Allum Pachadi

Its the weekend to time to eat something special dinner, lunch, brunch or breakfast. Today was Idli for dinner. And Idli is never complete without Chutney and Sambar. And the sambar recipe I finally was able to perfect is something which takes me back to a specific breakfast place in Hyderabad


Allum Pachadi (Sweet and Spicy Ginger accompaniment)

Allum Pachadi

Ingredients:

1. 1-1/2 cup of peeled and chopped
2. 2 teaspoons chana dal
3. 1 teaspoon urad dal
4. 2 red chillies
5. 3-4 garlic cloves
6. 3/4-1 teaspoon salt
7. 2 teaspoons brown sugar or jaggery
8. 1 tablespoon oil+1 teaspoon
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds
10. few curry leaves
11. 1/2 cup thick juice from a lime sized tamarind

In a pan heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the chana dal and urad dal and red chillies. Drain and set aside. In the remaining oil fry the ginger and garlic for 5-7 minutes. Let it cool

Grind all these ingredients along with the tamarind juice into a smooth paste

Heat the teaspoon oil in a pan and fry the cumin and mustard seeds till they start to splutter. Add curry leaves and fry. Add this tempering to the chutney. Enjoy

Sambar for idli (Sweet and spicy lentil soup)

Sambar

Ingredients:

1. 1-11/2 tablespoons home made sambar powder or any store bought
2. 1 cup toor dal soaked in 2 cups of water
3. 2 cups juice from tamarind the size of a medium lemon
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt, chilly powder, turmeric
5. 1 green chilly chopped
6. Vegetable mix ( 1/4 cup each of roughly chopped onions, carrots, potatoes, 1 indian brinjal, 1 drumstick cut into pieces)
7. For tempering:  1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, mustard seeds, Hing/ asafoetida 2 red chillies, few curry leaves
8. 2-3 teaspoons sugar

In a pressure cooker add the dal and the water they were soaking in and cook for 4 whistles. Let the steam escape, open the cooker and mash them. Add the tamarind juice and all the other ingredients and bring it to a boil and slow boil for 20 minutes. Add the tempering i.e heat the oil fry the cumin, hing and mustard seeds. Add red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a couple of minutes. Add it to sambar, bring it to boiling again. Boil for 5 more minutes. Serve with your idlis or vada or dosa.

Achari Murgh

Its been pretty busy lately and I haven't been blogging anything recipes. Forget about blogging them, I am not even taking photos of them for later use. It's been crazy busy

Anyway, long time ago I made a dish with lamb called "Achari gosht". And the vegetarian version of the dish with eggplant called "Achari baingan" which was soooooo delicious. So today I had a whole chicken cut into 12 pieces and I made "Achari murgh"

So...what is "Achari" ? Achar is nothing bu pickle in Hindi/Urdu. And the spices which are used in making the pickles are the ones which are used in these dishes. Hence the name. So here goes

Achari Murgh (chicken cooked in pickling spices)

Achari Murgh

Ingredients for roasting

1. 1 teaspoon each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, onion seeds (kalonji)
2. 1/2 teaspoon methi or fenugreek seeds
3. 3 dried red chillies

Ingredients

1. 1 chicken cut into 12-16 pieces
2. 1 big onion sliced thin (about 11/2-2 cups)
3. 2 medium onions sliced
4. 1-2 green chillies
5. 1 teaspoon salt
6. 1 tablespoon oil
7. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger- garlic paste
8. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
9. 1/2 cup plain yogurt beaten
10. 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Roast all the ingredients under " ingredients for roasting". Let them cool and grind to powder

In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they starting turning brown. Add the ginger -garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook till pulpy. Add the chicken and salt and turmeric and stir to combine. Add the yogurt and stir again. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add the ground spices mixed with lemon juice, add a cup of water and simmer till chicken gets cooked. About 15 minutes.  Wait 30 minutes or more before serving. That will help all the spices mix together.
This curry is even better the next day

Serve it with white rice and Rasam

Tuna Rosti with Baked Yellow Squash

Its been ages that I had any time to blog. Especially with the kids at home in Summer, my days were super busy being a Chauffeur for them to all their activities. And now that school is open again I have a bit of a time to think of things others that which have to do something with the kids
                Anyway, today was a special Sunday night dinner. Something very different than what we are used to. Like my father used to say "if we don't eat rice, then it seems as if we did not eat dinner (even though we would have our bellies bursting with anything other than rice)"
               So I made "Rosti"... it is a dish mainly consisting of potatoes. And to go with it I made the most awesome baked Yellow Squash.

Tuna Rosti (Canned Tuna with Potatoes and eggs)

Ingredients:

1. Two 5-oz canned Tuna packed in water
2. 3 cups grated potatoes (squeezed to get as much water out as possible)
3. 1 cup bread crumbs
4. 1 tablespoon grated onion
5. 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
6. 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
7. 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
8. 1 teaspoon finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
9. 2 eggs beaten
10. salt to taste
11. Oil for frying

Drain the Tuna well. Squeeze the grated potatoes to get as much water out as possible. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well with a light hand. Add the beaten eggs and incorporate. Chill for 30 minutes. Divide in 8 parts. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and fry on medium high for 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve warm

Baked Yellow Squash 

Ingredients:

1. 2 yellow squash ends trimmed and cut into 1/2 cm thick circles
2. 1/2-3/4 cup bread crumbs
3. 2 tablespoons butter melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray non-stick cooking spray on a cookie sheet and lay the squash circles in one layer. Brush the top with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn midway

Coconut Ladoo

My Daadi Ammi or Grandma used to make this sweet with grated fresh coconut and in those days it was not one of my fav orites. But today I was craving something from the old times and I started searching for the recipe of LAUZ (thats what it was called in my household) and I found the recipe which is different from what my DaadiAmmi used to make. None-the-less I made it and it tastes great.

Narial Ladoo (Coconut balls made with milk and sugar)

Narial Ladoo

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups grated coconut (fresh or if frozen thawed)
2. 1 cup brown sugar
3. 2 cups whole milk
4. 2 green cardamom pounded
5. 1 tablespoon ghee or clarified butter

In a heavy bottomed pan roast the coconut till it turns into light brown. Take it out and set aside. Heat the milk and simmer till it becomes half of the original volume. Add the sugar and simmer further for 5-7 more minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and keep stirring till it comes together. Cut the heat and let it cool till it becomes cool enough to handle. Wet your palms and make them into balls. Enjoy Coconut Ladoo

Salmon curry with Ambada Khatta

Its been ages that I blogged anything. Its just that the priorities have shifted a bit. Some other things have just been moved up the priority and bogging was pushed down. Anyway, here I am today I made Salmon curry with a side gravy of Sorrel leaves which are might sour, and I love them

Salmon Curry (Salmon Steak pieces in a simply yummy gravy)

Salmon Steak curry

Ingredients:

1. two pieces of 1 inch thick salmon steaks cut into 4-5 pieces each
2. 1 medium onion
3. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
5. 1/2-2/3 inch ginger
6. 2 green chillies slit
7. 2 garlic pods
8. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, turmeric, methi powder, coriander powder
9. 1 tablespoons oil

Marinate the fish with all the powdered ingredients and oil and set aside for 5-10 minutes. Grind the onions and ginger and garlic  and cumin to a fine paste. Heat the oil and fry the onion paste until it starts getting dark. Add fish to it, add about 2 cups of water and slit green chillies simmer for 12-15 minutes.  Garnish with cilantro and enjoy fish curry


Ambada Khatta (Simple Sorrel leaves gravy)

Ambada Khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1 big bunch sorrel leaves separated
2. 1 small onion sliced
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric,
5. 1/2 tablespoons oil
6. 1 teaspoon each of salt, roasted peanut powder
7. 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red chilly powder (optional)
8. 1 garlic clove chopped fine
9. 2 dried red chillies broken

Pressure cook the sorrel leaves with 1/2 teaspoon turmeric and 1/4 sup water. Let the steam escape, open the cooker and grind the leaves to a smooth paste.

                 In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and fry the urad dal, cumin and mustard seeds till they start to splutter. Add onions, red  chillies and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients, 2 cups of water and simmer for 10 minutes,. Give it a taste test and add more water it it is very sour or salt as per taste. Enjoy

I deep fried some store bought yogurt chillies (green chillies marinated in yogurt and sun dried ). DELICIOUS. I put them in the ambada khatta and served them

Dahi Mirchi

Whipped Orange Juice

Today we went on a trip to a place called "Fillmore" and surrounding are the most amazing orange groves I have ever seen. Mile after mile of orange trees filled with juice oranges, lemons, grape fruit and sometimes a strawberry farm. And if it was not orange trees then it was Avocado trees. I have never seen a Avocado tree before and I thought it was a Mango tree cause the leaves were looking kinda similar. But anyway it was great.
         So while coming back we got a whole box of fresh oranges and MAN!!! are they sweet. I wanted to make this delicious drink called "Whipped Orange Juice" I once had in a Mexican restaurante. I found the recipe and I added my own items and it was great. So here is the simple but most refreshing orange juice ever

Whipped Orange Juice 

Whipped Orange Juice

Ingredients:

1. About 1 glass of fresh orange juice
2. 3-4 ice cubes
3. 2-3 teaspoons sugar

Whip all the ingredients in a blender for about 2-3 minutes or until frothy. Serve in a chilled glass on a hot summer day or any day you want to be refreshed. ENJOY

Besan Roti Achari Baingan aur Lehsuni Chutney

Today was a day of shopping for me. I spent quite a lot of money today and after coming home in the evening, the age old question question awaited me...whats for dinner??? Hence the search began for some recipes with Baingan...the King of vegetables...Eggplant. I found these recipes on a Pakistani website and I searched and searched and searched...all those websites had videos of 30-50 minutes long. I just wanted a recipe. Didn't want to watch all the blabber
             But anyway I got the recipe from different places and it turned out great. So the recipe for today's dinner is as follows

Besan Roti (Indian bread with Chick peas flour)

Besan Roti

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups Besan (Chick Peas flour)
2. 2 cups whole wheat flour
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
5. 1/2 teaspoon chilly flakes
6. 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Sift both the flours with salt and mix all the other ingredients into a dough with about 1 cup water. Apply a little oil to your palm and roll the dough to apply oil all around. Set aside for 20-30 minutes. Divide into 8-10 parts and roll into roti and fry on a hard griddle till dark spots appear on the roti. Apply little ghee on both sides and serve hot

Achari Baingan (Eggplant in Indian Pickle Spices)

Achari Baingan

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized American Eggplant cubed
2. 1 medium small onion cubed
3. 1 teaspoon each of mustard seeds, cumin, fennel seeds, fenugreek (Methi) seeds, Onion seeds (Kalonji), Coriander seeds or coriander powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, chilly powder, salt
5. 2 tablespoons oil
6. 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
7. 1 tablespoon white vinegar
8. 2-3 dried red chillies

Heat oil in a Kadhai or wok and add the red chillies and fry for a minute. Add the onions and fry for 2-4 minutes until they start changing color. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the eggplant and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except vinegar and stir to combine. Fry for a couple of minutes. Add about 1/2-3/4 cup water and cook covered for 15-20 minutes until eggplant gets cooked thoroughly. Garnish with cilantro and vinegar and stir to combine. Serve with besan roti

Lehsuni Chutney (Garlic yogurt dip)

Lahsun ka Chutney

Ingredients:

1. 1 whole garlic peeled
2. 3/4-1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
3. 1/2 teaspoon cumin toasted
4. 1/2 teaspoon chilly flakes
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice

Blend everything to a smooth paste. Serve chilled