Of Cabbages And Kings

Stuffed Capsicum

Cabbages&Kings — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 06:48:04 +0000

This is from a mail I had sent time ago:

Take small capsicums preferably of similar size and as far as possible with even sides and not too many bulges and corners. Wash and clean well, set aside to dry. You could add yellow and red peppers too.

Boil potatoes for filling. Boil them well, peel and mash so there are no lumps.

Add a little salt (there will be some salt in the gravy, but u need some for the capsicum, maybe slightly lesser than normal.

Mix some finely chopped onions, coriander leaves and green chillies into the mash. Keep a little aside for the gravy and divide the balance into portions according to number of capsicum used.

Carefully cut away the tops of each capsicum without damaging the same. Deseed. Stuff with the mash, replace tops and if you have toothpicks, use them to clip the top to the stuffed veggie. otherwise just replace the tops carefully.

Lightly coat the capsicum with oil and grill. I prefer the fried taste, so I grill for 10 mins to help it cook, then deep fry. If u dont want to fry, then grill till done, the skin starts changing colour and peeling, becomes soft. Take off before it begins to scald and burn.

Fry onions, a little garam masala, a little haldi, some chilli powder preferably kashmiri chilli powder.

Add tomatoes.Add the mash. Add Salt, keeping in mind u have already added salt to the mash earlier.

Fry well and add curd or a little panner or some cream cheese. A little water to just cover the gravy. Let the gravy get nicely mixed and smooth but not become a paste.

Seat the grilled stuffed peppers in the gravy, turn gently and cover each stuffed pepper with gravy.

Cook for 5 minutes, dish out and serve hot.

Recipe: Cabbage Kootu (as requested)

Cabbages&Kings — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:42:12 +0000

Ingredients:
Green cabbage, washed well and chopped small;
Half a capsicum, some broccoli, washed and chopped small;
Peas: soaked in a cup of water.
Ginger, green chillies, grated coconut, cumin seeds, a few peppercorns, turmeric powder, salt to taste.
One large potato: boiled and diced.
Coconut oil, mustard seeds, one red chilli, curry leaves.
Thowar dhal: boiled till soft.
Method:
Grind the coconut, green chillies, cumin seeds, ginger, pepper corns with enough water to make a smooth paste.
Boil the cabbage till almost done. Add a very little turmeric,the boiled potatoes,peas and capsicum, broccoli. Boil for 5 minutes, add the coconut paste and the cooked dhal ( I usually mix the dhal and paste first and stir till the dhal dissolves into the paste).
Add salt,boil for another 5 minutes. I like my Kootu a little fluid, not thick.
Temper with mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves and one dry red chilli in hot coconut oil.
Serve hot with rice or chapatis. Goes well with rasam or sambar too.

Recipe for Morekuzhambu: For daughters and other such species of NRI

Cabbages&Kings — Tue, 31 May 2011 13:38:38 +0000

This is not quite as your grandmother made it, but tastes great.
Ingredients:
Curd, not too fresh and creamy, maybe a day old, churned well ( I use an egg whisk).
Green chillies, grated coconut, a small piece of peeled ginger and a spoonful of jeera.
A table spoon full of raw rice and a table spoon full of thowar dhal.
Turmeric ( very little, you dont want a jaundiced looking dish) salt to taste,
Vegetables: Arbi (colocasia) boiled well, peeled and cut into marble sized pieces.
Capsicum: About a quarter of a medium sized one, chopped into two cm pieces.
For the seasoning: Curry leaves, coconut oil and mustard and jeera, one or two red chillies
Method:
Soak the rice and thowar dhal for about 10 minutes. Add the coconut, ginger, jeera and green chillies and grind to a paste.Keep aside
Fry the capsicum in a little hot coconut oil for 2-3 minutes and keep aside.
Churn/whisk the curds adding a little water if too thick, add a little turmeric and required salt, and bring to a slow boil.
Since the curd tends to split into curds and whey, make sure the burner is on low flame and that you stir often.
Once the curd begins to boil, add the coconut paste. Boil for 3 minutes. The rice in the paste will help it thicken.
Add the cooked arbi and capscicum. Boil for another 3 minutes.
Take off from the stove. Season with mustard, Red chillies (one large or two small), jeera, curry leaves all fried in a little coconut oil).
Serve hot with hot rice and bhendi/ brinjal or karela. And pappad.

Cabbage can be tasty too..

Cabbages&Kings — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 07:09:18 +0000

A simple cabbage dish, using:
Fresh green cabbage, chopped fine, placed in water till ready to use.
Capsicum diced; green peas soaked in water while you are preparing the rest of the veggies.
Green chillies slit lengthwise. Ginger cut into small pieces. A few methi seeds. Juice of half a lemon. Dhania leaves cut into small pieces.
Olive oil. Turmeric powder. Salt to taste.
Heat olive oil in a kadai. Add methi, let it splutter, add chilies.
Fry the capsicum lightly.
Add cabbage and peas after draining the water.
Add turmeric powder ( just a little, less than quarter of a small teaspoon)
Add Ginger.
Fry well, stirring frequently. Add salt to taste, keeping in mind the quantity reduces drastically after cooking.
When done, garnish with dhania.
Add lemon juice before serving. Great with hot rasam, rice and pappad, and with chappaties too.
Make your own Katti roll by spreading Amul butter lightly on chappaty, spread a layer of cabbage subji and roll it up. But do remove the chillies first!

A variant to the dish is to add pieces of red and yellow pepper along with the capsicum. And some dill too.

Aubergine Fusion

Cabbages&Kings — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:45:12 +0000

You need: Thin Long or small round purple brinjals, 3 small florets of broccoli (even if you are not a fan), 1 medium capsicum, 2 ripe red tomato , peas, parsley, small red chillies, a few methi seeds and half a teaspoon of mustard seeds, turmeric powder and salt to taste. Olive oil.
Wash all vegetables. Dice brinjals, capsicum, tomatoes into slim, even sized pieces abt an inch long. Slit chillies into two, lengthwise. Separate broccoli into small pieces, lengthwise. Shell peas into enough water to cover them.
Heat olive oil in a pan, (don’t scrimp on the oil, this is not a calorie watchers recipe), add mustard, then methi, finally chilies.
Add diced veggies, stir well, add turmeric powder, salt.
Fry for a few minutes, remove peas from water and add.
Cook till done, stirring frequently so that it doesn’t catch at the bottom of the pan.
Add parsley chopped fine.
Cover and turn off the stove.

My favourite Salad

Cabbages&Kings — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 05:10:09 +0000

You need:
One each of: Red, Green and Yellow pepper, a chunk of red cabbage, a sliver of fresh green cabbage, 4 table radish or 1 long red radish, one white radish, a large green tomato, 2 juicy red tomatoes, 2 medium onions, 4 spring onions with leaves, 2 florets of broccoli, one small orange, one lemon, a piece of Ginger, green and red chillies, assorted lettuce (no iceberg please), olive oil.
The orange, lemon and olive oil are for the dressing.
Wash the veggies well. Leave the lettuce in the fridge. Remove the pith and seeds from the peppers and slice the eye off the tomato. Chop Ginger and chillies.
Chop all vegetables into small similar size pieces and place in salad bowl. Toss.
Wash lettuce and shred into salad.
Prepare dressing with 1 part of lemon juice and orange juice to 3 parts of olive oil. Add zest of orange, the Ginger and chillies, salt and pepper, pour on salad and gently mix it in with the tips of your fingers. Add dhania leaves cut into tiny bits with scissors. Add parsley and dil.
Your salad is ready.

You don’t need a Darwin To tell you there is a link..

Cabbages&Kings — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 06:59:49 +0000

This gentleman is picking up stones to throw at unruly visitors Tarzan Learnt this from me The Badam was good, Now I need a nap Lunch Time for the Chimps On the Solwezi Road: African Skies- Such a Deep Blue On a Winters Day

On the Solwezi Road

Random Thoughts

Cabbages&Kings — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 06:45:14 +0000

Back to Chandigarh after nearly a year, and much water has flown over the Sukhna Lake in the interim. So much of travel, my usual haunts of Udaipur and Orissa, and two months at Zambia. I love Africa, the wide spaces, the utter silence, huge trees. And the work was good, engrossing.
Things have been very hectic for the last few months. At Chandigarh I am now getting back to myself, somehow the phone calls have reduced and work is not pressured. Dont know how long this will last.
This City has a calming effect on me. The weather is chill, just enough to be pleasant. Planning to take a long walk this evening.I miss the walks I used to take at Lalbagh at Bangalore,when I lived close by, and I have’nt found a suitable park near my new apartment.
Ive been doing quite a bit of cooking, and need to start organizing the recipes. Pasta is coming out well,as are the various salads Ive been trying out. Experimenting with fusion cooking of a kind, European herbs and vegetables with Indian curries.
My daughter has got me a batch of herbs, and I should be trying them out soon.
Ive promised recipes to some friends and need to start working on these.
Hope to catch a movie this weekend, haven’t been to the theatre for nearly a year, and usually too tired to watch movies on TV.
Once I get back to Bangalore, should get back to the weekend plays. Rangashankara would be too far, so should try out the theatre at Indranagar.I think Evam have come out with a new production.

Enroute to Istanbul

Cabbages&Kings — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:07:00 +0000

: Flying over the mountains of Anatolia

17th January 2009:

Its a little more than a week, actually, since we landed here. Time has flown in a kalediscope of color, sights, cold breezes hitting you and surprisingly, very little sound.
My part of the trip started badly: 10 kg excess baggage at Banglaore and Emirates said it would cost Rs1300 per Kg. My laptop was already starting to hurt my shoulders and there was no way I could carry anything else as handbaggage. Luckily a colleague came to the rescue and I checked in along with one of them who had a larger baggage allowance. And as he was caught in traffic, we checked in a few minutes before the counter closed. By the time we cleared security and emigration, boarding had been called!
Once on the flight, it was comfortable. I didnt get the window seat I wanted but it was okay as I watched movies back to back and then dozed a little.
After landing at Dubai, I walked the lenght of the Duty free, grateful to find a cart to keep my laptop and my jacket as by now it was warm and the jacket a burden. I finally my colleagues from Chennai, browsing the chocolate shops.
This is a new terminal exclusively for Emirates, and so far it is not as well stocked as the other Dubai duty free shops at the old terminal. Hopefully it will get better. There was just one shop for electronics, and we spend some time looking at the cameras. I decided to splurge and get one. All of us participated in camera selection and finally picked a very nice Panasonic. Im still trying it out, trying to get the settings right. Some of the movies I have taken are great, except that u also get to see the floor and hands and feet as I try to switch the viedo off! I need to try and edit them before putting them up on Orkut.
I also find that there are setttings to reduce the size of the picture while taking it, so that I can mail it.. As of now the pictures are large sized and I cant email so Ive put some n Orkut.
On the flight from Dubai to Istanbul, most people were sleeping. I couldnt sleep and walked up and down a little, chatting with a colleage , checking our route, noting that we were passing close to Baghdad. Suddenly I noticed something strage outside a window. We were somwhere near or over Syria, Damascus. Odd shaped clouds with streaks and lines. And then I realised these were mountains, covered in snow! It was an exciting sight. We started taking photographs. We also captured the sun setting mountains. Our pictures dont show the beauty of that sight.The mountains were awe inspiring! That hour of flight was unimaginable! I wonder what the Himalayas would be like as they must be taller, more majestic!
We landed at Istanbul about 20 mins behind schedule. As we moved to pick up our baggage, I tried to pull out a trolley from the line of trolleys parked near by. It wouldnt budge, inspite of all our efforts. We then found u had to insert a coin to release a trolley. Nothing is free, it seems! As we didnt have local currency, we shouldered our bags, and someone helped with one of my suitcases and we move out.
We found two taxis and started out to our guest house.
The Istanbul airport is in the European part of the city. Istanbul straddles two contintents, the only city in the world to do so. The river Bhosporous and the Sea of Marmara, divide (or connect?) the two part of the city. They flow from the Black Sea on the North to the Mediteranean which is south of Turkey. Istanbul is not on the Mediteranean. The climate, the culture are said to be more Balkan with its proximity to Hungary and Russia. A cosmopolitan place, but very few people speak English. Getting a cup of lemon tea at the office is a feat of sign language and slow, loud requests for “leemon’ and sua and tea bag (cay, pronounced luckily as chay).
Script is English and we are managing our work by patiently translating word by word into an online Turkish dictionary that I discovered. I have listed out key words like Runway (pist) and going through technical specifications is pure torture.
Some of the pronounciation is French, some German, some Persian. U get some easy stuff like Hisaab (Calculation, Accounts) too.
Back to my story.
On the way to the guesthouse: The ride seemed neverending. It was warm enough in the taxi. There were hundreds of multi storey buildings on the hills along the way,all packed together. We crossed the bridge over the Bhosporous and I held my breath at the thought of reaching such a historical spot. I craned my neck to see as much as possible, but as it was dark could just make out the lights of boats and ferries on the river.
Finally we reached the guest house. Got down to find it was raining (drizzling, but the water was ice cold). Grabbed hold of my bags and entered.

I think this mail should stop here, though Week 1 narrative is not over…. We are planning to go out as its a bright sunny day ( but cold winds are blowing too!)
will conculde this in mail 2.

Its almost a year since I updated my blog

Cabbages&Kings — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:43:23 +0000

So much of time goes in travelling that Ive neglected my blog. After Chandigarh, this time last year, its been Rajasthan and Orissa, Mumbai, a fortnight at Zambia. A month at Cochin. A wonderful office meet at Kodai. And now its been more than a month at Delhi. So many photographs to upload, so many thoughts to put down. I think I will start with the photographs…