Potato Kurma

I was going through Sangeetha's Blog for Blog Hop Wednesday, I came across this Aloo Kurma recipe. I chose the Onion Masala Paratha for the event and bookmarked this recipe for later. I was longing to prepare some kurma for some time now. I made these for idlys, but it sure does go well with many a things.

Aloo Mirch

Anything with potatoes can hardly go wrong. And a dish with potato and Bell Peppers, no way!!!!! I usually prepare this for my hubby's lunch box. Now there's no lunch box, he comes home for lunch......Yipeeee!!!!

Tomato Jaipuri

Last week when the family was here, we had been to our favorite restaurant in KL. The Bombay Palace!! Never have we noticed the Tomato Jaipuri on the menu. So when we fell in love with the dish, I had made up my mind to try it out at home. Its a dish that can be tagged "Fragile - Handle With Care". You heard me right...Fragile, because of the tendency of tomatoes. It takes not even half a minute to overcook it. Yep...I did overcook a batch of tomatoes and had to try it out with fresh ones again to get it right. Now off to the recipe!!

Bharwan Aloo

I tried stuffed capsicum, and now its stuffed potato!! This wasnt that tricky....but taste wise, nothing can compare....Potatoes are after all yummy!!

Vegetable Jalfrezi

I have tried many a side dishes for roti's, but never a mixed vegetable gravy. It had been haunting me for a long time, until today. I tried this recipe from a cookbook and luckily it turned out well. Being separated from the family, my hubby decided that the menu's in Bangalore where the family is and in KL will be the same to the extent we can manage. And so we did on day 1, since the new deal. A simple vegetable Jalfrezi!!

Puri Potato Masal

I was gearing up for my mashed potato recipe at Crazy Cooking Challenge with a dish I loved along the streets of Nottingham. It was mashed jacket potato with chilli and beans. But then suddenly a thought struck me why not send the indian version of mashed potato. Yeah puri masal or sagu is the all famous and all time favorite breakfast across South India and is mashed potatoes with the indian touch. I knew the recipe still looked if there were any with variations. I got this recipe from Sashi's Tasty Bites. Just the minor tweak from the recipe we prepare, inclusion of gram flour. What else but fluffy hot puris and masal for a lovely winter morning....

Chakalaka

A new series of Blog Hop Wednesday starts today. A new set of people to cook with. It really feels good. Im paired with Priya of Tasty Curry Leaf and when I went through her blog, I really could'nt control the number of bookmarked recipes. I was paired with Priya Sreeram and while I started cooking, I chose the wrong Blog.  I hopped onto TastyCurryLeaf. I was literally hooked onto her site for hours. But later CurryLeaf commented on my post saying I had cooked from the wrong blog. I saw this late in the night and tried a 7 Cup Cake from Priya's Blog and posted it ontime for the Blog Hop.
Now, the recipe I chose from CurryLeaf is Chakala. Its a South African relish served with Pap. Its very simple to make and both kidney beans and baked beans being my favorites I chose this recipe. This is very similar to rajma masala.

Stuffed Capsicum

Ever since I saw Khana Khazana on Zee I always wanted to try stuffed tomatoes. But Capsicum being a favorite, I tried this instead.

Jackfruit Kofte

We got these yummy jackfruit, which was very sweet this time. And I decided to prepare these koftas, which were sweet and sour.

Paneer Makhni

Ok with a bar of paneer sitting in our freezer, all I have to do is paneer dishes. Else it would get spoilt. This is one other favorite in the family.

Ingredients
Paneer - 10-15 cubes
Onion - 2
Tomato - 2
Cashew Nuts - 4-5
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
Dhaniya Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 2 tsp
Kasoori Methi - 1/2 tsp
Cream - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method
Heat oil in a pan, and shallow fry paneer until light brown. Remove any extra oil and put it in a bowl of cold water.
In a pan, heat some more butter/oil, saute chopped onions and tomatoes and grind into a thick paste along with cashew nuts after cooling.
Heat a tsp of oil, add the paste and saute for 5 minutes.
Add ginger garlic paste, salt and all the dry powders and let it boil for 5-10 minutes. Add some water if the gravy is too thick.
Add paneer cubes, cream and kasoori methi and cook for 5 minutes.
Garnish with a tsp of butter and serve hot with chapathis.

Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Papad Sabji

No vegetables in the fridge, dont worry!! I found this yummy sabji with papad in NDTV cooks.

Ingredients
Papad - 1
Curd - 2 cups
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Green Chili - 1
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya Powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil and Ghee for cooking

Method
Heat ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste and green chilies and saute.
Mix turmeric powder, red chili powder, dhaniya powder with whipped curd and add it to the pan.
Crush fried papad and add this along with some salt. Add very little water if necessary and dont cook for more than 2-3 minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with chapathis.

Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Black Channa Curry

No white channa, no channa masala - and we decided to make chole!! It ended up something else obviously but simple yet tasty.

Ingredients
Black Channa - 1 cup
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method
Soak black channa overnight and pressure cook till soft. At times it takes lots of time to cook, if its hard it might leave you with an upset tummy :(
Heat oil in a pan, add onions and saute till golden brown.
Add tomatoes and cook till mushy. You can either grind this and cook or continue as such.
Add cooked chana, red chili powder, garam masala, salt and cook well. Add some water it the gravy is too thick.
Pour some lemon juice and serve hot with chapathis.

Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Pumpkin Subji

Red Pumpkin isnt used much in our cuisine, save kootu and coconut kari. I had this subji once at my aunt's place and since then its been something I prepare many a times.

Ingredients
Red Pumkin - 1 cup
Tomato - 1
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
Dhaniya Powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, tomato and chopped red pumpkin.
Add red chili powder, dhaniya powder and salt and mix. Mix it well when the pumpkin is raw and hard.
Add some water, close with a lid and cook.
Serve it hot with chapthis.

Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Mushroom Tikka Masala

Mushrooms are lovely. We always used to prepare button mushrooms with onion. Last week during our veggie shopping, we got mushrooms and were thinking of preparing risotto ai fungi. Suddenly today a change in plan, inspired by A curry of a life we prepared Mushroom Tikka Masala. Turned out really well.

Ingredients
Button Mushrooms - a handful
Bell Pepper(Capsicum) - 1/2 (I prefer green)
Onion - 1
Tomato - 2
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya Powder - 1 tsp
Yoghurt - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method
Whisk yoghurt, half a tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp  red chili powder together and mix mushrooms and chopped capsicum. Keep it aside for 15-20 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, finely chopped onions and saute till golden brown.
Add tomatoes and saute, till mushy.
Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, dhaniya powder, salt and mix well. Add some water and allow to boil.
When the oil seperates from the tomato gravy, add the marinated mushrooms and let it boil. Add some fresh cream and cheese.
Switch off heat and serve with hot chapathis and lemon wedges.

Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Green Peas Masala

I was late for dinner after a tedious shopping spree and really dint know what to prepare quick. We were damn hungry. So mustered some help from my husband and we prepared green peas masala and chapathis. Real quick took us hardly 20 minutes to finish it from scratch.

Ingredients
Green Peas - 1 cup
Onion - 1
Tomato - 2
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Chili Powder - 2 tsp
Cheese slice - 1
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, finely chopped onions and ginger-garlic paste and saute till the onions are golden brown.
Add finely chopped tomatoes and keep stirring till it cooks well and turns mushy. You can either grind this and proceed or prepare the dish just like this.
Add green peas, all the other ingredients and saute for a minute or two. Add enough water and allow it to boil.
When the gravy is thick, garnish with coriander leaves and cheese and serve with hot chapathis.

Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Pavakai Bhaaji

Today is my first participation in The Blog Hop Wednesday. Im paired with Sumedha of Sumee's Culinary Bites for this week. As soon as I visited her site and was looking for recipes , I found this Karela Bhaaji. I knew that very instant that this would be the recipe for the blog hop. There are awesome stuff on her blog, was even in a dilemma later on thinking if I should change my decision. But I stuck with it - Karela Bhaaji. We call it pavakai (Pakarkai). I personally dont like bitter gourd. Its never cooked at my parents place as my father gave it away in Varanasi (Transliterated from Tamil). When my dad went to perform the final rites for my grandfather in Varanasi, its a custom to not eat a vegetable and fruit you like a lot thereon. So my dad's fav veggie was bitter gourd. He actually likes food bitter. Even the french beans its at times bitter and he likes it. At our home my MIL, FIL, hubby BILs everybody love bitter gourd. Im the odd person out. Though its just the two of us here now, when we went weekly shopping I bought Bitter gourd. And I thought Il try this type and taste it. I made a few tweaks though, not major just added some garnishing!! It came out really well.

Ingredients
Bitter Gourd - 4
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - a little
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method
Cut the bitter gourd into two vertically, and remove all the seeds. I used the small one which fits into your palm, they are very tasty. I chopped them finely so that I dont see bitter gourd on my plate!!
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and once it splutters; add urad dal, curry leaves, bitter gourd and saute for a few minutes
Add onions and tomatoes and cook till onions are golden brown.
Add all the other ingredients and saute. Once its cooked well, serve with rice or chapathis. We are rice gobblers. So we had this with rice, dal and papad.

Thanks again to Sumedha for this wonderful recipe and to Radhika for the wonderful opportunity to work with different people.

Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Fulka Rotli and Dal

Today was our first day in Malaysia. Trying to cook something with the limited kitchen is tough. Roti and dal is probably one of the simplest dishes to make. But I missed my rolling pin in India which left me handicapped. So I took up the dare and prepared hand made roti's. We were lucky, though shapeless - it dint turn out bad.

Ingredients
Toor Dal - 3/4 cup
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chili - 1 or 2
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Chili Powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking


Method
Pressure cook toor dal with some turmeric powder and a tsp of oil till its mushy.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, red chili, ginger garlic paste, onions and saute.
Add tomatoes, chili powder, salt and mix well. Deglaze the pan by adding some water.
Whisk the dal well till its smooth and add it to the pan.
Once it comes to a boil, add finely chopped coriander and serve hot with fulka rotlis.

Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Paneer Bhurji

I love paneer in any form. As my MIL was out of town I had to prepare dinner and I thought why not something with Paneer.

Ingredients
Paneer - 250 gms
Onions - 2
Tomato - 2
Red Chili - 2
Green Chili - 1
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tbsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking


Method
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add asafoetida, chilies, finely chopped onions, and saute.
Add finely chopped tomatoes, salt, garam masala and saute.
Once cooked add grated paneer and stir well. 
Garnish with coriander and lemon juice and serve hot with phulkas.


Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Assamese Cabbage Koftas

Assamese Cabbage Koftas - it was slightly different for a person who is choosy when it comes to cabbage. It was different for a change when I was watching Chak Le Academy.

Ingredients
For the Koftas
Cabbage - 1 cup
Onions - 1/2 cup
Garam Masala - 1/4 tbsp
Dhaniya Powder - 1/4 tbsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4 tbsp
Tuirmeric Powder - 1/4 tbsp
Chili Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Gram Flour - 2-3 tbsp
Oil for frying


For the Gravy
Onions - 2
Tomato - 2-3
Khus Khus - 1/4 tbsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 stick
Cloves - 2
Dhaniya - 1/2 tbsp
Garlic - 3
Ginger - 1/4 inch piece
Green Chilies - 3 

Curd - 2-3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking


Method
For the Koftas
In a Bowl add the very finely shredded cabbage and onions along with garam masala, dhaniya powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, chili powder, gram flour, oil and some water and make a batter and let it rest in a refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
Deep fry the fritters. We can make balls of the mixture and fry them or just take the batter in a spoon and pour it in a pan and fry it shapeless.


For the gravy
Heat a pan and add khus khus, cinnamon, cloves, dhaniya, onions, garlic, ginger, green chilies and dry roast them.
Add salt, coriander and pound into a dry powder.
Heat oil in a pan, add onions and saute till brown. 
Add the spice paste and add some water to deglaze the pan. 
Add finely chopped tomatoes, sugar, salt and cover/cook till you get a gravy consistency.
Add some curd and switch off the heat.
Garnish with cashew, raisins, lemon juice and coriander. Serve crisp fritters and pour the gravy on top.
Goes well with phulkas.


Bon Appetit!!
Rudra

Baby Corn Masala

This one's from my sister-in-law. She keeps trying new recipes and lets me know about the interesting ones.

Ingredients
Baby Corn - 4
Onion - 2 medium sized
Tomato Puree - 1 cup
Cashew Nuts - handful
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 tbsp
Dhaniya Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method
Cut baby corn into small circles or length wise into two and boil in hot water. Close the lid and let the baby corn cook for 5 - 10 mins
Heat oil in a kadai and saute the onions with cashew nuts. Set it aside for cooling. Then grind it into a paste.
Heat some more oil and add cumin seeds.Once it splutters add ginger garlic paste and the onion paste and saute.
Add the tomato puree, red chili powder, dhaniya powder and salt and let it cook.
When oil separates from the dish add baby corn and water and let it simmer until the water is all absorbed and the consistency is there.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with chapathis.

Bon Appetit!!
Rudra