Vegetarian Pipa Tofu Recipe / Pi Pa Dou Fu

 

vegetarian pipa tofu recipe

Pipa (pronounced as pee-par) or chinese lute is a Chinese wooden musical instrument. This is a Cantonese dish derives its name from the resemblance of tofu puffs.
It is a fantastic vegetarian chinese tofu dish.  I wanted to try some vegetarian recipes in Chinese cuisine since my husband loves chinese food so I borrowed a Chinese cookbook from the library it is called Every Grain of Rice by Fushsia Dunlop. I recently tried this vegetarian pipa tofu recipe with little changes in ingredients, to my surprise it came out good and tastes awesome.
The fried tofu was crispy on outside, but once you put them into a sauce, they turn soft and tastes yummy. Try this pipa tofu recipe at home, you will love it.

Vegetarian pipa tofu recipe

Vegetarian Pipa Tofu Recipe / Pi Pa Dou Fu
 

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Pipa Tofu is a Chinese vegetarian tofu recipe, it tastes great with white rice.
Author:
Recipe type: lunch
Cuisine: chinese
Serves: 2

Ingredients
  • FOR THE TOFU PUFFS
  • 1 Mushroom (Baby Bella) or any kind
  • 170 gms of Plain White Tofu,
  • ½ Carrot, grated
  • 1 Tsp of Garlic Powder
  • ½ Tsp of Red Chilly Flakes
  • 1 Tbsp of Corn Starch
  • 1 Tbsp of Rice Flour or potato flour
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • FOR THE SAUCE
  • 2 Baby Bella Mushroom, Sliced
  • 1 Tsp of Ginger, Finely Chopped
  • ½ Carrot, Sliced
  • ½ Green Capsicum, Sliced
  • Few Broccoli Florets
  • 1 Red Chilly
  • 1 Tbsp of Tamari Soy Sauce
  • ½ Tsp of Dark Soy Sauce
  • 1 Tsp of Rice Flour or Corn Flour mixed with 2 tbsp of water
  • 1 tsp of Sesame Oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Chop the mushroom and slice the other two mushroom. Grate the carrot.
  2. Add tofu to a food processor. Transfer it to a bowl, add mushroom, carrot, salt, pepper
  3. garlic powder, red chilly flakes, rice flour, corn starch. Mix everything well.
  4. Heat a pan with oil, just scooped the tofu mixture up with a spoon and slide into a hot oil, leave it for couple minutes, cook both sides until golden.
  5. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain it on a paper towel.
  6. Heat a pan with oil, add ginger, red chilli, fry it for a sec.
  7. Add carrot, capsicum, broccoli and mushroom. Add salt and pepper, stir fry it until it turns soft.
  8. Add some water, bring it to a boil.
  9. Add dark soy sauce, tamari soy sauce, stir it well .
  10. Add the puffs and simmer it for a minute.
  11. Add rice flour mixture, give a quick stir, it will thicken in few minutes.
  12. Add chopped spring onion if you wish, stir it and turn it off. Mix some sesame oil and serve with white rice

Notes
If you don’t, have rice flour use a different thickening agent like potato flour or corn flour.
The recipe calls for dried shitake mushroom, but I used fresh baby bella mushroom.
You can use any vegetables of your choice.

vegetarian pipa tofu



KOOTANCHORU RECIPE / KADAMBA SADAM (TIRUNELVELI SPECIAL)

KOOTANCHORU RECIPE

KOOTANCHORU RECIPE  is a healthy and authentic one pot dish, very popular in Tirunelveli which is located in southern part of India. Kootanchoru is very nutritious rice and a flavorful mix of all veggies, rice, dal and spices. It is also referred to as ” kadamba sadham”. Though it looks like sambar sadham and bisibelabath, the procedure and the taste are entirely different. This Tirunelveli special kootanchoru is my mother in law signature dish. She always used to make this kootanchoru for Ammavasai (ie. new moon day) every month. She makes it very tasty with awesome flavors, having it with raitha and pickle it will be more delicious. Try this south Indian traditional dish for weekend lunch, you will love it.

KOOTANCHORU RECIPE

KOOTANCHORU RECIPE / KADAMBA SADAM (TIRUNELVELI SPECIAL RECIPE)
 

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KOOTANCHORU RECIPE / kadamba sadham is a healthy and authentic one pot meal, very popular in Tirunelveli . It goes well with papad, pickle and raitha.
Author:
Recipe type: lunch
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 3

Ingredients
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 2 green chilly
  • 1 big carrot, chopped
  • ¼ cup of beans, chopped
  • 1 yellow potato, chopped
  • 1 small plantain, chopped
  • 4 drumstick pieces
  • 4 brinjal, chopped
  • ½ tsp of turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp of red chilly powder
  • ¾ cup of rice
  • Small lemon size tamarind
  • 2 tbsp of coconut
  • 2 tsp of oil
  • 1 tsp of ghee (clarified butter)
  • Salt to taste
  • Water as needed
  • Few coriander leaves, chopped
  • To pressure cook
  • ⅓ cup of toor dal
  • Pinch of turmeric powder
  • Pinch of asafoetida
  • ½ tsp of oil
  • 1.5 cups of water
  • To temper
  • 1 tsp of oil
  • 1 tsp of ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1 red chilly
  • 1 tsp of mustard seeds
  • ½ tsp of urad dal
  • Few curry leaves
  • 5 small onions

Instructions
  1. Wash and chop the onion, green chilly and all the veggies.Keep the raw banana and brinjal immersed in water.
  2. Soak the dal in water for 20 mins.
  3. Soak the tamarind in warm water for 15 mins and extract the juice. Keep it aside.
  4. In a pressure cooker, add dal, turmeric powder, asafoetida, salt, oil and water.
  5. cook it for 3 whistles and keep it aside.
  6. Heat a wok or big cooking pan, add oil and ghee. When it is hot, add onion, green chilly fry it until it turns golden brown colour.
  7. Add all the veggies and salt, fry it for few secs. Cover and cook it for 15-20 mins until all the veggies turns soft. Keep stirring whenever necessary.
  8. Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, fry this for a min.
  9. Add dal, tamarind water, rice and enough water about 2 cups. Mix everything well. Cover and cook till the rice gets cooked.
  10. After it is done, add coconut and mix it well. Rice looks mushy but its consistency will get adjusted after it cools down.
  11. Meanwhile heat another pan with oil and ghee, add all the tempering ingredients as mentioned in the ingredients list. After it pops up, transfer this to the rice.
  12. Hot and yummy one pot kottanchoru is ready to serve.

Notes
You can add any vegetables of your choice.
Be careful with the amount of water you add to cook the rice and dal as excess water with make the dish very mushy.
If you have raw mango, add that too and reduce the amount of tamarind juice since both are sour in taste.
Adding a handful of greens gives a nice taste.
If your rice turns too sour, add little more chilli powder and cook it for somemore time.
Serve it with vadai, pickle, raitha and papad or vadagam or mormilagai

TIRUNELVELI SPECIAL KOOTANCHORU RECIPE



Gongura Rice Recipe / Pulicha Keerai Sadham

gongura rice recipe

Gongura Rice Recipe / Pulicha keerai sadham / Sorrel leaves rice is a tasty, easy south Indian variety rice dish that can be prepared very quickly at home. Gongura in telugu / Pulicha keerai in tamil / sorrel leaves is very famous in Andhra Pradesh. Gongura leaves are sour in taste and high in vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. This is my mom’s recipe. You can make a lot of interesting recipes with gongura leaves like gongura pickle, gongura chutney. I already posted gongura chutney (pulich keerai thuvaiyal) in my blog.

This gongura rice tastes great with appalam, vadam, chips or fry. You can prepare this rice with leftover rice too. You can pack this variety rice for travel or lunch box.

How to make Gongura Rice Recipe

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Gongura Rice Recipe / Pulicha Keerai Sadham
 

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Gongura Rice Recipe / Pulicha Keerai Sadham is a tasty, easy south Indian variety rice. You can pack this for travel or lunch box.
Author:
Recipe type: lunch
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 4

Ingredients
  • 3 Cups of Cooked Rice
  • 1 Bunch of Gongura Leaves (Pulicha Keerai)
  • To roast and grind
  • 1 Tbsp of Gingelly Oil
  • 12 Red chilies
  • 14 Garlic cloves
  • Handful of Coriander Seeds
  • 2 Tsp of Cumin
  • 1 Tsp of Fenugreek Seeds
  • To Temper
  • ¼ Cup of Gingelly Oil or vegetable oil
  • 1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
  • 1 Tsp of Urad Dal
  • Pinch of Asafoetida
  • Few Curry Leaves

Instructions
  1. Remove the gongura leaves from the stem, wash it in tap water and keep this aside.
  2. Heat oil in a pan, roast all the ingredients listed under ” To roast and grind” list, fry for 2-3 mins in a medium flame till color changes and aroma comes. Turn off the flame. Let it cool for 5 mins.
  3. In the same pan, add gongura leaves, saute this for few mins until leaves shrinks and color changes. Turn off the flame. Let them cool down for 5 mins.
  4. In a blender, add the roasted spices, grind it to a coarse powder. To the same blender, now add sauted gongura leaves and salt, grind it to a smooth paste.
  5. Heat oil in a pan, when it is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and asafoetida, when it splutters, add the ground paste, saute well for 2 mins and turn off the flame. Gongura thokku is ready.
  6. In a deep bowl, add the cooked rice, let it cool for 15 mins. Add gongura thokku, gently mix well with rice. You can add a tsp of ghee if you want.

Notes
Add peanuts while tempering, it gives a nice taste.
I used long red chillies (Neeta milagai). You can also use round one (gundu milagai).
If you want more tangy side, add tamarind.
If you have leftover gongura paste, refrigerate it. It stays good for 2 weeks.

gongura rice recipe

Tags: Gongura Rice Recipe, Pulicha keerai sadham, how to make gongura rice at home, sorrel leaves rice recipe, south Indian variety rice, andhra style gongura recipe, gongura recipes, leftover rice recipe, lunch box recipe.