Mint Potato Subzi

There are certain ingredients that can just dominate in flavor and make it its own dish and rule the pallet :) One such great ingredient is the mighty Mint :) The flavor and smell can just make a simple dish a special one for sure :)

This subzi is my favorite for the very reason mentioned above. Its very simple to make and tastes great with any Indian bread. Just the best I say :)

Ingredients:

Potato - 1/2 kg

Peas - 1/4 kg

Tomato - 2

Mint leaves - 1/2 bunch

Poppy seeds - 2 tblsp

Coconut (Scrapped) - 4 tblsp

Green Chillies - 5

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece

Garlic - 8 pods

Salt - for taste

Method:

Cook and peel potatoes. Dice them into large cubes. Cook peas too. Dice the tomatoes.

Dry roast poppy seeds for two minutes. 

Grind poppy seeds, green chillies, coconut, ginger and garlic together into a smooth paste by adding little water to it. 

Take a pan and add two tblsp of oil, add the tomatoes and fry until soft and mushy. Now add the ground masala paste and fry until raw smell goes.  Then add the potato, peas and mint leaves and mix well. Add salt and allow it to cook in low flame for 8-10 minutes. 

Serve hot with chapathi or any Indian bread :)

Written by: Nithya

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Spicy Baby Potato Curry

I love potato, you love potato, everyone loves potato!! Isn't it??? and that too these cute little baby potatoes are adorably delicious for me.

Boil it and spice it up with the flavors of your choice and it is a delicious snack by itself!

This time we wanted to try a nice spicy version to pack it along with curd rice for lunch. Hence added some of my favorite Indian spices like pepper etc and make it spicy and delicious :) 

Ingredients:

Baby potato - 1/2 kg

Pepper - 2 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Coriander seeds - 3 tsp

Red chillies - 2

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece

Garlic - 8 pods

Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece

Cloves - 2

Cardamom - 1

Salt - for taste

Method:

Wash and pressure cook the baby potatoes for three whistles. 

Peel the skin and poke holes on the potatoes with a fork so that the spices seep through the potatoes. 

Take a tsp of oil in a pan and fry red chillies, corinader seeds, cumin seeds, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves for two minutes in low flame. Allow it to come to room temperature. Grind it along with ginger and garlic and make a coarse powder. Keep this aside. 

Take 4 tsps of oil in a pan and drop in half a tsp of jeera. Once it crackles, drop in the baby potatoes and fry for a while in low flame. The potatoes should get roasted on all sides to a golden brown color. 

Finally add the powdered spice mix and saute in low flame for 5 mins. 

Serve it hot with curd rice or pack it for lunch :)

Written by: Nithya
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Peanut Chutney / Groundnut Chutney

Indian condiments are always a winner!! We almost have a side dish or two for all our main courses and they sometime become the highlight over beating the main course of meal. 

The peanut chutney is our home favorite and it for sure over beats the taste of soft idlies and this chutney is temptation factor to make idlies at times :)

The smooth buttery texture of the peanuts along with coconut and other spices is a hit recipe for sure :)

Ingredients:

Peanuts - 1 cup
Fried gram - 2 tblsp
Coconut - 2 tblsp
Green chillies - 4 
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Salt - for taste
Curry leaves

Method:

Dry roast the peanuts on a pan and allow it to come to room temperature. Remove the skin by rubbing them within your palms. 

Take a tsp of oil in a pan and fry the green chillies in low flame for three minutes. 

Now drop the peanuts, coconut, fried gram, tamarind paste and salt into the mixie and grind into smooth paste. 

Finally season with mustard and curry leaves. 

Delicious and simple peanut chutney is ready. Serve it with hot idlies. 

Written by: Nithya
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Bitter gourd 65

Most of you out there would have bitter gourd in your hate list. I was one among you until I tasted some delicious dishes made with them.

My mom is an expert at dressing up such not so impressive vegetables beautifully into very attractive dishes. One such is this bitter gourd 65 :) The bitter gourd ofcourse does not lose its quality of being bitter, but the other masala factors over play the bitterness and make the dish pretty enjoyable :)

Checkout one more such dressed up dish here - Alligator fry.

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd - 5

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Tamarind paste - 2 tblsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Maida - 1/2 cup

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Oil - for frying

Salt - for taste

Green chillies - 2

Curry leaves - 10

Curd - 1 cup

Red food color - a pinch

Salt - for taste

Method:

Slice the bitter gourd into 1/2 inch slices and remove the seeds.

Boil the bitter gourd pieces in water for 5 mins and drain it. Do this twice to remove some bitterness.

Now take the tamarind paste, salt, chilly powder and turmeric powder in a pan and add 2 cups of water to it. Now add the bitter gourd pieces to this and cook for 10 mins in low flame. Drain the water and keep the pieces aside.

In a bowl mix maida, chilly powder, salt, garam masala, ginger garlic paste and some water to make a batter. The batter should be in bajji batter consistency. Dip the bitter gourd pieces in this batter and deep fry in hot oil until roasted on all sides.

For the sauce - Take a tsp of oil in a pan and drop in the curry leaves and split chillies. Simmer the stove and add beaten curd, red food color and salt to it and mix well. Now add the deep fried bitter gourd to this curd mixture and mix until well coated.

Sprinkle some coriander leaves and serve :)

Eat it as it is or serve with creamy curd rice :)

Written by: Nithya
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Mooli Paratha & Aloo - Bhindi Do Pyaaza

Pretty looking lunch boxes and matching water bottles remind me of my school days. Especially when school reopens, the first day I would be very curious to show off my new belongings and to see what others have got as well :) I can see a lot of your agreeing and recollecting your own memories :)

Colorful rice varieties, roti and side dishes, bread sandwiches, fruit and vegetable salads and the list goes on and on.. Yummyyyyy!! School days were the best foodie days because we got a chance to eat at least from 5 lunch boxes, hence 5 varieties a day. :P

I got a lot of mails asking for lunch box packing recipes that they can make for kids. So came up with a healthy combination of Mooli Paratha & Aloo - Bhindi Do Pyaaza. Lovable combination for sure :)

The addition of white radish to the partha makes it healthy and tasty as well :)

Recipe for Mooli Paratha:

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 2 cups

White radish / Mooli (grated) - 1 cup

Curd - 1/2 cup

Chilly powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Salt - for taste

Water

Method:

Take all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and kneed well by adding just enough water to form a soft dough. The dough should be of chapathi dough consistency.

Pinch medium sized portions of the dough and roll them into balls.

Flour your work surface and roll each ball into thin 5' diameter circles.

Heat a pan and roast the parathas by adding few drops of oil on both the sides.

Serve hot with side dish of your choice :)

Aloo - Bhindi do Pyaaza is a dry curry where there is double the quantity of onion(Do Pyaaza) than bhindi which makes it crunchy and delicious.

The combination of bhindi with aloo is for sure kid friendly and yummy :)

Recipe for Aloo - Bhindi Do Pyaaza:

Ingredients:

Potato (Aloo) - 2

Ladies finger (Bhindi) - 1/2 kg

Onions - 3

Tomato - 1

Cumin - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 2 tsp

Chilly powder - 2 tsp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Kasoori methi - 1 tsp

Salt - for taste

Method:

Wash and chop ladies finger into 1/4 inch pieces. Take 2 tblsp of oil in a pan and fry the ladies finger until it is cooked.

Peel and dice the potatoes.Cook them and keep it aside.

Chop onions and tomato into small squares and.

Take a pan and add two tsp of oil. Drop in the cumin seeds and once crackled add the chopped onion, tomato and fry until golden brown. Add the cooked potatoes and fried ladies finger to it. Fry for a min and add chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala, kasoori methi and salt to it and saute for another five mins.

Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve it hot with mooli paratha and enjoy eating :)

Written by: Nithya
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Masoor Ka Dhall

It was by accident that we picked up a pack of masoor dhall last month and from now on will be picking it often :)

Yup !!! Fell for its taste in the first try. Picked up and all the ingredients that came to my mind and the result was a very delicious side dish for roti :) Some times accidents work much better than preplanned cooking isn't it?!! :)

Ingredients:

Masoor dhall - 2 cups

Onion - 1

Tomato - 1

Green chillies - 2

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Salt - for taste

Lemon juice - 1 tblsp

Milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

Cook dhall in pressure pan for four whistles or until mushy.

Smash the cooked dhall using a smasher and keep it aside.

Dice onion, green chillies and tomato finely. Saute the chopped onion, chillies and tomato until soft, add the cooked dhall followed by chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt. Allow it to boil for a while. Simmer the stove and add milk to it mixing it well. Finally switch off the stove and mix in the lemon juice.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot with roti or any Indian bread.

Written by: Nithya
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Dry Pitala

A million thanks to all my friends and relatives who have wished me by calls, mails and sent me gifts :) I am so overwhelmed and feeling really blessed :)

I need to extend my thanks to my sweetest neighbor Suman Mundra aunty who made a feast just for me :) She cooked a lot of dishes and presented to me in a beautiful way. It was an amazing spread with delicious dishes. Hugs aunty :)

I'm posting her recipes in my blog since I really fell for them and she was sweet enough to share the method with me.

Dry pitala is a Maharashtrian dish which goes as a great accompaniment for toast, poori or even ghee rice. Its simple to make and delicious to eat :)

Ingredients:

Besan (Chickpea flour) - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Jeera - 1 tsp
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
Salt

Method:

Add three tsp of oil in a kadai and add jeera, asafoetida, turmeric powder, salt and curry leaves. Fry for a min and add chilly powder. Immediately pour in 1/2 cup of water. When it starts to boil, sieve in the besan and keep stirring until it gets cooked well and dries up to from crumbles. Add chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with poori, toast or eat with just ghee rice.

Variation:

Make a gravy of the same kind by adding more water and also chopped onion, capsicum, grated raw mangoes etc to make it flavorful.

Written by: Nithya
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Bombay Chutney

Bombay Chutney!! Yup its very much the name for this side dish that Mom or say Grandma has been making for ages. No one at home has a clue of why its called so!? If you guys know it, please give me some gyan! :)

Bombay chutney can be prepared in a jiffy with just few basic ingredients on hand and has always been handy on super boring days when I just don't feel like experimenting anything for long at the kitchen.

This pairs up so well with roti and poori and it just smells so good with the saunf flavoring :)

Ingredients:

Gram flour or chick pea flour(Besan/Kadala maavu) – 1/2 cup
Water - 1 1/2 cup
Asafoetida(perungayam) - a pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Onion - 1
Tomato - 2
Green chillies - 2
Garlic - 4 pods
Fennel(Saunf / Sombu) - 1 tsp
Cinnamon(pattai) - 1/2 inch piece
Urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
Channa dhall - 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves
Salt - for taste

Method:

Chop the onion and tomatoes into cubes and slit the chilies. Dice the garlic pods finely.

Powder the cinnamon and saunf together.

Dilute gram flour, turmeric powder and salt in the water and keep it ready.

Take two tsp of oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds, urad dhall and channa dhall. Drop in the curry leaves, chilly and fry for a min. Now add the chopped onion, tomato and garlic and fry until onion turns transparent.

Now add the ground saunf and cinnamon powder. Reduce the flame to the lowest mark and pour the gram flour water mixture while stirring continuously. Now increase the flame slightly and keep stirring until it gets cooked and becomes slightly thick and glossy.

Add chopped coriander leaves at this stage if desired and collected in the serving bowl.

Simple and quick Bombay chutney or Bombay Masala is ready to serve :)

Serve it hot with chapathi or poori.

Enjoy eating :)

Tips:

Adding veggies to this chutney is totally optional. You can add more vegetables of your choice or even skip the tomatoes and onions to make it a plain chutney.

Written by: Nithya

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Pista Cilantro Korma

Rich and creamy garvies like paneer butter masala, malai kofta etc. always have a special place in a grand dinner menu. After the love for those two, my new found love is this pista cilantro creamy korma :)

This recipe is an inspiration from Anitha Kupusamy's recipe on a tv show. I have made a lot of changes according to my taste buds, but all thanks to her for the pista cilantro idea :)

The richness of pista along with aromatic cilantro can easily steal one's heart :) I can imagine a lot of you nodding your heads for this combi ;) Get set go and give it a try :)

Ingredients:

Pista - 15
Green chillies - 2
Cilantro (coriander / Kothu malli) - 1/2 bunch
Onion - 2
Pepper - 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch piece
Cloves - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Potatoes - 3
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder(Dhaniya powder) - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Salt - for taste

Method:

Peel, dice and cook potatoes and keep it aside.

Soak pista in water for half an hour.

Grind pista, cilantro and green chillies together into a smooth paste.

Roughly chop the onion and cook in microwave along with pepper, cinnamon and cloves until the onion turns transparent. Allow it to cool and grind into a smooth paste.

Take a pan and add few tsp of oil. Drop in the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Now add the onion paste, pista cilantro paste, chilly powder, garam masala, coriander powder and salt and fry till the raw smell goes. Pour in just enough water to make the gravy.

Now simmer the stove and add milk or fresh cream and mix well. Finally drop in the cooked potatoes and allow it to boil for 5 mins.

Rich and creamy pista cilantro korma is ready :)

Serve hot with chapathi or roti. :)

Tips:

You can replace the potato with cubes of paneer or tofu.

You can make bread kofta or paneer kofta and add it to the gravy as well.

Written by: Nithya
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Jeera Pulao & Punjabi Aloo Amritsari

Blogging has given me the boon of getting introduced to a lot of like minded friends from different parts of the world :)

One such sweetest buddy blogger is Sharmilee of Sharmis passion :) We got to know each other a year back and since then the friendship has grown to an extent that we even talk on phone for hours :) I was even more happy when I met her a couple of months back. Blogging has brought me a friend for life time :) awww sorry sorry too many friends for life time infact :)

Sharmilee is a very talented cook who manages to have minimum of 30 posts on draft on any day :P Now food bloggers would know how passionate she is towards cooking and blogging!! She is awesome at photography as well and we keep sharing our ideas all the time :)

This recipe that she posted a week back tempted me too much that I instantly cooked it up and all of us at home loved the combi a lot. All credits and thanks to her for the recipe :)

Ingredients for Jeera Pulao:

Basmathi rice - 1 cup
Jeera(Cumin seeds) - 2 tsp
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Bay leaf - 1
Curry leaves - few
Green chillies - 2
Onion - 1 large
Ghee - 1 tblsp
Oil - 1 tblsp
Salt - for taste
Water - 2 1/2 cups

Method for Jeera pulao:

Wash and soak rice for 15 mins. Chop onions finely.

Take a pressure pan and add oil and ghee. Drop in the cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and cumin seeds. Saute for just one minute. Now add the curry leaves and split chillies and fry for a minute again. Add chopped onion and saute until it turns golden brown in color.

Drain the rice and add it to the pan. Mix it well with the other ingredients. Now add water and salt to it. Mix well and taste a tsp of this water to check on salt levels. Close the pan and pressure cook for just two whistles on medium flame.

Jeera pulao is ready.

Serve it hot with Punjabi Aloo Amritsari or any gravy of your choice :)

Ingredients for Punjabi Aloo Amritsari:

Potato - 5

Curd - 1/2 cup

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

To make paste:

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Besan - 2 tbsp
Ajwain seeds(omam) -1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

To grind:
Onion - 1
Green chillies - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Cashews - 5

Method for Punjabi Aloo Amritsari:

Cook potatoes and dice them into small cubes.

Make a paste of besan, salt, ginger garlic paste and ajwain by adding just a little water. Coat this mixture on the potatoes and allow it to marinade for half an hour.

Now take some oil in a pan and shallow fry the marinated potatoes until crisp and golden brown. Keep this aside.

Grind roughly chopped onion, green chilly, ginger garlic paste and cashews together by adding little water into a smooth paste.

Take two tsps of oil in a pan and add the above ground paste. Fry till raw smell leaves. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, garam masala powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and salt to it and mix well. Allow it to boil for two mins and simmer the stove. Add the curd and mix well. Finally drop in the fried potatoes to it and mix well.

Serve the creamy aloo amristari with jeera rice and enjoy eating :)

You can make this as an accompaniment with ghee rice or even roti, chapathi etc :)

Written by: Nithya
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