Madhoo writes...

Mukka Pachadi

2010-07-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

Summer doesn't end without my mom making this pickle. After pickling 'Avakaya', there are left over raw mangoes which don't have strong pit, these are the lucky ones which get pickled into 'Mukka Avakaya' and hence get eaten away within a week, instead of staying in the 'Jadi'(earthen pot) for rest of the year.

The process is very simple and the flavor is surprisingly very strong. The trick is fenugreek powder instead of regular mustard powder. Another good thing about this pickle is you can make this in matter of minutes and don't have to sun dry anything. You don't need mangoes that have strong pit, even the regular one's with soft pit are fine. Just pick the one's which are sour. The sourer the better.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 large raw, sour mango- not peeled and cut into very small pieces.

2. 4 to 5 spoons of fenugreek, roasted evenly and powdered fine.
3. 4 spoons of salt
4. 4 spoons of red chilli powder
5. pinch of turmeric

INGREDIENTS FOR TAMPERING:

6. 5 spoons of sesame oil
7. 2 spoons of mustard seeds
8. pinch of fenugreek seeds
9. 2 whole red chillies
10. 4-5 dashes of hing

Process:

Step1: Take a medium sized bowl and add finely chopped mango pieces.

Step2: Add turmeric, salt, chilli powder and fenugreek powder. Mix throughly. Cover
and leave for 3 hrs.

The mango mixture becomes slightly moist as salt dissolves.

Step3: Do the tampering with ingredients 6-10. Let the tampering come to room
temperature before adding to the mango mixture.

Stir well and serve with piping hot rice and a dallop of ghee.

Tribute to Veturi !!

2010-05-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

An intimate communion of touching lyrics and Veturi Garu is what we hear and feel in every song he wrote for us. The world of music looks so void without him...

Honestly, I cannot think of one song that is on top of my head right now, but here is one that is my all time favorite...

'Chinukula Rali"

Will miss you Veturi Garu....will miss you earnestly..

Madhoo....

Dosakaya Mukka Pachadi

2010-05-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

Who ever invented or discovered this recipe, is to me a genius in the cooking world. Now, before you say that I am exaggerating, I have a good explanation. All the fresh chutneys or 'Rotti Pachalldu' that we prepare with fresh vegetables are either shallow fried in oil or steam baked. However, this pachadi is prepared with raw 'Dosakaya', yes you saw that right and believe me you won't be complaining at all. And to my wonder I really cannot imagine 'Dosakaya Pachadi' any other way at all.

Not to mention the nutrients, low calorie value and ultra flavorful taste.

Dosakaya(yellow Indian cucumber) is a vegetable very low in calories and very high in nutrients and fiber. Here is a scoop on the total number of calories in this recipe.

Chutney made with 1 medium Dosakaya yields about 5 to 6 servings.

Approximate amount of total calories :300

Ease of preparation :Very Easy

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 medium Dosakaya. Wash and peel. As Dosakaya has seeds, taste both the flesh and the seeds. If the seeds are bitter, scoop and garbage them or the chutney will not be edible. If the flesh is slightly bitter then you can still use it, but if its very bitter then you will have to dump it too and pick another Dosakaya. Also pick a firm one not soft or mushy one.

2. 1 bunch of Cilantro. Washed and chopped.

3. 1 1/2 spoon of Sesame or Peanut oil.

4. 1 spoon each of Urad dal and Mustard seeds.

5. Pinch of fenugreek seeds and couple of dashes of hing.

6. 2 red chillies.

7. 5 or 6 green chillies or as per taste.

8. 4 to 5 spoons of tamarind pulp.

Method:

Step 1: Take 1 1/2 spoons of Sesame oil or Peanut oil in a wok.

Step 2: Add Urad dal, Mustard seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Pinch of hing and red chilles.

Step 3: Add green chillies, switch off the stove and put a lid.

Step 4: Let the tampering cool a bit.

Step 5: Coarsely blend tampered ingredients. Add Cilantro and blend some more. Salt.

Step 6: Add tamarind pulp and blend some more.

Step 7: Remove the blended ingredients into a bowl and add finely chopped raw Dosakaya and some more Cilantro.

Step 8: Stir in well and check for salt.

Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Vankaya Kothimera Kharam

2010-05-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

Cilantro is like the ingredient in my kitchen. I really cannot imagine my kitchen without it. That said I always added a handful of Cilantro leaves in all my curries including 'Vankaya'(eggplant/brinjal).

But my co-sister's family is from Godavari District and I heard of this recipe at her home. This recipe was talked about for quite a while until I decided to give it a try and to my amazement I could not believe the flavor and taste that a big bunch of Cilantro and Green Chilli paste added to this otherwise normal curry.

Not to mention the total Calories! Check it out yourself...

Total amount of Calories (approximately) - 300
Total servings - 4
Ease of prepartion - Very easy
Nutrition Value - Medium

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 medium Chinese egg plant(rounded one) or 2 lengthy Indian store brinjals (my preference). Wash and chop into chunks.

2. 2 cups of chopped Cilantro

3. 4 to 5 green chillies or as per taste
4. 1 spoon peanuts (optional)
5. stalk of curry leaves
6. 1/2 spoon urad dal
7. 1/2 spoon channa dal
8. 1/2 spoon mustard seeds
9. 1 red chilli broken into pieces
10. Salt per taste

METHOD:

Step 1: Add 1 spoon of sesame oil to iron a skillet or bhandi

Step 2: Add peanuts, urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds, red chilli and curry leaves. Let them fry.

Step 3: Add chopped brinjal.

Step 4: Salt and stir. Don't put a lid. Let them fry a bit on medium flame.

Step 5: Blend coarsely Cilantro and green chillies. Set aside.

Step 6: When brinjal feels cooked add the Cilantro and Chilli mixture.

Step 7: Fold in gently and let them cook for another 5 mins before turning it off.

Serve 'Vankaya Kothimera Kharam' with piping hot rice and ghee.

Apple Avakaya

2010-05-11T18:31:00.001-07:00

This morning I had a strong craving for tart and strong South Indian 'Avakaya' which is typical made from raw and sour Mangoes. Back in Guntur this is the season for pickles. From regular 'Avakaya' to 'Bellam Avakaya', from specialities like 'Nuvvu Pappu Avakaya' to 'Bapaya Avakaya' every home is busy in preparing either Mustard powder base long standing pickles or Fenugreek powder based short term pickles which last for about a month.

I remember my aunts and grandmother used to gather at our home in Guntur where they all discussed the ratio's of 'Avapindi' to 'Salt' to 'Chilli Powder'. Every year it was new to them and every year the pickle came out different and more spicy. The jargon is so nostalgic. 'Peda Rasallu', 'Nuvulla Nune', 'Kalda Uppu', 'Baldari Kharam'..... so on..

So, finally I decided not to kill the tradition of cravings for Avakaya and picked up tart Granny Smith Apples from local grocer's. Honestly, I can't complain at all. It took me less than 10 mins of preparation time.

I am not filling in the calorie details today, I will come back to it later. I am quite eager to post my blog today...

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2 granny smith tart apples. Wipe, dry, cube without seeds with skin.
2. 7 spoons of mustard seeds. Powder fine in mixer/blender.
3. 4 heaped spoons of salt
4. 4-5 heaped spoons of chilli powder
5. 15 pods of garlic (optional)
6. 1/2 spoon fenugreek seeds
7. 1/2 spoon cumin seeds
8. pinch of turmeric
9. 3/4 cup of Sesame oil only.

Yields about 3 to 4 cups of pickle. Pickle stays for about 20 to 30 days.

PREPARATION:

Step 1: First take a big dry bowl and place the cubed apples in there.

Step 2: Add Salt, Chilli powder and Mustard powder.

Step 3: Using your hand mix thoroughly from inside out. You will feel the moisture oozing out of the apples.

Step 4: Add garlic pods, fenugreek, cumin and turmeric.

Step 5: Again stir well using your hand.

Step 6. Leave for about 1/2 hour, this lets salt dissolve.

Step 7. Pour in 1/4 cup of oil, gently stir again.

Step 8. Leave aside for half day. Moisture will come out of the apples.

Step 9. Pour in rest of the oil and let it sit for another half day.

Stir and serve with piping hot rice, ghee and papad...

Happy Mothers Day to All!

2010-05-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that describes me the most and in totality then its 'Motherhood' and the fact that I am a mother. I have become a better person after giving birth to my son. Not to mention the fact that I gained enormous amount of patience too.

This mother's day has also been special to me job wise. After almost an year long search for job, I landed on my offer letter and gladly signed it. Hence the lapse in blogging these days.

I promised myself to catch up on the blogging world in a week or two once things have settled down a bit.

Until then, wishing all my readers a very happy Mothers Day.

To my Amma - 'I love you Amma... missing you!'

Madhoo

Pushpa Vilapam.... ! (Flower's lament)

2010-04-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hmmm.....! After a short break of about 3 weeks from the blogging world, today I decided to write my post about what Iam reading lately. Other than few famous novels, non-fictions, I took up to read Karunasree Jandhyala Papaih Sastry's Poem "Pushpa Vilapam".

The beautiful poem in Telugu has been translated by Sri Kandregula Amba Prasada Rao into English and I have to say he has done a splendid job.

There are many stanza's to this poem, however I decided to pick 2 which I like the most.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

In Telugu....

"ma' velalEni mugdha sukuma'ra sugamdha maramda ma'dhurii
jiivitamella miikai tyajimci kRuSimci naSimcipOva ma'
yauvanamella kollagoni a' pai ciipurutODa cimmi ma
mma'vala pa'ravaiturugada'! naraja'tiki niiti yunnada'? "

Translated into English....

While our priceless and innocent,
Delicate, nectarean and fragrant
Life, for you is sacrificed and frayed
Withered and laid utterly destroyed -
Ravishing our youth, sweep with broom - Alas !
Is there morality among the Human Race ?

In Telugu...

"Ulu da'ra'latO gomtu kuri bigimci
gumDelOnumDi soodulu grucci koorci
muDucu komduru muccaTa muDula mammu
akaTa! dayalEniva'ru mii ya'Duva'ru! "

Translated into English...

Strangling us with wool and rings,
Piercing bosoms with needles and strings,
Adorn with us your braids fancy-
Alas! ye women are sans mercy.

I am no expert in reading telugu, unfortunately I have to blame it on my KV (central school) schooling. However, I decided to correct my telugu so that I can enjoy our rich telugu literature. For the first time I miss being fluent in reading Telugu while I struggle to read 'Pushpa Vilapam'.

There is a famous quote by Mark Twain, "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them".

You never know which book it is that will change your life for good, so keep reading.

For now.. its 'Pushpa Vilapam' for me....

Until next time...happy reading to you all....

Vankaya Vulipaya Kharapukaya- Vegetarian's Non Veg

2010-03-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

This recipe has a nick name in my family, we call it Vegetarian's Non-Veg. I have never tasted Chicken, however I have a feeling it might feel in texture something like this.

This absolutely super easy whole brinjal recipe will make you look like you sweat in kitchen the whole day but believe me all it will take is 10 mins to put them on stove and rest the heat will do it for you.

If you prepare the filling ahead of time then it will take less than 3 mins. I swear...try it!

Don't pick (Indian store whole brinjals, they won't cook, they won't fry and will burn your curry). Pick either lengthy brinjals, or Costco small sized egg plants.
I picked 4 Costco egg plants.

No wonder Brinjals are called king of Vegetables. With their nature given green fancy crowns, vibrant purple color, Graceful stature and complex taste no wonder they deserve all the cooking attention.

This recipe will serve : 4 servings
Total Calories : 750
Nutritional Value : Medium
Ease of Preparation : As simple as dropping a pin

INGREDIENTS:

1. 4 small sized Costco egg plants
2. 2 big onions, chopped
3. salt
4. chili powder
5. big bunch of cilantro
6. 4 spoons of oil
7. spoon of cumin seeds
8. curry leaves

FILLING:

Step 1: Coarsely blend onion, salt, cilantro and chilli powder. Keep aside.

PROCESS:

Step 2: Take a big non stick pot or bhandi. Pour 4 spoons of oil. Warm oil.

Step 3: Slit brinjals into a plus sign from bottom without slitting the caps.

Step 4: Fill brinjals with coarse onion filling.

Step 5: Add cumin seeds and curry leaves to oil. Slowly drop brinjals into oil. Salt
lightly.

Step 6: Cover and let them fry on medium heat. The water from onions will make brinjals cook slowly.

Step 7: Fry without lid for last 10 mins. Add rest of onion paste for more taste.

Cooking time might vary depending upon the type of brinjals. Purple lengthy ones might fry in 10 to 15 mins, but be very careful as these might fall apart when moving them around.

Costco bought small egg plants might take as much as 1 hr to cook/fry.

Serve with piping hot rice and ghee.

Earth hour at my home- 2010

2010-03-28T04:30:00.000-07:00

Enlightenment Without Lights:

Had candle light dinner of pasta and juice while participating in Earth Hour 2010!

As the pleasant Lilac candle imparted its light and fragrance we had our dinner.

Electricity Consumed (8.30 pm till 9.30 pm)- None
Happy Hour - Yes
Sense of Enlightenment (without lights) - High

Have a good weekend!

Vegetable Kurma

2010-03-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

Over the last few years I kept changing this recipe, now its in its final shape and form. A delightful consort for flavourful rich biryani.

Yes its certainly heavy on the appetite and calories. Keep this meal for midday and burn it off before you go to bed by taking very light dinner. Hope you like it as much as my family does.

Number of servings for the given portions of ingredients : 5
Total Calorie count : 1700
Calories per serving : 340
Nutritional Value : High
Ease of preparation : Medium effort

INGREDIENTS:

1. large potato, washed and cubed into chunks (with skin optional)
2. Carrots 1/2 cup
3. Green peppers (capsicum) 1/2 cup
4. Frozen paneer, thawed and fried in ghee/oil 1/2 cup
5. Fried cashews and raisins, 2 spoons each
6. 1 cup curd/yogurt
7. 4 spoons of oil
8. Cilantro
9. Mixed vegetables (I use frozen) 1/2 cup
10. 1 big onion sliced length wise

MASALA INGREDIENTS:

11. crushed garlic and ginger 3 spoons together
12. Biryani leaf couple of them
13. few cloves and elaichi (per taste)
14. 1 spoon dhania powder
15. salt per taste
16. chilli powder 2 spoons

TO COOK:

STEP 1: In a non stick wok or 'bhandi' add 4 spoons of oil. When warm add ingredients 11 to 13. After a minute add onions. Salt and add dhania powder.

STEP 2: Add cubed potato's and rest of vegetables. Salt lightly, stir and let them fry for about 15 mins or until potatoes are soft.

STEP 3: Add curd, reduce and let the water in curd evaporate. Kurma starts to stick to the vessel after about 15 more mins. Add 1 spoon of ghee, fried nuts and paneer and reduce to low.

STEP 4: In a small wok/bhandi/non stick pot, heat 1 spoon of oil/ghee and add 1/2 spoon of cumin and 2 spoons of chilli powder. When its ready add it to kurma.

STEP 5: Stir everything together and garnish with cilantro and serve with roti/biryani/pulav.

Cashew and Coconut Bobbatllu (without Maida or Senaga Pappu)

2010-03-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

I think I am taking my heart healthy frenzy to a new level by trying this recipe on Ugadi. I wanted to start the new year with a healthy sweet so that I don't have any guilt pangs later after I gulp down 2 or 3 of them. My mom said she saw this recipe on some TV channel back in India. So I decided to put it to test.

BTW I came up with the name myself as she forgot to tell me what the recipe is called. I was usually under the assumption that any heart healthy desserts/sweets aren't as tasty as they are healthy. But this recipe got me totally wrong. I give it an A+ for taste and for ease of preparation it earns a 'Super Easy' (especially for a dessert). I hope you like it as much as I did.

Here is the Calorie scoop on it.

The recipe for below sized ingredients yields about 9 medium sized bobbatlu.

Approximate total calories for 9 pieces - 1350
Nutritional value - Good
Taste Meter Index - A+
Ease of preparation - Very easy

INGREDIENTS:

1. 3/4th cup of wheat flour
2. 1/4 cup of brown sugar (can use white sugar too)
3. 1 ounce (approximately 28 gms) of cashews
4. 1 ounce of dry dessicated coconut
5. 3 to 4 spoons of ghee
6. Pinch of baking soda

PROCESS:

Step 1: Make a dough with wheat flour, pinch of baking soda, 1 spoon of oil and water. Dough should resemble regular roti dough.

Keep aside for an hour.

Step 2: Finely ground, cashews, coconut, sugar and elaichi for flavor and aroma. Set aside. Filling is ready.

Step 3: Using a rolling pin make small puri's. Spoon the filling carefully. Fold carefully and roll again to small puri's.

Step 4: Shallow fry with bit of ghee. Store in aluminium foil for softness to retain until serving time.

Your heart healthy 'Neivedyam' is ready for the telugu new year eve.

Vikruthi Nama Samvatsara Yug+Adi (Ugadi) Subhakankshallu

2010-03-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

'Ugadi Pachadi' signifies life. Life filled with sweet moments like banana, anguish and anger like chilly powder, sour like tamarind, flavourful as salt, bitter as neem flower and tangy as raw fresh mango.

Just mix all the above shown ingredients and 'Ugadi Pachadi' is ready to be served to god and then to your family.

I had brought dried neem flower from India last year, which I used for Ugadi Pachadi. But there are other alternatives to using neem flower, you can substitute with Methi seeds or bitter gourd pieces.

Whatever the Pachadi is made off, I am sure it signifies your effort to live and share culture, tradition and practices of your own home that you want to impart and fold into your wedded family.

Mixed Vegetable Oats Upma

2010-03-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

I rate this recipe an A+ in nutrition, taste, ease of preparation and calorie count. Absolutely yummy and soft as cream. Can't believe it only took 1 spoon each of oil and ghee into it. Not to mention it stay put in my tummy unlike dosa's and kept me at a distance from sugar cravings.
You can add loads of vegetables to this recipe to enhance its nutritional value. However I stuck to more conventional upma vegetables, I have often been criticized for not welcoming capsicum's and potato's into my upma. My answer, I just don't have a palette for them not in upma definitely.

Here is the nutritional scoop on this recipe for the given measure of ingredients(approximately).

Total servings : 3
Total Calories : 700(approx)
Nutritional Value: High
Taste Meter : A (A stands for very good taste)
Ease of preparation: Easy

INGREDIENTS:

1. 3/4 cup of oats
2. Mixed vegetables 1/2 cup (carrots, beans, corn and peas)
3. 2 ripe tomatoes chopped
4. 1/2 cup onion
5. curry leaves
6. salt
7. slit green chillies 2 (oats don't take much spice,even 2 is slightly more for kids)
8. 1 spoon oil
9. 1 spoon ghee
10. Cashews (optional, I didn't add in either my recipe or calorie count)
11. piece of ginger finely chopped.

Ingredients for Tampering:

1. 1 spoon senaga pappu (channa dal)
2. 1 spoon aavallu (mustard seeds)
3. 1 red chilli

Method:

Step 1: Do the tampering with 1 spoon of oil and 1 spoon of ghee. Add tampering ingredients and let mustard jump around a bit.

Step 2: Add green chillies, curry leaf, ginger and onions. Let them sweat.

Step 3: Add tomatoes and chopped vegetables (I used frozen)

Step 4: Salt

Step 5: Add 2 cups of water. Cover and let it come to a rolling boil.

Step 6: Reduce flame and add oats. Cook on medium until done.

Step 7: Should take about 10 mins on medium and another 5 on low for it to fluff a bit.

Step 8: Garnish with cilantro and add few drops of lemon juice before serving.

Healthy, nutritious, guilt free breakfast for the weekend!

Oscars were hilarious! Happy Womens Day to All.

2010-03-08T07:39:00.000-08:00

After yesterday night's Oscar's I fell in love with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Man was it hilarious! I had a laughing riot all through.
Firstly, congratulations to Kathryn Bigelow for winning the Oscar as the best director for the movie 'The Hurt Locker'.Not to mention she is the first women ever to win this award. You go gal!

As far as the red carpet gowns are concerned, I loved Rachel McAdams in her floral romantic Ellie Saab gown. I also liked Elizabeth Banks gun metal Versace gown. Demi Moore looked very sophisticated in her Versace number. But I think Penelope Cruz stole the show and was simply ravishing in her dusky red draped Donna Karan gown. I think the theme was pretty much 'ruffles'. Small, big, floral, layers..got to see all sorts of ruffles at Oscars.

Once again Wishing all the women I know and I celebrate, 'A Happy Women's Day'.

This sketch was gifted to me by a very good friend of mine. Thanks Ravi.
Hope you all have loads of fun today, catching up with your moms, sisters, friends and best friends!

Until next time...

Calorie count per recipe.

2010-03-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

I have decided to add a new feature to my blog today. I am going to review every recipe that I write from today with regards to its approximate calorie count, taste meter, nutritional value and ease of preparation.

There is strong personal reason why I have decided to do this. Let me give you an example. Yesterday I had prepared 'Palakura Pulusu Kura'. I roughly calculated the calories of this recipe WITHOUT taking into account the 3 spoons of oil that I used to prepare it.

The recipe yielded about 4 servings and the approximate calorie count in total is 250calories(give or take 50 calories). Again this is without the oil count. When I took into account the 3 spoons of oil that I used, the calorie count raised to alarming 650 calories! Yes you saw that right.

Every spoon of oil(depending on the type of oil it varies slightly) on an average has about 130 calories. So you do the calculation on how just a spoon of oil effects your nutritional value of a recipe.

However, not only is oil a key component of healthy body it is also a basic of cooking any meal. So you cannot avoid it. However limiting its use is very essential, especially if you have been trying to loose those last few pounds of extra fat. What say?

So now that we have got all our facts covered, its time for some action. I am going to go back to all my posts in next month or so and I am going to work on their nutritional value chart. I am going to start with my yesterday's post of 'Palakura Pulusu Kura'.

Scroll down to the recipe of 'Palakura Pulusu Kura' for its calorie count etc.

Until next time ...

Healthy choices and happy living to you and your family-Madhoo

Palakura Pulusu Kura, Spinach stew with vegetables

2010-03-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

'Pulusu Kura' literally translated into English is 'vegetable stew'. Usually the main ingredient is a leafy vegetable, however you can sometimes prepare this without green leafy vegetables too. Today I chose 'Palakura'(spinach or palak). You can however substitute it with any green leafy vegetable that is readily available.
As far as nutrition is concerned, this is a very very healthy recipe. You can add lots of vegetables, and eat it with roti or rice. At my home the practice is we eat it with 'utti pappu' ie; plain dal and rice and of course ghee.

Lets get started.

Do prepare some plain toor dal if you choose to eat it with rice.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1/2 packet fresh spinach, washed and chopped
2. 2 tomatoes chopped
3. 1/2 onion sliced
4. 1 big cup of chopped sorakaya(bottle gourd or dudhi)
5. few pieces of mulagakaya (drumsticks)-optional.
6. curry leaves and 3 spoons of tamarind pulp
7. 5 green chillies slit length wise
8. 1 bunch of cilantro
9. 2 spoons of soaked senaga pappu(channa dal)

For Tampering:

10. 1 spoon of menapa pappu (urad dal)
11. 1 spoon of aavallu (rayi, mustard seeds)
12. pinch of menthullu (fenugreek, methi seeds)
13. 2 red chillies and pinch of turmeric
14. couple of dashes of hing
15. 2 spoons of sesame oil or peanut oil

This recipe approximately yields about 2 cups or 4 servings.
Total approximate calories with 3 spoons of oil - 650
Total approximate calories without oil - 250
Taste meter on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being best and 1 being least) - 5
Nutritional Value - High
Ease of preparation - Medium

First do the tampering with oil and rest of the tampering ingredients. Let them brown a bit. Add slit green chillies, onions, curry leaves. Salt lightly. When onions are soft add chopped vegetables and soaked senaga pappu (drain the water away). Salt lightly. Put a lid and let them soften.

Add washed and chopped spinach. Spinach will collapse in about 3 mins, add a bunch of chopped cilantro (kothimera). Add tamarind pulp. Let them all cook for good 10 mins. Salt lightly and stir in more cilantro for garnish.

The final product is not very thick, its juicy with soft vegetables and lots of greens.

Kandi Podi, Annam Podi

2010-03-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

I have been craving for 'Kandi Podi' since a week. Avakaya (Mango pickle) with Kandi Podi and couple of spoons of ghee with piping hot rice is what is called 'food for the soul' in this weather. Just the aroma of those roasted dals with cumin reminds me of my home in Guntur.
The word 'Podi' in telugu means powder. There are various kinds of these podi's that we usually prepare. Some go with breakfast's, some with rice etc. These are high on protein too with no oil or ghee. Also 'Podi's are a perfect combination on a freezing rainy day, especially when you feel lazy like me.

INGREDIENTS:

Equal quantities of the following:

1. Kandi Pappu (toor dal)
2. Senaga Pappu (chana dal)
3. Pesara Pappu (split yellow moong dal)
4. Menapa Pappu (split urad dal)
5. 2 spoons of jeelakara (jeera, cumin)
6. 1 spoon of nuvullu (sesame seeds)
7. Salt and chilli powder (as per taste)

Roast the first 4 ingredients (separately) evenly until roasted well.

Let them cool for a while.

Grind them fine with rest of the ingredients. Adjust salt per taste.

Store in air tight jar. Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Moong dal halwa, pesarapappu kesari

2010-02-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

Ever tried halwa with split yellow dal? Its not only yummy and buttery but its packed with protein too. This surprisingly healthy halwa is very quick to prepare too, if you keep the moong dal powder ready. The reason I call this healthy is because its relatively healthy when compared to raava or maida halwa (which is the usual halwa or norm around homes).
Lets get started.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1/2 cup yellow split moong dal (pesarapappu)
2. slightly more than 1/2 cup of sugar
3. 1/4 cup of ghee
4. 1 cup low fat milk or whole milk
5. Elaichi or saffron
6. 1 spoon each of cashews and almonds (slivered and soaked almonds)

First dry roast moong dal evenly on medium flame until slight brown. Let it cool down. Grind to a fine powder(like rava). Mix the powder with water and make a thick paste and keep it aside.

Bring 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup of water together to a rolling boil. Add elaichi or saffron for flavor.

Add the moong dal paste to the boiling milk. Keep stirring and simmer the flame to medium. Let the dal cook evenly. Add sugar and ghee. Keep stirring until ghee is absorbed.

Plate it and garnish with soaked almonds and fried cashews.

Serve it warm.

Leader by Shekar Kammula

2010-02-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting for this movie since few days, ie; Leader by Shekar Kammula. I was reading about Shekar Kammula in Wikipedia and the first sentence read,
"Shekar Kammula (Telugu: శేఖర్ కమ్ముల) is a critically acclaimed yet commercially successful....". Not sure why there is an 'yet' in between the two adjectives 'critically acclaimed' and 'commercially successful'. I can see where the writer is going with this sentence. 'Critically acclaimed' movies, are those which usually receive praises from literary lovers, movie critics, newspapers etc. And this genre of movies are usually not commercial hits. Usually these kind of movies do not follow the standard tollywood rules of, one item song, one introductory song, 3 big stunts, parallel comedy track etc..

Anyways before I get side tracked with whats Tollywood standard and what is not, I wanted to write about Shekar Kammula. I was watching his interview on MAA TV with anchor Suma(another good personality that I would like to write about some day), and this happened to be the first time I actually watched his interview.

A very seasoned director, humble human being , passionate person and undoubtedly shy would be my first guess about Shekar Kammula and his very sweet talk. Evincing modesty, not showing any presumptions and engaging the viewer with his perception of politics and who a leader was, he pretty much said it all with neither being boastful nor being inferior. A perfect culmination of a strong story writer and yet so subtle and shy person I believe. My dear friend Sohini was lucky enough to get Shekar Kammula's autograph one day at IMAX theater in Hyd.

'Leader' is being screened at Cleveland tomorrow. I read Jeevi reviews on Idlebrain.com
'Leader' has been rated 3/5 and even though I didn't see the movie, I have a feeling it is underrated.

There have been other political backdrop movies which were more realistic, unlike goons running around with swords and sticks. Like 'Yuva' by Mani Ratnam. Yuva's main objective being motivating educated youth to enter politics or should I say 'uncorrupted politics'. I guess the later.

Corruption in Politics is pretty much given. Haven't seen a genuine political leader lately in the last decade at least. I hope Shekar Kammula's movie comes in as an eye opener and trend setter for many folks like us and of course the movie buffs and upcoming new directors.

As far as I am concerned, I can't wait to see the movie. Not to mention the hero 'Rana'.
Until then... 'Leader' rocks!

Methi Paratha, Fenugreek Flat Bread

2010-02-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

After my yesterday's exotic cooking escapades, I wanted to cool down my system with something very soothing. Saffron from yesterdays pulav supposedly gives you heat, and I don't want to wait until it does. So, I wanted to try something which would as I said cool my system.

So whats the one ingredient which significantly does the above? Methi(fenugreek)!
And you know what, I really really dislike Methi. There were days when I had to gulp down those seeds for its medicinal value, but I would not touch Methi Dal or curry or what ever you prepare with it.

However, I sat and thought about it. Something like this. I cannot let my dislikes affect my son's palette for food. I have to give him everything(Veg specifically), and then let him choose what his tastes are. In fact, I shamelessly admit that in my last 8 years of married life, I have never ever prepared or tried to prepare anything which has Methi in it. Yes, you heard that right!

So what actually made me buy Methi leaves? The truth is, I sent my husband alone for shopping on Sunday and this is what happens when you do that. They buy everything under the sun which you don't like. So now I am stuck with one big bunch of Methi leaves....

So finally after I tried this recipe, I was dumb struck how tasty and wholesome it tasted. A very unique and multi dimensional taste I have to say. I am sure if you try this, you too will fall in love with it. I know I am now one loyal fan of this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 big bunch of fresh methi leaves. Pluck out only the leaves (no stems even if they are small). Wash thoroughly and chop very fine.
2. One stalk of mint (podina) leaves. Wash and chop fine. This is optional ingredient.
3. 4 green chillies, chopped fine
4. Salt
5. Ghee for shallow frying
6. 1 spoon oil
7. turmeric
8. 1 spoon cumin powder(jeera powder)
9. 1 spoon dhania powder (coriander powder)
10. 1 spoon amchur powder (dry mango powder)
11. 1 1/2 cup wheat flour (atta)

I didn't have the last 3 ingredients in powder form, I actually powdered them in my mixer. I used 'Mango Orugullu' for mango powder. You can skip this if you don't have.

Do tampering with oil and ingredients listed from 7 to 10. Add chopped Methi, chillies and let them shrink. Add podina at the end and switch off. Salt briskly and let it all sit.

Take a big bowl and add wheat flour to it. Salt it and mix. Add 1 spoon of oil and knead. Add the above Methi mixture and knead. Slowly add water and knead into a soft and palpable dough. Cover with damp tissue and set aside for 30 mins.

Make same sized balls (approximately 7 or 8 should come). Pat gently, powder and roll into rotis.

Shallow fry over a hot griddle and apply some butter or ghee.

Yummy and tasty Methi paratha's are ready to be served with chilled curd or raita.

With all honesty, I absolutely loved tonight's dinner. Very pleasant and fulfilling I have say.

Special Andhra Pulav, Spicy Andhra Pulav

2010-02-16T17:47:00.000-08:00

One of my ex-colleague's shared this very interesting recipe with me. I call it interesting because, I have never tried this combination of rice with creamy coconut milk in pulav. I have been wanting to try this recipe for sometime now, but finally it happens only when it has to happen I guess. This recipe definitely requires some preparation ahead of time, more so because the list of ingredients is little long.

I am going to write about how it tasted at the end after I finish with the process. So lets get started.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 cup of basmati rice, washed and soaked with salt for 30 mins
2. 2 cups of coconut milk (I prefer store bought coconut milk)
3. 1/2 spoon Saffron

VEGETABLES:

4. 1 cup of grated carrot
5. 1/2 cup capsicum
6. 1/4 cup of green peas
7. 1/4 cup green beans
8. 1/2 cup potatoes cubed
9. 4 green chillies
10. bunch of cilantro (kothimera)
11. 1 big onion

INGREDIENTS FOR MASALA:

12. Inch of ginger
13. couple of cloves of garlic
14. spoon of khus khus (gasagasaallu)
15. 2 bay leaves (biryani akku)
16. 2 pieces of cardamom (elaichi)
17. 3 cloves (lavangallu)
18. bit of mace (jaapatri)
19. piece of nutmeg (jaji kaya)
20. peppercorns (miriyallu), dhania powder
21. few slices of bread, cut into squares and fried in ghee
22. 1/4 cup of cashews
23. 1/4 cup of soaked slivered almonds
24. Oil
25. 2 spoons of ghee

Yes, finally the list is over!

PROCESS:

Step 1: Cook basmati rice with coconut milk, saffron and salt. Usually, coconut milk boils very quickly and you will be surprised how soon the rice will be done. Once the milk evaporates, simmer the stove and put a lid and let it stand for 15 mins. Add 2 spoons of ghee and let it stand.

Step 2. Make a paste(its coarse) of ingredients 12 to 20. Add water if needed. Keep it aside.

Step 3. Add oil to a big non stick pan. Add the masala from step 2. Let it fry a bit. Add cashews, soaked almonds and all ingredients from 4 to 11. Salt liberally. Let them soften and it will look like a curry.

Step 4. Once the masala and vegetables blend well, slowly fold in cooked rice. Stir gently. Cover and keep for few more mins.

Step 5. Garnish with cilantro and fried bread pieces.

Ok I was done with this by evening 5. And I am not the kind of person who usually tastes once done, I just don't. I wait until the regular dinner time. However, today was an exception. Why?
I had no idea how this was going to taste, it was totally new and I was very eager. I was told that tasting food when its hot is not the right way to taste it, well right or wrong, I had make an exception in this regard as well.

So I tasted Pulav and was I surprised?
First and foremost, coconut milk overtook the flavor of basmati rice in a pleasant way, especially with 1/2 spoon of Saffron the cooked rice not only smelled great but looked creamy orange with saffron giving away its color and flavor. When the rice was cooking, I thought that I was going to end up with gooey rice, but no, basmati did not sit flat, it came out very fluffy. May be because of the fat in coconut milk.

Second and most important, the spices listed did not overtake the rice and it definitely did not taste like regular biryani. Rice tasted sort of savory sweet and the spices blended well and all in all I give this recipe an A+.

The end result? I ended up having dinner at 5 pm!

My husband too loved this recipe and was surprised how different and fresh it tasted.

This can be had alone or with raita or any other spicy curry.

Mahasivaraathri Subhakankshallu

2010-02-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very happy 'Mahasivaraathri'. Hope you celebrated it with all the religious fervor. I wanted to post something special today, something very religiously significant. Nothing depicts my ideas more than the picture below. It is a picture taken at my brother's place in Dallas,TX. My brother is a very creative and spiritual person. His spirituality is contagious I say.
Below is his site.
Shambhoshankara

And by the way, yes it does snow in Dallas too these days...!

Once again, wishing you all a very happy and peaceful Sivaraathri today.

All about Thillana..(Bharatanatyam)

2010-02-10T04:04:00.000-08:00

'Tam Tam Tam...Ta Ra Dhirana'

'Thillana'- the final item of 'Bharatanatyam Margam' is a pure 'Nritta'(dance) item, where the virtuosity of 'Raga'(music) is reflected in complex and vibrant footwork and captivating poses of 'Narthaki'(dancer).

The word 'Bharatanatyam' literally means the culmination and combination of the following components:
BHA-Bhava(expression)
RA-Raga(music)
TA-Talam(Rhythm)

Bharatanatyam is considered to be a fire-dance — the mystic manifestation of the metaphysical element of fire in the human body. Bharatanatyam proper is a solo dance, with two aspects, lasya, the graceful feminine lines and movements, and tandava Ananda Thandavam (Tamil) (the dance of Shiva), masculine aspect, which is identical to the Yin and Yang in the Chinese culture. On the whole Bharatanatyam is the manifestation of the ancient idea of the celebration of the eternal universe through the celebration of the beauty of the material body. Watching a pure 'Nritta' item like 'Thillana', proves my point.

The Thillana that I am learning right now is in Surya Ragam and Adi Talam. I am an 'Ekalavya Shishya' of Srimati Srekala Bharat of the 'Learn Bharatanatyam on DVD' fame. Yes, I wouldn't recommend anyone to learn bharatnatyam on DVD, unless you had learnt basics and more in a proper traditional 'Guru-Shishya' form for few years. Certainly there are few cons to learning an item like 'Thillana' on DVD, when the focus is on expression of the dancer for few seconds, you would loose precious 'Adavu's'(footwork). To understand and get back to rhythm, not only do you need the basic's of 'Adavu's but vital understanding of 'Talam'(rhythm) and some good understanding of carnatic music as well. Basically, you will have to step into the shoes of your teacher and understand her style of choreography.

The pro being, I am pursing my passions with these limited resources and time. I very well know that my performance might not be up to mark to many guru's, however I am not the kind who at her 60Th birthday will sit back and curse her ill fortune for not being able to learn the passions that I so much love. Makes sense?

Traditionally, most accomplished dancers start learning 'Bharatanatyam', from pre teenage and go forward until their quench for dance is fulfilled. I have been unfortunate that I could not do this at the right time. However, I decided not to sit back and mourn about it. I believe, true passions and dreams do not need resources but only your determination and endurance to make believe your dreams are for real.

Below are few links of Thillana's that I watched over YouTube and was very impressed. There are many Thillana's that I liked, but the below few depict a very fresh, different and unique composition of footwork and hand gestures(mudra's) and not to mention excellent choreography.

Hope you enjoy them too.

Thillana 1
Thillana 2
Thillana 3

Thats all for the keys today, time for a ground breaking dance practice. :-)

Guthi Vankaya Kura Andhra Style

2010-02-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

Everyone at my home loves this curry. In fact, I don't remember any special occasion celebrated without this curry. Be it festivals or puja's or get together's, this curry has its special place. The good thing about this curry is, if you prepare the stuffing ahead of time (spicy peanut powder) then the curry only takes 10 Min's of your precious time.
My first memory of this special curry is at Bapatla. A place very near to my heart and emotions. My dad was raised here, and we still have our patriarchal home there. We used to have a very colourful kitchen garden which my grandmother used to maintain very lovingly. Not only did she grow 'Vankayallu', 'Bendakayallu' and 'Dondakayallu' but with her limited knowledge and enormous interest she grew hybrid flowers, which gave surprisingly very beautiful results. Orange Roses and Bloodish Red Roses both to the same plant! Anyways back to the 'Guthi Vankaya Kura'.

Ingredients for Stuffing: (Pali Podi or Peanut powder)

1. 1/2 cup of peanuts
2. 3 spoons each of menapa pappu (urad dal) and senaga pappu (channa dal)
3. 2 spoons of nuvullu (sesame seeds)
4. 15 red chillies
5. 3 spoons of dry coconut powder
6. 1 spoon of dhaniyallu or dhania powder (coriander seeds)
7. 1 spoon of jilakara (cumin seeds)
8. Salt

Roast all the above ingredients to golden brown. Let them cool.

Grind them to fine powder with salt. Store in air tight container, it lasts to 3 months.

Ingredients for Vankaya Kura:

1. 2 long purple coloured 'Vankayallu'(brinjals)

I don't use the round ones cause they take longer to cook and lack the taste that usually brinjal's have in India.
2. 1/2 spoon of jeera (cumin seeds)
3. Stalk of curry leaves
4. Oil
5. Dash of salt
6. Pinch of turmeric

Wash and wipe brinjals. Cut them into 3 inch long pieces. Slit on either side, make sure there is 1 inch stalk without slit at the end so that the stuffing does slip through.

Fill the peanut powder using fingers.

In a non stick pot or bhandi pour 4 spoons of oil. Add cumin seeds, stalk of curry leaves, turmeric and now slowly place the brinjal pieces. Sprinkle salt(remember there is enough salt in mixture already). Cover with a lid and cook on medium heat until done.
Garnish with Kothimera(cilantro).

Serve with hot rice.

Nimakaya Pulihora, Lemon Rice

2010-02-07T07:10:00.001-08:00

I will pick 'Nimakaya Pulihora'(Lemon Rice) over 'Chinthapandu Pulihora'(Tamarind Rice) on given day. Lemon rice tastes more fresh and is much much easier to prepare over tamarind rice, not to mention its 100% more healthier than tamarind rice. In fact, I try to replace tamarind with lemon, whenever possible. Also, I guess it has more to do with palate, one needs to develop a healthier palate for a healthy lifestyle. Fruits over sweets, roti over rice (especially for south Indians), lemon over tamarind et cetera..

So, lets start.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 3/4 cup of rice, preferably sona masoori. Wash and cook, keep it fluffy.
2. 1/4 cup of peanuts
3. 2 spoons of cashews
4. 1 spoon each of Menapa pappu (urad dal), Senaga Pappu (Channa dal), Aavallu (Mustard seeds)
5. 2 green chillies slit length wise(remember unlike tamarind rice, 2 green chillies go a long way in lemon rice, cause there is no pulp)
6. 2 red chillies
7. Couple of dashes of hing
8. stalk of curry leaves
9. 1/3 cup of lemon juice
10. Pinch of turmeric

First do the tampering with 3 spoons of oil and ingredients listed from 2 to 8(in same order).

Add salt and turmeric to white rice and stir loosely. Add the tampering. Add lemon juice. Adjust salt if needed.

Serve warm.

Bhindi Masala, Masala Bhindi

2010-02-03T18:38:00.000-08:00

I like this curry alot. Its quick (compared to rest of the north Indian curries at least) and tastes yummy. So, here you go.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Fresh okra (Bhindi)

Wipe with wet tissue and slit length wise.

Shallow fry slit bhindi's with the following.

2. 4 spoons of Oil
3. pinch of turmeric
4. pinch of cumin seeds (jeera)
5. Dash of salt
6. Stalk of curry leaves
7. 1/2 spoon of dhania powder (coriander powder)
8. 4 green chillies slit

Keep aside the fried bhindi's.

Chop the following.

9. 1 medium sized onion length wise
10. 1 ripe tomato

Shallow fry onions with same ingredients listed above ie; 2 to 8. Add fried Bhindi.
Salt as needed. Don't stir too much.
Add tomato and turn off the heat. Garnish with Cilantro.

Serve with Roti, Chappathi, Paratha or Hot Pulav.

Kattu Pongali, Uppu Pongali

2010-01-30T06:21:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite heavy breakfast for Saturday morning. This also works perfect for Saturday morning, cause by the time I finish my puja its late and this soothes my stomach well. Cooking time is long but your effort is less than 10 Min's. BTW, did I tell you that, this breakfast reminds me so much of Tirupathi. Standing in line after the 'Darshanam', there are two lines for 'Prasadam', and sometimes this 'Kattu Pongali' is served hot, with ghee, cashews, 'Meriyaallu' etc.
So, lets start.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2:1 ratio of Pesara Pappu (Yellow Moong Dal) to regular Rice. (I took about 1 katori of pesara pappu and 1/2 katori of rice)
Dry roast yellow moong dal and keep aside.

Cook on stove top(my preference) with plenty of water and couple of dashes of pepper powder and pinch of cumin seeds. I use pepper powder over whole pepper corns cause many people will remove the whole pepper aside and so it does not solve its purpose. The reason for adding pepper is, yellow moong dal is heavy on stomach and pepper helps digestion, so if you powder and add it, it will mix well and thus serve its purpose.

Cook it smooth and fine. Add salt. With a heavy ladle, mash the mixture.

Tampering:

If you want to make it like prasadam at Tirupathi then any amount of ghee will fall short. So, I have a golden rule. 1 spoon of ghee per every serving. So I figured my quantities will serve about little over 4 servings. So, I am using about 5 spoons of melted ghee(not solid ghee, cause 5 spoons of solid ghee is much more than 5 spoons of melted ghee).
Heat ghee in a small pan. Add the following.

1. 1 spoon of cashews
2. 1/2 spoon of jeera (cumin seeds)
3. 2 red chillies
4. stalk of curry leaves
5. 4-5 dashes of hing
6. some more pepper(optional)

Do the tampering.

Add to cooked dal and rice. Stir well.

Serve hot either by itself or Peanut Chutney or Tomato Chutney.

I did the Saturday morning puja and served this as 'Neivedhyam'. Then had a heavy breakfast.. :)

Menapa Sunni Vundallu (Urad Dal Laddu)

2010-01-27T18:45:00.000-08:00

Finally I had some time today to sit down peacefully and update my blog. I was busy with my son's 4Th birthday party and preparations. It all went well. We had the party on Sunday and his actual birthday is today. We ordered food from 'Udipi Cafe'(Cleveland) for the party and I have to say the food was terrific. Right amount of spice and salt. Pralines and Cream Ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins was perfect too for my son's Ben 10 Theme Birthday.

However, as today is his actual birthday we wanted to do something special for him. So, he cut another cake at his school and I prepared 'Menapa Sunni Vundallu'(urad dal laddu). This is honestly a healthy sweet if made with jaggery. Fiber rich whole urad dal, jaggery and ghee. I would suggest people to use only jaggery for this sweet because of its health benefits. However, I used Sugar. The reason is not taste, but the user friendliness of Jaggery (sorry about my IT jargon). Jaggery bought here in US is very difficult to scrape or powder, it lacks the moisture unlike the Jaggery bought in India. Until I figure out how to scrape or powder it easily I am going to stick to sugar. However, I am going to limit the portions and thus I prepared only 12 laddu's so that we don't overload ourselves with Sugar.

Process is exponentially easy... believe me!

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2/3 Cup of whole urad dal split or whole (Pottu Menapa Pappu)

2. 2/3 cup of powdered sugar or if using jaggery, a little less than 2/3rd of a cup
3. Ghee

Dry roast dal on medium high flame(add dal only after the wok or bhandi is hot). Keep stirring. Roast them even. Let them come to room temperature.

Powder sugar or jaggery. Keep aside.

Powder Urad Dal. Don't make it too fine like besan (pindi). It should be like rava(my personal preference). Take it into the same bowl as sugar. Mix the two powders well.

Slowly add warm melted ghee(about 5 to 6 spoons) and keep mixing until it feels little moist and you can make a lump. Leave for 5 mins.

Some folks like to add Cardamom (Elaichi) powder at this point. However, Urad dal has a musky and earthy flavor to it and I like it that way.

Now start making laddu's watching your favourite TV show. Keep scraping your hands with a spoon if the laddu mixture sticks to your hand. Use both hands and cup the powder using your palms and roll around for few more seconds after the laddu is formed for it to harden on the outside without breaking apart.

Store in air tight jar and serve.

Poha Dosa, Spicy Atukula Dosa

2010-01-26T19:44:00.000-08:00

I like this fluffy Atukula dosa. Preparation is simple and taste is very unique and fresh. Adding vegetables to this dosa is a plus, nutrition wise. As you know by now, I stress as much as on nutrition as I stress on the taste. There is no limit to taste and richness, or so I believe. Adding more sugar, butter, oil and nuts etc will definitely make a recipe more tasty, however, how many of us take the effort of burning off all that fat and sugar? So, at least trying to limit your diet on these high calorie and low nutrition foods is a way to tread your path towards a healthier lifestyle and in turn a healthy mind in a healthy body.

I would pick this dosa for dinner on Saturday night, as we usually don't have regular meal for Saturday night, instead we usually have tiffin's or light snacks with fruit bowl and lassi. This is a rice based dosa, so 2-3 dosa's would suffice.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1.5 : 1 ratio of rice to Atukulu(poha).
2. Sour buttermilk

Soak washed Rice and washed Atukulu in buttermilk(preferably sour). Soak with enough buttermilk so that buttermilk floats on top. Soak for about 6 hours.

Grind fine with salt,cumin seeds and more buttermilk or water.

Let it ferment for about 8 hrs or overnight.

3. Chop onion, green chillies, cilantro.
4. Grate carrot.

Heat an iron griddle, spray oil, pour the batter(don't spread). It will bubble a bit. Sprinkle chopped veg's. Lightly oil.

Carefully, using a spatula remove and plate it. Serve hot with chutney or any podi.

RadahSaptami(RathaSaptami) Specials....

2010-01-21T13:20:00.000-08:00

This is a festival symbolic to changes of season. There is a lot of significance to Ratha Saptami, which you can read about at
Ratha Saptami

However, today I am going to list down all the ritualistic stuff and beliefs that we follow on this significant day.

Back in 'Dhanur Masam'(part of Dec and Jan), we used to put big big 'mugullu'(Rangoli's) outside our home early in the morning, and then adorn them with 'Gobbemmallu'(balls made out of Cow dung, this is another big story, may be I will relate some other time). These dried out 'Gobbemmellu' are what serve as firewood to boil milk over a simple home made stove. This ritual of my mom bringing out all those dried out cow dung patties and making a stove with bricks and bringing milk to boil and preparing 'Pongali' on it used to be a 'the interesting' event of the day for me and my sister.

Another significant event of the day used to be my aunts and all taking up few 'Nomullu' every year. So they all used to in a hurry list down few small 'Nomullu' and read those stories and take up those rituals for year long. I was never a big fan of 'Nomullu', however this year my mom and my sister, emotionally blackmailed me into taking up few 'Nomullu' myself. So, today I am going to pick few small 'Nomullu' and do some puja and join the flock.

There are other rituals that are performed this day.

Jan 24th,Sunday:

So, continuing my post on RathaSaptami, today I took up some Nomullu(you can do these on any sunday's of Magha masam too). So, it was indeed a very busy day. I had invited couple of friends over for lunch. Did puja and gave 'Strawberries' as my first fruit of '16 Phalallu Nommu'. It all went well. I came up with a lunch menu of following items.

1. Palak n Tomato Pappu (Spinach n Tomato Dal)
2. Vankaya Pachimirchi kurra(Brinjal with Ginger, Green Chillies n Coconut curry)
3. Pandu merapakaya pachaddi(Fresh Red Chilli chutney)
4. Charru(Rasam)
5. Godhuma pindi halwa(Wheat flour halwa)

Everything came well or so said my dear friends.
However, I didn't have time to take pic's of all the items. So, I just picked 'Halwa' and so, my post for the day is 'Atta ka Halwa'.

Its very simple and yummy. Honestly, you cannot go wrong with it.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1/2 cup wheat flour (Atta)
2. 1/2 cup clarified butter or ghee
3. 3/4 cup sugar
4. Elaichi powder
5. Cashews and soaked almonds(slivered almonds soaked for 2 hrs)
6. Water

Add 1 spoon of ghee to non stick pan or pot and fry cashews to golden brown and keep aside. In the same pan or pot add couple of spoons of ghee and fry atta (wheat flour) to golden brown. Keep aside.

Add 1 cup of water to same pot and bring to rolling boil. Add cardamom powder(elaichi) and sugar.

Mix roasted flour with 1/2 cup of cold water and stir well so that there are no lumps. You will have to make sure there are no lumps, or you will end up with small balls of dry wheat flour in your halwa.

Add this wheat flour and water paste to boiling water. Keep stirring. Maintain heat on medium. Add rest of the ghee. Add cashews and soaked almonds.

Let all the ghee get absorbed, keep stirring and when it starts to sputter, take it onto a serving dish or plate.

TA DA its ready! Serve either warm or room temp.

Potlakai Perugu Pachadi, Snake Gourd and curd chutney

2010-01-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

Back in Bapatla my dad's parental home or my proper hometown, snake gourds used to grow like weeds all around. My grandmother had this huge plantation of all the kinds of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Honestly, I don't remember my aunts or anyone buying vegetables from outside back in those days. From Green Chillies to Pumpkins, Jasmines to hybrid Roses, Sapota to Badampappu, everything was home grown. It was very easy in terms of shopping, just ask for it and my grandmother used to go and pluck from the backyard and we had it for dinner. That was then, now I buy frozen 'Snake gourd' from local Indian store. I prefer frozen, cause I am not big on it and I prepare this when I am bored with usually 'Dondakaya' and 'Bendakaya'.

I am not a big fan of this vegetable, however I like 'Perugu Pachadi' made from it. Especially, in summers my mom used to prepare this frequently to compensate for the heat that we used to pack up since morning eating Mangoes and Avakaya etc.

So, here I go.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 packet frozen snake gourd or potlakaya.

Thaw it in microwave for 5 mins with some salt sprinkled on it.

Let it cool a bit. Knead and squeeze all the water out using hands and keep aside.

Do the tampering with following ingredients.

2. 1 spoon each of urad dal, channa dal,mustard seeds, jeera
3. Pinch of fenugreek
4. dash of hing
5. few curry leaves and 1 slit green chillies.

Add squeezed snake gourd.
Salt lightly and keep a lid and let it soften and cook. Might take about 10 mins.

Mix with bowl full of curd and garnish with Cilantro.

Serve with hot rice or roti.

Chini ka Paratha, Panchadara Chappathi

2010-01-18T18:11:00.000-08:00

This is my ultimate favorite in paratha's. 'Chini ka Paratha' made by my mom is absolutely 'the comfort food' for me. I will pick this on any given day over a buffet of dozen items or more. BTW it goes perfect for breakfast or lunch or dinner or snack, especially if you have a sweet tooth like me.

I usually leave the last ball of the dough when making paratha's for 'chini ka paratha' and prepare for me. Also, you should be shallow frying these paratha's after you are done with other batch of paratha's as these leave a syrupy liquid on the griddle and might burn other paratha's.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 cup of wheat flour
2. Sugar
3. Pinch of Salt
4. Ghee/oil for shallow frying
5. Water to make the dough

Make soft dough with wheat flour, pinch of salt and water. Keep aside for some time. Make medium sized balls.

Roll to medium size. Sprinkle with sugar on one half of the rolled dough. Add few drops of ghee.

Carefully, cover the other half over the sprinkled half. Lap over again to make a thick triangular pattie.

Powder the pattie and roll softly to a medium sized paratha.

Shallow fry with ghee or oil. Serve hot or room temperature. No side dish needed.

All about Sankranthi...

2010-01-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

The biggest and most richly celebrated festival for most Andhraids is 'Sankranthi', most probably because Andhra is big on irrigation and as Sankranthi is the harvest festival it holds a greater importance. Sankranthi marks the 'Sankramanam'(transmigration) of 'Sun' moving into the northern hemisphere, ie; northward journey of Sun or the beginning of 'Uttarayana'.

Even though the traditional Indian calendar is based on Lunar positions, Sankranthi is a solar event. Hence it remains constant and is celebrated from Jan 14Th till the 16Th. Yes, its a 3 day festival, hence also called 'Peda Pandaga' meaning 'Big Festival'.

The first day is called 'Bhogi'. And it is celebrated by discarding all that is old and actually lighting up a bonfire with old discarded stuff laying around the home. Back in villages, its a big thing where it starts around 4 in the morning and people gather around the bonfire as kids keep piling up sticks and wooden material on the fire. After which the day is pretty much filled with eating lots and lots of delicacy's and people travelling to their maternal homes. Most of the times daughters come to visit their parents along with their husbands. At our home its a tradition to display all toys in a nice setting and to call the ladies in the evening and give them some token of appreciation for visiting, usually in the form of fruits,flowers,sweets and a gift. This is called 'Bommalla Koluvu'.

The second day is called 'Sankranthi'. On this day offerings are made to ancestors, its a ritualistic thing. 'Pongal' is made in pretty much all the homes with the new rice that is harvested. Pongal is a sweet made mainly with rice and jaggery among other things. Kids are given preference on this day and younger ones are gathered in the evening and a small ritual is done by pouring 'Bhogipaldu' over them. This is done to ward off evil spirits they say.

The third day of the festival is called 'Kanumu'. No one travels on this day. Especially if you come for the festival to your moms place you are not supposed to leave on this day. Kanuma is not widely celebrated, however it is big for non-vegetarians of the society in terms of the food and delicacies that they make.

There are other attractions of this festival, especially in villages. Big big 'Mugullu' (art work done in front of your homes using colours), haridas coming and wishing everyone luck, cock fights, bull fights, kite flying etc...

I remember, my mother made every effort for all the sankranthi's to make it special and did push us to follow tradition and culture. I never knew or realized why she did it back then. But, now I know. So, even though she doesn't ask me any more, I do it on my own, I guess cause I enjoy giving back all that tradition and culture to my 4 year old.

Looking forward to celebrate many more of these wonderful festivals of my home.

Wishing you all once again a very happy Sankranthi.

Few pic's of how Sankranthi was celebrated back @ home. My mom did 'Bhogipaldu' for lord krishna, so did my aamma(my mom's eleder sister). My sister in Sidney displayed 'Bommalla Koluvu' and also my Sister-in-Law at hyd.

Kobbari Annam for Bhogi, Coconut Rice

2010-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

I decided to make 'Kobbari Annam' ie; Coconut Rice for Bhogi on Wednesday. I used frozen fresh coconut, which made the complete process much much easy and simple. Also today I planned to do 'Bhogipalda Perantam' at my home for my son. Its a ritual at my home. We also display all toys and articles on this festival at home and decorate them in steps. Back home its a big big thing. However, this time I was not prepared so I just did the 'Bhogipaldu' for my son.

So after the celebration in the evening, we had Kobbari Annam and it reminded me so much of Guntur and Sankranthi there. However, I am very happy that my son is making his memories here in US in this chilly winter and negative temperatures.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 3/4 cup of Sonamasoori rice, cooked well. Keep aside.
2. 1 1/2 cup of fresh coconut, grated. (I used frozen fresh coconut)

3. 1 big carrot (grated or chopped)
4. Curry leaves and some mint leaves
5. Green chillies as per taste

Ingredients for tampering:

6. 1/4 cup peanuts
7. 4 spoons of cashews
8. 1 bay leaf
9. 1 elaichi and couple of cloves
10.Turmeric
11. 1 spoon urad dal
12. 1 spoon channa dal
13. 1 spoon mustard seeds
14. 2 red chillies

First do the tampering with 5 spoons of oil and ingredients listed from 6 to 15. Then add chopped carrots, curry leaf and green chillies. Salt well. Stir well. Add coconut. Salt if needed.

Mix this with cooked rice. Salt again if needed. Add chopped mint. Stir well without mashing rice.

Serve hot.

Nethi Areselu, Andhra Ariselu

2010-01-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

Today I tried Nethi Aresellu. Special for this Sankranthi. 'Aresellu', is a recipe which needs exact ratios. Otherwise, it will fall apart. This is a Andhra delicacy and mostly prepared for Sankranthi. Yes, its little laborious. Pick up a peaceful time of about 3 hrs to try this recipe. I am going to give you exact ratio's and proportions to try this recipe for the first timers. Good luck.

INGREDIENTS:

(This recipe yields about 16 to 17 aresellu)

1. 1 1/2 cup of white rice, soaked overnight or for 12 hrs.

Wash the rice well the next morning and spread over a cloth for 5 to 10 mins.

2. Now make a fine powder of this rice. This is the tricky part. If you have an Indian mixer it would be easier as its engineered to powder rice. I used 'Oster', and I had to keep sieving multiple times until I ended with fine powder. Even if you use Indian mixer you will have to sieve. However, it will be much faster than using Oster, I believe. Keep pressing the rice flour after sieving so that the moisture isn't lost and keep a lid. After powdering all the rice, you should end up with around 3 cups of rice flour. And some left over (not more than 4 or 5 spoons) rice raava, which couldn't be powdered anymore. Keep the rice raava, just in case u fall short of flour at the last minute.

3. Now take about 5 pieces of jaggery. (I used the ones bought in Indian store, which are about 2 inches long and are rectangular in shape)

4. Pour about 1/4 cup of water and bring to a rolling boil.
5. Add couple of pinches of powdered cardamom(elaichi) and 1 spoon of sesame seeds(nuvullu).
6. Take a small plate with some water and drop couple of drops of jaggery syrup on the plate. If you roll the syrup with a finger, it should form a good solid lump and if you drop it on the plate it should make a clean sound like a pebble dropped on to plate.

Switch of the heat.

7. Add couple of spoons of ghee.
8. Add the rice flour. Keep stirring. Keep aside.

9. Set a wok or bhandi for frying. Add enough oil and 3 spoons of ghee.
10. Make small patties of the rice and jaggery dough on a zip lock bag and fry them light brown.

11. You will have to squeeze out little bit of oil from these once these are fried. Back at home you usually have a gadget to do this. But I don't. So this is what I did.

And then lightly press with a non stick pan or something heavy. But be careful or the filling will spit out.

Let them cool a bit and store in an airtight jar.

Aratikaya Aava peti kura. Plantain curry with mustard paste

2010-01-11T11:31:00.000-08:00

This is definitely a delicacy especially for someone from Guntur. Wondering what does Guntur have to do with this curry? Basically there is a nativity for every recipe, and I believe this curry originated somewhere in the Godavari Districts of Andhra Pradesh. Making curries with 'Mustard paste', is there speciality. Mustard seeds have a very strong flavor especially in the paste form so, however bland the vegetable, mustard paste brings a very strong taste and aroma to it.

So, let me write about 'Aratikaya Aava' curry. 'Aratikaya'(Plantain) doesn't have flavor of its own, and its starchy texture makes it perfect for this curry.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2 green plantains (aratikayallu)

Peel them. Cut them. Cook them soft with pinch of turmeric and salt. Keep aside.

Ingredients for Paste:

2. 2 spoons of grated coconut (fresh or dry)
3. 3 spoons of mustard powder (I use Mc.Cormick's, it works best, it seals the flavor). Make a paste with 2 spoons of water and keep aside.
4. 3 green chillies
5. Piece of ginger
6. Curry leaf

Make a paste of ingredients from 2 to 5. Keep aside.

Ingredients for tampering:

7. 3 spoons of oil
8. 1 spoon of urad dal
9. 1 spoon of channa dal
10. 1 spoon of mustard seeds
11. 1 red chilli
12. couple of dashes of hing

Do the tampering first. Add the mustard and coconut paste. Salt well. Stir well.

Add the mashed plantain. Stir well. Salt enough.

Majiga Pulusu(buttermilk stew with Vegetables)

2010-01-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

My Mom in Law is an expert at this recipe. She used to prepare this at least once every week and it always came perfect. I vote this recipe an A+ because of its exceptional nutritious value and more so exceptionally good taste.Full of flavour and vegetables, this is also a complete meal in itself. Hope you like it as much as I do.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 3 cups of thick, churned buttermilk
2. few pieces of bendakayallu(bhindi, okra)
3. few pieces of vankayallu (baingan, brinjal)
4. 1 tomato
5. few pieces of sorakaya(loki, bottle gourd)
6. curry leaves, cilantro, Salt

Make a fine paste of following ingredients:

7. 2 spoons of soaked channa dal(channa dal soaked for 1hr)
8. 4 green chillies
9. 2 spoons of grated fresh or dry coconut
10. 1 spoon of ginger
11. 1 spoon of senaga pindi(besan)

Ingredients for tampering:

12. 1 spoon of oil
13. 1 spoon each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds
14. red chillies
15. pinch of hing
16. turmeric

First mix all ingredients listed from 1 to 6. Add the paste of ingredients 7 to 11. Salt and stir well.

Put on medium high and keep stirring continuously until it comes to a rolling boil. Simmer and leave on until thickens.

Do the tampering with ingredients listed from 12 to 16.

Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Tomato chutney with a twist! Tomato Uragai

2010-01-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to write about a very special recipe. In fact it came as a very pleasant surprise when I heard about this recipe from my sister who lives in Sydney. Usually, preparing 'uragai'(pickles)for the whole year means sun drying the ingredients. My mom used to send us different vegetable based pickles, which she used to prepare with great care during the summer months. So, during our regular conversations when my sister told me that she is preparing 'Tomato Uragai' without sun drying at her home in Sydney and that it lasts over a month, I was very surprised and wanted to try it out myself. My son is a big big fan of chutneys and he loved this one. And it goes perfect with not only tiffins like dosa's, vada's, but also rice etc.
So being able to prepare pickles in winter months in US without the trouble of sun drying is to me like reliving summer at Guntur, which means a whole lot more than what I can write.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 9 or 10 ripe tomatoes (please DON'T use roma or grape tomatoes). I use campari from Costco and they are good for this recipe.
2. Salt
3. Red chilli powder
4. 2 spoons of fenugreek (menthi pindi) powder
5. Small lemon sized tamarind
6. 2 spoons of peanut or sesame oil (any stable oil will make the recipe stand out in terms of aroma). I use only stable oils for pickles.

For Tampering:

7. 6 spoons of oil(stable oils please)
8. 1 spoon of mustard seeds
9. pinch of fenugreek seeds
10. couple of red chillies
11. couple of dashes of hing

First in a wok put 1 spoon of oil and add chopped tomatoes and salt. Let them become mushy. Add enough chilli powder according to taste also tamarind without seeds. Mix well and leave for another 10 mins until oil separates from gravy or starts sticking to wok.
Add fenugreek powder when it cools down a bit.

Blend in mixer to a fine paste.

Do the tampering with tampering ingredients listed in the order given. Mix well and bottle it in a jar.

Chakra Pongali, Sweet Ghee Rice

2010-01-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

This is my absolute all time favorite of all the pongal's. This is a rich recipe in terms of calories, ingredients, sweetness and not to mention look and feel also. I made this on the first Saturday of the new year, for 'neivedyam'(as an offering to god). Saturdays are very special to us religiously. I try to make some form of sweet dish or hot one for neivedyam on Saturdays. As it also happened to be beginning of the year, so I choose this one. I hope you like, try and enjoy this special recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
(This recipe yields about 12 moderate servings)

1. 2:1 ratio of rice to moong dal (pesara pappu). I took regular indian 'katori' for measurement. Wash together rice, moongdal and cook with plenty of water, mash well, keep aside.
2. 3 spoons of slivered dry coconut pieces
3. 3 spoons of cashews
4. 3 spoons of slivered almonds, soak in water for 2 hrs
5. 3 Elaichi(green cardamoms)
6. 6 or 7 cubes of jaggery (the ones that you get in indian store, which are big and rectangular in shape)
7. Pinch of 'karpooram'(kacha karpoor, borneo camphor, edible camphor)
8. 1 'katori' or 1/2 cup of ghee.
9. 2 spoons of grated fresh or dry coconut.

First fry in 2 spoons of ghee, cashews and dry coconut pieces. Coconut fries very fast, so fry separately. Keep aside.

Make a jaggery syrup with 1 cup of water and jaggery. Let it come to 1 thread thick consistency.

Add cooked, mashed, rice and moong dal mixture. Mix thoroughly. Pour melted ghee. Add soaked almonds and fried nuts. Sprinkle eliachi (cardamom) and 'karpooram' powder. Mix thoroughly and garnish with grated coconut.

Spicy Chilli Paneer

2010-01-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

We were invited to a new years day party yesterday night and it was a potluck, so I decided to make 'Spicy chilli paneer'. BTW, this is my first try. I have to say for the first try of it, it came pretty decent, taste was good, however next time I would like to make it little more dry. Like in restaurants.

Even though I prepared alot, I am giving the recipe for 1 packet of paneer which would ideally serve 6.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 packet of frozen fresh paneer. Thaw it and the best way to do it so to leave it outside. You can also sprinkle some water and microwave if in hurry. When you press paneer lightly with finger, it should feel soft and tender. Sometimes when you microwave, they don't thaw evenly, that is why its best to leave them outside.
2. 1 egg (optional)
3. 3 spoons of cornflour (can substitute by Maida too)
4. 3 spoons of garlic and ginger paste
5. 1 Red, 1 Yellow pepper(Capsicum) and 1 red onion. Can use green peppers(regular capsicum) too if you don't have coloured ones.
6. 2 spoons chilli powder
7. 1 spoon chilli vinegar sauce
8. 1 spoon of soya sauce
9. 2 spoons of maggi ketchup (I used hot and sweet, however anything should be fine, I guess)
10. 6 green chillis slit length wise
11. Cilantro and Spring onions for garnish
12. Salt
13. Oil
14. Pinch of turmeric

First make a batter with 3 spoons of corn flour, 1 egg, salt, 1/2 spoon chilli powder and water. Batter should NOT to too thick or you will end up with paneer pakoda as it will coat thick on paneer.

Fry paneer dipped in batter in oil to golden brown and keep aside.

Take a wide non stick pan or skillet. Add 3 spoons of oil to it. when warm first add 2 spoons of ginger and garlic paste. Let it fry. Add chopped red onions and green chillies. Chop onions big. After couple of minutes add chopped peppers. These should also be chopped big.

Salt very lightly as soya sauce and vinegar has salt in it.
Don't let vegetables to soften too much, the crispier the better.
Add soya sauce, vinegar, ketchup. Stir well.
Add fried paneer. Once paneer is added don't keep for too long or they will become rubbery.
Stir well.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and cilantro. Can also add fried cashews for varied texture.

Serve hot.

BTW the party was a big big hit. What a way step into the new decade. Thanks a ton to our hosts Shilpa n Krishna we had awesome time.
Wishing you all again a wonderful and peaceful year ahead.

It wouldn't be a new year if I didn't have regrets-William Thomas

2009-12-31T11:57:00.000-08:00

I guess an ideal way of starting a new year is, to draw some resolutions to which you promise to stick, to party hard until you drop, to call everyone you know and wish them but of course neglect those with whom you had tiffs the last year and later say 'Oh, gosh I totally forgot'...so on and so forth.
I guess that's human tendency, that is, to err, to pride in ones ego, to not budge if its not necessary, to ditch resolutions... if not for these, I wouldn't be called a human, now would I?
So, that reminds me of William Thomas's famous quote, "It wouldn't be a new year if I didn't have regrets". Yes, of course I do have regrets of my own over the last year. From not being able to read enough books as I planned to not being able to grow an indoor garden of my own to many more..... however, I still consider myself very successful and lucky. Indeed we all are. Just for the simple reason that we are very much alive and we have another year ahead of us to realize our dreams, to live our lives, to enlighten our spirits, to be better persons than the year before, to express our feelings more boldly, to fulfill our resolutions and many more... so what else does anyone else need?
After successfully completing my first decade in the new millennium, when I look back, I see many milestones. Many of my peers and friends must have also gone through similar changes in their lives.
On personal front, I post graduated, got married, started working, moved to States, had my first born, these were all bigger decisions. But there were many smaller passions, hobbies, incidents which influenced my bigger decisions. I took up classical dance again, I learnt how to cook and now immensely enjoy doing it, I connected to all my friends again(Thanks to Team Orkut and Face book), I picked up writing again, I now am more organized in this otherwise chaotic life...
So, what I mean to say is, these small passions and hobbies are what make you more human, more satisfied in life, and will make you stand apart. Even if you choose to pursue your interests for few days every month, those will still add up to significant number of days spent wisely on your personal interests.

So, its ok to regret at the end of the year, but I would rather regret for not doing enough Vs. not doing at all. Got it?

And as I always say, 'One day your life will flash before your eyes..make sure its worth watching'!

Above pic Courtesy of my bil who is an avid photographer.

Dadhojanam, Spiced curd rice, Andhra style dadhojanam

2009-12-29T12:21:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been to 'Chutney's restaurant in Hyderabad? You should if you didn't so far. Its one of my favorite restaurants. Its famous for tiffins, my all time favorite is 'Raava Dosa' at Chutney's. Wondering what does 'Dadhojanam' have to do with Chutney's? My recipe of 'Dadhojanam' is inspired from there.

Calories wise and for my standards of healthy recipe this gets an A+. Do try it out.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 cup of long grain rice. Cook it with plenty of water, mash and salt lightly. Keep aside.
2. 1 1/2 cups of curd/yogurt
3. 1/2 cup milk
4. couple of dashes of pepper
5. 1 big green chilli, chopped fine
6. Curry leaves
7. Cilantro
8. 1 spoon minced ginger
9. Seeded pomegranate
10. halved grapes
11. Salt

Mix all the above ingredients with cooked rice. Mix well. Keep few fruits for garnish.

INGREDIENTS FOR TAMPERING:

1. 1 spoon oil
2. 1 spoon each of urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds, jeera
3. Pinch of fenugreek
4. Couple of dashes of hing(inguva)
5. 2 red chilies
6. 1 spoon cashews

Do the tampering with above ingredients.
Mix with rice.
Garnish with more fruits.

Add more curd/buttermilk/milk when serving if it tightens or thickens.

Gobhi Paratha, Gobi Paratha

2009-12-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have tried many variations of this recipe and finally did some modifications of my own and settled on this one. Its simple, meets my standards of healthy meal and is quite tasty. Ideal for heavy breakfast on Sunday or early brunch. Especially more so cause this does not need any other curry or side dish to go with it, any pickle or even curd (yogurt) will go with it. In fact, curd is more ideal.

INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING:

1. 1 heaped cup grated cauliflower
2. 1 spoon minced ginger
3. 1 spoon chopped green chillies
4. 3 spoons of chopped cilantro
5. 1 heaped spoon dhania(coriander) powder
6. Pinch of turmeric and jeera
7. Salt

Mix all the above ingredients well, cover and keep aside for an hour.

INGREDIENTS FOR DOUGH:

1. 1 1/2 cup wheat flour(atta)
2. Salt
3. Water

Make a smooth dough with above ingredients and keep aside.

Now take a big lump of dough, powder it with flour and nicely roll into a medium sized roti. At the middle of roti, heap about 2 spoons of filling and round it with little ghee.

Tip: Keep the middle of roti thick, ie; roll only on the edges, because if you spread it thin it will break apart when you make the actually paratha with the filling.

Carefully cover the edges again and roll it smoothly while powdering it.

Over a hot griddle, shallow fry it with very little ghee or oil.
Wrap in aluminium foil for freshness if serving after sometime.

Serve with Curd.

Mukoti Ekadasi Special-Pulihora, Tamarind Rice

2009-12-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

Today happens to be one of the most auspicious days as per the Telugu Calendar- 'Mukoti Ekadasi'. It is the last 'Ekadasi' before 'Uttarayana' begins.

Back at my hometown, Guntur, it is a very busy day. All of us used to sit and do 'Vishnu Sahasranama' parayan atleast couple of times and visit temples later. I remember my mom made few delicacies if we were not fasting and most of the time it was 'Pulihora'. Tangy tamarind fluffy rice with peanuts, cashews and other spices. So, today after doing my puja I decided to prepare Pulihora-Guntur Style!

This recipe yields about 4 moderate servings. Lets start.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2/3 heaped cup sona masoori rice. (There is a reason I picked 2/3rds of a cup, for those who don't have cup sizes this is half the 'pala dabba' size as per Indian 'dabba' which is used usually in all the homes to measure rice and dal.
Wash and cook rice with exactly 1:2 ratio, that is 1 rice and 2 water. Add a pinch of turmeric and 1 spoon of 'Peanut or Sesame' oil to rice.
Preparing Pulihora with 'Peanut oil' or 'Sesame oil' is all the difference between homemade and 'temple style'. Believe me, but you can use half the oil that you would normally use if you use these stable and more rich oils. The strong aroma can't be ignored at all. Also, instead of using 2 ladels of oil you can pretty much do with 3 spoons. Cause these oils spread and form a good layer on rice.

Also, picking Sona Masoori is important, cause it does not have a flavor of its own like basmati does and thus goes well with the flavorings of other spices and not to mention it cooks fluffy and thus yields more servings.

Let the rice cool, take it into a big bowl, mix loosely and salt lightly. Keep aside.

INGREDIENTS FOR TAMARIND PASTE:

2. Lemon sized tamarind- make a pulp of it with no more than 1/2 cup of water.
3. 10 green chillies, slit. Reduce if you eat mild.
4. 3 spoons of roasted peanuts.
5. lots of curry leaves
7. dash of hing
8. salt, pinch of turmeric

Add ingredients 3 to 8 to the tamarind pulp and heat the pulp until all water evoporates or until it thickens. Should take about 15 mins. Keep mixing so that it does not burn. Also, cover partially with a lid. The paste becomes thick, like idli batter. Let it cool and then mix with rice and mix loosely. Keep aside.

INGREDIENTS FOR TAMPERING:

9. 3 spoons of peanut or sesame oil
10. 1 spoon each of senaga pappu(channa dal), aavallu (rayi/mustard seeds).
11. Couple of dashes of hing
12. Curry leaves
13. 1 spoons of cashews
14. 2 red chillies

Do the tampering and add to rice. Salt lightly and mix well but loosely.

This is todays post for Mukoti Ekadasi.

Madras Sambar, Authentic Chennai Sambar

2009-12-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

My husband is a big big fan of Sambar. And I like it for its nutritious values. No oil at all, other than for tampering, lots of protein in the form of Dal, as many vegetables as you can add, tangy with tamarind and you can make it spicy or mild depending on your taste, whats there not to like it? Its a complete meal in itself.

However, the problem with Sambar is, it never turns out the same, twice! Even the slightest difference in the amount of time you boil to the type of vegetables you add can make lots of difference in taste, texture and thickness. The 3 T's vital for Sambar!

So, how did I come up with this perfect Sambar recipe? I didn't. This is my friend Ashwini's recipe. She is a tamilian and I guess they cannot go wrong with sambar. Now can they? One day she came home with a bowl of Sambar vada and boy was it yummy!

BTW, I have a feeling that 'Sambar' is actually a Tamilnadu recipe and that the equal or parallel of it for Andhraids is 'Pulusu' or 'Vegetable Stew' with none or very few spices compared to Sambar.

Enough of Sambar history..lets head to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. A little less than 3/4th the cup of toor dal (Kandi pappu), cooked well. Keep aside.
2. Combination of Vegetables (tomatoes, red onions, drum sticks etc)
3. Lemon sized tamarind. Make a pulp of it.
4. Cilantro
5. Pinch of turmeric
6. Jaggery (optional)
7. Salt

INGREDIENTS FOR SAMBAR POWDER:

1. 1 spoon mustard seeds(rayi, aavallu)
2. 2 to 3 spoons of coriander seeds (dhania)-more will make it spicy. I used powder.
3. 4 spoons of Channa dal (Senaga Pappu)
4. 4 or 5 red chillies
5. 2 spoons of dry or fresh coconut powder

Dry roast items 1 to 4. You can substitute green chillies for red ones but the taste will be slightly different. Make a powder and add coconut to it and blend one more time. Keep aside.

INGREDIENTS FOR TAMPERING:

1. 1 spoon ghee
2. lots of curry leaves
3. hing (only if you didn't add onions to the sambar)

Take a big vessel and add tamarind pulp to it. Add 3 glasses of water. Add all ingredients in the first list from items 2 to 7 (we already added tamarind pulp though). Add sambar powder which is powdered fine. Bring to rolling boil on high. Keep it boiling for another 15 mins before adding cooked and mashed dal. Let it boil for another 20 mins on medium.

Do the tampering with ingredients listed. Yes, you saw the list right, just curry leaves and hing only if you didn't add onions.

Sambar ready!

10 mins desert, coconut barfi, kobbari lauz, naryal barfi

2009-12-18T16:34:00.000-08:00

This recipe is like the ultimately easiest 10 min desert recipe that you will never go wrong with. But, I had a totally different idea of it when my mom used to prepare this one. But back then she didn't use condensed sweetened milk or frozen fresh coconut like I did. So, here you go, simple, sweet, easy, no mess desert in 10 mins or LESS!

INGREDIENTS:

1. I used frozen fresh coconut for this one - 1/2 cup
2. 1/2 cup condensed sweetened milk
3. 1/4 cup of regular milk
4. Elaichi powder/saffron
5. 2 spoons of ghee

First microwave or boil regular milk for about 1 min or until milk gets hot. Then mix this regular milk with condensed milk and stir well. Put this mixture on stove top in a non-stick pot (pour 2 spoons of water first before you pour this mixture, this will avoid it to stick bottom). Let it coming to a boil. Add coconut.
Keep stirring. It will start to bubble.
Add ghee and elaichi powder or saffron.

It will start to get thick and start leaving ghee on the edges. It will turn good golden brown.
Remove and plate it on a ghee greased plated. Garnish with slivered almonds or fried cashew.

Note: for some reason if you are unable to cut it into perfect pieces, then just roll into laddu's.

Tada.... coconut burfi ready!

Badam Puri with badam paste, Almond Puri, Bombay badam puri

2009-12-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

This is one sweet which you can safely pick another piece without feeling too guilty about it. Why? Cause, it has almonds(badam), very little sugar and you can prepare this with wheat flour (atta) as well instead of Maida (all purpose flour). However, if you prepare with atta, it won't last for 3rd day. May be 2nd day should be fine, but not until 3rd day. Even as such, I never prepare sweets to last more than 2 days, as I want to cut down on portions and not serve more than 2 days in a row.
This sweet needs little effort though, so pick a peaceful afternoon to try this one. For the ingredients that I listed it will yield about 20 puri's or little more than that depending on the size that you prepare.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 3/4 th cup of soaked almonds. I used slivered almonds. You can soak the whole ones too, for about 5 hours and then pour some boiling water over them and peel the skin away.
2. Maida (all purpose flour). I cannot tell the ratio as you will know it yourself when you are mixing along.
3. Milk
4. Cardamom powder or seeds
5. 1 cup of sugar
6. 3 spoons of rice flour
7. 5 spoons of ghee
8. Oil

First make a paste of soaked almonds with about 4 spoons of milk, it should be a fine paste.

To this almond paste add maida(all purpose flour). How much? It should take about a cup or slightly more. Knead it and it should be like regular puri dough. Add slowly as you don't want over do maida. You might need little water too.

Now in a seprate bowl mix rice flour with melted ghee. The consistency should be thin like porridge.

Now that the basic preparations are over, go ahead and prepare sugar syrup. Add 1 cup of sugar to a wide bowl (you will have to dip puri's in it) and add just enough water for sugar to immerse and bring the syrup to a 1 thread thickness consistency. Should take less than 10 mins. Add cardamom seeds or powder and keep aside.

Now roll the maida and almond dough into roti like shape. Make 3 roti's like that. Apply rice flour+ghee paste on first one.

Layer it with 2nd rolled roti.

Apply paste of rice flour+ghee again on 2nd roti. (Sometimes the ghee thickens, making the paste stiff, microwave for few seconds).
Layer the 3rd roti on top and roll it slowly by pressing gently at the edges and on the roti's.

Now roll it smooth using light pressure or take it into your hand and elongate as you roll smooth.
Now cut it into small pieces.

Make small palm sized puri's of these pieces.

Fry in oil one after another. They are not going to puff up like puri's, so don't fret about that. As soon as you remove them after frying, dip into sugar syrup and lay it on a plate. Don't leave in sugar syrup. They will break apart. Also, you might think that the puri's didn't absorb much sugar syrup, but that is what is healthy about this recipe. It just absorbs the right amount of sugar syrup if you dip once and remove it. Dipping too many times is going to make it too sweet, as such there is ghee, rice flour and almonds in it to make it sweet.

There you go... badam puri's are ready. Garnish with more soaked and slivered almonds or cashews.

Mohd.Rafi-most deserving of all...

2009-12-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

Ever heard a song which is just mind blowingly soothing and still you would want to sit and cry out loud? Listen to Mohd.Rafi...badshah of Indian music. No looking back he is the best of the best. Today, I was reminded of this special song by a good friend whose musical taste is impeccable. And over a cup of coffee this song just took my breath away, total emotional intoxication I say. You would really want to fall in love after listening to this song. His voice has power to make you cry, make you smile, make you just sit idle for hours and make you totally addicted to his songs. Wondering which song?

mere mehboob tujhe meri..

There are many more to this maestro's credit, mentioning only few would do injustice to the rest. But then again everyone has there own favorite, a song which gently rolls you back in time and you reluctantly stay there, unable to tread your way back. A song, which makes you just stare at nothing, a song which when ends brings a curve to your lips and you think why it ended at all, and your hand unknowly clicks on 'replay' again. Again and again...

Mohd.Rafi ji- you will always remain in our hearts..for the gift of music and the beautiful songs that you sang for us.

Nimakaya Pachadi, Nimakaya Uragaya, Lemon pickle

2009-12-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

Ever tasted Andhra style Nimakaya Pachadi? Juicy lemon pieces in red chilli powder, spiced with ginger, green chillies, fenugreek et cetera et cetera.
Try this recipe with hot rice and dallop of ghee. I decided to pickle this in large quantity so that it lasts for at least 6 months. It lasts even longer than that though.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 16 limes(I bought these at Costco, green ones. 1 bag has 20, I kept 4 for regular cooking and pickled 16)
2. 10 green chillies, slightly cut at the ends
3. 2 spoons for finely chopped ginger
4. 3/4 cup of salt
5. 1/2 spoon of turmeric

Cut into pieces 10 limes and squeeze the juice of rest 6 and mix them both. Add 3/4 cup of salt, 1/2 spoon turmeric, chillies and chopped ginger.

Keep mixing for next 3 days. Store in an airtight and moisture free container.

On the 4Th day you have two options to pickle this.

One, to mix chilli powder to all this mixture and do the tampering whenever needed OR
two, to leave this mixture as is for rest of the year and remove only as much is needed whenever you want and do the tampering with chilli powder.
I am going to give you ratio's for both these processes.

Method 1:

If you have followed as per above measurements then take a little less than 3/4th the cup of chilli powder and mix to the lemon mixture. Stir well with a moisture free ladle. Keep aside.

This is ready for tampering for whenever you want.

Tampering for 1/2 cup of pickle:

1. 4 spoons of sesame or peanut oil. (I use only stable oils for pickles and fries, it makes lots of difference)
2. 1 spoon mustard seeds
3. 2 to 3 dashes of hing
4. 1 red chilli
5. pinch of fenugreek

Do the tampering and let it cool before serving with hot rice and ghee.

Method 2:

Tampering for about 1/2 cup of pickle:

1. 4 spoons of sesame or peanut oil.
2. 3 spoons of red chilli powder
3. 1 spoon mustard seeds
4. 2 to 3 dashes of hing
5. 1 red chilli
6. pinch of fenugreek

Do the tampering and add chilli powder in the last and switch off.

Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Tapella Chakkallu, Healthy Chakkallu

2009-12-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

'Chakkallu' are a great tasting snack, of course they have to be as they are loaded with butter and then deep fried in oil. So, I decided to dig up an alternative for this snack. So, I asked my mom about 'Tapella Chakkallu', cause I did remember that she told me about this sometime back. My mom was born and brought up in 'Nanduru' and she has very fond memories of this place. If you ever ask her about recipes back then, she will certainly have a very entertaining story to tell you for every recipe. Finally she did part with her recipe and this is my first try at 'Tapella Chakkallu'.
Firstly, the word 'Tapella' in telugu stands for a vessel and in this case 'Copper' precisely. They used to prepare this 'Tapella Chakkallu', in a copper vessel on a 'Kumpati' which is a small furnace sort of thing used for cooking using charcoal. So, I am going to make up for all these cooking gadgets in US, that is without a 'Tapella' and without a 'kumpati'. But more so, without oil for frying and without loads of butter.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1/2 cup rice flour
2. 1 spoon split yellow moong dal
3. 3 green chillies chopped finely
4. Cilantro, curry leaves
5. Salt
6. 1 spoon butter
7. 4 spoons of oil
8. pinch of jeera

Take about 2 cups of water in a non stick pot or regular vessel and put it to rolling boil with enough salt, 1 spoon butter, 1 spoon oil, moong dal, cilantro, curry leaves, jeera and chillies. Let the water boil alot. Then put the flame on low and pour rice flour. Keep stirring. It will form into a nice thick lump. Keep aside and let it cool.

Now to roast these chakkallu there are two methods. One to do on a non stick big pan or in a bhandi. I tried both. I thought they will come well in a bhandi compared to non stick pan. But I was wrong. They came perfect in a non stick pan, but I could not take pic's. I have pictures of them done on Bhandi. So, just for the idea sake take a look at the pic in bhandi and do the same in a non stick pan or non stick wok.

First, using your hands rub oil to a non stick pan a big one or a non stick wok. Oil all inside, don't leave a bit. Then put it on medium flame. Let it heat up.

Now on a zip lock bag start making chakkallu like the below pic.

Now, slowly remove it from the sheet and paste it on the bottom of the pan, starting from outer most edge. Cause the center will heat up fast, so you would want to leave it for the last patty.
Something like this.

Finish until no space is left in the wok or pan.
Be very careful when sticking as it's already hot.

Put a lid on and sprinkle some water on top of the lid. Let them roast. Will take about 7 to 8 mins. You will see them roasted brown on the sides. If you touch them they will not stick. So on the side that you stuck them they will come roasted brown and the top side that you can see, they will come cooked up. You don't have to flip and roast again. Just take them to a plate.

I am still working on the shapes so please excuse... :)

Also, I learned later that they can be and should be made a little more thick. So, next time I would try that.
In the mean while, enjoy this very healthy and buttery soft snack, without any guilt pangs stuck.

kanda pesarattu, Suran Moongdal dosa, Yam and split moong dal dosa

2009-12-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

Ever heard of this recipe? 'Kanda' (Yam/Suran) plus 'Pesarattu' dosa? This is one guarded recipe of my family that I would treasure to write about. I am sure many more people try different versions of this one. Our family is a big fan of 'Dosas'. And because of health concerns I try to regulate and also make it as healthy as possible. Hence dosas made up of 'pachi pesallu'(whole green moong dal) are my ultimate favorite. With only one handful of rice going with 1 cup of moong dal, it is not only packed with protein but also tastes good and believe me you can't complain about the crispy texture. And when you add 'Kanda'(Yam/Suran) to it...yummmm!

Ok here I go...

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 cup of whole green moong dal
2. Less than handful of rice
3. 1/2 cup chopped kanda(suran/yam).I used frozen one. I microwaved it for 2 mins and then sliced it fine, I am sure you can leave it as is and it will get thawed by itself
4. 4 green chillies
5. ginger
6. parsley
7. oil, salt

Soak ingredients 1 and 2 together for 6 to 8 hours. Especially more so because of the weather. Back in India, my mom used to soak them after lunch around 2 for dinner time and grind around 6.

Now wash the soaked dals well with enough water and grind it into a batter with ingredients 3,4,5 and 6 together. Add just enough water for the dals to grind smoothly. Salt enough. Leave the batter for 3 hours. Again, back in India, they usually make dosa's right away, but I realized leaving the batter for few hours makes it little frothy and light. It won't raise though. So, don't try leaving it on for overnight. Also, Moongdal has a distinctively strong aroma to it, so leaving the batter too long even in fridge is not advisable and you will end up with a smelly mess.

Now for making the dosa, I prefer a cast iron griddle to non stick pan for this dosa especially. However I keep the oil to only to few drops and insist on eating it hot instead of pouring lots of oil so that they can sit longer on table.

Also, this dosa can be eaten with rice, yes you heard it right. In fact, it is supposed to be eaten with rice. This is called vegetarian's omelet delight too. I make it anytime though. Saturday night tiffin or Sunday morning breakfast or as a side dish for days when we are in mood for dosa's.

kobbari pachadi, coconut chutney

2009-12-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

My mom is an expert at this chutney. Even if the coconut is tender or not. Whether its sweet or not, it comes just perfect. However when she makes it, it comes in a whitish green color. Mine came in brown color. May be cause I used tamarind ready made paste instead of fresh tamarind. Also, instead of using parsley as garnish, I grinded it along with tampering, making it brown too. Another change is, I used frozen coconut instead of fresh, not that it will make the chutney brown.

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 shallow cup of thawed frozen or fresh grated coconut
2. Pulp of amla sized tamarind
3. Fresh parsley
4. Salt

Tampering

1. 1 spoon each of urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds
2. 2-3 dashes of hing
3. 4 red chillies
4. 5 or 6 green chillies
5. 3 spoons of oil
6. pinch of fenugreek

First in a small pan add oil and all tampering ingredients. Let them brown and add hing. After switching off the stove, add green chillies. Put a lid right away, otherwise it will start to splitter all around.

Let tampering cool a bit. Now grind everything together. Salt. Garnish with extra parsley. Serve with hot rice and lots of ghee.

Capsicum Masala, Capsicum gravy curry

2009-12-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

I like capsicum. It is less spicy than regular green chilli and has very strong flavor. You might be wondering why I am comparing green chillies to Capsicum.That is cause as many people know it is from the pepper family. My usual recipe with capsicum is, to fry it and add besan+jeera+red chilli powder. However, the above does not go with roti's or paratha's. So, I am going to make Capsicum masala today. It came very creamy and tasty. Also, I didn't add many spices like cloves or cinnamon to it. I like to keep it simple yet tasty. Once in a while I am fine with extra spice and hot but for usual weekday food, I like to keep it essentially on the lower side of spice bar.
I hope you like would like as much as I did.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 4 spoons of roasted peanuts
2. 3 spoons of roasted sesame seeds
3. 1 heaped spoon of coconut
4. 1/2 spoon of red chilli powder
5. salt
6. 1 spoon of cashews
7. 1/2 spoon of dhania powder
8. Oil, parsley
9. 1 big onion
10. 1 ripe tomato
11. tamarind pulp 1 spoon

Grind the following ingredients into a fine powder.
Roasted peanuts, cashews, sesame seeds, salt, chilli powder and coconut. Add water and make a fine paste. Keep aside.

Fry capsicum with bit of jeera and keep aside.
Chop onion and tomato and keep aside.

In a wok or bhandi add oil. Let it warm. Add pinch of jeera, turmeric and onions. Let them brown. Salt. Add tomato. Let them cook. Add masala. Mix well. Add water about 1/2 glass. Let it simmer. It will thicken in about 10 mins.

Add fried capsicum. Salt accordingly. Simmer for 10 more mins, that is the capsicum should cook well in masala.
Garnish with parsley.

Serve with roti or rice.

Pesarapappu chamadumpa pulusu, moongdal and arbi spiced stew

2009-12-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to try this recipe since my mother in law mentioned to me that they used to prepare this recipe back at her maternal home almost every week. 'Pesarapappu' (yellow split moongdal) has an unique aroma and texture compared to regular toor dal. It is little sticky compared to toor Dal and cooks easily too. Especially with 'chamadumpa' (Arbi) in it, I really wanted to taste and feel how it would come into the plate. This is my first try and I have to say, it came really well and tasty and not to mention healthy.

So here you go, from my kitchen to yours..with this delightfully healthy recipe. Hope you enjoy it.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1/2 cup or little less than 1/2 cup of split yellow moong dal
2. 3 cooked and peeled 'chamadumpa' or 'arbi'
3. 1/2 a brinjal
4. 1 tomato, parsley, curry leaf
5. Amla sized tamarind
6. 2 green chillies or as per your taste
7. dash of turmeric, salt
8. jaggery or sugar per taste, I add about 3 spoons if its sugar
9. Sambar powder 1 spoon (home made or bought outside)

For Tampering:

1. 1 spoon oil
2. 1/2 spoon each of urad dal, mustard
3. pinch of hing
4. 1 red chilli
5. pinch of fenugreek

First clean 'Pesarapappu' and boil with enough water until cooked. Add bit of salt and keep aside.

Next take a big non stick pot or steel vessel. Add 3 glasses of water, pulp of tamarind, all vegetables chopped, cooked 'Chamadumpa' (Arbi), sambar powder, curry leaf, parsley, slit chillies, turmeric, salt, jaggery. Let it boil until all vegetables are done.
Add cooked dal at this point. Mix well. Salt again.
And on medium flame let it boil until it reduces to 2 glasses. Actually the best way to recognize that sambar is done or not is to let it form a thin layer on top. At this point you can do the tampering.

In a small bhandi or kadai, add oil, let it warm, add all tadka ingredients in the order given and when its ready add to boiling sambar or stew.

Serve with fried chips or 'Vadiyallu' with hot rice and bit of ghee.

Noodle omelet

2009-12-02T13:32:00.001-08:00

I saw this recipe on MaaTV few days back. From then on I have been wanting to make this dish.So, I kept asking my husband and my son if they would like to have an omelet for snack. Coz' I don't eat egg. I mean not in its boiled or scrambled state.

This recipe is very simple. My husband said it tastes very good and is a heavy breakfast/snack or side dish.

INGREDIENTS

1. 2 Eggs
2. 2 green chillies finely chopped
3. 1/2 packet of Maggi noodles (I am sure you can pick any noodles and try this)
4. parsley
5. dash of dhania powder, dash of Maggie masala or any garam masala.
6. salt per taste
7. bit of ghee or oil
8. 1/4 cup of onions, finely chopped and fried in oil. Keep aside.

Cook noodles in enough water, salt lightly and keep aside. Let them cool completely.

Now mix eggs, fried onions and rest of the ingredients. Add noodles only when you are sure that they have cooled completely. Or you know what will happen.

Mix well and pour it over a hot griddle which is lightly greased with ghee or oil. Spread nicely. With the above mixture you can make 2 medium sized ones.

Flip after few mins.

Done? Now eat.

Kakkara kaya vulipaya karam, Whole Bitter gourd with onion fry

2009-12-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

This is a very special curry/fry for me. My favorite pinni(aunty) used to prepare this back in Guntur, she is very good at maintaining family recipes. We had some customs back home and at least 3 days a week, my parents tried to avoid onion at all costs. So, when my pinni prepared this, she used to send it to us kids. My sister wasn't a big fan, so I got to devour it all. :)
Over the years, because of my consciousness and awareness towards health, I have almost successfully avoided fries and deep fries as curries. But once in a while you have this craving for fries and a different sort of fry other than your usually one's. Today happens to be one of those days.

So, just be aware this isn't exactly my idea of healthy food, but in taste, you got to try it to believe it.

This recipe is best suited for small, fresh and light colored bitter gourds. However, my taste buds didn't know that, so today I am going with the regular ones.

INGREDIENTS

1. 8 pieces of 2 inch karela(kakarakaya or bitter gourd)
2. 3 medium sized onions, finely chopped
3. 2 spoons of chili powder
4. 1 spoon of jeera
5. salt
6. Oil

First wash Karela, cut into pieces and remove the flesh from inside of bitter gourd using back of a spoon, just be careful and don't remove all, keep the last stab of flesh at the bottom of the piece. Back of the spoon works perfect, cause it does not cut through the vegetable like a knife. BTW for those wondering about removing the flesh from inside, I already warned you that this isn't exactly my idea of a healthy recipe.

Now fry these in bhandi, don't cook! That is add about 7 spoons of oil, little jeera and fry these brown in a bhandi or wok. Fry on all sides, you will have to rotate them using tongs. Make sure they are completely fried, cause otherwise you will have taste stuffing with bitter soft karelas. After they are fried, salt and take them aside. Remove rest of the darkened oil. On an electric stove it took me about 1 hour to fry these on medium high. So, have patience.

Now chop onions fine, add 1/2 spoon jeera,chilli powder, salt and pinch of turmeric.

Put it in a blender and make a paste. Not mushy, sort of coarse. If it becomes mushy then don't worry. We can take care of that as well.

Fry this onion mixture in 3 spoons of oil in a bhandi. Don't keep mixing it. Let it fry nicely.

Now using your fingers, slowly stuff this mixture into fried bitter gourd pieces. Onion paste left over? Use it as a garnish.

Put them in bhandi again for 10 mins before serving. Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Dal Makhani

2009-11-30T13:22:00.000-08:00

This is my husband's all time favorite dish to go with paratha. I tried many versions of this earlier, however over time I have made slight changes to it and finally settled on these ratio's and method.

What I like best about this recipe is, its quite healthy, that is when you prepare at home. I know the restaurant's add lots of butter and cream to turn this into a rich creamy dal, however I have cut down on all that due to health concerns.

Hope you enjoy this modified version.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1/2 cup whole urad dal
2. 2 spoons of kidney beans
3. 1 medium sized onion
4. 3 tomatoes
5. 4 slit green chillies
6. parsley and curry leaves
7. 1/2 spoon dhania powder
8. pinch of garam masala
9. 1/2 spoon ginger and garlic paste
10. 1 cup curd
11. 1 spoon ghee, 1 spoon oil
12. 4 spoons of malai or cream (I used condensed and evaporated milk)
13. Salt for taste

Soak dals together overnight. Cook for an hour in water and then when the water evaporates, add 1 cup curd and cook for another hour or until dals thicken. Keep aside.

Chop onions and tomatoes. Slit green chillies.

In a bhandi or non stick pot, add 1 spoon of ghee and 1 spoon of oil. Add Jeera, chilies, curry leaves, ginger and garlic paste. Then add onions and tomatoes. Salt enough. Let them cook well. Add 3 spoons of cream at this point.

Let it simmer for 10 Min's.

Add cooked dal. Add 1/2 cup water and let cook for 30 Min's so that all will come together. Salt again if necessary.

Garnish with parsley and last spoon of cream.

Our meal today. Avocado Paratha, dal makhani and raita made of carrots, parsley, chillies and salt. Total guilt free meal I have to say.

Avocado Paratha

2009-11-26T19:22:00.000-08:00

Avacado is very popular in vegetarian cuisine, making an excellent substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads because of its high fat content. The fruit is not sweet but fatty, distinctly yet subtly flavored, and of smooth, almost creamy texture. It is used as the base for the Mexican dip known as guacamole, as well as a filling for several kinds of sushi, including California rolls.
High avocado intake has been shown to have an effect on blood serum cholesterol levels. Specifically, after a seven day diet rich in avocados, hypercholesterolemia patients showed a 17% decrease in total serum cholesterol levels. These subjects also showed a 22% decrease in both LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels and 11% increase in HDL (good cholesterol) levels.
All the above courtesy of 'Wikipedia'.

So all in all paratha's made of Avacado are surprisingly buttery soft yet very nutritious.

Lets start then.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 Cup wheat flour (Atta)
2. 1 ripe avacado, 2 finely chopped green chillies, bit of parsley.
3. 1/2 spoon jeera, salt.

How to peel avacado?

Take a knife and hit it on Avacado and run it around the fruit. Now hold the fruit and rotate one hand in clockwise and other in anti clock wise direction, this way the fruit will spilit into 2 halves. One half will have a pit. Now hit the pit with knife and pull it. with a spoon scrap the pulp and it will come out clean in one move.

Add jeera, salt, chopped chillies and parsley to pulp of avacado and mash well with a wooden spoon or use hands.

Now add this paste to wheat flour/atta and knead well. Keep aside for few mins.

With a rolling pin make paratha with this dough. No need to spread oil or ghee.

On a non stick pan or griddle cook the parata. Take a tissue or soft cloth and keep pressing and turning partha. It will puff up like puri. Turn and cook again on both sides.
Serve hot with curry of your choice or just plain curd.

Chakkallu (Spiced Rice Flour Tikki's)

2009-11-25T18:57:00.000-08:00

One of the most sought after snacks in Andhra- Chakkallu. Quite simple to make, no preparations needed, however there are few nuances to making this snack or these could break apart leaving a mess in your oil. So lets start.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2 spoons each of split channa dal (senaga pappu) and split moong dal (pesara pappu), soaked for 2 hrs, 1 spoon jeera.
2. 2 cups of Rice flour
3. Coarsely grinded 6 green chillies, ginger and curry leaf
4. 8 spoons of ghee or 1/2 stick soft butter
5. Oil for frying, salt for taste

First, salt the rice flour and mix well. Now add coarsely grinded mixture, jeera, soaked dals and ghee to rice flour. Knead well. Slowly add enough water to make a dough.

Keep it aside for 30 mins.

Now take a zip lock bag or a thick plastic sheet, apply little bit of oil and make a patty with your hand taking small balls of dough on the sheet. When you spread it on sheet, it shouldn't be larger than your palm, that is the complete circle should fit into your palm.

Now the trick to droping these in oil isn't like the usually patties where you slowly remove them and hold in one hand and drop them. Because these are made of rice flour, they don't have any elasticity and don't sag like maida or atta. So, hold the cover and reverse it into your fingers and slowly pull back the cover and drop them straight into oil.

Another tip is, these are not fried in oil but cooked in oil. Meaning, don't wait until they turn brown, they will become bitter if you do so. Remove them when they are light brown, very light brown. Because oil is trapped in them they will cook slowly even after removing them. That is one reason why they take good amount of time to cool down.

My long weekend snack is ready..!

Kobbari Podi for tiffins. (Coconut masala powder)

2009-11-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

I am absolutely crazy about this Podi for many reasons. The strongest being, its super easy to make, you don't have to fry or roast anything and it tastes so yummy. It goes well with idli's, dosa's and rice too.

INGREDIENTS:
1. 1 heaped cup dry coconut powder
2. 1/2 cup or little less dalia or 'putnala senaga pappu'
3. 2 spoons jeera, 2 spoons or per your taste red chilli powder, salt for taste
4. 6 pods of garlic

Now let the blender work for you. First grind Dalia+jeera+salt+chilli powder. Once done add coconut powder. If you are using desiccated coconut, even then this is the order. Cause coconut will grind easy and because of the moisture content in it the blades might tighten.

Taste and salt accordingly.
Store in air tight container and serve with idli's with bit of ghee.

I don't think this pic is doing justice to it cause the podi comes in a bright orange color and the smell of garlic with jeera is intoxicating. As garlic is blended in mixer more of its essential oils are released giving this podi a strong aroma.

Vankai Bajji (Vankaya Bajji/Brinjal Chutney)

2009-11-23T18:29:00.000-08:00

To begin with I have absolutely no idea why this is called 'Vankaya Bajji' instead of 'Vankaya Chutney' ie; Brinjal Chutney. As many of you already know, the word 'Bajji' in Telugu means 'deep fried fritters(pakoda's type)', basically some vegetable dipped in some kind of batter and fried in oil. Contrary to the name this recipe has absolutely no oil, when I say no oil, I literally mean absolutely 'NO OIL AT ALL'. And for something made with no oil at all, this 'Vankaya Bajji' tastes amazingly fresh and delicious. You have to try it to believe it. BTW this is my mom's recipe and I have to thank her for teaching me such heart healthy recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
1. 1 Medium size chinese style egg plant or brinjal.
2. half dozen or more, ie; according to your taste green chillies.
3. 1/4 cup thick tamarind pulp
4. lots of parsley
5. Salt to taste, pinch of turmeric.

Now wrap the egg plant in an aluminium foil snuggly so that when you roast it on burner the juices don't drip on your burner.
You don't have to apply oil or salt or turmeric when you do this. Put it on burner on medium high. If you have gas burners unlike me then you follow the same process however you have keep turning the egg plant for each side to face the flame.

As it roasts in its own juices the smell is smoky and delightfully healthy. Should take you less than 15 mins for all sides to soften and for the skin to crisp. When you press lightly you should be able to feel that its done, cause it will be mushy and cooked.
Move it to a plate but don't remove the foil. The trapped heat inside will soften the skin.

In the meantime, slit the green chillies. In a blender or mixer, coarsely grind green chillies, tamarind pulp and half of parsely. Remove the skin of egg plant. Don't drain the juice, add it to the contents of mixer. Mash the roasted egg plant with hand or grind half in mixer and leave the rest little chunky. Mix all the ingredients together with enough salt and garnish with more parsely.

You are done. Eat it with hot rice or add some curd and serve with roti's. Better yet use it as a dip for your chips.

Bhaingan Bharta (Brinjal gravy curry)

2009-11-20T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks,
Me returning after recovering from 2 weeks of terrible cold, cough and fever. The usual I guess for this time of the year. Both me and my son were down this time and it took like forever for us to get back to feet.
Thought I will prepare something savory tonight for dinner. I knew its going to be Paratha for sure, so for curry I choose 'Bhaingan Bharta'. Fresh from the Indian store, these little ones look very cute indeed. This recipe is considerably easy to prepare even though it looks complicated with so many things going into it. See, for us south indians, north indian curries especially the one's with gravy look and feel complicated. But once you get a handle of it, like south indian sambar, it pretty much becomes simple to master.
So here you go...

INGREDIENTS:

1. 6 to 7 fresh little round bhaingan's (brinjal).
2. 2 small onions, 2 small red ripe tomato's, parsely, 4 green chillies and curry leaf.
3. Masala - quarter spoon garam masala powder, piece of ginger and garlic, few cashews, raisins, 1 spoon jeera, salt and oil.
4. 1 cup of curd/yogurt.

First, slit brinjal length wise without going on to the other side. That is leave the handle's, it looks pretty this way. Fry these in oil with little salt and turmeric sprinkled. Keep aside.

Now take a non stick pot and add 2 spoons of oil. Add these in the following order and fry till golden brown. Cashews, raisins, jeera, curry leaves, green chillies slit, onions cut length wise and garam masala. Now add tomato's.

Let them all cook well. Salt as needed. Add curd once tomato's are fully cooked. Mix it all well.
Add cooked brinjal. Salt if needed. Let it simmer for 15 mins on low.

Serve hot with Naan or Roti.

Padam- Erandu Padam Tukki Addu

2009-11-08T15:22:00.000-08:00

I successfully completed my Bharatnatyam padam today. On DVD that is. Other than taking classes outside, I am learning few items of bharatnatyam on Srekala Bharath's 'Learning Bharatnatyam over DVD'. I would have never believed it myself if anyone had told me that they were learning 'Bharatnatyam' over DVD. But, I put myself to test. Ofcourse, I did have some formal education before I began this on DVD. Infact, I had started few items before I picked up the DVD's. Actually, these were gifted to me by someone who is equally devoted to music and dance and I wanted to best use them for that would be the best gift I could give back to someone who had gifted these in first place.

I have only Srekala Bharath's DVD's, so I can't compare how they are compared to rest. But hey, as long as you can learn them and do them well, it doesn't matter I guess. Important thing is, they cover the complete posture for every step, so that you don't miss any part of it, neither the footwork nor the mudra's.

A disciple of renowned Guru K.J. Sarasa, Srekala Bharath is a passionate dancer, an ingenious choreographer and an inspirational teacher of international repute.
By the way, I also heard that she is cricketer Srikanth's sister.
Even though, I had learnt 'Adavu's' earlier, I did them again with these DVD's. There were slight differences, but I liked learning them, also helped me come back to shape.

The padam that I completed took me complete 1 month of everyday effort. I don't like mediocer performance, be it anything. And I am an ardent fan of Dance, so I can not do that to myself. I took every effort to learn every posture perfectly and put in lots of focus and determination to it. Learning is what I enjoy the most, I would want to be a life long student of dance.
'Erandu Padam Tukki Aaddu' is the padam that I learnt, composed in Ragam 'Khamas' and Talam 'Adi'.

I might never be able to realize my dream of learning dance at 'Madaras's Kalakshetra', for all practical reasons. However, I would certainly want to visit it one day and just for the dream of it,would like to perform what all I learnt even to a 6 year old and feel good about it.

Thats it for this week of Madhoo Writes...

Masala Chai (Masala Tea)

2009-11-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

I am not a fan of tea at all, but my husband is. Ofcourse, I have been preparing it everyday for him but never had it in the last 8 yrs. I like coffee over tea, I mean aroma wise. I have it in the afternoon, I mean coffee. But, before I declare myself officially addicted to coffee, I wanted to force myself to try tea. And what a better start than a chilly winter afternoon. And it looked like even nature is against me trying it as today is surprisingly warm for a saturday in November in Cleveland. But,thats not going to stop me from trying chai today. I am going to prepare masala chai today, which my husband likes and I will give it a honest try. I hope I like it.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 1/2 cup of whole milk.
2. 1 cup of water.
3. 4 cloves, 2 pieces cardamom, 2 inch piece of ginger, 1/2 spoon fennel seeds(saunf)
4. Sugar to taste, 2 spoons of your choice of tea powder.

I know few folks add other spicies too like pomegranate seeds, tulasi etc. I have tried those and as per my husband's taste buds, this combination of ingredients which I listed above worked best for him. So I am hoping it works for me as well.

Bring to boil 1 cup water and add tea powder. Grind coarsely cloves, cardamom, ginger and fennel and put in boiling water. Microwave milk for 2 min or until warm and when tea water is boiling add warm milk.

Reduce flame/heat to medium and keep on until it reduces to 2 cups or little less. Add sugar to cups and filter.

BTW there is a secret ingredient other than all mentioned above. Just look at the picture below. And I really liked it. I didn't expect me to finish it but may be it was the secret ingredient. :))

You can't go wrong with this combination, can you? And my husband; he called his cousin and while chatting on phone about the last India Vs Australia match, he asked if he could have another cup...

Semiya Upma for Saturday morning.

2009-11-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

A very simple and low maintanence upma. Semiya upma. I call it low maintanence is cause, if you just focus and get the right amount of salt in it, everything else will fall into place. It won't dry, it won't lump, it doesn't need ghee, no vegetables if you don't need it, no masala's, nothing. I like to keep this very simple as far as ingredients are concerned too. Somehow I don't like adding vegetables to upmas, other than onion and tomato ofcourse. However I do realize the value and nutrients of doing so. But in my defence, I am a strict vegetarian and all through the day I load myself with vegetables, greens and fruits, and I really can't start the day with another dish load of veg's. Not in upma definetely.

So here you go with my simple recipe for semiya upma.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 Cup of semiya (roasted or unroasted)
2. 4 spoons of oil, salt to taste
3. 3 green chillies, 2 inch piece of ginger, stalk of curry leaves, 1 big onion (chopped fine)
4. Tadka- 2 spoons of cashews, 1 spoon each of urad dal, channa dal, mustard, 2 red chillies.

Take a non stick pot, add oil and do the tadka with tadka ingredients listed. When they are light browon add onions, chillies, ginger and stalk of curry leaves. Salt well and stir until onions are soft.

The ratio of semiya to water is 1 : 1.5
Add water accordingly, salt again lightly and let it come to a boil.

Add semiya and stir well. Keep flame/heat on low and put a lid and leave it until water evaporates and looks done.

This should be and can be eaten only hot. So help yourself.... :))

Add a spicy pickle if you like it. I like it as is.

Our Saturday morning simple breakfast.

Peda chikudikaya tomato kura(curry). Broad beans curry

2009-11-07T03:20:00.000-08:00

I am absolutely crazy about this curry. Its healthy, its tasty, it has a different texture cause it has seeds in it and its very very easy to prepare. And these days as we get the frozen and cut ones it makes our life all the more easy in kitchen. I remember back in Guntur, my babai used to bring these in kilos one kilo for each home. All aunts used to sit together one afternoon and then remove the thin fiber like thing attached to these and snip them to fine peices and take their part home. At my home either it was Chikudikaya and Tomato or Chikudikaya and Vankaya curry, sometimes it was all three together. This is a yummy curry.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 packet frozen Chikudikayallu (Broad beans)
2. 2 Ripe tomatoes
3. Tadka- 1 spoon each of urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds, 2 red chillies.
4. Stalk of fresh curry leaves, salt for taste and 2 sliced green chillies, 2 spoons oil.

Wash and boil beans with just enough water and salt. Cook them until done. They will become really soft.

Keep them aside.

Chop tomatoes, slice chillies length wise and do tadka with oil and ingredients.

When tadka fries to golden brown, add tomatoes and chillies. Salt and let them cook well.

Add cooked beans at this point, mix well and salt accordingly.
Keep it on low flame/heat for 10 mins.

Chamadumpa Vepudu, Arbi fry, Colacasia Fry

2009-11-06T19:12:00.000-08:00

Of all the root vegetables in root family, I like this root the most. It has a distinctive taste to it. Its quite quick to prepare too. However like in preparation of most fries, you should let it sit down in the frying pan until it forms the first layer of crust.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 6 whole chamadumpa's or arbi, half them if they are too big.
2. 6 spoons of oil, 1 spoon of sugar, red chilli powder per taste.
3. Salt to taste, stalk of curry leaves
4. Tadka - 1 spoon each of urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds, 2 red chillies.

I don't pressure cook these in US, as they soften up pretty fast even though they are quite big in size compared to the india ones. In India even though they are small in size I had to pressure cook these, and even then some remained uncooked sometimes.

So, first put these in a big pot of water, salt the water and add pinch of turmeric and cook until soft and done. If you put a ladel through, it should go in smooth and cut it, thats when its completely done.

Drain water and let them cool and slowly peel. Chunk them nice into 1 inch cubes.

Now take a bhandi or non stick pan and pour oil. This fry needs more oil than usually fries. Don't skimp on it otherwise fry will burn and taste will be bitter. Add all tadka ingredients, urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves, pinch more of turmeric. When the tadka is brown, add cooked chamadumpa or arbi. Just mix once and leave as is on medium high flame. After about 6 or 7 mins, it will start to crust. With a thin edged ladel just toss them once. If possible spread them in single layer and add more oil if needed.

When all is done, sprinkle salt, chilli powder and 1 spoon of sugar.Let it fry for some more time. Fry should turn nice brown all over.

All done? Now enjoy.... with hot rice and dallop of ghee.

Pappu Dappalam, Gummadikaya dappalam, Red Pumpkin Dapalam/Soup

2009-11-05T02:26:00.000-08:00

Ever heard of the song,

"pa pa pa pa pappu dapalam"

"pa pa pa pa pappu dapalam, pa pa pa pa pappu dapalam, vedi vedi annam meda, vedi vedi vedi annam meda, kammani pappu kachina neyi, pappu dapalam kalipi kottatam...bhojanam vana bhojanam... " a song from my one of my favorite movie 'Pelli Pustakam'. We used to have similar gatherings in Guntur in Karthika Masam for 'Vana Bhojanallu'. Under the shade of big trees we all used to gather and sing songs or play games and then have these home made 'pappu dapalam'. Usually it was Gummadikaya Dapalam. So today its Gummadi Dapalam for lunch...

Traditionally Dapalam is served with hot rice, ghee, plain toor dal or 'Utti Pappu', and few crunchies to go with it. So plan accordingly.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2 Cups of Gummadikaya/Red Pumpkin cubed into big pieces. You will first have to scrap out the thick skin and then cut it. Also remove all the seeds and fibery stuff inside.
2. Other vegetables together 2 cups- few pieces of Vankaya(brinjal, eggplant),mulagakaya (drumsticks), tomatoes, bendakaya(bhindi,okra), Sorkaya(Bottle gourd).
3. Stalk of curry leaves, small sized bunch of kothimera (parsley), 6 green chillies sliced
4. Indian lemon sized tamarind pulped
5. 1 spoon of senagapindi (besan). You can also use rice flour.
6. 6 spoons sugar or equivalent Gaggery, Salt for taste, 1 spoon oil.
7. Tadka - 1 spoon each of urad dal, mustard, fenugreek,few corns of pepper, 4 dashes of hing, pinch of turmeric, 2 red chillies.

You can use any of the combination of other vegetables listed to 2 cups.

Take a big non stick pot. Add the pulp of tamarind, 1 ltr water, all vegetables, sliced green chillies, parsely, curry leaves, salt, sugar or jaggery, fenugreek, pinch of turmeric.
Bring to boil above contents or until vegetables are all done cooked. Might take good 30 mins.

It might evaporate and come to 2/3rds don't panic.

Take besan in a bowl and add 1/2 cup water and mix well so that there are no lumps. Add this to the boiling contents. Leave for another 10 mins and keep stirring or until it thickens.

Now do the tadka with 1 spoon oil, urad dal, few seeds of fenugreek, 4 dashes of hing, mustard and 2 red chillies in a small non stick pot or bhandi. Fry till golden brown and add to boiling soup.

Serve with plain dal or 'Utti Pappu'.

Our lunch today.... pappu+dapalam, rice, ghee, chamadumpa vepudu and few crunchies.

Cabbage Kothimera Pachaddi, Cabbage Parsley Chutney

2009-11-04T03:11:00.000-08:00

Me, my husband and my son all three are big fans of this Pachaddi. In fact all fresh chutneys are our favorites. They are healthy and very tasty. And thanks to my black and Decker they come chunky and not like a paste.
Cabbage chutney is also astonishingly very fast to make, believe me it will be done in less than 10 Min's including chopping. Don't believe me? Try it..

INGREDIENTS:

1. A quarter of small sized cabbage chopped into big pieces.
2. 1 dozen green chilies (reduce if you don't eat too spicy)
3. 1 1/2 amla sized tamarind
4. fresh stalk of parsley
5. Tadka - 1 spoon each of urad dal, mustard, few seeds of fenugreek, 3 dashes of hing, 3 red chillies.
6. 4 spoons of oil and salt to taste

Take a non stick pot or bhandi, add 2 spoons of oil and all tadka ingredients. Fry them golden brown and take them out into a bowl and put the tamarind in it as the heat of the oil will soften it.

In the same pot, add 2 more spoons of oil and add chopped cabbage, green chillies, parsley, pinch of turmeric and salt. Don't put lid, it will soften in no time. May be less than 5 Min's.

Now let the blender help you. First fried tadka with tamarind(make sure there is no pit). Once done (it won't come like a powder or paste, it will be coarse)add fried cabbage and salt and grind well. But make sure its chunky here and there. Or remove a spoonful of fried cabbage and mix later to chutney if your mixer pastes too fine.

Tomato Kothimera pappu, Tomato+Dhania dal, Tomato+Parsley dal

2009-11-04T02:37:00.000-08:00

I call this Tomato and Kothimera pappu cause adding a bunch of parsely enhances the flavor of tomato so much that you have to try it to know it.
Its my sister's ultimately favorite dal. If you eat it piping hot with rice and few crunchies aside..then you will become a big fan of this dal yourself.

INGREDIENTS:
1. 6 ripe tomatoes, really ripe ripe.
2. bunch of fresh parsely chopped, 6 green chillies, amla sized tamarind.
3. 1/2 cup of toor dal. Pressure cooked or on stove top to fine paste.
4. Tadka- 1 spoon each of urad dal, mustard, pinch of hing,2 red chillies, few seeds fenugreek.
5. 3 spoons of oil and salt to taste.

Take a non stick pot, add oil and all tadka ingredients. Let them brown, add chopped tomatoes, sliced green chillies,parsley(kothimera), pinch of turmeric and salt. Put the lid and let them cook.

Once cooked soft, add pulp of tamarind. Let them cook in tamarind pulp for some more time. Say 5 mins. Add little water. Add cooked dal, mix well and salt enough. Leave for 20 mins. Dal should get cooked in tamarind pulp and tomato juice.
Keep adding little water if its too thick.

Add more parsely as garnish and serve hot with hot rice and ghee.

Goruchikudikaya Patolli. Guvar Patolli

2009-11-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite recipe. My mother in law taught me this. I guess back in olden days they prepared this without onion, however my mother in-law adds onion and so does me. Once I got a hold of this, I realized that pretty much many other vegetables can be prepared this way, like Cabbage, Cauliflower etc. Also, when the quantity of the vegetable is less, this curry makes more sense as you can increase the quantity of dal and this curry will come out more in quantity. Also, if you have guests coming in you can prepare this patolli ahead of time like the day before and actually curry will then take only 15 mins.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 cup frozen Guvar beans, boiled till done in salted water.
2. 1/2 cup channa dal soaked for 2 hrs, you can even do 1 cup depending on your taste, 6 green chillies and 2 inch piece of sliced ginger.
3. 1 cup chopped onions
4. Tadka- 1 spoon each of cashews, urad dal, channa dal, mustard, pinch of hing. Few curry leaves.
5. 6 spoons oil, salt for taste.

For this recipe I am taking frozen Guvar or Goruchikudikaya. I take the ones which are already chopped and frozen. I take them out frozen and snip them with finger if they are too long(you will have to do this when they are frozen, once they start to thaw you won't be able to).

Now make a paste of soaked channa dal+ginger+green chillies with enough salt and keep aside.

In US it takes more time for the dal to soak up and become soft especially during winter.
In India I never added water to make this paste as the Indian mixer gave a good result even without adding water, but here in my blender I add little water to make it into a fine paste. Again you don't have to make it too fine.

Take a bhandi(bhandi works best) and add 6 spoons of oil. This curry takes more oil compared to regular curries. Add all tadka ingredients and let them brown. Then add onions and let them fry and brown. Don't add salt or they will get cooked not fried.

Now add the channa dal paste. Don't mix, just leave the lump in there and keep the flame/heat on medium high. The trick is it should form a crust. Should take about good 5 mins. Stay there. Don't go to switch channels or run errands, it burns up quick. The time between forming crust and burning up is less than few seconds.

You will know when crust forms, as you can see the sides brown up like dosa. Then with a thin edged ladel scrap it out and keep mixing. It will brown up like a fluffy egg.

Salt enough at this point and mix well. Now add boiled and drained beans. Mix well and keep on low flame/heat for 10 mins and salt accordingly.

An Ode to Summer @ Guntur!

2009-11-03T15:51:00.000-08:00

Summer at Guntur reminds me of so much in an instant. My mind floods with memories and my heart with mixed emotions. when I was in my grad college which was a girls college, it opened at 7 in the morning and would finish up at noon. I belonged to the most rowdiest of teenage girls batch in college. We were the infamously famous 6! When we were together it was like we would forget the whole world and who is watching in this whole white world. Nothing and no one dared stop us. Back in those days taking tutions was like the big thing. Everyone took tutions but no one fared well. Infact only the few who didn't take tutions, fared better than all of us.

Summer was the time for entrance exams, which meant more hardwork and more partying. Partying then was nothing like now. It just meant an extra batch of 'Merapakaya Bajjillu' at Brodiepet cross roads with all your friends while discussing about next exam. But now, even those memories mean much much more. Especially all the friends spread across continents, I am not sure if we will ever see all of us together! People say money can almost buy anthing, we didn't have money then but it bought us memories to cherish a lifetime. And now with many of us working and living a good lifestyle, we lack the zeal, zest, planning and may be above all the emotion to relive our cherished memories one last time.

Summer at home was equally fun. Me, my sister, my best buddy and other cousin gossiped about pretty much anything under the sun. Everything was a gossip and ended in a laughing riot, with my aunts and mum silencing and hushing us reminding us that we were girls from a conservative family. Which again ignited more gossip and more riots..

Back then even though we didn't have Air Conditioning at home, we didn't think summer was terrible. Infact we were quiet ok. After lunch we all used to gather at my home and have 'Banginapalli Mangoes', the sweetest of the Mango family. You can't go wrong with these ones, can you ? Watermelon and Sapota followed. While reading magazines we used to try out all beauty tips and face masks. Ranging from fruit pulp to flour masks to even weird ones like not drying face with towel etc...
Evening called for 'Malle Pullu' or 'Vera Jajullu'. All dressed up we used to walk until 'Shankar Vilas' and do window shopping while munching on popcorn or spicy 'Merapakai Bajjillu' bought near Ravi College. Infact I remember that popcorn stall to be the only one in brodiepet back then. Some days it was the famous 'Bellam Gilebi', even the thought of it is so mouth wateringly delicious and fingerlickingly good.And on the return walk a stop at the famous 'Fruit Juice' stall near brodiepet cross roads and my all time favorite was 'Chakrakelli' with sprinkled horlicks on top of it. Yummy.....!

Gossiping all the time about our class boys or other girls, it was an exponent of fun and no other chore or company even came close to it. With hot air still blowing like you are hanging on top of a hot griddle at 9 pm, we used to brisk walk back to home in no time.

By this time the power used to go off and laying down in the patio with mosquito repellent cream all over, we still didn't stop our gossip. Usually the day ended by planning for the next day. On most mornings it was helping one of your aunts with 'Vadiyallu' and 'Pachalldu'. Boy did they come up with variety. Ranging from regulars like 'Gummadikaya Vadiyallu' to rare ones like 'Chikudikaya Vadiyallu' everything meant so much work and hence more fun and gossip for us girls. We never complained. Why would any sane minded girls would?

End of summer only meant more fun with monsoon arriving and 'Sravana Masam' brought in a festival for every week. Talk about fun!

If reliving the memories is itself so much richly satisfying and hearty, imagine actually living it together one more time... !

Here is an ode to my summer at my home at my home town Guntur!

A song which we all sang with vigor and laughed about... WARMLY NOSTALGIC!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO_5wCQDRdA&feature=related

Karthika pournami, karthika poornima.

2009-11-03T03:39:00.000-08:00

Karthika poornima is celebrated on the full moon day and the 15th lunar day of Karthika Masam. I remember back in Guntur my home town, me and all my cousins used to fast all day along with our parents, uncles and aunts and feast in the evening to so many delicacies. Usually the day began with a visit to temple and all men in the home doing 'Abhishekam' and later couples performing 'Satyanarayana Vratham' and we kids waiting for the sun to set so that we get to the delicacies. Early evening around 4 p.m we used to go the the temple again in traditional costumes and help light up 360 'vothullu'(wicks) in a big earthen lamp in front of lord shiva. 'Omkara Kshteram' in guntur used to so crowded on this day that if you drop a pin it wouldn't fall down.

We sort of had a standard menu for this festival.
It started with 'Kothimera kharam' a chutney which acts like an appetizer arousing your culinary glands. 'Vankaya kharapu kaya', eggplant (brinjal) which my last babai used to bring from our ancestral town of Bapatla, fried with peanut and coconut powder. 'Dapalam', soup made from lots of vegetables and rice flour for thickness. Pongali and pulihora. Other 2nd list items were added to the menu but these were essential.

This time I decided to try out the puja and come up with my own healthy recipe. Below are shots of from our balcony.

I prepared 'Jyothullu' with Rice flour and put the Cow ghee soaked 'Vothullu'(wicks) in them. Its a standard to light up odd numbered lamps so I went ahead with 9 in the balcony and 2 at the altar.

Then after the standard puja of 'Vishnu sahasranamam', I lit couple of silver lamps inside and it was fruits for nyvedhyam.

Later lighed the the rice flour ones in the balcony.

A sight which reminded me so much of my home and home town. However I am happy I am making new memories for myself and wonderful ones for my son for when he grows up, its this balcony that he might remember and recollect.

Hara Hara Mahadev....

Palli pachaddi, peanut and coconut chutney.

2009-11-03T03:19:00.000-08:00

Every home has their own version of saturday night tiffin chutney. I remember we used to chid my dad saying what is the point of fasting if we have 4 dosas and 6 idlis for dinner. This pachaddi was prepared at our home every saturday and it was fingerlicking good. I usually used to get the chore of cleaning the jar after my mom was done with grinding it. I used to sit on sofa and slowly do the clean up of the jar, licking it with my fingers. I guess younger of the siblings are always naughtier and more creative in doing naughtier things. Cause I never saw my sister do this.

Anyways back to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1/2 cup roasted peanuts.
2. 1/3 cup fresh coconut. I like to use only fresh coconut for this chutney.
3. Amla sized tamarind, dozen or more green chillies
4. 1 big pod of garlic (optional)
5. Tadka - 2 spoons each of urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds, jeera. pinch of hing and few fenugreek seeds.
6. Stalk of curry leaves, salt and 2 spoons of oil.

Grind to fine paste roasted peanuts, fresh coconut, green chillies, garlic, salt and tamarind. Keep adding water as required.
Remove into a bowl.
Now take a small bhandi, add oil and do the tadka with all the ingredients. Add to the chutney.

Serve with hot idlis or dosas.

Tomato and Podina pachadi, Tomato and mint chutney.

2009-11-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

I am crazy about this chutney. I think my mom learned this chutney back when we were in kashmir for few years. My dad used to work for airforce and we got to visit places all around India and hence it all added to my mom's culinary art. And me and my sister in turn inherited from her. Also I took the liberty and introduced this chutney at my in laws home and now they all like it too.

Now its time I introduce it to my learned, open to experiment, internet friends.
Hope you like this as much as I do.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 6 ripe or raw tomatoes. Choosing between ripe or raw makes lots of difference in this recipe. I personally like raw tomatoes, however this time I couldn't find them so I am going ahead with ripe ones.
2. A dozen of green chillies, small bunch of mint leaves cleaned and chopped.
3. Amla sized tamarind.
4. Tadka - 2 spoons urad dal, 1 spoon mustard, 1/2 spoon fenugreek, few dashes of hing, 2 red chillies.
5. 4 spoons of oil

Take a bhandi or non stick pot and add 2 spoons of oil. Let the oil warm up and add all tadka ingredients. Let them fry to golden brown and remove into a bowl and put the tamarind in it as the heat of the oil will soften the tamarind.

I personally don't like to pulp the tamarind for chutneys. I like to use it as is and it reminds me so much of 'rotti pachadi' that my grand mother made. In olden days or even one generation back all these fresh pachadi's were chutnied in rock mortar and pestle. They came out nice and chunky instead of paste like adding texture and zist. However, now I blend them in my 'black and decker' blender and its as close to as it can get in terms of texture atleast.

Back to the recipe....

To the same skillet add tomatoes,green chillies and let them cook well with salt and pinch of turmeric.

When they are mushy add washed mint leaves. The aroma is inexplicable. Fresh mint with cooked tomatoes... mmmmhhhhh...reminds me of my childhood days, my mom cooking and we playing in the yard. That sizzling sound of tadka and boy did it work as an astonishing appetizer.

Time for blender to work for ya.

First fried tadka with tamarind. Then cooked tomatoes and mint. Salt to taste.
Kindly don't paste it. Leave it chunky.

You can have it with hot rice, or idli or upma or mix some curd and have as raita with roti or paratha.

Hope you like it.

Sada dal. North indian style sada dal.

2009-11-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

This is my version of sada dal to go with roti/chapathi/paratha. The only preparation for this dal is remembering to soak the dals for atleast 1 hr and if you do that pretty much the dal will be done in 5 mins.

I like the distinctive taste of toor dal with chana dal. As I am a south indian we usually don't prepare channa dal other than for few sweet dishes. I guess changing the ratio of the dals used will enhance its flavor. Good luck with trying.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1/4 cup each of channa dal and toor dal. Soak them together for 1 hr.
2. 5 green chillies, curry leaves, parsley.
3. Tadka- 1 onion sliced length wise, 1 spoon jeera, 1/2 spoon garam masala, 2 spoons of lemon juice, 3 spoons oil.

Wash the soaked dals well and mix them together with sliced green chillies and 1/2 spoon jeera and either pressure cook or on stove top until soft. Add salt and keep aside.

Now take a non stick pan or bhandi. Add oil and tadka ingredients except the lemon juice. Let onions brown. Add cooked dal and parsely. Mix well and salt. Now add 1/2 cup water and simmer for 15 mins.

Serve with roti after adding lemon juice.

Cabbage allam pachi mirchi kobbari kura, Cabbage with ginger,chillies and coconut curry.

2009-11-02T06:27:00.000-08:00

This is one curry, I can have by itself or have with chapathi or with rice or pretty much just like that as I said. Its very simple to make yet the flavor boasts that lots of effort went in. I call this 2nd curry, like lets say you have lots of people coming in for lunch or dinner, most people prepare one lavish rich curry like bhindi fry or vankai masala or something like this. This cabbage curry is 2nd curry cause its easy to make, cabbage chops up in 5 mins or less, you will have fresh coconut or dry one at hand almost any given day and this doesn't need much preparation.

Over the period of few years I have incorporated lots of additional ingredients to this curry to make it more healthy and tasty. Hope you enjoy it.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Quater of a cabbage chopped, 1 carrot finely chopped, quater cup green peas, curry leaves, 1 spoon moong dal
2. Paste of- 1/3 cup of coconut (fresh is best even dry works though), 6 green chillies, 2 inch ginger.
3. Tadka - 1 spoon of urad dal, channa dal, mustard, 1 red chilli, 2 spoons of cashews.
4. 2 Spoons of oil and salt for taste.

All set?

First boil cabbage,carrot, moong dal and peas with a pinch of turmeric and salt. As with the standard of boiling vegetables don't add to much water or you will have to drain it all and you will be draining nutrients too.
Don't overcook, these vegetables soften easily.

After they are done, let them cool.

Now take a non stick pot or bhandi. Add oil and when its warm, add cashews, and tadka ingredients. Add curry leaves and coconut,ginger, chilli paste. Fry them well until coconut turns little brown. Now add the pre boiled and dried cabbage. Salt well. Keep on low flame/heat for 5 mins.
Serve hot.

Wheat flour upma, Godhuma rava upma

2009-11-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

I was never a fan of this upma. However my sister liked it alot and I wondered why. Now I know why. :)
This is a very simple upma and has an unique flavor. However missing any single ingredient listed below will make it bland. Especially Ginger+Curry leaf+Green chillies. My mom used to prepare this upma when on run. This is good wholesome food too as its made with wheat rava so good in protein and fiber. Sometimes I prepare this same upma with 50% oats and 50% wheat rava to make it more healthy. And believe me it still tastes very good.

INGREDIENTS:
1. 1/2 Cup godhuma rava or wheat flour
2. 2 green chillies, 1 1/2 inch of ginger, few curry leaves, few cashews.
3. Tadka- 1 spoon each of urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds,1 red chilly.
4. 1 1/2 cup water
5. 4 spoons oil, 1 spoon ghee, salt to taste

Method:

In a wok or non stick pot add oil and tadka ingredients along with cashews. After they are all golden brown add green chillies, chopped ginger and curry leaves.
Now savour the aroma...... mmmhhhhhhhhhhh good? Now continue..

Add 1 1/2 cups of water (some folks add only 1 cup water for 1/2 cup of rava as they like their upma to me more fluffy. However this is my preference. Add salt as per taste. Let water come to a boil and add 1 spoon ghee.

Now time for rava to go in and come out as tasty tasty upma. Mix well after rava is added and after rava starts bubbling reduce heat and cover partially and leave it.
Might take about 5 to 7 mins.

Serve with lemon or sugar. I like it with sugar sprinkled on top.

Enjoy madi... :)

Gugilduu, Channa dal snack

2009-10-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

This is one of my husbands favourite snacks. Pros are it is very healthy, high on protein and low on fat. Con being, you will have to plan a head and soak the channa dal.
This goes very well in winter with a cup of coffee. And a book ofcourse. :))
INGREDIENTS:
1. 1/2 cup channa dal soaked for 6 hrs and boiled with salt until cooked well.
2. Tadaka- Urad dal, channa dal, mustard seeds, jeera, hing, cashews, curry leaf, red chillies.
3. 1 spoon ghee (making it with ghee makes all the difference)
4. 1 spoon dry or fresh coconut powder
5. 1 green chilly
6. Parsley for garnish.

After soaking and boiling channa dal, drain water and let them cool and dry out.

Add a spoon of ghee to non stick pot and add all spicies. Then add grated coconut and green chillies. Finally the channa dal and salt accordingly.

Oh, by the way don't forget to get yourself a cup of coffee to go with it. :)

Bendakaya Vankaya Tomato Chutney (Okra+Egg Plant+Tomato)

2009-10-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, you saw that right! :-)
When I first heard of this chutney from my mil, I was like... you must be kidding. But once I tasted it, I got hooked. Now its my all time favourite. This combination as weird as it sounds, contrary to its name tastes delicious. However, I am sure my mother in law prepares this better than me. :))

Okay, okay...here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
1. 5 Bhindi's (okra, bendakaya)
2. half a long brinjal(egg plant, vankaya)
3. 3 ripe tomatoes
4. Amla sized tamarind ball
5. 10 Green chillies
6. Tadka- 1 spoon each of urad dal, chana dal, mustard. Few fenugreek seeds, pinch of hing, 3 red chillies.
7. Oil 3 spoons.

Firstly fry all the tadaka spices and keep aside and put the tamarind along with the spices (the heat of the oil will soften it).
Chop and fry Bendakaya pieces in a single layer, the point being they have to get fried and not cooked. Keep aside.

Now fry Vankai, keep aside.
Now tomatoes go in keep them all aside.

Now get to the blender and let it do its work. First tadaka goes in, then tamarind, fried bendakaya, then vankaya, tomato and last parsley. Salt it well.

Our meal today: Rice, ghee, Bhendi+Vankaya+Tomato chutney, Vadiyallu.

Thotakura Curry or Podikura (Green Amaranth, Pigweed)

2009-10-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

'Thotakura Podikura' reminds me of summer in my home city Guntur. My mom used to prepare this curry usually in the evening with fried 'Vadiyallu' to go with it. This curry is complained by many to have a bland taste, I have to actually agree. It doesn't have a great aroma or significant taste. However, it is a very simple curry with simple taste, especially if you have cruncy 'vadiyallu' or any other crispies to go with it. Not to mention its nutritious value.
BTW did you know that its seeds have a protein content greater than that of wheat?
Here goes the recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
1. Big bunch thotakura

2. 1 table spoon split yellow moong dal(pesara pappu)

3. 1 spoon oil

4. Urad dal, chana dal, mustard seeds, jeera, red chillies (2), hing and curry leaves (this is for tadaka).

5. Salt for taste.

Wash and chop Thotakura and boil it with Pesara Pappu(split yellow moong dal. When chopping thotakura you can keep almost all the stem and chop it fine. Otherwise the curry will just come to spoonful.

Add only enough water so that you won't have to drain the water and hence the nutrients. Don't overcook the greens, just few mins will do and btw don't forget to add salt and haldi.
Spread the cooked dal and greens on to a plate and let them cool and dry out a bit.
Now take 1 spoon oil and add urad dal, chana dal, mustard seeds, jeera, red chillies, hing and curry leaf.

Few folks add onion at this point, however I am not a big fan of it.
Add the cooked greens and salt very lightly. Leave it on sim for few mins and let all the water evaporate (if any).

Note: This is one curry where even a pinch of extra salt will make it very salty to eat. So be very cautious adding salt as you would have already added it when boiling the greens.

Enjoy with hot rice, spoon of ghee and vadiyallu.

Our meal for today: Rice, Thotakura podikura, Vadiyallu and Chutney.

East is the new West.

2009-10-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Ever heard '35 is the new 25'(yea right, I wish it were true biologically!). This is on similar grounds.. 'East is the new west'.
Last 2 yrs I was in India, for personal reasons. Working, parenting and learning. Precisely learning alot about India. To begin with I was born and brought up in India, in a relatively small town, from a relative big sized family, in surprisingly conservative society, yet by an astonishgly liberal father, who believed in keeping an open mind to everything. Given all that, I was taken aback when I spent quickest 2 yrs of my life at hyd. Not that I disliked everything that I saw, but yes, there have been quite some unpleasant surprises. Starting from the exponential number of pubs and discos that have been on rise which are densely crowed by start of any night , to the way girls dress these days at work place, I have had many questions. Just be aware that I am not the sort of person, who is against pubs, disco's and socialising. But, I believe in striking a right balance. I believe in our conservative roots, I believe we as middle class people represent a hardworking society which values money and sacrifice. I am a stern believer of liberlization of mind over liberlization of style and dressing. There were many instances at hyd, when I felt quite out of place in regards to style and dressing. I am sure there would have been many who thought I was trying to make them look like 'fancy girls' compared to me. That was certainly not my intention. I don't think one has to wear jeans to prove they are smart. Infact I would rather not be in that group of dumb people at all. Believing in one 's strengths as a person, as a women and confidantly going forward with charisma, wit and intelligence is what is style to me. And boy do these people make a lasting impression. Vivekananda, Indira Gandhi, APJ Kalam Sir etc etc....
I remember when growing up many of my uncles and aunts had persitent complaints about we not waking up early sometimes, and how much hard work they had to put up with, compared to us. And in all they made it sound like, it was coming too easy to us, and that we were westernizing ourselves. To this point I thought of bringing up a very small example of how much we people westernized,but my point being, west is far far more disciplined than us in this regards. How many of us actually sleep today and wake up tomorrow?Most IT folks I met sleep well past 12 in the night and wake up close to noon... if not noon...2 or 3 hrs short of noon. Yea, yea , yea I know we all work for clients who are in US or in someother time zone and its important to overlap few hours. But, many of us know that, this stands true even otherwise, even on saturdays and sundays, even for non IT folks, even for women at home... and surprisingly for non school going kids too. But the west wakes up early, as early as 4. They are very disciplined about it. It makes the day longer, more productive and planned. It gives time for personal interests and hobbies(unless, sleeping is yours). It gives you an edge over others. It improves focus and concentration. All in all, it feels brilliant.
All in all, I felt like people were trying hard to westernize themselves in regards to dressing, socializing, drinking etc but loosing out on the values that we need to learn from west too. There are many if only you chose to be openminded....I am sure to find dozens of my friends contradicting this all, but then again..its all perception, isn't it?
Thats all for today in today's 'MadhooWrites' ....Madhoo..