Chow Chow Poriyal – Spicy Chayote Curry Recipe

Chow Chow Vegetable( Chayote in English, Ishkus in Hindi, Seemai Kathirikai in Tamil, Seeme Badanekayi in Kannada, Seema vankaya in Telugu) makes its appearance in my kitchen at least twice a week. I make sambar, poricha kuzhambu and kootu with it. Chow chow poriyal was in my try list for long time as I have never seen my mom & MIL making poriyal with it. Here in Bangalore, most of the hotels serve this chow chow curry in their lunch thali. So I wanted to try that way. Its a very simple dry curry recipe but spicy in taste. People call it as Seeme Badanekayi Palya in Kannada. As chow chow vegetable is bland in taste, I have used spice powders to bring the masala flavor. I prepared this chow chow curry directly in a pressure cooker to ease my job. Yes it was done under 10 minutes. This recipe is ideal for bachelors and working women to whip up a quick side dish for sambar rice and curd rice. Do try this spicy chow chow curry for rice and enjoy. If you like, you can have it with roti a well.

Check out my other PORIYAL RECIPES too !

Chow Chow Poriyal / Chayote Curry Recipe

Chow chow poriyal for rice,roti - Chayote dry curry recipe, spicy in taste !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Poriyal Recipes

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

Chow Chow / Chayote - 1 no (Big) Big onion - 1 no Garlic cloves - 5 nos Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp Dhania powder - 1 tsp Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp Grated coconut - 1/4 cup Salt & water - as needed To Temper Coconut oil or cooking oil - 1.5 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Chana dal - 1 tsp Curry leaves - Few

HOW TO MAKE CHOW CHOW PORIYAL

1. Wash and peel the skin of chow chow/chayote. Slice the head and tail portion.
2. Chop into small cubes.Chop onion and garlic finely.
3. Heat oil in a pressure cooker base. Splutter mustard seeds, urad & chana dal.
4. Saute onion, garlic and chayote. Add salt and spice powders. Mix well.
5. Add very little water and pressure cook in high flame for 2 whistles.
6. Boil if there is excess water. Let it become dry. Lastly add grated coconut, mix well and serve !

METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES

Wash and slice the head and tail part of chow chow. Peel the skin completely and chop into cubes. Chop onion and garlic cloves finely and set aside. Heat oil in a pressure cooker base. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and curry leaves. When dals turn golden, add chopped onion, garlic and chow chow cubes. Saute for a minute. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala powder and salt. Mix well. Add little water say 3 tbsp and mix well. Less water is needed because chow chow will release some water while cooking. Pressure cook in high flame for 2 whistles. Open the lid after steam is released. Mix gently and check for excess water. If its there, boil in high flame for a minute to drain all the water.Do not mix often because poriyal may become mushy. Toss gently. Poriyal should be dry. Lastly add grated coconut, mix well and serve with rice or roti ! Enjoy !

Note

Chow chow needs less water and less time to cook. So do not add more water while pressure cooking. Chow chow becomes mushy if you cook for more time in pressure cooker. So its better to cook in high flame for 2 whistles. It cooks in the steam itself. Adjust the quantity of chilli powder to make it more spicy. You can also skip garam masala powder but it adds a nice flavor to the curry. You can follow the same recipe and use bottle gourd / sorakkai instead of chow chow.

Try this easy, yummy chow chow poriyal at home and enjoy with sambar rice, rasam rice & curd rice.

Technorati Tags: chow chow poriyal,spicy chow chow poriyal,chayote curry,chayote curry for rice,chayote poriyal,chow chow dry curry,chow chow curry for roti,seema badanekayi palya,chow chow recipes,chayote recipes,poriyal recipes

Continue Reading...

Mushroom 65 Recipe – How To Make Crispy Mushroom fry - Kalan 65 Recipe

Mushroom 65 / Crispy mushroom fry ( Kalan 65 in Tamil) is one of the easy Indian snacks recipes using mushroom. We have tasted this several times in restaurants/hotels. Many vegetarians avoid mushroom as it gives the smell of taste of eating non-veg food. But I include in my cooking once in a while as it has amazing health benefits. Its low in calories, gluten free, high in anti oxidants, high in potassium to control blood pressure, helps in weight management, boost immunity and much more. But we should be careful while buying mushroom. Always choose fresh ones to avoid ailments like stomach upset, food poisoning etc. 

Yesterday I bought a pack of fresh, edible button mushrooms from Metro Cash n Carry. Usually I make biryani with Mushrooms. This time I tried crispy mushroom 65 following my fail proof Gobi 65 recipe. It came out very crispy and tasty. Sendhil & myself liked it a lot. I am planning to try some kurma or kuzhambu with the leftover pieces. I also made Paneer 65 with the remaining batter for Raksha. 

If you follow this recipe, you can make crispy paneer 65, baby corn 65 and gobi 65. Its an all rounder recipe. If you want to keep it crispy for long time, you need to deep fry it twice just like the hotels and street side shops. Yes, To make restaurant style crispy mushroom 65, we need to deep fry it twice without worrying about calories. This is the only secret, nothing else I feel. I have shared this point in my Gobi manchurian post too. After all we are going to make it once in a while at home. But don’t feel bad, this recipe itself gives you crispy mushroom 65 even if you don’t deep fry it twice. Ok, lets see how to make mushroom 65 with crispy exterior and soft exterior with step by step pictures.

Check out this post on how to choose n buy, clean mushroom, Thalapakkatti biryani with mushroom, Thala ajith style biryani with mushroom and easy mushroom biryani in pressure cooker.

Mushroom 65 Recipe - How To Make Crispy Mushroom 65

How to make crispy Mushroom 65 at home with easily available ingredients

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Snacks

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Mushroom – 10 nos All purpose flour / Maida – 1/2 cup Corn flour – 1/2 cup Red chilli powder or green chilli paste – 2 tsp Ginger – garlic paste – 1.5 tsp Garam masala powder – 1 tsp Crushed fennel seeds or fennel seeds powder – 1/2 tsp (optional) Lime juice – Few drops Salt & water – As needed Cooking oil – To deep fry

HOW TO MAKE MUSHROOM 65

1. Wash the mushroom, discard its stem. Chop into cubes.
2. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients given for the batter except cooking oil.
3. Mix it to thick bajji batter consistency. Add mushroom cubes and marinate for 30 minutes.
4. Heat oil. Deep fry the marinated mushroom pieces. Cook till bubbles cease.
5. Drain in a tissue paper and serve hot with tomato sauce. Enjoy !

METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES

Wash the mushroom twice and discard the stem. Wipe it dry and chop into cubes. In a wide bowl, mix maida, corn flour, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, ginger garlic paste, fennel seeds powder, lemon juice, salt and required water. Mix well without lumps. Make into thick bajji batter consistency. Thin batter makes tails while frying. So batter should be thick and coat mushrooms well. Add the chopped mushroom. Mix well and let it marinate for 30 minutes. You can also refrigerate the batter if you keep it for long time. You can also prepare this batter well in advance, refrigerate and deep fry when needed. Heat oil in a kadai and when it gets heated , put a drop of batter and check the oil temperature. If it comes to top immediately, heat of the oil is right. Now take the batter, put the mushroom pieces one by one in the hot oil using a spoon. Do not use your hands for dropping mushroom in the oil because the coating may go off. So its better to use a spoon. Deep fry in medium flame by tossing it regularly. Flip and cook both sides till golden brown in color. Bubbles should also cease well. No problem if there are one or two bubbles. Remove using a slotted ladle and drain in a tissue paper. Deep fry few curry leaves for garnishing. Add to fried mushroom. Serve hot for best taste. Kids love to have with tomato sauce. Enjoy !

Note

Remember batter should be thick and coat able. If its thin, tails may form in oil while dropping mushroom. You can skip marination if you are in a hurry.   This mushroom 65 stays crispy for 15 to 30 minutes. To make it super crispy that holds for long time, you should deep fry it twice.  No need to use curd in this recipe. If you don’t have corn flour, you can use rice flour. You can also add crushed kasoori methi in the batter for more flavor.

Try this easy, yummy , crispy mushroom 65 recipe at home and enjoy !

Technorati Tags: Mushroom 65,mushroom 65 recipe,crispy mushroom 65,mushroom recipes,mushroom recipes indian,how to make mushroom 65,how to make mushroom 65 step by step

Continue Reading...

Javvarisi Upma – Sago Upma – Sabudana Upma Recipe

Recently I started making javvarisi upma at home for breakfast and dinner. This is a South Indian style sabudana upma without using potato and peanuts. Actually I came to know about sago upma(Sabudana in Hindi, Saggubiyyam in Telugu) from my friend Shalini. She taught me a version with nylon javvarisi. I will share that recipe later. 

Today I have shared javvarisi upma with big, white sago pearls. My MIL makes a similar upma without soaking sabudana. She roast it and make just like javvarisi payasam. I too follow this method for making kheer. But I couldn’t make upma as javvarisi becomes sticky. Once I make it perfect, I will share that version.

Last week I made this upma by soaking sabudana overnight. It came out very well, non-sticky and tasted great. I added vegetables like carrot and capsicum to make it colorful. Sendhil & Raksha loved it a lot. Now I am confident enough to try North Indian sabudana khichdi too. Hope I will start to explore more sabudana recipes from now. Now lets see how to make South Indian style Javvarisi upma with step by step pictures.

Javvarisi upma - Sago upma - Sabudana upma recipe

South Indian style Sabudana upma - Javvarisi upma recipe with step by step pictures

Cuisine: South Indian

Category: Main course

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 5 Hours

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 5H20 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

To soak ( 1 cup - 240ml) Javvarisi / Sago / Sabudana - 2 cups ( White big ) Water - to soak sago ( I used 1.5 to 2 cups ) To temper Cooking oil - 3 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Chana dal - 2 tsp Big onion – 2 nos (medium sized) Green chillies – 2 to 3 nos (Finely chopped) Carrot - 1 no (Small sized, Finely chopped) Capsicum - 1/2 no Curry leaves – Few Ginger – 1 inch piece(Finely chopped) Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp (chopped finely) Lemon juice - 1 tsp Salt - as needed

HOW TO MAKE JAVVARISI UPMA

1. Wash sabudana / javvarisi twice. Drain, Soak it overnight adding water.
2. Temper mustard, urad and chana dal. Saute onion, chilli , curry leaves and vegetables.
3. Saute till veggies turn soft and cooked. Add soaked sago and mix well adding salt.
4.  Cover cook in low to medium flame till sago becomes transparent. 
5. Lastly add lemon juice and coriander leaves. Serve hot !

METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES

Wash the sabudana twice or thrice. Drain the water completely. Soak in 1.5 to 2 cups of water over night or atleast for 5 hours minimum. The level of water should be 1/2 inch above sabudana. The next morning sabudana absorbs all the water and grows in quantity. If you take a sago and press it, it should be mushy. It shows sago is soaked well. Fluff it well without any water and keep aside. Wash and chop onion, chilli, carrot and capsicum finely. Set aside. Heat oil in a good non-stick kadai. Temper mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal. When it turns golden, add finely chopped onion, green chillies, curry leaves, capsicum, carrot , required salt and mix well. Take care while adding salt because sago upma takes less salt unlike other upma recipes. Saute in low to medium flame till carrot becomes soft. No need to add water. Now add sabudana and mix well. Keep the flame low to medium. Cover cook till done. Open the lid once in 2 minutes and toss gently. No need to add water. Sabudana turns transparent. It takes nearly 10 to 12 minutes to become transparent completely. Make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of kadai.  Sabudana tastes soft when its cooked completely. You can taste and find it. If you keep cooking for more than 10 minutes, javvarisi starts to become sticky. So cover cook in low flame, toss once in 2 minutes till done. Sometimes a layer of sabudana sticks to the bottom of kadai if you over cook it. Don’t worry. You can serve it as adai at the end. It tastes crispy. Switch off the flame. Sprinkle lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves. Mix well and serve hot ! Enjoy !

Note

Use white big sago variety for this upma. Do not soak in excess water ( i.e more than 1/2 inch) to cover sago. It will turn mushy. For 2 cups of sago, I used 1.5 cups of water.  You can use maximum 2 cups. You should cook the sago in low to medium flame without adding water. So you should keep tossing it once in 2 minutes. If you cover cook it for long time, sago may stick to the bottom. So keep stirring it in the middle.  Be careful while adding salt because sago needs less salt.

Try this easy, yummy javvarisi upma for your breakfast or dinner and enjoy  !

Technorati Tags: javvarisi upma,sago upma,sago recipe in tamil,sabudana upma,south indian sabudana recipes,how to soak sabudana,sabudana recipes,how to make javvarisi upma,how to make sago upma

Continue Reading...

How To Make Chole For Bhature & Puri – Chole Recipe Video

Chole Recipe/ Chole ki sabji also known as Black chana masala is the perfect side dish for Bhature/ bhatura and puri. Chole bhatura is the one of the popular breakfast & lunch combo in North India. Its originated from Punjab. Authentic Punjabi chole recipe calls for using fresh Chole masala powder. Today I have shared an easy chole recipe I got from a cookbook by Nita Mehta.

In this recipe, I have used store bought chana masala powder. It came out really well and tasty. We enjoyed it with bhature for our weekend lunch. To make black colored chole, we need to add tea bags or dried amla powder while cooking kabuli chana. Also we have to use Anardhana powder ( Pomegranate seeds powder) , dhania powder, chole masala powder and roasted cumin powder in the masala. I was able to achieve its color to some extent as I used less tea powder. This is one of the easy chole recipe as it has no grinding works. If you are looking for chole recipe with homemade chole masala powder, please check my Punjabi lunch menu post in which I had shared an authentic chole recipe. Soon I will try to make a separate post. I will share the bhatura recipe in this week. Now lets see how to make Chole recipe for Bhatura with step by step pictures and video !

Do check out my easy chana masala using pressure cooker and Chola poori recipe 

Chole Recipe / How to make Chole for Bhatura

Chole recipe - How to make chole for bhatura and puri.

Cuisine: North Indian

Category: Main course

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 10 hours

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 10H20 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

To pressure cook (1 cup - 250ml) Kabuli chana/ White chana - 1 cup Baking soda - 1/4 tsp Tea powder - 2 tsp ( tie in a cloth ) OR 2 teabags Cinnamom - 2 inch Cardamom - 2 nos ( Use black cardamom if you have) Cloves - 2 nos ( Optional) Water - 2.5 to 3 cups To Saute & Cook Cooking oil - 4 tbsp Big onion - 2 no ( finely chopped) Ripe tomato - 5 nos ( Medium sized, finely chopped) Green chilli - 2 nos ( finely chopped) Ginger - 2 inch piece (Finely chopped or julienned) Anardhana powder/ Dried Pomegranate seeds powder – 1.5 tsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Dhania powder - 1 tsp Garam masala powder - 1 tsp Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp Chana masala powder - 2 tsp ( I used MDH brand) Sugar - 1/4 tsp (Optional) Salt - as needed

HOW TO MAKE CHOLE RECIPE

1. Wash and soak Chana overnight or 10 hours in required water.
2. Pressure cook Chana adding tea bags, whole spices and baking soda.
3. Cook for 2 whistles in low flame. Remove the tea bag after its cooked.
4. Heat oil in a kadai. Saute onion adding anardhana till brown. Add tomato,chilli & ginger.
5. Saute till mushy. Add spice powders, cook till oil separates.
6. Lastly add cooked chana with water, simmer gravy for 10 minutes. Serve with bhatura !

METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES

Wash and soak kabuli chana (white chana) for 10 hours or overnight. Chana becomes more than doubled in quantity after its soaked. I got around 2.5 cups. Drain the soaked water. In a pressure cooker base, take soaked chana, baking soda, 2 tea bags or 2 tsp tea powder tied in a thin cotton cloth, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Add 2.5 to 3 cups of water. Pressure cook in very low flame for 2 to 3 whistles. Chana cooks soft and becomes black in color. Remove and squeeze the tea bag slightly. Discard it. Keep the cooker aside. Heat oil in a kadai. Saute onions till transparent. Add anardhana powder and saute till onions turn brown in color without burning.  Now add finely chopped tomato, ginger and green chilli. Add required salt and saute till tomato becomes mushy Then add red chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala powder, sugar and cumin powder. Saute till onion separates from the gravy. It takes 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cooked chana along with black water and whole spices added in the cooker. Mix well and add chana masala powder/chole masala powder. Mix well and check for taste. Add more salt & spice powders if needed. Boil the gravy for 10 minutes in medium flame till it comes to desired consistency. I made it thick. You can make it slightly watery if you like. Switch off the flame and serve hot with bhatura or puri. Enjoy !

Note

Addition of tea bags is essential to get black colored chana after cooking. So do not skip it. Adding Anardhana powder is for flavor and to get dark colored chole masala. You can also use store bought chole masala powder instead of chana masala powder. Adjust the quantity of spice powders as per your taste.

Try this easy, yummy Chole masala recipe at home. Enjoy with bhatura !

Technorati Tags: chole recipe,easy chole recipe,black chana masala recipe,chole recipe for bhature,chole ki sabji,chole banane ki recipe,chole banane ki video,chole ki sabji video,how to make chole for bhatura,chole recipe video,how to make chole how to make chole for puri

Continue Reading...

Cornflakes Mixture Without Oil – Kellogg's Corn Flakes Mixture / Chivda

Cornflakes mixture using Kellogg’s corn flakes. It is made without deep frying in oil. Recently my daughter Raksha tasted this cornflakes chivda in her friend’s house. She told me to try it for Diwali. I asked her friend’s mom for the recipe and tried it today. Its a very easy, quick and healthy snack as it has very less oil. Kids & adults would love this for sure.Its quiet additive !

Many of us buy corn flakes cereals (Kelloggs or Kwality brand) for breakfast. If you have it in hand, you can make this corn flakes mixture in the next 10 minutes. You can pack this for your kids snack box or for their teatime after coming back from school. It can be stored for 2 to 3 days without losing its crispness. Friends, diwali is incomplete without mixture recipe. If you have not done any mixture recipe, you can try it now. Try this easy, low calorie Kellog’s corn flakes mixture at home and surprise your family.Check out the video recipe below.

Cornflakes mixture

Low calorie cornflakes mixture recipe using Kellogg's Cornflakes with less oil!

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Snacks

Serves: 4.5 cups

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 5 Minutes

Total time: 10 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Kellogg's corn flakes - 2 cups (Original, plain flavor) Roasted peanuts – 2 tbsp Curry leaves - few Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp (broken, optional) To temper Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds - 1 /2 tsp Urad dal - 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( add 1.5 tsp for more spiciness) Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp Salt - as needed Chat masala – 1/4 tsp(optional) Sugar – 1/4 tsp Dry grapes/Raisins – 1 tbsp (optional, add if your kids like it)

METHOD

In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and cumin seeds. Add roasted peanuts, curry leaves and mix well. Lower the flame completely and add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Lastly add the cornflakes and mix well in low flame till its coated with chilli ppowder. Check for taste and add 1/2 tsp more chilli powder at this stage, mix well and switch off the flame. Store in a box after the mixture cools down. Stays crispy and good for 2-3 days when stored in an air tight box.

Note

• Do not use raw corn flakes for this recipe. You should deep fry it or microwave before making mixture.
• I used Kellogg’s brand corn flakes cereals,original flavor. 
• Adjust the quantity of chilli powder as per taste. But keep the flame low while adding chilli powder else it will burn.
• For variations, you can add raisins and cashews. Saute raisins till it bulges. I din’t use as my daughter doesn’t like it.
• You can also add little chaat masala for more flavor.

Try this easy, yummy, low calorie corn flakes mixture for this Diwali & kids lunch box. !

Technorati Tags: corn flakes mixture,corn flakes mixture without oil,Kellogg's corn flakes mixture,'s corn flakes mixture recipe,corn flakes mixture recipe,cornflakes mixture recipe,how to make corn flakes mixture without frying,corn flakes chivda

Continue Reading...

Milagu Jeeraga Sadam – Pepper Cumin Rice Recipe

Pepper cumin rice / Milagu jeeraga sadam in Tamil is one of the yummy, South Indian rice recipes we make as prasadam for Navratri, Saraswathi pooja, Purattasi sani thaligai, aadi 18 etc. Yesterday I made this rice for navaratri afternoon neivedyam learning from my MIL. My MIL make this rice at least once in a week as pepper is a healthy Indian spice that helps to purify blood, improves appetite and digestion. Sendhil loves this rice variety a lot. So we make this pepper rice for his lunch box and  one day travel as well.

Sometimes we used to combine Saraswathi pooja, Purattasi sani thaligai festivals and make 5 rice varieties, chana sundal and thullu maavu(rice flour mixed with jaggery) for Saraswathi pooja neivedyam. We make this milagu jeeraga sadam as one of the 5 rice varieties. As its so easy to make, I thought it would be useful for you all. I have already shared a video on how to make 5 rice varieties. You can replace sesame seeds rice/ ellu sadam with milagu jeeraga sadam and offer to God for tomorrow Saraswathi pooja festival. Lets see how to make this easy milagu sadam /pepper rice with step by step pictures !

Milagu Jeeraga Sadam - Pepper Cumin Rice

How to Pepper cumin rice

Author: Chitra Ganapathy

Cuisine:South Indian
Category: Main course
Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 Minutes

Ingredients (1 cup - 250ml)

• Cooked rice - 1 cup
• Ghee - 1 tsp (to roast)
• Pepper corns - 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1/2 tbsp
• Salt - as needed
• Ghee - to mix with rice

How to make the recipe

1. Heat ghee in a kadai.Roast pepper & cumin seeds till it starts to crackle.
2. Remove and grind to powder adding salt.
3. Mix this powder with cooked rice.
4. Enjoy !

Pepper cumin rice - Step by step photos

• Heat ghee in a kadai and roast pepper & cumin seeds in medium flame till cumin seeds starts to splutter.

  

• Remove in a plate and let it cool down. Grind to a slightly coarse powder adding salt.
• Take the required cooked rice. Add 2 tsp of ghee, ground powder, mix well and check for taste.
  

  

• Add more salt & powder if required. Serve !

  

• If you wish, you can temper mustard seeds, curry leaves in ghee and add to rice.

Notes

• Pepper alone gives spiciness to the rice. So you can add more pepper if you want spicy taste.
• Do not add more cumin seeds. Its flavor will dominate.
• Adding ghee helps to enhance the flavor and taste. If you don't want to add ghee, you can add sesame oil.

Try this easy and flavorful pepper cumin rice and enjoy !

Technorati Tags: Pepper cumin rice,Pepper jeera rice,milagu sadam,milagu jeeraga sadam,pepper rice,how to make milagu sadam,how to make pepper rice,rice varieties,south indian rice recipes

Continue Reading...