Punjabi Rajma masala

A dish that I have made several times to get that actual taste by trying and testing so many different recipes out on the net! However, I finally ended up learning the secret behind the taste of this dish from a friends cook who is from Punjab! Believe me, there are several recipes out there which all say but mostly the same about doing the onion tomato base for this! However, it's done differently by the home makers in Punjab I believe😀 so let's jump straight into the recipe

Ingredients

1 cup rajma

1 large onion

1 large tomato

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1-2 green chilies

1 tsp Punjabi garam masala

1/2 tsp chilli powder(optional)

1 tsp Kasturi methi

1 tbsp butter

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnish

Soaking time: 8 hrs

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 40 mins( incld boiling rajma)

Preparation

- Soak the rajma for 8 hrs or over night. The skin will begin to shrink and rajma becomes lighter in color as it soaks.

- in a pressure cooker, add the rajma, water to cover the rajma, salt and pressure cook for 6 whistles and simmer for 5 mins. Roughly about 20 mins should do.

- allow the steam to escape, drain the rajma and "store the water in which the rajma cooked!" Do not discard this water.

- meanwhile, chop the onion, tomatoes and green chilies. Keep little onion aside for later.

- sauté the chilies and onions in a tsp of oil, then add the tomatoes and little bit of salt.if u are using fresh ginger and garlic , sauté them along with the onions.

- allow this to cool. Upon cooling, grind this (along with the ginger garlic paste) into a smooth paste.

- in a pan, heat the butter, once melted, sauté the little bit of onion and add the ground paste and allow to cook until the fat separates.To this add the chilli powder while the paste is cooking.

- now add the cooked rajma and mix with the masala. 

- as per the required consistency slowly add the stored water while stirring to check the needed consistency. 

- add the garam masala and crush the Kasturi methi between your palms and sprinkle on top. 

- bring it to a boil a remove from heat.

- garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Pulav, jeera rice or roti!

Notes:

- remember to store the water in which the rajma gets cooked. This water brings color to the dish. 

- also the rajma is cooked with salt and the water also has salt. So, if you add additional salt, be careful not to get it too salty!

- adjust spice levels as per your taste.

Egg masala

Busy toddler days keeping me away from my blog. Each passing year with my lil one brings in more and more adorable surprises each day! She loves boiled eggs is what I believed until one morning she just refused to touch them😀 so, I had this carton full of eggs getting wasted as it was just there not being used up. That is when I decided, the best way to use it, is to make egg gravy! But my previous attempts with the recipe were not so satisfying. That is when friends come to rescue isn't it?! I got this quick and easy recipe from a friend and it turned out super yumm. So, go ahead and try got urself...

Ingredients:

5-6 boiled eggs

1 medium onion

1 small tomato

1-2 green chilly

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp dhania powder (coriander)

1/4 tsp jeera powder (cumin)

1/8 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

For tempering

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp saunf

Curry leaves 

For garnish

1/2 cup fresh coconut milk

Coriander leaves

Prep Time: 20 mins       Cook time: 15 mins

Preparation

- Boil the eggs by giving them one whistle in pressure cooker. This is faster and cooks perfect.

- Meanwhile cut the veggies into slices, prepare coconut milk and keep aside.

- In a kadai, heat the oil and temper the jeera and saunf seeds.

- To this add a sprig of curry leaves, green chilies and ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute.

- Now add the onions and wait for them to fry well. When onion is well sautéed add the tomatoes and all the masala powders and salt. 

- Cook for 3-4 minutes until all the raw smell of the powders leave.

- If the gravy is too dry add 1/2 cup water and add the coconut milk(first milk).

- To this add the peeled eggs cut in half. 

- Bring it all to a boil and garnish with coriander leaves.

- Serve with roti or rice as per your choice😀

Notes:

- Adjust spice levels as per your taste buds.

- You may use all the eggs with the yolksor you could discard yolks from some of the eggs. Depends on how calorie conscious one is😊

Sweet potato / sakaraivalli kizhanghu curry...non fry method

Sweet potato as any other variety in the family is so versatile and tasty however cooked. This can be plain boiled and eaten or mixed with masala or fried or made into sambar...the uses are endless. Most of the recipes I come across are about frying the veggie up like a roasted curry. Am wondering why the variation to the sweet potato curry is not so popular. The below is a very common way we cook this veggie in our families and it's super healthy, tasty and quick to make.

All you need to do is boil the potato, grind masala and mix them together...simple isn't it?!😀

Prep time: 20 mins.      

Cook time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

1 medium size sweet potato or 2 small

3-4 red chilies (vary as per ur preference)

1-1/2 tbsp channa dal

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1/2 tbsp urad dal

2 tsp oil to fry

A pinch of asofoetida

Salt to taste

A sprig of curry leaves

Preparation:

- Boil the sweet potatoes in a pressure cooker to two whistles. A fork or toothpick should pass thru the veggie clean.

- while waiting for the veggie to cook and pressure to yield in the cooker fry up for the masala and grind them into a powder.

- in 1 tsp of oil, first add channa dal, after 30 secs add urad dal, once they begin to get golden add the coriander seeds and red chilli and in the end switch off heat and add the asofoetida powder. 

- let this cool down before you grind it into a coarse powder

- when you are able to open the cooker, drain the water and peel the skin of the potatoes. Mash them lightly with a spoon to make small pieces. Need not be symmetrical.

- in a kadai, heat 1 tsp oil, splutter little mustard, 1 tsp urad  dal, curry leaves and then add the potatoes in.

- on this add the masala you just freshly ground, add salt as necessary.

- mix them all up and remove and serve hot with rice.

Notes:

- if adding asofoetida as crystals, you can fry them up in the beginning and keep aside. If using powder, add towards end of frying masala or directly while doing tadka. Reason being, if fried a lot it can turn bitter.

- I did not have coriander seeds, so added coriander powder directly to curry.

- this curry can be mixed with hot rice and a tsp of ghee and served with papad or mor khuzhambu( a.k.a kadi or majjige huli or majjiga pulisu).

- this can be eaten as a side for rasam or curd rice too.

Kovakkai / Ivy gourd / Tindora / Dondakaya Thuvaiyal

Why so many names?! ha ha...true...I just wanted to find the english name of the vegetable I know of only in Tamil and found some other translations too:-) and I knew my friends from other states also use this vegetable quite commonly. So, I hope this recipe is of interest to more audience than just one. I learnt this dish very recently from the wife of my apartments watchman! Every morning when I set off to work, I would never be able to miss the aromas wafting from her kitchen and on one such morning is when I learnt this recipe :-)

Ingredients:
- 200 gms kovakkai / ivy gourd
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 tbsp urad dhal
- 2 red chillies
- 2 green chillies
- 2 cloves garlic
- small piece of ginger
- a hint of asafoetida
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp oil



Prep time: 20 mins                                           Cook time: 30 mins

Preparation:

- Cut the vegetables into thin slices.

- In a tsp of oil roast the urad dhal, red chillies, green chillies, garlic, ginger and asafoetida and keep seperate.

- Heat the remaining oil, and fry the sliced vegetables for 15-20 mins , adding salt, until the vegetable is cooked well.
- Allow the vegetable to cool. On cooling, grind the vegetable, adding the roasted ingredients as above.
- Kovakkai thuvaiyal ready to be eaten with idli, dosa or mixed with hot rice and ghee and eaten with a pappad :-)

Potato Sagu

Potatoes are all time favorites for most of us and a dish with potatoes can never go wrong....and even if by chance it messes up, it can still not taste bad:-) So much for my love of potatoes...the most versatile veggie that can be cooked easy and tasty! So, here is a recipe with the lovely dovely potatoes which is quick and easy to make and can go well with roti or dosa! Choice is yours!!!

Ingredients:

- 4 or 5 medium potatoes
- 1/2 cup fresh/frozen green peas
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 3/4 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- Salt to taste
- Masala paste

For grinding masala paste:

- 1 onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 tbsp roasted gram (pottu kadalai / bhuna channa)
- 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp khus khus
- 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 cloves
- 2 green chilly (optional)

Prep time: 20 mins                                Cook time: 20 mins

Preparation:

- Boil the tomatoes until the skin breaks. Let it cool, peel the skin and then puree the tomatoes and set aside.

 - Pressure cook the potatoes along with the green peas. Drain the potatoes and peas of water and peel the skin off the potatoes on cooling and mash them.

- Grind all the ingredients given above under "masala paste" with 1/4 cup of water.

- In a broad pan/kadai, heat the oil. Add the fennel seeds and once it splutters, add the masala paste.

- To this, add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt and cook the paste until you don't get the raw smell of the masala.
- Once the masala is cooked, add the tomato puree, mashed potatoes and boiled peas and cook together for 3 to 4 minutes. Add salt if needed.

- If the gravy thickens after adding the potatoes, add little water to adjust the consistency of the gravy and bring it to a boil.

- Transfer on to a serving dish and garnish with fresh coriander leaves! Potato sagu is ready to eat with your favourite roti or dosa!

Raddish Leaf Curry

I have been looking forward to this weekend so much and am so glad its here! Work is usually very hectic during the first two weeks of the month that I usually do not get time to enter into the kitchen except to make my breakfast....well, that again is not an elaborate affair...its just plain oats cooked in milk...lol! So, after such hectic weeks of work I so wanted to unwind cooking some really healthy and quick food.

Although I have been claiming to be on a diet (which I am truly)....there have been few days in the past weeks where I had gone over board and indulged into some fried food a couple of times. Well, when you are on a diet regime(as long as its not for some Pageant:-))...I would suggest you give it up on a few occasions just so that you don't starve too much for junk and start eating loads of them on one fine day.

So, today when I ended up cooking, I took this vow to make it really simple and healthy and ended up making this super simple curry from Raddish leaves which was done in under 15 mins!!!

Ingredients:

- 1 bunch raddish leaves
- 1 small onion
- 1 green chilly
- 1 red chilly
- 1 tbsp coconut
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic (optional)
- salt to taste

Source: My Friends Cook:-)!

Prep time: 10 mins                        Cook time: 10 mins

Preparation:

- Wash the raddish leaves well, ensure there is no sand and drain.
- Chop the onions, garlic and the leaves finely.

- Dry grind the coconut and green chilly together. Just about a pulse in your blender or mixie would do.
- In a wide pan, heat the oil and let the mustard and cumin seeds splutter. Now add the red chilly and fry for a few seconds.

- Add the finely chopped onions and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes until they turn translucent.

- Now add the raddish leaves and salt and mix well. The leaves will begin  to shrink and let out some water.
- Cook covered for 5 to 7 minutes while stirring in between every 2 minutes.

- When the leaves are cooked add the coconut chilly mix and switch off the heat. Mix in the coconut well and transfer to your serving dish!

- Raddish leaf curry is ready in a jiffy! This is a good accompaniment to rice and roti as well!

Foot note:

- The leaf tastes a little bitter, so adding coconut helps to enhance the taste.
- Adjust the spice level according to the quantity of the leaf.

Paneer Mutter Masala

I started off  making Paneer Butter Masala and it eventually also turned out into Paneer Mutter Masala as I added some peas to the dish! You can take the below recipe as either one of them or a blend of both. All in all it turned out to be delicious and we had to scrape the bowl for more. I had always wondered how the dishes in the restaurants get that rich colour and flavour and to my surprise this dish turned out exactly the way it is presented in the restaurants!

Ingredients:

- 200 gms cubed paneer
- 2 medium tomatoes pureed
- 1 onion chopped finely
- 1 tbsp green peas
- 1 tbsp fresh cream (preferable)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp chopped ginger
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 2 green chillies slit
- 1 cup milk
- Salt as required

Masala:

- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp tomato sauce
- 1 tsp red chilly powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/8 tsp turmeric powder

Source: Sharmis Passions

Prep time: 15 minutes              Cook time: 30 mins

Preparation:

- Heat 1 tbsp butter in a flat pan and shallow fry the paneer cubes. Drain the panner on a paper towel.

- In the same pan, add 1/2 tbsp of butter and fry the ginger, garlic, green chillies and onions and fry for 2 minutes. Later add the green peas and fry for a couple of minutes.

- Now add the tomato puree or store bought tomato paste, tomato sauce and fry for a further 2 to 3 minutes.

- Meanwhile mix all the ingredients given under "Masala" above with 1/2 cup of milk. Add this milk to the pan slowly to prevent the milk from curdling.

- Bring the mix to a boil and if it is thick add 1/2 cup of water and allow to boil for 7 to 10 minutes on medium flame.
- Now, when the gravy thickens add the rest of the milk slowly and add salt as needed. Let this come to a boil for 2 to 3 minutes.

- Now, add the paneer and let the paneer cook in the gravy for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp butter and coriander leaves for garnish.

- Serve hot with Jeera rice or Roti!

Foot note:

- If you are using cream, make the dish in 1tbsp of butter and use 1/2 cup milk for mixing the masala. Replace the other 1/2 cup of milk with the cream.