Baby Corn peas Kaju gravy - Creamy, delicious side dish recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Baby corn - 200 gms
2. Green peas - 150 gms
3. Potato - 1 Big - diced.
4. Onion - 2 big - Finley chopped
5. Tomato - 3 big - finley chopped
6. Coriander leaves - a handful
7. Whole spices - Cinnamon stick, cardamom, bay leaf , star anise - 2 /3 nos each
8. Saunf - 2 tsp
9. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
10. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
11. Kashmiri red chilli powder - 2 tbsp
12. Sugar - 1 tsp
13. Salt as required
14. Cashews - 80 gms
15. Oil - 2-3 tbsp
16. Green chillies - finely chopped - 2 Nos (Optional)
17. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Boil the green peas and baby corn for 2 whistles on high.

1. Bring 100 gms of water to boil. Once it comes to a  rolling boil, add cashews and allow it to soak for 45 minutes.  Once it cools down to room temperature , grind it into a smooth paste.

2. Add oil in a pan and before it gets too hot, add the whole spices. Let the spices infuse their aroma into the oil. Jeera, saunf and the whole spices.

3. Add the finely chopped onion and green chillies. 

4. Once the onions turn brown, add tomatoes.

5. Add the ginger garlic paste and cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes turn mushy. 

6. Once the tomatoes turn mushy, add a cup of water and allow it to boil.

7. Add the turmeric powder and kashmiri red chilli powder.

8. Allow it to boil for a couple of minutes and then add the diced potatoes. 

9. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are done. 

10. Check on the potatoes. Once the potatoes are done, take it off the flame and mash it with a potato masher. I prefer this method, rather than grinding because, by this way, the gravy will have body and texture. Body from the potatoes and the texture from half mashed onions and tomatoes. if you have excess water, remove some, mash and then add the water.

11. The below image shows the mashed mixture. 

12. Place it back on stove and add the boiled green peas and baby corn. 

14. Add the excess water back to the gravy 

15. Allow the mixture to boil well once the mixture starts to thicken, add the ground kaju paste. 

16. Mix well. allow the mixture to boil for 2-3 minutes.

17. Add coriander. 

18. Serve hot with Rice or roti. 

Ghee podi idli - Yummy with a twist

I used 12 medium sized idlis, which would serve 3 medium portions.

I used fresh idlis to make this. the below recipe works better with stale idli (a day old), especially when you leave it in the fridge overnight. It will be easy to crumble the idlis , the crumbs will be minute and uniform. in case of fresh idli, crumbling is a little challenging. 

Ingredients: 

1. Cooked idlis - 12 Nos

2. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

3. Onion - 1 large - finely chopped

4. Idli Milagai podi - Gun powder - 3 tbsp

5. Salt - As required

6. Ghee - 2-3 tbsp 

7. Hing - 1 tsp 

Method:

1. Crumble the idlis well.

2. Add Ghee to a pan and allow it to come to a medium heat. 

3. Add curry leaves and fry for few seconds. Add Hing and the finely chopped onions. 

4. Fry the onions in ghee until golden brown. Frying the onion until golden brown is crucial, or else, it will not mix well with the idli crumble and all that you will end up with is chunky onions, which is a big no-no.

Add a pick of salt for the onions.

5. Once the onions are golden brown, add the idli crumble and mix well.

6. Add the idli milagai podi and mix well. Add a tablespoon of ghee before serving to enhance the aroma.

7. Serve hot.