Avarekayi Kurma
Avarekayi is the Kannada name given to Lilva beans or what commonly called 'Papdi' in North India. Avarekayi being a seasonal bean is available for relishing in its fresh form during the winter months, mainly December and January. Being a rich source of proteins, it is used in usli, upma and saaru(kurma being one of its type). Kurma could be eaten with Chapati as well as rice.Time Taken: 30-35 minutes
Serves about 3-4 people.Ingredients Used:250 gm Lilva beans
1 medium sized potato(optional)
2 clove buds and 2 cinnamon sticks
2 red chillies and 2 green chillies
1/4 tsp red chilly powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 medium sized onions
5-6 garlic cloves
1/4 inch ginger
1 1/2 medium sized tomatoes
1 handful of grated coconut
2 tsp refined oil/ghee
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste
Method of Preparation:Take the cleaned avarekayi seeds in a cooker container, add some water and salt to it and pressure cook it to one whistle. While the cooker cools down, chop onions, garlic, ginger, potatoes and tomatoes. Heat a little oil in a kadai and add cloves and cinnamon to it. Then, add the green chillies, chopped onions, garlic and ginger and fry until its rawness goes away. Add red chilly powder as well as turmeric powder and stir for a minute. Keep it aside in a bowl. Now, fry red chillies in the same kadai and roast grated coconut till light brown. Mix this with the fried onions and wait till it cools enough so that it could be ground in a mixer into a paste.
Next, take some oil/ghee in the same kadai and toss in the chopped(medium sized cubes) potatoes so that they get cooked. Add half a cup of water and required amount of salt. Cook for about 5 minutes. To this, add the finely ground paste and check for salt. Puree the finely chopped tomatoes in the mixer and pour it into the masala Add water depending on how thick you want the curry to be. Stir well and boil the masala. Then, cook the kurma on low flame for around 10 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
Note: The same curry could be prepared using fresh green peas also.Peas or avarekayi could be replaced with halved boiled eggs to make egg kurma(the only difference being that, egg is added towards the end of the cooking)
Labels: Avarekayi, Chatpat, Chatpat. quick, curry, Easy, egg kurma, green peas, Jhatpat, kurma, Lilva, One dish meal, Papdi, recipes, saaru, saru, Tasty
Cauliflower Fry
Cauliflower Fry/Talaasan is a dry curry item which goes well with Chapatis. The preparation is very easy and it tastes best in combination with potatoes. I love the way my mom makes it. My friends used to love this as well, when i would take it for lunch, during my school days.
Time taken:20 minutes
Serves about 3 people
Ingredients Used:
1 large cauliflower
1 medium sized potato
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin/jeera seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
3-4 curry leaves
2-3 pinches of asafoetida/hing
3-4 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Method of Preparation:
Cut cauliflower into medium sized florets and clean it by keeping it in a bowl containing a little salt and turmeric(to remove worms if any) for about 5 minutes. Cut potatoes into either lengthy finger chips sized pieces or medium sized thin cubes. Take oil in a heated kadai/pan and sputter mustard seeds in it. Then add jeera and curry leaves and wait for them to crackle. Next, add all the powders mentioned above and toss in the cleaned cauliflower and potato pieces. Add salt as required and cook coverd on a medium flame until it is done, with very little /no water.
Labels: cauliflower, Chatpat. quick, curry, dry sabzi, Easy, fry, Gobi, Jhatpat, One dish meal, phool gobi, talaasan, Tasty
Aloo Bhindi
Are you the kind that likes tangy and chat kind of taste in your curries? Then you are bound to like this variety of Aloo Bhindi which is prepared the North Indian way. A close college pal of mine used to bring it very often in her lunch box and i used to end up finishing most of it. Although i didn't know how to prepare it then, experience did teach me to imagine what must have gone into it to give it that wonderful taste. Tastes very good with Rotis/Parathas.
Time Taken: 20-25 minutes
Serves about 3 people
Ingredients Used:
1/2 kg ladies finger(washed and wiped dry)
2 medium sized potatoes
1 medium sized onion(optional)
1/4 tsp cumin seeds and turmeric powder
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp red chilly powder or 2-3 green chillies1 pinch each of both chat masala and garam masala
Salt to taste
4-5 tsp cooking oil
Method of Preparation:
Chop ladies finger and potatoes into medium sized chunks and keep them aside. Take oil in a kadai/frying pan and warm it. Crackle jeera/cumin seeds in it. If you are planning to use onions, then fry chopped onions until they turn reddish. Then, add all the powders mentioned above except the chat masala and garam masala. Stir for a few seconds. Toss in the chopped vegetables along with required amount of salt. Stir well and fry on medium flame until cooked with lid of the pan covered. Add chat masala and garam masala towards the end of your cooking so that their flavour is not lost.
Note: Use your discretion while adding salt because chat masala also contains salt in it. You wouldn't want your end result to be too salty .
Labels: aaloo, Aloo, Bhindi, Chatpat, Chatpat. quick, curry, dry sabzi, Easy, Jhatpat, ladies fingers, Potato, sabji, subji, Tasty
Guvar(Cluster Beans)Curry
I have noticed that many people don't like cluster beans. Preparing its curry in the style mentioned below, almost nullifies the weird taste that guvar gives in curries made using it the normal way. Being one of the important sources of proteins, it could be included atleast once in a while in our diet, to substitute the normal beans. The first time I had this dish was at my sister's place, where, the cook had prepared it along with rotis for our meal. We all loved it...
Time taken: 20-25 minutes
Serves 2 people.
Ingredients Used:
1/2 a kg cluster beans
1 medium sized onion
1 medium sized tomato
4-5 cloves of garlic
2 tsp oil
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a sprinkle of turmeric
1/2 tsp coriander powder
a pinch of garam masala(optional)
Salt to taste
Method of Preparation:
Destring the cluster beans and cut them into small pieces. In a cooker, take 2 tsp oil and warm it. Crackle cumin and mustard seeds in the oil and add finely chopped onion and garlic. When they turn pink, add the powders(except garam masala) mentioned above and stir for a few seconds. Then, add finely chopped tomato and let it form a gravy sort of a mix. Finally, toss in washed and chopped cluster beans, 1/10 cup water and pressure cook(till 1 whistle) with required amount of salt and a pinch of garam masala if you wish. Wait for the cooker to cool down and savour with hot hot rotis.
Labels: Chatpat, Chatpat. quick, cluster beans, dry curry, dry sabzi, Easy, Guvar, Jhatpat, Tasty
Pappu(Telugu style dal)
Pappu means dal or lentil in telugu language. This curry is very aromatic and tastes wonderful with rice. Goes well with roti or Indian bread. You could prepare this curry with or without green leafy vegetables like spinach/dill/. My friend Avani who hails from Hyderabad taught me how to prepare it. The very look at this dish makes you feel like you're eating something nutritious.Time Taken: 25-30 minutesServes about 4 people.Ingredients Used:4 handfuls of tuvar dal
a small handful of chana dal
(optional)1 bunch of spinach /or a little bit of dill and/or any other greens you use
(optional)1 medium sized tomato.
4-5 spicy green chillies
1 medium sized onion
one big garlic pod
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp oil/ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of jeera/cumin seeds
1-2 dry red chillies
3/4 tsp tamarind concentrate/paste.
Salt to taste
Method of Preparation:Wash both the dals in a pressure cooker container and add chopped onion, half the garlic quantity mentioned (thinly cut) and finely chopped leafy veggies, tomatoes and green chillies in it. Add the turmeric powder and enough water to soak the ingredients. Take 1 cup water in the cooker and place the container in it. Close the lid and pressure cook the dal well. While the cooker cools down, take a cooking pot and warm up some oil/ghee(whichever you prefer). Sputter mustard seeds and cumin in it. Add red chillies and stir for a few seconds until they turn dark red/brownish. Then, grate the remaining peeled garlic into it. Stir it a couple of times until it turns pinkish. Next, add the cooked dal mix to this along with some salt. Boil well for 5 minutes. Add tamarind as per your requirement and cook for another couple of minutes. Tasty Dal is all yours now!!
Labels: Chatpat. quick, Dal, Easy, Jhatpat, Palak, Pappu, Spinach, Tasty, telugu style
Avocado Sauce
Avocado is the English name for what is commonly called butterfruit owing to its taste resembling that of butter. While the usual practise of eating this 'very nutritious' fruit is to scoop out the soft fleshy part (when ripened), mash it and mix it with sugar, here is another recipe which has Hispanic origin(also called Guacamole sauce). While the Mexicans use it in their cuisines as a sauce along with other ingredients, i prepare it as a dressing(similar to ranch or thousand island etc etc) for regular garden salads to make it more intertesting and less boring in taste. A must try for those who are on a weight losing spree.Serves about 2-3 people.
Ingredients Used:2 ripened medium sized avocados
4-5 tsp yogurt
1/6th of a medium sized onion
1/4 of a garlic clove
1/2 a tomato
Salt and lemon to taste
Method of Preparation:Choose
avocados which are really soft and have darkened skin(blackish brown). If they are hard and green in colour, keep them for a day or two until they ripen. Then, peel and deseed them. Mash the pulp finely with either a wide based spoon or a mixer. To this, add yogurt, lemon, very finely chopped onion, tomato, grated garlic and salt(Mexicans use what is called garlic salt as a substitute). Enjoy with plain salad containing carrots, lettuce, cabbage etc.
Note:Make sure that the amount of garlic and onion used is just right, for, otherwise, it would make the sauce very pungent and repulsive. .Labels: Avocado, butterfruit, Chatpat, Chatpat. quick, dressing, dry salad, Easy, garlic sauce, Guacamole, Indian, Jhatpat, mexican, tasty.
Cabbage Rice(Bhath)
Cabbage Rice or cabbage bhath is a coconut based rice item. My aunt who is an awesome cook used to prepare this while we were kids. It was very much in demand then, especially when we had get-togethers. Years later, I asked her for its recipe in order to break the monotony of the usual rice items. It is now a regular item at our place. Hubby loves it! P.S: Mixer is a pre-requisite to prepare this item.Time Taken: 30 minutesServes about 4 people.Ingredients Used:1/3 of a medium sized cabbage
2 medium sized onions
1/2 a coconut(grated)
2 buds of clove
4-5 pieces of 1 inch sized cinnamon
One big handful of coriander seeds
5-6 red chillies
Tamarind(1/2 a lemon size)
Cooked rice (enough to serve about 3 people)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 curry leaves
2-3 tsp cooking oil
Method of Preparation:Chop onions and cabbage finely. In a cooking pan, take oil and warm it. In this, sputter mustard seeds with curry leaves. Add the onions and fry till light brown. Add chopped cabbage and salt to it. In the meanwhile, dry roast cloves, cinnamon and coriander seeds and grind them in a mixer along with red chillies, grated coconut and tamarind. Once the cabbage in the pan is almost cooked, add the ground paste to it and cook for a 5 minutes. Once the mix is cooked well, add cooled cooked rice to it. Garnish with coriander leaves if required. Cabbage rice is ready to serve.
Labels: bath, Bhath, Cabbage, Chatpat, Chatpat. quick, coconut based, Easy, Jhatpat, One dish meal, Paththa gobi, Rice, tasty.
Methi Salad
Methi or Fenugreek salad is a very healthy addition to your meal. It is very tasty at the same time. Am documenting it right now while i'm on vacation to India at my mom's place. We have prepared it for lunch and i cannot believe that there is absolutely no bitterness in the salad. While amma usually uses lemon for sourness in this recipe, today, she has added tomatoes along with lemon. So, what you want to use is your choice. Both taste different and are good in their own way.Serves about 4-5 peopleTime taken: 10-15 minutes.
Ingredients Used:1 big bunch of Methi/Fenugreek leaves
2 small onions
1 tomato(optional)
a big squeeze of lemon juice
a handful of grated coconut
1-2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 curry leaves
1-2 spicy green chillies
a dash of asafoetida.
Salt to taste
Method of Preparation:Wash methi leaves well chop them finely. Put it in a salad bowl and add finely chopped onions, tomatoes(if you want to), grated coconut, lemon juice and salt. Then, in a small frying pan, warm up oil. Sputter mustard seeds. In this, add curry leaves, asafoetida and finely chopped green chillies. Add this seasoning to the salad mix and eat fresh.
Labels: Chatpat. quick, dry salad, Easy, fenugreek, Healthy, Jhatpat, kosumbari, Methi, Salad, Tasty
Avarekayi is the Kannada name given to Lilva beans or what commonly called 'Papdi' in North India. Avarekayi being a seasonal bean is available for relishing in its fresh form during the winter months, mainly December and January. Being a rich source of proteins, it is used in usli, upma and saaru(kurma being one of its type). Kurma could be eaten with Chapati as well as rice.
