Garden Post 2020

Just a post to show off our garden in spring and to muse over a few things. Month of May is my favorite month with the arrival of spring and nature in splendor everywhere you turn. It's been 5 years since my mom left us forever. Coronatime gave us siblings an opportunity this year to zoom together in a prayer of remembrance💖. My daughter had a milestone birthday this month and it was great that all four of us had this day together to celebrate it. Roses from the garden held centerpiece in the celebration.

     

               

       

                  

Bearss dwarf lime camouflaged as a flowering plant on the left, clematis vine on the right and the trumpet vine below add charm to our backyard.

           

          

Aren't strawberries like flowers too? At least they are as colorful. Can you spot the little visitor hiding in plain sight? They are in abundance this year.

                     

       .        

When has a rose ever needed an introduction? They rule unchallenged. 

Below is the grapevine coming along nicely. Harvest time is around September.

       

 

Is it absurd that a purple clematis and a weed flower give similar pleasure? So true that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder!

                .  

No backyard is complete without a nasturtium which is not only a beauty, but also edible and used in food decorations. And glad to know that the wild California poppy thinks our backyard is good enough to make an appearance every year. Leaving a slice of home made cake here for you all to enjoy.

Leftover Wrap Anyone?

It is a mark of these times that the instinct now is to save all remnants of edible food instead of forgetting about it and throwing away when moldy. This wrap is a great way to bundle together everything you have leftover that is not enough for any legit use and re-avatar it as a quick lunch or dinner option.

In the Mix

12" whole wheat tortilla - 1
cooked rice : 3 or 4 tbsp or any other carb
baked diced fish - 1/2 cup or any other protein will do
yogurt : enough to spread over
broccoli steamed - 5 to 6 florets
cilantro - optional

How To Do

Heat the tortilla at medium high on a flat pan for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Can heat this up based on your crunch preference. Turn heat off and start adding the filling ingredients one by one. Spread it evenly towards the center as shown here.

                   

Fold over on three sides, wrap with parchment paper and enjoy this hearty meal!

Easy Uzhunnu/Methu Vada with Tomato Chutney #coronatime

Unlike the ever popular parippu vada, making its cousin the uzhunnu vada takes some planning especially if this is your first time. So I conducted a thorough research mostly limited to you-tube food channels featuring vada recipes. The ingredients were common among the channels with some variations. But each had a trick or tip to make the process a bit easier, all of which I embraced wholeheartedly. VahChef, Mias's kitchen, Veena's curry world, Salu kitchen  and mrudula's cookbook were some of these channels. One thing I realized was that since I have a wet grinder I am better equipped to make the uzhunnu vada than most! With a wet grinder the batter gets naturally aerated and needs no hand beating.

Tips:

1. Soaking urad dal overnight is ideal but soaking for 2-3 hours is sufficient to get a good vada. 

2. Vada batter needs the least amount of water and a wet grinder is best to make this happen. Food processors are ok but the batter may need aeration by hand.

3. If using a mixer/blender, grind in small quantities and add water by the tablespoon. The batter should be more coarse than fine in all cases.

4. Batter consistency is achieved when a dollop of batter dropped into a bowl of water stays afloat. If it doesn't, then beat the batter with hands to add more air and check again.

5. Adding 1-2 tbsp of rice flour makes the vada more crispy and helps to reduce water content in the batter 

6. Do not add salt to the batter until the very end

7. To make vada on the same day, you can add a pinch of baking soda to the batter without having to cover and wait for it to rise for 1-2 hours.

8. Vada will be flat on one side if made in a 12" pan as opposed to a wok shaped pan where it can float.

9. Always wet your hands before handling the batter for cooking so it won't stick to your hands

10. For convenience, place the rounded batter on a wet flat spatula and make a hole before dropping into hot oil.

In The Mix

urad dal - 2 cups (makes about 24 vadas)

water - 10 to 11 tbsp

rice four - 1 to 2 tbsp

baking soda - 1/4 tsp

shallots - 2 peeled and chopped

long green chili - 1 or 2 chopped

ginger - 1.5" medium sized piece, crushed and chopped

curry leaves - from 1or 2 small sprigs, chopped

cumin seeds - 1/4/ tsp

crushed pepper corns - 1/4 tsp 

salt - to taste

oil - enough to cover at least half of the vada in a flat pan or for the vada to float in a wok like pan. I used a flat pan this to make 8-9 vadas in one batch.

How To Do

Wash and soak the urad dal for 2-3 hours, drain and add to the wet grinder. Add 4-5 tbsp of water and start grinding. Add the remaining water and grind to a coarse consistency. Use a small portion and check to make sure the batter floats in water.

Add rice flour and baking soda to the batter and mix well. Now add all the remaining ingredients except salt and combine all together with hands. Add salt to taste.

Heat oil and a keep a bowl of water handy. Wet your hands and take a small ball of batter and place is it on the flat end of a metal spatula. Make a hole with wet fingers and drop gently into hot oil using the spatula.

Repeat to drop more vadas into the oil and turn over a few times to cook. Ideally 1-2 min on each side depending on the heat of your stove. Keep it on medium high heat. Remove with slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and enjoy with coconut chutney, tomato chutney or both.

For Tomato Chutney

tomatoes - 3 medium sized, quartered

shallot - 2 peeled and quartered

green chili - 1 or 2 halved

curry leaves - 4 or 5 leaves

chili powder - 1/4 tsp

turmeric - pinch

salt to taste

oil - 1-2 tbsp

Heat oil in a pan and saute all ingredients together. Cover and cook on medium heat for 5-6 minutes and set to cool. Grind all together and season with some mustard and curry leaves. Enjoy with piping hot uzhunnu vada.

Teriyaki Chicken with Rice & Spinach #coronatime #campuscravings

My son's been missing some aspects of campus life ever since he came home and online schooling started. One day while we were talking, something reminded him of this teriyaki chicken bowl he used to eat at one of the many eateries close to the campus. Seeing how easy it was to make it, I gladly signed on. It was good that we had some chicken and spinach conveniently on hand. With long lines at grocery stores and lack of enough delivery slots at Amazon for WholeFoods, every food decision had to be made with some thought into the availability of ingredients. Turns out this is an easy to make dish where even the home made teriyaki sauce is easy to do!  Checked quite a few sauce recipes and finally settled on this one from cookingclassy  Made some spinach and basmati rice to go with it was a winner in the household. This wholesome meal is definitely here to stay!

In the Mix

boneless chicken breast - 1.5 lbs (chicken thighs are apparently more authentic)
olive oil - 1 tbsp
green onions - optional (I didn't have any)

For Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
soy sauce - 1/4 cup
water - 1/4 cup
honey - 2 tbsp
brown sugar - 1 1/2 tbsp
sesame oil - 1/4 tsp
garlic - 2 cloves minced
ginger - 2 tsp minced
rice vinegar - 1 tbsp
corn starch - 2 tsp

How To Do

Cooking rice ahead of time helps to serve everything hot once chicken and spinach are ready to go.

Wash, drain and cut the chicken into 1" cubes and set aside. Dry with paper towels

Mix the corn starch with rice vinegar in a small bowl and combine with no lumps. Transfer this and the rest of the teriyaki sauce ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk all together and set aside.

Heat oil in medium high heat and add the diced chicken. Cook on one side for about 3 minutes and flip over.

I turned each one over religiously. After about one minute into the second side, pour the prepared sauce over the chicken. Let cook for about 30 seconds before stirring. Cook to a total of 3-4 minutes on the scond side or until the sauce thickens to your liking.

Serve with spinach or any vegetable mix over rice and enjoy! My daughter likes spinach and so it worked out great for both kiddos. Below is a quick note on how to make this particular spinach.

Spinach (3 lbs. washed and drained) - 2 minute recipe
Saute' 3-4 cloves of crushed garlic in 1-2 tbsp of olive oil on medium high heat in a bowl large enough to hold all the spinach.
Add spinach and mix well together. Cover and cook for 1 minute.
Open, mix well again, cover and cook for another minute.
Add salt at the end, remove and serve hot after draining excess water.