Karela fry

Karela. The name itself strikes terror in our household, and I've virtually stopped making it. But when the hubby bought two plump karelas and some tiny onions, I had no choice but to dust out my mother in law's recipe. I must have done something right, because it got polished off.

2 karelas

6 small onions (regular onions, but smaller in size than normal)

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 1/2 tsp dhania powder

1 1/2 tsp amchur powder

1 1/2 tsp haldi powder

1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Salt

Method:

Wash the karelas, and scrape off the green skin. Make a vertical slit, and hollow out the seeds. 

Rub with salt inside and out, and let it stand for an hour. 

Mix the dry masalas together (do not add the salt). 

Rub out the salt covering the karelas, squeeze slightly, and stuff with the masala. 

Peel the onions, and cut them in a cross. Add salt to the masala mix, and stuff the onions

Heat oil in a kadhai, slide in he vegetables and fry till browned. 

Kadhai Mushroom

Ever since I made the kadhai paneer last week, I've been wanting to make kadhai mushroom. I adapted this from the same recipe.

200 gms mushroom

2 onions chopped fine

2 tomatoes chopped fine

1 green capsicum chopped fine
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp jeera powder
2 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp red chilli sauce

1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

Wash the mushrooms well, then cut them vertically. 

Heat 1 tbsp oil, sauté the mushrooms till lightly browned. Keep aside.
In the same pan, add rest of the oil, add chopped onions, and saute till transparent. Add ginger garlic paste, and spices, and saute till the raw smell goes. Add tomatoes and sauté till mushy.
Allow the masala to cool, then grind it till you get a fine paste.

In the pan, add 1 tsp oil and sauté the capsicum. Add the ground masala, salt to taste and mix well. Add the sauted mushrooms, and mix well. Add water, bring to boil, simmer for 2 minutes and serve. 

Aloo tikki with Channa masala

When I was young, aloo tikki with chana was a classic combination which I had almost every time I accompanied my mother to a "party" at her friends' place. Going through the archives, I was surprised to find I haven't yet written about it. So here it is.

For channa masala
250 gms kabuli chana
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium tomato chopped fine
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
Oil
1 tsp rai
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Method:
Soak the kabuli chana overnight, or at least for 6 hours. Cook in a pressure cooker, till done (about 20 minutes on low flame after the first whistle)
Heat 1 tbsp oil, add onions and saute till transparent. Add the tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste and cook till tomatoes turn mushy. Blend and keep aside.
Heat 1 tsp oil and splutter mustard seeds. Once they stop spluttering, add onion-tomato paste and the spice powders, and saute for 2 minutes.
Add the cooked kabuli chana and sufficient water. Mix well, bring to boil, cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Garnish with finely chopped onions and green chutney, and serve hot with aloo tikkis

For aloo tikkis

4 large potatoes

1 tbsp besan

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp jeera powder

1 small onion, chopped

1 green chilli, chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the potatoes, cut into eighths and pressure cook till soft (about 10 minutes after the first whistle). Peel, mash and keep aside.

Mix the mashed potatoes with finely chopped onions and green chilli. Add salt, red chilli powder and jeera powder, and mix well.

Heat a tawa, and spread a thin film of oil. Take lemon sized balls of potato mix, flatten, and shallow fry on a low flame till browned. Flip and fry the other side till brown.

Add additional oil/ butter, if required.

Serve hot with chana masala.

Green chutney:
1 bunch mint leaves
1 bunch coriander leaves
1/2 large lemon
Rock Salt to taste

Method:
Blend the mint leaves and coriander leaves till smooth. Add rock salt, and squeeze the lemon and mix well.

Matar ka halwa

While I love gajar ka halwa, and try to make it at least once a year, grating carrots is not exactly my idea of fun. Which is why I have been wanting to try matar ka halwa ever since I saw a recipe nearly a year back. I finally made it today, and liked it a lot. Given my family, though, I am going to reduce the sugar a bit more next time I make it.

2 cups green peas, shelled
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp ghee
Cardamon powder, optional
Sliced nuts for garnish

Method:
Blanche the peas in boiling water for 5 minutes (or till the colour turns a more vivid green). Remove into cold water, drain and keep aside.
Grind the peas coarsely in a blender.
Heat the ghee, add ground peas, and saute till the raw smell goes.
Add sugar and milk, stir well, and cook on a low flame till most of the milk evaporates.
Stir in cardamon powder.
Garnish with nuts and serve chilled.

Malai Makhana Curry

My mother used to cook Makhana a lot when I was a kid, but it has been ages since I had it, and I'd almost forgotten it existed. Was reminded of it's existence a year or two back, when I saw MM post this recipe, but since makhana wasn't available at any of the stores near me, I could only lust. After moving to the new place, I saw makhana at my grocer, but it took me nearly 6 months to finally make this.
I ground the spices, which wasn't such a good idea. Next time, I will remove the spices before grinding, and I am sure I will like it much more that way.

Makhana /Lotus Seeds/Puffed Fox nuts, 3 Cups
Green Peas, 1 Cup
Oil, 1 tbsp

For the gravy:
Bay Leaf, 1
Cinnamon, 1 inch
Cloves,3
Green Cardamom, 2
Black peppercorns, 8
Onions, chopped,2 medium
Tomato puree, 5 tbsp
Ginger, paste, ½ tsp
Garlic, paste,1 tsp
Salt, to taste
Coriander powder ,1 tsp
Kashmiri Red chili powder, 1 tsp ( gives a lovely red colour without any heat)
Fresh Cream, ½ cup
Oil, 1 tbsp
Water, enough to get a thin consistency gravy

Dry roast makhanas in a non stick pan over low heat with constantly stirring. When makhanas start going crunchy pour a tablespoon of oil all over them and continue to stir till they start changing colour to pale golden brown. Remove from heat and keep aside.
Boil green peas and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and then add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns. Sauté till they start to crackle. Add onions and fry till light golden brown. Add ginger/garlic paste and sauté well. Add tomato, tomato puree and all the spice powders. Sauté till oil separates and then take it off heat. Blend the mix to a smooth fine paste (use water if necessary) and strain it back into the pan. If you don’t want the heat of the whole spices, pls. fish them out before blending the paste. I didn’t want to add red chili powder so I left the whole spices in. If you want to add red chili powder, don’t add the peppercorns or reduce the quantity.

Add water to the strained mix and let it come to a boil. Add green peas & makhanas. Let the gravy simmer well on low heat so that the makhanas get a chance to soak up the gravy and go soft. Add the cream, mix well and cook for another couple of minutes.
Serve hot.

You can avoid the cream by adding milk instead of water to the gravy.
Mushrooms and Paneer also work well with the Makhanas.

Mooli Bhujiya

Sometime in the '80s, seduced by the advertising might of the manufacturers of sunflower oil, my mother banished all the "unhealthy" oils from her kitchen. The only oils I ever really cooked with were the so called "heart friendly" ones, and though they got the job done, I realised what I was actually missing only after I bought my first bottle of mustard oil a couple of months back. North Indian subjis have taken on a whole new flavour now, and I am loving it.

Which is why, when I saw this recipe for Mooli Bhujiya, I knew I had to try it out immediately. And I loved it- the family less so, but I'll teach them to appreciate it soon enough.

Radish (Mooli) with leaves intact- 2

Green Chilies - 1
Mustard Oil - 1 tbsp
Carom seeds (Ajwain) - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida-1/4 tsp
Turmeric-1/2 tsp
Salt-1 tsp
Chili powder-1 tsp
Mango powder-1 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp 

Method
Wash the radish and the leaves. Chop the leaves into small pieces, and the root into discs.

Heat mustard oil in a pan and add carom seeds, as soon as it start crackling add asafoetida and chopped green chilies.stir for few seconds (don't overcook ajwain /carom seeds else it will taste bitter)
Now add the chopped vegetables, mix and saute for a minute.
Add salt and all the spices, mix well. Cover the vegetables and let it cook in its own steam till done.

Serve hot with chapati.

Nimona

Till a week back, I hadn't even heard of something called Nimona. But within a week, three people posted different versions of it, and since I just love green peas, I had to try it out. It being the start of the holidays, I got the kids to help me shell the peas, and before I knew it, we had enough to go (and more).

Loved the dish, and am definitely making it again soon.

1 cup shelled Peas, puréed/mashed in Sil-batta.
1 large Potato, cubed.
3 tbsp vadi
2 Tomatoes, chopped fine

2 Onions, finely chopped.
1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste.
Chillie powder

Salt

Garam masala

Haldi

Hing
Mustard oil
Sabut Jeera, Tej Patta for tempering.

Method:
Heat mustard oil in a pan, and sauté wadis and Potaotes till done. Keep aside.
In the remaining Oil, add Jeera, Bay leaf, Onion, Ginger-Garlic paste, and sauté till golden brown.
Add the Tomato purée, Chillie powder, Salt, Garam masala, Haldi and Hing

Sauté till it releases Oil, and add the Peas. Add some water and cook till done.
Add the Potaotes and wadi, and cook further for a few minutes.
Serve hot with rotis.

Rajma

My mother's Rajma is reputed to be the best. I wouldn't really know, because I never had rajma made by anyone else till I went to hostel. And there, we had rajma twice a week. Not any old rajma- a fusion rajma made by Malayali cooks to cater to North and South Indian taste-buds. Add to the fact that the sambar powder didn't really go with the rest of the gravy was the fact that the beans would invariably be insufficiently soaked, and therefore quite bitter. By the time I graduated two years later, I couldn't even think of rajma without wanting to throw up.
All those years as a new bride, the only request I would make to anyone calling me home for dinner was "no rajma PLEASE". And so my mother's rajma remained the only edible rajma I ever tasted.
Gradually, the phobia left me, and I started having rajma again. Not too often, and not too cheerfully, but I could have it without wanting to throw up. And now, I do make it once in awhile.
This version is my own, and I make it often.

250 gms rajma soaked overnight

1 badi elaichi

1 piece cinammon

2 bay leaves

 

3 small onions, chopped

3-6 pods garlic

1 inch piece ginger

2 tomatoes

4 tsp dhania powder

2 tsp jeera powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp kasoori methi

salt to taste

2-3 tbsp cooking oil 

2 tbsp cream

Method:

Cook the soaked rajma with the three whole spices in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes (lower after the first whistle and let it simmer for 20 minutes). Discard the whole spices and keep aside.

Take onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes in a blender, and grind to a fine paste.

Heat the oil, lower the flame, add the paste and the ground spices, and cook on a low flame till the raw smell goes, and the masala starts leaving the sides of the kadhai.

Add the cooked rajma and kasoori methi to the paste. Add about 1 1/2 cups water, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the cream, cook for a minute, and take off the fire.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Kulcha- somethings don't even seen impossible.

Some things are deemed impossible. But even applying the term "impossible" to something tacitly implies you thought of doing it, and then realized you couldn't. Kulchas and naans were things I didn't even attach the tag to, because I never even thought of them as things that could be done anywhere but in a restaurant.
Then two things happened within a few days of each other- I discovered yeast, and someone posted a recipe for kulchas. Since then, I have been screwing up the courage to attempt them, and I finally did so on the Birth Anniversary of the Father of the Nation.
If I thought the family would decide to go on an indefinite fast after being confronted with it, I was wrong. They came out super-soft, and rather tasty. Now I need to work on getting the shape right.

Ingredients

2 cups maida
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp kalonji (I'll skip it next time, or replace with black til)
3 pods garlic crushed
1 cup warm water
maida for dusting

Dissolve the sugar in about 1/4 cup warm water, pour in the yeast, and allow it to stand for about 10 minutes, by which time the yeast should start froathing.
Mix the maida and salt together, and make a hole in the middle.
Crush the garlic in a mortar and pestle and keep aside.
Once the yeast is active, pour it into the hole, add the oil, the kalonji and the crushed garlic and knead to a smooth dough, adding water as required.
Roll into a ball, cover with a damp cloth, and leave it for about 1 hour to rise.
Meanwhile, preheat (for about 5 minutes) the oven to 250 degrees and grease a baking tray.
Grease your palms with a bit of oil, lightly punch the dough down, then divide into about 8 balls.
Dust the balls with maida and roll into circles using a rolling pin.
Sprinkle a bit of water on one side of the kulcha, and place it on the baking tray. Broil for about 3minutes till it starts browning, then turn around and let the other side cook for about a minute. You can make three kulchas at the same time.

Butter the kulchas, or not, but serve piping hot.

Best with channa.

Aloo matar aur saare matar

"Aloo matar aur bahut saare matar", went one of the most popular ad-lines in the '80s. That's exactly what he had tonight, prepared and consumed with love.

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
2 onions, chopped fine
2 tomatoes, chopped fine

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp jeera powder
2 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

Method:
Lightly fry the potatoes in 1 tbsp oil for about 10 minutes and keep aside.
Add the rest of the oil, and saute the onions till transparent. Add the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste and all the spices, and saute till the tomatoes turn mushy.
Let it cool, and whizz it in a mixie till it forms a smooth paste.
Return the masala to the kadhai, add about 2 cups water, mix well. Add potatoes and peas, and salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the flame, cover, and let it cook for 10 minutes, or till the potatoes are well done.

Peas-ful pulao

Hubby wanted aloo matar and roti, but since I was just not in a mood to make rotis, I made this peas-ful pulao instead. Paired with lightly spiced curds, it was almost as good as having aloo-matar!

1 measure rice, washed and soaked

1 tbsp ghee

1/2 tsp jeera

1 badi elaichi

2 bay leaves

1 star anise

1/2 measure peas

1 large onion, cut into slices

Salt to taste

Method:

Start cooking the rice with 3 times the quantity of water.

Heat the ghee, add jeera, and when it starts spluttering, add the onions, and the spices, and saute till onions start browning.

Add the peas and saute for a couple of minutes

When the rice is a little over 1/2 done,  add the peas and salt, mix well, and leave it on a low flame till the rice cooks completely.

Serve with curds.

Palak Paneer

Blanche two bunches of palak and keep aside.
Fry onions (2 medium), garlic (4 pods) and ginger (1/2 inch piece), till the onion turns transparent. Add tomatoes (2 small) and fry till onions turn golden brown. Take off flame.
Blend together the spinach, and the fried masala till most of it is smooth (some lumps are desired, or the texture is too monotonous).
Temper zeera, tej patta and 1 red chilli. Add the blended mix, and salt and red chilli powder to taste. Cook for a few minutes, and keep aside.
Cut 250 gms paneer into small pieces, place in warm water for about 10 minutes.
Before serving, heat the palak, add the paneer pieces. Add about 2 tablespoons of milk, and bring to a boil.

Best with rotis or parathas.