Tomato Dhal

Dhal cooked with tomatoes and gently tempered with fried onions, dried red chillies, curry leaves and other exoitic spices is a comfort food in itself. Served with hot rice and a few drops of ghee, is one soothing therapy for soul. This recipe comes start from Granny's kitchen.

Ingredients:
To Pressure Cook:
2 Large Ripe Tomatoes(Sour Varitey), cut into 6-8 peices each.
1-1/2 cups Toor Dal
3-4 cups Water
4 pods Garlic
4 Green Chillies slit
1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp gingely oil Salt to taste

For Tempering/Talimpu/Tadka :
1 Tbsp Ghee or Gingely(sesame) Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
4 Red Chillies broken
1 Small Onion cut length wise
4 Small garlic Pods with skin(Slightly beaten)
A few Curry leaves A hint of Hing/Asafoetida


Method:
Wash dal and add cut Tomatoes to it.
Pressure cook dal and tomatoes with all the other ingredients in the "To Pressure Cook Section". Mash dal adding required salt once cooked.
In a kadai heat oil and add all the tempering ingredients after the mustard splutters.
Fry a little and then add the cooked dal and mix it thoroughly.
Garnish with Coriander if desired.
Serve hot with Rice or Rotis.
Goes well with any accompanying vegetable roast or chicken, meat or fish roast.
Even more exciting combination is Tomato Dhal with Dry fish roasted with onions.

Spicy Meat Roast

Did you miss me?? I guess yes!!! Well, though I couldn't post last 2-3 months, I'm glad to be back again..Food blogging is a passion for life time you know. If not the first day of the year, Here I'm the last day of the first month. My my see, how January has gone I like a breeze..
So let my first post of this year start with some real spice. Here's to all meat and spice lovers..presenting a spicy meat roast.
Choice of your meat, preferably red meat and go for rib eye of eye of round cut. Meat is cut into small cubes and pressure cook with various masalas and then comes the intresting part of tempering it with dry spices with elevates the level of taste to an extreme satisfaction
Ingredients :
1 lb meat
2 + 1 Tbsp of Ginger Garlic paste
3-4 Green Chillies Slit
1 + 1 Tbsps of Olive or Sesame oil
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Red Chilly powder
1 Coriander powder
3/4 + 3/4 Tbsp of Garam Masala powder
1 tsp Fennel seeds
5-6 Red Chillies dry
10 or handful of Curry leaves
1 big Onion sliced

Method:
Place meat in the pressure cooker and to it add 1 tbsp each of ginger-garlic paste, oil.
Add ginger chillies, turmeric, chilly, coriander and 3/4 spoon of garam masala powders.
Add 1 cup of water and pressure cook for 25 minutes or more depending upon the choice of meat. Once the meat is cooked empty it in an vessel and keep aside.
Heat oil in a wok or kadai.
Roast fennel seeds till aromatic.
Add red chillies fry for 5 seconds till color slightly changes.
Add Curry leaves and fry till crisp.
Add onions and roast half cooked.
Add remaining ginger-garlic paste and fry.
Now add the cooked meat with gravy and keep stirring thoroughly till all the waters evapourates. Sprinkle remaining garam masala powder mix well till you can smell the aroma of the spices. Remove from heat and transfer into a serving bowl. Serve hot with Rice and Dhal curry or sambar.
If you are on low carb diet, skip teh rice and have it as side with any stir-fried or baked veggies.
I bet you will say "Yummy!!!"

Mixed Fried Rice

This dish needs no introduction..A staple in all Indo-Chinese restraurants and a must with any oriental side dish, like chilli chicken, manchurian, ginger chicken, sweet and sour varieties.

Again fried rice is so versatile dish. Sure they are hundreds or thousands of varieties of this type of preparation and this is only one of them.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 Cups Cooked Rice(Preferably Basmati)
2 tsp Sesame oil
5 Thai or regular Green Chillies slit and cut diagonally
1 big Onion cut length wise
2 Tbsp fresh ginger garlic paste or use freshly chopped
1 Egg (beaten and scrambled)
2 Cups choice of veggies diagonally crated (Carrots, Cabbage, Green Beans,)
Choice of meat, poultry, seafood(Small peices Chicken, beef, mutton/lamb and small variety shrimp/prawns)
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
1 Tsp fish Sauce
1 Tsp Green Chilly Sauce
1/2 Red Chilly Garlic Sauce(completely optional..I didn't use)
1/2 White Vinegar
A few sprinkles of Cooking Wine
A pinch of Aginomoto(optional)
Salt to taste
Spring onions chopped, one half to add while frying and the other for garnishing.


Procedure:
In a wok, heat oil, sizzle green chillies.
Add Onions and cook till crispy
Add ginger garlic paste and saute'
Add half of spring onions and saute'
Add Chicken, meat and seafood and salt and dependign fresh you are using fresh or cooked give time to cook or warm up.
Add half of the sauces at this point.
Now add the Chopped veggies, some salt and stir the veggies till crispy and cooked, for 5 -7 mins or so,
Add aginomoto if using.
Now add the cooked plain rice along with all the remaining sauces.
and combine well to coat all the grains evenly with the mixture.
Add scrambled egg.
Add enough salt again and mix well.
Transfer to a serving bowl and Garnish with spring onions.
Serve with choice of any Indo-Chinese Side dish.

Curried Minced Meat w/ Ridge Gourd

------AKA Kheema Birakaya/Birakankai Kheema-------

Kids back to school last week after that long summer break and though fall is going to officially start next week, it seems like winter is already here..And chill weather always calls for something soothing and comforting..and think about comfort food its always authentic dishes from home afar..One such comfort food for me is a cup of hot rice with this preparation of minced meat and veggie..

The combo of a non-veg and veg is always a hit and it got to be when it is an Andhra preparation. So here is yet another scrumptious dish straight from amma's kitchen. Being a Tamilian, my husband is not so used to these combos. Though he loves Andhra cuisine and by all means my cooking, the first time I mentioned I'm preparing Kheema(Minced meat) with Ridge gourd(Birkankai - Tamil) he had his eyebrows raised but totally got bowled with the result..


So for those who enjoy Indian cooking and don't mind eating meat, next time pickup a pkg of minced meat and a pack of Ridge gourd(readily available in most of the South Asian stores) when you grocer and let your kitchen be filled with the aroma of this side dish.

Ingredients:
2 to 3 long - Beerakaya/ Ridge Gourd / Beerkankai (De-skinned and chopped into small cubes)
1 to 1.5 lb Kheema ( Mutton/Beef)
2 tsp oil
2 medium Onions chopped
4-5 Green Chillies slit
A Few Curry leaves
1 Tbsp Ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Red chilly powder
1 tsp Coriander pwdr
1/2 Cumin pwdr
1 tsp garam masala powder(Home Made)
Salt to taste
Finely chopped fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Procedure :
Heat oil in a pan/wok and add chopped onions, slit green chillies, curry leaves, and cook till onions are translucent.
Add ginger garlic paste and cook till rawness is gone.
Now add minced meat(kheema) and salt.
Add garam masala powder
Mix well.
Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or till the kheema changes color, stirring occasionally.
Add chopped ridge gourd pieces to the kheema curry and cook till both are is fully done.

Sprinkle some water if too dry while the kheema is cooking.
Cook till the ridge gourd almost gets disappear in the kheema..much like the pic above..follow the pics anti clockwise..
Once the kheema is cooked and oil starts oozing from the sides add coriander leaves and remove from heat.
Serve hot with plain rice first and then with sambar.

Ivy Gourd in Green Chutney / Tindora Hara Chutney wala

Dondakaya Kothimiri Karam Vepudu / Kovakai Kothimalli Kara Poriyal

Cooking is all about experimenting with the ingredients you have ready at hand..I'm always open for cooking without a recipe or adding variations to the staple procedures. No wonder I'm a fan of Michael Smith from Food Network/Food TV and always admired his style in the program "Chef at Home", where he always emphasis on cooking without a recipe.

Today's recipe is one such which absolutely came from my heart when I envisaged the flavours of adding the green chutney to regular Tindora stir fry and whipped up the same.

Ingredients:

1 lb Ivy Gourd/Dondakaya/Kovakai/Tindora (Cut into thin discs or cut length wise
1 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

1 Onion small chopped
2 Red Chillies broken into small pieces
1/2 tsp Red chilly powder
1/8 tsp Turmeric
A few curry leaves
Few lemon drops
Salt to taste

for the Green Chutney:

A Small bunch of Coriander leaves, chopped
1 Garlic clove chopped
4 Green Chillies chopped
Add water to the above items and grind to a chutney. Keep Aside

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai or wok.
Allow mustard seeds to splutter.
Then add the red chillies, onions, curry leaves one after the other and fry till onions are translucent.
Add the turmeric powder.

Now Tindora and required salt, give it a nice mix to coat them well with the seasoning.

Sprinkle some water and cook covered with lid till the Tindora is 3/4 cooked.
Keep mixing in regular intervals.

Now add green chutney and mix thoroughly..

Let the Tindora absorb all the green chutney into it.
Keep stirring till all the water is evaporated and Tindora is dry but well coated with the green chutney masala.
Add a hint of lime and remove from heat.
Serve hot with Rice, Sambar or Dhal curry

Cabbage Fritters or Pakoras

AKA Cabbage Pakodi /Pakoda

Got introduced to these fritters during my MCA days when our neighbour made these and passed it to us. I was actually stunned to see the ingredient inside these pakoras was cabbage..Because those days we are only used to onion pakoras..Wanted to include this snack in my kitchen menu too..Since it is deep fried I haven't made it once or twice say in these 12-13years..

The other day specially made these to blog on my space..Honestly is this one unhinged snack - guilty of course..You are consuming the nature's most nutritious vegetable in not so healthy form..but once in a while you got to have a treat!!! so enjoy sparingly with portion control!!!

Ingredients:Cabbage - 2 Cups
Channa Dhal Pwdr- 1 Cup
Green Chillies - 2 (chopped)
Baking Soda - A pinch
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Pwdr - A pinch
Chat masala Pdwr - 1/2 tsp ( for extra flavour)

A pinch of Amchur pwdr

Curry leaves - 8-10

Coriander leaves chopped - a few

Salt - to Taste

Enough Water

Oil for deep frying


Procedure:
1. Chop cabbage as shown in the pic and place it in a mixing bowl
2. Add the rest of the ingredients with water to make the batter thick enough to gather everything together. Adding excess water will make the Pakoras very oily.
3. Now drop small amounts of the mixed batter into the oil for deep frying.
Once the pakoras turn dark yellow or orange color strain them from oil onto a plate with issue paper to drain all the excess oil.
Arrange the Pakoras on a serving plate and enjoy with array of chutneys or sauces

Veg Fried Rice

One terrific combo for most of the Indo-Chinese dishes is a fried Rice..be it Chicken, Seafood, Mixed, Veg or if you are an eggetarian, you mind the addition of egg in your version of Veg fried rice..Adding egg sure enhances the flavour of the dish. I made this fried rice go with my crab Manchurian for which I posted recipe earlier.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 Cups Cooked Rice(Preferably Basmati)
1 Egg -optional(omit if u are strict Vegetarian)
2 tsp cooking oil
5 Thai or regular Green Chillies Chopped.
1 big Onion cut length wise
2 Tbsp fresh ginger garlic paste or use freshly chopped

2 Cups choice of chopped veggies (Carrots, Cabbage, Green Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower)

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
A pinch of Ajinomoto(optional)
Salt to taste
Spring onions chopped, one half to add while frying and the other for garnishing.

Procedure:

In a wide pan, heat oil, sizzle green chillies.
Add Onions and cook till Onions are little cooked and crispy
Add ginger garlic paste and saute'
Add half of spring onions and saute'
Now add the Chopped veggies, some salt and stir the veggies till crispy and cooked, for 5 -7 mins or so,
Now make space in the pan to beat an and make it into scramble, adding enough salt for the egg.
Once the scramble egg is fried mix it with the rest of veggies.
Add ajinomoto if using.

Now add the cooked plain rice along with soy sauce.

Add enough salt again and mix well.
Garnish with spring onions if desired and remove from heat.


Enjoy with any Chinese preparation delicacy..