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Showing posts with the label Food

It can't get any greener than this

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Spinach belongs to the class of vegetables that is not so liked by everyone, like broccoli. Made as it is, it makes for somewhat bitter taste. Change it's form, it is loved by everyone A famous Indian dish is Palak panneer (spinach and indian cotage cheese). This dish is again a staple dish in Indian restaurants all over the world. I am making a variation here with potatoes instead of the Indian cottage cheese. Ingredients: 1. Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon 2. Fenugreek seeds - 1 tablespoon 3. Sliced green chillies - 2 4. Vegetable oil - 3-4 tablespoon 5. Chopped onion - 1 7. Diced potatoes - 2 8. Salt - 1 teaspoon (or to taste) 9. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon 10. Chopped spinach / palak - 2 bunches 11. Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon 12. Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon 13. Chilli powder - 1/4 teaspoon 14. Coriander leaves - 1 bunch 15. Chopped tomatoes - 1 16. Cold milk / fresh cream - 1/2 cup Recipe: 1. Heat oil in a pan. 2. Add the cu

Lunch for the lasses

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Last weekend, one of my wife's friends came over visiting. Needless to say I had to endure a weekend of gossiping and giggling. While they went about gallivanting around town, the task of cooking lunch was left to me. So, I had the house to myself, which is not a bad thing. I have two recipes to write about. One is a very easy ghee rice and the other is a basic egg curry. Ingredients: 1. Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon 2. Cloves - 4 3. Sliced green chillies - 1 4. Vegetable oil - 3-4 tablespoon 5. Ghee / clarified butter - 3-4 tablespoons! 6. Cinnamon sticks - 1-2 teaspoon 7. Green peas - 1 cup 8. Salt - 1 teaspoon (or to taste) 9. Ginger strips - 4 10. Sliced carrot (juliennes) - 1 11. Pepper - 2 12. Basmati rice - 4 cups 13. Water - 8 cups 14. Coriander leaves - 1 bunch 15. Mace - 1 Recipe: 1. I used an electric cooker to make this dish. 2. Except the rice and coriander, add all the ingredients into the cooker. Saute for a few minutes. 3

Mother of all dishes

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Perhaps, this should have been my first recipe in this blog - Maa ki dal. That's what the dish is called in some places, honest! It happens to be the first dish I learnt from my mom. And it is also my favourite dish of all times. I can eat it 3 times a day, 7 days a week, for all the weeks of my life! So, it is really the mother of all dishes (pun intended!). It is an quite easy dish to make and a perfect side dish for chappatis. Some probably find it a bit bland. Ingredients: 1. Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon 2. Chopped onion - 1 3. Sliced green chillies - 1 4. Vegetable oil - 3-4 tablespoon 5. Diced tomato - 1 6. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon 7. Toor / Moong daal (Yellow lentils) - 1 cup 8. Salt - 1 teaspoon (or to taste) 9. Garlic cloves - 4 Recipe: 1. In a pan, heat the vegetable oil. 2. Add the cumin seeds, green chillies, garlic and onions. Saute for a few minutes. 3. Add the diced tomatoes. Continue sauteing until all vegetables are mashed toge

A rustic pizza

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This recipe is a bit of a cheat. I don't make all the ingredients, especially the pizza base and the sauce. But, it's good for a quick week day dinner or weekend too if you are feeling lazy. It's also a great way to make kids eat vegetables they don't like, like spinach, broccoli etc. Ingredients: 1. Sliced Red and yellow bell peppers - 1 each 2. Cut onion rings - 1 3. Crushed black pepper - 1 tablespoon 4. Basil - 1 teaspoon 5. Oregano - 1 teaspoon 6. Rosemary - 1 teaspoon 7. Pasta / pizza sauce - 2-3 tablespoon 8. Olive oil - 2-3 tablespoon 9. Salt - 1 teaspoon (or to taste) 10. Pizza bread - 2 11. Mozarella cheese - 10 slices 12. Corn - 1 cup 13. Cut spinach - 1 Recipe: 1. In a pan, heat the olive oil. 2. Add the bell peppers, corn, spinach and onion. Saute for a few minutes. 3. Add the rosemary, oregano, basil and black pepper and saute for a few more minutes. 4. Add the pasta/pizza sauce and let it simmer for a coupl

Fish as you like

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Here is a simple recipe for fish. I just seems to have fallen in love with fennel seeds. They taste and smell great. They are great for preventing flu! Ingredients: 1. Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon 2. Fennel seeds - 1 tablespoon 3. Pepper corns - 1 tablespoon 4. Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon 5. Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon 6. Water - 1/4 cup 7. Seer fish (Indo-pacific Mackerel) - 2 fillets 8. Vegetable oil - 3-4 tablespoon 9. Salt - 1 teaspoon (or to taste) Recipe: 1. Grind the pepper corns, cumin and fennel seeds in a food processor. 2. Mix the above powder with turmeric, chilli powder and salt with some water. 3. Coat the fish fillets on both sides and let it marinate for 15-20 minutes. 4. Add the oil in a pan and heat it. 5. Shallow fry the fish until they are brown on both sides. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. 6. You can have the fish with mint or mayonnaise dip. Tip: If not Mackerel, try this recipe with salmon. Happy cooking

A staple chutney

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This is a chutney which goes well with any south indian dish like idli, dosa, upma etc. It has been a life savior on many weekdays when I need to make a quick dinner. I think my fastest time was around 10 minutes! Ingredients: 1. Chopped onions - 1 2. Chopped green chillies - 1 3. Chopped garlic - 4 4. Chopped tomatoes - 1 5. Mustard seeds - 1 tablespoon 6. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon 7. Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon 8. Vegetable oil - 3 teaspoon 9. Salt - 1 teaspoon (or to taste) 10. Chopped coriander / curry leaves 11. Asafoetida powder - a pinch 12. Broken urad dal - 1 teaspoon Recipe: 1. Heat the oil in a kadai. 2. Add the chopped onions, mustard seeds, broken urad daal and green chillies and fry for a few minutes until the onions are golden brown. 3. Add the chopped garlic and asafoetida powder. 4. Add tomatoes and fry until everything is mashed. 5. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. 6. Let the dish cool and grind into a thic

A bean I love

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I usually hate beans, but there is one which is a favourite. It's called Rajma in India, otherwise known as red kidney beans. A great dish to be had with both rice or chappatis. It is a famous Punjabi dish which is found in Indian restaurants in India and all over the world. Ingredients: 1. Chopped onions - 1 2. Chopped green chillies - 2 3. Ginger & garlic paste - 1 tablespoon 4. Chopped tomatoes - 1 5. Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon 6. Fenugreek seeds - 1 teaspoon 7. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon 8. Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon 9. Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon 10. Rajma powder (from MDH or Everest) - 1 tablespoon 11. Vegetable oil - 4 teaspoon 12. Salt - 1 teaspoon (or to taste) 13. Chopped coriander 14. Cooked Red Kidney beans / Rajma - 1 Cup Recipe: 1. Heat the oil in a kadai. 2. Add one of the chopped onions, cumin, fenugreek seeds and green chillies and fry for a few minutes until the onions are golden brown. 3. Add the ginger garlic p

A dish for all seasons

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Rasedar is a quintessential bengali dish. Perfect for a dinner with chappatis and quite easy to make. Ingredients: 1. Chopped onions - 2 2. Chopped green chillies - 2 3. Ginger & garlic paste - 1 tablespoon 4. Chopped tomatoes - 1 5. Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon 6. Fenugreek seeds - 1 teaspoon 7. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon 8. Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon 9. Vegetable oil - 4 teaspoon 10. Salt - 1 teaspoon (or to taste) 11. Cauliflower cut into florets - 1 12. Chopped coriander Recipe: 1. Heat the oil in a kadai. 2. Add one of the chopped onions, cumin, fenugreek seeds and green chillies and fry for a few minutes until the onions are golden brown. 3. Add the ginger garlic paste. 4. Grind the remaining onions and tomatoes into a thick paste. 5. Add the cauliflower florets to the kadai and fry them. 6. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Continue stirring until the cauliflower is softened. 7. Add the onion and tomato paste to the

A zimple pulao

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Apologies to the malayalis all over the world, but it really is zimple. ;) Ingredients: 1. Chopped onions - 1 2. Chopped green chillies - 4 3. Ginger & garlic paste - 1 teaspoon 4. Chopped tomatos - 1 5. Cardamom - 3 6. Bayleaf - 1 7. Star anise - 1 8. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon 9. Soya nuggets - a dozen 10. Chopped carrot - 1 11. Grean peas - 100 gms 12. Vegetable oil - 4 teaspoon 13. Salt - 1 teaspoon (or to taste) 14. Basmati rice - 2 cups Recipe: 1. Heat the oil in a kadai. 2. Fry the onions, bayleaf, star anise, cardamom and green chillies for a few minutes. 3. Add the ginger garlic paste. 4. Add the tomatos. Add a cup of water and continue to stir. 5. Add the carrots, soya nuggets and peas. 6. Add turmeric powder and salt. Continue stirring until the vegetables are softened. 7. In an electric cooker, add 2 cups of rice and water. Add the above mixture and start cooking the rice. 8. As in most electric cookers, let the ri

Fastest and hottest chutney from the East!

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This is the recipe for an indian chilli chutney. No cooking required. Ingredients 1. Red Chillies (round or long stemmed) – 10 to 15 2. Garlic cloves – 3 to 4 3. Salt – 1 teaspoon (or to taste) 4. Tamarind paste – 1 teaspoon (or to taste) Instructions 1. Boil 100 – 200 ml of water. 2. Soak the red chillies in the boiled water for 5 to 10 minutes. 3. Remove the red chillies after they are softened. 4. Grind the red chillies, garlic cloves, salt and tamarind paste in a small food processor container until it becomes a coarse paste. 5. Suitable for idli, dosai or uppuma. Serve with oil if required. Tip: Keep aside lots of water to drink when you eat this! Happy cooking and eating.