Kara Kulumbu - A Chettinad delicacy for Blog Hop Wednesday

Back again with another Blog Hop Wednesday and this time I am paired with the gal who started the blog hops, Radhika of Tickling Palates. I always think about her seemingly never ending supply of energy when it comes to blog posts and blog events. At any time, she has one or more events going on. Being a blogger, I know how much time and coordination they require and admire her for what she does.

I have always wanted to cook a Chettinad curry at home ever since I tasted this on one of our restaurant visits. Though, I was not bowled over by what I had that day, I always leave a pretty big margin when it comes to restaurants cooking up what they advertise as 'as good as home made', I was definitely taken up by the burst of flavors it had. I was looking for an authentic home made recipe and found it when Radhika posted this a couple of months back. Just didn't know I would actually make it for the blog hop :-).

Radhika tells you that the Chettinad vegetarian recipes do not get their due credit, I won't know about the non-vegetarian dishes as I haven't tasted them. There is nothing understated in the taste of Chettinad recipes, the flavors are bold and the burst of taste is quite a mouthful. It is an acquired taste and may take time to grow on some people. What I loved was the rich texture and the balanced mix of ingredients. I made a few changes from Radhika's original recipe, I used a combination of almonds and cashew nuts (5 almonds+2 cashew nuts) as I am quite nutty about healthy nuts. I replaced the black eyed peas with black chana or Kadle kalu since I had them handy and lastly reduced the amount of garlic from the original recipe to suit my garlic tolerance.

What do you need to make Chettinad Kara Kulumbu?
4-5 small purple eggplants (about 1 cup when chopped)
1 medium sized drum stick (4-6 pieces if you are using frozen)
15-20 pearl onions (more the merrier, I love them)
1/2 medium sized tomato - chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup cooked black chana/kadle kalu
Dry powders:
1 Tsp red chili powder
1 Tsp sambar powder (I used my home made huli pudi, replace with any equivalent sambar powder in the market)
1 Tsp dhania powder
Others:
A small gooseberry sized tamarind soaked in water for 20 minutes (use 1/2 Tsp tamarind concentrate)
1 Tsp salt - adjust to taste
1 clove garlic - chopped fine
2 Tblsp oil
1 tsp mustard
1/2 Tsp cumin
4-5 black pepper corns
4-5 curry leaves
To grind:
2 Tblsp grated coconut(fresh or frozen)
1 Tsp saunf
1/2 Tsp poppy seeds/gasagase
6-8 nuts (I used a combination of almonds & cashew, you can use either as you prefer)

It was a cloudy, masked up sky outside and had limited light which is the excuse I am giving for the picture quality

How to make Chettinad Kara Kulumbu?

• Soak poppy seeds and the nuts in warm water for about 30 minutes.
• Soak tamarind in water for 30 minutes and extract the juice. Skip this step if you are using tamarind concentrate.
• Soak the black chana overnight and pressure cook it until soft but holds shape.
• Heat oil in a wide pan, add mustard and let it splutter. Add cumin, black pepper, chopped garlic and curry leaves. 
• Add the pearl onions after 30 seconds and let it cook until it starts to turn light pink. 
• Add the chopped eggplants, drumsticks and tomatoes, give it a good mix. 

• Add salt, cover and let cook on medium heat for about 8 minutes. 
• Add the chili powder, dhania powder and sambar powder.
• Add the tamarind extract and let it cook for a minute. 
• Add the cooked black chana and continue to cook until eggplants and drumsticks turn soft.
• Grind all ingredients noted separately above into a smooth paste adding water as necessary. 
• Add the ground paste to the vegetables, adjust consistency with water and let it come to a boil. 

• Switch off and serve warm.

Notes: 

• You can increase the garlic per taste. 
• The gravy thickens once it cools, so adjust the consistency while boiling it.
• Make sure the eggplants hold shape and are just cooked for a great taste.

Here goes my kulumbu off to the 21st Blog Hop Wednesday..

Cajun Potatoes - baked potato wedges

Days are just flying by, sometimes I feel like I started blogging just days back but looking at the posts and the other blogs I have discovered in the process, I realize it has been months. Infact Sattvaa entered its 6th month of blogging in June. I am back here with another Blog hop, an event introduced by Radhika of Tickling Palates. I love the event as I get the opportunity to visit new blogs which I may not have come across in my daily blogging and also get introduced to so many of the talented bloggers out there.

This month I am paired with Faiza who blogs at Faiza Ali's kitchen from UK. You will find recipes from Indian rice biryanis to Italian bruschetta on her blog. I haven't explored all her recipes yet but will definitely go back. I chose Spicy cajun potatoes from her blog for two reasons - one, every one at home loves potatoes in all forms and shapes, two - I jumped as soon as I saw that it was spicy. It is a very simple recipe and is a mouthful of flavors. A plateful of Cajun potatoes were gone in minutes after taking it out from the oven as I had to scurry around to get a couple of decent pictures :-).

I love Cajun flavors, if you have tasted the Cajun trail mix, you know what I am talking about. A couple of years back, one of my colleagues at work had brought a big Walmart bag of Cajun trail mix and as we were working late into the evening on a project, it was our snack. The mixture of roasted nuts in the specially blended Cajun spices makes this quite addictive. I have bought it many times since then especially to motivate (read bribe) my team. All I need is to send a group email and say there is a box of cajun mix and people come into the office and then you can talk work :-), I know it is sneaky. Candies and cajun mix are hot favorites at work.

Though I have been baking potato wedges with various combinations of spices, I had never zeroed in on this particular Cajun blend. I am glad I came across it during blog hop, thank you Faiza! for this now family favorite. Enjoy this simply delicious Cajun baked potatoes as a snack or a side dish. Faiza has used Thyme and Oregano in her preparation, I skipped Thyme as I didn't have it.

What do you need to make the Cajun potato wedges? 
3 medium sized red potatoes
1 Tblsp olive oil
1/2 Tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper corns - freshly ground
1 Tbslp fresh chopped oregano
1/2 Tsp dry thyme or 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1/2 lemon

How do you make Cajun potato wedges? 

• Wash and cut potatoes into wedges. 
• Prepare the Cajun blend by mixing all ingredients except for potatoes and lemon juice.
• Mix in potato wedges and ensure every wedge is well coated with the mixture. 

• Let it marinate for 1/2 hour. 
• Pre heat the oven to 400F, line the marinated wedges in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes. 

• Check after 15 minutes and turn the potatoes over once. 
• Squeeze the lemon juice on top and serve the wedges hot.

Notes: 

• I like to use red potatoes for baking as they hold their shape well under the heat. You can use any variety of potatoes but avoid the floury types. 
• Marinating the potato wedges in the spice mix for a minimum of 20-30 minutes ensures that they absorb the flavors well. 

This plate of cajun potatoes goes to Blog Hop-18

Baked bread koftas - My first ever blog hop

I have always been interested in cooking and learning new recipes. One of the best things to happen after I started blogging is that I actively look for food blogs in the blogosphere in addition to my cook books, magazines, cookery shows and other sources. I chanced on the talented Radhika's Tickling Palates soon after I started blogging and linked a few of my posts to her ongoing monthly events. She has a busy blog with many events and the Blog Hop Wednesday caught my fancy since I saw it. It is such a neat way to know people with similar interests and also learn from each other. I was hesitant to register for blog hops as I was a new bee and didn't have much content on my blog for others to choose from. I gathered courage a couple of weeks back and Radhika very generously paired me up with another blogger for the March blog hop and patiently responded to all my eager questions about the event. So here I am with my first ever blog hop.

When I first visited Jayanthi's Sizzlingveggies blog, I was so impressed by her experimentation in presenting common, known recipes with a twist (of ingredients or way of cooking). Her recipes entice you not only to try them but also think of variations to make it better just like she does. Some of the unusual recipes from her blog like the oats pakora kadhi (book marked for later), a poornam filled puff pastry, pineapple quinoa kesari go on to show the breadth of her experimentation with recipes and making them interesting. I am sure I will visit her blog regularly for updates.

While it was not easy to choose one from my blog hop partner's recipes, I finally zeroed in on the baked bread koftas for 2 reasons - given I am a borderline health freak, I like the idea of baked koftas and it was loaded with the Spinach goodness. Here I go with minor variations of my own to Jayanthi's yummy Baked bread koftas in spinach gravy for the Blog Hop Wednesday.

What do you need to make Baked bread Koftas? 
Kofta ingredients: 
1 cup Bread crumbs (I used store bought plain bread crumbs) or 4 slices of bread
1 cup finely chopped spinach
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 green chili - finely chopped
2-3 sprigs of cilantro - finely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger - crushed fine in a mortar & pestle or grated
2 Tblsp of water

Spinach Gravy ingredients:
2 cups packed spinach
1/2 cup yogurt
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 medium onion - cut half the onion into chunks and the other half into fine choppings
1 medium tomato - chopped into bite size pieces
1 Tsp red chili powder
1 Tsp garam masala powder
1 Tsp dhania-jeera (coriander-cumin) powder
1 Tsp cumin seeds
1 inch piece of ginger root - chopped into thin strips
1.5 Tblsp cooking oil

How do you make Baked bread koftas? 
Making koftas: 

• Preheat oven to 375F
• Mix all the kofta ingredients in a bowl.
• Add water little by little to make a firm dough. Use just enough water to bind the ingredients together.
• Pinch off small lime sized balls and arrange them on a baking sheet. I made 12 key lime size koftas (not counting the one that vanished before it ever entered the oven :-))
• Bake for 15 minutes, turn the balls around and bake for another 15 mins until the koftas crisp up from all sides. I timed a total of 30 minutes for koftas in the oven at 375F.

Making gravy: 

• Heat 1 Tblsp oil in a pan, add the ginger, roughly chopped onion and fry for a couple of minutes until onions sweat a little and turn pink.
• Add chopped tomato and fry until it is cooked soft. 
• Add spinach, mix it in and cover and continue to cook for 3 minutes until the leaves wilt completely. 
• Add the dry powders, mix it,  switch off and let it cool. 
• Blend the mixture into a smooth paste and keep it aside. 
• Heat remaining oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and let it sizzle, add the reserved finely chopped onions and fry until they turn soft and light pink. 
• Pour in the ground spinach, add salt, yogurt and bring it to a gentle boil. 
• Keep the gravy warm for serving, add the koftas into the gravy 10 minutes before serving for it to soak up the gravy.
• We had the koftas in gravy with rice. 

Notes & changes I did to the original recipe: 

• I skipped garam masala & red chili powder in the koftas to keep it mild. 
• I skipped garlic in the gravy as I don't use it much.
• I used bread crumbs instead of bread slices since I had the crumbs in pantry.
• I added more spinach into both the koftas and gravy as we like greens. 

The spicy gravy and the mild koftas complemented very well. These yummy koftas in gravy are off to Blog Hop Wednesdays ~ Week 16