Vegetable stew

Any party that goes on at my home(back in India) was incomplete without "vegetable stew". This was one of the "should be dishes" in the parties, which my granma used to host. I still remember how she would make all her recipes with so much attention to the detail of the ingredients that go into it. And every time she made it it would have the exactly same "yummy" flavor. I would be satisfied if i become half as good a cook as my granma :) .So today i will be sharing the vegetable stew recipe.

Ingredients:

1.)Potato - 3 large(cut into 1 inch cubes)

2.)cauliflower - 6 florets

3.)carrot and peas - 1/2 cup

4.)cloves - 2

5.)cardamon - 3

6.)cinnamon - 1/2 inch

7.)onion - 1 small (chopped length wise)

8.)ginger garlic paste - 1tsp

9.)coconut powder - 1 cup

10.)tomato - 2(chopped)

11.)coriander leaves - 1/2 cup(finely chopped)

12.)turmeric - 1/2 tsp

13.)green chillies - 4 (vertically slit)

14.)curd/yogurt - 1/2 cup

15.)salt - taste

16.)oil - 1tbsp

Procedure:

Take oil in a pan. When it is hot add cloves,cardamon and cinnamon. When they start giving an aroma add onions and green chillies and sauteed till golden brown. Into it add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw flavor goes.Then add tomatoes and saute till they are cooked. Next add vegetables and fry for 5 mins. Next add water and close the lid and let the vegetables cook. When the vegetables are 50 % done , add salt and coconut powder and mix well. Again close the lid and let it cook till the vegetables are done. Once the vegetables are cooked add yogurt and mix well. Let it simmer for 5 mins and finally garnish with coriander and serve. This goes extremely well with vegetable biryani, roti or plain rice.

Kheera/Cucumber sambar

Sambar is one of 'THE' most important dish on south India. Me being from Hyderabad, i do not remember one day at home , that there was no sambar. Today i will be sharing Cucumber sambar recipe.It can be done in two ways. Procedure 1 is an easy and quick recipe, and procedure 2 is a more authentic one. Procedure 2 takes more time to prepare that procedure 1. But in the end, both the tastes are quite comparable.


Ingredients:
1.)Toor dal - 1 cup
2.)dried red chillies - 3
3.)cucumber - 1(skin peeled and chopped into large pieces)
4.)onion - 1 small(cut length wise)
5.)tomato - 2
6.)mustard seeds - 1 tsp
7.)cumin seeds - 1tsp
8.)ginger garlic paste - 1tsp
9.)sambar powder - 1 tsp
10.)astefodia - pinch
11.)turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
12.)oil - 1tsp
13.)coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
14.)curry leaves - 5
15.)salt

Procedure1:
Follow the same procedure as mango dal, instead of mango, add tomato and cucumber and saute.Follow the other steps exactly similar(please omit adding the sugar part, if following the mango dal recipe).

Procedure2:
Wash toor dal well and let it pressure cook with 2 cups of water and turmeric powder for 3-4 whistles. Once the dal is cooked mash the dal into a paste. Take oil in a pan, add a little mustard seeds,dried red chillies and cumin seeds. When it starts spluttering add onion and saute till it gets transparent. Then add ginger garlic paste and saute till raw flavor is gone.Now add salt and tomatoes and fry for 2 mins. Then add the cucumber pieces and mix well and cook with the lid closed till the cucumber pieces are cooked well. Once the cucumber is cooked well add to this mixture the already cooked and mashed dal. Mix well and add water till it gets thin(not very thick not very thin). At this point add sambar powder and mix well. Add salt according to taste and let it boil for 15 to 20 mins. Boil till the raw flavor of dal is gone and all the flavours blend well and turn off the stove.Take oil in a pan, add a little mustard seeds,cumin seeds,curry leaves and dried red chillies, once they start spluttering and this to the sambar and garnish with coriander leaves.
Sambar goes well with rice.

Note:
Add water to toor dal in 1:2 proportion(for 1 cup toor dal, add 2 cups water).