Bamboo shoot curry

When it is the start of rainy seasons in my native (North Canara), Bamboo shoot is a common favourite in every house. Rainy seasons are incomplete without the bamboo shoot dishes and they are loved by children and grown-ups alike.

I accidentally stumbled upon a pack of sliced bamboo shoot in a japanese store and I could not control the desire of buying it. Before I reached home, I already had hundreds of recipes in my mind for a small pack of bamboo shoot. But, there was a small problem. I had to wait for 3 days to cook it.

The instructions said that the packed bamboo shoot is ready to cook but hubby did not want to take any chances. Bamboo shoots are said to contain some toxins when they are freshly cut. So, fresh Bamboo shoots are usually chopped/sliced and soaked in water for 2-3 days. The water is drained and replaced with fresh water everyday.

When I finally got the chance to cook Bamboo shoots, there was a request from hubby that the dish should be spicy. MIL's bamboo shoot dishes are not spicy so I had to choose mum's recipe. Here is the recipe, I hope you all like it.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)			(per serving)
Energy	114		Calories
Fat	7		%
Carbohydrate	5		%
Dietary Fiber	15		%
Sodium	13		%
Vitamin A	0		%
Vitamin C	1		%
Calcium	10		%
Iron	16		%
Protein	4		Grams
Sugar	3.2		Grams

Ingredients
Bamboo shoot (Soaked and rinsed for 3 days)
Toor dal	1/4 cup
Turmeric powder	a pinch
Salt	to taste
Water	2 cups

To Temper
Oil	2 tsps
Mustard seeds	1/2 tsp

Ingredients
Coconut grated/grated kopra	1/2 cup
Red chillies 4-5 or as per your taste
Fenugreek seeds approx	4
Cinnamon	1 small piece
Cloves	2
Tamarind	1/4 lemon size

In a pressure cooker, soak toor dal and bamboo shoot.

Dry fry the masala ingredients (seperately) except tamarind for a minute in a hot pan and keep them aside to cool.

Grind them without water to a coarse powder and add tamarind.

Grind the powder again with tamarind and water till it is a smooth paste and tamarind has blended in the paste.

Once the masala is done, pressure cook the dal and bamboo shoot.

In a pot, heat oil and add mustard seeds and wait till they splutter.

Add the cooked dal and bamboo shoot.

Add the masala paste, water and salt and bring it to boil.

Simmer the flame,  add turmeric powder and boil for another 4-5 minutes.

Remove from the flame and serve hot with white rice.

• I have not yet managed to find the curry leaves here, so I could not garnish any of my dishes with curry leaves. Please use curry leaves to temper with mustard seeds, it gives an extra yummy taste to this dish

Butternut squash Soup

I saw the soup of butternut squash for the first time in India when I was watching Masterchef series. I could not find this squash in India but I got it here in Norway. I tried it in the same way I cook pumpkin soup and oh, the colour was beautiful and the taste was wonderful.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)			(per serving)
Energy	195		Calories
Fat	7		%
Carbohydrate	12		%
Dietary Fiber	22		%
Sodium	33		%
Vitamin A	54		%
Vitamin C	92		%
Calcium	14		%
Iron	14		%
Protein	7.8		Grams
Sugar	6.8		Grams

Butternut squash is a winter squash. The pulp is orange and has the similar sweet taste as that of pumpkins. It is rich in fibre, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, potassium, vitamin A and vitamin E. So, this soup is not only tasty, but is healthy too.








You can prepare this soup with pumpkin if butternut squash is not available. Hope you like it.

Ingredients
Butter/olive oil	2 tsps
Onion Chopped	1
Green chillies chopped (optional)	3
Ginger sliced
Butternut squash/Pumpkin Chopped	2 cups
Water	5 cups
Bay leaf	1
Salt	to taste

Heat oil in a pot or a cooker.

Add onion and green chillies and fry till the onion looks transparent.

Add Ginger and fry for a minute.

Add Butternut squash/pumpin and give it a mix.

Add 2 cups of water and drop the bay leaf into the pot.

Cook for 1 whistle if using a pressure cooker and if using a pot, Cover the lid and cook till the squash/pumpkin is soft and cooked.

Take away the bay leaf and let the mixture cool in a plate. If there is too much of cooked water, strain and save the water.

Once the mixture has cooled down, grind/blend it coarsely.

Transfer the mixture to a pot. Add salt and bring to boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes and switch off the heat.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

• As I said in the beginning of post, you can use pumpkin instead of squash and it will still taste almost the same.
• You can skip the green chillies and add pepper if you do not like the soup spicy.