After ages

It has been ages since I wrote something or shared a recipe. Laziness, travels and errands refused to let go. This has not stopped me from trying out new recipes and cooking some fab and not-so-fab dishes... Taking the camera out to click pictures have been missing.. this will result in some recipes with no pictures... My recent trip to India, made me like and accept Tofu. I was quite surprised that I kind of liked it. I have disliked Tofu all my life and when my sister tossed it up in a pan and gave it to me, I was only left craving for me...

Thanks akka... for making me like something that is healthy.. I have already tried it out and it wasn't as good as what you fed me.. guess simple things are not that simple to make... :))

Murgh (Non) Makhani

Butter Chicken. The famous dish which many of us love. I always thought it is extremely challenging to make it, till I tried. This non-butter chicken recipe is yummy and simple to make. I made it while I was baking my scones. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Chicken - 500gm
Onion - 1 (Chopped finely)
Garlic cloves - 6 to 7 (Crushed)
Ginger - 1.5'' (Grated)
Tomato purée - 4 to 5 tbsp
Cumin powder - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tbsp
Plain yoghurt - 4 to 5 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

• Marinate the chicken for an hour with the dry spices and 1/2 of tomato purée
• Heat oil and add onions, garlic and ginger and allow it to fry 
• To this add the remaining purée and allow it to cook for 3-4mins 
• Add the marinated chicken and add some water, plain yoghurt and allow the chicken to cook on slow-medium heat for 15-20mins

Serving suggestion:

• You can have this with jeera rice or naan 

Note:

• Use a combination of ready to use purée and home made purée to get better colour. 

Cinnamon-Almond cookies

 My sudden craze for baking allows me to experiment with various combinations these days. Every time I bite into a cookie, I remember my friends telling me to stop it as it extremely high on calorie. I quietly wondered, 'How bad could it be'. This was the case until I baked them myself. In the process of learning to bake, I am quickly learning to make low fat cookies. Though the one here is not low-fat. This is basic cookie recipe and you can play around with flavouring according to your taste buds. Enjoy........

Ingredients:

Salted butter - 200gm

Caster sugar - 100gm

Plain flour - 250gm

Cinnamon powder - 1tsp

Crushed almonds - 2tbsp

Method:

• Preheat the oven at 180°C
• Add soft butter and sugar and mix with a hand blender until soft and fluffy
• To this, add plain flour, cinnamon powder and crushed almonds and mix well to make a dough
• Roll this in your hand and flatten it evenly to your desired shape (If need be, use a cookie cutter) 
• Bake for 15-17mins

Note:

• Halfway through, take the tray and turn it to ensure consistent baking
• Take the cookie tray out and allow it to cook for 10mins and store them in airtight containers

Podi kathrikai (Aubergines)

This is an easy to make, quick recipe. This is a very typical tam brahm recipe. This tastes amazing with rasam rice and is yummy.

Ingredients: 

Aubergines (Small - Length wise slit) - 18Nos
Dried red chillies - 6 Nos
Chenna dal - 2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste





Method:

• Dry roast the dried red chillies, chenna dal and coriander seeds and allow it to cool and powder it in a blender
• Heat oil in a pan and add aubergines. 
• Cover the pan and allow the aubergines to cook on medium heat
• When half done, add the powdered masala to the aubergine and cook without lid 
• Stir intermittently to avoid burning. 

Serving Suggestion:

• You can have this with rotis as well as rice. It tastes awesome with rasam rice

Roast Beef

With Sunday around the corner, roast beef is perfect to lunch. I never ate beef for a major part of my life, but roast beef is so yummy that you cannot help but eat it. When you make it at home, your entire house has the mild smell of rosemary and the slow roasting beef. It is heavenly. As I mentioned in my previous post, I like my meat medium rare, so while cooking, make sure you follow the time for your kind of meat. This is healthy, amazing and very simple to make. 

The first time I roasted beef, I had to follow Jamie blindly. However, now I have my own recipe which is the simplest way anyone would roast beef hence not very innovative. Hope you guys enjoy it. 

Ingredients:

Beef (Topside) - 1.5kg

Carrots - 4Nos

Onions - 2Nos

Garlic - 1 bulb

Rosemary - 1 bunch

Freshly ground pepper

Olive oil (Peppery)

Sea salt

Method:

• The meat should be at room temperature before going into the oven
• Pre-heat the oven at 240°C
• Chop the veggies roughly and slightly squish the garlic cloves without peeling and throw them in a roasting tray
• Pound rosemary with olive oil in a mortar and rub this oil with rosemary on the beef
• Rub the beef with salt and pepper and place it on top of the bed of veggies in the tray
• Place the tray in the oven and cook at 200°C
• When half done, take the beef out and baste it and also make sure that the veggies don't burn, sprinkle some water on them if they do
• When done, take the beef out and cover it with foil and leave aside for 10-15mins

Cooking Guidelines @ 200°C:

• 1hr for Medium
• 50mins for Medium rare
• 1hr15mins for well done

Serving suggesting:

• Serve this with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and gravy

Vangi Bath (Aubergine rice)

As a kid, I used to hate aubergines. I used to act sick every time it was made and still remember my mom stuffing me forcefully with it :( . It took a while for me to realise that aubergine when made well is amazing. I had Vangi Bath in a wedding in Chennai. I had no clue what it was and was extremely pre-occupied chattering with my cousins that I did not notice it had aubergines and ate all of it. When I asked for a second helping I realised that it had aubergines and I actually not only ate it but also loved it.
A friend of mine who is a Kannadiga (my best friend) gave the recipe to make Vangi Bath masala which is left back in India now. Therefore, I invented my own Vangi Bath recipe and used MTR powder. One cannot go wrong with something as simple as Vangi Bath.

Ingredients:

Aubergines (Small) - 5-6
Peas - 1/2 cup
Onions - 1 (Finely chopped)
Rice (Cooked) - 1 cup
Vangi Bath masala - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Peanuts (Raw) - 2 tbsp
Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp
Jaggery - 1/2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 5-6 leaves
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

• Cook the rice and keep it aside
• Make a paste of jaggery with tamarind in 3 tbsps water and keep aside
• Heat oil in a pan and add peanuts and fry it. Add mustard seeds and urad dal and allow it to crackle. Add the curry leaves and leave for less than a minute
• Add the chopped onions and fry for 2 mins till it turns transparent and to this add aubergines and peas.
• Fry the veggies for 2-3mins and add turmeric powder and salt and allow it to cook for 2-3mins
• To this mixture, add Vangi bath masala, tamarind and jaggery pulp
• Allow this to cook for a minute or two and then add the cooked rice and mix well

Serving suggestion:

• You can serve this with papad or even raitha.

Note:

• You can use other veggies such as carrot, beans etc. 
• Do not add too much water to the tamarind as it will make the rice gooey. 

Masala Bhindi - Masala Okra - Masala Vendakai

On my secret trip to Chennai (to relax), I stayed at Srikanth's company guest house. A plush 3 bedroom apartment in Santhome, overlooking the sea. There was a Nepali cook there who was taking care of us. A boy who looked capable of anything but cooking. But I was in for a surprise. He made the simplest possible food which tasted so good that I was not willing to go out and eat.


He would ask me before every meal, 'Ma'am aaj khane mai kya banaoon' (Ma'am what shall I cook today). Hence the Masala Bhindi. He made this in 20mins with hot phulkas (Indian bread). It was heavenly. A big relief from the only way I knew to cook bhindi. Therefore, I thought I'd share this recipe with you all.

Ingredients:

Bhindi /Okra (Chopped 3cm) - 750gm
Onion (Finely chopped) - 1
Tomato (Finely chopped) - 1
Garlic (Crushed) - 3
Chillies (Slit) - 2
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

• Microwave the chopped Bhindi in a bowl with few drops of oil for 10mins. Stir it and microwave it again for another 10mins.
• Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped onion, crushed garlic and the chillies.
• Once they are done, add the tomatoes and fry till nicely done.
• To this add all the dry masalas and stir in nicely for 2mins
• Add the cooked bhindi to this masala and allow it to shallow fry in medium heat for 10-15 mins.
• Masala bhindi is ready to eat.

Serving Suggestion:

You can have this with hot rotis or dal rice

Note:

For healthy option, you can use a non-stick, however, shallow frying the bhindi too long in a non-stick can make it dry.