PAVAKKA MEZHUKKUPURATTI/ BITTER MELON STIR FRY

If it wasn't for Appan telling me that my blog has become boring because I haven't updated for a few days now, I would have really enjoyed being in my cocoon. Once something comes up between me and blogging it takes a big effort for me to get back to it. I like to be lazy and not type so many words and arrange pictures in between each paragraph and then 'publish' the post only to realise that there's a mistake in the recipe that I need to correct and so I 'edit' the post and 'publish' again. Sometimes after that I realise that my favourite picture of the dish is not even there in the final post!  Anyway, that pretty much sums up my day when I get back to blogging after a few days :-)

Pavakka/ Bittergourd is one of my favourite nutritious veggie (very good source of Iron). I love it's bitterness balanced with other ingredients that we add to it. This is a very simple dish that you can make, but you will need some time as it takes a good 30 mins to crisp up from it former bitter and green state to the beautiful mouthwatering crunchy brown stage. You can stop the cooking process in between and be happy or sad (mostly sad actually ) as it will be bitter and don't blame me ;-)

I'm not in a great mood to talk (rather write) much today as I am kind of busy (in my head) planning all my chores for this week. We are having a party at home this weekend and I am so looking forward to all the cooking and entertaining that comes along with it. I really am. I know some of you must be thinking whether I am crazy, but what to do, I love to cook and entertain! I always wanted my home to be a home full of eatables, always! My home was like that. It was always stocked with food. The minute some one walks in , they will be fed with everything homemade. We hardly had any bakery snacks except for 'kadala muttai'/ Chikki, 'Paper-il pothinja cake/ Sponge cake in candy wrapper', 'Motta puffs/ Egg Puffs' etc.

So when I got married and moved to US, I used to plan of stocking my freezer with ready-to-fry 'cutlets', 'spring rolls', 'fish packets' 'chicken samosa' etc so that I just have to thaw and fry when guests come home. Sadly, it doesn't work like how it works in India. No, no, not that I am lazy to make them, but we don't have guests like how we have in India unless we call them for supper or a meal together. Yeah, life here is quite boring when you think that way. So whoever comes home, I make sure they are well fed...till their nose!

So now, how many of you want to come home?? :-)

PAVAKKA MEZHUKKUPURATTI
My own recipe (Just love the way it sounds!)
Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 medium sized bittergourd,sliced fine
1 large red onion, sliced fine
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder or to your spice level
Salt to taste
Oil as needed

Method:
As mentioned, slice the bittergourd as fine as you can. I used my mandoline to slice them both (the onions).
In a large pan, mix all of the ingredients together and cook on medium-high heat till you get them as crispy as you see in the picture. It will take about 30 mins maximum and some amount of oil which needs to be drizzled in as and when needed. You will know when to add the extra oil when you are cooking this.

Verdict: Trust me, it tastes really good! Especially with rice and yogurt.

I am sending this yummy side dish as an entry to The Kerala Kitchen hosted by yours truly!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI OLIVE OIL CAKE

We live in the MidWest and there is a story about MidWest and Zucchini. Zucchini grows in abundance here. People sometimes did not know what to do with the crop!So we should not be surprised if we find a crate of Zucchini on our doorstep one morning! :) And if I do, which I doubt, since we live in an apartment, I would be more than happy! I'd have another reason to bake! :)

I had 3 main reasons to bake this cake :

1. Our dear friend Cory, has this dream yard full of vegetables and herbs! He even has a herb which tastes like sugar when you chew it's leaves! How cool is that??? So, last week he had dropped by to have some Dosa, Sambar and Garlic n Shallot Chutney with us and this was what he brought for us! A BIG Zucchini,almost the size of hand from his yar :-) I had to use it somehow. So, half of it went into the cake and the rest went on the grill! YUM!

2. I have been getting many requests and questions as to why I am not baking a cake these days! It's not that I have anything against it, it's just that I am enjoying the summer bounty to it's maximum! :)

3. It is a no-butter, vegetable filled cake!

So inorder to satisfy the above mentioned reasons, I baked...a cake...almost after 2 months! :)

I was in a hurry while I baked this cake because we were grilling that night and things were happening side by side. So, there won't be as many pictures as I usually have,but will spare you some that I managed to click during that time.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI OLIVE OIL CAKE
Recipe source: Chocolate & Zucchini


Ingredients:
Flour-2 cups
Cocoa powder-1/2 cup
Baking soda- 1 tsp
Baking powder-1/2 tsp
Salt-1/2 tsp
Light brown sugar- 1 scant cup
Olive oil-1/2 cup
Vanilla extract-1 tsp
Coffee powder-1 tsp
Eggs-3, large
Zucchini- 2 cups, grated (unpeeled)
Chocolate chips-1 cup (I used semi-sweet)
White chocolate- for decoration

Method:

• Whisk together the dry ingredients.
• Combine zucchini, chocolate chips and 1/3 of the flour mixture.
• Beat together the sugar and oil for 2-3 minutes.
• Add in the eggs one by one and beat for a minute after each addition.
• Add in the vanilla extract and coffee powder.
• Fold in the flour till everything is just mixed.
• Add in the flour coated zucchini and chocolate chips and fold in till everything is incorporated.Do not over fold it.
• Pour into a prepared tin ,level the top and bake in a pre heated oven at 180C/ 350 F for 45-50 minutes or till the skewer inserted comes out clean.
• Let it cool in the tin for 10 mins , then demould it and cool completely on a wire rack.
• Drizzle melted white chocolate over the cake.

Verdict:
This is a super moist cake with teeny weeny bits of green in it. It is hardly noticeable, but sharp eyes like mine can! I really loved the deep deep chocolate-y colour of the cake and while the cake was baking our lil apartment did smell like heaven! Jobin couldn't resist the smell of it and he was sniffing around our home till I finally decided to cut the cake!

Jobin adored this cake! He didn't even look up till he finished gobbling up! :) His dad used to work for a UN agency back in India and Jobin says this cake tasted like the ones they had in ICRISAT's cafe( Jobin must have been 7-8 yrs then). Maybe they baked Zucchini cakes in there  many years ago! Who knows!