Ambada - Crispy side dish

Ambada

Ambada is a simple side dish. It can be tried out as an an easy alternate for Bajji/Bonda receipes from South India.

Ingredients
Cabbage -chopped finely (2 cups)
Onion - chopped finely(1 cup)
Gram flour - 3/4 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Corn flour(Optional) - 2 tea spoons
Red chilli powder - 2 tea spoons
Garam masala powder - 1 tea spoon
Salt - As required
Water - As required
Cooking oil - As required for frying

Procedure
1. Prepare the base batter by mixing Gram flour , Rice flour , Corn flour, Red chilli powder , Garam masala powder, Salt with required amount of water. Mix well till the consistency is that of a thick paste. Add water in little quantities as required or else the mix may become too watery and the cabbage strands would separate out from the mix
2. Add the Cabbage, Onion and Ginger garlic paste to the Mix.
3. Shape the mix into small balls or flatten them like vada and deep fry them in Oil.
4. Drain the oil and serve hot as Side dish with Rice.  This will be similar to pakoda preparation.
Can be taken for tea-time snacks as well.

Enjoy the preparation !


 

Cauliflower/Gobi Manchurian 65/gravy(Home style)

Cauliflower fry/Gobi fry

Ingredients
For the Cauliflower dry
Cauliflower florets - 1 full cauliflower
Gram flour/All purpose Maida - 1/4 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup or Corn flour - 4 tea spoons
Red Chilli powder - 2 tea spoons
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1/2 tea spoon
Salt - 1 tea spoon (can vary as required)
Water - As required to make paste
Cooking Oil - As required to fry

For the manchurian gravy
Red Onion -1 - chopped into fine pieces
Cooking Oil - 1 tea spoon
Capsicum/Green Bell pepper - chopped into small pieces
Coriander leaves - a few
Green chillies - 4-5 - slit length-wise
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1/2 tea spoon
Tomato sauce - 1 tea spoon
Soya sauce - 1 tea spoon
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Salt - as required
Tomato- 1 - cut into small pieces


Procedure
1.Wash the cauliflower florets thoroughly and Cook the florets in water with required amount of salt.
2. Turn off the stove when it reaches about 3/4th cooked stage otherwise the florets would over-cooked and get smashed

3. Remove the florets from the water and place them on tissue paper to drain the extra water.



4. In a dry bowl, mix the All purpose Maida/Gram flour,Rice flour/Corn flour,Red Chilli powder,Turmeric powder, Garam masala powder,Ginger-Garlic paste,Salt into a thick paste by adding a little water.



5. Now dip the florets in this paste and mix well and allow to stay for 30 mins.

6. Heat the cooking oil in a thick-bottom skillet.
7. Fry the florets well till they turn golden brown.

These can be served as such as Gobi 65 dry

Procedure for the Cauliflower manchurian semi-gravy
1. Add a little oil in thick-bottom skillet
2. Add the slit green chillies and fry them.
3. Add the finely-chopped red onion pieces and add a little ginger-garlic paste

4. Add the capsicum pieces and fry till all the ingredients are cooked well.
5. Add Red chilli powder, Garam masala powder, a little salt, Tomato sauce and Soya sauce and saute them well.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes and a fry them. Add a little water towards the end so that all these get cooked well into a thick paste.
7. Add 90% of the cauliflower fried florets prepared using the Gobi 65 procedure
8. Cover the lid and allow it to be cooked for 8-10 minutes under low flame.

9. Uncover lid and stir the contents lightly so that they don't get burnt.
10. Finally add the remaining gobi 65 pieces and mix.

11. Spread a little finely chopped onions and coriander leaves for the final touch.

Server with hot chapathis/Naan. Goes well with Fried Rice, Pulao also.
Happy cooking.

Simple Lemon Rice/Elumichai Sadam

Simple Lemon Rice/Elumichai Sadam

Ingredients

Long grained Rice(Basmati preferable) - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Oil - 3 tea spoons

Lemon juice - 4 tea spoons

Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon

Coriander powder -1 tea spoon

Turmeric powder -1 tea spoon

Channa dhaal - 1 tea spoon

Urad dhaal - 1 tea spoon

Ginger-Garilic paste(Optional) - 1/2 tea spoon

Onion - 1/2 cup diced into fine pieces

Green chillies - 5 - slit into halves

Red Chillies(Optional) - 2 - cut into small pieces
Salt - To taste

Curry leaves - As required

Coriander leaves - As required

Procedure

1. Cook the Basmati Rice with 2 cups of water.Add 1 spoon of Oil while cooking so that the rice grains don't stick after cooking

2. Spread the cooked rice on a plate to cool down

3. Heat a Pan and add 2 spoons of Cooking oil.

4.When the Oil is hot, add the channa dhaal and Urad Dhaal to it.When the Channa dhaal turns golden brown and the raw smell goes off, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves to the oil and let them splutter.

5.Add the Chillies to the Oil and sauté them

6.Add the Onion,Ginger Garlic paste and saute well.

7.When the onion turns golden brown, add the turmeric powder and coriander powder and sauté well.

8.Now lower the stove flame or put the stove in low heat mode

9.Start adding the Rice, sprinkle salt as per taste and keep mixing the rice with the previously cooked mixture gently till it is evenly spread across the rice.

10.Now add the lemon juice evenly and mix the rice well.Cook in low flame for 5 minutes.

11.Garnish with coriander leaves on top.

Simple and tasty lemon rice is ready to be served.Adding a spoon of ghee will provide a nice aroma.

Happy eating:-)

Vegetable Kurma and Chapathi

Vegetable Kurma

Vegetable Kurma is a great dish which goes well with Chapathi, Roti, Naan and also Idli, Dosa.
Here is the recipe that I use to make it.

Servings for 2
Preparation time : 20 minutes

Ingredients
Potato -1
Carrot - 1 (if Big) or 4(if baby carrots are used)
Beans - a handful
Onion - 1
Ginger Garlic paste - Half a tea-spoon or as required
Green Chilies -6
Tomato - 1
Cloves - 1
Cinnamon - 1 or 2 small pieces
Cardamom - 3
Cashew nuts -3
Freshly Scrapped Coconut or Coconut powder - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds(Jeera) - 1 tea spoon
Vegetable/Any cooking Oil - 2 tea spoons
Butter - 1 spoon (optional)
Coriander powder - 1 tea spoon(heap)
Chilli powder - 1 tea spoon
Garam Masala powder - 1 tea spoon
Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon
Water - 2 cups or can be added as required for cooking (depending on the consistency required for the kurma)

Procedure

Cut all the vegetables into small pieces separately.



To create the coconut paste

Add water and grind the following ingredients well using a Mixer: Coconut,Chillies, Cashew nuts,Cinnamon,Clove,Cardamom,1/4th of the chopped onions and half spoon of cumin seeds

To prepare the Kurma

1. Heat the Oil In a thick skillet
2. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and the remaining jeera



3. When the mustard and jeera splutter, and the jeera turns brown, add the remaining chopped onions.Let them turn into golden brown colour.



4.Now add the carrots and saute them for sometime after which add the potatoes.
5. Keep sauting them so that they get partly cooked in the heat without adding water.Add the tomatoes and saute them.

6. Now sprinkle some Chilli powder, Garam masala powder, Salt and Coriander powder
7. Add one cup of water and let the vegetables get cooked well till soft.
8. Now add the ground paste , add the remaining water. Add salt if required.
9. Allow the kurma to cook well till the raw smell of coconut goes away.This can be done either in the same skillet Or the kurma can be transferred to a pressure cooker and cooked for 1 whistle.

Transfer the contents to a bowl, add 1 spoon of butter and sprinkle coriander leaves for the final touch.
Your delicious Vegetable kurma is ready to be served.

To prepare Soft Chapathi
Ingredients
Wheat Flour - 2 cups
Water - As required
Milk - 1 cup
Ghee - 2 tea spoons
Cooking oil - 2 tea spoons
Salt - 2 tea spoons
Sugar - 1 or 2 tea spoons

Procedure
1. Mix the Wheat flour, Salt and Sugar well
2. Pour the Milk into the Wheat flour and knead the dough.Add water as required
3. When the dough if formed add Ghee and Oil and knead well till soft.
4.Keep closed for 30 mins to  1 hour and make the dough into balls.
5.Dip them in flour and Press them into round shape using the Chapathi base and roller pin
6.Heat a thick based skillet
7.Place the chapathi dough and flip both sides at an interval of about 10 seconds, till cooked well.
8.Apply a bit of Ghee once the chapathi is taken off the stove.

Soft Chapathi is ready to be served with tasty Vegetable kurma.Hope you have a great time eating :-)