IDLI
Ingredients
2 cups black gram (udad) dal
4 cups rice
salt to taste
4 tsp baking powder (optional)

Method:
1. soak udad dal and rice separately for about 6 hours
2. grind the soaked udad dal to a fine paste.
3. Rice should be ground coarsely for making soft idlis. Normally, raw rice will take about 2 to 3 minutes for grinding while boiled rice will take about 4 to 5 minutes.
4. After grinding, mix dal and rice pastes together. Add salt to taste. Keep aside overnight for fermentation.
5. Add 1/2 tsp baking powder mixed in a little water to the batter
6. Steam in idli stands.
Serve hot, with chutney or sambar.

HYDERABAD BIRYANI:
Ingredients: (For Rice)
2 cups Basmati Rice
3 ½ cups Water
1 ½ tsp Salt
3 tsp Ghee
3 each of cloves, Cinnamon and Cardamom
1 Bay Leaf
1 tsp Shahjeera
Ingredients: (For Mutton)½ Kg mutton
3 Green chilies
3 large Onions
3 each of Cloves, Cinnamon and Cardamom (for mutton)
4 tsp Ghee
1 bunch Coriander
½ bunch Mint
Masala I: 1 large pod Garlic
1 large piece Ginger
Grind together to a paste.
Masala II: 12 Red chilies
2 tbs Coriander
2 tsp Fennel
2 tsp poppy seeds
Grind together to a smooth paste
Masala III:
½ cup grated Coconut
3 tsp chopped Cashewnuts
½ cup Curd
Grind together to a smooth paste
Method for rice:
Clean the rice and soak in water for 20 minutes. Drain and keep aside. Heat ghee, add the remaining spices for rice preparation and fry for 1 min. Add rice and fry for further 2 to 3 mins. Add water and salt and cook till water is absorbed. Allow rice to cool.

Method for mutton: Clean meat, cut into pieces and soak in curds, Slit the green chilies, slice the onions, chop the tomatoes and keep aside. Heat ghee, ad the spices, green chilies and onions and fry till mixture brown. Add masala I and II. Now add the tomatoes and fry for 2 mins. Add the mutton, coriander leaves, mint leaves and simmer for 5 mins. Add ½ cup water and salt to taste. Pressure cook for 15 mins. Open cooker and add Masala III. Cook till the gravy is thick.
Divide rice into 3 parts and the mutton into parts. Grease a dish and arrange alternate layers of rice and meat, beginning and ending with rice. Dissolve a little saffron or yellow coloring in ¼ cup of milk. Our over rive, cover and bake for 20-30 mins. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with fried onions, cashewnuts, raisings and hardboiled eggs.

Kerala Recipes

Avial:
Ingredients:4 Drumsticks
¼ tsp Turmeric powder
2 raw Plantains (Bananas) 1 tsp Cumin seeds
½ kg Yam
¼ tsp Peppercorns
50 gms Beans
1 cup thick sour Butter Milk
50 gms Peas
5 tbs Coconut oil
1 Coconut
A few Curry leaves
6 Green Chilies
Method: Grind coconut, green chilies, cumin, cumin seeds and peppercorns to a fine paste. Cut all the vegetables into 2 cms long pieces. Cook these vegetables in water with turmeric powder and salt. Remove the excess water from the vegetables. Now mix the ground masala with the sour buttermilk and pour over the vegetables. Simmer for a while and add curry leaves and fresh coconut oil Remove from fire and serve hot with rice.

SHRIMP AND BREADFRUIT CURRY:
Ingredients:150 gms Shrimps
¼ tsp Turmeric powder
½ Kg Breadfruit
Oil as needed
½ tsp Vinegar
Salt to taste
½ tsp Chili powder
For Tempering:
2 Onions
6 Curry Leaves
½ tsp Mustard seeds
1 cm Ginger piece
1 small Onion chopped
4 Garlic flakes
Method: Grind the chili powder, chopped onions, garlic, ginger, coconut, turmeric with vinegar to make a fine paste and set aside. Shell and devein shrimps. Clean breadfruit and cut into small pieces. Boil breadfruit in water. Add salt to taste. Cook shelled shrimps in ground masala paste. Add salt and water and cook till shrimps are tender. To this add the cooked breadfruit. Cook both together after blending them. Heat 3 tbs oil and fry mustard seeds, curry leaves and one chopped onion. Our this mixture over the curry and serve hot.

MALABAR FISH CURRY:
Ingredients
250 gms Shell Fish or any other Fish
¾ Coconut
1 big Onion
4 Green chilies
2 cm Long Ginger piece
½ Garlic pod
1 small Onion chopped.
For Seasoning:
2 tsp Chili powder
Small ball of Tamarind
½ tsp Turmeric powder
½ tsp Fenugreek
2 tbs Coriander powder
½ bunch Coriander leaves
1 tsp Aniseed
1 curry leaf
1 big Tomato
2 tbs Oil
Method:Clean and cut fish into big slices. Peel garlic and scrape ginger. Cut tomato into 4 pieces. Soak tamarind in water. Extract milk from ½ coconut and keep aside. Roast rest of the coconut gratings with aniseed, chopped onions and curry leaves in 1 tbs oil till gratings are brown. Grind this mixture to from a smooth paste. Grind garlic and ginger to a paste. Fry this paste also in oil. To ginger-garlic paste add water, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt. Boil for a minute. Cook fish till it is almost done. To this, mix coconut paste along with coconut milk. Finally add curry leaves and coriander leaves. Boil and remove from fire.
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Spiced Chicken
Ingredients:1 kg Chicken
4 Tomatoes
4 Onions
4 Garlic flakes
3 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 Ginger piece
1 big Cardamom
1 Bay leaf
3 Cloves
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Chilli powder
½ cup Curd
salt to taste
oil as needed
1 Cinnamon stick.
Method:
Chop 2 onions, garlic and grind to a paste. Grind turmeric powder, ginger, cloves, cumin seeds, chilli powder and coriander powder and set aside. Clean chicken. Cut into regular pieces. Chop remaining onion. Heat oil and sauté chopped onions till brown. Fry the onion and garlic paste. Add chicken pieces and fry till golden brown. Add the ground masala, bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon and fry for a few minutes. Chop tomatoes and add them. Stir fry till oil separates. Pour beaten curd, salt and water as required. Simmer till chicken pieces are tender and gravy is well blended.

Moong Dal Pancake

Ingredients:
2 cups Moong dal
1 tsp Salt
1" piece of Ginger, 1 cup Coriander leaves
few curry leaves.
All filling ingredients to be chopped finely.
Method:
Mix all the filling ingredients and set aside. Soak dal for 1/2 an hour and grind it with salt and 2 cups of water to form a thick batter. Take a spoonful of this batter and spread it over a greased griddle as thin as possible. Spread one tsp of oil around the edges of the pancake. Turn the pancake over when the base is golden brown. Roll in the filling. Repeat the same with the remaining quantity of batter and filling. Serve hot pancakes with sauce or chutney.

Karnataka Recipes

BISI BELE BATH:
Ingredients:
1 cup Toor dal;
2 tbs chopped Cashew nuts;
500 gms Rice;
1 tsp Turmeric powder;
2 tbs Coriander Seeds;
1/2 tsp powdered Garam Masala;
12 red Chillies;
1/2 Coconut scraped;
1 tsp Chana dal;
1 tsp Urad dal;
a few Curry leaves;
1/2 cup Tamarind Juice;
Oil as needed;
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds;
Salt to taste;
1 tsp Mustard seeds.
Method:
Dry roast the coconut, chillies, coriander seeds, turmeric, fenugreek seeds, channa dal, urad dal and asafoetida and dry grind them. Cook Toor dal till it is soft. Wash rice and cook with toor dal, tamarind juice, powdered masala and garam masala. Add salt to taste. Cook in just sufficient water so that the mixture is dry when cooked. Heat 4 tbs oil and fry mustard seeds, curry leaves and cashew nuts and pour over rice. Mix and serve hot with melted ghee.