Rajma Masala

Ingredients

1 cup rajma/ kidney beans                                             
1 big onion finely chopped
3 small tomatoes chopped
4 Garlic chopped
1 inch ginger chopped
2 green chillies chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp chilli powder (adjusted according to the spice level)
Salt
Coriander leaves chopped

Directions -How to make

Soak the rajma in water overnight or for 5 hours. Pressure cook the rajma with little turmeric powder and salt for 6 whistles.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add cumin seeds, ginger, garlic and green chillies. Add the onions once the ginger garlic turns brown. Saute well.  Add little salt and then tomatoes  Crush them well to form a thick paste. Add little water to help form a paste.

Now add the rajma. Mix well.  Add garam masala, coriander powder and chilli powder. Pour the pressure cooked rajma water over it. Cover and cook for a while. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapattis or white rice along with sliced onions.

ChoCho Poriyal

Ingredients

ChoCho/ Chayote 1

Chopped onion 1

Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Urad dal 1 tsp

Channa Dal 1 tbsp

Dry red chillies 2

Curry leaves

Asafoetida (a pinch)

Turmeric powder (a pinch)

Grated Coconut 1 tbsp

Salt

Directions - How to make

Peel the outer skin and remove the seed from the vegetable. Cut into small cubes. Pressure cook them for a whistle. Do not overcook.

Heat oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, dry chillies, curry leaves and then onions. Saute well. Add salt, asafoetida and turmeric powder. Finally add the chocho and stir for a while. Sprinkle the grated coconut and take off.

Potato Fry- 1

Ingredients

2 Big potatoes
Fennel seeds 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Garam Masala 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Curry leaves 1 Sprig
Salt



Directions- How to make

Wash and cut the potatoes into small cubes. Boil the potato pieces with turmeric powder and salt dissolved in little water. Cook covered for a few minutes while stirring. As soon as the water evaporates, pour oil in the center. Add fennel seeds and curry leaves. Then add the coriander powder, chilli powder and garam masala and mix well. Keep stirring while frying. Add oil to the sides if necessary.

Note: Be careful while boiling the potatoes as adding too much water might overcook the potatoes. Potatoes should only be semicooked in water i.e. before adding oil to get a good fry. Can even add little rice powder to make the fry crispy.

Baingan Ka Bharta (Roast Brinjal)

Ingredients

Large sized Brinjal/ Eggplant 1

Green chillies 2

Onion 1

Tomato 1
Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder 1 tsp

Chilli powder 1 1/2 tsp

Salt

Directions- How to make

Roast the brinjal either on the stove on medium flame or place it on the grill. Keep turning till all the sides gets roasted and the inner flesh gets really soft. Once its roasted, cool the brinjal and peel off the outer blackened skin. Now mash the brinjal well and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Add slit green chillies and onions. Fry well. Then add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, salt chilli powder and coriander powder. Mix well. Add the mashed brinjal. Fry for a while. Serve hot with chapattis.

Vazhakkai Fry

Ingredients

Vazhakkai/ Plantain 1 Big ( Round thin slices)

Onion 1/2 (finely chopped)

Tomato 1/4 (To give a tangy taste)

Saunf 1 tsp

Asafoetida (a pinch)

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder 1 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves 1 sprig

Rice powder (Optional)

Salt

Directions- How to make

Soak the vazhakkai slices in salted warm water and keep aside or ten minutes.

Heat oil in a non-stick wok. Add saunf, curry leaves, onion, salt, asafoetida and tomato. Saute well. Add the vazhakkai slices. Add chilli powder and stir well. Cook covered for 2 minutes. Make sure that the vazhakkai does not burn at the bottom. Keep stirring, add oil if necessary. One can also add little rice powder for making the fry crispy. It goes well with sambar rice.

Pavakkai Kuzhambu

Ingredients

Bittergourd/ pavakkai 1 medium sized

Onion 1 (finely chopped)

Garlic 5 if big

Tomato 1
Tamarind (lemon sized)
Saunf /Fennel seeds 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Kuzhambu podi 2 tsp
Pure chilli powder 1/2 tsp (if you want it spicy)
Jaggery -small piece 
Curry leaves
Salt

Directions- How to make

Soak the tamarind in 3 cups of water and add salt, 1/2 tomato, turmeric powder, coriander powder, kuzhambu podi, chilli powder and curry leaves. Smash the tomato and mix well.

Heat oil in a wok. Add mustard, fennel and fenugreek seeds. Then add the curry leaves, garlic, onions. Add little salt so that the onions fries well. Add 1/2 tomato and pavakkai pieces (cut into small squares or rings). Fry the pavakkai well in oil to remove the bitterness. Now add the tamarind water to it. Let it boil till it becomes thick and reduces to 1/3 quantity. Finally add a small piece of jaggery. Serve the hot and sour Chettinad style pavakkai kuzhambu with rice.

Note: It would taste even great if the kuzhambu is made using shallot onions

Egg Masala

Ingredients

3-4 boiled eggs (cut into pieces)                    
Onion 1/2
Saunf/ fennel seeds 1 tsp
Saunf powder 1 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut 1 tbsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig


Directions- How to make

Method 1

Marinate the eggs with saunf powder, turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder and grated coconut. Let it stay for 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a wok. Add saunf, curry leaves and then finely chopped onion. Saute well. Add the marinated egg pieces. Stir for 2 minutes and turn off.

Method 2

Heat oil in a wok. Add fennel seeds, 2 crushed garlic pieces, 1 big onion (finely chopped). Saute well. Now add 1 big tomato finely chopped. Crush well to form a thick paste by adding very little water.

Add little turmeric powder ( a pinch), salt and chilli powder (1 tsp). Once the powders are fried, add 3-4 boiled eggs cut into pieces. Mix well. Cook for a minute over low flame. Turn off.

Sorakkai Sambar

This is one of my favourite sambar. I am sure everyone have their own style of making sambar. My mother makes in a different way and I finally learnt to make a better sambar. It really took time to make a thick tasty sambar. Every vegetable has its own unique taste which gives the sambar a different flavour. I make all the sambar the same way. Different types of sambar one cane make are: Moolangi/Raddish Sambar, Murangkai/Drumstick Sambar, Vendakkai/Ladyfinger Sambar, Kathirikai/Brinjal Sambar and the list goes on.

Ingredients

Toor Dal/ yellow lentils 1 cup

Bottleguard/ Sorakkai/ Lauki 1/4

Onion 1

Tomato 1/2

Green chilli slit 1

Tamarind (grape sized)

Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Urad dal 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1 tsp

Chilli powder 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder 1 tsp

Asafoetida powder (pinch)

Sambar powder 2 tsp

Curry leaves

Coriander leaves

Salt

Oil

Directions - How to make

Soak the toor dal for 15 minutes in water. Pressure cook the dal for 5-6 whistles with little turmeric powder and asafoetida. 

Heat oil in a wok. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chilli, onion. Saute well. Add 1/2 tsp salt and turmeric powder. Add the chopped tomato. Fry well and then add the vegetable pieces. Fry for a minute and then add 2 cups of water. Add 1 tsp salt, coriander powder and chilli powder. Cover and cook. Add the tamarind water in a while. Let it boil for 20 minutes. Finally add the mashed dal into it. Cover and cook for another 10-15 miutes. Add the seasoned mustard, urad dal and curry leaves into the sambar. Finally add the sambar powder. Let it stay for a minute and turn off. Add chopped coriander leaves to the sambar. Serve hot with rice and ghee.

Stuffed Karela Fry

I learnt this amazingly tasty dish from Vahchef Sanjay . A big thanks to him, I learnt a lot of dishes from him. Actually this particular dish I had eaten at my cousin's friend's house in Andhra Pradesh when I was a kid. I liked it so much but I never insisted my mother to make it as she did not know and she never had the privilige of using Internet those days. Now that I can cook, I thought why not give it a try. I bet even the people who hate bittergourd/ Karela would love it.

Ingredients   Serves 4

Bittergourd/ Karela (4 small sized)

Bittergourd's seeds (finely chopped)

Mustard 1tsp

Fennel 1/2 tsp

1 big onion (finely chopped)

Asafoetida powder  (a pinch)

Turmeric powder 1 tsp

Chilli powder 1 tsp

Mango powder/ Amchoor 1 tsp

Gram Flour 1 tsp

Coriander leaves (finely chopped)

Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp

Salt 1 tsp

Oil

Directions - How to make

Peel off the karela's rough skin so that it becomes even on all sides. Cut a slit in between and remove all the seeds from inside. Cut the seeds into small pieces and keep aside.

Now heat oil in a pan. Add mustard. Wait till it splutters and then add fennel seeds, onion. Add a tsp of salt, asafoetida powder and saute the onions till it turns brown. Now add  turmeric powder and then gram flour. Fry till the gram flour releases nice aroma. Then add ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder and the chopped karela seeds. Fry well till it is roasted. Add the mango powder and stir on a low flame. Finally add the coriander leaves and little sugar to it. Mix well and take off. Wait till it cools down.

Finally add the stuffing inside the karelas and tie them with a string so that the stuffing stays intact while frying. Place the karela on the hot pan with enough oil. Cover with a lid. Cook over medium or low flame as it might happen that they are burnt from outside but not really cooked. Keep turning them in between so as to ensure the karela's are cooked evenly. Serve hot along with sambar rice or ghee rice.

Note: One can even sprinkle little salt and sugar while frying the karelas

Fish Curry

Ingredients

 

Fish  6-8 pieces

Onion 1 (finely chopped)

Tomato 1

Garlic 5

Fennel seeds 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Chilli powder 3 tsp
Tamarind  (big lemon sized)
Curry leaves 2 sprigs
Coconut milk 1/2 cup
Vadagam (Optional)
Salt
Oil

Directions- How to make

Marinate the fish pieces with salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 1 tsp chilli powder and keep aside.

Soak tamaraind in a cup of warm water for ten minutes. Extract all the juice from the tamarind and add half tomato, 3 crushed garlic and curry leaves.

Now heat the wok. Add 2 tbsp oil. Once the oil is hot, add the fenugreek seeds, 2 minced garlic and curry leaves. Then add the onion, tomato and salt. Saute well to form a thick paste. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 2 tsp chilli powder. Once the powders raw smell goes add the tamarind water and required water. Add the coconut milk now. Add the fish pieces once it comes to a boil and cover for 15-20 minutes. As the curry thickens add the vadagam and curry leaves seasoned in oil in a separate pan. Even if you do not add vadagam, it comes out tasty. Take off and serve with fish fry and rice.

Note: Vadagam can either be added at the start or at the end, does not make much difference

Godumai Dosai

One of the easiest and quickest way of making dosas is the godumai dosai. When I am out of stock of the rice-lentils batter I usually make this as it is ready within minutes.

Ingredients

Wheat flour 1 cup

Cumin seeds 1 tsp

Cumin powder 1 tsp

Green chillies 1

Onion finely chopped (Optional)

Curry leaves 1 sprig

Rice powder 1 tbsp

Salt

Water ( Sufficient to make the batter thin but not very watery)

Directions- How to make

Mix all the above ingredients to make a smooth thin batter. Heat the tawa/ pan well. Grease the pan well and spread with a sliced onion over the tawa to spread the oil evenly.

Take a ladleful od the batter and spread it over the tawa in a spiral shape. Add little oil around the sides of the dosai and inside the pores. Cover for a minute. Once the dosai starts turning light brown and crispy turn over the dosai. Let it stay for a minute and then serve hot with chutney or idli podi.