Dondakaya Ullikaram (Stuffed Tindora with choped onions)

When it comes to Dondakaya/Tindora/Ivy Gourd, it is hard to think of stuffed dondakaya recipe.
But my mom often used to make different varieties of stuffed dondakaya. One of her recipe is which I did today.

Here is the delicious dondakaya ullikaram.



Ingredients:

15-20 Dondakayalu/Tindora/Ivy Gourd- Make a slit length wise for stuffing
1 medium sized onion chopped finely
2tbsp of red chilly powder (Adjust as per the spice level)
1tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Filling is very simple. Just mix the chopped onions, salt and red chili powder. Take a tbsp of the filling and stuff each of the slit dondakayalu(ivy gourds)

Heat a pan add oil. Once the oil is hot add the stuffed tindora/dondakyalu. Cook them on medium heat by adding little bit of water. It will take 10-15 mts to cook this vegetable.

The delicious stuffed dondakaya curry is ready to serve with rice/roti.

Cartooning inspired by Activity TV

Hi Everyone,

Today I am just going to post some of the cartoons which I did over the weekend watching Activity TV on Comcast.

I like to draw once in a while. All the credit goes to my dad since he is my guru(teacher). He is very good in drawing. In school I used to get full marks for my drawing because of my dad's guidance. Recollecting all those memories I started doing this cartooning along with Bruce Blitz (Cartoonist).

If anyone is interested in doing this you can either watch the program or visit http://www.activitytv.tv/ . Step by step instructions are available in the website.

Cartoons which I am posting are made with letter "B" and number "5". Look how the letters "B" and "5" can be transformed into simple and nice cartoons.

-Sailu

B for Bunny:




B for Bob the builder:

Pizza Chef (using 5):

Sea Captain(using 5):

Judah Maccabe:

This cartoon is not from any letter. This is real character cartoon.

Brinjal in Peanut,Sesame-coconut sauce (Brinjal Salan)

I love eggplants. My mom makes different varieties of eggplant curries. One of her collection is the one which I am talking today. I prepared this few days back when I invited few friends home for dinner. It came out so good.

So try it out and let me know how it turned out.

Ingredients:

7-8 baby egg plants /brinjals

1 cup of peanuts

2tbsp of sesame seeds

1tbsp of dry coconut powder(You can use fresh coconut instead of dry coconut powder)

1/2 inch Cinnamon

2 cloves

2 elachi/cardamom

1tbsp jeera/cumin seeds

1tsp cumin powder

1tsp coriander powder

1/2tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 onion chopped finely

3-4 green chilies(optional)

small lemon sized tamarind pulp

1tsp sugar

salt to taste

2-3tbsp oil for gravy

oil to fry brinjals

Preparation:

First roast the peanuts,sesame seeds and coconut powder together and make it fine paste in blender. Heat a pan add oil,whole garam masala (Cinnamon,cloves,jeera/cumin seeds) once the jeera starts splatter then add ginger garlic paste,chopped onions. Once the onions turns little golden color add cumin powder,coriander powder and keep it for 5-6 mts mixing occasionally.

Now add the peanut-sesame-coconut sauce to the mixture. Add tamarind pulp,sugar and salt. Cook it for 5-6 mts by stirring it occasionally.

In a separate pan add oil once the oil is hot add the egg plants and deep fry it till they become soft. Remove it from oil and strain the oil.

Once the gravy starts boiling add the eggplants,green chilies(optional) to the gravy cook it for 10 more mts in low heat.

The delicious Brinjal/Eggplant curry is ready serve. This dish is good with Pulav, Biryani or chapthis.

Lemon Dal (Lemon Lentil Soup)

Today I just made a super fast recipe which can be done in just 15 mts. I thought it is a best idea to share with you all. Here you go Lemon Dal.


Ingredients

1 cup of Dal
1 Lemon
2 green chilies
Salt to taste
pinch of turmeric powder

For seasoning/popu/tadka:

1tsp of oil
1/2tsp of mustard seeds
1 red chily
curry leaves
pinch of hing
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds/jeera

Preparation:

Cook dal in cooker. Heat a pan/vessel add popu items. Once the mustard seeds starts spluttering add the dal,pinch of turmeric powder,Salt and little bit of water. Keep it for 5-6 mts till the dal/lentils is boiled and turn off the heat. Add lemon juice to the dal after 5-6 mts. and mix it.

Note: Always lemon juice should be added once the mixture is little cold. If the lemon juice is added when it is too hot, dal can become bitter.

Garnish with coriander leaves.(optional)

Super fast dal is ready. This is very nutritious.

Dabeli

While traveling from Mumbai to Hyderabad I tried this dish at Pune station. It was delicious. That day onwards whenever I used to travel to Hyderabad I used to eat this delicious snack.
But I never tried this at home until one of my friend asked for it. So finally last Saturday I tried this dish. It turned out very good.

Lot of people must be wondering what does dabeli means. How does it look?
In simple words it is a kind of vegetarian burger. In western part of India it is also known as Double roti.

Whenever you have guests next time instead of regular onion bajji or salsa chips try this as a starter. Guests will be amazed and I am 100% sure they will ask you the recipe.





Ingredients:

Dabeli Masala Powder:

1tbsp of Coriander seeds
1/2 tsp of Cumin Seeds (Jeera)
2 Red chilies (U can reduce as per the spice level)
1/2 inch cinnamon Stick
2 cloves

Roast the above ingredients and make it like a powder in a blender. Keep it aside this is used in the filling.

Filling:

2 Potatoes boiled and mashed potatoes
1 small onion chopped finely
1/2tsp of cumin seeds
2tbsp roasted peanuts
Pinch of hing (asafetida powder)
1tsp oil
Little bit butter to roast the buns.
Green Chutney (Recipe is added separately. Check in the Chutnies section)
Tamarind, Date chutney (Recipe is added separately. Check in the Chutnies section)
3 tbsp of pomegranate seeds (Optional. I haven't put them since it is not season right now.)

Sev for garnishing.


Preparation:

Heat a pan. Once the pan is hot add oil, cumin seeds, hing. Once the cumin seeds are turned golden color add chopped onions. Once the onions turned little golden color add the Dabeli Masala. Keep frying the onions in masala for 2 more mts; add the mashed potatoes, chooped coriander and salt. Keep it for 5-6 mts and turn off the heat.

Now take a pav/bun. Cut in a 3/4 so that the filling stays in the bun. Spread 1 tsp of coriander/green chutney, chopped onions, 1tbsp of potato filling/curry, 1tsp of tamarind-date chutney,5-6 peanuts.



Prepare all the buns the way it is explained above. Heat a pan and add little butter and roast the buns in butter for 1-2 mts and turn off the heat. Garnish the buns with Sev and pomegranate seeds.

These very tasty and it fills your stomach. Nice snack for the evening.

Wheat Flour Halwa/Seera (Godhuma Pindi Halwa)

Last Friday my close friend hosted the Vishnu Sahasranama Parayanam at her place.
I thought so much to decide on what to make for Naivedyam, finally recollected my mom's dish of Ragi flour Halwa. My mom used to make this sweet sometimes using Chodi pindi(I don't know the english name for Chollu . They are similar to Ragulu) sometimes with Ragi Flour, more often in my childhood. She used to say this sweet dish is very nutritious for kids.

I didn't find the ragi flour in my kitchen. Instead of wasting time to shop I decided to replace Ragi flour with Wheat flour. It came out so good. This is very nutritious and delicious.. Kids will love it. So next time when you have more guests or any pooja time try to do this delicious recipe either using wheat flour or ragi flour.

Ingredients

1 cup of Wheat flour
1 cup of Sugar( It can be reduced as your sweet level)
1 cup of Water (Same amount as sugar)
1/2 cup of Ghee
2 cardamoms

pistachios and Almonds for decorating


Preparation:

Roast the wheat flour in the ghee till it turns golden brown color. In a separate pan add the sugar , cardamom powder and water. Keep it for 5 mts till the sugar is dissolved.




Once the wheat flour turned to golden brown color add the sugar syrup and keep stirring till the mixture starts leaving the ghee. This might take 10-15 mts. Turn off the heat and garnish with crushed nuts.


The delicious Wheat flour halwa is ready to serve.

Shrikhand

Today I am writing a simple sweet which is very delicious. The sweet name is Shrikhand.
When I used to live in Mumbai my friends made me to taste this sweet. Since then I became a fan of this sweet. I used to think this is very difficult to make till I came to know how to make it so simple from one of my co-workers.
Today I invited few friends since their parents are going back to India in few more weeks. Even though they are Telugu people they live in Mumbai. So I thought this is the best sweet to treat the elders.
Maharashtrians eat Shrikhand for their breakfast along with Puris.
Since it is made from curd, very good for kids who doesn't like to eat the curd in a regular format.

I hope you all will try this delicious and simple sweet.



Ingredients:

1 cup if curd/yogurt
3/4th cup powdered sugar(You can add more sugar based on your sweet level. I like to keep less sweet so I have added 3/4 cup) . If the sugar is in crystal form grind it and make it like poweder so that it is easy to dissolve in curd.
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder

few strands saffron(optional)
1/2 tbsp. pista & almond crushed
Grapes diced(Optional)

To keep it super simple way of making Shrikhand start with any yogurt (it can be fat free/full fat). Tie curd in a clean muslin/cheese cloth(you can use any cloth which is very thin material) and hang it anywhere where the liquid can drain from the curd. ( I used my sink water pump to hang). Hang it for 5-6 hours or overnight.

Rub saffron into 1 tbsp. warm milk until it dissolves. Keep it aside.


Once the water is drained from curd remove it in a bowl add powdered sugar,Cardamom powder. Beat well using whisk or spoon till sugar is completely dissolved in curd. Add dissolved saffron and half of the nuts and mix it.




Keep it in refrigerator. Serve it with remaining crushed nuts like pistachio,walnuts/almonds. You can also add few fruits like grapes.




Note: If you like mango flavored Shrikhand(Aamrakhand) add mango pulp at the time of adding cardamom powder.

Potato Bhaji (Bangala Dumpa Upma Koora)

After a whole day spent in Tech museum today with my daughter, I decided to cook very simple and easy curry to go well with chapathis.
Here you go Potato Curry(Bangala Dumpa Upma Koora) which is very simple to make. If anyone has a doubt why this is called Upma Koora, here is the reason. Ingredients and process of cooking this recipe and Upma are same except Suji/Goduma Ravva. We use Potato instead of Suji/Goduma Ravva in this curry.

(Preparation time 15mts).



Ingredients:
4 Potatoes
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 tomato finely chopped(if Tomato is big then half is sufficient)
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
pinch of turmeric

For popu/tadka:

1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp chana dal/gram dal(bengal Gram)
1 red chilly
1/2 tbsp oil
curry leaves




Preparation:
Boil the potatoes. Once the potatoes are boiled crush and keep it aside. In a separate a pan put oil, mustard seeds, chana dal, Red chilly, curry leaves. Once chana dal is roasted add onions. Once the onions starts to turn golden color add tomatoes and keep it for 2 mts. Then add the crushed potatoes. Add turmeric powder, Salt and little bit of water and cover it with lid. Once the onions and tomatoes are cooked with tomatoes turn off the heat. Season with coriander leaves.

Now the tasty potato curry is ready to serve. This curry is good with Puris,chapathis or Rice.

Mango Pulihora (Mamidikaya Pulihora)

Right now in India every house is filled with mango recipes through out this reason(season for fresh mangoes). It starts on the day of Ugadi till the summer ends.

In India we don't eat mangoes till the day of Ugadi. On that day we start with Ugadi pachhadi and Mamidikaya pulihora to begin the mango recipe season.

As a part of the tradition I did mamidikaya pulihora for Ugadi and even today for my Vishnu Sahasranama Parayanam.

This rice is very simple to preare and very tasty. Try out this simple and tasty rice.



Ingredients:

1 Cup of Rice
1 Raw Mango (grated)
2-3 Green chilies (slit length wise)
2 Red Chillies
1tbsp Chana Dal
1tbsp peanuts
1tbsp cashews
1tbsp Urad Dal
1tbsp Mustard Seeds
2 tbsp Oil
1/2 piece Ginger finely chopped
1/2tsp turmeric powder
curry leaves
pinch of asafoetida/hing
Salt to taste

Procedure:

Cook rice in a pressure cooker (1 cup of rice needs 2 cups of water to cook the rice). Let the rice cool down. Meanwhile grate the raw mango.

In a separate pan add oil once the oil is hot, add hing/asafoetida,mustard seeds, Chana Dal, Urad Dal,Cashews and Peanuts. Once dals turn golden color add the red chilies,green chilies, curry leaves, ginger and turmeric powder. Keep it for1 mt and turn off the heat.



Add the above mixture,grated mango ,salt to the rice and mix it.
The tasty and delicious mango/mamidikaya pulihora is ready to serve.
We do this often from Ugadi onwards till we get raw mangoes.

Poornam Boorelu with Moong Dal

As a part of any festival celebrations first thing which comes to our mind is food. My mom used to make poornam boorelu and bobbatlu for almost all the festivals like Sankranthi, Ugadi, Dasera (the list goes on :)).
For this Ugadi I made poornam boorelu which are my favorite sweet/naivedyam. It is little bit elaborated process but worth working for such a delicious sweet.

For next festival try out this sweet, I am sure everyone will love it.



Ingredients:

Poornam/Stuffing Ingredients:

1 cup of moong dal
11/2 cup of Sugar
1/2 tsp elachi/cardamom powder
1/4 cup coconut cut into very thin pieces

Preparation of Poornam/stuffing:

Soak the moong dal for 4-5 hrs. Grind the dal and steam the batter as idlies. Once the idlies are cool mash them without any lumps. Then add sugar,elachi powder and coconut pieces and make a small round shaped balls like the way it is shown in pictures.






Topu/outer layer:

1/4 cup of Urad Dal
1 cup of Rice
pinch of salt
2tbsp sugar

Soak the urad dal and Rice together for 4-5 hrs and grind them into dosa batter consistent.
Add small pinch of salt and sugar to the batter.

Frying:




Heat a pan and put oil. Once the oil is hot, dip the poornam balls into topu(dosa batter) and place it in the oil. (Make sure you are familiar, how to handle the hot oil). Deep fry till they turn golden brown and crunchy. You can place at a time 5-6 balls as per the size of pan.





They are ready to keep it for prasadam/Naivedyam. These are very famous in Andhra.

Beerakaya/Ridge Gourd Thokku Pachhadi

In my house whenever someone is not well my mom used to make beerakaya koora or beerakaya pachhadi since it easy to digest and good for health.( Ridge gourd is very rich in fiber.)
This chutney is very easy to make and very tasty.



Ingredients:

2 beerakayalu/Ridge Gourd (You can peel the skin and cut into cubes. or you can cut into cubes along with skin)
1tbsp Sesame seeds/Nuvvula Pappu
1tbsp Urad Dal
3-4 red chillies
1 garlic clove(optional)
salt to taste
small piece of Tamarind
2tsp of oil

Tampering/pope/tadka:

1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
1 red chilly
curry leaves





Preparation:

Heat a pan add oil,sesame seeds, urad dal, red chillies , once these turn golden brown color remove it into seperate bowl. Now in the same pan add beerakaya thokku(Skin of BeeraKaya) and pieces of beerakaya. Once the beerakaya is fried for 5-6 mts turn off the heat. Grind first all dal mixture without beerakaya. once the dals turns powder add the beerakaya thokku and grind it to smooth paste. In a pan put oil and fry the popu/tampering items. Once the mustard seeds start popping turn off the heat add this popu to the chutney/pachhadi.

Note: Do not add water since Beerakaya has lot of water. if it is too dry then add one spoon of water.

Serve this with hot rice..

Kalakand using Ricotta Cheese

Last Saturday I invited a couple for dinner who got married last month.I was planning to make some kind of sweet for the newly married couple. Finally I made my mind to make something simple and very tasty. Here you go Kalakand. This is just mouth watering sweet for anyone. Very rich in taste.

I hope you all enjoy this sweet.




Ingredients:1 cup of Ricotta Cheese
1-1/2 cup of Milk Powder ( I used non fat milk powder from Safeway)
3/4 cup of Sugar
Unsalted butter (3oz)
Unsalted crushed Pistachios for decorating.

Place the Unsalted butter in a microwaveable large bowl, keep it for 2 mts in microwave. Once the butter is melted add the ricotta cheese keep it in microwave for 2 more mts. Then Add the milk powder and Sugar mix it well. Keep it in the microwave for  6-8 mts.(Depending on microwave power time will vary. Mine usually takes 8-10 mts)  For every few 2 mts stir the mixture to cook evenly.

(This mixture can over flow so please make sure to use larger bowl to avoid spilling.) 

Once in a while please keep an eye on the mixture in the microwave before it turns golden color. Once the mixture starts turning golden color remove it from Microwave.

Grease a separate pan and transfer the mixture and add crushed pistachios. Cut into cubes. Allow it to cool for 10 mts then serve.


This dish is very simple and easy to make.

Sarvadhari Nama Samvasthra Subhakankshalu

Andariki,

Noothana Samvasthra Subkankshalu. May this new year should bring full of happiness and joy to everyone.
Once again Happy Ugadi.

-Sailaja

Ugadi Pachhadi

Ugadi. The name came from Yuga +Adi. In sanskrit Yuga means era, Adi means beginning. Ugadi means beginning of an era. Ugadi is the new year's day for few parts of India like(Andhra pradesh, Karnataka). The same festival is celebrated in Maharashra with different name as Gudi Padwa. Ugadi is celbrated based on the Hindu Calendar. The calendar begins with Chaitra masam(Month).

Meaning/Importance behind Ugadi Pachhadi:

In Andhra and Karnataka Ugadi is celebrated by praying to god and eating a special pachhadi called Ugadi Pachhadi. This pachhadi is a mixture of Shadruchulu(6 tastes).
Shadruchulu:

1. Bitter(chedu)
2. Tangy(Vagaru)
3. Sour(pulupu)
4. Hot(Karam)
5. Sweet(Teepi)
6. Salt(Uppu)

My mom used to say,when you first taste the ugadi pacchadi whichever the taste you feel first is how the most of the year will be.
Example: If the first taste is sweet then that year will be full of happiness.
So each taste has different meaning which is related to our daily life experiences.
For eg: Sweet symbolized for Happiness.
Bitter is symbolized for Sadness etc.

In the evening we used to listen to Panchangra Sravanam by my parents or the elders of the family. Panchanga Sravanam is nothing but Forecast of the year.

We used to eagerly wait for this day to eat tasty Ugadi Pachhadi and to hear about our future for that year. I really miss those days.

Today I tried to make few of the dishes( like Ugadi Pachhadi, Poornam Boorelu, Mango Pulihora) which my mom used to do on Ugadi day and went to Livermore temple. I am so thankful to god. Till now I am able to get Neem flowers for every Ugadi even after coming to U.S.A.



Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup of tamarind juice/pulp
1/2 cup grated jaggery
pinch of salt
1/4tsp red chili powder
1 raw mango
1 banana
1/2tsp neem flowers

Grate Jaggery, remove tamarind pulp. chop bananas and raw mango.
Mix all these ingredients along with salt, red chili powder and neem flower. Delicious Ugadi Pachhadi is ready to be served.

Peanut Chutney

When it comes to chutnies my daughter's favorite chutney is Peanut chutney. Today I am going to write the recipe of peanut chutney. This chutney is good with idlies,vada ,dosa and bajji.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Peanuts

Salt to taste

small piece of tamarind

4-5 Green chillies( as per the spice)
1 garlic flake (Optional)

For tampering/popu/tadka:

1/2tsp of mustard seeds

curry leaves

1 red chilly

Roast the peanuts in a seperate pan. Grind the peanuts along with salt,green chillies, garlic (Optional) and tamarind. Once it becomes smooth paste remove it in a bowl.

Heat a pan add mustard seeds,curry leaves and red chilly. Once the mustard seeds pops up turn off the hea. Add the popu/tadka to the chutney.
You can serve this chutney with hot idlies , dosa, vada or any kind of bajjis.

Serve this chutney along with Idlies/dosas.

Menthi Koora Pappu(Fenugreek leaves Lentil Soup)

Everyday we think what to make which gives good nutrition facts. Especially vegetarians has less choice when it comes to good source of protein. To get good protein and plenty of vitamins green vegetable dals/soups are best. Keeping all this in mind , today I made menthi koora pappu(Fenugreek Leaves Dal). This is very simple to make and very healthy.




Ingredients

1 cup of Kandi pappu (tur dal/red gram)
1/2 cup of dried Fenugreek leaves (you can use 2 bunches of fresh fenugreek leaves instead of dry leaves)
1 tomato ( cut into cubes)
1 pinch of haldi/turmeric powder
2-3 green chillies (split length wise)
small piece of tamarind pulp
Salt to taste

for tempering/popu/tadka:

1-2 red chillies
1/2tsp musturd seeds
1/2 tsp jeera/ cumin seeds
Curry leaves(Since U.S.A it is banned I didn't put it .)
Hing/ Asafoetida
1tbsp Oil




Preparation:

Cook dal in a cooker for 4-5 whistles, keep it aside. (Note: 1 cup of dal needs 2 cups of water to cook.)
In a seperate vessel heat oil add tadka/popu items once the musturds start spluttering add chopped tomato, green chillies and cover it with lid. After 5- 6 mts once the tomato is cooked add the cooked dal, fenugreek leaves, salt and pinch of haldi/pasupu/turmeric powder. After 2 mts add the tamarind pulp. Let it cook for 5-6 mts on medium heat. Once dal is cooked with all the spices, turn off the heat. Garnish it with fresh coriander leaves.
Serve with hot rice along with Papad or Vadiyalu. You can also eat this dal with rotis.
This dal is rich in protein and good source vitamins.

Mysore Bajji

Today's weather made me to crave for some hot deep fried food. When it comes deep fried snacks, first thing which comes to my mind is onion pakora or mysore bajji with hot tea combination. This recipe I have learned it from my husband.
After the hectic work at office, hot snacks like this will make us feel good. So let's not waste time try out these delicious mysore bajjis.

Worried about deep fried stuff, once in a while deep fried is ok.




Ingredients:

1 cup of curd (if the curd is sour taste bajji will be pluffy)
1 cup of maida/all purpose flour
1tbsp of jeera/cumin seeds
1 Onion finely chopped
1 small piece of ginger finely chopped
2-3 green chillies cut into small pieces (As per the spice you can adjust ) this can be replaced with red chilli powder as per the spice.
Salt to taste
Oil for deep fry







Preparation:
In a bowl add all purpose flour,chopped onions, chopped green chillies, ginger, cumin seeds ,salt with yogurt like a thick batter. Keep it aside for 10 - 15 mts. In a frying pan heat the oil . Once the oil is hot add spoon full of mixture into the oil. Turn on both sides. Once they turn golden color remove them from oil strain.

Serve it hot with tomato chutney or Peanut Chutney or even with hot tea. These are very tasty, especially good in rainy or cold day. My kid loves to eat these bajjis.