Flavours Of India

The South Indian food is loved by folks because of their simple preparation techniques and the nutrition value which remains intact in their recipes. You can prepare quickly some South Indian recipes without compromising the taste, aroma and nutrition of food. All you need is to arrange the ingredients of the required recipes. Remember, the South Indian Food are very much taste oriented and if you minus one ingredient, perhaps there may be some chance of mission the origin flavor of it. For example a lot people prepare dosa a popular dish of south India without fenugreek seeds in them which reduce the taste of the dosa to a large extent.

Here are few simple yet healthy recipes of South India Food which you can prepare in your home in no time.

Carrot Rice

This is a yummy dish of South India Cuisine and served as quick breakfast or lunch at homes.

The ingredients:
2 cups of basmati rice cooked well. 1 cup of fresh carrot grated and 1 onion chopped finely. 2 green chillies, ½ cuped boiled peas, 1 tabsp urad dal, 1 tbsp cashew nuts, 1 tbsp mustard seeds, salt to taste, ½ tbsp red chilly powder, ½ tbsp turmeric powder, 4 tbsp lemon juice, coriander leaves, oil for cooking and little bit of cumin.

Take a shallow pan and heat 2 tbspoon of oil. Add the mustard seeds, when they strart spluttering add the urad dal and cashew nuts. Sauté the mixture in oil in low flame till they are brown in color and add turmeric powder, chilly powder, and salt. Now mix the grated carrot and boiled peas and sprinkle with water. Keep the pan cover in low flame till the carrots are tender. Now add lemon juice and add the boiled rice to the pan. With a cooking spoon mix the rice well with the stuff in the pan. Cook for another 3-4 minutes in medium flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. The delicious carrot rice is ready.

Chettinad Chicken

This chicken recipe is very popular throughout India because of its preparation style and nutrition value.

The ingredients:
1 kg of chicken washed can cut into bite pieces. Ginger garlic paste, 2 onions chopped, 1 ½ tsp black peppercorns, 1 ½ tsp white poppy seeds, 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 twigs of curry leaves, 2 tbsp fennel seeds, 4 green chillies, salt to taste, 1 tbsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp chilly powder, cooking oil, 1 tomato mashed properly and coriander leaves for garnishing.

Smear the chicken pieces in salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder and little oil properly. Heat the oil in a large shallow pan, add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, chopped onion, and fry till they are brown in color. Add the black peppercorns, poppy seeds, green chilies, curry leaves to it and sauté the spices properly. Keep the mixture aside and now add the remaining onion and ginger garlic paste to the oil and fry till they are brown in color. Add the smashed tomato, coriander powder, sauted spices, and rest of powders of turmeric and chilly. Mix the mixture well and if require sprinkle water over it. Now add the chicken and add salt for taste. Fry the mixture in medium flame for at least 6 minutes. Pour some amount of water and cover the lid of the pan and cook for 15 minutes. The gravy would turn almost dry. When the chicken becomes tender and the gravy quite thick put off the flame and cover the lid for another 5 minutes. The Chettinad chicken is ready to be served with hot bun or rice.

Protein rich pulses are a must in the Indian meal because they offer much of the nutritional material required for the upkeep of our body system at a lower cost-they are substantially cheaper than meats. you will find all variety of pulses, here in India, from whole to spilt pulses like sabat urad (whole black gram), chana dal (spilt Bengal gram) with or without skin, lentils like arhar dal (red gram) and dried beans like rajma (kidney beans).listed below are some delicious recipes made from such pulses which forms a very part of Indian culture.

Tuvar dal (red gram) in Gujarati style

Ingredients:
7 cups water;1 ½ cups oily red gram washed;1 tsp turmeric powder;5 ½ tsp salt;1 tsp red chili powder;1 ½ tbsp coriander powder;65 gms jaggery crushed;1 medium chopped tomato;5 green chilies slit;7 pieces cocum washed;2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped

For tempering:
2 tbsp vegetable oil;1 tsp mustard seeds; ½ tsp cumin seeds;2 whole dry red chilies; 1 sprig curry leaves ;1 large pinch of asafetida

Method:

1. Pour 4 cups water into cooker. Add red gram, turmeric powder and salt. Stir once.

2. Close cooker. Bring to full pressure on high heat. Reduce heat and cook for 3 minutes.

3. Remove cooker from heat. Allow to cool naturally.

4. Open cooker. Mash dal well with back of a ladle to blend with liquid.

5. Place cooker with dal on high heat. Add remaining water (3 cups) and all other ingredients except those for tempering.

6. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7. For tempering, heat oil in a pan for about 1 minute. Add mustard and cumin seeds. When crackling, add red chilies, curry leaves and asafetida. Stir for a few seconds and pour over dal. Stir and serve hot.

Sambhar

Ingredients:
11/2 tbsp vegetable oil;6 whole dry red chilies;3 whole dry red chilies(Kashmiri);1 tbsp Bengal rgam;1 cm. piece asafetida;1/2 cup grated coconut grated;2 sprigs curry leaves;1/4 cup coriander seeds;1/2 tsp cumin seeds;1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds;5 ½ cups water;1 cup red gram washed;1/2 tsp turmeric powder;4 tsp salt;25 gms tamarind soaked in 1 cup hot water for 15 minute and pulp extracted; 1 medium onion chopped into 5 pieces;2 drumsticks peeled and cut into 5cm.long pieces

For tempering:
2 tbsp vegetable oil; 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan for about 1 minute and roast together whole chilies, Bengal gram,asafetida,coconut,1 sprig curry leaves, coriander, cumin and fenugreek seeds till coconut turns golden brown.

2. Grind roasted ingredients into a paste, adding a little water (1/2 cup) from time to time. Now pour 3 cups water into cooker. Add red gram, turmeric powder and salt. Stir once. Close cooker .bring to complete pressure on high heat. Reduce heat and cook for 4 minutes. Then remove cooker from heat .allow to cool naturally.

3. Open cooker. Mash dal completely with black of a ladle to blend with liquid. Add round paste, tamarind pulp, onion, drumsticks, remaining curry leaves (1 sprig) and water (2 cups).stir once.

4. Close cooker. Bring to full pressure on high heat. Remove cooker immediately from heat. Reduce pressure by placing cooker in a basin of cold water for about 2 minutes. Open cooker.

5. For tempering, heat oil in a pan with mustard seeds, when they starts to crackle, pour into sambhar. Stir and serve hot