Ginger Chutney (Allum Pacchadi): Andhra style

Ginger Chutney (Allum Pacchadi): courtesy my friend Nameeta Reddy

Ingredients: (all approximate)

Ginger – peeled, washed and sliced

Tamarind – de-seeded, cleaned and soaked

Jaggery, Jeera, coriander seeds, dry Red chilies (Qty as in pic below), Salt to taste

Oil – 1 Tb spoon for roasting, 3-4 Tb spoons for seasoning - While seasoning a little more oil will help preserve the chutney

Salt to taste, Heeng, mustard seeds

 Procedure:

1. Dry roast the red chilies for for abt 2-3 mins, add a spoon of Oil, lower the heat and add Ginger. Stir in between and roast for abt 4-5 mins. Some thin slices of Ginger my turn brown on edges. Add the coriander seeds, jeera & curry leave and stir for another 3-4 mins on low heat. Switch off the heat and let the roasted mixture cool.

2. Grind the roasted mix + tamarind pulp + jaggery into a fine paste. The strong smell & taste of ginger should be balanced by jeera, coriander and should have a balance of sour, sweetness and hot.

Seasoning: Heat 4 Tb spoons of oil in a pan to a medium level. Add mustard and heeng. Add the Paste to it and stir to fold in the oil. Lower the heat and cook the chutney until water is evaporated. Cool and store in a bottle. Keep in fridge and it will last for more than a month.

Enjoy it with Vada, Dosa, Idli, Paratha , Rice (with ghee) and sandwich. 

Coriander Chutney- Andhra style

Coriander Chutney: courtesy Nameeta Reddy

Ingredients: (all approximate)

Coriander Bunch – washed and remove only thick stems

Tamarind – de-seeded, cleaned and soaked

Green Chilies

Jaggery (Qty as in pic below), Salt to taste

Seasoning: Mustard seeds, Urad daal (1 Tb Spoon), Heeng, green curry leaves (I have dried, you can use fresh too)

Oil (4-5 Tb spoon depending on the quantity of green chili) – While seasoning a little more oil will help preserve the chutney.

Procedure:

1. Soak the de-seeded tamarind in warm water until it is soft.

2. Take a shallow pan and heat on high. Once heated lower the heat and add 1 Tb spoon of oil to it. Add the green chilies and close the lid. Turn off heat after 1 min. Stir or shake the chilies so that they do not burn. Let it cool.

3. Grind the Tamarind, green chilies, salt and jaggery to a fine paste. Add coriander and grind. Stems should all grind well, leaves can be coarse or fine. The taste should be tangy, sweet, balanced salt and hot.

Seasoning: Heat 5 Tb spoons of oil in a pan to a medium level. Add mustard, daal and curry leaves and heeng. Shake to avoid burning of daal but it should get roasted. Add the Paste to it and stir to fold in the oil. Lower the heat and cook the chutney until water is evaporated. Cool and store in a bottle. Keep in fridge and it will last for more than a month.

Enjoy it with Vada, Dosa, Idli, Paratha , Rice (with ghee) and sandwich. 

Green Chili Chutney (Pachhi Mirpkayalu pachaddi)

Green Chili Chutney (Pachhi Mirpkayalu pachaddi)- Andhra style chutney with the courtesy of my friend Nameeta Reddy

Ingredients: (all approximate)

Green chilies – washed and stems removed

Tamarind – a ball 1.5 times size of a lemon (lemon size that of Indian Lemon)

Salt to taste

Seasoning: Mustard seeds, Urad daal (1 Tb Spoon), Heeng, green curry leaves (I have dried, you can use fresh too)

Oil (2-3 Tb spoon depending on the quantity of green chili) – While seasoning a little more oil will help preserve the chutney

Procedure:

1. Soak the de-seeded tamarind in warm water until it is soft.

2. Take a shallow pan and heat on high. Once heated lower the heat and add 1 Tb spoon of oil to it. Add the green chilies and close the lid. Turn off heat after 1 min. Stir or shake the chilies so that they do not burn. Let it cool.

3. In a mixer take the tamarind and grind to a fine paste. Add chilies & Salt and grind to a coarse paste now.

Seasoning: Heat 2-3 Tb spoons of oil in a shallow pan to a medium level. Add mustard, daal and curry leaves and heeng. Shake to avoid burning of daal but it should get roasted. Add the Paste to it and stir to fold in the oil. Lower the heat and cook the chutney until water is evaporated. Cool and store in a bottle. Keep in fridge and it will last for more than a month.

Enjoy it with Vada, Dosa, Idli, Paratha or even Rice (with ghee). CAUTION: Eat in moderation as its very hot.

Peanut Chutney- Andhra style

The Andhra chutney- 

I have shared one peanut chutney of my style, here's another one shared by Nameeta ...

Peanut Chutney : 2 handfuls of raw peanuts (Erdnuss), roast them dry on a pan on medium heat stir at intervals so as to not let them burn. Turning slight brown on black patches during roasting is OK.

Let the Erdnuss cool slightly, the add Green chilli (Optional), curry leaves, salt and 1 tea spoon lemon juice and grind it in a blender/mixer. Add water while grinding.

Once done pour in the serving dish.

To season the chutney – Heat a small pan, add 1 spoon of oil. Once heated add mustard seeds and let them crackle. Switch off the heat and pour this hot seasoning in the chutney.

Green Daal Dosa (Pesarattu) – Traditional Andhra Dosa

I have to thank my friend Nameeta for taking pains and sharing few recipes which I will post today. Nameeta is married in a Telugu family and brings to us authentic Telugu recipes.

A month ago I was in Hyderabad, and I was awed by Beerakaya pachdi- a chutney made from ridge gourd/turai. I could never imagine something made of turai can taste so good-I anyways have a great liking for chutneys. I have asked Nami to share its recipe also. I will share that , but here is Pesarattu, I never knew one needs to add rice powder in pesarattu and I presume that makes it different from Moong Daal cheela which I have earlier shared on  my blog. Now I will try this...

You need-

Green Moong Daal (whole or broken) – 1 Cup

Raw Rice – 1 handful,

¼ inch raw ginger, peeled

¼ raw onion (if a small onion then ½)

Green Chillies – 2 (optional), salt to taste, oil (to be used while making the dosa)

Non Stick flat pan - for making the dosa.

• Wash the daal and rice and soak for 3-4 hrs (best if done overnight).
• Grind finely the soaked daal & rice along with Ginger, onion, green chilli and salt (as per taste) using either a blender or Mixer (Indian Mixer)
• Stir the mixture once ground to make it consistent. Add water in case the batter is too thick.
•  Heat the flat non stick pan on medium heat. Add a few drops of oil, using kitchen towel to spread the oil on the pan to spread the oil evenly.
• Pour 2 ladles of the ground batter and spread it like a crepe. Cook on medium heat only after a couple of minutes. Use a non stick or wooden spatula and try to turn the dosa (like turning an omlette). Once cooked fold in middle and serve with Coconut or Peanut Chutney.
• Grated carrot garnishing on top of pesarattu tastes good. 

Cinnamon swirl banana bread

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Ingredients

For the bread:

·         3 over-ripe bananas, smashed up

·         1/3 cup melted butter

·         3/4 cup sugar

·         1 egg, beaten

·         1 tsp vanilla

·         1 1/4 tsp baking powder

·         dash of salt

·         1 1/2 cups flour

For the swirl:

·         2 Tbsp cup sugar

·         1 Tsp cinnamon

Directions

1.        Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a loaf pan. 

2.        Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. Sprinkle baking powder and salt around on top of the banana mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!

3.        In a small dish, mix together the  2 tbsp sugar and 1 tspn cinnamon.

4.        Add 1/2 of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter.

5.        Bake for 50-60 minutes, I used preheated  microwave oven in convection mode for 55 mins.

Chhole Bhature

Chhole Bhature
Making chhole bhature at home is more exciting as it has very less oil and is not at all heavy. My folks just love  home made chhole bhature  more than anything else.
Chhole
You need
Kabuli chana- 1.5 cup
Onions - 2 sized
Tomatoes- 2
Ginger- 1"
garlic cloves- 4-5
green chilli- 1
posto seeds (Khus khus)- 1 tspn
black pepper balls- 10-12
tea bag- 1
cashew nuts- 7-8 make paste or grind them
chhole masala- 3 tbspn
tamarind paste- 1 tspn
oil 4-5 tb spn
Rai (mustard seeds)- 1tspn
zeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tspn
salt to taste

• Soak kabuli chane for 5-6 hours. Add salt, hang tea bag from the sides (or add 1/2 tspn tea -optional to give black colour to chhole)  and pressure cook on high flame for three whistles and slow flame for 15-20 mins. After it cools down, take off the tea bag.
• make a paste of onion, ginger, garlic, green chilly, khus khus, black pepper balls.
• Make paste of tomatoes
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and onion paste. Cook till it is light brown in colour , add tomato paste and cook till the gravy starts leaving the sides of the pan. 
• Add chhole masala, cashew nut paste, tamarind paste, salt for the gravy and cook for 4-5 mins on slow flame.
• Take out 1/2 cup cooked chhole and mesh them.
• Add chhole, and meshed chhole  to the gravy and add water if required to get the desired consistency. Cook 7-10 mins or till you get desired consistency.
• Garnish with chopped green coriander, slit green chilly.

Bhature-

Maida- 4 cups

soozi (semolina)- 1/2 cup

curd - 1/2 cup

salt 1 tspn

sugar 1 tspn

curd- 1/2 cup

Baking powder- 1 tspn

Mix all these ingredients well, and knead the dough with warm water. Take 1-2 tbspn oil in hands and knead the dough, coating it with oil. Keep the dough for 3-4 hours in warm place.

Take 1" balls of dough and roll them into 6" bhaturas using oil, and deep fry them in very hot oil on high flame.

Serve hot with chhole and sirka onion rings. To make onion rings slice two onions in thin slices, separate the rings, add 2-3 tspn vinegar, and salt keep it for 1 hr.