Kaipakka / Pavakka Kondattam - Bitter Gourd Crisps

Kondattam's are dried vegetables, marinated in spices, sun dried and then fried in oil. When you have limitations to sun dry, then other methods come in use. Microwaving the marinated bitter gourd is a easy and fast way to make these kondattam's.

Ingredients

1 medium size - Bitter gourd
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
2 to 3 tbsp - Yogurt / thick curds
A pinch of - Hing
Oil and salt to taste

Method

1 ) Cut bitter gourd to thin round rings.

2 ) Mix red chili powder, turmeric powder, hing, yogurt, little oil and salt in moderation. Apply this paste on each bitter gourd ring. Marinate for 1/2 hour.

3 ) Grease a microwave safe plate. Arrange bitter gourd on the plate in a single layer. You will need to microwave for 10 to 11 minutes. Don't cook for 10 minutes at one go. Cook for 2 minutes, stop, stir the rings and repeat for 2 minutes till the cooking time is total of 10 minutes. Then cook for 1 minute more, give a resting time for 2-3 minutes and then check if you need to make it more crisp. If you do, just microwave for 50 seconds more.

Great with rice, curds and pappad.

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"Vegetable of the week" ( VoW ) is an event hosted by Pooja of "creative Pooja" . "Vegetable of the week" is a monthly event now and she has chosen "Bitter Gourd/Karela" as her vegetable for this month. Bitter gourd crisps is my contribution to this event.

Instant Mango Pickle

I was so happy to see some fresh raw mangoes which was labeled pickle mangoes, in the Indian store. I wanted to make instant mango pickle, ever since i saw sig's 'young green mango pickle'. So here is how i made instant mango pickle.

Ingredients

1 big - Fresh green raw mango

5 to 6 flakes- Garlic, sliced

1 tbsp - Red chili powder

1/4 tsp - Hing powder / Asafoetida

1/4 tsp - Fenugreek powder

Salt to taste

Sesame oil

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds

Method

1 ) Cut mango with skin on, into small pieces.

2 ) Heat 2 tbsp oil. Keep the heat low, once the oil has warmed up. Add garlic and just fry lightly. Don't brown it. Then on low heat, add red chili powder, hing and fenugreek powder. Stir and fry for a second. Take off the stove and pour on the cut mango pieces. Add salt to taste and mix well with mango pieces.

3 ) Heat 1 tbsp more oil and pop mustard seeds. Pour this on pickle and mix in. Cool and transfer to a glass or ceramic jar.You can warm little more oil and pour on top of the jar, if you want to store this for long time. Keep in room temperature for a day, then store in fridge.

Serve pickle with rice, chapati and enjoy this unique taste of raw mango with spices.

Aloo Tikki Choley Chaat

Aloo tikki is a very popular north Indian snack. These aloo tikki's are stuffed with channa dal in the center and shallow fried. You can put any veggie filling you like instead of channa.Now these tikki's can be served along with tamarind-date chutney, green chutney and yogurt. Then the next thing you can do is make chaat with Aloo tikki and serve along with choley.

Aloo Tikki - Stuffed with Channa dal

Ingredients

6 medium - Potatoes, boiled
2 tbsp - Bread crumbs
1/2 of a - Onion, finely chopped
2 - Green chili, finely chopped
2 tbsp - Coriander leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Masala powders

1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp - Amchoor powder
1/2 tsp - Roasted jeera powder
1/2 tsp - Garam masala powder

For filling in center

1/3 cup - Channa dal
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Soak channa dal for 1/2 hour and cook dal in enough water with salt to taste. Dal should not get over cooked. Cook till the dal is cooked and grainy, not mashed.

2 ) Boil potato with the skin. Discard the skin and mash potato finely. Add bread crumbs, mix and knead to make a smooth dough. Now add all the masala powders, salt to taste, onion, green chili and coriander leaves. Mix well.

3 ) Now take a small portion of potato dough, make a ball, then flatten it. To the center of the dough put little cooked chana dal and wrap it with potato dough, like it is done with stuffed paratha. Wrap the dough and then make like a ball and flatten little to get a pattie shape.

4 ) Heat a flat pan with little oil. Place the tikki in the oil and shallow fry on both sides to a golden brown color. Take off the pan and drain in a paper towel. Similarly make tikki's with rest of the potato dough.

Serve with Tamarind-date chutney, green chutney and yogurt. You can drizzle the chutneys and yogurt on the tikki and serve. I have not made green chutney for this picture. It was yummy even without green chutney.

To make Aloo Tikki Choley Chaat

You need to make choley to serve with aloo tikki. This is a simple choley preparation to go with aloo tikki.

For choley

Ingredients

29 0z / 822 grams can - White chick peas, drain water and wash well
1/2 of a - Red onion, chopped finely
1 - Tomato, chopped
1.5 tsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 tsp - Amchoor powder
1/2 tsp - Garam masala powder

Seasoning

1/4 tsp - Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp - Hing powder
2 - cloves
1 - Big black cardamom /Badi Elaichi
1 small - Cinnamon Stick
1 - Bay leaf

Method

1 ) Heat oil in a saucepan, add cumin, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon , bay leaf and hing powder. Let the spices give out the aroma. Then add onion and fry till golden brown.

2 ) Add coriander, red chili, turmeric, garam masala and Amchoor powder. Fry for a second. Add tomato and cook on low heat till tomato is well cooked and oil separates. Add cooked channa, little water and bring to a boil. Smash little channa, simmer, add salt to taste and cook till all the water is used up and is dry. Take off the stove.

Now that the Channa is made, to make the chaat.

1/4 cup - Beaten yogurt
1/4 cup - Tamarind-date chutney
1/4 cup - Green chutney
1 tbsp - Red onion, chopped ( instead of onion, white radish julienne can be used)
Little ginger julienne and coriander leaves

In a serving plate, place tikki, little choley then drizzle with yogurt and chutneys. Sprinkle onion, ginger and coriander leaves. Serve this yummy Aloo tikki choley chaat as a evening snack.

Tamarind Date Chutney

This Sweet and sour chutney is like a dipping sauce and very much a must accompaniment with savoury snack like chats and samosas.

Ingredients

1 cup - Seedless Tamarind
1/2 cup - Dates, finely chopped
3/4 to 1 cup - Jaggery, grated
1/4 cup - Brown sugar or Sugar
4 cups - Water

Seasoning

2 tsp - Roasted cumin powder
1 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Garam masala powder
1/2 tsp - Black salt
1/4 tsp - Dry ginger powder
1 tsp - Salt or more to taste

Method

1 ) To a saucepan, crumble and add tamarind. Then dates, jaggery, brown sugar and 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir and crush the tamarind to the side of the pan with spoon. Once this has cooked and thickened, take off stove.

2 ) Strain through a sieve and place the strained sauce back on stove. Add the seasoning powders and salt. Bring to a boil and thicken the sauce a bit. Take off the stove and cool. Chutney will thicken more as it cools down completely. Store in fridge and use as needed.


Serve as a dipping sauce with savoury snacks.

Spiced Lamb Fry

This is a popular lamb fry at my cousin in-laws place. Having heard how tasty the lamb fry is, i gave the recipe a try and it is finger licking good.

Ingredients

2 lb - Lamb, chopped to small pieces

To marinate meat

5 - Green chili
1 inch piece - Ginger
5 flakes - Garlic
2 sprigs - Curry leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
Salt to taste

For meat masala powder

1 small - Cinnamon stick
1 - Star anise
1/2 tsp - Fennel seeds / Perumjeera
2 - Cloves
1/2 tsp - Khus- Khus / Poppy seeds
2 tsp - Coriander powder

For masala gravy

1 - Onion, chopped
2 sprig - Curry leaves
4 - Garlic, crushed
2 - Green chili, slit in center
1/2 inch piece - Ginger, grated
1 - Tomato, chopped
1 tsp - Red chili flakes
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 bunch - Coriander leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp - Black pepper powder, coarsely crushed

Method

1 ) First make the meat masala powder. If you have eastern meat masala powder, you can use that, instead of making this masala powder. You will need this powder to marinate and to add to the gravy masala.

2 ) To marinate meat - Grind green chili, ginger and garlic to a paste. Mix this paste with curry leaves, salt to taste, red chili, turmeric and 1.5 tsp meat masala powder. Apply the mixture on the meat and marinate for 1 hour.

3 ) Add the meat into a pressure cooker and pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles.

4 ) To make the gravy - Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, add curry leaves, garlic, onion and fry till onion is browned. Then add green chili, ginger, chili flakes, turmeric powder, 1 to 2 tsp meat masala powder and fry for a minute.

5 ) Add tomato and fry tomato very well. Then add coriander leaves, cooked meat, stir and mix. Close with a lid and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Cook till the meat is well dried. Sprinkle some black pepper powder, stir in. Finally, Crush a few curry leaves and add to the meat.


Serve hot and have with rice or roti. This will taste even better the next day, when the masala gets into the meat well.

Check this Meat Fry preparation too - Erachi Varattiyathu

kozhi Curry - Chicken Curry

A nadan style chicken curry, with coconut ground with spices to make a thick gravy. This curry goes very well with rice.Since there is no need for marinating, you can make this curry very quickly.

Ingredients

3 - Chicken breast pieces, cut to small pieces
1 - Onion, chopped
2 - Tomato, chopped
6 to 8 - Green chilies, slit in center
1 tbsp - Ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
3 tbsp - Coriander powder

To grind to a smooth paste

1 cup - Freshly grated coconut
4 - Cloves
2 small - Cinnamon sticks
2 tsp - Fennel seeds /Perumjeera

Garnish

4 big - Shallots
1/2 bunch - Coriander leaves, chopped
2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, add curry leaves, green chili, onion and fry till onion is translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry further till the raw smell goes. Now add red chili powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Fry till the raw smell of the powders goes. Add tomato, chicken pieces, salt to taste, stir and mix. Close with a lid and cook on low heat till the chicken is cooked.

2 ) Open the lid and add the ground coconut paste to the cooked chicken. Add enough water to make a thick gravy. Bring to a boil. Adjust salt to taste. Add coriander leaves, stir in and cook for a minute.

3 ) In another pan heat some oil and fry the shallots to brown color. Pour this over the chicken curry as a seasoning. Take off the stove and serve.


Serve with rice.

Kadala Fry and "E For Excellent" Blog Award

This is a dry preparation with black chickpeas /kadala. This is a usual side dish, we have with kanji.

Ingredients

3 cups - Cooked kadala / black chickpeas

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

6 big flakes - Garlic, crushed

2 tsp - Red chili flakes

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Sesame oil

Method

1 ) Black chickpeas is soaked over night and then pressure cooked in enough water with little turmeric powder and salt to taste.

2 ) Heat a pan with oil, add mustard and pop. Then add curry leaves, garlic and fry on low heat. Just fry garlic till lightly brown, don't make it dark brown. Add chili flakes, turmeric powder and fry for second in the oil.

3 ) Add the cooked kadala and little gravy from the boiled kadala. Add salt to taste, close with a lid and cook on low heat. Once the kadala is cooked for few minutes in this masala, open the lid and cook till dry.

Serve as a side dish.

Now this is really flattering to get one after another awards and this time its from Kalai of "Samaithu paarkalaam", who has been generous with words and says " Her gorgeous pics would tempt a vegetarian to want to eat non-veg! I get the urge to try all of her recipes as soon as I read them...." these are very complimentary words, kalai. Thank you so much for this award.

This Blog is Rated "E" For Excellent

I admire the work of many fellow bloggers, for the excellent posts, pictures, information and also for their sense of humor. This award is to all the bloggers out there, but since i can select only a few of you, i am passing this award on to five blogger buddies - Asha of " Foodie's Hope", Kribha of " En samayal Pakkam", Richa of " As Dear As Salt", Sia of "Monsoon Spice", Sunita of "Sunita's World".

Pal Khova - Peda

Relatively an easy way to make pal khova / Peda, from the tedious way of stirring milk for a long time to reduce and thicken the milk. The taste is so delightful and makes a great sweet treat !

Ingredients

15 oz (425 g) - Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup - Blanched almond

1 cup - Milk powder

3/4 cup - Brown sugar

Method

1 ) Powder almond to a fine powder and set a side.

2 ) To a non stick saucepan, add ricotta cheese. Keep the pan on a low heat, let the ricotta cheese loosen up and when the bubbles start forming, add almond powder. Cook ricotta and almond. When it is half cooked, add milk powder, stir and mix well. Stir and cook till it starts leaving the sides of the pan and start balling up.You get to see a change in the color .

3 ) Add brown sugar, stir and let the sugar melt. Stir well till it starts leaving the sides and balls up. Take off the stove. When it cools done a bit, take a small amount and roll into round balls.

Serve as a dessert.

From sweet peda to a "Nice matters award" that has been presented to me by the lovely and ever so nice Sig of " Live to Eat ". I feel so touched and happy to receive this award, sig. Thank you so much!

“Nice Matters Award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world.”

Now i would really like to pass this award to all the blog buddies whom i have come to know, but then this can be passed on to only a few and some of you have already got this award. So i would like to pass this award to those of you, who haven't.

Mallugirl of "Malabar Spices", RP of "My Workshop", Bhags of "Crazy Curry", Seena of " Simple and Delicious", Seema of "Everyday cooking recipes from my kitchen", Easy crafts of " An Easy Cooking blog" Purnima of " Fantasy Cooking"

Meen Peera Pattichathu

A dry preparation with fish, mostly done with small fishes like smelt (natholi ) or very small sardine, this preparation brings out a good taste.

Ingredients

1 lb - Smelt, cleaned & washed

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

3/4 tsp - Red chili powder

1 big - Kodampuli

Salt to taste

To make a coarse mixture

1/2 cup - Grated coconut

1 big - Shallot, chopped

2 - Green chili, chopped

1/2 '' piece - Ginger, chopped

1/4 tsp - Jeera

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Wash kodampuli and then soak it in one cup warm water for 10 minutes. Make a coarse paste of coconut, shallot, ginger, green chili and jeera in a blender.

2 ) To a meen chatty or to a deep pan, add kodampuli along with the water it is soaked in to the chatty, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, simmer and cook for 3- 4 minutes. Now add fish and cook till the fish is just about cooked. Add coconut mixture to the fish and cook till all the water is used up. This fish cooks very fast and can break to pieces.

3 ) Heat a pan with oil. Pop mustard seeds and then add curry leaves. Pour this seasoning on the fish and mix. Take off the stove and serve.

Serve hot with rice.

Egg Pakoda

Simply a irresistible pakoda, this happens to be. Quick and easy to make, when you have a guest dropping in suddenly.

Ingredients

2 - Large eggs

For batter

1 cup - Besan / gram flour
1/4 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Coriander powder
1/4 tsp - Garam masala powder
1/4 tsp - Amchoor powder / dry mango powder
1/8 tsp - Dry ginger powder
1 to 2 tbsp - Coriander leaves, chopped finely
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method

1 ) Beat eggs. Do not add salt to it. Heat a little oil in a pan. Pour egg to the pan and make omelette. Take off the pan, cool and cut it into thick long strips.

2 ) For the batter - Sift besan to remove lumps. Add to besan, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, amchoor powder, dry ginger powder ( if you don't have dry ginger, add little grated fresh ginger ) coriander leaves, salt to taste and by adding little water at time make a semi-thick batter. ( you can adjust the masala powders as per your taste) Add egg strips into the batter and coat it well with batter.

3 ) Heat a wok or kadai with enough oil to deep fry. Let the oil heat up. Then add one by one egg strips well coated with batter into the hot oil. Deep fry on both sides to a golden brown color. Take pakoda out of the oil and drain on a paper towel.


Serve hot with tea. Yum !! :)

Besan Dosa with Soya and Onion Chutney

Laziness creeps in on sundays and then to whip up a instant dosa, checking into my pantry for ingredients available, i put together this besan soya dosa. I got these Nutrela high protein soya granules and was struck with it, not knowing what to make with it. Besan dominates the taste, more like a pakoda. Substitute soya with any vegetable you like.

Ingredients

1 cup - Besan / Gram flour
1/2 cup - Rice flour
1/2 cup - Soya granules
1 - Egg
1/4 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Jeera, crushed coarsely
2 big - Shallots, finely chopped
1 - Green chili, finely chopped
Few curry leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Sesame oil

Method

1 ) Add 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt to soya granules. Place on stove and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes and then remove from stove. After 10 minutes, drain out water, wash soya 2-3 times in fresh water. Squeeze out excess water before use. This is the instruction given on the soya packet, that is to be done, before using soya granules as an ingredient.

2 ) Sift besan, to remove the lumps. Now to a mixing bowl, add egg and beat it well. Add besan, rice flour and add little water as required. Mix to make a smooth batter, that is nor too thick nor too thin. Add salt to taste. Whisk till you see some air bubbles. Add prepared soya granules, chopped onions, green chili, curry leaves, jeera, red chili and turmeric powder. Mix to combine.

3 ) Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat. When the pan is hot enough, add a little amount of the batter and spread into thin round. Sprinkle little oil on the dosa and then flip and cook on both sides evenly.


Serve this hot with chutney.

Here is a onion chutney that tasted so well with this dosa.

Onion Chutney

Ingredients

4 big - Shallots, chopped
1/4 '' piece - Ginger, chopped
1 flake - Garlic, chopped
2 to 3 - Green chili, chopped
1 medium size - Tomato, chopped
1 pinch - Tamarind
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 sprig - Curry leaf

Method

1 ) In a pan heat oil, add green chilies and fry them lightly. Then add shallots, garlic, ginger and fry them lightly to a light brown color. Add enough oil when frying. Now add tomato, salt to taste, fry and cook till tomato is mashed and cooked. Take off from stove and cool.

2 ) To a blender add the cooked ingredients, tamarind and grind to a smooth paste. Add very little water if you are not able to get a smooth paste form..

3 ) Heat oil in a pan and pop the mustard seeds, then add curry leaves and season the chutney.

Vendaka Upperi

Vendaka as okra/lady's finger is known in malayalam is prepared as a mezhukkupuratti / upperi, which is like a stir fry. A simple preparation that makes a tasty side dish.

Ingredients

1/2 lb - Okra / lady's finger
2 to 3 - Green chili, slit in center
2 big - Shallots, diced
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp - Black pepper powder
1 sprig - Curry leaf
Salt to taste
Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Wash and dry okra. Trim off the top and bottom. Cut to small pieces. Partially cook okra in microwave for 3 to 4 minutes. Place cut okra pieces in microwave safe bowl,cook for a minute. Stop and again cook for a minute...likewise for total of 3 to 4 minutes, stopping every minute. Pour little oil around okra and cook for a minute. By this time okra will be cooked.

2 ) In a kadai or wok, heat 1 to 2 tbsp oil on low heat. Add curry leaves, green chili and fry lightly. Then add shallots and fry lightly. Now add turmeric powder, then black pepper powder and salt to taste. Let the powders fry for a second then add okra, stir and mix well. Cook on low heat stirring and fry the okra till done.

Serve hot with rice.

Keema Matar

Keema matar, a combination of minced meat and green peas, this will be a dish to go with roti and paratha's.

Ingredients

2 cups - Mince meat
3/4 cup - Green peas
1 big - Onion, chopped finely
1'' piece - Ginger, chopped finely
1 tbsp - Garlic, crushed
2 medium - Tomatoes, chopped
2 small - Cinnamon sticks
2 pods - Cardamom seeds, crushed
3 - Cloves
1 - Bay leaf
1/2 tsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Cunim powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method

1) Mix coriander, turmeric, red chili and cumin powder with little water, salt to taste and set aside.

2 ) Heat oil in a pan and fry onions until golden brown. Add garlic, ginger, tomatoes, cardamom, cinnamom, cloves, bay leaf and fry for 3 - 4 minutes. Add the powder paste and continue frying for a minute.

3 ) Add minced meat, peas and fry for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until meat turns brown. Add 1 and 1/4th cup boiling water to the meat. Cover and cook on low heat until meat is cooked and the gravy is thick. Now you can further cook without the lid, till all the water is used up. Add little oil and fry the meat. Garnish with corinader leaves.


Serve hot with roti, paratha or rice.