How to puree tomatoes

How to puree tomatoes

method

1. Wash the tomatoes thoroughly.
2. Boil some water in a stock pot. In another pot prepare ice cold water and set aside.
3. Cut a shallow X at the bottom of the tomato.
4. When the water starts to boil, turn off the stove. Put the tomatoes into the boiled water and leave it for 30 seconds or till the skin starts to loosen up.
5. When the skin starts to loosen take the tomatoes quickly from hot water and place it in the cold water to stop the cooking process. This method of drenching the veggies in boiling water and cooling in ice cold water is called blanching. Blanching helps to stop the enzymes responsible for ripening the fruits and veggies. By blanching the fruits and vegetables, we are preserving their freshness for longer time.
6. Once the tomatoes are cooled, peel the skin and puree it in a blender.

Tomato puree can be stored in the freezer for longer shelf life. It is hard to scoop out the frozen puree so I usually freeze the puree in ice cube trays & store the frozen cubes in a freezer safe container

Curry Leaf Kuzhambu

Ingredients

• Onion - 2 Medium size
• Garlic - 8 pods
• Tomato - 2
• Fresh Curry leaves - 4 cups
• Almond or cashews - 6
• Coconut - 4 pieces
• Poppy Seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Black Pepper - 1 tspn
• Chilli Powder - 1 tspn
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Tamarind - 3 pods or 1/2 tspn paste

health tip

Curry leaves improve functioning of the stomach and small intestine and promote their action. They improve the quality of digestive juices secreted during digestion. Certain ayurvedic research says that curry leaves have some role in controlling non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Curry Leaf Kuzhambu

method

1. Chop the onion, tomato and garlic.
2. Grind Curry leaves, Almond or cashews,Coconut, Poppy Seeds, Black Pepper, Chilli Powder, Cumin Seeds and tamarind pods(if using tamarind paste, no need to add it at this stage) into a fine paste.
3. Heat some oil in a pot & season it with mustard & urad dhal. Saute the onion, garlic & tomato till tomato gets mushy.
4. Add the ground paste, half a cup of water & salt to taste.
   Using sesame oil for seasoning gives a nice flavor.
   
5. Cover the pot with lid and let it cook till the oil separates. Stir it from time to time since the gravy settles down and sticks to the pot if unattended.
6. If using tamarind paste, mix in the paste and let it boil for one more minute. Consistency of this kuzhambu is little thinner than chutney.
   This Kuzhambu can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days. It goes well with rice, Idli & Dosa.
   

Cranberry Puliyodarai

Ingredients

• Cranberry - 1 cup
• Rice - 1 cup
• Channa Dhal - 1 tspn
• Coriander seeds - 1 tspn
• Fenugreek powder - a pinch
• Red chillies - 3 nos
• Sesame oil - 1 tbspn
• Hing - a pinch
• Mustard, Urad dhal & Curry leaves for seasoning

health tip

Cranberries are rich in Vitamin C. Studies show that Cranberries lowers LDL (Bad cholesterol) & increases HDL (good cholesterol) & also helps prevent urinary tract infection.

Cranberry Puliyodarai

method

1. Cook the rice separately. I used Basmati rice but you may use raw rice too. If using raw rice, you might want to increase your cranberry volume by half a cup.
2. Dry roast channa dhal, coriander seeds & 2 red chillies & make a coarse powder.
3. Heat sesame oil in a wide pan & season it with mustard, Urad dhal & curry leaves. Add one broken red chilli, hing, fenugreek powder & cranberry when mustard begins to splutter.
   

   You can also make this paste ahead of time & store it in the fridge for future use.

   
   
4. Add the powdered spices, salt & some jaggery when the cranberry starts to get mushy. Saute all for two additional minutes & turn off the stove.
5. Mix in the rice and add some salt if needed.

Modhagam

Ingredients

• Raw rice - 2 cups
• Moong Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Jaggery - 2 cups
• Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
• Cardamom Powder - a pinch
• Ghee - 4 tspn
• Water - 6 cups

health tip

Modhagam dish has protein from moong dhal, carbohydrate from rice, iron and calcium from Jaggery.

Modhagam

method

1. Wash rice and dhal separately. Drain and spread them separately on a towel and let them dry for 2 hours.
2. Grind the rice and dhal separately to a course powder. Make sure the powder is bit bigger than that of rava or sooji. This mix can also be made ahead of a day but make sure to dry the rice and dhal completely for a day.
3. Heat ghee in a kadai and roast the rice dhal powder together.
4. In another pan heat 6 cups of water and dilute the jaggery. Filter it through a strainer to remove any impurities.
5. Add the filtered jaggery water to the roasted dry mix of rice and dhal.
6. Cover the mixture with a lid and let it cook. Open the lid and mix it from time to time making sure the mix is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.

You may speed up the whole cooking process by pressure cooking the mixture for 4 minutes or until you hear the hissing sound of the first whistle, whichever is earlier. Only two teaspoons of ghee is needed for the pressure cooking method.

7. Mix in the cardamom powder and grated coconut when the rice is cooked. Turn off the stove and let it cool.
8. When completely cooled, make them into small balls and steam it in a steamer or idli pan for 5- 8 minutes.

Red Pepper Chutney

Ingredients

• Red Pepper - 1
• Medium Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Red chilli - 1
• Ginger - 1/4 inch(optional)
• Hing - pinch
• Tamarind - 1 inch piece
• Sesame oil - 3tspn
• Mustard & Urad dhal for seasoning

health tip

Tomato & red pepper are rich in Vitamin C. An anti-oxidant in tomato called lycopene gets concentrated after cooking the tomato. Anti-oxidant helps to prevent cancer.

Red Pepper Chutney

method

Red pepper chutney is a slight twist to tomato chutney. Red pepper adds unique flavor, color & sweetness to the chutney. The flavor & color gets intense when the pepper is roasted in the oven. Halve the pepper & remove the seeds. Place the halved peppers skin side up in a baking sheet & broil them till the skin gets blisters & charred. Put it in a bowl and cover it with a lid till the roasted pepper gets warm to handle. When it is warm remove the skin & dice it to make chutney. Since I had lot of red pepper sitting in my fridge, I wanted to adopt easier version & used fresh ones instead of roasting them. Though the color and flavor was little lighter, it tasted equally good as the roasted version. This chutney can be used as a spread, dip or as a side dish for dosai & idli. I usually freeze the extra chutney for later use.

1. Remove the seeds from the pepper and dice the pepper(if not using roasted ones), onion and tomato.
2. Heat some oil in a pan (reduce the oil if planning to freeze) & season it with mustard, urad dal & hing.
3. Add the diced veggies along with red chilli, ginger & tamarind. Saute the mixture till the veggies get tender. Let it cool.
4. Grind to a fine paste when cooled. Add salt to taste and the chutney is ready to serve.
5. This recipe is little milder. You may want to adjust the number of chilli to suit your taste.

Summer Garden

Mint Plant

Following is what I learned with gardening my mint plant. I started by rooting the stem (You may use your store bought mint plant stem for this) by putting it in water for a week. As of now, I am growing this plant organically by adding organic miracle-gro fertilizer. Mint plant dies down in winter & comes back every spring. Mint loves part shade. It is better to grow mint in a container to control its growth. Otherwise, it will spread all over the place. It is really a low maintenance herb.

Curry plant

My curry plant is actually three years old. It gave out sucker plant this spring. I pruned it to make it bushier. It loves full sun. As for as the soil goes, curry plant loves acidic soil. Adding used coffee grounds makes the soil acidic. It needs nitrogen rich fertilizer for luscious leaf growth. In addition to feeding organic fertilizers I also add at times egg shells & Pistachio shells to prevent the soil from drying out. I also add vinegar at times especially during summer to make the soil more acidic & diluted butter milk in summer too to impart flavor. As the root will rot easily, I will never over water. This plant can withstand up to 2 inches of dryness.

Banana Plant

I bought it last summer from Lowe's. Its a dwarf variety, never bore fruit & gave out sucker plant this spring. It needs full sun & well drained soil. It is a heavy feeder. I water it regularly & fertilize it every other month during growing season.

Jasmine Plant

Three year old Sambac variety. Blooms continuously from spring to fall. Needs full sun & well drained soil. It is a heavy feeder. So I fertilize it regularly. During blooming season, I use bloom booster. Flowers may become smaller if temperature fluctuates or drops below 70 degrees. Pruning every spring helps to maintain a bushier plant. Leaves can also be removed to channelize the plants energy to produce bigger flowers. Never had problems with it in the past three years.

Adukku Malli

Garlic Pickle

Ingredients

• Peeled Garlic - 1 1/2 cups
• Lemon Juice - Little less than 1/2 cup
• Chilli Powder - 2 1/2 tspn
• Salt - 2 tspn
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tspn
• Coriander seeds - 1 tspn
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tspn
• Hing - 1/4 tspn
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tspn
• Sesame oil - 8-10 tspn
• Jaggery - 1 1/2 tspn

health tip

Garlic is rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6, Selenium and has anti-microbial properties. Garlic boosts the immune system, helps control cholesterol and also helps in preventing cancer. Garlic is used as a home remedy to cure gas and stomach bloating.

Garlic Pickle

method

Pickling is one of the way to preserve the vegetables we get in abundance. The acidity of Lemon Juice or Vinegar is the primary ingredient that keeps the bacteria and fungus away from the pickle. Salt also plays a key role in preserving food by its anti microbial properties. Salt has the ability to draw water away from food and keep them dry for longer time. It is not advisable to store pickle in a metal container since the salt combined with the acidity in pickle corrodes the metal. Also, for longer shelf life, remember to store them away from moisture.

1. Peel the garlic pods. You may also do the peeling ahead of time & keep them refrigerated.
2. Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds & fenugreek seeds till they turn golden color. Let the dry roasted ingredients cool for some time.
3. Squeeze juice out of lemon as per the above measurement.
4. Grind the dry roasted ingredients above to a coarse powder.
5. Heat sesame oil in a deep vessel (to prevent splattering all over the counter top). Season it with mustard seeds & hing. Add the peeled garlic and saute it for 2 minutes.

   There is no need to saute the garlic for more than two minutes since sauteing more will over cook the garlic & will make the pickle mushy.

6. Add salt & ground ingredients to the garlic & saute them for one more minute. Finally add the lemon juice & let it cook with lid open till the lemon juice condenses to half the quantity. When the lemon juice is condensed & oil starts to separate add the jaggery & turn off the heat. Let the pickle cool. Bottle the pickle when cold. Adding some hot oil at the top acts as a barrier for moisture. Let them completely cool to prevent condensation & then cover it with a lid. Store the pickle in a cool dry place. The picture shown above is not the actual yield for this recipe.
   

   Room-temperature lemons or limes will yield more juice than those that are refrigerated. Microwaving the lemon or lime for a few seconds before squeezing will help extract more juice. Don't overdo it. You don't want to boil the juice. You may also use your palm to roll lemon or lime on your counter top a few times before squeezing to extract more juice.