Pesarattu (Green moong Dosa)

15-20 dosas

Ingredients:

Green moong dal – 1 cup

Raw rice – 1/4 cup

Green or red chillies – 10-12

Jeera (cumin seeds) – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Oil – for cooking

Water – for soaking and grinding

Preparation of Pesarattu:

1. Soak the green moong dal and rice together for 5-6 hrs.

2. After 6 hrs, add chillies, jeera, asafoetida, soaked mixture (green dal and rice) and grind it well. Add some water till it becomes like dosa batter.

3. Now add salt and mix it.

4.  Heat tava in medium flame. Once it is heated, pour the batter in a cup shaped spatula and spread it over tava to form a round shape.

5. Pour little oil around it and cook for 1 min. then turn the dosa to the other side and cook for a min. Follow the same procedure for the rest.

Enjoy it with tomoto or coconut chutney…….

Additional Info:

This dosa is very famous in Andhra pradesh. It is specially called Andhra pesarattu.

If you like more spicy dosa, add dry chillies.

For more flavour, cut some carrot, coriander, mint leaves and mix with batter. Then make dosa as said above.

It will give a different taste.

Veg Samosa

10-12 samosas

Ingredients:
For Stuffing:

Carrot – 2

Beans (cut into small pieces)– ¼ cup

Peas – ¼ cup

Cabbage (chopped)– ¼ cup

Potato – 2 (cook, peel the skin and mash)

Red or Green chillies – 4 – 5 (cut into pieces)

Salt – to taste

Jeera (cumin seeds) – 1 tbsp

Oil – 2 tbsp

Fennel (sombu) – ½ tbsp

Garam masala powder – ½ tbsp

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Coriander (chopped) – ¼ cup

Oil – for frying 

For Dough:

All purpose flour (maida) – 1 cup

Salt – to taste

Baking soda – 1 pinch

Oil – for kneading

Water – for kneading

Preparation of Dough:
1. Take a bowl, add the flour, salt and baking soda. Mix well…
2. Add little by little water and oil and knead well till it becomes soft dough.
3. Make medium size balls and keep it aside.

Preparation of Vegetable stuffing:
1. Heat oil in pan, add jeera (cumin), fennel, chillies and fry lightly.
2. Add all the vegetables (except Potato) and some water to cook.
3. Add Garam masala powder, asafoetida and cook well for 10 – 15 mins in medium flame.
4. After the vegetables are cooked add the mashed potato, salt and mix well. Cook it for 2 – 3 mins and remove from flame. Add coriander..
5. Make balls of enough size to keep it inside the dough balls.

Preparation of Samosa:

1.Take one dough ball and roll it in maida flour slightly.
2.Roll the ball in a clean surface to make a one inch thick circle. Put the vegetable balls in the middle and cover it by joining the ends of the dough in such a way to form a triangle. Press the ends well so that the stuffing won’t come out. Repeat the process for all balls.
3.Now heat oil enough for frying in a pan in medium flame. Once the oil is ready to fry, put one samosa and fry it for a min till it turns to golden brown. Turn it to the other side and fry for a min.
4.Once it is turned into golden brown colour and fried well. Remove from oil and keep it in a bowl with tissues.

Enjoy it with sauce and chutneys……

Additional Info:

You can also add vegetables like Cauliflower, Cabbage, Capsicum etc…….

Bread Bhajji

Ingredients:

Bread – 4 slices (cut 1 slice into 4 square pieces)

Gram Flour – ½ cup

Chilli powder – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Baking soda – 1 pinch (optional)

Kesari colour (optional) – 1 pinch

Water – to make batter

Oil – to fry

Preparation of Batter:

1. Take the gram flour in a bowl and add chilli powder, salt, asafoetida, (baking soda, colour – optional).
2. Add water little by little to the flour mixture and mix it well till it becomes like a dosa batter. Keep it aside for 5 mins.

Preparation of Bread Bhajji:

1. Heat oil enough to deep fry in a frying pan in medium flame.
2. Take the cut bread pieces and dip it in the batter one by one.
3. Dip it well so that the batter gets spread all over it.
4. Once the oil is heated well to fry, take one piece out of the batter and put it in the oil. Keep it in medium flame.
5. Fry for a min then turn it over to the other side and fry for a min.
6. Once it is turned to a golden brown colour, take out and put in a vessel covered with tissues. The tissues will take out the excess oil. Repeat the process for all pieces.

Enjoy it with sauce or Chutneys……

Additional Info:

There is no need for removing the outer brown layer of the bread. But if preferred, you can remove and use.

The batter is same for all kinds of bhajji. So you can use the leftover batter for other vegetables.

Rice Upma (Arisi Upma)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Raw rice – 1 cup

Toor Dal – 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tbsp

Urid dal – 1 tbsp

Jeera (cumin seeds) – 1 tbsp

Channa dal – 2 tbsp

Dry red chillies or green chillies – 4-5

Grated Coconut – ¼ cup

Salt – to taste

Oil – 2 tbsp

Water – 5 cups

Corainder – For garnishing

Preparation of Arisi Upma:

1. Grind the raw rice and toor dal in a mixie till the rice broke into tiny pieces. Do not grind the rice to flour.
2. Heat (medium flame) oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. After it crackles add urid dal, jeera (cumin), channa dal and fry lightly.
3. Now add chillies, 5 cups water, grated coconut and salt. Cook till the water starts boiling.
4. Now pour the rice mixture into it and mix well. Shift the content to a vessel suitable to keep in a pressure cooker.
5. Close the vessel with a lid and close the pressure cooker. Allow 4 – 5 whistles and remove the cooker from heat.
6. Once the pressure is released take out the vessel, mix the contents well and garnish with coriander.

Enjoy with Chutneys……

Additional Info:

You can also do this without coconut. Use gingelly oil for frying to add more flavour.

If you do not wish to cook this in pressure cooker use can cook in normal pan. Follow the same procedure till step 4. Do not change the content. Just allow it to cook in medium flame in the same pan. Stir it at regular intervals.

Potato Bhajji (Aloo Bhajji)

10-15 pieces

Ingredients:

Potatoes (aloo) – 2

Gram Flour – ½ cup

Chilli powder – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Baking soda – 1 pinch (optional)

Kesari colour (optional) – 1 pinch

Water – to make batter

Oil – to fry

Preparation of Batter:

1. Take the gram flour in a bowl and add chilli powder, salt, asafoetida, (baking soda, colour – optional).
2. Add water little by little to the flour mixture and mix it well till it becomes like a dosa batter. Keep it aside for 5 mins.

Preparation of Potato Bhajji:

1. Take the potato and peel of the skin.  Heat oil enough to deep fry in a frying pan in medium flame.
2. Cut the potato into thin round pieces and dip it in the batter one by one.
3. Dip it well so that the batter gets spread all over it.
4. Once the oil is heated well to fry, take one piece out of the batter and put it in the oil. Keep it in medium flame.
5. Fry for a min then turn it over to the other side and fry for a min.
6. Once it is turned to a golden brown colour, take out and put in a vessel covered with tissues. The tissues will take out the excess oil. Repeat the process for all pieces.

Enjoy it with sauce or Chutneys……

Additional Info:

The batter is same for all kinds of bhajji. So you can use the leftover batter for other vegetables.

Aloo Matar

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Potato (aloo) – 2 (peel off the skin and cut into pieces)

Peas (Matar) – ½ cup

Tomato – 2 (cut into small pieces)

Jeera (cumin seeds) – 1 tbsp

Fennel (sombu) – ½ tbsp

Mint leaves (pudhina) – 5-6 leaves

Cardamom – 1 or powder – ¼ tbsp.

Chilli Powder – 1 tbsp

Dhania Powder – ½ tbsp.

Amchur Powder – ½ tbsp.

Garam masala Powder – ½ tbsp

Salt – to taste

Oil – 2 tbsp

Milk – ¼ cup

Curd – ½ tbsp

Milk cream (optional) – ½ tbsp

Tomato Puree (optional) – as needed

Coriander – for garnishing

Preparation of Aloo Matar:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add jeera (cumin), fennel, mint leaves, cardamom and fry it lightly.
2. Then add tomatoes with little water and cook for 2 mins.
3. Add chilli powder, dhania, amchur, garam masala powder, salt and cook for 1 min.
4. Now add potatoes, peas and some more water to cook. Cook it for 10 – 15 mins till the potatoes are cooked well.
5. Now add milk, curd and cook for a min and remove from flame.

Garnish with coriander…….

Additional Info:

You can some tomato puree along with the potatoes to increase the amount of gravy.

Add the milk cream (optional) just few minutes before serving.

Raw Banana Bhajji (Vazhaikai Bhajji)

10-12 pieces

Ingredients:

Raw Banana (vazhaika) – 1

Gram Flour – ½ cup

Chilli powder – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Baking soda – 1 pinch (optional)

Kesari colour (optional) – 1 pinch

Water – to make batter

Oil – to fry

Preparation of Batter:

1. Take the gram flour in a bowl and add chilli powder, salt, asafoetida, (baking soda, colour – optional).
2. Add water little by little to the flour mixture and mix it well till it becomes like a dosa batter. Keep it aside for 5 mins.

Preparation of Raw Banana Bhajji:

1. Take the raw banana and peel of the skin.  Heat oil enough to deep fry in a frying pan in medium flame.
2. Cut the raw banana in desired shape and dip it in the batter one by one.
3. Dip it well so that the batter gets spread all over it.
4. Once the oil is heated well to fry, take one piece out of the batter and put it in the oil. Keep it in medium flame.
5. Fry for a min then turn it over to the other side and fry for a min.
6. Once it is turned to a golden brown colour, take out and put in a vessel covered with tissues. The tissues will take out the excess oil. Repeat the process for all raw banana pieces.

Enjoy it with sauce or Chutneys……

Additional Info:

The batter is same for all kinds of bhajji. So you can use the leftover batter for other vegetables.

Dal Vada (Aama Vadai)

10-12 Vadas

Ingredients:

Channa dal – ¼ cup

Toor dal – ¼ cup

Moong dal – 2 tbsp

Urid dal – 2 tbsp

Red dry chillies – 6-7

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Salt – to taste

Oil – to fry

Preparation of Vada:

1. Soak all dal & red chillies in a bowl in hot water for 1 hour.
2. After an hour, grind it in a way that some dal pieces are left half grounded. Add very little water for grinding. Grind it like a thick paste. Add salt and mix well.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan in medium flame and wait till it is heated well enough for frying.
4. Now take a small amount of the vada mixture of ping pong ball size. Press it with hand to make it flat. Now drop it in the oil.
5. Cook for a min and turn over the vada to other side. Cook till it turns to a golden brown colour.
6. Remove from flame and put it in a bowl covered with tissues so that the excess oil is out. Follow the same procedure for all.

Enjoy it with Chutneys………

Additional Info:

You can also grind the dal well and make the vada with a soft mixture. But for this vada, the crisp in the dal is the real taste. If you leave some dal half grounded, you will get crisper vada.

This is done during some festivals, but this can be done for usual snack.

Stuffed Capsicum in Tomato Gravy

This is my 50th post. I should thank all my visitors and my friends who never fails to write comments for each recipe I post. Thanks to my husband who always asks me to try different varieties of food. It’s really a very good motivation. Now, What should be my 50th post? I wanted to post something really special. So here it is. My husband has been asking me for a long time to prepare stuffed capsicum in gravy at home. So I tried it for the first time and it came out really well. It was soo tasty…….. Try it and keep visiting………

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For Stuffed Capsicum:

Green Capsicum – 2

Potato (aloo) – 5 medium sizes (cook, remove skin & mashed lightly)

Carrot – 1 (cut into small pieces)

Beans – ¼ cup (cut into small pieces)

Corn (optional) – ¼ cup

Green or red chillies – 5 (chopped)

Turmeric powder – ¼ tbsp

Mint leaves (pudhina) – 5-6 leaves

Jeera (cumin seeds) – 1 tbsp

Milk – 4 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Oil – 5 tbsp

Coriander – for garnishing

For Tomato Gravy:

Tomatoes – 2 (grinded or cut into small pieces)

Peas (optional) – ¼ cup

Chilli powder – 1 tbsp

Dhania powder – ½ tbsp

Amchur powder – ½ tbsp

Garam masala powder – ½ tbsp

Jeera (cumin seeds) – 1 tbsp

Fennel (sombu) – ½ tbsp

Cardamom powder – ¼ tbsp or 1 seed

Milk – ¼ cup

Milk cream (optional) – ½ tbsp

Curd – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Oil – 2 tbsp

Tomato Puree (optional) – as needed

Coriander – For garnishing

Preparation of Stuffed Capsicum:

1. Remove the top of the capsicum and take out the seeds inside it. Heat a vessel with water enough to cook the capsicum and 1 tbsp salt. Put the capsicum in it and cook for 5 mins in medium flame. Don’t need to cook fully.
2. After 5 mins, take out the capsicum and place it upside down in a plate so that any water inside the capsicum will come out. Leave it for 5 mins.
3. Now heat a roti pan and grease it with 1 tbsp oil. Put the capsicum in it and fry it on all sides for few mins till it turns to brown on all sides, then take out and keep it aside.
4. On the other side, heat another pan with 2 tbsp oil, add jeera, mint leaves and fry lightly.
5. Now add all the vegetables (chillies too) and water enough to cook. Add turmeric powder, salt and cook for 10 mins. Add milk and cook for another 5 mins. Remove from flame after all the vegetables get cooked and the water is all gone. It should like curry.
6. Fill the vegetable curry inside the fried capsicum. Fill it to the top (as shown in the picture) and garnish with coriander.

Preparation of Stuffed Capsicum in Tomato Gravy:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add jeera (cumin), fennel, cardamom and fry lightly.
2. Now add the tomatoes, peas with little water. Add chilli powder, dhania, amchur, garam masala powder and salt. Cook for 5 mins and then add milk, curd. Cook for 5 mins, till it becomes thick gravy.
3. If the amount of gravy is not enough add some tomato puree along with milk and cook.
4. Now pour the gravy over the stuffed capsicum and serve.

Enjoy with rotis……

Additional Info:

You can also add other vegetables like cauliflower, beans etc…. for stuffing.

Add little corn flour mixed in water to thicken the gravy.

Almond Burfi (Badam cake)

Ingredients:

Almond (with or without skin) – 1 cup (soak in hot water for 30 mins)

Sugar – 1 cup

Milk – ¼ cup

Cardamom powder- ½ tbsp

Ghee or butter – 4 tbsp

Raisins – for decoration

Preparation of Almond Burfi:

1. Peel the skin (if it is with skin) from the soaked almond and grind it with enough milk to make it like a fine paste.
2. Add sugar, cardamom powder to the almond paste and whip it for a min and keep it aside.
3. Take a plate, grease it with ghee and keep it aside.
4. Now heat 2 tbsp of ghee in a non-stick pan and add the almond mixture.
5. Make the flame to low and mix the mixture continuously. Add some ghee in between and mix it well.
6. When the mixture starts to thicken and starts leaving the sides of the pan without sticking.
7. Take out the pan from flame and pour the mixture in the plate. Spread the mixture evenly in the plate. Allow it to cool for 2-3 mins, then cut it into pieces.

Decorate with raisins and serve…..

Additional Info:

You can also do this with almond powder. Just mix the sugar and little milk to the almond powder and set aside for 10 mins. Then follow the above procedure from step 3.

You can also add little saffron and cashews for a rich taste.