Murgh Badami

This rich chicken dish in almond gravy is a perfect dish for a party or for a relaxed weekend.

Ingredients:

1 ½ pound chicken cut into desired size pieces.

15 to 20 peeled Almonds (soaked in warm water for 1 hour.)

1 tbsp roasted poppy seeds.

2 tbsp Ghee or oil

2 medium onions finely chopped

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 cup yogurt

2 cups chicken stock

Pinch of saffron soaked in little water or milk.

Salt to taste.

Method:

Grind together almonds and poppy seeds to a fine paste and keep aside.

Heat ghee/oil in a pan. Sauté onions till translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for few seconds. Then add almonds and poppy seeds paste and sauté for a min

Now add turmeric powder, chili powder, cumin powder and sauté for few more seconds. Sprinkle little water to avoid spices from burning.

Once the spices are cooked, add chicken pieces sauté for a min then cover and cook for 5 min on low flame. Stir in between and sprinkle little water if needed.

Now add yogurt and mix well. Add chicken stock, cover and cook for another 15 mins or till the chicken is cooked completely.

Sprinkle garam masala, saffron water, salt and mix well.

Serve hot with paratha or rice.

Enjoy!

Egg curry

This is one of my favorite dishes. Whenever you run out of vegetables, this curry is a great option. If you don’t eat egg use boiled baby potatoes instead. It tastes delicious, quick and easy to make.

Ingredients:

6 boiled eggs

1 medium onion chopped

½ cup dry coconut

3-4 pods of garlic

½ tbsp grated ginger

2 green chilies

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp asafetida 

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp red chili powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp oil

1½ cups water

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat a pan and dry roast together coconut, onion, ginger, garlic and green chilies till they turn light brown in colour. Let it cool completely. Then grind to a smooth paste. (Add little water if required to make paste)

Heat oil in pan add mustard seeds and let them crackle, and then add asafetida and grinded paste. sauté till the oil stars to separate.

Then add turmeric and chili powder, sauté till another min. add little water to avoid spices from burning. Mix in lime juice, salt, sugar and water. Once the curry starts to boil add boiled eggs cut into halves. Cover with a lid and cook for another 5 to 8 min ona very low heat.

Serve hot with chapatti.

Enjoy!  

Paneer makhani

Paneer or cottage cheese cooked in rich creamy tomato gravy and loads of butter is a mouth watering royal feast. Surely its going to add a lots of calories but believe me its worth having this dish. So here goes the list of ingredients.

400 gms of paneer

2-3 large tomatoes

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 tbsp Ginge garlic paste

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp cream

2 tsp sugar

Salt to taste

½ cup water

Freshly chopped coriander for garnishing

Method:

Cut paneer in small triangular pieces and keep aside

Blanche tomatoes, peel them and blend to a fine paste.

Melt butter in a pan and add onion, ginger garlic pate and sauté till golden brown. Now add tomato paste and sauté for another 3 to 4 min. add cumin, coriander, chili, and turmeric powder and garam masala and mix well.

Then add paneer, cream, salt, sugar and stir well, now cover the lead and cook for 8 -10 min so all the spices will get absorbed in paneer. Now add water to adjust the consistency of gravy and simmer for another 5 min.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with roti or paratha.

Enjoy!

Prawn curry

This is one my favorite dishes, little this from Thailand and little that from India. It’s a great fusion recipe, spicy and creamy made with coconut milk, lemon grass and green chilies. Tastes great with plain white rice.

Ingredients:

400 g Prawns (Cleaned and Deveined)

400 ml Coconut milk

1 small onion finely chopped

2-3 green chilies chopped

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 small pieces of lemon grass (around 2 inch)

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp garlic finely chopped

1 tbsp Lemon juice

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let them crackle. Then add green chilies, garlic and onions and sauté for 3 to 4 min. now add prawns and cook till they turn pink.

Then add turmeric powder, chili powder and mix well. Now add coconut milk, lemon grass and simmer for 5 min.

 Add salt, lemon juice and mix well. Cover the lid and cook for 2 min.

Garnish with coriander and Serve hot with white rice.

Enjoy!

Chana Masala

 

A very popular restaurant dish, from northern India  “chana masala or chole”. This mouth watering spicy curry with chickpeas in onion and tomato gravy is absolutely delicious, served with bhatura, puri or paratha topped with a dollop of butter or ghee.

Chickpeas are high in protein, zinc and dietary fiber. They are low in calories and can be enjoyed all year round.

Ingredients:

2 cups of chickpeas/chana

2 onion finely chopped

2 tomatoes finely chopped

2 green chilles

3-4 cloves of garlic

½ inch ginger

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp red chili powder

2 tsp garam masala

2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp asafetida/hing

1 tsp cumin powder

1tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp lime juice

½ cup finely chopped coriander

Salt to taste

Method:

Pressure cook chickpeas till pressure is released 3-4 times (3-4 whistles).

Blend together one onion, chilies, ginger, garlic to a fine paste.

In a pan heat oil add cumin seeds and let them crackle, then add asafetida and finely chopped onion and sauté for 2 min or till onion become translucent. Now add the fine paste and sauté for another 2 min.

Add tomatoes, turmeric powder, chili powder, cumin and coriander powder, garam masala and sauté till the color starts to change and the oil separates

Then add salt, sugar, and cooked chickpeas and mix well. add water if the gravy is too thick. Cover and let it simmer for 5 to10 min. add chopped coriander and lime juice and serve hot with bhatura, puri or paratha.  

Enjoy!

  

Green Plantain Manchurian

Green plantain or raw banana is quite starchy and flavor is much like potato.

Plantain is naturally low in calories and a good source of vitamins and minerals, so it’s a very good option to cook a healthy and a tasty dish.  

Ingredients:

4 green plantains

1 onion finely chopped

1 cup spring onion or green onion

½ cup thinly sliced mushrooms

5-6 pods of garlic

1 inch ginger thinly sliced

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp chili sauce

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp brown sugar

½ tsp black pepper powder

½ cup finely chopped coriander

3 tbsp oil

2-3 tbsp water

Salt to taste

Method:

Boil green plantain till they are well cooked, peel and grate them. Now add chili powder, garam masala, salt, onion, chopped coriander, and mix well.

make small lemon size rounds of the mixture and place them in a baking dish.  Coat them with little oil and bake in a preheated oven at 325⁰F/ 160⁰C for 20-25 min.

Now is pan heat oil and add finely chopped garlic, ginger, mushrooms and sauté till they are cooked. Then add soy sauce, chili sauce, black pepper powder, brown sugar, salt, green onion and water, cook about 5 min. then add  plantain balls and sauté for another 3-5 min.

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander and serve hot with fried rice or tastes good even with chapatti or phulka.

Enjoy!

Dum Aloo

This yummy potato recipe in yogurt gravy is from Kashmir. Traditionally the potatoes are boiled and deep fried. But this can be done even by baking them with little oil, to make it more healthy and tasty.

Ingredients:

12/15 – Baby potatoes

1 ½ cup yogurt

1 tsp- coriander powder

1 tsp- cumin powder

1 tsp- Fennel or Sauf powder

1 tsp-Garam  masala

1 tsp- Turmeric powder
2 tsp- Kashmiri chili powder

2 tbsp – Oil

1/2 tsp - mustard seeds

1 tsp-sugar

Salt to taste

Method:

Place the peeled potatoes in baking dish and coat them with 1 tbsp of oil and bake them in a pre-heated oven at 350⁰F / 175⁰C for 20 to 25 mins or till golden brown.

Mix all the spices in yogurt and keep aside.

In a pan heat oil add musterd seeds and let them splutter, then pour the yogurt mixture and cook till the color changes. Now take the potatoes and with the  help of a fork or knife poke them to help the gravy get well absorbed. Add the potato in the mixture and cook till the gravy is thick and potatoes are quoted with all the spices.

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander and serve hot with chapatti, puri or phulka.

Enjoy!