Onion Raita

This is a simple raita prepared with onions and green chillies. It goes well with Pulav, Biryani or any other rice items.

 Ingredients:

   
    Yogurt / Curd - 1 cup
    Green chillies - 1
    Salt to taste
    Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
    Onion - 1/2 cup ( Finely chopped)

Procedure:

Finely chop the onions, green chillies and coriander leaves and add them to yogurt. Add required amount of salt and mix well.

Adjust the amount of green chillies and yoghurt based on your needs.

Dal Tadka

This is a quick and easy Dal recipe. I learnt about this from one of my colleague who is from Andhra. I prepared this today and absolutely loved it. It is very spicy dal with nice tangy flavor from tomatoes and tamarind. Not to forget, it tastes delicious with hot rice.

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 3/4 cup
Onion - 1 medium (Finely chopped)
Tomato - 1 small (Finely chopped)
Green chillies - 3
Asafoetida - A pinch
Tamarind - Small gooseberry sized
Turmeric / Haldi - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp (Finely chopped)

For Seasoning:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves - 5
Red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Onion - 3 tbsp ( Chopped finely)
Oil - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

• Wash the toor dal nicely. In a pressure cooker add dal, chopped onions and tomatoes, slit green chillies, asafoetida, tamarind and a pinch of turmeric. 
• Add around 2 to 2.5 cups of water and pressure cook till dal is cooked completely.

      Seasoning:

• Heat oil in a cooking pan and add mustard seeds. When mustard splutters add cumin seeds, garlic, curry leaves and broken dry red chillies. Fry all these till you get nice aroma. Make sure not to burn anything. 
• Add finely chopped onions and fry well till they become dark brown.
• Now add the cooked dal mixture to the seasoning and mix well. 
• Add required amount of salt and bring the mixture to boil. Let it boil for 5-10 min on medium heat.
• Finally garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Relish yummy dal tadka with hot rice.

Beetroot Podi (Shallow Fried Beetroot)

Beetroot is considered as powerhouse of nutrients and has various health benefits. But i personally do not like beet root due of their sweet flavor. I learnt about this dish from one of my aunts. I tried this for the first time and absolutely loved it.

Ingredients:

Beetroot - 1small
Red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida powder / hing - a pinch
Salt to taste
Rice flour - little
Oil- for shallow frying

Procedure:

Wash and peel the beetroots. Cook them in a pressure cooker up to 1 whistle. 

Cut the beetroot into medium thick roundels. Add red chilly powder, asafoetida and salt to the sliced pieced and mix well.

Heat a frying pan and spread some oil over it. Coat the roundels nicely with rice flour and shallow fry them on medium heat. When the slices are cooked well on one side, flip them. Fry till they get cooked evenly on both the sides and become crisp.

Ghosale Ambat (Ridge Gourd In Coconut Based Gravy)

Ridge Gourd is one of our favorite vegetables. It is one of the vegetable where every part of it is used. There are numerous dishes in Konkani cuisine which use Ridge Gourd.

This Ridge Gourd curry prepared using coconut based gravy and seasoned with fried onion is prepared commonly by most of the Konkani people.

Ingredients:

Ridge Gourd -  1 cup chopped
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Dry red chillies - 4 (Roasted)
Tamarind - Small piece
Salt to taste
Onion - 3 tbsp ( Finely chopped)
Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure:

• Cook the ridge gourd in a vessel by adding enough water and little salt. 
•  Pressure cook the toor dal with turmeric in pressure cooker.
• Grind the grated coconut, roasted dry red chillies and tamarind to a smooth paste.
• Add ground paste and dal to cooked ridge gourd and mix well. Add required amount of salt. The consistency of the curry should be medium thick. Bring the mixture to boil. Let it boil for 5 - 10 minutes.
• For seasoning, heat little oil in a small pan and fry the finely chopped onions. Let the onions fry till they turn dark brown. 
• Season the curry with fried onions. Keep the lid of the vessel covered for some time so that the flavors can blend. 

Enjoy the curry with hot rice.