Showing posts with label masala. Show all posts
Showing posts with label masala. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Chettinad Pavakkai masala Bitter gourd or karela curry
Since my childhood, I have an aversion towards pavakkai and my mom never cooked it. After marriage also I never turned towards this vegetable. I found this vegetable in some form or the other in the lunch box of one of my colleagues in the computer science department. One day, I asked her.” Are you a sugar patient? Why do you take pavakkai almost every day? She quietly took one spoon of rice mixed with pavakkai kuzhambu and gave it to me. I tasted it and I didn’t find much bitterness, but the taste of the rice never left my tongue .I asked her the recipe. She told me that the way we cook the curry is very important to take away the bitterness from the curry. The same evening I got bittergourd from the market and made the curry next day. Even my younger daughter liked it very much. From that day, I regularly bought bitter gourds and tried cooking in different ways. My favorite is chettinad pavakkai masala which can be mixed with rice as well. I usually add a teaspoon full of jaggery at the end to this curry. The sweetness along with bitterness doubles the taste of the curry. I almost believe that there is no other vegetable to beat the taste of pavakkai if cooked properly. When diabetic people are at home jaggery can be avoided.
Tricks to reduce the bitter taste in bitter gourd or pavakkai curries
While buying bittergourds don’t go for dark green ones. They will be very bitter. Remove some of the sharp green portions from the outer skin. Always use little bit extra oil for pavakkai masala than usual. Keeping the stove in slow fire and cook the pavakkai pieces in the oil itself. For 2 medium sized pavakkai, 2 table spoons of oil is enough
Ingredients
Pavakkai-2(medium sized)
Small onion-30 or big onion 2
Tomatoes-2
Garlic-10
Sambar powder-2 teaspoons
Tamarind juice-1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves-little
Mince the onions and tomatoes in a chopper or cut the onions and garlic into very small pieces. Rotate the tomatoes once in a mixie to crush them. Cut the pavakkai also into small pieces.
Procedure
Keep the kadai in the stove. In two table spoons of oil season the curry with 1 teaspoon of mustard, 1 spoon small jeera and curry leaves. After the mustard seeds splitter, add the minced onions, garlic and sauté till they turn transparent. Now add the pavakkai pieces and keep the stove in medium flame and cook the pieces without adding water. When you feel that the pieces are almost cooked add the crushed tomatoes sambar powder and the required salt and the tamarind juice. Let this cook for 5 more minutes .Now add 2 teaspoons jaggery and keep the stove in sim. You will notice oil separating. Now switch off the stove. If desired it can be garnished with coriander leaves.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Egg Malai Curry Egg Butter Masala
Boiled eggs in mildly spiced creamy gravy. Best sidedish for naan, jeera pulao or ghee rice.
Eggs - 5 nos
White Onions medium - 2 nos
Green chilli - 1 no
Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp
Cardamom - 3 nos
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Cashewnuts - 10 nos
Kasuri methi - 1/4 tsp
Thick cream - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 to 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter - 50 gms
Oil - 1 tsp
Method
1. Boil the eggs, remove its shell and cut each egg into halve.
2. Toast kasuri methi in a pan, crush between palms and set aside.
3. Heat oil in pan, add roughly chopped onion, green chilli and ginger & garlic paste, saute until onion turns transparent and raw smell of ginger & garlic leaves.
4. Next add cardamom, cashewnuts, cumin powder and kashmiri chilli powder to the onions and saute for 3 mins on low heat.
5. Remove pan from heat and allow onion mixture to cool, grind the onion mixture to smooth paste adding few tsp water if required.
6. Wipe the same pan and return to heat, add butter to the pan, when butter starts to melt add the ground onion paste to the pan.
7. Saute the ground onion paste on low heat for 3 mins, add sugar, crushed kasuri methi and required salt to the onion gravy and mix well.
8. Remove the pan from heat, add thick cream to the onion gravy and stir well.
9. Add the halved eggs to the malai gravy and garnish with few kasuri methi leaves.
Serve hot Egg malai curry with naan, jeera rice or pulao
Chefs tip
Paneer can be substituted in place of eggs for Paneer Malai Curry.
Read More..
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| Egg Malai Curry |
White Onions medium - 2 nos
Green chilli - 1 no
Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp
Cardamom - 3 nos
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Cashewnuts - 10 nos
Kasuri methi - 1/4 tsp
Thick cream - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 to 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter - 50 gms
Oil - 1 tsp
.jpg) |
| Egg Malai Masala |
1. Boil the eggs, remove its shell and cut each egg into halve.
2. Toast kasuri methi in a pan, crush between palms and set aside.
3. Heat oil in pan, add roughly chopped onion, green chilli and ginger & garlic paste, saute until onion turns transparent and raw smell of ginger & garlic leaves.
4. Next add cardamom, cashewnuts, cumin powder and kashmiri chilli powder to the onions and saute for 3 mins on low heat.
5. Remove pan from heat and allow onion mixture to cool, grind the onion mixture to smooth paste adding few tsp water if required.
6. Wipe the same pan and return to heat, add butter to the pan, when butter starts to melt add the ground onion paste to the pan.
7. Saute the ground onion paste on low heat for 3 mins, add sugar, crushed kasuri methi and required salt to the onion gravy and mix well.
8. Remove the pan from heat, add thick cream to the onion gravy and stir well.
9. Add the halved eggs to the malai gravy and garnish with few kasuri methi leaves.
Serve hot Egg malai curry with naan, jeera rice or pulao
Chefs tip
Paneer can be substituted in place of eggs for Paneer Malai Curry.
.jpg) |
| Egg Butter Masala |
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Murgh Masala
Murgh Masala
Ingredients
- Chicken boneless ½ kg
- Yogurt 250 gm
- Tomato paste ½ cup
- All spice powder 1 tsp
- Turmeric 1 tsp
- Cumin seeds crushed 1 tsp
- Dry fenugreek leaves 1 tsp
- Chili powder 1 tbsp
- Lemon juice 1 tbsp
- Ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp
- Tomato ketchup 2 tbsp
- Oil 3 – 4 tbsp
- Coriander leaves as required
- Salt to taste
Method
- Cut ½ kg chicken into cubes.Heat 3 – 4 tbsp oil in pan, add 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste with chicken cubes and fry well till golden brown.Add 250 gm yogurt, 1 tbsp chili powder, ½ cup tomato paste, 1 tsp all spice, 1tsp turmeric, salt to taste, 2 tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 tsp crushed cumin seeds and 1 cup of water. Cover and cook over low flame for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Now remove the lid, turn the flame high and fry well till water dries.Now add 1 tsp dry fenugreek leaves, few coriander leaves and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Fry well till water dries. Dish it out and serve hot.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Muntha Masala Pidata Kinda Pappu Puffed Rice Masala Bhel Masala
Muntha Masala is a delicious Andhra street food and this is my much loved food from childhood.
The street person or the bandiwala place an earthen vessel on hot coal with a stack of maramaralu/puffed rice and prepare this Masala by taking the puffed rice from below the vessel so that the masala food can be prepared by the roasted puffed rice.
So this name comes for this recipe as pidata (vessel) kinda (under) pappu (masala/food).The bandiwala place all the ingredients and he mixes well in a coconut shell with a stick and serves in a newspaper/banana leaf (potlalu) with palm leaf spoon.
When I was kid and whenever we folks visited our native place Bandar/Kakinada during our school holidays this used to be ours everyday snack we used to buy them from bandiwala and loved to have this snack which was placed (potlalu). Scrummy one!!
This snack is a crispy and simple one which can be prepared in no time.
Ingredients:
Puffed Rice- 2 cups
Onion chopped - 1 no
Tomato chopped – ½ piece
Green chillies chopped (optional) -1 no
Lemon/Lime – 1 no
Roasted Peanut – 1 tsp
Roasted Putnalu/Dalia – ½ tsp
Cilantro chopped – 2-3 tsps
Red chilli powder – as Required
Sev (optional) – 2-3 tsps
Salt to taste
Preparation
- Take puffed rice in a pan and lightly roast them and keep aside.
- In the same vessel add peanuts and dalia and roast them.
- In a big mixing vessel take lightly roasted puffed rice, peanuts, dalia, chopped onions, green chillies, tomatoes and mix well.
- Now add red chilli powder, salt, chopped cilantro, lime juice and mix well thoroughly so that
- the puffed rice absorb well all the tastes and becomes little soft.
- Serve with sev and chopped onions on top.
Sending this to Kids Delight - Easy to make Snacks under 30 minutes hosted by Rujuta started by Srivalli, Evening Snacks hosted by Sameena, Tea Time Snacks hosted by Charu, Only Snacks hosted by Raji started by Pari, Fast Food not Fat Food hosted by Uma started by Priya
Monday, February 24, 2014
Healthy Paneer Butter Masala without butter and cream
Ingredients
Paneer cubed-350gms
Onion medium chopped-1
Hunts Tomato puree-1can
Ginger and Garlic paste-1tbsp
Kasuri methi crushed-1tsp
Red chili powder-2tsp
Coriander powder-2tsp
Cumin powder-1tsp
Sugar-1/4tsp
Salt required
Whole milk-1cup
Red food color-pinch( optional)
Oil-5tbsp
Method
Shallow fry the paneer cubes in oil to golden brown color and set aside.
Heat oil in a sauce pan, when hot add the onions and ginger and garlic paste and fry till the onions turn brown. Add the kasuri methi, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, sugar and required salt to the onion and fry until the raw smell of the masala powder leaves and oil separates on the sides of pan. Remove the pan from heat and allow mixture to cool. In a blender or mixer grinder add the onion mixture and tomato puree and grind to smooth sauce. Return pan to heat, add the ground sauce to the pan and boil, add food coloring if required and check the seasoning. Finally add the whole milk to the sauce and fried paneer cubes. Boil the gravy for another 5 mins until the gravy is thick and creamy. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve Paneer( Butter) Masala with Jeera Rice or Chappati.
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