Pachi pulusu (Tamarind Rasam)-1

This is my favourite recipe. We call this as pachi pulusu, means raw stew. This is the recipe prepared with out cooking. I usually prepare this stew when our taste buds loose the senses. The unique tangyness will revive our taste buds.

Ingredients:
Shallots –Hand full
Green chilli –2- 3
Tamarind – about  big lemon size
Salt – 3/4th – 1 tsp

Soak the tamarind in water until soft.

Remove the shallots skin and trim the green chilli stalks and pound them together in a stone mortar using rock salt. Again, if you chop them the taste will differ. So try to avoid chopping.

 

Shallots, green chilli pounded along with rock salt

Squeeze the tamarind pulp and remove the strings and pulp. Now combine the onion and chilli to the tamarind pulp and add required water to get rasam consistency. Adjust salt.

Raw tamarind stew with shallots and green chilli

You can substitute shallots with Bombay onion. I don’t want to recommend white onion for this recipe.

Bread squares with sesame seeds

This recipe is a good treat for the fussy children also a quick breakfast on a lazy morning. So easy to preapare. I have chosen brown bread with thick slices.

2 Brown bread slices - Thick variety

2 tsp of roasted sesame seeds

For potato masala:

Boil and mash 1 potato

Add salt, Cumin and chilli powder to the mashed potato

Brown bread, Sesame seeds and Potato Mixture

Cut each bread slice into 4 squares.

Cover the bread peices with potato mixture

On each piece sprinkle and press some sesame seeds

Apply butter on a baking tray and arrange the bread squares and place them in the pre heated oven at Gas Mark 6.

Once the colour changes at the corners of the bread pieces, remove from the heat and serve warm with sauce or chutney.

Bread squares with potato mixture topped with sesame seeds

Note: You can also use left over potato fry.

Nuvvulunta / Nuvvula mudda / Sesame seeds laddu

Ingredients:


Sesame seeds – 1 cup
Peanuts (Roasted and skinned) – ¼ cup
Jaggery (Grated) – 1 cup
Dry coconut grated – ¼ cup

Jaggery, Peanuts, Sesame / Till seeds / Grated coconut

 

Method:

Dry roast sesame seeds until they leave nice nutty aroma.
Dry roast peanuts, remove the skin and leave them aside.
In the blender grind the peanuts into extra coarse powder and keep it aside.
Now blend the sesame seeds into fine powder until the oil oozes out. Slowly add the jaggery also and blend it again.

Finally add the grated coconut and extra coarse peanut powder.

 
Mix every thing and form laddus. Preserve them in air tight container.
 

Nuvvuluntalu / Nuvvula mudda / Sesame seeds laddu

Gobi Mattar / Cauliflower with green peas

Gobi Mattar / Cauliflower curry with Green peas

Ingredients:
Cauliflower (1 medium), separated into florets

Green peas - 1 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp
Cumin Powder - 1tsp
Corriander powder -2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Onion - 1 large chopped finely
Tomatoes - 2 chopped finely
Fresh Coriander - chopped 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat oil in a deep pan and saute onion for a minute. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for half a minute.

Add chopped tomatoes and fry until they become mushy.

Add salt, turmeric,chilli powder, cumin powder, corriander powder and mix every thing and fry for 2 minutes.Now add cauliflowerand green peas and saute for 1 minute.

Add 1/4th cup of water, cover and cook for eight to ten minutes until the vegetables get cooked and water gets evaporated. Sprinkle chopped corriander and remove from heat.

Serve hot with roti

Paratta with piping hot Gobi Mattar curry

Cabbage Carrot Stir Fry

This is the most easy peasy simple stir fry with less oil and less time to cook. The beauty of the recipe lies in the way the vegetables are grated.

Cabbage, Capsicum and Carrot

Ingredients:
Grated Carrot - 1 cup
Grated Cabbage -  1 cup
Capsicum - cut into thin strips - 1/2 cup
Corriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

Heat a deep pan with 2 tbsp of oil. When it is hot add all the veggies and stir for 2 minutes. Now sprinkle some salt, Corriander powder and Cumin powder. Stir once and cover it with a lid and allow the veggies to steam cooked for another 2 minutes.

Check the texture, if it half cooked and still retains the crunchiness turn off the heat. Do not over cook the vegetables. As we have grated them finely, it won't take long to get cooked. 

                                                      Cabbage and Carrot fry with Capsicum

Masala Idly

This is another variety of idly with added spices. This is very much similar to Rava idli. 

Masala Idly

Ingredients:

Urad daal - 1 cup
Ground Rice / Idly Rava - 2 1/2 cups
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp

For Masala:
Mustard - 1 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 5
Grated carrot - 2 tbsp
Cashews - 10
Channa daal - 1 tsp
Green chilli chopped - 1 tsp

Method:

Soak urad daal for 6 hours and grind it into fine paste.
Wash and drain the excess water from idly rava and mix it with the urad daal batter.
Mix well and allow it to fermant.
Once the batter is ready, then prepare the masala
Heat a small tava and add 1 tbsp of oil.
When the oil is hot enough, add mustard, cumin, channa daal, cashews, chilli and curry leaves one after the other.
Fry until carrot becomes transparent.

Idly masala

Just before making idly, stir the batter thoroughly by adding salt and baking soda, and the above mentioned masala.

Masala Idly mixture

Pour 1 ladle of batter into each mould and steam. for 15 to 20 minutes.

Masala Idly

Banana Bread

Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Ripe Banana - 2
Melted Butter - 2 tbsp
Egg - 1 large
Sugar  - 5 tbsp
Dates - 10 Chopped into tiny pieces
Walnuts / Almond flakes - 2 tbsp
Cinnamon powder - 1tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Wheat flour, Pitted Dates, Almond flakes, Banana, egg and Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Line the pan with baking sheet and set aside. Alternatively you can butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, dates and nuts. Set aside. 

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.

With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth.)

Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a cup of tea.

Vermicelli with Carrot / Semiya Upma

                                                                 Semiya Upma

When I came to UK for the first time, I was very much disappointed with the vermicelli I found in the supermarkets. It was thick and very sticky unlike our famous bambino brand. Especially the colour has disappointed me. Now I have mastered the art of cooking even with the thick vermicelli.

I trick my elder son by telling him as small noodles as I don’t want to cook ready made noodles for him despite of the tangy taste due to obvious reasons, unhealthy, fatty and salty.

Ingredients:
Vermicelli – 1 cup
Water – 4 cups
Grated carrot – 1 cup
Green chilli – 4
Onion – 1
Mustard + Cumin – 1 tsp

Grated carrot, onion, curry leaves and chopped green chilli

Method.

1. Bring 3 cups of water to boil along with salt and drop the vermicelli into it. Allow it to cook for 5 minutes and then pour 1 cup of cold water. This is called as cold magic. When we pour cold water the temperature gets reduced which eventually allow the vermicelli to cook inside as well properly. Other wise you will find sometimes that the outer part is soft and internally it is hard. The same procedure can be followed whilst cooking pasta / noodles

2. Do not over cook them as they will become mushy. Just cook until they are tender.

3. Drain all the water and pour cold water on top to stop further cooking and again drain all the water and keep it aside.

4. Take a wok and heat it with 2 tbsp of oil. When it is hot enough add mustard, cumin seeds , curry leaves, Green chillies and onion. Fry for a minute and add grated carrot and salt. Do not over cook carrot as you will loose the crispiness.

5. Finally add the boiled vermicelli and mix every thing gently

Enjoy the vermicelli upma with pappula podi

Pongal / Pulagam Roti

Pulagam roti

I was bit surprised when I hear about this recipe. The main ingredient of this recipe is, left over Pulagam or Pongal. Easy to make, yet a very good treat for our tongue.
I got some left over Pulagam / Moong daal rice, which I made last night. I thought of doing some pulagam roti as breakfast.

Ingredients:
Pulagam / Pongal - 3cups
Rice Flour – 3 heaped tablespoons
Salt – 1 pinch (Just enough for the rice flour0
Onion – 1 finely chopped
Chilli paste – 1 tsp
Coriander – chopped 1 tbsp

Method:
Mash the pulagam / pongal thoroughly with out any lumps. If you feel rice is bit hard, microwave it for 1 minute or so. It is easy to mash when it is warm. Slowly add rice flour, salt, chilli paste and coriander.

Pulagam, Onion, chilli paste, Rice flour

Mix every thing until if forms like dough consistency.

Divide the dough into equal parts and make round balls.

Heat the tava (Time management), smear each dough ball or even your palm with little oil and start pressing the dough with palm to make it flat and thin like roti.

Either you can use a plastic sheet or wet cloth or even butter paper. I have used butter paper, as I can directly lift the roti along with the butter paper and place on the hot tawa. When the roti is ready, drizzle some oil on hot tava, and gently place the roti and drizzle some more oil on top.

When it is done on one side, turn the roti to other side, drizzle some more oil and allow it to cook.

Serve hot with a dollop of butter.

Pulagam Roti with butter

Mirchi ka salan

Mirchi ka salan

This is one of the famous Mughalai recipes. Mughalai food is characterized by rich and creamy curry. Mughlai recipes are rich in fat, carbohydrates and proteins. As I am not as rich as the Mughals, I have used less oil and added no cream.

Mirchi Ka Salan is a traditional Hyderabadi salan made in a shallow wide flat bottomed copper or brass pot called ‘handi’. The pot is sealed with dough, and kept on low fire to trap all the rich flavours inside. This is served as a condiment with biryani. Salan means curry spiced with all the ingredients. The mirchi are seeded and fried for a rich, smoky flavour. You can use any milder varieties like bhavnagri chillies, Anaheim chilies, bell pepper or jalapenos. Interesting part of this recipe is adding chilli powder to the chillies which gives the extra kick.

Ingredients:

Green chilli with thick skin - 8

Cumin – 1 tsp

Coriander seeds – 2 tsp

Chilli powder – 2 tsp

Chopped coriander – 2 tsp

Bay leaf

Cloves - 4-6

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Roasted Peanuts – 2 tblsp

Roasted sesame seeds – 2 tblsp

Dry cocount grated - 2 tblsp

Garlic pods – 2 large

Onion – 1 large chopped into big chunks

Tomato – 1 chopped into big chunks

Tamarind – 1 lemon size

Anaheim chilli

Roasted peanuts, dry coconut, cloves, cinnamon,

Corriander seeds, garlic and sesame seeds

Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of hot water for about 15-20 minutes. Squeeze and remove the pulp and keep the tamarind juice aside.

Skin and grind the roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, dry coconut and keep aside.

For garam masala -

Roast cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf. Allow them to cool and grind them into powder.

Chop onions and tomatoes finely and keep it aside.

Heat the oil and fry chillies with pinch of salt until black spots appear, drain and keep it aside. In the same oil saute chopped onions for 7-8 minutes and then add tomatoes. Allow them to cool and grind them into paste. Grind garlic also into smooth paste. 

Add 2 more tblsp of oil to the same pan and add garlic paste, tomato & onion paste, add garam masala powder, salt and fry well until the oil appears on the sides of the pan.

Add fried chillies to the above and add roasted peanut and sesame powder and fry for 10 minutes. Pour tamarind juice and allow to cook for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle chopped coriander, close the lid and turn off the heat.

 

Serve it with hot rotis or biryani or with simple plain rice.

Quick oats cookies

Oats Cookies

These cookies are very easy to prepare and takes very less time. I have used quick oats which is nothing but powder form of oats. You can also replace the quick oats with rolled oats grinding into coarse powder.

Ingredients:

3 cups Quick cooking oats

1/4 cup self raising floor

¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tbsp Milk

3/4th cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Tutti – Fruity – ½ cup

Quick oats and Tutti frutti

Oatmeal Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

In the bowl beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth (about 2 - 3 minutes). Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, quick oats, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, sprinkle the milk and mix until incorporated. Finally stir in the tutti frutti.

Cookie dough

To make cookies, use a spoon and scoop the dough (I like to use an ice cream scoop) and space the dough about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the baking sheet. Then wet your hand and flatten the cookies slightly with your fingers so they are about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick.

Bake the cookies for about 12 - 15 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges but still soft and a little wet in the centers. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

Oats cookies

Vegetable Upma

I usually prepare this recipe as a meal instead as a breakfast. One reason is, I can finish the meal with just one variety and no need to prepare 2-3 varieties. For this recipe the most important ingredient apart from the vegetables is ginger. This makes the whole story.

Ingredients

Extra Coarse wheat – 2 cups
Water – 4 cups
Carrot cut into small pieces – ¼ cup
French beans cut into small pieces – ¼ cup
Potato cut into small pieces – ¼ cup
Grated ginger – 1 ½ tea spoon
Green chilies slit length wise - 4
Onion large – 1 cut into length wise. If it is too big you can cut into half first and then length wise.
Tomato - 1 large chopped
Mustard + Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leaves - hand full
Channa dal – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp (Don’t avoid this as this adds the aroma)
Cashews – 2 tsp
Oil – 4 tbsp
Salt

Onion, Potato, French beans, Carrot, Tomato

Method:

1. Heat a wok and add oil. When it is hot, add Mustard, cumin, curry leaves, cashews, channa dal and urad dal a bit later due to the small size and can avoid burning.

2. Add ginger, green chili slits, onion, salt and sauté for 1 min

3. Add all the vegetables sauté and cover the lid. (To save time you can even microwave the veggies for 2 -3 min without adding water)

4. Stir occasionally to avoid any burns and cover the lid again until all the veggies are more than half cooked.

5. Whilst stirring the veggies bring the water to boil in a separate vessel.

6. When the veggies are almost done add rava, mix well and fry for 2 min without covering the lid.

7. Finally add the boiled water to rava mixture stir until every thing mixes well, cover the lid and reduce the flame. Stir in between until the upma done.

Serve it hot and enjoy the taste…

Note: If you do not have extra coarse wheat, you can also use normal wheat rava and you need to adjust the amount of water. The more the coarse, the more the water absorption is.