Achari Chicken

Achari Chicken is a Pakisthani dish and though it uses the same spices, its way of adding spices brings a unique taste . If you like spicy and hot chicken this is definitely one to try.


Ingredients:

Chicken [Preferably with Bones]
Onion-1large
Tomatoes-3
Cumin Seeds- 1 and 1/2 table spoon
Mustard seeds- 1 and 1/2 table spoon
Sauf- 1 table spoon
Ginger Garlic Paste -2 table spoon
Turmeric-Pinch
Salt-To taste
Chilli Powder-To Taste
Curry Leaves
Lemon Juice
Oil


Recipe

1)Cut onion into thin pieces and fry them in heated oil along with some curry leaves.
Once the onions turn golden brown in color add the tomato pieces along with some water. Let it cook until tomato and onion turn into a paste.


2) Now the add the cut chicken, ginger garlic paste, curd, chilli powder to the paste and mix it well. Keep it on a medium flame and let the chicken cook

3) In the mean time dry roast cumin seeds, mustard seeds and sauf on a pan for few minutes. Keep a spoon of mixture a side and grind the remaining in a food processor.

4)Take the grounded mixture and make a paste of some of it using lemon juice.Stuff the green chillies with this paste and keep it aside

5)One the chicken gets 3/4th cooked add the roasted mixture and the grounded mixture.

6) Finally add the stuffed chillies to the curry and cook it for few minutes on a low flame.

చేపల వీపుడు (Fish Fry)

Eating Fish in India was a real test of patience(Considering the thorns) and i used to love having it when i have nothing else to do on a Sunday. We used to prefer buying a fish called Koramenu since it has only one big bone at the center with out any thorns. Its easy to cook and eat fish in US as there are ready made fillets with out any bones/thorns. But obviously its hard to get the same taste with a freezed one :). I consider Fish fry is something that can be made with minimum risk and it will taste great for any fish lovers out there...


Ingredients:

Fish(Tilapia fillets)- 2-3 Pieces [Can get it from Trader Joe's in US)
Ginger Garlic Paste -1 and 1/2 table spoon
Coriander Powder-1/2 Spoon
Cumin powder - less than 1/2 spoon
Curry Powder- Less than 1/2 Spoon
Turmeric-Pinch
Salt-To taste
Chilli Powder-To Taste
Curry Leaves
Lemon Juice
Oil


Recipe

1)Mix Ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, curry powder, salt, turmeric, curry leaves, chilli powder and lemon juice in the proportions mentioned above and make in into a paste.



2) Wash the fish fillets with a bit of turmeric and cut them into pieces. Coat the fish pieces with the prepared paste. If you run out of paste, remake it with same proportions. Keep the fish aside for 30min once its been coated with the paste

3)Take a widepan and heat 4-5 table spoons of oil. Add the fish to the heated oil gently and fry them. Dont keep mixing the fish as it might break into pieces. Just overturn it to cook both sides. Overfry adds the taste to fish and adds that extra bit of flavor.

బూంది కూర (Boondi Curry )

Boondi Kura may sound weird to many people even in India, but this is one of my favs.
During marriages in Andhra, they make Laddus by dipping the boondi in sugar coated liquid. And when ever there is left over Boondi they just make a curry out of it which by the way has its unique taste.


Ingredients:

Boondi- 3-4 Rice cups
Onions-1
Oil-2-3 table spoon
Green Chillies-1
Salt-to taste
Turmeric-pinch
Cumin Seeds- 3/4 table spoon
Mustard Seeds-1/2 table spoon
Ginger Garlic paste- 1 table spoon
Coriander Leaves
Coriander Powder-1/2 table spoon
Curry Powder-1 table spoon

Recipe

1)Start with the Tadka by adding mustard seeds and cumin seeds to hot oil. After the mustard seeds start cranking, add green chillies, curry leaves and pinch of turmeric and cook for a min.



2) Then add onions along with salt which makes the onions cook faster. For this curry i prefer the onions to be very small so that they can mix with boondi very well. Make sure to cook the onions until they are golden in color. Then add ginger garlic paste, Coriander powder and Curry powder.




3) In a separate bowl add cashews , oil,salt,chilli powder, masala and cook the cashews.


4)Since this mixture is pretty dry add some water to it and make it a paste so it mixing well with Boondi. Now add Boondi, cashews and some milk on top of it. Too much of milk would make it sweet so sure u use less or substitute with milk if ur not sure.

5) Mix everything really well and add any salt if needed. Finally sprinkle some coriander leaves.

తోమాతో పప్పు (Tomato Daal)

Ingredients:

Kandipappu/Toor Daal- 1 and half cooker cup
Tomatoes- 4
Oil-2-3 table spoon
Onions- half
Red Chillies-2
Green Chillies-1
Salt-to taste
Turmeric-pinch
Cumin Seeds- 3/4 table spoon
Mustard Seeds-1/2 table spoon
Garlic paste- 1 table spoon
Hing/Asafoetida- pinch
Coriander Leaves

Recipe

1)Cook the Daal in a pressure cooker using thrice the amount of water. Wait for 3-4 whistles for the Daal to get cooked.

2) In the mean time, take a deep pot and heat oil. When oil gets slightly heated up, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Also add red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a min.



3)Then add Green Chillies, Garlic paste and hing. After a min, add onions along with some salt and turmeric powder. Let the onions cook till they turn slightly golden in color.

4) At this stage add the diced/chopped tomatoes along with some water and let it cook for 10-15min until the tomatoes get soft(almost like a paste)

5) Add the Daal which is cooked from the pressure cooker to the pot and mix it well.
Finally add salt as per taste.


Tomato Pappu goes well with Rice and pickle and it is one of my safest bets when i used to travel in India as i believed as long as you know how much salt and chilli to add, you cannot go wrong. :)