Green Chilli Pickle for Biryani….

This is one of the simplest pickles which I learnt recently. When I went to my SIL’s house for lunch, there were many dishes and among all the dishes, this one caught my attention since it was served in a small bowl. As you all know that I love pickles, I quickly tasted this and it was mind blowing.

My SIL’s mom, who is a wonderful cook,made this as a combination with biryani. The other thing which amazed me was the ingredients which were so simple and easily available in our kitchen. I never thought something as delicious and mouthwatering as this can be made within minutes. So today, here I am sharing the perfect side dish with biryanis. Just try this out.

Ingredients:

1. Green Chillies- 10- 15 nos
2. Red Chilli Powder- 2 tbsp
3. Oil- 2 tbsp
4. Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
5. Tamarind Extract- ¼ Cup
6. Curry Leaves- few
7. Salt- as per taste

Method:

1. Pour oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.
2. Add the slitted green chiilies. Fry for sometime by adding salt to the chiilies.
3. When it turns soft, add the tamarind extract and let it boil for about 5 minutes. Lower the flame and add the red chilli powder and mix well.
4. An amazing and delicious green chilli pickle is ready to serve with biryanis.

Mutton and Potato Stew

One fine morning I got up with a wonderful aroma of this stew which my mom was preparing, to be served along with appams. I was really excited to have this mutton stew for breakfast. I usually prepare vegetable stew, by adding all the vegetables.

My mom prepared this quickly before we got up, so that we can have hot hot appams and this stew for breakfast. This is an easy preparation and takes very little effort. Instead of mutton, this can also be made using chicken. We can also add whole spices instead of garam masala powder. To make this more spicy, just add more pepper powder or green chillies.

Ingredients:

1. Mutton- 250 gms
2. Salt- as per taste
3. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
4. Pepper Powder- 1 tsp
5. Potatoes- 2 nos
6. Onions ( chopped)- 1 no
7. Green Chillies (slited)- 3 nos
8. Ginger and Garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
9. Garam Masala Powder- ½ tbsp
10. Fennel Seeds Powder- 1 tsp
11. Oil- 1 tbsp
12. Mustard Seeds- 1 tbsp
13. Curry Leaves- few
14. Salt- as per taste
15. Coconut Milk- 1 Cup

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes and cube them into small pieces. Keep this aside.
2. Cook the mutton pieces along with salt, turmeric powder and pepper powder.
3. Heat oil in a pan add the mustard and curry leaves.
4. When they splutter, add the chopped onions and green chillies. When the onions turn translucent, add the ginger and garlic paste.
5. When the raw smell disappears, add the boiled and cubed potato pieces and cooked mutton pieces. Stir well and add required amount of salt.
6. In this add the extracted coconut milk and stir in a low flame for about 10 minutes.
7. Switch off the flame and serve along with appam or idiappam.

Mysore Bhajji/ Mysore Bonda

My dad likes to eat this bhajji, so whenever we go out we used to check for these in hotels around and instead of this we used to get all other types of evening snacks. So I decided to try this out at home and googled, got so many recipes for this snack and my mom made this one evening.

We thought that this is a big process to make but it is so simple that we mixed the batter in the morning and made it in the evening during tea time.

We kept this batter to ferment from morning as we had mixed it as soon as my mom finished her kitchen work. It is not necessary to keep it from morning and we can mix the batter 1 hour in advance and then fry it in oil.

This is a very popular snack in Karnataka, which is made up of maida, rice flour, baking soda and curd. It is crispy from outside and spongy inside. Along with coconut chutney, this bhajji is lip-smacking snack.

Ingredients:

1. Maida- 1 Cup
2. Salt- as per taste
3. Rice Flour- ¼ Cup
4. Baking Powder- ½ tsp
5. Curd- 1 Cup
6. Cumin Seeds- 2 tsp
7. Onions (chopped)- 1 no
8. Green Chillies (chopped)- 2nos

Method:

1. Mix maida, rice flour, baking powder, curd and salt by adding little water. It should be in the form of thick vada batter and keep this aside for about 1- 2 hours.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. In the batter add cumin seeds, chopped onions and green chillies, mix well.
3. With the help of a spoon or with hand make into small round ball and put it into oil. Cook in a very low flame. Remove once it is golden brown in colour and enjoy this along with coconut chutney.

Uppilitta Nellikka Achar / Salted Gooseberry Pickle

I love the salted gooseberries, so whenever I get some gooseberries in the market, I will buy and keep it stored in brine. After 2-3 days, it will start soaking in the salt water and I used to eat it whenever I want.

This time when my mom came, she bought the brined gooseberries after draining the salt water. As there were so many, I told her to make a pickle out of it and this is how it came out.

She bought about 1 kg of gooseberries and she made ½ kg for the pickle and the remaining ½ kg I am having it daily :-)

I am a big pickle fan, that one day I ate around 4- 5 pickles mixed in rice and I ended up going to doctor for severe acidity. But now my intake of pickle has reduced a lot. My mom is very good in making pickles that I have learnt a lot about pickle making from her. I prefer homemade pickle rather than canned ones, as they are loaded with preservatives. Try this out and you will come to know…

Ingredients:

1. Gooseberries- ½ kg
2. Red Chilli Powder- 5 tbsp
3. Asafoetida powder- 1 tsp
4. Fenugreek powder- 1tbsp
5. Gingelly Oil- ¼ Cup
6. Mustard Seeds- 2 tbsp
7. Curry Leaves- few
8. Fenugreek Seeds- ½ tbsp
9. Garlic- 1 Cup
10. Red Chillies- 6- 7 nos
11. Salt- as required
12. Vinegar- 2 tbsp
13. Tamarind- a lemon size

Method:

1. Soak the tamarind in little water and take out the thick pulp. Keep this aside.
2. Boil 2 cups of water and add salt to this. Switch off the flame, let it cool. When the water cools down add the washed gooseberries and store it in a plastic bottle.
3. After 5- 6 days drain the water and keep the gooseberries aside.
4. Heat oil in a large kadai, splutter mustard seeds, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds. Add garlic and red chillies and stir for some time.
5. Switch off the flame and keep the kadai aside for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the red chilli powder, fenugreek powder, salt and asafoetida powder. Mix well.
7. Keep the kadai on low flame, add the drained salted gooseberries. Mix well till all the ingredients are blended properly.Mix the vinegar properly.
8. At last add the thick pulp and let it boil for about 10- 15 minutes and switch off the flame.
9. Store in an airtight container for weeks without damage.