photo credit: Duru…

Now who so ever thinks that men shirk cooking need to meet Anand, an entrepreneur and a geek. He likes to cook whenever time permits and I am happy he could take time to share this recipe with me…

• 2 stalks celery, thickly sliced on the diagonal
• 1/4 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into chunks
• 1 cup (250 mL) cubes Canadian Mozzarella cheese or crumbled Canadian Feta
• cheese
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) baby carrots, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) olive oil
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh oregano (or 1/2 tsp/2 mL dried)
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) each, salt and pepper (approx.)
• 1 cup (250 mL) grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Combine celery, cucumber, cheese, carrots, oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl or container.
2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days.
3. Stir in tomatoes and check seasoning, adding more salt and pepper to taste just before serving. Tomatoes should never be refrigerated so adding them to the salad just before serving preserves their flavor and texture.
4. Add 1/4 cup (50 mL) black or green olives with the vegetables, if desired.

Meet Anand….

Anand Subramanian who is a full time blogger and Internet marketer from Cochin, Kerala. Thanks Anand for the recipe!

One of my favorites, the aromas of the spices and sweet smell of the coconut milk will want you to have more and more of this absolutely delightful delicacy.

Potatoes – 4 nos medium sized (diced)
Carrots – 2 nos (diced)
Peas – 1 cup
Onions – 1 big (sliced)
Ginger – 1 inch (slit length wise)
Green chilli – 1 no (slit length wise)
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Coconut milk – 100 ml
Warm water – 2 cups
Cloves – 3 nos
Cardamom – 4 nos
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Black peppercorn – 3 nos
Clarified butter (Ghee) – 2 tsp
Salt to taste

1.    Grind to powder (roughly / fine) – Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper
2.    Heat clarified butter in a wok and add the powdered spices
3.    As you get nice aroma tip in the sliced onions, chilli, ginger and curry leaves and sauté
4.    Add rest of the vegetables and sauté well
5.    Add 60 ml of coconut milk and water and stir.
6.    Cover the vessel and cook till vegetables get tender
7.    Take off from the stove.
8.    Add remaining coconut milk and salt.
9.    Serve Vegetable stew with bread, puttu, idiaapam or aapam.

You can add chicken/ mutton pieces to make it chicken stew / mutton stew respectively. And if you are not in India and do not have access to curry leaves…tip in some coriander leaves for aroma. Nothing can replace curry leaves though.

Till tomorrow….happy cooking!