Peanut Chutney

It is the most usual combination with dosa or idli. My mom mostly prepares chutney by using peanuts along with coconut. That tastes good. But today i am preparing pure peanut chutney by using Red chillies. You can also use green Chillies instead of Red Chilli.

INGREDIENTS

Roasted Peanuts 1 cup
Red Chillies 5
Small Onion 1
Tamarind Juice 1 tbsp
Salt
Oil 1 tbsp



PREPARATION

1. Grind the peanuts into a powder.

2. Heat oil in a pan and roast red chillies. Dont burn them. Keep them aside. In the same pan cook onions till they are soft.

3. Add these roasted red chillies, tamarind juice and salt to the peanut powder and grind them alltogether again by adding enough water. When it is done, add onions and grind again. Dont grind the onions into a paste. We should be able to see onion junks in the chutney. Serve with dosa or idli.

Bombay Chutney

My Mom used to make it with Poori. Its very easy and fast to prepare. It goes with dosa , idli, poori and Chapathi too.

INGREDIENTS

Medium sized Onion 1
Green chilli 3
Red chilli 1
Besan Flour 1/4 tbsp
Curry leaves
Cilantro
Mustard Seeds 1/4 tbsp
Turmeric 1/4 tbsp
Salt
Oil 3 tbsp



PREPARATION

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when they splutters add Cumin seeds then add chillies, curry leaves, onions. Cook till the onions are soft.

2. Mix besan flour with some water and turmeric. Add this mixture to the pan. Let it boil for sometime on low flame. Add water and salt as needed. The over all chutney should be a little watery. Garnish with Cilantro.

Spinach Dal (Palakura Pappu)

People from Rayalaseema cook dals every other day and we are very fond of them. Spinach dal is one of the most delicious one.



INGREDIENTS

Toor daal 1 cup
Spinach 2 cups(chopped)
Small Onion 1
Small lemon sized Tamarind
Turmeric 1/4 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder 1 tbsp
Garlic 1 pod
Water 2 Cups

SEASONING INGREDIENTS

Oil 2tbsp
Mustard Seeds 1/2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds 1/2 tbsp
Red Chiilies 2
Garlic Pods 2(Crushed)
Chopped Onions
Curry leaves 4



PREPARATION

1. Pressure cook all the ingredients together until they are well cooked. Add salt and mash well

2. Do the seasoning and add the cooked dal to it. Mix well. Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Dosa (Rice pancakes)

Doasa is a very popular South Indian breakfast. There are many types of dosas. This is a recipe of regular basic dosa. If you want to eat dosa tomorrow, then you have to start the preparation today morning itself. This is my husbands favourite breakfast. He wants it every weekend so that he can enjoy it leisurely. And my favourite is paper dosa. So Here is the recipe

INGREDIENTS

Whole Urad dal(Bengal Gram) 1 cup
Rice 2 1/2 cup
Methi Seeds(Fenugreek seeds) 1 tbsp
Cooked rice 1/2 cup (OPTIONAL)
Salt as per needed

PREPARATION

1. Soak Urad dal, rice and methi seeds together for 6 hrs. You can soak them in the morning and grind in the evening into a paste by adding cooked rice and enough water. Adding cooked rice gives more colour to your dosa. But it is always optional.

2. Take the batter into a big vessel with a lid and let it ferment for over night. The vessel should be big enough because the batter becomes double its quantity after fermentation.

3. In the morning add salt to the batter and mix well. Now the batter is ready to make dosas. Heat the dosa pan. You can use traditional dosa pennam or nonstick pan. Grease some oil to the pan by using the an onion piece. Pour small amount of the batter onto the pan and spread it by making circular motions as shown in the picture.Drizzle some oil onto the edges and surface of the dosa. Let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip over the dosa to cook on the other side of it. Allow it to cook for 1 more minute. Then the dosa is ready to eat.







In the above pictures you can see dosa with Bombay chutney and peanut chutney. Dosa with Bombay chutney is a famous Rayalaseema combination. You can find the recipes for Bombai chutney and peanut chutney in my other posts.

Vankaya pachadi (Brinjal Chutney)

Hmmm i love chutneys...I can go days together just with hot rice and any chutney. That is my love for them. My Ammamma is a great cook. Any dish turns out delicious in her magical cooking. She used to prepare chutneys as an additional dish for dinner. As my ammamma's house is near our house, she used to send us almost everything she preapares. Those were the golden days of just tasting the food without bothering how to cook and what to cook.

INGREDIENTS

Vankayalu( medium sized) 3
Small Onion 1
Green Chillies 5
Small lemon sized tamarind
Roasted Peanuts 1 tbsp
Coconut Owder 1 tbsp

SEASONING INGREDIENTS

Oil 2tsp
Mustard Seeds 1tbsp
Cumin Seeds 1 tbsp
Urad dal 1/2 tbsp
Red chilli 1
Curry leaves few

PREPARATION

1. Boil the whole vankayalu(without chopping) in water till they are cooked fully.

2. Heat oil in a pan and fry Green chilli. Keep them aside and fry Onions in the same pan.
3. Grind peanuts into a fine powder. Add the cooked brinjal, green chilli, coconut powder, tamarind, salt and grind them together.Dont make it into a paste. At this point add onion and grind again. Pieces of onion should be left in the chutney. Do the seasoning. Serve with hot rice.

Tomato Pappu

Me and my dad have our own name for Tomato pappu. We call this yerra pappu(Red dal). We love to have this with hot rice, ghee, appadalu and Mango pickle...hmmm mouth watering...Here goes the recipe.



INGREDIENTS

Toor dal(Kandhi pappu) 1 cup
Small Onion 1 (Chopped)
Tomatoes 3 (chopped)
Garlic pods 2
Small Lemon sized Tamarind
Turmeric 1/4 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder 1 tbsp
Green Chillies 2
Water 3 cups

SEASONING INGREDIENTS

Oil 3 tbsp
Mustard Seeds 1/4 tbsp
Cumin Seeds 1/4 tbsp
Garlic Pods 2
Few Curry leaves
Red Chilli 2



PREPARATION

1. Pressure cook all the ingredients together. Add salt and mash them till they are soft.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When they start popping add cumin seeds, crushed garlic, red chilli and curry leaves. When Garlic becomes soft add few chopped onions and fry till they are golden brown. Then add the cooked dal into pan and mix well. Garnish with Cilantro.

Lemon Rice / Chitrannam

Lemon Rice is a popular dish in Andhra. It is a must in any festive menus. While vinayaka chavithi festival, lemon rice is given as prasadam at those temporarly build stalls for the lord. My brother and his friends used to organize such a stall in our street.Back then, we kids used to go again and again to have darshan of lord Vinayaka secretly hoping to get the prasadam again. We used to go visiting each and every stall in the nearby places. At the end of the trip we decide which is the best Vinayaka statue and which one is the best prasadam given.Those were the fun days...:)



INGREDIENTS

Rice 2 cups
Small Onion 1( Chopped lengthwise)
Green Chillies 5
Cilantro
Mustard seeds 1/2 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tbsp
Few Curry leaves
Red Chilli 2
Peanuts 1 tbsp
Cashews 1 tbsp
Chana Dal 1 tbsp
Urad Dal 1 tbsp
Large Lemons 2
Oil 3 tbsp

PREPARATION

1. Cook the Rice. Place it in a wide tray to cool it down.

2. Heat oil, add mustard seeds. When they pops add Cumin seeds, Peanuts, Cashews, Chana dal, Urad dal, Red chilli, Curry leaves. When the nuts are roasted add onions. Cook till the onions are soft.

3. Grind green chillies and cilantro with just some salt. Dont make it a paste. Add this mixture to the cooked onions. Simmer it for 5 mins and switchoff the stove.

4. Meanwhile juice the lemons into a cup. Add some salt to the juice. When the rice cools down add this lemon juice to the rice and mix well. Then add the above mixture of nuts and onion to the rice and mix well with your hand. Add salt and lemon juice as per your taste. Garnish with Cilantro.

Cluster Beans Curry / Mattikaya Kura

This Curry is a great combination with Jonna rotti and my dad loves it. As I am staying far away from my parents I always think about them. Each dish I prepare brings back a lot of memories associated with them and my dear brother. I made this curry thinking about you naannaa...



INGREDIENTS

Cluster Beans 2 cups(lengthwise chopped)
Onion 1
Poppy seeds 1 1/2 tbsp
Coconut Powder 2 tbsp
Garlic Pods 4
Red Chilli powder 1 tbsp
Salt

SEASONING INGREDIENTS

Oil 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tbsp
Chana Dal 1 tbsp
Curry leaves few
Red Chilli 2

PREPARATION

1. Pressure cook the beans for just 1 whistle. Make sure that they are not over cooked.

2. Heat oil in a wide pan. Do the seasoning. Add onions. Cook till the onions are soft and tender. Mean while Grind poppy seeds and Coconut powder together into a fine powder. Then add the garlic pods to the mixer and grind again. Add this whole mixture to the cooked onions. Add Red chilli powder and salt. Mix it well

3. Add the cooked Cluster beans and Mix well. Let it cook for 10 minutes. Garnish with Cilantro.

Cabbage Pappu

Ingredients

1 cup Toor dal

1 small Onion

1 Tomato

5 Green Chillies

1 cup Chopped Cabbage

Small Lemon sized Tamarind

4 pods of Garlic

Pich of Turmeric

SEASONING INGREDIENTS:

Oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 3/4 tsp
Red chillies 2
Curry leaves 5 or 6
Garlic pods 4




PROCEDURE

1. Pressure cook all the above ingredients. Mash well and add salt.

2. Do the seasoning in an other small pan. Heat oil, add mustard seeds. When the seeds start spluttering add cumin seeds, curry leaves, dry red chillies,crushed garlic pods. When the garlic turns brown add few chopped onions. When the onions are done add the cooked dal. Mix well. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Potato and Peas Kurma (Alu and Peas Kurma)

Ingredients

3 Boiled and peeled potatoes

1/2 Cup peas

1 Medium sized Onion

1 Tomato

4 Green Chillies

2 cloves

1/2 inch Cinnamon stick

2 small bay leaves.

1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste

1/2 tbsp Red Chilli Powder

1 tbsp Corriander Powder

1 tbsp Cumin Powder

1 tbsp Poppy seeds

1 tbsp Coconut powder

1/2 cup Yogurt

PREPARATION

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add Cinnamon stick, cloves and bay leaves. Fry for half minute. Add Green chillies and chopped onions. Fry until Golden brown colour.

2. Add turmeric powder and chopped tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are soft.

3. Add Ginger Garlic paste and fry for a while. Cut the potatoes into small pieces
and add them with red chilli powder.

4. Microwave the peas till they are cooked and add them.

5. Add Corriander and Cumin Powder. Grind poppy seeds and coconut powder together and add it. Put some water and cook till the mixture becomes thick. This may take upto 10 minutes. Add salt accordingly.

6. Add Yogurt and mix it. Let it simmer for an other 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Egg Curry (Egg Pulusu / Kodiguddu Pulusu)

Egg Pulusu is one of the greatest dishes. It goes with plain rice, Biriyani or chapathi. Its very simple yet tasty



Ingredients

3 Hard boiled Eggs

1 big Onion

1 medium sized Tomato

3 Green Chillis

1/2 tbsp Red Chilli powder

1 pinch Turmeric powder

1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste

1/2 Corriander powder

1/2 Cumin Powder

1 tbsp Poppy seeds

1 tbsp Coconut Powder




PREPARATION

1. Heat oil and do the seasoning. Fry chopped onion until golden brown colour.

2. Add tomato and turmeric powder. When the tomato is done add ginger garlic paste. Fry until the raw smell of ginger garlic is gone.

3. Grind the poppy seeds and coconut powder into a fine powder and add it. Then add corriander powder, Cumin powder and red chilli powder. Fry for a minute.

4. Make cuts on the eggs with knife. Add eggs and some water and salt to the gravy.

5. Now cover the pan and let it cook for 10 to 15 minutes. The gravy should be a bit thick. Garnish it with chopped Cilantro. There goes ur yummy Egg pulusu..

Madatha Kaja

I love Madatha Kaja sweet...Here in USA we dont usually get that in any stores. And cannot wait until i go to India to eat them..:) I thought of preparing it by myself.

INGREDIENTS

Maida (All purpose Flour) 1 cup
Baking Soda 1/4 tbsp
Rice Flour 2 tbsp
Ghee 3 tbsp
Water 1/2 cup for syrup
Sugar 1 1/2 cups
oil 3 cups for frying



METHOD:

1. Mix all purpose flour, ghee, baking soda with some water and make it into a dough. Keep it aside for 10 to 15 mins.

2. Mix rice flour and ghee to make a paste and keep aside.

3. Make small equal balls out of the dough. Roll out one ball like a big thin chapathi. Apply rice flour paste over the chapati and spread evenly.Make an other thin chapathi and place it gently on the first rolled chapathi.Roll it like a mat and seal the edges firmly. Now cut the roll into pieces. Just press the pieces with ur hand to flatten

4. Heat up the oil on one side of the stove and also make the sugar syrup simultaneously. Boil the sugar until it reaches one thread consistency and switch off. Fry the kajas on a low flame until they turn light golden brown colour.Take out the kajas and drop them directly into the sugar syrup. Soak them for 20 to 30 mins in the syrup. Remove from the syrup and store in a box.