Geetha's Kitchen

Pumpkins and winter squashes are versatile veggies-in-waiting which bide their time patiently to sit in the veggie basket, pantry, or cellar until needed. They last well for weeks which makes them a great veggie to keep for emergencies. Although I love them all, and give an equal opportunity to all types of winter squashes, my all-time favorites are full and sweet flavored kabocha and butternut; banana squash comes in a close second.... or is it third?! Pumpkin or winter squash with coconut may be prepared in many ways. Here I have given two recipes: stir fry with coconut or a thick stew. Two very different tasting dishes with practically the same ingredients! Kabocha does not need peeling as the skin is thin and cooks well. Some winter squashes need peeling as they have tough skins. Thoran/Poriyal 1 tsp Oil 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds 1 Tbsp Urad Dal 1-2 dried Red Chiles 1 Onion, finely chopped (optional) 1 Stem fresh Curry Leaves 1/2 Medium Kabocha, Winter Squash or...

Taro Stem Thoran w/Rice & Taro Leaf Lentil Stew Taro Stem Thoran is a delicious side dish to go with any type of Indian stews made with lentils or served by itself with rice, other grains or breads. I like to roll it up in a roti burrito fashion for a lovely snack or lunch on the go. If I do not have enough taro stems, I like to add kale or chard (silver beet) stems, their leaves or diced zucchini, also. Beet greens and stems are great too. This time added chard stems. Radish Leaf w/Mung dal Thoran (l) & Kale Stem w/carrot Thoran (r) I used very mild green chiles, New Mexico Chiles - the plants were gift from a neighbor :)! The taro and chard were homegrown as well. If using dried coconut, use unsweetened. Ingredients: 14-16 fresh Taro Stems  1 Tsp Oil 1/2 tsp Brown Mustard seeds 1 Tbsp Chana Dal 1 Tbsp Urad Dal 2 dry Red chiles, broken into two 1-2 Green Chiles, chopped 1 stem fresh Curry Leaves 1/2 tsp Turmeric 1/2 tsp freshly ground C...

Kollu Thoran/Sundal Kollu Thoran/Sundal/Chundal is a delicious and delightful dish. This homey chundal is an everyday recipe and not served for festivals or special occasions.  I love savory chundals any time of the day; as snacks or part of a meal. Most whole beans or split legumes may also be used to make chundals, like one of my all time favorite brown chick pea chundal. Dried peas and split legume chundals taste great with a squeeze of lime/lemon. Although traditionally chundals are made with unsprouted dried legumes, I like to make them with  sprouts  also. If you have sprouts on hand, it takes just a few minutes to make nutritious and delicious chundal.  NOTE: Do reserve the cooking broth for making delicious  Kollu Rasam ; it is an awesome treat and so worth the few minutes it takes to make it!  4 to 6 Servings of about 1/2 cup each Ingredients: 1 cup dried Kollu (Horsegram), soaked and/or  Sprouted 1/2 tsp salt o...

Linola gave me a bag of "Indian beans" saying that she did not care for them. Being the frugal person that I am, I could not bring myself to chuck it and forget about it. The package had the name "Surati Val". I have cooked and eaten many a bean from the familiar Toor, Urid, Chana, Mung, etc to exotic ones such as Peruvian or Scarlet runner beans. So trying another bean did not daunt me in the least. I soaked them overnight first. Then I cooked them with the idea of adding them to cabbage curry; took one little nibble - WOW! did they taste horrible! As I was headed to the compost bin thinking that Linola was right after all about these beans, a brilliant idea - in retrospect of course :) - flashed through my mind to remove the skins. So, instead of tossing the whole mess, I gave them another chance. I just simply but firmly squeezed the beans one by one between thumb and forefinger and the skins came off pretty easily. I realized that these were in...

Radish Leaves Thoran Radish Greens Thoran with  Fresh Coconut is another ingenious dish from my mother's repertoire! Most people just twist off the greens from radishes and toss them into the rubbish/compost bin. The greens from radishes may look a bit forbidding; but cooking tames and renders them absolutely mild and delicious. Amma would often add a little (or a lot depending on the amount of the leaves) grated radishes to augment the quantity of the greens which shrink considerably upon cooking. If there is a sufficient quantity of greens, radishes need not be added. Another lovely addition is cooked toor/chana dal; dal should be just tender and not mushy.  For a delicious taste, coarsely grind the coconut with a pinch of cumin seeds and a dried red chile before adding to the thoran. Radish Leaves Thoran Ingredients: 2 Daikon Radishes (Mooli) with greens or 1 big bunch any radish with greens Salt to taste 1 pinch Turmeric 2 to 4 Tbsp Grat...