A wholesome lunch >> Chickpeas with soya granules & baby potato curry with Wheat, Oat and Quinoa Roti

 

Ma made this often. She used dried green peas instead of chickpea. My daughter loves chickpea and so does her dad. So decided to use that instead of dried green peas. The soya granules I used here was to give the curry a texture and ‘chicken mince’ like feeling to con my daughter, who refuses to eat anything vegetarian. Of course the health benefits of soya are all well known. Thrilled to say, it worked!

 

 

 

For the curry:

250 gms chickpeas soaked over night and pressure cooked to three whistles

2 Baby potatoes – boiled and peeled (optional)

1 and 1/2 tomatoes or 2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 big onion chopped

1 tablespoon of tamarind soaked in 1/2 cup warm water – with your fingers pulp the tamarind and juice it with the help of a strainer to make half a cup of tamarind juice/pulp.

Soya granules soaked in warm water and squeezed (or as per packet instructions)

1 tablespoon fresh ginger - grated

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon red chilli powder (optional) – I didn’t use because of my li’l one

1 and 1/2 teaspoon Coriander dry powder

salt to taste (approx 1 tsp)

1 inch cinnamon

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon Ajwain or Carum seeds

2 cloves

Oil or ghee – 2 tablespoons

Coriander leaves for garnishing

 

Method:

Heat oil in pan/wok and add bay leaf, cinnamon, carom seeds and cloves. In a few seconds add to this chopped onion and sauté it with ginger  for 2 minutes. Once translucent add tomatoes/tomato paste and sauté more. Add turmeric, chilli, coriander powder and mix well till the tomatoes are soft. Add the soaked soya chunks and mix well. Next add boiled chickpeas and potatoes. Add salt and mix more. Add about 1/2 cup water to this and cover the pan and cook of low flame for 10 minutes. One needs to cook this well for the chickpeas to soak in the masalas. Now, add the tamarind juice to this and cook for 5 minutes more. Check seasoning. Finish with a little bit of Garam masala if you wish. Garnish with coriander leaves before serving with hot rotis.

 

For the Rotis.

Knead 1/2 cup oat bran, 5 tsp quinoa, 1 cup of whole wheat flour into a soft dough and make chapatis or rotis out of it. If you want to make phulkas then don’t add quinoa for the rotis don’t fluff up when put to fire.

 

Voila! Here’s your high fiber, low GI, protein rich lunch ready!

Sasuri’s Doi Maach / Fish in Spicy Yoghurt Sauce

This one is Via Ma-in-law. A little twisted to my liking of course! One of the many reasons I feared marrying a Bengali was the idea of eating fish everyday. I couldn't stand the smell of fish back then. That’s when Ma would make Doi Maach for me, which surprisingly would smell of spices and tasted liked heaven. Ma's version of Doi Maach has green chillies, was sweeter and had no onions. I tried this the other day for Ananya, and she can vouch for this recipe! Well, between us we finished two full fish fillets!!

For the marinade: 500 gms of firm white river fish / fish fillets. Add 1 big cup of yoghurt, 1 –2 bay leaves, 2-3 cardamom pods, 1 inch stick of cinnamon, 2 –3 cloves, 2 pinches of turmeric. Mix all together and put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours at least.

After 2-3 hours, take out the marinated fish.

Step 1: In a small non-stick pan, sauté 1 small grated Onion/paste in 2 table spoons of mustard oil. Add green chillies, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger grated (optional), 1-2 teaspoons of red chilly powder. Sauté till oil separates.

Step 2: Add the marinated fish with spices to the sautéed onion paste in the pan. Coat the fish with the masala. Turn the flame to the low. This is important as Doi Maach is made over very low flame. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and salt to taste.

Cover it and let it simmer over low flame for about 10-12 minutes.

 

After 10-12 minutes, you’ll see the yoghurt has diluted, oil separated and there is enough gravy. If you think you need more gravy just add a little warm water to it. The fish will be cooked by now. Check with a fork if you are unsure. Just before you transfer the fish into a serving bowl, add about 1/2 teaspoon of mustard oil for the flavour.

Serve with piping hot rice!

Bon Appetite!

Top tips: Some make this without red chilly powder, onions and ginger, like Ma. That tastes equally good. Try either, they both have knock out taste!

Just Bake it!

Appu’s Two Tier Chicken & Veggie Bake

This one is a classic. I make it very often. Will post a pic when I bake next.

Ingredients:

1. Veggies of your choice – chopped Medium size. (I use broccoli, potatoes, sweet corn kernels, a few French beans, carrot , Mushrooms and peas)

2. Minced chicken (Chicken Kheema)

3. Any Pasta sauce (Tomato based)

4. White sauce

5. Herbs (basil, oregano)

6. Butter /olive oil

7. Garlic – 1/2 spoon minced

Method for making white sauce:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons  all purpose flour/maida

1-2 cups Milk

Salt

Pepper

Sugar- 2 to three pinches.

Optional: 1/2 cheese cube grated.

Method

1. Melt the butter, add the flour and cook for 2 minutes without browning, stirring continuously.

2. Remove from the heat and add the milk, while mixing it continuously. Mix until smooth. (My mum sometimes uses a hand blender when things go wrong i.e when  the sauce becomes too lumpy- try it, if things go wrong for you too :)

3. Return to heat and cook slowly, stirring throughout until the sauce thickens. Add salt, pepper, sugar and grated cheese (optional)

(The best option is to buy ready white sauce mix :) )

The bake

Take a small wok and pour some olive oil. Add the chopped onions and sauté for a few minutes. Add a portion of garlic and the minced chicken. Add in the Salt and sauté it till the chicken is almost done. Do not brown it. Let the water that the chicken leaves evaporate. Once the water dries up, pour 4 tbs of pasta sauce cook for 2 minutes. Keep this  mixture aside.

In a wok, sauté the veggies in olive oil or butter for a few minutes with garlic and herbs.

If you want to use potatoes then, I suggest you boil them and add to this. Now pour the white sauce into this mixture.

In a baking dish first pour the chicken mixture. Top it with the white sauce and veggie mixture. Grate cheese over it.

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees for 5 minutes. Now place the dish inside the oven and bake it for about 20 minutes- till the sauce thickens and sets. Do not brown the cheese too much.

Once ready, have it with garlic bread and white wine :).

Sunny’s Dhania Chicken

This chuddy buddy of mine, swears he can cook, and cook well. After much deliberation, he shared his secret Dhaniya Chicken recipe- which I have now made public :D. Good food can’t be kept a secret- no no.

Here goes:

(Mayur's/Sunny’s Spl. Dhaniya Chicken)

Ingredients:

1.> 1/2 Kg Chicken
2.> 1 cup Curd
3.> 2 cups chopped Coriander
4.> 5 or more Green Chillies
5.> Ginger-Garlic Paste
6.> Turmeric
7.> Red Chillli Powder
8.> Coriander Powder
9.> Salt
10.> 1/2 Lemon
11.> 1 cup chopped Onions

Method:

Wash the Chicken and then rub a tsp of salt and half a lime and leave for 10 mins
then drain out all liquid and add 2tsp Turmeric and 2tsp Red Chilli Powder and cup of Curd and mix well. Leave for 1/2 hour.

Make a paste of 2 cups chopped coriander and Green Chillies and little water in a blender.

Take a kadai or preferably a Pressure Cooker and heat some oil/butter/ghee.
add cup of chopped Onions and fry till colorless.
Add Coriander Powder and Ginger-Garlic Paste and fry till oil separates.
Add the paste to kadai/cooker and cook till all ingredients mix well.
add Salt to taste, mix. Then add the marinating Chicken.
If in Pressure Cooker, close and wait for 2 whistles or just mix and cook in kadai till chicken is done.
voila! yummy yumm yum!

When you are tired chicken curry

When I  am tired but still want to have chicken:

 

Take 1/2 cup yoghurt, add 2 tsp dhania powder, lots of red chilli powder (coz that’s how i like mine), 1-2 tspGinger garlic paste, garam masala- whatever you’ve got, 1 tsp mustard oil, salt to taste, sugar- 2 pinches, 1/2 kg chicken,1 diced tomato, diced/grated/ground onion. Mix all. keep aside for an hour or two. Then place the mixture on a non stick pan. Ensure the gas is on very low flame. Cover the pan and go watch a film. Take a break in about 20 minutes- check if chicken is done. If yes, add water as desired, add chopped coriander. Cook it for another five minutes. take off the flame. Devour it with hot rice and a green chilli.

 

Hot tip: Add two big potatoes to your marinade. :) No bong food is complete without potatoes.

Thakumaar Maacher Jhaal (Bengali style chilli fish, Grandmom’s recipe)

Poo nudged me yesterday to say this blog was slowly dying. Not as dramatic, but  yes,  she did say that she missed seeing newer posts.  I wonder if she ever ventured into trying out any of the featured recipes here.
I have been meaning to add some fun stuff to this space and go beyond recipes. But just don’t have enough time. Oh, who am I kidding? I have all the time in the world, have just been procrastinating. And before this post turns into a personal rant, here goes my favouritest fish recipe. This one originates from my paternal grandmom- she insisted my mum learnt this recipe and cooked it for her whenever she came visiting. now the recipe is handed down to me.
Ready?
we’ll need -

• 3-5 medium pieces of  white fish- Rohu/katla/or any firm white fish fillet
• 1 BIG tomato – grated (yes grated or pureed. tastes best when freshly pureed)
• 11/2 tsp Jeera powder
• 1 1/2tbsp – garlic –crushed (u need a little more than usual)
• 1 –2 tsp red chilli powder – as per your taste
• 1/2 tsp – Turmeric
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup water
• Coriander leaves for garnish
• Oil- 4 tbsp

Method:
Rub, salt and turmeric to the fish and keep aside for 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix the tomato puree, garlic, jeera powder and salt. Mix it well and set aside.
In a pan heat oil, and shallow fry the fish. Take them out when they turn  light brown on both sides. Set aside .Do not fry it too crisp.
Add the tomato mixture to the remaining oil in the pan. on medium flame cook it, till oil separates. Add the  fried fish to this and coat the fish with the masala. Now add  water. Cover with lid and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chopped coriander. Serve with hot steamed rice.
Its a very very simple recipe, which can be made in parties too. I guarantee you at least 5 compliments when u serve this!
Hot tips: DO NOT add dhania powder and ginger. It changes the taste. For more masala, double the tomato puree , jeera and garlic.  Do not add too much water to the gravy. Follow this recipe to the t. :)

My dinner these days

I got to lose weight. That's the only mantra, the only aim, the only thing on my mind. And its surprisingly working. Thought i should share part of my secret diet. The dinner. I am the hungriest at dinner time. I used to gorge and that is the worst time of the day to eat anything. It just sits in your tummy, and the metabolic rate is the slowest at that hour. So i totally avoid any form of carb.

Here's what i eat:

1. Carrot, Bean and peas soup.

2. Mixed herby sauted cruncy veggies - with chicken sausages

 

And trust me, this tastes as good as it sounds. :)

Here's how you make it.

 

Carrot, bean and peas soup:

 

Ingredients:

2 carrots

150 gms french beans

fist full of peas

1/4 cup slim milk

1/4 teaspoon olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 chopped onion

Fresh Basil (optional)

salt and a pinch of sugar

pepper

Method: Pressure cook the veggies. Cool it. In a pan add some olive oil and add the chopped garlic cloves. Add chopped onions and saute for half a minute. Add this to the boiled veggies. Put this mixture in a blender and puree it.

Take the pan, add a little olive oil/butter (v v v v little, mind it!), add 2-3 spoons of puree to it. Add milk, salt and sugar and some water as per your desired consistency. Bring it to a boil. Add basil leaves and sprinkle pepper and turn of fire.

 

Pour it in a pretty looking soup bowl. Sit in front of the TV, switch on a Shahrukh movie, enjaaaaaaaaay the soup!

U can store the rest of the puree in an air tight container in the fridge and use the paste as and when u want to.

 

2. Mixed herby sauted crunchy veggies - with chicken sausages

 

Ingredients:

Veggies of your choice

I use:

Red, yellow, green bell peppers, mushrooms, baby corns, sprouts, carrots, beans, broccoli

1 chicken sausage or 4-5 peices of boiled boneless chicken (don't add more than this- u are on a diet remember?)

Oregano

Fresh basil

Thai chilli stir fry sauce (u get this sauce EVERYWHERE)

salt n pepper

Chopped garlic

1 tsp Olive oil

Method:

Heat olive oil in pan, and add the garlic and boiled chicken pieces/sausages. let it brown a little, add the rest of the veggies. On medium flame saute it for a while, add 2 teaspoons of the stir fry sauce, herbs and salt. Keep stirring for about 3 minutes. Let them remain crunchy - don't over cook..it kills the flavour and semi cooked stuff is good for u :).

Transfer this to a pretty white square porcelain plate.  Place a basil on top for the added effect. Attack!

Alternate this with any sauce u like- mustard is good too...but a wee bit fattening :). try the kickass organic varieties u get in Fab India.

If you are very very very very hungry, add a slice of brown bread/multi grain bread. But i think a big cuppa soup and veggies, should fill u up!

Chingri Macher Malai Curry (Shrimps/Prawns in Creamy Coconut Milk)

This one's an absolute favourite when people come over. I dont eat prawns, but love cooking this dish because it ALWAYS fetches me a ton of compliments. Try it!

 

Ingredients:

1. 250 gms of medium sized prawns- shelled and de-veined (actually, the bigger, the better :))
2. 1 Onion, diced
3. 1 spoon ginger and garlic paste
4. 1 cup of thick coconut milk
5. 1/2 spoon chilli powder
6. 3 slit green chillies
7. 1/4 tsp turmeric
8. salt to taste
9. 1 spoon of lime juice
10. 1/4 tsp sugar
11. 1 tsp tomato ketchup
12. 4 tbsp Ghee (please do not compromise on this one!)
13. Garam Masala Powder - (coarsely pounded cinnamon, clove and cardamom ( dalchini, labongo, elaichi)

 

Method:

• Clean the prawns, add the turmeric and lime juice to it, toss it, keep aside for 10 minutes (be sure to drain out all the excess water before adding the juice and turmeric)
• In a pan, pour 2 tbsps ghee, once its heated, add the prawns to it.
• Stir fry the prawns for exactly half a  minute. Be careful not to over do/fry it, else it gets rubbery. Just wait till the prawns turn a beautiful pink, and u are on the rt path!
• keep the prawns aside.
• Add the remaining two tbsp of ghee and add the diced onions to it.
• Add the green chillies
• Saute till it turns translucent. Add ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, a pinch of turmeric, salt and saute till the ghee separates
• Add the prawns to the masala in the pan and saute a little bit
• Now add the coconut milk and see the beautiful- orangish pick colour unfold.
• Add sugar and tomato ketchup.
• On medium flame bring it to a boil. Add the garam masala powder.
• Serve hot with steamed rice.

 

This one's a fav of my mil and mum, both. Actually everyone who loves prawns and has dined at my place! Try it and lemme know, ok?

(Made this on Sunday, but forgot to click a picture :(. Will put up one soon.)

Tina's kick-ass Dum Biryani

I have been over the moon since last night. I never embark upon this biryani recipe ever, simply coz its painfully lengthy. But the longweekend, and Raj's puppy like- feed -me- with- tumhare- haat- ka- khana- and not -the- maid's  look, prompted me to try it out. And the end result was totally rewarding. here's what you need:

1 kg Chicken (try and get a chunk of leg piece) and use some boneless too

500 gms dahi

1 bunch of coriander and mint leaves each (ground to a paste)

1 1/2 kgs onions (yea, u need it baby) (5 onions cut, deep fired to brown, and ground to a paste). The rest of the onions, deep fried and keep aside.

3 1/2 cups of basmati rice

500 gms ghee

1/2 teaspoon of saffron (i know its as expensive as gold)

1/2 cup milk

garam Masala (cinnamon, cloves shajeera, pinch of nutmeg, ground to a powder)

few whole garam masala kept aside too.

4 -5 juicy lemons

3 1/2 to 4 table spoons of ginger garlic paste

Salt to taste

 

Utensils required: a heavy bottom wide mouth degchi and a tawa 

The preparation starts a day early. The more u marinate, the better the result. No short cuts to this.

For the marinade on day 1:

Take the chicken , clean and cut to the size u want. A few chunky pieces are good. To that, add the dahi, ground deep friend onion paste, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, garam masala powder, 3 table spoons of ghee. Mix well and refrigerate it. This needs to be marinated for at least 24 hours.

Day 2:

Take the marinate off the fridge an hour before u being the cooking.

Place the tawa on the slow burner at minimum flame. Above that the degchi, add two tablespoons of ghee, to that add the whole garam masala, let it crackle. Place the marinated chicken. Cover the degchi. forget about it for 2.5 hours :). Actually in between, u could open the lid and stir it a wee bit.

Note: no salt to be added now. This is the secret to succulent chicken.

Half an hour before the 2.5 hours, soak the basmati rice.

The cooking has to be done on extremely show flame. after about 2.5 hours you will see the oil separated from the chicken and even the gravy reduced to half.

In a vessel take 8 cups of water and add a teaspoon of shahjeera to it. Once it starts boiling add the soaked basmati rice to it and cook it for about 5-6 minutes/parboil it. Please note that the rice must be only cooked 3/4th its normal softness. The rest will be cooked on DUM.

 

Drain the water and keep the rice aside.

The saffron must be soaked in hot milk for about 5-6 minutes.

Now start the layering. For each layer- first add the chicken gravy, then a bed of rice, a teaspoon of ghee , saffron with milk, and deep fried onion. The last layer should be of rice, topped with the  saffron, onions and ghee.

Now, take a damp cloth and tie cover it round the degchi. Add some kneaded ata to seal the lid.

Cook on dum for about one hour.

They say when the 'aroma' of the biryani goes into all the rooms, the biryani is ready :)

Mix before serving, with raita of your choice.

Lengthy but, very very satisfying.

The pics u see are of the biryani i made last evening .

Hilsa Fish in mustard sauce / Shorshe bata maach

This one is for all the bongs and their humongous appetite for fish and mustard. Shorshe bata maach is also my husband's favourite. Since I am not a fish eater (I know, what a pseudo east Indian), I enjoy only the Mustard sauce with rice.

So lets get set to make this super simple and ready-in-minutes Bengali dish.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 kg Hilsa fish cut to medium peices (u can make it with your favourite rohu or katla fish. Please don't as me the English equivalent of those bong names)

2. 1 heaped table spoon of mustard soaked in a bowl of water for 10 minutes

3. 3-4 green chillies

4. 1/4 teaspoon kala jeera /Black Cumin seeds

5. Tomatoes - 1-2 - chopped

5. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

6. Salt to taste

7. Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method: Smear a little bit of salt and turmeric to the cut fish and set aside for five minutes. Shallow fry for just about 2 minutes. Please note not to over fry it. It destroys the taste and softness of the fish. Set aside.

Add two green chillies to the soaked mustard and make a paste out of it in the grinder. Once done, strain it with a little bit of extra water.

IN a heated pan pour 2 teaspoons of oil, add the black cumin seeds, slit green chillies and let it crackle. Add the chopped tomatoes and wait till it softens and gets mashed completely. Add the fried fish to this and stir for a few seconds. To this, add the strained mustard paste. Add a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste. Cover the pan and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes. Add the coriander leaves and serve it hot with steamed rice.

Tip: just before taking the pan off the fire add half a teaspoon of mustard oil to the curry. Yummmm.

Ketchup girl's favourite recipe

J darling, your frantic chatting, scrapping, calling smsing for the sake of a recipe has prompted me to create this blog. I already know I will devour each and every word that i write :). Simply because, i love eating more than I love my husband. Well, that's just a kind of comparison to express my love for food...the statement MIGHT not hold the entire truth.

So then, I open out to the world, my secret and most favorite recipe: Spinach( Palak) Mushroom/babycorn/paneer(cottage cheese)/tofu/Alu/sweetcorn - take your pick.

Ingredients required:

- 2 bunches of Palak (Spinach)
- 1 medium sized chopped Onion
- 5 table spoons Milk
- 1 teaspoon fresh Cream (Optional)
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- Pinch of Amchoor
- 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric (a little lesser actually)
- Salt to taste9. Your choice of combination: paneer/sweet corn/mushroom/tofu etc.
- 2 teaspoons Oil

- Sugar - to taste (about two pinches)

-Dried fenugreek leaves (Kasuri Methi) - optional.

- chilli powder

- garam masala Powder

Method:

Wash the spinach thoroughly and place in a pan on low fire. Cover pan with lid and leave for 5 minutes. Open to find the spinach reduced to half and steamed. Place the spinach in cold water (retains the beautiful green colour). Leave for sometime. Drain water and puree the palak in a grinder.

Chop mushrooms/paneer- your choice of whatever, and keep aside. In a pan, add oil and add the onions to it, stir and wait till it turns translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for half a minute. To that add turmeric, chillipowder, salt and dried fenugreek leaves. saute. Add the mushrooms and saute further . Add the spinach paste and about 1/4 cup water. To that add sugar, milk, Amchoor powder and bring it to boil. Add water according to the consistency you like.

 

Top it with Garam Masala Powder and Fresh cream. If you have used paneer, garnish with grated paneer or place two roasted red chillies for the glamorous- hotel like food look!

Tastes best with rotis and a mug of chilled KF beer.

Ketchup Girl's extra advice: Puree the spinach and store it in Fridge. Use it when you are in absolute hurry. It takes exactly 6 minutes to make this if puree is ready.