Manju's Saffron Rice

2 cups long grain rice

2.5 cups water

Soak the rice for half an hour.

In a cup, take some warm milk and soak lots of saffron and a little turmeric.

In oil and butter, Add Cinnamon, Clove, Shahi Jeera and Cardamom.

Then add soaked rice and fry.

Fry thinly sliced onions and keep aside.

Add water, saffron milk and a few drops of kewra essence. Add salt to taste.

Once done, add the fried onions and sliced almonds (raisins too if you like).

Farzana's Haleem

Ingredients:

1 onion

2 cups yogurt

1 and ½ lb mutton/chicken

1 Shan Haleem Mix Packet

¼ cup Barley

¼ cup channa Dal

1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste

Red Chilli Pd

1 lemon

Mint

Cilantro

Ginger julienned

 

Dry Roast and Grind:

1 tbsp Poppy Seeds

1 tbsp Coconut

1 tsp Chironji

1 tsp Cashews

1 tsp Almonds

 

Method:

Soak all the pulses overnight.

Pressure cook in enough water and mash nicely.

In the pressure cooker, take enough oil. Heat and add onion.

Fry till golden brown.

Add mutton along with Red Chilli Pd, Ginger Garlic Paste, Shan spices and Salt.

Fry for a while and then add yogurt and keep stirring.

After it breaks down, put 2-3 glasses of water and pressure cook on low for 30 minutes.

After the mutton is tender, add the ground powder and fry till oil separates.

Add some water and finally add the mashed pulses and let it cook on slow.

Add chopped mint, cilantro and 1 lemon juice. Check for salt and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with fried onions on top.

Optional: Ghee, Lemon, Cilantro, Mint, and julienned ginger.

 

 

Drumstick Leaves (Murungai Keerai) or Dandelion Poriyal

 INGREDIENTS

250 grams Drumstick Leaves (Murangai Keerai) or Dandelion

1/4 cup Moong Dal 1 cup = 250 ml

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tbsp Grated Coconut

1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds

1 tsp Salt Adjust to your taste

FOR SEASONING

1 tbsp Cooking Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/2 tsp Split Urad Dal

1 Red Chili

INSTRUCTIONS

Remove the drumstick leaves from its stem and chop it roughly. 

Take moong dal in a pan and a cup of water and turmeric and keep in flame and allow it to boil till it is cooked but not mashed. If you take a cooked moong dal and press it with your fingers, it should easily break. That is the right stage to remove the cooked moong dal from flame

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add split urid dal and broken red chilli and fry them till the dal turns golden brown color. Then add chopped drumstick leaves along with turmeric and salt and mix well

Add 1/2 cup of water and allow the murungai leaves to cook completely. The leaves will cook quickly. Unlike other greens, drumstick leaves does not become mushy after cooking. Add cooked dal and mix well. Adjust the salt if needed and keep in low flame for 5 more minutes

Meanwhile take grated coconut and cumin seeds in a mixer and grind it to a powder. Do not add any water while grinding

Add the ground coconut-cumin powder to the cooked keerai with dal and mix well. Keep the keerai in flame for 2 more minutes and then remove from flame

The yummy and delicious Murungai Keerai (Drumstick Leaves) Poriyal is ready to serve. We can serve this as a sidedish for any sambar or curry varieties. We can even serve this yummy poriyal with steaming hot rice with a spoon of ghee

Andhra Style Fire Roasted Eggplant Pachadi

 

Ingredients

1 big eggplant approximately ¼ kg

Tomato 1

Peanuts ¼ cup

Oil 5-6 tbsp

Jeera ½ teaspoon

Dhaniya ½ teaspoon

Red Chillies 6

Tamarind a small lemon size

Garlic pods 6

Green Chillies 2

For Seasoning:

Mustard

Channa Dal

Urad Dal

Red Chilli

Jeera

Curry leaves

Turmeric

Salt

Method:

Wash and apply oil on eggplant and roast on direct fire all around on a low flame and keep rotating. Roast till almost soft for about 10 minutes.

Cool it and remove the skin and mash the eggplant.

Tip: You can even put the eggplant directly in a bowl of water to cool it.

Heat a pan and dry roast the peanuts. Transfer to the mixer.

In the same pan, heat oil, Add Jeera, Dhaniya, Red chillies, Green chillies, Garlic, Tamarind, Turmeric, and sauté.

Add Tomato and Salt and fry for couple of minutes till tomatoes are soft.

Transfer all this to the mixer and grind along with peanuts.

Heat oil in the same pan, add all the ingredients under seasoning,

Add mashed eggplant and if eggplant is not cooked properly, close the pan and cook it thoroughly.

Once cooked, Add the ground paste, mix well and check for salt and simmer till oil floats – about 5-6 minutes.

Serve with hot rice or even with chapathi/dosa.

CONGRESS KADLEKAI

TIPS TO MAKE BEST CONGRESS KADLEKAI

Roast the peanuts on low flame else it will not be crunchy .Also it might get a some odour and it would taste bad after few days.
Removing the skin is key to how the congress kadlekai tastes, but its ok to have little bit of skin left.
Adjust spices according to your choice. While making the tempering, make sure the heat is in low. If not the spices will burn.
Adding sugar in the spiced kadlekai recipe is completely optional but store brought congress kadlekai has little sugar in them.
You have to wait until the peanuts cools down completely before you store it in an airtight container.The Congress kadlekai stays good for a month if stored well.
Peanuts can be roasted on stove top or microwave.In microwave safe bowl add peanuts and micro on high for 3-4 minutes, tossing them over every minute until they roasted well.
If you already have roasted and de-skinned peanuts at home, this can be under 5 minutes.


Ingredients:
Raw peanuts or ground nuts or kadlekai or shenga
oil
red chili powder
black pepper powder
turmeric powder(haldi)
asafoetida(hing)
curry leaves
powdered sugar (optional)
Salt


HOW TO MAKE CONGRESS KADLEKAI RECIPE STEP BY STEP

In a thick bottomed pan/kadai, dry roast the raw peanuts until light brown under medium low flame. Peanuts will also start crackling. Take care not to burn the peanuts.

Cool the roasted peanuts and remove the skin by rubbing your hands between the peanuts ,if not all. Little bit of skin on the peanuts is ok and then halve the peanuts.

Place a kadai/pan in low flame.  Heat the oil and add in curry leaves and fry until crisp.
Next add all the spice powders like red chili powder, pepper powder, asafoetida and turmeric powder.Give a quick stir.Make sure not to burn the spices.

Immediately add in deskinned and halved peanuts , salt and sugar for taste.Adding sugar is optional but I highly recommend it.

Mix well for a minute under very low flame .The masala has to coat the peanuts well.switch off the stove and keep it aside.

Once it is cool enough to mix with hand, crush the curry leaves well using hands. Doing this will help in blending the curry leaves well with the peanuts.

Serve the spiced congress kadlekai recipe with some tea or top it on churmuri ,tomato slice chaat or any chat.

Uddina Vade/ Medhu Vadai

Ingredients

1 Cup Urad Dal 1 Cup - 250ml
2 tsp Raw Rice
2 Green Chili
1 inch Ginger
1 tsp Salt (adjust to your taste)
Few Curry leaves
2 Cups Oil For Deep Frying

Instructions

Soak the Urad Dal and rice in water for 2-3 hour

Grinding the Dal
Strain the Urad Dal and grind it along with green chilli and salt in a grinder by adding 1 handful of water. Grind it till it is smooth without any lumps.

If we grind it in mixer, just add water little by little at a time and grind it till the batter is smooth. Do not add more water then we can’t shape the vadas. Sprinkle water only if necessary.

How to check the right consistency of the dough ?
Take it from grinder after the Urad Dal is ground properly. If you take the flour in your wet hands, it should roll like a ball. If we drop a pinch of batter in water, it should float it in water. If the batter gets sunk, then we need to grind it more. This is the right stage to remove from the grinder. If we are grinding in mixer, then take out the smooth vada batter and beat it nicely for 3-5 minutes using a whisk or ladle. This will aerate the batter. This step is very important and not to be skipped, we if are grinding batter in mixer, otherwise, the vadas will be harder.

Add the finely chopped ginger,curry leaves and mix well

Frying the Vadai

Wet your palm and add small ball of batter, pat it and make a small hole in center and drop it in oil.
Add 4-5 vada  to oil. Slowly flip the vadai to other side to cook properly on both sides
Once the vadai becomes golden brown color, remove from flame.

BLUEBERRY YOGURT CAKE

My friend Brinda discovered this simply superb and delicious recipe (https://www.pumpkinnspice.com/blueberry-yogurt-cake/) and made the cake for us on our camping trip. It stayed well and super super moist even after few days and everybody loved it. So, I had to give it a try too and turned out to be super duper delicious. This has become one of our favorites now and I'll be making this again and again for many years to come. 😋

Ingredients

2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter softened
2 cups white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 egg white
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1½ (5.3 ounce) containers blueberry Greek yogurt
½ pint fresh blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan.Set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer with a fitted attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs and egg white, one at a time. Mix in lemon juice and vanilla extract.
5. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and yogurt until thoroughly combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan.
6. Bake for 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool for 20 minutes in pan, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

1. Cake will keep in an airtight container for up to five days, due to the moisture from the yogurt.
2. For less blueberry flavor, feel free to use plain or vanilla Greek yogurt instead of blueberry yogurt.

Bassaru

This bassaru or bas saaru is prepared using toor dal and dill leaves. It can be prepared with green beans, green gram, palak leaves or any other dry beans soaked in water overnight. Bassaru or bas saaru is is a two in one gravy and curry (sabji) recipe served as an accompaniment with ragi mudde (ragi balls) or rice.

Main Ingredients: (measuring cup used = 240ml)

1 bunch leaves or 250gm vegetables (any leaves except methi (fenugreek leaves) and any vegetable like cabbage, beans or ridgegourd)
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 cup green gram or any other gram (optional - if not using increase toor dal by 1/4 cup)
A big pinch of turmeric powder
Salt as per your taste

Ingredients for gravy or rasam: (measuring cup used = 240ml)
2 - 4 red chilies (this recipe is supposed to be very spicy)
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
4 - 5 seeds black pepper
1 onion chopped
10 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
1 tomato chopped
1/2 gooseberry sized tamarind
1/4 cup grated coconut
Salt as per your taste

Ingredients for tempering the gravy or rasam:
1 red chilli
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
5 - 6 curry leaves
2 tsp cooking oil

Ingredients for curry:
1 red chilli
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp gram dal or chana dal
5 - 6 curry leaves
1 onion finely chopped
1 - 2 green chilli (optional)
2 tbsp grated coconut
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
2 tsp cooking oil

Instructions for making bassaru or bas saaru:

• Take leaves or vegetables of your choice, rinse and finely chop them. I have used 3 bunches of sabsige soppu (dill leaves) and few beans.
• Take toor dal in a vessel, add turmeric and water and boil till 3/4th coked.
• Add in chopped green leaves or vegetables. Also add in salt. Add in required water. 
• Wait until the leaves and vegetables are cooked, Turn off the stove and let it cool a bit, drain the vegetable and lentils stock (water from cooked veggies) completely and keep it aside.

• Meantime, in a frying pan add in a tsp of oil and fry red chilies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and black pepper.
• Add in chopped onion and garlic. Fry them until raw smell is gone.
• Next to the same pan add in chopped tomato. Fry them until soft
• At the end add in grated coconut and tamarind extract. Fry for a minute and switch off the stove.

• Now add in 2 tbsp of cooked veggies to the fried ingredients and grind until smooth paste.
• Next take this ground paste and the vegetable stock (drained water from cooked veggies) in a container.
• Add in water as per your desired consistency, adjust the salt level and bring it to boil.
• Temper it with oil, red chili, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Bassaru gravy portion is ready. Let us proceed to the curry preparation.

• Now to prepare curry, heat a frying pan and prepare tempering using oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, gram dal, red chili, green chili and curry leaves.
• Add in chopped onion and fry until soft
• Add in cooked vegetable, leaves and lentils mixture. Mix well
• Adjust salt. Add in grated coconut and coriander leaves. Mix well and Serve bassaru or bas saaru (gravy) and palya (curry) along with rice or ragi mudde. Enjoy the healthy and droolworthy food.

Swany Aunty's Simple and Best Plantain Curry (Balekayi Palya)

Ingredients:

Raw Plantain - 2
Onion - 1 medium
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp
Tomato - 2 small
Red Chilli Pd - 1tsp
Dhaniya Pd - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Cilantro
Salt as needed

For tempering:
Oil - 2-3 tbsp
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Chana Dal -  1tbsp
Curry Leaves - few

Method:

Peel the skin and chop plantain into small pieces.

Heat oil in a kadai and start the tempering with the ingredients mentioned under tempering.
(Aunty's Tip: You can fry chana dal first and keep it aside and add it to the curry at the end for a crispy texture)

Add onion and fry. Once translucent, add ginger & garlic paste. Fry till the raw smell goes.

Add Tomato and fry till mushy.

Add Salt, Chilli Pd, Turmeric and Dhaniya Pd.and simmer for 5 mins.

Add chopped Plantain, 1/4 cup water, Check the salt and mix and cook till plantain is soft.

Sprinkle chopped Cilantro.

Goes well with chapathis.

Monika's Choley

Soak Chaney now

Boil them tomorrow morning without salt but with a pouch of tea leaves or two tea leaf bags. After one whistle on high cook on sim for 8mins.

In a bowl mix salt, 

Chana masala ( I use MDH), 

coriander pwd, 

red chilli pwd, 

chunky chat masala pwd, 

two pinches of garam masala, 

ground ginger and garlic 

slit green chillies if u want, 

ground roasted cumin seeds, 

ground black pepper 

a pinch of sugar. 

Mix all this in water. 

In an open pan add oil this takes little more than regular 

once heated add the mixture of masala mixed in water to hot oil. 

Cook for 5 mins till oil comes up and water evaporates on high heat. 

Now add fried onions and very small chopped tomatoes. 

Again sauté for good 5 mins in high heat until tomatoes melt in masala. 

Now add boiled Chaney and mix well. 

Cover and cook for 10 - 15 mins in medium to low heat. 

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve

Selvi’s Spicy Yam Balls

Ingredients:

Yam 1/4 kg .. (grate it )

Onion ... 1 small finely chopped

Coriander leaves

Curry leaves

Ginger 1 “ ..

Garlic 4 pods

2 big green chilies

Roasted gram powder ...1/2 cup ( small cup ) just for binding Bread crumbs little Cinnamon .. a small piece Saunf very little Cloves 2 Red chilly powder little

Method:

Grate yam and keep aside

Grind ginger,garlic, green chillies .. saunf & the spices coarsely and add to the shredded yam 

Now add chopped onions .. curry leaves .. corriander leaves .. salt .. roasted gram powder & little bread crumbs to the yam.

Mix nicely and make small lemon sized balls and dust it with bread crumbs 

Heat oil in a Kadai and drop 5-6 balls at a time and fry in medium flame till it reaches golden brown color .

Serve hot as a starter

Farzana's Lamb Rack

Ingredients:

1. 5 garlic cloves
2. 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3. 2 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or dried rosemary - optional
4. salt to taste
5. 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6. 1 teaspoon cumin powder
7. 1 teaspoon coriander powder
8. 1 teaspoon red chili flakes

Lamb rack - 10-12 chops

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients 1-7 in the processor.

Blend until garlic is finely chopped. Coat chops with this garlic mixture.

Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover; chill.

Once marinated, If u have cast iron heat it to high temp and sear it both the sides with butter.

After searing both sides put it in the air fryer lamb setting for 12 minutes.

If you don’t have air fryer, Preheat broiler. Watching closely, broil lamb 4 to 5 inches from heat source until cooked to desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare.

After it’s done, rest the lamb on a plate for 5 minutes covering it in a foil. 

Then cut the chops and serve. If it’s not cooked well, you can put the pieces on the pan and fry more till your desired doneness.

Manju's Paruppu Payasam

For 1/2 alaku dal I put 1/4 alaku rice and jaggery maybe 250gms.. but I generally don’t measure jaggery. It’s my eye measurement 👀.

Moong dal fry little in ghee .. add water and cook( no whistle ) then add the rice ( coarsely grind) to it and cook again till the rice is done. Then add the melted jaggery water and keep it to a boil. Add grated coconut .. fried cashews and Cardamon pwd. I also add little milk before coconut. So it’s little thick and taste good.

Manju's Walnut cake

Ingredients:

250 grams Butter
250 grams sugar
250 grams All purpose flour
1 tsp honey 

5 eggs 

1 tsp vanilla essence 

pinch of salt 

2 tsp baking powder

Method:

First powder the sugar and Melt butter and keep aside.
Then mix the All purpose flour, baking powder and salt together and keep. 

Beat the eggs nicely then add butter and beat again ... then add the powdered sugar.. the essence 1 tsp and honey 1 tbsp and keep beating. 

Then add the All purpose flour mixture little by little with milk -1 cup little by little and beat nicely. 

At the end add walnuts. And mix. 

Bake at 375* for about 45 mins

Manju's Tomato Rice

Tomato Rice

Oil and ghee - cinnamon , clove , bay leaf , then onions , pudina and tomatoes more .. green chill , g&g paste, RCP , tumeric and nicely fry till all tomatoes cook nicely. Then add water .. let water boil and add rice and salt and close cooker ( pressure cooker ) can do in Instant pot too.

I generally put 2 cups rice - 1 big onion and 3 tomatoes and 2 green Chilli and 1 tsp RCP. And water 1:2 basamati.

Masala Vada Curry

Ingredients

To make the base for the curry

1/2 cup Chana dal (Bengal Gram Dal)
1 Dry Red Chilli
5 Curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon Fennel seeds (Saunf)


To make the curry

2 teaspoons Sunflower Oil
1 inch Cinnamon stick
2 Cloves (Laung)
3 Cardamom (Elaichi) Pods/Seeds
2 Whole Black Pepper Corns
1 Bay leaf (tej patta)
1 Green Chilli , slit
1 sprig Curry leaves
1 Onion , finely chopped
1 inch Ginger , finely chopped
4 cloves Garlic , finely chopped
1/2 cup Homemade tomato puree , chopped
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi)
1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli powder
1 teaspoon Coriander Powder (Dhania)
Salt , to taste
4 sprig Mint Leaves (Pudina) , or coriander leaves as required

Method

To begin making the Masala Vada Curry Recipe/ Chana Dal Vada Curry recipe, thoroughly wash and soak chana dal for 2 hours.

Once the dal is soaked, coarse grind chana dal with the ingredients for making the base -dry red chili, curry leaves, fennel seeds and salt. Just sprinkle water while grinding, the masala vada batter should be thick.

Spoon the masala vada batter on a Idli plates and steam it exactly like how we steam Idli. Or you can pan fry the Vada batter in a paniyaram pan with a little oil until it browned and crisp. The later gives a delicious taste to the Masala Vada Curry.

Ensure you drizzle oil while pan frying the vada in the paniyaram pan.

Meantime, we can start making the curry. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan on medium flame, add whole black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, slit green chili, curry leaves, ginger, garlic and onions. Make sure to remove few seeds from green chili if you want to make it less spicy.

Once the onion turns golden, add the tomato puree and all the masala powders - turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, chili powder and salt. Let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the masala curry comes to a brisk boil.

Add required water and let the curry masala cook for a few minutes. Once the masala is cooked, drop in the masala vada into the curry mixture.

Cover it with a lid and cook the Masala Vada Curry on a medium flame. The masala vada curry will absorb all the water and become thick. This will take around 5 to 7 minutes.

Finally add chopped mint leaves and give the Masala Vada Curry a stir and serve.

Brinda’s Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 whole Costco Box (About 4 bunches)

1/4 bunch coriander leaves

Mint/Pudina leaves (10-15)

Paneer cubes - about a cup and half

1 big onion chopped

Ginger & Garlic Paste 1-2 teaspoon

15 whole cashews

2 green chillies-slit

2 medium tomatoes chopped

For Seasoning:

Oil

Butter - 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Bay Leaves - 1-2

Spice Powders

Turmeric Pd - 1/4 tsp

Jeera powder -1tsp

Dhaniya powder-1tbsp

Red Chilli powder-per taste

Garam Masala 1/2 tsp

1tbsp Kasoori Methi

Optional-1-2tbsp heavy cream

Method:

Blanch spinach -no need to remove stem, 1/4 bunch coriander  and few pudina leaves (10-15). Pudina is optional -don’t have to put it if you don’t have. Don’t put too much, it’ll overpower taste of spinach. You can blanch it all together. Boil on open pot. Cool and grind into fine paste.

Cut paneer into cubes. Shallow fry so that it’s a bit golden brown on all sides. Keep it aside.

In the same oil, add one big chopped onion, chopped garlic and ginger (1-2 tsp), 15 whole cashews, 2 green chillies-slit, 2 medium tomatoes chopped,. Fry them all one after another till done. Cool it. Grind into fine paste.

In a deep kadai add 3 -4 tbsp oil and a tsp butter if you like. It’ll enhance the taste. Add 1-1.5 tsp whole jeera,1-2 bay leaves. 

Add the onion tomato paste. 

Once oil oozes from the sides, add turmeric powder, jeera powder -1tsp, dhaniya powder-1tbsp, red chilli powder-per taste. 

Mix it all and after a min or so add spinach purée. You can add water to adjust the consistency. 

Add salt. Add the paneer. 

After it starts boiling reduce the flame and add 1/2 tsp of garam Masala. 

Crush 1tbsp kasoori methi. Add coriander leaves to garnish.

Optional-1-2tbsp heavy cream. Since I already added cashew I sometimes add cream or not. If u add cream u might need to increase spice a bit. Based on your palate. Enjoy!

Tip: Cook spinach and the dish in open pot. Spinach will lose its color if u cook in closed pot.

Brinda’s salads

Kohlrabi, Peanut and Sprouts

 

1:1:1 - finely chopped Kohlrabi:fresh/soaked peanuts:green mung sprouts

Add salt, pepper, lemon and cilantro.

 

 

Carrot and Green Channa Kosambari

 

Grate carrots, put channa, shredded coconut, cilantro, salt lemon juice.

Seasoning, mustard, urad dal, green chili, curry leaves and Hing.

Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
¾ cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups shredded red cabbage, depending on how much crunch you like
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup shredded carrots
½ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup diced green onions
½ cup cashew halves or peanuts (honey-roasted is good)
Optional: 1 cup edamame or chickpeas
Fresh lime, for a bit of tang

For the dressing:
¼ cup all natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
3 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce or coconut aminos
1 tablespoon honey (use agave or pure maple syrup if vegan)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon olive oil or more sesame oil
Water to thin, if necessary


Instructions

Step 1
To cook quinoa: In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.
Step 2
To make dressing: Add peanut butter and honey or agave to a medium microwave safe bowl; heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Add in ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and both sesame and olive oil and stir until mixture is smooth and creamy. If you want a thinner dressing, simply stir in a teaspoon or two of water or olive oil.
Step 3
Add as much or as little dressing as you’d like to the quinoa. I always start out with a little bit of dressing and usually add more to suit my taste preferences. Alternatively you can save the dressing for later and add when you are ready to eat; however the flavors of the dressing usually soak into the salad so I love adding it to the quinoa first.
Step 4
Next fold in red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Garnish with cashews and green onions. Serve chilled or at room temperature with lime wedges if desired.

Selvi’s Mullangi

For each mullangi, take a handful of channa dal and soak.

Grate mullangi and squeeze to remove all the water.

Grind Chana dal coarsely with sombu.

Steam the ground Chana dal and make it uthiri uthiri and keep.

In a kadai, heat oil and season with mustard, urad and sombu.

Add chopped onions, green chilies, ginger garlic paste and fry.

Add the grated mullangi and fry.

Once mullangi is fried, add the steamed dal and fry nicely till done.

Seema's Bhindi

Add ajwain and hing in hot mustard oil.

Then add chopped bhindi, saute on high flame for 5 mins stirring continuously.

Add chopped onion, finely chopped ginger and sauté. The stickiness should be gone.

Then add dhania powder, jeera power, haldi, paprika, aamchur powder, saunf powder and salt.

Sauté on low flame till cooked through. I cook it uncovered so it’s not soggy and sticky.

Farzana's Lab-e-shereen

Ingredients:

1 can mixed fruit cocktail, drained (or approx 2 cups of chopped mixed fruit of your choice)
1 pack green jello, prepare and allow to set
1 pack red jello, prepare and allow to set
1 cup liquid heavy cream
500ml whole milk
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
2 heaped tbsp. cornflour or custard powder
1/4 cup crushed pistachios
1/4 cup almonds, chopped or roughly crushed
2 tbsp pep or rose sherbat
few drops red food colouring
handful of coloured or plain vermicelli, boiled and drained

Make the custard (with milk, custard powder,sugar) and Jello a day in advance...
To the heavy cream add condensed milk if you like it more sweet and mix it in custard...
Add rose syrup, add the mixed fruit , crushed pineapple, nuts, colored vermicelli,tutti Fruti and in the end cut the jello  into small cubes and add it to the mixture

Chicken Keema

Ingredients

• 300 grams minced chicken meat
• 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup oil (adjust to your preference)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1.5 cups finely chopped onion
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
• 2-3 green chillies, slit (adjust to taste)
• 1.5 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp canned tomato paste (or 1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

Powder Coarsely:
• 2 pods cardamom
• 1″ piece of cinnamon
• 3 cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder (optional)

Instructions
1 Place the minced chicken in a bowl and add chilli powder, turmeric powder, and salt
2 Mix well and set aside
3 Powder together the spices mentioned under “powder coarsely” above and set aside
4 Heat the oil and add cumin seeds and bay leaf
5 When the cumin seeds brown and sizzle, add the chopped onions
6 Saute until the onions turn soft, no need to brown them too much
7 Now add the fresh ginger and garlic
8 Saute saute saute
9 In go the green chillies and peas. I leave the peas out for a few minutes if using frozen but adding them straight from the freezer will work in a pinch too
10 Saute again until the peas start to turn soft – about 5-7 minutes
11 Time to add the spices. Add 2 teaspoons of the ground powder (I usually chuck it all in without measuring) and coriander powder
12 Fry for a minute until nice and fragrant
13 Now add the chicken
14 Mix everything together until well combined
15 Add the tomato paste (or fresh tomatoes) and mix again
16 Since I used canned tomato paste (the flavour is more intense and I prefer this in some dishes), I add about 4 tbsp water at this stage.  You can omit this if using fresh tomatoes
17 Mix well and cook covered for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked soft.
18 Once the chicken is cooked, add sugar and more salt if needed
19 Throw in the chopped coriander leaves
20 Mix and serve hot

Jisha's Pineapple Pachadi

Ingredients
1 cup pineapple chunks
1/4 cup jaggery
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilie powder
salt to taste

To grind to a paste:
1/4 cup yogurt
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

For tempering:
2 tsp  coconut oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
5 curry leaves
2 dried red chilies

Instructions

1.Cook the pineapple in water along with the jaggery, turmeric, red chile powder and salt.

2.Grind together the yogurt, coconut and cumin to form a fine paste.

3.Add this to the cooked pineapple mixture and cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes.

4.Heat the oil for tempering in a small pan and add the mustard seeds to it. Once they splutter, add the red chilies and curry leaves.

5.Pour this over the pineapple pachadi and serve with rice and sambar.

Devaki's Methi Mutton

For 1 kg mutton,

Fry 3 medium size onion till golden brown

Add 2 tsp of ginger and garlic paste, mutton and fry for few minutes.

Add 3 tomatoes and green chillies and fry till you get some gravy

Add 1 tsp coriander pd and 1 bunch methi (cleaned and chopped)

Stir and close the lid and cook till done.
 

Banakka's Idli Measurement

4 idli rice
2 raw rice
1.25 Urad
1/2 sabudana
2 tsp Methi

Brinda’s Hitikidaa Avarebele Huli

Soak 1 and1/4 cup of dry avare bele for 2-3 hrs or overnight.
Cook with lil salt in open pot.
Chapparadavarekayi 1 cup and one fistful kadale beeja-cook in open pot or cooker.

To grind:

Dhaniya-2sp
Uddina Bele-2tsp
Kadale Bele-3/4 tsp
4-5 menasu kaalu
Vonamenasinakayi-5-6( if Byadagi put couple more. Like to use it as it gives color)
Jeerige-1/2 sp
Hing 1/4 sp
Vonakobbari-Lil more than 1/4 piece grated
Gasagase-1/2 spoon

Roast all ingredients except kobbari and gasagase in oil. Once daal is slightly red switch off and put gasgase and grind all with kobbari.

 Boil everything with salt and put sasve and karibevu voggarane.

Brinda's Chutney

Ingredients:

4-5 stems pudina/mint
1/2 inch ginger
4-5 thai chilli
1/2 fistful - curry leaves
3-4 sprigs cilantro
1 cup grated coconut
1/2 cup hurigadale/pottu kadala/Dalia
1/4 lemon size tamarind

Fry ginger, pudina, chilli, curry leaves in 2 tsp of oil.

Grind the fried ingredients with rest of the ingredients and water.

Season with urad dal, 1 red chilli, curry leaves.

Sarada's Bhagara Baingan

Key to this recipe according to Sarada is dry and slow roasting of all the ingredients for the gravy.

So, slow-dry roast the below:
15 Cashews
2 tsp - Coriander Seeds
20 - peanuts
Some poppy seeds
Red Chillies and Green Chilles

Cool and grind the above into a smooth paste with some fresh cocnut.

Soak tamarind, extract juice and keep it aside.

Clean and slit the eggplant (just a crisscross cut-not all the way-stalk intact) and fry it in a bit more oil. Add turmeric and salt to this in order to avoid eggplants becoming bitter.

Once the eggplants are soft, add the above ground paste and tamarind and cook.

Add a bit of jaggery to tone down the sour taste.

Manju's Sundal Podi

Ingredients:

6 red chillies
2 tbsp - coriander seeds (flat)
1 tbsp - channa dal (heap)
1 tbsp - urad dal (heap)
1 tbsp - coconut

In oil, fry Mustard, urad, hing, red chillies and curry leaves. Add cooked beans and the above powder.

Farzana's Keema

Heat a pan with oil.
Add finely chopped onions and fry till brown.
Add cinnamon and cardamom pd and keep frying
Add ginger and garlic paste and fry.
Then add shredded carrots, chopped green beans, peas and salt. Fry, cover and cook till the vegetables are cooked.
Add Keema, red chilli pd, turmeric, coriander pd and mix well and cover and cook till keema is done.
Once the Keema is cooked, add lime juice and cilantro.

Farzana's Keema Pasta

Heat oil in a pan, add few Cardamom, Clove and Cinnamon

Add Onion and Ginger and garlic paste and fry

Add Green Chillies, mint and Cilantro and fry

To the above mixture add Keema, Chilli pd, turmeric, coriander pd, tomato paste - 3-4 tbsp  and fry till the keema gets cooked.

Meanwhile boil pasta aldente and add it to the keema with little bit of pasta water.

Cover and cook in low heat for 20 minutes.

Farzana's Red Chicken

Ingredients for marinating chicken:

Chicken - 1 Whole
Ginger and Garlic Paste - 1.5 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Red Chilli Pd - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - slit - 5
Soy Sauce - 1.5 tbsp.
Vinegar - 2tbsp
Hot Sauce - 1 tbsp.
Pinch of red color


Marinate chicken and set it in fridge for at least 2 hours.

Heat a pan with oil. Add curry leaves and 3-4 whole red chillies.
Add the marinated chicken and cook till half done.
Add 8 oz of tomato sauce and cook further till done.