Spicy Prawn Curry

Ingredients:

• Prawns - 500gms
• Onions - 2 medium size
• Green chillies - 6
• Ginger - 1 inch piece
• Garlic cloves - 5
• Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste
• Tomato - 1 (optional)
• Fresh corriander leaves for garnishing.

Masala Paste:

• Cumin seeds - 2 tsps
• Dried corriander seeds - 2tsps
• Whole cloves - 4
• Poppy seeds - 4 tsps
• Cardamom - 1 pod
• Cinnamon stick - small piece
• Peanuts - 1 tbsp for a smooth taste.

Preparation :

• Clean the prawns and drain water. Add and mix 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder.
• Finely chop onions, green chillies, tomato, and fresh corriander leaves and keep them aside.
• Make fine paste of ginger and garlic and keep it aside.
• Make fine paste of all the above masalas and keep it aside.
• Now take 5 spoons oil in a pan and preheat it for 2 minutes. Add finely chopped onions, chillies and fry them well until they turn golden.
• Now add ginger and garlic paste to the above and fry them well for another 2 minutes.
• Add marinated prawns to the fried contents and mix it well and fry them well for another 10 minutes.
• Now add chilli powder, salt to taste and finely ground masala powder with 1/4 cup water.
• Mix the contents well and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Add finely chopped tomato to it and let it cook for couple of minutes. Slowly oil starts to ooze..
• Add fresh finely chopped corriander leaves for garnishing and stop the stove.
• Serve it hot and enjoy.

Tips: To make a proper curry ensure medium heat, fry onions and chillis well and correct salt to taste and ofcourse the above procedure..:). I am sure you'll get the right taste.

Snack at Tirupati..

మిరియాలు Rasam

Miriyalu or pepper rasam is one of my all time favorite recipe especially when it is a rainy day. My dad used to have this hot rasam as soup whenever my mother used to make it. It took me a while to make a perfect rasam as it is all about the quantity of pepper, tomatoes and tamarind. Of course all the other ingredients also matter. Try this recipe and let me know if you like it.



Ingredients:

• Tomatoes - 3
• Garlic cloves - 3
• Cumin - 2 tsps
• Pepper corns - 2 tsp
• Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida powder - pinch
• Turmeric powder - pinch
• Water - 3 cups
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste
• Fresh cilantro(corriander) leaves for garnishing

For Seasoning :

• Dried red chillies - 2
• Cumin - 1 tsp
• Mustard - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - few

Preparation:

• First make paste of 3 items (Garlic cloves, pepper corns and cumin seeds) and keep it aside. Do not add any water while grinding. This neither looks like a paste nor dry as powder. Check the picture above.
• Finely chop the tomatoes and keep them ready.
• Now in a pan add 2 spoons oil and heat it on medium flame.
• Once oil is hot add a pinch asafoetida to the oil and then add the seasonings(Dried red chillies, cumin, mustard and curry leaves).
• Fry the seasoning for few seconds once they start popping up and smelling good which should take only few seconds add the pepper+garlic+cumin paste to it and fry for few more seconds.
• Then add tomatoes and turmeric powder to it and fry them well till it looks like a fine purie.
• Now add tamarind paste and 3 cups of water to it and allow it to simmer for 6 - 8 minutes.
• Add fresh corriander leaves to it and cover the lid to keep the aroma.
• Serve it hot as tomato soup or with hot steamed rice with a fry as side dish such as potato fry, Okra(Bhindi/bendakaya) fry.

Tip: Do not add too much of tamarind or peppers to get a mild version of rasam. More tamarind will dominate the tomato taste, rasam get too much tangy and more pepper makes it too spicy which is not desirable.

గుంట పొంగడాలు (Gunta Pongadalu)

My cousin (Veena) gave me this mould which is used to make gunta pongadalu. I make dosa dough for three days. The same dough is used for making gunta pongadalu and I surprise my guests by making a variety breakfast everyday. One day masala dosa, second day gunta pongadalu and the next day ulli dosas and so on :). Thanks to Veena for the mould and the recipe too.



Ingredients:

• Dosa dough
• Onions - 2
• Green chillies - 3
• Fresh curry leaves - few
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying.

Preparation:

• Finely chop onions, green chillies and curry leaves and add to the dosa dough.
• Add salt to taste and mix it well.
• Now in the mould add few drops of oil and heat it on a medium flame.
• Take a spoon full of dough and add it to the mould asshown above.
• Once they turn golden brown on one side with a knife turn them to the other side.
• Let them cook for a while and take them out into a plate.
• Serve them hot with peanuts chutney, podi, ghee and sambar for breakfast or as an evening snack.
  

Tip: Adding fresh finely chopped cilantro, 1 tsp cumin seeds and finely chopped ginger enhances the flavour.

ఆరటికాయ తొక్కల పచ్చడి (Plantain/Raw Banana skin chutney )

This recipe is shared by my pinni(aunt) who was here in London for couple of weeks. When she first time told me this I din't believe we could make chutney with raw banana skin but had no doubt about its taste as anything which she made tasted simply delicious. So here is the recipe. Believe me no one can even guess what the chutney is made of. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

• Raw plantain/Banana skin (Boiled for plantain fry)
• Green chillies - 5
• Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
• Cumin - 2 tsp
• Garlic clove - 1
• Yoghurt (Curd) - 2 spoons
• Dried red chillies - 3
• Curry leaves - few
• Split black gram (Urid dal) - 2 tsps
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Bengal gram (Chana dal) - 2 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds (Menthi seeds) - 1/2 tsp
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

• From the boiled raw banana which we have used for plantain fry, keep the banana skin aside and cut it into small pieces.
• Fry the green chillies in oil and keep them aside.
• Now grind the boiled raw banana skin, fried green chillies, garlic clove, 1 tsp cumin seeds, tamarind paste and salt without adding water. As it is thick, add 2 spoons yoghurt while grinding. Make a fine paste and keep it aside.
• For seasoning, take 2 spoons oil in a pan and heat it. Once oil gets hot add bengal gram, black gram, dried red chillies, cumin, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Once the seasoning starts popping up and smelling good which shouldn't take more than few seconds add to the chutney.
• Serve it with hot rice and ghee.

Tip: We get curry leaves in indian grocery stores here in London. As soon as I get fresh curry leaves from the market I keep it frozen and use it for long as they remain fresh.

Aratikaya Vepudu (Raw Banana/Plantain Fry)

Ingredients:

• Raw banana (plantain) - 1
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Water for boiling
• Dried red chillies - 3
• Curry leaves - few
• Split black gram - 2 tsps
• Cumin - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp
• Oil for frying

Preparation:

• Cut raw banana into 4 pieces and boil in water for about 15 minutes.
• Once boiled peel the skin and grate it as shown above. Optionally after boiling banana can be thoroughly mashed to prepare this dish.
• Apply half teaspoon of tamarind paste thoroughly.
• Now in a pan take 3 spoons oil and preheat it.
• Add seasonings and wait for them to pop up. It will take only few seconds. Once these starts smelling good add turmeric powder.
• Immedietely add the grated banana to it and mix it well.
• Now add salt and red chilli powder as per taste and mix it well.
• Switch off the stove and serve it hot with sambar or any dal dish which is great combo for this.

Now for the tip: Do not throw away the skin of the raw banana after boiling. This can be used to make chutney.. the recipe for this coming soon on the blog...till then happy cooking!!

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes - 500 gms
• Green chillies - 8
• Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
• Garlic - 1 or 2 cloves
• Cumin - 1 tsp
• Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying and seasoning

Seasoning :

• Dried red chillies - 2
• Black gram - 2 tsp
• Cumin - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves few
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Oil for frying - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

• Cut tomatoes into two halves and make few slits on green chillies and keep them aside.
• In a pan add 1 spoon oil and fry the green chillies and keep them aside.
• Then fry the tomatoes also on a medium heat till they turn soft as shown above and allow them to cool down.
• In another pan dry fry the sesame seeds till they pop up which will take about one minute.
• Now in a mixer jar add these fried tomatoes, green chillies, sesame seeds, tamarind, 1 tsp cumin, garlic and salt and grind them to make a coarse paste.
• Tomato chutney is ready to be served with hot steamed rice or ulli dosas (Onion dosa).
• Season it if you like. For seasoning, take 2 spoons oil and preheat it and keep the stove on medium heat.
• Add mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin and black gram and toss them till they pop up.
• Now add dried red chillies and curry leaves and fry them till the seasoning starts smelling good, this will take few seconds only.
• Add the above to the chutney and serve.

Tip : Raw tomatoes tastes amazing for this chutney. Pan fried sesame seeds are optional to this chutney. These are added to give a smoky flavour to the chutney.