Dasara Greetings

To all my friends who are celebrating Durga Puja, Navratri and Vijaya Dashami, On this special day, may you be blessed with love, health, happiness, prosperity, peace and success. HAPPY DASARA.

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Celebrate Monsoons with Yummy Sweet Corn Recipes

Hi folks. Here we are enjoying the Monsoons. In fact we Indians, celebrate each season with much enthusiasm. We have so many ways to celebrate them-festivals, songs, dances and of course food. 

Monsoon is celebrated as we get refreshed with the showers after a long hot and dusty summers. The rains bless us with not only, cool climate but also the much required water filling up our lakes, rivers and other water bodies. India being predominantly an agri-based country, our farmers start their activities.

Well whether in cities or towns or in villages, everyone needs some hot, healthy food which is also very yummy. Moreover, if you can make it easily with simple ingredients then it is worth noting down and trying. 

Sweet corn has become very popular in India and is now readily available through out the year in super markets as well as our local vegetable markets. We can get the corn cobs and separate the kernels or if we don't have that much time separated kernels are also available but a bit pricey. 

Sweet corn is delicious and healthy. It is rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals. It is sweet to taste and can be eaten raw, if it is fresh.

Here I am giving you some recipes which are easy to make yummy and popular with young and old alike at the same time healthy and nutritious... 

Boiled Corn

Bring to boil 2 cups of water in a pan, add a cup of sweet corn, cover and cook on low heat till done. 

Drain the water, and it is ready for use. 

Note: 

• If the corn is fresh and tender, it will be cooked within 5 to 10 minutes. 
• This will serve one person.
• 1 cup of fresh corn means roughly 175gms
• 1Tbsp of butter is roughly 14 gms

The following recipes will use this boiled corn and the corn should be hot and served hot

Recipe-1- Boiled Corn-Salt and Pepper


Boiled Corn- 1 cup 
Butter - 1 tbsp
Black Pepper/White Pepper powder  - to taste
Salt to taste

Take the boiled corn in a serving cup/bowl, add butter, salt and pepper powder. Mix well and serve hot. Since we use hot boiled corn, the butter will melt by itself. Serve it hot.

Recipe-2- Boiled Corn-Salt and Papparika

Boiled Corn- 1 cup 
Butter - 1 tbsp
Red Pepper(chillies) powder  - to taste
Salt to taste

Take the boiled corn in a serving cup/bowl, add salt and pepper powder. Mix well and serve hot. 

Recipe-3-Spicy Indian Corn

Boiled Corn- 1 cup 
Butter - 1 tbsp
Red Pepper(chillies) powder  - to taste
Garam Masala powder- a pinch
Turmeric Powder- a pinch
Salt to taste

Take the boiled corn in a serving cup/bowl, add salt, butter and spices. Mix well and serve hot. 

Recipe-4- Yummy Chinese Corn

Boiled Corn- 1 cup 
Butter - 1 tbsp
Green Chilly Sauce- to taste
Salt to taste (if required)

Take the boiled corn in a serving cup/bowl, butter and sauce. Mix well and serve hot. 

The Sauce contains salt and oil. So adjust the quantity of butter or avoid it if you don't want it to be too fatty. I prefer to add butter as the sauce is spicy.

Similarly for the salt, first add the sauce to the corn and if required add salt according to your taste.

 

Recipe-5- Spicy Schezwan Corn

Boiled Corn- 1 cup 
Butter - 1 tbsp
Schezwan Sauce- to taste
Salt to taste (if required)

Take the boiled corn in a serving cup/bowl, butter and sauce. Mix well and serve hot. 

The Sauce contains salt and oil. So adjust the quantity of butter or avoid it if you don't want it to be too fatty. 

Similarly for the salt, first add the sauce to the corn and if required add salt according to your taste.

So try out these recipes, Celebrate Monsoons with my Yummy Sweet Corn Recipes...Please let me know how you like them...

Watch out for more ....

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Making Popcorn-1

We all love popcorn. Don't you? Actually snacking on it while watching a movie is what I like. It is a healthy and nutritious snack.

Have you ever made popcorn on the stove? Do you know how popcorn was traditionally made?

Well these days you have machines for that. 

But traditionally popcorn in India was made and still being made in villages and little towns in two ways. One is no oil and the other is with oil method.

No oil method:

In earlier days, some farmers in the village used to puff up the grains like wheat, rice, corn etc and sell them. They use hot sand for this. This method is also used to roast peanuts, chickpeas, peas etc. The veranda or the room in the front serves as a shop for them.

Even today some people are dependent on this as occupation. They either use their own grain, in which case they charge for the entire thing. We can also give them the grain and get it puffed up. They charge some meager amount for this.

In this method, a big iron wok is kept on a stove made of bricks and plastered with soil and cow dung mixture. Now they are using iron stoves. Wood is used as fuel. Other things like, coal, husk, wood shavings, saw dust, bagasse(the remains of sugar cane after the juice is extracted), or other agri waste like dried wheat/rice/grain stalks after harvesting may also be used.

The wok is filled with fine sand. Once the stove is lighted, the sand is left to heat up. Then they add the maize kernels(corn seeds), on to the sand and close it with a lid. When the kernels pop out, they are removed and sieved to remove any sand. In order to make it salty, the corn kernels are put into salted water for sometime and then dried.

You can watch it here:

Popcorn making the Indian way

Unlike what people think, sand does not stick to it. So it is quite safe to eat. This is healthy as there is no oil is used for making the popcorn. My grandmother and my mother too used to make this way. Even I use this method it some times.

Oil Method:

This was most popular before the machines came into the market. Here is how I often make simple popcorn.

Simple Salty Popcorn

Ingredients: 

Maize kernels(corn seeds)  1/4 cup

Oil    1 Tbsp or Butter  1+1/2 Tbsp butter

Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Salt   To taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. I use my cooker.
• Once oil(butter) is hot, reduce the flame to minimum, add turmeric, salt and the kernels.
• Just stir it once so that turmeric and salt get coated onto the kernels and close with a lid.
• Let it sit for a while. The kernels start popping. Wait until the popping stops.
• Switch off the stove.
• Now it is ready to eat.

This is very easy to make, healthy, hygeinic  and less costly. It can be prepared in just 10 minutes. Goes well with afternoon tea too.  

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Time For Pickles

Storing Pickles

This hot summer is time for pickles- the King of all Pickles, that is, Mango Pickles known as Avakaaya. Of course the pickle made from Gongura(a kind of sour leaf) is the Queen and nothing beats it   No function, or feast is complete in our India especially our Telugu States with out the pickles. Of all the pickles, mango pickles are the most popular ones. 

For us Telugu people making pickles from Mangoes or red chilies or raw tamarind or Gongura is nothing less than a sacred ritual or doing meditation. It is done with lot of care. 

Every family has its own secret recipe, ingredients and its own traditions connected with pickling. The grand mothers take care to see that these are followed every year and are handed down to the next generations.

The ladies have to take bath, wear clean clothes, clean the kitchen or the area of operation, tools and ingredients to be used thoroughly. Pickles are also stored with great care in big ceramic or glass jars covered with clean cloths. Once in a week or fortnight, required portion is taken out for daily use in smaller containers. 

I still remember my granny making huge amounts of pickles storing them filled in very big ceramic jars in the pantry and touching them only after a bath. No one else is allowed to touch them. 

All this because one careless mistake will spoil the pickles which other wise can be stored for an year and many years if need be.

I have already talked about the  proper storing of pickles in my introduction to pickles in my previous posts. 

No matter how many containers, jars or bowls we have, we women are always looking out for the latest ones so that our tables look great while dinning. Here I am going to show you the latest storage containers meant for our table. 

It is pickle caddy with two glass bowls. 

As you can see there is a plastic caddy which can be opened when needed and closed tight after stacking the bowls one upon another. The glass bowls (thank God for that!) have plastic lids (which I don't like much as it is meant for pickles). One more thing is it is available in only one colour.

It is easy to carry to table, very handy and easy for storing. Stacking up of bowls one upon another also saves space. 

What is good is the price. It is very affordable. All in all I felt it was a good buy.

Apart from  pickles we can serve chutneys, dips or even sauces or crispies in them. 

So do you want to have one too?

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Chicken-65

Here is the recipe

 

You can print them on A4 size sheets, either one Page on each side, or leave the back side for your own notes. You can put them in a sheet protector and file them in a binder.

NOTE: Please note that these are for your personal use only. If you want your friends or relatives to have the recipe, let them visit my blog and down load from here. More visits will popularise my blog. I think I can be a little selfish here. 

I am a vegetarian so I collect these recipes from my friends and post them here for your use. More number of visits will popularize my blog. 

I will be glad if you try these recipes and if you can drop in your comments and suggestions if any. If some one can share a photo graph of the recipes, I will be really grateful. I will post them here for the benefit of the others.

Watch out for more.....

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Chicken Jaipuri

Here is the recipe:

You can print them on A4 size sheets, either one recipe on each side, or leave the back side for your own notes. You can put them in a sheet protector and file them in a binder.

NOTE: Please note that these are for your personal use only. If you want your friends or relatives to have the recipe, let them visit my blog and down load from here. More visits will popularise my blog. I think I can be a little selfish here. 

I am a vegetarian so I collect these recipes from my friends and post them here for your use. More number of visits will popularize my blog. 

I will be glad if you try these recipes and if you can drop in your comments and suggestions if any. If some one can share a photo graph of the recipes, I will be really grateful. I will post them here for the benefit of the others.

Watch out for more.....

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Chicken - 69

You can print them on A4 size sheets, either one recipe on each side, or leave the back side for your own notes. You can put them in a sheet protector and file them in a binder.

NOTE: Please note that these are for your personal use only. If you want your friends or relatives to have the recipe, let them visit my blog and down load from here. More visits will popularise my blog. I think I can be a little selfish here. 

I am a vegetarian so I collect these recipes from my friends and post them here for your use. More number of visits will popularize my blog. 

I will be glad if you try these recipes and if you can drop in your comments and suggestions if any. If some one can share a photo graph of the recipes, I will be really grateful. I will post them here for the benefit of the others.


Watch out for more.....

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Punjabi Chicken

You can print them on A4 size sheets, either one recipe on each side, or leave the back side for your own notes. You can put them in a sheet protector and file them in a binder.

NOTE: Please note that these are for your personal use only. If you want your friends or relatives to have the recipe, let them visit my blog and down load from here. More visits will popularise my blog. I think I can be a little selfish here. 

I am a vegetarian so I collect these recipes from my friends and post them here for your use. More number of visits will popularize my blog. 

I will be glad if you have tried these recipes and if you can drop in your comments and suggestions if any. If some one can share a photo graph of the recipes, I will be really grateful. I will post them here for the benefit of the others. 

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Ginger Chicken

The original one was posted here. This may be varying slightly from the original one, as I have rewritten it after reviewing the recipe. 



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Recipes- Non Vegetarian

Many of my visitors to this blog have been asking me for non-veg recipes. I have posted some recipes on Chicken. I have received many mails saying that these recipes were easy to follow and to cook. They seem to be a hit with many of my visitors who have been asking for more of such recipes.

So, I will be posting more. 

But, I also have some good news for you.

I know it is difficult for you to note down these recipes  by writing them down.

I am going to post some of my old recipes(one by one at a time) in this blog again in a different format, so that you can download and save them on your system or take a print out and put it in a binder.

I for myself, prefer a printed recipe rather than one saved onto on my desktop or tab or phone for reference when I am actually cooking.

You can print them on A4 size sheets, either one recipe on each side, or leave the back side for your own notes. You can put them in a sheet protector and file them in a binder.

NOTE: Please note that these are for your personal use only. If you want your friends or relatives to have the recipe, let them visit my blog and down load from here. More visits will popularise my blog. I think I can be a little selfish here. 

I am a vegetarian so I  collect these recipes from my friends and post them here for your use. More number of visits will popularize my blog.  

I will be glad if you have tried these recipes and if  you can drop in your comments and suggestions if any. If some one can share a photo graph of the recipes, I will be really grateful. I will post them here for the benefit of the others. 

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Sweet Potato Recipes-1

Sweet Potatoes are root vegetables, starchy and sweet. We all have eaten it as children and many of us like them a lot. 

Sweet potatoes contain high amounts of complex carbohydrates, dietary fibre, and also contain Vitamin A,  B5, B6, and C, magnesium and potassium etc. It is ranked highest in nutritive value. 

You can read more about them here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_potato

I remember that in my child hood sweet potatoes made a very delicious snack. They are used for making many delicious dishes. I will post some at a time. Before using them, they should be thoroughly washed to remove the dirt (as they are dug out from the soil)and patted dry with a cloth.

1. Sweet Potato as Snack: Steamed/Boiled: After washing they are cut into pieces the size of the pieces depending upon the size of the tuber. Some are really big where as some are slender and long. Now they are boiled in water or steamed till they are done. 

The skin is then removed and eaten as it is or with a bit of salt or other spices. This makes a great snack for children and elders too. 

These boiled potatoes are used for many a dish as you will see in my posts. 

2. Sweet Potato as Snack: Roasted: Clean and cut the tubers into long pieces. Smear oil all over and prick with fork a few times. Put them in hot coals and roast over them. when they are almost black on the outside they are done. Or check by piercing it with a knife or fork. They must be soft. Cool them, peel them and eat as it is or with a little bit of salt and pepper or spices of your choice sprinkled on them. 

When the winter in India is at its peak, people sit around coal fires, roasting sweet potatoes, gossiping, chatting and enjoying. Entire family sits around the iron Chullahs (stoves), roasting sweet potatoes and soaking in the warmth of the coal fire. It is time for bonding. My grandmother used to roast a large number of these tubers and we all used to sit around and enjoy the snack, listening to our grand parents, uncles and aunts talking about various things. 

So one chilly Sunday me my brother and my niece roasted some sweet potatoes over coal fires in a clay tray. Though she did not like the taste much, she liked the process of roasting. Here are the pictures.

I brushed oil on the pieces after cleaning them and pierced them with fork a few times.

 Then roasted over red hot coals on sand in a clay tray.

Then we snacked on them. It is as simple as that. They taste very delicious when roasted on coals.

Note: One thing is sweet potatoes are hard to digest and should be avoided in late evenings as far as possible by the people who have poor digestive systems.

Watch out for more recipes of sweet Potatoes in my next posts....

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Hello

Guys, today as I was going through my blogs, I was shocked to notice that I have not posted even one single post during the entire last year. Well I have been facing some tough times since last year and I am trying to come out of it step by step. So keeping up with three blogs is real difficult.

But now, here I am, determined to put back everything that is worst behind me and start afresh.. So watch out I am going to post more and more recipes....

Just support me follow my blog and keep watching my blog...I promise you that you will not regret it...

So keep an eye on my blog for some yummy recipes...

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Coconuts

Coconut belongs to Palm family. Coconut is the fruit of Coconut palms and is found mostly in tropical areas. It is a staple food of the tropics. In South India it is used almost daily in one form or the other. It has got religious and cultural significance too. That is why every house has at least one tree, especially in the coastal areas. 

   The Coconut palms
The sandy and salty soils and hot and humid atmosphere near sea is good for cultivation of coconuts. The matured coconut is buried in the soil for sprouting and this is the seedling from which the palm grows. The shoot comes from one of the eyes of the nut.

   The seedlings from the nut

Coconut is known as Naarikella (Sanskrit), Naariyal (Hindi) and Kobbari Kaaya (Telugu). Actually a coconut is a drupe- the seed or kernel is surrounded by the hard shell which is surrounded by the fibrous cover or the husk.

   The flowers and nuts on the palm

   Nuts of some varieties are golden yellow in colour

Tender coconuts are green in colour, contain more water and almost no meat. This water of tender coconuts is very good for health and more so in hot summers. 

As the coconut matures, the water content decreases and the meat increases. Meat of tender coconut is very soft, jelly like, sweet, nutritious and healthy. During summers, people drink coconut water and snack or tender meat to stay cool and healthy.

   Fresh Coconut

As the coconut matures, its meat becomes hard and quantity of the water decreases when compared to tender ones. Once the husk becomes hard, it is harvested and used as fresh coconut. 

When left on the trees, the coconut ripens, its husk turns brown in colour and the husk becomes soft and dry. At this stage it falls from the tree. But by now the quantity of water is very less and bitter in taste and the meat is hard and oily. These ripened fruits with the brown husk are left alone for months together till the water inside disappears and the meat dries out naturally. These are used for producing dried coconut and oil extraction. The husk is first removed and is used as the coir used for ropes and many other products. The shell of the coconut is broke open and dried to get dried coconut known as "Copra". 

   Dried Coconut

Coconut tree and its products are useful and no part of it goes waste. Hence it is known as Kalpa Vruksha (meaning a tree which provides all the necessities of the life or is useful in many ways) in Sanskrit. Let us see how:

• Tender coconut-water and meat are used as as drink and snack. Tender coconut water contains, sugar, proteins, salts, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. It is considered to be equal to saline water used for patients.
• Meat of slightly matured coconut is consumed as food, used in making of desserts, sweets, curries, chutneys etc. 
• The meat is also grated, grounded and pressed for obtaining the milk. This coconut milk is used in Indian and Thai recipes especially for curries. 
• The dried coconut or copra is also used in various recipes of desserts, spicy powders and curries. 
• Coconut oil extracted from dried coconut is used as cooking medium in the state of Kerala. The oil is used in cosmetics like soaps, skin tonics and hair tonics. It is considered as a hair tonic and applied to hair by the South Indians as it helps in growing hair and keeps it black. 
• The trunk is used as walkways across aqua ducts or water bodies in rural areas. They are hollowed out and used as boats. Trunks are also used for construction, furniture etc. 
• Green coconut leaves are woven in different designs and  used for decoration purposes in marriages, or by the rural folk as hedges or roofing materials. They are also used for making baskets, small bowls for cooking some recipes and also for serving. 
• The veins of dried leaves are used as broom sticks in South India.
• The shells are used as cups as ladles, serving bowls, storing and also used for various handicrafts including musical instruments, jewelry.
• Coir is obtained from the husk and is used for making ropes, mats, carpets etc as well as for filling of mattresses.
• Dried leaves, husk, shells etc are used as fuel.
• The fruit and the roots have got medicinal uses too

You can read more about coconuts here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut

How to break open a coconut:

Since we use coconuts very frequently, we are familiar with how to break it. 

One method is to hold the coconut firmly in left hand and use an iron rod or something hard to break. First the coconut is struck with the rod once, so that it cracks a little. the water is drained out. The nut is hit with the rod again once or twice to break it open completely into two halves. One should be careful in holding the nut so as to not to injure the fingers or the hand.

The most common method, which I also use is holding the nut in right hand firmly and hitting it on the floor(made of stone or cement) or a hard rock (granite type). It should be hit lightly first to make a crack, so that the water can be collected with out spilling. Then it should be hit again till it breaks.

if you observe the nut it has three eyes on one side. It should be held in such a way that two of the eyes face down. This way the break into two halves is equal and clean.

However since these days the floors are either made of wood or tiles, it is better to follow this procedure as explained in the link below:

http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/crackcoc.html

Visit my other blog for crafts of coconut:

http://summersofindia.blogspot.in/2012/10/coconut-crafts-once-again.html

Watch out for recipes using coconut-fresh as well as dried in my next posts.....

Corn On The Cobs

Roasting Over Coal Fire

Hi friends. Its raining here. Monsoon has arrived late and didn't bring much rain on time. But last week we had heavy and continuous rains. We had to spend week end in our homes. Its fun getting wet in the rain but going out in the rain is a huge risk. Lots of water flooding low lying roads, overflowing lakes, rivers and other water bodies, heavy traffic jams and what not. So it is best to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary to go out.

Well it is at these times we get to spend our time with our family. Monsoons bring in heavy rains and also unleash our cravings for hot spicy food. After all the whole of summer, we had to go easy on spices. 

It is also time for Corn on the Cobs. At this time it is tender and can be eaten raw. 

When we were children, we got the first corn cobs only just before Vinayaka Chawithi or Ganesh Chaturthi-the day we worship Lord Ganesha-The Elephant God. We used to offer the first cobs to Him and then eat them. But now a days we are getting them much in advance. So we cannot wait till the festival. Any way I do offer the first, flower, fruit or any produce of the season to God before eating. 

Here in India, we roast them over coal fire and it is really very tasty. It is quite a treat for a rainy afternoon to eat hot roasted cobs. It is known as Bhutta in Hindi. During the season we find many vendors on the street corners, parks or other picnic spots, doing brisk business selling roasted corn cobs. We get to choose the cobs, which is de husked and roasted before our eyes to our satisfaction. Some like it lightly roasted but some like it fully roasted. 

The roasting of food over coals or wood fire is one thing which has been handed over from generation to generation since ancient times.

Well my niece is fond of corn cobs. So am I.My niece liked the idea of roasting the cobs over coals so much that she wanted to try her hand at it.  So I promised her that during the week end, we would try it.

Well here is how to do them...

 Choose cobs which are neither too tender or too hard. First you remove the outer husk.

Then make the coal fire. The coals should be red hot. Place the cob on the coals and keep rotating so that it gets roasted all over. I have used an earthen ware tray to hold the coals. 

I put two cobs here.  We use a hand fan made of dried palm leaf to keep the flame of the coals burning. 

When they are done, cut a lemon into half. Dab one of the halves with salt and rub over the corn to your liking. Eat it hot. It is so very tasty. Just try it. You can use your barbecue stoves to roast the cobs.  

Well we had a great time ..... I am sorry I don't have the pictures of the roasted cobs as we were all so hungry and the smell of roasted corn made us just grab and eat it. i forgot to take the pictures....:P0 :0 i will update it some time. 

Re-doing my blog....

I am re-organising my blog. Please bear with me as it will take some time to fix it.

 If you have any suggestions or advice to improve my blog please mail me. I would like to know how I can improve the look and content of my blog so that you feel it easy and convenient to browse.

Summer Time is.....

Its hot summer here. Time for making pickles, crispies, poppadoms and sun dried vegetables. 

I am busy making all this and my busy schedule of travelling. Watch out  for authentic Andhra Recipies.

It is also time for thanda thanda cool coll sherbets and drinks.....Watch out for the lip smacking recipes...

Crispies-1

Its summer time. During this time we Indian women process certain vegetables and other things so that they can be preserved for use even after the season is over. There are many ways of preservation. You can read about it in one of my previous posts:

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.in/2010/05/pickles-from-andhra-i.html

One of the methods of preserving is sun drying. In a country like India especially in South India where the Sun shines through out the year, we are all Sun worshipers. Because of him we get our agricultural produce, health, monsoons. 

One of the ways to preserve certain vegetables is by making crispies, known as Vadiyaalu(Telugu) or Vadis(Hindi). Vegetables are mixed with other ingredients and spices and dried in the Sun. They can be preserved for an year. These are deep fried in oil and eaten with cooked rice and rasam or sambar or as a light snack with tea or just like that in the evenings. 

These along with Poppadoms are a must in feasts and food served on all important occasions like marriages etc in my State of Andhra Pradesh. 

In earlier days we had no junk food to binge upon. We used to eat these crispies in the afternoon. They are very tasty and healthy if eaten moderately. These days we can just dab them with little oil and microwave them to avoid deep fries. 

There are many types of vadiyaalu /vadies. I am starting with those that are made in Andhra Pradesh-my state.

1. Crispies with Ash Gourd:

These are one of the most popular dishes of Andhra. These are known as Gummadi Kaaya Vadiyaalu.

Ash Gourd and Chillies

Black Gram-split and de husked

Ingredients:

Ash Gourd  1 medium

Black gram split and husked  500gms

Green chillies      250 gms

Salt   to taste

Asafoetida powder 1-2 tsps

Method 1:

• Soak gram over night in enough water.
• Cut the gourd into pieces the night before.The seeds are generally discarded.

 Cut into half

Cut into pieces along with the outer rind.

I have discarded the seeds, used the juice and the fluffy white flesh while grinding the gram.

• Put  them in a muslin cloth and wound tightly into a bundle.
• Place the bundle in a platter and place a heavy weight over it. This squeezes out all the juice of the gourd.
• The platter should be in a slightly slanting position. 
• Keep a vessel under the platter  to collect the juice of the gourd. 
• This is left over night. 
• Next day the bundle is squeezed to remove all the juice.
• Collect this juice into a vessel and keep aside.
• Next morning wash the gram well with water and leave it for some time so that the water drains off completely. 
• If you are using husked split gram washing with water will remove the husk. But keep the husk separately as it can also be made into crispies.
• Now grind the gram to a very fine but very thick paste, using gourd juice. if needed a little water can be used.
• Remove the stalks of the chillies. Cut into pieces and grind to a paste. This way you can add only that much that you require.
• It can also be ground along with the gram. But here you cannot help if it becomes too spicy.
• Add the chilly paste, asafoetida and salt when the gram is almost done. Grind for some time.
• Remove and collect in a big vessel. Mix well taste and adjust the spices. Remember that it becomes more salty and spicy on drying then when it tastes wet.

 I use wet grinder for grinding the gram.

This is how the dough looks with green chillies, salt and asafoetida but before adding the gourd pieces.

• Now add the gourd pieces mix well.
• Take a big  cotton cloth not too thin. 
• Dip it in enough water. Wring out the water.
• Lay the cloth on a mat placed on a big table, or on the floor(but it leaves patches on the floor which are not easily cleanable) in hot sun.
• Take a handful of the dough and place it on the cloth in a pyramid shape and slightly pat on the top. They should not be too flat.
• There should be enough pieces of the gourd and also dough to bind them. Excess of any of these will not be good.
• Keep mixing the dough in the vessel every time you take a handful, as the dough being heavier sinks to the bottom leaving the gourd pieces on the top.
• Keep a bowl of water besides you and wet your hands as well as the cloth if necessary.
• Place out all the dough and let it dry for 2 days. 
• On the third day you will notice that the crispies will themselves detach from the cloth. if not carefully remove them from the cloth. They should not break into pieces of become too powdery. However a few causalities will always be there:)
• If it is difficult to detach them spray/sprinkle a little water on the underside of the cloth and leave it or few minutes. It will now be easy to remove them.
• Next two days reverse them bottoms up and dry in the Sun.

Drying out in the Sun.

• Once they are tinder dry store them in an air tight container.
• When needed, deep fry in hot oil. 
• It is better to heat oil in a deep frying pan, lower the heat put the crispies  in a wire mesh and lower into hot oil and take out immediately to avoid burning. 
• Place them on a blotter to drain excess oil and serve with steamed/cooked rice, Daal and Sambar or Rasam. Or just eat them as a snack with tea.

Method 2:

• Grate the gourd with the rind after cutting them into big chunks.
• Tie them in a muslin cloth and squeeze out the juice  into a separate vessel. Tie it into a tight bundle and leave over night.
• Next morning again squeeze and collect the juice.
• the rest of the method is same.

Points to be kept in mind:

I . Ash Gourd

1. It is round to oblong shape, green in colour with a white ash like coating. Hence the name.
2. The size of Ash Gourd is as per your requirement. It depends upon the size of your family and how many crispies you want to make. The gourds are available from very small to biggest size.
3. The gourd should be a matured one with tough outer rind.  Matured gourds  will have more coating of ash.  
4. It will have less water content and are easy to dry when making the crispies. Also the thick rind and spongy inner white flesh don't burn when deep fried after making it into crispies.
5. In order to know whether the gourd is matured or not, observe the coating of ash. It will have much ash. Its rind should be very tough. We usually dig in with our thumb nail. If it does not go in easily then it is matured. 
6. The gourd cannot be cleaned. It can at best be cleaned with a soft cotton cloth lightly.
7. The seeds can be used in the crispies but we usually discard them because when we dry the crispies in the sun, the squirrels or birds, dig out the seeds and make a mess of our crispies.
8. The gourd is either cut into pieces or grated. 

II. Chillies

1. Green chillies go best with this. But you can use powder of dried red chilies. 
2. Adjust the quantity of chillies according to your taste. The quantity I gave you is quite spicy.

III.  Black Gram

1. Black gram for this recipe is best if it is split but not de husked. The gram does not have much of its stickiness or binding quality, if we use cleaned (de-husked one). I use split gram with husk as it is much healthier and tastes very delicious. But you can use de husked split gram.
2. The gram should be soaked over night.
3. Next morning it is washed thoroughly to remove the husk or even when de husked one is used. The husk can also be made into vadies. Keep it separately.
4. The gram is then placed in bamboo baskets or baskets made of dried palm leaves or a sieve and left for some time to drain all the water.
5. Then it is ground well into a very thick but very soft paste using the gourd juice and a little water if necessary.
6. I use wet grinder as it is easy to grind in this with very little water.
7. If the paste is too watery, it cannot be made into crispies and also becomes very hard when dried and fried.

IV. The Cloth:

1. The cloth to be used for placing the crispies must be made of cotton and not too thin. This enables the underside also to dry along with the upper side simultaneously.
2. We use old saris or dhotis(folded into half i.e doubled) or bed linen as they have ability to absorb the moisture.
3. Don't  lay out the entire cloth at a time. It gets dried quickly.
4. Unfold a little at a time as you need it.
5. If the cloth dries off despite all this sprinkle little water to make it wet.
6. Too much water on cloth will make the crispy runny and it will not come out cleanly after drying.
7. If the cloth is dry, the crispy cannot be separated from the cloth cleanly after drying and breaks into pieces.
8. If you use a plastic sheet these crispies will not come out well though some people use it. The under side will not dry easily.

Most Important Things :

If you want your crispies to be Crisp and not hard follow these instructions very carefully:

1. The crispies should be dried in very hot Sun. Plan these only when you have enough Sun shine for at least 6 hours of the day and that too very hot. 
2. It should take only 3 to 4 days for them to dry. If it takes long to dry, they will become very hard.
3. The gram should be ground with as little water as possible , using the gourd juice but should be ground to a very fine paste.

Yes it looks very tedious but the result is mouth watering , hygienic and healthy. I will upload pictures of fried crispies next time in here.

Hope you have understood the process and my post is clear. If you face any difficulty mail me please...