Sweet and sour sweet potato curry

Sweet and sour sweet potato curry

                                   Recipe summary 
                                            For 
                    Sweet and sour sweet potato curry
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Sweet potato

Serves: 4

Preparation 

1. I used the purple skinned potato with white flesh inside which will discolour if you peel the skin.
Dip them in water preferably with a teaspoon of salt added. This will prevent discoloration. You can then boil them.  
                                        Or 
put the sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and add water to cover them.
Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low medium and simmer covered for 15 minutes.
 Let it cool down.  Now peel and cut into rings. Keep aside.

2. Grind 5 grams ginger and 3 cloves garlic into a paste in a grinder.

3.Add  4 table spoon warm water to tamarind , soak and squeeze the juice and keep.

Sweet potato, onion,ginger,green chili,garlic,curry leaves and tamarind

Method

1. In a medium sized frying pan or a wok heat the 2 teaspoon oil. 
When the oil is hot reduce the heat to low and add 1 chopped dry chili and 2 chopped onions  to fry.

2. Add 1 chopped leeks, 1 green chili chopped and 1 sprig chopped curry leaves, ½ teaspoon cumin  and fry for 5 minutes.

3.Add 5 grams ginger and 3 cloves garlic paste and fry for 3 minutes.

4.  Add 15 grams tamarind juice, ½ teaspoon  chilli powder  1/4 teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ cup water. 

5. Cover and bring to a boil and simmer for ten minutes.

6. When the curry thickens add 300 grams sweet potato stir well. 

Sweet and sour sweet potato curry

7. Cover, bring to a boil and simmer for ten minutes.

8.When the curry thickens add 300 grams sweet potato stir well and cook for one minute covered.

Sweet and sour sweet potato curry is ready.                                                                                  

Recipe follows in detail with pictures.

                     

Today I am going to make a dish very much like the sweet and sour dishes based on fish or meat. This is a vegetarian dish and tastes like its non vegetarian counterpart.

Sweet potato

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
Main
300 grams sweet potato (any type)
Others
2 onions chopped coarsely
I leek (optional) sliced thinly
1 green chilli sliced fine
5 grams ginger shredded
3 cloves garlic
Spices
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
15 grams tamarind juice
¼ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon curry powder or chilli powder


½ teaspoon salt
½ cup water
4 table spoon water
2 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Sweet potato, onion,ginger,green chili,garlic,curry leaves and tamarind

Method

You have a choice of peeling and chopping sweet potato and then boiling it or boiling the sweet potato first and then peel and slice them.

Dry chili, onion,garlic,

The purple skinned potato with white flesh inside will discolour if you  peel and slice them. so dip them in water preferably with a teaspoon of salt added. This will prevent discoloration. You can then boil them.
I sliced the potato sideways into thin round slices. You can also slice them into small cubes.
 Or put the sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and add water to cover them.
Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low medium and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Let it cool down Now peel and cut into rings. Keep aside.
Grind ginger,  garlic into a paste in a grinder.
Add  warm water to tamarind , soak and squeeze the juice and keep.

Green chili , leek, curry leaves and cumin added

In a medium sized frying pan or a wok heat the oil. When the oil is hot reduce the heat to low and add dry chili and onion  to fry,  add leek, green chili and curry leaves,cumin  and fry for 5 minutes.
Add ginger paste and fry for 3 minutes.

Tamarind juice,chili powder and turmeric 

Add tamarind juice, chilli powder turmeric, salt and water. Cover bring to a boil and simmer for ten minutes.

Sweet potato added

When the curry thickens add sweet potato stir well and cook for one minute covered.
Remove the sweet and sour sweet potato from the heat. It is ready to be served.

Sweet potato curry is ready

Note: I did not add any sugar to this dish. The sweetness from the sweet potato is adequate. If you want it sweeter you may add a table spoon of sugar when you are adding tamarind juice.

Tempeh patty with chickpea

Assembling hamburger with tempeh patty

Today I am going to make hamburger patty using tempeh. I posted an article on making patty with tofu. This is a similar recipe. Tofu is not considered an ideal food because of its estrogen content which has some negative effects on human health. Tempeh is fermented soy. Fermented soy products do not have the disadvantages of tofu.
The tempeh in your region may look different from the tempeh picture that I have shown in this post. This does not make any difference in the recipe or taste.

Tempeh

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 6

Chickpea,onion,green chili and scallion

Ingredients
main
300 grams tempeh
50 grams potato
100 grams split chickpea
Others
70 grams onion
25 grams parsley
1 green chili chopped fine
3 cloves garlic halved
5 grams ginger grated
75 grams bread crumbs
100 grams potato
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon pepper powder
5 tablespoon vegetable oil or butter

Garlic and ginger

Preparation
Soak the chickpea in cold water for 3 hours.
Boil and peel the potato and chop large pieces.
To boil potato in a microwave oven, put the potato in a small microwaveable dish prick the skin with a fork and add 1 table spoon of water. Run the microwave oven for 2 minutes. Turn the potato and microwave for another 2 minutes. Let it cool. You will be able to peel the skin easily with your fingers or with a knife. Set the cooked potato aside.

In a steamer add the tempeh. Bring the water to a boil and steam the tempeh for 15 minutes. This step is not necessary. But steaming removes the slight bitterness from the tempeh. Set the steamed tempeh aside.

Tempeh arranged for steaming

Method

In a food processor grind lightly the onion, parsley green chili, garlic and ginger. Do not make a fine paste but a little coarse paste. Remove the ground mixture.

In a small frying pan or wok add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Heat the oil and add the mixture and fry for about 5 minutes or till the water is evaporated. If it is not dry it will make the patty soggy.

Now add the fried mixture to the food processor and Pulse it a couple of times to mix everything well.
Add the soaked chick pea and grind into a coarse paste.  Dump the paste into a bowl.
Now add the tempeh and potatoes to the food processor and grind to a slightly smooth paste. You may have to add one or two spoon of water for grinding. Now add the ground tempeh and potato into the bowl with the ground chickpea.

Minced tempeh  and chickpea

tempered onion, parsley green chili, garlic and ginger added

Add 2 tablespoon of butter or vegetable oil. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Make one patty and see if it crumbles. If it crumbles it needs some binding agent. We are going to use bread crumbs as our binding agent. You can use all purpose flour instead of bread crumbs. If it does not crumble then you can omit the bread crumbs or flour.
Add the bread crumbs and mix well. If the mixture is too dry add one or two tablespoon of water because we dried our ingredients and tofu by frying them. Now you should have a firm paste.

Balls made from tempeh mixure

Divide the paste into balls of equal size. Flatten them thin.  If you make them thick the inside will not get cooked well.

In a skillet or frying pan add a little oil and pan fry the patties till they are golden brown. I fried them on a cast iron griddle. It will take about 6 minutes on each side.

Now assemble the burger. Roast the bun in the same skillet or griddle.

Apply chili paste to one side of the bun.
Add a slice of cheese.
Add the patty.
Add salad leaves.
Add pepper sauce.
Add tomato slices.

Instead of pepper sauce you can use mayonnaise. But I wanted to make this vegetarian and hence I did not use mayonnaise.

The hamburger is ready.

Tempeh burger

Apart from the hamburger I used coconut flat bread with tempeh patty. It was a different taste.

Tempeh patty with coconut flat bread

Quick and easy spaghetti with canned items

Quick and easy spaghetti with canned items

This an easy dish because we are using only canned items. This is a handy dish when you have short time to prepare dinner. It tasty too.

                                  Recipe summary
                                            For
                Quick and easy spaghetti with canned items

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Serves: 4

Canned items

 Remove the oil or brine from 300 grams cans of tuna fish. Rinse once and drain the water.  using your hand to break the fish into small pieces.

2 Mix ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon chili powder with the fish. Set it aside for 5 minutes for the fish to marinate.
3.Drain the brine from 425 grams canned button mushroom and 425 grams canned button corn cans. Rinse once and drain the water fully. Cut into bite size pieces.

Ingredients

4. Boil 500 grams spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet. I added 1 tea spoon salt and 1 tablespoon of oil to the water before boiling. Drain and set aside.

5. Pour 1 bottle Bolognese sauce and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat.

Spaghetti,Tuna flakes,
 bolognese sauce, baby
 corn and mushroom

6. In a medium sized non-stick frying pan or wok add 3 tablespoon of vegetable oil and heat it. When the oil is hot lower the heat to low and add 1 coarsely chopped onion, 1 green chili sliced into small pieces, 3 cloves garlic sliced coarsely and 5 grams grated ginger and fry for 5 minutes.



7. Add marinated fish flakes and fry for 5 minutes in very low heat.

Quick and easy spaghetti 
with canned items

8. Pour the bolognese sauce  and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat



9.Serve the spaghetti in individual plates. Pour the sauce on top and serve while hot. This is a very tasty dish.

Quick and easy spaghetti with canned items is ready.
                                  

                                  

             Recipe follows in detail with pictures.



Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4

Spaghetti,Tuna flakes, bolognese sauce, baby corn and mushroom,

Ingredients
Main
500 drams dry spaghetti (cooked according to instructions on the packet)
Spaghetti sauce
Others
425 grams canned button mushroom
425 gram canned sweet corn
300 grams can tuna flakes (2 small cans)
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 onion chopped coarsely
1 green chili sliced into small pieces
5 grams ginger grated
3 cloves garlic sliced coarsely
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ bell pepper chopped coarsely
3 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 bottle Bolognese sauce

Ingredients

Preparation
Remove the oil or brine from the can of fish. Rinse once and drain the water. Leave the fish for a few minutes in the colander so that all the water will drip from the fish. Massage the fish with a fork or with your hand to break the fish into small pieces.
Mix salt, pepper, turmeric, chili powder with the fish. Set it aside for 5 minutes for the fish to marinate.
Drain the brine from the mushroom and corn cans. Rinse once and drain the water fully. Cut into bite size pieces.
Boil the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet. I added 1 tea spoon salt and 1 tablespoon of oil to the water before boiling. Adding oil will prevent the strands from sticking to each other. When the water comes to the boil add the spaghetti and stir once to prevent the strands from sticking to each other. I boiled it for about 45 minutes. Do not cover tightly. You should stop boiling before the spaghetti becomes very soft. It should be firm (al dente)  but not hard. Drain and set aside.

Canned items

Method

Pour the Bolognese sauce and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat.

Frying onion,c bell pepper, chili,garlic and ginger

In a medium sized non-stick frying pan or wok add the oil and heat it. When the oil is hot lower the heat to low and add onion, chilli, garlic and ginger and fry for 5 minutes.

Tuna added
Add marinated fish flakes and fry for 5 minutes in very low heat.

Mushroom and sweet corn added

Add mushroom and sweet corn

All items added

Sauce added

Pour the Bolognese sauce  and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat
Serve the spaghetti in individual plates. Pour the sauce on top and serve while hot. This is a very tasty dish.

Pepper sauce

Pepper sauce

This is a versatile sauce that can be served with many dishes. It is made like white sauce but it will be mildly spicy.

                                     Recipe summary
                                                For
                                         Pepper sauce
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time:20 minutes

Serves: 6

1. Chop 1 onion coarsely and deep fry it till it is crispy and dark brown.

2. In a medium sized sauce pan add  2 tablespoon of butter and 
 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and melt the butter in low heat.

3. When the butter is hot take it off the heat and add 2 tablespoon of  all purpose flour and stir briskly until all the flour is mixed well with the oil.

Pepper sauce

4. Add a little milk ( 2 or 3 table spoon) and mix well and return the pan to the heat and continue stirring. When the mixture becomes thick, take the pan off the heat and add some more milk, mix well and return to the heat. Continue this process until all ½ cup milk and ½ cup stock is added.

Take the sauce off the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.

pepper sauce with
 tofu fried balls

5. Add the fried onions and use a hand blender to make a smooth paste.


6. Add 4 tablespoon of coconut cream, Freshly ground 1 teaspoon pepper powder and ½ teaspoon salt and return the
 pan to the heat and bring it to a boil.


Test for seasoning and consistency and adjust.


You can see my recipe for tofu patty and tofu balls that accompanies pepper sauce.

The pepper sauce is ready.

                                                                                  

Recipe follows with pictures in detail

                     

                                      

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time:20 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients
Main
2 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
2 tablespoon of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon pepper powder ( Freshly ground)
Others
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoon of coconut cream
½ cup vegetable stock
½ cup milk
1 onion

Preparation

Chop the onion coarsely and deep fry it till it is crispy and dark brown.

Crispy  fried onion

Method

In a medium sized sauce pan add the butter and vegetable oil and melt the butter in low heat. I add the vegetable oil only to prevent the butter from burning in case the pan gets hot.

When the butter is hot take it off the heat and add the all purpose flour and stir briskly until all the flour is mixed well with the oil.

Add a little milk ( 2 or 3 table spoon) and mix well and return the pan to the heat and continue stirring. When the mixture becomes thick, take the pan off the heat and add some more milk, mix well and return to the heat. Continue this process until all the milk and stock is added.

Take the sauce off the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.
Add the fried onions and use a hand blender to make a smooth paste.

After that add coconut cream, pepper powder and salt and return the pan to the heat and bring it to a boil.
Test for seasoning and consistency and adjust.
The pepper sauce is ready. You can see my recipe for tofu patty and tofu balls.

pepper sauce with
 tofu fried balls

Tofu patty

Tofu pattyCheese,tomato,chili paste, romaine lettuce

Today I am going to make tofu hamburger patty. This is good for vegetarians.  Using the same mixture I am going to make Tofu balls.

                              Recipe summary
                                         For
                                    Tofu patty
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

serves : 4

1. Get 400 grams extra firm tofu otherwise loosen it and fry it in 2 tablespoon oil to evaporate the excess water.

Tofu patty

2. Boil 100 grams potato and peel it. 

3. In a food processor grind lightly 70 grams onion, 25 grams parsley, 1 green chili, 3 cloves garlic and 5 grams ginger. to a  little coarse paste. Remove the ground mixture.


4. Fry the ground  mixture using 1 table spoon vegetable oil.  for about 5 minutes or untill the water is evaporated. 

5. Now add the fried mixture back to the food processor and add the boiled potatoes and tofu. Pulse it a couple of times to mix everything well.

6. Put the mixture into a bowl. Add 2 tablespoon of butter or vegetable oil. Add ½ teaspoon salt,  ½ teaspoon chili powder.½ teaspoon pepper powder and mix well.

7. Make one patty. If it crumbles it needs some binding agent. We used 75 grams  bread crumbs. All purpose flour also can be used instead of bread crumbs. 

Patty dough

8. Divide the paste into balls of equal size. Flatten them thin. If you make them thick the inside will not get cooked well.

9. In a skillet or frying pan add a little oil and pan fry the patties till they are golden brown. I fried them on a cast iron griddle. It will take about 6 minutes on each side.
Tofu patty is ready.

Assembling a burger
Now assemble the burger. Toast the bun in the same skillet or griddle.

Hamburger with Tomato 
salad leaves and pepper sauce

Apply chili paste to one side of the bun.
Add a slice of cheese.
Add the patty.
Add tomato slices.
Add salad leaves.
Add pepper sauce.
Instead of pepper sauce you can use mayonnaise. But I wanted to make this vegetarian and hence I did not use mayonnaise.

             The hamburger is ready.

Tofu balls

1.Tofu balls are an excellent snack for evening tea. It can also be an accompaniment to a rice dish or a 

Tofu ball

meat or fish dish.

2. Using the same dough make uniform sized balls out of the mixture.

3. In a frying pan or a wok add ½ cup of vegetable oil. Heat the oil. Add a batch of ball till they are golden brown in color.
Tofu balls are ready. You can serve them with a sauce or a dip. I served them with pepper sauce and chili paste with tomato

Tofu balls are ready.

                                                                                  

                     Recipe follows in detail with pictures.

                    

                             
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
serves : 4

Ingredients
Main
400 grams tofu
Others

Firm tofu

70 grams onion
25 grams parsley
1 green chili
3 cloves garlic
5 grams ginger
75 grams bread crumbs
100 grams potato
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon pepper powder
5 tablespoon vegetable oil or butter

Boiled potato, onion,garlic,parsley,and green chili

Burger
Ingredients

1 tomato sliced thin
Salad leaves
Sliced cheese
Chili paste
Pepper sauce

Preparation

If the tofu is not extra firm, loosen it and fry it in 2 tablespoon oil to evaporate the excess water. If you do not dry it, the patty will be soggy.

Boil the potato and peel it. You can cook the potato in the microwave. Prick the potato slightly with a fork. Add 1 tablespoon of water and cook it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Turn the potato and heat it for another 2 minutes. The potato will be cooked and it will be soft. Let it cool and then peel the skin.

Method
In a food processor grind lightly the onion, parsley, green chili, garlic and ginger. Do not make a fine paste but a little coarse paste. Remove the ground mixture.

Ingredients in the  food processor

In a small frying pan or wok add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Heat the oil and add the mixture and fry for about 5 minutes or till the water is evaporated. If it is not dry it will make the patty soggy.

Tofu mixed with other ingredients

Now add the fried mixture back to the food processor and add the potatoes and tofu. Pulse it a couple of times to mix everything well.

Put the mixture into a bowl. Add 2 tablespoon of butter or vegetable oil. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Make one patty and see if it crumbles. If it crumbles it needs some binding agent. We are going to use bread crumbs as our binding agent. You can use all purpose flour instead of bread crumbs. If it does not crumble then you can omit the bread crumbs or flour.

Patty dough

Add the bread crumbs and mix well. If the mixture is too dry add one or two tablespoon of water because we dried our ingredients and tofu by frying them. Now you should have a firm paste.


Divide the paste into balls of equal size. Flatten them thin.  If you make them thick the inside will not get cooked well.

Flattened Patty 

In a skillet or frying pan add a little oil and pan fry the patties till they are golden brown. I fried them on a cast iron griddle. It will take about 6 minutes on each side.


Now assemble the burger. Toast the bun in the same skillet or griddle.

Patty in the griddle

Tofu patty

Apply chili paste to one side of the bun.

Chili paste on the bun

Add a slice of cheese.
Add the patty.

Cheese and patty added

Add tomato slices.
Add salad leaves.
Add pepper sauce.

Tomato salad leaves and pepper sauce

Instead of pepper sauce you can use mayonnaise. But I wanted to make this vegetarian and hence I did not use mayonnaise.

The hamburger is ready.



Tofu balls

Tofu ball

Tofu balls are an excellent snack for evening tea. It can also be an accompaniment to a rice dish or a meat or fish dish.

We use the same ingredients as for tofu patties.
We prepare the tofu mixture exactly as we did for the patties. We want the mixture to be as dry as possible as in the case of patties. If not tofu balls will be soggy.
We make uniform sized balls out of the mixture.

Tofu balls 

In a frying pan or a wok add ½ cup of vegetable oil. Heat the oil. Add a batch of ball till they are golden brown in color.

Tofu balls are ready. You can serve them with a sauce or a dip. I served them with pepper sauce and chili paste with tomato

Tofu balls, chili paste and pepper sauce