Tuesday 3 August 2010

Two for Tuesdays

Well these are two completely unrelated recipes and since they were both stupidly easy, I thought it was pointless separating them into two posts, but had to pen it down for my record.

Asparagus heads wrapped in streaky bacon and grilled
I am completely in love with asparagus. It all started with that asparagus thoran I made and then there was no looking back, Seriously, its just so pretty to photograph and I'm in love with the taste and what all it can do to a simple dish. We had guests over last Sunday and I made a mince meat bake, something like a shepherds pie, but with lots more veggies, garlic bread (thanks to Salisbury's) and then these asparagus heads wrapped in bacon as part of the main course. It was such a hit and the best part... I haven't ever made a dish that is easier than this, but tastes so darn awesome. 

Asparagus heads- 15 to 20
Smoked streaky bacon- 7
Salt and pepper- to season

Preheat oven to 175C and line a baking tray with silver foil or baking paper.
Arrange asparagus heads in sets of three and season with salt and pepper. 
Wrap then up with streaky bacon and place on the baking tray
Grill or bake for 15 minutes, turning it around after about 6 to 7 minutes. 
Drain on paper towels and serve immediately
Foodgawked :)

Notes: The bacon does the whole job of giving it a nice flavour. So there is not much seasoning you need to do. Also watch the salt, cos bacon is really salty.
You can wrap a single long asparagus shoot or do an arrangement of two instead of three.

Beetroot Pachadi (beetroot cooked in a mild coconut and curd gravy)
Yeah I know, what a contrast...well, I'd like to be philosophical and say, 'that's life,' but I'm not that boring, so here's to mallu goodness :)
I hate beetroot and so does Ro..so why did I pick it up, god knows..and that too a whole bunch. So whole of yesterday I spent googling beetroot recipes and was amazed at the number of recipes the www had to offer. I settled for beetroot kichdi and now I have an entire bowl of red stuff staring back at me and I don't know how id finish it and what I'd finish it with. It was pretty alright, taste-wise, but I'm not sure I want to make it a common visitor. Ro is yet to taste it and I can already see him making a face that would make you ask yourself that question, 'remind me again why I married this man!'

Beetroot- 2, medium ones, washed and thinly sliced (I have 3 more left, what do I do with it????)
Green chillies- 3, thinly sliced
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Water- 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Salt- to taste
Shredded coconut- 1/4 cup
Cumin powder- 1/4 tsp
Curd- 4 tbsp

Oil- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek powder- a pinch (optional)
Curry leaves- a sprig
Dry red chillies- 2 or 3 (optional)
Cook the beetroot with the green chillies, turmeric powder, salt and water till done. Drain the water, if any and keep aside to cool. I took about 15 minutes.
In the meantime, grind together the coconut and cumin powder to a paste.
Add the curd to this, mix well and keep aside.
In the same blender, puree the cooked beetroot (I am not sure this step is compulsory, but I didn't want bite size beetroot slices to get in the way) and add to the curd- coconut mix. 
Do a tadka with the oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, fenugreek powder and red chillies and pour over the  kichdi. Give it a good stir and serve with rice.
I think you can put this mix back on the stove the warm it up a bit, but I didn't bother doing that.
Now you know why I don't make that many mallu dishes, I suck at it!
I still don't know the difference between a pachadi and kichdi..someone please enlighten me.

Edited to add: I changed the heading from Kichdi to Pachadi cos I think I got it mixed up and a lot of you wrote to me saying its more like a pachadi...Also I think I have mixed up the two pachadi-kichdi procedures together...like i said..i suck at making mallu dishes ;)

26 comments:

Guna's kitchen said...

OMG!!! mindblowing dishes... asparagus wrapped in bacon and grilled luks delicious and nice idea dear.and beetroot kichdi luks fantastic adding coconut and curd bring more taste to it... simply superb..
u have a lovely space ...and good collection of recipes .. if u find time do visit my blog.. happy to follow ur blog

Hayley said...

I really like beetroot khichdi..lovely colour..nice clicks too..got a same wallpaper but in a diffrent colour !

Suji said...

Nisha..Lovely dishes..colorful..the pictures are so good..Asparagus thoranu njnaum addict aye....

Love
Suji

Umm Mymoonah said...

Your Beetroot pachadi, oh! sorry kichadi looks very good. We are the opposite to you, we are craving for some fresh beetroots. We would love to have that whole bunch of beetroot.

GB said...

:D i'll pass on the beetroot khichdi...even though beetroot is supposed to be a very rich source of antioxidants...I'll have a bowlful of blueberries instead!

and the asparagus wrapped in bacon looks tempting...if only I could cut out the fat....I'm afraid I'll have to pass on those too, maybe a nibble won't hurt right? and it has greens..... :)

the blogger formerly known as sansmerci said...

i think its a pachadi rite? anyways thts a totally new thing to me i so wnana try it..lemme c wen i can.. brat hates beetroot too.. yea but he hates almost all veggies except potato :)

Satya said...

beetroot pachadi looks gorgeous ..very beautiful click too


Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Both dishes look awesome. The second dish looks like Pachidi to me.
Hey tx for your lovely suggestion regd PP365. I will try to make it personal or atleast give a little info on what I am posting about. Did that for today's post. Ciao~

Suganya said...

Nice to know abt ur blog.... U have a nice set of recipes.... All r looking great..., YUM!

Torviewtoronto said...

looks beautiful

PranisKitchen said...

kichadi looks so delicious..my evertime favorite one.. best side for rice..

Sushma Mallya said...

Pics are really lovely , love the colour of khichdi,so yummy one..

abraham said...

something worth trying for a change from indian food....

Monet said...

Such creative unique dishes...especially with the beet root! I'm not a big fan either, but it looks so unusual and pretty that I want to give it a try. Thanks for sharing (and I'm right there with you on the asparagus appreciation!)

abraham said...

hi nisha, i am pleased to present you with an award that's waiting on my blog.

Unknown said...

Both dishes look awesome..Fantastic pictures..

Beet root kichadi is my all-time fav..As far as I know, pachadi is a sweet dish. In our place, we add crushed mustard seeds to the pachadi whereas for kichadi we do not add that. We just add the ground coconut-cumin mixture(which is optional for kichadi), yoghurt and do the tadka with mustards. Also, for kichadi, we fry the veggies but for pachadi we cook them adding water, salt etc. Hope this helps :)

amna said...

lovely pic of the beets!

Neetz said...

wowow!! what an innovative and intresting recipes dear..thnx so much for sharing :)

Sandhya Hariharan said...

I liked the title of ur post . 2 for tuesday...
PizzaHUt has a similar title..:)

Great clicks dear.. I m loving the beetroot pachadi!

Sanjeeta kk said...

Like the beet khichdi. Nice color.

Koek! said...

Ooh, the asparagus looks too cosy in its little bacon jackets... I normally think it's sacrilegious to have asparagus with anything other than melted butter, lemon and salt, but I think I'm going to have to try this!
Robyn

Vrinda said...

This is my fav pachadi...nice vibrant color...Asparagus with becon sounds yumm...easy n healthy recipe

Prerna said...

Anything and everything tastes good with bacon :-)
But I'm also a BIG time hater of beetroots. The red colors repels me so much but funny enough my little one loves it maybe because it looks so colorful to her so I bake and give it to her. Thanx for this new recipe. Will give it a try :-)

Priyanka said...

You know whenever I see bacon wrapped Asparagus, I feel so bad about not being a bacon eater. But it looks fantastic.

Beetroot not my fave but the dish looks fantastic!

Suja Manoj said...

Both dishes looks awesome..innovative and interesting asparagus recipe..love beetroot kichadi.

Unknown said...

Congrats for the Foodgawked pic darling! its outstanding! and beetroot pachadi seems special, my mum makes beetroot kurma, gotta to check and am in love with ur beetroot pic! Blush (beetroot effect lol)