This is one of the my mom's go to vegetable curry's cook. Growing up it was either okra with potatoes or it was this spinach curry. It requires few ingredients but it is hearty and satisfying. It can be paired with kichdi (with papadum) and roti.

Ingredients:

4 bunches of spinach

4 tomatoes

2 onions

7 garlic clove

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp cumin 

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp tomato paste

1 tsp lemon juice

salt to taste

Method:

To start boil tomatoes, and then peel skin off and roughly cut into medium size pieces. Add tomatoes and garlic cloves in a food processor and make it into a puree.

On a high heat add oil, and then fenugreek seeds and cumin. After couple of minutes add finely chopped onion and turn the heat to medium/low.

Once the onions are translucent add the tomato-garlic puree, turmeric, and salt. Let the mixture cook for few minutes and then add tomato paste, lemon juice, and spinach. Cook for another 15 minutes (approximately) until the spinach is cooked properly.

Curry Veggie

8:26:00 PM

I am always looking for recipes that do not take a lot of effort but taste delicious. Today I made cilantro chicken with ginger-garlic paste. It is very simplistic recipe requiring only few ingredients but definitely packs punch.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1.5 hr 

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (~5.5 lbs)
1 heaping tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 tsp turmeric
3.5 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Method:

In a food processor add ginger garlic paste, cilantro, turmeric, olive oil, lemon juice and salt to make a paste.

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Place chicken in a baking dish; pour mixture and coat well on both sides. I marinated my chicken the day before but it is not necessary to do so. Cover the chicken with a foil, cook in oven for 1.5 hrs (or until done). Remove the foil last 30 minutes.

chicken

8:50:00 PM

It's been awhile since I have made a blog post although I do think about posting almost daily but things have been hectic that I have just not gotten around to it. It seems like a forever ago since my last post. But here is fast and easy recipe to start off the year.

Makes: ~13
Ingredients:

2 lbs of ground turkey

1 bunch of cilantro

A few springs of mint

¼ tsp turmeric

2 tsp of dhana jeera masala

1 tsp of black pepper

1 small chopped onion

1 cup panko

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

1.5 tbsp Kashmiri chili  

Method:

In a large bowl add all the above ingredients, starting with ground turkey, dry masala, ginger garlic paste, panko, mint, chopped onion, cilantro, black pepper and kashmiri chili (for color). Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.

Divide the mixture in equal parts to form burger patties.

I have a large George Foreman Grill, which is what I used to cook the patties. I find it quick, easy and are done in 4-5 minutes. Easy-peasy!

Turkey

3:43:00 PM

One of my favorite dish made by my nanima (grandmother) is kachori. It is her signature dish, and since I started on this journey I knew I had to learn it.

Few days ago I was feeling confident in my cooking (which is rare) and decided to give it a try. I called up my nanima and got the recipe and gave it a go. I am impressed with how well it turned out, although not as good as my nanima’s but pretty close. Without further ado...here it is.

Makes: ~ 18

Ingredients:
Dough:

1.5 cup All Purpose flour
3 tbsp butter
1/5 tsp baking powder
Salt to taste


Stuffing:

2 cups Mixed Vegetable
2 potatoes
1/2 cup chana Daal
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp cumin-coriander powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Dahi Bara Chaat seasoning (available in Indian Store)
1 tbsp Oil


Method:

Dough:

In a pan, mix All Purpose Flour, butter, baking powder, and salt, Refrigerate for half hour.

Stuffing:

Boil mixed vegetables, potatoes, and chaana dal. Strain and set aside.

On medium heat, in a pan add oil, followed by mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to splatter, turn off the heat. Then add ginger-garlic paste, and rest of the dry ingredients as well as boiled ingredients and mix well. Add salt to taste.

Once the mixture has cooled down, make small size balls and set them aside in the refrigerator.

Take the dough, knead it well and divide it up in small balls to match the number of mix vegetable balls. Then roll the dough into neat circles and then place the ball of mix vegetables in the middle and neatly fold the dough around.


Fry on medium heat until golden brown.


Serve with coconut-cilantro chutney.

Veggie

3:37:00 PM

I finally got back in the kitchen!

For my birthday my brother and sister made me a book of my first year blogging. It's a nice remainder that I actually very much enjoy the process of cooking and sharing my experience. Moving forward my goal is to do weekly posts and keep at it.

Over the weekend I made Dahi Wara (dahi means yogurt). Dahi wara are served as deserts, easy to make, and light for a dessert. They are little buttons of heaven.

Makes 16.
Ingredients:


1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sooji
3 tbsp melted ghee
1/4 tsp baking powder
Plain Yogurt to bind
Orange food color

For syrup:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Method:

In a food processor add flour, sooji, ghee, baking powder, and orange color (enough for the dough to catch the color). Then slowly add plain yogurt to bind all the ingredients together. Keep the dough aside for an hour.

While the dough kept aside, make the sugar syrup. In a pan add sugar and water, over medium heat let this mixture dissolve, until is thin in consistency, meaning when you dip your wooden spatula and pull it out there should be three drops of the mixture (on the third drop it a long thread should form).

Then roll out the dough and cut out small round circles.

Over medium heat fry until golden brown. Dip the dahi wara one by one in the sugar syrup and remove set it in another bowl, if you leave it in sugar syrup they become a bit soggy. Let it cool at room temperature and then serve.

Dessert

3:57:00 PM