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Saturday, May 21, 2011

Sorakaya Masala Kura | Bottle Gourd Curry in Ground Spices

Today is the last day of the BM#5 group 2. Somehow this month’s BM has been disturbed with the Blogger being down for a while and then life caching up with various things. I haven’t been able to check on all the BM posts. I have planned to check on them this week.

Coming to the recipe today, remember the Bottle gourd Chutney that Amma’s friend made for us. She also made this dish as the main for Rotis. I have already posted a sorakaya kura which is very delicious with roits. Imagine finding another one. I am giving the proportions exactly as how aunty shared with me. But do increase the spice if you want as hubby dear felt the curry needed little more spice.

Sorakaya Masala Kura | Bottle Gourd Curry in Ground Spices

Ingredients Needed:

Ground Masala

Fresh Coconut - 1/2 cup
Poppy Seeds / Gasa gasa - 1 tsp
Fried gram / Potukadali / Pappulu - 1 tbsp
Green chili - 4 nos
Garlic - 4-5 cloves
Coriander leaves - few stalks

For Gravy

Sorakaya / Bottle Gourd - 1/2 kg
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds / Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Methi / Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Onions - 1 medium
Turmeric powder a pinch
Curry leaves 4 -5
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2- 3 tsp
Salt to taste

Method to prepare:

Grind all the ingredients listed under ground masala as raw. Keep it aside.

Peel the bottle gourd outer skin, wash and cut into 1 inch pieces. Keep it aside. Skin can be used for making tokku also.

Heat a kadai with oil add Mustard, cumin seeds, Methi, Urad dal, curry leaves, finely chopped Onions. Fry till the onions turn to brown colour.

Then add Sorakaya pieces, fry for few mins on high, add salt & turmeric. Mix well, simmer and cover to cook for 5 mins.

Next add the ground masala, mix everything together and simmer for 2 mins. Then add required water and pressure cook it for one whistle.

Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me

Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Priya Suresh, Srivalli, Usha
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Vardhini,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Harini, Suma, Veena
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Aarthi, Kalyani, Pavani, Shylaja
Summer Coolers: PJ, Vaishali
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Sushma Pinjala,

Friday, May 20, 2011

Pindi Miriyam ~ Special from Andhra

Today's special is from Andhra. Pindi Miriyam is very famous in its own way. It's a dish very similar to avial with lots of vegetables but different in the way it's made. Though I have read about this a lot, never actually came around making it until Amma did. Amma made this from a paper cutting she had and it made quite a dish for dinner. And quite a regular too. This really comes handy when you want to clean up your fridge

These curries really help out on a tough day when you are pressed to think of a dish to make. I think I finally find myself hard to come up with a story to write or a story to talk about kids. They are enjoying their holidays from morning till evening. And if left to their own, through the night also. Whereas for myself, days are flying with the BM in progress. I hardly get to think of anything else than what to make for this and what else to check on. My latest craze has been photo submission to those food porn sites. I have submitted about 7 pictures and all are rejected. If I can applaud on my consistency I have enough reasons now, I have been consistently rejected. I wonder if this is very much how a jilted love feels! Anyway I am not anything if not persistent and I know perseverance always pays off. I shall come back to report one day of a photo being accepted...:)

Till then you can enjoy this Pindi Miriyam. Now don't ask me what and why it's called that. Maybe because it has Urad dal and pepper for the base, it's called that. I am not sure. But I can vouch for the excellent taste it renders itself to you!

Translation from Telugu to English
Pindi - Flour
Miriyam - Pepper

Pindi Miriyam

Ingredients Needed:

Toor dal - 3/4 cup
Turmeric a pinch
Sorakaya / Bottle gourd- 1/2 cup
Potato - 1
Raw Banana / Plantain - 1 medium
Brinjal - 3 small
Beans - 6- 7
Tamarind paste - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Coriander leaves, finely chopped - 1/4 cup
Oil - 5 tsp
Salt to taste

For Seasoning

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves - 5
Hing/ Asafoetida a pinch
Cumin Seeds / Jeera - 1/4 tsp

For Masala paste:

Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds / Jeera - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Whole pepper corns - 1 tsp
Red chilies - 4
Coconut, grated - 1/2 cup

Method to prepare:

Chop all the vegetables, add turmeric powder, par boil and keep aside.

Pressure cool the toor dal to soft texture. keep it aside.

For the masala paste, fry all the ingredients one by one in oil, keep it aside to cool. Make a paste with it by adding little water.

Once done, add this masala to the vegetables and bring to boil. Next goes the tamarind paste, cooked toor dal, bring to boil. When it reaches the required consistency of thick stew, do the seasoning.

To do the seasoning/ tempering, heat a pan with oil. Add all the seasoning ingredients. When the mustard starts to splutter, pour this over the boiling dal.

Finally add the finely chopped Coriander leaves.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Karnai Kizhangu Puli Kuzhambu | Kanda Gadda Pulusu

Daddy is very fond of tamarind based gravies that are sour, tangy and gives you that tinkling sensation. Amma makes these Kara kolambu with different ingredients. We have found that though the base is practically the same, the final taste changes based on the ingredient you add. Plus the fact that you got to cook certain vegetables in certain way before adding it to the gravy.

When Amma makes these Kara Kolambu with Shallot Onions, Okra, Manatakkali etc. We have never cooked with Yam. I have this tuber being cooked in various forms and some of the most delicious looking roasts are made with it. Yet because it gets itching sometimes, Amma has never cooked it at home. I remember my colleagues bringing yam that are roasted very crispy. I always declined saying I have never tasted it.

One of the change I have noted significantly after starting blogging has been being more open to trying out new ingredients. We finally decided that we should try Yam at home and one of the first dish that came to mind is Kanda Gadda Pulusu. This is one of the famous dishes from Andhra, yet I am not sure if what we made relates to that. Amma makes it more like how we make the Kara Kolambu as in Tamil Nadu.

Translation

Yam - Karnakalangu (Tamil), Kanda Gadda (Telugu)

Karnakalangu Kolambu | Kanda Gadda Pulusu

Ingredients Needed:

For Boiling Yam

Yam / Karuna Kizhangu / Kanda Gadda - 1 cup
Salt a pinch
Turmeric powder
Tamarind extract - a marble size.

For the gravy

Oil - 2 tsp
Curry leaves 5- 6
Mustard Seeds. Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Methi Seeds / Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Onions , chopped - 1/2 cup
Tomato - 1/2 cup
Sambar powder -1 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Tamarind pulp - small lemon size.
Coconut paste - 2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method to prepare:

Wash and remove the outer covering of the yam. Cut into 2" size.

For boiling the Yam.

Soak the marble size tamarind piece in water. Extract the pulp after 10 mins. Add 1/2 cup to the pulp extracted from marble size tamarind. In a bowl, add the tamarind water with yam pieces, little salt and turmeric. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 5 mins. Then drain the yam pieces and discard the water.

For the gravy.

Soak the other tamarind in water and extract the pulp.

Heat oil in a kadai, temper with mustard seeds, methi, garlic, urad dal, curry leaves. Then saute onion, when it turns colour add tomato pieces. Add sambar powder, salt and simmer with lid covered. Cook for 5 mins till the tomatoes turns mushy.

Then add the cooked yam pieces. Cook on high flame. Then finally add coconut paste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve with steaming rice.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Dalcha Recipe | How To Make Dalcha

Dalcha can easily be called a silent killer. Yes famous among its peers yet not so well known outside its crowd. While everybody knows and raves about Biryani, not many may know how important a dalcha is, when you talk about Biryani. Especially when it's a non vegetarian biryani. Growing up in a non vegetarian family I have often heard about Dalcha being talked about in reference to Biryani. Yet I never seen Amma preparing this often. It mostly belonged to the Muslim families, who make this with non veg added to the gravy. So you can imagine I never got around tasting it.

Yet during one of my conversation with our family friends who are experts in making Dalcha including the Muslim biryanis, I came to know that not all of them make a dalcha with non veg included. I was really so happy knowing that. Our family friend shared two recipes, one that I have kept aside for my book. The other one happens to be what Amma got from her. This is completely different from the other one, yet equally good.

As I was talking about how my hubby dear refuses to eat just plain Veg Biryani with Raitha, this is yet another gravy that has come to our rescue. We are still enjoying a relatively relaxed holidays with kids. Konda's school reopens 1st of June and she will be getting her books by the last week. While I was dreading the fact that there will be loads of books literally that I have to cover, FIL has promised to come down to help me.

Coming to the recipe, this is very healthy as it has different vegetables added to it along with dal.

Dalcha Recipe

Ingredients Needed

Vegetables added

Bottle gourd, chopped - 1 cup
Brinjal - 3 medium
Carrot - 1 medium
Beans - 5 nos
Potatos - 1 medium
Tomato - 1 medium

Dals

Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Bengal gram - 1/2 cup

For the paste

Coconut paste - 1 tsp
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1"
Poppy Seeds / Gasa Gasa powder - 3/4 tsp

For the gravy

Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2
Tamarind - 1 marble size

For seasoning
Mustard, Curry leaves

Method to prepare:

Wash and soak the dals for 10 mins.

Chop all the vegetables and keep it aside.

Make a smooth paste with coconut, cloves, cinnamon, and poppy seeds.

In a pressure cooker, take everything excluding the seasoning, add 1 cup water and pressure cook for 2 whistle, switch off.

Once pressure is all released, add the tamarind juice bring to boil.

Finally season the gravy with mustard, curry leaves.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Gobi Dum Recipe | Dum Ka Gobi | Cauliflower Dum Curry

If you are looking for a simple gravy yet a dish that makes its presence felt, then I recommend you make this Dum Cauliflower. We make this as a side for the Peas Pulao which ends up being bland for the elders. And you can serve this for Naans, Rotis too. If cauliflower is your favorite, then this is a must to try. During every cauliflower season. I make sure I try all possible new dishes with the cauliflower. I simply love the way the streets over flow with these pretty flowers. Though I tried as many dishes I could, I still couldn't try one dish as it called for a small flower and most ones that are sold are really huge.

So when I made the peas pulao, the kids had just that and this combo had the elders reaching out more. When Amma shared this recipe with me, I was reluctant to add those Ginger juliennes in the end, saying I can't somehow like that lingering ginger taste. And kids will surely not like it. But if you add very little of them, the ginger surely adds that extra kick required.

Athamma and boys came back yesterday. Konda made sure she accompanied us to pick them up. By the previous night she was almost tears asking for her brothers. I happily said they are coming in the morning. It was such wonderful scene, seeing the kids hug each other. Boys had a wonderful time and by the time we returned home, we had constant calls from their aunt and uncle who were already missing them. It was a lovely sight to see all three talking to each other so animatedly and were playing non stop, followed by a painting session by Konda, while the boys were attentive spectators.

Coming back to the recipe, I hope you enjoy making this. By dum we mean to specify that the main ingredients is slow cooked by which the spices gets incorporated into it.

Cauliflower Dum

Ingredients Needed:

For the paste:

Onions - 2 medium
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1"
Cardamon - 2

For the Gravy:

Cauliflower - 2 cups (par boiled)
Fresh Peas - 1/2 cup
Curds - 1/4 cup
Tomato puree - 2 medium - 1/2 cup
Red chili powder - 1
Julienne ginger - 1/2
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method to prepare:

Make the paste of the spice and onions and keep it aside.

Wash and cut cauliflower into small florets. Soak them in hot salted water for 5 -7 mins while the masala is getting ready.

Heat a non stick pan with oil, add the ground paste, and saute well. Fry till the raw smell goes. then add the tomato puree, add curds and simmer.

Once it is boiled, add cauliflower and peas, add chili powder, salt add little 1 cup water, bring to boil. Simmer for 10 and dum. finally add julienne ginger.

Seal the pan well or you can follow the dum process and simmer for 10 mins for the species to steep into the florets.

I apologize for the dull pictures, they don't do justice to the taste.

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Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me

Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Priya Suresh, Srivalli, Usha
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Vardhini,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Harini, Suma, Veena
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Aarthi, Kalyani, Pavani, Shylaja
Summer Coolers: PJ, Vaishali
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Sushma Pinjala,

Monday, May 16, 2011

Brinjal Kurma | Vankaya Kurma

Talk about innovation at different levels and you finally end up doing that in your kitchen too. Brinjal Kurma surely falls in that category. Daddy is very fond of Brinjal and would love it in any form. So it is only natural that Amma attempts at making this vegetable in as many different forms as she can. But seriously kurma was not what I expected to hear. I got to know about this recently when there came a need.

Off late Hubby dear insists that I make a gravy and not just an onion raitha for any biryani or pulao. That really gets me down. The very fact of making Biryani or Pulao is to ensure you get one pot meal done fast. So on top if you think you got to make a gravy, it really gets tough. So when I was discussing it with Amma on this, she suggested I make this Brinjal kurma as a combo for the Vegetable Biryani. It was a great combo.

Brinjal Kurma | Vankaya Kurma

Ingredients Needed:

For the Ground Masala:

Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Whole Cashew nuts - 10
Garam Masala powder 1 tsp

For the Gravy:

Brinjal long - 150 gms
Oil - 2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp,
Whole Peppercorns - 1/4 tsp,
Onion - 1/2 cup,
Green chilies, finely chopped - 2 long,
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste
Curds/ Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Add water as required
Coriander leaves for garnish

Method to prepare:

To make the ground masala.

In a mixer take all the ingredients for the masala and grind to a fine paste by adding water as required.

For the gravy:

Heat oil in a non stick pan, fry cumin seeds, peppercorns. Then add chopped onions, finely chopped green chilies. Saute for couple of minutes.

Then add brinjals that are chopped long pieces. Saute well. Then add chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt. Continue sauteing.

Add the paste and saute for a couple. Next add 1/4 cup curds. Add water as required. Bring to boil, garnish with coriander leaves.

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Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me

Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Priya Suresh, Srivalli, Usha
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Vardhini,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Harini, Suma, Veena
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Aarthi, Kalyani, Pavani, Shylaja
Summer Coolers: PJ, Vaishali
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Sushma Pinjala,

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Cauliflower Potato Curry with Poppy Seed Flavour | Aloo Gobi Subji

We are into the second week of the Blogging Marathon, and I decided to make Curries or gravies for this week. Though in a typical Tamilian menu, curry is referred to a dry side dish, most other parts refer to the side dish that's served with Rice or Rotis. I have used it in a boarder term to include the gravy side dishes. These mostly get done within 30 mins and will be great help when pressed for time.

I started this Aloo Gobi Subji thinking to make it in a different way but ended up with a different flavour when I stopped with just Poppy seeds powder and served it with Rotis. We enjoyed the different taste coming out by adding just poppy powder and nothing else.

With the kids still on their vacation, this was a quick lunch for hubby dear and myself.

Cauliflower Potato Curry with Poppy Seed Flavour | Aloo Gobi Subji

Ingredients Needed:

Cauliflower florets - 1 cup
Potatoes - 2 medium
Onions - 1 medium
Tomato puree - 2 medium
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Garam Masala - 2 pinches
Poppy seeds powder - 1 tsp

Method to prepare:

Chop cauliflower into small florets, soak in hot water for 5 mins. Make marks on the potatoes and microwave for 5 mins. Once done peel the skin off the potatoes.

Heat a pan with oil, sauté onions till brown. Add ginger garlic paste, sauté till it's cooked well. It takes about a minute.

Then add the drained cauliflower, salt and turmeric. Cover with lid and cook for 5 -7 mins. Since we only par boiled the cauliflower, simmer the pan with lid to ensure it gets cooked well.

Puree the tomatoes, add to the pan along with cooked potatoes, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala. Cover again and cook till the tomato turns to look well done and oil comes out on the sides.

Finally add about 3/4 cup of water. Bring to boil. Add poppy seed powder. Chopped coriander leaves and simmer for 2 mins.

Serve with chapatis.