Homemade Pav Bhaji

Will post the recipe soon

Beet Bonanza

After making Gulabi Paneer, I had beet leaves , stalk and some beet root left...
Cooked 4 dieshes with these.
I wanted to make patras with beet leaves , may be next time..


Beet Leaves with Black Eyed Beans








The above is a poriyal made with black eyed beans. Only difference is to replace
curry leaves with beet leaves

Beet Root with Whole Moong




The above is a poriyal made with whole moong dal and grated beet root.
Cook the moong dal till nearly done. Then mix salt and turmeric to it.
Shallow fry till browned. Then proceed with making the poriyal.


Also made a brinjal curry with the beet stalks , but nothing was left to take pic :-(

Odachakadalai Corn Masala

Odachakadalai is for Split Dalia in Tamil.

This is my entry for Nupurs A-Z Vegiies Event for letter "O"

Ingredients:

Corn on cobs - 4 smoked on fire

Onion - 1 medium sized sliced thinly

Tomato - 1 chopped

Split dalia - 1/2 cup , roasted lightly and ground to a paste with little water

Chilly powder - 3/4 tsp

Corriander pwdr - 1 1/2 tsp

Cumine pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Garam masals - 1/4 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1) Heat oil , add onions . When brown add ginger garlic paste

2) When there is no raw smwll add dalia paste . Fry well.

3) Add tomato , salt and all powders.

4) Add 1 cup water. When the gravy reaches desired consistency andd corn

5) Garnish with corriander leaves.

Tastes good the next day. Corn gets soaked in the masla and eating it feels like having chicken.

Pepper Chicken And Other Simple Recipes

Pepper Chicken :

This is my Mom's recipe , and it did turn out like how she makes inspite of me skipping the adding coconut part.... I envy Mallus coz they are inert to coconut .. I have to think of cholestrol , calorific value , Blood Pressure and blah blah b4 adding coconut ..... I guess they add some other ingredients to balance out the effect of coconut ...

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 lb
Onion - 2 big , chopped finely
Tomato - 1 , chopped finely , 5 tsp is using puree
Ginger Garlic paste - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 springs
Sonf - 1 tsp
Corriander pdwr - 3 tsp
Bay Leaf - 1 big leaf
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick ( does this ever change :-))
Oil

Roast and grind the following with a tsp of water to a coarse paste

Jeera - 3/4 tsp
Whole Black Pepper - 2 1/2 tsp
Green Chilly - 4
Poppy Seeds - 1 tsp
Shredded Coconut - a handful ( I skipped this )

Dont put too much jeera , u will end up with rasam!!

Method :

1) Mix Chicken with turmeric powder , some chopped curry leaves and set aside.
Heat oil , add bayleaf , cinnamon , cloves and sonf
2) Add onions , when they turn brown increase heat add ginger garlic paste ,
when there is no raw smell , add the ground paste.
3) Add tomato , corriander pwdr and salt.
4) Fry for a minute. Add chicken , 2 cups water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes
5) Remove lid and cook on high for 15 minutes or till gravy is thick.

Tastes great when the gravy gets slightly burnt. Try to avoid using non stick pan.
6) Garnish with curry leaves and corriander leaves

Crab And Egg Fry

Ingredients:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Crab meat - 1 cup

Chilly pwdr - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Hing - a pinch

Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp

Eggs - 2 , beaten well with a piece of ginger and salt

Onion - a small one sliced

Method:

1) Heat oil , splutter mustard seeds , add curry leaves , hing

2) Add onions , garlic paste

3) Add crab , all powders and shred.

4) Make space in the middle , add beaten egg.

5) Cook on high till the egg and crab blend well.

Baby LimaBeans With Spinach

Ingredients:

Spinach - 2 handful

Baby Lima Beans - 1/2 cup cooked

Onion - a small one sliced

Chilly pwdr - 1/2 tsp

Coriander pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Split gram dal - 1/4 tsp

Dry Red Chilly - 1

Ginger - a 1 inch piece chopped

Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Hing - a pinch
Oil - 3 tsp

Method:

1) Heat oil in a pan , splutter mustard seeds , split gram dal.

2) Break into halves and add the dry red chilly .

3) Add ginger , hing , onions , turmeric pwdr.

4) When you can smell turmeric's aroma , add chilly powder , corriander pwdr and salt.

5) Add spinach , when spinach is nearly cooked add lima beans.

6) Allow the beans to brown a little.

7) Sprinkle little red chilly powder and some chopped onions.

U can also try changing the order. Add lima beans first , make it brown and crispy

maybe adding a little corn flour. Then add spinach.

Gulabi Paneer - Paneer cooked in beetroot sauce

Inspired by my Mom's Beetroot halwa , i got some beets ..
From somewhere got the image of how beautiful paneer would look
in a pink coloured sauce .. And Lo we go





Ingredients:

Beet Root - 2 medium sized chopped to small pieces
Onion - Big sliced
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Chilly Powder - 1 1/4 tsp ( use half more than the usual ,as beets are sweetish )
Garam Masala - 3/4 tsp
Yogurt - 3 tsp
Paneer - as much as u want .. I like slices than the usual cubes
Salt
Oil.

Flavoured Milk:

Cardamom - 2
cinnamon - a very small piece
Milk - 1 1/2 cups

Boil milk with the cardamom and cinnamon for 2 minutes.


Method:

1) Heat oil , Add onion slices and half of the garam masala.
2) Cook on low heat. When onions are light brown add ginger garlic paste.
3) When there is no raw smell add chilly powder , salt.
4) Stir in chopped beetroot.
5) Increase the heat , make space in the middle and add yogurt tsp by tsp
each time waiting for the water to evaporate and mixing it with the masala.
6) Add remaining garam masala and cook covered for 10 minutes.
7) When beets are cooked , switch off , cool and grind to a smooth paste.
8) Heat oil , add the paste , saute for few seconds. Remove the caradmom and cinnamon and add the milk and stir well
till you get a thick gravy. This should take less than a minute.
9) Add paneer. Garnish with corriander leaves

Green Mutton Curry

Mutton pieces and Chana dal cooked to perfection in a green gravy
made of mustard greens. Sounds good doesnt it ..

B4 going to the recipe lets read some facts about Mustard greens.Summarized from http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=93

Mustard greens

Are packed with nutrients. They are a good source of vitamins , minerals and dietary fiber.

Are rich in antioxidants Vitamin E.

Promote the health of Lungs.

Delays the loss of mental power.

Supports womens health with its calcium content.

Produce Sulforaphane when chewed, this causes the liver to produce enzymes thatdetoxify cancer causing chemicals and cause colon cancer cells to commit suicide.

Phew !!!

Green Paste:

Chopped Mustard Greens - 1 cup
Onion - use 1/2 of a small onion , rouchly sliced
Green chilly - 4 ( whole)
Sugar - a pinch
Oil - 2 tsp

Heat oil , fry the green chillies , add the mustard greens and onions.
Saute till there is no raw smell. The leaves should retain their color , it should not
become brown.
Grind to a paste with 1 tbs water.

Mutton Gravy :


Mutton - 200 gms
Chana dal - 1/2 cup
Bay leaf - 1
Cardamom - 4
cloves - 5
Cnnamon - 1 inch stick
Onion - big sliced thinly
Tomato - 5 tsp puree
Corriander leaves - 2 tbs chopped
Mint leaves - 5
Corriander pwdr - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 4 tsp ( Mix mutton with yogurt and set aside )
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Green chilly - 4 , Sonf - 1/2 tsp and Jeera - 1 tsp ground together coarsely
Salt
Oil


I used mutton that needs 15 whistles to get cooked..


1) Heat oil , add bay leaf , cardamom , cloves and cinnamon
2) Add onions and cook in low heat till light brown.
3) Add the green chilly mixture and ginger garlic paste
4) Add Corriander leaves , mint , tomato , salt , corriander pwders
5) Raise to high heat and add mutton yogurt mix.
6) Keep stirring till all water evaporates.
7) Add 2 cups water and pressure cook mutton.
8) Cool , remove and add green paste , chana dal , water if required
If you are not confident about the green paste , u can saute it in oil for few seconds
b4 adding.
9) Pressure cook for 3 whistles.
10) Garnish with corriander leaves

N is for Niligiri Korma and Niligiri Curry

I made two N dishes ,
Nilgiri Korma - vegetables cooked in a flavorful onion sauce
Nilgiri Curry - potatoes simmered in a green corriander sauce topped with coconut milk
This is my entry for Nupur's A-Z event for Letter "N"








Nilgiri Korma:

Dry red chilly - 5
Corriander seeds - 2 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 1/2 tsp
Sonf - 1 tsp
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cardamom - 4
Cloves - 5
Bayleaf - 1
Onion - 1 big , cut roughly , boiled and ground to a paste
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Vegetables chopped - 1 cup ( I used soya balls , lauki )
Thick Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Corriander and Mint - 2 tbs chopped finely


Method:

1) Dry roast red chilly , corriander seeds , cumin seeds , saunf , poppy seeds.
Grind to a paste with some water.
2) Heat oil add bay leaf , cinnamon , cloves and cardamom. When aromatic add onion paste
3) Saute till light brown. Add ginger garlic paste. Fry till there is no raw smell.
4) Add salt , spices paste.
5) Add vegetables. Cook covered for 5 minutes.
6) Add a cup of water, Cook the vegetables.
7) Add coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes.
8) Add corriander and mint.

I did not want too much of coconut , so i used dal as a thickening agent.
I cooked masoor dal , mashed it well with a few drops of ghee and
added it to the korma instead of coconut milk.




Nilgiri Curry :

Corriander - a small bunch
Mint - 2 springs
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Shredded coconut - a handful
Onion - half of a small onion
Green Chilly - 6
Poppy seeds - 2 tbs ( soaked in warm water)


Grind the above to a paste.


Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Onion - a small one chopped
Onion - a medium one chopped roughly , boiled and ground
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Potato - 2 medium sized , boiled , peeled and cubed


Method:

1) Heat oil , mustard seeds , fry chopped onions. Add onion paste.
2) Saute till light brown , add green paste , corriander powder. Fry well.
3) Add Curd and potato. Fry for 2 minutes. Add garam masala , coconut milk. Simmer for
5 minutes.

I added some fish to the curry as i cant survive without non veg..

Murg Musallam - Whole chicken in gravy

Served this for a newly wedded friend..

As i was busy with making all the dishes and was on a time crunch , did not take

many pics. Delegated the job to my hubby ...

I initially wanted to make baked chicken , but thought cooking it in gravy

will make it tastier. After cooking it in gravy i stuffed it with come rich mixture...

Perfect for new weds ....

Chicken has to be marinated in the fridge for atleast 24 hours.

Marinade:

Chicken - Whole chicken weighing 4 lbs

Curd - 5 tbs

Ginger garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Corriander pwdr - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Salt.

Beat curd , add all the marinade ingredients and mix well.

Remove the skin of chicken , wash down with vinegar or lime juice.

Clean the inside cavity well.

Wash thoroughly to remove the smell of vinegar.

Make cuts uniformly on the chicken. Smear the marinade on the chicken.

Let it in the fridge.

Fry Chicken:

Heat some butter or oil ( 1 tbs ) in a big nonstick vessel.

Roast Chicken , flipping it regularly till it is evenly browned,

All the marinade should now be collected in the oil and aromatic.

Remove and set aside.

Gravy:

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Corriander seeds - 1 tsp

Cloves - 5

Peppercorns - 8

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Cashews/ Almonds - 10

Roast the above till aromatic and grind to a powder.

Onion - 2 large onions , sliced

ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Fry onions till light brown. Grind onions with spice powder , ginger garlic paste

and little water to a smooth paste.

Making Gravy:

Tomato sauce - 1 cup .. I used 16 tsp

paprika - 1 1/2 tsp

Milk - 1 cup

Saffron Strands - few

Stuffing Mixture:

Mix a handful of crumbled khova with some deep fried onions ,

chopped green chillies , yellow of 2 hardboiled eggs

Heat the same oil that we used to fry chicken ,

Add the onion paste , fry well , stir in tomato puree , paprika.

Add a cup of water. A cup of milk , Saffron strands.

When it boils , add the chicken and reduce the heat. Cook Covered for 50 minutes.

Flip it at intervals to make sure all the sides are cooked.

Once cooked remove chicken carefully , stuff the mixture in the cavity.

Drop it back. Garnish with corriander leaves and the egg whites.

Murg Musallam

Will post the recipe soon ..

Till then u an all drool