China Grass / Agar

Hi Friends

Today I will present you with a delicious sweet recipe i.e. CHINA GRASS. As we had a small get together in our house with my brothers and sister's families, I preferred to prepare this sweet along with other items. This is very easy to prepare and takes very little time. This is a vegetarian gelatin and used for making deserts also.

OK Let us go for making this simple, quick and yummy sweet.

Ingredients

• China grass                       1 cup( (cut into pieces)
• Sugar                                 1 1/2 cup
• Milk                                   3 cups
• Water                                 2 cups
• Nuts for decoration

China grass dried strands

How I did

1. Cut dried china grass strands into small pieces with kitchen cutter.
2. Soak with cup of warm milk for 10 minutes.
3. Meantime take 5 cups of milk and water (3:2) keep it for boiling.
4. Add sugar and stir well.
5. Let the flame in simmer and cook till completely dissolve.
6. Pour soaked china grass in boiled milk.
7. Pour this liquid in ice cream cups or mud parts.
8. Cut kaju and badam in fancy shape  with cookie cutter and top them on the cups. Put aside to set and let it cool. It will set well within 10 to 15 minutes.

Taste this delicious sweet.

My Note

• You can pour this china grass liquid in colourful ice cream moulds also. Kids like this much.
• You can add any of your favourite flavour .
• Instead of sugar you can add Nu Nuturals Venilla Stevia liquid also. You can get it any bakery shop.

Ragi Sankati

Ragi or Finger millet is an excellent source of Protein and Calcium. It has amazing nutritional values. Ragi sankati otherwise called as Ragi mudda or Ragi balls is a very simple dish and can be used in our everyday meal. It can be used as a supplement for rice in our lunches and dinners. This way you can lose a lot of weight too. It is a staple food of farmers and satisfactory meal for them.

It can be given to kids too. They love it as it is very delicious and smooth. My daughter used to feed  my grand daughter and grand son with tiny balls of ragi mudda with lots of ghee on top. They won't chew it., it just melts in their mouths. How lucky ?

Lets get into the recipe.

Ingredients

Ragi flour               1 cup
Water                      4 cups
Rice                        a fist full
Salt                         according to your taste
Ghee                       2 tbsp

Method

1. Boil 4 cups of water in a saucepan.
2. Add the rice to it when the water is boiling. Rice is like binding agent to the ragi mudda.
3. When the rice is cooked, add salt and 1 tbsp of ghee into it.
4. Mix it properly. Now start adding the Ragi little by little and keep whisking it as you pour ragi into the boiling water. Otherwise, the mixture will create into lumps and not a smooth paste.
5. Use a flat spoon to mix it thoroughly.
6. Close the lid and cook it for 10 minutes.
7. Take a bowl and apply little bit of ghee inside the bowl. Now fill the bowl with the hot mixture. Wet your hand with cold water and level the bowl. Now flip the bowl onto your plate.
8. You can also make a ball shape with your hand. Make sure you wet your hands with cold water and make the ball.
9. Serve with Sambar, Dal,Pally chutney or any type of curry. It tastes wonderful.

Notes:

1. You can use broken rice, rice rava instead of rice. It cooks quickly. Soak the broken rice for 15 minutes to get cooked quickly.
2. If you feel pouring ragi into the boiling water is creating lumps, you can mix the ragi flour into half a cup cold water and then add to the boiling water.
3. You can make the ragi mudda without rice as well.

Vankaya Vellulli Karam

Hi Friends

What are you cooking for lunch today? I am cooking light green beautiful vankayalu stuffed with garlic, hing and karam. One can make numerous stuffings with the king of vegetables. Stuffed brinjals are famous in Andhra Pradesh. Normally any type of brinjal curry like guthi vankaya, mudda kura, vankaya pulusu etc has a special place in our menu of every household.

Let us go how I stuffed whole vankaya. This is very simple and easy to prepare.

Ingredients

• Fresh/tender green vakayalu                           1/4 kg
• Garlic                                                              10 pods
• Hing                                                                pinch
• Cumin seeds                                                    1/4 tbsp
• Red chilli powder                                            1 1/2 tbsp(as per spice level)
• Salt to taste
• Oil for cook

How I did it

1. Wash and wipe brinjals.
2. Fill the bowl with water and add pinch of salt.
3. Cut each brinjal into 4 quarters length wise with stalk intact and keep salty water.
4. Meantime grind garlic, hing, cumin seeds, red chilli powder and salt into paste.
5. Transfer it into plate and mix with little oil well.
6. Stuff this paste into brinjal one by one.
7. Take a pan, add oil and heat on a low flame.
8. Keep stuffed brinjals carefully in the hot oil. Roast for 5 minutes on low flame.
9. Flip into other side and roast them till you get crisp texture.
10. See the aroma of hing and garlic in you kitchen. Mouth watering.
11. Switch off the stove.
12. Transfer into a bowl.

It goes well with garama garam rice with dollop of ghee and side dish for sambar. A simple and elegant dish.

Totakura Kadalu Ava

Hi Friends

Today I have prepared a recipe in our lunch which most people in this generation don't know about. A delicious recipe with TOTAKURA KADALU.  I prepared curry with tatakura kadalu with a combination of grounded delicious masala.

The stems of totakura (Amarnath leaves) need to be little fat and tender to make this curry. Our leafy vegetable seller brought these fresh stems today. These stalks have rich source of fibre, packed with proteins and nutrients.

During our childhood, these amarnath tiny plants were planted at back yard of our house. Now a days these are rarely available in the market. My grandmother used to cook this totakura kadala ava pettina kura perfectly. I also prepared in the same way and this is from her kitchen.

Let us see how I prepared it.

Ingredients

Totakur Kadalu

 

• Mature totakura stalks (kadalu)                        Few
• Fresh grated coconut                                        1/4 cup
• Green mirch                                                     4 or 5
• Daniya                                                              1/4 tbsp
• Kaskas (poppy seeds)                                       1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil

For popu              

• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Curry leaves

How I did it

1. First pluck the leaves from stalks.
2. Peel the outer layer of the thick stems like we do for drum sticks. Discard extra fiber if any.
3. Make them into 1" pieces.
4. Wash them with running water.
5. Pressure cook up to 1 whistle.
6. Mean time prepare ground masala with kaskas, mirchi, grated coconut, daniya and poppy seeds.
7. Take a thick bottom vessel, add 1 tbsp oil and let it heat.
8. Then add mustard seeds let them pop, add cumin seeds and curry leaves.
9. Add ground masala, cooked totakura stalks and salt.
10. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes till the raw spell of ground masala go off. Stir in between.
11. Transfer in to bowl. Garnish with coriander leaves.

    

Tastes so good. Reminds me of my grand mother. It goes well with rice and good combination for roti.

My Note

• Don't waste plucked leaves. You can prepare a different curry or fry with plucked totakura. This is the way of utilizing totakura and stalks.
• You can prepare sambar and pulusu also with this totakura kadalu.

Mushroom Mint Pulao

Todays lunch special is Mushroom Mint Pulao. My grand daughter likes this very much. When I was in UK in my daughters house, I have prepared this mushroom pulao with fantastic combination of mint leaves and cashew nuts with my daughters directions and came out perfectly. This is easy to prepare and comes out delicious. This is lunch box recipe.

OK let us go to prepare mushroom mint pulao.

Ingredients

• Mushrooms                                         150 gms (sliced)
• Mint leaves                                         1/2 cup
• Basmati Rice                                      1 cup
• Green chillies                                      3 (slit)
• Onion                                                  1 (chopped)
• Cardamom                                           3
• Cloves                                                  2
• Elachi                                                   2
• Bay leaf                                                2
• Shajeera                                                1/2 tbsp
• Cashew nut                                           quite a few
• Ghee                                                     1 tbsp
• Oil                                                        2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

How I did it

1. Soak the rice and keep aside for half hour
2. Clean the black spots  on the top of the mushrooms with damp paper towel and again rinse with running water and then slice them.
3. Take a wide pan, add ghee and oil, let it heat on medium heat.
4. Then add bayleaf, shajeera, cardmom, cloves, elachi and cashew nuts. Fry them for a while.
5. Add chopped onion and sauté  for a min. 
6. Next add sliced mushroom and mint leaves and stir well.
7. Now add 1.5 cups of water (1.5 cups of water for a cup of rice is sufficient because the rice is already soaked) and leave it to boil.
8. Add salt and taste the water to check if the salt is sufficient.
9. Now drain the rice and add it to the boiling water. Mix well, close the lid of the pan and leave it to cook for 7-8 minutes.
10. Open the lid and mix once so that the rice cooks evenly. Don't over mix it and the rice might break. Leave it to cook for another 3-4 minutes with the lid open and check if the rice has cooked evenly.
11. Mushroom mint pulao is ready to serve.

Serve with any gravy curry or raitha. Kids like to eat as it is without side dish.

Chamaku Potlala Kura

This is typically Telangana dish with unique aroma and yummy taste and also most popular item in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Easy to prepare and takes very less time to prepare. There are many different ways to prepare recipes with chaamaku. Normally with chamku one can prepare dal, rolled up with spices and fried are called badilu.

I have prepared curry with chaamaku badilu. These ready made chaamaku badilu are available in any Gujarati sweet shop. I brought from Gujarati sweet shop and prepared curry and comes out tastyly.

Let us go to the preparation.

Ingredients

• Ready made chaamaku badilu                      1/4 kg
• Onion                                                             3 finely chopped
• Garlic                                                             1 bulb (crushed)
• Curry leaves
• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Oil for fry
• No need of salt

Ready made chaamaku potlalu/ badilu

How I did it

1. Take a pan . Add little oil and let it heat on medium flame.
2. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and curry leaves.
3. Then add crushed garlic. Let it cook and aroma of garlic raises.
4. Add onion and let it cook till it becomes soft.
5. Meantime chop chaamaku badilu into small pieces.
6. Add chopped badilu into fried onion. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Transfer the crispy curry into a bowl.
8.  

See the delicious taste. It goes well with rice and excellent side dish for sambar or rasam.

My Notes

1. You can add this chaamakura badi pieces with combination of totakura and menthi kura also. Rest of  procedure remains same.

Try by yourself. See the taste and don't forget to drop your comments and suggestions.

You may also like

• Chamaku Mudda Kura
• Chamaku Snacks

Kandi Ginjala kura

Today I am going to share a new recipe with you all. Really it special curry with kandi ginjalu .When I went out for shopping today,  I saw Kandi Kayalu (pigeon peas) in the market. Normally these kandi kayalu are boiled by adding salt, take out the seeds and eaten. Pigeon peas is the whole gram of the Toor dal.

This kandi kayalu is a crop of rain fed agriculture. This is well balanced food having calcium, fibre, iron. The food very low in saturated fat. A very good source of protein.

Curries with Kandi kayalu are not very famous in the cities but in villages who grow this crop make so many varieties with it. See how I prepared kandi ginjala kura with a combination of tota kura.

Ingredients

• Kandi ginjalu                                   1 1/2 cup
• Tota kura                                         1 cup ( finely chopped)
• Tomato                                            1 chopped
• Green mirchi                                   4 chopped
• Coriander powder                           1 tbsp
• Tamarind pulp                                 1/2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• Grounded coconut paste                   2 tbsp

For popu

• Mustard
• Cumin seeds
• Curry leaves
• Hing

Kandi Kayalu & Kandi Ginjalu

How I did it

1. Rinse and drain the kandi ginjalu.
2. Take thick bottom vessel. Add water and pour kandi ginjalu . Boil Kandi kinjalu on medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes (See 90% kandi ginjalu cooked).
3. Take fist of boiled kandi ginjalu mash them and  keep aside.
4. Then add chopped totakura, tomato, green mirchi , tamarind pulp  and turmeric powder in it. Let it cook for 10 minutes.
5. If required add water.
6. See the consistency of dal.
7. Then add salt, curry leaves, daniya powder and fresh coconut paste and mix well and cook for couple of minutes.
8. Finally add mashed kandi ginjalu and mix well.
9. Take a popu pan, add tbsp of oil, let it heat.
10. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves and pour in dal.

See the aroma that fills your kitchen.

It goes well with rice and roti. I have prepared it for lunch and good side for roti also at dinner time

My Notes

• You can prepare this curry in pressure cooker also, cook all together ie kandi ginjalu, totakura, tomato etc. But it tastes good when you cook separately.
• By mixing mash cooked kandi ginjalu slightly thickens the dal . Otherwise totakura and ginjalu will be separated as there is no gravy.

Mamidikaya Rasam

Hi

Today I am blogging charu/rasam with raw mango. Normally we prepare dal, chutney, pulihora  like that with raw mangoes. This raw mango charu is delicious and simple preparation and this is summer special charu as mango is a summer fruit. But these days we get raw mangoes almost the whole year. I went out to the market to day and found some lovely raw mangoes. Couldn't resist buying them. Raw mangoes have health benefits like Vitamin 'A', calcium, low fat and high protein.

Let us go to prepare Mamidikaya Rasam

Ingredients

• Raw mango pieces                       1 cup ( depends upon sourness)
• Onion                                           1 finely chopped
• Green mirchi                                4 chopped
• Sesame powder(nuvvula podi)    1 tbsp
• Jaggery  powder                           2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• Curry leaves
• Coriander leaves

For Popu

• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Dry red chilli                             1 tear
• Hing
• Oil/ghee                                    1 tbsp

How I did it

1. Wash raw mango. Peel outer layer and cut into pieces.
2. Pressure cook mango pieces with l glass of water. Let it cool.
3. Mash mango pieces.
4. Add needed water. It depends on the sourness of the mango.
5. Take kadai, add 1 tbsp of oil or ghee. Let it heat. Add mustard seeds. Let them pop. Then add cumin seeds , teared red chilli and hing.
6. Pour the boiled mango puree water and add salt, turmeric powder, jaggery and boil for 5 minutes.
7. Finally add sesame powder and cook for couple of minutes.
8. Transfer into a bowl.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves.

It goes well with rice.

My Notes

• If possible select sweetish and sourish mango for this rasam tastes yummy.

Dondakaya Kura

Hi

Do you want to have simple curry  with warm rice as comfortable food for  today's lunch. Better prepare Tomato samber  with side dish with delicious and simple dondakaya curry  and papad.

You can prepare this curry easily with the ingredients available in your kitchen. Dondakaya / Ivy gourds are available through out the year. One can prepare dondakaya curry in many ways. Mostly  this curry, fry etc preffered in the occasions See this the new variety of dondakaya kura.

Let us go  to prepare.



Ingredients

• Dondakayalu                               1/4 kg
• Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• Oil

For grounding paste

• Coriander leaves                         Handful
• Green mirchi                                5
• Cumin seeds                                1/4 tbsp

For popu                 

• Mustard seeds
• Curry leaves

How I did it

1. Select tender fresh and bright donkayalu.
2. Wash them thoroughly with running water.
3. Trim them well.
4. Cut carefully, vertically lengthwise into twos.
5. Discard ripe ones
6. Take a bowl. Add water . Half boil dondakayalu.
7. It takes 7 minutes to half boil. Switch off the stove and let them cool.
8. Mean time prepare grounded paste.
9. Take pan add little oil. Let it heat. Add mustard. Let them splitter. Then add turmeric powder and curry leaves.
10. Then add half boiled and squeezed dondakaya pieces.
11. Stir well and cook for 2 to minutes.
12. Then add required salt and grounded pasted. 
13. Stir well and fry for 5 minutes. Raw smell  goes off and nice aroma of coriander  leaves comes out . See the unique taste.
14. Transfer into a bowl.
15. See the taste.

  This is the curry for your tomato sambar taken as side dish for your comfortable lunch.

My Note

Coriander leaves enhances the taste of any curry.


Thanks for visiting. If you like my recipe do leave a comment.

Vankaya Bajji

Hello Friends

Today we have simple and delicious recipe which is from my mothers kitchen ie vankaya bajji with tender purple brinjal. By Bajji, you might think it as a snack. But this is a popular curry in our house but not sure how it got its name. It takes very little time to prepare and tastes amazing with little katta, mitha and spicy flavours. More over it requires very little oil.

Try by yourself to know the secret of the taste. Let us go to prepare this traditional dish.

Ingredients

• Brinjal                                      1/4 kg (purple and long ones)
• Green mirchi                            5 to 6 adjust as per spice level
• Onion                                        2 medium Chopped
• Tamarind pulp                          1 tbsp
• Tomato                                     1 desi chopped
• Turmeric powder
• Jaggery  powder                       1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Curry leaves
• Coriander  leaves
• Mustard seeds

 

 

How I did it

1. Wash brijals thoroughly under running water.
2. Cut into little big pieces and put them in salted water so that brinjal pieces won't get black.
3. Take vessel, add little oil, let it heat.
4. Then add mustard seeds, turmeric powder, brinjal pieces, chopped onion and green mirchi, tamarind pulp, turmeric powder, curry leaves and salt.
5. Don't add much water. Water oozes from brinjal
6. Cook until they become soft. It generally takes only 8 to 10 minutes to cook.
7. Don't srir frequently. Brinjal pieces tend to lose their shape. Curry doesn't look nice when the brinjal pieces gets smashed.
8. Switch off the flame and transfer the contents into a bowl.
9. Garnish with coriander.

It goes well with rice and you can serve this curry for dosa and roti also.