Gongura Pickle

Gongura is most popular in Andra Pradesh cuisine but states like Manipur , Tripura and Mizoram too uses it. Gongura comes in two varieties, green stemmed leaf and red stemmed. The red stemmed variety is more sour than the green stemmed variety. Gongura is considred a rich source of Iron and folic acid. Befroe coming across this recipe i used to buy gongura pickle from market but now i enjoy homemade  pickle and always has a batch in my refrigerator. This is yet another recipe from "Cooking at home with pedatha" . I have reduced the original recipe ingredients to  half.

Gongura leaves-  3 cup chopped
Oil - 1 cup
Salt to taste.

1st Tempering
Mustards seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Red Chillies - 6
Green Chillies - 2
Curry Leaves - 5-6
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

2nd Tempering
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seds - 1/4 tsp
Red Chillies - 2
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Garlic - 6-8

      1. Heat half oil and cook the gongura leaves till oil sepearates.
      2. 1st tempering
               Add mustard and let it pop and add fenugreek.
               Let it turn brown and add red chillies.
               Now add curry leaves , coriander and asafoetida.
     3. Allow the tempering to cool and grind it coarsely.
     4. Add the cooked gongura and grind it coarsely.
     5. 2nd tempering
              Heat remaining oil .
              Add mustard and let it pop and add fenugreek.
              Let it turn brown and add red chillies and garlic
     6. Pour the tempering over the ground gongura mixture .

     7. Serve with steamed rice and ghee :).

Eggplant Chutney

Eggplant chutney is a quick recipe . Nice variation to be served with dosa or adai when you don't want to make the coconut chutney.

Eggplant - 2 cups , peeled and choped into 1/2 '' cubes

Whole Red Chili -  2

Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1/4 tsp

Tamarind  - 1/2 inch piece

Garlic Clove -1 (optional , use in winter but avoid otherwise)

Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp

Turmeric - 1/8 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp.

1. Heat oil and add the jeera, coriander and chili.
2. When the coriander seeds change color , scoop out and set aside to cool.
3. Add the turmeric , tamarind , garlic and eggplant  to remaining  oil.
4. Cover and cook till the eggplant is cooked through.
5. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
6. Grind the coriander , jeera and red chili well when cooled.
7. Add the eggplant mixture and salt to the above mixture and pulse 2 -3 times.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with dosa or rice and ghee.

Tendli (Kovakka) - Andra Style

This recipe is from "cooking with Pedatha". I have used kovakka ( tendli in hindi) where as she had used a different vegetable in the original recipe . This recipe will go very well with rice and very good for lunchbox too.

Tendli - 1/2 kg 
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp

Jaggery - 1 tsp

Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste


Tempering
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chilies  - 2-3 ,broken
Green Chilies - 2 ,slit
Hing - a pinch
Curry Leaves a few

1. Roast sesame seeds till golden , cool and coarsely grind and keep aside. 
2. Wash and cut tendli into half and slice thin.
3. Heat oil in a big enough pan and  add urad dal and when it turns golden add mustard.
4. Lower the flame and add chilies , curry leaves , hing turmeric,coriander and chili powder.
5. Add the vegetable  and mix well and cook till tender.
6. Then add sesame powder, jaggery  and salt and stir .
7. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and you are ready to serve.

    Kerala Style Tendli : kovvaka-mezhukvaratti

    Maharastrian Style : 

Pedatha's Mango Pickle /Tokku

Every time i try a new recipe from "Cooking at home with Pedatha"  i fall in love with this cookbook all over again. Few of the recipes have become a staple in my kitchen. I wanted to try this Mango Tokku for quite some time and last month i tried it finally and my family is loving it :). Here's the recipe.

Raw Mango - 4 Cups,  grated

Mustard Powder - 2 tbsp

Chilly Powder - 3 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Jaggery - 1/2 cup ( i used just 1 tbsp)

Oil - 1/2 cup  ( i used 1 cup)

Salt to taste

Tempering

Mustard Seeds - 1 tbsp

Fenugreek Seeds - 1 tbsp

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

1. Heat oil and add mustard and let it pop.
2. Add fenugreek  and let it brown and add asafoetida.
3. Add mango and remaining ingredients .
4. Cook till oil separates and  pickle is ready.
5. Store in a sterilized bottle in refrigerator.

Sending this to event  : 

Flavours of South India

Pudina Tomato Chutney /Mint Tomato Dip

Every body has recipe for pudina chutney and this is my version :) . Spring has brought back lots of pudina in the garden and one weekend a few days ago i  was cooking for  guests and had planned to make pudina chutney along with a few other things . I was preparing seasoning for some curry but by mistake added the pudina picked for chutney to it. And then thought of grinding pudina with seasoning  anyways and see how it tasted . Liked it so thought of documenting it for me and others . Goes well with dosa and paratha. Mix it with some left over rice and it makes a nice lazy day lunch with some chips. 

Pudina /Mint - 2 cups
Tomato - 1/2 cup
Green Chili - 3
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Chili Pw - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Pw - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Pw  -1/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt to taste.
Water - 1 tbsp

1. Heat oil  and add mustard seeds and let it pop.
2. Add fenugreek seeds and let it turn golden.
3. Add chili pw, turmeric pw, coriander pw and mix well.
4. Add tomato and green chilli and cook it covered for 2-3 minutes.
5. Keep mixing and let tomato  cook well till oil starts to seperate.
6. Add the pudina leaves and switch off the heat.
7. Mix well and  keep it covered  and let it cool.
8. Once cooled add salt and water and grind it .
9. Transfer it to a bowl and you are ready to serve with dosa or paratha.
10. Mix 2 tbsp with a 1/2 cup of cooked rice and serve with chips for a quick lunch.

Urad Dal Ladoo

Back to blogging after a long vacation to India. After all unpacking and cleaning i was feeling a little lazy to get back to blogging :).

But  few days back a friend of ours send us some URAD DAL laddo and very so yummy that i was tempted to try it myself and now back to blogging . And i found a wonderful recipe in "Cooking at home with Pedatha" . I cannot write enough about this book , just loved every recipe i have tried and these recipes has become a regular in my kitchen.

Urad (Black Gram) Dal husked - 2 cups

Sugar Powder - 3/4 cup

Cashew /or any nut of choice - a few

Caradamom Pw - few pinches

Ghee - 1/2- 3/4 cup

1. Dry roast the dal until golden and grind to fine powder.
2. Add sugar and cardamom pw.
3. Fry cashews in ghee and add to the mixture.
4. Melt remaining ghee and pour into the mixture slowly enough to bind to laddo.
5. And make small balls and enjoy.

Kantora Fry

Kantora is a vegetable that looks like a little karela but its not a very bitter like karela. A bengali friend of mine introduced me to this vegetable. It is available every were in north India and even easily available in very Indian grocery store here. It is very good side for rice and rasam. It can be stuffed and cooked like karela.

Kantora  - 1 cup ,diced in half moon shape
Curry leaves  - a few
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Hing - 1/8 tsp

Turmeric Pw - 1/8 tsp

Chili Pw - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Sal to taste

 image courtesy : internet

1. Heat oil in a frying fan and pop mustards.
2. Add urad dal, hing and curry leaves.
3. When urad dal turns golden and add kantora.
4. Add salt and turmeric and cover for a minute.
5. Remove the cover and cook  till the kantora  turns golden along the sides.
6. Add the chili powder and mix well and remove from flame.
7. Enjoy with rice and rasam.

Spicy Carrot Pachadi

These days i'm cooking from a very lovely book called "Cooking at Home with Pedatha". I am loving it. Its one of the best vegetarian cooking book i have come across in a very long time. And one very unique chutney recipe i came a cross is Carrot Pachadi.

Carrot -  2 1/2 cup ,chopped into 1/4 cm bits

Lemon Juice - 2 large lemons

Oil - 2 tbsp ( 2 tsp original)

Salt to taste

Tempering

Mustard Seeds  - 3/4 tsp

Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Hing - 3/4 tsp

Paste

Red Chilli - 20 -25

Mustard - 1/4 cup (1/2 cup original)

1. For paste ,soak the chillies and mustard in 1 cup water 3-4 hours . 
2. Strain and grind to fine paste using as little strained water as possible.
3. In a khadai , heat the oil for tempering.
4. Pop the mustard and then add the fenugreek. 
5. Switch off the flame and with the browning of the fenugreek add the hing.
6. Add carrot , lemon juice ,the paste.
7. Store in clean airtight container in refrigerator, tastes best after a day or two.

Anaheim Pepper stir fryed with spices and sesame seeds

I brought this pepper thinking that i will make some stuffed pepper pakoda but then in between had   other pakodas and vada many times so dropped the plan of making anything fried with it and decided to cook up a stir fry instead. I had some Sesame Seed chutney  in the fridge so thought of adding it to the  recipe to finish it of.And the result was not bad so thought of posting the recipe.

Anaheim Pepper - 3

Onion - 1/2 cup chopped fine

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Coriander pw - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric pw - 1 Seed 4 tsp

Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp (or Use lime juice - 1 tsp )

Sesame chutney pw - 1 tbsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Salt to taste.

1. Wash and slit each pepper into four half and cut into 1/2 '' pieces.

2. Heat oil and add mustard seeds .

3. When mustard starts popping add cumin seeds.

4. Add onion and cook till translucent .

5. Add coriander , turmeric pw  and cook for a minute.

6. Add pepper and tamarind paste and cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.

7. Uncover and add the sesame pw and mix well.

8. Cook till the pepper is tender.

9. Serve it as a side to roti or rice.

Spinach and Potato in South Indian in style.

Potato - 1 big yukon gold
Spinach - 1 bunch
Onion - 1/2 cup chopped
Green Chilli -3
Garlic -2
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Hing Powder - 4 pinch
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Lime Juice - 1 tsp
Turmeric -1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

1. Boil Potato and cut into small cubes.
2. Blanch spinach and press out the water and chop fine. Save water form Spinach and use it to cook that days dal.
3.Heat oil add hing, mustard,cumin and let it crackle.
4. Add channa dal and urad dal and let them to be light golden .
5. Add Crushed garlic and chopped onion,chopped green chilli.Fry till onion is golden brown.
6. Add potato,salt ,tumeric and fry for a min.
7. Add Spinach and mix everything well light handedly for 2-3 min .
8. Put of the flame and add lemon juice and serve with hot chapati and rice.