Pappu Charu /Spiced stew with lentils

If I had to name one dish that makes its way into every home in the Telangana regions, it has to be this spicy, masalafied, pappu charu. It is the comfort food of the region and is easily loved by anyone and everyone. Not only does this dish taste wonderful but it also smells amazing during the entire process of  its making. Here is what I understood and learned when my mother in law cooked it for us. Hope you all can make it and enjoy it!

Ingredients (approximate measurements):

Oil

1 Onion sliced

Curry leaves - 2 stems

Cilantro - half a bunch

Mint - 1-2 stems

Green chillies chopped - 5

Turmeric

Salt

Red chilli powder

1/2 tsp sugar

4-5 Garlic chopped

3-4 inches of ginger grated

Masala powder (contains Coriander, Elaichi, Cloves, Cinnamon, etc)

1 cup Toor dal boiled

Mustard seeds

Cumin seeds

1 Lemon sized tamarind soaked and strained

4 cups of water

Procedure: 
1. First cook the Toor dal in a pressure cooker and keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a deep bottom vessel and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and green chillies. After a few seconds add the onions, mint leaves and some of the curry leaves and cook till the onions have become translucent.
3. Add the ginger and garlic at the same time and stir till the raw smell disappears.

4. Now add the cooked dal into the vessel and mix/roast it in with the onion mixture for 2 minutes. This step will help the dal absorb the taste of what is present in the mixture.
5. After the dal has been roasted, add the tamarind extract and add the water along with it. Also, add salt, sugar, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and the masala powder at this time.

6. Close the lid and let the stew/charu/pulusu boil well.
7. While the stew is boiling add the rest of the curry leaves. This step lets you experience the fresh smell the of curry leaves even better.

8. Once the stew is boiled and reaches the semi-solid consistency, you can add the cilantro for garnishing and eat the prepared stew with warm rice and papad.

Spicy Beerakaya masala kura / Ridge gourd masala curry

I'm not sure what it was but I had made it my goal to turn some of the boring or not so like-able vegetables into something desirable. Maybe it was due to the fact that using the most common vegetables everyday became a little boring after all.  So anyways, here I was staying at my friend Swathi's place in Atlanta and saw her making Beerakaya (Ridge gourd) one night for dinner. My first thought was "yikes"! But then, having tasted her other dishes I was confident she was going to turn this into something yummy so I paid close attention to her cooking and learned the dish. I definitely tweaked it to suit my style and thought I would share my recipe here. 

Ingredients: 

2 Beerakayas peeled and chopped

2 Medium sized onions chopped

1 bunch mint leaves

4 Green chillies chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp masala powder / corriander powder

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tbsp oil

Salt as needed

Procedure: 

1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, green chillies and mint leaves. After 30 seconds, add the chopped onions. 

2. Once the onions are translucent, add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste.  

3. Soon after step 2, add the beerakaya pieces, add salt and close the pan for a couple of minutes. 

4. The beerarkaya will soften fairly quickly and you may cook it till it softens and till any water produced has evaporated. You may take off the lid once the vegetable has softened/cooked as per your judgement. 

5. Finally add the garam masala powder or any other powders you generally like to use. 

6. The dish is ready to be served, with rice or roti :)

Masala Karam/ Spicy Masala stuffing (powder)

This is a powder I learned from my Mother-in law and loved it instantly. I use it in quite a few of my recipes like: stuffed eggplant, stuffed Ivy gourd (Dondakaya), stuffed Karela (Bitter gourd) or even just to sprinkle it on top of curries like potatoes, okra and others. I find this to be very easy and simple because it doesn't require any form of roasting and you can make it anytime and store it for later use. Also, keep in mind that this powder is meant to be pretty spicy!

Ingredients:

Coriander seeds - 2 cups
Dry coconut powder - 3/4 cup
Garlic cloves - 8
Red chilli powder - 3-4 tsps (based on how spicy your powder is)
Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. All you have to do is put all the above ingredients in a blender and grind them into a powder. The powder will be somewhat coarse so, don't wait for it to become very fine.
2. No need to roast any of the ingredients :)
3. Just store the powder and you can use it for any of the recipes mentioned above.

Variation: if you are planning to use this powder instantly for one time use, reduce the quantity accordingly and add onions to the mixture before blending it. But in this case, it will be a paste and you should make sure it cooks well along with the vegetables. It's equally delicious and brings great flavor and aroma.