Green Chilli

Preserving / freezing / Long term Storage Garden Produce - Green Chillies

2023-11-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

Here I show all the ways I use to preserve / freeze green chillies and jalapeños for. Long term storage. I made chilli powder , chilli pastes from cayenne pepper and also made condiments like picked jalapeños and Chicago giardiniera and much more

Store Green Chutney for upto 3 Months - Working Woman Tips

2018-04-21T17:50:00.001-07:00

Video about how to store Green Chutney for upto 3 months. This also contains how to use the frozen Cubes and shows method to create stock from Coriander Stalk.

Hope you like it.

Alu Jhinga Posto with Quick Cooking Tip

2018-04-09T20:01:00.001-07:00

Easy Alu Jhinga Posto with a quick cooking tip for busy days - Hope you find it helpful.

How to store Dosa Batter for a month - Working Woman Tips

2018-03-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hope you find the video useful

Weekly Indian Meal Planning/Preparation for Working Women - Week 1

2017-07-02T20:23:00.005-07:00

I am making a post after a long time, been busy with work and kids and hence finding no time for blogging.

I will restart the blog by writing about the weekend meal prep I do for upcoming week to make it as smooth as possible.

This is going to be a multi part series because I do not prep the same thing every week. We do not buy same kind of vegetables every week not we eat the same food every week, so my meal prep every week is dependent on what I buy that week or what we plan to eat that week.

I do not designate a particular time for meal prep on the weekend but I do little bits through out the weekend mostly when I am in kitchen and cooking. Weekend cooking is quite elaborate at my home , so I use that time to get a head start for the coming week.

My prep starts on Friday , while coming back from work, I stop at Sam's Club to get milk , fruits , eggs etc . Usually I soak any Rice/Dal for batter on Friday morning so I could get it done by Friday evening. But this week, I could only soak rice and dal on Friday evening.

Saturday Morning:

- When I start morning tea, I also started heating a gallon of full fat milk which I will use for Curd and to make Paneer. I am having guests this week , so was planning to make egg curry for Saturday night, so started boiling all the eggs I had in Fridge. We consume eggs daily so the remaining eggs will be used during the week.

- I also did a batch of batter and kept it for fermentation

- I also soaked all available poppy seeds and some mustard seeds in hot water , this will be used in today's lunch and for freezing for future use.

- Also made Curd from some portion of milk and made Paneer from rest of the portion.

Saturday Afternoon : After breakfast , We went to Indian store and got the Vegetables.

We are having Shukto (Shukto Recipe Here ) for lunch and Egg curry for dinner as we were having some guests.

- We need quite a lot of vegetables for Shukto in small quantities, so cut the vegetables accordingly.

- I had Raw banana which was cut , roasted and freezed earlier, so I took those out for thawing along with frozen peas and frozen drumsticks, frozen pumpkin

- I had to use Ridge guard and Bitter guard in this preparation, so I cut all of Ridge Gourd and Bitter Gourd I had, some to be used now and rest for the coming week. It only takes few more minutes but I had two vegetables prepped and ready to go.

- Made the paste of poppy seeds and Mustard seeds, Took out the portion to be used for today's cooking, Rest I put in Ice Cube maker to make cubes of this paste to be used later.

- Made Peanut chutney for Idli/Dosa's

- I used my food processor to slice onions as I had to slice quite a lot of onions as I was making Egg curry. I sliced some extra to be used in Sunday's breakfast.

- Now , I bagged the Ridge Gourd and boxed the Bitter Gourd and extra Onion to put away, Removed the excess eggs and placed them in the egg container to be used later, Put the Poppy seeds and Mustard seeds paste in Ice Cube maker to go into freezer. All this was when I was preparing Shukto and preparing the egg curry.

- Eggs, Ridge Gourd, Bitter Gourd and onion went into fridge section. The Ice Cube maker with poppy seeds and Mustard seeds with an Aluminum foil on top went into freezer.

- This was end of afternoon prep and finished cooking Shukto, Rice and egg curry for dinner.

Saturday Evening :

- I took around minutes to fry the Paneer little bit before storing it in a box with an Aluminum foil

- I took the fermented batter and put it in container, I will leave two in the freezer and 1 in fridge for immediate consumption.

- I took out the ice cube maker with poppy seed and mustard pastes , transferred the cubes to Zip-loc and stored away in the freezer

- Shukto is usually made in large quantity in my house as it uses quite a bit of vegetables and we wont be able to complete the entire quantity immediately, So I took a portion of it immediately after cooking , cooled it and put it away in freezer for use in next couple of weeks.

- Curd is ready and it will be used for good part of the week in daily meal and also in smoothies, if required i do a batch more during week.

and also soaked beans for making Quesadillas in coming week for the kids and guests.

Sunday Morning :

We had Poori (from Atta prepared on Friday Night , Alu and Mango Pulp). Used the excess onions I prepped yesterday in the Alu curry.

- We had one more batch of batter made in the morning as I guests this week

- We planned to have Chicken curry, so started my food processor and sliced onions for the chicken and also extra for the coming week.

- While I was preparing Chicken Curry and Rice for lunch, I put the beans in pressure cooker and put it to boil.

- While the chicken and rest are getting cooked, I used my processor and started slicing Green Beans and Tindora , Lauki .

- Once the beans are cooled, I minced half of beans in the processor to make re-fried beans Quesadillas and rest is ready to go into freezer for future use.

- After this, I rinse the processor and put it in dish washer for wash

- Here are three vegetables (Green beans, Tindora and two cuts of Lauki, I sliced half in half moon shape to use in samber , the other half I cut by hand to use it in Chana Dal Lauki).

- Green Beans, Tindora , Excess Onion , Beans mince will go into Fridge.

- Rest of pressure cooked beans will go into freezer to be used in next couple of weeks to make a quick curry for Roti's.

- Two cuts of Lauki will go into freezer. I always freeze Lauki as I feel the inner portion of Lauki gets dis colored quickly in Fridge and this is one vegetable which freezes well and does not loose its flavour when you use it in Sambar, Curry, or dal.

- I also cleaned Green Chillies, Removed the stem , ready to use.

- I removed the stems of Coriander and wrapped it in paper towel to keep it fresh for long. I don't wash it at this time. I take the stalks when I need it , wash it and cut it at that time.

- During Tea time, I packed the fermented batter in containers to go into freezer. Combined with yesterdays batter , this will last at least two if not three weeks in my home even with guests. I just take the container and leave it outside on counter the night before i need to use, you will fresh batter ready by morning. This helps me in saving time next couple of weeks where I will prep something else and not batter.

It may seem like lot of time in prepping through out the weekend, but the actual consumed is only when I am in kitchen cooking and few minutes in the evening to put it away. Cutting few vegetables when you are in kitchen by hand will also not take more time, but this simple prep will help us in upcoming week when we are in rush.

Hope it helps the readers in managing the prep over the weekend.

Veg Yakhni Pulao

2013-12-24T18:00:00.001-08:00

I have been following Sanjeev Kapoor Kitchen Khiladi now a days and I found Veg Yakhni Pulao by Tripti Khan very interesting , so I made it and it turned out fabulous. I have done minor changes to recipe like masala ingredients according what is had and also changed measurements. You can watch the original recipe on 13 Dec 2013 episode.I used Kali Jeera rice which is very fragnant and is used in West Bengal.

Veg Yakhni Pulao :

Ingredients :

1/2 Floret Cauliflower

1Large Potato
1 Carrot
1/4 Cup Peas

1 Medium onions
1/2 Cup Curd

Ginger Garlic Chili Paste ( Made from 1 inch Ginger, 6 cloves of Garlic pods , 3 small Green Chili)

1 Tsp Garam Masala Powder

2 Bay leaves

6 Cloves

1 Big Cardamom
2 Green Cardamom

2 - 1 Inch Dalchini(Cinnamon stick )

2 Tbsp oil

Salt to taste

2 Cups Kali Jeera rice or Basmati Rice
3 Cups stock

Stock :

1/2 Floret Cauliflower

1 Big Carrot

1/4 cup Peas

10 Peppercorns
2 Dalchini (Cinnamon) 1 inch pieces
1 Big Cardamom
2 Small Green Cardamom
1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
6 Cloves
1 bay Leaf
2 Tbsp Whole Coriander seeds
2 Tbsp Whole Fennel Seeds

4 cups water

Method for Stock Preparation:

Cut Cauliflower, Carrot into medium pieces . Add Cauliflower florists, Carrot and Peas to a pan, Add water, add all the dry spices ( you can tie these into a Muslim cloth and place in the pan if you like) . Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes till vegetables are soft. Use a sieve to strain the stock. This should give you 3 cups of water.

Method for Pulao Preparation:

Cut Cauliflower into big florets, cut Carrot into thin slices, cut potato into big pieces. Soak rice in water for 15 minutes and strain.

Add Ghee to a Pan, add Bay leaf, Cardamom, Cinnamon,Cloves and saute the spices. Add chopped Onion , fry till light brown, add ginger-garlic-green chili paste ,Garam Masala powder and saute for 2 minutes. Add Curd , vegetables , rice and saute for two minutes. Add stock ,salt, bring it to a boil, cover tightly and cook on very slow flame for 15 minutes.

Once done , Serve hot with Curd Chutney.

Jhinghe, Alu Diye Chingri Maach

2013-07-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

This is a very tasty Bengali Prawn dish with Ridge Guard and Potato . Recipe courtesy my Mom in Law. Worth trying.

Jhinge,Alu Diye Chingri Maach

Ingredients :
1/2 Lb Cooked Jumbo Prawns/Shrimp
1 Big Jhinga (Ridge Guard)
2 Big Potatoes

1 Medium Onion
1 Tsp Ginger Paste
2 Bay leaf

1 Tsp Panch Poron (Spice Mixture of Onion Seeds, Fengreek Seeds, Mustard Seeds, Whole Cumin , Fennel Seeds)

3 Dried Red Chillies

1 Tsp turmeric Powder

1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 Tsp Coriander Powder

Salt to taste

2 Tbsp Oil (Use Mustard Oil if you like)

2 Cups water

Preparation

Fried Prawns:
Mix salt and turmeric to prawns and leave for few minutes. Put oil in a pan and fry the prawns till slightly.

Cooking Method :

In the remaining oil which was used to fry the Prawns, Add Bay leaf, Panch Poron, Dried Red Chillies , Let it splutter. Add finely cut onion , ginger paste and fry till pink. Add Red Haldi, Red Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder and saute it till it leaves oil on the side, Sprinkle some water if needed. Cut Ridge Guard ,Potato in 1 1/2 inch pieces and add to the masala , Let it cook for some time. Add Water, Salt and let it boil till the vegetables are well cooked. Add prawns , Cook for 5 minutes and take it out of the flame.

Serve with hot rice.

Chingri Malai Curry

2013-07-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

Chingri malai curry is one of my favorite dish. My mom in law is visiting these days and this is her version.But Very nice, Increase the red chilli if you need to make it more spicy.I did this from scratch, made the coconut milk at home which makes the dish the authentic taste , I don't like to use canned milk but you can try if pressed for time. But this is very simple preparation and I find it takes very less time.

Chingri Malai curry

Ingredients :
1 Lb Cooked Jumbo Prawns/Shrimp

2 Medium Onion
1 Inch Ginger
6 -7 Cloves of Garlic

2 Bay leaf

1 Inch Dalchini (Cinnamon)

7-8 Cloves

10 Pepper corns
1/4 Tsp Shahi Jeera ( My addition - I cannot resist this spice when I add whole Garam Masala)
2 Green Elaichis (Green Cardamom)
1 Big Elaichi (Black Cardamom)

2 Green Chillies
1 Tsp turmeric Powder

1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Tsp Garam Masala

Salt to taste

1 1/2 Fresh Coconuts (For milk and coconut paste)

3 Tbsp Oil (Use Mustard Oil if you like)

Preparation

Coconut Milk :
Break coconuts and make small pieces of coconuts , Put the coconut pieces with two cups of water and grind to paste. Strain the paste in a sieve to take out the Milk. Repeat with one more cup of water. We will use couple of Tsp of coconut paste in the gravy.

Onion,Ginger,Garlic Paste :
Put chopped onion , ginger and garlic cloves in the mixer add, a cup of water , Mix it and make a paste. Strain it through sieve to get the juice out of it. This will take out pungent smell out of the paste.

Fried Prawns:
Mix salt and turmeric to prawns and leave for few minutes. Put oil in a pan and fry the prawns till slightly.

Cooking Method :

In the remaining oil which was used to fry the Prawns, Add Bay leaf, Dalchini (Cinnamon),Pepper corns,Shahi Jeera ,Geen Elaichis (Green Cardamom), Big Elaichi (Black Cardamom). Let it splutter and then add 2 tsp of cocunut paste , the onion,ginger garlic juice which we prepared above. Let it cook and reduce and turn light pink.

Now add , Green Chillies, Red chilli powder and Garam masala powder and cook till it leaves oil. Once done Add Salt, Coconut Milk and let it boil for few minutes. Add Prawns and cook for few minutes and remove from fire.

Serve with hot rice.

Chicken Kheema Mutti (Kofta) with Curd based gravy - 2

2013-06-07T19:12:00.001-07:00

One more Chicken Mutti with curd based gravy a slight variation of Chicken Kheema Mutti (Kofta) with Curd based gravy - 1 not using store bought masala powder. This is a spicy dish , so please adjust masala as per your taste.

Chicken Kheema Mutti (Kofta) with Curd based gravy

Ingredients :

1 Kg Chicken (Bone less)

2 Handfuls of Pudina Leaves

2 Tsp Pepper Corns

12 small Green Chillies
1 Tea Spoon Ginger/Garlic Paste

For the Gravy :

1 Medium Onion

1 Inch Ginger
4-5 Garlic cloves

1 Tsp Jeera powder

1/2 Tsp Red Chilli powder

1 Tsp Dhaniya Powder

1 Tsp Garam Masala

1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder

1 /4 Tsp Shahi Jeera

2 Bay leaf
1 Big Cardamom

1 Inch Dlachini

1 Cup Curd
Oil for frying

2 Tbsp oil for gravy

1 Cup of water
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Salt to taste

For Making Muttilu (Kofta's):

Divide chicken, into 4 portions. To each portion add 4 chillies, 1/2 Tsp Pepper Corns , 1/2 handful of Pudina leaves,Pinch of Turmeric, 1/4 tbsp ginger garlic paste, salt and grind it to smooth paste in Chutney grinder. Chutney grinder minces it well than the wet grinder.

Once all the portions are done, Make into small balls and fry on low-medium heat till they are light brown.I made around 50 kofta's from 1 Kg chicken.

You can have them dry or you can add them to gravy.

Healthy version : Greese a baking pan with oil , lay the balls on the pan and bake them for 15 minutes on 350 Degrees and 10 minutes on 450 Degrees.

Gravy :

Make a paste of onion ,ginger and garlic.

Take a pan , put 2 tsp oil , add Shahi Jeera, cardamon, bayleaf, cloves. After they splutter add the onion,ginger and garlic paste and roast it till the paste leaves oil on the sides. If required sprinkle little water to avoid burning.

Now add ,Turmeric, Chilli powder, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Garam Masala , add little water and roast till the masala leaves oil on the sides.

Beat the curd and add to the gravy. Add 1/2 cups of water and cook till oil seperates.

Add muttilu(Kofta's) , Salt , 1 cup of water and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Once done and gravy reduced to the consistency you desire , Take it off the stove and garnish with Coriander leaves.

Serve with rice. Bhagara rice goes very well with curry.

Chicken Kheema Mutti (Kofta) with Curd based gravy - 1

2013-06-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

Usually I do not buy readymade masalas for my cooking ,but once I was browsing the store and I saw Shaan Kofta Masala powder, and I was so impressed by the Photograph on that so I bought it.

Also I was lookign for an easy curd base gravy for my Chicken koftas. So it worked perfectly but I did not follow the recipe on the package and modified it for my taste.

SO here is one more version of Chicken Muttila curry.

Chicken Kheema Mutti (Kofta) with Curd based gravy

Ingredients :

1 Kg Chicken (Bone less)

2 Handfuls of Pudina Leaves

2 Tsp Pepper Corns

12 small Green Chillies
1 Tea Spoon Ginger/Garlic Paste

For the Gravy :

1 Medium Onion

1 Inch Ginger
4-5 Garlic cloves

1 Tsp Jeera powder

1/2 Tsp Red Chilli powder

1/2 Tsp Dhaniya Powder

2 Tbsp Shahi Kofta Curry

1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder

1 /4 Tsp Shahi Jeera

2 Bay leaf
1 Big Cardamom

1 Inch Dlachini

1 Cup Curd
1/2 tsp Kasoori Methi

Oil for frying

2 Tbsp oil for gravy

1 Cup of water

Salt to taste

For Making Muttilu (Kofta's):

Once all the portions are done, Make into small balls and fry on low-medium heat till they are light brown.I made around 50 kofta's from 1 Kg chicken.

Gravy :

Make a paste of onion ,ginger and garlic.

Take a pan , put 2 tsp oil , add Shahi Jeera, cardamon, bayleaf, cloves, shahi jeera. After they splutter add the onion,ginger and garlic paste and roast it till the paste leaves oil on the sides. If required sprinkle little water to avoid burning.

Now add ,Turmeric, Chilli powder, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, SHAHI kofta powder add little water and roast till the masala leaves oil on the sides.

Beat the curd and add to the gravy. Add 1/2 cups of water and cook till oil seperates.

Add muttilu(Kofta's) , Salt , 1 cup of water and Kasoori Methi to this gravy and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Once done and gravy reduced to the consistency you desire , Take it off the stove.

Serve with rice. Bhagara rice goes very well with curry.

My experiments with Slow cooker series - Palak Dal (Palakura Pappu , Lentils with Spinach)

2012-11-18T15:51:00.000-08:00

A simple and nutritious dal which can be cooked in slow cooker.Palak dal came out well. One thing I noticed when cooking toovar dal in slow cooker ,is you need to add salt at the end and if you need to add any tamarind you need to add it after the dal is well cooked, otherwise the dal will not be soft.

Palak Dal

Ingredients :

1 Cup Toovar Dal

1 Medium Onion
1 Large Tomato

1 Bunch Spinach

2 Green Chillies
1/2 Inch Ginger
2 Garlic cloves
1/2 Tsp Red Chilli powder

1/4 Tsp Turmeric

Salt to taste

3 cups water
Tadka
1 Tbsp Oil

1/2 Tsp Jeera

1/2 Tsp Mustard Seeds

2 Dry Red Chillies

2 Garlic Pods
1 Tbsp Diced Onion
8-10 Curry Leaves

Method :

To the slow cooker cermaic pot, Add washed Toovar Dal,diced Spinach,diced Onion,Red Chilli Powder,Green Chillies,Turmeric,diced Ginger,Garlic,diced Tomato,3 Cups water. Cook on High for 6 hours. Add salt to the dal and cook for another 10 minutes.

Tadka : In hot Oil, add Curry Leaves ,dry red chillies, Jeera , Mustard seeds and Garlic pieces,onion. Let them turn light brown and add to the Dal.

Serve hot with rice.

Pav Bhaji

2012-11-17T21:36:00.003-08:00

Pav Bhaji is such an easy and tasty dish which even kids will eat without fuss and mothers can be happy that they fed a whole bowl of veggies to their kiddos.I try not to use the ready made masalas much which are available in abundance wherever you look. I tried hard to find a pav bhaji recipe which does not use the Everest/MDH Pav bhaji masala. Alas! Even Sanjeev Kapoor makes pav bhaji with ready made pav bhaji masala. So, I resigned myself to using store bought pav bhaji masala. If anyone knows how to make home made pav bhaji mala, Please let me know. The recipe is usually found on the packet and mine is not that much different.

Pav Bhaji

Ingredients :

Pav Bread or Burger Buns
2 Medium Potatoes
1 Small Cauliflower
2 Capsicums
2 Midium Carrots
10 Green Beans
1/2 Cup Green Peas
2 Medium Tomotoes

1 Handfuls of Coriander leaves

1 medium onion

1 Tsp Ginger Garlic Paste

1/4 Tsp Red Chilli powder

2 Tomatoes

1 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Everest/MDH Pav Bhaji Masala
1 Lime cut it into small pieces
1 Diced onions for serving

Salt to taste

Method :

Cook Potatoes,Cauliflower,Carrots,Green beans,Green peas,1 Capsicum with water in a pressure cooker till 3 Whistles.

Dice 1 capsicum into small pieces and fry in a tbsp oil and keep it aside.

In the remaining oil,add butter, put cut onions ,saute till translucent.Add ginger garlic paste and saute till couple of minutes.Add pav bhaji masala ,red chilli powder and saute till oil separates. Now add tomatoes and cook. Once tomatoes are well cooked, add all the vegetables and mash well. Add salt and cook well till the masala blends well into the vegetables.Add the fried capsicum and coriander leaves on top of it.

In a pan,spread a little butter on the pav/buns and toast the buns well.

Serve the Pav and Bhaji sprinkled with diced onions and Lime pieces.

Patishapta

2012-11-17T20:46:00.002-08:00

Patishpata is my husband's favourite desert. It is traditionally made on Sankranthi day, but my mom-in-law always make it when we visit Kolkata. Though it is not sankranthi yet, I made it this november as we were craving it. We usually use khoya in the dish ,but since it was not available, we tried the filling with mava milk powder.

Patishapta

Ingredients :
1 Cup Moong Dal

2 Cups Rice
2 Cup Sugar (1 Cup for filling,1 Cup for syrup)
1 Cup Mava powder
3/4 Cup Coconut powder

4 Cardamom

5-6 Tbsp ghee

4 Cups of water

Batter :
Soak Moong Dal and Rice for six hrs, Grind it into a fine paste. This should be of similar consistency like dosa batter.

Syrup:
Add 1 Cup sugar and 3 cups water and bring it to a boil and cook till sugar melts. This syrup should be very light.

Filling :
In a non stick pan,add 1 tbsp of ghee and coconut powder and roast it till light brown. Add Mava powder,1 cup sugar and cardamom and for few minutes. Sprinkle few drops of water just enough to lightly bind it but still dry(Be careful not to use lot of water,it will turn into a paste). Roast it for few more minutes and take it out of flame.

Method :
Take a non stick pan. Spread batter , cook till light brown , turn it ,sprinkle some ghee on it.Add the filling, fold the two ends of crepe covering the filling. Roast it till well cooked on both sides. Once done, put the crepe with filling in Sugar syrup. Serve hot.

Tip : The batter as well as the filling freezes very well. So you can make it in advance and freeze it. When you want to make the pathisapta , take the batter and filling from freezer and thaw it till room temperature and prepare it.

The sugar syrup also stays in fridge section well for couple of weeks.

Fish Fry

2012-11-17T20:01:00.003-08:00

Growing up, my consumption of fish was limited to Mirghashira day and few other special occasions. Post my marriage to a bengali ,i consumed more fish in my first year marriage than I did all the years before. The fish fry in my hyderabadi maternal home is full of spices and fish fry in bengali marital home only includes salt and turmeric bringing out the delicate flavor of fish. Today , I am posting hyderbadi style. Typically we use Rohu but as it was unavailable, I used Tilapia.

Fish Fry

Ingredients :

10 Tilapia Fish Fillets cut in 4*3 inch pieces
2 Tbsp Red Chilli Powder
2 Tbsp Turmeric Powder
1 Tbsp Coriander Powder
11/2 Tbsp Cumin Powder
2 Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Method

Mix Red Chilli powder,turmeric powder,coriander powder,cumin powder ,ginger garlic and salt with little water water and apply nicely to all the fish peices and keep it aside for an hour or two.

In a non-stick pan,add oil, after it is hot,reduce the flame. Put fish peices and fry till well done.

Mirchi Ka salan

2012-11-17T19:39:00.004-08:00

Mirchi ka salan is a most famous of Hyderabadi curries. This is always present in wedding food and this is one of those dishes which tastes better the next day and all my memories of this curry are associated with eating this the day after weddings and marvelling at the taste. This is my home version. I had my sister's family over for dinner and we were making Biryani and what else could we serve with biryani other than mirchi ka salan.

Mirchi ka Salan

Ingredients :

10 Long Chillies
2 Medium Onions
3 Tbsp of Peanuts
2 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
5 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
3 Tbsp Coconut powder (Use dry coconut if you have,I dry roasted frozen fresh coconut shred available in indian stores)

1 Tbsp Whole Cumin

1 Tbsp whole Coriander seeds
1 Tsp Red Chilli powder

1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder
6 Cloves
6-8 Pepper corns
1.5 Inch Ginger

5-6 cloves of Garlic

2 Bay leaf

1 Inch Dalchini/Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Shah Jeera
Lemon sized Tamarind

3 Tbsp oil

2 Cups of water
Salt to taste

Masala Paste:

Dry Roast cloves,pepper corns,peanuts, poppy seeds ,sesame seeds ,whole coriander and whole cumin seeds and grind to a fine powder.

Dry roast fresh coconut powder and add to the above powder.

Cut and rry roast onions till brown and add to above powder.

Add red chilli powder, turmeric ,some water and make a fine paste.

Method

Soak Tamarind in 2 cup of water for half an hr and take the juice out.

Make a fine paste of Ginger and Garlic.

Make a slit into each green chillies and insert a small amount of above masala paste into the green chilli and keep aside.

In a pan , put 3 tbsp oil. Add green chillies into the pan and roast the chillies for 5-6 minutes and take these out the pan.

Now in the remaining oil, Add Bayleaf , Dalchini , Shah Jeera and saute a little. Put in the Ginger Garlic paste and saute for 30 secs. Now add masala paste and saute till oil sperates, Once you see oil seprating from the paste, add tamarind water, 2 cups of water , salt and let the curry paste come to a boil. After 15 minutes, put in the Green Chillies and cook till the green chillies are tender.

Serve hot with Biryani / Rice/Roti

Whole Chicken Fry

2012-09-30T14:58:00.002-07:00

I was bored of cooking normal chicken curry so when I found a whole fryer, I decided to try mom's whole chiken fry. This used be our christmas special.My two younger sisters had Christian best friends ,so they used to get invited every christmas to their friends houses to feast on the christmas goodies. My mom,dad and me would be at home and celebrate christmas by making this chicken fry. You can bake it in Oven but I cooked in pressure cooker like my mom used to do it.

.
Whole Chicken fry

Ingredients :

5 Lbs Whole chicken
2 Medium Potatoes

3 Inch Ginger
12 Cloves Garlic
6 small Green Chillies
1/2 Bunch Cilantro(Dhaniya Patta)

1 1/2 Tbsp Cumin(Jeera)powder
1 1/2 Tbsp Coriander(Dhaniya)Powder
1 Small Lemon

1 Tsp whole Cumin(Jeera)
2 Bay leaves

5 Cloves
1 Medium onion
2 Tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Paste using a chopper:
Giner, Garlic, Green Chillies, Cinatro,Cumin powder,Dhaniya Powder , Lemon Juice. Chop all the ingredients into a fine paste. Add salt enough for entire chicken to the paste.

Marinating:

Clean chicken and trim all the fat. Insert small cuts all ove rthe chicken. Cut potatos into quarters.

Take the marinate paste , Apply it inside the chicken belly and massage it well. Apply the paste on outside of chicken and massage it well into cuts. Take the potato quarters, mix it wiht some paste and put these chicken belly and tie the chicken legs together.

Method:

Take a heavy bottom vessel , I used a wide mouth pressure cooker.

Put two spoons oil, onion, cloves, bay leaves, whole cumin. Fry for a minute.

Place the chicken carefully in the vessel, add any left over paste and potatoes into the vessel and cook it on high flame. The chicken will release the water and high flame will reduce it and allow the chicken to get fried to a nice brown colour. Close the lid without whistle, cook for 15 minutes on medium flame.

Carefully turn the chicken and let it cook for more 10-15 minutes till it turns nice brown color. Try to cook all sides in the similar fashion.Once the chicken is cooked.

Serve hot with Roti or you can have it as a starter.

Mutton Biryani

2012-05-12T11:49:00.001-07:00

Trying to get back to blog after a long break due to lack of time. Anyway wanted to start with a family favorite Mutton Biryani.We used less spice for my son's sake, you can increase spice if you like it spicier.

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Mutton Biryani

Ingredients :

1 Kg Mutton
2 Medium Potatoes

2 medium onions
5 Tbsp Curd
2 medium tomatoes

2 Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste

2 Tbsp Jeera (Cumin)powder
1 Tsp Red Chilli powder

2 Tsp Dhaniya (Coriander)Powder

1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder

1 Tsp Shahi Jeera

2 Bay leaves
5 Cloves
2 Big Elaichi

4 - 1 Inch Dalchini(Cinnamon stick )
6-7 Pepper corns

2 Tbsp Kasoori Methi
3 Tbsp oil

Salt to taste
5 Cups Basmati Rice

Curd Chutney:
1 Cup Curd
1 Medium onion
1 Medium Tomato
2 Green Chilli
Salt to taste
1/2 cup water
Cut onion,tomato,greenchilles and add to curd, add salt and water. Mix well and serve.

Marinate :

Add mutton,curd,ginger garlic paste,.tomatoes,cumin powder,coriander powder,red chili powder,tumeric powder,shahi jeera,bay leaves, cloves,elaichi,cinnamon,pepper corns in a pressure cooker and marinate for 30 min.

Cur onions into long pieces and fry in oil till light brown.

Add fried onion and kasoori methi, salt , 3 tbsp of hot oil into the mutton marinate and then marinate for another 1.5 hr. You can marinate for more hours if you like.

Lightly fry potatoes in oil and keep it aside.

Method :

After 1.5 hrs, cook mutton in pressure cooker on high flame for first 5 minutes. Then reduce the flame and cook mutton on slow flame for 45 minutes till about 5 whistles and mutton is tender.

In the meanwhile , cook 5 cups of basmati rice in a container full of water till half done . Once half done, drain water from rice.

Open the pressure cooker and layer the rice and potatoes on top of mutton , add 2 tbsp of Ghee (Clarified butter) on top ,cover it tightly with a lid and cook on small flame till 45 mins.

Once done, take out the biryani into a container and mix it.

Serve hot with Curd Chutney.

Bhagara Baingan

2011-12-18T16:28:00.000-08:00

Bhagara Baingan is a quintessntial Shaadi curry of Hyderabad. No Hyderabadi shaadi is complete withotu serving this dish.I love this curry and over the years I have made the process quite simplified and quick. It actually tastes better the next day

Bhagara Baingan

Ingredients :

8 -10 small round Brinjal/Baingan
2 Medium Onions
3 Tbsp of Peanuts
2 Tbsp Poppy Seeds

1.5 Inch Ginger

5-6 cloves of Garlic

1 Tsp Whole Jeera
1 Tbsp whole Dhaniya
1 Tsp Red Chilli powder

1 Tsp Garam Masala Powder

1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder

2 Bay leaf

4 Cloves

1 Inch Dalchini/Cinnamon

1/2 Inch small round of Tamarind

3 Tbsp oil

2 Cups of water
6 Curry Leaves

Salt to taste

Method

Make a + cut on the Brinjals leaving the end intact so the whole brinjal stays together.

Soak Tamarind in 1 cup of water for half an hr and take the juice out.

Dry Roast peanuts, poppy seeds ,Dhania and Jeera seeds separately. Dry roast onions till brown.

Grind Poppy seeds in a dry grinder into fine powder. Add roasted Dhania, Jeera and grind into fine powder. Add peanuts, Onion, Red chilli powder, garama masala powder, Turmeric, Ginger, Garlic ,and little water , make into a fine paste.

Take a pan , put int 3 tbsp oil, little turmeric powder and add brinjals and roast them a little till they change color. Take them out of the pan.

Now in the remaining oil, Add Bayleaf , Cloves, Dalchini , Curry Leaves and saute a little. Put in the paste and saute till the paste leaves oil. Once you see oil coming out of the paste, add tamarind water, 2 cups of water , salt and let the curry paste come to a boil. After 5 minutes, put in the brinjal and cook till the brinjals are tender.

Serve hot with Rice or Roti.

Other Indian Recipes - Chicken with Coriander

2011-09-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try chicken a little bit differently and thought of cooking it with Mint,Coriander leaves and onion paste which we call in Telugu as Pachchi Masala.

I did not have mint , so just did with coriander but anyway turned out good. I love potatoes in a non veg curry , the gravy makes it so tasty that I leave chicken aside and just eat potatoes.

Chicken with coriander curry

Ingredients :

1 Kg Chicken
2 Medium Potatoes

2 Handfuls of Coriander leaves

2 medium onions

3 Green Chillies

2 Tsp Ginger Garlic Paste

1 Tsp Jeera (Cumin)powder

1/2 Tsp Red Chilli powder

11/2 Tsp Dhaniya (Coriander)Powder

1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder

1 Tsp Whole Jeera (Cumin)

2 Bay leaves

5 Cloves

1 Inch Dalchini(Cinnamon stick )
6-7 pepper corns

2 Tomatoes

3 Tbsp oil for gravy

1 Cups of water

Salt to taste

Masala Paste :

Make a fine paste of onions, coriander leaves, green chilli. Cut potatoes into halves.

Method :

Take a pan, add 1 tbsp oil, Add whole Jeera,Bay eaf, Cinnamon,cloves,pepper corns. Add chicken pieces ,turmeric and roast them till all the water dies up. Add the paste , Red chilli powder, Jeera powder, Dhaniya powder ,potatoes and roast it till the oil separates. Add tomatoes , 1 cup water, salt and let it cook till the gravy thickens and chicken is cooked well.

Serve with rice or roti.

My experiments with Slow cooker series - Blackeyed Peas Curry (Bobbarlu)

2011-07-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

I like balckeyed peas very much. It tastes so good even with only a good tadka. It can be served as a snack or a curry with Rotis.

It is very hot in NC and since my son likes water very much, so we frequent Carowinds. As I knew we would be back by dinner time, I wanted the curry to be ready by the time we reach home. So I tried Blackeyed peas.It did not require any soaking ,was cooked perfect, Not mushy , held it's shape even after 6 hrs cooking.

Blackeyed Peas

Ingredients :

1.5 Cup Black Eyed Peas ( Does not require soaking)
1/2 Medium Onion

6 Small Green Chillies

1 Tsp Chopped Ginger

1/4 Tsp Turmeric

1 Small Tomato

2 Tsp Oil

1/2 Tsp Jeera

1/2 Tsp Mustard Seeds

Salt to taste

4 cups water

Method :

In a microwaveable bowl, put Oil, Jeera,Onion,Tomato and Microwave for 3 minutes on high.

To the slow cooker ceramic pot add Black eyed peas,Chopped Ginger,Whole Green Chillies,Turmeric, above microwaved masala, Salt, Water. Cook for 6 hrs on high.

Note : If you are adding ginger paste instead of Chopped ginger, Cook it in Microwave along with other ingredients.

Serve hot with rotis

Other Indian Recipes - Red Gram Dal with Spring onions( Ulliporaka Erra Pappu)

2011-06-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

This dish with Red gram dal with spring onions is from Nanda Mausi who used to take of our child and cook for us. She introduced this Maharashtrian dish along with many others ,We liked it so much that this became a weekly affair for us.

My Camera gave way and I could not get the picture. Will upload it some time later.

Red Gram Dal with Spring onions( Ulliporaka Erra Pappu)

Ingredients :

1 Cup Red gram dal

2 Spring onion bunches

1 Tbsp Oil

1/2 Tsp Mustard Seeds

1/2 Tsp whole Jeera

4 whole Green Chillies

1 Tsp chopped Ginger

1 Tsp chopped Garlic

1/4 Tsp Turmeric

1/2 Tsp Garam Masala

Salt to taste

2.5 cups water

Method:

Soak the Red gram dal for an hour. Chop Green chillies. Chop and clean Green Onion bunches along with onion.

In a Pan put oil, mustrad and jerra seeds, chopped ginger,garlic and green chilli.Add chopped green onion ,turmeric and stir fry for a minute or two.Add dal,garam masala and fry for a minute. Add water, salt and let it cook till dal is cooked but not too mushy.

Serve with Rice. You can make it little dry by reducing the water and can be served with Roti.

My experiments with Slow cooker series - Chana Dal with Lauki ( Anapakaya Chenaga pappu)

2011-06-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

One more traditional Hyderabadi dal. Cooked in slow cooker and it turned out well.Dal always turn out better in slow cooker.Chana dal will be well cooked but not mashed.

Chana Dal with Lauki

Ingredients :

1 Cup Chana Dal

1 Medium Onion

1 small Lauki/Bottle Gourd/Anapakaya

1 Tsp Ginger Garlic paste
1 Tsp Red Chilli powder

1/2 Tsp Garam Masala(Optional)

1/4 Tsp Turmeric

1 Tomato

1 Tbsp Oil

1/2 Tsp Jeera

1/2 Tsp Mustard Seeds

1 sprig of curry leaves

Salt to taste

2.5 cups water

Method :

In a microwaveable bowl, put oil, jeera,mustard seeds,curry leaves, onion,ginger garlic paste,red chilli ,turmeric ,garam masala Microwave for 2 minutes on high.

To the slow cooker ceramic pot add Chana Dal, Lauki, Tomato,above microwaved masala, salt, water. Cook for 4 hrs on high.

Serve hot with rice.

Kids Food - Chicken Burger

2011-06-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

As every kid my Kid too is a fan of chicken burgers and nuggets which we get in Mac D. I wanted to make it little healthier,so here is my junk food burger which is not so junk. I just do the chicken patties and let my son assemble it himself which he likes to do.

Chicken Burger
Ingredients:
Ground Chicken - 1/4 Lb
Mint - 10-12 Leaves
Coriander Leaves - Handful leaves
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 Tsp
Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 Tsp or to taste
2 Tbsp Chopped Onion
Green Chilli - Optional if you want it spicy
Salt to taste
Butter / Oil- 3 Tbsp
Burger Buns as required
Lettuce leave,cheese optional

Method :
Finely chop green chilli,mint and coriander leaves.

Take Ground chicken in bowl, add onion, ginger garlic paste, mint ,coriander leaves,black pepper, green chillies and salt. Mix them well . Take small rounds and make them into flat patties.

Take a pan , Put butter or Oil and put the chicken patties and shallow fry them well on both sides till they are well done.

Put a little bit of butter and warm the butter buns lightly before assembling the chicken burgers.

Note : I freeze these cooked chicken patties for up to two weeks. When I need them, I usually just roast them again on the pan or grill them in oven.

My experiments with Slow cooker series - Rajma

2011-04-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

As you may know, any kind of lentils cook very well in slow cooker. Today's post is Rajma which came out nice and creamy. I added the Rajma directly (dry beans), No soaking overnight. Rajma has good amount of Iron and is very healthy.

Rajma

Ingredients :

3/4 Cup Rajma (Kidney beans)

1 Medium onion

1 Tomato

1 1/2 Tbsp Oil

1 Inch Ginger

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 Tsp Whoe Jeera

1 Tsp Garam masala

4 Small Green chillies

1/4 Tsp Turmeric

Salt to taste

5 cups water

Cut onion , tomato into small pieces.Slice ginger into juliens and chop garlic.

Take a microwave bowl add oil, whole jeera, Onion, Garlic, Garam masala and cook for 2 minutes.

In the slow cooker add Rajma,Ginger,Turmeric,Green Chillies tomato, water ,salt and Tadka. Stir well and cook on low for 7 -8 Hours on high. It will not harm even if you leave it for another hour or so.

Alternately if you are at home, you can add tadka later after 5 hrs of cooking process instead of at starting.

Serve hot with roti.

Chicken Kheema Muttila (Kofta) Curry

2011-04-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Mutton Kheema Mutti curry is a traditional hyderabadi food and signature dish of my Mom.

I adopted the same recipe for chicken kheema mutti curry. I had my sister over for dinner so I wanted to make something special and this worked out great.

You can use ready made kheema for this or you can do this with boneless chicken as I did. I had some boney pieces left which I used in gravy.

Chicken Kheema Mutti (Kofta) Curry

Ingredients :

1 Kg Chicken (Bone less)

2 Handfuls of Pudina Leaves

2 Tsp Pepper Corns

12 small Green Chillies

20 Cashew Nuts

2 Tsp Ginger Garlic Paste

1 Tsp Jeera powder

2 Tsp Red Chilli powder

11/2 Tsp Dhaniya Powder

1 Tsp Garam Masala Powder

1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder

1 Tsp Whole Jeera

2 Bay leaf

4 Cloves

1 Inch Dlachini

1/2 Cup Curd

2 Onions

2 Tomatoes

1 Tbsp Kasoori Methi

Oil for frying

3 Tbsp oil for gravy

5 Cups of water

Salt to taste

For Making Muttilu (Kofta's):

Once all the portions are done, Make into small balls and fry on low-medium heat till they are light brown.I made around 50 kofta's from 1 Kg chicken.

You can have them dry or you can add them to gravy.

Gravy :

Take a pan , dry roast cashew nuts and keep aside. To the Pan add 2 Tbsp oil , add onion, saute these well, add 1 Tsp ginger garlic paste, 1/4 tsp Turmeric,Red chilli powder, Dhaniya powder,Jeera powder, Gram masala powder and saute these well. Add chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

Now take the above mixture , add cashew nuts and grind to a smooth paste.

Now take a pan add 1 tbsp oil, Add whole Jeera,Bayleaf, Dalchini,cloves. Add any boney chicken pieces if you have at this point and brown the pieces. Then add above paste, saute till it leaves oil.

Beat the curd and add to the gravy. Add 5 cups of water ,salt and let it simmer for 10 -15 minutes.

Add muttilu(Kofta's) and Kasoori Methi to this gravy and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Once done and gravy reduced to the consistency you desire , Take it off the stove.

Serve with rice. Bhagara rice goes very well with curry.