vegetable Vermicelli pilaf

Today I am not feeling like going out but there was nothing for lunch at home. So I started to think what I can make with the vegetables available. I didn't want to eat rice. So I made vegetable pilaf or Pulao, actually fried rice but instead of rice I used vermicelli or the Indian wheat noodles. And its amazing. I hope you will try it too and leave me a comment

Vegetable Vermicelli pilaf (Vermicelli cooked with a variety of vegetables)

Vegetable Vermicelli Pilaf

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups dry roasted vermicelli
2. 2-3 cups total of your favourite vegetables ( I used carrots, cauliflower, green beans, peas, onions, cabbage and white corn)
3. 2 tablespoons oi divided
4. 1 teaspoon salt divided
5. 1 medium sized red onion sliced and divided
6. 1 green chilly chopped
7. 1 large or 2 small garlic pods minced
8. 2 bay leaves
9. 1 inch cinnamon broken
10. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
11. Handful of soya chunk(optiona) (Heat1-2 cups of water in a microwave and at 1/4 teaspoon salt and add the soya chunks to it and leave it for 2-3 minutes. Drain and break into smaller pieces. set aside)

 Heat one tablespoon oil in a small pan and fry about 3/4 onions till they become dark brown and crispy. Drain and set aside. Boil about 3 cups water and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon oil and add vermicelli to it and boil till done. Drain and set aside. In a pan heat the oil and fry the bay leafs and cinnamon and the cumin for a couple of minutes. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add the onions, carrot , cabbage and cauliflower, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add the frozen veggies and cover and cook for 5 more minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and green chily and stir to combine. Add the soya chunks if using and stir. Add the vermicelli and fried onions and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Garnish with cilantro, stir and set aside for 5 minutes. Serve with ketchup

                                        Also try Pulao with Peas and Soya Chunks 

Ginger Shrimp

Today I am a bit nostalgic and am craving something from the days when was not responsible for anything other than my own things...read "when I was a kid" :D
                      Anyway, I loved Hyderabadi Ginger Chicken in those days and today I tried it with Shrimp and it turned out to be equally delicious.

Ginger Shrimp (Shrimp and bell pepper in a ginger based gravy)

Ginger Shrimp

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb medium- large shrimp peeled and deveined
2. 1 medium red onion
3. 2-3 inches of fresh ginger peeled
4. 1 large or 2 medium tomatoes
5. 3 garlic pods
6. 1/2 teaspoon cumim
7. 2 tablespoons oil 
8. 3/4 teaspoon or to taste salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder
10. 1 tablespoons tomato ketchup
11. 1 bell pepper your favourite color cut into bite size pieces
12. 1 jalapeno or 2 serrano peppers chopped
13. 2 bay leaves
14. 1 inch cinnamon stick broken

Pat dry the shrimp. Heat 1 tablespoon oil, till it gets very hot and add the shrimp (Take care not to splatter yourself). Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Drain and set aside.
Grind the onion along with ginger and garlic and cumin into a smooth paste. Add this to the oil and fry till it starts to get dark brown. Add all the spices and stir to combine. Grind the tomatoes and add it to the pan and fry for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and shrimp and a cup of water and bring it to boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until oil separates. Serve with your favourite Roti

Mediterranean Baked Fish and Artichoke Hummus

The other day when I went shopping and I got Pita Bread. The first time I had Pita Bread, I hated it. Its so dry. But anyway, I started liking pita bread with Hummus and the grilled vegetables. I always used to make grilled chicken and some vegetable skewers with it but this time I made fish bake with vegetables in mediterranean style and it turned out great. I thought the fish would be bland but it took all the flavors and was yummy
                        And ofcourse I can't have pita bread without Hummus and today I made Artichoke Hummus mainly because I didn't have lemon. And it tastes great. So here are the recipes

Mediterranean Baked Fish (Fish with Zuchini and Olives)

Mediterranean fish bake

Pita Bread

Ingredients:

1. 1 inch thick steaks of Mackerel cleaned
2. 1 large tomato sliced (or 3-4 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes sliced)
3. 2 tablespoons sliced fire roasted pepper
4. 1 large zuchini cut into circles
5. 1 medium white onion sliced
6. 2 tablspoons kalamati olives
7. 1 teaspoon capers
8. 2 big garlic pods crushed
9. 1 garlic pod grated
10. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, lemon pepper
11. 1 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon
12. 1 tablespoon olive oil or oil from the sun-dried tomatoes or roated peppers

In a bowl mix together the oil, salt, lemon pepper and lemon juice and apply to the fish pieces. Mix all the ingredients together and make a packet using aluminium foil.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the packet for 25 minutes. Remove the fish onto another baking dish (sparyed with non-stick cooking spray). Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake further for 10-15 minutes. Put the fish back in the center of the vegetables and serve with warmed pita bread

Artichoke Hummus (Chickpea and Artichoke Dip)

Artichoke Hummus

Ingredients:

1. 1 can garbanzo beans drained
2. 1/2 bottle artichoke hearts drained
3. 1 tablespoon dry roasted sesame seeds (optional)
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 2-3 garlic pods smashed
6. Water from the artichoke bottle or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
7. Olive oil to drizzle on the hummus or if the artichoke were packed in oil use that oil
8. Chilli powder

Grind the sesame seeds and garlic for a couple of minutes. Add chickpeas and artichokes and grind to a smooth paste using the water from the artichoke bottle or lemon juice and salt. Remove it to a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add some olive oil in the center and sprinkle with chilly powder. Serve

Methi Mutter Gosht

Methi or Fenugreek leaves are one of the few ingredients which are a bit bitter. (Bitter is call Kadva or kadvi and Hindi and I just had a brain freeze and couldn't remember the word) Anyway, but if you know how to handle it, it turns out great.
                    So the dish I made today is with fenugreel leaves, peas and boneless lamb. This is a great tasting recipe with health benefits too. Fenugreek is supposed to be good for you

Methi Mutter Gosht (Fenugreek leaves and peas with Lamb)

Methi Mutter Gosht

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 lb boneless lamb cut into 1 cm cubes
2. 1 cup each of fresh peas, frozen fenugreek leaves thawed
3. 1 tablespoons oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, salt, chilly powder, turmeric
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 1 cup sliced red onion
7. 2 tablespoons plain yogurt beaten

Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt on the methi or fenugreek leaves and set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze as much water as possible (this will take out most of the bitterness)
In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add turmeric, salt and chilly powder and the cubed meat and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the methi and 1/2 cup water and cook for 2 whistles. After the steam escapes open the cooker and add the peas and the yogurt and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with phulka or roti

Pink rice with Mughlai Baby Corn

I am running low on vegetables and when I went to the Indian stores for vegetables on Sunday, it was super crowded and I couldn't find a parking space. So I didn't go shopping and I don't have much in my fridge. So I am left with canned vegetables since I didn't want to cook any non-vegetarian.
            So today's menu is Pink Rice (Pink color is from the beet root) and Mughlai style baby corn with carrots. And this is such a treat for the eyes as well as the stomach. It is so very healthy too.

Pink Rice (Fried rice with beet root)

Beet Root Rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups rice cooked
2. 1 can shoe string beet root drained (2 cups red beet root cubed and boiled)
3. 1-11/2 tablespoons dry roasted sesame seed powdered
4. 1-2 tablespoons oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal (soaked in water for 10 minutes)
6. Few curry leavs
7. 2 green chillies sliced

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal for a few minutes. Add the green chillies and curry leaves and fry till they start spluttering. Add the beet root and salt to taste and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir to combine. Add the sesame seed powder and handful of chopped cilantro and stir to combine. Serve

Mughlai Baby Corn (Baby corn and carrots in a creamy spicy gravy)

Mughlai Baby Corn

Ingredients:

1. 1 can baby corn drained
2. 2 medium carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3. 1/2 cup sliced red onions
4. medium small white/yellow onion
5. 2 tablespoons oil divided
6. 1 tablespoon each of heaped plain yogurt beaten, tomato paste
7. 1/2 cup each of water, milk
8. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, cumin, coriander powder, garam masala, sugar
9. 1 inch ginger
10. 2 garlic pods
11. 1/2 bell pepper cubed (optional)

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the sliced red onion till they become crispy. Drain and set aside. 

Boil the white/yellow onion along with cumin, ginger and garlic in a microwave safe boil, covered with a little water for 2 minutes. Grind to a fine paste.

Boil the baby corn and carrots in the same way for 2 minutes.

In a pan heat the remaining oil and if there is any oil left from the fried onion and fry the onion paste till it starts to change color. Add the spices and tomato and stir to combine and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the vegetables and stir. Reduce the heat and add the beaten yogurt, milk and water and stir. Simmer for 10 minutes. Give it a taste test and adjust seasoning. Garnish with fried onions and serve

Phulka aur Paneer Fava Beans

The other day my hubby dear was watching something on TV about how vulnerable you are for getting a heart attack. From that time on he has become a little health concious. So these days instead of making the regular roti with oil I am making Phulkas (these are just the oil-less version of the Indian bread Roti)
but it sure definitely tastes different.
                   And for the side dish I am making Paneer Fava beans. These Fava beans are from the mediterranean stores and they are huge. And sometimes I find them in Target. And I really like them. My kids also love them. So here are the recipes.

Paneer Fava Beans (Fava Beans with Indian Cottage Cheese)

Paneer Fava Beans

Ingredients:

1. 1 can fava beans drained and washed
2. 100 gms Paneer or about 1 cup cubed paneer
3. 1 large tomato chopped
4. 1 medium small onion chopped fine
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, madras curry powder
6. 3/4 teaspoon or less salt
7. 1 green chilly chopped
8. 1 tablespoons+2 teaspoons oil

In a pan heat the tablespoons of oil and fry the paneer cubes for 5-7 minutes until they start to change color. Drain and set aside. Add the rest of the oil if needed and add the onions and fry till they become tender. Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and the powder spices and fry till the tomatoes till they become tender. Add fava beans and 1/2 cup water and simmer for 7-8 minutes. Add paneer and stir to combine and simmer for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro stir to combine and cut the heat. Serve with Phulkas

Phulka (Oil-less Indian whole wheat bread)

Phulka

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups whole wheat flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. water as needed
4. Extra flour for rolling phulkas

In a bowl sift the flour and salt together. Add little water at a time and knead the flour until it comes together. Make a hole in the dough and add a tablespoons of water and cover and set aside for 20 minutes. Knead the flour for a couple of minutes. If it is stiking to your hand apply some oil to your palm or sprinkle some flour on the dough and knead.
Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface and roll each piece of dough with a rolling pin into a tortilla. Heat a griddle and roast the phulka. Serve hot

Leftover Turkey Wontons

So...it is the day after Thanksgiving and time to search for recipes for leftover turkey. Even though I only got a 13 lb turkey about 1/3 of it remained. I guess there were just too many other dishes and even when you are just having only a little of all the dishes you still fill up. But I am proud to say most of my dishes were gone and you know what they say "the proof of the pudding is in the eating"
                  Anyway, here is one recipe with left over turkey. And instead of frying the wontons I baked them and they turned out pretty yummy but with lot fewer calories.

Left Over Turkey Wontons (Turkey stuffed wontons baked to perfection)

Baked Turkey wontons with Thai Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

1. 1 package ready made wontons wrappers (I have round 50 count)
2. 2 cups cooked turkey chopped fine
3. 1/4 cup onion
4. 1/4 cup finely shredded carrot
5. 2 tablespoons sweet and spicy sauce
6. 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
7. 1 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds

Mix all the ingredients except wonton wrappers in a boil. Lay one wonton on a clean surface and place 1 teaspoon of stuffing in the center. Wet the wonton around with a finger dipped in water. Lay over with another wonton on top of the filling. Press all around and lay on a greaced baking sheet. Brush the top of the wontons with canola oil or butter

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and put the wontons into the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn the wontons and leave it in the oven (after shutting it down) for 5 more minutes. Let them cool a bit before serving with sauce of your choice 

Sweet Potato Pie

Today being Thanksgiving I made a delicious assorment of dishes for the family and friends to enjoy. And ofcourse no meal is complete without a dessert. And thr dessert for today is the all time favourite Sweet Potato Pie.
                   This was a alternate choice for me, as my first choise for today's pie was pumpkin but I went shopping a bit late and by that time, the store I went to was completely empty of any canned pumpkins as well as fresh pumpkins. I know...UNBELIEVABLE. But, its true and luckily I had some sweet potatoes at hand. And they make a sweeeeeet Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet Potato Pie (Sweet potato mix baked in a home made pie crust)

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients for Pie Crust:

1. 1 cup all purpose flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 2 tablespoons brown sugar
4. 1/2 cup chilled butter (put the butter in the freezer for 15 minutes before use)
5. 1/4 cup chilled water

Mix the flour with salt and sugar and stir in chilled butter. Add 1 teaspoon water at a time and mix the dough till it comes together. make it into a ball and wrap in a plactic sheet and refridgerate for 30-60 minutes. Add some flour on a clean counter top and roll the dough into 1/4 inch thick pie crust. Add this to a pie pan.

The recipe is for one 9 inch pie crust
Ingredients for Sweet Potato Pie:

1. 1 lb sweet potatoes boiled in a cooker for 3 whistles.
2. 2 eggs
3. 1/2 cup milk
4. 2/3 cup sugar
5. 1/2 cup butter
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, ground nutmeg, vanilla essence

peel the sweet potato and mash them with a fork and let it cool. After it comes to room temperature add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Add it to the pic crust and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until a tooth pick or a knife inserted into the pie comes out clean.
Serve warm or at room temperature or cold with ice cream or whipped cream

Bharwan Baingan aur Khatti dal maat ki bhaji

 The dishes I made today are among my most favourite dishes. They  say anybody you meet will either love eggplant or hate it. Its true!!! There are hardly any people I know who are just 'ok' with eggplant. And whoever loves eggplant loooooves this dish. Make it and see for yourself. This is a stuffed eggplant recipe called bharahuva baingan or bharwan baingan or masala baingan.
                       I am serving the above dish with fluffy white rice and Amaranth leaves and lentils...thotakura pappu pulusu. This is a different recipe from the regular Thotakoora Pappu

Bharwan Baingan (Indian eggplant stuffed with spiced onion paste and shallow fried)

Stuffed eggplant

Ingredients:

1. 6 Indian purple eggplants
2. 1 medium onion
3. 1/2 -1 inch fresh ginger
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of roasted cumin, salt, chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder
5. 1 teaspoon dry roasted sesame seeds
6. 2 tablespoons dry roasted peanuts
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. 2 tablespoons oil

Grind ingredients 2 to 6 with one or two teaspoons of water into a smooth paste. Wash the eggplants and make two vertical slits in the eggplant reaching about 3/4 length. They would look like a + sign. Heat oil in a wide pan . Stuff the masala into both the slits in the eggplant and drop it in the hot oil. repeat with all the eggplants. Fry on all four sides for  two minutes on each side. Add the remaining masala to the pan and cover and fry for 5-7 minutes. Add the salt and 1/4 cup water and cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the eggplants are tender and oil separates. Garnish with cilantro and serve

Khatti Dal Maat ki Bhaji (Sour lentils and Amaranth leaves)

Khatti Dal Maat ki bhaji

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup toor dal
2. 1 cup maat ki bhaji chopped roughly
3. 1 big tomato chopped
4. 2 cups juice from a small lime sized tamarind
5. 1 green chilly
6. 3/4 teaspoon salt
7. 2 teaspoons oil
8. 1 garlic pod chopped
9. 1/2 teaspoon each cumin, mustard seeds, hing (ajinomoto) (asafetida), turmeric
10. 2 dried red chilies broken
11. few curry leaves

Pressure cook the dal with Amarand leaves and tomato and turmeric for 4 whistles. After all the steam escapes open the cooker and mash the dal. Add the tamarind water and green chillies and bring to a boil. Let it boil for about 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the cumin and mustard seeds and dried red chillies and fry for a couple of minutes. Add garlic, curry leaves and fry for a couple of more minutes. Add hing and fry for a minute. Add this to the dal and boil for 5 minutes. Serve

Kacchi imli Machli Khatta

The other day I went to the Indian stores and guess what I found? Probably you can't guess...or may be you did guess right, looking at the heading of this particular blog. I found "Kacchi Imli" i.e fresh Tamarind. I haven't had that in ages. My mom used to make this fish stew with fresh tamarind seldom cause it causes you to catch a cold.   And me and my mom had a tendency to caught cold very easily. But still I loved it.
                    And today for the first time in my life I made this fish stew with fresh tamarind and boy does it bring back memories of my mom's cooking. mmm...how I miss her!!!
                   Anyway, if ever you get a chance to to buy some fresh tamarind do make this recipe. Its terrific.

Kacchi Imli Machli Khatta ( Mini pomfret stew with fresh tamarind)

Chintakaaya Chapala Pulusu

Ingredients:

1. 6 mini pomfrets (heads off and cleaned)
2. 1 medium small red onion
3. 1 inch fresh ginger
4. 1 big or 2 small garlic
5. 2 tablespoons oil
6. 1/3-1/2 lb fresh tamarind (peeled and pitted)
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt, chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin

Grind the onion along with ginger and garlic and cumin to a fine paste. 

In a pressure cooker, pressure cook the tamarind for 4-5 whistles with a cup of water and turmeric.

In a pan heat the oil and add the onion paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add all the other ingredients and stir well. Add the fish and fry for a few minutes. Mash the tamarind a little and add this juice and pulp to the fish along with one more cup of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add slit green chillies and chopped coriander (cilantro) and simmer further till oil separates. Serve with hot white rice

Murgh Mirch Masala

For some reason its been quite some time ago that I made chicken.  I guess I just got bored with it. For some reason you can get bored with boneless, skinless chicken breast soooo easily. There is really not enough flavor in it. Its great if you are feeding little kids but I guess for adults drumsticks or bone-in chicken thighs would be great.
         Anyway, my opinion aside, I made this chicken with capsicum or bell pepper gravy which turned out to be super delicious. This is a very yummy curry which goes very well with any kind of Indian roti or even with any kind of rice.

Murgh Mirch Masala (Chicken breast with bell pepper in a spicy tomato gravy)

Chicken Capsicum Gravy

Ingredients:

1. 2 chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin, turmeric
3. 2 inches ginger peeled
4. 1 medium red onion
5. 1 green chilly
6. 1 bell pepper (whatever color you have at hand...yellow or red would be great)
7. 2 tablespoons oil
8. 1/4 cup milk
9. 1 8oz can tomato sauce
10. 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves

Marinate the chicken with salt, chilly powder, turmeric and coriander powder for atleast 30 minutes.
Grind the onion along with ginger and cumin into a fine paste.
Heat oil in a pan and add the ground onion paste and fry till it turns light brown. Add the chicken and fry for 10 minutes until it starts getting brown. Add bay leaf and cloves and tomato sauce and stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup water and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add milk and capsicum and simmer further for 5-7 minutes till oil separates. Garnish with cilantro and serve

Bengali Rasgulla from Scratch

When we wanted to eat Rasgulla in India we just go to any sweet stall and we get great rasgulla but here in the USA sometimes they are fresh sometimes not. I have been wanting to eat Rasgulla and I couldn't find them anywhere in the Indian sweet stores here and finally I got a canned Cham Cham (I am not sure what the difference is between chamcham and Rasgulla) but they were a dissapointment. They were so hard in the middle
                    So I want to http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/ and got the recipe for Rasgullas form scratch and they turned out to be great. So here is the recipe and if you want to watch the video of how to make it, click on the link above

Fresh Homemade Paneer (Home made Cottage Cheese)
Ingredients:

1. 5 cups whole or 2 percent milk
2. 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
3. 1 tablespoon water

Mix the water and lemon juice and set aside. Bring the milk to a boil and add the the lemon juice and keep boiling and stirring for a minute. Strain using a cheese cloth. Water the fat in the cloth with with running water to remove the lemon taste. Remove as much water a possible. Use it in your favourite recipes.


Bengali Rasgulla (Fresh cheese balls in sugar syrup)

Homemade Rasgulla

Ingredients:

1. Fresh Cheese or paneer (made above)
2. 4 cups water
3. 11/4-11/2 cups cane sugar
4. a pinch saffron (optional)

Knead the paneer on a clean surface for 5-7 minutes until all of it comes together. Mix the saffron if using. Divide it into 12-14 pieces. (Mind the size because when cooked these balls of cheese will double in size). Apply a little pressure and roll each piece into a ball between your palms
Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a pressure cooker. Add the paneer balls and cover the cooker and cook for 1 whistles. After one minute slowly remove the steam (but lifting the weight of the cooker very slowly...BE VERY CAREFUL). Transfer the rasgullas into a sereving bowl and chill in the refridgerator for atleast 2 hours. Serve your delicious home made Indian desert

Maharastrian Fish stew

I was seaching for some fish curry with lots of sauce or fish stew to go with the Roti cause I didn't want to make rice today and I found this "hirva" fish curry from Maharastra. And I also got the Kokum the recipe called for but I was not sure how tangy this kokum is. It is sour like tamarind and I am pretty sure you can substitute tamarind juice in this curry and it will taste just a little different.
                Anyway, the thing that I really liked about Kokum is its flowery smell. mmm something about that was good. I liked it. So here is the recipe

Maharastrian Fish Stew (Fish fillet stew in Coconut and Indian Spices)

Maharastrian Green Fish Stew

Ingredients:

1. 3 boneless skinless fillet of Tilapia or Swai fish cut into bite size pieces
2. 1/4 cup fresh coconut pieces
3. 1 jalapeno or 2 serrano chile
4. 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
5. 1 teaspoon turmeric
6. 4-6 dried kokum  soaked in 3/4 cup of  hot-warm water for atleast 20 minutes. Remove the seeds
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. 1 medium onion finey chopped
9. 2 garlic pods
10. 2 tablespoons oil
11. 1 cup coconut milk (optional)

Grind the coconut, chile, cilantro, garlic and kokum and grind it to paste. In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till light brown. Add the paste and fry till oil separates. Add about 2 cups water or 1 cup water and 1 cup coconut milk if using. Add the fish and simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and give it a taste test. Stir and serve with warm roti . And this goes very well with hot steamed rice

Thotakura Mutton with Miryala Chaaru

Whenever I was writing a recipe using Maat ki bhaji or Thotakura or Amaranth leaves I have written a lot about how I always missed it. And, missed it, I did. And one of my favorite favorite recipes with Amaranth leaves is with lamb or mutton.
                              This dish is so very delicious and when you pair it with hor white rice and ghee its DE-vine. And ofcourse needless to say it goes very well with plain roti also. So here is the recipe for my favorite thotakura recipe

Maat Ki Bhaji Gosht (Amaranth leaves with mutton)

Thotakura lamb

Ingredients:

1. 1 bunch Amaranth leaves (roots removed and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces)
2. 1/2-1 lb lamb or goat meat cut into bite sized pieces
3. 1 medium sized onion sliced
4. 2 tablespoons oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste
6. 2 green chillies slit

In a pressure cooker at the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add green chillies and ginger-garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the meat , all the spices and fry for 5 minutes . add 1/2 cup water and cover and cook for 2 whistles. After the steam escape, open the cooker and add the washed and drained amaranth leaves and cook for 2 more whistles. After the steam escapes, open the cooker garnish with cilantro and simmer till all excess water evaporates. Serve with rice and Miryala Chaaru

Miryala Chaaru (Tamarind soup with black pepper)



Miryala Chaaru

 Ingredients:

1. 3 cups juice from a small lime sized tamarind
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, turmeric, coriander powder, fresh ground black pepper
3. 1/4 teaspoon cumin, mustard seeds
4. 2 teaspoons oil
5. 3 dried red chillies broken, few curry leaves

In a pot bring to boil the tamarind juice along with salt, turmeric, coriander powder and black pepper. Boil for 10 minutes. In a pan heat the oil fry the cumin and mustard seeds for a couple of minutes. Add curry leaves and red chillies and fry till they start spluttering. Add this to the tamarind juice and some chopped cilantro and keep boiling for 10 more minutes. Serve

Poblano chili khatta and Pan fried Chicken breast

Today I am a bit tired but I had thawed chicken breasts since morning. So I made the fastest pan seared chicken breast which I know are always the super fast fly-of-the-plate yummy.
               And to go with this chicken fry I made a variation of Hyderabadi Mirchi Ka Sallan with Pasilla Chili Pepper or Poblano and it is great. Here is the recipe for your to decide for yourself

Poblano Chilli Khatta (Famous Hyderabadi Sour gravy with Poblano chilies)

Hyderabadi Mirchi ka sallan with Poblano

Ingredients:

1. 1 poblano chili cut into 11/2 inch and 1/2 inch thick pieces
2. 2 cups juice from a small lemon sized tamarind
3. 1/2 tablespoon oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, salt, chilly powder
5. 1-2 green chillies (optional)

Grind to a paste:

1. 1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts
2. 1 tablespoon coconut powder or 1/2 cup coconut milk
3. 1 medium onion

Heat the oil and fry the cumin till they splutter. Add the poblano and fry till the raw green smell disappears. Add the green chillies if using. Add the ground paste and the tamarind juice and bring to a boil. Add salt and chilly powder and simmer for 15 minutes. garnish with cilantro and serve with rice

Pan Fried Chicken Breast (Simple chicken breast fry with onions and spices)

 Pan fried Chicken

Coconut chutney with Tamarind and Beetroot Fry

Today I am in a mood for totally vegetarian meal or may be I can safely say South Indian Vegetarian meal. I know the coconut chutney is from Andhra and the Beetroot fry may be only from Karnataka as my mom never made it and I was first introduced to this stirfry by one of my close Kannadiga friends's. Supposedly it is a very good postpartum recipe. It is super delicious and super super simple to make and takes less than 10 minutes if you use canned pre-cut beetroot. So here you go

Beetroot Fry (Simple beetroot stirfry)

Beetroot Poopu

Ingredients:

1. 1 can beetroot cut into shoestrings ,drained
2. 1/2 tablespoon oil
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, salt
4. 2 dried red chillies
5. few curry leaves

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin and mustard seeds along with dried red chillies and curry leaves and fry till they splutter. Add the drained beetroot pieces, cover and cook on medium high for 7-8 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot fluffy rice or roti

Coconut Chutney with Tamarind (Spicy Coconut dip)

Andhra Coconut Chutney

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups fresh coconut pieces
2. 1-11/2 cup juice from a small lemon sized tamarind
3. 1 jalapeno or Serrano chilli chopped
4. 1 teaspoon cumin divided
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of urad dal, chana dal (soaked in water for 10 minutes), mustard seeds, asafoetida, salt
6. 1/2 tablespoon oil
7. 1-2 dried red chillies broken
8. few curry leaves
9. 1 garlic pod chopped

In a food processor grind together coconut, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, green chilly and salt with tamarind water into almost a smooth paste. In a pan heat the oil and fry all the remaining things (for tempering) until they start to splutter. Add asafoetida at the end and fry for one more minute. Add this to the top of the coconut chutney. Enjoy with hot fluffy rice or idli or carrot idli or  dosa or Ravva Dosa or Gaarelu 

Gongura Pulihora

Gongura or Sorrel leaves or Ambada is a great leafy vegetable which is used in so many different ways in Indian dishes. This dish is one of those versatile dishes. This is rice with sorrel leaves. This is sour rice and instead of tamarind juice or lemon juice or grated raw mango we used cooked ground sorrel leaves here and it is yummy

Gongura Pulihora (Rice with sour sorrel leaves)

Gongura Pulihora

Ingredients:

1. For Sorrel rice
   1. 2 cups rice cooked and set aside to cool
   2. 1 cup ground sorrel leaves paste
   3. 1 teaspoon each of salt, sugar, sesame seeds
   4. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
   5. 2 tablespoons oil
   
   For tempering
   1.1 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal (black gram), chana dal
   2. 3 dried red chillies
   3. few curry leaves
   
   

   For Sorrel leaves paste
   1. In a pressure cooker cook the sorrel leaves with 1/2 teaspoon turmeric for 2 whistles and let cool.
   2. Grind to a fine paste
   
   For Sour Sorrel leaves rice
   In a pan heat the oil and fry chana dal, urad dal, cumin, mustard seeds and dried chilly till the seeds start to crackle. Add sesame seeds, turmeric salt, sugar and curry leaves and fry for a couple of more minutes. Add the sorrel leaves paste and cook for five minutes. Add the cooked rice and mix well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro. Let it cool a bit and enjoy

1. Also try Sour rice with raw mango
2.              Sour rice with Tamarind

Maamidi Pulihora

Grated Raw mango

Mamidi Pulihora is one of those seasonal dishes which is delicious. This dish is made with freshly grated green mango so it can be only made in the Mango season. I had this dish for the first time in one of my friend's home and I got hooked onto it. And here is the recipe for you to enjoy

Maamidi Pulihora (Sour rice with raw mango)

Mango Rice

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized raw mango peeled, pitted and grated
2. 2 cups rice cooked
3. 2 tablespoons oil
4. 1 handfull each of cashew pieces, peanuts
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, asafoetida, salt, turmeric, finely chopped ginger
6. 1 teaspoon each of urad dal, chana dal (soaked for 10 minutes), sesame seeds
7. 1 big or 2 green chillies chopped, few curry leaves, 2 dried red chillies
8. Cilantro for garnish

In a pan heat the oil and fry the peanuts for a couple of minutes.  Add cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, cashew pieces and let them splutter. Let them all get fried. Now add rice and grated mango and mix well. cover and simmer on low for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally. Garnish with cilantro and let it cool a bit and serve.

Also try Tamarind Rice (Pulihora)

Lamb with lentils and Saffron Pulao

I started searching for lamb dishes with beans and the dish I finally made has a little Persian touch to it and is definitely one of the best lentil dishes I have every eaten. This dish has lentils and lima beans . The original recipe called for Sultanas (I am guessing these are Lima beans...I have seen them somewhere ) . But anyway since I couldn't find Sultana beans I used canned Lima beans and the dish turned out to be great.
                   And I made Saffron Pulao to serve this lamb dish with. This is a bit different from the Saffron Rice I make. And this is equally delicious. So please enjoy a great dinner

Lamb with Lentils (Lamb meat with spicy lentils and beans)

Lamb with beans and lentils

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb lamb or goat cut into medium bite size pieces
2. 1/2 cup lentils
3. 1/2 can lima beans drained
4. 1 bay leaf
5. 1 inch cinnamon stick broken
6. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon each of salt and chilly powder
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste
8. 2 tablespoons oil
9. 1 medium onion chopped
10. 1 big or 2 small green chillies slit
11. cilantro for garnishing

In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till they start turning brown. Add green chillies, cinnamon and bay leaf and fry for a minute. Add lamb and fry for 5 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add all the spices and stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup water and cook for 3-4 whistles. At the same time in another pot add the lentils with 2 cups of water and cover and bring to a boil. Simmer on medium heat for 25-30 minutes until the lentils are cooked through.

               Let all the steam from the pressure cooker escape, open it and add the lentils and lima beans to the pot. Add 1/2 cup water and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with roti or Saffron Pulao

Saffron Pulao (Rice cooked with Saffron)

Saffron Rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups basmati rice washed and soaked in water for 10 minutes.
2. 1/2 teaspoon saffron crushed
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1 cup milk
5. 2 cups water
6. 1 tablespoon oil
7. 1/2 cup sliced red onions

In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they become golden brown. Add the milk and water and salt and bring to a boil. Add saffron and drained rice and simmer on low for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked. Serve

Thotakura Pappu and Dahi Mirch

Thotakura or Amaranth or Maat ki bhaji or Chawli ki bhaji are the names of my favorite leafy vegetable in different languages. Sometimes when the whole family would go on road trips we would stop at Andhra Meal hotels...I don't know if they still exist because when the Golden Quadrilateral road project was built to connect various cities of India, the road was built to by-pass the villages. So it was also by-passing all the old hotels and meal places.
               Anyway in those hotels my favorite dish was ThotaKura Pappu. This Dal dish I make it either thick or a little thinner consistency with some other side dish. Today I made Bell pepper with yogurt and it was amazing. So here's the recipes

Maat ki Bhaji Dal (Lentils with Amaranth leaves)

Thotakura Pappu

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup toor dal (toasted)
2. 3-4 cups Amaranth leaves chopped along with stems
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, urad dal,mustard seeds, salt, chilly powder , turmeric
5. 1 big or 2 small garlic pods chopped 
6. 1 big or 2 small tomatoes chopped
7. 2 dried red chillies broken
8. Few curry leaves

In a pressure cooker add the dal, tomatoes and leaves along with turmeric with 2 cups water and cook for 4 whistles. Let all the steam escape and open the cooker and mash the dal a little. Add one more cup of water and bring to a boil. In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin and mustard seeds and urad dal along with red chillies and curry leaves for a couple of minutes. Add garlic and fry for one more minute. Add the dal to this and the rest of the ingredients. Stir and bring to a boil. SImmer for 5-7 minutes. garnish with cilantro if desired and serve with hot rice

Dahi Mirch (Capsicum and potato in yogurt gravy)

Dahi Mirch Salan

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 green and 1/2 red or yellow bell pepper cut into cubes
2. 2 medium small potatoes boiled
3. 2 tablespoons oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric, salt, chilly powder
5. 1/2-3/4 cup plain yogurt beaten
6. 1/2 cup milk
7. 1 heaped teaspoon besan (chickpea flour)
8. 1 teaspoon kasuri methi

Peel the potatoes and mash 1 and set aside. Cut the other potato into small pieces. Heat the oil and fry the cumin and mustard seeds for a minute. Add the potato pieces and fry for 5 minutes. Add capsicum or bell pepper and fry for few more minutes. Move them to one side of the pan and add besan to it and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the milk and yogurt mix and mix well. Add chilly powder and turmeric and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Cut the heat. Add salt and kasuri methi stir to combine and serve hot

Sem Phalli Gosht aur Aam ka khatta

Sem ki Phalli or Chikudu kaaya in Telugu or Indian Broad beans or Valor papdi are all the names of an amazing bean vegetable. It is a very versatile Indian vegetable and can be cooked with many other vegetables or meats. Sometimes in India you can buy only their seeds or beans and they are great. Here in the USA you can sometimes find them in the Frozen vegetables section.


Today I made this Indian broad beans with lamb and to go with it a simple but delicious Raw mango Gravy.Try it for yourself and enjoy


Sem Ki Phalli Gosht (Lamb with Indian Broad beans curry)

Sem ki Phalli Gosht

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb Sem ki phalli ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
2. 1/2 lb boneless or bone-in lamb cut into bite size pieces
3. 1 medium small onion sliced
4. 2 green chillies slit
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste
6. 2 tablespoons oil

My mom never used to put any garam masala (the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves) in the meat if it is being mixed into any vegetables and so I do the same. But is totally up to you if you want to put some garam masala in this curry

In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till they just start getting browned. Add green chillies and ginger-garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add garam masala now if you want to use it. Add the meat and fry for 5 minutes. Add all the spices and 1/4 cup water and cover and cook for 2-3 whistles. Let the steam escape, add washed sem ki phalli pieces and cook for one more whistles. Let the steam escape, open the cooker and stir to combine and simmer till excess water evaporates and the gravy thickens. Serve with Roti or with white rice and Kairi ka khatta

Kairi Ka Khatta (Spicy Raw mango gravy)

Aam ka Khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized raw mango or kairi peeled and chopped into bite size pieces (you can throw the pit or seed else leave some flesh on it and cook it. I love to cook it)
2. 1 tablespoon oil
3. 1/2-3/4 cup sliced onions
4. 2 green chillies slit
5. 1/2 or more teaspoon salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon each if chilly powder, turmeric

In a pressure cooker add the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add the green chillies and fry for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients, add about 1-2 cups water and cook for 3 whistles. Let the steam escape and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Garnish with cilantro, give it a taste test and add salt or more water and adjust it. Serve with hot fluffy rice

Boiled Egg Curry

Long time ago, a certain person name "Hussain" worked as a cook for my dad. And he introduced us to some of the delicious curries of all time. He was a very mellow person and hard working too. At that time my dad used to work in another city from where our family was actually based. So I think we went there to spend two summers and I still remember those lazy afternoons mainly because my dad didn't have TV there and so we kids had to make our imagination work to pass time. I can never forget those days!!!
                But anyway, this is one of his recipes and my all time favorite egg curry recipes. I hope you will like it too

Hussain's Egg Curry (Boiled egg curry with tomato gravy)

Boiled Egg Curry

Ingredients:

1. 6 hard boiled eggs, shelled
2. 1 medium onion chopped
3. 3-4 large ripe tomatoes chopped
4. 1 teaspoon black gram (Urad dal with skin)
5. 3/4 teaspoon each of salt, cumin, chilly powder
6. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
7. 1 tablespoon oil+ oil for frying the eggs

In a wok or pan heat about 1-2 tablespoons oil and fry the eggs (make some slits in the boiled eggs else they will splutter in your face!) and fry for 5 minutes stirring often. Drain and set aside.

If there is not enough oil, add some more. Add urad dal and cumin and fry till an aroma starts emanating. Add onions and cook till tender. Add tomatoes and cover and cook till pulpy. Add all the ingredients and tomatoes and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with roti or rice and Rasam

Tuna curry with Refried beans gravy

Now, I had to have a quick dinner ready and I didn't have the patience to prepare any elaborate vegetables. So the best option at such situations is canned things and the two dishes I am making today both make use of canned items and I am serving them with hot fluffy rice cooked in the rice cooker

Bachelor's Tuna Curry (Canned Tuna cooked with onions and tomatoes)

Canned Tuna Curry

Ingredients:

1. 2 cans of tuna packed in water, drained
2. 2 ripe medium sized tomatoes sliced
3. 1 medium small onion sliced
4. 2 tablespoons oil
5. 1 green chilly sliced
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add green chillies and ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add tomatoes and cook till they become pulpy. Add all the spices and stir to combine. Add fish and cover and simmer for 5 minutes. garnish with cilantro and serve

Refried Beans Gravy (Quick gravy with re-fried beans and spices)

Re-fried beans gravy

Ingredients:

1. 1 can refried beans
2. 1 tablespoon tomato paste
3. 2 teaspoons oil
4. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder
6. 2 dried red chillies broken
7. few curry leaves
8. cilantro for garnishing

In a pan heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds and fry for a minute. Add red chilies and curry leaves and fry till they start spluttering. Add tomato paste and all the other ingredients except refried beans and fry for a few minutes. Add refried beans and mash if there are too many whole beans. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Gently boil for 10 minutes on medium low flame. Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot steamy rice

Biscuits and Gravy

Today being Sunday, is again a day to make some breakfast but I was in no mood to make any Indian breakfast which usually are very time consuming and need your constant attention. But anyway, breakfast has to be made. I has about 1/2 lb ground lamb so I am using it to make gravy with sausage (the ground lamb is the sausage part) for ready to bake Pillsbury's flake biscuits. And even my little one loved it. So here it is, try it when you are short of time but have some ground meat/chicken/turkey at hand


Gravy for Biscuits (Ground lamb in a flour gravy)
Ingredients:

1. 1 cup lightly packed ground lamb/ chicken /turkey or about 1/2 lb
2. 3-4 cups milk
3. 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4. 3 tablespoons butter
5. 3/4 teaspoon each of salt, fresh ground black pepper



Biscuits and Gravy



Warm baked biscuits

In a pan melt 2 tablespoons butter and fry the ground meat till well done. Drain the meat and set aside. Add the remaining butter and fry the flour by stirring continuously and make sure it doesn' burn. Fry till it starts turning light brown. Add milk a little at a time and stir well to combine. See that no lumps form. Add 3 cups milk and cook for 5 minutes. If the consistency is too thick at a bit more milk or cook a little bit more if it is too thin. Add the meat and salt and pepper, stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve hot with hot baked biscuits