Biryani.......
Biryani, biriani, beryani or beriani (Hindi: बिरयानी, Telugu: బిర్యాని, Urdu: بریانی) is a set of rice-based foods made with spices, rice (usually basmati) and meat, fish, eggs or vegetables. The name is derived from thePersian word beryā(n) (بریان) which means "fried" or "roasted". In India, the recipe of biryani developed to its current form. Local variants of this dish are popular not only in the Indian Subcontinent but also in Southeast Asia, Arabia, and within various Asian expatriate communities in the Western World.

Lamb Biryani (malabar style)
You will need:
Mutton - 1kg or 2.5 lbs (you can substitute chicken)
Onion – 500 gm or 4 medium ones
Tomato - 200 gm or 2 medium sized ones
Green chilies – 100 gm or about 15 in number (Use 20-25 for 2 kg mutton..depending on the hotness of the chili.)
Ginger - 50 gm or a 4” piece
Garlic pods – 50 gm or 8 cloves (big)
Pepper powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Plain Yogurt- 3/4 cup (thick)
Fennel(Perinjeerakam/Saunf) - 1 tsp
Poppy seeds (Khus khus) - 1 tsp
Mint leaves (Pudhina) - 1/2 bunch
Coriander leaves (Malli ela/Dhania) - 1/2 bunch
Curry leaves- a handful
Lemon juice- 1 1/2 tsp or juice of 1 lemon.
Clarified butter (Ghee) - 1/2cup or 1/4 cup mixed with ¼ cup oil
Cashew nuts – 20 gm or a handful
Raisins- 20 gm or a handful
For the rice:
Basmati rice - 1 kg/ 4 cups
Cinnamon (Karuvapatta) - 4 sticks
Cloves (Carambu) - 4
Cardamom (Elakkai) - 4
One bay leaf, salt.
Lemon juice- 1 1/2 tsp or juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
Biryani Masala:
Cinnamon 2 inch piece
Cardamom 8
Cloves 8-10
Nutmeg 1
bay leaves- 1
Mace 5-6
Caraway seeds 1 tbsp
Star Anise-1
Dry roast all together and grind to a fine powder.
Preparation:
1. Clean the mutton and cut into medium sized pieces. Wash and drain.
2. Soak the fennel seeds and poppy seeds in a bowl with water for an hour at least and grind with very little water to a very fine paste. If it still feels grainy, add a tablespoon of grated coconut to grind it well. Keep aside.
3. Grind together the ginger, garlic and green chilies into a coarse paste. Chop the tomatoes into cubes and slice the onions. One onion should be sliced extra fine. This one is for the fried onion garnish.
4. Marinate the mutton with the ginger garlic chili, and all the other spices and ingredients except the onions, biryani masala and herb leaves. Add salt too and keep covered for an hour at least. Clean and soak rice for 10 minutes. Keep aside.
5. Heat three fourth of the ghee/oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add the garnish portion of the sliced onions and fry, till golden brown and crisp. Sprinkle some sugar over the onions to speed up the crisping. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove the onions and fry the cashew nuts on medium heat till it turns brown on all sides. Drain and remove. Add the raisins now and stir till they plump up. Remove onto paper towels. This ghee/oil is used for flavoring the rice so save it.
6. Heat up the remaining oil and add the rest of the sliced onions and sauté it till it becomes translucent. Add the marinated mutton, the poppy seed mixture, the biryani masala and the coriander, mint and curry leaves and mix thoroughly. Keep it covered and cook on medium heat for an hour, checking frequently till the oil starts to separate and the meat gets almost cooked but still has a bite left. If the mutton normally requires a long cooking time, you can pressure cook it for just one whistle and then simmer on slow heat to concentrate the gravy. Do not add water at all. Check taste and add more salt or yogurt, pepper etc if needed.
7. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
8. Heat 3 tbsp of the remaining onion ghee/oil and add the whole spices- cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves. Sauté for a second and add the drained rice. Stir the rice till it turns opaque and add 6 cups water (three fourth of the quantity required for ghee rice). Cover and cook on slow heat the rice along with all spices and salt, till all the water is absorbed. This would take about 5-8 minutes.
9. In an oven proof dish, spread half of the mutton masala and place half of rice over it. Sprinkle some lemon juice to prevent the rice from sticking. Spread the remaining masala and top it with rice followed by lemon juice. Pour 2 tbsp of ghee/oil on top of it and sprinkle some roasted onion, nuts and raisins. Close it with a layer of aluminum foil and then lid and put it in the oven for 25 - 35 minutes. Remove and let rest for another 5-10 minutes before opening.
10. Serve with coconut chutney (biryani chammandi), Pickled onions (Ulli surka), Yogurt and Papadam.

Raita (yogurt based cucumber) goes with the above dish!

• 3 cups yogurt
• 4 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1 baby cucumber
• 1 tablespoon salt

Directions:

1. Whisk yogurt until smooth and set aside.
2. Grate or dice cucumber. I think grated cucumbers enhance the flavor.
3. In a spice grinder or blender crush the mustard seeds into a powder consistency.
4. Combine yogurt, cucumber, and mustard seeds and set aside for 30 minutes. This lets the flavors blend in and the mustard can do its job.
5. A few minutes before you are ready to serve add the salt. Adjust salt according to your needs. Enjoy!

Rava Kheer

Ingredients:
Rava/Semolina (1 cup)

• Milk (1 cup)
• Sugar (1/2 cup)
• Oil/Ghee/fat (1 tbsp)
• Dry fruits (1/2 cup)
• Water (2 cups)

Method:

1. Heat Ghee/fat in a pan. Roast dry fruits in low flame. Remove the roast dry fruits and keep it aside.
2. Add Rava/Semolina to the same pan and roast it till it become ivory color (off white). Pour water and milk and boil it. Stir it frequently till the rava/semolina cooks. Add sugar and cardamom powder and stir. Garnish with roasted dry fruits.
3. Rava Payasam / Sweet Semolina porridge can be served hot or chilled.

I wanted to share some favourite Brussels sprout recipes to help liven up this traditional Christmas side dish vegetable. This is a love-hate thing and a controversial vegetable. Some people really do hate them. I certainly used to but cooking them well makes such a difference. They are often cooked very badly, by which I mean basically cooked for too long.

Traditional Brussels sprout recipes tended to suggest boiling until soft and squidgy. I even know quite a few people who like them like that. But when cooked for too long, they become mushy and - well basically quite smelly. Like many other brassily vegetables (cabbage is another guilty vegetable) they eventually emit an unpleasant sulphurous odour which also adds a bitter undertone when eaten. But there is no need to cook them for so long. They are delicious when firm and can even be eaten raw in a salad.

Choosing Brussels Sprouts

Choose sprouts with bright green leaves. As they lose their freshness, the outer leaves start to yellow so try to avoid vegetables with yellow outer leaves. Smaller sprouts are more fiddly to prepare but do have the best flavour so these are the ones I go for. Whatever size you choose, I think it's best to use sprouts that are roughly the same size so that they cook evenly.

To Prepare Brussels Sprouts

Trim the ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any outer leaves that are yellow. If they are quite large, you can half them. Wash them well. Traditionally, a cross is often cut at the base of each sprout to ensure even cooking. My grandmother did this religiously but, I have to admit I don't bother and don't find that I have any problems.

Basic Instructions For Cooking Brussels Sprouts

Place the Brussels sprouts in a pot. Just barely cover them in boiling water and cook for about 4-6 minutes. They are also very good steamed. I do this using a simple in-pot steamer. It takes about 6 minutes but will vary depending on their size. I love them this way just sprinkled with a little sea salt and black pepper but for a special meal, here are a few more interesting Brussels sprout recipes. Whichever way you cook them, Brussels sprouts are best served as soon as they are cooked. They cool fast and their texture seems to droop quickly too.

My favourite of all Brussels sprout recipes, for this dish I like to pan-fry the sprouts until just tender, then toss them with buttery, crunchy, golden sliced almonds. Cooking them quickly in a pan with olive oil transforms them to a vibrant green. The flavour is sweet but slightly charred with a tender but still crisp texture.

You Will Need

500g/1lb Brussels sprouts

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
2/3 cup/50g flaked or slivered almonds
Prepare the sprouts as normal and cut them in half. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the sprouts and stir fry for two minutes until they take on a deep green colour.
Stir in 2 tablespoons of water, some salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and cook the Brussels sprouts for a another 3 minutes.
In a separate pan, melt the butter and gently cook the almonds until they start to become golden. Pour the almond mix over the Brussels sprouts and gently stir through. Divine!

Dressing Ingredients

3 tablespoons of tahini
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
150mls/2/3 cup/5 fl oz sunflower oil or peanut oil
2 tablespoons of sesame oil
80mls/1/3 cup/2.75 fl oz soy sauce
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar

For The Chickpea Salad

225g / 1 cup / half pound of dried chickpeas
1 small carrot, grated
1 small green bell pepper or ½ a large
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander, cilantro or flat-leaf Italian parsley
2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds

How To Make The Chickpea Salad

Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of water. Drain and cook in fresh water until soft. This can take anywhere from 30 to an hour. Rinse with cold water when cooked and set aside until cool.
Make the dressing by whizzing together the tahini, garlic, ginger, sunflower and sesame oil, soy sauce and vinegar in a food processor. I like to make this dressing with a food processor or blender because it gives a nice thick and creamy texture but you can just whisk the ingredients together if you prefer. You'll get about 300mls or 1¼ cups of dressing.

Sprout Beans?

It's easy and quick to do at home. Many people wonder how to sprout beans and assume it's a lot of trouble. In fact it couldn't be easier. However some seeds are difficult to sprout the old fashioned way so if you love sprouts, an automatic sprouter is a great buy for the sheer variety they offer. An automatic sprouter can also allow you to very easily grow your own wheat grass.
Whatever way you do it, sprouting beans yourself means sprouts that are fresher, tastier, cheaper and full of nutrients compared to the expensive supermarket varieties. So if you want to know how to sprout beans, read on. Here are some simple steps to home sprouted beans.
You will need:

• A few tablespoons of dried beans, lentils or seeds. I usually use lentils (whole, not split), mung beans or chickpeas (garbanzo beans). These tend to be easier to sprout. You can also use alfalfa or sunflower seeds. Mung beans seem to be the easiest beans of all to sprout so you might want to start with those.
If you can, buy seeds or beans that are sold specifically as sproutable. There are some excellent sprouting mixes available which I think are well worth buying. They tend to be easy to sprout and can give you a wonderful variety of sprouts. Try the Broccoli and Friends Mix for a really nice blend of broccoli, alfalfa, radish and clover sprouts.
• A clean large glass bowl with a capacity of about 1 litre or 2 pints. Bigger is OK.
• Some cheesecloth, muslin or a light, clean tea-towel.
• An elastic band (this makes rinsing easier but it's not essential)
Get sprouting:
1. Put enough beans in the base of the bowl to cover the base. Cover with warm water and leave to soak overnight.
2. Drain the water, rinse and drain again.
Now cover the bowl with the cheesecloth or muslin and secure it with the elastic band.
3. Rinse the beans twice a day for 3-5 days. Don't bother removing the cloth when you do this. You can rinse and drain the beans through the cloth.
After 3-5 days you should have a bowl of delicious and crunchy bean sprouts. You need to use them within a day or two to keep the crunch and the vitamin content.
Uses:
Now you know how to sprout beans, it's time to get eating. They are great in stir fries, sandwiches and salads. They are also packed full of protein, B vitamins and vitamin C so there's no excuse.
Recommended...
I really like the Easy Sprout Sprouter. Simple to use and inexpensive, this is a really easy and effective way to sprout beans. The sprouter uses heat from sprouting seeds to circulate fresh air. You can also use it to conveniently store your sprouted beans in the fridge.

Sprout bean salad


3 cups fresh mung bean sprouts
1 pinch turmeric
1 green chili peppers or 1/2 jalapeno, finely minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 minced tomato, seeds and juice removed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large pinch fresh ground pepper
1 -2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Directions:
1
Mix the chili, onion, tomato, lemon juice, sugar (if using), salt and pepper together in a large bowl.
2
Add the sprouts to the chili mixture, gently combine, then fold in the cilantro.
3
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until required. Serve chilled.

 Rice & LentilsNothing fancy but cheap, nutritious and tasty.
And you could just serve it as just as it is if the fridge is bare and you need to rely on the store cupboard. Then again, it's nice to mix together a quick salsa to serve on top if you can. It adds a zing and some freshness to the plate. Alternatively, any standard Mexican accompaniments will work here, including tacos or tortilla chips.

170g/1 cup brown lentils
375g/2 cups of basmatic rice
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 small finely chopped white onion
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 litre/4 cups water
For The Salsa
2 cups/300g of chopped tomatoes
2 avocados, diced
juice of one lime
Large crushed garlic clove
dash of chili sauce
Tacos, tortilla chips to serve if you like!

Place all of the lentils and rice ingredients into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, turn the heat right down and cook undisturbed for 25 minutes. Leave to stand for about 5 minutes or so, then fluff up with a fork and serve. Mix of the salsa ingredients together in a small serving bowl. Serve the rice and lentils on plates with the salsa scooped over the top!

Green chick pea (you can find it in any Indian grocery store) i buy frozen.
Green chick pea salad
Ingredients
•Dry green Bengal gram ( hara chana),soaked overnight 1 1/2 cups
•Onions,chopped 2 medium
•Tomatoes,chopped 2 medium
•Green chillies,chopped 2-3
•Fresh coriander leaves,chopped 2 tablespoons
•Black salt (Kala namak) to taste
•Roasted cumin powder 1 teaspoon
•Chaat masala 1 teaspoon (optional)
•Red chili powder 1/2 teaspoon
•Lemon juice 2 tablespoons

Method
Pressure cook soaked green chana in three cups of water till two to three whistles or till done. Transfer them into a kadai and simmer till all the water evaporates. Take the hot chana in a bowl. Add onions, tomatoes, green chillies, coriander leaves, black salt, roasted cumin powder, chaat masala, red chili powder and lemon juice and mix well. Serve immediately.

Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous new year. Let’s start the year on a sweet note.
Payasam is a traditional South Indian Sweet. No feast or festivity is complete without a payasam, be it a birthday, a wedding day, or any festival. The first thing that is prepared is the payasam. There are different kinds of payasams like Nei Payasam, Semiya Payasam, Ada Pradhaman, Parippu Pradhaman, the list continues. But surely Paal Payasam is the king of them all.

Paal payasam (milk rice pudding)

Ingredients:
Milk - 4 glasses
Sugar - 1 glass
Rice(preferably Chemba Pachari) - A handful
Preparation:

Wash and dry the rice thoroughly.
Put all the contents together in a pressure cooker, close the lid without weight on and put on high flame.
Wait till steam comes, then put on the weight and simmer the flame.
Simmer it for sharp 30 minutes.
You don’t have to worry about the number of whistles.
Switch off the gas after 30 minutes and wait for the pressure to relieve, which might take some time.
Delicious payasam is ready.


Pineapple curry

Ingredients    
                              Serves 2

1.       pineapple – ½ cup ( canned is okay)
2.       Sour Curd – 2 cups
3.       Grated Coconut – 1 cup
4.       Green Chilies – 2 or 3
5.       Turmeric Powder – a pinch
6.       Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
7.       Dried Red Chillies - 1
8.       Methi seeds  - ¼ tsp
9.       Coconut Oil – 1 tsp
10.   Curry leaves
11. chilli powder

Method

Boil the pineapple with salt, chilli and turmeric powder. Grind coconut with green chillies into a paste. Use a little of the curd for grinding instead of water. Add the ground paste to the cooked pineapple. Mix well. Now whisk the sour curd without any lumps and add to the coconut pineapple mixture. Check for consistency and salt. Simmer until the kootan froths up. Do not boil after adding curd. Remove from heat. Temper with Mustard, Red Chillies and Methi seeds. Garnish with curry leaves.

Yellow curry or lentil curry 

Ingredients

1.      Split yellow moong dal – 1 cup
2.      Channa Dal – ½ cup
3.      Cocunut milk – 200 ml
4.      Jaggery – 2 cups
5.      Cardamom – a few
6.      Cashew nuts- 6- 7
7.      Raisins – a few
8.      Ghee – 1 tbsp

Method

Dry roast yellow moong dal till light brown. Keep aside. Dry roast Channa dal till light brown.
Soak Channa dal in water for about 15 mins. Pressure cook the dals separately for about 3 -4 whistles.

Heat a Kadai; dissolve the jaggery with just the minimum water. Strain the jaggery water to remove impurities. Wash the vessel in which jaggery was melted and pour the strained jaggery water back in the kadai. Let it boil for 3 – 5mins. Now mash the cooked dals slightly and add it to this jaggery syrup. Dilute half of the coconut milk with about 1 – 2 cups water and add to the payasam at this stage. (I used the packed coconut milk.) Allow to boil for 6 – 7 mins. Remove from heat and add the thick coconut milk. Do not boil after adding thick coconut milk. Add cardamom powder. Heat a small pan with ghee. Fry the cashews and raisins and add to the payasam with the ghee.

Note: If you want to use fresh coconut milk, you will require I medium sized coconut. For the thick coconut milk, grate the coconut and grind in the mixer. Now squeeze out the coconut extract with your hands. For thin milk, add some warm water to the grated coconut and run again in the mixer. Squeeze and extract coconut milk. Coconut pieces fried in ghee can also be added.

Banana dessert (nendra khaya payasam)
Nendram Pazham – 3, ripe
Thin Coconut Milk – 2 ½ cups
Thick Coconut Milk – 1 cup
Powdered Jaggery – 2 cups
Coconut – ¼ cup, cut into small pieces
Ghee – 1 tbsp

Method
Cut the nendram pazham into 2 inch pieces with the skin and steam them. Allow to cool.
Remove skin; also remove the black stem like thing from the inside of the banana.
Grind the banana and make it into a smooth pulp, do not add any water while grinding.
Heat a thick bottom Kadai, add the jaggery with ½ cup of water. Dissolve the jaggery completely.
Strain for impurities and pour it back into the Kadai.
Add the nendram pazham pulp and mix well. Stir it well and mash with the back of the spatula if you find any lumps.
Cook on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring continuously, till the banana and jaggery mixture come together as a mass.
Now add the thin coconut milk and cook on medium flame for 8 to 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.
Turn of flame and add the Thick coconut milk. Mix well.
Heat a small frying pan with ghee, fry the coconut pieces in it till brown.
Add these fried coconut pieces to the prepared payasam and serve warm.
Delicious nendram pazham pradhaman is ready to be devoured.

Spinach Curry or
SPINACH DAAL
Ingredients
a bunch of spinach - washed and chopped
1-2 tea spoon grated ginger
1/2 cup yogurt or buttermilk
4-5 tea spoons besan (chana daal flour)
3-4 tea spoon chana dal
3-4 tb spoon peanuts (ground nuts)
4-5 green chillies - chopped.
3-4 aamsul / or 1/2 tea spoon tamarind paste
1 tea spoon sugar
For tadka -
mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, turmeric curry leaves, garlic, green chillies
and oil/ghee
salt to taste Soak chana daal and peanuts in water for an hour so that they cook faster. It’s better to use non-roasted peanuts as they absorb water nicely and taste better when cooked.
Get water boiling, add chopped spinach leaves, peanuts and chana daal and grated ginger and aamsul. Use just enough water to immerse spinach. Let the spinach and daal cook for 5-7 minutes. In another bowl, whisk yogurt and besan and add it to the cooked spinach, let it simmer for another 3-4 minutes. I like to add one/two chillies while the spinach is cooking and rest I use in tadka.
Nest step is to prepare tadka and add it to the cooked spinach. I prefer Ghee to oil for this dish. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and if you like, add a few coriander seeds. Once they start splattering, add hing and turmeric powder and then garlic and green chillies and curry leaves. Add this seasoned ghee/oil to the spinach mixture. Add salt and little bit sugar. The “patal bhaji” is ready.
A little bit of sugar nicely compliments the tangy touch added by aamsul. The garlic tadka makes this simple dish out-of-this world! i
A Quick Note -
To maintain the nutritional value of spinach, it’s important not to overcook the tender leaves. Add spinach after daal and peanuts are cooked, spinach takes hardly 2-3 minutes of cooking time.

Green peas curry (you can use fresh peas or dried peas)
GREEN PEAS CURRY
Ingredients
2 cup peas (shelled)
3/4 cup fresh coconut, grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ginger, grated
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric (optional)
1/2 tsp hing
2 dry red chillies/ or chilly powder as per taste
salt as per taste
1/2 tbsp coriander powder or 1/4 tsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp oil
1 cup water
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1-2 star anis (optional)Method -
Make a fine paste with coconut, cilantro, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, ginger and garlic. Add some water if required.
In a cooking pot, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and hing. Add turmeric powder if you like. Add curry leaves and red chillies cut into halves. Fry for another minute. Now add the green paste and let it cook until the paste starts leaving oil. Add salt as per taste. Also add star anis. Now add green peas and some water to maintain the desired consistency for the curry. Let the peas cook for 5-10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and sugar.
Serve with hot bread slices or rotis. Enjoy!

BEET ROOT SALADIngredients
2 cups shredded steamed beet (around 2 medium beets)
1/4 cup ground roasted peanuts
1/4 tsp fennel seeds (optional See Notes below)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp तिळाची चटणी or 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped tomato (optional)
2-3 chopped green chilies
3-4 curry leaves
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp hing
1 tsp oil
salt to taste
Wash and peel beets and cut them into halves. I usually steam beets along with rice in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles. It takes around 10-12 minutes if you are using a steamer.
Once they are cooked properly, transfer them into a pot containing ice water before you start gratin;. so that they cool down quickly.
Add chopped tomato, roasted peanut powder (roughly grounded), sesame seeds, fennel seeds lemon juice and salt and mix well.
Heat oil in a small tadka pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds when oil becomes hot. Add hing powder, chopped green chilies and curry leaves. Transfer this seasoned oil to the bowl containing beets and mix well.
Notes -
You can substitute lemon juice with yogurt if you like, but make sure it brings enough tanginess to the dish.
Beets contain lot of natural sugar, so don’t add sugar until you taste it.
Roughly grounded peanuts add a nice crunch. I also like to use pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds instead of peanuts.

CARROT SALADIngredients
2 fresh medium carrots, grated
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 tb spoon peanut(groundnut) powder
1 tb spoon sugar
1 tb spoon fresh lemon juice
2 medium green chiliis, finely chopped
salt to taste
4 springs of cilantro, finely chopped
This is the simplest recipe so far. Grate carrots , chop tomatoes and ground roasted(optional) peanuts. Mix everything together with salt, sugar, green chilies ( can be substituted with red chili powder) and lemon juice. Toss everything together and garnish with finely chopped cilantro leaves. I sometimes add roughly chopped cashew nuts along with peanuts.

SABOODANA KICHDI (my friend in Mumbai makes the best!Sheela Patil )
Ingredients :
Sabudana, soaked overnight                         1 cup
Groundnut (peanut), coarsely crushed       1/2 cup
cumin seeds                                                      2 tea-spoons
Green chillies, finely chopped                        4-5
Sugar                                                                 1-2 tea-spoon
Potato, diced                                                    1 small
Ghee                                                                  2-3 tablespoons
Salt                                                                    to taste
Cilantro, finely chopped                                 5-6 springs
Lime juice                                                         to taste
Grated coconut                                               3 tablespoons (optional)
Soak the sabudana at least for 6 hours in minimum amount of water, just enough to soak all the grains.
In a wide bowl, separate the sabudana gently and mix it with peanut powder, salt and sugar. Stir it well so that all the grains get coated. Microwave the small potato cubes for 2-3 minutes.
Add ghee in a large pan and a few cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start to crackle, add the remaining cumin seeds and finely chopped chillies. Add potato cubes and fry them for 1 minute. Add the sabudana mix and stir it together. It takes 10-15 minutes for sabudana to cook nicely. Keep stirring occasionally. If needed add few drops of water and/or ghee. When done, add some cilantro and lime juice and mix again. Add coconut and cilantro while serving.

MUSHROOM AND PEAS CURRY 
Button mushrooms, sliced 16-18
Green Peas 1 cup
Tomatoes, chopped 2 medium
Onion, chopped 1 medium
Ginger garlic paste  1 tbsp
Cream 1/4 cup
Dhana-jeera powder 2 Tb spoon
Garam masala – 1/4 tsp (optional)
Chilli powder to taste
Black Pepper powder 1/2 tsp or to taste
Saunf powder – 1 TB spoon
Salt to taste
Few cashew nuts chopped (optional)
raisins 10-12 (optional)
oil 1 TB spoon
Make sure you wash mushrooms before slicing and add a pinch of salt and turmeric to the water while washing. Slice all mushrooms vertically. Fennel powder is the secret ingredient of this recipe. Slightly roast fennel seeds before grinding them to make powder. Roasting them lightly really bring out the aroma and the flavor. We use half of this powder to flavor the oil before you add roughly chopped onion to the oil in a pan. Saute the onion till it caramelizes and then add chopped tomatoes and ginger garlic paste. If you have fresh ginger and garlic, even better. Cook the mixture till oil starts separating. Let it cool for few minutes before grinding it to make a fine puree. You might need to add some water to bring to proper consistency.
Transfer the puree to the same pan and add all the spices, including the remaining saunf powder. Add sliced mushrooms and green peas and let them cook by keeping the lid on. Mushrooms and peas don’t take long to cook so keep an eye on it. Now turn off the heat and add fresh cream and mix it well. The creamy mushroom mutter is ready to serve! Garnish it with some chopped coriander leaves.
You can use yogurt instead of cream but make sure it’s not sour. You can also use milk instead of cream but milk but I wouldn’t recommend it.

USAL (
Usal/Oosal (ऊसळ) is Maharastrian dish made of beans such as Matki, Moong or Waal^[ etc. Generally the beans are soaked in water and allowed to sprout. The sprouted beans are stir fried along with onions, spices and curry leaves in oil. Little water is put to cook the sprouts. It usually has a thick gravy. The use of spices vary according to the sprouts used and according to taste.)

Ingredients -
1 cup sprouted moong
1 cup sprouted kale chane
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 curry leaves
1/2 tsp Kanda-Lasun(Onion-Garlic) masala
1 tsp Goda Masala
1 tsp red chili powder
3-4 tb spoon shredded coconut
1/2 tsp jaggery / sugar
1 tb spoon oil for phodani/tadka
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Hing powder
salt to taste
Whole Garam Masala (optional)
2-3 peppercorns
1 clove
1-2 cardamom
a small cinnamon stick.. Mix all sprouted grains in equal amount of water in a pressure cooker, add whole Garam masala and a small piece of raw onion with 1 tsp of salt and cook for 3-4 whistles. Mixing whole Garam masala and onion while cooking really induces nice flavours.