Cauliflower Pickle

The recipe I'm going to share today is very easy to make and would definitely be liked by everyone who likes eating pickles and chutneys.

This post is for my sister Tanuja who recently asked me for it. So here it is Tanu. Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!

Now this is all you need to do. 

Cut cauliflower into small pieces as shown in the picture above. To it add red chilly powder and salt according to your taste. I have taken a small cauliflower. To it I added about 2 and 1/2 table spoons of red chilly powder and 1 table spoon of salt. Mix well and squeeze lemon juice about 3 table spoons ( again this can vary according to your taste ). Mix well again.

Now heat about 3-4 table spoons of oil in a small kadai/wok and to it add a half a teaspoon of hing/inguva/asafoetida ( while making chutneys and pickles, adding a little bit more hing than the regular use, improves taste. You can skip this if you don't have it ). Now add a teaspoon each of jeera/jeelakarra and rai/mustard seeds/avalu. Once the mustard seeds start sputtering, add curry leaves ( optional but adding then gives more taste ) and add the whole thing to the pickle and mix well.

This can be stored in fridge for about 3-4 days. Try it out and let me know how you liked it.

Until the next post guys, stay healthy and happy !!!!!!!!!!!

Tomato Dal

Dal is a must in our daily meal as I make sure my 2-year-old son has it almost everyday. So I try to make different types of dal each day so that he doesn't get bored eating it everyday.

I am sure dal is a must in daily meal in some households. So here is tomato dal. The procedure is the same for Cucumber Dal. 

First wash toor dal and add enough water and add cut tomatoes, curry leaves, cut green chillies to it and then pressure cook the whole thing for five whistles. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok/kadai and to it add a pinch of hing/asafoetida/inguva. Then add urad dal/minapappu and once the urad dal turns golden brown, add jeera/jeelakarra and rai/mustard seeds/avalu ( urad dal, jeera and rai all a tablespoon each would be sufficient ). Once the rai starts sputtering, add the boiled tomatoes, green chillies and curry leaves. Now add a teaspoon of haldi/turmeric powder/pasupu, a table spoon of salt and a teaspoon of red chilly powder/lal mirch powder to it and the whole mixture boil ( amount of salt and red chilly powder can vary according to your taste ). 

Now add the cooked toor dal and add a little water to make it lighter in consistency. Add about a table spoon of tamarind pulp to it. Let the whole mixture boil for about a 5 minutes on a low flame.

Garnish it with coriander leaves.

Your dal is ready. Have it with rice and ghee/butter. 

Till the next recipe, Happy Cooking Folks!!!!!!!!!!!

Carrot curry

I love this dish. It is not just healthy but tasty too. Now there are two versions of it and two methods of making it which I'm going to share here with you guys. 

Now in the first method, cut the carrots into small pieces, like you would for a curry and pressure cook them by adding water (  water should be enough to submerge the carrots in it ) for 2 whistles. 

Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a wok or kadai and add a pinch of hing/asafoetida/inguva, urad dal/minapappu about a tablespoon, a tablespoon of chana dal/senagapappu, a tablespoon of jeera/jeelakarra and a tablespoon of mustard seeds/rai/avalu. Once the dals turn into golden brown colour, add red chillies about 2-3 in number ( depending on how spicy you want it. Then add curry leaves and once the red chillies and curry leaves turn dark in colour, add the boiled carrot pieces. 

Add a tablespoon of salt, a half-teaspoon of turmeric powder/ haldi/ pasupu to it and mix well. Leave it for 2 minutes on low flame and then add grated coconut ( you could just cut half the coconut into small pieces and grind them in the small jar of mixie to get grated coconut ). Remember to add the grated coconut after taking the curry off the stove as heat changes the odor and taste of coconut.

Now the other method of making this dish is to heat oil in a pressure pan ( not the cooker, but the pan. It is more flat than the cooker and smaller in size ) and then add all the seasoning stuff I mentioned earlier ( chana dal, urad dal, jeera, rai and hing, also red chillies and curry leaves ). Then add the raw carrot pieces ( not boiled ). Add a table spoon of salt and pressure cook the whole thing for 2 whistles. Once the steam is gone,  put it back on stove and add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and mix and leave the thing of low flame for about a minute or two. Remove the pan from the stove and then add grated coconut.

The first method is a traditional way of making the dish. The second is the easiest way of making it. I like the first method since the taste comes out very well, especially when the dals in seasoning and the chillies are crunchy, while in the pressure pan way of cooking they become soft.

The carrot curry is ready. Let me know how you liked it. Until the next post, Happy Cooking Guys !!!!!!!!!

The first method goes like this 

Cucumber Dal.

This post is on request from my brother who is in NewZealand and asked me if I could post some easy-to-make recipes. He loves dals and pickels. So Krishna this is for you.

I used country cucumber here which we get in India. 

First peel the cucumber skin and cut them into medium-sized pieces. Then wash toor dal ( kandi pappu ) and add water, cut cucumber pieces, green chillies ( one green chilly into three parts ), curry leaves ( 4-5 in number ) and pressure cook the whole thing for 5 whistles. 

Take a wok ( or kadai ) and add about 2 tablespoons oil ( how much to add is your choice, could be 3-4 tablespoons too, but more than that would make the dish oily). When the oil heats up, add one half teaspoon of hing ( asafoetida or inguva ), add 1-2 teaspoon  urad dal ( minappappu ), once the urad dal turns a little brown, add 1 table spoon of jeera ( jeelakarra ), 1 table spoon of mustard seeds ( rai or avalu ) and once the mustard seeds start sputtering, add the cooked dal with cut cucumber pieces, curry leaves and green chillies.

Now add a table spoon of turmeric powder, 1 table spoon of salt and 1 table spoon of red chilly powder to it ( the amount of salt and red chilly powder to be added can vary depending on your taste ) and let the whole mixture boil for a minute. If the whole thing is too thick to boil, you could add water to it depending on how you want the consistency to be.

Your dal is ready. Enjoy it and let me know how you liked it. Happy Cooking!!!!!!!!!!!!