Cooking recipes

Simple spring onion curry

Spring onions or as some may call green onions or Scallions are an interesting vegetable. Mainly used for garnishing/ salads or in Chinese soups, noodles and sauces, I have never tried to use them as a main ingredient in my cooking.

Its available in Bombay vegetable markets almost all year round. They are sold in bunches, one bunch having upto 8-10 sprigs. I have noticed that the smaller the onion bulb, the fresher the leaves are.

You cant store this one for too long as it starts wilting in a 2-3 days.This time a vegetable vendor managed to sell me a really huge bunch. Just using them for garnishing would have resulted in rotten onions in a couple of days and hence this recipe struck. Sometimes, one just starts of chopping a vegetable without having a definite plan in mind and as one keeps adding ingredients intuitively, a new dish is born.

In Maharashtrian cooking, there is something called a zunka-which is basically a cooked gram flour paste. The curry turned out something akin to a Zunka at the end of my cooking adventure.

Ingredients:

1 big bunch of Spring onions-Washed thoroughly and chopped finely
(Rinse the onions thoroughly as dirt may be lodged between the leaves. Trim any wilted parts and the tip of the pink root.)
1 cup gram flour (besan)
2 cups water

2 green chillies-finely chopped
1 dried red chilli crumbled
1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 stick of curry leaves
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
Pinch of asafoetida powder
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil

Method:

1.Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida, chopped chillies, ginger, garlic. Saute for a few seconds.

2.Add the finely chopped spring onions and a pinch of salt. Saute for 1-2 minutes. These onions cook in no time at all.

3.Meanwhile, make a thin paste of the gram flour in 2 cups water with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste. Once the spring onions are sauted, pour the gram flour paste into the pan and keep stirring constantly on a medium flame. In 5-6 minutes the gram flour will get cooked as the curry thickens.

4. Taste and check if gram flour is cooked. (It shouldnt stick to the tongue ) Remove from flame into a serving bowl. Serve hot with Phulkas / Chapatis.

This curry is very flavourful from the mild spring onions and tastes rich too. Its something you can make in a hurry without any prior preparations. Just make sure you have gram flour in your pantry at all times. In one of my posts, I shall tell you why...



Notes:

You will find gram flour in any of the Indian grocery stores.

Spring onions are very rich in Iron, Calcium and Vitamin A, Gram flour has a very low Glycaemic Index and high in protein, which makes this an extremely healthy recipe for weight watchers as well as Diabetics. Read this to know more about how chana dal /Bengal gram benefits diabetics.



Check out:

Nupur of One hot stove gives us the run-down about this traditional delicacy here.

And see what our Bachelor chef has been doing with Ivy gourd. And to think I saw this one only after I had made this dish for Tuesday night dinner.