I stumbled upon this Middle Eastern recipe long time back and had it written in my dairy. Yesterday while going through my dairy I again saw this one and decided to cook it today. I love masoor dal and hence this recipe was a natural choice.

Today while cooking I again checked the internet for the recipe, read 2-3 versions and finally cooked my version which is a mix of all that I read :)

A very easy recipe to cook ...


Method

1. Wash and Soak 1 cup masoor dal for an 30 mins in 2 cups of water. Take a vessel and cook the dal for 15-20 mins or till the dal is cooked. I added 1 Bay leaf, 1 inch cinnamon stick and one slit green chilli to the water while boiling for added taste.Dont overcook. Drain the masoor dal and keep aside. I saved the water used for boiling Masoor.
2. Now cook 1&1/2 cup of Basmati rice in the same water used for boiling Masoor.You can add additional water if needed.  This way the rice is flavored with the same spices and you don't lose out on the nutrition. Add 1 bay leaf if needed. Cook the rice till its just done, drain and set aside.


3. Add 3 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter in a vessel. When hot, add 2 thinly sliced big onions and saute them till they are caramalised. For this you can use medium flame till the onions are translucent and then cook on high flame till the onions are brown and crispy. Add salt and pepper powder to the onions.
4. Now mix the rice, masoor dal and top it with caramalised onion and serve.  I added 1 tsp each of ginger powder and cinammon powder on top for additional flavour. Adjust for the salt.
5. Serve with raita

A simple and yummy recipe which my grandmother taught me. My granny who is 78 loves to cook anything new (and of course within the cuisine that suits her) that she reads or sees on TV.  Whenever we call her, she always has some or the other new recipe to tell us about. She likes to share new recipes which she tried out and liked. I hope I am able to be half as enthu as her when I am old :) So this is one such tried and tested recipe that she had read in a newspaper.


Method
1. Clean and de-vein the prawns. Keep the tail on - it gives a crunchier taste to the dish.
2. Marinate the prawns with red chilli powder, salt, turmeric, ginger garlic paste for at least half an hour
3. Add one egg white to the marinated prawns.
4. Heat refined oil for deep frying. Roll the prawns in cornflour and deep fry on medium flame till crispy brown. Drain on absorbent paper.



P.S. I was so hungry that I forgot to take pics after frying these. We started our lunch and then when a few were remaining, it struck me that I should take a pic..thats why this pic with a so few prawns...will replace the pic next time I cook this again!!

This is a recipe shared by a cousin of mine. I like the fresh taste of mint and lemon in this dish.This dish does not require a lot of oil as the chicken is cooked in steam and hence is healthier than other deep fried starters.




Method
1. Marinate 500 gms of chicken with 1 lemon juice, salt, pinch of turmeric, 2 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp Cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder for at least an hour. The more you marinate the better. I also add 2 tbsp of curd to the marination.
2. Take 2 tsp oil in a non stick pan. Add 2 chopped green chillies, 10 cloves of garlic chopped finely and 1 inch of ginger chopped finely and saute.


3. Add 2 medium size onions cut into cubes and saute for a minute
4. Add the marinated chicken and saute. Sprinkle some water. Cover it and let it cook in the steam on a low flame till almost done. 
5. Grind 1/2 cup mint with 1/2 cup of coriander leaves to a coarse paste


6. Add it to the chicken once chicken is 80-90% cooked. Add 2 tsp garam masala powder and saute for 5 mins. Sprinkle some crushed  Kasoori Methi
7. Adjust the salt, squeeze 1 lemon juice and serve hot as a starter or a side dish with the main course.

Punjabi cuisine is incomplete without the mention of sarson ka saag and makke di roti. This dish is prepared in every Punjabi kitchen during the winters when these mustard leaves are widely available. Again a recipe from Rajneet's kitchen. 

Method

1. Clean 2 bunches of saag , 1 bunch of spinach and ½ bunch of bathu (if easily available). The general proportion of saag:spinach:bathu is 4:2:1. Scrape and use even stalks of saag as they enhance the taste.

2. Wash the saag leaves thoroughly and boil it for 15-20 mins on a low flame. Now add washed spinach and bathu leaves and boil it for more 20 mins. Then blend it in a grinder.

L--R Saag, Bathu, Spinach 

3. Take a pan, add ghee and the above mixture. Add salt, red chilly powder ( or you can use finely chopped green chillies) and cook it for around 30 mins. Keep stirring to prevent burning.

4. We generally prepare this in the evenings till this stage and leave it overnight. The next day before eating add the tadka. This gives an uncomparable authentic tatse. Also saag is prepared in bulk traditionally, so it is stored in fridge after this stage and tadka is added to the quantity to be consumed.

5. For the tadka, take ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds. After they crackle add grated ginger garlic (2-3 inches piece of ginger and around 7-8 cloves of garlic) and sauté till they turn light brown. Then add the cooked saag. Heat it for more 10-15 mins while stirring in between. Adjust the water and salt.

6. Add little butter and serve it hot with makke de roti and onions.

For Makke Di Roti

Method
1. Take 1 cup makki (maize) flour in a large plate and add little salt and pinch of ajwain. You can also add ¼ grated raddish (after squeezing water), finely chopped green chillies and cilantro if you wish as the original taste is quite bland. 
2. Add little warm water and mix it thoroughly. Knead it to a soft smooth dough applying little more pressure than required for the normal dough. Divide it into equal parts. 

3. This roti is not made with a belan but by flattening with your hands.
Now the traditional method goes this way. Take 1 part and roll it into a ball with your wet palms. Flatten it by applying little pressure in between the palms and then roll it to roti by just transferring the flattened ball from one hand to the other. Smoothen the edges with fingers and put it on hot tava. (This flour tends to dry quickly, so you can use few drops of water if required in this process). 
4. The other modified techniques are to place the ball on the tava and flatten it directly over it with your palm taking care that you don’t burn your hand. 
The most easiest way is to place the ball on a thick plastic sheet, sprinkle few drops of water. Then place another thick plastic sheet over it and apply pressure with your palm or a flat based plate. Transfer it to hot tava.

5. It will take slightly longer to cook this as it is thicker than the normal roti. Flip it over when one side is cooked and spread ghee over it immediately. Cook the other side too and again apply ghee. 
6. Repeat this with all the remaining parts of the dough. 1 cup flour will make around 5-6 rotis. This roti is crispier and even the ghee required is little more than the normal rotis. (They should be consumed immediately after they are cooked as after storage it becomes difficult to eat them).
7. Serve it hot with sarson ka saag. The traditional bland taste of this roti goes well with the delicious saag.

I had tasted this dish in a restaurant in Kundapur and fell in love with it immediately so much that I asked the waiter for the recipe :) Of course, I did not remember the recipe word to word and cooked my own version.
We dont get as big Kaane fish ( also called Nogli ) here so managed with smaller ones. This fish is probably called Lady fish in English (not sure though - Google came up with some results which said that)




Method
1. Clean the fish, cut off the head and the tail. Make slits in the fish for masala to sink in. Marinate the entire fish with salt, turmeric and chilli powder. 
2. Grind together 1/2 onion sliced, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 3 red chilli, 5-6 garlic flakes, 1 marble sized tamarind, a pinch of asafoetida, 1 tsp turmeric and 1 inch ginger.


3. Add this masala to the fish and keep it aside for 1 hour.
4. Take a pan and add 2 tbsp coconut oil. Add 1 small onion finely clopped and saute till translucent. Add 1 twig of curry leaves. Now add the fish along with the paste and let it cook on low flame. Dont stir too much. Let the fish cook in the masala. It takes around half an hour for the raw taste of the masala to go away.

I lived in Kolkata for a some time as a paying guest with Padma Aunty. Padma Aunty used to cook amazing Kerala curries. This is one of my favorite curries. I have tried to replicate from what I remember - Probably some not so Kerala elements have creeped into my recipe. So I cant boast as this being authentic Kerala prawns curry but it comes quite close.

I could not get a good view of the prawns in this pic - I need to work on my photography skills :)

Here is my version of Kerala prawn curry in coconut milk

Method
1. Take 2 cups of freshly grated coconut, add 1 cup of warm water and a pinch of salt and grind in a grinder. Strain it using a muslin cloth to extract the thick milk. Again add some water to the coconut and blend in a grinder and strain it to get thin coconut milk. Keep this aside
2. Add 2 tbsp coconut oil in a pab. Add 1 tsp mustard seeds and saute till they crackle. Add 1 split green chilli and saute for a minute. Add a pinch of asafoetida. Add 1 medium sized onion finely chopped and saute till translucent. 

3. Add 1 inch piece of ginger juliennes and 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 min
4. Now add 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tbsp black pepper powder, 1 tbsp cumin powder and saute. 
5. Add 2 cups of cleaned and de-veined prawns and saute  for 4-5 mins till its well coated with all spices

6. Add 2 finely chopped tomatoes, mix well. Cover the lid and let this cook on a slow flame for 3-4 mins. The tomato will leave some water and the prawns will cook in the same.
7. Now add 2 cups of coconut milk. Add salt according to taste. Cover and cook for 5 mins. 
8. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve with rice.

Khubbe(Clams - one type of shell fish) is generally used in curries, but I like it most in this cutlet form. Its a task to clean up clams - you need to break open the shell and then scoop the clam out.




Here is the recipe of Khubbe vade.
Method
1. Take 1 tbsp oil in a small pan and add 1 tsp coriander seeds and 8 red chillies and roast it 
2. Soak 4 tbsp of raw rice and 4 tbsp toor dal for 15 mins in water


3. Grind together coriander seeds, red chillies, 1 cup coconut, 1 marble sized piece of tamarind to a coarse paste without much water. Drain the water from rice and toor dal and add it to the grinder and coarsely grind it with the coconut paste.
4. Add 1 cup onion finely chopped  and 1 cup of cleaned clams. Mix them together to a cutlet like consistency. You can add some chopped cashew nuts for added taste


5. Make them into small cutlets, roll in semolina (rava) and shallow fry them on a tawa with 1 tbsp oil. Once one side turns golden brown, turn over the cutlets and fry the other side.


Serve as a side dish.

Stuffed parathas form an important part of the traditional north indian breakfast. Here I share the authentic recipe of paneer parathas again cooked by Rajneet ;)

Method

1. Knead a soft dough with 2 cups of whole wheat flour and cover it with a wet muslin cloth and set aside for 10 mins.

2. Till then prepare the filling with grated paneer (200 gms).  If paneer is hard thaw it before using and squeeze the excess water. I just crumble the paneer with hands in stead of grating as it is very soft.

3. Finely chop 2 large onions, 2 green chillies, 2 tsp corainder leaves and grate 1 inch piece of ginger and add it to the paneer.

4. Now add 1 tsp red chilly powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, ½ tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp dry mango powder and a pinch of ajwain (optional) and salt. Mix properly and divide this filling into 5 equal parts.

                                     

5. Here for one paratha use almost twice the dough used for making chapatti. Flatten the ball, add little flour and roll it to half the size of chapatti with edges thinner than the centre and apply 2-3 drops of oil esp at the edges.

6. Put one part of the filling in the centre and gather the edges to cover the filling making a larger ball this time.

7. With little flour roll out the paratha uniformly and put it on the hot tava and cook it on medium flame.

8. When one side is completely cooked flip the paratha to cook the other side and apply oil / ghee on both the sides before removing it from the tava.

9. Repeat this procedure to make the remaining parathas and serve it with curd and pickle.

Ever since I have come to Hyderabad, I have tasted some awesome mutton preparations like Mutton Biryani, Haleem, Patthar ka Gosht and many more. I have now developed a taste for Mutton so much that I have started preferring it to Chicken. 
Today I cooked Mom's Konkani Mutton Gravy. Tasted awesome.



Method

1. Prepare a paste of 2 green chillies, 7-8 garlic flakes, 1 inch ginger, handful of mint and handful of coriander leaves. Marinate the 500 gms of mutton with this paste. Add 1 cup of curd, 1 tsp turneric and 1 tbsp chilli powder and salt. Leave to marinate for 1 hour.

2. Dry roast 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 4-5 dried red chillies, 1 inch cinamon stick, 5-6 cloves, 5-6 pepper corns, 2 cardamom with 3 tbsp of freshly grated coconut. When slightly brown remove from flame and let it cool. Then grind in a blender to get a fine paste.

3. Take a pressure cooker and add 2 tbsp oil. Add 1 big onion finely chopped and saute it till translucent. Add 2 finely chopped tomatoes and saute till cooked. Now add the marinated mutton and cover the cooker. Cook for 4-5 whistles - mutton takes longer to cook.

4. After the whistles remove the pressure cooker lid and add the finely ground paste and bring to boil. Adjust the salt. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

This mutton goes well with rice rotis or rice. In Konkani cuisine, we use a lot of coconut. In the original recipe, we add around a cup of coconut since coconut adds to the volume and makes the gravy thick. However I prefer adding more curd and less coconut to get a slightly thinner gravy.

Method

1.     Make a mixture of 2 tsp soya sauce, 1 tsp corn flour, 1 tsp green chilli paste, 2 tsp water or chicken stock and keep aside

2.     Heat a non stick pan till it is very hot. Put 2 tbsp olive oil and swirl the oil so that it coats the pan.

3.     Add around 250 gms of boneless chicken cubes and sauté on a high flame for 4 mins or till almost cooked and remove from pan and keep aside

4.     Add 5-6 cloves of garlic finely chopped and 1 inch of ginger finely chopped in the pan and stir for 30 secs.

5.     Add ½ cup each of broccoli, bell pepper and zucchini diced into cubes and stir for 1 min

6.     Add ½ cup of spring onions cut lengthwise and stir for 30 secs

7.     Pour ½ cup of water or chicken stock and steam the vegetables for 1 min

8.     Add the chicken that was kept aside and stir on high flame so that the water evaporates.

9.     Now add the soya sauce mixture and stir fry for 2 mins. The soya sauce is salty and hence you may not need to add salt to this dish. Adjust the salt only if needed.

This dish takes only 10 mins of cooking as it is cooked on high flame. Dont overcook else the vegetables lose their crunchiness.

This is a simple Salad I had first tasted in a my native village. I like it so much that I eat it like a side dish. It has a special smoky flavor which I absolutely adore.

Method

1. Grate 2 carrots
2. Add 4-5 tsp of freshly grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves
3. Add a pinch of sugar, salt to taste and around juice of half a lemon and mix well.
4. You can add red chilli powder or slit green chillies if you like. 
5. You can also burn one coal piece on stove till its red hot, place it in a bowl of salad, add 2-3 drops of coconut oil on top of it and cover with a lid for the salad to absorb the smoky flavour.

Traditionally we also give a chaukh (seasoning with mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves) but I like it just like this. 

My very good friend Rajneet is excited about my blog and keeps sending me new recipes as and when she cooks it. It is nice as she is a vegetarian and a Punjabi and the dishes she makes are very different from the dishes that come out of my kitchen. They add to the range in this blog. 





Here is her awesome Vegetable Manchurian recipe.

1. Finely chop 2 medium sized onion, 1/4 cup beans, 1/4 cup cabbage, 1/4 cup capsicum and grate 1 carrot. Squeeze out extra water out of these veg. You can do it directly with your hands or using a muslin cloth.

2. In a bowl, take 5 tsp all purpose flour (maida), 2 tsp corn starch, 1tsp soya sauce , salt and above vegetables and mix them properly. If required you can sprinkle few drops of water and make small sized balls out of that mixture.

3. Deep fry them on a medium flame . Drain the oil and keep aside

4. In a separate pan, take 2 tsp oil and add 1 tsp each of chopped garlic, ginger and 1 onions and sauté them till they turn light brown.

5. Add 1 tsp each of soya sauce, vinegar, red chilli sauce and a pinch of salt and sauté for few seconds.( while adding salt remember all the sauces already contain some amount of it)

6. Add some water and let it boil.

7.  Now add 1 tbsp dissolved corn starch ( in a bowl mix 1 tsp corn starch in little water) drop by drop and mix it till the required consistency.

8. Add Manchurian balls to this gravy and cover and cook for 2 mins.

9. Serve it hot with fried rice.

10. If you want to cook dry Manchurian, add fried Manchurian balls after step 5 and cover and cook for 2 mins.

Another recipe from Rajneet's kitchen. Recipe and photo courtesy Rajneet.

Method 

1. Cook  1 cup rice in the 2 cups water with some salt till its just cooked.  Do not overcook the rice.

2. In a pan, take 2 tsp oil and add 1 chopped onion, 1 tsp ginger and 1 tsp garlic.

3. When it turns light brown, add sliced 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 cup cabbage, 1/2 cup beans, 1/2 cup capsicum and 1/2 cup peas.

4. Cook on high flame with stirring in between to avoid burning.

5. The vegetables are to be cooked till you are just able to slice it with a spoon. (This will take not more than 5 mins).

6. Add 1 tsp soya sauce, 1tsp  vinegar, 1 tsp red chilly sauce and salt . Since Soya sauce is already high on salt add salt only to taste.

7. Now mix rice with these vegetables and cover it for 2 mins. You can add little oil while mixing .

8. Garnish it with spring onions and serve with your favourite gravy.

Tip : You can use leftover rice from the fridge - this keeps the rice hard and just right for the fried rice

I was always of the opinion that pasta is a tough dish to cook and best ordered at restaurants. This was until hubby expressed the desire to eat homemade pasta one day. Now eager to please him, I searched for online recipes. Tried many but somehow they were not as good as this recipe shared by my very good friend Tejal. Here is the video shared by Tejal.

This is the best and the easiest of all online recipes. It doesn’t take more than 20 mins...the sauce is ready in the time it takes for the penne pasta to cook. I love this dish for the freshness and aroma of basil.

Method

1. Boil 1 lt water in a vessel. Add 2 cups of Penne Pasta and 1 tbsp of salt and cook. Initially separate the pasta with a fork as the pasta tends to stick to the vessel. Keep stirring once in a while till the pasta is al dante. Here is a video on how to boil pasta.
2. Boil 4 medium sized ripe tomatoes till soft. Remove the outer skin and mash the tomatoes. I prefer cutting them into small pieces once boiled.
3. In a pan, add 1 tsp olive oil and cook the tomatoes. Add Salt and a pinch of sugar and let it simmer
4. In another small pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on a low flame. Add around 10-12 flakes of garlic chopped fine. Saute but don’t let it burn. Add 1 tbsp pepper powder (preferably freshly crushed pepper) and handful of basil leaves finely chopped. Cook all this on a low flame till you can smell the aroma of basil and garlic.
5. Now Drain the pasta, cool it under cold water (to stop the cooking process) and add it to the tomatoes. Try to cook the pasta and tomatoes simultaneously so that you can directly drain the pasta and add it to the tomatoes.
6. Now add the garlic basil seasoning. Add more olive oil to the pasta if you like
7. Garnish with grated cheese and olives.

Boiling the tomatoes was an easier way I had adopted but according to my friend Prasad's comments, tomato needs to be cut into pieces and cooked in the olive oil to retain the taste and flavors.

I like Spinach!! I guess it was due to the familiarity that I used to end up cooking Palak Paneer almost all the time. Two days back when I saw Palak in my fridge, I decided to look for new recipes and found this on the internet. Turned out really tasty!!






Method

1.   Blanch Spinack (Palak) and make a puree out of a bunch of spinach (Palak) leaves.

2.   In a pan, add 1 tbsp oil. Add 1 inch ginger and 7-8 cloves of garlic finely chopped and sauté for a minute

3.  Add 1 medium sized onion finely chopped and sauté. Add 2 finely chopped green chillies.

4.   Add the palak puree once the onion is cooked. Add salt to taste and sauté  for 2 mins on medium flame or till cooked. Remove from flame and keep aside

5.   Add 1 tbsp oil in another pan. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds. Add 2 medium sized tomatoes chopped finely and sauté till its cooked

6.   Now ½ cup of cauliflower florets. Add ½ cup of French beans cuts into long 1 inch pieces and ½ cup of carrot cut into long and thin slices. Add ½ cup of paneer cubes.

7.   Toss the vegatables till cooked. You can steam these vegetables before adding to the pan to reduce cooking time.

8.  When the vegetables are cooked, add 1 tbsp red chilli powder and 1 tsp garam masala powder

9.   Garnish with coriander

10. While serving, spread the palak base that you earlier prepared and then layer it with the vegetable mixture. If you mix spinach and the vegetables the whole preparation takes the green colour and hence doesn’t look as appealing as when served this way.

This dish goes very well with chappatis. In the recipe I referred too  - Sanjeev Kapoor's video, he did not use Paneer. Paneer was my addition to the dish. 

My mom used to cook this dish whenever we had some bread slices left from a previous day. This is a quick breakfast recipe and tastes really good.

Method

1.  Heat 1 tbsp oil and add 1 tsp mustard seeds and  1 tsp cumin seeds.
2.  When they start popping, add 2 twigs of curry leaves
3. Add 1 medium sized onion chopped finely and fry till they turn brownish.
4. Take 5-6 bread pieces and grind the bread pieces in a mixie to a coarse powder and add it.    You can also cut it into roughly one inch pieces and mix well.  
5. Add 1 tsp turmeric, red chilli powder, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients well so that the bread is coated.
6. Garnish with coriander and freshly grated coconut.

Rajma is one of my favorite vegetarian dishes. I have tried it many times but somehow it never turned out as good as my friend Rajneet's recipe. Here is the traditional recipe straight out of Rajneet's Punjabi Kitchen. 

Recipe and photo courtesy Rajneet!!

Method

1. Wash around 2 cups of rajma. Soak it in water (4 times the quantity) and add salt n leave it overnight.

2. Take 2 tsp oil in the pressure cooker.  Add 1tsp cumin seeds and let it crackle.

3. Then add 2-3 medium sized grated onions and fry  till they turn light brown.

4. Add grated garlic (2-3 cloves) and ginger (1 inch piece) and sauté for 2 mins.

5. Now add 2 grated tomatoes and sauté it till the smell of raw tomatoes disappears. (I sometimes use 1 tomato and 2 tsp of tomato puree for the reddish tinge).

6. Now when oil starts leaving the masala, it is the time to add all the spices ( ¼ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp red chilly powder,  1 tsp cumin powder, ½ tsp coriander powder). Add a little bit of salt, since you have already added salt in Rajma. Saute for 2 mins.

7. Add soaked rajma to this masala along with the same water. Pressure cook it on medium flame for around 4 whistles and then on slow flame for about 10mins. Let the pressure release and open the cooker with all the safety precautions.

8. Add 1 tsp of garam masala and cook it for 5 mins. Just cover it lightly. Adjust water if required and also check if the rajma are soft enough. (if not you can cook for more 1-2 whistles, generally it is not required but depends on the quality of rajma)

9. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice/jeera rice/rotis.

There are two varieties of rajma : the dark maroonish ones which don’t soften so easily (exception are of the original ones from jammu) and the other is the light pinkish rajma with dark streaks which are generally preferred in the traditional recipe. I have cooked the pink ones here.

A recipe from my good friend Rajneet's kitchen. Recipe and photo courtesy Rajneet.

Method

1. Wash and Soak 1 cup of basmati rice in 2 cups of water with salt for 20 mins.

2. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and add 1 tsp of cumin seeds.

3. When they start to splutter add 1 cinnamon stick, 4-5 cloves and 1 bay leaf.

4. Then add the soaked rice with water and boil it on a high flame till the rice soaks almost all the water. (Rice is generally more than half cooked at this stage).

5. Now cover the pan and cook rice for  5 mins on low flame.

6. Remove the lid after around 10 mins and your jeera rice is ready to be served with any gravy you like.

Thai red curry comes very close to Konkani curries with predominant coconut flavour and hence both hubby and me end up ordering it a lot when we eat out. One day I came across Thai red curry paste and thought I will try this. The gravy tasted so good that I make it very regularly and have also planted lemon grass and basil at home so that I can use freshly cut lemon grass and basil leaves in the curry. Here is how I cook it.

Method

1.     Marinate 250 gms of boneless chicken cubes with salt and pepper powder and keep aside some time.

2.     In a saucepan, add 1 packet red thai curry paste (I use Real Thai Red Curry paste) and sauté on low flame

3.     Add 2 cups of thick coconut milk to the paste and let it reach a boil. You can extract fresh coconut milk but since it is cumbersome I use store bought coconut milk powder and mix it with water. Simmer the mixture for 5 mins

4.     Add 1tbsp soya sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, a pinch of sugar (brown sugar is preferable) and some lemon grass roughly chopped. Stir and simmer for 5 mins

5.     Add around 10 basil leaves and remove from heat and keep aside.

6.     In another non stick pan, add 2 tsp olive oil. When the oil is hot add the chicken cubes and sauté. Saute for 4-5 mins till the chicken cubes are no longer pink.

7.     Add 1 cup of bell pepper diced into cubes, ½ cup of carrot diced into cubes, 1 cup of zucchini  and 1 cup of broccoli cut into florets and sauté until the vegetables are done

8.     Add the sauce that we kept aside earlier to the pan and simmer for 5 mins.

9.     Add some coriander stalks roughly chopped at the end and remove from heat.

Again a one pot dish that I love cooking on holidays. This is a slightly elaborate recipe but if you can multitask you can cook it on 30 mins flat like I managed today.




Recipe is inspired from http://www.vahrehvah.com/popvideo.php?recipe_id=1310&Vegetable%20biryani

1.    Soak 2 cups of Basmati rice for 30 mins in water.

2.    Cook it in boiling water. Add salt and 2-3 cloves, 1 bay leaf while cooking. Drain the rice when around 70% done and keep aside.

3.    Add 2 tbsp ghee in a flat pan. Add whole garam masala - 2 bay leaf, 4-5 cloves, 4-5 black pepper, 2 cardamom, 2 tsp cumin seeds and saute

4.    Add 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste and saute

5.    Add 1 cup carrots, potato and cauliflower all cut into big pieces

6.    Add salt to taste and cook till vegetables are around 70% cooked

7.    Add 1 cup mint leaves, 1 cup coriander leaves and 3 green chillies slit lengthwise into two. Add ½ cup of fried onions

8.    Add 3 tbsp Garam Masala (you can add Biryani Masala if you have it readily available)

9.    Add 1 cup curd and mix all this well. Now add 1/2 cup of Paneer and sauté.

10.  Now take a flat vessel and spread ¾ of the vegetable mixture at the base. Check this for seasoning and adjust salt if needed

11.  Spread ¼ cup curd. Now add a layer of rice (use ½ of the cooked rice)

12.  Add cashew, almonds, ½ cup of mint, ½ cup of coriander and ½ cup of fried onions. Add the remaining vegetable mixture and rice and add saffron soaked in water

13.  Cook this whole flat vessel by covering it with a lid for 5 mins by keeping the vessel on a tawa to avoid burning the base of the biryani.

14.  Serve with Curd/raita