A little bit of luck, a whole lot of beans and greens!

"Its a new day, its a new plan..........here we are, still goin' strong..."

So crooned singer Bryan Adams in his hit song - Here I am..

Seems pretty apt for the time that we all find ourselves in. Its the beginning of a brand new year. We have, hopefully learned a few things about the people around us and more importantly, a lot about ourselves. If nothing else, then 2020 should have served as the year of new insights, new adventures, new perspectives along with a dash of renewed hope, renewed contentment with what we have and a resolve to continue to improve, no matter what. 

With that, I will move on from that topic and resume with regular programming!! 

Among the many recipes that crop up during the New Years Day, I kept seeing a lot of pages devoted to a dish called Hopping John. Its a classic southern US dish, usually eaten on New Year's Day and is supposed to bring in a lot of luck. Traditionally, its a dish with rice, black eyed peas, onions and eaten with collard greens. The idea of a hearty dish with beans and greens sounded lovely for a cold day here in North Dallas and who wouldn't want a bit of fortune to go along with that? 

So that was what went on my menu plan for the day. I had to check to make sure I had some beans, I didn't want to make a trip to a grocery store just to get beans. I have been trying to limit my trips to grocery stores - less exposure, less impulsive buys and more opportunities to use up what I already have in the pantry. I knew I had about half a cup of dried black eyed peas, some red peas and frozen greens. 

I made the dish for lunch in my Instant Pot, served it up with steamed white rice and the whole family gobbled it up with relish. I hope you try this dish.

                             Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year! 

Ingredients:

1/2 C dried black eyed peas

1/2 C red beans (Rajma)

1/2 C chopped onions

1 medium tomato, diced

2 C mixed chopped greens (I used spinach and amaranth greens)

 2 tsp oil (I used avocado oil)

1 tsp finely chopped ginger

1 tsp finely chopped garlic

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp curry powder ( I used Kitchen King) 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp jaggery(any unrefined sugar) (optional)

Method:

1. Wash the beans and soak them in plenty of water for at least 8 hours or overnight. I would really recommend this step so that the beans cook up very nicely.

2. Set the Instant Pot to saute mode. Once its hot, add the oil. Add the chopped onion, ginger and garlic and fry for a minute or two. 

3. Add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are soft. Add all the spice powders and mix well.

4. Drain the beans and add them to the pot. Add enough water to cover the beans.

5. Add chopped greens of choice. Add the salt and the jaggery and mix well.

6. Cover the lid of the Instant Pot and change the setting to Beans. This cooks on high pressure for 30 minutes. If you had soaked your beans well, this time should be sufficient. If not, you might need to cook for an additional 10 minutes. 

7. Wait for the pressure to release naturally. If you are in a hurry, wait for at least 10 minutes before a quick steam release.

8. Stir well, add more water to adjust consistency, if required. Mash a few of the beans to get a smooth texture. Serve piping hot with rice.

Notes: 

1. I really enjoyed this dish. Admittedly, I veered quite a bit from the original recipe, but still! The heartiness of the beans and the earthiness of the greens, combined with the potent spices is a wonderful meal. 

2. You can use a combination of any beans and greens for this dish, I would just recommend that you check the cooking times for the beans.

3. If you use canned beans and frozen greens, this can become a very quick - cooking dish.

4. I used amaranth greens that I grew in my backyard this past summer and froze the excess.  Other greens of choice would be collard greens, chard, spinach. 

5. You could use powdered ginger and garlic, but fresh is always better! 

6. Instead of white rice, you could always use quinoa, brown rice or millet or any grain of your choice. 

Carrot Amaranth Kheer

Every year in school, for Republic Day and Independence Day, we used to gather in our schools to sing the national anthem and to unfurl the national flag. After watching parades and band performances, we used to get the customary 'Rajgeera wadi', a rice crispy like concoction made of popped amaranth seeds and probably sugar syrup. Little did I know then that the tiny amaranth grains would turn out to be supergrain powerhouses!!

I had some toasted amaranth at hand and I decided to use it up along with some shredded carrots and evaporated milk to make this sweet kheer..Why did I have toasted amaranth, you ask ? I had actually intended to pop the amaranth to make granola, but the amaranth was probably not fresh enough, because it didn't pop as I expected. The moisture content of the seeds must have been very less. I read somewhere that the moisture present in the seeds is what causes them to pop under heat..if the seeds have dried out, or have been sitting in your pantry for too long, then they wont pop!The carrot amaranth kheer turned out surprisingly well, considering that I didn't follow any particular recipe.

Carrots have been long acknowledged as a wonderful vegetable, chock full of vitamins and fiber and beta carotene. Its a naturally far free food and easily adaptable to savory as well as sweet dishes.
Amaranth has been slowly emerging as a super grain and a super food.

• It contains all 8 essential amino acids which make it a complete protein. 
• It has 9 grams of protein per cup (cooked) and has a decent percentage of fiber as well as iron. 
• It is a very versatile grain, it cooks up easily and can be used in a variety of grain dishes, breads, salads. 
• It is easily digested and makes a very good baby food. 
• It is also gluten free.

If you haven't tried it before, definitely get some from your nearest health food store. If your grocery store has a bulk food section, then you can try some from there..Always a good alternative to getting a big pack and then not knowing how to use it all up!




Ingredients:
1  C shredded carrots
½ C amaranth (washed and drained)
½ C evaporated milk
½ C low fat milk
¼ C grated jaggery
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom
2 Tbsp chopped nuts (cashews , almonds)

Method:
1. In a medium sized pan, boil two cups of water with a pinch of salt. When water comes to a boil, add the amaranth and let simmer until the grain is cooked. This should take about 20 minutes. If required, add more water. Amaranth, when cooked, gets slightly soft , but is still slightly crunchy.
2. Meanwhile, heat up a stair fry pan and saute the carrot shreds until they are no longer raw. You may add a few drops of your favorite oil, but that is optional.
3. Once the grain is cooked, reserve a quarter cup of water in the pan and drain the remaining (if any). Add the evaporated milk, low fat milk and the carrots.
4. Add the grated jaggery, which is nothing but an unprocessed sweetener that is widely used in Indian sweets, and the sugar.
5. Simmer on low flame for about 20 minutes more.
6. Garnish with roasted dry fruits and serve either hot or cold.

Notes:

• The kheer was not overly sweet, the carrots and the cooked grain making it quite creamy. The nutty taste of the amaranth was pleasantly delicious. I preferred eating it cold. Its better to serve it after a few hours, because the flavors seemed to have melded better the next day. If you want a different texture, you could blend up the cooked carrots before simmering along with the grain. This will give a smooth, orange colored kheer.

• Jaggery is an unrefined cane sugar product that's mostly used in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. It is healthier than refined sugar. If you cannot get jaggery, you can always substitute raw sugar, turbinado sugar or brown sugar.
• If the kheer seems to be getting too thick as it cooks, add more milk.
• Adjust the sweetener to your taste.

Ideally, this post should have been up at the beginning of the year..what could be a better way to herald in a new year, new beginnings and new experiences than a delicious creamy kheer ? But life interrupted (well...I have a lot of other excuses too..) but better late than never. After all, where does it say that we have to limit new adventures to the beginning of the year, right ?

I do hope you do try this recipe and commence on a new culinary adventure of your own :-)