Mushroom and Peas Curry

Somehow I seem to get tempted to try simple recipes which can be cooked on a regular basis rather than those meant for parties . "Mushroom and Pea Curry" is one such recipe from the book "Entice with Spice" by Shubra Ramineni. Although the dish didn't end up with as much sauce as I expected, it was still very tasty and extremely easy to prepare. I  think it would be great with rotis or rice, but I served them with Uthapam and they were awesome.So, yet another simple recipe to my collection before I forget. With very few changes to the original, here goes...

Recipe for Mushroom and Pea Curry(Adapted from "Entice with Spice" by Shubra Ramineni)

Ingredients:
8 oz(250 g) whole mushroom - washed and sliced lengthwise
3 tblspns cooking oil
1 medium onion- grated
1 ripe tomato, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 tspn ground turmeric
1 tspn red chili powder
1/4 tspn ground black pepper
1/2 cup frozen or fresh parboiled green peas
2 tblspns yogurt stirred well
1/2 cup water
salt to taste

Procedure:
1.Heat the oil in a saucepan . Add the onion and saute until golden brown.
2.Reduce the heat to medium and add the tomato.Cover the saucepan and cook until the tomato gets soft .Lightly mash the tomato.
3. Add the turmeric, red chili and black pepper powders along with the salt and mix well. Continue to cook on low heat for few minutes till you get a nice aroma (or until the little one in the living room gets curious and enters the kitchen to enquire about the dinner :) )
4. Add the mushroom and peas and stir well.Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the yogurt and water and bring to a boil over high heat.
6. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for a few minutes. Serve with rice or rotis or like me with Uthapam :)

Ragi Dose / Dosa

Ragi Dose batter is something which I prepare atleast once every week because of the nutritional richness and the ease of preparation. Eating a few keeps your tummy full for more than a few hours. I guess these are some of the reasons why ragi is the main grain used among farmers in the villages.
Back to the dosa, you can make plain ragi dosa and have it with chutney or you can even make it like a Masala Dosa with the potato filling . I know you will love this coz it is the perfect combination of ease, nutrition and Yumminess :)
My Little sister is a new mother after 2 years into her marriage. She is keen on improving in the cooking front for all the right reasons. I want to help her out with this. This is my first attempt in that direction.
Note: The cups I have used are small ones, not the measurement cups used in baking. If you are using the measurement cups, please use a bit more Methi seeds. The proportion of the ingredients except methi remains the same irrespective of what cups one uses. i.e., rice : dal : ragi flour : poha is 2 : 1 : 3 : 1/2
Ingredients:

• Rice- 2 cups
• Urad Dal - 1 cup
• Ragi(Finger millet) flour- 3 cups
• Methi seeds- 1 tsp
• Poha/Avalakki- 1/2 cup(soaked in water 15 minutes before the grinding process)

Procedure:

1. Soak the rice, dal and methi seeds together along with the soaked Poha in water for 4-6 hrs. 
2. Grind it to a smooth batter (of dosa/pancake consistency) in a blender. 
3. Remove the contents into a big bowl. 
4. Add just enough water to the Ragi flour and mix well to make a batter with similar consistency . 
5. Run it in the blender so as to remove any lumps. 
6. Add this to the rice and dal batter and mix well. 
7. Allow to ferment overnight. 
8. When ready to make the dosa, add salt and mix well. 
9. Heat a griddle/tawa and spread some oil with with a cut onion . 
10. Take a ladle full of batter and pour onto the griddle. 
11. Spread into a thing dosa using the ladle . 
12. Spread a few drops of oil around and in the middle of the dosa . 
13. Once done, fold the dosa and serve with any chutney of your choice, my favorite being peanut chutney.