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.

Gongura Pulusu (Sorrel leaves Soup)

Ingredients:

• Gongura Leaves (Sorrel leaves) - 2 bunches
• Garlic - 4-5 Nos.
• Chana Dal (Senagapappu, Bengal gram) - 1 Tbsp.
• Onion Diced - 1 No.
• Green Chillies - 4-5 Nos.
• Chilli Powder - 1 Tbsp.
• Rice Flour (Biyyappindi) - 1 tsp.
• Turmeric pinch
• Salt to tsate

Seasoning:

• Oil
• Dried red chillies
• Mustard seeds
• Hing

Preparation:

Wash the Gongura leaves thoroughly and chop them. Add Onions, salt, Chilli powder, turmeric and green chillies and Chana dal to it. Pressure cook this mixture.

Alternately: Instead of cooking this mixture in the pressure cooker, cook it separately in a sauce pan and dont add chana dal to it. But cook chana dal separately and then add it to the cooked Gongura mixture.

Add rice flour to it by making a paste with water out of the rice flour. Do the seasoning and then fry the garlic pieces separatley and add it to the gongura pulusu.

If the sourness of the gongura pulusu is not enough, add some tamarind juice to it. Serve hot with rice. Tastes very good. Enjoy cooking !!!!!

Capsicum Patoli (Capsicum Curry)

Ingredients:

• Capsicum - 5 Nos.
• Chana dal (SenagaPappu, Bengal gram) - 1/4 Cup
• Moong dal (PesaraPappu, Greengram dal) - 1/4 Cup
• Toor Dal (Kandipappu, red gram) - 1/4 Cup
• Chopped Onion - 1 No.
• Ginger - 1in. piece
• Green Chillies - 2 0r 3
• Oil - 4 tbsp.
• Salt to taste

Seasoning:

• Oil
• Urad dal (Minapappu, Split black dal)
• Mustard seeds (Aavalu)
• Dried Red chillies - 1 No.
• Curry leaves - 5-6 Nos.

Preparation:

Soak Chanadal, Moongdal and Toor dal for 1 hour. Coarsely grind chanadal, moongadal and toordal along with ginger, green chillies and salt. Make sure to put as little water as possible while grinding.

Heat oil in a pan and add uraddal, dried red chillies, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once they start spluttering add the chopped onions and fry till transparent. Add the chopped Capsicum and let it cook with closed lid for a while. Now add the above ground paste and close the lid. Let the patoli cook for about 10 mins. Then remove the lid and fry the curry, until it comes like powdery texture. Add oil if necessary in between. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Patoli is a traditional andhra dish. This same Patoli can be done with other veggies like bachalakura, drumsticks (mulakkada), goruchikkudikaya (Cluster beans), beans and scallions (spring onions).