CHICKEN IN GREEN CURRY

Ingredients:-

·       Green chilies

·       Coriander

·       Dried coconut

·       Chickpea dal/ pandharpuri dal

·       Kanda lasun masala

·       Garam masala

·       2 large onions

·       3-4 cloves of garlic

·       A quarter inch piece of ginger

·       Salt

·       500gms chicken

·       Oil

Procedure:-

·       Slice the coconut and lightly toss it in a wok with a little oil till the edges turn brown. It should be about a cupful.

·       Blend together 2 onion, a handful of coriander, 5-6 green chilies, fried coconut, a tablespoon of kanda lasun masala, half a spoonful of garam masala, 3-4 cloves of garlic, a quarter inch piece of ginger and a cupful of chickpea dal/pandharpuri dal into a paste. If needed add water to the mixture to get the right consistency.

·       The pandharpuri dal thickens the gravy.

·       Boil the chicken with a pinch of turmeric and salt until it’s cooked.

·       Heat oil in a wok. Add the blended mixture to the oil and sauté.

·       Add the chicken with the water it has been boiled in, into the wok.

·       Add salt to taste and bring it to a boil.

·       Serve hot with roti or chapatti or rice.

CHICKEN BIRYANI

There are so many good places in Pune itself where you can get fabulous biryanis. One of favourites is Blue Nile restaurant. I can hardly match their amazing creations but here’s my version of a chicken biryani. It does need some tweaking around and I’m sure it can be made a lot better but this is not half bad.

Ingredients:-

·       500gms chicken

·       500gms long grained basmati rice

·       2 large onions blended into a paste

·       2 pureed tomatoes

·       Chopped coriander

·       Ginger-garlic paste

·       Bay leaves

·       3-4 cloves

·       Black peppercorns

·       Green cardamom

·       Curd

·       Turmeric powder

·       Biryani masala

·       Red chili powder

·       Salt

·       Oil

·       1 onion thinly sliced

Procedure:-

·       Partially cook the basmati rice and keep it aside.

·       Marinate the chicken pieces in curd, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric and some red chilli powder for about 2 hours.

·       Heat oil in a pan and throw in a couple of bay leaves, cloves, cardamom and black peppercorns.

·       Then sauté the onion paste in the oil until it changes colour and darkens slightly.

·       Add the pureed tomatoes and half a tablespoon of turmeric powder. Add the biryani masala and mix it well.

·       At this point add the marinated chicken, salt, chopped coriander and just enough water to cook the chicken.

·       The gravy should remain thick after the chicken is cooked.

·       Now in a deep utensil, add alternate layers of rice and the chicken with the top most layers being that of rice.

·       Keep the lid on and secure it to the untesil with the help of roti dough so that no steam escapes and the rice is cooked properly.

·       Do not keep the pot directly on the stove as the rice at the bottom might burn. Keep a pan or a skillet on the stove and then keep the biryani pot on top of it.

·       Fry the sliced onions until they are brown and crispy.

·       Garnish the biryani with fried onions and serve hot with salad and yogurt.

CHICKEN CURRY WITH FRESH COCONUT

Ingredients:-

·       500gms chicken

·       2 onions

·       Fresh coconut

·       1 tomato

·       Curd

·       Garam masala

·       Ginger-garlic paste

·       Fresh coriander

·       Coriander seed powder

·       Bay leaf

·       Turmeric powder

·       Red chilli powder

·       Salt

·       Oil

For the garam masala,

Ingredients:-

·       Cloves

·       Cardamom

·       Cinnamon

·       Cumin seeds

·       Black / masala cardamom

·       Black pepper

Procedure:-

·       Roast all the spices in a pan for a couple of minutes and let them cool down. Grind them into a fine powder.

·       You can make this garam masala and store it. However, using fresh made garam masala gives better flavor and aroma.

·       Clean the chicken and marinate it for half an hour with two spoons of ginger-garlic paste, about half a cup of curd, half a spoon of turmeric powder and some salt.

·       Then pressure cook the chicken until its almost done

·       Heat oil in a pan and sauté thinly sliced onions in it until they brown. Let the onions cool and then puree them. Also puree the tomatoes.

·       Grate out the coconut and blend it till it is the consistency of bread crumbs.

·       Heat oil in a pan. Throw in a couple of bay leaves. Make sure the oil isn’t too hot or else the leaves will burn. Add 2-3 spoonful of ginger-garlic paste. Sauté for a minute or so then add the pureed onions and tomatoes and sauté till the mix slightly darkens in colour.

·       Add about half a tablespoon of turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon of garam masala, 1 tablespoon of coriander seed powder and 1 tablespoon of red chilli powder. You can add some more of the masala if you favor spicy curries.

·        Add the cooked chicken to this mix and stir it well. Add chopped fresh coriander powder. Add salt to taste.

·       Add enough water to submerge the chicken pieces but the curry shouldn’t be too watery and maintain a think consistency. Add the blended coconut and stir well. Bring it to boil.

·       Serve hot with roti, naan or rice.

PAN-FRIED CHICKEN BREAST WITH CHEESE SAUCE

Ingredients:-

·       1 chicken breast

·       1 lemon

·       1 teaspoon Paprika

·       Salt

·       2-3 spoonful Ginger-garlic paste

·       Mixed herbs

·       Coriander

·       Oil
·       Honey

·       Soy sauce

·       Chilli sauce

Procedure:-

·       Make small cuts on the chicken breast so that it marinates properly. For the marinade, mix together the ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice,soy sauce, chilli sauce, honey, paprika, chopped coriander, mixed herbs and salt to taste. Rub it on the breast and let it marinate for 4-5 hours

·       Heat oil in a pan. When it’s hot enough, fry the chicken breast on both sides until it’s done.

·       Serve hot with salad and cheese sauce.

·       For the salad, thinly slice onions, carrots and tomatoes and toss them with a pinch of salt, paprika and lemon juice.

Now for the cheese sauce,

Cheese in India is always amul cheese!!! So this is a kaam chalau cheese sauce made using amul cheese. It literally takes a minute to make and is just as yummy!

Ingredients:-

·       3-4 cubes of amul cheese cut into small pieces

·       Half a cup of warm milk

·       Black pepper powder

·       Chopped coriander

Procedure:-

·       Melt the cheese in a microwave or a double boiler. Do not try to melt it by keeping the pot directly on the flame or else the cheese will burn.

·       Add the warm milk, a pinch of pepper powder and chopped coriander and whip it together. The milk is necessary as otherwise the cheese will just solidify again upon cooling.

Add a pinch of salt if necessary. The cheese sauce is ready.

PANEER /COTTAGE CHEESE

Paneer is a kind of cheese made from cow’s or buffalo milk. It is a favorite in Indian cuisine and fairly easy to make. It is used in many curries and also to make stuffing in various wraps, momos or dumplings. 

Ingredients:-

·       Milk

·       Lemon

Procedure:-

·       Paneer has to be made from split milk. I made this batch when a litre of cow’s milk split in my kitchen. However, to split the milk you need to bring it to a boil and then squeeze some lemon juice into it.

·       Once the milk splits, you need to work fast. Cover the top of any deep utensil with a thin muslin cloth.

·       Drain the milk onto this cloth. The solid contents begin to split from the liquid contents of the milk. The cloth is to drain the liquid part.

·       Keep moving the cloth little by little to drain as much water as possible.

·       After most of the water has been drained, start twisting the paneer in the cloth itself, tying it into a knot. This will release more water from the paneer. You have to get as much water out as possible.

·       After you have drained all the water, tie the cloth into a tight knot and leave it for 3-4 hours.

·       Use this fresh paneer to make desired recipes. 

BANANA CAKE

Ingredients:-

·       2 ripe bananas

·       Half cupful of melted butter (around 50-80gms)

·       1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

·       1 tablespoon baking powder/ baking soda

·       1 cupful of powdered sugar

·       Vanilla essence/ vanilla extract

·       1 egg

·       Milk, if needed

 Procedure:-

·       Melt the butter in a pan. Mash the bananas into this butter. Let it cool.

·       Sift in the flour, sugar and baking soda into this mixture.

·       Break an egg and add the vanilla essence. Fold in the flour. If the batter is too thick, add a tiny amount of milk. The batter should not be too runny though.

·       Butter a cake tin and dust it with flour.

·       Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.

·       To check if the cake is done, put a knife through the cake. If no batter sticks to the blade then the cake is done.

·       Let it cool in the oven itself for some time before taking it out. Slice it and serve. 

BAINGAN KA BHARTA/ SPICY EGGPLANT/ AUBERGINE

Ingredients:- 

·       1 large eggplant/aubergine

·       1 medium sized diced onion

·       6-7 cloves of garlic

·       Chopped coriander

·       Mustard seeds

·       Paprika or red chili powder

·       Turmeric powder

·       Salt

·       Oil

Procedure:-

·       Roast the eggplant on an open flame till its skin is crisp and comes of easily. Before roasting it, make small cuts on the side to check if it’s clean inside. Eggplants can be infected with larvae of some insects and hence it’s necessary to make sure they clean before cooking them.

·       Once the eggplant is cooked, take it off the flame and let it cool. Peel off the skin and remove the stalk. Mash the cooked aubergine.

·       Heat about two spoonful of oil in a wok. Once it’s hot enough, add half a spoonful of mustard seeds to the oil and wait till make crackling sounds. Keep the flame low so that the seeds won’t burn.

·       Add chopped garlic to the oil and let them brown slightly.

·       Add the mashed eggplant and a pinch of turmeric, a teaspoon of paprika/ red chili powder and salt to taste. Mix it well.

·       Take it off the burner and add the chopped onion and chopped coriander to the mix.

·       Serve hot with roti or chapattis or any Indian bread  

SABUDANA / SAGO KHEER

Ingredients :-

• 1 cup sago
• 500 ml milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 3-4 cardamom pods
• 1/2 cup cashews, raisins and almonds

Preparation:-

• Soak the sago in lukewarm water. Remove excess water and leave the sago aside to soften.
• Bring the milk to boil. Add sugar and after it dissolves, add the softened sago and all the cashews, raisins and almonds. 
• Crush the cardamom pods and add them to the kheer.
• Keep the kheer on a low flame till it thickens a little. 
• Serve hot as dessert. 

PALAK KE PARATHE / SPINACH PARATHAS

Ingredients :-

• around 200-300 gms of spinach leaves
• 2 1/2 bowls of wheat flour
• 1 cup of chickpea flour
• 4-5 garlic petals
• an inch long piece of ginger
• 3-4 green chillies
• salt
• coriander leaves
• coriander seed powder
• oil/ butter

Method :-

• Clean and remove the stalks from the spinach leaves. Blanch the leaves and puree them once they have cooled down.
• crush the garlic, ginger, coriander leaves and chilies together.
• In a large bowl, mix both the flours, the crushed ingredients, 1 tablespoon of coriander seed powder, salt, and the spinach puree.
• Knead it into a dough. Add water if needed.
• Roll out the parathas and roast on a hot skillet or a flat pan.
• Smear oil or butter on both sides of a paratha and serve hot with yogurt or pickles.

ONION PAKORAS/ KANDYACHI BHAJI

 Ingredients :-

• 2 large onions
• 1 & 1/2 cup chickpea flour
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• coriander
• 1 tablespoon carom / thymol seeds
• oil (to fry)

Preparation :-

• To the chick pea flour, add sliced onions, chopped coriander, paprika, turmeric, carom seeds, chopped green chillies, and salt to taste. Add a little water and mix it all together as a batter.
• Heat oil in a wok. Deep fry dollops of this batter until golden brown.
• Serve hot with hot n sweet ketchup or pudina chutney. 

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Ingredients:-

• 1 & 1/2  cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar

For Chocolate ganache frosting:-

• 1 cup Belgian dark chocolate
• 3-4 tablespoon fresh cream
• 1 tablespoon butter

Preparation:-

• Beat 2 eggs in a bowl until they are light and fluffy. Add the softened butter and sugar gradually while still beating the mixture together.
• Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into this mixture and fold it in. If the mixture is very thick then add a little water.
• Pour into cupcake molds and bake in a preheated oven for 30 mins at 180 degrees.
• After 30 mins check with a knife if they are done. If no batter sticks to the knife then the cupcakes are ready.
• Let them cool before decorating them.  
• For the ganache, melt the chocolate, cream and butter together in a double boiler. Let it cool and then spread it on the cupcakes.
• Decorate with sprinkles and serve. 

METHI KE PARATHE/ FENUGREEK PARATHAS

Ingredients :-

•  fresh methi/ fenugreek leaves
• 1 1/2 cup dahi/yogurt
• 2 - 3 cups wheat flour
• 1 cup chickpea flour
• 5-6 garlic petals
• salt
• paprika
• turmeric powder
• oil

Method :-

• Mix together the wheat flour and chickpea flour. Add a tablespoon of paprika, a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste. Add the yogurt, fenugreek leaves and crushed garlic. Then knead it into a firm dough. Add water if needed.
• Take small parts of this dough and roll out the parathas.
• Roast on a skillet or a tawa, smearing a tiny amount of oil on each side while doing so. 
• Serve hot with dahi or pickle or chchunda. 

ANDA BHURJI

 

Ingredients :-

• 4 eggs
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 2-3 green chillies
• turmeric powder
• salt
• oil

Preparation :-

• Heat oil in a pan. Saute chopped onions and green chillies till the onions change colour. 
• Add tomatoes and saute until they are completely cooked. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste.
• Break the eggs into the pan and keep stirring and scrambling them till they are done.
• Serve hot with bread.