Palakura --Spinach Curry

Spinach simmered with sautéed onion, ginger, garlic and spices.

Ingredients:

1 lb chopped spinach (preferably frozen)

2 medium or 1 large onion chopped

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

¾ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp garam masala

Salt to taste

½ cup milk

Tempering:

¼ tsp mustard seeds

¼ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp urad dal

1 red chili broken

1 spring of curry leaves

Heat oil in a sauce pan. Add tempering, when it starts to crackle add onions.

Saute for few minutes until the onions are semi transparent.

Add turmeric, chili powder, salt and sauté till the onions are transparent.

Add spinach and sauté for few minutes on medium to high till the spinach is totally defrosted and is well sautéed.

Add milk, when it starts to cook reduce flame and let it simmer.

Half way through simmering add garam masala.

Simmer to desired consistency.

Variation 1

 Bangaladumpa Palakura --Potato Spinach Curry

1 Large or 2 medium potatoes cut into chunks.

Add potatoes after adding turmeric, chili powder and salt.

Sauté till potatoes are semi cooked before adding spinach.

Increase chili powder to 1 – 1 ¼ tsp.

Increase garam masala to ½ tsp.

Increase milk to 1 cup.

Variation 2

Kodi guddu Palakura --Spinach Egg Curry

Add 2 boiled eggs after the spinach is sautéed, stir it for a minute and then add milk. 

Tomato Pappu --Tomato with lentils (Tomato Dal)

Tomato dal is easy to make, highly nutritious and a super comfort food.

Toor dal cooked with onions and tomatoes and topped with aromatic tampering.

Ingredients:

1 cup Toor Dal (Pigeon peas)

2.5 cups water

3 medium tomatoes (cut into large pieces)

½ cup large onion chunks

1 tsp chili powder

¼ tsp turmeric

Salt to taste

Tempering:

2 tsp oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 broken red chili

1 spring curry leaves

¼ tsp asafetida (hing)

Wash toor dal. Add 2.5 cups of water to dal in a pressure cooker.

Add tomatoes and onions. Cook on high for two whistles and set the heat to low and let it cook for 10 – 12 mins. 

Once the pressure is off, remove lid. If there is excessive water, cook for few minutes without cover to get it to the desired consistency.

Add chili powder, turmeric and salt.

In a separate pan heat oil, add mustard, cumin, red chili and curry leaves followed by hing. Once the mustard starts spluttering, add the tempering to dal and mix will.

Enjoy it with hot rice and ghee. 

Egg Pulusu --Eggs in tamarind sauce

My boys and many nephews and nieces are entering into their new phase of life at schools and new jobs. I have decided to post recipes that are very basic and easy to make for novice chefs. Most of the recipes will be of simple Andhra dishes for the days when these newbie cooks miss their home food.

The recipe today is Egg pulusu.

Boiled eggs cooked in sautéed onion and tamarind sauce. 

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 tbsp oil

1 large onion chopped into tiny pieces

1 heaped tsp of tamarind paste (adjust to taste)

1 inch cube of jaggery or 2 tsp sugar (reduce if you do not like sweet)

1 tsp chili powder

¼ tsp turmeric

Salt to taste

2 cups water

Tempering:

¼ tsp mustard seeds

¼ tsp cumin seeds

¼ tsp fenugreek seeds

1 dry red chili broken

1 spring curry leaves

1 mashed garlic (optional)

Boil and shell eggs. Set them aside.

Heat the oil either in pressure pan or sauce pan.

When the oil is hot add the ingredients under tempering. When mustard starts spluttering add chopped onions and sauté till transparent. Add chilli powder, turmeric, salt followed by eggs and sauté for a minute. Add jaggery and tamarind paste and 2 cups water (add 1 cup of water and based on your desired consistency add more). If using pressure cooker, cook it until one whistle. If sauce pan cover and cook on medium for 10 mins.

This is a great side dish for white or brown rice. I recommend eating it with rice and plain or tomato dal. I will post the tomato dal recipe soon. 

Chicken Fry (1)

Today’s recipe is one of many chicken fry variations. Ginger and curry leaves add a distinct flavor to this dish.

For Precooking

2 lbs Chicken (with bone or boneless)

1 – 2 tsp of red chili powder (adjust to taste)

½ tsp turmeric

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

For Saute

1 large onion

2 inches on ginger

8 flakes of garlic

3 springs of curry leaves

6 green chilies slit in halves

4 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

1 ½ tsp of garam masala

Handful of chopped coriander leaves

For Seasoning

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 red chili broken

Mix chicken with chili powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt, oil and set it on heat. If there is no moisture at all, add very little water (less then ¼ cup). Cook on medium to high heat. Do not slow cook, it makes the chicken hard. Cook until 80% of the moisture is evaporated. Remove from heat and set it aside.

Blend onions, ginger, garlic and curry leaves into a coarse paste. Just pulse it couple times in blender, it should be chunky.

Heat oil in a wide pan, add seasoning, when it starts to splutter add green chilies followed by the chunky onion paste. Add turmeric and salt and sauté until the onions loose the raw smell.

Add chicken and sauté for about 10 minutes on medium heat until it gets a nice golden brown hue.

Add garam masala of your choice, store bought ones like kitchen king or chicken masala are a good option.

Add coriander leaves mix will and remove from heat.

Enjoy it as a side dish to your Indian meal. 

Kale Pappu - Kale with lentils (Kale Dal)

After a looong hiatus, I am planning on reviving the blog with Kale Dal.

Nutrition rich kale combined with protein rich dal is both healthy and delicious.

Ingredients
1 cup toor dal

3 tightly packed cups of chopped kale

½ a small onion chopped thin and long

2 – 3 green chilies slit (adjust to taste)

3 tsp oil

Juice of one lime

¼ tsp Turmeric

¼ tsp red chili powder (optional)

Salt to taste

Seasoning

½ tsp mustard

½ tsp cumin

1 red chili broken

Pinch of asafetida

1 spring curry leaves

Cook dal in pressure cooker

Heat oil in a large pan, add seasoning followed by onions and green chilies and sauté.

When onions are half done add kale and sauté till it wilts.

Add turmeric, red chili powder and salt.

Add the cooked dal, add water to get it to stew consistency.

Cook until the dal and kale blended well together.

Add lemon juice after you remove dal from heat.

Cooking time of kale can be adjusted to your choice. I do not like to over cook onions and kale. It gives a nice texture to the dish.

Enjoy it with hot rice and ghee. For a carb free meal try adding little more water while cooking and eat it as a soup. 

Boorelu

Happy Sankranthi to all!
The Harvest festival Sankranthi is celebrated in most parts of India. The best place I ever celebrated this festival is at my grandparent’s village in West Godavari district. Front yards are decorated with beautiful rangoli and gobbemmalu, haridasu along with his gangireddu (decorated ox) comes to each house. Young girls dance around the gobbemmalu in the evenings. The atmosphere there in January is absolutely beautiful and festive.

It is a celebrated over four days. The first day ‘Bhogi’ is celebrated with a bon fire early in the morning. Second day ‘Sankranti’ is the day we all wear new clothes, pray and distribute sweets and gifts to farm workers and to domestic help. Third day is ‘kanumu’ and the fourth day ‘Mukkanumu’ is celebrated with variety of non vegetarian dishes.

Boorelu take the top spot in the sweets for this festival. They are made in huge quantities and become the main sweets of distribution.

Channa dal and jaggery are cooked together and formed into balls. These balls are dipped in urad rice batter and deep fried into a golden color.

Ingredients:

Stuffing (Poornam):
1 cup channa dal
1 cup grated or crumbeld jaggery
1 tbsp fresh grated coconut
Pinch of cardamom powder

Batter:
1 cup rice
½ cup urad dal
Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Procedure:
Soak rice and urad dal for 6 – 8 hours.
Blend them into a smooth paste using little water.
Add salt and set it aside for about 4-6 hours.

Cook channa dal in water until the dal is cooked. Drain excess water.
Mix jaggery and cooked channa dal together.
Cook in a thick bottomed pan to make poornam. Stir continuously so that it is not burnt.
When it comes to the consistency to form a firm ball remove from flame.
Add grated coconut and cardamom powder.
When it is cool enough to touch, shape poornam into small balls (size of table tennis ball).
Make sure the batter is thick enough to coat the balls evenly.
Heat oil in a wide pan.
Dip each poornam ball in the batter and gently leave it in the oil.
Do not crowd them in the pan. Place them few inches away from each other.
Fry on medium heat until they turn into golden brown color.

Serve them warm.

Make a small hole on the boori and pour in ½ tsp melted ghee to elevate the taste up another notch.

BellPepper Tofu

Bell Pepper Tofu is an easy to make tasty recipe from a dear friend. The nutritional goodness from vegetables and protein from Tofu with a side of roti or little brown rice makes this a healthy lite meal. Kasoori methi and coriander powder infuse loads of flavor into otherwise bland tofu.
Sauteed bellpeppers and tofu are simmered in tomatoes, coriander powder and kasoori methi for this scrumptious dish.
Ingredients:
2 bellpeppers cut into long strips
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes chopped fine
12 oz of extra firm tofu cut into long strips
2 tbsp coriander seeds
4 red chilies (adjust to taste)
1 tbsp crushed kasoori methi
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Turmeric a pinch

Procedure:
Make coriander and red chilies into a fine powder in a coffee grinder
Heat oil in a skillet, sear the tofu pieces. Set them aside.
Add ginger garlic paste to the oil, sauté till the rawness is gone but do not over fry
Add bell peppers and sauté till they are half cooked
Add coriander powder and sauté for a minute
Add tomatoes followed by turmeric and salt and sauté till the tomatoes disintegrate and form into gravy
Add kasoori methi
Cook till the bell pepper is almost cooked, don’t let it get mushy or loose the shape.
Add tofu and ¼ to ½ cup water so that the flavors are well blended. Cook till the water evaporates.

Eat it with rice or roti, or by itself for a carb free meal.