Kitchen-Kollections

Hi all… I started writing this post when suddenly my son started pushing me as well as the lappy… so i showed his milk bottle to him..and now he is rolling it and playing with it..he should be drinking from it!! Hmm..well  here is another curry variety of cauliflower. Cauliflower is low in fat and high in dietary fiber. It releases a peculiar pungent flavor when cooked or steamed. So to avoid that flavor..you can add chopped coriander leaves..

Yellow moong dal(hindi) or pesarapappu(telugu) or yellow lentils are rich in protein and carbs. All you have to do is to  soak them for 15 min and add when the curry is just about to be done. It gives a crunchy taste to the curry.

I will start with the recipe now..this is another of my MIL favorite.

Ingredients

1 cauliflower (florets separated, washed, and kept in salt water for sometime)
1 cup chopped onion
1 chopped green chilli
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 cup soaked yellow split moong dal
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
1 tbs oil
chopped coriander for garnishing

For tempering
1 tsp fennel seeds or jeera
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp minapapappu or gram dal

Method

• Take a deep pan and add oil. Once its properly heated fry fennel seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric and gram dal. Once they turn light brown, add chopped onion and green chilli.
• Once onions are cooked, add ginger garlic paste and mix well.
• Now add cauliflower florets and mix well so that oil is coated well.
• Add salt and cover it with a lid so that its cooked faster.
• Remember to mix it carefully so that the florest dont break.
• Once the florets are cooked, add the split moong dal and mix it well.
• Cover it with lid and let it cook for exactly 5 minutes and then switch it off.
• Garnish it with chopped coriander and serve hot with either chapatis or rice!

 This one is another from my MIL recipes…i ate this chutney for the first time..and it really tasted good. Try this out and let me know how it came out!

Ingredients

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
1/4 tsp minapapappu
2 dry red chillies
A pinch of turmeric
8 slit brinjals or vankaya
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
2 green chilli
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 tbs Roasted mustard powder
2 cups curd
Chopped coriandar for garnishing
2 tbs oil

Method

•  Wash and slit brinjals vertically. Keep them in salt water for 20 min and then wash them again.
•  Take a deep pan and add oil, mustard seeds, jeera, minapapappu, dry red chilli, turmeric. Once mustard seeds start spluttering add chopped green chilli and onion. Fry till onion turn translucent.
•  Add brinjal pieces and add salt. Mix it well and let it cook for 15 minutes. Add water also.
• Once the brinjals are properly cooked, take them out in a dish and let it cool.

• Once the brinjals are completely cooled, add curd and coriandar and mix it well. Add 3 tbs roasted mustard powder and again mix it well. It goes very well with hot steaming rice.

There are many ways of making french beans curry  like the most common one – french beans with tomato. But this time i tried with besan or gram flour. It came out very well. Try this recipe and let me know how it came out!

Ingredients

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Jeera
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste
A pinch of turmeric
1/2 red chilli powder
1/2 tsp dhaniya powder
2 cups chopped beans
1/4th cup chopped onions
3 tbs senagapindi/besan
Chopped coriandar for garnishing
3 tbs oil

Method

•  Wash and chop beans. Take a deep pan and add oil. Add mustard seeds and jeera. Once mustard seeds start spluttering, add chopped onion, ginger garlic paste, dhaniya powder and turmeric.
•  Add beans and salt. Cover with a lid and let it cook for 15 minutes. Lots of water will come out. Now remove the lid and start frying so that water gets evaporated.
• The last step is adding besan or sanagapindi. Mix it well so that beans are well coated with the powder. Fry for 10 more min.
• Garnish with chopped coriandar and serve hot with either chapatis or steaming rice.

This recipe is one of the many vankai recipes in my MIL recipe treasure.  For this recipe, there is a special powder which has be grinded seperately.  Here is the recipe

Ingredients

Menthi powder to be grinded
1/2 tsp methi seeds
1/4 cup dhaniya
1/4 cup kandi pappu
1/4 cup minapapappu
1/4 cup sanagapappu
8 red chillies
1/4 tsp inguva
Salt to taste

3 tbs oil
6 methi seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 cup chopped onion
2 chopped tomatoes
20 vankai – slit vertically on both sides- should make a plus sign. soak for 30 min in salt water and wash them.
Method

• Take a deep pan and add oil. Add methi seeds. Once they turn light brown add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add turmeric and add  vankai and mix well so that pieces are well coated with oil. Add salt as per your taste. Cover with lid.

• After the brinjals are half cooked, add tomatoes and again mix it well.

• Add 6 spoons of the powder and mix well. Cook for 15 more minutes. 

This recipe is from my MIL treasure of secret recipes. I never thought that adding curd in the curry would increase the taste manifold! I ate this curry two or three times and I was ready to share it with everyone. I don’t know think anyone has heard of orange chutney..at least not me. I heard of orange marmalade..orange jam but chutney!!! That would be my next recipe and guess what this recipe is also from my MIL treasure!! So here goes the recipe…

Ingredients

2 cups anapkaya pieces
1 cup chopped onion
2 tbs curd
1 tbs tamarind paste
salt to taste
1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Dhaniya powder
Curry leaves

For tempering
1/4 tsp jeera
1/4 tsp  mustard seeds
2Methi seeds
1 clove
1 cinnamon
1 illiachi

For garnishing
Finely chopped coriandar

Method

• Take a deep pan, add 1 tbs oil, add mustard seeds, jeera, methi seeds, clove, cinnamon stick, one green illiachi.
• After mustard seeds starts spluttering, add chopped onion and curry leaves. Fry till onion turn translucent.
• Add the chopped pieces and add salt, red chilli powder and dhaniya powder. Add the curd and mix it well.
• When the pieces are cooked properly, add the tamarind paste and mix it well. Cook for 15 min more and keep stirring in between. Garnish with chopped coriandar. Serve hot with either phulkas or rice.

There are quite a few people who don’t like bittergourd even a bit!! At one point of time, i was one of them..but now i have turned into a big fan of Bittergourd. Why? because of simple reasons..its good for me..it is a rich source of iron. And if cooked properly, it tastes really awesome. There are quite a number of Bittergourd fry curries but one of my favourite version is with gram flour. The curry comes out a bit dry but it tastes yummy with hot rice. This curry takes a lot of time because of the soaking time. But its worth the effort and the wait!! Try it out this recipe.

Ingredients

Bittergourd peeled and slit in the center
1 cup chopped onion
A bunch of curry leaves
Salt to taste
A pinch of turmeric
1/2 tsp Jeera
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tbs Gram flour
Oil

Method

• First wash the bittergourd, peel the skin off and make a slit in the center. Sprinkle salt and turmeric and keep aside for 1 hr.
• After 1 hr, squeeze the juice out of the pieces and keep them aside.
• Microwave on high for two minutes so that the pieces dry off a bit.
• Take a deep pan and add 1 tbs oil. Add mustard seeds and jeera. After the mustard seeds start spluttering, add chopped onions,curry leaves and fry till onions turn translucent.
• Add the bittergourd pieces and fry for a while. Add salt and red chilli powder.Cook for 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle gram flour and mix it well. Cook for 5 more min.

Thats it! curry is done…try it out with hot steaming rice and it will surely taste delicious.