Carrot Chutney

Ingredients:

2 medium size Carrots grated

10 medium hot Green chillies (washed and each broken into two pieces)

marble size Tamarind ball / 1/2 lemon juiced

2 garlic cloves

2tsp Cumin seeds

salt as per taste

oil

for tempering:

mustard seeds

Skinned split black lentils / chaya minapappu/urid dal

curry leaves/coriander leaves

asafoetida/hing

Dried red chilli halved

Method:

1. Mix the grated carrot with the lemon juice. Keep aside while u do the spicing up process. If not using the lemon juice but the tamarind grind the tamarind with the fried chillies.
2. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and throw the chillies in ( protect urself from the hot smell and spluttering chilli seeds).
3. Fry them for 2 mins stirring them or rocking the pan.
4. Now do the tempering/Tadka/Talimpu in the same pan and keep aside.
5. The mortar and pestle work the best here.If u dont have that option go on with ur machinary.
6. Grind the cumin seeds and the garlic cloves with the tamarind with rocksalt into smooth. This rocksalt helps in crushing the tamarind good.
7. Now add the chillies and grind them too but into rough pieces, but not smooth paste. This gives the taste to the chutney.
8. Take some of the grated carrot and grind it roughly.
9. Add this to the remaining carrot. Mix well. Taste it, adjust the seasoning as per ur taste.
10. Now top with the tempering.

Tastes gud with rice. Works with roti ,idli, dosa as well.

Enjoy.

Senagapappu Kobbari (spiced Splitchickpeas with Coconut)

Side dish




Ingredients:


1 cup Split chickpeas/Chanadal/Pachi Senagapappu (wash and soak them in water for 1 hr)
1 large onion chopped
1/4 cup raw Coconut scraped
Spices :
1 clove
1 inch cinnamon
salt
Red chillipowder/4 sliced Green chillies
turmeric
mustard seeds
curry leaves/ coriander leaves
oil 2 Tbspns


Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, spices.
2. When they splutter add the curry leaves then the chopped onion
3. Fry the onions and green chillies till soft and add the soaked split-chickpeas ,turmeric and add some water to them to cook till the split-chickpeas become tender add salt as per ur taste and red chilli powder if u have not added the green chillies.
4. Add the coconut scrape and cokk for 1 minute.
5. Garnish with coriander.

Goes well with rotis as well as rice or u can make have it as it is.

Enjoy.

Lemon Pickle (Nimmakaya pachadi)

Mmmmmm....mouthwatering pickle with wonderful lemon aroma with spicyness of chilli and ginger pieces......

Ingredients:

Lemons 6

Chilli powder 3 tsps

Salt 2 tsps (as per ur taste)

GreenChillis 10

Ginger 2 inch piece

Mustard seeds 2 tsps + 1 tsp for tempering

Fenugreek seeds 1 tspn

Oil 4 Tbsps

Asafoetida 1/4 th tspn

Method:

1. Wash the lemons and pat them dry immediately and leave them for 30mins so that they dry completely.
2. Wash the Green chillies and Ginger and dry them with clean dry cloth.
3. Slit the chillies a bit at the center to allow the juices in.
4. Chop the ginger finely into 1/2cm cubes.
5. Cut each lemon into 8 equal pieces and remove all the seeds from them.
6. Put the lemon pieces, Chillies, Ginger pieces into a clean dry jar(it should not be a metal jar) with salt and turmeric and mix them well so that every piece get coated with the salt and turmeric.
7. Now close the jar with the lid and store it in clean and cool dry place for 3 days.
8. On the fourth day you can find juicy tender lemon pieces. Sqeeze the juice from the pieces in to the jar and keep the peices under the Sun for 1 day.
9. Dont worry if u can't keep them out under the Sun. Just oven dry them.
10. I have set the oven to lowest temperature and dried them for 1 hr.
11. Meanwhile u can prepare the sauce for the pickle:
12. Dry roast the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds and powder them.
13. Add this mustard-fenugreek powder and the chilli powder to the juices in the jar.
14. Taste it and if u think of adjusting the seasoning, go on.
15. Add the dried lemon pieces into the jar and mix well.
16. Heat oil and add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter and then asafoetida and curry leaves (if u like).Allow this to cool.
17. Add this to the pickle when cool.

This pickle tastes gud after after 3 days.

Lemon pickle with curd-rice gives a completeness to the meal.

Enjoy.

Corn mixture (chivda)

Ingredients:

3 cups cereal Cornflakes(plain)

1 cup riceflakes/poha/atukulu (optional)

1/4th to 1/2 cup peanuts/groundnuts

1/4th to 1/2 cup broken Cashewnuts

1/8th cup Raisins/kismis (optional)

2 tbspns oil/ghee/butter

2 tsps cumin seeds/jeera

2tsp Saunf seeds(optional)

curry leaves (optional)

seasoning:

salt
turmeric

redchilli powder (optional)

sugar (optional)

Chat masala / lemon juice (optional)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok and fry seeds and curry leaves.
2. And then nuts and raisins fry on a low flame.
3. Then add the seasonings.
4. Then the cornflakes fry them for a minute, and then the riceflakes.
5. Cool the mixture and store in a dry closed container.
6. Serve as it is or with finely chopped onion, tomato and little coriander.

Enjoy.

Pappu mamidikaya / Raw Mango with mashed lentils

Ingredients:

1+1/2 cups Toor dal / kandi pappu

2 Sour Raw mangoes medium sized

6 Green chillies

1 large Onion cubed / 4 shallots or sambar onions

For tempering/tadka/talimpu :

Mustard seeds 1 tsp

fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp

cumin seeds 1 tsp

chopped curry leaves/coriander leaves

A pinch of Asafoetida/hing

2 tbsps oil

Method:

1. Pressure cook the toor dal with 1 tsp oil and enough water(4 to 4+ 1/2cups) till soft.
2. Never cook the mango /any sour ingredients with dal.The dall will not cook properly.
3. Mash the dal.
4. Then Cook the dal with the mango,onions,green chillies.
5. Add turmeric and salt to taste.
6. Give the tadka/tempering:
7. That is just heat the oil add mustardseeds when u hear thhe pop sound add fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds and the then the leaves and then asafoetida.transfer this immediately over the prepared dal mixture and clean the remaining oil with the dal.

My yummy Pappu mamidikaaya is ready to have with rice or rotis.

It will be yummy with ghee.

Go on and enjoy.

Vegetable biryani

My Vegetable biryani What's beneath the colored rice?? ofcourse the flavoured vegetables.

Ingredients:

vegetables I have used:

1 medium sized carrot diced
1 medium sized onion sliced
1 tomato chopped
1/2 cup chopped beans
1/4 cup peas
4 thinly chopped green chillies

U can use any vegetables u likebut make sure the vegetables go well with rice and add flavor to the dish.

3 cups Basmati rice soaked for 30 mins.

spices:
2 cloves
2 cinnamon(inch sized)
2 cardamom/elachi

12 cashews
pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tbspns hot milk to get the color and flavor.
2 tbspns yoghurt
coriander/mint leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Half cook the rice with 1tbsp oil and little salt(1 tsp) in it.
2. While the rice cooks :
3. Heat a thick bottomed vessel with lid and add 2 tbspns oil/butter/ghee, add the spices then the cashews.
4. Let the cashews be golden brown and add onions and fry them till soft.
5. Then add the remaining vegetables one by one depending on their softness.The soft ones go last. I hope u got me right.
6. Add enough salt and cook them on medium heat till soft. Then add the yoghurt. Cook for two mins and lower the heat to minimum.
7. The rice should be half cooked by now. Drain any excess water from the rice.
8. Place the rice in the vessel over the cooked vegetables or u can layer them as u like.
9. Then add the saffron soaked in milk to the top layer (should be rice). Close with the lid.
10. Let it cook over the lowest heat for 30 mins.
11. Serve it while hot.

Enjoy.

Oats Laddoo

"Muesli" my cereal. I love it. That's why I have bought 1kg packet and started eating it daily in my breakfast. I have been eating it daily and I am bored of it for now....phew...I have not finished even half of it. So I started thinking what else can do with my cereal..... Wow that is not a bad idea. A laddoo......... just like ravaladdoo. With a variation. Jaggery instead of sugar, a healthier option and some fingermillet flour(ragi flour), also some milk for binding the ingredients together.
The healthiest snack I have ever prepared is ready. If you want to pamper yourself just dip them in chocolate and cool them before storing.
Is the word "pamper" correct in this context? I mean spoil urself with chocolate.
Any way I am not pampering myself.

Ingredients:


Muesli /(oats + raisins + your favourite nuts) 3 cups
Jaggery /sugar 1 to 1 +1/2 cup
Fingermillet flour(ragi flour) 1/2 cup
Milk 1/4th cup to 1/2 cup
elachi powder 1/2 tspoon
ghee/butter/oil 2 tbspns


Method:

1. Roast the cereal in the greased pan on a low heat till it smells good.
2. Add the fingermillet flour roast for a minute.
3. Add the jaggery to it.
4. Keep stirring till it melts.
5. If u feel the moisture in it is not enough for making laddoo/ball then u can add enough milk. Make sure u do not add too much milk and making it halwa.
6. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool untill it is hot enough to handle, and make laddoos or patties.

enjoy.