Badusha

 So...this was one of my fav. sweets but I have never known its easy to make. So again...this was one of the "shorts" I came across. It was pretty easy so I tried it and it turned out super easy and good .

Badusha (Fried wheat items in sweet syrup)

Badusha

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup plain yogurt
2. 1 teaspoon baking soda
3. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1/4 cup clarified butter/ghee
6. 1 teaspoon rose water or vanilla essence
7. oil for deep frying
8. 1-1.5 cups sugar + 1-1.5 cups water

Beat the yogurt with the baking soda and baking powder and set it aside for 5 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, add the salt and ghee to the flour and mix well.

Add the yogurt little by little and mix well. If needed, as 1-2 tablespoons of water. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

Make simple syrup with the sugar and water. Add either rose water or vanilla essence.

Divide the dough into 12-15 parts. Take a part of the dough and press it between your palm while move palms in circular motion in opposite directions. Press in the center to make a small dent in the center. Make the rest of the dough and set aside.

Heat oil in a deep pan until it is slighly hot. Add the Badusha in it and fry on medium low flame for 2 minutes. Flip and fry for 2 more minutes. Flip and if need be fry for 1 more minute on each side. Drain and add it to the sugar syrup. Enjoy super delicious and easy Badusha

Dal Pitha

 Well...it happened again...I was watching some "shorts" on Youtube and I spent a whole 1-2 minutes watching someone cook something and boom...I keep getting more and more of those. Well...one of those videos was for a recipe from Jharkhand...a state in India and it looked interesting. I didn't even know what it was called.

I made it...relatively not too difficult to make and it was pretty delicious. So here is the recipe and also before I write it...I needed to know what it is called and it is called

Dal Pitha (Wheat dumplings stuffed with Bengal gram)

Dal Pitha

Dal pitha with Mint chutney

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup yellow chana dal (bengal gram) soaked over night or atleast 4 hrs
2. 1 inch ginger, 1-2 green chillies, 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 1 cup wheat floor
4. 1 tablespoon oil + 2 teaspoons oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds, sesame seeds
7. 8-10 curry leaves
8. 2 dried chiilies (use these if you do not want to use green chillies in the dal...if you eat less spice)

Grind the soaked chana dal along with Ginger, green chillies if using...use no more than 1 tablespoon water. Add salt and mix well and set aside.

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons oil in the wheat floor and mix well. Add water little by little and mix a dough and knead for a minute. Set aside for 10 minutes. Dive the dough into 4 parts and divide the dal mixture also into 4 parts.

Make a disk of about 5-6 inches diameter with the 1/4 part of dough . Spread 1/4 dal mixture on half of the "disk and flip the other half and press with fingers to close the dumpling.Repeat to make 4 of these dumplings.

Heat 2 inches water in a wide pan until it starts to boil. Add the stuffed dumplings and boil for 7-9 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Cur each into 5-6 pieces.

In a pan heat 1 tablespoon oil and add the mustard seeds and cover and fry until they start poppoing. Add therest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Add the dumpling pieces and fry for 3-5 minutes on medium high flame until they crisp up. Enjoy with ketchup or mint chutney

Chicken and eggplant coconut curry

 Coco Chicken and eggplant (Eggplant and Chicken in a creamy coconut gravy)

Chicken eggplant coconut curry

Ingredients:

1. 1 can chicken breast drained (save the broth)
2. 2 cups peeled chopped American eggplant
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilli powder, cumin powder, tandoor masala (optional), garam masala
4. 1 teaspoon each of coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 1 medium small red onion sliced thin

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions until they start getting brown. Add the eggplant and cook for 10 more minutes on medium flame. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds. Add the chicken all the spices and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and add the coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes. Add some chicken broth to adjust the thickness to your liking. Enjoy with a naan or paratha or roti

Mock Watermelon Mint Mojito

 So...I had this mocktail at one of the restaurants and it was not the best . So I came home and made my own Mock Watermelon Mojito since I has all the ingredients for it and it was so super delicious. I hope you will try this recipe and enjoy it as much as I did

Mock Watermelon Mint Mojito

Mock Watermelon Mint Mojito

Ingredients:

1. 2-3 cups of either frozen water melon or a water water melon which was in the fridge (to make it cold)
2. 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves + more for garnish
3. 1/2 tablespoon or more agave or your sweetener of choice (You can increase or decrease the quantity depending on how sweet your water melon is)
4. a pinch of salt
5. 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lime juice
6. 2 slices of pickled jalapenos (if you want to make a spicy Mojito)

Take out the seeds from the water melon and crush it or grind it into juice along with the mint and salt and lime juice. In a glass crush the jalapenos if using. Add the sweetener liquid and add the watermelon juice and stir to combine. Garnish with mint and serve or if you want some fizz add a cup of lemon-lime soda. Enjoy on a hot summer day

Steamed vegetable manchurian

 Vegetable manchurian, gobi manchurian any type of manchurian is one of my favorite Indo-Chinese dishes. I think may be just the presence of Soya sauce in it makes it "chinese" because other than that there is nothing "Chinese" about it. Anyway, did I tell you it is one of my fav dishes?

But making it was always such a challenge. If you do not put enough flour in it and make it into balls with good amount of pressure, and if the oil for deep frying was not at the right temperature, they all dissolve into the oil :(

Then I found this dish online and gooshhhh its a game changer.  The "manchurian balls" now become squares and instead of deep frying them, these delicious veggie mancgurian squares are steamed and then shallow fried (or not) and then add them to a delicious silky sauce.

Steamed Vegetable Manchurian (Steamed vegetable balls in a spicy Indo-Chinese sauce)

Steamed vegetable manchurian

Ingredients

1. 2 cups thinly sliced or grated cabbage
2. 1 medium large carrot grated
3. 2 tablespoon spoons canned black beans drained (optional)
4. 2 tablespoon grated spoons paneer (optional)
5. 1 big or 2 medium cauliflower florets grated
6. 1/2 each of teaspoon salt, chilli powder, baking soda, cumin, carom seeds
7. 1 teaspoon chat masala, lemon juice, sesame seeds
8. 1/4 cup corn starch
9. 1/2 cup all purpose flour
10. oil for applying to the baking dish
11. 2 stalks green onions (green parts only) chopped
12. handful of finely chopped coriander

Ingredients for sauce

1. 1/2 cup each of finely chopped onions, bell pepper
2. 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
3. 1 tablespoon each of chilli garlic sauce, soya sauce, white vinegar, oil
4. 1 stalk green onion + the white part from the stalk above chopped
5. 2 teaspoons corn starch +1 cup water

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to cabbage +carrots+ cauliflower mix and set aside for 10 minutes. Squeeze as much water from the vegetables as possible.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix is gentle. Heat about 1 -2 inches water in a wide pan. In a dish which will fit in the wide pan, apply some oil and add the vegetable mix and spread it evenly. Cover and steam on medium low flame for 15 minutes.

Take the dish out and set it aside for 10 minutes to cool and cut into bite size squares.

In a pan heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the onions for 2 minutes. Add bell pepper and fry for 3 more minutes. Add garlic and fry for 1 more minute. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir well and cook for 3 minutes. Add the manchurian pieces and mix well and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Garnish with green onions and cilantro and enjoy

NOTE: the manchurian pieces and be eaten dry without the sauce also. They are super delicios

Spicy Mint Meat Vermicelli

 
Egg Vermicelli

Different kind of Lamb Vermicelli

This Semiyah or thin wheat noodles recipe can be made into a totally vegetarian recipe by just skipping the meat or it can be customized to add any kind of meat you like or scramble some eggs on the side and mix them up to make it into Anda Semiyah. But no matter what, try it...it is super delicious

And if you are wondering what Vermicelli or Semiyah is...here is a Link

Spicy Mint meat Vermicelli (Vermicelli with shaved steak and mint )

Spicy Mint Meat Semiyah

Ingredients for Vermicelli Upma:

1. 1 cup roasted semiyah
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin , mustard seeds, turmeric
3. 1 teaspoon urad dal
4. 0.5 table spoon oil
5. 1/4 cup onion sliced
6. Handful of mint leaves
7. light pack cup of cilantro
8. 2 green chillies or less depending on how spicy those chillies are (if using Serrano, use only 1)
9. Few curry leaves
10. 1-2 dried red chillies
11. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
12. 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste + 1/2 teaspoon 

Ingredients shaved steak

1. one medium small or half cup sliced onions
2. 1 lb shaved steak separated 
3. 1 teaspoon each of finely chopped garlic, garlic
4. 1 tablespoon oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (optional)
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
7. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Make the meat first
In a pan heat the oil and add the onions and fry till tender. Add the ginger garlic and fry for a minutes. Now on high flame, add the separated meat and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add salt and pepper and garam masala if using, stir to combine and cook for 5 more minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Set it aside.

Make the upma.

Bring about 4 cups of water to boil in a pot along with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add the vermicelli when the water boils and cook for 4-5 minutes. Drain .

Grind the mint+cilantro+green chilli + salt into a smooth paste. About 1 tablespoon water if needed.

In a pan heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and cover and let them cook until they crackle. Add the onions and cook till they become dark brown. Add urad dal and cumin and broken red chillies and curry leaves and fry for 30 more seconds. Add the drained vermicelli to the pan along with the mint cilantro paste. Stir to combine. Drizzle with lemon juice and enjoy

This is your vegetarian option.

If using meat...add the cooked meat to the pan and stir well. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Stir well one more time and enjoy!!!

Mutton Marag

 Marag is one of those dishes that has a consistency somewhere between a stew and a soup. And it is super delicious on a cold night with a warm naan or on a night when you are trying to break a fast.

Mutton Marag (Bone in Lamb pieces in a yogurt and but based gravy)

Mutton Magas

Ingredients:

1. 2 lbs bone in lamb cut into about 2 inch pieces
2. 3 tablespoons oil
3. 1 medium onion sliced
4. 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
5. 1 cup plain yogurt lightly beatean
6. 15 cashews and 12 almonds soaked in 1/3 cup milk
7. 1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste) 
8. 2-3 green chillies ground to paste
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, black pepper
10. 1 teaspoon garam masala
11. 2 cardamom ,1 inch cinnamon bark, 4 cloves

Wash the meat multiple times and set aside.

In a cooker heat the oil and add all the whole spices and fry for 30 seconds. Add the onions and fry until they start getting brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the meat and fry on high flame for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of water salt and turmeric and cook for 4-5 whistles. 
Let all the steam escape and reduce the heat and add the beaten yogurt.
Grind the nuts with the milk and add it to the pot. Add the ground green chillies and black peppers.

Simmer for 30 minutes. Add more water if you want it more soupy. Enjoy with naan