Bendakai Pulusu (Okra in Tamarind gravy)

I wanted the best Bendakai Pulusu (Okra in Tamarind gravy) for my readers so, this one is made by my mom on special request. Bendakai Pulusu reminds me of my childhood days when my mom used to serve it with hot muddapopu(cooked Toor Dal) and homemade pure ghee along with rice. It's the ultimate comfort food! Thank you mom for this ultimate recipe.





Ingredients for this recipe:-

Okra(Bendakai)- 1/2 pound
Onion- 1 medium
green chilli- 2 nos
Tamarind- 1 1/4 Tablespoon paste
Chilli powder- 1 1/4 Teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Sugar- 1 tablespoon
Coriander- for garnishing

For Tadka(seasoning)
Oil- 2 Tablespoons
Whole red chillies- 1 no
Mustard seeds- 1/4 Teaspoon
Cumin seeds- 1/4 Teaspoon
Turmeric- 1/4 Teaspoon
Curry Leaves- 1 spring

Procedure:-
Start by adding oil to the hot pan, add whole red chilli, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and turmeric. When the mustard and cumin seeds splutter, add curry leaves.
Add the onions which are chopped finely and the green chillies which are slit length wise to this seasoning. Let the onions become translucent and then add Okra that are cut into rounds. Let the Okra cook for few minutes on medium. Now add 1 1/2 cups of water to the okra and add salt, chilli powder and sugar. Let the water come to a boil and add the tamarind paste. Now let the okra cook in this gravy. Check the taste of the gravy to see if you need to add any more salt. Now when you think okra has cooked and the gravy has thickened to the desired consistency, turn off the heat. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot with rice.

Serves-4
Tip- Usually the gravy is very thin for Pulusu but if you like it a bit thick, you can add 1 teaspoon of rice flour to 1/4 cup of water and mix it to form a smooth mixture and add it to the gravy 5 minutes before you turn the heat off.

Coming up next my mom's Bendakai Pulusu(okra in tamrind gravy) and also Carrot Fry

Zucchini Chutney

Chutney is a very tasty and healthy way of eating veggies for me. Talking about chutney I will have to mention how much my daughter likes chutney. I can feed her just about any veggie in the form of a chutney! So it is our favorite part of meal. A happy mom and daughter :-)
Let's check out this kid tested recipe.





Ingredients:
Zucchini- 4 large
Green chilli- 4 to 5(adjust according to spice level)
Tamarind paste- 3/4 TBSP
Cumin seeds- 1/2 TSP
Garlic- 1 pod(crushed)
Salt- to taste

For seasoning(tadka):
Canola Oil- 2 TBSP
Whole red chilli- 1
Channa Dal- 1/2 TBSP
Urad Dal- 1/2 TBSP
Mustard Seeds- 1/2 TSP
Turmeric- 1/4 TSP
Curry leaves- 5 to 6


Fried Zucchini pieces along with garlic, cumin seeds, tamarind paste ready for the food processor.


Start by heating a nonstick pan on medium high. Add 1 TBSP oil to the pan. Now add peeled and cubed Zucchini and slit green chillies. After few minutes add salt mix, cover and cook. Cook covered for 10 minutes then remove the lid and let the water evaporate until zucchini becomes almost dry. Let it cool down and transfer the zucchini pieces along with green chilli into a food processor. Now add crushed garlic pod, cumin seeds and tamarind paste and blend into a smooth paste without adding water.
Now the next step is tadka. Take the ground chutney into a bowl and keep it aside. In a pan heat 1 TBSP of oil.(Its up to you to choose if you want to make tadka in a different pan or you can also use the same pan in which the zucchini was cooked. I like to use the same pan because it's less cleanup work.) To the hot oil, add the whole red chilli broken into half and fry for a minute. Add Channa dal, Urad dal, Mustard seeds and turmeric powder. Let the dal fry until light brown and add curry leaves. Fry for a minute and pour over the chutney and serve with rice or roti.
Try and enjoy the comfort food of our home from my kitchen to your!
Serves 4 people.
Tip: If making for kids, reduce the green chillies to their spice level. The zucchini pieces have lot of water and when they are cooked their quantity becomes less. So add few green chillies for less spice.

Spinach Moong Dal Fry

Spinach moong dal fry is a simple dal with a different touch; it is a dry dish with slightly different taste for those days when you crave for a change. It has the nutritious values of proteins and goodness of spinach so it is always a yes on the menu.




Ingredients:
Spinach- 5 cups(cut finely)
Onion- 1 medium
Green Chilli- 2
Moong Dal- 1/2 cup

For Seasoning(tadka)
Oil- 2 TBSP
Whole red chilli- 1
Mustard seeds- 1/2 TSP
Cumin seeds- 1/2 TSP
Turmeric- 1/4 TSP
Garlic- 1 pod(chopped finely)
Curry leaves- 5

First start by adding oil to a nonstick pan and put it on medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the red chilli after breaking it in to two pieces. Let it brown a little bit and add mustard, cumin seeds and turmeric. When the seeds begin to splutter, add garlic fry for a second and add curry leaves. Now add the diced onion and green chillies. Fry until the onions turn golden brown. Add the spinach to the onion and fry for a minute. Wash the moong dal and add it to the spinach now. Fry for a minute and add salt, red chilli powder. Add one cup of water, cover and cook on low heat. When all the moisture is evaporated, take off the lid and let it fry for 5 minutes. Now spinach moong dal fry is ready to serve. It can be served with rice or roti.
This dish serves 4 people.

Yummy Potato Fry

Today I am making a yummy potato fry, this one is a family favorite. Boiled potatoes are slightly mashed with hand and shallow fried along with onions and spices until crispy crust is formed on the potatoes. This yummy potato fry is my husband's recipe which I adapted and is loved by one and all!






Ingredients
Potatoes- 5 large
onion- 1 medium
green chillies- 2
ginger-garlic paste- 1 TBSP
garam Masala Powder- 1 TBSP
red chilli powder- 1 1/2 TSP
salt- to taste
Cilantro- for garnishing

For seasoning(tadka)
oil- 5 to 6 TBSP
whole red chilli- 1
mustard seeds(aavaalu)- 1/2 Tsp
cumin seeds(jelakara)- 1/2 TSP
channa dal(senagapappu)- 1/2 TBSP
urad dal(menapoppu)- 1/2 TBSP
turmeric- 1/4 Tsp
curry leaves- about 10

Start by boiling the potatoes, You can boil them either in a pan or pressure cooker. Potatoes should be firm not mushy after boiling them. So, if using pressure cooker, reduce the cooking time to avoid over cooking of potatoes. After potatoes get cold, peel them and keep them aside.

To a large non-stick frying pan, add 3 TBSP of oil and put it on high heat. Once the oil gets hot, break the red chilli and add it to the oil. Let it fry for few seconds and add channa dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and turmeric. Wait until the dals turn light brown and then add curry leaves. Don't let the tadaka burn; keep a close eye on it or instead reduce the heat to medium. Burnt tadaka changes the taste of the overall dish.

After curry leaves fry for a second or two, add the onion which is diced finely and green chillies. Reduce the heat to medium, add salt to the onions and cover it and cook. This releases the water in onions fast and helps fry fast. (In United States I find that the onions have lot of moisture, so I do this. But if you think the onions you are using do not have so much moisture, you can skip the step, fry them normally add salt at the end of the dish.) After 5 minutes remove the lid and let the onions fry until light golden brown in color stirring occasionally. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute until the raw smell disappears. Now, take the potatoes one at a time mash them with hand directly into the pan. Take care to mash them into small pieces and not making a paste. You might find that all the oil has been absorbed. So, at this point, add 2 tablespoons of oil. Now turn the heat to high and let it fry for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium heat and let it fry for another 10 to 12 minutes stirring occasionally. During the 10 to 12 minutes frying time, at any point if you feel the potatoes had absorbed all the oil, add another 1 tablespoon of oil. Now add the red chilli powder, garam masala powder and taste to check if any more salt is needed if you added it while frying onions. Fry for 2 more minute while stirring to mix all the spices well in the fry. Garnish with Cilantro and serve along with roti or rice.
This recipe serves 4 people.

Spicy Tomato Rasam

Rasam is my favorite dish being very light on the tummy and it's so easy to make! When I was small my Grandmother used to make so many variations in rasam I used to like them so much. This particular Spicy Rasam goes well with all non-vegetarian items. So let's see how to make the Spicy Rasam.



Ingredients:

Large Tomatoes- 2
Green chillies- 2
Tamarind paste- 1 TBSP (paste not concentrate)
Rasam powder- 1 TBSP
Salt- to taste
Ginger-garlic paste- 1/4 TSP
Cilantro- for garnishing

For Seasoning(tadaka):
Oil- 1 TBSP
Mustard seeds- 1/2 TSP
Cumin seeds- 1/2 TSP
Dry red chilli whole- 1
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Garlic clove- 1(cut into small pieces)
Curry leaves- 1 strand

Put a sauce pan on medium heat. Add oil to it and once it gets hot break the red chilli into 2 pieces and add it to the oil. Let it fry a little bit and then add mustard, cumin seeds and turmeric powder. Wait until they start spluttering then add the pieces of garlic and curry leaves. After they are fried for 2 to 3 seconds, add tomato pieces that are cut finely and green chillies that are slit into half. On high heat let the tomatoes get mushy and when the water from tomatoes is getting evaporated, add ginger-garlic paste. Fry it until the raw smell disappears for about a minute. Now add 5 cups of water, tamarind paste, salt, rasam powder and bring it to a boil in high heat. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and garnish with Cilantro.

Rasam can be served with Rice. Try it along with my Easy Chicken Fry or with any other fry of your choice. Tomato can be pureed instead of adding pieces for a smooth rasam. But I like mine with some texture to it. Well my lunch is getting cold. Happy eating to you on this Thanksgiving Day! Enjoy!

Easy Chicken fry

Today being Thanksgiving, I made a very easy Chicken fry. This one pot dish is so flavorful and moist using very few ingredients, even a beginner can make it with ease! It's a very versatile dish; you can make it for yourself on a lazy afternoon or even please a crowd with this Easy Chicken fry. So let's get started



Easy Chicken Fry Ingredients:

Chicken- 2 LBS (whole chicken skinless cut into small pieces)
Large onion- 1
Ginger-garlic paste- 1 1/2 TBSP
Red Chilli powder- 1 TSP
Garam masala powder- 1 TBSP
Turmeric- a pinch
Salt- to taste
Oil- 2 TBSP
Cilantro- few strands for garnishing.

Slice the onion roughly and in a food processor make puree without adding water. To a large non-stick pan, add the pureed onion, ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder,garam masala powder, turmeric and salt. Mix them all together and add Chicken now to this onion mixture. Add 1 cup of water to this and put the pan on medium high heat. Cover the chicken and let it cook in medium high in the water stirring occasionally. When the water is almost evaporated, take off the lid and turn the heat to medium. Keep stirring more frequently now and let all the gravy dry up. At this point add the oil and continue frying the chicken 5 to 8 minutes until the chicken gets nice brown color. Take the pan off the heat and garnish the chicken with Cilantro.

This Chicken fry can be served with rice or chapathi. Also the spice level can be adjusted according to taste. In my next post, I am going to to tell you some Spicy Rasam which goes well with this Chicken fry. Post a comment after you try this Chicken fry and let me know how it turned out. Happy Cooking!