Pumpkin curry

You can also call this as Pumpkin Masala.Pumpkins are part of the same plant family that includes squash and cucumbers and can be found in an array of shapes and sizes. Make use of the seeds from your pumpkin by roasting them for a snack.I love pumpkin especially if i do this kind of masala!! I hope everyone likes this..

Health benifits of pumpkin:

• Pumpkin is really low in calorie . The perfect vegetable for persons who watch their weight.


• Vitamin C and potassium are also an added health benefit, as well as fiber


• The bright orange flesh of pumpkin is loaded with bta-carotene.This vitamin is an important antioxidant that helps us fight free radicals.( which have great anti-cancer properties.)


• Pumpkin seeds can also be eaten dried.They are actually very healthy and are used in the treatment of many illnesses .Pumpkin seeds are high in protein, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper and essential fatty acids.


• Pumpkinseed oil contains good fats, which have been linked to healthier skin, an increase in energy, and improved mental function. Be sure to roast your seeds at 300 degrees or less to protect the inherent good fats.

Ingredients:

Onion -1 big( chopped finely

Ginger-garlic paste-1

turmeric powder-¼ tsp

tomatoes-2(finely chopped

green chilli-1 split

garam masala-1 tsp

Salt to taste

red chilli powder-1/4 th tbs

chopped fresh coriander for garnishing

pumpkins-1/4 th piece of medium sizeed pumpkin

Preparation:

1.Heat the two tablespoons of oil in a pan and, when heated, add the onion paste .Once the onion paste is fried add tomoto puree and fry for 5 min and then add ginger- garlic paste and fry until very lightly golden.

2.Lower the heat and add the turmeric, green chilli and saute for a min.Add a splash of water to prevent the mixture becoming too dry.Stir well and add the garam masala, salt, Stir well.

3.Once the mixture has become shiny and the oil has begun to separate (add splashes of water if necessary), add the pumpkin pieces and stir well to coat thoroughly with the mixture.

4.Turn up the heat and stir-fry for about five minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, reduce to a medium heat, cover and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until the pumpkin pieces are soft.Don't cook more time,it will become mushy.

5.Carefully stir occasionally to check it is not sticking to the bottom.9. Turn the heat off and Garnish with chopped coriander.

6.Serve and enjoy with your rice or chapathi's.

My first precious awards :)

Hi friends,

One of my friend Priya Priya Sriram passed these awards to me.She is the one who encouraged me to start a blog and introduced me to blogging world!! I am very thankful to her.

Thank you for the awards priya..I dont know whether i am eligible for these awards or not..but i am sure i will improve myself :)

I would like to pass this award to my blogging friends phanitha Phanitha's Kitchenette & sowmya sowmya ,mahimaa Mahimaa's kitchen,usha Usha I hope they are more eligible than me and they might got these awards from their friends but still i am passing this award to them!!

2)

I would like to pass this award to my mother Padmavathi and sister Naipunya ..they are always giving some innovative ideas and helping me to do some healthy recipes!!

I would also like to pass this award to my blogging friends kiraAj Blogs from a home sick aussie!- and varsha bhojanamu- they also recently started blogging like me..I am sure they will also rock in this blogging world!!

3)
I would like to pass this award to my friend lalitha..she is the one who started following my blog from the day one and start trying my recipes on her hubby and encouraging me everyday with her comments!!

I would also like to pass this award to my friend Aiswarya .She is the one trying my recipes and writing encouraging comments on my blog!

I am also passing this award to my friends Rani and sunanda..

Rani:she is very busy with her work and kids ..eventhough she is following my blog and start experimenting some..thank you Rani!!

Sunanda:I have learnt many recipes from sunanda..she is a very good cook...i am thinking if she opens a blog ..I am sure she will be on the top!!I will post her recipes ( i mean what i have learned from her)in future..

peanut with Almond balls/laddu

In India , now a days many tv programs are coming about health and food habits. My parents follow one of the program in maa tv named "yoga and natural life style programmes" by Manthena Satyanarayana Raju. My mother told me this peanut balls without sugar/jagery after watching one of the episode, but initially i thought this may not come good or it may not be sweet and i didnt try.One of my friend ,she tried it and told me they tastes good. After that I tried and surprisingly they came good.

This snack is very healthy as we are not using any ghee,oil,sugar etc.

I hope everybody knows the health benifits of almonds and pea nuts and dates.

check health benifits of peanuts: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=101#healthbenefits

Check health benifits of almonds :
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=20

Health benifits of daetes here http://www.hilalplaza.com/Advantages_Dates.html

Ingredients:

Peanuts-1 cup dry roasted(lightly grinded)
Almonds-1 cup unsalted and cut into halves (dry roasted optional)
california dates (without seeds)-11/2 cup

Preparation:

1.If the dates are dried ,just keep it in the water (otherwise no need) for 15-30 min and then drain the water from dates and grind it into a fine paste using mixer/mortar and pestle.If the dates are fresh just mash with your hand and make paste.

2.lightly grind peanuts and almonds .I like them as whole nuts so i didn't grind it .For kids,it is better to grind it so that they are easy to eat .Take the dates paste in to a bowl add grinded peanuts and almonds to it and make round balls of your required size.

3.If you feel they are wetty ,keep those balls for sometime in the refrigerator and remove it out and store it in a airtight container.

4.Eat these balls as a snack at any time.This is very easy to preapre.. isn't it ?

I am sending this snack item to following events.
Sunday Snacks: Grab n Go - March 29th
Healthy Bite: Feb 28th

Zucchini chutney

The zucchini can be yellow, green or light green, and generally has a similar shape to a ridged cucumber.This can also be round or bottle-shaped fruit/vegetable.It does go well with cakes,bread,pizza,pasta and use with other vegetables like tomato too.Zucchini looks like a cucumber, but doesn't taste like cucumber.Mild in taste and texture, the uses are endless, from eating fresh to grilling to grating and baking in breads.

The zucchini vegetable is low in calories and contains useful amounts of folate,potassium,and vitamin A, recommended amount of manganese.

Check the other health benifits of zucchni here.. http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/benefits-of-zucchini-1313.html

Ingredients:

Zucchini-1(medium size)
green chillies-4
cuminseeds-1 tsp
garlic -4 cloves
tamarind -lemon size

Turmeric powder-1/8th spoon
salt to taste
oil-2 tsp
seasoning/talimpu ingredients

Preparation:

1. Wash zucchini and cut the zucchini into medium size cubes and soak tamarind in water.
   
2. Take a pan ,heat oil and put whole gren chillies and fry for 2 min and remove chillies from the pan and then add zucchini pieces into it and fry the pieces till they are completely cooked, in between add turmeric powder too(Usually no need to put a lid on pan becoz the zucchini itself oozes lots of water,if you wish you can keep the lid for sometime) but don't cook it too much becoz it will become mushy.
   
3. In the mean time cut garlic into small pieces and take a mixie jar and put cumin seeds, chopped garlic,fried green chilles and just tamarind( without adding water) and grind all these for a min then add cooked zucchini pieces to it and grind it for 1 or 2 min.Take this chutney into a bowl.
   
4. Do talimpu/tadaka and pour that into chutney.You can also put cilantro/coriander leaves for garnishing.Enjoy the chutney with rice /chapathi's.

Note:1. Because of the high water content of zucchini, be cautious when adding extra liquids to any recipe.

2. Test a zucchini before use by tasting a small bite. If it is bitter, do not use.

3.The smaller and younger fruits (1”-8”) offer a truer zucchini taste experience. Larger squash acquire a bitter taste along with tough seeds that should be scooped out.

Moong dal Vada/pesara garelu

Moong dal vada is very famous in south india.We used to do either urud dal or moong dal vada for every festival in india especially in A.p.I like moong dal vada compared with urud dal vada .This you can eat is as a snack/breakfast.

Ingreidents:

Moong Dal/pesara pappu-250 gms
Green Chilly-8-10

Ginger -mediem sizepiece as shown in below image
onions-1 big (finely chopped)

Salt to taste
curry leaves-optional
Coriander leaves (chopped)-1 cup

Oil for frying -2to 3 cups

Preparation:

1.Soak moong-dal abt 3-4 hours.After this,wash and drain the dal (by placing dal in in a strainer).Let it drain for 1 -2 hrs.

2.jsut keep 3/4 th cup of drained dal aside,Grind remaining dal without water along with green chilies and ginger using mixer.

3.Then add ungrinded dal to this grinded dal mixture and all the remaining ingredients (except oil). Mix well.

4.Heat about 2 to 3 cups of oil on medium-high flame. When the oil is hot enough,grease the plastic ziplock bag and flatten a lemon size batter either on a plastic Ziploc bag or on a wet cloth, slowly slide the batter into the hot oil. Fry the vadas on medium flame on both sides, till slightly golden brown.Remove it and put it in paper towel.

5.Serve hot with any chutney or sauce.

I am sending this snack item to the 'Lentils Mela' event hosting by Ashwini .

Lemon cucumber/dosakaya ooragaya chutney

This vegetable is called lemon cucumber(in English)/dosakaya(in Telugu).This is also belongs to cucumber/keera family but it is hard and sour in taste.

chutney made with lemon cucumber is called dosakaya ooragaya chutney.This chutney is my favourite and this is very good in taste.It tastes like mango pickle!! I have learn't this pickle from my mother. Usually everybody brings cucumber to put it in dal or just make curry alone or combine with other vegetables like tomato or alu.Sometimes cucumber can be bitter becoz of cucumber seeds are bitter or it might be cucumber(it's muscle) itself is bitter.In the later case, we can't do this chutney.This is usually done when cucumber seeds are bitter or cucumber is not at all bitter.

Ingredients:

Medium size lemon cucumber (dosakaya)-1
chilli powder-4tsp
Garlic cloves-10(slightly mash them using mortar and pestle)
fenugreek seeds /Methi powder -1/4thspoon
Mustard powder-2tsp
oil -half of small glass(50 ml)
salt to taste
Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp

Preparation:

1.Wash the cucumber and wipe it with kitchen towel (shouldn't be a drop of water on it) and cut a small portion of it and taste to see whether it is bitter or not.

2.If the cucucmber seeds are bitter first cut the cucumber into half & remove the seeds out of it and slice the cucumber (without peel cucumber) into small cubes/long slices .Add salt and turmeric powder to these pieces and mix well and let it for 5 to 10 min and then squeeze all the pieces with salt and turmeric powder to remove bitterness(bitterness becoz of attached seeds to the cucumber) .Take squeezed cucumber pieces into another bowl and all other ingredients except oil & mix well.

3.If the cucumber is not bitter the squuezing is not required as in step 2,just cut it into small cubes/long pieces(dont peel the skin and remove seeds) and take those cucumber pieces into a bowl and add turmeric,chilli powder, mustard powder, methi powder, salt, garlic cloves (slightly mash them) and mix them nicely.

4.Take a small pan and heat oil and add all seasoning/tadaka/talimpu ingredients .Add this seasoning mixture to the above cucumber pieces. Mix all the ingredients properly and keep in a dry jar and rest it for a day. It stays for 2 weeks . Tastes good with upma, rice, chapathi, dosa etc.

Note:You can also add raw oil directly to the pieces like in mango pickle or just add heated oil without talimpu/seasoning.

Mushroom biryani

Do this biryani..if you are looking for making some spicy mouth watering dish or if you feel bored of making always veg/non veg biryani's .As i said before ,mushroom is a vitamin rich and high protein food and thus an important dietary supplement and healthy food. Though there are wide varieties of mushroom available, the most commonly available in US Grocery market is the white button mushroom.

The usual procedure is to cook the mushrooms curry and rice separately, then finally add alternate layers of rice and mushrooms curry. Instead of that(if you feel lazy just want to make a quick meal..)even i feel lazy, I did the biryani using electric cooker. Even that tastes good, becoz the rice is cooked in mushroom curry from the beginning on a low flame.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms -450gms

Onions (thinly sliced)-1

Basmati Rice-2 cups

Lemon -1(squueze juice)

Oil/ghee-4 spoons

Soya Sauce - 1 tsp

ginger-garlic paste -11/2 tsp

Green chillies-2(slit)

gharam masala powder-1/2 tsp

Cinnamon -2

Cardamoms -2

Cloves -2

Tomatoes (chopped into medium cubes) -2(medium size)

red Chilly Powder -1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder -1 tsp

Mint leaves,cilantro leaves for garnishing

Salt to taste

Preparation:

1.Take a bowl,wash and soak the rice for 1/2 hour in enough water.After due time, drain the water from bowl.

2.Cut green chillies and onions and tomatoes.Trim mushrooms into big pieces and keep it aside.(trim mushrooms by taking off the stem and cut each mushroom into 2-4 parts)

3.Heat ghee in a pressure /electric cooker and saute cinnamon,cloves and cardamoms for a minute and then add onions and fry untill onions becomes golden brown.

4.Add ginger-garlic paste and ghram masala powder and fry till you get a nice aroma of ginger-garlic then add tomato pieces and fry till tomatoes become smooth and then add chopped mushrooms & add all other ingredients and stir mushrooms for 10 min.

5.Add 3 cups of water and let it boil, add the soaked rice and stir till the rice level and the water level equals, if it is a pressure cooker , cook in low flame for 15 minutes.

6.If you use electric cooker it automatically goes to warm, once the biryani is completed.

7.Garnish with mint & cilanthro and serve hot with raitha.

Note:1.mushrooms cleaning:Don't soak mushrooms in water,it will absorb water into it .So just rinse under running water/clean with wet tissue.

2.Add always dried mushrooms to the dish.

3.If you don't have lemon in handy add curd -2 tsp as a substitute.

Poori

poori/puri can be good with any veg/non-veg curry/any pickle and this can be eat as a breakfast,snack,or light meal!!

Ingredients:

wheat flour-2 cups
Water & milk to make dough
Salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Preparation:

1.Put the flour in a large mixing bowl and add salt to taste and mix well.

2.Now add a little water at a time and start to mix the flour to form a dough. We need the dough to be medium-soft/firm dough so, first go slow with the water - add it only as needed, as you go along. Instead of water, you can also use milk.milk makes really soft Pooris.I added both water and milk in my recipe.

3.The real secret of soft Pooris lies in the kneading! The dough must be smooth and just the right softeness - medium. Add water/ milk as required and continue to knead till you get the right consistency.

4.Once you've got the dough to the right consistency, add 2 tbsps of oil and continue to knead. The dough will become smooth in texture! Cover with a damp cloth now and keep aside for 20 minutes.

5.Mean time you can also prepare curry for poori.I have made alu curry with besan powder especially for poori's.My mother used to make this curry..i love this curry!!you can make any curry you want for poori's.

6.Now divide the dough into golf ball-sized/small ball portions add little oil to these balls so that they will not stick themselves . Roll these balls using a poori press/roti maker/rolling board till they are smooth and without cracks.

7. For convenience, roll out as many Pooris as you like, stacking them,then go for frying.

8.Take a pan,Heat the oil for deep frying on a medium flame. Deep fry the Pooris one at a time, pressing very gently on each side with a slotted spoon. This will help the Poori to puff up! Fry one the first side till golden then turn over and fry the same way on the other side. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Serve this crispy, golden bread with any dish - vegetarian/Non-veg or with your favorite pickle. The perfect Poori is pale golden in color and puffed up almost like a ball!

Hi Everybody..

gobi masala/gobi fry/cauliflower masala

This is good to eat with chapathi/Rice.I think everybody knows this recipe but still i am posting this to the people who doesn't know!!

Ingredients:

Cauliflower -1

Onion-1 big(finely chopped)

green chilli-2(each esplit into two)

ginger-garlic paste-2 spoons

salt to taste

red chilli powder -3/4 th tsp

turmeric powder

garam masala-1/2 spoon

oil-4 tsp

coriander leaves

warm water reqd

Preparation:

1.Cut he flower into small florets and keep it in the warm water abt 10 min.In the mean time cut chilli and onions.

2.Take pan and put oil then add green chilli and onion and fry untill onion becomes golden brown then add ginger-garlic paste and saute for few min.

3.Drain water from the florets and put florets in the pan and mix well.Stir for evry 5 min in between add salt and chilli powder and gharam masala and cook untill the whole florets are fried properly.

4.Add coriander/cilanrto leaves and serve hot.

I am sending this to JFI Cauliflower hosted by Mythreyee. JFI was originally started by Indira (Mahanandi)

Spicy Mushroom masala

Spicy mushroom masala is very good in taste and is good to eat with chapathi,naan,paratha,rice.Always take fresh mushrooms in every day meal.

Health Benefits of White button Mushrooms:

1.Mushrooms provide a wealth of protein, fiber, B vitamins, and vitamin C, as well as calcium and very good source of copper, selenium, riboflavin, niacin and a good source of potassium.Mushrooms are in fact one of the highest antioxidant vegetables in the world, in the same league as the red pepper and spinach.

2.Because of high levels of antioxidant compounds that may help prevent some cancers.

Ingredients:

white button Mushrooms-6 to 8 (big/medium)
onion-1 Big
ginger garlic paste-1 tsp

tomatoes-2(medium size)

red chilli powder-1 tsp

garam masala powder -1/2 tsp

cumin seeds -1/2 tsp

oil -2 tbsp

Salt to taste

milk -1/2 cup- optional

coriander/cilantro leaves for garnishing

preparation:

1.Clean and cut the mushrooms. (To clean mushrooms, either brush them thoroughly with a wet kitchen towel or rinse them briefly, under cool running water).Always add dry mushrooms to cooking.For White button mushrooms or cremini, we need to cut the dry end of their stems before cooking.cut each mushroom into 4-6 parts.

2.Fry onion and ginger garlic paste and make a thick paste without adding water. Make a paste of tomatoes and keep it aside.

3.Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When they crackle, add onion paste and fry till golden brown. Now add the tomato paste and stir for a while. Add chilli powder, garam masala powder and mix until all is blended.keep a lid untill the whole mixture is properly cooked.

4.Add mushrooms and salt and mix well. Cover and cook on a low flame till mushrooms are done. No need to add water as mushrooms leave a good amount of water when they are cooked.

5.If you want gravy in your curry then add milk to the curry at the end and stir it for couple of minutes.In my recipe, I added milk to my curry. Finally garnish with cilantro.Serve hot.

Note:Always take fresh mushrooms and from a good known source!!

Blueberry oat cake

Blurberry oat cake will be good with a scoop of whip cream/vanilla ice cream, I would like to eat it as cold.you can also try making this cake with other berries and fruits. You can also use frozen blueberries in this cake if you don't have fresh.

Coming to blueberries they are very good in taste. If taste isn't enough to get you to eat these berries, their health benefits will,they are rich in antioxidants, fiber, potassium, and low in sodium.

Ingredients:

fresh blueberries -1 cup
all-purpose flour/maida-1 1/2 cups
ghee-3/4 cup
rolled oats-1/2 cup
baking powder-2tsp
cinnamon powder -1/2tsp
granulated sugar -1 cup
lemon juice -1 tsp
milk -1/4th cup
large eggs -2
cinnamon- sugar mixture for topping-optional

Preparation:

1.Take a big bowl and combine the blueberries with flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and granulated sugar(dry ingredients) .

2.In another bowl, whisk eggs with the milk and lemon juice and ghee . Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until blended or use the blender/mixer to blend all ingrdients except blueberries.Add Blueberries to the final batter.

3.Heat oven to 350°F.Apply ghee all over the baking pan. pour whole mixture/batter into the baking pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted .

4.Bluberry cake is ready!!serve this cake as a dessert / evening time with your tea/coffee.

Note:sprinkle with cinnamon- sugar mixture (about 3 teaspoons sugar to 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon) or you can also put sliced apples /plums/pears on the top of the batter for topping.

Stuffed bitter gourd/karela/kakarakaya fry

karela,also known as Bitter gourd or kakarakaya. I hope people who hate karela(becoz of bitterness) can try this receipe.This curry will be good with white rice and it is very good as a side dish .I hope you will enjoy the recipe!!

Ingredients:

Bitter gourds-5(use small 3inch size karela-if you feel gourds are big cut into two pieces )
Dry mango powder/amchur powder-1tbsp
besan/bengal gram powder-2or 3 tbsp
red Chilli powder-1/2 tsp
Onions-1medium size(finely chopped)
cuury leaves-1 springs(optional)
coriander leaves/cilantro for garnishing
cumin seeds/jeera-1tsp
ginger garlic paste-1tbsp
oil- 8to10 tbsp(total)
Salt to taste
sugar or jaggery/bellam -11/2 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 th spoon

Preparation:

1. First prepare the masala for stuffing gourds :scrape the rough edges so that bitter gourd surface looks uniform and it will help in uniform frying of bitter gourd .

2.slit Bitter gourds from one side along length wise(longitudinal direction) as shown in the picture and remove seeds inside the bitter gourd and chop the seeds into very small size.If you feel chopping seeds is a heavy work just grind it coarsely using a mixi/Mortars and Pestles .

3.Take small pan,add 3 tsp of oil in a pan , add cumin seeds and add onions fry till golden brown,then add turmeric powder and besan flour. cook/fry the mixture , till you get a nice aroma of roasted besan.

4.Add ginger garlic paste and stir for a minute and add chilli powder and add chopped bitter gourd seeds.cook the whole mixture till nicely roasted,then add amchur powder , fry in low heat , add salt,coriander leaves and little sugar or jaggery.This whole masala preparation takes 10 -15 min.Now spicy masala is ready!!

5.stuffing :stuff the bitter melon with the cooked masala either using your hand or spoon. optional -tie the karela with small thread so the mixture is intact inside while cooking.

6.Take another pan add 6 tsp oil ,shallow fry in medium/low heat and cover with a lid on the pan .check freequently to prevent burning of gourds.

7.changing the sides of gourd in between ,till whole bitter gourd is well fried/cooked .If you feel the slit is too wide/large ,turn the gourd carefully in the pan or dont turn the gourd with stuffing down .

8.If you want the gourds to be crispy,once the bitter gourds are cooked, remove the lid and fry on low flame till crisp. You will find brown spots on the bitter gourds when they are fried.

9.Light sour,spicy stuffed bitter gourds are ready to eat with rice!!

Note: If you dont have amchur powder in handy you can also use other ingedients as a substitute i.e lemon juice along with corainder powder or any chat masala powder.

Vegetable pulao

Vegetable pulao is a mix of vegetables with rice. This is a great dish for lunch. If you feel lazy to preapre rice and curries (routine big meal) use vegetable pulao as a one-dish meal. Serve with yogurt,any gravy curry, pickle and with chicken too!!

Ingredients:

basmati or long grain rice -1 cup(washed & drained)
water-11/2 cups
bay leaves -2
salt to taste
oil -2 tsp
cumin seeds (jeera) -1tsp
green chilies-3(each one split into two)
potato-1 medium sized chopped into 1/2″ cubes
carrot-2(grated or chopped )
cauliflower-1cup cut into medium size florets
green peas-1 cup
red bell pepper-1/2 chopped (optional)
green peppers-2 long sliced
grated ginger -1 tsp
garam masala -1/2tsp
lemon juice -1tsp optional
cilantro for garnishing optional

Preparation:

1.Heat the oil in a electric cooker. Test the oil by adding one cumin seed, if seed cracks right away oil is ready.

2.Add cumin seeds after cumin seeds crack add bay leaves ,cloves,cinnamon stir for a min and then add green chillies, ginger stir-fry for 2 min and then add all chopped vegetables along with peas,fry it for 2 min.

3.Add rice, fry for a minute. Add water and salt and mix well & close the cooker .

4.After completion of your rice, cookerwill automaticaly goes to warm.you just check the rice,still if you feel any moisture you can keep that in warm itself otherwise take off the plug.

5.Atlast add garam masala and cilantro mix once.Serve hot pulao into a plate with raita/any curry.

Brinjal curry/vankaya curry

Brinjal curry will be good with either chapathi's or rice.

Ingredients:

Brinjal(tall ones) – 4
Onion 1 – finely chopped(large one)
Chilli powder – 1 tsp or to taste
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Ginger-garlic paste -1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 spring
oil – 2 tbsp
Salt – to taste
seasoning/talimpu/tadaka ingredients(urud dal,chana dal,mustard seeds,cumin seeds)

Preparation:

1.First cut onions into fine pieces and brinjal into long pieces and put brinjal pieces into salt water.

2.Take a pan and heat with oil.Add all seasoning ingredients when they start to crackle add chopped onions and curry leaves and fry on medium flame until they turn into golden yellow colour.

3.Add chopped brinjal and salt.Fry until the oil separates from the mixture.Now add chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder.Fry for few seconds.Close with a lid and cook on low flame till the brinjal become soft or your desired consistancy.

4.Egg plant/brinjal curry is ready.Serve with plain white rice and papad.

Sambhar

sambhar/sambar is a dish common in south India,and is made of toor dal. Sambar is often accompanied with idli and dosa & with white rice. Sambhar is easy to cook and its combination with lot of vegetables & pulses makes it nutritious enough. Sambar 's special exciting spicy aroma which make it more special ...

Ingredients :

Bottle gourd (Sorakaya) -1/2 fresh
carrots-2(peeled and sliced into your selected shape)
Winter Radish/mullangi-1(chopped into round shaped pieces)
Drum Sticks - 3( in my recipie i haven't used Drumsticks becoz i dont want to use frozen ones!!)
Ladies finger - 2 to 4
Green chilies-2(split into two)
onions - 2(medium size cut into larger pieces) if u have a smaller one just make it into 2 or 4 parts.
Ginger-Garlic paste-1 tsp
toor dal -1 cup
Curry leaves
turmeric powder
Water- 3 -5 cups
Tamarind -Size of a lemon(squeeze tamarind juice with 2-3 cups of water).
Red chilli powder -1/2 tsp
oil -2tsp
cumin seeds/zeera-1 tsp
MTR sambar powder/home made sambar powder-11/2tsp
Salt to taste
cilantro for garnishing

Preparation:

1.clean all the vegetables and slice into long/round pieces and soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of water.

2.Wash the dal.cook the dal in 2 cups of water(means for one cup of dal we need to use 2 cups of water) and cook dal in it using a pressure cooker. In pressure cooker you can keep the vegetable pieces(except ladies finger) and dal at the same time in different bowls or you can do it outside using stove/microwave seperately.

3.put the pan on heat and add oil.Once oil gets heated add cumin seeds and then onions and stir it for 5 min and then add ladies finger pieces ,stir it for 1 more min & then add ginger -garlic paste and stir it for 2 more min and then add the tamarind water(wash the tamarind & Boil the tamarind in little amount of water(say 1/2 cup) in microwave abt 2 min (if you forgot soak it before)and then squeeze the tamrind for tamrind juice)and increase the heat to med-high.

4.When tamarind water boils, add dal(make cooked dal into a fine paste by just pressing the dal with the spoon).once the whole liquid starts boiling reduce the flame to medium/medium-low.

5. Add the remaining cooked vegetables ,redchilli powder ,salt. Cook till done(4-5 min) and add sambar powder into it.

6.wait for 5 min after adding sambar powder ,then remove sambar from fire and Sprinkle the Sambar with chopped coriander/cilantro leaves.

Note: you can also add brinjal, tomato etc to the sambar.

Pepper Chicken fry

This is basically a roasting of chicken without adding a drop of water.This looks awesome and tastes really good!!

Ingredients :

Chicken Breast pieces without skin - 1/2 kg
Black Pepper powder -11/2 tbs
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Cumin (Jeera) seeds - 1 tsp
Cloves - 5
Cinnamon sticks - 3 medium sized
If you don't have any of above masalas use chicken masala powder - 2tsp (this is better to add even if you have this has all ingredients like armchur )
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
red chilli powder -1 tsp
Tomato - 1 big size
Onions - 1 big size (finely chopped)
Yogurt - 1/4th cup
oil/Butter - 4 tbs
salt to taste
turmeric powder
cilantro for garnishing

Preparation:

1.Wash & cut chicken breast into small pieces/cubes.

2. Marinade chicken pieces with salt ,redchilli powder,turmeric powder and ginger -garlic paste & yogurt abt 15 min and keep a lid over the chicken so that gignger-garlic smell preserves with chicken.Mean while cut onions into very fine pieces.Grind tomatoes and make it fine paste using mixer.

3. put a pan on heat,once the pan gets heated add oil .once the oil gets heated add cuminseeds .when cuminseeds are stats spluttering/popping up add cinnamon and cloves & later add onions and stir it for 5-10 min till onions becomes transparent.

4. Add tomato paste and Stir & cover with lid,after 5 min add marinated chicken. Don't place the lid.Once the chicken is started to oozing out all of the mixtures (means all juices/water content starts to accumilate at the ends) stir the whole mixture once and then add coriander powder and black pepper,chicken masala powder and reduce heat to low.

5. Mix well,If you wish to have a little gravy,kee the lid for some time otherwise no need.We have to roast our chicken on low flame.

6. Remove after chicken is thoroughly cooked. If your chicken has moisture (if at all if you keep the lid for some time)remove lid & keep frying chicken until all the water has evaporated & chicken gets roasted well. (Approx 10 minutes after chicken is thoroughly cooked).

7.Garnish with cilantro...Serve Hot.

Vermicelli upma/samiya upma

Vermicelli upma is very good to eat as a breakfast especially in week ends :)
The below recipie serves for 2 people.

Ingredients:

MTR vermicelli - 2 Cups
Onions - 1 big (cut into small pieces)
Green Chillies - 4 (cut into small pieces)
Chana dal - 2 tbs
urud daal -2 tbs
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tbs
Curry leaves
mustard seeds -1/2 tbs
Potato - 1 small(peel it and cut into small pieces)
ratio b/w vermicelli and water is 1:11/2(means 1 cup of vermicelli ----->11/2 cup of water)
Coriander leaves for garnishing optional

Preparation:

1.Take a pan and heat it.Add vermicelli and fry it till light brown.

2.Take off the vermicelli from the pan into a bowl and add 3 tbs oil. once the oil gets heated add cumin seeds,urud daal,mustard seeds and curry leaves and chana daal .When all these are fried add potato pieces and fry for 4 min and then add onions and green chilli pieces. stir it for another 5 min.

3.Add 3 cups of water and place a lid on the pan and increas the heat to med- high ,add salt as per taste. After 5-8 minutes when the water starts boiling , add fried vermicelli and mix well and remember to reduce the heat to low and Leave it with lid for 5-8 minutes untill all moisture in the upma gone .Add coriander leaves and stir well for 1-2 minutes.

4.Wow!!!..mouth watering samiya upma is ready to eat.

French/Green Beans Fry

Green beans (American English), French beans or runner beans (British English), also called squeaky beans.Use more green beans in your daily food becoz Green beans are high in fiber and water, they are low in calories with one-half cup serving furnishing only 22 calories. Green beans are naturally low in sodium.

Ingredients:

Green beans 1/2 kg
onion 1 (finely chopped)
turmeric powder 1/8 th spoon
red chilli powder or vellli karam 1/2 to 3/4 th spoon
shredded coconut 2 tablespoons
olive oil 3 tablespoons
salt to taste
seasoning (talimpu/tadaka) ingredients
curry leaves and coriander leaves optional
green chillies optional

How to make vellulli karam

1/4 cup red chilli powder 2 garlic pods

In a blender crush the garlic and add above quantity chili powder & run untill everything is belended well. Remove and store in an airtight container.

Preparation:

1. First wash the beans and cut the outer edges and make it finely chopped.

2.Take a pan and put on med- high heat till all moisture in the pan is gone,then add oil ..once the oil gets heated add all sesoning ingredients one by one and stir for 2 min.

3.Then add finely chopped onions and stir it untill onion becomes Transluscent/transparent and then add finely chopped beans to it .

4.Add salt and turmeric and fry it for 5 to 10 min till beans are fried properly.

5.Now add red chilli powder/vellulli karam and shredded coconut to it and fry it for two more min .

6.Serve the green bean fry into a bowl and enjoy with your rice/chapathi.

Chamadumpa chips/fry

Chamadumpa fry is very tasty ..you can use this as a sidedish with any gravy curries or you can eat like an appetizer..This can be made in different types.

Type 1: just fry it but not boiling

Ingredients:

Chaamadumpalu/arbi/Taro roots 6

red chilli powder 1 spoon

turmeric powder 1/8 table spoon

oil 5 tablespoons

salt 11/2 tablespoon(vary acc to your taste)

Preparation:

1. first peel chamadumpalu using a peeler and cut the peeled roots into small cubes.

2. Take a pan and put it on medium heat ,once the pan gets heated pour the oil into the pan.

3.Once the oil gets heated put chaamadumpa pieces into oil and reduce the heat to low and let it fry for 15 to 20 min.In between stir the pieces.

4.once the chaamadumpa pieces turned into golden brown color remove the fried chaamadumpa pieces from the pan and place it on a paper towel(tissue).

5.Eat it with any gravy(liquid) curry/eat as an appetizer.

Type 2 : boil arbi with little fry

Ingredients:

arbi/chaamadumpa - 250 gms

green chillies - 4to5
coriander leaves - 1 small bunch
oil
salt to taste
turmeric powder

Preparation:

boil chaamadumpa and peel them make into pieces,take oil in pan add these chaamadumpa pieces along with salt and turmeric. Meanwhile chop coriander leaves and green chillies in a chopper and add this to chaamadumpa pieces and fry them nicely .It will be good with any gravy curries.

Type 3: Baking dumpaas/arbi using oven

These oven baked chaama dumpa vepudu/fry can served with rice and dal/sambar/rasam or yogurt combination.

Ingredients:

Chaamadumpass 6
chill-garlic powder 1 spoon
turmeric powder 1/8th spoon
salt to taste

preparation:

1.Boil chaamadumpa in water until they become tender. Overboiling makes them mushy so keep checking and remove them before they turn to soft. When they are cooled enough to touch, peel the skins. Cut each, round shaped pieces of quarter inch thickness.

2.In a vessel, one spoon of oil. Add salt, red chilli-garlic powder and turmeric to taste and mix it . Add and toss the cut chaamadumpa pieces.

3.Spread them in rows neatly on a foil covered baking tray and bake them at 350 F for about 10 minutes. Also broil each side for about 2 to 5 minutes, until they are golden-brown.

4. Remove the baking tray from the oven and serve hot.

While boiling and baking, pay attention to the time and the cooking process. Overcooking in water or overbaking may result in mushy or blackened chaamadumpa chips instead of golden, crispy color.

Tomato with bottle gourd/tomato with beerakaya chutney

This chutney is too gud with the rotis/white rice..

Ingredients :

tomato 1/4 kg
bottle gourd ---->small one or beerakaya 1
whole greenchillies 6
chopped garlic cloves -4
turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
jeera 1 spoon

Talimpu ingredients :

Jeera 1/2 spoon
Urud dal 1 spoon
chana dal 1 spoon
mustard seeds 1/2 spon
curry leaves & coriander leaves
salt
oil

Preparation:

1.first peel the bottle gourd(sorakaya) or beerakaya and cut into small cubes.

2.cut the tomatoes into medium size

3.Take a pan and put that pan on medium heat and pour 1 spoon of oil.once the oil gets heated put greenchillies(whole chillies)and fry till those are done.Remove those fried green chillies into a seperate bowl.

4.Later add one more spoon of oil and add bottle gourd piece to the pan and cover the pan with lid and let it fry till all the bottle gourd pieces are cooked.

5.stir the pieces after every 4 to 5 minutes.

6.once the bottle gourd cooking is done..just take the pieces into a previously taken bowl.

7.Then add tomato pieces and fry it by keeping the lid on the pan..if necessary add oil otherwise no need becoz tomato had lot of moisture and if you want you can add salt for easy cooking.During this fring/cooking add turmeric powder.

8.once all frying is over..take a mixi jar add jeera/cumin seeds and garlic and greenchillies first and let it gring for 1/2 min and then add bottle gourd pieces to it and grind it for another 1 min then add atlast salt & tomato pieces and grind it for one more min.

9.Take that whole mixture/chutney into a bowl.

10.Atlast do talimpu( I assume that evrybody knows talimpu) and pour that talimpu onto the chutney.

tomato with bottle gourd chutney is ready to serve..

Saggubiyyam(sabudana) bondaa's

saggubiyyam bonda is a very good in tastewise that you can eat as a breakfast /evening time snack.I am sure everyone loves to eat this bonda..

Ingredients:

sabudana(saggubiyyam)/Cassava pearls 150 gm
Sour curd 2 cups
Rice flour 2 cups
chopped green chilli 12 (depends on your spice level)
finely chopped onions 1-2 cups chopped cilantro 1 bunch salt 21/2 table spoons(depends on your taste)
water 1/2 cup Baking powder 1 spoon
oil

Procedure for making sabudana bondaas:

1. First soak sabudana in sour curd about 4 to 6 hrs before you want to make,if required you can also use little water(if you have less curd) .

2.once the soaked sabudana becomes soft that means you can start the recepie .

3.Add rice flour to that sabudana and little water make it little tight and then add chopped green chillies and chopped onions & salt and cilantro,baking powder and make sure that mixture of all these shoudn't be too loose .

4.Take a pan and pour oil and put that on medium heat .Once the oil becomes heated you just make little dough with your hands and drop it onto your oil.Repeat the same procedure till the pan filled with your bondaas.

5.Once the oil stops bubbling around your bondaa that means that frying is complete for that bondaa..and let it turn on other side and let it fry for few more minutes ..so remove all fried bondaas from the pan and place on to a paper towel.

6. simple..your crispy sabudana bondaa's are ready.. Serve hot bondaas to your guests..