Beerakaya Pacchadi --Ridge Gourd Chutney

Ridge gourd a delicate delicious vegetable is a regular at my home. This pacchadi is made along with skin making it rich in fiber. Ridge gourd is sautéed and blended coarsely with roasted urad dal, mustard, cumin and fenugreek. Sesame seeds add a unique flavor, green and red chilies add the needed spice. Sourness from tamarind makes this a mouth watering dish.

Ingredients:
4 – 5 medium size ridge gourd cut into small pieces with skin
1 tsp tamarind paste or gooseberry sized tamarind soaked in warm water
1 tbsp oil

2 flakes of garlic chopped
5 – 6 green chilies (adjust to taste)
4 red chilies (adjust to taste)
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp fenugreek
2 tsp split black gram
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp oil

For Sesoning:
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp urad
1 red chili
Curry leaves

Dry roast sesame seeds until they get a light brown hue. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add garlic and green chilies followed by red chilies, cumin, fenugreek and black gram. Sauté till they are well roasted. Set aside and let it cool.

Heat oil and add the chopped ridge gourd. Sauté until it looses its rawness. Set aside and let it cool.

Blend sesame into a fine powder, blend the rest of the roasted spices.

Add tamarind and blend.

Make a coarse paste of the ridge gourd pieces and mix everything together.

Add salt to taste.

Heat oil in a pan. Add seasoning. When the mustard starts to pop add the seasoning to the pacchadi.

Tips: Sesame seeds can be replaced with 2 tsps of channa dal. Channa dal can be roasted along with urad dal.

Eat it with hot rice and ghee (optional) and you will enjoy every bite.

Carrot Mango Curry

Mango is my favorite in all forms. During summer it finds its way into most of my recipes. Today’s recipe is a simple carrot curry, with an additional ingredient mango to give it a new twist. The sweetness of carrot combined with tanginess of mango with added spice from chilies makes this a dish exploding with flavors.

Ingredients:
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped raw mango pieces
2 green chilies slit
Salt to taste
¼ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp oil

For Seasoning:
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp Cumin
1 tsp urad dal
1 red chili broken
Few curry leaves

Heat oil in a sauce pan, add seasoning.

When mustard starts to pop add onions and green chilies.

Saute for a min or two, add carrots. Stir on medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes.

Add mango pieces, saute for couple more minutes.

Add turmeric and salt. Let it simmer covered on low flame until the mango pieces are just soft but not mushy.

The crispness of the carrot and the softness of the mango makes you relish every bite.

Spicy Shrimp Curry

This shrimp curry has been a regular dish in my home all my life. It is one of my most favorite dishes. Shrimp are simmered in freshly ground spices, ginger garlic and onion. Tamarind adds the extra zing to an already flavor packed dish. Spice lovers can be generous with chili powder, it complements the shrimp very well.

For this recipe I prefer fresh shell on shrimp to frozen ones. Most of my recipes have freshly ground spices. It may seem tedious to many but if you have a good blender, the couple extra minutes you spend to make fresh masala is well worth it.

This is a great dish for family dinners or when you have company, it is sure to draw many praises

Ingredients:
2 lbs fresh shell on shrimp
1 onion coarsely blend
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric
Pulp from lemon sized tamarind ball
3 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

For garam masala:
10 cloves
2 inch cinnamon
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds

For seasoning:
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp fenugreek
1 red chili
Curry leaves

De shell and de vein the shrimp. Clean them thoroughly.

Place shrimp in a saucepan along with 2 tsp of oil, ½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp chili powder and 1 tsp salt.

Cook on medium to high flame until the shrimp curl and loose the transparent look. Set it aside.

Grind masala into fine powder, mix it with ginger garlic paste and coarsely blend onion. Set is aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a sauce pan, add seasoning followed by masala ginger garlic and onion. Sauté for 5 to 10 mins until the onion looses its raw smell. Add turmeric, chili powder and salt.

Add the semi cooked shrimp, sauté for few more minutes.

Add tamarind and let it simmer on low heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until the oil separates.

This shrimp curry when eaten with steaming hot rice, each and every bite is a pure joy.

Tips: A tbsp of home made yogurt and tsp of salt can aid you further in cleaning the shrimp.
For grinding the masala start with a clean dry jar, grind dry masala followed by ginger garlic and then onion. The whole process takes just few mintues and you will end up with only one jar to clean. I use sumeet with its smallest jar for this job.

Mirchi Ka Saalan --with Bell Peppers

Mirchi ka saalan is one of the culinary delights evolved in the kitchens of Nizams. It is a great accompaniment to the ever famous hyderabadi biryani.

Peppers simmered in peanut sauce with a touch of sourness from tamarind makes an intriguing dish. The coriander, cumin, sesame and coconut add a vibrant taste and rich texture.



You can choose from the wide array of peppers like Anaheim chili, banana pepper, bell pepper, Fresno pepper, jalapeno pepper, poblano pepper, Serrano pepper depending on how hot you like it.

I used a green and a red bell pepper, the mildest of all. Choose a pepper with thick skin. I recommend jalapenos if you enjoy spicy food. The spice level goes up my multiple notches with jalapenos.

Ingredeints:
2 bellpeppers cut into 1 inch squares
1 onion chopped, sautéed and coarsely ground
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
Juice extracted from walnut sized tamarind ball or 1 tbsp tamarind paste
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste

Roast and grind:
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp peanuts
½ tsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp dry coconut powder or fresh grated coconut
2 red chilies

For Seasoning:
1 tsp cumin
1 red chili
Curry leaves

Heat oil in a pan, sauté bell peppers with a pinch of salt for two minutes on relatively high heat, stirring constantly. Do not let the peppers wilt or loose color. Remove form pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Mix the ground masala, ground onion and ginger garlic paste.

In the same heated pan now at medium heat add seasoning followed by the mixed paste. Sauté for few mintues. Peanuts tend to stick to the bottom, stir often. Add chili powder, turmeric and salt. Sauté for couple more minutes.

Add tamarind juice or tamarind paste along with half cup water. Bring it to a boil.

Add bell peppers and also water (if required) to get the right consistency. Gravy should not be too thick or too watery.

Let it simmer for 8 to 10 mintues. Remove from heat when the bell peppers are just about cooked. Do not let them get mushy.

Enjoy it with biryani or naan.

Tips: Onions have to be sautéed until they aquire a brown hue. But do not let them burn. While roasting masala remember to add coconut at the end. I grind masala followed by ginger garlic and then onion in the same jar.

Anapakaya Perugu Kura --Bottle Gourd in Yogurt Sauce

I have always been fascinated by yogurt based curries. The rich creamy texture of yogurt with a chili and coconut flavor is an absolute delight. Bottle gourd with its mild taste and high water content, though thought as a bland veggie by many has a great ability to absorb the flavors of spices and other ingredients it is cooked with.

When I came across bottle gourd cooked in yogurt sauce http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/2006/07/19/bottle-gourd-in-yogurt-kaalan/ on Indira’s blog I had to try it right away. This turned out to be a perfectly delicious dish with very few ingredients.

Thank You Indira for a wonderful recipe.


Ingredients:
1 small bottle gourd cut into ½ inch cubes or about 2 - 3 cups
1 to 1 ½ cups of yogurt
3 green chilies
2 tbsp of grated coconut
½ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil

For Seasoning
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
1 red chili
Curry leaves

Grind coconut and green chilies into a fine paste.

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add mustard followed by cumin red chilies and curry leaves.

When mustard starts to pop add bottle gourd pieces, sauté for 2 minutes, add turmeric salt and coconut green chili paste.

Sauté for couple more minutes, then add ¼ to ½ cup water and cook covered on medium to low heat.

When the bottle gourd pieces are tender remove from heat and stir in the yogurt.

Let it sit covered for few minutes before serving.

Serve it with hot rice and you are sure to polish your plates.

Tips: I made few adjustments to the quantities of ingredients to suit my taste. I recommend all of you the same, especially with green chilies.

Spicy Chicken Curry

Chicken is highly versatile. I can think of a dozen recipes just off of my head. Today I would like to share the recipe that I often resort to when I yearn for a meal that is close to heart. This is a typical chicken curry made often by mom, grand mother and even my great grand mother.

Chicken is simmered in freshly ground spices along with onion and ginger garlic paste to tantalize your taste buds. Chili powder in the recipe sends the spice level to a higher notch.


Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into small pieces (about 2.5 to 3 lbs)
1 large onion coarsely blend
2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
2 – 3 tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste)
½ tsp turmeric
4 – 6 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

For Garam Masala grind the following into powder
8 – 10 cloves
2” cinnamon
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds

For seasoning:
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp fenugreek
1 red chili
Curry leaves


Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add seasoning, when mustard starts to splutter add coarsely blend onions and ginger garlic paste. Sauté till the onion looses its raw smell.

Add garam masala, red chili powder, turmeric and salt. Sauté for couple minutes.

Add chicken and sauté on medium heat until the moisture from the chicken comes out.

Simmer covered on low heat for 20 to 25 minutes. Stir occasionally making sure there is enough moisture.

When the oil separates, remove from heat.

A fabulous chicken curry robust with flavor is ready to go with rice or roti.

Tips: This dish is hot, adjust the red chili powder and number of cloves to attain your desired spice level.

Thotakura --Amaranth Leaves Curry

Thoratukura or amaranth leaves are the most popular greens in Andhra Pradesh. They are a very good source of vitamins and dietary minerals. Here in US it is found in Asian markets as red spinach and occasionally in Indian stores.

Today’s recipe is a simple thotakura curry with very few ingredients allowing thotakura flavor to be the highlight. Fresh thotakura sautéed along with onions, green chilies and is further cooked in milk to acquire a creamy delicate taste.

This recipe is great for those days when you want a very simple yet nutritious meal.

Ingredients:
1 big bunch of thotakura chopped
1 large onion chopped
3 green chilies cut vertically in half (adjust to taste)
½ tsp turmeric
¼ cup milk
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil

For Seasoning:
1 garlic pod crushed
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp urad dal
1 red chili
Curry leaves

Blanch thotakura leaves in 3 cups of water. It helps in removing a strong leafy taste. The drained water can be used as vegetable stock. Blanching is optional.

Heat oil in a sauce pan, add seasoning. When urad dal starts to change color add onions and green chilies. Sauté till the onions are transparent.

Add thotakura, sauté for couple of minutes. Add salt and turmeric.

Add milk and cook stirring every few minutes until the milk is well absorbed by the leaves.

This humble curry packed with loads of nutrition goes well with both rice and roti.