Aloo Sabzi

Potatoes are one of my favourite foods. And this particular recipe that I am sharing was created because of a smell that I got in our building (I had shared earlier that I love recreating smells that I like or taste). The dish is very very simple at the same time the outcome I am happy to say is yummilicous :)... So here it goes.



INGREDIENTS:



Potatoes: 2 large or 3 medium cubed

Jeera : 1 tsp

Crushed red chilly or paprika : 1 1/2 tsp or as per taste

Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida : a pinch

Coriander leaves : half a bunch or more again as per taste

Oil : 2 Tblsp

Salt : to taste





RECIPE:

In a non stick pan heat the oil and add asafoetida and jeera. Once jeera stops crackling add the potatoes, add turmeric powder and salt. Stir and close the lid on the pan.

Every few minutes stir so that nothing sticks to the base. When the potato is 3/4 done add the crushed paprika and half the coriander.

Mix well and again close the lid. If you want the potato more crispy add more oil. Once the potatoes are cooked through add the rest of the coriander and mix well. That is it. It is this simple and hardly any spices!

You can try the same recipe and add frozen peas brought to room temperature when the potatoes are 3/4 cooked. That also goes well. You could add crushed few shallots with paprika and cook the same thing and that too comes out well.

Enjoy.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Though I am calling it chicken tikka masala I am not sure technically if I can call it that :).... But ya more or less the recipe is the same with few changes ofcourse. But wanted to try this recipe since my hubby's british colleagues all talk about this dish which I believe is one of the most if not the most famous Indian dish in UK. So here goes my trial. I am using thigh pieces (becuase that is my favourite piece in a chicken :D) in the recipe though one could use chicken breasts. Also you should use tikkas for the recipe but I am sort of pan searing it.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken : 6-8 thigh pieces
Onion : 2 large chopped finely
Tomato : 1 large or 2 medium size chopped finely
Ginger : 1 inch
Garlic : 8-10 pods
Shallots : 3-4
Cardamom powder : 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon powder : 1/4 tsp or 1" long stick
Curry leaves : 1 string
Mace : a small piece
Garam Masala : 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder : 1 tsp
Cumin powder : 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder : as per taste
Coconut milk : 1 cup (thick milk)
Coriander leaves for garnish
Oil : 1 Tblsp
Water : 1/2 cup


PREPARATION:

Make a paste of ginger, garlic, shallots, mace and curry leaves. Marinate chicken in this mixture for about an hour. Make deep gashes on the flesh of chicken. Here again the choice of retaining the chicken skin or taking it out is up to the you. But if using skin don't add any oil but instead directly put the chicken into a hot non stick pan and saute in its own oil and once done take out the chicken pieces and make the curry in the oil that was already in the chicken and now will be in your pan.


RECIPE :

Heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon stick at this point if using stick otherwise add later with rest of the masalas. After a couple of minutes take out the cinnamon stick and add the marinated chicken. Saute till 3/4 done and take out the chicken in a dish.

Now in the same oil add the chopped onions and stir till the onion is translucent. Add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, cummin powder, garam masala powder, red chilly powder and cardamom powder. Mix till all the powders are nicely blended and the raw smell is not there, do this on a low flame.

Add tomatoes and saute for few minutes. Now to this gravy add the cooked chicken pieces and let them simmer for few minutes. Once the tomatoes are blended well add the water to make a nice gravy

Finally add coriander leaves and mix well and pour in the coconut milk. Just allow the coconut milk to warm through gravy and never boil the dish after adding the coconut milk.

Enjoy the delicious chicken with chappathis or rice!

Palak Paneer

Palak is something I try to add on to the menu every once in a way whether it is in combination with chicken, aloo, paneer, like a thoran (a kerala dish with coconut) or even palak puri. Generally I do not like to make a paste of it but like roughly even in dishes that call for it to be made it into a smooth paste I still like to make it coarsely ground and not a complete smooth paste. Today I am going to post Palak Panner, which means palak has to be in gravy so making it you can have palak in this dish in smooth paste or coarsely ground paste according to your personal choice.

INGREDIENTS:

Palak or spinach : 1 or 2 bunches (according to how much gravy you want)
Paneer : 250 gms cut into cubes of 1 inch
Onion : 1 finely chopped
Ginger paste : 11/2 tsp
Garlic paste : 11/2 tsp
Jeera : 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder : a pinch
Green chilly : 2-3
Red chilly powder : according to taste
Tomato : 1 chopped
Salt : To taste
Oil : 2 Tblsp


PREPARATION :

Marinate the paneer in 1 tsp of ginger and 1 tsp of garlic paste, salt and turmeric powder for about half an hour or more.


Wash and roughly chop palak. Heat a kadhai and put the spinach in it keep the kadhai on high flame for about 2-3 minutes with lid on. After which switch the gas off and run cold water through the spinach and keep aside.

RECIPE:

Heat about half the oil in a non stick pan or tava and put the paneer in single layer and cook on both sides till golden brown. Once golden remove from and keep aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a non stick pan. When the oil is hot add jeera and once that finishs crackling add the remaining ginger-garlic paste. Saute on low flame till the raw smell goes. Add onions and saute till it turns opaque.

Add green chillies and red if adding, salt and tomatoes, cook for 2-3 minutes. In a blender add this mixture and spinach and either coarsely grind it or make into smooth paste. Pour it back to the pan and bring to boil.

Add golden paneer and simmer for 4-5 minutes. If you like you can add little bit of amchur or lemon juice. You can garnish this dish with juliennes of ginger and green chilly slit.

Kaju Mushroom Curry

This is a vegetarian version of my pepper chicken for those who do not eat the bird to enjoy the similar taste :D.


INGREDIENTS:

2 cups button mushroom quartered or halved
1 tsp fresh Ginger paste
1 tsp fresh Garlic paste
2-3 tsp coarsely ground black pepper corns
1 tbsp oil
3-4 tblsp cashew nuts
2 large onions
1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
1 green chillies slit
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish

PREPARATION:

• Add salt to the cut mushroom and keep aside for 5 minutes in a bowl. The salt will release the moisture in the mushroom at that time add ginger garlic paste and the coarsely ground pepper to the bowl. Mix well and let it marinate for about half an hour. The success of this dish is in the coarsely ground pepper so powder pepper is out.

• Boil cashew nuts and onions coarsely chopped in about ¾ cup of water. Cool and grind it to a smooth paste.

RECIPE:

Heat oil in a non stick pan (hence only 1 tsp of oil) and saute the marinated mushroom for 2-3 minutes, add the green chilly saute for another couple of minutes.

Add cashew nut onion paste at this point. Mix well, add water if needed or how much gravy you need.

After the gravy heats through and starts bubbling lower the heat and keep the dish coverd for 2-3 minutes.

If adding add lemon juice add at this point and switch the gas off. Otherwise just garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Tangy Crispy Bhindi

Again something that I tried because I wanted something different with one of my favourite veggie - bhindi :)... But ofcourse this is not a dish for the calorie conscious ppl but for those who would enjoy tangy taste.

INGREDIENTS:

Bhindi / okra / ladyfinger - 1/2 kg (preferably small sized)
Onion - 1 thinly chopped
MDH Kictchen king masala - 3-4 tsp
Besan - 2 tblsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Jeera - 1 tsp
Oil - 4-5 tblsp (you can add as much as you want to make it as crisp as you like)
Salt - to taste

PREPARATION:

Mix the MDH kitchen king masala and salt with okra in a bowl and leave aside for sometime. After a while the okra will leave water because of the salt, at that time add besan and keep aside for 5-10 minutes.


RECIPE :

Slit the okra in four or more parts depending on the size of the okra. If the okra you bought is the big kinds then half it first then slit in strips.

Heat oil in a pan add jeera when the oil is hot. After it stops sizzling add onion and saute well. Then add the marinated okra and continue to fry.

Add more if you want the okra to be more crispy and fry as much crispy as you would like. Once done you could drain it into a kitchen paper if you have used more oil.

Tip: You could enjoy this dish like this with chapathi or rice or even add a dash of lemon to it.

Sweetcorn and Peas Rice

This is one of the concoction that was made because of my daughter's liking for the main ingredients and also because it is a simple dish in itself. It goes well with raita - any kind of it! So one can infact serve in parties too.

INGREDIENTS:

Rice (basmati preferred) - 1 cup
Frozen sweetcorn - 1/4 cup
Frozen or fresh peas - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1 number thinly sliced
Jeera - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch length
Green cardamom - 2-3 numbers
star anise - 1 whole (optional)
Bay leaves - 1-2
Garlic - 1-2 pods
Water - double or little less than double the rice depending on the rice
Oil - 1-2 tbl sp

PREPARATION:

Since we are using frozen sweetcorns and peas, put them in hot water first and bring to room temperature and drain well. Wash rice and drain that also and keep aside. Boil the water to be added.

RECIPE:

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and then add the bay leaves, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom. After a couple of minutes add Jeera. Once they stop splutteringthe garlic chopped, lower the heat and saute till the raw smell of garlic goes.
2. Add sliced onions and fry till they become translucent. Now add the drained sweetcorn and peas, fry few a few minutes and add the rice. Add salt and stir till all wetness is gone.
3. Pour in the boiling water. Give it a good stir and put the top of the pressure cooker. Give one whistle and switch it off. Now depending on your rice and pressure cooker you can change the number of whistles you give.
4. Once the pressure is fully gone, open the cooker. You can take out the akkha garam masala at the point from this so that it doesn't come into the mouth. Mix the rice gently and serve hot.

CHICKEN DO PYAZA

This is a dish that I learnt after my marriage, it sounds quite fancy put is not that difficult to put together. It is one of the dishes which comes out good every time it has been made. Infact it has become a party favourite with our family. Now you can enjoy making it. Here it goes :

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken – 8 thighs skinned bone in (or any pieces you prefer)
Onion – 5-6 depending on size – chopped finely
Green Chillies - 2 slit (according to taste)
Tomato chopped – 2
Tomato puree- 3 tblsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder - 1 tsp
Ginger chopped finely - 1 ½ tsp
Garlic chopped finely – 1 ½ tsp
Garam Masala Powder – 1 ½ tsp
Oil – 3-4 tblsp
Coriander – 1 bunch
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
Water – 1 ¼ cup
2-3 tblsp lemon juice
Salt to taste


RECIPE:

Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped onions and sauté till they turn nice brown colour. Add salt immediately on putting the onions to help it reach this stage faster.

Add ginger garlic paste, garam masala, red chilly powder, coriander powder, cardamom powder and coarsely ground pepper. Mix well and stir for few minutes till the raw smell of the masala goes.

Add chopped tomatoes and the tomato paste to the mixture and stir fry with the spices for few minutes till a nice gravy forms.

Add the chicken pieces and let the spice mixture coat it nicely and the surface of the meat is sealed.

After few minutes add the water into this mixture and bring the curry to a simmer for about 20-25 minutes.

Add the lemon juice and green chillies and half of the chopped coriander leaves and combine it well to the curry.

Add water if you want more gravy and bring close and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Garnish with the remaining coriander leaves.

Tip: This curry tastes better a day ahead and reheated before serving.

GOBI MATAR

I have a habit of wanting to recreat a smell I might have got from somewhere and it smelled so good that I would want to recreate it in my kitchen. But this curry was made with me wanting a particular taste for the gobi and which would go great with chapathis. And I prefer to add the tender leaves and stalk of gobi to this dish.

INGREDIENTS

Cauliflower - 1 cup (small florets)
Peas (frozen or fresh) – ½ cup
Green Chillies - 2 slit (according to taste)
Tomato chopped – 2
Onion chopped – 1 large or 2 medium
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger chopped finely - 1 tsp
Garlic chopped finely – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Garam Masala Powder - 3/4 tsp
Amchur powder – ½ tsp
A pinch of hing or asafetida
Oil - 2 to 3 tsp
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves for garnishing


RECIPE:

Heat oil in a pan and season with cumin seeds after a min add hing and curry leaves.

Add ginger garlic and stir till the raw smell goes, add onions and fry till they turn translucent.

Add Green chillies and the masala powders except garam masala stir till mixed nicely.

Add tomatoes and sauté till the masala is mixed with the tomatoes.

Then add cauliflower pieces and peas. Season with salt. Mix well and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Don’t over cook the cauliflower.

When cauliflower and peas are completely cooked, add garam masala powder and cook for a minute.

Add little water to make gravy.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

RAJMA (RED KIDNEY BEANS)

Rajma is one of my all time favourite dish. It is simple and goes well with plain rice, jeera rice or chapathi equally.

Ingredients:

2 cups Rajma (Red kidney beans)
a pinch of turmeric powder
2 medium or 1 large onions chopped
6 Garlic cloves chopped
1 inch Ginger chopped
2 Green chillies slit
3 Tomatoes chopped finely
¾ tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Red chilly powder
½ tsp Garam masala
½ tsp amchur (dry mango pwd)
2 tblsp Oil Salt To taste
Coriander leaves for garnish


Recipe:

Soak rajma overnight. Wash and pressure cook the rajma. Or take two canned tins of red kidney beans and keep them ready.

Heat oil in a kadhai and add ginger, garlic and chillies. Fry until they leave the raw smell.
Add onions sauté till onions are golden brown, add all the masala powders and stir for few minutes and add tomatoes. Cook until masala separates from oil.

Add the rajma and salt, mix well..

Simmer the flame and cook until thick gravy is formed. You can also take some rajma in a bowl mash them nicely and add to make the gravy thick and more tasty.

Garnish with coriander leaves and you are ready to serve.

Murg Mushroom Kali Mirch

I have enjoyed cooking but what has made the cooking more special is my husband. He has always encouraged me to try something new, infact when we had got married trying new dishes that came in the Gulf News' Friday Magazine was something we enjoyed together very much. So this site is dedicated to my loving husband and my best friend - Rajesh.

Now, about this dish, it is something I recently created, I actually wanted to make a good mushroom recipe and one with pepper in the end my husband and did so much of digging for the perfect recipe to make that we decided to make chicken kali mirch instead of breaking our heads for a mushroom dish. But finally when the came to add the cashew paste came the gravy looked and tasted so good that I thought if mushroom is added to this it might taste good. We are happy to state it was, infact it tasted really delicious. So though I had been dragging my feet for starting this blog for sometime, this dish just made me want to do it finally:)... I hope everyone enjoys this dish.

Serves 4
Preperation Time : 45 Minutes

Ingredients:

8 Chicken thighs or half kg of any portion of the chicken preferred
1 cup button mushroom quartered or halved
1 tsp fresh Ginger paste
1 tsp fresh Garlic paste
2-3 tsp coarsely ground black pepper corns
3 tbsp oil
3-4 tblsp cashew nuts
1 large onion
1 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 or more green chillies as per taste slit but still joined at the base
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish

Recipe:

Make gashes on the flesh of the chicken so that the marinate will penetrate nicely. Mix ginger, garlic pastes, salt and black pepper to the chicken pieces and marinate for at least an hour.

Boil cashew nuts and onion sliced in about ¾ cup of water. Cool and grind it to a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a kadhai and add the green chilly and then chicken pieces stir-fry for about 05 -10 minutes. Lower the heat and add about quarter cup water. Simmer until chicken is almost cooked.

Add mushrooms and cashew nut onion paste at this point. Mix well, add water if needed or how much gravy you need.

Cook another five minutes and then add lemon juice. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.