Bellam Appalu

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
1 cup grated jaggery
1 cup water
1/4 tbsp cardamom powder
2 cups of oil for deep frying
2 tbsp of grated cocunut (optional)
1/2 tbsp of seasame seeds (optional)

Method:

• In a pan, add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of jaggery and let it melt
• Once the jaggery melts into the water, put it on the stove and bring it to a boil and switch off the stove
• Immediately add rice flour and cardamom to the jaggery solution and stir well and put a lid on the pan and keep it aside for 5 min till it cools down
• Meanwhile in a deep bottomed vessel, pour oil for deep frying. Once it is hot, make small patties out of the above dough and deep fry them on medium heat

Yummy yummy appalu are now ready to serve :)

Carrot Vepudu

Ingredients:
10 large carrots, peel, wash and grate them
10 Jalapenos, slit them length-wise
10 green chillies, chop them into small pieces
1/4 tbsp turmeric
Salt as per taste
1/4 tbsp mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp urad dal
5 curry leaves



Method:
 1. In a pan, add 2 tbsp oil and when it is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves and fry till the urad dal is golden brown
2. Add grated carrot, jalapeno pieces, green chillies, turmeric, salt and mix well and fry till carrots are cooked. It usually takes 10 min

Goes well with Rice and Rice!

Blueberry Yogurt Drink

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup yogurt
1 tbsp honey
5 Ice cubes

Method:

• In a blender jar, add fresh blueberries, yogurt, ice cubes and blend them into a smoothie
• Garnish with Honey.

This drink is specially good for healthy skin!

Egg plant - Jalapeno stir fry

Ingredients:
Chinese Eggplant / Podugu vankaaya - 5, cut into them into big pieces
Jalapenos - 5, cut them length-wise into big pieces
corn flour - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1tbsp
Turmeric - 1 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Curry leaves - 5 (optional)
Oil - 1 tbsp

Cooking time:  5 min

Method:

• In a pan, add oil and when it is hot, add curry  leaves, eggplant pieces and jalapenos pieces and fry for 2min
• Now add turmeric, salt and fry till eggplant pieces turn soft. This hardly takes 5 min
• Add red chilli powder and corn flour and stir well and switch off the heat

Very very tasty Eggplant Jalapeno stir fry is ready. Not to mention, this tastes heavenly!

Raw Tomato (Pacchi Tomato) Chutney

Ingredients: 

Raw Tomatoes - 4

15-20 green chillis (as per your spice levels)

½-1 bunch of coriander (Adjust to the size of Ridge gourd)

2 tbsps cooking oil

2 garlic pods

1 tbsp split urad dal

1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

1 tsp dhaniyalu (coriander seeds)

¼ spoon fenugreek seeds

Salt to taste

1 small lime sized tamarind

1 tsp cooking oil

For Seasoning:

Red chilli - 4

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tbsp

Curry leaves - 5

Urad dal - 1 tbsp

Method

• Heat 1 tbsps of cooking oil in a pan.  
• On low flame fry urad dall till the dal turns light gold/red in color.
• Add jeera, coriander, fenugreek seeds and fry for a few seconds (about 30 secs).
• Add  raw tomato pieces and green chillies and fry for about 10min.
• Now add coriander and tamarind and fry for 2 more min. Now Turn off the flame and set aside to cool.
• In the mixie jar, grind 2 garlic pods and salt coarsely. And add the mixture and grind it coarsely.Transfer this mixture into a dish
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• In another pan, add  1 tbsp oil and when it is hot, add red chilli,mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves and fry till urad dal turns golden brown. Add this to the chutney and stir well

This chutney goes well with muddapappu, ghee and stays fresh for a week!

Stuffed Bitter Gourd

Okay! This curry is not so complicated as it looks :) I myself was shunning it for quite a while because of all the work involved and then I thought, why not do it and tried it. The curry came out so well that I now look forward to doing it again!  Guys you too should do it you know :)

Ingredients:

Medium sized Bitter gourd - 8

1 big onion - diced finely

Curry leaves - 10

Red chilli powder - 2 tbsp (or as per your spice levels)

Tamarind paste - 1tbsp

****Pappula Podi - 3 tbsp

Jaggery - 2 tbsp

Plain curds/Yogurt - 1/2 cup

Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp

1/2 cup oil

****Pappula Podi Recipe:

http://cookingwithmridula.blogspot.com/2012/08/pappula-podidalia-powder.html

Method:

• Wash bitter gourds and make a slit on one side lengthwise and remove the tough seeds using a knife.
• In a big pan, pour 3 cups of water, 1 tbsp of tamarind paste, pinch of turmeric, salt, jaggery, 1/2 cup of yogurt. Add Bitter gourd to the pan and boil until they are tender but firm to touch. It usually takes 5 mins. Drain and keep the bitter gourd aside to cool.
• .This process helps in removing the bitterness from bitter gourd leaving a slight tangy taste to the bittergourd skin.
• For Filling:
• In a pan, add 2 tbsp of oil and when it is hot, add mustard seeds and curry leaves and fry till mustard seeds splutter
• Add onion pieces to the pan, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and fry till onions are translucent
• Then add 1 tbsp of jaggery and 3 tbsps of pappula podi to the pan and fry the mixture for 2 more min and let it cool
• Stuff the fried onion mixture into the boiled bitter gourds and keep them aside.
• Heat 2 tbsp oil in another pan and place the stuffed bitter gourds carefully and fry over medium - high flame for 5mins until the edges turn crisp and charred.

This fry is very very  tasty and goes well with white Rice, Sambhar combination or with just plain rice :)

Karevapaaku Pappu (Curry Leaves Dal)

Ingredients:
Green Gram (Pesarapappu) - 1 cup
Senagapappu or  Bengal gram - 1 tbsp
Black gram  or Urad dal - 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves - 1 cup
Black Pepper powder - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Ghee - 1 tbsp

For seasoning:
Red chilli - 4
Mustard seeds - 1/4tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tbsp
Garlic Pods - 4

 Method:

• In a Pan, add green gram dal, black gram dal and bengal gram and curry leaves and dry roast till a nice aroma comes out and switch off the heatIn a pressure cooker, add the fried green gram and curry leaves, black pepper powder, salt and 2 cups of water and pressure cook for one visil. Let it cool and mix it well with a ladle
• In a pan, add ghee and once it is hot, add dd red chillies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and crushed garlic pods and fry well and add to Dal.
• Yummy dal is ready eat! Goes well with white rice and avakaaya pickle :)

Tomato Upma

Ingredients:
Semolina - 1 cup
Water - 3 cups
Tomatoes - 4 (cut into small pieces)
Onion - 1 (chop length-wise)
Green chillies - 5, cut into small pieces
Ginger - chopped finely
curry leaves - 5
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Peanuts - 1 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp

Method:
In a pan, add 1 tbsp ghee and when it is hot, add  semolina and fry till on low heat for few min
In another pan, add oil and when it is hot, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, peanuts, cashew nuts and fry till cashews turn golden brown
Add green chilli, onions, ginger pieces, salt and fry till onions are translucent
Add chopped tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are soft. Now add water to the mixture and bring it to boil
Add semolina little by little and mix well with a ladle and cook on a low flame. It usually takes 5 minutes
Add remaining ghee to the mixture and cover the pan and let it sit for a min
Hot and tasty upma is ready to eat :-)

Pesarattu - Allam Chutney

Ingredients:
Green Gram (Pesarapappu)/Moong Dal - 2 cups (soak in water for couple of hours. If you are in a hurry, just soaking for an hour is all you need)
 Ginger - 2 inch, chopped finely
Green chillies - 10
Cumin seeds - 2 tbsp
1 big onion, chopped finely
Salt as per taste

Allam chutney recipe:
http://www.cookingwithmridula.blogspot.com/2012/09/allam-ginger-chutney.html

Method:

• In a mixie jar, add 1 inch ginger and green chillies and grind coarsely
• Now add soaked Moong Dal and grind into a smooth paste by adding enough water. The batter should be consistent enough to make dosas. Add enough salt and stir well
• Prepare a flat griddle (tawa) or large, flat-bottomed skillet and place over medium-low heat. Ladle the  batter onto the middle of the heated surface and spread into a thin circle using the back of the ladle. 
• Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of onions, a little bit of chopped ginger pieces, a pinch of cumin seeds and press the onions onto the pesarattu using your ladle or spatula. Cook for a few minutes and flip over to the other side. Cook a few more minutes, transfer to a plate and serve immediately with Allam chutney. Pesarattu are best eaten hot and crispy right off the tawa. 

Okra (Bendakaya) Stir Fry

Ingredients:
Okra (Bendakaya/Lady fingers) - 1 cup (cut into small pieces)
Curry leaves - 5
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Corn flour - 1 tbsp

Method:

• In a pan, add 2 tbsp oil and when it is hot, add curry leaves and fry till they are crisp
• Add Okra pieces, salt and turmeric to the pan and fry the okra pieces till they are fried well which takes around 10min
• Add red chilli powder and stir well and fry for 2 more min
• Just before you switch off the heat, sprinkle fry with corn flour and stir well and switch off the heat
• Corn flour adds nice flavor to the fry and makes it just enough crispy for you to enjoy!

Goes well with Roti and Rice!

Allam (Ginger) Chutney

Ingredients:
Red chillies - 10-15 (as per your spice levels)
Ginger - small lemon sized, chop into small pieces
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,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.

Ridge Gourd (Beerakaaya) Milk Curry

This simple yet very tasty curry specially comes in handy when you are tired of masalas and want to have something simple. It is easy on tummy so good to have when you are not so well. For all those NRIs out there, this is specially good when you are returning back to US after India trip and doesn't want to go out to eat :-)

Ingredients:
Ridge Gourd/Beerakaaya - 3 (peel, wash and cut into small pieces)
Green chilli - 10 (chop into small pieces)
Milk - 1/2 cup
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
salt as per taste
Onion - 1/4 cup
Curry leaves - 5

Method:

• In a pan, add oil and when it is hot, add curry leaves, onions and green chillies and fry for 2min.
• Add Ridge gourd pieces, turmeric and salt to the pan and stir well and cook till the ridge gourd pieces are soft.
• Add milk to the curry and cook for 5 min on low heat.

Yummy curry is ready!