Paka Potol Bata

This is one of it's kind. I found it in some books or somewhere, I do not remember properly. The first time I prepared it, loved it a lot. Hope you like the recipe. Please send me your feedback to improve my cooking :)

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Ingredients:

Potol \ Parwal \ Pointed Gourd - 4-5, Ripe

Garlic - 6-7 cloves, chopped finely

Onion - 2 large, finely chopped

Onnion seed - 1tsp

Chilli - 3

Salt & Sugar to taste

Musterd Oil - 2tbsp

Method:

1. Remove skin and take all the pointed gourds and grind them in a food processor. Just need to grind them twice, do not make paste.

2. Heat oil in kadai, add onion seeds. When it starts to spaltter, add the chopped garlics followed by onions. Add chilli.

3. When onion becomes little soft, add the pointed gourds, salt, sugar (optional). Saute for 4-5mins. Turn off the heat.

4. Serve with rice or roti.

New update:

Recently I have prepared this dish. But this time I have used shil-pata to grind the pointed gourds.
 So here are new photos.

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Stuffed Bottle gourd Curry

After a small unwanted break of a few days, I am posting this new recipe. Last few days I was busy with searching new house & throat-pain :(

But I missed writing about my recipes these days a lot. So as soon as I got some free time, I started to type my new tasted recipe. Hope you like this & send me some feedback :)

Have a tasty day ahead!
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Ingredients:

Bottle gourd 1 medium 

Paneer 100gm, mashed

Onion 2 cups, finely chopped

Garlic paste 1tbs,

Chilli 2, chopped

Oil

Salt and Black pepper powder to taste

Cornflour 1cup

Turmeric powder

Coriander powder

Cumin powder

Chilly powder

Method:

1. Remove skin of Bottle gourd, cut into 6 medium pieces & boil in hot water for 10min or until the pieces are tender. Cool and Scoop the circular pieces a little so that a slight depression is formed for the filling.

2. Heat 1tbs oil and fry 1cup onion for 1/2 minute. Add the chopped chilli and fry again for a few seconds. Add the mashed paneer and cook for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 1-2mins. Stuffing is ready.

3. Fill each piece with the filling.

4. Mix cornflour, salt, turmeric powder with water to form a smooth batter. Dip each stuffed Bottle gourd pieces in the batter & fry in hot oil,in a pan.

Preparing Curry:

1. Heat oil in a pan,add garlic paste & remaining 1cup onion. When onion becomes soft, add 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1tsp coriander powder, 1/2tsp turmeric powder, 1/3tsp chilly powder & salt. (You can add potato pieces-cut into medium cubes.) 

2. Saute for 4-5min in low flame. Add water. (If added potato, cover the pan & cook for 7-8min in low flame, then uncover & cook in high flame for 5mins.) Cook in high flame for 5mins without covering the pan. Curry is ready.

3. Add the fried stuffed Bottle gourd pieces in the curry, cook on low flame for 3-5mins. Add chopped coriander leaves, turn off the heat & serve hot.

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Ilisher Korma - quick recipe

A tropical fish, it is the most popular fish with Bengalis and Oriyas, the national fish of Bangladesh and extremely popular in parts of India such as West Bengal, Orissa, Tripura and Assam. In Bengal, ilish can be smoked, fried, steamed, baked in young plantain leaves, prepared with mustard seed paste, curd, Begun (eggplant), different condiments like jira and so on. It is said that people can cook ilish in more than 50 ways. Ilish can be cooked in very little oil since the fish itself is very oily.

This recipe can be made easily & very quickly. Here is the one I used for my dish. Hope you like it!
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Ingredients:

500 gm hilsha fish pieces (cleaned & washed)

4 tbs curd

1 bay leaf 

2 big onions (paste)

2 tbs ginger paste

2 tbs chilly paste

2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt & sugar to taste

4-5 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)

1 tbs garam masala

Method:

1. Marinate the fish with a pinch of curd, ginger paste, onion paste, chilly paste, turmeric powder & salt and keep aside.

2. Heat the ghee in a pan, sauté the bay leaf & garam masala.

3. Add the marinated fish pieces.

4. Cover the pan & cook for 4-5mins in a medium flame.

5. Add 1cup water, cover & cook for 10-12mins in a medium flame again.

6. When the gravy becomes thick, it's ready to serve.

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Apple Chutney

This is one more variant of Chutney which I prepared the other day.


Chutney refers to a wide-ranging family of condiments from South Asian cuisine that usually contain some mixture of spice(s) and vegetable(s) and/or fruit(s). There are many varieties of chutney. A virtually limitless number of chutneys can be made from almost any combination of vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. Chutneys are usually grouped into either sweet or hot forms; both forms usually contain various spices, including chili, but differ by their main flavors.

Hope you like this flavor & give me your feedback :)
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Ingredients:

1 tblsp panch phoron
1/2 kg sugar
salt to taste
1 tsp oil
1/2 kg apples
Kismis & kaju to garnish

Method:

1. Wash, remove skin and grate the apples.
2. Heat up oil in a pan, add panch phoron.
3. When it starts to crackle add apples and cook.
4. Add sugar along with a little salt and a little water if required.
5. Stir till it is thick.
6. Garnish with kismis & kaju over the chutney. Or you may garnish with the removed skin, as I did.
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Gajorer Tok\Carrot Chatni

When my Chhoto Mashi came to our home last summer, she prepared this dessert with bottle gourd & boroi. From that time it became my favorite.While back in bangalore, I tried the same with Carrot & the taste was good.

Boroi is a tropical fruit tree species, belonging to the family Rhamnaceae. It is most commonly found in the tropical and sub-tropical regions. Originally native to India it is now widely naturalized in tropical region from Africa to Afghanistan and China, and also through Malaysia and into Australia and in some Pacific regions. It can form dense stands and become invasive in some areas, including Fiji and Australia and has become a serious environmental weed in Northern Australia. Courtesy to fruitipedia.

Hope you like it & give me your feedback. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Gajor\Carrot - grated, 2cups

Sukno Kul\Boroi - 7\8, depends on how much tangy you want

Salt 1/2 teaspoon

Panh foron

Water

Oil - 2teaspoon

1. In a pressure cooker, take the grated carrots & dry boroi, add 5cups of water. Keep the flame high. Cover & wait for 4-5 whistles. Turn off the heat & let it set for 10-15 mins.

2. Heat up oil in a pan, mix in panch phoron.

3. When it starts to crackle add the whole carrot mixture froom cooker and cook.

4. Add sugar along with a little salt.

5. Stir till it is dark orange in colour and thick.

6. Sprinkle the kismis & kaju over the chutney.

7. In this same way, instead of using carrot, you can use Lau\Bottle gourd.

Sfiha

Sfiha are meat pies widely spread in the middle east specially in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq. Sfiha is an appetizer that is prepared at homes specially during Ramadan and the dough can be bought from pastry restaurants.

This Eid special appetizer was my first attempt with egg & we liked it very much. Hope you like my modified recipe & send me your feedback :)

Ingredients - Sfiha:

Maida - 500gm
oil - 2bs

Egg - 2

Tomato - 2 large, finely chopped

Onion - 4 medium, finely chopped

salt
sugar
Carrot - 2 medium, grated

Black pepper - 1teaspoon

Tahini - 1 tbls (sesame paste)

Pomegranate juice - 1 tbls (if available)

Method:


1. Sieve the maida well with salt, sugar and place in a flat dish. Make a bay in the center and put a little of oil for leavening. Add warm water and make a stiff dough.

2. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Heat oil in kadai & add onions, tomatoes, carrots and spices. Add sesame paste and pomegranate juice. Lower the flame. Saute for 10-12mins. When the vegetable mixture becomes soft, add eggs & keep tossing until the egg gets mixed well with the vegetables. Turn off the heat & keep aside the mixture. 

3. Divide dough into walnut size balls. Roll between hand palms to smooth.

4. Roll out balls with a rolling pin to form 8 cm diameter circles. Put one tbls of egg mixture on dough circle seeing that a cube is in each spoon.
5. Apply the flour paste along the edges and fold over to make a semi-circle. Pinch at the outer rim.
6. Arrange egg pastries in a tray brushed with butter. Bake in a moderate heat oven (180° C) for 30 minutes or till dough is golden.

7. Serve hot.

(The original recipe adapted from homemade-recipes)

Chicken Kabsa

Chicken Kabsa is one of the most popular dishes in Saudi Arabia. The recipe is less oily, less spicy & very tasty with a beautiful aroma. Hope you like it. The recipe (with a little modification) is here.
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Ingredients:

1 2/12 - 3 pound chicken, cut into eight pieces

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 (12 ounce) can tomato puree

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 medium onions, sliced

5 cloves garlic, crushed

2 medium carrots, grated

4 cardamom pods

3 sticks cinnamon

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound long grain rice

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup sliced almonds

I have removed the orange rind & added 4tbs lemon juice in the recipe.

Method:

1. Saute onion in oil until it begins to brown. Add chicken pieces, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and garlic and stir for about five minutes over low heat.

2. Stir in three cups hot water, grated carrot, spices, salt and pepper to taste.

3. Cook over medium heat, covered, about 20-25 minutes, until chicken is done.

4. Remove chicken. Set aside to keep warm.

5. Stir rice into the liquid in the pan, and cook, covered over low heat for about 35 - 40 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. Add lemon juice & toss properly.

6. Put rice on a serving platter with chicken pieces arranged around the circumference. Toss raisins and almonds over all.

Serves: 6

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(The original recipe is adapted from homemade-recipes)

Fish Biriyani with Thekera

I have tried biriyani in different flavors, but this time I tried biriyani with fish & added a tangy flavor. So here is my recipe. Hope you enjoy it & send me some of your feedback :)

Ingredients:

1 large - Capsicum, cut into small diamond shapes

2 medium - Onion, chopped

3 cups thekera soaked water (soaked for whole night)

1 large - Carrot, grated

2 - Chilly

1 cup - Dhania patta, chopped

200gm - Fish

4 tbs - thekera paste

2 cups - Basmati Rice

Salt To Taste

Turmeric powder

1 tb spoon - garam masala

2 - bay leaves

1 tbs - Sesame seeds

4 - cardamom

2 - Cinnamon sticks

6 - raisins

Rice:Water - 1: 1 1/2

Method:

1. Wash & soak rice for half an hour. Soak kismis in water.

2. In the cooker heat refined oil; add bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, thekera water, drained rice and salt.

3. Cook on high flame & wait for the cooker to whistle once. Turn off the heat & let it set for 10-15 mins.

4. Spread rice on a plate to cool. 

5. Clean fish & marinate them with salt & turmeric powder for min 1/2 an hour.

6. In a kadai, heat oil & dip fry the fishes; keep in a separate plate. Keep the remaining oil in a bowl.

7. Take 3tbs of that oil (in which you fried the fishes) in the same kadai & add chopped onions. When onions become soft, add the vegetables. Add salt, dhania patta & chilly. Lower the flame. Saute for 6-7mins or until the vegetables become soft. Keep aside.

8. In that same kadai, heat 1tea spoon of that oil; add half of the cooked rice, add turmeric powder & saute for 3-4mins.

9. Now in the cooker, heat 1tbs of the fish-fried remaining oil. Add bay leaves, garam masala powder, sesame seeds & thekera paste.

10. Arrange a layer of the turmeric rice & then place the fishes and spread the remaining white rice over it.

11. Sprinkle lime juice, saffron with milk. Spread the fried vegetables.

12. Place the cooker (without the whistle) on heat & cook on medium flame for 5min.

13. Place the cooker in a kadai filled with water & cook on low heat for 10 min.

14. Garnish with dhania patta and fried onions. Serve hot. 

Fish Bhurji

This is a very popular food among my friends. We lave to have it with rice items.

Hope to find some feedback from you :)

Ingredients:

Fish - 200gm (marinate with turmeric powder & salt, fry in hot oil)

Onion - 1 large, finelly chopped

Garlic - 5cloves, chopped

Tomato - 1 large, finelly chopped

Capsicum - 1/2cup, chopped

Chilly - 2, chopped

Egg - 1, beat thoroughly in a cup

Salt

Turmeric Powder - 1tbs

Cumin Powder - 1teaspoon

Coriander Powder - 1teaspoon

Chilly powder (optional, if you want it to be more spicy add 1teaspoon)

Dhania patta - chopped, 1 cup, to garnish

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok. Add garlic & onion. Saute for 2-3mins.

2. Add capsicum & tomato. Add all the masala powders. Cover & fry in low flame until the capsicum & tomato become soft.

3. In the mean time, coarsely chopp (or roughly torn) the fishes. If you want to avoid the fish bones, remove them.

4. Be sure the vegetable mixture has become soft, but not deeply fried. Now add the fishes. Add salt. Saute for 4-5mins. Add the egg & saute for 3more mins. Turn off the heat.

5. Garnish with dhania patta & serve.

Plain Khichuri \ Khichdi

Khichuri is commonly considered to be a comfort food. In Bengali tradition, it is customary to cook khichuri on rainy days :) . It is also traditional in Bengal to cook khichuri for lunch at the Saraswati Puja during the month of February—the invocation of the goddess of learning—and for other popular pujas such as Durga Puja.

While khichuri is cooked as a rather rich gourmet delicacy in Bengal, it is cooked very differently in northern and western India, where it is considered a very plain bland dish usually served to people who are ill. Khichdi is also the first solid that babies are introduced to.

After staying in Bangalore, I have come to know one more thing; the Bisi Bele Bath or "Hot Lentil Rice" is famous variant of Kichdi from Karnataka, a state in Southern India.

These days, the weather is pleasant & very perfect to have khichuri or khichdi in meals. So last night we had this simple & plain food in dinner. We had this after a long long time, so enjoyed this plain version with a spicy fish item. 

Hope you will love it & send me some comment too :)

Ingredients:

Rice - 100gm \ 1 cup, uncooked

Musur daal\Red Lentils- 100gm

Onion - 1 large, coarsely chopped

chilly - 1

Bay leaf - 2

oil to fry

salt to taste

sugar

Panchforon (cumin, nigella\kalo jeera, fenugreek\methi, wild celary\randhuni & fennel\mouri seeds)

Turmeric powder

water (do not worry about quantity)

Method:

1. Soak rice & daal

2. Heat oil in a cooker. Add bay leaves, panchforon. When panchforon starts to splatter, add onions. Saute for 5min

3. Add rice & daal. Add salt, sugar, chilly flakes & turmeric powder. Saute for 5 more mins.

4. Add 4cups of water. Cover and cook on high flame & wait for the cooker to whistle 4-5 times. Turn off the heat & let it set for 10-15 mins.

5. Transfer to a serving dish. Serve hot.

We had our khichuri with the spicy fish bhurji.

Green-Cheesy Pulao

This rice recipe was another successful attempt with spinach leaves. It is simple but tasty. It went well with Spinach Chicken. Hope you like the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups - Basmati Rice
1 - Capsicum, cut into diamond shapes
50gm spinach, soaked in warm water, finely chopped
Salt To Taste
1 Pinch - Turmeric powder
1 tb spoon - garam masala
2 - bay leaves
3 - cardamom
1 - Cinnamon
6 - kismis
Cheese to granish

Rice:Water - 1: 1 1/2

Method:


1. Soak rice for half an hour. Soaked kismis in water.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp of ghee is a cooker, fry bay leaves. Add  cinnamon & cardamom.
3. Add the garam masala and fry. Add the capsicum & chopped spinach and mix well.
4. Cook until the masala separates from oil and vegetables (capsicum+spinach) gets tender. Add turmeric powder.
5. Add rice, salt, 3 cups of water and stir well. Add kismis. Cover and cook on high flame & wait for the cooker to whistle once. Turn off the heat & let it set for 10-15 mins.
8. Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with cheese & Serve hot.

Amarnath Chicken

Few words of knowledge :)

Amaranth is a leaf vegetable and grain that has been eaten for centuries all over the world. Amaranth seeds have been used since ancient times in Central and Latin America and in the countries of the Himalayas. Amaranth leaves are used across Asia.

Red amaranth is also known as Chinese Spinach.  It shares no familiar ties to spinach, but it shares a similar taste.  Both stems and leaves have a slightly rough texture but are completely edible.  The leaves can be eaten raw as a salad green, though it is most commonly cooked, either by quickly stir frying the green, tossing some of the chopped leaves into a soup, or adding steamed and chopped amaranth greens as an ingredient in sauces.

Amaranth greens are believed to help enhance eyesight.  It is also loaded with with vitamins A and C, and iron, calcium and quite a bit of protein for a leafy green.

Hmmm, done with the knowledge thing, here is why I am using these vegetable(or shall I say leaves!). In this recipe, I have used both the red & green Amarnath leaves. The aroma as well as the taste, both are too tasty  to leave a single drop of the gravy.

Hope to get some feedback if you like the recipe :)

Here's the recipe I have used. 

Ingredients:

500gm chicken, peeled the skin

100 grams of Amarnath leaves, soaked in warm water, blended in a blender

1 large onion, chopped

1 large potato, cut into 8 pieces

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

cooking oil

1 tbs coriander powder

1/2 tea spoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon chilly powder

1tbs turmeric powder

salt

Method:

1. Heat oil, add chopped garlic, chopped onions & saute until the onion becomes soft.

2. Add potato pieces, Amarnath paste. Saute for 4-5mins.

3. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, chilly powder & salt. Simmer on low flame. 

4. Add the chicken pieces. Higher the flame. After 5min, add water. Cook on medium fire until chicken is soft & desired amount of gravy is there.

5. Serve with rice, pulao or roti.

Green Luchi

Last night I tried to prepare one Italian dish. But the first attempt did not come out very well because of my measurement-mistake & R's "want to have plain curry"-mood. Anyway, I was not happy with the dinner. So, to cheer up that "not-happy-dinner" mood, I came out with this crispy Indian food. This breakfast made our day.

The Independence Day special was my Green Luchi. This one went well with egg-bhurji. The crispy taste of spinach came out very well & the taste was unexpectedly yummie. Have you ever tasted those "50-50 Crack-Jack" biscuits? You can get that taste here.

Hope to get some feedback if you like it :)
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Ingredients:

Maida - 400 gms.

Spinach Puree- 1 cup

Potato (boiled & smashed) - 2 medium sized

Sugar

Salt - to taste

Oil to fry.

Direction 

1. Sieve the maida well with salt, sugar and place in a flat dish. 

2. Make a bay in the center and put a little of oil for leavening. 

3. Add Spinach puree & smashed potato. Add cold water and make a stiff dough. 

4. Make roundels of 15 gms and form dough. 

5. Roll out on an oily surface into thin discs. 

6. Briskly fry in smoking oil till puffed up and turn over. 

7. Serve hot.

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Linking: Monsoon Of India and JCO.

Home Made Pizza- No oven

A rainy evening always has its spicy influence on us. We all want to have some hot & spicy food. But that day, my friends wanted to sleep & enjoy the rainy evening (how!!!). But I did not want to waste such a lovely evening alone, watching cartoons. So I planned to make something which will help me to wake up my sleeping friends. 

After preparing this, when I brought that to the drawing room, all my friends started to come one by one & we really had a great chit-chat-laugh evening.

This is my 1st time work on pizza & also without an oven. It was crispy & good. I did not know that without an oven we can make a pizza so well. So if you do not have an oven or your oven is not working for some reason, you can still enjoy your pizza :)

Hope to get some feedback if you like the recipe :)

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

For Pizza Dough: 

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder (you can use dried yeast)

1 1/2 cups refined flour

1 Tbsp refined oil

1 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon ginger paste

(Home Made) Pizza Sauce:

1/2 cup Tomato puree

Black pepper powder

salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 cups tomato chopped fine (blanch & peel, remove seeds & chopped)

6-8 black pepper, crushed

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbs refined/olive oil

dried oregano

2 fresh basil leaves

For toppings:

Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, shredded

Mushrooms, thinly sliced

Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, thinly sliced

Chopped fresh basil

Onions, thinly sliced

Method:

Making the Pizza Dough

1. If using yeast, in the large bowl add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes.

2 Mix in the olive oil, yeast mixture (in my case I used baking powder), flour, salt and sugar and knead into a soft dough. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.

3. Cover the dough with a damp cloth & leave to rest in a warm place for about 45min or until the dough is approximately double in size.(If you don't have a warm spot in the house you can heat a pan for 6min on high flame and then turn off. Let the pan cool till it is just a little warm, then place the bowl of dough in this warmed pan to rise.)

4. Knead the dough again & cover with a damp cloth & leave to stand for 10-15mins.

5. Divide the dough into two portions & roll out the dough into 6inch rounds. Prick all over with a fork.

6. Sprinkle some cornmeal on the pan. Gently place one pizza on the pan & bake for 3-4min on medium flame.

Preparing Pizza Sauce:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic & a large pinch of oregano & saute for 1/2 min.

2. Add the onion & saute till translucent. 

3. Add chopped tomato & mix till all the moisture has evaporated.

4. Add tomato puree & cook for another 5-8mins.

5. Add roughly torn basil leaves, salt, sugar, half crushed peppercorns & mix well. Set aside to cool.

Preparing the Pizzas

1. Preheat the pan for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.

2. Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza.

3. Spread the sauce evenly over pizza bases & sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and place your desired toppings on the pizza.

4. Sprinkle some cornmeal on the pan. Gently place one pizza one the pan, cover & bake for 10-15mins or until the cheese melts. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more cheese.

5. Remove from pan, cut & server immediately.

Baked Egg Cucumber

This one is the easiest of all the recipes, so far I have prepared. It is healthy & tasty as well, which is a good news for my R (specially!)

It was an experimental one & came out very well. Instead of cucumber, I think you can use any other vegetable of your choice.

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Ingredients

Cucumber

Egg

Salt

Black Pepper

Chilly

Method

1. Cut the cucumber into 1cm thick circles.

2. Cut out the middle portions of the cicles, giving it a shape of 'bangle'

3. Beat the egg with salt, black pepper & chilly pieces in a bowl.

4. Heat a non-stick pan. Place the circular cucumber pieces & pour 2tbs of the egg mixture in each circles. Lower the flame & cover the pan.

5. After 2-3min turn off the heat.

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Note: You can add more vegetables in the egg mixture.

Spinach Fish

Now a days, I am having so much spinach in my food, the only reason is spinach is very much available in the market now. Anyway, this time one more fish recipe with spinach & the good news is, this recipe was liked by friends of my R. He has loved this fish recipe & now he wants to have the same recipe again. So I can say, the recipe is a hit :)

Here's my recipe.

Ingredients

100 grams of spinach, soaked in warm water, coarsely chopped

Brinjal - 1cup, sliced

Fish - 500gm (Rohu, Hilsa or any big fish)

Cumin seeds - 1tbs

Coriander powder - 1tbs

Turmeric powder - 1tbs

Green Chilly - 2

Salt

Oil

Water

Method

1. Take one whole fish and wash. After removing the head cut into steaks about 3/4 inch thick. Remove the scales. Rub 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder and 1 tea spoon of salt all over the pieces. Fry a little in hot oil in a pan.

3. Mix coriander powder and turmeric powder with 3 tbs of water.

4. Heat oil in a non-stick thick bottom pan. Add brinjal pieces. Fry it for 3min & keep aside. 

5. In that oil, add cumin seeds and green chilies and after about 1/2minute add spinach leaves; when this becomes soft add the masala powder mixture and stir for about 4 to 5 minutes. Keep the flame low.

6. When the paste becomes little bit dry and fried, add water. Now higher the flame. When the curry starts to boil add the brinjal pieces & fishes. After 5mins turn down the heat.

Spinach Chicken

This time I prepared this Spinach chicken with a touch of cheese. The taste was good as well as different; at the same time very less calorie :)

Ingredients:

500 g chicken leg piece, peeled the skin

100 grams of spinach, soaked in warm water, coarsely chopped

1 onion

5 cloves of garlic

cooking oil

salt

coriander powder

Processed Cheese to garnish

Method:

1. Heat oil, add garlic paste, chopped onions & saute until the onion becomes soft.

2. Add  Spinach leaves.

3. Add turmeric powder,  coriander powder , salt. Simmer on low fire. 

4. Add the chicken pieces. Higher the flame. After 5min, add water. Cook on medium fire until chicken is soft & desired amount of curry is there.

5. Garnish with cheese & serve with pulao.

Corn Fish

Last weekend, I was at my friend's house. I took some corns with me (because I saw some fresh corns in the road while going to their place). So I thought to prepare the fish, which they bought one day before, with corn. I had no idea what spices I should use, but on my way of preparing the food, I decided about the ingredients which I needed. Yes, I do not follow any recipe most of the time!

Any way, this time, the fish with corn, came out very well & so here's the recipe.

But unfortunately, I could not take the photo. So I'll come up with a photo, when I'll prepare it next time.

Ingredients

Corn - 1/2 (big)

Fish - 500gm (Rohu, Hilsa or any big fish)

Cumin seeds - 1tbs

Coriander powder - 1tbs

Turmeric powder - 1tbs

Nigella seeds - 1tea spoon

Green Chilly - 2

Dhania Patta - 1/2 cup (chopped)

Onion - 1 big

Garam Masala - 1tbs

Salt

Oil

Water

Method

1. Take one whole fish and wash. After removing the head cut into steaks about 3/4 inch thick. Remove the scales. Rub 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder and 1 tea spoon of salt all over the pieces. Fry a little in hot oil in a pan.

2. Grind to a fine paste the corn seeds, 5 green chilies and 1/2 tea spoon of salt in an electric grinder. You will need to add water about 2tbs.

3. Mix coriander powder and turmeric powder with 3 table-spoon of water.

4. Heat oil in a non-stick thick bottom pan. Add cumin seeds, nigella seeds and green chilies and after about 1/2minute add onion slices; when the onions become soft add the masala powder mixture and fry with stirring for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the corn paste. Keep the flame low.

5. When the paste becomes little bit dry and fried, add water. Now higher the flame. When the curry starts to boil add the fishes. After 5mins add garam masala and.turn down the heat.

6. Garnish wth dhania patta and serve.

Chocolaty Momo

This time I was in momo-mood :)

Momo is a type of dumpling native to Tibet,Nepal, the bordering regions of Bhutan, and the Himalayan states of India (especially Sikkim). It is similar to the Mongolian buuz or the Chinese jiaozi.

I followed the same procedure for preparing momo, but the I changed the stuffing as I was in a chocolaty mood too :D

So here's the recipe for momo!

Ingredients:

For the momo wrapper:
1/3 cup plain flour (maida)
salt to taste

For the stuffing:
Chocolate

Other ingredients
1 tbsp plain flour (maida) mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Method:

For the momo wrapper:
1. Sieve the flour and salt together.
2. Add warm water gradually and knead well to make a soft dough.
3. Knead for a while till the dough is quite smooth and keep aside for 30 minutes, covered with a damp muslin cloth.
4. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions.
5. Roll out each portion into a 75 mm. (3") diameter circle to make a momo wrapper.
6. Keep aside, covered with a damp muslin cloth.

How to proceed

1. Place a momo wrapper on a flat dry surface and put 2 teaspoons of the stuffing in the centre.
2. Apply the flour paste along the edges and fold over to make a semi-circle.
3. Pinch at the outer rim.
4. Repeat with the remaining momo wrappers and stuffing to make 7 more momos.
5. Arrange the momos in a steamer plate and steam for 8-10  minutes or until cooked & translucent.
6. Serve hot with Sichuan Sauce.

Chocolaty Samosa

A Samosa is a fried or baked pastry with a savory filling such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils, ground lamb or chicken. The size, shape and consistency may vary, but many versions are triangular. Samosas are often accompanied by chutney. They are a popular appetizer or snack in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa, North Africa, and South Africa.

If the samosa comes with a surprise, what will be your reaction? Here is one of my crazy idea with chocolates, which we had in a week day office-return snack. The first bite, changed our tired mood. Hope you like it.

Ingredients:

For Cover:

1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)

Water to Knead dough

2tbsp oil

Little salt

1/4th tsp. Ajwain (optional)

For Stuffing:

Chocolate

Coconut - grated

Method:

For Cover:

1. Mix all the ingredients (salt, oil, ajwain) except water.

2. Add a little water at a time.

3. Pat and knead well for several times into a soft pliable dough.

4. Cover it with moist Muslin cloth and keep aside for 15 minutes.

For Stuffing :

1. Heat the chocolate in a pan & when it becomes liquid add grated coconut.

To Proceed :

1. Make small rolls of dough and roll it into a 4"-5" diameter circle.

2. Cut it into two parts like semi-circle.

3. Now take one semi circle and fold it like a cone. Use water while doing so.

4. Place a spoon of filling in the cone and seal the third side using a drop of water.

5. Heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry till golden brown (fry on a medium flame).

6. Serve samosa hot with ice cream.

Linking: Monsoon Of India and JCO.