Bread Rolls

This is one of the simple and easiest evening snack...............I got lot of bread lying in my pantry for a week,realised that it's use by date is nearby, got the idea of making bread rolls.........yummy....yum...

Ingredients: 10 slices of bread, 1cup,cooked vegetables(carrot, green peas), 2no.potatoes(boiled,mashed),1/4cup,onions(roughly chopped), 1tsp.Ginger(finely grated), 2tsp.coriander leaves. 2tsp.red chili powder, 1/4tsp.garam masala powder, 1/4tsp. turmeric powder, 1tsp.lime juice, salt to taste, 2tsp.+ oil for deep frying.

Heat oil in a pan, once it's hot add ginger and fry for a min.,then add all the cooked vegetables(carrot,peas and potatoes)and fry for 10 minutes. Then add red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder & salt and mix well. Add lime juice and coriander leaves and remove from fire, allow it to cool. Using a knife trim the brown corners from the bread slice. Shred the brown corners into crumbs using a grater and keep them aside(this step is optional, if you like to have very flaky rolls follow this step, other wise skip it)dip the bread slices in water one at a time, immediately take out from the water and squeeze out the excess water, put the filling inside this bread. Fold and seal the edges together with little water (and roll them in the above prepared crumbs if desired) . Prepare all the rolls in the same manner. Refrigerate the rolls at least for 2 hours. Heat oil in a pan, once it is medium hot, deep fry few rolls at a time until brown and flaky( pay attention as they turn brown very soon). Repeat this until all the rolls are fried, serve them hot with Ketchup..

Beerakaya Palu Posina Kura(Ridgegourd with Milk)

Ridge Gourd, this isone of the most popular vegetable in India, which comes under squash family......I do cook this vegetable in many ways, but this is my fav.,I enjoy it the most........(both cooking and eating)

Ingredients: 2lb.ridge gourds(peeled, chopped into small pieces), 1no.tomato diced(optional), 1tbsp.oil, ½tsp.mustard seeds, 4no.garlic cloves(crushed), 2springs curry leaves, 1no.onion(roughly chopped), 1tsp.red chilli powder, ¼tsp.turmeric powder, ¼tsp. coriander powder, salt to taste, 2cups,milk(whole or 2%).

Heat oil in a pan, once it is hot add mustard seeds, let them splutter, then add the crushed garlic, curry leaves and stir fry for a min., then add chopped onions and saute the onions until they are soft, then add the chopped ridge gourd pieces, salt,turmeric powder and cook on medium heat by covering with lid for 10 min.or until the ridge gourd is tender, then add red chilli powder,coriander powder, mix well and then add the milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook until you get the desired consistency.......serve it hot with roties or rice.

Vankaya paalu posina kura(Brinjal/Eggplant with Milk)

Fish Curry with Coconut Milk (Kerala Meen Curry)

Samosa

Samosas are one of the most popular snacks of India. I tried my hand in making them, but never got good samosas, but this time the taste and crispness of the Samosas are perfect.....but I could not get the perfect samosa shapes....

Ingredients for samosa shell:

1 cup,maida/flour, ½tsp.baking soda, ½tsp.baking powder, ½tsp.carom seeds/ajwain, 3tsp.oil/ghee + oil for deep frying, salt to taste, water for kneading.

Preparation:

sieve maida/flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together, mix in the carom seeds, ghee / oil and add water little by little and mix well to make a stiff dough, cover it with a damp cloth and keep it aside(for about 15min.).

Ingredients for Potato filling:

½ cup,green peas(boiled), 2tbsp.oil,1tsp.cumin seeds, 2no. green chillies (chopped fine), 1tsp.ginger(chopped fine), 2no. large potatoes,(boiled,peeled,cubed),½tsp.red chilli powder, salt to taste,½tsp.dry mango powder(amchoor) or 1/2tsp.lemon juice,1/4tsp. garam masala, 2tsp.coriander leaves(roughly chopped).

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a pan,once it is hot add the cumin seeds and let them crackle,then add green chillies, ginger and fry for a min. then add the cooked potato cubes,cooked green peas, red chilli powder, salt, dry mango powder and garam masala powder and mix well, sprinkle some water,cover and cook medium heat for about 10 min. or till gravy is mushy and thick. Mix in the coriander leaves and remove it from the flame and keep it aside.

Samosas: Divide the dough into medium sized balls, roll them into circles of 4''diameter,(just like roties by rolling them in dry flour), cut the circle into halves(semi circle) and shape them into a cone by pressing the edges together. place the potato filling into the cone and seal the edges well with water. Repeat this procedure with the rest of the balls. Deep fry them on medium flame till crisp and golden brown............serve them warm with ketchup or with green chutney........

Punukulu

These punukulu always has a special place in the hearts of Andhra people....which is our general evening snack, which is very handy to make.......it's unique fermented taste makes it special............

I generally make this snack when there is left over idlli batter, so I'm giving my own way of recipe here..........

2 cups of idlli batter, 1/4cup.maida/all purpose flour, 1/4onion(chopped roughly),3no. green chillies(chopped roughly), 2tsp.ginger(chopped roughly), 2tsp.curry leaves(roughly chopped),2tsp.jeera and salt to taste, oil for deep frying.

In a bowl mix all the above ingredient and make it into sloppy batter.In a pan heat the oil,once it is hot drop the batter in small lumps in the oil by using hand or spoon and fry them till they get golden color and serve them hot with chutney of your choice........I like to have it with ........Nellore Erra Karam

Potato Capsicum Curry

This is one of the most famous combinations of veggies............it's simple and delicious.

Ingredients:

2no.capsicum,( cut to cubes), 2no.potatoes,( boiled, peeled and cubed), 1/4tsp.turmeric powder, 1tsp. kitchen king masala(optional),1/2tsp. coriander powder, 1/4tsp.jeera powder, 1/4tsp.garam masala, 1tsp.red chilli powder, salt to taste, 2tomatoes,(diced), 1/2 onion(roughly chopped), 2tsp.oil, 1/2tsp.cumin seeds.

In a pan add oil, once it is hot add jeera and onions and fry till the onions are translucent, then add the tomatoes and cover it with lid and cook until the tomatoes are very soft (for 7-10min.), then add capsicum and cook till the capsicum is 3/4 done, then add the boiled potato cubes, coriander powder, jeera powder, red chilli powder,turmeric, salt and 1/2 cup of water and allow it to boil for 5 min.,adjust the spices if necessary and serve it hot with roties.

Ravva Ladoo

This also one of the simple and special sweet of Southern Indian Kitchen...................

Ingredients:

1cup,sooji/upma ravva, 1/2cup,boiled milk, 1/2cup, coconut, 1/2 cup,sugar, few cashews for garnishing, 5no.elachi(powdered), 1tsp.ghee

In a pan add the ghee, once it is hot fry the cashews and keep them aside, then in the same pan fry ravva, once it starts to spread aroma add the grated coconut, sugar, elachi powder and fry for about a min. then add the boiled milk and remove from the flame,( the consistency should not be watery, if so, just set it aside for few min. then it will become little hard),geese your Palm with ghee and shape them into round balls and garnish them with cashew pieces.

Pesarattu,Upma with Ginger Chutney(Green gram Dosa)

I'm delighted to write about Pesarattu( which is one of the dosa varieties), this is the most popular breakfast item in Andhra, it's typically served with upma accompanied by allam chutney(ginger chutney)..............It's mostly popular with the name MLA Pesarattu.........

Ingredients for Pesarattu:

2cups. whole moong dal(green gram), 1/2cup.rice, 1.2 onion(cut into pieces)1''ginger piece, 8no.green chillies(adjust as per spice levels), salt to taste, 2tsp.cumin seeds, 4tbsp.oil ( for frying).

Soak moong dal and rice over night or for about 4 hrs., drain the water, add green chillies, ginger piece, onion, salt and grind into smooth paste adding little water, then remove the batter into a bowl and add jeera and mix it well and keep it aside.

Toppings for pesarattu: 2no.(finely chopped), 4no.green chillies(finely chopped), 4tsp. ginger(finely chopped).

Preparation of Pesarattu:
Heat the dosa tavva(pan), once it is hot enough, fill the ladle with batter,gently pour this batter onto the center of the pan, now begin to spread the batter in circular motion to form dosa. after spreading the batter out on the pan, drizzle the oil all on the surface of dosa and also around its edges and now add the finely chopped onion, ginger and green chillies as toppings. Allow it to cook for 2minutes, then flip it and take it out from the flame........The Pesarattu/Dosa is done......serve it with upma and allam/ginger chutney.

Ingredients for Allam/ginger chutney:

3tsp.chana dal, 3tsps.urad dal, 1tsp.coriander seeds,1tsp.jeera, 1/2tsp.mustard seeds, 1/4tsp. methi seeds,10no. whole dry red chillies(adjust as per spice levels), a pinch of asafoetida, lemon sized tamarind(soaked in water for 5min.), 2''ginger piece,(cut into small pieces), 1/2cup.fresh mint leaves or curry leaves, 3tsp.oil, salt to taste.

Preparation of Allam/Ginger Chutney:

Heat oil in a , once it's hot add chana dal, urad dal, coriander seeds, jeera, whole red chillies, asafoetida and fry for 3 min. on medium high flame. or until the aroma spreads, then add ginger pieces to it and fry for another 2 min. on low flame and allow this mixture to cool, add tamarind, mint leaves/curry leaves, salt and grind to smooth paste by adding little water......this is good to have with Pesarattu, idli,pongal and even with rice.

Ingredients for Upma:

1cup.sooji (upma ravva), 1/2 onion(cut lengthwise), 4-5 no.green chillies(adjust as per spice level),2tsp.chana dal, 2tsp.urad dal, 1tsp. mustard and jeera seeds each, 2 whole dry red chillies,10no.cashews, 1/2''ginger piece(chopped), 2 tbsp.oil, 1tbsp.ghee(optional), 2 spring of curry leaves, 2cups,water(boiled,hot), salt to taste.

Preparation of Upma:

In a pan heat oil, once it's hot add chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, curry leaves,whole dry red chillies, cashews and fry for 3 min., then add onions, chopped ginger, curry leaves and green chillies, fry them until the onions are soft and tender, then add the sooji/ravva,salt and fry for 5min.on medium high flame, then add the pre boiled hot water to sooji and mix will(there should not be any lumps)then reduce the flame to medium and leave for 2min. then mix well and remove it from the flame and enjoy it........Here in this post I have assembled Pesarattu, upma and ginger chutney........which is an wonderful combination....

Crispy Fish Fillets

This is the latest experimentation from my kitchen.....need not worry, it's delicious with little tinge of mint and coriander spread.....infused with Indian flavours.......

Ingredients: 1lb.tilapia fillets(as I ran out of them I used salmon here), 3tsp.mint chutney(store bought), 2tsp.coriander chutney(store bought), 1/4tsp.red chilli powder, salt to taste, 5tbsp.flour, 1/2cup,bread crumbs, 1/4tsp. freshly ground black pepper, oil for shallow frying.

Cut the fish length wise in desirable size and wash them, add chilli powder,salt and mix well and keep them aside for a while, then apply coriander and mint chutney on the fish pieces and then just dust them with flour and roll them in the bread crumbs. In a pan take little oil, once it is hot add the fish pieces in batches and shallow fry them on medium heat....complete frying the rest of the pieces, these can be serves as appetizers.....

Mysore Rasam

The word rasam itself makes us to drool...........it's a simple delicacy of southern Indian food....before blogging, I only knew to make pepper rasam and MTR rasam(in which I use MTR rasam powder) but, recently I came to know about this rasam. I thought of giving it a try, I found many recipes for this rasam, but I adopted this recipe form TASTY PALETTES...........and made few changes to the original one............it's totally different type of rasam, I liked it a lot........

Ingredients:

1/4cup.toor dal, 3tsp.tamarind paste, 2no.tomatoes, a pinch of asafoetida, 1/2tsp.mustard seeds, 1/2tsp. ghee/oil, salt to taste, Coriander leaves for garnishing.

Rasam Paste: 1tsp.chana dal, 3no.red chillies,1tsp.pepper,2tsp.shreded coconut,1tsp.oil. In a pan heat 1tsp. of oil and fry the chana dal, red chillies and pepper for about 2min., switch off the flame and then add coconut and grind to a fine paste and keep it aside.

Procedure:

Cook toor dal till soft. Boil the tamarind paste, tomato, asafoetida, salt and turmeric with ½ cup of water, until raw smell of tamarind goes away, now add the ground paste, and cooked dal and boiled the rasam for one boil, do not over boil the rasam(as it may loose its flavour)In a pan heat ghee/oil, once it is hot add the mustard and allow them to splutter, then add the seasoning to the rasam. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it with rice...............

Vankaya Bajji, Brinjal curry

Here I'm posting another simple and delicious andhra recipe, this is from my Mom's kitchen, as I already mentioned, she's a superb cook........ this curry has the simple delicate flavours of southern kitchen enriched with curry leaves and asafoetida.

Ingredients:

2lbs.Eggplant/brinjal/vankayalu(cut into quarter size pieces), 5-6no. green chillies,chopped(adjust as per the spice level), 1tomato(diced), 3tsp.tamarind(soaked for 5min.), 1/4 cup of onions( roughly chopped), 1/4tsp. turmeric powder, salt to taste.

In a pan add all the above ingredients and cover it with the lid, on medium heat cook until the brinjal pieces are soft and tender(need not add the water, because they ooze from the brinjals,if necessary add 1/4 cup of water), once the brinjals are cooked well ,remove from the flame and just mash them little with your serving spoon and keep it aside. Now, In a pan heat 2tsps. oil,once it it hot add 1tsp.jeera and mustard seeds each, pinch of asafoetida, 2spring curry leaves,2no. whole red chillies and fry them until you get the aroma, then add this seasoning to the cooked and mashed brinjals and allow them to boil for about 5 min. Serve this curry with steamed rice and vadiyalu/papad.