Black bean and Lentil soup - Canned Soup made flavorful - Easy, Semi-homemade

 

Black bean and Lentil soup - Canned Soup made flavorful - Easy, Semi-homemade

I wanted to make something easy and quick, but didn't want to have the unflavorful canned soup. I had a can of black beans and couple of cans of the Progresso lentil soup. All I did was add some frsh ingredients and mix it with the black beans and the lentil soup. It came very good and yummy. Simmering it made it taste like home made soup!!! It was crunchy with the onions and chuncky with tomatoes and beans. I only added these, but you can add any other veggies too like bell pepper, celery etc.,.

Ingredients:

1 can of Progresso lentil soup
1 small can of black beans, washed
1 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
few drops of oil

Method:

In a pot, heat few drops of oil and add the garlic and saute. Add the onion and saute for a minute. Then add the tomato and saute for a minute. Add the lentil soup and washed, canned black beans and mix everything together. Add the coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli flakes, salt, turmeric and mix together. Simmer on medium low heat for about 5 minutes and add the coriander leaves. Serve hot. Enjoy!!!

Prep time: less than 10 min

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Madras Curry powder

Madras Curry powder

This curry powder is a little different from our regular curry powder or garam masala powder but just as useful. It can be used to flavor our regular saute dishes to anything else. It can be made in matter or minutes and can be stored.
I came in touch with this powder when I lived in a small island country called Trinidad in the West Indies. This was very long back, like about 20 years ago, when my father worked in that country for couple of years. It was a popular spice powder used by the Trinidad Indians (Indians who have settled there more than 200 years ago).
There are a few dishes which my Mom learnt and we fell in love with and make it at home even now. I make them sometimes, thats why I have this masala powder in my pantry. I have used this to flavor my regular dishes and they do taste good.
When I wanted to make this powder, I googled it and found this recipe which I used. The recipe asks to powder the curry leaves and add turmeric powder, which I didn't. I like the smell and flavor of fresh curry leaves, so I rather add them directly to the dish, same goes with the turmeric.

Ingredients:

1 cup coriander seeds or dhaniya seeds
1/2 cup cumin seeds or jeera
1/4 cup fennel seeds or sounf seeds
1/4 cup dried red chillies
2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
2 tbsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp fenugreek seeds or methi seeds

Method:

Dry roast all the ingredients in a pan till they turn fragrant on medium heat, stirring constantly. Take note that they do not burn. When cool grind into a powder.
Store in an air tight container.

Tip: Red chillies may burn quickly, so u can add them towards the end or roast them separately.

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Cabbage Kofta curry / Fried Cabbage balls in tomato yogurt gravy

Cabbage Kofta curry / Fried Cabbage balls in tomato yogurt gravy

My Mom and Dad are here on a visit and will be staying here with me for a while. So while my mom is around, I get to eat her cooking and dishes from my childhood. So right now I will do the eating, tasting, clicking and posting what she she cooks!!! :) I cook only sometimes when she is here, like the variety stuff.
My Mom makes different kinds of koftas with different veggies. Many of those which I learnt later on how to cook them by asking her for recipes. Here is one of the kinds -- Cabbage Koftas. The gravy too can be made in many ways. She made an easy gravy with dry whole garam masala, dry coconut powder, and little bit of garam masala powder in combination with tomatoes, onions, ginger-garlic paste etc.,.
She made this the other day in combination to peas pulao which I made. See I chose the easy one and gave her the difficult one. Why not let the better cook do the better curry right!!

So here goes the recipe for cabbage kofta curry - OUR WAY !!  (please adjust spice according to your taste)

Ingredients:

For Koftas:

1 small cabbage head, chopped small
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp chilli powder
salt to taste
2 green chillies, chopped
1/2 cup to 1 cup besan or channaga pindi or channa daal flour
1/4 cup rice flour
some water
oil for deep frying the balls
( do not add all the besan and water, just add enough to make a thick dough, otherwise you might mix too much besan and won't feel the cabbage)

For gravy:

4 cloves
4 small pieces of cinamon sticks
2 bay leaves, broken
5-6 curry leaves
water squeezed from cabbage
1 onion, chopped
2 tomotoes, chopped
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
4 green chillies, chopped
1 tbsp dry coconut powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1/2 cup yogurt, well beaten
1 tbsp lemon juice
some water to make gravy, if necessary
2 tbsp oil
Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

To make koftas:

Add the chopped cabbage in a microwave dish and microwave for about 5 min till just soft and cooked (not mushy). When cool, squeeze the water out from the cabbage and keep aside. Add all the ingredients for the koftas and knead into a dough, not too soft nor hard. Make small balls and fry in heated oil.

To make gravy:

Heat oil in a pan. Add the whole garam masala and saute. After browning, add the onions, green chillies, curry leaves and saute till brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute. Add the tomatoes and cook till soft. Add the coconut powder, coriander powder, jeera powder, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and saute in the tomato mixture.
Add the squeezed water of cabbage and cook for 5 mins. You will see that the gravy is now liquidy and  not very thick. Take out some of the liquidy gravy and put the cabbage balls in it. This will let the balls soak up some of the liquid and become little bigger. To rest of the tomato gravy add the beaten yogurt and lemon juice and let simmer for 5 min before removing of heat. The gravy will become thick. Add some water if necessary, if the gravy is too thick. Add the soaked balls into the gravy before 1/2 hour before serving. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice, pulao, fried rice or biryani. It goes well even with parata, roti or chappathi. Enjoy!!!

Tip: If you add the balls into the gravy before only, they might become too soft and break. So its better to add them before serving, since the already have soaked some of the liquid, they will be juicy too.

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Peas Pulao / Peas Fried Rice

Peas Pulao / Peas Fried Rice

I am again confused as to what to call it?...pulao or fried rice?...I usually call it pulao when I cook all the ingredients together and fried rice, when I add curry like ingredients to the cooked rice.
The recipe can be made both ways, but this time I made it the second way just because I feel the peas get cooked to a very soft texture or become mushy when cooked when the rice.
I always have a bag of frozen peas in my freezer. Making peas pulao was a last minute change. I first thought of making jeera rice for the potluck party. But the thought of kids eating jeera rice didn't go well together. I know atleast my kids would eat it if its biryani with something in it. I wanted to make something easy , not too heavy, not too 'masalayee' (if thats a word) and something which will go well with my Mom's Cabbage kofta curry. So then I decided to use the peas in the freezer to make the peas pulao.
Its very simple and very easy to make. Its easy to put together if you have peas ready like me. I used frozen peas, but you can also use fresh or dry ones which you will have to soak overnight. If using dry peas, you might have to cook them for little longer till they are cooked.
Since it was for a pot luck party made made it using 3 1/2 cups of raw basmati rice. Adjust accordingly if you are making a lesser quantity.

Ingredients:

3 and 1/2 cups basmati rice, soaked for 1/2 hours atleast, then cooked in a rice cooker with only 5 to 5 1/2 cups of water ( since the rice is soaked and also if you want the single grain texture use less water with basmati rice when using a rice cooker)

1 and 1/2 cup frozen peas
1 large onion, julienned, cut lengthwise
4 green chillies, slit and cut into halves
1/4 cup broken cashews
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves or pudina
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves or kothimeeru or dhaniya leaves for garnish

Dry garam masala:

6-8 cloves
5-6 small 1/2 inch pieces of cinamon sticks
1 anise star, broken
2 large bay leaves, broken in halves
1 tsp shahi jeera or kala jeera
1/2 tsp jeera
4-6 elaichi pods

1 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
salt to taste
3-4 tbsp oil

Optional:

1/2 tsp coriander or dhaniya powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder

Method:

After the rice is cooked, remove it into a large vessel and fluff it, so that the grains don't stick together.
In a different pot, heat oil and add all the dry garam masala and let it brown. Add the onions, green chillies, cashews and brown them too. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute. Add the peas and salt and saute till you think the peas are cooked. Remember they shouldn't get mushy! Add the mint leaves and saute well. Add dhaniya and jeera powder and mix well. Lastly before removing from the heat, add the coriander leaves and mix well. You can save a few coriander leaves to add directly to the rice too. Add this mixture to the rice and mix well into it taking note not to break the rice grains. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot or warm with any curry and raita. Enjoy!!!

 

This is going to CWS - Cardamom Seeds hosted by Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes .

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Vadalu / Gaarelu / Vada / Fried Lentil Dumplings

Vadalu / Gaarelu / Vada / Fried Lentil Dumplings

Vadalu or gaarelu ia always a specialty item. Its made mostly on festival days, weddings or any other functions or celebrations. At home, we sometimes make them as breakfast, pot lucks or any celebrations. Everyone at home eat them with out fussing too, which is good for me. These vadas are made with urad daal. You can use the white whole ones or the halves.
I make them plain for the kids or with onions, ginger, peppercorns, jeera and curry leaves for us.
Vadas, like idlis can be eaten with chutney, saambar as 'Sambaar vada' or with yogurt as 'Dahi vada'. My favorite is the dahi vada without a doubt. Eating vadas with chicken curry is also very yummy!!!
There is small trick to remember when making vadas. This according to me. If you want nice, crispy vadas, soak it for less time. Many people soak it overnight too. But thats not necessary. 1-3 hours is good enough. Old, refrigerated batter will absorb oil and vadas will be oily, so fresh batter is good. And also if you leave the batter outside without using for a long time, it will start to ferment quickly, so use it up within couple of hours. The thicker the batter too, less oil it will absorb.

Ingredients:

1 cup urad daal, soaked for 1-3 hours and ground in a wet grinder or regular grinder or mixie to a thick batter
salt to taste
oil for frying

Ingredients to add to the batter (optional) (all ingredients are not necessary, you can add few, not add rest)

chopped onion
grated or chopped ginger
chopped green chillies
few curry leaves
few black peppercorns

Method:

Mix all the ingredients into the batter. Take a plastic sheet. I use a ziplock bag. Wet your hand with water and also the sheet with few drops of water. Take a lemon size ball of the batter and press down on the plastic sheet to a round shape. Make a hole in the middle and drop into oil. The hole is so that there is even cooking. Fry to golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper napkin. Serve hot with chutney, saambar or chicken curry. Enjoy!!!

Prep time: less than 5 min for each vada. Only time taken for soaking and grinding.

Tip: Don't use too much water to wet hand or sheet, this could make the batter thin or liquidy, and also when you drop it into oil, the oil might splatter due to water. So be careful.

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Ravva Idli / Steamed Tempered semolina cakes

Ravva Idli / Steamed Tempered semolina cakes

Who doesn't like a lavish breafast with idlis (steamed rice cakes), vadas (fried lentil dumplings)? But who has the time to make it?...
Its very rare that I also find enough time to make such items for breakfast. It usually doesn't end up as breakfast but as brunch in most cases. Because by the time I make saambar and chutney as sides, it would be almost lunch time :).
I make idlis very regularly at home, so for times like this I feel like making something other than the regular idli. Thats when I tend to make the variations of idlis and Ravva idli is one of them.
Ravva idli is easy substitute and a healthy one too. Easy because not grinding or fermentation. Healthy because it has nuts, veggies and steamed too. Many people add other kind of veggies too, but I end up only adding grated carrot with nuts, to be fast and quick. It's not only a breakfast item but also lunch or dinner item.
Its not at all difficult to make and doesn't take much time, so you can prepare the batter about half hour to an hour before and make them when you want to eat them. I wouldn't suggest storing the batter for more than a day to two. The idlis tend to come out hard if old batter is used. Fresh is always good and this is instant too. It can be served with saambar or any chutney. I served it with tomato pachadi / chutney. and saambar.

Ingredients:

1 cup semolina or sooji or ravva(coarse kind)
carrots, grated (add how much you think is required..I added about 2 medium sized)
1-2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1-2 tbsp grated coconut (optional)

1 tbsp channa daal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
6-7 curry leaves

1 inch ginger, grated
3-4 green chillies, chopped tiny
2 tbsp cashew nuts, broken

1 cup yogurt, beaten well
1/4 -1/2 water (use as required to give right consistency)

a pinch of baking soda
salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

Method:

Dry roast the ravva in a pan till it starts to turn color and keep aside.
Beat the yogurt till smooth and keep aside.
Add the baking soda, salt, grated carrot, coconut, chopped coriander leaves to the ravva.
Heat oil in a pan for tempering. Add channa daal and brown. Add the cashews and brown them too. Add the mustard seeds, let them splutter. Add the curry leaves, ginger and green chillies and saute for 10 seconds. Immediately add this mixture to the ravva and mix.
Add the beaten yogurt with some water to this mixture and mix well. Leave aside for atleast 1/2 hour.
After 1/2 hour, if you see that the batter has become too thick and dry, add water and mix well. Remember, the ravva idli batter should be thicker than idli batter.
Grease the idli mould with few drops of oil and drop spoonful into the mould. Steam it  on medium heat for about 10 to 15 min.
Remove and serve hot with any podi, chutney or saambar or with both. Enjoy!!!

Prep time: About an hour.

Tip: If the batter is too thin, the idlis won't come out in good shape and will be too thin.

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Kesari Baath / Sweet Saffron rice

Kesari Baath / Sweet Saffron rice

Kesari baath is the other offering we made on Shri Rama Navami. This sweet is little different from our regular Naivedyam. It is called Kesari baath. I know some people even call Ravva kesari with the same name, but this sweet is made of rice and not ravva.
It is made in almost the same way with a few minor changes because its rice which has to be cooked before 90% stage before adding to the sugar syrup. And cloves, cinamon and bay leaf is also added for the fragrant smell.
This was my brother's favorite as a kid. My Mom used to prepare it often, on his birthday too. Today we wanted to make this as its been a long time since we made this at home. We used the kesari food color, so as to get a even coloring. So with my Mom's help here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati rice (cooked in the rice cooker in the microwave to about almost done...80 to 90% done)
11/4 cup sugar (you can use more if you want it sweeter or less if you want it less sweeter)
1/4 cup water to make syrup
1/4 tsp elaichi or cardamom powder
a pinch of saffron or kesari food color (or you can use saffron strands)

3-4 cardamom pods
3-4 cloves
3-4 small 1/2 inch pieces of cinamom sticks
2 bay leaf

1 tbsp cashew nuts
1 tbsp kismis or golden raisins

2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter

Method:

Cook rice on either stove top or microwave or any other way you wish to about just done. Keep aside.
In a pot, add sugar, water and make syrup. Let it come to boil. Add the saffron color and cardamom powder. Add the rice and mix well. Now the rice has to get cooked in the sugar syrup to completly done.
In a different pan, heat the ghee and saute the cashew and raisins to golden brown. Add the cardamom pods, cloves, cinamon sticks and bay leaf and let them brown a bit before adding to the rice. Mix well. All the water in the rice should be used up and the rice should get dry. It should be like you can see every grain separatly. Serve hot or warm. Enjoy!!!

Tip: Since the rice is cooked in the sugar syrup, it feels slightly chewy in texture. Since ghee is added, the rice grains should separate.

This is going to CWS - Cardamom Seeds hosted by Priya of Priya's Easy N tasty Recipes .

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Happy Shri Rama Navami with Paanakam

Happy Shri Rama Navami to one and all. Happy goodies eating.
I like spring time. It not only bring around new flowers and new colors, but also festivals one by one. In India, celebrating festivals was lot of fun. Decorating the house with muggu, flowers, mango leaves....here we don't get to do all that but atleast we get to make a few eatables we used to make back home.

Shri Rama Navami is celebrated with making paanakam offering to the God. Paanakam is a sweet and spicy offering. It made with jaggary water, with a pinch of elaichi powder (cardamom powder) and powdered black peppercorns.

Usually Paanakam is also offered in weddings, from the bride's side to the groom's side and also to the present relatives and friends. They also offer paanakam during God and Godess's wedding in the temples.

I like paanakam a lot and can drink glasses of it...:) Its a good thirst quencher in the summer.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Jaggary, grated or crushed
1 to 11/2 cup water
1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
1/4 tsp elaichi or cardamom powder

Method:

Add the crushed jaggary to the water and mix so that it melts. Add the pepper powder and elaichi powder and mix. Offer GOD and drink it up ;). Enjoy!!!

Prep time: 10 min

This is going to CWS - Cardamom Seeds hosted by Priya of  Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes .

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Tamata Pappu / Tamatar ki daal / Tangy Tempered Lentils with Tomato

 

Tamata Pappu / Tamatar ki daal / Tangy Tempered Lentils with Tomato

Tomato pappu, another all time favorite. I simply love the way my Mom makes it. Its tangy, it spicy, it just on a whole new level. Mine doesn't come out like that, never. But it does taste good too. I think thats because I don't make it that tangy and spicy, because of the kids!!! But anyways its one of our favorite, me and my siblings. We can have it any time and with any thing. I love to eat this daal with idli, dosa too. And to tell you my secret favorite...I like to eat it with perugu annam. Yes, plain yogurt with rice and tomato daal on the side...its plain yummy!!! FOR ME!!! Well I like perugu annam with banana, mango and thats a whole other story!!!
So coming to how to make it, its very easy. 2 ways like with any other daal, adding plain daal to the tomato mixture and tempering it or the easier way, put everything into the pressure cooker and later add the tamarind and temper it. They both taste slightly different. I prefer the tatse of the first method better tho it takes some time (not long...how long does tomato take to cook!!).
It is a good combo with potato fry like I mentioned in my previous post. But it can be served with roti or chapati, even idli or dosa if you are serving me!!

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked toor daal (cook in pressure cooker for about 3-5 whistles or till cooked)
1 1/2 tomato or 2 tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4-5 green chillies, slit lengthwise
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste

1 lemon size ball of tamarind (juices squeezed and put aside)

For tempering:

4-5 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
1/4 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
2 dry red chillies, broken
5-6 curry leaves
1 -2 tbsp oil

Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

In a pot, add few drops of oil, add onions, green chillies and saute for couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes too and cook till cooked. Add the turmeric and chilli powder and saute. Now add the tamarind juice and lower heat before adding the cooked daal. Mix well and turn up heat to medium. Add water if you think the daal is too thick. Add salt. Just be careful that the daal may splutter when on heat. Prepare small pan for tempering. Heat oil and add the garlic. When they brown, add the urad daal and let it brown. Add the mustard seeds and jeera and let them splutter. Add the red chillies and curry leaves. Add the tempering mixture to the daal and mix. Add the coriander leaves for garnish before removing from heat. Serve hot!! Enjoy!!!

Prep time: Other than time taken for daal to cook in the pressure cooker, should take less than 20 minutes.

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Potato fry / Aloogadda koora

Potato fry / Aloogadda koora

Who doesn't like potato fry?...I am sure everyone does. Its probably another comfort food and another curry no one ever makes a fuss about!
With all the rain we are having, eating hot rice with potato fry and tomato pappu (tomato daal) is probably one of my favorites!!! If there is potato fry available, then I cannot miss eating rice.

I use any kind of potato I get. It comes out perfect with any potato. I just cut it into small cubes and fry them.

Ingredients:

2 big potatoes, washed, peeled and cubed (Put in water so that they don't brown)
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
2 dry red chillies, broken
5-6 curry leaves
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
few chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add the urad daal and let it brown. Add the mustard seeds, jeera and let them splutter. Add the red chillies and curry leaves. Add the onion and saute till translucent. Add the potatoes, salt and saute them. If you cover the pan, moisture might accumulate, so saute uncovered. Add the turmeric and chilli powder and mix well. Fry until potatoes get cooked and start turning brown. Garnish with coriander leaves and remove from heat. Serve Hot with rice or roti. Enjoy!!!

Prep time: about 20 min to make sure it doesn't get mushy on me!!

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Kichadi - Simple dish with Rice and lentils

Kichadi - Simple dish with Rice and lentils

Yet another simple dish using the rice cooker. Dishes where we have to use the rice cooker are wonderful aren't they?, makes having a rice cooker useful and not wasted.
Many people make kichadi in many different ways. Many people even add veggies to it, but I don't. I like it simple just with daal and rice ....and a few ingredients. Having only few ingredients makes this very flavorful, simple and easy to make. and if you have a rice cooker, its even more easier. This is how my Mom always made it and this is how I continue to make it. This is another dish I make when I am in a hurry, so a one pot meal it is.
I like to eat it with lemon pickle on the side, but it can be eaten with any curry too. It taste yummy when eaten hot with achaar or pickle.
We have always made it only with moong daal or pesar pappu. I have not tried it with any other daal, so if any one does, let me know!!

Ingredients:

1 cup rice (I used sona masoori)
enough water for the rice and daal ( I used 2 1/2 cups of water for rice and 1 cup for the daal = 3 1/2 cups of water, adjust water accordingly, you should know best)
1/4 cup moong daal or pesar pappu ( I used a little more like 1/3 cup, just wanted little extra daal)
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp black peppercorns, whole
1 inch piece ginger, grated or chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4-5 green chillies
6-7 curry leaves
salt to taste
1-2 tbsp oil

Method:

Dry roast the daal in a pan till start turning brown. Remove of the heat and add to the rice. Wash the rice and daal together and add the required water for cooking. In an other pan, heat oil. Add the jeera and peppercorns. Let them splutter and add the ginger, onion, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute for a minute and remore from heat. Add to the rice. Add and adjust salt. Water should taste a bit salty. Close rice cooker and let cook till done. Fluff the rice after done. Serve Hot with achaar or pickle or curry. Enjoy!!!

Prep time: less than 10 min for prep work and the time required to cook in the rice cooker.

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Healthy Sunday morning breakfast - Savory French Toast

Healthy Sunday morning breakfast - Savory French Toast

No one in our house is a morning sweet person. So making the regular french toast, the sweet version is out of option. But make a spicy breakfast or savory with some salt, I wouldn't have any complaints. So from time to time I make this dish adapted from my Mom. Its the savory version of the french toast. It has onions, green chillies and some cilantro or coriander leaves. I think it would even taste yummy with some ginger too. My husband likes to eat it with idli podi, I eat it plain. For the kids I omit adding the green chillies and coriander, and they like it that way only with onions.
I think it a healthy quick way of using of the bread and also having a good breakfast. It doesn't take much time to make either.
I used whole grain, wheat, regular loaf bread, but any bread can be used. The recipe I made makes about 6 slices of french toast. Just increase the amount of eggs and milk to make more. Adjust salt accordingly. I don't add chilli powder (it would be more like a spicy omelete), but did add pinch of black pepper.

Ingredients:

6 slices whole grain wheat bread
2 eggs
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk
pinch of black pepper
salt to taste

some chopped onions
green chilli, thinly sliced
chopped coriander leaves

oil for shallow frying

Method:

Mix the eggs, milk, black pepper and salt in a bowl. In a pan, add few drops of oil and heat. Dip the bread in the eggy mixture on both sides, and put in the heated pan. Add the chopped onions, chillies and coriander. Add a few drops of oil on the top side and flip over and press down. Fry both sides to golden brown. Serve hot and Enjoy!!!

Tip: Remember to add just enough salt as the eggs already add salt to the dish.
Press down so that the onions don't fall when you flip it over again.
I didn't use a crusty bread. I used regular bread, so if u soak it for long, it will start breaking. So don't dip it for long.

Prep time: 15 - 25 min, depending on how many mouths you are feeding!!!!

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Keema curry (with a few veggies)

 

Keema curry (with a few veggies)

Maybe Keema is one of the types of meats I like more than other types. And from all the of keema we get I like mutton keema, but settle for the lamb keema (which is equally tasty) which is readily available here. In the small city I live in, its a little difficult to find fresh goat keema, so lamb keema is a good sustitute and it cooks faster too, unlike the goat keema.
I make a few different currys out keema, wet and dry. This is a wet curry, with a few added veggies. I like to add bell pepper, cabbage and tomato. Thats what makes it a wet curry. It also has a few simple ingredients, and no major masala stuff except for some garam masala.
I had a green and red bell pepper which was coming to its extinction, so I used both in the curry with some cabbage and tomato.
This curry goes well with chappati, dosa, bread and hot rice.

Ingredients:

1 lb lamb keema
1 onion, chopped
5 green chillies, slit lengthwise
5-6 curry leaves
1 tomato, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method:

In a pot, heat oil and add onion, green chillies and curry leaves. saute till golden browm. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute. Add the keema and saute again. Add salt and mix properly. After 5 min, add the veggies and mix. Add some more salt with, turmeic, chilli powder, garam masala and mix properly. Let everything cook properly and come together. You will see that it will become gravy like and then start getting dry again. It will take about 20 min on medium high heat. Cook until you see oil surfacing. Not too dry and not too wet. Add the coriander leaves and mix. Serve hot with rice, chapathi, dosa or bread. Enjoy!!!

Prep time: 10 min for prep, 15- 20 min for cooking, 0 to enjoying!!!

Tip: I like it at this consistency, but you can cook it to your liking, just make sure keema is cooked thru.

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Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

This recipe has been sitting my drafts for a long time. I have been waiting to post it, but I didn't find time to do it. And by the way I was only a helper for this dish. It was made by my husband. 'Maybe thats why", he would say, that I didn't post it!!
Anyways now I am going to post it. He, 'we' followed Sanjay Thumma from Vahrehvah.com 's recipe. We made a few changes to it like, one or two ingredients we didn't have and we didn't fry the onions like he does etc.,.
We made this dish for a potluck, so we made it in a huge quantity. It did come out yummy and tasty. We made it enough spicy for us, adjust the spiciness to your requirement.
Traditionally this briyani is made in an earthern pot on low heat. We made it in 2 batches. We used one big stock pot with a tight lid and a 5 quart cooking pot. We used kitchen towels on the top of the lids to stop too much steam from escaping.
After adding the half cooked rice to the chicken, we cooked it on medium high for 10-15 min and then lowered the heat to slow and cooked for another 20 min. The rice should be completly cooked by then, if not continue for another 10 min.
The original recipe is as follows, I have written what we have changed in the ().

Ingredients:

2 pieces black cardamom (4 pieces)
800 grams chicken medium pieces (1- 1 1/2 kg, cut in slightly bigger pieces)
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (4 tbsp)
2 stick cinnamon (4-5, 1 inch pieces)
2 cloves and green cardamoms, each (5-6 pieces each)
1/2 tsp cumin and coriander pdr (about 1/2 tbsp garam masala)
2 tbsp each of chopped ginger and garlic (3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste)
2 cup flavored rice(basmati) (4 cups)
2 green chilli (6-7)
1 tbsp javeri mace (none)
1 tbsp lime juice (2-3 tbsp)
4 medium sized onions sliced (5)
2 tbsp oil or (ghee) (we used oil...4 tbsp)
2 large onion fried (3)
6 pieces pepper corns
1/2 tsp saffron color
salt to taste
turmeric to taste
2 cup yogurt

We added some shahi Jeera or kala jeera about 1 tsp, and about 3-4 bay leaves.

We used extra sliced onions and coriander for garnish.


Method:

Soak the basmati rice for at least 1/2 hour. There is a slight trick as to when you should have your rice ready and half cooked. You get experienced over time. If you start cooking your rice before you start cooking your spices and chicken, you might cook the rice to more than half cooked. So its better to half everything ready, all your ingredients ready and have your water (atleast 2/3 pot of water) to boil ready on the side.
In the pot for cooking the rice, add couple of cloves, cinamon, cardamom, little big shahi jeera, salt and few drops oil. Start it on medium heat.
In a small pot, saute few onions till the become golder brown and keep aside.
Start with your big pot (5 quart or stock pot). If you are making for only 2 cups of rice, only one pot is necessary. Add the oil and the dry spices, expect onions, green chillies, coriander leaves, ginger-garlic paste and garam masala (cumin-coriander powder). Saute for 1-2 min, till they splutter. Add onions, green chillies, ginger - garlic paste, garam masala and saute. Add the Chicken and let stand for couple of minutes, till it browns on one side. Turn the chicken, add the yogurt, few coriander leaves and mix.
(By now, your water should have come to a boil. Add the rice and keep an eye so that it gets only half cooked. Since the rice was soaking for at least 1/2 hour, it shouldn't take more than 5 min on a rolling boil. Keep checking. When done, drain the water)After turning chicken, immediately add the browned onions on the top and also the rice. Remember the chicken and rice aren't fully cooked. They will get cooked together. Cover and cook on medium high heat for 10 min and then lower the heat to slow and cook for another 15-20 min. You can cover the lid with the kitchen towel to minimize the escaping steam.
In the end mix, few saffron strands or saffron color in some milk or water and pour on the top of the rice in a circle. When you see that the rice is fully cooked, slowly mix to see if the chicken if also cooked. It should be, cook further, but remember over cooking may get you mushy rice.
To mix it better remove into a bigger, wider pan or pot or tray (I used the aluminium tray). Mix and garnish with sliced onions and coriander leaves.Serve with raita or any masala curry. Serve Hot and Enjoy!!!






Prep time: 30min for soaking rice, 15min for prep work, 30-40 min for cooking.

Tip: Salt the water is very important, otherwise the rice won't be flavorful. Oil in water, so that rice doesn't stick.

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