ABCD\'s of Cooking

Heirloom Tomato Rasam (Saaru)

September 5, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

Growing up my mom would buy tomatoes from a local farmstand and I’d eat them whole just like fruit. I love tomatoes so much, I sign up for an heirloom tomato share on top of my regular farmshare every year because it kills me that their season is so short. And now I’m so spoiled from it that I rarely buy a tomato from the supermarket on the off-season. I just can’t bear the thought of paying for a waxy, mealy tomato after eating tomatoes like a queen in the summer that cost a lot less! When I make this recipe in the off season, I just buy canned diced organic tomatoes.
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Posted in Dinner, Favorites, Gluten-Free, Recipes Index, Soups & Dals, South Indian, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged gluten-free, heirloom tomatoes, lentils, rasam, saaru, soup, South Indian, vegan, vegetarian | 4 Comments

Red & Green Gooseberry Thokku

August 20, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

Thokku is a South Indian spicy condiment dish halfway between a chutney and an Indian pickle that you usually eat mixed with hot rice or served on the side of idli or dosa. It can last for a few weeks and is very versatile so you can have it with most anything – with cheese & crackers, on a sandwich, mixed into noodles, etc. I’ve seen it made from a variety of different sour or tart fruits like cranberries, tomato and flipping through an old recipe book with my mom, we came across a thokku recipe made from green mango. When I received these red & green gooseberries in my farm share I thought I’d try my hand at my first thokku.
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Posted in Chutneys & Pickles, Easy, Gluten-Free, Recipes Index, South Indian, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged condiment, gluten-free, gooseberry, South Indian, summer, thokku, vegan, vegetarian | 2 Comments

Stir-Fried Corn w/ Basil & Leeks

August 6, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

This is the first year we got corn in the farm share! When these guys arrived I was reminded of a very simple stir-fried corn recipe my mother would make for me flavored with just cumin seed, black pepper, lemon and cilantro. These particular ingredients together give you a nice mix of sweet, spicy, herby and sour. I believe this recipe was one she grew up eating in Bangalore and was known in our house as corn palya (palya = stir-fry in Kannada). You really don’t need to add much to the corn because it’s already so flavorful.
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Posted in Easy, Favorites, Gluten-Free, Popular, Recipes Index, Sides, South Indian, Stir-Fry, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged basil, corn, Easy, gluten-free, leaks, palya, side, stir fry, summer, vegan, vegetarian | 5 Comments

Kohlrabi Sambar

July 30, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

Kohlrabi is a misunderstood vegetable I think. It looks somewhat like a martian and I hear a lot of groaning when it appears at the farm share. I have consumed quite a bit of kohlabri in my day because it’s one of my mother’s favorite vegetables. My mother grew up eating it in Bangalore, many times cooked in sambar, a spicy lentil stew. These kohlrabi that I got were kind of small so I used them all up in the sambar.
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Posted in Autumn, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Recipes Index, Soups & Dals, South Indian, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged dinner, gluten-free, kohlrabi, sambar, soup, South Indian, summer, vegetarian | 4 Comments

Green Yogurt Curry w/ Summer Squash (Majjige Huli)

July 23, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

We’ve been experiencing a pretty intense heat wave on the East coast with temperatures hitting the 100s, which was all the reason to prepare my mom’s recipe for majjige huli, a South Indian green yogurt curry made from ground coconut, cilantro, green chilis and spices. Usually my mother prepares this dish with watery squashes like chayote or ash ghourd or eggplant, and in the past I’ve shared my Aunt Karen’s recipe for majjige huli using cucumbers.

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Posted in Curry, Dinner, Favorites, Gluten-Free, Lunch, Recipes Index, South Indian, Summer, Vegetarian | Tagged curry, gluten-free, majjige huli, South Indian, summer, summer squash, vegetarian, yellow squash, yogurt curry, zucchini | 4 Comments

Tangra Summer: Indo-Chinese Farm Feast @ Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum

July 13, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

The ‘seeds’ of Tangra Summer started last year when I was talking to Jason Gaspar, my friend and head gardener at Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum about growing some Indian vegetables in his garden that I could prepare for an event at the museum. This past winter, I brought back various seeds from Lalbagh Botanical Gardens in Bangalore where my mother is from and Jason is now starting to grow some of these vegetables.

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Posted in Events & Classes, Special Events | Tagged Diana Kuan, event, Indo-Chinese, Jason Gaspar, Tangra, Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum | Comments Off

Lemon Dill Rice w/ Cashews

July 9, 2013 Chitra Agrawal

For the July 4th holiday, I was in Alabama visiting my parents and celebrating my mother’s 70th birthday. The weekend was filled with a lot of cooking, note-taking, eating and some quality laying around. I learned a lot of recipes I’ll share with you from that visit in the coming weeks.

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