Poha - #SimpleBreakfast

Poha is a very popular dish in Maharashtra. It is very easy to be make and can be served in the morning as breakfast or during evening as Snack.

Ingredients:

1. Poha (flattened rice) - 1 Cup
2. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
3. Oil - 2 tsp
4. Green chilies - 3
5. Peanuts - 2 tsp
6. Potato - 1 medium sized (Optional)
7. Onion - 1 medium sized
8. Mustard Seeds
9. Cumin Seeds
10. Curry Leaves
11. Coriander leaves
12. Salt as required

Preparation:

1. Pick Poha in a bowl and sprinkle water on it and mix till all of it is wet. Make sure to not pour excessive water as it becomes mushy.
2. Now add turmeric powder and mix them gently. Keep this aside.
3. Cut Onions, green chilli and keep them aside.
4. Take a pan and heat oil. Add mustard seeds and wait till they splutter. Now add cumin seeds.
5. Add peanuts and fry for 2 min.
6. Now add curry leaves and chopped green chilli. Saute the ingredients for a minute
7. Add Onions and Potato(optional) to the mixture and saute them for 6-7 min. Now add Salt to the mixture and mix them thoroughly.
8. Now add Poha to the mixture and gently mix all the ingredients.
9. Taste and add salt as required. Add coriander leaves to the mixture and turn off the flame.

Yummy Poha is ready to be served. Squeeze lemon juice as it adds to the taste.

Palak Paneer - #SimpleCurry

Palak Paneer is one of the most popular Indian dishes. It is easy to make but demands more time. You can try this dish during weekends.

Ingredients:

1. Spinach - 1 bunch
2. Paneer - 200 gms
3. Oil - 3 tsp
4. Onion - 1
5. Tomato - 1
6. Green Chilies- 4
7. Garlic - 6 Cloves. 
8. Ginger - 1/2 inch
9. Water
10. Hing - a Pinch
11. Turmeric Powder - a pinch
12. Salt
13. red chilli powder - 1 tsp
14. Garam Masala - 1 tsp Optional

Preparation:

1. First step is to make Palak Puree. Take spinach bunch and get rid of Stringy stems. Wash it thoroughly.
2. Boil water in a pan and add salt to it.Then add washed Spinach and close the lid. Wait for 2-3 min and turn off the flame.
3. Drain water and let it cool.
4. Now add spinach, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 2 chopped green chilli and chopped ginger to the grinder and make smooth puree. Keep it aside.
5. Chop Onion, Tomato, Green chili, Garlic into small pieces
6. Heat Oil in a Pan.
7. Add Onions and saute till they become golden brown. Now add hing,chopped garlic, chopped green chilli and wait for 2-3 min
8. Now add Chopped Tomatoes and saute them till they soften
9. Add Turmeric powder and Red chili powder an mix the ingredients
10. Now add palak puree and stir well. Add water and salt as required at this stage. Add Garam Masala if you want and stir well.
11. Cook palak for about 5-6 min and the gravy will also thicken by now.
12. Now add Paneer Cubes. Stir gently and simmer on a low flame for about 1-2 min till the paneer cubes become soft and succulent.
13. Turn off the flame.

Yummy Palak Paneer is ready. It goes very well with rotis, naan, parathas and jeera rice

UPMA - #SimpleIndianbreakfast

Upma is made of Semolina and is very simple to make. It takes only 20-30 min and is delicious.

Ingredients:

1. Semolina - 1 cup
2. Water - 3 cups
3. Oil - 2 tsps
4. Onion - 1
5. Ginger - 1/2 tsp
6. Green Chilli - 4
7. Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
8. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
9. Veggies (peas/carrot etc) - 3 tsps
10. Urad dal/chana dal - 1 tsp
11. Hing - a pinch
12. Curry leaves
13. Coriander leaves

Preparation:

1. Cut onions, ginger, curry leaves, coriander,green chilli and any veggies you may want to add and keep aside. 
2. Take a pan and pour oil. Add mustard seeds after the oil is heated and wait till they splutter.
3. Now add cumin seeds and hing. Then add chana dal and wait till they turn brown.
4. Now add curry leaves, ginger, green chilli and Onions. Fry the ingredients till onions turn transparent
5. Now add cut veggies and fry for 5 min
6. Add water and let all the ingredients come to a boil
7. Now slowly pour Semolina while mixing all the ingredients to avoid any lumps.
8. Wait for 2 min and add Coriander leaves and turn off the flame.

Yummy Upma is ready to be served. It goes very well with lemon juice or with breakfast chutney(made with peanut or coconut).

Pesarattu - #Simplebreakfast

Pesarattu is made of Mung bean (green gram) and doesn't require any fermentation. You need to soak green gram and try to use split green grams as they get soaked faster.

Ingredients:

1. Green gram - 2 cups
2. Rice - 1 tsp
3. Ginger - 1/2 tsp
4. Green Chilli - 3
5. Onion - 1
6. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
7. Curry leaves
8. Coriander leaves

Preparation:

1. Take 2 cups of green gram and wash thoroughly. Add 1 tsp of rice and soak it overnight. Adding rice gives light brownish color to dosa
2. Drain the water and grind it to make batter. Careful when adding water while grinding as you don't want the batter to be too loose
3. Cut onions, ginger, curry leaves, coriander and green chilli. Take a bowl and mix all these ingredients and add cumin seeds to the mixture.
4. Take a non-stick pan and heat it. Once it is hot, pour some batter on the pan with a big spoon and use the same spoon to spread it on the pan and make it into a round shape
5. Sprinkle the onion mixture on the dosa. Now pour oil on the sides and on the middle of dosa
6. Once the dosa is done you can fold it and take it on to a plate. (No need to cook it on both sides)

Pesarattu is ready to be served with ketchup or breakfast chutney(made with peanut or coconut)

Royyala Vepudu - #SimpleNonVegCurry

Prawns fry(Royyala Vepudu) is a very tasty dish and I got it right the first time I made it. It is very simple and you blindly follow the below steps to make tasty dish.

Ingredients:

1. Prawns - 250g
2. Oil - 3 tsp
3. Onions - 3
4. Green chilli - 3
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
6. Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
8. red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Turmeric powder
10. Salt
11. lemon juice - 1 tsp
12. Curry leaves
13. Coriander leaves

Preparation (45 min):

1. Wash Prawns thoroughly with water. Now add turmeric powder, salt and 1/2 tsp lemon juice to prawns and mix them. Add water and wash prawns again. (this helps in killing germs)
2. Drain prawns and now add turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1/4 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp coriander powder, 1/4 tsp garam masala and 1/2 tsp lemon juice to them. Mix them well and keep it aside for 15 - 20 min.
3. Now add a cup of water to the marinated prawns and boil them for 15-20 min. Drain prawns and keep them aside.
4. Take a pan and add oil to it. Once the oil is heated add green chilli, onion, curry leaves and fry till onions turn golden brown.
5. Add 1/4 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1/4 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp garam masala, 1/4 tsp coriander powder and salt and mix them well.
6. Now add boiled prawns to the pan and fry them for 15-20 min. Add coriander leaves and turn off the flame

Prawn fry is ready and you can have it as it is or can have it with rice. It goes very well with rasam rice too.

Potato Fry - #SimpleCurry

Here's a simple recipe you can follow to make tasty Potato fry. The hardest part of all is cutting Potato into small pieces. If you are done with that, you are half way through making the curry.

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes - 3
2. Oil - 3 tsps
3. Mustard Seeds
4. Cumin Seeds
5. Hing
6. Garlic clove - 2
7. Dry Red Chilli - 2
8. Chana Dal - 1/2 tsp
9. Green Chilli - 3
10. Curry Leaves
11. Turmeric - a pinch
12. Salt
13. Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
14. Coriander Leaves

Preparation (30min)

1. Wash Potatoes and take off the peal. Now cut them into small pieces and set aside
2. Take Pan and add oil to it. When the oil is heated, add mustard seed and wait till they splutter
3. Then add Cumin seeds, hing and crushed garlic cloves to the pan. Garlic is good for health and adds taste to the dish
4. Now add Chana Dal, dry red chilies, curry leaves and green chilli to the pan. Wait for a minute till they are fried
5. Now add chopped potato pieces and mix them with the ingredients. Now add turmeric powder.
6. Fry it for 6-7 min and add salt
7. Fry it again for about 10 min while mixing the ingredients intermittently to fry evenly
8. Now add chilli powder and mix the ingredients
9. Add coriander leaves and turn off the flame

Yummy potato fry is ready. It can be served with roti or rice. The same recipe can be followed to make carrot fry and Okra fry.

Veg Pulao - #SimpleRiceDish

Vegetable Pulao is easy to make and tastes very good with Raita. You can add lot of vegetables and is very tasty and good for health. Pulao can be made with ghee as well and tastes very good with it.

Ingredients:

1. Basmati Rice - 2 Cups
2. Oil/Ghee - 2 tsps
3. Cloves - 7
4. Cinnamon - 3 small pieces
5. Bay leaves - 2
6. star anise - 2
7. Cashews - 10
8. Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp
9. Onions - 2
10. Tomatoes - 1
11. Potato - 1
12. Carrot - 2
13. Beans - 5
14. green peas - 1/4 tsps
15. Soya chunks - 1/2 cup
16. Any other vegetables you may like
17. Salt

Preparation(45 min):

1. Wash Basmati rice and keep it aside
2. Soak soya chunks in water for around 10 min
3. Take a pan and add oil/ghee to it. Add Cloves when the ghee is hot and wait for a min and add Cinnamon pieces
4. Fry it and then add Star anise, Bay leaves and Cashews. Once they are fried add onions
5. Fry onions till they are soft and add ginger garlic paste. Fry the mixture for 2 min
6. Add Potato, Carrot, beans etc and fry them for 5 min while mixing ingredients so that ginger garlic paste is mixed well with all the ingredients
7. Add tomatoes and mix well. After 2 min add green peas, soya chunks, salt, Coriander leaves and fry them all for 2 min while mixing them intermittently.
8. Turn off the flame and transfer the ingredients to electric rice cooker/pressure cooker. 
9. Add Washed rice and mix the ingredients with rice thoroughly. Make sure that you are not breaking the rice while mixing them.
10. Add 4 cups of water and add salt if necessary. Add coriander leaves and cook rice.
11. Once the rice is cooked, mix all the ingredients as few ingredients come to the top and form a layer.

Vegetable Pulao is ready to be served. It goes very well with chicken fry and raita

Drumstick Curry - #SimpleCurry

Drumstick Curry/Munakkaya Curry is one the tastiest yet simplest curry to make. Adding milk to this curry at the end brings an additional flavor and taste to the curry.

Ingredients:

1. Drum Sticks - 2
2. Oil - 2 tsps
3. Mustard Seeds
4. Cumin Seeds
5. Hing
6. Garlic clove - 2
7. Dry Red Chilli - 2
8. Green Chilli - 3
9. Curry Leaves
10. Onions - 3
11. Turmeric - a pinch
12. Salt
13. Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
14. Milk - 1/2 cup
15. Coriander Leaves

Preparation (30min)

1. Take off the peal on drumsticks and cut them into pieces and set aside
2. Take Pan and add oil to it. When the oil is heated, add mustard seed and wait till they splutter
3. Then add Cumin seeds, hing and crushed garlic cloves to the pan.
4. Now add dry red chilies, curry leaves to the pan. Wait for a minute till they are fried
5. Now add green chilli, chopped onion pieces and mix them with the ingredients. Now add turmeric powder.
6. Fry the ingredients till onions turn to golden brown color. Now add chopped drumstick pieces to the pan.
7. Fry it again for about 5 min while mixing the ingredients intermittently. 
8. Now add some water and salt let the ingredients boil till drumstick pieces are cooked. Make sure water is evaporated.
9. Now add chilli powder and mix the ingredients. Add milk and let it cook for 5-7 min.
10. Add coriander leaves and turn off the flame

Yummy Drumstick curry is ready to be served with rice. Milk adds a lot of taste to the curry and gives thick gravy that goes very well with rice.

Rasam - #SimpleSideDish

Preparation of Rasam is very simple and takes very less effort. This is a very famous dish in South India and goes very well with any fry. Here's the preparation of this dish and doesn't require you to add any rasam powder.

Ingredients:

1. Water - 3 cups
2. Oil - 1 tsp
3. Mustard Seeds
4. Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
5. Hing
6. Garlic clove - 4
7. Coriander Seeds/Powder - 3/4 tsp
8. Pepper Powder - a pinch
9. Dry Red Chilli - 2
10. Green Chilli - 3
11. Curry Leaves
12. Turmeric - a pinch
13. Onion - 1 small
14. Tamarind Paste - 1/2 tsp
15. Salt
16. Coriander Leaves
17. Desiccated coconut - 3/4 tsp

Preparation (20min)

1. Take 3 garlic Gloves, Coriander seeds/powder, Cumin Seeds, Coconut powder in a mixer jar and grind them into a fine paste.
2. Take Pan and add oil to it. When the oil is heated, add mustard seed and wait till they splutter
3. Then add Cumin seeds and hing and crushed garlic cloves to the pan.
4. Now add dry red chilies, curry leaves and green chilli to the pan. Wait for a minute till they are fried
5. Now add chopped onion pieces and turmeric powder. Fry it for 3-4 min and add salt and finely grounded paste from step 1
6. Fry all the ingredients for a min and add 3 cups of water. Add tamarind paste, Pepper powder, Salt and boil the ingredients for 12-15min.
7. Now add coriander leaves and turn off the flame

Tips:
Tamarind paste is available in super markets and is very handy. If you don't have tamarind paste, you can soak tamarind in water for 15 min and squeeze the juice and use it.

You can make large amount of paste mentioned in Step 1 and store in the fridge. If the paste is already available then it saves time every time when making Rasam.