Egg Kheema

Egg is a power house of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. It’s an ingredient in numerous recipes. Egg kheema is one of the many egg curry recipes. Boiled and chopped eggs are simmered in sautéed onions and tomatoes with ginger garlic paste and garam masala.

Ingredients

4 eggs boiled shelled and chopped
1 large onion finely chopped
2 – 3 tomatoes finely chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
¼ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil

Tampering

½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
Curry leaves

Heat oil in a pan. Add tampering. Add onions and sauté. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté till it looses its raw smell.

Add tomatoes and cook for about 3 – 4 minutes. Add salt, turmeric, chili powder and cook till the tomatoes and mushy.

Add chopped eggs, garam masala and mix well. Simmer for about five minutes till the tastes are well incorporated.

Great side dish for Rice or Roti.

Note: You can prepare this when time is of the essence. Start with boiling the eggs, while they are boiling chop onions and tomatoes. When sautéing onions and tomatoes shell and chop the eggs. This is a quick n easy recipe.

Vegetable Cutlet

Vegetable cutlet -- crispy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside is an absolutely satisfying snack with evening tea. While coarsely mashed potato takes the top spot as the main ingredient, sautéed onions and green chilies add flavor, fresh coriander and ginger add wonderful aroma and bread crumbs form the crisp texture.


Ingredients
3 large potatoes boiled and semi mashed
1 medium onion finely chopped
3 green chilies finely chopped (adjust to taste)
½ cup peas boiled
½ tsp coriander powder
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
2 tbsp all purpose flour
½ cup bread crumbs
3 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Sauté onions and green chilies in 2 tsp of oil. When the onions turn transparent add boiled peas and sauté for couple more minutes.

Add boiled and partially mashed potatoes and mix all ingredients together.

Add salt, coriander powder and mix well.

Remove from stove, add grated ginger and chopped coriander. Let it cool.

When it is cool enough to touch, make large lemon size balls.

Mix all purpose flour with ½ cup of water. Consistency should be thin, it should lightly coat the balls when dipped in it.

Sprinkle bread crumbs generously on a large plate.

Dip the potato ball in the flour batter. Let it coat evenly. Then roll it on the bread crumbs to evenly coat with crumbs on all sides.

Gently press with your fingers to change the shape into a patty.

Repeat this procedure for each potato ball.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wide pan. Place patties gently next to each other.

When they turn golden brown flip them to other side, let the other side turn into golden brown too.

Mouth watering cutlets can be eaten with ketchup or any other sauce of your choice.

Bell Pepper Cabbage Pacchadi

2 bell peppers and left over ¼ cabbage were waiting there for me to decide what to turn them into. After a little contemplation I decided on pacchadi. Being a great fan of Andhra pacchadis, it is something I easily resort to. While bell peppers gave this pacchadi a wonderful flavor, cabbage added the right texture and together ended into a very satisfying side dish.

Ingredients
2 large bell peppers cut into small pieces
¼ cabbage chopped
7 – 8 green chilies chopped (adjust to taste)
2 garlic pods chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp black gram
1 tbsp coriander
Few curry leaves
Goose berry size tamarind
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste

In a pan heat 1 tsp oil, add green chilies and garlic, sauté for a minute, add cumin, black gram, coriander and curry leaves.

Sauté till the dals are roasted. Remove form flame and set aside.

In another pan, heat a tsp of oil and sauté the bell peppers and cabbage. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently till the veggies are tender but not mushy.

Let it cool.

Soak tamarind in 2 tbsp of warm water.

Blend the roasted seasoning into coarse powder. Add tamarind and blend it into a paste.

Blend the roasted veggies into a coarse paste.

Add them together with the required amount of salt.

Eat it with hot rice and ghee (optional) or use it as a spread on bread.

Tilapia Curry

Tilapia is one of the few fishes we eat. I used two medium sized tilapias to make two different dishes, tilapia pulusu (fish in tamarind sauce) and tilapia curry, with a little variation. As you can see in the pictures I used the thick steak like pieces for the pulusu and thin flat pieces for the curry.

Tilapia is simmered in a fine blend of spices, onion and ginger garlic paste along with tamarind sauce for the delicious, spicy and tangy pulusu. Tilapia is cooked in ginger, garlic and onion paste along with spices for the delectable curry.

Tilapia Pulusu

Ingredients
8 – 10 good size fresh tilapia pieces
1 large onion blended
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste)
½ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp oil
Walnut sized tamarind
Salt to taste

Garam Masala
6 cloves
1 inch cinnamon
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 cardamom
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds

Tampering
1 red chili broken
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp fenugreek
Spring of curry leaves

Blend the ingredients under garam masala into a fine powder.

Soak tamarind in ¼ cup of warm water.

Heat oil in a wide pan. Add tampering, when mustard starts to pop, add onion ginger and garlic paste. Sauté for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add chili powder, turmeric, salt and the garam masala powder. Sauté for couple more minutes on medium heat. Place tilapia pieces next to each other and let them simmer for two minutes. Gently flip each piece and let simmer for two more minutes.

Squeeze about 1 to 1 ½ cups of juice from the soaked tamarind.

Add tamarind juice to the pan. Let it cook for 5 minutes on medium.

Leave it to simmer on low flame for another 15 - 20 minutes.

A mouthwatering tilapia pulusu is ready.



Tilapia curry

Ingredients
1 lb Tilapia pieces
1 large onion blended
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 ½ tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste)
¼ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Garam Masala
6 cloves
1 inch cinnamon
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 cardamom
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds

Tampering
1 red chili broken
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
Spring of curry leaves


Blend the ingredients under garam masala into a fine powder.

Heat oil in a wide pan. Add tampering, when mustard starts to pop, add onion ginger and garlic paste. Sauté for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add chili powder, turmeric, salt and the garam masala powder. Sauté for couple more minutes on medium heat. Place tilapia pieces next to each other and let them simmer for two minutes. Gently flip each piece and let simmer for two more minutes.

If there is enough moisture from the fish let it simmer on low flame for 15 to 20 minutes. Or add ¼ cup of water and let it simmer.

Tilapia curry tastes heavenly when eaten with hot rice.

Tips: Garam Masala can be replaced with ½ to 1 tsp of pre-made masala powder.

Aanapakaya Thotakura Kadala Pulusu –Bottle Gourd and Amaranth stems stew

Anapakaya pulusu is a frequent lunch item growing up. It’s an easy to make side dish with simple flavors. Thotakura kadalu give added taste and texture along with nutrition. Bottle gourd and amaranth stems are cooked in tamarind water with blended onion and coriander powder. This pulusu is quite watery, it is just a little thicker than rasam. Tampering added at the end gives it a great aroma.

Ingredients:
3 cups 2 X 2 inch bottle gourd pieces
1 cup 2 inch length amaranth stems
1 small onion blended
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
3 green chilies slit (adjust to taste)
3 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp turmeric
Walnut sized ball of tamarind
1 X 1 inch cube of jaggery or 2 tsp of sugar
Salt to taste

Tampering:
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp fenugreek
1 dry red chili broken
1 garlic pod mashed
Spring of curry leaves

Soak tamarind and squeeze the pulp. Add water and make about 4 to 5 cups of tamarind water.

Place all the ingredients except the ones under tampering in a pressure cooker. Add the tamarind water and pressure cook just long enough for the bottle gourd pieces to cook. If the bottle gourd is tender one whistle is adequate.

Heat oil in a pan, add mashed garlic followed by the rest of the tampering ingredients. When mustard starts to pop, add it to the pulusu.

Goes well with rice n plain dal or rice n tomato dal.

Gongura Mutton

Gongura, without which an authentic Andhra meal is considered incomplete, is rarely found here in US. In the last couple of years it is found during summer months in Indian stores. I never pass on gongura if I find it. It is one of my favorite greens. Besides being a rich source of iron and anti oxidants it has a wonderful sour taste.

Gongura mutton is a very popular Andhra recipe. Gongura when cooked with tender mutton, enhances the taste of the mutton to a new degree.


Ingredients:

2 lbs mutton
2 onions chopped
6 – 8 cups of chopped gongura leaves
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste)
¼ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Garam Masala:

6 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cardamoms
4 tsp coriander seeds

Tampering:

½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
1 red chili broken
Curry leaves


Make a fine powder of all the ingredients under garam masala.

In a pressure cooker place mutton, ginger garlic paste, powdered garam masala, red chili powder, turmeric, salt, 1 tbsp of oil and ¼ cup of water.

Pressure cook until the mutton is cooked. Time varies depending on the quality of the mutton.

In a separate pan, heat oil, add tampering, when the mustard starts to pop, add onions and sauté till they are transparent.

Add gongura leaves and sauté for few minutes until the leaves change color and are half cooked.

Now add the pressure cooked mutton to the pan.

Simmer 12 – 15 minutes till the flavors are blended well.

Tastes wonderful with rice or roti.

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.