Punjabi Lamb Curry

 This curry turned out to be so super delicious. When I had one bite of the roomali roti with this curry it transported me to the Tandoori restaurant we used to go by the side of  Upper Moosi river bridge in Hyderabad.


Punjabi lamb curry (Spicy Lamb Curry)
Ingredients

For Marinade:

1. 1 lb lamb
2. 1/2 cup plain yogurt
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder

For Curry:

1. 1 medium large onion sliced 
2. 1 large tomato chopped fine
3. 2-3 green chillies slit
4. 2 bay leaves
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of methi, saunf
6. 1 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, crush dried kasoori methi, garam masala
7. 1 tablespoon oil

Marinate the lamb with the ingredients in marinade for atleast 1 hr. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker, add methi and saunf and fry for a minute (The original recipe calls for grinding them into paste...but I got lazy). Add onions and fry till they start becoming dark brown. Add bay leaf and slit green chillies and fry for 30 seconds. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and fry for 5 minutes. Add the marinated lamb and mix well. Add a tablespoon of water. Close the cooker and cook for 3-5 whistles. Let the steam escape. Open the cooker and add kasoori methi and simmer till the gravy thickens to your liking. Serve with Roomali roti.

Roomali Roti aur Punjabi lamb curry

Mmmm mmmm mmmm. The recipe was super delicious recipes for roomali roti and Punjabi mutton curry

In all these years I never tried making roomali roti because I thought it was complicated but it was simple. The only thing is, you have to roll it into the thinnest roti you could make

Roomali Roti (Super thin Indian wheat bread)

Rumali Roti

Ingredients:

1. Whole wheat flour (atta) 2 cups
2. All purpose flour (maida) 1/2 cup
3. Salt to taste
4. Cold water  as required
5. Wheat flour  for dusting

Sieve the whole wheat flour and refined flour with salt. Mix it. Slowly add cold water and make a soft dough. Keep it covered with a damp cloth for thirty minutes. The dough should be very elastic. Knead well again. 
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Shape them into round balls. Roll out each ball into small rounds on a floured surface as thin as you could roll (dust the surface as needed else the roti will stick to the surface)

Serve immediately with Punjabi lamb curry and onions.

Other curries which go great with Romali roti

Kaleji Rogan Josh

Kaleji Shorbadaar

Kaleji Masala

Apple coffee cake

The other day when I went to "Sprouts" super market they had the tiny apples...perfect for lunch boxes in a bag. They look good and yummy and I got a bag. Ofcourse as it always happens when you have too much of something at home no one touches it. So I have this bag of apples sitting on my counter for about 2 weeks now and today I made this yummy apple coffee cake to use up some apples.

     I couldn't use up as many apples as I would have liked but the cake turned out super delicious and my little Sou chef was helped me quite a bit.
 The recipe I followed is by Emeril Lagasse

The recipe seems to have a lot of super in it but it wasn't sweet at all. I skipped the glaze part. But after eating a couple of pieces I think I will add the glaze.

Apple Coffee Cake

Apple coffee crumb cake

Ingredients:
Cake:

1. 1 stick plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
2. 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3. 2 large eggs
4. 2 cups all purpose flour
5. 1 teaspoon baking soda
6. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. 1 cup sour cream
9. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
10. 2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples

Crumble Topping:

1. 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2. 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Brown Sugar Glaze:

1. 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3. 2 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter.

In a large bowl, cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl or on a piece of parchment, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.

To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden slightly. Serve warm.

Bengali lamb curry

So... There has been a new addition to my extended family from west Bengal-one of the north eastern states of India with a very distinct cuisine. 

      So, it was the inspiration for me to search for a Bengali lamb curry and bioy oh boy , it turned out super yummy. I will be making it more often 

Bengali lamb curry ( lamb in sweet and spicy gravy)

Ingredients

1 lb lamb cut into 1 in cubes

1 tablespoon oil 

1 medium large onion chopped

2 green chillies

1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste

Ingredients for marinade

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon each of brown sugar, ground mustard, oil (preferably mustard oil) ( I used canola)

1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilli powder, turmeric

Marinade the lamb pieces in the marinade for minimum 30 minutes .

In a pressure cooker heat the oil ( the original recipe called for mustard oil, but I did not have any. So I used canola and fried 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds till they started to splutter) and add onions. fry the onions till they start turning brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 1-1.5 minutes. Add slit green chillies and fry for 30 seconds. Add marinated lamb and fry for 5-7 minutes. Stir to combine, add 1/4 cup water and cook for 3-5 whistles. 

Let the steam escape, open the cooker and simmer till the gravy reaches your desired consistency.

The original recipe calls for garnishing with toasted almond slices but I skipped it.

Serve with vegetable fried rice or plain white rice and enjoy 

Persian lentil curry

Little Mr. Junior who used to just loooooovvvveeee the indian dal or sambar recently had a change in his tastes and doesn't want to eat rice with dal anymore. But that being a staple food in a house, I am seriously stuck. SO am searching for new ways to make lentils and today is the persian way of making red lentils or masoor dal

Persian Lentil soup (Tangy Red lentils made with vegetables)

                                  

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup each of red lentils or masoor dal, grated carrots, thinly sliced onions
2. 1 cup finely chopped tomatoes
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, chilli powder, salt, finely chopped garlic
5. 2 tablespoons lemon juice

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till golden brown, take a tablespoon out and set it aside. Add the carrots and garlic and fry for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and all the spices but hold the salt and fry for 5 minutes. Add 3 cups water and the lentils and bring to a boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are soft. Add the lemon juice and salt ans garnish with the fried onions set aside and cilantro and serve.

Enjoy

Egg biryani

                                                   

Its been such a gloomy weather lately, winter just landed with a thud. We haven't seen the sun in 10 days. Its been raining non stop...man it feels more awful as I right it LOL

So...I was craving something hot and spicy and for some reason I wanted Egg Biryani...to top it of, I never had egg biryani in my life. But the recipe I followed helped me make the most delicious rice dish I ever tasted. It will be a regular in my house for sure.

Oh...and the pink spots on the eggs in my dish is because the previous day I used my cutting board to cut beetroot and even though I washed it, the color was still there and it colored my eggs when I peeled and put them on the cutting board

Egg Biryani (Spicy rice with boiled eggs)

Egg Biryani

                                             

Ingredients:

1. 2 cup of  basmati rice
2. 2 tbsp oil
3. A small bunch of  coriander leaves (cilantro)
4. A small bunch of  mint leaves
5. 2 green chillies
6. 2-3 cloves of  garlic
7. 2" piece of  ginger
8. 1.5 cups of  large onions, sliced thin
9. 1 cup  tomato finely chopped
10. 1/2 tsp of  red chilli powder (adjust to taste), cumin powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder
11. 1 cups of  thick coconut milk (optional)
12. 1 teaspoon  biryani masala or Hyderabadi Hara masala 
13. 1 tsp of  ginger garlic paste (freshly made is best)
14. 6 eggs hard boiled
15. 1/4 cup of  cashew nuts and more coriander leaves and mint leaves, for garnish

Hard boil the eggs and keep aside.
In a pan and heat 2 tablespoon oil. Add the cashew nuts and fry until golden. Drain and set aside.

 To the same pan, add half of the sliced onions. Fry until golden, drain and set aside. Add the rice and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add it to a rice cooker and cook it.

 Grind together - coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chillies, ginger, garlic with salt.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the rest of the onions until brown. Add the ground paste and fry for another 30 seconds or so. Or add 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste and the Hyderabadi hara masala and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add the spices and powders - coriander, turmeric, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, chilli powder. Add the coconut milk and 1/2 cup water and cook for 10 more minutes on low flame. Mix the masala well. Add the rice and mix well and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally. Garnish with the fried onions, cashew and cilantro and the boiled eggs. Enjoy steaming hot

Rava idli

So, there are other kinds of idlis than just the regular one which needs planning ahead by 2 days....but when you are short of time and you want to eat an idli right now, then this is the idli . Super fast and delicious.

Ravva idli( streamed sampling dumplings )

Ravva idli with beet root

  Ingredients 

1. 1 cup upma ravva or samolina
2. 1 tablespoons+ extra oil for basting the idli molds
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, salt and baking soda
4. 1 teaspoon Chana dal soaked in water for 10 minutes
5. 1/2 cup plain yogurt
6. 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
7. 1 tablespoon each of finely chopped ginger, green chillies and cilantro, cashew
8. 2 tablespoons finely chopped onions
9. 1 tablespoon each of grated carrot, beetroot, cabbage

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin, mustard seeds, few curry and fry for a minute. Add cashew and fry for a minute. Add Chana Dal and all the veggies and fry for 5 more minutes. Add soji and fry/roast for 5-7 minutes.

In a bowl mix the yogurt with lemon juice , salt, baking soda and 1 cup water. Let the soji cool a bit and add this to the yogurt. Add more water to get the consistency of a thick pan cake batter.

Prepare the idli pans by applying oil with a finger. Add a tablespoon of batter. Stream in a cooler for 15 minutes. Enjoy with your favorite chutney 

Chunky bean and chicken soup

So... I went to the dentist today...mmm you figure out the rest and its soup for dinner

Chunky bean and chicken soup

This soup/ chilli is sooo simple, delicious and hardy I love it. You will love it too

Ingredients 

1. 1 large can fire roasted tomatoes ground to purée

2. 1 can beans in mild chilli sauce 

3. 1/2-1lb chicken breasts cubed small

4. 1 tablespoons oil

5. 1/2 cup finely chopped onions

6. 2 large garlic grated

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till translucent. Add garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken and fry through. Add tomato purée, beans with the sauce and 1 cup chicken stock or water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Enjoy with any crusty bread

Meat empanadas

Lately I have been making things at home which the kids can just heat up in the microwave and eat and won't go bad super fast. This empanada recipe from the food network is my favorite and and filling is ofcourse my own recipe.

Meat Empanada (Meat turnovers)

Meat empanada

Meat or lamb filling

Ingredients for the crust:

1. 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2. 1 teaspoon salt
3. 1 teaspoon sugar
4. 3 tablespoons oil
5. 1 egg, beaten

Combine flour, salt, and sugar and mix well. Add the oil and mix. Add the egg and mix well and add water one tablespoon at a time until dough comes together and is pliable.Set aside.

Take a small golf ball sized dough and roll into 4-5 inch circle. Add 1-1.5 tablespoons filling. Dip your finger in water and run it over the edges and turoldnover on edge to cover the filling. Press the edges with a fork to create the pattern.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes until the empanadas look golden brown. Let it cool a bit before serving

Soya chunk in coconut gravy

Soya chunks is something my mom did not like, so  needless to say she never made it. In my whole life in India, my mom might have made it once and the second time I ate it, was when one of my colleagues/lecturer's brought it for lunch and offered it to me for tasting when I was curious.

But my hubby likes it. I am not a super fan of them but I am not avers to them like my mom. So I do make it. And today I made a recipe with soya chunks in coconut gravy and it was yum yum.

Soya Chunks in coconut gravy

Ingredients

1. Soya Chunks - 1/2 cup
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger garlic paste, salt, chilly powder, turmeric, cumin seeds
3. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
4. Oil - 1 tbsp
5. Few curry leaves
6. 2 dried red chilli

 To grind:

1. Coconut - 2 tbsp
2. Pepper - 1/2 tsp
3. Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
4. Onion - 1 medium sized
5. Tomato - 2 medium sized

 In a microwave safe bowl heat about 2 cups of water for 1-1.5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to it and mix and add the soya chunks to it. And let sit for 20 minutes. Drain them and squeeze as much water out of them as possible. Set aside.

Ass 1/2 tablespoon oil Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and fry for 5-7 more minutes., Let it cool a bit and grind to a paste along with the rest of the ingredients under "to grind".

In a pan heat the remaining oil - add  cumin, mustard seeds, dried red chillies, curry leaves and fry until the seeds start to splutter. Add the ground paste, ginger garlic paste along with all the powdered ingredients and stir to combine. Add the drained/squeezed soya chunks, 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes on medium heat and serve

 

:

Rajma

Its been a looooonnng time that I logged anything on my blog. But...whose keeping track.

Anyway...sometime ago, I had a friend of my daughter come over for sleep over. And I asked her mom what her favorite dish is, so that I can make it for dinner and she said Rajma...well, this curry with kidney beans is so super popular in the Northern state (of India) Punjab. But its not that popular in the South. In the south we are more devoted to lentils to supply our protein fix.

So that day, I had to go shopping for kidney beans, because I had none in my pantry...shocker :O.
So, instead of going through the pain of remembering to soak the beans over night...cook them extr long to make them nice and mushy, I just got canned kidney beans. So long as you rinse them atleast twice you are fine. And my daughter loved the curry...and that's how one more of the staple curry's in my household was born.

Rajma (Kidney beans cooked in spicy/aromatic gravy)
Ingredients:

1. Rajma/Red Kidney Beans - 1 can
2. Onion - 1 Large
3. Tomatoes - 2 Large
4. Green Chilli - 2
5. Oil - 2 tbsp
6. Hing/Asafoetida - A Pinch
7. 1/2 tsp each of Cumin Seeds, coriander powder,turmeric, amchur powder
8. 1 teaspoon each of Red Chilli Powder , Crushed Kasoori Methi/Dried Fenugreek Leaves ,Salt  (or less)
9. Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tbsp 

 Grind the onions to a paste (I like my gravy smooth) or finely chop them.

 In a pan heat oil add hing, cumin and allow to crack. Add onion paste and fry till it start getting brown. Add chilli, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, coriander powders and mix well, saute for a minute while stirring. Now add finely tomatoes (or ground tomatoes) and stir, cover and cook until tomato gets mashed, stir occasionally. Drain the canned rajma and rinse them under running water and add them to the pan with 2 cups of water and bring it to good boil cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add salt, crushed kasoori methi, amchur powder, and stir to mix well. Simmer in slow flame for another 5 minutes or until gravy becomes thick. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice or your favorite roti

Telaga Pindi Thotakura

Telega Pindi in Telugu or khalli in Urdu is nothing but the husk of sesame seeds after the oil has been extracted from them. So, it's unnecessary to say it's super delicious...if only you know how to cook it. My daadiamm - paternal grandmother was an expert at this and boy did she make some super delicious dishes.

So... This sesame seed powder is made with different vegetables but I couldn't find this recipe anywhere else. This recipe is sesame seed powder with thotakura 

Telaga Pindi Thotakura 

Ingredients

1 cup sesame seed powder

3 cups fresh thotakura or 1 cup packed Frozen thotakura thawed and chopped

2 cup+ 1/2cup water

1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilli powder and turmeric

2 garlic slices into 4 pieces each

1/4 cup sliced onions

1 teaspoon each of cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds, chopped garlic, asoefitida 

1 tablespoon oil

In a deep pan bring to boil, 2 cups of water along with salt, turmeric, chilli powder, garlic and onions. Mix the sesame seed powder with 1/2 cups of water into a paste with no lumps. Add it to the boiling water along with thotakura and keep boiling and stirring occasionally for 20-30 minutes until all the water evaporates. In a pan heat the oil and add cumin, mustard seeds and urad dal and fry for a minute. Add broken red chillies and curry leaves and cry for a couple of minutes. Add garlic and fry till light brown. Add asoefitida and fry for 30 seconds and add this to the cooked sesame seed and thotakura. Stir to combine and serve with piping hot white rice and ghee

Methi dal with Chilli Chicken

Dinner time...as usual I was searching for something different to make for dinner. I have made chilli chicken before but it was the wet variety. Today I made it dry and I made methi dal...and it was sooo delicious. My kids ate it without complaining. but I took crappy pictures (one of them, you can see here) so I am not posting it today

Methi Dal (Split peas with Fenugreek leaves)
Ingredients:

1. 1 cup yellow or green split peas/pigeon peas
2. 2 cups fresh fenugreek leaves stripped from the stems
3. 1 big or 2 small cloves of garlic
4. 1/2 tablespoon oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, asafoetida, salt, chilli powder and turmeric
6. 1 small lemon sized tamarind (optional)
7. few dried red chillies
8. few curry leaves

In a pressure cooker, cook the split peas and methi leaves for 4-5 whistles with 2 cups of water and turmeric. Let the steam escape. Soak the tamarind in 3 cups of water and add that water to the dal. If not using tamarind, just add water, salt, chilli powder and boil for 10 minutes. In a pan heat the oil and add the cumin, mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves till they splutter. Add asafoetida and stir and add the tempering to the dal and boil for couple of more minutes. garnish with chopped cilantro if desired and serve with white rice.

Note: If serving with roti , just add 1 cup instead of 3 cups of water after the dal is cooked

Chilli chicken (Indo chinese spicy sour chicken)

Chilli Chicken

Ingredients:

1. 2 chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes
2. Oil for shallow frying
3. 1 medium onion cubed
4. 1 bell pepper (any color you like) cubed
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 1/2 tablespoon each of soy sauce, white vinegar, sambal chilli paste
7. 2 garlic pods chopped
8. 4-6 green chillies sliced
9. 
   

For marinate:

1. 3/4 teaspoon salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, ginger garlic paste, onion powder, garlic powder
2. 1 egg beaten
3. 1 heaped teaspoon corn starch, all purpose flour

marinate the chicken with ingredients in "1" for 2-4 hours. Add corn starch and all purpose and mix well. Add egg and mix well and set aside for 30 more minutes.

Heat oil in a pan for shallow frying (or if you like...deep frying) and fry the chicken till they turn golden brown. Drain and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and fry the onions for 3-4 minutes. Add slit chillies, bell pepper and garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Add chicken stir well. Reduce the heat add soy sauce, vinegar and chilli paste and mix well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. garnish with cilantro and green onions and serve

Beignet with peach sauce

Its the weekend and time to make some yummy breakfast. From the past couple of weeks I have been feeling pretty bored with "the usual" breakfasts I make. So yesterday I was searching for something yummy and YAHOO gave me the best idea ever...beignets . It is a French pastry and yahoo had a link to where you can use store bought frozen biscuits and make it into beignets...and yum yum yum my family just gobbled them up. And I made peach sauce to serve them with.

So here is it...Louisiana Beignets with Carolina Peach Sauce 

Beignets with Peach sauce (Fried pastry with Sauce made with peach jam)

 

Ingredients:

1. 1 box frozen biscuits left in the fridge overnight for thawing
2. Oil for deep frying

For Peach sauce:

1. 1 tablespoon your favorite nuts chopped (I used almonds) (You can use walnuts or pecans)
2. 1 teaspoon butter
3. 2-3 tablespoons heaped peach jam (I got locally made peach jam...after all I live in the Peach country)
4. 1/8 cup water

In a sauce pan heat the butter and fry the nuts for 3-5 minutes or until they are crunchy. Add the jam and water and stir and bring to a boil . Your sauce is ready.

Separate the biscuits into individual biscuits and cut it into quarters. Heat the oil to 350 degrees or until a tiny piece of dough added to oil floats to the top. Add 4-6 pieces of biscuit at a time and fry till golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain and serve with peach sauce

Kheema Paratha

So, after I made the kheema fry and made it into samosas, I has some left-over kheema fry. So I decided to make Kheema parathas, which I have been thinking of making fr a long time.
             Some time ago there used to be an Arabic teacher in our local mosque used to live all by himself. He once gave me about 2 lbs of ground chicken and asked me to make a whole batch of these stuffed paraths for him. So that he can heat and eat later. Man...it took me 4 hrs and I did make so many for him and in the process. had no time to make dinner for my own family. We ate out.
                Anyway, long story short I have been thinking of making these parathas since then and now came the chance. And YES, they were super delicious. Me and my kids just gobbled them up.

Kheema Paratha (Meat stuffed Indian bread)

Kheema Paratha

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Kheema fry
2. 1/2 cup boiled, peeled and mashed potato
3. 1 teaspoon salt divided
4. Oil for frying parathas+1 teaspoons 
5. 11/2 cup wheat flour
6. water for making dough

Mix the ground meat fry, with 1/2 teaspoon salt and mashed potato and may be some finely chopped cilantro and 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger if desired. And set aside.

Mix the wheat flour with salt and enough water to make into dough. Rub a little oil in your palm and roll the ball of dough so that oil is applied all over it. Set aside for 20 minutes. 

Divide the dough into 6 parts and the filling into 6 parts. Roll each part into 4 inch disk, add filling and make it into a ball again. set aside until you finish the rest.

Heat a griddle and roll one of the stuffed balls into 6 inch disks. Fry on each side until it turns golden brown with dark spots here and there. Enjoy as is or with ginger pickle 

Lamb Samosa

In India, samosa and pakoda are the go to snacks for college students and employees. They are affordable, yummy and available whenever and wherever you feel hungry. But after coming to the US there was not one good place to get samosas. And then one of the sweet stores' had a change of management and a change in their samosa recipe. So we became a regular of that store. But...then came the move.
                         I have tried my hand at making so many things but samosas eluded me for soooooo long. But finally today I found a recipe and boy oh boy the samosas came out perfectly golden brown and super delicious. Especially the crust, which turned out to be such a disaster for me always. I did not change anything from the recipe of the crust of that website. But the filling is my own. It is a ground meat /lamb filling.So here is the samosa recipe

Lamb Samosa (Indian empanada's stuffed with ground lamb)

Lamb/meat Samosa

Ingredients
For Crust:

• 2 cups maida or all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp ghee or oil (The original recipe calls for 4 tbsp)
• 1/4 cup or more of water (add 1 tablespoon at a time)
• 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
• salt as required ( i added ¾ tsp salt)
• oil for deep frying

For Lamb/meat filling:

11/2 cup Kheema Fry

1 medium large potato boiled, peeled and mashed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 green chilly chopped fine (optional)

The samosa crust

Take the flour, carom seeds, salt in a bowl. mix well and add ghee or oil.
Mix the flour with your hands, the whole mixture should clump-up when joined.
Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time and begin to knead adding water as required.
knead to a firm dough. cover the dough with a moistened napkin and keep aside for 30-40 mins.

Mix all the ingredients of the filling together and set aside.

Divide the dough into 5 parts and make it into 6-7 inch circles , on a clean countertop with a rolling pin. Cut it into two half circles. Add a heaped tablespoon of the filling . Apply water to all the edges of the samosa crust with a wet finger and fold one half to make a triangle. Fold the other half over it and pinch the edges together.

Heat the oil in a pan to medium high heat and fry the samosas for 5-7 minutes a piece or until golden brown, turning every minute. Serve with masala chai and ketchup

 

Personal potato salad

I was craving something creamy and tangy and I was boiling eggs for http://azeemaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/07/ande-ka-khatta-and-anda-jhinga-khatta.html?m=1 . And I was boiling potatoes for potato fry. Since u had the basic ingredients ready I was ready to make potato salad. So here goes

Tangy potato egg salad

Ingredient

1. 1 medium small potato boiled till fork tender

2. 1 medium egg hard boiled, peeled and chopped

3. 1 teaspoon chopped tarragon 

4. 2 teaspoon heaped plain yogurt 

5. 1 teaspoon heaped mayo

6.1 tablespoon vinegar

7. 1 teaspoon boar's head delicatessen style mustard with white wine

8. Salt and pepper to taste
9. 1 tablespoon each of finely chopped red onions and red or orange or yellow bell pepper and celery

Mix together vinegar salt and pepper and mustard. Mayo and yogurt and onions and bell pepper and celery. Add chopped potatoes and egg and mix well chill for an hour before serving. Yum yum creamy creamyenjoy

New England clam chowder

This used to be one of my favorite soups...mmm so creamy and filling and of course loaded with calories. And for the longest time I didn't make it.

But yesterday when I went shopping I made sure to get two Cans of minced clam and yum yum yum I made a yummy clam chowder with fewer calories than the restaurant ones

New England clam chowder

Clam Chowder

Ingredient

1. 1 tablespoon each of olive oil, butter
2. 3/4 cup diced white onion
3. 1 large clove of garlic minced
4. 3 medium russet potatoes boiled, and cubed  1 cm
5. 3 cups 2 % mlk
6. 1 tablespoon flour
7. 1 cup water
8. 2 cans of 10 zoz minced clams
9. 1/2 cup sweet white corn (optional)
10. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper or to taste

In a pan heat the oil and butter and add the onions and fry till they become translucent. Add garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add potatoes and add 1 cup water and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix the flour in 1/4 cup milk and add it also to the pot. bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes and serve hot

Also try Corn Chowder

fried rice and shrimp baby corn

Feb 22nd Mockington Post: There is something about the greasiness of the items from Panda express that half of the people find disgusting and the other half irresistible. In my household I am the only one from the first half of the people.

But none-the-less for the sake of the people from the other group I tried mocking...sorry making a mock version of the Panda express's egg fried rice and yes, to be mocking it, I liked it...probably because it was not so very greasy. But the taste came out pretty close.

Mock Panda Express Fried rice

Panda express Egg Fried rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups cooked rice, cooled
2. 2 eggs beaten
3. 1 large or 2 small carrots cubed small
4. 1 cup cabbage sliced
5. 1/4 cup white onions diced
6. 2 tablespoons oil divided
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, white pepper
8. 1 tablespoon each of low sodium soy sauce, sesame oil
9. 1 large or 2 small garlic grated
10. 1/2 cup green peas

In a pan heat 1 tablespoon oil and scramble the eggs. Drain and set aside. Heat the rest of the oil and add the vegetables and garlic and fry for 5 minutes covered. Add rice and eggs and all other ingredients and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally. Garnish with green onions and cilantro and serve hot 

Sesame glazed Shrimp with baby Corn

Sesame glazed shrimp with baby corn

Ingredients:

1. 12 oz medium shrimp tails off, and deviened
2. 2 tablespoons oil
3. 1 can baby corn drained, halved length wise
4. 2 teaspoons each of hoisin suace, soy sauce, corn starch
5. 1 teaspoon each of corn starch, white vinegar, grated ginger, grated garlic, toasted sesame
6. 1/2 cup sliced scallions
7. 1 small-medium red or yellow bell pepper
8. salt and pepper to taste

Mix the baby corn with 1 teaspoon corn starch. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the corn for 5 minutes or until they become crispy. Drain and set aside. Mix all the sauce ingredients and corn starch with 1/2 cup water and said aside.

Heat the remaining oil and fry the shrimp till they become pink. Drain and set aside. Add some more oil and add scallions and bell pepper and ginger and garlic and fry for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and baby corn back and salt and pepper and the sauce and stir well. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. add sesame seeds and cilantro and serve hot with steamed rice or fried rice

Andhra allam pachadi

One of my dad's cousin used to make this pickle and man oh man what deliciousness it used be. She have me this recipe a very long time ago but I never tried to make it because her recipe called for the ginger to be sun dried for 2 days .

But then I found this recipe recently which was exactly like my cousins' but no drying just frying ...which could be done if you live in the region with less sun, like I do presently.

So here you go . Make this yummy sweet and spicy ginger pickle and enjoy it with rice or idli or dosa or anything else you can think of

Sweet and spicy ginger pickle (South Indian pickle) 

Ingredients

1. 1 lb Chopped Ginger/Adark/Allam
2. 150-200 grms Tamarind
3. 1 tsp - Fenugreek Seeds/Methidana roasted and powdered
4. 1/2 lb  Jaggery
5. 1 teaspoon or more salt to taste
6. 2 tablespoons chilly powder ( my chilly powder is super spicy so I used only 1 tbsp)
7. 1 tablespoon oil

For tempering

1. 1/2 cup oil

2. 1 tablespoon chana daal soaked in water

3. 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

4. Few dried red chillies

5. Few curry leaves

6. 3-6 garlic cloves 

In about 1/2 cup hot. Water soak the tamarind and when it gets cool enough to handle pick all the seeds and any other things from it and make it into nice pulp.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the ginger pieces on medium heat for 5-8 minutes. Let them cool

Grate the jaggery and set aside

Grind the ginger pieces into coarse paste . Add tamarind and grind again. Add salt and chilli powder and methi powder. Add jaggery and grind again

Heat oil for tempering and fry all till they start to splutter. Let it cool and add to the pickle. Store in a glass jar with air tight lid

Yakhni Murg

Yakhni Murgh (Chicken in Yogurt sauce)

chicken in yogurt sauce

Ingredients:

1. 1-2 lbs chicken breasts cut into cubes
2. 2 cups plain yogurt beaten well
3. 1 teaspoon each of chilli powder, fennel powder, mustard powder, turmeric, garam masala, grated garlic
4. 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
5. 2 tablespoons oil

 Wash the chicken and drain off excess water. Heat oil in a pan and fry the chicken for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Add all the powders and fry for a minute. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Reduce heat to low and add the yogurt and heat slowly so that it dosn't cuddle. Add the chicken back and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Let it cool a bit before adding salt. Serve with white rice o fried rice

Kashmiri style lamb curry

I was looking for something new to cook because I have been getting bored by cooking the chicken and lamb in the same way. And I stumbled upon Kashmiri style dishes. Those dishes from Kashmir usually have apple and dry fruits as ingredients in them.

There is the dish Bom Chount Wangan which is eggplant and apples curry and I mixed in lamb in it and it is deeeeelicious. It tastes sweet and spicy at the same time. You need to eat it to believe it

Lamb with Eggplant and apple curry 

Lamb with eggplant and apples

Ingredients:

1. 2 green apples cubed into 1 inch cubes
2. 1 big american eggplant cut into 3 inch strips about 1 inch thick
3. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
4. 1 teaspoon each of red chilly powder, fennel powder, garam masala, cumin powder
5. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste
6. 1/2-1 table spoon salt.
7. 2 tablespoons oil divided

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and fry the eggplant and apple for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Add the rest of the oil and add all the powders. add ginger garlic paste and stir to combine and fry for a minute. Add the meat and stir and add 1 cup water and cover and cook for 30-45 minutes until the meat becomes soft. Add the eggplant and apples back to the pot and mix well and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with steamed rice

Tandoori paneer

Long time ago when we were in India we got a portable tandoor for Rs 2000 which was a big amount at that time. So a person from that company came to my house and showed me how to make some dishes using that tandoor. One of the items he made was tandoori paneer. It was yummy and super spicy

So finally after so many years I got back to that recipe and boy oh boy all the people in my household just devoured it. Since I did not have any red food color I added a little bit more turmeric and turned it really yellow and I served it with pink rice. It was nice to look at the plate too

Tandoori chicken (. Marinated grilled indian cottage cheese)

Tandoori paneer

Ingredients
1. 1 package paneer about 400gms cut into 1 inch cubes
2. 1/2 large yellow or red bell pepper
3. 1/2 cup red onion chopped big
For marinade
1. 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
2. 1 heaped tablespoon plain yogurt
3. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4. 3/4 teaspoon each of salt, chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and marinade the paneer pieces for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish with Pam and lay the paneer pices in a single layer. Mix the onion and bell pepper in the remaining marinade in the dish and lay them in the baking dish. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Turn the paneer pieces and serve warm with  Pink rice

Here is another version of the Tandoori paneer

Glazed carrot and wax beans

This is one of my favorite sides for baked salmon. The other best side dishes for baked salmon are glazed fire roasted corn, roasted sweet potato with or without carrots, steamed broccoli 

Glazed carrots and wax beans

Ingredients 

1. 2 large carrots cut into 1 inch long pieces and quartered( to make them equal in thickness to green beans)

3. 1/2 lb green or waxed beans or a can drained. Cut the fresh beans into 1 inch pieces

4. 1/2 cup chicken broth

5. 1 teaspoon sugar

6. 1 tablespoon butter

Boil water in a pan with 1/2 teaspoon salt and add the carrots to it. Let boil for 2 minutes. If using fresh beans add them to the boiling water and let boil for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside

In a wide pan bring the chicken broth, salt and butter to a boil. Add carrots and beans and let boil till there is about 2 tablespoons liquid. Serve as an yummy side

Sem Phalli Baingan Jhinge

Semphalli or Sem ki phalli or Indian broad beans or Chikkudu kaaya in Telugu is one of my favourites and when it has plump seeds in it they are much better. But anyway here in the US of A whatever you find you would have to use.

So, I made this curry with the broad beans and eggplant and shrimp. For a vegetarian version you can just skip the shrimp. Here is the original Sem Phalli and Baingan recipe

Sem Phalli Baingan aur Jhinge (Indian broad beans with eggplant and Shrimp)

Shrimp with Indian broad beans

Ingredients:

1. 1/2-1 lb shrimp peeled and de-veined
2. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
3. The ingredients for the original recipe

Cook the shrimp as it says in Original recipe. Heat the shrimp with the shrimp until they all turn pink. Add the curry to the shrimp and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes and garnish with cilantro and server

Baked salmon dinner

Today was the fish day. I made baked salmon and a whole lot of different sides. It was delicious. Everyone loved it

Baked salmon

Ingredients

1. 6 6-9 inch salmon filets

2. 1 teaspoon each of grated garlic, salt, dried basil, parsley

3. 1/2 teaspoon each of fresh ground black pepper, coriander (optional)

4. 2 tablespoons each of fresh lemon juice and olive oil

Marinade the fish for about 1 hr. Preheat oven to 375 degrees . Put the fish in a glass baking dish along with the marinade and bake for 30-40 minutes. Cover with a foil to keep warm until ready to serve . For the sides I made glaced carrots, buttered fire roasted corn, pickled beet root, black and brown rice, roasted sweet potato and carrots