• Ragi flour - 1 cup
• Rice - 1/2 cup
• Salt to taste
• Water - 4 cups

• Clean and soak rice for 15 mins (approximately)
• Take water in a saucepan, bring it to boil.
• Once the water starts boiling, add the drained rice and salt.
• Cover and cook the rice until the grains are soft.
• When the rice is cooked and soft, just add the ragi flour into the pot. Do not stir at this point, but allow it to cook.
• Cover the pan and let it cook on sim heat for few mins, until the steam lifts the plate covering the pan.
• Remove the cover and using a roll pin to stir the mixture thoroughly until you see no lumps.
• Simmer the stove and allow it to cook for 10 mins (approximately)
• Take a vessel, wet it with water, then scoop a portion to this wet vessel and rotates the vessel. It automatically becomes a ball.

1/2 kg tender lamb meat, cleaned and cut into pieces

1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
Salt to taste

10 cloves of garlic
1/2 inch piece of ginger

3 tblsp cooking oil
4 cloves (laung)
4 whole green cardamoms (hari ilaichi)
2 bay leaves
1 large cinnamon stick
200 gms gongura leaves
1 large onion thinly chopped
1 stem large curry leaves

• Boil the mutton , ginger & garlic with some salt in a pressure cooker.
• Fish out the ginger & garlic and make a paste of it and keep it aside.
• In a pan, heat oil and add all the whole spices to it.
• Once they start spluttering, add the ginger garlic paste, green chilies and then the finely chopped onions.
• Saute till it becomes pink in color and then add the gongura leaves, curry leaves and all the ground spices and salt.
• Saute till the oil is separated from the mixture.
• Now add the meat pieces and sauté for five minutes (approximately) so that they get well wrapped with the spices paste.
• Then add water for curry and boil till it thickens.
• Garnish with fresh coriander or mint leaves and serve with plain steamed rice.

• 1/4 kg purple brinjals, wash, make quarters (pieces) with their stalk intactTake small lemon sized tamarind, extract their pulp
• 1 1/4 tbsps of oil

• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1" cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp red-chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 tsps ghee or soft butter
• 1/2 - 1 tbsp grated jaggery or sugar (which ever is available)
• Add salt to suit your taste

• 1/4 tsp methi seeds
• A stack of curry leaves

• Add 1 tsp oil in a cooking vessel, add garlic and cinnamon stick and saute for a few seconds.
• Add the sliced onions and saute till the rawness disappears and it becomes golden brown. Approx 4-5 mts. Keep aside to cool.
• Once cool, make a coarse paste of it. Remove the paste into a bowl, then add salt to taste, red chilli powder, jaggery (or sugar), coriander powder and ghee. Combine well and stuff the brinjals with this paste.
• Add the remaining oil in a vessel, add curry leaves and toss them for a few seconds. Add the methi seeds and let them turn brown.
• Place the stuffed brinjals in the oil and cook on medium high flame for 2 mins. Now, cover with lid and let them cook on medium low flame for about 12-14 mins. Keep checking in between and stir fry to ensure they don't burn or stick to the pan.
• Add the tamarind extract along with a cup of clean water. Bring to a boil and reduce flame and place lid and cook over low flame for about 13-15 mins. The water content should evaporate while cooking.
• Remove lid and cook over low flame and let the brinjals roast well and it appears like a dry saute. It should take about 8-10 mins for the brinjals to be well roasted. Turn off the heat.
• Serve with hot plain steamed rice, pappu, or ragi sankati.

• Country Chicken with bones - 750 g (use mixed pieces, diced into big bite size pieces, wash properly and remove the excess water from it)
• Red Chilli powder - 3 tsp or more to suit your taste
• Turmeric (Haldi) - 1 tsp
• Ginger and Garlic paste - 3 tsp of each
• Oil - (it should cover the whole area of the surface of the cooking dish)
• Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
• Onions - 325 gms- (Finely chopped)
• Kashmiri chilli powder - 2 tsp
• *Home made Masala Powder - 4 tsp (see below for recipe)
• Salt to suit your taste
• Corriander leaves - handful (chopped finely)

6 tsp Coriander seeds, 2 tsp Poppyseeds, 10 Cloves, 8 Cardamom, 2 inch Cinnamon stick, 1 Star anise - grind these in to powder using a coffee grinder or regular mixer. Remaining powder keep it closed in airtight container and can be used in the preparation of other Andhra delicacies.

• Proportion of Chicken to onions 2:1. Marinate country chicken pieces with ginger and garlic paste, turmeric and chilli powder for 2 hours (approximately)
  
  
• Heat a large non-stick pan which is heavy based underneath, add oil as described and heat it up, add curry leaves crisp a little, add onions and fry until light brown.
  
  
• Add marinated country chicken pieces along with the marination and fry until country chicken looses it's pink colour and the water which releases from it. Now add the home made masala powder, kashmiri chilli powder and fry the same.
  
  
• Add 1 1/2 cups of clean water, bring to boil and simmer for approximately 10 mins. Cover with a lid. Keep on stirring time to time.
  
  
• Add salt to suit your taste, followed by coriander leaves mix and cook until the country chicken is thoroughly cooked until way is formed when u slide the spatula and oil floats on top.

• 100 gms fried Ground nuts (if using raw coconuts fry in 1/2 tbl spoon cooking oil)
• 5 nos Red Chillies
• 1 tbl spoon Mustard seeds
• 1 tbl spoon Moong Dal
• 1 tbl spoon Chana dal
• A pinch Hing (Asafoetida)
• 1-2 cloves of Garlic
• A small sized Onion (optional)
• Salt to suit your taste
• Tamarind - Small piece

• Heat one tbl spoon of oil in a kadai, when hot, add mustard, channa dal, moong dal.
• Fry till golden brown or until the mustard seeds pop.
• Add red chillies and fry till chillies are brown. Add hing followed by salt to suit your taste.
• Leave it for a while to cool down.

• Transfer all the contents from kadai to blender, add garlic, tamarind and grind.
• When it is half-ground, add fried groundnuts with little clean water and mix them well.
• Frequently check the consistency by adding few spoons of water and mix the ingredients uniformly.
• The chutney tastes great when it is neither too soft nor too coarse.
• When about to remove add small cut onion pieces and mix well. (Optional)
• See that onions are mixed and not ground into a paste.
• This chutney goes well with hot Steamed Plain Rice, Idlis, Dosa & Ragi Sangati.

Karam Podi: (Spicy Dry Chutney)
Serves - 2

• 1 1/2 tsps oil/ghee for roasting the dals and spices
• 1 cup bengal gram dal/chenaga pappu
• 1/4 cup black gram dal/minappapu
• A little less than 1/2 cup coriander seeds
• 10 dried red chillies, tear into two and de-seed (adjust to suit your spice level)
• 8 garlic cloves
• Add salt to suit your taste.

• Drizzle oil in a heavy bottomed vessel and roast the channa dal on low to medium heat for 3-4 mts.
• Add split gram dal, coriander seeds and dry red chillis to the roasting channa dal and continue to roast till the dals release their flavor and turn golden in colour. Remove and keep aside to cool.
• Place the cooled dals and spices along with the salt in a blender and grind to make a coarse powder.
• Add the garlic towards the end and grind for a few seconds.
• Store in an air tight container and serve with hot plain steamed rice, dosas , idlies or ragi sangati with a generous helping of ghee