Carrot Moong dal

Ingredients
Carrot - 2 no. grated
Red onion - 1/2 finely chopped
Tomato - 1/2 finely chopped
Moong dal - 1/2 cup
Water - sufficiant to cook moong dal (I use almost 2 cups)
Green chillies
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 spoons
Mustard seeds - 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds - 1/4 spoon
Coriander powder (optional) - 1/2 spoon
Turmeric - 1/4 spoon

Method of preparation
Soak moong dal before. If you do not have that much time, then soak moong dal in water and microwave it for a minute or two. Take a kadai and add oil to it. Add mustard seeds and after they splutter add jeera(cumin seeds to it). Now add green chillies, asafoetida ( a pinch), curry leaves (optional) and then red onions. Once onions are slightly done add the grated carrot and then moong dal and add sufficiant water. Cover and cook for couple of minutes only. Remove the cover and let the moong dal cook completely. Add turmeric, salt and coriander powder to it and mix. Add coriander leaves and your dish is ready to serve.

Green Vankaya Curry (Green Eggplant)

Ingredients
Green eggplant - chopped lengthwise into 2 inch pieces
Red onions - 1 chopped lengthwise
Tomato (Optional)  - 1/2 chopped into big pieces
Oil - 2 spoons
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder
Jeera - 1/2 spoon

Method of preparation:
Take a kadai and add oil to it. Once it is hot add jeera to it. As I used red onions, I added both onions and eggplant at the same time to the oil and cook it for 2 minutes. Add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder to it. Once everything is cooked, turn off stove and serve it hot with rice or roti.

Note: 

Green eggplants cook very fast. so be careful and not let it cook too much.

Dondakaya Kandipodi kura/Tindora Chutney powder Curry

Ingredients
Tindora - 1 packet from frozen or lengthwise cut fresh tindora's
Red chilli powder - 1/2 spoon or depending upon your chilli powder and your spice levels
Salt to taste
Oil - 4 spoons
Mustard seeds - 1/2 spoon
Jeera - 1/2 spoon
Chutney powder - enough to cover all the tindora's or 4 spoons

Method of preparation
Add oil in kadai. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add jeera and then tindora. Add turmeric and salt to it and let it cook. Once it is almost cooked add red chilli powder to it. When it is almost time to turn off the stove, add the chutney powder and mix it thoroughly so that the tindora's are covered with chutney powder. Remove from stove and transfer to a serving bowl.

Spinach Carrot Rice

I got this idea from my co-sister Gayatri. I loved it so much that I tried it in my own way and I make it almost whenever I can. This rice is healthy, yummy and fast to make. So here goes my recipe

Ingredients
Spinach - 1 bunch
Carrot - 2 peeled and grated
Red onions - 1 big Chopped finely
Biryani pulao masala - 1 spoon
Cinnamon Sticks - 2 no.s
Bay leaves - 3 no.s
Cooked rice - 2 cups
Oil - 2/3 spoons
Salt to taste
Method of preparation
Add oil to kadai and let it heat. Once it is hot, add cinnamon sticks and bay leaves. Add onions to it until they turn translucent. Since I used red onions, I added grated carrot and spinach also at the same time. Once everything is cooked (it would not take much time, probably 2 minutes), add salt and biryani masala. Mix it thoroughly. Now add the rice to it and serve hot. You can add the fried onions on top as serving suggestion.
Enjoy ....

Aloo broccoli curry

Ingredients
Potatos - 3 potatos
Broccoli - 2 cup
Tomato - 1/2 chopped
Oil - 2 spoons (Use olive oil for healthy reasons)
Mustard seeds - 1 spoon
Jeera /Cumin seeds - 1 spoon
Chana dal - 2 spoons
Turmeric - 1/4 spoon
Red chilli powder - 1 and 1/2 spoon (depending on the spice level of yours and your powder)
Salt - 1 spoon

Method of preparation
Take a kadai and add oil to it. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add jeera and chana dal after it. Add the chopped potato and broccoli to it. cover and cook for 5 minutes. Broccoli and potatos both cook fast so check in between so that they do not stick to the pan. When the potatos and broccoli are  almost done add rest of the ingredients. Add dhania powder also (optional). Your simple curry is ready to serve.

Semiya Payasam/Kheer

I have the photos and recipe ready since many days but because of my laziness I kept postponing adding it to the blog. But here it goes: I hope lot of people knows the recipe already.

Ingredients
Semiya/Vermicelli - 1/4 cup or a fistful
Milk - 2 cups
Ghee - 2-3 spoons
Sugar - 5 spoons (adjust sugar quantity depending on your sweet levels)
Dry fruits (Cashew/Raisins/Badam/charoli,chaarapappu) - a fistful or according to your taste.
Badam powder/Cashew powder - one spoon each (optional)
Elaichi powder - 1/4 spoon

Method of preparation:
Take ghee in a kadai. Roast the dry fruits and keep it aside.

Now add semiya to rest of the ghee. Roast the semiya (this will make it cook faster and taste nicer). Add milk after the semiya is roasted.

Keep stirring in between until the semiya is cooked. Now add sugar. If the milk is at a stage of boiling, add dry fruits, dry fruits powder and elaichi powder to the payasam. Your payasam is ready to serve. You can serve it hot or cold according to your taste and timing.

Note:
1)You can get roasted semiya from store. In that case, you do not need to wait until the semiya turns brown or roasted. You can add milk after few seconds of adding the semiya.
2) Do not worry about the semiya quantity being added. After payasam is done, the mixture will solidify and you will feel like you have added more semiya.