How to make curry ?

SISI - South Indian Standard International cooking by Jayasree Sankar (RCP - Recipe)

SISI RCP01 How to make curry ?

Ingredients

1  4 big potatoes, cut into small rectangular/square pieces, OR

   3 long egg-plants/brinjals, cut into 2-inch-long pieces, OR

   4 bitter-gourds cut into round slices, OR

   1 cabbage cut into small slices like onion

2  1 large onion, finely chopped

3  3 1/2 table-spoons, sun-flower cooking oil

4  2 tea-spoons, turmeric powder

7  2 tea-spoons, salt

5  1/2 tea-spoon, chilli powder, OR 1 tea-spoon, curry powder

1  Prepare the potatoes/egg-plant/bitter-gourd for oil-frying

   Place the potato/egg-plant/bitter-gourd pieces/slices in bowl, fill water so as to  

   soak; keep for some time and then drain.

2  Prepare the oil for frying

   Heat sun-flower oil in frying pan in low flame; add mustard seeds, and wait for it to

   splutter.

3  Closed-soft-fry the potato pieces with turmeric powder /

   bitter-gourd slices with tamarind paste

   a)  Place water-drained potato pieces/bitter-gourd slices in the frying pan,

       add turmeric powder/diluted tamarind paste and mix well;

   b)  cover the frying pan with a plate and leave it for a while;

       and intermittently keep stirring, until soft and well-cooked.

4  Open-soft-fry the potato/egg-plant/cabbage pieces/slices with salt and chilli/curry

   powder

   a)  Open the frying pan by removing the plate placed over its top for covering it;

       add salt and chilli powder to potato pieces/bitter-gourd slices and mix well; OR

   a)  Place water-drained egg-plant pieces/cut cabbage slices with water in the

       frying pan,   

   leave it for some time with the gas-stove-low-flame and when cooked well,

   b)  for potato-curry, switch off the gas-stove's flame; OR

   b)  for bitter-gourd curry, after water dries up, switch off;

   b)  for egg-plant curry, and for cabbage curry, after water dries up,

       add salt and curry powder, after a couple more of minutes, switch off;

Remember that all 4 steps should take only about 1/2 an hour.

How to make saambaar and dhall-fry ?

SISI - South Indian Standard International

cooking by Jayasree Sankar

RCP - Recipe

SISI RCP02 How to make saambaar & dhall-fry ?

Ingredients

For saambaar                       For rice                 For dhall-fry

Tuvar Dhall - 1 1/2 cups        Rice - 1 cup           Tuvar Dhall - 1 1/2 cups 

Turmeric powder - 1 spoon                          

Water - 2 cups                        Water - 4 cups       Water - to desired consistency

                                                                              Oil - 3 1/2 spoons

Vegetables - 2 handfuls                                        Onion - 1; Chilli - 1

Tamarind paste - 2 spoons

Salt - 1 spoon

Saambaar powder - 1 spoon                                 Saambaar powder - 1 spoon

Asafoetida - 1 crystal

Curry powder - 1 spoon

1)  Pressure-cook tuvar dal with turmeric powder

    a)  Place in a small vessel, tuvar dhall and turmeric powder, and add water;

    b)  if you want to cook rice simultaneously, place in another bigger vessel,

        rice with water;

    c)  pour water in the pressure-cooker and fit the pressure-gasket inside its lid:

    d)  place the dal-vessel inside the cooker, and place over it, the rice-vessel,

        and cover the rice-vessel with a plate.

    If you are cooking dhall-fry, move on to step 4.

2)  Vessel-cook vegetables with water

    In a vessel, place cut or stir-fry readily-sold off-the-packet vegetables

    and tamarind paste with water;

    add salt, saambaar powder and asafoetida: and

    cook on a gas-stove in low flame, until vegetables get cooked.

3)  Pour cooked dal on to cooked veggies and vessel-cook cooked dal-veggie-mix

    a)  Smash the cooked dal with a big spoon until the dal becomes homgenous  

        and then add the same to the cooked vegetables in the vessel,

    b)  add some water to the desired consistency, and

    c)  add curry powder, and

    cook for some time in the vessel now in high-flame and when homogenous,

    switch off the gas-stove's flame.

Saambaar is ready now...

Steps 4 to 6 are for making dhall-fry

4)   Oil-fry onion and chilli

     Heat oil in a frying pan, add mustard seeds, jeera; when it splutters, put onion

     and  chilli: fry in low flame.

5)    Oil-fry tomato with saambaar powder and onion-chilli mixture

     When fried, add saambaar powder, tomato & fry for 1 minute.

6)   Boil pressure-cooked dhall with water, salt and fried onion-tomato mixture

     Add cooked dal, water and salt and boil for sometime and switch off the

     gas-stove's flame.

Dhall-fry is ready now...