Andhra Style Chikkudukaya Curry (Indian Broad Beans curry)

There’s something deeply comforting about the simplicity of regional Indian food, and for me, Chikkudukaya Curry (Indian broad beans curry) is one of those nostalgic recipes that instantly brings back memories.

Known as sem in Hindi, these broad, flat beans are a staple in many South Indian kitchens. But in Andhra households, chikkudukaya takes on a spiced, soulful transformation — lightly cooked with onions, tomatoes, garlic, and just enough heat to bring everything to life. It’s humble, hearty, and so satisfying.

This curry used to be a regular in my winter kitchen back in Hyderabad, India. I love how easy it is to prepare — no grinding, no fancy ingredients — just honest flavors that develop beautifully in one pan. You can make it as a dry stir-fry or as a moist, curry-style dish like I’ve shared here. I sometimes stir in a spoon of roasted peanut powder or coconut at the end for a rustic finish.

Ingredients:

• Chikkudukaya (broad beans) – 250g (washed, strings removed, cut into 1-inch pieces)
• Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped
• Tomato – 1 medium, chopped
• Green chilies – 2, slit
• Garlic – 4-5 cloves, crushed
• Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
• Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
• Dry red chili – 1 (optional)
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Red chili powder – 1 tsp (adjust to taste)
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Fresh coriander leaves – for garnish

Method:

• Prep the beans: Remove stringy sides of chikkudukaya and chop into 1" pieces. Rinse well.
• Boil (optional but faster): Pressure cook the chopped beans with a pinch of salt and turmeric for 1 whistle, OR cook covered in a pan with ¼ cup water until soft but not mushy.
• Tempering:
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add mustard seeds, cumin, dry red chili.
• Once they splutter, add crushed garlic and green chilies. Sauté for 30 seconds.
• Add onion and sauté until light golden.
• Add tomatoes, turmeric, and a pinch of salt. Cook until tomatoes are soft.
• Spice it up:
• Add red chili powder, coriander powder, and mix well.
• Add boiled chikkudukaya pieces.
• Stir well to coat beans with the masala.
• Cook on medium heat for 5–6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of water if too dry.
• Optional: Add coconut or peanut powder now for extra richness.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and turn off the heat.

Serve it with hot rice, a drizzle of ghee, and maybe some rasam on the side — and you’ve got a meal that tastes like home.

Dimer Dalna/ Boiled Egg Curry

In Bengali homes, dalna-style gravies are thicker than usual curries, mildly spiced, and beautifully aromatic with bay leaf, garam masala, and a generous pinch of nostalgia. Every household has its own version — some add potatoes, some don't; some use mustard oil for an authentic touch (I do!), and some temper it with paanch phoron.

What makes Dimer Dalna special for me is how effortless it is — no complex ingredients, no long hours in the kitchen, and yet, the end result tastes like something made with love and patience.

Whether you’re a Bengali missing home or just someone who loves bold, soulful Indian food, this egg curry will win your heart. Scroll down for the full recipe — and don’t forget the rice. You’ll want to soak up every last drop.  

Ingredients:

For Boiled Eggs:

• Eggs – 4 (hard-boiled)

• Salt – ½ tsp

• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

For the Curry:

• Potatoes – 2 medium (peeled and cut into halves or quarters)

• Onion – 2 medium (finely sliced or grated)

• Tomato – 1 large (chopped or pureed)

• Ginger paste – 1 tsp

• Garlic paste – 1 tsp

• Green chilies – 2 (slit)

• Bay leaf – 1

• Whole cumin seeds – ½ tsp

• Cumin powder – 1 tsp

• Coriander powder – 1 tsp

• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

• Red chili powder – ½ tsp (adjust to taste)

• Garam masala powder – ½ tsp

• Sugar – ½ tsp

• Salt – to taste

• Mustard oil – 3 to 4 tbsp

• Water – 1 to 1½ cups (as needed)

• Fresh coriander – chopped (for garnish)

Method:

• Boil the eggs, peel them, and rub with a little turmeric and salt.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil and lightly fry the eggs until golden. Set aside.
• In the same oil, fry the potato pieces with a pinch of turmeric and salt till they get a light golden crust. Remove and keep aside.
• Add more oil if needed. Temper with bay leaf and cumin seeds.
• Add sliced onions and saute until golden brown.
• Add ginger and garlic paste. Saute until the raw smell disappears.
• Add chopped tomatoes, green chilies, and a pinch of sugar. Cook till oil separates.
• Now add turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, and salt. Cook the masala well.
• Add fried potatoes and mix well with the masala. Add water to form a gravy.
• Cover and simmer till potatoes are cooked (about 10–12 minutes).
• Add the fried eggs and simmer for another 3–4 minutes.
• Sprinkle garam masala and chopped coriander.
• Turn off the heat and let it rest for a few minutes.

Serve hot with steamed rice, basanti pulao, or luchi/paratha.

Shada Alur Tarkari / White Potato Curry

Shada Alur Tarkari or White potato curry is a must make dish on Sunday mornings to go with Luchi (deep fried bread) in any bengali household. This needs very little ingredients and is delish. Goes really well with hot phulkas or paratha too. This is also a very common dish during Bengali wedding breakfasts when served with a side of Luchi and hot Rosogollas. This is not a very common preparation at my place coz the husband does not eat potatoes nor anything deep fried. But I do make it sometimes for myself and daughter when craving kicks in.

Ingredients:

- Brushed Potatoes - 2

-  Hing/Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

- Salt - 1 tsp

- Sugar - 1 tsp

- Dried Red Chilli / Green Chilli - 2

- Mustard Oil - 2 tsp

 

 Method:

- Cut the potatoes into cubes and soak them in water. This will prevent them from turning brown.

- In a wok or pan, heat mustard oil.

- When hot add the red chilli (optional) and hing.

- Add potatoes and salt. At this point you can add green chilli too.

- Keep stirring every few minutes otherwise will stick to the bottom of the pan.

- If the potatoes are taking too long to cook or sticking to the pan, you can add a splash of water and cover the pan will the flame at low.

- Once the potatoes are soft but firm, add sugar.

- Serve hot with Luchi / Phulka / Porota / Ruti.

Chilli Chicken - Indian Chinese

 

Nothing is more Indian Chinese than Chilli chicken. No one can match the taste of how good my Ma (her grandma) makes this. This recipe is what I have learned from my Ma and a few of my own additions.

Ingredients:

- Boneless chicken (small pieces) - 350 gms

- Capsicum / Green Bell pepper - 2 medium sized cut into cubes

- Onions - 2 cut into cubes

- Garlic cloves - 4-5 chopped into small pieces

- Ginger - 10 gms - chopped into small pieces

- Soy sauce - 2 tbsp

- Tomato sauce/ ketchup - 3-4 tbsp

- Green chilli chopped - 2 

- Oil - 3 tbsp

- Green chilli sauce - 1 tbsp

- Onion Greens chopped - 1 bunch

Marination:

- Cornflour - 3 tbsp

- Garlic paste - 3 tsp

- Ginger paste - 1 tsp

- Soy sauce - 2 tbsp

- Finely chopped chilli - 1

Deep Fry :

- Oil for deep frying

- Cornflour - 3 tbsp

- All purpose flour - 1 tbsp

- Water - 3 tbsp

Method:

- Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients marked for marination and leave aside for 2-4 hours or better if left in the fridge overnight.

- Heat oil for deep frying.

- Prepare batter with all ingredients for deep frying (except the oil).

- Dip marinated chicken into the batter and fry it when the oil is hot. Set aside.

- In another pan, heat oil. When hot add chopped garlic and ginger.

- On high heat, add the chillies, onion and capsicum and fry for 2-3 mins.

- Add chicken, soy sauce, tomato sauce and green chilli sauce. Mix well. 

- Switch off the flame and garnish with onion greens.

- Serve hot with Roti or Paratha.

Goan Fish Fry

Tastiest fish fry ever...We have been to Goa with you our daughter once till now..we went with her cousin !! She and her enjoyed every bit of it. 

In the Goan cuisine, Rawa fish fry finds a very important place. On one of his trips with his friends,  hubby got this goan fish fry masala for us. This is a dish that he prepared for us and of course was a hit.

Below are the methods and ingredients. If you are not able to find the masala in stores wherever you are, you can actually prepare it yourself, recipe is available here . 

Ingredients:

- Basa Fish - 2 cutlets, you can use fillets too if you don't want to deal with the bones. But the cutlet holds the shape better.

- Karma Goan Fish fry Masala - 5 tbsp

- Semolina and poppy seed mixture - a bowl

- Salt - 1 tsp for marinade

- Oil - to shallow fry

 Method:

- Marinate the fish with masala and salt for 30 to 40 mins

- Coat the fish in the poppy seed and semolina mixture and put it the fridge for 20 mins. This will help bind the mixture to the fish.

- Heat oil in a pan for shallow frying the fish

- When hot, fry the fish until brown. 

- Serve hot with Kashundi sauce or mustard sauce.

Sambar

Sambar...a lentil-based stew mixed with vegetable and tamarind juice. This is a stew very famous in the south of India. Goes very well with idli, dosa, rice or any south Indian delicacy. I personally like it hot with rice. 

Now the question, does my daughter like it? She liked it as a small kid when she was 5-7 years old. Now her taste has changed. As a 10 year old, she does not like 'anything Daal'....😆- This is in her words. But this stew is very very healthy so she finds this in my menu plan at least once a week. 

Ingredients:

- Toor Dal - 1/2 cup

- Tomato - 1

- Garlic - 3-4

- Ginger paste - 1 tsp

- Hing / Asafoetida - a pinch

- Salt - 1.5 tsp

- Sugar / jaggery - 1 tsp

- Curry leaves - a bunch

- Pepper corns - 5-6 

- Oil - 2 tbsp

- Sambar Masala - 3 tbsp

- Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

- Veggies of your choice (I have used pumpkin, okra, raddish and drumstick)

- Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

- Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

- Tamarind pulp - 2 tbsp (This can be easily prepared by soaking tamarind in hot water)

 Method:

- Wash Toor dal and throw away the water. Wash till the water is clear.

- Put dal in a pressure cooker, add garlic, ginger, tomatoes (cubed/halved), a pinch of salt, turmeric.

Cook in low flame. Switch the flame off after 2 whistles. Do not open the lid of the cooker.

- In a wok add oil

- When hot add pepper corns, curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing and let it splutter.

- Then add all the veggies and let it cook, stir occassionally.

- In 5-7 minutes add the sambar powder and a little water (this is to prevent the masala from burning).

- When veggies are cooked, add dal from pressure cooker into the wok and mix well.

- Add salt and jaggery and the tamarind pulp.

- Let is come to a boil. Add coriander leaves and serve hot with rice, idli or dosa.

Doi Begun

 Begun or eggplant is one of my favourite veggies. I love having it fried, in curries, in mixed veg stir fries or in bhartas (mashed eggplant). However, everyone in the family including you hate Begun.

Someone asked me once if there was only one veggie in the world you could eat for the rest of your life what would it be - and pat I gave the answer - Eggplant. 

This curry that I am talking about today is Doi Begun (eggplant in a yogurt gravy). One of my favourites and goes amazingly well with hot rice. I have used small eggplants (Indian or Thai) for this curry. You can use any just make sure you cut them into right size pieces.

Ingredients:

- Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

- Mustard oil - 2 tbsp

- Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

- Curry powder - 2 tbsp

- Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

- Ginger Paste - 1 tsp

- Onion Paste - 1 tbsp

- Tomato paste - 2 tbsp

- Salt - 1 tbsp

- Sugar - 1 tsp

- Yogurt - 1 cup

- Vegetable oil (or any white oil of your choice) - 1/2 cup

Method:

- Halve the small eggplants and marinate well with the turmeric and 1/2 tbsp salt.

- Heat 1/2 cup white oil in a wok.

- When the oil is hot, add the eggplants and fry them well, set aside.

- In the same wok add the mustard oil and let it heat.

- When hot add cumin and mustard seeds.

- When they splutter add ginger paste and onion paste, fry well until raw smell is gone.

- Add the curry powder and tomato paste and fry well for 4-5 mins. Add 1 or 2 tsp  water if it seems too dry.

- Add remaining salt and sugar and fry till oil separates.

- When oil separates, add yogurt on low flame and mix fast and well. Let it simmer.

- When cooked (oil separates again) add eggplants and 1/2 cup water. 

- Let it boil, let water reduce to desired consistency.

- Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.

Bengali Mutton Curry / Picnic Mutton

This pic above is from a parar (suburb's) picnic in Kharagpur which me and my daughter attended. We were there in Jan 2021 when hubs had just travelled to Sydney for the first time. Don't know if she remembers the taste. I have cooked Mutton curry at home a lot of times but it misses the taste of wood which is used to light up to cook this at picnics around West Bengal.

Ingredients:

- Mutton - 1 kg

- Chopped Onion - 2 big ones

- Cinnamon - 1 stick about index finger long broken into small pieces

- Cumin - 1/2 tsp

- Cardamom - 2-3

- Cloves - 2-3

- Mustard Oil - 1/2 cup

- Potatoes - 2 each cut into 4 pieces

For Marinade:

- Mustard oil - 1/2 cup

- Tomato Puree - 1 cup

- Ginger - 2 tbsp

- Garlic - 1 tbsp

- Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

- Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

- Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

- Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

- Marinade the mutton with the items and leave overnight or at least 5 hours.

- Heat mustard oil in an iron work.

- Put in the potatoes. Add salt and fry till golden. Keep aside.

- To the same oil add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin.

- Add onions and fry till brown.

- Add the marinated mutton and fry till it leaves oil.

- Keep frying for 20-30 mins more once it starts leaving oil.

- At this point transfer the mutton into a pressure cooker and add potatoes and seal it.

- Cook for 4-5 whistles on medium flame. Leave it for 30 mins and open the cooker lid after that.

- Serve piping hot with rice.