Methi Chaman

I heard that these days in India, everyone is going crazy over this curry and are ordering this whenever they go to any restaurant. I got this recipe from my sister and this tasted excellent with chapatis. Do not attempt to eat this with Rice as it didn't go well with Rice.

Heating Methi in oil removes its sour taste and grated paneer will help. I didn't have enough time, so I just crushed paneer and added to the dish. This fills you up pretty quickly and keeps you out of hunger for long.

Ingredients

1 cup Methi, chopped

1/2 cup paneer, grated

1 onion, chopped

1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 green chillies, chopped

2 tbsp watermelon seeds

1 tbsp coconut

1 tsp coriander powder

red chilli powder, little

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan, and fry in this order.
2. First add green chillies, fry for a minute.
3. Next add onions and fry till brown.
4. Add ginger garlic paste and fry again for a minute.
5. Add methi and fry again (can add little water if needed).
6. Add paneer and fry till it becomes light brown.
7. Then add salt, red chilli powder, dhania powder and coconut powder. Mix everything well.
8. Make paste wtih watermelon seeds and add to the above mixture.
9. Add butter at the end and garnish with fresh cream.

Birayaka Menthem (Turai and Methi)

This is one of my favorite all time comfort foods. I love to eat this anytime of the day and on any day. I used to ask my mom to make this when I got sick in my childhood. I felt that eating this would make me energetic again. Somehow, I like all the curries made with Birakaya. I don’t know if this curry is an Andhra recipe but it is Hyderabadi for sure.

This tastes delicious when cooked with fresh ridge gourd. And it goes very well with both chapathis and rice. I ate this two times in a day already. For breakfast I ate with chapathi and for lunch with rice. You see how much I love this, but I regret that it was not made by my Mom, and that would have been much tastier. I grow Methi at home 2 or 3 days before I plan to cook this curry. Fresh methi makes a huge difference (we cook with small methi and not the big one-I never tried with the big one).

To make this you’ll need…

1 medium birakaya/ turai/ ridge gourd, skin removed and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup water
½ cup methi
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
¼ tbsp turmeric
¼ tbsp garam masala
3 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

1. Heat oil in a cooking pan and add onions and cook until they turn brown.
2. Add birakaya and cook for 2 mins.
3. Add tomato and methi, mix everything and cover the dish.
4. Cook until the birakaya is cooked well. Keep mixing in between.
5. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute.
6. Add water and cover it. Simmer it for 5 mins.
7. Add salt at the end and remove.
   

Serve hot either with chapatis or hot rice.

Achari Aloo Methi

This is for my entry to Jhiva-Greens. I congratulate Indira of Mahanandi for one year anniversary of Jhiva. Though I could not participate in all the last year’s events, I am still happy for making it here.

I am submitting Achari Aloo Methi for this entry as I found fresh Methi at the Indian store; I guess the good thing about spring is that we get to eat fresh veggies and fruits and also the farmer’s markets glow with the newly born veggies/fruits. The prices are also reduced so much that you want to buy them all.

You know that you are cooking Methi with the aroma it spreads out in the whole house and I had to switch on the kitchen fan at the highest level. It smelled so awesome that I was ready to go for the second round of dinner. I then posted the picture online and writing the recipe now. My brother Naveen asked me if it can stay until Friday as he usually visits me on weekends, it seems like he likes aloo methi. I told him that I would make a fresh curry again on the weekend.

It is a simple curry; I just followed the Achari Noodles recipe. I had some baby potatoes left from the Dum Aloo curry I made recently, and I used them all for this curry.

You need…

Fresh Methi/Fenugreek leaves (about a cup)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 potato, cut and boiled
1 cup yogurt
½ tbsp amchur powder
1 tbsp jeera
¼ tbsp rai, fenugreek seeds
1 green chilly
1 tbsp red chilly powder
A pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

1. Heat oil in a pan and fry jeera, rai, fenugreek seeds until they splutter.
2. Add onions and green chilly and stir fry until brown.
3. Add boiled potatoes and fry them for a minute.
4. Add Methi fry until the raw taste is gone and the nice aroma of methi leaves come.
5. Add chilly powder, turmeric, amchur powder and fry them for a minute.
6. Reduce flame and let the curry cool down a bit and finally add yogurt and mix for a minute. Add salt at the end and remove.
   
   Serve hot with Rice.

Mouth-Watering Muthiyas

These muthiyas are so tasty (writing as I eat) and so extra rich. I never thought these would be so good. I saw this post on Trupti’s site and was trying to make this from that day but never found time. This dish got ready in no time. I made this with Whole Wheat Flour and thought that this might turn bad but it did not.

I would have asked you to refer to Trupti’s site for the recipe, but I have added few more items, so I am presenting that here.

Ingredients

1.5 cup whole wheat flour
4 tbsp besan
1 tbsp rava
1 cup spinach leaves
½ cup methi leaves
1 cup corn
2 big chopped green chillies
½ inch chopped fresh ginger
1 tbsp oil from pickle
Yogurt to bind the dough
Handful of cilantro leaves
Salt, sugar, turmeric as per your taste

For seasoning

2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp asatofoetida
1 tbsp sugar
Few drops of lime juice
Cilantro leaves for garnishing

1. Mix wheat flour, besan, rava, spinach leaves, methi leaves, corn, green chillies, ginger, pickled oil, salt, sugar and slowly add yogurt. Don’t add too much yogurt, you need it just to bind everything together and make the mixture into small balls.
2. Steam the balls until they are well cooked. You can check if they are cooked by inserting the knife, the knife should come out clean. Cut them into pieces after they cool down.
3. Put cooking pan on the stove, add oil and let it heat for a minute
4. Add mustard seeds, let them splutter, and add sesame seeds, asatofoetida. Add cut muthiyas to the seasoning and stir fry them until light brown.
5. Add sugar and lime juice (fresh juice is preferable) and garnish with cilantro.

Serve with sweet yogurt or ketchup.