Banu's Version of Muthiya

 (From Banu's Cookbook)

Muthiya is a Gujarathi Dish. It is a dish that is steamed and then pan fried. There are different versions of this dish. I wanted to share my version of it. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of Finely Chopped Spinach
1 medium sized zucchini grated
1 inch of ginger finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 green chillies (or per taste) finely chopped 
1/2 cup of Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 cup of Saki Flour (By Svelte Zone)
2 tbsp. of Chickpea aka Besan Flour
1 tsp of Turmeric Powder
1 tsp of Garama Masala Powder
2 tsp of Dhaniya-Jeera Powder
1 tsp of Red Chilli powder
1 tsp of Sugar
1 tsp of Jeera 
1 tsp of Ajwain seeds
2 tbsp. of Yogurt
1/2 Lemon Juice
Salt per Taste

For Seasoning:

2-3 tbsp. of oil
2 tsp of Mustard Seeds
1 tbsp. of White sesame seeds
A pinch of Asafetida
A few curry leaves
Chopped Cilantro and Fresh coconut for Garnish

Method: 

1. In a large bowl, mix all the grated/chopped veggies, flours, spices, yogurt, lemon juice, salt and sugar. Mix it gently and well until they are all incorporated together. You do not need to any water because the vegetables have a lot of moisture, along with the yogurt and lemon juice. 

2. Divide the dough into four parts and roll it out into rolls (like sausages). 

3. Heat water and grease the steamer. Place the rolls a bit apart in the steamer and steam them for about 15 - 18 minutes. Let it cool for about 5-6 minutes. Then cut then out into slices.

4. Heat oil in pan. Once it is hot, add mustard seeds, sesame seeds, hing and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the cut slices of steamed/cooled Muthiya and cook on both sides for a few minutes until they are lightly browned. You do not need to cook it a lot because it is already steamed.

5. Garnish it with some freshly chopped cilantro and coconut. 

6. Muthiya is ready to eat with some hot coffee or chai. 

Notes:

1. You can add more veggies like grated carrots or cabbage etc. Or replace zucchini with carrots or some other vegetables.

2. You can replace Saki flour with regular wheat flour. You can do a mixture of wheat flour and jowar flour. 

3. You can skip the sugar, but a that little sugar gives the dish a nice taste.

Desperate Minestrone Soup in Instant Pot

(From Banu's Cookbook)

This recipe is exactly what the title says. Desperate Recipe when I have not done grocery shopping and I am scavenging my refrigerator and pantry. Two Fresh Ingredients that I am missing for this recipe are Spinach and Zucchini. These two add really good flavors to the soup.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 small Onions chopped fine
1 Carrot Diced
1 15 oz can of Red Kidney Beans
1 15 oz can of Great Northern Beans
1 15 oz can of cut green Italian beans
1 15 oz can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes
2 tsp of Italian seasoning
1 tsp of Basil
1 tsp of Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp of Oregano
1 tsp of Crushed Black Pepper
A bit of Pink Himalayan taste (just a little bit for flavor)
Frozen Spinach
4-5 cups of Vegetable Broth
1 cup of Shell Pasta (or any small pasta suitable for soup)
1-2 tsp of Olive Oil

Method:

1. Switch on instant pot and put it on Saute Mode. Once it shows On, add the olive oil. To this add the chopped onion and diced carrots. Saute well for 5-6 mins until the onion turns translucent.
2. Now add the seasonings and saute a bit more.
3. Add the drained and rinsed beans, Italian beans, fire roasted tomatoes, frozen spinach, pasta and the broth. Mix it well.
4. Switch off the saute mode. Put it in Manual/Pressure cook mode and cooking time is 5 mins.
5. After the cooking time is done. Do a quick release of pressure otherwise the pasta might get overcooked.
6. Mix it well and serve it hot with some grated Parmesan cheese and crushed black pepper.


 Notes:

1. I had Trader Joes Organic Vegetable Broth - 32 Fl Oz or 1 Qt - which was around 4 Cups.
2. My Frozen Spinach was from Indian store and it was in kind of cubes, so I put two cube of it.
3. I had Great Northern Beans but Cannellini beans also works very well.
4. Please have some PATIENCE as it takes time to build up pressure and release pressure as well as there is a lot of liquid in the instant pot. I did it in my 8 qt IP and it took around 3 mins to completely release the pressure.

Red Radish and Spinach Curry

(From Banu's Cookbook)

I had couple of bunches of Red Radish and I wanted to try something else other than my traditional sambhar recipe with this vegetable. So, here is my experimentation of Red Radish and Spinach curry.

Ingredients:

3-4 bunches of Red Radish - Cleaned and sliced into half rounds.
2-3 cups of Spinach - Washed and Chopped
1 Large Red Onion - chopped finely
3-4 Garlic Cloves - Chopped Finely
Turmeric - 1/2 Tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1-2 Tsp (based on taste)
Cumin (Jeera) Powder - 2 tsp
Coriander (Dhaniya) Powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Jaggery - 1 Tbsp
Salt to Taste
Oil for cooking
Mustard seeds, Cumin Seeds and Hing (Asafoetida) for seasoning.

Method:
1. Wash, clean and slice the red radish in half rounds. Keep it aside.
2. In a pan, heat some oil. Add Mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the jeera and hing.
3. Add the chopped onion and garlic and saute until the onion browns a bit. Do not overcook the onions. Just a little browning is good enough.
4. Now add the cut radish and saute for a few minutes. I covered the pan with a lid and cooked it for about 4-5 minutes until the radish was half done.
5. Add the masala powders at this point and mix well and saute for a few more minutes.
6. Add the chopped spinach and mix it all well. Add salt and Jaggery at this point.
7. Saute/cook for about 4-5 minutes until the spinach is done and at this point the radish will be cooked too.
8. Serve it hot with chapathi or rice.

Notes:
1. You can use the radish leaves that come with the radish as well. I felt it was too bitter, so I skipped it.
2. The radish itself will have a bite or sharpness to it, so add red chilli powder per taste.
3. You can skip jaggery. I added it because of the Radish sharpness and I thought it will temper the dish a bit.

Basil Pesto without Cheese or nuts

(From Banu's Cookbook)

I love Pesto, but could not find any in store without cheese. So I did my own version at home.

Ingredients:
2 Cups Basil Leaves Washed
2 Cups of Baby Spinach Leaves Washed
2-3 Garlic Cloves
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
Lemon Juice from 1 Whole Lemon
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Sea Salt to Taste

Method:
1. In a food processor (with the chopper blade attached), blend the basil, spinach, garlic well.
2. Then add lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Mix well again.
3. With the food processor on, slowly add the Olive oil until it is all mixed well.
4. You can use this as sauce on Zucchini Noodles or use it on Cauliflower Crust Pizza.

Notes:
1. I added Spinach because it gives a bit more body to the pesto as we are not adding any cheese or nuts.
2. Basil normally turns dark green after pulsing. Spinach keeps it more green looking.
3. You can reduce or increase olive oil based on how liquid you want your pesto to be.

Spinach Soup with Edamame Patties

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Sharing the recipe for my dinner and as I was writing the blog post, I realized that it was two recipes. Since they were both so easy, I am putting both of them here.

Spinach Soup

Ingredients:
4 cups of tightly packed spinach (Washed, rinsed and patted dry)
1/2 Cabbage head - Chopped roughly
1 Yellow Squash - Chopped roughly
1 Cup of Red Onion
2-3 Pinches of Nutmeg
2-3 Green Chilies
2-3 Garlic Cloves
2-3 Tsp of Olive Oil
Water to boil
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan. Add the chopped onion, green chilies and Garlic and saute until Onion is translucent.
2. Add the nutmeg powder and mix well.
3. Add Cabbage, Yellow squash and Spinach. Mix well. Add about 2 cups of water just enough to cover the veggies and boil them well under medium fire. I covered the pot and cooked them well.
4. Let it cool a little bit and then puree them in the blender with salt. Make sure that the mixture is not too hot when you are pureeing it. With the measurement I have given, I was able to do it in one batch, but you might have to do it in couple of batches.
5. Return the pureed mixture back to pan and boil for a few mins. I added 1/2 tsp of olive oil when I was boiling it.
6. Serve it hot with black pepper.

Notes:
1. You can add other vegetables like Kale, Tomato etc.
2. You add some butter in the very end instead of olive oil to get a more richer taste.

Edamame Patties

Ingredients:
1 12oz bag of shelled frozen edamame
1/4 Chopped White Onion
1/4 cup of Cilantro
3-4 Garlic cloves
1 inch of Ginger
2-3 Tsp of Red Pepper Flakes
1 Egg
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Pressure cook the Edamame Beans until they are fully cooked.
2. In a food processor - add 2/3 of the cooked bean and all the ingredients and blend it until you get a smooth paste.
3. Chop the remaining edamame seeds roughly, mix it with the paste.
4. On a parchment paper, spray some oil, form small patties out of this mixture. It will not be very tight mixture as there is no binding element like bread crumbs. Just form the best shape you can.
5. Bake at 375 deg temp for about 20-25 mins, flipping them once in the middle.
6. Serve it hot with some Walden Farms Fat Free Honey Dijon Dressing. You can use salsa, ketchup or any other dressing of your choice. Or eat it dressing free :))

Notes:
1. You can add bread crumbs and make it like regular burger patties.
2. If you add breadcrumbs, you can pan fry it as well.
3. You can broil the patties at the very end to make it more crispier.
4. I made 11 patties out of this. Each had 2g of carbs, 40 Calories each and 3g of protein.

Spinach and Kidney Beans Curry

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 6 oz Pkt of Fresh Spinach Washed and Chopped Finely
1 Large Red Onion Chopped Finely
2 Cup of Red Kidney Beans (Soaked and Cooked)
2 Tsp of Red Chilli Powder
1 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
2 Tsp of Cumin powder
2 Tsp of Corriander Powder
1/2 Tsp of Garam Masala
Salt to Taste
Oil for Cooking

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onion and saute until onion is browned and a bit carmelized.
2. Add  chopped spinach and saute well until spinach is cooked.
3. Add the dry masala powders to this mixture - Turmeric, Red Chilli powder, Cumin Powder and Coriander powder. Mix them all and saute for a few more minutes.
4. Add the cooked red kidney beans at this point and mix well.
5. Add salt to taste and some water and cook on low heat for 10 mins or so.
6. Add the Garam Masala powder and mix well.
7. You can also mash some of the red kidney beans and that will add some more thickness to the curry.

Serve it hot with Chapathi or Poori.

Notes: You can also use two 15 oz cans of red kidney beans instead of soaking and cooking dry beans.