Koorka varattiyathu (Chinese potato stirred fry)

The other day a friend brought home something I hadn't tried cooking before - Koorka or Chinese potato. I have had this at home in different forms, but hadn't made it on my own. And when my friend cooked it, I knew I had to try it on my own :D

My god! it was no easy task. It takes a heck of patience to prepare it for cooking. You see, it's so muddy, full of soil and grit, that I had to wash it umpteen times. Since these baby potato-likes are kind of small like different-sized marbles, peeling them was no less than Herculean task (at least for me ;-))

But once washed and peeled and ready, these babies were a delight :D :D

What I used

1. Koorka: about 250 grams (I made only a small quantity)
2. Cooking oil: 2 tablespoons (I used coconut oil)
3. Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon
4. Curry leaves: a sprig 
5. Shallots: 6
6. Green chilies: 2
7. Dry red chilies: 2
8. Garlic: about 5 cloves
9. Salt: to taste
10. Water: 1.5 cup
11. Tumeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon
12. Pepper powder: 1/2 teaspoon (optional)

How I made it

1. In a saucepan, boil the cleaned and diced koorka with a bit of salt and tumeric powder
   Ensure the contents don't cook to become mushy.  But of course, if u like it mushy, go ahead and try it. The overcooked soft version can be used as filling for wraps as well. But when I made it, I boiled it just enough so that it is cooked and yet firm, not soft enough that it falls apart. I cooked the contents until water boiled and put out the fire allowing the koorka to cook in the hot water, in between piercing with a fork to check the status. Once done, drain off the water and keep it aside.
2. In a frying pan, heat the oil and splutter mustard and curry leaves. The fragrance of curry leaves is such a bliss and lends a freshness to any dish.
3. This is followed by the shallots that have been roughly chopped (I like the sweet taste of sauteed shallots, so I kept the pieces little big), dry red chilies, garlic with enough salt and pepper.
4. Once the shallots have turned glossy and soft, add the green chilies and the pre-cooked koorka.
5. Mix well till all ingredients are well combined and cook for another 10 min.

PS: If you like the koorka to be crispy, continue stirring the contents till the koorka browns. Ensure the rest of the ingredients don't burn.

This is a simple (once the tubers are cleaned of course :D) dry side dish for rice and chappathis :D :D

Upma with leftover keema

Jolted out of my precious sleep by the tring of the doorbell at 10:00 am, I tended to the errand of paying the cable guy, answering the Watzapp messages and a few calls... Suddenly out of nowhere, I was hungry. With a diminished pantry, my options of a hearty breakfast was limited... As I rummaged through the shelves, I came across onion, rava... pinne there was garlic, ginger, ulli chedi, green peas... Perfect!! Upma it is today, making use of what I had !!

What I used

1. Rava: around 1.5 cup (I really didn't measure, kept on adding from the packet based on the water I had added)
2. Medium-sized diced onion:1
3. Chopped ulli chedi: 1 stalk
4. Cooked and  frozen green peas: few 
5. Green and dry red chilies: 1 each
6. Leftover cooked keema that I had: 2 tablespoons (this is completely optional)
7. Finely chopped ginger and garlic: 1 teaspoon
8. Water: about 1.5 cups (I didn't measure this either)
9. Salt: to taste
10. Oil: 3 tablespoons
11. 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds and a sprig of curry leaves is recommended (I didn't use it in this recipe as I did not have them the day I cooked this)

PS: carrots and beans are the traditional ingredients of upma. Apart from adding color, it also adds certain amount of sweetness

How I made it

1. In a pan, heat some oil and saute the onion, ulli chedi, green peas, ginger garlic and the chilies together with some salt
2. Once the onion has turned translucent and dry red chilli had fried, add the water
3. Check the salt and add the kheema 
4. Stir the contents and once the water starts to boil, add the rava slowly mixing with the contents of the pan simultaneously. Add enough rava so that the mixture is not too mushy or too dry
5. Keep stirring till fully cooked and turn off the heat

I find upma to be a great breakfast, as well as light snack or dinner. It tastes yumm with banana or just plain sugar. It also works wells with kadala and egg curries. A cup of coffee alongside would complete the meal ;-)

Beetroot mezhukkupuratti

The deep pink beetroot :D :D Mix it with anything and everything turns a dark pink. Nice color to have on plate

What I used

1. 2-3 beetroots cut into small cubes
2. Finely diced onion: 1
3. Green chili: 1
4. Mustard seeds:  1/2 teaspoon (optional)
5. Salt: to taste
6. Oil: 2-3 tablespoons
7. Curry leaves: 1 sprig (optional)

How I made it 

1. In a pan, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds (if using) and saute the onions well with chili, adding required amount of salt
2. Then add curry leaves if you like
3. Once you get the aroma of curry leaves, add the diced beetroot and mix well, ensuring  the contents are fully coated with oil
4. Cover the pan and allow it to cook on low flame with occasional mixing of contents till the beets are soft 

This makes a good combination with brown rice and chappathi

Ulli chedi thoran

It is only recently that I came across this veggie. It was there, a green cluster of long stalks, on the shelf of the supermarket I shop from... Since my taste buds were in demand of something green and crunchy with a fresh taste, I grabbed this, which the store lady introduced as "ulli chedi" and ... let's just say we got to know each other better ;-)

Here is what I did with it...

What I used

1. Chopped ulli chedi (keep the flowers also if it is there on the stalks): around 2 cups
   I chopped in such a way that the pieces were a little thick, not very fine.., you see, I wanted to feel the pieces as I munched on them
2. Finely diced onion: 1
3. Green chili (any chili is fine): 1 sliced longitudinally
4. Cooking oil: 2 tablespoons
5. Salt: to taste

How I made it

1. In a pan, heat the the oil and saute the onion and green chili with the required amount of salt
2. Once the onions have softened, add the chopped ulli chedi and mix well
3. Ensure the content is coated completely with oil and keep on low heat keeping the pan covered, stirring occasionally to enable uniform cooking

         PS: For thorans/mezhukkupurattees, sometimes I add a bit of water so the veggies cook in the              moisture of the steam instead of adding a lot of oil

Like most thorans/mezhukkupurattees, this went really well with brown rice :D :D

Cabbage thoran without coconut

Just one of those days when the palette craves something fresh and veggie, with a bit of sweetness that's spicy as well, I'd opt to have cabbage thoran. This leafy delight, apart from being easily available, requires very less cooking

What I used

1. Finely chopped small or medium-sized cabbage 
2. Chopped onion: 1 big 
3. Green chili: 1-2 based on how spicy you want
4. Salt: according to need
5. Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon
6. Oil: 2-3 tablespoons
7. Curry leaves (optional)

How I made it

1. In a frying pan, heat the oil on medium flame 
2. Splutter the mustard seeds and saute the onion and green chilies
3. If using curry leaves, I prefer to add it at this stage so as to not fry the leaves to crisp and retain the freshness of the leaves
4. Add the required amount of salt to the sauteed onion
5. Finally add the chopped cabbage and mix well ensuring the whole content is smeared with the cooking oil so as to enable even cooking
6. Keep the pan covered for about 10 min and occasionally mix contents till fully cooked