Under 15 minutes Beans Carrot Poriyal

I love the beans and carrot combination in curries, gravies and rice preparations, especially because of the color. I make this quick poriyal on the day I do my grocery shopping - when the veggies are fresh from the market. I normally cube all the carrots and slice the beans small, use some for the poriyal and freeze the rest to use it up on one of the days of the week. That way, any cooking with these veggies gets done really fast.
So what goes into this poriyal? Nothing much actually - just the veggies, some seasoning and grated coconut on the top. I make this coarse powder out of roasted jeera and pepper in small batches lasting a week which i sprinkle on top of this poriyal. The powder can also be used in the tadka for rasam to make it hot and peppery.

Preparation Time: 5 Minutes
Cooking Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients 

1 cup carrots, cubed
1 cup beans, sliced in small rounds
1 tsp of cumin-pepper powder
2 tbsp of grated coconut
salt to taste

for the tadka:

1 tbsp of oil
1 sprig of curry leaves
2 red chillies
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
 a pinch of asafetida

Method

Chop the veggies fine and take them in a microwave safe bowl. Sprinkle some water on it.

Now, microwave on high for 2 minutes. This will help in semi-cooking the veggies. In the meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and wait for it to get hot. Throw in the mustard seeds followed by the curry leaves, red chillies and hing.

Once the mustard starts spluttering, add the microwaved vegetables to the pan and mix well. Sprinkle some more water if needed and cover and cook for 5 minutes on medium-high. Remove the cover, add the salt and on high flame, let the curry roast until almost dry for another 2 minutes. Now sprinkle the coconut and cumin-pepper powder from the top.

Toss it well. That is it! Done in 15 minutes flat! Serve it hot with either roti or rice. If it is rice, you are going to need a dal or sambar on the side. I served my carrot beans poriyal with phulkas and it made an awesome combination.

P.S. Sending this as my entry to Healthy Veg Side Dishes event hosted by Nandoo and Priya

|| A New Beginning ||

Of all the things in the world, the one constant is that things will change. Change is challenging and it is fun! I look back now to what i used to cook when i started off in the kitchen, the clothes i bought and my tastes when it came to home decor and i know that it has changed and matured over the years. But despite all the changes happening, one thing remains constant -my unending love for food, crafts and textiles. Hence the thought of cataloging it in this blog. A little bit of sugar and a lot of spice and a journal of all things pretty and nice.

And what better than a sweet during the festive season as the first post? I started off with the idea of making a Lauki ka halwa. Turned out there was not enough lauki to make a substantial amount. So i decided to add carrots to it. While grating the carrots, my eyes fell on the pumpkin, waiting to be used. And thus i set out to make the Tiranga Halwa 

Preparation time - 15 mins

Cooking time      - 30 mins

You would need

Carrots, Pumpkin and Bottle gourd    2 cups in all, grated well

Milk                                                  1 cup

Sugar                                                3/4th cup

Green cardamom                               2 pods, powdered

Ghee                                                 5 tbs

Cashew or almonds                           a handful, finely slivered

In a thick bottomed pan, add in 1 table spoon of ghee and fry the dry fruits until it changes color. Remove and set aside.

Add the remaining ghee to the same pan and add in the vegetables one by one. Pumpkin goes in first cause it takes the longest to cook. After sauteing for about 5 mins, add the carrots and let it cook. Finally, dunk in the grated lauki, when the other two vegetables appear half done. 

Continue frying till the vegetables soak in all the ghee and lose all their water. Now add in the milk, cover and cook for 10 mins on low heat. The vegetables should be fully cooked in that time. Remove the cover, add the sugar and the elaichi powder and give it a nice stir. On medium heat, without the cover, work on the halwa by constantly stirring it, until all the moisture is soaked up and the ghee starts separating on the sides. Switch off the flame and top it with the fried nuts. Allow it to cool and serve as it is or with a scoop of ice cream.

Happy Diwali!