Gobi Paratha's

Hmm...  ain't it kinda unfair that roti's and parathas do not get limelight?  Tonight I made Gobi parathas...Let me tell you how I made them .

What you need to do half an hour earlier :

Keep aside:

Cauliflower - 1 medium sized
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Haldi - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp ( adjust according to taste)
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Also knead the atta and keep it covered with a wet cloth. The longer it stands, the better the roti's come out :)

What you do with it :

Take the cauliflower and grate it all up.
Take a kadai and heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in it and throw in some cumin. When it is starts spluttering, add the grated gobi, haldi, chilli powder, garam masala and salt to taste - all together.
Saute all this for about three to four minutes until the water given out by the gobi has all evaporated.
Take off the gas and allow to cool till room temperature.

Just half an hour before you want to eat dinner :

Roll out the Chapathi like you normally do, just a little smaller.
Put in about 2 tablespoons of the gobi masala in the middle of the chapathi.
Fold the chapathi in from all four sides like a square.
Dust this in some atta and roll out into paratha's taking care not to let the filling spill outside.
Cook on a tava as you normally make paratha's.

Enjoy with Pudina chutney /curd with chilli powder/ pickle :)

P.s: You can apply a little ghee on the paratha just before serving ;)

Dal Makhni

There is place in Hyderabad called " Angeethi " (Near city Centre) where you get the yummiest Dal Makhni .. I shifted residence to an all girls PG and they introduced me to this place !.I tried making it at home and it came out well :)

Here's how I made it..
What you need to do the previous night before going to bed :

Urad Dal: 1/2 cup [The whole ones with black skin]
Red Kidney Beans/Rajma: 1/2 cup

• Soak the two overnight.

When you are ready to start cooking the next day :

• Pressure Cook with salt, 2 crushed garlic pods, half a sliced onion, 1 teaspoon of grated ginger, a tiny pinch of turmeric and a teaspoon of red chilli powder.
• This takes about 20-30 minutes to cook.
• The dals must be soft and mashed.

Then ...

• Heat a pan with some oil and 2 tablespoons of butter ( is essential for the yumminess ! ), throw in some cumin seeds.
• Add 4 pods of garlic and 1 inch piece of ginger, chopped. Fry for a minute.
• Now add one medium onion- chopped.
• Cook until onions are browned.
• Add a teaspoon of ground garam masala and red chilli powder.
• Add 2 chopped tomatoes.
• Cook until the oil leaves the side.
• Add this to the dal mix and stir well.
• Add 2 tablespoons of cream and mix.
• Leave this on a low flame for about 20 minutes.

Let it simmer away and you have some yummy dal!

When you serve, add a teaspoon of butter and a drop of cream. It is awesome with Naan's , phulka's or even, all by itself :)

Double Beans Subji / Porial

This has been one of my favorite dishes while growing up. However, I have not seen much of this in Hyderabad.. The other day I happened to chance upon a packet of these delicious beans and away they came home with me :) Here is how I made this yummy curry ..

Things I Needed : Ingredients:

Double beans 1/2 cup
Onion 1 no.
Turmeric 1/8 tsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Salt As needed
Coconut oil 1 tsp (optional)

To Grind:

Coriander seeds 1/2 tblsp
Coconut 2 tblsp
Red chillies 3-4 nos.
Garlic 1 flake
Black pepper whole 1/2 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp

To Temper:

Mustard 1 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Oil 2 tsp

How I Made It :

• Soak the double beans overnight and pressure cook the next day,for 3-4 whistles.
• Cut onion length wise and keep aside.
• Grind the ingredients under the "To Grind" table,to a powder.
• Heat oil in kadai and add mustard,urad dal and then add curry leaves and onion,fry till onion turns out golden brown.
• Then add the cooked beans,salt and turmeric and fry in medium flame for 2 minutes.
• Add the ground masala powder and add enough water to the beans to make a gravy.
• Mix well and cook in low flame,till the water completely evaporates.Keep turning in between to avoid burning.
• Fry till the masala turns golden brown.
• If desired add coconut oil at the end and transfer to the serving bowl and Serve as accompaniment for rice.

Hope You Like It !! :)

Chilli Paneer

It all started out with the usual conversation  in my head- "wat do I make for dinner tonight?" and the usual response - "Anything"! And then "Anything" becomes Noodles and "Chilly Paneer" :)

I thought it would be a change from the usual - Dal chaval or Roti Subjii and turned out quite well, if I may say so myself ( I am modest, na .? :D)

I did make a few changes here and there as I did not have the required ingredients and was too lazy to go out and buy them at 8:00 in the evening .. So here goes -

Ingredients required :

A slab of Paneer ( readily available in the Super market) cubed - 200 gms should do fine
One medium Onion - Sliced
One medium capsicum - Either cut them into long slices or into squares
4-5 garlic pods - crushed
3-5 Green chillies - julienned (for the look)
Vegetable soup powder - 2 tablespoons - Mixed in half a cup of water (instead of veg stock)
Corn flour - 3 tablespoons
Soya Sauce - 2 tablespoons
Green Chilli Sauce - 1 tablespoon
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Oil - to shallow fry the paneer
Salt to taste
Spring onions - 1 tbsp to garnish/ 1 tbsp fry
1/4 tsp Ajino motto ( i didn have any, so didn use any but came out well all the same)

How I Made It :

1. After I cut the paneer , I dusted it in the cornflour and then shallow fried them till they were golden brown on all sides and put it aside on a tissue for the excess oil to drain.
2. In a pan, I heated about 2 tablespoons of oil and when warm , dumped the crushed garlic with a tablespoon of spring onions and waited for the garlic to brown a bit and then, in went the onions, capsicum and green chillies that were sauted for about a couple of minutes.
3. When the onions started turning a shade of pink, I added the fried paneer pieces, the vegetable soup powder mixed in water, soya sauce, chilli sauce, pepper powder, salt to taste and mixed it well.
4. In the meantime, I mixed the remaining cornflour with about one third cup of water and then when the mixture in the pan started boiling, I stirred in the blended cornflour and cooked it on high heat, stirring and tossing until the sauce thickened to coat the paneer and the vegetables.
5.Serve immediately., garnished with remaining spring onions.


P.s: Don't forget to thank me for the compliments you receive ;)

Sindhi KadiI

This tangy curry is traditionally made by the Sindhi community from Northern India. Serve it with a long-grained, fragrant rice like Basmati. Since it's full of vegetables and made with tomatoes and gram flour, it's also nutritious.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Toor/ Tuvar Daal (split yellow pigeon peas)
• 8-10 large tomatoes sliced thick
• 3 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 2 green chillies slit lengthwise
• 1/4 tsp asafetida powder
• 3 tbsps bengal gram flour (besan)
• 1 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 cup baby okra (whole or with tops and tails trimmed)
• 1 cup beans cut into 2" pieces
• 1 cup carrot cut into thick slices
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Soak the Toor/ Tuvar Daal in hot water for 1 hour.
• Boil the Daal in a pressure cooker with water and the tomatoes till done. To do this, once you have closed the pressure cooker cook on a high flame till you hear the first whistle (pressure release). Now reduce the flame to a simmer and cook till you hear 2 more whistles. Turn off the fire.
• Whisk the Daal and add hot water (if necessary) till you get a smooth, soup-like consistency.
• Heat the oil in a pan on a medium flame. Add the cumin and fenugreek seeds, green chillies and asafetida. Cook till the spluttering stops.
• Now add the gram flour. Cook till the raw aroma of the gram flour is gone - it will turn pale brown.
• Now add the red chilli powder and turmeric powder and turn off the flame.
• Add this mix to the Daal. Season with salt to taste.
• Add the vegetables and cook till done.
• Serve piping hot with a long-grained, fragrant rice like Basmati and Poppadums (papad).

Tomato Kadi

Tangy, tasty and so simple to make, Tomato Kadhi goes really well with plain boiled rice. It's also full of veggies, so it's good for you too.

Ingredients:

• 15 large tomatoes
• 3 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
• 2 green chillies slit lengthwise
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 10 curry leaves
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• 3 cups mixed vegetables - cauliflower, carrot, green beans, baby okra
• Fresh chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Preparation:

• Cut the tomatoes into quarters and boil in 3 cups of water till soft. Mash well and strain through a soup sieve to make purée. Add enough water to this to get a thin soup consistency. Put back on the stove and bring to a boil.
• While the tomato purée is boiling, heat the oil in a small pan on a medium flame. Add the mustard, fenugreek and cumin seeds, green chillies and curry leaves to the oil and fry till the spluttering stops.
• Immediately add this mix to the tomato purée and mix well. Add the red chilli powder, salt and the mixed vegetables and stir. Simmer and cook till vegetables are done.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with hot plain boiled rice.

Quick Carrot Rice

Ingredients :
Boiled rice-4 to 6 cups
Chopped onions-1 cup
Carrots-3 to 4
Dhania-2tsp
Coconut-1tsp
Red chillies-4
Cloves,posto, brinji leaves-as required
Oil-for frying
Salt,Chilly powder, Garam masala-to taste



How I Made This :
Boil carrots for few mins and then grate them.
Grind red chillies,coconut and dhania in a mixie.
Heat oil and fry the spices.
Add finely chopped onions,the ground powder,and grated carrots and mix well. Fry this for few minutes.
Add salt,chilly powder and garam masala. Saute well for a minute.
Now add the boiled rice and mix well.
Voila - Serve hot !!

Note :  You can also add roasted cashews and chopped corianders for garnishing

COCONUT RICE

This is a South Indian recipe for coconut rice. Fried coconut and cashewnuts are added to boiled rice and garnished with ghee and coriander leaves.

Ingredients:


400 gms biryani rice
120 gms coconut
40 ml ghee
25 gms black gram dhal
25 gms broken pieces of nuts
6 gms dry chillies
2 gms curry leaves
2.5 gms asafoetida powder
20 gms (minced) coriander leaves
Salt to taste

How to make coconut rice:

* Boil rice and keep aside.
* Fry coconut evenly to a golden colour on a slow fire.
* Heat 3 dessertspoon of ghee. Fry the cashewnuts and remove.
* Fry the broken pieces of dry chillies, black gram dhal, and curry leaves well.
* Mix rice, coconut, nuts, 1 teaspoon of ghee and salt.
* Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

TOMATO RICE (THAKALI SADHAM)

INGREDIENTS:
 2 Cups Long Grained/Basmathi Rice
4 medium sized Tomatoes
1 Big Onion sliced
2 Garlic Cloves
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp MTR Pulav Masala
1 Tbsp Butter
Salt as per tastes
Coriander Leaves for garnishing

METHOD:

• Wash and cook rice adding enough salt and let it cool completely.
• Heat the butter and add sliced onion and fry till transparent. Then add garlic and fry until transparent.
• Now add chopped tomatoes along with all the rest of the masala ingredients and keep frying until the tomatoes are properly cooked and become mushy.
• Mix the above with rice and garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with chilled raitha and enjoy!!!

LEMON RICE

Lemon Rice is a delicious South Indian dish you can easily put together when in a hurry. You can also make it with leftover rice. Serve Lemon Rice with a Raita (yogurt salad) and Poppadums for a simple yet tasty meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked Basmati rice (or leftover rice)
• 2 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 3-4 curry leaves
• 2 green chillies slit lengthwise
• 1" piece of ginger grated
• 1/2 cup peanuts (roasted and unsalted)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Gently roast and then coarsely powder the coriander seeds. Keep aside.
• Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Fry till the spluttering stops and add the ginger and peanuts. Fry for another minute. Add the turmeric powder and turn off the fire.
• Add the lemon juice and mix well.
• Add the rice, roasted coriander powder and salt to taste and mix thoroughly.
• Serve with a Raita and Poppadums.