Puffed Poori

Ask any Indian Kid for their favorite break fast item, I bet, most of them start with Poori, dosa and on goes the list. My generation had grown up on this as a favorite and now it is my kids  generation favorite too…It is amazing how recipes stay favorite as they travel generations and generations. Kudos to who ever came up with the recipe.

I used to cook it infrequently before having kids. But now, I cook it at least once every week or every other week.

If any one notice, making poori is much easier and faster than chapathi. The skill is all in kneading the dough and having the right temp of the oil to make them puff. The dough should not stick to your hands but should be comfortable enough to work. If the dough sticks to hands then it is little soft and will sip some unwanted extra oil. Dust some more flour and knead it until it is no more sticky. If it is too tight , it will be flaky and will be real hard to work through, just sprinkle 1/2 tsp at a time of water/milk and work through for the right consistency.

TIP- When doing deep fries, Add a little salt to hot oil, it will prevent foods from absorbing oil. Make sure that the salt doesn’t stick to pooris otherwise they will be salty.

Ingredients

• 2 cups chapathi/wheat/aata flour
• 1/2 cup water/milk
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Take flour in a big comfortable mixing bowl. Add salt and mix it well.
2. Add water / milk and mix it well to form a non sticky dough (if it is too tough, it will be flaky and will be hard to work with, just sprinkle 1/2 tsp of milk and knead)
3. Rest the dough for at least 15 min.
4. Make small key lemon size balls out of the dough. keep covered to prevent from forming a cake.
5. Add 2 drops oil on the rolling pin.
6. Take a ball and roll it with the pin to form a thin even disc.
7. Note-If the dough is too soft, it will stick to the rolling pin. If it is too hard, just rub couple drops of oil on it and start kneading.
8. In the mean time, add oil to a deep frying pan (never deep fry in non stick pans, it will release toxins) and put it on a medium high heat as we are working with the dough.
9. Once all the dough is rolled up. It is time to do pooris.
10. Make sure the oil is hot enough (when the oil is hot, we see little strikes moving at the bottom. now, drop a small dough, it will sink and should rise right upwards. If it takes a few sec to rise, oil is not hot enough. When the oil is not hot enough, pooris don’t puff up) and add one rolled out dough.
11. When the pooris are raising to the top, with a slotted spoon, gently push them downward to create little pressure which will make them puff. When one side is light gold color, turn them to the other side and fry till the other side.
12. With a slotted spoon take the fried puffed poori out and continue with the process with all the remaining dough.
13. Enjoy it with punjabi chole or Andhra poori koora that I will post latter.

Poori Served With Chole

Bambino/Semya Pulihora

Simple recipes are something I so look forward during week days as they are a jiffy to make and stands top in the lunch box menu list. Feels light and energetic at work. we can have this as breakfast,Brunch,lazy/quick/light Meal.

Ingredients-

• 1 cup Semiya (Bambino/ vermicelli)
• 1 big Lemon
• 1 tbsp salt
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 2 tbsps ground nuts
• 5 cashew nuts
• 2 tbsps bengal gram
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 2 dry red chilies
• 4 green chilies
• 1 stalk of curry leaves
• pinch of asafoetida
• 2 tbsp oil

Directions-

1. Squeeze lemon juice into a small bowl and add 1 tsp of salt to avoid any bitter taste from lemon.
2. Take 4 cups of water in a bowl and boil it. When the water starts boiling add 1/4tsp salt and 1/2 tsp oil. After a min, add Bambino/ Semiya /Vermicelli.
3. When semiya gets boiled ( 3- 5mins) switch off and strain it. After straining pour plenty of cool water on it to avoid further cooking. Also add ¼ tsp of oil and toss it to prevent any sticking.
4. Heat a non stick skillet when the oil is hot enough, add mustard seeds, when they crack, add jeera, urad dal (Mina pappu), Bengal gram (senaga pappu), ground nuts, cashews, dry red chilly, and asafetida. Fy them till the lentils turn little brown.
5. Add Curry leaves and turmeric. Fry them for few seconds.
6. Add the strained semiya (vermicelli) to the tadka and immediately add squeezed lemon juice, salt (if needed) and mix well.
7. Serve hot or at warm.

Brussel stir fry

Many of us don’t know how to cook brussel sprouts till I dared to cook it today. I was little skeptical initially but gave it a shot anway and we enjoyed it very much. I usually use seasonal American vegetables during winter season, but I been little sensitive to this brussel sprouts. Every one describes them as mini cabbages and I don’t disagree with them. Infact I would add a point to it saying they are mini cabbges with a deep flavor. Add less spices to enjoy its taste. It goes very well as a side to rasam or sambar or any dal dish.
Brussels sprouts can be cooked in many ways, like stir frying, boilied or roasted.

Ingredients-

• 12-15 Brussels sprouts (Frozen or Fresh)
• 1 medium onion, diced thinly
• salt as per taste
• 11/2 tbsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin/jeera/jeelakara
• 1 tsp mustard seeds/rai/avaallu
• 2-3 dried red chillies, roughly torn into two pieces
• 3-4 curry leaves
• 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
• 2 tbsps roasted chick pea powder (Senagapodi) / Roasted spiced peanut powder

Brussel stir fry

Directions

1. Clean the brussels sprouts, remove any loose leaves, chop them into bite size and boil them in microwave for 5 min with lid covered.
2. Heat 2 tbsps oil in a heavy bottom pan, add mustard and jeera. When they splutter, add garlic, red chilies and curry leaves.
3. Add onions and a dash of salt to sweat them. When they turn little pink, add boiled brussel sprouts.
4. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Add salt and chili powder, sauté it for another 2 mins. Sprinkle some water, cover and cook it further till the brussel sprouts are well cooked.
5. Lastly add roasted chick pea powder (Senagapodi) / Roasted spiced peanut powder
   and cook for another two minute until it is mixed well.
6. Enjoy with steam rice with rasam or dal or roti.

Brussel sprouts stir fry

Crunchy munchy Spring Rolls

Any Crunchy-munchy snack or appetizer is welcome on these cold and holiday season. Here is my delicious and super-easy to make spring roll recipe! The filling is made up of lots of fresh healthy vegetables and is one of the best craved vegetarian appetizers. Get your kids to help with rolling them up – it’s fun to do. But even if you’re making them solo, you’ll find these spring rolls quick and easy to make. Excellent as an appetizer, ENJOY!

• 1 package spring roll wrappers (look for them in the freezer section of your any Asian/Chinese food store)
• 1 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying, + approx. 1 cup canola or other oil for frying
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 red or green chili, minced (optional)
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• ½ cup finely diced celery (optional)
• ½ cup shredded carrots
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sugar

Spring Roll step by step process

Preparation:

1. Remove Spring roll wrappers from freezer and allow them to thaw while you prepare the filling.
2. Mix  soya sauce and sugar together in a cup. Set aside.
3. Place a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Swirl 1 Tbsp. oil around the pan, then add garlic and chili. Stir-fry 30 seconds to release the fragrance.
4. Add all the veggies and stir-fry for 2 minutes, or until cabbage has softened slightly add soya sauce and sugar mixture and mix them well until the whole mixture is dried up.
5. Peel and separate 3 spring roll wrappers at one time from the package and place on a clean, dry surface. With one of the pointy edges facing you, place about 1 heaping Tbsp. of the stir-fry in the center of the first wrapper.
6. Roll it tightly to cover the filling and Fold the sides of the wrapper over the filling, then roll up from the bottom. Pinch the center (if necessary) to create a round, sausage-like roll (not flat). Secure the end of the roll by brushing on a little water.
7. Continue rolling in this way until all the filling has been used up. As you work, place finished rolls on a plate and cover with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out.
8. Heat oil in a frying pan over med-high heat. Oil should be about 1 inch deep. When oil starts to form thin moving lines across the bottom of the pan, turn down heat slightly.
9. When oil is ready, carefully slide spring rolls in, or place them in oil with tongs. Allow to cook 1 minute (or until golden brown) then use tongs to turn and cook the other side.
10. Place cooked spring rolls on a clean cloth or paper towel to drain.

Serve hot with any Sweet Chili Sauce as a dip. I served these to my kid with ketchup and he loved it.

Spring rolls

Shrimp (prawn) fry

I love sea food, mainly shrimp (prawns / Royallu) and fish(with shrimp being my most favorite).  It is really hard to find fresh sea food here in US. For years I cooked using the frozen cooked shrimp but that did not satisfied me. After trying these “raw brown shell on shrimp” from sams, I never craved for home fresh sea food any more. It really satisfied my sea food cravings. Shrimps really cooks fast. Once they turn pinkish white, curls and turn opaque that means they are done. If your shrimps turn rubbery solid and hard to crack that means you have overcooked them! For all my Non veggie recipes, I use fresh ground garam masala powder that gives immense flavor for the whole dish. Even though shrimp is high in cholesterol, once a while pampering our self with the foods we love is ok

Ingredients:

• 25-30 shrimps, fresh or frozen
• 1 big onion diced
• 3 green chilies
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• cloves
• tbsp red chili powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric/haldi
• 1 tbsp coriander (dhaniya) powder (optional)
• 1 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
• Cilantro/kothambir,roughly chopped for garnishing
• 1tbsp garam masala powder (coriander seeds, cinnamon, cloves roasted slightly and grounded to powder)
• Salt as per taste
• 1 stalk of curry leaves
• 10 cashew nut halves (optional)

  Directions-

1. For this recipe, I used “Frozen raw brown shrimp on shell” I found in sams club. So, when using frozen shrimps thaw them at room temperature and de vein them and clean under running tap water. Add a tsp of salt, chili powder, 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste and let it sit while we start with the recipe.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon stick, cloves. Let it sauté for a min, then add cashew nuts, let it sauté till they turn slight brown.
3. Add onions and green chilies, add a pinch of salt to sweat the onions and then add finely chopped curry leaves. This is the main ingredient that gives flavor to this dish.
4. Add turmeric/haldi, ginger- garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell is gone.
5. Add  shrimp, crainder powder, salt, chili powder and mix well so that all spices are blended together, cover and cook for 6-7 mins on medium flame.
6. When the shrimp is almost cooked, cook it further with out the lid, so that all the water evaporates and the curry becomes almost dry. Adjust the taste if needed.
7. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander and serve with steam rice or pulav.
   

   Prawns /Royyala Fry

Stuffed Egg plant (brinjal) / Guthi Vankaaya

When talking about Andhra vegetarian Cuisine, Gutti Vankaya or Stuffed eggplant cuury is the one that will surely jog your memory. It is usually made with tender, short and round egg plants (brinjal) be it a white or green or purple (your choice of color) the taste is pure fiery heaven.

There are numerous ways of making this curry, but this is my moms recipe and our family favorite.

A part from its wonderful taste, this recipe provides a very healthy meal, as  it is loaded with protein packed peanuts and calcium rich sesame seeds. A good reason to make this dish more often in every ones house.

My family likes this with simple veggie pulav.

Tip: Adding peanuts (ground nuts) and sesame seeds (nuvvulu) enhances the taste and gives a nice nutty flavor which is the key to the curry.

Ingredients-

• 12 small round egg plants (Brinjals)
• 1 large Onion diced
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
• lemon size tamarind ( soak and extract the pulp) or 2 tbsp of Tamarind paste
• 1/2 cup roasted Peanuts (Dry Roast and grind the peanuts)
• ¼ cup Sesame Seeds / Nuvvulu (Dry Roast and grind the sesame seeds)
• ½ inch cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1tbsp Garam masala powder
• Salt to taste
• 4 green chilies
• 11/2 tbsp red chili powder or adjust to taste
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• ½ tsp cumin
• 3tbsps Oil
• Coriander leaves for garnishing

Note- you can grind roasted peanuts and sesame seeds together

Stuffed baby green (Thai) eggplants curry

Directions-

1. For this recipe, I use pressure cooker. I know!!! Many of you might be rolling your eyes, but I bet this method makes it very easy and you can’t find one hard uncooked piece of eggplant, cooked in this way. This method may be new to you but, it is worth a try, the results are very satisfying.
2. Wash and cut egg plants (brinjals) from the opposite side of stem. Make a slit towards stem side but not all the way through i.e slit each brinjal into four sections lengthwise without cutting off the crown. Soak the slit brinjals in salt water.
3. Heat oil in pressure cooker. Add cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf and cumin. Sauté them for few seconds.
4. Add onions, green chilies and fry them till onion tunrs little brown, add ginger garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell is gone.
5. Add brinjals to the cooker and sauté them on medium heat for 3-5 mins (if it burning, sprinkle little water to protect from burning)
6. Add the peanut and sesame powder. Sauté it for a min. Add tamarind pulp, salt and chili powder.
7. Cover and cook them until one whistle on medium heat. Let all the pressure release by itself.
8. Open the lid, adjust the taste and cook it further for 3 mins.
9. Add garam masala powder and cook it further till oil separates.
10. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it with steamed rice or roti or pulav.
    

    Guthi Vankaaya curry served with pulav

Curd (Yogurt) rice / Dadhojanam

Being an Andhrite, we end our meals with a dollop of curd that is usually mixed with rice. Today, I craved for this fruit flavored curd rice that tastes so yummy and delectable.

Yogurt seasoned with little spicy tempering and fruity flavor that seeps into the creamy yogurt is an absolute heart winner. A key aspect of curd rice has always been the freshly set soft and smooth home made yogurt.

I got some pomegranate and saved one for this recipe. The color looks so tempting and tastes wonderful as we bite into each seed.

Ingredients-

• 2cups cooked Rice
• 4 cups Curd (Yogurt)
• 1cup Milk
• 1 Whole pomogranate seeds
• 1 apple diced into small cubes (Optional)
• Grapes (optional)
• Pineapple (Optional)
• 1 tbsp Urad dal
• 1tbsp Chana dal
• 1 tsp whole peppercorns (Optional)
• ½ inch Ginger finley grated
• 10 Green chilies or to taste
• 4 Red chilies or to taste
• 10 Cashew nuts halved
• 2 tbsps oil
• hand full of Curry leaves
• Salt to taste

Curd rice with Pomogranate / Jewel rice

Directions-

Mash the cooked rice liberally to make it soft . Add curd (yogurt) in excess as rice tends to absorb it. Now, add milk to the curd rice (it stops the curd rice from turning sour), as it gives a more creamy flavor. Add salt to taste and set it aside.

Heat 2tbsp of oil in a Kadai and add mustard seeds once they pop up add urad dal , chana dal , pepper, green chilli pieces , red chillies , grated ginger and fry till all the ingredients are well fried.

Add cashews and fry till they are slightly brown.Add curry leaves and set a side.

To the curd (yougrt) rice, add all desired fruits. Now add the tempering and mix well. Serve it at room temp by itself or with lemon pickle.

Milk and Curd can be added more in quantity if desired

Pomogranate Curd rice served with raw onions

Nan_Khatai

Nan khatai is an egg-less light and crispy biscuit that’s loved by all ages and mainly kids.

With the holidays around, my kids day care had a thanks giving feast and I sent these cookies for their class. They came out pretty good and are liked by all. My Whole house smelled so nice. After some heavy cooking, end your cooking by sticking these cookies in the oven, it automatically freshens your house with a nice aroma from the cardamoms. No need of any room fresheners.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup all purpose flour (plain flour or maida)
• 1/3 cup fine sooji or semolina ( Sooji used for making upma will not do good in this recipe, If you use coarse sooji, as you bite into the cookie, you feel the coarse texture of sooji, it is highly recommended to use fine sooji)
• 1/2 cup gram flour (besan)
• Pinch of baking soda (a little less than 1/8 teaspoon)
• 1/4 teaspoon green cardamom seed coarsely powder (elachi)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter ( Do Not Melt)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon coarsely powdered almond

Nan Khatai process

Directions-

1. Pre heat the oven to 375 degree.
2. In a bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, gram flour, sooji, baking soda and cardamom powder and set aside.
3. Let the butter come to room temperature (butter should be soft not melted)
4. Add butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat for two to three minutes until light and fluffy.
5. Add the flour mix to butter and sugar mixture and knead them together to make smooth dough.
6. Divide the dough into equal parts and make them into balls.
7. Press each ball between your palms lightly; every piece should be about 3/4″ in thickness.
8. With a sharp knife softly draw a tic-tac-toe design on the top and put few pieces of almonds and pistachios and press them into the dough gently.
9. Put Nan khatai on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 13 to 15 minutes or until Nan khatai are lightly gold brown.
10. After they are lightly golden brown remove the cookie sheet from the oven.  Let the Nan Khatais cool down for two to three minutes before taking them off the cookie sheet.

Nan Khatai (Indian Egg less biscuits)

Mushroom peas curry

I love the Indian straw mushrooms that appear in the market during the monsoon season. The earthy mushrooms taste heavenly. My dad and I particularly love this curry. I remember my dad getting these mushrooms from the market (that’s the only thing he usually gets from market) and expects my mom to cook them right away. I call them the edible pearls.

Those earthy mushrooms taste heavenly compared to the artificially grown cultivated mushrooms. In US, I have wide variety of cultivated mushrooms but I really use only the button mushrooms. Portobello mushrooms are more matured and tough.

Today, I made this button mushroom with peas curry and it turned out to be finger licking good. Here is the recipe

Ingredients-

• 16 oz of small button Mushrooms (if they are little big, cut them into desirable size)
• 1/2 cup peas ( I use frozen peas)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
• 2 Cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1/4 tbsp turmeric
• 11/2 tbsp Red Chili Powder
• 1 tbsp garam masala powder (home made pawder gives an excellent flavor to the dish)
• 1 stalk of curry leaves
• Coriander Leaves to garnish

Button Mushrooms

Directions-

1. Wash and cut the mushrooms into small pieces or you can quarter the mushrooms
2. Heat 2 tbsps of oil in a pressure pan. Add cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin and sauté them for few seconds. Add onions, chilies to the oil and fry till they get golden brown.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for a min till the ginger garlic paste leaves the raw smell. Add tomatoes and sauté it till tomatoes are soft and mushy.
4. Add peas, mushrooms, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt to taste and cook them for about 5 minutes.
5. Mushroom ozzes water. Close the lid and let it whistle 2 times.
6. Let the pressure pan cool by itself.
7. Open the lid, adjust the taste if needed and cook the curry further till most of the water evaporates
8. When the curry reaches the desired consistency, add garam masala powder and let it cook until oil starts oozing out, turn off the stove.
9. Add fresh chopped coriander leaves for garnishing and serve it with pulav, steamed rice or roti.

Note- If you dont like peas, skip it, use the recipe as the base and adjust to your taste.

Mushroom curry

Vegetable Fried rice

In our house fried rice is a quick meal any time of the day, sometimes we eat it for breakfast/brunch on weekends and in very busy days it satisfies us at dinner time. Fried rice is my family favorite way of eating rice and vegetables.

This recipe is very easy to make as the ingredients are simply stir fried for few mins, that not only retains their crunch but also their nutrition. Cooking with a medley of colored vegetables gives a great color and an immense flavor to the dish. For me,the more variety of veggies, the better it taste.

I love broccoli and started to introduce it to my kids. I am glad, my Elder one loved it, I have to work little more with my younger one.

Ingredients-

• cups cooked rice (cooled to room temp)
• 1 small onions cut length wise (optional)
• 1 carrot cut in an angle
• 1 stalk celery  cut at angle
• 1 Red bell pepper cut in strips
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1 cup broccoli florets washed and cut
• 10 sugar snap peas cut in half
• green onions chopped to an angle
• garlic cloves finely minced
• eggs
• Salt and pepper according to taste
• 2 tbsps sesame oil
• 4 dry red chilies or to taste ( for todays recipe, my DH wants to have extra spicy, so I put in mix of dry red chilies and thai green chilies)
• 1/4cup Soya sauce
• Note- You can substitute frozen vegetables instead of fresh

Vegetable Fried rice ingredients

Directions-

1. Heat the  wok or a wide skillet to smoking hot, add oil and sauté red chilies(if using green chilies, good time to add them to), garlic for few seconds
2. Add onions, white part of green onions, carrots, bell pepper, celery and sauté them for 2 mins on high heat with constant stirring.
3. If the pan is wide enough to push the vegetables to a side do so (if not, remove the veggies to another plate) and in the middle of the pan, crack eggs and make a quick scrambled egg and mix well with all the veggies ( make sure the veggies are not over cooked, we want to retain the crunch)
4. Add broccoli, sugar snaps, sauté them for 2 mins.
5. Add cooked, cooled rice, pepper (if needed) and mix well. Add soya sauce and stir-fry rice till everything is mixed well. Adjust the taste if needed.
6. Garnish with spring onions and serve warm.

Vegetable Fried rice (Indo- Chinese fried rice)