Cranberry Chutney

This chutney can be made with or without sugar. With sugar it can be had as a dip for any appetizers. Without sugar it can be had with chappatti, rava dosa etc.

Ingrediants :

Cranberries - 1 cup

Dry Red chillies - 4

Garlic - 1 clove 

Sugar - 1 tblsp(optional)

Oil - 1 tblsp

Cumin seeds - 1tsp

Salt - to taste

Cilantro - handful(finely chopped)

Preparation Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan. Splutter the cumin seeds with dry red chillies.

2. Next add the garlic and cranberries. Spinkle few drops of water and let it cook for few minutes until the cranberries become soft and the skin bursts.

3. Let the mixture cool a bit.

4. Next grind the mixture with required salt, sugar and little cilantro.

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Avocado Chutney

Ingredients  :

Avocado – 1

Onion - 1 (cut into medium sized pieces)

Green chillies – 4 (or to taste)

Garlic – 1 clove

Oil - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Tamarind - blueberry size

Mustard - ¼ tsp

Preparation Method :

1. Heat a tsp of oil in a kadai and saute the onions and green chillies till they become golden brown.  

2. Add the tamarind and fry for few seconds. Once the mixture cools nicely, grind it along with peeled garlic and salt without water.

3. In the meantime, peel the avocado and mash it. 

4. Again heat 1 tblsp oil and splutter the mustard add the ground mixture and mashed avocado to this and fry for just about a minute.

*  Garnish with cilantro. Healthy avocado chutney is ready to serve.

Note : Avocado is a complete food with many essential nutrients like proteins, vitamin E, C, B, folic acid, iron, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. It has no cholesterol and is sodium free. Avocado shake with milk and sugar is a famous drink. It can be used to make salads, shakes, sandwiches etc.

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Rava Dosa (Andhra Special)

Ingredients :

Semolina (Rava) - 1 cup

Rice Flour - 1/2 cup

All Purpose Flour (Maida)- 2 tblsp

Gram Flour (Besan) - 2tblsp

Yogurt/ Buttermilk - 1 cup

Onion - 1 (finely chopped)

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Crushed peppercorns - 1/4 tsp

Green Chilly - 1 (finely chopped)

Ginger - 1 " (grated)

Cilantro - 2-3 strands (finely chopped)

Curry leaves - 1 strand (finely chopped)

Salt - as needed

Oil - for making dosas

Preparation Method :

1. Mix the rava,gram flour, rice flour, maida and required salt.

2. Add finely chopped onions, green chilly, cilantro, curry leaves, grated ginger, cumin seeds and crushed peppercorns to that.

3. Add the yogurt/buttermilk and required water to make a batter thinner than normal dosa batter. Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes.

4. Heat a non stick dosa pan on medium high heat.

5. Take a spoon ful of batter and spread the batter from the outer side of the pan. (unlike the normal dosa which you spread from the inside out.)

6. Pour few drops of oil on top and let it cook for a couple of minutes on one side. 

7. Gently flip the dosa and cook until both the sides are golden brown.

8. Serve with coconut chutney and sambhar. You can also stuff it with masala and make rava masala dosa.

Tips :

- To make the dosa more crispier, increase the amount of rice flour.

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Ginger (Allam) Chutney / अदरक का अचार / అల్లం పచ్చడి

Ingredients :

Ginger - 2" piece

Channa dal (Bengal gram) - 2 tblsp 

Urad dal (Black Gram) - 1 tblsp 

Coriander seeds - 2 tsp

Cumin seeds (jeera) - 3/4 tsp

Tamarind - big lemon size

Dry red chillies - 8 or 10

Jaggery/Sugar - 1 tblsp

Oil - 3 tblsp

Salt - to taste

Ingredients for Tampering :

fresh curry leaves 6-8

dry red chilies - 2or3 (optional)

Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tbsp.

Preparation Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan and fry chana dal, urad dal, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies and green chillies for 3-4 minutes until the dals turn golden brown.

2. Add the ginger pieces and tamarind and fry for another 2-3. (Make sure the flame is in medium to prevent the ingredients from getting burnt.)

3. After the mixture cools, grind it in a mixie with required water, salt and jaggery.

Tampering / Tadka :

1. Take 1 Tbsp. Oil Into a Pan.After Heat The Oil Add Mustard Seeds,Curry Leaves and Red Mirchi.
2. Then Add The Chutney into The Pan.

* Serve with pesarattu, vada, upma etc.

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Mango Kesari Preparation

Ingredients :

Semolina (Ravva) - 1 cup

Mango Pulp - 1.5 cup (store bought or home made)

Ghee - 1/2 cup - 1 cup (add according to your health condition and taste)

Sugar - 1 cup (add more if you like it sweeter)

Water - 2.5 cup

Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp

Cashews - 1 tblsp

Salt - a pinch

Kesari powder (Orange food colour) - a pinch (optional)

Stove top Method : 

1. Heat 1 tblsp ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and roast the rava till it turns light brown. Do not burn it. You can also use store bought roasted ravva.

2. Remove the ravva from the pan. Add another tblsp of ghee and fry the cashews till it turns golden brown. Remove it.

3. Add water to the same pan and bring it to a boil.

4. Add the sugar, salt, mango pulp and kesari powder to the water. 

5. Slowly add the roasted rava while constantly stirring.

6. Reduce the flame to a simmer. Cover and let it cook for about 5 minutes.

7. Add the ghee little by little and keep mixing till the whole things forms a shiny mass and does not stick to the pan.

8. Add the cardamom powder and roasted cashews and switch off.

* Delicious mouth watering mango kesari is ready to serve.

Oven method :

- When you are making for a big group this method might be easier. Mix all the above ingredients in a baking dish. Bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Variations :

- You can also make pineapple kesari, strawberry kesari and banana kesari in the same way.

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Top 10 Cooking Tips for Indian Recipes

Cooking Tips :

1. When frying, the oil should be in the correct temperature. If its too hot, the outside will get browned up too quickly before the inside gets cooked. If its not hot enough, the fried food will absorb too much oil before getting cooked. 

2. To make crispier puris, add a little rava to the wheat flour while kneading. 

3. To make crispier bajjis add a little corn flour to the gram flour to make bajji batter. 

4. Use a deep vessel to fry chicken to avoid the splashing of oil and juices all around the place. 

5. To knead chappattis, add 1/3 cup of warm water for 1 cup of flour approximately. To make softer    chapattis, add warm milk or curd while kneading. 

6. Use heavy bottomed vessel to make upma, kheer etc to prevent burning. 

7. Toasting nuts, rice, rava and dal before cooking with it increases its flavors considerably. 

8. Adding few drops of oil to the rice before cooking it will prevent it from becoming sticky. 

9. Do not wash the mushrooms with water. Clean it with a damp cloth. Add salt to the mushroom only after    it has browned. 

10. Similarly adding salt to the chicken also slows up the browing. 

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Healthy Tips And Refrigeration Tips

Top 5 Healthy Tips: 

1. Do not wash the vegetables after peeling or chopping. This will wash out all the water soluble vitamins. 

2. Whenever vegetables or dal is cooked in water, many nutrients are left back in the water. So do not throw it away. Instaed use it when making some gravies or soups. 

3. Potatoes have their nutrients in their skin. So try using potatoes without peeling it. 

4. Eat fruits like apples along with its skin. 

5. Tamarind can be substituted with raw mango powder. 

Top Refrigeration tips: 

1. Keep coriander leaves in a ait tight plastic box in the refrigerator to keep them fresh for a long time. 

2. Remove the stem of the chilly while storing them whole. Another method is to make chilly paste and store it for a long time. 

3. To store fish longer and freasher, clean it, apply turmeric and salt and put it in the freezer.

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Top 10 Quick Fix Tips

Quick fix Tips: 

1. Tomato paste or sauce can be used instead of fresh tomatoes. This saves a lot of chopping time. 

2. Soak chik peas in boiling water. In this way only 1-2 hours of soaking in needed. 

3. Make ginger garlic paste in bulk and put it in the fridge. 

4. Similarly, make green chilly paste and keep in the fridge. This saves a lot of cooking time. 

5. While chopping vegetables, chop in a bulk, use what is needed and put the remaining in the fridge for later use. Chopping a vegetable at a stretch saves a lot of time. 

6. Have lots of peeled garlic in an air tight box in the fridge. 

7. Grate a whole coconut at a time and refrigerate it so it can be used easily whenever needed. 

8. Fry grated coconut in bulk with curry leaves and store it in the fridge. This can be used easily whenever gravies have to be made. 

9. Whenever you boil potatoes or cauliflower make some extra and put it in the fridge. This can be used to make stuffed parathas, cutlets etc. 

10. Use the microwave to sauté onions, tomatoes and to cook up the vegetables.

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Top 10 General Cooking Tips

General Cooking Tips: 

1. To peel the skin of almonds, tomatoes or peaches, simply soak in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. The skin can be easily removed. 

2. To remove the corn from its cub, hold it straight with one end on the bottom of a big vessel. Then strip the corn with a knife. This will prevent messing up of the entire place. 

3. When cutting raw banana, potatoes or eggplant, soak it in water to avoid discolouration. Similarly, to prevent apples, bananas or peaches from browning, add lemon juice. 

4. Use the excess dal water from boiling dal to make rasam. 

5. While adding curd to gravies or biriyani, break it nicely before adding. 

6. While boiling milk, a little water can be added to the vessel before adding the milk to avoid the milk from sticking to the bottom. 

7. Store nuts in the refrigerator to increase their shelf life. 

8. To separate each string of noodles or any thin pasta, run it under cold water immediately after boiling and draining the water. 

9. Curd in winter - Set in a ceramic container and place it on the voltage stabilizer of your refrigerator. 

10. To cut meat easily, freeze it for some time before cutting.

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Baked Fish

Ingredients :

Whole Fish - 1

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilly Powder - 2 tsp

Corriander Powder - 2 tsp

Ginger garlic Paste - 2 tsp

Pepper Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 tblsp

Onion - 1/2

Garlic - 3 cloves

Cilantro - 1/2 bunch

Lemon - 1/2

Preparation Method :

1. Wash the fish nicely and make small slits on both sides.

2. Marinate the fish with salt, chilly powder, turmeric powder, corriander powder, pepper powder and ginger garlic paste.

3. After marinating for half an hour, stuff the onions, garlic, lemon slices and cilantro into the body of the fish.

4. Sprinkle few drops of oil over the body of the fish.

5. Bake the fish in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

6. Set the oven to broil mode and broil it for 5 minutes.

7. Flip the fish and broil the other side for another 5-10 minutes until the skin of the fish is nicely browned.

 * Garnish with cilantro and lemon rings and serve.

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