Egg curry

Bored of cooking the same veggies and yearning for something spicy yet healthy to serve? That particularly happens to me on rainy evenings. So a couple of days ago, I got bored of carrots and beans and green peas, and was looking to make something quick and tasty, and something that my little one will eat as well. I realised there were a dozen eggs in the fridge and decided to make some egg curry. My Little one calls it, "maasa egg", her way of saying "masala egg".

The recipe is very simple. Just finely chop a large onion, and a large tomato, fry them to a pulp, add the necessary spices and finally add boiled eggs. Serve hot with rice or roti. 

Simple isn't it? Easy when you are running short of time too. 

Recipe 
Ingredients:
Eggs - 6-7 boiled 
Onions - one large or two medium sized ones, finely chopped 
Tomato - one large or two small ones 
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp 
Salt - to taste 
Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp 
Tumeric - a pinch 
Oil for frying 

Tadka: 
Curry leaves - 5-6 

Cumin - 1/2 tap 

Method: 

Chop the onions and tomatoes finely. In a heavy bottomed utensil, heat a tablespoon of oil (I prefer olive oil for this).  When the oil is hot, add the curry leaves and cumin. When the cumin is changing colour, add the chopped onions. Add a pinch of turmeric and fry the onions until they are transparent. Add the chopped tomatoes, salt, chilli and coriander powders and continue frying, until the whole mixture looks well blended. 

Now, add a little water and cover the kadai with a lid.  The onions need to cook until soft. Add additional oil if necessary. 
Finally, the curry looks like this in the picture above.  Now make slits in the eggs as shown in the picture. I make four such long slits around the eggs.  

Gently drop the eggs into the curry, toss them around to coat the sides and turn off the flame.  

Transfer to the serving bowl, garnish with more curry leaves or coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or chapati. 

Note 1: 
If you have some time, before adding the eggs, you can cool down the curry and grind it into a paste. That will yield a smooth curry. 

Note 2: 
Boil the eggs only until the yolk is fully cooked, and still yellow in colour. Sometimes the egg yolk starts turning grey, and that is a sign of overcooked eggs. 
I use the pressure cooker, with a slice of lemon in the water, and keep on high for just one whistle. I remove the eggs as soon as the cooker cools down and peel them. 
If boiling in a saucepan, boil for about 15-20minutes. 

Verdict: Simple, quick, go to menu when short of time or ingredients. 

Mix Vegetable Gravy in Garlic Sauce - Chinese style

The simple vegetable gravy I promised with the Chinese Fried rice post. This is with garlic sauce base. I also make white sauce and add cooked chicken. More on that later.

Ingredients
Following Vegetables - 2 cups in total
Cleaned cauliflower flowerrettes - small
Capsicum - diced
Carrots - broad, thin slices
Green peas

Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Pepper - to taste
Tomato Sauce - 1/2 tbsp
Soy sauce -  few drops
Salt - if necessary.
Water - as required.

Oil for frying

Method
Heat some oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the vegetables and stir fry until almost soft. Add the garlic paste and mix well. Add a little salt and keep frying. 

Make a paste of cornflour with as much water as necessary and add it to the cooked vegetables. 

Add the sauces and keep stirring. Add pepper if necessary. Now let the corn flour paste cook and reach the desired consistency. 

Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve with fried rice. 

Verdict
Simple quick and easy side dish to fried rice.

Dal Makhani

Dal Makhani is a favourite in party food and restaurant orders. There is a reason this particular preparation is far ahead in its appeal compared to other dal preparations. The creamy texture and the slightly spicy taste with a hint of ginger is just irresistible and goes so well with the fried rice or pulao items.

I always wanted to try this but was apprehensive about how well folks at home will take to having butter and cream mixed into their healthy dal. But I decided it wouldn't do us much harm to make this once a while.

So here goes the recipe I used this afternoon for a yummy lunch.

Ingredients:
Black Urad Dal - 3/4 cup
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp
Onion - 2 medium sized chopped fine
Tomato - 2 medium sized diced
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
Amti masala - 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies - 2 (slit lengthwise)
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Butter - 1 tbsp
Cream - 2 tbsp

Method:
Soak the urad dal in 3 cups of water over night.
Boil the urad dal with asafoetida in the pressure cooker giving 7-8 whistles until soft.
When the cooker cools down, mash the dal well. 
In a kadai, heat some oil and fry the chopped onions until pink. Add the tomato and saute until soft. Add the green chillies, chilli powder, ginger paste, amti masala, coriander, cumin and salt and fry for a few seconds. Add the mashed dal and let boil for a few minutes. Add the butter and cream and allow to simmer for a minute or so. Serve hot and garnish with coriander leaves, with rice or rotis. 

Verdict: Enjoy the creamy and mildly spiced dal makhani with your favourite pulav. A dish worth investing your time in.

Mushroom and Vegetable Curry

Ingredients
Button mushrooms - 200 g
Potato - 1, diced
Green pease - 1/2 cup
Capsicum - 1, sliced
Onion - 3, medium sized, sliced
Tomato - 2, diced

Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 1
Salt - to taste 
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Oil for frying

Method
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until pink and transparent. Add the diced tomatoes and continue frying. Add the spices and keep frying until the raw smell goes. Allow it to cool. 

Grind 2/3 of the onion-tomato-spices mixture into a coarse paste in the blender. 

Fry all the vegetables with the 1/3 of the onion-tomato mixture, add the ground paste and keep frying. 

Cook in the pressure cooker for 1 whistle. 

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Verdict You can optionally add soaked and ground cashew paste to make the gravy thicker. It yields a gravy of taste and consistency similar to that of restaurants.

Cauliflower Potato Curry

Cruciferous vegetables are widely considered healthy foods and are believed to have components with potential anti-cancer properties. This is one of our favourites at home other than cabbage. We rarely get broccoli in India. I do want to buy brocolli sometime for soup. Lets see how that goes.

A larege variety of dishes are possible with cauliflower, and a significant number of curry varieties suitable for  roti. This is one such vegetable.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - flowerettes from 1/2 a flower, cleaned (See Note)
Potato - 2 medium, diced
Onion - 1 large, chopped thin and long
Tomato - 1 medium, sliced thin
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 1
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Salt - to taste
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Amti masala - 1/2 tsp

Tempering:
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 tbsp

Method:
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add the cumin seeds and when they splutter, add the cleaned cauliflower (see Note) and chopped onions. Add a pinch of asafoetida and turmeric powder and fry until the raw smell is gone. Slit a green chilli and add it  while the onions and cauliflower fry. Add the chopped tomatoes at this stage and keep frying. Add amti masala, chilli powder, salt, ginger and garlic paste and continue frying. Add the potatoes at this stage and fry for a minute. Transfer the contents to a cooker. Add a little water and cook until soft (I usually give 1 whistle if the cauliflower is fresh and 2 if it has aged a bit in the fridge). Once the cooker has cooled down, check the consistency of the gravy. If it needs thickening, use any of the methods in the post on "How to thicken gravy". Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve hot with roti or rice.

Note: Cauliflower has to be cleaned very carefully. Wash and clean the flowerettes under running water. Drain the water and keep aside. In a sauce pan heat 2-3 cups of water with a lemon peel or 1 tsp lemon juice and 1/2 tsp of salt, until lukewarm. Add the flowerettes to the water and let it stay for 5-10 minutes. Drain the water and wash them one more time under running water. Drain the water from the flowerettes and now the flowerttes are ready to use.

Verdict: Fry the cauliflower until the raw smell goes. Some people find it difficult to take cruciferous vegetables due to some PTC related compounds in the veggies, that they can taste and find pungent. Frying the cauliflower lowers the concentration of such compounds.

Chicken in Coriander-based gravy

There are endless variations to the same old chicken gravy that we make for rotis or rice. This is one such variation. If I am bored of cooking the same gravy every single time, imagine how bored folks at home are eating it. So I keep browsing for newer ways of making the chicken gravy. I came across a recipe on Maria's blog.

Ingredients: 
Chicken - 500g
Onions - 2 (medium sized), coarsely chopped
Tomato - 2 (medium sized), cut into 4 quadrants
Coriander - 1/2 bunch
Cumin, powdered - 1 tsp
Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp
Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Green chillies - 2
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Oil - for frying
Coriander - to garnish

Method:
Wash and clean the chicken pieces well. 

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed vessel and fry the onions until pink in colour. Add tomatoes and continue frying until the raw smell goes. Add green chillies, and ginger-garlic paste and continue frying. Next add the garam masala, cumin powder and salt and finally the coriander leaves and stalks. 

Leave a few pieces of onions and tomatoes behind, and grind the rest of the fried mix into a coarse paste. 

Now add the chicken pieces to the ground masala paste and the onions, tomatoes kept aside and mix it well, such that the pieces are coated well with masala. 

Once the raw smell goes, add very little water and  close the vessel to cook the chicken until tender. 

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti or rice.

Verdict: This gravy has a delectable and wonderful blend of spices and the mild coriander flavour makes it a great accompaniment for rotis or rice. Do try it out sometime.

Thuvarai kai Kozhambu

October - January months are such a welcome season in Bangalore for two reasons. One is the awesome cold weather and second is the availability of tasty fresh lentils, avarakkalu (mochai kottai) and thuvarekalu (thuvara kottai). Ofcourse, the menfolk just dread this season for reason number 2 :).

This is a simple recipe for making thuvara kalu gravy, basically very similar to the pidukku paruppu recipe in terms of the spices and flavouring used.

Ingredients:

Thuvara kalu (shelled) - 1/2 kg

Onion - 2 medium

Green chillies - 2

Curry leaves - 8-10

Tomato - 1

Ginger - 1/2 tbsp

Garlic - 1/2 tbsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp  (I use 1/4 tsp Amti masala)

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Method:

Wash the thuvarai kottai and keep aside. Slice the onions, tomatoes, slit the green chillies into two and chop the curry leaves. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add the onions, green chillies and curry leaves. Fry for a few minutes until the onion turns golden brown. Add the chopped tomatoes. Fry till the raw smell of tomatoes is gone. Add the ginger and garlic paste, chilli powder and salt and keep frying until the raw smell of masala is gone. Finally add the beans. Add some water just to cover the beans, stir and close the lid. If using a pressure cooker, just 1 whistle, with the cooker on high flame, should suffice. If using a kadai, cover and cook until the beans are cooked throughout (approximately 5-7 minutes)

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve as a side with dosa/idli/roti or mix with rice.

Verdict: This is an extremely tasty legume. Make the best of it during the winter months. Adjust the spices to your taste.

Thickening the gravy:  In most of these curries, there is a necessity to thicken the gravy. When we add potatoes to the preparation, we can directly mash the potatoes to get the desired consistency. At other times, you could make a paste of rice flour, besan or corn flour. Just dissolve half a tablespoon of the flour to a couple of table spoons of water. Add the paste to the gravy, bring to a boil and let it keep boiling for a minute or two to get rid of the raw smell.

Mixed Vegetables in Cashew gravy

How many varieties of side dishes can one come up with using the regular vegetables available? Sometimes I am perplexed by the perpetual question, "What is for dinner tonight?", day after day. If cooking the same mundane vegetables, can be a such a boring experience, how boring will it be for those who consume it. That is why one can never get slack on this particular question. I try to spruce up the regular stuff by using different combinations of vegetables, different spices. This particular recipe is just a twist to the regular vegetable kurma. 

Ingredients:

Potatoes, diced - 1/2 cup
Carrots, diced - 1/2 cup
Beans, sliced - 1/2 cup
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Onions, medium - 2
Tomato - 1
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green chillies, sliced - 2
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt -  to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - for garnishing.

Gravy:

Cashews  - 8-10 

Water - 1/2 cup

Method:

Heat the water and soak the cashews in the hot water.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel.
Add the onions, green chillies and saute for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes and fry for a couple of more minutes.
Add the masala pastes and powder and continue frying.
Finally when the raw masala smell is gone, add the vegetables and fry for a few minutes.
Add very little water and cook the vegetables until soft. Remove the green chillies.

Grind the cashews with the water into a smooth paste. 

When the vegetables are cooked, add the cashew paste and heat for a couple of minutes. The cashew gravy tends to thicken after cooling down, so switch off the flame when the gravy is slightly thinner than expected.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Rotis or Puris.

Verdict: What is not to like about vegetables with the richness of cashews. This recipe yields a mildly spicy kurma. You can increase the green chillies if you prefer it spicier.

Chicken in Coconut Gravy

I can never tire of chicken recipes. Like the new "makemytrip.com" ad, where a middle aged man is unable to eat any other meat and looks for chicken in a Chinese city. I love the idea of dishing up a chicken dish anytime for dinner or lunch. It is so much simpler and most methods I pick involve little or no pre-preparation at all.

So what is different about this recipe is that we actually need to use the blender to make some coconut gravy with desiccated coconut.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken - 350 grams (cleaned and skinned)

2. Onions - 2 (medium sized)

3. Tomatoes - 2 (finely chopped)

4. Chilli powder - 1 tsp

    Dhaniya (coriander powder) - 1tsp

   Salt - 1 tsp

   Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

   Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

   Saunf powder (fennel) - 1/4 tsp

   Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

   Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp

   Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp

   Curry leaves - 15 to 20

   Mint leaves - 15 to 20

   Coriander stalk - 3 to 5

5. Oil - 1 tbsp

6. Coriander leaves for garnishing

7. Desiccated coconut - 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp

Method:


Grind the ingredients in No. 4 together. 
I always keep powdered ingredients (cumin, pepper, chilli, coriander seeds) but you can use 1 tsp of the seeds to get 1/2 tsp of the powder approximately.

I also always use ginger and garlic paste. Only this time I chopped the garlic instead of grinding it. Very often the stalks of the coriander leaves turn out to be too thick for garnishing. In such cases, I use the leaves and save the stalks to grind with masala gravy.

Slice the onions fine. Heat the oil and fry the chopped onions until they are golden brown; add the masala paste and fry until the raw smell is gone and there is good aroma. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken pieces and ensure that the pieces are covered well with the masala.

Add a cup of water and boil the chicken until soft.

Grind the desiccated coconut into smooth paste with 1/4 cup of water. Add it to the chicken gravy and boil for just a minute. The gravy thickens as it cools and so you can turn off the heat even with the gravy is a little thinner than desired. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Chapati or Rice.

Verdict: This was loved and devoured by everyone at home. The mild spices in the coconut gravy are and excellent compliment to the delicate  flavour of the chicken and so this dish goes equally well with rice and rotis.

Mango-Jaggery Pacchadi (Manga-Vellam Pacchadi)

Some dishes have the invariable quality of making you home-sick and if you are home, bring fond memories of childhood. Most such memories are of mom cooking one of her specialties and we devouring it avidly, or of grandma making her specialty dishes and we as kids helping her out. The summer season causes a lot of nostalgia, whether it is the juicy pink watermelon, mild and smooth musk melons, or the sweet and tangy mangoes.

When it comes to mangoes, we are lucky to find a plethora of varieties, each with their specific characteristics that yield them suitable for various preparations. We have the raw mango we use for pickle, we have the varieties that are best eaten ripe and are a treat in fruit salads, custards and desserts... we also have the kili mookku mangai, that we eat raw, sliced and sprinkled with a dash of chilli powder and salt (ooo... the tanginess in some of these makes my skin crawl and at the same time my mouth waters :), thats weird... )...

It is the preparation that mom makes with this raw mango (kili mookku variety) that is the best nostalgic summer memory of all...

She adds a cup of shredded jaggery and a dash of chilli powder and salt to boiled raw mangoes and makes a smooth pacchadi. This is an awesome side dish with dosa, chappathi or bread. It works as a spread too... Well it can be eaten as such :)... That is what my daughter did when she first discovered its taste...

The pacchadi is a breeze to prepare. It would hardly take 5-15 minutes of preparation time and 15 mins cooking time. And you can multi task as you can see in the write-up below.


Ingredients:

Raw Mango (Kili Mookku variety) - 1
Jaggery(shredded) - 1 to 1.5 cups
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - a pinch

Tempering:
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 1/2 tbsp

Method:

Slice the raw mango as shown. Add chilli powder, salt and turmeric and boil until soft. Add very little water to cook the mangoes.

While the mangoes are cooking, shred the jaggery. Once the mangoes are cooked, add the shredded jaggery and heat until a smooth gravy is formed. Allow the gravy to bubble a bit.

Temper with mustard seeds.

Verdict: Awesome side dish to any tiffin item. It serves as a good side to rice too.

Baby-corn Mushroom Masala

I have always wondered how to make mushrooms and baby corn as tasty as the restaurant dishes and what is the magic ingredient that gives the smooth silky gravy and the incredible taste that has a slight hint of sweetness.
It so happened that we had some babycorn one day and we also had mushroom. We rarely have the two at the same time at home. So I decided to make this mushroom baby-corn masala. I was working from home that day and I had some time to prepare dinner, as opposed to the usual quick sabzi route that I have to take on other days. So I set about planning what exactly goes into this gravy and made it leisurely. The end result was amazing. A delicate balance of flavours and a smooth gravy. Hubby was thrilled at the result and enjoyed his dinner after a really long time :). I must admit I have become very sloppy about regular food preparation, I just do the bare minimal to get by. So such occasions are rare ;)


Ingredients:
Baby corn - 5
Button Mushrooms - 1 pack (200 - 250g)
Onions - 2 large
Tomato - 1 large
Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp
Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp
Amti Masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 3, slit
Butter - 1 tbsp
Mozarella cheese - 1 tbsp (grated)
Lemon Juice - 1 half lemon
Oil - 1 tbsp for frying


Method:


Wash the mushrooms in warm water and a few drops of lemon juice. Slit them long. Chop the baby corns.
Chop onions coarsely and tomato lenghtwise.
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the chopped onions and green chillies. Fry until the onions turn transparent pink and then add the tomatoes. Fry until the tomatoes are totally mashed and the raw smell is gone. Then add the mushrooms and baby corn, continue frying and add the garlic and ginger paste. Once the aroma is good, add the amti masala and cumin powder. Continue frying for a couple of more minutes. Add a little oil if the masala starts sticking to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle water lightly and allow the vegetables to cook. 
Once cooked, on low flame, add the butter and mozarella cheese and gently mix evenly. Add enough water to make a  good gravy. If the quantity of vegetables is too much, you could soak 10-12 cashews in hot water and once the water cools down, grind into a thick paste and add. That makes very good gravy. 
Once the pan is off the heat, sprinkle lemon juice. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis.
Verdict: This is a very good combination and you can use your imagination to give any twist to the gravy :) This tastes awesome with rotis.

Paruppu-urundai Kozhambu (Lentil Balls gravy)

There are some favourite dishes of mine. Mom alone knows what those are and she never fails to squeeze them into my kitchen from time to time. Mom are simply the best, right!
This paruppu urundai kozhambu is one of those dishes. She always proposes to make this only when we are home for lunch. She never makes it when we are away at work. Told you right, no one cares for you the way moms do :)

Ingredients:
For the gravy:
Onions, large - 2
Tomatoes, medium - 2
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Cumin - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 6-7
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Oil -  1 tbsp
Water - 1-2 cups
Corainder leaves - for garnishing

For the paruppu urundai:
Refer to the post here for the Paruppu vadai recipe. You need to make small balls and fry these as balls instead of flattening them with the palm of the hand.

Method:
Chop the onions and tomatoes and keep aside. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed cooking vessel. Fry the onions and curry leaves for a few minutes until the onions turn golden brown.
Add the ginger and garlic paste, chilli powder, garam masala and cumin and continue frying. Finally add the tomatoes and fry until the raw smell goes and a nice aroma emanates.
Add water and bring to a boil. Boil the gravy for 5 minutes. When the gray is still hot, start making the paruppu urundai. Drop the fried paruppu urundai into the hot gravy.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with dosa or rice.

Verdict: Awesome is not the word for this gravy. This is a major hit at home with hubby dear too! 

Vegetable Kurma

Mixed vegetable gravy dishes are the easiest to put together. The only time consuming part is the vegetable chopping process. Here goes on more to the long list of vegetable gravies we make at home ;)

Ingredients:

Potatoes, diced - 1/2 cup
Carrots, diced - 1/2 cup
Beans, sliced - 1/2 cup
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Onions, medium - 2
Tomato - 1
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green chillies, sliced - 2
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt -  to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup (you could use 2 tbsp of dessicated coconut, ground into a fine paste)
Coriander leaves - for garnishing.

Method:
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel.
Add the onions, green chillies and saute for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes and fry for a couple of more minutes.
Add the masala pastes and powder and continue frying.
Finally when the raw masala smell is gone, add the vegetables and fry for a few minutes.
Add very little water and cook the vegetables until soft.
When the vegetables are cooked, add the coconut milk and heat for a couple of minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Rotis or Puris.

Verdict: What is not to like about vegetables with a dash of coconut milk. This recipe yields a mildly spicy kurma. You can increase the green chillies if you prefer it spicier.