Cauliflower Vepudu (Fry)

Cauliflower Vepudu (Fry)

Ingredients:

• Cauliflowers
• Oil for Deep frying
• Vepudukaram
• Salt
• Turmeric Powder
  
  
  Preparations:
  Take two/ three medium sized cauliflowers and remove the stems. Cut the cauliflower into florets of medium size. Wash them thoroughly and drain them into a slotted bowl. Take these washed cauliflower pieces into a microwave safe bowl and add some water ( around 15 ml). Cover partially and microwave on high power for 5 minutes. Stir once and microwave again on high power for 5 more minutes. After 5 minutes standing time, remove from the oven. You will observe that the cauliflower pieces are 80% done but not fully cooked. Drain them into a slotted bowl to remove excess water.
  
  
  Method:
  Heat a pan and add oil to deep fry the cauliflower pieces. When oil is hot add sufficient cauliflower pieces to it and fry on medium heat. Stir continuously for even browning. Fry till the cauliflower pieces get orange color. Drain them on to a newspaper / paper napkin to remove excess oil.
  Take a deep bowl and keep vepudukaram, salt and turmeric powder nearby. Add the cauliflower pieces to the deep bowl and add sufficient turmeric powder, salt and vepudukaram. Toss the cauliflower pieces so that the all the pieces get the spices evenly. Transfer the spice coated cauliflower pieces to a serving bowl.
  Repeat the process of frying cauliflower and coating them with spices. Once all the cauliflower pieces are fried toss all the cauliflower pieces once finally. Serve hot with plain rice.
  
  
  Points to Remember:
  Cut cauliflower pieces into even sized (medium) pieces so that while frying they get evenly browned.
  Wash the cauliflower thoroughly. At times we see worms on the flowers, so it is better to dip them once in hot water. Just add water enough (10 to 15 ml) to cook the vegetables, so that they are not fully cooked. When cooked, the vegetables should be soft to touch but hard to mash them. 
  Take care while dropping the cauliflower pieces to the hot oil, as the pieces are wet the oil splutters causing oil burns.
  You may choose the level of frying as per your choice. However I feel that if you deep fry too much there may not be much taste of the vegetable left to relish. Instead a medium fry should be good enough.
  Add the spices and Vepudukaram when the cauliflower pieces are still hot. The salt melts and the spices would stick to the hot and wet cauliflower pieces giving them good color and taste.
  
  
  Important Point:
  Take around 100 or 125 ml oil to fry the cauliflower pieces. Add just sufficient pieces per batch to fry. This way almost all the oil will be used up. As it is said that it is not good to reuse fried oil, increase the number of batches to fry using less oil for deepfrying. 
  Do not cover the container containing the cauliflower fry with a lid. Cover  it with a paper napkin only till it is served.
  Here it is not mentioned exactly as to how much cauliflower and spices are
  used. Use as many cauliflowers as you want and add spices according to your taste—there is no restriction. This cauliflower fry tastes very good, making all your family members relish and ask for more.
  
  Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Continue Reading

Bendakaya Vepudu (Okra Fry)

Bendakaya Vepudu (Okra Fry)

 

Ingredients:

• Lady’s Fingers (Okra) – 750gms
• Cumin Seeds – 1 1/2tsps
• Karapodi – 3/4tsp
• Red Chili Powder – 2tsps
• Turmeric Powder – 1/4tsp
• Salt to Taste
• Oil – 12tsps
  
  
   Preparations:
  Wash and cut the lady’s fingers into small pieces. While selecting the lady’s fingers see that they are tender. Bend the tail end of the lady finger and if it breaks easily it is tender—if it doesn’t break then they make crunchy sound while cutting and are not to be used. Even with just one piece of such un- tender piece of lady’s finger the curry gets spoiled. So it is better to prepare the curry the same day when the vegetable is bought.
  
  
  Method:
  Heat a non-stick pan and add oil to it. When the oil is hot add the cumin seeds. When the cumin splutters add the cut vegetable pieces. Add turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Cook covered on medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the lid and stir the vegetable once and again cook covered for a minute. Repeat the process of cooking and frying till the vegetable is almost cooked. Now remove the lid and fry the vegetable for 2 to 3 minutes or till you feel it is dry. Add red chili powder, karapodi and mix gently. The chili powder absorbs the moisture the curry will become dry. Fry for some more time till the curry is totally dry and the vegetable is crunchy. Transfer the curry to a serving bowl and serve with hot rice.
  
  
  Points to Remember:
  Lady’s fingers are too sticky when cut into pieces. While stirring they get mashed up easily by breaking. So stir them gently.
  Do not cover the vessel while cooking continuously for a long time. Water oozes out of the vegetable and the curry will be gooey. Cover for 2 to 3 minutes – then remove the lid and fry for few seconds. Again cover for 2 to 3 minutes – then remove the lid and fry for few seconds. When fried in this manner the vegetable gets dried and will not ooze out moisture. We have to cook the vegetable and at the same time fry it. So we cover it and cook and fry it after removing the lid. Once the vegetable is almost cooked remove the lid and fry till dry. Then add the red chili powder which absorbs the moisture and will make the curry dry faster.
  
  Take care while adding salt. The lady’s fingers after losing all moisture shrink a lot. So it is better to add little salt while cooking and add the remaining salt at the end of preparation.
  For people who are not calorie conscious deep fry the lady’s fingers till crunchy and then add the seasonings. However it is advisable to avoid deep frying as this vegetable absorbs lot of oil.
  
  Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Continue Reading

Aloo Fries

Aloo Fries

 

Deep Frying Method:

Ingredients:

• Potatoes – 500gms
• Oil – For deep frying
• Red Chili Powder – To Taste
• Salt –To Taste
• Turmeric Powder – Little

Less Oil Fry:

Ingredients:

• Potatoes – 500gms
• Cumin Seeds – 1tsp
• Turmeric Powder – 1/4tsp
• Salt –To Taste
• Red Chili Powder – 2tsps
• Oil – 4Tbsps
  
  
  Learn to prepare potato fry in two ways:
  1. Deep frying method
  2. Less Oil Fry
  
  
  Deep Frying Method:
  Preparations:
  Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into thin slices with a knife or any slicer. Take the potato pieces into a bowl and wash them thoroughly. Washing the potatoes will remove the excess starch. Wash till the water in which potatoes are washed comes out clear. Drain the washed potato pieces into a colander.
  
  
  Method:
  Heat a pan and add sufficient oil to deep fry the potatoes. Take a plate and spread a paper napkin. After frying the potatoes drain them on to the paper napkin to remove excess oil. When oil is sufficiently hot add some potato pieces and fry stirring. Fry the potato pieces on high heat, stirring, till crisp. Take the fried potatoes from the oil with a slotted ladle and drain them on the paper napkin which will soak excess oil.  After few minutes take these potato pieces into a bowl and add salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Add the spices as per taste and toss to coat the potato pieces. Transfer the spice coated fried potato pieces into a serving bowl. Fry the remaining potato pieces and coat them with spices. Cover the bowl of spicy and crispy fried potatoes with a paper napkin to retain crispness. Serve hot with plain rice.
  
  
  Less Oil Fry:
  Preparations:
  Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into cubes with a knife. Take the potato pieces into a bowl and wash them thoroughly. Washing the potatoes will remove the excess starch. Wash till the water in which potatoes are washed comes out clear. Take a microwave safe bowl and add the washed potato pieces. Add 20ml water and place this bowl in over. Cover the bowl partially and cook on high power for 5 minutes. Observe that the potato pieces are JUST cooked. Do not overcook the potato pieces—they have to retain the shape without becoming mushy. Drain the cooked potato pieces into a colander.
  
  
  Method:
  Heat a non stick pan and add oil to it. When oil is hot add cumin seeds and fry till they splutter. Add the cooked potato pieces and add salt and turmeric powder. Mix well and cook covered for 5 minutes on medium heat. Remove the lid and add red chili powder. Mix well and cook on medium heat stirring in between. Fry till the potato pieces are crisp. Serve hot with plain rice.
  
  
  Points to Note:
  Potatoes contain lot of starch. For potato fry, removing the starch is very important. Potato pieces when fried (without removing the starch) change color to red fast without being crisp. This is because of the starch. So remove the starch by changing water and washing. When the water is clear and potato pieces immersed in water are clearly visible, that indicates there isn’t much starch in the potatoes.
  Cut vegetables into even sized pieces—then the pieces will be fried evenly till crisp.
  Cook the potato pieces in micro wave oven till they are JUST cooked. Over cooked potatoes become mushy when fried in less oil.
  In less oil cooking method, cover & cook the potato pieces on medium flame after adding salt. The moisture released
  
  after adding salt will allow the potato pieces to get cooked fully. The medium flame cooking will not allow the potato pieces to become mushy. So the potatoes are cooked fully and the less oil used here will make the potatoes crispy when cooked on medium heat. However keep a close watch and stir the potatoes in between to ensure they do not get burnt. Deep fried potatoes may even be served as a snack.
  
  Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Continue Reading

Aratikaya Vepudu (Fry of Raw Banana)

Aratikaya Vepudu 

(Fry of Raw Banana)

 

Ingredients:

• Raw Bananas – 2(500gms)
• Red Chili Powder – 1tsp
• Turmeric Powder – 1/4tsp
• Salt to Taste
• VepuduKaram– 1 1/2tsps
• Oil – 10tsps
  
  
  Preparations:
  Wash the bananas. Take water in a bowl and add salt. Mix salt and keep this bowl aside. Peel the bananas and cut them into cubes. Add these cut banana cubes to the salt water. Take a microwave safe bowl. Drain the banana pieces from salt water and add them to the microwave safe bowl. Add some water to the pieces and place this bowl in the microwave oven covering it partially. Cook the banana pieces on high power for 7 minutes. Allow 5 minutes standing time and remove the bowl from the oven. Drain all the water from the cooked banana pieces. (This can be used as vegetable stock. It would be bit thick. I generally add it to any gravy dish)
  
  
  Method:
  Heat a pan and add oil to it. When oil is hot add the cooked banana pieces. add turmeric powder and salt. Mix well and cook covered on slow flame for 5 to 7 minutes or till the pieces are fully cooked. Remove the lid and cook for a minute. Add vepudukaram and red chili powder. Mix well and fry for a minute till dry. Transfer the Vepudu to a serving bowl and serve hot with plain rice.
  
  
  Points to Note:
  Always dip the cut banana pieces in salt water so that they won’t turn black. Raw bananas leave a sticky substance while peeled and cut. Add some salt and oil to your palms and rub to get rid of the stickiness after the vegetable is cut.
  Do not fully cook the banana pieces. Keep them a bit raw so that the pieces retain their shape. The remaining cooking can be done while frying. When we add salt water oozes out from the vegetable. With that water the vegetable gets cooked. Here we are attempting to do a fry with raw
  bananas using less oil. When we use less oil for a fry the vegetables become mushy. So we first cook them in a microwave oven till three-fourths done and then fry in less oil adding salt. This way the vegetable is cooked and it is also fried without much oil.
  Vepudukaram gives a nice taste to this curry.
  Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Continue Reading