Moong Daal Vadi and Alu Sabzi

Moon Daal Vadi & Alu Sabzi

Moong Dal Vadis are very popular in north India, Mom used to make the Vadis at home, but Moms are  Moms and here is to both my Mom & Mom in Law- you guys are awesome! Happy Mother’s Day to both of you!

Charit picked these Vadis up, they are his favorite and there is no way I was going wrong with this one on a Sunday!

Ingredients-

Moong Daal Vadiya – 100 – 125 grams

Potatoes- 2- chopped medium size

2 tbsp ghee/ oil as preferred

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 Onions- Chopped/puree (Preferable Puree)

Ginger paste- 1 tsp; 6 – 7 garlic cloves paste,

1 medium size tomatoes Chopped/puree (Preferable Puree)

Chili powder to taste

1 tsp garam masala;  2-3 tsp coriander powder;

Salt to taste

Curd- 1 tbsp

Chopped Corriander

Method-

In a pan take a Tbsp oil, heat it and fry the vadis until they are golden brown. This is must or else might not stay crisp once pressure cooked.

To make the tadka, heat the ghee or oil in a heavy pan until hot, and add cumin seeds- once they crackle add the pureed onions and sauté them until they are golden brown and fried properly, this will take about 10-15 minutes. Now add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for another five to ten minutes. You can add a tbsp water if the gravy starts sticking to the pan at any point.

Now add the pureed tomatoes and stir for about fifteen minutes until the tomato is soft and cooked.  Also add – the chili powder, coriander powder,  & garam masala when you are adding the tomato puree. Stir and let it cook for approximately 15 minutes. Now add the beaten curd followed by salt.  Add little water for the gravy, bring this to boil . Next, transfer this to a pressure cooker and add the moong vadi and chopped potatoes. Bring it to boil and cook it until whistle 4-5 times. Add the cream and garnish with chopped coriander.

There you are!  Serve with hot Chapattis, Parathas, Rice  or any bread of your choice.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo

Kashmiri Dum Aloo- - Baby potatoes cooked in yogurt gravy with masalas.

 

Ingredients-

Baby potatoes (you can use small potatoes as well)- 18 to 20

Oil to deep frying

Mustard Oil- 2 Tbsp

Cumin seeds- 2 teaspoon

Clove Powder or 3-4 cloves

Cardamom- 3-4

Asafoetida- a pinch

Ginger Paste-   2 tsp

Whisked Curd – 2 Cups

Kashmiri red chilli powder – 3 tsp or as per taste

Cumin powder –  1-2 teaspoon

Coriander powder- 1 tablespoon

Fennel seed (saunf) powder- 1 tablespoon

Turmeric powder- 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Garam masala powder  1 teaspoon

Fresh coriander leaves – chopped

Method-

Peel, wash and prick potatoes all over with the help of a fork. Now soak them in salted water for twenty minutes. Drain and wipe dry. Heat sufficient oil for deep frying in a saucepan and deep-fry the potatoes on medium heat till they are golden brown. Drain on paper towels and keep aside.

Heat mustard oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom seeds and asafoetida and cook on medium heat till the cumin seeds crackle and change colour. Add ginger paste and sauté for a minute. Add a little water and stir. Add whisked curd. Now add red chilli powder, garam masala, fennel seed powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and a little water and stir. Let it cook for 5 minutes. Add fried potatoes and stir to mix well. Add little water and cover with a lid and cook for another 10 minutes. Add more water if required and salt (salt towards end). Take off the cover, simmer for five minutes or till the potatoes absorb the gravy. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Chapatis (Indian bread) or Naan (Tandoor-roasted Indian bread)

Spicy Usal

Usal with Gravy

Usal Served with Chapatti and Sev

,

Usal is a sprout based fiery dish. It can be dry or made with gravy. Amazingly flavorful, one can have it with Poha, Chapattis, Rice or Pooris.

One of the best things to eat in Indore is ‘Usal Pohe’ and it has been a long time since I had it ….so when my husband kept on mentioning how he enjoyed Usal Poha on one of his recent trips to Indore…I ended up craving for ‘usal’ No worries, there is always a work around- I tried making it at home- with gravy. We enjoyed it with Chapattis this time & next time it is going to be Usal Poha!

Easy and quick to make, here is what it takes-

Ingredients:

Sprouts: 250 ms

Cottage Cheese- 150 gms- cut into cubes

2-3 medium sized onions finely chopped

2 tomatoes finely chopped.

Ginger Garlic paste- 2 tsp

Coriander Seeds- 3 tsp- Crushed

Chili powder- as per taste, though this dish can use more of it

Garam Masala- 1.5 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil- 2 Tbsp (This dish uses more oil- you can use lesser if you prefer that)

Cumin seeds (Zeera) 1 tsp

Chopped Coriander

Method

Pressure cook the sprout beans until cooked (3 whistles approx.)

In a sauce pan, add oil, add the cumin seeds, once they splutter, add the onions, fry them until they turn transparent and now add the ginger garlic paste. Fry on slow for 5-10 minutes until the onions are golden brown. Now add the finely chopped tomatoes and the spices. Fry for another 7-8 minutes until the tomatoes are cooked not add the steamed sprouts with the broth/stock and additional water for gravy. Add the Paneer cubes.

Let this simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve with hot Chapattis or Poori or Poha! If you have sev at home, Usal and sev go very well together.

Enjoy!

Savory Paneer Butter Masala

Savory Paneer Butter Masala

Today is my Mom’s Birthday and this is her favorite Love you & miss you Mom!

Without saying much I will get talking about the recipe-

Paneer Butter Masala (Cottage Cheese cooked in tomato onion base)

Ingredients-

Paneer (Cottage Cheese) – 250 grams

2 tbsp ghee/ oil as preferred

1 tsp cumin seeds, 2-3 bay leaves, Cardamom- 2-3, Cloves- 3-4, Cinnamon sticks (Dalchini) – 2-3

2 Onions- Chopped/puree (Preferable Puree)

Ginger paste- 1 tsp; 6 – 7 garlic cloves paste,

3 medium size tomatoes Chopped/puree (Preferable Puree)

Chili powder to taste (Kashmiri Chili Powder: slightly milder and adds color)

1 tsp garam masala;  2-3 tsp coriander powder;

Salt to taste

30 ml cream

Curd- 2 tbsp

1 tsp sugar

Chopped Corriander

Method-

To make the tadka, heat the ghee or oil in a heavy pan until hot, and add the bay leaves cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom and cloves- once they crackle add the pureed onions and sauté them until they are golden brown and fried properly, this will take about 10-15 minutes. Now add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for another ten minutes. You can add a tbsp water if the gravy starts sticking to the pan at any point.

Now add the pureed tomatoes and stir for about fifteen minutes until the tomato is soft and cooked.  Also add – the chili powder, coriander powder,  & garam masala when you are adding the tomato puree. Stir and let it cook for approximately 15 minutes. Now add the beaten curd followed by sugar and salt.  Add little water for the gravy (about half a bowl)

Next add fresh paneer cubes. Bring it to boil. Add the cream and garnish with chopped coriander.

There you are!  Serve with hot Chapattis, Parathas or any bread of your choice.

Dahi Wali Gilki (Sponge Gourd in Curd Gravy)

Simple & Subtle- Sponge Gourd in Curd Gravy

I  have been away from the blog for some time – busy with buying furniture for our new home and getting things completed there.  This is the first time I would be staying in our very own home!  I can’t wait to move – even though that means a lot of work over the next month. Plus, as always a bit of travel and the best thing- my Mom was here for a few days and I so loved it! She left today, can’t wait to see her again.

This is something Charit and I made for Mom- gilki  (Sponge Gourd)  It belongs to the the gourd family. I am glad she liked it. She has fallen in love with Charit’s cooking- it is time he started his own food blog. He is a great chef…the master chef in our family.

I love the subtlety of this vegetable. It blends beautifully with any gravy base and served with hot chapattis it makes a complete meal. I had made stuffed gilki sometime back and that also comes out nice.

I had earlier posted dahi wali lauki, this dish is exactly similar to it, just replacing the lauki (bottle gourd) with sponge gourd!

Dahi Wali Gilki (Sponge Gourd with Curd)

Ingredients

5-6 Sponge Gourds  (peeled and chopped into medium-sized cubes)
Oil/Ghee – 1 tablespoon (I prefer ghee for this one)
Jeera (Cumin Seeds)- 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds (Rai)- 1 tsp
Pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)
Curd- 1.5 cup
Water- 2 Cups
Besan (Chickpea flour)
Garlic Cloves- 4-5 (paste)
Haldi (Turmeric Powder)- ½ tsp
Dhaniya Powder (Coriander Powder)- 1 tsp
Mirchi Powder (Red chili- As per taste
Salt to taste
1 green chili chopped (optional)
Chopped Coriander

Method

Heat oil/ghee  in a saucepan. Add rai (mustard seeds) , jeera (cumin seeds) and hing. Once they splutter, add the garlic paste. Let it fry for a minute. Now add the gilki pieces. Add  turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder and stir. Cover with a lid and let the gilki cook on low heat. Stir at regular intervals.
Beat the curd and add besan, haldi and chopped green chilli. Add 2 Cups of water and mix so that this it is uniform.
Once the gilki is cooked add the curd mixture to the gilki and let it simmer on low flame as you stir continuously. Add salt  and let this simmer at low heat. Make sure that the gilki is cooked. Once it boils, garnish with coriander and serve with any kind of bread or rice.

Creamy & Yummilicios Daal Makhni

Daal Makhni

 

This one brings lots of memories back- my Bro’s favorite and I loved it too! Can never make it the way Mom does it but try to follow her recipe every time. She always added lot of butter to this and served us with hot chapattis with ghee – “YUM” I say, Mom you are the best!  As far as I remember my brother loved it with Rice- and if he loved it with rice I had to love it with Chapattis!

This goes well with chapattis and rice- I made hot Naans with it and it rocked, makes my weekend complete!

Ingredients-

150g whole urad dal (black lentils)

50g rajma (red kidney beans)

10g ginger, peeled and grated

3 – 4 garlic cloves paste, 2-3 bay leaves

2 green chilies- cut vertically

salt to taste1tbsp ghee or oil as perferred

1 tsp cumin seeds

Puree of 3 medium size tomatoes

Puree of 2 Onions

100g butter

30 ml cream

Chili powder to taste

1 tsp garam masala

2-3 tsp coriander powder

Method-

 

Soak the lentils (urad, rajma) in water for 6 hours, or preferably overnight. Wash it.

Add salt and water to the lentils and pressure cook the lentils. Drain off if there is excess water excess water and mash the lentils lightly with the back of a ladle. Keep aside.

To make the tadka, heat the ghee or oil in a heavy pan until hot, and add the bay leaves cumin seeds- once they crackle add the garlic and ginger paste and fry until beginning to color. Add the chopped onions and sauté them until they are brown and fried properly- this will take about 10-15 minutes. You can add a tbsp water if they start sticking to the pan.  Add the chopped tomatoes and stir for about ten minutes until the tomato is soft and cooked. Add to the cooked dal, mixing well. Bring the dal to the boil again, adding the chili powder, coriander powder, butter & cream. Simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Add the gram masala and chopped coriander. Serve hot with Chapattis or Rice or Nan- Delicious!

Tangy Stuffed Hari Mirchis!

Besan ki Bharwa Mirchi

I and my husband just love these stuffed mirchis, I won’t talk too much and will just start with the preparation!

Besan ki Bharwa Mirchi- Stuffed Green Chillies

Ingredients:

8-10 Big Green Chllies

1 Cup Gram Flour (Besan)

1 – 2 tsp Coriander Powder (Dhaniya Powder)

2 tsp Dry Mango Powder (Amchoor)

1/4 tsp Garam Masala

Pinch of Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds (Zeera)

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

Red Chilli powder as per taste

Salt as per taste

Chopped Cilantro

1 tsp Lemon Juice

Oil- 2 Tablespoon

Method

Stuffing

For the Stuffing, roast the besan to brown, once it cools down add salt, red chilli powder, amchoor powder, garam masala, coriander powder, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, chopped cilantro and a pinch of asafetida. Now Mix it all.

I have come across some recipes, where people add friend onions/ginger garlic paste etc. to this as well and that tastes great too!

Preparation

Slit the Green Chillies vertically. Now stuff the above mixture into the vertical cut made on the Chilies..

Heat oil in a pan; add 1/4 tsp cumin seeds and a pinch of turmeric powder and asafetida. Put the stuffed mirchis in the pan, cover the lid, and let them cook for sometime If there is any extra stuffing left, sprinkle it on the stuffed mirchis. Keep the flame low and change the sides of the vegetable gently after every 5-7 minutes until its skin becomes soft. You can add additional salt for the mirchis as per taste. Sprinkle lemon juice over the Mirchis to add to the tanginess and there you are! Take it off heat and serve the tasty Karelas with hot chappatis- Just like I am doing it today!

The awesomest Palak Methi Chaman I ever had!

Palak Methi Chaman

Palak Methi Chaman- (Spinach, Cottage Cheese and Fenugreek Leaves in Onion Base)

The best Methi Chaman I have ever had was made by nobody else but my husband he is ia pro!  It tasted yum and soon enough I learnt from him. But I can’t make it as good as he does- he has got it Love you Charit- this is just one the many reasons (thought I should clarify!! )

Methi Chaman is an Indian dish– pureed Spinach leaves and Fenugreek leaves with grated cottage cheese, cooked in onion base.

Here is how this delectable dish goes-

Ingredients-

1 Tbsp Oil

Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp;

Bay leaves- 1-2, Cloves- 3-4, 1-2 Cinnamon Sticks

2 Onions Pureed

Garlic Paste- 1 tsp

Pureed Spinach (Palak)- 1 Bowl

Pureed Fenugreek (Methi) leaves – 1/4 Bowl

Grated Cottage Cheese (Paneer)- 1/2 Bowl

Cream- 1-2 Tbsp (optional- you can use low fat milk as well)

Cashewnuts – optional

Green chillies- 1/2 (optional, with Arnav around I seldom add green chilies)

Sugar- 1 tsp

Method

Wash the Fenugreek leaves and Spinach leaves nicely chop them, add them to a sauce pan with enough water and boil them for 3-5 minutes. Drain the water and puree the boiled chopped leaves- keep aside.

Now in a sauce pan take oil, once it heats  add add the cumin seeds and the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves. Once they splutter, add the onion puree and garlic paste. Let this cook for at least 15 minutes add water when necessary so that it does not stick to the sauce pan or lower the heat.

Once the onion puree is cooked, add the spinach and fenugreek paste and bring it to a boil- add coriander powder, red chilli powder & salt. Stir and add grated cottage cheese, let it be on heat for 2-3 minutes, add a tsp sugar  and now add the cream. Let this simmer for a couple of minutes and you are done! If you’d like, add cashew nuts.

Serve with hot Chappattis, Paratha or bread! You’d love it! Have a great weekend & Happy Navratris.

Alu Tamatar Sabji & Pooris!

Alu Tamatar Sabji with Poori and Dhania Chutney

Quick and easy to make! Coupled with Pooris and Coriander Chutney this one is a perfect delight to feast on after a hectic day at work! My family loves this!

Ingredients- Alu tamatar Sabji

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

Boiled Potatoes- 5 medium size

Country Tomatoes- 3 sliced into long and thin pieces

Red Chili & Salt to Taste

Cumin Seeds

Coriander powder- 1 tsp

A pinch of Asafetida (heeng)

Oil – 1.5 Tbsp

Method-

Boil the potatoes, peel and keep aside to cool. Slice the tomatoes (make sure they are country tomatoes- this adds a tangy flavor and lot of zest to the gravy)

In a pan heat over a tbsp of oil, add cumin seeds and the heeng. Once they crackle and release their flavor, add coriander powder and red chilli powder. Stir this and now add the tomatoes pieces. Fry them for 2-3 minutes while stirring and now add the boiled potatoes and fry these. Stir softly. Now add water and bring it to boil. Let this simmer at low heat for five minutes.

Add chopped coriander and this is ready to be served with hot pooris or garma garam Chappatis or Paratha- have your pick!

The best part is that my husband makes it- how nice it is to come back from work and eat something cooked by your husband!

Scrumptious Dum Alu- Easy and Quick to Make

Delicious Dum Alu!

Dum Alu

Just made these Dum Alu (Potatoes)- Arnav & Charit love it!

Learnt them from whom else but my Mom! No Surprise here! As usual easy and quick to make they turn out delicious. Taking them for a Lunch at a friend’s place- hope they like it too.

Here is how it goes!

Ingredients (Serves Four)-

Oil

Zeera/Cumin Seeds

Bay leaves- 2, Cloves- 4 to 5, Cinnamon sticks- 2 to 3

Tomatoes- (3 finely chopped or paste)

Cashew Nuts Blend in a Mixie- 1 Bowl

Magaj/Melon Seeds- 1 Spoon- Blend this with Cashew nuts

Ginger paste- 1 Spoon

Baby potatoes or Medium Sized Potatoes- I took the latter- 6 or 7- Boils them and Fr

Curd- 1 Bowl & 1 Cup milk

Salt, Turmeric Powder, Red Chilli Powder, Garam masala as per taste

Coriander for garnishing

Method-

Take oil in a Saucepan, add cumin seeds and when they splutter add bay leaves, cinnamon sticks  and cloves, fry them for a minute and now add ginger paste. Stir for a couple of minutes and now add the Tomato paste and blend curd.  Let it fry for 7-10 minutes. Now add the cashew and melon seeds paste and fry. Add a cup of milk- Frying this won’t take more than ten minutes.  Once you can see the oil separate from the gravy add salt and the other spices.

On the other side, boil the potatoes and deep fry them. Make small indents in the potatoes with a fork. This will help them absorb the gravy and spices in.  If they are big in size just cut them half. Add the potatoes to the simmering gravy and let it boil for 7-10 minutes. You are done! Garnish with Coriander & serve hot with Bread or Chappati.