Blogging break

Hi Friends,

My camera and laptop have flown miles across with my husband. I’m taking a short break from blogging. but yeah.. will be back once I am in the US. Till then take care and have a happy blogging all of you.

Royyala Iguru (Prawns in thick gravy)

Today I share with you a hot and spicy dish made with prawns, royyala iguru. iguru in telugu means thick gravy made with ground masala (prepared with spices/onions). My mother used to cook the same version of prawns adding a cup of whole milk at the end and letting the gravy to turn thick.

Ingredients :

Prawns - 500 gms

Onions - 6 finely chopped

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

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Coriander leaves - a small bunch (finely chopped)

Turmeric - 1 tsp

Chillie powder - 2 tb sp

Salt to taste

oil - 3 tb sp

water - 2 cups

Poppy seeds (gasagasalu) - 2 tb sp

Cloves (lavangalu) - 6

Cardamom (elaichi) - 3

Small cinanmon stick (dalchini)

Coriander seeds (dhaniyalu) - 2 tb sp

Cashew nuts - 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 prawns with water and little turmeric powder. 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 onions turn soft.

3. Add prawns and mix well. cover with a lid for 6 mts and let it cook in low flame.

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

5. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with rice or chapathis.

Peetalu Pulusu (Crabs cooked in Onions and Tamarind Sauce)

Last friday when I was at fair price to buy some fruits I happened to find crabs and the funniest part is how I picked and put them in the plastic bag, Each time I pick a crab with the forceps kind of thing, those sharp edge legs get stuck on to the bag. It so happened that by the time I finished putting 3 crabs successfully in, half the bag was torn and the lady at the cleaning counter was laughing at me. Finally managed and gave it to the same old lady for cleaning. She was so nice enough to clean them up as they do it in India. Thanks to her, otherwise another exercise would have started at home :-).

Each crab should be cut into 2 pieces(if crabs are small leave them as they are) and the legs crushed slightly (with a pestle). Do not crush them fully, A slight crack on the shell is sufficient. Wash them thoroughly with water and set aside.

Ingredients

Salt - 2 tb sps (adjust according to taste)
chillie powder - 3 tbsps
green chillies - 6 (slit length wise)
tamarind - 1 big lemon size (soaked in 2 cups of water)
coriander leaves - 1 small bunch (finely chopped)

For the Gravy Masala

onions - 4 (slit lengthwise)
dhaniyalu(coriander seeds) - 3 tb sps
jeera(cumin) - 2 tb sps
garlic - 5 cloves
1X1" ginger piece

How to cook them:

1. Grind all the ingredients for the masala to smooth paste and set aside.

2. In a deep kadhai heat 4 tb sps of oil, add crabs with 2 tb sps of salt, 3 tb sps of chillie powder, 1 tsp of turmeric, 6 green chillies and mix well for all the crabs to get coated evenly.

2. Cover and cook for 5 mts on low flame. Add masala paste, mix well. Cover and cook for 10 mts on low flame.

3. Remove the lid and add tamarind juice. Increase the flame and allow to cook for 5 mts. Lower the flame again, cover and cook for about 30 mts till the tamarind sauce turns to gravy consistency. Adjust salt according to taste.

4. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with hot rice.

Minapattu (Plain Dosa)

A south indian savoury, which is served plain as well as with a variety of fillings too. One bite and you fall in love with it, I bet :-) . All you need is some time to make this tasty breakfast. It can be served with accompaniments like coconut chutney, peanut chutney, sambhar, or podis.

Ingredients

1 cup whole urad dal (Minapappu)
2 cups of rice
1/2 cup of chana dal (senagapappu)
1 tb sp of methi seeds

Preparation

1. Wash and soak urad dal, rice, chana dal and methi seeds together in lots of water for about 5-6 hours.

2. Drain water and grind them to a smooth batter, not too thick nor too watery. Add water while grinding for the batter to turn smooth.

3. Transfer the batter to a vessel, cover it and leave it overnight for fermentation.

4. The quantity of batter increases by morning. Add 1 tb sp of salt to the batter, mix well. Now the batter is ready for making dosas.

5. Place and heat a dosa pan (skillet) on the stove. Pour a laddle full of batter on the pan and spread into thin round shape as shown below. Move the laddle in circular shape till the batter turns into thin round shape. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of oil on the sides and allow to cook till dosa turns to golden brown in color.

6. Turn dosa to the other side as shown below and allow to cook for few seconds. Keeping dosa for a long while on the pan would turn dosa to be more crisper so make sure you dont over cook them.

7. Reverse dosa again, fold into two halves and serve hot with chutney.

dosa with kobbari-senagapappu chutney

Bangaladumpa Iguru (Potato Curry)

At last I am here after a long gap. It took some time to adjust back with the normal routine office and home. I found some time now for my favorite pass time, blogging.

Bangaladumpa Iguru (thats how we call it at home), a gravy based dish that goes well with hot rice, chapathis and even pulao too is a commonly cooked dish at most of the homes in Andhra. Here is how it goes:

Ingredients

Potatoes - 3 (cut into cubes)

onions - 4 (cut lengthwise)

green chillies - 5 (slit lengthwise)

curry leaves - 2 sprigs

coriander leaves - 3 sprigs (chopped finely)

bay leaves - 4

cloves - 3 (lavangalu)

dalchini - a small stick

chillie powder - 1 tb sp

turmeric powder - 1 t sp

Salt to taste

oil - 2 tb sps

2 cups of water

Procedure

1. Heat oil in a kadhai, add cloves, dalchini and bay leaves. fry for 3 mts till the flavour comes out.

2. Add green chillies, curry leaves and onions, fry on low flame till soft.

3. Add potatoes, cover and cook them on low flame for about 7-10 mts stirring in between till the potatoes turn soft.

4. Add turmeric, chilliepowder, salt to taste. Mix well, cover and cook for another 3 mts in low flame.

5. Add 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Cover the kadhai with a lid and allow the potatoes to cook on low flame till thick gravy is formed.

6. Add chopped coriander and serve hot with rice or chapathis.

Sad Day!

Terrorist attacks in India and loss of innocent life.

I wish speedy recovery for all those injured and my heartfelt condolences for all those who lost their beloved ones.

If you are looking for any information or assistance to locate your loved ones in Mumbai, the following website by bloggers of Mumbai might be helpful to you. If you are a blogger, I request you to provide a link to this website from your blog. Thanks!
Mumbai Help

Thanks Indira