Sindhi Bhindi Aloo

Long time ago, my father used to have a colleague who was Sindhi. He invited us for dinner one time, I was too little to remember what was on the table, but I sure do remember it was very different than the day to day meals my mom used to make.
               So, I was feeling a little nostalgic and I was searching for Sindhi recipes mainly Shrimp recipes. But I ended up finding a recipe with Okra and Potatoes and it looked super yummy and very different and that is what I made for dinner. But I made a few changes to the actual recipe
               The original recipe called for whole okra, sliced and the masala filled into it. Since I didn't find any fresh Okra I improvised with frozen cut okra. The curry was delicious but I am sure the original recipe would have tasted a bit different. And then I made rice and Sambar

Sindhi Bhindi Aloo (Dry curry made of Okra and Potatoes)

Sindhi Bhindi Aloo

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb Okra fresh ends off and slit (or 12 oz frozen okra thawed)
2. 2 medium small russet potatoes peeled 
3. 1 large or two medium small tomatoes chopped into 1 inch pieces
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
6. 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
7. 2 tablespoons oil

For Green Masala

1. 1 Serrano green chillie (if you prefer less hot, seeds removed)
2. 1 cup chopped cilantro
3. 1/2 cup chopped red onions
4. 2 big or 4 small garlic pods
5. 1 inch ginger
6. 1/4 teaspoon salt

Grind the items under Green Masala and set aside.

Cut the potatoes into 1 inch circles and slit them half way into two circles. 

Fill the green masala into the potato slits and okra slits if using whole okra.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the green masala stuffed potato pieces 2-3 minutes on each side. If using whole okra drop them now to the pan. If using cut okra add them to the pan and give it a stir and fry for 3 minutes. 

Add the green masala over the cut okra or if using whole okra add the remaining masala to the pan.

FROM HERE THE STEPS FOR CUT AND WHOLE OKRA ARE THE SAME.

Add the remaining salt, turmeric and coriander powder and give it a good stir. Add tomato pieces, cover and cook for 10 minute on medium low flame. Remove cover and cook till any extra water evaporates and the curry becomes a dry one. Serve with rice or roti

Turkey pot pie

Turkey Pot Pie

                                                          

Pie crust

Ingredients

1. 2 cups all purpose flour
2. 1 teaspoon salt
3. 3/4 cup butter chilled
4. 4-8 tablespoons of ice cold water

Cut the butter into the flour mixed with salt. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the dough comes together. Divide into 2 parts cover with a plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes

Pot pie filling

Ingredients

1. 1/2 tablespoon each of olive oil and butter
2. 3 garlic cloves minced
3. 1/2 cup each of fresh green peas, cubed carrots, spinach, chopped onions, cubed zucchini, cubed potatoes
4. 1/2 teaspoon or more of each chopped fresh rosemary and thyme
5. 2 tablespoons flour
6. 11/2 cups chicken broth
7. 1/2 cup milk
8. 1 teaspoon or less of salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
10. 2-21/2 cups cooked chopped turkey or chicken

In a pan heat the oil and butter and fry the onions till they become translucent. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add all the vegetables and sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt and pepper And cover and cook for 7-8 minutes. Move them to one side of the pan. Reduce heat to medium low and add flour and stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add milk and broth which have been warmed a little. Stir to combine. Simmer for 5- 8 minutes. Make sure it's not too thick because it will further get cooked in the oven. If it is too thick add 1/2 cup chicken broth and stir to combine

Roll one part of the prepared dough to fit into a 9 inch pie pan or in my case I used 5 rankings to make personal pies. Press it into the bottom and sides. Divide the pie filling into the rankings or add the whole thing to the 9 inch pie. Roll the other half of the dough and cover the pie. Pole some holes in the pies . Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees and 15-20 degrees at 300 degrees. Set aside for 5 minutes before serving

Serve with salad on the side

Simple Salad

                                                     

Caribbean Turkey with Eggplant

Well...this recipe is basically Chicken and Eggplant from the Caribbean Pot site. But I used my left over turkey and made a delicious curry. It is very yummy and finished off my left over turkey from Thankgiving dinner

Caribbean Turkey and Eggplant Curry (Turkey and Eggplant in a creamy coconut gravy)

Turkey with Eggplant

Ingredients:

1. 6 chicken thighs bone in and skinned or about 3 cups cooked turkey chopped
2. 1 medium American Eggplant chopped into 1 inch cubes
3. 1 medium potato cubed
4. 1 tablespoon oil
5. 1 tablespoon chopped shallots
6. 3 garlic pods sliced thin
7. 1 heaped teaspoon curry powder
8. 1 teaspoon salt
9. 1 can coconut milk
10. 1 jalapeno

For Green paste:

Fried rice with Turkey Eggplant Curry

1. 3-4 shallots
2. 1 celery chopped and strings removed
3. handful of cilantro
4. 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
5. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Grind the ingredients for the green paste and marinate the chicken (if using chicken) along with salt and set aside for 2 hrs. If using Turkey skip this step

In a pan heat the oil and reduce the heat to medium low and saute the shallots and garlic slices for 3-4 minutes. Add the curry powder and fry on medium low for 2 minutes. Add marinated chicken or cooked turkey along with green paste, increase the heat and fry for 5 minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and 1/2 cup water and slit jalapeno and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cover and cook for 20 minutes. Check the consistency of the gravy and simmer further if it is too watery for your taste. Enjoy with hot steamed rice or fried rice

 

Best Pumpkin Pie ever

This year holiday dinner came early to my house because I didn't want any of my family who were going on vacation to miss it. And when it came to decide the desert item, I asked my little one Pumpkin or Sweet Potato (mmmmmm my favorite of all). She said Pumpkin. I made both pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie and I didn't know it was so popular. The pie just flew off of the table. The original recipe is from the about.com website

And to differentiate the two pie, I found a cute pumpkin shaped pie baking shell

Home Made Pie Crust Recipe



Pumpkin Pie Filling

Pumpkin PIe

Ingredients:

1. 1  can pumpkin pie puree 15 oz
2. 3/4 cup sugar
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
5. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6. 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
7. 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
8. 2 eggs, lightly beaten
9. 1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
10. 2 tablespoons water
11. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices, and flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Add evaporated milk, water, and vanilla and stir to combine well. Pour into pastry-lined pie pan. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350° and bake about 35 minutes longer, or until center is set or a knife inserted comes out clean. 

Cool it and serve with whipped cream

Also try the amazing Sweet potato pie

Pumpkin and Sweet potato pie

Hot and Sour Egg Drop Soup

Its the season for soup again. Hurray!!! I love myself a hot bowl of soup on a cold evening so today I made HOT soup (i.e both hot temperature and spicy hot

Hot and Sour Egg Drop Soup

Hot and Sour Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup dried shitake mushrooms soaked in 2 cups of hot chicken broth for 15 minutes
2. 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
3. 1 medium carrot grated
4. 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
5. 1 tablespoon red chile paste
6. 1/8 cup each of white vinegar, soya sauce, sweet and sour sauce
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
9. 2 cups chicken broth
10. 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
11. 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Heat the oil in a wok or large pot over medium-high flame. Add carrot and fry for 5 minutes. Add the ginger, and garlic and fry for a minute.. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sweet and sour sauce  in a small bowl, pour it into the wok and stir well.  Put the chicken stock with the soaked mushrooms and the rest of the chicken stock and simmer for 10 minutes

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir until smooth. Mix the slurry into the soup and continue to simmer until the soup thickens. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction to get a current going, then stop stirring. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a steady stream and watch it spin around and feather in the broth (it should be cooked almost immediately.) Garnish the hot and sour soup with chopped green onions and cilantro before serving.

Aloo Mutter Kurma with Soya Chunk Pulao

It was a weak of vegetarian dishes at home and whenever you need some yummy vegetarian curries you cannot forget the king of spuds...Mr. Potato.

I curry i made i.e potatoes with peas has a million ways in which it can be made. This is one of them. And I served it with super delicious protein rich Soya Chunk Pulao.

For both these dishes I have one more variation. Try them too

Aloo Mutter Kurma (Potato and Peas curry)

Aloo Mutter Kurma

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup frozen peas thawed
2. 2 medium large potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
3. 1/2 tablespoon oil
4. 1 medium small onion sliced
5. 1/2 cup plain yogurt
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of chilly powder, turmeric, coriander, ginger-garlic paste
7. 3/4-1 teaspoon salt depending on taste

In a pressure cooker add the oil and let it heat. Add salt, chiili powder, coriander and yogort to thepotatoes and mix well and set aside.   Add the onions and fry till they become brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds. Add the potatoes and stir well. Add 1/4 cup water and cook for 2 whistles. Let all the steam escape, open the cooker and add the peas. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the gravy becomes thick as per your liking. Serve with roti or white rice or any variation of rice Dishes

Soya Chunk Pulao (Rice with Soya Chunks)

Ingredients:

1. 1 cups soya chunks
2. 11/2 cups basmati rice washed
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 1 medium onion sliced thin
5. 1 inch cinnamon stick
6. 1 bay leaf
7. 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

In a microwave safe bowl heat 2 cups water for 1 minute. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and add stir. Add soya chunks and set aside for 15-20 minutes. Squeeze as much water as possible and cut the soya chunks if they are too big.

In a heavy bottomed pan add the oil and fry the cinnamon and bay leaf for 30 seconds. Add onions and fry till they become dark brown. Add ginger garlic paste and for for 30 seconds. Add the squeezed soya chunks and fry for 5 minutes. Add 31/2-4 cups water and bring to a rolling boil. Add washed rice and reduce heat to medium low and cook for 15-20 minutes until the rice is done. Sprinkle with lemon juice if desired and serve hot hot

Ground lamb with Potato and Peas

Soya Chunk Pilaf

Soya Bean Aloo aur Batura

Some time ago one of my friends' gave me some dried Soya beans. Today I made the Soya beans along with some potatoes and some Batura- deep fried Indian bread.

I always used to made Aloo Batura which has the potatoes mixed into the dough. It tastes great. But this time around when I was searching for curries for Batura a different recipe came up and I made it. And the Baturas just fluffed up so nicely. I am super happy.

And instead of the usual Chick peas to go with it, I made the healthy and delicious Soya Beans with Potato curry. So here you go. Enjoy

Batura (Deep fried whole wheat bread)

Batura

Ingredients:
The night before:

1. 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2. 3/4 cup plain yogurt
3. 2 teaspoon sugar
4. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5. 1/8 cup water

In the morning:

1. 21/2 cups whole wheat flour
2. 1/2 tablespoon oil
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. water as needed

The night before you want to make the baturas, mix all the ingredients in "the night before" and set aside on the counter in a warm spot. In the morning you can see some bubbles in the batter. It is fermented and ready.

Mix the whole wheat with salt and oil and the batter. Add little oil at a time and make dough until it is tacky. Set it aside for atleast 2 hrs. 

Divide it into 16 parts and roll it on a clean surface about 3-4 inch diameter baturas. Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Add the batura into the oil and with a spoon keep putting oil onto the top of the batura and it will fluff up nicely. Serve hot

Frying batura

Soya Beenj Aloo (Soya Beans with potato curry)

Soya beans with potato curry

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup dried soya beans soaked in water for atleast 12 hours
2. 1 large tomato chopped
3. 1 medium small tomato chopped
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, cumin mustard seeds, turmeric, chilly powder, asafoetida
5. few curry leaves, 2 dried red chillies
6. 1 teaspoon salt
7. 1 medium small potatoes boiled, peeled and cubed small
8. 1 tablespoon oil

Boil the soya beans and chopped tomatoes with 2 cups water in a cooker for about 10 whistles or about 45 minutes in a pot.

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin, mustard seeds till they splutter. Add curry leaves and dried red chillies and fry for a minute. Add asafoetida and mix. Add onions and fry till they start to change color. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds. Add potatoes and all the powder ingredients and mix well. Add boiled soya beans along with water to the pan and stir to combine. Simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. garnish with cilantro and serve