Corn in Cashew Gravy

Don't you just love it when you barely put effort into something, but it exceeds your expectations?  This is what happened to me last night, after a tiring day. I decided to make a subji of corn in a creamy gravy sauce. You'd be surprised, as I was, how one ingredient can really take a recipe to the next level.  The paste of cashews adds such a creamy richness to this simple gravy.

What you need:

• 2 cups frozen corn (I used petite organic ones)
• 1 cup frozen green peas (I again used petite ones)
• Handful of raw cashews!
• 1 red onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• small piece of ginger
• 1 green chili
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chili powder or paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• salt/black pepper to taste

Method:

1. Puree onion, garlic, ginger, and green chili, set aside
2. Puree the cashew nuts with about 1/4 cup of water, set aside.
3. Microwave corn and peas for 3-4 minutes until tender.
4. Heat the oil and fry the cumin seeds.
5. Add the onion paste and fry for 10 minutes.
6. Add the powders (turmeric, chili, cumin) and any other optional Indian spices (i.e. garam masala), and let cook for 5 minutes.
7. Add the cashew paste, and cook for another 5 minutes, adding water if needed.
8. Mix in the corn and peas, season with salt/pepper, and simmer for 10 minutes.
9. Serve hot with any bread of choice.  I used masala naan, but it's definitely yummy and healthy enough on its own :)

Should serve 4.

Carrot Kheer for Krishna

Been preoccupied with stuff, but I've still been cooking.  Krishna Jayanthi was a couple of weeks back, and I decided to make yummy treats for Krishna.  The main item was carrot kheer, but I accompanied with Panchamritham (fruit salad in honey) and a butter/sugar mixture.

Carrot Kheer, I discovered is probably one of the easiest Indian desserts that is also so healthy.  I had it for dinner for the next few days, without any guilt, because it was basically just carrot milk :)  Also, I eyeballed all the quantities, so it's definitely an easy Indian sweet to start with.


Here's what you need:

• Carrots - 3
• Milk - about 2 cups
• Sugar - about 1/4 cup
• Unsalted raw Cashews - 10
• Elachi - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee - 2 tsp

Method :

1. Cut the carrot into large pieces (halves or thirds) and pressure cook for about 20 minutes.
2. Once it cools, the peel slides off so easily.  Peel & blend into a smooth paste.
3. In a small pan, add ghee to fry the cashews and set aside.
4. In a heavy bottom pot, heat the milk until it boils.
5. Add the carrot paste and sugar and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
6. Finish by adding the elachi powder and cashews.

It tastes yum warm, but even better chilled!