Radish Curd Medley / Mooli Raita

               This is the perfect dish when you have a Radish pleading to be used in ur Pantry. Easy to prepare and amazing to taste. Perfect for those lazy weekends, when ur body seems heavier than a ton and you can't drag urself to prepare anything elaborate yet taste buds demand for tasty food. Easy Breezy dish... I got ma hands on this recipe from MonsoonSpice Sia. Tastes as wonderful as it looks. Goes well with rice. But ma fav is with Indian flat bread - Chapathi.


Ingredients: 

> Radish / Mooli - peeled and grated - 2 cups       

> Onion - 1 small chopped finely                                  
> Green Chilly - 2, finely chopped
> Yogurt - 2 - 3 cups beaten
> Coriander / Cilantro - 2 tbsp - finely chopped



Tempering:
> Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
> Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
> Urad Dal - 1 tsp
> Red Chilly - broken - 2
> Curry Leaves - 7-8 chopped finely
> Hing / Asafoetida - a pinch
> Oil - a tsp

• Heat oil in a pan. Add Mustard and Jeera. Wait till they splutter and add Urad Dal and Hing. Cook till the Dal turns light brown. Add Red Chilly and Curry leaves.
• Add chopped Green Chilly and saute for a minute and add Onion. Saute till they are translucent.
• Add grated Radish to Pan and saute for couple of minutes till the raw smell disappears.
• Let it cool and add beaten yogurt and salt. Enjoy with Rice or Flat Indian Breads.

Bitter Gourd Stir Fry / Kakarakaya Fry

           Bitter Melon, the bitter enemy of many!!!!! We were not allowed to skip the bitter melon in our food. Instead mom used to prepare them with Jaggery, so that it would be bearable. And for Dad, without the jaggery, as Bitter Melon is said to help Diabetes patients. Nature seems to have gifted the vegetables and fruits that we hate, with the most useful properties of all!! This Bitter Gourd fry, involves removing most of the bitterness. Then you might ask, what is the whole point. Well, I said most of its bitterness, not all. Something is better than nothing, esp. if you have bitter memories of bitter gourd. If you happen to love Bitter melon, then skip Step 1, and also skip the sugar in the recipe. This recipe balances out the bitterness due to the sweetness of onion, sugar, and dry Coconut. And will not be despised by kids as much. Thanks a lot Vahchef for such a wonderful and easy recipe. This is a regular at our home. :)

Ingredients: 

> Bitter Gourd - 6                                    
> Onion - 1 big, sliced thinly lengthwise
> Urad Dal - 3 tsp
> Curry Leaves - 7 - 8
> Turmeric - 1 tsp
> Dhania / Coriander seed Powder - 1 tsp
> Chilli Powder - 2 tsp, adjust according to taste
> Green Chilly - 2, slit length wise, medium spicy
> Coconut Powder - 1.5 tsp
> Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
> Coriander / Cilantro - 1/2 cup, chopped
> Salt - 4 tsp, adjust according to taste
> Oil - 4 tsp

• Cut Bitter Melon into thin circles / chakras. Sprinkle 2 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Turmeric and mix well. Leave aside for 10 - 15 mins. Now squeeze the Bitter Gourd using your hands and separate it from its juice and place in another vessel. Do not throw the seeds away that come out as they cook crisp and are very tasty. (An optional step after squeezing, would be to wash the Bitter Gourd and squeeze again and separate from juice. This reduces the bitterness almost completely).
• Heat 3 tsp of Oil in a Pan. Add Urad Dal and cook till light brown. Add split green chillies, Curry Leaves and Onion and fry well. 
• Add a pinch of Turmeric to the Pan. Add Ginger Garlic Paste and fry well till the raw smell disappears
• Add the squeezed Bitter Melon to Pan, Salt and Dhania Powder and fry well for 2 minutes. Check Salt and add Chilly Powder. Cover and cook for on medium flame for 10 minutes till Bitter Gourd is browned, mixing between regular intervals.
• Add Coconut Powder, Sugar and mix well and cook covered on high flame for 5 - 10 minutes, mixing it in regular intervals.
• Add chopped Coriander and fry for couple of minutes.  Switch off flame. If you want Bitter Gourd to be more browned, add another tsp of oil and continue frying on high flame, without the cover, mixing in regular intervals. 
• This dish goes well with rice, serves 3. 

Mirchi Bajji / Menasina Kayi Bajji

      Hmmmm...... :) Mirchi Bajji for the Soul.
When its raining outside, and the climate's so sexy, what do u need? - Mirchi Bajji!!!!!
When your taste buds so desperately miss the spicy flavor, of Indian cuisine, what do u need? - Mirchi Bajji!!!!!
When you need a perfect accompaniment with Tea time, what do u need? Mirchi Bajji!!!!!
Alright, that sounded crazy, but thats how you'll feel when u miss Mirchi bajji!!!! Oki no more of that Jayagosh. Simple dish will blow you away. The only disadvantage here is that its deep fried. Thats the price we have to pay for this dish from heaven. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.,

Ingredients: 

> Besan Flour / Chick pea Flour - 5 tbsp        

> Rice Flour - 1.5 tbsp
> Water - 1 cup.
> Chilli Powder - 1.5 tbsp
> Salt - 2 tsp
> Bajji Chillies - 5-6
> Onion - 1 medium - finely chopped
> lime - 1- 2
> Cooking Soda powder - a pinch

• Mix The Besan flour, Rice flour, Chilli powder, Salt and Soda together. Add warm water little by little and mix he batter well till its of Idli Batter consistency.
• Wash the chillies and cut each chilly into 4 parts each. If the Chilly is small, just halve them.
• Heat oil in a Pan for frying. Dip each chilly into the batter, coat it well on all sides and fry them in the heated oil till they turn golden brown and cooked.
• Once you remove the Bajji's, place them on a tissue to absorb the excess oil. Using a knife, split the Bajji vertically so as to make a cavity and retaining the base. Fill this cavity with chopped Onion. Sprinkle little salt and chilli powder on the onion and add Lime juice on top.
• Enjoy when the Bajji's hot with a cup of Tea.

Note: Heat the oil well before frying. Add just a drop of batter to the oil to see if it is heated.
          You can add 1 tsp of Vaamu / Ajwain / Carom seeds or Jeera / Cumin seeds to the batter.
          The Salt and Chilli Powder in the Batter reduces a little after frying.
          Adding more Cooking soda, will cause the Bajji's to absorb more oil.
          Fry just 2 - 3 Chillies, at a time on high flame. As overcrowding will cause the heat to lower
           and absorb more oil.
          For more crispiness, increase quantity of Rice Flour to batter.

Dal Powder / Pappulu Podi

      Ma used to prepare Chutney Powder at home of 2 to 3 varieties. They were delicious, mixed with Ghee, went very well with Chapathi or Roti. But this is not the best combi with rice. The best Dal Powder I've had with Rice is from Andhra Cuisine. Pappulu Podi is a part of their daily food, a must have. Once u taste it, ur addicted for life. A very well blended mixture of spice and Dals. Yet again simple food rules the roost. A quickie, yummy delight.

Ingredients: 

> Channa Dal / Bengal Gram - 4 fistfuls
> Dry Red Chillies - 10 - 15, adjust according to taste
> Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
> Garlic cloves - 2 - 3 / 2 tsp
> Dry Coconut Powder / Dry Coconut grated - 3 tsp
> Aam Chur Powder / Dry mango powder  - 1 tsp
> Salt - 1 tsp, adjust according to taste

• Dry roast each ingredient separately in a Pan, except Aam Chur Powder and Salt.
• Add the dry roasted ingredients in a Blender. Add Salt and Aam Chur to the Blender and blend to a coarse powder.
• Mix Pappulu Podi with Rice and then add Ghee to the Rice and mix well and Enjoy.
• This dish does not require more salt, hence advise caution. This powder can be stored in an air tight container for at least a month and need not be refrigerated.  

Lemon Poha / Avalakki Chitranna

      In Bangalore, or at least among us and ma Relatives and frnz, we always make Lemon rice with Onions in them. Since Hubby does not eat Rice in the morning, Lemon Rice was ruled out in the mornings. And I was not really comfortable having it for Lunch. And Dinner's mostly comprised of Chapathis. So that's how Lemon Rice got extinct in our house!!! Desire got the better of me and I decided to try it in Poha. Hubby happys, me happys.... In fact Hubby credited me with one of the best Poha's he had eaten. Simple and yummy, here goes......

Ingredients: 

> Poha (Thick) / Rice Flakes (Thick) - 2 cups
> Peanuts - 1 tbsp, Raw
> Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
> Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
> Red Chilly - 1 - 2
> Curry Leaves - 8 - 9, chopped coarsely
> Urad Dal / Split Black gram - 2 tsp
> Channa Dal / Bengal gram - 2 tsp
> Onion - 1 medium, chopped coarsely
> Green Chillies - 2, each cut into 2 parts
> Turmeric - a Pinch
> Lemon - 1
> Oil - 1 tbsp
> Water - 4 cups
> Coriander / Cilantro - 2 tbsp, chopped finely

*tsp - tea spoon
*tbsp - table spoon

• Add Oil to the Pan and heat it. Add Peanuts and fry till they turn slightly Brown.
• Add Mustard and Cumin seeds, wait till they splutter and add Dals. Fry them till the Dals turn golden. Add Curry Leaves and Red Chilly broken.
• Add chopped Onion and Green Chilly to the Pan.  Saute till the Onions sweat well. Add Turmeric. Saute for another minute.
• Add the Lemon juice and Salt and mix well. This does not require more lemon and Salt, hence advise caution.
• Take a bowl filled with water. Add Poha to the water, and let it soak for 45 secs - 1 min. Then squeeze the Poha so that maximum water absorbed is lost and add to the Pan.
• Mix the contents of the Pan well, so that the Poha is coated well with the Onion mixture. Add 2 tsp of water if Poha seems very dry. Check for Salt and Lemon and Switch off the flame. 
• Garnish with Coriander and enjoy. This recipe serves two.