$21.22 - The final bill

Hopefully this is my last shopping for this whole week if not surprised with guests. I do have milk I think will last me through the week and little bit of this and that. I was supposed to do all this on Saturday and didn’t get time on Sunday too. So had to do my usual shopping on Monday and Tuesday.

This shop is a little further away from my home, but a Kerala store where we get Malayalam Films for rent and all Kerala stuff and the shop owner greets you with ‘ah, enthokke undu, kore naalayallo kandittu’ which means, ‘Oh Hello how are you, long time no see’ – even though we go there almost every week :)

I buy frozen grated coconut, fish chutney, snacks etc. from here. For me, it is a whiff of Kerala and a psychological thingie. Until I visit this shop, I don’t feel I have shopped enough :).


So here it is $ 21.22. That’s a total of $67.40 for a week. Remember I haven’t got any stuff like rice, dhals, spices etc. I will just stay this way for next week so I can make a good comparison on such stuff alone.

As an anonymous asked, how many people at home? 4 people at home.

Feeling huh? Read this please.

$29.84 - My next bill

My next stop was Wal-mart for the non-Indian things. Buying Indian ingredients is much cheaper in local Indian stores than the usual stores. After posting about the event, I am a little surprised since even though I said I would do my normal shopping, I am a little cautious I believe. Usually my bills at Wal-mart would be 40$ or so and at Indian stores around 30$. But I already see a difference in the way I shop.

One thing I have noticed is prices are different at different Wal-marts. It depends on the area. If you go to low income living areas, the prices are much cheaper. Anyway I went to the store near my place, will do the comparison next week to be sure.

I have some milk and eggs left over from last week, so it looks like I might not need to buy milk this week. I bought some pear, lime, tomatoes, ice cream, mussels, pineapple, shallots...the ususal stuff. So this is my week’s purchase. I dont go with any planning, since most of the times I just pick up stuff I see and plan only when I see the stuff.



See you with the next one.

Wondering what in the world is going on? Read this please.

$16.34 - First round of shopping

This is my normal routine. I buy vegetables, fruits and other supplies from Wal-mart, Publix and two Indian stores.

Yesterday I got a small supply of vegetables from the first Indian store. These vegetables would last me for 2-3 days. Total bill comes to $16.34

Now I have got to buy milk, eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, frozen coconut etc from other stores.

As others said we all waste a lot of food. I never used to know how to plan it properly. My mom is super efficient in it, she won’t waste even a small inch of a carrot.

I always used to buy in piles to last for 2-3 weeks as if it is war time and there will always be spoilage. Especially since in U.S, you don’t get vegetables that fresh. So a quarter of it always goes to the waste bin. My husband hates to see me wasting stuff like that, so I cleverly put the spoilt vegetables when he is not there and cover it up nicely with newspapers :)

After some time, I started to realize it and now I don’t buy vegetables for more than a week. One advantage I have is, most of the stores are nearby so I can buy on my way to work or so. This method has taken care of a lot of food wastage, which is the first step towards having a good budget for your grocery.

In India, we are lucky; we get fresh vegetables daily, and that too brought by street vendors to your own homes. You don’t have to store anything and this saves a lot of food wastage. You have to only plan for two days at the most.

One thing I noticed is planting your own herbs is a big money saver. Herbs costs a lot in U.S. I have curry leaf plants, mint etc. so that’s taken care of.

See you with the next bill. Do share your experiences on your blog or with comments. Thank you. Let us all learn together.

No idea what is going on? Check this out.

Grocery Bill Event

It is happening. There is food ration even in the U S of A. Look where oil politics have brought this world into. People are struggling in many parts of the World due to this global food crisis. U.S is the most gluttonous nation of all. Even here, the crisis is creeping into our daily lives in alarming rates.

To be prepared, like everyone else the first thing that came to my mind is to check my grocery bill.

I buy my weekly supply of groceries on every Saturday. I am going to check my grocery bill from next week starting Sunday 27 April to next Saturday May 3rd. I will spend like how I do it in normal times. Then I will start the same thing the following week, pinching every penny, thinking about how to get the most of something, looking for cheaper alternatives, planning ways to cut short my grocery bill from Sunday the 4th to Saturday the 10th.

I will compare two weeks bills online on my food blog. I will update most days on what I cooked for these two weeks. This way I can share my tips with you and collect ideas. The intention is simple, this will make me and you and them learn how to live smarter in changing times.

If you want to join me, come along. Or you can just watch the show or do something similar in the following weeks.

Aviyal

You have mean little brothers you can squeeze and bite and then one fine day they just grow up to be young men you rarely see and they send you an email asking,
'How to make aviyal?'
You put up a big sister show and ask, 'What, you making aviyal?' Then it hits you they are away from home staying at a place where they get aviyal but they terribly miss home food and your heart goes out to them for the FIRST time. :-)

They don’t want to ask anyone else other than you not 'cos you make the best aviyal, but just 'cos they want to feel you are making it for them…. Ooo I am a big sentimental idiot when it comes to little brothers and I kind of feel very lucky the more you have them.

This is the best aviyal I have ever made, just 'cos he asked me the recipe. I asked, 'I will put it on my blog and dedicate it to you, is that okay?' I am sure he rolled his large eyes and shook his head, but he nodded and grunted 'okeeh'

Will there be any other chance for me to embarrass him in front of my friends and to tell him love yoooooooooooouuuuuuu without seeing his disgusting frown.

Sshooo, here it is my darling brother, THE AVIYAL Love! From your sister.

Aviyal has a story behind it, like most of my recipes :-). A king in Travancore hosted a huge feast and the food was so delicious, people took too many second helpings and the food got over quickly.

King panicked and asked his chefs to make more. But since all the vegetables were made to dishes, chefs were forced to make a dish with the left over vegetables. And it suddenly became a big hit. That’s the story on aviyal.

It is Kerala’s most favorite vegetable dish and so easy to comfortable to make. Comfortable in the sense, I raid my refrigerator in the weekend for left over vegetables and whatever comes handy I make aviyal with that. No special vegetables needed.

The basic is quite simple. Mix and match vegetables. Do not use bittergourd since it’s bitterness would dominate the taste of the dish. Do not use beetroot since it would color it pink. Do not use leafy vegetables since they belong some place else.
Most common vegetables used are Carrot, Drumstick, Potato, Raw banana, Snake gourd, beans, Yam etc. And softer vegetables like Pumpkin, Ash gourd, Cucumber, Okra.

Now on to aviyal’s most famous vegetable cutting process. Cut each vegetable in length - the size of your middle finger and the width will be double the size of your finger. I had no clue about this length and size of the aviyal mix and would cut them in any way I want until I did that at my in-laws place and the maid looked at me in horror.

So these are the vegetables I had in store. These need not be the same if you make. There is no hard and fast rule for these. In Kerala, you get aviyal mix in vegetable shops where they cut and give. Or now you get frozen aviyal vegetable mix.

Boil the hard to cook vegetables in a pot with half the measure of water. That is, if you have 3 cups of vegetable, add 1 and half cup water, cook in low flame with enough salt and ½ tsp turmeric powder.

When they are almost cooked, add 1 cup of softer vegetables, mix and cook until the water is completely evaporated. Cover and cook so you don’t need much water. Make sure not to mash the vegetables.

For 4 cups of vegetables, have 1 and half cups of freshly grated coconut and crush them with 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 4 green chilies and enough salt and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Do not grind to a smooth paste.

We need some sourness for aviyal. You can either mix ½ cup of sour curd or cook one sour mango along with the hard vegetables. I like to add the sour curd. I mix it with the crushed coconut and add to the aviyal. But this time, I added mango pieces.

Add ½ cup water to the crushed coconut and add to the cooked vegetables, mix and cook for two more minutes covered.

Now comes the best part, the coconut oil part. Heat 1 table spoon of coconut oil and add a sprig of curry leaves and add to the aviyal and mix. Yes, coconut oil is a must for the real flavour. Hey, don’t give me the cholesterol look. You are eating 4 cups of vegetables and a tsp of oil won’t hurt you.

I learned cooking after marriage out of necessity and so I used to splutter mustard seeds on aviyal until a friend who saw that rolled on the ground laughing. So I have been suffering all the embarrassment for you my friends, so that you make the best aviyal.

Always make sure you add water little by little while cooking vegetables since if you add too much water, it destroys the flavors.

Serve with rice. I just eat it plain. I love it so much…..just like my lovey dovey brother. Hehehe… Haven’t I embarrassed him enough?

- Your loving ‘Precious’ sister ;)

Oh BTW, Happy Vishu to all!

Aviyal

You have mean little brothers you can squeeze and bite and then one fine day they just grow up to be young men you rarely see and they send you an email asking,
'How to make aviyal?'
You put up a big sister show and ask, 'What, you making aviyal?' Then it hits you they are away from home staying at a place where they get aviyal but they terribly miss home food and your heart goes out to them for the FIRST time. :-)

They don’t want to ask anyone else other than you not 'cos you make the best aviyal, but just 'cos they want to feel you are making it for them…. Ooo I am a big sentimental idiot when it comes to little brothers and I kind of feel very lucky the more you have them.

This is the best aviyal I have ever made, just 'cos he asked me the recipe. I asked, 'I will put it on my blog and dedicate it to you, is that okay?' I am sure he rolled his large eyes and shook his head, but he nodded and grunted 'okeeh'

Will there be any other chance for me to embarrass him in front of my friends and to tell him love yoooooooooooouuuuuuu without seeing his disgusting frown.

Sshooo, here it is my darling brother, THE AVIYAL Love! From your sister.

Aviyal has a story behind it, like most of my recipes :-). A king in Travancore hosted a huge feast and the food was so delicious, people took too many second helpings and the food got over quickly.

King panicked and asked his chefs to make more. But since all the vegetables were made to dishes, chefs were forced to make a dish with the left over vegetables. And it suddenly became a big hit. That’s the story on aviyal.

It is Kerala’s most favorite vegetable dish and so easy to comfortable to make. Comfortable in the sense, I raid my refrigerator in the weekend for left over vegetables and whatever comes handy I make aviyal with that. No special vegetables needed.

The basic is quite simple. Mix and match vegetables. Do not use bittergourd since it’s bitterness would dominate the taste of the dish. Do not use beetroot since it would color it pink. Do not use leafy vegetables since they belong some place else.
Most common vegetables used are Carrot, Drumstick, Potato, Raw banana, Snake gourd, beans, Yam etc. And softer vegetables like Pumpkin, Ash gourd, Cucumber, Okra.

Now on to aviyal’s most famous vegetable cutting process. Cut each vegetable in length - the size of your middle finger and the width will be double the size of your finger. I had no clue about this length and size of the aviyal mix and would cut them in any way I want until I did that at my in-laws place and the maid looked at me in horror.

So these are the vegetables I had in store. These need not be the same if you make. There is no hard and fast rule for these. In Kerala, you get aviyal mix in vegetable shops where they cut and give. Or now you get frozen aviyal vegetable mix.

Boil the hard to cook vegetables in a pot with half the measure of water. That is, if you have 3 cups of vegetable, add 1 and half cup water, cook in low flame with enough salt and ½ tsp turmeric powder.

When they are almost cooked, add 1 cup of softer vegetables, mix and cook until the water is completely evaporated. Cover and cook so you don’t need much water. Make sure not to mash the vegetables.

For 4 cups of vegetables, have 1 and half cups of freshly grated coconut and crush them with 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 4 green chilies and enough salt and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Do not grind to a smooth paste.

We need some sourness for aviyal. You can either mix ½ cup of sour curd or cook one sour mango along with the hard vegetables. I like to add the sour curd. I mix it with the crushed coconut and add to the aviyal. But this time, I added mango pieces.

Add ½ cup water to the crushed coconut and add to the cooked vegetables, mix and cook for two more minutes covered.

Now comes the best part, the coconut oil part. Heat 1 table spoon of coconut oil and add a sprig of curry leaves and add to the aviyal and mix. Yes, coconut oil is a must for the real flavour. Hey, don’t give me the cholesterol look. You are eating 4 cups of vegetables and a tsp of oil won’t hurt you.

I learned cooking after marriage out of necessity and so I used to splutter mustard seeds on aviyal until a friend who saw that rolled on the ground laughing. So I have been suffering all the embarrassment for you my friends, so that you make the best aviyal.

Always make sure you add water little by little while cooking vegetables since if you add too much water, it destroys the flavors.

Serve with rice. I just eat it plain. I love it so much…..just like my lovey dovey brother. Hehehe… Haven’t I embarrassed him enough?

- Your loving ‘Precious’ sister ;)

Oh BTW, Happy Vishu to all!

(There was some problem with the feeder and so I reposted it again. Closed the comment section here to avoid confusion. The same post is reposted on April 15th. Thanks.)

Vegetable Samosa

Who wants some potato vegetable hot samosa? I get Chinese egg roll wrappers at my nearby wal-mart store and I love to make samosas with them, quick and easy for a party. I didnt know they existed and was looking for pastry sheets and found these.

Boil potatoes, dice them in small squares. Heat two teaspoon oil, toss some diced onions, some fresh green peas, green chilies diced, ½ tsp diced ginger, and then when sautéed well add the potatoes. Add some salt and ½ tsp garam masala powder. Mix and remove from heat.

Cut the egg roll wrappers diagonally and place 1 tsp of each potato filling and wet the sides of the wrapper and close the ends in samosa shape i.e a triangle.

Then deep fry them in vegetable oil.

That’s it. Party time! Serve with tomato suace or mint chutney.

Kovakka mezhukkupuratti (Ivy gourd Stir Fry)

Mezhukkupuratti (or Upperi) and Thoran have one basic difference. Thoran has shredded coconut and has a raw taste since cooked in lesser oil while mezhukkupuratti has a slight oily stir fry taste.

I like this better than plain kovakka thoran or the thoran with shrimps I had blogged earlier. With the coconut oil coating, kovakka gets a new taste.

Wash the kovakka (Ivy gourd) thoroughly in running water, cut off both the tips. Cut into thin lengthy strips. Make sure the pieces are very thin so you don’t need to pre cook them before making mezhukupuratti.

For 3 cups,

Small onion – 1 cup thinly diced
One sprig of curry leaves
5 green chilies

Heat 2 tablespoon of coconut oil, for mezhukkupuratti we usually use a little bit more oil.

Splutter one tsp mustard seeds in low heat, add one dry red chili split, add curry leaves, then add shallots and diced green chilies and sauté well. Add kovakka pieces and mix well with 1.2 tsp turmeric powder and enough salt. Stir until the vegetable gets a nice coating and then in cook covered in low heat stirring occasionally.

Serve with rice or roti.

Mushroom Baji

Another easy snack item as a starter. Yes, Yes, I have been having too many parties at home :)

Bajis are a must have all Indians like easy snack item. In India, we usually deep fry stuff with besan flour. This is flour made out of channa dal.

Buy cleaned button mushrooms. There were around 40 hungry people at home and I didn’t get enough whole button mushrooms at store, so bought diced mushroom. It is good to make this with whole button mushrooms. Just wipe the mushroom with a wet cloth, don’t put it inside a tub of water etc to clean, since mushrooms are like sponge and they would hold the water.

You know mushrooms have niacin, which are extremely good for heart. But I am not sure what your heart is gonna do when you deep fry them. Hehehe.

Make a thick batter with besan flour, asafoetida, salt, chili powder, curry leaves diced thin, onions diced very thin, green chilies diced thin.

If you have never made baji before and is thinking about the proportions, I would say for 3 cups of mushrooms, mix two coups of besan flour with 1 cup of water, 3 tsp chili powder, 2 shallots diced very thin, 1 sprig of curry leaves diced thin, enough salt (taste the batter after salt is added), 5 green chilies diced very thin.

Dip the mushrooms and fry them deep in hot vegetable oil. Serve with tomato sauce.

Fish and Coconut balls

This is an easy and tasty appetizer or snack. An instant hit at parties.

Choose a fish that is kind of sticky and thick. Tuna, Mahi-Mahi, Shrimp etc are sticky kind of fish or seafood.

I usually make it with shrimp and this time I choose mahi-mahi.
Mahi Mahi Fillets without skin – 3 cups.
Small onion – 5
Green chilies – 5
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Shredded Coconut -2 cups
Vinegar – 1 tsp
Salt

Use a food processor and crush all the ingredients except the coconut. Do not overdo it and please don’t use a mixie. Now add the coconut and run it for one second.

Now make small balls, making sure they are very tight and firm. Squeeze out any moisture.

Fry them in oil. Brown both sides.


Serve with tomato sauce.

Guess?

I know I look ugly. They just digged me out. I am a climber. When you cook me I am loved by many.

My Lunchbox

I cook daily. That’s a big thing I have heard, especially if you are a working woman in U.S. I spend at least one hour or so in the kitchen daily. This actually relaxes me from the daily grind and I watch TV and news too during this time.

Here is what I do. I make one side dishes and one gravy for two days Sunday evening. I also make buttermilk alternate days. Then everyday during the weekdays I work, I make a single quick side dish or a gravy mostly vegetables, this way I always have a fresh dish. I am not a big fan of too many days refrigerated and frozen food. It makes a lot of difference to have the food fresh daily.

For lunch box, I take buttermilk (which I prepare the previous night) in a bottle to mix the rice with the side dishes. I also drink the rest of the buttermilk, which is a great cooling and also a good stimulant for digestion.

Though I make the side dish the previous night, I cook rice in the morning. I cannot even think of eating rice made the previous day and refrigerated. I am very particular about that. I cook rice in the pressure cooker along with the morning tea and by the time I am ready in half an hour or so, I get cooked rice hot and fresh.

I use the Indian casseroles (or food flasks) as lunch box, which keeps food hot. I heat the side dish and take the buttermilk and my lunch box is ready. This way I don’t have to microwave the food in the afternoons. I don’t like that too. :)

Now, butter milk is a life saver. Seriously! It won’t stink like the gravies if you take lunch to office. I don’t normally take gravies like sambar to office.

This is how to make buttermilk. Crush1 tsp of ginger, 1 sprig of curry leaves, 1 green chili. Then mix 1 cup of water to ¼ cup thick curd and mix with enough salt. Add the crushed ginger etc to this and leave it in the refrigerator the previous night.

That’s it. A sneak preview to my lunchbox.

Tomato Rice with a Kerala touch

I have had tomato rice at hostels and I hated it. Even if they were good, hostel food reminds how far you are from your mother and everything tastes painful. Thus I disliked tomato rice. But then occasional visits at tamilian friend's house and I knew I was missing something. Then one fine day my son told me he loves tomato rice and he wanted to have it badly.

There I go searching frantically for recipes and recipes and didn’t know which one would be good. Then I timidly asked dear Bee who was posting an authentic lime rice recipe and she was kind enough to get hold of a wonderful tomato rice recipe.

None of us at home would eat plain white rice unless it is biriyani rice and that too made it in biriyani way. And If I was going to introduce a different kind of cooked rice at home, then I had to make sure I don’t upset the Kerala rice-immersed- in-gravy combinations. Also, none of us entertain the idea of having a little dry rice. Dry rice preparations like pulav are eaten at home laden with yogurt, curries and what not. But then to get the real flavor of tomato rice, I wanted to introduce it as it is but with a few changes.

I just took the risk of making it with Kerala rice and made it a little bit more on the mushy side so that people at the dinner table won’t scream, ‘where is the curry’.

I also added hot black pepper instead of red chili pepper.

Loved the result. Everybody loved it.

Thank you Bee.

Chicken Wings Appetizer

This is easily a party favorite both for the cook and the guests. It is so easy to make and delicious to munch on during a conversation.

Cut the end part of the wings. Leave the skin on. Marinate in red chili powder, salt, turmeric powder, and curd for two hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place on a cooling grid on a baking pan and bake on the top rack of the oven for 15 minutes on one side, turn over and then bake for another 15 minutes.

That’s it. Serve with white sauce as an appetizer.

Guar Beans Thoran

I was so happy today. I finally found a seed I was looking for. I didn’t know the name of the beans since my mom called it sambaar payar, just because she puts it in sambaar. I knew that can’t be the name and then somehow like other things I never could find the name and even I missed blogs posts on other blogs that mentioned the name.

And finally I knew it was called Guar beans. I searched and searched but didn’t think anyone would carry the seeds, since it was too indianish. But yippee, I found it here and right I went and ordered those. The best part is it is an upright plant, unlike other varieties and you could grow it in a pot too without any trellis. That’s neat for apartment people with patios.

There is a tinge of bitterness in these beans, but not like bittergourd. The slight tinge of bitterness gives it an edge when you make thoran.

String the beans, dice them very thin so you just need to steam them.

For 3 cups diced beans, heat 2 tsp pf oil, splutter ¼ tsp mustard seeds, sauté 2 whole red chilies, 1 sprig of curry leaves, 5 diced green chilies, 1 pod of garlic diced and ¼ cup shallots. Add the beans, sprinkle 1 tsp of water, add ¼ tsp if turmeric powder and enough salt. Cover tightly and steam in low flame until done.

Then add ¼ cup of shredded coconut, mix and sauté dry for 4 minutes.

Serve with rice. Serving size – 3.