BABY ONION SALAN

BABY ONION SALAN

Once in a while, I like to make dishes using Baby Onions, which are commonly known as Sambar Onions in South India. These cute onions enhance the aroma and flavour of the dish. Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for Shallot Sambar, from the South of India, and Pyaz ki Subzi, from the North of India.

These days we get baby onions in a peeled and packed state. However, if you have bought them as they are you would need to peel them first. This can be quite tedious but I can assure you that this tasty dish is well worth the effort.

Today's recipe is from Hyderabadi cuisine and is adapted from Pyaz ka Salan by Yummy Tummy. Salan is a side dish made with a masala made from groundnuts, sesame seeds, coconut and spices.

We had this as a side dish with rotis and it tasted quite delicious.

Ingredients:-

• Baby Onions (Sambar Onions),  200 grams
• Chilli Powder, 2 tsp
• Coriander Powder, 1 tbsp
• Cumin Powder, 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Kitchen King Masala, 1/4 tsp -1/2 tsp
• Jaggery, grated, 1 tbsp 
• Tamarind, size of small gooseberry 
• Salt, to taste

For Roasting & Grinding: 

• Groundnuts, 1 and 1/2  tbsp 
• White Sesame Seeds, 1 and 1/2  tbsp  
• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 2 tbsp

For Seasoning : 

• Mustard Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Fennel Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Cinnamon, 1 " stick
• Curry Leaves, a few 
• Oil, 2 tbsp 

Method:

Peel the baby onions and keep aside
Soak the tamarind in a little warm water, extract the pulp and keep this aside
In a pan, dry roast the groundnuts till they change colour, then add the white sesame seeds and coconut gratings and roast for a few minutes till the sesame seeds pop
Transfer to a small blender jar and grind this to a smooth paste adding just the required amount of water. Keep aside.
In the same pan, heat oil and on medium heat add the mustard seeds, when they splutter add the fennel seeds and cumin seeds, when they sizzle add the cinnamon stick and lastly the curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds.
To this, add the baby onions and saute for a couple of minutes till they become translucent
Next add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, and Kitchen King Masala and salt. Mix well.
Add a little water and the prepared groundnut-sesame-coconut paste
Now add the tamarind extract and jaggery. Mix well and bring to a boil
Reduce the heat and let it simmer till the oil separates
Transfer to serving bowl
Serve hot with rotis

THE FLAVOURS OF INDIA: PART III

THE FLAVOURS OF INDIA: PART III

This is the third post in The Flavours of India series. My goal is to cover one dish from my blog from as many as possible of the States and Union Territories that make up my country, India.

In The Flavours of India Part I, I had presented Nuchina Unde from Karnataka, Aloo & Pudhina Parantha from Punjab, Khandvi from Gujarat, and Mishti Doi from West Bengal.

Part II of The Flavours of India had dishes from the States of Tamilnadu, Rajasthan, Goa, and Haryana namely Adai, Dahi Pappad ki Subzi, Kokum Sol Kadhi, and Palakwali Missi Roti respectively.

In the third Part, I cover the States of Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, and Himachal Pradesh.
As before, I have provided links to the recipes for each of the dishes presented.

9) Uttar Pradesh: a simple yet tasty dal is the Sabut Masoor ki Dal made with protein-packed Whole Masoor Dal and tomatoes.

10) Kerala: Ash Gourd Pumpkin Coconut Stew (Kerala Olan): a Kerala favourite, a mildly flavored vegetable stew.

11) Telangana: Mirchi ka Salan: yogurt-based accompaniment for biryani made with long green chillies. A popular dish in Hyderabadi cuisine.

12) Himachal Pradesh: Gobhi Parantha which are paranthas (a type of Indian flat bread) made with a stuffing of cauliflower. Typically, served with curds and pickles.

KHATTI ARBI KA SALAN

KHATTI ARBI KA SALAN

A salan is a gravy dish popular in Hyderabadi cuisine. Elsewhere in this blog you will find the recipe for Mirchi ka Salan.

Arbi is what colocasia (also known as Taro Roots) is called in Hindi. We call this Alvamande in my mother tongue, Konkani and Kesavuna Gedde in Kannada.

 I use this vegetable from time to time. If you are interested, do check out the recipes for Crispy Arbi, and Arbi Masala Fry in this blog.

This recipe is adapted from "Khatti Arbi ka Salan" from Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor in his book, "Simply Indian."

We thoroughly enjoyed this flavourful salan which we had both with pulao and with rotis.

Ingredients: 

• Colocasia, ( Arbi), 250 gms
• Onion, medium-sized, 1
• Ginger, 3/4 " piece
• Garlic, 7 cloves
• Green Chillies, 3
• Curry Leaves, a sprig
• Groundnuts, 3 tbsp.
• Sesame seeds (Til), 1 tbsp
• Panch Phoran, 1 tsp **** 
• Tamarind Pulp, 2 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Chilli Powder, 1 tsp
• Coriander Powder, 1 tsp
• Cumin Powder, 1 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, 1 & 1/2 to 2 tbsp
• Fresh Coriander Leaves, chopped, for garnishing, 1 tbsp

*** Panch Phoran is a mixture of equal quantities of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, and onion seeds. 

Method:

Wash and cook the arbi in salted water till they become tender. Take care that they don't get overcooked. Peel and slice into roundels.

Peel, wash and slice the onion

Make a fine paste of ginger and garlic

Chop the green chillies (de-seed, if you want lower spice level)

Wash curry leaves and pat them dry

Wash and chop coriander leaves, for garnish

In a kadhai, dry roast the groundnuts and sesame seeds separately until lightly browned.
Allow it to cool and transfer to a small mixer jar. Grind to a fine paste with a little water. Keep aside.

Heat oil in the kadhai on medium flame, when it gets hot add the panch phoran. Stir fry till the seeds splutter

Add curry leaves and sliced onions and saute till onions turn golden brown

Next, add chopped green chillies, ginger-garlic paste and saute for a couple of minutes

To this add tamarind pulp, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, and saute for 3-4 minutes on low heat, taking care not to burn the spices

Add the groundnut-sesame seeds paste and stir fry till oil separates

Add 2 cups of water and simmer for about 3-4 minutes

Now add the cooked arbi roundels, and salt, to taste

Mix well and simmer for another 5 minutes

Finally, garnish with chopped coriander leaves
Serve hot with rotis, naan, or parantha