Some Indian Food recipes and Kitchen Tips

Tips on Indian Cooking

When I started cooking first I had to learn everything by trial and error. These are some of my recipes for my daughters who are both newly married [:-)] whenever they feel nostalgic for Mom's cooking. Others are also welcome !

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Ridge Gourd Chutney

1 Ridge gourd (Peerkangai)
2 Green chillis
1 handful of curry leaves
1 Red chilli
4 pods of garlic
1 tbsp Urad dal
1 tsp mustard
1 tbsp cumminseeds
Tamarind, marble size
Salt 1tsp
1 tbsp oil

Method:

Peel the ridge gourd scraping it, keeping a little of the under layer of the skin and chop into small pieces..
Heat 1btsp oil and put in the mustard and fry till it pops. Add the urad dal, cumminseeds, red chilli and fry till pink. Take these ingredients out with a long spoon and keep aside.
In the same oil, add the curry leaves, green chillis and fry.
Add the chopped garlic and ridgegourd. Stir now and then, covering with a lid to cook in its own juice.
Cool it.
In a mixer bowl put in the dry ingredients kept aside and grind for a minute till coarsely done.
Add the cooled vegetable and grind further till it is a coarse paste.
In a pan heat 1 tsp oil. Put in 1/2 tsp mustard. When it pops add a pinch of hing and a few curry leaves. Pour over the chutney.
Serve with plain rice and ghee to be mixed and eaten as a main course in place of sambar.
Or, serve with curd rice as a side dish.

Bittergourd Fry

1/4 kg bittergourd
Oil to deepfry
1 tsp Salt

For coating,  mix:

ground pepper 1tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Rice flour 1/2 cup
1 pinch asofoetida
1 tsp garam masala
1/2tsp salt

Method:
Cut the bittergourd lengthwise. Deseed it and cut into thin slices.
Mix with 1 tsp of salt and keep aside in a vessel kept slanting so that the bitter water in the vegetable drains in the lower level. Discard the water. You can skip this step if you don't mind some bitterness in the end product but this method guarantees that the fry tastes crisp and tasty with hardly any bitterness.

Mix the vegetable with the rice flour coating.
Deepfry in oil in batches till golden brown.
Drain on paper towels.
Sealed into an airtight container and keep in fridge for later use.
Serve with  sambar or any other rice in the place of pappads.

Brinjal Gravy for rotis/chappathis

1/4 kg Brinjal
2 onions chopped finely
1 tsp pepper
1 clove
1 inch piece cinnamon
1tsp shahjeea
2tsp coriander seeds
2 red chilli
1tbsp grated coconut
marble size tamarind
3 tsp oil

Method:

Cut the brinjal into medium pieces and put in water to avoid darkening
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Put in the pepper, clove, cinnamon, shahjeera,coriander seeds and red chilli and fry for a minute.
Add the grated coconut and after two minutes of frying, add the onion and fry till it is transparent.
Add  the tamarind and saute for 1 minute.
Cool it and grind in the mixer to a fine paste.
Heat two tsp oil in the pan. Fry the rest of the onion till brown. Add the brinjal pieces without water and saute till soft.
Add the ground paste and 2 cups of water. Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes.
Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves.
Makes a good accompaniment for chappathis/rotis