Tag Archives: squash

Mor Kuzhambu or South Indian Yogurt Coconut Curry

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Mor kuzhambu or moor kulambu, however you spell it, is a satisfying south Indian dish made with yogurt and fresh coconut. Mor is buttermilk in Tamil and kulambu is gravy or curry. I use yogurt to make this dish (instead of buttermilk) because it makes the gravy thicker. Peppercorns are wonderful in this dish. You don’t actually eat them, but they impart great flavor. These peppercorns are from my dear friend and fellow food blogger, Nandini’s plantation in India.

Tips

- Use freshly grated coconut or fresh-frozen coconut. Please, none of the dried or dessicated stuff!
- For a lighter version of this dish, use buttermilk instead of yogurt
- Do not let the curry boil once you’ve added the yogurt. Use low heat and stir constantly to prevent boiling
- Remember to only gently re-heat this dish
- Serve mor kuzhambu with steamed rice or curry leaf rice. See this post for my curry leaf rice recipe

A note on what vegetables to use for Mor Kolambu
You can use any vegetable you like, here are some favorites and suggestions*

- Long squash(sorakkai or lauki). Peel the skin, scoop out the seeds and cut into cubes. (This is what I used in this recipe)
- Winter melon(ash gourd, neer poosanikkai or petha). Peel skin, scoop out seeds and membrane and cut into cubes
- Ripe mango. Peel skin, remove pit and cut into cubes
- Corn on the cob. My favorite. Remove husk and cut the whole corn into 1 inch rounds. Will need more water to cook
- Orka(vendakkai or bhindi). Cut into pieces. Make sure you saute okra in oil till it is no longer slimy

Mor Kuzhambu or South Indian Yogurt Coconut Curry Recipe

serves about 6

Grind to a paste
3/4 cup fresh grated coconut
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 green chillies (use more or less according to taste)
1/2 cup water

For the gravy
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
a pinch of asafoetida
a few curry leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 cups of cubed vegetable (see suggestions in the post above)*
water
salt
a 32 oz tub of plain yogurt
Cilantro for garnishing

Place the ingredients for grinding in a blender and grind into a smooth paste. Set aside.

In a deep pot, heat oil, and add mustard seeds and peppercorns. When the mustard starts to pop and splutter, add the asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric, and cubed vegetable (see note in the post above for what vegetables to use). Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Then pour about 1 cup water, cover and simmer till the vegetable is cooked; about 7 minutes.

Add the ground coconut mixture, and cook on medium-high for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Beat the yogurt with a spoon or whisk and add it to the coconut-vegetable mixture. Stir gently and constantly on low heat for about 2 minutes. Do not let the gravy boil once you’ve added the yogurt. Add more water if the kuzhambu is too thick. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with white rice or curry leaf rice.

Spaghetti and Spinach Balls

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I first had this amazing pasta dish at Italia restaurant in Park Pod hotel, Chennai, India. Wanting to recreate the dish at home, I googled around to see if there were similar recipes. To my surprise I found a very similar recipe that is served at the famous Carluccios restaurant in UK! My recipe is inspired by Antonio Carluccios recipe for pasta with courgette sauce and spinach balls on BBC Food


Not only is Antonio Carluccios recipe delicious, it also has a special story behind it..

Everytime someone orders this dish at Carluccios restaurant, 50p (about 75 cents) is donated on the diner’s behalf to the charity, Action Against Hunger. In just 3 years Carluccios has raised 430,000 pounds for the charity this way!  Take a look at their menu for details. (The restaurant sells this dish as penne giardiniera).

I made several changes to Carluccios recipe. Their spinach balls use eggs, I cut that out. Their recipe required fresh spinach leaves, but I used frozen, thawed spinach because i like the texture of frozen spinach better. I also added fresh thyme and extra garlic to the pasta for extra flavor. The fried spinach and parmesan balls are super tasty! You could even serve them as a snack or appetizer. But I love them in the pasta. These are a great vegetarian substitute  for spaghetti and meat balls.

Some tips:

- Timing is important in this recipe because there are 3 elements to it – the pasta, pasta sauce, and spinach balls. Make the pasta sauce first (using olive oil, thyme, garlic, zucchini and cheese) and keep aside. Then work on the spinach balls. Roll the balls and keep them ready to fry.  Then put the pasta to boil. While the pasta is boiling, fry the spinach balls. This way, the pasta and the spinach balls will be done at the same time and you will have al dente pasta and crispy spinach balls just before serving.

- If you want to use fresh spinach, blanch it in boiling water and squeeze dry before using. Refer to Carluccio’s original recipe which uses fresh spinach.

- If your spinach mixture is too dry and wont form a ball, sprinkle a little water. If the mixture is too moist (you probably didnt squeeze the spinach dry enough), try adding more bread crumbs. Keep in mind that if the mixture is too wet, then end result will be oily.

- You can bake the spinach balls if you wish. But it will work better if you formed the spinach mixture into patties for baking, instead of balls. This way, you will get a crunchier exterior in the oven. Ive never baked these before, but I think a temperature of 400-450f should work.

Spaghetti and Crispy Fried Spinach Parmesan Balls Recipe

adapted from this recipe by Antonio Carluccio
serves about 6

For pasta

450g or 1 lb spaghetti pasta
8 tablespoons olive oil
3 sprigs fresh thyme
4 garlic cloves, minced
Crushed red pepper, according to taste
2 zucchini or summer squash cut into thin strips (see picture in post)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Generously salt the water. When water boils, add pasta and cook till al dente.

While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a pan. Add thyme sprigs, garlic and crushed pepper and cook for about 30 seconds. Then add the chopped zucchini. Saute for about 2 minutes or till the zucchini is cooked, but still a little crunchy. Turn off heat and stir in grated parmesan, salt and pepper. This is your pasta ‘sauce’. When the pasta is done, drain the pasta and toss with the zucchini mixture.

For Spinach Balls (makes about 24 balls)

1 lb frozen spinach
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 cup breadcrumbs
a pinch of nutmeg
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

Thaw frozen spinach. Squeeze out as much water as possible. Place thawed, dry spinach in a bowl. Add all other ingredients to the bowl, except the oil. Mix well.

Now test the spinach balls. Make one ball from the mixture, heat the oil, and shallow fry it on medium-high heat. If the balls fall apart, you need to add a little more bread crumbs to bind the mixture. If the extra breadcrumb trick didnt work, and the balls still fall apart, add one beaten egg to the mixture.

Form the spinach mixture into balls (see pictures in post). Heat a thin layer of oil in a wide, shallow pan.

Place spinach balls a few at a time and shallow fry them on medium-high heat, turning the balls around till all sides are golden and crisp. Remove spinach balls with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels.

Serve spinach parmesan balls with the spaghetti.

Chipotle-Lime Grilled Squash with Kalyn’s Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

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grilled-zucchini-squash-and-creamy-tomatillo-sauce

Call me crazy..but I grilled outdoors on a blazing hot, 98 degree day. I could have made my no-cook double layer summer vegetable sandwich instead, stayed indoors and stayed nice and cool. But I was really, really in the mood for some grilled summer squash/zucchini skewers with chipotle and lime.

When the wonderful Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen posted a recipe for creamy tomatillo dressing, I simply had to make it and serve it with grilled zucchini. Kalyn’s Café Rio inspired tomatillo dressing is tart, creamy and refreshing. But let me tell you about the chipotle lime grilled squash first.

thread-squash-on-skewer

Use both yellow squash and green zucchini for colorful skewers. Red onion goes well with the squash and is always wonderful on the grill. Red onion is one of my favorite things to grill – it gets sweet and roasted and incredibly flavorful. Cut the squash and onion and thread them alternatingly on soaked bamboo skewers.

Then grill the skewers on an outdoor grill. Towards the end, baste the skewers with a mixture of olive oil, lime juice, chipotle powder, cumin and salt. Chipotle powder burns easily, so only baste in the last minute or so of grilling.

grill-and-grilled-lime

Meet my grill. We got an incredible deal on it a few years ago in Sears. Among the many things we’ve grilled, we really like grilled limes and they go great with this dish.

tomatillos

grilled-tomatillosNow, onto Kalyns creamy tomatillo dressing. This is really easy to make. You’ll need a couple of tomatillos. Remove their husk and wash away the sticky coating on the tomatillos. Pat them dry. Then throw the tomatillos on the grill. When they are soft and blistered, put them in a blender.

add-lime-and-ranch-powder

 Add some cilantro, garlic, a Serrano chili (Kalyn uses jalapeno or Tabasco sauce), lime juice, a packet of ranch dressing mix and a cup each of milk and mayonnaise.

creamy-tomatillo-sauce

Blend everything together and your sauce is done.

grilled-squash-with-tomatillo-dressing

Served chipotle grilled squash with creamy tomatillo sauce and grilled limes.

Chipotle Lime Grilled Squash recipe with Creamy Tomatillo Sauce
makes 4 skewers
2 squash (preferably 1 yellow squash and 1 green zucchini)
½ medium red onion
¼ tsp ground chipotle
¼ tsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt
four 12 inch bamboo skewers

Soak the skewers for 15 minutes in warm water. This will prevent them from burning on the grill.

Heat an outdoor grill to about 350f.

Cut the squash into rounds (about 8 rounds per squash). Cut the onion into chunks. Thread the squash and onions onto the skewers alternatingly – about 4 pieces of squash and 3 pieces of onion per 12 inch skewer.

Mix chipotle powder, cumin, lime juice, olive oil and salt together. Place squash skewers on the grill and grill each side till browned. Brush the chipotle-olive oil mixture on the grilled squash in the last 1 minute of grilling.

Serve with creamy tomatillo sauce.

Kalyn’s Creamy Tomatillo Sauce recipe inspired by Café Rio
about 2 ½ cups (you’ll have left over sauce)

2 large or 4 small tomatillos
½ cup chopped cilantro
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp minced garlic
1 serrano chili (Kalyn uses jalapeno or Tabasco sauce)
1 packet Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix
1 cup milk
1 cup mayonnaise

Toss the tomatillos in 1 tso of oil and grill on an outdoor grill or in the oven till soft and blistered. Place the tomatillos along with all other ingredients in a blender. Blend into a sauce. Refrigerate till you are ready to serve.

If you want to use prepared/bottled ranch dressing, use 2 cups of the prepared dressing instead of the ranch dressing mix, milk and mayo. If you don’t have tomatillos, Kalyn recommends using store bought salsa verde.

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