Pepper 'n Spice

Pav bhaji is a thick spicy curry with softened vegetables, served with a bread roll called pav and onions soused in lemon juice. The components are... Beans, haricot - 150g Broad beans - 150g Carrot - 4 Green capsicum - 1 Peas, frozen - 1/2 cup Water - just enough water to immerse the vegetables in the pressure cooker + 2 Tbsp for cooking onions Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp Onion - 2 Green chili - 2 Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 3 cloves Tomato - 2 Salt - 1/4 tsp Nutritional yeast - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - a bit Chili powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 3/4 tsp Garam masala - 1 and 1/4 tsp The modus operandi... Immerse vegetables in clean water with a pinch of salt and a drop of apple cider vinegar for a few hours. This will remove any external pesticides. Wash them again in clean water. Peel carrot, trim the ends of beans and deseed capsicum. Chop them small.          Pressure cook the vegetables with water and a smidgeon of salt for 8 to 10 whistles. The vegetables w...

 Both amaranth leaves and moringa are touted as superfoods, so why not incorporate them in a single platter. Check out the unostentatious recipe.     The elements... Amaranth leaves - a big bunch Drumstick - 2 Water - for cooking the leaves and moringa seeds For the coconut potpourri, Coconut, grated - 1 cup Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp Onion - a small one or shallots - 3 Salt - 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch Chili powder - 1/2 tsp The process...   Wash the leaves well 2 or 3 times in clean water to remove any mud or dirt sticking to them. Chop the leaves and their stalks into small bits. Cut the drumstick into half and slice it through the center to reveal the inner seeds. Scrape the inner contents with a spoon.            Cook these in boiling water with a tad of salt. Into a deep-bottomed steel pan, placed on medium heat, cast in the amaranth leaves, stalk, cooked drumstick seeds and a splash of water.          ...

 Tofu is prepared by curdling soy milk and so it is high in protein. This preparation is also called tofu bhurji. One can use the same recipe to assemble egg bhurji with replacing tofu with egg. The constituents are...   Vegetable tofu - 200g Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp Onion - 1 Garlic - 2 cloves Ginger - 1/2 inch Green chili - 2 Water - 3 Tbsp Amaranthus leaf - a few sprigs Green capsicum - 1 Red capsicum - 1 Tomato - 2, small Nutritional yeast - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - a bit Chili powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp           The mechanism ...   Slice onion into small pieces. Mince chili, ginger and garlic. Deseed capsicum. Chop capsicum, tomato and amaranth leaves into small bits.            Crumble the tofu with your fingers.     Heat a deep-bottomed steel pan. Toast cumin seeds. Fling in onion, chili, ginger, garlic and water. Stir around until the onion soften...

This is the most basic of all salads and it is quick to conjure. The only juncture to twiddle your thumb is when the onions are soused in vinegar. This is done in order to take away its bite and strong odor. The components of the overly simplified salad are... Onion - 1 Cucumber - 1 Tomato - 1 Apple cider vinegar - 2 tsp Salt - a smidgeon The procedure... Peel onion and cucumber. Slice onion, cucumber and tomato into small pieces.                        Douse the onion bits with vinegar and set aside for an hour. Drain vinegar. Combine with cucumber and tomato. Add in salt and give it a good stir. Enjoy as a side dish to pulao, biriyani and fried rice.      

An interesting fusion of chickpea curry and basmati rice, with added flavor and aroma.  The mystical ingredients are...   For the chickpea curry,  Cinnamon - 1 small stick Cloves - 2 Onion - 1, large Garlic - 2 cloves Ginger - 1/2 inch Green chili - 2 Water - 3 Tbsp Tomato - 1 Nutritional yeast - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch  Chickpeas (boiled) - 1 and 1/2 cup Curd - 1/4 cup For the rice, Basmati rice - 1 and 1/4 cup Water - 1 cup Vegetable soup cube - 1 Saffron - a few strands Lemon - 1/2   The method...   Slice onion into thin pieces. Mince ginger, garlic and chili. Chop tomato roughly. Heat a deep-bottomed steel pan and fling in cinnamon stick and cloves. After a few seconds, cast in onion, ginger, garlic , chili and a splash of water. Stir around until the onions soften. Throw in tomato and mix for a few minutes. Add in yeast flakes, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam m...