Saturday, February 21, 2009

Ridge Gourd Curry (Beerakaya Pala Koora)

Using milk for cooking is again prominently done in the Andhra region or south India you will not find it in Taminadu, karnataka or Kerala unless it is a fusion cuisine. In the north milk is used in cooking specifically in making Kurma. But what we are talking about here is a not a curry that has a whole lot of gravy but is very tasty and makes you feel mild after food. The vegetable also contains a lot of fiber hence it is very good for diabetics and people working on reducing cholesterol in the body. Beyond everything else it is very tasty and you will enjoy eating it.



Ridge Gourd Curry (బీరకాయ పాల కూర) (serves 4)
Ridge Gourd - 1 Kg
Onions - 200 gm (3 medium sized)
Green Chillies - 3 or 4
Milk - 1 Glass (100 ml)
Garlic Pods - 4
Red Chillies - 1
Curry leaves - a few
Turmeric - 1/2 tea spoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Cumin - 1/2 tea spoon
Salt - to taste
Oil - 4 table spoons
Garam Masala Powder - 1 pinch

Method:
- Wash all the vegetables
- Peel the skin of the Ridge Gourd, choose tender ones, and dice them into small pieces, about 1 cm squares. Keep them covered with a wet cloth to retain freshness
- Chop the onions into small pieces
- Peel and crush the garlic pods
- Slit green chillies into 4
- Use an Indian wok (Kadai) for the cooking; on high flame
- Heat the oil in the kadai, reduce the flame to medium; add mustard and cumin seeds and let them sparkle; add split dried red chilly and curry leaves and fry for a few seconds
- Add green chillies and fry till they turn white
- Add the onions and fry on medium flame slowly till they turn golden brown, add turmeric powder in between the process; add crushed garlic pods and fry for a minute
- Add the diced ridge gourd pieces and cook covered on medium to slow flame. Keep stirring in between to avoid charring. The vegetable with sweat and make the curry damp, after the vegetable is half done add salt and stir in
- Pour half a glass water and cook covered
- Once the vegetable is finished cooking pour the milk and let is cook for 2 minutes on high flame
- Sprinkle the garam masala powder stir and finish the curry. Turn off the flame and keep it covered

Note: Sprinkle garlic chilly powder (karam podi made with chillies and garlic) instead of garam masala powder for a more authentic Andhra taste

Use the same procedure and replace the vegetable with snake gourd (potla kaya and you will get yet another lovely dish. These vegetables are great for health)

This has a very homely dish and you will relish it completely. I make it at home regularly and none of us are ever bored of it. Enjoy it with Roti for hot rice.

Give me your feedback.

Tomato Dhal (Tomato Pappu)

A typical meal in a Telugu home would contain a pickle made with freshly ground vegetables, a sauteed vegetable curry (Eguru), a dhal or a vegetable gravy curry and curd. In Andhra one will find that a large variety of vegetables are used for daily consumption, like the ridge graoud, snake gourd, bottle gourd, bitter gourd to name a few. Not many other regional cuisine serves these. One may not find these curries being served in restaurants as well. But they are favourites at home.

My entire education happened in a boarding school away from home, I spent 12 years of my school life in a hostel and moved on to study in college again where I stayed on campus and finally did my masters in the United Kingdom.. so probably very few people know the loveliness of home cooked food than I. Whenever I go back home the first things that I used to ask my mom to prepare for a meal were Tomato Dhal and Ridge Gourd Curry (రామ్ములకాయ పప్పు & బీరకాయ కూర).

Here are the recipes, these are again two of the most simple dishes to prepare. They are tasty and healthy (believe me, I studied to be a chef, my graduate level education is a Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology).

Tomato Dhal:
Tomatoes (country variety, choose red and ripe ones) - 1/2 Kg (5 to 6 medium sized)
Split Pigeon Peas (Lentils/Toor Dal/ Kandi Pappu) - 250 gm
Green Chillies - 4 or 5
Tamarind - 5 to 10 gm
Curry Leaves - a few
Turmeric - 1/2 tea spoon
Garlic Pods - 5
Dried red Chillies - 2
Mustrad Seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Asafoetida (Hing/Ingava) - a pinch
Oil - 3 table spoons
salt - to taste

Method:
- Wash the lentils thoroughly and soak them in fresh water
- Chop the tomatoes; wash them, remove the eyes of the tomatoes and make 8 pieces each
- Wash the green chillies; slit them in the center length wise and cut into two; you will get 4 slit pieces of chillies
- Drain the lentils and put them in a pressure pan; add the tomatoes, green chillies, Tamarind, Turmeric powder; pour enough water (2 glasses; or enough to drown all the lentils, not the vegetables). Close the lid of the pressure pan and put it on medium flame. Place the weight on pressure cooker once the steam starts flowing out steadily and continue to cook in medium or slow flame till you hear two whistles.
- Turn off the flame and let the pressure in the pan reduce
- In the meanwhile, clean the curry leaves, peal the garlic and roughly crush the pods
- Once the pressure is released, open the lid of the pressure pan, sprinkle salt and mash all the contents together to form a fine think paste. You will be invited by a mouth watering aroma of lentils, green chillies and tomatoes. Keep it aside.
- In a small vessel (Kadai) prepare the tempering (tadka). Heat the oil in the vessel, oil should be hot not warm, add mustard & cumin seeds, let them sparkle for a few seconds. Break the dried red chillies into two and add them to the oil, add curry leaves and let it sparkle for a few seconds. Now add the Garlic pods and sprinkle asafoetida (hing). Turn of the heat and pour the hot oil and the ingredients on the lentil mixture.
- Mix the contents well, keep it covered.

Serving: Serve hot with hot rice (or roti if you prefer), with melted butter (ghee) and relish with fried rice/veg crisps (vadiyalu - వడియాలు). You will just love it.

Note: The consistency of the Dhal should not be too thick (like cake) or too flowing (like sambhar). To vary the consistency to suit your liking, you can add water to the dhal after it is mixed with salt and boil it for a minute on low flame. Always add the tempering in the last, gives a great flavour.

The next post will have Ridge Gourd curry cooked in milk (Beerakaya Pala Koora).

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Stuffed Brinjal (Egg Plant) - Gutthi Vankai Koora

Stuffed Brinjal or Gutthi Vankai Koora (గుత్తి వంకాయి కూ) is an out and out Andhra speciality again mostly popular in the costal districts of Andhra Pradesh. It is a very simple to cook and delicious to eat. Can be a great combination with the Horse Gram Broth that was mentioned earlier. Invite a telugu person home for a meal and serve him/her this along with some Mango Pickle and Plain Dhal and you can be sure to impress the person.



Recipe - Stuffed Brinjal - Gutthi Vankai Koora: (serves 2)

Brinjals (thin and long; evenly sized) - 8
Tamarind - 20 gm
Mustard Seeds - 1 tea spoon
Cumin Seeds (jeera) - 1 tea spoon
Tymol (Vamu) - 1 tea spoon
White Lentils (Minapappu/Urad Dhal) - 50 gm
Split Black Chick Peas (Senaga Pappu/ Chana Dhal) - 50 gm
Dry red Chilles (long not round) - 3 or 4
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Fenugreek Seeds (Menthulu/ Methi) - 1 tea spoon
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Oil - for frying
A clean string to tie the brinjals.


For additional volume to curry:
Onions - 3 (chop)
Green Chillies - 2 (slice)
Curry Leaves - a few (whole)
Garlic - 3 pods (peeled and roughly ground)
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil to fry onions - 2 tea spoons

Procedure:
- Slit the brinjals length-wise in the center with out seperating at the edge held by the handle of the vegetable. Slit is again length so that it has four seperations held together at the handle. Soak them in water so that the brinjal does not turn dark
- Heat 2 table spoons of oil in a sauce pan, only the oil is heated add mustard seeds, cumin, red chillies, white lentils, slit chick peas, fenugreek and fry till crisp (1 or 2 minutes). Take care to ensure taht they do not get burnt. Add asafoetida, tymol, turmeric and fry for 1 minute and take it off from heat. move ingredients into another vessel and let them cool down
- Add tamarind, salt to the fried ingredients and grind it to a paste/powder
- Fill the stuufing in between the slit brinjals and tie the four flaps together with the string so that the stuffing is held between them. Tie it gently in close to both the ends and center
- In a clean frying pan pour enough oil to fry a quarter the level of the brinjal and heat the oil
- The oil should not be very hot, place the brinjals carefully in it and cook covered on low flame. The vegetable should be cooked slowly to ensure it is evenly done on all sides. Use a wooden spatula to gently turn them while cooking, take them out and let them rest in a platter on tissue paper to absorb the excess oil if any
- In a seperate vessel prepare heat the oil to prepare the onions
- Add green chillies and curry leaves to the heated oil and fry for 1 minute
- Add the chopped onion and garlic and fry till golden brown, add turmeric powder mid-way, add salt to taste. If any of the mixture used for stuffing the brinjals is left that can be added to the onions a minute before finishing up the preparation
- Transfer the onion prepartion over the brinjals and serve hot

* Ensure that threads are gently removed before taking the dish to the table to serve. Serve gently so that the brinjal does not fall apart.

* You can opt not to make the onion preparation if not desired.


Enjoy it with hot rice or eat them directly... Your family & friends will love this.

Horse-Gram Broth (Ulava Charu)

Ok People.. One of the most revered of dishes from coastal Andhra Pradesh, Ulava Charu, it was for long ignored as a working man's food. This dish did not find its way through the homes of the rich and the posh. The reason for this is not that it is considered cheap but because it takes patience and time to make it. It is a difficult dish to master though the process is simple.

But recently you see it is a universal favourite. This is becoming a permanent item on the wedding or function menu where traditional Andhra food is served.

At home eat it with anything you wish, with dosas, idlis, rice... it makes a great combination with fish fry or people that like can relish it with dried fish fry.

Here is a simple recipe:
ULAVA CHARU
Ingredients:
- Black Horse Gram - 500 gm
- Tamarind - 25 gm
- Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tea spoon
- Green Chillies - 25 Gm(can vary as per preference)
- Curry Leaves (dried and powdered) - 2 tea spoons
- Tomatoes (country variety not hybrid) - 50 gm (this can be eliminated based on choice)
- Drum Sticks - 2 Nos
- Salt - to taste

Tempering (Tadka):
- Mustard Seeds - 1 tea spoon
- Cumin - 1 tea spoon
- Dried red Chilly - 1 or 2
- Asafoetida - a pinch
- Sunflower oil - 2 tea spoon

Accompaniments:
- Fresh cream from curd or milk - 100 gm
- Onions - 2 or 3


Procedure:
- clean the horse grams and soak them in water for 4 - 5 hours. The quantity of water should be double that of the grams. (I prefer soaking them overnight)
- remove the soaked grams and put them to boil on very low flame for over 4 -5 hours. keep checking and add water as necessary; there should be enough water to form a thick broth
- In the meanwhile, soak the tamarind in luke warm water; chop tomatoes finely or even crush them to form a paste, slit the green chillies into two, cut the drum sticks into 4 pieces each; peal the garlic pods and roughly crush them
- Once the horse gram boils filter the broth and collect 3 glasses of it; approximately 750 ml
- Extract the paste from the soaked tamarind; mix it with the broth. Add the other ingredients (chopped tomato; garlic; green chillies; turmeric; curry leaf powder; drumsticks; salt) and set it to boil well till it thickens and the raw smell of tomatoes is totally gone
- Take off from blame and rest
- Add tempering and finish off

For Tempering:
- Heat oil till hot; add mustard, cumin, red chillies, asafoetida (Hing) and let them fry in the oil till you hear crackling sound
- Pour over the prepared dish

Serving:
- Serve hot on rice;
- Serve the fresh cream and chopped onions as accompaniments

You can preserve this dish for a couple of weeks in refrigerated conditions. eat it with fried dried fish and you will just love it.. I am already hungry

Give me your comments.. ask me for what you are looking; I will get them for you.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

The Best Food on Earth

Hello Fellow Andhra Food Lovers!!

తింటే గారెలు తినాలి! వింటే భారతం వినాలి! For those who understand this they will know what Telugu food is all about. Telugu people are food lovers, they have a variety of tastes incorporated into their cuisine. Go to Andhra Bhavan in New Delhi and you my have to wait for about half an hour or more to get a place to be seated. Such is the popularity of Andhra food.

Generally Andhra people are spice lovers, they use a variety of spices commonly found all over India and mostly the way they use their green chillies to bring the mouth watering flavour and taste to the food is amazing. Andhra food is known to be hot, I would say in Andhra "hot" is a taste, it does not burn your tounge, it tickles your senses making you crave for more.

Andhra people are known for their hospitality because of how generously they serve their guest and the variety they serve. The way food in Andhra is eaten is very different from the way the rest of the South Indian states do. If you visit Tamilnadu or Kerala or Karnataka you will see that they start of with sambhar and mix the curry along with it and eat. This way there need not be a distinct taste to those that curry all you can taste is the sambhar or the rasam or kurambu (charu/pulusu).

But that is not the way you will find Andhra food to be. Each item on the menu is eaten separately and savoured with great love for it. The menu like all South Indian dishes has rice, Andhra people use Sona Masuri as their primary choice. It has a better texture, smell and sweet taste. The rest of the menu consists of Pickle, Chutney, Pan Fried Vegetable, Vegetable Curry in Tomato Gravy, Dhal, Sambhar or Rasam, Curd. All this accompanied by fried Papad or Pumpkin Crisps. ... Umm mouth watering.

The Non vegetarian food that you get in Andhra has no comparison, it is by-far the best. The best place to have a good taste of it is not at a hotel or a restaurant but a Telugu home. The Chicken Curry, Chicken Fry, Mutton curry, Prawn fry or Coastal Fish Curry will make you wonder as to how these magical tastes are created. Frankly no one has mastered the blend of spices like a Telugu person has.

Most envious of the cuisine would be the pickles and chutneys, without argument everyone would agree that the world's best pickles and chutneys come from Andhra. They are known world wide. Pickles are preserved in gingelly oil and chutney are freshly ground each day from vegetables and relished, they are the best.

So dear friends look out for this space for the lovely Andhra Recipes that are coming here soon.