Palak-Peas-Potato Kozhumbu - Coconut based vegetable gravy

Ingredients:

• Peas - 1/2 cup
• Potato - 1
• Palak (Spinach) - 1 bunch
• Toor dhal - 3/4 cup
• Oil - few drops
• Turmeric powder - A pinch
• Curry leaves - 2 stalks
• Channa dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste

To grind:

• Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Red Chilli - 4 (Byadagi variety)
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Rice grains - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Cook dhal in pressure cooker along with a pinch of turmeric and few drops of oil.
2. Cook vegetables separately with salt.
3. Grind all the ingredients to be ground into a smooth paste.
4. Mix dhal, vegetables and the ground paste together.
5. Add required amount of water and boil for some time with curry leaves.
6. In a separate pan, splutter 1/2 tsp of channa dhal in ghee and add to kozhumbu.
7. Serve hot with rice and ghee.

Coriander Coconut Chutney

Manga Thokku - Grated Mango Chutney

Ingredients:

Mango
Cooking oil
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds
Asafoetida
Red chilli
Salt
Rasam powder
Jaggery

Method:

Heerekayi Bonda - Ridge gourd snack

Goddu Rasam - Quick tamarind soup

Ingredients:

• Water - 4 to 5 cups
• Tamarind - lemon sized
• Rasam powder - 1 tsp
• Jaggery - 2 tbsp
• Tomato - 1 (Optional)
• Salt - to taste
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Hing - A pinch
• Oil - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 stalk

Method:

1. Put 4 to 5 cups of water in a vessel and add tamarind paste, rasam powder, jaggery, salt and curry leaves.
2. Optional: You can add tomato to the mixture.
3. Let it boil for about 10 to 15 minutes.
4. For garnishing: Add oil in a small frying pan and splutter jeera, and then add hing to pan. Add to rasam.

Brinjal Raita - Eggplant with yoghurt

Ingredients:

• Brinjal (big) - 1
• Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Curd - 2 to 3 cups
• Chopped coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
• Salt - to taste

For garnishing:

• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard - 1/4 tsp
• Red chilli - 1 to 2
• Hing - 1 pinch
• Curry leaves - 2 stalks

Method:

1. Cut brinjal into 4 to 6 pieces.
2. Cook brinjal in a pressure cooker with salt for 1 whistle (You can also directly cook in a vessel till it becomes soft). 
3. Remove cooker from the stove and cool it by placing under a tap.
4. Transfer the brinjal into a separate bowl.
5. Remove skin and mash the brinjal well.
6. Add curd, coriander leaves and coconut.
7. In a small frying pan, heat oil and add all items listed under garnishing.

Payaru Maavu Unde - Sweet gram flour balls

Ingredients:

• Moong dhal - 1 cup
• Ghee - 4 tbsp
• Sugar (finely powdered) - 4 tbsp

Method:

1. Roast moong dhal in kadai till it lets off an aroma.
2. Let it cool and then grind it into a fine powder.
3. Add ground moong flour into a mixing bowl.
4. Add ghee and sugar and mix thoroughly.
5. Make into small balls as shown in the picture.

Vegetable Samosa - Ved-stuffed pyramids

Ingredients:

• Vegetables: 
• Carrots - 2 medium sized
• Beans - 1 handful
• Peas - 1/2 cup
• Potato - 1 large 
• (you can also add any other other vegetable of your choice such as beetroot etc.)
• Wheat flour - 3/4 cup
• Chiroti Rava (fine semolina) - 1/2 cup
• Maida - 1/4 cup
• Butter - 2.5 tbsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Garam Masala -  1tsp
• Coriander leaves (optional) - 1 tbsp chopped
• Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Cut vegetables into tiny pieces and cook with salt.
2. Drain water (You can use this water for making other items like rasam).
3. Add chilli powder, garam masala and coriander leaves to the vegetables.
4. Add wheat flour, semolina and maida into a separate mixing bowl and mix well.
5. Add slightly melted butter into the flour and continue to mix till it mixes well.
6. Add water to the flour gradually and keep mixing till it takes on a soft dough consistency (it should not become too sticky nor too hard).
7. Make lime-sized balls from dough and roll into flat circular discs.
8. Cut the circle into half and form cones from each semicircle (when you form the cone, leave behind a flap at the base to close later).
9. Stuff the cones with cooked vegetables and close the opening with the flap.
10. Heat oil in a deep frying pan and deep fry the cones.
11. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or/and pudina (mint) chutney.

Paneer Matar Butter Masala - Cottage cheese and peas side dish

Lets have a paneer dish now. Simple to make and finger licking good :)

Ingredients:

• Paneer (Cottage cheese) - 250 grams
• Cashews (raw) - 1/3 cup
• Butter (unsalted) - 1/2 cup
• Tomatoes big - 3
• Ginger - 1 piece
• Cooking oil
• Salt
• Turmeric
• Garam masala (Indian spice powder)

Method:

1. Chop tomatoes into slices. You don't have to cut it into small cubes.
2. Cut paneer into small cubes. 
3. Grind cashews to make fine powder.
4. Saute the paneer pieces with a 1 Tbsp of cooking oil and pinch of turmeric powder. Saute them such that they are slightly brown. Ensure that they are not hardened due to heat. Put the paneer pieces in a container.
5. Use the same pan. Put 1 Tbsp of butter. Grate 1 inch of fresh ginger into the simmering butter. Add the tomatoes with a pinch of turmeric powder and saute them.
6. Cool the tomatoes. Grind them to make a thick puree. You may add 1/4-th cup water if the puree is too thick.
7. That's it. Next steps are simple and easy :)
8. Take the same pan you used before (see, you dont have to use too many pans). Put 2 Tbsps of butter. Let the butter simmer a little.
9. Add the ground cashew powder. Keep stirring and dont let the cashew butter paste stick to the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring for 2 mins.
10. Pour the tomato puree and mix the puree with the cashew paste well. Add 1 Tbsp of butter. Let the butter melt and mix all the ingredients well. 
11. Put 2 tsps of garam masala powder in a small cup. Mix it with 2 tbsps of water. Add the mixture to the pan with the other ingredients that are getting cooked.
12. Mix everything well.
13. Then add peas and the paneer into the mixture. Add salt to taste and mix well. If you want it a little more spicy, you can add a little chilli powder or garam masala powder.
14. Keep mixing all the ingredients and let it cook for 10 minutes.

And that's it. You have paneer matar butter masala.... garnish with some coriander leaves if you want.

Mysore Pak - Gram Flour Sweet Cake

Ingredients:

• Gram Flour - 1 cup
• Milk - 1 cup (or Water - 1 cup)
• Sugar - 2 cups
• Ghee - 2 cups

Method:

1. Roast gram flour slightly till it gives an aroma.
2. Mix the sugar into the milk and boil till you get a frothy effervesce.
3. Add 1 cup ghee and roasted gram flour into milk, keep stirring. Ensure mixture is free of knots.
4. Add remaining ghee slowly and continue to stir and let the mixture on boil on low flame.
5. Once the mixture rises up, separating itself from the pan and leaving a trace of ghee on the sides, pour into a deep vessel/plate, atleast 3-4" deep.
6. While mixture is hot, cut into square or diamond shaped pieces.
7. Allow to cool and then remove pieces. If pieces are stuck to the vessel, then heat the vessel mildly on low flame to make it easier to remove them. 

Tomato Rasam (Soup) with Dhal

Ingredients:

• Toor Dhal - 1 cup
• Tomato - 1 big
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee or Cooking oil - 1/4 tsp
• Tamarind - pebble sized
• Rasam Powder - 1 tbsp
• Curry Leaves - 1 stalk
• Coriander Leaves (optional) - 1 tbsp when chopped 

For garnishing:

• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida - A pinch
• Ghee - 1/2 tsp

Procedure:

1. Wash toor dhal thoroughly and add enough water to immerse the dhal well into it (about 2.5 cups of water). 
2. Add few drops of ghee/cooking oil and turmeric powder into the vessel with dhal.
3. Chop the tomato into 2 halves and add to dhal (You can alternatively chop tomato into smaller pieces and add later during 7. along with other ingredients while boiling).
4. Place vessel into pressure cooker and cook for 3 whistles. Remember to put water inside pressure cooker.
5. Remove tomato from cooked dhal, mash it separately, throw away the skin and add the mashed tomato back into the dhal.
6. Soak tamarind for about 10 minutes and extract juice. You can throw away the remaining pulp.
7. Place cooked dhal on medium flame and boil for 5 minutes.
8. Add salt and rasam powder and let it boil for 5 to 10 minutes.
9. Now add tamarind extract, curry leaves and coriander leaves and continue to boil for another 5 to 7 minutes till you can smell the lovely aroma of rasam.
10. For garnishing, heat ghee in a small iron skillet. Once ghee is heated, add mustard seeds till they splutter, and then add the asafoetida. Add the mixture to the rasam.
11. Serve hot with cooked rice and ghee.

Thenkol - Crispy Flour Pretzels

Ingredients:

• Rice flour - 3 cups
• Urad flour - 1.5 cups
• Butter - 3/4 cup (1.5 cube)
• Salt  - To taste
• Oil - for deep frying
• Thenkol Press

Method:

1. Add rice flour and urad flour into a mixing bowl.
2. Melt the butter till pasty consistency and add to bowl.
3. Add salt.
4. Mix the above ingredients till the butter completely mixes well with the flour.
5. Now, add water slowly to the mixture and knead to a pasty consistency.
6. Fill the thenkol press with a medium sized ball of the mixture.
7. Heat oil.
8. Press the thenkol mixture into the oil to form shapes like in the picture shown above, and deep fry till golden brown.