Simla Mirch/Capsicum/Bell pepper curry

Another of my favourite vegetable is capsicum aka bell pepper. I love all 3 colours of it. Pleasantly all 3 have a different and unique taste. The red one is a little sour, yellow one little sweet, and green needs to be blended in cooking for taste. This is a very easy recipe using all 3 colours. I love decorating my dining table with bell peppers. A bowl with all 3 colours in it makes the table look on fire!! smokinggggggggggggggggggg!

Well, I use olive oil for this dish. Thing about olive oil, even though it’s a late starter in India, it’s catching up real fast. If you are still unaware, olive oil is supposedly better than the regular vegetable oil we use. Not just health, olive oil brings a different flavour to the dish. Since it’s not so popular in India kitchens yet, if you have guests arriving, cook your regular dish in olive oil and you will notice an obvious difference in taste! No sweat :)

Serves 4-5 people.

Ingredients:

1. Olive oil: 5-6 tea spoons.
2. Tempering/tiragamota/popu
3. Finely chopped green chillies: 3-4
4. Finely chopped onions: 1 big
5. Finely chopped garlic cloves: 4-5
6. Finely sliced Capsicum (red, yellow and green): 2 each and deseeded.
7. Salt to taste
8. Everest/MDH sabzi or curry powder: 2 teaspoons (optional, this gives colour)
9. One small glass water

Preparation:

1. Add olive oil to the non stick pan.
2. Add tempering.
3. Add garlic and green chillies and fry for 2 minutes.
4. Add onion and fry for 3 minutes
5. Add curry powder and fry for another 2 minutes.
6. Add water.
7. Add the red and yellow capsicum slices and cook/saute for 5 minutes. (Red and yellow capsicum take longer to cook compared to green capsicum.)
8. Add green capsicum slices and cook until the dish is tender.
9. Garnish with coriander.

This curry is not about spice but about different flavours in one dish. It’s very easy to make,especially if you have guests, its a sure bet for an instant hit.

Improvisation: You may add cream for gravy and cook with more spices. You may add mushrooms. 

Susmita

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Beerakaya pottu pacchadi – Ridge gourd’s skin chutney

 

I love beerakaya or beerakaya pottu pacchadi. Plus this vegetable is one of the easiest to work with, needs almost no oil, and cooks fast. It’s skin is not a waste and is just as tasty too. You don’t have to buy ridge gourd just to peel the skin and make chutney out of it. Whenever you peel save the skin.

Do not refrigerate it. Best way is to wrap it tightly with a newspaper and put it in a corner in the kitchen. Add more to it whenever you peel the skin. This recipe will give you measures for 4-5 beerakaya skin. You can make instant pacchadi with the skin of 1 beerakaya also.

Ingredients:

1. Beerakaya pottu: skin of 4-5 ridge gourds
2. Green chillies: 7
3. Tomatoes: 3
4. Salt to taste
5. Garlic: 3-4 cloves
6. Ginger: 1 teaspoon full of pieces
7. Lemon rind: 1/2 tea spoon (optional)
8. Lemon juice: 1 table spoon (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat 3-4 tea spoons of oil in the pan.
2. Fry ginger and garlic pieces for a minute.
3. Add beerakaya pottu and fry for 5 minutes.
4. Toss all the other ingredients barring lemon juice into the pan and cover with lid.
5. In medium flame let the ingredients cook for 10 – 15 minutes.
6. Cool all for a while.
7. Once cool transfer the ingredients into the blender.
8. Blend until you get a smooth consistency. Add little water for moisture and easy blending.
9. Add lemon juice in the end and mix with a spoon.

Your pacchadi is ready.

Susmita

Pancakes - Banana and Vanilla/Strawberry essence

Pancakes and waffles are my absolute favourite. I wish I could devour them everyday for breakfast. Apart from Dosa, it is only pancakes and waffles that can never bore me. Never ever. Making pancakes is very very easy. You do not have to complicate the procedure at all. Introduce it in our Indian kitchen once in a while, see your family members appreciate variety.

Well I did see how to make a pancake before I attempted to make one, but improvised on it to make it simpler. Ingredients are easily available in local super markets. Infact if you make cakes or ice creams regularly you will have most of these ingredients in your kitchen.

Ingredients:

Thick Pancakes

1. Maida (all purpose flour): 2 cups
2. Corn flour: 1 cup
3. Icing Sugar: 1/2 cup (If you don't have icing sugar, blend sugar for a few seconds in your mixer, viola icing sugar is ready!!)
4. Eggs: 2
5. Banana: 1 mashed
6. Vanilla or Strawberry essence: 2 tea spoons (If you have any strawberry crush or grape crush you can use that instead of essence.)
7. MUST: MAPLE or PANCAKE syrup (easily available in local super markets or marts). People say that you can use honey as a supplement....naaaaaaaaaah. Don't. Use only maple or pancake syrup.

Preparation:

Thin Pancakes

1. Beat eggs.
2. Add maida, corn flour and icing sugar to the egg beat and mix slowly.
3. Add mashed banana and essence or crush and mix well.
4. Check the consistency and add water if it needs to be thicker.
5. Butter the pan a little bit. Avoid this step if you do not wish to butter or if the pan is non stick.
6. Depending on the size of the pan you can bake 2-4 pancakes at one time.
7. Do not turn over the pancake repeatedly. Let one side bake well before you turn it over.
8. Once done, take them all into a plate.

Serving:

Before eating top your pancake with whipped cream, sliced fruits, chocolate syrup, and maple syrup. Or use only maple syrup. You can never go wrong with a pancake. Because all you need to do is get the dough right, like for dosa or idli. Experiment with toppings as much as you want. Especially if you have kids. Make funny faces out of toppings. You can also use gems or poppins. Well let your imagination go wild.

Let me know if you have questions.

Susmita

Every critic wants a dish

Have you been subjected to constant criticism of the dishes you make? It can be anything. Something as simple as dal to a complicated home ground spices dish. I mean, what is it with some people?? Why do they feel they have the authority to comment on anything you make?

Well I've had to go through this experience of having every dish of mine commented on by someone. One day I lost it and said "make your own dish". The comments died instantly. It's not exactly what I intended for, but I wasn't complaining anymore :D

I once made semiya payasam and was told that it wasn't payasam at all because there's no saggu biyyam (sabu daana) in it. Only later did the person say that it tasted good. If someone is going to be highly critical,   they better have a degree like a doctor, I say.

Then again you have the kinds who will not utter a word and will leave you scratching your head not knowing the outcome of your hard work. And those who will please you even if your dog won't smell it.

Have you had any distasteful experiences with criticism of your dishes? Let me know.

Susmita

Chintapandu Pulihora (tamarind rice)

My recipes are not for seasoned cooks. My recipes are only for first time/new cooks who are experimenting and are nervous if they can get the dish right.

Chintapandu pulihora is a very easy dish and it also happens to be one of my favourites. Use non stick pans and electric cooker for healthy cooking and finery of rice. If you don't have an electric cooker no qualms. After all traditionally our mothers have cooked in cookers.

To serve 6-7 persons:

Ingredients:

1) 2-2.5 cups of rice

2) ground nuts - less than a handful

3) cashew nuts - however you like. I usually take 10 and split them into 2

4) tiragamota/popu/tempering

5) pasupu - haldi - a tea spoon

6) chintapandu gujju/pulusu - tamarind paste - a generous amount if you like a sour taste, else around half a cup or little less.

Preparation method:

1) Cook rice.

2) In a non stick pan fry ground nuts and cashew nuts. Store them aside.

3) Take a bowl of water and add tamarind to bring it to a boil. Cool it and separate the juice.

4) If you need more juice use the same tamarind, add more water to the bowl and repeat the above step.

5) Add 2 tea spoons oil to the frying pan (you can add more if you please, I go easy with oil) and do the tempering/tiragamota/popu. Be a little generous with tempering as you are serving 6-7 persons.

6) Finally add the tempering, ground nuts, cashew nuts, turmeric powder and salt to taste to the rice.
7) Mix well.


Even though it's not a practice in traditional Indian kitchens, I like to taste what I make intermittently to know I'm going to right. If you are not orthodox about this practice, do the same. To increase sourness add more tamarind paste. 
P.S. Make the tamarind paste at home, try not to buy it from the market. I've noticed that home made tamarind paste surely tastes different and better. You won't believe how easy it is to make the tamarind paste. And hardly takes time. Maybe I'll add a blog on how to make tamarind paste :D

Vinayaka chaviti - intilo vantalu

I want to mark 1st September 2011 as a day that matured me as a chef who could cook for a small gathering all by herself(mark my words, totally by myself) and who did a proud job of it.

We invited my brother in law, who invited 2 other friends for lunch at our home. Even though as a couple 2010 was Srikanth's and mine first chaviti, I didn't cook as I was still pregnant with Skaandini.

This year while 9 month old Skaandini crawled her way into every door, chair, and table we realised what the word DIFFICULT meant. Btw she looked a complete darling in her cream and red jari blouse and lehanga.

Woke up at 7:00 AM, while Srikanth was busy preparing for the puja, I decided to make the menu ready for the luncheon.

Menu:

White Rice

Tomato pappu (dal)

Aviyal

Pulihora (tamarind)

Semiya Payasam

Vegetable fingers

Pudina kothimeera pacchadi (chutney)

Appadalu, vadiyalu and gold fingers

Couple of them thought pulihora can do with more salt, over all they seemed all happy, delighted and said couldn't carry themselves at all. I was happy watching these well fed men burp!!! I wouldn't have ever said this otherwise.

Tell me of you first such experience. However good or bad you thought you did!!

Susmita