Bendakaya vepudu

Bendakaya vepudu (Okra Fry)

Okra is a rich source of many nutrients, including fiber, vitamin B6 and folic acid. The superior fiber found in okra helps to stabilize blood sugar.

For best cooking results, okra should be fresh (not frozen). The pods should be small (3 inches or so long), or the okra becomes tough and stringy. If forced to use frozen okra, remove as much of the moisture as possible before cooking by spreading on a paper towel, or patting it dry. I remember my moms pattern to remove the moisture where she used to wash okra’s with fresh water and wipe them up each separately with a dry cloth before she cuts them.

Ingredients

Okra (bhendi) – 20
1 Onion chopped
Curry leaves
a pinch of turmeric
Oil – 2 tb sp
Salt to taste

Seasoning

Minapappu (urad dal) – 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 3 to 4
Green chillies - 5-6 (slit into two halves)

Preparation

1. Wash okra and wipe them up with a dry cloth.

2. Slice each one into small thick pieces.

3.In a pan heat oil, add seasoning, when the seeds splutter add curry leaves, onions and a pinch of turmeric. Fry till onions are soft but not brown in color.

4. Add okra pieces, salt to taste, mix and cover the lid for 3-4 mts.

5.remove the lid and let it cook for itself undisturbed. Stir in between but not frequently.

6.once the pieces are soft and slightly crispy turn the flame off and serve hot.

bendakaya vepudu

Mamidikaya pappu

Mamidikaya pappu (Mango Dal)

Rice is the staple food of southern part of India and a typical Andhra meal consists of pappu (dal) with pickle, fry and papaddums. Kandipappu or tuvar dal is one of the popular dals grown in India. It is called as arhar in Bengali and tuvara parippu in Malayalam. It’s slightly sweet and highly digestable too.

Mango has been my all time favourite since my childhood. Those hot sunny days during March and April when plenty of mangoes are available,my granny was busy preparing pickles and we eating raw mangoes with salt and chillie powder, the thought itself makes my mouth water. Here in Singapore raw mangoes are available all through the year and mamidikaya pappu is a frequent dish in my home. I love the mangoes available at Mustafa which are a perfect choice to make this tasty dish.

Ingredients

Kandipappu (toor dal) - 1 cup
Green Chillies - 6 (slit into two halves)
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Chillie powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 1/2 tb sp
Ghee - 1 tsp 1
Raw Mango (sour in taste and cut into bite size pieces)

Seasoning

Mustard seeds (avalu) - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 3 to 4

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Garlic - 2 (cut into small pieces or crushed)

Hing - a pinch

For garnishing

Finely chopped coriander

Preparation

1. Wash and pressure cook dal adding a pinch of turmeric, ½ tsp of oil and 2 cups of water. (adding turmeric and little oil to dal helps dal to cook fast and soft)

2. Once the pressure is gone remove the lid of the cooker and mash dal with a masher.

3. Heat oil and ghee in a pan, add seasoning with a pinch of hing. when the seeds start spluttering, add mango pieces, stir once and cover with a lid for 3 mts in low flame till the mango pieces turn soft. Turn off the flame.

4. Add chillie powder and salt to mashed dal. Mix well. To this add the fried seasoning, little water and cook in low flame for 3 mts for the dal to absorb the flavour of the seasoning.

5. Garnish with finely chopped coriander.

Mamidikaya pappu with bendakaya fry our lunch today

kodi koora

Kodi Kura (Traditional Andhra Chicken Curry)

Andhra cuisine is a blend of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Major part of non-vegetarian dishes are made of chicken, meat and sea food like fish,prawns and crabs. The most important spices used in Andhra region are ginger, garlic, cumin, fenugreek, cinanmom, cloves, cardamom, poppy seeds, coriander seeds,star ani seed and bay leaves.

Kodi koora (Chicken curry) is one of the most popular dish in Andhra. Garelu (A snack made with urad dal) and kodi koora is considered to be a great combination in Andhra. This is a curry which is prepared with cubes of chicken cooked with onions and home-made masala.

Ingredients

Chicken - 500 gms (cut into cubes)

Onions - 8 finely chopped

Green chililes - 5 to 6 (slit into two halves)

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Turmeric - 1 tsp

Chillie powder - 2 tb sp

Salt to taste

oil - 3 tb sp

water - 2 cups

Poppy seeds (gasagasalu) - 6 tb sp

Cloves (lavangalu) - 6

Cardamom (elaichi) - 3

Small cinanmon stick (dalchini)

Coriander seeds (dhaniyalu) - 2 tb sp

Cashew nuts - 2 to 3 tb sp

Ginger - 1" piece

Garlic - 3 pods

Preparation

1. Grind poppy seeds, cloves, elaichi, cinanmon stick, coriander seeds, cashew nuts, ginger, and garlic to smooth paste.

2. Wash chicken cubes with water. Add ground masala paste,2 tb sp of chillie powder, a pinch of turmeric, and salt, leave aside for 15 mts.

3. Heat oil in a kadhai, add chopped onions, a pinch of turmeric, curry leaves, green chillies and fry till golden brown.

4. Add chicken cubes and mix well. cover with a lid for 4 mts and let it cook in low flame.

5. Remove the lid, add 2 cups of water, cover and cook in low flame till the chicken pieces turn soft. salt can be added at this point if not sufficient. once the chicken is soft, cook in high flame till the gravy turns thick.

6. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with rice or chapathis. This goes well with both rice and chapathis too.

Nimmakaya pulihora

Nimmakaya Pulihora (Lemon Rice)

Pulihora a sour, spicy hot and salty dish is considered to be a good stimulant for a dead tongue. It is easy to cook and is a good stomach filler.

Hindus consider turmeric powder as a symbol of auspiciousness, this dish is therefore cooked for almost all good occasions and during festive days. It is also distributed in temples under the name of Prasad.In the North coastal part of Andhra Pradesh, people used to call it Saddi but younger generations may not know this name. Pulihora can be made with a variety of combinations using mango, lemon and tamarind. I would like to present the easiest way of preparing it using lemon.

Ingredients :

Cooked Rice - 1 large cup (not too mushy and without lumps)
Green Chillies - 8-10 (Slit into two halves)
Chana Dal - 1 1/2 tb sp (Also called senagapappu/Bengal Gram)
Urad Dal - 1 1/2 tb sp (also called minapappu)
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp (also called avalu)
curry leaves - 2 sprigs
ground nuts - 3 tb sp (also called pallilu/veru senagapappu)
turmeric - 1 t sp
oil - 3 tb sp
Lemon - 2 (squeeze juice without seeds and set aside)
salt to taste

Preparation:

1. In a pan, heat oil. Add Green chillies, Chana dal, Urad dal, mustard seeds, curry leaves, groundnuts, turmeric and fry till golden brown. Switch off the flame.

2. Add salt and lemon juice to the above fried mixture and mix it with cooked rice thoroughly. More lime juice can be added if you prefer sour taste.

I had no idea that there were people across the world who share a common interest cooking, and no wonder it really amazed me when I first saw a couple of food blogging sites while browsing through the internet.No wonder this paved the way to start my own blog.

so what will you see on my blog? well I'm trying to add up the delicious dishes from andhra which I’ve picked up from my mom's and mom-in-laws kitchen, and anything else that catches my eye.

Cooking was one thing which I enjoyed a lot.Its because I grew up over two decades eating my mothers cuisine. I saw my mother cooking with lot of pleasure and care and how she served us more and more when she made our favourite dishes. spending hours in the kitchen cooking delicious meals for us, I wondered how she managed, my dad who liked chapathis with chicken curry, me who ate more of vegetarian with a choice of rasam, curry, fry and papads or anything else crispy in my big lunch box :-) and my little younger brother whose day does not pass without coconut chutney in his breakfast. I remember her packing up our lunch packs by 7 in the morning.

For the first twenty three years of my life, I knew only eating the cuisine cooked by my mom. A move to hyderabad in India after my marriage opened the door to my cooking. I taught myself cooking by referring to most of the recipes which my mother in law used to cook. Learning to prepare dishes from other parts of India from my friends and the Internet made me realize how different and tasty our cuisine is.

Enjoy your visit and please feel free to mail me. I would love to hear from you.



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