustard seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves, and the red chilli. Fry for a minute. Add the cooked beans, amchur and a little salt. Cover and cook 4-5 minutes. Garnish with the scraped coconut and enjoy.


If you like, you can also invite some friends over; put all your dolls on display, serve them some sundal. Then find the most naïve of them and say, “Oru Paattu Paadu Ma” (Please sing a song!).

Bhenda Huli

This is one of the more popular amchi dishes. I know that it features at least once a week on the menus of several of my relatives. It is usually not made dry. I made it a little dry to go with rotis and then diluted it with a little water when we had it for dinner with rice and dali-saar.

1/4 kg Lady's Finger, chopped

4-5 tbsp Coconut, scraped

2-3 Red Chillies

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds

1 tsp Coriander Seeds

5-6 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tbsp Tamarind Paste

3-4 tsp Oil

Salt to taste

Fry the red chillies, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds in about 2 teaspoons of oil. Grind this along with the coconut to a smooth paste.

Cook the lady's finger with the tamarind paste, salt and a little water until done. When it is cooked, add the masala and enough water to make it a sambar like gravy (or thicker if you like). Bring this mixture to a boil.

In a frying ladle, heat the remaining oil and add the crushed garlic and fry for a minute. Add this to the gravy and serve with rice and dali-saar.

If you're looking for a no onion/garlic version, you could use this tempering:

1 tsp Cooking Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Asafoetida (Hing)
7-8 Curry Leaves

In a frying ladle, heat the oil and add the mustard. When the mustard splutters, add the asafoetida and turn off the flame. Add the curry leaves. Fry for a minute and add this to the boiling mixture.

Off this goes to Deepa's RCI: Konkani Cuisine.

Bhulbhulavani

Everyone knows how much I love brinjal. I am always on the lookout for new recipes that I can try out with these little purple beauties. I made this dish many months ago and saved the post for the RCI. This isn't a dish that Amma made. She made it for the first time after I told her about it. I adapted this recipe from Rasachandrika, my konkani cooking encyclopaedia. My maid and my mother-in-law were very skeptical when I started cooking this. They couldn't imagine how a dish could be made without turmeric. I was following a recipe. Modifying it, no doubt, but following it all the same.

1/2 kg Brinjals, finely chopped

2 Onions, finely chopped

2-3 Red Chillies

1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds

2-3 Cloves

1" piece of Cinnamon

2-3 tbsp Coconut, scraped

3-4 tbsp Coriander Leaves, chopped

3-4 Garlic cloves

2 tbsp Oil

Salt to taste

Dip the brinjal pieces in water for 10 minutes and drain. Add salt to the pieces and keep aside.

Heat about 2 teaspoons of oil and fry the chillies, coriander seeds, cloves and cinnamon. Grind together to a fine paste this mixture with the coconut and garlic.

Heat the remaining oil and fry the onions. Add the brinjal pieces and fry for about 2 minutes. Add the ground masala and mix it well. Cook till the brinjals are done. Add the chopped coriander leaves.

We had them with wheat rotis for lunch and with Rice Rotis for dinner. I haven't made it again since only because I have been trying out other dishes with brinjal. But the recipe is a keeper.

Off this goes to Deepa's RCI: Konkani Cuisine.

Celebrating with a Cake

It is taking me longer than I expected to get back to blogging, especially this blog. After almost three months, I updated my first blog. The break at The Singing Chef seems longer even though I have been away for just a month. I think it has to do with the regularity with which I have been posting here. So many of you have left messages and sent me mails asking if I’m fine. I am, thank you very much. And I was truly overwhelmed by your messages. It is not like me to abandon my blog and I really haven’t. I was away on a much needed two week vacation. At one point, I thought I could use my time to schedule posts, but we had no time for anything really.

We rested (that was one of the essentials) and we met friends and family (which was the main reason we traveled). We did, though, eat an awful lot. I didn’t take pictures of food on this trip, and God alone knows how much restraint I exercised. In Hyderabad, we had some home cooked meals. I did a little bit of cooking and shall remember not to attempt any such thing in the future. More heartburn, not worth it. I did meet Arundati who gave me free chocolate making lessons. I will attempt making chocolates very soon. We ate at Persis, Little Italy, and Minerva. Persis is just the same. The same biryani that the world somehow thinks is the best. Little Italy is just down the road from where I lived. Nice food, great ambience. Thank heavens it wasn’t there during my time. I’d probably have eaten there everyday. In Bangalore, we ate at home a lot. We ate stuff from the should-be-world-famous-soon Ganesh Upahar in Anand Nagar, and at TGI Fridays and Little Italy (again). I so wanted to have Chhole Bhature at Shiv Sagar. ( I believe in next times.) We were 10 minutes late at Shanthi Sagar and were denied idlis at dinner time. Madras rocks when it comes to food. More so on this trip of ours. We had some home made food again (I cooked a little bit again) and ate out a little. Ratna café, Minar at Savera, etc. But I had proper amchi banana leaf meals at the SGS Sabha as I was there for the Gowri-Ganpati festival. I celebrated my second Gowri Puja with Amma in Madras.

It’s been about 10 days since we got back. I’ve become more organized since then. All the vegetables for the week are now neatly processed during the weekend so dishing out breakfast and lunch together only takes me 30 minutes. Dinner is also a 20 minute affair, in terms of cooking that is. All this leaves us with more time to do all the things that we’d like to. Hit the gym, take a walk, watch more eposides of Three’s Company, cook more wholesome meals… even cut fruit and eat it as an after dinner snack. Something we’d never thought of doing before. I haven’t gotten around to doing any baking yet. We’re planning a small dinner party on Saturday and I hope to do some baking then. But until then, let me leave you with this small cake that I’d baked for a friend when she asked for an encore. The chocolate orange marble cake with a chocolate glaze icing and sprinkles. Simple and sweet. Perfect for that little celebration. Coming back to my beloved blog after a break does call for a celebration.

Doing that on my second wedding anniversary calls for a bigger celebration. S and I complete two years in wedlock today. I am not cooking anything special. We’re planning a small dinner at a local restaurant that’s supposed to be a perfect candle-light romantic dinner place. See you all very soon.