Friday, January 28, 2011

Palak Wadi ---- Healthy (Iron Rich )Green Squares

                                     Collard Greens Wadi
I learnt this from my friend's (Priya) mom, Mrs.Anjali Ambekar. Traditionally this is made with Spinach. My cousin Aparna gave me two big bunches of Collard Greens, which she got for under a dollar, back in November I think. This was the first thing which came to my mind. Even though it is time consuming, it is worth it. It is essentially a finger food, can be had as an appetizer or as a side to Rotis or Pulav.
For an appetizer, Maggi Hot and Sweet Sauce tastes great with it. It can be made ahead of time. It also freezes well too. This tastes best with Spinach, but since I had collard greens, made it with that.
  Please try this with Spinach, for best results...                      
Collard Greens Wadi

                                                               
                                                              Step  by Step Photos

You will need
 One Bunch Collard Greens (which will amount to approximately 8 cups of greens)
Gram Flour - 1 and 1/2 cups
Rice Flour - 3/4th cup
Salt - 3 teaspoons (more or less, as you may need)
Chili Powder - 4 Teaspoons )more if you can handle spice)
Coriander Powder - 3 Tablespoons
Haldi Powder - 2  Teaspoons
 Oil -- 3 to 4 teaspoons
Red Chili - 2 or 3
Urad Dal - 2 Teaspoons
-----> Wash and drain the collard greens and pat dry.
-----> Chop them in to small strips and keep in a big bowl.
----->  Run them through the food processor once, if you feel the pieces are all too big.
------> Add all the spices to this along with the flour and start to mix with your hand, the mixture should be dry but still bind together.
-----> In a flat vessel, put some oil and spread it all around so the mixture wont stick to the bottom
------> Place this in a steamer and steam for 15 minutes.
------> Let cool and then cut in squares
------> put these squares on a flat pan and grill them lightly so they get a bit roasted on both sides
------> Put the roasted squares in a serving bowl or a box if you plan to serve them later
When you are ready to serve, heat the squares first and then
------> In a dry Kadai, add oil, and when it gets hot, add the mustard seeds, red chili and urad dal
------> When the dal gets roasted pour it over tge warm squares...
Enjoy!!!

Happy 2011

Wanted to wish all my readers a very Happy New Year...

I wanted to apologize for not being prompt about posting entries...I have so many dishes that I want to post but really couldnt  because of the lack of time. I intend to post more recipes this year.

We made a new addition to our family! Sophie aka SoppiKannu

We got her in July of 2010 and she is one of the best decisions we made...


Sophie in December 2010, 9 months old
 We adopted her from a shelter in Charlotte and she is one of the reasons that I have not been posting any new recipes... We think she is a mix of Rhodesian Ridgeback and German Shephered.

Now that she is little over 10 months old, I hope to have more time to post entries on this blog...