Beans Potato Curry | Beans Bangaladumpa Koora | Beans Aloo ki Sabzi

For the lunch box that I made along with Kathirikai Paruppu Kulambu, I made this simply Curry or Koora as we also call in Telugu. Now Koora is a name given to vegetable dry sautes as well as gravies. The usage is most confusing, however we manage somehow. Coming to this simple beans and potato subzi, I eat this at my sil's place. She had made it along with Pappu and I was surprised that hubby dear liked it and said he would eat such dishes if I were to make it like that. 

There was nothing so different about it, except of course the green chili spice that he so likes. So back home I decided I should make it and see if he still likes it. My SIL had made it quite spicy and it was bright red in colour, which meant she had added red chili powder as well. Mine didn't end up like that, maybe because I pressure cooked the vegetables and then added. Coming to the simple one, here is how you can make this simple dish that makes a good side dish for both rice and rotis as well.

Pressure cooking makes this dish get done very quickly, else you will have to slog over the stove for a while for the vegetables to get done.

Step by Step Pictures

Beans Potato Curry 

Ingredients Needed:

Beans - 1/4 kg
Potato - 2 small
Coconut - 2 tbsp
Green Chilies - 2 medium
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

For the Tempering

Mustard Seeds, Urad dal  - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - handful
Crushed Garlic - 4 cloves
Oil - 1 tsp

How to make the Beans Potato Curry

Make a coarse paste of coconut and green chilies without adding water.

Wash and trim the beans. Peel the potatos and cube. Pressure cook till done.

In a non stick pan, heat oil, temper with curry leaves, mustard seeds, and crushed garlic.

Next add the ground coconut mix, saute well till done.

Then add the cooked vegetables and cook on high for the water to evaporate. Add the spices and combine everything well.

Continue cooking in sim till the spices and vegetables blend well.

Serve with Rice or rotis

Enjoy the week ahead!

Chettinad Chicken Fry | Chettinad Kozhi Varuval | Chicken Chettinad Roast

Chettinad Chicken Fry has been in the drafts for a while. We made this almost couple of months back and it had to wait for all the thalis to get over, before finally making its appearance. And of course there was this fact that hubby dear didn't like it much, though everybody else liked it a lot. He finally said that he need not be always the only person to approve for something to go on the blog..:)

After the Indian Thali Mela round up, I almost forgot that there has been nothing new. I went back to check what was pending and saw this varuval that met many approvals, except the main person. I decided to go ahead as others at home liked it a lot.

Boys are starting their school tomorrow after their summer vacation. Schools here have this habit of breaking for a month and half to avoid the peak summer. Since last couple of days, especially after Konda started her school, we have been telling them and getting them used to the thought of getting up early for school. More than them, I guess I need to be prepared mentally to manage everything again. The morning rush hour is really too much of a rush.

We went to the beach late Sunday night. It was just to be a regular merry go round the city, when hubby dear suddenly thought we might as well land in the beach. For all the close proximity we live, we hardly ever go to the beach. Since it was very late, the kids didn't ask to get into the water, even if they had asked, we won't have let them anyways. We could hardly see through the place. We slowly drifted towards the shore, it was so sultry. we were hoping it might get cooler as we go, it hardly changed. I refused to look around much. My beautiful Marina, no longer that clean and pretty!

There was still good crowd and we took so much time just to find a spot to park the vehicle. The walk to the shore was quite long. As expected the kids were enthusiastic. On reaching the shores, we settled down, Athamma and myself discussing our plans, while hubby dear made sure he gave the kids some ideas to play. He is best at that. Always comes out with a plan that will get the kids occupied for a long time. End of the game, they were ready to fall down with exhaustion.

When we got couple of stolen moments for ourselves, we were silent, looking at the waves hitting and residing. There is always a calmness that comes when you look at the ocean, waves hitting the shore and going back. Life in intervals hits you with nostalgia. I never wished to go back in time, I am happy as I am now. Never felt more younger, looking at the kids, felt more energy coming back.

We came back home for a quick meal and kids slept so well. Wish we could give them exercise like this regular basis.

Coming back to the recipe, I am sure I will be making this again soon.

Chettinad Chicken Fry

Ingredients Needed

Chicken Breast - 250 gms
Pearl Onions / Sambar Onions - 100 gms
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Tomatoes - 1 medium
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Fried Gram powder - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp

How to make the Chicken Varuval:

Wash and cut into bite size pieces.

Heat a kadai, add oil then saute small onions. When they turn colour, add ginger garlic paste, followed by chopped tomatoes. Add salt, chili powder coriander powder. Saute well.

Then add the drained chicken pieces. Cook on high, keep stirring and continue cooking till the water evaporates.

Simmer after that and cover with lid. Cook for 10 mins.

Just when the chicken is ready, sprinkle fried gram powder, saute for 2 mins and remove.

Enjoy as a starter!

Chicken Varuval ~ Weekend Cooking | How to make Chicken Fry Tamil Style | Step by Step Recipe

I have been getting so many requests for non vegetarian dishes that I decided that I should make something different and post. So for the last two weekends, it's been new recipes that I tried. Today's recipe is yet another chicken varuval, that Amma got to know this recipe from our family friend. Vasantha Aunty makes non veg dishes the best and her dishes are well known. She makes a mean meat balls and for all the get together parties, she will surely make those meat balls. 

During the recent gathering, she had made this chicken varuval and daddy liked it a lot. So Amma had to get the recipe and she made it at home. Everybody liked it and naturally I got to make it again. The spice level has to be increased if I was serving just for hubby dear, however it was just correct for the kids.

Since this is step by step recipe, if you are a meat eater, please skip the post and check out Spice your Life for Vegetarian dishes!

Step by Step Recipe for making Chicken Varuval

Boiling the Chicken

Wash and cut the chicken as desired.

Add red chili pw, salt, ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder to the chicken and mix well.

Add 1 cup water and bring to boil

Continue boiling till the chicken is cooked.

Simmer and dry the chicken.

Keep it aside for it to be fried.

Spice powder:

Dry roast the wholepepper and cumin seeds.

Once cool, grind to a fine powder.

For making the Fry:

Heat a kadai with oil,

Finely chop the tomatoes, and slit the green chilies.

When the oil is hot, add the green chilies, ginger garlic paste,

Saute well.

Then add the chopped tomatoes.

When the tomatoes are cooked, add the ground powder. Add the cooked chicken and roast till the chicken is well done. Finally add the curry leaves and the coriander leaves.

Chicken Varuval | Chicken Fry

For the boiling Chicken

Chicken - 1 kg
Red chili pow - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric a pinch
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Water - 1 cup

Wash and cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Wash and drain in a colander.

Add salt, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder to the chicken pieces.

Take the chicken pieces in a pan and add 1 cup of water. Bring to boil, cook till the chicken is cooked. When the chicken is cooked, continue till all the moisture is evaporated.

Masala powder:

Wholepeper corn - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Heat a kadai, dry roast pepper and cumin seeds. Cool and powder to a fine powder.

To fry the chicken:

Oil - 4 tsp
Clove - 2
Cinnamon - 2
Cardamon - 2
Green Chillies - 3
Ginger Garlic paste - 3/4 tsp
Tomatoes - 2 medium.
Salt to taste


How to make Chicken Fry

Heat a kadai with oil, add clove, cinnamon, cardamon. Saute for couple of mins, then add slit green chilis, ginger garlic paste, chopped tomatoes, fry for a while. Adjust salt and add as required.

Once the tomatoes are mushy and soft, add the pepper and cumin powder. Saute for couple of minutes. Add the boiled chicken. Fry on high flame, then simmer the flame and continue frying till oil comes out.

Add curry leaves and coriander leaves and simmer for 5 mins. When the chicken is dry, increase the flame and saute again for couple of minutes.

Enjoy as a starter!

Bhindi Masala Recipe | How To Make Bhindi Masala with Step by Step Pictures | Lunch Box Series : LBS#64

If you have been around, reading this blog for a while, then you must know that there are couple of dishes that have eluded me. One is the Bhindi Masala and the other, Moong Dal Halwa. Though I have made and got hubby dear's nod on Bhindi Masala's taste, it still seems isn't the right one. Bhindi Masala, of course got attested as the recipe. But looks like I was mistaken. Though it tasted great and all, it didn't look like how it is served in Delhi.

Now if you have ever been in a situation fighting memories, get it from me, you will fail miserably. Just as I have. It's like hearing statements like no one can prepare that chutney like my mom or like that kerala curry just like my uncle. Well the list is endless. Even Daddy comes out with such statements and you know Amma cooks like a dream. I just tell them that it must have been the first time they were eating it and the memory just stayed. I know it's easy to defend this way, than trying to get that perfect recipe okay.

Anyway I was happy having found one recipe that was right, until I was shown how Bhendi Masala looks like. We were watching the movie 3 Idiots, guess what happens? I suddenly hear a squall! Startled I turn to look at hubby dear who has that look on his face, I asked him what happened. He says that's how Bhendi Masala looks. I was thankful that it's a DVD that I could play back couple of times to see how the dish looks. Raju Rastogi's mom feeds him Bhindi Masala with rotis when he is in hospital. If you have seen the movie, then you can imagine how funny the situation must have been. We missed watching that movie in the cinema, and we really enjoyed the first time we watched it. Of course this movie joined the exulted line of movies that get run for some 1k times at home. And I didn't actually have to play again for myself as kids were watching it anyways.

Coming back to how Bindi Masala looked, I must say it looked very pretty. The Bhindi were still very green, and pretty with all masala mixed. I was wondering how one can cook something completely without loosing it's colour. Unless it was only half cooked. Well I will only know if I get hold of that cook who made, which again is not a possible thing. 

I am sure by now you are now curious to know how I got this recipe. Well this recipe comes from my colleague's mom. He is from Delhi and you can imagine how much of a foodie he is. So when we are not discussing work, food becomes the main topic. I asked him to get the recipe from his mom. I was surprised to see that just adding one more ingredient, how the dish got changed completely! He says there will not be a dish without amchoor not being added and the store bought ones can't stand a chance with his homemade amchur powder. Well that might be very true, still I got to make do with the store bought amchur powder right!

So armed with the recipe, I planned to make a complete punjabi meal for office lunch. So made Lasoon Masoor ki dal, Jeera Pulao and Bhindi Masala. When I told hubby dear that he can expect Bhindi Masala, pat came the reply if the rotis are made. Well there I was planning a typical dal chawal subzi, and he asks for roti!

Finally whatever it was, it was one delicious meal and it was approved by everybody including my colleague who said it was how they make it at home. So finally here comes the dish..

Step by Step Pictures

 Mix all the spice powders along with oil.

 Wash, wipe and dry the Bhindis

Cut into pieces as shown above!

Slit open through the middle.

Stuff with the spice masala.

 Cook in a non stick pan for best results.

It's ready!

Bhindi Masala | Curried Okra with spices | Lady's Finger sauteed with spices

Ingredients Needed:

Bhindi / Okra / Lady's Finger - 250 gms

For the spice mix

Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric a pinch
Salt to taste
Amchur / Dry Mango powder - 1/2 tsp
Anardana / Pomegranate seeds powder - 3/4 tsp
Cumin powder / Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp

Method to prepare:

Clean and wipe the Bhindi dry. Trim the crown and tips. Chop them into long pieces and make a deep slit in the middle. Keep aside. I was told these are normally tied with threads to have the masala intact.

In bowl, take all the masalas and mix well with oil. Stuff this masala into the Bhendi pieces. After a point I was really tired of stuffing into the small pieces, so if you stuffed most of them, you can sprinkle the rest on the top or roughly mix the bhindi with the masalas.

Heat a non pan or kadai with oil. Add the stuffed Bhindi and add another tsp of oil if required. Cover with lid and simmer for 5 mins or till the bindi is cooked. 

It takes about 10 mins or so to get done.

Serve with rotis or jeera rice and dal.

Notes:

Best to select tender Bhindis as they will get cooked faster.

If you have the Anardana seeds, then slightly dry roast and make a fine powder. Fine powder may not be possible. But not real coarse. Store in air tight container. What I have has been there for a while..:)

Hara Gobi | Dry Cauliflower in Mint Sauce

If there ever was a recipe that stayed the longest in my draft, then that honour should surely go to this recipe. Hara Gobi recipe was something that came into our life a long time ago, yet it never made it to the blog as one might expect. If you are a person who loves pungent spicy stuff, then this is a recipe for you. I am really not a person who loves strong pungent flavours in any dish. But if you allow it, this recipe will surely grow on you. It is something that you got to get used too, that is, if you don't like the strong mint flavour like me.

It happened one fine evening when I visited my parents during their dinner time. As soon as they saw me, they offered this dish to eat. It was green and I didn't even look further than that and took a bite. With a reaction that said "Ahgguu what's that!", I gave it back again. Dad was surprised and said how I could react like that on a dish that they loved so much. It took me a moment to get that sink and I realized I offended them. It was a spontaneous reaction because of the strong mint flavour. I know I could have controlled my reaction. So to mend things I took another bite to taste and realized it was good, only you got to see the dish and understand that it's made with mint and gobi. Anyway I asked Amma for the recipe and made myself acquainted well with it.

Furthermore Daddy asked how I could react like that being a food blogger. Well I said being a food blogger doesn't mean I can taste and appreciate everything at the first shot. But of course I can learn to appreciate some dishes finally. After all who can say no to a minty Cauliflower! This Hara Gobi is a pungent dry dish that takes you completely by surprise. But then if you are fond of mint and gobi, this must surely be something you can easily lap up.

Hara Gobi - Dry Cauliflower in Mint Sauce

Ingredients Needed:

Cauliflower - 1 small head
Mint paste - from 1 big bunch
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Onion - 1 finely medium,
Green Chilies - 2 long
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - 3/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp

Method to prepare

Wash and clean the cauliflower. Cut into florets and take a bowl with water covering it completely. Bring to a boil and keep it aside with lid covered.

Wash and trim the mint leaves. Make a fine paste in a blender/ mixer using water.

Heat a non stick pan with oil, saute onions till brown. Then add finely chopped green chillies. Fry for a minute. Then add ginger garlic paste, a minute later add the mint paste. Keep stirring to make sure it doesn't get burnt. Simmer for couple minutes till the mint paste is cooked well.

Then add salt and pepper. Finally add the drained cauliflowers florets to the pan. Stir well to get the florets well coated. Continue cooking till it's dry.

Takes about 5 -7 mins in high. You can do in simmer too if you are using a regular pan.

If you are fond of cauliflower, then you must try these Cauliflower Recipes

Or if you like Dry Curries check them out!

Have a great weekend.

Microwave Roasted Potatoes with Herbs

With so much of potatoes that my brother got us, it was natural that I find different ways to use up those spuds. They were sprouting already and I was in a haste to use it up. After making those chips, seeing how much the kids loved it, I wanted to store them for a long time. Imagine my bad luck that somehow one important step in making the chips stay for longer shelf life, was overlooked. This was my first kitchen failure and I was badly affected. I have been upset over this for the last two days. Never imagined that I would be affected so much. One reason would be that my brother got it all the way and second would be that the kids loved the potatoes chips so much, third would be facing a failure and accepting is always such a hard lesson to learn!

Anyway certain things just happen, no reasons to explain why. I thought I should just move on. Athamma had stored some potatoes for making a gravy and I ended up making something else. So I had that share on hand and decided to bake some in microwave. As you know I always microwave the potatoes, instead of using pressure cooker. It's such a time saving, fuel saving method. So I thought baking them in microwave would be a great option. To make it even better, I baked it in butter and some spices. It was very delicious to say the least. While this didn't mitigate the pain I feel every time I remember my whole lot of potato chips that might go down the drain, this dish surely ends up being very satisfying.

Sending these to Lavanya who is hosting the MEC this month themed on Party Appetizers.

Ingredients Needed:

Potatoes - 5 medium
Butter - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - 1 tsp (as per taste)
Herb Mix - I used Thyme, you can mix in rosemary, Oregano. anything that you have on hand.

Method to prepare:

Wash and cube potatoes into 1 inch pieces.

In a microwave safe bowl, add butter and the cubed potatoes. Toss well. Microwave for 10 mins.

After 5 mins, open and toss again. Sprinkle the salt and pepper and other spices you are going to add.

Microwave again for remaining time.

Tastes great as an appetizer and very quick to make if you plan for a party.

 

Enjoy as a side dish too!

Check other Potato Recipes

Baked Arbi | Baked Colocasia Fry | Microwave Convection Recipe

I love Arbi fries and finding another way to make this delicious Arbi Fry was just perfect. This has been in drafts for so long that I really wonder why I haven't spoken about it.  Making this in  microwave works out so simple and quick. 

After deciding on 365 days of Microwave cooking, I was thinking I should find as many possible recipes that can fit into this mode. Since I have a Microwave Convection oven, it gives the advantage of baking it both in microwave and convention mode. Micro mode gets this cooked quick, while putting it on the convection mode ensures it stays crisp and not tough or hard.

I came back home after a week's trip to San Fransisco, visited my sister and attended BlogHer's Conference too. It was a fun filled week and five days passed quickly. My sister and BIL ensured I had great time, still I missed home and was only happy getting back fast. I had that feeling the moment the plane was landing on Kathipara Junction and cursed myself for keeping away just that moment. This was my first trip ever on own, so I was excited as a kid. Will write more about the trip in my next post.

Meanwhile enjoy this recipe which was shared my the MW Chef I was talking about. I adapted her recipe to suit our palate.

Baked Arbi in Microwave

Boil Arbi in water for 8 minutes

Peel the arbi and chop into 1 inch pieces. Mix the arbi in the masala and keep aside for 5 mins. Then spread on the tray and bake 10 minutes.

Toss it around in between and continue baking in micro mode.

Serve it with Rice and Sambar.

Baked Arbi in Microwave |
In both Micro and Convectional cooking mode
Total cooking Time : 20 mins

Ingredients Needed:

Arbi / Colocasia / Seppankizhangu- 250 gms
Red Chili powder - 1 & 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Cornflour - 1/2 - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp

Method to prepare:

Wash and boil Arbi in water for 8 minutes in micro mode.

Peel the skin and cut into 1" pieces

Then take the Arbi in a bowl along with the other ingredients and mix well. Keep it aside for 5 mins.

Spread the arbi on a microwave safe tray and micro for 10 minutes. Keep tossing around in interval.

If you want a crispier arbi, pre-heat your convectional oven for 15 mins at 50 degree C.

Then spread the baked arbi again for 5 minutes in Convectional mode.

Notes: Baking this in both Micro and Convectional mode ensures the arbi comes out crisper.
Only about 1 - 2 tsp of oil is required for baking this, so it makes it so healthy.

This goes for my 365 Days of Microwave Cooking. I wanted to include even dishes done in combo mode as we get such Microwave Convectional Ovens in India.