Coconut Chutney-Kobbari Pachchadi-Different taste

I have learned this variety of coconut chutney from my cousin. A very simple and tasty accompaniment for dosa and idli. We make it differently so it really tastes different. 
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 
Recipe Category: Side Dish
Recipe Cuisine: Andhra
Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

• Coconut (grated) - 1 tbsp
• Bengal Gram -  1/2 cup
• Green Chillies - 5 or 6 or according to the taste
• Tomato - 1 Large
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Black gram  - 1 tsp
• Red Chillies - 1 split
• Curry Leaves - 5 to 7
• Coriander Leaves - fistful
• Asafoetida - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a kadai. 
2. Add Bengal gram and fry till it turns light brown. Keep it aside.
3. Again heat oil in the same kadai and add tomato and green chillies. And fry them till the tomatoes soften.
4. Allow these to cool down.  
5. In a mixer grinder add grated coconut, salt, fried bengal gram, tomatoes and green chillies. 
6. Grind them to a coarse paste by adding water.
7. Heat oil in another pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black gram and red chillies.
8. When they crackle add curry leaves and coriander leaves to it. 
9. Add this seasoning to the chutney.
10. Serve this coconut chutney with Dosa, Idly or even with Pongal. 

Muvvankaya Pulusu -- Soup Curry with Brinjal

Muvvankaya pulusu is kind of recipe which can be consumed as both curry and pulusu. This is not the regular gutti vankaya kura but a different one. This takes very less time to prepare. Whenever making any recipe with whole brinjals, take two or three for each member. Today I took two each and we are six, so I took 12 brinjals.
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Recipe Category: Curry, Side Dish
Recipe Cuisine: Andhra
Serves: 6 people

Ingredients:

• Brinjals/Egg Plant/Baingan - 12 (small rounded)
• Onion - 4 Large
• Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Red Chillies - 8 to 10
• Tamarind Juice - 1 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Turmerice Powder - 1 tsp
• Oil - 3 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Slit the brinjals into 4 parts keeping the stem side intact and slitting them from back side.
2. Grind onion, coriander seeds and red chillies into a fine paste. Add salt and turmeric powder to this masala.
3. Stuff this masala into the above brinjals. 
4. Heat oil in a pan, add the stuffed brinjals, fry them for a while.Now add tamarind juice and left over onion masala to it. 
5. Allow this to boil till the brinjals cooked. Serve it with rice or roti.

Dabbakaya Pachadi/Pickle with Indian grapefruit

Indian grapefruit or Dabbakaya is a seasonal fruit. It comes generally in September and October months. It belongs to the citrus class. It looks like a lemon in a very big size. It has sour taste like any other citrus fruit. The skin will be in bright yellow colour and is very rough and thick. 

We normally make rice with this fruit and pickle. This pickle can be stored for one month. It can be consumed with hot rice.

Ingredients:

Dabbakayalu/Indian grapefruit - 2 
Salt - to taste
Red Chillie Powder - 4 tbsp or according to our taste
Jaggery - 2 tbsp
Fenugreek Powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 3 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Black Gram - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Procedure:

Cut dabbakayalu to make them small pieces. Do not remove the skin. 

Add salt, turmeric powder and a little water and pressure cook for two to three whistles. 
Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Add mustard seeds, black gram and asafoetida. Once they start crackling add fenugreek powder, red chilli powder, jaggery. Add the above cooked dabbakaya mukkalu to it. Allow this to boil for three to four minutes. Or till the consistency of the pickle becomes thick. That's all tasty, spicy and tangy dabbakaya pachchadi ready to serve. Allow this to cool and keep it in a air tight jar. Serve it with hot rice and desi ghee.  

Atukula Upma -- Poha -- Upma with Flattened Rice

Poha or Flattened rice or Atukula upma is very easy and tummy full breakfast. One of my most favourite breakfast, but I make it very rarely as my hubby prefer to eat dosa or idli for breakfast, instead of eat any rice substitute.
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Recipe Category: Breakfast
Recipe Cuisine: Maharashtra
Serves: 5 people

Ingredients:

• Poha/Atukulu - 2 cups
• Onions -1 Large
• Aloo/Potato - 1 Medium
• Green Chillies - 3 
• Ginger -3" Long
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
• Curry Leaves - 5 to 7
• Coriander Leaves -  fist full
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
• Black Gram - 2 tsp
• Bengal Gram - 2 tsp
• Red Chillies - 2 
• Lemon Juice - of 2 or 3 large lemons

Procedure:

1. Chop onions and potato.
2. Chop green chillies and ginger. Squeeze the juice of 2 or 3 lemons. 
   
3. Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black gram, bengal gram. 
4. When they start crackling add green chillies and ginger. Add chopped onions and potato. Saute it for a while. 
   
5. Add salt and Turmeric powder. Fry them till the onions and potatoes turn soft and cook.
6. Meanwhile soak atukulu/poha in water for 5 minutes. Drain and squeeze excess water. Add this to the above onion tadka. Mix well.
   
7. Switch off the flame and add lemon juice.
8. Serve hot atukula upma or poha with curd or any chutney. 
   

Pappu Chekkalu

This is a good tea time snack. We need rice flour to make this recipe. We can follow two methods to make this recipe. The simple one is use store bought rice flour or can use flour which is done in the flour mill. The other one may be tough and take a little more time but tastes good. 

Now I am presenting the second type of process of making chekkalu, but the first one is also the same way.

Ingredients:

Rice/Rice Flour - 1 cup

Bengal Gram - 1tbsp

Salt - to taste

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - fistful

Oil - for deep frying 

Procedure:

For Rice Flour:

Soak the rice for 8 hours. Drain the water and dry rice in the room temperature.

Grind it to a fine powder. If grinding at home, sieve and grind it repeatedly to get the finest possible powder.

If giving it in the flour mill no need to sieve, but dry the flour for a while.

Process to make Chekkalu:

Soak Bengal gram for about half an hour. Drain the water and add this to the rice flour. Add salt, red chilli powder and chopped curry leaves. Mix well.

Use deep frying pan to make chekkalu. 

Heat oil and pour one ladle full of oil in flour. Mix it well.

Add enough water to make dough. 

For pressing them we can use milk packet or plastic sheet or even oil packet will do. Empty the contents in the packet. Cut it in the center and open it. Use this for making chekkalu. It is better if we get banana leaf. 

Apply a little bit oil on it and put one small gooseberry sized dough and press it with the help of fingers. Make them into a small 2" thin discs. Make them as thin as possible.

Heat oil in a deep frying pan till smoking point. Reduce the flame to medium level. 

Drop three or four discs into the oil at once and fry them slowly. 

Be careful while frying them, fry them only in the medium flame otherwise they will burn. 

When they turn into golden brown colour. Take them out from the oil using slotted ladle. Drop them on the oil absorbent paper and allow them to cool. 

Once cooled store them in the air tight container. 

Pongal --Kattu Pongal -- How to make Pongal

Pongal or kattu pongal is a special South Indian kichidi. This is prepared in marriages for breakfast. If is very delicious and my most favourite dish. Serve this with little spicy coconut chutney and ginger chutney. Preparing this dish is very easy but also a little difficult to get proper consistency. Once we get proper consistency, making of  it will become a minute job.
Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 15 - 20 mins
Recipe Category: Breakfast
Recipe Cuisine: Andhra
Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 cup
• Moong dal - 1/4 cup
• Water - 4 cups or can add more accordingly 
• Salt - to taste
• Black Pepper Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
• Green Chillies - 1 
• Ginger - 1" 
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry Leaves - 4 or 5
• Ghee - 4 tbsp
• Oil - 4 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Chop green chillies and ginger. 
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp ghee in a pressure pan.
3. Add moong dal and rice to it and fry for 2 minutes.
4. Add black pepper seeds, green chillies and ginger. Fry it for half-a-minute. 
5. Add cumin seeds and pour water. Add salt to it. 
6. Cover it and pressure cook for 4 whistles. Allow it to cool. 
7. Once the pressure releases open it and mix rice and dal very well. 
8. Again put it on the stove.
9. Allow it to boil, add remaining ghee and temper with curry leaves.
10. Serve hot piping pongal with coconut chutney. 

Vellulli Charu -- Garlic Rasam - another variety

This is the best season for hot and spicy rasam, as the weather outside is very chill. This is another variety of garlic rasam. The recipe is suggested by my MIL.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Recipe Category: Rasam

Recipe Cuisine: Andhra

Serves: 5 people

Ingredients:

For Rasam Powder:

• Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp
• Black Pepper Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Red Chillies - 2
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Bengal Gram - 1 tsp

Procedure:

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. 
2. Fry all the above ingredients till they turn light brown colour. 
3. Grind them to make a fine powder.

For Rasam:

• Tamarind Pulp - 1 cup
• Salt  - to taste
• Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
• Garlic Cloves - 10
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Red Chillies - 1
• Curry Leaves - 5 or 8
• Coriander Leaves - fistful

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and red chillies. 
2. When they start crackle add tamarind pulp. 
3. Add garlic cloves, fry them for a while. 
4. Add salt, turmeric powder. 
5. Allow this to boil for three minutes. 
6. Add the above made powder. 
7. Add curry leaves, coriander leaves and allow it to boil for five minutes more. 
8. Hot and spicy garlic rasam is ready. 
9. Serve hot garlic rasam with rice.

Mooli Parata/Parata with Radish

One of the best way to use radish is making paratas. 

Ingredients:

For Stuffing:

Mooli/Radish - 2 

Salt - to taste

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tbsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Procedure For Curry:

Grate mooli/radish. Add little salt to it and keep it aside. After half-an-hour squeeze the water and drain it. 
Heat oil in a pan add radish, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder. 
Cook till it is done. It should become like dry curry. Switch off the stove. Let it cool. Make 5 equal portions of it and keep it aside.

For Paratas:

Wheat Flour - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

Water - as per requirement

Procedure for Paratas:

Add salt to the whole wheat flour. Add water and make dough. 
Knead it for 10 minutes. Allow it to rest for at least for 20 minutes. 

Procedure of Making Paratas:

Make the dough into four equal portions. 
Take one ball of dough into the hands and shape it into a small bowl. 

Stuff mooli curry into it and cover with the dough. Roll the parata using rolling pin. 
Do not use pressure to roll it. Roll it lightly.
Heat tawa. Cook on the tawa both sides until golden brown spots appear.
Apply oil. Serve it with  tomato pickle or curd.

Aloo Spring Onion Curry

This is a variety curry made by my elder brother. We do not know how to use spring onion before that except making chutney. This curry is a good accompaniment for rotis. Making this curry is very easy.

Ingredients:

Aloo - 2 Large
Spring Onion -  1/4 kg
Tomato - 2 Large
Salt - to taste
Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 2 Small

Procedure:

Pressure cook aloo. Cut them into cubes.
Cut spring onions and tomatoes. 
Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and red chillies. When they crackle add spring onions and tomatoes. Fry them till they become soft. Add salt, garam masala powder and red chilli powder. Add little water. Once the tomatoes and spring onions becomes soft and cooked add potatoes to it. Mix well. We can mash the potatoes instead of keeping them in cube shaped. I normally mash them add them to the curry.