Whats Cooking!!!!

Back from a long long vacation from India and ready to get back to business as usual. A vacation with family reminds you how good you had till you decided to get married and move miles and miles and miles away from them. And it reminds you what cooks your mother and mother-in-law are ;) And it connects you to recipes that you had forgotten because you wanted to cook something fancy for the blog . So here is a very basic potala(parwal) curry. Ingredients: Potala: 15  Potato: 2 medium  Onion: 1 small finely chopped Ginger garlic paste: 2 tbsp Turmeric powder: 1 tsp Red chilli powder: 1 tbsp (adjust as per taste) Cumin Powder: 1 tbsp Coriander Powder: 2 tbsp Whole Cardamon: 2 Cinnamon Stick: 1/2 inch Salt: to taste Oil : 2 tbsp  water: 1-2 cup Procedure: To prep the potala you wash and the then script the outer skin of it with a knife and not use a peeler because that will remove too much and not much will be left to cook. If you find bigger size potal

Here is another dish that adds to the list of my love for flavored rice dish. Ingredients: Marination of prawns: Prawns: 15-20 shelled and deveined  Garlic paste: 1 1/2 tsp  Ginger paste: 3/4 tsp  Turmeric powder:1/2 tsp t Chilli powder: 3/4 tsp  Vegetable oil: 2-3 tsp  Salt: 1 tsp For the pulao masala: Vegetable oil: 2 tbsp  Green cardamoms: 4 Cinnamon sticks: 2  Nutmeg: 1tsp  Star Anish: 2 Cloves: 10 Onion: 1 large thinly sliced Green chillies: 2-4 sliced ( adjust as per your taste) Garlic paste:2 1/2 tsp  Ginger paste: 2 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder: 3/4 tsp Coriander powder: 1 Tbsp  Tomatoes: 1 large chopped Basmati rice : 2 cups washed and soaked for half an hour Water: 4-5 cups Mint leaves: finely chopped 2 tbsp Coriander leaves: finely chopped 2 tbsp Salt to taste Procedure: Mix all the marinade ingredients.  Coat the prawns well with the marinade and let it marinate for half an hour.  Heat oil in deep cooking pan, add green carda

Poha is a simple but hearty breakfast and brunch dish that originated in Northern India. I have had poha quite a few times but never tried making it before few days back. I like having it once in a while and realized that Kiara really liked it, which added another item to the list of items that she loves to eat. Ingredients: Thick Poha: 2 cups  Onion; 1 medium finely chopped Green Chilli: 2 chopped Potato: 1 medium cut into small cubes Carrot: 1 medium cut into small cubes Peas: 1/2 a cup Curry leaves : 4-5 Cumin Seeds: 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder: 1 tsp Peanut : 1/2 cup ( I didn't use any as DD is allergic to these :( ) Oil:  2 tbsp Salt to taste Procedure: Soak poha in water so that its soft but not mushy, the time of soaking depends on the thickness of the poha. In  a pan heat 1 tbsp of oil, add the cubed potato and carrot with a little salt and cook till cooked thorough and slightly crispy. Remove from the pan . If using pean

Bhindi (Okra) is one of those vegetables that is loved by almost all or so I thought. Being prepared on a regular basis at home I had the mindset that everyone loves and knows how to handle it. But to my surprise I realized not all know how to cook it properly and despise it for its slimy texture. Many friends of mine mentioned that they tried okra and didn't like it because it was too slimy. I am guessing they didn't cook it right. So here is a simple and delicious recipe for Okra which is for sure not slimy at all. The trick is to find the right okra. When buying okra do this simple test of trying to break the tip off with your thumb and if it breaks easily then its really fresh and young, but if it gives a hard time then let it go, because if you cook it its gonna be a tuff to enjoy it. Ingredients: Okra: 1/2 pound or about 10 -15 Aloo (potato): 1 medium cut into cubes Onion: 1 medium chopped Pancha Putana: 1 tsp Dry red chili: 2 whole  Salt: taste Turmeric p

Manchurian is one of those chines recipes that I have been trying to master for sometime but everytime something goes missing and I never get the restaurant taste that we all crave for. But finally I tried the  Ching's Manchurian mix and vala perfect manchurians :). Ingredients: for the veg manchurian balls Grated carrot: 1 cup  Cabbage: 1 cup finely chopped  Bell pepper: ½ cup finely chopped  Spring onion/scallion greens: ¼ cup finely chopped Black pepper powder: ½ tsp freshly crushed All purpose flour/maida: 2 tbsp  salt to taste Oil for shallow frying for the sauce: Onions: 4-5 perl onions. Green Chillies: 2 slit Ginger: 1 tbsp  Garlic: 1 tbsp  Chings's Manchurian Mix: 3 tsp Water: 2 cups some chopped spring onion/scallion greens for garnishing Procedure: Mix all the ingredients listed under veg balls. keep aside for 15-20 minutes. shape into small round balls and shallow fry or deep fry till golden browned on a moderately hot oil

Finally the season for fresh farm picked fruits and with it comes the delima of how to use all these beautiful fruits before they go bad. One of the fruits that go bad really soon is cherries. They are really delicious but had to consume a lot. Not advisable as well as it might lead to frequent visits to the loo :). So here is a very delicious and convenient way of using the cherries . A moist quick loaf with sweet cherries. Ingredients: Almond: 1 Cup Blanched and finely Ground All-purpose Flour: 1 1/4 Cups  Baking Powder: 1 Tsp Unsalted, Softened Butter: 1 Stick  Sugar: 3/4 Cup  Large Eggs:3  Ripe Cherries:2 Cups Pitted  and cut Into Quarters Procedure: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease an loaf pan In one bowl. Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder. In another bowl beat the butter with the sugar at medium speed with a hand or table mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each. Add the ground almon

Amritshari Murg Makhani  is a delicacy form state of Panjab which is really famous for its colorful culture, big hearted people and delicious lip smacking food.  Ingredients: For the marination: Chicken pieces: 1 pound Ginger Garlic paste: 2 tbsp Curd: 4 ytbsp Lemon juice: 1 tbsp Coriander powder: 1tsp  Cumin powder: 1 tsp Onion: 1 medium chopped Red chilli powder: 2 tbsp Salt to taste For the gravy: Tomato Puree: 1 cup Butter: 2 tbsp Red chilli powder: 1 tsp  Ginger :1 tsp finely chopped Green chilli: 2 finely chopped Orange color: 1/4 tsp Fresh cream: 2 1/2 Tbsp Coriander powder: 1 tsp Cumin powder: 1tsp Sugar: 1tsp Salt to taste Procedure: Mix all the ingredients for marination to make a paste. Marinate the chicken pieces with the paste and let it marinate for 2 hours. Heat butter in a heavy bottom wok and add the marinated chicken to it. Cook till the chicken is tender. In the meanwhile in a saucepan, heat butter and add red chilli

Unripe jackfruit is widely known as panasa katha in Odisha. It has a mild flavor and distinctive meat-like texture and is compared to poultry. It is used in curry dishes with spices, in Bihar, Jharkhand, Sri Lankan, Andhran, eastern Indian (Bengali) and (Odisha) and Keralan cuisines. The skin of unripe jackfruit must be peeled first, then the remaining whole jackfruit can be chopped into edible portions and cooked before serving. Ingredients: Raw Jackfruit : 1 medium size (Peel of the outer layer of the raw jackfruit and cut into small pieces) Potato : 2  medium size cut into quarters Onion : 1 medium finely chopped Ginger Garlic Paste: 2 tbsp Tomato: 1 medium finely chopped Oil : 2 tbsp Turmeric Powder: 1tbsp Chilli Powder: 2 tbsp Cumin Powder: 1 tbsp Coriander Powder: 2 tbsp Cinnamon: 1/2 inch Cardamom : 2 bay leaf: 2 Salt to taste Method: Par boil the pieces of jackfruit with salt and some turmeric powder . Heat oil in a frying pan fry the boiled piec

Its a very popular Indo-chinese dish, which goes well with both vegetarians as well as non-vegeterians. For our last potluck party the theme was chines food and while all the items were decided we needed one more appetizer for the vegetarians so I decided to prepare this very delicious and crunchy dish. Ingredients: Potatoes: 3 Large peeled and cut into fingers like for french fries Garlic: 2 cloves  crushed Red chilli pwd: 1 tsp  Tomato sauce: 2 tbps salt : to taste oil: 1 1/2 tbsp For sauce: Tomato sauce: 1 tbsp Red chilli sauce: 1 tsp  Vinegar: 2 tbsp Garlic : 2 cloves crushed Honey: 1 1/2 tbp Spring onion greens: 1 tsp chopped oil: 1/2 tbsp  Procedure: Mix oil, red chilli pwd, tomato sauce, crushed garlic and salt and place the potato fingers, in a ziplock bag and shake well. Grease a baking tray and spread the potato fingers on the tray and bake at 200 degrees C for 35-40 mts. You need to turn the potato fingers once during the baking process. Heat

Its been months since I posted my last recipe. But it has been really hectic with baby Kiara, inlaw visit and trip to India. But finally I got to it and so here is one of my all time fav recipes. Baingan bharta (Mashed Eggplant) is a South Asian dish the national cuisines of both India and Pakistan. Traditionally, the dish is often eaten with roti or paratha and is also served with rice and/or raita, a yogurt salad. Ingredients: Eggplant: 1 large Oil: 3 tablespoons Onions: 1 large chopped Green Peas: 1/2 cup Green Chilli: 2-3 chopped Garlic: 2-4 cloves chopped Tomatoes: 1 medium chopped Salt to taste Red chilli powder: 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder: 2 tsp Fresh coriander leaves chopped: 2 tbsp Procedure:  Roast the brinjal on a medium flame till well cooked and the skin has charred completely. Cool, peel and mash. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and sauté the onions, garlic and green chili  till light golden brown. Add the tomatoes, salt and chilli powder,