Radish Chutney (Mulangi pachadi [or] Mulangi thogayal [or] Mooli chutney)

Approx cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

For seasoning:

1. Oil: 2 tbsp
2. Mustard seeds: 1 tbsp
3. Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
4. Hing : a pinch
5. Red chilies: 1
6. Curry leaves: 1 stem

For chutney:

1. Radish – 2 cups
2. Roasted ground nuts - 3/4^th cup
3. Green chillies – 6 to 7
4. Tamarind – As per the taste
5. Salt – As per the taste
6. Oil – 3 tbsp

Method:

• Wash and peel the skin of radish and cut into small pieces.
• Add oil in the pan.
• When the oil heats, add green chillies, ground nuts and roast it for 10 mins
• Then add the tamarind and roast for 2 to 3 mins.
• Now keep this separately in a plate.
• In the same pan add some more oil and roast the radish for 5 mins until it loses the raw smell.
• Switch off the pan, and let the ingredients cool
• Blend it into a smooth paste, if required add water to the paste.
• Take a small pan add oil, mustard, cumin, hing, curry leaves and red chillies.
• Add this to the chutney and mix well.

The spicy chutney is ready. serve and enjoyy!!!

Capsicum masala rice

Approximate Preparation time: 30 minutes

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

For Seasoning:

1. Oil : 2 tbsp
2. Mustard seeds: 1 tbsp
3. Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
4. Urad dal: 2 tbsp
5. Broken Cashew: 3 tbsp
6. Curry leaves: 2 stems

For making masala:

1. Ground nuts:  ½ cup
2. Urad dal: ¼ cup
3. Cinnamon – 2 small sticks
4. Cloves – 3
5. Red chillies – As per the spiciness
6. Curry leaves – 3 to 4 stems
7. Till – 3 tbsp(Optional)

For masala Rice:

1. Capsicum – 1 big
2. Basmati Rice – 1 cup
3. Salt – As per the taste
4. Coriander leaves – For garnishing.

 Method:

• Dry roast all the above mentioned ingredients, and allow it to cool down for sometime
• Meanwhile wash and cook the rice separately (For 1 glass add 2 glasses of water)
• Now blend the roasted ingredients to powder.
• Chop the capsicum into small pieces.
• Take a pan, add oil, once the oil heats, and add mustard seeds and cumin.
• Once mustard and cumin splutters add urad dal, cashews, and curry leaves
• Then add the capsicum and let it fry until it loses the raw smell.
• Now add the masala powder and cook for 2 minutes.
• Switch off the flame, add the cooked rice, salt, and mix it evenly.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

Tip: 

You can even add one small potato, just peel the skin, roast in the oil so that it will cook and then add the chopped capsicum, this will really add some more taste.

Sweet Kozhakatai or Kudumulu or Modhak:

Preparation time: 45 - 60 minutes

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

For Outer cover:

Rice flour -1 cup

Water - 1-1/4 cups

Salt – for taste

Vegetable oil or Ghee - 1-2 tsp (Ghee is preferred).

For the Jaggery Coconut filling

Fresh coconut, grated - 1 cup

Jaggery, - 3/4 cup powdered

Cardamom powder - Pinch (or as per taste)

Method

• Mash the jaggey into small pieces.
• Add jaggery and coconut together in a skillet.
• In low heat, saute until the jaggery melts and the mixture thickens.
• Add the cardamom to the mix and toss well.

Tip: 

If it does not thicken well, add a little rice flour along with little drops of ghee and cook further for few seconds until it thickens.

• While still warm, take a small piece of this filling (it will be sticky, you can grease your palms with ghee) and make a small ball.
• Repeat for all the filling
• Alternatively lets prepare the cover. There are two ways to go about this.

Method 1:

Traditionally raw rice is soaked for few hours; the water is drained very well and then ground into flour. This flour is used to make this recipe. For those short on time and looking for easier/quicker version, next method is for you.

Method 2:

I most often end up using this method since I find myself short on time to go about grinding the rice flour at home.

The quality of rice flour will vary and hence the amount of water used (instead of 1-1/4 cups) will vary. It might need more or less.

• Bring the recommended amount of water to boil along with salt.
• Take rice flour in other dry container and this boiled water.
• Grease your hands with Ghee and start kneading the dough.
• The idea is to make it into a smooth consistency like that of chapathi dough.
• The difference is that while chapathi dough will stretch, rice flour lacks the gluten and will not stretch
• Grease your palms well and break off a small piece from the dough. You should be able to rotate the dough into an extremely smooth ball
• Using your thumb and other fingers, make a small crater in the ball you made like an inverted cone.
• You should be using both your hands for this one
• Slowly rotate and go around making this crater until it looks little bigger, need to make sufficiently big enough to stuff the filling you made earlier.
• Place the filling into this crater.
• Slowly bring the ends together over the top of the filling
• Repeat with rest of the dough.
• Now steam them for about 10-15 minutes.

  

Tips 

1. If you find that this is too dry and not sticky, then add the additional boiled water you set aside, drop by drop, until it comes together.

      2. If you find this too sticky and not pliable, you can use additional few sprinkling of rice flour/maida (all purpose flour) until it does. Make sure too much flour is NOT added. The taste might get affected. That's why it’s preferable to go with less water and then added if needed than vice versa.

Coconut Sambar with dal (Also called Arachu vitta sambar)

Ingredients:

For sambar:

1. Dal – 1 cup
2. Coconut – 1/2 cup
3. Tamarind – As per the taste
4. Turmeric – a pinch
5. Salt – As per the taste
6. Coriander leaves – cut it into small pieces.
7. Any vegetable you prefer or a combination of vegetables too..
8. Preferred is drum stick.

For grinding:

1. Chana dal – 2 tbsp
2. Urad dal – 1 tbsp
3. Coriander seeds – 2 tbsp
4. Red chillies – 6 (Depending on the spiciness)
5. Methi seeds – 1/4^th tbsp.
6. Curry leaves – 1 tbsp
7. For seasoning:
8. Oil – 2 tbsp
9. Mustard seeds – 1 tbsp
10. Jeera – 1 tbsp
11. Hing – a pinch
12. Curry leaves – 2 stems

Method:

• Wash the dal, vegetables and pressure cooker.
• Grate the coconut and keep aside
• Soak the tamarind in the water (preferably hot water).
• Meanwhile dry roast all the ingredients mentioned, switch off the flame.
• To this roasted ingredients add the coconut for a minute and keep aside, let it cool.
• Squeeze the water from the tamarind.
• Take a pan, add the tamarind water, salt, turmeric and allow this to cook.
• Now grind all the ingredients to a powder and add this to the boiling tamarind water.
• Add water if required, add the cooked vegetables, and let it cook for some time.
• Now add the mashed dal.
• Let it cook until all the ingredients will boil and leave the raw smell.
• Add coriander leaves and switch off the flame.

The mouthwatering coconut sambar is ready. Serve hot with rice.

Jeelakarra Miriyalu(pepper & jeera)Rasam Recipe

Jeelakarra Miriyalu(pepper & jeera)Rasam Recipe

Ingredients for preparing Jeelakarra Miriyalu(pepper & jeera)Rasam

• Tamarind  – 1 lemon sized ball
• Garlic – 2 to 3 cloves
• Salt to taste
• Peppercorns – 1 tsp
• Cumin Seeds – 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves – 2 stalk
• Mustard  Seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Dry Red Chillies – 2 no
• Oil or Ghee – 1 tsp
• Coriander Leaves (chopped) – 1 tsp

 

Steps for preparing Milagu Jeeraga Rasam

1. Soak the tamarind in warm water for 10 minutes. Crash with your fingertips, extract the Tamarind juice and discard the pulp.
2. Grind garlic, jeera and Peppercorns in mixer grinder or crash it well.
3. Heat Oil or Ghee in a small pan and splutter the Mustard Seeds and add 1/2 tsp of Cumin Seeds.
4. Add the curry leaves and stir for a couple of seconds and add the mixed garlic, jeera and peppercorns paste in that.
5. Now add extracted tamarind juice in to pan , salt and a cup of water.
6. Boil the Pepper Cumin Seed Rasam for a few more minutes on a low fire and remove before it boils.
7. Remove the Jeelakarra Miriyalu Rasam from fire and garnish it with Coriander Leaves.
8. Jeelakarra Miriyalu Rasam is now ready to serve with rice or you can even have it as a drink.

Ragi Sankati

Ragi Sankati 

Ragi Sankati is a traditional dish that has been made and enjoyed by generations of people.

My mom introduced this healthy dish to me and I promise I really enjoyed eating it. Anyways I wouldn't boast of its taste when eaten as it is. It becomes delicious only when brilliant combinations of side dishes are made for it.

Kaaram (spice powder) is a simple side dish made for this dish and I bet you would love the combi. The fiery spice makes my tongue drool :)

Chepala pulusu / Natu kodi pulusu combination is the second best :) Ghee muddha with natu kodi pulusu / chepala pulusuwas terrific.

The other good combinations are typical sambhar and salted butter milk. They go really good as well.

Ragi is a natural body coolant hence this dish is so perfect for this scorching summer. Do you need any better reason than this to try it out right away!!!

 

Preparation Time and Soaking Time: 15 mins
Cuisine: Andhra Cuisine
Utensils needed: Pressure Cooker

Ragi Sankati - Making in Pressure Cooker Step by Step Recipe

Ingredients needed

Ragi flour - 1 cup
Rice - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Water - 3 cups (app)

Method to prepare:

1. Wash and soak rice for 15 mins.

2. In a pressure cooker, take 1/2 cup of rice and add 2 cups of water along with salt to taste. Pressure cook for 3 whistles.

3. Once the pressure is off, check if rice looks soft. The rice should almost look mashed.

4. Check if the rice still has water, else add 1/2 cup water. Add the Ragi flour. cover with lid and allow it to simmer for 5 mins.

5. Using a rolling pin, stir well briskly. The ragi flour will be cooked well. The brisk movement will get the flour mixed well.

6. This takes about five minutes.

 7. Ragi flour is added slowly so that no lumps are formed.

8. End of the stirring this is what you should get. The consistency should be really soft but not gooey.

 

   9. Next comes the tough job.Making mudda.Take a big bowl that is wide enough to rotate. Wet the entire inner side of the vessel with water, throw away excess water. Transfer the hot ragi rice into the bowl, quickly move the vessel in a circular way so that the ragi rice naturally binds to form a ball.

10. When you are going to make the second ball, again wet the bowl with water. Repeat the process.

With 1/2 cup Rice and 1 cup Ragi flour, I got a medium sized ball of the size shown above. The balls tastes good when more ragi flour is added to less Rice.

Since I pressure cooked the rice to soft consistency I had no need to remove the excess water as it is done in the normal way. After adding the ragi flour, I added about app 1 cup of water. You may have to reduce or increase this amount as it depends on the rice used and the ragi flour.

Note:

Pinch small portions from the sides of the ball and dip it in ghee first and then in the side dishes and eat them :) yummmmmmy

Spice powder / Kaaram

Ingredients:

Garlic - 3 pods
Chilly powder - 4 tsp
Salt - 2 tsp

Method:

Grind garlic, chilly powder and salt together until fine powder. Serve it with ragi sankati. This goes well with idly and dosa as well.