Lauki Ke Kofte

This was my first time with koftas. Since I had a bottle gourd/ lauki in  stock and I was bored  to death eating usual lauki curries, I thought of trying koftas. Up until now I perceived koftas recipe to be difficult and time taking. However, to my surprise, it is not a tedious recipe at all. I was indeed done in good 45 minutes. 

This recipe is again a simple one with less whole spices. Since it comes out really well, this preparation by itself is good enough to be served to the guests too.   

Quantity of ingredients listed below is good to serve 3.  

Ingredients:

Lauki/ Bottle Gourd - 1 grated 
Onion large - 1 finely chopped 
Tomatoes large - 3 finely grind
Garlic cloves - 10-12 peeled 
Ginger - 1.5 inch peeled 
Green Chili - 1  
Besan/ Gram Flour - 1 cup
Cumin seeds
Whole black cardamom - 1
Cinnamon stick - 1.5 inch 
Oil 
Salt 
Red Chili powder
Coriander/ dhaniya  powder
Amchoor/ dry mago powder
Garam masala powder


Recipe:

For Koftas

• Sprinkle some salt on grinded lauki and keep it aside for 2 mins. 
• Now squeeze out all the water from the lauki, add gram flour/ besan and red chili powder to it. Mix well. 
• Now make small round balls out of this mixture and keep aside. 
• Heat oil in a pan to deep fry the kofta balls. 
• Once the oil is hot enough, add the koftas to it until they turn dark brown and crispy.
• Take the koftas out of the pan and pat dry excess oil with a kitchen towel and keep aside. 

For Gravy

• Take ginger, garlic and green chili, add 1 tbsp water to it and finely grind it. 
• Now heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add cumin seeds, whole black cardamom, cinnamon stick to it and let them cook. 
• To this add ginger, garlic, green chili paste and let it cook for a minute. 
• Now add chopped onions and let them cook on low flame until golden brown. 
• Once the onions turn golden brown, add grinded tomatoes to this and let it cook. 
• Mix salt to taste, 1.5 red chili powder, 1.5 tbsp dhaniya powder, 1/2 tbsp amchoor powder, pinch of garam masala and 3 -4 tbsp water in a bowl. Add this masala mixture to your gravy and stir it well. Cover the lid and let it cook. 
• Keep stirring the gravy every 3-5 minutes to prevent burning. 
• Once your gravy is cooked, add koftas to it and cook for another 2 minutes and put the flame off.  

 Your lauki koftas are ready to be served. have them hot with roti or paratha. 

Hope you will like it!!

Happy Eating :) 

Stuffed Bhindi - Stuffed Okra

Bhindi has been my favorite vegetable since childhood. Though I love its plain non - masala preparation, I also enjoy its combination with besan or the gram flour. Though there are many combinations of spices and flours for stuffing, I am sharing here one of them that I had prepared for lunch this afternoon. 

Below mention ingredients serve 3.

Ingredients:

Bhindi - 1/2 kg cut into half if long and slit enough to make space for stuffing
Onion large - 1 Julienne
Green Chili - 2 slit and cut into halves  
Mustard Oil or any other cooking oil 
Salt
Red chili powder
Turmeric powder
Amchoor/ dry mango powder 
Zeera/ cumin powder 
Garam masala powder 
Dhania/ coriander powder   
Gram Flour - 1 bowl 
Zeera/ cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Stuffing:

In a bowl, add 2.5 tbsp salt, 3 tbsp red chili powder, 4-5 tbsp coriander powder, 1.5 tbsp turmeric powder, 1.5 tbsp amchoor powder, 2.5 tbsp zeera powder, 1 tbsp garam masala and 3 tbsp mustard oil.  Mix this well and stuff the slit bhindi with this mixture.

Recipe:

• Heat 3 tbsp mustard oil in a pan. Once it is hot enough, add zeera seeds. 
• After the zeera seeds sputter, add onions to it and saute until translucent pink. 
• Now add gram flour to this and stir for 2-3 minutes on low flame. 
• Add all the stuffed bhindi to this, mix well, cover the lid and let it cook. Do NOT add water to this as Bhindi itself has moisture and it will cook in steam. 
• Let it cook for 5 minutes and then add 1 tbsp coriander powder, a pinch of salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, zeera powder, garam masala and amchoor powder to this. Mix well, cover the lid and let it cook. 
• Keep checking and stirring this every 5 minutes so that Bhindi does not stick to the pan.
• Your Besan Bhindi will be ready in 20-25 minutes. 

This goes well with ghee roti or pratha. Hope you will like it!!

Happy Eating :)

Dal - Yellow Lentil

Dal is a dish which is made in every Indian household daily. It is high in proteins and nutrition and is specially  good for growing children. Again dal is a dish that can be made in an elaborate manner to give it a special touch for party by adding ginger garlic paste, cream etc.; however, it can also be done in a simple manner that suits everyday meals and is not heavy.  

The below mentioned ingredients serve 2-3 people.


Ingredients: 

Arhar/ Toor Dal (yellow pigeon peas) - 1/2 cup 
Yellow Moong Dal (yellow mung bean) - 1/2 cup 
Tomatoes large - 2 
Green Chilies - 2
Salt - to taste 
Turmeric powder - 1 tbsp 
Water - 2.5 - 3 cups (depends on what consistency you like for dal)

For Tadka (optional)
Butter/ ghee - 1 tbsp
Dry whole red chili - 2 
Fresh coriander leaves - for garnish 

Recipe:

• Mix both the dals and soak in 2.5-3 cups of water for 30 - 60 mins 
• Now in the pressure cooker add soaked dal along with the water to it. Throw in the two tomatoes that are slit from the center, green chilies, salt and turmeric powder. Close the pressure cooker and let this cook on low flame. 
• After two whistles on the low flame, put the flame on high and give one final whistle after which turn the flame off. 
• Once the cooker has cooled down, open the lid and stir it well to mix the tomatoes in it. 

This preparation is by itself very tasty and does not need tadka. I personally like it this way. However, if you like, you can take some ghee/ butter in a small pan. Once it is hot, add dry whole red chilies to it. Once they are swollen, take it off the flame and add in to the dal. 

Your dish is ready. Have it with hot steamed rice, roti or paratha. Once you will taste this recipe, I can bet you will not like dal in any other way. 

Hope you will like it!!

Happy Eating :)

Shahi Paneer - Creamy Cottage Cheese

Shahi Paneer is a dish that is considered to be one of the best and most loved paneer preparations and is most commonly served at parties, weddings and other special occasions in India. What many people do not know is that it is a simple recipe with great flavors. You will notice in  the ingredients that I have not used many whole spices but you will be surprised by the aromas of the gravy once its done. 

My friend suggested me to sell this dish @ Rs. 500 per plate :) ... what say???

Ingredients: 

Quantities mentioned below, serves 2-3 people

1. Paneer (cottage cheese) 
2. Onion large - 1 
3. Tomatoes large - 5-6 
4. Green Chili - 2 
5. Ginger - 2 inch peeled
6. Garlic cloves - 10-12 peeled 
7. Cashew soaked in water for an hour - 7-8
8. Butter - 2-3 tbsp
9. Green Cardamon - 1
10. Black Cardamon - 1 
11. Salt - to taste 
12. Red Chili powder - 1 tbsp
13. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tbsp 
14. Garam Masala powder - 1/3 tbsp
15. Kasuri Methi - 1 tbsp
16. Tomato Ketchup - 2 tbsp 
17. Sugar - a pinch (optional) 
18. Fresh Cream - 1-2 tbsp (optional)
19. Coriander - for garnish 

Recipe:

• Pressure cook onion, tomatoes and green chili by 1 whistle or boil it until soft. Drain the extra water and grind everything into a fine paste. Sieve this paste and keep aside. 
• Take the cashew out of water, spray some butter and microwave them for 3-4 seconds. Now grind the cashew with 1 tbsp water into a fine paste and keep aside.  
• Grind ginger and garlic in 1tbsp water into a fine paste and keep it aside. 
• TIP: Boil the paneer for 10 minutes, drain the water and cut into cubes. Boiling the paneer makes it soft. 
• Take the butter in a pan and without letting it heat, add ginger garlic paste to it along with Cardamons. Cook for 2 minutes.   
• Add the sieved onion tomato chili paste to this and stir for 5 minutes.  
• Add salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, crushed and refined kasuri methi, cashew paste and tomato sauce to this. Give it a good mix, cover the lid and let it cook on low flame for 7-10 minutes. 
• Add in the paneer cubes at this point and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. 
• Now add a pinch of sugar to it if you find the taste too tangy. This is optional. 
• Add some coriander leaves now, again cover the lid and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. This will blend the taste of coriander leaves with the gravy. 
• And finally you can add in some fresh cream to give it a soft texture. Let it cook for 2 minutes and put the flame off. 

As you proceed in the preparation, you will find the gravy reducing and thickening. Let this be as it will make the gravy rich, thick and softer. Suggest NOT adding water to it. If you want more gravy, take more tomatoes and onions accordingly. 

This recipe seems taxing but it is very easy and quick recipe. Only time taking thing is the grinding part. 

My preparation came out very well with beautiful saffron color, thick flavorful fragrance and creamy texture. 

We loved it. Hope you will like it too!!

Happy Eating :) 

Masala Bhare Baigan - Stuffed Brinjal

If you have guests coming over for lunch or dinner and you want to plate a side dish to go with the main menu, Masala Bhare Baigan can be a good option. Again as I always say, every dish has many recipes, likewise this dish can also be prepared in many way; however, this particular preparation has won many accolades among my friends and relatives. This recipe is again easy and quick to prepare and does not require you around while its cooking. 

The below mentioned ingredients are enough to serve 2-3 people. 

Ingredients:


Fresh coriander leaves - 1 hand-full 
Green Chilies - 2
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste 
Red chili flakes - 1 tbsp
Red chili powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tbspn   
Dry pomegranate powder/ dry mango powder - 1/2 tbsp
Roasted poppy seeds - 1 tbsp 
Onion medium size - 1 grated 

Lebanese brinjals - 4-5 Slit length-wise with stem intact 

Recipe:

• Coarsely grind coriander leaves, green chilies, and roasted poppy seeds. 
• Now empty this mixture in a bowl and add grated onions, turmeric powder, salt, dry pomegranate powder/ dry mango powder, red chili powder, red chili flakes and mix it well.
• Stuff this mixture in all the slit parts of the brinjals and keep them aside. 

• Heat the oil in a pan (take a wide pan big enough to accommodate all the brinjals together side by side)  and add all the brinjals to it. Cover the pan and let the brinjals cook over a low flame. 

• You don't need to toss the brinjals, just flip the sides after 10 minutes and keep a check so that they don't burn. 
• Your dish will be ready in good 20-25 minutes.    

Hope you will like it!!

Happy Eating :)

Sookhe Aloo Matar - Dry Potato and Peas

All of us at some point in our life have found ourselves standing with refrigerator door open and staring into an almost empty vegetable shelf. 

For times like these when either we have run short of options or our minds are too exhausted to think; some basic age old recipes come to our rescue. Once such preparation is commonly called -Sukhe Aloo Matar in Indian households.

It is an absolute non - complex preparation with basic ingredients. The recipe and quantity listed below is enough to serve 3.   

Ingredients:

Potatoes medium size - 3 peeled and diced 
Onion large - 1 peeled and diced 
Green Chili - 2 slit and chopped 
Green peas - 1 cup full
Oil
Cumin Seeds
Salt
Red Chili powder 
Turmeric powder 
Red chili flakes
Asafetida (hing) - a pinch 

Recipe:

• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add asafetida and cumin seeds to it and cook until swollen. 
• Now add diced onion and stir until translucent. To this add peas and potatoes and give it a mix. 
• Now add salt to taste, 1 tbsp red chili powder, half tbsp turmeric powder and red chili flakes and give it a nice mix, cover the pan and let it cook on low flame.  
• No need to add water to this recipe. Potatoes and peas will cook in the steam. However, do not forget to stir it every 3-4 minutes. 
• Scrape the mixture that is stuck to the bottom of the pan (this adds up to the taste) every time you stir.  
• Your dish will be ready in 20-25 minutes. 

Hope you will like it!

Happy Eating :)

Garam Masala Chicken

Chicken Fry is a dish that can be made in many ways and with different ingredients. Everyone has a different style of preparing this dish and hence their different names - Zeera Chicken, Garam Masala Chicken, Chicken Fry and many more.

Previously I have uploaded the recipe for Zeera Chicken. Today, I am sharing this wonderfully easy recipe for Garam Masala Chicken. 

Ingredients:

Chicken - 400 grms 
Ginger-garlic paste - 3 tbsp  
Oil
Mace - 1 whole 
Amchur powder (raw mango powder)- ½ tsp  
Jeera powder (cumin seed powder)- 1 tsp  
Pepper powder- 1 tsp of 
Green chilies - 2 slit and chopped 
Dhaniya powder (coriander powder) - 1 tsp  
Salt to taste
Cardamoms - 3-4 whole 
Aniseed -1 whole
Cloves - 3-4 whole
Black cardamoms - 1 whole 
Cinnamon sticks - 2-3 whole 

Procedure

• Heat oil in a kadai/ deep frying pan and add all the whole spices and toss until swollen. 
• Add the ginger-garlic paste and stir at low flame until golden brown.
• Now add the chicken pieces and stir well on the low flame.
• Add little salt once the chicken changes colour. 
• Now cover the kadai/ deep frying pan with a lid and let the chicken cook for 15-20 mins. TIP: Use a metal plate with little water on it to cover the kadai/ deep frying pan, so that the chicken does not stick to the bottom
• Add the jeera powder (cumin powder), pepper powder, dhaniya powder, amchur powder and mix well. Let it cook and seep into the chicken well.

Your dish is ready. You can have as a starter or with Paratha. 

Hope you will like it!!

Happy Eating :)

Thai Food Festival @ Deccan Pavilion ITC Kakatiya

Thai Food Essentials @ Deccan Pavilion ITC Kakatiya Hyderabad

From my days in Bangalore, I have had a liking for Thai cuisine. What makes this cuisine special is its simplicity and aromas. Finally I got a chance to enjoy authentic Thai food this weekend in Hyderabad at Deccan Pavilion at ITC Kakatiya as they announced the launch of their Week- long Thai Food Festival. This food festival is on up-to Sunday, 24th March 2013 and is available for lunch and dinner. It is in a buffet format that comes at Rs. 1199 for vegetarian and Rs. 1299 for non - vegetarians. 

The Buffet was an interesting mix of salads, starters, main course and desserts. I started with veg Tom Yum soup that was light in texture, tangy and spicy in flavor and had big pieces of juicy mushrooms. It had a beautiful lemongrass aroma - an important and must have Thai kitchen ingredient. 

Starters:

Starters were a delight as I got to taste Silicon Tofu - a simple preparation that was crispy from outside and extremely smooth and soft from inside.  

Silicon Tofu

Corn Cakes 

Corn Cakes were another veggies delight served with a red sweet and sour corn sauce. 

Prawn Salad 

Non-vegetarians too had a great time with Chicken Cashew and Prawn Salad.

Chicken Cashew

   

Main Course and Desserts:

Main course was a mix of Thai curry and rice which was again flavorful and  nutty. We finished the meal with desserts but it was a task to pick and choose our favorites from the  many options available ranging from Indian sweets, to souffle, puddings, brownies to cakes and others.

Sweet Encounters 

ITC Kakatiya's 1st ever Thai Food Festival is being driven by Master Chef Som Wang, Executive Chef Shekhar and their team. I would like to congratulate both the chefs for putting together a delectable meal and for being wonderful hosts. 

Chef Shekhar - I had a great time and will be coming back for more!!

With Master Chef Som Wang, Akshita and Executive Chef  Shekhar @ ITC Kakatiya 

Ratings:

Ambiance- 3/5

Staff - 4/5

Service - 4/5

Food - 4/5

Value for Money - Yes 

Happy Eating :)

Aloo Paratha

Aloo Parathas have always been the most favored ones when it comes to stuffed parathas.  For this  delicious Punjabi breakfast, best condiment one can have is butter that adds - in lot of flavor and of course brings in some more extra calories :)

This recipe is my experiment and came out really well. The below mentioned ingredients are enough for a breakfast for 3.

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes- 3 (boiled, peeled and finely mashed) 
2. Onion medium size- 1 (made into paste without water)
3. chili flakes (optional)- 2 tbspn 
4. Oregano (optional)- 2 tbspn 
5. Kasuri methi -1 tbspn crushed 
6. Salt to taste 
7. Red chili powder - 1 tbspn 
8. Amchoor/ Anardana - 1/3 tbspn
9. Cumin powder - 1 tbspn
10. Coriander Powder - 1 tbspn
11. Green Chili - 1 finely chopped 
12. Coriander leaves (optional)- finely chopped
13. Mint Leaves (optional)- Finely chopped  
14. Kneaded dough
15. Dry Flour 
16. Butter 

Recipe:

• Take a bowl and mix all the ingredients from 1 to 13 into a fine mixture. 
• Take a small ball of kneaded dough (size of a big lemon). To it, add a pinch of salt and dash of butter. Now mix the salt and butter with the dough well. Once done, make it into a smooth round ball again and flatten it on your palm. 
• Now dust this flattened dough with dry flour and roll it out into a tiny base.
• Add - in 1-2 spoons of the mixture to the flat dough. Make it into a ball again to seal the mixture. 
• One tip over here is to flatten this stuffed ball with your palm until it is significantly big and finally use the 'belan' to give it 1-2 final rounds of touches and put it on the tawa and make it like usual parathas. To enhance the taste, suggest applying butter on the paratha while cooking instead of ghee or oil. 

Serve it hot with mint or coriander chutney/ tomato sauce/ curd/ or pickle. 

Hope you will like it too!

Happy Eating :)

Baigan Ka Bharta

Ever since I remember, I have relished 'Egg Plant' in all its forms. But my most favorite egg plant recipe is 'Baigan ka Bharta'. Everyone loves their mom's food and so do I but I have honestly not come across a better baigan bharta than what my mom makes. 

Due to my liking for the dish, I have sort of mastered the recipe, however, mommy's touch remains missing!! 

Ingredients:

Big Brinjal - 1 
Large Onion chopped-1 
Large tomatoes chopped - 2
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbspn (ready-made not recommended)
Green Chilies slit - 2 
Peeled garlic cloves - 7-8  
Coriander for garnish 
Cooking oil
Salt
Turmeric powder
Red chilly powder
Amchoor powder
Coriander powder
Garam Masala (optional)
Cumin seeds 

Recipe:

Roasting

• Cut slits on the binjal with a knife and insert peeled garlic cloves into it.  
• Now roast the brinjal by putting it directly onto the gas burner with low/medium flame. Keep turning it every 4-5 minutes. 
• After good 20 - 25 minutes, you will notice that the brinjal has shrunk and has wrinkled skin that can be easily peeled off and garlic and brinjal juices oozing out. 
• Turn the flame off and put the brnjal into a bowl full of water.
• After the brinal comes to the room temperature, you can take it out of water and peel off the skin. 
• Lay the binjal flat on a chopping board and with a knife carefully prick, cut long slits on the brinjal. As you do this also carefully check the brinjal for any worms.  

Cooking:

• In a pan, heat some oil and add cumin seeds. 
• Now add ginger garlic paste and let it cook. Once done, add chopped onions. Idea is to make onions translucent. 
• Once the onions turn pinkish, add tomatoes to it along with salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and amchoor powder and close the lid and let this cook at low flame. 
• Keep checking and stirring it every 2-3 minutes until it turns reddish and oil starts to show off on the sides.
• Once the masala is done, add roasted brinjal to this along with green chilies and coriander. Close the lid and let it cook for 15 minutes but keep stirring it every 2-3 minutes. Here we are 'bhunoing' the bharta which adds up to the taste of the dish. 
• If you like, you can sprinkle a pinch of garam masala to this in the end. 

It seems laborious, but it is a very simple dish and comes out really well. You can also put green peas into this. 

Hope you will like it. 

Happy Eating :) 

Review - Minerva Coffee Shop

If you are looking for 'not a grand' restaurant in Hyderabad with good food you can include this restaurant in your list.  Set up in a simple manner, the ambiance is kept very basic but they have paid good heed to cleanliness and hygiene. 

The menu includes mostly a typical mix of South Indian, North Indian and Chinese. We ordered 1 South Indian meals and  Chinese noodles and Manchurian. Meals were good and sumptuous. For Chinese food lovers, we ordered,  Butter Garlic Noodles which was absolutely delicious. Manchurian was good too. All in all not a costly affair and good taste. 

My ratings:
Ambiance - 2.5/5
Food - 3.5/5
Service - 3.5/5 

Tehri

Came back tired from work today. Was hungry but wasn't in the mood to stand for too long in the kitchen so thought of trying my hands on Tehri. It was all a guess work though I believe, some experience in kitchen leaves you with lean chances of going wrong too often (wink wink). 

This is a simple recipe and can be prepared in just 20- 30 mins in a pressure cooker.

Ingredients: 

Rice (1 small cup)
Yellow moong dal (half small cup) 
Water (3 small cups) 
Chili Flakes 
Dry Whole Red Chili - 2 
Big Onion julienne - 1
Tomato thick slices - 1
Two Green Chilies whole - 2
Potatoes cut into small pieces - 2 medium size 
Peas 
Turmeric powder
Red Chili Powder 
Salt
Kasuri Methi - crushed 
Whole Bay Leaf - 1
Black Cardamom - 1
Green Cardamoms - 2
Amchoor - a pinch 
Cinnamon sticks - 2 medium size
Cumin seeds 
Oil

Recipe:

• Heat some oil in the pressure cooker. 
• Add cumin seeds,  whole dry red chilly, cardamons, cinnamon sticks, bay leaf and let them cook. 
• Once all the whole spices swell up, add onions and fry them until translucent (don't let the colour change), add potatoes and fry for 2 mins followed by peas, tomatoes and green chilies.
• Now add rice, dal and water to the pressure cooker and let it boil.
• Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt, amchoor, red chili flakes and  kasuri methi to this. Close the lid and allow the ingredients to cook on a low flame. 
• After two whistles on the low flame, turn the flame to high for one more whistle and then put the flame off. 
• This quantity serves 3 people.

It sounds spicy however, the spices are just enough to give the right flavor and aroma. It goes very well with curd. We loved it hope you will like it too.

Happy Eating:)