Of all the different styles of cooking dal, Varn is my favorite. As coconut is a staple part of the Konkani diet, we end up adding it to our dal too :) This is one of the most simple dishes to cook and for me its my comfort food.

In Mangalore, Varn is only made during mourning occasions but we have no such rules in North Karnataka where I come from.

This is the perfect comfort food for me and eating Varn with a spoonful of warm ghee and rice with some pickle makes my day. I am sure you will like it too. Very hard to go wrong with this recipe.

Here is my mom's Varn Recipe.




Ingredients
Toor dal  - 1 Cup
Coconut - 2 tbsp 
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Green Chilly - 1
Turmeric - a pinch
Oil
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - a sprig for seasoning
Salt

Method

1. Pressure cook Toor dal with turmeric and 2.5 cups water for 2 whistles. Remove from the gas and keep aside
2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan. When hot, add Cumin seeds and chillies. When the cumin starts popping, remove it from heat and grind it with coconut  and little water to make a coarse paste.
3. Add the paste to the cooked dal (mash the dal if needed) and bring it to boil. Adjust the salt and turn of the heat.
4. Heat 1 tsp oil in a seasoning pan and when oil is hot, add mustard seeds and when they splutter, add curry leaves and let it splutter.
5. Add this to the dal and cover with a lid so that the aroma from the seasoning is absorbed well.
6. Serve hot with rice and add a dollop of ghee for extra flavor and richness.

I have many complaints that I dont publish many vegetarian dishes. So here is one specially for my vegetarian friends.
Matar Paneer is a popular North Indian recipe and is one of my staple cooks when I have vegetarian friends over.  Its a very simple recipe and doesnt need much fine chopping and saves a lot of time.




Ingredients
250 gms paneer/cottage cheese cut into triangular 1 inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas
3 medium sized ripe red tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 green chilies, chopped
1 inch ginger, chopped
5-6  garlic chopped
5-6 cashews

4 to 5 black peppercorns
2 to 3 cloves
½ inch cinnamon
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp kasoori methi
½ tsp cumin seeds/jeera
¼ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
¼ to ½ tsp red chili powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp cream
½ tsp sugar 
2 to 2.5 tbsp oil or ghee
Coriander leaves

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add 1 inch cinnamon, cloves, pepper corns, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds and saute. 
2. Add onion and a pinch of salt and saute for 5 mins till translucent.
3. Add green chillies, ginger, garlic and saute for another 2-3 mins. 
4. Now add tomatoes and cashews and saute till the tomatoes are mushy. Keep this mixture aside to cool and then blend it in a blender to get a coarse paste.
5. Now heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and when hot add ½ tsp cumin seeds.
6. When the cumin splutters, add the paneer and saute it for a bit.  You can add the paneer pieces directly later into the masalas too if you dont liked it sauteed in oil.
7. Now add the masala paste and mix well. 
8. Add the frozen peas and mix well
9. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and 1/2 tsp garam masala powder and mix well.
10. Cover and cook till a good boil. Add salt according to taste and add water if you find the gravy too thick. I add a pinch of sugar to this - however you can decide based on your taste.
11. Garnish with 1 tbsp cream (or more based on your taste) and a 1/2 tsp of crushed kasoori methi and cook for 2 mins.
12. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve this hot with chapatis

Note: In case you are using fresh peas, you may have to cook the peas separately in water till cooked and then add it to this gravy as frozen peas is almost cooked and doesnt need much cooking.

This dish is like the western concept of Sunday Roast for my family. We grew up eating this tasty chicken curry prepared with all the traditional Konkani spices on most Sundays, accompanied by Sol Kadi and Fish Fry . Though chicken is not part of our staple diet, somehow this curry is prepared in this same way in most Konkani households. I always wonder how and when this dish entered into our traditional recipes.
This dish has a very strong aroma and I somehow associate the aroma of this dish with Sunday afternoons :)

Here is my mom's recipe perfected over the years. This dish has all the ingredients that go well with chicken and I have never gone wrong with this one. 


Ingredients

• Chicken - 1 kg
• 4 medium Sized Onions - finely chopped
• Tomato  - 2 finely chopped
• Coriander leaves -1 bunch
• Ginger-garlic paste 2 tea spn
• Sun flower Oil 
• Ghee
• Salt

Brown Masala

• Pepper 7-8
• Cloves 4
• Cinnamon  - 2 inch
• Shahi jeera - 1 tsp
• Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
• Cardamom (Elaichi) - 1
• Red chillies (Bedgi)- 7-8
• Poppy Seeds(Khus Khus) 1 tsp
• Fennel seeds (Saunf)- 1 tsp
• Coconut  - 1 cup
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• pinch of haldi
• Tamarind - lemon sized ball

For the Green Paste

• 1 cup of coriander leaves with stalk
• handful of mint leaves
• 2-3 green chillies
• 1 inch ginger piece
• 5-6 cloves of garlic

Method

1. Make a fine paste by grinding together roughly chopped ingredients listed under for the green paste.
2. Take a pan and dry roast all the ingredients under Red Masala except the tamarind. Take care not to burn the spices. When the spices leave out a good aroma, cool it and then grind it to fine paste with tamarind and water. Keep this red masala aside.
3. Clean and Marinate 1 kg chicken with green paste and salt for atleast an hour before cooking
4. Take a pressure cooker and add 1 tsp sunflower oil and 1 tsp to it. When the oil is hot, add the finely chopped onions and saute it till brown.
5. Add 2 finely chopped tomatoes and saute it till mushy.
6. Add the marinated chicken to the cooker and mix well.Add 1/2 cup of water and pressure cook it for 1 whistle and then simmer on low for another 10 mins. Be careful here to not overcook the chicken. If you are unsure about using a pressure cooker, you can just cover and cook it till the chicken is almost (80%) cooked.
7. Now add the brown masala to the chicken and cook it for good boil. You can add some dried Sol for additional color and sourness.
8. Cook it for 10 more mins on a slow flame.Adjust the salt and water according to taste.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Pav (Bread) or Chapatis

White or cream based gravies are not my forte and hence I generally avoid cooking them. However we happened to taste this dish at a restaurant and instantly liked it. Decided to muster up some courage and try this dish. While trying to find the recipe, came across this recipe from Tarla Dalal, so tried making 2 variations of the same base curry with Methi Malai Mutter and Methi Malai Chicken and both turned out awesome.
Here is how I made it

Method

1. Clean and marinate 500 gms of boneless chicken with salt and keep aside for an hour.
2. Make a paste of 1 small onion, 4 green chillies , 1 inch piece of ginger, 3 garlic cloves, 1 tbsp cashewnuts, 2 tsp poppy seeds (khus-khus) in a grinder. User water to get a fine paste. Keep aside.
3. Blanch 2 medium tomatoes, peel out the skin and grind it to a puree and keep aside.
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4. Take a pan and add 1 tbsp ghee and saute the chicken till it is almost cooked on a medium flame. Cook till almost 80% done and keep aside to rest.
5. Wash about a cup of methi (fenugreek leaves). Squeeze out the water and chop them finely and sprinkle some salt and keep aside.
6. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in another pan and add 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp shahi jeera seeds.
7. When the seeds crackle, add the methi (squeeze out any excess water) and sauté on a medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the fenugreek leaves and keep aside.
8. Add 1 tbsp butter in the same kadhai, add 2 grated small onions and saute till translucent.
9. Add the cashew nut paste and saute for 2 mins. Add the tomato puree and saute for 2 mins.
10. At this point check the consistency of the gravy. You can cool the gravy and blend it in a mixer if you want a finer gravy.
11. Add 2 tsp of garam masala powder, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 to 2 minutes.
12. Add the fenugreek, cooked chicken or 1 cup of green peas, 1/2 cup milk, a pinch of sugar and salt.
13. Add 2 tbsp of fresh cream and cook on a medium flame for 2 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
14. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis.

Vahrehvah.com is one of my favorite recipe sites. The videos are pretty good and every dish I have cooked from this site has turned out to be good.
Today I was in a mood to cook Mutton in a different way and went to the site. Came across this recipe and decided to make it. The output was a really spicy gravy which we all licked off from our plates.

Method

1. Wash and drain 500 gms of mutton (I used boneless but you can use mutton with bone)
2. Take 3 tsp ghee/oil  in a pressure cooker and fry the mutton in it for 5- 10 mins till it is turns brown in color.
3. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric and mix well. Add salt to taste
4. Add 3 medium sized onions diced and mix well. Add 3 medium tomatoes chopped finely and mix well.
5. Pressure cook the mutton for 3-4 whistles. 
6. In the meantime prepare the kadai masala. For this take 3-4 red chillies, 1 tsp pepper corns, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds in a pan and dry roast it till a sweet smell emanates from this. Add a 1 tsp of kasoori methi and dry roast for a minute and let the mixture cool in the pan. 
7. Grind the masala with a mortar and pestle to a coarse paste.
8. When the pressure is off open the pressure cooker and add 2 tbsp dahi and 2 tsp of kadai masala. You can add more masala if you want the gravy to be spicy
9. Add 2 slit green chillies or 1 tsp red chilli powder (of course according to your taste)
10. Adjust the salt and cook till the gravy starts to boil
11. Garnish with ginger juliennes and finely chopped coriander and mint leaves
12. Serve hot with rotis.

Ambe Hummane(also called Ambe Upkari) has been a regular affair in the summers for ages. It is a typical Konkani dish and I wonder if mango is cooked this way in any other cuisine.This dish is made from the smaller mangoes which can only be eaten by sucking out the flesh(called ghonto in Konkani).

This summer I stored some of these mangoes after deskinning them in the freezer. They were perfect even after 4 months and tasted just like fresh mangoes.


While trying to write this blog entry, I tried to think of how can I name this Konkani dish in English and I think the English name I came up with just doesnt give the essence of this dish..anyone has a better suggestion??please leave a comment

Method
1. Remove the skins of around 8 mangoes and squeeze out any pulp from the skins.

2. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. When hot add 1 tsp mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add 1 tsp urad dal. Add 1 green chilli, 2-3 red chillies slit in half, 10-15 curry leaves and saute till the urad dal is slightly reddish in color. 
2. Now add the mangoes and 1 cup water. Add 1 tsp jaggery (you can add more if your mangoes are not sweet), 1/2 tsp salt.
3.  Close the lid and cook for a good 10 mins on low flame.



4. You can garnish with some grated coconut and serve this as a side dish.

Chicken Vindaloo is a Goan dish which proudly sits on the menus of many famous Indian restaurants abroad, next to the Indian Chicken curry. I have been wanting to cook this dish for long. Recently saw this in dish being featured again in one of my favorite shows "Twist of Taste - Coastal curries" by Vikas Khanna and that spurred me to find the best recipe online and cook it.

Just finished cooking this dish and must say its a beautiful dish. The tanginess of the vinegar dominates; followed by the sweetness from the caramalised onions and jaggery and the spiciness of the chillies.

History has it that this is a Portuguese dish which means Wine, Garlic and Pork (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindaloo). The original dish has no "aloo" or potatoes but I found many recipes online with potatoes. Decided to cook mine without potatoes or tomatoes. So this recipe has just the goodness of chicken with onions, vinegar and spices.

Here is my version of Chicken Vindaloo.

Method

1. Dry roast 2 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds,1/2 tsp fenugreed seeds,  7-8 dried red chillies (I used Byadgi chillies), 1 tsp pepper seeds, 1 bay leaf, 2 inch cinnamon, 2 cardamoms, 4-5 garlic pods, 1/2 inch of ginger for 2 mins on a low flame ensuring you dont char out the spices. Cool these spices and then grind them to a fine powder in the mixie.
   
2. Marinate 750 gms of chicken with the spice mixture, salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric and 4 tbsp white vinegar. Add 1 tsp of grated jaggery and mix well. Let it rest on the kitchen counter for 3-4 hours. You can also leave the marinade overnight.
3. Now take a pan and add 2 tbsp ghee to it. Once the ghee is hot, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds. 
4. When the seeds start spluttering, add 3-4 cloves. Now add 3 finely chopped medium sized onions. Add some salt and start sweating the onion till it is brown. finely grate 3-4 garlic pods and another 1/2 inch ginger into the pan and saute for another minute
5. Now add the marinated chicken and saute it for 7-8 mins.
6. Add 2 cups of water and let it cook with lid on for 30 mins on a low flame. Keep stirring occasionally. When the chicken is cooked, open the lid and cook for another 10 mins for the water to evaporate
7. You will be left with a fine thick gravy. Garnish it with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve with rotis or rice.

Decided to cook some boneless chicken for dinner...thought that I should cook something low fat. Decided to use Dahi for the gravy and came up with this dish. 
Pretty simple dish to cook - The flavors of the dahi, capsicum and kasoori methi go very well in making this a very tasty dish.



Method

1. Take 2 cups of dahi. Mix 2 green chillies slit finely. Add 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1-2 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, pinch of haldi, a pinch of kasoori methi and salt.
2. Mix 500 gms of boneless chicken in this marinade and set aside for atleast 30 mins.
3. In a hot pan, add 2 tsp oil. When its hot, add 1 tsp cumin seeds. When they start spluttering, add 2 finely chopped onions. Fry well. Add 2-3 finely chopped garlic cloves.
4. When onion is translucent, add 2 finely chopped tomatoes. 
5. When the tomatoes are soft, add the above marinade with the chicken. 
6. Cover and cook on a slow flame till the chicken is cooked. When chicken is 80% done, add finely cubed capsicum. Cover and cook for a few more minutes.
7. You can adjust the consistency of the gravy according to your taste. You can open the lid and let all gravy cook till its dry if you want less gravy. I added a pinch of sugar to balance the tanginess.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and kasoori methi and serve with chapatis or rice.

I like Onions with my chicken and hence decided to cook this Murgh Do Pyazza today. This dish is so called because you add a lot of onions to the gravy. The gravy is very rich and goes perfectly with both Roti and Rice.



Method

1. Clean and cut 500 gms chicken into pieces and marinate with freshly grated 1 inch ginger and 3-4 pods of garlic, some salt and 1 tsp red chilli powder.
2. Finely chop 1 large onion and cut another large onion into cubes. Separate the onion layers and keep aside. Blend 2 tomatoes in the mixer to a fine puree.
3. Heat 1 tbsp ghee or oil in a pan. I added ghee for extra taste. Add 1 tsp ginger paste and 1 tsp garlic paste (I again grated ginger and garlic into a pan directly.
4. When it turns brown, add finely chopped onions. Add a pinch of salt and cook till it turns brown. Now add tomato puree and saute for 5 mins.
5. Meanwhile, take 2 tbsp yoghurt in a bowl, add pinch of turmeric and 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder and mix well. Add this to the pan and saute well till the smell of raw spices is gone.
6. Add the chicken pieces,and the cubed onions and mix well, add water according to the consistency you like. I added 1 cup of water and mix well.
7. Cover and cook for 20 mins on a small flame.

The chicken do pyaza is ready to eat. You can garnish it with kasoori methi leaves and coriander leaves before serving.

This is a dish we ate in London  at Wagamama - a Japanese chain in UK. This dish was highly recommended by friends and we really liked it prolly because it was very close to Indian cuisine. 

Last week felt a craving for this dish and decided to look for the recipe online. Surprisingly the recipe seems to be well guarded - very few  food sites had this recipe and they all looked like copy paste of the same recipe.

There are 3 parts to this recipe Curry, Rice and Fried Chicken all of which need to be made in parallel so that they can be served hot.

Method

1. Cook Basmati rice after soaking it in water. Keep aside
2. For the curry: 
1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 2 medium sized onions finely sliced to the oil and saute. Add 4-5 garlic pods, 1/2 inch of ginger finely chopped and saute. 
2. Add 1 tbsp flour and 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes  and 1 tsp garam masala powder. Saute it for 1 min. 
3. Add 1 tbsp tomato puree and saute well. Cool this mixture and grind it for a fine consistency.
4. Put this paste back in the pan. Gradually add in 1/2 lt water, 1 bay leaf and add 1 to 2 tsp soya sauce and mix well. Slowly bring to the boil.
5. Cook for 20 mins on a slow flame and cook till the sauce thickens. You can add more garam masala for additional flavor. Remove from flame and keep aside
3. For the Fried Chicken -Cut boneless chicken into 1 inch cubes. Marinate them with lemon juice, salt and pepper and set aside for 20 mins. 
4. Take 3 bowls, add 1 tbsp flour (maida) in one, 1 egg (beat it so that the egg yolk and the whites mix well) in second bowl and bread crumbs in the third.
5. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Now take the chicken, coat it with maida, dip it in the egg and then coat it well with bread crumbs on all sides. Drop it in the oil and fry on medium flame till brown.
6. Drain and keep aside
7. Plate the rice and  the fried chicken and pour gravy on them and serve hot. 

I developed my taste for Kerala cuisine in Kolkata :) when I used to stay with Padma Aunty as a paying guest. The combination of ginger, coconut milk and curry leaves used to go well with be it fish, chicken or egg. 

Here in Hyd, we visit Kairali and Uttupura pretty often to taste their roasts with appams. Decided to cook Egg roast today and found a good recipe on VahReVah.com I followed this recipe and the dish was extremely tasty - exactly the same as I have tasted in Kerala. The key here is the 2 tbsp of coconut milk that gives you the gravy. Dont miss it

Method 
 1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp mustard seeds. When they splutter, add 5-6 finely chopped cloves of garlic, 1 inch ginger finely chopped and saute. 
2. Add 2 finely chopped onions, 1/2 tsp salt and saute till the onion is slightly brown in color.  

3. Add 1 sprig on curry leaves, 2-3 slit chillies, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and 1/2 tsp garam masala powder and saute all till the raw smell of the masala is gone.  
4. Add 1 finely chopped tomato and saute till the tomato is mushy. 

5. Now add 2 tbsp coconut milk (I prepare coconut milk using coconut milk powder), 1 to 2 tsp tomato puree and mix well. Add 4 boiled eggs (I made some slits on them) to the base, mix well  and cook for 4-5 mins on a slow flame. 
 6. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.  
This dish goes well with appams, but we managed with rotis.

Tried this recipe last week from Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Khazana and really liked it
I did not  add as much butter and cream as the recipe recommended - yet the gravy was very rich thanks to the cashew nut paste.



Method

1. Heat 2 tsp oil in a non stick pan. Add 2 finely chopped onions, around 10 cashew nuts , a pinch of salt and saute till the onion is slightly brown. 
2. Add 3-4 finely chopped tomatoes and saute for around 10 mins till the tomato is well cooked and mushy. 
3. Add 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and salt to taste and saute till the spices are mixed well.
4. Blend this in a mixer till you get a smooth paste - you can add some water for blending.Transfer the mixture to the same kadai and cook over low heat. You can add butter to the paste but I avoided it.
5. When the mixture looks well cooked, add 2 tsp crushed kasoori methi, 1 tsp garam masala, a pinch of cardamom powder and mix well. Adjust the salt and add a pinch of sugar. 
6. Add the 500 gms paneer cut into traingles and mix well and cook for about 5 mins.
7. Garnish with cream and chopped corinder leaves and serve with chappatis.

Last week, I had lunch with some colleagues at Rayalseema Ruchulu - one of my favorite Andhra cuisine restaurant. We ordered Chicken curry the Seema style and the gravy was spicy and extremely tasty. Wanted to try the recipe and was searching online yesterday. Surprisingly found out that the restaurant themselves have put up a few recipes online. Cooked this dish and it did not even take me a total of 30 mins of cooking time, chopping included. Highly recommended for everyone who loves South Indian flavours.



Method
1. Marinate 1/2 kg chicken with 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt and 1 tsp chilli powder for atleast an hour before cooking. I added 2 tsp curd to the marinade though this was not part of the recipe.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. When hot, add 1 sprig of curry leaves and fry them till they are crisp. Now add 2 medium onions finely chopped and fry them till they are brown in color.
3. Add marinated chicken pieces and fry until chicken looses its pink colour. Add 1 tsp garam masala powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder and fry the same. You can give the chilli powder a miss if you dont like your gravy too spicy.

4. Add 1 cup water and bring to boil. Cook the chicken pieces for another 15 mins on slow flame with lid covered or till its cooked.  Keep stirring all the while. Adjust the water according to the consistency you want.
5. Adjust the salt if needed. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve

Had an unused bunch of spring onion lying in my fridge for a week now..wanted to use it for my cooking today was in no mood for Chinese.Hence went online and googled for spring onion recipes and came across this nice Sambar recipe.
The sambar came very close to what is offered in udupi restaurants.

Method

1. Chop  around 20 stalks of spring onion along with the green leaves and keep aside. Finely chop 2 tomatoes and set aside.
2. Boil 1/2 cup of toor dal and keep aside.
3. Grind 1/2 cup of coconut, 2 tsp of cumin seeds, 2 tbsp of sambar powder,  pinch of turmeric powder, 1 marble sized ball of tamarind  and 1 tsp of jaggery powder to a fine paste with water and keep aside.
4. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan and add 2 tsp of mustard seeds. When they splutter add pinch of asafoetida and 1 sprig of curry leaves. 
5. Add the chopped Spring Onions &  tomatoes and mix well. Cook till the onions and tomatoes are soft.
6. Now add the ground paste, toor dal and 2 cups water and let the gravy boil for 5 mins. You can adjust the jaggery and salt now.
7. Garnish with coriander and serve with steamed rice.

I guess I can just replace the spring onions with onions, add more water and get a good sambar to go with hot idlis.

I had seen this episode of Chak Le India - Kachcha Raasta long back and had noted down the recipe. I like Aditya Bal's style of cooking where I see him char the aromatics regularly. This reduces cooking time and also gives a good consistency to the gravy.
Wanted to cook something quickly today and hence decided to try this recipe. The dish was amazingly tasty and ready in less than a hours time. 




Method
1. Take 250 gms of chicken, clean and keep aside. I used boneless chicken but you can use one with bones too. Marinate the chicken with 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp oil and salt and keep aside
2. Char the aromatics a la Aditya Bal - 2 medium sized onions cut into cubes, 5-6 garlic pods, 1 inch ginger, 2-3 green chillies and 1 bunch of chopped coriander leaves and stalks. Saute this well till the onions are slightly browned and the raw taste of the aromatics is gone. Keep aside
3. Now dry roast the 7-8  cloves, 2-3 cardamom pods, 7-8  black peppercorns, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 inch of cinnamon for 2 mins. 

4. Grind the dry roasted spices to a nice powder. Add the charred aromatics and again grind to a fine paste. Aditya Bal generally uses a mortar and pestle to grind the spices, but I used the mixer grinder to save on time. Add the paste to the marinated chicken. Add 3 tbsp curd to the chicken and mix well and keep aside. 

5. Take a pan and add 2 tsp oil. Add 2-3 green cardamoms and saute. Add a handful of raisins and saute again. Now add the marinated chicken and mix well. I added 1 cup of water but you can add water according to your preference. Adjust the salt.

6. Cover, simmer and cook for 20 mins. 

I am not a big fan of potatoes in my gravy and sabzis but this one dish is an exception.



Method
1. Boil 2-3 big potatoes. Peel them and chop them into cubes and keep aside.
2. Finely chop 1 onion. 
3. Finely grate 1 cup coconut. Dry roast the coconut till it turns reddish and leaves a nice aroma.
4. Grind coconut with 1 tsp coriander seeds, 5-6 red chillies and 1 marble sized ball of tamarind to a smooth paste.
5. Heat 1 tsp of coconut oil in a pan. Fry the onions till they are pink. Add the potatoes and the masala and salt and let it cook. Add a little bit water and cook till the masala is cooked. You can adjust the water depending on the consistency you want.

This is an amazing side dish with rice, goes well with chappatis and also rice rotis.

I had tasted this dish at hubby's friend Lt. Col Kartik's place. His wife Chabi is an awesome cook and I was totally bowled over by this dish. The best part is that it is a complete dish and you don't need to cook anything else. Also looks extremely presentable with a lot of accompaniments. 

I felt like cooking Khow Suey today and searched online for recipes. Surprisingly I found only Indian recipe blogs :) Now  I really wonder whether this is authentic Burmese - need to do some research later. 

The recipes I found contained garam masala, dhaniya etc so I think it must be the Indianised version of the Burmese recipe (if that exists that is). Here  is how I cooked the dish



Method

1. Take 1/2 cup oil in a pan and deep fry 1 onion cut into longish slices,  till caramalised. In the same pan deep fry thin slices of 3-4 pods of garlic. Drain and keep aside for garnish
2. Add 250 gms of boneless chicken slices marinated in salt  and Saute for 10 mins or till 80% done. Drain and keep aside. 

3. Now in the same pan, add 1 finely chopped onion and saute. Add 1 tsp finely chopped ginger, 2 red chillies finely chopped and 1 tsp finely chopped garlic and saute till onions are brown. Add 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp each of red chilli powder, and 2 tsp of coriander powder (alternately you can add Curry masala powder if you have that at home). Add salt and cook for another 5 mins. 


4. Add the chicken and cook. Now add some water  so that the chicken is covered, 2 tsp lemon juice and cook till the chicken is almost cooked.

5. Parallely, keep 1 pack of egg noodles (I used Ching's egg noodles) for cooking according to instructions on the pack. Time it such that it is just cooked before you are ready to serve the dish. You should ideally strain the noodles from hot water and drain it under cold water to stop the cooking process. I added some salt and oil to the noodles while cooking.
6.  Add 200 ml of coconut milk to the chicken. I also added some Maggi chicken cubes mixed in water for additional taste.
7. You can add some basil leaves and lime leaves if you have them readily available. Let the whole dish come to a good boil and the khow suey is ready to be served.
5. Meanwhile chop some coriander leaves and some spring onions for garnishing.


Serve the chicken gravy on the noodles and top it with the caramalised onions, garlic, spring onions, sliced boiled egg and coriander leaves. Try this dish - I am sure you wont be disappointed.

What I love the most about cooking is that it lets you be creative in your day to day life. You experiment with your spices and you sometimes have a totally new taste. Last week I cooked this mutton curry with no particular recipe in my mind - just mixed spices that I love and created this dish :)





Method


1.Heat 2 tsp oil and 1 tsp ghee  in a pressure cooker. Add 1 large onion finely chopped and saute till its brown. Add 1 inch ginger, 7-8 pods of garlic, 1 inch cinnamon, 5-6 black pepper, 2-3 cloves, 2 elaichi, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds and saute for 2 mins. Grind the whole mixture in grinder to a coarse paste.
2. Again add 1 tsp oil in the same pan and add 1 bay leaf. Add the above mixture and saute for 2 mins. Add 2 small tomatoes finely chopped and cook it till tomatoes soften. Add 500 gms of mutton, 1 tsp garam masala,  1 tsp red chilli powder (or more according to your taste) , water and pressure cook for a good 5-6 whistles. I added some fresh mint leaves for added taste.
3. Open the pressure cooker after the steam is out and adjust the salt. Add the juice of half a lemon and garnish with coriander leaves. 


This curry tastes awesome with both rice and chapatis.

I like chicken cooked in south Indian flavours with mustard seeds and curry leaves flavoring the gravy. Tried my hand at Chettinad Chicken today and it turned out good.

Method

1. Marinate 1 kg of chicken with salt, turmeric and chilli powder for at least an hour
2. Take 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 7-8 dry red chillies, 1 cup grated coconut, 1 tsp poppy seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 cardamom, 3-4 cloves, 1 inch piece cinnamon, 1 tsp fennel seeds(saunf) 1 inch piece of ginger and 7-8 cloves of garlic, 1 twig (around 10-12) curry leaves and roast them till the masala is cooked. Grind this into a fine paste in grinder
3.  Heat 1 tbsp oil in a vessel and when the oil is hot add 1 Bay leaf , 1tsp mustard seeds,1 tsp cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds start popping,  fry 1 large sized onion till brown. Add 1 twig of curry leaves and the ground paste. Add 3 finely chopped  tomatoes, 1 tsp red chilli powder, pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste.
4. Add chicken and mix and cook for 5 mins.
5. Add two cups of water, juice of 1 small lemon and cover and cook till the chicken is done (This can take upto 20-30 mins). Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve with chapatis or rice.

Murgh Kofta is an elaborate recipe if you cook it the traditional way. But time is a big constraint these days and that makes me invent quicker recipes. 

Here is my 30 min chicken kofta recipe (I bought ready to cook koftas from the supermarket). I especially liked the texture of the gravy and the richness from the cashews that go into this recipe.



Method

1. Deep fry the chicken koftas and keep aside.
2. Take 1 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker. Add 2 roughly cut onions and saute till translucent. Add 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 1 inch piece of cinamon, 1 -2 cardamom seeds, 2-3 cloves and saute for a minute. 
3. Add 2 roughly chopped tomatoes, around 10 cashew nuts, 2 tsp red chilli powder, pinch of turmeric powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder, 3 tbsp curd,  salt, water according to taste and pressure cook for 3 whistles.
4. Now let out the steam of the pressure cooker and open the cooker. Blend the above mixture in a blender to get a smooth paste. '
5. Add the koftas and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add 1 tsp garam masala powder and salt if needed.
6. Serve with Chapatis/roti.

Here is a more detailed recipe from Show me the curry - you can also check this link to know how to make the koftas at home