Bottle Gourd Kootu (Sorakkai kootu)

1 lb sorakkai cut into small pieces

Less than 1/4 onion finely chopped
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp urud dhal
4 curry leaves
Little coriander leaves
1/2 cup moong dhal
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp sambar powder

Take a pan, boil moong dhal in water, by closing the lid, with a little turmeric powder in it. When the dhal is mostly cooked (it shouldn’t be mashed), add sorakkai, onion and add sambar powder, then close the lid back again. Once Sorakkai is cooked, add salt to taste. Then in a separate pan, tamper mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves and put it in the mixture. Sprinkle coriander leaves on top.

This is amma's kootu recipe, which is mild and tastes good.

Optional: you can add grated coconut in the end to this, which will add more taste to the dish.

Spicy Kovakkaai(Tindora) Masal

1 lb Kovakkaai - cut in your style

1 onion chopped
1 and 1/2 tomato chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urud dhal
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp sambar powder
Salt to taste
3 or 4 curry leaves
Coriander leaves chopped

Spice Powder - grind the following
1 tsp whole pepper
2 tsp gram dhal
2 tsp thoor dhal
1 red chili
1 tsp jeera

Take a pan, pour 2 tbsp oil, tamper with mustard seeds, urud dhal,jeera and curry leaves. Once they start spluttering, add onions and kovakkaai and let it cook. Don’t close the lid. The pan should be left open and toss it once a while so that it doesn’t get stuck to it. Once its 3/4 cooked, and then add chopped tomatoes. Add salt, sambar powder, turmeric powder to it and then close the lid of the pan and simmer the gas, until the tomatoes are mashed and the raw smell of the powders are gone. Finally add the spice powder grounded and mix it thoroughly. Sprinkle the coriander leaves and switch off the stove.

My kids loved it by mixing rice with Ghee and kovakkaai masal together. It also goes well with Roti.

Amma's Sambar Powder

Red Chili (kaanja milagaai) - 1 kg

Coriander seeds(malli) - 1 kg

Thoor Dhal (thuravaram paruppu) - 200 gms (1 ulakku)

Channa Dhal (kadalai paruppu) - 200 gms (1 ulakku)

Raw Rice (Pachai arisi) - 200 gms (1 ulakku)

Jeera (seeragam) - 150 gms

Pepper (melagu) - 100 gms

Fennel Seeds (sonbu - perunjeeragam) - little

Methi seeds (vendhayam) - little

Turmeric (virali manjal)

Curry leaves (karuveppilai)

Salt

Dry the red chili in sun. Except red chilies, dry roast the rest and grind it along with red chili.

Amma's sambar powder is ready!!!

Mushroom Milagu Pirattal/ Pepper Mushroom

1 small pack of mushroom cut into small pieces

1/4 onion chopped

2 tbsp of pepper and jeera powder

Salt as needed

2 pinch of cinnamon powder

2 pinch of Aniseed powder (sombu powder/ big jeera)

5 curry leaves

5 garlic cloves chopped

Chopped coriander leaves

Put 2 tbsp of oil in a pan; add chopped onions and garlic with curry leaves. Sauté them well. Then add chopped mushrooms to it. Sauté until the water content in the mushroom is all gone. Then add cinnamon powder and Aniseed powder with a little salt and pepper and jeera powder. Mix it thoroughly. Garnish with coriander leaves. Simmer the gas and leave it for a while by closing the lid. Switch it off in 5 minutes. Yummy pepper mushroom is ready.

Maangai Oorugaai/ Mango Pickle

2 green mango (sour ones)

3 tbsp Red chili powder

3 tbsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp asafetida

2 tsp methi seeds (dry roast and powdered)

Salt as needed

5 cloves garlic cut into small pieces

3 tsp mustard seeds

2 tsp jeera

5 curry leaves

Cut the mangos into small pieces (or your convenient size cubes). Add Chili powder, coriander powder and asafetida, with salt and methi powder. Take a pan, pour 4 tbsp oil, and add mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves and garlic pieces. After the tampering is done, let it cool and then add it to the mango masala mixture. Mix thoroughly and let it aside. Save it in an air tight jar. Mix the pickle once every day so that the oil coats everywhere evenly.

Best ever.... got lots of appreciations from friends and family... :)

Brinjal Curry Andhra Style

I learnt this dish from one of my Andhra friend, Raji. She is a nice cook and a good friend. Thanks for this recipe Raji. We loved it.

1 and 1/2 finely chopped onions

2 big tomatoes finely chopped

4 or 5 garlic cloves finely chopped/grated

1 inch ginger grated

Few brinjals, each slit or cut into 4 pieces length wise

2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp sambar powder or to taste

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/4 cup of dry roasted peanut powder

1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste

In a pan tamper urud dhal, mustard, curry leaves, jeera. Then add onions, garlic and ginger to it. Sauté well until the onions turn color. Then add tomatoes and add a little salt so that the tomatoes cook really well and soon. Make sure everything added in the pan until now should be mashed together, with no chunks left out. Then add turmeric powder, sambar powder, garam masala and the rest of the salt and add a little water. Wait until the raw smell of the masalas are gone. Then add the brinjal to it and close the pan with a lid. Wait for 5 mins or so until it is cooked on one side and then flip it over and do the same until the brinjal is cooked well. Then add dry roasted peanut powder to it at the end, and mix it thoroughly. Add chopped coriander leaves at the end. This yummy dish is ready in minutes. This goes well with Rice/Roti.

 

Law of Garbage Truck

I usually get FWD'd emails from one of my friend every morning. One such email made a real sense.. which I wish I followed. I will try to ... hope this helps you as well.

One day, I hopped into a taxi and took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly, a black car, jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed the brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I mean, was really friendly. So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck'
He explained, "Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. NEVER take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on with the routine life." Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so...... 'Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.'
A very rightly said quote: Life is 10% what you make and 90% how you take!!!!