Chayote (Chow Chow/Semebadanekkayi/Banglore Vankaya) Curry

I never ate nor was aware of this vegetable when I was in India. I saw this few times in Indian stores here in US and tried it. It actually tastes like Sorakaya(Bottle gourd/Louki). But the main thing to remember when cutting this vegetable is to take care of your hands. Please wear gloves otherwise it will leave some kind of sticky liquid on your hands which brings tingling sensation and the skin becomes very tight. Though this is not dangerous, it lasts for few hours even when you trying to wash it.
So don't forget to wear gloves or apply oil on your hands on either sides and peel the skin.

Ingredients:

Chayote - 4

Onion-1

Green chillies- 6-7

Turmeric - pinch

Ginger garlic paste - 1tsp

Salt as per taste

Milk - 1/2 cup

Egg -1

Dhaniya pwdr- 1tsp

jeera- 1tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cilantro washed and chopped

Chop onions and green chillies using a chopper.

Then apply oil on your hands Or wear gloves  and peel the skin on chayote.

Cut them in to halves and take out the seed with the help of knife.

Cut the chayotes in to small cubes. Now you can wash your hands if you have applied oil /Remove Gloves

Add oil to non-stick pan and add jeera, mustard seeds.

Add chopped onion, green chillies and turmeric and fry till onion becomes transparent


Add ginger garlic paste and fry for few seconds and add Choyote pieces

Add salt and close lid for 6-7 minutes. Check in between and mix the pieces so it doesn't get over burnt.

Take the lid and add milk and cook the curry till all the milk is evaporated on medium- high flame.

Make sure to mix the curry often.

Vegans skip this step- Add egg to the curry and scramble it. Mix it till the egg scrambles are well cooked.

Add dhaniya pwdr and garnish the curry with cilantro leaves.

Enjoy this with rice/chapathi.

Tomato Methi Egg Curry

A fruit which is often used in almost all the curries no matter if you are making vegetarian or non-vegetarian curries. It usually tastes good when eaten raw or just make curry out of it. Tomato! Although it is a fruit, because of its very less sugar content, it is used as a vegetable for cooking purpose. As mentioned in the song "Let's call the whole thing off", it can be pronounced in many ways! But tastes good how ever you make it.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes- 5-6

Onion 1

Green chillies 2

Methi leaves(Menthaku/Fenugreek leaves) (1/2 bunch)

Red chilli pwdr - 2 tsp

Salt- as per taste

Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp

Eggs 4

Dhaniya pwdr - 1tsp

Oil 3 tbsp

Ghee 1tsp

jeera- 1tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Cilantro washed and chopped

Take a non-stick pan and add oil. Once the oil is hot enough, dash in jeera and mustard seeds.

Add finely chopped onions and chillies. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute till onions are cooked.

Add turmeric, methi leaves and ghee. Adding a tsp of ghee really brings a good taste to the curry.

Once the methi is fried add chopped tomatoes.

Add salt and mix it well. Close the lid and let it cook for 5-6 minutes on medium -low flame.

Check in between and mix it well so it doesn't get over burned.

Once the tomatoes are cooked ,  open the lid and let it fry for few more minutes till the water is evaporated.

If you are a vegan, go to the last but one step directly :)

Then add 4 eggs as shown in picture on 4 sides on pan but do not mix it.

After 2 minutes, turn each egg upside down. Make sure the yolk doesn't break.

Let the egg cook properly.

Add dhaniya powder to it and mix the curry.

Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with Rice/Roti/Puri.

Ponganalu

Ponganalu is another favorite breakfast for many andhrites. This works as an evening snack for kids too. We will be using the same dosa batter to make Ponganalu.

Ingredients:
Dosa batter - 3 cups
Onion finely chopped -1
Green chillies finely chopped -2
Chana dal (Senaga pappu) soaked in water for 3-4 hours- 1 tbsp (Optional)
Turmeric- pinch (Optional)
Salt- as per taste
Pam oil spray

Pan:
Ponganalu are made in a different kind of sphere shaped pan. When I started cooking, I used to make dosa all the time and used to miss ponganalu because I didn't have this pan with me. And it is kind of heavy to get it shipped from India. Up on searching on internet and many other suggestions from other bloggers, I bought this Norpro Danish Aebleskiver Pan from Amazon. It works just fine.

I mentioned chana dal as optional as I don't prefer adding them in this batter often. Add onions, green chillies, salt, turmeric to the batter. Adding turmeric brings good color to ponganalu but it is just up to you whether to add it or not.

Heat the pan, spray pam oil (if using regular oil, brush oil on each indentations), take dosa batter in a ladle and empty it on each sphere shaped indentations.

Cover it with a  lid for 3-4 minutes on medium to low flame.

Then slowly turn the ponganalu with edge of teaspoon to other side and let it cook for few more minutes.

Make sure they are not over burnt or under cooked. Spray oil if needed.

Once it is cooked on both the sides, empty the ponganalu in to a plate.

Enjoy them with Coconut/ Peanut chutney.

Dosa (Indian Lentil Pancakes)

Roja!One of my favorite films. I just love all the songs in this movie. Especially Chinni Chinni Aasa! The reason for bringing up this topic here is that we used to mock this song when we were kids. Chinni Chinni Aasa, Vedi Vedi dosa! Hehe. (Meaning hot hot pancakes! :)). Anyway, here is the recipe for Dosa.

Ingredients:

Minapappu (Urad dal/Split black gram) - 1 Cup

Rice - 2.5 Cups

Senega pappu (Chana Dal/Split bengal gram) - Handful

Menthulu (Fenugreek seeds) - 1tsp

Cooked rice or Poha (Atukulu) - 1tbsp (Optional)

Salt 1 tsp

Add Chanadal and fenugreek seeds to Urad dal. 

Adding chanadal brings good brown color to dosa and fenugreek seeds make it crispier (Mom's advise).

Soak mixed dal and rice separately in water for minimum 4-5 hours.

Drain the water and grind minapappu and rice into a smooth paste mixing both of them.

Add some water while grinding to reach dosa consistency.

Add a spoon of cooked rice or poha while grinding. (optional)

Add salt to the mix.

Put the dosa mix in oven overnight to allow it to ferment.

Mix the batter again when making dosa.

Take the batter in a laddle and put it on dosa pan. Sweep the laddle in circular motion to spread the batter evenly. I didn't succeed when I tried this for the first time. It actually takes few tries to master this.

Spray oil (Pam) and when the dosa turns brown in color, flip to other side and let it cook for few more seconds.

Enjoy these Indian pancakes with Chutney / Boiled Aloo curry

Red Chicken

Chicken has become most staple food at our home. My elder one loves chicken and I encourage her to eat it as it is very high in protein. Coming to the recipe I am about to share, Guests who tried this dish really applauded me. The other day I made this chicken recipe and my atamma (mom-in-law) praised me a lot. Yay!! :) The word went from CA to Dallas(to my sister-in-law) and got a call for this recipe. Heard her guests also loved it. Well Thanks to Lakshmi Aunt (Mom's friend) who gave this recipe to me. This is very easy and healthy recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken - 2lbs
Onion -1
Red Chilli Powder- 2 tsp
Salt- According to taste
Ginger Garlic paste- 1 tsp
Red Food Color- 1/2 tsp
Yogurt- 3 Big Scoops
Lemon-  1


Oil- 2 tbsp
Garama Masala powder- 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Cashews (6-7) (Optional)


Cut the chicken in to medium sized pieces and wash it properly. I always wash any kind of meat with salt and turmeric, so it won't smell bad.


Cut the Onion length wise.


Take washed chicken pieces in a bowl, add red chilli powder, chopped onions, salt, gingergarlic paste, yogurt, lemon juice, food color to chicken and mix it well.


Make sure to add the red food color.There are multiple colors available so be aware to buy the dark red one. Some food colors bring orange color to food which we don't want here.


Take a non-stick pan and put all the pieces in the pan. (No need to add oil now).

Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook. 


After 8-10 minutes takeout the lid and wait till the chicken is cooked fully and is almost dry.


Take this into a bowl.


Now take another pan, put oil and add garam masala powder, pepper powder and let it fry for a minute.

You can add cashew nuts if you like and fry it for another minute.


Then add the cooked chicken pieces and on low flame shallow fry the chicken for another 10 mins. It makes chicken crispy and tasty.

This goes very well with Roti/Bagara rice. I will be sharing Bagara rice recipe soon. 

Boiled Aloo Curry ( po-tay-toe or po-tah-toe)

Whether you say po-tay-toe or I say po-tah-toe, Its the same. So obviously how ever you cook potato, it turns out yummiliciuos. There are multiple ways to make a dish out of any vegetable or any kind of meat. Well this is one of my favorite kind in potato.

Ingredients:

White Potatoes 6-7

Onion  1

Green Mirchi -7-8

Turmeric 1 tsp

Oil 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds half teaspn

Jeera -1 tsp

Ginger Garlic paste

Salt as per taste
Dhaniya Powder 1 tsp

Cilantro - washed and chopped

Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker up to 4 whistles.

In the mean while, cut the onion length wise (Julienne style) and chop green chillies using a chopper ( I use green chillies more than red chilli powder in my food. So in order to reduce the pain of cutting chillies all the time, I use a chopper)

Peel the boiled potatoes skin and cut them in to small cubes.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add Mustard seeds and Jeera.

When they start spluttering, add chopped green chillies and Onion.

Once the onions become transparent, add turmeric and ginger garlic paste.

Let it fry for few seconds and add boiled potato cubes.

Add salt and mix it for few seconds.

Add a cup of water and close the lid for 4-5 minutes on medium flame.

Open the lid and mash few potato cubes with the edge of spatula.

Add dhaniya powder at the end and take the curry in to a serving bowl.

Add chopped cilantro leaves.

It goes really well with rice/chapathi or Dosa.

Just Started Blogging!

This is my First Blog ever! I am glad I finally came up with my blog title (though cliched :) ). I have been thinking for a while now whether I really need to start a blog as I already have a full time job and two kids to take care of. But Thanks to the encouragement from my husband and some friends, I finally started writing.

Its been six good and memorable years that I have been married with 2 kids and I still remember how I used to be before marriage. Blessed to be born in a country like India where you get things done while lazing around in a couch. I think you are able to guess where I am getting at. If not let me get to the point. I never cooked before marriage :). I got married and came to US and we used to eat out every single day. Then I decided to give cooking a try. Bought all the necessary stuff, called mom for the recipes. It first seemed like a Mission possible..Man it was such a disaster.

Finally after 2-3 days, I tired again with the help of my husband this time and I was able to come up with tasteful dish. I was so glad and from then up until now, I have been cooking, trying, inventing, failing and retrying the recipes. Here in the process I welcome you on board for suggestions, applauses and conservative criticisms :)