Sorakaya Payasam/Kadhu ki Kheer/ Bottle Gourd Pudding

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grated bottle gourd(peel the bottle gourd,remove seeds and grate)
• 3cups milk
• 4tsp. Sugar
• 1/4 cup Khoya
• 1/4cup milk maid/condensed milk
• 3tsps.chopped pistachios, cashews,almonds
• A pinch of saffron
• 3-4cardamom (powdered)
• 1tbsp. ghee
  

Method:

Squeeze out any excess water from grated bottle guard and keep it aside. In a pan add ghee fry the nuts and keep aside. In a heavy bottom vessel bring milk to boil, then add the grated bottle gourd and sugar to the milk, let it cook for 5-8 mins., add condensed milk, khoya to the boiling milk and mix it well( if not using khoya just increase the condensed milk to 1/2cup instead of 1/4 and reduce the sugar). Add the cardamom powder ,saffron and fried nuts, mix well and turn off the heat.Serve hot or cold!

Vankaya Vepudu/ Brinjal Dry Curry

This is a simple, but toooo delicious brinjal vepudu. I had fall in love with this curry for the first bite itself, I have tasted it in my friend, Krithi's house, who's also a good cook, but... if we say that, she simply says...........Achoo.....I'm not that good, but indeed she's great. Thank you dear for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1lb.Vankayalu/brinjal/eggplant(cut length wise)
• 1/2tsp.tamarind extract,
• 1tsp.sambar powder
• salt to taste
• 4tsp.oil
• 1/2tsp.mustard
• 1/2tsp.urad dal

Method:

• Take brinjal pieces, to them add tamarind extract, salt and sambar powder, mix well. In a pan add oil, once it's hot add mustard and urad dal, once they start to splutter add brinjal pieces, reduce the heat to medium and fry them for about 15min., or until the brinjal skin is light crispy. Serve it as a side with rice or roti.

Aloo chikkudukaya Kura/ Potato,Indian Broad Bean curry

Here is another Indian Broad Bean Curry............

Ingredients:

• 1big potato (peeled and cubed, boiled, add little salt to potato pieces while boiling)
• 1lb.chikkudu kayalu / Indian broad beans(cut into 1''pieces, steamaed, add little salt to bean pieces while steaming)
• 1/2onion(chopped)
• 1tomato(diced)
• 1tsp.red chilli powder
• salt to taste
• 1/4turmeric powder
• 1/4tsp.coriander powder
• 1/4tsp.sambar powder
• 3tsp.oil
• 1/2tsp.mustard and jeera each
• 1spring curry leaves
• 1tsp.poppyseeds(soak in warm water for 20min)+2cloves+1/2''pice cinnamon gind to fine paste.

Method:

• In a pan heat oil, add mustard and jeera, once they start to splutter add onion, turmeric powder and curry leaves, fry till the onions are translucent then add tomato and fry til pulped up, then add the ground paste and fry for 5min. on medium heat, then add cooked potato and bean pieces, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, sambar powder and 1/2cup of water, cover and cook it on medium heat till the gravy comes to desired consistency. Serve it with roti or rice.

Mushroom Biryani

Mushroom Biryani............yummmmmmm.......I know many out there are also big fans of Mushrooms, their flavor and texture are unique........any thing made of mushrooms taste yummm to me. Here is the recipe for delicious Mushroom Biryani, that I have experimented years back and mastered it now, this simple yet tasty recipe is so simple that even novice can't go wrong with it.........

Ingredients:

• 2cups Basmathi Rice. Soak it for 1/2 an hour. Cook rice with 2tsp.mint, 1/2tsp.oil/ghee, and salt to a grainy consistency, but totally cooked.
• 3cups mushrooms, cleaned and chopped.
• 1medium sized onion roughly chopped. In a pan heat 1tsp.oil, add the chopped onion and fry til translucent, let it cool and grind it to a fine paste.
• 1/4cup cashews, soak for 15mins., grind them to a very fine paste.
• 2medium sized tomatoes, microwave or boil them till very soft, cool them, peel the skin out and puree the tomatoes.
• 2&1/2tsp.ginger garlic paste.
• 1/2cup cilantro leaves
• 1/4cup mint leaves
• 1/2tsp.garam masala powder
• 1&1/2tsp.red chilli powder
• 1/2tsp.coriander powder
• Salt to taste
• 4Tbsp.oil
• Whole garam masala:
• 2cloves
• 2''cinnamon stick
• 3cardamom
• 2bay leaves
• 1/4tsp.shajeera
• 1star aniseed

Method:

In a thick bottomed pan add oil, once hot enough add all the whole garam masala ingredients and fry till light golden color. Now add onion paste, ginger garlic paste, coriander leaves, mint leaves and fry for 5mins., on medium high heat. Then add cashew paste, tomato puree, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt, mix well and fry on medium heat for 5-7min. Add the chopped mushrooms and 1/2cup of water, cover with lid and cook for about 10min., until the gravy leaves oil and the mushrooms are cooked.

Baking:

In a bake ware, smear 1/4tsp. ghee and add the mushroom gravy to it, later cover the gravy with cooked rice( if interested can add little orange food color mixed with milk to the rice, this is totally optional) and tightly cover the pan with aluminium foil, bake at 350F for about 20mins., remove from the oven, mix it well and serve it with rita or chicken curry.

Sunnundalu/Sunni Vundalu/Urad Dal Laddoo

This is the classical sweet treat of Andhra. I'm not sure if people other than Andhra know about it. It's a melt in mouth ladoo which is simple to make. It needs to occasion to enjoy this ladoo, it's mostly made like a sweet snack for evening. It's a must sweet for Baby Shower......

Ingredients:

• Urad dal – 2 cups
• Sugar – 1 ¼ cup
• Ghee – ¾ th cup

Dry roast the urad dal on medium heat till golden brown(take care not to burnt them), let dal to cool of completely. Mean while melt the ghee and keep it aside.Now take the roasted urad dal and grind it to a smooth powder using a mixer ( Make sure it’s nice and smooth. It’s very important that the mixture is super fine) and keep it aside. Now grind the sugar to a fine powder, then add the powdered sugar to the urad dal powder, mix well that they get incorpotated well, now add the melted ghee, little at a time till you reach the consistency where you can mold them to laddoos. Store them in the air tight container, they stay fresh for about 15days.

Tip: We can also store the sugar and urad dal powder in an airtight container and can make laddoos later by adding melted ghee.