Fresh Black Eyed Beans with Cluster Bean Chutney ~ Mutikaya Alasanda Mirapa Thokku!

Ok now that we have a bag full of fresh black eyed beans, I asked Athamma for different recipes that she remembers from her childhood. I guess all it took was that question, I could immediately see Athamma reminiscing about her childhood days when her Mom used to prepare this thokku, which was liked and much in demand. Since this uses fresh alasanda, it was mostly prepared during this time. She said she still remembers running up and down the stairs along with her brothers, while her mom used to stuff this with Jonna Rotti and drop it as a ball for the kids to catch it! How really sweet!

I called her in the afternoon and asked what was the dinner plan, she said she was going to make this. I was really intrigued with the texture and the taste and I am sure my hubby dear remembered eating this at his grandma's place. This is so typically rustic Andhra, that it takes one a while to get used to the taste and feel. But am sure one you get to taste it again, you get hooked.

Those days it was mostly ground using the grinding stone, so you always know when to add which and the consistency of the ingredients. But with that stone no longer a part of our kitchen gadget, I feel we sorely miss it. The food processor or the mixer doesn't do much justice to those good old stones!

Ingredients Needed:

Cluster Beans - 100 gms
Fresh Black Eyed Beans - 100 gms
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Green Chilies - 4 -6 longs
Onions - 1 medium
Tomato - 1 medium
Garlic - 2 cloves
Turmeric powder a pinch
Fresh coconut - 2 tsp
Fresh/ Roasted Groundnut - handful
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves few
Oil - 2 tsp
Water - 1 cup

Method to prepare

First grind green chillies, onions, garlic, coriander leaves along with coriander powder roughly.

Then add the coconut and ground nuts and again run for a minute. It should not be a smooth but still not very coarse.

In a pan take water, add oil and the ground paste along with Black Eyed beans, chopped tomatoes, turmeric and salt. Bring this to boil.

Cook it under sim, till you get a thick consistency.

You will need to feel the chunky cluster beans with Alasanadallu in between, then its really awesome!

Another entry for My legume Love affair, hosted on my blog, an event started by Susan!


Check out my instant Paneer Cheese Rolls
that I made for Kids, which is my entry for this month's MEC event on Paneer!

Lunch Box Series : LBS#43

Well the way our streets are adorned with big heaps of cauliflower, it is but natural that you find yourself indulging in a Cauliflower mania! Typically this season, we find ourselves cooking or eating Cauliflower parathas, Pakodas, Cauliflower Sukhi, Cauliflower Subji, Masala etc. The list is endless, unless of course, somebody has actually made a halwa or a cake with a cauliflower! I am not surprised though. Anyway, you won't find me attempting that for sure. Athamma, as I was saying the other day, insisted that we take advantage of the bounty seen on the roads. And one fine day, got a big flower herself. This happened couple of days before we decided on the trip. These days Athamma has taken on herself to visit the local market. Initial she used take Konda along with her during Konda's hols. But I think she has mustered enough courage to cross the language barrier and just manage to pick up anything and everything she feels like.

So I ended up making subji twice and something else. In end I still found some florets lying in the fridge. I thought four days shouldn't affect it really. Well it didn't, it was still as fresh as how I put it in. For want of better lunch box ideas, I was thinking what I was going to make as the side dish for the Okra Sambar I planned. The beautiful florets came to mind. It was literally calling me ok, pleading infact for ignoring it for so long. I decided I was going to make a Sukhi with it as a side for the dal. Come what may as a reaction from hubby, I decided to go ahead.

Today's Lunch Box had

Lady's finger Sambar
Dry Spiced Cauliflower ~ Sukhi Gobi with Roasted groundnut powder
Plain Rice
Curd Rice

Since Aquadaze sent a mail with her event on nuts focused on peanuts, I was keen on sending something as I am so fond of these. So this sukhi was seasoned with roasted groundnut powder, which gave such a sublime taste to the cauliflower, I couldn't believe it was possible. I called up hubby and asked if he liked, he said he did. Best was my colleagues liked it very much and were lamenting that I didn't get enough. This is surely something I am going to be making more often!

Dry Spiced Cauliflower ~ Sukhi Gobi with Roasted groundnut powder.

Cauliflower florets - 250 gms
Onion - 1 medium
Chili powder - 1/ 2 tsp
Coriander - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric a pinch
Mustard seeds - a pinch
Curry leaves- 4-5 leaves
Groundnut powder - 2 tsp

Method to prepare:

Wash cauliflower and soak in salted hot water for 10 mins. let it drain.

Heat a kadai with oil, splutter mustard seeds along with curry leaves. Then sauté onions till they are brown.

Add the drained cauliflower, sprinkle the turmeric and salt. Cover with a lid and simmer for 5- 6 mins.

Then add the chili, coriander and garam masala. Stir well and again simmer for 5 mins. Let the steam get back in, so that the florets get cooked in the process.

Finally add the groundnut powder and mix well. Let it cook for 2-3 mins.

I am sending this yummy cauliflower with peanuts to Aquadaze's Lets go Nuts event!

And to My legume Love affair, hosted on my blog, an event started by Susan!

Finally to Sunshinemom's FIC, this month being Yellow. I hope she believes this is yellow..:)

Fresh Black Eyed Peas Kurma!

The roads never seem to end, the journey even more. It was the first time we embarked on a road trip in car for nine long hours. Hubby dear was very adventurous when he said we will visit his sister's place for the long weekend. It was not planned, I guess that made it even more exciting and interesting. The chances of it being not taken was remotely less and it gave less time for Athamma to say no for a long drive in. But seriously I enjoyed! We didn't feel the distance until the last 100 kms or so. It was beautiful driving past the green lands, with crops all ready for harvest. We drove past many villages and towns. The best was the lonely land, where to an eye's distance there was nothing but we and the beautiful land! If only we could live in such a beautiful green place!

Since it was a long journey, I was fully prepared with the kids favorite snacks and I kept them engaged with one snack after the other. Else I knew they would have wanted to sit on their father's lap, the moment they get in the car as normally they do. They slept for a while but most times, they were thrilled seeing the cows and sheep on the roads. Though I had the breakfast and lunch packed, we stopped at a motel for breakfast. All motels seems to have play things for kids to entertain them. When breakfast was done, the kids refused to leave the place. We somehow managed to get them back and only stopped again for the lunch. The spot was a beautiful no man's place with lush tamarind trees on both sides and it also had a rock bench. We spread our things and had a quick lunch. Athamma disappeared for a moment to be back with a load of fresh tamarind. She made a yummy looking chutney with it back home.

We reached my sil's place by late afternoon and it took a while for the twins to get used to the place. Since Konda had already been to their home and moreover she is never so shy. Once the boys got to know their surroundings, they enjoyed max! My other sil also came along with her kids. So as I always tease hubby, it was one big family reunion! Only missing part was the song that they never finalized! I am sure Athamma enjoyed seeing her daughters and grandchildren in one place. Though I was resisting the urge, the delicious array of dishes that my sils prepared were not something that could be ignored. They ensured they made all our favorite ones. Right from the tempting Uggani to Mirapakaya Bajji, going to the lengthy Sunday special, everything was a treat!

These fresh black eyed peas are a treat to taste buds. And these were available in plenty. We got a big bunch and shelled them out. The simple kurma that we made with it back home was very tasty and brought back many wonderful childhood memories!

Ingredients needed:

Fresh Black Eyed Peas - 250 gms
Onions - 1 medium
Tomatoes - 1 medium
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Coconut paste - 1 tsp
Roasted Groundnut powder - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp

Seasonings
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves

Method to prepare:

Heat a pressure cooker pan with oil, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves. Then sauté Onions till they start to turn brown. They add the ginger garlic paste. Fry for a min.

Then add the chopped tomatoes, salt, turmeric and simmer for 5 mins. Then add all the spice powders. Sauté well. Add the shelled black eyed beans. Sauté for 2 mins.

Add the coconut paste, 1 cup of and pressure cook for 1 whistle or till the beans are cooked. Since these are fresh beans, it won't take much time to get cooked. So keep an eye on them, else you will have a mashed peas on hand!

Once the pressure is off, remove the lid and bring the gravy to boil again if its watery. Add the groundnut powder and simmer for 1 min.

The taste of the roasted groundnut in the kurma makes lot of difference!

This joins the party of the seventh helping of My legume Love affair, hosted on my blog, an event started by Susan! Hope you have your entries ready!

And Alka celebrates her blog anniversary in style! She has a cute event called Just for you! This post being just for me, rather my childhood memories spun around this wonder beans. I hope this twist is fine with her! I am planning to send some more, in turn pleasing my folks, but lets first start with self!

Mutton Biryani ~ Weekend Cooking!

As I stepped into the room, I was hit by the aroma of the freshly roasted peanut. It is not something one can miss even if it was the middle of the day, forgot it being the night. What you smell is not related to what you feel, but when it was almost midnight, your senses are more acute, the smell was so distinct that you can feel it washing all over you. Maybe the fact that the house was silent and I was more tuned to the smell that was wandering around I just roasted a batch of groundnuts, to be handy for the chutneys down the week. Its been a while since I roasted any.

Kids had gone to bed by then, while hubby dear was watching the tele, he wanted me to watch that program about Uganda. Though the program was compelling, the roasting was even more! All I could remember while roasting was, all those days back, when I was doing it at Parents home! Groundnuts are a staple at home. And I don't think I have met anybody else who can roast so perfectly as Amma does. The voices from the memory haunts me, and I can hear Amma calling me to come to the kitchen. Though we practically grew up on them, our love never daunts. Even more for Dad, as they had lands where they grew groundnuts. Freshly roasted groundnuts right from the stove, is Dad's favorite. I almost curbed the urge to call them, to tell that I am roasted peanuts. I can imagine the look that hubby dear will have!

Anyway, this mutton biryani has nothing to do with peanuts. It being a Sunday, I wanted to make a biryani. I called up the Aunty who gave me the Mutton Paya recipe. She wasn't in town and was expected on the day. But I couldn't reach her on time for me to prepare the biryani. That's when I decided that I should take a chance and go on my instinct to prepare my own biryani. The entire recipe was just cooked on instinct, will surely prepare it many more times. The verdict for both the Mutton Biryani and Mutton pepper fry was excellent. So naturally will be making it few more times.

Ingredients Needed:

Mutton - 500 gms
Basmati Rice - 2 & 1/2 cups
Onion julienne - 1 medium
Tomatoes - 2 medium
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 2"
Javatri / Mace - 1
Bay Leaf - 1
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom - 2
Green Chillies - 2 long
Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
Mint leaves - handful
Coriander leaves - handful
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 4 - 6 tsp
Water - 2 cups

For the paste:

Shallot Onions - 50 gms
Onion - 1 small
Green chili - 1 long
Ginger - 2 "
Garlic - 6-7 flakes

Method to prepare:

Wash and soak basmati rice for 15 mins

Wash and drain the mutton.

Grind the ingredients together for the paste, keep it aside. Chop onions as julienne.

Heat a pressure cooker with oil and 3 tsp of ghee. First add all the spices, sauté for a min. Once the cumin starts spluttering, add the onion julienne along with slit green chillies. Sauté till the onions start browning. Add the ground paste. Fry till it's done and oil comes out.

Then add the chopped tomatoes and chili powder, turmeric pwd, and simmer till the tomatoes are soft. Next  add the salt, mint leaves, coriander leaves, Cover with the lid and cook till the tomatoes are soft. Then add the drained mutton. Cook in high while you are stirring it. Then add enough water to cover and pressure cook it for 5 whistles or till the meat is done.

Update: The amount of water added is just enough to cover the mutton. Infact you can pressure cook without adding as mutton will leave out water after pressure cook. If you are unsure, maybe you can add 1/4 cup of water.

Once the pressure is off, remove the lid, cook till the water content is reduced and the mutton is well coated with the masala. The consistency should be a like thick masala coated mutton pieces.

Then add the rice and sauté well. Then add 2 cups of water, remaining ghee, mix well and cover again and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Note: I added water on instinct. Like for basmati rice to get cooked, yet be separate grains, with 1 cup water to 1 cup rice, you need to sauté it well and do a dum cooking. Only then it gets done correctly. Else it will turn out very soft.

I didn't measure the water for cooking the meat, then I reduced it to half. Finally added about 2 cups of water after adding the rice. I used the stock that was left out from the boiling the meat for the fry. I am not sure if there will be lot of change in the taste if you don't add it.

Other notes that I made note is, I use wash the pan after cooking the meat. When I directly added the rice and pressure cooked again, it was little browned on the bottom. Either this or I could have just cooked the rice in dum as the meat was well cooked.

Most important is, you should be liberal with oil/ghee. This is a special dish and should not be minced on the oil/ ghee. Next time will surely add more so that you really get the restaurant effect.!

I was very happy that my own creation resulted in a delicious tasting biryani and is surely something I am going to improvise on!

We are off for a weekend visit to my sil's place. Will update with their yummy treats soon!

Sambar Rice ~ Sankranti Special!

Waves were hitting the shores, wave after wave, calling me to touch. But I didn't budge from my spot. Every other minute, I was closing my eyes, just feeling the breeze that was caressing me with the salty drizzles from the salty water. I was gazing at my family standing on the beach. With each wave hitting them, Konda and Peddu were jumping. All my life, I have been crazy about beach and playing in it. I have lived most of my life in this city but I was never too satisfied with the times I visited it. Surprisingly now, I am not able to get myself get into the water. Its like, the moment I do, I know I won't want to get away, and I don't want that luxury! I rather enjoy watching my family playing in the waters.

I took a day off on the Mattu Pongal, the day after the main pooja, because everybody were at home. We didn't do much this pongal as the regular work load was too much to manage as such. On Sankranti day, Athamma didn't want to let go without a special dish, so she got up early and had things ready for Poli, then I helped her complete. The next day when all of us were at home, I thought breakfast should be special. Uggani, though a very common breakfast at my inlaws place, is still special and all of us like it so much! Kids enjoyed it much. For the lunch I thought it should be something new, but the kids were insistent that they go for a trip round the city. So we just got in and were surprised that the roads were practically empty. As they say, all roads here take us to the beach! We found ourselves on the beach. Though we always frequent other stretch, we went to the Marina this time, its such a long walk to reach the shore.

It was almost a year since we took the kids to the beach. Last time, Chinnu was scared, this time, he ran forward to get in. But after a while, he slowly reclined. While Peddu and Konda were jubilant. I wish I had taken the camera, it would've made such a lovely shot! But the pictures in my mind will always be fresh. The beach was almost empty and there weren't many on either side of my family. I can still see all five of them standing, holding their hands, the kids giggling when the waves hit them! Every other minute, one of them would turn and look at me with a joy, that's unforgettably sweet! I know my parents would've enjoyed that trip with the kids and I was missing them so much. After a while, Chinnu wanted to sit and both father and son were cuddling together, while others were playing. Then Athamma took turns to sit, and Chinnu jumped to her lap. It was like the ocean wanted us to feel it, they had to hurriedly get up, when a big wave made to them and they were drenched completely. It almost reached me. We took that as the signal to leave and somehow convinced the kids back. Peddu all wet, won't budge from the spot, I literally had to carry him away, promising him a trip soon.

I updated Amma on the unexpected trip, and she was very happy. It was quite late when we got back home. Hubby dear suggested I make just rasam and rice. I said the Sambar rice that I had in mind wouldn't take much either.

I used a different Sambar powder than the one I blogged in this, its more like Bisi Bele bath, but without much of those spices that go in to make. With not much of grinding work, this gets done very quick and makes it an ideal dish for lunch box too.

Ingredients Needed:

Rice - 1 cup
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Clove - 1
Cinnamon - 1"
Maratti mogga - 1
Tomatoes - 2 small
Chopped Vegetables - 1 cup (Beans, Carrot, Potatoes and peas)
Tamarind -1 lemon size, soaked and extracted
Turmeric powder a pinch
Asafetida a pinch
Sambar powder - 1 & 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Water - 5 cups

Seasoning
Curry leaves - abt 6
Shallot/ Sambar Onions - 5-6
Mustard seeds, Urad dal - 1 tsp
Cashew nuts

Method to prepare:

Wash and add water about 2 times more of the dal, along with turmeric and hing. Pressure cook till the dal is cooked. Except rice and tamarind water, add the chopped vegetables, spices, salt along with 5 cups of water..

Cover the pan with the lid without the whistle, so that it starts boiling. Then add the rice and simmer for 5 mins. Then add the extracted tamarind water and cook with lid covered. Pressure cook it for 3 whistles.

Once the pressure is off, heat a pan with ghee and splutter mustard seeds, then sauté onions, curry leaves. Then add the cashew nuts.

Pour this ghee over the sambar rice.

This goes well with appalam or papad with some poriyal if you have time.

I was supposed to post this on the same day, but looks like I have other things in store! But then better late than never. I really don't want to miss out this recipe, which was really classic.

Our Sankranti went off in a wink, how was your celebration?