Pantry Essentials - Charu Podi / Rasam Powder & An Award

I always get good compliments from family / friends for my charu / rasam recipe. Some of those who have tasted it have become loyal fans and even shifted to this charu / rasam powder recipe. :)  Though I feel greatly appreciated for the response I get, I know whom I should be thankful for.
A good charu needs a good charu podi and that's the secret behind my successful charu. And the credit for this charu podi goes to my mother maternal grand mother. Today I thought of sharing this decades old recipe of hers, here. This was supposed to be my first post when I started blogging but some how it got erased. Better late than never and so here it is after three years. 

Ingredients to prepare 1 cup of charupodi:
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Coriander seeds - 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/4 cup
Peppercorns - 3/4 th of 1/4 cup
Red chilies - 6 (I used byadagi)

Dry roast the toordal in a sauté pan on medium flame till it turns reddish. Then toast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds separately till they turn a few shades darker. Then toast the peppercorns and red chilies. Except the toordal, the remaining ingredients take about a few seconds each to toast. Take care not to burn them. Cool them.
Alternatively, you can place the ingredients in the sun for a day or two if you have a good sunshine (like in India or 80 - 90 deg F).
Grind the ingredients together to a fine powder in a mixer/spice grinder. Store it in an airtight container and use it when making charu.

This is going to Cooking with seeds - Coriander Seeds, guest hosted by Radhika and the event creator is Priya.

Fellow blogger pals Kiran, Priya Mitharwal, Rupali, Priya Srinivasan  have shared 'The Sunshine award' with me. Thank you gals and I greatly appreciate it.

It is mentioned that these Award Winners have to do the following:

1) Use the logo within your post.
2) Pass on to at least 12 other bloggers.
3) Add a link to the nominees in your post.
4) Let the nominees know of their award.
5) Share the love and link to the friend, who has passed this award to you.

I did 1 & 5. Choosing only 12 among the wonderful bloggers seems hard. I am so going to share it with everyone who generously share their recipes. :))

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Mirapakaya - Aloo Koora (Peppers - Potato Curry)

Cubanelle / Banana Peppers

After my recent stint with jalapeno peppers to prepare Mirchi Ka Salan, I am trying to get myself acquainted with more varieties of peppers. Since, I am still at initial stages of knowing them, I am going with milder varieties. We bought some Cubanelle or Banana peppers, the long tapered ones to prepare bajjis. They are very mild, when it comes to the hotness level. Not at all hot, to be precise. I cooked the remaining peppers with potatoes, tomatoes and onions, sprinkled some sambhar powder to make it spicier and prepared delicious peppers - potato curry, to go with rotis.
Any variety of chillie / pepper go by the name of mirapakaya (Plural -mirapakayalu) in Telugu, my mother tongue. Mirapakaya - Aloo Koora (Peppers - Potato Curry), my 'M' entry of Nupur's A-Z event.

Peppers - Potato curry

Ingredients:
Cubanelle (Banana) Peppers - 4
Potatoes - 2
Tomatoes - 2
Medium sized onions - 2
Sambhar Powder (like MTR brand or homemade) - 1 Tbsp
Chillie powder - 2 tsp or accordingly
Salt - Accordingly
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - A few
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Preparation:
Cut all the vegetables into small bits.
Heat the oil in a deep sized pan (karhai). Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When mustard seeds start to crackle, add turmeric powder and curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds and add onion. Lower the heat and fry onions till they turn light golden brown. Then add peppers, potatoes and tomatoes. Add a cup of water and cover the pan with a lid. Cook the mixture till all the vegetables are done. Adjust the quantity of water, if needed (to form the gravy). Add sambhar powder, salt and chillie powder. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Turn off the stove.
Serve hot with rotis.

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Jalapeno Peppers Curry ~ My version of Mirchi Ka Salan

I had couple of other things in mind for the 'J' event. Even then, I ended up preparing a dish which I never heard of or I should say, I never dreamt of preparing and consuming.
I am not a great fan of peppers and am scared even to eat the mirchi bajjis. So, when I thought of preparing something with Jalapeno peppers, I was sure the entire THING would land up in my husband's plate, who is a great fan of store bought green chilli pickles. I asked him beforehand, whether he was going to eat something prepared with jalapeno peppers and he answered affirmatively.
After tackling the issue of who gets to eat it, then came the question of what I am going to prepare with them? I was not sure about stuffing them, because of their small size. So, I had to drop the idea of mirchi bajjis. Some one's comment about mirchi ka salan about my other post, popped before my eyes. I had no idea what it was and had to google for the recipe. The search proved me once again how ignorant I am about Indian food and how diversified and vibrant, Indian cuisines are. Mirch ka salan sounded interesting, delicious except for the chillies part.
Still, it was decided that Jalapeno peppers Curry would be sent for the 'J' event of Nupur's A - Z Indian vegetables.
Then, I had to concoct my own version of the salan recipe to suit my tastes, as no two recipes were similar on the internet. I experimented and the end product was superb in taste (though I ate the gravy and chillies were finished my husband in installments. Even my 5 year old liked the gravy). The only amendment in future preparations (yes, there are going to be future preparations) would be replacing jalapeno peppers by banana peppers. I underestimated the hotness of jalapenos.

Ingredients required for the gravy:
Peanuts - 2 Tbsp
Sesame Seeds - 2 Tbsp
Grated, dry, unsweetened coconut - 2 Tbsp
Poppy Seeds - 1 Tbsp
Coriander Seeds - 1 Tbsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Heat a small pan and dry fry each ingredient individually till it turns light brown and starts to emit aroma. Cool them and grind into a fine mixture. Collect the mixture and keep aside.

Ingredients:
Jalapeno Peppers - 12
Oil - 4 Tbsp
A big Onion - Chopped fine
Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind extract - 1 tsp
Salt - Accordingly
Chillie Powder - 1/2 tsp (Optional)
Water - As needed for the gravy

Method:
Choose a dozen, vibrant, green colored Jalapeno Peepers. Remove the stalks, wash the peppers and wipe them dry. Make a slit along the side of the pepper, keeping the base intact so that it is not split into two pieces. Remove the seeds carefully with the knife, to lessen the hotness of the peppers.
Heat oil in a Karhai / pan and fry peppers till you notice white spots all over them. Remove them with a slotted spoon and keep aside.
Add cumin seeds, ginger, and turmeric powder to the same oil. I have omitted garlic. If using, add at this stage. Fry for a few seconds and add onion. Fry the onion pieces till they turn translucent.
Then add the above ground mixture, and fry for a minute. Add tamarind extract, salt and any chillie powder, if needed. Add water as required to form a gravy. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Serve with basmati rice or rotis and keep a pitcher of ice cold water ready. :-)

Note: Try using Indian variety green chillies instead of jalapeno peppers for an authentic version of Mirchi Ka Salan.

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Idli Upma

The delicious idli upma is a combination of two ultimate, south Indian breakfasts, the idlis and the upma. The leftover idlis from the breakfast are cleverly utilised to make an evening snack. Depending upon the time and energy levels, this upma can be prepared simple by just adding some seasoning or more nutritious by adding vegetables, nuts, etc. When we were kids, we used to like this upma more compared to idlis. :-)
I for Idli upma - My entry for Nupur's A - Z vegetable event.

Six left over idlis can yield a good, hefty snack for two people.
Ingredients required :
Idlis - 6
Vegetables of your choice, chopped - 1/2 cup (I added onion, carrot & capsicum)
Oil - As needed to fry the vegetables
Salt - As needed (Remember that idlis are already salt added)
Green chillies, finely chopped - 2 or 3
Ginger, finely chopped - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Chanadal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - A few
A few cashews (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Crumble the idlis with your hands into small bits and keep it aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, chanadal and ginger. When mustard seeds start to splutter and chanadal turn red, add chillies, cashews, curry leaves and turmeric powder. Fry for a few seconds and add the vegetables if using.
Lower the heat and cook the vegetables till they turn tender with stirring in between. Then add crumbled bits of upma, salt and stir once again. Let it cook for a couple of minutes. Keep stirring in between to avoid sticking. Remove and serve hot with some pickle or chutney.
You can squeeze some lemon juice before serving, if you wish.

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Capsicum - Peas Rice & A Me-Me

I wanted to participate in Pooja's VOTW . I prepared a dish, took pictures and could not draft the recipe for green peas week because of the time constraints. Last week, we celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary and also did lot of shopping - packing sort of things for my husband's visit to India. Now I have plenty of time, though it is difficult to sit alone at home feeling vacant. I had many food pictures on my computer which needed drafting. So, I thought this is the right time to do it.

I am posting a recipe for Capsicum rice today. One of my classmates, during my college days used to bring some rice dishes which were prepared using vangi bhath powder. Capsicum rice used to be one of them. Her mom used to fry capsicum, potatoes and green peas together and add vangi bhath powder and rice to it. I omitted potatoes in the dish. This is a very simple preparation and less time consuming.

Ingredients needed:

Rice - 1 cup

Chopped capsicum - 1 cup

Green peas (fresh or frozen) - 1/2 cup

Vangibhath powder - 2 Tbsp

Salt - As needed

Oil - 2 Tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - A few

Cashews - 1 tbsp (optional)

Preparation:

Cook the rice.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cashews and curry leaves. When mustard seeds start to splutter, add capsicum and green peas. Stir it, cover with a lid and lower the heat. Keep stirring in between till the capsicum pieces become tender.

Then add the vangibhath powder, salt and fry it for a couple of minutes on low flame. Add the rice and mix well till all the rice is well coated with the cooked masala. Adjust the salt and powder if needed. Turn off the stove and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Serve hot.

Note:

If using frozen peas, add them almost at the end.

Any one colored peppers can be used. I used all colored peppers just to give color to the dish.

Store bought MTR vangibhath powder also works fine. You can reduce / increase the quantity of vangibhath powder used according to your taste preferences.

Pooja also tagged me for '5 things you don't know about me'.

Thank you Pooja for tagging me. This is the first time a fellow blogger tagged me for this kind of thing. Since, it is a food blog, I am going to talk more about food.

1. I never dreamt that I would own a food blog. My mom have no idea about my blog yet. She would be shocked to see this. Why? I never prepared a complete meal (or for that matter a decent meal.) until I landed in USA. By that time, I was 25, I was married a little over three years and my son was an infant. Before leaving India, My mom and I jokingly even predicted my son would be the only kid on the face of the earth who will never know what good food is. I hurriedly filled a book with my mom's recipes. I had no idea what quantities of ingredients went in what recipes. My mom who never used measurements in her cooking had hard time explaining me. But once I landed here and started cooking, I enjoyed it. I even started cooking from the recipes that were on websites which caught my attention. I went on experimenting and learnt through my mistakes. Now, I love to cook especially for people like my husband, who enjoy it and unfazed by my constant experimentation (& the final product which lands up as food on his plate).

2. I enjoy teaching. I worked and volunteered as a teacher in the same schools in which I studied. It was fun working with some of the people who used to be my teachers. I taught high school kids. Now, when my daughter starts going to school full time, I want to work again with little kids who are developmentally delayed.

3. I enjoy reading anything that I can lay my hands upon. I am least bothered about the subject of the book as long as it sustains my interest. Books have been my greatest friends all through my life. When we were in India, I would not spare even the old newspapers used to pack groceries. Now, I take a trip to library atleast a couple of times in a month.

4. I was a picky eater till my kids were born. You would not have wanted me on your guest list, if you have known me a decade ago. I used to eat only a few selected veggies even though my mom cooked deliciously using all varieties of vegetables. Now to be a good role model to my kids, I started eating all most all vegetables. (Note that I said all most. I have still some reservations and am skeptical when it comes to new foods.) My MIL even to this day believes that I don't eat anything.

5. I hate to even smell garlic. But I love coconut in anything and everything. God has enjoyed playing a big practical joke on me. I wound up with a man who loves to eat garlic and loves to hate coconut. I cook garlic dishes exclusively for him.

After I started writing this, I realised that I can go on and on. It was only 5 things. So, I think I need to stop here.

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Green Peppers in Tomato Gravy

Recently, I asked my daughter to name the color of an apple. Naturally, I was expecting the answer to be red. Phew! What do I know? She answered red and green. My son chimed in "You forgot yellow". Ditto with capsicum, I should say. A capsicum was green to me until I moved to USA. I had no idea that I would see red, orange and yellow colored capsicum/bell peppers. Wikipedia search later showed me that, they are available in white, purple, blue and brown colors too. mmm.. These Google / Wikipedias have become my new source of Information (or entertainment?).

Now coming to the recipe, I am in constant search of preparing bell peppers in new ways, particularly curries with gravies. One of my experiments lead to preparation of the following which I am calling “Green peppers in Tomato Gravy” because I used green peppers and juicy, red tomatoes.
Please note that the measurements for the spices I have provided below are, to give an idea (a milder version). One can always adjust the spices according to their preference or can use garam masala instead of all the spices mentioned.

The ingredients required for this curry are as follows:
Green pepper (medium sized)- one
Tomatoes (medium sized)- two
Onion (big)- one
Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp
Chillie Powder- 1 tsp
Coriander/Dhaniya Powder- 1 tsp
Cardamom (1 pod)- seeds powdered
Pepper Powder- a pinch
Clove (1)- crushed
Garlic Powder- 1/4 tsp
Cumin Powder- a pinch
Salt- Accordingly
Oil- 1 Tbsp
Cumin Seeds- 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp



Preparation:
Cut the capsicum into half. Remove the seeds inside and chop into small pieces. Chop the onion.
Cook the tomatoes with some water in the microwave. Let them cool and puree them in a blender.
Mean while, heat oil in a pan / wok. When the oil is hot enough, put the mustard seeds and the cumin seeds. When they start to splutter, add onions and turmeric powder and stir. Lower the heat and cover the pan with a lid.
When onions almost turn translucent, add the chopped capsicum and stir once again. Cook till the capsicum is done.
Now add pureed tomato, salt, garlic and all the masala powders / spices.
Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.Now the green pepper curry is ready. Enjoy it with rice or rotis.

By the way, it really turned out excellent. So, it is going to be prepared more often in my kitchen from now onwards.

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