Puran Poli / Bobbatlu

Ingredients:

300gms. channa (yellowgram) dal
300 gms. jaggery (molasses)
1 tsp. cardamom powder
150 gms. plain flour
1 tbsp. ghee
warm water to knead dough
ghee to serve

Method:

Boil dal in plenty of water till soft but not broken.
Drain in a colander for 10-15 minutes.
Pass through an almond grater little by little till all dal is grated.
Mash jaggery till lumps break. Mix well into dal.
Put mixture in a heavy saucepan and cook till a soft lump is formed
Take care to stir continuously, so as not to charr. Keep aside.
Mix ghee, flour, add enough water to make a soft pliable dough.
Take a morsel sized ball of dough, roll into a 4" round.
Place same sized ball of filling in centre, life all round and seal.
Reroll carefully to a 6" diameter round.
Roast on warm griddle till golden brown.
Repeat other side.Take on serving plate. Apply a tsp. of ghee all over top. OR
Shallow fry on griddle like a paratha for a better flavour.
Serve hot with dal or amti.

Mango Sambar

Ingredients:

1 cup toor dal (washed and soaked for 30 minutes)
4-5 strips tamarind soaked for 5 minutes (paste or pulp may also be used)
1 half ripped mango, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp. sambar masala
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. dhania powder
1 tsp. red chilli powder
1/2 tsp. each cumin and mustard seeds
3 whole red chillies
1 stalk curry leaves
4 onions
1/2 cup pumpkin or bottle gourd boiled and cubed
1 large tomato
1 tbsp. chopped coriander leaves
2-3 flakes garlic
salt to taste
2 tbsp. oil

Method:

1. Add tamarind, 1/2 tomato & 1 onion chopped, to the dal.
2. Pressure cook till dal is done very soft. (Approx. 4 whistles)
3. Remove dal and beat with a whisk or churner till smooth.
4. Grind to a paste, 1 onion, 1/4 tomato, garlic, all dry masalas. I>Chop the remaining onion and tomato to medium or fine pieces.
5. Heat oil, add seeds , curry leaves and allow to splutter.
6. Add onion, pumpkin, tomato, mangoes and stir fry for 2 minutes.
7. Add paste, and cook for further 2 minutes.
8. Add dal and bring to a boil on high.
9. Add enough water to get sambar consistency.
10. Check and adjust masalas as required.
11. Simmer for 12-15 minutes on low, till the aroma exudes.
12. Add chopped coriander before serving.
13. Serve steaming hot with hot idlis, coconut chutney and ghee.

Dal Vadai

Ingredients:

1/4 cup toovar dal
1/4 cup urad dal
1/2 cup channa dal
1 tbsp grated coconut
3-4 green chillies
2 red chilli
1 pinch hing
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
Salt as per taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Wash and soak all dals for 3 hours
2. Grind them into fine paste with green chillies, red chillies, curry leaves and garlic
3. Then add all the remaining ingredients except oil for deep frying
4. Make small vads of the mixture and flatten it slightly by hands
5. Deep fry the vadais till golden brown
6. Serve hot

Mango Rice / Chitraana

Ingredients:

2 cups boiled and cooled rice
4-5 curry leaves
1 cup grated raw mango
1/2 tbsp urad dal
pinch of asafoetida
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbspmustard seeds
3 tbsp oil
corriander leaves for garnishing

Make a paste of:
5dried red chillies
1/4 cup grated coconut
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 cup grated mango

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai

2. Add mustard seeds and urad dal

3. When dal becomes brown, add curry leaves and asafoetida

4. Add the raw mango, and let it cook for 5 minutes

5. Add the paste and saute for another 2-3 minutes

6. Remove from gas

7. Mix cooled rice with it properly

8. Garnish with corriander leaves

9. Serve hot

Ugadi Pachadi

Ingredients:

2tsp neem flower
4 tsp grated jaggery
3 tsp tamarind
pinch of red chilli powder
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
Salt a per taste
1 tsp oil
1 tsp finely chopped raw mango
1-1/4 cup water

Method:

Soak tamarind in water for 1/2 hour
Boil the water for 5 minutes
Cool and blend in mixie till smooth
Pass through a sieve, removing any fibres, etc
Add mango pieces to the juice
Boil till mango pieces are tender
Add jaggery, let it cook till it melts
Remove from fire and keep aside
Heat oil, add mustard seeds
When it splutter, add neem flower and fry till light brown
Add chilli powder and salt
Mix well
Mix the neem flower to tamarind juice
Served in small quantities

Beerakaya/Ridge Gourd Rice

Ingredients:

1 ridge gourd, peeled and cut into small pieces

1 cup cooked rice

1 onion, cut length-wise

3 tbsp sesame seeds

3-4 dried red chillies

3 green chillies, cut into small pieces

few curry leaves

1/2 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

3 tbsp oil

few cashews

coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

1. Fry sesame seeds and red chillies without adding any oil until golden brown. Cool them and grind to powder.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add onion, green chillies, curry leaves and fry until onions turn brown.
3. Add ridge gourd, salt, turmeric and cook on low flame until ridge gourd pieces turn soft.
4. Add rice and the sesame, red chilli grounded powder.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves and friend cashews.

Serve hot with plain yogurt or raita.

Birayaka Menthekaram

Ingredients:

1 medium birakaya/ turai/ ridge gourd, skin removed and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup water
½ cup methi
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
¼ tbsp turmeric
¼ tbsp garam masala
3 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a cooking pan and add onions and cook until they turn brown.
2. Add birakaya and cook for 2 mins.
3. Add tomato and methi, mix everything and cover the dish.
4. Cook until the birakaya is cooked well. Keep mixing in between.
5. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute.
6. Add water and cover it. Simmer it for 5 mins.
7. Add salt at the end and remove.
   

Serve hot either with chapatis or hot rice.

Bengaluru Mirchi Curry

Ingredients:

2-3 medium green bell peppers
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 green chili, sliced
1/2 -3/4 cup gram flour or chick-pea flour (sengapindi)
1-2 tsp red chili powder
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
Salt to taste
1-2 tbsp chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)

Tadka:
3-4 cooking oil
1 tsp each chana dal, urad dal
1 tsp each mustard seeds, cumin seeds
1-2 sprigs curry leaves
one or two pinches hing powder

Method:

Wash the bell peppers, core them, and dice them into small bite sized pieces. The core with stem should be discarded; the core with seeds can be used. Roast jeera seeds until they leave nice aroma. Cool, keep aside. If using flour from puffed chickpeas, no need to roast the flour. If using raw flour, roast on a low flame until it leaves nice aroma. Pound flour, cumin seeds, garlic cloves together to a breadcrumbs like consistency. Add little water to make thick paste of pouring consistency Heat a skillet , add oil. When the oil starts 'dancing', add tadka items in the order they are given.Once the mustard seeds stop spluttering, add onions, green chili. Saute for 1-2 minutes or until the onions become translucent.Add bell pepper pieces, salt, mix well; cover and cook for 10-12 minutes, occasionally mixing.Salt will make the bell peppers cook faster. Once cooked soft, but not mushy, add the flour mixture. Mix well by turning gently. Cook until the flour mixture is thickened and a light brown crust is formed. Do not turn a lot during this time.Serve with steamed rice and rasam

Chintakaya Pachadi

Ingredients:

1 cup cleaned tamarind
1/2 cup dates deseeded
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
1/2 crushed cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup jaggery

METHOD:

Wash the tamarind clean.
Place the tamarind, jaggery, sugar, dates and water in a deep boiling pan.
Soak for a few minutes. Put to boil for about 7-8 minutes.
Cool to room temperature. Blend in a mixie till smooth.
Strain and transfer to the pan again. Boil till thick enough to coat the back of a spoon thinly.
Add the seasoning. Cool again. Store in clean airtight bottles and refrigerate.

Lemon Pickle

Ingredients:

Lemon 6
Salt 10 spoon-ordinary
Turmeric 1 spoon
Sesame Oil 1/4 small cup(3 small karandi)
Mustard 1 spoon
Red Chilli powder 4 spoon
Fenugreek seed 1/2 spoon

Method:

1. Cut the lime into pieces (size depends on you, either small or big). Mix it with the above very well. Take a dry bottle and put it inside. Make sure the lemon and bottle are dry so that it will come for months. You have to shake them well for 1 week.
2. Fry the fenugreek seed alone in an empty vanali and grind it nicely.
3. Put oil with mustard, asafoetida and when it splutters, switch the gas off and then add chilli powder and fenugreek seeds. Let it cool.
4. Take the soaked lemon and fry well in order to spread evenly and put it inside the bottle. Keep it inside the fridge. It will come for months. The more lemon soak, the better taste and softness will be. Try and let me know.

Ginger Garlic Mango Pickle

Ingredients

1 kg green mango pieces
1/4 kg ginger garlic paste
1/4 kg salt
1/4 kg red chilli powder
1/4 kg til /sesame oil

Method

Cut the mango pieces (the size of half a lemon) clean them with a dry cloth
and put it aside.
Clean the ginger garlic and make a fine paste. In a big vessel put the mango
pieces, salt, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste and mix well.
In a kadai heat 100 gm oil and put 1/2 spoon rai 1/2 spoon jeera 1/2 spoon
methi.
As the seasoning start to spurt switch of the gas and cool it. Heat a vessel for
few minutes till it becomes real hot and switch of the stove.
Pour the remaining 400 gm of oil into the vessel and allow the oil to cool in the
vessel itself.
Do not heat the oil with the vessel /but only pour it in the hot vessel. Clean a
glass bottle (1.5 kgs) dry it completely.
Put all the ingredients of step 1 into the bottle. Only after the oil has cooled
down mix the step 2 and step 3 ingredients into the bottle.
Mix the mango pieces and the masala with a wooden spoon. Close the lid
tightly and keep aside for about 2/3 days. The pickle can be used as and
when required

Madras Tomato Chutney

Ingredients

1 large onion (chopped)
2 large tomatoes (chopped)
2-3 garlic pods (chopped)
3/4 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp tamarind extract (juice)
vanaspathi or oil as required
salt to taste

Method

Fry the chopped onions in oil till translucent.
Add the garlic pods and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are cooked and mashed
Add chilli powder/ salt and stir for 3 minutes. Remove from fire and allow it to
cool.
Then grind this cooked mixture to a fine paste in a food processor.
To garnish - heat vanaspathi or oil in the same kadai.
Add the mustard seeds. After the seeds splutter, add the curry leaves and
asafoetida.
Allow 1/2 minute to saute, add the ground paste and stir fry for 3 minutes.
The chutney is now ready to be served. The above quantity will serve four
people.
This chutney will taste very good, if madras or pearl onions are used instead
of large
Onions.
For seasoning:
8-10 curry leaves
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida powder

Papaya Pickle

Ingredients

200 gm young yellow papaya
skinned & sliced thinly
100 gm tomatoes
skinned
seeded & diced
20 gm red onion
diced
300 ml white vinegar
30 gm sugar
150 ml water

Method

Put all the ingredients together in a bowl. Mix well.
Allow to pickle by leaving the bowl in the fridge for atleast one day before
eating.

Stuffed Bittergourd Pickle

Ingredients

8 small gourds, skinned and slit
2 tbsp. fennel seeds (saunf)
1/2 tbsp. dhania seeds coarsely crushed
1 tbsp. mustard seeds coarsely crushed
3 tbsp. chilli powder red
1 tsp. asafoetida
2 tbsp. dried mango powder
(amchoor)

Method

Mix 1 tsp. Salt and 1/4 tsp. Turmeric powder.
Rub the gourds with this mixture, keep aside for 1 hour.
Put plenty of water to boil. Add citric acid and gourds. Boil for 5-6 minutes.
Remove gourds, drain and wipe dry.
Heat half oil, in a pan, add crushed seeds, and take off fire.
Add all other masalas , salt and mango powder or gratings.
Cool gourds and masala before stuffing.
Press slits to compress. Place gourds in a glass jar.
Heat and pour remaining oil over them. Cool, cover and keep aside.
Shake lightly once a day, till the gourds are tender and pickled.