Flavorsome Flavors

Strawberry Blueberry Jam

2021-04-18T10:59:00.004+05:30

I cannot believe that the last time I had posted something here was 2.7 years back. When I started this blog about a decade back, I had thought I will post daily. How life has changed since then. While my last post was when my little one was 2.4 years old, now he is 20 days shy of 5 years, these 5 years passed in the wink of an eye.

I tried this recipe at the request of my almost 5-year-old and it was an instant hit. He wanted to eat a PB&J sandwich with homemade Strawberry Jam, and we were approaching the end of Strawberry season. ‘A’ went to hunt for strawberries and could not find any, so we gave up and thought of making Mango jam instead. I went vegetable shopping the next weekend and to my delight I found some strawberries with the vendor. Little ‘R’ was with me, there were fresh blueberries at the store too, he wanted both strawberries and blueberries. So, I got both and made a Strawberry Blueberry jam and we all loved it.

Ingredients:

Fresh strawberries – 500 gms

Fresh blueberries – 200 gms

Sugar – ¾ th cup

Juice of one Lime

Method:

Powder the Sugar and set aside

Wash the berries clean and chop them up

Add the juice of one lime to the berries

Mix the sugar and the berries, make sure all the berries are coated well in the sugar

Cover and set aside, at least for an hour

Boil water in a deep pan and soak the glass jar where you want to store your jam to sterilize, once you put the glass jar and the lid in the water, lower the heat, you can switch it off as well

Heat a thick bottomed pan

Pour the mixture into the pan and keep stirring on medium flame

It takes about 30 minutes for the jam to come to the right consistency

Do a saucer test, pour a little bit of jam on a saucer, and tilt it, if the jam does not leave a water trail, it is done

Take out the sterilized glass jar from hot water, pour the water out and store the jam in it, use a funnel if possible, it will make sure the jar is clean from the edges. I did not have a funnel hence mine look a little messy around the edges

Put the lid on once the jam has cooled down a bit

Store it in the fridge, it can be stored for 6 months or more if every time a moisture free clean spoon is used to take out the jam

Enjoy!

Hakka Noodles

2018-09-21T10:35:00.001+05:30

Noodles has always been the favorite, my comfort food. It took me years to master the art of making them though, I could never get them boiled right (al dente in the world of pasta), almost always they turned out over cooked. Even today, when I am not paying attention, it gets over cooked, though everyone eats happily, I am the only one who seems to notice the texture has gone wrong. The point I am trying to make here is, if you get your noodles boiled right, most of your job is done, the only thing left is tossing up some other ingredients of your choice and voila!

This is a popular meal at my home, be it breakfast or dinner. This can be put together in about 20-30 mins. I use a variety of ingredients, capsicum, green beans and carrots being the staple vegetables, I add some thinly sliced cabbage at times too. Sometimes I add some diced, boiled or fried chicken, sometimes mushrooms, prawns and eggs, depending on whatever I have available. Amongst the sauces, I use some hot and sweet, dark soy, green and red chili sauce always, occasionally I add some hot sauce, sweet and sour sauce or black pepper sauce for a different flavour.

The vegetables need to be minimum, do not add too much and never wait for them to get cooked thoroughly. The trick is to add a handful of vegetables and fry them at high heat for approximately 3 minutes, the vegetables need to retain their crunch. Chopping them the right way is also something to be considered, try to make thin slices of all vegetables, similar size for all is best.

Ingredients:

Noodles – I use egg noodles, as thin I can get in the market.

Carrot, Capsicum, Green Beans, Cabbage – thinly sliced – each a handful

Onion – 1 – thinly sliced

Green Chili – I add 2-3 with little slits so that the dish does not become extremely spicy, and people who like spice can still take a bite from the chilies.

Mushrooms – sliced thicker than the vegetables (optional)

Chicken – cubed and fried/boiled with a dash of salt and pepper (optional)

Eggs – fried and scrambled (optional)

Dark Soy Sauce

Green Chili Sauce

Red Chili Sauce

Hot and Sweet sauce

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Note: All the sauces are to your taste, use as you like it, skip if you would rather.

Procedure:

Add a teaspoon of salt to water, bring it to a rumbling boil and add noodles to it, when the noodles are no longer stiff and can bend and coil easily, switch off the flame.

Drain the noodles in a colander, run cold water on it to stop the cooking process and set aside. Some add oil to the noodles, I do not prefer it.

Heat oil in a wok/kadhai, once the oil is heated, add the onions and the other vegetables, add a dash of salt and pepper and keep stirring, remember never to lower the heat, Chinese dishes are supposed to be cooked at very high heat to get the right texture.

Add the mushrooms too, they will release some moisture, make sure the moisture is completely evaporated.

At about 3 minutes the vegetables should be cooked to perfection, however, if any moisture from the mushrooms remain, make sure that evaporates before continuing.

Add the noodles, salt, pepper and the sauces of your choice and mix.

Add the already cooked chicken, eggs, prawns and whatever else you want and mix thoroughly.

Your perfect hakka noodles is ready to be eaten, enjoy your meal and let me know if you liked it.

A long pending post: 2016 – by far the best year of my life

2016-12-31T23:43:00.002+05:30

Today on New Year’s Eve, I had to write this piece as the curtains draw on the most rewarding year of my life. Mid 2015, I was touched by life, a tiny soul started taking its first breaths in its first home, its mother’s womb, my womb. After the initial jitters and excitement, I broke the news to ‘A’, he was thrilled. We did not break the news to our families right away as a trip back home was around the corner and we wanted to see the expression on the to-be-grandparents faces when we broke the news to them. A month passed after the other and the little soul kept growing, making its presence felt slowly and steadily. 2016 arrived and we accepted it with our arms wide open knowing we were to become parents this year. The never ending assumptions continued about the gender; some said you look exhausted, you have a little boy in there where as the others said it is going to be a little girl. ‘A’ and I cruised through open ended emotions and started shortlisting names. On some days the little wonder will not be in the right position for the scans and we would spend the entire day in the hospital waiting for it to flip. Once a Radiologist actually told us, “You have one stubborn brat in there” after his 5^th attempt to get my baby’s nasal bone on his monitor! As I entered the last trimester, we started shopping for the little bundle’s arrival and the baby showers followed. During my final checkup the Doctor said, ‘You are almost there’ but I was exhausted; I told her, ‘I have been better’. She understood I was getting impatient and was the only person to tell me the truth, ‘trust me, you are doing fine now, once the baby arrives it will be way more difficult, when you will not be able to figure out why it is crying’. ‘Huh’ I smirked in my mind, got help from the nurse and got up from the examination table and waddled like a seal out of her Cabin. The almighty must have smirked louder that day!

The extensive wait was finally over and the month of May arrived, the Sis-in-law arrived too to welcome the little one. I finally set OOO on my office emails and mentioned I will be on maternity leave and thought really? In spite of getting kicked over a hundred times a day, I still thought, really? Uncertain about what was to happen next. By now all the apprehension was gone and I was exhilarated beyond imagination, I wanted to see the little me, period. From the time my Sis-in-law set foot in the house, it felt like we had all gathered for some wedding, a couple of friends (more of family than friends) arrived too to help us out. The final baby shower happened and we were all ready for the D Day. The night before I was restless and could not sleep at all, not knowing this was just the first of the countless sleepless nights to come.

And here was May 8^th, a delightful Sunday, the day of the little bundle’s arrival. We left for the hospital early in the morning. The hospital authorities provided a special access pass to park our car for the next 3 days after which hopefully we all go home, hale and hearty. One thing followed the other and in no time I was in the hospital gown with the IV in place and a nurse was already there with a wheelchair to take me inside, close to an hour before the time given! With a final call to my Mum and a look at the door to my room, I was wheeled into the recovery area of the OT.

It was cold inside and I felt a little fuzzy. This was the area where Mums and their babies are placed post the delivery to recover and then moved into their rooms if all the vitals were okay, this was also the area where pre-OT tasks took place. As I waited with bated breath for something to happen, I noticed this woman in the opposite bed, telling the nurse she could not feel her legs still, it was already close to 2 hours for her in recovery. Beside her on an elevated table was a bundled up little baby, a bright glowing light over her head. At the first sight, I thought it was an adorable miniature model when I noticed its lips quiver and gasped! It was a live baby, a couple of hours old, that Woman’s baby! WOW! This must feel tremendous I thought. I struck up a conversation with the woman and found out it was a little girl born just a couple of hours back, that woman realised I was next and wished me luck. I was taken inside in the next few minutes and told not to get nervous looking at the surgical equipment’s placed on a table nearby. In front was a big white board which had all my particulars itemised, the nurses confirmed everything that was mentioned on the board, I nodded. It was time for the spinal anaesthesia, the nurses explained they will push a local anaesthesia first which will numb the spinal area and then the actual epidural will be pushed. In the next few seconds, countless thoughts overlapped in my mind, all that I had read on the internet about the epidural, all that my experienced friends and family members had told me about it, but I could not feel the chill which these thoughts should have triggered down my spine, it was done and I did not feel a thing besides a tiny prick. My brilliant doctor and her team kept chatting with me trying to break my anxiety every now and then, all I kept checking with them was, if ‘A’ was ready outside, I wanted him by my side, I did not want him to miss the first moments, after asking the nurses a few times, the Doctor finally told me that he is waiting right outside and they exchanged pleasantries when she came in, she also said he will be in as soon as the baby is out. Amidst all this tête-à-tête I vaguely heard someone asking for a suction pump and within moments heard a loud cry, I was numb. I can still recall the precise intonation in which my Doctor said ‘It’s a baby boy, Ananya’ and I saw the first glimpse of my Son. How am I supposed to feel and react I thought in my mind, but could not comprehend. Before I could react, the Doctor informed again, your husband is here. I saw ‘A’, his face covered in a mask, I could tell from the look in his eyes, he was more scared than ever. He went with the nurses and clipped the umbilical cord. I asked him if everything looked okay with the baby, he assured our little boy was perfect. ‘A’ still looked dazed but definitely a little relaxed now as he left the OT to break the news to everyone. We had become parents to a handsome baby boy!

Back in the recovery room, I could not take my eyes off my little champ, who was now placed on the same elevated table under the bright light like that little girl was a little while back. I was ecstatic, I could not rest no matter how hard I tried. We returned home a couple of days later and our lives had changed forever.

We, lovingly named him Aarush - meaning the first ray of the Sun, our son-shine, the sunshine of our life! The first flutters and kicks still feels like yesterday but as I write this my baby is 7 months and 23 days old already and life has been a roller coaster ride.

The day he was born, was a rebirth for us, as parents. We are not perfect, not even close to it, but I do hope we can learn and become the parents our little boy deserves. The most difficult yet the most gratifying year of our life is coming to a close. 2016 - You were amazing, thank you for giving us a new meaning to our life!

Coconut and Milk Barfi - Indian Sweet

2015-07-13T18:07:00.001+05:30

It is absolutely overwhelming when anyone requests for a recipe, I want to post it right away. However, with a 9-5 job, family, friends, books, my plants, and my craziness for cooking, I sometimes wish days were longer than 24 hours. This one is for one of the nicest and prettiest woman I have known, 'T' Di, thank you for those kind words, they indeed mean a lot to me.

So it was sometime last week when I wanted to make a simple, ‘on the burner’ dessert at home, ‘on the burner’ as my Microwave Oven is down for close to a week now and I have not yet managed to open a ticket with the vendor to fix it. Spoke to Mum and she mentioned a Barfi she knew of made with Milk Powder and desiccated Coconut, I was instantaneously interested. I ordered the required ingredients from BigBasket and waited for them to arrive. Once they arrives, I made them for the weekend. Initially, I told ‘A’ they were store-bought, he believed me and I was elated! (They were seriously that good).

Ingredients:

Desiccated Coconut – 100 gms

Milk Powder – 140 gms

Milk – 3/4^th Cup

Powdered Sugar – ½ Cup

Cardamom Powder – ½ tsp (I pounded 6-7 whole Green Cardamoms for this)

Any dry fruit of your choice – chopped – I had Raisins, so I cut them in half and used them, you can use broken cashews, sliced almonds, sliced pistachios or none – to your taste.

Unsalted Butter – 60 gms

Clarified Butter / Ghee – ½ tsp

Method:

Heat a Pan and drop the butter in and let it melt, bring down the heat to low

Add the Milk and mix well

Add the Milk Powder, little at a time and keep mixing, make sure no lumps remain

Add the desiccated coconut and mix in with a spatula

Add the powdered Sugar and mix it in, add the cardamom powder as well (be careful while adding sugar, don’t add all of it at once, you might like it a little less or more sweet than me, mix little at a time and do a taste test to check if the sweetness is right for you. Many a times I have added all the sugar at once, as recommended by the recipe and it has been way sweeter than my taste).

Keep cooking this on low - medium flame, stir continuously to make sure it does not get burnt from the bottom, cook until the consistency is dense and the mixture starts to leave the sides of the Pan. Once the right consistency is reached, turn off the gas and set aside

Take a plate where you want this mixture to set, I used a simple stainless steel plate with about .5 cm sides as I did not want my Barfis to be very thick.

Take ½ a tsp of clarified butter and butter the surface of the plate so that the Barfis come off easily after they are set, pour the mixture in. Using a spoon spread the mixture on the plate, make sure the thickness is the same throughout, else you will get Barfis with uneven thickness, this process takes a little while, be patient.

Once done sprinkle the chopped dry fruit on the mixture, use the spoon and press them in lightly.

Keep it in the refrigerator and let it set. I kept it for 1.5 hours. Take it out, run a knife and cut slices as per your wish.

Light the burner again, and heat the plate a little (30 seconds should do it), so that the clarified butter melts at the bottom and it is much easier to separate the pieces from the plate. Using the same knife to separate the pieces and enjoy!

Coconut and Milk Barfi can be refrigerated for up to a week, though this batch only 48 hours at my home :D

Balsamic Roasted whole Chicken legs - in the Grill Pan

2015-06-22T10:36:00.004+05:30

I bought this wonderchef granite grill pan sometime back and never used it. Over the weekend, I had whole Chicken legs sitting in my freezer and decided to use the grill pan. This is an extremely easy recipe, all I did was marinated the Chicken legs for an hour and roasted them on my grill pan and not in the Oven. It procedure is extremely simple and the end result tastes awesome. The Onion and Bell Pepper rings, I added run time, they got a little cooked in the marinade and tasted great too.

Balsamic Vinegar is the base of this marinade; it looks like red wine, adds an amazingly rich taste and texture to the dish.

Ingredients:

Whole Chicken Legs – 2

Balsamic Vinegar - ½ cup

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 2 tbsps

Dried Rosemary – 1 tsp

Dried Mixed Herbs – 1 tsp

Garlic – 2 medium cloves – crushed

Ginger Powder – 1/4^th tsp

Lime Juice – ¼ the juice of a Lime

Chili Paprika – ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Sliced Onion and Bell Pepper rings - optional

Marination:

Wash the Chicken Legs thoroughly and pat dry. I used frozen one’s, let them completely defrost, pat dry.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients and marinate the Chicken legs in the marinade in the Refrigerator for an hour or more (I did for an hour).

Method:

Heat the Grill Pan and place the Chicken Legs in them over medium heat, I cooked them for about 7-8 minutes on each side.

Add more EVOO if needed.

Once one side is cooked, turn and cook the other side.

Add the Onion and Bell Pepper rings, sprinkle some more salt and pepper.

Run the knife through the thigh of the Chicken, if the juice runs clear, the meat is done.

Give it standing time for 5-7 minutes before you serve, if cut immediately, the juices will run out and the meat will become extremely dry.

Basanti Pulao - a traditional Bengali Sweet Pulao

2015-06-19T11:58:00.001+05:30

I have been intending to post the recipe of my Basanti Pulao for close to 2 years now. Sometime back, I actually took pictures of the step by step process and was still not able to post it for reasons unknown. Basanti Pulao and Kosha Mangsho (slow cooked spicy Mutton curry) is a match made in heaven and is an absolute regular at my home. We celebrate the craziest of occasions with this menu, even occasions like both of us working from home on a given day! The sweetness of the pulao compliments the hot and spicy mutton curry and they just have to be tried together.

The Rice traditionally used for this recipe is Gobindobhog and one should never deviate from this tradition. If you do, you will still make a pulao, but not the Godly Basanti Pulao! I have lived in Maharashtra for 8 years and always carried my share of Gobindobhog from back home; however, I did find a variant of this which I used when I ran out of Gobindobhog, Ambemohar! A dear friend from work once introduced me to Ambemohar, and I agree it is a lost sibling of the Bengali Gobindobhog!

I usually assemble the dish and put it in the Microwave Oven for the final cooking bit. Though the last time I made it in the Pressure and it came out just perfect!

Ingredients:

Gobindobhog / Ambemohar Rice – 1 cup

Cashews – a handful

Raisins – a handful

Green Cardamom – 2-3

Cinnamon – 1” stick

Cloves – 2-3

Bay Leaf – 2

Grated Ginger - 1 tsp

Nutmeg Powder – ¼ th tsp

Frozen Green Peas – ½ cup (optional)

Sugar – depending on how sweet you want the Pulao to be – I add about 7 tsps, as this is essentially a sweet pulao with a little bit of salt to balance out the taste.

Salt– to balance

Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp (traditionally soaked Saffron is used for the color, I use Turmeric Powder for the yellow hue as Saffron is not always handy in my Kitchen)

A small slice of Lime (if cooking in the Microwave Oven)

Ghee / Clarified Butter – 2 tbsp

Method:

Wash the Rice till the water runs clear, drain and set aside.

Heat Clarified Butter / Ghee in a Pan, drop the whole garam masalas (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves) in it, let them sizzle for a while. Add the cashews and raisins and roast them till golden, do not roast too much and burn them.

Now add the Rice to the Pan and keep stirring so that every grain gets coated in Ghee.

Add the grated ginger and keep stirring till the raw ginger smell is gone.

Stir in the frozen Peas.

Add the Sugar, Salt, Turmeric Powder and Nutmeg Powder and mix well.

Do a taste test to see if the sugar and salt are okay, add more if needed, remember this is mishit pulao so it will be a LOT sweeter than other Rice dishes and Salt will only balance out the taste.

Now for the final bit there are two methods:

Pressure Cooker: Transfer the contents of the Pan into a Pressure Cooker, Add 2 cups of Water (double the quantity of Rice) and cook for one whistle, let the pressure completely go down on its own, and then open the lid.

Microwave Oven: Transfer the contents into a Microwave safe bowl, add 2 cups of water, add a few drops of lime juice, cover with a cling film, and Microwave on high for 20 minutes. Unwrap the cling film, and serve the Basanti Pulao with the Kosha Mangsho – slow cooked spicy Mutton Curry!

Chire Bhaja - ‘Crispy Flattened Rice with Sweet Peas and Peanuts'

2015-06-16T10:55:00.001+05:30

So I made the simple Bengali Chire Bhaja - ‘Crispy flattened rice with sweet peas and peanuts’ as a snack last evening and we both loved it. As a kid I never enjoyed this dish, I guess that is because, wherever I ate, they either added peanuts like misers or the Chire was not as kurmure (crispy) as I like. There are different variants of this snack in different households, some add peas, some don’t, some add sugar, and some don’t. This recipe requires quite a bit of cooking oil as the flattened rice absorbs all the oil you can pour and very fast at that, hence keep the Oil to minimum. The ingredients listed will make the snack for three people, I wanted to make for two, but it was more than enough for the two of us.

Ingredients to make Chire Bhaja:

Chire Bhaja/Flattened Rice – 2 cups

Cooking Oil – 2 tbsps

Raw Peanuts – ½ cup

Shelled Green Peas – ½ cup – I used the frozen kind

Whole Dry Red Chilli – 2

Red Chilli Powder – ½ tsp (to your taste)

Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste

Sugar to balance

Method:

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a Kadhai and fry the raw peanuts in the oil, add a pinch of salt, keep stirring, fry them till the peanuts are done. The skin of the peanuts will turn a dark color indicating that they are done. Once done scoop them out and drain them on a paper towel.

To the same oil, add the green peas and fry them for a while with a pinch of salt. The frozen green peas take very less time to get done compared to the Peanuts. Scoop them out and drain them on a paper towel too.,

Add the rest of the Oil to the Kadhai. Once the Oil is hot, tear the two whole dried red chillies and add to this oil, let it sizzle. This process flavors the oil.

Stir in the 2 cups of flattened rice, keep the heat to medium while frying the flattened rice. Keep stirring otherwise it will burn the rice at the bottom and it will not taste good. The flattened rice will absorb all the oil, keep stirring.

Add the Salt, Sugar, Red Chili Powder and Black Pepper Powder and keep stirring. Once desired crispiness is reached, add the Peanuts and Peas to it and mix thoroughly. Be very careful while doing a taste test as all the ingredients tend to get extremely hot and can burn your tongue like never before.

Serve with Chai - Tea of your choice..heaven!

Roasting a whole Chicken for Thanksgiving

2014-12-16T13:32:00.001+05:30

I have watched the F.R.I.E.N.D.S series rather late in life. Exactly a month before my wedding, I was diagnosed with Chicken Pox and was confined at home, I started recovering after the initial lethal attack of the disgusting virus and was still covered in extremely itchy, always-exploding blisters and did not have much to do. I was getting dead-fed up of scratching the blisters and dreading the mark would never go away, at least not in a month’s time; that is when I looked up my hard drives and discovered I had the entire series of F.R.I.E.N.D.S copied from some friend at work. I started watching them and got immensely addicted, so much so that I extended my sick leave by a few days to finish it off. I have not watched any other sitcom which spanned 10 seamless years and had millions crying when it finally ended. Even today, there are so many speculations out there, there is going to be a F.R.I.E.N.D.S movie, there should be a bonus episode and what not but alas, I think it really has ended.

I was always in awe of the thanksgiving episodes; there was one for almost all seasons. I loved how Monica would be in competition with her own self, to make another fabulous meal, better than the year before, how Joey wore giant pants to eat the entire Turkey, how Chandler ended up blabbering out that he loved Mon while she had her head inside the Turkey, Phoebe’s famous wish ‘Oh, yeah, happy needless-turkey-murder day’, how Ross and Monica would scream out each other’s secrets to their Parents, how Rachel ended up adding Beef to her Trifle, in no particular order; I love them all, equally. Above all I loved the fact that they chose to spend time with each other, at home, the elaborate meals, the silly bouts and the crazy tête-à-têtes, I loved them all.

Since then I have wished to prepare a Turkey myself, but neither is Turkey easily available here nor do I have an Oven which can fit-in a Turkey, not to forget, it is just the two of us and with no Joey, it will impossible to finish! On Nov 27^th, I was working from home and did not realize till late that it was Thanksgiving; when I did; I ran out and got a whole Chicken with skin which weighed about 1.2 Kgs (2.65 lbs.) and roasted it with some vegetables, just the way I wanted. A and I thoroughly enjoyed the me

al. I made a side of Sautéed Mushrooms as well, which I will post in a later post.

Here is what you will need to roast the whole Chicken:

Chicken – whole with skin – weighing about 1-1.2 kgs – washed and patted absolutely dry. Make sure the Chicken is well thawed; take it out from the freezer at least an hour before you start to prep it

Garlic:

- 4 cloves – minced (to go into the butter)

- an entire head of Garlic, cut through the center (to go inside the Chicken)

- an entire pod of Garlic, unpeeled and separated, to go with the vegetables

Unsalted Butter – 50 gms – at room temperature (not melted)

Mixed Herbs – 2 tsps (I used the dry variety, if you can fresh herbs, even better)

Lemon – 1 – halved

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Baby Potatoes – 5-6, scrubbed and cut into halves (unpeeled)

Onions – 2 – halved

Carrot – 1 – scrubbed and cut into chunks

Sweet Potato – 1 – scrubbed and cut into chunks

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 2 tbsp

Some Kitchen twine (I did not have any, I used regular thread)

Process:

Pre-heat the Oven to 200C

Drizzle some EVOO in a large roasting dish and add the baby potatoes, carrots, onions, carrots, garlic cloves and sweet potatoes, season them with salt and pepper, add a dash of mixed herbs, mix well and keep

Take the unsalted butter, add the mixed herbs, minced garlic, and season with salt and pepper, use a fork to mix it well and keep

Place the Chicken on a clean surface or on Kitchen towels, using a butter knife (I just used my hand), separate (do not cut through) the skin and the breast to have a hollow area and stuff 3/4^th of the herbed Butter inside, using the fingers over the skin stuff it in and smear it around, smear the rest of the Butter on top of the Chicken

Stuff the halved whole garlic and lemon into the big cavity of the Chicken

Use a Kitchen twine to tie the legs close to each other so that the stuffing in the cavity does not fall apart while roasting

Place the Chicken on the roasting dish over the vegetables and tuck the wings under the Chicken

Bake the Chicken for about an hour at 200C (if you have a meat thermometer, you can insert it in the thigh and checked if it has reached a temperature of about 75C, poultry should be cooked through if it has)

Let it rest for at least 10-15 minutes, before you carve it as if you try to slice it right then, all the juices will fall off and meat will dry out

I did not carve it beforehand, as it was just the two of us for dinner, I served it with some hard boiled eggs, a sautéed mushrooms side, some sweet red cherries and some Breezers – it was our best thanksgiving ever!

Paneer Butter Masala

2014-12-10T16:41:00.002+05:30

With the landmark Birthday and all the hullabaloo just gone by, I was contemplating which recipe to post next from the stockpile and then came across a rather overwhelming comment from a friend (which I had missed earlier) and I knew what to post. The urge to eat vegetarian food is relatively new for me, though A is completely in awe with good Paneer preparations; I was never very fond of them. I am rather choosy about the Paneer I eat; totally love the ones they serve at The Great Kabab Factory, Radisson, when eating at home, I only prefer getting fresh Paneer from a Dairy. On those rare occasions when I got them, A was the one who prepared the dish. After we moved to this part of the Country, I was told that Milky Mist Paneer (from Nandini Dairy – the most famous Dairy in Bangalore) was the best available here.

The other day when I was out grocery shopping, I found the same Paneer and got a pack, quite reluctantly. I thought I will ask my Cook to make something, then changed my mind and thought of making some Paneer Butter Masala, a very comforting Indian dish wish Cottage Cheese.

Here is what you will need to make Paneer Butter Masala:

Serves – 4

· Paneer/Cottage Cheese : 200 gms

· Cooking Oil – 1 tbsp

· Whole Dry Red Chilis – 2

· Cinnamon – 1” stick

· Green Cardamom – 2

· Cloves – 2 to 3

· Unsalted Butter 1 tbsp - (If using the salted version, go low on the loose salt added to the dish)

· Onion – chopped – 1 large

· Ginger and Garlic paste – 1tsp

· Milk – 1 cup

· Tomatoes – chopped – 2 medium

· Chili Powder – 1 tsp

· Coriander Powder – 1 tsp

· Cumin Powder – 1 tsp

· Garam Masala Powder – 1 tsp

· Kasuri Methi – 1 tbsp

· Green Peas – ½ cup - optional

· Salt to taste

· Sugar to balance

How to prepare Paneer Butter Masala:

· Cut the Paneer out into small cubes and set aside

· Pour cooking oil into a large skillet and add the butter, let the butter slowly melt as the oil heats up

· Add the whole dry red chilies, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and let them sizzle

· Add the chopped onions and add a pinch of sugar (for the onions to caramelize faster), sauté till the onions get some color

· Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a few minutes

· Add the dry masalas and keep stirring

· Add the tomatoes and keep stirring till the tomatoes are all mashed up, I used my masher at this point to mash it all up

· Add the kasuri methi and mix well (looking at the pic, I feel I added kasuri methi before I used the masher, do it the way you want!)

· Pour the milk in and bring the gravy to a boil

· Add the cubed paneer pieces and the green peas and give it a stir, let it simmer away for 5-7 minutes

· Adjust salt and sugar

· Once desired consistency is reached, turn off the stove and serve hot with Phulkas

Spanish Chicken Rice

2014-12-04T15:48:00.000+05:30

Slowly getting into the groove of posting most of what is happening in my Kitchen (again) and loving every bit of it. Happy to be back :) :)

The recipe I am about to share today is a hearty Chicken Rice recipe, people from different parts of the world make their own version of Chicken Rice. This recipe is very close to the Spanish Chicken Paella, however it does not consist of the traditional Chorizo or Saffron in it hence I will call it Spanish Chicken Rice. One can add Prawns, Mussels and some Chorizo of course. It can also be topped with some small Green Olives.

Here is what you will need to make Spanish Chicken Rice:

Serves – 4

· Chicken – 400 gms (boneless or with bone – I used Chicken pieces with bones as I prefer the dark meat more)

· Vegetable Oil – 3 tbsp

· Garlic – 5-6 cloves - minced

· Onions – 2 medium – chopped into chunks

· Bell Pepper – Green, Yellow and Red – 1/3 Cup each

· Granulated Garlic – 1 tsp

· Paprika – 1 tbsp

· Tomatoes – 2 small – chopped

· Long grained white Rice – 2 cups (Ideal is Paella Rice, but this is not authentic Paella and long grained Rice is what I had)

· Chicken stock – 4 cups

· Green Peas – frozen – ½ cup

· Salt to taste

· Pepper to taste

How to make Spanish Chicken Rice:

· In a large Skillet, heat Vegetable Oil

· Toss the Chicken pieces in and season with some Salt and Pepper, cook all sides till color develops

· Add the minced Garlic, Onions and Peppers and cook for a few minutes, season with a dash of Salt and Pepper again, cook for 6-7 minutes till they start to soften up

· Add the washed long grained white Rice and keep stirring, add the paprika and granulated Garlic and mix well, cook for about a minute or two

· Stir the Tomatoes in and add the Chicken stock

· Season it with a final touch of Salt and Pepper and bring it to a boil, once it stars boiling, lower the heat to low and cover, let it cook for 25 minutes

· After 25 minutes, uncover and fluff it up with a fork (do not use a soon, that will mess up the Rice)

· Add the frozen Green Peas and gently mix, even if they are not fully defrosted, they will. Turn off the heat and cover. In another 10 minutes it should be ready to dig in

This is yet another one pot meal to die for. Make it on week nights for the Family, even for those unplanned get-togethers it is a life savior!

My version of Kerala style Sukha Prawns

2014-12-03T21:12:00.003+05:30

All right, it’s been aeons that I have blogged. Life has been a complete roller coaster for the past many months now and though I have been cooking on and off, I have never had the temperament to update the recipe. Now that things are finally settling down and I have the time and energy to try out new things, take pictures and post recipes, I have a series of pending posts. This post is for a dear friend ‘S’, sitting in a distant land (we share pictures of stuff we prepare all the time), who saw the picture (thanks to Viber) of a certain Prawn preparation and asked for the recipe.

Prawns are an absolute favorite at my place. They are flavorful, delectable, takes little time to cook and everyone loves them. As I moved to Southern India a couple of months back, a desire for trying the ingredients and techniques used here has amplified in me. Hence I present to you my version of Kerala style Sukha Prawns.

Here is what you will need to make Sukha Prawns:

· Prawns – cleaned and deveined – 250-300 gms (keeping the tales on or off is up to you)

· Cooking Oil – 2-3 tbsps

· Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

· Onion – 1 large – chopped

· Garlic – 4-5 cloves - minced

· Green Chili – 2-3 – whole – slit

· Lime juice – 1 tsp

· Desiccated Coconut – 3 tbsps (or as per your taste)

· Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp

· Cumin Powder – 1 tsp

· Red Chili Powder – 1tsp

· Tamarind water – 4 tbsp

· Salt to taste

· Sugar to balance (you may or may not want to add this, the coconut is already sweet)

· Pepper – freshly ground – as much as you can stand

· Coriander leaves – a handful – chopped

Here is the method to make my version of Sukha Prawns:

· Heat the Oil in a Pan

· Add the Cumin seeds and let them splutter

· Add the minced Garlic, slit Green Chilies and the Onion – sauté for a while and let the Onions get some color

· Add the Prawns in and stir (Prawns take very less time to cook so be careful from here, over cooking will leave the Prawns chewy and rubbery – here on the dish should be done in approximately 6-7 mins)

· Add Turmeric Powder, Cumin Powder, Red Chili Powder, Salt, Pepper and Sugar and stir for a minute

· Add the desiccated Coconut and mix well (I used store bought desiccated Coconut – this takes lesser time to cook as it is already dry, freshly desiccated Coconut should be added once the Onions get some color, before adding the Prawns and cooked till about 50% of the moisture has dried up, then the Prawns should be added)

· Add the Lime Juice and Tamarind water and crank the heat up to high so that the liquids evaporate fast, this is a dry preparation and is best served as a Starter. The Tamarind and the Lime juice will give this dish an overwhelming tangy touch

· Add the chopped Coriander and mix well

· Once the desired consistency is reached, check the seasoning and add Salt and Pepper if needed.

· Serve hot, it is a great Starter and your guests will love it

I served this to my Brother and ‘A’ twice and they totally loved it. I could not get enough of the dry gravy of this dish; it is out of this world. Make this when you have guests, make it when you want to pamper yourself, make it anyway!

Plain Vanilla Cake with Tutti-Frutti

2014-03-31T21:29:00.004+05:30

My darling friend from work, ‘S’, was kind enough to lend her hand blender to me last Friday so that I could bake some delights and test it at the same time. Her Oven is dead for the past few weeks and she told me to keep it for a month at least, till she fixes her Oven! YAY!

I do not remember when I last baked a Cake and had almost nothing fancy in my stockpile, hence decided to bake a Plain Vanilla Cake, found some Tutti-Frutti left from the last batch of Biscotti, hence dusted them in some plain flour and added them too, it gave a lovely look to the end product.

(I was impatient when I flipped the cake and was tapping the cake pan too hard, which made that crack, excuse me please)

Here is what you will need to make my Plain Vanilla Cake with Tutti-Frutti:

· All Purpose Flour : 1.5 cups

· Granulated White Sugar : 1 cup

· Pure Vanilla Extract – 2 tsp

· Butter : ½ cup – at room temperature (I used salted Butter, as I did not have unsalted one, hence I did not add Salt to the batter)

· Eggs : 2 – at room temperature

· Baking Powder : 2 tsp

· Milk : 1 cup – at room temperature

· Tutti-Frutti : a handful (optional)

Here is the method to bake my Plain Vanilla Cake with Tutti-Frutti:

· Preheat the Oven to 180C / 356F

· In a big missing bowl, cream the Butter and the Sugar, beat till a good amount of air goes into the batter, till fluffy

· Add the Eggs one by one, beat one in then add the second one

· Add the Pure Vanilla Extract and mix one more time

· Mix the All Purpose Flour and the Baking Powder and beat in to the batter little at a time, keep the speed of the blender low, else your face will be covered in Flour

· Add the Milk and beat it in, once the flour is added, beat as less as you can as the more you beat at this stage, the harder your Cake will get

· Grease the Cake pan with Butter

· Dust the Tutti-Frutti with a tsp of flour so that when added to the batter, they do not sink to the bottom

· Fold the Tutti-Frutti into the batter

· Pour the cake batter into the cake pan

· Bake at the same temperature for 40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted to the center of the cake comes out clean

· Let it cool down on a cooling rack for about 10 mins

· Loosen up the sides with a butter knife and turn it upside down onto a plate

· You can let it cool or eat it warm, with a little ice cream, some topping or some whipped cream, as you like it :)

Creamy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

2014-03-31T18:39:00.000+05:30

Weekends are a complete mess these days, Saturday goes mostly in shopping and Sunday goes in preparing for the next week. As the temperature shoots up to a searing 40 degrees, we are living off fruits, coolers, iced tea, cold coffee, squashes, crushes, ice-creams and when it comes to eating a meal, it is mostly a lentil soup, some rice accompanied with a slice of a fried fish. After two days of staying indoors and eating these plain-Jane meals, it was time for us to indulge into something nice and light, not full of rich spices but something simple. I had a Chicken Breast sitting in the freezer (I usually get a few Chicken Breasts and boil them with a pinch of salt to 5 whistles, shred them and store them, so that I can throw them in into any dish that I am making, they come in very handy when I am making noodles, pasta, fried rice or sometimes even use them for sandwich filling) and had some Spaghetti Pasta too so decided to make this incredible Creamy-Cheesy-Chicken- Spaghetti. This tasted so wonderful that I had to post the recipe. It needs only a few ingredients and can be on your week night menu, always :)

Here is what you will need to make this Creamy-Cheesy-Chicken- Spaghetti:

Serves – 2

· Chicken Breast – 1 – shredded (I used my hands to shred it)

· Spaghetti – 200 gms

· Garlic – 4 cloves - grated

· Onion – 1 medium – finely chopped

· Green Bell Pepper – 1 small – finely chopped

· Fresh Cream – 200 gms (I used 1 tetra pack)

· Tomato Chili Sauce – 1 tbsp

· EVOO – 2 tbsps

· Cheese – 1 Cube – grated, I used 1 cube from a Mother Dairy pack

· Salt to taste

· Pepper to taste

How to make Creamy-Cheesy-Chicken- Spaghetti:

· Cook the Spaghetti as per instructions on the pack to al-dente and set aside.

· Heat the EVOO; add the grated Garlic and sauté.

· Add the Onion and Green Bell Pepper and sauté for a minute or two.

· Add Salt and Pepper and stir.

· Add the Tomato Chili Sauce for a little bit of tang (optional).

· Add the cooked shredded Chicken and mix well.

· Add the Fresh Cream and mix, let it simmer for a minute, don’t let it dry out, it should be able to coat the Spaghetti’s properly and should be thick.

· Taste the sauce, add more Salt and Pepper if needed.

· Turn off the gas, add the Spaghetti and mix with a tong softly.

· Serve into a plate, top it with grated Cheese and enjoy!

Jeera Rice - Cumin flavored Rice in the Rice Cooker

2014-01-03T19:38:00.002+05:30

The most important change I made to my original Jeera Rice recipe to make this one was adding Mint and Coriander; it added a brilliant flavorful punch to the dish. I made this in the Rice Cooker which is also something I did not previously, but now that I know how to make it in the Rice Cooker, I would prefer to cook it this way rather than on the Gas stove where I have to keep a constant watch on it. It is super easy and needs a very few ingredients as well.

Here is what you need to prepare Jeera Rice:

· Basmati Rice – 1 Cup

· Ghee / Clarified Butter – 2 tsp

· Cumin Seeds / Jeera – 2 tsp

· Green Chillies – 3-4 (to taste)

· Mint Leaves – 7-8 (optional)

· Coriander Leaves - 2-3 sprigs

· Saffron / Kesar – soaked in 2 tsps of water

· Salt to taste

· Fried Onions – 2 medium (optional)

How to prepare Jeera Rice:

· Wash and drain the Basmati Rice and keep

· Heat Ghee / Clarified Butter in a pan

· Add the Cumin Seeds, Green Chillies, Mint and Coriander leaves and stir

· Add the drained Basmati Rice and mix in

· Add required amount of Salt

· Transfer entire contents to a Rice Cooker

· Add two cups of water and let is cook

· After some when most of the water is soaked, add the Kesar

· Once done, garnish with fried Onions and serve

We ate this with Murgh Achaari and a wonderful mixed Salad

Aloo Dum-e Dumdaar - Baby Potatoes with Green Peas, Tomatoes and whole spices

2014-01-03T18:31:00.000+05:30

I have never been fond of any preparation with boiled potatoes in them till I ate this dish made by my Mum-In-Law. Baby Potatoes with some whole spices and deseeded tomatoes this is, to be eaten with warm Phulkas (Roasted Indian Flat Breads) on cold winter nights. No Green Chilies are used in this dish, only peppercorns, chopped Red Chillis and a dash of Chilli Flakes and Black pepper powder to garnish – that provides enough heat to the dish. The original recipe does not have Green Peas in it, I wanted to add a dash of green along with the red from the Tomatoes and the Chillies and it looked fabulous; it did not hamper the taste in any way.

I had picked up some baby potatoes from the grocery store over the weekend with particularly this dish in mind, texted my Mum-In-Law for the recipe before calling her, so that she would be ready with one of her numerous recipe notebooks (she has this huge..no HUGE collection of fantastic recipes spread across various notebooks). Later I called her and she was very kind to explain everything well. This was our dinner last night and we totally loved it.

Here are the ingredients needed to make Aloo Dum-e Dumdaar:

Serves: 4

· Baby Potatoes – 500 gms – peeled (Quartered regular potatoes can also be used, but the dish looks much better with Baby Potatoes)

· Onion – 2 medium – chopped

· Garlic – mined – 1 tsp

· Ginger – cut into fine 1 cm long strands – 10-12

· Tomato – 1 large – deseeded and chopped

· Green Peas – a handful

· Whole Red Chillies – 4 (as much or as little as you want) cut into small slices using a Scissor

· Cloves – 4

· Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

· Fennel Seeds – ½ tsp

· Whole Peppercorns – 10-15

· Some Chilli Flakes to garnish

· A dash of Black Pepper powder

· Cooking Oil

· Salt to taste

· Sugar to balance

How to make Aloo Dum-e Dumdaar:

· Pressure cook the baby potatoes for 1 whistle on low, let the pressure go down on its own – once the pressure goes down, drain, smear the potatoes with Salt and keep

· In a Pan, heat cooking oil, add Cumin Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Cloves, Whole Peppercorns and let them sizzle

· Add the chopped Garlic and stir for a minute

· Add the chopped Onions and cook till translucent

· Add chopped Tomatoes

· Add Sugar and stir and cook for 2-3 minutes till Tomatoes become tender

· Add the Green Peas

· Add the Baby Potatoes, make sure the gas is turned down to the lowest

· Mix well, cover and cook for 3-5 mins

· Do a taste test, add more salt if needed

· Garnish with some Chilli Flakes and black pepper and relish with Phulkas

NOTE: Water is not required to prepare this dish, adding water will spoil the look and taste of the dish, this is essentially a dry preparation

Shrimp Pulav with Coconut Milk (in the Microwave Oven)

2013-12-30T16:32:00.003+05:30

My love for Shrimp is unconditional, eternal and next to God! Almost every weekend when we replenish the stock to cook for the coming week, we make sure we have some fresh Shrimps, whatever size it may be, stocked! However, the fish monger has not been getting them for a couple of months now and I had to sustain on the King Prawns served by the Chinese Restaurants nearby. No, he is not the only fish monger in the market, but nobody gets better sea food than him. Last weekend miraculously he got these medium sized Shrimps after ages and we got some without any dish in mind.

I had a terrible cold coupled with an even worse sprained arm (thanks to the roller coaster rides at an Amusement Park the weekend before) and our weekend started early as I had to rest that arm for some time. The Shrimps were still sitting in the freezer and we had to eat lunch, ‘A’ insisted on home delivery as he did not want me to strain my arm any further; I was not very keen, I wanted to make something in a jiffy so that I do not end up damaging my arm further. Hence thought of throwing everything into a pan, sautéing and assembling into the Micro for it to do the work for me. The end result was finger-licking-good!

My other Shrimp Pulao recipe is here. It does not have Coconut Milk in it and is not made in the Micro.

Here is what you will need to make Shrimp Pulav with Coconut Milk in the Micro

Serves: 2

· Shrimps – medium sized – cleaned and deveined – I kept the tails on as they are too much flavorful to be thrown away – 300 gms

· Basmati Rice – 1 Cup (I used Gobindo Bhog Rice and it tasted heavenly)

· Ghee / Clarified Butter – 2 tbsp

· Cinnamon – 1” stick

· Green Cardamoms – 4

· Cloves – 4

· Bay Leaves – 2

· Shahi Jeera – 1tsp

· Black Peppercorns – 10

· Ginger-Garlic-Green Chilli Paste – 2 tsp

· Onions – 2 medium - thinly sliced

· Peas – a handful

· Carrots – a handful, chopped

· Spring Onions – 3-4 – chopped – I had these so added, it is totally optional

· Cauliflower – about 15 small florets (optional)

· Tomato – 1 medium – chopped

· Turmeric Powder – 1 tbsp

· Salt to taste

· Sugar to balance

· Coconut Milk – 1 Cup

· Water – 1 Cup ( 2 Cups of Coconut Milk and no water can also be used - it will just make the Pulav richer )

· 1 large Micro safe bowl

· Some Cling Wrap

Note: The Vegetables I added was what I had my stockpile, add or subtract whatever you want

How to make Shrimp Pulav with Coconut Milk in the Micro:

· Wash the Rice and set aside

· Heat Ghee in a Pan and temper with Cinnamon, Green Cardamoms, Cloves, Shahi Jeera and Black Peppercorns

· Add the Onions and fry sauté till they are translucent

· Add the Ginger-Garlic-Green Chilli Paste and sauté for a couple of minutes

· Add the Carrots, Spring Onions and Cauliflower florets and stir for a minute

· Add the tomatoes and wait for a couple of minutes till they are a little tender

· Add the Salt Sugar and Turmeric Powder and stir well

· Add the Shrimps and stir for a minute

· Add the Rice and fry for 2-3 minutes, mix everything very well

· Pour all the contents into a Micro safe bowl

· Add 1 Cup of Coconut Milk

· Add 1 Cup of Water

· Cover with Cling Film

· With a fork puncture the Cling Film at 2-3 places, so that the hot air can escape

· Put it in the Micro for 20 minutes on high

· Once done, take it out and give it 5 minutes of standing time

· Serve hot

Grilled Pomfrets in Mint & Coriander Sauce

2013-12-30T14:19:00.001+05:30

I served these grilled Pomfrets for Dinner sometime last week with Hakka Noodles. The paste that the Pomfrets were marinated in included mint and coriander leaves, so it was green & extremely flavorful. I have never like much of mint in my food, but this time was completely blown away by the subtle aroma. I will start using more of this is our meals as there are so many health benefits of mint.

I have no story today so will make this quick!

Here is what you need to make Grilled Pomfrets in Mint & Coriander Sauce:

Serves - 2

· Pomfrets – 2 medium, washed and deep slit to the spine bone for the marination to get it

· Juice of 1 medium Lime

· Pudina / Mint leaves – 5 sprigs

· Dhaniya / Coriander leaves – 5 sprigs

· Ginger – 1” thick

· Garlic – 5-6 medium cloves

· Green Chillies – 4 (increase or decrease to taste)

· Salt

· Cooking Oil – 2 tsp

How to make Grilled Pomfrets in Mint & coriander Sauce:

· Rub salt and lime juice on the Pomfrets and keep for 5 minutes

· Grind Mint, Coriander, Ginger, Garlic, Green Chillies together in a Blender with a little splash of water, this sauce will neither be runny nor very thick

· Smear spoonful’s of the Sauce on both the sides of the Fish and keep for 10 minutes

· Pour a ½ a tsp of Cooking Oil on each side of the Fish so that it does not stick to the grill. I am a Bengali and used Mustard Oil, hence the gold hue :P, use the Cooking Oil of your choice.

· Grill each side of the Fish for about 8 minutes – I did this in the convection mode of my Micro at 180C – once one side is done, turn using a tong and grill the other side for another 7-8 minutes.

· Take it out, let it stand for 3-4 minutes and serve immediately.

· We had this with some Hakka Noodles for dinner; this is a dish in itself and can be eaten just like that, without any accompaniments.

Roasted Chicken Legs – with baked Potatoes, Carrots, Onions & Garlic

2013-12-18T17:31:00.002+05:30

Easy dinner ideas are the best thing that has happened to a working couple. We crave for simple meals when we get back home after a long day at work and most Indian dishes which we love, takes a while to cook. Once I get back I have around 150 minutes in which I need to take a shower, prepare dinner, get stuff ready for next morning, do the laundry, eat and yes chit chat with my partner before we hit the bed and before we realize we have slept. In the morning, I get another rough 150 minutes in which we have tea, prepare breakfast, pack lunch, iron clothes, take a shower & jump into the cab. Week days are crazily packed for almost everyone and we are no exceptions.

I simply adore this recipe as this takes about 10 minutes to put together and an hour in the Oven to get ready. While it is in the Oven, one can run errands. I was craving for this since the start of this week, finally A could manage some juicy Chicken legs for dinner last night, normally by the time we get back, the Butchers are closed, however he discovered one yesterday, walking distance from our place and the shop is open till 10 PM! Wow!

What you need to make Roasted Chicken Legs

(Serves 2)

· Chicken Legs – 6

· Potatoes – 3 large, washed well, cut into big chunks

· Carrots – 2 Medium, washed well, cut into big chunks

· Onions – 3 Medium, peeled and halved

· Garlic – 7-8 cloves, unpeeled

· Lemon – 1

· Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) – 3 tbsps

· Italian Seasonings – 2 tbsps / to taste

· Salt to taste

· Pepper to taste

· Chili Flakes – 1 tsp

(The baking dish that I used could accommodate these, it was filled up to the brink, if you wish to add or subtract any vegetables and or increase or decrease the quantity of any, please do so, there can be a thousand deviations of this dish, it is totally up to taste )

How to prepare Roasted Chicken Legs

· Pre heat the Oven to 220 C / 428 F (or the nearest)

· Wash the Chicken legs thoroughly and pat dry using paper towels

· Add the Italian Seasonings, Salt, Pepper, 1.5 tbsps of EVOO & chili Flakes

· Add the juice of one Lemon to this, cut the Lemon into quarters and keep (cut down the quantity to half a Lemon if you are not fond of it)

· Mix the Chicken legs in the marinade and keep

· Start preparing the Baking dish by first oiling it with 1 tbsp of EVOO

· Put the Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Garlic and Lemon pieces in

· Add Salt and Pepper, a little Italian Seasoning and Chili Flakes and ½ a tsp of EVOO and mix well

· Add the Chicken Legs to the baking dish

· Bake this in the Oven for an hour

· Enjoy the dish by itself fresh out of the Oven after it cools down a teeny weeny bit!

Patrani Machhi - A Parsi Delicacy

2013-12-12T15:46:00.004+05:30

It has been a few months since I have posted a recipe here. Life has been crazy busy. Cooking / Baking has become more of a lifesaver than anything else. Between the daily chores I seldom find time for clicking a photograph of something which came out well, forget step by step pictures. The recipe I am posting today does not have step by step pictures either, all I have is my Phone camera and no time to watermark the pictures so please let me know if anyone at all wants to use my photos.

I have a colleague; no actually she is more of a friend than a colleague, one of the very few people from work who is actually a friend, S. One fanatic about her diet, people will find her in the Cafeteria 3-4 times a day, munching on iceberg lettuce, faking that they taste heavenly! She is very generous, whenever you walk in, she will be more than happy to offer you the bland lettuce or boiled drumsticks or steamed broccoli with rock salt, which by the way I am fond of.

So it happened, one afternoon, when she was trying to reach me frantically, to meet and eat lunch together, the reason being she had got Fish which her Mom had prepared and knew I would love it as I am a true blue Bong! I had no idea I was about to taste one of the most amazing Fish preparations, which by the way was not a Bengali preparation. Though very similar to the Paturi that we make minus the Mustard and plus a few other ingredients. She took out a gorgeous green Banana Leaf wrap, under whose folds lay, the Parsi Patrani Machhi! It was yummy Coconut-y considering it had about a cup of scraped blended Coconut in there & I totally love Coconut, we savored the dish in no time & this incident gave me the much awaited push I needed to knock out the plane-Jane Cook in me and make her prepare something worth dying for!

On Saturday night, I had asked a porter from the society where we live to get me a Banana leaf, he came next morning and delivered a washed and cleaned Banana Leaf (which he had actually stolen from the Society next to us as we did not have any Banana tree in ours: P).

We had taken this Monday off and planned going out for lunch, however after the hullabaloo of the weekend and the blazing Sun, we decided to stay indoors. I had a couple of small Pomfrets sitting in the Freezer and asked A to get a Coconut & some other ingredients, he instantly agreed. I served this with Steamed Rice which we LOVED! Next Monsoon, when I have Hilsa at hand – I will make the same dish!

Ingredients to make Patrani Machhi (Serves 2)

· 2 small – medium Pomfrets (I used whole Pomfrets as they have less bones, fillets of Telapia, Pomfrets, Bhetki, Basa should be great too, I had made slits in the Pomfrets)

· 1 Banana leaf, washed and cleaned

· Scrapped Coconut – 1 Cup

· Coriander leaves – small bunch (add as much or as little you like)

· Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

· Garlic Cloves – 4 to 5

· Lemon Juice – I used juice of half a Lemon

· Green Chilies – 4 to 5 (add as much or as little you like)

· Coconut Milk – 1 cup (increase or decrease the quantity according to the consistency of the chutney /paste that you are making. Many people omit this step and use plain water instead.

· Salt to taste

· Sugar to balance

How to make Patrani Machhi

· Cut out the vein of the Banana leaf with a sharp knife after it is cleaned and washed. Fold it lightly and toss it around on the burner for a little while, till it starts to wilt a little, do not burn it. This will make sure that the Banana leaf is softer and easier to handle and not hard and brittle.

· Put all the ingredients together in a blender besides the Fish & the Coconut Milk and start blending. Pour in the Coconut Milk a little at a time, to make it easier for the ingredients to blend, once desired consistency of the paste is reached, pour into a bowl and set aside. Note – this paste is not going to be runny, it needs to stay together and the quantity should be good enough to be eaten with steamed Rice. Taste the Paste at this stage; add anything that you need after you have done the taste test.

· On the front side of the Fish pieces add generous amounts of the Paste and let it sit for 5 minutes.

· Take pieces of the Banana Leaf, add a few spoonful’s of the paste and place the Fish on top, this way both the sides of the Fish will have enough paste to get the flavors.

· Fold the sides of the Banana Leaves together and seal with toothpicks.

· I used my Rice Cooker to steam these. One can boil water in a large container till bubbling and on a steel colander place the packed Fish and steam each side for 8-10 minutes. Note: I was using whole Fish, hence I steamed for more than normal; fillets can be steamed for 5 minutes on each side depending on the thickness.

· If you managed to pack the Fish in the Banana Leaves well, then serve the whole thing on a plate with steamed Rice like I did, that’s the most authentic and traditional way of tasting this flavorful dish.

Nan Khatai (Indian Eggless Short Bread Cookies) - Perfect for tea time!

2013-08-05T21:52:00.002+05:30

Baking cookies at home was a distant fantasy when I started implementing my culinary skills about 5-6 years back. It was all about cooking and not baking at that time, mostly various curries like Chicken, Mutton, Fish or Eggs (Yes, I swear by Meat, I apologize if it offends anyone). Vegetarian food slowly made its way to my Kitchen since the nuptials about 2.5 years back as we wanted something simpler for Dinner to be eaten with Chapati’s (Indian Roasted Flat Breads).

I could dish out full course meals but the Oven was still new to me. It has been my companion for the last 2 years I should think. However, it took me a while to differentiate between the Convection, Grill and the other functions of my Microwave Oven (You are right, I do not own a conventional Oven or an OTG for that matter, all I have is a Microwave Oven with the Convection function and I bake all my goodies there .. to be honest I do not have much space left in my Kitchen to accommodate another Oven)

Our Parents visit us once a year as we stay away from home and this is a time of the year we look forward to. My Parents are here with me now and the other day when I baked some Tutti Frutti Biscotti’s and the dough went a little out of control, Maa (My Mum) had to intervene to get it back in control and that’s when she realized that there were Eggs in the dough & did not like the idea at all; though she enjoyed the Biscotti’s, she was not thoroughly satisfied. She dedicated the entire afternoon thinking about a replacement of Eggs in that batter and by evening she started giving me ideas of unsalted Butter, Clarified Butter (Ghee), Whole Milk & Curd to be used in the batter.

My Tutti Frutti Biscotti

Once Weekend arrived, I wanted to give a shot at the Eggless Cookies and decided to bake the best Indian Eggless Tea Time Cookies - ‘Nan Khatai’ - My entire family loved them and I shamelessly admit I liked these better than cookies with Eggs in them. Some study about these told me they were handed down by Dutch Colonizers as early as the 16^th Century to Parsi entrepreneurs who owned Bakeries in Surat, the Capital City of Gujarat India. Hence we can summarize that’s where they belong, the State of Gujarat. These short bread Cookies are generally smeared with Desi Ghee, however, you can replace the same with Unsalted Butter and use only a little bit of Clarified Butter (Ghee) for the whiff like I did.

My friend from work, ‘P’ helped me with the recipe who had shared her secret Punjabi Chhole Masala recipe earlier which can be found here. I did make my own changes and adjustments to her Nan Khatai recipe and here is what I did:

Here is what you will need to make about 32-34 Nan Khatai’s:

All Purpose Flour (Maida): 1 Cup

Semolina (Suji): ½ Cup

Gram Flour (Besan): ½ Cup

Granulated Sugar: 1 Cup

Unsalted Butter: 3/4^th Cup

Clarified Butter / Ghee: 1/4^th Cup (If you want to skip unsalted Butter, use 1 cup of Ghee)

Ground Green Cardamom – ½ tsp

Pistachios: flaked 1 tbsp

How to make Nan Khatai’s:

Cream the Butter and Granulated Sugar in a large bowl with a wire whisk till fluffy

Add the dry ingredients, All Purpose Flour, Semolina, Gram Flour and Ground Green Cardamom and knead this mixture into medium soft dough. (A tsp or two of whole Milk can be added to the dough in case it does not come together; mine did come together nicely, however, you can keep a little Milk handy)

Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes

Pre-heat the Oven to 200C / 392F** in the meanwhile

Line the Baking tray with a parchment paper

Make small roundels from the dough and place them on the parchment paper an inch apart

Add a few strands of the Pistachio flakes on top for garnish

Change the Microwave Oven to the Convection mode once preheating has completed. Put it to 180C / 356F in the Convection mode and bake the cookies for 30 minutes or till golden and crisp**

**(Exactly what I did in my Microwave Oven, all Ovens are different so adjust as per your Oven)

P.S: I have not posted here in a few months; hence lost the habit of watermarking. I am posting this with the hope that the pictures will not be stolen, thanks in advance!

Chicken Vindaloo - Goan Chicken Curry

2013-04-02T17:52:00.000+05:30

During the weekend, I went to shop for Meat and Fish and got a Rohu which weighed about 1.25 Kilos, half of which went in making Methi Fish which tasted out of this World, half is still in the Freezer and I am still contemplating something nice with it; I also got 1.25 Kilos of Chicken (I know the similar weight sounds weird but it was not intentional :P 1.25 Kg of Chicken normally gives you 1 Kg once you skin it and get rid of the livers (no one eats Chicken livers at my house), with half of this Chicken I made Chicken Vindaloo – the Goan classic yesterday! Here, take a look:

We ate this for Lunch today and will eat it for Dinner too, I think that means it definitely scored well in our Kitchen :P So here is the recipe for you

Here is what you will need to make Goan Chicken Vindaloo:

Chicken – 500 gms, cut into medium pieces, cleaned

Kashmiri Red Chili Whole – 5 / to taste

Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp

Whole Black Peppercorns – ½ tsp

Cinnamon – ½ “ stick

Cloves – 3

Onion – 1 medium – sliced

Ginger – 1” stick – roughly chopped

Garlic – 6 cloves – roughly chopped

Tomato – 1 medium – roughly chopped

Cooking Oil

Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Vinegar – 2 tsp

How to make Goan Chicken Vindaloo:

Clean the Chicken, pat them dry, marinate with some Salt and keep

Soak all Kashmiri whole Red Chilies, Whole Black Peppercorns, Cinnamon and Cloves in a little luke warm water and keep

Heat Oil in a Pan; add the sliced Onions, roughly chopped Onion, Garlic and Ginger and sauté for about 3-4 minutes

Add the roughly chopped Tomatoes in a sauté for another 2-3 minutes

Switch off the Stove and give it 5 minutes to cool down

In a Blender, put everything from the Pan, the spices that we had soaked in luke warm water earlier, the vinegar and the Turmeric Powder & grind into a smooth paste

Pour this paste back into the pan, add about a cup of luke warm water and bring it to boil

Pour the marinated Chicken pieces in, slow cook ‘covered’ on medium flame till the Chicken pieces become tender

Uncover when the Chicken is done and cook till you have the gravy as per desired consistency

Garnish with Whole Dry Red Chiles and Whole Black Peppercorns

Serve with steamed White Rice

If You Like My Page Please Join Me On My Facebook Page

Methi Rui - Fish (Rohu) in Fenugreek Sauce

2013-04-01T20:31:00.000+05:30

My dear friend ‘S’, sitting in the US of A sends me this super awesome recipe. Sometime last week I got her email with a picture of Methi Rui & liked it instantaneously, I asked her for the recipe and my email was returned in no time. She mentioned that she made this the same way she makes Methi Chicken & gave me details of the recipe too. Being the foodie that I am, as soon as the weekend knocked, I went and got some Rui (Rohu) from the Market. I finally made it for Sunday dinner and both ‘A’ & I totally loved it. So all thanks to ‘S’ for this extremely innovative dish, innovative because even I make Methi Chicken all the time but have never thought of changing the main ingredient to Fish and yielding such brilliant result.

Methi aka Fenugreek is used variedly in Indian cuisine. Be it the herb form (dried, Kasuri Methi or fresh leaves), be it as spice seeds or even as a vegetable (like in Methi Parantha’s). I used both the herb and the seed form in this dish. Fenugreek leaves are enriched with minerals like Potassium, Calcium and Iron. The leaves are rich in Vitamin C and K as well, hence of great medicinal value

Here is what you will need to make Methi Rui / Fish (Rohu) in Fenugreek Sauce :

Rohu or any other Fresh water Fish – 500 gms (I had 7 small pieces)

Methi/Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp

Onion – 1 – medium – made into paste

Ginger – 1” – made into paste (not a part of the original recipe)

Garlic – 5 medium cloves – made into paste

Green Chili – 3/ to taste – made into paste

Curd – 2 tbsp (‘S’ advised to use Hung curd, I did not have any hence used regular store bought Curd)

Turmeric Powder - 1+1 tsp

Red Chili Powder – 1 tsp (not a part of the original recipe)

Kasuri Methi (dried Fenugreek leaves) – 2 tsp

Salt – to taste

Mustard Oil / Cooking Oil – 2.5 tbsp

Ghee / Clarified Butter – 1 tsp

Here is how you make Methi Rui / Fish (Rohu) in Fenugreek Sauce:

I made a paste of Onion, Ginger, Garlic and Green Chili together and kept it aside to use once I am done with frying the Fish.

Clean the Fish pieces, smear with Salt and Turmeric; heat Mustard / Cooking Oil in a Pan till smoking, throw a pinch of Salt in (this will make sure the hot Oil is not all over you when you slide the Fish pieces in), slide the Fish pieces in and fry them till golden on both sides. Once done, drain on Paper Towels if you are finicky like me :P

To the same Oil, add 1 tsp of Methi seeds and let them sizzle, scoop out the seeds and throw; use the Methi scented Oil

To the same Oil, add the Onion-Ginger-Garlic and Green Chili Paste and sauté till the raw smell is gone

In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp of Curd, 1 tsp Turmeric, 1 tsp Red Chili Powder and Salt to taste and whisk together, add to the sautéed Onion-Ginger-Garlic and Green Chili Paste

Add some Luke Warm water to this and bring it to boil

Once boiling, bring the heat down to simmer and drop the already fried Fish pieces in, cover and cook till you have the right consistency in the gravy

Take 2 tsp of dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasuri Methi), rub between the palms of your hands to get a nice powdery herb and mix to the dish

Drizzle the molten Clarified Butter/Ghee on top, give it a good mix we & are done

P.S : I served this with Plain White Rice hence I had kept some gravy, ‘S’ mentioned she served it with a Veg Pulav; in case you are serving with Pulav then this dish can be as dry as you want

If You Like My Page Please Join Me On My Facebook Page

Focaccia - Onion & Oregano flavored

2013-03-26T23:28:00.001+05:30

Focaccia (pronounced as Fokashia by some and Fokachia by some others) is a flat Oven baked Italian Bread, which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients (Definition from Wikipedia). I baked this last Saturday when once again, ‘A’ was out playing his Cricket (a tournament which his team won .. YAY!!) & it turned out to be pretty good. I was really glad after baking this one, it was so flavorful, just like those Breads from the Italian joints, my home smelled heavenly when I baked this.

I did not take pictures at all the stages while baking this. The Yeast proofing is done exactly the same way just like in Challah - Braided Bread; only the quantities differed this time.

Here is what you will need to make my Onion and Oregano flavored Focaccia:

This recipe is adapted from www.showmethecurry.com recipe of Focaccia – Easy Bread Recipe

My Recipe is here:

Active Dry Yeast – 2 tsp

Warm Water - 1 2/3 Cups (I Microwave the water for Yeast Proofing at high for 30 seconds, it definitely feels higher than 60c/140F but it gives fantastic results, DO NOT use boiling Water, that would kill the Yeast)

Sugar – 1 tsp

All Purpose Flour – 5 cups

Salt – 2 tsp

EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) – ¼ th Cup + 5 tbsps

Onion – ½ of a large – thinly sliced

Oregano – 2 tsp

Italian Seasoning – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

How to make Onion & Oregano flavored Focaccia:

Yeast Proofing: In a large bowl, add 2 tsps of Active Dry Yeast in 1 2/3 Cups of Luke Warm water & 1 tsp of Sugar, mix and let it rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, a foamy mix will form of the Yeast, Water & Sugar indicating that Yeast has been proofed

Add Salt, ¼ th Cup of EVOO, 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning & 5 Cups of All-purpose Flour, add the Flour 1 cup at a time and keep mixing with a Spatula till a gooey dough is formed, adding more and more flour will result in the dough becoming stable in consistency; once it becomes manageable, put it on a working surface dusted with dry flour and start kneading it, knead it will for about 5-7 minutes, add extra flour when needed till it forms a smooth dough

In the same large bowl, grease the surface with a little bit of EVOO, tuck in the sides of the dough into a tight round, oil the upper surface of the dough, cover with a Kitchen towel and let it rest for 2 hours, neat

After 2 hours, the dough would have doubled in size, punch down the dough, grease the baking tray with 1 tbsp of EVOO and put the dough in, stretch the dough on all the sides so that it fits well into the baking tray, cover with a Kitchen towel and let it rise a second time for another hour

While it rises for the second time, thinly slice the Onion and dip into 3 tbsp of EVOO, add the Oregano and mix. Pre heat your Oven to 250C

Once the dough has risen the second time, dip the index finger of your working hand into a tbsp of EVOO and make small indentions about an inch apart on the risen dough, you have to dip your finger a few times before achieving all the indention's

Once done, with a brush spread the EVOO-Onion-Oregano mix onto the dough, make sure you cover all the edges so that they do not dry out while baking. The Onion slices will not stay at the bottom of the bowl you mixed it in and not come out with a brush, use a spoon to layer the Onions & whatever little liquid is left in the bowl onto the dough

I changed the Microwave mode to Convection and baked the Bread for 25 minutes at 220C (All Ovens are different so keep an eye on it after it crosses the 18-20 minute mark, we do not want a dark brown color on the surface, we want a soft brown crust on our Focaccia

Once done, please it on a cooling Rack and give it 30 minutes to cool down

Even after 30 minutes it will be nice and warm inside, eat by dipping the bread into EVOO or some Hummus

If You Like My Page Please Join Me On My Facebook Page

Kashundi Chicken

2013-03-25T23:08:00.002+05:30

Chicken has been my stable diet since I was a kid. If you include just 1 tiny piece of Chicken in my meal, I will eat anything that you serve to me with it without any complaints; I know that quite sounds like our four legged companions, but I am totally lame when it comes to eating vegetables, so even 1 teeny-weeny bit of Chicken makes me smile.

A couple of days back my Sis In Law back in the City of Joy made this scrumptious Kashundi Chicken and shared the photo. Kashundi means a very Bengali Mustard Dip / Sauce made with Black Mustard Seeds, Green Chilies, Ginger & Garlic which tastes out of this World – mostly to be eaten with Chops & Cutlets. When you add Raw Mango to it, it is called ‘Aam Kashundi’ (Aam meaning Mangoes in Bengali) which tastes even better in my view; & I am again going weak on my knees thinking about the Aam Kashundi Chingri I once had at Oh! Calcutta – it was indescribable. I sure will post a photo of that dish in my blog if I can find one.

& I found it, that's Aam Kashundi Chingri from Oh! Calcutta, highly recommended!

Coming back to the recipe, my Sis In Law made this following BongMom’s recipe. She added her special touch to it by adding a bit of Curd to this dish – it tasted wonderful. I made it her way and made minor changes to the original recipe.

Here is the recipe for Kashundi Chicken with the minor changes

Chicken – 750 gms, cleaned and skinned it comes to about 500-550 gms

Grated Ginger – 1tsp

Grated Garlic – 1 tsp

Lemon Juice – 1.5 tsp

Salt to taste

Mustard Oil – 1 tbsp – use any other cooking Oil if you do not have Mustard

Put all this together and marinate the Chicken for an hour, covered

Kalonji / Onion Seeds – ½ tsp

Green Chilies – broken from middle – 10

Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

Red Chili Powder – 1 tsp
Kashundi - 3 tbsp

Coconut Milk – 1 Cup (I used Maggi Coconut Milk Powder and mixed the same into 1 Cup of Luke warm water)

Curd – 2 tbsp – beaten with a pinch of Salt (I used homemade Curd)

Mustard Oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

Heat 2 tbsp of Mustard Oil in a Pan

Add the Onion Seeds / Kalonji and let it splutter

Add 5 broken Green Chilies and let them sizzle

Add the Chicken pieces and not the marinade, in case there is anything watery left in there

Cook the Chicken pieces till they change color

Add Turmeric Powder & Red Chili Powder and stir them in – cook for 2-3 mins

Add 3 tbsps of Kashundi and mix well, give it about 2 minutes to settle in

Add the Coconut Milk and Curd and any marinade that was left

Cover and let the Chicken Cook thoroughly, keep the Gas Stove on Simmer

Once the dish is done, garnish with the other 5 broken Green chilies, the gravy will be thick in consistency and not runny

Eat with steaming White Rice

Maach-er Matha diye Moog-er Dal / Yellow Lentil Soup with Fish Head

2013-03-22T02:21:00.000+05:30

A Heady Lentil Soup is what this dish is. It is so heavy and yummy at the same time, I can eat steamed Rice only with this Lentil Soup without any sides. Yes, we Bengalis, do not throw away any part of our Sacred Fish, especially when it comes to a Fish as tasty as the Katla; the preparation can be made with Rohu Fish Head too, but nothing beats the juicy head of a Katla. This is mostly prepared during Aiburo-Bhaat (last Bachelor Meal before the Wedding), Poite (Sacred Thread Ceremonies), Griho-Probesh (House Warming) & various other functions, mad Bongs like ‘A’ & Me even make this for dinner for their Anniversary Celebration and serve to their non Bong guests and surprise them :D

Here is what you will need to make Maach-er Matha diye Moog-er Dal / Yellow Lentil Soup with Fish Head:

A fairly large Fish Head – 1, cleaned and sliced into two halves – My Katla weighed 1.7 KG, hence the head was the size I was looking for

Moog-er Dal / Yellow Lentil – 1 Cup

Mustard Oil (Use any other cooking Oil if you do not have Mustard, but tradition says, it tastes best with Mustard) - 2 tbsp + 1 tsp

Ghee/ Clarified Butter – 1 tsp

Bay Leaf – 2

Whole Cumin Seeds – 1tsp

Whole Dry Red Chilies - 2

Cinnamon – 1“long stick

Green Cardamoms - 3

Cloves – 3

Turmeric Powder – 1tsp + ½ tsp + 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder – 1 tsp

Red Chili Powder – 1 tsp

Garam Masala Powder – 1 tsp

Ginger – grated – 1 tsp
Green Chili - 2 - broken from between

Salt to taste

Sugar to balance

How to make Maach-er Matha diye Moog-er Dal / Yellow Lentil Soup with Fish Head:

In a Pan, dry roast the Yellow Lentil till you get the lovely aroma of roasted Moog, be careful not to burn them, once the color changes to light golden, turn off the stove, wash the Lentil under running water, Pressure Cook the Lentil in 1 Cup of Water ½ tsp of Turmeric, let the pressure go down on it own an set aside

Smear Salt and 1 tsp of Turmeric on the Fish Head pieces, heat 2 tbsps of Mustard Oil in a Pan till smoking, sprinkle a little salt into the Pan (so that the hot Oil does not splash when you slide the Fish pieces in), slide the Fish heads in, fry well, 3-4 minutes on each side, break them down to smaller pieces with the help of a Spatula if you can, not into very small parts though, say about 5 small chunks from each half of the head, set aside on Paper Towels to get rid of the excess Oil

In the same Pan, add 1 tsp of Oil as most of the Oil must have been absorbed by the Fish Head already, add the Cumin Seeds and let them splutter, add the Whole Dry Red Chilies, Bay Leaves, Cinnamon, Cardamoms and Cloves and sauté for a minute

Add the grated Ginger and cook for another minute

Add the cooked Lentil into this and mix well

Add the Turmeric Powder, Red Chili Powder, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Salt and Sugar to taste and stir around till the dry spices are cooked

Add the chunks of Fish head into this and mix well

Add desired quantity of luke warm water and bring it to boil, keep in mind both the Lentil and the Fish head are cooked already, we are just trying to bring the dish together and let the flavors intermingle into each other, hence do not add too much water, also this lentil soup will be thick unlike Bengali Red Lentil Soup, so add just as much water as you would like in your dish

Once done, add 1 tsp f clarified Butter to this and give it one final mix, sprinkle the 1 tsp of Garam Masala Powder & broken Green Chilies as well

Serve with steamed Rice

If You Like My Page Please Join Me On My Facebook Page