Paruppu keerai

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SUrCxGn9ixihPMeH9

About ten cups of "paruppu keerai", half cup water, half cup dry moong daal, one Roma tomato, small onion, turmeric, salt, heeng.
Cook with load. One whistle.  Done.

Paruppu keerai :
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DqhaoenEN2P5egFFA

Instead, can use:
Kale
Greens of red radish

Barlata beet salad with arugula and goat cheese - A's favorite

Cooking the beetroot :
Chop off ends, peel skin, chop into cubes, then pressure cook as follows : in the pressure cooker, about 1.5 inches water, with the beets inside an inner container with zero water. Three whistles. Wait for it to cool.

The rest:
Waiting for the beets cooking in the pressure cooker to be done, put into a bowl:
Arugula (DRY)
Sweet yellow and red cherry tomatoes
Chopped chives
Crumbled feta
Raspberry vinaigrette

Wait for the beets to cool and add.

Toss together.

Egg curry, Andhra style (combo of 2 vahchef recipes)

I followed this exactly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zMjCVwTjaU

Except, I cooked the eggs according to Birdy's recipe.
5 eggs, thrown into water (submerged), turn on the flame to high.  As the bubbles start, begin kitchen timer. 8 minutes. Turn off flame. Cover with lid for 20 minutes.
Vahchef says do not cook eggs for longer than 10 minutes.
When shelled, the yellow must be hard but there must be no blue ring (too severely cooked).

To get the eggs ready for the gravy, DO NOT SLICE THEM (that was my old flop method).
Instead, make think cuts using a knife, around the egg, but keep the egg whole.
This will help them absorb flavors.

Then, this is from a different vahchef video -
Turn on the flame, add oil, add salt, add the hard-boiled eggs. Then pick up the pan and toss the eggs around. Sprinkle red chili powder and keep tossing.

Back to recommendations in this video:
Add to cooked gravy.
3 minutes (no more).

  

Koottanchoru

Ingredients:
"Naattu karigai" : country vegetables (from Tirunelveli, in the Sangam times, according to my mom)
1. Drumstick (murungakkai) : Buy frozen from the Indian store.  We used 8 pieces that were 2 inches each.
2. Amaranth greens (thandu keerai): These were green and purple and had a thick stem, and massive leaves - we bought these at the Indian store.  Wash thoroughly and chop into tiny pieces )the leaves).  Chopped, 1 cup.
3. The stem (of the above keerai) is chopped separately, after taking out the "naaru" (fiber). Made 1 cup after chopping.
4. Fenugreek leaves (mendiya keerai/methi leaves). Wash thoroughly.  Don't forget to take off the stem. Chop. Made 1 cup.
5. Yellow pumpkin (parangikkai) - 1 piece from the Indian store.  Take off skin (if it is hard) and chop into cubes.
6. Cluster beans (kottavarangai) - 1/2 cup after chopping
7. Plaintain (vazhaikkai) - 1 big. Peel skin. Cube.
8. Taro root (Arabi/Seppankizhangu) - 1 big
9. Potato (4 baby potatoes) - chop
10. Toor daal : Pressure cook with turmeric, to make 1 cup after cooking
12. Rice (1 cup raw) : Cook with 2 cups water in the stovetop with a lid slightly open
13. 1/2 cup coconut. 2 dried red chilies, 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, 1 tsp fenugreek seeds : dry roast and grind without water
14. 4 big green chilies.Chopped.
15. Tamarind 1/2 lemon size. Soak in hot water, squeeze.
16. 1 white onion. Chopped.

Pressure cook all vegetables except the greens, in a large cooker with about 2 cups water, salt, turmeric, thing. 2 sounds.  Open the cooker and add, lightly sauteed greens.  Fry the finely chopped onion, 1 cup cooke dal, and tamarind paste.  Bring to boil.  Mix in the cooked rice. We added green chilies sautéed a bit, as this wasn't hot enough.  Salt.

Amazing desi-ish sandwich recipes

Ruchi Bharani (Rajshi Food channel)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st8bQ-Bqmcg

Manjula's kitchen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS1LLF3Klko

Coconut chutney

Ingredients:
1/2 cup frozen coconut (Indian store)
1 cup pottukadalai (dry dalia split)
1 cup cilantro
2 green chilies
heeng to taste
3 TBS udad dal
3 TBS channa dal
15 curry leaves
1 tsp mango powder (aamchur) or 1/2 tsp tamarind paste

Method:
1. Fry udad and channa with heeng and curry leaves.
2. Grind the above, and all other ingredients with salt

Paneer Tikka Masala

1. 2 medium red onions
2. 6 red ripe Roma tomatoes (quality of tomato determines the difference between good and great Indian food :))
3. Ginger garlic paste - 1 TBS
4. Paneer tikka masala 2 TBS
5. Ready made paneer from the Indian store (I buy the Verka brand)
6. Frozen peas - 1 cup
7. Garam masala of high quality - 1.5 TBS (I buy freshly made and then refrigerate).
8. OIL, water, salt
9. 1 TBS cumin (jeera) seeds
10. Black pepper, chili powder - to taste.

Method:
Saute in 2 TBS vegetable oil, a TBS of cumin seeds, and thinly sliced onion. Add the ginger garlic paste and salute further. I keep this going for a VERY long time on low flame. Then, add the chopped tomatoes, sauté. (The recipe calls for 1/2 a cup of paste of cashew nuts but I didn't have any. If doing that, soak the cashews in hot water to soften first). Long time, low flame. Add the garam masala powder. Add a cup of hot water and let it cook in the spices. 

In a ziplock bag, take cubes of paneer and add 2 TBS oil and black pepper, chili powder, and the paneer tikka masala powder, and salt, and close the bag tightly and toss around so the marinade coats the paneer. (Prepare the marinade first and then throw the paneer cubes in.)  You might want to use more oil if you want this to taste REALLY good (I did). Then, stick it in the oven for 10 mins, at 350 degree celsius. Take it out and let it cool. 

Add the cooked paneer to the boiling onion tomato spices mixture. Add the frozen peas. Add water to get it to desired consistency. When it is all cooked, turn the gas off, let it cool for 5 mins, and add a cup of Greek yoghurt. (or any yoghurt/milk/cream). I used Greek yoghurt as it's somewhat high in protein and low in carb. I try to add it everywhere I can. 

And you're done. The paneer tasted really good because of baking in the marinade. Add more salt in the end.