I Cook This Way

Holud Mishti Polao (Yellow Sweet Pulao)

2011-11-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

Holud mishti polao or sweet yellow pulao is an authentic Bengali pulao/ rice preparation that goes very well with non-vegetarian items like chicken or mutton. It is a main course dish, and can be prepared very easily. When I wanted to make holud mishti pulao, I searched the net and came up with quite a few versions of recipe for the same. I took cue from all of them and cooked it my way, as follows:

Ingredients:

Fine Basmati Rice - 2 cups (serves 3-4)
Water- take exact measure as defined in your brand of Basmati packet. The amount generally varies from 2-2 1/2 cups of water per cup of rice.
Turmeric -1/2 tsp
Sugar - 7 -8 tsp
Whole Garam Masala - Cardamom, Cinnamon and Clove
Bay Leaves- 2
Cashew nuts- a handful
Raisins- a handful
Glazed cherries- cut into quarters for decoration
Ghee- 2-3 tbsp
A pinch of Salt
Nutmeg and Mace powder- a pinch

Procedure:

Wash well the Basmati rice. Mix turmeric powder and sugar to the washed rice and keep aside for about 15 minutes.
Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. When the fragrance comes out, add the whole garam masala. Fry until the aroma spreads.
Add the cashew nuts and raisins and fry until brown.
Add the turmeric and sugar smeared rice, and exact amount of water as directed in your brand of Basmati rice.
Add a pinch of salt.
Cover and cook on medium flame until the water is soaked completely /rice is cooked.
Sprinkle the mace and nutmeg powders and decorate with glazed cherries.
Serve hot with your a Bengali chicken or mutton preparation.

Bhaiphonta

2011-10-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

This year, bhai phonta/ bhatridwitiya /bhaidooj was a special occasion for me, as my brother was home for the celebration after an eight year break. It's not that I do not celebrate bhaiphonta without him, but this year I felt more like celebrating. So I decided on a simple menu, because it is not possible to have elaborate arrangements when working single-handed. The menu included Holud Mishti Pulao (Yellow Sweet pulao), Rui Machher Roast (Roasted Rohu), Chicken Kosha (Chicken in thick gravy), Amshotto-khejurer chutney ( Chutney made with Mango-pulp cakes, dates and raisins), Rasamalai and Payesh. It turned out that the pulao was something that my brother liked very much. He also enjoyed the other treats. My other cousin who had come also enjoyed all the stuffs a lot. The rasamalai was the only item that did not come out quite perfect!

(In haste, the photograph was taken using the mobile phone camera, so no complaints about the quality please! :) )

Junglee Pulao

2011-08-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

I got the idea of Junglee Pulao from About.com's Indian Food Guide. I did not follow the recipe as exact, rather did it my way. The result was a tasty one pot meal, easy to cook and good to eat, especially on a rainy monsoon afternoon. The recipe given below will make enough pulao for four.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Hot water - 5 cups (21/2 cups of water for each cup of rice)
Whole Black Cardamom-2
Star Anise-2
Bay Leaves-2
Cinnamon stick -1" long -1
Mixed vegetables of your choice (carrot, bean, potato, capsicum etc - cut into small pieces)
Chicken - 350 grams , cut into small pieces (you can add more if you want more chicken in your pulao)
Vinegar-4tsp
Ginger-Garlic Paste- 2tsp
Tandoori Masala- 2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder
Salt
Sugar
Vegetable Oil - 3tsp
Ghee- 1 tsp
Onion- 2-3 medium size, slivered
Green chilli- 2, cut into small pieces
Cashew and Raisins- a handful

Procedure:

Marinate the chicken pieces in a mixture of vinegar, ginger-garlic paste, tandoori masala, and a bit of salt. (I left it overnight)
Wash well and soak the Basmati rice in water for 15-20 minutes.
Heat Oil and Ghee in a heavy bottomed pan/ kadai.
When the oil is heated, add the whole spices - Black Cardamom, Star Anise, Bay Leaves and Cinnamon
Add the onions. Fry until golden.
Add ginger-garlic Paste. Fry well.
Add the vegetables and stir fry well.
Gradually add the chicken pieces. Mix well and cook the vegetables and chicken for sometime (until they are half done)
Add the rice, and pour the warm water.
Cover the pan with a lid, and cook on medium flame for 10 minutes or until the water is completely dried up and the rice is cooked.
Sprinkle Garam masala powder and shake well the pan.
Serve hot with salad.

Doesn't Exist!!

2010-09-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

After many days I remembered by blog today, and I found blogger saying -the blog does not exist!! This is surely another warning from the Blogger team - if you just create a blog and then forget it, then Blogger will also forget you.

So here, I am back again...i shall make some update to my existing posts.

It is not that I am not cooking or have not been cooking the last few months, but to tell the truth, I am bogged with so many other things, that I am just not finding time to keep by blogs updated. It does not take much time really, if I do a bit each day, but doing that bit also never seem to happen :(

Anyway, am back today again, will try to update the blog a bit.

Mixed Vegetable Soup

2010-07-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Moong Dal Halwa

2010-07-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

Neem Begun

2010-07-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

I put up the photograph above in March or April I presume, but the content is being written finally on a cloudy September morning. Neem Begun (নিম-বেগুন) - the concoction of Neem leaves and brinjal/aubergine fried together is one of my favourite bitter dishes .
Neem (Azadirachta indica) , from the ancient days, have been a powerhouse of antibacterial, anti-fungal and ant-inflammatory properties. The Neem tree is regarded as the village doctor in India. It can cure skin diseases, digestive problems, teeth problem ... infact, Neem seems to have a certain level of curative capability for almost all diseases. The leaves, fruits and bark of this evergreen tree is used as ingredients for several Ayurvedic concoctions.
As a kid, I was introduced to Neem in a really bitter way! Neem is supposed to be anti-pox, so in the months of February- March, my father would make it a point that we drink a grassful of boiled Neem water in the morning. It did not have to be in empty stomach. The intake was important. Now when I look back, I realise, Neem was the only reason which helped me get rid of the worms in my stomach and also make my skin glow and hair shine.
Eating Neem-Begun along with rice at the beginning of lunch was another ritual that was followed. New, tender, rust colored neem leaves are deep fried with brinjals cut into small pieces. The fry is eaten mixed with rice. This food will surely enhance your appetite.

Ingredients:
1. A small bunch of tender neem leaves
2. Small brinjal- 1
3. Oil for frying
4. Salt and Turmeric

Procedure:

Dice the brinjal into small pieces.
Segregate the neem leaves from their stems.
Heat little oil in a pan.
Sprinkle the brinjal with salt and turmeric, and fry them till they become brownish.
Remove brinjal from oil, heat oil twice, and add the neem leaves
The neem leaves should get crisply fried, but they tend to get burnt easily, so be careful.
Add the fried brinjal back to the pan and mix well.
Serve Neem Begun with plain hot rice at the beginning of your meal

My Comfort Food

2010-07-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

Am I not cooking?

2010-06-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

Am I not cooking since the last three months? Yes, I am. I even took snaps of some of my favorite dishes that I cooked. I pledged I would write about them in this blog. I pledged to update the other entries with the recipes, that are yet to be written. Yet, I was/ am too busy and tired to comply with the same. I have been suffering from severe migraine, and have finally sought relief once more in high dose medicines. At times it seems, it is medicines that I am taking in more than regular food. But I honestly wish to update this blog. And I will- as soon as possible :)

Spaghetti and Meatballs

2010-03-29T00:19:00.000-07:00

Easy Chicken Roast

2010-03-29T00:15:00.000-07:00

I am back on this blog after a long time. I had posted this image, along with a few others , maybe a couple of months back, and since then, did not find time to update the posts with at least some amount of texts. I am sure, whoever took even the slightest bit of interest in my blog, has surely taken a few steps back again, seeing my 'procrastination'!!

Anyway, I have decided to update my blogs as soon as possible, and to begin with, I am posting the recipe of this super easy chicken roast, which looks good, as well as tastes good, and is a good filler, along with garlic bread or savored alone. There is nothing very special about the recipe. I wanted to try out the 'roast' mode of my OTG :), and didn't thing suddenly getting a whole chicken to be roasted just for trial, to be a great idea. So I rather got the boneless chicken breast pieces, mixed them almost the same way as I would when making grilled tandoori chicken, and instead of setting my O-T-G to the 'grill' mode, I set it to the 'roast' mode.

The best part about this recipe is that it is completely oil-free ( except the fat of the chicken, if there was any! )

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken breast pieces -500 grams
Sour Curd- 5 tbsp
Tandoori Masala -2 tsp
Ginger-Garlic-Onion paste - 5tsp
Salt to taste
Tomatoes- 2 large, diced
Carrot- 1 medium, diced
Capsicum- 1 large, cut into thick strips
Onion- 1 large, diced

Procedure:

SUPER EASY !!

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, and let marinate for at least half an hour, if possible more. Ideally, I feel chicken should be marinated overnight for best tastes.
Arrange the chicken pieces, along with the vegetable pieces in a wide baking dish.
Roast at 150 degree centigrade for 30 minutes or until cooked.
Serve hot.

Curd Rice

2010-03-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

Almost twenty years back, while on a trip to Puri in a train, infamous for it's long route through the length of the country, I had seen a young girl at one of the widows, eating a preparation, or better, a mixture of rice and curd, wrapped in green banana leaves. I had instantly realised it was curd-rice, and thought it was surely one of the best foods in the whole world.

Strangely, I did not ever try cooking, or rather assembling this recipe in all these years, until a couple of months back. The temperature in Kolkata soared up, and I found it impossible to spend long hours in the kitchen trying to cook a full-scale Bengali meal. It was around this time, that I came around a couple of one-pot meals prepared by my acquaintance on Orkut, Madhumita, and thought of churning up some for myself too. I tried out a couple of recipes, experimenting on my own. Then I remembered curd-rice. I scourged the cookery blogs for recipes, found quite a few, took the best tips from all, and concocted up my own version of this super-coolant!!

Ingredients:

Cooked plain rice - 2 cups ( I do not think using Basmati rice would be good for this recipe; the aroma of Basmati will clash with the other ingredients); the rice should be neither piping hot, not straight out of the refrigerator, rather at a room temperature.
Thick, white, sour curd - 1 cup ( home-made or branded), chilled
Curry leaves- a handful
Urad dal /split white lentils- a handful, washed and soaked in water for about half an hour
Peanuts -a handful, shelled and cleaned; Pre-roasted peanuts will reduce the cooking time.
Onion- 1 big, sliced
Ginger - 2tsp, slivered
Green chillies - 1-2, chopped (add more if you prefer)
Salt to taste
White Oil - 2btsp
Mustard Seed -1tsp
White Cumin Seed- 1 tsp
Dried Red Chillies- 2

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan/kadai.
When heated well, add the dried red chillies, and fry until darker in color and an aroma comes out.
Next, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds; wait until they start spluttering.
Add the curry leaves, onion, ginger and green chillies. Fry for a while until the mixed aroma of all ingredients come out.
Add the peanuts, followed by the soaked (and drained) urad dals. Add some salt. Stir fry continuously until all ingredients are cooked well.
Put off the gas and let this masala/tadka cool for sometime, while you arrange the plate.
Arrange the plain rice on a plate; add chunks of white, sour curd. Sprinkle salt to taste. Now add the prepared masala/tadka on top of the rice and curd.
Mix well and savor the warm-cool delicious curd rice.

One Pot Meal Again

2010-03-29T00:13:00.000-07:00

with soya chunks and peas

One Pot Meal

2010-03-29T00:11:00.001-07:00

with potato, capsicum and broad bean seeds

Gokul Pithe

2010-03-29T00:08:00.000-07:00

Dudh Puli

2010-03-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

Muger Chapti

2010-03-29T00:05:00.001-07:00

Patishapta

2010-03-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

Fruit Rolly Polly

2010-01-13T03:08:00.001-08:00

Fruit Rolly Polly is a fruit filled shortcake which should be accompanied by vanilla custard or fruit sauce. I followed the basic recipe from the book "Rannar Boi" by Leela Majumdar .

Ingredients:

Flour-2 cups
White Butter-1 stick (100gm)
Baking powder-2tsp
Powdered sugar- 1/3 cup
salt- 1/2 tsp
water-/2 cup
Soft fruits, like banana, grapes, orange
Nutmeg/cinnamon powder (optional)

Procedure:

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt with 3/4 th of the butter. Add the water little by little to make a soft dough, but don't knead it. The dough will be somewhat sticky , not hard like roti dough.
Prepare the fruits - slice the bananas, cut the grapes in small pieces, peel and de-seed the oranges. You can use only one fruit or a combination of fruits. You can also use grated apples or pears.
Grease a baking dish, and make a base using about half the dough. Now arrange the fruits on top of the base, and cover the fruits again with the rest of the dough. This is a bit difficult process, as the dough will be a bit sticky. The original recipe asked to make a roll shape with the fruits in the middle, but after two trials, I found arranging the layers to be comparatively easier.
Sprinkle cinnamon/nutmeg powder if desired.
Bake for 30 minutes at 150degree C in a preheated oven. Insert a knife to check if the inside is done.
If you want the top to be brownish, leave the Rolly Polly in grill mode for about 5 minutes.

This Fruit Rolly Polly can be eaten all by itself also. But as the shortcake base is not very sweet (with 1/3 cup sugar in 2 cups flour ), not everybody will like eating it all by itself. It is best to have it soaked in vanilla custard.

Another good point about this recipe is that it does not use egg and/or milk. So, people who have aversion towards these ingredients can have Fruit Rolly Polly safely.

Baked Vegetables and Chicken in White Sauce

2009-12-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

There is nothing new about this recipe. I searched for baked vegetables recipes, found numerous links on Google, read through a few of them and got a basic idea about the way things need to be. Then, I cooked it the way I wanted. Afterall, my blog is named 'i-cook-this-way'!!

Ingredients

Carrots- diced
Cauliflower-cut into medium size florets
Beans-cut into medium length pieces
Mushrooms- slit lengthwise
Baby Corns- slit lengthwise
Capsicums- cut into strips
Peas- shelled
Baby Potatoes- skinned, if required
Boneless Chicken Pieces- boiled and cut into small chunks
Onions- diced into four or six parts
Ginger -crushed/paste
All Purpose flour /Maida
Butter
Cheese -grated ( I used Amul Pizza Cheese )
Milk
Salt
Crushed Peppercorn

Procedure:

Prepare the vegetables and chicken:

Boil the potatoes, cauliflowers and beans in an open vessel for about 15-20 minutes, till tender. Don't pressure cook. You may add the peas along with these too.
The vegetables will be done when their rawness is gone. Drain and keep the stock aside for using later in some other recipe.
Keep the other vegetables aside. They can be added raw.
Pressure cook the chicken with a pinch of salt, pepper. cloves and fresh herbs like celery (optional). Cut into small boneless chunks. Reserve the stock of making delicious soups later.

Prepare the white sauce:

The white sauce has to be made according to the standard recipe. This time I made a bit modification.

Take a pan and melt some butter.
Add the onions and ginger paste and fry for a while. (this is my part of the modification. It adds a different taste to the white sauce )
Next, add the flour and fry till the flour turns golden on color and a nice aroma comes out.
Add the milk gradually and keep stirring continuously so that no lumps form and a free flowing sauce consistency is achieved.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Some recipes suggests grated cheese to be added at this stage, to make the sauce more tasty. I avoided adding cheese here to cut down on calories, and use them at a later stage.

Arrange:

Take a deep ovenproof dish. Arrange the semi-cooked and raw vegetables and the chicken pieces in layers.
Sprinkle grated cheese over the vegetables and chicken.
Gradually pour the white sauce, so that it covers all the vegetables as much as possible.
Finally, top with grated cheese.

Bake:

Bake the arrangement in a pre-heated oven at 180 degree C for 30 minutes.
To get the top golden color, change oven mode to grill mode and grill for about 7-10 minutes.

Vegetables and chicken baked in white sauce is ready to be served now. Eat it hot either as a main dish or as an accompaniment to crisp toasts.

Almond Sandesh

2009-12-31T04:58:00.000-08:00

My brother has come to stay with me, and I am found the right opportunity to try out new recipes! My bro is one person who will criticise my cooking quite often, pull my legs even more, but finally ends up eating whatever I server him, good-modrate-bad, without much ado. So, I thought of trying out making some almond sandesh, and they turned out to be quite well! So, here comes the recipe, which is actually a fluke and can be made in a jiffy!!

Ingredients (for 8-10 pieces )

Full cream/ cow Milk -1 litre
Lemon- 2 medium sized
MTR Badam Feast (contains sugar, almond, skimmed milk, saffron, cardamom)
Powdered Sugar ( if required )
Whole Almonds (soaked in water)

Procedure:

Boil the milk in a large pan.
When boiled, add juices of the lemons and stir continuously to make chhana (cottage cheese) . Let it cool.
Drain the water from the chhana. Put the chhana in a clean cloth and hang it for 2-3 hours or more to drain out all excess water.
Transfer the chhana on a plate. Add about 4 tsp of MTR Badam Feast powder. Mix the ingredients well, and knead the chhana so that no lumps remain and it becomes as smooth as possible.
Taste the mix a bit and if you like to have it sweeter, then add some powdered sugar according to your taste.
Take a few dots of butter or ghee on your fingers and grease an ovenproof dish.
Make 8-9 equal portions of the dough. Now roll them with your hand and make flat, round shapes.
Make a small dent on the top with your thumb and place one almond on the dent.
Arrange the sandesh pieces in the ovenproof dish.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes at 150 degree C.
Cool and serve

As you can understand from the recipe, the flavoring ingredients for the recipe are all included in MTR Badam Feast. You can just add the same ingredients rationally proportionately, if you dont have the readymade mix.

After baking, the ghee/butter at the bottom, as well as the sandesh pieces themselves may give a bit of runny/watery look. The fat will solidify as the vessel cools down.

New Year Wishes

2009-12-31T02:21:00.001-08:00

Meat Loaf

2009-12-03T05:35:00.000-08:00

I made this meat loaf following the recipe given by my favorite children's author Leela Majumdar in her simply great cookbook " Ranna Boi" [রান্নার বই] written along with Kamala Chattopadhyay. The recipe is simple and fast and the meal loaf turned out to be a wonderful main dish for dinner.

The recipe, as given by Leela Majumdar:
[For 5 people]

Ingredients

Keema [minced meat] -500 grams
Eggs-2, beaten
Onion- 4, large, finely sliced
Ginger Paste- 1 tsp
Parsley- a bunch, finely chopped
Salt
Pepper
Tomato ketchup or tomato paste- 2 big spoonful
Bread -2 medium thick slices
Water or Milk- 1/2 cup
White Oil- 5 tsp

Process

The meat type was not specified, I used minced chicken.
Soak the bread in milk or water and knead.
Add all other ingredients with the bread dough and mix well.
Grease a baking dish, and shape the dough like a loaf.
Bake in medium heat. Bake covering fot the first 30 minutes, then without a cover . It should be done in about an hour.
Serve with french fries, boiled peas, salad, tomato sauce.
Leela Majumdar suggests to serve this dish along with bread.

I modified the recipe a bit. This is what I did:

I also added chopped celery leaves, [because they were in my fridge and needed to be used.]
I did not add the oil to my dough at all.
I did not add so much amount of onion [it is not possible with the current sky-rocketing price of onion :) ]
Somehow my dough was seeming a bit runny and was giving difficulty in attaining the shape. So I added a scoopful of flour and a tsp of baking soda, to tighten it a bit.
I did not cover the bowl, as directed.
No time is specified in the original recipe. So i baked the loaf at 150degree C for about 50 minutes.
I teamed it up with vegetables stir fried with salt and pepper.

I feel there is no need to have this item with bread. It is a complete meal in itself.

Spiced Walnut Cake

2009-11-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

This cake was made following Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe from his book Bakes and Cakes.

Different Pizza Topping

2009-11-01T11:50:00.000-08:00

I made these pizza with a shortcut topping, which came out quite well, though it is nowhere near to any authentic pizza topping. But when all sorts of toppings, keeping in mind the Indian tastebuds, are so very readily offered by prominent pizza outlets, I think this shortcut topping may be liked by some people atleast. I call this the "Baked Egg Pizza Topping"

Ingredients

One Egg
Chopped Onions
Tomato Sauce
Ginger-Garlic Paste
Salt to taste
Crushed Pepper
Capsicum, cut into small pieces
Coriander Leaves, chopped
Green Chillies, finely chopped [optional]
Grated Cheese
Shredded boiled chicken pieces [optional

Procedure

Mix all the ingredients, except the tomato sauce, well with the eggs.
Smear Tomato sauce on pizza bases, and then put the topping mixture on top of them. The topping could be a bit runny due to the egg. A simple solution for this would be to arrange more of the solid content on the pizza, and keep back the extra egg liquid to be used later, or eaten as a small quick much omlette later!! [It tastes great!!]
Bake the pizza with the topping in a pre-heated oven, until the topping turns golden and solid, and serve hot.

Oil Free Omelette

2009-11-01T11:42:00.000-08:00

Eggs are tasty, full of nutrition, easy to make, can be had in varied forms, filling, and the last resort of people like me who often do not feel like cooking a full meal for one's self. An egg can be had anytime of the day, and believe me, nothing is more fulfilling than a breakfast of bread and eggs! Only I cannot have that everyday. Omelettes are supposed to be a full no-no for me, because of the oil required. Concerned people around me are asking me to eat the egg sans the yolk!! What is the egg without a yolk??
So when it comes to eggs, I really do not give a damn about the options, even if that means gaining a bit more of weight again. So I have come up with a roundabout omelette recipe with as less oil as possible. Try this out, it is really filling and healthy when you are dying of hunger!!

Ingredients

Two eggs
Salt
Crushed Black Pepper Corn
Chopped Onions
Chopped Green Chillies
Chopped Coriander, Capsicum, Tomato [ all or any/optional]
One spoon white oil/butter

Procedure

Beat the eggs well with all other ingredients , except the oil/butter.
Take a small frying pan with a lid. If the frying pan does not have a lid, find one that will more or less fit it.
Warm the pan, and smear the oil/butter with the back of a spoon throughout the surface of the frying pan. Remove the excess oil.
Now put the egg mixture in the frying pan, and move the pan so that the mixture spreads evenly around the surface.
Cover the pan with the lid, and keep on low flame.
The egg mixture will get sort of baked and rise to some extent. Keep checking in between so that the omelette doesnt get burnt towards the bottom.
You will realise the omelette is done when inserting a slotted spoon under the omelette will make it slide smoothly.
Transfer to a plate and enjoy hot with loads of sauces.

This is a really tasty omelette, which turns out very soft because of the cooking process.
By the way, while searching for the correct spelling of omelette, I reached this page on Wikipedia! It provides interesting information on everything about omelettes!!

Red Lentil and Spinach Dal [মুসুর পালং]

2009-11-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

Red Lentil and Spinach Dal is a Bengali recipe, which goes very well for winter lunch with hot steaming rice. It can also be taken by itself as a soup. This is a fast, simple and tasty recipe, full of nutrition, and would surely be in the list of PopEye's favorite dishes!!

Ingredients

Red Lentil/Masoor Dal-1/2 cup [মুসুর ডাল]
Fresh Spinach [পালং]
Fenugreek Seeds [Methi] [মেথি]
Green Chillies, slitted
Salt
Sugar
Turmeric powder
Oil
Water-2-3cups

Procedure

Heat oil in a kadai/pan.
When heated, add the fenugreek seeds.
When the seeds start spluttering and a nice smell comes out, add the slitted green chillies. Fry for a while
Add pre-washed Red Lentils along with water.
Cut the spinach leaves into small pieces and add to the Lentils.
Add salt, sugar, turmeric powder and mix well.
Cover the lid of the kadai and let the dal boil in low heat until done.
Serve with hot steaming rice.

Lemon Coriander Soup

2009-11-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

Soups are my all-time favourite, especially on winter evenings and for dinner. Recently I bought quite a few packs of branded soup powders, among which one was that of Lemon Coriander Soup. I liked it so much that I decided to make a bowlful for myself. I used some leftover chicken stock for the base, but I think we can make it without chicken stock also.

Ingredients

Chicken stock - 2 cups
Fresh coriander, chopped [quantity depends on how much of the flavour you would prefer]
Green chilly -1, finely chopped [optional]
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Sugar
Cornflour
Sweet corns, half cup [optional]

Procedure

Simmer the chicken stock along with salt, sugar, half of the coriander leaves and green chilly.
Wash the sweet corns , add to the boiling stock and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.
Mix a couple of teaspoonful of cornflour with water to make a free-flowing paste and mix with the chicken stock gradually to gain the desired thickness of the soup.
Sprinkle the lemon juice and the remaining coriander leaves on top, and mix well.
Serve hot with soup sticks.

Bottle Gourd Skin Fry [লাউএর খোসা ভাজা]

2009-11-01T11:34:00.000-08:00

Bottle gourd skin fry [লাউয়ের খোসা ভাজা] is a typically Bengali, and more specifically "Bangal" delicacy. The erstwhile residents of East Bengal [now Bangladesh] often colloquially referred to as "Bangals", were and are still known for their amazing culinary skills ; often they would end up creating mouth-watering dishes out of ingredients that normally are thrown away. One such dish is the bottle gourd skin fry, which goes very well with hot steamed rice.
The bottle gourd skin is generally scraped off while preparing the vegetable for making curry. This pale green skin has a smooth texture and barely any ridges or dry parts, hence it is easy to cut and cook it. Try this recipe out some day, and you will never stop trying it again.

Ingredients

Bottle Gourd skin, cut into fine julienne - 1 cup
Green Chilly-2-3, slitted
Black cumin seeds-1 tsp
Poppy Seeds -2 tbsp
Salt
Sugar
Turmeric
Oil for frying

Procedure

Julienne the bottle gourd skin finely.
Heat oil in a kadai/pan.
When heated, add the black cumin seeds and green chillies, and fry until the aroma releases.
Add the cut vegetable and fry for some time.
Add salt and turmeric and fry well, stirring continuously so that the skins gradually turn crisp. The ideal cooking would recommend use of oil to quite an extent, but as we all are calorie conscious nowadays, we can use less oil and rather cover the container in between to steam cook the vegetable until it softens.
You will realise the vegetable is cooked when oil will start releasing inside the pan. At this point, add the poppy seeds.
Mix the poppy seeds well with the bottle gourd skins and fry well, until they get cooked and crisp.
Add a bit of sugar at the end. Sugar is something not everybody uses for cooking vegetables, but it is a practice I have imbibed from my mother, and I do not feel my cooking is complete until I add some sugar to the recipe. The combination of sugar and salt adds a definitely different taste to any recipe, especially vegetarian recipes.
The vegetable is ready to be served now. Serve with hot rice, or as accompaniment to some dal.

Shrimp and Bottle Gourd Curry [লাউ চিংড়ি]

2009-11-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

Bottle Gourd and Shrimp curry [লাউ-চিংড়ি] is yet another delicacy from Bengal. The combination of the juicy vegetable and the crunchy non-vegetarian shrimp adds up to create a mouth-watering flavour. This dish is a favorite among Bengalis any time of the year. There are quite a few variants recipes for this dish. I share here the recipe I generally follow - I cook this way !! :)

Ingredients

Bottle gourd, cut into small pieces - the tinier, the better
Shrimps, de-veined and shelled
Cumin seeds
Bay Leaves
Whole Garam Masala, half crushed [ Cardamom, Clove, Cinnamon]
Salt
Sugar
Turmeric Powder
Ginger Paste
Mustard Oil for frying
Ghee [optional]
Grated coconut [optional]

Procedure

Heat 2-3 tsp mustard oil in a kadai/wok.
When heated, add the bay leaves and half crushed Garam masala. Fry until aroma comes out.
Add whole cumin seeds and green chillies. Fry for a while until the cumin seeds start spluttering.
Add the bottle gourd pieces and fry for a while.
Add salt and turmeric. After adding these two ingredients, chances are that much water will be released. The vegetable generally cooks in its own juices. However, if after some time you feel the vegetable has not softened, then you can add a little water to cook the same.
When the vegetable is almost done [ you can check that out by trying to break the cooked vegetable with a soft thrust of a spatula], add the shrimps.
The shrimps will cook soon in the juice of the vegetable. The shrimp will be cooked when they turn orange-pinkish in color.
Add ginger paste, sugar and a spoonful of ghee from top and mix well.
Sprinkle grated coconut on the top [optional].
Leave the lid covered for a while.
Serve hot with plain rice.

Labra -a Bengali Delicacy [লাবড়া]

2009-11-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Labra [লাবড়া] is a typically Bengali delicacy, which is often an important item and accompaniment to khichuri, offered and served as Kojagori Lakshmi Puja prasad. This item is typically cooked in autumn, when fresh winter vegetables like radish, field beans and cauliflower are available in the market.Along with summer vegetables like pointed gourds, pumpkin and ridged gourds, and other vegetables, this is a simple recipe with an authentic Bengali flavor.

Ingredients

Radish
Pumpkin
Sweet Potato
Pointed Gourd
Ridged Gourd
Brinjal
Field beans
Potato
Cauliflower
Barbati [I am unable to find the English equivalent for this]
Salt
Sugar
Turmeric Powder
Mustard Oil
Ginger Paste
Ghee
Spices

Dried Red chillies -2-3
Bay leaves-2-3
Five Spices

Procedure

Cut all the vegetables in equal amount into small pieces. This cooking is best done without adding any water. Therefore, if the vegetables are cut in small pieces, they will cook fast and mix well too.
Heat oil in a kadai/wok.
When heated, add the dry red chillies, bay leaves and five spices.
Fry until the aroma releases.
Add the vegetables one by one, starting with harder vegetables like potaotes and radish first, and adding the softer vegetables like ridged gourd and pumpkin at the end.
Stir continuously so that the vegetables do not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add salt and turmeric powder and mix well.
Once water starts releasing, cover the wok with a lid and let cook in low flame until the vegetables are cooked and tender. If water does not release, you can sprinkle a bit in between, but generally try to avoid that.
The vegetables are cooked, when the smell of the spices along with that of fresh radish is released.
Sprinkle 1 tsp of sugar, 2 tsp of ghee and 1 tsp of ginger paste and mix well with the cooked vegetable.
Cover and allow some standing time.
Serve hot with rice or khichuri.

Dahi Vada

2009-11-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Trifle Pudding

2009-11-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

This was my first trial at making the Chocolate Trifle Pudding and it was an instant hit in terms of look and taste. This is basically a variation of the regular fruit trifle recipe that appears on many custard powder packs. Easy to make, this can be a delightful dessert any time of the day!!

Ingredients:
1. Plain sponge cake/sponge cake slice [I used Britannia's Butter sponge cake slices]
2. Milk- 1/2 litre + 1 more cup [or as required]
3. Sugar-3 tbsp
4. Vanilla Custard Powder
5. Cooking Chocolate -150 gms[approx]
6. Cashew+Raisins
7. Decorative chocolates[ I used Cadbury's Perk Poppers]

Procedure:

1. Make free flowing vanilla custard, as per manufacturer's instructions, using 1/2 litre milk, sugar and custard powder. Let it cool.
2. Melt cooking chocolate as per instructions on its pack, using double boiler or two containers. When the chocolate is fully melted, add some milk gradually, and stir continuously to make a smooth sauce. Make this sauce when you are ready to arrange the pudding, else it will tend to solidify again if cooled down.
3. Now take a wide bottomed glass bowl/pudding bowl.
4. First, break the sponge cake slices into small pieces and make a base at the very bottom of the bowl. Cover the cake pieces fully with the vanilla custard. Now spread the chocolate sauce over the vanilla custard. Next sprinkle cashew and raisins.
5. Follow step four two more times to create layers.
6. At the topmost layer, after the vanilla custard is spread evenly, I took small amount of the chocolate sauce in a spoon and spread it to create the design. I did not sprinkle cashew-raisin anymore. Rather used the Perk poppers [chocolate dipped wafer biscuits in that unique oval shape] to make the decoration.
7. Put inside fridge and let it set. Serve chilled after 3-4 hours.

Basically the decoration can be anything you can imagine :). Also, you can use other nuts and such other stuffs to get new textures.

Potato-Onion Greens-Egg Fry [আলু-পেঁয়াজকলি-ডিম এর তরকারি]

2009-11-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

Have you ever faced the problem when there's dinner to be cooked for three, and all you have in stock are some potatoes, onions and a couple of eggs!! Well, fr such days, this is a simple, fast yet tasty recipe to try out when you really have less time or ingredients.

Ingredients:

Potatoes -4-5 medium size
Onion Greens/Onions
Ginger Paste
Green Chillies
Tomatoes[optional]
Eggs-2 [the more the merrier]
Salt
Sugar
Turmeric Powder
Roasted Cumin and Red chillies crushed together to make a roasted masala
Mustard Oil
Whole Jeera [Cumin seeds]

Procedure

Cut the potatoes lengthwise into small pieces.
Cut the onion greens in small long pieces. If onion greens are not available, use plain onion, almost the same amount of the potatoes.
Slit the green chillies and paste the ginger.
Break the eggs in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and whisk well. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a kadai/pan.
When the oil is heated, add the whole cumin seeds. When the seeds start spluttering, add the green chillies.
Fry the ingredients for a while, and add the cut onions/onion greens and ginger paste.
Once a nice smell of fried onion and ginger comes out, add the cut potatoes and fry well.
Add salt and turmeric and mix well, add a little water and cover the pan for the potatoes to get cooked. Alternately, you can keep on turning the potatoes and onions in the open pan, while sprinkling water in between to cook them.
Once the potatoes are cooked well, add the whisked eggs slowly to the pan, while stirring continuously, so that the eggs turn into tiny granules, more like a "bhurji" preparation, and coat around the vegetables.
Add a spoonful of raw mustard oil from the top, and sprinkle the roasted crushed masala generously.
The dish is ready to eat now. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Basic Sponge Cake

2009-10-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

This basic sponge cake was baked following a recipe by Sanjeev Kapoor from his book Sanjeev Kapoor's Cakes & Bakes. I followed the recipe with a little bit of modification of mine. I copy the recipe here on my friend Kaberi's request :)

Ingredients

50 grams butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup+2tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence [ I added on my second trial of the recipe 1/2 tsp more because the commercial version I used wasn't strong enough. However, vanilla essence should be used with discretion, as a bit extra amount will turn your cake bitter]
1 cup refined flour [maida], sifted
1tbsp baking powder [ the baking powder was not originally included in the book. However, I found the cake was not shaping up properly without the baking powder, which I think is quite normal- so I added the baking powder the next time I tried out the recipe. Then it came out perfect as you can see from the photograph above.]

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 180degree C/ 350F/Gas Mark 4. Line and grease an eight-inch round cake tin.
Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. Beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence till light and creamy. Gradually fold in the flour, stirring with a light hand only in one direction. Stir in the melted butter.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes, till well risen and golden brown on top. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Makes one 400 gms 8 inch cake.

The above steps are exactly as given in the book. I added the baking powder with the flour and sifted thoroughly two-three times, and then added the flour-baking powder mixture to the other ingredients. Also, it is best to measure the ingredients with standard measuring spoon sets.

This is a simple, easy to make and very tasty cake a slice of which goes very well with tea.

Happy baking Kaberi!!

Baked Macaroni

2009-10-27T22:32:00.001-07:00

This recipe of baked macaroni is a combination of various recipes I found on the net. It is easy, simple and filling- a good dish for dinner. As usual I cannot give the exact measure of the ingredients.

Ingredients

1. Macaroni [mine was called Fusili]
2. Diced carrots,beans, peas, capsicum, sweet corn
3. Diced onion
4. Milk
5. Flour
6. Butter
7.Cheese
8.Crushed black pepper
9. Paprika powder
10. Salt

Procedure:
1. Boil the macaroni, drain and keep aside.
2. Bring some water to boil in a pan. Add the cut vegetables [except onion] and simmer for a few minutes . Drain and keep aside.
3. In a separate pan, take some butter and melt it. When melted, add 2-3tbsp flour and fry for till the colour of the flour changes to a brownish tint. Gradually add milk and stir continuously to make a sauce. Add salt, paprika and crushed pepper to taste.
4. Add the steamed vegetables to this white sauce and mix well.
5. Add the boiled macaroni to this vegetable-sauce mixture.
6. Now take a baking dish/container. Arrange the macaroni-sauce mixture in the dish. top it with diced onion and generous amount of grated cheese.
7. Pre-heat oven at 240 degree C for 20 minutes. Then insert the container and bake at 200 degree for 20-25 minutes on centre rack or until the cheese on top turns golden in color.
8. Bring out and serve hot.

Options:
The macaroni is ready to eat after step 5. You may not bake it anymore. Just garnish with some grated cheese and serve hot.

Diced tomatoes can be added with the diced onions for garnishing.

You can also add boiled chicken pieces, eggs or anything else you wish to add to the taste.

Chhanar Payesh

2009-10-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Daily Lunch 01

2009-10-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

Lunch Menu:
Plain Rice
Bitter-Gourd and Potato Fry [উচ্ছে আলু ভাজা]
Moong Dal [মুগ ডাল]
Potato and Pointed Gourd Curry in Poppy Seed and Mustard paste [সর্ষে-পোস্ত দিয়ে আলু-পটল]
Banana Stem Fry [থোড় ভাজা]

Recipes coming soon.

Mustard Chicken

2009-08-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, one friends' requests - another recipe from the Sananda Cookbook -"Moner Moto Ranna" This recipe is supposed to have a French connection! Quite easy to make, this recipe could be a sure hit among those who love to excite their tastebuds.

I provide below the exact recipe from the book:

Ingredients

Olive oil- 1tbsp
Boneless chicken breast -4 pieces [diagonally cut into strips]
Single cream - 250 ml
Flour - 1tbsp
English Mustard -1 tbsp
Salt, to taste
Parsley leaves- 1 bunch

Process

Heat oil in a fry pan.
Add parsley leaves and fry for a while.
Stir continuously.
Add the chicken strips
Lower the flame, and stir fry the chicken strips for about ten minutes.
Remove chicken strips from oil after done.
Mix some parts of the cream and the floue in a small bowl.
Add the remaining cream in the same pan used for frying the chickens, and mix well with the remaining oil and chicken juice in the pan.
Let it boil. Then add the cream and flour mixture in low heat and stir continuously until the sauce turns thick.
Add mustard, and stir in low heat.
Add salt and pepper according to taste.
Add the chicken strips to the sauce.
Mix well the chicken strips and the sauce, while keeping the heat low.
Transfer to serving bowl and farnish with chopped parsley.

My experience

I used Amul Fresh Cream instead of single cream [whatever that may mean!!]. Also, I replaced English mustard with our very own Kasundi :). But the whole things came out quite well. Fresh Parsley is the ingredient that gives the dish a unique flavour.

Chicken in White Sauce

2009-08-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

This is not my recipe. I tried this recipe out from "Moner Moto Ranna", published by Ananda Publishers. It is an easy and fast dish, and goes well with toasted bread as a winter dinner.

Seeing the photograph in my album on Orkut, some of my friends wanted the recipe from me. I provide below the exact recipe from the same book. However, I myself tried the recipe out in a much smaller proportion.

Ingredients

Chicken-1.5 kg
Bay leaf -1
Parsley leaves- 1 bunch
Salt and Pepper , to taste

For the sauce

Flour- 1/2 cup
Butter- 1/4 cup
Cream -1 cup

Process

Cut the chicken in small pieces.
Boil the chicken along with salt, pepper, bay leaf and parsley leaves.
Strain the chicken stalk.
In a pan, melt the butter.
Add flour to the melted butter and fry.
While the flour is still white in color, yet the rawness gone, add the chicken stalk.
Once the ingredients come to a boil, remove the pan from heat and add the cream.
Stir continuously over low heat until the sauce is prepared.
Add salt and pepper to the sauce according to taste.
Fry the chicken lightly in oil/butter.
Arrange the pieces in a bowl and spread the sauce above the pieces.
Serve hot.

I tried out this recipe with boneless chicken. Also, the proportion of my sauce became more that the amount of chicken pieces. Hence, in my photograph, the chicken pieces are barely visible.

Achari Paneer

2009-08-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

Yet another tasty paneer preparation, I learnt this recipe from Suchismita di of our lovable culinary lovers' community on orkut-Ranna Banna. This recipe is also very fast and easy to make, and tastes a bit different from the more popular paneer recipes. While some of the ingredients are common, the difference of this recipe lies in the spices that are used. However, I did not follow the exact recipe provided by Suchismita di, but it came out well.

Ingredients

Paneer, cut in cubes
1 large tomato, diced/ 2-3 tbsp tomato puree
1 capsicum, diced.
1 big onion, finely sliced
1 tsp ginger, julienned
Salt and Sugar to taste
Turmeric powder
Red chilli powder
Oil for cooking
Coriander leaves
Paanch Phoron [5 spices]

Roasted Spices

2 red chillies
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp aniseed
1/2 tsp black cumin
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp fennel
2-3 cloves

Dry roast all the spices together and grind in to a fine powder.

Process

Heat oil in a kadai/pan.
Lower the heat, and add Paanch Phoron[5 spices] to the heated oil.
When the aroma comes out, add the sliced onion and fry till the slices turn pink.
Add the julienned ginger and fry again for some time.
Now add the ground roasted masala and fry for a while.
Make a semi-liquid paste of turmeric powder and red chilli powder and add. Stir fry for some time.
Next add the capsicum and stir fry for a couple of minutes in low heat.
When the smell of fried capsicums come out, add the tomato pieces/puree and cook for a while.
Add salt and sugar to taste.
Add some warm water and cover the pan with a lod. Let the gravy simmer for sometime
Add the diced paneer pieces and let them cook again for sometime, till the gravy thickens.
Add more warm water to reach your required density of the gravy.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves
Serve hot with roti or rice.

2009-08-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

I love paneer. I think I can eat paneer..well...err...every alternate day!! This recipe that I share below turned out tasting very well. It looked great too. There is nothing new about this recipe. It is the melange of a number of tried and tested recipes. Very easy to make, this dish is a quick yet tasty recipe, which goes well with roti as well as rice.

Ingredients:

Paneer, cut into cubes
Onion, ginger and garlic crushed into paste together
Fresh green chillies,
Salt, Sugar, Turmeric powder
Sour Curd
Besan
Kasoori Methi
Whole Garam Masala- Cardamom, Clove, Cinnamon, Whole Black Pepper
White Oil
Green peas

Procedure:

Heat oil in a kadai.
Half crush the whole garam masalas and add to the oil. Fry until fragrance comes out.
Add onion-ginger-garlic paste and fry well, until the aroma comes out.
Add salt, sugar and turmeric powder and mix well.
Add the paneer cubes and mix well with the masalas until they are well coated. Also add the grean peas along with them. If it becomes very dry, you can add some water to moisten the masalas.
Mix well a teaspoon of besan to the sour curd [ more if the amount of curd is more ]. Add this mixture to the paneer -masala. Turn thoroughly, to spread the dahi-besan mixture evenly around the vessel.
The consistency of the gravy would be semi-liquid. You can add portions of water and bring to boil to get the right consistency.
Sprinkle kasoori methi and garnish with slit green chillies when done. Cover for some times before serving.

Bottomline: যত গুড় তত মিঠা [Add a lots of delightful ingredients, and you get a delightful dish!! ]

Chilled Green Chicken Soup

2009-08-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

I tried out this recipe at least 3-4 months back, but did not find time to post the recipe in spite of the fact that quite a few friends asked for it. It is basically a trial-and-error recipe, made out of whatever was available in the fridge, but it came out well. As usual I do not remember the exact proportions, and would mention only those that I remember.

The ingredients are as follows:

Chicken pieces [approximately 250 grams]
Butter
1 large Onion, finely sliced
Salt and Pepper
Celery leaves and stalk, chopped in small pieces
Green peas, frozen or fresh, a cupful
One Capsicum, cut into small dices
Thyme, Parsley, Rosemary [optional ]
Cornflour
Amul Cream

Process

Cook the chicken in 6 cups of water.
When cooled, de-bone the chicken and shred into small pieces.
Heat a large pot/deep pan. Put some butter and let it melt.
Add the sliced onions and fry for some time.
Add the diced capsicum and peas and stir fry for some time.
Add the chicken pieces and stir fry again.
Add the chicken stock.
When the stock starts boiling, add salt, pepper and freshly chopped celery leaves.
If you wish, you can add dry Thyme, Parsley and Rosemary at this time. The soup will be quite OK without these also. These dry herbs impart a special aroma to the soup.
Take 2-3 tablespoon of cornflour and add water to make a flowing paste. Gradually add this paste to the soup to attain desired consistency. Stir continuously while adding the cornflour paste to avoid lump.
Cool down completely, chill and serve topped with fresh cream

Many people have commented how wonderful the soup looks with the spreaded white cream! Honestly speaking, it is the result of something which I never imagined. When I made this soup, my pack of Amul fresh cream had gone stale and turned semi-liquid. Instead of the heavy cream, the semi-liquid stuff came out and spread the way it is showing in the photo :)

The soup tastes very refresing with the various greens and herbs adding to its flavour.

Cheesy Boiled Lentil

2009-03-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

This simple yet tasty and nutritious dish of mine is a favorite for winter dinners and goes well with toasted breads or rotis. This colorful dish is easy to arrange and make. I am sorry, I am not very good at proportions, and rely on my instincts more.

Ingredients:
1. Masoor Dal [Red Lentil]
2. Carrot, Capsicum, Beans, Cauliflowers -diced together
3. Peas -shelled
4. Onion and Ginger-slivered
5. Salt and Sugar to taste
6. Pepper-crushed
6. Cheese cubes-diced

The amount of the vegetables combined should be as much as the dal, so that they appear everywhere around the dal :)

Process
1. Take a deep-bottomed pot or pan,put in all the ingredients, except cheese.
2. Add water as would be required to boil the dal and vegetables. There should not to much excess water after the ingredients are boiled.
3. Once the dal is done, transfer to a serving bowl. sprinkle crushed pepper and garnish with cheese cubes.
4. Serve hot with toasted bread.

Mixed Fried Rice

2009-03-31T12:55:00.001-07:00

Making good fried rice requires lots of patience and a good sense of timing. This is a recipe which is otherwise simple and follows a simple process too. I try to make it as easily as possible. Incidentally, this particular time which I took the snap, the rice had com out too well and I got quite a bit of praise from my cousins for whom I prepared it.

This preparation served 6 people.

Ingredients
1. Basmati rice - 500 grams
2. One big onion-finely chopped
3. Carrots, beans, capsicum cut into tiny pieces/slender julienne
4. Shelled peas
5. Cashew nuts, raisins, almonds and pistachios- handful,the nuts broken into smaller pieces
5. Red cherries- halved -for decoration
6. Salt and sugar to taste
7. Ghee -5-6tbsp

The Spices:
1. Two bay leaves
2. Two-three black cardamoms
3. Two white cardamoms
4. Two-three cloves
5. Two-three small sticks of cinnamon
6. Two star anise
7. A few black peppers
8. One tbsp Shah Jeera

Process:
1. Clean and wash the rice thoroughly under running water. Spread on a newspaper/large plate /clean cloth and let it dry, preferably under the sun.
2. Bring the rice to boil in a large pot with sufficient water. Add some salt and a little white oil in the water. This way the grains won't stick to each other.
3. Keep watch and boil the rice till half cooked. Strain the excess water and spread the rice in a big strainer/basket to drain of the water as much as possible.
4. Take a wide bottomed and deep pan or kadai that would be able to contain the rice and other ingredients, yet leave some empty space on the top. This vessel should preferably have a fitted lid of its own.
5. Pour half the ghee in the pan/kadai. When the ghee melts and the aroma spreads, put the gas knob to lowest. Then add the black cardamoms and bay leaves and fry for a while.
6. Half crush the remaining spices except the Shah Jeera and add to the ghee. Fry for a while.
7. When the variegated aroma of the spices come out, add the Shah Jeera.
8. When the Jeera starts spluttering, add the finely chopped onions and fry for sometime.
9. Gradually add the cit vegetables and peas. Stir fry continuously. If required, put the lid and let the vegetables cook for some time, until tender.
10. Add the nuts and raisins and mix well.
11. At this stage, add the salt and a bit of sugar to taste.
12. Now, gradually add the cooked rice to the pan, a portion at a time. Do not use any spoon or spatula after this. Put th lid on the vessel, hold firmly with both your hands [using pot holders] and give a couple of gentle shakes. Open the lid and you will see the rice has mixed with the vegetables and spices.
13. Add the rest of the cooked rice in similar manner and shake well to ensure that all the ingredients mix well.
14. At this stage, you can taste the rice a bit to check the seasoning, especially whether you need to add more salt.
15. Sprinkle the rest of the ghee on the top, and add the half cut cherries. Give a couple of final shakes .
16. Serve hot with accompaniments.

If you wish to add chicken, prawn or both, add them after step 9. The chicken should be diced in small pieces and preferably pre-cooked.

Semai Pulao/ Vegetable Vermicelli

2009-03-31T12:51:00.001-07:00

The recip for the vegetable vermicelli is similar to oats upma. You need to keep the vermicelli prepared before the actual cooking takes place by boiling the vermicelli in hot water and then straining, much like noodles.

This is an easy to make, tasty snack.

Oats Upma/ Oats with Vegetables

2009-03-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

Ingredients
1. Oats
2. White Oil
3. Cardamom
4. Bay Leaf
5. Salt to taste
6. Sugar
7. Cashew nuts
8. Raisins
9. Finely cut Onions
10. Slivered Ginger
11. Mixed vegetables like carrot, bean, peas, cauliflower, capsicum peeled/scraped and cut into small pieces
12. Ground black pepper green chillies cut into small pieces.

Process

Heat oil in a kadai/pan.
When heated, add the bay leaves and crushed cardamoms.
When a nice aroma of the cardamoms come out, add the onion and ginger and fry well.
Add the cashew nuts and raisins and fry for a while.
Add the cut vegetables and stir-fry well. If required, add a little water at this stage and cover the pan so that the vegetables get cooked well. Take care that they remain a bit crunchy while being cooked.
Add salt to taste.
Add a little sugar as well.
Add the oats and mix well with the vegetables. Add some water and stir continuously till the oats get tender. The oats will get soft very soon, so be careful they do not get to much mushy.
Sprinkle some fresh ground pepper and green chillies and serve hot.

Note: Oats tend to get a bit lumpy. So the dish should be served and eaten hot. It won't seem as good if eaten cold. But this is a very easy and fast dish, if you have the vegetables cut and stored in your refrigerator :) Even if you don't have the vegetables, you can just use some nuts, frozen peas and a handful of sweet corns

Gajar Ka Halwa/ Gajorer Halwa/ Carrot Sweetdish

2009-03-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

1. Fresh Carrots :200gm
2. Khowa: 200gm
3. Sugar:200gm
4. Ghee:4 tbsp
5. White Oil: 2tbsp
6. Cardamom:4-5
7. Bay Leaf :1-2
8. Mixed dry fruits - cashew, raisin, almond, pistachio : as much as you wish :)

Process:
1. Peel and grate the carrots.
2. Heat white oil and 2tbsp Ghee in a kadai.
3. When warm, add the bay leaves and half the cardamoms. Crush the cardamoms well before adding.
4. When the nice aroma of ghee and cardamom fills the air, add the grated carrots.
5. Fry the carrots well in the ghee.
6. Add the sugar and stir continuously, so that the suager melts while the content doesnt stick to the bottom of the kadai.
7. While the carrot is cooking, grate the khowa.
8. Add the grated khowa in the carrot-sugar mixture and stir well.
9. When the ingredients mix well, add the dry fruits. At this point, you can taste the sweetness of the halwa and add more sugar if you wish.
10. Sprinkle the remaining ghee on the cooked halwa and mix well.
11. Serve immediately or after cooling.

Tip: The dry fruits can be lighly fried in ghee, and then added to the halwa. The taste of the dry fruits will be a bit different.