Tuesday 17 January 2012

Recipe : Spinach Kofta with Yellow Curry


Your home-grown vegetables needs special recipes. Here is one that I enjoyed. Its inspired from a cook book called " Great Tastes: Indian " by Bay Books.




Yellow Curry
1 cup plain yogurt
4 tbsp besan( chickpea floor)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground turmeric 
1 tsp fenugreek seeds( meethi dana)
2 tsp black mustard seeds
8 curry leaves
4 cups water


Spinach Kofta
400 gms spinach leaves steamed 
1 cup besan
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
4 garlic cloves crushed
1 tsp cumin powder
a spring of fresh coriander leaves


Bhagaar (optional)
2 tbp oil
1 onion thinly sliced
3 whole dry red chilies
6 curry leaves
a pinch of cumin seeds


Yellow Curry
1. Mix together yogurt, besan and water in a bowl. 
2. Heat oil in a deep, heavy base pan and add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Stir fry for a minute. 
3. Add chili powder and turmeric powder and stir for a minute.
4. Add yogurt mixture and mix well. Season with salt and let it cook on medium heat until the mixture is little thick. This will take around 15-20 minutes.


Spinach Kofta
5.  Blanch spinach leaves in boiling water for a minute and then refresh in cold water. Squeeze as much water possible.
6. Chop spinach and mix remaining ingredients using little water. Make a soft mixture that can easily turn into a ball.
7. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry spinach koftas until lightly browned.


Combine koftas with yellow curry before serving. Prepare bhaghaar for more flavor and finish. 


Heat oil in a frying pan and add onion. Stir until its golden browned. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 30 seconds. Add bhaghaar to your dish. 


Serve with roti or boiled rice.


*Caution!
Be careful when adding bhaghaar to the curry. Oil 


If you have a recipe that you would like to share with us, post it on www.facebook.com/cropsinpot with a picture. 










Wednesday 4 January 2012

Two motivational talks by two inspirational gardeners

While browsing through TED.com, I came across these two brilliant short videos that will leave you charged and you might end up plotting a new garden ( like me!!).

Here is the first one by Britta Riley who dint want to depend on anyone to come up with an idea to grow food food even in harsh winters. She knew that NASA uses hydroponic systems to grow food in space, so she made her own system that is now getting famous around the world. The best part is that its surprisingly easy to build! Watch the video to learn more.

Britta Riley: A garden in my apartment
www.windowfarms.org/





Loved it? I know !
Here is our next inspirational video of the day. Roger Doiron is the founder of the KGI.org Kitchen Gardeners International that has over 20,000 members from 100 countries! He grows his own food and wants everyone to grow their own food too. You must watch and listen to what he has to say!

Roger Doiron: My subversive (garden) plot
http://kitchengardeners.org/ 



I am sure you enjoyed these videos and learned something from them too. If you did, share! :)


happy gardening!
Zahra



further reading

crops in pots