Simple Dondakaya Fry with Ullikaram

Recipe Source : Kanthamani Vantakalu (a telugu cook book

Dondakaya fry is one of my favourite which can be enjoyed with rice on its own or as a side dish with sambar or dal.

Here is the recipe for variation of Dondakaya fry I have tried.

Ingredients	Quantity
Dondakaya /Tindora	300 grams ( I used frozen)
Onions	1 medium Sliced
Red Chilli Powder	1/4 tsp
Turmeric	A big pinch
Dry Red Chillies	8
Garlic	6 medium cloves
Cumin	1 tsp
Salt	as per taste
Oil	2 tbsp

Method :

1. Grind dry red chillies , garlic and cumin together.

2.Wash and cut the Dondakaya/Tindora in rounds/length wise . Otherwise thaw the frozen Tindora as per instructions

3.Heat the oil in pan add onions and fry until they turn soft , now add Dondakaya/Tindora and cook until it's almost done I.e., it should wilt properly

4. Now add red chilli powder , turmeric and salt cook for few minutes.

5. Now add 1/2 of the ground mixture and fry it for 5 more minutes .

I didnt want my veggies to fry that much this time so that's why you can see green bits still. But for proper version they all should have nice brown color.

South Indian Spicy Prawn Masala

Saw this recipe on a food programme , the thought adding pepper powder to a normal curry intrigued me . The output didn't disappoint me  :)

Note: Vary the spices according to your liking

Ingredients	Quantity
Prawns	250 grams
Onions	2 Sliced
Green Chillies	1 Slit length way
Ginger	1/2 tbsp chopped finely
Red Chilli Powder	1/2 tsp
Turmeric	1/4 tsp
Pepper Powder	1/4 tsp
Tomatoes(fresh)	1/2 cup chopped finely
Curry Leaves	1 sprig
Salt	as per taste
Water	1 cup
Oil	1 tbsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan add onions  , green chillies , ginger together and saute in low flame until onions are soft
2.Now add chilli powder , turmeric , pepper powder mix well, add prawns fry until raw smell of spice powders disappear.
3.Now add tomatoes , curry leaves , water and salt cook until you gravy gets thick.

And it is ready to serve.

Atukula / Poha Patoli

Recipe Source : Kanthamani Vantakalu (a telugu cook book

To be honest when I saw this recipe , I wasn't sure whether it would taste good. Believe me it was quick to make and delicious to dig in :)

Ingredients	Quantity
Atukulu/Poha	100 grams
Peanuts	1/4 cup
Fresh Coconut	1 tbsp
Green Chilli	1
Coarinder Leaves	1 sprigs
Salt	as per taste
Lemon Juice	sprinkle as per taste

For Tadka

Ingredients	Quantity
Ghee	1 tsp
Chana Dal	1/4 tsp
Black Gram Dal	1/4 tsp
Cumin+Mustard seeds	1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves	1 sprig
Turmeric	a pinch
Dry Red Chilli	1 tear into two

Method:

1. Rinse poha , soak for few minutes and drain off the water

2. Cook  peanuts in water until soft

3. Heat ghee in a pan, add all the tadka ingredients in the order sauté until fried properly

4. Now add green chili , coconut ,boiled  peanuts , poha , salt , coarinder leaves and mix well

5. Sprinkle lime juice mix well and serve .

Coriander Mint Rice

Made this wonderful coriander mint rice from sailus , it was very tasty . Recipe can be found here

Kadala Curry with Puri

Made this kerala style chana curry from edible garden (recipe here )

It turned out really good. We had this delicious kadala curry with hot puris :)

Pesarapappu Pulusu / Green Lentlis Dal

Recipe Source : Kanthamani Vantakalu (a telugu cook book)

Ingredients	Quantity
Pesarapappu /Moong Dal	100 grams
Onions	1 medium thinly sliced
Green Chilli	2 slit length wise
Beans (or) carrots(optional)	1/2 cup sliced length wise
Turmeric	a big pinch
Lime Juice	One half of a medium size lime
Oil	1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds	1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds	1/4 tsp
Garlic	2 big cloves crushed
Dry Red Chillies	2 cut into half
Curry Leaves	2 sprigs

Method:
1.Pressure cook moong dal until soft and set a side

2.In a deep vessel add onions , green chillies , carrot / beans , salt , turmeric, 6 cups of water and boil until until it is bubbling away.

3.Now add cooked dal , lime juice and simmer for 5 mins. 

4.In a small pan , add oil once it's hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, garlic, curry leaves , dry red chili sauté them in low heat and switch off .

5. Now add this tadka to the dal. It is ready to serve!!!

Simple Chicken Fry

Method :

1. Clean the chicken , cut it into bite sized pieces . Add 1 cup of water  

Salt , ginger garlic paste and let it cook uncovered

2. Just before all the water evaporates add coriander powder and let the water evaporate completely

3. In a pan add oil and let it heat now add onions fry until golden brown then add cooked chicken pieces and fry for 15 minutes in medium flame.

4. Grind poppy seeds , cloves, cinnamon 

Cardamom into fine powder 

5. Now add the above powder, red chili powder  to chicken and fry for 5 more minutes.

6. At last check for salt and it's ready to serve.

Ingredients	Quantity
Chicken boneless	500 grams
Ginger Garlic Paste	1 tsp
Turmeric	1/4 tsp
Coarinder Powder	2 tsp
Onion	1 medium chopped
Red Chili Powder	1/2 tsp
Clove+Cardamom+Cinnamon	5+4+1 inch piece
Poppy Seeds	1 tsp
Oil	Enough for shallow frying

Masala Scrambled Eggs

This recipe is from Anjum Anand's Indian Food Made Easy . 

Ingredients	Quantity
Eggs	2
Oil	1 tsp
Onion	1/2 small chopped
Tomato	1/2 small chopped
Green Chili	1 chopped
Coarinder Leaves	1 sprig
Salt	to taste

Method: 

1. Heat the oil , once it's hot add onion , greenchilli and cook for few minutes until they are soft.

2. Then add tomatoes fry for 2 minutes , now add coarinder leaves and switch off.

3. Mean while beat the eggs, turmeric ,salt .

4. Now add onion mixture to beaten egg mix well.

5. Add the eggs to pan , scramble and let it cook leaving them little longer than usual.

Enjoy it with toasted bread.

Simple Pulav/Pilaff with Peas

This recipe is from Anjum Anand's Indian Food Made Easy . 

Ingredients	Quantity
Oil	2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds	1 tsp
Onion	1 small sliced
Garam Masala	1tsp
Rice	1 cups soaked for 30 minutes
Frozen Peas	1/2 cup

Method : 

1. Heat the oil in a large non stick pan , once it's hot add cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds

2. Add onion and sauté for about 6 minutes until soft and brown.

3. Add garam masala , salt and cook for few more seconds

4. Add frozen peas , soaked rice and sauté for few minutes 

5. Now shift all these to a rice cooker and let it cook.

Royyala Iguru /Prawns in a thick gravy

This Saturday I was on cooking spree , I made some pulav and royyala iguru/prawns In thick gravy . It was really a good combo. Followed sailus recipe for royyala iguru here

Andhra Royyala Vepudu / Prawns Fry

Recipe Source : Kanthamani Vantakalu (a telugu cook book)

Prawn fry what to say about this , it's delicious and quick to make

Things you need: 

Ingredients	Quantity
Prawns	300 grams
Onions	2 chopped finely
Green Chilli	3
Ginger Garlic Paste	1 tsp
Coarinder seeds	3 tsp
Poppy Seeds	1 tsp
Cloves	5
Cardamom	8
Cinnamon Stick	1 inch
Star Anise	half of the flower
Coarinder Leaves	1 tbsp chopped

Method:

1. Mix salt , turmeric and chilli powder to cleaned / thawed prawns , leave them marinated until use.

2. Dry Roast coarinder seeds , poppyseeds, cinnamon stick, cardamom,cloves into a fine powder. 

3.Heat oil in a pan , once it's hot add chopped onions , green chili fry until golden brown.

4.Now add ginger garlic paste and fry for few minutes until raw smell goes off.

5.Add marinated prawns to fries onion mixture and fry until prawns are half cooked.

6.Now add 1 tsp of ground masala powder to prawns and fry until well done.

7.Finish off the fry by sprinkling coarinder leaves .

Cashew Masala Pakora / Jeedipappu Masala Pakodi

Recipe Source : Kanthamani Vantakalu (a telugu cook book)

Things You Need : 

Ingredients	Quantity
Gram Flour	250 grams
Cashew Nuts	250 grams
Ginger	100 grams
Green Chili	8 ( or adjust according to your taste)
Coriander Leaves	10 sprigs chopped finely
Mint	5 sprigs chopped finely
Curry Leaves	2 sprigs chopped finely
Ghee	1/4 cup
Oil	1/2 cup

Add ginger , green chili to blender and blend into a coarse mixture . 

To this add coarinder leaves , mint and curry leaves and blitz it for 2 secs

Sieve the gram flour in a bowl to avoid lumps , add salt , cashews and ginger mixture, oil, ghee and 1 tbsp of water to get to nicely rolled up mixture.

Heat oil for deep frying , once it's hot add cashew mixture little by little fry until golden brown in a low heat.

It stores up to 15 days in a tightly sealed container. Enjoy with some hot tea.

Bendakaya / Okra Dry Masala

Recipe Source : Kanthamani Vantakalu (a telugu cook book)

Ingredients	Quantity
Okra/ Ladies Fingers	- 500 Grams ( baby okra is the best or you can use normal ones cut into half)
Onions	2 chopped
Coconut dry or fresh	1 tbsp if dry / 2 tbsp if using fresh
Sesame Seeds	4 tsp
Coriander Seeds	2 tsp
Garlic	4 cloves (small)
Turmeric	1/4 tsp
Red Chilli Powder	2 tsp
Salt	as per taste
Tamarind	raspberry size soaked in water
Oil	for shallow frying

Method : 

1. Heat oil in a pan , once it's hot add okra in batches until they lose that stickiness and drain on a paper towel and repeat until all the okra are fried

2. Now in same pan add coconut , sesame seeds, coriander seeds and fry in low heat until they are toasted nicely. Remove and grind it until smooth

3.Now in same pan add chopped onions and fry until golden brown , add garlic , turmeric, red chilli powder , salt and fry for few minutes until raw smell goes off.

4.Now in the same blender where the ground coconut mixture is add onion mixture and tamarind mixture grind until smooth.

5.To the same pan add oil if required add the ground mixture sauté for 5mins in low heat .

6.To this add fried okra , mix it carefully by spatula or by rotating the dish.

7.Let the okra cook until well done on low heat and its ready to eat. You have to believe me this is very tasty :)

Onion Bajji

Recipe Source : Kanthamani Vantakalu (a telugu cook book)

Things you need:

 

Ingredients	Quantity
Gram Flour	1 Cup
Red Chilli Powder	1 tsp
Asafoetida Powder	1/2 tsp
Salt	as per taste
Onion	1 bog sliced in rounds
Oil	for deep frying

Method :

1. Slice the onion in slightly thick rounds

2.Mix all the dry ingredients and water as required.

3. Batter should be thick enough so that it coats the onion completely 

4. Heat the oil in Kadai, once it's hot add batter coated onion and fry until golden brown.

Achari Chicken

Whenever I saw this in restaurants here in UK , I was skeptical to order it. after my colleague describing it to be wonderful made this and turned out too good !!!

Got the recipe from this blog here .

Spicy Maggi

If you like maggi you got to try this , it takes few more mins than how you prepare your 2 minute maggi but simply delicious .  I followed then recipe from here ...

Summer in Manchester

Summer in Manchester means strawberries lots of them :)

Had some of with single pouring cream 

And these were the remaining 

And made some delicious jelly with them

Methi Mushroom

When is was looking for  something different to prepare with mushroom came across this recipe from
Veg recipes of india . It turned out really well .

South Indian Liver Fry

This is a super quick dish to make, it's quite tasty and aromatic too...

I followed the recipe from Amma cheppindhi blog blog 

Chettinad Pepper Chicken Masala

Had a wonderful sunday , went to Chennai Dosa a south indian restaurant in stretford mall for a breakfast buffet , God have to say it was awesome . For dinner made this pepper chicken masala, it turned out pretty good !!! You can find the recipe here .

Spicy Pasta Indian style

Pasta in Indian way :)

Pasta ( I used fusilli ) - 200 gms

Onion - 1 big chopped 

Tomato - 3 small chopped

Green Chilli - 2 chopped

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coarinder Powder - 1 /2 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1/4 tsp 

Coarinder Leaves - 2 packed tbsp 

Plain Flour - 2 tbsp

Frozen Peas - handful (optional )

Water - 1/2 cup

Salt - As per taste

Oil - 1 tbsp 

Method :

1. Fill a deep vessel with water add salt and let it boil. To the boiled water add pasta cook for 15 mins and drain the water immediately

2. Bring a pan to heat add oil followed by onions . Sauté them until transparent

3. Now add ginger garlic paste fry it until raw smell goes off. Add turmeric and sauté for a minute.

4. Add Tomatoes and sauté until they are mushy . To this mixture add red chilli powder , coarinder powder , cumin powder , coarinder leaves and fry for few minutes until raw smell goes off

5. Now add 2 tbsp plain flour and immediately add 1/2 cup water and stir well until 3 mins

6.Add peas if you are adding any and allow to cook them

7.Now add pasta mix well place the lid on pan and cook for 5 mins .

8. Pasta ready to eat !!!

Poori Potato Masala

We had poori for breakfast this Saturday and i made this poori masala instead of my usual one.

Things you need :
Potatoes - 2 large chopped
Onion - 1 medium chopped
Tomato - 1 medium chopped
Green Chili - 2 chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - As per taste

For tempering :
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Black gram dal - 1/2 tsp
Oil -  1 tbsp

Method :
1.Heat oil in a pan , once it is hot add the ingredients for tempering in the order mentioned
2.Add ginger , green chili saute them for 2 minutes and then add onions , salt , turmeric and saute them until golden brown.
3.Add tomatoes and let them cook until soft.
4.Now add chopped potatoes sprinkle some water close the pan with lid and cook it for 20 minutes stirring and adding water in between to prevent sticking.
5.Once potatoes are cooked check the seasoning and it is ready to dig in with soft poori's.

Chicken Biryani

Chicken Biryani which we get in south India is difficult to find here in Manchester as there are only few south Indian restaurants  . So i have tried n number times to make biryani at home but failed due to time of pan am using on my electric hob. It appears to be i found a solution , i bought cast iron casserole dish from Tesco's recently i thought i would give it a go . Surprisingly it turned really well , here is the recipe .

Things to be marinated overnight :

Chicken -800 grams

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tbsp

Red Chili Powder - 1 tbsp

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1/2 tbsp

Yogurt - 1/2 cup

Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup fully packed

Mint leaves - 1/4 cup fully packed
Green Chili - 3

Lime Juice - 1 tbsp

Turmeric - a big pinch

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1/4 cup

Biryani Masala (to be ground into powder)

Black Peppercorns - 6

Cloves - 3

Cinnamon sticks 1 inch - 2 

Cardamom - 6

Mace - 2

Star anise - 2

Bay leaves - 3

Shahi Jeera(Black Cumin) - 1/2 tsp 

** we are going to use 1/2 the amount of this powder. Mentioned large quantities as it would be easy to make powder :) you can store the rest .

For Rice :

Rice - 1 1/2 cups soaked in water for 1 hour

Shahi Jeera(Black Cumin) - 1/4 tsp

Bay leaves - 2

Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste

For Garnish :
Onion - 1 Medium size sliced and fried golden brown
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Saffron  - few strands soaked in 3 tbsp of hot milk

Method : 

1. Grind all the biryani masala ingredients ( do not roast them)

2. Mix chicken with all the marination ingredients and 1/2 the quantity of biryani masala powder leave it overnight or maximum 4 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Take the casserole dish , grease it with some oil and arrange the chicken in such a way that each piece touches the bottom of the dish , now set it aside
4. Boil a pan of water until it bubbles away , now add the things in for rice section except rice. Now taste the water (remember you have added some salt in chicken) it has to be seasoned well .
5.Add soaked rice to boiling water and cook it for 3-4 minutes until 70% done . Now drain the water and spread the rice on the chicken evenly .
6.Add Fried onions , saffron milk and ghee on the rice.
7.Seal the lid of dish with chapati dough carefully or you can use any tomato cans or soup cans on top the lid so that steam wont escape and chicken will be cooked in its own steam.
8.Place the casserole dish on high heat for 4 minutes remove it from heat. Now place a flat frying pan preferably cast iron one on the hob then place the casserole dish on pan and cook for 20 mins on low heat .
9.After 20 minutes , switch off the hob and do not open for next 15 mins. Now carefully break the dough if you have used and enjoy the wonderful aroma of biryani.

Serve it with raita.

Raita
Onion - 1 small
Green Chilli  - 1/2
Tomato - 1/2
Salt - as per taste
Curd - 1 cup

Take all the ingredients in a bowl and crush it with fork to release all the flavours . Add curd, mix well and serve it.

Mushroom Karahi Takeaway Style

Simple mushroom curry best thing about this is no need to onions :)

Things you need :

Mushrooms ( I used small button ones)- 200gms quartered 

Tomatoes - 220 gms

Garlic - 1 fat clove chopped

Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped

Green chili - 1

Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp

Red Chilli flakes - 1 tbsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Dried Methi (Kasuri Methi ) - 1/2 tbsp

Garam masala - a pinch

Salt - As required 

Water - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup

Oil - 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp

Method :

1. Heat a pan with 2 tbsp oil until piping hot , now add chopped mushrooms and fry for 7 mins in medium flame. After 7 mins drain them to a plate and keep aside

2. In the same pan , add 1 tbsp oil followed by garlic . Fry until garlic changes color , now add red Chilli flakes , coriander leaves , tomatoes and fry until tomatoes are softened.

3. Now add greenchilli, ginger , mushrooms and 1/2 cup of water . Cover and cook for 7 mins .

4. Remove the lid , stir and add dried methi , Garamond masala , salt , 1/4 cup water cook for 3 mins and switch off the flame.

Tastes good with naan and rice.

My Backyard

Fuchsia's

Dalias 

   

Rose plants first produce :)

 

Lavender 

   

  Poppy's

  

Marigold's

Potatoes 

Carrots 

Bay Leaf

  Herb Plants Mint,Basil,Parsley Trio

  

   Methi Leaves

  

Wine Plant 

Quick French Toast

This French toast is really quick to make and is really filling.

Things you need:

Milk - 1 /2 cup

Egg - 1 medium

Bread - 2 slices any type

Sugar - As per your taste

Method:

1. Beat milk , sugar and egg in a bowl

2.Heat a pan with butter/ oil 

3. Now dip the bread slice in the mixture and pan toast it until egg is nicely cooked and bread has nice caramel colour

3. Simple toast is ready to eat sprinkle with sugar while serving. 

Enjoy it while it is still hot.

Indian Spiced Peanuts

Recipe Source : Kanthamani Vantakalu (a telugu cook book)

My Favourite tea time snack from my childhood. It's very easy to prepare if you don't have fear of deep frying   foods on the stove top :)

Things Needed 

Ready roasted Salted Peanuts - 200gms

Gram Flour - 1/2 cup , you can find this in tesco's & sainsburys 

Rice Flour - 1/4 cup

Red Chilli Powder - 1.5 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp

Dry Mango Powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - as needed keeping in mind that peanuts are salted

Water - 1/4 cup

Method:

1. Take all the ingredients in a bowl

2. Mix them with 1/4 cup water and keep it aside

3. Take a pan , pour oil for deep frying heat it until piping hot

4. Now keep then flame in medium , drop the nuts in hot oil and fry them until golden brown

5. Once cooled store in air tight container .( Don't stre them while they are still hot).