Veggies Magic

Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut-Sesame gravy

kalpanaprasad — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:21:24 +0000

Recipe for Stuffed Capsicum curry:

Ingredients: Small sized capsicums-4 or 5
Potatoes - 2 (medium)
Green peas- 1/4th cup
Onion- 1
Green chillies- 4
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Peanuts- 1/4th cup
Sesame seeds- 1/4th cup
Cloves- 2
Cinnamon- 2 small pieces
Red chillies- 2 or a teaspoon of chilli powder
Tamarind juice- 1 tablespoon
Jaggery- 1 tablespoon (grated)

For tadka or popu: Mustard seeds- 1/4th tsp
Cumin- 1/4th tsp
Curry leaves- 4 or 5
Ginger- small piece(grated)

Potato stuffing:

Pressure-cook or boil the potatoes in water, until tender.

Remove the skins, mash them to smooth paste.

In a pan, heat a teaspoon of oil, do the tadka (toast mustard seeds, cumin, grated ginger and curry leaves).

Saute finely chopped pieces of onion, green chillies and fresh peas.

Add the mashed potato.

Stir in salt, turmeric and one teaspoon of garam masala and mix them all well.

Cook covered on medium-low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes - That’s our potato stuffing for bell peppers.

Bell Peppers:

Small sized capsicums are perfect for this curry.

Cut the tops off. Remove the seeds and membranes inside and make a hollow.

Fill them up with potato curry to the top.

In a big iron skillet, heat about 1 tablespoon of oil. Place the stuffed bell peppers neatly in a circle and cook them covered on medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Turn them to sides in-between so that they could get brown evenly on all sides. (You could also cook these stuffed bell peppers in oven - baking and broiling at 375 F until they are soft and tender to touch.)

Peanut-Sesame Sauce:

Toast peanuts and sesame seeds to golden color. Take them in a grinder, add cloves and pieces of cinnamon, chilli powder or red chillies and salt and a tablespoon of tamarind juice and powdered jaggery .

Grind them to smooth paste.

Heat a teaspoon of peanut oil in a big pan.

Add the peanut-sesame sauce and about a half cup to one cup of water and mix well.

Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Have a taste and adjust salt, sweet and sour levels to your liking.

Add the stuffed capsicums to the thickened sauce.

Cook for another 10 minutes on medium heat, covered.

Serve with rice or with chapatis.

Samosas

kalpanaprasad — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:45:27 +0000

Recipe for Samosas:

Ingredients:

Maida- 1 cup (all purpose flour)
Ajwain- 1/2 tsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
oil- 1 tsp

For stuffing:

boiled and mashed potatoes- 2 (medium)
green peas- 1/4th cup
chopped and boiled carrot- 1(small)
green chillies- 2
Onion- 1 (finely chopped)
pinch of turmeric

Procedure:

For curry:

In a pan, heat a spoon of oil.
Add the chopped onions and fry until they turn to light brown in colour.
Ad the boiled and mashed potatoes, green peas and carrot.
Add salt and turmeric and mix well.
Add 1/4th cup of water and cover with a lid.
Allow it to cook for five minutes on a low flame and put off the stove.
Let the curry cool down to room temperature.

In the meanwhile,

To the maida, add salt, ajwain, chilli powder, oil and mix well.

Slowly add water to this mix and knead well.

Allow the dough to set for 15 to 20 minutes.

Make six medium sized balls.

Roll the ball to the size of a roti.

Cut it to the centre and apply oil around the edges and roll it into a cone.

Stuff it with two spoons of curry and wrap the edges applying a little oil.

Repeat the same procedure for rest of the balls.

Heat a cup of oil in a pan and fry the samosas until they turn golden brown and transfer them into a bowl with kitchen paper.

Serve them hot with ketchup or some chutney of your choice.

Tomato perugu pachadi (tomatoes in youghurt)

kalpanaprasad — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:45:07 +0000

Recipe for Tomato perugu pachadi:

Ingredients:

Large red ripe tomatoes- 2 (chopped)
Finely chopped onion- 1 (optional)
Chopped green chilli- 1
Curd- 1 cup
Coriander leaves- 1 tsp
Pinch of turmeric pwd
Mustard powder- 1 tsp (optional)
salt to taste
oil- 1 tsp

For seasoning/poppu/tadka:
mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
cumin seeds- 1tsp
fresh curry leaves- 8-10
split black gram (minapappu)- 1/2 tsp
dry red chillies, de-seed and tear- 1-2
oil- 1/2 tsp

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and let them pop, add the split gram dal and let it turn red.

Add the curry leaves and red chillies and toss for a few seconds.

Add the chopped onions and fry till transparent(optional).

Add and green chillies, turmeric powder and salt.

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 6-8 minutes or till they turn soft but not mushy. Turn off heat and cool.

Beat the curd till smooth.

Combine the cooked tomato mixture with the beaten curd.

Add mustard powder, mix it well and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Serve with white rice or rotis.

Semiya Pulihora

kalpanaprasad — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 06:51:13 +0000

Recipe for Semiya Pulihora:

Ingredients:
Vermicelli (Semiya)- 1 cup
Pinch of turmeric
Oil- 3 to 4 tsps
Lemon- 1

Popu ingredients:

Mustard- 1 tsp
Cumin- 1 tsp
Peanuts- 2 tsps
Chana dal- 2 tsps
Urad dal- 1 tsp
Red chillies- 2
Green chillies- 2
Curry leaves- 10 or 12
Pinch of Asafoetida (Hing, Inguva)

Procedure:

Boil the vermicelli, adding a spoon of oil, salt and pinch of turmeric.

Keep stirring in between, to avoid the sticking of semiya to the bottom of the pan.

Drain the excess water and spread it on a wide plate.

Let the vermicelli cool down to room temperature.

Heat a pan with two teaspoons of oil and do the seasoning with the above listed ingredients.

Add the popu to the boiled vermicelli, and add salt in required amount.

Squeeze the lemon and add the juice to the vermicelli and mix well with your hand.

Serve it hot or cold with a cup of yoghurt.

Pav Bhaji

kalpanaprasad — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 09:16:58 +0000

Recipe for Bhaji:

Ingredients:
onions chopped finely- 2
ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
green chillies slit length wise- 2
capsicum finely chopped- 2
tomatoes finely chopped- 2
1 small cup each of chopped mixed vegetables (french beans, carrots, cauliflower,potatoes,green peas,cabbage)
Pav bhaji masala (any good brand,I used Everest)- 3 tsp
red chilli powder- 1 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder- 1/4th tsp
salt to taste
oil- 2 tsp
butter- 1 tsp
lemon juice- 1/2
chopped fresh coriander leaves,onion rings and lemon wedges for garnish- 2 tsp

6 pavs (buns)with butter to shallow fry the pavs.

Procedure:

Pressure cook all the vegetables except onions,capsicum and tomatoes.

Once they are cooked till soft,mash them with a masher while they are hot.

Dont drain away the left over water from the cooked vegetables.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel and add onions.

Fry till the onions turn golden brown in colour.

Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Now add the bell peppers and fry for another 2 minutes.

Add Pav bhaji masala,red chilli powder,turmeric powder,sugar and salt.

Stir to combine and then add the tomatoes and fry till oil separates.

Add the mashed vegetables and stir to combine.

Add a cup of water and adjust salt, let it cook on slow fire for 20 minutes.

Turn off heat and add butter and lemon juice.Combine.

Garnish with onions rings and chopped coriander leaves.

Serve this bhaji with hot pavs lightly toasted in butter.