Free Imagine Things

Issue #005 is up and waiting for you. Some really good stuff in there this time. You'll see work by Elva Maxine Beach, Robert S. King, Jimmy Chen, Carrie Taylor, Teddy Bryan and more. There's also an article about Agatha Christie, and an excellent review of McMurty's Books. Also note the section on submitting visual art in the submit section. Have at it...
http://shelflifemagazine.com/

METHI-LEGUME & LENTILS PALUV - MY LEGUME LOVE AFFAIR
This is my first entry to bloggers all kinds of round-ups, I am sending this post to Srivalli's Cooking4allseasons blogspot for event MLLA, Actually when i saw this legume i was really thrilled because i use lot of different kind of legumes in my cooking, The first thought which came to my mind was, that it was a fantastic round-up at right time because I remember my Ayurvedic doctor telling me long back that we should consume lot of legumes, lentils, dals fresh or frozen or dried during winter season, I do not remember why he said that, but eating them during winter is very good for health. Anyway, I would like to learn all the wonderful dishes created by everybody!!!!. Here is my recipe. I know my picture is not very exciting like others or mouth watering, but the taste was quite nice. everybody enjoyed it at home.















Ingredients:

• 2 tumbler Basmati Rice
• 1 bunch of methi leaves
• 1/2 fistful of green gram
• 1 /2 fistful of Rajma
• 1/2 fistful of gongo peas
• 1/2 fistful of soya beans
• 1/2 fistful of white kidney beans
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 4 to 5 tbsp of oil
• 3 & 1/2 tumbler water

To Grind:

• 1'' ginger
• 4-5 pods of garlic
• 2 medium sized onions
• 2 to 3 green chillies

seasonings:

• 1' cinnamon stick
• 3 to 4 cloves
• 2 to 3 marati moggu
• 1 tbsp of cumin seeds

METHOD:

1. First of all wash & soak all the legumes in water 10 hours before preparing this recipe
2. Soak the rice for 10 minutes and drain out the water
3. First of all cook the legumes separately with enough water, so, now & then u can look into how well & evenly they are getting cooked add a tsp of salt half way through, if u pressure cook them just wait for 1 whistle, I am trying to cook them like this because if they are completely cooked they might become too soft and get mashed by the time we complete the process of making pulav.
4. wash & cut the fenugreek leaves from its stalk , once u have cut them do not keep it for a long time they become bitter.
5. Meanwhile take a pressure cook pan or a cooker or a deep kadai, heat the oil and put in all the ingredients in the seasoning list with the bay leaves, when they start cracking and changing colour
6. Add the ground paste mentioned in the 'to grind list' and fry for some time until the raw smell seizes or good smell comes out of it.
7. When u are frying them cut the methi leaves & keep it ready, now add them to the pan and fry for few minutes
8. Now add rice and fry for 2 minutes, If it is very good quality rice they will not break otherwise the rice breaks into pieces so, do be careful when u r frying or otherwise do not take any risk at all just add the drained rice into it and now add the cooked legumes.
9. Mix all of them very well add salt according to taste ( do not forget that u have already added a tsp of salt while cooking the legumes).
10. Do not throw away the water in which u have cooked the legumes drain the water into a vessel and measure them. Add water into the pan & mix well.
11. If u have used 1 tumbler Basmathi rice, you should add 1 & 3/4 th tumbler of water then the rice will cook well and the grains also get separated.
12. Close the lid of the cooker and cook in a low flame for exactly 15 minutes, when it is cool take it out and mix well & allow the grains to get separated, serve hot with cucumber raitha.

NOTE

1. If you are using a heavy bottomed vessel or a deep kadai just close the lid and cook for another 5 more minutes . usually when you are cooking in a low flame the rice will not burn underneath if you think it might Keep a tawa or a Dosa pan under the utensil in which ever you are using while you are cooking. It is called DHUM cooking.
2. Do not wash Basmathi rice too many times just one wash is enough, soak the rice for just 5 to 10 minutes, most of the times I do not soak the rice at all , I just wash and add the rice to the pan directly even then it comes very well.
3. most of the times i cook in my deep bottomed kadai & my pulav always turns out very well, but u can cook just 1 tumbler of rice with vegetables in the deep prestige deep pan
4. If u have a 7 liter cooker and the pan coming with that is also quite small & takes just 1 tumbler of rice, If u have a 11 liter cooker the pan coming with that can cook up to 1 &1/2 to 2 tumblers.

http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2009/01/announcing-my-legume-love-affair.html

http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-legume-love-affair-host-lineup.html

This is another Dry curry which is my husband's favourite, every time I get pavakka, I have to do this for at least one Bitter Gourd, My daughter & me both of us Bitter gourd Gojju, so when we buy this vegetable we share it!!!!. This dry curry is cooked in marriages & ceremonies also!!!, but with different vegetables. Here is the Recipe, again, as Raji from RAKS Kitchen says where is the photo of dry curry, Then it will look interesting to taste, Raji, I am sorry dear next time when i cook i will post the picture, I remembered that i forgot to take the photo after we were half way through eating !!!! :)
PAVAKKA PARAP ARACHHA KARMAD

















Ingredients :

• 1 Bitter Gourd or Karela (medium sized)

To Grind :

• 1/2 cup Channa Dal (soaked)
• 2- 2 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi )
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• Salt to taste

Seasoning:

• 2 to 3 tbsp of oil
• 1 tbsp Urad Dal
• 1 tbsp of Channa Dal
• 1 sprig of curry leaves

METHOD :

1. First of all soak channa dal for 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours
2. Then cut the Bittergourd into pieces as shown in the photo, sprinkle little bit of salt mix and keep it aside for some time.
3. About an hour or so, the Bitter gourd separates out water from it, If you do not like too much bitterness you can squeeze the water out of them & throw the water away, I do not throw the water away but use it as it is. The water is very important & it is which has the qualities which is good for lowering the sugar levels, people suffering from Diabetic drink this water to reduce the sugar level.
4. Take a wok, heat a tbsp of oil, Season it with mustard seeds, urad, channa Dals & sprig of curry leaves & turmeric powder, after they change colour, Add Bitter gourd & fry in a low flame until it becomes soft & gets cooked sprinkling little water bit by bit or u can fry with little more oil , see to it, that it should become soft & crispy too !!
5. Now Grind soaked Channa Dal, chillies, asafoetida into a coarse paste do not add too much water, try to grind it without water.
6. In the same wok where you had already fried Bitter gourd, after it got cooked add this coarse paste to it, mix well & allow it get cooked by sprinkling water little by little in a low flame until the Dal's get cooked & a nice aroma comes out of it
7. Or else you can increase the quantity of oil to 4 to 5 tbsp to the same wok after the bittergourd is cooked and allow 2 or 3 minutes, oil gets heated up, then add the coarse paste, mix well and allow it get cooked. Actually, the taste is great when you cook it like this, but I have stopped doing so, as we will be using more oil this way, But, My mom-in-law always said If I cooked like this, it tasted like her mom's cooking, She also loved this dry curry.
8. After all of them get evenly mixed & cooked, you can serve it with plain rasam or it goes very well with Seraga-Molag Rasam (Jeera-Pepper Rasam), or you can mix it with plain hot Rice and eat it.

Variations:

You can use this method to cook dry curries with:

French Beans, Clustered Beans, Runner Beans, Plantain, Plantain Flower & chow-chow.

Note: For Plantain & Plantain Flower the vegetable need not be cooked separately, Mix the coarse paste with the vegetable , Then oil should be heated, fry the seasonings & then add the plantain-Dal mixture and roast until the vegetable gets cooked.

METHOD II

You can mix Channa Dal & Tuvar Dal to make this or Use Tuvar Dal instead of Channa Dal, but the method is same as above.

This is an other kind of Thuvaiyal I learnt it from my Mom-in-law, She used to love cooking Thuvaiyals, My husband loves all kind of Thuvaiyals, it is just that he loves Rice and anything mix & eat with it is his favourites, Even I love all kind of Thuvaiyal & Gojjus, they are my favourite!!! when I was a kid Dad always used to tease me, if something like this is cooked our girl will automatically gets hungry!!, well, who can resist it right ? enough of this let me come to making this Thuvaiyal.
BRINJAL/KATHRIKA THUVAIYAL

Ingredients:

• 1 Big Brinjal/Aubergin
• 2 tbsp of Urad dhal
• 1 tbsp of Blackgram dhal
• 3 to 4 Red chillies
• 2 tbsp of coconut gratings
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 4 to 5 flakes of tamarind (Gooseberry size)
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 3 to 4 sprigs of coriander leaves
• salt to taste

METHOD:

1. Roast a big Brinjal/Aubergin over a small fire directly on the stove, apply oil completely on to the brinjal and then put it on the stove directly on a medium flame turning now & then so the whole brinjal gets cooked and the skin turns black in colour.
2. Take it away from the fire and allow it cool.
3. Take a frying pan or wok with a tsp of oil fry all the above ingredients except for coconut
4. Roast them until all of them change colour and keep aside for them to cool.
5. Meanwhile remove or peel of the skin of the aubergine/Brinjal and mash it lightly
6. In a mixie grind the above roasted ingredients into a coarse powder in the last round add the mashed cooked Brinjal with a little water and grind into a Thuvaiyal consistency.
7. Serve it with hot rice, It goes well with Rasam or Gojju as a combo.

NOTE: I have made slight changes with my Mom-in-law's original recipe, she never used to add curry leaves or coriander leaves or grated coconut, she used to just fry the above said ingredients (urad, chenna, chillies & tamarind) with a little water & used to nicely mash the cooked Brinjal and mix it with the coarse paste.

COCONUT RICE:















This is a type of Rice variety most of you might be knowing, I just thought I will post in the blog of how I make it. Here is Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 1 cup Rice
• 1/2 cup Fresh grated Coconut
• 2 to 3 Red chillies
• 1 tbsp Black gram/Urad dal
• 1 tbsp of Chenna dal/Bengal gram
• 1 tsp of mustard seeds
• a pinch of asafoetida
• fistful of peanuts
• 4 to 5 cashew nuts
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp Ghee
• 2 to 3 sprig of fresh coriander leaves

METHOD:

1. Cook Rice. Allow it cool by spreading it on a plate, separate the grains, add 1/2 tbsp of Ghee & mix well.
2. Take a wok, heat the ghee & add the seasonings, mustard, dhals, chillies, peanuts, curry leaves, & cashews.
3. After frying them add them to the pre-cooked Rice.
4. Heat a little Ghee & fry the coconut scrapings to reddish brown in colour and add
5. Mix well with the above said said seasonings and garnish it with coriander leaves.
6. Serve it Popads of any variety.

VARIATION:

In this type what you have to do is, You have to take 1 tsp of blackgram dal/urad dal, 1 tsp of bengal gram dal/chenna dal and the Red chillies fry them in little Ghee, when cool make a powder of it and sprinkle on the Rice and in the seasonings you can add chopped green chillies also, only thing you have to keep in mind is the spiciness because you have already added Red chillies!!!.

hi,
This is a chutney from onion it goes well with Dosa's & with rice too!!
ONION CHUTNEY


















Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized onions
• 4 tbsp full of channa dal
• 2 tbsp of urad dal
• 4-5 red chillies (Guntur & Badgi)
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 3 to 4 sprigs of coriander leaves
• 2 tbsp of coconut (fresh or dessicated)
• Gooseberry sized jaggery
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 to 3 flakes Tamarind (marble sized)

Seasoning: 1tsp of oil & 1tsp mustard seeds

1. Take a pan or wok, add a tbsp of oil, when it is hot add dals, chillies & Tamarind roast for few minutes until the dals change into golden brown in colour.
2. Then add onions , curry leaves & coriander leaves frying them until the onions become transparent , by then the green leaves also would have roasted .
3. Remove them from the pan and allow it cool for some time
4. Grind them altogether with salt to taste, coconut & jaggery into a coarse paste
5. season them with a tbsp of oil & mustard seeds
6. serve them with dosa's, chapati's or hot rice.

Hi,

This is an other variety of Thuvaiyal, I make with Vegetable peels like Ridge Gourd Peel & Chow- chow peel. I also make chutney & pachadi out of inner pith of tender Snake gourd. The picture below shows Ridge Gourd peel and the inner pith taken out of Snake Gourd, I mixed both of them and made this chutney
RIDGE GOURD & SNAKE GOURD CHUTNEY:

Ingredients:

• Peel of Ridge Gourd OR
• peel of Chow-Chow/Seemebadanekaayi/Banglaore Kathrika
• Tender inner pith of Snake Gourd/Paduvalkaayi/Pudalangai

TO GRIND:

• 2 tbsp of chenna dal/Bengal gram
• 2 tbsp of Tuvar dal
• 1 tbsp of Black gram/Urad dal
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 3 to 4 Red chillies
• 1 to 2 tbsp of Grated fresh coconut (optional)
• salt to taste
• 2 to 3 flakes of Tamarind
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 3 to 4 sprigs of coriander leaves

METHOD

1. Wash the peeled skins of the vegetables you choose to do or you can even mix them too!!!
2. Take a pan heat & put these into the pan and fry in a low flame, or sprinkle water and cook them for a while until they kind of change their colour. keep aside & allow them to cool.
3. Take the same pan add a tsp of oil & heat it, now add one by all the ingredients under the to grind heading except for coconut & fry them until all of them change colour
4. Adding salt and all the above said ingredients mix them and grind them with little water into a Thuvaiyal consistency
5. Serve it with a tsp of oil & hot rice, mix and eat.

NOTE: Chillies you can always vary as how spicy ur taste buds can tolerate!!!

hi,

• 300 gms Rice vermicelli (Dragon Shavige)
• 1 to 1 &1/2 fresh coconut Gratings
• 100 to 150 gms mixed vegetables (peas,carrots, beans,capsicum,onion etc.,)
• salt to taste
• desired quantity of lemon or lime juice
• 6 to 7 sprigs of coriander leaves finely chopped

Seasonings:

• 3 to 4 tbsp of oil
• 1 tsp of mustard seeds
• 2 to 3 tbsp channa dal
• 2 to 3 tbsp of urad dal
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 5 to 6 Green chillies
• a pinch of turmeric powder

METHOD:

1. Take sufficient water in a vessel, heat water add vermicelli into just like noodles, cook for 5 to 10 minutes, alternatively you can bring the water to boil, then add vermicelli put off the stove & close it with a lid for 20 to 25 minutes. (But, some of them get cooked within 10 minutes).
2. Drain out all the water from it through a very small holed sieve, or else they escape out!!
3. Pour cold water over it, and leave for some time, once water gets completely drained out, squeeze the water out from it and spread it, actually you can use it immediately also.
4. Take a wok, heat oil, add the seasonings as usual, (here I have written 5 to 6 green chillies please use chillies as your desirability as some times even 1 to 2 will so spicy! check & use!!! ).
5. According to the usage of chillies, squeeze lemon juice and add, just like you add to chitra anna (Lemon Rice), The dish must have the spiciness & the tanginess in equal proportion then only it will be grt to taste!!!
6. Then add the cooked vermicelli, salt to taste, & finely chopped coriander leaves & coconut mix well, leave in the wok for few minutes, so that let it absorb all the ingredients.
7. Put off the stove. Now it is ready to eat, Serve it with coconut chutney.

This is one more Recipe I learnt from my mom, It is not only good for health but also very easy to make it, and tastes very well,
This Rasam goes well with Ginger pachadi & paruppu Thuvaiyal.
Here is the Recipe:
PORICHA RASAM:
















Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup or fistful of Moong dal/Hesaru Bele/Paitham paruppu
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 2 to 3 sprig of coriander leaves
• salt to taste
• Tamarind Gooseberry size

To Grind:

• 1 tbsp of Black gram dal/Urad dal
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 1 or 2 Red chillies
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp of grated fresh coconut (optional)

METHOD

1. Cook dal with enough water say around 2 glasses of water in a pressure cooker
2. except for cumin & coconut , fry all the ingredients in a tsp of ghee or oil until they change the colour
3. Grind all the ingredients to a fine powder
4. Take the cooked dal in a vessel, with enough water in it & squeeze the tamarind extract, add to it and boil for some time so that the raw smell seizes from it
5. Then add the ground masala powder & boil it while the rasam froths up, remove from fire & garnish with curry leaves & coriander leaves
6. Season it with a tsp of oil & mustard seeds.

NOTE: You can squeeze lime juice when you are eating this Rasam mixed with rice and it gives a great taste to the dish. You can decrease the quantity of pepper,chillies & tamarind according to your taste.

hi,
This is a kind of Sambhar, which I learnt from my Mom-in-law, and the most easiest and very tasty dish with a tsp of oil, it just tastes like puliyogari, Once my sisters's daughter had come to stay with me, I had prepared this dish with OKRA, she just loved it so much, my sister always tells me her daughter pesters her to prepare, what ammajechi had made on that day which tasted just like puliyogarai, she was too small then as she did not remember the name of this dish. anyways, here is the recipe a quick sambhar with not hassels.
MENTHI KOLUMBU (FENUGREEK/METHI SAMBHAR) WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH












Ingredients:

• 1/4 Kg Butternut squash
• 1 tbsp methi seeds
• 1 tsp channa dal
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1 tsp tuvar dal
• 2-3 red chillies (optional)
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• Lime Size Tamarind
• Marble size jaggery (optional)
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 3-4 tbsp oil
• 2-3 tsp of Rasam Powder

variation: Instead of Rasam powder you can substitute it with Red chilli powder & a tsp of Coriander powder. Tamilians use Gingilli oil instead of other oil in their cooking which gives a special flavour and is also good for health.

1. soak tamarind in warm water, squeeze and take out the clean extract and keep aside.
2. Take a wok, add oil, when it gets heated up add methi seeds when it starts changing colour, add all the dals & chillies and saute until a nice aroma comes out of it and meanwhile they would have changed colour too.
3. Then add the diced squash and saute it for few minutes with the curry leaves, Keep the stove in a low flame, add a tsp of salt and close the lid the vegetable will cook fast.
4. Once the vegetables are evenly cooked add the tamarind juice, add some more water and allow it boil for some minutes, until the raw smell seizes.
5. Add 2 to 3 tsp of Rasam Powder allow it to boil for few more minutes, If it is becoming very thick add more water, add jaggery and allow it boil, for 2 to 3 minutes.
6. If u find the sambhar is very watery, Take a tbsp of rice powder dilute it in water and pour it into the sambhar, within minutes the sambhar gets thickens.
7. Serve it with hot rice & a tsp of oil

NOTE: you can increase or decrease the quantity of Rasam powder as you like it, because you might be using a different kind of Rasam powder, Always change the quantity of the powders to your liking of taste for spiciness. I have mentioned optional to chillies & jaggery because some of them do not like the tangy of sweetness in their food & like to have it very spicy they can omit this, If you wish to add Rasam powder more in replacement of chillies then that is also fine.

NOTE: When using fenugreek in any recipe do not over fry since it become bitter, add at the end or fry in a low flame so by the time all the other spices change colour even this will change into golden brown in colour.

VARIATIONS:

You can cook this recipe with all these vegetables:

• Okra
• Violet Brinjals
• Yellow or Sweet Pumpkin
• Squashes
• Tomato & onion
• colocaesia
• Vatrals of all kinds

Vatrals are Vegetables & seeds which are sun dried and preserved. These kind of Vatrals are vastly available in TamilNadu side, well, now a days you get it in all stores too!!!. Vatrals like Ladies finger, Manathakkali, Cluster beans, Sundaikai, Bitter Gourd, Karamani (long Slender Beans).

Hi, This is dry curry made with plantain, it is very simple & easy to make, once in a while eating plantain & its parts is good for health.
PLANTAIN DRY CURRY

Ingredients :

• 3 to 4 plantain
• 2 to 3 Tbsp curds
• 3 to 4 tbsp fresh coconut gratings

Seasoning:

• 1 tbsp of oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Channa Dal
• 1 tsp Urad Dal
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 3 to 4 Red chillies

METHOD:

1. Peel & cut the Plantain, Put them immediately into water, it changes its colour when it is exposed to air. To this water add 2 to 3 tbsp of curds and cook them until they are tender, keep an eye on them do not cook them too much they get mashed when you put them in the wok.
2. Once they are cooked drain out all the water.
3. Take a wok or kadai, heat oil and put all the seasonings, in the when all the dals start to change colour, add this cooked plantain & salt to taste mix and allow it to cook for a minute or two until it absorbs all the flavours then add 3 to 4 tbsp of fresh coconut gratings.
4. Serve this dry curry with plain Rice & Rasam.

This Parantha I used to make in a south Indian Style I think because I never used to add all the below said ingredients when I was making it, But, I made friend with a Rajasthani lady who used to be my neighbour, when I was in Bangalore. I used to take tution to her children, it was fun because I used to learn new dishes & she also used to learn our kind of dishes, I always appreciated them because within few months staying in Bangalore, she used to speak Good Kannada & Tamil I really do not know how she learnt !!!. well, I will be posting some of the recipes I learnt from her and here is the first one.

METHI PARATHA (FENUGREEK LEAVES PARATHA)
















Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Methi leaves (1 bunch with tender stalked methi leaves)
• 1 tsp of Turmeric
• 1 tsp of Chilli powder
• 1 tsp of Dhania powder
• 1/2 tsp of Jeera powder
• 1 tsp of Thyme (Omam)
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 to 2 tbsp of oil or Ghee
• 2 to 3 cups Wheat Flour

1. Wash and cut the Methi leaves
2. Take them in a bowl, add all the above said ingredients and mix well, Then in the end add Wheat Flour and with adding water little by little make it into a chapati dough.
3. Make them into round pulkas that is do not fold them like chapatis roll them with the help of rolling pin and cook on both the sides, allow them to cook first when you see tiny red marks coming up on them smear them now with oil or ghee turning to both sides cook them evenly.
4. Serve these hot methi paratha with a cup of thick curds of plain Yoghurt's.

This Thuvayal made with the Dal's as you can see, It goes very well with menthi kolumbu, Tamilians do a combination cooking like If you make menthi kolumbu with that you make Paruppu Thuvayal or Keerai Macial or both, you have to mix one of them with rice & use like a dry curry the other two !!!!, That is what my sis-in-laws mom told me. Here is he Recipe for Thogeyal.
PARUPPU THUVAIYAL















Ingredients:

• A fist full of Thuvar Dal or
• A fist full of Channa Dal or
• A fist full of Both the Dal's as I have used
• 3 -4 Red chillies (Guntur- Badgi)
• Gooseberry sized Tamarind
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup Grated coconut

METHOD:

1. Except for coconut Roast all the ingredients in a tsp of oil, & allow it cool for some time then mix with fresh grated coconut & grind it, It should be thick not like chutney.
2. serve it with hot rice & a tsp of oil.
3. you can increase the quantity of coconut and then grind it like a chutney and it goes very well with idlis too!!!!!.

Aimee Bender author of "Willful Creatures" and "The Girl in the Flammable Skirt" puts a writing exercise up on her website monthly. Some of them aren't anything special(like January's in my opinion), but some of them are pretty useful. She's actually a writing teacher, not a hack who puts out crappy how-to-write books, and it shows.
http://www.flammableskirt.com/exercises.html

Which one of these spectacled young authors do you prefer?
Jonathan Safron Foer or Junot Diaz?

Run DMC on Reading Rainbow. Do you know that they write their own rhymes?

This Recipe I learnt from my friend swapna's mother when she had come here for her daughter's delivery. Aditya & swapna have got a beautiful daughter Khushi. well, swapna is basically from Hyderabad & her mother can only speak Telagu, I have lovely time learning her recipes by speaking with her in my broken Telugu, as i had told earlier I love Andra Vantalu as they are very spicy.
TOMATO CHUTNEY (ANDHRA STYLE)











Ingredients:

• 1/4kg Tomatoes
• 4 to 5 (rekaalu)leaves of Tamarind
• salt to taste
• 4 pods of garlic
• 3 tbsp of Red chilli powder
• 2 tbsp of oil

Seasonings:

• 1tsp mustard seeds
• 1tsp channa dal
• 1tsp urad dal
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• a pinch of turmeric

METHOD:

1. Boil the tomatoes with water & tamarind in little water, once they are cooked drain them, take the tomatoes and peel of the skin
2. when it is cool grind tomatoes with salt, tamarind, chilli powder and garlic into a nice paste.
3. take a wok or kadai, heat the oil, add mustard seeds, when they splutter and the remaining seasonings and fry them till golden in colour with a pinch of turmeric
4. Then pour the paste into it and fry them for a few minutes until the raw smell seizes and it is now ready to serve.
5. If you add more oil and fry for few more minutes it stays for a week.
6. It can be used as a side dish to mix with rice and eat or goes well with chappatis.

Here is my favourite Recipe, whenever I see Lady's finger/Okra/Bendekaayi/vendakka, I always get tempted to make this. This really goes well with chappati or with Hot Rice and tsp of oil, it's absolutely delicious.

BENDEKAAYI GOJJU










Ingredients:

• 1/2 Kg Lady's Finger
• 1 Lime size Tamarind
• little bit of jaggery(optional)
• 2 to 3 tsp of Rasam powder
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• salt to taste
• 1tbsp Rice flour
• 2 to 3 tbsp oil

Seasonings:

• 1tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp channa dal
• 1tbsp urad dal
• a pinch of turmeric powder

METHOD:

1. Soak Tamarind in a clean water for 1/2 an hour, squeeze and filter the water and keep it aside.
2. Wash and wipe clean Okra & cut them into 1/2'' pieces
3. Take a Kadai, pour oil and when it is hot, add mustard seeds once they splutter add the other seasonings and roast them for a minute until they change colour.
4. Now add the cut okra into the kadai and roast them in a low flame, add the curry leaves now, fry them until they are cooked.
5. Add a tsp of salt when in process of cooking the vegetable cooks faster and gets coated with salt.
6. Add the Tamarind extract and add another 1 or 2 glasses of water until the okra is completely immersed, so the water stands an inch above the vegetable.
7. Allow it to cook until the raw smell seizes from it, now add the rasam powder and allow it boil another few minutes so that the Ghaatu (spiciness) of the powder decreases
8. Add jaggery & salt to taste, you can add water a little more to increase or decrease the quantity of the gravy.
9. If the gravy doesn't thicken take a tbsp of rice flour mix little water and make it into a paste and pour it into the gravy, within minutes the gravy thickens and now it is ready to serve
10. Serve with hot rice & a tsp of oil or with chapatis

NOTE: Please use red or green chillies as you like because I might be using more or less spiciness for your taste buds.

VARIATIONS: This gojju can be prepared with just Tomatoes, or Tomatoes, garlic & onion, or you can omit garlic, Bitter Gourd (karela), Brinjal, spring onions or EERULI HOOVA with Tomatoes, Mango.

METHOD VARIATION

This Gojju can be prepared by using this method too, The above said method was a simple one In this method you need to grind some ingredients. You can use this recipe for all the above mentioned vegetables, Here is the recipe,

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 tsp Jeera/jeerige
2. 1/2tsp fenugreek seeds/menthya/methi seeds
3. 2 tbsp Black Til (Black Sesame)seeds/yellu
4. 5-6 Red chillies (you can combine both guntur & badigi chillies)
5. 3 to 4 tbsp of copra/dry coconut
6. 1 tsp oil

Take a pan and fry all the above ingredients except for copra, when they all change colour and a nice aroma comes out of it take out allow it cool, roast copra for a minute in the same pan. when all the ingredients are cool grind them to a powder, use this powder instead of Rasam powder and follow the above said method.

In another method with all the above ingredients dry roast with a tsp oil, below said ingredients

• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 1 tbsp channa dal
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds

powder them, use them instead of rasam powder

In another method with a little alterations using few of the above ingredients you can also add

1. 2 tbsp of Dry roasted peanuts
2. 2 tbsp White Till (instead of Black Til)
3. fistful of 2 tbsp of chutney dal/roasted gram dal/Hurigadale
4. 1/2'' cinnamon stick
5. 1tsp Khus Khus/poppy seeds/ Ghasagase

The same way dry roast Till, cinnamon stick & Khus Khus, Grind all the above ingredients and add to the Gojju.

You can also make Gojjus with PINEAPPLE, dried NEEM Flower- which is very good for health, cucumber, Black GRAPES, You can also make with mixed DRY FRUITS like dry grapes, cashews, pista, badam, etc.,

This Recipe I learnt from a Bengali friend Mimi, whom I met in my sister's house, she taught me how to make this delicious egg Recipe, she also told me that if people who don't like eating egg can always replace this with Aloo or Potato and said that is called ALOO DHUM CURRY. This is a photo I took when she had brought this for the party. It's her cooking and i am using this to post this recipe.
Here i have written in the way she described it to me, I have not tried it yet, just tasted it and it was really awesome, You can try this curry using all the ingredients needed with your own proportions.

EGG CURRY

• 7 to 8 Eggs
• 4 to 5 Medium sized onions
• 5 to 6 Tomatoes (puree)
• 1 tbsp Ginger- Garlic paste
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Garam masala powder
• 1 tbsp Bengali masala powder
• 5 to 6 Tbsp of oil
• 1 tbsp Chilli powder

METHOD:

1. First hard boil the eggs & peel out the skin, Take a Kadai or wok, heat oil say 1 to 2 tbsp & then add turmeric powder, In a low flame, fry the boiled eggs in them till they are nicely coated with turmeric and turn into orange colour as you can see in the photo , take them out & keep aside.
2. Using the same oak, heat another 4 to 5 tbsp of oil, fry ginger-garlic paste till they turn into brown in colour then add the onions & fry them until they are transperent, she asked me to add a bit of salt when frying onions so onions become soft as soon as possible.
3. Then add the tomato puree and keep on stirring until the oil leaves the sides of the wok, (for this kind of gravies you have to add more oil).
4. Then add a bit of turmeric powder, chilli powder, Garam masala powder & *Bengali masala powder 1/2 tsp and a tsp of sugar so it gives a caramalised colour & taste, salt to requirement.
5. Now add the hard boiled eggs, but before adding them you have to make a little slit in each of them as you do not want them to splutter up.
6. Allow them to cook for some more minutes, If you want it to be more like a gravy then add little water to it.
7. Add an other or remaining 1/2 tsp of Bengali masala powder, mix well and now it is ready to serve as a side dish with your choice of chapati or nans or breads.

NOTE: * BENGALI GARAM MASALA POWDER: consists of cardamom, cinnamon and clove in 2:2:1 ratio, she said they always keep this ready like the usual garam masala powder & use them in almost all of their dishes.

Mimi was kind enough to tell me this recipe over the telephone, with her little son not feeling well, who is just 6 months old, we completed between 2 to 3 phone calls :), I want to give this recipe a try with Aloo or Potatoes as my husband & me do not eat eggs. I will not say we do not eat eggs at all, as lot of bakery products like for example cakes use egg in baking. I love cakes very much!!!!!, well thank you mimi for the recipe once again.

Here I come with a different kind of Starter. I had mentioned about this Recipe in my sister's side dish of Malai Bhendi, where I met a Mallu girl who taught me this, Nithya made this, thanks for the photo. I will tell you how it is made, people who don't mind a little bit of salt in their palate may enjoy this, as this is a saltish cheese and it is called Hallumi cheese, it is a Greek cheese, The label says it is great with salad dressings, anyway everybody in the party enjoyed it and here goes how it is made!!

HALLOUMI CHEESE STARTER



Ingredients:
2 packets of Halloumi cheese
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 to 5 red chillies





METHOD:

1. Cut the cover & drain out the water in them, slice them horizontally or as shown in the photo.
2. Take a pan & heat it nicely, say sizzling hot, place these cheeses on them & roast them as shown in the photo, until the watery thing in them disappears & becomes nice golden brown in colour
3. In a cup take olive oil to this add the red chillies by deseeding & cutting them into thin slices mix them together.
4. Now Garnish the cheese with the above said oil mixture, Basil leaves & serve them hot .

Well, it was quite delicious and I thought the saltiness blended with the spicy chilli I think, I liked it, Try you may like it too.

This is an other dish of my Mom-in-law, which I always liked. During November & December , in Bangalore we can see fresh peas being sold everywhere and the price is quite affordable, but now a days I used to see peas & averekaayi being sold in all seasons, I used to wonder where they got it from!!. My Mom-in-law always used to make this when peas were abundant, She always loved to eat raw vegetables, when we sit and open up the pea pods in intervals she used to eat them, I used to laugh and tell her we need more peas this way, she used to say it was quite tempting, seeing her aishu (my eldest daughter) used to eat with her, both of them used to like eating raw vegetables like tender beans, knol-khol, raddish, carrot, cucumber, tapioca, sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cabbage. Wow when I started writing I never thought I would writing so many vegetables which can be eaten raw. Here is the Recipe :

KADAG ARACHA KOOTU- MUSTERD GROUND KOOTU

























Ingredients:

• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/2 kg peas
• pinch of turmeric
• 1 sprig of curry leaves

Grind Together:

• 2 to 3 red chillies
• 1 tsp channa dal
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp Khus Khus (gasgase)
• 1/4 tsp pepper

METHOD:

1. scrape & cut cucumber into 1/2'' cubes with fresh or frozen peas cook them together with a pinch of turmeric, you can cook with pressure cooker or cook directly, see to it that they don't get mashed.
2. Take a pan with a tsp of oil roast all the above ingredients except for mustard & coconut gratings ,until they change colour or nice aroma comes out of them
3. Grind all the ingredients together into a smooth paste and mix it with the cooked vegetables, add curry leaves and allow it cook for another few minutes, add salt to taste.
4. serve hot with Rice & ghee.

MENTHYA SOPPU/METHI & VEGGI DRY CURRY
This is a side dish which is very nutritious as it has a great variety of vegetables mixed in it. I had bought frozen METHI LEAVES/FENUGREEK/MENTHYA SOPPU in the Asian shop, as it was only 5oogms, when we cook the greens they reduce in quantity, I cannot feed all the family with it, I decided to add some vegetables to it. As fenugreek leaves have a bitterness in them I add a bit of Tamarind to reduce it, I decided I will add the vegetables, wherein they go well with the tanginess of the Tamarind, so I added all these vegetables and it was a real surprise because everybody in the house liked it especially my children. I have used whole black channa dal or KADALE KALU in this recipe, actually I had not intended to, I had soaked kadale kalu for a different purpose, as i could not do it, I did not want to waste it so, I used them with the other vegetables and it added to the taste. well, that's a new dish I found out and here is the recipe for it.


















Ingedients:

• 500 gms Fenugreek leaves (fresh or frozen)
• 1 bitter gourd
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 Brinjal
• 1 cup whole black channa dal(optional)
• 2 tbsp tamarind extract

seasonings:

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp channa dal
• 1tbsp urad dal
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 tbsp oil

Dry curry powder (Palyada Pudi)

• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp Jeera
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 4 tbsp channa dal
• 2 tbsp urad dal
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1/2'' cinnamon
• 3 cloves
• 5-3 red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)
• 4 to 5 tbsp dry coconut

with a tsp of oil roast all the above ingredients except for dry coconut or copra, add this in the last when you are grinding all the roasted ingredients to a coarse powder,( you can also roast copra after you put of the stove for a minute ) and keep this in an air tight container and use when ever you want and to the required quantity for the dry curries or palyas.

METHOD:

1. First of all soak the kadale kalu or whole black channa dal for 6 to 7 hours. cook them in a pressure cooker.
2. Take a wok, add oil and the seasonings as usual add the methi leaves, if it is fresh take out the tender leaves wash them and cut them into pieces and use them immediately, if they are frozen shredded ones u can put them directly into the kadai and start cooking them.
3. With that you can add sweet potatoes. sprinkle water now & then if it is not frozen or if it is frozen
4. In a different pan add a tbsp of oil and fry bittergourd until it gets cooked ( I use bitter gourd directly once i cut it and do not allow it to soak with salt for an hour or so and then squeeze & throw out the water from it, because I like the bitterness in it & also as it is good for health).
5. Then fry brinjals & cook them too.
6. Now mix all the vegetables, until they all get cooked evenly, add tamarind extract, then add 2 tbsp of dry curry powder or palyada pudi & salt to taste mix well and leave it for some time about 5 to 10 minutes until the vegetables absorb all the above ingredients.
7. Use the powder according to your taste as it might be more or less spicy for induvidual tastes.
8. serve it as a side dish with hot rice & rasam or sambhar or with chapatis or induvidually to mix with rice & eat.

We're going to give you a first line of a story/poem and you can post what you come up with on here. Happy Writing!
Number 1:

Muslims may own dogs...

What books would you like to see adapted into a movie? Or what book would you like Hollywood to leave their dirty paws off of?

This is very simple dish which my mother-in-law always prepared, she always prepared the basic type of this which was very quick & easy for a fast life, it is absolutely tasty & very delicious with hot rice, spoonful of Ghee & more molaga (upperi/salted chillies/uppu menasinakaayi). When I started cooking I slightly altered by using vegetables in it. Here goes the Recipe :
RIDGE GOURD TOVVE

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Moong dal/Hesaru Bele/Paitham parup
• 1 Ridge Gourd

Seasonings:

• 1tbsp channa dal/Kadale Bele/Kadalai parup
• 1tbsp Urad dal/Uddina Bele/Ulundu parup
• 1tsp Mustard seeds/saaseve/Kadag
• 1 sprig curry leaves/Karibevu/karivepilai
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds/jeerige/seeragam
• 2 red chillies
• a pinch of Asafoetida
• salt to taste

To Powder: 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp cumin seeds

METHOD :

1. First scrape the skin out of the Ridge Gourd and cut them into 2 to 4 pieces like cubes, Take 1 or 2 glasses of water and cook them saperately, or you can cook Moong dal with the vegetable in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles.
2. For seasoning, take a Kadai, heat a tbsp of oil add mustard seeds, once they splutter add channa, urad dals, chillies , jeera and add them to the dal-vegetable sambhar.
3. Add the coarsely powdered pepper & cumin seeds to the sambhar which really gives a good flavour with a pinch of asafoetida
4. Add washed curry leaves & cook them all in the stove for 5 to 6 minutes
5. Serve this sambhar with hot rice or with chapati