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.

Spring Onion Tomato Dal

This is one of my favourite. I never forget to get spring onions when I go for grocery shopping. Here is the recipe for it.

Ingredients:

Spring Onions chopped - 1 cup
Tomato - 1 medium
Turmeric - a pinch
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder - 1 table spoon or
Green chillies - 2
Jeera(Cumin Seeds) - 1 table spoon
Tamarind/Tamarind paste - small piece for sour taste or 1/2 table spoon (Optional)
Garlic cloves chopped - 2 (Optional)
Oil for tadka
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:

1. Cook dal in your way after adding a pinch of turmeric and cumin seeds, tamarind piece (optional) and tomato also.
2. Take a vessel, add oil to it. After oil is heated add garlic (optional), green chillies. Then add the chopped and cleaned spring onions to it.
3. Let the spring onions be lightly fried. If we add dal before the spring onions are fried, the raw smell remains intact and does not go away. After the spring onions are fried, add the dal.
4. Then add salt, red chilli powder (if needed), stir it. After it is mixed thoroughly , your dal is ready to serve and eat.

Happy Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays to all....... Hope you will all have a blast.

Coconut Chutney

This is a simple recipe which can be made instantly but still tastes delicious. Ofcourse, the hardest part will be to cut coconut into pieces. I use the frozen ones sometimes to avoid that pain.

Ingredients
Coconut pieces (scraped or small pieces)
Green chillies
red chillies (optional)
Tamarind - little to get the sour taste
urad dal
Oil
Salt to taste

For garnishing:
Kothimeeru - Coriander leaves
Tadka (Oil heated and then add mustard seeds, jeera, urad dal, red chillies and curry leaves)

Method of preparation

1. Make the coconut pieces ready by either scraping the coconut or by cutting the coconut into small pieces.

2. Do the tadka now, by heating oil in a small bowl and add mustard seeds. After mustard seeds splutter, add Jeera, urad dal, red chillies, and tamarind also and switch off the stove.

3. Grind the coconut, green chillies, salt and half of the tadka(add all the tamarind in the tadka while grinding). If needed add water in between.

4. Take the coarsely grinded paste into a bowl, then garnish with remaining tadka and chopped coriander leaves. Your coconut chutney is ready.

This tastes good with all the south indian tiffins or with rice.

Tamarind chaaru or pachi chaaru

This is one of the simple and easy to make dish. This item goes good with any dal & rice, or with papukaya(with any curry).



Ingredients
Tamarind - Lemon size
Onions - chopped into small pieces
Green chillies - chopped into small pieces
Cilantro (Coriander)
Salt to taste

Tadka:
Oil
Mustard Seeds
sesame seeds
Curry leaves (Optional)
Asafoetida (Optional)

Method of preparation
1. Soak tamarind for 1/2 hour or you can microwave for 1 minute and remove the pulp. Add enough water. Remember it might become too soar if you make it thick. So add enough water.

2. Add chopped onions, green chillies and salt to the above.

3. Now take a small vessel/bowl for tadka. Add oil and let it heat. Now add mustard seeds and let it splutter. add sesame seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida. switch off and add the tadka to the chaaru made on step 2.

Your chaaru is ready.

Terminology:
Tadka - Popu, talimpu, ponee(Telugu)
Coriander - Kothimeeru (Telugu)
Curry leaves - Karivepaaku (Telugu)
Tamarind - Chinthapandu (Telugu)

Recipes from my village ...

Gummadikaya Barada (can make it with Dosakaya also):
Update: The recipe of this curry is at following location:
http://myindiancooking.blogspot.com/2010/12/gummadikaya-barada.html







Muddakura
The recipe is at following location:
http://myindiancooking.blogspot.com/2009/03/muddakura.html


Pachi chaaru or chintapandu chaaru
Update: This recipe is at the following url:
http://myindiancooking.blogspot.com/2008/09/chinthapandutamarind-chaaru-or-pachi.html