Nandana Nama Samvatsara Ugadi Subhakaankshalu

Wish you all a very Happy Ugadi!!!

~SP~

Mamidikaya Pappu- Raw Mango Dal

Summer has already started in India and my folks are getting ready for the season. Besides avakayya ( pickles), vadilyalu and appadalu ( papadams) this season reminds me of sour and spicy taste of mouthwatering mamidikayya pappu, menthi mukkalu , mamidikaya pachadi, pulihora and sweet ripen mangoes  we use to drool on as kids.

Summer was always special to me right from no school and homeworks, long sleeps, hanging with sister and cousins and playing around in my grandma’s front yard racing with cousins to climb big mango tree and plucking the tiny baby mangoes without my grandpa’s notice and eating them with salt and chilli masala mix…..ummmm good old days.

Ok now lets get back to the recipe, back then mangoes were seasonal and it used be eaten only from Ugadi. Me and my sister use to wait anxiously for Ugadi and so for the yummy dishes my mom use to cook thru out the mango season. Here is one of families favorite.

Procedure

1 medium size raw mango ( wash, peel, remove the seed and cut into bite size cubes)
1/2 cup toor dal/ mudda pappu ( dry roasted and cooked )
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
Water to cook
Popu
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 garlic flakes ( cut into pieces)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4th tsp methi seeds
2-3 whole red chilies ( broken)
3-4 green chilies ( slit)
pinch of hing
few curry leaves

Procedure
Heat oil in a sauce pan, add garlic, mustard seeds, methi seeds, red chillies and allow mustard seeds to crackle, now add the remaining popu ingredients and saute for a minute. Turn off the heat and shift the popu into small bowl and keep it separate .

Turn the heat to medium, add the cut mango pieces to the same pan in the remaining oil ( I usually use the same pan) add salt, turmeric powder and water, cook the mango pieces till soft. Keep checking in the middle if needed add little more liquid to the mangoes. Add the cooked mudda pappu and water if needed for consistency and bring it to boil. Now stir in the popu, adjust the taste cook for 1-2 mins and turn off the heat.

Serve it with hot rice, ghee and some vadiyalu or perugu mirpakaya !!

Mirchi Ka Salan- Dish to Salam

Mirchi mean chillies in Indian language and Salan means curry spiced with all ingredients.

Mirchi Ka Salan is a famous Hyderabadi dish accompanied along with Biryini’s, roties , naan’s and other  India flat breads.

Mirchi ka salan is peanut sesame based creamy curry with a nice kick of spice from Mirchi’s. I have tweaked this recipe to my and families taste. Also i’m not a big fan of deep fries so I shallow my chilies and drop them in the salan at the end. I use Anaheim or banana peppers for this dish.

Ingredients

10 chilli peppers (Anaheim/Banana) (wash, deseed and cut into 1/2). Heat 1/4^thcup of oil and shallow fry the chillies and keep a side.
1 medium size onion finely chopped or grated 1-2 tbsp tamarind paste
Salt to taste

Dry roast all the ingredients below and grind them into fine paste adding little water.1/4^th cup peanuts
1 tbsp dhaniya ( Coriander Seeds)
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 whole red chillies ( depending on taste)
1/4^th  cup sesame seeds
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp Jeera ( Cumin Seeds) 1/4th cup fresh/frozen (defrosted) coconut.

Seasoning

1 tbsp oil (peanut/vegetable)
1-2 whole red chillies
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp kalanoji seeds/  onions seeds (optional)
Curry leaves
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan add seasoning and allow the mustard seeds to splutter , add curry leaves, ginger garlic paste and chopped onions, cook till onions are soft and golden brown. Add turmeric and ground paste and cook for 10-12 mins on medium heat or till you see the paste coming toghter/ leaving the sides of the pan. Now add tamarind paste, salt, 1/2 cup water and bring to light boil. Now add the fried chilles and cook on medium heat for another 7-10 mins gently stirring in between.

Serve it with your favorite roti/naan/briyini.

Tips

You can substitute mirchi with green peppers.

Back to Blogging

Hi all,

Hope you all had great new years, pongals, diwali’s, birthdays and holidays. I had fun as much as you all had last two years and now finally I got sometime for myself to start blogging again. All my cousins and friends have been asking me to post their favorites which I made a list and I can say that I have well stored my pantry to make them.

Now that I have to roll my sleeves put on my apron and start my C2’s ( Cooking and Clicking). Stay tight!! Recipes will be followed soon!!

~SP

Happy New Year 2011!!!

Dear Friends and Family,

Wish you all a very happy , prosperous, peaceful and fulfilled new year.

Last two years were really busy & hectic ones.  Just to put it one one it was like a roller coaster ride when I look back. I not a kind of person who enjoys rides so it was very scary for me…. but at end all I can say is i’m glad that i’m done with it!!!.

Two major accomplishments last yr were we become home owners ( yipeee we bought a house)  and Nish started Kindergarten ( Yeah!! he is a big boy now). Well now you all know what I was up to. I hoping to get more regular with blogging lets see how far i will .

See you soon. Have a wonderful!!
Cheers
SP~

Happy Diwali

Wish you and your family a very happy and joyous Diwali!!!

SP~

I’m a big boy now!!!

Saturday we  celebrated Nis’s 5th B’day. Wanted to share few of the pictures.

See you all soon.
Cheers
SP~

Back to Memories- Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

I love this song…. look at the new one.

I still love the old one. May be because  that’s the one I listened the most.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videoshow/5502160.cms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Udqb14nQN0&feature=video_response

Cheers
SP~

wish you all a very happy sankranti!!!

Bread Upma

Bread upma is a really quick and easy dish which you serve it for breakfast or  evening snack. Soft bread soaks up all the juices of masala and tastes yummy. You can use pretty much all veggies available ( carrot, peas, capsicum).  Most of our weekday breakfast’s are cereal, bread, waffle , bagel the list goes on…… while most of the weekend breakfast/brunch are idly, dosa, upma kind of stuff….. last week I was at whole foods and I picked up loaf of freshly baked bread ( I love whole foods bread) I totally forgot that I had bread at home 🙂 .  The best way to use it all was UPMA!!.

Ingredients

1/2 loaf white bread (6-8 slices)
Cut the bread pieces into small cubes and keep aside. You can remove the sides if you want to.

1 onion ( finely diced)
1 tomato ( finely chopped)
3-4 green chilles ( as per your taste)
1″ inch ginger finely grated (opt)
3-4 curry leaves
fistful of coriander leaves finely chopped for garnish
juice of 1/2 lemon/lime (optional)
salt to taste
1/2 tbsp oil to cook
Big pinch of turmeric

Seasoning
1/2 tsp channa dal
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/4th tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp cashew nuts

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat add urad dal, channa dal, cahsewnuts and fry them until light brown add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Now add curry leaves, green chillies , grated ginger, onions and saute til the onions translucent. now add turmeric chopped tomatoes and salt cover the pan with lid and let the mixture cook for 4-5 minutes or till the tomatoes turn soft and mushy. Now add the cubed bread pieces lightly sprinkle some water and gently mix add toghter (until all incorporated). Adjust the seasoning and turn off the heat. Add the lemon juice and mix lightly garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Note.

Do not use milk bread, potato bread it turns the dish sweet. White bread or light wheat bread works well for this dish.