Bottle gourd curry/Lauki sabji

Whats with bottle gourd and me?Am I flooding this space with recipes of bottle gourd actually no this is only my second one here and I've been seeing on tv lately how versatile this vegetable is and I am getting ideas which I will put into action soon I hope.

Dry fish/karuvad curry

Seafood lovers are on the rise these days.Dry fish isn't something everyone might like it definitely is a pleaser in our homes.I recently started making it this way and its really good to go with chapathis and rice.

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Dried fish i've heard from my elders, the practise started to preserve excess fish but then nowadays i've read in pregnancy related books that dried fish has more protein than the fresh ones (don't ask me how i have no idea).In my native place, new moms are fed with special marundhu/medicinal fish curries (i had it too) and dry fish along with other stuff like methi ladoos, dry fruits, loads of milk, etc to help you nurse baby better.Even though it is disgusting to sit and eat all that stuff when you want to get rid of all those extra flabs you'll know its good for you and baby at the back of your minds.

I have really never purchased store brought dry fish/karuvad because it is usually loaded with dust and salt.My aunt usually prepares it for us much hygenically and with lesser salt.And this way to make this curry my mom gave me the tip and it helps to get rid off all the salt in it.

 You need

Dry fish 1(whole or few pieces as you need)
Onion 1 large
Tomato 2 medium
Green chillies 2
Curry leaves 3-4 sprigs(use more if you like)
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder 1/2 tsp
Oil 2 tablespoon
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Water a little around half cup
Coriander leaves to garnish

• In a pan of water, add turmeric powder and add the dry fish pieces and let it boil for 5-7 minutes.This helps tenderise the fish and also to get rid of the salt.
• Once the fish is tender, take it off the water, discard water.Remove the flesh of the fish and discard bones and skin.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies and fry well.
• Add chopped onions and saute well until soft.
• Once the onions are soft add the tomatoes and sprinkle some salt.This helps mash the tomatoes quicker.
• Add a little water at this stage, add chilli powder and stir for a few seconds.
• Add the shredded dry fish pieces. 
• Mix well.Add some more water and cover and cook until the spices have coated the fish.
• Garnish with more fresh curry leaves and coriander leaves.

Serve hot with chapathis or rasam  or sambar and rice.Like my mom says dry fish is a rice pulls.So watch out :)

Notes :

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• Be careful with salt because the fried fish can have salt and adding your normal level can make the dish salty.

Dry fish/karuvad curry

Seafood lovers are on the rise these days.Dry fish isn't something everyone might like it definitely is a pleaser in our homes.I recently started making it this way and its really good to go with chapathis and rice.

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Spicy Egg kurma

Eggs are always life savers.Apart from the fact that they are tasty in any form they are too versatile too.I love trying to make new dishes with eggs.This is one such gravy that turned out super good!

You need

Hard boiled eggs 2 cut into round slices

Onion 1 large sliced finely

Tomato 2 medium chopped

Curry leaves 2 sprigs
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Fennel/saunf/sombu 1 tsp
Coconut oil 2 tablespoons
Ginger 1 inch piece
Garlic 5-6 pods

Dhaniya powder 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1/2 tsp or more
Green chilli 2nos
To grind to a fine paste
Whole spices - 2 cardamoms and an inch sized piece of cinnamon
Coconut 1 tablespoon
Cashew nuts 5 nos

• In a pan, heat coconut oil, add the fennel seeds and mustard seeds, green chillies once it pops add the curry leaves.
• Add the onions let it saute well until soft.
• Crush the ginger garlic roughly or in a mixer.
• Add tomatoes and let it saute well until you get a smooth gravy mix.
• Add dhaniya powder and chilli powders and cook until raw smell goes away.
• Add salt to taste and turmeric powder.
• Add the eggs.
• Add the ground paste and check for salt again.Spoon gravy over eggs and don't stir anymore.
• After it simmers for 5 minutes turn off the heat.
• Add some curry leaves to garnish.

Spicy egg kurma is ready to be served with any breads,rotis or parottas :)

Spicy Egg kurma

Eggs are always life savers.Apart from the fact that they are tasty in any form they are too versatile too.I love trying to make new dishes with eggs.This is one such gravy that turned out super good!

Rajasthani kadhi

I got this book Rajasthani Cooking by Tarla Dalal last year from Gayathri.I didn;t get a chance to thank her sending it over.My Mango kulfis won me this award.Those kulfis like my DH said were my one of my most successful trials.And a super duper hit.

Today's recipe is a rajasthani kadhi out of that book.I have tried many of these recipes which do not need coconut or any grinding while i was in London(since i didn't have a mixie there).So this was one really easy curry that was a good accompaniment to rice and chapatis equally!

Kadhi is the northie cousin of the southie more kuzhambu.We make our more(buttermilk) kuzhambu/curry with a variety of soft vegetables like ashgourd, pumpkins,green mangoes and even ladyfingers, while the kadhi is made with pakodas.It is a simple yet tasty dish which suits well with plain steamed rice, jeera rice or even chapatis.

I served it with steamed rice and roasted potatoes for lunch and with chapatis for dinner.

You need

For the kadhi

Yogurt 2 cups

Besan/chickpea flour 1 cup

Chilli powder 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Hing/asoefetida a generous pinch

For the seasoning:

Oil 2 tsp

Coriander seeds 1/2 tsp

Jeera/cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp

Dried red chillies 2

Curry leaves a sprig

For the pakodas

Besan 2 tablespoon

Chopped coriander leaves 2 tablespoons

Green chillies 1/2 chopped finely

Turmeric powder 1/4 tp

Baking soda a pinch

Salt to taste

Water to mix

Oil to deep fry

• Mix the ingredients for the kadhi in a bowl with a whisk so it stays lumpless.Set aside.
• Heat this on a low/medium flame and keep whisking it until gets nice and thick and the raw besan smell goes away for about 7-10 minutes.Turn off the flame and let it cool.
• Mix the ingredients for the pakodas, mix enough water so that it should just drop into the oil with a spoon.Not too runny not too thick.
• Deep fry the pakodas and drain on a tissue paper.
• Drop the pakodas into the kadhi.
• Heat oil in a pan, add the seasoning and pour in over the kadhi.
• Serve hot with rice and roasted potatoes.

The pakodas need to soak up the flavours of the kadhi so this tastes better after sometime of cooking.

Have fun enjoying Rajasthani food.

Sending this to ONLY cookbooks event at runner in the girl and Paris space 

Rajasthani kadhi

I got this book Rajasthani Cooking by Tarla Dalal last year from Gayathri.I didn;t get a chance to thank her sending it over.My Mango kulfis won me this award.Those kulfis like my DH said were my one of my most successful trials.And a super duper hit.

Today's recipe is a rajasthani kadhi out of that book.I have tried many of these recipes which do not need coconut or any grinding while i was in London(since i didn't have a mixie there).So this was one really easy curry that was a good accompaniment to rice and chapatis equally!

Vazhai thandu Poriyal/Stir fried Banana Stem

Banana is a favorite among the south indians.We have banana is all its forms and also utilize every part of the humble banana plant.The banana vegetable is fried into yellow discs coated with salt and pepper, its also used in avials and poriyals, sambars(lentils and vegetable broth), the leaves are used to serve up traditional meals, also to steam foods and also as a take away wrapper.And the tender stem is used in vegetarian side dishes.

We make this the traditional way (for us) that is., stir fried and tossed with coconut and cumin seeds.

Check out the health benefits of the banana stem here.

You need
Banana stem chopped and cleaned 3 4 cups ( i used about palm's length of a stem, removed the outer layer and chopped it.You can leave the pieces in some whey water until you cook it.This is will prevent it from turning dark)
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

To temper
Coconut oil 1 tablespoon
Channa Dal /Yellow split peas 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Baby Onions 4 5 chopped finely
Curry leaves few
Dried red chillies 2


To grind to a smooth paste
Coconut scrapped 1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Garlic 2 pods
Green chillies 1

• In a heavy based vessel, add the chopped banana stem and add salt,turmeric and sufficient water to let it cook.This stem too has a lot of water content so just i added water as required.
• While the stem is cooking,  heat the oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the tempering in that order mentioned above one after the other.Keep it aside.
• Make the coconut paste and keep it aside.
• Mix the cooked stem with the coconut paste.
• Add the stem + coconut paste mixture to the tempering and heat it and stir it until all the moisture goes away.

• A flavorsome poriyal is ready to be served with steamed rice.

Vazhai thandu Poriyal/Stir fried Banana Stem

Banana is a favorite among the south indians.We have banana is all its forms and also utilize every part of the humble banana plant.The banana vegetable is fried into yellow discs coated with salt and pepper, its also used in avials and poriyals, sambars(lentils and vegetable broth), the leaves are used to serve up traditional meals, also to steam foods and also as a take away wrapper.And the tender stem is used in vegetarian side dishes.