Bottle gourd chick peas curry

The other day when I went to the Indian stores I got two bottle gourds and I wanted to make kheer with it but I finally made te kheer with pumpkin ( not the orange one) which is called "Budida gummadi kaaya" in Telugu.

So I made a curry with bottle gourd and chick peas and it was sooo good. I served it with multi grain wheat roti

Bottle gourd and chick peas curry
Ingredients
1. 1 medium small bottle gourd, peeled cored and cubed
2. 1 cup chick peas from the can
3. 1/2 cup each of sliced onions and chopped tomatoes
4. 1 tablespoon chick peas mashed
5. 1 tablespoon each of oil,
6. 1 teaspoon toasted desiccated coconut, sambar powder (optional)
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin powder, coriander powder, salt, chilly powder, turmeric
8. 2 garlic pods chopped fine

In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till they star changing color. Add garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add bottle gourd and tomato and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and 1/8 cup water and cook for 3 whistles. Let the steam escape and mix the mashed chickpeas and sambar powder and simmer till excess water evaporates. Garnish with toasted coconut and cilantro and enjoy

Cinema Hall Cucumber Sandwich

The other day me and my cousin were getting nostalgic and where talking about the cinema halls in India. How it used to be such a treat to go to the movies with friends and all. And the food. When it came to the food we both we thinking of the same thing. The vegetarian cucumber sandwich which used to be available only in the cinema theaters. And MAN it used to be good.

So I went on a hunt to find the ingredients of the sandwich, the main one being the green chutney. When I went to the Indian store I found a mango-mint chutney instead of the usual mint chutney and I got it. And I made the sandwich and it brought about such fond memories.

Cucumber Sandwich (Simply delicious vegetarian sandwich)

Cucumber sandwich

Ingredients

1. 2 slices white bread crust removed
2. 5-6 slices (1/8 inch thick) of peeled cucumber
3. 2 teaspoons each of mint or mango-mint chutney, tomato ketchup

Spread the mint chutney on one slice and the ketchup on the other slice. Top the mint chutney slice with cucumber topped with the tomato slice. Cut diagonally into two triangles. Enjoy as is, or with some potato chips

Besan Dosa

I wanted to make instant dosa today with rice flour and urad dal flour but I ran out of rice flour. So was searching for some other Sosa recipes but all of them has rice flour as Thierry ingredient. The one Sosa which has rice flour as an optional ingredient was the besan dosa and I made it with grated potatoes and it is yum yum

Besan Dosa (Indian crepe with chickpea flour)

Besan Dosa

Ingredients

1. 2 cups besan
2. 1 medium potato peeled and grated fine
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, red chilly flakes, coriander powder
6. 1 tablespoon plain yogurt beaten
7. Oil for frying

Mix all the ingredients together except oil and set aside for 15
Minutes. Heat a griddle and drop a ladle full of dosa batter an spread it outwards in a circular motion with a light hand. Drizzle oil around the circumference. Cook for 3-4 minutes, drizzle some oil over the dosa and turn and cook for 3-4 minutes. Serve with green chutney or your favorite chutney

Achari paneer with zeera rice

The other day I was searching for recipes online and you know the google autofill suggested Achari Paneer. And since I already had store bought Paneer on hand I decided to make it. And for the main course I made zeera rice and the combination was D-Vine. So here is the recipe for your palatable pleasure

Achari paneer (cottage cheese in Indian pickling spices)

Achari Paneer

Achar spice mix

Ingredients
1. 2 cups 1/2 inch cubes of paneer
2. 1/4- 1/3 cup of plain yogurt
3. 1/2- 3/4 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 2 tablespoons tomato sauce ( 1 tablespoon tomato paste)
7. 1/2 cup chopped onions

For roasting
1. 3/4 teaspoon each of nigella seeds ( kalongi ) , fennel seeds
2. 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seed ( methi), black pepper
3. 1 tablespoon coriander seeds or powder
4. 2 dried red chillies

Dry roast the ingredients in the roasting and let them cool. Grind to a coarse paste.
Mix the yogurt, salt, turmeric and paneer and set aside.
In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions on medium heat till they start changing color. Add the spice powder and fry for couple of minutes. Add paneer and fry for few minutes. Add tomato and cook on low flame for 5-7 minutes. Add some water if it becomes too dry. Enjoy with jeera/zeera rice

Bhindi khatta

This Sour Okra Gravy is my mother-in-laws recipe and it is quite different from what my mother used to make . But this tastes, dare I say, better than what my mom used to make. The trick is in simmering it to become thick and till the oil floats.
Today I served it with white rice and Shrimp fry

Bhindi Khatta (Okra in sour tamarind gravy)

Bhindi Khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 lb okra ends snipped and cut into 1-11/2 inch pieces
2. 2 tablespoons oil divided
3. 1/2 up finely chopped red onions
4. 1-11/2 cup thick juice of tamarind the size of a small lemon
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal
6. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt, chilly powder, turmeric
7. few curry leaves
8. 2 dried red chillies broken

In a pressure cooker add a tablespoon of oil and fry the okra till they start becoming brown. Drain and set aside.

Add the remaining oil and add cumin, urad dal and mustard seeds and fry till they splutter. Add curry leaves and dried red chillies. Add the onions and fry till they start chaning color. Add the okra and salt, chilly powder, turmeric and stir. Add tamarind juice and close the cooker and cook on medium high for one whistle. After the steam has escaped open the cooker and simmer the khatta till oil floats. Enjoy with hot white rice

Podi kottina vankaaya

Here is one of the recipes for the king of vegetables... Eggplant or brinjal. Why is it the king of vegetables... Because it has a natural crown on it's head. Baingan raaja.

This is an amazingly easy recipe of stir fried eggplant. I served it with white rice and khatti dal

Podi kottina vankaaya( stir fried eggplant with roasted lentils)
Ingredients
1. 1 medium American eggplant or two Chinese eggplants
2. 1 tablespoon oil
3. 3/4 teaspoon salt
4. 2 tablespoons juice from a marble sized tamarind

For powder
1. 2 teaspoons each of Chana dal, desiccated coconut
2. 1 teaspoon each of urad dal, coriander seed
3. 2 dried red chillies

Roast the ingredients for powder without any oil and let them cool. Grind them to a coarse powder

In a pan heat the oil and fry the eggplant with salt covered for 10 minutes. Add the powder and stir to combine. Add the tamarind juice and cover and cook for 5 more minutes. Enjoy with hot steamy rice and sambar

Lamb kaboodeh with saffron rice and cucumber salad

I wanted to make some Mediterranean dish because I got this whole wheat pita bread from the store the other day. This pita bread was amazing and I just wanted to make something to go with it. So here is the menu for today.




Lamb kaboodeh( ground lamb kabob)
Ingredients

Lamb Kaboodeh

1 lb ground lamb
1/2 medium sized red onion grated
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
2-3 garlic pods grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1-2 tablespoons milk
Pinch of saffron
1 egg beaten
I tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Squeeze as much water as possible from the grated onions. Heat the milk and at the saffron
And let it stand for 10 minutes
Mix all the ingredients together with a light hand. Divide it into 5 equal parts and make it into logs or put them on a skiver. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes. Turn them half way through. Serve as an appetizer or as a side dish


Saffron Rice

Cucumber salad

Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

1. 1 medium small cucumber peeled and cut into 1 cm pieces

2. 1 Roma tomato seeded and chopped in the same size

3. 1 tablespoon each of finely chopped red onion, fresh squeezed lemon juice

4. 1/2-3/4 Teaspoon salt

5. 1/2 teaspoon pepper

6. 1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint (optional)

7. 1 tablespoon finely chopped red bell pepper (optional)

Let the onions and lemon juice sit together until you cut all the other veggies. Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Hold the salt until you are ready to serve else it will make the veggies lose water. Enjoy