Corn Chowder

Its not sop season yet but the temperature's are certainly dropping here. But today is not one of those cold days. Yet I wanted to eat the corn potato chowder. And the chowder I made today turned out so yummy and creamy even my picky eater had a second helping and it filled me up.

Corn and Potato Chowder

Corn and potato chowder with Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:

1. 1-11/2 cup frozen corn kernels thawed
2. 1 medium large potato peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
3. 1 medium small white onion chopped fine
4. 2 large or 3 medium garlic cloves
5. 1/2 tablespoon each of olive oil, butter
6. 1 chicken bouillon
7. 2 fully cooked smoked chicken sausages chopped (optional)
8. 1 medium large carrot chopped into 1 cm cubes
9. 2 cups whole milk
10. 1/4 teaspoon each of salt (or to taste), fresh ground black pepper, Italian seasoning

In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and butter and fry the onions till they become translucent. Add garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add potatoes and carrots and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add sausage if using, and corn and chicken bouillon and stir to combine. Add milk and bring to a boil with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Simmer for 10 minutes. Give it a taste test and adjust the salt accordingly.

Enjoy a piping hot bowl of Corn Chowder

El Pollo Loco Avocado Sauce

Yesterday our dinner was from the Mexican restaurant  El Pollo Loco. This is one of my favorite restaurants and the Guacamole  Sauce from the salsa bar is my favorite. Today I had some left over chicken but no Avocado Sauce and I was just searching for this recipe. The actual recipe is here. I changed one thing from the recipe  that is I replaced white vinegar with fresh lemon juice, and the guacamole sauce was exactly as it would taste at the restaurant.

El Pollo Loco Avocado Sauce 

Guacamole Sauce

Ingredients:

1. 1 ripe Avocado pitted
2. 1 jalapeno steamed and quartered
3. 1 cup water
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt or adjust to taste
5. 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
6. 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
7. 1 tablespoon chopped onion

Grind all the ingredients together except onions into a smooth paste. Add onions and stir to combine. Give a taste test and adjust accordingly with more salt and lemon juice

Tres leche cake

There used to be bakery close to where I lived before. Their most famous item there was called Tres Leche Cake and I had no idea what it was. So one day I just tried a small piece and I fell in love with it. It was delicious, so rich and yummy. And the cakes in that bakery came with fruit or without fruit. And the best fruit to go with this cake is the tart Mr.Kiwi

The cake tastes so complex that I never thought I could make it at home. But it is soooo simple to make. I wish I knew it earlier :)

Tres leche cake (3 milk cake)

Tres Leche Cake

Three Milk Cake

Ingredients

1. 1 box yellow cake mix
2. 1 cup each of condensed sweetened milk, whipping cream, whole milk

Make the cake according to the package directions and let it cool for 5 minutes. Take a fork and make holes in it. Mix the milks well and add it to the cake slowly so that it can soak the liquids. Let it soak at least an hour before serving. Make it milk mixture again the after 2 hours and add this to the cake to make it soak better if the cake looks dry. Serve and enjoy a delicious cool piece of cake!

Sweet Potato Pie

Pecan Pie

Indian broad bean beet root fry

The other day when I wanted to make vegetarian curry, all I had was a little bit of this and a little bit of that by themselves none of the vegetables were enough to make a curry for the family.so I mixed up the indian broad beans and beet roots I had and fried the and the end result was delicious. My hubby loved it. I served it with white rice and khatti dal

Sem phalli Chukandar tallan (Indian broad bean and beet root fry )

Sem Phalli beetroot Fry

Ingredients

1. 1 cup sem ki phalli cut into 1 inch pieces
2. 1 cup canned beetroot shoestrings drained
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, salt, turmeric, chilly powder
4. 1 small onion sliced thin and fried crispy

In a pan heat the oil and add the cumin, mustard seeds and urad dal and fry till they splutter. Add broad beans cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add beet root and all the spices and stir to combine. Cover and cook till all the vegetables are cooked through. Garnish with crispy fried onions and cilantro and serve with roti or rice and dal

Beet Root recipes
Beetroot fry
beetroot Roti
carrot beetroot Halwa

Indian Broad bean recipes
Indian Broad bean with Eggplant
Fish with indian Broad Beans
Lamb with Indian Broad beans

Malai Kofta

This is one of those delicious dishes which tastes different in every restaurant you try it. It is creamy, it is sweet, it is savory, it is a great dish to serve with a roti or fried rice or for that matter even plain old steamed rice

I have tried to make it so many times before but was never successful because the koftas when I tried to fry them would always fall apart in the oil and I would end up fried mashed potato oil. But finally mrs. Manjulas kitchen saved me and this is her recipe.

Malai kofta (potato balls in cream based gravy)

Aloo Kofta

Malai Kofta

Ingredients
For kofta

1. 2 medium potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed a bit ( about 1-11/2 cup)
2. 1 cup grated or crumbled paneer
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1 green chilly chopped fine
5. Few cashew and raisins (optional)
6. Oil for deep frying
7. 2 tablespoons all purpose flour+ 1/4 teaspoon salt

For gravy

1. 1 tablespoon oil
2. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
3. 1 cup tomato sauce
4. 1 cup heavy cream
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, chilly powder
6. 1 teaspoon each of salt, coriander powder, grated ginger, sugar

For the kofta, let the boiled potatoes cool and mix it with salt, chopped chilly and paneer. Make small balls and if desired put a raisin and a cashe in the middle of the kofta and set aside. In a bowl make thin batter with the all purpose flour and salt. Heat oil for deep frying. Dip the koftas in the all purpose batter and fry till the koftas turn golden brown. Drain and set aside

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin till they start to splutter. Add ginger and fry for a minute. Add tomato paste and all the spices and cook covered for 10-12 minutes. Add cream and mix well and bring to a slow boil. Add koftas to the gravy and boil gently for 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve

Some more paneer recipes for you to check out!
Kadai Paneer
Paneer Mushroom Masala
Achari Paneer
Palak Paneer

Beetroot Roti with Paneer Mushroom Masala

This is one of those fancy looking colored Rotis' made especially for the kids. Whenever I make a roti my kids like it and eat it even if it is only for the novelty's sake.

This roti made with ground beetroot is pink/light red in color and tastes delicious. I made musroom with paneer to serve this roti with

Red Roti (Indian bread with Beetroot)

Pink Roti

Beetroot Roti

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 can beet root drained
2. 2 cups whole wheat flour + more for making the roti
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1 teaspoon oil
5.  Butter for frying the roti

Grind the drained beetroot into a smooth paste and mix it with the whole wheat flour and salt. Don't add too much water as the beet roots have enough water in it. Apply a teaspoon of oil to your palm and roll the dough so that oil is applied all over it. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle some dough on a clean surface. Divide the dough into 6 parts and roll it slowly into roti sprinkling with more flour if needed. Heat a griddle and fry the roti with butter and fry till dark spots appear on the roti. Enjoy healthy pink roti

Mushroom Paneer Masala (Mushroom in Cottage Cheese gravy)

Paneer Mushroom masala

Ingredients:

1. 1 8 oz box of mushroom cleaned and sliced
2. 1 cup crumbled paneer
3. 1 medium  onion chopped
4. 1 large tomato chopped fine
5. 1/2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
6. 1 tablespoon oil
7. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
8. 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, coriander powder, chilly powder
9. coriander for garnishing

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add tomatoes and all the powders (hold the salt) and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add mushroom and stir and fry for 5 minutes. Add paneer and stir to combine and cook for 2 minutes. Add salt and coriander and mix well. Serve with your favorite roti

And here are some more Mushroom Recipes

Broccoli with Lamb and Fried Rice

Its been quite a while that I made Chinese at home. Today I was thinking of Panda Express and their famous dish Broccoli and beef. But since I don't have beef and had lamb at hand so here is the dish Broccoli with lamb. I served it with Fried rice.

I have never tasted the Broccoli and beef and so I can't tell you how my broccoli and lamb compares to it. But I can tell you for sure that my broccoli and lamb was a super hit at home

Broccoli with Lamb (Stir fried lamb with broccoli)

Lamb with Broccoli

Ingredients:

1. 2 teaspoons cornstarch
2. 1/2 cup water, plus
3. 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4. 1 lb boneless lamb cut into strips
5. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
6. 4 cups broccoli florets
7. 1 small onion, cut into wedges
8. 1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
9. 2 teaspoons brown sugar
10. 1 teaspoon ground ginger

In a bowl, combine 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth. Add lamb and stir to combine. In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry lamb in 1 tablespoon oil until the lamb is well done. Drain and keep aside. Heat the remaining oil and stir-fry broccoli and onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes. Return lamb to pan. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger 1/2 cup water until smooth; add to the pan. Stir to combine. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes . Serve with Fried Rice

Bhindi Masala

Bhindi or Okra is one of my favorite vegetables. And when paired with tomato is becomes the most delicious of vegetable currys'.

This bhindi masala is very much similar to another okra recipe I made...Bhindi Do Pyaza but it is sooo different in taste. And I think I like this bhindi Masala a tad more than the other recipe. Try it

Bhindi Masala (Okra and Tomato Curry)

Bhindi Masala

Ingredients:

1. 12 oz pack of frozen pre cut okra thawed
2. 1 large or 2 medium tomatoes chopped
3. 1 medium small onion sliced thin
4. 1 tablespoons oil divided
5. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
6. 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)  ( for some reason this dish needs a bit more salt than usual to taste just right)
7. 1/2 teaspoon each , turmeric, coriander powder, chilly powder

Thaw the Okra on a kitchen towel so that it can soak up the excess water.

In a non stick pan heat half of the oil and fry the okra on medium high heat for 5-7 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and add the cumin and fry till they start to splutter. Add the onions and fry for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the salt, chilli powder and the spices and stir to combine. Add the okra back to the pan and cover and cook for 7-8 minutes. Uncover and fry further for few more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and stir to combine and serve with roti or rice

Okra with Tomatoes

Okra in Tamarind juice

Okra in tamarind juice 2

Stuffed Okra

Simple Okra Stir fry