Soy Chunks Masala

 Ingredients:-

1 cup Soy chunks, boil in water for 5 min and strain
1onion, sliced into small pieces
 1 big Tomato, sliced into small pieces
1/2 capsicum, cut length wise
1/4 bunch coriander
1 spoon coriander powder
2 spoons Ginger garlic paste
  Bay leaf 2
Cinnamon 2
Clove 1
Red chilly powder 2 tsp
a pinch of turmeric powder
Salt as per taste
Canola oil 3 tbsp
1 spoon poppy seeds, made into powder

For Garam masala powder:-
Cinnamon 1
Clove 4
Big elachi 2
Shah jeera 1 spoon
Nutmeg - small piece
Make a fine powder of the above.

Method:

1.  In a pan pour oil and when it it hot, add oil, bay leaves, 1 small cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and 3 black pepper and fry for a minute
2. Add onion, slit green chillies, curry leaves and fry for 2min
3. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell vanishes
4. Add chopped tomatoes and mix well and cook till tomatoes become soft
5. Add soy chunks and capsicum pieces and fry for 2min
6. To this,  add remaining garam masala powder, turmeric, salt and chilli powder and stir well and cook for another 10min on low flame.
7. Before you turn off the heat, add poppy seeds powder,chopped coriander leaves to the curry and stir well and cook for 2min.

This goes really well with Plain rice, Bagara rice, Roti and naan!

Saggu Biyyam Vadiyalu or Sajo Fritters

Ingredients:
Saggu biyyam - 1 cup
Water - 6 cups
Salt to taste
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp (crushed) 


Method:

1. Grind Saggu Biyyam in mixie coarsely and soak in water for 15 minutes
2. Boil water in a  thick bottomed vessel, add salt and crushed cumin seeds, boil the water till bubbles come.
3. Add saggu biyyam and cook by stirring continuously otherwise it will stick vessel.
4. Cook till saggu biyyam becomes very soft and mixed in water.
5. Remove from fire and let it cool for 5 minutes
6. Take a wet cloth and spread it on flat base. Take 1 tsp of batter and spread it on wet cloth like patties and sun dry for couple of days. Once they totally dry, sprinkle some water on backside of the cloth and remove the patties one by one. Again sun dry them for one more day and store in airtight container. They are now ready to be used.
7. Fry them in hot oil as it is side dish with dal or sambar and rice.

Biyyam Pindi Vadiyalu/ Rice Flour Fritters

Now, this recipe makes me proud :-) I never thought I could do something like this in my life and that too in USA. Thanks to wonderful weather of California!

And I now realize that making vadiyams and pickles is not just Mom's forte :)) we too can try if we have the inclination :) Enjoy Folks!

Ingredients :

Rice flour : 1 cup

salt to taste

cumin seeds : 1 tsp

water : as per required

Method:

1. First boil around 2.5 cups of water. Then add in the salt and cumin seeds.
2. In another cup, add rice flour and mix it with water and make it into a thin batter.
3. Now slowly add the rice batter into the boiling water and keep mixing in order to avoid lumps. 
4. The batter thickens indicating that it is cooked well. Let it cool for about 5 minutes. 
5. On top of a table cloth, make small patties out of this batter and sun dry till they are dried fully. It might take couple of days for this. Then store in air tight containers. These can be used for one year.

For eating heat oil in a pan and deep fry these sun dried patties . They turn out white and crispy. Can be had as an evening snack or along with rice and mudda pappu, sambhar or with any dal.

Tomato Rasam - Andhra Style

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 4-5 red chillis
• 1/2 spoon black pepper
• 1 spoon coriander seeds
• 2 garlic pods
• 5 fresh curry leaves
• 2 pinches ground dried turmeric
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 cups water
• 1 small lemon sized tamarind
• 3 medium size tomatoes, finely  chopped
• salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 spoon fenurgreek, cumin and mustard seeds

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the a pinch of fenugreek seeds, red chillies, cumin seeds, black pepper, crushed garlic pod, curry leaves and mustard seeds. As they start to sputter, add tomatoes and cook till they are soft.
2. Add water, salt, turmeric and tamarind and let all the ingredients boil for 10 minutes.
3. Now in a coffee grinder, crush black pepper, coriander seeds and a garlic pod coarsely and add to the rasam. Let it boil for just 2 min and switch off the stove and add corainder leaves and cover it with a lid. Tomato rasam is ready! This tastes super good and is very healthy!

Amaranthus Greenchilli Fry

Ingredients:
Amaranthus (Thotakoora) - 1 bunch
Green Gram (pesarapappu) - 1/4 cup
small onion - 1
Green chillis - 15 slit length wise
Salt - as per taste
Turmeric - 1 or 2 pinches

Preparation:

1. Cut the Amaranthus and onion into really small pieces
2. Boil Green gram till it is soft but not mushy
3. pour oil in the pan and when it is hot, add greenchillis, onions and washed amaranthus
4. Add turmeric, salt and mix well and let it cook for 5 min. Water comes out of the Amaranthus leaves. Let all the water evaporate and then add greengram to the curry and mix well and cook for 5 more minutes.
5. Cook for 2more min and the curry is ready to serve. This curry is very easy to make, goes really well with Roti and hot rice.

Malabar Spinach (Bacchalikoora) Mango Dal

Ingredients:
1 bunch Malabar Spinach (Bacchali koora)leaves, separate leaves from stems
1/2 onion, cut into large pieces
 1 cup Yellow (toor) Lentil
1 pinch turmeric
1/2 raw mango, cut into large chunks
Salt to taste
2 cups water

Seasoning:
Oil - 2 tbsp
curry leaves - 5
Red chilli - 1
mustard seeds - 1/4 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tbsp
Garlic pods - 2, mash coarsely
Urad dal - 1/4 tbsp

1. In a pressure cooker, add all the ingredients except salt and pressure cook for 3 vigils. Once it cools off, mash the dal into paste and add salt.
2. In a pan, add oil and when it is hot, add red chilli, mustard seeds, garlic pods, cumin seeds, urad dal and curry leaves and season well. Add this to the dal.

This goes well with hot white rice. Tastes very yummy with Ghee and Mango pickle!

Mango-Ginger Chutney

Ingredients:
Red chillies - 10-15 (as per your spice levels)
Ginger - small lemon sized, chop into small pieces
Raw Mango - small piec, grate it or chop finely
Tamarind - small lemon sized
Jaggery - medium lemon sized
 fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tbsp
mustard seeds - 1 tbsp
urad dal - 2 tbsp
salt to taste
tumeric powder - 2 pinches
Hing (Asofetida) - 1/8 tbsp
Curry leaves - handful
1 cup oil

Method:
1. Soak tamarind in little water to make it soft or microwave it for 2min
2. In a pan, add oil and when it is hot, add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves and fry till urad dal is slightly brown and remove from oil
3. In mixie jar, add all the above fried ingredients, ginger pieces, mango pieces, jaggery, turmeric, salt, hing and tamarind and grind to a fine paste
4. Add the remaining oil to the chutney

This chutney is very very tasty and goes well with hot white rice, dosa, pesarattu and Idli.

Dosakaya (Cucumber) Tomato Curry

This curry brings out nostalgia. When i was a kid, this was the most common curry we would get to eat when we used to visit our relatives in Andhra. Though i hated this curry then, this is my most favorite curry now :)

Ingredients:
Dosakaya (Cucumber) - 1 chopped into small pieces
1 small onion, chopped into small pieces
1 medium size tomato, chopped finely
4 Green chilli - slit length-wise
5 curry leaves
1 tbsp chopped coriander
2 garlic pods, finely chopped
1 tbsp chilli powder
2 pinches turmeric powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

Method:
1. In a pan, add oil and when it is hot, add chopped garlic, green chillies, onions and curry leaves and fry till onions turn slightly brown
2. Add Cucumber pieces, turmeric, salt and fry for 5 more minutes. Add 1 cup of water and cook till cucumber pieces turn soft
3. Now add chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, mix well and and cook while tomatoes are soft
3.Garnish with coriander

This simple curry tastes very good with white rice!

Salmon Fry

Ingredients:
Boneless Salmon pieces - 6 Medium sized (washed thoroughly)
Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp

Turmeric - 2 pinches
Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp
Oil for frying

Method:
1. In a bowl, add fish pieces and add turmeric

Now add  ginger garlic paste

Add salt

 Add  chillipowder

Add enough lemon juice

Add corn flour

and mix well

Let it marinate for 20 minutes
In a pan, add 2-3 spoons of oil and shallow fry the fish pieces till all sides turn brown and the fish is well-cooked.

This healthy fish can be eaten as a snack or can be used to make salad.

Fish Hyderabadi Dum Biryani

Ingredients:
Bass Fish(skinned and boneless) - 14 Pieces
Bell pepper - 1, chopped into big pieces
tomato - 1, chopped into big pieces
Onion -1, chopped into thick ringlets
Basmati rice - 6 cups
Onions - 1 (big size)
Cardamom - 6
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Cloves - 6
shahjeera - 1 teaspoonful
Thick curd - 2 tbsps
Chilli powder - add per your spice levels
Turmeric powder - two pinches
Ginger garlic paste - 2 table spoons
A bunch coriander &mint leaves
green chillies - 5
Ghee - 2 tablespoons
oil - 1 cup

Garam Masala Ingredients: (Grind them to powder)
Cardamoms - 6
Cinnamon - 2
Cloves - 6
Shahjeera - 1 spoon

Green Masala: (Grind them to paste)
Green chillies - 10-15
Coriander - 1/2 bunch
Mint - 1/2 bunch

Method:

1. Fry fish pieces in oil till they are lightly cooked and keep aside. Do not overcook fish.
2. In another pan, pour oil and when it is hot, add whole masala, finely sliced onion, green chillies, bell pepper pieces and tomatoes and cook till oil separates. Add green masala, salt, ginger garlic paste, a spoon of curd, chili powder, garam masala powder and fry for 2 min.
 3. Now add fish pieces and cover them carefully with the masala and cook till oil separates. Do not stir the ingredients much after you add fish..
 4. Cook rice separately (1 cup of rice :1 cup of water ratio)
5. In rice cooker, layer the cooked rice and fish curry in alternate layers. Ensure that the first and last layer should be rice.
6. Heat 2 or 3 spoons of ghee and pour on top of the layers and add finely chopped mint and coriander. Cook till the rice cooker turns from cook to Warm (usually takes around 45min). This Biryani tastes very yummy. Goes well with Raitha or tastes heavenly without Raitha :)