Recipes-momma

Ashtamir Niramish Ranna!!

2013-10-11T08:18:00.000+05:30

On Ashtami, mostly vegetarian food is consumed in most of the households, atleast one meal:-)..Niramish as we call it. Here are some of my choicest recipes for Ashtami!!

Puja Special Jhinge-Posto

Ingredients: 350gms ridgegourd, 10tblspns poppy seeds, 1tblspn roasted peanuts w/o skin, 1tblspn raisins, 1/2tblspn kalonji/kala jeera/Nigella seeds, 1/2tblspn turmeric powder, green chilli as per taste, salt and sugar as per taste, mustard oil, 1tblspn ghee, chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:
1) Cut the ridgegourd into small bite size pcs
2) Make a paste of poppy seeds, peanuts and green chilli with a little water
3) Heat oil in a pan
4) Throw in the kalonji and let it splutter
5) Now add the ridgegourd along with the turmeric powder and let it cook for a minute or so
6) Add the poppy seed paste at this stage and cook for 3-4 minutes
7) Add 1/4 cup water, raisins. Cover and cook till ridgegourd is done
8) Season with salt and sugar
9) Sprinkle with ghee, coriander leaves on top
10) Serve hot with rice

The Inevitable & Everpopular Bhaja

Ingredients: Brinjal/ Bittergourd cut into strips, 1/2cup besan/gram flour, 2tblspn poppy seeds, 1/4tblspn onion seeds/kalonji, salt and sugar as per taste, 1/4tblspn red chilli powder, 1/4tblspn turmeric powder, refined oil for deep frying

Method:

Cut your favourite vegetables into thin squares/rounds
Marinate with salt and sugar and keep aside for 10 minutes
Squeeze out the excess water and pat dry the vegetables
Make a batter with all the other ingredients
Dip the vegetables in this batter and deep fry

Quick N Easy Mishti Pulao

Ingredients: 1cup scented rice, 1cup assorted choice of cubed vegetables, vegetable oil, 2 tblspns ghee for garnishing, 2 green cardamoms, salt and sugar as per taste, 2 bayleaves, 1tblspn minced ginger, handful of raisins, cashew nuts and almonds, 1 stick cinnamon, 1/4th tblspn nutmeg powder, 1/2tblspn turmeric powder

Method

Wash the rice in advance and let it rest in water with 1/4th tblspn salt for 1 hour
Heat oil in a pressure cooker
Throw in the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, dry fruits and lt then fry for a minute or so till they start to turn brown
Add in the ginger, vegetables and turmeric
Saute till they start to get brown and well cooked on the surface
Add the rice and nutmeg powder
Keep frying the rice for good 7-10 minutes in low flame all the while stirring
Season with salt and sugar
Add water upto 1.5 inches above the rice level, close the lid and lower the flame
Normally I give 1 whistle and wait till almost the 2nd whistle is about to come.
The rice should not be mushy, that's the whole idea
Once done, remove the lid, sprinkle ghee on top and serve hot

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients: 4 ripe tomatoes chopped, 1/2 cup jaggery, 1spn oil, 1pinch fenugreek/methi seeds, 1dry red chilli, 1 pinch salt

Method:

Heat the oil in a kadhai
Add the fenugreek seeds. Once the seeds release their aroma, discard them with the help of a spoon or spatula
Add the dry red chilli
Now add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt
Saute for 1minute before adding the jaggery
Let it cook till the tomatoes turn completely mushy
Now add the required amount of water, infact sort of runny

Note: There are various types of tomato chutney. This one is a sweet, runny chutney which can also be eaten with rice as a gravy.

Prawn Moily-Taj Malabar Style N Keema Special

2013-10-09T09:57:00.003+05:30

Here are 2 more recipes for the festive season. Not orthodox, traditional dishes off the menu for the upcoming Durga puja but that's where the fun is!!

1st one which is an absolute favourite is Prawn Moily, I have replicated it in pretty much the same way as they do in Taj Malabar, Cochin now better known as Vivanta by Taj except the inclusion of curry leaves. I love this dish for its simplicity yet such vibrant flavours. Very easy to make and goes well with white rice. One word of caution though, if you don't like preparations with coconut oil, then please avoid it because the basic essence of this fish comes from the richness of freshly squeezed coconut milk. If you don't like your food cook in coconut oil then please use normal vegetable oil but YEAH, coconut oil gives it that extra punch and flavour. Choice is yours:-)

The 2nd dish is Chicken keema masala. goes well with almost anything, I like it best with phulkas:-)

Prawn Moily

Ingredients: 1 thinly sliced onion, 1 spoon sliced ginger, 1 tblspn chopped garlic, 250gms prawn deshelled and deveined, 1/4th tblspn turmeric powder, salt as per taste, 6-7 curry leaves (optional), 1 chopped tomato, 3-4 slit green chillies or as per taste, 1 cup thinner extract of coconut milk, 1/2 cup thicker extract of coconut milk, coconut oil for cooking

Method:

Marinate the prawns with turmeric powder, salt and keep aside
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan
Once the oil turns hot, throw in the onion, ginger, garlic, green chilly and curry leaves
Saute for a few minutes without browning the garlic and onion
Add the prawns and cook in medium heat till 80% done
Pour the thinner extract of coconut milk and cook for few minutes at low flame
Add the tomato pcs
At this stage, I prefer to cover and cook till the tomatoes are done but not mushy
Now add the thicker extract of coconut milk and let the gravy simmer at low flame
Finally season your dish and serve it hot with white rice

Note: You can also use any firm sea water fish to make Fish Moily using the same recipe

Chicken Keema Masala

Ingredients: 500gms Chicken mince, 150gms fresh/frozen peas, 5chopped green chillies, 1tbspn ghee, 1/2tbspn cumin seeds, 1pinch red food colour, 2tbspn ginger-garlic paste, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1tbspns each of red chilli-coriander-cumin powder, 1tbspn garam masala powder, 1/2tbspn lemon juice, salt, oil, 2 tblspns chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

Heat oil in a pan
Add the onions, ginger-garlic paste and fry till onion turns translucent
Now add the peas and saute for 1 minute
Add the chicken mince and mix everything together
Add all the powdered spices along with the food colour and keep cooking at slow flame for 8-10 minutes
Pour in the lemon juice, salt and further cook for 2minutes
Add salt. Cover and cook till mutton mince is perfectly cooked.
Transfer the contents in a serving bowl
Prepare a tempering with ghee, chopped green chillies, cumin seeds and garam masala.
Pour it immediately over the chicken mince
\Garnish with coriander leaves
Serve hot with choice of roti, naan or rice

Macher Kalia & Tel-Begun!!

2013-09-30T19:50:00.000+05:30

Durga puja is just around the corner. Good food, new clothes and loads of adda makes it all the more special..So keeping in mind the upcoming festivities, will post few recipes which could be prepared at home and enjoyed!

Macher-Kalia

Ingredients: 4pcs Rohu fish/or any fresh water fish, 1/2 cup tomato puree, 1 big onion coarsely grinded, 1tblspn ginger-garlic paste, yogurt 1/2cup, 1tblspn Kashmiri red chilli powder or a/c to taste, 1tblspn cumin seeds, 2 bayleaves, 1/2 tblspn turmeric powder, salt and sugar as per taste, mustard oil, finely chopped coriander leaves for garnishing, 1tblspn garam masala powder(cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, mace, nutmeg), whole garam masala (cinnamon(1/2), cardamom(1), cloves(1), mace(2 strands), nutmeg(1/4th)), 1 tblspn ghee

Method:

Marinate the fish with 1 tblspn turmeric powder, salt and 1 tblspn mustard oil. keep aside for 10 minutes
Shallow fry in oil and keep aside for later use
Heat oil in a pan
Once the oil turns smoking hot, put the cumin seeds and bayleaf
Add the onion and ginger-garlic paste, let it fry for few minutes
Now add the tomato puree and cook further for another 2 minutes
Add turmeric powder, Kashmiri chilli powder and garam masala powder. Give it a good stir
Add the yogurt and cook till oil starts to separate from the side of the pan
Now add water as per required consistency, and add the fish pcs
Season the gravy
Cover and cook
Once the gravy is done, heat 1 tblspn ghee and add the whole garam masala in it
Pour over the gravy
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve

Tel-Begun

This one is my absolute favourite. Though it's an acquired taste since I will be using fish intestine in this recipe but yeah if you have the taste for it, you sure know what i am talking about:-)

Ingredients: Fish intestine cleaned and roughly chopped, 1 Brinjal diced, 2cloves garlic finely chopped, 1 onion chopped, salt as per taste, 1/4 tblspn turmeric powder, mustard oil, 2 tblspns finely chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Heat oil in a pan
Add the garlic and let it fry till it starts to turn brown
Now add the onion
Let it fry till it starts to turn brown
Now add the brinjal, cover and cook till almost done
Add the fish intestine and season the dish
Cook for another 5-7 minutes till done
Check the seasoning, garnish with coriander leaves and serve

Butterfly Cakes!!

2013-09-24T11:27:00.002+05:30

Gave a new twist to the classic sponge cake recipe specially for the kiddo!! Same ingredients of butter, refined flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder and vanilla essence and baked at 180C for 20-25 mins. Gave it a nice shape and decorated with coloured icing...Happy snack box for school!!

Pakora with a twist!!

2013-08-29T19:40:00.000+05:30

Kids always love to eat when you present something which looks glamorous, what if we give it a healthy twist. That makes it all interesting, isn't it? So here is my twist to the traditional pakora...which looks stunning, is filling, healthier and delicious!!

Ingredients: 1/2 cup wheat flour, 1/4 tblspn baking powder, 5-6 tblspn chopped spinach, 2 chopped chicken sausages(optional), salt as per taste, 1/4 tblspn oregano(I am a big fan of Oregano:-)), 5-6 tblspn grated cheese(I used Britannia cheese cubes), 1 egg, 2 tblspn olive oil or butter

Method:

Beat egg and oil nicely
Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl
Fold in the egg and oil mixture gently
In the meantime, preheat the oven(I used a MW)
Grease the mini cup-cake pans with oil/butter and dust with flour
Pour in the mixture half way through
Bake at 200 C for 20 minutes or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean
Serve hot

Macher Jhura!!

2013-08-22T11:18:00.000+05:30

Macher jhura is my all time favourite. I still remember when my mother used to make it specially during rainy days with left over fish. Continuing the legacy, I prepare the same in my kitchen. A tasty twist to ignored, left-over fish:-)

Macher Jhura
Ingredients: 4pcs shallow fried fish(fresh water fish), 1 chopped onion, 5-6 chopped garlic cloves, 4-5 chopped green chillies(as per taste), 1/2 cup chopped green coriander, mustard oil, 1.5 tblspn red chilli powder

Method:

Crumble the fried fish roughly with your hands in a big bowl into bite size pcs
Mix all the ingredients together with 1 tblspn of oil except the coriander leaves
Heat 2-3 tblspns oil in a pan
Once the oil turns smoking hot, put the mixture in the pan
Start cooking in low flame
Give about 20 minutes till the mixture turns light brown
Adjust the seasoning
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with white rice

Happy Independence Day!!

2013-08-13T07:32:00.001+05:30

It's been quite a hectic month..already miss blogging. Hence decided to do something special for Independence day..here is my Indian flag tri-colour cake with buttercream icing. Enjoy!!

Tri-colour Cake

Ingredients: 3 eggs, 2 cups refined flour/maida, 1/2 cup softened butter, 1tblspn baking powder, 1tblspn Vanilla essence, 1cup granulated sugar, 1cup milk, gel colouring (orange, green)

Method:

Mix baking powder with refined flour and keep aside
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs till frothy
Now add sugar and beat till sugar dissolves completely
Add the oil and Vanilla essence and give it a good stir
Divide the flour mixture into three parts and add the portions gradually into the batter
Add milk and give it a final stir
Now divide the batter into exactly three equal portions
Mix orange gel colouring into the first portion and green gel colouring into the 2nd portion keeping the third batter as it is
Bake all the three portions individually for about 20-25mins at 180C or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients: 1/2 cup softened butter, 2tblspns vanilla essence(optional), 4cups icing sugar, 2tblspns milk/whipping cream

Method:

Beat butter and vanilla essence with an electric mixer
Gradually add sugar and beat till thick
Now add cream/milk till soft and fluffy

Assembling the cake

First take the green layer and spread icing on the base
Put the white layer on top and spread another coating of icing on top
Now place the final orange layer on top
Let the cake rest in refrigerator for 15 minutes
After 15 minutes, coat the cake on all sides and top evenly with the buttercream icing
Decorate with sprinkles or pearls on top
Let it rest for another 10 minutes before serving

Happy Independence to you all!!

Mughlai Paratha!!

2013-07-02T22:06:00.001+05:30

Mughlai Paratha has been a childhood favourite. Back at home, we used to eat Mughlai Paratha with thick chana daal. In Bangalore, eating Mughlai paratha remains limited to stalls put up during Durga puja. I am not sure if any restaurant serves it on the menu. So anyways, here is a sneak peek in my Mughlai paratha recipe. I decided to do the filling with panner and peas primarily because those were available in my refrigerator but you can choose to make any filling of your choice.

Mughlai Paratha

Preparing the filling:
Ingredients: 250gms paneer/cottage cheese roughly crushed, 150gms fresh/frozen peas, 2 chopped green chillies or as per taste, 1tbspn ghee, 1/2tbspn cumin seeds, 1pinch red food colour, 2tbspn ginger-garlic paste, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1tbspns each of red chilli-coriander-cumin powder, 1tbspn garam masala powder, 1/2tbspn lemon juice, salt, oil

Method:

Heat oil in a pan
Add the onions, ginger-garlic paste and fry till onion turns translucent
Now add the peas and saute for 1 minute
Add the paneer and mix everything together
Add all the powdered spices along with the food colour and keep cooking at slow flame for 8-10 minutes
Pour in the lemon juice, salt and further cook for 2minutes
Add salt. paneer is perfectly cooked.
Transfer the contents in a serving bowl
Prepare a tempering with ghee, chopped green chillies, cumin seeds and garam masala.
Pour it immediately over the paneer
Keep the mixture side and allow it to cool

Preparing the dough:

Knead 2cups of maida/refined flour with 1/4th tblspn of salt and 2tblspns of refined oil into a smooth dough. Keep covered for 15minutes.

For outer covering:

Beat 2eggs with a pinch of black pepper powder and a pinch of salt.

Preparing the paratha:

Divide the dough into equal portions
Roll out each portion and keep say about 2tblspns of the filling in the middle
Fold it in the form of a small parcel
You can use water as glue to seal the parcel ends

Final Touch:

Dip the parcels in egg mixture and deep fry in oil till golden brown in colour on both sides

I served the parathas with salad:-)

Mango Cheesecake!!

2013-06-04T15:49:00.000+05:30

I love eating cheesecakes specially and love to bake the same with different flavours specially with fresh fruits. Since I also love to eat mangoes, todays post will be on "Mango Cheesecake".

Mango Cheesecake

You absolutely need to have a "Springform" pan for it. I mean you can do it on normal pans but serving the cake intact will be an issue.

Ingredients:

Crust
2cups plain cracker crumbs(I have used Marie/Nutri choice: No, we dont get Graham crackers in Bangalore)
3-4tblspns butter
Method:

Beat the crumbs in a blender till smooth
Mix with butter with your own hands
Press the crumb-butter mixture nicely with hands into the pan into a nice layer
Chill in the fridge for 20minutes

Filling

1.5 cups cream cheese(You will find it easily in Auchen/Spar in Bangalore)

1/2 cup sugar

1tblspn Vanilla essence

1/3cup mango puree

3eggs

1/2tblspln lemon juice

Method:

Beat the cream cheese nicely with hand blender\
Gently mix in the sugar, vanilla essence
Now beat in the eggs and lemon juice
Beat till you reach a creamy consistency
Pour over the biscuit base cake pan
I baked it in microwave oven at 180C for 25mins or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean
Let the cake cool and rest for 3-4 hours in the fridge before serving

Mango Glaze

3tblspns mango puree

3tblspns sugar or as per taste

1/3rd tblspn lemon juice

Method:

Heat all the ingredients in a pan till bubbles start to appear
In low flame keep simmering for 1-2minutes before
Let it cool down at room temperature
Evenly coat the top of your cake with this glaze(By this time, your cake should have cooled down completey)
Let it set in the fridge for 1 hour before serving

Quick Chicken Keema-Pulao Recipe!!

2013-05-30T11:22:00.002+05:30

Have you felt the pressure at times when you need to cook something special though don't have the luxury of too many ingredients in hand and time as well...Bet you did! So here is a quick keema-pulao recipe, a one dish meal which will satisfy all. Make a raita to go along with it and you are all set. For vegetarians, you can make a keema of soya granules and you too will have a winning dish in hand for sure:-)

Moonma's Quick Chicken Keema Pulao
Ingredients: 300gms Chicken keema/mince, 1cup rice, 1tblspn ginger-garlic paste, 1.5tblspn chicken masala powder, 1/2tblspn cumin powder, 1/2tblspn garam masala powder, 1 chopped onion, 1tlspn turmeric powder, red chilli powder as per taste,1/2tblspn lemon juice, 3tblspns ghee, salt, refined oil, handful of chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Cook the rice in advance till done with 2tblspns oil/ghee, 1/2tblspn lemon juice,1pinch turmeric powder, salt
Spread the rice on a flat surface and let it cool
In a heavy bottomed pan, add oil
Once the oil is hot, add onion
Add ginger-garlic paste and cook till onion starts to turn transparent and the rawness of the ginger-garlic paste disappears
Now add the keema and cook for 5 minutes
At this stage add all the dry spices and cook till done
Season with salt
Mix in the rice at high flame and cook till the rice gets well mixed and coated with the keema mixture
Season with salt as required, switch off the gas
Sprinkle 1tblpsn ghee on top
Garnish with coriander leaves
Cover the pan with lid and give a standing time of 5minutes before serving

Note: You can add vegetables like peas, carrots. Can add some dry fruits as well like cashew, raisins etc for ore flavour. Depends on what you have in your pantry:-)

Khatte Baingan!!

2013-04-28T19:16:00.000+05:30

There are lot of versions of this recipe Kashmiri, Bengali etc...Mine is a sort of amalgamation of all. Hope you enjoy the recipe!!

Khatte Baingan
Ingredients: 1 egg plant cut into pcs(I have used the Italian variety), 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/2tblspn red chilli powder, 1 tblspn coriander powder, 1tblspn ginger-garlic paste, 1/4tblspn cumin seeds, 3tblspns fenugreek seeds, 1/4tblspn turmeric powder, salt as per taste, 1 pinch sugar and vegetable oil for cooking

Method:

Soak the fenugreek seeds in water for 3-4 hours
Discard the water and then boil the same for 3-4 times changing the water each time
The basic idea is to eliminate the bitterness of the fenugreek seeds but at the same time, this step will render a different flavour all together to the dish. This step needs to be done(i know it's time consuming) perfectly otherwise the entire dish will taste bitter.
If you are not confident then skip the fenugreek seeds part of the recipe and follow the other steps
Marinate the egg plant pcs with salt & turmeric and keep aside for 5 minutes
Discard the water and then fry in oil till almost done
In a separate pan, heat oil
Add cumin seeds and allow it to crackle
Now add the fenugreek seeds and saute for 1 minute
Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry till the rawness dissappears
Now add turmeric powder/coriander powder/red chilli powder and give it a good stir
Beat the yogurt till smooth and add in the same
Cook till oil separates from the side of the pan
Season the gravy
Now add 6-7tblspns of water, egg plant pcs, cover and cook till egg plant pcs are cooked perfectly and smeared with the sauce
Serve hot

Puthi Mach!

2013-04-17T15:34:00.002+05:30

Tried my hands on the bigger version of Puthi fish also known as Shor-puthi. I know for sure that puthi mach is called Swam Barb in English, don't know what Shor-puthi is called in English though. If I am not mistaken then probably it's called Cheniputhi in Assamese, feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Here is a glimpse of this fish for those of you who are not sure what exactly am I talking about.

I made two versions of curry with this fish. ENJOY!!

Shor-Puthir Jhol with potato and ridgegourd

Ingredients: 2 Shor-puthis cut into halves, 1 potato pilled and cut into wedges, 1 ridgegourd pilled and cut into wedges, 1 tomato cut into quarter, 2 tblspns turmeric powder, mustard oil, 1/2 tblspn cumin powder, red chilli powder as per taste, salt, 1/4tblspn paanch-phoron
Method:

Marinate the fish with salt, 1tblspn mustard oil and 1/5tblspns of turmeric powder
Fry the fish pcs in mustard oil and keep aside
In the same oil, fry the potato and ridge gourd pcs separately till half done and keep aside
In a deep pan, heat mustard oil say about 2-3tblspns
Once the oil turns smoky hot, add the paanch-phoron and let it crackle
Add the tomato and cook till it turns soft and mushy
Now add the remaining vegetables and give it a good stir
Add in all the spices and coat the vegetables with the same
Cook for about 2-3 minutes
Add water as per the desired consistency(not thick. Runny)
Add salt at this stage
Cover and cook in medium flame till the vegetables are done
Place the fish gently into the gravy, cover and cook for another 5 minutes
Serve hot

Note: For paanch-phoron recipe check my previous post http://recipes-momma.blogspot.in/2011/10/kitchen-basics.html

Shorshe-Doi Kosha
This is a glamorous and richer version of the previous recipe with the same fish.

Ingredients: 2 Shor-puthis cut into halves, 2 tblspns turmeric powder, mustard oil, salt, 1onion, 2-3 green chillies, 1/2 cup beaten yogurt, 1/4tblspn Nigella seeds/kalo jeere, 5-6tblspns yellow mustard seeds

Method

Marinate the fish with salt, 1tblspn mustard oil and 1/5tblspns of turmeric powder
Fry the fish pcs in mustard oil and keep aside
Make a fine paste with mustard seeds, onion and green chilli
In a pan, heat mustard oil say about 2-3tblspns
Once the oil turns smoky hot, add the Nigella seeds and let it crackle
Add the turmeric powder
Now add the mustard-onion-chilli paste and cook till the rawness disappears
Add the yogurt at this stage at low flame
Season the gravy
Give it a good stir
Add little water say about 1/2cup or more if required to balance out the consistency(Semi-gravy)
Add the fish pcs, cover and cook for another 5 minutes before serving hot

Finally Palak Paneer!!

2013-04-09T14:13:00.001+05:30

I often get comments from readers that my blog does not include the popular restaurant menu items. Don't know whether that is good or bad, never thought in those lines and honestly not very inclined to copy and recreate the same, cooking should come from the heart and that's what I try to do.Anyways coming back to my post, last Friday tried my hands on Palak-paneer, the inevitable vegetarian dish in ALL Indian restaurants. Here is my Palak-paneer version:

Palak-Paneer
Ingredients: 2 bunch Spinach/Palak, 250gms cottage cheese/paneer, 1 tomato, 1 chopped onion,3-4 chopped garlic pods, 1/2tblspn turmeric powder, 1/4tblspn cumin seeds, 1/4tblspn garam masala powder, red chilli powder and salt as per taste, 1/2tblspn coriander powder, 1/2 cup cream, 1/4 tblspn lemon juice(again depends on the amount of chilli powder you put to balance the flavour), vegetable oil

Prepping the Paneer: Cut the paneer into squares. Season with salt and shallow fry them. Keep aside to be used in the gravy.

Method:

Wash and clean the spinach leaves
Blanch the greens in hot water for few minutes
Immerse greens in chilled water immediately for few minutes to preserve the green colour
Make a puree of the same
Make a puree of the tomato and keep aside(plz discard the skin)
Heat oil in a pan
Once the oil turns hot, throw in the cumin seeds
Allow the seeds to crackle
Once done, add the garlic and give it few seconds to fry
Just before the garlic starts to turn brown, throw in the onion
Let it fry till brown
Now add the tomat puree
Cook till the rawness of the tomato disappears
Now add all the dry spices and give cook for another minute or so before adding the spinach puree
Add the seasoning at this point, cook for 2-3 minutes
Add the paneer pcs
Cover and cook for another 5 minutes before switching off the gas
Add the cream, fold it nicely and serve hot

Note: You can add little water to level the consistency of the gravy. It should neither be runny nor too thick.

Kachori---Rajasthani Style

2013-04-02T12:32:00.002+05:30

Kachori needs no introduction whatsoever. Though the outer pastry shell almost remains the same, different stuffings are popular in different parts of India. For ex, you will find peas if you are eating Kachori in Bengal, moong daal if you are eating in Gujrat and so on. In Rajasthan specially there are two different variants of the same which have become very popular. One is the "Pyaaz ki Kachori" included in today's post and second "Mawa Kachori" which is a sweet variant dipped in sugar syrup. Anyways you can use your own imagination and stuffings can range from keema, cheese, veggies even choclates. I am not too rigid in the exact mix of spices that I have used for this stuffing, entirely based on the taste which we as a family enjoy (more or less). Feel free to modify.

Pyaaz Ki Kachori

Ingredients for the dough: 2cups refined flour/maida, 2tblspns ghee, salt as per taste, water for kneading

Method:

Knead the flour along with the other igredients untill smooth
Cover and rest for 15-20 minutes at room temperature

For the stuffing:

Ingredients: 2onions chopped, 1/4tblspn turmeric powder, 1/4tblspn aamchoor powder/dry mango powder, 1/4 tblspn ajwain/carom seeds, salt and red chilli powder as per taste, chopped coriander leaves, 1/2tblspn coriander powder, 1 pinch saunf/fennel seeds, 1/2tblspn hing/asafoetida, 2tblspns besan/chickpea powder, oil/ghee

Method

Heat oil/ghee in a pan
Add the saunf, hing and carom seeds
Now add the onions and fry for 1 minute
Add all the spices one by one and keep stirring
Just before removing from fire, season the onion stuffing and add the besan
Give it a good stir and saute for 1/2 a minute or so before switching off the gas
Mix the chopped coriander leaves and set aside to cool

For making the kachoris:

Divide the dough into equal roundels
Take a roundel and roll it a little bit, just enough to place a generous amount of the stuffing in the middle
Gather the edges and seal it with the help of ghee or water
Roll the sealed dough again in a circular fashion like a puri
Take care and roll gently otherwise you will spill the onion stuffing
Deep fry the same in hot oil
Serve with any chutney of your choice

Note: You can stuff the filling the same way when you make stuffed parathas

Healthy Quotient: You can make this snack super healthy by baking it in the oven for 10-15 minutes and replace the refined flour with whole wheat flour, though it takes time getting used to the flavour.

Tengra Mach!!

2013-03-26T12:03:00.001+05:30

It always lifts up my spirit to find fish of my choice when I go out on weekly kitchen shopping. Finding Rohu, Hilsa, Catla, Pabda even Golsha Tengra is fairly easy in Bangalore malls. The challenge is to find smaller varieties. You do get at times what you like in HAL market but again you should have really strong determination to brave the city traffic and go that far to buy fish (depending on where you stay) and again always not guaranteed that you will find the fish of your choice. Last weekend I was pleasently surprised, when I saw "Shite Tengra" in one of the city malls. This again comes from the Tengra family but unlike the "Golsha" variety it is fairly small and very tasty. By the way Tengra is called Striped Dwarf Catfish in English:-)

You can cook this fish in different ways, I prefer the chorchori(semi gravy) style. Here is my version of the same.

Tengra Chorchori

Ingredients: 250gms Tengra fish cleaned, 1 big onion chopped, 1big tomato chopped, 1tblspn red chilli powder, 2tblspns turmeric powder, salt as per taste, mustard oil, chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

Marinate the fish with 2tblspns mustard oil, salt and 1.5tblspn turmeric powder
Fry the fish in mustard oil and keep aside
Heat oil in a pal
Once the oil turns smoky hot, add the chopped onion and remaining turmeric powder
Allow the onion to turn almost brown before putting the tomatoes
Cook the tomatoes covered till they turn soft and mushy
Now add the chilli powder and give it a good stir
Add salt at this stage
Add 1/2cup water and wait till it starts simmering
Add the fish, cover and cook in low flame till water almost reduces to half
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot

Hyderabad Calling!!

2013-03-13T12:43:00.000+05:30

I know the first dish that comes to your mind when someone mentions Hyderabad is Biryani...but today let's experiment with something else and vegetarian for that matter. No, it's not mirchi ka salan or baghare baingan for that matter...let's try okra or bhindi as we call it. This dish will present okra in a new avatar and yeah much tastier..For sure!!

Hyderabadi Dahi Bhindi Masala

Ingredients: 250gms okra, 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped tomato, 1cup yugurt beaten nicely, 1tblspn ginger-garlic paste, 2tblspn grated coconut, 7-8 cashewnuts soaked in water, 1/2tblspn kasoori methi/ dry fenugreek leaves, 1/2tblspn each of garam masala-coriander-dry mango/aamchur-turmeric powders, salt, sugar and red chilli powder as per taste, vegetable oil

For Tempering:
1/2tblspn each of black mustard seeds-cumin seeds-split black lentils/urad daal, 1/4tblspn asafoetida/hing, 2-3 dry red chilli, 7-8 curry leaves, vegetable oil, 1tblspn clarified butter/ghee

Method:

Wash the okra and pat them dry with a kitchen towel
Cut into small pcs
Marinate with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt, keep it aside for 10-15 minutes
In the meantime make a paste of cashew nuts and coconut into a smooth paste
Heat oil in a pan
Fry the okras little at a time at medium flame till they almost turn brown
Heat oil in a deep kadhai
Once the oil turns hot, add the dry red chilli along with mustard-cumin seeds and urad daal, asafoetida
Allow a minute for the seeds to crackle
Now add the onion and allow it to turn brown
Add in the tomatoes and cook till they turn soft and mushy
Throw in all the spices except kasoori methi and saute for 5-6 minutes
Now add the cashew-coconut paste and cook for 5 more minutes
Add the yogurt and once it starts simmering add the okra pcs
Add all the seasonings, cover and cook till done
You may add little water for a semi-gravy consistency
Switch off the gas once done
In a separate tadka pan, heat ghee
Fry the curry leaves lightly on it and immediately pour over the gravy
Serve hot

Majestic Balushahi!!

2013-03-05T11:24:00.002+05:30

Balushahi is a sweet more or less reserved for auspicious occasions. And recently it has become one of my favourites. Soft, flaky, sweet and that is how a Balushahi should be..sharing my homemade recipe for the same.

Balushahi

Ingredients: 2 cups refined flour/maida, 1/4tblspn each of cooking soda and baking powder, 2tblspns ghee/clarified butter, 1/2 cup yogurt, oil for deep frying, sugar, water, rose essence, 1 pod crushed cardamom

Method:

Mix the flour, cooking soda and baking powder
Now add the ghee and mix all the ingredients gently
Pour in the yogurt and knead very gently
The dough should not be smooth at all, the texture should feel cruty and flaky in your hands
Don't get tempted to add more yogurt and knead the dough more smoothly
Rest the dough covered for 20 minutes at room temperature
Take the well rested dough and divide it into equal roundels
Take each roundel in your hand and flatten the same against your palm, make a dent in the middle
The roundels at this stage should not look neat and almost broken at certain points, and that's exactly how it should be
Deep fry the roundels in oil at a very low flame
Turn gently and keep frying till you get a golden colour on both sides

After frying your Balushahis should more or less look like below

Prepare the sugar syrup in the meantime.
1) To make a good sugar syrup all you have to do is heat equal measures of sugar with equal measure of water. For this particular dish, I took two cups of sugar and two cups of water.
2) As the sugar syrup boils, drop in the cardamom and rose water. It gives an enhanced flavour and aroma.
3) Once the syrup turns sticky in finger-tip, it's time to switch off the gas
4) Dip the Balushahis in the sugar syrup and let it soak for a minute or so before you take it out and serve

Semiya Upma!!

2013-02-26T14:20:00.000+05:30

It's a nerve wrecking task to think what to try for breakfast. Yeah, cereals have become almost a staple in our hectic mornings, still at times you crave good old fashioned breakfast specially if you have a fussy toddler to deal with. I love to try Semiya Upma at such trying times for 2 reasons:
a) easy to make and b) it's delicious. Another reason could be that all the ingredients are readily available in your kitchen. Here goes my version of Semiya or Vermicelli upma.

Semiya Upma

Ingredients: 1 cup vermicelli, 1/4 tblspn each of black mustard seeds-chana daal(Bengal gram)-urad daal(split black gram), 1/2 cup assorted vegetables(I used carrots/peas), 1/2tblspn grated ginger, 1/4tblspn asafoetida, 1 finely chopped onion, few broken cashew nuts, finely chopped green chilli as per taste, salt as per taste, handful of curry leaves, vegetable oil

Method:

Heat 2tblspn oil in a pan
Roast the vermicelli till light brown and then keep aside
In the same oil, add some more oil and once the oil turns hot add the mustard seeds alongwith the lentils
Once the lentils start to crackle, add in the cashew nuts and asafoetida
Now add the onion, chopped green chilli and curry leaves and fry till onion turns almost translucent
Mix all the veggies now including the ginger and cook till almost done
Add the seasoning at this stage
Add 1.5 cups of water and allow it to come to a boil
Once the water starts boiling, gently add the vermicelli
Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes or till vermicelli gets cooked and water dries up
Give a good stir
Serve hot with your favourite chutney or sauce

Drums of Heaven!!

2013-02-19T10:36:00.000+05:30

I don't know why this dish is called "Drums of Heaven" in sophisticated Indianized Chinese restaurants, probably Chicken lollipop is an apt name as it is called otherwise. If you are looking forward to nibble on some meaty bits(equally greasy) on a rainy evening to go with your drink, Chicken Lollipop will satiate that wish. Greasiness has its own charm:-) Here is my recipe for Chicken Lollipops.

Chicken Lollipop

Ingredients: 4pcs Chicken Lollopop, 1 egg, 3-4tblspn cornflour, 1/4tblspn garlic paste, 1/4tblspn each of soya sauce-white pepper powder-vinegar, 1pinch red food colouring(optional), 1/4tblspn red chilli powder, 1/4tblspn MSG, salt, oil for deep frying

Method:

Clean the chicken lollipops and pat dry
Make a batter with all the above ingredients
Marinate the chicken and leave for few hours in the refrigerator
Heat oil in a pan
Deep fry the chicken lollipops over a medium flame
Serve hot with chilli sauce

Sweet Valentine Cookies!!

2013-02-14T14:46:00.003+05:30

Love is in the air..and what better way to celebrate than TODAY!! Yeah..yeah I know all those counter arguements..still it's always great to have an excuse to go out all the way and show that you care. After the tiresome routine of going through what to gift and what not to..FINALLY I settled down on some home baked cookies this year!! Short, Sweet N Simple!!

Hazelnut Cookies

Ingredients: 2cups refined flour/maida, 2eggs, 1/2cup unsalted butter at room temperature, 1/3rd cup sugar, 1/2 cup roasted and chopped hazelnuts, 2tblspn vanilla essence, parchment paper, edible colouring and decoration as per choice

Method:

Cream butter and sugar till fluffy
Now add in the eggs and Vanilla essence and beat further for 2minutes
Gradually add the flour and prepare the dough
Add in the hazelnuts
Refrigerate the dough for 1-2 hours
Once the dough is doable, roll it on a flat surface
Give desired shapes using cookie cutters(I did heart shapes..no prizes for guessing)
Rest the cookies on an oven safe plate lined with parchment paper
Refrigerate the same again for 10-15 minutes
Preheat the oven, I used a Microwave oven for the same
Bake the cookies for 15minutes at 220C
Give cooling time of few minutes before decorating the cookies

Note: I used pink food colouring and decorated half the quantity of the cookies.

Potol Posto!!

2013-02-04T10:44:00.000+05:30

Potol posto is one of my favourite recipes. Team it up with steamed rice and you have got a winner on your dining table. Different households have different versions of this dish, here is how I make it.

Ingredients: 500gms Potol/Pointed gourd, 1/2cup poppy seeds/posto, 3-4 green chilli as per taste, 1 onion, 2tblspn yellow mustard seeds, 2tblspn raisins, 1/2tblspn turmeric powder, 2 green cardamoms, salt as per taste, mustard oil for cooking, sugar, 2tblspn ghee/clarified butter

Method:

Grind poppy seeds, mustard seeds,cardamom seeds, onion and green chilli into a smooth paste
Keeping the gourds as a whole, take off the skin gently
Make sidewise slits without cutting the gourds into halves
Marinate the gourds with salt and sugar and keep aside for 15minutes
Heat oil in a pan
Once the oil reaches smoking hot, put the gourds in oil
Add turmeric powder and saute for 3-4 minutes on medium flame
Now add the poppy seed paste
Cook in low flame for 5-8 minutes
Add seasoning, cover and cook till the vegetables get soft
Add the raisins and give it a final stir
Add few tblspns water and cook completely
Sprinkle ghee on top and serve hot

Tel Koi!!

2013-01-25T09:30:00.003+05:30

Though Climbing fish or Koi as I have known it over the years is not one of my favourite fishes but definitely brings about a refreshing change in the palette if eaten once in a while. Koi to say the least is a fiesty fish so make sure that you ask the fish monger to do the cleaning and cutting for you.

Here is my version of Tel Koi which needs no introduction specially to Bengalis. It's a simple recipe with fresh flavours but I must warn you if you are watching your calories right now, this dish is not for you. Tel in Bengali means oil and the name of this dish is derived from the humongous amount of mustard oil used in the recipe. Though I do my own variation by cutting down on the amount of oil but this dish does taste best with mustard oil and with lots of it:-)

Tel Koi

Ingredients: 6 Koi fish cleaned and marinated with turmeric powder and salt, just enough mustard oil for frying the fish, 1/4tblspn Nigella seeds/kalonji, 3-4 slit green chilli, 1/2 tblspn ginger paste, 1/4tblspn turmeric powder, 1/4tblspn red chilli powder, 4tblspns yogurt(beaten smooth), 1/4 cup mustard oil, 1/2 cup water, salt as per taste

Method:

Fry the marinated fish well on both sides in mustard oil
Heat 1/2 cup mustard oil in a pan
Once the oil turns smoking hot, thrown in the Nigella seeds and green chilli
Give it a good stir
Make a paste of all the dry spices + ginger with 2-3 tblspn water and add in the pan
Saute at low flame for 1 minute
Now add in the yogurt and cook for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt.
Add 1/2 cup of water
Once the gravy starts boiling, add the fish in the gravy
Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes
Switch off the gas and drizzle 1tblspn of mustard oil on top
Serve with hot, steaming rice

My Pitha Platter!!

2013-01-14T21:48:00.000+05:30

As promised I am back with my pitha platter for this Bihu. Will not be able to give all the recipes in this post. I will try to put one recipe in this post and promise to put all other recipes in subsequent posts.

I made a variety of pithas this year like Malpuas, Chitai pitha, Dudh puli pitha, Patishopta, Sweet Potato pitha, Tel or Ghila pitha and Narikol laru.

Dudh puli pitha is on eof my favourites and I used my mom's recipe, will surely share later.

Sweet potato pitha is again one of our family favourites, quite easy to make and kind of "gulab-jamuni" in texture:-)

I think this year Tel pitha stole the show in our household, literally. Tel pitha is also known as Ghila pitha and here is how I make it.

Tel Pitha

Ingredients: Rice flour and wheat flour in 3:1 ratio, 1/4tblspn fennel, jaggery as per the flour quantity and taste,1/4tblspn baking powder, oil for deep frying

Method:

Soak the jaggery in water and let it dissolve completely. I kind of boiled the jaggery in water to dissolve it completely and then cooled it down
Mix all the ingredients together and give it a standing time of atleast an hour
The consistency of the batter should be of a cake mix
Heat oil in a deep pan
Put spoonful of the batter in oil and continue frying in lowest flame possible
Fry on both sides

Wish everybody a very happy Bihu again!!

Our Uruka Dinner!!

2013-01-14T09:00:00.001+05:30

Here is a glimpse of our dinner on Uruka. Surrounded by family, it was nice to pitch in together in the kitchen and cook dinner. For those of you who don't know what Uruka is, it's a feast on the first day of the Magh Bihu festival(harvest festival of Assam).

Lot of non-vegetarian stuff is eaten as practically the next day mostly beaten rice with yogurt/banana/jaggery is consumed throughout the day. Lot of pithas are made, which probbaly I will come up in my next post. Anyways coming back to our Uruka dinner, the menu consisted of Brinjal fritters, mutton curry, Rohu fish with cauliflower, a stuffed red chilli pickle served with steamed rice.

In mitha or dessert, we had the quintessential Payokh or rice pudding with dry fruits.

Wish everybody a very Happy Bihu!!

Also wish everybody a very happy Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Lohri!!!

My 100th Post!!

2013-01-12T15:53:00.001+05:30

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....It's my 100th post. Took some time to decide what to make and in the end settled on something I like doing best. Finally baked a simple cake with coffee-cream icing and a rendition of Ganesha on top.

I used a white cake mix for the base without layering, a super easy to make coffee-cream icing and some decoration to go. The Ganesha in this cake is done with sweet candy. Not repeating the recipe for the white cake mix, you can find it in my earlier posts.

Here is the icing recipe:

Coffee-Cream Icing

Ingredients: 1/2cup thick cream, 2tblspn Coffee powder(I used Nescafe), 2tblspn icing sugar, desired icing colour

Method:

Beat the cream till smooth and mix all the other ingredients together