Doing a lot of cooking during this COVID time. Just to keep ourselves busy and stay connected, we decided to cook one recipe, chosen by one of us, every week.  We then share pictures and discuss how the dish turned out with family online. Third week completed and it's been fun. 

Week 1 recipe - Summer squash and green peas

• 3 Tbsps ghee or 1 1/2 tbsps each veg oil and butter,  
• 2 green chillies, stemmed, seeded and cut lengthwise into slivers
• 1 tsp cumin seeds   
• 8-10 small zucchini (about 685gms), cut into 1/2-inch cubes (can also use bottle gourd)       
• 1/2 tsp turmeric         
• 1 tbsp ground coriander       
• 1 1/2 cups fresh peas in pods or 285 gms frozen peas
• 3 tbsps chopped fresh coriander

1. Heat ghee or oil in a heavy 2-3 quart/liter nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add the chillies and cumin seeds and fry until they begin to darken. Stir in the zucchini, turmeric, coriander powder, peas, half of the fresh herb, and the butter (if you used veg oil). Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occassionally.

2. Uncover and saute until the zucchini softens. If using frozen peas, add them now. Add the salt and the remaining coriander leaves. Gently mix and serve. 

 

My friend Anu's recipes

Dosa

Soak 1/2 cup Poha

Rice 1 cup
Urad dal 1/4 cup
Methi seeds 1 tsp

Soak the above 3 together for 4-5 hrs.

Grind poha first for 5 mins and then add the rice mixture and salt and grind.

Keep for fermenting.

Pudina chutney

For 1 cup coconut, use 15 pudina leaves.

In a little oil, fry urad dal, green chilli or red chilli and pudina.

Grind the above with coconut, tamarind and a little cilantro.  Temper with mustard seeds.

Moong dal paratha

1/2 cup moong dal soaked for 3 hrs
Jeera 1 tsp
Dhania powder
Chilli powder
Fennel seeds
Hing
A little crushed kasuri methi
A little oil
Whole wheat flour

Mix the above and knead into dough.

Sangu's Molaga Podi

Roast 1 cup urad dal, 1 tbsp channa dal and about 15 red chillies (depending on how spicy you want it).  Cool, add salt and powder coarsely.

Beetroot poriyal

Boil beetroot.  Cut into small pieces.  Heat oil, add jeera seeds, grated coconut, crushed peanuts and 2 green chillies.  Saute for 2 mins.  Add beetroot and cook for 5-8 mins.

Amma's rasam powder

Whole red chillies 2 cups
Dhania seeds 1 1/2 cups
Channa dal 1/2 cup
Toor dal 1/2 cup
Jeera seeds 3/4 cup
Peppercorn 1/4 cup

Roast and powder

Black Dal

Got this recipe from a friend of mine.  This is how I make it now - it comes out really well.

2 1/2 cups whole urad dal
Handful rajma

Cook rajma separately.  Saute half onion, 1 1/2 tomatoes and 2 inch piece of ginger.  Blend with the cooked rajma into a fine paste.  Pressure cook the urad dal.  Heat some oil in a saucepan, add the paste and saute until raw smell goes.  Add garam masala, chilli powder and salt.  Once the paste is cooked, add the urad dal and let it cook for some time.  Add butter at the end.

Kalyani Athai’s Idli

3 cups idli rice

1 cup urad dal w/o skin but whole, not split

1 tsp methi seeds

Add just enough water to cover the rice.  Do the same with the
urad dal & methi seeds combined.  Put both in the fridge
overnight. In the morning, grind them separately and mix.  
Then keep outside for a day and night to ferment. Make idlis
the next morning.

Note:  For regular idlis, can use idli rava in place of the idli rice.  
In that case, just mix the idli rava with the ground urad dal and
methi seeds.

Note:  For dosas, use rice (can use regular rice or rice flour).

Sangi’s palak paneer

Fry onions and tomato, garlic, ginger, pepper.  Blanch palak.
Grind everything. Heat oil, add haldi, coriander powder, jeera
powder, salt.  Add palak mixture. Then add paneer.

Vinku's upma

Fry cashews separately.  Keep aside.  Heat oil, burst mustard.  Add urad dal, slit green chilli, ginger, curry leaves.  Add hing and lots of tomatoes (3 tomatoes for one cup).  Once tomatoes are cooked, add 1 cup of rava.  Saute for a bit.  For the liquid, the ratio is 1 rava  : 2 liquid.  For the liquid, half cup buttermilk with juice of 1/2 lime, and the rest water.  Add salt.  Mix, cover and cook till done.  At the end, add cashews and 1/2 tsp ghee.  (Note:  the cup measure used here is a rice cup).

Found these recipes handwritten by mom with Vinitha in Austin.

Bagara Baingan

450 gms Brinjals
5 gm red chillies
115 gms coconut
15 gms coriander seeds
5 gms garlic
5 gms sesame seeds
225 gms onions
115 gms tamarind
5 gms jaggery
Mustard seeds
Turmeric pwdr
Curry leaves

Wash brinjal without breaking the stem.  Cut lengthwise so that brinjal still remains whole.  Heat oil and fry brinjal till the skin becomes brown.  Remove and keep aside.  Fry onions with the coriander seeds and red chillies.  Grind it with the coconut and garlic.  Extract tamarind pulp and add to the ground paste.  Roast sesame seeds separately and powder.  In a little oil, saute the paste well.  Add the brinjal and sesame seed powder.  Cover and cook till gravy thickens.  Add jaggery.  Tadka mustard seeds and curry leaves in ghee and pour over the curry.

This used to be one of our favorites growing up.

Basic Curry Gravy

2 finely chopped onions
2 medium tomatoes finely chopped
Curry leaves
Salt to taste

Grind to a paste:
3 cloves garlic
one piece ginger
3 dry red chillies
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
25 gms cashews

Heat oil and saute onions till golden.  Add masala paste and saute for about 10 mins, adding a little water if paste tends to stick to bottom of pan.  Add tomatoes and cook for 5 mins.  Add 2 cups water, curry leaves and salt.  Bring to a boil.


Is this the curry gravy that mom used to make with potatoes or the tomato masala recipe?

Dhansak

Turmeric pwdr 1/2 tsp
Tuvar dal 1/2 cup
Mixed dals (green gram, Bengal gram) 1/2 cup
1 large potato
1 Brinjal
2 onions
1 piece red pumpkin
2 carrots
1 piece ash gourd

Grind together:
1/2 tsp methi seeds
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chilli pwdr
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small piece ginger, cinnamon, one green chilli, coriander leaves
Grind these with one onion and tamarind.

Wash and soak the dals for 1/2 hour.  Cut the vegetables into small pieces.  Pressure cook veggies, dlas with the turmeric pwdr for about 25 mins.  Chop the second onion fine.  Saute till golden brown.  Add ground masala and fry well.  Add cooked dals and veggies, salt to taste, required water and mix well.  Simmer for some time.  Garnish with coriander leaves.