Pulao with soya chunks

Living in the land of biryani as we do, it was only a matter of time before I made soya pulao as a veg version of the old favourite. 

1 cup rice
2 cup soya nuggets

2 onions chopped fine
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp jeera powder
2 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
Soak the rice for 1 hour, and keep aside.
Heat oil, add chopped onions, and saute till transparent. Add ginger garlic paste, and spices, and saute till the raw smell goes.
Allow the masala to cool, then grind it till you get a fine paste.
Return to the pan, add soaked rice, soya chunks and 3 cups water.  Bring to boil, reduce the flame, and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.

Fried chicken

It was a rainy Sunday evening, and I wasn't really in a mood to cook anything too elaborate. The hubby said he wanted roast chicken with pasta, and even offered to make the pasta (using a premix) if I would make the chicken. To keep him away from the kitchen, I came up with this fried chicken dish.

1 chicken, curry cut

1 medium onion, sliced fine

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp red chilli powder

1 tsp paprika powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp cornflour

Method:

Wash the chicken well, make slits in the leg pieces

Make a marinade with the sauces, salt and paprika powder, and let the chicken marinate for 30 mins. 

Heat the oil, fry the chicken in batches (about 5 minutes each), and keep aside. 

Fry the onions till caramelised. 

Add back the fried chicken pieces, and extra marinade. Sprinkle the cornflour. Mix well, cove and let it cook on a low flame for 15 minutes. 

Serve with pasta or with veggies on a bed of steamed rice. 

Elephant foot fry

My friend Ameeta used to get this for me often. The first time I had it, I thought it was fish fry, but even after I knew what it was, I could get fooled. Tricky to make, but well worth it.

1 yam/ suran/ elephant foot

1 tsp haldi powder

1 tsp red chill powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsp rawa

Cooking oil

Method:

Wash the yam, clean it well, peel off the skin and cut into slices that resemble fillets. This is the tricky part, because yam itches- wear gloves or cost your palms with oil. 

Boil 2 cups water with a little salt. When it comes to a boil, add yam slices, and cook on a low flame for 5 minutes till 75% cooked- you should be able to prick with a fork, but it shouldn't break apart. 

Drain, dip in cold water and keep aside. 

Make a paste of the spices with a bit of water. Smear over the yam slices, and marinate for 15 minutes. 

Heat some oil in a pan. Cost the yam with rawa, and shallow fry on both sides till crisp and brown. 

Serve hot, with a slice of lime. 

Vetalai rasam- Kerala style

After dreaming for years about having an edible garden, I'm finally close to achieving the objective. Though I don't have much in the form of  vegetable plants, I do have the scope to grow stuff.

But one thing I do have is a betel leaf plant, so I looked online to find something I could make with it. This rasam is really lovely- garlicky, with the flavour of betel.

2 medium-sized tender betel leaves

1/4 tsp of turmeric powder 

1/2 tsp of jeera powder 

6 pods of garlic

1 small onion

1 medium-sized tomato

1/4 tsp of black pepper powder 

A small lemon-ball-sized tamarind 

2 sprigs of curry leaves 

1 generous pinch of hing

1 tbsp of oil or ghee 

3 cups water

Salt to taste 

Method:

Soak the tamarind in the water for a few mins. Extract juice and discard the pulp. Keep aside. 

Roughly grind the garlic and onion in small mixer. Keep aside

Heat oil in a pan and add some mustard seeds. When they stop spluttering, add the crushed garlic-onion mixture along with the hing. Fry for about a minute. 

Add the pepper powder, turmeric powder, and jeera powder, and fry for 30 seconds. 

Add the tomatoes and fry until soft.

Add the tamarind water with some salt and the curry leaves and bring to boil. After about 5 mins of boiling, add the betel leaves, each torn into four. 

Serve hot with rice. 

Aloo tikki and chole

The kids now come home from school around 4 pm- too late for lunch, but still in need of a fairly substantial meal. Aloo tikki and chole is one of those dishes that can be whipped up in a hurry and served to them. 

For the chole:
1 cup chickpeas, soaked for 4-6 hours
2 onions chopped fine
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp jeera powder
2 tsp dhania powder

1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
Salt to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil

For the tikkis:
3 potatoes
1/2 tsp haldi powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
1 tbsp besan
Oil for shallow frying


Method:
Pressure cook the soaked chickpeas till well cooked
Heat oil, add chopped onions, and saute till transparent. Add ginger garlic paste, and spices, and saute till the raw smell goes.
Allow the masala to cool, then grind it till you get a fine paste.
Return to the pan, add tomato ketchup, and the cooked chickpeas. Bring to boil, reduce the flame, and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.

Pressure cook the potatoes till soft.
Mash the potatoes. Mix well with the spices and besan powder.
Makes balls, flatten, and shallow fry, till both sides are well browned.

Serve with finely chopped onions. 

Kadhi, without pakode

Kadhi is one of my go-to recipes- almost impossible to go wrong with, and something that everyone likes. Today, however, I did not feel like making pakodas, so experimented a bit with the seasoning, to come up with something that we liked almost as much as the original.

For kadhi:

1 cup curds
1 tsp haldi powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp besan

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp jeera seeds

A pinch of hing

1 medium onion sliced long

3 sprigs mint


Method:
Mix all the ingredients under kadhi into the curds and keep aside for 5 minutes

Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a kadhai, and splutter the mustard seeds. Add jeera seeds and sliced onions and sauté till onions are well browned. Add the hing and mint leaves. 

Reduce the flame, add the dahi mixture and water if required. Mix well, and bring to a boil. 

Serve hot with steamed rice. 

Chicken korma

I've been wanting to make a traditional chicken curry with a rich gravy for a really long time, and when the hubby asked for chicken korma, I thought it the perfect thing to make. It came out really well, and tasted even better the day after.

1 kg curry cut chicken

1 tbsp curds

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

3 medium onions

2 medium tomatoes

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

12 cashewnuts

4 tsp dhania powder

2 tsp jeera powder

2 tsp red chilli powder

2 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp kasoori methi

Salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

 

Whole spices:

1 bay leaf

1 inch piece cinnamon

1 star anise

1 large badi elaichi

Method:

Marinate the chicken in a mixture of curds, ginger garlic paste and salt for 1 hour.

Grind the onions with a little water till you get a fine paste. Keep aside.

Grind the tomatoes and cashew nuts and keep aside.

Heat the oil, add the whole spices, and toss around for 30 seconds. 

Add onion paste, ginger garlic paste, and the dry spices. Fry on a low flame till the oil starts leaving the masala.

Add the tomato-cashew paste, and mix well. Saute for about a minute till the raw smell goes.

Add the marinated chicken, allow it to come to a boil on a low flame, cover, and let it cook for 45 minutes. Every 15 minutes, stir it a bit so it doesn't stick. Do not add water.

Serve with parathas.

Mango mojito mocktail

I've been wanting to make a mango mojito for a really long time, but could never get hold of all the ingredients. Towards the end if the mango season, and in a new city, it finally got made.

Makes three glasses

2 small mangoes

1 sprig mint

Juice of 1 lemon

2 bottles soda

Method:

Peel the mangoes and blend the pulp till smooth. 

Put the mint leaves in a glass and muddle it with the back of a spoon. Add the mango purée and mix well. 

Add the lemon juice and soda and shake to mix well. 

Serve chilled. 

Guacamol- first tryst with avocados

Hyderabad is a strange place. If you want something as simple as vegetables, you need to order it online and have it delivered to your door step. That also means you come across exotic vegetables you might otherwise not buy. Avocado is one such vegetable and it is no surprise what I made with it!

1 avocado

1 small onion

1 small tomato

4-6 pods garlic

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp paprika powder

Salt to taste

Method:

Peel and deseed the avocado. Mash it till smooth. 

Add lime juice and salt and mix well. 

Chop the onions, garlic and tomatoes give and add to the mixture. Add paprika powder and mix well. 

Refrigerate before serving. 

Tomato rice- Tamilian meets Continental

Just before we were leaving Bombay, my sons' friend threw them a party, where he cooked himself. The main dish was what my son called tomato rice, and I decided to rustle it up for lunch today. Ideally, I would have used fresh basil, but since the only herbs I have is kaddipatta, it became a fusion dish. With potato wafers, it was quite a tasty dish.

1 cup rice soaked

3 large tomatoes

4 pods garlic

Kaddipatta

1 tsp paprika powder

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Oil 

Salt to taste

3 tbdp grated cheese

Method:

Heat 2 tsp oil, splitter the mustard seeds. 

Add garlic and sauté till browned

Add kaddipatta and tomatoes and sauté till mushy. Add paprika powder and mix well. 

Add soaked rice and double the quantity of water and salt to taste. Cover and let it cook till rice is done. 

Add half the grated cheese and mix well. Sprinkle the other half over the dish and grill in an oven for 2-3 minutes. 

Chicken curry

When you have kids of a dog, you really don't have much choice but to get things sorted really fact. One of the first things I did here was to find a chicken shop, and this simple chicken curry made itself.

1 kg curry cut chicken

For marination:
3 tbsp curds

1 tbdp ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp haldi powder

1 tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste

3 medium onions chopped fine
1 green chilli
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp haldi powder
3 tsp chicken masala powder
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
Marinate the chicken pieces, and keep for an hour.
Heat the oil. Saute the onions till well browned.
Add green chillis, ginger garlic paste, and spices, saute for 1 minute
Add the chicken pieces, and the tomatoes, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes
Serve hot with roti or rice.

Palak paneer in our new home

This is not the first time I've moved home. But this is the first time I've got the kitchen functioning so soon after moving in. I do hope it is a sign that things are going to go really well here.

Just a regular palak paneer, but one that tasted extra good because it was made in my own barely functioning kitchen!