Cooking made Easy

How to Make Mint Chutney?

2010-04-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

Mint is very good for Health. It is beleived to cure the intestinal disorders. Mint is used in lot of ways in the Indian Cusine.
It is used in makeing curries, used in making smoothies and also used in making Hot chutney's
Today I will write How to make such hot chutney with Mint Leaves.

Ingradients:
Mint Leaves -- Around 1/2 lb
Tamarind -- 10 gms
Dry Chilli --- 20 gms
Salt to taste
Oil -- 1 tsp
Garlic -- 2 to 3 cloves
Geera -- 1tsp

Method:

Take a pan, heat it and add oil.
To this add dry chillies, saute them for about 2-3 minutes.Put a lid on the pan.
To this, add mint leaves and saute them for about 10 minutes.
To the blender, add geera, garlic,salt and the mixture in the pan, grind it until soft.
Enjoy it with Rice.

This is very good for the kids.

Vegan

Brinjal and Tomato curry

2010-03-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

1 small Brinjal cut into pieces
3 Big plumpy tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 green chillies chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tsp chili powder or according to your taste
5-6 Tbs oil
Salt to taste

Method:
In a pan or pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the cumin seeds , mustard seeds. Let them fry for about a minute( you can stop when you hear the splatter of mustard seeds),and chopped onion and green chillies. Fry it for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Once the onion is golden brown, add the tomato,just add ¼ tsp of salt and keep the lid on the pan. After 5-7 minutes, the tomatoes gets soft and mashed up.Then add Brinjal to the pan. To this add turmeric powder and chili powder and cook it for another 10-15 minutes

I found some sites which has good indian recipies

All Indian Recipies by Betty Crocker
Recipies from India
Sailu's food Blog spot
Spicy and Tasty

Cabbage and Tomato Curry

2010-03-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

1 small cabbage cut into pieces
3 Big plumpy tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 green chillies chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tsp chili powder or according to your taste
5-6 Tbs oil
Salt to taste

Method:
In a pan or pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the cumin seeds , mustard seeds. Let them fry for about a minute( you can stop when you hear the splatter of mustard seeds),and chopped onion and green chillies. Fry it for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Once the onion is golden brown, add the tomato,just add ¼ tsp of salt and keep the lid on the pan. After 5-7 minutes, the tomatoes gets soft and mashed up.Then add cabbage to the pan. To this add turmeric powder and chili powder and cook it for another 10-15 minutes.

Serves 2-3 people. Can be eaten with chapatti or rice. Good source of fiber.

Cauliflower Curry with Tomato

2010-03-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

1 small cauliflower cut into pieces
3 Big plumpy tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 green chillies chopped

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tsp chili powder or according to your taste
5-6 Tbs oil

Salt to taste
In a pan or pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the cumin seeds , mustard seeds. Let them fry for about a minute( you can stop when you hear the splatter of mustard seeds),and chopped onion and green chillies. Fry it for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Once the onion is golden brown, add the tomato,just add ¼ tsp of salt and keep the lid on the pan. After 5-7 minutes, the tomatoes gets soft and mashed up.Then add cauliflower to the pan.To this add turmeric powder and chili powder and cook it for another 10-15 minutes.
Serves 2-3 people. Can be eaten with chapatti or rice. Good source of fiber.

How to make TOMOTO RICE

2010-02-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked Basmati rice (you can also use leftover rice)

4 large ripe tomatoes cut into cubes

2 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 large onion chopped fine

2 green chillies slit lengthwise

1" piece of ginger grated

2 tsps coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp garam masala

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat the oil in a deep pan and add the mustard seeds and green chillies. When they stop spluttering add the onion and fry till soft.

Add the tomato and ginger and mix well. Cook till the tomatoes turn pulpy.

Add the coriander, cumin and garam masala powders, salt to taste and mix well. Cook on a low flame for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Turn off the fire and add the rice. Mix well.

Bitter Guard Fry

2010-02-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

I love bitter guard. This is a Indian delicacy which can be cooked as a curry and also as a fry.According to Aurveda, the bitter Guard is good to stabilize the blood sugar levels. If you are diabetic, the bitter guard juice can be taken the first thing in the morning to increase the insulin levels in the blood. I can eat it almost every day not as a main curry but as a side item.This weekend I decided to make it, that has all the goodness of indian spices combined with pieces of bitter guard and garnished with coriander! Now do I have your attention? You can try it for yourself and see!

Ingredients
Bitter Guard - 6 pieces ( cut each into 1 inch cubes)
Ground Nut Oil or Any oil of your choice for frying -- 1/4 liter
Ground Nut seeds - 100 grms
Sesame seeds - 100 grms
Dry red chillis -- 25 grms
Turmeric powder -- 1/2 tsp
Dhania powder (dry coriander powder) - 1 tsp
Kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) -- 1/2 tsp
Fresh coriander - chopped for garnish
Salt -- to taste

Method

Take bitter guard, cut each of them into 1 inch pieces, add water till all the pieces are coverd boil it in medium heat ,add 1 tsp of salt to the boiling water.Boil until the pieces are tender ( about 5-10 minutes). Decant water sqeeze the water out of the pieces and set the pieces aside.
Take another dry pan, add ground nut seeds and sesame seeds ,fry them until they are done. Grind them , and set the powder aside.
Take dry chillies in the same pan, add methi seeds, fry them until they are done, add dhania powder,turmeric powder and grind everything , set it aside.

Take another pan, add oil to the pan, heat it. Add the bitter guard pieces and fry them till they are brown. Remove the pieces, add the powders and fry the red chilli powder and groundnut,sesame seed powders in the oil. Add all the bitter guard pieces to the powder , mix all of them together. Add salt to taste. Then add coriander leaves to garnish.

There ! Enjoy it as a side dish with your favourite curry.

Chicken Curry -- Indian Style

2010-02-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

Here is the indian version of the chicken curry.

Ingradients:
Chicken -- 1 lb
Onions -- 2 ( Cut then into small pieces)
Green Chillies -- 4 ( If you want the curry to be hot, use more)
Ginger,Garlic paste -- 2 tbs (Cut ginger and garlic and paste it in a blender)
Salt to taste
Turmeric -- 1/2 tbs
Curry powder -- 1/4 tbs
Coconut ( 10 gms)
Cuscus ( 10 gms) ( Paste coconut and cuscus together in a blender seperately)
Oil -- 4 tbs
Garam masala -- 1/4 tbs

Method:

Heat pan in low heat add oil. Then add ginger garlic paste to the oil.Fry it for 1 min. Add Onions,green chilies ( Cut them before adding) Fry them until the onions are golden brown. Then add garam masala. Fry everything for about a minute or two.
Then add chicke pieces,add salt,turmeric powder,currypowder mix it and put the lid on the pan.
Let it cook for 15 to 25 minutes. After that add coconut and cuscus paste to the curry,mix everything and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
That's it. The curry is ready for eating.You can eat it with rice or chapati( Indian Bread)

Let me know your comments

Thai chicken curry

2010-02-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

This is the very simple recipe. You need to buy thai red curry paste. I bought mine at Whole Foods.

Ingradients:

Chicken -- llb
Oil - 4 tbs
Thai Red Curry Paste -- 2 tbs ( for Medium Hot)
Mixed vegitables -- 1 cup ( Bamboo shoots,mushrooms,Beans,Asparagus)
Any vegitable can be added to this curry.
Salt to taste.
Coconut Milk -- 1/2 can

Method:

Heat the pan in medium heat. Add oil and heat the oil. Add red curry paste to the oil a fry it for 2 minutes. Then add chicken pieces and fry them for about 5 minutes
Then add salt. Cover the pan with lid and let it cook for about 10 minutes.
Then add vegitables.Let them cook for another 2 minutes. Finally add coconut milk to the chicken. Let it simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.

I made this recipe couple of times. It is the favourite recipe for my family.
I hope you also will enjoy this.
Please post your comments.