Mamidi pandu pulusu (Ripe mango soup)

Hot rice, dollop of ghee, mamidi pandu pulusu ( Ripe mango soup), vadiyams.. hmmmmmmm..... mouth watering combination indeed. This is purrrrfeccct for weekend lunch as it is very easy to make and yummmmmmy. Ripe mangoes are seasonal and summer is the best time to get quality mangoes.

Ingredients:

Ripe mango - 1

Salt - As per taste

Sambhar powder - 1 1/2 tbsp

Water - 2 Cups

Rice flour - 1 tbsp

For seasoning:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tbsp

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tbsp

Curry leaves - 5-6

Hing(Asafoetida) - A pinch

Green Chillies - 2,3

Procedure:

1. In a pan boil water and add ripe mango pieces. To this, add salt and sambhar powder and allow to cook.

2. In a cup mix the rice flour with water to avoid lumps and keep aside.

3. Once the mango pieces are cooked well, add the rice flour water and cook for a minute and switch off the stove.

4. In a seasoning pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add cumin seeds, curry leaves,green chillies and hing and turn off the stove.

5. Add this seasoning to the pulusu (soup).

6. Serve hot with hot rice and ghee. Eat with Vadiyums (Fryums) for added taste.

Coconut Burfi

Happy Vinayaka Chavithi to all the readers. Well, no indian festival is complete without offering coconut to the god. But there is also a belief that only sweets have to be prepared with the offered coconut. I was thinking of some easy and preservable sweet with coconut, coconut burfi came to mind and thus the recipe follows:

Ingredients:

Fresh grated coconut - 2 Cups

Sugar - 2 Cups ( Or As per your taste)

Cardamom Powder - A pinch

Water - Enough to immerse the sugar

Ghee - To grease the pan

Procedure:

1. In a heavy bottom pan add the sugar and water just enough to immerse the sugar and bring to a boil keeping the heat on medium low.

2. Keep stirring the sugar syrup occasionally until a one string consistency is achieved.

3. Add the fresh grated coconut and cardomom powder to the sugar syrup and mix well. Keep stirring frequently so that the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom. Be careful while stirring as the hot bubbles may splatter.

4. Meanwhile grease a plate or baking pan with enough ghee and keep aside

5. Once the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan( it may take about 15 min on medium heat), pour the mixture onto the greased plate and cut into squares and decorate with dry fruits.

6. Once cool, store it in an airtight container. The sweet is preservable and stays fresh for upto 10 days.

Veg Soft Noodles

Veg soft noodles is an easy to make and yummy yummy dish which is surely everyone's favourite. Can't resist the temptation when it comes to even the thought of it :)... Jumping into the process of making it...

Ingredients:

Angel Hair Pasta noodles - 2 Cups
Shredded Carrot - 1/2 cup
Shredded Cabbage - 1/2 cup
Chopped green pepper(length wise) - 1/2 cup
Chopped beans - 1/2 cup
Chopped onions (length wise) - 1/4 cup
Pepper-cumin powder - a pinch
Salt- As per taste
Soy sauce - 1/4 cup to 1/2 Cup
Veg Stir Fry sauce - 1/4 Cup
Hot sauce - 2 tbsp

Water - To boil the noodles

Spring Onions - For Garnishing

Procedure:

1. In a pan, boil water and add the pasta noodles and let them cook in open pan for about 15 minutes. while noodles are cooking,add a drop of oil so that the noodles don't stick to each other. Also add salt.

2. Now drain the water using a colander.

3. Blanche the vegetables  and keep aside.

4. Now heat the wok and add a tbsp of oil/clarified butter(not for weight watchers), fry finely chopped onions until golden brown.

5. On medium high heat, saute the vegetables and add hot sauce,soy sauce, stir fry sauce, pepper cumin powder and finally add the boiled noodles. Add little salt if desired (We already added salt while cooking noodles).

6. Mix all the ingredients well and reduce the heat and close the wok until the noodles are coated properly with all the ingredients.

7. Turn off the stove and garnish with spring onions and serve.

Note: Quantities can be adjusted as per taste

Tickle your ribs

Fresh from my garden

As such I might have bought some uncountable chillies from the market till date, but I was really very happy to see the ones grown in my own pots. First time I smelled chillies before using and they tasted choo chweet :D... hmm a funny but a contented feeling...

Chutney Powder

For Chutney Powder:

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1 Cup
Chana Dal - 1 Cup
Asafoetida - A pinch
Red Chillies - 10
Coriander seeds - 1/4 Cup
Dry coconut powder - 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt- As per taste

Procedure

1. Heat the pan and add oil.
2. Once it is hot add chanadal and once it turns light brown, add toor dal,coriander seeds and red chillies and fry. Take care it doesn't burn.
3. Now turn off the heat and add hing and dry coconut powder and mix well.
4. Once the ingredients are cool, grind them with salt into fine powder.

Pesarattu

A variety of dosa that is sure to satisfy the taste buds and easy to make as well is Pesarattu. It is very yummy when served hot with butter and chutney powder/ idly chutney. Preparation procedure follows:


Ingredients:

Moongdal - 2 cups
Rice - 3/4 cup
Ginger - a small piece
Green chillies - 3-4
Red chillies - 2
Salt- As per taste
Jeera - 3-4 tbsp
Finely Chopped Onions - For topping (Optional)

Procedure:

1. Soak moong dal and rice together in water for 4-5 hours
2. Grind it with green chillies and red chillies and a table spoon of jeera and salt.
3. Heat the griddle and spread the batter evenly and spray oil to make thin and crispy dosas.
4. You can top the dosas with finely chopped onions, jeera and finely chopped ginger pieces.
5. Add a minute dollop of butter on top( if you are not a weight watcher) and serve hot with chutney powder

Find the chutney powder recipe here