Dosavakaya (Round yellow cucumber Pickle)

Ingredients:

• Dosakaya (Round yellow Cucumber) - 1 No.
• Mustard seed powder - roasted and finely powdered - 1/4 Cup
• Red chilly powder 1/4 cup
• Salt 1/4 cup
• Oil
• Pinch of turmeric

Preparation:

Cut the yellow cucumber (Dosakaya) into very small pieces without peeling the skin off.

Make a mixture of aava pindi ( mustard seed powder), red chilly powder, salt and turmeric with oil. To this mixture add the Dosakaya pieces. Let it be for 1 day and then add some more oil if necessary. Check the sourness and if its not enough add some lime juice to it.

Serve with rice. Also it can be mixed with mudda pappu (Dal). It tastes really good.

Thotakura Kura (Amaranth Leaves curry)

Ingredients:

• Thotakura (Amaranth leaves) - 2 bunches
• Green chillies 4-5 Nos.
• Ginger - 1 in. piece
• Cumin (Jeera) Powder - 1 tsp.
• Coriander (Dhaniya) Powder - 1 tsp.
• Gummadi vadiyalu (pumpkin chips)
• Salt to taste
• Mustard seeds
• Urad dal (Split black dal)
• Cumin seeds
• Dried red chillies

Preapration:

Wash Thotakura leaves properly and chop them nicely. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal, dried red chillies and jeera. Let them splutter and then add the chopped green chillies and ginger. Fry it for a minute and then add the chopped thotakura leaves. Add salt and let it cook by covering the lid.

Once cooked, add jeera powder and dhaniya powder. Fry the gummadi odiyalu (pumpkin chips)separatley and add them to the curry. When odiyalu are added to the curry, they become soft and tender. If you dont like it that way you can always keep them separately and eat along with the curry.

P.S. To make it more spicy add more green chillies. Serve hot with rice.

Menthi majjiga (Seasoned Buttermilk)

Ingredients:

• Majjiga (Yogurt drink, buttermilk) - 1/2 lt.
• Chopped green chillies - 2 nos.
• Pinch of turmeric
• Curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• Cilantro

Seasoning:

• Ghee
• Fenugreek seeds (Mentulu) - 3 or 4 seeds
• Mustard seeds (avalu)
• Jeera (Cumin)
• Ajwan seeds (vamu, bishop's weed) - 1tsp.
• Asafoetida (inguva)
• Dried red chillies

Preparation:

Add salt, turmeric, cilantro and curry leaves to the "majjiga". Add chopped green chillies. Heat ghee and first put fenugreek seeds until dark. Then add the rest of the tadka ingredients sequentially. Serve along with plain dal (mudda pappu).

Palakura pappu (Spinach dal)

Ingredients:

• Moong Dal (pesara pappu, Split green gram) - 1/2 cup
• Chana Dal (senaga pappu, Split black gram) - 2 Tb. sp.
• Spinach - 1 bunch
• Green chillies
• Tamarind (paste)
• Red chilly powder (karam)
• Cilantro
• Jaggery (very small piece)
• Salt to taste

Seasoning:

• Oil - 1 tsp.
• Urad dal (minappappu, split black gram)
• Mustard seeds (avalu)
• Asaefotida (hing, inguva)

Preparation:

Wash spinach thoroughly and chop it. Pressure cook dals (moong and chana) and spinach. Grind salt, green chillies, cilantro and tamarind to a paste. Add the paste to the cooked dal. Add jaggery and red chilly powder. Do the tadka and add it to the dal. Serve hot with rice and a fry curry.

Nimmakaya Charu (Lemon Rasam, Lemon lentil Soup)

Ingredients:

• Lemons – 1 no.
• Tomato – 2 nos.
• Toor Dal (Kandi pappu, red gram) – 1 cup
• Green chillies (chopped) – 2 small
• Ginger (chopped) – 1in
• Cilantro (chopped)
• Black Pepper (miriyalu) – 1 tsp.
• Jeera (curry)– 1 tsp.
• Pinch of turmeric.
• Salt to taste.

Seasoning (popu, tadka)

• Ghee – 1 tsp.
• Red chillies – 2 no.
• Mustard seeds – ½ tsp.
• Jeera – ½ tsp.

Preparation:

Pressure cook toor dal and tomatoes. Mash the cooked dal. (Note: Remove excess water if any from the cooked dal and add it to the mashed dal). Add 1 cup of water if needed to make it rasam (soup) like. Add green chillies and ginger to the rasam and let it simmer for 5-10 mins.
Powder black pepper and jeera and add it to the rasam. Add turmeric and salt after 5 mins.
Seasoning (tadka, popu): Heat ghee and add the above seasoning sequentially and let the mustard seeds splitter.Add the seasoning to the rasam.
Garnish it with cilantro and let it be.
Squeeze lemon juice to the rasam before serving (note: not while on the stove).