Baingan Bartha

Today I will be discussing about my fav vegetable "Eggplant". Not just me, any Andhra born and brought up will have special liking for this vegetable, reason being the number of varieties that can made using this vegetable like: dal, curry, chutney, perugu pachadi(yoghurt chutney) and if I start writing the list will go on and on. These eggplants come in various shapes, sizes and colors as well and I remember my mother using almost all the kinds of eggplants in cooking available in the market. Though my fav always will be the very famous "Gutti Vankaya Koora" (stuffed baby eggplant), today I chose to give you all a North Indian version "Baingan Bartha".

Baingan Bartha is a North Indian preparation which is made by cooking the eggplant on the stove directly on flame. Well, again going to South Indian version of this type of cooking, my mom used to make a chutney by cooking this directly on flame. I will discuss that very soon but for now let me stick to the North Indian version.
Ingredients:
Baingan(Eggplant) - 1
Onion(Big) - 1 chopped
Tomato - 2 chopped
Green Chillies - 3/4 chopped
Green Peas - 1 cup (frozen or cooked)
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Corainder Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Leaves - chopped for garnishing
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2tsp
Salt
Oil

Method:
1.Take the eggplant, wash it and wipe it completely dry. Now apply oil to the eggplant. See to it the oil sticks to all sides of the eggplant.
2. Now,keep the eggplant in a baking tray and bake the eggplant for 20-30min for 500degree F.
3. After 20mins, switch off the oven, take the eggplant out and pork with a fork or knife to check if the eggplant is cooked or not. If the flesh of the eggplant feels soft, then the eggplant is cooked. Otherwise, keep in the oven for some more time.

4. If the eggplant is cooked, peel of skin using a knife or with your hand. Peel the skin completely and now chop if into big/medium chunks with a knife.
5. Now, in a pan, add oil and when it is hot, add the cumin and mustard seeds. Once they start to splutter, add the ginger garlic paste and turmeric. Fry until the raw smell goes off and then add the chopped onions. Saute for few mins adding very little salt.
6. Once the onions are sauted(they need not be completely brown), add the green peas and chopped tomatoes. Saute and cover it wid a lid.
7. Keep checking and once the tomatoes are done, add the coriander powder, chilli powder and cumin powder. You can also add the baingan bartha masala powder that is available in stores if you have it. Otherwise, just the masalas mentioned are enough.
8.Add the chunked eggplant pieces and mash them with a masher. Add very little water if needed and add salt.
9. Cook covered for few min's and then sprinkle 2tsp of lemon juice if you want. I like to add lemon in my dishes because lemon helps in digestion.
10. Finally, garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and serve with hot phulka.

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Carrot Rice

It has been a very tiring day for me today with loads of laundry, cleaning and etc and by the lunch time I wanted to make something that's very easy, time consuming and tasty. I was wondering WHAT and then found that I have lots of fresh carrots at home. So, I decided to make this wonderful tasty recipe Carrot Rice.
First of all for those people who hate carrots, I think you people you people should give this a try. Very tasty and very quick.
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Carrots - 4 grated
Green Chillies - 4 slight length wise
Onion - 1 cut length wise
Bay Leaf - 2,3
Cinnamon Stick - 1/2 inch
Star Anise - 2,3
Fried Onions - 1/4 cup
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Lemon Juice - 2tsps
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1/4 tsp
Carrot Rice Masala - 2 tsp
Salt
For Seasoning:
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Hing
Carrot Rice Masala :
Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 2tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 3,4
Dry Roast all the above ingredients and make a course powder.
Actual Method :
1. Wash the basmati rice and soak for 20mins. After 20mins, cook it in a rice cooker with 1:1.5 ratio.
2. Wash the carrots, peel and grate the carrots. Keep them aside.
3. Now in a wide skillet, take oil and do the seasoning once the oil is hot.
4. When the seasoning starts to splutter, add the cut onions, green chillies and fry them until onions turn golden brown.
5. Now, add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric and fry for few mins until the raw smell goes off.
6. Once done, add the finely grated carrot and add salt as required for the carrots. Mix and cook it in medium flame. Cover it with a lid. You don't have to add water as carrot cooks in its own moisture. Keep checking, if required add some water and cook it covered until the carrots are cooked ( the carrot becomes half the quantity of what it is once it is done. This is an indication, that it is cooked enough).
7. Once the carrot is done, add the chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and sugar. Mix well and finally add lemon juice. At this point, you can turn off the stove. Keep it aside.
8. When the rice is cooked, in a big mixing bowl, take the hot rice, add ghee/oil, pinch of turmeric and the carrot rice masala and mix well.
9. Finally, mix rice and the carrot mix.
10. Garninsh it with chopped coriander, roasted cashews and fried onions.

Serve hot with raita.

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Chaaru/Rasam

Rasam is a simple preparation that I love to make anytime. Easy, quick, tasty and light to the stomach. Almost every household's meal is incomplete without Rasam in southern part of India.

Ingredients:
Dal Water or cooked dal - 1 cup
Tamarind Pulp - 1/2 cup
Tomatoes - 2
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - pinch
Rasam Powder - 2 tsp
Water - 1 cup

Seasoning:
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Hing - pinch
Dry Red Chillies - 2
Curry Leaves
Methi Seeds-4

Method:
1. In a deep cooking bowl, add water and chopped tomatoes and cook in medium heat.
2. Once the water starts boiling and tomatoes start oozing out the juice, add the Dal water/cooked Dal, tamarind juice and add salt.
3. Once the mixture comes to a boil, add Turmeric and Rasam powder and boil for few mins.
4. Add chopped coriander leaves and turn off the stove.
5. Finally do the seasoning and add to Rasam.


Seasoning:
In a Tadka pan, add oil, jeera and mustard seeds. Once they start to crackle, add the hing, red chillies and curry leaves and turn off the stove. Add the above Tadka to Rasam.

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Bachali Koora Pappu

Bachali Koora is another kind of spinach. Also called as "Malabar Spinach", "Mong Toi"in Chinese, "Poi" in Hindi, "Pasalai Keerai" in Tamil. Check for the above names in any grocery store if you want to find one. Unlike spinach, these leaves are broad and the stem is thick.
Basically, I love to add more green vegetables to my cooking like my mother, as it's a must for us at home to have one green vegetable daily.
You can prepare so many varieties with this vegetable like dal, soup(pulusu,kozhambu) and curry. Who can ever forget the famous and yummy "Kanda Bachali". Kanda Bachali is one of my fav's and i am sure for almost all the Andhra people. Will post that recipe soon but before that goes my dal vareity of this vegetable.

Ingredients :
Toor Dal - 1 cup
Bachali Koora leaves - 1/2 bunch (big)
Tomato - 1
Green/Red Chillies - 3
Taramind - 1 lemon size
Turmeric - pinch
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Salt

Seasoning:
Chana Dal - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Jeera(Cumin Seeds) - 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Methi Seeds - 2
Dry Red Chillies
Curry Leaves
Hing - pinch

Method:
1. In a pressure cooker, wash and pressure cook the toor dal to 3 whistles.
2. Wash the leaves, cut them and keep aside.
3. In a pan, heat oil, do the seasoning and once the seeds start to splutter, add the cut leaves and tomato. Saute for few mins.
4. Meanwhile, soak the tamarind in lukewarm water ( or microwave the tamarind in water for 30sec) for more pulp. Extract the pulp.
5. Add the tamarind pulp to the pan, stir it and cover it with a lid.
6. Once the tomatoes and the leaves are completely cooked, add the turmeric and mix it well.
7. Add the cooked dal , salt and chilli powder.
8. Cook the dal covered for 5mins.
9. Once it starts to bubble, turn off the stove.





Serve with hot rice and ghee.

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Ugadi Pachadi

Ugadi Pachadi is a mixture with all six tastes called as "Shadruchulu" , which is a mixture of Sweet,Sour,Bitter,Tangy,Spice and Salt. Ugadi Pachadi symbolizes the fact that life is a mixture of different experiences and feelings like happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, surprises and fear, which should be accepted equally.

Ingredients:
Tamarind Juice (for Sourness) - 1 cup
Raw Mango (for Tang) - skin peeled and finely cut into small pieces
Neem flowers ( for Bitterness)
Chilli Powder ( for Spice) - 1/4 spoon
Jaggery ( for Sweet) - 1 cup
Salt ( for saltiness) - 1/4 spoon

Method:
In a bowl, mix all the above ingredients.



Here's wishing you all A Very Happy Ugadi.

NOTE : In case you don't get Neem Flowers, you can substitute with Bitter Gourd.

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Pandaga Naivedyam - Offerings to God

Naivedyam on Ugadi (clockwise from top) :
Coconut Water , Mamidikaya Pulihora, Ugadi Pachadi and Semya Payasam.

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Mamidikaya Pulihora ( Mango Rice)

On the day of Ugadi, dishes with mango is a must for us, like mamidikaya pappu (mango dal), mamidikaya pulihora(mango rice). So here's my recipe for mango rice...
Ingredients:
Raw Mango - 1
Green Chillies - 3
Rice - 1 cup
Salt
Oil

For Seasoning:
Cashew Nut - 1/4 cup
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Chana Dal - 1tsp
Urad Dal - 1tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing - pinch
Curry Leaves

Method:
1. Cook the rice and keep it aside.
2. Wash the mango and peel the skin of the mango with a peeler. Now grate the mango and keep it aside.
3. In a wide skillet, take some oil, add all the seasoning except curry leaves. Once they turn golden brown in color, add the curry leaves and green chillies, stir it and add the grated mango. Keep stirring it for 5mins, not more than that. Turn off the flame.
4. Now mix both the rice and the mixture. Add salt.

Serve hot..

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Ugadi Subhakankshalu - Happy New Year

Ugadi marks the beginning of Telugu New Year. The day begins with oil bath and after that "Ugadi Pachadi".

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Carrot-Peas-Coconut Koora

Ingredients:
Carrots - 4
Peas - 1 cup
Shredded Coconut - 1 cup

For Seasoning:
Oil - 2tbsps
Mustard Seeds - 1/2tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2tsp
Curry Leaves

Method:
1. Peel the carrots, cut them into small pieces. Boil them and keep them aside.
2. In a pan, take some oil, when its hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin and urad dal and curry leaves.
3. Now add the boiled carrot and peas. Keep stirring for 5mins until the water evoporates.
4. Now add salt, chilli powder and sugar. Finally add the grated coconut.
5. Keep on low flame for 2-3mins and turn off the stove.

Serve with hot rice and ghee.

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Holi - Festival Of Colors

May Your LIFE be filled with

colors of joy,

colors of friendship,

colors of fun,

colors of love,

colors of happiness,

On Holi and Always,

Wishing You All Happy Holi

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Barvan Dum Aloo ( Stuffed Potatoes in Cashew nut-tomato sauce)

The other day we were having a potluck and I wanted to make something different that I never tried before. I was just browsing and came across this wonderful recipe by Sanjay Thumma in www.vahrevah.com. Me and my husband watched it together and he wanted to taste that very soon. I decided to prepare that and it turned out well. A little time consuming, but worth the preparation. I varied the method according to my taste. Here my recipe goes :

Ingredients :
Potatoes - 4 big
Tomatoes - 2 medium
Cashew Nuts - 6-8
Milk - 2-3 tbsps
Onion - 1 big
Oil - 1-11/2 cup for deep frying
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2tsp

Preparation :
1. Soak the Cashew Nuts in milk for about 20mins.
2. Take the potatoes, wash them, peel them and cut them into half. Now scoop off the inside of the each half of the potato. Be careful the sides and the bottom of the potato is not cut. Scoop off all the pieces. Keep the shells and the scooped stuff aside.


3. Now take the scooped potato in a bowl and boil it for 10mins until its soft. Drain the excess water, see it to it is dry mash it well.Then add salt, garam masala, chilli powder, cut green chillies, chat masala, coriander and mix it well. Keep this aside.
4. Meanwhile in a heavy bottomed vessel, take the oil ( oil level should in such a way that, the potatoes are immersed in the oil), and when its hot, add the potato shell's one by one slowly and deep fry them. See to it that the inside of the potatoes are also cooked. This may take 5-7mins. Press lightly on the potato to check if they are done. Don't press them too hard, otherwise they may break.
5.Once they are deep fried, take them out and place them on a paper towel. Put them upside down so that any oil left in the shells is drained out completely. Keep them aside till they cool.
6.Now stuff in the mashed potato paste into the potato shells and keep them aside.

7. Now take the soaked cashew nut along with milk and 1 cut tomato in a blender and blend them to a fine paste.
8. Take a wok, add some oil and when oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds. When they start to crackle, add the finely chopped onions. Add turmeric and when the onions turn transparent, add 1 chopped tomato. Keep on stirring until the tomatoes are mashed up completely. Now add the chew nut-tomato sauce and cook it covered for sometime(2-3mins). Now add all the spices, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and salt. Once the raw smell goes off, now add the stuffed potatoes one by one slowly into the sauce. Keep stirring now and then and cook it covered for sometime. Cook for not more than 10mins as the potatoes are already cooked. Finally garnish with chopped coriander.

You can eat this with jeera rice or parathas of your choice.

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Lemon Sevai

I got to know about this wonderful breakfast item from my friend. Long back probably a year ago, we went to their place and she made this for breakfast the next day. I loved it so much that from then on I included this one amongst my breakfast dishes.
I had a confusion about calling this item, Sevai or Idiyappam??? What should we call it? I never knew the difference and sometimes i used to call it sevai and sometimes idiyappam. Finally after a bit research, i now know that we should call this preparation as "Sevai". What is the difference between these two? I will try to put in here what i understood.
Idiyappam is a preparation made with rice flour,water and salt. Make a smooth dough with rice flour, adding little salt and water. Rest it for sometime and put in the muruku maker ( cooking press). Press in small quantities into the idly stand into round shapes and steam cook for 10mins. This preparation is called "Idiyappam". Sevai is a cooked version of Idiyappam, which means we will be using this idiyappam , spice it up with some tempering and spices of your choice. Sevai can be prepared in many number of ways like : Lemon Sevai, Coconut Sevai, Vegetable Sevai etc...

I made Lemon Sevai for our weekend breakfast and if you ask me if i followed all the above steps for this preparation, my answer is a big NO. The procedure i followed is very simple, hardly takes 10-15mins. I brought a frozen Idiyappam packet. I used " Maharani's Choice Frozen Idiyappam" for this preparation. Here goes my recipe :

Ingredients :
Frozen packet of idiyappam - 1
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Green Chillies - 2,3 small finely chopped
Lemon - 1
Mixed Vegetables of your choice - 1 cup

For Seasoning :
Oil - 2tsps
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Preparation :
1. Take the frozen idiyappam from the packet and thaw it in microwave for 5mins until its very soft. It should be soft both on top and bottom. Leave it aside and let it cool.
2. Meanwhile, in a cooking pan take some oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and when they start to splutter, add finely chopped onions, green chillies and saute them till golden brown color. After that add any vegetables if you want. Saute them until they are cooked. Add turmeric.
3. Now take this thawed idiyappam and mash all of them one by one and add them to the pan. Once done, add salt and mix it well in such a way that you don't see particles of idiyappam stick to each other. It should be dry and fine.
4. Once done, add lemon juice, mix it once again.

You can serve this with any kurma, coconut chutney, pickle or have it just like that.

NOTE : This recipe may not be the actual method of preparation, but i have varied it to my taste and interest.

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Avocado Parathas

Now this sounds something different right. Well, before i start of with my recipe, i have to thank Mrs. Indira of Mahanandi for posting this wonderful recipe. I tried it, loved it like anything else.
Whenever we goto mexican restaurants, we have Guacamole served with Dorito's as an appetizer. It took sometime for me to get used to the taste, but now i love it. Other day i came across an article about avocado that says how good avocado is for human body. It came as a surprise to me that eating avocado at least thrice a week is much better than surviving on a low-fat diet for people with cholesterol and is an excellent source of fiber. I seriously wanted to increase our intake of this fruit and that is when i came across this wonderful recipe by Indira. Here the recipe goes:
Ingredients:
Avocado - 1
Wheat flour - 3-4 cups
Salt - 1tsp
Water/milk
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds (optional) - 1/2 tsp

Preparation :
Take the avocado, cut it to half, take the seed off and with a small knife scoop off the insides of the avocado on both halves. Take this to a bowl and mash it well to a fine paste. Now, to the wheat flour, add some salt, cumin seeds, chilli powder, mashed avocado and kneed to smooth dough adding water or milk. I prefer to use warm milk for parathas as they make the parathas much softer. Rest the dough for 30-40mins. Now take portions of the dough and roll into round shaped parathas. Heat the tava, place the paratha on the griddle and allow one side to cook till it becomes golden brown color, now flip the paratha and allow the other side to cook. Add some ghee/oil. Repeat the same for all the parathas.


Finally serve with subzi of your choice.

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Tomato and Aratikai ( raw plantain) Bajji

It's snowing here yesterday and my husband wanted to eat something very hot. He wanted to have some hot hot pakodas and that is when i decided to make this yummy tomato bajji. I fell in love with this tomato bajji when i was in Bhimavaram, a small town in Andhra Pradesh. These bajji's are very famous there and i decided to try them. It's very simple way of preparation, hardly takes 20mins to prepare. All that you need is good tomatoes.

Ingredients :
Tomatoes - 2 ( remember for this the tomatoes should be hard when you touch them. If they are soft, they tend to soften and break when we deep fry them)
Gram flour - 2-3 cups
Rice flour - 2-3 tsps
Salt - 1-2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Water - 1-11/2 cup
Oil - 2-3 cups

Preparation :
Take the gram flour,salt,chilli powder in a mixing bowl. Add very little water and mix all the ingredients without forming any lumps. Remember the batter should be thicker than the ordinary bajji mix. It should not be a thin batter. It should be thick.

Now take the tomatoes, wash them, wipe them with paper towel or a cloth and dip the tomatoes in the batter. See to it the batter spreads evenly to all sides of tomato. Meanwhile, in a deep frying pan, take oil ( oil level should be in such a way that the tomatoes should be immersed in oil).

When the oil is hot, put the tomatoes one by one dipped in the gram flour batter. Keep the stove in medium flame, and fry the tomatoes until the outer layer(gram flour layer) turns golden brown. This takes 10-15mins approximately. Once done, take them to a plate and let them cool for sometime.

Meanwhile you can prepare the filling for the bajji's.

For the filling :

Ingredients :
Puffed rice ( maramaralu, murmura) - 1 cup
Onions - 1 finely chopped
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Chat masala( optional) - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Lemon - 1 tsp

Preparation :
Take the puffed rice, chopped onions in a bowl. Add all the spices one by one and mix them. You can also add chopped coriander leaves. I did not have coriander yesterday and did not add them.

Final Preparation :
Take the flour dipped and fried tomatoes and cut them to 1/2. Remember you have to be very delicate in handling the tomato now as its cooked inside. when you handle it hard, it might even break. Cut the tomato into 1/2 and scoop out all the puree inside the two halves of the tomato. Add the scooped tomato puree to the puffed rice mixture. Repeat the same for all the tomatoes.

Now again mix the puffed rice mixture with the tomato puree( if you want, you can add extra chopped tomato also). Mix well with your hand in such a way that the tomato juice, and all the spices stick well to the puffed rice).

With this, you are 90% done with the preparation. Finally stuff in the filling into the scooped tomatoes and serve.

This preparation is so yummy, you can feel the crispness of the besan mixture deep fried outside the bajji and inside you have this spicy-sour puffed rice mixture. Though the procedure looks complicated, when you start making, you would be surprised that its so quick in preparation. For those, who never tried this, you should give it a try.

My husband absolutely loved this.

I had some left-over besan batter and made plantain bajji with it.

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Aviyal

Aviyal is a Kerala dish prepared with different vegetables, coconut and yoghurt. The most commonly used vegetables for this dish are potatoes, raw plantain, long beans, yam, pumpkin, drumsticks, carrots. In some parts of kerala ( south), this dish is prepared with tamarind or mango instead of yoghurt.

Ingredients :
Potatoes - 1 big or 2 small peeled and cubed
Carrots - 2 peeled and cubed
long beans - 1 cup chopped
drumsticks - 1 cup
raw plantain - 1 peeled and cubed
yam - 1 peeled and cubed
Sour Curd ( yoghurt) - 2 cups finely beaten
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

For the mixture :
coconut - 1/2 - 1 cup
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green chilli - 2-3

In a blender, grind all these 3 together to a fine paste adding little water. Keep this aside.

Preparation :
Take all the cut vegetables in a pressure cooker and cook until 1-2 whistles. If you are cooking them in a microwave, cook them for 15mins. Once the vegetables are cooked, drain some water( keep this vegetable stock) and add all the vegetables in a cooking pan, add turmeric, salt and cook covered for few minutes. After few mins, once all the vegetables are soft to touch, add the coconut-chilli paste to the vegetables , stir it now and then and cook it covered on med flame. After 5mins, add the finely beaten curd to this . Check the consitency and add water( vegetable stock) if required. Finally when the avial is ready, do the seasoning.

For Seasoning :
Oil ( coconut oil or any oil) - 1tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp

In a tadka pan, add the oil and when its hot, add the mustard seeds. when they crackle, take off the stove and add to the avial.

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Aloo Mutter

Aloo Mutter is a Punjabi dish cooked with potatoes, green peas in tomato sauce. Goes well with parathas, rotis and phulkas.

Ingredients :

1. Potatoes - 4 (peeled and cut into cubes)

2. Onions - 2 (finely chopped)

3. Tomatoes - 3 (finely chopped)

4. Peas - 1 cup

5. Ginger

6. Garlic flakes

7. Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

8. Mustard Seeds - 1tsp

9. Oil - 2tbsps

10. Fresh Curd - 1 cup

11. Lemon Juice - 2tsps (Optional)

12. Coriander Leaves - 1 cup finely chopped

13. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

14. red chilli powder - 1tsp

15. coriander powder -1/2 tsp

16. amchur powder - 1/2 tsp

Method :

1. In a deep sauting pan, take 2 tbsps of oil and add the mustard and cumin seeds. When they start to splutter add the finely chopped onions and saute them until onions turn to golden brown color. This will take a few minutes.

2. Once the Onions are sauted, add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for few minutes until the raw smell of the ginger garlic paste is gone. After that add the finely chopped tomatoes, saute for sometime and cover with a lid. Keep on stirring for sometime until the tomatoes release the juice and till it becomes a gravy. ( In this process, you can also add some water if you want. )

3. Now, once the gravy is ready add all the spices: turmeric powder, Chilli powder, coriander powder, amchur powder, and some garam masala along with the fresh curd. Mix all this in the gravy and finally add the potatoes and peas. Add 1 cup of water. Add some salt, stir it once again and cook this covered for sometime.

4. Keep stirring frequently so that the gravy doesn't stick to the bottom. Once the subzi is done( you can test it by pressing a potato piece, it should be soft) turn off the stove, add 2tsps of lime juice for additional taste and garnish with corinader leaves.




Serve hot with Rotis, Chappathis, Parathas or Phulkas.

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Masala Idli

This is a Karnataka style idli. This is very simple to prepare and very delicious.

Ingredients :
Idli's - 12
Oil - 2tbsps
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Karam podi ( Molaga podi, chutney powder) - 3 tbsps
Lemon Juice - 2tsps
Salt

Method:
1. When the idli's are ready, cut them into small cubes and keep them aside.

2. In a kadai, take 2tbsps of oil and when its heated, add the cumin and the mustard seeds. when they start to splutter add the turmeric and the chutney powder. stir and add the idli pieces.
Add some salt and mix well. Finally sprinkle 2tsps of lemon juice.

3. Serve with coconut chutney.

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Pav Bhaji

It's weekend and time for grocery shopping. We went to desi store near by and today we got fresh pav's, it's then i decided i will make pav bhaji for dinner. I love this recipe a lot. Its healthy, easy to make and very delicious. Here my recipe goes..

Ingredients :
For Bhaji :
Onions - 2 finely chopped ( or 1 big)
Tomatoes - 2,3 chopped and puried
Green Chillies - 2,3 finely chopped
Potatoes - 3 peeled and cubed
Carrots - 2 peeled and cubed
Beans - 1 cup finely chopped
Capsicum - 1 finely chopped
Oil - 2tbsps
Butter
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1-2tsp
Garam Masala - 1tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 or even less tsp
Chilli powder - 1tsp
Coriander Powder - 1tsp
Cumin Powder - 1tsp
Amchur Powder - 1tsp
Curd - 2tbsp
Lemon
Red Food Color (optional)

Method of Preparation :

Take all the cut vegetables and pressure cook them or microwave them until cooked. Once the vegetables are cooked, drain the water completely and finely mash the vegetables and keep it aside. You can use this vegetable stock for the bhaji if required.
Take a deep frying pan, add some oil and when its hot add the cumin and mustard seeds. when they start to crackle, add the finely chopped onions and green chilies. Fry the onions until golden brown color, add some turmeric and ginger garlic paste. fry till the raw smell of ginger garlic is gone, then add the puried tomatoes or finely chopped tomatoes. i prefer to add the puried tomatoes as it takes less time to cook. when the tomates are cooked or when the purie thickens, add garam masala, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, amchur powder. You can substitute all this by adding pav bhaji masala. Add some water(vegetable stock) if required. After few mins, add the finely beaten curd to this mixture. Once it starts bubbling, add the mashed vegetable to this and keep on stirring. add salt. cook for 5mins and turn off. You may add red food color if you want. Garnish with chopped coriander .


Serve hot with pav, finely chopped onions and lemon wedge.

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