Carrot Curry

A healthy, simple, tasty carrot curry preparation.


Preparation Time: 15 minutes


Ingredients:
Carrot - 6 (grated)
Green Chillies - 3 (split vertically)
Moong dhal - 2 tablespoons
Onion -1 medium sized 
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Urud dhal - 1 tablespoon
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt - to taste

Preparation:
1. Grate the carrots, split the green chillies and finely chop the onions.
2. Cook the moong dhal to 3/4th in little water and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan. When hot season with Mustard seeds, urud dhal and asafoetida.
4. Add onions, green chillies and saute well. When it turns transparent add the grated carrot.
5. Add required salt and cook in medium flame for 5 minutes.
6. Grated carrot will cook very quickly and will be done in 5 minutes. 
7. Now add the cooked moong dhal and mix it and cook for another 2 minutes and the carrot curry is ready to eat.

Cabbage Curry (with Fried Gram Dhal)

This is yet another easy recipe with very simple ingredients. Fried gram dhal gives a unique flavor and taste to this dish.


Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Cabbage - 1 medium sized
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1 tablespoon
Fried gram dhal - 6 tablespoons
Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste

Preparation:
1. Shred the cabbage into medium pieces. Dont make it very thin.
2. Make a fine powder of the friend gram dhal and cumin seeds.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds when hot. When it splutters, add the shredded cabbage and saute well.
4. Add required salt and sprinkle handful of water and mix well. 
5. Close it with a lid and cook in medium flame for around 15 minutes until the cabbage cooks well. 
6. Now reduce it to low flame and add the powder and mix it well for not more than 5 minutes. Take care not to burn. The powder will form a layer over the cabbage and leave a mushy texture and strong flavor.

Potato Mushroom Curry

Preparation Time: 30 minutes


Ingredients:
Mushroom - 1/2 cup
Potatoes  - 1/2 cup
Shallots - 10-15
Tomatoes - 1 
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste


For Masala
Cloves - 3
cinnamon - small piece
pepper - 1/2 tablespoon
cumin seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Red chilly powder - 1 tablespoon
coriander powder - 2 tablespoons
Shallots - 7- 8
Coconut  - 2 tablespoons
Cashew -3- 4
Poppy seeds - 1/2 tablespoon

Preparation
1. Soak poppy seeds and cashew nuts in little water for around 20 - 30 minutes.
2. Boil potatoes in water with minced chillies and grated ginger with little salt.
3. When it is half done, add mushrooms and boil them together and strain the water when it is cooked 3/4 th
4. Dry roast, all spices given under masala, and add shallots and coconut and fry for couple of minutes.
5. Cool the mixture and grind it with poppy seeds and cashew with little water.
6. Add the ground masala to boiled potatoes and mushroom with little water and cook it in low flame for 5 to 10 minutes. Add additional salt as required.
7. In parallel, add 2 tablespoons of oil in another pan and add mustard seeds when oil is hot. When it splutters, add curry leaves, and shallots and fry until it is golden brown.
8. Now add the tomatoes and cook it until it is smashed and mixes well.
9. Add this to the potato/mushroom mixture and cook for 3 -4 minutes until it mixes well.
10. Garnish with coriander and switch off the stove.


Yummy, spicy potato/mushroom curry is ready to serve. This goes very well with Rotis/Rice. You can also substitute Cauliflower in this recipe to have a variation.


Tips:
If you don't like it much spicy, avoid green chillies. 
You can also add little curd to make the gravy tastier.

Beetroot curry

Beetroot is rich source of nutrients and vitamins and very good for health especially for women and children. Here is a very simple and easy preparation with beetroot which is easy for kids to eat as we grate the beets instead of chopping.


Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Beetroot - 3 medium size
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves - 4 to 5
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Urud dhal - 1 tablespoon
Hing - a pinch
Red Chillies - 3 to 4
Salt- to taste
Coconut(shredded) - 2 tablespoon

Preparation:

1. Peel the skin from the beetroot and grate it finely.

2. Heat oil in a pan and when hot season with mustard seeds, urud dhal, hing, red chillies and curry leaves.

3. Now add the shredded beetroot, salt and sprinkle little water and close it with a lid.

4. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes in a medium flame occasionally sitrring.

5. When it is completely cooked, switch off the stove and add the grated coconut.

Beetroot curry is ready to be served with rotis/rice.You can just mix this to white rice to make beetroot rice. Alternatively, you can use chopped beetroot with the same preparation if you wish.

Plantain Fry

Here is a simple plantain fry recipe that goes very well with any rice.

Preparation Time: 30 min (excluding marination)

Ingredients:
Raw Green Plantain - 3
Tomato -1 medium size
Rice Flour - 2 tablespoon
Sambhar powder - 1 1/2 tablespoon
Salt - to taste

Preparation:
1. Peel the skin off the plantain and cut it into round shapes of 1/2 inch thickness.
2. Cook the cut pieces in boiling water with little salt in medium flame until the plantain is cooked completely and becomes soft. It takes around 20 minutes. You can take a piece and try to break it with your fingers.If it breaks easily, remove the pieces from water and transfer it to a dry bowl.
3. Add rice flour, sambhar powder, salt and squeeze the tomato to the cooked plaintain and mix it thoroughly without breaking the pieces.
4. Let the mixture aside for 30 minutes until to allow the spices mix with the plantain.
5. Now heat a thick bottomed deep fry pan and add oil to fry. When the oil is hot, add 4- 5 pieces (based on the volume of your pan) and fry them. Turn sides when it turns golden brown.

Crunchy, hot and spicy plantain fry is ready to eat. If you have extra pieces left, you can refrigerate overnight and fry it the next day.

Puli inji (Tangy Ginger sauce)

Puli Inji is a must serve in any festive occassion in Kerala. It is made as combination of the ingredients with variety of flavors and has a tangy, sweety taste. This dish always reminds me of my grandfather who loves very simple food. I remember the way he loves to have puli inji with Idlies and curd rice and I am a diehard fan of this dish prepared by my grandma .

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1. Ginger finely chopped - 1 cup
2. Green chillies - 3 finely chopped
3. Tamarind juice - 2 cups extracted from lemon sized tamarind
4. Jaggery - 1 cup
5. Salt - a pinch
6. Turmeric powder - a pinch
7. Oil - 1/2 tablespoon
8. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
9. Curry leaves - 7-8 finely chopped
10. Urud dhal - 1 teaspoon

Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan and when hot add mustard seeds and when it splutters add urud dhal.
2. When urud dhal turns golden brown, add chopped gingers, green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder, salt and fry for 3- 4 minutes until you get a strong aroma of ginger.
3. Now add the tamarind juice and bring it to boil for next 5 minutes until the raw smell goes off.
4. Add the jaggery and cook in medium low flame as the sauce thickens. Stir at regular intervals for another 5 minutes.

Tangy and yummy puli inji is ready to eat. 

Spinach Chicken Curry

I cook chicken very rarely as we prefer to be vegetarian. This time we wanted to eat chicken but I was bored of the same kind of preparation and thought to try something different. Then I remembered I had got Spinach also from the grocery that day, so just wanted to try a green chicken with lot of spices. I wanted to make it a very simple dinner to enjoy the taste of chicken and this curry came out so yummy, and along with the simple rasam, it was heaven.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes (Excluding the marination time)

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1.25 pounds
Curd - 3 tablespoon
Onion - 2 medium sized

G

reen chillies - 4 split vertically

Oil - 5 -6 tablespoon

For Paste:
Spinach leaves - 15
Pepper - 1 teaspoon
red chilly powder - 2 tablespoon
coriander powder - 2 tablespoon
cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon
Garam masala powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon

For Powder
Curry leaves - 6-7
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon
pepper - 1/2 tablespoon

Preparation:

1. Cut chicken into medium cubes and wash it thoroughly and drain the water completely and puncture randomly with fork to help the marination get into the chicken as it soaks.
2. Make a fine paste with the ingredients mentioned to grind.
3. Marinate the chicken with the ground paste and curd for minimum 30 minutes.
4. Cut onions finely into thin pieces length wise.
5. Heat oil in a pan and add onions and fry until it turns transparent, add the green chillies and fry for another one minute.
6. Now add the marinated chicken and sprinkle handful of water and stir well .
7. Cook the chicken in medium flame for next 15-20 minutes and stir occasionally to cook evenly.
8. Meanwhile dry fry and make a coarse paste of the ingredients given for powder.
9. Sprinkle the powder over the chicken and mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves. Yummy yummy Spinach Chicken Curry is ready to heat. You can serve it hot with Rotis/Rice

Dhal Rasam

This is another simplest variety of rasam(our version of soup with lentils) made just with dhal water. This preparation doesnt require boiling of the ingredients.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Toor dhal water - 200 ml (made from 1/2 cup of toor dhal)
Tomato - 1 medium sized
Tamarind - Small gooseberry size
Rasam powder (equal amounts of pepper and cumin seeds ground to coarse powder)  - 1 tablespoon 
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - 3 
Coriander leaves - 3 -4 strings finely chopped
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Red chillies - 2 

Preparation:
1. In a bowl, smash the tomatoes and tamarind with your hands.
2. Add salt, rasam powder, curry leaves and coriander leaves and cover the bowl with a lid and keep aside.
3. Boil toor dhal in a pressure cooker with a pinch of turmeric powder.
4. When the pressure releases, drain the hot dhal water into the mixture prepared and close the lid.
5. Now heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small pan and when hot, add mustard seeds. When it crackles, add red chillies and a pinch of asafoetida and transfer this to the rasam and stir it well.

Hot and simple rasam is ready to serve. You can drink this as a soup or have it with rice.

Simple Potato Roast

Here is a very simple, yet tasty and inviting recipe with potatoes. If you are brought up in a typical tamil family, you should have been used to eating the potato fry/roast in one or the other form on all auspicious/festival days of the year. This is the simplest form of the potato fry that I was brought up with. One thing I like about this dish is, you dont deep fry the potatoes and cook them with very little oil. This dish gets crispiness on its outside with the rice flour and tomato used and remains so soft inside. Tomatoes gives little tangy flavor to the dish and it goes along with the spiceness of the chilly powder.

Preparation Time:  45 minutes

Ingredients:
Potato - 2 medium sized
Tomato - 1 medium sized
Rice Flour - 3 table spoons
Sambhar powder (you can use the ready made powder you get in Indian groceries) - 2 tablespoon
Salt - to taste
Oil - 5 tablespoons

Preparation:
1. Boil potatoes with skin, cool it, peel the skin and dice into small cubes.
2. Add sambhar powder, rice flour and salt to the potatoes.
3. Now smash the tomato with your hands over the potato and mix the ingredients well and blend it nicely.
4. Keep it aside for minimum 15 minutes. If you have larger amount, you can refrigerate for a day and roast and serve hot.
5. Take a deep pan and add oil. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes to the oil and roast it in medium flame for next 10 minutes.
6. As the potato turns golden brown, gently stir potatoes to turn sides and roast evenly.


Spicy and roasty potatoes are ready to eat. This can be eaten separtely as a starter or goes well with rotis and rice. This is a divine combination with curd rice.

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Macroni with Indian Spices

I am not a great fan of macronis, but my husband is. He always likes to taste it in a different flavor and so I decided to try my hands on macroni with a twist of Indian spices. I wanted to make it simple and easy and just used the basic ingredients of Indian cooking and married to Macroni. It came out very well and was ready in 30 minutes. And I realized I have too started liking it and the next time want to try it out with varied flavors.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Macroni - 100 gms
Vegetables - 1 cup finely chopped lengthwise
Red Chilly powder - 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Garam Masala powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Olive oil - 2 tablespoon

Preparation:

1. Cook macroni in boiling water with little salt (to avoid stickiness) as per the directions in the packet. Drain the water and keep it aside.
2. Chop all vegetables finely lengthwise.
3. Heat oil in a pan and when hot add the vegetable and saute well. Since you have chopped the vegetables finely, do not add water and let it cook in the oil.
4. Close the lid and cook it in medium flame for another 5-7 miinutes and add salt to taste, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and cook for another 4-5 minutes untill the raw smell goes off.
5. Now add the drained macroni and saute well.
6. Cook in low flame for next 5 minutes and stir occassionally.

Hot and spicy masala macroni is ready to eat.

Simple Chicken Fry

Here is a simple preparation of a spicy,hot chicken fry. This will be a very good combination for Rotis or any rice.


Preparation Time: 1 hour


Ingredients:
Chicken - 250 gms
Onion - 1 big size finely chopped
Curry leaves- 4- 5
Coriander leaves -for garnish
Oil - 3 tablespoon
For paste:
Curd - 3 tablespoons
Chilly powder - 1 table spoon
Coriander powder - 2 tablespoon
Pepper - 1/2 tablespoon
Fennel Seeds - 1 tablespoon
Cumin Seeds - 1 tablespoon
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste

Preparation:
1. Make a wet paste with the ingredients mentioned for paste.
2. Marinate the chicken with the ground paste and set it aside for at least 30 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a pan and when hot add finely chopped onions and curry leaves.
4. When the onions turn golden brown, add the marinated chicken and cook in a medium flame closed with a lid. Stir occassionally and cook until chicken becomes soft and tender.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves and spicy, hot chicken curry is ready to serve.

Egg Rice

It was almost 1 PM sunday afternoon and I was yet to prepare our lunch because of my hangover from previous night long pager calls. Both of us were very hungry and I wanted to prepare something real quick. I then realized I had nothing but eggs, potato and capsicum (of very smaller quantity) and decided to prepare egg rice. It came out real yummy and we had our lunch by 2 PM.

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1. Egg - 4
2. Onion - 1 medium sized finely chopped
3. Vegetable - 1 cup(100gms) finely chopped
4. Rice - 200 gms
5. Salt - to taste
6. Pepper powder - 1 tablespoon
7. Oil - 2 tablespoon

Preparation:

1. Boil rice and cook it until it is done 3/4th.

2. Heat oil in pan and add finely chopped onions and saute until it is transparent.

3. Add finely chopped vegetables and saute until they are cooked well. You can use any vegetable you prefer but make sure to chop them to cook it faster.

4. Break the eggs and whisk them with little turmeric powder.

5. Pour the eggs into the pan and add required salt and pepper powder and mix them thoroughly.

6. When it is almost done, add the cooked rice and mix it well and cook for next 5 minutes in a low flame.

Hot and quick egg rice is ready to serve. You can serve it with raitha or spicy kurma of your choice.

Tips:

1. You can also prepare this as a simple vegetable rice without eggs.

2. Use Basmathi rice for nice flavor.