Micky Da Punjabi Tadka

Microwave Cooking: Quick Paneer Snack

2010-12-07T22:06:00.003-06:00

The Frozen paneer(Cottage Cheese) that we get in US doesn't taste good to eat. It is very creamy and a bit sticky. I love eating raw paneer. What i do is, cut the frozen paneer into small cubes, put in a bowl, add a spoon of butter salted/unsalted and microwave it for 15-20 seconds. Larger quantity would need more time. Take out the bowl from microwave and mix the melted butter and paneer nicely. Put it back in the microwave for 10 secs or so.

Take out the bowl, Sprinkle some Salt, Black Pepper and/or Chat Masaala over it and eat it as is.

I Love it and so does my 1 year old daughter:-)

Microwave Cooking: Indian Milk Tea

2010-11-23T15:31:00.004-06:00

I would be amused to see one Indian who never had tea in his life barring the ones who may have had medical conditions. Its our wine, our tobacco (for the teetotallers like me).

and tell me how many of you have not boiled the tea off the pan and then cursed everything around the world. Well, I have now turned myself onto tea made in microwave. The procedure is very simple and the Taste is as good as you can get.

Ingredients

Would vary for number of cups, use appropriate proportions as you like):

For 2 cups of Tea

Milk 1cup

Water 1.5 cup

Tea Leaves 2-3 Tea Spoons (can vary as to how strong tea you want)

Sugar 2 Tea spoons (can vary as taste)

You can add Tea Masala or crushed or grated ginger, green cardamom Powder, cloves. Add these items as per your taste.

Procedure:

Add every ingredient in a large glass bowl.

Put the bowl in microwave

Run at high power for 3mins 30sec

Now you can do your other work for that much time, when the tea is ready, microwave will beep. Wear baking gloves or use a thick cloth to take out the bowl(it will be very hot).

Filter and Pour Tea in cups.

Enjoy!!!

Do tell me if it taste any different from regular stove tea;-)

PS: You can change the flavors by using Tea Masala or crushed or grated ginger, green cardamom Powder, cloves.

Procedure: Put everything in a large glass bowl

Cooking Tips: Microwave Cooking

2010-11-23T15:26:00.003-06:00

Do you know how much time and electricity/power you spend when you use a conventional stove/electric stove? Well neither do I;-). But I do know is when we cook on a conventional / electric Stove, a lot of energy is wasted because it is open and it also needs a lot of manual monitoring to make sure things don't get over cooked or may not burned.

Lately I have started increasing the use of Microwave in my cooking. Here on, I am going to share my experience with microwave cooking. I have till now done tea,rice, potato,daal, vegetables etc in microwave.

Watch for the procedure, very simple they are and the time required for it.

The Benefits are huge. Most importantly, it saves a lot of Power and personal time.

Cheers!!!

Nitin

Dahi Vade/Bhalle

2009-05-04T23:22:00.008-05:00

Say "Dahi Vade" and my mouth starts watering! Dahi Vade (also known as Dahi Bhalle) is a popular Punjabi side dish. The best description I can give of it is "lentil dumplings soaked in yogurt with sweet and sour chutneys". Sounds yummy? ;) Here is how we prepare it.

Ingredients

Urad Dal (white): 1 cup
Moong Dal (yellow): 1/2 cup
Fresh Yogurt: 1 Pound (1/2Kg)
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Salt: to taste
Red Chilly Powder: to taste
Cumin powder: to taste
Tamarind Chutney
Coriander/Mint Chutney

Preparation

Mix Urad and Moong Dal and soak them overnight. Wash the dals thoroughly and then grind them to a fine paste. Be careful while adding water to the dals when you grind the dals. The batter should be thick enough to make dumplings.

Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. When the oil is hot, drop ping pong ball sized dumplings into it. Fry them until they turn golden brown, drain them, and keep them aside. Do not fry them on high flame otherwise the dumplings would not cook properly and stay raw inside. Take ample amount of water in a large bowl and soak the dumplings for around 10 minutes.

Beat the yogurt very fine and make sure that it has no lumps. Take the dumplings out of the water, squeeze each dumpling lightly between your palms to drain the water, and drop them in the yogurt. Don't squeeze them so hard that they break. Let them stay in the yogurt for a while so that they soak it. If you aren't planning to have them immediately, refrigerate them and let them become chilled.

Serving

Take the dumplings out of the yogurt carefully and put them in the serving dish. Pour yogurt over them evenly. Sprinkle salt, red chilly powder, and cumin powder on them, all to your taste. Pour the chutneys in the end. Some people like to decorate the Vadas with the spices and chutneys by making designs out of them. It's quite a colorful sight! :) You can also garnish the vadas with chopped coriander leaves and Sev.

Dahi Vadas taste the best when serve chilled.

Fundooo Fried Rice

2009-03-08T22:15:00.008-05:00

I'd earlier posted a recipe of Sweet Cardamom Rice that used leftover rice. Here is the salty version of the leftover rice.

Pre-Preparation

The best way is to use the leftover plain white rice from the earlier meal that you don't want to throw. :) Crush the rice with hands to remove any lumps. If you want to use fresh rice, cook rice separately in an open container or in the microwave. For one bowl of rice, add two bowls of water and a little oil. Put in the microwave for 17-18 mins. I use Pure Basmati Rice that is the best for Fried Rice/Biryani.

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1 Bowl
Pure Ghee - 2 TSP
Chopped Onion - 1 Small
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 TSP (Jeera)
Brown Cardamom - 2 (Crushed)
Cumin Powder - 1/4 TSP (Jeera)
Cardamom Powder (Elaichi) - Crushed cardamom is also OK to have - 1/2 TSP
Raisins - (Kishmish / Saungi) - 10-15
Turmeric(Haldi) Powder - 1/2 TSP
Dhaniya Leaves - Small Bunch, Chopped
Chilli Powder 1/4 TSP
Salt - To taste

Procedure

Chop onions into thin long slices of appx 1" size. Chop the Green Chillies into small finely.

Heat Ghee in a non stick frying pan. Add Cumin seeds and let them crackle for a couple seconds. Add onions and chillies and sauté them until onions turn light yellow. Add Brown Cardamom (Large Cardamom/ Elaichi ) and golden raisins and sauté them for a few seconds.

Add the cooked rice and mix well to make a homogeneous mixture.

Add Turmeric Powder, Chilly Powder, Cumin Powder, and Salt. Mix well. Make sure not to leave any lumps.

Let the mixture cook for a while. Before serving, garnish the rice with chopped Coriander leaves.

Serve Hot!

Pav Bhaji

2009-03-05T17:55:00.012-06:00

Pav Bhaji is one of the favorite street foods in India. It tastes wonderful and provides a lot of nutrition in the form of all the vegetables that you put in the Bhaji. It's as simple to prepare as the name sounds! :)

Ingredients

Potatoes - 4 Large
Cauliflower - 1 Small Flower
Carrots - 2 medium
Green Peas - 1 cup (frozen/fresh)
Beans - half a cup
Onions - 2-3 medium - chopped
Tomatoes - 3-4 medium - chopped
Ginger Garlic Paste - 11/2 TSP
Green Chillies - 6 Small - finely chopped
Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 TSP
Turmeric Powder- 1/2 TSP
Salt - to taste
Pav Bhaji Masala - 1 TSP
Butter - 50 gm
Lemon - 1
Pavs

Pre-preparation

Boil the vegetables (except onions and tomatoes) together and mash them.

Bhaji Masala

Heat half of the butter in a pan on medium heat. Add ginger-garlic paste and chopped onions. Saute the onions until they become light brown. Add tomatoes and mix well. Add turmeric powder and red chilly powder. Cook this mixture on a medium flame with frequent stirring for about 10 minutes. Add the mashed vegetables, salt, and pav bhaji masala. Stir well and let it cook on medium flame for another 10 minutes. Keep stirring the bhaji frequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Pavs

Cut pavs into halves horizontally and fry them on a non-stick pan with some butter. They are ready when they get a light brown color on both sides.

Serving

Transfer the bhaji into a serving bowl. Garnish it with chopped coriander. Cut the lemon into wedges and serve them with the bhaji along with some chopped onion. And last but not the least, don't forget to put some butter on the hot bhaji so that it melts down slowly and enriches the flavor!

Baingan ka Bharta

2009-01-22T19:53:00.005-06:00

After Baingan Pathankoti, here's presenting the best and the most popular dish of Eggplant (Baingan) - Baingan ka Bharta. It's extremely mouth-watering, quick and easy to prepare, and loved even by many eggplant-haters. :-)

Ingredients

Fresh Eggplant: 1 big or 2 medium-sized
Red Onions: 1 big (I prefer red onions to white onions in the Bharta)
Tomatoes: 4 medium-sized
Green chilis: 3-4
Cumin (Jeera) seeds: 1 TSP
Red Chili Powder: 1/2 TSP
Coriander (Dhaniya) Powder: 1/2 TSP
Asafoetida (Heeng) - a pinch
Turmeric (Haldi) Powder: 1/2 TSP
Salt: to taste
Garam Masala Powder: 1/2 TSP
Coriander Leaves
Butter (to garnish)
Vegetable Oil - 1 TSP

Preparation

Roast the eggplant on a medium flame till its skin become dark and wrinkled. Keep turning the eggplant frequently over the flame so that it gets roasted evenly. Alternatively, you can also microwave the eggplant in a large microwave-safe bowl for about 15 minutes. before putting the eggplant in the microwave, put horizontal slits on it with a knife otherwise the eggplant will burst (yes, it actually bursts! we're experienced! :D ) After the eggplant is roasted, run cold water over it and peel off its skin and mash its flesh (sounds gross, isn't it?) :-)

Chop the tomatoes and green chilis very finely. You can also microwave the tomatoes for 10 minutes and mash them (we prefer it this way cuz' it cooks faster). Chop the onions into thin slices.

Heat a pan and put oil in it. When the oil is hot enough, put in the cumin seeds, let them splutter, and turn dark brown. Add asafoetida and then add the tomatoes and green chilis. Stir for a few seconds and let the tomatoes cook for a while.

After the tomatoes are fully cooked, add the mashed eggplant. Mix them well, add the remaining spices except salt, and mix again. Add the onions now and mix them well with the eggplant. The reason for adding the onions at the end is to keep them a bit crunchy. Keep stirring the mixture to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the onions become pale, add the garam masala and mix well.

Serving

Transfer the Bharta to a serving bowl and garnish it with chopped coriander leaves. Take a small piece of butter, put it in the middle of the Bharta and let it melt. Serve hot with Paranthas!

Besan ke Laddoo

2009-01-19T20:08:00.003-06:00

This is the second time Divu tried Besan ke Laddoos and they came out real nice! The first time, it became something else (rather, she had to make it something else) Will tell you how... :-)

So here's the recipe.

Ingredients

Gram Flour (Besan): 4 cups
Semolina (Sooji): 1/2 cup
Sugar: 2 cups
Ghee: 2 cups (melted)
Almonds and Cashew nuts: 20 pieces (crushed)
Cardamom (Elaichi) powder: 1 TSP

Preparation

Heat a large pan on a medium flame. Add gram flour and semolina and roast the mixture for a minute. Add ghee and mix it well with the mixture. Keep stirring the mixture continuously over medium flame to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan and getting burnt. Make sure that roast the mixture on medium flame so that it gradually becomes light brown and cooks well. You would need to cook this mixture for around 10-15 minutes.

Remove the mixture from the pan and let it cool. Add crushed almonds and cashew nuts, sugar, and cardamom powder to the mixture and mix everything well. Prepare small-sized balls from the mixture. The laddoos are ready!

If, somehow, you end up putting more Ghee in the mixture and it seems like a paste, which isn't good enough to prepare balls, don't lose heart. Do this (that's what Divu did when she prepared laddoos for the first time):

Spread the mixture evenly in a plate and let it cool. You may also refrigerate it for an hour or so to harden the paste.
When the paste is hard enough, cut diamonds out of it. You now have "Besan ki Barfi" instead of laddoos! :-)

Rice Pudding - Kheer

2009-01-13T22:29:00.014-06:00

It was a surprise some days back when one of my clients came to me and said, "I heard you are a good cook?" And I was like "where in the world did she hear that... hmm???" But then, I had to behave in office and said, "Yea, not good but OK." ;-)

The conversation went on and she asked me the recipe for rice pudding that she would have had somewhere, and I offered to make rice pudding for her along with providing the recipe. I didn't get enough time to cook it myself as some of my old friends turned up for dinner, so I cooked dinner that night for my old friends who also wanted to taste my food and Divu prepared the delicious Rice Pudding.

We are going to use cooked steamed rice for this pudding as it takes lesser time to cook than cooking raw rice in milk.

Quantity: Serves 5-6 - size does matter :-)
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
Plain Steamed Basmati Rice : 3 Servings

Whole Milk : 1.5Lts ( Just less than 1/2 gallon)

Sugar : 8-10 TSP ( depends how sweet you want it)

Green Cardamom : 5 pcs (Crushed)

Golden Raisins : 20 Pcs

Almonds + Cashew nuts : Coarse Grind - a bunch

Almonds + Cashew nuts : a bunch (Sliced for garnishing)
Surprise item : will tell later :-P

Pre-preparation

Steam Cooked Rice

Slice almonds and cashews

Cooking
Use a large vessel as the quantity is large. You may proportionate the quantity for preparing lesser amount of pudding.

Boil the milk and let it simmer for 2-3 mins on low flame, and while it is on heat, add sugar, crushed cardamom, almonds, cashews nuts, and raisins to it. After a while add cooked rice into the mixture and let it simmer for 10-15 mins. The reason we let it simmer with rice is to let the rice grains nicely soak milk and sugar. Before taking the mixture off the flame, check the rice by crushing it between your fingers or tasting a spoonful.

Also, make sure that the rice is thoroughly mixed with milk and is not settling down very frequently.

Just a while before you want to take down the mixture off the flame, add little bit of chocolate powder (surprise item) to give it a special taste.

Let the mixture cool for a while. The milk will now give a feel as if it is condensed milk and not regular whole milk.

Garnishing

Transfer the mixture in a serving bowl slowly. Garnish with sliced almonds, cashew nuts, and crushed cardamom.

Keep the bowl in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. This will condense the milk and make the pudding thicker.

Serving
Serve chilled. This dish is best when served chilled!

Dal Makhni

2009-01-13T20:39:00.015-06:00

Dal Makhni is one of the popular dishes of Punjab. People cook it with a lot of variations and a variety of ingredients. It's quite rich so the people who're dieting might feel guilty! :P But then, it tastes so good, you'd always feel that you haven't had enough! :)

Ingredients

Black Whole Urad Dal: 2 bowls
Black Kidney Beans (Rajma): 1/2 bowl (it's optional though)
Red onions: 2 medium finely chopped
Garlic: 5-6 cloves finely chopped
Ginger: 1 TSP grated
Green Chilis: 2-3 finely chopped
Tomatoes: 2-3 medium and blended into a paste
Whipping cream: 1/2 bowl
Vegetable Oil: (2 TSP)
Salt: to taste
Red Chili Powder: 1/2 TSP
Turmeric (Haldi) Powder: a pinch
Asafoetida (Heeng): a pinch
Coriander (Dhaniya) Powder: 1/2 TSP
Cumin (Jeera) Seeds: 1/2 TSP
Whole Garam Masala consisting of Whole Black Cardamom (Badi Elaichi), Cinnamon (Dalchini), Cloves (Laung), and Bay Leaves (Tejpatta)
OR
Garam Masala Powder

Pre-preparation

Soak the Dal and Kidney beans overnight. Boil it in a pressure cooker with around 6-7 whistles. The number of whstles required to cook the Dal depends on the quantity of it. If you haven't soaked it overnight, you might have to use a couple of more whistles. Make sure that the Dal is not overcooked. It should becomed soft without getting mashed.

Masala Preparation

Heat oil in a big pan/cooker. If you want the Dal to be richer, you may also prepare the tadka in Ghee or Butter. Add whole garam masala and let it crackle for half a minute. Add cumin seeds and let them splatter till they become dark brown. Add the chopped onions, garlic, ginger, and green chilis. You may also grind onions, garlic, ginger, and green chilis together and prepare a coarse paste. We like them chopped! :)

Saute the mixture till it turns light brown and starts leaving the oil from the sides. Add the tomato paste and stir for a minute.

Dal Preparation

Add the boiled Dal to the mixture and stir well. The density of Dal Makhni is thicker than the normal Dals so add or reduce the amount of water accordingly. Add whipping cream now and let the Dal come to a boil. Reduce the flame now and let the Dal simmer for about half an hour. It is said that the more you simmer the Dal, the tastier it becomes!

Serving

When you feel that the Dal is ready, garnish it with chopped coriander leaves, dry and crushed fenugreek leaves, and some whipping cream. It goes best with Rice or Naans. Enjoy! :)

Bharva Masaledaar Bhindi (Okra)

2009-01-05T19:09:00.010-06:00

Divu experimented with Okra (Bhindi) today's dinner and prepared a nice Bharva Masalaedaar Okra dish. It's the stuffed version.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

Fresh Okras: 10-12 pieces
Red Onion: 1 medium (optional)
Mustard Oil - 3 TSP
Coriander leaves (for garnishing)
Chat Masala (optional - for taste)

Ingredients for the stuffing

Mango Powder (Amchoor): 2 TSP
Fennel (Saunf) Powder: 1 TSP
Cumin (Jeera) Powder: 1/2 TSP
Salt: to taste and a little less than the actual quantity required for the stuffing
Red Chilly Powder: 1/2 TSP
Garam Masala: 1 TSP
Chat Masala: 1/2 TSP
Masala of Mango Pickle: 1 TSP (Grannys and Moms make amazing mango pickles and the masala of that pickle will add to the spicy and sour flavor of the masala)

Procedure

For each piece of Okra, slice off both the ends and make a vertical slit, long enough to fill the stuffing. Make sure that you don't end up cutting the Okra piece into two! Keep them aside.

Mix all the ingredients that are needed for the stuffing and mix them well with hands. Make sure that no lumps are formed in the mixture. Add 1 TSP of mustard oil to the mixture and mix it well with your hands. The masala of the pickle will already contain some oil so make sure that you don't add much oil to the mixture. The stuffing should now become paste-like.

Fill the Okras with the stuffing evenly. Make sure that the stuffing is neither too less nor too much.

Heat 2 TSP of mustard oil in a non-stick pan on a medium flame. Add a pinch of asafoetida and salt to the oil and let them sizzle. Place the Okra pieces one by one in the pan. You would now hear the Okra sizzling and smell the mild aroma of the Okra. :)

Cover the Okra and let it cook on a medium flame for 5 minutes. At regular intervals, keep sprinkling very little water on the Okra and tossing them in the pan. This way, the Okra cooks nicely at all sides and remains soft.

After the Okra is cooked, sprinkle some fennel powder on it and mix it well.

Optional

While cooking the Okras, you can cut an onion in thin slices and spread it over the Okra. Let the onion pieces saute for a while. Onion would give an added flavor to the Okra.

Serving

Transfer the Okra to a serving dish and garnish it with chopped coriander leaves. Have it hot with Plain Parantha or Chapatis. Will be good for those who like it with Rice!

Dum Aaloo (Punjabi style)

2009-01-04T21:35:00.011-06:00

Potatoes are everyone's favorite and there are loads of yummy dishes that you can prepare using them. One of the yummy dishes is Dum Aaloo, which is prepared by using baby potatoes. We prepared it the Punjabi style yesterday and they turned out real nice - spicy and sour!

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes: 10-12
Red onions: 2 big
Tomatoes: 3-4
Garlic: 2 buds
Green chillies: 2-3
Curd: 1 small bowl
Cardamom (Elaichi): 2-3
Cinnamon (Dalchini): 1 stick
Cloves (Laung): 2-3
Cumin (Jeera) seeds: 1 TSP
Red Chilly Powder: 1/2 TSP
Coriander (Dhaniya) powder: 1/2 TSP
Turmeric (Haldi) powder: 1/2 TSP
Garam Masala: 1/2 TSP
Salt (to taste)
Coriander leaves (to garnish)
Vegetable oil (enough to deep fry the potatoes)

Procedure:

Peel the potatoes and keep them soaked in salty water for half an hour. If the size of the potatoes if big, halve them. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the potatoes till they turn very light golden brown. Keep the potatoes aside.

Blend onions, tomatoes, and garlic to a coarse paste. Beat the curd in a bowl and keep it aside.

Heat 1 TSP oil in another pan and add cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Wait until they start crackling and then add cumin seeds. Let the cumin seeds also crackle and then add the onion-tomato-garlic paste. Cook the mixture on a low flame for 5 mins.

Add red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt to the mixture and cook it for 1 more min. Enjoy the aroma of the mixture and watch it changing its color. Remove the pan from the flame for a while and add the beaten curd to it. Put the pan back on the flame and cook the mixture for another 5 mins.

Add potatoes to the mixture and let them get soaked in the gravy. Since we've already deep-fried the potatoes, they'd already be soft and wouldn't need much time to get cooked. When the potatoes are nicely cooked and soft enough, add Garam Masala and mix it with the gravy. Make sure that you do not stir the gravy too vigorously to end up with mashed potatoes! :)

Dum Aaloo is ready! Transfer them to a serving dish and garnish them with chopped coriander leaves. You can also crush dry fenugreek leaves and sprinkle them on the top of Dum Aaloo for an extra flavor.

Dum Aaloo go well with Naan, Paranthas, and Pooris. Enjoy!!

Sweet Cardamom Rice

2008-12-26T22:41:00.007-06:00

Whenever we cook rice, we tend to cook it more than required and then worry what to do with the leftover rice. Well, here is something sweet we all have heard about, sweet rice, but cooked with some more ingredients.

It takes care of the leftover rice and also serves as a quick dessert.

Pre-Preparation
Plain Boiled White Rice, crush the rice with hand to avoid lumps.

Ingredients
Plain Boiled White Rice - 1 Bowl
Cardamom Powder (Elaichi) - Crushed cardamom is also OK to have - 1/2 TSP
Raisins - (Kishmish / Saungi) - 15-20
Sugar - 3 TSP
Fennel Powder (Saunf) - 1/4 TSP
Pure Ghee - 2 TSP

Procedure
Heat the Ghee in a non stick frying pan for half a min. Add raisins, little cardamom powder and little fennel powder with it (Save some fennel and cardamom powder for the end). Let it crackle for 20-30 secs and add rice to it. Make sure you crush the rice with hand to avoid lumps. Keep stirring the mixture constantly. We do it so that ghee gets nicely spread over the rice. You would feel the aroma of Desi Ghee around you. While stirring, add sugar and stir the mixture on medium flame for 1-2 minutes.

Serving
Transfer the mixture in a plate / bowl and sprinkle fennel powder and then cardamom powder over it. Serve hot and have it hot.

Baingan Pathankoti

2008-12-23T19:24:00.021-06:00

Brinjal or Eggplant (Baingan) comes in various shapes and sizes. Its most popular dishes are Baingan Bharta and Baghare Baingan (the stuffed preparation). We recenly tried out a new preparation of the Eggplant. It's quite simple and quick to cook and tastes yummy! We call it 'Baingan Pathankoti'. ;-) Pathankot is our home town!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

* Eggplant (Baingan) - 1 big
* Red Onions - 2 medium
* Tomatoes - 3-4 medium
* Finely Chopped Green Chillies - 2-3
* Finely Chopped Garlic - 1 TSP
* Finely Chopped Ginger - 1/2 TSP
* Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1/2 TSP
* Coriander (Dhaniya) powder - 1/2 TSP
* Turmeric (Haldi) - 1/2 TSP
* Mango powder (Amchoor) - 1/2 TSP
* Red Chilly powder - a pinch
* Asafoetida (Heeng) - for flavor
* Salt - to taste
* Chopped Coriander Leaves
* Vegetable oil - enough for deep-frying

Preparation:

Chop the eggplant into 1-inch pieces and put them in water until we do the other preparations. The reason to keep them in water is to avoid the eggplant pieces turning black.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the 1" sized eggplant pieces.

Make sure that the oil is not very hot and take the eggplant pieces out after frying them for half a min. The whole idea of deep-frying the eggplant is to make it soft before the final preparation.

Blend onion and tomatoes to make a thick mixture. Should use a blender.

Heat 1-2 TSP oil in a pan, put cumin seeds, and wait till they start crackling. Add chopped ginger, garlic, and green chilies, and sauté them for half a min. Add the onion-tomato paste and let it cook on a low flame for a min. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, and asafoetida. Mix well. You can smell the air filled with the fragrance of North Indian spices. While you enjoy the aroma, the mixture would need a minute to be ready.

Add the deep-fried eggplant pieces and mix them well with the paste. Now we had already fried the eggplant pieces, so the pieces will be very soft and mix very nicely with the spices mixture. Make sure that the gravy is neither very thick nor very watery.

Add salt and cover the mixture and let it cook for about 5 mins. Do not forget to stir the mixture after every minute to prevent the mixture from sticking to the base of the pan. Check the eggplant pieces, if they need some more time, it is ok to give it another minute to cook.

Add mango powder in the end and mix well. And finally Garnish the eggplants with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with Plain Paranthas.

Stuffed Bitter Gourd - Karela

2008-12-21T16:03:00.007-06:00

There was a time Divu used to hate Karela (Bitter Gourd). After tasting Mom's Stuffed Karela, she started loving them. ;-) And when she decided to prepare it herself, she came up with a combination of Mom's and her Grandmom's recipe. Here's how we made Stuffed Karela:

Ingredients:

• Fresh Bitter Gourds (Karela) - 4 to 5
• Finely chopped Red Onion - 1 medium
• Finely Chopped Garlic - 1 TSP
• Finely Chopped Ginger - 1/2 TSP
• Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1/2 TSP
• Cumiin Seeds Powder - 1 TSP
• Aniseed/ Fennel seed (Saunf) - 1/2 TSP
• Mango powder (Amchoor) - 1/2 TSP
• Turmeric Powder (Haldi) - 1/2 TSP
• Red Chilly powder - 1/2 TSP
• Coriander powder (Dhaniya) - 1/2 TSP
• Salt - to taste
• Asafoetida (Heeng) - for flavor
• Mustard oil - 3-4 TSP

Pre-preparation
Scrape the skin off the Karelas with a knife and keep it aside (make sure you do not peel off the skin). We are going to use the scrapped skin for stuffing, so be careful here.

Mix the scraped skin with salt and keep it for an hour. Rub some salt on the Karelas too and leave it for an hour. The purpose of salt is to reduce the bitterness of the Karela. Skip this step if you like your Karelas to taste bitter.

Preparing the stuffing
Heat 1 TBSP of oil in a pan and saute the chopped onion, garlic, and ginger. Wash the skin of Karelas that we mixed with salt earlier, preferable use a sieve for washing. Rinse the excess water and mix it with the rest of the mixture. Add cumin seeds powder, mango powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder and salt in the mixture. Mix it well on low flame. Keep this mixture aside and let it cool for sometime. We will use it for stuffing.

Preparing Karelas
Wash the Karelas to and on each piece make one longitudinal slit. It will open up the karela from inside, now carefully remove the seeds from it. Stuff the mixture inside the Karelas and make sure that it doesn't come out. You can use a regular sewing thread around the pieces incase karela does not hold the mixture.

Cooking
Heat 2-3 TSP of oil in a non-stick pan. Put some cumin seeds and let them crackle. Put a pinch of Asafoetida and one by one, carefully place Karelas in the pan. Cover the pan and Cook the Karelas on low flame for at least 25-20 mins. In between, keep turning the Karelas to ensure that they get cooked from all sides. The Karelas need to be cooked enough to make their skin soft.

Precautions
Don't overcook Karelas. It will harden and blacken the skin.
Careful with the slit, don’t cut the karela into 2 pieces.
Don’t forget to take off the thread before eating the Karelas.

Bread Gulab Jamuns

2008-11-20T18:03:00.012-06:00

Divu's on a cooking spree these days, and yesterday, she thought of trying the Bread Gulab Jamuns that her granny used to make. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

* White bread - around 10 slices
* Milk
* Sugar - 2 bowls
* Raisins
* Vegetable Oil

Procedure:

Remove the sides of the bread slices and crush the white part. Mix milk with bread and prepare a dough. Make sure that the dough is neither too hard nor too soft. So, add just the right quantity of milk.

Grease your hands with oil and make small-sized balls using the dough. Put some raisins inside each jamun. Keep the size of the jamuns small to avoid the taste of raw bread. Heat enough oil in a pan and deep-fry the jamuns till they turn golden-brown. Simultaneously, prepare the sugar syrup by boiling sugar and water till the solution becomes dense. Make sure that the syrup is free-flowing.

Soak the jamuns in the syrup for an hour or so. Warm the gulab jamuns before you serve them.

Methi Matar Malaai

2008-11-16T21:23:00.015-06:00

Just before the dinner, at around 8 PM, I felt like having something different and my mind started going back to my bachelorhood days when I used to eat daily at a small restaurant. That was the place where I had made friends with the owner and would always order something off the menu and the chef would always make me the dishes I ordered in the way I wanted them. Of those, one of my favs was Methi Matar Malaai and I made it today. Here's the recipe.

Preparation time: 15-20 Minutes

Ingredients:

Matar (Green Peas - Fresh or Frozen) - 1 Bowl
Methi (Fennel Leaves) - 1/4 Bowl - You may chose fresh/dry leaves and if you chose dry, soak in some fresh water
Cream/Malai - Half Bowl
Red Onions - One
Tomatoes (optional) - One
Jeera (Cumin seeds), Red chilly powder, Salt, and Kitchen King (a pinch of it for taste)

Procedure:
Heat 1 TSP oil in a pan. When it gets real hot, put cumin seeds in it and let them change their color to dark brown. Add the finely chopped onion and stir fry till they become golden brown. At this stage, you can also add chopped tomatoes (if you wish) to the onions and fry them. Now add the peas and stir for 2-3 mins.

Add the remaining spices, except Kitchen King. We'll save it for the end. Fry the mixture for a min and then cover it to let the peas cook for some time.

After 2 mins, add the fennel leaves and mix them well with the peas. Stir the mixture for 1 more min. You'd now get the nice aroma of the fennel leaves.

Now add cream and mix it properly. Also, add a pinch of Kitchen King to flavor it. Methi Matar Malai is almost ready now. While serving, pour a TSP of ghee on it. Tastes amazing! :-)
Have it with garma-garam fulkas (chapattis)!

Besan Kadhi - Simple Quick and Tasty

2008-11-15T17:34:00.009-06:00

Most of the time, the young / adults, married or unmarried, are running short of time. Hardly anyone has the patience to spend time in kitchen. For all those enthusiasts (I used to be one of those) who want to eat some good homemade food and that too with minimum effort, here is the simplest dish from my kitchen : Besan (Gram Flour) Ki Kadhi (don't confuse it with Curry).

PS: I am not adding any pakoda's in it, if you prefer, you can prepare pakoda (bhajjhi) separately and then add to the kadhi at the end

Total Time - 10 mins

Ingredients:

Gram Flour: 2 Bowls
Water: 5 Times the Gram Flour
Curd / Yogurt: 2 Bowls
Coriander Seeds: 1 TSP
Red Chilly Powder: 1/2 TSP
Red Dry Chillies: 3 - 4
Turmeric Powder: 3/4 TSP
Asafetida Powder: Pinch of it, as per taste
Salt: Per Taste
Vegetable Oil: 4-5 TSP

Preparation:

0th Min: Mix Gram Flour with 2 bowls of water. Make sure that you get rid of flour lumps if there are any.

1st Min: Heat 2 TSP vegetable oil in a wide pan, and when hot, add coriander seeds, red chilly powder, turmeric powder in it. It would take less than 5-7 seconds for the spices to start blackening,

1 Min: Add the gram flour + water mixture in the pan and stir it for 2-3 mins. Make sure that you constantly stir the whole mixture with a spatula. If you don't, lumps will get formed at the bottom and the whole mixture will have to be dumped. Add remaining water if the lumps are forming and add more if required.

4 Min: Mix the Curd / Yogurt with little amount of water to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the mixture and keep stirring for another 1 min.

5 Min: Add salt to the mixture and keep stirring for sometime.

6 Min: Let the mixture come to a boil. This might take 2 mins.

8 Min: Heat 2 TSP Vegetable oil in a small pan. When the oil becomes super-hot, add some coriander seeds and dry red chillies. It would take a couple of seconds for this 'tadka' to be ready.

9 Min: Pour the 'tadka' over the mixture and your KADHI IS READY.

Serve HOT with fresh cooked Basmati Rice.

Aaloo Achari - on public demand!

2008-11-13T10:55:00.004-06:00

So this happened a week ago when Divu was continuously trying out new stuff and happened to try Achari Aaloo as well. They turned out so good the first time that we decided to make it for the next potluck. And this time, I gave her a hand. ;) They tend to become a hit with everyone and people have been asking for its recipe since long. So here it is, on public demand! :)

Ingredients:

Potatoes (medium-sized, boiled, and cut into wedges - around 1 inch Size ) - 4-5
Medium-sized Red onions (ground) - 4-5
Ginger paste - 1 TSP
Garlic paste - 1 TSP
Salt, turmeric powder (haldi), red chilly powder, cumin seeds (jeera), mustard seeds (sarson), onion seeds (kalaounji) - all to taste
Whole red dry chilies - 3-4
Cooking oil

Keep these two aside as extras for the end :-)

Sugar (1 TSP)
Vinegar (1/3 cup)

Procedure:

Deep fry the potato wedges in oil till they are golden and keep them aside.
Heat one TSP oil in a wok, add onion paste to it, and saute it till it turns brown.
Make sure that you stir the paste constantly to avoid overcooking it. We need a light brown color - no dark shades. :) In less moisture, the onions should not take more than 3-4 mins to get the right color, but if the moisture is high, they might take 2 extra mins.
Add garlic and ginger paste to it and saute for some more time - around 3-4 mins.
Add salt, red chilly powder, turmeric, and then stir for a min ; at this point, the hot mixture should start releasing its fragrance and you can smell the taste :-) "Make sure you don't have runny nose at this time or you would miss some real good fragrances. ;-) "
Add the fried potatoes now.
Mix the potatoes well with the mixture and add a cup of water to it. We don't want to make the potatoes float and nor do we want them to be dry. So add water appropriately.
Let the mixture cook on low flame for 3-4 minutes.
Heat 1 TSP of oil in another pan.
Add whole red chillies, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and onion seeds to it.
We did not have whole red chillies so we used chilly flakes. :)
When the seeds begin to crackle and the chillies turn dark, pour this mixture on the top of the potatoes.
Achari Aaloo is ready steady go!

I had earlier asked you to keep Vinegar and Sugar aside; here is why. The above recipe will give you salty Achari Aaloo. If you intend to make it a little sweet to maskofy your "woh" do this:

After step 6-7 (adding water and stirring), mix sugar and vinegar in a separate bowl and add it to the mixture. Stir it for 1-2 mins and then do the remaining steps.

Aaloo Achari would go best with garma-garam pooris, butter naan, and my personal favzz Plain Lachhaa Paranthaazzzz....yummmyyy mummmyy.

Best of Luck and Enjoyzzz!

Papaya da halwa

2008-10-23T22:08:00.004-05:00

This time around we explored the Fiesta grocery mall and bought a Texan-sized Amrican Papaya. Ok, it wasn't that big to be called Texan, i agree.

The next day, i got diet-conscious and thought of having fruit breakfast so asked Divs to get me Mr. Papeeta(papaya). Dangg, it tasted so a little weird, so i got back to my age old friend Banana. Nevertheless, ab Mr Papeeta is here so have to make something of it.

Divu took advice from Poojya Maata G, who suggested "Papaya ki kheer". So we were all set to prepare the kheer today but ended up with Papaya ka halwa! Let's see how. :D

Here are the usual halwa ingredients that we need:

Papaya - 1 ripe medium-sized
Sugar - 4 -5 TSP
Milk - 1/2 ltr
Almonds/Raisins/Cashew nuts
Ghee - 2 TSP

Here's what we did:

Grate/mash the papaya and drain excess water.
Heat ghee in a kadhai (pan) and fry the papaya pulp on low flame for around 10 minutes.
Add sugar and stir well. Cook this mixture for 2 more minutes.
Now add milk, stir well, and let the mixture come to a boil.
Increase the flame to high and keep stirring constantly to avoid halwa from sticking to the kadhai.
When the milk mixture starts becoming dense and leaves the sides of the kadhai, add the dry fruits to it.
Stir for some more time. It's now ready whenever you feel it is! :D
Serve hot!

The smell of the Papaya halwa can fool anyone into thinking that it's Gajrela (Gajar ka halwa). Even the looks of both the halwas are the same.

Njoi! :)

Friday night Matar Paneer!

2008-09-20T09:41:00.004-05:00

It was Friday night and I felt the itch to kick Divu. What's a better way than to kick her out of the kitchen and make something delicious for her! ;-)

In the refrigerator, the poor soul was lying unnoticed since long so I thought of bringing it to life, of course, in My own style! :-) Ohh, I was talking about Paneer!

Paneer or Cottage cheese (We used to say in college - "Paneer is to a Vegetarian what Chicken is to a Non Vegetarian"). As I am a hard-core vegetarian, so my dishes would be strictly vegetarian! :-)

This is what the Paneer looked like after going through an ordeal of 25 minutes. Read on if it tempts you and aspires the chef that's hiding somewhere inside you!

Ingredients:

Red Onion Chopped / Half Sliced – the way you like it - 1 Big / 2 Small
Half Sliced Red Tomatoes - 2 to 3
Fresh / Frozen Green Peas - Half bowl
(If frozen – soak in water before use for 10 mins)
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 TSP
Finely chopped / crushed ginger and garlic can also be used)
Finely chopped Green Chilies - 4 to 5
Cottage Cheese - ½ Lb (250 gms)
(Homemade / Fresh Paneer would be the best choice)
Butter/Oil - 2 TSP
Desi Ghee - 1 TSP

Spices - Regular:

Cumin seeds (Jeera) 1½ TSP
Corianderpowder (Dhaniya) 1 TSP
Red Chilli powder (Lal Mirch) 1 TSP
Turmeric powder (Haldi) 1½ TSP
Salt per your taste (Namak) 1½ TSP for me

Special / Optional:

Asafoetida powder (Heeng) a pinch
Kitchen King (Everest / MDH) per your tsaste (I prefer around ¾TSP)
Coriander leaves (Fresh Dhaniya)

Procedure:

Preheat the pan and put butter/oil.
Reduce the flame to Sim and throw in cumin seeds. When you hear its churning sound and see them jumping all over the, fry them for half a minute or so, till the color becomes dark brown.
Now throw in the ginger-garlic paste and give it a few seconds to turn brown.
Now it’s for the green chillies to find who is hotter - the pan or chilies themselves!)
Throw in half of the chopped Green Chilies in the mixture. Fry them for half a minute.

Do not forget to sir the mixture continuously when it's getting fried.

Put in the chopped onions now and sauté at medium heat for 3-4 mins – wait for the light brown color to appear.
Now put the half-sliced tomatoes and saute` well.

Cover the mix for a min at light flame to let it release some water.

Put the rest of the spices and mix well.

Do not crush the tomatoes to save on time - let them release water by itself. Cover the mixture again and let it cook for 2-3 mins at low heat (lesser than Sim). While it's cooking, enjoy the aroma of the Micky's special tadka!

Put the peas in the mixture and stir well again and increase the heat to Sim.

Cover the mixture again and let it cook for 2 minutes. Right now, I am letting the peas absorb some flavored moisture from all the spices!

In the meantime, crush the cottage cheese and keep it ready.

The mixture will release some more moisture, and if somehow it goes totally dry, you can add some water (half a bowl – not essential).

Finally, mix the cottage cheese and stir well at medium heat.
Heat it for a min and spread it on the pan.
At this stage, the yummy Matar Paneer is ready to serve, but I prefer adding the specials now.
Sprinkle the Kitchen King and Asafoetida powder over the Matar Paneer and mix it nicely .
Micky da matar paneer is ready steady go!

Yummmmzzzz!!!

Serve in a Bowl and Garnish the Matar Paneer with finely chopped Coriander Leaves and a tablespoon full of Desi Ghee!

InJoyzzzzzz!!!

Kick d start

2008-09-09T12:15:00.002-05:00

A chemical engineer turned Java programmer turned SAP consultant (and a probable chef :-) )

Professions change, the people around you change, and YOU change. What does not change is the sarson da saag and punjabi tadke de tamatar te pyaaz.

Through this blog, I'm gonna let you see how I perform in the kitchen at times, especially on the weekends. So I'll ready steady go with my next preparation soon! ;-)