Aloo Gobi Mutter

Aloo Gobi is generally a dry curry. I don't like dry vegetable curry that goes with chapatis. but our vah chef gives ypou teh recipe that has little gravy in it. He cooks it with tomatoes and there is little gravy effect on this dish. Tomato in this curry makes little tangy and we do also add amchur( mango powder).

Ingredients:-
Aloo-4
Gobi- 1 small
Frozen peas-1/2 cup
Red chilli powder- 1/2 tspn
cumin powder- 1 tspn
Amchur powder- 1/4 tspn
Coriander powder- 1/2 tspn
Garam masala- 1/2 tspn
Onion- 1 small chopped finely
Tomato-1
Green chillies-4
Jeera-1 tspn
Ginger garlic paste-1 tspn
Kasuri methi powder-1/2 tspn
oil for deep frying

Method:-

• Add the chopped aloo and gobi in hot oil and fry them for a min till it becomes soft and keep aside.
• Make a coarse paste out of onions and green chillies and keep aside
• In a separate pan, Add some oil. Add jeera and add the onion green chillies mixture.
• Fry it for 2-3 mins.
• Add tomatoes and fry for some more time until it becomes little mushy.
• Add turmeric powder and salt and fry it.
• In a small bowl, add cumin, coriander, amchur and red chilli powders and mix it well by adding water.Add this in to the mixture. keep stirring.
• At this time add fried aloo and gobi.keep stirring it until teh masala coats well for 2- 3 mins. Add frozen green peas. mix it well.
• Garnish it with coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with chapathis or rotis.

Note:- If you are very calorie conscious, you can avoid deep frying aloo and gobi. Directly add in to the curry and cook for atleast 20 mins in a low flame.

Plantain Fry- Aratikaya vepudu- Baalekaye palya

Source:- online- posted by shriya

I used to make normal palya(fry) with plantain and it was not that great taste. Finally found one masala spicy recipe that very well goes with dal and rice. We ( I and my Hubby) relished it so much.

Ingredients:

• Plantain : 2
• Onion: 1
• Tomato: 1
• Ginger : 1″
• Garlic : 2-3
• Red Chili Powder : 2 tbsp
  
• Salt : required to taste

Method:-

1. Cut the plantain into two and pressure cook them for one whistle.
2. Peel the skin and cut the plantain into small cubes. Keep them aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan add chopped onion fry them till it becomes soft and add the tomatoes fry them for few more minutes.
4. Remove from heat and let it cool.
5. Grind them along with ginger and garlic in to a paste
   
6. Heat oil a pan and add the above grounded paste and fry for some time.
   
7. And add salt and red chili powder and fry them till it becomes dry .
8. Now add the plantain cubes and mix it gently with the masala .
9. Fry them till it becomes crispier in a medium heat for about 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Serve it hot with rice

Point 9 is very imp. cook it a medium flame for atleast 25 mins

Grapes Gojju

After 2 months of India vacation, I am back to my cooking blog. Now it has been already been 4 months since I blogged.

Here I come up with my Mom's recipe - GRAPES GOJJU - The consistency of gojju is thick like tomato ketchup.
Some will be wondering if we can make any spicy dish out of fruits. Yes, you can:-)


Ingredients:-

Seedless Grapes- 1/2 cup
Coriander seeds- 1/2 tspn
Jeera-1/2 tspn
Uradh dhal- 1/2 tspn
Pepper-3-4
Sesame seeds-1 tspn
Channa dhal- 1/2 tspn
Red chillies-5
Coconut-1/2 cup
Cinnamon- 1 small piece
Elaichi-1
Tamarind pulp- 1 tspn
Jaggery- 1 tspn
Salt- to taste




Method:-

• Dry roast coriander seeds, jeera, urad dhal, pepper, sesame seeds, channa dhal and red chillies in a pan.
• Grind them along with coconut, cinnamon and eliachi. Make it as a coarse paste.
• In a separate bowl. Boil this paste by adding around 1 cup of water. Add tamarind pulp(1tsn) , Jaggery(tspn) and salt. Switch off the stove once it is boiled and keep it aside. Now Add grapes. Do not boil it again after adding grapes.
• Finally add seasoning( oil, mustard seeds, jeera and Hing).
• Serve hot with hot rice

Same procedure we can follow with pineapple too.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo for Indian Cooking Challenge

Second time participation in Indian cooking Challenge.
Recipe for December's month is Kashmiri Dum Aloo choosen by Srivalli.

The recipe is very unfamiliar to me. It has many different ingredients which we do not usually use in regular cooking. Fennel seeds and garlic powder with kashmiri chillies makes this curry tastes simply awesome.. I have never done any curry with the actual DUM method. This curry is cooked under pressure so that the potatoes get soaked in the gravy. I really liked cooking in an authentic way.



Source:- Indian food
Ingredients:-

• Small Potatoes- 10
• Cumin seeds- 1 tspn( Roasted and powdered)
• Garam Masala- 1 tspn
• Fennel powder-1 tspn(roasted and powdered)
• Kashmiri Red chillies-(Roasted and powdered)
• Fresh yoghurt- 2.5 cups( must not be sour)
• Ginger powder-1tspn
• Cardomom powder-1/2 tspn
• Mustard oil- 4 tbspn
• Cloves-6( Roasted and powdered)
• Hing- a pinch
• Salt- to taste
• oil- for deep frying potatoes
• A cup of firm dough made from flour and water

Method:-

• Peel the skin off the potatoes. poke all over the potatoes witha fork. Soak it in warm water by adding little salt for atleast 20 mins.
• Deep fry the potatoes in oil until golden brown and keep aside.
• In another bowl. Add fresh yoghurt and mix chili powder, ginger, cardomom and fennel powders. Add the potatoes in to the yoghurt mix and stir it until the paste gets coated well

• In another pan, Add mustard oil. Add clove powder and hing. Add 1 cup of hot water in to it. When it is boiling add the potato yogurt mix by adding salt and cover it with a lid.
• To do the dum, seal the edges of the pan's cover with the dough to ensure no steam can escape. Put on the stove, cook on a low flame for 10-15 minutes.
• Turn off the flame, remove the cover and add the cumin and garam masala powders, and cover again quickly. Leave for 5 minutes.
• Finally add cahwenut powder and mix well( optional)- according to your taste
  
• Serve hot with naan, rotis or chapathis

p.s:- Recipe says mustard oil but i used vegetable oil.
Added 4 flakes of garlic while making the curry
I have added cashewnut powder to make the curry more tastier and to get the thicker gravy consistent.

Mirchi ka salan

Mirchi ka salan-
Side dish for Pulaos, ghee rice and Biriyanis. It goes extremely well with them. This will be by entry for the next potlock in my friends house. I referred Vahrehvah for this recipe. He has shown it in a simple way. Just follow his video, you will never go wrong.

I have used Banana peppers to make this dish. you can add thai chillies or capsicum or brinjal to make this dish


Ingredients:-
Banana Peppers- 8-10
Groundnuts- 1 tbspn
Sesame seeds- 1 tspn
cumin seeds- 1 tspn
Dry coconut powder- 1 tbspn
red chilli powder- 1 tspn
cumin powder- 1 tspn
Curry leaves-
fenugreek seeds-1/4 tspn
ginger garlic paste- 1/2 tspn
Hing( asafoetida)- pinch
onion- 1
curds(1 small cup)
Tamarind pulp- 1 tbspn
Jaggery or sugar-1 tspn
Turmeric- 1/4 tspn
Cinnamon- 1 inch
cardomom- 3
cloves-3
salt - to taste
oil- 1 tbspn

Method:-

• Add some oil in to pan and roast groundnuts, sesame seeds. when it turns in to golden color add dry coco powder and keep it aside to cool down.Blend it in to smooth paste by adding little water and set aside.

• 
• In a separate pan, Add oil. Add cumin seeds, cinnamon and cardomom and fenugreek seeds.
• Add chopped onion and fry in a medium flame until it turns transparent. Add little salt, hing and little turmeric and ginger-garlic paste.
• Add curry leaves and some water. Add all teh powders( red chilli, cumin, coriander) and fry it for some more time. Cook until teh oil oozes out. add some more water if required.
• Add curds in to it and stir it together. Next, add groundnut sesame coco paste. cook for about 10 mins ina medium flame.
• Finally add tamarind pulp and some jaggery.
• Finally add the slit banana peppers in to the boling sauce and cook for about 15 mins in a low flame .
• Serve hot with any rice.

Aloo palak

Ingredients:-
Potatoes-2-3( Boiled and cut it in to cubes)
Spinach- 1 bunch
Tomato pureed-2
Garlic- 4 flakes
ginger- 1 inch
Onion- 1 large
Red chilli powder- 1/2 tspn
Green chillies-4-5
Coriander powder- 1/2 tspn
cumin powder- 1/2 tspn
Garam masala- 1/2 tspn
Fresh cream- 1 tbspn( optional)
Salt to taste
oil or ghee

Method:-
Boil spinach, onion, green chillies along with ginger and garlic. Cool it and grind it in to smooth paste.
Add oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, and the above said palak paste. keep stirring it. Add tomato puree when the oil separates. keep stirring it in a medium flame. Add red chilli powder, salt, coriander and cumin powder. mix it well


Finally Add boiled pototo cubes and add fresh cream and stir together slowly. Finally add Garam masala and mix well and serve hot with Rotis, pulkhas or any Parathas.

Shaam savera- Palak tofu koftas in a Tomato curry

This recipe is originally got from Sanjeev kapoor. I tried this when my friend Madhavi had posted. It tempted me to do this curry. I made some changes . Instead of adding paneer, i made this curry out of Tofu

Ingredients:-

For koftas;-

Palak/spinach- Boiled - 1 cup
Mashed tofu- 500 gms
green chilli paste- 1 tspn
salt- to taste
Corn flour- 2tbspns
Garam masala- 1/2 tspn

For gravy:-

Tomato puree- 1 cup
Red chilli powder- 1\/2 tspn
Dryred chilli- 2
Cinnamon- 1/2 inch
cardomom-1
Cloves-2
Dhaniya powder- 1 tspn
Jeera powder- 1 tspn
Kasoori methi powder- 1/2 tspn
Turmeric- 1/2 tspn
Butter- 1 tspn
Garam masala- 1tspn
Garlic- crushed -2 flakes
Whipping cream- 3 tbspns


Method:-

• Mix spinach/palak, green chilli paste, salt, and corn flour.( i dint chop the spinach. it is easy to make the koftas without chopping).
• Mix mashed tofu with garam masala powder and salt, in another bowl and keep it aside.
• Make spinach patties on your palm and put the mashed tofu mixture in center of spinach to make kofta. do not cover the tofu completely.
  
• Deep fry koftas in oil and keep aside.

Curry:-

• Add some oil in to the pan. Add little butter and add the masala items and dry red chilli. Add the crushed garlic and add the tomato puree and cook in a low flame.
• Add all the masala powders in to it and finally add whipping cream, salt and kasoori methi powder.
• boil it for 5 mins.
• Finally add the spinach tofu koftas in to the curry and serve hot with rotis, naan or paratha.

Egg Paneer Malai Curry

After a loooooong break, I am blogging my recipes again.
This evening my hubby wanted me to make some spicy egg curry. I had some Paneer left out in fridge. So thought of doing some variety out of egg. Here it goes..,

Ingredients:-

Egg:- 3( Hard Boiled)
Paneer- 100 gms
Onion- 1 large
Tomato- 1 chopped finely
Ginger garlic paste-1/2 tspn
Green chillies:- 4
Garam masala- 3/4 tspn
coriander powder- 1/2 tspnCumin powder- 1 tspn
Whipping cream-1/2 cup
salt- To taste


Method:-

• Add oil in to a pan. Add chopped onions. Add Ginger garlic paste and chopped green chillies and fry for some time.
• Add chopped tomatoes and keep stirring it until it becomes soft.
• Add the coriander powder,cumin powder and salt.
• Add little water and keep stirring it.Now add the boiled eggs half lengthwise ,and mix it gently. Add the Paneer cubes and finally whipping cream and mix it thoroughly.
• Garnish it with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Rotis, Pulkhas or Chapathis

Tofu Butter Masala

Healthier version of Paneer butter Masala.
I love paneer, but my hubby does not like paneer. So tried making this dish with tofu. which is extremely healthy and tastier than paneer.Tofu is found in Asian stores. It is made out of soya milk.

Ingredients:

1. Oil – 30ml (2 small tbsp)
2. Onions – 2 (medium sized) – Chopped
3. Green Chillies – 6
4. Tomatoes puree- 1 cup
5. Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece
6. Cloves – 3
7. Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
8. Salt – As per taste
9. Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
10. Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
11. Cashenuts- 8-10( soak in warm water)
    
12. Milk – 150ml
13. Tofu – 200gm (cubed)
14. Butter- 1 tspn
    
15. Coriander –(chopped finely) – to garnish

Method:-

1. Soak the cashew nuts in warm water.
2. Add 1 small tbsp of oil in a pan and heat it
3. When the oil is heated up, add cinnamon pieces, cloves and roast until the raw smell leaves.
4. When the oil is heated up, add the chopped onions and green chillies and ginger garlic paste.
5. Saute for 3-4 min until the onions turn transparent.
6. Now add the tomato puree and cook for few min,until it whoozes out oil
7. Add salt, garam masala, red chilli powder and milk, bring to boil.
8. Blend the soaked cashews along with the water and grind to a paste.add it to the heating mixture.
   
9. Finally add the tofu cubes and cook for 2min and 1 tspn of butter turn & off the heat.
10. Garnish with chopped coriander.

Your yummy Tofu curry is ready to serve with rotis or chapathis