Stuffed Green Peppers in Tomato gravy

Cooking Time: 45 mins                                                   Servings: 6

Preparation Time: 20 mins                                             Category: Maincourse, Veg

 

Stuffed Bell Peppers is one of several stuffed vegetable dishes in Indian cuisine. It consists of bell peppers stuffed with cooked mashed potatoes and seasoned with chili, turmeric, coriander, cilantro, salt and lemon juice (optional). The peppers are then either browned in a Tawa (frying pan) or baked in an oven until the peppers are soft.

 

The recipe does not call for a gravy, but surely you can get creative and use a tomato based gravy to serve it with rice or any Indian bread. I also used little bit of kaju and khus khus to give the gravy the smoothness and rich texture. Here is the recipe:-

 

Ingredients:

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Capsicum/Bell peppers - 6

Alu/Potatoes - 2

Stuffed Green Peppers in Tomato gravy

Slit Green Chillys - 6

Khus Khus/Poppy seeds - 1 Tbsp

Kaju/Cashew nuts - 1 Tbsp

Tomatoes - 3

Onions - 2 small

Finely Chopped Mint leaves  - 1/2 cup

Finely Chopped Cilantro/Coriander - 1 cup

Finely chopped green chillies - 2

Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 Tbsp

Red chilly powder - 1 tsps

Kasuri Methi - 2 tsp

Saunf powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chat masala - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Cooking oil - 2 Tbsps

Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp (you can add more if you need the dish to be more spicy)

 

Preparation Method:

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Stuffing and cooking bell peppers:
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• Cut the top of the bell peppers and remove all the seeds inside and keep them aside.
• Boil potatoes and when done peel off its skin.
• Mash them and add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1/2 tsp turmeric, chopped green chillies, chat masala, salt to taste and 1/2 tsp coriander powder.
• Mix well and now stuff the bell peppers with this potato mix.
• Heat 2 tsps of oil in a pan and place the stuffed bell peppers gently in it. Roast it well, close the pan and simmer it for few mins.
• Make sure the peppers are not over cooked. This can be done using a fork/tooth pick. Pierce and see if the fork is easily passing through the bell peppers which means they are cooked properly. If over cooked, they become very soft and the peppers tend to fall aside.
• Once done, take them out of the pan and keep them aside.

For the gravy/curry:

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• Dry roast khus-khus, kaju for few mins. Blend them along with tomatoes and mint leaves to a fine paste.
• Dice onions into very small pieces,heat oil in a vessel and saute them until they turn golden brown.
• Add ginger garlic paste and crush kasuri methi into a thick powder and add it too. Stir and cook for couple of mins.
• Now add the paste and mix well. Keep stirring at regular intervals so that the gravy doesnt stick to the bottom of the vessel.
• Once the gravy comes to boil add chilli powder, salt to taste, a pinch of turmeric, saunf powder.
• Mix well and let the gravy simmer for about 15-20 mins. We need to make sure that the khus khus smell is completely gone and the gravy is properly cooked.
• Then add the stuffed bell peppers gently to the gravy and cooked for 5 more mins.
• Turn off the stove and take the bell peppers into a servering vessel and pour the gravy on top of it.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with phulkas/rotis/chapathis or ghee rice, peas pulav, veg biryani, jeera rice etc

 

Naatu Kodi Koora

Cooking Time: 45 mins                                                    Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 15 mins                                              Category: Maincourse, Non-Veg


"Natu Kodi" means country/village chicken. Compared to the regular broiler chicken available in market, this one has a strong and unqiue flavor. The country chicken curry is very famous across many villages of south Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Generally, this dish is prepared using clay pot as it is considered to be hygenic, pure and healthy and it also adds the strong essence to this dish's flavor. This dish is exclusively prepared for "Sankranti/Pongal" festival.
In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the clay pot used for cooking is called a chatti. This is usually used in the villages by the working classes, especially for cooking heavily spiced, hot fish & meat curries in traditional style. In many Hyderabad restaurants, the famouse biryani is prepared and served in clay pots.
Here is the recipe:



Naatu Kodi Koora

Ingredients:
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Natu Kodi/Country Chicken - 1 kg
Green chillies - 6
Onions - 4
Tomatoes - 4
Curry leaves - 10
Mint/Pudina - 1 stick
Coriander/Cilantro - 2 sticks
Red Chilli powder - 1 Tbsp
Salt - per taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 Tbsp
Cooking oil - 4 Tbsps


For the chicken masala powder
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Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tsps
Red Chillies - 8
Black Peppercorns - 6
Cardamom - 2
Heat a pan and dry roast all the masala ingredients and then blend them into a fine powder.

Marinade:
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Wash chicken thoroughly and take it in a vessel. Make sure there is no water at all. Now add turmeric, chilli powder, salt, ginger garlic paste, a table spoon of curry masala and a tsp of oil to it. Mix it well and let it marinade for 1/2 hr.

Preparation Method:

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• Dice onions and cut tomatoes into small pieces. Then finely chop mint and coriander leaves and keep them aside.
• Take a cooking vessel and heat oil in it. Add diced onions to it and cook until it turns golden brown.
• Add sliced green chilles and then tomatoes to it. Stir it well until onions and tomatoes are properly cooked and becomes like a thick gravy.
• Now add the marinated chicken to it and mix the dish very well. Simmer it until all the water released by chicken is evaporated.
• Add chopped mint leaves, remaining curry masala powder (chilli powder, if required). Mix it well and cook for 10 mins
• Add 4 cups of water, mix the dish and let it cook for another 10 mins on high flame.
• Once is chicken is properly cooked, turn off the stove and add garam masala powder.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with plain rice, roti, chapati, biryani etc.

Bisi Bele Bath

Cooking Time: 1 Hr                                         Servings:  4
Preparation Time: 30 mins                              Category: Main course, Veg

Bisi bele baath is a rich rice-based main course dish with its origins in the state of Karnataka, India. Bisi-bele-baath translates to hot-lentil-rice in the Kannada language. It is also known as Bisi bele huliyanna. The traditional preparation of this dish is quite elaborate and involves the use of spicy masala, toor dal (a type of lentil) and vegetables. Spices like nutmeg and asafoetida, curry leaves and tamarind pulp used in its preparation contribute to the unique flavour and taste of this dish. It is served hot and sometimes eaten along with salad, papad or potato chips. This dish is commonly found in restaurants that serve the Udupi cuisine. The masala used for the dish is available off the shelf too but I prefer preparing at home fresh. Here is the recipe:-
 



Bisi Bele Baath

Ingredients:
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Rice - 150 gms
Toor Dal - 150 gms
Green Peas - 50 gms
Potatoes - 100 gms
Beans - 100 gms
Carrots - 100 gms
Capsicum - 50 gms
Salt - as per taste
Tamarind pulp/paste - 4 Tbsps
Vegetables Optional - We can also use drumsticks, eggplants (brinjal) and kabuli chana


For Masala Powder
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Chana dal- 1 Tbsp
Urad Dal- 1 Tbsp
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 3 Tbsp
Dry Coconut(Copra) - 1 Big
Rice grains - 2 tsp
Dry red chillies - 10 (you can reduce or increase per your taste)
Cloves - 4
Cardamoms - 2
Cinnamon - 3 (1-inch pieces)
 
For Seasoning
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Ghee - 3 Tbsps
Curry leaves - 6 to 8
Green chillies sliced - 4
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Jeera - 2 tsp
Red chillies - 6
Cashewnuts - 2 Tbsps
 

Preparation Method:

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• Dice all the vegetables into medium pieces and keep them aside.
• Heat a pan and dry roast all the ingredients for the masala one by one for 2 mins (each). Blend all together to a fine masala powder and keep it aside.
• Take a vessel and add about a litre of water and heat it. Add all the vegetables and let it come to a boil.
• When these vegetables are half cooked, add toor dal and rice and boil until it is cooked.
• Then add salt to taste, tamarind pulp to it and cook for some more time.
• The consitency of the dish should be semi-liquid so add water if it is required.
• Add the masala powder and stir well until rice & dal absorbs all of it.
• When it is cooked turn off the stove and keep the dish aside.
• For seasoning, take a pan and heat ghee in it. Then add mustard, jeera, green & red chillies, curry leaves and cashewnuts and roast it for couple of mins.
• Add this to the dish, garnish with chopped coriander, ghee and serve hot with potato chips.