Dalia (Veeyinchina Senagapappu) Chutney

Learnt From: My Mom.

Ingredients:

Dalia (Veeyinchina Senagapappu) --- 1 Cup
Coriander Leaves --- 20-25 stems
Tamarind --- 3 strands
Shredded Coconut --- ½ Cup
Green Chilies --- 8 small
Salt --- to taste

For Seasoning:

Oil --- 1 tblsn
Urad Dal --- 1 ½ tsp
Mustard Seeds --- 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds --- ½ tsp
Dry Red Chilly --- 1 halved
Curry Leaves --- 5-6

Process:

Add dalia, coriander leaves, tamarind, shredded cocounut, green chilies and enough salt to the blender.


Blend to a paste by adding enough water.


Transfer the chutney to a bowl.
Heat a tblsn of oil in a pan. Add and toast urad dal, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chilly and curry leaves.
Transfer the seasoning to the chutney.


Mix well.
Tastes good with Idly, Dosa, Vada, and Upma.

Baingan ka Bartha

This is one of the simplest, easiest and tastiest dishes. Definetely try this dish. It tastes good with chapathi or pulkas.

Learnt From: Vahrehvah Video

Ingredients:

Eggplant --- 1 big
Green Chilies --- 6
Onion --- ¾ th of the big onion
Ginger-Garlic Paste --- 1 tsp
Tomatoes --- 2 medium
Coriander leaves --- a few
Coriander Powder --- 1 tsp
Cumin Powder --- ½ tsp
Red Chilly Powder --- ½ tsp
Salt --- as per taste

For Seasoning:

Oil --- 2 tblsn
Cumin Seeds --- 1 tsp

Process:

Empty the oven if you have any. Pre-heat oven at 500 degree Fahrenheit and Bake.
Apply oil to the eggplant, keep tht on a baking tray and keep it in the oven carefully.


Cook it in the oven for 20 minutes.


In the meanwhile, chop 6 green chilies, ¾ th of the onion and 2 tomatoes. Keep them aside.
Heat a 2 tblsn of oil in a pan.


Add and toast cumin seeds.
Add chopped green chilies and fry them till they get white spots.
Add chopped onions and a tsp of ginger-garlic paste. Fry till the onions become translucent.


Add chopped tomatoes, a few chopped coriander leaves, a tsp of coriander powder, a ½ tsp of cumin powder and enough salt.


Mix well.
Cover the pan and cook it till the tomatoes become mushy.
In the meanwhile, peel the skin of eggplant. Chop into small pieces.
Add chopped eggplant to the pan.


Mix well and Adjust the salt.
Add half tsp of red chilly powder.
Cook for a minute. Turn off the heat.


Transfer the curry to a serving bowl.


Have with pulka or chapathi.

Bagara Baingan

Learnt From: Vahrehvah.

Serving for: 5-6 People

Ingredients:

(Don’t get scared of the lengthy list of ingredients. If you do cooking regularly … all the ingredients are available at your home only. Check out the list. Just get fresh, small and round brinjals from the market.)

Brinjals --- 8 – 10
Peanuts --- 1 cup
Sesame Seeds --- 3 tblsn
Dry Coconut Powder --- 2 tblsn
Cinnamon Stick --- 1
Cloves --- 3
Cardamom --- 3 pods
Bay Leaf --- 1
Mustard Seeds --- 1 ½ tsp
Cumin Seeds --- ½ tsp
Green Chilies --- 2
Onion --- 1
Curry Leaves --- 7-8
Turmeric Powder --- a pinch
Ginger-Garlic Paste --- ½ tsp
Coriander Powder --- 1 tblsn
Cumin Powder --- 1 tblsn
Red Chilly Powder --- 1 tsp
Tamarind --- small lemon size ball
Jaggery --- a tblsn (optional)
Salt --- as per taste
Oil --- for deep fry

Process:

Heat a tblsn of oil in a pan. Add a cup of peanuts. Fry till they are ¾ th done. Add 3 tblsn of sesame seeds and dry coconut powder. Fry till sesame seeds are done. ( I don’t have dry coconut powder. So I used shredded coconut at the time of grinding)

Transfer the fried ones to a blender. Blend coarsely by adding around a cup of water to it. Keep tht aside.


Heat oil for deep fry in a pan.
Chop 2 green chilies and 1 onion. Keep them aside.
Clean brinjals along with stems with water. Opposite to the stem part of the brinjals cut ¾ th of the brinjal towards stem. Cut like Plus mark. Keep all the rest of the brinjals in the same way and keep them in salted water. (If you keep them in normal water the colour and the taste of the brinjals change. To prevent that … keep them in salted water.)
Clean lime size tamarind with water. Add little water to it. Micro-wave for 30 seconds. Extract tamarind juice out of it by adding ¾ cup of water.
When the oil is at right hot. Deep fry the brinjals till they are 3/4th done.



Heat 7-8 tblsn of oil in a wide pan.
Add a cinnamon stick by breaking it, 3 pods of cardamoms, 3-5 cloves and a bay leaf. Fry them.
Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
Add chopped green chilies and onion.
Add enough salt to the onions.


Fry till the onion turn to brown colour.
Add curry leaves and a pinch of turmeric powder.
Fry for a while.
Add ½ tsp of ginger-garlic paste. Fry for a while.
Add 2 cups of water.
Add a tblsn of coriander powder and a tblsn of cumin powder and ¾ tsp of red chilly powder. Fry for a while.
Turn the heat to medium.
Add blended peanuts-sesame-coconut paste.


Cover it and boil.
Add tamarind juice and enough salt to the gravy.
Add a tblsn of jaggery if you like. I didn’t add jaggery to my dish.
Again cover it and boil.
Boil it still the oil loses.

Taste it and adjust the salt.
Add fried brinjals to the gravy.


Cook it on medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes.


Turn off the heat.
Transfer the curry to a serving bowl.


Have it with biryani or with rice.

Sindhi Saibhaji

This recipe sounds new for me. I asked my husband have you ever tasted “Sindhi Saibhaji”. He said not even the name I heard. But still I dared to try it. It came out good.

This recipe is good to take to any potluck, or when to cook for a no. of people.

Learnt From:

I learnt this from Sanjeev Kapoor’s Cook Book.

Serves for: 8-10 people.

Ingredients:

Carrot --- 1
Capsicum --- 1
Cabbage --- ¼
Potato --- 1
Brinjal --- 1
Tomato --- 1
Ladyfinger / Okra --- 2
French Beans --- 100 gms or ½ cup when chopped
Palak / Spinach leaves --- ½ bunch or 1 cup
Coriander leaves --- 1 small bunch
Green gram dal / Whole Moong dal / Pesalu --- ½ cup
Channa dal --- ¼ cup
Green chilies --- 8 very small
Onion --- ¼ of big one
Garlic --- 3 cloves
Red chilly powder --- 1 ½ tsp
Coriander powder --- 2 tsp
Salt --- 1 ½ tsp
Turmeric --- ¼ tsp
Oil --- 3 tblsn
Ghee --- 1 tsp
Asafoetida (Inguva) --- big pinch

Note:

If you want you can even add Khatta (3 leaved) greens and any other leafy vegetable to it.

Process:

In a bowl … add ½ cup of green gram dal and ¼ cup of channa dal. Clean with water. Keep aside.
Clean and chop spinach leaves. Keep aside.
Except tomato chop all the vegetables (Carrot, Capsicum, Cabbage, Potato, Brinjal, Okra, French beans, green chilies, onion). Keep aside.
Chop 3 garlic cloves and coriander leaves too and keep them aside.
Heat 3 tblsn of oil in a pressure cooker.

Add the cleaned dals, chopped vegetables and spinach leaves to the cooker.
Add 3 cups of water to cooker.
Add 1 ½ tsp of salt, 1 ½ tsp of red chilly powder, 2 tsp of coriander powder, ¼ tsp of turmeric powder. Mix well.
Place whole tomato on the top of the contents. (Don’t chop tomato. If you add chopped tomato … because of that sourness the dals wont cook properly.)

Cover the cooker. Pressure cook for 3 whistles. Wait till the pressure goes off which takes around 15-20 minutes.
Drain the excess water in the cooker to other bowl. Keep the drained water aside.
Mash all the cooked stuff with a big ladle or with a masher.
Add the drained water to the cooker. Mix well.
In a deep pan, heat 1 tsp of ghee. Stir fry chopped garlic. Add a big pinch of asafetida and then add all the mashed stuff to the pan. Mix well. Adjust salt and red chilly powder if needed.

Keep it on medium-high heat for 10 minutes.


Add chopped coriander leaves to it. Turn off the heat. Transfer to a serving bowl. You get one more bowl of this much quantity. In picture I have taken one bowl. In comes in large quantity.


Have it with chapathis or parathas or rice.

Aloo Palak

It is very similar to palak paneer. The only difference is … in that we add paneer cubes and in this we add boiled potato cubes.

Ingredients:

Potatoes --- 3 large
Palak --- 1 lb
Turmeric powder --- a pinch
Onion --- ½ large
Green chilies --- 5
Ginger-Garlic paste --- 1 tsp
Coriander powder --- 1 tsp
Cumin Powder --- 1 tsp
Whole Cashews --- 25
Coriander leaves --- few
Garam Masala --- 1 tsp (optional)
Salt --- as per taste
Oil --- 3 tblsn

Process:

Peel the skin of potatoes. Chop them into cubes. Pressure cook chopped potatoes in water by adding enough salt and a pinch of turmeric powder for 3 whistles.

Wait for 20 minutes till the pressure goes away. Transfer the boiled potatoes to a colander to drain the water. Keep them aside.


Dry roast cashew nuts in a pan.

Add the roasted cashews into a blender and make a smooth powder of it. Keep it aside.

Wash palak leaves and keep aside. In a deep pan heat 1 tblsn of oil. Add 5 green chilies. Sauté till they get white spots.


Add washed palak leaves.


The water which comes from the washed palak leaves is enough. Saute till the palak leaves become limp.


Let it cool. Grind them to a paste by adding few coriander leaves and enough salt to it. Keep the palak puree aside.


Chop onion into small pieces. Heat 2 tblsn of oil in a deep pan. Add chopped onions. Fry till the onions turn to translucent. Add a tsp of ginger-garlic paste, a tsp of coriander powder, a tsp of cumin powder and a tsp of garam masala (adding garam masala is optional. I don’t add just to avoid masala). Sauté for 2 minutes.


Add palak puree, cashew powder & boiled potatoes which u prepared and kept aside. Add a pinch of turmeric powder. Mix well. Taste it and adjust salt accordingly. Cover the pan with lid. Cook it for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat. Transfer the curry to a serving bowl.


Have it with Chapathi. Tastes good.

Raitha

Ingredients:

Curd --- ¾ cup
Water --- ½ cup
Onion --- ½ big --- Chopped into small pieces
Tomatoes --- 2 --- Chopped into small pieces
Carrots --- 1 --- Grated
Salt --- to taste


Process:

In a bowl add curd.
Add water to it.
Just mix with spoon.
Add chopped onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves & grated carrot.
Add salt to taste.
Mix all together.

Palak Paneer

Learnt From:

I learnt this recipe from http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi. Indira explained in a step by step way which makes me cook comfortably. She is genius.

When I prepared it came out very good. My husband took more chapathis cause of this curry. I felt very happy.

Surely try this curry.

Serving for:

This curry can be served for 15 chapathis.

Ingredients:

Palak / Spinach --- ¾ th lb or 2 bunches
Paneer --- 15-20 cubes
Tomato --- 1 large one
Green Chilies --- 5
Onion --- ½ of the big one
Ginger-Garlic paste --- ½ tsp
Coriander powder --- ½ tsp
Cumin powder --- ½ tsp
Cashews --- ¼ cup
Coriander leaves
Salt --- as per taste
Oil --- 1 tsp
Ghee ---1 tsp + 1 tsp




Process:

Wash spinach leaves. Keep them aside.

In a pan (don’t add oil or ghee) stir fry the cashews till they get brown spots. Keep them in a blender (blender should be dry) … Grind them to a fine powder.

Chop paneer into cubes. Heat a tsp of ghee in a pan. Stir fry paneer till they turn to golden brown. Keep them aside in another bowl.

Heat a tsp of oil in a deep pan. Add whole green chilies to the pan. Stir fry green chilies till they get white spots. Add spinach leaves to the pan (let the water come along with the leaves after washing). Stir fry till the spinach leaves become limp. Keep them aside. Let them cool. Blend them to a smooth paste by adding coriander leaves and enough salt to it. Keep the spinach puree in a bowl.

Keep the tomoto in a bowl. Add water to it. Boil it till the skin break down. Peel the remaining skin with hands.Grind it to a paste… to make tomato puree.

Chop onions. Add a tsp of ghee in a deep pan. Add chopped onions to the pan and stir fry till they turn to translucent. Add half a teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste, half a tsp of coriander powder, half a tsp of cumin powder. Stir fry them for 2 to 3 minutes. Add spinach puree, Tomato puree & Cashew powder which u prepared and kept aside. Add pinch of turmeric powder. Add salt as per taste. Mix thoroughly.Cover it with lid. Cook it for 5-10 minutes. Turn the heat to sim. Add paneer cubes to it. Mix it uniformly. Cook it for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat. Transfer the curry to a serving bowl.

Have curry with chapathis.

Cholle or Channa Masala

Learnt From:

I learnt Cholle from net.

Ingredients:

Chick Peas (Garbanjo Beans) --- 1 Cup
Oil --- 3 Table spoons
Hing (Asafitida) --- Pinch
Cumin Seeds --- 1 Tea spoon
Besan (Gram Flour) --- 1 Tea spoon
Tomato Puree --- with one large tomato
Ginger Paste --- 1 Tea spoon
Green Chilies --- 1 Tea spoon (Finely Chopped)
Turmeric Powder --- ½ Tea spoon
Red Chilly Powder --- ½ Tea spoon
Coriander Powder --- 3 Tea spoons
Salt --- 1 tea spoon
Garam Masala --- ¼ Tea spoon
Lemon Juice --- Optional
Cilantro --- for Garnish

Pre-Requisite:

Soak chickpeas in water in the morning to make this side-dish in the evening. The picture is taken after they are well soaked.

Tomato Puree:

Boil 5 medium size or 3 large tomatoes in a pressure cooker for a whistle … peel the skin of tomatoes and grind them to a paste.

Process:

Cook the chick peas with salted water in a pressure cooker for 3 vigils.
Drain the water from chick peas by using a colander… keep it aside.

Heat oil 3 Table spoons of oil in a deep pan with Medium High.
Add pinch of Hing into the deep pan.
Add a Tea spoon of cumin seeds.
Add a Tea spoon of Besan.
Stir it to roast for few seconds till the besan comes to golden brown.

Add Tomato puree which you made a kept aside.

Add a Tea spoon of Ginger paste.
Add half a Tea spoon of Turmeric powder.
Add half a teaspoon of Red Chilly Powder.
Add 3 teaspoons of Coriander powder.
Keep stirring for couple of minutes…still the tomato puree is leaving the oil.

Add Chick peas and stir them along with the mixture.
Add one teaspoon of Salt.
Add Half a cup of water.

Let this be simmer by cover the pan with a lid for about 10 minutes.
Press some of the stiffies partially.
Add quarter teaspoon of Garam Masala.
Transfer the curry to a serving bowl.

If you want you can add Lemon Juice… this is optional.
Finally, Garnish the dish with Cilantro.
Have it with pulka or chapathi along with sliced onions.