Lemon Pickle

Cut the lemons into small pieces. Soak in fresh lemon juice + salt + turmeric. Should be salty. Keep for a week. Will become paste.

Mustard + methi - dry roast and grind. Add red chilly powder. Add this to the lemon paste.

Heat sesame oil + hing to the above

Allam Pachadi

Dice ginger + channa dal + methi + red chillies. Fry in oil. Cool and grind. Add some bellam (lemon sized).

Cook liquid tamarind paste separately for about 3 minutes (not till pulikachal consistency)

Add the tamarind to the ground paste. Grind again. This can be frozen and add hot water whenever need.

Add mustard + urad dal as garnish.

Spinach Pachadi

Spinach leaves wash and dry. Fry in oil with closed cover till it becomes dark green. Should lose the water completely.

Add lemon sized tamarind so it soaks up.

Oil Fry red chillies + mustard + urad dal + hing.

Grind red chillies + spinach + tamarind. Add the poppu.

Heat oil + hing to preserve the pachadi

Kuruve Karam

Wash and dry Red Chilles (the mexican variety). Fry in oil and make it soft. Put a cover. Add a lemon sized tarmarind to this. After it cools add salt.

Mustard + Vendhayam - Dry roast and grind. Should be 1 tsp for a handful of chillies. Small amount of vendhayam.

Grind the powder with the chillies.

Heat oil and when hot add Hing to it. Add this to the ground red chillies paste. Is a preservative.

Salad:Easy Spinach Salad With Citrus Vinaigrette (Giada)

Loved the dressing with a few changes to make it a little more hearty.

For Salad

1 10 oz bag of spinach

2 tomatoes diced

A handful of pasta boiled al dente

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (optional)

1/2 red onion thinly sliced

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan/ Any Italian cheese combination

For Citrus Vinaigrette

1/4 cup oil (preferably olive oil)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice (or whatever other citrus fruit you are using)

Zest from both lemon and oranges

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon thyme, dried or fresh

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients for vinaigrette, except oil and cheese. Whisk in oil until well combined. Combine salad ingredients. Toss with dressing. Top with grated Parmesan.

Add red chilli flakes to the pasta, add to the entire mixture.

Adai

1 cup rice

for roast: 1/2 cup dal

for softer version: 1 cup dal

dal: equal amount of channa dal and toor dal (75%); urad dal lesser quantity

Grind with red chillies, hing, and salt

Add curry leaves, jeera

Tindora-Channa Sabji

Original Source, my changes in blue

Ingredients:

1 cup Tindora/Thondekai, chopped

1/2 cup Kabuli Chana/ Chick peas, soaked in water overnight

1/2 cup Grated coconut

2-3 Dry red chillies (low to mediumm spiced)

1/2 tsp Coriander seeds

1/2 tsp Jeera

2 -3 tsp Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

4-5 Curry leaves

1 tsp Lemon juice

A pinch of haldi

A pinch of hing

Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook tindora and chana separately until they are cooked; It took me about 2 whistles. Note: Cook chana in salt water. However, tindora can be cooked without water.
2. Powder the dry red chillies, jeera and coriander seeds in a mixie. After they are powdered, add grated coconut and churn them further without adding water. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a kadai. Temper with mustard seeds, haldi, hing and curry leaves.
4. Add sliced onions (1 medium size)
5. Add the masala mixture prepared in step 2 to the tadka and saute for a while.
6. Add cooked tindora and chana; Add salt and mix well.
7. Remove from stove and add lemon juice; Serve hot with rice or rotis!

Lauki Sabji

In a pressure cooker add oil + jeera + slit green chillies

Then add 1/2 chopped onion + 2 diced tomatoes

Grind about 2 tsps of Dhaniya to make fresh dhaniya powder

Add this to the soft tomatoes and stir for a while. Then add cubed Lauki pieces

Add 1/2 cup of channa dal and enough water to cook this entire mixture.

Pressure cook . Garnish with coriander leaves. Optionally can add curds in the end.

Simple and tasty for rice and rotis.

Beetroot Salad

Recipe source: http://showmethecurry.com/salad-raita/beetroot-salad-kosambir.html

Prep Time: 10 mins plus 1 hr chill time (optional)
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

Beetroot – 1 lb (1/2 kg), peeled and shredded - use the chopper rather than grate them
Roasted Peanuts – 1/2 cup, roughly crushed
Cilantro (Coriander) – 5 sprigs, chopped
Green Chilies – to taste, finely chopped
Onion – 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Lemon/Lime Juice – to taste
Salt – to taste
Roasted Cumin Powder – 1 tsp - tastes good without too

Method:
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and chill for 1 hour.- Chilling optional

Something like a Waldorf Salad

2 red apples cubed

bunch of grapes/ raisins

1 mango

diced onion (about 1/2)

Toss all of them with lemon juice + salt + black pepper.

Toast some walnuts and dice them.

Dressing: Mayonnaise + Sour cream (optional) + salt + pepper. I also added a dash of Maaza (mango juice).

Cut a bunch of spinach (dry) and add it to the salad in the end.