Cook Share and Feast

Ingredients:

• ½ lb string beans
• ½ cup water
• 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• ¼ teaspoon mustard seed
• ½ teaspoon fennel seed (peruncheerakam)
• 1 cup chopped onion (preferably red)
• 1 strand curry leaves
• 2 – 3 dried red chilies broken into about 3 pieces
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Snip both ends of the beans and cut them diagonally into about ¼ inch rounds

• Add cut beans, water, chili powder and salt to a skillet and cover and cook until all the water is absorbed.
• Add shredded coconut and mix well and cook for another minute or two or until dry  on low flame.  Set aside
• Add oil to another skillet and when hot add mustard seeds.
• Once the mustard seed start splattering, add fennel seed and fry for about 10- 20 seconds on low flame
• Add chopped onion and fry until golden brown
• Add curry leaves, dried red chilies and fry for another minute
• Transfer this onion mixture to the cooked beans and mix well.

Sprouting mung beans at home is not a big task.  Here is how you do it:

• Wash mung beans thoroughly.
• Spread a wet cloth on a plate and add mung beans and spread them evenly
• Make sure the cloth is always wet.  Leave for about 48 hours in the dark at room temperature (about 75F).  If you want the sprouts to be longer, leave for a day or two extra.
• But every day you have to wash the mung beans to prevent any odor from the germinating beans
• Wash the sprouting mung beans gently in cold water and drain
• Spread them evenly on the wet towel again.
• But I thought of leaving the mung beans on a towel might not be the best idea.
• So I decided to leave the mung beans on the plate itself without a towel
• So I spread the beans evenly on a plate and sprinkled as much water as possible to keep the beans wet but not submerged in water.
• For the first 24 hours the beans will absorb a lot of water.  So make sure you add/sprinkle enough water to keep them wet and not becoming dry.
• When the beans are sprouting the green outer cover/husk will start coming out which is normal

Ingredients

• ½ cup dried mung beans
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 – 2 tablespoon oil
• 1 strand curry leaves
• Couple of dried red chilies each broken into 2 pieces

Method

• Sprout mung beans as above (1/2 cup dry beans will yield about 2 cups or more of sprouted beans – depends on how long you let it sprout)
• Add beans, water, chili powder, and salt to a covered saucepan and cover and cook on medium flame until all the water is absorbed.
• Add shredded coconut and cook uncovered for a couple of more minutes
• Set aside
• Add oil to a skillet and when it’s hot, add onion and sauté until golden brown.
• Add red chilies, and curry leaves and sauté for another minute
• Transfer the onion to the cooked mung beans and mix well
• Serve with rice

Bitter gourd, as its name implies has bitter taste.  Due to this bitter taste, a lot of people do not like this vegetable.  But in Sri Lanka, especially Jaffna bitter gourd is a very common vegetable and bitter gourd curry is consumed with rice.  Bitter gourd can be fried as below and be eaten with rice.  The recipe below reduces the bitterness because of the red onion.

Ingredients

• 6 oz bitter gourd (after removing seeds)
• ¼ teaspoon salt (for bitter gourd)
• ¾ teaspoon mild chili powder (for bitter gourd)
• Oil for deep frying (preferably canola oil)
• 4 oz red onion
• Little bit of salt and red chili powder (for onion)
• 3 – 4 cloves garlic
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 3 – 4 dried red chilies broken into 2 – 3 pieces
• Curry leaves
• About 1 tablespoon oil to sauté onion

Method

• Slit bitter gourd length wise and remove the seeds

• Slice each half into thin slices
• Add salt and chili powder and mix well and let stand for about 10 minutes
• In a vessel add oil and when it’s hot, add bitter gourd and fry until crisp and golden brown (bitter gourd has a tendency to lose its crispness very quickly, but it’s ok for this recipe)
• Drain in a paper towel and set aside
• Peel onion and cut them into very thin slices and then cut them diagonally into 2 pieces
• Add salt and chili to the onion
• In a skillet add oil and add onion and sauté until translucent
• Peel garlic and chop them into very small pieces
• Add garlic to the skillet and fry until onion and garlic are golden brown
• Add red chili, cumin seeds, curry leaves and fry for another minute
• Turn off the heat and add fried bitter gourd to the onion mixture and mix well
• Serve with rice.

Ingredients

• 1 large beet
• ½ teaspoon Sri Lankan chili powder
• 1 teaspoon shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 – 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• ½ cup red onion chopped finely
• 1 strand curry leaves
• 2 – 3 dried red chilies broken into 3 pieces
• Salt to taste

Method

• Peel and wash the beets thoroughly to remove any soil particles.
• shred the beets carrot scraper or shredder
• Add beets, chili powder, salt and water to a non stick skillet and cook on a low flame for about 7 minutes
• Add shredded coconut and cook uncovered until all the water is evaporated or about 2 minutes
• Set aside
• In the same skillet add oil
• When the oil is hot add chopped onion and fry until golden brown
• Add red chilies, curry leaves and fry for another 2 minutes
• Add cooked beets and mix well and fry on low flame for another 2 – 3 minutes
• Serve with rice

Yields: 2 – 3 servings as side dish