Flavourful curries

The campaign ‘grow your own vegetables’ has gained momentum in the past couple of years. The organic vegetables so grown have found loyal followers. Rema Secar, who is a financial adviser, is also a passionate chef who grows vegetables in her own backyard. Rema shares some recipes from those vegetables.

Raw Banana Kofta
Ingredients
Bananas                                     2
Tomato    3
Onion (optional)     1
Flour(besan)     1tbsp gram
Coriander powder    1/2tsp
Green chilli    1
Garam masala    1 tsp
Turmeric powder               
Salt    To taste
Oil for frying                      
Chopped coria leaves To taste

Preparation
Peel the bananas, cut them into pieces and cook. Can also pressure cook it.
Drain the water. Mash the cooked bananas well.
nAdd gram flour, red chilli powder to taste, salt and a pinch of turmeric powder.
Mix all the ingredients to form dough.
Heat the oil in a wok.
Fry the kofta balls .Keep aside.

FOR THE GRAVY
Grind the tomatoes, onion and green chilli.  In a wok, heat 2tbsp of oil. Add cumin seeds (jeera). When they splutter add the ground tomatoes, a pinch of turmeric powder, garam masala, and coriander powder.
Saute for a few minutes on medium flame, stir occasionally.
Add the kofta balls to the gravy. Add water if required for semi thick consistency.
Give it a boil.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Handy tips: To thicken the kofta gravy, add roasted gram flour.
The measurement of masala can be altered according to taste.
I've used robusta banana which tastes very good.
Kofta balls are good snacks

SWEET POTATO RELISH
Ingredients
Sweet potato                     250 gm
Turmeric powder    
Roasted cummin powder    
Pepper powder    
Curry leaves    
Oil     

Preparation:
Pressure-cook them till one or two whistles. Do not overcook.
Remove the skin and dice them.
In a pan, add some oil.
Add the sweet potatoes
Sprinkle a pinch of turmeric powder, salt, cumin powder and pepper powder to taste.
Stir well.
Shallow fry to make it semi crisp.
Garnish with curry leaves
The uniqueness of these recipes is the fact that they can be had as accompaniments for meals or as snacks.

Beans curry
Ingredients
Chopped beans    200gm
Cooked Chana Dal    2 tbsp
Grated coconut    2 tbsp
Green chilli    1
Cummin seeds                                                
Turmeric powder
Salt    To taste
Mustard seeds
Split urad dal
Curry leaves
Coconut oil    1tsp

Preparation
In a pan, cook the beans with just enough water. nAdd a pinch of turmeric powder. Add salt to taste.
When done, add the cooked and mashed dal.
Crush the green chilli and cumin seeds with the grated coconut.
Add the mixture to the beans an mix well.
Heat the oil, add urad dal, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let it splutter.
Add the seasoning to the curry.

The recipe serves two. Prepared with home-grown beans, this healthy curry is so delicious that it can turn out to be a dish for binge eating.