Ladies' Finger Fry

Splutter mustard seeds, urd dal and chana dal. Add chopped green chillies. Add onions and saute till the color changes. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and few drops of soya sauce. Add the cut ladie's finger and mix gently. Ensure that there is enough oil in the pan to prevent sticking. You can add a little curd to increase crispness. Keep the flame low and let it cook. Mix in between. The more time it cooks, the better.. Curry is ready.

Pizza Dosa

A fast to cook and good to taste recipe. Finely chop onion, capsicum, tomatoes and any other toppings of your preference and keep aside. Spread dosa batter (a little thick, but not too thick with simmer flame). Add some tomato sauce on top of it (pour over the dosa uniformly as per taste). Add a small layer of shredded cheese. On top of it add the veggies and add another layer of cheese. Add some chilli flakes if desired. Once the decoration is complete, raise the flame a little and let it cook covered such that both the sides of the dosa are cooked (Do not flip the dosa) Your pizza dosa is ready.

Potato/ Kovakkai Fry

Chop potatoes into cubes and coat with salt, turmeric powder, asafoetida and chilli powder. Temper mustard seeds, red chilli, urd dal and channa dal. Add the potatoes once it splutters. Have enough oil in the pan in order to have a crispy curry. Keep on medium flame and toss in between to ensure that the curry does not stick to the pan.

For Kovakkai: Cut the vegetables into small circles. You can add a pinch of sugar while frying to retain the green color.

Brinjal Fry

Temper mustard seeds. Add brinjal chopped length-wise. Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and a little sambar powder to it. Keep in medium flame and keep stirring in between. The more you cook, the better it tastes.

Vegetable Upma

Dry roast 1 glass of sooji keep aside. Boil cubed potatoes and carrots with salt and keep aside. Temper mustard seeds, urd dal, green chillies and curry leaves. Add cashew nuts and fry till golden brown. Add finely chopped onions and capsicum and saute till translucent. Add boiled potatoes and carrots to the same. Add green peas. Add salt, asafoetida and turmeric powder (optional). Add 2 glasses of water and bring to boil. Once the water boils thoroughly, add the roasted sooji slowly stirring continuously so that no lumps are formed. Keep stirring till the water dries up. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Gobi manchurian

Cut the cauliflower into small florets. Boil them iwater with salt and turmeric powder. Drain and keep aside. Make a thick batter with cornflour, salt, chilli powder, pepper powder, soya sauce and a little water. Dip the florets in the batter and deep fry in oil.

For gravy, grind together onions, cashew nuts, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, bayleaf. Saute ginger, garlic and add soya sauce to it. Add onions, bell peppers and saute till onion is translucent. Add the ground mixture to it and cook till the raw smell goes off. Add tomato puree to the mix. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala, clove, bay leaf and cinnamon to it. Add some tomato sauce for colour. Add the fried florets to the gravy and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with roti or fried rice.

The fried florets can be eaten as snack as well. The gravy can be replaced with a dry one if desired: saute ginger, garlic, onion, green chillies, bell peppers with salt, turmeric powder, soya sauce and tomato sauce. To this, add the fried florets. Garnish worth coriander leaves and serve.

Semia payasam

Dry roast 1/4 glass semia (vermicelli) till golden brown. Pressure cook one handful of semia in 3 glasses of milk. Remove whistle and add another 3 glasses of milk and boil well. Add sugar and elachi powder. Add cashew nuts and raisins if required (dont fry in ghee or else milk might get curdled)

Aval upma

Soak aval in tamarind water (thick), salt and turmeric powder. Cook potatoes with salt and turmeric powder and mash it close to bite-sized pieces. Splutter mustard, peanuts, cashew nuts and urd dal. Add onions and saute till translucent. Add mashed potatoes and green chillies. Drain excess water if any and add aval (poha). Add salt if necessary. Garnish with curry leaves and coriander leaves.

Brinjal Kothsu

Temper mustard, urd dal and red chillies. Once done, add onions and fry till translucent. Add tomatoes, salt, chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Once mushy add the brinjals that have been cut into long pieces. Add water and cook well. Add tamarind water and boil. If the gravy is not thick enough, you can add some arisi mavu to it. Garnish with curry leaves. Serve with idli, dosa or pongal.

Pongal

Boil 1 handful of pasi paruppu (moong dal) with turmeric powder. Add rice (1 glass), salt, pepper powder and water (4 glasses). Pressure cook. Once done, add ghee and roasted cashew nuts and raisins. Serve hot with Brinjal kothsu.

Aloo Baingan

Splutter mustar and jeera in a kadai. Add ginger garlic paste and green chilli. Add onion and saute till soft. Add tomatoes, salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Add potatoes and fry for 4-5 minutes with some water. Add eggplant and fry for another 3-4 minutes. Add some water if required and simmer till potatoes and egg plant are fully cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with rotis or rice.

Lemon Sevai/ Lemon Rice

Add boiling water to desired quantity of sevai. Add salt and keep aside till it gets cooked. In a kadai, add mustard, urd dal, kadala paruppu. Once it splutters, add some groundnut and/ or cashewnut and fry. To this, add the sevai after draining excess water. Add turmeric powder and squeeze lemon juice. Garnish with coriander leaves and curry leaves. Lemon sevai is ready.

The same procedure can be used to make lemon rice by substituting rice instead of sevai.

Peerkangai curry

I used to be scared of this vegetable. It looks so huge and is so hard to peel. But, it is really soft inside, easy to cook and is liked by most people.

Peel the peerkangai. Cut it into small pieces and keep aside.

In a kadai, splutter mustard, urd dal and kadala paruppu. Add onion, capsicum and green chilli and saute till onion changes colour. Add chopped tomoatoes till it becomes mushy. Add salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder (can add sambar podi also) Add peerkangai and mix well. Add a little water and allow it to get cooked. The curry should not be too dry or watery. Serve with rice or rotis.

Bread upma

Boil potatoes with salt and turmeric powder, peel and mash them.
Toast the bread slices with a little ghee and cut them into square bite-sized pieces and keep aside.
Fry mustard, cumin seeds... add groundnut... then add onion, green chillies. Once onion changes colour, add the mashed potatoes. Add salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Mix.
Add the sliced bread and sprinkle lemon juice over it. Toss gently.

Bisibelabath

Add vegetables (potato, small onion, capsicum, brinjal, green peas, radish etc) , salt, turmeric powder, asafoetida, sambar podi, tamarind water, some grated coconut (optional),tur dal
(3 handfuls), 1 glass rice and 4 glasses of water. Pressure cook . Add gingelly oil after removing from heat. Temper mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves and add to the rice. Check salt and add if required and mix well. Serve hot with pappad and/ or raitha.

Palak Dal

Cut spinach into small pieces and boil it in water with salt, turmeric powder, sambar powder, asafoetida, green chilli and tamarind water. Once cooked, add mashed tur dal (cooked with turmeric powder)
Serve with rice.

Aloo Dum

Boil baby potatoes with salt and turmeric powder (it should not get mashed) Prick it with a fork after peeling and keep aside.
Saute onion with salt, turmeric powder, garam masala, chilli powder, jeera powder, clove, cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon, pepper and kasuri methi till onion turns translucent. Add tomoatoes and saute till they turn mushy. Keep aside. Roast few cashewnuts. Grind all of these together.
In a kadai, splutter mustard and cumin seeds. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the smell goes off. Add the ground paste and some milk (or cream) and saute further. Add some water. Slowly, add the peeled and pricked potatoes to the mixture and let it cook for 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Aloo Dum is ready!! Serve with roti or rice :)