Molagootal & Vazhathandu Pachadi ~ Lunch Series#2

The next in my lunch series is again Molagootal. But this one is different from the Keerai molagootal blogged earlier. When it is said only molagootal, then it refers to the one which I am posting here. If any greens take the place of veggies, then it is specifically referred as keerai molagootal. The basic method is same for both. Veggies/leaf cooked in dal,coconut gravy. The common veggies used are ash gourd(elavan/puzhinikkai),vellarikkai, raw banana, yam, snake gourd,koorka and the like. Ash gourd is a must. Rest of the veggies are just add-ons to increase the taste. Most of the times its elavan/ash gourd only molagootal. Sometimes, depending on the veggies availability and time, I add few pieces of those.

Ingredients
Ash gourd/elavan chopped into small cubes - 2 cups

moong dal - less than 1/2 cup

salt

turmeric - 1/4 tspn

For grinding

grated coconut - 1/2 cup

red chilly - 1 no

cumin seeds/jeera - 1 tspn

Method

Pressure cook chopped veggies, dal and turmeric with enough water. Grind coconut, red chilly and jeera to a smooth paste by adding required water. Take the cooked dal veggie combo . Mix salt and stir in the ground paste. Adjust the thickness of the gravy by adding water. Bring to a boil and simmer for few minutes. Season with mustard seeds and garnish with curry leaves. This is a bland dish. But it makes a wholesome nutritious soup if u make the consistency thinner. While serving molagootal with rice, add a teaspoon of ghee to the hot rice. Its really yummy.

Usually the side preferred to molagootal is spicy/tangy one. Here it is Vazhathandu/banana stem pachadi. It is very fibrous and is known to remove kidney stones. Drinking vazhathandu juice is highly recommended for kidney stone problem. The outer layer of the stem is removed and then chopped into round pieces. While chopping each pieces, remove the fibre by rolling the finger around the thandu. Put the pieces in water mixed with some buttermilk, to retain the color. Take 3/4 round pieces and chop them into tiny cubes and put them back in water. Use a skewer and rotate it in the bowl of chopped banana stem along with water to remove any left out fibre. Cleaning and chopping the stem is time consuming, but its qualities makes the effort worth.

Chopped banana stem - 2 cups

tamarind - gooseberry sized

turmeric

salt
For grinding
grated coconut - 1/2 cup

green chilly - 2

red chilly - 1

mustard seeds - 1/4 tspn

Soak tamarind in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes. Extract juice and add turmeric and salt to it. Bring the tamarind water to boil. Add the chopped banana stem and let it cook till soft. Grind the coconut,green chilly,red chilly and mustard seeds to a smooth paste. Add to the cooked tamarind mixture. Adjust the consistency by adding water to get a medium thick gravy. Bring to a boil and garnish with curry leaves. Season with tablespoon of oil and mustard seeds.

Usually rasam is also prepared whenever molagootal is made. If it is only for two of us, then I omit rasam, since my husband is not very keen on having rasam.

BACI Ice Cream

I bought an ice cream bowl attachment for my KitchenAid mixer recently as I've been eager to make myself a box of homemade ice cream for long long time. This ice cream bowl has to be stored in the freezer for 15 hours before the process of making ice cream, sorbet or gelato. I stored the ice cream bowl at the back of my freezer at all times that gives me the flexibility to make any frozen desserts on a whim.

I had a recipe book "Forever Summer from Nigella Lawson" with me for quite some times but just have no chance to follow her recipe as I don't have an ice cream maker. This book had many cold dessert recipes including ice cream. I've choosen a recipe called "BACI ICE CREAM". This is quite like a French or Italian ice cream as the ingredients used including custard. It had a very rich texture which is quite like the Häagen-Dazs. After had my first attempt on making ice cream, I think I've fallen in love with it.

I've got the Baci Ice Cream recipe on the website which is exactly the same in the book of "Forever Summer". Check it out if you like to give it a try.

Creamy Vegetable Soup -No Croutons Required

This is going to Lisa's no croutons event

Ingredients:
Chopped onion-2 cups
Garlic pods-2
Frozen corn-1/4 cup
Chopped beans-1/4 cup
Chopped Cabbage-2 cups
Chopped Carrot-1/4 cup(I did not use it in this recipe)
Milk-1/4 cup
Salt
Pepper
Oil-2 tsp

Method:
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Fry onions and garlic till they turn transparent.
Add cabbage, beans, corn and salt. Fry for a minute. Add enough water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Using a hand blender, make a smooth paste. Pass the soup through a strainer(this step is optional). Add milk and bring the soup to boil. Sprinkle pepper and serve.

To go with this hearty soup, I made fragrant garlic scented bread(I used whole grain wheat bread).

For garlic bread:

Mix 1 tbsp of oil, 1 tbsp of soft butter, salt and pepper. Brush the bread with this mixture on both sides and toast till golden brown. Cut a garlic pod into 2 and use one piece to rub the sides of the bread.