Dondakaya Ullii Paatoli Vepudu (Tindora/Ivygaurd with fried onions)

 

Ivy gaurd also known as Tindora (hindi) , Dondakaaya (Telugu) and kovakkay (Tamil) is one of my favourite dish.

Best thing about this receipe is its crispy, tasty, less oily and can be prepared in just 15 minutes. Tindora or ivy gaurd pieces coated with dry coconut powder, chilly powder and crispy fried onions makes it a lip smacking dish and will surely be a good feast to the vegetarian lovers.

Ingredients
Tindora - 1 pound
Fried onions (readily available in indian stores) - Half cup (take a standard dessert bowl)
Salt - required
Coriander - finely chopped - quarter bowl
Red chillies - 4
Mustard seeds - 1 Tspoon
Udad dal small - 2 Tspoons
Curryleaves - 4
Oil - 2 tspoons Procedure:

• Wash tindora under running water and chop them in to small rounds or your desired cuts.
• Now cook the slices in microwave for about 5 mints. Strain the excess water from the cooked slices and keep them a side.
• Take a shallow non stick frying pan and pour 2 spoons of oil. Once oil gets heated, add udad dal and mustard seeds. Once mustard seeds crackle, add red chillies and curry leaves.
• Now add cooked tindora pieces to the same mixture and stir on a low flame. Cover the lid and let it cook for 10 minutes or until tindora pieces starts turning pale brown.
• Now add salt, dry coconut powder, chilly powder and stir for a minute and then add half a cup of fried onions (adding onions at the end keeps the fry crispy) , finely chopped coriander and stir for another more minute.
• Yummy hot crispy tindora curry is ready in a jiffy!
• This curry goes well with rice accompanied with sambar or any lentil.

Srilankan Fish Curry

 

Tea time snacks (Bajji masala and corn scoop chatpata)

Bajji masala takes simple aloo/aratikaayabajji (potatoe/plantain slices coated with batter and deep fried) to a next level with its mouthwatering stuffing sweetly called masala. This yummy recipe is associated with many childhood sweet memories. On a rainy day, mom used to makes bajjis with aloo/plantain and dad used to add real flavor masala to them. Bajji stuffed with masala (mixture of onions, salt, red chilly powder, sesame/till powder, chat masala and lemon juice) will sure be a tonguetizer and no one can eat just one.

Ingredients

Potatoes/plantain (cut them in to 1/4 thick round slices) - 1

Salt - 1 tspoon

Turmeric - 1 tspoon

Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tspoon

Baking soda (optional) - pinch

Chilly powder - 1 tspoon

Masala for stuffing

Sesame seeds powder - 1/2 tspoon

Onion (diced) - 1

Salt, Lime juice and chilly powder - for sprinkling as desired

Chat masala - 1/2 tspoon

Procedure

• Peel the skin off the potatoes/plantain and slice them to 1/4 inch thick rounds. Leave them in a bowl of cold water while you prepare the batter for bajjis.
• In a bowl, combine besan, chilli powder, salt, baking soda with enough water to make a slightly thick smooth batter. Keep consistency more like that of a idly batter. Set aside.
• In a deep pan, heat oil till piping hot. Reduce the flame to medium. Dip each potato or plantain slice in the wet batter till well coated and gently drop into the oil. Fry all pieces to golden brown in small batches taking care of not over-crowding the pan.
• When the bajjis start turning golden brown in color, increase the flame and let them fry for another minute. Remove and drain on a kitchen towel.
• Take each bajji, make a slit and stuff in the masala and serve! No one can eat just one!

Corn Scoop Chatpata (mexican scoops with desi chatpata fillings)
I had left over bajji batter and had no potatoe/plantain slices left. So, I made smaller than the bite size bajjis/pakodas with no veggies inside. These tiny bajjis were yummy and thought it could be a great fillers. I was left with few corn scoops, so used them as base and filled them with tiny pakodas and masala and enjoyed!
For the base, we need Tostitos corn scoops (available in walmart/any super market). Spread the corn scoops on a plate. If you have no corn scoops, you may substitute with any chips/fryums that are in scoop kind of shape or you may even use desi vadiyams/small papads as desired.

Procedure
Spread the corn scoops on a plate. Now fill in each corn scoop with tiny bajjis, onion cubes, coriander leaves, tomato ketchup, hot mustard/chilly sauce and chat masala. Sprinkle little lime on top and serve!

Chivda Chat (Bhel Puri style) (Poha/Rice flakes/Atukulu mixture chat)

This is a most simplest and yummy recipe. In my childhood, during summer holidays, mom used to treat us with spicy, crispy and yummy chivda chat (mixture chat) followed by homemade icecream/juice. You can prepare chivda and preserve fresh for almost 10 days. Just before eating, take the required mixture and add onions, savory and sprinkle lemon for a great chat touch!

Ingredients
Poha thin - 1 lb
Peanuts - 1 cup
Cashews - 1/4 cup
Roasted chana dal/daliya/putnaalu - 1 cup
Corn flakes - 1 cup
Red chillies - 5
Green chillies - 3
Curry leaves - 6 sprigs
Dry coconut slices - 1/4 cup (optional)
Turmeric - 1 tspoon
Salt to taste
Garnishing
Aloo bhujia - 1/2 cup
Onions
Chat masala - 1/2 tspoon
Lime juice

Procedure
Dry roast or use little oil and roast a cup of peanuts and keep them aside. Now take a nonstick kadai, add half a spoon of oil. When oil gets heated, add poha/rice flakes and roast them on a slow flame until poha turns crispy.
Take a nonstick kadai, add little oil and fry corn flakes and keep them aside. Now to the same oil, add daliya, curry leaves, red chillies, green chillies, cashews and dry coconut slices. Fry them for couple of minutes.
Add salt, turmeric and roasted poha and cornflakes to the mixture in kadai and mix them all on a low flame. Switch off the stove and serve the mixture with roasted peanuts, aloo bhujia/savory, chat masala, onion slices and lime sprinkled. Chivda chat is ready!

Happy Diwali

Diwali.....A festival of lights is my favourite festival. Celebrating diwali without sweets is much like celebrating diwali without crackers. On special occasions like Diwali, fireworks and yummy sweets and snacks go hand in hand. I wish all my friends, fellow bloggers and my blog readers a "Very Happy and a Safe Diwali"

Some quick special recipes for Diwali:

Sunni Undalu (Udad dal Laddoo)
This is a quick, yummy and a healthy recipe. Udad dal and ghee adds good calories and gives instant energy. My mom makes this very often and we used to have it as a quick energy bar.
IngredientsDry roasted udad dal - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 cup
Dry nuts for garnishing

Procedure

• Take a wide non stick frying pan and heat it on a low flame. Add udad dal and dry roast it for 8 mints/ until dal starts changing to a light brown color. You will also sense a very nice aroma. Switch off the stove and allow the dry roasted dal to cool down.
• Coarsely grind the udad dal in a dry mixer jar. Now add sugar to the same mixture and grind it for 2 minutes. For best results, make sure the mixture is slightly coarse. Transfer the mixture in to a wide bowl.
• Now heat the ghee slightly to a luke warm temperature and add it to the coarse mixture of udad dal and sugar.
• Stir the powder with ghee to make sure ghee is mixed well. Now take small portions in hand and make small laddoos. You may add little more ghee if mixture is dry.
• Garnish the laddoos with dry fruits and serve!

Bread with Dry fruits Halwa (low fat)

Dry fruits are very often given as gifts during diwali. We may receive from friends, relatives and even from our employers. We can use these dry fruits to make few quick and yummy sweets such as bread halwa and dry fruits kheer.

Ingredients
Bread slices - 10
Clarified butter/Ghee - 1/2 cup
Condensed milk - 1/2 cup
Milk (low fat) - 1/2 cup
Dry nuts - as desired
Elaichi/cardamom powder - 1/2 tspoon
Saffron strands - 2
Food color - (optional) 3 drops (mix it in 4 tspoons of water/milk)


Procedure

• Toast the bread slices with little butter on a griddle/dosa tawa till they turn slightly brown and transfer them to a plate and allow them to cool.
• Take a wide non stick kadai/skillet and heat on a low flame. Add ghee and when it becomes slightly warm, add dry nuts and stir for 2 minutes.
• To the fried nuts, add toasted breads and stir for couple of minutes on a low flame.
• Now add normal (low fat) milk, food color and condensed milk to the mixture and cover the lid to let the breads cook in milk for about 7-8 minutes.
• Do not cook for long as the bread tends to become soft and mushy. Sprinkle cardamom/elaichi powder and few saffron strands for flavor and serve hot!

Heritage of Hyderabad

'Hyderabad' a hub for delicious food and heritage is my native place. I am proud to be a hyderabadi. If you ask people what they like the best in hyderabad...first thing they say is food, irani chai and then chaltha hai hyderabadi language. Hyderabad's rich food heritage roots back to nizam's rule, many recipes (a great blend of mughalai and traditional Nizami) found their way home. Famous hyderabadi authentic items are hyderabadi biryani, haleem (meat cooked with lentils, spices and ghee), double ka meeta/shahi tukra, qurbani kaa meeta (dry apricots sweet pudding), Mirchi ka salan (chillies/jalapenos in hot peanut sauce), paya masala, mutton dalcha to name a few. My mouth waters as I just name them! These yummy and fiery dishes are cooked, liked, appreciated and enjoyed by people world wide.

Presenting Hyderabadi food festival Soooooon!