Kitchen-Kollections

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.

Hi all….i know its been a long time since i posted here…i was busy in packing up stuff and shifting,..so could not get any time…my MIL belongs to telengana part of Andhra Pradesh. She is one amazing cook…she knows more than 20 varieties of brinjal curry alone !!! And what to talk about the mouth watering chutneys! This time i decided to jot down one of her recipe of Bendakaya Charu. It is so simple that I kept wondering that there must be something more to it..but when I ate it..it was just the taste I was looking for. In my own MIL words – “Telengana charu swarganiki tolli mettulu”  which means its so tasty that its almost like the entrance of Heaven. So we made a joke out of it..that if you eat it once..you will definetly go high!!!! Anyhow…here is the recipe of Bendakaya Charu

Ingredients

3 cups tamarind water
1/4th cup chopped onion
2 sliced green chillies
4 bendakaya or ladyfinger(sliced in the middle)
2 sprig curry leaves
A pinch of Aseofatida
salt to taste
A pinch of methi powder
1/2 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
4 methi seeds
1/4 tsp jeera/fennel seeds
Chopped coriandar for garnishing

Method

• Take tamarind almost lemon size tamarind. Add some water and microwave it for 30 seconds. Mash it well and squeeze the juice out of it. Add 3 cups of water to it and stir.
• Add chopped onion, green chilli, curry leaves, ladyfinger and salt and mix it well.
• Now take another pan, add oil and add mustard seeds, methi seeds and fennel seeds and aseofatida.
• Add the tamarind extract and methi powder. Mix it well.
• Now boil it at high for at least 30 min till the ladyfinger or bendakaya is properly cooked. Add chopped coriandar and simmer till a nice aroma comes.

This amazing aromatic charu goes well with hot rice. So enjoy this treat!!

Here is one jhatphat carrot snack which can be prepared in no time. Its healthy and nutritious. Its rich in sodium and very less in calories too. I generally eat it before hitting the gym. Try it out and let me know

This is my entry to JFI- Carrots.

1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 tbs honey
1 tbs frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 tsp parsley
Crushed pepper
Salt to taste

1. Steam carrots in a steamer basket over boiling water for 8 minutes
2. Add olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, add onions and ginger. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until tender. Add honey, orange juice concentrate and parsley.

Celery is actually a salad dish..can be eaten raw with hummus or just boil it and make a soup out of it…I never ever thought there would be a curry out of CELERY!!!
Kudos to crazy curry

I had bought two bunches of celery..and i generally make delicious creamy soups out of it. This time I thought of making curry with the help of Crazy curry. I modified the recipe a bit..because I misread some of the instructions given….I cooked instead of roasting it…so i will try roasting the veggies..

here is the simple recipe

Ingredients
2 cups chopped celery (4 stalks)
1 tomato chopped
1 cup chopped onion
2 green chillies
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup beaten curd
2 tsp tamarind juice
1/2 tsp crushed jaggery
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
a pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

For tempering
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp mustard seeds

Method 

• Take a deep pan and add 1 tbs of vegetable oil and fry red chillies, onions, green chillies, tomatoes and coconut. Fry for 5 minutes and take it off the stove. Cool it and grind it into a paste
• Now take another pan, add oil and add all the tempering ingredients – urad dal, chana dal, jeera, mustard seeds. Add chopped celery,turmeric and salt. Fry for 2 minutes and then add 3 tbs of water. Mix it well and cover it with a lid so that it cooks properly. This would take about 10-15 minutes. You dont want half cooked celery right!!! Cooked celery smells AMAZING!!!
• Add the paste into the cooked celery and mix it well. Add red chilli powder and again cook for 5 more minutes so that celery becomes juicy!!
• Add tamarind juice and let it cook for 2 more minutes. Take it off the stove and add the curd. The reason why I added curd was because the whole curry was really spicy. So if want spicy then dont add curd. But it reallllly tastes awesome with curd. Garnish it with chopped coriandar.

Serve hot with either rice or chapatis!!! It can be eaten with pita bread or dinner rolls tooo!

Yup…its oven baked….hyderabadiiii dum biryani…guess wht its all veggii specially made by my DH……

Ingredients

10 green tomatoes
5 green chillies-small
2 garlic pieces
2 red chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
A sprig curry leaves
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
Salt to taste
3 tsp tamarind paste

Method

• Take a deep pan and add fry the tomatoes in pan with 3tablespoon oil till they become soft.

• Now take another pan and add 1 tsp of oil and fry mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal, urad dal, garlic, curry leaves and red chillies. After its done..cool it for a while.

• Grind the tempering into coarse powder..add cooked tomatoes and tamarind paste. Add salt and grind.

• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. This tasty chutney is great when eaten with either raw onion/green mirchi..best with hot hot omelet and rice. Also good with Idlies/dosas…