Chatpati Matar ki chaat

Hi Friends,
Enough of curries and pulaos..let's have some tasty tangy chaat today. The mention of chaat brings a big smile on our faces and so I am sharing the recipe of Matar chaat with you..
Matar Chaat:









INGREDIENTS:
Safed matar (Dried white peas)
Onion
Tomato
Ginger
Green Chili
Coriander leaves
Lemon
Garam Masala
Bhuna jeera (Roasted and ground cumin seeds)
Kala Namak (Black salt)
Salt
Oil

METHOD:
Soak safed matar overnight and cook them with a little salt till they are done.
Fine chop onion, green chilies, ginger, coriander leaves and tomato and mix it with cooked matar. Add bhuna jeera,garam masala and kala namak and make patties of this mixture. Shallow fry these patties on medium heat and add lemon juice. Garnish with chopped onion,coriander leaves, ginger Julian and some bhujia and serve hot.

TIP: This recipe is complete and does not need any accompaniments but if you want, you can serve it with chutney of your choice. If you don't mind using deshi ghee, use it to shallow fry and you will get that typical zyaka from North India.

Happy cooking....

Urad daal kachoris

Hi Friends,

The festive season is around so today we will make daal ki kachori and here goes the recipe...

DAAL KI KACHORIS:

INGREDIENTS:

Maida

Oil

Dhuli urad daal

Saunf (Aniseed)

Mirchi (Red chili) powder

Salt

Garam masala

Aamchur (Dry mango) powder

Heeng (Asafoetida) powder

METHOD:

Soak dhuli urad daal overnight and grind it in a mixer. In a pan heat some  oil and add heeng powder, ground saunf and  ground daal with salt and mirchi powder...fry well and then add garam masala and aamchur powder in it  and your stuffing is ready.

Take maida and add little salt and enough oil to give it bread crumb like  consistency. Kneed this maida with water and leave it for about 10 minutes.

Make small balls of the maida and stuff it with daal mixture. Deep fry on medium heat and your kachoris are ready.

These kachoris go great with dry masala aaloos and khatti meethi chutney made with Imli( Tamarind) and Khajoor (Dates)...I am sure you can make this dry aaloo sabzi of you choice and chutney too but in case you want me to share these recipes, I will do so in my further recipes.I always look forward to your suggestions and requests.

TRICK:To avaoid sticking of ground daal paste in ur pan, you can make daal bhajiys with salt and  mirchi power in it ...once cool, you mash it well...add garam masala, heeng powder, roasted ground saunf, aamchur powder in it...this trick was invented by my mother and we used to eat some bhajiyas with chutney too.

Happy cooking...

Healthy stir fry without any preservatives...

Hi Friends,
Sorry for the delay in posting today's recipe...actually I had a hectic day helping someone with doctor and medicines but here I am to share today's recipe with you. Today it will be a Stir Fry but without any preservatives..after all we need to keep it healthy.. so here we go...

STIR FRY WITHOUT PRESERVATIVES:

INGREDIENTS:
Paneer (Cottage cheese)
Red Bell Pepper
Yellow Bell Pepper
Green Bell Pepper
Sweet Corn
Onion
Tomato
Lemon
Salt
Sugar
Oil
Ginger garlic paste
Oregano

METHOD:
Wash and dice all the vegetables into 1" cubes. Boil sweet corn .
Heat little oil in a pan and add ginger garlic paste...fry for a minute and add all the vegetables. Remember you have to do it on high flame else vegetables won't be crunchy.Toss vegetables for about 5 minutes or till they are done and then add salt, freshly ground pepper, oregano, sugar and salt and mix well till sugar melts.Take it off and add lemon juice. Serve hot.

TIPS: You can use many more vegetables like Broccoli, Mushrooms, Baby corn, Asparagus or anything which has same cooking time.
If you want it more spicey, you can use fresh green chutney too but remember we want to make it healthy so choose your ingredient wisely.

Happy cooking...

Lucknawi Sewaiyon ki kheer

Hi Friends,

Sewaiyon ki kheer is farmaish of my kids for today's post and so here it is...

SEWAIYON KI KHEER:

INGREDIENTS:

Sewaiyan ( Vermicelli)

Milk

Sugar

Chironji

Kishmis (Raisins)

Almonds

Desi ghee

Choti elaichi (Green Cardamom)

METHOD:

Put a little desi ghee in thick bottomed pan. Add ground choti elaichi and fry sewaiyan in it till they are golden brown.

Add milk and let it cook till milk reduces to half.

Add sugar, chironji, almond pieces and raisins and give it another 3-4 boils.

Your delicious sewaiyon ki kheer is ready to serve.

TIP: To thicken the milk you can use Milkmaid too but add it when sewaiyan are properly cooked in milk.Remember that Milkmaid is sweetened so adjust sugar accordingly.

Stuffed Bhindi (Okra) North Indian style.

Hi Friends,

Let's share the recipe for stuffed bhindi (Okra) today....You all must be cooking Okra in your styles and every style has a unique taste too...let's see how you like stuffed okras in a typical North Indian Style.

STUFFED BHINDI (OKRA):

INGREDIENTS:

Bhindi (Okra)

Onion

Garlic

Dhania (Coriander) powder

Haldi (Turmeric) powder

Mirchi (Red chili) powder

Methi dana (Fenugreek seeds)

Saunf (Aniseed)

Kalonji (Nigella seed)

Aamchur (Dry mango) powder

Salt

Oil

METHOD:

Wash and slit bhindis and keep them aside.

Grind onion and garlic and fry it in hot oil. Add dhania powder, haldi powder and mirchi powder in it and fry well.

In a separate pan roast Methi, Saunf and Kalongi in a proportion of 1:3:1 and grind coarsely. Add this masala in the other masala with aamchur powder and fry till the masala starts leaving oil..that's the indication that masala has been fried.

Let the masala cool a little and fill it in bhindi.

Now take a pan...smear it with little oil and place all bhindis in it.Cover it with the lid and let it cook on low heat...keep turning gently so that stuffing doesn't come. Serve hot.

TIP: The same masala can be used for stuffed baigan (brinjal/egg plant), stuffed, taroi (ridge gourd) or karela (bitter gourd)....I use a little jaggery/sugar too when I use this bharwa masala for karelas.

Happy cooking....

Green Chutney..for that added taste in ur meal.

Hi Friends,

Let's talk about something that adds up spice in your food...yes, I am talking about chutney which we have with our meals, snacks and is an essential ingredient of sandwiches.

It was during my last US trip that i realized that my NRI friends there don't have right ingredients for making chutney and so I tried to use the ingredients available there and came up with some tasty chutneys.Today I will share one of them with you and that is:

GREEN APPLE CHUTNEY:

INGREDIENTS:

Green apple (Granny Smith apple)

Garlic

Coriander leaves

Green chilies

Salt

METHOD:

Wash, de-seed and cube the apple, wash coriander leaves thoroughly, peel 2-3 pods of garlic.

Put apples, coriander leaves, green chilies, garlic and a little salt in grinder and make a smooth paste. This chutney should taste sweet and sour...more sour than sweet.

TIP:1. In case you don't get Coriander leaves, you can always use Mint leaves.

2. Pack the chutney in small batches and put them in freezer. Just keep a small bottle in fridge for use...that way chutney will remain fresh for a long time.

Happy cooking...

Dry Cauliflower Curry- my style :D

Hi Friends,

Today's recipe has some identity crisis...actually all my life I called it Kashmiri Gobhi knowing fully well it had nothing to do with Kashmir so I am leaving it up to you to give it any name you like...for now I will still call Kashmiri Gobhi :D and here is the recipe...

KASHMIRI GOBHI:

INGREDIENTS:

Phoolgobhi (Cauliflower)

Potato

Ginger

Green chilies

Garam masala

Aamchur (Dry mango) powder

Sugar

Oil

Tejpatta (Bay leaf)

Green coriander for garnishing

METHOD:

Wash and separate cauliflower florets ... peel and dice potatoes in a size that takes same time for cooking as cauliflower. The ratio of cauliflower to potato should be roughly 3:1.

Add tej patta,chopped ginger and green chilies in hot oil..fry for a minute and then add cauliflower and potatoes along with salt...cover and cook till done.

Now sprinkle garam masala, dry mango powder and a little bit of sugar and mix well...add the ingredients in a way that sabzi (curry) tastes sweet sour....that's the main feature of my Kashmiri Gobhi 

Fry a little more and garnish with green coriander.

This dry curry goes well with parathas.

TRICK: To mix the garam masala, sugar and aamchur powder well with sabzi, you can mix all these with a little water and then pour it on  sabzi...when you fry the sabzi, extra water will evaporate.

Happy cooking...