Hyderabadi Aaloo Baat

Contribution: Sarada Mandumula

Ingredients
2 cups Basmati Rice
4 medium Potatoes
3 carrots
1 cup of peas
2 onions
 4 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 inch chopped ginger
1 bunch coriander leaves
1 bunch mint leaves
10 green chillies
salt
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon ghee

Whole Spices
1 long cinnamon stick
5 cloves
5 cardamom
3 bay leaves
2 tsp shahjeera or cumin seeds
1tsp garam  masala

Method
 Take a pan, add oil and ghee together, season with whole spices, add chopped onion, garlic and ginger finely and fry till you get a nice aroma. In the meantime, blend the mint, coriander and the green chilies and add to this masala. Cook for 5 minutes and keep aside. Peel the potatoes, dice them, cut carrots in long thin pieces and steam either in microwave or stovetop. Add these to the pan. Cook all this again for 5 minutes. Add the garam masala. Boil the rice on the side with 31/2 cups of water and salt. Add the cooked rice to this and mix together. Adjust the salt to taste. Serve hot.

Ridge gourd/turai Dosa
Contribution : Pratima Koppaka

Ingredients:
1 Turai/Ridgegourd cut into cubes
3 tablespoons yellow moong dal soaked for 2 hours
4 dry red chillies
1 tsp jeera/cumin
salt

Method:
Chop the turai in pieces, blend with the soaked dal along with the chilies, jeera and salt.
Grind Coarsely. In  a pan add spoonfuls of  batter and shape in small pancakes or dosa style  and cook on a slow fire  on both sides adding a tsp of oil at the edges . Serve with hot rice and ghee

Kaju Puri
Contribution - Varsha Gujarathi

Ingredients:
 1 cup powdered cashewnuts
½ cup sieved icing sugar
3 powdered cardamoms
¼ tsp saffron
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
2 drops almond essence

Method
Mix the cashewnuts, sugar and cardamom powder. Warm the saffron and dissolve in 1tsp of milk. Add the saffron, essence and enough milk and make dough. Divide the dough into 10 portions. Take 2 small sheets of saran wrap and a bangle of 50mm diameter. Put one sheet and a bangle on a board. Place one portion of the dough inside the bangle, cover with the other sheet and roll to the shape of the bangle.  Repeat with the remaining dough. Arrange on a baking dish and bake in a moderate oven at 375F for 15 to 20 minutes. Alternately grill on both sides . Cool and store.

Lamb Curry
Contribution: Sangeeta K

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons oil or Ghee
1/4 teaspoon Asafoetida
2 whole cloves
1 inch piece Cinnamon Stick
3 Cardamom Pods,
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 lbs Lamb with the fat trimmed
1 Tablespoon Ginger Paste
2 cups plain Yoghurt
2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper Powder or 2 chilies, minced
1 teaspoon ground Coriander
Salt to taste
2 cups Water, hot
2 Tablespoons minced Cilantro

Method
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the asafoetida and fry for one minute. Once it has stopped spluttering then add the cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom , black pepper and fry for another minute. Add the lamb and cook until browned. Add the ginger and fry for another minute. Reduce the heat and slowly stir in the yoghurt, tomatoes, cayenne or chilies, coriander and salt. Allow the dish to cook at low to medium low stirring frequently until the sauce is fully incorporated.

Add the hot water. Cover and simmer at low heat for about an hour or until the meat is fully cooked and the sauce is at your preferred thickness. Serve with the chopped cilantro as a garnish.

Lamb Curry goes well with a basmati rice dish, chapatti, (or other flat bread) and a vegetable curry.

 

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