Spicy Brinjal Curry

This is called Guthi vankaya curry in southern part of India. There are many variations to it. But this version would consume less time and yet is tastier than the other versions.

Ingredients :

For Masala:

1. Onions - 3
2. Dry Red chillies - 4
3. Tamarind - a small lemon sized
4. Cloves - 4
5. Cinnamon - inch sized piece
6. Cardamom - 4
7. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
8. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
9. Turmeric - 1 tsp
10. Salt - to taste
11. Garlic cloves - 6
12. Ginger - 2 inch sized piece

Others:

1. Brinjal - 1/2 kg
2. Oil - 3tsp
3. Onion -1
4. Green chillies -2
5. Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Preparation method :

• Firstly half boil the brinjals which are slit as cross marks.
• While the brinjals are boiling, grind all the ingredients for masala and make a paste, slightly coarse would work good.
• Stuff the paste into the boiled brinjals and keep aside. keep the remaining masala aside.
• Now heat oil, add mustard seeds, finely chopped onion and green chilles and saute for a minute.
• Add the masala paste that remained and stir well, now add the stuffed brinjals, little dash of water and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Garish it with finely chopped fresh coriander and your brinjal curry is ready.
• It can be eaten with rice as well as roti.

Pudina Chutney

This is again something that can be made very fast and with less effort. It can be eaten with rotis, with fried chicken, fried potato etc.,

Ingredients :

1. Onion -1
2. Green Chillies-2
3. Coriander leaves-1 cup
4. mint leaves-1 cup
5. Roasted cumin seeds-1 tsp
6. Lemon-1/2 piece
7. Salt- to taste
8. Curd - 1cup

Preparation method :

• Grid coarsely onion,chillies,coriander,mint leaves, cumin seeds, lemon juice and salt.
• Now add curd and grind till it becomes a smooth paste.
• Thats it.. your tasty pudina chutney is ready.

Simple Chinese Fried Rice

Ingredients :

1. Capsicum
2. Carrot
3. Yard Long Beans (Barbati in telugu)
4. Salt
5. Garlic cloves
6. Pepper Powder
7. Boiled Rice
8. Ajinomoto
9. Soy sauce
10. Oil

Preparation method :

• Firstly chop the vegetables very fine including garlic.
• Boil the rice such that the grains are a bit harder. Or you can use the rice cooled in a fridge so that they become stiff and dont become like paste when stirring on flame.
• Add a tsp of oil to a fry pan, add the chopped garlic first, then capsicum and carrot. Fry for a minute.
• Now add salt to taste, a pinch of ajinomoto, and now add boiled rice.
• Mix well, now add pepper powder and two table spoons of soy sauce.
• I would suggest you keep tasting and adding the required amount of salt, pepper etc., 
• Thats it.. Your fried rice is ready.

Sambar - Andhra Style

Ingredients :

1. Lentils or Yellow Dal - 2 cups
2. Salt- To Taste
3. Turmeric- 1 tsp 
4. Green Chilies- 4
5. Onions- 2
6. Tomatoes - 2
7. Tamarind Juice- 2 cups
8. Vegetables like Carrot, Okra, Radish, Brinjal etc.,
9. Sambar powder- 2tsp
10. Mustard Seeds- 1tsp
11. Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp
12. Garlic Cloves- 3
13. Curry leaves- Few
14. Red Chilies-4

Preparation method :

• Firstly before you chop any of the vegetables, pressure cook the dal with double amount of water as the amount of dal you have taken. Cook until 2 whistles.
• Also take a lemon sized ball of tamarind and soak it in a cup of Luke warm water.
• While dal is cooking, chop up the vegetables into bite size pieces, onions into thin slices, dice the tomatoes, chilies can be slit from top to bottom.
• By now the dal must have been cooked and tamarind soaked properly. So you can squeeze the tamarind in the water itself to get its juice, you can either blend it into smooth paste.
• Now take the dal out of the cooker and smash it with a ladle roughly, add onions,  tomatoes, chilies, all the chopped vegetables, salt, turmeric and the tamarind juice.
• Add sufficient water to make the required amount of sambar you want. Keep this on the stove and cook till vegetables are half cooked. Now add sambar powder and cook for another 7 minutes or until it smells great,tastes good and all vegetables are properly cooked.
• Now take a small fry pan, add oil, red chilies,mustard seeds,cumin seeds,garlic cloves,curry leaves and fry for a minute, add this to sambar.
• Thats it..your delicious sambar is ready. 

Okra Curry

 

This is a gravy curry made with okra, different from the normal okra fry that is regularly made.

Ingredients :

1. Okra - 1/4 kg
2. Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
3. Garam Masala -1 tsp
4. Salt, Chilli Powder
5. Green Chilies- 4
6. Onions- 2
7. Tomatoes - 4
8. Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
9. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
10. Coriander and mint leaves
11. Oil

Preparation method :

• Cut okra such that each piece is 2 inch long. As okra is all sticky inside, we need to block those juices, for which we heat oil in a wok and deep fry those pieces for a minute and strain excess oil.
• Make a paste of onions and green chilies. Also blend tomatoes seperately to get paste.
• Heat 3 tsp of oil in a pan..add onion paste and fry for a minute, then add ginger garlic paste and fry for   another minute. Add tomato paste and simmer till oil separates. 
• Add salt, chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala and a glass of water for gravy.
• Now add fried okra and grated coconut, cook with lid on for 5 minutes.
• Finally add coriander, mint leaves and dish out. Your delicious curry is ready.

Beetroot Fry

Ingredients :

1. Beetroots-2
2. Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
3. Lentils- Chenaga Pappu- 2tsp
4. Mustard seeds- 2 tsp
5. Green chilies-3
6. Onion-1
7. Oil- 2 tsp
8. Salt, Chili Powder
9. Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Preparation method :

• Boil beetroots until they are tender enough to eat. Remove skin and cut them into small pieces.
• While beetroots are boiling we can grate a fresh coconut and keep it ready.
• The actual cooking now begins, first heat oil, add lentils and mustard seeds, then chopped onions and chilies. Fry for a minute. Now add grated coconut and fry for another minute. Add salt, chili powder,coriander powder as necessary.
• Finally add the beetroot pieces and fry for another minute. That's it.. your curry is ready
• Can be served with both roti and rice.

Stir fried Chicken and Honey

Ingredients :

1. Chicken breast
2. Honey
3. Garam Masala
4. Salt, Chilli Powder
5. Green Chilies
6. Vinegar
7. Soy sauce
8. Coriander Powder
9. Coriander and mint leaves
10. Oil

Preparation method :

• Add honey to chicken..6 spoons of honey for half a kg of chicken would be enough..along with garam masala powder,salt,chilli powder,coriander powder and finely chopped mint and coriander leaves. Leave the marinate in fridge for a minimum of 1hr..if kept overnight then it will be more juicy and tasty.
• Add 3 spoons of oil in a pan, the chicken mixture and fry till pieces separate and keep aside.
• Take another pan and add 2 spoons of oil,5 split chillies,two spoons of soy sauce,2 spoons of vinegar and add the fried chicken to this. Stir this continuously for 2 minutes and you get the shiny sweet and spicy chicken.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and a squash of lime juice. Serve hot :)