Chickpea Masala

When it comes to chickpeas, no one complains. Be it in the form of Chana masala, hummus, crunchy salad or Falafel. Give it to them in any form, dada and kids will have their platters clean. These white beauties are my favorite too. I can snack on them all day.

When i made this dish, i roasted the spice powders to give it a dark color and a stronger taste.

Ingredients:-

• Chickpeas – 1 cup soaked overnight
• Onion – 2 small
• Green chillies – 3
• Ginger – 1″ piece
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Tomatoes – 2 small
• Cloves – 4
• Green cardamom – 2
• Bayleaves – 2
• Kashmiri chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Garam masala – 1/4 tsp
• Jeera powder – 1/4 tsp
• Oil – 2 Tbsp
• Salt
• Coriander leaves – for garnish

Method:-

1. Pressure cook the soaked chickpeas in the same water with salt to taste. It should take about 4 whistles on high flame, then reduce to low flame and switch off after 3 more whistles.
2. In a frying pan, roast the spice powders on low flame and keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the cloves, green cardamom and bay leaves and let it splutter.
4. Add the chopped onions, grated ginger-garlic and sliced onions. Saute till soft.
5. Add the roasted powders and the chopped tomatoes. Mix well. (If the mix starts to burn, add little water from the cooked chickpeas)
6. Once the mix looks well cooked, add the cooked chickpeas and the water from it.
7. Let the curry cook for sometime with the lid on.
8. Add salt to taste(Be careful here as the cooked chickpeas already has some salt with it).
9. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
10. Ready to serve with some nice hot Pooris or Jeera rice.

Our Saturday breakfast usually includes hot fried Pooris and Chickpeas Masala. We need a full tummy to enjoy the rest of the day 😉

Note:
– If you like it a little less spicy, reduce the green chillies but not the Chilli powder as that gives the bright color to the curry. 🙂

Rogan Josh

Here is the original Rogan Josh. The lamb rogan josh! After the success of the chicken rogan josh, i couldn’t just not make the original rogan josh recipe. Coming from the beautiful land of kashmir, it promises a very aromatic and melt-in-the-mouth dish.

So here is the Rogan josh recipe that we loved at home(Except for my mom of course!).

Ingredients:-

• Lamb – 500 gm boneless diced
• Onion – 2 small
• Garlic – 3 cloves
• Ginger – 1 thumb sized piece
• Greek yogurt – 3 tbsp
• Coriander leaves – 1 bunch
• Mint leaves – 5 leaves
• Green chillies – 2
• Bay leaves – 2
• Cinnamon bark – 1″ piece
• Dried red chillies – 3 nos
• Nutmeg powder – 1/4 tsp
• Green cardamom – 2
• Peppercorns – 8 nos
• Cloves – 6
• Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Tomatoes – 2 nos blanched
• Chicken stock – 1/2 cup
• Lemon – 1
• Vegetable oil – 3 tbsp

Method:-

1. Wash the diced lamb thoroughly and keep aside.
2. In a processor, grind together the onions, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves, mint leaves and chillies to a coarse mixture and keep aside.
3. In the same processor, blend the tomatoes(after blanching) and keep aside.
4. Dry roast the following spices(dried red chillies, green cardamom,peppercorns,cloves,cumin seeds,coriander seeds) in a pan and grind to powder form. Keep aside.
5. Heat the oil in a pan which is oven proof as well. [you could first use a kadai on the hob and then transfer to oven proof dish for cooking in oven]
6. Add the spice powder along with bay leaves and cinnamon bark.
7. Saute for 30 seconds and then add the onion mixture. Saute till it softens.
8. Now add the diced meat. Cook on high heat for the meat to brown. Cook on all sides for about 5 minutes.
9. Now add the chilli powders and salt. Saute for a minute.
10. Add the blended tomatoes and chicken stock(you can use water instead too).
11. Let it bubble for a minute on high heat.
12. Transfer the contents to the oven proof dish and put it in the oven preheated to 160 degree celsius.
13. Cook covered for approximately 1 hour. Keep checking if there is enough water in the dish.
14. Once it is done, the meat will start to melt. Add the yogurt as soon as it is out from the oven and mix well.
15. Transfer to serving dish, and squeeze lemon juice on top.

Enjoy a spicy Lamb Rogan josh with some ghee rice or fluffy naan. My kids just loved the melting soft pieces of lamb. Its finger-lickin’ good! 😉

Spicy prawns curry

Prawns is a favourite in the house. Rainy Sunday afternoon calls for a spicy curry. And it has got to be a spicy fish curry or prawn curry.

Ingredients:-

• Jumbo tiger prawns – 10 nos
• Kokum – 6
• Onion – 1
• Ginger – thumb sized piece
• Green chillies – 3
• Tomato – 1
• Kashmiri chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala – 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Coconut milk – 1 cup
• Vegetable oil – 3 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method:-

1. Clean and soak the kokum in water just enough to cover.
2. In an earthenware pot, heat oil. Add the fenugreek seeds and let it crackle.
3. Add the chopped onions, ginger and slit green chillies. Cook till soft.
4. Add all the spices and cook for a further minute.
5. Now add the chopped tomato and the cleaned prawns.
6. Let the mixture coat well on the prawns. Now add the kokum pieces with the water used for soaking.
7. Add salt to taste and cover and cook till the prawns are cooked properly.
8. Now add the coconut milk, and switch off just before it starts to bubble.

Serve hot with rice or roti. Happy hubby and kids alert! 🙂

Chicken Rogan Josh

Rogan josh is a Kashmiri lamb curry which is spicy and aromatic. I just love everything about it. Now the recipe i am going to share is of Chicken. Why you ask? My dearest mom doesn’t eat lamb. We grew up not tasting lamb, I know! Its during a trip back in my college days that i tasted a lamb dish. Fell in love that instant. Luckily lamb is favorite to my man too.

Anyway, i tried a chicken variety of rogan josh and it went well. I guarantee happy faces!

 

Ingredients:-

• Chicken breasts – 2 halved
• Red onion – 1 large
• Ginger – 1″ piece
• Garlic – 3 cloves
• Coriander leaves – 1 bunch
• Cinnamon stick – 1 ” piece
• Bay leaves – 2
• Cloves – 4
• Green cardamom – 3 pods
• Dried red chillies – 4
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Paprika – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Pepper powder – 1 tsp
• Vegetable oil – 3 tbsps
• Cashew nuts – 8 nos
• Greek yogurt – 5 tbsp
• Single cream – 5 tbsp
• Ghee(clarified butter) – 1 tsp

Method:-

1. Soak the cashew nuts in warm water(just enough to cover).
2. Dry roast the spice powders in a pan and keep aside.
3. In the same pan, dry roast the dried chillies and green cardamom. Put this in a grinder along with the roasted powder. Add 1 tsp of ghee or clarified butter and grind this mixture to a paste.
4. In a food processor, add the red onion, ginger, garlic and stalks of the coriander leaves. Grind to a coarse mixture and keep aside.
5. In the same processor, add the cream, yogurt and the soaked cashew nuts with the water. Blend to a smooth paste.
6. Heat oil in a kadai, add the bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon bark. Once it crackles, add the spice paste.
7. Now add the onion mixture and cook till soft.
8. On high heat add the chicken fillets and brown the pieces on both sides for about 10 minutes.
9. Now add the cream mixture and bubble for 5 minutes.
10. Transfer the curry to an oven proof dish and into the oven preheated to 160 degrees celsius. Cook for 80 minutes.
11. Keep checking if the dish has enough liquid. Add water if required.
12. Once done, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Rotis.

This became a hit in my family instantly. Kids loved the soft chicken pieces. 🙂

Murgh Makhani

Ahhh yes! The famous butter chicken or Murgh Makhani. It just lingers on in your mouth. Just that one bite of butter chicken scooped up with a piece of Naan, heaven!

This is that rich and creamy curry from India the whole world talks about. Its there on every Indian restaurant’s menu and if you must try a chicken dish that’s from India, this has got to be it!

Here goes the full recipe:

Ingredients:-[for the chicken tandoori]

• Chicken thigh fillets – 500gm
• Greek yogurt – 4 tbsp
• Gram flour – 1 tbsp
• Ginger – 1 thumb sized piece chopped
• Garlic – 3 cloves chopped
• Green chillies – 3 nos slit into two
• Kashmiri chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Black pepper powder – 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Garam Masala – a pinch
• Salt to taste

Ingredients:-[for the gravy]

• Unsalted butter – 50 gm
• Ginger- 1″ piece
• Green chilli – 2 nos
• Onion – 2
• Green cardamom – 4
• Cloves – 6
• Cinnamon bark – 1″ piece
• Tomato puree – 2 tbsp
• Single cream – 200 ml
• Milk – 100 ml
• Garam masala – a pinch
• Kashmiri chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Kasuri methi – 1 tbsp
• Salt

Method:-

1. The chicken needs to be marinated for 8 hours(atleast 1 hour if you are in a hurry). So first off, mix all the ingredients listed under for the chicken tandoori, except for the chicken thighs. Grind to a coarse paste.
2. In a bowl, mix the chicken thigh fillets with the paste and leave it in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
3. Once the chicken is marinated enough. Take an oven proof dish. Place the chicken in skewers and lay them on the dish. Put this in the oven preheated to 180 degree celsius.
4. Cook the chicken till they are charred on the edges. This will be approximately 30-35 minutes. Keep turning in between every 8-10 minutes.
5. Once the chicken is done, we can make the gravy which is quite easy and quick.
6. Heat up a kadai or wok, add butter.
7. Add the crushed whole spices like green cardamom, cloves and cinnamon.
8. Add the chopped ginger and slit green chillies.
9. Now add 1 1/2 onion chopped. Leave the other half for the end(cube them instead of chopping).
10. Stir for 5-10 minutes or till the mixture softens.
11. Once this is done, add the chilli powder and garam masala. A little salt and give a good stir. Add the cubed onions now.
12. Now add the tomato puree, milk and cream. Let it bubble for a minute.
13. Add the grilled chicken to this and finish off with the kasuri methi.
14. Let the mixture get married for 5-10 minutes on low flame.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with Naan or Rice! 🙂

A family favorite!!!

Yellow tangy chicken

Those Friday night movie dinners call for a quick tangy, crunchy chicken dish.

This was discovered on one such night 😉 Crunch away!

Ingredients:-

• Chicken breast – 2 whole
• Red bell pepper – 1
• Cashew nuts – 8 nos
• Spring onion – 3
• Celery sticks – 2
• Shallots – 3
• Ginger – 1″ piece
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Tamarind paste – 1 tbsp
• Dried red chillies – 4
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Oyster sauce – 1 tbsp
• Sesame oil – 2 tbsp
• Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
• Salt – to taste

Method:-

1. Slice the chicken breasts into thin long strips and keep aside.
2. Similarly, Julienne the red bell pepper, celery sticks and spring onions and keep aside. Chop the shallots, ginger and garlic and keep aside.
3. Grind the tamarind and dried red chillies to a paste (add a tsp of sesame oil for the paste consistency)
4. Now heat a wok and once its real hot, add the vegetable oil.
5. Into this, add the chopped shallots and ginger-garlic.
6. Stir fry for a min and then add the chicken slices. Let the chicken cook on high heat for 8- 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it doesn’t burn.
7. Now add the salt, turmeric powder , oyster sauce and tamarind+red chilli paste.
8. Give it a good stir and then add the veggies along with the cashew nuts.
9. Stir fry for 2 minutes and finally add the drizzle of sesame oil and serve hot with some egg noodles or fried rice.

I think i should try to cook up a good fried rice next. Recipe to follow once the family gives the go signal!

Tuna thoran

Canned tuna in brine is handy for a lot of on-the-go dishes. One of them is a Tuna thoran. As my boys and my little girl just love fish, we have it at least twice a week. It is usually either a deep red fish curry or a nicely fried fish, and mostly for lunch. So when I made this thoran for a change, I expected a “what’s-this-mom” look from all. But, they just went with their poker faces. No questions asked! Lol.  The pack liked it and so did my not-a-big-fan-of-fish Mom.

Ingredients:-

• Tuna – 1 can of tuna chunks in brine
• Shallots- 4
• Ginger – 1″ piece
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Kashmiri chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala – 1/4 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Coconut – grated 1/2 cup
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Vegetable oil – 3 tbsp
• Curry leaves – 5 leaves

Method:-

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.
2. Add the curry leaves and the chopped shallots. Saute for a minute.
3. Now add the chopped ginger and garlic.
4. Once the raw smell of ginger and garlic goes away, add the spice powders and mix well.
5. After a minute, add the tuna chunks(remove any water that comes with it from the can).
6. Add salt to taste(Be careful here as the tuna already has some salt with it).
7. After a good mix of 3 minutes, add the grated coconut and mix well for 2 minutes.
8. Ready to server with some rice and curry.

I like to have tuna thoran with some plain rice and yogurt. 🙂

Curly kale in daal

Palak dal is a favourite in the house. This time I used curly kale instead of spinach and the response was ,well, I need not wash them plates now. haha..

Ingredients:-

• Red lentils – 1/2 cup
• Yellow split lentils – 1/4 cup
• Curly kale – 1/2 cup
• Shallots- 3 nos
• Ginger – 1″
• Garlic – 3 cloves
• Chillies – 3 nos
• Kashmiri chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala – 1/4 tsp
• Chaat masala – 1/4 tsp
• Kasuri methi – 1 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Vegetable oil – 3 tbsp
• Clarified butter or Ghee – 1 tsp
• Jeera powder – 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida – 1/4 tsp

Method:-

1. Cook the lentils with a little salt and water enough to cover the lentils, in a pressure cooker till soft. For me, 2 whistles on high flame and a 5 minutes on sim is done deal.
2. Heat the oil in a kadai. Add the asafoetida powder, followed by the chopped shallots, giner, garlic and chillies. Saute well for 5 minutes.
3. Now add the washed and chopped kale, stir fry for a minute.
4. Add all the spices. Combine well for a minute.
5. Add the cooked dal to this and let it bubble for 3 minutes or until thick. Add salt and water if required.
6. Drizzle the ghee over this and switch off the flame.

Serve with some hot chapathis or plain rice.

Beetroot pachadi

Pachadi is a yogurt based curry/side dish, popular in the southern parts of India. It is based on one vegetable and cucumber, beets, any gourds or fruits like pineapple, papaya et. fit the bill. My favorites are the classic bitter gourd pachadi or the cool cucumber pachadi. Beets are normally not my man’s friend, but hey, he actually tried this!

Ingredients:-

• Beetroot – 4 small cooked
• Ginger – 1″ piece
• Chillies – 1 or 2
• Coconut – grated 1/2 cup
• Salt – to taste
• Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp
• Mustard seed – 2 tsp
• Yogurt – 5 tbsps
• Curry leaves – 4-5 leaves

Method:-

1. Chop the cooked beetroots and put it in the food processor along with the grated coconut, ginger, chillies and 1 tsp of mustard seeds.
2. Blend this into a creamy mixture.
3. In a kadai, heat oil and add the remaining tsp of mustard seeds. Let it splutter.
4. Add the curry leaves and then the mixture into the kadai. Give it a good stir and add the salt to taste.
5. Switch off the flame and add the yogurt and mix well.
6. Ready to serve with some rice and curries.

Since beetroot pachadi seemed a beautiful pink dish to my baby, she loved it. Makes me a happy mum. 🙂

Lemon drizzle cake

My little girl says “Happy to you” whenever she hears ‘cake’ or sees one!! Lol. She firmly believes that a cake means she has got to sing happy birthday to someone. She just loves cakes. So when I made the lemon drizzle cake, she was overjoyed. So was her dada. But my lil’ boy does not have a sweet tooth, so he just went along his way after the first bite. 😉

My mom is my first cooking guru, so obviously, getting her approval is always a big deal (and difficult too at times). But she loved this one!

Ingredients:-

• Self raising flour – 225g
• Butter – 225 g
• Caster sugar – 225g
• Eggs – 4
• Lemon – 2
• Caster sugar – 100g

Method:-

1. Grate zest of a lemon and keep aside.
2. In a large bowl mix together butter, eggs and caster sugar(225g) with a beater.
3. Sift in the flour and keep beating it to a thick consistency.
4. Add the lemon zest and mix it once more.
5. Pour the mixture into a cake tin and bake at 150 C for an hour.
6. Check if the cake is cooked through.
7. Let it cool. Meanwhile, mix together 100g caster sugar and juice of 2 lemon in a cup.
8. Once the cake is cooled down, prick all over the top layer with a fork.
9. With a spoon, drizzle the lemon and sugar mix on the cake. Let the cake absorb it.
10. Ready to serve after the cake has completely cooled down and there is a glaze on top of it.

Daddy and daughter favorite. 🙂