Mamidikaya Pappu --Mango Dal

Dal is a regular side dish that accompanies almost every meal in most parts of India. It is packed with high levels of protein, and is considered as the main source of protein by vegetarians in India. It can be cooked just plain by itself or with combination of various greens or vegetables. Dal with rice and ghee is heavenly.

Summer and Mangoes almost go hand in hand for our andhra people. Mangoes are relished in all stages, right from when they are raw and sour all the way to when they are ripe and juicy. They are used in multiple recipes in all stages and are also eaten just by themselves.

Mango dal has an unique flavor of the tart in the mango well incorporated into the scrumptious flavor of toor dal.


Ingredients:
1 cup toor dal
1 raw mango skinned and cut into thin slices
½ onion chopped
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste

For Seasoning:
1 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp cumin
1 red chili
Curry leaves
Pinch of asafoetida

Pressure cook dal with two cups of water upto two whistles and let it cook for another 5 minutes on low heat.

In a sauce pan place mango pieces along with onions and a cup of water and cook on medium to low heat until the mango pieces are tender and soft.

Add the cooked dal along with chili powder, turmeric and salt to the sauce pan with cooked mango.

Stir and cook on low for couple of minutes or until you get the desired consistency.

Now for the seasoning, heat oil in a small pan, add mustard let it splutter, add cumin, red chili, curry leaves and asafoetida. In couple seconds when roasted add it to the dal.

Enjoy it with rice and ghee.

Bendakaya Teepi Kura --Sweet n Sour Okra

Okra is one of the very common vegetables in most Indian households. Sweet and sour okra is a flavor packed dish where tangy okra with a hint of sweetness will have you wanting for more. Contrary to the major belief that okra is gummy and slimy, the tamarind in this curry keeps the stickiness at bay. The subtle sweetness of the dish will please every child’s palate.

For Sweet n Sour Okra, crisp okra is cooked in tamarind and jaggery along with onions, chili powder, salt and turmeric. Unlike most curries where u start with seasoning, for this curry seasoning is added just before serving.


Ingredients:
2 lbs okra chopped into half inch circles
1 onion chopped
1 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
About 1 inch cube of jaggery
Walnut sized tamarind ball
½ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste

For Seasoning:
2 tsp oil
1 – 2 cloves of garlic mashed
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp urad dal
1 red chili
Curry leaves

Soak tamarind and squeeze the pulp out with as little water as possible.

Mix all the above ingredients in a sauce pan and cook covered on medium heat.

Okra should be cooked through but should not loose shape. If there is more moisture even after the okra is cooked to desired tenderness, evaporate remaining water on high heat stirring gently making sure not to mush the okra.

Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard when it starts to splutter, add cumin and urad dal followed by mashed garlic, red chili and curry leaves.

When the urad dal turns into golden brown remove from stove and add the seasoning to cooked okra.

Make sure to add seasoning just before serving. It enhances the flavor of the dish to new heights.

Enjoy it with hot rice. Tastes great as a side to curd and rice.

Poori with Potato Curry

Pooris with potato curry is one of our family’s favorite weekend breakfast. Puffed delicate pooris with a very simple yet delicious potato curry is what we all like to indulge in on Sunday mornings.


For pooris:
2 cups wheat flour
1 tsp ghee
½ tsp salt
Water to knead
Oil for deep frying

Mix flour, salt and ghee and knead into a stiff dough, adding water little at a time. (I use a food processor which makes it faster and easier)

Leave it covered for 10 minutes.

Make walnut sized balls and roll them into about six inch discs with a rolling pin.

Heat oil in a kadai. When the oil is hot, carefully slide the flat disc into the oil.

Gently immerse it into the oil with the slotted spoon.

Once the poori puffs, carefully flip it to the other side.

Remove from the oil with in few seconds. Do not let it over fry.

Place them on a paper towel for couple minutes before serving.

Tips: Make sure the dough is hard, otherwise the pooris will end up too oily. Oil has to be hot for the pooris to puff as desired.

Potato Curry:

4 large potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
2 onions chopped thin and long
1 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp oil
¼ cup water
Salt to taste

For seasoning:

1 tsp mustard
1 tsp cumin
1 red chili
Curry leaves

Heat oil in a pressure pan, add seasoning.

Add onions and sauté till they are transparent.

Add potatoes and sauté for couple more minutes.

Add salt, turmeric and chili powder, sauté for couple more minutes.

Add ¼ cup of water, cover the pressure cooker.

Wait for one whistle, turn the stove off.

If there is any water left, evaporate it on high heat.

Tips: Pressure cooker can be avoided, it just takes few more minutes to cook.

Poori with potato curry is a fabulous breakfast which makes you savor each and every bite!

Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani

Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani! I consider it as the king of all biryanis. Tender pieces of mutton marinated and cooked in fine blend of spices, curd and ginger garlic. Layered between rice with delicate aroma of spices mint and cilantro and steamed to perfection.

There are many versions of this recipe with little variations. I did follow the recipes earlier where you half cook rice, drain the water and then layer rice and mutton in a heavy bottomed vessel stick the lid with dough so that the steam does not escape. I always ended up with many utensils to clean and the job just seemed daunting. I made few changes where all you need is a pressure cooker and a rice cooker. A simplified version of the recipe yet tastes just as fabulous.



For Rice:
4 cups basmati rice
4 cloves
2 cardamoms
2 inch stick of cinnamon
1 tsp shajeera
1 tsp ghee
Handful of mint and coriander leaves
6 – 7 cups of water
Salt to taste

For Mutton:
2 lbs mutton
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 cup curd
1 tsp garam masala *
6 green chilies
2 tsp ghee
2 tbsp oil
Handful of chopped mint and cilantro
Salt to taste

Others:
2 onions sliced and fried till crisp
Saffron or food color mixed in ¼ cup of milk
Handful of chopped mint and cilantro
Juice of one lemon

*for garam masala: 4 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon, 1 tsp poppy seeds, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 2 cardamoms
Powder them in a coffee grinder.

Marinate mutton along with all the ingredients under For mutton: 2 – 3 hours in the refrigerator.

In a rice cooker add everything under For Rice: and set it on cook.

Place the mutton in a pressure cooker large enough to make the whole biryani.

Pressure cook until the mutton is tender.

Once the rice is cooked spread it to cool and discard the spices.

If the mutton in the pressure cooker has excessive water evaporate a little but make sure there is enough moisture.

Layer rice on top of mutton in 3 to 4 layers with fried onions and fresh mint and cilantro in between the layers.

Also pour a little milk with saffron on each layer.

Dot it with 2 – 3 tsp of ghee on the top.

Pressure cook on low for 20 – 25 minutes.

When ready to serve sprinkle the lemon juice and gently mix the rice and mutton.

This wholesome dish will entice your taste buds without doubt.

Brussel Sprouts with Tomatoes

Growing up in India I have never seen Brussels sprouts, they are one of the many new vegetables I have seen for the first time after coming to US. They did look very cute as miniature cabbages but I never bothered to try them.

One day Vn explained in a dramatic fashion how all his friends hate Brussels sprouts and how glad he is that his mom does not make him eat this dreadful vegetable. That sure made me curious about the veggie. I decided to make a simple Indian style curry with onions and tomatoes.

To Vn’s surprise it was delicious. It has a bit more texture than cabbage and a delicate nutty flavor. I am going to make this dish a regular in my home, and am looking forward to trying some more recipes with these sprouts which contain good amount of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fiber




Servings: 4
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
15 – 20 Brussels sprouts cut into 4 pieces
1 large onion chopped
3 tomatoes chopped
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

For Seasoning:
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
1 red chilli
1 tsp urad dal
Curry leaves

Procedure:
Heat oil in a sauce pan, add mustard let it splutter, add cumin followed by urad dal, red chili and curry leaves.

Add onions and sauté for two minutes, do not let them over cook.

Add Brussels sprouts sauté for five minutes on medium heat.

Add tomatoes and sauté for two more minutes.

Add turmeric, chili powder and slat.

Cook on low heat covered for another 10 minutes. Onions and Brussels sprouts will absorb the tangy taste of tomatoes.

Serve with rice or roti.
You can also try it as a side with rice and sambhar.

Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa is one of the most popular North Indian desserts. Grated carrot is cooked in milk and sugar, and garnished with cashews and raisins to form this delectable dessert.

If you have a food processor or a vegetable chopper which can aid you in grating the carrot, making this dessert is a breeze. Make sure the grated carrot is tightly packed in the cup while measuring.

Serves: 4 – 6
Cooking Time: 25 – 30 minutes

Ingredients:
3 cups grated carrot
1 ½ cup half and half milk
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp butter
10 cashew nuts
2 tbsp raisins
2 tsp ghee
Pinch of cardamom powder

Procedure:
Heat the pan, add grated carrot, sauté on medium heat for 3 minutes.

Add butter to the pan, continue to sauté till carrot has no more raw smell.

Add half and half milk and sugar and continue to cook on medium flame until the milk evaporates. Make sure to stir and not let it burn.

In a separate pan heat ghee, fry cashew nuts on a low to medium flame until they turn into a nice golden color. Add them to halwa.

Heat ghee again and fry raisins till they become plump and add them to halwa.

Add cardamom powder.

This mouth watering dessert is sure to please your family and friends!

Whole Okra Fry

I often stir fry okra cut in small pieces. Other day while I was comfortably enjoying my okra fry, S suggested I should come up with another recipe for the vegetable which gives more bite to it. I went on a hunt in the food blog world to find a recipe that is different and new to me. I came across http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2008/02/food-of-movie-stars-spicy-okra-with.html which met my requirements.

The recipe had okra as a whole with just the edges trimmed, and along with other spices carom seeds (ajwain). I love the flavor of carom seeds but never came across any dish with it except deep fried snacks. Whole okra and carom seeds were motivation enough for me to try the recipe.

Thank you, Meeta for the wonderful recipe.



Ingredients:
2 lbs okra edges trimmed
2 onions sliced
4 tomatoes chopped
3 green chillies chopped
½ inch ginger chopped
1 tsp carom seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chili powder
3 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Heat oil, add cumin and carom seeds followed by onions, ginger and chilies. Sauté until onions are transparent.

Add tomatoes and cook on medium to high flame until tomato juices have partially evaporated.

Add Okra sauté frequently while keeping it covered in between. This helps okra cook through without loosing the shape.

When the okra is just about cooked add turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder and salt. Sauté for another minute.

Serve with roti or rice.