ALOO JEERA

Aloo jeera is one of the easiest dishes to prepare when there is a lack of time, it is a flavorful and delicious dish of potatoes and cumin seeds, hardly takes time to cook. This is so easy that a beginner can also try.

Ingredients :

1. Potatoes - 2 big
2. Jeera / cumin seeds - 1 tsp
3. Ghee - 2 tsp
4. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
5. Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp (optional)
6. Green chilli - 1-2
7. Salt as per taste
8. Hing - a pinch (optional)
9. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Amchur powder or Lemon juice 
12. Fresh Coriander leaves - for garnishing (optional)

Process:

1. Boil the potatoes until cooked and not mushy. You can cut the potatoes into cubes and then boil also. I have boiled them first and then cut into cubes. 

2. Add ghee in a hot pan, add jeera and fry on a low heat until they smell good. Add green chilli and ginger paste and give a good stir. Both chilli and ginger is optional, you can skip them. Fry them until a nice aroma comes out. Add salt and hing (you can skip hing also if you dont link it. 

3. Reduce the flame to low and add chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder and mix well. Sprinkle amchur powder and add 1 or 2 tsp water and mix well ensuring the spices do not burn.

4. Once the spice powder blends well with water and thickens, add potatoes and toss them gently. Cover and cook with low flame for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt is required. Remove from flame.

Sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves if you want to, or add some lemon juice. Aloo Jeera is ready to serve. You can have them as a snack, or with Dal rice or with Roti. 

MALAI MUTTON

The most essential part of a well-balanced diet is food. And If you have ample time to spend in the kitchen, you can do many experiments. Here is my experiment with Mutton this weekend. The best combo to serve with Malai Mutton is paratha or roti, though we had with Egg fried rice. The outcome of this curry recipe is a silky smooth tender dish which is super yummy. 

Ingredients:

1. Mutton - 300 gram

2. Lemon juice - 2 tsp

3. Curd - 1/2 cup

4. Malai / cream - 3 tsp

5. Elaichi (green) powder - 1 tsp

6. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

7. Garam masala - 1 tsp

8. Coriander leaves (fresh) - for garnishing

9. Salt to taste

10. Onion - 2 (paste)

11. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

12. Oil - 2 tsp

Process:

1. Marinate mutton pieces with lemon juice and salt and keep aside for 2 hours. After that add curd, ginger garlic paste, elaichi powder and and again keep aside for 4-5 hours. (If you are planning for lunch menu, you can leave the marination overnight also).

2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add jeera. When splutters, add the marinated mutton, cover and simmer until tender.

3. Meanwhile in a separate pan, add 1/2 tsp oil, and add onion paste, ginger garlic paste and garam masala, and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, and add this masala paste to the mutton pa. Mix well and let it cook til the mutton is tender.

4. Once done, add fresh cream to the gravy and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

SABUDANA VADA

Sabudana vada is a popular crisp fried snack made with tapioca pearls (sago). It's a popular Maharashtrian snack that is eaten not only as a tea time snack but also as a fasting.  It is served with sweet yogurt. I keep on seeing people in my office used to have this as "a whole day meal" when they are fasting, and was always wondering "Fast me log khana kyun khate hai". Being a bong, I have always observed this in my family, we do not eat anything while fasting. Different people follow different cultures.

But these Sabudana vada are not too shabby, nothing too fancy and super easy to make, all you need to do is soak the sabudana overnight in water. Here is my recipe after my first experiment with these yummy vada's.  

Ingredients:

1. Sabudana (Tapioca pearls or sagu)- 1/2 cup (soaked over night)

2. Potato - 2 (boiled & mashed)

3. Salt to taste

4. Peanuts 1/4 cup (you can also skip this if not available)

5. Green chilli - 1 (finely chopped)

6. Fresh coriander leaves - 1 tsp (finely chopped)

7. Lemon juice - 1 tsp (optional)

8. Flour - 1 tsp (optional)

9. Cumin or Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Process:

1. To start with, if you are using peanuts, roast them until golden and aromatic in a frying pan and let them cool completely. Then grind to a coarse powder. Keep aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together soaked sabudana, boiled and mashed potatoes, peanuts, green chillies, salt, cumin or fennel seeds (whichever you are using) and coriander leaves. Add lemon juice (optional) and mix them well.

2. Make small balls and then slightly flatten to make the vada. Do not make them too thin as they may break.

3. Heat oil in a pan and start frying them on medium flame, once they are golden and crisp, remove the flame.

4. Serve hot with sweet curd or any chutney of your choice.

GREEN CHUTNEY

Green chutney - fresh, sweet and spicy and goes so well with pakodas, kebabs, samosas, cutlets, fritters or even as a spread on sandwiches. This is one of the healthiest chutney which is used as a side with Indian cuisine. Its a very staple chutney you might have seen in restaurants or you might have tried at home. There are so may variations to this chutney. Here is the simple and easy version of my recipe. 

Ingredients:

1. Coriander leaves / Dhania - 2 cup (chopped)

2. Mint leaves / Pudina - 1 cup (chopped)

3. Green chilli - adjust as per your taste

4. Ginger - 1 inch 

5. Lemon Juice - 1 tsp 

6. Salt to taste

7. Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Process:

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender jar. 

2. Make a thick paste by adding 1 tsp water and blending until smooth. 

3. Adjust salt, lemon juice and chilli to suit your taste.

4. Store in a clean dry airtight glass jar.

Note : you can keep this green chutney in refrigerator and use for about a week.

MANGO JAM

A delicious homemade mango jam, perfect for the mango season. The temperatures are soaring and there are mangoes to make your life beautiful. Be it raw mangoes or sweet ripe mangoes, the dishes one can make are innumerable. So here is a simple and easy recipe of mango jam. You can simply store it in the refrigerator. Either way, mango jam is the perfect way to preserve mangoes.

Ingredients :

1. Ripe mango - 1 big (grated 1 cup)
2. sugar - 1 cup
3. Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Salt - a small pinch

Process:

1. Wash and peel the raw mangoes, grate them using the fine grater option.
2. In a pan, take the grated mango, add sugar and a pinch of salt and bring it to heat on low flame. 
3. After 3-4 minutes the sugar starts caramelizing, see the change in color. Add cardamom powder. Keep stirring and scraping the sides also.
4. When the sugar has been completely absorbed and there is still moisture the jam is done. See the consistency and the thick syrup.
5. Let it cool, store in a glass jar and use as required.

Try out this amazing and simple jam and trust me everyone will love this.

RAJMA CHAWAL

Rajma-Chawal ~ A fat free and delicious curry made by simmering red kidney beans in onion-tomato masala, spices and herbs. This is the answer when you are in the mood for some simple, healthy and flavourful meal.

Ingredients:

1. Rajma (kidney beans) -- 1 cup (soaked over night, drained & rinsed)

2. Tomato - 1/2 cup puree

3. Onion - 2 (finely chopped)

4. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp

5. Oil as required

6. Salt to taste

7. Dry red chilli - 2

8. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

9. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

10. Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp

11. Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

12. Rajma Masala - 1 tsp

13. Hing - a pinch

14. Green chilli - 2 (slit)

15. Kashmiri red chili powder - 1/2 tsp

16. Coriander leaves - finely chopped 

Process:

1. In a pressure cooker, add rinsed rajma, required salt with 2-3 cups of water. Cook up to 2-3 whistle and then reduce the flame and cook for another 15 minutes and remove from the flame. 

2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan / kadhai and add cumin seeds and hing (asafoetida). Add finely chopped onion and saute them till they becomes light brown in colors, and then add ginger garlic paste, tomato puree and cook for 5 minutes on low flame.

3. Now add all the powder spices and salt as required, and mix well. Add boiled rama along with water, you can mash some of the rajma to give the gravy a body..

4. Stir it and let it cook for 15 minutes on low flame. Add garam masala powder before switching off the flame. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and onion rings before serving.

Serve hot with steamed rice or Jeera rice.

Butter Chicken

Butter chicken has gained much popularity across the globe, paired with naan or chapati is a delight that most Indians love during their restaurant visits. When I tried, here is the result...

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken : 250 gram boneless

Tomato -  3 to 5 chopped

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Kasmiri red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Whole garam masala 

Salt to taste

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Butter

Oil

Kasoori Methi

PROCESS:

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with ginger and garlic paste, salt and kashmiri chilli powder and keep in refrigerator for half an hour.
2. After half an hour, in a nonstick pan, add oil and fry chicken pieces and saute till chicken is cooked. Set aside.
3. In the frying pan, add 2 tsp oil and add chopped garlic and tomato, saute for 7-8 minutes, cool down and grind to a smooth paste. 
4. Now, heat a pan, add 1 tsp oil and two pieces of butter, add whole garam masala and saute,, add that tomato paste, kashmiri chilli powder, salt to taste, ginger garlic paste, mix well and let it cook for 10-15 minutes in low flame. Add the fried chicken, cover the pan and let it look for 5-10 mins on low heat.
5. After 10 min, open the lid and add 1 tsp sugar, garam masala powder and fresh cream, stir properly so that the the cream mix well with the chicken.
6. Sprinkle some kasoori methi when the chicken gravy is ready. Garnish with some more fresh cream.

PEPPER CHICKEN or POLLO CON PEPERONI

A classic Roman dish, Pollo Con Peperoni(Chicken and pepper) is a simple dish to cook and tastes extremely satisfying. This is my version of this historical dish. A delight for your taste buds. Go ahead , give it a try!

    
 Ingredients: (for 1 kg chicken)

1. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
2. Black Pepper (crushed)- 1 tbsp
3. White Vinegar- 2 tbsp
4. Garlic Cloves - 10-12
5. Red Bell Pepper (Diced) - 1
6. Yellow Bell Pepper (Diced) - 1
7. Green  Bell Pepper (Diced)  - 1
8. Cherry Tomatoes – 10-12
9. Onion (Medium) - 2
10. Spring Onions - 2
11. Chicken - 1 Kilo
12. White Rum – 4 tbsp
13. Salt to taste
14. Olive Oil/Refined Oil – 2 tbsp

Process:

1. Marinate the chicken for 45 min adding salt to taste, crushed black pepper, ginger garlic paste and white vinegar.

2. Heat the oil in a wok/kadhai. Add garlic cloves and let it burn till golden brown.

3. Add chopped onions and sauté for 5 min. 

4. Add red, yellow and green bell pepper to it along with cherry tomatoes. Cook for 5 min.

5. Next, add the marinated chicken.

6. Add 4 tbsp white rum and mix well.

7. Cover with a lid and let it cook till the chicken comes to boil.

8. Once boiled, add chopped spring onions and cook for another 2 min.

9. Serve hot!