Ujwala's Delicacies

Indian inspired all natural kitchen.

Lotus root fry

I absolutely enjoy cooking delicacies with new veggies every day. I shop at the farmers market and local markets for rarely found veggies. Lotus root fry is a versatile dish, that can be an appetizer or a side of the main course. I was in main course mood when I took this picture. You dont need to make separate dishes for appetizer and maincourse. Let your family or guests choose depending on their mood. What a bumper offer. In Indian cuisine, spiced vegetables cooked with out gravy is commonly consumed with rice. Those dry roasted veggies are also consumed with chutney on the side. Adopt ancient Indian clean recipes. Lotus root called as tamara veru in telugu, kamal kakdi in hindi, Thaamari thandu in tamil.

This is an absolute Vegans and vegetarians rejoice! Vegan lifestyle getting more attention. More and more people started believing in vegan in predominantly meat-eating countries for health reasons or to reduce cruelty. With so much popularity, now is a good time to be vegan. Lotus root fry is a vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and paleo delicacy to start with. More n more meatless options. Nothing to worry about if you are thinking to be a vegan.

Whole-grain, kale masala vada

Those moong lentils sitting in your cupboard have been trying to say something. Let me out… play with spices and cook me crunchy. Fried in oil, moong dal can transform into a crispy, nutty, savory snack. Reach for something crunchy when you need snack. If you haven’t heard of Masala vada, allow me to do the honors to introduce. Masala vada is South Indian crispy, savory fried snack. It is one of most crowd cheered festive snack. Which makes its appearance in every home on a festival day, entertaining smiley family and friends. If you haven’t tried this snack yet, also allow me to introduce to all-natural step-by-step recipe. This is dangerous knowledge.

Telangana eggplant with coconut and spices

If you want to experience a truly authentic taste of Telangana/Andhra cuisine, you have to taste Andhra Vankaya Kobbari karam – translated as Andhra eggplant, coconut masala. It is an authentic delicacy in Telangana/Andhra Pradesh cuisine which are India’s states Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are recently split states from the southern part of India. Both states share a very much same cuisine, with quite a few variations in a few regions. Telangana is the land of spicy food. Yet it is not painfully spicy, it is an awesome smooth spice which wakens your taste buds and makes you feel you this is the one you missed all your life long.

Mango rice

South India is the land of rice dishes. Every state in Southern India has different variations of rice dishes made of unique ingredients. Such diverse recipes. It takes a lifetime to learn about Indian states, culture, and food. South Indian states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have an exclusive cooking style, you just have to explore each one of them yourself. Indian cuisine as most westerns know is not just naan, chicken butter masala. It is quite elaborate. Exploring Indian cuisine is quite fun. So many ingredients, so many variations, whats common is the great taste. South Indian rice dishes are clean. They are made of fresh, clean ingredients. Turmeric in mango rice gives you the best nutrition. Moreover, most of them are vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free.

Celery, green Mango Chutney

The zesty raw mango chutney is one of the most loved mouth-watering sides enjoyed by Indians during the summer season. When the raw mangoes blend with fresh celery, the mushy green chutney brings joy to the taste-buds. The fresh & sour flavors combined with salty, sweet and spicy ingredients to create flavourful dip called “Celery, Raw Mango Chutney”. This vegetarian chutney fits amazingly into a low carb Indian diet.

Ingredients: Names and Nutrition

Raw mango or the unripe green mangoes are a tropical fruit also known as Kairi (in the Bengali language), maamidi kaya (in Telugu) and Kacha Aam (in Hindi). Celery is a green leafy plant which looks similar to coriander leaves.

Raw mangoes and celery are extremely good for health. Raw mangoes contain a great amount of pectin, starch, vitamin B and Vitamin C. They are great for energizing the body, maintaining a strong heart, liver, and intestine. Celery leaves have an immense amount of low-calorie dietary fiber which helps in losing weight. Consumption of celery can aid in relieving from exhaustion, cure joint pain, heal headaches and solve appetite-loss problems.

Choosing To Prepare Fresh Home-Made Cuisines

It is a known fact that fruits and herbs should always be fresh. Purchasing raw mangoes and celery from the market as frozen ingredients are of no use as they contain zero-nutrition. The keto Indian food has to be prepared with fresh ingredients and had right away.

This Chutney is prepared fresh with natural ingredients. I recommend consuming soon while most nutrients are active. That is why having chutney in restaurants or fast food stalls can be risky. Often in food joints, the chutneys are prepared at the start of the day in large portions to be served to customers along with snacks through the day. As the chutney sits for longer duration it becomes unsuitable for consumption.

Saddula Batukamma Saddulu

In the state of Telangana, batukamma is the largest festival, celebrated in grand scale for 9 days. Goddess Gauri a reincarnation form of Laxmi is worshipped on the name of Bathukamma. Of course, no celebration in any culture would be complete without food. 5 or 9 types of naivedyam (prasadam) called saddulu is offered to Goddess Gouri on the 9th day. Shown in the picture are Nimmakaya saddi, Nuvvula saddi, karivepaaku saddi, Palli saddi, perugu saddi and minappappu saddi. For those who don’t know the Telugu language, they are lemon rice, sesame seeds rice, curry leaves rice, peanut rice, curd rice, and black gram (urad dal) rice.

Batukamma karivepaku saddulu

This is the time of the year 9 sacred days are celebrated in large scale. Though they are called different names, celebrated differently, worshipping avatars of Durga is common. Navratri, Mysuru Dasara, Batukamma, Kullu Dussehra, Durga Puja, Nadahabba etc. This high-spirit festival is celebrated in many different ways. Some fast, some feast, some jagaran (not sleeping thru the night), some dance every night, some worship with high devotion.

Turai, coconut chutney

Turai aka Ridge guard is well known in Asian countries, especially in India, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan. All of these cuisines have such a unique way of transforming this plain tasting vegetable into something amazing. Today, I introduce you to South Indian state Telangana way of transforming turai (beerakaya) into an amazing chutney (beerakaya pachadi). Not a lot of non-Indians know about chutney. Not just Indians, but non-Indians can enjoy chutneys too. Chutneys are so versatile, they can be eaten with rice as South Indians do or use as condiments for sandwiches, burgers. It also can be used as pasta sauce. Vegans all over the world or those who are struggling to find delicious and tasty meatless recipes should know about chutneys. Also those looking for diabetic friendly recipes, low carb, low sugar recipes, chutneys are rejoiced. Chutneys are all-natural, clean, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and paleo. No regrets.

Pesarattu

Pesarattu is described as Indian crunchy savory crêpe pancake made of Mung (moong) lentils. Pesarattu is popular in the states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Rajasthan in India. Pesarattu name came from the Telugu language. Pesara is mung dal, attu is dosa, together is mung dal dosa. It is made with green mung dal batter. Pesarattu is topped with tiny onions and cilantro. It served as breakfast, with a side of ginger chutney. Pesarattu is made of Mung dal with skin, with added spices. Pesarattu is a breakfast which is high in protein, fiber, light in carbohydrates and sugars, which are the characteristics of a healthy breakfast. Bonus points are that Pesarattu is Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free. A wonder Indian vegetarian recipe.

If you are making dosa for the first time, be ready to fail with the first few dosas. Not only you will struggle with spreading the batter to make thin dosa, you will also struggle to remove without damaging. Correct temperature for the griddle is important. Griddle should not be too hot and not too cold. Trust me, before you realize you’ll turn out to be an expert in dosas.

Sautéed beetroot with spices

Sautéed beetroot is vegan, vegetarian, paleo and gluten-free dish. It is one of the easy vegetarian Indian recipes. Another delicious, clean meatless recipe. If you are a pro at cooking or new bee, beetroot will please you. If you are someone who wants to start cooking vegan recipes, start with beetroot sauté.

Fruits and vegetables from vibrant color spectrum contain high levels of vitamins and minerals as vitamin C, vitamin A, beta-carotene, potassium, lycopene, flavonoids, and zeaxanthin.Beetroot is well known to be a very healthy and tasty vegetable. There are many ways to enjoy beets. Grate them raw on salads. Starters, soups, salads, drinks, steam and sauté, low sugar desserts and more. Beets are not only famous in kitchen, they are also famous in the beauty world as natural hair dye.