Kolkata Street Food: Alu Batte

Alu Batte is a simple and easy side dish made with mashed potatoes. It goes very well with Rice and Dal.

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes - 3 medium sized
2. Mustard oil - 2 tbsp
3. Salt to taste
4. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Note:

• I used pressure cooker to cook potatoes, but be careful to not over cook them
• Starchy potatoes will be better for Alu Batte

Method:

1. Peel and potatoes with salt until they are soft.
2. Mash the cooked potatoes roughly, we are NOT looking for a paste consistency
3. Heat oil in a kadai
4. Add turmeric, and chilli powder and give a stir
5. Add potatoes to the above and mix well and switch off the heat

Serve hot Alu Batte with Rice and Dal

Kolkata street food: Fish chop

Kolkata Fish chop is a total surprise to me, especially its texture. The texture is exactly same as chicken nuggets :)

Deep fried food, at times, is good too!

Ingredients:

1. Fish, boneless, minced - 1/2 cup
2. Egg, boiled - 1 large or 2 small
3. Onion, finely chopped - 1 small, about 1/4 cup
4. Green chilli - 1, chopped
5. Salt to taste
6. Spring onion, chopped - 1/4 cup
7. Ginger, paste - 1/2 tsp
8. Garlic, paste - 1/2 tsp
9. Egg - 1
10. Bread crumbs - 1 cup
11. Oil to deep fry

Sauce:

1. Red hot sauce - 4 tbs
2. Honey - 1 tbs

Method:

1. Mash boiled egg and fish together. I used a small blender for this.
2. In a bowl, mix the above with onion, green onion, ginger, garlic and salt
3. Make small cylinder shapes with the above dough
4. Heat oil for deep fry
5. Beat 1 egg in a small bowl
6. Dip each cylinder in the egg and roll it in bread crumbs to coat it uniformly
7. Once the oil is hot, deep fry the fish chops in it till golden brown
8. For sauce, mix the hot sauce and honey well

Server hot fish chops with sauce!

 

Delhi Street Food: Tawa Paneer

Given a choice, my son would love to have paneer for every meal. So, whenever I stumble upon a paneer recipe, I always give it a try. And, as I expected, he just loved this paneer curry when we made it at home!

Ingredients:

1. Paneer Marination:
2. Paneer/Cottage cheese cubes - 200gm
3. Yogurt/Curd - 1 tbsp
4. Turmeric powder  -  1/2 tsp
5. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Tomato paste (optional) - 1 tsp
7. Salt to taste

For Gravy:

1. Butter - 2 tbsp
2. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
3. Aniseed - 1/2 tsp
4. Onion, finely chopped - 1 cup
5. Ginger, finely chopped - 1 tsp
6. Garlic, finely chopped - 1tsp
7. Green chilli, finely chopped - 1/2 tsp 
8. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Salt to taste
12. Tomato paste - 2 tbsp
13. Kasurimethi (dried fenugreek/methi leaves) - 1tsp
14. Fresh Milk cream - 2 tbs

Method:

1. Marinate paneer cubes with all the ingredients under marinade for 20-30 minutes
2. Heat a tablespoon of butter and add cumin seeds and aniseed
3. When they start to splutter, add onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli and saute until the onion is translucent
4. Add chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, salt and tomato paste, and fry it for about 2 minutes
5. Add 1-1.5 cps of water and bring it to boil
6. In the mean time, toast the marinated paneer in a tablespoon of butter until slight golden color
7. Add the paneer to boiling gravy and let it thicken for few minutes
8. Sprinkle the crushed kasoorimethi leaves to the above and cook for 2 minutes more
9. Switch off the heat and top it with milk cream

Serve hot tawa paneer with Roti or Pulav!

P.S. I am linking up with Angie and her cohost Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook for Fiesta Friday.

Kolkata street food: Mussori Dal

Kolkata style masoor dal is a very easy recipe to try at home for a Kolkata style lunch, with its special tempering made with mustard oil ,kalonji and tomatoes. This recipe is based on Chetna Makan's Mussorie dal recipe with some minor changes if any.Chetna has some beautiful pics of all the dishes in her cook book. Just by looking at the pictures, will make you want to try them..yum.. So here I am trying Kolkata street food at home.

Ingredients

1. Split pigeon peas/Tuvar da1 - 100gm
2. Red lentil/ Masoor dal - 100gm
3. Salt - to taste
4. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Mustard oil /കടുകെണ്ണ  - 1 tbsp
6. Black cumin/ Kalongi/കരിഞ്ചി രകം - 1 tsp
7. Tomato, finely chopped - 1
8. Green chilli, finely chopped - 1

Method

1. Cook both dals in pressure cooker with enough water with turmeric powder (about 2 cups.)
2. Heat mustard oil in a kadai and add black cumin
3. Once the black cumin seeds splutter, add green chilli and chopped tomatoes
4. Cook till tomatoes can be mashed well
5. Add salt to the above
6. Switch off the heat and add this as a tempering to the cooked dal.
7. Serve immediately.

P.S. I am linking up with Angie and her cohost Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook for Fiesta Friday.

Easy Paneer butter masala

Paneer / Chicken Butter masala is an Indian dish accepted internationally across the world. We can make it as chicken butter masala for non vegetarian version and paneer butter masala for vegetarian version. It is especially a hit among kids due to its mild sweet taste. Today I am giving you all a very easy and quick version of paneer butter masala recipe. Do try it at home!

Ingredients:

1. Paneer cubes - 250gm
2. Butter - 2tbsp
3. Ginger garlic paste - 1tsp
4. Tomato paste - 4 tbsp 
5. Chilli powder- 1 tsp
6. Tomato ketchup- 1 tbsp 
7. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
8. Green chilli, slit - 1(optional)
9. Kasuri methi(dried or fresh methi leaves) - 1tbsp if dried/2-3 tbsp if using fresh
10. Sugar - 1tsp
11. Garam masala-1tsp
12. Salt to taste
13. Milk cream - 1/4 cup
14. Butter chicken masala powder - 1 tsp(optional)

• Use fresh paneer whenever possible 
• In case of using frozen paneer, fry it lightly in butter before using it
• Adding green chilli is optional 
• You can try the same recipe with chicken to make butter chicken masala. Marinate chicken with salt, yogurt, turmeric powder and chilli powder for 15-30 minutes and stir fry it before using it

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients from 4 to 7 with a cup of water to a smooth mixture 
2. Heat a kadai with butter 
3. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for 1 min
4. Add the tomato mixture and green chilli to this
5. Cook it till well combined
6. Add chopped methi leaves and cook for 5 minutes 
7. Add paneer and salt to taste
8. Let paneer cook for 5-8 minutes 
9. Add sugar, garam masala, butter chicken masala powder and reduce the flame to low
10. Add milk cream and stir gently not break paneer
11. Switch off the flame and serve paneer butter masala hot

Chilli Garlic Fish

On a Saturday morning...

Me: Can you buy some good fish from the market?? It will be good if it doesn't have bones.

Anjan: Do you want me to buy fish fillet?

Me: No. I want some fish which I can cut into cubes.

Anjan: Are you not going fry fish??

Me: No, I am going to make chilli garlic fish

Anjan: With soya sauce?? Indo Chinese?

Me: Yes!

Anjan: Hmm, ok... (disappointed)

Here I am back with my new recipes after a 6 months break. Well, this time it is an indo Chinese fish recipe. My family is not a big fan of soya sauce or fish sauce flavour. And so, it is not easy to get a positive review for a recipe which has these sauces in it, unless it tastes very good.  Two weeks back when I went to an Indian restaurant here for a buffet lunch, to my disappointment, they had only one non veg dish served and that was chilli fish. ( I always look forward to have some chicken dishes for any buffet. 😉) Though the sauce coating on the batter fried fish was good, the fish itself tasted like a frozen batter fried fish. If the fish also was more flavourful, then this dish would be yummy, I thought.

The idea of recreating a dish to match your taste is definitely interesting.

While having lunch..

Karan : Mamma, what is this?

Me: This is fish, do you like to have it? (usually  Karan doesn't have non veg)

Karan: No, I will have rice and cauliflower

Me: Do you want to try a small piece?

Karan: Ok...

After having one piece of fish..

Karan: Mamma, I don't want to have rice... I will have only fish...

Me: 😃😃

Anjan: It tastes really good...

Me: 😃

Ingredients:

1. Fish, boneless, cut into cubes -250gms
2. Oil for frying 

For Marinate :

1. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
2. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
3. Ginger- garlic paste - 1 tbsp 
4. Salt to taste
5. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp

For Batter:

1. Flour - 3 tbsp
2. Cornflour - 2 tbs
3. Soy sauce - 2tsp
4. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
5. Salt to taste

For Gravy:

1. Oil -2tbs
2. Garlic chopped-1tbsp
3. Soya sauce - 1tsp
4. Green chilli sauce - 1tsp
5. Tomato sauce- 2tbs
6. Red chilli powder - 1/2tsp
7. Onion, cut into squares(optional) - 1/4 cup
8. Capsicum, cut into squares(optional) - 1/4 cup 

Method:

1. Marinate fish with all the marinate ingredients and keep for 10 min
2. Mix all the ingredients for batter to make batter. Make sure no lumps are there
3. Heat a kadai with oil for frying 
4. Dip fish piece in the batter using a fork and fry them till fish is well cooked 
5. Keep aside the fried fish on a kitchen tissue to remove excess oil
6. In a pan, add 2 tbsp oil. I used the same oil which I used for frying 
7. Once the oil is hot, add chopped garlic and give a stir for a minute. Be careful not to burn garlic 
8. Add chilli powder, soya sauce, green chilli sauce and tomato sauce
9. Cook until the gravy is well combined and oil starts separating from rest
10. Add onion and capsicum and cook for 2-4 minutes, stirring in between 
11. Add fried fish pieces and mix well 
12. Switch off the stove and serve chilli garlic fish with fried rice or roti!

Masala Pomfret

Ingredients:

1. Pomfret fish, cleaned and gashed for stuffing - about 350gm
2. Oil for roasting fish

For marinade:

1. Dry red chillies - 5
2. Pepper powder - 1 pinch
3. Cumin seeds - 1 pinch
4. Fenugreek seeds - 1 pinch
5. Mustard seeds - 1 pinch
6. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
7. Garlic cloves - 2
8. Ginger, chopped - 1/2 tsp
9. Onion/Shallots, chopped - 1/4 cup
10. salt to taste
11. Lime juice - 1tbs
12. Coconut oil - 1 tbs

For stuffing:

1. Coconut oil - 2 tbs
2. Onion , chopped- 1/2 cup
3. Green chillies, chopped - 1 tsp
4. Ginger, chopped - 1 tsp
5. Tomato, chopped - 2 tbs'salt to taste
6. Egg white - 1 tbs

Method:

1. Grind all the ingredients for marinade
2. Marinate the fish with the above for 3-4 hrs
3. Heat oil for stuffing in a pan
4. Add ginger, green chillies and onion and saute it till onion is translucent
5. Add tomato to the above with salt and cook till tomato is mushy
6. Stuff the fish with the above stuffing and close the opening by brushing egg white
7. Heat oil for roasting in a pan
8. Roast the fish for 8 minutes on each side or till fish is done

Serve Masala pomfret with steaming rice!


I am linking this post to FridayFiesta#167

Mango Coconut Payasam

Ingredients:

1. Mango puree - 1.5 cups
2. Coconut thin milk - 2 cups
3. Sweet condensed milk - 2 tbs
4. Thick coconut milk - 1/3 cup
5. Saffron - 1/2 tsp
6. Brown/white sugar - 2-3 tbs (optional)
7. Pistachio - 2-3 for garnish

Note:

• In the first step you can thicken mango puree more to enhance the caramelized taste

Method:

1. In a thick bottomed pan, heat the mango puree till it thickens and caramelizes.
2. Bring it to a very low temperature and add thin milk and mix well.
3. Add saffron and mix well
4. Stir in low flame till it reduces to about half or 2/3
5. Add sweetened condensed milk, thick coconut milk and sugar and mix well
6. Stir for some more time in low flame till it is all mixed well and thick enough and switch off the flame

Cool the payasam and top it with pistachios for garnish!

Mexican Dip

Well, who doesn't love a yummy dip with Nachos??? How about a dip rich in multiple flavors, that too made in about 5 minutes? Yumm...
When we had a family get together at Anjan's colleagues house, they served a mexican multilayer dip with Nachos, and it tasted yum... I have tried to replicate the taste with this simple dip recipe..And it took only about 5 minutes to make it and about the same time to finish the whole tray of it. Do try it at home!

Ingredients:

1. Oil - 1 tbs
2. Cumin powder - tsp
3. Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Salt - as needed
5. Refried beans - 1 can
6. Avocado Guacamole - 1 cup (store bought or homemade salsa)
7. Salsa - 1 cup (store bought or homemade)
8. Cheddar cheese, shredded - 1 cup
9. Sour cream - 1 cup
10. Lettuce leaves - Shredded
11. Olives - sliced - 2 tbs
12. Jalapenos, pickled and sliced - 1-2(optional)
13. Peri peri sauce - 1-2 tsp (optional)

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan
2. Add cumin powder, chilli powder, salt and refried beans. Saute for 2-3 minutes
3. Spread the above as a base layer
4. Above that, spoon a layer of guacomole
5. Then spread a layer of sour cream and top it with shredded cheddar cheese
6. Then comes a layer of salsa
7. Top it with shredded lettuce, olives and jalapenos.
8. Drizzle peri peri sauce on top

Multilayer mexican dip is ready to be served with Nachos!

Phool Makhana Curry / Lotus seed curry

Phool Makhana or puffed lotus seeds is a highly nutritious protein rich food. The nutrients contained are the super source for vitamin, mineral and fiber while the medical properties have been proven to be beneficial for diabetic patient and those who have hypertension history.
Phool Makhana is not so familiar for Malayalees. But it is truly worth a try to make it and I am sure you will love it.

 

Ingredients:

1. Phool Makhana/ puffed lotus seeds - 2.5 cups
2. Onion, sliced - 3 cups
3. Tomato, cut - 2 medium size
4. Ginger, chopped - 1 tbs
5. Garlic, chopped - 1 tbs
6. Badam/Almonds, peeled, soaked - 1/2 cup
7. Oil - 2 tbs + 2tbs
8. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
9. Chilli powder -  1 tsp
10. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
11. Garam masala - 1 tsp
12. Tomato ketchup - 1 tbs
13. Ghee/butter - 1 tbs
14. Milk cream - 1 tbs, optional
15. Salt to taste

 

Method:

1. Dry roast phool makhana for 3-4 minutes
2. Heat 2 tbs oil in a pan and sauté onion, ginger  and garlic till soft
3. Add tomato and sauté till tomato is mushy
4. switch off the heat and keep it aside to reach room temperature
5. Blend the above with almonds to fine paste
6. Heat 2 tbs oil in a pan and splutter cumin seeds in it.
7. Add the above paste and saute till the mixture is thickened and oil can be seen in the paste
8. Add salt and all the spice powder and sauté for a minute or two
9. Add 2 cups of water, tomato ketchup and phool makhana to the above
10. Cook phool makhana for about 15 minutes with closed lid till it is soft
11. Switch off the stove and top with butter

 

Phool Makhana curry is ready to be served with Roti or Pulav

 

 

 

Victoria Sponge Cake

Me : What kind of cake do you like most?
My Friend : I like chocolate cake the most
Me : Tell me some other cake
My Friend : Red Velvet Cake
Me : Hmm, something else, Red Velvet cake is so common these days..
My Friend : I have told you the cakes which I like the most
Me : Hehe,  I am looking for any new cake for me to try baking, Suggest something different or unique
My Friend : How about Victoria Sponge Cake?
Me : That sounds new to me, by the way what is it?
My Friend :  It is a kind of sponge cake..
Me : Hmm... Sponge Cake.. Sponge Cakes usually have emulsifier in it, which is not good for health..
My Friend : Is it?
Me : Yes...

A few months later...

I was planning to visit my dear friend Diya to see her new born baby boy and, I wanted to bake a cake for them. And this time I didn't want to make something which I have baked before...
After all the recipe search through internet and books, I finally landed on a page which read "Victoria Sponge Cake". The name definitely sounded interesting and familiar this time. And yes, it is not the conventional egg white sponge cake or emulsifier sponge cake. The method was different and new to me. Here goes the recipe for the yummy Victoria Sponge Cake.

      

Ingredients:

1. Superfine castor sugar - 175gm
2. Self-raising flour - 175gm
3. Butter - 175gm
4. Egg - 180gm (large 3 eggs)
5. Vanilla paste - 1tbs

Note:

• Use all the ingredients at room temperature
• Preheat the oven for a minimum of 20 minutes before baking the cake

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degree C.
2. Butter and line 2 X 6inch pan with parchment paper
3. In a standing mixer bowl or any big bowl. beat butter and sugar till light and creamy. This takes about 2 minutes, medium speed in stand mixer
4. In another bowl, lightly mix egg and vanilla.
5. Sift the flour several times and keep aside.
6. Add a little egg in the butter mixture and beat for about 30 sec.
7. Add a little flour to the above and beat for about 30 sec.
8. Continue adding egg and flour in 4-5 steps and beat well after each addition until the batter is smooth
9. Divide the batter among the prepared pan, level the batter and make a small dip in the center using a spoon.
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer dipped in the cake center comes out clean
11. Turn out the cake on to a wire rack and keep it till it cools to room temperature.

Victoria sponge cake is cake ready to be served as it is or layer it with cream cheese frosting and fruit filling and decorate as you like. In the above picture I have used cream cheese frosting with blueberry filling.

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

1. Small grain rice - 1/2 cup
2. Milk - 1 cup
3. Butter - 2 tbs
4. Vanilla extract - 1 tbs
5. Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Sweetened condensed milk - 3/4 can
7. Milk cream - 1/4 cup
8. Caramel sauce - 1/2 cup
9. Walnuts/cashewnuts, roasted - 1/2 cup

Note:

• Replace a tbs of  butter with ghee if you like the ghee taste
• Add additional flavorings like lemon flavor or Rum flavor if interested
• Make it more fancy with whipped cream topping or fruit toppings

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, cook rice with butter, 1 cup water and 1 cup milk for about 4 whistles., 5-8 minutes
2. Once the pressure is gone, 
3. Heat the stove again and add vanilla extract , cinnamon powder and condensed milk to it and mix well
4. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and switch off the stove
5. Add milk cream and stir it
6. Serve the rice pudding warm or cold with caramel sauce and roasted nuts

Brigadeiro, a brazilian chocolate truffle

 

Brigadeiro, a yummy delicious chocolate truffle introduced to me by my co sister.

 

Ingredients:

1. Cocoa powder - 2 tbs
2. Melted Butter/Ghee - 1 tbs
3. Sweetened condensed milk(milkmaid) - 1/2 can
4. Vanilla /Rum extract - 1/2tsp
5. Sprinkles as required for rolling

Note:

• Mix ghee/Butter with cocoa powder first using a small wire whisk so that no lumps are formed
• Spread the hot mixture on plate with cling wrap so that it doesn't stick to plate
• Use chopped nuts or sweet coconut shavings instead of sprinkles for variety

Method:

1. Heat all the ingredients in a heavy bottomed sauce pan, mixing well
2. Stir it in medium heat till it starts thickening and pull from the pan, about 20 min
3. Switch off the heat and spread it on a buttered plate
4. Keep it refrigerated for about 1 hr
5. Butter the palm and make small balls about size of small lime
6. Roll it in sprinkles and keep it refrigerated till serving

Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:

1. Chicken breast, cut into thin strips - 250gm
2. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
3. Paprika - 1 tsp
4. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
5. Lemon juice - 2 tbs
6. Salt to taste
7. Bell pepper (red and yellow), cut into thin strips - 1 cup
8. Onion, cut into strips - 1/2 cup
9. Sour cream - 1/2 cup
10. Salsa -  1 cup
11. Corn/Flour tortillas - 4
12. Ghee/Butter/Oil - 1/4 cup
13. Avocado slices - 1/2 cup
14. Coriander leaves, chopped - 1/4 cup

Note:

• Use thin chicken strips so that it is cooked well and browned enough
• Roll lemon on kitchen slab before squeezing it to get more juice from it
• Substitute sour cream with greek yogurt to make it more healthy
• Use cast iron grill to get that crispy brown finish for chicken
• Substitute tortillas with big lettuce leaves for a healthier version of fajitas

Method:

1. Marinate chicken with chilli powder, paprika,cumin powder, salt and lemon juice and rest it for 15 minutes
2. Heat ghee in a cast iron grill pan
3. Roast chicken in it for about 10 minutes on each side
4. Once chicken is cooked and browned, add bell peppers and onion to the same pan and grill them for 2-3 min 
5. Once all are cooked, switch off the stove
6. Warm the tortillas on a tawa
7. Spoon chicken pepper mix on it
8. Top it with 1-2 tbs of salsa,sour cream, coriander leaves and avocado

Serve Fajitas with lemon wedges and more salsa!


I am linking this post FiestaFriday#159 which is hosted this week by  Zeba @ Food For The Soul and Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook

Sri's Vegetable Biryani

Thanks to my friend Srividya for sharing this delicious vegetable biryani recipe with me.
On a casual day in office, topic of discussion was food, vegetarian food..

Srividya : I can prepare hyderabadi vegetable biryani which tastes really good, may be better than non vegetarian biryani. But I know, for non vegetarians delicious biryani has to be the one made with non veg.

Me: Yeah.. For us a very good Biryani has to be the one with non veg.
Few Days Later..
Srividya: I have brought some vegetable biryani which I made at home for some guests. Would you like to taste it?
Me: Yes ofcourse, I want to taste it..
And here I am adding that vegetable biryani recipe in my blog.. She was totally right, it tasted great. Delicious. After trying the biryani from her, rightaway I asked her to share her recipe with me and with in a week we tried it at home for a weekday dinner. It came out really good, though not up to hers.

And yes, I agree that this can be a tough competition to chicken biryani.. :)

Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Saffron - 1/2 tsp
2. Milk - 1/4 cup
3. Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
4. Ghee fried cashew nuts/raisins - 2-3 tbs (optional) 
5. Ghee - 2tbs

For Veg Masala:

1. Ghee\Oil - 4 tbs
2. Onion Sliced - 1+1 cup
3. Ginger, finely chopped - 1 tbs
4. Garlic, finey chopped - 1 tbs
5. Tomato, chopped - 1 cup
6. Carrot,chopped - 1/2 cup
7. Beans, cut into small pieces - 1/2cup
8. Green peas - 1/2 cup
9. Cauliflower, chopped - 2/3 cup
10. Fenugreek leaves/fresh methi leaves, chopped - 1/2 cup
11. Salt to taste
12. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
13. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
14. Coraiander powder - 1 tsp
15. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
16. Yogurt, whisked - 1.5 cups

For Rice:

1. Basmati Rice - 2cups
2. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
3. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
4. Salt to taste
5. Ghee - I tbs

Note:

• Soak saffron the previous day itself and store in fridge to get dark saffron color
• Heating in oven or microwave after layering helps to give added flavour 

Method:

1. Soak saffron in 1/4 cup milk for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Rice: 

1. Wash and soak rice for 20 min
2. Drain it and keep it aside
3. Heat a thick bottomed pan for cooking rice
4. Add ghee
5. Splutter cumin seeds and add garam masala along with Rice
6. Saute for a minute in medium flame and add 4 cups of hot water and salt to taste
7. Once it starts to boil, Cover and cook rice in medium flame until all the water is absorbed and rice is cooked
8. Fluff the rice using and fork to separate rice grains 

Vegetable Masala:

 

1. Heat ghee or oil in a kadai
2. Add 1cup sliced onion and fry till golden brown and keep fried onion aside
3. Add rest of the onion to the same pan and once it is translucent, add ginger and garlic
4. Saute for a minute more
5. add all the vegetables and sauté again for 2 more minutes
6. Add fenugreek leaves and sauté for another minute
7. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and give a quick stir
8. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till it is mushy
9. Add yogurt to the above and mix well
10. Let the vegetables cook well in the closed kadai for about 20 minute
11. Once vegetables are cooked and gravy is thick switch off the stove 

Layering: 

1. Take a big deep flat bottomed microwave proof bowl or oven safe bowl
2. Brush a tbsp of ghee in the bowl
3. Spread a layer of rice in it, about 1/3 of rice
4. Sprinkle chopped mint leaves, 2tbs of saffron milk, 1/2 of chashewnuts, raisins and 1/2 of fried onion on the rice
5. Spread a layer of vegetable masala on the layered rice
6. Add another layer of rice and repeat the same for mint leaves, fried onion, saffron milk,chashewnuts, raisins and veg masala
7. Spread final layer of rice on top and any left over saffron milk and ghee on top
8. Close the bowl with aluminium foil and place it in hot oven for about 20 min. (If using microwave don't use aluminium foil, you may use microwave safe lid and microwave it for about 2-3min. )

Serve layered veg biryani with Raitha!

Roasted Cauliflower curry

Ingredients:
For roasting cauliflower:

1. Cauliflower florets- 2 cups
2. Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
3. Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp 
4. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Turmeric powder -1/8 tsp
6. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
7. Yogurt- 1 tbs
8. Salt to taste
9. Oil - 2 tbs

For curry:

1. Onion, sliced - 1 cup
2. Ginger paste -1 tsp
3. Garlic paste - 1tsp
4. Tomato purée, canned - 2 tbsp 
5. Salt to taste
6. Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp 
7. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
9. Green peas, frozen - 1/2 cup 
10. Kasuri methi, crushed- 1 tbs
11. Milk/milk cream - 1/3 cup
12. Coriander leaves - 1 tbs

Method:

1. Marinate cauliflower with all the ingredients under roasting cauliflower except oil
2. Heat a pan with 2 tbs oil and roast cauliflower under high heat till cauliflower have some brown spots on them and keep aside the cauliflower on oil soaking tissue 
3. Heat the same pan with 2 tbs oil
4. Sauté onion till translucent 
5. Add ginger paste and garlic paste and sauté again
6. Once the raw smell goes, add turmeric powder, chilli powder and garam masala and give a stir
7. Add tomato purée and mix again
8. Add a cup of water and required salt to it and let it boil
9. Once boiling and slightly thick, add green peas, roasted cauliflower and Kasuri methi to it
10. As the cauliflower is fully coated with gravy and gravy is thick enough, add milk or milk cream to it and mix well
11. Switch off the flame 
12. Garnish with coriander leaves

Paneer kheer/Cottage cheese pudding

Paneer kheer is a delicate kheer made with paneer. It is a tasty treat which is sure to win everyone's compliments!

Ingredients:

1. Milk - 1.5 Liters
2. Condensed milk - 1/2 tin
3. Cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp 
4. White Vinegar - 1 tbs
5. Saffron - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Heat 1liter of milk in a sauce pan
2. Once the milk is hot, add vinegar to it. 
3. Keep the milk hot it in low flame for a minute more and switch off the flame 
4. The milk should be completely split by now 
5. Add more cool water to the above to clean the milk solids from vinegar taste
6. Pour it into a muslin cloth to drain water. Hang it or keep it flat to drain water.
7. Once fully drained, crumble the paneer
8. Heat the rest of milk in another sauce pan
9. Add condensed milk, cardamom and saffron to it and stir it for 20 minutes till the kheer thickens
10. Add crumbled paneer and cook for 15 minutes more and switch off the flame 

Garnish kheer with edible silver foil!

Meen Pollichadu/ Steamed Fish in Banana Leaf

 

Meen pollichadu is usually made with pomfret or any other fish with flesh. And the masala is usually bright red in color as it is made with chilli powder. But for a change I have used green chilli instead of red chilli here.

Ingredients:

1. Fish, cut into slices - 4
2. Shallots- 1/2 cup
3. Green chilli - 4
4. Ginger, chopped - 1 tsp
5. Garlic, chopped - 1 tsp
6. Curry leaves - 4-5
7. Salt to taste
8. White Vinegar - 1 tbs
9. Coconut oil - 1/4 cup
10. Banana leaves - 4 pieces

Method:

1. Grind all ingredients except oil and fish to paste
2. Heat oil and add hot oil to the above paste
3. Take  banana leaf and make it flexible by keeping it on flame for a second
4. Spoon the masala on the banana leaf as shown in picture
5. Place fish on the masala and spoon more masala on the fish
6. Fold the banana leaf as shown in the pic and tie it using thread and keep it for 15-20 minute
7. Heat a heavy griddle and cook fish on it under medium to high flame, 5-8 minutes on each side

Serve Meen pollichadu with rice!