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Showing posts from 2016

Daal Paratha: Husband approved recipe..but without the measurements!

Dough: About a cup and a quarter of whole wheat flour + salt +about a teaspoon of oil. Make a fairly soft dough, and set aside. Filling: About a cup and a half of yellow moong daal, wash, and add almost double water (maybe a bit less) + salt + turmeric + a few drops of oil. Cook fora bout 4 whistles. Let cool. Add a little more salt, red chilli powder, aamchur + in a spice grinder, add anaar daana + whole dhania + a few black peppers + a very very small pinch of ajwain + dried mint. Grind the masala and add to the daal. Add finely chopped cilantro. Mix properly. Make stuff paratha and saute with ghee.

Tomato-Yoghurt gravy

I might have accidentally unlocked the secret to Ritu ki Rasoi's Aloo recipe. I made this papad sabzi, but the gravy tasted a lot like the potato sabzi I love. I'll try it next time. Here's the original recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWE_HryWVMk Oil + Ghee + jeera + hing + haldi + Kasoori Methi (this might be the secret) +fresh grated ginger + finely chopped green chillies + tomato sauce + paprika + red chillies + coriander powder. Saute fora  few minutes. Add water. Brung regular yoghurt to room temperature, make it smooth and add water. Now slowly add it to the gravy while stirring continuously. Add chopped cilantro. Bring to a quick boil, still stirring and add papad or potato or pretty much anything else. Cover, and simmer. 

Snow Day Chilli with Cheddar Biscuits

Perfect for those days when your heart refuses to believe that winter is here...even though you're snowed in.. I used instant pot, but any slow cooker would work. clean and soak 1 ancho chilli in warm water. blend into a smooth paste. Heat some oil, add 1 tsp whole cumin seeds, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 big white onion, diced, 1/2 big green pepper, diced, and saute for a few mins. Add 2 cans of black beans (with some of the cooking liquids), 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of hominy corn (optional), about half a cup of frozen corn, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tbsp paprika, 2 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tsp roaster cumin powder, 1 tsp sugar, and kosher salt to taste. Add some water and put on slow cook for about four hours. Serve warm, topped with a bit of cheddar, sour cream, spring onion and cilantro. Biscuits: half cup A.P. Flour + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour + salt + pepper + 1 tbsp baking powder. Stir with a fork. Add 2-3 tbsp cold butter, diced, and work into the flour with the f

Diwali Snacks

A lot of these recipes were made after watching and reading lots of other recipes. I'll try to link to some of them. Shankarpali (or shakkarpara) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hqufRC0MWo In a pan, heat 1 part sugar + 1 part water + 1/2 part ghee (Original recipe calls for one part). Add a pinch of salt. Bring everything to a boil and cool it. Add as much Maida as will fit into it, to make a hard dough. Immediately start preparing the shankarpali. Roll out into a thick disc. Cut into small diamonds with a crinkle cutter. Deep fry on low to medium heat in oil. Farsi Puri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h985cGEAk0I I pretty much did this one based on my own instincts. Mix maida, salt, ajwain, red chilli powder, a little haldi (could have skipped), lots of crushed black pepper, ghee with muthi padtu mon. Make a medium to hard dough with water. Set aside. Knead and roll into a large disk. Use a cookie cutter to cut into small puris. Dock with a fork and deep fry on low (th

Fried Balls of Awesomeness..or Potato Paneer Balls

This is actually a classic recipe...but it really just works...don't worry about it being fried and stuff..it really is worth it...Which is why my friend, K gave it this name.....This makes around 40 or so pieces. Cover: Boil and peel about 6 big russet potatoes. Rice it with a potato ricer (this bit takes a bit of time, but do it while the potatoes are still warm). Add salt, juice of about one lime, a handful of chopped cilantro and about half a cup of corn starch. Mix well and set aside. Filling: Grate one small pack of paneer (maybe around 200gm?) using a medium grater. Add finely chopped green chillies (about 2), fresh ginger (about one inch piece), a big handful of finely chopped cilantro, about half a bunch of finely chopped mint, a big handful of finely chopped cashews and golden raisins. Also add salt, and a big pinch of garam masala.Mix everything. To assemble in advance: Prepare two cookie sheets or trays (this is just for easy assembling). Wrap them with plasti

Potato Pierogis

This is for one of those days when you need serious carb comfort..it seems like a lot of work, but if you don't care for perfection, and only want something to hit the spot, just work quickly, and as long as there's enough craving/motivation, the results will be worth the effort... One cup of flour + salt + (in a well) 1 tsp oil + 1 egg + water. Start with mix the wet ingredients in the well and then continue mixing until a soft dough is formed. Add water as needed. I also snuck in just a little bit of whole wheat flour. Knead, cover and set aside. For the stuffing, peel and dice about 3-4 medium russet potatoes. In a pot, cover the potatoes + 1 big clove of garlic and salt with water, and bring to boil. lower the heat a bit and let the potatoes cook. While the potatoes are cooking, roll the dough into a big roti. With a small cookie cutter, start cutting into small disks, and set on a baking tray dusted with flour. Keep covered with a kitchen towel. Once the potatoes

Paneer Frankie

This cool new food site (actually, Facebook page) called Your Food Lab had this recipe, which inspired this frankie...super yum...reminded me of home... Sadly can't figure out how to link to the FB post (I used to know how to do it..but just can't remember now)... Frankie cover: Whole wheat flour  (~ 3/4 cup) + AP flour (~3/4 cup) + salt + baking powder (about 1/2 tsp) +water. Whisk. I actually had roti atta from before, which I whisked into water, and added AP flour to prepare maida. The fact that the dough had been in the fridge for a couple of days might have made it extra tasty (mild fermentation). Make large, medium thick dosas on a hot tava with a bit of oil and lightly brown on both sides. Set aside the whole stack.  Paneer: cube into smallish pieces. Heat some oil, add 1 tsp each ginger and garlic paste + 1 tbsp schezuan   sauce + 1 tbsp tandoor paste (I had something in the fridge..I guess some basic spices and garma masala can be used to substitute it) + 2-3 tb

Special Italian Dinner

For my dear husband's birthday. It was a nice candle light dinner, with pictures posted on WhatsApp :-) Got lots of requests for describing the food, so I figured it would be nice to break it down...and admit that it wasn't really as fancy as it seemed...and to make it easier for cousins back home to replicate some of the recipes The Menu: - Olive Ciabatta (bought from WholeFoods..any nice crusty bread is good) with herb oil (olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes, just a very small pinch of fresh herbs - oregano and rosemery) - Antipasto (it's basically small, tasty bites). At some nice grocery stores, they have a large selection of anti pasto to buy, so I just select mine from there and arrange it on a plate at home. Any small, cured or pickled foods are good. This time I used marinated artichoke hearts with roasted red peppers, garlic and tomatoes poached in olive oil, olives, and pickled sweet peppers stuffed with goat cheese. Some of these are easy to make at home.