Bell-Peppers Rice

This is a very colorful and appealing Rice dish.


2 cups Basmati Rice
3 Capsicums (Bell Peppers: Red, Yellow and Green)
½ cup Peas
2 Onions
4 Green Chilies or 1 Jalapeño
1 tsp Lemon juice
2 tsp grated Coconut
2 tsp Cashew nuts
Coriander


Chop bell peppers length wise, removing seeds.

Cook rice in a rice cooker with 1:2 ratio of water for the basmati rice. Add 1” butter stick while cooking rice. This will make cooked rice fluffy and each grain will not stick to each other. Once cooked, spread rice and let cool.

Take 4 tsp of oil in a skillet add chopped onions, chilies, and bay leaf and once the onions are translucent, add ginger-garlic paste and all the chopped peppers and salt. Don’t overcook, now add peas and coconut and let fry till all the vegetables are nicely roasted.
Now add 2 tsp of garam masala powder. Mix in the rice gently without tampering the shape of the vegetables, salt should be added at this time again for the rice. Add more oil or ghee according to taste. Adjust seasonings at this time.
Fried cashews and coriander can be used for garnishing and add lemon juice before serving.

Raita or Kurma is a good side dish for Peppers Rice.

Alu Gobi Dry Curry

1 Cauliflower - Gobi
2 large Potatoes - Alu
2 Onions
1 tsp Ginger-garlic paste
3 Green chilies
1 tsp jeera-dhania powder or garam masala
Coriander

Boil potatoes with salt. Peel and cut into cubes. Cut cauliflower into small flowers. Wash and drain the water.

Take 4 tsp of oil in a skillet and add ½ tsp jeera and ½ tsp mustard seeds. Then add chopped onion, green chilies and fry till the onions are translucent and then add ginger –garlic paste. Now add cauliflower, salt and cook till the cauliflower is nicely done (do not overcook, this will make the cauliflower very soft and it will lose its shape)

Then add potatoes and a tsp of jeera–dhania powder. If that is not available add a tsp of garam masala). Stir gently and garnish with coriander.

This is a dry curry and is a good side dish for rice.

Cucumber Masoordal

This is a quick dal recipe:
1 cup Masoor dal
1 Cucumber
1 Tomato
2 Green Chilies
Coriander
Sambar powder
Tamarind juice

Peel and cut cucumber and chop tomatoes. Wash and drain water for the dal. Add dal, cucumber and tomatoes to a vessel and pressure cook till the dal is nicely done. Remove and keep aside.

Take 2 tsp of oil in a sauce pan and make tadka (poppu) with jeera, mustard seeds, few fenugreek seeds, hing and a red chili. Add chopped green chilies and fry for a few seconds.

Then add cooked dal, salt, turmeric, 1 tsp sambar powder, tamarind juice and coriander. Bring to a boil and remove from flame.

This is a quick to cook dal dish. Chopped garlic and onions can also be used and should be fried in the oil after the tadka.

Serve it with hot rice or chapati.

Tomato Pickle - Tomato Pachadi

2 lbs Tomatoes
5 – 6 Green Chilies: Optional
Few Curry Leaves
Small Lemon sized Tamarind

For Menthi powder:

1 ½ scoop Fenugreek seeds
1 scoop Mustard seeds
Hand full Red Chilies
Hing

Take 2 tsp of oil in a skillet and fry fenugreek seeds till they are nicely roasted then add mustard seeds when they splutter add red chilies and hing. Red chilies can be adjusted according to taste. The mixture emits a toasty aroma when they are nicely roasted. Let cool. Grind to a powder in a spice mill or blender.

Use immediately or store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place or in a Ziploc bag to retain its freshness and aroma.

Add hot water to tamarind and let it soak, then extract juice using as little water as possible.

Take 1 scoop (about 6- 7 tsp) in a low bottom skillet (I recommend this because when tomatoes are boiling it splutters oil and tomato juice ) when oil is hot add a tsp of mustard seeds ,slit green chilies, curry leaves and hing.

Then add chopped tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Let cook, first tomatoes let out their natural juice, cook till the juice is evaporated. Then add tamarind juice and let cook. When oil starts to float add 4 – 5 tsp of the previously made menthi powder. Stir well, check for salt and seasonings and add accordingly.
Remove from flame and let cool.

This pickle has a good shelf life, store in an air tight container.

This is one of my favorite pickles, blend of menthi powder, tomatoes and tamarind gives it the extra kick. Serve with hot rice and tsp of oil. It can be used as a side dish for upma, dosa etc.

Coconut Chutney - Kobbari Pachadi

Half a coconut
1 tsp urad dal –minnapappu
1 tsp chenna dal – senagapappu
½ tsp jeera
½ tsp mustard seeds
A pinch of fenugreek seeds
2 -3 Red Chilies
Hing
3 -4 Green chilies
Few Curry Leaves
1 tsp jaggery
Small Lemon sized Tamarind

Cut coconut into small pieces, wash and drain.

Soak tamarind in hot water.

Take 4 tsp of oil in a small skillet and when oil is heated add urad and channa dals. Once the dals are fried add jeera, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, hing, red chilies, and chopped green chilies and curry leaves.
Let cool. Transfer the tadka into a blender jar, leaving oil, a few mustard seeds and curry leaves in the skillet.
Dry grind tadka first. This will make the grinding part easy, after adding coconut and tamarind, the dals will no longer become soft paste. Then add cut coconut pieces, salt, turmeric, jaggery and as little water as possible to grind to a smooth paste. Add water accordingly. Taste for salt and adjust seasonings.

Empty it into the skillet with oil and mix nicely and transfer contents into a serving bowl.

“Kobbaripachadi” is a hard- core Telugu dish. It can be served with hot rice and a tsp of oil or with upma, dosa or any tiffin items.

Kootu Podi

1 cup Coriander seeds- Dhania
½ cup Urad dal- Minnapappu
½ cup Pepper seeds- Miriyallu
Handful Red Chilies
2 tsp Jeera
¼ tsp Hing
Few curry leaves
1 cup grated coconut
2 “ginger

Take 2 tsp oil in a skillet and fry coriander seeds till they are done. Then add pepper and fry for a few minutes. Then add urad dal, jeera, hing, curry leaves, ginger and red chilies.
At the end add grated coconut and fry till it is nicely done.
This order should be followed as coriander seeds take longer time to fry than the other dals. Red chilies can be adjusted according to taste.
It is really important that the mixture is stirred frequently and have the flame in low/ medium. This way the dal is roasted completely without just the outer part and prevents from darkening.
The mixture emits a toasty aroma when they are nicely roasted.
Let cool. Grind to a powder in a spice mill or blender.

Use immediately or store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place or in a Ziploc bag to retain its freshness and aroma.

Kootu powder is used for making kootu. Kootu is a vegetable and dal preparation. The spices and pepper gives this dish a special kick. All the items in the mixture will have a unique blend and when mixed with vegetable, dal and tamarind juice.

Avakaya - Mango Pickle

1 raw Mango – Hard and very sour
1 ¼ cup Mustard powder – ava pindi
1 cup Red Chili Powder
¾ cup Salt
1½ cup Oil - preferably Sesame\Till oil
2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 cup Garlic pods - Optional

In a skillet fry the fenugreek seeds on low flame till they are nicely roasted. Keep aside.
Mustard powder can be made by dry grinding raw mustard seeds in a mill or a blender to a soft powder. 1cup of mustard make more than a cup of mustard powder so, measure the powder before using.

Wash and dry mango. Cut mango length wise leaving the hard seed shell intact, remove the soft seed. Then cut again to make small cubes of mango. Every time make sure a small part of the shell is with the mango piece. By doing this, the mango pieces in the pickle with stay hard/ crispy. Remove the fine film in the lining of the shell of the mango by scrapping with a knife and clean with a dry paper towel.

Place pieces in a bowl and add ¼ cup of salt and mix thoroughly and let sit for 15 min. By doing this the water in the mango will ooze out and the pickle will last a long time. Empty the pieces into a strainer and squeeze the remaining water between the fingers.

In a glass jar (do not use plastic with pickles) add mustard powder, chili powder, turmeric, salt and fenugreek seeds. Raw garlic pods can be added now and mix all the ingredients together. Then add oil and mix well. Now add the mango pieces and mix thoroughly.

Let sit for an hour, now the pickle will be soft enough to mix well. Salt and Karam will settle in a day.

Mango pickle has a good shelf life. It is good with hot rice and tsp of oil maybe used as a side for curd rice and upma.