Fish Fry

Ingredientd

1.)Fish - 225gm(I used Tilapia, proly 9 2 inch pieces)

2.)Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

3.)turmeric powder - 1tsp

4.)Red chilli powder - 3-4 tsp(depending on how spicy u want)

5.)Lime Juice - 2 Tbsp

6.)Salt - 1tsp

Procedure:

Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl, except the fish. Coat the fish pieces evenly with the mixture and let it marinate for 30 mins. Fry the fish on a pan with little oil or PAM(cooking spray) by flipping it , so that the fish gets properly cooked.Fish fry is ready to be served. This goes extremely well with sambar and rice, or can be had just as a snack or appetizer.

Collard Green Curry

Ingredients:
1.)Collards - 450gm(Chopped)
2.)onion - 1 medium(finely chopped)
3.)green chillies - 3(slit length wise)
4.)dried red chilli- 2-3
5.)ginger garlic paste - 1tsp
6.)Tomato - 3(finely chopped)
7.)mustard seeds - 1tsp
8.)cumin seeds - 1tsp
9.)ural dal - 1tsp
10.)garlic - 1tsp(finely chopped)
11.)turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
12.)garam masala - 1tsp
13.)amchur powder - 1/2 tsp
14.)salt - to taste
15.)oil - 1 tbsp
16.)coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
17.)cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Procedure:
Take oil in a pan, when it is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and red chilli. When they start spluttering add onion, green chillies, garlic and fry till onions get golden brown. Then add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and cook till the raw flavor of ginger garlic paste is gone.Then add tomatoes and salt and saute till the tomatoes are cooked. Next add the collard green and fry for 2 mins. Then add the rest of the masalas, add some water and mix well andLet the collards cook .

Cauliflower curry

Ingredients:
1.)cauliflower florets- 450gm
2.)tomato -3 (chopped)
3.)onion - 1 small(finely chopped)
4.)cumin seeds - 1tsp
5.)mustard seeds - 1tsp
6.)red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
7.)amchur/dried mango powder - 1/2 tsp
8.)garam masla powder - 1 tsp
9.)salt - to taste
10.)ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
11.)lime juice - 1 tbsp


Procedure:
Take oil in a pan. When it is hot add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and urad dal. When they start spluttering add onions and salt and saute till onions get transparent. To this add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw flavor of the ginger garlic paste is gone. Now add the tomatoes and saute for about 2-3 mins. To this add red chilli powder and mix well. Now add the cauliflower florets and mix well. Close the lid of the pan and let the cauliflower florets cook. Keep checking occasionally, other wise the curry might get burnt at the bottom on the pan.If necessary add a little water to avoid burning of the curry.Once the florets are cooked, add garma masala powder and amchur powder and mix well add cook for another 3 mins and finally add lime juice and mix well. Cauliflower curry is ready to be served. This goes well with chapathi or rice.

Tomato papu

1.)tomato - 4(cut into pieces.)

2.)onion - 1 small chopped(not very finely)

3.)toor dal - 1 and 1/2 cups

4.)green chillies - 5 to 6

5.)curry leave - 6-7

6.)mustard seeds - 2 tsps

7.)cumin seeds - 1 tsp

8.)astefodia - pinch

9.)sambar powder - 1 tsp

10.)turmeric - 1/2 tsp

11.)ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

12.)coriander leaves - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

Wash the toor dal well and soak it in water for about 15 mins to half an hour.Take oil in a pressure cooker.When it is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds,when they start spluttering add onions curry leaves and green chillies. Saute till the onions get transparent. Add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw flavor goes away. then add astefodia and stir for a min. Then add the tomato and saute for 2 to 3 mins. Now add the toor dal and stir for 2 to 3 mins and add approximately4 to 5 cups of water. Ans pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.

After4-5 whistles, turn off the stove and let it rest till the steam is completely gone. (Test for this is, try to lift the weight of the pressure cooker.If no steam comes out,or, u do not get a whoosh sound, the steam is gone.Otherwise let it stand for some more time.)

Once the steam is gone completely, open the lid and mash the dal into a semi-smooth paste.Add salt and sambar powder and stir well. If the dal is too thick(dal is generally thick so do not add too much of water), add a little water and let it boil for 15-20mins. Finally take oil in another pan add 2 tsps of oil.When the oil is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dried red chilli. When mustard seeds start spluttering, pour this over the dal and mix.Garnish with coriander leaves. This goes well with white rice.

Note:
Add water to toor dal in 1:2 proportion(for 1 cup toor dal, add 2 cups water). Here we add a little more, because of the tomato that we added. Anything sour makes the dal take longer time to cook.As a rule of thumb, add water until the ingredients and completely immersed. This rule works pretty well most of the time :).

Pongal

Ingredients:
1.)Rice - 1 cup
2.)pesara pappu - 1/4 the cup
3.)pepper corns- 1tbsp
4.)curry leaves - 10
5.)astefodia - pinch
6.)cumin seeds - 2 tsp
7.)salt to taste
8.)cashewnuts - 8
9.)ghee/oil - 1tbsp

Procedure:
Wash rice and pesara papu. In a pan add rice and pesara papu and add water in the ratio of for 1 cup of rice/ dal 2 and 1/4 cups of water and let it boil(Amount of water may vary based on the rice u use). In a presuure cooker cook it for about 6-7 whistles. Then once the steam is gone add salt and mash the rice and dal mixture to a coarse paste.
In another pan, add ghee/oil. When it is hot add cumin seeds, pepper corns, astefodia, cashews. curry leaves. WHen the start spluttering and the cashews get brown add this mixture to the rice and dal mixtures and mix well. Pongal is ready to serve. this goes well with mango pickle or any chutney.

Aloo puttu/curry/masala for dosa

Ingredients:
1.)potato-3 boiled and coarsely chopped
2.)green chillies - 4(cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
3.)onion - 1 small(chopped)
4.)mustard seeds - 1tsp
5.)cumin seeds - 1tsp
6.)channa dal - 1 tbsp
7.)ginger garlic paste - 1tsp
8.)curry leaves - 4
9.)oil - 1tbsp
10.)salt -to taste
11.)turmeric powder -

Procedure:
Take oil in a pan. When it is hot, add mustard seeds,cumin seeds and channdal. Once the mustard seeds start spluttering add onions and green chillies

Carrot and Peas Pasta

Ingredients:
1.)Paste (penne)-1 cup
2.)pasta sauce - 1 and 1/2 cup
3.)peas and carrot - 1/2 cup
4.)salt - to taste
5.)cheese - 1/4 cup(could vary the variety and quantity of cheese according to ur taste)
6.)water - 4 cups
17.)sugar - pinch

Pasta Sauce:
1.)Tomatoes - 2-3 (large)(could use tomato paste instead, about 3/4 cup)
2.)salt-to taste
3.)pepper - 1/2 tsp
4.)garlic - 1-2 tbsp(finely chopped) (could use a little less too, but I like the garlic flavor)
5.)oil - 1 tbsp
6.)italian seasoning - 1 -2tsp(u get this in the super markets. If not this u could use some of the italian spices like basil, oregano etc).
7.)Rose mary- 1/2 tsp

Procedure:
To prepare the sauce, blanch the tomatoes and let them cool(for blanching tomatoes, take boiling hot water and add the tomatoes to it.Let them stay in the water for a minute or so. Immediately get the tomatoes out of the hot water and run them through cold water. Now you will see that the tomatoes skin come off pretty easily.)Remove the skin of the tomatoes. Having remove the skin of the tomatoes , crush the tomato pulp with hand or use a blender to get a paste.do not add water, try to get athick sauce.
Instead of going through the whole procedure you could use the tomato paste instead, whoch generally use. In a pan take oil, when it is hot add onions, garlic and saute well. When the onions get transparent add peas and carrots and saute well. Add salt ans pepper and mix well. To this add tomato paste and mix well. Let it cook till the raw flavor of the tomatoes is gone.Then add the italian seasoning,rosemary and a pinch of sugar and mix well.
If the mixture is too thick and stick to the bottom of the pan, add a little water.
While this is going on, in another pan boil 4 cups of water with a pinch of salt. Once the water starts boiling, add pasta and let it cook.Once the paste is cooked, fish it out from the water and add to the tomato sauce in the other pan and mix well. Let it stay in the pan for about 5 mins. Finally top the pasta with cheese and serve hot.

Note:-Rosemary gives a very nice flavor to the pasta. I generally add a little rosemary in addition ot the italian seasoning. It is optional.