Black Bean Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Black Bean Stuffed Poblano Peppers is one of our recent favorite Mexican dish. Few months back I came across this recipe and tried it by making variations to suit our taste buds. We liked it with our first bite and hence wanted to share the recipe from many days. Making this demands little effort but trust me its worth! Do try and let me know how they turned out for you. 

Ingredients:

• Poblano Peppers - 4
• Oil - As desired
• Tomato - 1
• Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded - 1 cup
• Lime juice- 1 tsp
• Cilantro, chopped - For garnish

For Beans:

• Oil - 1-2 tsp
• Onion, small sized - 1 
• Garlic pods - 2-3
• Red Chilli powder - To taste
• Black beans, cooked/canned - 1 cup
• Salt- To taste

Procedure:

For Beans Filling-

Cooking Black beans - I prefer to cook black beans at home. I washed the dried beans and soaked them in warm water for an hour. Then cooked in a pressure cooker with sufficient water and salt, for 2 whistles. Once done, drain off the water. The beans should be soft but should hold their shape. If you don't have a pressure cooker, then cook the soaked beans in an open pot until done (it might take anywhere between 45 min to an hour).

Or you can also used canned black beans. Just rinse the beans thoroughly using water and set it aside.

Chop the onion and garlic.

Now heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add in the chopped onion and garlic.

Fry them for few minutes or until the onion softens. Then add the cooked black beans, red chilli powder and mix well.

Then add 1/4 cup of water and cook them until all the water evaporates. At this stage check for salt and add if desired. Then turn off the heat and allow them to cool.

Meanwhile chop a tomato.

Add it to the cooled black bean mixture. Set it aside.

Then grate the cheese and sprinkle lime juice on it. Set it aside.

Next step is to prepare peppers.

Wash the peppers and wipe it dry using a paper towel. Now using a paring knife cut a slit down the length of each pepper. Then carefully remove the seeds without causing much damage to the pepper.

Once done, the peepers are ready to be stuffed!

Before stuffing, preheat the oven to 425 F and smear little oil in the baking dish or a cast iron pan.

Now, Take a pepper and stuff the bean mixture using a spoon.

Then top it off with grated cheese. 

Continue with the rest of the peppers. 

Then place them in the prepared baking dish with slit side up and smear little oil on the outer surface of the peppers.

Bake them in the oven for around 25 minutes or until the peppers are well roasted and tender.

Black Bean Stuffed Poblano Peppers are ready!!

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve it hot. I served it along with Mexican rice and Guacamole. Above measurement serves two people.

Notes: #The original recipe calls for cooking beans in beer. I skipped it as we don't consume alcohol. 

#I have used only one type of cheese. You can also use multiple cheese.

#The extra effort of making guacamole and Mexican rice is worth as it pairs very well with the stuffed pepper.

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Sweet Corn Kosambari (Sweet Corn Salad)

Sweet Corn Kosambari is a simple, colorful salad. Kosambari is a South Indian salad where few ingredients like soaked lentil, carrot, cucumber etc are put together and later on seasoned with oil and mustard seeds. I had this unique salad in Bangalore few years ago. It is quite interesting how pomegranate seeds pairs so well with sweet corn kernels. I wanted to try it in my kitchen as I love both corn and pomegranate. I also included carrots for extra color. It turned out pretty good. Do try this unique combination and I hope you will like it!

Ingredients:

• Sweet Corn - 2 ears
• Pomegranate, medium sized - 1
• Carrot, medium sized - 1/2
• Cilantro (coriander leaves) - 3 sprigs
• Grated coconut (fresh/frozen) - 1 Tbsp
• Lemon juice - To taste
• Green chilli - 1
• Salt - To taste
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

Clean the corn and cook them in salted water for 7- 10 minutes.

Once done, remove the kernels from the cob without causing much damage. Remove the pomegranate seeds and set it aside.

Now grate the carrot in a bowl. Add in the chopped cilantro, green chilli, lemon juice and salt.

Then add the corn and pomegranate kernels, grated coconut. Mix well. Finally add in the seasoning.

For seasoning - Heat oil. Once hot, add mustard seeds. Once it pops, turn off the heat and add it to the corn mixture.

Give a final mix and check for the taste. Add more salt or lemon juice, if required. 

Sweet Corn Kosambari is ready!!

Serve it as it is or as a side dish to rice. Above measurement serves 3-4 people.

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Corn Tortillas

I love Mexican food, period. There is not a whole lot of vegetarian options in Mexican restaurant. So I started making variety of dishes at home. I wanted to make everything from scratch. So I also tried to make corn and flour tortillas. Corn tortillas require only few ingredients and making them is a breeze if you have a tortilla press. I have adapted the recipe from here. She has also demonstrated the making of corn tortilla in her youtube channel. You can also check that out to get a better idea.

Do try making these corn tortillas, if you like Mexican food. They taste so much better than the store bought ones. I will share few vegetarian recipes soon, as to how we like to eat them.

Ingredients:

• Maseca Corn Masa Mix - 1 cup
• Hot water - Little less than 3/4 cup
• Oil - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp

Procedure:

Before writing down the procedure, let me write few things required to make tortillas.

Tortilla Press - I recommend buying a tortilla press if you plan making corn tortillas on regular basis. If you don't want to invest on it then you can always use a large plate or pie dish to press out the dough.

Zip loc/Parchment paper - Always line your tortilla press with zip loc (cut open one or two side of it) or parchment paper (2 square pieces of it).

Take flour, salt and oil in a bowl.

Mix well and then hot water little at a time. Mix with a spoon . Once it comes together mix with your hands until you get a non sticky, smooth dough. Keep it covered and let it sit for five minutes.

Then divide the dough into 5-6 equal portions and smoothen them between your palms.

Now line the tortilla press with a zip loc (or parchment paper) and place one of the dough ball in the zip loc.

Then press it.

The dough ball takes a beautiful round shape.

Gently remove it and place it on a hot skillet.

Cook it until the edges start to lift. Then flip it to cook on the other side until few brown spots appear.

I like to finish off cooking on direct flame to get extra charred marks (this step is totally optional).

Then transfer it into a container lined with paper towel or kitchen towel. Repeat the procedure for the rest of the dough. 

Corn Tortillas are ready!!

Serve it warm. You can use it for making fajitas, enchiladas etc. Above measurement makes 5-6 medium sized tortillas.

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Gosale Podi (Pan Fried Ridge Gourd)

Gosale Podi is a simple side dish made using ridge gourd. The ridge gourd slices are seasoned and dipped in semolina. It is then fried on a pan until golden brown. This simple way of cooking ridge gourd was suggested by a friend. 

Ridge gourd is one of the vegetables I hated to the core. I never enjoyed any dishes using ridge gourd except for the chutney made using its peel. But now my views have completely changed!! After getting 15- 20 ridge gourds from my garden, I had to find some way to use it. I fried them on a pan (as suggested by a friend) and they tasted so good that I had to post the recipe. Do try making this simple dish and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Ridge gourd, medium sized - 2
• Red Chilli powder - To taste
• Asafoetida - A big pinch
• Semolina (sooji or rava) - 2-3 Tbsp
• Salt - To taste
• Oil - 1-2 Tbsp

Procedure:

Wash the ridge gourd and pat it dry. Then remove the tough ridges using a knife or peeler.

Now make 1/2 inch thick slices of the ridge gourd as shown below.

Now spread the slices in a wide bowl or plate. Then sprinkle red chilli powder, asafoetida and salt. Mix such that all the slices gets a coating on both sides.

Heat a pan. Then start dipping each slice in rava on both sides. 

Then place it on the hot pan one by one. Once done, add little oil all over and allow it to cook until it turns golden brown.

Then flip each slice using a fork. Add oil, if desired. Then cook on the other side till it turns golden brown.

Once done, turn off the heat. Transfer them to a plate. Gosale Podi is ready!!

Serve hot along with rice and any curry of your choice. Above measurement serves two people.

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Piyava Bajo (Onion Fritters)

Onion and Garlic are my favorite ingredients in my kitchen. They add a lot of taste and flavor to many dishes. I love onion so much that we always get a big bag for two of us!! Onion Pakoda (or bajji or bajo) is a very popular Indian fritter. Sliced or chopped onions are coated in batter along with few spices and then deep fried. They taste 'The Best' right out of the oil. They taste so amazing that you can eat couple of batches. 

There are so many variations of these fritters available on internet. I love many recipes but somehow feel that they (not all) are greasy (the reason being - Onion tends to leave some moisture after a while when mixed in the batter. This makes the mixture little watery and hence the fritters absorb more oil). Hence I tried making it without adding any water. It turned out very good. I roughly adapted my mother's recipe. Do try making the fritters without any water and find out the difference :-)

Ingredients:

• Onion, roughly chopped - 2 cups
• Besan (chickpea flour) - 1/2 cup
• Rice Flour - 1/2 cup
• Coriander seeds, coarsely powdered - 1 1/2 tsp
• Red Chilli powder - To taste
• Asafoetida - A big pinch
• Hot Oil - 2 tsp
• Salt - To taste
• Oil - For deep frying

Procedure:

Chop the onion roughly and transfer them in a bowl. Add some salt and let it sit for 10 minutes so that it lets go off moisture.

Then add rice flour, besan, red chilli powder, asafoetida, coriander powder, hot oil.

Mix well until everything comes together. Don't add any water.

Then drop small amount of batter at a time in preheated oil.

Fry until it turns golden brown. Then remove and drain the excess oil on a paper towel. 

Piyava Bajo is ready!!

Serve it hot. Above measurement serves two people.

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