Asparagus with Indian Spices

Did you know that May is National  So the other day I cooked some asparagus  to go with our Indian dinner. It was one of the regular recipes that goes well with dal and rice. but just because it is May I took a few shots to feed the blog...

Just so that you know, we Indians do not always measure out the ingredients with spoons and cups (though for the sake of the post i have done it this time..) so if anytime you wish to cook asparagus spears the Indian way do not hesitate to alter the measurements to your liking... if you do not overdo the spices, you'll most likely get the Indian flavors right.

now the recipe... 

Asparagus Stir Fry with India spice

ingredients

• 11/2 tablespoon mustard oil
• pinch of asafetida
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 tsp gram flour
• 1 medium sized onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• 1 tsp urad dal, (soaked for 5-10 minutes)
• 1 tsp chana dal (soaked for 5-10 minutes)
• 4 tbsp coconut powder
• 2 green chilies, slit lengthwise
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 18 asparagus apears, trimmed and diced
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 11/2 tbsp yogurt
• salt to taste

what i did

• i began by heating the oil in a sauce. once the oil was hot enough  (i.e  one mustard seed added to the oil cracked right away), i added the asafetida and mustard seeds and covered the pan.
• once the mustard seeds stopped spluttering i added gram flour, stir-fried it for a minutes and then added the onion and garlic and cooked till the onion became translucent.
• i then added the soaked dals (urad and chana), the coconut powder, slit chilies and curry leaves and sauteed for a couple of minutes. 
• once the fragrance of the dals, coconut, curry leaves came across i added the asparagus to the pan, covered it and cooked till the asparagus pieces were almost done. 
• i then mixed the mustard powder with the yogurt, stirred the mixture into the asparagus, seasoned them with salt  and cooked for another 2-3 minutes until the asparagus spears were tender yet crunchy.

later that night we had it with rice and dal and as always enjoyed our side of asparagus !

I am entering this stir fry into  the family friendly cooking challenge One Ingredient hosted alternatively by Nazima at Franglais Kitchen and Laura at How to cook good food. This month the challenge is being hosted by Laura and she has chosen Asparagus as the ingredient for May.

I shall also be sharing this recipe with a few weekly food events...

and here are few products from amazon which are a part of almost all Indian kitchens...