South Indian hot lentil rice mixture (bisi bele bhath or bisi bele huli ana)

This is one of my favorite dishes from Nirvana, a local vegetarian Indian restaurant that closed many years ago. At Nirvana, they called it bisi bele huli ana. After consulting a few online recipes, we tried this recipe: https://hebbarskitchen.com/bisi-bele-bath-recipe-bisibelabath-rice/ Our modifications: first, based on tips from https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/bisi-bele-bath/, as a shortcut we used MTR brand bisibele… Continue reading South Indian hot lentil rice mixture (bisi bele bhath or bisi bele huli ana)

Kichidi (Indian rice and split mung bean porridge), version 3

There are endless varieties of kichidi. We tried this recipe from Hebbars’ Kitchen: https://hebbarskitchen.com/moong-dal-khichdi-recipe/ It was well-balanced and delicious, but we found that the diced onion was still crunchy (probably due to cooking on low heat, per the instructions). So the next time we will saute the onions on medium heat until translucent. Note: In…… Continue reading Kichidi (Indian rice and split mung bean porridge), version 3

Indian cauliflower curry with coconut milk

We had a craving for a cauliflower curry (as opposed to aloo gobi), so we tried this: https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/cauliflower-curry-recipe/ This was pretty tasty. We made minor modifications: first, we ran out of curry leaves, so we used about 5 bay leaves instead. For the chili powder, we used 1/2 tsp sweet paprika and 1/4 tsp cayenne.…… Continue reading Indian cauliflower curry with coconut milk

Dry Indian mung bean stew recipe (moong dal)

We recently stocked up on dried split mung beans (moong dal) and were intrigued by this recipe: https://indianambrosia.com/dry-moong-dal-recipe/ This was an easy, healthy, and satisfying meal. Our modifications: first, for the oil we used a combination of ghee (for flavor) and canola. Second, we used 1 medium red onion plus 1 regular shallot for 1.5… Continue reading Dry Indian mung bean stew recipe (moong dal)

South Indian legume and rice dry porridge (pongal)

We wanted to try a new porridge. We tried this recipe, but it turned out not to be soupy at all: https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/pongal-south-indian-rice-lentil-porridge-vegan/ Its texture is more like the mung bean filling of Korean sweet rice cake (dduk). The flavors are nice, and it is tasty as a drier rice and mung bean dish. This recipe… Continue reading South Indian legume and rice dry porridge (pongal)

Kichidi (Indian savory rice and legume porridge), version 2 and our favorite recipe

After a few days of heavy, rich meals, we made this masala kichidi recipe to cleanse a bit: https://www.funfoodfrolic.com/masala-khichdi-recipe/ This is our favorite kichidi recipe to date. Our modifications: first, we used 1/2 cup white jasmine rice and 1/4 cup pink masoor dal (i.e., red lentil), soaked in water for 15 mins; and 1/4 cup… Continue reading Kichidi (Indian savory rice and legume porridge), version 2 and our favorite recipe

Samosa-stuffed poblanos

We received three homegrown poblanos and loosely followed this creative recipe: https://www.acouplecooks.com/samosa-stuffed-poblano-peppers/ We halved the recipe amounts but still had ample filling for three petite poblanos and 1 small bell pepper. We made significant modifications for our 1/2 recipe: first, for the potato, we used 5 small-medium yukons (about 3/4 lb), peeled, quartered, and boiled… Continue reading Samosa-stuffed poblanos

Savory fig jam

Our good friends Steve and Andrea generously gave us about 4 lb of figs harvested from their fig tree. We tried this chutney-like recipe: https://pastrychefonline.com/savory-fig-jam/ In terms of proportions, we used: 3 dry cups fresh, ripe green figs (see Note); 6 palm sugar lumps (called "small cubes" even though they are shaped like half-globes), and… Continue reading Savory fig jam

Indian sautéed cabbage and peas

We are big fans of Shubhra Ramineni, and we tried this recipe from her blog: https://spicegirlkitchen.com/recipes/f/cabbage-and-peas Perhaps because we used red cabbage (which is more tannic than green cabbage), we found that the cooked cabbage needed some sweetness for balance. We added 1/2 tsp sugar at the end of cooking. We also found it a…… Continue reading Indian sautéed cabbage and peas