Sauteed Mushrooms

There are those days when you would want to have light food or a simple yet delicious starter in the evenings. 

Here I am sharing with you a very simple mushroom recipe which consumes very less time and ingredients and tastes delicious. 
You can really impress your guests with this one. And let me tell you, this is one dish where nothing can actually go wrong. 

So to start with the ingredients:

1/2 kg Mushrooms (serves enough for starter for 2)
Butter 
Salt
Oregano/ Basil/ Thyme (these are optional)

Recipe:

• Boil mushrooms for about 3-4 mins
• Filter out the water and slice the mushrooms (you can also use whole mushrooms)
• Heat1tbsp butter in a pan add mushrooms, salt to taste and sprinkle some  Oregano/ Basil/ Thyme to it
• Cover the lid and let it cook for 5 mins 

This recipe takes not more than 15-20 mins 

Hope you'll like it too 

Happy Eating :)

Grill Marinade

This is a very easy and simple marinade that I prepared last evening. Turned out to be good so thought of sharing it here:

Ingredients:

Curd
Salt
Chilli powder
Oregano 
Garam Masala
Crushed black pepper
Chilli Flakes
Peri Peri sauce
Ginger garlic paste

Recipe: 
(this mix is enough for grilling veggies for 3 people)

• Mix salt, chilli powder, 1/3  tbsp peri peri, 1/3 tbsp oregano, chilli flakes, garam masala and crushed black pepper and 1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste to curd and mix it well
• Put the veggies in this mix for 15 - 20 minutes and grill them on a non stick grill pan with very less oil

This mix gives a tangy spicy flavor to the veggies

I had used red and yellow bell peppers, broccoli, paneer, onion, tomato, cabbage

Happy Eating :) 

Bhindi and Capsicum Tawa Masala

So it was another Sunday last week and yet another day to try something elaborate (not much thought this time). 

Digged into my Refrigerator and found some left over bhindi and capsicum so thought of making a tawa masala with them. 

Time for the ingredients:

(these ingredients would suffice for a dish for 2 people)

Bhindi 
Capsicum
One big and one small onion
One tomato
Ginger 1.5 inch 
9-10 big cloves of garlic 
One big chilli    
Turmeric
Salt
Red chilli powder
Amchoor powder
Garam Masala 
Chaat masala 
Chicken masala (optional)
Cumin seeds 
Oil 
Small Bay Leaf

Recipe:

• Finely grind ginder and garlic with mortar and pestle 
• Julian half of big onion and separate each layer of rest of the onion
• Finely chop small onion and tomatoes 
• Cut bhindi, capsicum and green chilli into medium pieces
• Heat the oil in a pan 
• Once hot, add cumin seeds and bay leaf
• Add ginger garlic paste and a spoon of water to the pan
• Add finely chopped and Julian onions
• Once almost translucent, add tomatoes and seperated layers of onions to it 
• Take salt, red chilli powder, chaat masala, chicken masala, amchoor, turmeric powder, garam masala in a bowl and mix it well with some water and add it into the pan(take extra chaat masala, chicken masala red chilli and garam masala if you like chatpata and spicy)
• Close the lid and let it cook on low flame
• In the mean time, heat very little oil in a non stick pan and cook bhindi and capsicum  in it
• Once the masala is done, add fried bhindi and capsicum to it

Your Tawa Masala is ready to serve

Happy Eating :)

Baigan Fry

A favorite dish that I make very often is from the Bengali menu - Begun Bhaja or what you may know as Baigan Fry. 

It is very easy and very tasty.  Takes just few minutes to prepare. 


Ingredients:

Big brinjal 
Turmeric powder
Red chilli powder 
Salt to taste 
Oil
Khus Khus 

Recipe:

• Cut Brinjal into 1/2 inch circles and cover them properly with turmeric, chilli powder and salt
• Take a shallow non stick pan and heat 1tbspn oil 
• Add  brinjal slices to the pan (do not put everything together. Fry 3-4 slices at a time depending on the width of your pan). Flip the slices after a minute and cover pan with a lid. 
• Within 3-4 minutes your slices will be soft. At this point add generous amount of khus khus to each slice and flip the khus khus side to the pan base for khus khus to cook. Let it cook for a minute and take it out  
• Repeat this for the rest of the slices 

Begun Bhaja goes well with almost everything. 

You can sprinkle chat masala on it if you like chat pata flavor

Happy Eating :) 

Haleem by Pista House Chaar Minaar

The world famous Chaar Minaar stands tall amidst Ramzan festivities in Hyderabad. 

For people who don't know much about this city, let me tell you there is no other festival celebrated like the way Hyderabad celebrates Ramzan.  

Chaar Minaar is the old Hyderabad city which is the center of Ramzan proceedings. The markets in old city are open all night glittering in the joy of festival. 

People from all over the city pour in to Chaar Minaar to enjoy not only the lights and the markets but to also try hands on Hyderabad's world famous Ramzaan special 'Haleem'.

Let me start with a brief history of this world famous dish. 

History: 

Haleem originated in the middle east and is prepared and enjoyed across India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey,Middle east, central Asia and Bangaladesh.This dish is popularly prepared during Ramzan and Muharram. 

Haleem is made of wheat, barley, meat (usually beef or mutton, but sometimes chicken or minced meat), lentils and spices. This dish is slow cooked for seven to eight hours, which results in a paste-like consistency, blending the flavors of spices, meat, barley and wheat.

Although a high-calorie dish, Haleem is full of nutrition as the whole wheat, barley, lentils and meat combined together form an excellent source of fiber and protein.

Haleem at Pista House, Chaar Minaar, Hyderabad

 This picture is of the Pista House in the heart of the city. This is the original restaurant which has hundreds of outlets across the city. But Haleem at the original outlet in Chaar Minaar is unparalleled.

This picture has been taken at mid - night can you can see the crowd. 

The Haleem

                   

Hyderabad boasts of its Haleem. Hearing so mush about the dish I finally land up at Pista House to try it myself. 

5 minutes into the order, my hot steaming fragrant Haleem is placed on my plate. Served in an Irani bone china bowl, I see a thick paste richly seasoned with crispy fried onions and garlic tadka in very generous amount of ghee. When served they also add freshly diced mint, coriander and few slice of lime to it. 

A dig into the dish and my mouth is full of riot of flavors. First thing that you notice will be the consistency of Haleem and then the garlic onion tadka mix with rest of the dish. 

Its a hide and seek game with chicken or mutton pieces when you have Haleem. they are put in small pieces with and without bone. which adds a bit of surprise element to the dish. 

It is important that you do not forget to add in some lemon drops to your dish before you eat it. 

I portion of Haleem is more than enough for one person as it is a very heavy and rish dish. 

I give Pista House Chaar Minaar Haleem 10 on 10 for this sumptuous Haleem!!

Happy Eating :)

  

Stir fried vegetables in Teriyaki and Peri Peri sauce

Finally I am back from a good break and its time to post another recipe. So here you go with a very easy and simple recipe thats comes out really well.

Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Teriyaki Sauce

Peri Peri Sauce

Salt for seasoning

Crushed black pepper

Mushrooms

Broccoli

Carrots

Bell peppers

Baby Corns

Onion

Paneer

Rice/ noodles (optional)

*You can add your choice of vegetables to it

Recipe:

1. Cut all the vegetables not too thin not to thick
2. Boil the rice/ noodles in a pan
3. Blanch all the chopped vegetables
4. Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pan and stir fry blanched vegetables. (use less oil here as the vegetables are blanched and we just want the oil to add gloss and flavour to the dish and bind everything together)
5. Add boiled rice/ noodles, salt and crushes black pepper to it
6. Baste the dish by adding 2-3 tbspn of Teriyaki Sauce and a tinge of Peri Peri sauce

This dish tastes good only when served hot

Hope you enjoy the dish

Happy Eating :)