Brinjal in tamarind based gravy (Tamilian recipe)

Ingredients:

Serve 3 to 4

• 6 to 8 nos - small brinjal
• 10 to 15 – Sambar onion / small onion (chopped finely)
• 1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp - Red chilli powder ( or add as needed)
• 2 tsp - Coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp - Garam masala powder
• 1 no – Tamarind ( gooseberry sized ball)
• 5 to 10 nos – Curry leaves
• Salt to taste

For grinding:

• 1 tsp - Oil
• 10 nos - Small onion / sambar onion
• 1 medium - Tomato (chopped)

Seasonings:

• 1 tbsp – Oil ( pref sesame oil)
• 1/4 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp - Split black gram 
• 2 pinches – Fenugreek seeds 
• 5 to 6 nos - Curry leaves (fresh)
• 1 pinch – Asafoetida

Preparation method:

1. Soak tamarind in warm water and squeeze out the pulp. Set aside.
2. Wash brinjals, make 4 cuts on the back, without removing the stem (the way you would do for stuffed brinjal)
3. Heat oil in a pan, add sambar onion and tomato, saute until they are well cooked. Allow them to cool completely and grind them to coarse paste.
4. Heat oil in a pan, season with items given in the list for seasonings. Add chopped onion, brinjals along with little salt, cook over low flame stirring it now and then. Cook until brinjals are 1/2 done.
5. Now add ground onion tomato paste and saute for few seconds. Then add all masala powder given in the ingredient list and saute until raw smell goes.
6. Add 2 cups of water and required salt, bring it to boil. Cover with lid and cook until brinjals are almost cooked.
7. Now add tamarind water and cook for 5 to 10 or until raw smell of tamarind goes and when you reach desired consistency. Finally garnish with fresh curry leaves, switch off the stove and serve with hot rice.

Dhokla

My mom's recipe again.

It's easy to make, healthy and a very yummy snack

Ingredients

• 1 cup besan
• 1/3 cup sooji
• 3/4 tea spoon baking soda
• Ginger and green chilli paste (as per taste)
• 1 tea spoon oil
• 3/4 cup curd
• 1/4 tbsp Eno Fruit Salt
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• A pinch of hing
• 1.5 tbsp sugar

For garnishing 

• Mustard seeds
• Curry Leaves
• Sliced green chillies
• White sesame seeds

Process

• Mix besan, sooji, baking soda, ginger and green chilli paste, lemon juice in curd. Add a bit of water if required. The thickness should be a bit more than idli batter.
• Leave the mixture aside for 45 mins.
• Line the baking container with oil.
• Add Eno Fruit Salt mixed in a spoon of water. Mix well, the whole mixture will now become fluffy.
• Steam for 10 mins at high steam and 2-3 mins at medium heat. Check with knife if its done.
• Turn off gas and let it be for 5-7 mins.
• Take out the steamed dhokla from the container.

Garnishing

• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add mustard seeds, curry leaves and sliced green chillies.
• Add sesame seeds. Just roast the sesame seeds a bit, it should not become red.
• Pour the mixture on the dhokla. 
• Cut square pieces of the dhokla.
• Add 3/4 cup water with sugar. When the water boils, turn off the gas and pour it on the cut dhokla so that it absorbs the water.
• Serve with green chutney.

Rohu in mustard gravy

My mom's recipe...

Ingredients

• Rohu (cut into slices) - 1 kg
• Yellow mustard - 3 tbsp
• Garlic - 1.5 pods
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Panch foran
• Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
• Red chilli powder - as per taste
• Turmeric - 2 tbsp
• Salt - As per taste
• Mustard oil

Process

• Wash the fish slices thoroughly. Squeeze out the water by lightly pressing with hand.
• Add salt and 1 tbsp turmeric and marinate for 15 mins.
• Deep fry in mustard oil and keep aside.
• Make a fine paste of yellow mustard and garlic separately.
• Make a paste of onion and tomato
• Add panch foran in oil. Add garlic and fry for a while. When its light brown, add the mustard paste.
• Add coriander powder, red chilli powder and the remaining turmeric powder.
• Add the onion tomato paste.
• When the masala starts leaving oil, add water and salt. 
• Add the fish pieces when the water boils and let the fish pieces cook in the gravy for 5-7 minutes on medium heat.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve with rice.

Note : If you wish, you could also add fried potato and fried brinjal pieces with the fish in the gravy.

Bohri Biryani

This yummy biryani recipe is borrowed from a Bohri family, hence the name...

Ingredients (for 4 people)

• 1/2 kg mutton
• 1/2 kg rice
• 250 gms onion
• 1/2 cup curd
• 1/2 cup mint leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves, chopped
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
• garlic ginger paste 1.5 tbsp
• 7-8 cloves
• 5-6 small cardamom
• a small stick of cinnamon
• red chilli powder (as per taste)
• coriander powder 1.5 tbsp
• cumin powder 1.5 tbsp
• 3/4 cup milk
• few strands of kesar
• ghee 2-3 tbsp
• salt to taste
• 4-5 cashew nuts (for garnishing)

Method

• Cut onions in long and thin slices and deep fry it.
• Prepare garam masala powder by grinding cloves, cardamom and cinnamon.
• Marinate all the ingredients together except rice and tomatoes. Add tomatoes after half and hour. Marinate for minimum 3 hours.
• Add kesar to hot milk for about 30 mins.
• Par boil rice in a lot of water and a little bit of salt. Strain and keep aside.
• Put some oil in the bottom of pressure cooker, put a layer of marinated mutton and then add a layer of rice.
• Pour kesar milk on top of the rice; this prevents the rice from becoming too dry. Add ghee on top of rice as well.
• Put the pressure cooker on high flame till you get 2 whistles; then keep on low flame for 7-10 mins and switch off the gas. Let the pressure cooker cool completely.
• Serve hot with onion tomato raita and garnish with golden fried cashew nuts + onions.

Ragi and buckwheat (kuttu) porridge

Another healthy breakfast recipe, esp for cold winter mornings. This breakfast high in calcium and fibre and very filling.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup Ragi powder
2. 1/2 cup Buckwheat(kuttu) grains
3. 3 cups water
4. Jaggery
5. Milk (soya / almond / normal milk)
6. Nuts
7. Raisins

Method

1. Dry roast Ragi powder till it gets a roasted smell.
2. Add Buckwheat grains and roast for few more minutes.
3. Add water into the mix and boil it.
4. Add jaggery as per taste to get some sweetness into the mixture.
5. Boil slowly till you get the desired thickness.
6. Add milk, raisins and nuts before serving.

This porridge can be stored in the refrigerator easily 2-3 days.

Oats ka cheela

Healthy breakfast recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups oat
• 1 cup sooji
• 2 small cups yogurt
• one small onion
• 2 green chillies
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• coriander leaves
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Dry roast oat and sooji separately for 5 minutes each.
2. Mix both the ingrediants together with yogurt and mix well and keep aside for ten minutes.
3. Add sliced onion,cumin powder,coriander powder,coriander leaves,chillies and salt according to the taste and mix well and make a batter.
4. Make chillas out of the batter and serve hot with chutney or sauce.

Besan ki sabzi (in mustard gravy)

My mom's recipe.

Ingredients (for 4 people)

1. Besan - 1 medium cup
2. Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
3. Salt to taste
4. Red chilli powder - As per taste
5. Yellow mustard seeds - 3 teaspoon
6. Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon
7. Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
8. 1 medium tomato paste
9. Black mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
10. Coriander leaves
11. Oil

Method

1. Make a fine paste of yellow mustard seeds and garlic in a mixie.
2. In a bowl, mix water with besan, red chilli powder, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1/4 coriander powder. 1 teaspoon mustard+garlic paste, salt. The mix should be on pancake consistency.
3. In a non-stick pan, add a few drops of oil and make a thin pancake of the above mixture. When its brown on one side, fold it inwards into three layers. Add a bit of oil on the sides to brown it well.
4. Make similar pancakes of all the mixture, cut the folded pancakes into diamond shaped pieces.
5. In a kadai, add 2 teaspoons of oil; when oil is hot, add the mustard seeds till it crackles.
6. Add the remaining mustard+garlic paste. Reduce flame and saute for 3-4 mins. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and saute for 3-4 minutes more.
7. Add tomato paste and saute for few minutes.
8. When the masala is cooked, add 2.5 cups of water. 
9. Add salt as per taste. 
10. When the gravy starts boiling, add the besan pieces, reduce the flame and cook it for 5 minutes.
11. Garnish with coriander leaves.
12. Serve hot with roti or rice.

Malpua

This malpua recipe is also from my mom.

Malpua is a mandatory dish in Holi. Believe it or not, we eat it with mutton curry during Holi :)

Ingredients

1. Maida - 2 cups
2. Sooji - 1/2 cup
3. Milk - 1.5 cups
4. Over ripe bananas - 1.5 big or 3 small
5. Sugar - 2.5 cups
6. Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon
7. Chopped pistachios for garnish
8. Oil or ghee for frying

Method

For chashni

1. Add 1/3 cup of water to sugar and heat it. Once it starts boiling, let it boil for 2-3 minutes and switch off the gas.

For malpua

1. Soak sooji in milk separately, add just enough milk to cover sooji. Leave it for 1 hour.
2. Then mix the sooji very well with your palms. Add maida and milk and leave it for 3 hours.
3. Blend bananas only in a mixie and then add it to the maida + sooji mixture.
4. Add cardamom power and mix well with a big spoon.
5. Bring oil to medium heat and add 1 big spoon of mixture. Once it rises and is brown on the lower side, flip it over.
6. Once it is brown on both sides, squeeze it between two spoons to remove excess oil.
7. Add the malpua into the chashni, leave it for 2 minutes and then take it out.
8. Garnish with chopped pistachios.

Authentic Bihari Sattu Ka Paratha

My Mom's recipe again :)

Ingredients (for 8 parathas)

For stuffing

1. Sattu ka atta - 1 medium size katori
2. Mustard oil - 2 teaspoon
3. Ajwain - 1 teaspoon
4. Kalonji - 1/4 teaspoon
5. 1 medium size chopped onion
6. Chopped garlic - 2 teaspoon
7. Chopped ginger - 1 teaspoon 
8. 2 chopped green chillies
9. Juice of one large lemon
10. Chopped coriander leaves
11. Salt to taste

For dough

1. Atta - 400 grams
2. Salt to taste
3. Ajwain
4. 1 teaspoon refined oil

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients well.
2. Sprinkle some water so that the sattu gets a binding consistency, and still has the powdery texture.
3. Make dough with all the ingredients mixed and divide it equally for 8 parathas.
4. Fill the mixture and cook it like normal parathas.
5. Serve it with curd or baingan bharta.

Jimikand / Suran ki chutney

My mom's recipe :)

Ingredients
1/2 kg jimikand
Ginger
Garlic
Green Chillies
Turmeric
Salt
Mustard oil
1 large lemon

Method

1. Soak jimikand in a large bowl of water for about 10-15 mins and then wash thoroughly to remove all mud.
2. Chop it into big chunks and boil it (like potatoes) in pressure cooker.
3. Once boiled, cool, peel and mash.
4. Add a pinch of turmeric, salt, mustard oil, chopped garlic, chopped ginger and chopped green chillies. 
5. Add juice of one large lemon.
6. Mix everything.
7. The chutney needs to be a little loose in consistency. For this, boil half cup of water, cool it and then mix it in the chutney to get the desired thickness.
8. Leave it for a day outside for it to get a nice sour taste.
9. Eat it with poori and parathas, or as a nice accompaniment to your daily meals.

Ragi Banana Chocolate Walnut Cake

I came across this recipe posted by a runner in one of the running magazines in India. Made it for the first time on Christmas Eve and it turned out to be much better than expected.

The cake uses all healthy ingredients  and can be made in vegetarian / vegan way.

Ingredients A:

• 1 cup ragi flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 2 level tea spoons baking powder

Mix the above and sieve all together.

Ingredients B:

• 1-1/4 cup jaggery powder (I used "bhoora" powder)
• 1 cup oil / melted butter
• 1 cup milk / smooth beaten curd / soy milk
• 3 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed (leftover over-ripe will also do just fine)
• 1 level tea spoon vanilla essence (optional, as the chocolate and bananas already lend plenty of flavour)
• 1 cup walnut (lightly crushed)

Mix the above with a wooden spoon stirring in one direction only. You can use a cake blender, if you use one. It should be well blended with no big lumps. The small lumps of jaggery (about the size of a wheat grain) are hard to avoid. But that’s fine. They will dissolve slowly or melt when baking and meld with the cake.

Fold ingredients A into ingredients B. By fold, we mean add the flour a spoonful at a time and gently incorporate it into the wet mixture using the side of your spoon while continuing to stir in one direction only. You will be maneuvering the spoon with your wrist.

When all the flour is incorporated, pour it into a baking mould of around 10 inches in diameter, lined with aluminium foil or butter paper at the base. (This is my no-fail way of ensuring cakes willingly slide out of their pans when done. You don’t need to oil the pan.)

Bake for about 40-45 minutes at 180 C. You know its done when a cake tester (or small knife) inserted into the cake comes out clean. If the tester still has liquid dough on it, let it bake for another 5-10 mins. Due to the mashed bananas, the cake will tend to have a moist texture, so the tester might not come out fully dry like traditional cakes, which is okay.
If using a microwave convection oven, you may need to grill it for about a minute to get the top of the cake fully cooked.

You can eat it hot or cold, separately or with vanilla ice-cream.

Enjoy!

Raita Booster

I have been using the Christmas break to try out some new recipes. Also, it's a good time to post some old ones.

Starting with this very simple, easy to make and nutritious Raita recipe.

Ingredients:

• Sprouts (1 cup)
• Finely chopped cucumber (1 cup)
• Pomegranate seeds (1/2 cup)
• Roasted peanuts (1/2 cup)
• 1 green chilli
• Curd (2 cups)
• Rock Salt (kala namak) as per taste

Process:

• Remove the skin of the peanut and break into halves.
• Mix everything together.

Try not to mix too much of the usual Raita spices, since this tastes fresh and best with just green chillies and some rock salt.

Enjoy the fresh flavors !!

Welcome !!

Hi all,

Welcome to this amazing culinary journey :)

Here are some common labels to use to make searching recipes easier:

1. Nick name of the author : e.g occasionalCook
2. Category of dish : "veg" / "nonveg"
3. Type of dish : "starter" / "mains" / "dessert" / "snacks" / "accompaniments" (e.g chutneys, sauces etc)
4. Main ingredients : Few main ingredients used in the recipe 

Looking forward to cooking, sharing and having a lot of fun !!

Cheers
Rajni