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Mango Rice (maamidikaaya chitraanamu)

Peel of the outer layer of mango and grate into a fine pulp.  Cook the rice and transfer while hot into a wide steel dish. Spread uniformly and make a small trough at the centre. Pour the grated mango pulp into the trough and cover with rice. Sprinkle fenugreek powder and salt.

Pour sesame seed oil into a frying pan and heat. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. After they crackle, add, groundnuts, split black beans and split Bengal gram fry to light golden colour. Add red chilli pieces, turmeric powder and finally asafoetida. (Time is the essence here. Sense of proper seasoning comes out of experience!). Remove the pan from over the fire and pour onto the rice. Allow 5 minutes. Mix the rice thoroughly (be careful it may be still hot).

Your mango rice (maamidikaya chtraannamu) is ready.

Onion pacchhi pulusu

First take all the ingredients needed for gojju podi in a frying pan and roast them lightly in a little groundnut oil. Then fine powder in a mixer. Keep this gojju podi aside. 

Soak the tamarind in hot water for 20 minutes.

Grate the onions and the green chillies into fine pulp.

Pour groundnut oil into a frying pan and heat. Add mustard seeds. After they crackle, add, split black beans and split Bengal gram fry to light golden colour. Transfer the fine pulp of onion and green chillies. Fry to reddish hue. Reduce the flame. Add salt and turmeric powder. Mix. Squeeze the tamarind kept for soaking to get tamarind juice. If needed pour some more water and squeeze thoroughly. Add the juice and the jaggary into the contents of frying pan. Allow to cook. Add curry leaves and 2 teaspoons of gojju podi. Mix thoroughly and cool. Thorough cooking is indicated when oil starts floating. Remove and transfer into a bowl. Onion pacchhi pulusu is ready for serving.

Enjoy with rice or chapathi.

Gongura pachhadi   

First of all, rinse and wash the gongura leaves thoroughly under running water. Spread them over a dry cloth for removing water.

In a frying pan add a little groundnut oil. Add chillies, coriander seeds, asafetida, mustards and fenugreek seeds and dry roast them (do not burn!Put them aside

Now add fresh groundnut oil in the frying pan and then add gongura. Fry over slim fire. Mix thoroughly. Gongura gets fried fast and becomes a lump. Remove the gongura lump.

In a mixer, add the dry roasted stuff from step 2. Add salt, turmeric powder and the gongura lump and grind thoroughly.

Collect in a bowl to serve the tasty Gongura pachhadi.

Instead of dry red chillies, one can use green chillies also for this pachhadi.

People fond of onions, may cut onions into tiny pieces and sprinkle over gongura pachhadi and eat along with rice.

Pulusu Podi                           

1. Add a little oil into the frying pan and the ingredients 1-7 (as shown above) and subject to mild roast. Keep them aside.

2. Next dry roast the dry red chillies (be careful they are pungent. Wear some protection to nose if you are allergic). Keep them aside for cooling.

Transfer the roasted red chillies  into a mixer and grind them to medium. Then add the roasted stuff from step-1. Grind thoroughly to fine powder.

Store the Pulusu podi in an air-tight bottle or dabba. Use 2 tablespoons full every time you prepare pulusu.

Bombai Chutney

1. Add a little water to the curd and churn it vigorously. Add turmeric powder, salt and Bengal gram flour and mix thoroughly. Keep aside.

2. Add groundnut oil into a frying pan. After it is heated, add the seasoning material. When they start turning reddish, add cut onion pieces, cut green chillies and cut tomato.

3. allow them to soften.

4. Slowly add to the contents of the frying pan with continuous mixing the curd mixture from step 1. DO NOT stop mixing until the entire curd mixture is transferred. Reduce the flame to simmer.

5. Add curry leaves and coriander leaves. The material starts curdling. DO NOT allow complete curdling.

6. Remove the pan from over the flame. Transfer the contents into a bowl.

7. Eat with chapathi or puri.

Tomato Pachhadi

Wash the tomatoes under running water, wipe with a clean cloth and keep aside for drying. Cut them into small pieces.

Pour sesame oil into a frying pan and heat. After oil gets heated add mustards, asafetida and dry red chilli pieces. Mix.

Slowly add the tomato cut pieces. Mix and allow them to mild fry.

Take tamarind and add bit by bit over the frying tomatoes.

Add turmeric powder and salt. Mix. Reduce the flame to simmer. Close the lid.

Intermittently remove the lid and mix the contents. The mix starts becoming viscous.

Add fenugreek powder and red chilli powder. Mix thoroughly. Close the lid.

That the tomato pachhadi is ready can be understood when you see oil drops floating on the mass.

Remove the pan from over the fire.  Transfer the contents into a bowl.

It is a versatile pachhadi. Take with any stuff: rice, chapathi, paratha or puri.

Curry leaf podi

Clean the curry leaves with water and dry them over a clean cloth for about 30 minutes.

In a frying pan add 1-teaspoon groundnut oil. Heat.  Add split Bengal grams, split black grams and black peppers and oil roast them.

Add another ½ teaspoon oil, curry leaves and asafetida. Mix the contents. You get the sweet flavour of curry leaves.

Then add another ½ teaspoon oil, and tamarind bit by bit. Oil roast the contents until they become dry brittle.

Carefully transfer the contents to a mixer grinder. Add turmeric powder and salt. Grind to fine powder. Your curry powder is ready.

Eat with hot rice. It tastes superb.

Alasanada-Bajji

First soak alasandalu in water for 4 to 5 hours. Drain the water and grind to fine dough in a grinder. Sprinkle water as needed during grinding to get fine dough. DO NOT add too much water. The dough does not come out correctly.

Add to the dough, the cut onion pieces, green chillie pieces and salt. Knead uniformly.

Make large marble size spheres out of the kneaded dough.

Add oil into a skittle (frying pan) and heat.

Fry the dough spheres in the heated oil. Carefully turn them with a perforated ladle around for uniform frying to reddish colour.

After frying, remove them from oil carefully.

Eat with tomato pachhadi.

Common bajjis

First soak the split black grams in water for 4 to 5 hours. Drain the water and grind to fine dough in a grinder. Sprinkle water as needed during grinding to get fine dough. DO NOT add too much water. The dough does not come out correctly.

Take out the dough in a bowl, add semolina, maida flour and baking soda. Knead thoroughly to uniformity. Add water as necessary during kneading. Kneaded dough should be able to be shaped into small lemon size spheres.

Ferment for 3 to 4 hours.

Add the onion cut pieces, green chillie cut pieces, grated coriander leaves and salt. Mix thoroughly.

Add oil into a skittle (frying pan) and heat.

Fry the dough spheres in the heated oil. Carefully turn them with a perforated ladle around for uniform frying to reddish colour.

After frying, remove them from oil carefully.

Eat with any pachhadi.

Rasgulla (courtesy a Bengali friend)

You need a neat muslin cloth

Heat milk in a pan and bring it to slow-boil. Remove scum from top. Reheat to boiling point. Add citric acid or lemon juice or vinegar.

Stir slowly and gently until white curd forms on the surface and separates from whey.
Now spread the muslin cloth over a wide-mouth bowl. Hold it and carefully pour out the curdled milk on to the cloth.

On straining this milk in muslin cloth, the curd that is obtained is called "chenna". Wash chenna well under cold running water and twist the cloth to extract water completely.

Knead chenna to make smooth even dough.

(Take care to avoid oozing of fat from chenna during kneading operation. To avoid this, especially in summer, the vessel in which the kneading is done is kept on a tray containing ice or chilled water. If required a small quantity of maida may be added to avoid cracks in the finished rasgullas.)

Add flour and cardamom powder and knead again to mix them thoroughly.

You may take a single raisin or small cashew or even a single cardamom seed, put it in the middle and wrap dough over it. Now make small balls by gently rolling between your palms. Balls must be of equal size.

(The consistency of the kneaded mass should be such that when made into small balls, it has a smooth surface without any signs of cracks.)

Keep them aside.

Next make sugar syrup. Mix sugar and water in a saucepan and bring it to boil.

Add chenna balls to the syrup and cook for 15 minutes with lid partially covered. Chenna dumplings will puff up. Put the balls in half of the boiling syrup for 10-15 minutes over medium heat. When the balls float to the surface, remove from heat.

The softness of rasgulla depends on how well you knead the chenna. The more you knead, the spongier will be the rasgullas. Drain and put the rasgullas in the remaining syrup.

On cooling, add rose essence or saffron, or you may even garnish with chopped pistachios.

Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Saggubiyyam upma

Wash saggubiyyam in water thoroughly. Drain out the water. Leave for 3 hours.

Mild roast the groundnuts. Grind them in a grinder to fine powder. Keep aside the powder.

Deep-fry the potato pieces in sufficient oil. Keep them aside.

Add 3-4 spoons of fresh oil in the skillet for seasoning. Add the seasoning ingredients.

After seasoning, add the soaked saggubiyyam into the skillet. Mix thoroughly.

Add salt and again ix thoroughly. Cover the skillet with a lid. Keep it over a low flame for 5 minutes.

Intermittently keep mixing.

Towards the end add the fried potato pieces and groundnut powder. Mix thoroughly.

Your Saggubiyyam upma is ready or serving.

One variety of Samosa

(Courtesy by an acquaintance. It was not prepared at our house)

Mix all  the stuffing ingredients (stuffing mix)

Add salt for taste to the Maida flour. Add a little oil and knead into dough. Make small round pieces out of the dough.

Roll the rounds to chapatti size and cook on a griddle (Chapatti Penam)

Cut these Maida chapattis into three long pieces

Make cone shape from the cut pieces of Maida chapatti.

Slowly stuff the cone with stuffing mix. Roll the edges over the stuffing mix delicately in the form a triangle.

Close the edges with Maida dough.

Deep-fry the triangles in oil to reddish hue.

Samosas are ready.

Pudina (mint) Chutney

Soak the tamarind in little water and keep aside.

Heat oil in pan and add the seasoning seeds (urad dal, cumin, mustard seeds,

fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds). Fry them slightly and keep aside.

3. Fry the chopped green chillies.

4. Fry the mint leaves in little oil.

5. Blend the seasoning seeds and green chillies in blender.

6. Add fried pudina leaves and blend again.
7. Add grated coconut, soaked tamarind and blend again. Lastly, add the mashed

garlic cloves and blend.

This chutney tastes great with hot rice or dosas.

Brinjal-Tomato Curry

to serve 4

(Courtesy: Manohari)