Mamidikaya Pappu \ Mango Dal \ Maangai Paruppu

Mango, an Indian Native fruit is widely used in Indian cuisine. Ripe Mangoes can be eaten as it is and also be used in the preparation of  Desserts, Shakes, etc. whereas Raw Mangoes are widely used in regular cooking. Dishes made out of these raw mangoes always have an unbeatable flavour and they are mouth watering. In Andhra cuisine, a Dal based dish called "Mamidikaya Pappu" is very famous which is made with the combination of Lentils and raw mangoes.  Whenever we get fresh mangoes in our  market, I try to make this tangy, spicy pappu at home definitely. With these raw mangoes, I do make "Mangai Sambar", "Mangai Mor Kuzhambu" sometime..I will share these recipes too in the following week.  I am sure you will love all the Raw Mango recipes.

Ingredients

Raw Mango - 1 Medium ( Sour )

Toor Dal \ Kandhi pappu  - Half a cup

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Green chillies -- 2 Medium

Red chilli powder -- 1 tsp

For Tempering

Oil - 1 tbsp

Hing \ Asafoetida -- 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds -- 2 tsp

Cumin Seeds \ Jeera -- 1 tsp

Urad Dal \ Ulutham Paruppu \ Minna Pappu - 1 tsp

Channa Dal \ Kadalai Paruppu \ Senaga Pappu - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves -- 5 or 6

Dry Red Chillies -- 2

Garlic Cloves --- 1 or 2 crushed.

Method

• Wash and peel the skin off the raw mango. Cut the mango into different medium pieces and keep them ready.
• In a pressure cooker, cook the raw mango along with the toor dal, turmeric powder, green chillies and some water in a vessel inside. Cook them for 4 whistles and switch the flame off.
• When the cooker gets cooled completely, take out the vessel and mash the dal and the cooked mango but leave some pieces of the mango as it is.
• Add required amount of salt and red chilli powder to the Pappu and allow them to cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Finish the tempering process separately and pour them over the cooked mango dal\ pappu.
• Mix them well and its ready to eat with hot white rice with a side of papads.

Tips

If the raw mango is not sour or has ripen a little bit, don't try to make this dish with that mango as the pappu's taste will not be as expected.

Don't add more toor dal while making this Mamidikaya pappu as the dal might inject more blandness to the dish.

Variations

If you don't like to use garlic in the tempering, you can omit Garlic and do the tempering process with the rest of the ingredients.

Pudina Thogayal \ Pudina Pachadi \ Mint Thogayal

Fragrance of fresh Pudina leaves always tempt us to use them immediately in our cooking.  One of my favourite combo is the Pudina Thogayal rice with any Mor Kootu or Mor Kuzhambu. Its a wise idea to use Pudina leaves in regular cooking as its known for its medicinal effects. Though we use Pudina leaves in many of the dishes we make, this Thogayal variety is unique and goes well with white rice, as a good side for Idly, Dosa too..

Ingredients

Fresh Pudina Leaves -- 1 Bunch

Urad dal \ Mina Pappu \ Ulutham Paruppu -- 3 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida -- 1 Dash

Dry red chillies -- 3

Green chilli -- 1

Tamarind -- 1 small pinch
Jaggery - 1 small pinch

Salt -- To Taste

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

In a Kadai, add the oil first. When its heated up, add all the ingredients as mentioned above into the oil except Pudina Leaves. Fry them well and transfer them to a mixer grinder. Fry the Pudina Leaves in the same kadai with the remaining oil for few minutes till they get fried properly. Transfer them too to the mixer grinder. Grind them well to a coarse paste. Add required amount of salt to the Thogayal. Transfer the Mint \ Pudina Thogayal to a small bowl and its ready to eat. I don't add tadka to this Thogayal at all. If you wish, you can add some tadka to the Thogayal.

Peerkangai Thogayal \ Beerakaya Pachadi\ Ridgegourd Thogayal

In this version, the thogayal is made with the inner flesh of the vegetable not with its skin. Mostly we make this Thogayal when we really bored of the regular Sambar, Rasam varieties. With a side of some papads, this thogayal rice is very tasty.

Ingredients

Fresh Ridge Gourd -  1 Big

Urad Dal \ Mina Pappu -  21\2 tsp

Tamarind -- 1 small pinch

Dry Red Chilli --- 4

Cumin Seeds --- 1 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida -- 1 Dash

Salt - To Taste

Oil -- 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves -- 3

Method

• Peel the skin of the Ridge Gourd and cut the flesh of the vegetable into smaller pieces and keep them ready.
• In a kadai, add half a tbsp of oil and add Hing, 2 tsp of Urad Dal, tamarind, dry red chillies and fry them well first. When it turns into golden brown, transfer them to a mixer grinder.
• In the same kadai, fry the Ridge Gourd pieces for few minutes and transfer them to the mixer grinder.
• When the Ridge Gourd pieces reduce in size and becomes little soggy, its mostly well fried and cooked.
• Grind the contents in the mixer grinder with required amount of salt. When its done, transfer the Thogayal into a small bowl.
• In the same kadai, add little bit of oil. When it gets heated, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, half tsp of Urad Dal and 3 or 4 curry leaves and finish the tempering process.
• Pour them over the Thogayal and mix it well. Now the Peerkangai Thogayal is ready to eat.

Tips

Try to taste a small pinch of  raw Ridge Gourd before actually making the Thogayal. If its bitter, then it will totally spoil the Thogayal taste. So, don't proceed in this case.

Beetroot MorKootu \ Beetroot in Coconut Yogurt Gravy

Beetroot, a deep red rooted vegetable can be eaten either in cooked form or raw, shredded in salads. This mild sweetish vegetable is an excellent source of antioxidants and nutrients. Juice of this vegetable helps in lowering the blood pressure and its useful for preventing cardiovascular problems.  Beetroot curry is the most common version made out of this vegetable. My mom used to make "Beetroot Morkootu" at home during my childhood. The gravy is made out of fresh coconut, green chillies, ginger, thick fresh yogurt and cumin seeds. Mild sweeter beetroots in the spicy, yogurt gravy is really delicious as it has varieties of taste inside.

Ingredients

Beetroot - 2 Medium

Oil -- 1 tbsp

Hing \ Asafoetida -- 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds -- 2 tsp

Urad Dal \ Mina Pappu \ Ulutham Paruppu - 1 tsp

Dry Red Chilli --- 1

Curry Leaves -- 1 stem

Fresh Shredded coconut -- Half cup

Green chillies -- 2

Cumin Seeds -- 1 tsp

Ginger - 1 tsp shredded

Fresh curd --- Half a cup

Salt - To Taste

Method

• Peel the skin off the Beetroot and cut them into small cubes or in any desired shape. Cook them in a vessel with little water.
• Grind a fine smooth paste of  fresh coconut flakes, green chillies, cumin seeds, ginger in a mixer grinder. Add little curd to the grinder while grinding. Keep the grounded paste ready on the side.
• After the beetroot is completely cooked, add the grounded paste from the grinder to the vessel and mix them well.
• Add required amount of salt to the vessel and allow them to cook for few minutes.
• Add the remaining fresh curd into the kootu now. Mix them well again.
• In a separate tadka \ tempering pan, add little oil followed by Mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilli, curry leaves and pour them over the Kootu. Now the Beetroot MorKootu is ready to be eaten.
• Its good to eat with Dal Rice, Vathakuzhambu rice or any tangy rice.

Vegetable Makhanwala

Having different veggies in a limited quantity, I opted to make a complete veggie side dish for the chappathis\rotis. Vegetable Makhanwala was the best choice I felt for the night...Different kinds of vegetables in a mild spicy, creamy gravy on the side of hot chappathis will always be an ideal dinner. With the addition of few small paneer cubes along with the veggies makes it so so.... special for my kids to finish the meal. Preparation time is also considerably less for this dish. I don't prefer to use the cream while making the gravy or adding cream to the dish at the end. Instead I try to make a rich, creamy gravy using some almonds itself.

Ingredients

Beans - 10 or 12.

Carrots - 1 Big

Peas - 1 Handful

Potato  - 1 Big

Mushroom - 6 to 8.

Noolkol \ Kohlrabi - 1

Fresh Paneer Cubes - 1 Cup.

Oil - 2 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Garam masala powder -- 2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Kasoori Methi -- 2 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar -- 1\2 tsp

Milk - 2 tbsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Cumin Seeds \ Jeera - 2 tsp

For Grinding

Onion -- 1 Big

Green Chillies -- 1

Almonds - 1 Handful

Cardamom - 1 or 2

Method

• Wash and cut all the vegetables into small cubes and keep them ready.
• Shallow fry the paneer cubes and keep it ready.
• Grind together Onion, green chilli, almonds and cardamom and make a smooth paste and keep it ready.
• Now add oil into the vessel or kadai and when its heated up, add the cumin seeds first. Then add Ginger Garlic paste to the oil and fry them till the raw smell goes off.
• Add the grounded paste into the kadai and fry them for 2-3 minutes.
• Then add all the powders, Kasoori methi to the gravy and fry them all for few more minutes till the raw smell completely goes off.
• Add all the fine cut vegetables into the kadai and mix them well. Add some water to the gravy and cook everything in the kadai with the lid closed for few minutes till the vegetables are cooked.
• Finally add milk, salt and sugar to the kadai and cook them again for few minutes. After its done, add all the fried paneer cubes into the kadai and mix them well.
• Switch off the flame and garnish the Vegetable Makhanwala with few coriander leaves.

Tips \ Variations

Add some fresh cream at the end or while making the gravy to make it richer, especially when you are making this dish for a party or special occasion.

Also, you can substitute Almonds with Cashews if you have abundant cashews and not worried about using more cashews.

Pesarapappu Boorelu - Traditional Andhra Festive Sweet

Boorelu , a delicious sweet is a sign of Joy, Happiness which is made in every household of Andhra during the festive days.  This golden sweet ball has a yummy pooranam inside which is covered by a dough, fried in oil. Generally, the Pooranam is made out of Channa Dal or Moong Dal with Jaggery Syrup or Sugar Syrup. Boorelu made with the Channa Dal ( Senaga pappu ) poornam is called as "Senaga Pappu Boorelu" and its called as "Pesara Pappu Boorelu" if its made with Moong Dal ( Pesara Pappu) poornam. For Kartika Pournami, this time I made the Pesara Pappu Boorelu for Prasadam. Process time for making this mouth watering sweet is little longer due to the preparation of Dough and Poornam separately. But this will get compensated completely after seeing the delightful golden sweet balls on your plate.

Ingredients

For the Dough

Raw Rice -- 1 Cup

Idly Rice --  1\2 Cup

Urad Dal \ Minna pappu -- 3\4 of a cup

Water -  Little to Grind

Salt --- To Taste

For the Poornam

Moong Dal \ Pesara pappu -- 2 Cups

Cardamoms -- 7 or 8

Powdered Sugar -- 1 Cup

Shredded fresh coconut -- 1 Cup

Ghee -- 2 tsp

Oil -- For Frying the Boorelu

Method

• Soak the rice and Urad Dal together in a bowl of water for 3-4 hours and grind it in a wet grinder like a Dosa Dough. Add required amount of Salt to the Dough and mix it. Keep the Dough ready for making the Boorelu.

• Soak the Moong Dal in a bowl of water for an hour. Grind the Moong Dal with very little water and make a paste.  Using the Idly Maker, steam the Moong Dal paste and cook them completely. Take out the Poornam Idlies from the Moulds and grate them using a normal grater or using a food processor or regular mixer grinder. 



• Add shredded coconut, powdered sugar, cardamom powder, ghee to the vessel on top of the grated Moong Dal and mix them together.  Make small balls of the Poornam and keep them ready.

• Heat oil in a frying pan.. Take one poornam ball and dip it inside the Dough and drop the Boorelu into the heated oil carefully. Make sure that the dough covers the poornam completely. Likewise, drop 4 or 5 Boorelu into the oil and fry them till golden brown and drain them.
• Finish the process with the remaining dough in the same way and arrange the Boorelu on a plate for Prasadam. If any excess dough is left, add some seasonings to the dough and fry them separately like mini vadas. Excess Poornams can be eaten as it is like a laddu.

Adhirasam \ Ariselu

Adhirasam or Ariselu, a traditional South Indian Sweet is one of the mandatory sweet included in the "Seer Bhakshanams" during marriages. "Seer Bhakshanams" are the sweets and savouries made by the bride's side and sent to the groom's side along with the bride after marriage. Also, its also made during some festivals too.. I made this Adhirasam \ Ariselu on the day of "Kartika Pournami" for prasadam. Though its my first try, it did not disappoint me at all and to my surprise, the Adhirasams did not drink that much oil too....Though i know the actual traditional method of making Adhirasam \ Ariselu, I wanted to make the process simpler this time. So I tried using Swad Rice Flour instead of  following the traditional way. This was a huge success to me as all the Adhirasams got over the next day itself, and my kids loved the Adhirasam and grabbed few on their own. After making these yummy Adhirasams, I realised that its a "No Big Deal" sweet surely and we can make and enjoy them at any time.

Ingredients

Rice Flour - 2 Cups

Jaggery - 1 Cup

Cardamom Powder - 2 tsp

Sukku Powder \ Dry Ginger Powder -  1 tsp

Oil - To fry the Adhirasams

Method

• Fry the rice flour for few minutes and keep it aside.
• Add the jaggery pieces or powdered Jaggery which comes to 1 Cup into a vessel and add a cup of water. Make the Jaggery Syrup carefully. The consistency of the jaggery Syrup decides the final outcome, so this process needs more attention.
• While making the Syrup, check to see whether the string consistency has arrived. Take a small amount and drop it on water in a container. It should float and you would be able to make a small ball out of it.
• Take out the syrup from the stove. Add the cardamom powder and Ginger powder to the syrup and mix it well.
• Slowly add the rice flour into the Jaggery Syrup without making any lumps. Mix the rice flour thoroughly with the Jaggery Syrup and keep it aside.
• After 3-4 hours, heat oil in the frying pan. When the oil gets heated, take a small ball of the Adhirasam dough, make a small round using your hand itself or on a plastic paper and slowly drop this into the heated oil.
• Allow the Adhirasam to get fried on both side equally. Then, drain the excess oil if any and keep the Adhirasam on a tissue paper.
• Continue the same process for the rest of the Adhirasam Dough. At a time, I dropped 4-5 Adhirasams into the oil and drained them. It depends on your kadai size and speed. You can drop more too if you have a bigger frying pan.
• Finally, arrange all the fried Adhirasams\Ariselu on a plate for Neivedhyam.

Tips \ Variations

Instead of rice flour, you can follow the traditional method of making the rice flour by soaking raw rice in water, drying them on a cloth and then grinding the semi wet rice into rice flour. By following this method, the Adhirasams would be much softer and tastier.  Next time, I am planning to adopt this method and try them out.

If you make the Jaggery Syrup as I mentioned above and take it out of the stove at the right time, these Adhirasams also would be a definite hit.

Vathakuzhambu

Vathakuzhambu is a traditional dish from South India which is served with white rice, papads. This tangy, sweety, spicy gravy tastes good with a side of any fry or pappads. I have been eating this Vathakuzhambu since childhood and enjoyed this dish with my favorite baby potato fry or Bindi fry. Mostly my mom and my grandma prepare this dish in the same way and their versions are unbeatable. I was fortunate to taste my grandma's Vathakuzhambu even at her 85th age. Recently she passed away after having suffered terribly in the bed for more than 2-3 years. Somehow this dish reminds me more of her.  I love my Grandma and this is my tribute to my lovely special Grandma, my Patty.

Ingredients

Thick Tamarind Extract  -  2 Cups

Small Onions \ Shallots -  10

Oil - 2 tbsp

Gingelly Oil - 1 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Sambar Powder - 2 tbsp

Coriander Powder - 1\2 tbsp

Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp

Jaggery - 1 small piece

Salt - To Taste

Water  - 1 cup

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Jeera \ Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Thoor Dal \ Thuvaram Paruppu \ Kandhi Pappu - 1 tbsp

Dry Red Chilli - 1 or 2.

Curry Leaves - 1 stem.

Method

1. Make a thick Tamarind Extract and keep it ready. Cut the small onions and keep them ready too.
2. Keep all the ingredients handy before starting the preparation.
3. In a round thick bottomed vessel, add oil first. ( Not the Gingelly Oil now). When its heated, add Hing, Mustard Seeds, Cumin Seeds, Thuvar Dal , Dry red chillies, Curry leaves in the order and fry them.
4. When its done, add the small sambar onions and fry them till they turn golden brown.
5. On a low flame, add all the required powders to the contents in the vessel and fry them along with the contents well.
6. Now add the extracted tamarind juice, jaggery, salt and water. Mix everything together and allow them to boil on a medium flame for few minutes with the lid covered.
7. Open the lid and check to see whether the gravy is completely set with no raw smell of the tamarind juice.
8. Finally you could confirm the completion by noticing some oil oozing out of the gravy and the gravy would have become thicker in consistency.
9. Now the tangy, spicy Vethakuzhambu is ready to eat with hot white rice.

Tips \ Variations

Try to make the Vethakuzhambu with some dried Vathals like "Manathakkali Vathal , Sundaikai Vathal, etc." It tastes good with real Vathals. This time I tried using small onions.

Don't forget to add a small piece of Jaggery which is the taste maker to the Kuzhambu.

If you are making this for a festival or for special occasions, you can gracefully add little more Gingelly Oil to make it more delicious and flavourful.

Egg Masala / Muttai Masala

Egg is a powerhouse of disease fighting nutrients, has high amount of protein along with good fat, iron, vitamins and minerals.  Egg Yolks are one of the greatest source of riboflavin, B12 and choline which helps in brain development and protect us from age related memory loss. Combination of eggs with some good fat is an excellent breakfast for kids. Though I am not an eggetarian, I make different varieties using eggs for my kids. Out of that, this dish "Egg Masala" was introduced by my mother-in--law and loved by my family...This dish would help mostly during travel time.

Ingredients

Boiled Eggs -- 7 or 8

Onion - 2 Medium

Tomato - 1 Big or 2 Small

Green Chilli - 2 Medium

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 3 tsp

( This powder is homemade, made by my mother-in-law using fresh spices like Cinnamon, Cloves, Other masala spices. You can use the regular garam masala powder you use at home otherwise).

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Jaggery - 1 small piece.

Coriander Leaves - To Garnish

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem

Thick Tamarind Juice - Half a cup

Oil - 2 tbsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Method

• Hard boil the eggs and peel the outer skin and keep them ready. Cut the onions, tomato, green chilli and keep them ready too.
• In a kadai or any non-stick vessel, add the oil. When it gets heated up, add the Hing, mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves.
• After tempering is done, add the Ginger Garlic Paste first and fry them till the raw smell completely goes off.
• Add the cut onions, green chilli into the kadai \ vessel and fry them till the onions get golden brown. Add the tomato pieces along with the other powders and cook them well.
• Cover the lid on a low flame for few minutes so that the powders get well mixed and would be forming a semi gravy.
• Add the tamarind extract now along with salt and a piece of jaggery.
• Cook them well for few minutes. Then, add the boiled eggs into the gravy and allow them to cook inside the gravy for few minutes with the lid open.
• Finally when the gravy is set, garnish the dish with coriander leaves and serve them with hot rice or rotis.

Tips \ Variations

You can fry the Hard boiled Eggs before adding them into the gravy. This enhances the taste of the Egg masala.

Try to make a perfect , semi solid gravy first and then add the eggs. Don't add the eggs in the beginning stage itself.

According to your taste buds, you can increase or decrease the chilli powder, garam masala powders as well.

Paneer Butter Masala

Paneer Butter Masala, a rich creamy gravy dish is a very popular North Indian Side dish. Fresh Paneer cubes inside the rich, creamy tomato gravy makes the dish more exotic and the wonderful flavours of the Indian spices add more flavour to the dish.  I tasted the same "Paneer Butter Masala" in various places like "Sagar.." hotels in Bangalore, in trains, in many good restaurants in South India and in various restaurants in New Delhi, etc., Every version of this dish has its own taste and preparation style. I am sharing my version with all of you, though many of you would be preparing and enjoying this dish in your own way.  As its my daughter's favourite, I make this often for her.

Ingredients

Fresh Paneer Cubes - 2 Cups

Onion - 1 Big

Tomato - 2 Medium

Green Chillies - 1 Medium

Cashew Nuts - 1 Handful ( Optional ) ( You can substitute this with Almonds )

Turmeric Powder  - 1 tsp

Dry Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala Powder  - 3 tsp

Coriander Powder - 2 tsp

Sugar - A pinch

Salt - To Taste

Ginger Garlic Paste -  1 tbsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Butter or Ghee - 1 tsp

Cumin Seeds ( Jeera ) - 1 tsp

Fresh Cream - 2 tsp ( Optional )

Coriander Leaves - To Garnish

Method

• In a big non-stick vessel \pan, shallow fry the Paneer cubes with 1 tsp of oil and keep them aside.
• Cut the onions, tomato and green chili and fry them on the same vessel with little bit of oil and make a smooth paste of those using a mixer grinder by adding a handful of Cashew nuts to this mixture. If you don't like to use cashews, substitute this with a handful of almonds and make a fine, smooth grounded paste.
• In the same vessel, add butter or ghee and the remaining oil. When it gets heated up, add the cumin seeds first.
• Then, add the Ginger Garlic paste into the oil and fry them on a low flame till the raw smell completely vanishes.
• After its done, add the grounded paste into the non-stick vessel. Add all the powders as mentioned above along with Salt and a pinch of sugar.
• Mix everything well and let them cook on a medium flame for sometime. When the oil gets separated from the mixture, its an indication that the tomato gravy is almost done.
• Add the fried paneer cubes into the gravy now and close the lid. Let it cook for a minute.
• Switch off the flame and finally add the fresh cream to the Paneer Butter masala and mix it well.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and add few drops of fresh cream on the top just before serving.
• It goes well with roti, chappathi or with any variety of  rice pulav.

Tips \ Variations

If you fry the tomatoes and onion before grinding, the preparation time for making the gravy is lesser.

You can always substitute Cashews with Almonds and also the fresh cream at the end is totally optional. Add fresh cream only if its made for a party or for a larger crowd. Fresh cream adds richness, sweetness to the side dish.

You can increase or decrease the spice powder levels according to your taste buds.