Sepu stir fry- a.k.a. Eggless Scrambled Eggs, a.k.a. Thrown together

It was one of those days when there were no vegetables in the house, and I had left it till too late to cook. Normally, I would have ordered takeaway, but since we decided to restrict ourselves to home cooked food except once a week, I didn't have that option. So I threw together various things we had, and came up with something that actually tasted delicious!

1/2 bunch dil weeds/ sepu
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 green chilli
1 tsp jeera
1/3 cup besan
1/2 tsp dhania powder
Salt to taste
1 tbsp mustard oil

Method:
Heat the mustard oil and temper with jeera seeds.
Meanwhile, mix the besan with the malasa, add the chopped dil weeds, onions and green chilli, and make a thick paste by adding a bit of water.
When the jeera stops spluttering, gradually add the batter one teaspoon at a time, with constant mixing.
Reduce the flame, and keep stirring it to ensure that the batter is well cooked and slightly browned.
Serve with rotis. 

Modified Kosimbir

I always loved my mother's Kosimbir, which she learnt to make from her mother. The lightest, tastiest, healthiest snack/ salad possible is how I always thought of it. Till I had cabbage kosimbir a couple of weeks back, and realised even that perfection could be made better. This started out as a carrot kosimbir, but ended up as something entirely different. Nobody's complaining!

1 cup split moong dal
1 cucumber
1 carrot
1/2 bunch dil weeds
1/2 lemon
1 tsp chilli flakes
salt to taste


Method
Soak the split moong dal overnight (or at least for 4 hours)
Cut the cucumber into tiny pieces, grate the carrot, and mix both well with the dal
Remove the leaves of the dill weeds, cut fine, and mix.
Add salt to taste, squeeze the lemon on top, and toss well.
Serve chilled, either as a stand alone snack, or with rotis.

Sepu, Spinach, Carrot Curry

Sometimes you don't want to eat the usual stuff, but are feeling too rebellious to try out a new recipe. Those are the days you throw things together, and hope something good comes out of it. Today's dinner was one such offering, and it is one I know I am going to repeat often.

1 bunch dil chopped fine

1 bunch palak chopped fine

1 medium onion chopped 

1 medium tomato chopped fine

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

Oil

1 tsp rai

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp jeera powder

1/4 cup groundnuts soaked for 1/2 hr
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Method:

Heat oil and splutter mustard seeds. Once they stop spluttering, add onions, and saute till transparent.
Add ginger garlic paste, chopped tomatoes and the spices, and cook till mushy.
Meanwhile, blanch the spinach leaves for 2-3 minutes, and keep aside.
Add water, groundnuts and greens. Bring to boil, add salt, cover, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Egg curry with fennel and dil weeds

I had a bunch of boiled eggs and some dill weeds in the fridge, so decided to make the curry that I had fallen in love with more than a month back. It tastes much better as an egg curry than as a potato curry!

 

6 boiled eggs

1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 bay leaf
Paste of 1 large onion
2 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
Haldi powder to taste
Chilli powder to taste
Salt to taste
Cooking oil (about 1 tbsp)
Dil leaves for garnish
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tsp sugar, crushed

Method:
In a little oil, fry the boiled eggs till lightly browned.

Heat oil and add fennel seeds and bay leaf, fry for a minute till the aroma releases.
Add a mix of fine onion paste, ginger paste and garlic paste, haldi and chilli powder.
Fry the masala well till oil seperates. 

Add eggs. Bring to boil and take off the fire.
Garnish with dil leaves and a pinch of fennel and sugar powder.

Brown rice in a Creamy Mushroom- Dill Sauce

A couple of days back, I bought a beautiful bunch of leaves intending to use it in an egg curry. Unfortunately, however, plans changed, and I never got to use it. On the same day, I bought a packet of button mushrooms, but ended up serving a very different dish when I had guests over for dinner.
With us leaving on a ten day vacation, I tried to clear up the fridge, and adapted this recipe to fix ourselves a great lunch.

200 gms mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Butter
4 tbs chopped fresh dil, reserve a little for garnishing Salt to taste
Grated cheese
1 measure brown rice
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cornflour



Method:
Soak the rice for 30 minutes, and cook with 2 1/2 measures of water till done. Drain and keep aside
Heat the butter, saute garlic and onion till they turn transparent.
Add chopped mushrooms and salt to taste, and saute on a low flame till the water evaporates.
Add dill leaves and salt and stir for another minute. Keep aside.
In the same pan, heat the milk, and taking a little milk, make a paste with the cornflour. Add cornflour to the warm milk, bring to a boil, and simmer for about a minute. Add 2 tbsp grated cheese and salt to taste.
Add cooked rice to the white sauce, and after well mixed, add the sauteed mushrooms.
Serve garnished with some dill leaves.

1.Start by cutting up 1/2 LBS mushrooms 2.Finely chop 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves. 3.Heat up a pan and saute mushrooms, onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil until the mushroom starts to golden and the onion is soft. 4.Add 1/2 cup chicken stock, 1 1/2 cup cream and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill. 5.Let it simmer for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper. 6.Cook up enough pasta for 4 people, remember to ad salt to the water. 7.Boil until al dente. 8.Strain and place in a bowl. 9.Add the sauce, mix and serve with shaved parmesan on top.

Read more: http://www.sweetpaulmag.com/food/mushroom-dill-pasta#ixzz30YA77IMX

Tahdig- an Indianised version

I first had Tahdig at my hubby's uncle and aunt's place. She grew up in Iran, and told me that her mother had adapted the local tahdig to make it more palatable to Indian taste buds. I loved it, but never took the recipe from her. By the time I was ready to do so, she's stopped cooking for so many years, that she'd even forgotten she ever made it.
This then is a replication based on Google Uncle and Memory.

2 measures rice

3 potatoes diced (with the skin intact)

1/2 tsp jeera

1/2 bunch dill leaves chopped fine

salt to taste

oil 

Method

Wash the rice till the water runs clean. Soak in double the quantity of water for 30 minutes. Bring the water to a boil, turn off the flame, cover the vessel and let it stand for about 10 minutes.

Line a non-stick wok with oil, layer the potatoes, and cook on a low flame till one side is done. Turn around.

Heat some oil, add jeera seeds, when it starts spluttering add the chopped dil leaves, and stir around for a minute. Add to the rice, and mix well. Add salt to taste.

Gently pour the rice onto the potatoes, making sure not to disturb the layer. Cover and cook on a low flame till the rice is done.
To serve, invert the wok over the serving tray, so the potatoes form a crispy layer on top.

Shepu Subji

I got this recipe from my mother, who recently learnt it from a friend, and thought I would like it. She was wrong- I loved it, and I can't wait till I try it out again.

Ingredients:

1 bunch dil chopped fine

1 bunch palak chopped fine

1 medium onion chopped 

4 cloves chopped

1 or 2 green chilliesslit lengthwise

oil 

1tsp zeera

hing

haldi pd

1/4 cup mung da soaked for 1/2 hr

1/4 cup groundnuts soaked for 1/2 hr

grated coconut optional

salt

 

Method:

Heat oil in a pressure pan.Add zeera,garlic,onion,chillies

fry a bit

Add hing and haldi

Drain water and add gnuts and dal

Add salt and greens

Add water and coconut

Mix well

Cover and cook for 1 whistle

Lower flame and cook 3 mins

 

 

 

Fresh dill and potato soup

Fresh dill and potato was one of my favourite dishes during my teen years. In fact, if you press me, I'd probably say it was my most favourite dish of all. My mother had seen the recipe in a magazine, and saved it even though she never even knew what dill was. Then on a chance trip to the market, she sighted these different looking greens, and couldn't believe her luck when the vendor told her it was dill. What made the dish extra wonderful was the fact that one could never predict when one would get it, because even in season, you didn't always find dill!
Here then it is- the dish I had when I came home after taking my Maths Board Exams- a wholesome meal in a bowl- Dill Soup.

5 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium onions , chopped
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
3tbs chopped dil
3tbs curds
2 tbs butter

Method
Cook potatoes and onions in 4 cups water with salt till just tender
Add milk,caraway seeds,diland salt and pepper to taste
Simmer for 15 mins till potatoes crumble a bit
Add curds and butter. Heat well. Do not boil
Serve hot.

Greek tzatziki

I have never had it in a restaurant, but saw the recipe a couple of months back, and bookmarked it to try "sometime". But when my first batch of falafels came out well, I finally took the plunge and made it. This particular recipe is of Kiki Petriti.

2 1/2 cups drained yoghurt
4 cloves garlic pounded
1 pinch salt
1 Tbsp chopped dill
2 tablespoons vinegar
5 tbsp olive oil
1 cucumber grated and drained
 
Method
 In a bowl, mix the yogurt,the pounded garlic cloves, salt, vinegar, dill, olive oil and the cucumber, until well combined.

Put the tzatziki into the fridge and let it cool for some hours.It's ready to serve

Carrot-dill soup

I love dil-weeds. Have always done so. Which is why, when I saw a mountain of dil-weeds being sold for virtually nothing, I just couldn't resist picking up three bunches of it. This recipe was pulled out from the internet, and is really lovey. Packed with natural goodness, the works as a hot soup and as a cold one (I had most of it hot, but put a little aside to have cold). The predominant taste is, obviously, one of dill, so avoid if you do not like it.

Melt 1/2 tbsp butter in a pan. Add 1/2 medium onion cut into small pieces and saute till onion turns transparent. Add 2 medium (or 1 large) carrots diced, and about 3 tbsp of fresh dill weeds, and cook till soft. Add 1 1/2 cups chicken/ veg broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 10 mins. Remove from heat and puree the soup in a blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fish with dill, and tomato-cucumber salsa

When you buy three huge bunches of dillweeds, only because you got them all for Rs. 10, you need to spend half an hour on the internet trying to find recipes to use them all. Attempting this was bravery, because hubby is not very adventurous when it comes to trying out new flavours, but he loved it.
The recipe said that the dish was to be served cold, but I was not sure if the hubby could handle cold fish AND the flavour of dillweeds, so served it hot.

Fish fillets
2 fish fillets
Olive oil for frying

For marination:
1 bunch dillweeds
6 pods garlic
2 tbsp white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Pound the ingredients listed under "for marination". 
Marinate the fish, and keep it in the fridge overnight.
Shallow fry in olive oil, till done.
Serve with tomato-cucumber relish.

Tomato-cucumber relish
1 small cucumber
1 large tomato
1 tbsp vinegar
dash of tabasco
salt to taste

Chop the cucumber and tomatoes into small chunks.
Marinate for about three hours in vinegar, a dash of tabasco and salt to taste.