French Beans Stir Fry

How does it feel to visit some one, look at their house, the way they have decorated & arranged it, admire the beautiful knick-knacks present, and then be offered food (lunch, dinner or even tea!)? Food that is so different from the way you cook the same kind of dish and also get to know the variety of food items that they usually make at home. This is exactly how I felt while taking part in the Blog Hop Wednesdays, an event initiated by Radhika of Tickling Palates.

Its a very simple system. You are paired with a fellow food blogger and all you have to do is cook one dish picked from that blog and write about it on Wednesday. Only it is really not that simple, mainly because there are so many good things to choose from. How do you pick just one?

For the first edition I was paired with Harini of Tamalapaku. This blog has a good mix of traditional and fusion recipes. The Quinoa recipes on her blog had got me totally interested and I have all them bookmarked. But the one I chose to make now was a simple stir fry. The main reason behind choosing this recipe was that I make French Beans in a totally different way (coming soon on the blog!) and this was such a simple sounding recipe. Although I have tastes this kind of stir fry earlier, I had never got around to make it this way.

I made only one change as far as the ingredients are concerned. I have a dry red chilli in the seasoning instead of the green chilli in the original recipe.

French Beans Stir Fry

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 cups French Beans, chopped
• 1 tblsp oil
• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Chana Dal
• 1 tsp Urad Dal
• 1-2 Dry Red Chillies (Depending upon the spice level)
• 1 pinch of Turmeric powder
• 2-3 tblsp Grated fresh coconut
• 1-2 tblsp Fresh Coriander, finely chopped
• Salt

Method: Boil the French beans or cook them in the microwave for about 7-8 minutes.

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the Mustard seeds, Chana Dal and Urad Dal. As the mustard seeds start to splutter add the red chilli.

Next, add the cooked beans along with the turmeric powder, grated coconut, salt and the chopped coriander. Mix well and let this cook on medium flame for about 3-4 minutes and its ready.

Serve this along with Roti or as a side for Rice dishes. Since this bhaji does not contain onions or garlic, it can also form a part of the Naivedya thali.

Indian cooking can not get simpler than this!

PS: I am having some problems with the camera so I couldnt take any pictures, but I will update this post as soon as I have, the next time I make this.

Hot, Sweet & Sour Veg Soup

The weather is getting colder by the day, which itself is getting shorter and shorter. It starts getting dark by 3.30-4 in the afternoon and it does feel a little odd in the beginning. But as time passes we will get used to it & in fact I am sure it will feel odd when the day starts to stretch after March-April!

When its cold & dark, you feel like having something hot & spicy, at least I do :) I have a weakness for anything that has Garlic & Soy Sauce as its main ingredient. Of course for me this mainly means what is popularly known as the Indo-Chinese cuisine. This soup is as good as it gets. Full of flavour & healthy veggies. Perfect for me when I ‘think’ I am on a diet.

Hot, Sweet & Sour Vegetable Soup

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 medium sized carrots, chopped
• 5-6 Baby Corns, cut into rounds
• 1 Green Pepper, chopped
• 1/2 French/Fine beans, chopped
• 4-5 Asparagus tips, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger
• 1/4 tsp Green chilli paste (optional)
• 500 ml Vegetable stock (or water)
• 1 tblsp oil
• 1-2 tsp Soy Sauce
• 1-2 tsp White Vinegar
• 2-3 tsp Corn Flour
• 1 tsp Sugar
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

Boil the Asparagus tips till they turn bright green, approx 2 min. Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a deep pan. Add the onions, ginger & garlic and sauté. Add the chilli paste if using and fry for 2 more minutes till the onions turn soft.

Add the  carrots, beans, baby corn and mix well. Put in the soy sauce, a little salt (keeping in mind that the soy sauce is salty too), pepper powder and the sugar.  Mix and cook for another minute.

Add the stock and bring it to a boil. Add the pepper and vinegar, mix and simmer till the vegetables are cooked, aprrox 10-15 minutes.

You can get this soup ready till this point and go ahead with the following steps when you are ready to serve.

Dissolve the corn flour in a little bit of water and add it to the soup to thicken it. Also add the boiled asparagus now, stir and cook till the soup reaches the desired consistency. Serve piping hot!

My Notes: It was delicious, full of flavour and completely filling. Give me a bowl of this hot soup and a mystery novel to read or an Agatha Christie’s Poirot movie and I am set for the evening!

Looks like Meeta’s Monthly Mingle is celebrating Soups at the right time, over at Tongue Ticklers this month!