Mushroom Garlic Fry

Ingredients:
1. Mushroom - 1/2 pound
2. Garlic - 3 cloves
3. Oil - 1 tsp
4. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Salt to taste

Method:
1. Make long slices of mushrooms and small pieces of garlic.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add sliced mushrooms, garlic, salt to taste and pepper powder.
Fry until all the water from mushroom evaporates.

Carrot Beans Thoran

Ingredients:
1. Carrot - 1 no.
2. Beans - around 20 nos.
3. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
4. Curry leaves - few
5. Red chillies - dried - 1 no.
6. Cocunut - grated - 2 tbsp
7. Oil - 1/2 tsp
8. Salt to taste

Method:
1. Cut carrot and beans in small pieces.

2. Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds and then add red chillies, curry leaves followed by carrot & beans. Add salt to taste and fry on medium flame for 10 mins.

3. Just before turning off the stove add grated coconut and serve as a side dish with rice.

Boondi Ladoo

Ingredients:
1. Gram flour/Besan - 1 cup
2. Sugar - 1 and 1/2 cup
3. Water - 2 cup
4. Cardamom - 3 nos. crushed
5. Cloves - 3 nos. crushed
6. Cashew nuts - 10 nos.
7. Raisins - 2 tbsp
8. Salt - a pinch
9. Oil for deep frying

Method:
1. Mix gram flour in 3/4 cup of water. The batter must be of dosa batter consistency.

2. For sugar syrup: Add sugar to 1 cup of water along with cardamom and cloves and boil until the sugar solution slightly thickens. Make sure you turn off the stove when the sugar syrup thickens. It took me 7 mins(after the solution started to boil) to thicken on a high flame. Overheating will crystallize the sugar syrup and you will not be able to make ladoos with it.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Pour the batter in a perforated ladle(shown below) by keeping the ladle just above the oil. Boondi formed should be fried for a minute. Remove from oil and put in sugar syrup.

4. After you make all the boondi, add cashew nuts, raisins and a pinch of salt to soaked boondi and give it a good mix.

5. Start making the ladoos when is slightly warm and store in a air tight container.

Mixture

This is South Indian way of making mixture which I learnt from my mother. I made this for this Deepavali. I suggest you must also try this savory and enjoy it with a cup of hot tea/coffee.

Ingredients:
1. Gram flour/Besan - 2 cups
2. Red chilli powder - 3 tsp
3. Asafoetida - around 5 piches
4. Groundnuts - 1/4 cup
5. Curry leaves - 2 tbp
6. Garlic - 3 nos.
7. Beaten rice - 1/4 cup
8. Oil for deep frying
9. Salt to taste

Method:
1. Mix gram flour, 2 tsp chilli powder, asafoetida and 1 tsp salt(or according to your taste) with water and knead it into a soft dough(just like the one for chapathi).

2. For omapodi: Fill the dough in mixture press and squeeze it into hot oil. Fry until the mixture turns light golden brown. I made the omapodi with different types of plates of mixture press(small holes, large holes and flat ones).

3. Deep fry the beaten rice in the same oil and keep aside.

4. In a different pan add 1 tbsp of oil and fry ground nuts, curry leaves, garlic(thinly sliced). Add a pinch of asafoetida, salt and 1 tsp chilli powder to this and turn off the stove. Add beaten rice and crushed omapodi to this and mix well.

5. Let the mixture cool down completely and then store in a air tight container.

Dal Curry

Ingredients:
1. Dal - 1/2 cup
2. Onion - 1 medium sized
3. Tomato - 1 medium sized
4. Green chillies - 3 nos.
5. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Red chillies - dried - 1 no.
7. Asafoetoda powder - a pinch
8. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
10. Curry leaves - few
11. Oil - 1 tsp
12. Salt to taste

Method:
1. Pressure cook dal with salt, turmeric powder and 1 cup water.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, cumin seeds, red chillies and asafoetida and fry for a minute.

3. Add onions, tomato, green chillies and curry leaves and fry for another 5 minutes. Add mashed dal and cook with lid on for another 10 minutes on low flame.

Dal curry can be served hot with white rice and a tsp of ghee.

Methi Muttar Curry

Ingredients:
1. Methi leaves - 1 cup
2. Green peas - 1 cup (frozen)
3. Onion - 1 small finely chopped
4. Tomato - 1 large finely chopped
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
6. Green chillies - 1 no. chopped
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
10. Asafoetida - a pinch
11. Oil - 1 tsp
12. Coriander leaves - little for garnishing
13. Salt

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, asafoetida, followed by chopped onions and methi leaves and fry for 5 mins on medium flame.

2. Add ginger-garlic paste, chopped tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt to taste and fry until oil separates.

3. Finally add green peas and cook for 10 mins on low flame.

4. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This dish is ideal with chapathi.

Kumbalanga Pachadi

This is a side dish made of winter melon also known as Kumbalanga in Malayalam.

Ingredients:
1. Winter melon - 2 cups
2. Yogurt - 1/2 cup
3. Coconut - 1/2 cup
4. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
5. Dried red chillies - whole - 1 no.
6. Curry leaves - few
7. Green chillies - 1 no.
8. Cocunut oil - 1 tsp
9. Salt to taste

Method:
1. Boil long sliced winter melon with salt to taste in 1/2 cup water till they become soft. Remove them stove, drain off the water and let it cool for sometime.

2. Meanwhile coarsely grind 1/4 tsp mustard seeds and smooth paste of coconut and green chillies.

3. Add ground mustard, coconut and green chillies to winter melon.

4. Mix thoroughly and then add beaten yogurt.

5. Season with 1/4 tsp mustard, curry leaves and dried red chillies.