Ladiesfinger fry/Okra

who doesnt love ladies finger!! and if it is made crispy too!!!

Ingredients

250 g ladies finger (chop very thinly with no more then 2 mm a piece)
salt as needed
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder (if you have it at home)
oil to fry

Method

1. heat oil and add the ladies finger, salt, chilli powder and cumin powder mix well and simmer stove and cook with lid closed for 2 minutes
2. open the lid mix well once, check if you need extra oil and add if needed, bring flame to medium and let the l'finger cook by itself. check out once in 3 minutes to stir once so that it doesnt catch to the pan
3. once your desired crispiness is obtained (which may take some 10 minutes atleast so be patient and dont stop it half cooked) remove from flame and eat it as you like
(i love it with hot plain rice and ghee)

Tomato chicken

for those who love the flavour of tangy tomato..

Ingredients

200 g chicken cut into cubes
1 big onion chopped finely
1 big tomato chopped finely
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp pepper corns
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
oil to fry
2 tbsp water
1 strand curry leaves

Method

1. Fry "without oil" cumin, cloves, cinnamon and pepper corns and crush into a fine powder
2. Heat oil in a frying pan splutter curry leaves and add onions and ginger garlic paste and saute for 5 minutes
3. Add tomatoes and saute for another 3 minutes
4. Add the ground powder, turmeric, chilli powder and saute for 1 minute
5. Add chicken pieces and salt and fry for 3-4 minutes
6. Add water and simmer the stove and cook with closed lid till chicken is well cooked
7. Remove lid and fry til the water is absorbed.
8. Serve with rice/roti.

Vegetable biriyani

Vegetable biriyani

you can easily prepare this with a pressure cooker in which you are used to fry foods directly, else you can fry everything in a pan and add to an electric rice cooker or to a vessel that you use inside a pressure cooker and make it...

ingredients

1 cup - basmati or regular rice
2 cup - water
1/2 cup - chopped french beans
1 big carrot - cut into small cubes or however you wish
1 capsicum - small pieces
few florets - cauliflower (optional but very tasty if added)
2 medium onions - chopped
1 tbsp - ginger garlic paste
1 bay leaf
3-4 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 cardamoms
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder(dhania)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil to fry

Method
1. heat oil in pressure cooker and splutter dry spices
2. Add onion and saute for a minute and add ginger garlic paste and saute for 4 minutes
3. Add capsicum and saute for 2 minutes
4. Add the all the powder ingredients and saute for a minute
5. Add the vegetables, add salt and saute for 5 minutes
6. Add washed rice mix well and add water
7. check the content of salt by tasting the water : if the water is salty than mornal then it means that you have added correct amount of salt
8. close the lid and cook for three whistles or how you are used to at your cooker.
9. Serve with raita

Sambar

Sambar

hai, making sambar is very easy, if you know the basic trick. you can make any vegetable sambar with the same recipe. you just need to know which vegetables to  boil and add, and which vegetables to fry , add and boil along with the sambar. it is easy to set right this too..
just boil all water vegetables like radish, drumstick. chowchow, pumpkin, carrot, potatoes, elephant yam, etc and add with the sambar..
fry vegetables like capsicum, onions, ladies finger, spring onions, broad beans, etc in oil and then make sambar..
now lets see how to make sambar of any variety...
PS: you can make sambar without any vegtable too, with just onions..

Ingredients:
vegetables of choice (see above for ideas) (quantity as per your wish too) - optional
Onions big/small - optional if you are using other vegetables, else use them generously
2 tbsp - tamarind paste
2 cup - water
3/4 cup - boiled thoor dhal with 1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp - sambar powder (available in shops, cheap too.. anyways i wil soon post how to make homemade sambar powder)
         : if shop powder, use 1 tbsp, if homemade powder use 2 tbsp..
1/2 tsp - red chilli powder - optional if you want it spicy
1 tbsp - gingely oil for seasoning
1 tsp - mustard seeds
1 tsp - cumin seeds
1 strand curry leaves

Method:

1. heat gingely oil, splutter mustard n cumins, add curry leaves. Add onions and fry well.

2. Add fryable vegetables if using.. else skip this step

3. Add sambar powder and fry for 30 seconds

4. Add tamarind paste and water. Add salt bring to boil.

5. Add cooked vegetables if any.. in case you are using boiled vegetables, use less water in previous step and add the water used for boiling... it will enhance flavour..

6. Add cooked dhal and mix well. Boil for 5 minutes.

7. Simmer it closed for 15 minutes.

8. depending upon your desire of thickness of the sambar, remove from fire and serve with rice, idli, dosa, upma, vada, bonda, pongal, etc..

Cabbage curry

Ingredients:

250 grams cabbage, chopped
3 red chillies broken n seeds removed
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp asafoetida
salt to taste
1 tbsp grated fresh cononut (optional)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp oil

method:

1. heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds and add red chillies.

2. Put the cabbage in it and saute in high flame for a minute

3. Add asafoetida, alt, turmetic powder and mix well and saute in high flame for 3 - 4 minutes.

4. Add water to cover the cabbage, bring it to boil, simmer and cook with lid closed.

5. once cabbage is 3/4th done, open lid and cook till remaining water evaporates, in high flame.
 (keep it 3/4th done else it wil be too soft, it tastes if its crunchy a bit)

6. Once all water evaporates, saute it for 3 more minutes, (optional, add grated coconuts, saute for 1 minute) and remove from flame.

This tastes yummy with any rice, can be eaten with hot plain rice nd ghee too, as cabbage rice, its so tasty.

Eezee curries

Eezee curries

The speciality of these curries is that all the curries are made with as simple procedure as possible not compromising on taste. Most recipe books and on the net gives some long methods to make curries that makes some think that the only way the vegetable will taste is by making it  like that. but no. all vegetables can be made as simpla as possible and yummy too. try these eezee curry recipes.

Chole masala

Chole masala

Have tou always made chole masala by boiling the chick peas, grinding masals, etc etc etc such a lenghty process... and bored of it? here is such a easy substitute of making delicious chole masala or channa masala, however you call it. this way, the masala sticks better with the chick peas too.

Ingredients:

200 grams chick peas (soaked overnight)
100 grams onions chopped well
100 grams onions grinded into paste
2 green chillies cut in two
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
150 grams tomatoes grinded into paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp garam masala
salt as reqd
2 tsp corn flour (optional as thickening agent in case your gravy is too thin after boiled)
coriander leaves to garnish


method:

(If you have pressure cooker at home in which you are used to fry directly you can fry in it, or else fry in a pan and later put the ingredients in a pressure cooker oe electric rice cooker)

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add chopped onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste and saute well.

2. Add onion paste and cook till smell is gone.

3. Add tomato paste, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt and cook till oil seperates.

4. Add the soaked chick peas saute for a minute, pour water to cover the peas and check for salt. The water must be salty.

5. Close the lid and pressure cook for 4 whistles.

6. Open the lid, if the gravy is thin, add corn flour mixed with little water and cook for 3 minutes till gravy thickens.

7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

This way, all the masala and salt seeps in the chole and tastes better than when first boiling it and then adding masalas. this saves lot of time too.