Kothavarakkai poriyal is a basic stir fry made with cluster beans. Valued for its medicinal properties this cluster beans stirfry is a gluten-free, vegan addition to your everyday Indian meals.

The visit to Bengaluru this time has seen so many changes. My mother-in-law is finally hooked on blogger world. She is now curious about the new idea. She was talking about bloggers, YouTubers and plenty more who have daily appearances on her devices. So, the suggestion to be videoed while she was making the daily food was welcomed instantly. So as a start, we have kothavarakkai poriyal from her kitchen.

What is kothavarakkai?

The tender pods of Cyamopsis tetragonoloba are used as a vegetable known in regional languages as guar, gawarfali, the green seed pods that grow in clusters are the product of interest. Grown in crop rotation the guar plant notably provides the legume but also improves the soil by nitrogen fixation. The low-calorie pods are a good source of fibre and potassium.

Did you know?

The much-valued commercial flour improver guar gum is extracted from the endosperm of the mature dry seeds of this plant. This is used in breadmaking, the cheese industry and ice cream manufacture.

Ingredients for this kothavarakkai poriyal

This kothavarakka proiyal is made by my mother-in-law. It is one of the simplest stirfries yet very very tasty. Here is the list of ingredients you need to prepare this
Cluster beans or kothavarakkai is the main ingredient in this recipe. Wash and clean the beans. Remove the beans from the thick stalk. Pinch off the tail as it tends to be a bit chewy. Now slice the beans as thin as you like.
Tempering: the classic south Indian tempering is of mustard seeds that crackle to flavour the coconut oil, a touch of dals (split lentils ) for the crunch, followed by curry leaves and red chillies that further flavour the oil.
Seasoning: the recipe is usually just seasoned with salt. However, if you like it spicy use about half teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder can be added.
Garnishes: the final addition of the freshly grated coconut adds a lot of difference to the dish. Honestly, it doesn’t feel the same with the desiccated coconut. However, grated frozen coconut still manages a good bit of flavour.
Additional adds:
Shallots: sliced shallots can be added along with the curry leaves. This gives a wonderful aroma to the poriyal. However, this is not common in Tambaram kitchens so my mother-in-law doesn’t use it.
Cumin: if you don’t have mustard seeds, use cumin. The cumin (jeera) gives a different flavour to the oil.

How to make the poriyal?

As a part of this new journey, we have made a short mature video of how the poriyal is prepared. My mother-in-law is the one who is making this so the measurements in the video are approximate. However, you can follow the recipe card below to get the exact measurements and step-by-step instructions. Hope you will like and share this video too. 

Serving suggestions

Kothavarakkai poriyal paired with steamed rice, quinoa or millets with a classic gravy like sundakkai thengaarachukozhambu or podipotta sambhar is a perfect South Indian meal.
To make an easy wrap use a spinach phulka as the base and fill up with this poriyal. If you have cooked potatoes mash add it up to give a  filling wrap.

Meal prep and storage

The poriyal can be made and saved for about 3 days if refrigerated. If storing for a week, I avoid adding the coconut. Since the coconut added is fresh add it after thawing. The cluster beans stirfry is not the best to be frozen. It turns a bit rubbery if texture.

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Enjoy a delightful yellow tomato salad bursting with summer flavour. Make it a celebration of your homegrown produce with this salad with the best citrus dressing. Make some, share some and enjoy the sun.
It certainly feels so special when your garden provides you with a few good summer produce. Since it is a rainy summer this year, we have planted a few tomatoes. One of the varieties we have is the yellow pear tomato instead of the cherry tomato. These are smaller and sweeter and sunshine yellow in colour. To our surprise, this started fruiting as most as soon as the first rains started. So here are showcasing this beautiful produce with summer fresh cabbages and cucumbers.

Ingredients for the easy summer salad

Yellow tomatoes: these are a variety of cherry tomatoes. They are sweet with a burst of that tomato flavour. You really don’t have to go looking for these, cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes will also do the job. If you have extra squishy ones, try our cherry tomato soup recipe.
Cabbage:  sweet and crunch cabbage forms the leafy base for this salad. It doesn’t matter if it is the red cabbage or the sweet white one. You can swap this for lettuce, arugula or mesclun.
Cucumber: Lebanese cucumbers are the plain complement to yellow tomatoes. Since they are water laden, there are lovely to have during summer, especially in a salad.
Seeds: mix the crunch part is the one that makes the salads more appetising. My go-to mix is flax, chia, sesame seeds and hemp. Depending on what you have at hand, just go with the flow. Popped quinoa tastes brilliant in this salad.

Herbs: Herbs add a good freshness to any salad. Since we are picking up some from the garden we have spring onions, gotugola ( Brahmi) and mint from the garden. So today’s batch pick-up goes right into the salad. You can add what you have at hand to brighten up the flavours. 

For the citrus vinaigrette.

Summer certainly is for those strong citrus flavours. This basic citrus vinaigrette has lemon zest, lemon juice, whole grain mustard, grated garlic and grated ginger along with salt. It has no oil added, you can add a teaspoon of olive oil if you like. Do you really need a dressing for this salad, maybe just lemon and salt will do, but it is far nicer with this basic lemon vinaigrette. Since we are using sweet tomatoes,  I have not added sugar or date syrup to them. If you are using this dressing for, say, coleslaw or basic garden salad mix, add a tsp of date syrup.

Putting together a meal

Option 1: The salad is actually a fantastic idea to serve at a BBQ or lunch. Make some crusty toast, and creamy cheese to add to a platter. Don’t forget to keep some chocolate crackles for desserts
Option 2: Pop some vegetable sheek kebabs on the barbecue. Toast up some flatbreads. Whip up some cacik sauce and roll up a kind of Greek gyros.
Option 3: Keep light to follow up with a cold drink, like berry kombucha and then serve some chocolate dessert brownies to make it up.

The recipe card below carries step-by-step guidance to make this easy summer salad. You can directly pin this onto your board to make during the tomato season. Share with us how you feel making this recipe in the comments below with a rating of upto 5 stars

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As a home gardener, I get very excited when I see produce come up and the garden active with bees and butterflies. These have an emotional connection to the fruits kind of a sense of joy in their own way. Try your green thumb, you didn’t always have to get it right, but don’t give up.
When you make this yellow tomato salad, whatever type of tomato hope you enjoy the experience. Let us know in the comments how you feel about it and rate the recipe. Don’t forget the citrus dressing is perfect for kidney bean salad or edamame salad.
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Kolmi shaak baaja is a classic, slightly lesser-known Bengali-style side dish. This quick, easy, vegan water spinach stirfry is all about the greens and is flavoured with just a few ingredients classic to this cuisine. If you find a bunch of kolmi shaak, don’t forget to try this recipe and share with us your feedback.
My parents taught me to be fearless with vegetables. The common thing they say is to try it.. you will know! This has actually saved me a lot many times especially when I move from one country to another. Now I am able to confidently try a new set of greens with a fair approximation of how they will taste. A huge thank you to my parents to set this trend alive in me.
After moving from Malaysia I had not seen water spinach. The bunches in the greengrocer were certainly a surprise. So here we go again with a few dishes across the regions I travel all made with water spinach.

What is water spinach?

Water morning glory, water spinach, kangkong, vayal cheera, swamp valley greens are all Ipomea aquaticus. This green leafy species is a water-loving plant,  just as the name suggests. The leaves are slightly conical and dark green. The stem is tube-like, suggesting the aquatic nature. The leaves and the tender twigs are edible. The soft twig snaps till where it is edible, therefore cleaning is pretty much like snapping of asparagus. Don’t forget to check the leaves on both sides for bugs. This leafy green is know for its laxative property along with high mineral content.

Precautions while buying water spinach

Do not pick up this green if you are not sure of the source as it is a plant used in water remediation. Since plant loves to absorb minerals in large quantities, growing them near toxic sources helps to clean the water. Spinach sourced here is unsuitable for consumption as it may have toxic metals. Preferably pick up the greens from where you know their growth is or with clear labelling.

Ingredients to make this kolami shaak baaja

Water spinach: check the leaves ad snap off the tender stalks of the kolmi shaak. Wash thoroughly and drain. Chop the greens roughly, the stalk I chop bit smaller than the greens.
Spices: to add to the smokey flavour of mustard oil, it is kala jeera and ajwain that infuses the oil. Follow this up with garlic and red chillies. Now, these two depend on the flavour you prefer to have. For this dish, I choose to use a bit more garlic and keep the red chillies intact so they release the flavour, not the heat. If you want to have a spicier flavour, split the chillies.
Oil: you can’t miss the classic mustard oil flavour in this dish. It gives it that unique smokey intensity that it really needs. I don’t have any swaps here as another will just change the flavour altogether. We have used mustard oil to make Dal pitha and dudh sukto on this blog.

The recipe card below carries the detailed step-by-step recipe to make this baaja. You can save it onto your pinboard directly from here. When you make this recipe share with us how you paired it or how you liked it and please rate the recipe with a 5-star rating.

Can I make this baaja with other greens?

The same baaja can be made with any soft greens. So far, I make this with English spinach (palak), amaranth leaves, Swiss chard, Chinese mustard, beet greens or broccoli greens. You can try the same with the greens you have as well.

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The kolmi shaak baaja with some steamed rice and dudh shukto made us a wonderful dinner. Hope you enjoy the experience of a small Bengali cuisine platter. Finish off the meal with the unique plastic chutney recipe. Save up this recipe onto your pinboards to use later.
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It hunted us down again!! We are set for another session of home iso, with lots of liquids and panadol. Coming to the rescue this time is barley water soup. It certainly caters for lots of liquids part providing just that nourishment during the time when the throat is sore.

What is barley water?

The strained liquid that results from cooking pearled barley in excess of water is barley water. This is an easily digestible refreshing source of hydration. Barley water is commonly consumed in humid Asian countries to beat the heat. It is also recommended to get relief from kidney stones, urinary tract infections and remove liver toxicity.

Which type of barley to use?

The barley grain is processed in stages. Based on how they are processed it is used in different cuisines.
Unhulled:  the whole barley grain, just cleaned and chaffed unhulled barley. To use this, you need to soak it for 24 hours to soften.
Pearled: the polished barley where the hull and the outer layer of the bran have been removed is pearled barley. This is easier to cook with no soaking needed.
I have used pearl barley to make barley water with a ratio of 1 part barley to 6 parts water.

Ingredients for this barley water soup

The barley water soup is a refreshing idea that I can up with as I am not a fan of lemon barley and needed to keep up the liquids for the iso.
Vegetables:  quick cooking vegetables that you can easily put together make this soup’s flavour. I have used leeks, capsicum, spinach stalks and carrots here. You can add celery, shallots, cabbage, potatoes, swedes etc too to this soup.
Spices and seasoning:  salt and pepper is the only seasoning I have used here. Ginger would be nice in here too.
Barley water: the barley water was prepared using one part barley to 6 parts water. We used the barley to make a salad and the water to make soup.
The recipe card below has the images and step-by-step instructions to get the best-tasting barley water soup. hope you will like it. If you need to pin this for future use, do so directly onto your pin board from this recipe card.

What to serve with barley water soup?

Crusty bread at this moment when I have zero energy would do. If you feel lavish ghee croutons are what you should have with this. If you are a south Indian food lover, keep some vadam and vattal on the size as this soup will remind you of kanji a lot.

Other soups for the flu season

Flu busting soup   
Cabbage coconut soup
Corn quinoa soup
Broccoli peas soup
Cherry tomato soup

Barley water usage in other countries.

Roasted barley tea is a popular drink in Japanese culture. It is a robust flavour as the barley is dark roasted which is then steeped as tea.
Greek kykeon pounded barley (not powder) is cooked in excess of water and flavoured with penny royal. This is the post that I loved reading about this recipe.
Lemon barley is the British version of this drink, where there is a bit of lemon squeezed into the barley water to give it flavour. This is still recommended by doctors towards urinary tract infections.

Other grains are similarly used.

Kanji vellam the water drained from cooking matta rice in excess water is called kanji vellum. This is a household mid-morning drink in most south Indian houses (especially Kerala).  A pinch of salt is added and consumed warm. It functions like a light soup.
Soba soup while visiting Japan, a friend of mine introduced me to this. Freshly made soba noodles are cooked in water. The water gets thickened by the buckwheat and is then served as soup with some wasabi and bonito flakes. This was one of the most refreshing things to experience in Japanese cuisine without any hype attached to it.

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If you are making this soup let us know if you liked it. Rate our recipe with a five-star rating along with your comment. We would love it if you would like to subscribe to the blog and enjoy and interact with us. Thank you for your continued support. See you in the next post.