Monthly Archives: March 2012

Beans Poriyal/Beans Dry Vegetable Curry

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Sorry for the long break … After the adorable snow attack on us, the next attack came on my computer, making it lifeless for a couple of weeks. Then… for now it is the glowing sun attack! Born in Thoothukudi – the coastal town of Tamilnadu where the sun is brighter than the coastal metropolitan Chennai, where I grew – I love the sun and the mildly cold breeze. Here in Holland, winter or summer – both seem to be in its extreme splash – literally unbearable sometimes. Slowly getting used to the confusion of summer looking spring kind of climate… Originally, it should have been a summer drink to help tackle the heavy and bright sun! But, now it is a simple light poriyal/thuvaran or the dry vegetable curry, to start after this break. As usual, not to mention that this can be made with one teaspoon of oil, just for the seasoning.

 

 

Beans Poriyal/Thuvaran/Beans Dry Vegetable Curry

 Ingredients (serves 2)

  • finely chopped beans – 250 gms
  • finely chopped onion – 1 no. (optional)
  • split green chillies – 2 no.s
  • turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
  • salt – as per taste
  • asafoetida powder – 1/4 tsp
  • grated coconut – 3 tbsp
  • oil – 1 tsp
  • mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
  • urad dal – 1/2 tsp
  • curry leaves – a few

 

finely chopped beans

 

 Method of Preparation

  1. Steam the finely chopped beans until tender; I steam it in the micro-wave for about 6-7 minutes
  2. Heat oil in an iruppu chatti/Pan
  3. Add mustard seeds and when they splutter,  add urad dal
  4. When urad dal turns brown, add curry leaves and the split green chillies
  5. Add chopped onion and fry a bit
  6. Now add the steamed beans,  turmeric powder and salt
  7. Saute till raw smell of turmeric powder goes away and all the ingredients are blended well
  8. Sprinkle asafoetida powder and switch off the stove
  9. Sprinkle grated coconut and transfer into a serving bowl
  10. Beans Thuvaran is ready.

 

Note:

  1. Onions give a distinctive flavour to all thuvarans. But after the exhausting work of chopping beans so fine, chopping onions sometimes become a burden… then I omit onions.
  2. Grated coconut compensates for every adjustment.
  3. Generally, I add asafoetida in most of my dishes to aid digestion. Those who do not prefer the flavour can omit that too.
  4. This is a quick dish as no time is wasted in frying or sauteing too much.

Dutch Apple Pie – The Snow Show!

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whole wheat (no butter, no eggs)

appeltaart/appelgebak

  

After enjoying snowfall in the past two years – 2010 and 2011, it was natural to expect some beautiful snow filled moments this year too! December went away, January too was sliding away with very cold nights – without any trace of snow… my family was missing snow… my daughter missing the white snowman with his carrot nose… also missing those snow angels she used to make in front of our house….  my husband waiting to see those milky white flakes falling from the sky and to watch the trees turn silvery – snow sticking so perfectly to the branches… especially waking up in the morning to see everything bright white,  from the balcony or the kitchen windows or the garden!

Me… I love nature…but not so comfortable with cold weather… be it chilly winds, cold winters or snowy roads. I love to watch the snowfall from indoors – with a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate… but packing oneself and moving out for the daily routine is something that bothers me every winter. So, I wasn’t really waiting for the snow … For someone who can appreciate the 35 degrees heat of Chennai and more than that in my native place down south… I just wait for winter to make his journey faster in any place I am!  This time I was waiting for snow for one reason – just to wear my new snow boots I bought after the snow descended last year.  Though I did not approve of my husband’s prayers for some snow this year, I supported his wish only for those snow boots – that I might not have a chance to wear it in the near future… (quite cruel though).

Then came the snow… delayed by nearly a couple of months… at the fag-end of winter. When the trees were ready to adorn themselves with  leafy clothes, there was snow to give them some designer fairy clothing! I relished it from indoors…thanks to the Daring Duo of my family, I was pulled out of my burrow for some beautiful, appealing, splendid, exquisite (add many more equivalent words for beautiful) moments!

This news was published on february 4, 2012-

    

Today’s temperatures in the Netherlands reached their lowest point in 27 years on Saturday. The lowest temperature was recorded in Lelystad in the Flevopolder, a region of reclaimed land, at -21.8 degrees Celsius.

A spokesperson for meteorological agency weeronline.nl says temperatures reached -20 degrees in many parts of the country. The spokesperson called them “bizarre temperatures.”

The coldest temperature ever recorded in the Netherlands was -27.4 degrees in the town of Winterswijk in the east of the country near the German border on 27 January 1942. http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/netherlands-records-lowest-temperatures-27-years

    

The snow show…

the designer snow clothing

  

the frozen canal

  

making a mark

  

snow in the woods

  

the lonely bird

  

frozen canal converted into an ice skating rink

and the migratory birds

  

up above the snowy landscape…

  

frozen sea in Almere

  

These are some special pictures of the historic city of Leiden in the Netherlands. Pictures were clicked and sent by our friend Y and his betterhalf. A very special thanks to them for these exclusive pictures of the first feel of snow!

 

Some details of the city Leiden –

   

The city is famous for its almshouses, university, museums and glorious history. The spirit of the Golden Age lives on here, a place where Rembrandt was born and inspired so many other influential painters. By the end of the 15th century Leiden was the largest city in the county of Holland.

In 1575, Leiden had the distinction of becoming the first city in the northern Netherlands to have a university. Legend has it that the university was a reward for the heroic resistance to the Spanish occupation.

Nowadays, the restored historic city centre is an especially pleasant place to live. With all of its monuments, museums, ancient alleyways, canals and moats, Leiden also continues to attract an increasing number of tourists and day visitors who appreciate the city’s charms. – taken from http://portal.leiden.nl/en/tourism_leisure/discover/about_the_city

    

Leiden is a quite Dutch renaissance town situated on a tributary of the river Rhine. The river represented the Northern frontier of the Roman Empire and some old Roman fortifications have been excavated nearby. Leiden was one of the first places where one could actually bridge the Rhine.  http://hum.leiden.edu/history/eu-studies/about/about-leiden.html

    

nature’s own beauty

  

apple trees in disguise

 

 

pictures of frozen river rhine…

 

 

 

 

 

rhine in its normal flow

 

 

Appeltaart/Appelgebak – Apple Pie
  
Now, having started relishing the dutch snow…and the supplementary cold weather… why not try something special and dutchy.. I took out this book – ‘Dutch cooking today’ -that one of our friends had gifted us. This book combines traditional recipes with modern dutch food consisting of sauces, cakes, snacks, soups, one-pan dishes, main courses and many more. After a quick search, I decided to try the Dutch Apple Pie which is called appeltaatrt or appelgebak in dutch.

   

English apple pie recipes go back to the 14th century. The first printed apple pie recipe was by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1381.

Dutch apple pie recipes also go back centuries. Dutch apple pie recipes usually call for cinnamon and lemon juice to be added to the pie. The first recipes probably appeared in the late 15th century or early 16th century. http://wanttoknowit.com/who-invented-apple-pie/

   

The subtle flavour of cinnamon and soaked raisins with apples makes this pie a simple yet superb dessert.  It is usually served with vanilla saus in restaurants or had cold with ice-cream or cream (slagroom in dutch) topping.

 

My version of Dutch Apple Pie – Whole Wheat (no butter, no eggs) Apple Pie

 

I have made some minor changes in the pie crust. As usual, all-purpose flour is substituted with wheat flour; butter is substituted with cooking oil; egg has been avoided and yoghurt is added in its place. So, this can also be regarded as a low-fat pie..(hopefully)! Though, I have not researched on the fat value of this pie, reduction of all-purpose flour and butter might lead to fewer calories in terms of fat.

  

baked right

  

 

Pie Crust
  
Ingredients

  • wheat flour – 175 gms
  • sugar – 75 gms
  • cooking oil – 100 ml
  • yoghurt – 2 tbsp
  • salt – a pinch
  • baking soda – a pinch

  

make two balls

  

for the pie crust

  

  

Filling
  
Ingredients

  • apple – 2 or 3 medium
  • raisins – 50 gms
  • orange juice – 50 ml
  • custard powder – 1 tbsp
  • sugar – 1 tbsp
  • cinnamon powder – 1 tsp
  • apricot jam – 2 tsp

  

apple-raisin-cinnamon filling

  

Method of Preparation

  1. Sieve wheat flour and baking soda and keep aside
  2. Mix wheat flour, sugar, salt, oil and yoghurt in a bowl
  3. Make a dough. Normally all-purpose flour and butter would make a firm dough – but wheat flour, oil and yoghurt combines into a soft dough
  4. In a cake tin with removable bottom, press 2/3 of the dough over the bottom and the sides
  5. Refrigerate the tin and remaining dough  for about 10-15 minutes till set
  6. In a pan, bring raisins and orange juice to a boil and simmer until the liquid is evaporated
  7. Combine cut apples, raisins, custard powder, cinnamon powder and sugar and spread over the pastry base
  8. Roll out of the rest of the pastry and cut into 1 cm strips. Arrange in a criss-cross pattern on top of the apple mixture, pressing the pastry  edges together
  9. Preheat oven at 175 degrees centigrade.
  10. Bake the apple pie at 175 degrees centigrade for about 45 minutes in the oven till golden brown. Check after nearly 40 minutes for the golden brown colour – too much browning might turn the crust hard
  11. Remove from the oven and glaze with apricot jam
  12. Allow to cool in the cake tin for 10 minutes
  13. Remove from the tin and serve.

  

filling inside the crust

  

ready to be baked (updated picture)

  

done!

  

Note:

  1. Caster sugar is preferred as it would dissolve easily. If sugar is not too fine, powder it in a blender
  2. Baking soda is a doubtful ingredient. It is just that i felt the lack of egg might result in a harder base especially with wheat flour. Hence, baking soda is added. One can try without baking soda and let me know the result too
  3. Instead of pressing the dough in the cake tin, dough has been rolled into a chapati and pressed in the tin
  4. The apricot jam spread on the baked pie gives a fine glow to the pie
  5. The original recipe mentions apples without skin – the pain of removing skin has been avoided – and doesn’t make much difference in taste too.

goodness of apple