Mushroom Mattar

Ingredients

Mushroom - 200grams 

Frozen peas - 1/4cup

Onion - 1

Green chilly -1 

Ginger garlic paste - 11/2 teaspoon

Tomato - 2 

Chilly powder - 11/2teaspoon

Coriander powder - 11/2teaspoon 

Turmeric powder -1/4teaspoon

Kasoori methi - 1teaspoon 

Cashew - 6

Salt

Oil 

Sugar (optional) - 1/2teaspoon 

Method

Clean and slice the mushrooms.

Finely chop the onion & Tomato.

Crush the ginger & garlic and keep it ready. 

Cook the peas with little salt in a microwave oven for couple of minutes, drain the water and keep it aside.

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a heavy bottom kadai. Add the mushrooms and sauté..after a few minutes sprinkle some salt and keep sautéing. Once they are 3/4th cooked, take them and keep it aside.

In the same kadai, add another tablespoon of oil and add the onions and green chilly. Add the crushed ginger & garlic after some time and cook until everything turns almost brown. 

Then add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes turn soft and mushy.

Now add the chilly, coriander and turmeric powders. 

Keep cooking on medium flame, until the oil oozes out.

Meanwhile grind the cashews with little water to a fine paste and add it to the gravy. 

Add 2-3 tablespoons of water and continue cooking.

The masala will thicken and will become dry oozing out oil.
Now add about a cup to one and half cup of water and let the gravy boil nicely.

Add the cooked mushrooms and peas. 

Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes, then add the crushed kasoori methi. 

Switch off the flame, spicy and creamy mushroom mattar is ready to serve. 

Goes well with roti and plain rice or with pulao's. 

Recipe Source : Here ( I tweaked the recipe here and there according to my convenience! :))  

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Lauki ki Sabzi/ Bottlegourd Curry / Suraikkai Curry

Ingredients

Suraikkai/Lauki/Bottlegourd -1 (small, approximately 11/2cups, chopped)

Onion (chopped) - 3 tablespoons

Green chilly-1

Tomato - 1

Turmeric powder -1/8 teaspoon

Chilly powder - 11/2 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon 

Hing/Asafoetida - a generous pinch

Lemon juice - from half of a lemon

Cilantro - to garnish 

Method

Wash and cube the suraikkai/lauki into big chunks.

Heat oil in a small pressure cooker, add the onions. Sauté until it becomes pink, then add the cumin seeds and hing. Let them splutter.

Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and coriander powder, fry without burning them.

Add the chopped tomato and keep cooking until it becomes soft.

Now add the veggie, give it a quick stir..

Add required salt and half teaspoon of sugar (optional)..

Add about 1/2 cup of water, close the cooker and cook for a whistle.

Let the pressure settle down, open the cooker add chopped cilantro.

Squeeze the lemon juice and serve warm with roti or rice.

It goes well with idli & dosai too!

Recipe Source : HERE

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Kerala Kadalai Curry / Black Channa Gravy with Coconut

Ingredients

Black Channa / Karuppu Kondai kadalai- 1/2cup

Onion-1

Tomato (big)-1

Green chilly-2

Few curry leaves

Chilly powder-2teaspoons (adjust to taste)

Coriander powder-1teaspoon

Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon

Salt

Coconut oil  -1 tablespoon

To dry roast and grind

Coriander seeds-1teaspoon

Fennel seeds-1/2teaspoon

Cinnamon Stick-1

Cloves -2

To Grind

Fresh coconut-4tablespoons

Method

Chop the onion, green chilly and tomato.

Wash and soak the channa for 8 hours or overnight. Pressure cook it with enough salt and keep it ready.

Grind coconut with little water to a fine paste. 

Dry roast the things until nice aroma comes, let it cool and powder it.

Heat coconut oil, add the mustard seeds and let them pop-up. Then add the chopped onion, green chilly, curry leaves.  

Saute the onion until it turns pink, then add tomato pieces, keep cooking on medium heat. Once the tomatoes become mushy and oil oozes out, add chilly powder, coriander powder and the freshly made roasted powder.

Saute it for 2-3 minutes, then add the coconut paste.

Stir the contents until it becomes almost dry , then add the cooked channa.

Keep sautéing well, the masala will be coated on the channa and it will become almost dry.

At this stage add about 11/2 cups of water, adjust the salt.

Let it simmer for 7-8 minutes or until the desired consistency of your choice. Finally add half a teaspoon of sugar (optional), add chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Delicious Kerala style kadalai curry tastes good with idiyappam, idli, dosa, appam or puttu. It pairs well with chapati/roti and paratha varieties too!! You can have it with white rice as well.

Note
The addition of freshly roasted spice powder, adding coconut oil, sautéing the gravy well before adding water are the keys to the gravy. It enhances the taste!

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Raw Plantain Masala/Vazhaikkai Masala Curry

Ingredients

Raw banana/ Plantain-2

Onion(chopped)-3tablespoon

Tomato-1

Green chilly-1

Few curry leaves

Bay leaf-1

Cinnamon stick- 2" 

Clove-1

Chilly powder-1teaspoon

Garam masala/Curry masala powder-1teaspoon

Turmeric powder-1/4teaspoon

Salt

Oil

To Grind

Coconut gratings- 3tablespoons

Fennel seeds-1/2teaspoon

Clove-1

Elaichi-1

Method

Peel and chop the banana into big chunks. Boil it in water with enough salt until its soft but not mushy. 

 Drain the excess water, keep it aside.
Grind the items to a thick paste with little water and keep it ready.

Heat oil in a wide pan, make the tempering with bay leaf, clove and cinnamon stick. Then add the chopped onion, tomato and green chilly. Fry until the tomatoes get cooked.

 Now add the masala powders, little salt (remember, we have added salt with the banana/plantain too). Give it a quick stir and add the cooked plantain pieces.

 Mix everything well, sprinkle little water and cook for a minute or two. Add the ground coconut paste.

 Keep sautéing on low flame. Cook until the raw smell of the coconut goes off and the masala coats on the veggie and the curry becomes almost dry.

Spicy and aromatic raw banana/plantain/vazhaikkai curry is ready to serve.

 Enjoy as a side dish with hot steaming rice -sambar-rasam and curd rice.
Recipe Surce : HERE

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Brinjal Gravy/Katharikkai Chops

Ingredients

Small brinjals-8

Chopped onion-1/4cup

Chopped tomato-1/4cup

Green chilly-1

Cilantro- to garnish

Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon

Turmeric powder-1/4teaspoon

Chilly powder-11/2teaspoon

Sugar-1/4teaspoon

Salt

Oil 

To grind

Coconut -3tablespoons

Coriander seeds-1tablespoon

Method

Chop the onions, tomatoes into small pieces. 

Grind the coconut and coriander seeds with very little water to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let them pop. Then add the onions and sauté.
Add the tomatoes after the onions become transparent and cook until the tomatoes become mushy.
Now add the turmeric and chilly powder, give it a nice stir.

Wash, pat-dry and remove the stem of the brinjals and make a deep "+" mark in each of them. Stuff the coconut paste in each brinjal..

Then add them to the onion-tomato masala..

Saute the brinjals for 2-3 minutes, then add the remaining coconut paste..

Add enough water and salt and let it boil nicely.

Once the brinjals are soft and the gravy reaches your desired consistency, switch off the stove, add the sugar and cilantro.

Simple and delicious brinjal chops is ready to serve. It goes well with roti as well as rice.

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Bindi do pyaaza/Okra Curry

Ingredients

Bindi/Okra/Ladies finger/Vendaikkai - 8 

Onion-1

Tomato-1

Fennel seeds-1/4teaspoon

Cumin seeds-1/4teaspoon

Turmeric powder-1/8teaspoon

Chilly powder-1easpoon

Coriander powder-1teaspoon

Kasoori methi-1/2teaspoon

Garam masala-1/4teaspoon

Cilantro- to garnish

Oil

Salt 

Method

Trim the edges of the okra and cut them into desired shape. 

Coarsely grind half of the onion. 

Grind 3/4th of the tomato and keep it ready.

Roughly chop the remaining onion and tomato into big chunks. 

Now heat little oil in a kadai, fry the onion chunks. Once they change the color, take them out and keep it aside. 

In the same kadai, add the okra and fry till the slimness has gone and the veggie turns slightly brown.

Heat oil in a pan and add fennel and cumin seeds. Let them crackle. Then add the ground onion paste and cook till the raw smell has gone. 

Add the ground tomato paste, chilly powder,coriander powder, kasoori methi and salt. 

Cook on medium heat till the gravy becomes dry and the oil oozes out from  it.

Add about a cup of water and bring it to nice boil. Then add in the pre-fried okra pieces along with the chopped tomato.
Let it cook for 4-5 minutes on low heat.
Finally add the cilantro and garam masala to the gravy and switch off the flame.
Delicious and yummy bindi do pyaaza is ready. It goes well with roti and rice.

We are adding twice the amount of onion than the usual measure, thus the name "do pyaaza"[do=2, pyaaz-onion, translated from Hindi! :)]. You can make this curry with other veggies like mushroom, cauliflower, paneer etc.

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Black eyed peas-Potato curry

Ingredients
Black eyed peas - 1/4cup
Potato-1
Bay leaf-1
Onion-1
Tomato-1
Green chilly-1
Turmeric powder-1/4teaspoon
Chilly powder-11/2teaspoon
Coriander powder-1teaspon
Garam masala powder-1/2teaspoon
Cilantro- to garnish
Sugar-1/4teaspoon
Half & Half milk/ cream - 2 tablespoons
Salt
Oil

Method
Wash and soak the black eyed peas for 2 hours. Pressure cook the beans along with potato and bay leaf. Open the cooker, discard the bay leaf. Peel and cut the potato into big chunks and keep them aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped onion-green chilly and fry till the onions become transparent. Then add the tomato and cook till it becomes mushy. Add in the chilly powder-turmeric powder-coriander powder, and sauté for a minute.

Now add the cooked beans and chopped potato chunks with enough salt, and the water used to cook the black eyed peas ( about a cup). Let it boil nicely, then add the sugar, half & half milk, reduce the heat to low. After a couple of minutes, add the garam masala powder, chopped cilantro and put off the flame.

Creamy and delicious black eyed peas -potato curry/ Lobia-potato curry is ready to serve. It goes well with roti. 

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Quick n Easy Brinjal Gravy

I never cook vegetables (other than potato and raw banana) in pressure cooker. But have seen many of my friends use pressure cooker to make vegetable curries. Just tried it with brinjals, the gravy turned out to be delicious and definitely its a keeper. Whenever you are running out of time or not feeling like cooking an elaborate curry, you can try this!


Ingredients
Brinjals - 6
Onion-1
Few curry leaves and Cilantro
Toamto-2
Sugar - 1/2teaspoon
Salt
Oil
To grind
Grated Coconut-3tablespoons
Red chilly-7 (adjust to your taste)
Roasted peanuts - 2 teaspoons
Sesame seeds - 1teaspoon
Small piece of Tamarind

Method
Grind the things given under "to grind" to a nice paste with little water.
Chop the onions and tomatoes into fine pieces.
Wash and cut the brinjals ( Make slits on the veggie, take care not to split them)
Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a small pressure cooker.
Add the onions, curry leaves and saute till they become transparent, then add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
Now add the brinjals, give a quick stir, add the masala paste with enough salt.
Add 1/2cup of water, sugar and close the pressure cooker. Let it cook just for one whistle.

 

Open the cooker, garnish with cilantro and gravy is ready to indulge! It goes well with plain rice/biriyani/pulao/roti...what not?! ;)

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Mushroom Matar

Mushroom Matar with pav bhaji masala & half n half..weird?? Nope...its yummy-o-yummy!  

Ingredients

Button mushroom-6

Frozen peas -1/2cup

Half n half milk-3 tablespoons

Onion-1

Green chilly-1

Tomatoes-2

Pav bhaji massla-2 teaspoons

Turmeric powder-1/8teaspoon

Fennel seeds-1/2 teaspoon

Salt

Oil

Method

Clean and cut the mushrooms.

Chop the onion,green chilly and tomato.

Heat oil,add the fennel seeds. Let them splutter, add the onion-g.chilly and fry for a few minues.(till the onions are transparent)

Now add the tomatoes and cook till they are soft n mushy.

Add the pav bhaji masala,turmeric powder,salt with 1/2 cup of water. Let it boil nicely.

Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.

Add the frozen peas and continue cooking for 5-6 minutes.

Reduce the flame to low, add the half n half milk, stir it gently. Put off the flame couple of minutes later,garnish with cilantro.

Serve with roti/paratha/rice or any kind of Pulao. 

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