Baigan Naachiyari

The names really very weird but the dish is good!! Baigan means egg plant.This is one of the perfect side dish for Biryani, pulao.

Ingredients:

5 brinjals
3 big tomato
one tsp coriander powder
chilli powder according to ur spice level
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tbsp oil,preferably gingelly oil
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp jeera
few curry leaves.
pinch of asofetida ( optional)
salt to taste

Method;
Cut the brinjal into bite size pieces and soak them in salt water. Chop tomatoes finely.Heat a vessel with oil.Add ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell disappears.Then add mustard seeds,jeera,asofetida and curry leaves.stir for few minutes.Then add the chopped tomatoes.And let in cook on low flame till the oil seperates from the gravy.Add the spice powders and salt.Mix.Then strain the brinjal and add them.Saute for few minutes.Then add little water and cover the vessel till the brinjals are cooked.garnish with cilantro leaves.

Home style fried fish with potato n onions

This is a traditional recipe which is a favorite of everyone at my place.


Ingredients
Fish-250g
Chilli powder-2tsp
Turmeric powder-1tsp
Tomato juice-1
Potato-1
Onion-1 medium sliced
Salt
Oil for frying

Method
Clean and wash the fish
Peel off skin and cut the potato into thin circles and onion into thin long pieces
Take the fish slices, potato and onion in a bowl add chilli powder, turmeric powder, tomato juice( just squeeze the tomato) and salt and mix well until all the pieces are covered with the masalas
Marinate for an hour
Shallow fry it in a pan.

Easy egg pudding!!

Easy egg pudding!!

An easy pudding to start of your day or even can have it as a dessert.Very healthy dish for kids too. I have used the word 
'easy' coz the ingredients are the usual stuff we find at home and the method is also not complicated.Give it a try and let me know 

Ingredients:

Egg - 5
Milk- 2 cups
sugar - 1 cup + 2 tbsp

Method:

Beat all the ingredients together in a mixer grinder except 2 tbsp sugar.Heat a round bottom vessel.Once its hot add the sugar and when it start to caramalize sprinkle some water on it.Remove from flame.Once it has cooled down add the beaten mixture and steam it for fifteen minutes.Easy egg pudding is ready to be served!

Note: Will post the pic soon,as its in my cell.Got to transfer it..

Prawns pulao

This is Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe with a lit bit of alternation to satisfy my family's taste buds  The actual recipe calls for just three tbsp coconut milk, but I on the other hand wanted to give it more taste and flavour so increased the milk's quantity.

Ingredients;
1 1/2 cups basmati rice (long grain)
600 g headless prawns
2 medium onions
3 -5 sprigs fresh coriander leaves
2 green chilies
1 tablespoons oil
1 tbsp ghee/butter
2 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 green cardamoms
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cup water.

Method:
Wash and soak rice in water for 30 minutes.Drain and keep it aside.Chop the onions finely.Chop the coriander leaves too.Slit the green chillies. Shell, de-vein and wash the prawns.
Now, heat oil and butter in a thick-bottom pan.Add cloves,cardamom and cinnamon.Stir-fry for a minute.Then add the onions and saute till they become translucent.Add water,turmeric powder,lemon juice and green chillies .Bring it to boil.Then add coconut milk and bring it to boil once again.Add rice and chopped coriander leaves.After a minute, stir in prawns, salt to taste.Stir and close the vessel.Cook on low flame till the prawns and rice are cooked.Garnish with Coriander leaves.Serve hot!

The recipe for Schezwan sauce...

I had planned to make crispy vegetables in hot garlic house for dinner yesterday and then realized that the recipe had Schezwan sauce as one of the main ingredient.To my utter disbelief there wasn't any stock at home!Then I had to hunt down recipes on how to make schezwan sauce (here I was thinking of having an easy and simple dinner!!:( )
I came across this recipe from a blog 'The chef And Her Kitchen' and followed it.(I did reduce the no of red chillies in my dish coz we dont eat very spicy food) And the sauce was perfect!
Here is the original recipe But you can alter the no. of red chillies according to your spice level..

Ingredients:
10-15 medium sized Garlic pods, peeled
10-12 Red chillies(I used Byadige variety)
3 tbsp. finely chopped Garlic
1 tbsp. finely chopped Ginger
1 tbsp. finely chopped Celery(or thick Coriander stems)
2 large Tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. Tomato Sauce(optional)
1 tsp Soya Sauce
1 tbsp. Vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp White(or Black) Pepper powder
Salt to taste
2-3 tbsp. Oil

method:

1.Remove the stems of red chillies and soak them in warm water for half an hour. You can even remove the seeds if you cannot bear the heat.
2.Grind the soaked red chillies with garlic pods to a fine paste.
3.Grind chopped tomatoes to a smooth puree.
4.Heat oil in a pan/kadai and add finely chopped garlic and sauté it nicely for a minute. Add finely chopped ginger and celery and sauté nicely until the raw smell of all the ingredients go away.
5.Add pureed tomatoes and let it simmer for a while and then add ground red chili- garlic paste and fry nicely until the raw smell of tomatoes and red chili- garlic paste goes away and it leaves the oil in the edges.
6.Add tomato sauce(if using), vinegar, soya sauce, sugar, white(or black) pepper powder and salt and mix nicely and let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes. The sauces do have certain amount of salt, so add salt accordingly.
7.If the sauce is very thick you can add some water and simmer again to get a thick sauce consistency of your requirement. I usually keep it thick so that it can be stored well for sometime.
8.Cool the sauce and store it in an air tight container in refrigerator. You can easily keep it for a week in refrigerated when no water is added to it.
Use the sauce according to your requirement in the recipe.

*Byadige chillies are less spicy. If you are using regular red chillies reduce the number of red chillies to 5-6 based on the spiciness of chillies. If you are not confident about the spiciness you can even remove the seeds and use, it will reduce the spiciness to a greater extent.

recipe courtesy : http://www.chefandherkitchen.com/

Dry Vegetable Manchurian

Yesterday I wanted to try something for iftar, something veggie ;) so was racking my brain around! Then the thought of Manchurian

 popped into my head.So went ahead and tried and it was good!!

Ingredients:

For the veg balls:
2 cups finely chopped capsicum,cabbage,carrot,onions
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tbsp corn flour
1/2 tbsp rice flour
1 tbsp ginger- garlic paste
1/4 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
warm water as required
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

For Sauce:
1/4 cup spring onions chopped
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp minced ginger
1 finely chopped green chilies
4 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp oil
coriander leaves for garnishing

Method;

1. Heat oil for deep frying.
2. In a bowl combine all the ingredients mentioned under the veg balls except water and oil.Use water little by little and form the mixture into small balls
3.Deep fry all the veg balls till golden brown.Initially reduce the flame because the veg has to be cooked,then later increase the flame to get the golden colour.
4.Heat oil in a large wok and add the chopped garlic under low flame and saute for few seconds.Add the green chilies and ginger and stir fry on high for few seconds.
5.Add the whites of spring onions and stir fry for another two minutes.
6.Add the veg balls and stir fry for another two mins.They should retain their crunchiness.
7.Reduce flame and add the sugar,soy sauce, tomato sauce.Mix well and cook for another two mins.Add 3 to 4 tbsp water and cook for another 2 mins.
8.Toss on high flame for 1-2 mins.Turn off heat.Garnish with the chopped spring onion greens or coriander leaves.

Tandoori Chicken

Ingredients:

1 cup hung curd
2 tbsp juice of ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 kg chicken thigh pieces
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

Method:

Combine curd,ginger garlic juice, lemon juice, oil, spices and salt in a large ceramic bowl. Cut 2 slits in top of each chicken thigh, making sure not to cut all the way through. Add chicken to curd mixture and turn to coat well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 220°C.Place chicken on the wire rack inside the oven and roast for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with rice and lemon.