Tender Peanuts In White Curry

Tender peanuts in white curry with steamed rice and Talleli Vangi

Exactly after two weeks I am here on the blog, this time round with new flavors to woo you. Yesterday evening I did not want to make some thing elaborate but did want something lip smacking. I had boiled fresh peanuts to snack on at tea time but had forgotten to add salt when boiling them so they got shelved for later. The peanuts were tender and tempting and assured to be great in a curry so here is a recipe I rustled up just like that. My Dad wanted the large brinjal to be sliced up and fried. I did just that to add color to the platter and heighten the spice for the evening as this curry is a mild one in every way. Plus you've heard this before how Dad is almost obsessed with red curries and this curry is white.

So here you go...

Ingredients

1.5 cups boiled, shelled fresh peanuts
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
0.5 inch ginger
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1 teaspoon  fennel
1 teaspoon cumin
0.5 cup fresh grated coconut
1 green chili
1 bay leaf

a handful of cilantro to garnish
2 teaspoon oil

In a vessel heat oil. Fry the garlic in it till soft. Add the sesame seeds, fennel and cumin in that order as they emanate essential oils. Add the onions and fry till translucent. Then let it cool off a bit. 

Now in a blender add the fresh grated coconut, all the fried stuff mentioned above. Dice up the ginger and add. Slit the green chili and let it go into the blender. Now give it a whiz and grind to smooth paste adding water to allow grinding well. Keep aside.

Now in a vessel combine the ground masala, tender peanuts and bay leaf and bring to boil. In about 7-8 mins your curry it ready to be served over steamed rice but not before garnishing with chopped cilantro.

Its a very tasty curry. Though I made it mild may be if you like more heat you can use more green chilies. Here the peanuts have to be really tender or boil them to super softness if you do not have really tender peanuts.

This is an original from my kitchen lab.

Fresh Peanut Rice

I am going ga ga over the heaps of fresh peanuts that I am seeing everywhere in the market. I am the type of a person who hates to talk to the vendors. I like the superstores where I can go and pick up my stuff, pay and walk out. I hate the haggling with grocers, green or brown.

The peanut heaps on this cart which I eyed as I stepped down from the bus broke that myth about me. I went up to woman and asked her how much. As it always happens. She waived her hands in the air signalling 10 Rs per sher while she mouthed "hathu" in Kannada. Give me two and top it up a little I told her.

With my transparent plastic bag of peanuts I walked home happy as a kid. I knew what I wanted to make. This peanut rice and Shengdana Batata Bhaaji ofcourse!


I have followed a simple ghee rice recipe for it to retain the unadulterated flavors of fresh shelled peanuts.

Ingredients

1 cup any fragrant rice
1 cup shelled fresh peanuts
7-8 cloves
2 big cardamoms
2 small cardamoms
2 sticks cinnamon
3-4 crushed green chilies
1 tablespoon ghee
salt to taste

Wash and drain the rice. Use a fragrant rice for this recipe. The flavors are simple and fragrant rice enhances the taste. I use Basmati or Ambe Mohor for it.

Let me tell you a secret. Right now I am using broken Basmati for everyday use that I bought from Mumbai for a deal. I got 10kgs of it! Thanks Charu for showing me this trick.

Heat the ghee in the pressure cooker. Make the tadka with cloves, big cardamoms, small cardamoms, cinnamon and finally crushed green chilies. One following the other. Don't forget the salt, I am telling you as I always do.

Now is the time to add the washed and drained rice. Add the peanuts and stir once to mix. Top up with twice the amount of water. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and allow 2 whistles. Put off the heat, cool and then open after steam subsides. Lightly mix the rice so it is fluffed up. Remove to a serving plate.

If you wish you can add some sprinkles. I wanted to keep it simple.

I paired up the Fresh peanut rice with Lal Dal. It was a perfect antidote for a hassled week day.

Shengdana Batata Bhaaji

Shravan Maasi Harsha Manisi... is a poem that we sing like a song. It celebrates the rains which after the initial pouring has now turned to showers in the sunny day. These create rainbows that lift the spirits.

In Maharashtra as the rainy season is just for 4 months and is pretty heavy especially in the Konkan region, this is the time for fasting. Eating less or Fasting is what is done this time of the year that we call Chaturmaas. However there are delicacies that are made and the whole aim of Upvas is thrown out of the window. Well though that is very cliched, I am not complaining at all. One such Shravan recipe I simply love~~~ is Shengdana Batata Bhaaji.

Simple to make. Yet so good. The potato marries the fresh shelled peanuts with just the right amount of spice from the green chilies. The cumin seasoning with ghee imparts a fragrance that associates it immediately to the divine.

A hot plate of Shengdana Batata Bhaaji, a squeeze of lemon and a bowl of curd and you will keep promising your favorite God that you will fast more no. of times.

This bhaaji is never garnished with cilantro though you might want to do it to add color. Hey but hold it. Cilantro is out of boundaries during fasting.

You want to give it a try then here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1/4 kg Boiled potatoes
1/2 cup shelled fresh peanuts
2 green chilies
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon ghee
salt to taste
a pinch of sugar

Peel and dice the boiled potatoes.

In a wok heat the ghee to smoking point. Add the cumin and before it burns be quick to add the chopped green chilies. Follow in with diced potatoes and fresh shelled peanuts. Stir well and cover and cook for 5 mins. Add the salt and sugar and stir. Cook for another 2-3 mins and you are ready to serve it.

Never use dried peanuts for this recipe. It is all about fresh shelled peanuts in this recipe. Biting into well cooked peanuts and just right cooked potatoes is bliss. I can gorge on entire platefuls.

This is again one of my Aai's recipes that I flip on. This month is when I lost her and it is also the month of a mother n daughter's birthdays. It is in her memory this recipe is posted here today.

"While I don't want to pull back your spirits to the world that you have left, I am still in those bonds that you brought me into. I remember you"