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 ..!

Mysore Pak in 4 minutes!!!

Yes you read it right !!! very much 4 minutes of 5 steps….there it is…yum yum …Mysore Pak…tadah……No more syrup…checking string consistency…no worries…all you need is a microwave..and of course the ingredients….here is the list…

Mysore Pak

Ingredients :

Besan powder - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup ( I used light brown sugar )
ghee - 1/2 cup (melted)
boiled milk - 2 tsp (boil & bring it to room temperature)
Greased Pan or Plate ( I used the baking pan greased with little ghee)

Method :

Step 1:

Sieve the Besan powder…make sure no lumps..take the sieved besan into a microwave safe container (I used glass one)  add 1 table spoon of ghee mix well…microwave it for 1 minute. Take out..just mix it once & microwave it for 30 seconds more.

Step 2:

Add sugar (optional : you can use powdered or icing sugar as you prefer), remaining Ghee, milk to the Besan and mix thoroughly so no lumps…in it.

step 3:

Microwave the mix for 1 minute and take it out and you notice foam on top of the mix…don't worry if you don't find much…stir it well one more time…and microwave it for 1 more minute…now your are almost done with your preparation.

step 4:

Just mix all the mixture quickly with a flat wooden laddle …and transfer it to the greased pan / plate..spread it even …and leave it to cool down & settledown for sometime AND….thatzzz it…….
MYSORE PAK IS READY

…just cut the spread in to pieces and enjoy the sweet delicacy…..

wait wait…you must be wondering It just a 3 1/2 minutes cooking time…but I said 4 minutes in the beginning… I just roasted besan for 1 1/2 minute since, I preferred…the color of the mysore pak to be that beautiful yellow…colored..if you prefer to make it little brownish…you can roast it 30 seconds more ..so you can have the mysore pak in little brownish tone. Thus I included that optional 30 seconds said….4 minutes otherwise it is just 3 1/2 seconds.

Spinach & Chicken Curry

This time, it is chicken with spinach…and I assure you it would be yummy….if you could believe in the goodness of Greens & Pack of proteins …I mean Chicken :-)…Try this..here is the recipe for you..

Spinach & Chicken Curry

Ingredients :

Chicken - 2 lbs

spinach - 1 bag / 1 full bunch

chopped onions - 1/2 cup

red dry chillies - 2
Curry Leaves - 2 to 3

coriander powder - 1 t/l spoon

edible oil - 1 to 2 table spoons
Red chili powder - 1 table spoon

ginger / garlic paste - 1 t/l spoon

tamarind juice - 1 teaspoon

salt - as per the taste

chopped coriander leaves - 1/2 cup

Method :

part 1:

Wash spinach thoroughly, add to pan and cover with lid and let it cook on steam for sometime. No need to add any extra water as greens have water content. it takes 5 to 10 minutes max to get the nice steamed spinach. Turnoff the heat. Let the spinach come to room temperature and the blend / grind it to make spinach paste. The fineness of spinach paste..depends on your choice, actually mom never used blender / grinder to make this paste..she used a wooden spatula to mash the steamed spinach. Now your  spinach is ready.

Part 2:

Wash the Chicken thoroughly in the running water & add 1 tea spoon turmeric powder and mix well and keep it aside.

Part 3:

heat oil in the sauce pan, add dry red chillies & ginger garlic paste fry for 1 minute then add chopped onions, curry leaves and let them fry for 1 to 2 minutes.

Now add chicken and coriander powder & salt and cover with lid and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Now add the spinach paste to the chicken, red chili powder & tamarind juice and let it cook for 10 minutes.

At this point you can add water as per your preference how thick you want the gravy to be..let it cook well, and you can adjust, salt & thickness as per preference. Make sure, chicken is well cooked. Once the chicken is ready turnoff the heat and add the chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy this spinach chicken curry with rice, roti or dosa. We enjoyed it with dosa…and it was delicious. Hope you like this recipe…enjoy the cooking & food !

Spinach Chicken curry with Dosa