Dried peas curry!!

This is a simple yet healthy, tasty option when vegetables cost hit the roof...!

Ingredients:

Green peas dry 1 cup
Tomato 1
green chilli 3/4
ginger 1/2 an inch
Rai jeera for thadukka
salt to taste and coriander leaves for seasoning.

Method:

1. Soak the peas over night and keep
2. Pressure cook the peas, after whistle simmer for 5 minutes, it cooks well, not a hard pulse needing long cooking time.
3. Crush green chilly and ginger and keep.
4. On a kadai, heat oil, add rai and jeera, then the crushed spices and finely cut tomatoes
5. Add salt and as the tomato softens transfer the peas on to the kadai and let it boil. 
6. Simmer for ten minutes and add coriander leaves when you switch off the gas
7. Water should be used according to your gravy consistency choice.

This goes well with rotis, pavs, breads, dosas and even with rice.

Not only a lunch option, but also snack time item too. With toasted bread it serves as  a good snack.

Now its for you to try and tell me whether you enjoyed.

Mango Burfy / Mango Vady

The most simplest procedure for a sweet!

Ingredients:
 mango pulp 3 cups
milk 1 litre
Sugar 1/2 or 1 cup as per the sweetness of mango
Ghee 1 tbsp

Method:

• Reduce milk on a gas top and heat mango pulp on another simultaneously.
• Add the sugar to the pulp and keep stirring.
• Let the milk reduce to at least half.
• Then mix both regular and let it dehydrate slowly.
• As the mix comes to halwa consistency add ghee little by little.
• The halwa will keep getting thicker and leave the vessel.
• When you feel enough water is left, spread it on a greased plate and let it cool
• Then cut to pieces and serve.

Soya chunks spicy curry

Ingredients:

Soya chunks 2 cups
tomato one big sized or 2 small sized
red chilly powder 1 tsp
dhaniya jeera powder 2 tsp
sounf powder 1 tsp
salt to taste and coriander for seasoning

For seasoning:

Rai & heeng

Method:

• Soak the soya chunks in boiled water and keep aside for 10 minutes. Let all the soya soak completely.
• After 10 minutes drain the water and squeeze out extra water from the chunks and keep.
• Now heat the kadai with oil, add rai and after it breaks add heeng and before it overcooks add the tomato, let it become soft.
• Then add salt and the other spices one by one. 
• Once the raw smell goes off, add the soya chunks and stir well.
• Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes for the soya to absorb the gravy nicely. 
• Meantime add the finely chopped coriander.

This semi gravy curry goes well with chappathi as well as rice, or even to munch simply it is a good dish.

Mint Coriander Chutney the Southy style...

Ingredients:


Mint one bunch
Coriander half bunch

Coconut half (shredded)
Tamarind a little bit
Red chillies 5 or 7 according to the hotness of it

For seasoning:

Urid dhal
Rai
Heeng
Oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Roast the red chilly and tamarind on oil and keep aside

Then roast the coconut and the green leaves and keep aside

Now grind all of them in the mixer till fine. Can add water if need be, but not too much.

Then give seasoning with the said ingredients and put in the mixie and give one small grind.

Here is your mint coriander chutney.

Cauliflower Paratta

Ingredients:

Wheat atta, made in to a dough not very loose but little tight.

For the filling:
Cauliflower blanched and grated 250 gms
Green chilli and ginger finely chopped or grated 2
heeng
salt

Mix the ingredients and keep aside.

Make katori out of the dough

Add a drop of ghee, red chilli powder and salt on the dough like this.

Smear it like this nicely, so that the dough has a taste and not remains bland.

Keep the filling on the katori.

Cover the katori like you do for parattas.

Roll out like a chappati using some dry atta.

Put on the hot tawa and cook one side for half a minute and turn around, smear ghee to the roasted side.

Gradually as it cooks turn around and add ghee on the other side. Turn twice thrice as much needed to cook both the sides well.

Cauliflower parattas are ready to taste!!!

Idli podi

This popular dish is a must have at all South Indian kitchens.

This is a ready to eat side dish for idli, dosa and uttapams.

Men call this gun powder for the sharp flavour and the way it will help idlis melt inside.

Ingredients:

Red chillies 1 cup
Urid dhal 1/2 cup
Channa dhal 1 tbsp
salt 2 tsps
heeng 1/2 tsp
curry leaves 1 cup, press packed..


Procedure:

1. Roast the redchillies in little oil, breaking the chillies
2. On the same kadai, roast other ingredients as well.
3. Mix all of them and grind coarsely in the mixie

Once this is made, can have with oil added to it.

Pav Burger

A simple innovative child friendly, box friendly snack!!
Thanks to Kirti Govind prabhu and his wife Nandini mataji for introducing this. I am sharing this recipe so that all can enjoy the effortless burger.

Things needed:
Laadi Pav 8 or 16 as much as you need.
Capsicum 3 large ones cut to pieces.
Tomatoes 5 or 6 medium sized ones cut to pieces.
Salt
Chilli powder
Butter for toasting
Cheese for the stuffing

Method for the stuffing:
Just toss fry capsicum and tomatoes with salt and chilli powder and keep them aside.

To toast the burger:

1. Slit the pav with a knife, just a few cms, you will find the hollow inside the pav. Dont cut too deep.
2. Inside the pav now stuff some cheese and then this vegetable mixture.
3. Slightly press the pav from top using a flat bottomed cup or bowl, so that it becomes thinner.
4. Smear butter on both sides of the pav and toast it over a hot tawa.

Serve hot... 

See who will say no for this. I bet you will be tired of making, kids love it any time !!!!

Easy Vegetable Rice

Things needed:

1. Rice (basmati or ordinary) 200gms
2. Carrot 1, cubed
3. Beans 10 lentils, cut ot small pieces
4. Cauliflower 2 florets optional
5. Capsicum 1, cut to pieces
6. Red chilli powder
7. Salt 
8. Tomato 2, cut to pieces

For seasoning:

1. Oil
2. Lavang 2
3. Sounf 1/2 tsp
4. Jeera 1/2 tsp
5. Badi elaichi a small scrap
6. Bay leaf 1/2 cut piece
7. Ginger a little bit, grated
8. Coriander

Procedure:

1. Take preferably a small cooker.
2. Heat oil in the cooker.
3. Add all the seasoning items except coriander.
4. Add the cut vegetables, toss them for a while.
5. Add red chilli powder and salt according to your taste.
6. Then add the washed rice to it, stir well, add 400 ml of water and pressure cook as you cook rice.
7. Once it is done, open the lid and season it with chopped coriander leaves.

This serves a good lunch box item.

Goes well with raitha or some kurma or simply curd or even with out any of them.

Kuzhi Paniyaram

Things needed:

1. Raw rice 2 cups
2. Boiled rice 2 cups
3. Urid dhal 1 cup
4. Methi seeds 2 tsp
5. oil
6. salt

Soak these grains together for at least 4 hours.
Grind them in a wet grinder adding sufficient water.
Ferment this batter over night.
Next morning add salt as needed to part of the batter.




Heat the kuzhi paniyaram pan, add 1/2 tsp of oil into each of the kuzhis.

Then pour the batter in to each kuzhi.
Let it roast on one side. Once the batter gets roasted it will come out of the pan, then you can turn it down side up to roast the other side.





Once both sides are cooked well, serve it with red hot chutney or idli podi (chutney powder) 

Cheesy Pasta - the Indian style

Things needed:


Pasta 500gms
Cubed carrots 2 cups
Capsicum cut to pieces 2 cups
Tomatoes finely chopped or pureed 3/4 kg
Coriander leaves a handful
Ginger finely chopped 1spoon
Corn pearls (optional) 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder 1tsp or more according to your taste
Oil 2 tbsp

Procedure:

First cook the pasta and keep aside. To cook pasta, use a large container letting space for the water and pasta and boil well. As per the instructions on the pasta cover, we may use 2 litres of water for cooking 500gms of pasta. Let the water reach boiling point, bubbles come up when the pasta can be added. Cook for 15 minutes on high flame, with occasional stirring. It might tend to bubble out of the container, hence needs constant watch and stirring. Add few drops of oil and some salt to the cooking pasta. Once it is done drain and run over cold water and keep aside.

Along side the procedure for the pasta sause or gravy can proceed.

Add oil on a large pan, heat it and add ginger and saute it. Then add the carrots and tomatoes. Let them cook very well, that the tomato gets mashed.

Now add redchilli powder and salt. Cook in medium flame until tomato leaves oil. Then add the capsicum and corn pearls. Both these are added later because they lose their flavor on over cooking. they need not cook as much as tomatoes do.

Toss for a while then add the finely chopped coriander leaves. Now the pasta sause is ready.

Now add the cooked pasta and stir well. At this point add the grated cheese while still on flame. Once the cheese melts and blends stop the flame. The cheesy pasta is now ready for serving.