Bendakaya Pulusu / Okra stew

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb Okra, bendakaya (pat dry & cut into 1 1/2" pieces)
• 1 medium Onion, finely chopped
• 1 tomato, finely chopped
• 4 green chillies, slit
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp tamarind pulp extracted/Small lemon size tamarind,
• Few Curry leaves
• Chopped Cilantro
• 1 tbsp oil
• A large pinch of Asafoetida powder
• 4-6 fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan & add fenugreek seeds, after they start changing color, add mustard seeds & let them pop.
• Add curry leaves, onions, chillies & saute for a minute.
• Add okra pieces & saute for 10 mts till okra becomes soft & brown.
• Add coriander powder, chilli powder, salt & mix well.
• Add the chopped tomatoes & mix well.Cook for another 5 mts.
• Add the tamarind pulp, 2 cups water & mix well.Cover & cook on medium flame till tomatoes are done & gravy thickens.
• Heat oil in another pan & add cumin seeds, when they start to change color, add asafoetida & transfer the tempering to the stew.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro & serve.

Gongura Pulusukura/ Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 Bunch Gongura leaves,chopped
• 1/2 cup Channa dal, soaked for an hour
• 5-7 Green chillies
• 1 Onion, chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp Rice flour
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Urad dal
• 1 tsp Oil

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds.
• When urad dal changes color, add asafoetida, chillies, onions and saute till onions are soft.
• Add the gongura leaves,channa dal salt, turmeric powder and cover.
• Cook on medium heat till channa dal & leaves are completely cooked.
• Add some water & bring it to a boil .
• Mix rice flour in 1/4 cup water and add it to the stew.
• Cook for a couple of minutes and remove.
• Serve hot with rice.

Avial

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Boiled Vegetables( beans, carrots, drumsticks,cauliflower,peas)
• 1/2 Cup Grated Coconut, fresh
• 1/2 Cup Coconut milk
• 1 Cup Yogurt
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Oil
• Chopped Cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 Green Chilli, slit
• Few Curry leaves
• A pinch of Asafoetida

Method:

• Beat the yogurt, add coconut milk and mix well.
• Grind together Cumin seeds, chilli and grated coconut to a coarse paste.
• Mix this ground paste to the yogurt.
• Add salt, mixed vegetables, cilantro and mix well.
• Heat Oil in a pan and add cumin, when it starts to crackle add asafoetida & curry leaves.
• Pour this seasoning to the Avial and serve.

Vulava Charu / Horse Gram Rasam

I have been watching the "Ayurveda Jeevana Vidhanam" which is being aired on Zee Telugu for quite some time now, the Ayurveda Guru in that shows us many remedies which we can perform using simple ingredients from our kitchen shelf.
According to this Guru, one can shed excess weight or burn excess fat by having horse gram soup.
I have never tasted this rasam before, and heard a lot about this and wanted to give it a try.
I must tell you, this rasam is excellent to taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Horse gram/vulavalu
• 1 Tomato, chopped
• 1/2 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Tamarind paste
• A pinch of Turmeric powder
• A pinch of Hing
• Salt to taste
• 1 Clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp oil
• 4-5 Green chillies, chopped
• Few Curry leaves
• 3 Cups water.

Method:

• Soak vulavalu over night in water and pressure cook with 3 cups water for 7-8 Whistles.
• Mash, sieve them and discard the pulp keeping aside the water.
• Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, when they start spluttering add garlic, hing, chillies , curry leaves.
• Add the chopped onions and fry till they become soft.Add the tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are completely mashed.
• Add the horse gram water , salt, turmeric powder, tamarind paste and mix well.
• Bring to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro and Serve hot.

Kadi Pakoda

Ingredients:

For Pakoda:

• 1/2 cup Besan
• 1/4 cup onions, sliced
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp ginger, minced
• Pinch of turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp Ajwain seeds
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

For Kadi:

• 2 cups Yogurt
• A large pinch of turmeric powder
• 2 cups water
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp Besan
• 4 green chillies
• 1" ginger
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 3 cloves garlic

For Seasoning:

• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
• A large pinch of hing
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp oil
• few curry leaves
• Chopped cilantro to garnish

Method:

Pakoda:

• Mix besan, onions,chillies,ginger, ajwain, salt in a bowl.
• Add enough water to make thick batter.
• Take some batter in hand and put random shape pakodas in hot oil and deep fry until they turn brown.
• Remove and keep aside.

Kadi:

• Take the yogurt and water in a bowl, mix it well and make buttermilk of thick consistency.
• Grind together chillies, ginger, garlic,coriander seeds, cumin seeds and mix it with the butter milk.
• Add salt, besan and mix well.
• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when they start to crackle add cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves.
• Pour the butter milk into the tadka and bring to a boil.
• Finally add the fried pakodas to the kadi and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot.

Avarekai Sambar

I used to stay with my maternal uncle in Bangalore while i was doing my internship for MCA.My aunt used to make a variety of Maharashtrian and South Indian dishes , and one of her best is Avarekai sambar, yummmmmmmy. This being a seasonal lentil we (my uncle has two lovely daughters, younger one was a sweetheart) enjoyed the avarekai sambar only during the season, but here in US i got them in the frozen section.Avarekai is available in Indian stores under the name of Surti Papdi Lilva.

This is my entry for Susan's My Legume Love Affair and Ashwini's Lentils Mela.

Thank you Sia, i got to know about these two contests while going through your Kolhapuri Missal.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Avarekai (boiled)
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 1 Large Onion, roughly chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 2 Tbsp Sambar powder
• 1 tsp oil

For the seasoning:

• 3 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• A large pinch of Hing
• Few Curry leaves
• Chopped cilantro to garnish

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions till they change color, cool and grind to a smooth paste along with grated coconut and tomatoes.
• Transfer this in to a bowl and add some water to get desired consistency.
• Bring to a boil and simmer, add salt, sambar powder and chilli powder and mix well.
• Add the boiled Avarekai and cook on medium flame for 6-8 minutes
• For the seasoning, heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when they start crackling add the cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves and pour it over the sambar.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro and Serve hot with rice.

Tomato Gojju

My mom is an expert in this, though we follow the same procedure in making the fresh powder
her gojju tastes amazing, wonder how she manages that.Here is the procedure....


Ingredients:

For the powder:

1 tsp oil
3 tbsp Coriander seeds
3 tsp Urad dal
1 tsp Sesame seeds
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
8-10 Whole red chillies

For gojju:

3 Large Tomatoes, cubed
1 medium Onion, Sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Pinch of turmeric
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
Few Curry leaves
A large pinch hing
2 tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped


Method:

Heat lil oil in a pan and roast coriander seeds till they change color and keep aside, in the same pan roast rest of the spices and keep aside.
Grind to a coarse powder.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when they start crackling add cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves.Add the chopped garlic.
When garlic changes color add onions and fry till onions are soft.Add tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are completely cooked.
Add salt,turmeric powder and the gojju powder and mix well.
Cook for a couple of minutes and remove.
Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Vada-Sambar

Ingredients:

For Vada:

2cups Urad dal
1/4 tsp Pepper powder
1 tsp Ginger, crushed
6-8 Green chillies, crushed
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry
1 tbsp Onion, finely chopped (optional)

Method:

Wash and soak urad dal for 2-4hrs.
Drain and Grind coarsely with very less water.
Add salt, pepper, green chillies , ginger and mix well.
slightly wet a zip lock cover and take small lemon size batter and press them slightly using your palm, make a small hole in the center.
Deep fry in hot oil till they turn into lovely golden brown color remove and place it on a tissue paper.
Serve hot with coconut chutney or sambar.

For Sambar:

1 cup Toor dal
1 onion ,roughly chopped
2 tomatoes,cubed
4-6 Sambar onions
Salt to taste
A large pinch Turmeric powder
3 tbsp Sambar powder
3 tsp tamarind pulp
Few Curry leaves
4 tbsp Cilantro, chopped

For seasoning:

1tsp mustard seeds
2 whole red chillies
A pinch hing
1 tsp jeera


Method:

Pressure cook dal and blend it smoothly.
Heat oil in a pan and fry roughly chopped onion till they r soft, fry the tomatoes also the similar way.Make a smooth paste of these onions and tomatoes and add to the toor dal paste.
In a large pan add the toor dal paste and add little water and bring to a boil, add salt,tamarind paste, turmeric powder, sambar powder and cook on a low flame.
In another pan heat oil and fry the sambar onions, when these onions are soft add 1 tsp of sambar powder and some salt and fry for a couple of minutes.(tip by sanjeev kapoor)
When the onions are soft and cooked add them to the sambar.
for the seasoning heat oil in pan and add mustard seeds, when they start crackling add jeera, hing , red chillies ,curry leaves and pour it in the sambar.
Finally add the chopped cilantro and serve hot.

Majjiga Pulusu (Buttermilk stew)

My mother in law makes excellent Majjiga pulusu, she doesn't use the Channa dal or besan in her version.
Here is my version of it.

Ingredients:

1 cup cubed vegetables (boiled)(lady finger,drumstick, tomato,bottle guard)
3 Cups sour buttermilk
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup water
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Besan

Grind to paste:

4 green chillies
1 inch piece ginger
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp grated coconut

for the seasoning

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp hing
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp oil
8-10 curry leaves
2 red chillies

Method:

Take the buttermilk in a bowl add water and mix well.Add besan , turmeric powder , ground chilli paste and mix well.
Place in on the stove and bring to boil, simmer it and add the boiled vegetables , salt and mix well.Cook it on low flame till vegetables absorb the flavours.
Heat oil in another pan and when the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, red chillies, curry leaves and when they start crackling add it to the stew.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.