Stuffed Capsicum: A Filling That Gives You A Nice Feeling

There are only a few recipes that involve capsicum in my menu and stuffed capsicum was never there in the list although I know there is such thing exists and quite famous, that too. I remember one time, a long time ago when we ordered "Capsicum Nadjakat" at a hotel named "Rock Garden" in Mysore. It was quite good as far as I can remember. That was the first and last though. I didn't even have the interest to make a similar one at home later on. 

Until three days back when we purchased a kilo of capsicum because it was a local produce and very fresh. They really look so grabby, a sight that makes you smile! Well, it did to me!

So finally I decided to try stuffed capsicum. With 2 to 3 recipe write-ups and videos, I was able to put things together -adding and subtracting- and make my version of it.

The results? 

Delicious! 

Doesn't it look like one?

The stuffing is so tasty that if it wasn't for the number of capsicum that we have, I would have served it as it is. But stuffed capsicum recipe it was so the filling has to be stuffed in, right? So I went on for the recipe and I was glad I did. It turned out to be sumptuous, nevertheless.

So, let's head on to how I have done it.

WHAT ARE NEEDED? (Make sure to wash properly all ingredients that needed washing)

1. Onions, 3 medium-size, finely chopped
2. Garlic, 2 heads, finely chopped
3. Tomatoes, 2 large-size, finely chopped
4. Potatoes, 2 medium-size, boiled and finely cubed
5. Tofu, 200 or 400 gram, optional (I used tofu in this one mainly because we had 1 box left but others use paneer)
6. Green chili, 1 small piece, finely chopped
7. Turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp.
8. Coriander powder, 1 tsp.
9. Mango powder, 1/2 tsp.
10. Tomato sauce or ketchup, 1 tbsp. (optional)
11. Red chili powder, 1/2 tsp. (optional, only if you prefer it spicier)
12. Salt to taste
13. Oil for sauteing
14. Capsicum, in any color, medium size

HOW IT IS DONE! 

THE FILLING/STUFFING

1. Heat oil in a pan big enough to accommodate the rest of the ingredients.
2. Add in onions and salt, followed by garlic and green chili, then when garlic looks cooked, add in tomatoes. Mix well and saute' for 5 minutes or until tomatoes' raw smell disappears.
3. Add boiled potatoes and tofu. Mix slowly. Some of the tofu cubes will crumble into pieces but that's okay. Saute' for 5 minutes, mixing once in a while to avoid scorching.
4. One by one, add in the rest of the masala or spices. Cook for 3 minutes. Check the taste.
5. Turn off the stove and let the mixture cool down.

~tasty filling~

In the meantime.....

Wash all capsicum. Check which ones have a flatter bottom. Flatter bottom can sit on the plate well and can be cut half-way horizontally so both sides can be filled with the stuffing or you can just cut it like the one on the picture below (left corner-most).

Those which have pointy 'butt' should be cut vertically.

When all capsicums are cut into halves, remove the insides (seeds) to make room for the filling. When done, fill each half as much as you can.

Preheat oven to 200-degree Celcius for 5 minutes. Place all stuffed capsicums on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes. 

Remove from oven and serve.

NOTES:

~ I haven't tried it yet but my guess is, excluding tofu will be delicious enough for this recipe.

~There were 10 halves and 1 whole stuffed capsicum in total, all for two people. One of them was very small and distorted because there was still filling left to be stuffed in and I ran out of the "perfect-shape-and-size" kind of capsicum but I had no choice. It turned out that this particular capsicum was the spicy kind. Nevertheless, it was good.

~They were served with mint chutney, though it can be eaten alone. But, if you prefer, you can have ketchup with it instead of mint chutney.

~There were 3 halves left and were eaten at dinner time without re-heating. They tasted better, for me.

Pick your choice though! Enjoy!

Tandoori Gobi: A Vegan Cauliflower Meal Baked Whole

Cauliflower is one of our favorites and Tandoori Gobi was the first cauliflower recipe I tried making when we got an oven. This is also the first "veganized" dish I made since we went vegan. The second one is Vegan Longganisa, which is a Filipino breakfast favorite.

Anyway, this recipe is a keeper. Trust me! In fact, we've already made Tandoori Gobi 5 times prior to this posting and we will be making it again and again.

So give this one a try at your home!

What are needed?

1.  Garlic - 2 heads, peeled
2.  Ginger - an inched, chopped into a smaller size, made into a paste together with garlic using a
     blender or a ready-made ginger-garlic paste is also fine

3.  Onions, 3 medium size, made into paste
4.  Tomatoes, 4 medium size, made into puree
5.  Fresh cauliflower, whole, 500 to 700 gram
6.  Red chili powder, 1/2 tsp. or as you prefer
7.  Turmeric powder, 1 tsp.
8.  Tandoori masala, 1 tbsp. (Kitchen King or Garam Masala can be used instead though I am using Tandoori Masala)

9.  Coconut oil or other vegetable oil
10. Coriander powder, 1/2 tsp.
11. Amchur or mango powder, 1/2 tsp.
12. Salt to taste
13. Lemon, 2 pcs.
14. Coconut oil or other vegetable oil

Then,

How to do it?

1. Wash the whole cauliflower thoroughly especially in between florets. You can even keep it in a
    deep pan covered with water for 2 minutes to make sure no insect is trapped.
2. Using the same deep pan, par boil gobi. Make sure that the entire gobi is covered with water. Turn
    sides if needed. This is to make sure that the whole gobi is cooked. Do NOT overcook, though!
3. Remove and let the water drain.

In the meantime....

Prepare all the ingredients. Make all the paste first for easy and quick cooking later on.

Then....

4.  In a shallow kadai or pan, heat 2 tbsp. oil (more later) and stir-fry ginger-garlic paste till it turns
    little brown.
5. Add onion paste. You can add salt, too. It helps in cooking the onion quicker.
6. Pour in tomato puree. Mix well. Stir-fry till oil separates from the mixture or till it becomes drier.

7. Add the masalas: chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, tandoori masala, amchur, and
    salt (if required). Check the taste.
8. Saute' and mix until the mixture becomes a smooth dry paste.
9. Keep aside to cool or use immediately.

Next:

10. When gobi is waterless, slowly cover or coat the entire gobi with the masala mixture. Begin at the bottom of the gobi where inserting masala paste is easier. Fill in the gaps of each floret as much
      as possible. (Shown above)
11. When the whole gobi is fully covered/coated, you can either preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 200-degree Celsius immediately or let it stay soaked with masala for around 30 minutes then do the
      preheating.
12. When done, bake it at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.

13. When gobi is removed, use a knife and cut it into 4 or 8 parts and add lemon juice on top, in
      between cuts, and in between florets.
14. Serve hot. It can be eaten alone or with cucumber, roti, rice, or chapati.

My Notes:
~For a 500 gm or 700 gm gobi, my husband and I had a good fill. An ideal for a family of 3 to 4.
~The bigger the cauliflower you use, the more paste you should make so just add 1 or 2 more onion, tomatoes, and a little bit more of ginger and garlic. Adjust the spices, too!
~We tried a vegetable fried rice combination which was good but can be skipped.
~It is best eaten with mint chutney, a recommended combination.

Do try this recipe, come back and share your experience! Enjoy!

Tomato-Potato Soup: A Very Easy and Tasty Soup I'd Wished I'd Tried Earlier

Tired of having plain tomato soup almost every day, it's time to try something else or add a different vegetable to it to at least vary the taste. I've tried a few soup recipes using a different kind of vegetable. This time, it's tomato-potato soup.

What are needed?

1. Bay leaf, 1 -2 leaves
2. Garlic, 1-2 heads, crushed
3. Ginger, 1 inch, chopped into small pieces
4. Onion, 3 pieces, chopped (2 chopped into medium sizes, for grinding; 1 chopped into small pieces, for garnishing)
5. Green chili, chopped into fine pieces (optional)
6. Ripe tomatoes, 5-6 pieces, chopped into medium sizes
7.Potatoes, 2 medium-size, washed, chopped into small cubes (with skin on)
8. Black pepper powder, 1 tsp.
9. Salt to taste
10. Oil, 2 tbsp. or as required

How to do it?

1. Heat oil, about 2 tbsp. in a deep pan. Add bay leaf, saute' for 4 to 5 seconds. Then add onions. Saute' till translucent.

2. Add ginger and garlic. Saute' till cooked or when garlic and ginger turn slightly brown. (Tip: after crushing or chopping garlic into pieces, leave them as they are for 20 minutes before cooking. Cooking them immediately destroys the enzyme that makes garlic a cancer-fighting-food a.k.a. "superfood").

3. Throw in tomatoes. Saute' till oil starts to separate or when tomatoes get mashed.

4. Add cubed potatoes, stir and mix. Let it cook for a few minutes without getting the bottom get scorched.

5. Add a cup of water (you can add more later if preferred).

6. Let this mixture get cooked until potatoes are soft and tender. Turn off the stove. Keep aside to cool.

7. Once cooled, remove the bay leaf. Using a blender or mixer, churn the entire mixture into a smooth puree. Add water to the jar to remove whatever is left.

8. In the meantime, saute' chopped onions in another small kadai or pan. Saute'until slightly brown. Keep aside when done.

9. Using the same deep pot which was used for the first 7 steps, pour back this puree including the bay leaf then heat again. Add salt and black pepper powder. Try to taste. 

10. After a few minutes of boiling, add in sauteed onions. Mix and serve!

Notes: 

~I only used half of the green chili (about 4 chopped pieces) because we are not fond of a very spicy dish.

~Pumpkin, Zucchini, Carrot, and Beetroot (they are the ones I have tried) can be made this way, too.

~I can stop until procedure 6 and just add black pepper powder and salt. It's already a tasty viand to be served with rice or eaten alone. 

Inbox your query or clarification, if there's any. Enjoy!

Alo Bonda & Coconut-Mint Chutney: A Potato Snack For All Occasions

We are not very fond of fried stuff but we indulge in such items once in a while. So yesterday, my husband suggested to make Alo Bonda and since I have never made it before, we turned for help via the Internet. The results? Not bad....at all!

Alo bonda and coconut-mint chutney

Here's how:

What you need:

For Bonda....read "making the bonda" below!

1.    Potatoes (2 medium-size, boiled and mashed)
2.   Mustard seeds (1 tbsp.)
3.   Asoefetida (a pinch)
4.   Onions (2 medium-size, chopped into small pieces)
5.   Green chili (1, chopped into small pieces)
6.  Turmeric powder (2 tbsp.)
7.  Coriander powder (1 tbsp.)
8.  Mango powder (1 tsp. -optional)
9.  Coriander leaves -chopped
10. Salt to taste
11.  Oil for frying

For Chutney....wash all these ingredients and churn them using a mixer to make a paste. Add a little water, but make sure it isn't watery. Check the sourness and saltiness. You'll know if it has the chutney taste. Otherwise, add more lemon juice or salt.

1.  Black pepper powder
2  Green chili (2 pieces, chopped into small pieces)
3. Lemon juice (2-3 pieces)
4. Mint leaves -ample amount
5. Coconut -half, sliced into small, thin pieces
6. Onions - 2, chopped into quarter size
7. Coriander leaves -optional
8.  Salt to taste

For Batter.... (mix all these ingredients and make a smooth batter where your bonda balls are dipped and coated before frying).

1. Gram flour (1 small cup)
2. Rice flour (2 tbsp. -can be made using rice and blended in a mixer)d chili powder
3. Red chili powder (1 tsp. or less)
4. Little water
5. A little salt to taste

Making the Bonda
1.  Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and asoefetida to crackle for a few seconds.
2. Add chopped onions and chopped green chili. Sautee' till slightly brown.
3. Add spices: turmeric, coriander powder, mango powder, salt. Mix and sautee' for a few seconds.
4. Add mashed potatoes and salt. Mix thoroughly.
5. Add chopped coriander leaves before turning off the stove. Let this mixture cool down.
6. Once cool, take a spoon of it and form small balls.
7. Dip each ball into the batter, coating all areas.
8. In another deep pan, heat oil for frying. Fry these coated bonda balls in a medium flame. Careful not to roast them.
9. Remove from pan and place them in a plate or bowl with tissue paper on it.

Serve with chutney. Enjoy!

Note:
~Making this is quite a long process, yet worth it. But if you have company to help prepare the ingredients, it will make the procedure easier.
~This was the second time I made coconut-mint chutney and I really like how I make it. Yum!
~There are various ways to make Alo Bonda.
~For any clarification, just leave a comment.

My Life With Animals

I tell you my story. It's nothing admirable but I need you to listen to it.

I ate meat! Variety of meats, actually. Pig, cow, carabao/buffalo, goat, chicken, turkey, ducks and other birds, frogs, fishes, crabs, shrimps, squid, and dog meat.

Yes, you read it right. Eating dog meat is not only in China and its neighboring countries. It's there too in some parts of the Philippines. So even dogs were not spared!

It's gross, I know, but to someone who just wants to have meat without a second thought, it's not!

And that's not it! I fed chickens, I helped to weave chicken nests out of coconut leaves, I watched mother hens laid eggs, I watched these eggs hatched, and, yes, I cooked a few of them, for sure, boiled, scrambled, sunny-side-up! I even helped to trap chickens so we can sell them for food or money to pay for school fees, or just simply for dinner.  

On top of this, I was so proud purchasing a kilo or two from the market or being in a queue for a lechon manok (grilled/roasted chicken). Chicken taste was unbeatable, for me!

I cleaned, cooked, and have eaten chicken meat for as long as I can remember.

~freedom~

And here's another. I fed and bathe a pig or two or more. I even went to the woods to find wild taro leaves -as food for pigs. Yes, I fed pigs. Plenty of times! I watched them grow, weighed and sold. I watched their throats slit open, blood spurting many times for weddings, fiestas, anniversaries or birthdays.  

I heard their cries. Shrill cries! I just didn't think it was a cry...a cry for help, a cry of no escape!

Oh, we had cats! We didn't murder and eat them though. I just carried two or three kittens and left them in the forest. Did I do the right thing? I was not even thinking about doing the right thing then. I didn't even take notice whether they were old enough to survive on their own. We just wanted them out of our house! Why? They were a nuisance. Their mother kept stealing food from our pantry.

~Limpei died of wound infection~

Another atrocious act I did a few times. How I learned it must be from observation. How the elders treat animals. Well, snakes were always thought to be vicious, always aim to attack and bite you. Oh, the ignorance of it all! I mashed snake heads to their death, carried to the middle of the road for a truck or two to do the final blow. That was always the case. No visible snakes were spared.

The list could go on and on.

Horrible, shameful, disgusting, and utterly atrocious! Looking back of who I just made me shook my head in amazement at how disconnected I was to the real world.

I have exploited animals for 34 years! Seven of those years were of exploiting hens and depriving calves of their rights for milk.

Why? Why did I grow up to be such a heartless, selectively compassionate person?

Well, I can blame culture. I can blame my mother for teaching us selective compassion. I can blame my older siblings for not growing to be critical thinkers. I could blame my neighbors for none of them refused to eat meat. I can blame my teachers and peers. Geez, I could blame everyone!

I could blame myself for being stupid and heartless. I didn't develop critical thinking myself although we were encouraged in school.

Does it matter who's to blame? The people in my life made wrong choices. They made mistakes. I, too. Many times.

What's important now? Learning from mistakes and devoting time to righting the wrongs.

I am aware now. I want you to be aware, too.

These animals feel pain and sorrow. They show affection, happiness, embarrassment, and guilt among other emotions we humans know of. They have families and friends. They are social. They play a lot.

Just like us!

Yet we murder them for food. Just to get a 10-minute pleasure of taste that is mainly due to the spices and condiments that we add to a meat dish.

We murder them for a thing called celebration when people enjoy and commemorate happiness. But when we really think about celebration, it is not the food that makes us happy. It is the presence of people- family, friends, neighbors, relatives, etc. talking and chatting, sharing life itself with each other, listening to the chatters and laughter of everyone!

Celebrating happiness need not be at the expense of somebody else's life. How can we be happy if by acquiring it an innocent life was taken? A life that would have attended the celebration, not as a meal, but as an individual who would express joy and belongingness had it given the opportunity to be part of it.

My life with animals then was an unquestioned one, a life of conformity of which my values were of limited scope.

Not anymore!

It is different now! What changed?

~a friend calf~

I changed!

I realized that my life cannot be called life if I continue taking another's life. It just doesn't make sense! Somehow that line between the life of animals and my own life had a gap, which wasn't visible before. But because I chose to look, really look, the gap became clear, much clearer, and I knew then that only I can fill that gap. I reconnected the line. It is holding strong. And it is not going to get torn again.

How about you? What kind of connection do you have with non-human animals?