Simple Okra Fry and Toor Dal with Vegetables

This is one of my all time favourite recipes because it is so easy and fast to make and delicious too. I was searching and searching for this recipe in my blog but looks like I forgot to write it
          You know sometimes you forget to log or blog those things which you do often.

This amazingly simple stirfry goes very well with Toor Dal with Vegetables 

Simple Okra Fry (Stir fried okra with spices)

Bhindi Fry

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb okra cut into ½ inch pieces
2. ½ teaspoon salt, chilly powder, turmeric, cumin
3. 1/2 teaspoon kalonji or onion seeds (optional)
4. 3 tablespoon oil
5. 1 tablespoon or more of peanut powder (recipe follows)

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin for a couple of minutes. Add kaloonji if using and fry for a couple of more minutes. Add okra cover and cook for 10 minutes and stir occasionally. Add all the other ingredient stir to combine, cover and cook for 5-10 more minutes or until desired doneness if achived. Serve with Toor Dal with Vegetables

Toor Dal with Veggies

Peanut Powder (Roasted peanut powder with spices)

Peanut Powder

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup skinless peanuts
2. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
3. 2 dried red chillies
4. 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Dry roast all the ingredients one by one and let them cool. Grind to powder and store in a air tight container and in the refrigerator for longer shelf life

This powder can be used to enhance the taste of any fry or stirfry. And is always best to have on hand

Another Okra Fry Recipe

Mexican Chicken Rice

My li'l girl loves Spanish rice and me too. Today I had some leftover chicken so I am making Mexican flavoured Chicken fried rice.  I am going to serve it with some sour cream and heat and eat ReFried beans.

Mexican Chicken Rice (Chicken Fried rice with Mexican flavor)

Mexican Chicken Rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups rice cooked according to package directions
2. 2-3 cups cooked chicken cubed
3. 1 cup ready made salsa (1 cup finely chopped tomato, 1 green chilly chopped, 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice)
4. 1/2 cup corn kernels
5. 1/4 cup chopped onions
6. 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
8. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
9. 2 tablespoons oil
10. 1/2 red bell pepper chopped fine
11. 2-3 green onions chopped
12. 1 tablespoons dried mexican oregano

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions and the white part of the green onions till tender. Add the garlic and fry for a minute. Add salsa or the ingredients if you don't have salsa and the bell pepper and the corn kernels and chicken and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Mash the tomatos a little. Add salt, pepper and oregano and stir to combine. Add cooked rice and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium and cover for 5 minutes. Stir again and add lemon juice if salsa is not tangy enough. Sprinkle with a generous amount of cilantro finely chopped and serve

Chicken in Coconut Gravy

Recently I discovered this program on my local channel called "Simply Ming" and he cooks real simple Chinese flavor dishes. I really like him because his way of cooking is like my brother's cooking. As I mentioned already my brother is an amazing cook and he makes it look really effortless
            Anyway, the dish I made today is from one of his shows and I made some minor changes to it, and even though it doesn't look that great it tastes amazing and it takes a bit of a time to get cooked but the time is well spent. So enjoy

Chicken in Coconut Gravy (Chicken thighs in a simply coconut gravy)

Chicken in Coconut Gravy

Ingredients:

1. 6-8 chicken thighs bone in (with skin or without skin)
2. 1 tablespoon oil (optional)
3. 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
4. 1 jalapeno or 2 serrano chillies finely chopped
5. 1 can coconut milk
6. 1 large or two medium sweet potatoes chopped
7. 1 large red onion sliced
8. 1 cup chicken broth
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, fresh ground black pepper

Heat a non-stick pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on the skin side and place it on the hot pan. Let it get fried for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on the other side and flip and fry for 5 more minutes. If there is not enough fat in the pan add the oil and if there is too much remove some. Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes. Add garlic and green chillies and fry for a minute. Add the chicken back to the pan and add everything else and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 30-45 minutes, until chicken gets fully cooked. Serve with hot steamy rice

Home made bread crumbs and Bread crumb Mava

Home made bread crumbs are one of the best ways to use up old but not mouldy bread. You throw away the bread if it is mouldy, ofcourse.

And the simple but delicious Mava or bread crumb dessert mix I made with these bread crumbs is super simple and super delicious. SO next time you have some old bread try making these

Home Made Bread Crumbs

Ingredients:

1. 6 slices of old wheat or white bread or 4 hot dog buns

Spread the bread on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 200 degrees. Leave it in the oven to cool. Pulse grind to crumbs. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for long life

 Bread Crumbs Mava (Toasted crumbs and coconut mix)

Bread crumbs mava

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups home made bread crumbs
2. 1/2-3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1/4 cup raisins (optional)
5. 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or one cardamom pounded

In a pan dry roast the coconut until slightly brown. Take it into a plate and set aside. In the same pan carefully toaste the bread crumbs for about 5 minutes. Add sugar and stir well to combine. Add the rest of the ingredients and the coconut back to the pan and stir well for a minute or two. Let it cool and serve

My grandma used to make such Mava and use it as fillings for sweet samosa. I will make those someday soon

T

Tomato chutney for Paneer Dosa and Cheese Dosa

Its been a long time that I made dosa and today I am all set to make it. Whenever I make Plain Dosa I always make my favourite Potato Curry to go with it and if I have patience I make some chutney also. Today its the Tomato Chutney's turn.

                     And today I am making Paneer dosa and cheese dosa for the kids

Paneer Dosa (Lentil crepe sprinkled with cottage cheese)

Paneer Dosa

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup peeled black gram (Urad Dal)
2. 2 cups rice
3. 3/4 teaspoon salt
4. 2-3 cups water
5. oil for frying
6. 2 tablespoons grated paneer per each dosa

Here is How to make Fresh Paneer
Soak the black grams and rice separately in 3 cups of water over night or for atleast 5 hours. Grind them to a smooth paste and mix with salt and water to get a thin pancake batter consistency. Heat a griddle and add a laddle of batter in the center and spread the with the back of the laddle with a light hand. Add a teaspoon of oil around the edge of the dosa. Fry for 3-4 minutes until the edges turn golden. Turn it and fry for 1 more minute. Sprinkle with the grated paneer mixed with a pinch of red chilly powder for spicyness. Serve as is or with chutneys and curries

Tomato Chutney (Tangy tomato dip)

Tomato chutney

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium small onion chopped
2. 2 large or 3 medium tomatos chopped
3. 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
4. 1/4 cup thick tamarind juice
5. 3/4 teaspoons salt
6. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
7. 1 serrano chilly chopped
8. 2 tablespoons oil divided
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds,
10. few curry leaves
11. 2-3 dried red chillies broken

In a pan heat about 11/2 tablespoon oil and fry the onions till tender. add green chillies and fry for a minute. Add tomatoes and cook covered till tender. Add tomato tamarind juice and salt and turmeric and stir to combine. Let it cool. Grind to a coarse paste.

In a pan heat the remaining oil and fry the cumin, urad dal and mustard seeds for a couple of minutes. Add curry leaves and dried red chillies and fry till they start to splutter. Add this to the tomato paste. Serve with idli, dosa or even steamed rice and ghee

            

Cheese Dosa (Lentil crepe sprinkled with Cheddar cheese)



Cheese Dosa



Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of grated cheddar cheese per dosa

Once the dosa gets cooked on both side, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and leave it on the griddle for about 30 minutes or until cheese melts. Let cool a bit before serving. Enjoy

Anda Pakora aur Gobi Mushroom Pakora

This is one of my favourite road side snacks from the town I grew up in. There used to be a roadside vendor in a "Thela Gaadi" . The Anda pakoda he made was nothing special but the onion mix he used to put on it made it dilectable. I din't make it but I have the recipe for it here and do try it

                And when I want to make Pakoras or Pakodi or Pakoda and am short of Onions I make them with Cabbage and this time round I had fresh mushrooms and I used them too. These Pakoras have a good amount of fiber in it

Anda Pakora (Egg fritters)

Anda Pakora

Ingredients:

1. 4-6 hard boiled eggs peeled
2. 1 cup besan or chickpea flour
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, baking soda
4. 1/4 teaspoon each of turmeric, cumin, Ajwain,
5. water as needed
6. Oil for deep frying

Ingredients for topping:

1. 1/4 cup finely chopped white onions
2. 1/4 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder

Cut the eggs into half or quarters as I did and use whole or half eggs if you want to use the topping.

Mix all the ingredients in the list of ingredients except oil and eggs with enough water so as to make a thick batter. Set aside for 5 minutes. heat oil in a frying pan and dip the eggs in the batter and drop them in the oil carefully and fry till golden brown. Serve with ketchup and green chutney

        Mix the ingredients in the toppings in a bowl. Slit the top of an egg pakoda and the egg and fill it up with enough topping and drizzle with fresh lemon juice and serve. This is delicious

Gobi Mushroom Pakora (Cabbage and Mushroom fritters)

Cabbage Mushroom Pakora

Ingredients:

1. 1-11/2 cup thinly sliced cabbage
2. 1/2-3/4 cup fresh mushrooms sliced
3. 1-2 cups besan or chickpea flour
4. 3/4 teaspoon each of salt(or to taste), chilly powder, baking soda
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, cumin, Ajwain,
6. water as needed
7. Oil for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients together with as little water as possible to make medium thick batter and set aside for 5 minutes. heat oil in a pan and drop spoonfuls batter and fry till golden brown. Serve hot with tea and chutneys

Also try Onion Pakora or Onion Fritters

Hyderabadi Ginger Chicken with Malabar Paratha

Long time ago when I was getting hooked up on the treats available in Hyderabad, one dish that made me crazy was Ginger Chicken. And there was a road side dhaba near my sis-in-law's house and whenever my brother used to go there I used to ask him to get it for me and OMG that was awesome. I never had Ginger chicken which tasted soooooooo delicious in another other hotel or restaurant.
                      I tried making Ginger chicken a lot of times before but still I missed that taste. So today I called my brother who is an amazing cook and asked him how to make this ginger chicken. So with his help I made the dish and it turned out Great with a CAPITAL G

                      I wanted to eat it with Naan but instead I just got frozen Malabar Parathas. I tried making them once but it is too much work and it didn't turn out very good. Better luck next time but today I am eating the frozen parathas

Hyderabadi Ginger Chicken (Chicken in a mildy sweet and spicy ginger gravy)

Ginger Chicken

Frozen Malabar Paratha

Ingredients:

1. About 2 lbs chicken pieces (I used Chicken wings )
2. 1 big onion or about 2-3 cups ground red onion puree
3. 1 tablespoons tomato puree
4. 2-3 inches ginger ground to paste
5. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, cumin, coriander powder, garam masala
6. Pinch red food color (optional)
7. 3-4 tablespoons oil
8. 1 teaspoon thinly sliced ginger pounded
9. 1 green chilly (or use more for hotter curry)

Ingredients for marinade:

1. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste
2. 3/4 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, turmeric

Wash and pat dry the chicken and marinate it with the ingredients for about 1-2 hours

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chicken pieces 5 minutes on each side on high heat till you get a nice brown crust. Drain and set aside.

Grind the onion along with ginger and green chilly and cumin. Add this to the hot oil in the pan and fry till all the water get evaporated. Add tomato puree and pounded ginger and all the powder ingredients and stir to combine. Fry for 10 more minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer till oil separates. garnish with a generous amount of cilantro and serve with any Indian Bread like



Plain roti



Kalonji Roti