Aaloo paalak (Potato spinach) and other Sabjis , North indian style

Ingredients:

-Garlic (3 pieces, finely chopped)
-Green chilli (2 medium size, cut into medium slices)
-Onion (1/2 large onion, finely chopped)
-Potato (1 large or 2 small, peel skin cut into medium size cubes)
- Tomato (1 large, finely chopped)
-Paalak (Frozen spinach, one pack)
-Red chilli powder (1/4 tsp)
-Turmeric powder (1/4 tsp)
-Salt (to taste)
-Ghee or cooking oil

For tadka
-Ghee (1/2 tsp)
-Jeera (cumene seed, 1/4 tsp)
-Mustard seed (1/4 tsp)
-Onion (1/2 onion, thin slices)

Procedure:
- Heat ghee or oil in a pan
- Add finely chopped garlic and sliced green chillies and cook for a minute or two
- Add finely chopped onion and cook on medium-high to high heat for few minutes until onions turn golden brown (keep stirring ocassionally)
- Add cubes of cut potato and cook for few mins in medium high heat. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt and cook for few mins
- Add chopped tomato and cover the pan with a lid and cook for few mins
- Add the frozen spinach to the pan and 1 cup of water and cover the pan and cook in medium heat
- Open the lid every few mins and stir the preparation, and make sure there is sufficient water. If you notice that subji is becoming dry or sticking to the pan, add more water
- Close the lid and keep cooking and stirring until the potatoes are fully cooked
- You can check if potates are cooked by checking the softness with a spoon. once fully cooked, switch off the heat

Tadka:
-Heat ghee in a pan
- Add jeera and mustard seeds and allow them to pop
- Add sliced onions and cook in medium high heat until the onions turn golden brown
- Add tadka to Aaloo palak

Variation:
You can use this recipe for preparing any sabji. You can use ginger-garlic paste instead of garlic, or you can skip garlic if you don't like garlic. Istead of Spinach, you can substitue other vegetables like beans, cabbage, Cauliflower etc.

Panner-pyaz (Onion-paneer)

Recipe courtesy: Rahul Bhatia

This is a really simple but tasteful sabji that you can prepare when you don't have much time.

Ingredients:

*Paneer (Chop into small cubes)
*Onion (Chop into small pieces)
*Jeera (1/4 tsp)
*Mustard seeds (1/4 tsp)
*Green chillies (1, slice lenghtwise)
*Red chilli powder (1/4 tsp)
* Turmeric powder (1/4 tsp)
* Salt (to taste)
* Cooking oil or ghee

Procedure:

* Heat oil or ghee in a pan
* Add Jeera, mustard seeds and green chilli and heat until the mustard seeds pop
* Add finely chopped onion to the pan and cook until it turns golden brown
* Add paneer cut into small cubes. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt and mix well.
* Close the lid of the pan and cook for few minutes.
* Stir well and cook until paneer is fully cooked.
* Serve with Chappati

Tomato Thayir Pacchidi

Recipe courteousy Rajesh Partha

Ingredients: (for two to three people)

-Tomato (2 medium size)
-Mustard seed (1/2 tsp)
-Urad dal (1 tsp)
-Chana dal (1 tsp)
-Green chilli (2-3 small)
-Yogurt
-Salt to taste

Procedure:
-Heat oil in pan
-Add mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, cut green chillis and heat until mustard seeds pop
-Add chopped tomatoes to the pan and heat for a few mins
-Cook until the tomatoes become soft and paste like
-Remove from fire and let the paste cool down
-once the prepartion is cool add yogurt and salt to taste (if you add yogurt before it cools down, the yogurt will start separating (tirunjidum))
- Store in refrigrator and serve cool

Rava Dosa

Ingredients
--------------
Rava 1 cup
either maida or rice flour (optional) -3/4 cup
Green chilli -1
ginger - finely chopped(optional)
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Jeera
Yogurt
Salt to taste

Procedure
------------
-Add water and 2 tbspn of yogurt to Rava and rice flour, and make into a batter with consistensy similar to a dosa batter, but slightly thinner
- cut onion, green chilli, ginger into very small pieces and mix well with the batter along with a tsp of jeera
- Heat the tava and pour 1-2 karandi of batter onto the hot tava in a circular fashion starting from the circumference to the center of the circle.
- Add oil around the dosa and in any vent holes that form
- Invert the dosa and cook the other side
- Try to make the dosa cripsy for better cooking and taste

Rava dosa is ready to serve

Sambar

Ingredients
-------------
* Vegetables: (One of )Onion, Potato etc
* Tamarind (Can substitute tomato instead of tamarind)
* Tomato -2 (optional)
* Sambar powder (contains red chilli powder, dhania powder, turmeric)
* Toor dal
* curry leaves
* Salt to taste
* Hing powder (asofoetida)
*Mustard Seed (1/2 tsp)
*Jeera (cumene) seeds (1/2 tsp)


Procedure
-----------
-Pressure cook dal
--Soak small piece of tamarind in water and strain out tamarind and use the water
--Add vegetables to tamarind water and heat with sambar powder, salt, hing (perungaya podi or asofoetida powder), curry leaves and bring to boil
--Add cooked dal to the boling sambar
-- Prepare tadka (talichhu kottu = heat oil and add jeera and mustard seed until they pop and add cut tomatoes -optional). Turn off fire when tomatoes are cooked (if you are not using tomatoes, turn off fire as soon as mustard seed and jeera (cumene) start popping), and add cilantro.
-- Add above tadka  to sambar.

Idly Chutney

The difference between Tuvayal and chutney is that in Chutney you do not use any oil

Ingredients
--------------
Cocunut - 1/4 cup
Pottu kadlai (Roasted chana) - 1/2 cup (twise of cocunut)
Inji (Ginger) - 1 inch piece
Paccha mologa (Green chilli) - 2-3
Puli(Tamarind)- small amount
Uppu (Salt)

Procedure
---------
Blend all the ingredients with water into a paste. Add tadka. Simple!

Togayal (Tuvayal) - South indian style

Ingredients
---------------
Urad dal- 3 tsp
Red chillies - 2-3
Hing powder - pinch
Tamarind
Vegetable to be used: (One of ) Cilantro, Karuvapulla (curry leaves), Cabbage, Onion, Cocunut, Chow chow, Zuccini, Tomato


Procedure
----------
--Fry urad dal, red chillies, hing powder in oil until dal is golden brown
--Remove contents from oil and in remaining oil saute the cut vegetables and heat until cooked**
**In case of tomato, put full tomato, in case of cilantro or curry leaves switch off the fire before putting in pan and just cook for few seconds
--allow to cool and make a paste of veggies and the masala items in a blender with salt and small amount of tamarind

variation: Instead of tamarind, you can substitute with a full tomato