My Indian Recipes

Difficulty rating 2 (Special Ingredients required) 2 small plantain sliced 1 large onion (finely chopped) pinch of turmuric salt to taste oil seasoning 2 tsp shredded coconut 4 garlic cloves 1 tsp coriander powder ½ tsp red chilli powder Heat oil and add all off the seasoning ingredients until they begin to crackel then add onions and fry till they become transparent. Add the plantain pieces, turmuric and salt and mix.  Cover and cook until the plantain pieces become soft. Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, and coconut and mix well and fry for few minutes. Serve hot rice and rasam, sambhar or pappu.

Difficulty rating 3 ( pressure  cooker needed, special ingredients required) 1 bag of frozen green mango (or about 2 mangos fresh) 1 medium large onion – diced into big chunks 1 ½ cups toor dahl 1 tsp chilli powder ¼ tsp turmeric salt to taste Seasoning: Oil 2 tsp mustard seeds 2 tsp cumin seeds 2 tsp urad dal 2 tsp chana dal 4 to 6 dried red chillies 2 sprigs curry leaves 4 garlic cloves - finely chopped Put toor dahl, mango, onion, chilli powder, salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker with about 4 cups of water. Cook for about 3 whistles. Turn off the heat and allow the pressure to release on its own and then remove the lid. Heat oil and roast the seasoning ingredients   in this order: dried red chilli, garlic and chana dal, urad dal and curry leaves, and finally cumin and mustard seeds. Add the seasoning to the ingredients in the pressure cooker and stir.  Serve hot with Rice, a vegetable fry and papadam.

Difficulty rating 3 (Grinding required, Special Ingredients required) 1 1/2″ to 2″ ginger root (remove skin and slice) 1 Tbsp urad dal 1 1/2 Tbsp chana gram 1 green chilli (adjust) 2 dry red chillis (adjust) 2 garlic cloves small lemon sized tamarind (soaked in ½ cup water and seeds removed) 2-3 Tbsp grated jaggery ¼ cup water (adjust) salt to taste Oil For seasoning: ½ tsp mustard seeds 6-7 fresh curry leaves 1 tsp oil or ghee Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add the dals and stir continuously until they turn slightly red. Add the red chillis, green chilli and garlic and saute for a minute. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan, add ginger and saute till it turns red. Remove from heat and cool. Grind the roasted dal mixture, sauteed ginger, tamarind (with the tamerind and the water it was cooked in), jaggery along with salt, to a slightly coarse paste by adding water as needed. Heat oil or ghee in a pan and add the mustard seeds, let them pop and add the curry leaves and fry fo...

Difficulty rating 3 (Amount of prep required, special ingredients used, grinding required) ½ Lb Taro roots 4 Tbsp Corn flour 1 tsp Red chilli power 3 cups Yogurt 2 Tbsp Besan / chickpea flour ¼ tsp Turmeric powder ¼ tsp Asafoetida 2 tsp Garam masala 2 tsp Mustard 1 tsp Cumin seeds 2 spigs Curry leaves Salt to taste Oil Boil the taro roots but make sure they are still a little firm. Peel the skins and cut into large bite size chunks. Take corn flour, salt and a little red chilli powder and mix well. Gently mix the taro chunks in this mixture till they are well coated. Heat oil in a pan and fry the taro till golden brown. Remove and keep aside. In a blender, churn yogurt, besan, turmeric powder and 2 cups of water. Heat a teaspoon oil in a pan and put in mustard, cumin, asafetida, curry leaves When the mustard splutters turn the heat way down. Once the heat is very low, add the blended yogurt mixture and then slowly increase the heat until it simmers. (If y...

Difficulty rating 3 (Grinding required, special ingredients needed) 2 small or 1 large bunch Pudina (Mint) 1 cup Groundnut (peanuts) 1 1/2 Tbsp Tamarind (soaked in about 3/4 cup warm water) 3-4 Red chilies 1 tsp Poppy seeds (optional) 6-8 pods Garlic 1 tsp Urad dal (optional) 2 tsp Jeera (cumin seeds) 1. Pluck the pudina leaves and wash.  fry red chilies, groundnut , poppy Seeds , garlic , urad dal and jeera without oil until the groundnuts start to brown in some places.  2. Grind the above mixture into a fine powder and keep aside. 3. Saute pudina leaves with the tamarind water until the leaves all wilt.  4. Let the leaves mixture cool and then add the the previously ground mixture. 5. Grind to a smooth paste adding water and salt as needed. 6. Serve with idly, kichidi, utappam, dosa or plain rice.

Difficulty Rating 5 (Preparation Time required, Grinding Required, Special Ingredients needed, Technique involved) 1 Cup Urad Dahl 1 Cup Idli rice (or plain white rice from the regular grocery store, ie not basmati or soona masoori) 1 tsp Methi (Fenugreek) seeds 1 cup Plain Yogurt Salt to taste 1 tsp Baking soda 2 tsp ginger paste finely diced onion finely diced tomato chopped coriander leaves other vegetables (cabbage, carrots, peas etc) as desired 1.  Soak the first 3 ingredients overnight. 2.  Drain the water and add the remaining ingredients. 3.  In a mixie or food processor grind the ingredients into a fine paste adding water as needed.  It should be like a water pancake mix. 4.  On a hot griddle, pour about 3/4 of a cup of the batter.  Do not spread it, just let it settle by itself.  It should be like a think pancake maybe about 6 inches around. 5.  Quickly sprinkle some ve...