Amaranth Mushroom fry

Happy new year every one...It has been one heck of an year 2017. I hope 2018 brings the best of everything for everyone and above all may there be world peace and less people getting dislocated from their homes, no matter what the cause.

Anyway, I got my favorite leafy vegetable when I went to the Indian stores and I wanted to make something which the kids will also eat without fussing because mushroom is their fav. And this dry curry is so delicious, I had to blog it fast before I would forget it. You should try and if possible please let me know.

Amaranth Mushroom fry (Dry peanut based leafy vegetable and mushroom fry)

Thota kura Mushroom fry

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups chopped Amaranth leaves (Thota kura)
2. 8 oz button mushrooms sliced
3. 1/3 cup chopped onions
4. 1 tablespoon oil
5. ½ teaspoon each of salt, turmeric, urad dal, mustard seeds, chopped ginger, chopped garlic
6. 1 heaped teaspoon coriander powder
7. 2 dried red chillies

Dry roast

1. 2 tablespoons peanuts
2. 2 dried red chillies (reduce if you like less spicy)
3. Few curry leaves
4. 1 tablespoon dried coconut
5. 1 teaspoon cumin

Dry roast the ingredients under dry roast and let cool. Grind to a fine paste

In a pan heat the oil and add urad dal and mustard seeds along with broken chillies and curry leave. Fry for a minute. Add chopped onions and fry till they start turning brown. Add ginger and garlic pieces and fry for a minute. Add chopped thota kura and add salt and turmeric and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and all the other spices and cook for 10 minutes. Add ground peanut powder and mix well. Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot steamy rice

Chaat with Beans

So...I wanted to eat chaat with the Kachori I made. But I had no garbanzo beans, so I had to improvise. And improvise I did with pink beans, and boy oh boy the chaat was great.

I think I like the beans chaat more than the regular chick peas chaat

Aloo Chaat with Beans (Potatoes and Beans cooked in spices)

Chaat with beans

Kachori Chaat

Ingredients: 

1. 1 can pink beans rinsed and drained
2. 1/2 cup onions finely chopped + some extra for garnish
3. 1 medium large potato boiled, peeled and chopped into 1 cm cubes
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of chilli powder, salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander powder, grated ginger (optional)
5. 1 heaped teaspoon chaat masala
6. 1 tablespoon oil

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin till they start to splutter. Add the onions and fry till they become translucent. Ad the ginger if using and the potatoes and fry for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients + 1/4 cup water, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add a little bit more water if it gets too dry. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy as is or over Kachori and sweet yogurt