Rase Ke Aloo / Potato in onion tomato mild spicy gravy.

Aloo is the quintessential vegetable in Indian kitchen. Back in days potato used to be the only vegetable available " always "in the pantry. And every mom has a rasa ke wala aloo recipe which will be her go to recipe whenever no other vegetable is there in her kitchen.This is one such recipe. Even though these days we all have some or other kind of frozen vegetables always in our freezers  but still i like to cook this up once in a while and serve with roti.

Aloo  -  4 medium sized , each cut into four or six pieces.

Whole Spices - 1/2 tsp cumin , 1'' cinnamon , a bay leaf, 1 cardamon, 2 cloves

Onion - 1/4 cup , ground to paste

Tomato - 1/2 cup , ground to paste

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Chilli Pw - 1 tsp

Coriander Pw - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Coriander Leaves for garnish

1. Heat oil and add whole spices and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Add ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute.

3. Add onion paste and cook till golden.

4. Add turmeric, chili,coriander pw and cook for a minute.

5. Add tomato paste and cook till oil separates.

6. Drop the cubed and washed potato into the mix.

7. Add 1 to 11/2 cup of water and salt.

8. Cover and simmer till potato is done.

9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Award Time :)

Rules for accepting these awards:

1. Thank the person who presented you with this award.

2. Pass it on to one or many blogger friends.

Thank You MEENA of Dakshin for the award.  Encourgement from blogger friends like you keeps me going.

I would love to pass it on to Anjum  , Deepa G Dhosi , Kairali Sisters , Deepa

Beet Root Thoran / Beet Root cooked with coconut and mild spices

Thoran is a staple in malayali cuisine. Its made with all kind of vegetables and pulses. Its mild and coconut and cumin  is  the most important ingredient but then based on the vegetable used there can be some special spice addition. For beet root thoran it is black pepper and lots of it.

Beet Root - 1 1/2 cup, chopped fine 

Onion - 1/4 cup , chopped fine

Hot Green Chilli - 1/2 tsp, chopped fine

Black Pepper Pw- 1 1/2 tsp 

Turmeric Pw - 1/4 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Coconut - 1/4 cup , gratted

Oil - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

1. Wash and par boil the beets. I usually pressure cook to just one whistle.

2. Cook , peel and chop it fine.

3. Heat oil and mustard seeds and let it pop.

4. Add onion and green chilli and cook till onion is translucent.

5. Crush the cumin seeds and mix it with coconut and add it to onion.

6. Add beets ,turmeric, black pepper and mix well.

7. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes and beets thoran is ready.

Anaheim Pepper stir fryed with spices and sesame seeds

I brought this pepper thinking that i will make some stuffed pepper pakoda but then in between had   other pakodas and vada many times so dropped the plan of making anything fried with it and decided to cook up a stir fry instead. I had some Sesame Seed chutney  in the fridge so thought of adding it to the  recipe to finish it of.And the result was not bad so thought of posting the recipe.

Anaheim Pepper - 3

Onion - 1/2 cup chopped fine

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Coriander pw - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric pw - 1 Seed 4 tsp

Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp (or Use lime juice - 1 tsp )

Sesame chutney pw - 1 tbsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Salt to taste.

1. Wash and slit each pepper into four half and cut into 1/2 '' pieces.

2. Heat oil and add mustard seeds .

3. When mustard starts popping add cumin seeds.

4. Add onion and cook till translucent .

5. Add coriander , turmeric pw  and cook for a minute.

6. Add pepper and tamarind paste and cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.

7. Uncover and add the sesame pw and mix well.

8. Cook till the pepper is tender.

9. Serve it as a side to roti or rice.

Fresh Chickpea Salad/Fresh Green Chickpea Sundal

This is one of my favorite winter time snack , healthy and tasty. Only trouble is taking out the channa from its pod.You can use frozen too but nothing like fresh from the pods. I usually add some grated coconut at the end but if you don't like sprinkle some chat or garam masala.

Chickpea - 1 cup , shelled and cooked

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Green Chilli - 2 tsp , finely chopped

Coconut - 1/8 cup ,freshly grated

Hing /Asafetida- 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves - a few.

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tsp

1. Cook  chickpea with salt ,drain and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan and hing and mustard and cover.

3. When mustard starts to pop, add green chilli ,curry leaves and chickpea .

4. Cook for a minute and add fresh coconut and remove from flame.


I'm sending this to MLLA -20 hosted at  The Crispy Cook  and started by Susan .
Also  sending this to Healthy Snack Event at  Dil Se  .

Pyaz Ki Kachori / Spicy Onion mixture stuffed savory pastry

Every culture in the world has a pastry covered  sweet or savory recipe like latin empanadas,chinese springroll  and wantons  etc which i think is always a winner with everyone. And our's is samosa and kachori and who doesn't like these two snacks ."Kachori" is this months recipe for  ICC . There were recipes for moong,matar and pyaz ki kachori @ICC for everyone to try. Since i had tried my hands at matar ke kachori previously  decided to prepare Pyaz Ki kachori for the challenge. Thanks Meedha and Srivalli for the wonderful recipes.

For the Dough

All purpose flour / Maida - 2 cups
Oil/ Ghee - 1/4 cup ,
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Water for kneading

Method
1. Mix the flour and salt, Add the oil/ghee and mix till you get a bread crumbs texture.
2. Slowly add water and make a soft dough. Knead well for about 8 minutes.
3. Cover and keep aside to rest for atleast half hour. Special Tips / Notes for the dough:

• Keep the dough covered at all times, if not it will dry up and not puff up when frying. If the dough is made right wet cloth can be used if not just a towel.
• The dough could spring back for many reasons:

Dough is too cold (If wet cloth is used)

Dough is not soft enough.
Not kneaded for enough time.
Oil is less.
Not rested enough.

For Pyaz  Filling

Onions - 2 cups, finely chopped
Nigella seeds (kalonji) - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds (saunf) - 2 tsp
Bay leaves - 2
Green chillies - 11/2tsp, finely chopped
Bengal gram flour (besan) - 2 tbsp
Coriander (dhania) powder - 2 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Chopped coriander - 3 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Dry Mango Pw(Amchoor) - 1/2 tsp (not in original recipe)
Salt to taste To make the onion filling

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the nigella seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves, green chillies and onions and sauté till the onions turn light brown in colour.
2. Add the gram flour, coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the chopped coriander and mix well. 
4. Remove the bay leaves and discard. 
5. Allow the mixture to cool completely
6. Divide into 12 equal portions and keep aside.


To make kachori's

1. Make a small ball from the dough. 
2. Roll out into a 2 inch diameter circle. 
3. Or flatten the ball using your fingers having the center thick and sides little thin.
4. Place about 1.5 tsp of the filling in the center of the rolled dough.
5. Cover the filling with the dough by slowly stretching it over the filling. 
6. Seal the ends and remove excess dough. 
7. Repeat with all the balls and keep aside for 5 -7 mins.
8. Then using your palm, flatten the balls by lightly pressing it, as using the rolling pin will make the filling come out. (See notes below). Keep aside covered. Repeat with the remaining dough.
9. Meanwhile heat some oil for deep frying. 
10. The oil should not become smoking hot. 
11. Test to see if the temperature is right by dropping a tiny ball of dough and see if it is rising slowly to the top.
12. Drop the kachoris in batches of 3-4 gently into the oil.
13. Cook both sides till both sides are golden brown and delicious.
14. Serve with coriander chutney and tamarind chutney


Special Tips / Notes for making the Kachoris:

• You can fry 3 kachori's at a time.
• The oil should be at a heat when you drop some dough it should come up slowly, if the dough comes up too fast the oil is too hot, if it does not come up then the oil is cold.
• It will not be crisp if the oil is too hot.

Sabudana Vada / Tapioca Pearl fritters

For shivarathri fast i prepared sabudana /tapioca pear vada . Its one of the favorite fast recipe at my home .Whenever i visit Pune the first thing on my todo list to to eat  vada pav and sabudana vada . And i love the peanut chutney they serve with it there. At home  i usually  serve it with plain beaten curd. During my intial days of cooking to i used to be scared of making this vada as at times my vada used to break in the oil and its messy :(. But after many trial and error i now know the proportion of the ingredients for good vada.So here is my recipe :).

Rehydrated Sabudana/ Tapioca Pearls - 2 cups

(Soak pearls overnight in just enough water to cover it)

Roasted Peanut Powder - 1 cup

Potato - 2 cup , boiled and mashed

Hot Green Chili - 3 tsp , chopped fine

Coriander Leaves - 1 cup , chopped fine.

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Salt to taste
Oil to fry

1. Mix tapioca pearls , peanut pw, mashed potato , chili,coriander leaves ,cumin  and salt.

2. Heat oil to 340 F in a deep pan.

3. Take a golf ball size of tapioca pearl mixture in hand and make a ball.

4. Flatten the ball to a flat disc by pressing between your two palms.

5. Make a few discs and drop a few into  the oil.

6. Fry till both sides are golden.

7. Serve hot with Curd or any chutney.

Chicken cooked with whole spice/ Khada Masala wala Chicken

When ever i have to cook meat or poultry i usually gravitate towards whole spices. Any thing that has to be cooked low and slow ,whole spices are perfect partner .It gives spices the time to flavor the gravy.I prefer bone in piece of meat specially drumstick.But can use any cut of chicken.

Chicken Drumsticks - 12, skinned

Onion - one small

Ginger - 2 '' piece

Garlic - 5 cloves

Tomato - 2 medium size

Indian Bay leaves - 2

Cardamom - 5

Cloves - 5

Cinnamon Stick - 2'' piece

Fennel seeds - 3/4 tsp

Oil - 3 tbsp

Chili Pw - 2 tsp

Coriander Pw - 1 tsp

Kerala Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Black Pepper pw - 1/2 tsp

1. Grind onion ,ginger garlic to smooth paste .

2. Grind tomato to a smooth puree.

3. Heat oil and add bay leaf, cardamom,fennel,cinnamon,cloves.

4. Add onion paste and cook till oil separates.

5. Add chili , turmeric,coriander powder and cook for a minute.

6. Add tomato puree and cook till oil separates.

7. Add chicken and mix well and cover and cook.

8. Mix light handedly now and then and let chicken cook low and slow.

9. When chicken is cooked well add garam masala,pepper powder and mix well.

10. Switch of flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

Kacha Bartha / EggPlant Dip & Award :)

I know a lot of us don't like eggplant but even eggplant haters likes when it is served as bhartha. I think the spices, tomato and mashed eggplant with out skin makes it very different and totally tasty.But for kacha bartha you don't need any spices just fresh tomato and onions. It tastes wonderful with roti or spread on a piece of grilled french / italian bread. Its good to serve as a dip with crackers too.

Big Purple Eggplant - 1 (1 lb)

Tomato - 1/4 cup chopped fine

Onion - 1/4 cup chopped fine

Hot green chili - 1 tsp chopped fine

Coriander Leaves - 1 tbsp

For Tempering :

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

1. Wash and cook eggplant on gas flame or broil it in oven.

( Cooking directly over flame is important as it gives the bhartha a wonderful charred flavor.Or throw it directly on the real wood charcoal in a grill and it tastes wonderful)

2. Cool ,peel and take out the pulp.

3. Mash the pulp with a fork and add tomoato,onion,chilli.

4. Heat oil add mustard.

5. When mustard pops add cumin and cook for a minute.

6.Pour over the eggplant mash and keep aside.

7. When ready to serve add salt and corinader leaves and mix well.

8. Sere with roti or grilled french or italian bread.

Award Time :)

Preeti thank you very much for passing this award to me and its really a big encouragement.

This Kreativ Blogger Award comes up with some set of rules and here are the rules--

1.Thank the person giving the award.

2.Copy the award to your blog.

3.Place a link to their blog.

4.Name 7 things people don't know about you.

5.Nominate 7 bloggers

6.Place a link to those bloggers

7.Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the award.




7 things about me

I love to cook and eat.

But hate to do dishes :).

I hate egg plant.

But love bhartha.

I love Fall and fall colors.

I love snow in winter.

Now I pass this award to my fellow bloggers:-

Rohini

Smita

Ambika

Sunita & Namita

Sharmile

Swarna

Rupika

TIL Chutney/ Sesame Seed Chutney Pw

This Til chutney i learnt from a neighbor friend of mine and now makes this during winter time. I think its very popular in maharastrian homes. I add a little tamarind to the original recipe , usually i'm not in favor of modifying the perfect recipes but in this case the little sourness gives the chutney a new dimension. Chutney is equally tasty without tamarind too. It goes very well as a side for roti sabzi or vada pav but i love it mixed into warm rice with little ghee.

Til - 2 tbsp

Desiccated Coconut - 1 tbsp

Peanut - 1 1/2 tbsp

Dry Red Chili - 4

Garlic - 4 cloves

Salt to taste

Oil - 1/2 tsp

1. Dry roast each til, coconut ,peanut separately till fragrant.

2. Heat oil and add garlic , chili, tamarind(dime size).

3. Cook till garlic turns light golden.

4. Cool and grind everything together with salt.

5. Serve with roti ,rice or vada pav.

Mix a tbsp of this power with 1/4 cup curd or mayo and adjust the seasoning . It makes a great dip for chips or veggie.

I'm sending this to Cooking with seeds : Sesame Seed event at Priya's Easy N Tasty.

Mixed veg mezhukvarati / Dry mixed veg sabzi

Mixed vegetable sabzi is my favorite winter time recipe. It is very easy and goes well with rice or roti. Ideally here it should be cooked in summer that is when all vegetables used in this recipe are available in farmers market everywhere. But i love it in winter because that is when mom cooked this sabzi in India when fresh peas were available.

Potato - 1/2 cup, diced 1/2'' pieces

Cauliflower - 1/2 cup , chopped to small florets

Capsicum - 1/2 cup, diced 1/2'' pieces

Peas/Matar - 1/2 cup

Green Chili - 1 tbsp , chopped

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

1. Heat oil and add mustard seeds.

2. When mustard seeds pop add cumin and cook for a minute.

3. Add potato and cook partially and then add all other vegetables.

4. Cook till all the vegetables are done and serve.