GUEST POST

When I launched this blog I wanted it to be interactive with some interesting guest posts to add variety to the blog. I am happy that Dustedoff accepted my invitation and provided me with itistastyma’s first guest post. Dustedoff is not only a blogger but also an accomplished writer and as is obvious from the photos a very good cook. So it is over to Dustedoff.

A Duo of Side Dishes
Though I like cooking, I’m generally too lazy to do fancy cooking on a daily basis. So, most meals at my home consist of a main dish, a side dish (often a salad) and rice, rotis, pasta, whatever. If I’m doing an Indian meal, I like to jazz up the side dish and go beyond a mere salad: a raita, for instance. In the summer, especially, a light and refreshing raita appeals to me much more than a dal or a kadhi.
At their very basic, my raitas consist of finely chopped onions, tomatoes and cucumbers, mixed into whisked yoghurt and spiced with salt, red chilli powder, a little black salt, sugar and sambhar powder. When I’m feeling in the mood for something different, I do a spinach raita (boiled and chopped spinach with yoghurt, finely minced garlic and salt) or an aubergine raita (boiled and mashed aubergine, mixed with yoghurt and salt, tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves). Or one of these, a little more complex but very satisfying:

Cucumber and Peanut Raita

Ingredients:

• 1 medium cucumber
• 1 tbsp plain unsalted peanuts
• 1 cup plain yoghurt
• 1 green chilli, chopped
• Salt, to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• Juice of ½ small lime
• 2 tsps vegetable oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 3 sprigs fresh curry leaves, chopped

Method:
1. Peel and grate the cucumber.
2. Dry-roast the peanuts on a hot griddle or frying pan until the skins start loosening and turning black in spots. Tip the peanuts into a plate and keep aside till cool enough to handle; then rub the skins off the peanuts.
3. Coarsely crush the skinned peanuts and mix into the grated cucumber.
4. Whisk the yoghurt till it’s smooth and add to the cucumber and peanuts, along with the chopped green chilli, sugar, salt and limejuice. Mix well.
5. Heat the oil in a frying pan. When it’s hot, add the mustard seeds, which should start spluttering immediately.
6. Wait till the seeds stop spluttering, then add the chopped curry leaves. Stir once, remove from the fire and pour onto the raita. Mix well and serve.

Serves 3-4.  

Arvi ke Kabab

 This isn’t strictly a raita; it’s actually a sort of vegetarian kabab served with an unusual raita. It’s not a family recipe (my mother came across it many years ago in a magazine), but it’s become one of my favourite ways of serving arvi.

For the kababs:

• 250 gm arvi (taro corms)
• ½ tsp ajwain (carom) seeds
• Oil for deep frying
• ½ tsp powdered coriander seed
• ½ tsp powdered cumin seed
• ¼ tsp red chilli powder
• Salt to taste

For the raita:

• 1 cup yoghurt
• 1 tsp Tabasco™red pepper sauce
• Salt to taste
• I medium onion, finely chopped

Method:
1. Wash the arvi well and boil till tender. Drain and cool.
2. Peel the arvi and flatten each piece slightly between your palms. Don’t press too hard, or the arvi will break.
3. Heat the oil in a wok or kadhai. When it gets good and hot, deep fry the arvi in batches till golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.
3. Drain away all the oil from the kadhai except about 2 tsps full. Let this oil get hot again, then add the ajwain seeds.
4. Turn the flame low and immediately add the fried arvi. Toss gently so that the fried ajwain evenly spreads through the arvi.
5. Add the powdered coriander seed, cumin seed, red chilli and salt, and mix carefully into the arvi. Remove from the fire as soon as the spices are mixed; longer, and the spices start to burn.
6. In a bowl, put in the yoghurt and whisk till smooth.
7. Add Tabasco, salt and chopped onion into the yoghurt and mix well.
8. Serve the arvi kababs with the raita on the side. You can either dip each kabab into your serving of raita, or drizzle the raita over the kababs.

Serves 2-3.