Kathrikai Curry

Kathrikai Curry

I always thought making Curries were the simplest thing in the world. More often than not used the same method. Recently I got hold if this delicious yet extremely simple recipe from my periamma..
It was my grandmother's and has been handed down through word of mouth through generations of the Vasan Family.. :)

Here I go..

Ingredients

• Brinjal (either one huge eggplant that's used for bartha or about 10 small ones)
• turmeric - quarter spoon
• Oil
  
• Mustard seeds and urud dal for garnish
• Red chillies - 4 to 5
• Dhania seeds - 3-4 spoons
• Channa Dal - 2 spoons

Method

• Cut the Brinjal , Slice it lengthwise.
• Heat Oil in a pan . Make sure the sides of the pan are laced with oil so that the Brinjal doesn't stick. Add the mustard seeds . Let them Splutter.
• Add the Brinjal .Add the Turmeric powder . Sprinkle a little water. (Too much water changes the taste of the Brinjal and makes it soggy). Add Salt as appropriate
  
• Cover and Let the Brinjal Cook. Stir occasionally , but make sure that you don't break up the pieces and keep them intact
• In a separate vessel add a little oil and roast the Chillies, Dhania seeds and Channa dal. Let them cool and then pound coarsely.
• Once the Brinjal is cooked add the mixture and mix.
• Serve Hot.
  

Luv
Meena

Beetroot Pachadi

Though Ram is not a big fan of beetroot, this pachadi turned out to be his all time favourite. It serves as a good accompaniment for sambar rice, thogiyal rice etc:.
Preparation time 20 mts
Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 1 finely grated beetroot
• 1 finely grated carrot
• Mustard seeds
• Asfoetida
• Curry leaves
• 2 - 3 ladle full curd
• salt

Ground Mixture

1. 2 tbsp Grated coconut ( I usually use the dry coconut available in Indian stores)
2. 2 Green chillies
3. 1 tsp jeera
4. small piece ginger
5. 1/4 onion piece

Preparation:

• Make a fine paste with the grated coconut, green chillies, jeera, ginger salt and onion.
• Cook the grated beetroot and carrot in tava with no oil till the raw smell goes.
• Add the grounded mixture to the cooked beetroot-carrot mixture.
• Allow it to cook for less than 2 mts and switch off the burner.
• Add curd and mix it well till you are satisfied with the consistency.
• Take oil in a separate tava to pop the mustard seeds and add asfoetida along with curry leaves.
• Pour the seasoning in the pachadi.

Lima Beans Curry

Preparation time 30 mts
Serves 3
Ingredients:

• 2 cups frozen lima beans
• 1/2 chopped onions
• 1 chopped tomato
• turmeric powder
• red chilli powder
• salt

Ground Mixture

1. 2 tsp jeera
2. 2 tsp coriander seeds
3. 2 cloves
4. 1/2 inch cinnamon
5. 2 bay leaves
6. 4 tbsp shredded coconut
7. 2 green chillies
8. small piece ginger

Preparation:

• Boil frozen lima beans in pressure cooker.
• Dry fry jeera, coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and grind it along with shredded coconut, green chillies and ginger to make a fine flavorful paste
• Take oil in tava and allow mustard seeds to splutter.
• Add chopped onions and fry till it turns translucent.
• Add chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.
• Add finely chopped tomatoes and allow it to cook.
• Add the grounded paste to onion-tomato gravy and cook for 2 mts.
• Finally add boiled lima beans and garnish it with coriander.
• Serve this delicious and high nutritious curry with rotis.

Tindora/Kovakai/Dhondakai Curry

Its saturday time and it's time for the old classics...Kovakai is one of my favourite veggie..It belongs to the gourd family..It's very popular in Andhra called as Dhondakai...For those of you who don't know how it looks like...

Ingredients:

- Tindora/Dhondakai/Kovakai - 250gm
- Uridh Dhal
- Channa Dhal
- Jeera
- Mustard
- Turmeric
- Chilli powder
- Tamarind
- Jaggery
- Salt
- Curry Leaves / Coriander

Method:

- Cut the Kovakai into thin longitudinal pieces
- Soak 1 cm of puli in hotwater
- Heat Oil in tava
- Add mustard seeds, uridh dhal, channa dhal
- Fry till the mixture become brown
- Add the cut kovakai in tava
- Fry for 6-7 minutes
- Add turmeric, Chilli powder, jaggery, tamarind water
- Mix it well, add some water and cover it for 5 mintutes
- Check if the vegetable has boiled
- Add salt as per taste
- Garnish well with curry leaves/Corainder

Yummy curry is ready!!!

The curry is very simple to make and goes well with dhal rice, curd and chapathis. This veg can be cooked along with dhal or stuffed kovakai is also equally tasty!

Spring Onion and Tomato curry

I caught hold of a bunch of Spring onions also referred to as Scallions in USA when i visited the farmers market yesterday. In India, tradionally spring onions are used to garnish fried rice or vegetable noodles, little did i know that i could toss up this mildly flavored onions with tomatoes to make a delectable and simple curry. Here goes my recipe!

Ingredients:

• 2 Bunches of Spring Onions
• Tomato
• Turmeric powder
• Sambar or Curry powder
• Salt
• Mustard seeds
• Jeera
• Tamarind
• 3-4 small green chilles
• Coriander

Recipe:

1. Finely chop spring onions, tomato and green chillies.
2. Soak gooseberry sized tamarind in hot water.
3. Heat oil in tava and add mustard seeds &jeera
4. Allow the mustard seeds to splutter and add the chopped spring onions and green chillies.
5. Fry the onions for about 5 mts and add tomatoes.
6. When the spring onions and tomatoes are partially cooked add a pinch of turmeric,salt and sambar powder.
7. Now add the squeezed tamarind water and allow the mixture to cook till the curry thickens.
8. Garnish it with finely chopped coriander leaves.
9. Enjoy the curry with chappathis or rice.

North Indian twist:

You could grate ginger and garlic pod before adding the spring onions and replace sambar powder with garam masala powder. This gives the curry a typical north indian flavor.

Breakfast - Oatmeal with Cinnamon and Cranberries

Someone once told me breakfast is "A meal after fasting" and it should be sumptuous. Though I never have a heavy breakfast, I try at least not to skip. My recent favorite is this.


Appromixate cooking time - 7 min
You need
Oats - 3/4 cup
Milk - 1 /2 cup
Water -1/4 cup
Sugar - 1tbsp
Ground Cinnamon - a bit
Dried Cranberries - 4

Method
Heat the milk. When the milk starts boiling, add oats and then water. Reduce the flame to medium and cook for 4 minutes. I like the oats semi-solid (oeey-goeey). When it reaches desired consistency, switch off, transfer to a bowl and add sugar and sprinkle ground cinnamon. Add the dried cranberries. Serve warm. You would have never guessed oatmeal tastes this good.

Nutritional value
Cinnamon - The spice mimics your body's insulin, which stimulates fat cells and allows excess sugar to move out of the blood. Try to get a teaspoon a day and loose weight :)
Oats - Can help to lower the blood cholesterol
Cranberries - I can't stress enough the goodness of cranberries - go Google or go Bing!!
Get creative and substitute with blueberries/strawberries. For people living in US, I get the Coache's Oats from Costco with steel cut texture. Like it more than Quaker's.

Lunch box - Idea 1 -Keerai masiyal & Potato fry

I love trying new recipies. But when it comes to everyday lunch, I stick to the traditional items. Here is one such combination. Keerai masiyal and Potato fry.
Keerai Masiyal is the most easiest recipe to make for lunch. Cut and pressure cook. That is all there to it, prettymuch :)

Approximate cooking time(including chopping) - 30 min
















You Need :
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cimun Seeds - 1tbsp
Green chillies - 3
medium sized onion - 1/2
Garlic - 4pods
Tumeric powder - 1 tbsp
Tomato - 1
Spinach leaves - 2 bunches
Thoor dhall - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp(optional)
Salt

Method
Use a pressure cooker.Heat it with a little oil and add the cumin, onions, green chillies, tomato, spinach, garlic, turmeric,salt all in one go. Fry for a few minutes till you see the spinach leave water. Wash and add the thoor dhaal. There must be more spinach than dhall that you can see. Add enough water for the dhall to cook. Pressure cook for 4+ whistles, depending on your dhall's cooking time. Take a mathu and whisk the spinach so that all comes together. It shouldn't take more than 2 minutes. Boil off the excess water. Add ghee(optional).
Tips
Turmeric reduces the iron taste of spinach. So if you are like me, and don't like the iron taste, use more of turmeric.
Use can also use a egg beater if you don't have a mathu.
The onions dont need to be fried in this process.