Muddakura

I love the taste of this simple yet tasty, quick and easy to do item. This can be considered as dal or as a curry. Best combination for this is rice and pachi charu/chintapandu charu.Try it and let me know;



Ingredients
Chana Dal, Toor Dal - 1:1 ratio
Moong dal - just a pistful of it(optional)
Palak/Thotakura (Amaranth leaves)/Chaama kura(Taro leaves) - Chopped
Turmeric
Green chillies
Red chillies
Salt to taste
Besan/Senagapindi
Tamarind juice
Oil
mustard seeds
Cumin seeds (Jeera)
Asafoetida
Urad dal
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves

Method of preparation
1. Cook all the three dals until they are just done but not totally mushy or total soft. For example: if you are using pressure cooker, and in general you need 3 whistles for dal to be cooked then for this item, try switching off stove at 2 whistles.

2. Take a kadai and heat oil in it. Add mustard seeds and let them splutter.

3. Add cumin seeds, green chillies, red chillies, curry leaves asafoetida and at last add the green leafy vegetable you picked (Palak/ amaranth/taro leaves chopped).

4. Wait for two minutes or until the leaf is cooked and then add the cooked dals to it along with turmeric and salt.

5. Add tamarind juice extract (just enough to have a little bit of sour taste, lot of it will make the curry taste sour)

6. Wait for a minute and then add besan to it. The curry will become a little thick at this point. Turn off the stove.

7. Add tadka to the top of it, by heating oil and adding mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, red chillies, curry leaves, urad dal.

Ullipaya/ Onion Jhulka

Onion lovers will love this recipe. As it is fast to make and tasty to eat. This is dru curry and can be accompanied with any liquid item along with rice or with roti.

Ingredients
Onions
Chick-pea flour (Senagapindi, Besan)
Red Chilli powder
Green chillies (optional)
Salt to taste

For tadka:
Oil
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds

Method of preparation
1. Do tadka by taking a kadai or pan and adding oil to it. Add mustard seeds after oil is heated and let them splutter. After they are done, then add cumin seeds. Add green chillies (optional).

2. Now add onions and let them turn golden brown.

3. Add Red chilli powder and Salt at this point and mix it.

4. Lastly add chick pea flour as needed until the wetness of the onions is gone and mix.

5. Garnish with coriander and serve.

Aloo Gobi Curry

Ingredients
Aloo
Gobi florets
Onion, chopped into big pieces - 1 or 2
Tomato - 1 or 2
ginger garlic crushed/paste - 1/2 table spoon
Oil - 4-5 table spoons
Red chilli powder - add it according to your taste
Garam Masala - 1 table spoon
Kasoori Methi - a pinch
Coriander powder (optional) - 1/2 table spoon
Salt to taste
Kothimeeru (Coriander) to sprinkle at last.

Method of preparation
1. Take a vessel, add oil to it. Let it heat up and add cumin seeds to it. Add chopped onions, crushed ginger garlic or paste and let it fry for a minute or until onions turn golden brown.

2. Add Aloo and Gobi to it with pinch of turmeric, red chilli powder, Garam masala and let it stand for 5 minutes covered. Try to mix in between so that the curry do not stick to the pot/vessel. If you feel it starts sticking then add 1/2 cup of water to it.

3. Add chopped Tomato's, Salt, kasoori methi, coriander powder and mix well. Add little water and let it stand for some more time until all veggies are cooked.

4. Add Chopped and washed Coriander leaves to the curry and serve hot either with roti or rice.

Brinjal/Eggplant Bhaji

I dont know what others call, but at our place because of influence of Maharastra we call it as Vankaya Bhaji. Following is hte recipe. Previously I published recipe by heating it in a kadai. This time I tried it with the burning on stove. The taste of original is marvelous. Nothing can beat it. So here is the recipe

Ingredients
American eggplant or any fat eggplant
oil
Onions chopped
Green chillies
Salt to taste
Tomato chopped - Optional
Tadka (oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and red chillies)

Method of preparation
1. Apply oil to the brinjal and let it be on the stove. As the skin turns different color, slowly move the brinjal to other side. Do this until the whole brinjal skin turns different and it becomes soft.

2. Remove the skin of the brinjal and take out the gujju (inside part) in a bowl or serving dish.

3. Add chopped onions, tomatos green chillies and salt to taste.

4. Add tadka on top and mix all the above.


Terminology

Vankaya - Eggplant, Brinjal

French cut green beans curry

Simple and tasty to eat. I love the french cut green beans in frozen section, we get in stores like Giant, safeway, shoppers or some asian stores. They are thin and a little long. They taste wonderful and here is the simple recipe to make it fast and eat.

Ingredients
French cut green beans
Tomato
Oil
Jeera (Cumin Seeds)
Chana dal - 2 table spoons
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder
Turmeric - 1/2 table spoon or less
Optional:
Onions
Grated Coconut (I used the frozen one we get in indian stores, you can use fresh also).
Cilantro (for garnishing)

Method of Preparation

1. Take the french cut green beans and put it under water so that all the extra ice gets melts away.

2. Take a kadai, add oil to it. Add Jeera after the oil is heated.

3. Add chana dal to it. Add Onions (if you want to ). After they turn golden, add the beans.

4. Add turmeric, red chilli powder. Cover it and let it stand for 2-3 minutes.

5. Add Salt, tomatos to it and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.

6. Add coconut, let it leave the smell of raw coconut and then turn off the heat.

7. Garnish it with Coriander leaves (Cilantro) and serve.

This curry is good with both Rice and roti.

In my opinion, this curry tastes good than the normal beans curry we cook. So try it and let me know how you feel.