asparagus desi’d

It has been on my mind awhile to start recording the occasional surprisingly fine enough treats I manage to cook up. True indeed it is a surprise, as there have been more occasions Ive served carbon, and then hastily cooked more to cover the whiff in the air. Since most of my cooking is on the run and I am almost always altering recipes, there is obviously no standardization and no methodology involved, for replication. Of course as with any particular skill, work, or act, the more you do it, the more you pick up nuances and ways of doing it. Hence, I may not be perfect in giving the exact quantities down to the tsp. Also, this will no way hold a teeny little lamp to the gazillions of fine recipe blogs out there. This is just fun, so if you are a new inexperienced cook, you may want to check other places.

Asparagus was always like the haughty little snob I’d see at the grocers. Since we desis are famous for indianizing almost everything down to our palate, [the height was when my dad neatly applied gongura pachadi on a veggie pizza and next time drizzled avakaya oil on it yet again, coz apparently, it didnt have the zing!] I have tried to work with what was available, especially since we came into the country at a time when the nearest desi store was an hour’s drive away. True to being his daughter, I have managed to cook almost all veggies you see in the regular grocers out here in the US, in a style that would go with rice and rotis. Except for Brussels sprouts. Oh that was a disaster. Probably the only “brussels” related thing I remotely can’t stand.

So, in any case, here’s what I did with the 3 lb asparagus bag I picked up at Costco. Sushma wanted the recipe for the chutney and thought I’d just record the curry one as well.

Prep:
Wash.
I found out that holding the thick end of the aspy and snapping it just a bit naturally cuts off at the thick and tender portions. So off I snapped. Then I pretended they were beans and I chopped them into neat litle circles. Frankly, seeing them you’d imagine you’d be making a large quantity, but it cooks small, so keep that in mind depending on how large a crowd you are feeding.

Curry 1: Oil in pan. Add urad dal, mustard seeds and sliced garlic. Roast a bit, add aspy pieces. Slit green chillies. Cover. You are done in 10 minutes.

Curry 2: Oil in pan. Add urad dal, mustard seeds, aspy pieces, salt and cover. Dry grind Jeera /cumin seeds, green chillies and coriander leaves. Add in the last few minutes. [Tried it just now, green chillies and coriander gives it a nice zing]

Chutney: Oil in pan. Add urad dal, mustard seeds, red chillies and sliced garlic [optional, I am not big on garlic, but I believe it goes well with aspy’s taste.] Add aspy pieces and roast for a few minutes. Take it off stove and cool. Grind this mixture with a small soft ball of tamarind, a little bit of sugar and a bit of water. Mash it away to a pulp. Add salt, at the end.

Eat with rice and some ghee. Yum! I am quite sure it would make a great sandwich spread too.

I am projecting this would go well with spinach and daal, and even koottus [tamil style, just use instead of cabbage or zuchhini]

There, am done! Somehow this post lacks something. Yes! found it. I should end it with..

“dheyd sarey banaiye, khoob maja keejiye” Sanjeev Kapoor eshtyle!