Maharashtrian Beans Sabzi

This is a really simple recipe, and is just right if you're not in the mood for anything too spicy.

 

250 grams french beans
1 large potato, chopped
1-2 green chillies, slit
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ajwain seeds
3-4 curry leaves
salt as per taste
1 tsp sugar

 

Procedure

• Heat oil, temper rai
• Add curry leaves and cumin seeds and saute
• Add ajawain and saute
• Next put in the haldi, beans, potatoes, sugar and salt
• Cover and cook for 5 minutes

 

Serve with chapattis

 

Happy cooking!

 

 

Aloo Peas Curry

Aloo Peas Curry

 

When you're all out of vegetables at home (which is always the case with me) you have to make do with the basic stuff lying around. So this is one of those recipes of mine. My mother-in-law sent me some jowar rotis that the cook had made, so all I had to was to make the sabzi!

 

Ingredients
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cup frozen green peas
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
2 green chillies, slit
salt to taste
fresh coriander, for garnish
2 tbsp oil

 

 Procedure

• Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. When the oil is hot put in the cumin seeds
• Once the seeds start to splutter, add in the onions. Fry till the onions are transculent
• Add the ginger- garlic paste and fry
• Now add the tomatoes and fry till its soft
• Next put in the potatoes, peas, and all the masalas and fry for 1 minute
• Pour about 1 glass of water and pressure cook upto 2 whistles or till the veggies are cooked
• Now take off the lid, and if the curry is too watery, cook without the lid on for some more time.
• Add salt and garnish with chopped coriander. 

Pan Cake

This was a snack my mom made for my sister and me when we came home from school. The lovely smell of pan cakes frying in the sauce pan was enough to hurry and change out of our uniforms and rush to the dining table. Now she makes it for breakfast, and even our lazy lump of a dog, Sheeba can't resist the smell,struggling out of her doggy slumber, she waits patiently with one paw held out, so that she's the one to eat the first pan cake. So here's the recipe for pan cakes from our pan cake crazy family! :)


Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
vanilla essence

Beat together butter and eggs
Add the rest of the ingredient and whisk together to form a batter of dropping consistency
(you can add more or less milk to get the right consistency)
On a non stick pan melt one spoon of butter on a medium flame
Pour the batter out of a deep handled ladle and allow it to spread a little
Flip it over after about 2-3 minutes

Serve warm with honey

Mango Kalan

This is another one of my favourite Kerala dishes. It is slightly sweet, so not everyone likes it. But with the mango season almost over thought i should make kalan one last time

Ingredients
2 ripe mangoes
1 cup beaten curd
half a coconut
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies
1 small piece of jaggery (optional)
salt to taste
For the tadka:
2  dry red chillies
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of methi seeds


Procedure
Peel the mangoes and cut in to small pieces. You may put in the seed of the mango as well
Add turmeric powder and chilli powder. Add jaggery (optional)
Boil with 1 cup of water for about ten minutes.
In the mean time whisk the curd until smooth, keep aside
Grind together, the coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds
Once the mangoes are well cooked, add in the coconut and curd and stir well. Add salt.
When  the the mixture starts to boil, turn it off. Do not boil it for too long, as it may get watery, due to the water seperating from the curd.
Give a tadka in coconut oil

Serve hot with steamed rice and kerala papadam

Egg Fried Rice

Last night I had no vegetables in my vegetable tray except for two very lonely looking bunches of spring onions. Then i noticed I also had eggs and decided on egg fried rice! Whew! I think the whole process of deciding what to make for a meal is more exhausting than the cooking itself. so here goes -
Ingredients
1 cup cooked long grained rice
4 eggs, beaten
2 bunches of spring onion, chopped
greens chopped seperately
3 green chillies, chopped
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp pepper powder
salt tp taste
1 tbsp oil
Heat the oil in a pan
stir fry the onions
Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for about a minute
Add green chillies, tomato sauce, pepper powderand fry for another minute
Now add the beaten eggs and scrambble it
Next add the rice and the sring onions greens and stir it up well
Egg fried rice is ready!
I did not make any gravy with the rice, but you could serve some manchurian gravy along with it.
I made an instant manchurian soup instead to go with my rice.
** you can also add a whole lot of veggies in to your fried rice like carrots, french beans, peas etc**

Happy cooking!

Palak Paneer

This is a Tarla Dala recipe I tried out for lunch today. I like a lot of her recipes, simple and easy to make.This one is from the microwave food section. I find microwave cooking so much easier, rather than sweat over a hot stove, which is the case for most Indian recipes. So anyway, this particular dish involved minimal effort! :)
Turned out pretty good, and its one my husband's favourite dishes!
Ingredients
1 bunch palak, chopped
200gms paneer, cubed
1 large onion, chopped
1" piece of ginger, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
2-3 tbsp cream
3 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Microwave the chopped spinach for about 4 minutes
Blend it to a smooth puree and keep aside
Combine the oil, chopped onion, ginger, green chillies and microwave on high for 2 minutes
Add the spinach puree, coriander powder, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt and microwave on high for 4 minutes
Next add the paneer and cream, mix it up well and microwave on high for 2 minutes
Palak paneer is ready.

Serve hot with chapattis

Happy cooking!

Bread Pakora

This next dish can be served for breakfast or would make an ideal evening snack on a cold wet day.

Ingredients
10 slices of brown bread sliced half
2 cups besan/ gram flour
1 tsp hing/asafoetida
1 tsp ajwain/carom seeds
2 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
Vegetable oil to fry

Mix together gram flour, asafoetida, ajwain,chilli powder and salt with some water to make a smooth lumpfree batter of dropping consistency.
Heat some oil in a pan
Dip the bread slices into the batter, such that it coats the bread on both sides evenly
Deep fry the slices untill golden brown
Serve hot with tomato ketchup
Happy cooking!

Dal

It's raining heavily outside, and I got a sudden craving for some hot dal chawal so decided to make it for lunch today. Also the other reason being, sheer laziness to cook anything more complex :) It goes well with steamed rice or even chapatti's and some nice spicy mango pickle and papad yum!

Ingredients
1 cup toovar dal
1 onion chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
ginger garlic paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1-2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
4-5 curry leaves
coriander leaves for garnish
1 green chilli slit
salt to taste
1 tbsp ghee/refined oil

Method-
Pressure cook the dal until cooked
Heat some ghee in a pan, when hot throw in the cumin seeds and curry leaves
Add the chopped onions and fry for a minute
Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute
Next add the tomatoes and fry well till the tomatoes are pulpy
Now add the turmeric powder and chilli power and salt  and fry nicely till oil leaves its sides
Add this to the cooked dal and bring the whole thing to a boil
Add the garam masala and boil for a while
Put in the green chilli and garnish with coriander leaves

Serve hot with rice or chapattis

Egg Curry in coconut milk with Appam

Egg Curry in coconut milk  with Appam

This is one of my all time favourites! Really quick and simple to make and delicious too

Egg Curry
2-3 Boiled eggs
1 large onion, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 small tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp coriander/dhanya powder
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 cups coconut milk
3-4 curry leaves
2 green chillies, slit
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

Method:
Heat the oil and fry the onions till pink in colour.
Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another 1 minute
Add the curry leaves
Now add the tomatoes and fry on a medium till the tomatoes are cooked
Add the dry masalas-turmeric,red chilli, coriander and salt
Fry nicely, till the oil separates from the masala
Now add the coconut milk
next add the boiled eggs, you can either slice the egg in two or just make tiny slits on the egg
so that it can absorb the masalas better
Add the slit green chillies and boil for a minute or two
Serve with hot appams!

Now for the Appams-
I used the instant mix from 'Double Horse'. All you need to is follow the instructions by adding milk, water, sugar and a pinch of salt to the rice powder and allow it to ferment for an hour or two and you get lovely soft appams.
Pour the appam batter in a shallow non stick pan
Rotate the pan so as to spread the batter into a circle and cover with a lid till appam is cooked
Happy cooking!