Ulava Charu

Hi..I want to post one of my favorites..Ulava (Horse gram) Chaaru recipe for you all. Fact is, we love to have Rasam as part of our every day meal. So, I try variety of rasam recipes…This particular ulava chaaru recipe..I remember back then, once had at a wedding feast…but never given it a try, until I had this after many years at my friend's place, Thanks Neelu ! The first time..we tried this recipe at my home…we just fell in love with this..& now, once in a week…this is on our menu.. without a miss :-)

Ulava Charu

Ingredients :

Whole horse gram / ulavalu - 1 cup ( soaked over night or at least 1 to 2 hours before cooking)

Tomato - 1 (diced)

Tamarind juice - 2 table spoons

Garlic cloves - 2

whole black pepper - 1/2 tea spoon

Coriander / dhaniya powder - 1 table spoon

Dry red chili - 2 to 3

Curry Leaves - 2 to 3

Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1/2 tea spoon

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tea spoon

Oil - 1 table spoon 

Salt - as per taste

Step 1 :

Wash & soak the ulavalu / horse gram over night (Preferably) or at least 1 to 2 hours so that it will take less time to pressure cook them.

Soaked Horse gram

Step 2 :

Add 3 to 4 cups water & pressure cook the horse gram.

Step 3: 

Once the horse gram is pressure cooked, separate 3/4 of the cooked ulavalu and grind them along with garlic cloves, dry red chili, whole black pepper & dhaniya powder.

Pressure cooked Horse gram

Grind Ulavalu with dhaniya powder, garlic, pepper & dry red chili

Grinded horse gram paste with spices

Note : Don't throw away the water extracted from the pressure cooked horse gram, we can use it while making ulava charu.

Residue after pressure cooking the Horse gram

Step 4:

Dice the tomatoes into medium to large pieces. Heat oil in the pan & start adding jeera, mastard & curry leaves and roast them and then add the diced tomato to the seasoning.

Diced Tomato

Step 5 :

Once the tomato pieces are slightly cooked, add the grinded horse gram paste & remaining pressure cooked horse gram to the seasoning.

Step 6 :

Stir once & add the tamarind juice, the extract or residue of pressure cooked horse gram and add salt and cook well for 5 to 10 minutes. You can adjust the thickness of the Ulavacharu by adding water if you prefer it not so thick.

Turn off the heat & let the Ulava char to settle down & come to room temperature. 

Ulava charu

It tastes divine with hot steamed rice. Enjoy cooking , enjoy the food & invest in your HEALTH !

Chicken Biryani !

This is absolutely for those ardent fans of The Chicken Biryani …yes I am one amongst you…..so, here is my version of chicken biryani..totally totally hassle free…& you can make this layered chicken biryani in ……. a pressure cooker..how cool is that ?!!!!

Chicken Biryani

Before we get into the ingredients & recipe.. i want to tell a small tip..if you are planning to make chicken biryani and you planned it well ahead, I suggest you to …marinate the chicken and keep it in the refrigerator for 5 to 6 hours or over night to get the best of it. But nothing to worry, if it is just an hour ago you planned to make chicken biryani..still no problem..just marinate & keep it in the refrigerator for 1 hour which is good enough too !

Preparation :

Part 1:

Ingredients to marinate the chicken :

Chicken - 2 lbs ( 1 kg)

Red chili powder - 2 tbl spoons

Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 table spoon

Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon

Garam masala powder - 1 tbl spoon

Curd - 2 tbl spoons

Dhaniya / coriander powder - 1 table spoon

Coriander leaves & Green chili paste - 1 table spoon

Salt - 1 to 2 table spoons

Chicken Marination :

- Thoroughly wash the chicken in the running water and take it into a mixing bowl & add all the above ingredients to the chicken &  mix well.

- Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic cling wrap & keep it in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hr to 1 hour.

Part 2 :

Rice - 3 cups ( I took basmati rice)

Water - 4 cups

Salt - 1 tbl spoon

Ghee - 1 tbl spoon

Whole Garam masala Ingredients :

Bay Leaf - 1 (big) or 2 (small)
Cinnamon / Cassia bark stick - 1
Cloves - 4 to 5
Green / black cardamom - 2
Anis flower - 2 to 3
Cardamom - 1 or 2
Nutmeg - small piece

- Wash the rice thoroughly & add water, salt, ghee & all the whole garam masala ingredients to the rice and cook the rice. In general we add 1: 1.5 - rice : water to cook basmati rice, since we just need half cooked rice we are just cooking rice with 4 cups of water.

- Now half cooked rice with all whole garam masala ingredients and marinated chicken is ready by this time.

Part 3 :

Ingredients :

Chopped coriander leaves - 1 cup 

Chopped mint leaves - 1 cup

Roasted cashews - 1/4 cup

Saffron strands -  soaked in 1/2 cup milk

Lemon juice - 2 table spoons

Oil - 2 to 3 tbl spoons

Ghee / butter - 3 tbl spoons

Fried onions - 1 cup (optional)

Method -

- Add oil to the pressure cooker. Nicely coat the bottom & interior walls of the pressure cooker.

- Place all marinated chicken in the pressure cooker. depending on the size of the cooker, you can arrange one or more layers.

- Now add one layer of half cooked rice over the chicken in the pressure cooker.

- On the each layer of rice, top it with ghee, lemon juice, chopped coriander & mint leaves, milk (saffron soaked), cashews & fried onions..evenly.

- Repeat the these steps until you finsh layering chicken & rice. I used a 7.5 liter pressure cooker, so I just got 2 layers.

- Add any leftover marination mix on top the rice layer..it gives you a great taste to the biryani.

- No need to add any extra water to this, just close the pressure cooker with the lid & DO NOT KEEP THE WHISTLE . Yes, you read it right..we don't keep the weight.

- NOTE : we have to cook the biryani on a SLOW / LOW HEAT and it takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

- Once the chicken is cooked well you can feel the nice aroma coming out of the cooker. Once you feel it is done, turn off the heat & let all the pressure come down. Open the lid & gently mix the layers, so that Rice & chicken will be mixed together.

Now, it is time to enjoy the chicken biryani with any sides like kurma / gravy & raitha !

We enjoyed chicken biryani with Aloo kurma & raitha. Check out the Aloo kurma recipe @ the below link !

Aloo / Potato Kurma Recipe

Chicken Biryani !

Tomato Rasam !

Hey..time for some spicy & tangy delicious rasam …for the coldest winters….mmm.. yummy… ! This is not so new recipe for many of you…but everybody has their own version …as one of my best friends says…& I can't deny that ..Fact is a Fact :-)

ok…Let's quickly get in to recipe…zoooommm…..

Steamed Rice with Tomato rasam !

Ingredients :

Tomatoes - 3 medium sized 

Water - 2 to 4 cups

Tamarind pulp / juice - 1 to 2 table spoons

Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped / crushed

Garlic cloves - 2 chopped / crushed

Coriander / dhaniya powder - 1 tea spoon

Black pepper powder - 2 tea spoons

Jeera / cumin powder - 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon

Dry Red chili - 2 

Curry Leaves - 3

Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon

Oil - 1 table spoon

Chopped coriander leaves - 1 cup

Salt - as per the taste

Preparation :

- Grind the tomatoes & make tomato pulp ( before grinding, I just microwaved the tomatoes for 1 minute..which is totally optional ).

Tomato pulp

- Crush / finely chop the ginger & garlic , don't need to grind them to a fine paste. I hand crushed them.

Crushed ginegr & garlic

-  gently crush the dry red chillis, make sure you don't accidentally rub your eyes with the same hands…

- Now, we are ready to fire up the rasam … are you ready…?! Heat the oil in the sauce pan & slowly add crushed ginger & galic, dry red chilli, mustard seeds, curry leaves and fry them until you feel nice aroma……

- Now add the Tomato pulp to this seasoning & add turmeric powder, dhaniya powder and little salt. Let it cook until you see the water getting slightly separated from the pulp…& bubbling up….

- Now add the tamarind juice ( This time I bought the tomatoes they are not too tangy so I used 2 table spoons of tamarind juice, if you bought nicely ripped tomatoes then you can add just 1 table spoon of tamarind juice. ) & add water and bring it to boil on a medium heat.

- Now add the jeera & black pepper powder. This Jeera and black pepper powder I made at home. which I use for Pepper rasam, will share the recipe soon.

- On a medium heat boil the tomato rasam for 5 to 10 minutes & keep tasting to adjust the salt as per your preference. Once turn off the heat, add the chopped coriander leaves. 

Note : When it comes to the preferences like spicy, hot, salt, sweet, sour…it depends on individual choice. So, please adjust them as per your preference. I try to give you the moderate measures ..but you always can keep a control on the measure of spices as per your choice.

Now..it is time for you to enjoy the hot steamed rice with yummy tangy & spicy tomato rasam with any of your favorite side….we had with picnic aloo on the side..yes..I will share the recipe soon ! Enjoy the food !

Potato Kumra !

Hi..I am back with Aloo Kurma / Potato Kurma recipe for you…Kurma is basically a spiced up gravy that goes well with any rice item / roti / parathas….

Aloo Kurma

Ingredients :

Potatoes - 1 lb  or 1/2 kg
                             
Whole Garam masala Ingredients :

Bay Leaf - 1 (big) or 2 (small)
Cinnamon / Cassia bark stick - 1
Cloves - 4 to 5
Green / black cardamom - 2
Anis flower - 2 to 3
Cardamom - 1 or 2
Nutmeg - small piece

Coconut (grated) - 1/4 cup (can use dry coconut scrape if fresh coconut is not available)
Coriander powder / Dhaniya powder -  1 tbl spoon
Cashews - 1/4 cup (to be soaked in water)
Onion - 1
Water - 1 cup (can be adjusted as per your preference of gravy consistency)
Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 tbl spoon
Red chilli powder - 2 tbl spoons
Oil / Ghee - about 3 tbl spoons
Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
Chopped Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Salt - As per the taste

Preparation :

- Wash & boil the potatoes. Don't over boil the potatoes because we don't need to mash them., remove the skin & keep them aside.

- Grind the onion & make onion paste.

- Grind coconut , coriander poder & soaked cashews together.

- Heat ghee / oil in the pan and fry all the whole garam masala ingredients.

- Now add onion paste to the pan & fry it until it turns golden brownish and you can feel the aroma.

- Now add Ginger & Garlic paste and fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

- Add the coconut & cashew masala and stir well.

- Add chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and water.

- On a low heat bring it to a boil.

- Add the boiled potatoes to this gravy and cook for 5 to 10 minutes on a low heat & adjust the salt.

- Once the done, turnoff the heat and add the chopped coriander leaves to the kurma. 

Aloo kurma

- If potatoes are small sized you don't need to cut them, but if taken large potatoes dice them.

Pancakes !!!!

It's time for pancakes …& I just enhanced the taste by adding blueberries to them….try this & enjoy !

This time the pancakes turned out to be much tastier because of  my Mr. S …he helped me to whisk the milk & eggs and  taking batter's consistency pic ! Thank you Mr. S you are so supportive as always !

Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients :

All purpose flour - 2 cups
Milk - 3 cups
Eggs - 2
Baking powder - 2 table spoons
Sugar - 1 or 2 tables spoon (can increase the quotient if you have a sweet tooth :-) )
Salt - 1/2 tea spoon (can be lessen if you prefer less salty)
Baking Soda - 1/2 tea spoon
Butter - 1 / 2 stick (for batter)
Oil - to grease the pan / griddle
Blueberries - 1 cup (optional)
Honey / any syrup of your choice / whipped cream / fruits on the side - As per your choice

Preaparation :

whisk / blend milk, eggs & butter together. I blended them in a mixer juicer ( Magic bullet !)

Milk / Eggs & butter mixture

Now mix well all the dry ingredients (Flour / baking powder / baking soda/ sugar / salt) in another bowl.

All purpose flour /baking powder /baking soda/sugar/salt

Now add the milk & eggs mix to the dry ingredients mixture. Blend well all the ingredients. Again I used the juicer blender to blend all the ingredients to a finer batter. Your pancakes batter is ready !

Pancakes Batter

Now heat the griddle / pan & grease it with either butter / oil ( I used olive oil to grease the griddle). Take a scoop at a time and firmly add to the pan. Don't spread it all over / thin flat. Depending on the pan / griddle size can make more than 1 pancake at a time. I topped the pancakes with blueberries which is optional & you can add chico chips or any of your favorite topping just enhance the flavor of your pancakes.

Pancakes with blueberries

 Flip them to the other side after cooked on one side.

Pancakes

Now your yummy / fluffy pancakes are ready to be served with honey / any syrup of your choice / whip cream and some fruits on the side.

We enjoyed our pancakes with Honey & the mixed berries & banana on the side …..

Blueberry pancakes !

                                                        Hope you enjoy this recipe !

Beerakaya Pachchadi / Ridge Gourd chutney

Hey all….This time I am going to post a chutney recipe which you can enjoy with Dosa / Idly / Steamed hot rice…Yes, you already read the title, it is 'Beerakaya Pachadi' / 'Luffa' or Ridge gourd chutney.

Before, I go ahead with the recipe..let me share few good things about this vegetable. I don't think that I was the only alien..who used to have a great aversion for this vegetable as a child. I never enjoyed any recipe with ridge gourd as a child & my mom used to say a lot..that this is one of the great vegetables which is a great source of dietary fiber & vital elements like zinc, vitamin C & minerals.

I realized, lately that I should include this on my menu at least once a week to get the goodness of this vegetable..& I am keeping that word up..so far :-) ! Bingo…so..develop interest towards this vegetable & make your family members too, to enjoy this veggie…

Ok..lets Quickly get into our recipe part now,

Beerakaya Pachadi

Ingredients :

Luffa / Ridge Gourd / Beerakaya / Heerekayi - 1 Long ..peeled and diced into medium pieces
Green Chilli - 5 to 6 (as per your preference)
Grated coconut - 2 tbl spoons / few flakes ( you can use fresh coconut or dried)
whole Jeera / cumin seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Curry Leaves - 2
Garlic clove - 1
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
Tamarind - 1 chickpea sized
Salt - As per taste
Oil - 2 tea spoons

Method :

Step 1:

In a small pan add 1 tea spoon of oil and sauté the ridge gourd pieces, don't need to add water. Just cover the pan with lid and let the pieces be cooked. usually it takes 5 minutes. Don't over cook.

Step 2 :

Once, you see the gourd pieces are cooked take them out of pan and keep them aside. In the same pan add 1 tea spoon of oil and fry green chilli. You can feel the aroma of green chili…when they fried enough. Turn off the heat, now add the jeera, curry leaves & tamarind to the sam span and just sauté them ( the heat of the pan is enough to slightly roast them).

Step 3:

Grind, Ridge gourd pieces, green chilli, garlic clove, curry leaves, jeera, coriander leaves, coconut and salt. Don't make it too fine paste. Let it be little coarser. And that is it all..now the chutney is ready.

I must say, this chutney tastes heaven if it is done with fresh coconut but this time I ran out of fresh coconut, so I used dry coconut flakes.

We had, Beerakaya Thlimpu & Rasam with white rice followed by Rice payasam !

Baby Eggplant curry

Baby eggplant curry / Guththi vankaya koora / Badanekayi huli ….This is a creamy & mouth melting eggplant recipe that goes well with Steamed white rice / roti …& you never know if you like it extremely you might end up eating just the curry … no sides required....I mean it !

Baby Eggplant Curry

Ingredients for Masala : 

Peanuts - 1/8 cup

Dry coconut - 1/8 cup grated / flakes

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick

Cloves - 2 to 3

White sesame seeds - 1 tea spoon

Poppy seeds / gusagasalu - 1 tea spoon

dry red chili - 2 (roasted)

Grind all the above into a fine paste and keep it aside.

Other Ingredients :

Baby eggplants - 5 to 6 (pick small to medium sized)

Water - 1cup

Tamarind juice - 2 tbl spoons

Onion - 1 chopped (medium sized)

Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tbl spoon

Red chili powder - 1 tbl spoon

Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon

Oil  - To pan fry the eggplants & for the curry

Fresh Coriander Leaves - 1 cup ( chopped )

Coriander powder - 1 tea spoon

Fresh cream / curd - 1 tbl spoon ( optional)

Salt - As per the taste

Preparation :

Slit the eggplants into 4 quarts but keep the eggplant intact with the stem (Don't cut off the stem).

Good to take a shallow bottomed sauce pan which has lid. Add some 4 to 5 tbl spoons of oil to the pan and shallow fry the eggplants but don't overcook. Once done with frying take them onto a plate & keep them aside.

Now, in the same pan (oil is already there in the pan which is used to fry the eggplants, if you prefer to add, add 1 or 2 tbl spoons of oil to the pan) add chopped onions and fry them until they turn brownish.

Now add ginger garlic paste and fry for 1 minute. Add the chilli powder,  turmeric and coriander powder. Add the prepared masala stir for a minute & them add the tamarind juice and stir again. Now add the water and mix well all the gravy & cover the pan with the lid leaving it to cook for 5 minutes on low heat. 

You can see the gravy thickening, at this point you can adjust the water as per your preference. Add salt , fresh cream or curd (fresh cream / curd is optional) and mix the gravy once. Now slowly place the fried eggplants in the gravy & cover them with the gravy. Cover the pan with the lid and let it cook for 5 minutes on a low heat.

Taste the gravy for salt & adjust, if needed leave it to cook for some time. Once cooked, turn off the heat and garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.

I am sure you will enjoy this recipe !!!

Vegetable Pilaf / Pulao

This time I am going to share Vegetable Pulao recipe with you all & I am sure you enjoy this recipe..

I prefer cooking it in pressure cooker & I use Basmati rice. But with this same recipe, you can use Sona Masoori rice as well. It doesn't make any major difference except the flavor of Basmati..but it tastes the same ! So let's start…

Whole Garam masala Ingredients :

Bay Leaf - 1 (big) or 2 (small)
Cinnamon / Cassia bark stick - 1
Cloves - 4 to 5
Green / black cardamom - 2
Anis flower - 2 to 3
Nutmeg - small piece

Ingredients :

Rice - 2 cups
Water - 3 cups (Basmati rice) / 4 cups (Sona masoori rice)
Carrot - 1 chopped into round pieces
Cauliflower florets - 1/2 cup
Mix of chopped Green Beans, peas, surti papdi beans (avarekalu), lima beans - 1 cup
Tomato - 1 medium sized - chopped
Onion - 1 medium sized - chopped
Green chilli - 4 to 5 slitted
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 table spoon
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Oil - 3 table spoons
Ghee - 2 table spoons
Salt - as per the taste

Method :

- Wash & soak the rice in water and keep it aside.
-  Heat the oil in the pressure cooker & add all the whole garam masala herbs.
- Once you can feel the aroma of herbs add chopped onions and fry them until little brownish.
- Now add Chopped tomato & green chili and fry for 2 minutes and add ginger - garlic paste.
- Once you see the tomato is cooked add all the remaining vegetable, add pinch of salt & stir.  
- Let the vegetables cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Drain out the water & add the soaked rice to the vegetables, add garam masala powder and mix well.
- Now add the measured water to the rice, adjust the salt & add ghee, mix well.
- Close the lid & put the weight on and follow the number of whistles.

Note :  You know your pressure cooker  well, usually how many whistles it takes to cook rice ! Just one whistle is good enough with my pressure cooker.

Once done, let all the pressure go out & open the lid…you see a Colorful & Delicious Veg Pulao ready to serve & enjoy with just Raitha as a side ! Enjoy !!!

Veg Pulao / pilaf

Peanut chutney powder !

Peanut chutney powder /  kadlekai chutney pudi..yes along with coconut chutney with dosa / idli another side that takes generous amount of space on the platter is chutney pudi. There are various variety of chutney powders are to make …but our all time favorite in our home is, this Peanut chutney powder. And also, I use this as a substitute for red cilli powder in stir fries…it does add a unique taste to the fry…

Peanut Chutney powder

This is very quick to prepare & easy …

Ingredients :

Peanuts - 1 cup
Whole dry coriander / dhaniya  - 2 table spoon
Dry coconut flakes / grated - 1/4cup
Red chilli powder - 3 table spoons
Garlic cloves - 2 or 3 (optional)
Curry Leaves - 4 to 5
Tamarind - Small chick pea sized
whole cumin / Jeera - 1 tea spoon
Salt - As per the taste

Peanut Chutney powder

Preparation :

Dry roast the peanuts until turn little brownish & keep them aside. In the same pan dry roast coriander / dhaniya seeds, jeera /cumin seeds. Keep them aside and dry roast the grated dry coconut / coconut flakes. Now turn off the heat and add curry leaves and tamarind to the same pan (Since the pan is still hot which is enough)..let them roast on the pan.

Add Garlic cloves which is an optional (since we enjoy the flavor of garlic, I add them in chutney pudi)  to the roasted ingredients along with salt and grind this mixture to a fine / coarser powder as per your preference. I prefer it to be little coarser.

And that is all you do, you can have this chutney powder with dosa / idli and also with hot steamed rice with a dash of ghee…and you just get stuck with 'M'mmm……….until the last bite !

Mixed Veg Hakka Nooooooodles !

Yes…too many ooooo's…….too many twists & twirls in the bowl of noodles…but it is great fun to eat long noodles…in a skillful way ..what say !!!? I am not talking about instant maggie noodles….talking about Hakka noodles…

Mixed Veg Hakka Noodles

I cooked this time with mixed veggies and egg …as per your preference you can add different vegetables like cabbage, flat beans, chestnuts, scallion / spring onions and mushrooms or chicken too !

Ingredients :

Hakka Noodles - I took 3 cakes (serves 3 people)
Water - 4 - 5 cups
Carrot - 1 slit & cut into 2 inch pieces
Green capsicum - 1/2    cut into 2 inch pieces
Broccoli - 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium sized chopped lengthwise
Green chili - 2 chopped into small pieces
Garlic cloves - 2 chopped / minced
Ginger - chopped / minced 1 tbl spoon
eggs - 2 pan fried with pepper & salt (optional)
Tomato Ketchup - 3 tbl spoon
Vinegar - 1 tbl spoon
soy sauce - 1 tbl spoon
peppar powder - 1 tbl spoon
salt - according to taste
Oil - 6 to 7 tbl spoons

Preparation : 

Step 1:

Boil 4 to 5 cups of water with little salt. Turn off the heat and add the noodles in the hot water remain them in for 10 minutes. ( check once if they are soft enough .or else you can keep them in hot water for few more minutes..but make sure they don't be mashed and sticky).

step 2 : 

Take out the noodles in a colander and drain out the hot water. keep the noodles in colander and rinse with cold water once and drain out all the water and add 1 tbl spoon of oil to the noodles and just flip them once and keep them aside.

Step 3 :

Heat oil in the sauce pan fry onions, green chili, garlic & ginger..don't need to wait until onions to turn brownish. Now add carrot, capsicum & broccoli toss them well for 5 minutes. Now add ketchup, soy sauce , pepper powder & salt to the tossed veggies & fry for 2 minutes on a low heat.

step 4 :

add the noodles to the above preparation and mix the noodles well in to the veggies with a fork laddle. Add the already pan fried egg / chicken to the noodles and stir fry for 2 minutes adjust the salt / ketchup taste as per your preference. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar to the noodles and mix well.

Now you can enjoy the yummy noodles….twist & twirl the fork through the yummy noodles…take that first bite..mmm ..!