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What's Cooking? Indian recipes
P.S. Lakshmi Rao, a retired banker, has a passion for cooking. Her friends and family enjoy her culinary delights. Lakshmi is a long time Atlanta resident.

<<What's Cooking? Main


Black Eyed Beans Wada

TIt is an American custom to eat black eyed beans for good luck and
greens like collards or spinach for prosperity on the New Year’s day. So
I make these wadas every New Year’s day. You can add a few chopped
spinach leaves to the wada recipe and mix good luck and prosperity into
one dish. Happy holidays to every body!


2 cups black eyed beans soaked over night ( or the beans can be run in
a blender for 30 seconds to split them. Then wash and soak them for two hours)

1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
3 green chilies cut in to small pieces
2 inch piece of ginger peeled and chopped
1 small onion cut into small pieces
1 stem of curry leaves chopped
1/2 cup of finely chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

2 cups of oil

Drain and wash black eye beans and blend in batches coarsely with as
little water as possible. In a bowl combine blended beans with salt,
cumin, green chilies, ginger, onion, curry leaves, and coriander
leaves.

Heat oil in a small wok or frying pan on medium high. Take a pea size
bean mixture and drop it in to the oil to test if the oil is hot
enough. If the ball floats immediately that means oil is ready for
frying wadas. Make walnut size ball with bean mixture and flatten on a
small plastic bag or a small piece of parchment paper. Make a hole with
your finger in the middle of the wada and drop it slowly in to the oil.
Fry both sides. Remove from the oil and keep them on paper towels. If
the oil is too hot wadas will get brown on top real fast and stay raw
inside. If the bean mixture is too watery it is hard to make a hole. In
that case you can mix a table spoon of rice flour or basen. If it is
still not manageable forget about the hole and make them flat and fry
them.
 

Cranberry & Yam Chutney

 (Fresh cranberries are available only from Thanksgiving to New Year. They are healthier than tamarind (imli), and lemon juice. Our family really survived because of these delicious berries because there was no tamarind available in this country in 1960s.)

3 cups cranberries (12 oz)
3 medium size yams peeled and chopped
4 teaspoons salt

Popu (vagar)

2 table spoons oil
1/2 teaspoon methi seeds (fenugreek)
1 teaspoon red or black mustard seeds
1 table spoon chena dal
2 table spoons urad dal
15 long dried red chilies
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 stems curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon hing (asafetida)
1/4 teaspoon haldi (turmeric)
1/4 cup water

Blend together 1 1/2 cups cranberries, half of the chopped yams and 2
teaspoons salt coarsely. Repeat with rest of the berries, yams and salt and combine with the first batch.

In a small pan heat oil in medium heat and fry methi seed until brown.
Add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splatter add chena dal, urad dal, and red chilies. Fry until dals are light brown. Add
cumin seeds, curry leaves, hing and haldi. Remove from the heat and
let them cool. Put all the spices in a blender with 1/4 cup water and
blend the spices into a coarse paste. Mix this spice paste into the
cranberry and yam mixture.

Blend this mixture in two batches and taste to see if the salt is
enough.

Variations: You can use sweet potatoes, carrots or coconuts instead of
yams.

Note: If the chutney tastes too sour you can add little brown sugar or
sugar substitute (preferably splenda). Tastes good with rice, dosa,
idli and wada.


Note: Since every body has different taste buds, you can adjust the portions of tamarind, brown sugar and salt as needed. 



Dosa Kayi Avakayi (Indian Cucumber Pickle)


This is a good, hot pickle to make quickly in summer because good dosa kayies are available.

1 dosa kayi wash and wipe it dry
1/4th cup ground red pepper
1/4th cup ground red mustard powder
1 1/2 table spoons salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
1/4 cup oil

Cut dosa kayi into half length wise and remove the seeds with a spoon. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces, and spread the pieces on a double layered paper towel to absorb some moisture for 30 minutes. This process keeps the pieces crisp for two or three days.

Meanwhile mix red pepper, mustard powder salt and turmeric in medium glass bowl. Add dosa kayi pieces to the red pepper mixture and mix. Add oil and mix thoroughly. Keep the pickle in a dry glass jar and keep it in refrigerator for a week.

Note: You may need to add more salt when you use it with rice or other dishes. If you use more salt in the beginning dosa kayi pieces will be very salty.



Archives:

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Simple Dessert Recipes

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Quick & Delicious Dishes in 30 Minutes or Less 

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