Telugu Recipes | Andhra Recipes | Free Recipes | Actresses Gossips & Gallary|: April 2008

Mushroom Curry

Ingredients:

Mushrooms - 250 gms
Onions - 3 nos.
Green chillies - 3 nos.
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Fresh corriander leaves for garnishing

Ingredients for Masala paste:

Cumin - 1 tsp
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Corriander seeds - 1 tsp
Whole cloves - 5
Cardamom pod - 1
Ginger - small piece or 1 tsp paste
Garlic - 2 cloves or 1 tsp

Preparation:

Wash and cut mushrooms into small pieces or keep them whole if button mushrooms.
Chop onions and green chillies into small pieces.
Now in a pan add 3 spoons oil and preheat it.
Add onions and chillies to the oil and fry till they get golden brown.
Now add mushrooms, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste and fry them for about 5 minutes.
Add 1/4 cup of water to it and on medium heat let it cook for another 2 minutes.
Grind the masalas mentioned above into fine paste and add it the curry and let it cook for another 5 minutes.
Once oil starts oozing out, stop the stove.
Add fresh chopped corriander leaves for garnishing and serve it hot.

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Dondakaya Chutney

Ingredients:

Indian ivy gaurd (Tindora or Dondakaya) - 250 gms
Green chillies - 5
Dried red chillies - 2
Garlic - 1 or 2 cloves
Black gram - 2 tsp
Cumin - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Curry leaves few
Salt to taste
Oil for frying and seasoning

Preparation:

Chop tindora into small fine pieces and make few slits on green chillies and keep them aside.
In a pan add 1 spoon oil and fry the green chillies and keep them aside.
Then fry the fine chopped tindora also on a medium heat till they turn golden and allow them to cool down.
Now in a mixer jar add this fried tindora, green chillies, tamarind, 1 tsp cumin, garlic and salt and grind them to make a coarse paste.
Take this chutney in a bowl and keep it aside.
For seasoning, take 2 spoons oil and preheat it and keep the stove on medium heat.
Add mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin and black gram and toss them till they pop up.
Now add dried red chillies and curry leaves and fry them till the seasoning starts smelling good, this will take few seconds only.
Add the above to the chutney and serve with rice and ghee.

Tip : Little ripe tindora tastes amazing for this chutney as it gets tangy as it ripens. Remember if it is too ripe then the chutney will taste sweet which is not desirable.

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Vankaya Dumpala Pulusu (Brinjal and sweet potatoes tangy medley)

Ingredients :

Brinjal (Aubergine or eggplants) - 250 gms
Sweet potato - 250 gms
Onion - 1
Green chillies - 2
Tamarind paste - 1 spoon
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Oil for frying
Salt to taste
Fresh corriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation:

Chop onions and chillies into small pieces and keep them ready.
Cut brinjal and sweet potatoes into bigger pieces as shown in the picture above.
Now in a pan add 3 spoons of oil and preheat it.
Add fenugreek seeds to the oil and fry it for few seconds, when it starts smelling good and turns golden add chopped onions and chillies and fry them well till they turn golden.
Add vegetables (brinjal and sweet potato pieces) now to the above and fry them for about 8 minutes.
Now add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt to taste and mix them well.
Add pulusu to the above. Pulusu or tamarind purie is made by soaking tamarind in water.
Let it cook in medium heat for about 10 minutes and stop the stove.
Garnish it with fresh green corriander leaves and serve it hot with hot steamed rice.

Tip: Fenugreek seeds are very important for this recipe as it adds a flavour and aroma to the curry. Add pulusu only when the vegetables are cooked well in the oil.

For more Rice Recipes please visit us at: http://www.GumaGumalu.com

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 500 gms
Green chillies - 8
Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Garlic - 1 or 2 cloves
Cumin - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying and seasoning

Seasoning :

Dried red chillies - 2
Black gram - 2 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves few
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Oil for frying - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

Cut tomatoes into two halves and make few slits on green chillies and keep them aside.
In a pan add 1 spoon oil and fry the green chillies and keep them aside.
Then fry the tomatoes also on a medium heat till they turn soft as shown above and allow them to cool down.
In another pan dry fry the sesame seeds till they pop up which will take about one minute.
Now in a mixer jar add these fried tomatoes, green chillies, sesame seeds, tamarind, 1 tsp cumin, garlic and salt and grind them to make a coarse paste.
Tomato chutney is ready to be served with hot steamed rice or ulli dosas (Onion dosa).
Season it if you like. For seasoning, take 2 spoons oil and preheat it and keep the stove on medium heat.
Add mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin and black gram and toss them till they pop up.
Now add dried red chillies and curry leaves and fry them till the seasoning starts smelling good, this will take few seconds only.
Add the above to the chutney and serve.

Tip : Raw tomatoes tastes amazing for this chutney. Pan fried sesame seeds are optional to this chutney. These are added to give a smoky flavour to the chutney.

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Aratikaya Vepudu (Raw Banana/Plantain Fry)

Ingredients:

Raw banana (plantain) - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Water for boiling
Dried red chillies - 3
Curry leaves - few
Split black gram - 2 tsps
Cumin - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp
Oil for frying

Preparation:

Cut raw banana into 4 pieces and boil in water for about 15 minutes.
Once boiled peel the skin and grate it as shown above. Optionally after boiling banana can be thoroughly mashed to prepare this dish.
Apply half teaspoon of tamarind paste thoroughly.
Now in a pan take 3 spoons oil and preheat it.
Add seasonings and wait for them to pop up. It will take only few seconds. Once these starts smelling good add turmeric powder.
Immedietely add the grated banana to it and mix it well.
Now add salt and red chilli powder as per taste and mix it well.
Switch off the stove and serve it hot with sambar or any dal dish which is great combo for this.

Now for the tip:
Do not throw away the skin of the raw banana after boiling. This can be used to make chutney.. the recipe for this coming soon on the blog...till then happy cooking!!

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Aratikaaya Tokkala Pacchadi (Plantain/Raw Banana skin chutney )

This recipe is shared by my pinni(aunt) who was here in London for couple of weeks. When she first time told me this I din't believe we could make chutney with raw banana skin but had no doubt about its taste as anything which she made tasted simply delicious. So here is the recipe. Believe me no one can even guess what the chutney is made of. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

Raw plantain/Banana skin (Boiled for plantain fry)
Green chillies - 5
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Cumin - 2 tsp
Garlic clove - 1
Yoghurt (Curd) - 2 spoons
Dried red chillies - 3
Curry leaves - few
Split black gram (Urid dal) - 2 tsps
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Bengal gram (Chana dal) - 2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (Menthi seeds) - 1/2 tsp
Oil for frying
Salt to taste

Preparation:

From the boiled raw banana which we have used for plantain fry, keep the banana skin aside and cut it into small pieces.
Fry the green chillies in oil and keep them aside.
Now grind the boiled raw banana skin, fried green chillies, garlic clove, 1 tsp cumin seeds, tamarind paste and salt without adding water. As it is thick, add 2 spoons yoghurt while grinding. Make a fine paste and keep it aside.
For seasoning, take 2 spoons oil in a pan and heat it. Once oil gets hot add bengal gram, black gram, dried red chillies, cumin, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Once the seasoning starts popping up and smelling good which shouldn't take more than few seconds add to the chutney.
Serve it with hot rice and ghee.

Tip: We get curry leaves in indian grocery stores here in London. As soon as I get fresh curry leaves from the market I keep it frozen and use it for long as they remain fresh.

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Majjiga Charu

Ingredients :

Stirred yoghurt (Majjiga) - 1 bowl
Dried red chillies - 4 nos.
Bengal gram (Chana dal) - 1 spoon
Black gram (Urid dal) - 1 spoon
Fenugreek seeds (Menthi seeds) - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger - finely chopped as shown below.
Curry leaves - few
Onion - 1 small
Green chillies - 4 nos.
Oil - 1 spoon
Corriander leaves for garnishing.

Preparation:

Heat some oil in a pan and add chana dal, urid dal, menthi seeds, cumin, mustard seeds, red chillies and fry them for few seconds till they start smelling good.
Now add curry leaves, finely chopped ginger and green chillies to the pan and fry them for few more seconds.
Add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste and pour this in the stirred yoghurt as shown in the picture.
Now add finely chopped onion and corriander leaves to the yoghurt. Majjiga charu is ready.

Tip:

Majjiga charu tastes good if the yoghurt is a bit sour. Majjiga charu is a good combination with gutthi vankai curry or any brinjal curry, aloo kurma etc.

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Gongura Pachadi(Sorrel chutney)".

Andhra maatha

Title of the post gives away what I am trying to accomplish with this post(atleast some of you might have heard this term a lot of times). Yep this is a post dedicated to "Gongura Pachadi(Sorrel chutney)".

Guntur, chilli capital of Andhra Pradesh has many chutneys and pickles native to its region(if you can think of it.. it might have already been made). They have been adapated over the years and now every household has its own version. Gongura pachadi is one of them. Guturians have nick named this chutney "Andhra maatha(mother of Andhra)", a very appropriate name I should say. My mother makes gongura chutney on a daily basis as any meal is not complete otherwise(according to my father). We have a huge patch of sorrel plants in our back yard and our maid's daily duties includes picking these leaves and cleaning them; once in a while when I was looking for an excuse for not studying I used to help her but found myself eating most of the leaves before picking.

Lets get off the memory lane(sunny side) and get back to real world(dark side). First of all you need a bunch of sorrel leaves to make this chutney. I was only able to find these leaves a couple of times during summers. Whenever I could find them I buy them in bulk, pick the leaves from the stems, clean them and fry them in a little oil adding very little salt and later store them in small batches in the freezer. They keep well for a long time and I use them to make chutney, dal or stew at a later time.

Here is what you need:

* Sorrel leaves - 1 bunch
* Green chillies - 6 nos
* Garlic cloves - 2 nos
* Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
* Onion - 2 tbsp(chopped fine)
* Salt - Acc to taste
* Oil - 1/2 tsp

For tempering:

* Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
* Cumin seeds - 1tsp
* Curry leaves - 1 sprig
* Fenugreek seeds - a pinch
* Oil - 1 tsp

Pick the sorrel leaves from the stems carefully; sometimes the stems might have thorns. Clean them and drain the water completely, pat the leaves dry with a kitchen towel.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the sorrel leaves to the pan and fry them till the water from the leaves gets evaporated on medium high heat. Take this into a container and keep it aside.

In the same pan add green chillies and fry them slightly covered, otherwise the vapors generated by them might suffocate a little bit. Keep these aside too.

Now in a blender grind the fried sorrel leaves, green chillies, garlic cloves, cumin along with a little salt. Try to add as little water as possible.

Tempering: Heat a little oil in the pan, add the cumin and mustard seeds. When they start sputtering add the fenugreek seeds along with curry leaves.

Add the tempering to the chutney. I always add chopped onion to the chutney since that's how my mother makes it for us kids(I know I know.. I am not a kid anymore; but hey I believe that there is a kid in everyone's heart). It tastes perfectly fine without the onion too. It goes well with plain rice.

For more Rice Recipes please visit us at: http://www.GumaGumalu.com

Tomato and onion yougurt chutney

Now-a-days I feel like time is flying by real fast. Especially with all the activities that I have now like blog hopping(yep this takes up major part of my day apart from work) and all the new blog friends, I don't experience a dull moment anymore.

I know what you guys must be thinking after reading the name of the post and no I didn't lose it yet.. may be some day but not today. I am bored with the regular naming convention so I decided to go with different theme for my posts.

Now lets get back to cooking, shall we? My mother makes yogurt chutnies with almost all the vegetables, I must say I have always loved them even though some of them showed up at the table quite often. Today's post is about one of those yogurt chutney's which is very easy to prepare(only 15 minutes, can you believe that?) and tastes great.

Here is what you need:

* Tomatoes - 3 medium sized
* Onion - 1 medium sized
* Plain yogurt - 2 cups
* Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
* Oil - 1 tsp
* Mustard seeds - 1tsp
* Cumin seeds - 1tsp
* Curry leaves - 1 sprig(optional)
* Dried red chili - 1 no(optional)
* Salt - acc to your taste

Chop onion and tomatoes into thin long strips.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin and mustard seeds, when the seeds start sputtering add in the dried red chili and curry leaves.

Add the chopped onion and tomatoes to the pan along with turmeric and salt. Fry them until the water generated is completely evaporated. Let it cool off a bit. Add it to the yogurt.

Serve it with white rice/roti. This can also be used as a dip.

Now coming to the title: Bright red == tomatoes and tears == onion :-)

For more Rice Recipes please visit us at: http://www.GumaGumalu.com

Paneer-Methi pulav

It has been a long time since I blogged a recipe. To tell you the truth it has been a long time since I have prepared a proper meal. I have been preparing salads mostly. Anyways today I managed to come out of office after nearly 10 hours of toil and pushed myself to make something special for Krishna and I remembered this recipe which my mother used to prepare when I was a kid(she got this recipe from Femina ). I decided to wing it even though I only had a vague recollection of the actual method. So here is how I made it.

Ingredients

* Basmati rice - 2 cups
* Fenugreek leaves - 2 cups
* Green chillies - Optional
* Onion - 1 medium sized
* Paneer cubes - 1/2 cup
* Salt - acc to taste
* Cinnamon - 1/2 stick
* Cloves - a few
* Cardamom - 2
* Bay leaves - few
* Turmeric powder - optional
* Oil - 1/2 tsp

Lightly fry the paneer cubes before hand and keep them aside. Cut the onion lengthwise into small pieces and slit the green chillies lengthwise. Heat oil in a pan. Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves to the pan. Add onions, green chillies, turmeric powder and fry them a little. Add fenugreek leaves to the pan and let them cook a little bit. Wash the rice and add enough water for the rice to cook(I usually follow 1:3/2 ratio for rice:water), add the above cooked fenugreek leaves mixture and paneer cubes to rice and let it cook thoroughly. End result tasted almost the same as my mother's, mission accomplished :-)).

For more Rice Recipes please visit us at: http://www.GumaGumalu.com

Vadiyala pulusu(Soup with wadi/vadam)

This post is just going to be about food, comfort food that I miss the most. I strongly feel that dishes like this are fast disappearing with the number of food options that are available now. My great grand parents and my grand parents were strict vegetarians even the eggs are forbidden from entering in the home and this recipe was passed on from my great grandma to my grandma. I strongly believe recipes like these were born out of creativity when someone ran out of vegetables but was expected to present something right away. All the ingredients are versatile and depending on availability some of them can be eliminated too.

Vadiyala pulusu

Here is what you need:

* Onion - 1 large(Chopped into long thin strips)
* Tomato - 1 medium (Chopped into bite sized pieces)
* Tamarind - half a lemon sized ball(soaked in water)
* Jaggery - 1tbsp (optional)
* Salt - acc to your taste
* Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
* Red chili powder - 1 tsp
* Oil - 1 tbsp
* Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
* Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
* Asafoetida - 1 pinch
* Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
* Fried urad dal vadiyams - couple handfuls

Heat oil in the pan, add mustard and cumin seeds when the oil is hot enough. When the seeds start sputtering add asafoetida and curry leaves in.

Add the chopped onion to the pan and fry them till the pieces turn translucent. Now add the chopped tomato pieces in and let them soften a little bit.

Squeeze the soaked tamarind and add the tamarind juice to the onion & tomato mixture. Add the salt, chili powder and turmeric; let the pulusu(soup) cook for 15 to 20 mins on medium high. If you want to add jaggery to the pulusu add it after cooking the pulusu halfway through.

Now add the fried vadiyams into the pulusu and cook for 10 more minutes.

Enjoy it with white rice

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Guttivankaya koora

I was not planning on preparing a meal today as I was thinking about going for a swim. I tried to weigh both of them and ended up not going for a swim. I made gutti vankaya koora with my own twist, pachi pulusu and dondakaya vepudu.

Guttivankaya koora recipe:
*Short small brinjals(purple) - 12 nos
*Onion - 1 med
*Black gram - 3 tsps
*Bengal gram - 1 and half tsps
*Red chillies - 6nos
*Cumin seeds - 1/2tsp
*Coriander seeds - 1tsp
*Oil - 2tsp
*Salt
Fry the black gram, bengal gram, red chillies. cumin and coriander seeds together; let them cool off a little bit. Grind all of these together into fine powder. Cut onion into small pieces. Slit the brinjals in two planes perpendicular to each other leaving the stem intact and in such a way that the brinjal's shape is retained. Soak these brinjals in salt water. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan. Add cumin, mustard seeds to the pan. When the seeds start sputtering add onions and fry them until they are light brown. Stuff the brinjals with the powder prepared earlier. Add these brinjals to the pan. Add salt according to your taste and let them cook. This is my mom's usual preparation. I wanted to cook it in a different way today so I tried this. When the brinjals are almost cooked add a 1/4 cup of cream and a 1/2tsp of garam masala and let it cook for another 5 mins.

Dondakaya vepudu recipe(tindora fry)

*Dondakayalu(tindora) - 1 lb
*Tomato - 1/2(cut into small pieces, remove the pulp)
*Cumin seeds - 1tsp
*Mustard seeds - 1tsp
*Oil - 2tsp
*Red chillies - 2nos
*Chilli powder
*Salt
Cut the tindora length wise into small pieces(I can tell from experiecnce that this a very tedious process but trust me its worth it). Heat oil in the pan add the cumin and mustard seeds and when the seeds start sputtering add the red chillies. When the chillies are fried a little bit add the tindora and fry them. Add salt and fry the tindora pieces a little more, when they are almost cooked add the tomato pieces and mix them together. Add chilli powder and let them cook for another 5mins.

Pachi pulusu recipe:
*Onion - 1 med
*Green chillies - 5 nos
*Tamarind - small lime sized ball
*Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
*Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
*Jaggery - 2 tsp
*Oil - 1 tsp
*Salt
Cut onion and green chillies into small pieces; mix these together and squeeze them. Soak tamarind in half cup of water; squeeze the tamarind juice. Mix the tamarind juice with onions and green chillies. Add crushed jaggery to the pulusu(tamarind juice). Heat oil in a pan, add mustard an cumin seeds when the seeds start sputtering add these to the pulusu and add in salt according to your taste. My mom told me that this dish was prepared by people when they were travelling in olden days. In those times when they had to travel long distances(there were no mechanical travel means) it would take days together to reach thier destination. They used to prepare meals when ever they stopped on the way. Since there is not much cooking involved in this dish, clearly this would be the best choice.
She also told me that they used to carry green chilli chutney(pachi mirapakaya pachadi) which they can add to any roasted vegetable and can make a pachadi(chutney) out of that roasted veggie. Now that's cool idea; what a time saving tip!

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Kakarakaya vepudu(bitter gourd fry)

Yep, I got bored with my old template hence the new look to my blog. 45 more hours and I will be done with this on-call, waiting for monday to do my off-call dance. Okay now let's get down to cooking business.
I am a big fan of bitter gourd and luckily Krishna loves it too. I haven't seen many people who like this vegetable but all of my friends like it(like minds concept I guess). It is very good for health especially for diabetics, but it did not gain much popularity due to its bitter taste.
I got this recipe from my mom. You need to fry bitter gourd and onion separately since bittergourd takes a little longer to get cooked and if you cook all of them together you might end up burning onion.

Here is what you need:
*Bitter gourd - 6 nos(medium sized)
*Onion - 1 medium sized
*Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
*Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
*Curry leaves - a few leaves
*Garlic clove - 1
*Dried red chillies - 4 nos
*Turmeric powder - a pinch
*Oil - 2 tsp
*Jaggery or brown sugar - 1 tsp
*Salt and chilli powder - according to taste

Slice the bitter gourd into very small pieces. Add salt and turmeric powder to the bitter gourd and let it sit for a few minutes. Squeeze them and remove the juice that you obtain by squeezing them. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add bittergourd pieces to the pan along with salt. Fry them until they turn a little brown.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a different pan and add cumin, mustard seeds to the pan. When the seeds start sputtering add crushed garlic, whole red chillies, curry leaves. Add onion and fry them til they turn a little brown; now add the fried bitter gourd pieces to this. Let them cook till they are done and add chilli powder, crushed jaggery(you can substitute this with brown sugar if you don't have jaggery on hand). One thing I have learnt from my mom is not to add chilli powder until the fry is completely done otherwise you will be suffocated by the sharp smell produced by the chilli powder which will leave you sneezing in no time.

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Coconut halwa

Here is what you need:

* Coconut - 1
* White rice - 1 cup(soaked in water overnight)
* Sugar - 1 cup
* Water - 1 cup
* Cardamom - 2 nos
* Ghee - 1/4 cup
* Chopped pistachios - 1/4 cup(optional)

1) Break the coconut into pieces and separate coconut pieces from the shell(this part can be tricky but according to Krishna the coconut shell has a point and if you can find that and start there then the coconut piece will separate from the shell at once . I am undergoing training for that, will let you know guys how it goes).

2) Chop the coconut into small pieces, so that you can grind them easily.

3) Grind the soaked rice into a smooth paste by adding approximately a 1/4 cup of water(this will probably take some time depending on the type of blender you are using).

4) Now grind the coconut into paste by adding a 1/4 cup of water(as sooth as possible). The actual recipe calls for extracting the coconut milk after grinding it into smooth paste but I decided to add the whole coconut paste in rather than just using its milk.

5) In a saucepan boil the sugar and 1/2 cup of water to prepare sugar syrup. Boil the syrup till it reaches a single string consistency. Crush the cardamom pods and add them to the sugar syrup.

6) Add the rice batter and coconut paste into the sugar syrup(actual recipe calls for adding some food color at this stage but I omitted that as well). You need to stir this mixture continuously from now on. While stirring slowly add the ghee in a multi step process. Stir it until the halwa thickens and the ghee starts coming out of it. Remove the saucepan from heat.

7) Spread this halwa on a flat surface and when its cool enough cut into pieces. Decorate it with chopped pistachios if you want.

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Well disguised vegetable

After another long break(I am going to blame jetlag and getting back to work after long vacation) I have decided to re-enter the blogging scene. Do you have picky eaters at home? Are they not budging at all even after long cajoling? Then you should try to disguise your veggies and present them in a different form. That's exactly what I did with this dish. I got the idea for this snack from an acquaintance's mother; she served us this sncak when we were visiting them. I tried to get the recipe from her but she wouldn't disclose the method. Then I decided to reverse-engineer and I was successful. So here goes the recipe of deep fried green gram batter with snake gourd.

Pesara-potlakaya punukulu(Greengram dal/Moong dal bajji's with snake gourd)

Here is what you need:

* Green gram with husk - 1.5 cups
* Rice - 1/4 cup
* Chopped snake gourd - 1.5 cups
* Chopped onion - 1/4 cup
* Ginger root - 1 inch
* Chopped green chilies - 1/2 tbsp
* Cumin seeds - 1tsp (optional)
* Salt - acc to taste
* Oil - for deep frying

1) Soak the green gram dal along with rice in water over night. Grind the green gram, rice, green chilies and ginger root into a smooth paste adding very little water only if needed. Now add salt.

2) Mix the chopped onion and chopped snake gourd into the batter prepared in step 1.

3) Heat oil in a dutch oven/kadai. When the oil is hot enough take bite sized portions of the batter and fry them in oil(if you don't want to touch the batter with your hands, you can use cookie dough scooper).

They tasted really good with home made ginger pickle. Even Krishna loved them, ofcourse he was the reason I prepared these as I can't get him to eat snake gourd otherwise.

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Chekkalu - Pindi vantalu(Snacks)

I have been planning to prepare some snacks since a long time but like many other things this project was on a back burner. Well this weekend I have decided to stop stalling and got to work. Many of you might be knowing this snack but might have different names for it and I am interested in knowing what it is called in other states of India.

Ingredients

* Rice flour - 1 lb
* Salt - Acc to taste
* Green chillies(crushed) - Acc to taste
* Butter - Optional
* Bengal gram - 1 table spoon(soaked in water a few hours)
* Oil - To fry
* Curry leaves - Few; chopped fine

Mix rice flour, salt, crushed green chillies, butter, bengal gram, curry leaves and water together to make a stiff dough. Let it sit for a half hour. Make marble sized balls and press them to make chekkalu. I usually use ziploc bags for pressing. If needed apply a little oil to your palms while pressing chekkalu. Heat oil in a pan. Fry chekkalu till they are lightly browned. These can be stored for atleast a month.

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Chamadumpa Vepudu

Chama dumapalu are starchy tropical tubers, rich in carbohydrates, similar to potatoes in texture and flavor. This is called Ghuiyan in hindi and taro root or arum root in english.

Ingredients:

Medium chama dumpalu----6
green chillies---5
onions--1
curry leaves--5 to 6
coriander powder--1 tbsp
cumin seeds(jeelakara)--1 tbsp
mustard seeds(aavalu)--1 tbsp
ginger garlic paste--1 tbsp
tumeric powder
salt
oil

Preparation Method:

Firstly boil the Chama dumpalu in cooker with sufficient water for about 10-15 minutes.
Then peel the skin as we do for potatoes and chop them into small thin pieces so that they get fried well.
Now take some oil in a pan for seasoning and add mustard seeds.
Then add the chopped onions,green chillies,ginger garlic paste,turmeric powder and the curry leaves.
Now add the chama dumpalu and mix well.
Finally add the red chilli powder,salt,coriander powder.
Cook on mediun heat untill it gets fried well.
Your curry is ready now and tastes great with rice.

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Egg Pulusu

Egg Pulusu is a typical andhra dish where boiled eggs are cooked in onions and tamarind gravy and tempered with mustard seeds,methi seeds,garlic and curry leaves.It is generally served with hot steaming rice.

Ingredients:

Boiled eggs--5
1 big lemon sized tamarind
green chillies---3
red chilli powder--1 tbsp
2 medium sized onions(finely chopped)
few curry leaves
methi seeds(menthulu)--1/2 tbsp
jeera(jeelakara)--1/2 tbsp
Mustard seeds--1/2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste--1 tbsp
turmeric --1/2 tbsp
salt for taste
oil

Preparation Method:

Boil the eggs.
Soak the tamarind in water for about 20 minutes and extract juice from it.
Roast the methi seeds and the jeera lightly on a low flame and grind them.
Now take a pan with 3 to 4 tbsp of oil and add the mustard seeds.
After they splutter add the the green chilllies,curry leaves,ginger garlic paste,turmeric and onions and fry them .
Then add the tamarind juice and allow it to boil .
Now add the red chilli powder,the powder(methi seeds+jeera),coriander powder and salt.
Finally add the boiled eggs and allow the pulusu on a medium flame for about 5 -10 minutes.
Serve the dish after 30 min so that the eggs get a good taste.This tastes great with rice.

Sakinalu

Sakinalu are the known traditional snacks made in Telangana Region.Even many people in Andhra pradesh does not know about this dish.Usually they are made for the sankrathi festival.Sakinalu are made of rice flour and seasame.

Ingredients:

Rice---4 cups
Ajwain seeds(oma,vaamu)--1/4 cup
Sesame(nuvvulu)--1/2 cup
Salt
oil

Preparation Method

Soak the rice with enough water for about 3-4 hrs.
Drain the water using a mesh and leave the rice in the mesh for about 3 hrs so that it gets dried.
Now grind the rice in a grinder till it becomes fine powder.
Roast the sesame(nuvvulu) lightly on a low flame.
Now add the Sesame,Ajwain and salt to the rice flour.Make a dough with the help of water as you do for chapathis.
Take small quantity of the dough in hand and make circles with thin lines on a cloth as in the below picture.

Repeat this process to make all the sakinalu.Don't worry this will take some time but on pratice you can do it.
After they are done allow the sakinalu to dry.

Now take a hallow pan with oil to fry.
Take the sakinalu slowly with help of a flat plate and fry them in the oil till light brown colour.
Finally your sakinalu are ready.
These snacks can be preserved upto 1 month in a air tight container.

For more Rice Recipes please visit us at: http://www.GumaGumalu.com

Sakinalu

Rice---4 cups
Ajwain seeds(oma,vaamu)--1/4 cup
Sesame(nuvvulu)--1/2 cup
Salt
oil

Preparation Method

Soak the rice with enough water for about 3-4 hrs.
Drain the water using a mesh and leave the rice in the mesh for about 3 hrs so that it gets dried.
Now grind the rice in a grinder till it becomes fine powder.
Roast the sesame(nuvvulu) lightly on a low flame.
Now add the Sesame,Ajwain and salt to the rice flour.Make a dough with the help of water as you do for chapathis.
Take small quantity of the dough in hand and make circles with thin lines on a cloth as in the below picture.

Repeat this process to make all the sakinalu.Don't worry this will take some time but on pratice you can do it.
After they are done allow the sakinalu to dry.

Now take a hallow pan with oil to fry.
Take the sakinalu slowly with help of a flat plate and fry them in the oil till light brown colour.
Finally your sakinalu are ready.
These snacks can be preserved upto 1 month in a air tight container.

For more Rice Recipes please visit us at: http://www.GumaGumalu.com

Mulakayya(Drumstick) tomato curry

Ingredients:

Drumsticks---3 medium sized
Tomatoes---2 medium sized
Jeera---1 tbsp
Onion---1 (finely chopped)
Green chillies----4 to 5
Red chilli powder---1 tbsp
Coriander powder--1 tbsp
Tumeric powder--1/2 tbsp
Ginger-garlic paste--1 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Oil

Preparation Method:

First peel the skin , wash the drumsticks and cut them into small pieces as shown below.

Now finely chop the onions,green chillies and tomatoes.
Take 3 tbsp of oil in a pan and let the oil get heated.
Now add the jeera, onions,green chillies and fry them.
After then add the tomatoes,ginger-garlic pastes and tumeric powder.Stir well and keep the flame low.
Now add the drum sticks and water if needed.Cover the pan with a lid and let them cooked for about 20 minutes.
After they are cooked add the red chilli powder,salt and coriander powder .Allow them to stay on a low flame for about 10 minutes and turn off the stove.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.

For more Rice Recipes please visit us at: http://www.GumaGumalu.com

Karapu Annam(Chilly Rice)

Karapu Annam is a dish in which the rice is mixed with the powder made of red chilles,coriander seeds and jeera .It is traditional dish made in Telanagana region of Andhra Pradesh,India.Its a very good dish for the spicy lovers and also it takes very less time for preparation.

Ingredients:

Rice---2cups
Red chillies---100gms
peanuts---1tbsp
Green chillies---5 to 6
Channa dal----2tbsp
Garlic---1 small
Turmeric powder---1/2tbsp
Oil
Salt as required
Coriander leaves---50gms
Jeera---25gms
A few Curry Leaves

Preparation Method:

Cook the Rice.
First to prepare the powder,slightly roast the coriander leaves,red chilles and jeera.
Allow them to cool .Grind them and add the crushed garlic along the salt as required as shown below.

Now take a pan with the 2 tbsps of oil and fry the green chilles,curry leaves,peanuts and channa dal.
Take the rice in a dish which is wide enough to mix the rice.
Add the mixture from the pan to the rice.
Also add 2tbsps of powder which we prepared along with the salt if it is required as we havealready added to the powder.Mix well.
Our spicy karapa annam is ready.Tastes great with ommlete.

Note:We can store this powder for almost a month.

For more Rice Recipes please visit us at: http://www.GumaGumalu.com

Capsicum-Tomato Curry

This is a curry, which have low calories and i prefer as a diet food.

Ingredients:

2 Green Capsicum or Green Bellpepper (cut into medium size cubes)
1 chopped onion
1/2 tsp jeera
1/2 tsp mustards
few curry leaves
3 chopped garlic pods
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1" chopped ginger juliens
1 chopped tomato
1 tsp chilli powder
salt as per taste
Chopped fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

Once heat the oil in a vessel, add jeera and mustards. Let them pop. Add chopped garlic pods, ginger juliens, curry leaves and onions, fry till they become lightly golden colour on medium flame.
Add turmeric powder and cube sized capsicum pieces, mix well, covered, stirring, cook for 10 minutes on low flame.
After that add chopped tomato, mixl, covered, cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove the lid, add chilli powder and salt, mix, cook for more 3 minutes. If curry is watery, then leave it on low flame with out covering. After that sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves, turn off the heat.
It goes well with hot rice and also with chapathis.

For more Rice Recipes please visit us at: http://www.GumaGumalu.com

Cauliflower-Tomato Curry

Cauliflower, such a nutritious and very healthy vegetable. Its cool-season vegetable. Before using of cauliflower for any variation, pluck the florets, keep in salted warm water for 10 minutes, which will remove the natural bitterness, drain them and keep aside. Now you can use these florets for any type of variations like curry, dry items or pickles etc... I use to prepare these cauliflower in 3 or 4 variations. One of these Cauliflower-Tomato curry will be looks beautiful and taste will be hmmmm.... :-). This contains low calories and very healthy food also. Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

1 medium sized cauliflower (washed in salted warm water)
1 tbsp oil or butter
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp jeera
1/2 tsp mustards
1 chopped onion
few curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 chopped big tomatoes
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder (Jeera powder)
1/2 tsp whole garam masala powder
salt as per taste
chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil or butter, add the washed florets, stir fry for 5 minutes continuously on medium flame, remove and keep aside.

2. In the same vessel, heat oil, add jeera and mustards, let them pop, add chopped onions and curry leaves, fry till slightly reddish.

3. Add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste, fry for few seconds, add all powders and salt except garam masala powder, mix, fry for few more seconds.

4. Add the chopped tomatoes, cook till oil separates from the edges of the vessel.

5. Add fried cauliflower florets, mix gently, covered, cook for 5 minutes on low heat. Add garam masala powder, mix gently, covered, cook for 5 minutes on low heat.

6. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and turn off the heat, once cauliflower florets become completely tender.

7. It goes well with rice and chapatis.