Aalu (Potato) kee sukhi bhujeea

Ingredients:


Red or yucan-gold Potato or potato of your choice, 1-1/2 lb

Canola oil, 2-table spoon

Fenugreek (methi) or cumin seed 1/3 t-spoon

Dry red chili powder, 2-3 pcs, broken.

Turmeric powder, ½ t-spoon

Salt, 1-1/3 t-spoon or according to taste

Garlic, (optional) 2-3 cloves

Red chili powder (optional), 1/3 t-spoon

Cilantro leaves or garlic chive, ½ bunch chopped.


Method:


1. Cut the potato in half and then slice them thinly. Wash 2-3 times and drain.

2. Heat oil in a wok or skillet on high heat, put Methi or cumin seed and red chili.

3. Add drained potato, turmeric powder and salt. Stir, cover and cook on high heat for 5-7 minutes, then simmer down the heat and cook another 8-10 minutes or till potato is cooked.

4. Uncover and directly grate garlic over the potato; add chili powder and chopped cilantro or garlic chive.

5. Cook uncovered on high till a nice aroma comes out of the bhujeea, and potato’s are little brown after cooking.

6. Take out in a serving dish and serve with paratha/ roti or plain rice.

Bihari Kadhi

Ingredient:

Besan (Gram flower), 1-1/2 cup

Yogurt, 1 cup

Water, 6-7 cups

Canola oil, 3-4 table-spoon

Hing, 1 pinch

Cumin seed, 1/2 t-spoon

Dry red chilies, 4 pc. Broken.

Turmeric powder, 1 t-spoon

Salt, 2- t-spoon, or according to taste.



For Baghar:



Ghee, 1 t-spoon

Cumin seed, ½ t-spoon

Black mustard seed, ½ t-spoon

Curry leaves- 10.

Red chilly powder, ¼ t-spoon, (optional).



Method:



1. In a deep mixing pot put all besan and little less then ½ cup of water. Mix it with hand. At this point if batter is too stiff and hard to mix then a spoon of water can be added (be careful not to add too much of water otherwise it will go runny and you will need to add more besan into it), and beat it using hand (alternatively use food presser or hand better), beat it for approximately for 10 minutes until besan and water form a very thick and very light weight batter (thicker then pancake batter). To make sure the batter is light enough, take a glass of water and add few drops of batter into it; if batter drops floats on the water surface then batters is ready and no further mixing needed, if not, then mix it again and do the same testing till batter floats on the surface.

2. Once besan is light and fluffy, add ½ t-spoon salt and ½ t-spoon turmeric and mix all together once more for a minute.

3. In one shallow skillet or wok heat 1 tablespoon of the oil on high heat. Wet your fingers and take some batter in your fingers. Slowly slide small marble sized besan wadi in the shallow oil. At this point you do not need lots of oil in the pan or wadis will not be fully submerged in the oil. Be careful not to put your finger in the hot oil. When small holes appear on the wadis flip them and cook them from other side also. Add more oil as needed. Take them out in a plate. Make 25-30 wadis. Do not use up all the batter.

4. Add rest of the water, and yogurt in the left over batter, mix it well with hand or hand mixer scrapping the bottom also, so there is no lump of yogurt or besan is left.

5. In a deep skillet heat 1 t-spoon of oil, when hot add hing, cumin and broken chilies. Let is fry till brown; do not burned. Add rest of turmeric, wait 15 second and add besan-water mix to it. Mix it with ladle, and bring it to a boil. Add salt. Turn down the heat and boil it on slow heat for 20 minutes. Now add wadis to it add boil it once again for additional 10 minutes.

6. Kadhi will become thick enough to coat a spoon. Check for proper thickness of Kadhi by putting a spoon in the Kadhi. If Kadhi coats the spoon then thickness is right, if not then it need to cook for little longer. Sometime if Kadhi become too thick then some hot water can be added to it.

7. Adjust the seasoning according to your taste.

8. Heat the ghee in a ladle; add the cumin and mustard seeds. When crackled, turn off the heat and add curry leaves and red chilly powder. Immediately submerge the hot ladle in to hot Kadhi and put the cover on pot for 10-15 minutes.

9. Open the lid and mix the Kadhi.

10. Serve with cooked white rice and aaloo kee sukhi bhujeea.

Chuda (flatten rice) poha

Ingredients:



Thick chuda (flatten rice), 4 cups,

Onion large, 1, finally chopped

Ginger, peeled and minced, 1”

Green chili, chopped, 2

Tomato medium, chopped, 2

Fresh or defrosted peas, 1 cup

Red bell pepper, ½ finally chopped

Coriander leaves 4-5 strings, chopped

Limejuice, 2 t-spoon

Cumin seed, 12/2 t-spoon

Black mustered seed, ½ t-spoon

Curry leaves, fresh or dry, 10 leaves

Turmeric powder, 1 t-spoon

Salt1-1/2 t-spoon

Hing, 1 pinch

Canola oil, 4-table spoon,



Method:



1. Wash chuda 3-4 times in the water. Drain out the water and keep chuda aside to make it soften, till you prepare other things. Poha may get 20-30 minutes to get soft.

2. Heat oil on high heat in a thick bottom wok or skillet.

3. Add mustard and cumin seed and let it crackled in oil, now add curry leaves and hing in the pan. Fry for 30 seconds.

4. Add onion, ginger and green chilies. Fry until translucent and softened, 5-7 minutes.

5. Now add fresh or thawed peas, salt and turmeric powder. Mix and cover. Cook for another 5-7 minutes; stir in between.

6. At this point add tomato and bell pepper. Mix and cook for 4-5 minutes.

7. Now add washed and softened chuda in the pan and mix it with everything. Cover and cook on high heat for 4-5 minutes, to bring everything on same temperature.

8. Uncover and stir the pot; cover and simmer the heat for another 7-8 minutes. Stir in between.

9. Uncover the pot, turn off the heat and add the coriander and limejuice.

10. Mix everything together well and serve for breakfast or evening snack.

Shrimp-Vegetable stir-fry

Ingredients:



Shrimp, 1 lb, vain and shell removed and washed (do not remove tail).

Snow peas 2 cup, string removed.

Red onion, ½, thinly sliced

Carrot ½ cup, sliced

Button mushroom, 1 cup, sliced

Red or yellow bell peppers, ½ cup, thinly sliced

Green scallion 4 stems, thinly sliced

Canola oil 2 table spoon

Cornstarch, 1 t-spoon dissolved in 3 t-spoon of water

Black pepper powder, ¼ t-spoon

Salt, ½ t-spoon or according to taste

Soy sauce, 2 large tablespoons

Ginger, 1” skin removed and finally minced

Garlic, 4, clove finally minced

Green chili, 2, chopped

Red dry chili, 4, whole (optional)


Method:


1. In a wok heat ½ t-spoon oil and cook the shrimp on high heat, when turn light pink and all water is evaporated take them out in a plate.

2. Now, quickly and very lightly cook the carrot, snow peas, and mushroom on very high heat, and take them out in the same plate with shrimp. No need to fry the bell peppers, or scallions.

3. In the same wok, heat the rest of the oil, and add whole red chili, chopped ginger, garlic and green chili, fry for a minute then add sliced red onion, fry for 2 minutes. Add black pepper, salt, and spy sauce to it.

4. Now add dissolved cornstarch, and boil it for 2-3 minutes to make thick gravy.

5. Transfer shrimp and other vegetable from the plate into wok; also add bell peppers of your choice and chopped scallion.

6. Mix every thing and bring it to a boil and to make gravy little thick.

7. Serve with white or fried rice.

Paneer with bell peppers

Ingredients:

1. Paneer, 1 lb
2. Red and green bell peppers, ¼ of each, thinly sliced into 1” sticks.
3. Milk, 1-1/2 cup.
4. Canola oil, 1-1/2 tablespoons
5. Onion- 1 peeled and thickly cut.
6. Ginger, 1” skin removed and crushed.
7. Garlic, 2-3 pc. Peeled.
8. Coriander powder, ½ t-spoon.
9. Red chili powder, ½ t-spoon
10. Turmeric, ½ t-spoon.
11. Garam masala, 1/3 t-spoon.
12. Salt ¾ t-spoon or according to taste.

Method:


1. In a cold pressure cooker, put add ingredients from 4-12, along with 2 t-spoon water. Cook on high heat till 1 whistle, then turn down heat and cook on 10 minutes on low heat. When presser is out from cooker then open the lid, and on high heat cook it until oil comes out of the masala. (To make my life easy and cooking go-fast, I always use this method of preparing masala, which I learned from years of cooking. I thought to give you this tip to make your life & cooking easy.)
2. When masala is fried properly, add paneer and stir all gently to mix it up. Cook for 5 minutes. Add milk and let everything boil for 3-4 more minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, and now add bell peppers to keep the crispness and vibrant color.
4. Take it out in a serving dish.
5. Serve with chapatis.

Zucchini with cumin

Ingredients:

Zucchini squash, 3, slit from middle and sliced thinly.
Onion, 1- medium, peeled and sliced thinly.
Cumin seed, ½ t-spoon
Green or dry red chili, 2, cut in to half.
Canola oil, 1 tablespoon.
Salt, ¾ of t-spoon or according to taste.
Turmeric powder, ½ t-spoon (optional)

Method:

1. Heat oil in skillet on high heat.
2. When very hot add cumin and sliced chili, then sliced onion.
3. Fry for 2-3 minutes, and add sliced zucchini, salt and turmeric.
4. Cover and cook on high heat for 8-10 minutes. Stir it gently 1-2 time.
5. Take out the cover and cook furthermore on high till water dry out.
6. Take out in a bowl.
7. Serve it with chapatti.
8. Enjoy.

Hyderabadi Baigan (Egg Plant)

Ingredients:


10 small, round baigan.
1 inch piece of ginger, scraped and sliced.
4 piece of garlic peeled and sliced.
2 t-spoon of peanut, shelled and inner papery skin is also removed.
1 medium onion peeled and thinly sliced.
1 tbsp white/brown sesame Seeds,
1 tbsp dried grated coconut.
½ tsp of turmeric Powder.
½ tsp of coriander Powder.
½ tsp of cumin Powder.
½ tsp of garam masala.
1-1/2 t-spoon of tamarind pulp.
1 tspoon of red chili powder.
1-1/2 t-spoon salt.
4 string of coriander leaves, chopped
3-table spoon of canola oil.



Cooking Instructions:

1. Roast the peanut in a dry hot skillet, when little brown spot appears on peanut add sesame seed and roast for 2 more minutes. Turn off the heat and add the grated coconut in the same hot skillet with peanut and sesame seed. Heat from skillet will also roast the coconut and it will change its color to light brown. Empty in a plate. Now add ½ t-spoon oil and add sliced onion, ginger and garlic; fry till soften and cooked.
2. Dry ground the peanut, sesame, and coconut mixture, now add the onion mixture and some water in the same grinder with grounded peanut mixture and ground until it become a very smooth paste. Add more water as needed when grinding.
3. Slit the baigan without cutting the vegetable completely. Start cutting it from the bottom once and turn and slit again so it stay together from other end, but from the bottom it has a split for masala to get in to it.
4. Heat 1 t-spoon oil in a skillet, add baigan and ½ t-spoon salt, mix it together and cook till baigan is little soft, it will change in color also. Take it out in a plate.
5. In the same skillet add remaining oil, all the dry spices. Cook for a minute in hot oil then add all the ground spices and salt. Cook it until fragrant; now add tamarind pulp and baigan. Use precaution, so baigan does not brake; fry every thing together for 3-4 minutes. Add ¾ cup of water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
6. Check for doneness and seasoning. If needed adjust the seasoning. Add chopped coriander leaves, mix and serve with chapattis.

Healthy Kaddu (Dudhi) Aalu stew

Ingredients:

Kaddu (Dudhi) 1-2 lb, peeled and seed removed (if any,) cut into 1” pieces.
Potato, 1 medium size, scraped and cut into large pieces
Onion, 1 medium, thinly sliced
Soya nuggets 1/2 cup, (optional) soaked in the hot water for ½ hour and squeeze to removed the water.
Fresh tomato, 1 large, cut into pieces
Fresh coriander leaves 4-5 strings, chopped
Canola oil, 1 tablespoon,
Cumin, 1 t-spoon
Hing, 1 small pince
Bay leaves 1 pc.
Dry red chilly, 2-3, broken into half
Salt, 1-1/4 t-spoon or according to taste.
Turmeric powder, ½ t-spoon

Utensil: presser cooker and large spatula

Roughly pound or smash the following ingredients:

Garlic, 3 pc. Peeled.
Ginger, 1inch pc. Outer skin scraped
Cloves 2pc.
Green cardamom 1pc.
Large black cardamum 1 pc.
Black paper, ½ t-spoon
Cinnamon, 1” pc


Method:

1. In a cold pressure cooker (No kidding), put oil. Add Hing, cumin seed, bay leaves and broken red chilies; also add roughly smashed spices.
2. Now make a layer of sliced onion then soya nugget, Kaddu (Dudhi), potato and tomato. At very last add turmeric powder and salt. If Kaddu is very fresh then there is no need to add any water, but if Kaddu is little dry add ¼ cup of water. Close the cover of the pressure cooker and put it on the high heat.
3. After 2-whistle turn down the heat to low and cook it for additional 10-15 minutes (depending on freshness of Kaddu). Then turn off the heat and let cooker cool down so there is no pressure inside.
4. Now open the cooker and add chopped coriander leaves; mix the all vegetable well so all the flavor infused into each other.
5. Decorate with some more chopped coriander leaves.
6. Serve with roti or rice.

Spicy & sweet baked chicken

Ingredient:

List (A)

Whole chicken: take out skin and cut into large pcs.
¼ cup of olive or canola oil.
1/2 tspoon turmeric powder
1 tspoon garlic powder
1 tspoon of ground mustard
2-3-tspoon of brown sugar
1-1/2 tspoon salt

List (B)

1-1/2 tspoon whole black pepper
½ tspoon red chilly flakes
1 large black cardamom
4 cloves
1” cinnamon
1 tspoon cumin
1 tspoon coriander seed

List (C)

1/ 2 tspoon of each, dry basil, thyme, rosemary, and oregano.

Dry roast the items from list (B). Turn off the heat and add ingredients from the list (C) and mix them together. Heat from skillet will roast the herb, and it will become very fragrant. Take it off in a plate and let it cool a little.

Dry grind all the roasted ingredients. Except chicken mix every thing together very well; now add the chicken to it and let it marinate for 1 hour over the counter or 12 hours in the fridge.

If using oven, then arrange marinated chicken pieces in a tray with wire rack inserted in the tray. Cover the tray with tin foil and put in the oven. Turn the broiler on low and let it cook like this for ½ hour. Then take the foil out and cut a piece of drumstick by the bone to see if it has been cooked. If no pink found, uncover the tray and cook little further until it’s start to caramelize and it appearance brown in color.
If using grill, arrange on the hot grill, where it is not directly on fire. Cook until no longer pink. Now put it on the very hot spot to caramelize. Decorate with chopped coriander leaf, a piece of lime and colored pepper. Serve.