Geetha's Kitchen

Stuffed Peppers and Tomatoes Turkish Style Turkish style stuffed vegetables are a fabulous addition to anyone's culinary repertoire - so perfect for parties and special occasions. My volunteer pepper plant from last year produced a bumper crop of peppers this year. Compared to the gargantuan ones sold in markets, our home-grown ones were quite a bit smaller and reminded me of the small stuffed peppers we enjoyed while vacationing in Turkey. Since I wanted to make something special with them, stuffed peppers sounded just right! Turkey was an amazing place; besides visiting historic and scenic places, we also had fabulous food everywhere. Turkish cuisine has such a wonderful way with the fresh vegetables, we were never left wanting. The restaurants and cafes we frequented had abundant varieties of vegetarian food no matter where we went. Stuffed veggies were one of the delicious offerings that we adored eating. Although we only saw stuffed peppers and tomatoes in Turkey, zucch...

For this delicious chutney you can use the roasted skinless chana dal (pottukadalai in Tamil) or the whole ones sold as snacks in Indian (roasted chana) and middle-eastern (leblebi) stores. If neither of them is available, then you can toast regular chana dal in a little oil yourself. This is a great chutney to serve with Idli, Dosa, Upma, etc. Dal Chutney Ingredients: 1/3 cup Roasted Chana 2 Tbsp grated fresh or frozen Coconut 2 - 4 Hot Red/Green Chiles 1/2 tsp Sea Salt to taste 1 sprig Fresh Curry Leaves 1/2" knob Fresh Ginger, chopped 1 Lemon/Lime OR Tamarind Tadka/Thalippu: 1-2 tsp oil 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds 1-2 dry Red Chiles, broken into two 1 tsp Chana dal 2 tsp Urad dal 1 pinch Asafoetida 1 sprig Fresh Curry Leaves, cut into chiffonade Method: Juice the lemon/lime; or if using tamarind, soak a small marble-sized lump of it in a couple of spoonfuls of warm water for about 10 minutes. Tamarind may have seeds/shells; when soft, check with your fingers and remove and d...

Kerala style Broccoli Thoran makes for a wonderful change of pace from the ubiquitous steamed broccoli. The traditional seasonings of cumin, chile, shallots and coconut typical of Kerala cuisine give broccoli a fabulous boost of flavor. It may be served hot, warm or cool as you wish. Note: Dessicated (dry, unsweetened) coconut may be used if fresh or frozen is not available. Ingredients: 2 tsp Oil 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds 1 Tbsp Urad dal 1 sprig fresh Curry Leaves, cut into a chiffonade 1 lb Broccoli 1/4 tsp Turmeric 1/2 tsp Sea Salt or to taste 2-4 Shallots, chopped (optional) 1/4 - 1/2 tsp Hot Red Chile flakes or cayenne 1 tsp whole Cumin seeds 2 - 3 Tbsp Coconut, fresh or frozen Method: Separate the broccoli into big florets, wash well and drain. Trim the ends of the stems and remove them from florets. If the stems are very long, peel off the tough peels and then chop coarsely; include the leaves. Set aside. Separate the florets into small pieces and set aside. Heat the oil in a ka...

Celery is not a common ingredient in Indian cuisine. Since I love the flavor of celery in soups, I thought why not add some to the dal --- I did and was very happy with the results. The fresh cilantro (including most of the stems) is the perfect final touch. Dal with celery is so heavenly tasting, you would want to make it again and again once you taste it :D. Celery and panch phoron combine to transform creamy Mung dal into something amazingly delicious. Serve the dal as soup, over plain rice/grains or with breads. So simple, yet so delectable! Panch Phoron is a spice mix consisting equal amounts of the following seeds: mustard, fenugreek, Cumin, kalonji, and fennel. This recipe as given makes a mildly spicy dal; if you like it more spicy, leave the seeds in the chile or use more than one. 4 - 6 Servings Ingredients: 1 cup yellow Mung Dal 1/2 tsp Turmeric Sea Salt to taste 2 tsp Oil 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds 1 tsp Panch Phoron 1 pinch Asafoetida 2 cups Celery, including leaves, fin...

Growing coriander, Chinese parsley or cilantro is not only very easy, it is a must for many important cuisines. The entire plant is edible including flowers, seeds - mature and immature, and roots! Once you taste homegrown cilantro, you would want to keep some growing for that special taste. Store bought coriander/cilantro cannot compete with the amazing flavor of the homegrown. Even if you are not a fan of cilantro, do try the homegrown before completely writing it off. Coriander is grown in many parts of the world and is one of the earliest plants used and cultivated by humans. According to Ancient Herbs by Marina Heilmeyer, it was used both for flavoring food and medicinally in antiquity. Coriander was an essential ingredient in cooking, baking, and ale-making as well as in various remedies for digestive tract disorders. Ms. Heilmeyer writes that "Moses compared coriander seeds to the heaven-sent manna"! Coriander is known as Kothamalli (Tamil), Malli (Malayalam), ...

Spring Rolls are so fresh and luscious with the amazing dipping sauces. Everyone adores them as they are a guilt free food. They work great for picnics too. Use your favorite fresh veggies, the more veggies you use, the more delicious it will be. Chellu tested and approved :)! Ingredients: Spring rolls: 1 package Rice Paper Filling: 14 oz. Firm Tofu 2 tsp Sesame Oil 1 clove of Garlic, mashed well (optional) 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce 1/2 cup green beans, thinly sliced diagonally and blanched OR a handful of Sugar-snap Peas, thinly sliced 1 Carrot, grated 1 small unwaxed cucumber, finely julienned 1 cup beansprouts, tailed 1 small Red Bell Pepper, thinly sliced 1 cup finely shredded Cabbage (green & red) 1 cup fresh mushrooms, finely chopped 1/2 cup finely sliced Scallions 1 Tbsp fresh Ginger, finely grated 1/4 cup Fresh Mint, Basil, or Cilantro leaves, cut into a chiffonade Dipping Sauce I 1/4 cup crunchy Peanut butter Soy sauce to taste 2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar 1...

Vada curry is a rich and flavorful stew made for special occasions. Vadas are lentil fritters. I would not be surprised if this curry had its origins from another delicious instance of our thrifty mothers in action making use of leftovers - leftover vadas. There are two ways of making the vada part of this curry; it can be either fried or steamed - steaming being the healthier of the two ways. 6 - 8 Servings Ingredients: For the Vada: 1 cup Toor dal 1/2 cup Chana dal 2 Dry Red Chilies 1 pinch Asafoetida 2 sprigs Fresh Curry Leaves 1 tsp Sea Salt 1 medium Red Onion, finely chopped For the Stew: 2 Tbsp Oil/Ghee 2 large Onions, finely chopped 1 to 2 Tbsp Ginger, minced 1 or 2 hot Green Chiles, cored and minced 1/2 tsp Turmeric 4 large Tomatoes, finely chopped 1/2 tsp Sea Salt or to taste 2 cups fresh or canned Coconut milk 1 tsp Garam Masala (optional) 1 small bunch Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped Tadka/Thalippu: 1 tsp Oil 1/2 tsp Brown Mustard Seeds 1 pinch Asafetida 1 sprig Fresh Cur...

I loved this dish as a child and no one could make it as well as our eldest aunt. It was not a recipe that one would undertake lightly as the lentil dumplings/kofte often had a tendency of falling apart and dissolving without leaving the faintest trace! Since my aunt always graciously offered to prepare it, everybody was happy to entrust it to her. The urundais/dumplings/kofte were served nestled on top of hot steamed rice - absolutely delicious with the spicy tamarind flavored sauce! Here is Hema's foolproof recipe; her secret is to add a little rice flour to keep the urundais intact. Without the rice flour the urundais may fall apart; but too much will result in little cannon balls! If eight red chilies seem daunting, you may want to use less - try one or two chilies and/or break them and discard the seeds for a milder dish. Both toor and chana dal are yellow, split and skinless. Although you won't get the delicate taste of the dals, yellow split peas are excellent...

Some flat bread, a little hummus and a few veggies are all you need to make fabulous HummusWraps. Put them together ... and you will be happy you did! These are delicious for lunch or snacks. I have given the basic blueprint but you can embellish the rolls anyway you like. You can make your own hummus or purchase some from a store. I love the sweet crunch of romaine lettuce but you may add other greens like watercress, arugula, etc. Other fillings such as Smoky Red Bell Pepper Hummus , White Bean Hummus , or ChickPea Salad Spread , etc may be used instead of the regular hummus. 2 - 4 Servings Ingredients: 2 sheets of Flat breads (Lavash or large thin Chapati/Roti, etc) 1/2 to 1 cup Hummus a handful of Spinach and/or Romaine Lettuce leaves 1 Carrot, finely julienned 1 small Cucumber, julienned Method: Lay the flat bread on a cutting board and spread with hummus. Place the spinach and romaine (I love to stuff the roll with lots of crunchy, sweet romaine) on ...