As time progresses..

I just wanted to update a couple of recipes here. These are ones that I made well in the first place (else I wudnt have posted at all!!). However, recently I find myself improving every time i make them.  These improvements are both photographic as well as culinary!
however, I’m just posting the photograpic evidence… will wait for technology to provide the culinary proof!! 😉

• Thotakura pulusu-kura

• Thin Crust Pizza

Wishing everyone a happy new gastronomic year!!

Thotakura Pulusu-kura

Thotakura (amaranth) is one of the most versatile leafy vegetables used in Andhra cuisine. You can make regular thotakura pappu, thotakura teeya pappu or, you can make yet another variation: thotakura pulusu-kura. 🙂

Thotakura pulusu-kura

The recipe is pretty straight-forward. But the best part is that it tastes better the next day! So always make a bit more… so that there’s enough for the next day too! 🙂

Ingredients:

• Thotakura – 1 large bunch or 2 small bunches
• 8 green chillies
• lime-sized piece of tamarind
• 2 onions or inguva (hing)
  • Hing negates the taste of onion. So they are never used together
  • Onions to be peels and kept whole or cut across the width so as to keep the shape.
• menthulu (fenugreek) – 1 tsp
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• pinch of turmeric
• Tadka: aavalu(mustard), mina pappu (urad dal), menthulu(fenugreek), dry red chilli

Method:

• Wash and chop the thotakura leaves as much as possible.

wash and chop the thotakura

• Add all ingredients except chilli powder and tadka, and cook

mix well, but not too much! 🙂

• Take care not to mash the onions.
  • In case of cooking in a pressure cook, boil the onions separately. The remaining ingredients can all be put into the cooker.
• Once the whole pulusu-kura is cooked, Take the onions out and add chilli powder. Mix well.
• In a tadka pan, heat 1 tsp oil and add the tadka.
• Once it start popping, add to the pulusu-kura and mix well.
• Add the onions back and let it cook for a few minutes more.

Serve hot with rice and ghee, and enjoy the burst of flavours! 🙂

 

Thotakura Teeya Pappu (Sweet Amaranth Dal)

I learnt about this particular dal at my In-laws house. When I first heard the name, I was taken aback. why would one want to add sugar to  dal? That was pretty unheard of, and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to try it. However, once I tasted it, it sure was a very pleasant surprise, without the addition of any sugar! This dish now takes pride of place on my table most weekends!

This weekend, I had a new crop of amaranth in my home garden, so that’s what I made! 🙂

Fresh Thotakura from my garden

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pesara pappu (moong dal)
1 bunch of thotakura (amaranth leaves)
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of inguva (hing, asafoetedia)
pinch of turmeric
Tadka: avalu (mustard seeds), mina pappu (urad dal), red chilli

Method:

• Cook the dal, chopped leaves, salt and turmeric till the dal is completely done and the amaranth leaves have cooked and mixed with the dal.
• Take off the flame
• In a wok, heat some oil with the tadka, add hing and add to the dal.
• Mix well with the dal

in a bed of hot rice 🙂

This dal is best served hot with rice and a spicy subzi to off-set the sweetness! 🙂