Showing posts with label Side Dish For Rice. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Rajma Masala | Red Kidney Beans Curry

Rajma masala, a healthy and delicious curry prepared from red kidney beans.There are so many variations in this curries, but the recipe that i'm sharing today, is the basic rajma masala that can be prepared easily with the pantry staple ingredients without any special spice masala.

Rajma chawal is the famous north indian dish where rice is served with this red kidney curry. But i prefer to have this curry with rotis /chapati more than rice.

Though we're from South Tamilnadu, at least twice in a week, i make chapati/roti for our lunch and would like to pair with different side dish every time. I'm easily bored with same side dish for chapati !! So tried to learn as many curries as possible from all parts of India that goes well with roti/chapati.

Out of my many north indian curries trials, this rajma masala, palak curry, chana masala, kofta curry are few of our favorites and you can see them in my kitchen regularly. But when it comes to rice, i'm more authentic and sticks to my root, hardly even change the combo that i grew up eating.

Coming to the rajma masala recipe, like me, if you're using dried rajma, make sure to soak at least 8 hrs or overnight for best result and cook it in pressure cooker for 4 to 5 whistles or until it's super soft. Well cooked red kidney beans will help to thicken the curry.

If you prefer even more thickness, you can mash some of the red kidney beans and add into the curry. However i don't like mashed beans much, so didn't mash red kidney beans in my curry here. But have seen many north indian friends do that on their rajma masala. So it's really up to your preference. Now let's check out how to make these delicious and healthy rajma masala.

Related : How to make Khoba Roti/Rajasthani Roti

Rajma Masala | Red Kidney Beans Curry

Preparation Time : 8 hrs | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Red Kidney Beans - 1/2 cup
Onion(small) - 1
Tomato - 2
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Garlic - 3 cloves
Oil - 2 tsp
Cumin seed - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 to 3/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Coriander leaves - few

Procedure

Soak the red kidney beans overnight, drain the soaked water and add into pressure along with fresh water and salt.

Pressure cook for 4-5 whistle or until it's soft. In the mean time, chop onion, tomato, ginger & garlic into small pieces.

Heat the kadai with oil, add the cumin seeds, let it splutters then add the garlic and ginger saute till they are aromatic.

Then add the onions with little bit of salt and saute till they are translucent, then add the tomatoes.

Next add the spices(turmeri,red chili,coriander & garam masala powder ) and salt(enough for curry alone). Cook till the tomatoes are mushy and the raw smell of the spices are gone.

Then add the cooked red kidney beans along with cooked water and if needed add more water and bring into boil. Cover the kadai with lid and cook it for 5-8 mins.

Finally add some coriander leaves and switch off the flame.

Tasty Rajma masala is ready. Serve it with rice or chapati. For more roti and curries recipe, check out here

Related: How to make Rajma sundal

Notes:

Make sure to cook the beans till they are soft, it gives creaminess to the curry.
Don't throw the bean cooked water, it has all the flavors, so add it into the curry.
The given quantity of spices is for medium heat.Adjust the seasoning as per your liking.
For more flavor, you can add 1/2 tsp of garam masala powder too

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Kootu Curry | Kerala Kootu Curry | Accompaniment for rice

Kootu Curry, a delicious south indian accompaniment for rice made from mix of country vegetables. This way of making side dish for rice is quite popular in south tamilnadu and kerala, it tastes so good with lunch meal and also it's one of the commonly prepared sadya delicacy in kerala during onam festival. Here in this kootu recipe i have used the vegetables like yam, raw banana and pumpkin,but i had seen recipes of this kootu online without pumpkin too, so i guess you can make this kootu with or without pumpkin too. Today's recipe is more of kerala way of making this kootu which is quite different from what we used to make at our home. Now let's check out how to make this kootu curry.

Kerala Kootu Curry | Kootu Curry

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Yam - 1/2 cup(chopped)
Raw Banana - 1/2 cup(chopped)
Pumpkin - 1/3 cup(chopped)
Black channa dal - 1/3 cup(cooked)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
To Grind
Coconut -1/3 cup
Green chili - 2
Garlic - 2 pods
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
To Temper
Coconut oil - 1 tsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Red chili -1

Procedure

First chop yam,raw banana & pumpkin into small cubes. Pressure cook the chana for 3 whistle and keep it ready. Heat a pan with a cup of water and add the yam first.

Cover cook the yam till it's half done, then add the pumpkin and raw banana, if needed add more water to cook.

Cover the pan with lid and let it cook, in the mean time, grind the ingredients listed under "To Grind" into smooth paste.

Once the veggies are almost done, add the coconut paste, cooked channa, turmeric powder and salt. Mix it well and let it cook until all blends well, it may take 5-7 mins, finally temper the ingredients listed under "To Temper " and add into the curry.

That's it, Tasty and healthy Kootu Curry is ready to serve. It tastes good with sambar, kara kuzhambu or even with rasam.

Notes:

Both raw banana and pumpkin cook easily than the yam, so i have cooked the yam till it's half done and then added the rest.
Adjust the green chili as per your taste, the given quantity is for mild spice.
Coconut oil gives great flavor to the curry, so highly recommend to use it.
If you want more coconut flavor, roast a tbsp of coconut till it becomes reddish in color and add it into this kootu.

Monday, September 3, 2018

Pichu Potta Chicken Curry | Dry Chicken Masala | Non Veg Recipe

Pichu Potta Chicken Curry, a scrumptious and flavorful chicken dry masala. In tamil "Pichu Potta" means roughly shredded and this way of making dry chicken masala is popular in road side restaurant and also it's believed to be originated from the city,Salem in Tamilnadu.

I have been started making this chicken curry for the past few months and we love it so much. Here in US, the boneless chicken breast we usually buy from the store is not really flavorful and it's definitely not good for south Indian based curries, personally we like the flavor of chicken with bones in the curries.

So i had been looking for some spicy indian style chicken curry with boneless meat, that's when i came across this recipe from homecooking show, immediately i tried it with very few variations that suits to our taste and to my surprise it turned out so good on the first attempt itself, since then it's been a regular dish in my kitchen. It tastes so good with simple rice and rasam and i guess that you can serve this as appetizers too. Now let's see how to make this delicious chicken curry.

Pichu Potta Chicken Curry | Dry Chicken Masala

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Boneless Chicken - 1 lb
Onion - 2(medium size)
Tomato - 2
Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Coriander leaves - a handful
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Cinnamon -1 inch piece
Cloves - 6
Cardamom - 2
Salt - to taste

Procedure

First let's cook the chicken.Clean the chicken and keep it ready. Add the chicken pieces into the pressure cooker along with 1/8 tsp of turmeric powder.

Next add 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste, salt (just enough for the chicken) and 1/2 cup of water.

Mix it all well and cook it for 3-4 whistle in medium flame. Let the chicken cool a bit.

Now for the masala, slice the onions thinly,chop the tomatoes into small pieces. Heat a kadai with oil,add the whole spices(cinnamon,cloves and cardamom) and saute it in the oil for 30 sec.Then add the onions and curry leaves with a pinch of salt.

Saute the onions till it becomes slightly brown in color, next add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off and then add the tomatoes.

Add the spices(turmeric,red chili powder) & salt for the masala,mix it well. Cook till the tomatoes are soft. In the mean time, shred the chicken into small pieces.

Add the chicken into the masala,mix it well and then add the water left out from the cooked chicken into it.

Let it cook until all the water evaporates and then add the pepper powder.

Mix it well and cook till you see the oil on the edges. Switch off the flame and finally add the chopped coriander leaves.

Delicious Pichi Potta Chicken Curry is ready. Serve it with steamed rice.

Notes:

If you want less spicy, then skip the red chili powder and use only the pepper powder.
Coconut oil gives wonderful flavor to this chicken curry.
Take your time and cook the onions till it becomes slightly brown, that gives the maximum flavor and taste to this curry.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Paruppu Podi | Dal Powder for rice | No onion No garlic recipe

Paruppu Podi, a spicy dal powder that goes well over steaming hot rice with a dollop of ghee. I had tasted paruppu podi few times at my friend's place during my college day and few other times in restaurants. Though i like it, i couldn't imagine eating the whole rice with just paruppu podi, i can only have few mouthful of rice with paruppu podi, that was my limit until i tried on my own.

And also we never had paruppu podi in our home while we grew up, hence i never attempt to try on own until ST told me that he like paruppu podi a lot. So i started to make paruppu podi at home for his sake and now even i like it so much over hot rice with the drizzle of ghee. I have tried many recipe for this paruppu podi, some with garlic, some with roasted chana dal and each own have its own taste & flavor, but the recipe that i'm sharing today is without garlic, still it's so flavorful and taste best with rice, sometimes i even like to have them with idly or dosa too. Without further delay let's check out the recipe, but if you want to know what i have prepared for past 3 days under "No onion No garlic" theme, here they are
Day 1 - Manthanga Pulissery
Day 2 - Kuthiraivali Pongal
Day 3 - Dal Tadka

Paruppu Podi

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Makes : 1/2 cup
Recipe Category: Accompaniment | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Toor Dal - 1/4 cup
Urad dal - 2 tbsp
Moong dal - 2 tbsp
Pepper corns - 1 tsp
Red chili - 5
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

Procedure

Measure & take all the ingredients, let start dry roasting the ingredients one by one. First heat the pan and add the toor dal, roast till it becomes golden brown.

Transfer to the plate, next add the moong and roast till it also becomes golden brown, transfer it into plate.

Add urad dal and roast till it becomes golden brown and transfer into same plate. Now add the red chili and roast till it becomes crispy.

Transfer into plate and finally add the pepper corns, once it starts to pop, switch off the flame and add the asafoetida powder into the pan, give a quick stir in the pan and transfer all into the plate. Let it cool a bit.

Transfer all into the mixie jar and then add the required salt and grind into fine powder.

Tasty Paruppu Podi is ready.Store it in airtight container and have it as needed.

Notes:

Roasting each dal separately helps to roast them evenly without burning.
If you want very fine powder, sieve it once and grind the leftovers again until it becomes fine.
Don't let the dal cool completely. Grind till it's warm,it helps to grind easily.

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Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Dal Tadka | Toor Dal Tadka | No onion No garlic recipe

Dal Tadka is one of the famous recipe that you can see in the menu of indian restaurant in abroad. Actually it's the basic lentil recipe where lentils are cooked till mushy and temper with indian spices.It's so easy to prepare and it tastes absolutely delicious with both rice & roti.

At our home, we used to prepare thick dal as side dish for our lunch and call it as "Katti Paruppu", where dal is cooked well and temper with mustard & urad dal tempering. It tastes so good on top of rice with little drizzle of ghee.

But the recipe that i'm sharing today is not that much thick, it's in pourable consistency and can have it as side dish for rotis also. Guess every state in India have its own way of cooking basic dal and here is the one from Northern parts of India. Without further delay let's check out the recipe, but if you want to know what i have prepared for past 2 days under "No onion No garlic" theme, here they are
Day 1 - Manthanga Pulissery
Day 2 - Kuthiraivali Pongal

Dal Tadka

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Lentils | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
Tomato - 1
Green chili - 2
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
To Temper
Ghee - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp(finely chopped)