OKRA / BHINDI MASALA

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1 kg or about 2 lbs of Okra
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 3 tsp - dhana jeera powder(corriander-cumin powder)
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• cilantro to garnish
• salt to taste

Method

• Wash your okra under running water and then thoroughly dry the okra with a kitchen napkin or towel.
  Note: Okra needs to be thoroughly dry before cutting
• Cut off the both ends of the okra and and then slice into thin vertical strips.
• In a cooking pan, heat oil. When hot, add mustard seeds and let them crackle.
• Then add, asafoetida powder, dhana-jeera powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt to taste. Stir for half a minute. Your masala is now ready.
• Now add cut okra and and stir gently but thoroughly so that the masala and okra mixes properly.
• Put a lid on the vessel and let the vegetable cook under low-medium heat.
• Stir gently couple of times for about 30 seconds (Note: When taking off the lid to stir, let all the steam go out before stirring).
• Garnish with cilantro before serving.

RASAGULLA AND RASMALAI

Ingredients (Makes about 45-50 paneer balls)

• Half n Half milk for rasmalai (2 Quart=1.8 litres)
• 1 gallon whole milk (to make paneer balls)
• 4 green limes to curdle milk
• 1 cup sugar ( 1 cup sugar to 6 cup water for making sugar syrup)
• slivered almonds(15-20)
• 1/4 tsp saffron
• 6 cardamoms
• 1-2 tsp of rose water to put in rasgulla syrup.
• Lots of patience and 3 large vessels :)
  

Method
How to make paneer balls

• In a deep vessel, bring one gallon of milk to a boil
• Keep juice of 4 limes ready. When the milk comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add lemon juice slowly while stirring the milk gently.
• When the cheese (curd/paneer) seperates and the water runs clear, add a bowl of ice cubes to stop further curdling. This allows you to make soft cheese/paneer.
• Let it rest for 5 minutes and then drain it on to a clean thin cloth. Tie and bundle the paneer into the cloth and hang it for about 20-25 minutes. At this point you want the paneer to be soft and not soggy.
• Take a clean napkin and lay it on the table. Take the paneer bundle and slowly but firmly dab it with the clean napkin from all sides. This serves two purpose - this action removes excess moisture as well as helps to smoothen the paneer.
• Remove the paneer onto your working sheet and knead gently to smoothen it roughly for 2 minutes.Make round balls with the size you want, keeping in mind that they will double in size after being cooked.

• In a large vessel, bring sugar water syrup to a boil ( 6 cup water to 1 cup sugar) and add about 2 cardamom pods for added flavor.After the syrup starts boiling vigorously, add the paneer balls and close lid . You need to make sure all the paneer balls should be covered completely in syrup while cooking. Cook on a medium flame for about 7-8 minutes.
• Slowly open the lid and spoon out the still soft balls into a vessel.Add enough syrup to the vessel so that the balls do not dry out. After every batch of paneer balls are cooked, add some water to the sugar syrup so that liquid level does not go down. Make all balls in this manner.
• Take some of the sweet syrup and place the cooked paneer balls in it so as they do not dry out. When the ras malai is ready, squeeze gently but firmly the water from the balls and place it in the ras malai.
• Sprinkle some saffron for flavor and color.
• Add slivered almonds for taste.
• For rasgulla, take out the cooked paneer balls with sugar syrup and place it in a bowl.
• Add 1-2 tsp rose water to rasgulla syrup for added flavor.
• Rasgullas and rasmalai are to be served chilled.

How to make Ras Malai

• Slow heat 2 quart of half and half mik for hour and half, so that milk thickens. (milk quantity would reduce approximately by one quarter to half)
• Add sugar as per taste.
• Add 6 grounded cardamoms .
  
  

RAGDA PATTIES

I love street food, be it pani puri, sandwich,pav wada or ragda patties.My favorite is bhel and ragda patties eaten on a cool summer evening.The whole idea was to go window shopping and stop by your favorite "bhelwalla" for bhel and ragda patties before heading home.
This is my version of making the ragda patties . Enjoy !

Ingredients

• 2 cups/katoris/measure dried yellow peas2. 5 medium sized potatoes.
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 1.5 tbsp ginger paste
• 2 green chillis (ground to fine paste)
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp cumin-coriander powder (dhana-jeera powder)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• Salt to taste
• Oil to fry
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Tamarind date chutney
• Cilantro to garnish
• Fine Sev to garnish
• Whipped yogurt

Method

• Soak yellow peas overnight. Pressure cook peas with baking soda until tender (peas to water ratio=1:2.5)
• Boil and mash potatoes
• Add ginger chilly paste,salt,turmeric powder and knead well to a smooth mixture.Check for taste.
• Make small patties and shallow fry in oil on medium heat.Roughly 2-3 mins. on each side.
• Remove onto a kitchen towel so that extra oil is absorbed.
• Heat oil in a pan. When oil is hot add mustard seeds and let them spluter. Add asafoetida.
• Add half the chopped onion and cook until onion is translucent.
• Add turmeric powder,dhana jeera powder,red chilly powder, garam masala and salt and stir for a few seconds.
• Add cooked yellow peas and cook until the mixture come to a boil or until all the ingredients are well integrated into the ragda(curry).

To Serve

• Arrange patties onto a shallow dish.
• Pour just enough ragda to cover the patties thoroughly but be careful NOT to drown them in ragda !
• Add few tablespoons of whipped yogurt, tamaraind date chutney.
• Add cilantro and Sev to garnish.

PESTO FETTUCCINE

I love italian food and I wish I was born in Italy or in any part of the world as long as they eat pasta there!!
I prefer fettuccine to any other type of pasta.
Seeing fresh basil bunches at the local grocery store prompted me to dish up this Pesto fettuccine recipe!!

Ingredients

1. Basil (1 and 1/2 bunch)
2. 4 garlic cloves
3. Parmesan cheese (1/4 cup - roughly 2 handfuls)
4. Olive oil (1/4-1/2 cup)
5. Salt to taste
   

Method

1. Dry roast the pine nuts on a flat pan on medium heat until they turn golden brown and give out a nutty aroma, roughly 4-5 minutes.
2. In a blender,first coarsely grind basil and garlic, then add parmesan cheese. Keep running the blender and slowly stream in olive oil.
3. Blend upto a minute.
4. Add salt as last ingredient after checking for taste.As parmesan cheese is slightly salty in flavor, you might not need to add salt for taste.
5. The resulting pesto should not be too runny. It should be just the right proportion of oil to basil,garlic and cheese.
6. Add more oil if the paste appears too thick.

Pasta - I use the Barilla fettuccine. Pesto goes with any kind of pasta - spaghetti, bow tie etc.. Cook as per instruction on the packet. Pasta should be "Al dente". It should be just cooked and should retain its bite.

Pair it up with garlic bread and a glass of wine and you are ready to dine!!

EGG BIRYANI

Biryanis are the easiest dishes to make, either for a quick one dish meal on a cold winter day or for an elaborate sit down dinner.I love all kinds of biryanis, vegetable , egg or chicken.In our house, Sundays are usually biryani days ! Just team up the biryani with cucumber raita or even just plain cool yogurt making it a delicious combination of hot and spicy with the cool !

Ingredients

• 5 eggs boiled and peeled and cut into quarters( preferably lengthwise)Sprinkle with salt and red chilly powder
• 2 medium sized onions finely sliced and browned
• 3 tbsp. of raisins, 8-10 almonds roughly chopped, 3 tbsp. cashews . Saute raisns till they plump up and almonds and raisins until golden brown and keep aside.
• 3 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
• 1 big onion finely chopped
• Ginger garlic paste
• Coarse paste of corriander and mint leaves.(1:1)
• 2 cups basmati or any long grained rice
• 1 tsp. Cumin seeds
• 2 tsp. red chilly powder
• few saffron strands dissolved 1/3 cup warm milk
• MDH Biryani masala (optional) I used abt 2 tsp.
• 2 potatoes sliced in roundlets
• Salt to taste
• Oil

Method

• Parboil the rice with 2 Bayleaves, 3-4 peppercorns, 2-3 green cardamoms, 1/2 inch cinamon and drain thoroughly. Gently fluff with a fork. You want the grains to remain umbroken.

Curry

• Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and saute for 1 min. Add ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell goes and you get a flavorful aroma.
• Add chopped onions and fry until slightly brown. Add chopped tomatoes and fry until tomatoes are cooked and you get a mushy consistency of the whole mixture.
• Add corriander mint paste and cook until rawness of the paste dissappears.
• Add red chilly powder, biryani masala and saute for 2 mins . or until you get a good aroma of a mixture well sauted.
• Add salt to taste. Add a little more since the rice does not have any salt.

Layering

• In a heavy bottommed pan/pot/vessel add a little oil and evenly palce potato roundlets to cover the bottom. This will prevent the bottom layer of rice from drying out.
• Layer rice,curry, fried onion, fried nuts and raisins, egg in this order. Sprinkle the saffron milk mixture along the side and the top.Repeat until everything is used up.
• Your last layer should be that of rice.

Close the lid and cook on low medium to medium heat for approx. 20 mins. Slow cooked biryani gives off a wonderful aroma. Enjoy with a side of cold whipped yogurt or raita !

SHALIMAR STYLED SAAG CHICKEN

"Shalimar " is a pakistani restaurant on El Camino Real .Known for its tasty dishes at a reasonable rate makes it a favorite haunt amongst the Indian community here in San Jose." Saag Chicken" is a dish made from whole spices,tender chunks of chicken and lots of Spinach.It is one of our favorite dishes and we always order it when we we go to Shalimar and I must say that the taste is consistent every single time ! I have made the recipe using fresh spinach, so I would recommend using fresh spinach, also because I have never used frozen spinach so I wouldnt know how the taste differs from the fresh.This is our version of the saag chicken that that we gorge on on our visit to Shalimar !

Ingredients

• 3 10oz bags /3 big bunches of spinach leaves
• 1.5 inch fresh ginger
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 green chillies
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. peppercorns
• 3-4 whole cardommoms
• 1 big onion finely chopped
• 3 medium tomatoes, blanched, peeled and finely chopped
• 2.5-3 tsp. MDH Chicken Karahi Masala( availible at any Indian store)
• 2 tsp. chilly powder
• 3 tbsp. plain yogurt(low fat or otherwise)
• salt to taste
• scant 1 cup water
• 4 chicken breasts cleaned and skinned

Method

Cut chicken into even sized medium chunks and brown them on all sides in fairly hot oil(about 7-8 tbsp.) Only enough oil is used so that the chicken can brown. Think quantity of oil that is used for sauteeing .Brown roughly 1-2 mins on each side. Remove on to a kitchen towel so that excess oil is absorbed.

1. Bring a pot of water to boil . Add spinach leaves and close lid. Blanch for approx. 5 mins. and remove spinach immediatley. At this point the leaves should be a dark green and not greenish black.
2. Put the spinach, ginger , garlic with 1/4 cup of the measured water into the food processor and blend to a thick puree. Set aside.
3. Heat oil (medium to high flame)in a medium sized heavy bottommed or a non stick vessel.When the oil is hot, add bay leaves, peppercorns and whole cardommoms and saute until you get a flavorful aroma, roughly 2 mins.
4. Add chopped onion and further saute for another 6-7 mins. or until the onion is evenly browned.
5. Add the blanched tomatoes and simmer for about 4-5 mins.Add MDH karahi chicken masala and chilly powder. Cook for another 2-3 mins over medium heat or until the oil starts leaving the sides.
6. Stir in the spinach puree and add the reamining water and simmer for 5 mins.
7. Slowly add yogurt, 1 tbsp. at a time stirring thoroughly after adding. Add salt to taste.
8. Add chicken pieces and stir thoroughly so that the chicken gets coated.
9. Cook on low medium to medium heat(for an electric stove top) for approx. 30 -35 mins or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.

Tastes great with naan, hot chappatis and a side of finely sliced onions with a dash of lemon and salt !