Gutti vankaya koora (brinjals in onion gravy)

Ingredients:

Brinjals - 1/2 ks (small round ones)
Onions - 3 large ones
Ground nuts - 1/4 cup
Red chillies - 10
Bengal gram - 1/8 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/2 spoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida - 1/8 spoon
Oil - 1/4 cup (yes ! it is oily)
Salt - As per taste
Turmeric - a big pinch
Curry leaves - 10 nos.


Method :

Chop onions into big chunks. Slit brinjals into 4 (do not separate them and let the brinjal stay connected at one end). soak them in salt water to stop them from turning black. Add some oil to a wok and fry the ground nut, 1/4 of a spoon of cumming and bengal gram. Once they are slightly brown, add the red chillies followed by the onions. Fry all the ingredients till the onions are slightly brown in color. Add turmeric and salt. Grind to a paste after all ingredients cool down.

Stuff the brinjals with this paste and keep aside. Heat a pressure pan and add the remaining oil to it. Add d, cummin, asafoetida and curry leaves. Once the mustard starts to splutter, add the stuffed brinjals. Fry the brinjals slightly at low heat. One they start getting blisters all over, add the ground paste remaining and adjust salt. Pressure cook for two whistles. Serve hot with some hot rice, plain tuvar dal and ghee...... YUMMY ! Serves as a great dish along with curd rice too.

Note : The number of whistles depends on the quality of the brinjals.

Methi Rice

Most of my dishes are quick and not elaborate. I want to keep it that way. It helps people who are in a hurry to prepare lunch and carry it with them. Also, helps lazy people who want to finish off cooking quickly.

Ingredients :

Long grained rice - 2 cups
Methi leaves - 1 1/2 cups (washed and finely chopped)
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Onion - thin slices - 1/2 cup
cinnamon - 1 inch
cloves - 4 nos.
cardamom - 4 nos.
Bay leaf - 1
cashews - 10 (Roasted)
Salt - to taste
Water - 4 cups

Method :

Heat the cooker and add some oil/Ghee to it once hot. Add cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves, cardamom and fry till they splutter. Now add the onions and fry till they slightly change their color. Add the methi leaves and fry till the raw smell disappears. To this add the water and a spoonful of salt. Taste the water to ensure that it is slightly saltier than what you want your dish to be like. Add rice and coconut and cook for 2 whistles. Mix the fried cashews just before serving the dish. This can be served with raita/veg kurma of your choice.

Cabbage Kichdi

This name of the dish might sound weird, but trust me it tastes yummy. It is quiet simple and if you are looking for a pot meal, then this is your Saviour. This gets done in a jiffy and is very mildly spiced. This is a nutritious yet tasty and healthy dish


Ingredients :

Cabbage - 1 cup finely chopped
Moong dal - 1/2 cup
Rice - 3/4 cup
Red chillies - 8 nos. (split to half)
curry leaves - 10 nos.
cumin - 1/2 spoon
mustard - 1/2 spoon
oil - 1 spoon
salt - to taste
water - 3 1/2 cups

Method :

Soak the moong dal in water for 15 mins. You could get your cabbage chopped meanwhile. Add oil to the pressure cooker. Once it is hot, add cumin,mustard and curry leaves. Fry them till mustard sputters. Add red chillies. Now add the cabbage and fry a little till the raw smell disappears. Do not let them change color though. Now add the soaked moong dal and washed rice. Add water and salt. Let it cook for 4 whistles. Serve hot with pickle/raita.

Tip : Add more water if you want it to be more mushy. You could add grated ginger if you like.

Snaps of my garden

Some snaps of the beautiful flowers from my tiny balcony-cum-garden. These plants have survived 3 shiftings and 20 odd days of living without water when i went on vacation. Of course my trip was meant to be 4 days long :-)

Enjoy !

Baby potatoes stir fry

This is something that i make as a starter for get together. This dish was invented out of sheer
necessity. When i was in the US, among the few veggies that i could eat, potato was one. And, apart from fries, mash, gravy, i learnt this starter which is a two in one. There were days when i made only this with some salad for dinner :) and the next day it became my sandwich filling.

Okay ! That was too much potato i guess. I like to prepare this with baby potatoes as you could pick each and relish. The following is the receipe

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes - 1 Kg
Curry leaves - 10 nos.
Coriander powder - 1.5 Spoons
Cumin - 1.5 Spoons
Red chillies powder - 1 spoon
Salt - As per your requirement
Fresh coriander - one cup finely chopped
Oil - 5 tea spoons
Lemon juice - 1 Spoon (optional)


Method :

Bring water to a boil and add the washed baby potatoes with skin. They should be boiled until soft and not mushy. Drain the water and run cold water over the potatoes immediately to avoid further cooking. Add some oil to the Wok and add the potatoes and fry them until a little brown.
Add the dry ingredients to the potatoes and fry till the raw smell. You should slowly start noticing dark marks on the potatoes and they would become crisper. Add the coriander leaves at this point and turn off the heat. Add lemon juice if you wish to.

Alternately, you could use big potatoes, but ensure that they are cut into cubes and are in even shape. Ginger garlic paste is also optional and could be added just before adding the potatoes to the wok.

Groundnut tomato chutney !

This was taught to me by my peddamma or mom's elder sister. Apparently its famous in Hyderabad and Suryapet (AP, India). She had served it to my mom on one of her trips and my mom knowing my madness for chutneys had made it for me when i was pregnant. When i made it for the first time, my father in law liked it so much that he learnt the recipe and it was made when my BIL visited us from France. I tell you, some simple recipes can be so yummy that you shouldn't wonder if they find a place in guiness book :-)

Ingredients:

Ground nuts - 1 cup
Ripe tomatoes - 3 (sour ones)
Tamarind - one lemon size
Red chillies - 6
Cumin seeds - 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida - 1/8 spoon
Oil - for tempering
Salt - As per taste


Method :

Dry roast the ground nuts and remove the husk. Now, add some oil in a wok and add the red chillies. Add finely chopped tomatoes. Once they start getting gooey, switch of the stove. let this cool down completely. Grind the ground nuts first and to this add the tomatoes and tamarind pulp. Grind to a smooth paste. Once done, temper with cumin,mustard and asafoetida. Do remember that asafoetida is the one that adds the zing to the chutney. Serve with anything under the sun.

Nimmakayi annam (Lemon Rice)

There is this commom misconception that Nimmakayi annam or Lemon rice is the most simple things to prepare on earth. Not really ! Unless you get the right amount of lemon juice and red chillies, it would taste as bad as it could be. I always treat Lemon rice as a dish that needs more care than anything else.

Also, i didnt know that many restuarants use left over rice for preparing this :-(...No way that i would prepare it with left over rice. Its meant to be preapred with fresh ingredients and lots of love.

Ingredients :

Cooked Rice - 2 cups
Lemon juice - As per your taste buds :-)
Red chillies - 4 (slit)
Cummin seeds - 1/4 spoon
Mustard - 1/4 spoon
Urad dal - 1/4 spoon
Chana dal - 1/2 spoon
Cashews - 10 (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves -10
Oil - 2 spoons
Salt - for taste

Method :

Heat an wok and add the oil. Once the oil is hot add the mustard, cummin seeds, urad dal, chana dal, curry leaves and Red chillies. Once they are slightly brown add the cashews and turmeric powder. Once the cashews turn golden in color add the lime juice and salt and switch off the stove immediately. Add this to the cooked rice and adjust salt. Serve hot with some crispies.