Channa masala

Kala chana salad

Ingredients:

Kala Chana

Onion

Tomato

Jeera or cumin seeds

Coriander

Vegetable oil
Lemon juice

salt

Directions:

1. Wash and soak chana in water over night.
2. Drain water and pressure cook chana with a little salt till the chana become tender.
3. Set the pan on medium flame and add oil. After a few seconds add jeera followed by chana.
4. Sauté them for few seconds, turn off the flame and add freshly chopped onions, tomatoes and coriander to the mixture.
5. Drizzle few drops of lemon juice and serve.

    

Eggplant with coriander (Vankaya koththimeera karam )

Ingredients:

Egg plant

Ginger

Coriander
Green Chilli
Vegetable oil
salt

Directions:

1. Wash and cut eggplant into bite size pieces.
2. Make a paste of coriander , ginger and chilli without adding water.
3. Set the pan on medium flame and add oil. When the oil is hot enough add  eggplant pieces and some salt.Cover the pan with a lid and saute them occasionally, making sure that they don't burn.Saute them  until the eggplant pieces become soft.
4. Now add the spice mixture to it and let it cook for 4-5 minutes.

     Serve this dish with plain rice. 

Gai Lan(Chinese Broccoli) with Hoisin Sauce

I first came across this vegetable in a chinese restaurant called gourmet dumpling house in china town boston. This is an authentic chinese place, well I call it authentic coz the place had a lot of chinese customers. What me and my friends observed was that every table was having a huge serving of green vegetable.  We asked the server what it was and found that it was gai lag , chinese broccoli. It was served with oyster sauce, but I am a vegetarian so I came home and tried it with different combinations that I had in my kitchen. It turned out great and was YUMM... Hope you like it too.

Ingredients:

Gai Lan 

1 garlic cloves 

1-tbsp sesame oil 

1-tbsp Hoisin Sauce

1-tbsp Chilli oil

2- tbsp finely chopped green onion

salt

Directions:

1. Wash and snap the stems of  Gai Lan unto the soft parts of the stem. Cut them into bite size pieces.
2. Blanch the vegetable i.e., put them in pot of boiling water for a 5-6 seconds and immediately transfer them to a bowl of ice cold water (we do this to stop the vegetable from cooking further). Then strain and set aside. OR
   If you don't want to go through the hassle, just sauté the vegetable.
3. In a pan add oil and mashed garlic pieces followed by green onion. Saute them for 3-4 seconds.
4. Add the braised Gai lan , chilli oil and hoisin sauce to it, mix it and remove it immediately.

Serve this dish with plain rice. Do not over cook, it tastes good when crunchy. It has a lot of health benefits as its rich in Vitamins and minerals like A,C, K and Iron. If you are a health buff and crave for healthy nutritious food like me, you should try this one.

Gai Lan with Hoisin Sauce

Korean style bean sprouts Salad

Korean style Mung bean sprouts

Ingredients:

1 cup Mung Bean sprouts 

1 garlic cloves 

1-tbsp sesame oil 

1-tbsp soy sauce

2- tbsp finely chopped green onion
1/2- tbsp Korean hot pepper powder

salt

Directions:

1. Wash and drain mung bean sprouts in cold water and pick out the brownish rotten beans.
2. Put them in pot of boiling water for a minute. Then strain and set aside.(Note: Make sure you don't cook it for too long, it makes  the sprouts soggy)
3. In a bowl add finely chopped garlic clove, sesame oil, soy sauce, green onions, hot pepper power and salt.
4. Add the boiled Mung bean sprouts to the seasoning and mix well.

You can serve it as a side dish with any Asian food you make.