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!  

Narali Bhaat

In Maharashtra Rakhi pornima is also celebrated as Narali pornima. On this day an offering of coconut (naral in Marathi) is made to the sea as a mark of respect to lord varuna, God of the sea.  In Maharashtra a typical coconut and rice dish is made called Narali bhaat  which is a very popular dish. It is little complicated to make this dish but my mom has a very easy recipe for same which I m going to share with you. So the ingredients are.

2 cups rice

6 cups Water to cook rice

1 cup fresh coconut

¾ cup jaggery /brown sugar

3 tbsp butter or ghee

1 small stick of cinnamon

3-4 cloves

4 green cardamoms

1 bay leaf

½ tsp salt

½ cup dry fruits

Pinch of saffron

Method:

Wash rice and keep aside. Boil water add little salt and cook rice till its 80% done (to check the rice press one grain of rice and it should be soft.) drain and keep aside

In a pan heat ghee, then add green cardamoms, cloves, bay leaf,cinnamon, dry fruits and saute for a min. add coconut and jaggery or brown sugar and saute till coconut is cooked and the mixture is little thickend.

Add cooked rice and mix well. Cover the lid and let the rice cook compeletly on very low heat.

Add pinch of saffron in 1 tbsp warm water and pour this water over rice, mix well and cover the lid. Remove from heat an let it rest for few min before serving.

Garnish with dryfruits and serve hot.

Enjoy!

Cheesecake Brownies

 

You will love this irresistible combination of two best desserts, Cheesecake and brownies. Great for any party, they taste and look delicious.

Ingredients:

For cheesecake batter:

225 gms (8 oz) cream cheese - Fat Free (Room temperature)

2 tbsp Heavy cream

½ cup fine sugar

1 Egg

½ tsp vanilla extract

For brownies batter

100g semisweet Chocolate
125g butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar.

2 eggs.
1 cup all purpose flour/ maida.

In a bowl, soften the cream cheese and make sure no lumps remain. Add heavy cream, sugar, eggs , vanilla extract  and mix well and keep aside.

In another bowl melt chocolate and butter on double boiler, remove from heat and let it cool a bit then add beaten eggs and sugar and mix well. Now add cocoa powder and flour, mix and make sure no lumps remain.

Pre-heat oven to 325⁰ F/160⁰ C.

Grease some butter in baking dish and pour brownies mixture and spread evenly in the dish then scoop cheesecake mixture over brownies mixture. With a help of spatula mix both the batters slightly so get the effect of a marble swirl.  

Place backing dish in oven and bake for 40 to 45 min. To check if brownies are done insert a knife in the center the knife will not come out clean but will have little crumbs on it.

Chill in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hrs and serve.

Enjoy!

Cheesy open sandwich

These open sandwiches with vegetables and cheese are one of my favorites.  A good option for brunch and also for kid’s lunch or snack box.  Quick and easy recipe where you use vegetables of your choice and imagination to arrange them and make them more interesting

Ingredients:

6 bread slice

2 potatoes boiled

½ green peppers finely chopped

2 tbsp spring onion finely chopped

1 tomato thinly sliced

1 tsp chili powder

½ cup shredded cheese

Butter spread

Salt to taste

Method:

Preheat oven at 350⁰ F.

Mash boiled potatoes, add spring onion, green peppers, chili powder, salt and mix well.

Spread butter on one side of each bread slice. Then spread potato mixture and arrange tomato slices on top.

Then add cheese to each slice and bake for 20 min or till cheese melts.

Cut in Halves, rectangle or serve these Cheesy open sandwiches as it is with tomato ketchup.

Enjoy!       

                                          

Tomato saar

Spicy and tangy tomato saar is a typical maharashtrian soup. It’s almost like a regular soup which is tempered with some spices and green chilies. Tastes delicious with rice.

Ingredients   

4 tomatoes

1 onion

2-3 garlic pods

2 green chilies

1 tbsp ghee

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp asafetida

1 ½ tbsp sugar

2 ½ cups water

4-5 curry leaves

Salt to taste

Method:

Cut tomatoes and onions in halves. Pressure cook tomatoes, onion and garlic to 2 whistles or till pressure is released 2 times.

Let it cool completely, then peel tomatoes and blend together with onion and garlic to a fine paste.

Pour this paste in a pot and add water, salt and sugar and bring to a boil

Heat ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds and let them crackle, then add asafetida, green chilies and curry leaves. Pour tempering on the boiling saar and cover the lid immediately. Simmer for few mins and serve hot with rice or simply as a soup.

Enjoy!

Stir fried rice noodles

I just love all kind of noodles. add some  vegetables, little sauce and they are ready in min. these stir fried noodle taste great with any salad or simple stir fried  vegetables.

Ingredients:

1 pack dry rice noodles

½ cup thinly sliced carrots

½ cup thinly sliced onions

Chopped bok Choy

1 egg

1 tsp finely chopped garlic

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tbsp chili sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Take boiling water in a big bowl and soak dry noodles and cover the bowl for 20- 30 mins.

Once the noodles are soft, drain the water add little oil so they will not get sticky.

Heat oil in a wok and add finely chopped garlic, onion and sauté for a min. Then add carrots and bok Choy and sauté for another min.

Now add fish sauce, soy sauce, egg and mix everything together.

Then add chili sauce, brown sugar, salt, lemon juice and rice noodle. Give it a quick stir as noodles stick to the base of pan and burn easily.

Serve hot with crunchy peanut and tofu salad.

Enjoy!

Hyderabadi Dum Biryani

Hyderabad is very famous for its most popular Dum Biryani, there is a wide variety of biryani cooked in different regions and in different style. Hyderabadi birayani is also called kacchi biryani which means marinated meat and rice is cooked together.The challenge in the art of cooking kacchi birayani is to cook the meat perfectly without overcooking the rice.This biryani is very spicy so to cut down the heat it is usually served with a raita and also a side dish like mirchi ka salan or baingan ka salan.

Ingredients:

For marinating 1 ½ pound chicken 2 cups yogurt 4 to 5 cloves 6 to 8 pepper cons 3 to 4 green cardamoms 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp turmeric powder 1 tsp chili powder 1 tbsp coriander powder 1 tbsp cumin powder ½ cup mint leaves ½ cup chopped coriander 2 tbsp fried onion 2 green chilies (optional) Salt to taste

For rice 2 cups long grain Basmati rice Water 2 to 3 cloves 2 to 3 pepper cons 2 green cardamoms Salt to taste ½ cup fried onion Few mint leaves Few coriander leaves 1 tbsp garam masala Pinch of saffron soaked in 1 tbsp water or milk ½ cup oil

Method:

Marinate chicken overnight so it’s cooked easily and all the spices get absorbed well.

Take a fine muslin cloth and add cloves, pepper corns, cardamoms to it and make a small bundle.

Wash rice, drain and keep aside for atleast 30 min so rice becomes fluffy and gets cooked easily.

Boil water in a pot add salt and spice bundle. Once water starts boiling add rice and cook till its half done. (To check press a rice grain between your fingers it should break easily but should not be very soft.)Then drain the rice and keep aside.

Now in deep vessel add oil and layer marinated chicken.

Then layer with rice and top with fried onion, mint leaves, coriander leaves, sprinkle garam masala and saffron water.

Then cover the lid (The lid should be of proper fit to the vessel and the vapor or moisture should not release, you can use a clean towel or even dough to seal the lid.) cook 10 min on high, then 20 min on medium heat and 20 min on low heat.

Do not open the lid in between as the rice and the meat should cook in their own moisture.

After 50 min open the lid and check if meat is cooked well, serve hot with riata or salan.

Enjoy!