Potato Curry -- Aloo Curry with Curry Powder -- Potato Curry with Curry Powder for Rice

Normally potato or aloo curry is used as side dish for chapathy, phulka, poori or dosa. Of course we make different curries for each dish. Side dish for rice with aloo is preferably stir fry only, but this we make very rarely. It is also very simple and tasty dish, trust me, every one will love it. 
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Recipe Category: Curry
Recipe Cuisine: Andhra
Serves: 5 people

Ingredients:

• Potatoes/Aloo - 5 Medium
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Black Gram - 1 tsp
• Bengal Gram - 1 tsp
• Red Chillies - 2
• Curry Leaves - 5 to 7
• Salt - to taste
• Curry Powder - 1 or 2 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Peel the skin of potatoes and cut them into cube size. 
2. Pressure cook them for three whistles with added salt and turmeric powder.
3. Once cooled remove them from cooker and drain excess water. Allow them to dry for a while.
4. Prepare curry powder. Click here for curry powder recipe. 
5. Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black gram and bengal gram. Once they start spluttering add red chillies and curry leaves.
6. Add cooked potatoes to it. Saute it till thin crisp layer forms on potatoes.
7. Now add curry powder and mix well. 
8. Serve potato curry with rice.
   

Vegetable Seekh Kabab -- How to make Vegetable Seekh Kabab

It is my first out of the box recipe. I normally make only traditional recipes, but today I tried my hand in it and the end result is success. 
Vegetable kababs are most popular and spicy snack item. It is a good starter, kids also love it very much. Serve it with tomato sauce or green chutney. Of course it needs some patience to make them. 
Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Recipe Category: Starter
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 6 people

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 3 Medium
• Carrot - 3 Medium
• Cabbage - 1/2 cup
• Onions - 1 Medium
• Peas - 1/2 cup
• Capsicum - 1 Medium
• Green Chillies - 2
• Salt - to taste
• Garam Masala - 1 tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
• Shahi Jeera Powder - 1 tsp
• Bengal Gram Flour/Besan - 3 tbsp
• Oil - for shallow frying

Procedure:

1. Boil, peel and mash potatoes.
2. Chop all the vegetables carrots, onions, green chillies, capsicum and cabbage.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan, add all the vegetables except potatoes. 
4. Fry them for 3 minutes or till they become soft. Keep them aside.
5. In the same pan fry besan and shahi jeera powder. 
6. Add all the vegetables to the besan and fry it for 2 minutes.
7. Take it off from the stove and add mashed potatoes, ginger garlic paste, garam masala and salt.
8. Mix it well, so that entire vegetables, besan and potatoes mix well and all the spices also.
9. Make small kababs. Heat little oil in a pan, shallow fry three or four kababs at once. 
10. Fry them in the low or medium flame. We can deep fry them also, but I shallow fried them. 
11. Serve vegetable seekh kababs with tomato sauce or green chutney.
    

Carrot Curry -- How to make Carrot Curry with Green Gram

Carrot is considered to be lowest calorie food and it is rich source of Vitamin A.  It is taken in raw form, and we use it in sambar, dosa. we make fry with it for toddlers. Very rarely I make this curry, whenever I make it,  an indication to the family members that vegetables are over in the house and we have to go to market. :P
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Recipe Category: Curry
Recipe Cuisine: Andhra
Serves: 6 people

Ingredients:

• Carrots - 3 Big
• Split Green Gram - 2 tbsp
• Green Chillies - 3 to 5
• Onion - 1 Medium
• Salt - to taste
• turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1 tsp
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Black Gram - 1 tsp
• Bengal Gram - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 3 to 5 (optional)

Procedure:

1. Peel the skin of carrots and grate them. 
2. Chop onions. 
3. Soak split green gram for an hour.
4. Slit green chillies. 
5. Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black gram and bengal gram. 
6. Once they start spluttering add onion and garlic, saute for a while. 
7. Add soaked green gram and grated carrot. Sprinkle a little water and cover it.
8. Cook till the gram softens, should not over cook.
9. Add salt, turmeric powder. Stir well.
10. Allow it to cook for two more minutes. Remove from heat and serve it. 
11. Serve carrot curry with rice. Best accompaniment for this curry is curd chillies/Majjiga mirapakayalu. 
    

Ash Gourd Fritters -- Budidagummadikaya Vadiyalu -- How to make Ash Gourd Fritters

Vadiyalu or any sun dry items are very popular in Telugu people's menu. Of all of them ash gourd vadiyalu are very famous. It goes well with dal, rasam and sambar. We should not think about calories while making them as we have to deep fry them in oil.  It needs a little strength and patience to make them.

For making them we need to start some preparation a day before. Cutting of ash gourd, tying them in a cloth and putting some heavy weight on it...so excess water from the gourd will drain out. This process should be done a day before only.

We do not cook anything here, only once they are dried completely we can deep fry them.

Recipe Cuisine: Andhra

Recipe Category: Snack

Ingredients:

• Ash Gourd - 1/2 kg 
• Black Gram - 1/4 kg 
• Salt - to taste
• Green Chillies - 10 or to our taste
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Procedure:

1. Along with the skin cut ash gourd into small pieces. Some crush them in traditional mortar and pestle and some grate them, but we in my house cut them into small pieces only. That is our choice.
2. Take a thin and huge cloth put these pieces in it and tie them tightly, so that excess water in the gourd drains out. This process we do it a day or 10 hours before making vadiyalu. 
3. Soak black gram for 8 hours. Grind it to a fine paste. Add only required amount of water to move the grinder smooth. 
4. Be careful while adding water, the batter should be as thick or even more as that of vada batter. 
5. Grind green chillies, salt and cumin seeds into a smooth paste. 
6. Mix the gourd pieces, black gram batter and green chillies paste together.
7. Mix them well with hands. Do this process just before placing vadiyalu.
8. Spread a plastic sheet under the Sun, Place very little amount of batter to make vadiyalu with help of a spoon or with hand. 
9. Allow them dry completely for two days. After first day drying flip them to dry faster and complete.
   

For Frying:

1. Heat oil in a kadai, drop each vadiyam in oil. Fry them till turn brown colour.
2. Serve fried gummdikaya vadiyalu with dal, rasam and sambar.
   

Sev -- Karapusa -- Omapodi -- How to make Sev

Sev or Karapusa or Omapodi is a very simple and easy to make snack item.  It is formed as integral part of North Indian street foods. But it is made more thinner. It is normally made with chickpeas (besan) flour. 
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Recipe Category: Snacks
Recipe Cuisine: India
Serves: 6 people

Ingredients:

• Besan/Chickpeas Flour - 250 grms or 1 cup
• Rice Flour - 1/4 cup
• Ajwain Powder - 1 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp (optional)
• Oil - For frying

Procedure:

1. Grind ajwain to fine powder. Sieve chickpeas flour and rice flour along with ajwain powder.
2. Add salt and red chilli powder.
3. Heat oil in a kadai, Add 2 tbsp of heated oil to the above flour mix.
4. Add required amount of water to it and make a soft dough. 
5. In the muruku maker, fix small hole plate. Grease it with little oil. 
6. Take small portion of sev or karapusa dough, fill it in the muruku maker.
7. Heat oil in a kadai till the fumes up. Reduce the flame and press karapusa into the hot oil.
8. It takes very less time to cook, so be careful while cooking it. Do not leave it for longer time.
9. Cook them till they turn into golden brown color or till the sev floats on oil.
10. Use perforated ladle to take it from the oil. Put it on absorbent paper. 
11. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough. Once cooled store it in an air tight container.