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As a kid one thing that made me go gaga was aloo bharta with rice. My Grandma makes the best aloo bharta ever. Every year we would go to our village for the summers and among all the running around, swings and swims in the family pond one thing that I miss the most is my grandma's aloo bharta. Its like the ultimate comfort food.  There is actually not much to the recipe but still it just makes me feel loved and cared. Ingredients: Potatoes: 2 large boiled with the skin Green chillies: 2-3 chopped finely Dry Red Chillies: 2 chopped Onion:1 large chopped Mustard Seeds: 1/2 tsp oil: 1 tea spoon Salt to taste Procedure: Peel the skin of the potatoes and mash well with no lumps. Take the oil in a pan and heat well.traditionally mustard oil is used but Tanmaya does not like the taste of it so I use normal vegetable oil. You can always use mustard oil, it will for sure enhance the taste. Add the mustard seeds and red chillies, as the mustard seeds stop splutt

Janhi aloo bhaja is another common preparation using Ridge gourd and is relished with rice as with  chapati. Ingredients : Janhi (Ridge Gourd): 2 large Scraped and cut into large chunks Aloo (Potato): 1 big cut in lengthwise Onion: 1 small Finely sliced Green chillies: 2 Dry red Chilli: 1 Panch Phutan:  1 tsp   Turmeric powder:  1/2 tsp  Coriander powder:  1 tsp Oil:  2 tsp Salt to taste Procedure : Heat oil in a pan.  Add panch phutan and dry red chilli, when it start to splutter add sliced onion and green chillies to it. Fry for a while till onion will translucent.  Now add the vegetables;  ridge gourd and potato pieces and fry.  Add haldi powder and salt as per your taste and mix well.  Stir fry the vegetables for 5 minutes.  Cover it with a lid. After 5-7 minutes, sprinkle the roasted dhania powder and mix it well.  Then saute the bhaja till ridge gourd turns soft and brown in colour.  Switch off the flame and serve with any rice or roti and e

Vermicelli is a kind of pasta that is made with whole wheat. It is thin and broken into small pieces. It is used to make seviya as well as upma. My friend Shanta uses it as chowmein. Vermicelli Upma is a great idea for breakfast as well as snack. Ingredient: Vermicelli: 1cup Hot Water: 2 cup Onion: 1 medium thinly sliced Green Chilli: 2 finely chopped Carrot: 1 medium cut into small pieces Potato: 1 medium cut into small pieces Green Peas: 1/4 cup Cauliflower: few florets cut into smaller pieces Salt to taste Mustard Seed: 1tbsp Curry Leaves : 4-5 Oil: 2 tbsp Channa Dal: 2 tbsp Peanut: 1/4 cup Sugar: 1/2 tsp Procedure: Roast the vermicelli with 1/2 tbsp of oil till it turns light golden brown in color. Remove from heat. In the same pan heat rest of the oil. Add the mustard seeds and the channa dal to it. Once the mustard seeds have cracked add the curry leaves and green chillies. Add the chopped onions and fry till till transparent. Add rest of the v

Eid is a an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting . For me and many like me it means delicious muglai food and mouth watering Sewai or as we call it Semiya. My semiya is no where near to the way it is prepared in traditional muglai procedure but its what I have had all my life and learned. Hopefully someday I would learn the real muglai procedure and sucessfully prepare it. But it then here is my recipe for Semiya. Ingredients: Semiya ( Vermicelli) : 1 cup Milk: 2 cups Sugar: 1/2 cup adjust as per taste Ghee: 4 tbsp Dry fruits: a handfull ( cashew, kishmish (resigns) ) Cardamon : 2 crushed Saffron: few strands Salt : a pinch Procedure: In a pot heas 1 tbsp of ghee and fry the dry fruits in it till the kishmish is puffed up. Don't do it on high heat else the ghee will burn and there by leaving a burning smell in the dry fruit. Remove the fried cashew and kishmish in a pla

Its been some time since my last post but I am finally here. Paneer is a quick and easy paneer dish for special occasions. Is delicious to eat and look at and is easy to make. Ingredients: Paneer: 1 cup cubed Bell Pepper: 1 cubed (I used only green pepper, but if you want and have red and yellow peppers use some of each) Onion: 1 large cubed Tomato: 1 medium cubed Green Chilli: 4 Slit ( adjust per your taste and hotness of the chilli you are using) Ginger: Grated 1 tbsp  Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder: 2 tbsp Kastoori Methi: 1 tbsp Coriander Powder: 1 tbsp Garam Masala: 1 tsp Coriander Leaves: finely chopped for garnishing Salt: to taste Oil: 1 tbsp Procedure: In a pan heat oil and add the grated ginger and fry quickly. Add 3/4th of the onion cubes with a pinch of salt and cook till the onions are transparent. Add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder garam masala and salt to taste. Mix well, cover and cook till th