Whats Cooking!!!!

Dal makhani  is a staple food originating from the Punjab. Dal makhani is now universally recognized as a quintessentially Indian dish, and variations of the fare are served in a wide variety of eateries and restaurants internationally. Dal Makhani’s popularity is due in part to its versatility and the rich vegetarian dish can be served as a main meal, included in a buffet or as an accompaniment to a principal meal.  Ingredients: Whole Black Gram: 1 cup (Soaked Over night) Kidney Beans: 1/4 cup  ( Soaked Over Night) Tomatoes: 2 medium chopped Ginger: 1/2 inch cut into thin strips Garlic: 6 finely chopped Green Chillies: 4 Chopped Whole Red Chillies: 2 Red Chilli powder: 2 tsp Butter: 2 tbsp Onion: 1 small chopped Oil: 2 tbsp Water: 4 cups Salt as per taste Procedure:  In a pressure cooker  bring water to a boil. Add whole black gram, kidney beans, tomatoes, half of the ginger and garlic. salt to taste and close the cooker. Bring it...

Its been long since I have posted something. With a new born its really difficult to cook something blog worthy and on top of it take pics and write about it. But finally I said to myself, its enough and decided to give some importance to my blog. Bombay biryani is a milder version of biryani  and incorporates potatoes in it. Ingredients: Chicken : 2 lbs ( I used 10 leg pieces but you can use the pieces you desire) Basmati Rice: 3 cups Potatoes: 2 large peeled and quartered Onion: 2 large thinly sliced Tomato: 2 large diced ( adjust according to the sourness of tomatoes you have ) Ginger garlic paste: 2 tbsp Yogurt: 1 cup Bombay Biryani Mix : 1 pack ( I used shan brand) Oil: 1 cup Procedure: Clean the chicken and make sure you drain as much as water possible. In a bowl mix together yogurt, ginger garlic paste, Biryani mix and marinate the chicken and potatoes in the mix for about 1 hr. In the mean while in a  pot heat oil and fry onions with a pinch of sa...

I have prepared rasagulla quiet a few times, but never in a pressure cooker before. Lot of my friends use pressure cooker to do the same. So I decided to give it a try. I should say it turned our perfect and its quiet easy. Ingredients: Chenna(homemade cottage cheese): 1 cup Maida(All Purpose Flour ): 1 tsp Sugar: 1 cup Water: 3 cups saffron: few strands (optional) Procedure: Knead the chenna with the heel of your palm for about 1/2 min. Add flour and continue kneading till the grains disappear and chenna becomes soft and creamy. Divide the chenna into 1 inch balls (adjust the size depending on how big you want your rasogolla to be. Roll each ball with slight pressure between palms till smooth and even. Put sugar and water into pressure cooker and bring it to a boil and till the sugar s dissolved completely. Carefully place the chenna balls into the syrup. Close te cooker and bring it to a full pressure on high heat. Reduce the heat and cook for 7 mo...

Its a very popular vegetarian dish. Its a very rich and delicious paneer dish. Ingredients:  Kofta: Paneer: 1 cup (grated) Potato: 1 large boiled Cornflour: 1 tbsp Green Chilli: 2 -3 (finely chopped) Coriander: 1 tbsp chopped Salt: as per taste Chat Masla Powder: 1/2 tsp Maida (all purpose flour): 2 tbsp Oil for deep frying Gravy: Onion: 1 large (Paste) Ginger garlic paste: 1 tbsp Butter: 1 tbsp Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp Tomato: 1 large (pureed) Red chilli Powder: 1 tbsp Salt : as per taste Cashew : handful Soaked oil: 1 tbsp Edible Red Color: a pinch Procedure: Heat oil for deep frying Mash together all the ingredients for the kofta (except maids) and make a smooth dough. Take small balls and shape into koftas. Make a wash with maida and water. Once the oil is hot, deep individual koftas into the maida wash and fry them in hot oil, till golden brown. Make a fine paste of the soaked cashew. For the gravy heat oil in a kadhai. A...

Orrisa has different types of pitha's some need a lot of work and experience and some are real easy to whip up. Maida Chakuli is one such recipe that you can whip up in like blink of an eye. Its really quick, easy and yummy.  Ingredients: Maida – 1 cup Chini ( Sugar ) – 1/2 cup Pan Mahuri ( Aniseeds) – 2tsp Banana: 1 (Over Ripe) Milk: as required Tela ( Refind Tela ) – As per requirement Luna ( Salt ) – As per requirement Procedure :  Mash overripe banana into a paste Add maida, sugar, aniseed and required water to mashed banana to make a semi liquid batter (similar to pancake batter).  Whip well and keep it for 30 mins. Heat tawa (non stick will be better) on a medium flame. Spread a little oil (1tps) on the tawa. Take the batter in a tablespoon and spread it on the tawa like a dosa. Turn the pitha upside down after 1 min. When turns golden brown from each side, remove it from tawa and serve it hot. It can be served with your fav side dish like...

Mint mint every where don't know what to do with all of it. So tried mint pratha and I must say experiment successful. Ingredients: Atta - 2 cups Cumin Powder: 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsps Green Chillies - 2 finely chopped Ginger - about 1/2 tsp grated finely Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp Salt - to taste Boiled and grated potatoes - 1 big potato or 2 small ones Fresh mint - 1 big bunch chopped finely. Olive oil - 1/4 cup Water - to make the dough Procedure: Start with regular atta.  Finely chop the mint into small bits and add to the atta.  Add oil to the atta. Add boiled and grated potatoes and rest of the atta. Knead it into a soft dough by adding water a little at a time. Take medium sized balls of the dough and roll out into a not too thick- not too thin paratha. Place the paratha over the skillet. After a few seconds you will see the paratha change color and puff in different places. Then flip the paratha over...

Luchi is a deep-fried flatbread made of all purpose flour (maida) that is typical of Bengali cuisine, Assamese, Maithili and Oriya.  They are usually served with dum aloo, chole, egg curry and kheer. Ingredients: All purpose flour: 2 cups Sunflower or any white oil: 2 tbsp+1tbsp Salt: 1/3 tsp Warm Water Oil for deep frying Procedure: Sieve the all purpose flour with salt  Add 2 tbsp oil to the flour and mix with fingertips.  Add adequate water to make the dough, add water little at a time, if it becomes sticky add more flour. if hard, sprinkle little water and knead again. Luchi dough is needed to be very soft n smooth and this texture is only obtained by kneading the dough on an oiled surface.  Do the kneading with the heel of your palm.  When its done pour 1 tbsp of oil over it, cover and let it rest for half an hour. This will make the luchis soft and puffed up.  Then make small balls of pinching golf ball sized dough....

Mughlai cuisine is a style of cooking developed in South Asia by the imperial kitchens of the Muslim Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking styles used in North India, Pakistan and the Indian city of Hyderabad. The cuisine is strongly influenced by the Central Asian cuisine, the region where the Chagatai-Turkic Mughal rulers originally hailed from, and it has in turn strongly influenced the regional cuisines of Kashmir and the Punjab region. Dishes include various kebabs, kofta (meatballs), nihari, pulao (a.k.a. pilaf in Central Asia), and biryani. Ingredients: Chicken Pieces : 2 pounds Green Chillies: 4 Garlic: 20 flakes Ginger: 2  inch Garam Masala Powder: 1 tsp Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder: 2 tsp Curd: 1 cup beaten Cloves: 12 Peppercorn:12 Cinnamon: 1 inch 2 sticks Cardamom: 8 Almonds: 16 Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp Coriander seeds: 1 tsp Onion: 2 large thinly sliced Tomato: 2 large: pureed Oil: 4 tbsp Salt Procedure: Prick Chicken all over wit...

Its a north Indian dish that is quick & easy to prepare and delicious.  It goes real well with paratha or poori. Ingredients: Bengal Gram: 1 cups soaked for 2 hrs Paneer: 1 cup cur into cubes Potato: 1 large cubed Ginger - garlic Paste: 2 tbsp Whole dry red chili: 2 Cloves: 4 Bay Leaves: 2 Cinnamon: 2 inch Onion: 1 large finely chopped Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder: 2 tsp Tomato: 2 large finely chopped Salt: as per taste Oil: 2  bsp Coriander Leaves: 2 tbsp chopped Water: 4 cups Procedure: Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add whole chillies, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamoms.  Stir for few seconds and add onion and fry till golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste stir foe few seconds. Add turmeric and chili powder, tomatoes and 1/4 cup of water. Cook till tomatoes are mushy and oil separates from the masala. Add bengal gram, potato cubes and salt, stir fry for 2-3 min. Add remaining water and stir. Close the...

Vegetable Jhalfraezi is a spicy vegetable preparation with crunchy vegetables. It goes great with roti or naan. Ingredients : Potatoes: 2 medium cut into wedges Cauliflower: 1/4 medium separated into florets Carrot:1 medium cut into thick strips French beans: 10-12 cut into 1/2 inch pieces Oil: 2 tablespoons Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon Dried red chillies: 2 Onions: 2 chopped and 1 thickly sliced 3 medium Salt to taste Turmeric powder:1/4 teaspoon Red chilli powder:1 1/2 teaspoon Ginger-garlic paste:2 tablespoons Tomato puree:1 cup Garam masala powder:1/2 teaspoon Procedure: Heat oil in a non stick pan.  Add cumin seeds, red chillies and chopped onions to the pan and sauté.  Add baby corns, potatoes, cauliflower, carrot, tindora, French beans, salt, turmeric powder and ½ tsp red chilli powder and mix well.  Cover and cook, stirring and tossing occasionally, till vegetables become tender. Separate layers of the...

I am little late on this but still wanna wish all the Oriya ladies a blessed Savitri.  Savitri Brata or Savitri Amavasya  is a fasting day observed by all Hindu Oriya married women on the Amavasya, the last day of the dark fortnight, in the month of Jyestha. Married Hindu women, whose husbands are alive, observe it as a vow with great dedication and pray for their husband to have a long life. The word reflects the origin and significance of the Vat-Savitri puja. The fast is dedicated to Savitri and Satyavan; her husband who was destined to die within one year but was brought back to life by her penance. The God of death, Yama, is implored by Savitri when he is about to leave his body. Due to her sheer determination and devotion to her husband, she won him back to life. Soon Satyavan regained his lost kingdom. That was about the puja in short. Ladies observing the fast don't eat anything cooked and spend the day only on fruits and water. But there are situations when on...

After a long time I finally got some time to cook something different and blog about it. Being a mom is really not easy. Had no idea that it would take away all my time and energy.  So cooking something new has been far from my mind. But I had enough of fast food and subways as a getaway. So finally cooked a new dish.  Ingredients : Cauliflower:1 small Bay leaves:1 tsp Tomato:1 large chopped Cloves:4 Onion:1 large sliced Pepper corn:6 Garlic:1 clove Ginger:1 inch piece Salt to taste Heavy Cream: 1/2 cup Turmeric Powder:¼ tsp Cilantro leaves -chopped 1 handful Coriander Powder 2 tsp Chilly Powder 2 tsp Oil as reqd. for frying Preparation : Separate the cauliflower florets, wash them under running water and put them in warm water for 5 minutes to remove any impurities.   Strain and pat dry with  a paper towel. Heat oil in a skillet and deep fry the cauliflower florets till light brown.  Spread them out on a plate lined w...

Rabri is an Indian and Pakistani sweet dish. Rabri is mostly made in north, central and western India .  Rabri is the main ingredient in several desserts, such as rasaballi, chhena kheeri, and kheersagar.  Ingredients: Milk: 4 cups Sugar: 1/4 cup Almonds: 6 Recipe: In pan (Preferably non-stick) bring the milk to a boil, stirring occasionally. As a layer of cream forms on top, move layer to the edges, slightly pushing it up the sides of the pan and leaving it to set. Continue this process till milk is reduced to about 1 cup. Add sugar, still till sugar is dissolved. Remove the pan from heat. Scrape the cream form the sides of the pan into the milk and mix. Place rabri in a serving bowl, garnish with shaved almonds or nuts of your choice. Serve at room temperature or cold and enjoy. Till then happy blogging Rakhee

This year my pudina(mint) plant is flourishing like crazy. Its every where and is trying to take over my whole vegetable garden. So I have been trying to make more and more recipes with it. Mint is really good for you but the thing with it is, it over powers very other taste very easily, so u cannot use it too much.  So you might see more than a few recipes using mint soon. Here is my first one. Ingredients  For the pudina juice Pudina(Mint)leaves  - 1 cup loosely packed Coriander leaves- Half a bunch Grated coconut-Half a cup       Cinnamon-1 big Cloves- 4-5 Bay leaf-1 Green chillies- 2  or (as required) Ginger: 1/2 a inch Garlic – 2 cloves For Pulao: Basmati Rice- 1 cup Onions – 1 large thinly sliced Carrot -1 big cubed Fresh peas- Half a cup Beans- 10 -12 in number cut into 1/2 inch  Ghee-1 tbsp Oil- 1 tbsp Jeera-1 tsp Water- one cup (Water has to be adjusted with the amount of pundina juice obtained) Salt t...

Here is a quick recipe from the oriya kitchen that can be served both as a yummy snack or a side dish with rice. Ingredients: Raw Banana (kancha kadali): 2  potatoes:2 Bread: 2 slices (crumbled) onion:1 medium finely chopped green chillies:2 chopped chili powder:½ teaspoon  coriander leaves:1 sprig  refined cooking oil:2 to 3 tablespoon  salt to taste Procedure: Wash the  banana (Kadali) and potatoes well.  Presure-cook them in water for 2 to 3 minutes.  Then peel the skin of the plantains and potatoes and mash them well.  Now add bread crumbs, chopped green chillies, chopped onion, chilli powder, coriander leaves, and salt to taste.  Mix them well  and make tikkis out of the mix  YThen heat the cooking oil on a non-stick pan.  Shallow-fry the tikki on the non-stick pan.  Serve hot with ketchup or chutney of your choice and enjoy. Till then happy blogging Rakhee

Spinach is real good for you. But I am not a huge fan of it. Some how Tanmaya loves to buy big pack of it from costco. Most of the time I would be half way through the pack and the rest would go bad. This time I decided to not let that happen. So here is an experiment with tikki. Ingredients: spinach: 2 bunches cleaned and finely chopped potatoes: 2 boiled, peeled and mashed onion:1 large finely chopped green chills: 2-3 finely chopped grated ginger: 1 1/2 tbsps coriander leaves: 2 tbsp chopped bread :4-5 slices crumbled coriander seeds: 1 tbsp  coarsely pounded amchur pwd (dry mango pwd): 1 tsp salt to taste oil for shallow frying Procedure: Combine all the above ingredients (except oil) and shape into patties.  Refrigerate for 20 mts. Heat a non-stick tawa and drizzle some oil and place 4-5 kebabs and shallow fry on both sides till brown. Serve hot with tomato sauce or date and tamarind chutney and enjoy. It was a hit with tanmaya and am gonna mak...

Here is another breakfast item that can be prepared ahead of time and cooked when you are ready to eat.  Ingredients: Dough: Whole Wheat flour: 1 cup Water : 1/2 cup (more as needed) Salt: pinch Filling: Paneer : 1 cub grated onion: 1 small finely chopped Salt : to taste Red Chilli powder : 1/2 tsp (more depending on how spicy you like) Green Chilli: 2-3 finely chopped Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp Coriander Leaves : 1 tsp (finely Chopped) We would also need: Dry flour and some extra oil for roiling and making the paratha. Procedure For the dough mix flour, salt and water together and knit into a nice soft dough. Cover it with a damp cloth and keep for 10-15 mins before using for parathas. For the stuffing Mix all the ingredients well. At this point we can taste for flavor and add salt if required. Making the Paratha: Divide the dough and stuffing into 6 equal parts. The stuffing balls should be about 1 1/2 times larger than the...

We normally cook with onion and garlic and relish it a lot as well. On an auspicious occasion like sankratri, ganesh caturthi and many more when eating onion garlic is prohibited, you start wondering what to cook. So here is a version of mixed vegetable curry prepared without onion and garlic. Ingredients: Potatoes:2 medium cut into small cubes and soaked in water Carrot:1 medium cut into small cubes French beans: 1/2 a cup (Cut into 1/2 inch ) Corn kernel : 1/4 cup Shelled green peas:1/4 cup Oil:2 tablespoons Cumin seeds:1/2 teaspoon Salt to taste Turmeric powder:1/4 teaspoon Paneer (cottage cheese):50 grams Brown bread slices:3 Coriander powder:1 tablespoon Red chilli powder:1/2 teaspoon Ginger paste:1 tablespoon Tomato puree:1/4 cup Fresh coriander leaves,chopped:1 tablespoon Procedure: Heat oil in a non stick pan, add cumin seeds.  When the seeds begin to change colour, add potatoes, carrot, salt and turmeric powder and mix well. Cover and cook. Cut...

Here is another variation of simple banana bread, that was a real hit with my friends. Ingredients: All purpose flour: 2 cups Sugar: 2/3 cup Baking powder: 2tsp Salt: 3/4 tsp Egg: 1 large Milk: 3/4 cup Vegetable oil: 1/3 cup Vanilla Extract: 1 tsp Ripe Banana: 1 cup mashed  Walnuts: 1 1/3 cup chopped Procedure: Preheat the oven at 350F In a bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl combine egg, milk, oil and vanilla and blend well. Add the the dry mixture to the wet ingredients stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Flod in mashed banana and 1 cup walnuts. pour the batter into the greased pan. Sprinkle with rest of the walnuts. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let in cook in the pan for 10 mins. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. Slice and serve it with a hot cup of tea or coffee and enjoy. Till then happy blogging Rakhee

After a long time it rained here and this was this seasons first heavy rain. What's better than a plate full of hot vada with ghuguni and a hot cup of tea / coffee. Ingredients: Urad Dal : 1 cup Onion: 1 medium thinly siced Green Chilli: 2-3 finely chopped Ginger: 1/2 inch finely chopped Salt: 1tbsp Suji: 1/4 cup Oil for deep frying Procedure: Soak the dal in water for 4-6 hrs. Drain and grind the dal into a smooth paste using little water.  Don't use lot of water else the mix would be very runny. Add the sliced onion, chopped green chilli, ginger, suji and salt to the paste.  With a spoon mix it nicely in circular motion.  This way the batter would become fluffy. Heat oil in a kadhai. Take some oil in palm, take small balls of dough in hand, flatten it little bit and  with a small hole in the center add the vadas one by one .   Fry till golden all around. Technically this should give you perfect donut shaped vadas but i...

Baigan Bharta is a popular punjabi dish. It takes on a lot of prep work and cooking. I should say all the work is worth it. Its really delicious. But in Orissa there we prepare a different version of it, that is quick and easy. Its very popular in every household and is enjoyed a lot. Ingredients: Baigana ( brinjal/eggplant ):  1 large Onion :   1 medium finely chopped Garlic: 4  cloves finely chopped. Green chilies:  2 Mustard oil -2 tbsp Salt to taste Procedure: Brush Baigana(eggplant) with oil and roast it on a medium flame. Frequently turn the eggplant upside down, until fully roasted. Once done , hold it under running cold water or in a bowl of water. Cool it and peel off the blackened skin. Mash the flesh. Add the finely chopped onion, garlic, green chilies, sorisa tela(mustard oil) ,salt and mix it well and serve.  In another version you can roast so dry red chili and use it instead of green chilli. It makes for a g...

I have always prepared mutton the same way, the only way I know Tanmaya would love it. Using the traditional Oriya procedure. But one day he complained saying you don't try any other recipe with mutton only keep talking about it. So this time I decided to try my hands on mutton rogan josh, a kashmiri recipe. I did so internet research and figured out that there are so many different ways to make this rich and delicious recipe. So I mixed and matched steps from various recipes and the result was good. So here is my take on mutton rogan josh. Ingredients:  Mutton:2 lbs onion :2 large finely chopped ginger-garlic paste:4 tbsp Cumin powder - 1 tsp Coriander Powder - 2 tsp Kashmiri Degi Mirch - 2 tbsp Turmeric :1 tbsp Asafoetida: 1tsp Green cardamom: 2 pods Cnnamon : 1-inch stick Cloves: 4 bay leaf: 1 peppercorns: 10 whole red chills: 2  yogurt :1/2 cup Oil: 4 tbsp salt as per taste Preparation:  Wash and clean the mutton pieces.  Drain all ...

As I have mentioned earlier, besara is a very common and relished dish in Orissa. Here is another item that uses besara, is easy to make and delicious to eat. It makes a great side dish for pakhala and even rice dal or roti. Ingredients: Bhindi (okra): 1/2 pound cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Onion: 1 small finely chopped Tomato: 1 medium finely chopped Mustard seeds: 3 tbsp Garlic: 5-6 cloves Dry Red chili: 2 Pancha Phutana: 1 tsp Green Chilli: 2 whole Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Oil: 1 tbsp Salt as per taste coriander leaves: 1 tbsp chopped for garnish. Procedure: Soak the mustard seeds & dry red chilli in warm water for 30 mins. Make a fine paste of mustard seeds, dry red chilli and garlic using little water. Heat oil in a kadhai add pancha phutana to it and as it stops spluttering add the chopped onion along with a pinch of salt. Mix well and cook till onions turn translucent. Add the garlic mustard paste and cook for 2 mins but don't let it burn. A...