Recipes from my Kitchen

Dum aloo

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:55:00 +0000

I am blogging after 4 long months. Its crazy at work these days. I work as a Design engineer for a printer press mfg company, its exciting when I am desiging something new but at same time get confused alot if I think multiple scenarios.The interesting thing is I can see my own design after its done in the plant and can feel proud with the outcome and also take crap from people who shows my mistakes if it fails. I have option B though,re-design. Hahahahaha..

The main motive for me to make this dish is its appearance at Indian Restaurants. I got the recipe from Indira's Mahanandi. This is a hit in house and also with guests. Try it when you want to try something different as vegetarian item for parties. It tastes great both with Rice and Roti.

Maramarala masala

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 03:14:00 +0000

I miss all the chaats, masalas, bajjis...list goes on from home. I hope many of you remember there are times when some people say that its not good to eat the food sold by street vendors, I dont know how can we resist passing by those and whats the life missing all those yummy yummy treats. What say?

I miss all those days when mom scolded me for skipping dinner after munching these evening snacks. Even sometimes my mom tries some recipes but they dont get that taste like bundi bujji's. My mom asks me why don't I enjoy the bajjis she made as I enjoy the ones bought from outside. I really don't want to offend her but at the same time can't enjoy as well, finally my silence answers her questions.

Anyways here is my small attempt to make this maramaralu masala.

Take 3 to 4 cups of Maramaralu. Fry these maramaralu little bit just to warm them.

Fry hand fulls of senagapappu (split pea dal), peanuts separately in a frying pan without oil and set them aside. Chop half of medium white onion and half tomato. Mix all of the above by adding salt and chilli powder per your taste. Squeeze juice of one lemon into this mixture.Mix it well,garnish with chopped cilantro and enjoy.

Spinach Fry (vepudu)

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Thu, 10 May 2007 01:40:00 +0000

Do you have anyone in your house who don't like leafy vegetables, here is an easy but healthy recipe which tastes good with Rice or Roti. This is my quick and easy version.This is my contribution for Spring in the air of Meeta.(http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com)

I used one bag frozen spinach for this instead of fresh spinach.
Slice one onion to thin slices. Fry the onion in a tbsp oil to little brown after popu.
Add the Spinach to this mixture and add salt per your taste.
Add chilli powder after its cooked and fry for few minutes. Thats it.Pretty simple right.
This is one of those quick recipes at school to make sure we get leafy vegetables in our food other than in dal. I wish I have this food blogging knowledge then (not long long ago..just 2002/2003) :)
Can anybody help me get the names of Collard greens and Turnip greens in telugu or hindi. I have seen recipes on blogs using these but didn't try till now.

Quick noodles just like on pack

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Tue, 08 May 2007 23:17:00 +0000

Doesn't my title suit well for this picture? :). This is made with maggi noodles. I am sure we can make this with ramen noodles as well.
Nothing fancy except adding some mixed vegetables and tomato to the boiling water and cook before we add noodles and masala powder. Easy to try when you want to take it easy on dinner.
This is my contribution to Nupur's A to Z of Indian Vegetables event for "Q".

Karivepaku kaaram podi

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Tue, 01 May 2007 03:48:00 +0000

This is my entry for Indira's JFI of Greens. I started my blog starting with JFI for Mangoes after visiting the beautiful site of Mahanandi. Since then though I am on and off from blogging, my passion for food and cooking remained the same.
Here is the recipe for karivepaku kaaram.I got the recipe online but kind of recap and my effort for this event.
Curryleaves-150grams
red chilli-8
fenugreek-1/2spoon
corriander seeds-2spoons
jeera-1 1/2spoons
garlic-6flakes
oil-2spoons
tamarind paste-1spoon
salt
black gram dal-2spoons
We have to fry coriander seeds,fenugreek,tamarind,black gram,red chilli in oil and remove from fire and cool it .Fry curryleaves upto dry in the remaining oil .Grind all the above to powder by adding salt per your tasate.Add jeera and garlic to the above mixture and grind again to powder. The aroma of this podi cannot be explained in words. You have to try it and feel it.It tastes good with hot rice and ghee. It also tastes good in dosa and idli as well.

VA Tech Massacre

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 04:48:00 +0000

I still can't believe this VA Tech shooting happened and wish its a dream.I hope its not real and something that CNN & NBC channels want the people to prepare in worst case scenario for such instances. I guess facereading or psychology should be part of our course work so that we will observe in that angle and be careful when we come across crazy people like this. I know I am talking something but I wish someone or something stopped this guy.
Whatever happened is happened no matter what I think except praying God to give enough strength to all the victims families and help them to recover soon.

Godhuma attu (Wheat flour dosa)

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 03:27:00 +0000

I remember my mom making this as an evening snack after we come from school. I eat them and enjoy well and get scoldings for skipping the meal at night. We can eat this with any pacchadi.(tomato, allam etc).I make this very often and luckily my husband likes it too.The recipe and preparation are as easy as making an omlette.

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour- 1 cup

Rice Flour-1/2 cup

Karivepaku-5 to 6 leaves

onion-1 medium sized

green chillies-1 or 2

cumin-1/2 tbsp

salt and chillipowder per taste.

Water to make batter

oil

we have to mix all the above ingredients by slowly adding water to the consistency of dosa batter(little thicker side) and follow the steps of making dosa( basically any kind of dosa/attu you make). Serve it with your favourite pacchadi or pappula podi.

Tomato soup and crackers

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:59:00 +0000

Happy Ugadi to all
I am back from India and back to routine again. I finally got some time to blog something after 4 months. Theres so much going on these days with guests from thanksgiving, our trip to texas for christmas, guests for Newyear and shopping for India bla bla bla.. Anyways I am glad to be back and nice to see so many new bloggers. Lets start this spring with this soup and crackers. There is no recipe since I made it with campbells creamy tomato soup. I just added salt and pepper and garnished with cheese. Since we have the topic of soup, I have to tell about Panera. I like all soups there.
*Panera bread is St.Louis based company. Its called as St.Louis bread Co in St.Louis but not panera. you learnt something from my blog today :)

Tea time buddies

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 04:30:00 +0000

Come join us for a cup of Tea. I also have Biscuits ready for you. I liked this Tea set in Pier 1 and glad that its not a bad decision. I mainly liked the change to drink the tea in a tea cup but not in a coffee mug anymore :). (Believe it or not Coffee Mug is a necessity in my School life)
I made this Tea with Tajmahal Teapowder, sugar, cardomom and Milk.
To make two cups of tea add 1 tbsp tea powder and sugar( per your taste)and split cardomom to 1 cup water, bring it to boil and add 1 Cup Milk. Bring it to boil and your tea is done.
I am sure many of you there know how to make better/ delicious tea to this,but this is for the beginners or people who still wonder we can make tea with milk that tastes great.
Did anyone tried the StarBucks Chai Latte, I liked it, but I prefer homemade tea to that.

Mirchi Bajji (Mirapakaya Bajji) Uhm....Yummy

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:09:00 +0000

The temperatures dropped horriby in midwest in past two weeks. I am sure that most of us crave for something hot if it is chilly/raining outside and I am no exception. I thought about making these bajjis when it is raining on my drive to home after work.

My hometown is Guntur in AP and mirchi bajjis taste awesome there.If you ever get a chance to go thru Guntur,try to get taste of them.You will just love them.Trust me. You can get them in the Guntur Railway station too if you really dont get the chance to go into town. It looks like I am advertising for Guntur Bajjis, seriously I am not.
I got the recipe from Indira's Mahanandi but used the ajwain and salt mixture for the stuffing inside, trying to get guntur bajjis taste. I also like potato Bajjis and made a batch of them with the leftover batter. The result is on display for you.

Beans and Carrot Fry, Egg Pulusu

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 01:42:00 +0000

I am very busy with work and guests these days and finally got sometime to post something on my blog. This recipe I am posting is simple and you can fix it very fast. I guess I almost say every recipe on my post simple and easy.Let me tell you why? I use canned food to save some chopping and cooking time.I used canned beans but fresh carrots since I have them both handy. Follow the Popu beat and add chopped onions. Fry them little bit by adding little turmeric. Add chopped carrots( 1 inch pieces so that they cook fast) and fry this onion carrot mixture till carrots get tender. Add the beans and mix it and add salt and chilly powder. Stir it sometime and tasty curry is ready. Coming to egg pulusu its easy too but little time consuming.
First step for this is to have the boiled eggs ready by the time you make this pulusu.
Chop 2 medium sized onions and 5 green chillies. Add these to popu.fry them little bit and add little sugar so that we have sweet and sour pulusu. Trust me its very Yummy. Coming back to recipe, add tamarind extract of lemon size tamarind.Let this come to boil. Add salt and chilli powder. Add the boiled eggs with slight cuts on its outer surface to this mixture.Let it sit on medium or medium low for 5 minutes so that eggs absorbs all the above flavours.

Annam Payasam / Paramannam

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:11:00 +0000

This recipe is for Vineela's JFI for milk and the product is MILK.
I made this for Vinayaka Chavithi.

My god there are so manythings that came into mind when I saw the ingredient as Milk.
I love this payasam so much and the place where I came from we call it Bellam(Jaggery) Paayasam. This is a must payasam for Sankranthi and for house warming. This tastes really good with dal and ghee. I used to hate this when I am back home where I can get it all the time but now I am craving to get that taste. I tried my best and happy for the outcome.
Coming to recipe I got it from Indira's Mahanandi. I used both jaggery and sugar and didn't make that thick. I cant wait to get it thick and more over I like it on little milky side.

Come on bring the bowls and spoons and help yourselves.

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:51:00 +0000

Happy Independence to all

India's flag was adopted on July 22, 1947, after India became independent from Great Britain. The flag was based upon the design of the flag of the Indian National Congress.
The Indian flag has three equal horizontal bars (saffron, white and green) with a blue Dharma Chakra (the wheel of law) in the center. The wheel has 24 spokes, representing the 24 hours in a day (at the end of each spoke is a dark blue half-moon).
The orange (deep saffron) symbolizes courage and sacrifice (saffron is the sacred color of Hinduism). The white stands for peace, unity and truth. The green stands for faith (Islam) and fertility. The blue symbolizes the sky and the ocean. The height of this flag is two-thirds the width.
Jai Hind

Egg curry

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:36:00 +0000

I guess those who dont prefer to eat boiled egg can make this curry. It can be made fast and easy.I made the curry with greenpeppers, tomatoes and onions.

Boil the eggs while you make this curry .
Follow the routine beat till you fry onions(popu bla bla bla), then add chopped capsicum(chop them to approx 1" pieces) and let the whole mix steam for a while till Capsicum softens.Add tomatoes, add salt, masala powder and chillypowder. Add water if required (if you want more gravy). Let it cook for sometime.
Make small cuts on the egg and add to the curry. Let the eggs absorb little flavour and turn off the heat. Delicious and simple Egg curry is waiting for you.. It tastes good with rice.

Naan and Chana Masala

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:48:00 +0000

Its been a while I posted on my blog. I am busy with my work and hosting guests these days. I like Chana masala verymuch. It is easy curry that can be made for Gettogethers. I used to make this curry from our house for any get together in the University.
I bought the Naan in Trader Joe's. It is really good.

Recipe:
1 Can Chickpeas
1 onion
2-3 green chillies
1 or 2 Tomatoes
Masala Powder
Ginger Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
Salt and chilly powder according to your taste
Make the popu, fry onions and chillies, ginger garlic paste,after onions get fried little bit add tomatoes and close the lid, let the tomoatoes get little mushy and add chickpeas. Add salt, Chilly powder and Garam masala and let it cook for 5-10 min. Add little water and stir it. When the curry is cooked add yougurt and mix it. Yummy chana curry is ready.

Tip: If you want more gravy in the curry, microwave 1/4 of chickpeas ( from Can) for 1 min and blend it in food processor. Add this mixture after you add tomatoes and before adding whole chickpeas.

Chilly

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 03:41:00 +0000

Chilly for Mythili's "Mistress of spices" event .

It is called Mirapakayalu(telugu) and mirch(hindi)
Botanical name: Capsicum annum L Capsicum frutescens L
Family name: Solanaceae
Commercial part: Green as well as ripe and dried pod (fruit)

I am sure there is no Indian kitchen without Chillies (either green or red). I am glad to participate in this event. I am from Guntur, Andhra pradesh and the main crop for farming in our area is chillies and I never saw my mom buying Chilli powder because thats our major crop in our village. I used to go to farms when they pick the chillies( harvest). I still remember the farms with beautiful green and red chillies hanging down the plants. I am not sure if there are any medicinal properties except kidding sometimes to apply karam(chilly powder) for the wounds.

What is the hottest chilli? According to the Guinness Book of Records it is the Red Savina pepper (a Habanyera cultivar). It was tested at 577,000 SHU. Since then there have been two credible claims of hotter chillis.

Tezpur, Assam is home to the hottest chilli in the world, the Naga Jolokia is smallish and green and rated at 800,000 plus on the Scoville scale. Now that is military or chemical warfare hot !!!
Both of the varieties described are Naga chillies originating from the North West of India. They both seem to be Capsicum chinense, which is also the species that produced the Habanero. The foothills of the Himalayas also produces a smallish pumpkin shaped, orange variety that is reported to be as hot or hotter than the Nagas. Some of the local peoples refer to it as the Sikkimese Cherry Chilli.

How is hotness measured?

The unit of hotness is the SHU or Scoville Hotness Scale. Wilbur Scoville was an eminent American chemist. He devised a test based on repetitively diluting an extract of the pepper with sugar water until the heat is no longer detected. Testing is now more usually performed using accurate laboratory equipment, namely a chromatograph, and equating 15 parts per million (PPM) of capsiacin with an increase of 1 on the Scoville scale.

Till today I didn't know there is so much science involved with the chillies and its hotness scale.All I learnt from my grandfather is if chillies(skin) are thin and have more seeds in it then its spicy. If it is bulky and have thick skin, it is less spicy.Uhm..I learnt something interesting today

More about chillies can be found http://www.agriculture-industry-india.com/spices/chilly.html

Rice with Methipappu and dondakaya vepudu(tindora fry)

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 02:36:00 +0000

I am posting after a while since I am working overtime and busy with the long weekend.
I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend in their own way. I made methi pappu and tindora fry and Green plantain chutney( Krishna & Arjuna's Blog). Everything came out well and I enjoyed them. Dondakaya fry is something where we really feel happy after the result than the preparation. I made this dal and fry simple like any other curries , so I am not posting the recipes.

French style green beans fry

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Tue, 16 May 2006 02:37:00 +0000

Its cold and rainy this weekend. I relaxed well after a busy week. This fry is made with canned beans.Though I get vegetables fresh and good in St.louis, I use canned food sometimes.
We used to cook with frozen vegetables and canned food through out my Masters life here since there is no Indian grocery store in our University town when we came.The groceries we have are all what we brought from India.Imagine how much our parents have packed for us that groceries of 4 are enough for 1 year.
So our cooking is basically done with frozen vegetables and canned food from Walmart. But how often do we get the chance to eat andhra,bangalore,kerala,tamilnadu recipes in one week?
Here is the recipe with canned french style green beans.We can get these at any American Grocery store.

All we need is 1 can French style green beans, 1 onion, 1 or 2 tsp oil and ingredients for popu/tadka.

Warm the oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, balck gram dal, dried red chillies and karipatthi.

Add onions, fry them till they turn transluscent, in mean while drain the beans from the can.

Add the beans to the transluscent onions and keep the lid.Let them steam and cook for a while. Stir occasionally. When the beans are cooked add salt and start frying them. Finally add Chilli powder and fry them till it blends well. Thats it our curry is ready. This goes good with rice.

Cut Mango pickle(Mamidikaaya mukkalu Pacchadi)

noreply@blogger.com (Smitha) — Sat, 13 May 2006 16:10:00 +0000

This pickle is a must have dish for any occasion during summer in my childhood. My mom makes it very often since everyone in the family loves it. Me and my sis ate half of it while my mom was making it. This is my entry to Indira's JFI.

Here is the recipe: (It's very simple)
Unripe Mango: 1 (cut into small pieces, approx 1 inch pieces)
Tamarind Extract: 1 or 2 tsp (depends on the sour taste of Mango)
Salt and Chilli Powder: Per your taste
Garlic: 1 Clove
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Ingredients for Popu/Tadka:
1 tsp Oil
Mustard seeds
Split black gram dal
Dried red chillies
Karipatthi(Karivepaku)

Mix Mango pieces with tamarind extract, salt and chilli powder with hand.Mince Garlic and cumin seeds to paste. Combine this with the above mixture.Add Popu to this. Thats it. Our dish is ready.

This tastes very good with plain dal (Mudda pappu) and ghee.