Chow chow and mutton curry

   I had just left the market with an pack of chow chow.  This green vegetable, resembled potato like in texture.  I wanted to try it differently other than usual poriyal or kootu, which is why I called my aunt.  She told me that chow chow, radhish, carrot and potato are few vegetables that can pair excellently with mutton curry.  Even those who don't like veggies and prefer mutton alone, will find this curry delecious since the chow chow absorbs the flavour of mutton and portrays as same.  You can add green chillies to the masala paste instead of chilly powder, but, since we had an toddler, I sticked with latter option.

Yes, and I made the curry along with mutton and its liver.  Mutton liver or thilli is an excellant source of iron, and moreover they dominated the entire flavour and we all nourished the same.  This curry goes great with rice/idly or dosa.  I hope you try the same and let us know.  

Kundapura kozhi chaaru

    This morning, I was going through my recipe diary.  Initially, when I started to cook, I had this habit of writing down all interesting recipes from TV program.  As week-end special, we always have chicken- so when particular page read, ' Kundapur kozhi chaaru' I got very excited!  All ingredients mentioned was handy at home, so tried these for this week's CCC Challenge.

Kundapura kozhi chaaru is an regional speciality from Karnataka, in a place called, 'Kondapur'.  This curry is more like an soup.  Yes, chaaru is an equivalent term for, 'rasam' in tamil.  This soupy broth is best when served with rice.  This recipe also, involves in an special masala, that imparts an fresh taste to this curry.  To, top this coconut oil and curry leaves added an mystique flavour that circulated the entire home.  Do try this and let us know :)

Gongura mamsam

   There always used to be five to six types of spinach around my place, though I always end up buying palak, methi.  I, got intrigued with puntikura, after an taste of gongura chutney at my mother's place.  So, when I asked an fellow lady, who, I chanced upon picking these, she told me that they used to add in gosht prepartions.

So, I happily picked these and left home.  With my 'The Essential Andhra Cookbook' handy, I zeroed over an recipe called Chigoor ka salan.  Though these were made of tamarind leaves, this recipe also suggested any addition of spinach.  So, I nailed it replacing tamarind with gongura.  This curry had an high sour quotient along with balanced spice and salt.   This was completely unique,  and we did enjoy this as an family.   Do try and let us know.  

Gutti Wonkai - Andhra styled Stuffed brinjal in a tangy sauce

     Brinjal is not so pampered member of our kitchen.  They are utmost relished as spicy biriyani rice or as an curry.  They were in need of an desparate lift and this is why I bumped into one of my precious collections, 'The Essential Andhra Cookbook' by Bilkees I. Latif.  This book has various dishes as Hyderabadi and Telangana specialities.

So browsing under the vegetarian section, I got this Gutti Wonkai.  The ingredients were as simple, as to find in any South Indian Kitchen.  With sambhar and rice made, I moved on to make these.  Green chilly and coriander imparted an nice flavour to the brinjals.  And they tasted great with rice, though recipe suggested with roti.  After an good review from my mate, this is going to be an regular menu at our kitchen. Let's move on to the recipe.

Chettinadu chicken gravy

Chettinadu gravy is known for its flavourful and aromatic spices, in addition to their tantalizing taste. Here, I have made chettinadu masala, from scratch and this is followed by the gravy.  You can also make the masala in huge batch and store them for later

They were absolutely fabulous and would go divine with dosa/rice/idiyappam.  I am planning to make them furthur...

DINNER

MAIN COURSE 

ROTI / PARATHA/ WRAP

·        Aamla paranthas

·        Ajwain paratha

·        Aloo ki paratha

·        Carrot paratha

·        Hot dog wraps

·        Kheema ki parantha

·         Peas paratha

·         Rumali roti

PASTA  

·        Chokolya

·        Spaghetti with meat sauce

·        Desi-styled spaghetti

·        Lasagna

GRAVY/CURRY/DAL  - VEGETARIAN

·        Aloo ki bhaaji

·         Baby cabbage gravy

·         Dum Aloo

·         Gobi kandhaari

·         Harira

·         Hiruva masala shaak

·         Hot & Sour corn balls

·         Kache kele ki kofta curry

·         Kadaai khumb

·         Kadaai kobhi

·         Kadaai vegetable

·         Khoya matar

·         Khuskhuswali khumb

·         Kichi bhajji

·         Low calorie kofta curry

·         Malaai gobi matar

·          Malvani khumb curry

·          Mangalorean curry

·          Mili-juli subzi

·          Mushroom and capsicum stir-fry

·          Mushroom dopyaza

·          Mushroom ki Roganjosh

·          Mushroom theeyal

·          Padwal ki masaledar dal

·          Padwal ki nilgiri gravy

·          Palak paneer

·           Paneer masala

·          Phool makhana curry

·          Shahi khumb

·          Sindhi saag

·          Soya aur tarkari ki masala

·          Spicy and creamy bottlegourd gravy

·          Thai green gravy

·          Tomato chutney

·          Vegetable taka tak

·          Vegetables in garlic sauce

    

  DAL 

          ·            Bhaja moong dal

·           Chilly kabuli chana

·           Dal bukhara

·           Dal ki soya

·           Dal maharani

·           Dal tadka

·           Dal with tofu

·           Katachi aamti

·         Mooli ki dal

·           Pindy choley

·          Punjabi rajmah

·           Rajma masala

NON – VEGETARIAN GRAVY

·           Chungdi jhola

·           Goan egg curry

·           Kadhai lasuni gosht

·          Karahi chicken

·           Kolhapuri pandhra rassa

·           Kolhapuri taambda rassa

·            Kolyaas ki shaak

·           Murgh makhani

·           Murgh Pasanda

·           Prawn balchao

·          Shimla mirch ki kombdi

     

RAITA / SALAD

·          Coleslaw

·          Cucumber raita

·          Koshimbir

·         Sprouts salad

·          Detox salad

Kolyaas ki shaak (Mutton curry)

  This Kolyaas ki shaak  specializes in seasonal  blend of vegetables and spices. This seasonal blend along with boneless mutton chunks yielded an 'best dish' back, at home.   With flavour-enhancers like  Dill leaves, hariboot/green garbazo beans, radhish, laal mirch/fresh red chillies, I must say that this is most delecious curry I ever had :P

It was my mother who few days back, pointed out the fresh dill leaves growing in clusters near parking slot of my flat, I really felt ashamed of not noticing them before.  All thanks to her :), I am using them very often :)  And green garbazo beans/hariboot,  sub-catagory of kabuli chana  made this shaak/curry more detectable with nutty texture.  You can also add imli extract, yielding to ambat shaak or sour curry, which would go ideal with hot rice.  

Hiruva masala shaak / Green masala curry - POTLUCK PARTY, CYBER STYLE Dec 10

   It's party-time!!! :D  yes, back to potluck party, cyber style hosted by Jagruti mam where several bloggers meet with their party dishes online and share treat virtually  :D.  They, also pair up and prepare the other partner's dish and cherish them as well.  Isn't it interesting??   But, travelling frequently for past two months, I was not able to make up.  This time, I do proudly present the authentic curry preparation, made by my Mother-in-law - Hiruva masala shaak or Green masala curry.

 

As the name suggests, green masala curry is  very hot (Caution to spice-tolerant guys!), they differ from Nilgiri/green coloured curry because it is not the  (green) colour that matters here.  Hiruva masala shaak has many green chillies (8-10), sauted and pureed, this masala is added to regular curry-base, unlike other curries where  pureeing mint/coriander leaves is done to attain characteristic green colour.   

Kathrikkai kara kuzhambu

   If anybody asks me what cuisine/which country's food you love, my only answer is Indian food, especially south-Indian food.  A one shot of  hot kara kulambu with appalam would drool my tongue and I can firmly say that it won't be equal to McD's Burgers or KFC chicken. :P  :P

 

When I came across karakulambu from Swathi Iyer's blog, I could hardly resist than giving this godly curry, an try.  You can view her post here.  She has prepared an mixed vegetable curry, since I am an brinjal-freak I prepared kulambu with brinjals.  I must say that I fell in love with them.  Thanks to Swathi Iyer, for introducing this godly curry to me :) 

Kothukkari kuruma/minced meat kuruma

   Minced meat/kothukkari curry goes great with idiyappam/dosa/rice.  Here I have added precooked minced meat along with masala, this is an tempting dish for NV-lovers.

 

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients required:

To temper

•  1 tbspn of oil
• 1 Bayleaf, crushed
• 1 star anise
• 1-inch cinnamon piece
• 1 Black cardamom
• 1 clove
• 1 Marathi mogga
• 1 tsp sombu/fennel seeds

Khus khuswali khumb/ Mushroom flavoured with spicy poppyseeds base

   I love to try gravy with different base, here is one, poppy seeds flavoured mushroom gravy.  Poppy seeds are highly nutritious, rich source of protein, dietery fibre and also an base for preparing anti-cancer drugs.  I have previously prepared Harira, where poppy seeds are pressed to yield milk which is had with poori/chapathi.  Alternatively, poppy seeds are known to create false positive result in drug tests :(  So, it is advised better not to carry them when you travel to other countries, especially to Saudi Arabia where it is regarded as an severe punishable offence.

Ingredients required

For the masala paste (The following ingredients are dry roasted and ground into a fine paste)

• 3-4 tbspn khus khus/poppy seeds
• 3-4 dry red chilly
• 1 tsp whole dhanya
• 1 -inch cinnamon stick
• 1 black cardamon
• Pinch of ajwain
• 2-3 cloves
• 1 tsp of putane ki dal 
• 3-4 garlic pods
• 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Low-fat/Low-calorie kofta curry

   This week I brought green plantains/vazhakkai from super-market.  Bored of making fry or usual poriyal, I tried out this kofta curry.  The result was fabulous.  To top that, the normally added cream is replaced by beaten curd and provides much healthier version from shahi kofta curry.

Let us follow the recipe now.

Ingredients required

To make kofta

• 1/2 cup steamed and grated vazhakkai
• 1/2 cup paneer, crumbled
• 1/4 cup of steamed and grated carrot
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped capsicum
• 1 Bread slice, slightly crumbled
• 2 tbspn of finely chopped spring onions green part
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp peppercorn powder

Hot & Sour Corn balls

   Not long before, I watched hot and sour mutton balls cooked on a TV show.  I wanted to make them too!  Using mutton at my home is like once in a month, so I just skipped the idea of making them with mutton, instead came up with this vegetarian idea.

This dish came out very delecious and went great with roti/dosa/all sorts of bread, do try and let me know.

Milagu kaarakozhumbu

    Hyderabad is found rainy these days, hunger peeps in quite randomly due to the season.  My mind carves for more hot n spicy food.  It was during one such moment that I recalled this dish.

This dish, milagu karakozhumbu is often made by my mom due to my dad's insistence.  Milagu kaarakozhumbu is an good cold- releiver and also heats up your body to prevent winter chill.  This is done so due to presence of wonderful n healthy indian spices like peppercorns, garlic, jeera combo.  Just imagine to have them with hot rice on a rainy day....  :) hm... wow.... No pizza's or no burgers can compensate for such an powerful Indian dose :)

I served this with cabbage-carrot poriyal and hot rice.  The entire combo felt great on stomach and my heart too!

Vadakari (SouthIndian curry made with steamed dal dumplings)

    Vadakari is my all-time-favourite.  My mother used to prepare this dish atleast once a month and we used to rejoice it with idly, dosa and  pongal too!  I made it for first time and served it with mini-dosa (to come sooner) and my kid enjoyed it.  Here, Chana dal, which was first soaked, is later blended with selective spices, steamed and mixed with regular onion-tomato gravy base.  The spices usually added are red chilly and dhanya powder, here I added  chana masala which blended  soo well and gave an much richer aroma.  Do try guys and let me know.

Ingredients required

For dumplings

• 1/2 cup chana dal
• 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
• 4 tsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
• Pinch of hing/asoeftida

Kadaai vegetables - Hyderabadi styled

Ingredients required

• 4 tsp oil
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 2 green chillies broken
• 4 tsp finely chopped mint leaves
• 1/2 cup pureed onions (which are boiled in hot water)
• 1 cup  tomato puree
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp dhanya powder
• Salt, as per taste
• 1/2 cup cauliflower florets
• 1/4 cup each of chopped beans, potato, capsicum, carrot
• 100ml of fresh cream

Goan Egg curry

  This hot fiery egg curry can be made in a jiffy... and promises great taste too!!

Ingredients required

To made into masala paste

• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 5-6 red chillies
• 1 tsp whole dhanya
• 1 tsp whole peppercorn
• 7-8 garlic pods
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 2 tsp thick tamarind paste

Malvani khumb curry

      Malvani cuisine is followed by Konkan region of Maharashtra and Goa.  Name comes from Malvan, town in Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra.  Since this town being coastal, this cuisine dominates non-vegetarian food and especially sea food.  Using coconut liberally throughout their cuisine, malvani cuisine is known for its fiery curries.  Here I replaced khumb/mushroom with normally cooked chicken, mutton, prawn etc.  As mentioned earlier, my hubby is mushroom-freak and we have it atleast once a week, so went on for an new try.. and mushroom malvani curry did passs... :)

Ingredients required

For the marination masala

• 3-4 whole red chilly
• 1 tsp whole dhanya
• 1 Bay leaf
• 5-6 clove
• 2 green cardamon
• 1 black cardamon
• 1 tsp shahjeera
• 1/2 tsp dagad phool/stoneflower
• 1/2 tsp crushed nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp whole peppercorn

Punjabi rajmah

My mother used to prepare most yummiest rajmah.  I like her curry/gravy/any dal preparation which she smartly accompanies with roti.  This punjabi rajmah is dedicated to my dear mother.

Ingredients required

To temper

• 4 tsp butter
• 1 bayleaf, crushed
• 2-3 cloves
• 2 tsp crushed black cardamon

Spice mix

• 1/2 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
• 1 tsp punjabi garam masala
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1tsp dhanya powder
• 1/2 tsp aamchur powder
• 1 tsp salt

Nethilli meen kozhambu

  Nethili fish or Anchovy fish is my all-time-favourite.  But as these create an heavy response, you gotta run onto fish market early to get them.  Recently, bought them and enjoyed having them..

Ingredients required

To be roasted and powdered

• 1/2 tsp raw rice
• 1 tsp chana dal
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp whole peppercorn
• 1/4 tsp methi seeds
• 3-4 broken dry red chillies
• 1 tsp whole dhanya
• 1 tsp tamarind piece