While cucumber is great raw, a light sautéing brings out in the gourd a delicious flavor dimension. The key is to cook the cucumber just enough to let it soften, not so much that it turns limp or watery. This cucumber side dish recipe, flavored with fresh lime and mustard, shows you how.
mustard oil
Chow Chow Tamatar: Chayote Tomato Curry
Chayote slow-cooked in a tomato base – simple flavors that get their kick from a tempering of mustard and asafoetida. This is one of those curries that only ask for time, not exceptional skill or effort.
Aloo Gobhi Bhujiya: Potato Cauliflower Stir Fry
A simple stir fry of potatoes and cauliflower elevated by the tadka of fenugreek seeds in mustard oil. Aloo gobhi bhujiya pairs well with pooris / parathas and stacks well in the lunchbox.
Patta Gobhi Aloo Matar: Cabbage Potato Peas Curry
You will find a delicious mix of flavors, textures and colors in this patta gobhi aloo matar ki sabzi (cabbage potato peas curry). There’s crunch from cabbage, tender starchiness from potatoes, a slight sweetness from peas, all ensconced in a mustard and spice flavor base.
How To Make Littis in a Paddu Maker
When a friend returned from Austin to Chennai, she brought back for her mother an ornate crockpot. Her mother unsurprisingly did not find much use for the contraption in her home cooking. For a while the crockpot was relegated to the far corner of her storage shelves. Till inspiration struck – and she converted the crockpot into a tulsi planter.
My story is not as drastic as that, but seeing my mother use her paddu maker for cooking littis raised a smile much like my friend’s story did. Paddus are not a staple food for us, so her paddu maker would mostly lie forlorn. One day my mother decided to give the equipment a "litti maker" makeover. The rounded fissures of the paddu griddle work perfectly as receptacles for litti balls. Slow cooking on the fire, with a turn or two in between, gives us littis close to the traditional fire-roasted ones.
Baingan Mooli Patta Sabzi: Eggplant Radish Leaves Curry
The onset of winter brings with it fresh white radish (mooli) topped with lush green leaves. Here’s a curry that puts those radish greens to excellent use: baingan mooli patta sabzi.
