Ridge Gourd Peel Chutney /Beerakaya pottu(thokku) pacchadi

Andhra Pradesh is known for the fabulous pacchadi's which are prepared freshly with different kind of vegetables.These pacchadi's taste best when they are pounded in stone mortar and pestle which probably our grand parents and parents would have used.Now a days the usage of those stone one's are restrained only to the villages and some of the few house holds in cities.Many of us discard the peels of ridge gourd while cooking but infact those peels can be used to make this yummy pacchadi.So let us peek into the recipe to see how simple it is to make.

Ingredients:
2 large tender ridge gourd
5-6 dry red chillies
2 tsp urad dal
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp jeers
2 tsp tamarind pulp
2 tsp oil
salt to taste

for Tadka:
1 tsp ghee/oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of hing
1 red chili, broken
3-4 garlic pods
7-8 curry leaves

Method:

• Peel the outer skin of ridge gourds and use the chopped ridge gourd pieces for other preparations like making dal,kootu,pacchadi etc.Check the taste of it as sometimes the ridge gourd can be bitter too,if it is bitter its better to discard it and use another one.
  
• Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and add ridge gourd peels and fry until they are tender and keep it aside until it cools.
• Heat again a tsp of oil in the same pan and add chana dal,urad dal,jeera and fry until turn slight red in color.
• Add red chillies and fry again and add tamarind pulp at the end and switch off the flame.
• Grind the fried dal's.red chillies along with tamarind pulp and salt to a slight coarse powder.
• Now add the fried ridge gourd peels and blend in whipper mode to a coarse paste.Do not grind it to a fine paste.
• Heat ghee in a small pan and crackle mustard seeds and add garlic pods,broken red chili,curry leaves and hing and fry well and add to the ground paste.
  

Serve it with hot rice,ghee and papad.

In the above photo you can see the rice ball made with the prepared pacchadi with a dollop of ghee and in the background you can see ridge gourd dal and vankaya kotthimeera karam(stuffed brinjal with coriander) which I will try blogging them soon too.

Notes:

1. You can follow the same method and prepare the pacchadi with bottle gourd peels and ridge gourd pieces and skipping the peels of ridge gourd.
2. For a Vegan version use oil instead of ghee for tempering.

Masala Jolada Rotti

Jowar is one of the most healthiest grains which we should include in our diet.Making Jolada rotti seems very difficult for many people and even I used to find it difficult during my earlier stages of cooking.But with some tips which I learnt from my mom,now I can make very decent jolada rotti even though I have not not mastered still in making it.I will try posting karnataka's the most famous Jolada rotti soon.The speciality of this masala jolada rotti is even a beginner to the kitchen can also make it very easily and enjoy the more tastier version of regular jolada rotti.When I posted Akki Rotti many of you liked and tried my version of akki rotti and thanked me for the tips I have shared there,if you want to expertize yourself in making these rotti's please go through the tips I mentioned here and I am sure you will definitely surprise others with the flaw less crispy and tastier rotti's.You can make this with only jowar flour and avoid using wheat flour,still it comes nice.But addition of little wheat flour in it even the beginners can prepare it without any difficulty.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Jowar/sorghum flour
1/4 cup wheat flour(handful and optional)
3/4 cup grated bottle gourd
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 tsp green chilli paste
1 tbsp white sesame seeds
1/4 cup chopped coriander
1 tsp jeera(optional)
salt to taste

Method:

• Take a wide bowl and mix Jowar flour,wheat flour and salt.
• Add grated bottle gourd,chopped onions,green chilli paste,coriander,jeera,sesame seeds and mix well until the mixture is completely moistened by the water from bottle gourd and onions.
• Now add some warm(to medium heat) water if required and mix well until you get the dough similar to the akki roti dough and rest the dough for 10-15 mins.You can even use it immediate if required.
• Take a handful of dough and make it into round balls of Orange size.
• Smear the Rotti tawa(Non-stick/normal dosa pan) with little bit of oil all over the tawa and place the rotti dough in center and press it gently with hands and spread into a thin layer by rotating the pan and by immersing the hand in a bowl of water in between which helps in patting the dough evenly and smoothly on the tawa.Make it as thin as possible.do not bother if small gaps are there,that makes the rotti even crispier.
• Pour little oil over it and cover it with a lid and place it on fire on medium flame.Let it cook for 2 mins.Keep an eye on it to check in b whether it is done or not.Once you see the red patches started forming increase the flame and cook it.Try to rotate the tawa inorder to get an evenly roasted rotti.No need to turn it on the other side.

Serve this right off from the flame and on to the plate with a dollop of fresh white butter and some Thokku(smashed pickle type generally made up of either mango or tomato) and masala dahi.
I served it with Lobia Curry.

Variations:

• Grated Carrot/Bottle gourd/Cucumber/Beetroot/fresh coconut can be added to the above mixture according to our taste.
• Greens like Mint/Coriander/Dill leaves/Spinach can also be added according to our taste.

Note:

For more tips to make good rotti and to make different varieties of rotti's check here.

Moong Sprouts Salad

Sprouts are very healthy as it contains more nutrients when compared to other foods and is very essential to include them in our daily diet.Many people do not like sprouts because of the raw smell, but when they are mixed with lots of vegetables and fruits and is mixed well with a sweet and spicy dressing the salad will be very tastier and one can hardly make out the rawness of those sprouts.This is one of the regular variety of sprouts salad which I make at home for breakfast.This sprouts salad goes to the event 'Let's Sprout' hosted by priya and also to siri's "My Legumes Love affair(MLLA) # 25" started by Susan.

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh moong sprouts( I used 1/2 cup moong and 1/2 cup matki/moth sprouts)
1/4 cup finely chopped cucumber
1/4 cup sweet pomegranate kernels
1/4 cup finely chopped/grated carrot
1/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp finely chopped onions
2 tbsp finely chopped raw mango pieces
1 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 tbsp chopped dried apricots or dates or raisins
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

for the dressing:
3-4 finely chopped/minced green chillies
1/2 tsp grated ginger(optional)
1/4 tsp chat masala
generous drizzle of lemon juice
few drops of honey(optional)
salt to taste


Method:

• Take a wide deep bowl and add the sprouts,carrot,raw mango,tomato,onion,cucumber pieces and mix well.
• Add chopped walnuts,apricots,coriander and mix well.
• For the dressing take a small bowl and squeeze in the juice of one lemon and add salt,3-4 drops of honey,chat masala and mix well.Add grated ginger and minced green chillies and mix well.
• Add the dressing to the sprouts mix and mix well.

Serve it fresh or keep it in refrigerator for 15 mins and serve cold.

Verdict: Clean bowled a bowl of salad within few mins.

Variations:

• You can avoid onions,honey,ginger in the above salad and add grated coconut instead and also add a tadka of mustard and hing to the salad.
• You can even add raw soaked groundnuts,chopped fresh grapes,sliced oranges/mosambi for different flavors.

Coconut Poha...Kobbari Atukulu

Poha recipes comes to rescue when nothing is planned in advance for breakfast as they are very simple and hardly takes 15-20 mins to prepare.This is another variety of poha which we prepare at home very often and is equally tasty as the Atukula upma and Gojju avalakki .This is prepared especially on festivals as it does not include any onion and garlic.Even I prepared this long back during a festival (I don't remember which one it was) and also prepared Hayagreeva as a sweet which you can see in the background.Coconut poha has a mild taste and a mix of coconut,cashew and groundnut pieces with a hint of lemon makes it more tastier.If you have not tried this before give it a try,I am sure you will love the simplicity of this poha.

Ingredients:

2 cups poha/flattened rice/Atukulu
3/4 cup grated fresh coconut
7-8 green chillies,thinly sliced
2-3 red chillies,torn roughly
2 tbsp chopped cashewnuts
2 tbsp ground nuts
1 tbsp chana dal
2 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a sprig of curry leaves
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp chopped coriander
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste


Method:

• Clean and wash poha in running water once or twice and remove all the water from it and leave it aside for 10 mins until it is soft.Check it in between and if required sprinkle few drops of water over it.
• Heat oil in a kadai and crackle mustard seeds and add groundnuts and fry until they are red in color.
• Add cashewnuts,chana dal and urad dal and fry until they turn golden brown and then add curry leaves,green chillies,red chillies and fry for 1-2 mins and then add half the grated coconut and fry for a minute.
• Add soaked poha,remaining grated coconut and salt to it and mix well and cover it with lid an dcook for 2 mins over low flame.
• Add lemon juice and chopped coriander to it and mix well.

Serve it hot with some chips/fryums.

Gobi Mutter/Matar Sabzi

I know that I am very irregular with this space as I am occupied with other things these days. But seeing the updates from our fellow bloggers I pushed myself to post this even thought not much of cooking is happening in my kitchen other than the usual stuff.I have so many pictures lying in my folder which I will try posting them for a couple of weeks until I come back to my regular routine.
And coming to today's recipe,I need not to exaggerate this very simple Gobi matar sabzi as its very common in most of our house holds.The combinations for this curry can be left to our imaginations like Alu-gobi,gobi-mutter,alu-mutter,alu-gobi-mutter,alu-babycorn, babycorn-mutter etc etc and even the mushroom's can be included for thes kind of curries.

Ingredients:

1 medium cauliflower,cut into thin florets
1 cup fresh/frozen green peas
1 onion,roughly chopped
2 small tomatoes,finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder or juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp kitchen king masala(optional)
2 tsp chopped fresh coriander
1/4 tsp kasuri methi,slightly crushed
a pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste


Method:

• Blanch the cauliflower florets and green peas separately in salted hot water for few mins until tender and remove them.Do not over cook them.
• Heat oil in a kadai and crackle cumin seeds and add ginger garlic paste and fry for sometime.
• Add chopped onions and fry until its translucent and add tomatoes and fry until they are soft and mushy.
• Add all the masala powder's,turmeric powder and fry for some time.
• Add blanched gobi florets,peas and slightly crushed kasuri methi and mix well and cover it and cook for 5-7 mins until all the masala's are incorporated.
• Add finely chopped coriander and remove it from stove.

Serve it hot with roti/chapthi/rice/jeera rice.

I made these small chapthy's to fit in my hubby's lunch box,so thought of taking photo with them.