Indian Food Recipes

Cauli Flower Chutney

2009-03-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

Ingredients
Cauli flower - 1 (around 3 to 4 cups)
Lemon - 3
Dried fenugreek leaves Powder - 2 Tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Chilly powder - 3 teaspoons
Garlic - 4 cloves
Curry leaves
Oil and salt to taste

Method
1) Cut cauliflower into small pieces and soak in hot salt water for 2 min, and dry up the cauliflower pieces.

2) Fry the dried fenugreek leaves Powder 30 second without oil and keep a side.

3) Heat 3 teaspoons oil in a pan. Add garlic, curry leaves, mustard seeds, cauliflower pieces and fry 3 min on medium heat. And then add salt, Chilly powder and fry until cauli flower is cooked.

4) Add Dried fenugreek leaves Powder and keep a side and blend the lemon juice.

Now the Cauli flower Chutney is ready. You can use this as a sidedish for Dosa/Idly/Chapathi/Curd Rice.

Patchi Pulusu

2009-03-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

Ground nuts - 100g

Tamarind - 100g

Sesame - 50g

Chilli powder - teaspoons

Greenchillis - 4

Tomotos - 2

Method:

1) Soak 50g of Tamarind for 5min to take paste.Take ground nuts, sesame, greenchillis Dry roast until it turns to light brown.

2)Blend ground nuts,sesame,greenchillis powder (not too smooth but to maintain the texture of the podi/chutney powder).

3)Heat oil and fry onions,red chillies until they turn light brown, add asafetida, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreekseeds, tomoto pieces and stir-fry until seeds crack.

4) Add Tamarind paste,Coriander power ,Turmaric power, (Chilli powder,ground nuts,sesame,greenchillis) powder,required amount of water and cook on heat for 10 mins.

5) Finaly add Coriander leaves.

Drumsticks Pulusu

2009-03-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
Drum sticks - 3
Tomoto's -2
Tamarind - 50g
Mango - 1 (small size)
Onions - 1
Chilli powder - 2 teaspoons
Garlic ginger paste - 1 teaspoon
Coriander power - 1 teaspoon
Turmaric power - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 2 teaspoons
Coriander leaves
Curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method:
1) Soak 50g of Tamarind for 5min to take paste.Heat 2 Tablespoon sun flower oil in a pan add few chilli flakes, curry leaves & onion pieces fry for 30 seconds. Add garlic & ginger paste make sure not to burn the garlic.

2) Add tomoto pieces,drum stick pieces,mango and salt cook until all tomotos are almost cooked.

3) Add Tamarind paste,Coriander power ,Turmaric power, Chilli powder,required amount of water and cook on heat for 10 mins.

4) Finaly add Coriander leaves.

Drumsticks Tomoto Curry

2009-03-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
Drum sticks - 3
Tomoto's - 6
Onions - 1
Chilli powder - 2 teaspoons
Garlic ginger paste - 1 teaspoon
Garam masala powder - 1 teaspoonCoriander leaves
Curry leaves
Oil - 2 teaspoons
Salt to taste

Method

1) Heat 2 Tablespoon sun flower oil in a pan add few chilli flakes, curry leaves & onion pieces fry for 30 seconds. Add garlic & ginger paste make sure not to burn the garlic.

2) Add tomoto pieces and salt cook until all tomotos are almost cooked

3) Add drum stick pieces, Garam masala powder and cook on low heat for 4 to 5 mins ( Add water if required)

4) Add Chilli powder and Coriander leaves

The Money We Waste on Food

2009-02-24T15:56:00.000-08:00

Nice article about wasting food.

http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/the-money-we-waste-on-food/

Roti - Flat Indian Bread

2009-01-28T22:36:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup lukewarm water (Use more if required)
* Oil
* 1/4th cup whole-wheat flour for rolling
Method
1) Mix flour, salt and water to make a soft dough by adding more water as needed, cover and keep aside for 10 mins or more

2) Make the dough into 8 equal balls, take each ball and press with dry flour and roll it to a 6 inch circle by dusting it with the dry flour whenever you feel it is sticking.

3) Heat a skillset and place the Roti and once it starts puffing turn it other side by pressing the Roti either with spatula or with hand using the paper towel. You should see light brown spots on both sides of the Roti

4) Spread butter and keep in a covered container

Notes

> Iron skill sets works best for making Rotis
> always keep the rotis covered so that they will not become hard
> Rotis can be kept outside by wrapping with aluminium foil upto 2 days and can be refrigerated upto a week and heat in microwave before eating

Mushroom With Peas

2009-01-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

3 cups of fresh mushrooms (chopped into bite size pieces)
1 cup green peas
1 tablespoon Oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
pinch of asafoetida
2 medium tomatoes
2 to 3 green chillies
1 " piece ginger
2 Tablespoons grated coconut
1 teaspoon garam masala
Salt to taste
Method

1) Blend tomatoes, green chillies, coconut and ginger into paste and keep aside.

2) Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and once they crack add asafoetida and turmeric powder add tomato paste and cook until oil separates from the paste and then add salt, chopped mushrooms and peas

3) Cook for 10 mins by stirring in between and add garam masala at the end.

Serve hot with Roti/Chapati/Puri/White Rice

Bottle gourd(Sorakaya) Fry

2009-01-28T18:26:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

3 cups Bottle gourd chopped into bitesize pieces
1/2 teaspoon Mustad seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
few curry leaves(optional)
Pinch of Turmeric powder & Asafoetida
1 Tablespoon Oil
Salt to taste

For podi (Powder)
1/2 cup dry roasted ground nuts (pea nuts)
2 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
Method

1) Make a powder of the powder ingredients. Powder need not be very smooth.

2) Heat Oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add cumin seeds, asafoetida, turmeric powder, curry leaves and fry for few seconds.Add the cut vegetables and cover and cook until they are soft.

3) Add the podi and salt. Fry for a couple of minutes until the vegetables are coved with powder.

Serve as a side dish with rice or Roti

Spinach Dal (with Moong dal)

2009-01-28T18:24:00.001-08:00

Ingredients:

* 1 cup moong dal
* 2 cup spinach chopped
* 1 teaspoon grated ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
* 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (adjust to your taste)
* salt to taste

For seasoning

* 2 tablespoon ghee or clarified butter
* 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
* Pinch of asafetida
* 4 whole red chilies

Method:

1. Pressure Cook Dal with Spinach, ginger, turmeric, salt and 4 cups of water (Add more water to your consistency)
2. Add Lemon juice or garam masala
3. For seasoning, heat oil or ghee, add cumin seeds and once they crack add asafoetida and whole red chillies and pour over Dal and mix well

This can be served with Rice or Roti

Spinach Rice

2009-01-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

2 cups raw rice (cook in such a way that each grain is separate)
1 Big bunch of spinach leaves (chopped)

4 to 5 green chillies (adjust to your spice level)

1 large tomato chopped

1" piece ginger
1 Tablespoon Ghee(Clarified butter) or oil

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

pinch of asafoetida
whole spices (6 cloves, 1 " piece cinnamon stick -3, 6 cardamoms, 3 bay leaves)

Method

1) Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a pan add green chillies to it and fry for few seconds and then add chopped spinach and fry for 1 or 2 mins until the rawness disappears, take out of the flame and cool aside

2) Blend ginger, green chilli-spinach (need not be smooth paste) and keep aside.

3) Heat 1 tablespoon Ghee/oil, add whole spices, turmeric powder, asafoetida and fry for a minute and add the spinach paste and fry for 2 to 3 mins

4) Now add the tomatoes and fry for another 2 to 3 mins, add salt and mix this paste with rice.

Garnish with coriander leaves or cashew nuts and serve with Raita or plain Yogurt

Dhavanai Idly - Dosa

2009-01-28T15:15:00.001-08:00

This Recipe adopted from here and came out great and healthy too since it has got Dhals equally. I also made the Dosa with the leftover Batter. Sorry for Poor picture quality.

Ingredients

Urad dal (Black gram) – ½ cup
Channa dal (Bengal gram)-½ cup
Toor dal(Red Gram) -½ cup
Raw rice -1½ cup
For tempering
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Curry leaves
Coconut ½ cup freshly grated
Ginger finely chopped.

Method
1) Total Dal quantity should be equal to Rice. Soak chana Dal&Toor Dal together and Urud Dal and Rice seperately for 2 hrs

2) Grind Chana Dal and toor Dal first, rice second and Urud Dal last and mix all of them with salt and ferment it overnight.

3) Heat oil in a pan splutter mustard seeds,urad dal,curry leaves, ginger and coconut . sauté it for few minutes and add to the batter. Grease any cup (I tried Glass and China) with Oil and fill with the batter and cook in steam until they are cooked (approximately 20 mins

I used Idly cooker and also pressure cooker without weight and both turned out good.

Take out the Idly with knife or spoon and serve hot with your favourite chutney/Sambar
Here is the Dosa I made with the left over batter

Pesarattu

2009-01-28T14:53:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 cup pesalu (whole green moong dal)
1 Tablespoon rice
small ginger piece
2 green chillis
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
salt to taste
oil
Method

1) Soak Dal and Rice overnight or atleast 8 hours and Grind to a smooth paste by adding, ginger, green chillies, cumin seeds and salt. Do not make it too thin but similar to Dosa or pancake batter.

2) Grease a flat pan with some oil, pour the batter and spread it to make round shape and cook both the side until it turns light brown

3) Serve hot with your favourite chutney

Variations

You can also add chopped onions fried in little oil until transparent to the batter before making pesarattu

Dal Makhani

2009-01-28T11:09:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup whole urad dal (black gram dal)
* 1/8 cup red Rajma (kidney beans)
* 1 teaspoon grated ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
* 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (Amchoor)
* 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
* 1/4 cup cream
* salt to taste
* 1 Tablespoon Oil or Ghee
* 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
* Pinch of asafoetida
* 3 to 4 whole red chilies

Method
1) Soak Urad Dal and Rajma overnight and pressure cook in 4 cups of water by adding ginger, turmeric powder and salt until Dal and rajma are soft and tender

2) Mash the dal and rajma slightly and again cook in medium heat for about 5 mins, add cream, garam masala, amchoor powder and cook in low heat for another 10 mins.

3) For tempering, heat ghee or oil, splutter cumin seeds, add asafoetida and red chillies and mix with the Dal.

Garnish with grated ginger and Serve hot with Roti/Chapathis/Puris

Coconut Rice

2009-01-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 cup raw Rice (cooked in such a way that each grain is separate)
2 Tablespoons grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon urud dal (black gram dal)
1 teaspoon chana dhal (bengal gram dal)
2 tablespoons peanuts (ground nuts)
3 to 4 green/red chillies(adjust to your spice level)
pinch of asafoetida
few curry leaves
salt to taste
Method

1) Heat oil, fry urud dal, chana dal and ground nuts until they turn brown.

2) Add green/red chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida fry for few seconds

3) Finally add grated coconut and salt and mix with rice.

Serve with any vegetables curry/gravy or as it is.

Curd (Yogurt) Rice

2009-01-27T11:22:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1/4th cup rice
1/4th cup broken wheat
1 teaspoon minced ginger
few mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida
2 green chillies
1/2 teaspoon Oil
Curd (Yogurt) and salt
Method

Pressure Cook rice and broken wheat in 1 1/2 cup water and mash with Yogurt and salt. For tempering, heat 1/2 teaspoon oil splutter mustard seeds,add green chillies,ginger and curry leaves and fry for few seconds and mix this with the rice.

Serve cool with your favourite pickle.

Variations

You can use half milk and half yogurt if you like to reduce the sour taste and 3/4th milk and 1/4th Yogurt if you are going to eat the rice after many hours

Aloo Jeera

2009-01-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

This is very easy to make. No need to keep stirring in a pan and keep watching all the time to make sure it will not burn.

Here is the recipe
Ingredients

4 medium Potatoes chopped thin and long along with skin
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon oil
Method

1) Add oil and cumin seeds to the microwave safe container and heat at high for 1 min

2) Now add chopped potato and chilli, coriander and turmeric powders along with salt and mix them nicely and cover and cook in microwave until it is cooked. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

You can use this as a side dish with rice or Rotis/chapathis.

It got cooked in 12 mins for me and i just stirred once inbetween. It turned out very tasty and I just spent less than 5 mins totally.

Tips

I used a big rectangular shaped microwave safe container which has cover so that all the potato pieces are separate and will cook evenly and also no need to stir many times in between to allow the pieces at the bottom to cook.

You can add paprika(mild chilli powder) instead of chilli powder and can give kids as it is.

Pasta with Peas and pasta sauce

2009-01-23T11:14:00.000-08:00

This is very easy to make and my daughter likes this and eats a lot. so when I am tired and don't know what to give I will make this.

Ingredients

1 cup Pasta
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt to taste
pasta sauce

Method

1) Pressure cook pasta with some salt and 3 to 4 cups of water, drain the water and keep aside

2) Heat Olive oil, add peas and cook for 3 to 4 mins and add pasta sauce and cooked pasta and mix. Adjust the salt.

You can also add some cheese powder at the end.

Bisibela bath with Broken Wheat

2009-01-23T10:57:00.000-08:00

This is a healthy and tasty dish and tastes as good as the one which we make with rice and also good for health to consume wheat more than rice especially for diabetic people. I made this last night and liked it very much and brought the same for today’s lunch too. Easy alternative for chapattis at nights. It is always a healthy idea not to eat rice at nights so we can make dishes with broken wheat or pasta as alternatives instead of spending lot of time for making rotis/chapathis.

Ingredients

1 cup broken wheat
1/2 cup Red gram dal (Tur dal)
Vegetables - Beans, Peas and Carrot - chopped
Tamarind- a small lemon size
1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 teaspoon Urud Dal (Black gram dal)
Curry leaves (optional)
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Oil

1 1/2 Tablespoon Bisibela bath mix powder

Or make Bisibela bath mix (paste) with the below ingredients

1 teaspoon Bengalgram dal
1 teaspoon Urud Dal (Blackgram dal)
1/2 teaspoon Coriander seeds
2 whole Red chillis
small piece of Cinnamon
2 Cloves
2 Cardamom
3 teaspoons grated Coconut

Method

1) Clean Dal and pressure cook with broken wheat in 3 to 4 cups of water. It is a good practice to soak Dal for 15 mins to 30mins in water before cooking so that Dal cooks soon and soft.

2) Extract the juice from tamarind and keep aside. Heat tamarind with water in microwave for a min and extract juice immediately instead of waiting for tamarind to soak in water

3) Heat Oil, splutter mustard seeds, add urud dal and once it turns brown add curry leaves, turmeric powder and asafetida and fry for few secs

4) Add chopped veggies fry for couple of mins and then add Bisibela bath mix (readymade or homemade paste) and 1 cup of water and cook until vegetables are cooked. Now add tamarind juice, cooked wheat/Dal, salt. Mix and cook in medium-low heat for another 5 mins.

Garnish with coriander leaves and ghee and serve hot.

Vegetable Sandwich

2009-01-22T12:24:00.000-08:00

Vegetable sandwich for today's lunch. Very quick and easy to make. I like the sandwich maker i bought recently which really makes a crispy sandwiches without using any oil. If you are going to eat fresh then you can use spicy coriander chutney as a spread or if you want to pack for a lunch then you can avoid this to maintain the crispy texture.

I am sure even without using the sandwich maker this tastes good as it is.

I used sliced cucumber, black olives, sliced yellow bell peppers and sliced beetroot to fill in the sandwich. Also used coriander chutney as a spread last night for eating fresh and did not use the same to bring for lunch. Also white bread tastes great for this sandwich but you can use wheat bread which is more healthy. I used white :-)
Ingredients to make 2 sandwiches

Your choice of chopped vegetables
4 bread slices
coriander chutney
chat masala
salt and pepper

Method

Spread coriander chutney to 2 slices and arrange veggies on the other 2 slices by spreading salt, pepper and chat masala. sandwich the slices and eat as it is or use sandwich maker until they turn brown and crispy

Chickpeas Soup

2009-01-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Chickpeas soup is another tasty and healthy soup i made last night

Ingredients

1/2 cup chickpeas(soaked overnight and pressure cooked)
1 green chilli
small piece of ginger (1 teaspoon grated)
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1) Heat oil and throw in cumin powder and rest of the ingredients, fry for a min.

2) Cool and grind to a paste with some water. Strain the liquid to the same pan with a strainer and add more water if required and bring to boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

server hot with croutons of your choice

Notes

Make sure the green chilli is very small and do not add more than one. We can add pepper to adjust the taste but if chilli is more we cannot do anything except throwing the soup. Even without chilli it will taste good. So think about your spice level and decide whether to add chilli or not

Tomato Rice

2009-01-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

Here is the Tomato rice which i made for today's lunch.

Ingredients

2 cups raw rice (cook with less water in such a way each grain is separate)

4 large tomatoes
1 Tablespoon grated ginger or 1 " piece of ginger
4 to 5 green chillies (adjust to taste)
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 Tablespoon oil
whole spices (4 cloves, 1" piece cinnamon sticks -3, 4 cardamoms, 3 bay leaves)
salt to taste

Method

1) Blend tomatoes, ginger and green chilli into paste

2) Heat oil, fry whole spice for few seconds and add the ground paste and fry until oil separates from the paste. It takes around 5 to 6 mins and the quantity reduces to half.

3) add coriander powder, salt and mix with the rice.

server hot with Raita

Variations

1) You can add chilli powder if required
2) You can fry crushed garlic & chopped onions before adding the paste after frying whole spices.
3) You can add curry leaves too along with the whole spices

Beetroot-Carrot soup

2009-01-21T16:38:00.000-08:00

I am trying various soups to replace dinner so these trails with different vegetables. Last night soup is with Beetroot and Carrot. Turned out great taste and color too.

Ingredients

2 Beetroots chopped
2 Carrots chopped
1/2 teaspoon Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves of garlic (optional)
Dried Basil or Oregano to garnish (optional)

Method

1) Heal oil and add chopped vegetables and garlic and fry for 1 to 2 mins. Pressure cook with 1 cup of water, cool and blend to a smooth puree

2) Bring the puree to boil by adding 2 more cups of water, salt and pepper at the end.

3) Garnish with Dried basil or Oregano and serve hot with your favorite bread

Variations:

1) Add the lemon juice at the end if required.
2) you can avoid using garlic if you don't like them
3) You can also add a green chilli to compensate the sweet taste of Beet, i added more pepper and tasted good.

Idly Manchurian

2009-01-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

Idli Manchurian is another way to consume left over idlies apart from making Idly Upma. Since I want to avoid taking too much oil i am not frying the idly pieces but if using oil is okay then one can fry the idly pieces in oil.

Ingredients

8 Idlis (each idli cut into 4 pieces)

1 medium size onoin chopped
Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tablespoon Chilli sauce (or adjust to taste)
1 tablespoon soysauce
2 Tablespoons tomatosauce
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 teaspoon Paprika(mild chilli powder)
small bunch of spring onions chopped (white and green parts seperated)
salt to taste
Method

1) Spray 1 Tablespoon oil and paprika on idly pieces and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 mins

2) Heat remaining oil in a pan, add ginger-garlic paste and fry for couple of mins and then add chopped onions and fry until they turn transparent

3) Add chilli-soy-tomato sauce and salt. make sure not to add much salt since Idly itself will have salt already. Fry for 3 to 4 mins and then add baked Idlies and fry for another 2 to 3 mins

4) Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

I am sure kids will love this and also people who feel bored to eat Idly always. It is not very tough to make if you have all the sauces ready.

Bell Pepper Soup (Capcicum)

2009-01-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

This is another soup which i tried and is a big hit. Quick and healthy made with very less & fresh ingredients. I used 1 yellow and 1 red pepper, but it is okay to use both red or both yellow. I felt this is the best way we can consume healthy vegetables. This soup with a your choice of bread makes a complete healthy low fat meal. Good for weight watchers.

Ingredients

2 large peppers chopped, 1 Yellow and 1 red (capcicum)
2 garlic cloves peeled
1 small onion (1/2 cup chopped)
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt to taste

Method

1) heat Oil olive and throw in cumin powder, add chopped onion and fry for a minute and then add chopped red and yellow bell peppers, garlic and cover and cook in medium-low heat for around 10 mins

2) Once the ingredients are cooled, blend them into smooth paste with 2 cups of water and Strain the juice to the same pan you used for frying the veggies.

3) Bring the soup to boil, add salt and pepper. At the end add dried Basil and serve Hot with your choice of bread

Notes:

You can avoid garlic/Onion if you don't prefer to eat

Coriander (Cilantro) Rice

2009-01-19T15:18:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

2 cups raw rice (cook in such a way that each grain is separate)

2 bunches of coriander (Cilantro) leaves (chopped)
4 to 5 green chillies (adjust to your spice level)
2 Tablespoons grated coconut
1 large tomato chopped
4 cloves garlic
1" piece ginger

1 Tablespoon Ghee(Clarified butter) or oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
pinch of asafoetida

whole spices (6 cloves, 1 " piece cinnamon stick -3, 6 cardamoms, 3 bay leaves)
Method

1) Keep the rice in Pressure cooker. Soaking the rice in water for about 15 to 30 min before cooking gives soft rice but if you don't have time to soak it is okay to cook as it is. I soak only when I have time and not always.

2) clean 2 bunches of coriander leaves and chop roughly.

3) Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a pan add green chillies to it and fry for few seconds and then add coriander leaves and fry for 1 or 2 mins until the rawness disappears, take out of the flame and cool aside

4) Blend ginger, garlic, coconut, green chilli-coriander to a smooth paste and keep aside.

5) Heat 1 tablespoon Ghee/oil, add whole spices, turmeric powder, asafoetida and fry for a minute and add the coriander paste and fry for 2 to 3 mins

6) Now add the tomatoes and fry for another 2 to 3 mins, add salt and mix this paste with rice. garnish with coriander leaves or cashew nuts and serve with Raita or plain Yogurt

Rice with 3 bell peppers (Capcicum)

2009-01-19T11:30:00.001-08:00

If you have not tried this then it is something which you have to try. This is one of those quick to make with great health benefits. I used 3 colors(red, yellow and green) of bell peppers or capcicums for this recipe but this can be made with any one color.

Bell peppers are low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, and Sodium, high in Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Manganese, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folate, Pantothenic Acid and Magnesium

The nutritional value of bell pepper makes it ideal for Maintaining optimum health & Weight loss. They are good for eye sight, heart and lung health.

Ingredients

2 cups raw rice (cook in such a way that each grain is seperate)
3 to 4 large Bell peppers (I used red, yellow and green) (thinly sliced)
1 Tablespoon Ghee(Clarified butter) or oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
curry leaves (optional)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
pinch of asafoetida

For Spice Powder (Podi)

2 whole red chillies (adjust to your spice level)
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 tsp black gram dal (minappappu)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon pepper corns
4 cloves
1 " piece cinnamon stick
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons cup roasted groundnuts
Method

Keep the rice in pressure cooker, meanwhile prepare for the spice and vegetable mix.

1) Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil and add cumin seeds and black gram Dal, once Dal turns light brown add red chillies, coriander seeds, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon and fry for a min. At the end add roasted peanuts and sesame seeds and fry for few seconds, remove from flame and cool

2) Grind the above ingredients into powder and keep aside

3) Heat 1 tablespoon Ghee, splutter mustard seeds add curry leaves, asafoetida and turmeric powder.

4) Now add the sliced Bell peppers and fry for 3 to 4 mins. Do not fry for long time to maintain the crispy texture. Add the spice powder and salt and mix for a min.

5) Mix the above spice/vegetable mix with the rice and server hot with Raita

Notes:

This can be made with most of the vegetables like carrots, beans, peas etc

Chick Peas Masala

2009-01-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

Nutrition benefits here

This goes good with bhaturas. Chole (white / black peas) give good flavor when soaked in tea water. Heat water and dip 2 tea bags for sometime and then use this water to soak the beans over night or upto 8 hrs

Ingredients

1 cup Chick peas (Garbanzo beans, Kala chana)
2 tea bags
1 tablespoon Oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 medium onion finely chopped
3 to 4 cloves of crushed garlic
2 medium tomatoes
2 to 3 green chillies
1 " piece ginger
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon dry mango powder
Salt to taste

Method

1) Boil 5 cups of water and put tea bags in for about 10 mins.

2) Wash Chick peas and soak in the above tea water for 7 to 8 hrs or overnight. The quantity will increase 2 to 3 times. Pressure cook the chickpeas and keep aside

3) Blend tomatoes, green chillies and ginger into paste and keep aside.

4) Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and once they crack add onions and stir-fry until they are transparent. Add the garlic and fry for couple of mins

5) Now add the tomato paste and cook unti oil seperates from the paste and add salt, garam masala, dry mango powder and chick peas and let it cook for 10mins on medium or low heat. Mix inbetween and mash the peas lighly while mixing.

Notes

1) You can avoid onions and garlic and use 1 tablespoon of besan (Bengal gram flour)

2) Add 1/2 cup of milk at the end and cook in low heat for 5 mins.

Sword Beans Dry Curry (Chikkudukaya)

2009-01-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

There are 2 variations I make this curry. One using the roasted groundnut powder (Podi) other using coconut.

With ground nut podi (Verusenaga podi)

Ingredients

3 cups chopped beans (Top, tail and remove the strings from both the sides)
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida
pinch of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon oil
curry leaves (optional)
salt to taste

For podi (Powder)
1/4 cup dry roasted ground nuts (pea nuts)
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
Method

1) Make a powder of the powder ingredients. Make sure the powder is not too smooth

2) Pressure cook chopped beans without water for one whistle and keep in SIM for another 5 mins.

3) Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add asafoetida, turmeric powder, curry leaves, cooked beans and salt.

4) Now add the groundnut powder and stir fry for couple of minutes until the beans are covered with powder.

with fresh grated coconut

1 Tablespoons of grated coconut
1 teaspoon urud dal

Method

1) Pressure cook chopped beans without water for one whistle and keep in SIM for another 5 mins.

2) Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds and then add urud dal and fry until light brown, add asafoetida, turmeric powder, curry leaves, cooked beans and salt.

3) Stir-fry for a mins and garnish with fresh grated coconut

Broccoli fry (Curry)

2009-01-16T11:43:00.000-08:00

Some facts about Broccoli are it is high in vitamin C, vitamin K and soluble fiber and contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties including diindolylmethane and selenium. Broccoli is usually boiled or steamed, but may be eaten raw. The benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if the vegetable is boiled more than ten minutes.

I started liking this when I had first time in one of my client's home in UK, they just steamed with little bit of salt. it was crunchy and not cooked too much. From that day I started buying Broccoli and made many variations in Indian style. If you want to reduce weight this is a great vegetable to eat because it contains very less calories.
Method

Fry it for less than 10mins with littie bit of oil and salt. Add some drops of water if required in middle so that it will not burn. If you like it spicy just add some chilli powder.

Notes

1) You can garnish with grated coconut at the end

2) You can also use pressure cooker to steam them but make sure they are half cooked then only they taste good. I have tried cooking completely but it did not taste good

Idly Chilli Powder

2009-01-16T11:19:00.000-08:00

This podi/powder is nutritious since it is made of lentils and we can store for around a month in any air tight container. This will taste good with any kind of Dosas but it is mainly used with Idly. It is very useful if you want to take parcel of Idly for any outing because it will not spoil so soon like chutney and no need to carry separately. Just mix the powder with some oil and do a coating to idly and pack aluminum foil.

We can also make Podi Dosa with this powder by spreading this while making dosa and tastes good without chutney too.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Chana Dal (Bengal gram Dal)
1/4 cup Urud Dal (Black gram Dal)
1/4 cup Sesame seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
5 to 6 whole red chillies
salt to taste

Method

1) Dry roast all the above ingredients starting with Chana Dal since it takes more time to roast. After 2 to 3 mins add urud Dal, coriander seeds and red chillies and roast until they turn light brown and at the end add sesame seeds. They just need a min or less to roast

2) Cool the ingredients and keep aside and grind them into powder once they are cooled. Do not grind too smooth but maintain the texture of the podi.

3) Mix with Oil/Ghee just before eating with Idly/Dosa

Notes

1) Do not grind while they are hot because it will form lumps and you cannot achieve the desired podi consistency.

2) You can also mix with Yogurt if you want to avoid Oil

Tamarind Rice (Pulihora)

2009-01-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

Pulihora(Tamarind rice) is one of the famous rice dishes in Andhra, especially this is served in temples as a prasadam, it will be so tasty and you feel like eating more and more. It is also festival dish and also good to pack for lunch box or picnic. The spice flavors are too tempting and I could not resist and kept on eating and feeling so sleepy now :-)

Now a days I am using sesame seeds in most of the dishes after reading an article in telugu news paper saying use of sesame seeds is good for healthy hair and skin also looks bright and healthy. No need to say about the taste and addictive flavors.

Women of ancient Babylon would eat halva(made with honey and sesame seeds to prolong youth and beauty), while Roman soldiers ate the mixture for strength and energy, read more about Nutrition and health treatments here

Ingredients

2 cups raw rice (cooked in such a way that each grain is seperate and cool and keep aside)
Extract tamarind pulp from a large lemon sized tamarind or use 3 tablespoon tamarind paste
2 Tablesppons Oil ( I use Oilive Oil)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida
around 10 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 Tablespoon Chana Dal (split Bengal gram/senagapappu)
1 tablespoon Urud Dal (whole Black gram/minappappu)
4 whole red chillies
5 to 6 green chillies chopped (adjust to your spice level)
1/4th cup of ground nuts

1/4th teaspoon fenugreek seeds (menthulu)
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds

Method

1) Keep the rice in pressure cooker or rice cooker, meanwhile prepare the ingredients for the pulihora paste. It is better practise to soak the rice in water for at least 15 mins before cooking.

2) If you have tamarind, heat in microwave with 1/4 cup of water for 30 secs to 1 min so that it is easy to extract the pulp. If you are using tamarind paste then this work is also reduced. But I always use tamarind and it doesn't take much time extracting the pulp if you heat in microwave with water for 30 secs.

3) Dry roast fenugreek seeds and sesame seeds and make a powder and keep aside.

4) Heat Oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add cumin seeds,asafoetida, then chana dal, urud dal, ground nuts and fry until they are light brown.

5) Now add red chillies, turmeric powder, green chillies, curry leaves and fry for a minute and add the tamarind paste and cook for around 5 mins

6) Now add the fenugreek-sesame powder, salt and mix it with rice. You can eat this with Appalam/chips and a cup of Juice to make it a complete meal.

Notes:

1) It is a good idea to make the paste before mixing the rice and store in refrigirator for couple of weeks so that we can mix with rice anytime.

Corn vegetable Soup

2009-01-14T16:41:00.000-08:00

This creamy corn vegetable soup is a great starter and healthy since we cook all the fresh vegetables.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup corn
1 Tablespoon corn floor
1/4 cup each of carrot, beans and cabbage cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
salt to taste

Method

1) Boil the corn in 1 cup water and remove 1/4th cup of corn and set aside.

2) Blend the remaining 1 cup of corn with 1/4th cup of water and strain and extract the liquid.

3) Mix the cornflour in 1/4th cup of water and keep aside.

4) Heat oil in a pan, add cumin powder and cut vegetables with 1/4th cup of water and cook on medium heat until vegetables are cooked.

5) Now add the stained corn (liquid), corn and cornstarch, 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Bring the heat to low and add ground pepper and salt and serve hot

Sandwich with mashed Potato

2009-01-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

I made a sandwich with 8 grain bread and mashed potato. This is really quick and tasty too, use wheat bread instead of white for better health even though white tastes better than wheat

For mashed Potato curry
around 6 small potatoes cooked and skin peeled (I pressure cooked)
1 medium size onion chopped
3 green chillies chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon coriander powder
salt to taste
Method

1) mash the potatoes and mix with salt and coriander powder and keep aside

2) Heat Oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add asafoetida, onions, green chillies and turmeric powder and fry until onions are transparent. This will take around 5 mins

3) Add the mashed potato and mix and fry for 2 to 3 mins and use this as a filling for sandwich

Making sandwich
1) spread the potato to one slice and cover with the other slice and keep in sandwich maker until they are done. I like to toast nicely until the bread turns brown but you can reduce based on your taste

2) just toast in a pan with some butter incase if you don't have a sandwich maker.

Tomato Soup

2009-01-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

This soup is very quick to make with fresh ingredients. This is same as the Rasam I posted before but with some less ingredients to make it quick but still fresh and great taste.

Cooking time : 10 mins
Serves : 3

Ingredients

3 large tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons corn flour
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt to taste
Method

1) Blend tomatoes,garlic & cumin powder with 1/2 cup water into very smooth paste and keep aside

2) In a pan heat olive oil, add the tomato paste and bring it to boil. Meanwhile mix 2 teaspoons corn flour in 1/2 cup water and add to the pan and cook for couple of minutes

3) Now add sugar, salt, pepper and dried basil and serve hot.

Bitter Guard Pitlai

2009-01-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here is another way of making bitter guard. The ingredients are almost similar to sambar but with the fresh ground spices instead of using readymade sambar powder. since we add Dal also in this it is perfectly healthy dish along with loads of medicinal benefits of Bitter guard.

Ingredients

2 cups of bitter guard chopped into thin round pieces
1 cup Toor Dal
3 whole dried red chillies
1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
1 Tablespoon urud dal
1 Tablespoon Chana dhal (Bengal Gram)
1 teaspoon black pepper corns (reduce if you want less spice)
2 Tablespoons grated coconut
2 Tablespoons thick tamarind paste or tamarind extracted from a big lemon sized tamarind pulp
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste

Method

1) Pressure cook Toor Dal until it is cooked and keep aside.

2) Dry roast redchillies, lentils (urud dal and chana dal). coriander seeds and black pepper until Dal turns light brown

3) Blend the above dry roasted ingredients with the tamarind paste and coconut into paste by adding 1/4 cup water and keep aside

4) Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds add asafoetida and then add the chopped Bitter guard, turmeric powder. Stir fry for about 5 mins and now add the ground paste along with 2 cups of water and cook until bitter guard is cooked

5) Add the cooked Dal and adjust salt.

This goes well with Hot Rice.

Fruid Salad - Strawberry-Grape-BlueBerry

2009-01-09T16:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a team lunch where my manager brought a fruit salad. I loved the combination very much and am waiting to go to grocery store today evening and make it tonight. Here is how she made it, i will post the photo once after I make.

It is very healthy, easy to make and tasty too. I had 3 cups yesterday and cannot wait to eat again today
Ingredients

1 cup Strawberries chopped (thin rounds)
1 cup red riped grapes sliced into 2 pieces each lengthwise
1 cup Blueberries
1/2 cup chocolate chips (around 1cm size)
1 tsp sugar
Method

Mix all the chopped fruits and chocolate chips with 1 tsp of sugar thats it :-)

Bitter Gourd Pulusu(Gravy with ground spices)

2009-01-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here is another way i made Bitter Guard last night. I was reading in the net about the uses of bitter guard and decided I should start eating once in a week. I usually make dry curry or stuffed curry with bitter guard but yesterday i want some what gravy to eat with Sangati and made this. I felt the bitterness was very much tolerable. I did not add jaggery which would have reduced the bitterness further. Usually I cook food which takes less time and easy to make. I think just cutting vegetables is the main time taking process here. Here is the recipe

Go through this for Bitter Gourd or Bitter Melon Medicinal uses

Ingredients

2 cups of bitter Melon sliced
1 cup onions sliced
2 cups of tomatoes sliced
1/4th cup Tamarind paste
1 " piece ginger
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

spices

3 to 4 whole red chillies
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 to 5 cloves
1 " cinnamon stick
pinch of asafoetida
Method

1) Cook sliced bitter guard with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder in 2 cups of water until they are somewhat cooked and soft but need not cook completely. I just cooked in microwave for 8 mins

2) Heat 1tsp oil in a pan, splutter cumin seeds and add all the remaining spices and fry for 30 seconds and then add onions and fry for 4 to5 mins until they turn light brown. Add tomatoes, ginger and garlic and cook for 3 to 4 mins and cool it and grind to a smooth paste

3) Now mix the ground paste and cooked bitterguard, tamarind paste and salt and cook until the bitter guard is completly cooked.

this goes well with Hot rice or sangati.

We (me and my sister) really enjoyed this with sangati and even my husband had nicely with white rice and he suggested me to make "Bitter guard pitlai" which I am going to try in next 2 days and post the recipe :-)

Notes:

Add jaggery to reduce the bitterness further

Yellow Fried Rice with peas

2009-01-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

I was in hurry today but need to make something for lunch very quick and made this very simple rice with peas and great blend of spices. It is very very easy to make, delicious & packed with flavors. I was able to wrap up in 5 mins and kept in rice cooker which got cooked by the time I got ready to work.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup basmati rice
* 1/2 cup green peas ( I used frozen peas)
* 2 cups water
* 1 Tablespoon Oil ( I used Ghee to get nice aroma)
* salt to taste

Spices

* Pinch of asafetida
* 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
* 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
* 4 whole red chilies
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
* 2 bay leaves
* 5 to 6 cloves
* About 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
Method

1) Wash the rice, drainand keep aside.(if you have time it is better to soak rice for 15 mins to 30 mins)

2) Heat Oil (or Ghee) in a pan and splutter cumin and mustard seeds. Add all the remaining spices and fry for 30 seconds or less then add green peas and salt and fry for 2 mins

3) Add rice and fry for another minute and then add water and cook until rice is cooked. I used rice cooker to cook this since i did not have time to monitor pressure cooker or to cook directly in the same vessel.

This goes well with Raitha (perugu pachadi) but I just packed lunch with plain Yogurt :-)

Notes:

you can use vegetables like beans, carrot etc along with peas.

Dondakaya Curry

2009-01-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

I searched in Internet to know what this vegetable is called in english and below is the info on how it is called in various Languages

Gherkins, Ivy Gourd, Gentleman’s Toes (English)
Dondakaya(Telugu)
Kovaikai (Tamil)
Tindora/Kundru/Tondli (Hindi / North India)

Dondakaya is abundantly available in india, it grows very fast. Just having one plant will give you 1 to 2 Kgs per week. We use to have just 1 plant at our home and use to give others in our village too. We can use these vegetables in sambar too. Today's recipe is for dry curry. I usually make most of the dry curries by adding the powder made with peanuts and spices. We can make this powder and store for couple of weeks in air tight box and can use for various curries like Dondakaya, Beans, bitter guard, ridge gourd etc.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients
1 pound Kundru washed and sliced according to your choice
1/2 cup onions sliced
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida (optional)
curry leaves (optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
For podi (Powder)
1/2 cup dry roasted ground nuts (pea nuts)
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
Method
1) Make a powder of the powder ingredients. Make sure the powder is not too smooth.

2) Heat Oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add cumin seeds, asafoetida, turmeric powder and fry for few seconds. Add onions and fry for 3 to 4 mins

3) Add the cut vegetables and cover and cook until they are soft. Now add the powder, salt. Fry for a couple of minutes until the vegetables are coved with powder.

Egg masala (With Indian spices)

2009-01-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

10 boiled eggs, remove skin and cut into half

3 cups onoins chopped
2 cups tomatoes chopped
1 cup coconut sliced/frozen grated coconut

spices

3 to 4 whole red chillies
1/2 teaspoon black pepper corns
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
pinch of asafoetida
1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tespoon cumin seeds
4 to 5 cloves
2" stick cinnamon
2 to 3 green cardamoms
6 to 7 cloves of garlic (reduce the quantity if cloves are fat)
1/2 " piece ginger
salt to taste

chopped coriander leaves for garnish
Method

1) Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil(I use olive oil) and fry all the spices for few seconds then add onions and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add sliced tomatoes , coconut and salt and cook until tomatoes and onions are cooked and cool.

2) Once the ingredients are cooled, grind them into paste and keep aside

3) Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan, add the ground mix, boiled eggs and 1 cup of water. Adjust the salt and water. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This goes well with hot rice.

Sangati (Rice cooked with Ragi(Millet) flour)

2009-01-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

Sangati is usually made in villages of Andhra/Karnataka. I like it very much and it tastes good only when it is very hot and best when eaten immediately after cooking. I don't think re-heating in microwave is a good Idea so only make this just before you can eat it. This goes well with any chutneys or any vegetable gravy.

It is very nutritious and healthy. Ingredients used for making this are rice and Ragi(Millet flour) flour. The proportion of the flour and rice varies based on how you like, I usually make with 1 cup rice and 1/2 cup flour but you can even make with 1/2 cup rice and 1 cup flour, more the flour it is more healthy.

I use to make this for around 30 people who use to work in our farms and use to eat along with them. They eat with lot of interest and we feel like eating seeing them. They eat this because it makes them not to feel hungry for long time and also affordable, easy to make, healthy and tasty too. Once if i make this then I will loose interest in white rice and keep making this continuously for 4 to 5 days. But again since my husband doesn't eat this I don't like to make just for 1 person and will eventually endup eating rice.

here is the method.

Ingredients

1 cup rice
1/2 cup flour
4 cups water

Method

1) Soak rice in water for 30 mins. I usually soak rice in water for making normal rice also which gives very soft rice and I also heard that we get more qualtity when it is soaked in water.

2) Cover and cook the rice until it is cooked and not cooked too soft. Now add the flour and cover and keep in low heat for 5 mins

3) Mix the rice and flour making sure there are no lumps of flour and again cover and keep in low heat for another 5 mins.

4) Make this into round shape according to your desired size and eat with any chutney or any gravy.

For Making rounds, use any bowl and wet with water and scoop the desired quanty and rotate the bowl which makes it a round.

Lentil Curry with Fresh Fenugreek Leaves

2009-01-07T15:44:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 cup washed Fresh Fenugreek Leaves(methi, Menthaku).
1 cup toor dal (red gram Dal, kandi pappu)
4 to 5 whole dry red chillis
1 medium sized Tomato chopped

1 tsp oil
2 to 3 garlic cloves crushed
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds(jeera)
curry leaves (optional)
pinch of asafoetida (optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 medium sized onion chopped
1 tsp coriander powder
salt to taste
chopped coriander leaves for garnish
Method

1) Pressure Cook together Toor Dal, Fenugreek Leaves, dry red chillies and tomatoes in 2 cups of water. You can keep the Toor Dal in water for 30 mins or more so that it will cook sooner. You need to cook for 3 to 4 whistles so that Dal will get cooked nicely. Once done remove and mash all the ingredients with laddle and keep aside.

2) Heat 1 tsp Oil in a pan splutter mustard seeds, add cumin seeds, crushed garlic, asafoetida and turmeric powder and fry for 30 seconds.

3) Now add chopped onions and fry until they turn light brown or transparent. Add curry leaves and coriander powder and add this to the mashed & cooked ingredients in step 1.

This tastes good with Hot rice, I like to eat this with sangati which becomes a complete nutritious meal. I am going to post a recipe to make sangati now :-)

Chana Dal- Yogurt Chutney

2009-01-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

This is another lowfat/healthy chutney which goes great with Dosa/Idly varieties. It is very quick to make

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup chana dal
* 1/2 teaspoon oil (preferably olive oil)
* pinch of asafoetida
* 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
* 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
* 3 to 4 dried red chilies (adjust to taste)
* 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (menthulu)
* 1/2 cup yogurt
* salt to taste (1/2 teaspoon)

Method

1) Dry roast chana dal until it turns to light brown
2) Heat oil and fry red chillies until they turn light brown, add asafetida, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and fenugreek seeds and stir-fry until seeds crack. Make sure to fry spices at medium heat so that they will not get burnt.
3) Blend chana dal and spices to a powder (not too smooth but to maintain the texture of the podi/chutney powder) and mix with whipped yogurt.

Notes

1) The powder before mixing with yogurt can be stored for couple of months in air-tight container and yogurt can be added just before serving
2) This powder can also be mixed with oil/ghee instead of yogurt

Perugu Pachadi / Onion Raita

2009-01-05T16:21:00.000-08:00

This is made with yogurt by adding various vegetables and usually eaten with any variety rice like vegetable biriyani/pulav, lemon rice, tomato rice and also with chapathi/Roti. It can also be considered healthy salad

Various vegetables you can use are : Onion, Radish, cucumber, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes etc

Ingredients

1/2 cup Onions chopped
1 cup cucumber chopped
1/4 cup carrot chopped (optional)
1/4 cup tomatoes chopped (optional)
2 to 3 green chillies made into paste
2 cups of Yogurt
1/4 cup water
salt to taste

for tempering

1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
curry leaves

coriander leaves for garnishing

Method

Mix all the ingredients and check teh salt. You don't have to add water if you like a thick pachadi/Raita. Splutter mustard seeds in oil add curry leaves and add to this mixture. Serve cold with any variety rice / Chapathi or you can eat as it is like a salad.

Notes:

1) You don't even have to add the rempering ingredients if you want to avoid oil.
2) I found Raita masala in indian stores and add this which gives very nice flavor. It is a powder of some indian spices.

Tomato chutney

2009-01-05T15:33:00.000-08:00

This is similar to the eggplant chutney I have posted except that we will not use tamarind since tomatoes already have the sour taste.

Ingredients

3 to 4 large tomatoes

3 to 4 green chillies chopped (adjust to taste)
1 medium size onion chopped
1 teaspoon ginger chopped
salt to taste

for tempering

1 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon urud dal
pinch of asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
curry leaves (optional)

Method

Boil the water and put the tomatoes in boiling water and keep for 2 to 3 minutes and remove and cool them or place in a cold water to cool them faster. Remove the skin, mash them and keep aside

Heat Oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add cumin seeds and asafoetida, turmeric powder, urud dal and fry until it turns brown. Now add green chillies, curry leaves, ginger and onions and fry for 3 to 4 mins. Add the mashed Tomatoes and salt and let it cook for 4 to 5 mins.

Garnish with coriander leaves and eat with hot rice or Roti

Uses and Nutrition

Tomatoes contain lycopene, one of the most powerful natural antioxidants, which, especially when tomatoes are cooked, has been found to help prevent prostate cancer. Lycopene has also been show to improve the skin's ability to protect against harmful UV rays.Tomato varieties are available with double the normal vitamin C, 40 times normal vitamin A, high levels of anthocyanin, and two to four times the normal amount of lycopene.

Egg Plant (Brinjal) Chutney

2009-01-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

This Chutney is similar to North Indian Baingan Bhartha. We use to eat this with sangati (rice cooked with Ragi flour) which is a great combination. You need to carefully select brinjals (eggplant) for this because we will not cut the brinjals to see if they are infected with worms. Make sure brinjals doesn't have any holes and also they are tender. Also better to use a big brinjal since if you use small one it is tough to burn it on flame/stove top and you need to burn many brinjals. Green Brinjals tastes better but if you don't find them you can use whatever you have

Ingredients

1 Large brinjal
lemon sized tamarind (or 1 to 2 Tablespoons Tamarind paste)
3 to 4 green chillies chopped (adjust to taste)
1 medium size onion chopped
1 teaspoon ginger chopped
salt to taste
1 teaspoon oil

for tempering

1 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon urud dal
pinch of asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
curry leaves (optional)

Method

Apply Oil to the eggplant and place it on the gas flame by turning it around so that it is cooked uniformly inside. Place it in the flame/fire until it is soft or you feel it is cooked nicely inside. Remove from the flame and cool the brinjal and remove the skin, mash it and keep aside

Heat Oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add cumin seeds and asafoetida, turmeric powder, urud dal and fry until it turns brown. Now add green chillies, curry leaves, ginger and onions and fry for 3 to 4 mins. Add the mashed egg plant, tamarind paste, salt and let it cook for 4 to 5 mins.

Garnish with coriander leaves and eat with hot Sangati or rice or Roti

Notes:

You can keep the Brinjals in oven and bake/broil at high temp by turning it until you feel the skin is cracked and easy to remove. Make sure Brinjal is soft which means it is cooked nicely inside.

Idly (steamed Rice cakes)

2009-01-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

2 cups idly rice
1 cup raw rice
1 cup urud Dal
salt to taste
Method
1) Wash the all ingredients except the salt and soak in water overnight or upto 6 hours

2) Grind them into some what thick paste by adding water and mix with salt

3) Keep this batter covered overnight. You can realize the increase in quanty when it is done and ready to make Idly.

4) Apply oil to idly plates and fill them with the batter and cook in idly cooker or pressure cooker for around 10 to 15 mins

5) Serve hot with chutney(ground nut or coconut chutney) or idli chilli powder or sambar.

Notes:

1) Make sure you will use container in such a way that atleast 1/3rd of the space is left so that the batter will not come out when it rises.

2) If the weather is cold it may take more time. Alternatively you can keep this in oven with the light on so as to maintain a warm temperature and the batter will be done overnight

Guthi vankaya (Stuffed Brinjal curry)

2009-01-02T14:40:00.001-08:00

Ingredients

10 to 15 small & fresh brinjals (Egg plant)
1 cup peanuts (dry roast and remove the skin)
1 cup sesame seeds (dry roast)

4 to 5 dried red chillies
1 Tablespoon of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin
5 cloves, one small piece of cinnamon stick
10 fenugreek seeds (menthulu) (this seed tastes bitter so reduce if you don't like bitter taste)

1 medium sized onion
2 to 3 medium sized tomatoes
lemon sized tamarind extracted into paste

salt to taste
Method

1) Blend all the above ingredients to a think paste. Divide this paste into 2 portions 1 for stuffing and other for making gravy/sauce.

2) Cut the brinjals lengthwise into 4 pieces but without breaking them as you see in the picture. If you want you can remove the stems.

3) Stuff the paste inside each brinjal and keep aside (if the brinjals are too small and you decide not to stuff to save some time make a gravy of the ingredients by adding some water and pressure cook)

4) Heat Oil and splutter mustard seeds, add the stuffed brinjals and stir-fry for 3 to 4 mins. Add some water to the remaining paste and add it to the brinjals and cook until brinjals are cooked. At this point you can also pressure cook this gravy so that you don't have to keep stirring the gravy.

Coriander Chutney

2008-12-31T23:55:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

* 2 cups chopped coriander leaves (washed and drained)
* 3 green chillies (adjust according to your spice level)
* 1/2 inch ginger
* 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
* 3 to 4 cloves garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
* 2 Tablespoon lemon juice
Method

Grind all the ingredients except lemon juice to smooth paste. Adjust salt, green chillies to taste and add lemon juice at the end to retain green color.

Notes

* You can also add 2 Tablespoons roasted Peanuts (or use any nuts of your choice like pine nuts or sunflower seeds)

Pudina (mint) chutney

2008-12-31T23:36:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 cup mint leaves
2 green chillies
2 Tablespoon fried chana dal
Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 tsp urud dal
Pinch of asafoetida
curry leaves (optional)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Method

Fry mint leaves with 1/4 teaspoon of oil until the quantity reduces and Grind with chillies, chana dal and salt to a paste by adding some water

Heat oil, splutter mustard seeds,fry urud dal and then add curry leaves, pinch of asafoetida and add this to ground chutney. Add lemon juice at the end to retain green color.

You can use this as a sidedish for Dosa/Idly or as a spread to sandwich

Coconut chutney

2008-12-31T23:33:00.000-08:00

Here is the coconut chutney that i have been making for the past 4 years since my husband likes coconut chutney and don't like groundnut chutney. Men Dominate always :-)

Ingredients

1/2 cup grated/cut coconut
2 Green chillies
2 Tablespoon fried chana dal
Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 tsp urud dal
Pinch of asafoetida
curry leaves (optional)

Method

Grind coconut, chillies, chana dal and salt with some water to a paste

Heat oil, splutter mustard seeds,fry urud dal and then add curry leaves, pinch of asafoetida and add this to ground chutney

Serve with Dosa/Idly/Upma

Peanut (Groundnut) Chutney

2008-12-31T23:24:00.000-08:00

Groundnut chutney is the only one we use to make at our home since we had lots and lots of groundnuts and groundnuts are main ingredients for most of the curries I make. It really gives a good taste using dry roasted ground nuts with any dish. For dry curries you can make a powder and for gravy you can grind them with other spices and water.

Ingredients

1/2 cup groundnuts
2 to 3 Green/Red chillies
Little bit Tamarind(optional)
2 cloves garlic (optional)
Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
Pinch of asafoetida
curry leaves (optional)

Method

Dry roast groundnuts until they are done and add chillies at the end and roast for a min. Grind them along with garlic, tamarind, salt and water(To your desired consistency)

Heat oil, splutter mustard seeds,curry leaves, pinch of asafoetida and add this to ground chutney

Serve with Dosa/Idly/Upma and even with rice if you reduce the amount of water and make it like a think paste

Lemon Rice

2008-12-29T16:35:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 cup raw Rice

1 lemon
1 Tablespoon oil
3 to 4 green chillies
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida
1/4th cup peanuts/cashew nuts
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds (dry roast and make a powder)

curry leaves
salt to taste

Method

1) Pressure cook the rice and cool and keep aside

2) Heal oil, splutter mustard seeds and cumin seeds, add asafoetida, peanuts, turmeric powder and fry until they turn brown

3) Add green chillies, curry leaves,Fenugreek powder and salt and turn off the flame and add lemon juice finally and mix with rice.

Cabbage with moong Dal (split)

2008-12-29T16:19:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

2 to 3 cups of chopped cabbage
1/4th cup moong Dal
1/2 cup chopped tomato

2 to 3 green chillies
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 to 4 black peppers
2 Tablespoon grated coconut

1 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida (optional)
1 teaspoon split urud Dal
curry leaves (optional)

Method

1) Wash the Moong Dal in water and pressure cook along with cabbage and tomatoes in a cup of water

2) blend cumin seeds, black pepper, green chillies and coconut into paste by adding some water

3) Mix this paste to the cooked ingredients, add salt and cook until

4) Heat oil, splutter mustard seeds and Urud dal, add asafoetida and curry leaves and add to the above mixture

This goes well with rice or chapathi (Roti) and very easy to make and healthy. You can use squash or spinach instead of cabbage.

Beerakaya Pappu (Ridge gourd with Lentils/Toor Dal)

2008-12-29T15:37:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 ridge gourd (2 to 3 cups) / Beerakaya (chopped by peeling the edges)
1 cup Toor Dal
1 medium sized tomato chopped
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida
3 to 4 green chillies
2 to 3 cloves crushed garlic (optional)
1/2 cup onion chopped
curry leaves (optional)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
salt to taste
Method

1) Wash the Toor Dal nicely and soak in 3 cups of water for 20 to 30mins and pressure cook along with the Ridge gourd and tomato

2) Heat oil, add mustad, cumin seeds. Once they crack, add asafotida, green chillies, garlic, curry leaves, turmeric powder fry for 30 seconds and then add onions and fry until onions turn brown and add coriander powder.

3) Mash the cooked ingredients lightly and add them to the above mix and adjust salt to taste.

Spicy OKRA (Ladyfinger, Bhindhi) Fry

2008-12-29T14:52:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

2 to 3 cups chopped okra (washed, dried and cut into 1/4th inch pieces)
1 Tablespoons oil(you can use less oil if you use nonstick pan)
1/2 tea spoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)
pinch of asafetida
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
salt (Adjust to taste)
1 teaspoon red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon dry mango powder

for garnish

1/4th cup finely chopped red pepper and 1/4th cup yellow pepper
Method

1) Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they crack add asafoetida and cut okra and fry for a min at high heat and then reduce the heat to medium

2) Cover and cook the okra at medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes and add chilli powder, coriader powder, turmeric powder and stir fry until okra is tender

3) Add salt, dry mango powder, red/yellow peppers and cook for couple of minutes
Notes

You can garnish with finely chopped tomatoes instead of yellow/red bell peppers

Brinjal (eggplant) Dry Curry

2008-12-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

10 medium sized brinjals (eggplant) cut into 4 pieces (if you have long brinjals cut them into 1 inch pieces lengthwise)

for powder
4 to 5 red chillies
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
3 Tablespoons chana dal (split bengal gram dal)
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
curry leaves
pinch of asafoetida (optional)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste
Method

1) Dry roast all the ingredients for powder and grind them to powder (do not grind too smooth to maintain the texture of the powder)

2) Heat 1 teaspoon oil and splutter mustard seeds, add pinch of asafoetida, curry leaves and turmeric powder and fry for 30 seconds

3) Add brinjals and stir-fry, cover and cook until they are tender.

4) Add the powder and salt, mix well so that the brinjals are completely fried and coated with powder

This goes well with rice or chapathi (Roti)

Cabbage Curry

2008-12-23T14:47:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

4 cups chopped cabbage
3 dried red chillies
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon urud dal
1 tea spoon oil
pinch of asafoetida (optional)
pinch of turmeric powder (optional)
curry leaves (optional)
2 Tablespoons fresh grated coconut
salt to taste
Method

1) Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds, add asafoetida, Urud dal, red chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder and fry for 30 secs

2) Add Chopped cabbage and cook covered until cabbage is cooked. Keep stirring every 2 to 3 minutes so that it will not get burnt. Add salt and garnish with grated coconut.

Cauliflower Masala Curry

2008-12-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

The gravy I used for this recipe is used mainly for eggplant (brinjal) for making famous guthi vankaya but since I did not have good brinjals i have replaced them with cauli flower and the taste was great.

Ingredients

Meduim size cauliflower cut into small pieces (around 3 to 4 cups)
2 Tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (optional)
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
curry leaves (optional)
asafoetida (optional)

4 to 5 red chillies
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 cloves
1/2" cinnamon
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
6 to 7 black peppers

4 cloves garlic
2 medium size onion chopped

1/2 cup roasted grounds
Oil and salt to taste
Method

1) Heat 1 teaspoon oil and fry all the ingredients except garlic and onion for 30 secs to 1 mins and keep aside. Now fry onion and garlic in another teaspoon of oil until onions turn brown.

2) Grind all all spices, onion & garlic, roasted peanuts into paste

3) Splutter mustard seeds in 1 teaspoon of oil, add asafoetida and cut cauliflower and stir-fry until somewhat tender and add dried fenugreek leaves and stir for couple of minutes. Add salt and ground paste and cook until cauliflower is cooked.

Notes:
1) You can use the same gravy with baby brinjals (eggplant) instead of cauli flower.
2) substitute fenugreek leaves with fenugreek seeds which can be fried along with spices and ground into paste.

Bitter gourd fry (kakarakaya vepudu)

2008-12-23T10:32:00.001-08:00

Ingredients:

2 cups Bitter gourd (cut into round thin pieces)
1/2 teaspoon Mustad seeds
2 teaspoons Red chilli powder
Pinch of Turmeric powder
1 teaspoon Oil
Salt to taste
Method:

Mix salt to Bitter gourd and keep aside for 30 to 40 mins and sqeeze out the water from the bitter gourd pieces. You will have to sqeeze very tight so that the bitterness will go away.

Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds and add turmeric powder and bitter guard pieces and stir fry until they are cooked. Add chilli powder at the end. Since we added the salt before sqeezing it may not be required again but add if required.

Notes:
1) you can also grind any nuts like roasted peanuts and add the powder to get a crispy taste

Rasam (Soup with tomatoes, Garlic, tamarind)

2008-12-22T09:43:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Tamarind extract thick
2 medium sized tomatoes

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black peppers
3 to4 cloves of crushed garlic
4 to5 red chillies
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida (optional)
salt to taste
curry leaves (optional)
coriander leaves for garnishing (optional)
Method

1) Grind cumin seeds and black pepper to powder and add crushed garlic to this mix and keep
aside

2) Blend tamarind extract and chopped tomatoes to paste and keep aside.

3) Heat Oil in a pan, add 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, once they crack add asafoetida, cumin-pepper-garlic mix, red chillies and curry leaves and stir-fry for 30 seconds to a minute and now add the tomato-tamarind paste, add 4 cups of water and bring it to boil

4) Add salt to taste and garnish with coriander leaves.

You can eat this with rice along with any vegetable curry or drink as a soup.

Notes:

1) If you need spicy rasam you can break the red chillies

Pasta with vegetables

2008-12-18T17:13:00.000-08:00

This is a very simple recipe for pasta with your choice of vegetables. It is very simple recipe and takes very less time if you want to avoid eating rice at night and lazy to make chapathis.

Just 3 steps in making pasta
1) fry garlic and chilli flakes in olive oil
2) add all your favourite vegetables and cook
3) add spices and sauce at the endHere is the recipe for the one which i made last night

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chilli flakes or adjust to yoour spice level

2 to 3 medium size Bell peppers (any color or all colors)
2 to 3 cups of spinach leaves (washed and drained)
1 cup of frozen peas
mushrooms or any vegetables you like

2 Tablespoons of pasta or pizza sauce
1 Tablespoon dry basil
Salt to taste

Method
1) Cook Pasta according to instructions and drain. I usually use any short variety of Pasta and Pressure cook with pinch of salt.

2) Heat 1 Tablespoon Olive oil in a pan add minced garlic and chilli flakes and fry for 30 seconds. Make sure not to burn the garlic.

3) Add Bell peppers first since they take more time to cook, and once they are tender add spinach, frozen peas and cook until all the vegetables are almost cooked. You can cook peppers for around 7 mins and peas and spinach for 3 to 4 mins. Add Cooked Pasta , salt and mix.

4) Add dried basil, pasta sauce and let it cook in low heat for 3 to 4 mins

Notes
1) You can add spices like Thyme, Oregano along with Basil
2) Add Tomato puree or blend tomatoes if you don't have pasta sauce
3) Other vegetables you can add in pasta are Mushrooms, Egg plant, Onions, tomatoes, Zucchini etc

Mushroom Masala

2008-12-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 pack button mushrooms around 20 pieces
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

For Curry Masala Paste

1 teaspoon cooking oil
4 dried red chillies
1 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 Cloves
1/2" inch cinnamon
4 cloves garlic
1" piece of sliced ginger
1 medium Onion sliced
1 medium Tomato sliced

1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup whipping cream/2 Tablespoons curd (optional)
Method

1. In a pan heat 1 teaspoon of oil and fry all the ingredients of paste except tomatoes and saute till they are soft and at the end add tomatoes and fry until they are soft. Remove and cool for 5 minites and then blend to paste

2. wash mushrooms and cut into bite size pieces. In the same Pan heat 1 teaspoon of oil and splutter mustard seeds, add mushrooms and dried fenugreek leaves and stir fry until mushrooms are nearly cooked. Remove and keep them aside. This takes around 5 mins

Mix the ground paste and add cream/curd and let it cook in low heat for 5 mins. Add salt to taste and garsish with coriander leaves.

This will go well with rice or Roti.

Notes :
You can also use chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder instead of grinding them and also can use garam masala instead of cloves and cinnamon.