AAA dinner: An Andhra Anniversary dinner

A few weeks back was our 4th wedding anniversary, and we decided to celebrate at home on the day. My husband's from Andhra Pradesh, and it had been a while since I made some traditional Andhra meals at home and so came to be our AAA dinner! I have to give credit to "Pedatha" for inspiring me to learn Andhra food. Her book has been indispensable in my learning. These 2 recipes are from her book.

I rarely make eggplant at home! Its just something I don't really like. However, my husband does and so I decided to go for it. The menu for the night: Brinjal (Eggplant) Roast or Vankaya Vepudu in Telugu and Red Gram with Spinach or Palakoora Pappu. Here are the recipes:


Brinjal Roast
This one's a super easy dish to make. You can substitute the brinjals/eggplants with potatoes, bitter gourd (make sure to soak it in a dilute paste of turmeric, tamarind and salt for 20-30 mins) and even okra. Honestly speaking, I didn't taste it but the better half said that it was pretty good. So, we'll just have to go by that.

Ingredients:
Eggplants, 2-3 medium sized
Red chilly powder, 1 tbsp (please adjust as per your preferred spice levels)
Oil 3-4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Tempering:
Urad Dal/ Split black gram 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves 6-8

Cut the eggplants into 2 inch pieces. In a wok, heat oil for tempering. Add the black gram and as it turns golden add the mustard. Lower the flame and add the remaining ingredients for tempering.

Add the vegetable and allow to roast on a low flame, stirring once in a while. After about 8-10 mins, as the eggplants turn a light brown, and salt and chilly powder. Continue cooking on a low flame until well done. In almost all recipes with eggplants such as Bharta, bababghanoush hummus etc., slow roasting is key. It helps bring out the flavor of the vegetable better.

Red Gram with Spinach
Ingredients:
Spinach Leaves 1 large bunch
Split Red Gram 1 cup
Fenugreek Seeds 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp
Tamarind Pulp 2-3 tbsp
Asafoetida Powder 1 tsp
Green Chillies 3 slit
Curry Leaves 1 stem
Coriander Leaves 1/2 cup chopped fine
Ghee/Oil
Salt

Tempering:
Mustard Seeds 1 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds 1 tbsp
Red Chillies 8-10

Add the fenugreek seeds and turmeric to the red gram and pressure cook in 3 cups of water. Mix well.

Chop the spinach roughly. I also added some kasturi methi and mint leaves to the spinach to add another taste profile.

In a wok, heat the oil - pop the mustard and then add the fenugreek for tempering. Lower the flame, and add the red chilles when the fenugreek starts turning brown. Add the spinach (an other leaves if using), cover and cook till well done (nicely wilted!!).

Add the tamarind pulp, asafoetida, and simmer for 5-7 mins. Add the cooked gram, 1/4 tsp turmeric, green chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves, salt to taste and continue to cook. Do adjust the # of green and red chillies if you are not a big fan of spice. Add some ghee before switching off.

Here's the final meal which was served with white rice. I had some fried crispies or vadams at home which I added to the meal.

New York New York!!

I spent the week of Jul 26th in New York City and decided to make this trip to the Big Apple on a budget! I promised myself to not spend more than $200 which would include train trips and other travel as well. I was lucky to have a friend, S & A, who lived a short distance from most tourist places and was close enough to a subway station. I stayed in the Upper East side and experienced some typical NYC style living. I walked a lot during this time!! You'll see.

I landed early afternoon on Monday, Jul 26th and went straight home. Due to a turbulent plane ride, I was feeling a little nauseous. A light meal and a lemonade made life much better and then on my first day, my friend and I walked atleast 50 blocks. From 78th st & Lexington down to 28th st. & Lexington. We made some detours to walk by Central Park and 5th Ave. I think we did about 3.5 miles at least. 28th st. & Lexington is an Indian/Pakistani neighborhood with some good restaurants and stores. We had Kathi rolls ($5 each) and REALLY good paan ($1.50 each)! I wound up coming back to the paan place. By the time we got back home, it had been a tiring day and I just went straight to bed. Total expense for Day 1: $11.75 incl train ride back +$22 for taxi ride from airport to home.

Day 2 had a relaxing start. We made lunch at home and got out only once it got a little cooler in the day. We went down to the New York Public Library on 42nd St. and 5th Ave - just a few blocks away from Grand Central. Its a gorgeous library!! The prettiest I've seen with amazing paintings and architecture on the ceiling and the walls especially around the 3rd Floor reading room. Best of all - its free!! Hunger caused us to exit and we had a quick bite of a slice of the New York style pizza. I wonder if I should have tried skimping on the Starbucks $3 visits. Dinner was at a Lebanese Cart on 53rd and 6th I think for $6. Pretty good stuff! I was finally starting to get the geography of the city!

Day 1 & 2 had been moderately tiring, so we decided to just chill out on Day 3. I finished up some work for my non-profit and then walked around the Upper East side. While trudging around, I found this place offering a manicure/pedicure for $25 and just had to do it!! The most relaxing day of the trip had just become the most expensive!! So before I spent any more - I went back home and watched the Motorcycle Diaries - an excellent movie if you haven't already seen it.

On Day 4, I met another friend, U, at Times Square. T. Square is always such a tourist destination. I've never seen it quiet - its buzzing all the time. All those Bollywood movies shot there must have had such a hard time clearing out the places (and I'm sure expensive). We made the short walk from Times Square to Bryant Park to watch Broadway show snippets. Definitely worth it and once again - free! We saw Lion King, Addams Family (the best one!!), Wicked, and Next to Normal. Bryant Park also has a "to-go" version of Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft. The coffee cake was really nice - lemonade not so great. Fortunately or unfortunately I had heard of this Dosa Cart in NY and I really wanted to go there. So U & I walked the 40+blocks to Washington Sq. Park! But the cart was shut for the day. It was a little disappointing but it gave us the opportunity to walk to Macdougal St. and get food from Mamoun's Falafel. The sandwich was a little dry but I think their spicy sauce does the trick. Even better for $3.50. We, then, walked around Soho and on to Little Italy and part of China town. We had some chocolate frozen yogurt at Pop Yogurt in Little Italy. It was really nice and refreshing on a hot day! In China town, I really liked this fake bag, and even bargained for it but decided against the transaction. Finally, we decided it was time to go back home, and I got mine from Spring St. It was peak hour, and the train was packed! Fearing claustrophobia, I got out and walked the remaining 20 blocks home! So on the whole - I walked 80+blocks that day and saw some really cool parts of NYC! Until now, the expenses amounted to $103. Feel like the manicure/pedicure was an indulgence but it felt so good!

On Day 5, I left early in the morning to go to the Metropolitan Museum. I was able to cover most of the 2nd floor - the 19th/20th century paintings (love!-I indulged in a Van Gogh magnet), the Japan exhibit (so peaceful) and a Picasso special exhibit. I got hungry and also splurged on a salad at the Met. I met S and we took the bus down to the Upper West side. We got dropped off at Broadway & 80th and walked down to Zabar's since S hadn't had lunch. I had dessert - a chocolate babka! So good! We walked around the cute neighborhood for a bit and then took the train down to Union Square to meet another friend. I also met some friends at Cafe Medina a little later. It was a cute cafe but unfortunately I was too full to eat or drink anything. Finally, I took the train down to Grand Central to meet family and head to White Plains.

On Day 6, I just spent the morning relaxing and had a good lunch at a local Thai restaurant. I was to meet S & A at Grand Central and we headed straight to Brooklyn Bridge. We walked across from the Manhattan side toward Brooklyn. I do recommend the other way around though. There are some really pretty views of downtown from the bridge. After walking a few blocks around Brooklyn, we headed back toward Macdougal St. near NYU. This street has some really good restaurants for reasonable prices! We tried another Kathi Roll place. I have to say I liked the first place better. We moved to Mamoun's again. $5 for an amazing falafel plate! They have their house spicy sauce on sale in 5 oz bottles. If I could check in my bags, I would have definitely bought one of those! As we walked around a lot of students seem to descend on the place. We picked a bar called Kenny's Castaways for some live music. After a long day, it was great to sit and just talk with each other. We took the train back to 28th & Lexington for that paan again! It didn't disappoint.

On Day 7, I took the train back to White Plains and spent the day with family. We had tons of fun making some sweets and eating some good home cooked food!

Day 8, my last day in NYC. I decided to make it reasonably relaxed and went to the Guggenheim museum. For the price ($15), I'd say its not the greatest. The building was the best part and that's a Frank Lloyd Wright creation.S & I went to an Indian restaurant to finish off a really fun trip.

My total expenses on trip? $200 (The manicure & pedicure was an unnecessary indulgence). How did I manage that? I have to credit my brother-in-law for some free train rides courtesy his monthly pass. I also have to thank S & A for some food treats. I couldn't have done it without them!!