Potato masala

Ingredients :

• Potatoes - 1 / 4 k.g. [ boiled,peel and make small cubes ]
• Onions - 100 gms. [ cut in to small pieces ]
• Tomatoes - 2 to 3 [ chopped ]
• Green chillies - 2 [ chopped ]
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Oil - 2 tablsp.
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Red chillie powder - 2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 1 / 2 tsp
• Coriander leaves - little

Method :

Boil the potatoes, peel and make small pieces. Keep a kadai on the gas, and add oil. When it becomes hot, add chopped onion and saute till it becomes golden brown in colour. Then add ginger garlic paste, turmeric, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder and chopped tomatoes. Mix well. Finely add boiled potatoes and fry for 5 mints in low flame. If  the subji becomes thick add little water. Allow it to boil for few seconds. Remove from the gas. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves. It goes well with teplas.

Mirchi ka saalan

Ingredients :

• Bajji chillies - 250 gms.
• Til seeds- 1 handful
• Peanut - 1 / 4 cup
• Cashew nuts - 1 handful
• Chilli powder - 2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - little
• Tamarind paste - 1 / 2 tsp
• Jaggery - 1 tblsp.
• Oil - 3 tablsp.
• Salt - as required
• Onion - 2 to 3 [ cut into pieces ]

Method :

Crush onion, cashew, til seeds, peanut, coriander, chilli powder in mixer and make a smooth paste. Then clean chillies and fry in oil till it become soft. Keep aside. Add oil in a pan, season with curry leaves, and add the ground paste, tamarind, salt, turmeric,   and  jaggery. Cook till oil leaves the masala. If the masala sticks to the kadai add required water and allow to cook in low flame till the raw smell goes. Add the fried chillies and cook 5 mints more.Then remove from the fire. Serve hot with roti, parathas etc.

Vadakari

Ingredients :

• Bengal gram dhal - 2 cups [ soaked in hot water ]
• Onion big - 3 [ peel and chopped ]
• Green chillies - 3 to 4
• Tomatoes - 2 [ cut into small pieces ]
• Cinnamon - 2 small pieces
• Cloves - 2
• Mint leaves -1 / 4 cup [ chopped ]
• Red chilli powder - 1 1 / 2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Oil - 250 ml.
• Ginger garlic - little [ chopped ]
• Fresh coriander leaves - little
• Salt - as required

Method :

Soak and grind bengal gram dhal along with green chillies,and salt. Mix chopped mint leaves to the dhal. Then keep a kadai on the fire, add oil. When it becomes hot add small roundels of ground bengal gram dhal, and fry till half done. Keep it aside, keep kadai on the fire add oil. When the oil becomes hot add gram masala, chopped onion, chopped ginger garlic and fry till it becomes golden brown in colour. Then add cut tomatoes and fry well.. Add chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder saute well. Add the vadas to that  and a cup of water. Allow to boil for 5 mints in low flame till the raw flavour goes. Remove from the gas and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with  roti ,and dosas.

Surti oondhia

Ingredients :

Surti papdi [ avarakkai ] - 400 gms.
Kand [ purple yam or kavathu ] - 100 gms.
Sweet potatoes - 100 gms.
Potatoes - 100 gms.
Surti brinjal - 100gms
Big nanthra pazam [ kerala ]  - 1
Salt - as required
Green pess - 1 / 2 cup
Green thuvar seeds - 1 / 2 cup

Masala :
Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
Grated coconut - 2 cups
Green garlic with leaves - 1 / 2 bunch
Ginger chilli paste - 3 tbsp.
Soda bicarb - 1 / 4 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Oil - as required

For muthia :
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Oil - 2 1 / 2 tbsp.
Coriander cuminseed powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
Sugar - little
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Methi leaves chopped - 1 / 4 cup
Mix all the masalas and methi leaves with wheat flour. Prepare a semi soft dough with the help of a little water, prepare small muthias from the dough and deep fry till only half fried.

Method :

Split the papdi into two. Peel and cut the kand, sweet potatoes, and potatoes in to big pieces. Cut the bananas into 1 inch pieces. Put a verticle slit on banana pieces. Then chop the coriander leaves and green garlic very finely. Mix with grated coconut. Add salt, sugar and ginger chilli paste. Mix well and keep aside. Then heat oil in a big kadai. Add the papdi along with its dana [ seeds ] Add soda bicarb and mix well. Put little of the prepared masala over the papdi and cook for about 10 mints. Add the pieces of potatoes, yam, and sweet potatoes over the cooked papdi. Put a slit in the brinjal, fill up a little masala in the slit. Also fill up masala in banana slits. Arrange the stuffed bananas and brinjal over the cooked vegetables sprinkle the remaining masalas. Add the muthias also. Cover tightly with a lid. Also place a thali placing upwards with a little water in it on the brims of the  kadai. Cook till all the vegetables turn tender.

Manoharam

Ingredients: 

• Raw rice - 4 cups
• Whole urad dal - 1/2 cup
• Oil - 250 ml
• Salt - As required
• Jaggery - 300 gms (powdered)

Method: 

Combine the rice & dal together & grind them in a machine to a fine powder. Sieve the flour & salt. Then add gradually water & mix well. Make small balls of the mixture & keep aside. Meantime, heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium flame. Add the balls to the thengozhal maker & press over the hot oil. Fry till it changes to golden brown colour & then remove. Then brake them into small pieces & transfer to a plate. Then boil the jaggery in a cup of water till it gets dissolved completely. Stain the jaggery water & boil again till it changes to slightly thick (pagu). Pour this pagu over the broken thengozhals. After it becomes cold (room temperature), seperate the same accordingly. Your Manoharam is ready.

Papaya halwa

Ingredients :

• Ripe papaya pieces - 4 cups
• Ghee - 1 / 4  cup
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Milk or koa - 1 / 2 cup
• Kaju and raisins - 1 / 4 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1 / 4 tsp
• Vanilla essence - few drops

Method -
Remove outer skin, inner seeds etc from the papaya.Cut into small pieces. Mix fruit with sugar, milk  and heat in heavy kadai stirring constantly till it becomes thick and fruit becomes soft [ complete moisture is absorbed ]. Add ghee and stir well till it leaves side and keep stirring till thick halwa consistency is reached. Fry kaju, raisins in little ghee, mix cardmom powder,  essence and  add  to  halwa  and  remove from fire. Your tasty papaya halwa is ready to eat.

Mezuku varati [ dry subji ]

Ingredients :

• Diced malabar yam [ senai kilangu ] - 1 cup [ 1 inch cubes]
• Raw banana - 1 cup [ peel and cut into 1 inch cubes ]
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp

For Seasoning:

• Curry leaves - little
• Coconut oil - 2 tbl sp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Grind together for masala :

• Coriander seeds - 1table spoon
• Cumin seeds - 1 / 2 tsp
• Black pepper - 1 / 4 tsp
• Dry red chillies - 3 to 4
• Poppy seeds - 1 / 2 tsp

[Fry all these ingredients except dry red chillies in kadai without oil.] Fry red chillies in little oil.

Method:

Peel the skin of the vegetables and dice them into small pieces. Add salt & turmeric, boil them in enough water till the vegetables becomes soft. Drain the water & keep aside. Take one kadai, add coconut oil, season with mustard seeds & curry leaves. When the mustard seeds pops, add those vegetables along with masala powder & fry for 5 mins till the masala quoted to the vegetables become dry. Garnish them with curry leaves.