Hearty Spices

Soak ½ cup of Moong Dal for 4 hrs or overnight. Grind soaked Moong Dal, 100 gm of Grated Cheese, Salt to taste, few chopped Coriander Leaves and 4 chopped Green Chillies to a fine paste in a mixer grinder. Heat a pan and apply Oil to it. Apply 2 tbsp of paste on one side of a bread slice and place the applied side on the hot pan. Turn it over and roast on the other side until the bread turns light brown. Serve hot with Tomato Sauce or hot garlic sauce.

Beat 2 cups of Yogurt well into a bowl and add finely chopped ½ of Onion, 3 Green Chilies, ½ of Tomato and Salt as needed to it. Slowly add Water as needed  to the yogurt mixture till the right consistency is acquired. Garnish with few chopped Coriander Leaves and serve with any rice.

Preparation - Wash, peel and cut ½ kg of Ridgegourd (Beerakaya) into small pieces and keep aside. Fry ¾ cup of Pesara Vadiyalu (fritters) in hot oil and keep aside. Curry - Heat 2 tsp of Oil in a pan and sauté ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds, ½ tsp of Cumin Seeds and few Curry Leaves . When they splutter, add and sauté  chopped large Onion, 5-6 slit Green Chilies till the onion pieces are transparent. Add a pinch of Turmeric Powder , mix well and add the beerakaya pieces to the pan. Add Salt to taste and cover cook till the beerakaya pieces are soft. When the beerakaya pieces are soft and cooked, add ½ tsp of Red Chili Powder and fried Vadiyalu to the pan and mix well. Remove from heat, cover and let it stand for 5 minutes. Serve hot after garnishing with few chopped Coriander Leaves .

Blend 4 cups of Cold Watermelon Cubes along with a tbsp of Honey and 2 pinches of Chaat Masala . Serve in glasses, add ice cubes and garnish with a sprig of mint .

Batter - Wash and drain 2 cups of Rice, ½ cup of Barli, ½ cup of Beaten Rice/Poha and ½ cup of Sago thoroughly in water. Add 1 tbsp of Fenugreek Seeds, 1 cup of Yogurt, Sufficient Water and soak for 4 hours. Grind to fine batter and add Salt to taste . Mix well and ferment for an hour.  Crepe - Heat a dosa pan and spread a tsp of Oil over it. Spread the batter into a crepe (thick as Uthappam)and cover cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Brown on both sides, remove from heat and serve hot with any chutney. Peanut Chutney - Heat  a tbsp of Oil in pan and saute a crushed Garlic Clove for a few seconds till lightly brown. Add a tbsp of Urad Dal, ½ tbsp of Coriander Seeds, ½ tbsp of Cumin Seeds, few Dried Red Chillies  and saute till golden brown. Remove from heat and allow cooling. Grind along with a cup of Roasted Peanuts, small lime sized Tamarind, Salt to taste, ½ cup of Water till smooth and set aside. Popu for Chu...

Preparation - Clean, peel, boil and mash 2 Potatoes in a bowl. To it, add cleaned and finely chopped 2 bunches of Spinach Leaves, finely chopped 2-3 Fresh Green Chilies, finely chopped large Onion, 1½ tbsp of grated Ginger and finely chopped small bunch Coriander Leaves . Combine well and add crumbled 4-5 Bread Slices, coarsely pounded 1 tbsp of Coriander Seeds, a big pinch of Garam Masala Powder, a tsp of Amchur Powder / 1-2 tbsp of Lemon Juice, Salt to taste . Mix well and shape into round patties. Kebabs -  Heat a non-stick tawa and drizzle some oil. Place the kebabs and shallow fry on both sides till brown. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Cashew Poppy Paste - Dry roast 1½ tbsp of Poppy Seeds for 4 minutes and soak along with 4 broken Cashewnuts in water for 10 minutes. Make paste out of them along with 4 tbsp of fresh grated Coconut and keep aside. Mutton - Clean, wash and cube 1 kg of Mutton and marinate with 1½ cup of Yogurt, 2 tsp of Red Chilli Powder, ½ tsp of Turmeric Powder, 1¼ tbsp of Coriander Powder, ¾ tsp of Cumin Powder and 1 tbsp of Ginger Garlic Paste . Keep aside for 30-40 minutes. Gravy - Heat a tbsp of Oil and Ghee in a heavy bottomed pan; saute 4 Cloves, 1 Green Cardamom, 1" Cinnamon Stick and a Bay Leaf for few seconds. Add 2 large chopped Onions, 5-6 slit Green Chilies  and saute till transparent. Add ½ tbsp of Ginger Garlic Paste and saute till browned. Add a large chopped Tomato and fry for 4-5 minutes. Add the marinated mutton and cook over medium heat with lid till the water from the meat and yogurt is almost absorbed. Add the cashe...