Meetha Adrak Achar

This is an amazingly yummy condiment to any Dosa or Pesarattu or even hot plain rice. I learned this recipe from one of my dad's cousins' and whenever I go to visit her she always makes sure that she has a fresh batch of this Achaar waiting for me.

The recipe is in Kgs and when I make this Achaar I convert it into the closest lbs

Meetha Adrak Achaar (Sweet Ginger Condiment)
Ingredients:

1.  1/4 Kg Ginger peeled and cleaned with a dry cloth
2. 1/2 Kg Tamarind
3. 100 gms red chili powder
4. 3/4 kg Jaggery (GUDD ) or dark brown sugar
5. 1/4 kg salt
6. 1/4 kg oil
7. 1 whole garlic bulbs peeled

For tempering:

1. Handful of dried red chillies broken into big pieces
2. 1 whole garlic bulb peeled

Peel the Ginger and clean it with a dry cloth. Slice it into thin slices and let it dry in the sun for 2-3 days or until the ginger feels crispy (This step helps the achaar to last longer)

If there is no sun, then lay the ginger slices on a cookie sheet and leave it in the oven at 200 degrees for 4-5 hours. This will dry up the ginger. Keep checking it intermittently to make sure its not burning and turn it once.

Grate the Jaggery to make grinding easier.

Boil 3 glasses of water and shut the heat. Add the tamarind to it and let it steep for 30 minutes. Later take as much thick juice from it as possible and stain it for any tamarind pits  

Grind the ginger and garlic into a coarse smooth paste. Add jaggery and grind again. Add salt and chili powder and mix well.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the garlic and dried red chillies for 5-10 minutes. Add this tempering to the Ginger Achaar and mix well. Serve with your favorite dish and store it in an air tight container.

Allam Rasam and Arvi Baingan

My mom used to make "Chaaru" which was a simple dish made of tamarind juice and some basic spices. I and my mom used to love it. I loved to just drink it like soup. But my brother never liked it. He always used to say "oh! if only you would just throw in some tomatoes for some taste in there" . I never understood him. I just loved the Chaaru my mom used to make.

Today, I made this Allam Rasam/Chaaru. Seriously I am not sure what the difference between Rasam and Chaaru is.

Anyway, the rasam I made today has a generous dose of Ginger in it and just a little bit of Toor dal or lentils in it to make the dish just a bit thicker . I served it with Arvi Baingan and plain white rice.

Arvi Baingan (Taro Root with Eggplant Curry)

Arvi Baingan

Ingredients:

1. 1/2-3/4 lb Arvi or Taro root cooked in the pressure cooker for 1-2 whistles. Peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2. 1 lb egg plant chopped into big pieces
3. 1 medium tomato chopped into pieces or 1/2 cup tomato paste
4. 1 medium small onion chopped
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 1/2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
7. 1/4 teaspoon cumin
8. 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, coriander powder,chilly powder
9. 3/4 teaspoon salt

In a non stick pan heat the oil and fry the cumin till they start to splutter. Add the onions and fry till they become translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add tomatoes and eggplant and stir to combine. Add the rest of the ingredients and cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add the boiled arvi pieces and 1/2 cup water and stir to combine. Simmer for 6-8 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with Roti or rice and rasam

Allam Rasam (Tamarind soup with Ginger)

Allam Rasam

Ingredients:

1. 1 in x 1 in x 1 in piece of ginger grated (heaped teaspoon of grated ginger)
2. 1 tablespoon toor dal (cooked with 1/4 cup water in the microwave for 5-6 minutes. Mash them)
3. 1 garlic pod grated
4. 1 teaspoon rasam powder
5. 4 cups juice from tamarind the size of a small lemon
6. 1 large tomato chopped fine
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal
8. 1/2 tablespoon oil
9. 1 teaspoon salt
10. 1 green chilly chopped
11. 2 red chillies broken
12. few curry leaves

In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and add cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal red and green chillies and curry leaves and fry till the seeds start to splutter. Add ginger and garlic and fry for 30-60 seconds. Add tomatoes and fry till they become mushy. Add the mashed toor dal. Add the tamarind juice and bring to a boil. Add rasam powder and salt and simmer for 15 minutes. Garnish with Cilantro and serve with steamed rice

Carrot Beet Root Halwa

I needed to make a sweet dish and I didn't have much in my refrigerator because we had just come back from the vacation. I wanted to make Gajar ka Halwa but all I had were 3 medium sized carrots. That wouldn't make enough halwa for everyone. So I was looking for something else to make the sweet dish and I found a can of Beet Root. And thus the Gajar aur Chukandar ka Halwa. This is so yummy and a sneaky way to smuggle some beets into your kids tummy.

Carrot Beet Root Halwa 

Gajar ka halwa Chukandar ke saath

Ingredients:

1. 3 medium sized carrots peeled and grated with the finest grater you have
2. 1 can beet roots drained and ground into coarse paste
3. 1/2-3/4 cup sugar
4. 1/2 cup heavy cream
5. 2 cardamom pounded
6. 1/2 tablespoon butter or clarified butter (ghee)
7. 1 teaspoon each of raisins, chopped almonds and cashew fried in 2 teaspoons ghee

In a heavy bottomed pan heat the ghee and add the grated carrot and stir well. Reduce heat to medium and cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. Add beet root paste and stir to combine. Cook further for 10 minutes. Add sugar and cook till it melts. Check if the carrots are tender to your taste or cook a bit longer. Add heavy cream and cardamom and stir to combine. Simmer till the water in the cream evaporates. Add the fried nuts and raisins and serve warm or cold

Apple Cider with Apple Juice

Today has been an especially cold day or I am feeling it. I am recovering from cold and I am not hungry but thirsty, thirsty and very thirsty.  And it being so cold I don't want to drink anything cold. I started searching for Apple Cider or Cyder which is usually had during the cold months.

I have never had hot Cider before and had no idea hot it is supposed to taste. But after looking at the recipes I thought I is a good cure for cold, with all the spices and everything.

And since I did not have any apple cider I used store bought apple juice and substituted orange for Tang. I guess the traditional cider makers will be very upset with me. But hey! whatever works. And now I am sitting all nice and warm from the hot cider

Apple Cider with Apple Juice

Apple Cider with Apple Juice

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups Apple juice for tots
2. 1/2 tablespoon honey
3. 1/2 inch ginger sliced thin (use more if you like)
4. 4-6 cinnamon sticks broken
5. 4-6 cloves (I am leaving this out)
6. 4 strips of only yellow rind from lemon
7. 1 heaped teaspoon orange tang

Add all the ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 12 minutes. Uncover and simmer for 5 more minutes. Let cool a bit and Happy Cider!!!

Lamb Curry with Broad Beans

Its winter and its been a few degrees cooler than average this year. Living in Los Angeles makes you think under 60 Degrees F is below freezing temperature. but I am not complaining. Its just that I am craving something creamy and gooey and hot and spicy. The spicy part had to be spared because here kids are involved in consuming the dinner.

Anne who!!! today I made the most yummiest lamb curry with Italian Broad beans. I served it with piping hot Sambar and rice

Lamb Curry with Broad beans

Lamb curry with broad beans

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb leg of lamb cut into pieces
2. 8-10 oz frozen Italian Broad beans thawed
3. 1 medium onion chopped
4. 1 tablespoon oil
5. 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
6. 1 large or 2 medium tomatoes chopped
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder
8. 1 cup chicken broth
9. Chopped cilantro for garnishing

In a heavy bottomed pot with lid add the oil and fry the onions till they start turning golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and all the powder ingredients and fry for 30-40 seconds. Add lamb and sear for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and chicken broth and stir to combine. Simmer for 15-25 minutes. Add green beans and 1/2-3/4 cup more water if needed and cook further for 10 more minutes. garnish with cilantro and serve

Boiled Potato Fry and Coconut Chutney

This is one of the most easiest of all the potato curries and yummiest too. This is the curry which is used as the masala in the masala dosa. And it is so versatile, you can just add other things to it and make different variants of the most popular potato curry in South India.

I am making Dosa to serve it with, and if I put this in the middle of the plain dosa it becomes the Masala Dosa. And also I made a different version of another popular dish the Coconut Chutney with Desiccated coconut and it came out equally scrumptious.

Aloo Masala (Simple boiled potato stir fry curry)

Boiled potato curry

Ingredients:

1. 3 medium potatoes boiled, peeled and cubed
2. 1 medium small onion sliced
3. 2 red chillies broken
4. Few curry leaves
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal (soaked in water for 10 minutes), turmeric, asafoetida
6. 1/2 tablespoon oil
7. 3/4 teaspoon salt
8. 1 tablespoon fresh peas (optional)
9. 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal , red chillies and curry leaves till they start to splutter. Add Hing or Asafoetoda and fry for 30 seconds. Add onions and fry till they become soft. Add salt and turmeric and fry for another 30 seconds. Add the potatoes and peas if using stir to combine and cover and simmer for 7-8 minutes. Mash a little. garnish with cilantro and serve on the side on inside the Dosa

Coconut Chutney with Dried Coconut

Desiccated Coconut

Desiccated coconut soaked in Water

Coconut Chutney with Desiccated Coconut

Ingredients:

1. 1 cups desiccated coconut
2. 1-11/2 cup juice from a small lemon sized tamarind
3. 1 jalapeno or Serrano chilli chopped
4. 1 teaspoon cumin divided
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of urad dal, chana dal (soaked in water for 10 minutes), mustard seeds, asafoetida, salt
6. 1/2 tablespoon oil
7. 1-2 dried red chillies broken
8. few curry leaves
9. 1 garlic pod chopped

In a microwave safe bowl add 1/2 cup water to the dried coconut and heat it for 1 minute. Set aside for atleast 15 minutes.

In a food processor grind together coconut, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, green chilly and salt with tamarind water into almost a smooth paste. In a pan heat the oil and fry all the remaining things (for tempering) until they start to splutter. Add asafoetida at the end and fry for one more minute. Add this to the top of the coconut chutney. Enjoy with hot fluffy rice or idli or carrot idli or  dosa or Ravva Dosa or Gaarelu 

Mooli Moong Dal

I have so many recipes I haven't blogged about and the back log is increasing by the day. I seriously need to spend more time with my laptop.

Anyway today I made Bhindi Do Pyaza and Mooli Moong Dal

Mooli Moong Dal (Split yellow grams with Daikon)

Mooli Moong Dal

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup yellow Moong dal dry roasted
2. 2-3 cups white radish or daikon chopped
3. 2 teaspoons oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric
5. 2 dried red chilies broken
6. few curry leaves
7. 1 teaspoon salt
8. 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
9. 1/4 cup chopped onion
10. 2 garlic pods chopped
11. 1/4 teaspoon hing

In a pressure cooker cook the dal along with chopped radish and turmeric for 3-5 whistles. Let it cool and open the cooker and mash the dal. Add salt and chili powder.

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin and mustard seeds for 1 minute. Add broken chilies and curry leaves and fry for one more minute. Add onions and fry till they become brown. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add hing and fry for 30 more minutes. Add this tempering to the mashed dal along with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for 5 minutes. garnish with cilantro and enjoy with hot rice and Okra with Onions and Tomato