Dal Spinach Curry

Spinach is a rich source of iron. In reality, a 60 gram serving of boiled spinach contains around 1.9 mg of iron. A good many green vegetable contain less than 1 mg of iron for an equivalent serving. Hence spinach does contain a relatively high level of iron for a vegetable. I buy spinach every week; it is part of my weekly shopping. This recipe is simple and easy to make, and it is one my favorites. I made this curry with dal (lentils).The dal prices are skyrocketing in every place, as Indians our only source of proteins is lentils:( Hope everything becomes normal soon. Here goes the recipe:)

Method

• Pressure cook ½ cup of dal with ½ tsp turmeric, and 1 cup of water. Once it is cooked mash the dal and keep it aside.
  

• Heat the pan with oil, season with mustard, cumin, curry leaves, 4 green chilies, and 4 pods of sliced garlic.
  

• Add 5- 6 chopped pearl onions, sauté them until it turns into light brown. Add ½ tomato chopped and sauté them.
  

• Add a bunch of chopped spinach leaves and sauté them. Cover cook for 5 minutes in low-heat. Once the spinach is cooked add the mashed dal. Add ¼ cup of water, salt and cook for another 5 minutes uncovered and turn off the heat.
  

• Keep it covered to absorb the flavor, serve with rice and pappad.

Uniappam ( Mini Pancakes)

I am just waiting for my summer classes to get over, so that I can devote all my time to blogging. I will be done with my classes by August 10th and I will have all my time to read blogs. Coming to the recipe now, Appam comes in different varieties, from the noodles idiappam to the ultra-sweet uniappam. My mom makes uniappam in different ways - with rice flour, rava flour, and wheat flour. During my school and college days, this was one recipe I yearn to eat after classes. My mom makes this snack quite often, for one reason it is very easy to make:) I usually make uniappam with wheat rava and rice flour. Here goes the recipe!!

Method

• Take 1 cup of wheat rava, ½ cup of rice flour, ½ cup of jaggery/brown sugar, and 2 cardamoms, 1 ripe banana. Grind everything to a paste by adding ½ cup of water, or you can mix everything with help of your hand to a paste or to a batter consistency.
  

• Heat the uniappam kal/paniyaram kal (and apply oil in each slot (cast-iron surface heats slowly and it will take some time) once the cast iron is heated, pour the batter into the slot and let it get cooked. Do not cover the cast iron. Once it is cooked, flip over to the other side and cook for few more minutes. Serve hot with tea:) you can also store uniappam in a container for few days.

My Entries to
Santhi’s JFIFlour and Revathi’s FMR Comfort Foods

Kerala Fried Fish

I have been little busy with my summer classes, and I thank Annita for enquiring about it:) Let me get it into the dish and not bore you guys with my stories. For frying Kerala cooks prefer a flat, white-fleshed sea fish called pomfret because of its firm texture. They usually coat the fish pieces with ground coriander and red chili, fry them until crisp, and serve them with curries and rice. Since pomfret is hard to find in the U.S., I substituted with salmon:) and tried to bake because it consumes very less oil. Here it goes:)

How to prepare

• Combine 2tsp of grated pearl onion, 1tsp of coriander powder, 2tsp of red chili powder, ½ tsp of black pepper powder, 1 tsp of grated garlic and ginger, ¼ tsp turmeric, and tsp oil to form a paste. Smear paste over fish fillets to cover completely. Refrigerate, covered, for 1 hour.
  

How to bake

• Once it is ready to be cooked, add 1tsp of oil and arrange fish fillets side-by-side into an oven-safe dish.

• Preheat oven to 350°F [180°C].

• Bake into preheated oven for 15 minutes and broil for 3 to 4 minutes, until bubbly and golden brown, or you can directly broil the fish in medium heat for 10 minutes. While broiling ensure the fish pieces are not too big, it may not cook well if the size is big. I broil for 10 minutes front side and again broil for 5 minutes the back side of the fillet to ensure the fillets are cooked properly.
  

Enjoy the fried fish with rice.