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- 2-3 handfuls of Bachali aaku
- 1 cup toor dal
- 1/2 cup raw mango chunks
- 5-6 green chillies
- 1 tomato
- 5-10 curry leaves
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1-2 tbsp oil
How To:
- Clean the leaves and chop them, don't discard the stems if they are tender chop them too
- Chop onions, tomatoes and green chillies
- Peel raw mango and cut into 1 inch cubes
- Wash and clean tuwar dal
- In a pressure cooker, heat oil and add cumin seeds and mustard seeds ad they start to crackle add curry leaves followed by tomatoes, mango chunks and bachali aaku along with some turmeric
- Add the soaked and drained toor dal, saute for a couple of minutes and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Alternatively you can cook separately until the dal is completely cooked
- Adjust salt to taste and finish it off with cilantro
You need:
- 1 cup Goduma Ravva ( Cracked whole wheat / wheat germ )
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 tomato
- handful of petite green peas
- 2-3 green chillies
- 1 inch ginger root
- 2-3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1 tsp chana dal
- 5-10 cashew nuts
- 10 curry leaves
- a pinch of turmeric
Preparation:
- In a saute pan / kadai toas the ravva with very little butter / ghee. Once toasted remove the ravva and keep aside
- In the same pan add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cashewnuts, urad dal and chana dal, Once they are toasted add curry leaves, ginger, turmeric, peas and chopped tomato. Stir ans close the lid
- Once peas and tomatoes are cooked add water and close the lid. When the water bubbles add ravva stirring continuously, lower the heat and close the lid.
- Check if the whole water has been absorbed and the wheat germ cooked. Adjust salt to taste . Now add some ghee or butter and remove from heat.
Sauteed ridge gourd peels and green chillies are ground in mortar and pestle along with tamarind and onion finished with cilantro tastes heaven with ghee rice or steaming hot rotis.
You need:
- Peels from 2 large ridgegourds, beerakaya pottu
- 4-5 green chillies
- marble sized tamarind soaked in water
- Onion
- cilantro
- oil
How to:
- Take oil in kadai and saute ridge gourd peels along with green chillies and add some salt
- Once the chillies and the peels loose their raw smell switch off the flame and it them cool
- In mortar and pestle or grinder, ground the mixture, tamarind and cilantro to a coarse paste
- And now pulse the chutney with onions.
- Finish off the chutney with tadka.
- 8 Eggplants
- Oil
- Soaked tamarind or tamarind pulp to taste
- fresh shredded coconut / dry coconut 3-4 2 inch pieces
- 1 cup coriander seeds / dhaniyalu
- 1 cup chana dal
- 1/4 cup jeera seeds
- 10 - 12 red chillies
- asofetedia / hing
- 1 tsp oil
- In a thick bottomed kadai/pan, add oil followed by chana dal, coriander seeds, hing, cumin seeds
- Keep stirring and once the chanadal starts to change ots coor, add red chilies and once the chana dal is brown, you will smell the toasted aroma of the spices.
- keep aside and let it cool, meanwhile, take a pot with water add salt and cut eggplant from one end like a cross with the stem intact and drop them into the water'
- Once the spices are cooled, grind them to powder and keep aside
- In the same blender grind coconut into smooth paste, add the ground spice powder
- Chop the onions fine and mix them with the ground spices paste.
- Slit eggplants/vankayalu on the bottom, like a cross until 3/4 and put them in a big bowl of water
- Stuff the slit eggplants with the spice mixture and set them on a plate
- In a thick kadai/pan, add oil and a minute later sort these eggplants on the pan as show in the picture.
- Cook on medium heat with the pan covered and keep stirring until the eggplants starts to fall apart
- Once the eggplants are cooked to perfection, you can add chopped cilantro and remove them on to a serving plate.
- This is dry curry and if you want gravy, take another pan and add oil and do tadka with mustard seeds and cumin seeds along with curry leaves.
- And then add the 2-3 tbsp spice powder and some tamarind juice/pulp and water. Let it cook until the oil separates from the gravy, add little more water bring to boil and then drop the sauteed eggplants! Tada Sauteed eggplants with gravy is ready!
Kandi Pappu Pachadi ~ Toor Dal Chutney ~ Yellow Pigeon Peas / Lentil Chutney
16 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 6:55:00 PM
- 1/2 cup Toor dal / Tuwar dal/ Kandi Pappu / Yellow lentils / Split Pigeon Peas
- 3-5 Dried Red Chillies
- Gooseberry sized tamarind / 2 marble sized tamarind balls soaked in some water
- a pinch of hing
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp oil
- In a kadai / pan, heat oil and then add toor dal/ kandi pappu and toast them under medium heat until it turns into golden color.
- At this point add cumin seeds and red chillies, add toast everything until the lentils turn into red color and you will notice a very nice aroma. Add hing and remove from heat and let them cool.
- In the mean while coarsely chop onions into chunks and keep aside
- In a blender, add the toasted toor dal and red chillies mixture and then grind to a coarse powder and then add soaked tamarind and salt and grind again
- Once the chutney looks like shown in the picture, add onions and run the blender in pulse setting.
Besan Burfi On Diwali / Deepavali ~ An offering to Lakshmi Devi
8 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 12:58:00 PM
contentment to you, to last all your life through. Have a safe and sound Diwali. We usually do Lakshmi pooja on Diwali and offer some homemade special diwali sweets as prasad to Lakshmi devi. Here's one such Besan Burfi that's loaded with almonds, kaju, ghee, milk and sugar.
Ingredients Needed:
Procedure:
Mom made these once as this is very quick and easy compared to Mysore Pak. And moreover this will be ready in minutes unlike other sweets. Anyone with a sweet tooth couldn't stand eating just one! Yes its that good! Mine are not as smooth, so you should spread them smooth once you pour it onto the greased plate!
P.S. Everyone has unique taste palette, so please adjust the ingredients according to your taste.
Happy Dussehra / Vijaya Dasami _ Paala Bellam Pongal ~ Rice Pudding ~ Sweet rice with milk, jaggery, dried fruits and nuts ~ An offering to Durga maa!
6 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 2:00:00 PMWe @ Curry In Kadai, wish you all a very happy Dasara( Vijaya Dasami ). May this Dusshera light up for you and bring in happiness for one and all! For us Dussehra means celebrating it at ammamma( grandma ) house. Wow, we used to go to Kalikamma temple everyday during dussehra, and amma(goddess) would be dressed in different avatars everyday. I remember, in my grandmas place the goddesses are 5 sisters and each sister will be in different color, like yellow, white, red, etc.,
All these 10 days the goddesses or ammas come out for Oregimpu( a procession ). A person would sit behind the goddess figure and starts dancing according to the music. And sometimes the person would be possessed by the goddess( poonakam ). We when kids used to have mixed feelings, like half scared and half interested in the whole proceedings. We miss all the happenings here in US though!
Here's is a Milk porridge, Paala payasam/sirannam, rice cooked and simmered in whole milk and cooked with raisins, badam(almonds), dried coconut, cashew nuts and elaichi that is mostly offered to god as prasadam. A must in any festival in moms house!
Here are some pictures and i will post the recipe soon!!
P.S. Everyone has unique taste palette, so please adjust the ingredients according to your taste.
Happy Navaratri ~ Seemevankaya Kobbari Kura ~ Chayote / Chow Chow with Coconut
4 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 4:49:00 PMHappy Navaratri Everyone!! I know, how every ones home is now being swamped with coconuts everyday! Here's one simple dish using coconut that you can bring to the table in minutes, its moms Seema vankaya kobbari talimpu aka Chayote squash with fresh coconut. Ah i love this curry, its not spicy, not fancy but yet bursts with lots for flavor from fresh coconut! 
Apply some lime juice before handling these squashes, and your hands would come out clean!!
Paalakayalu On Vinayaka Chavithi ~ Spicy Crispy Rice Balls ~ No one can eat just ONE!!
13 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 5:44:00 PM
My First Handmade Ganesha made with Atta( Whole Wheat Flour )
Rice flour balls ready to get oil bath!!
A fresh batch hot off the kadai - 2cups rice flour
- 4tbsp.curd
- 2tsp.butter
- salt to taste
- oil for deep frying
- green chillies
- First run green chillies and salt in blender( or use mortar and pestle ) and it need not be a smooth paste
- In a mixing bowl, add rice flour, red chilli powder, green chilli paste, yogurt, soft butter, and make a dough ( chapathi dough consistency ) adding a little water at a time
- Cover the dough and let it stand for few minutes.
- Pinch out small amount of dough and then roll them into tiny balls using your palms. Let kids help you in making these tiny balls, and i am sure they would have fun making these.
- Rub oil onto your palms that way the dough wouldn't stick to your palms while rolling them
- Heat oil in kadai( enough for deep frying ) under medium heat and once the oil is hot enough drop these dough balls slowly and fry them until they are brown in color ( see pic )
- Spicy Rice Balls are ready to be relished!!! But first offer them to Ganapathiji on his birthday( Vinakaya Chavithi )
Here are some more Vinayaka Chathurthi Pics:
Vinayaka Chavithi @ my sisters place
Ullipaya Karam ~ Sweet Onion Chutney with Green Chillies, tamarind and Cilantro
9 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 1:20:00 AMLast weekend, I got my dosa batter and potato curry ready for the breakfast but to my surprise i found that i didn't have a coconut for the chutney... Hmmm what to do, just called mom for her spicy fresh onion chutney. ( Thank god, i atleast had some sweet vidalia onions on hand ). Yep fresh sweet onion chutney with green chillies, tamarind, cilantro and curry leaves is so easy to make and tastes so yummm!! This chutney goes very well with dosa and idly, i never had it with rice. Mom asked me to make this only if the onions do not have strong flavor and too much water. Best option would be either shallots or red onions and Sweet onions would be the next option. Usually mom prefers mortar and pestle for this chutney instead of regular mixer/blender. One tip from mom, run the blender under pulse mode to get chunky texture you get from using mortar and pestle.
- 1 cup onions( shallots / red onions / firm sweet onions )
- 2-3 green chillies to taste
- 2-3 inches long tamarind
- cilantro
- curry leaves
- First soak the tamarind in enough water for 10-15 mins, and once saoked deseed it and keep aside.
- In a blender / a big mortar pestle ( rubbu rolu ) grind green chillies, soaked tamarind( do not add soaked water ), cilantro and curry leaves along with salt.
- Once they are chopped fine enough, add chopped onions and pulse the blender a few times. Make sure the chutney is not smooth like a paste, it should be chunky otherwise the chutney will have strong bitter taste from raw onions.
- Adjust salt to taste and the chutney is now ready to relish.
Simple Potato Stir Fry ~ Spicy potato curry with onions and cilantro
14 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 6:45:00 AMIts a known fact that everyone has their own ( family ) recipe for potato fry/aloo curry and i don't think there would be any person in this world who wouldn't love potatoes. Here's my Nanamma's simple spicy aloo fry( potato curry ) recipe which is a delicious way of having potatoes without the added fat and cholesterol from the deep frying. My nanamma is very clever when it comes to cooking, she uses a very little oil for cooking but that doesn't mean any compromise in taste. Oh she makes the best chutneys ( chutney out of every vegetable, you name it!! ). Love you Nanamma!!
- 2 red potatoes
- 1 small onion
- Cilantro for garnishing
- 2-3 tbsp oil
- red chilli powder
- salt
- mustard seeds
- cumin seeds
- curry leaves
- turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- Peel the potatoes and chop into very small pieces, and add to water in a bowl and keep it aside to stop any discoloration
- In a kadai or skillet add oil, once heated add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and once they start to crackle add curry leaves followed by potatoes, turmeric and salt.
- Cook it covered under medium heat, once they are half cooked add chopped onion and saute for little longer until everything is cooked properly
- Add red chilli powder, garam masala and adjust salt to taste
- Garnish with cilantro and relish right away!!
- Think Spice: Garam Masala started by Sunita
Kobbari Pachadi -- Fresh Coconut Chutney ~ Sweet, Spicy and Tangy!!!
4 COMMENTS Posted by KALVA at 8:44:00 PMCoconut and Tamarind In Fresh Coconut Chutney is a delicious marriage made in my mom's kitchen! Yep Coconut and tamarind gel so well in this tangy spicy fresh coconut chutney. I remember my first culinary adventure started with this coconut chutney and potato fry during my school days! This chutney is super simple yet tastes great! You can whip up this chutney in minutes and make sure you keep some of the chutney just for yourself before you bring it to the table, no kidding!! This chutney where Fresh coconut is ground with green chillies and tamarind and topped with tadka along with hing and curry leaves is definitely worth a try!!
Ingredients:
- 1/4 of a shelled coconut
- 2-3 green chillies
- 1 inch of tamarind
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 5 - 10 curry leaves
- 1 tbsp oil
- a dash of hing /asoeftedia
- salt to taste
Preparation:
- Chop fresh coconut into thin slices
- In a chopper/blender grind coconut, green chillies, tamarind and salt without adding any water( Note: Use pulse mode in the blender if you have one , and it should be roughly ground )
- In a separate kadai or pan do the tempering or tadka with oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and urad dal. Once the mustard seeds start to crackle switch off the heat and add curry leaves.
- Add the above tempering to the ground coconut and chilli chutney and mix everything together, adjust salt to taste and finish it off with cilantro( optional )
This chutney tastes so good with steaming hot rice along with some ghee/ butter. You even have this chutney along with Dosa, Idly, Upma, Pongal or anything you would like to! Don't plan on storing the leftover chutney as you wouldn't end up with some.. yep its that good.. Never forget to add the tempering as it adds so much depth and flavor to the already delicious Fresh Coconut Chutney.
Bottlegourd( Sorakaya/Anapakaya) aka Lauki is a very simple vegetable yet very versatile. Sorakaya tastes very subtle, mild and easily absorbs any flavors or spices its cooked with like a sponge. I have recently learnt that Bottle gourd aids in weight management, when taken either as raw( juice ) or cooked form. Since its full of water grandma says its very good in bringing down the body heat. Mom made this for me when i was pregnant since it brings down body heat and made sure i eat this veggie regularly ( In telugu, vantiki chalava chesthundi ). One simple sumptuous way to have this vegetable is to cook with Moong Dal( Pesara Pappu ). This Bottle gourd with Moong Dal tempered with Cumin Seeds in very little ghee and curry leaves is very subtle in taste, and i promise you can finish the whole bowl as is and it tastes so good like a soup , or along with steaming hot rice or fresh chapathis. It will be even satisfying as a complete meal when taken as soup along with some fresh Papads. Dont forget to add Cumin seeds as they add earthiness to the comforting Lauki / Sorakaya Pesara Pappu.
Ingredients required:
- 1/2 bottle gourd / lauki / sorakaya
- 1/2 cup of moong dal / pesara pappu
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 1 red chilli
- curry leaves1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp ghee / butter
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1/2 -3/4 cup of water
Method Of Preparation:
- Peel, wash the sorakaya / bottle gourd and chop into 1 inch pieces
- In a sauce pan, add water and bring it to boil and then add lentils( moong dal ) and chopped bottle gourd and turmeric.
- You can add more water if the water isn't enough for the lentils to be cooked
- Once the lentils are cooked( they should fall apart completely ), switch off the heat and keep aside
- Now do the tadka aka tempering with ghee instead of oil. Heat ghee/butter add cumin seeds, garlic, red chilli, urad dal and curry leaves. Once the urad dal and cumin seeds are golden brown, remove from heat and add the tadka to the dal.
Mom makes the best Sorakaya Thiyya Pappu. I prefer a lot of lauki( sorakaya mukkalu ) chunks in the dal, so adjust the proportions to your preference. Usually mom makes Chinatakaya Pachadi( Tamarind Pickle ) to eat along with this Pappu, since this dal/curry is mild in taste, Chintakaya thokku( tamarind pickle ) is very sour and spicy in taste along with crunchy onions. Not to mention again, mom makes the best chintakay pachadi(( thokku ). This pappu( curry ) is not even spicy not too many spices and no masalas , yet there is some magic in this lovely dal.
Moms Lauki Moong Dal Curry is on its way to:
- Delicious Dals hosted by Suma
- Vegetable Marathon-Beans hosted by Silpa
- Mothers Day Event hosted by Jyoti
- Cooking With Seeds - Cumin hosted by Priya
- My Legume Love Affair - 23 hosted by Susan
- Green Gourmet Event-1 hosted by Preeti
