Cooling Cucumber Yoghurt

South Indian food can get pretty spicy at times. When our mouths are on fire and our eyes are streaming, we turn to our favourite cooler: cucumber yoghurt. 

Everything about this dish is cool and refreshing: cold velvety yoghurt, grated cucumber, fresh green coriander, and tangy lime, topped with a classic mustard seed tempering. 

This delightful dip can be whipped up in less than 5 minutes and is a perfect accompaniment to any spicy dish. It's also a great topping for our Kale Cranberry and Coconut rice. 

For our vegan version, we’ve used Alpro Soya sugar free plain yoghurt. The flavour, texture and taste are indistinguishable from dairy yoghurt! It will fool all your non-vegan friends. Trust us, we've tried and succeeded.

So next time you cook up a spicy dish, make a bowl of this yoghurt to soothe the heat. 

Love,

N & N

Serves: 4
Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened plain non-dairy yoghurt
1 cup peeled grated cucumber
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
Juice of half a lime
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon sunflower oil
Optional: 1/2 green chilli finely chopped

Method:

1. Add the yoghurt to a bowl and whisk until it's smooth and creamy. 
2. Add in the grated cucumber and mix it all through. If the mixture is too thick, add a little cold water to thin.
3. Add the chopped coriander and lime juice and mix. 
4. Finally, make the tempering by heating the oil in a small pan. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds and green chilli. When the mustard seeds start popping, remove from the heat and pour the mixture over the top of the yoghurt. 

Kale, Cranberry, Coconut Rice

South Indian menus are never complete without a flavourful and enticing mixed rice. And we love getting creative with the flavour combinations: think lime, turmeric and green chilli, roasted aubergine and coriander seeds, or our favourite: toasted coconut. Back when we were little, summer holiday picnics in India always featured vibrant, yellow,  lemon and coconut rice in banana leaf cups!  

For our modern healthy version, we've swapped white rice for brown basmati which also adds a chewy texture and nutty flavour. As well as crunchy toasted coconut, we’ve added toasted almonds, sweet dried cranberries and shredded steamed kale. Bright reds, vivid greens and flecks of toasted brown make this not only a feast of flavours and textures, but also a beautiful picturesque addition to your menu. 

This recipe is easy to make in large batches, perfect for dinner parties or packed lunches to last you all week.  We'll soon be releasing our recipe for Cooling Cucumber Yoghurt which complements this dish perfectly, so keep an eye out for it!

Here's to healthy, happy, hearty meals.

Love,

N & N

Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 cup brown Basmati rice
3 tbsps dried cranberries
1/2 cup dessicated coconut flakes
1/2 a green chilli
1/4 inch piece fresh ginger
2 tsps sunflower oil
1/8 cup whole almonds
100g fresh kale
A pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste

Method:

1. Put the rice on to cook as per the instructions on the packet
2. Heat the oil in a pan and add the asafoetida, ginger, chilli and coconut. Sautee until the coconut turns reddish brown. 
3. Toast the almonds. The easiest way is to spread them out on a plate and microwave for 1 minute.  Then chop them into rough pieces and add to the spice and coconut mixture
4. Then add the rice along with salt to taste. 
5. Cook the kale in a large pan of boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain off the water and finely chop the cooked kale. Add this over the top of the rice and mix it through.  

Wasn't that easy? 

Jackfruit Coconut Milk Nectar

Hot, sweet, dessert drinks (known as payasams) are all the rage in South India. They're usually saved for special occasions, but our healthier, lighter and refined-sugar free version is perfect for any day. 

This particular payasam is like a warming magic potion. It's simple, satisfying and you only need four ingredients: jackfruit, coconut milk, maple syrup and cardamom. 

Jackfruit is an enormous spiky green monster of a fruit with super sweet, golden yellow insides. Trips to Tamil Nadu are never complete without sampling a bit of this beautiful fruit. Luckily, it's becoming increasing available here too- fresh is best, but the tinned stuff is so convenient for dishes like this. 

We love sweet drinks, but too often they're sickeningly sugary and we can barely manage a few sips. That's why we're excited about using naturally sweet fruits (and veggies!) in our recipes. Jackfruit provides a natural, balanced source of sweetening in this recipe and we just added a splash of maple syrup for some depth and caramel tones. 

This golden nectar has been a hit with our friends and we hope you love it too!

For an extra indulgence, add in some cashews and green raisins toasted in coconut oil. They provide texture, a bit of bite and the raisins soak up liquid, so they pop with flavour! Our version of liquid filled Agar balls?

Happy experimenting,

N & N

For other dessert drink inspiration, try our Carrot, Cardamom Almond Milk Latte.

Serves: 5
Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 3 cups low fat coconut milk (we like the Alpro soya kind)
• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• 225g jackfruit (we use tinned, and you can find it in Sri Lankan/ Indian grocery stores)
• 2 cardamoom pods
• 2 tbsps green raisins
• 2 tbsps broken cashews
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Method:

1. Drain the tinned jackfruit and rinse well (or if using fresh, no need to rinse). Puree in a blender with a few tbsps coconut milk or until it forms a smooth paste.
2. Pour in a saucepan and add the rest of the coconut milk and maple syrup
3. Heat gently, slowly bring to the boil and turn off
4. Break open the cardamom pods and crush up the seeds using a stone/pestle and mortar, and stir into the mixture
5. In a small pan, heat the coconut oil. Add in the green raisins and cashews, and toast until the raisins puff up and the cashews start to brown
6. Pour into the coconut milk, jackfruit mixture and stir well
7. To serve, ladle into mugs - make sure everyone get a good helping of the raisins and cashews, as they have a tendency to sink to the bottom.

Drink up and scoop up the raisins and cashews with a spoon!

Purple Cabbage Sautee

Purple cabbage is one of those mesmerising and beautiful vegetables that adds a pop of colour to any dish. It's great in coleslaws, pickles, chutneys and is delicious in this simply but satisfying sautee. We love the crunch of the almonds, the smokiness from the cumin and the richness from the coconut. 

Often cabbage is over cooked and becomes a sopping grey mess.  We make sure this never happens by sauteeing it very quickly over a high heat, retaining the nutrients and of course the brilliant purple colour. 

Cabbage curries are quite popular in South India and we've added a texture twist with the almonds and coconut and some leafy green coriander for extra freshness. 

This sautee is a great side dish to accompany any South Indian soup or stew or even just with a bit of piping hot red rice or quinoa.

Try it out and tell us what you think!

Love,

N & N  

Serves: 4

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1/4 medium purple cabbage
• 1/8 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/8 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp olive/sunflower/coconut oil
• 2 tsps desiccated coconut
• 10 toasted almonds
• 2 tbsps chopped coriander 

Method:

1. Toast and chop up the almonds. Our top tip for quick toasting it to pop them in the microwave for 40 seconds. 
2. Heat the oil in a wok and when slightly smoking add the mustard seeds
3. When the mustard seeds have popped, toss in the coconut, almonds and cumin and let them turn golden brown, Keep mixing so it doesn't catch. 
4. Finely shred the people cabbage and add to the hot coconut mixture. Add a little bit of salt - not too much mind as the purple cabbage is a bit salty in itself. 
5. Stir fry on a high heat for a few mins
6. Then, turn down the heat, cover and cook until the cabbage is tender. Stir to prevent it catching and keep checking up often to make sure it doesn't go grey! It doesn't need long.
7. When it's cooked, generously sprinkle over the chopped coriander and mix well

Serve up hot!

The Ultimate Rice Pudding

January 14th is the South Indian festival of Pongal. And the special dish of the day is called…. yes you guessed it, Pongal! 

Pongal marks the start of the Tamil Harvest festival. The word 'Pongal' literally means 'to boil over' and the traditional dish is made by heating fresh milk, allowing it to boil over the vessel and adding steamed rice and grains.

Pongal can be made savoury by spicing with black peppercorns, curry leaves and cumin, or sweet by adding jaggery and infusing with cardamom and saffron. 

The sweet version, ’Sacra Pongal' is a particular favourite in our family and we make it frequently for special occasions or as a weekend treat! 

Our healthier version uses quinoa and brown basmati rice instead of the traditional white rice base, upping the protein content and also adding a mixture of textures.  The traditional version also uses Jaggery as the sweeter but we know it’s not always easy to find in stores, so we’ve opted for dark muscavado sugar instead. It not only sweetens the dish but also adds a caramel-ly flavour and a gorgeous golden colour.

Our favourite part of the dish is the crunchy topping of cashews and raisins toasted in ghee! It perfectly complements the mushy texture of the rice pudding. We chose to substitute a few tablespoons of coconut oil instead of ghee to make it vegan. The toasty, crunchy nuts and sweet raisins are like little flavour explosions in your mouth! When we were younger, our mum used to fry some extra cashews and raisins so we could eat them just as they are!

If you have a sweet tooth, you have to try out this recipe!

Happy Cooking!

N & N

Ingredients:

1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 cup brown basmati rice
1 1/2 litres boiling water
1 1/2 cups dark muscovado sugar
6-7 cardamom pods or 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Saffron stems
1/8 cup cashews pieces
1/8 cup  raisins
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Method:

1. Dry roast the quinoa in a pan for about 3 minutes and then add in the rice. 
2. Pour the boiling water on top, and boil everything on a high heat for 3 minutes. Then, reduce and simmer until all the water has been absorbed by the rice and quinoa. 
3. Crush the mixture with the back of a spoon until it becomes mushy. The mushy texture is a really important feature of the dish so if necessary, add more water and cook until it becomes mushy!
4. Next, make a syrup with the muscovado sugar. Add the sugar to 1 cup of water in a pan and bring to the boil. Once it starts bubbling and frothing, reduce the heat and add the rice and quinoa mixture. Cover the pan with a lid and leave for 5-6 mins to let the grains soak up the sugar syrup. 
5. Remove the outer shells of the cardamom pods and crush the insides to form a powder. Sprinkle this over the top along with a pinch of saffron
6. The last part is the nut and raising topping! Heat the coconut oil in a small pan and add the cashew pieces. When the nuts are toasty and golden, add the raisins. Turn the heat off when the raisins start to swell. 

Serve yourself a generous helping and top with the crunchy nuts and raisins!

Creamy Coconut Vegetable Stew

'Avial' is one of our all time favourite dishes. We love it so much that at one point we wanted to call our website Avial and dedicate it to this one dish. Yep... that much. We've had rave reviews about this dish from everyone who's taste tested it so far, and we are very excited about sharing it with you!

For us, it's everything you need in one bowl- creamy, coconut-y broth, gentle spicing and a colourful medley of tender vegetables: carrots, potatoes, squash, green beans and kohlrabi. This is our ideal bowl of comfort food -  in a healthy, nutritious and delicious way. 

Traditionally, Avial is made using yoghurt and grated coconut. We've decided to put an inventive spin on it by using coconut yoghurt! This adds a wonderful creaminess, makes the recipe a whole lot simpler and best of all, makes it vegan!

This dish is gently spiced with some ginger, chilli, fenugreek and curry powder. It's got notes of coconut based Thai curries too: South Indian - Thai fusion food anyone?!

You can devour this stew by the bowlful, or ladle over brown rice, quinoa or anything that will soak up the rich, flavourful broth. 

Intrigued? Salivating? Try it out and send us your comments! 

Enjoy,

N squared x

Serves: 4

Time: 40 mins

Ingredients: 

• 2 medium carrots
• 2 medium potatoes
• 2 kohlrabi
• 1/3 butternut squash
• Handful of green beans
• 450g coconut yoghurt (e.g. Coyo)
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 1 small green chilli
• 1/4 tsp salt ( + more to taste)
• 1/4 tsp curry powder
• 2 pinches asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp chickpea/rice flour
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1/8 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/8 tsps fenugreek seeds

Method:

1. Chop the carrot, kohlrabi, potato, butternut squash and beans into 2 inch batons.
2. Put the carrot and kohlrabi into a pan and cover with boiling water. Add the curry powder, one pinch asafoetida and salt (you can add more salt later if you need). Cook until al dente and then add the butternut squash and potato, and cook until everything is tender.
3. Cook the beans separately in the microwave - place in a bowl, cover with water and a plate and cook for 7 mins.
4. Meanwhile, in a blender, blitz the ginger, chilli, chickpea flour with 2 tbsps of the coconut yoghurt. 
5. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the green beans and ginger-chilli mix, as well as the rest of the coconut yoghurt.
6. Bring it to the boil and then turn off.
7. Now make the tempering mixture - heat the coconut oil in a skillet and add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and one pinch asafoetida. When the mustard seeds have popped and the fenugreek seeds have browned, pour the sizzling mixture into the stew and mix.

Serve piping hot.

Spicy Green Mango Salsa

In South India, we really love mangoes! In the summer months we could live off sweet, creamy orange mangoes. But the star of this recipe is the raw green mango. 

'Manga Thundam',  literally means 'little raw mango pieces'. It's a classic South Indian condiment that can be served alongside any meal.  We know British people love their pickles: pickled cabbage, pickled onions, cheese and pickles, picallili.... This is our South Indian addition to your pickle collection!

The crunchy raw mango has a delicious sour tang, and the tempered spices add heat and a wonderful savoury flavour.  Our recipe opts for Himalayan pink salt as we think it adds a nice earthiness. 

At our grandparents' home in South India we love picking mangoes straight off the trees to make this recipe but you should be able to find green mangoes in most Asian stores. 

This spicy, sharp salsa pairs extremely well with creamy curd rice, or as a topping for a bowl of yoghurt, but you can also add it to sandwiches, wraps and salads to add extra flavour and crunch or use as a healthy dip for tortilla chips. 

We'd love to hear what you use it for!

Love,

N & N

Ingredients

2 medium raw green mangoes
1/2 tsp chilli
1/8 tsp asafoetida
1/4 fenugreek seeds toasted and powdered (optional)
1/2 tsp himalayan pink salt + more to taste
1.5 tsps sunflower oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds

Method

1. Chop the mangoes into small pieces and place in a bowl. Add all the spices on top of the mango but don't mix yet!

2. The most important part is the tempering: heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter add the mixture over the top of the spices. It should makes a delicious sizzling sound! Mix the spices and tempering though the mango and it's ready to serve.

The salsa can keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 days. 

Puffed Buckwheat Bars

Crunchy, crisp, sweet and moreish. These absolutely hit the spot when you're looking for that slightly sweet snack - and our recipe saves you the guilt by using unrefined sugar!

One of our favourite South Indian snacks is the 'pori urandai' – a.k.a puffed rice ball. These sweet spheres are commonly made around November to celebrate the South Indian festival of lights - Karthikai. No not Deepavali - we have another festival of lights! Apparently one isn't enough.

In this recipe, we've swapped the puffed rice for puffed buckwheat to shake things up and add a different flavour dimension. In case you haven't tasted it before - it's a bit like popcorn! 

Buckwheat is a naturally nutritious grain with 'buck'et loads of goodness, which when popped results in crunchy little pillows. And it's gluten-free too! 

Toasting the puffed buckwheat means it stays crisp once combined with the sweet syrupy mixture and retains its crunch perfectly once set.

These bars are studded with juicy raisins and crunchy almonds for extra taste and texture. We've used one of our favourite unrefined sugars from down South - Jaggery, a dark earthy sweetener made from sugar cane. To pack in a different kind of sweetness, we've thrown in some dark agave nectar and finished it off with lots of ground cardamom for festive measure.

Shape them however you fancy- baubles, bars, triangles... and if you store them in an airtight container, they'll last you all week. Feel free to swap in whatever dried fruits or nuts you fancy. Cashews, cranberries, pecans and sultanas could all work well.

Toast, mix, set and enjoy!

Love,

N & N

------------

Time: 35 mins
Makes: 15-20 squares

Ingredients:

• 4 cups toasted puffed buckwheat (You should be able to get this in most health food stores. If you can't find it, feel free to use any other puffed grain: rice, quinoa...)
• 3/4 cup jaggery 
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 4 tbsps water
• 6 cardamom pods
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 tsp coconut oil for greasing

Method:

1. Toast the buckwheat in the oven at 180°C for 5 mins or until crispy (it shouldn’t colour or burn)
2. Grease a metal dish (around ½ inch deep) with coconut oil
3. Heat the water in a pan along with the jaggery and the agave nectar
4. Mix and melt. It need to reaches a certain consistency in order to stick the buckwheat together and set properly. This can be a little tricky to spot. So to test if the sugar syrup has reached the correct stage, drop little spoonfuls of the hot sugar syrup into a cup of cold water. If you’re able to roll it into balls in the water then you’re good to go. Cooking isn't just about seeing, smelling and tasting, you also need to use other senses, and touch is the perfect one here!
5. When the sugar syrup reaches this stage, add in the cardamom, toasted buckwheat, raisins and almonds and stir well to mix.
6. Pour into the greased dish and flatten out. Or you can even shape them into balls – but be careful, the mixture will be hot!
7. Let it set for 10 mins and then cut into squares.

Crunch away!

Spice Advice - Jaggery

Jaggery is a dark, earthy, unrefined sugar, which is made from sugar cane juice, date palm sap or a combination of the two. Unlike regular sugar, Jaggery is rich in minerals and iron. It also has a more complex structure, so is digested more  slowly and helps prevent sugar highs and lows. You should be able to find it in an Indian/Sri Lankan/Ethnic store. We suggest finding the real deal instead of trying substitutions!