Milagu Sevai / Pepper Flavored Rice Noodles

Before proceeding towards today's post, I would like to wish all my readers a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. I know I am a little late in conveying my wishes, but I guess better late than never. For those who are wondering where I disappeared in the midst of last month's blogging marathon, I am hale and hearty. It was though not the same in the case of my laptop and I was forced to take a short break from blogging.

It is going to be Indian Tiffin / Nasta time this week here, during this month's blogging marathon. The terms 'Tiffin' and 'Nasta' are colloquial terms in the Indian context, usually referring to the breakfast time. The dishes I am going to post this week are easy and quick to prepare besides being filling. They can be served either as a breakfast or as an evening snack or even eaten as a light meal. The first one in the series is going to be this quick option of sevai, flavored with pepper and cumin that can be put together in around 10 minutes.  

Ingredients: (2 servings)
2 cups cooked sevai / thin rice noodles
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp urad dal / skinned, split black gram
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp cashew halves (Peanuts can be substituted.)
1 stalk of curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method:
* Cook the rice noodles / sevai according to the package directions. Transfer the cooked noodles to a colander, drain and wash with cold water to prevent it from further cooking. Drain completely and keep it aside. (Break the noodles into about one inched sized bits if using long strands of noodles to avoid the mess later.)
* Meanwhile, coarsely grind peppercorns and cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.
* Heat oil in a saute pan and add mustard seeds and black gram. When mustard seeds start to crackle, add cashews and curry leaves. When cashews turn golden brown, add pepper-cumin powder and stir. (If using any coconut then add it now). Turn off the stove. 
* Add the cooked sevai / noodles and salt to the pan and mix well. Taste and add more pepper powder if needed. Warm if necessary and serve immediately.
* Leftover sevai can be refrigerated. Just warm it before serving.

Notes:
1. Use 1/2 tsp extra peppercorns if more heat is preferred.
2. Add about 1/2 cup fresh, shredded coconut before adding sevai, if preferred.

Check here to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking during Blogging Marathon #48.

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Lime Sevai and Some Laughter

Lime sevai is a quick and light dish fit for any meal of the day. The following ingredients serve about 3 -4 people.

 

Ingredients required :
Rice Vermicelli / Sevai - about 5 OZ / 150 gms
Juice from 2 small limes (lemon juice can be substituted)
For tadka -
2 Tbsp oil, 1 Tbsp peanuts, 1 tsp chanadal & mustard seeds each, few curry leaves, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 5 Red chillies broken into little bits (green chillies can be substituted but the quantity depends upon the heat preferred)
1 tsp salt
About a Tbsp of finely chopped cilantro leaves (optional)

The cooking part:
Heat about a quart / 4 cups of water in a sauce pan. (Water quantity should be more than required to cook the sevai). Break the sevai into bits. Or skip this step and do it after it is cooked. When the water starts to boil, add the sevai and cook it till it is done. (It took me about three minutes to cook the above mentioned quantity). It is very easy to overcook the sevai and ruin the dish. Paying close attention while cooking sevai is recommended. Immediately drain the sevai (or the sevai keeps cooking) and keep aside. Now heat oil in a pan and add the peanuts, chanadal and mustard seeds. When the peanuts and chanadal turn reddish, add red chillies, curry leaves and turmeric powder. Stir once and turn off the stove. Then add the drained sevai, salt and cilantro. Mix well. (If not done initially, the long strands of sevai can be broken with a spatula while stirring). Serve hot.

And now for the laughter part - recently M's nephew forwarded this mail -'Murder of English'. Some of these are hilarious and I thought of sharing them. If you haven't heard them before, enjoy. Since English is not the primary language spoken at homes across India and people come from different backgrounds, such funny incidents do happen. BTW, the following incidents are said to be true ones. Once again, this is just for fun and not to judge / ridicule anyone.

Some leave applications:
1. 'Since I have to go to my village to sell my land along with my wife, please sanction me one -week leave'.
2. 'As my mother-in-law has expired and I am only one responsible for it, please grant me 10 days leave'.
3. Leave letter from an employee who was performing the 'mundan' ceremony of his 10 year old son - 'As I want to shave my son's head, please leave me for two days'.
4. Leave letter from an employee who was performing his daughter's wedding - 'As I am marrying my daughter, please grant a week's leave'.
5. Another employee applying for half day leave - 'Since I 've to go to the cremation ground at 10'o clock and I may not return, please grant me half day casual leave'.
6. 'I am suffering from fever, please declare one day holiday'.
7. 'My wife is suffering from sickness and as I am her only husband at home, I may be granted leave'.

Leave letters to the head master:
8. 'As I am studying in this school, I am suffering from headache. I request you to leave me today'.
9. 'As my head ache is paining, please grant me leave for the day'.

Covering notes:
10. 'I am enclosed herewith...'
11. 'Dear sir,: with reference to the above, please refer to my below.'

Letter writing:
12. 'I am well here and hope you are also in the same well'.

A candidate's job application:
'13. This has reference to your advertisement calling for a 'Typist and an Accountant - Male or Female".. As I am both (!!) for the past several years and I can handle both with good experience, I am applying for the post. :) :) :)

I thought 13th one was the best.

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Methi - Aloo Sevai

I have been in love with green leafy vegetables ever since I was able to distinguish between vegetables. Be it the ocassionally visible, glorious gongura, the adorable amaranth (thota koora), the fragrant fenugreek greens (methi / menthi koora) or the scrumptious spinach (palak /pala koora). Anything my mom prepared with them, I used to enjoy. Here, our only Indian acquaintances have been fenugreek leaves and spinach. Several years back, occasionally I could lay my hands on gongura and thotakoora. Not any more. The only times, I see them now are on the wonderful Indian food blogs.
For this month's Jihva, I pushed till the end to see if I could get some gongura or thotakoora. I went on several futile, shopping trips till yesterday and I had to rely on my old favorite methi for good. Coming to methi leaves, they are a bunch of special kind. Those pretty, aromatic leaves can add special zing to any dish, they are a part of. The signature fragrance, when cooked could never go unnoticed.
Apart from the pappu I prepare, I make use of them in preparing a nutritious and wonderful dish, Methi - Aloo Bhath. It is a simple, fulfilling meal any time, any day. For a change, I have used rice vermicelli / sevai instead of rice, in my regular recipe.

Ingredients used:
Rice vermicelli is sold at Indian grocers or Asian food aisles in supermarkets. I am recently buying (Thailand product), Erawan brand rice vermicelli which comes in one pound package. It contains 3 coils of vermicelli strands. I used half of one of those coils.

Sevai / Rice vermicelli - See above
Methi (fenugreek) leaves - 2 cups or a big bunch
Potatoes, peeled & chopped into small cubes - 1 cup
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Vangibhath Powder (homemade or use MTR brand) - 2 Tbsp
Salt- accordingly
Oil - 4 Tbsp
Cashews - 1 Tbsp (Optional)
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Lemon Juice (Optional)

I always use fresh methi leaves. Don't be tempted to use the frozen variety when it comes to methi leaves. In sheer greediness to earn money, the companies which sell these leaves are adding the stems too, which makes the dish bitter. Pluck the leaves from methi stems. Throw away the stems. Wash the leaves and chop them roughly.

Cook the rice vermicelli according to the directions on the package. Drain all the water and keep it aside. If you have boiling water ready, the cooking part will take less than five minutes. You can just break the long strands of vermicelli with a spoon after they are cooked, if you don't wish to eat the long strands of vermicelli.
Heat oil in a pan. Add chanadal, urad dal and mustard seeds. When the dals start turning red and mustard seeds start popping, add cashews if using and curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds, add potato cubes and methi leaves, stir and close the lid. Turn down the heat to lowest setting and cook them till potatoes are tender. By the time, methi leaves would have wilted and would have released their wonderful aroma. Now add vangibhath powder and salt. Fry for a minute and add the cooked sevai. Stir the mixture until the vermicelli is uniformly coated with vangibhath powder.
Squeeze a bit of lemon juice before serving. (Optional)


My entry for Mahanandi's JFI - Greens and Saffron Trail's WBB, hosted together by Indira of Mahanandi.

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