Fat free Stuffed Peppers - Stuffed Shimla Mirch

Hello and wish you all a very Happy New Year. The New Year generally ends a long period of indulgence that starts with Diwali and ends with Christmas. After so much revelry, most of us are tired of eating the heavy food but are also somewhat addicted to it. The New year is always the time for resolutions to stay on plan, eat healthy etc., and whether you follow it for a long term or not, you definitely end up eating some less calories, which can only be good for you.

One way of reducing a lot of calories from your food is fat free cooking. Some plans such as Eat to Live and McDougall advocate cutting out oil and fats from your diets altogether ( ETL does allow you some nuts and seeds daily). I have bought some books on 'zero oil' cooking from chefs such as Tarla Dalal and Sanjeev Kapoor, but I found that they substituted oil with skim milk or nuts often times. True fat free cooking should have none of the sources of fat. I am not a nutritionist, and not qualified to give anyone advice. So it is up to you if you eat 100% fat free, or eat one dish fat free. You are definitely eating something healthy compared to before.

Stuffed capsicum or stuffed bell peppers have been a favorite in our family for several years. Please do not confuse them with the jumbo peppers stuffed with meat/rice and baked in an oven. This is a purely Indian dish that is generally stir fried in a wok. Potatoes are boiled and mashed along with aromatic spices and stuffed in baby green peppers. These are then stir fried in a wok. This process generally needs a lot of oil, but I managed to make it totally fat free. The trick here is a good non stick pan and a lot of patience. The recipe is as follows -

Ingredients -

7-8 baby green peppers
4-5 medium potatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp Dry mango or Amchur
salt to taste

Method -

1) Boil, peel and mash potatoes. Add all spices, and mix well. Adjust seasoning. This should be well seasoned.
2) Wash and destem peppers. Remove the seeds and white membranes. If you are lucky, you will get the really small peppers or capsicums. This dish is specifically made with the small sized peppers.
3) stuff the potato mixture in all the peppers. The amount of potatoes needed might vary based on the size of the pepper.
4) Heat a thick bottomed non-stick pan or wok. Add the peppers and do not stir until they get a sear on one side. Turn over gently and sear on the other side.
5) Add a splash or two of water to avoid sticking and cover well. Keep the heat on low and let the peppers steam.
6) Check the water level periodically. After the peppers look almost cooked, remove the cover and heat until the liquid evaporates. Sprinkle some salt on the top of the peppers if needed.
7) The peppers are done when the skins look crumpled and the peppers reduce in size a bit.
8) Serve hot with rotis or rice or just on its own with a salad.

This is a great way to convert a popular favorite into something healthy and is worth a try.

BaTaTyacha Rassa - Potatoes in a tomato curry

'BaTaTa'( buh'Ta'Tah) in marathi means potato, that humble vegetable that none of us can really ever have enough of. 'BaTaTyacha' literally means 'of potato', 'Rassa' means gravy or curry, so this means potato gravy.

This dish is ubiquitous in all homes and perhaps the go-to dish when either you are out of vegetables, or need something in a jiffy, or want to pacify a fussy kid ( young or old). This curry with hot steaming rice is a perfect lunch or dinner when you are at a lose end and want something comforting and simple.

Now that I have waxed enough over this wonder, lets get down to the basics. There are some ways of doing this, and depending on regional and cultural differences, each family recipe could be slightly different. Like in our own home, I prefer a thick tomatoey version using boiled potatoes, while the older ones prefer starting with raw potatoes that cook in a watery stock.

Tomatoes seem to be very economical nowadays and we are getting the local or 'gavran' version, which are big on taste. Adding a few or more peas easily turns this into Alu Matar, another favourite. Roasted peanut powder or 'DaNyacha KooT' adds thickness and some nutty rich flavour.

So without any further introductions, this quick and easy recipe follows. And if this is a carbfest, who cares? My tummy's happy and so am I.

Ingredients -

5-6 medium potatoes

1 green chili pepper optional

1-2 medium onions

3-4 fresh tomatoes

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1 tsp goDa masala or garam masala

or

1 tsp each cumin coriander powder

green peas handful

1 TBsp Peanut powder

oil and salt

Turmeric

Mustard seeds or cumin seeds

Cayenne pepper

Method -

1) Boil the potatoes, preferably in a pressure cooker, or microwave until cooked. Peel and chop them roughly and set aside.

2) Chop the onions and tomatoes, and the green chili if using.

3) For the peanut powder - this is something that is widely used in Marathi homes, and there is almost always a jar of this powder ready to be used in vegetables, salads etc. To make this in a jiffy, dry roast some peanuts - about 1-2 Tbsp in a pan until they are toasty and give out an aroma. Let cool for some time, and then either powder in a 1) spice grinder or 2) mortar and pestle or 3) place in a ziplock bag and beat with a rolling pin or some heavy weight, until coarsely powdered.

4) The process of preparing this dish starts with the 'tempering', the initial sequence that is followed generally while making most Indian style vegetables.

- heat 1 Tbsp oil of choice ( clear oil such as vegetable or canola)

- once the oil is hot, add mustard/cumin seeds, Hing or asfoetida(optional), turmeric

5) Immediately add the onions. There should not be a lag between the above step and adding stuff to the pan, otherwise the oil will burn. Fry onion till tranlucent.

6) Add the green chili if using and then add tomatoes. Fry the tomatoes till they are cooked and give out juices. A rough paste should be formed by this time.

7) Add the cooked potatoes and stir it all together. Now add 2-3 cups of water and mix everything. Adjust so that you have the desired thickness. Please note that this sauce or curry will thicken slightly as it cooks, plus the starchy potatoes and the peanuts will add to the thickness.

8) Now add all the masalas or spices needed. Add salt, pinch of sugar, the goda/garam masala or the cumin or coriander powder. These are all optional and you can use any or all of these. The 'goDa masala' is a traditional spice mix used in marathi cooking and is slightly different from the Garam Masala. If you don't have these, you can either just use cumin powder and that will work fine, or a readymade curry powder if you have it.

9) Add the powdered peanuts at this point.

10) Bring everything to a boil and then simmer for a few minutes till the gravy is thick enough.

11) Add frozen peas a few minutes before switching off the heat.

12) Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with steamed rice or with rotis - Naan or pita bread will also work fine here.

This is a simple recipe that does not use too much oil or any dairy etc. So how do you like your potatoes??

Jeera Alu Shimla Mirch (Cumin flavoured potatoes and peppers) - quick and easy all-time favourite

Lofty mountains, picturesque valleys, swirling mists, chilly breezes, and tummies grumbling for food - this is how I remember one nostalgic afternoon in Kodaikanal, one of the popular hillstations in Southern India. The resort had a restaurant perched on a hilltop with glass all around where you could see the valley view all around you. The food was piping hot - simple roti and Alu Subji, but with a slightly different recipe than the usual thing we ate at home. The aroma of that dish has stayed with me along with happy memories of a great vacation. As young as I was that time, I did not waste any time recreating the simple comforting dish the moment I got home.

Fast forwarding to the present day, Alu Shimla Mirch has always been a very popular dish in our home, and the goto dish when any last minute guests turned up. The flavour of the green pepper or capsicum elevates the everyday potato to a different level, and a strong dose of cumin with a secret spice further makes this taste exotic.

This vegetable dish is ready in a jiffy, since in a typical Indian home, the potatoes are boiled in a pressure cooker along with the usual rice and daal. The green peppers are coarsel chopped meanwhile and then they are stir fried together with the spices. In the wintertime, we sometimes get small green peppers, and my mother makes a further variation where she stuffs the boiled mashed potatoes into the peppers and then sautees them in a pan. This changes the presentation but the taste is the same as the following recipe.

Ingredients -

4-5 large potatoes

3 green peppers

1 Tbsp cumin seeds

3-4 green cardamom pods(elaichi)

hing and turmeric

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp oil

salt to taste

pinch sugar

Method -

1) Scrub and clean the potatoes and boil them either in a pressure cooker or in a pot of boiling water. You can also microwave them if in a hurry, but the texture is slightly different from boiled potatoes. You can use 4-5 Idaho potatoes or 10-12 small new potatoes. Peel and chop the potatoes.

Note - the ratio of potatoes versus peppers here is more to your liking and also on how much the peppers cost :). There will not be much of a difference in flavour if you add 2 versus three or four peppers, since this is a strong flavoured vegetable. More peppers of course mean more vitamin C and more nutrition.

2) Destem the peppers and remove all white parts. Cut into largish pieces, such that the pieces will be intact even after getting cooked.

3) Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and cardamom pods. As they splutter, add hing and turmeric powder. Immediately add the chopped peppers. Sautee for some time until the peppers are cooked.

4) Add the chopped potatoes, the cayenne pepper, salt and a pinch of sugar. Stir everything together and cover. Let it simmer for five minutes.

5) Your Alu Shimla Mirch is ready to be devoured.

This is a simple and easy family favourite that is liked by young and old alike. I hope you try this simple recipe and let me know what you think.

Achari Dum Alu( Potatoes steamed in a sauce of pickling spices)

'Achar' is the hindi word for pickle, 'Dum' means steam, so this is just a simple vegetable dish of potatoes steam cooked in a spicy gravy using pickling spices. The pickling spices here are not your salt and vinegar kind, but Indian pickling spices. Dum Alu was a favourite growing up, since it traditionally uses tiny baby potatoes which are simmered in a spicy and tangy sauce. What child doesn't love potatoes, and this was yet another way to eat the spud. Nowadays, I use any kind of potato available even in a medium size, just cut it in half or quarters, depending on how big it is. As the tators slowly cook in sauce, they absorb all the spices. I use a ready made spice mix made by shan called Achar Gosht mix - check shanfoods.com. This is readily available in any Indian or Asian grocery store for around a dollar.

This mix can be directly used in any stir fry or simple vegetable saute. For this dish, I made a masala paste with onions, ginger, garlic, chillies, cilantro etc.(read ahead) and added the Achari spice mix instead of garam masala to give it a different twist. Yogurt or tamarind can be used alternately as a sour component and so can amchur or dry mango powder. The use of tamarind or mango will allow this dish to be vegan. Cilantro may or may not be used as a part of the ground paste, depending on your taste. This is excellent served with hot steamed rice or rotis.
I served this with rice crepes, or 'Tandulachi DhirDi' which is a traditional Maharashtrian recipe, mostly from the coastal parts. It is a simple batter consisting of rice flour, salt, pinch of sugar and water, and then used to make a thin crepe. A piece of the crepe is broken off and dipped in the sauce, where it absorbs all the delicious gravy and then takes off for your mouth :)
The recipe is as follows -

Ingredients -
6-7 medium potatoes

2 medium onions

4-5 garlic cloves

1 inch piece of ginger

2 green chillies - jalapeno or serano seeded

1 Tbsp dry grated coconut

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 Tbsp tamarind paste or juice of golf ball sized tamarind

oil

Shan Achari Spice Mix

Method -
1) Roughly chop the onion and peppers. Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok or use spray. Fry the onions, chillies, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds and coconut one by one until lightly browned and set aside to cool. Take care not to burn the coconut and sesame seeds.

2) Using a blender or food processor, make a thick paste of the above without using too much liquid. You can add the cilantro leaves at this point if desired.

3) Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wok or sauce pan and add a little hing and turmeric to temper. Add the masala paste and fry on low heat till well cooked. You may need to keep
adding a little water to avoid sticking. Continue frying the paste for 12-15 mins at least.

4) Meanwhile, peel and cut the potatoes such that one piece is the size of a golf ball.

5) If using fresh tamarind, soak one or two small pieces in a little water and extract the juice by kneading the pulp lightly.

6) Add water to the spice paste to make a thick sauce or gravy. Add the Achari spice mix, about 2 spoonfuls according to desired spiciness. This is a pretty potent mix, so it is better to start by adding a small quantity and then adding more at the end. Add the tamarind paste or juice.

7) Add the potatoes, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cover the pot. Let the potatoes cook slowly in the simmering sauce.

8) Check every five minutes or so to make sure there is enough liquid in the pot and stir to avoid burning or sticking. Once the potatoes seem to be done or almost cooked, taste for salt and spiciness. The spice mix contains salt so please consider that before adding more salt. Adjust seasonings like salt, spice mix etc. and also add a pinch of sugar to balance the tartness.

9) Add fresh chopped cilantro to garnish and serve hot, once the potatoes are fork tender.

10) As the sauce settles, it will thicken and also have a slight sheen to it due to the oil from the sesame seeds and coconut used in the paste.

This only gets better with time, and will taste fabulous the next day too, as the potatoes absorb more spices over time.