Raw mango salad with onion

Raw mango salad with onion

Raw Mango and Onion salad

Raw mango (peeled and grated) – 1 medium
Onion (peeled and chopped) – 2 medium
Roasted and lightly crushed peanuts – 50 Gms
Salt and chilly powder to taste
Jaggery – 1 and ½ tablespoons
Roasted and crushed jeera - ½ spoon

Mix all ingredients together and serve with roti, subji or even as an accompaniment with corn chips


Note: Use bangloora/totapuri mango to get the right taste.

Alu muttar ( serves 4)

Alu muttar( without onion and garlic) -  serves 4

Aloo Mutter

Potatoes (peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes) – 2 medium
Tomatoes (diced finely) – 3 large
Green peas (shelled) – 200 gms
Ginger (peeled and finely diced) – ½ inch piece
Oil – 2 tablespoons
Asafetida powder – I pinch
Turmeric – ¼ teaspoon
Jeera – ½ teaspoon
Salt and chilly powder to taste
Jaggery – 1and ½ tablespoons
Garam masala – 1 pinch
Coriander (destalked and finely chopped) – a handful
Water – 250 ml

Heat oil in a cooker pan, add jeera and let it sputter before adding the ginger and tomatoes. Cook for about 4-5 minutes and add the chilly powder, turmeric, asafetida and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the jaggery, salt, diced potato, green peas and cook for 1 minute. Add the water, coriander and garam masala. Let it all come to a boil and pressure cook it till soft. (About 3-4 whistles depending on your pressure cooker) Open the cooker and check for consistency and adjust accordingly. Serve hot with hot rotis or Phulkas.

Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer ( serves 4)

Palak – 2 bunches
Paneer – 100 gms
Onion (finely sliced)- 1 big
Garlic (finely sliced) - 1 clove
Ginger (peeled and finely sliced) – I inch
Coconut Milk/ Fresh cream – 50 gms
Red chilli powder- To taste
Dhaniya powder- 1.5 teaspoons
Salt to taste
Garam masala – 1 pinch
Cinnamon stick – ¼ inch piece
Oil – 2 tablespoons

Blanch the leaves and tender stalks of Palak (spinach) in about 2 tablespoons of water for 4-5 minutes, cool and then blend to a paste. Heat oil (leaving aside 1 teaspoon) add the cinnamon stick to the oil, cook for about 30 seconds and then add ginger, garlic and onion; sauté till onion becomes tender. Add the dhaniya powder and chilly powder to this and cook for about 1 minute and then add the spinach puree. Cook the spinach till the raw smell of spinach is gone; add salt and the coconut milk/ fresh cream. Cook till all the ingredients are blended completely. Add  garam masala and cook for 2 minutes.

In a non stick pan heat 1 teaspoon of oil and toast paneer (cut into ½ inch cubes) till soft and light golden, this does not take more than 1 minute on each side. Add the toasted paneer to the palak gravy and cook for one minute. Serve hot with Phulkas or rotis

Channa Bhatura

Channa Bhatura (serves 4)

Channa Masala with Bhatura

Channa Masala with Bhatura

Channa Masala with Naan

Channa

Kabuli channa:250 gms

Onions: 3 medium

Tomatoes: 2 medium

Ginger: 2 inch piece

Garlic: 2 cloves

Dhaniya powder:2 spoons

Red chilli powder: to taste

Salt: to taste

Garam masala powder: ½ spoon

Coriander leaves (finely chopped):a handful

Oil for cooking: 2 tablespoons

Soak the Kabuli channa (chickpeas) overnight. Drain the water they are soaked in as this helps reduce the flatulence caused by chickpeas. Pressure cook the chickpeas with enough water to submerge the chickpeas generously and salt till tender and not overcooked. (approx.8 whistles)

Blend tomatoes, onions, ginger and garlic in the mixer into a coarse paste. Heat oil in a pan and add the paste. Cook for 15-20m minutes on low heat, stirring constantly. Add the Dhaniya powder and chilli powder and cook for 3 more minutes. Add the cooked channa after draining the water it was cooked in. Fry the masalas and channa together for 2-3 minutes. Now add the water( that the channa was cooked in) and stir the mixture. At this stage remove 15-20 of the cooked channas out of the gravy and mash them thoroughly with the back of a spoon and add this paste to the rest of the channa masala. This will help thicken the gravy and provide a cohesive texture. Cook the channa for about 5-6 more minutes. Finally add the garam masala and stir it in letting it mix well. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with Bhaturas.

Bhatura/ naan (makes 8-10)

Maida: 250gms

Curd: 2 tablespoons

Salt: 1 teaspoon

Sugar: 1and ½ teaspoons

Baking powder: 1 teaspoon

Oil for mixing: 1 teaspoon

Oil for frying

Mix the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, curd to form a firm dough. If needed add some water to get the right consistency. Rub the oil on top of the dough with your hands. Leave the dough to rise for about 1 hour. Roll out bhaturas (oblong shaped puris) and fry in oil. Serve hot with channa masala and raw onion slices. You can use the same dough to make naans; cook these on the tava without oil like you would cook a phulka/ roti. Apply a little butter while hot to get the butter naan taste.

Hint: In case you find the dough difficult to handle after it has risen, refrigerate it for half hour before using it.

Paani Puri

Potato filling, red and green chutney

Potato filling with sweet date chutney

Paani Puri with potato filling, sweet date chutney and green chutney

Paani Puri

Green chutney

Mint leaves - one bunch
Coriander leaves - ½  bunch           
Ginger - ½ inch piece
Green chilli - 1 or to taste
Salt- to taste
Rock salt - 1 tsp
Paani puri masala (Everest Brand) -1 and ½ tsp
Juice of one big lemon.
Paani puri – Buy good quality puris from a chaat shop or supermarket.

Blend all the ingredients together till smooth. Then add about 750 ml drinking water. Taste to make sure the taste is right. Tastes best when served cold.

Red/ sweet chutney

Dates - 250 gms
Tamarind - 50- 60 gms
Salt - to taste
Rock salt - ½ teaspoon
Jaggery- one lemon sized ball
Roasted jeera powder - ½ teaspoon
Chilli powder- 1 pinch

Pressure cook the dates and tamarind along with sufficient water till soft. Cool it. Then extract thick pulp from the mixture and remove the husky bits. Boil this pulp and add Salt, Rock salt, Jaggery, Roasted jeera powder and Chilli powder. Cool it well before using. This chutney should be thick and not too runny.     ( The same chutney can be used for Bhel puri)

For stuffing inside the Paani puri soak and boil black channa with salt , boil , peel and mash potatoes. Add rock salt, salt and chilli powder to this mixture.

Both chutneys can be kept in the refrigerator and used for 2-3 weeks.                   

Stuffed tomatoes

Stuffed Tomatoes

Gravy

Stuffed tomatoes with gravy

Stuffed tomatoes (serves 4)

Small tomatoes- 8


For the stuffing


Boiled potatoes (peeled and mashed) - 1(medium sized)
Finely chopped onions -1 big
Coriander finely chopped - ¼ bunch
Green peas - 2 table spoons   
French beans (finely diced) - 8-10
Carrot( peeled and finely diced) - 1 big
Ginger( peeled and diced) -1 inch piece
Garlic( peeled and diced) - 1 clove
Oil - 1 table spoon


Masalas


Dhaniya powder - 2 teaspoons
Turmeric powder-1 pinch
Chilli powder - to taste
Garam masala -  ¼ teaspoon
Salt to taste


Oil for cooking the vegetables finally   1.5 table spoons


Gravy(optional)


Onions - 2 large
Tomatoes - 2 large
Ginger -1 inch piece
Garlic-1 clove
Oil for cooking - 2 table spoons
Dhania powder -1 spoon
Red chilli powder - to taste
Salt (to taste)
Coconut milk( from a carton not the  powdered one) -100 ml
Garam masala -1 pinch
Green coriander (destalked and finely chopped) -a handful.


Prepare the stuffing by heating the oil and frying the onions till soft and then add dry masalas and the ginger. Microwave the peas, beans, carrot on high for four minutes along with a  little salt and 1 tablespoon of water or steam them lightly for 5-6 minutes without adding water. Add the mashed potatoes, the cooked vegetables and coriander leaves. Mix well, taste to make sure the salt is adequate.


Prepare the tomatoes by cutting off the tops and scooping out the innards, If doing this is difficult then the slice the vegetables into half lengthwise and scoop out the innards,


Stuff the mixture into the hollowed vegetables and cook the same in the cooker pan by heating the oil and placing the stuffed vegetables flat on the pan. Move them from side to side to make sure it is completely cooked. This should take about 6-7 minutes. You could garnish it with a little grated cheese before serving it to the children.


Gravy


Blend the onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger roughly in the mixer. Heat oil and cook the mixture for 10- 15 minutes on low heat till the raw smell is gone, add the dry masalas and cook for 3 more minutes. Add the coconut milk and stir till you get a rich look. Add a pinch of garam masala and garnish with coriander.    


To complete the dish place the stuffed and cooked tomatoes on top of the gravy and serve hot with hot rotis or jeera rice.


Note: You can substitute the coconut milk with tender curd or fresh cream. But curd  does not produce the same results and cream is too rich and heavy. Another substitute for making the gravy more well rounded is blanching 8-10 cashew nuts or almonds( need to be peeled after blanching) and grinding them to a paste and adding to the gravy.  You can also add sweet corn, paneer etc into the stuffing if preferred. You can use the same stuffing for small capsicums and cook them the same way. For a better visual effect you can alternate stuffed tomatoes with stuffed capsicums.

Welcome to Rama's recipes

I have started this blog because I love cooking and sharing food with friends and family. This blog is going to be my platform for sharing my recipes with those of you who are constantly asking me for me for them. I really cannot claim that all my recipes are original, but one thing I can say about them is that they are easy and most importantly delicious. I hope you enjoy cooking my recipes as much as I do.

I always feel that as with everything else in life if you enjoy doing it, the results are always going to be good. The same applies to cooking.  If you enjoy cooking, the end results are going to be delicious. My recipes are just guidelines you can add/delete/ substitute ingredients on the way - and you will be surprised with the results!

Here is wishing you happy cooking and delicious food!