Urad Dal

Urad Dal is one of my personal favourites since childhood.. reason being? The quickest dish you can think of.. to pair with chappati. Whenever I used to be very hungry, mom used to prepare this in less than 10 minutes; so I had always known this in one dal I can eat if I want to eat something, like right now. And it still is my favourite; because, well, I too prepare it within 10 minutes; one pot-cooking, easy, easy basic ingredients required.... So many benefits.. right? Ha! That's why I love this dal !!

Ingredients:

Urad dal: 1 cup
Onion (chopped): 1
Garlic (chopped): 3 cloves
Ginger (chopped): 1 inch
Tomato (chopped): 1
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Asafoetida: 1 pinch
Salt: To taste
Red chilli: 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Cooking oil: 1 tsp.

1. Wash and drain urad dal and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and temper cumin seeds and add asafoetida. 
3. Add the onions after 10 seconds and sauté until they turn transparent. Add garlic and fry for another minute.
4. Add ginger, tomato and green chilli. Mix well. Add salt, red chilli powder and turmeric. Mix well and let cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add the dal and mix well. Let cook for about 2 minutes. Add a little water (1/4 cup) and mix well. Put the lid on the cooker and the pressure. Cook till 2 whistles.
6. Turn off the flame and open the lid when pressure is released. Garnish with coriander leaves (optional) and serve hot with any roti/paratha.

Strawberry Shrikhand

Ingredients:

Strawberries (hulled): 2 cups
Hung curd: 1 cup
Honey: 6 tsp. (adjust according to sweetness of strawberries)
Pista: for garnish
Whole strawberries for garnish

1. Add the hulled strawberries and honey to the blender and blend until smooth.
2. Mix this blended puree with thick hung curd, whisk well so there are no lumps and strawberry mix and curd are completely mixed, you can use an electric hand blender for the same. 
3. Pour this mix into serving bowls and garnish with fresh strawberries and chopped pista. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Serve chilled. 

Tawa Pulao

Tawa Pulao, a heavenly tasting and easily made, with very simple ingredients, this has become my new favorite after Indian Fried Rice, which I am making every time I am short of time, or simply bored with everyday stir fry vegetables. What I loved was a striking difference in taste compared to a lot of rice dishes I have tasted, not too heavy on the platter and gets ready in less than 30 minutes.. What else could you ask for ??

A lot of people prepare tawa pulao from left-over boiled rice from other dishes; but here I made it completely fresh. Here goes my recipe:

Ingredients:

Boiled Rice: 1 Cup
Cooking oil: 2 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Onion (finely chopped) : 1
Garlic (chopped): 3 cloves
Green chilli (finely chopped): 1
Peas: 1/4 cup
Tomato (chopped): 1
Salt : To taste
Pao Bhaji Masala: 1 tsp.
Tawa fry masala: 1 tsp.
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.
Mango powder: 1/2 tsp.

1. Heat oil in a pan and temper cumin seeds. Add the onions and sauté for a while till they become transparent. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.
2. Add tomato, green chilli and peas (I used frozen peas, but if using fresh peas, half-boil them before adding to the pan). Mix well and add pao bhaji masala, tawa fry masala, salt and coriander powder. Mix well and let cook for about 2 minutes; don't let the tomatoes become soft.
3. Add the rice and mix well with the masala. Add mango powder, mix well and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve hot with Garlic Raita or Mint onion raita.

Hyderabadi Chicken Curry

Had been months I prepared the delicious, wonderful, lip-smacking Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, the taste of it I could never forget. After so many attempts of preparing so many various kinds of chicken recipes, I once again decided to have the taste of the aromatic Hyderabadi spices; but I was not in a mood to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, nor I wanted rice in my dinner; so I retorted to trying making Hyderabadi Chicken curry. Made me remember the times when I was eating biryani, the same taste, minus the rice.. Ah! wonderful. So the recipe for the same goes here:

For the marination:

Chicken: 200 gms.
Yoghurt: 1/2 Cup
Ginger-Garlic paste: 2 tsp.
Salt: To taste
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Lemon juice: 2 tsp.
Green Chilli: 1 (finely chopped)
Mint leaves/Mint powder: A few/1 tsp.
Onion (sliced) : 1
Cooking oil: 1 tsp.

For the curry:

Cloves: 2
Cardamom (seeds) of 2 green cardamoms
Cinnamon Stick 1/2 inch
Sliced onion: 1
Cooking oil: 2 tsp.
Mint powder/Mint leaves: 1 tsp./6-7 leaves
Fresh cream: 2 tsp.
Saffron strands for garnishing

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Fry them until they are crisp and brown. Drain oil and remove from heat. Keep aside to cool.
2. Mix Yoghurt with ginger-garlic paste, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala, cumin seeds, lemon juice, green chilli and mint leaves/mint powder. Mix well. Add the sliced onions. Mix and marinate the chicken in this mixture for about and hour.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Again fry them till they are crisp and brown, same as done for the marinade. You could also fry them together and save half for later, and marinate in half. Drain oil and remove from heat and let them cool.
4. In the same pan, temper cloves, cardamom seeds and cinnamon. Add the marinated chicken after 30 seconds. Mix well and let cook for 2-3 minutes. 
5. Add mint powder/leaves and mix well. Add the fresh cream and mix well. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes. Remove cover and add the fried onions. Mix, simmer for a minute and remove from the heat. Garnish with saffron strands and serve hot.

Dal Pakwaan

Dal- Pakwaan is basically a Sindhi dish and is made in Sindhi homes too often. Me being a punjabi, have never had it at home; but have had it at roadsides in India. And it tasted simply superb.. !! I recently decided to try for myself this dish, and it came out wonderful for a Sunday morning heavy breakfast. Basically, Chana Dal is used in this recipe; but the procedure is completely different from the Punjabi style Chana Dal.

I call it "pakwaan wali dal" as the recipe is very different and simple; and probably I could not savour it with anything other than pakwaan. So here we make Dal -Pakwaan. First I write the recipe for dal, and then for the pakwaan.

Recipe for dal:

Ingredients:

Chana Dal: 1 Cup

Salt : To taste

Red chilli powder

Garam Masala: 1/2 Teaspoon

Coriander powder: 1/2 Teaspoon

Cooking oil : 2 Teaspoons

Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves: A few

Asafoetida: 2 pinches

Dried red chilli: 1

Green Chilli (chopped) : 1

1. Soak the chana dal in water for 3-4 hours so it becomes little soft. Then boil it with 3 cups water till 5-6 whistels (depending upon the cooker).
2. Open the lid and add salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala in the dal. Mix well and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes so the masalas blend in completely.
3. Heat oil and crackle mustard seeds. Add the asafoetida, curry leaves, green chillis and dried red chilli. Fry for 2 minutes and add to the dal. Mix well and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover for 10 minutes.
4. Open lid and serve hot with pakwaan.

Recipe for Pakwaan:

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: 1 Cup
Salt: To taste
Cumin seeds: 1/2 Teaspoon
Lukewarm water
Oil for deep frying

1. Mix salt and cumin seeds to wheat flour. Add little oil. Mix well with fingers till it gets to crumbling consistency. 
2. Make dough by adding very little water, a spoon at a time; this will make hard dough, like the dough you make for Wheat Papdi or Wheat Namak pare etc. Keep aside for 15 minutes.
3. After 15 minutes, pinch little balls from the dough and make rounds. Flatten them with the help of a rolling pin, just like you would do for puffed poori, but double the size. Prick all of them with fork/knife so that they don't puff up like pooris. 
4. Deep fry each one into the oil on medium flame till they become crispy and golden brown on both sides. Drain on a kitchen paper and serve with hot dal, some pickle and onion-green chilli salad.

Strawberry Kaju Katli

Strawberry Kaju Katli... Sure a lot of us have loved Kaju Katli as a sweet, and gorged on it like crazy. I was one of those kids. But every tried strawberry flavoured one? Me neither. Found this wonderful recipe and I had made Strawberry Jam a while ago, I wanted to make this. As it struck me immediately even though we are not a big fan of sweets, still I decided to go with preparing this delicious sweet.

When I read this recipe, I was not sure what this is going to become. But it came out absolutely delicious !! I used Strawberry Jam in this recipe.

Ingredients:

Strawberry Jam: 1/2 cup (or use hulled strawberries made into puree with sugar)
Cashew powder: 1 cup
Silver foil (optional) I did not use in this recipe
Ghee as required.

1. Grease a plate and a rolling pin. Keep aside.
2. Heat the strawberry jam in the pan for 4-5 minutes until it starts becoming thicker. You could also use strawberry puree with sugar if you don't have jam.
3. Add the powdered cashews to the pan and mix well. Save a bit of the powdered cashews if not using silver foil. Let cook till it completely gets absorbed and forms a dough like paste.
4. Turn off the heat and transfer to the greased plate. Spread it completely on the plate with the bottom of a small, greased bowl (katori). Then flatten it with the help of the greased rolling pin.
5. Add the silver foil on the top. If not using silver foil, sprinkle the remaining cashew powder over the mixture. Keep in the refrigerator.
6. After an hour, take out and cut into rhombus shapes with the help of a knife. Remove pieces carefully and store in fridge. This keeps good for days together. 

Recipe originally adapted from : http://shitals-kitchen.blogspot.com/2013/09/strawberry-kaju-katli.html

Shahdani Dal

A wonderful, flavorful and royal but lesser known dal from the state of Punjab. This is a mix of Arhar (toor) dal and masoor dal to bring out the awesome flavors. It can be served with roti or rice. 

Ingredients:

Arhar Dal: 1/2 cup

Masoor dal: 1/2 cup

Ginger-garlic paste: 3 tsp.

Green chilli (chopped): 1

Tomato (chopped): 1

Garam masala: 1/2 tsp.

Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.

Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp.

Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.

Salt to taste

Cream: 2 tsp.

Yogurt: 3 tsp.

Sugar: 1/4 tsp.

Kasoori methi: 1/2 tsp.

Cooking oil: 3 tsp. 

1. Mix both the dals and wash thoroughly. Drain the water and boil them with a little salt. Keep aside. 
2. Heat ghee (ideally used in this recipe; can be replaced with oil as well) and add the ginger garlic paste. Sauté for about a minute and add the green chilli. Cook for another minute.
3. Add the tomatoes and garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and red chilli powder. Mix well and cook until the tomatoes are soft and the masala starts leaving oil on the sides.
4. Add the cream and mix well. Add the yoghurt after half a minute. Mix everything and cook for 2 minutes. 
   
   
   
5. Add this masala mix to the dal and mix well. Add a little water if required and cook the dal on low flame for about 5 minutes.
6. Heat ghee in another pan and add little red chilli powder and kasoori methi. Turn off the heat after 30 seconds. Pour this over the dal. Remove from heat and cover the cooker with the lid.
7. Remove lid after 10 minutes and serve hot. 
    
   

Grilled Tomato Chicken

Grilled Tomato Chicken is the third experiment from my kitchen after Grilled Chicken Jalfrezi and Hariyali Grilled Chicken in which I combined the grilling with the curry to produce a yet another wonderful and flavourful variety of chicken. Infused with a lot of spices, the grilled chicken in a flavourful curry.

I served this with Chicken Do Pyaza as a side dish and Roomali Roti with Garlic Raita to complete the wonderful lunch.

The wonderful grilled chicken

Preparation of the curry

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

Chicken Thighs: 250 gm

Tomato (chopped): 1

Yogurt: 1/2 cup

Lemon juice: 2 tsp.

Tawa fry masala: 1 tsp.

Kasoori methi: 1 tsp.

Salt to taste

For the curry:

Cooking oil: 2 tsp.

Asafoetida: a heaped pinch

Star anise: 1

Baby onions (peeled): 3

Peppercorns: 1/2 tsp.

Tomato (chopped): 1

Green chilli (chopped): 1

Ginger (grated): 1 inch

Salt to taste

Garlic (chopped): 4 cloves

Coriander powder: 1 tsp.

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.

Mango powder: 1/2 tsp.

1. Marinate the flat chicken in all the marinade ingredients and keep in fridge for at least 4 hours for the flavors to seep in. 
2. Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 200°C and then apply oil to the grill, and keep the marinated chicken on the grill. Cook on 200°C for 15 minutes, checking and turning the chicken, and applying the marinade to either sides, if necessary.
3. Cook at high for another 5 minutes and take out the grilled chicken and set aside.
4. By the time, prepare the tomato curry. Heat cooking oil and add peppercorns, asafoetida and star anise. Add the spring onions and let cook for about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.
5. Add the tomato, green chilli and ginger. Add salt, red chilli powder, mango powder and coriander powder. Mix well and let cook till the tomatoes start getting soft. 
6. Add the remaining marinade and mix well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and add the grilled chicken. Mix and let cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve hot with rice/roti.

Chicken Do Pyaza

So many experiments in my kitchen with chicken that now it doesn't even feel like referring any recipes.. I feel I can simply create new recipes just like that, with ease and creating a wonderful, different taste each and every time. So here I created another recipe which came out lovely as a treat to the eyes; and a wonderful treat for the taste buds. Here I present my "Chicken Do Pyaza".

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

Chicken: 200 gm
Onion paste: 1 onion
Garlic paste: 2 tbsp.
Garam masala: 1 tsp.

For the chicken masala:

Small red onions (peeled): 2
Onion (cut in rounds): 1
Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Dried red chilli: 1
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Tomato (chopped): 1
Ginger paste: 2 tsp.
Tawa fry masala: 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp. (optional)

1. Marinate chicken with the onion, garlic and garam masala for at least 4 hours. I did it overnight.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add the dried red chilli. Add the rounded onion and the whole onions. Fry for about 2-3 minutes. 
3. Add the tomato, green chilli and ginger. Add tawa fry masala, salt and black pepper powder. Mix well and fry for about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft.
4. Add the marinated chicken and mix well. Cook for about 5 minutes. Cover and cook for another 15 minutes. 
5. Remove cover, let cook for another 2-3 minutes, turn off the heat and serve hot as a side dish. This will be in dried form, not in a curry form.

Orange Chicken

When I decided to experiment with "orange chicken", I thought there would be many recipes for it, but all I got were Indonesian recipes, and also some Thai recipes. But I am not an experimental person. So I decided to stick with my original curry recipe.. but there was a dilemma.. I need to discover my own way to prepare this curry, so it suits specially my taste buds; and not tasting too "orangy".. Specially me, because my husband is very experimental in taste buds..

So, I decided to prepare it taking precautions that it doesn't taste tangy. I used one complete orange in the recipe, and still, it tasted wonderfully awesome, even though I was scared and I never taste food until served.

Ingredients:

Chicken: 200 gm

Orange (cut in rounds): 1

Garam masala/ Chicken masala: 1 tsp.

Cooking oil: 3 tsp.

Ginger (grated): 1 inch

Asafoetida: a heaped pinch

Garlic (chopped): 4 cloves

Onion (sliced): 1

Tomato (chopped): 1

Green chilli (cut in rounds): 1

Fresh cream: 2 tsp.

Salt to taste

Black pepper: 1/2 tsp.

1. Heat 2 tsp. oil on medium heat and add the chicken. Add the orange slices and sprinkle chicken masala. Mix well and let cook for 5 minutes, stirring in between. 
   
   
   
   
2. Transfer this to a bowl and keep aside. 
   
3. Heat remaining 2 tsp. oil in the same pan and add asafoetida. Add the ginger and mix well. Cook till it starts browning. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. 
4. Add the onions and sauté till they become transparent. Add tomato and green chilli. Add salt and black pepper. 
5. Mix well and cook for 7-8 minutes, keep stirring continuously; this will give the flavour to the masala. The masala will leave oil at the sides. 
   
6. Now add the fried chicken and oranges to this pan. Mix well and let cook for a minute. Squeeze gently all the orange pieces so that their juice is absorbed in the curry. Take out the orange pieces and keep aside. 
   
7. Add the cream and mix well. Add little water (if you want to make curry) and mix. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
8. Remove cover and add the orange pieces again. Mix and let cook on low flame for another 5 minutes. Remove the orange pieces and serve hot with rice/chappati.

Orange Chicken is ready to serve.

Nimki (Whole Wheat)

Nimki is another tea- time snack I tried after making a lot of them such as Wheat Papdi, Masala Kaju, Wheat Namak Pare, Champakali (Wheat). It is usually made with maida (all purpose flour) which has more shelf life but well, these won't stay for long as they are so delicious they get finished soon. It is yet another snack which can be stored in air-tight containers and savored with the evening tea.

Using a bit of different ingredients from what I used in my other tea-time snack recipes, I made this into tasting completely different, and a bit of spicy mix. You can change it by simply adding salt and carom seeds/ cumin seeds, which ever suits you best.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour: 2 cups
Warm water to make the dough
Cooking oil: 2 tsp + to deep fry
Asafoetida: a heaped pinch
Chaat masala: 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Black peppercorns to taste

1. Mix the chaat masala, asafoetida, salt and the peppercorns together with the flour and mix well with hands.
2. Add the 2 tsp. oil and mix well with your fingertips until the flour is of crumbling consistency.
3. Make very hard dough using very little warm water, add little water every time and mix together. When the dough is made, keep aside for 20 minutes.
4. Pinch tiny balls out of the whole dough. Take one ball and roll a bit with a rolling pin. Then fold it to one side, and then fold it again, making a triangle, just like you would do with a triangle paratha.
5. Repeat with all the balls. Keep aside. Prick all of them with a fork or knife so that they don't puff up while frying. 
   
6. Heat oil on medium flame and fry all of the nimkis in the oil. Do not fry on high heat as the flour will burn. Let it fry, turn a few times, it will take about 15 minutes to get completely cooked. 
   
7. Remove from the oil on a kitchen paper to drain excess oil. Let cool and store in air tight box.