Capsicum corn masala

Ingredients:

Bell Peppers (2), cut into 1/4" cubes
Corn - 1 cup (I used frozen)
Tomatoes - 4 medium - cut into small pieces
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp

Preparation :
1. In a pan, heat oil (can optionally add tadka w/ Jeera), and add Bell Peppers once the oil is hot.
2. Saute bell peppers until they start loosing their bright green color (It is an indication that they're getting cooked).
3. Add corn and tomatoes and let the whole mixture sit in the flame for 20 minutes/ till oil starts separating.
4. Add salt and garam masala and let it stay on the stovetop for another 5 minutes.
5. Garnish with corriander leaves and serve with Roti!

Capsicum Rice

Ingredients :
Cooked rice - 3 cups (Each grain should be separate)
Bell Pepper/ Capsicum cut into 1/4" pieces (2)
Garlic (Optional) - 3 pods
Dry-Roasted unsalted peanuts - 1/3 cup
Bay Leaves
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Masala Powder :
Cloves - 4 florets
Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon - 1 1/2" piece
Corriander (Dhania) seeds - 4 tbsp
Jeera - 3 tbsp

Preparation :
1. Dry-roast the masala ingredients and grind to a coarse powder . (Note : this can also be made in bulk and stored for a while).
2. Mince garlic and keep aside.
3. In a pan, heat oil and add minced garlic and the bay leaves. (Flame should remain at medium)
4. Once the garlic oil mix starts emitting an aroma, add bell peppers and saute for about 5 minutes.
5. Now add the masala powder, mix thoroughly and saute for a further 5 minutes/ until the bell peppers get 70% cooked. Overcooking the bell peppers will cause the rice mix to become a paste, so try avoiding that.
6. Now add salt, and then rice and mix (while making sure that the rice grains don't get clumped together), and saute for a further 5 minutes.
7. Enjoy capsicum rice with Boondi Raita!

Tofu Peanut Satay

Again - this was something in which I used store brought ingredients. I'll mostly update this once I try this again, with the peanut sauce made from scratch.

Ingredients :

Thai Peanut satay sauce - 3/4 cup
Firm Tofu - 1 pack
Oil - 1 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup

Preparation :
1. Heat a pan and add oil. Turn the heat to high.
2. Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes and saute them for about 5 minutes. Sauteeing them on a really hot pan ensures that the tofu does not get too dry.
3. Lower the heat to medium and add Peanut satay sauce and water and blend until the peanut sauce absorbs all the water.
4. Turn off the heat once it starts oozing out oil. This makes a very good side dish for Mushroom Fried Rice !

Mushroom Fried Rice

This was something quick and dirty I attempted. As opposed to most of the other recipes - this just uses store bought ingredients and is something that can be rustled up in less than 20 minutes!

Ingredients :
Button Mushrooms - 1 12 Oz packs.
Soy Sauce - 2 tbsp
Rice vinegar - 1 tbsp
Chili Sauce (I used ching's secret chili sauce) - 1 tbsp (or more, depending on palatte)
Cooked rice - 3 cups
Oil - 2 tbsp

Preparation :
1. Wash mushrooms thoroughly and cut mushrooms.
2. Heat a pan and add oil.
3. Once the oil is hot enough, add cut mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes on medium-high heat.
4. Once the mushrooms get sauteed, they start emitting that "mushroomey" aroma and start losing a lot of water.
5. At this point, add the soy sauce, rice vinegar and chili sauce.
6. The mushrooms will ooze out more water, so keep stirring on medium-high flame till the liquid is 80% gone.
7. At this point, add rice and saute for 5 minutes.
8. Enjoy mushroom fried rice!

Aratikaya Ava Pettina Kura

Ingredients :

Raw plantains - 4
Shredded coconut - 2 tbsp (frozen is fine)
Salt to taste

Popu ingredients :
Oil - 2 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Chana Dal - 1 tsp
Heeng - 1 pinch

Ava podi :
Mustard 4 tbsp

Preparation:
1. To make ava podi, dry roast mustard and grind to fine powder - the powder should be a mix of yellow + brown-black. This can also be in bulk and stored for about an year or so.
2. Wash the plantains, Peel the skin SLIGHTLY to get the dirt off the skin, but make sure most of the skin is retained, and cut each plantain into 2 pieces breadth-wise so it fits in the pressure cooker.
3. Pressure cook the plantains - I pressure cook it till it is extremely soft, if you like the plantains to be chunks then make sure you let it stay on the stove for a shorter time.
4. Remove the skin off the plantains once the cooker is taken off the stove and cut them into 1 inch cubes / mash them depending on your preference.
5. In a small cup mix Ava podi, Shredded coconut , 2 tbsp water and 1 tsp oil thorougly. You should get a pungent odor characteristic of mustard at this point.
6. Heat a pan, and add popu ingredients.
7. Once the jeera seeds begin sputtering, add the cut/mashed plantains and saute for 5 minutes on medium heat.
8. Add salt and the Ava paste, and saute for a further 3 minutes on low heat.
9. Enjoy with plain rice and pappu charu!