Onion pakoda on a cold day

On a cloudy and cold day all I want to do is turn on the heat, put on my favorite movie/show, sit back and sip on some hot coffee with a snack to go with it. But i guess its just not possible, not at least when you have a 7 month old crawling and pulling the stuff around the house. But luckily as my daughter slept for some time in the afternoon i decided i will make something deep fried.

Deep fried ha! Well, I have an excuse though: Its been a long time i fried anything and secondly,Ven has been pretty busy recently. So, thought as a treat lets make something he might enjoy.

Making pakoda doesn’t take too long because it doesn’t need that pre-soaking or lot of prepping.



Recipe:

Besan/gram flour/chanaga pindi- 1 cup
Rice flour/ Biyyapau pindi- 2 tbsps
large red onion - 1 ( cut to 1/2 inch thing slices)
Red chillie powder- 1/4th tsp or as desired
Salt- 1/2 tsp or as desired
Hot oil- 2 to 3 tsps
Chopped coriander/ cilantro- 2 tbsps
and some water

In a vessel mix the onion, chillie powder, coriander and salt. Now add the besan, rice flour, hot oil and mix it well. Now take some water and combine the whole mixture. Its important not to add too much water.

Deep fry the pakoda making sure not over crowding the pan. If not the temperature drops and the pakoda become saagi.

Enjoy the pakoda with a cup of coffee or tea.

Tri color Rotini Pasta Salad

When we eat pasta its not necessary that it has to be drenched in tomato sauce or topped with ton of chesse. Try this healthy salad which has lots of veggies,baked beans and fresh tomato. The dressing is pretty simple: Little bit of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and a bit of salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Toss everything together and you have one satisfying meal. Its so good that you will go for seconds.



Recipe:

Tri color rotini pasta- 1 pound
Carrots-2
beans about 20
green bell pepper- 1
Ripe plum tomatos- 3
Baked beans- 1 can
Garlic pod-1
Red crushed pepper, extra virgin olive oil, italian seasoning, black pepper, salt,parsley/corinder leaves and lemon juice- add according to your taste

Take a deep pot, boil the water,add salt and pasta and cook the pasta till al dente. Strain and keep the pasta a side. Save some pasta water.

In a pan put a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and add the chopped garlic, beans, carrot, green bell pepper, little bit of salt and black pepper.Sautee for few minutes till the vegetable becomes tender. Transfer it to the pasta bowl.

Now in the same pan sautee the beans with a teaspoon of oil, salt and pepper.

Remove and sautee the tomato in the sameway.

Now combine the pasta, veggies, beans and tomato with some extra virgin olive oil, little bit of pasta water, red crushed pepper, italian seasoning, salt, black pepper,lemon juice and parsley/corinader leaves.

This salad can be eaten either cold/hot.



Al dente: Means where the pasta is cooked through but still has a bite to it.

Note:
I cook the beans for a minute in microwave before sauteeing.
Adding pasta water to the salad reduces the amount to oil you will be using for the salad.
Any veggies will work great for this salad.

Deepavali Subhakanshalu

Wishing Family and Friends a Very Happy Deepavali.
Deepavali Subhakanshalu.

A simple drumstick, potato & green pepper curry

Munnakayi, bangala dumpa & capsicum koora

Drumstick, potato & green pepper curry with garlic vadiyalu

Drumstick is one of my favorite vegetables. My mom generally made two different things with the drumstick. One was drumstick pulusu (sambar) and the other is drumstick koora (curry) with potato and cauliflower. Its a very simple curry which goes well with hot rice. Because i ran out of cauliflower i replaced it by green pepper.

While picking drumsticks look for smooth greenish skin in the pods. Avoid the ones which look hard,where the flavor will be strong and bitter.

In U.S we don’t find fresh drumsticks that often. But when we do find it tends to be little pricy.But my love for drumstick makes me buy the frozen ones. Though they are ok in taste it satisfies my craving for drumstick.

Recipe:

fresh drumstick/munnakayi - 2 (cut into one inch long pieces)
or Frozen drumstick - about 12 pieces
Potato -1
green pepper-1
small onion-1
green chillies- 3 to 4
tomato-1
tamarind
cilantro

Procedure: Cut the onion, green pepper,tomato and potato into small chunks. Cut the drumstick into one inch long pieces.

Now take a pan, put one teaspoon of oil and fry the potato till it gets a nice brown crust on top of it and cooked through. Keep it a side.

In another pot do the tempering with one tespoon of oil, mustard seeds, half teaspoon chana dal and quarter teaspoon cumin. When they are lightly brown add the chopped green chillies followed by onion. Cook till onion becomes little soft then add a pinch of asfatedia( hing), green pepper, drumstick and tomato. Put half cup of water, some salt and cook for about ten to fifteen minutes till the drumstick becomes tender. Once everything is cooked through add the cooked potato, some tamarind/ lemon juice and chopped coriander. Stir till everything is blended together.Taste and reason accordingly.

Serve the curry with chapathi or rice.

Note: If frozen dumstick is used, thaw it in the microwave.
You can also replace cauliflower for green pepper.

Recipe: amma