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I saw Sunny Anderson on Cooking For Real make hash browns simply by shredding them in her food processor. Who knew it was that easy?! That was what first inspired me to make my own. I used this Man Hash Brown recipe from Alton Brown as a guide, but kind of did my own thing with it.

Here are my spuds. I had a pound of the multicolored potatoes left over from the root vegetable recipe last week. Purple potatoes are still fun and exciting for me. :-)

This is my food processor with the shredder attachment all ready to go. The more I use this little beauty, the more I love it.

And heres why. These are the potatoes after my little processor was done with them, all shredded and wonderful.

Now, to make hash browns, the potatoes need to have the extra moisture removed, so I just wrapped them up in a tea towel, twisted it up like a tourniquet, and squeezed out the water.

Now time for the frying. I used a tablespoon of bacon grease that I had reserved in the fridge to grease up the pan.

Once all the bacon grease was melted, in went all the potatoes. I let them cook for five minutes and then used a plate to help me flip them over. Five more minutes on the other side finished them off.

I added chunks of my favorite Gouda cheese on top and saved some Gouda for my little hard boiled egg too. Toast was the final touch for my Home-From-Work-I-Hate-You-Snow breakfast, which turned out fantastically.

Its important to note that this recipe is just a base. The hash browns by themselves are a little plain, so youll want to add something to punch up the flavor. Green peppers, onions, whatever you like will work. Like I said, I just added cheese, which was fine. I had no idea hash browns were this easy. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities, like latkes. I love latkes! Stay tuned, people, Im going to be a potato shredding machine. :-) Hope you enjoy.


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 That is to say, pumpkin in appearance, not taste. Although, thats an idea...!

•  3 ½ All purpose flour 
•  2 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
•  ¾ teaspoon baking soda
•  2 ¼ teaspoon salt
•  5 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 14 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 2/3 cups pumpkin puree

1.      Line cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 12 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
• 4-6 cups powdered sugar (depends on how sweet you like it)
• 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 2 tsp. milk as needed
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

As a child, I didnt have the choice to avoid any foods. Whatever was made at home, I had to eat - and while at that time I hated the rules, I now realise that thanks to this, I appreciate all kinds of foods today.

Bitter gourd was one exception though at that time, where I would have the option to eat something else instead. My grandmother didnt have the heart to force a kid to eat this bitter vegetable. So when I started cooking myself, I would not be interested in buying it in the first place. However in the last few years, this one, like eggplant has gotten added to my weekly shopping list. Whether its Pavakkai pitlah, Bitter gourd and ripe mango Ayurvedic curry or a dry spice-rich curry like the one below, its really not that bad, especially when made with all kinds of spices. I usually dont like to drown a vegetables original taste in spices, but something like bitter gourd really needs that kind of treatment - as the only bitter thing i like to eat as it is, is dark chocolate.

Bitter gourd is very very good for you. Especially if you want to control your blood sugar levels or you are after that flat belly. Heres what longevity expert Dr.Maoshing Ni has to say about bitter gourd -

A melon for natural weight loss
A traditional remedy for losing weight and helping treat diabetes is bitter melon, also known as bitter gourd or balsam pear. Looking a bit like a zucchini with a bumpy surface, its cleansing and mildly laxative properties flush the system of toxins and promote weight loss. Bitter melon contains vitamins A, B1, B3, and C as well as several phytonutrients—including antioxidants like lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin. It is a good source of dietary fiber, plus it has two times the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and double the potassium of bananas!

Surprisingly, only Indians and some other Asians are familiar with this melon / gourd. Indians do have a fascination for all kinds of gourds it looks like :)

For those of you who need an intro with this super vegetable - read about Bitter melon / gourd on Wiki
A more authentic source of info on the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center about its anti cancer properties.

This is one recipe guaranteed to make you scratch karela from your hate list :) After all who doesnt like kachories, so any vegetable prepared this way will remind you of the beloved snack.


Kachori-masalewala Karela
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
3 medium sized bittergourds (bitter melon / karela / pavakkai)
1/4 cup moong dal soaked in hot water
1 - 2 tsp rice bran or any light cooking oil
Whole spices for tempering
1/2 tsp each of
Mustard seeds (rai)
Cumin seeds (jeera)
Fennel seeds (saunf)
Carom seeds (ajwain)
1/4 tsp of fenugreek seeds

Spice powders
Pinch of pure asafoetida
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp or more of red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 heaping teaspoon of dried mango powder (amchur) or 1 tsp of tamarind paste or 1 tbsp of lemon juice

Others
1 tsp of sesame seeds (optional)
1 tbsp of crushed jaggery
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander to garnish
Freshly scraped coconut for garnish (optional)
Directions

1. Scrub and wash bitter gourds well. Top and tail them. Cut them open vertically. Scoop out all seeds and membranes inside. Slice them under a cm thin. If necessary, cut once more vertically to give smaller sized slices. I like to pressure cook them in a vessel without extra water for 7 minutes under pressure for fast, nutrient-loss free cooking. You can either microwave or boil the pieces in salted water. Once the cooker has cooled, remove and keep aside.
2. In a non stick kadhai, heat oil and add asafoetida first. Immediately, throw in all the whole spices for tempering. Stir just until they start spluttering and changing colour, dont brown / burn any spices. Add the sesame seeds last if using, stir for a minute, until it starts spluttering.
3. Add the moong dal soaked for about 15 minutes in hot water as it is, or coarsely ground. Stir along with the spices on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup water to this along with all remaining spice powders/ pastes. Stir around for a minute. Cover and less the dal cook for around 5 minutes. We dont want it to turn mushy, just soft.
4. Next add the cooked slices of bitter gourd, salt and jaggery. Stir well to coat with spices. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust salt and red chilli powder after tasting.
5. Garnish with fresh coriander. Serve hot with dal & rice or with chapatis / parathas and a bowl of yogurt or kadi (thats what I had for lunch).

Options
You could substitute the moong dal with 1/2 cup of dry roasted gram flour (besan / kadalaimaavu) to make it faster. In that case, just add it when you add the karela slices.
Same method works superbly with snake gourd (pudalankai)- will convert all gourd haters in one bite!
Another method to prepare this is to fill the cavity of one inch sized pieces of either gourd and shallow fry in oil. I dont have the luxury of the time nor the excess oil that the above method uses, so I stick to the low-oil sliced up one.

How to make bitter gourd less bitter

There are a variety of methods here. While I use none of this, as I believe draining the gourd of its bitter jucies reduces its healthful properties, you could use this, especially if you are a first timer with karela.

1. Slice the gourd as described above the previous night and soak overnight in buttermilk or thinned yogurt with a pinch of salt. Cook next morning after draining well. Take care while you add the salt while cooking as the vegetable would have retained some amount of salt in the soaking process.
2. Salt the slices with a tsp of salt and leave in a colander for half to one hour. Wash lightly before cooking to remove excess salt.
3. Theres another theory that says soaking in the water in which rice has been washed (starchy water) for a few hours will also remove the bitterness. I havent tried this one though.