Sauteed fresh corn salad

This recipe is perfect to use some of the fresh corn that you could not resist buying at the farmer's market.


8 ears of corn on the cob - kernels removed.
4 TBS onion - finely chopped
2 jalapenos finely chopped
1 red pepper finely diced
4 TBS red onion finely diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1 TBS red wine vinegar
4 TBS olive oil
4 TBS basil leaves chopped

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the corn and saute till the oil coats the corn. Add the chopped onion and jalapenos and saute on medium-high heat till the onion gets transparent.
Add the chopped red onion, red peppers, salt, pepper and sugar and saute for 5-6 minutes till the flavours blend. Stir in the red wine vinegar and chopped basil leaves.

You can serve this as a side or as a salad, warm or room temperature. Just make sure the corn is really fresh.

Methamba - Sweet and Spicy Mango Chutney

It's the start of the mango season. That means raw mangoes flooding the market. There are so many things you can make with them. In India you get mangoes only during the season , not like here in North America where we get mangoes year round - from somewhere on the planet.
So when mangoes start arriving in the market in India, it's just crazy!

This is a quick and easy chutney - make it and it will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks- if it doesn't get eaten before that.

1 cup peeled and diced raw mangoes
1/2 cup grated jaggery
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
2 TBS oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hing
pinch of fennel seeds

In a saucepan, heat oil temper with mustard seeds. When they splutter add the fenugreek seeds and fry for about 30 to 40 seconds. Do not burn the fenugreek seeds, the entire dish will be too bitter if they burn. Add the hing, fennel and turmeric. Add the diced mango and saute. Make sure the mango pieces are coated with the tempered oil. Lower the heat, cover and cook till the mango pieces are tender. Takes about 5 minutes
Add the salt, chili powder and grated jaggery. Mix well. Cover and let cook on very low heat till the jaggery is all melted. At this point the chutney will be a little on the syrup side. Let the liquid cook down to the consistency you want.
Let cool completely before eating. Hot jaggery can burn really bad.

Serve with theplas, parathas, dal and rice or even with some buttered toast- in place of marmalade!

Koshimbir - cucumber salad with yogurt

This is a very typical Maharashtrian side dish. Always a welcome addition to any meal, it cools you down and the peanuts in it add a nice crunch and texture.

1 English cucumber (seedless variety) - grated and set aside to drain
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup grated radish
2 TBS chopped coriander leaves (cilantro leaves)
2-3 green chillies chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
2 TBS lemon juice

Grate the cucumber and place in a colander to drain for at least 30 minutes. Assemble the salad just before serving it.
In a bowl, mix the grated cucumber, radish and carrots. Add the salt, sugar and coriander leaves and mix. In a small pan heat the ghee and add the cumin seeds and chopped green chillies. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Make a little well in the grated veggies and pour the tempering in. Mix in the peanuts and the lemon juice. Serve right away.

Variation:

You can use yogurt in this koshimbir instead of lime juice. If adding yogurt, do not temper with the cumin and ghee.
Mix the grated vegetables, coriander leaves, chillies, salt, sugar, crushed peanuts and 1 cup of thick yogurt. 

Cucumber Yogurt sauce - Indian style Raita

The Raita - you find it in almost every Indian restaurant - usually it's so bland and watery - it's gotten a bad name- and rightly so.

It's base is yogurt, you can add various salad vegetables to it - and that's what it's called then.
Cucumber raita, tomato raita, onion raita and so on.

It has a Maharashtrian cousin- called the Koshimbir - more on that in a separate post :)

2 cups of yogurt
1 hothouse cucumber (seedless)
2 green chillies
2 TBS cilantro (leaves only)
1 tsp salt
1 TBS mint leaves

Place the yogurt in a cheesecloth or paper towel-lined sieve and set it over a bowl. Grate the cucumber or dice it really fine, toss it with 1/2 tsp salt and place in a sieve to drain. Squeeze out as much water as you can from the cucumber before adding to the yogurt.

Mix the thickened yogurt with the chopped green chillies, chopped cilantro leaves, salt and chopped mint leaves. Add the cucumber and fold in. 

Serve immediately as accompaniment to any Indian meal.

Variations

Tomato Raita.

Use diced, de-seeded tomatoes in place of or in addition to cucumbers.

Onion Raita.

Use diced red onion instead of cucumbers.

Tomato Onion Raita

Use diced, de-seeded tomatoes and diced red onion and drop the cucumbers. 

Cucumber yogurt sauce - with Dill

I think every country in the world has some version of the cucumber yogurt sauce- and all of them are yummy. I serve this one with meat loaf or as I found out recently, it's excellent with cabbage rolls.

1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups seedless cucumbers sliced thin
4 TBS chopped dill
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 TBS red wine or white wine vinegar


Peel and slice the cucumbers. They need to be sliced thin- using a mandolin might be best.
Mix everything together and serve right away.
If making ahead, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate so you don't end up with a watery sauce.

Cucumber yogurt sauce - tzatziki style

I call this sauce a take on the tzatziki. I am sure it's done in many different ways and the purist might not agree. But this works for my family and so ....


8 oz container of sour cream ( you can do yogurt if you like)
3 cloves of garlic
1 english cucumber (seedless)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 TBS white wine vinegar
1 TBS really good olive oil
1 TBS parsley (finely chopped)
1TBS mint leaves (finely chopped)

Grate the cucumber and let sit in a strainer to drip. About an hour or so is enough to get rid of most of the water in there.
Grate the garlic or just use a garlic press.
Mix everything together, serve with lamb or roast potatoes or rather any roast meat :)
If not using right away, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge. If you keep it at room temperature, the sauce will get watery.