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. 

Grilled Trout with parsley, pear and lemon

Today's recipe is grilled trout. This is originally Jamie Oliver's recipe, which was modified slightly by me. For people who do not get trout, you can substitute this with Salmon.

Ingredients:

Whole trout (Scaled, gutted and cleaned) - 2 x 300g
Olive oil (Peppery)
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Flat leaf parsley - 1 large bunch
Garlic - 2 (Crushed)
Pears - 1 (Very thinly sliced)
Lemons - 1
Lemon zest - 1
Butter - 2 knobs

Method:

• Preheat your grill 
• Slash the externals of your trout with a knife. Each slash should be 1/4 inch deep
• Rub the trout with Olive oil, salt and pepper
• Stuff the cavity of the trout with coarsely chopped parsley, crushed garlic and slices of pear 
• Place this on the grill on a tray and also place 2 lemon halves on the grill
• Sprinkle some lemon zest on top of the trout and also dot it with some butter
• Place this 15cm from the grill and cook for 8-10mins on each side.  

Serving:

Squeeze the roasted lemon on the fish before serving

Note:

One fish can be easily consumed by one individual. Therefore, toss some roast veggies and or salad with this. 

Sunday...

A lazy Sunday gone. Sunday was relaxing and fun. Had the traditional Sunday roast at The Black Lion which was a pretty good pub. I once tried making the Sunday roast at home, it was pretty good. A nice slice of beef with roasted potatoes, parsnips and carrots,Yorkshire pudding with the gravy. This was amazing. I loved the roasted potatoes. I like my beef medium rare, it has better taste and texture.

I pulled a recipe out from Jamie Oliver and tried it at home, it was pretty good. I modified it to my taste slightly (as I always do with all the recipes). Will share this very soon. Hope everyone had a great Sunday.

Maharashtrian Kichdi

Maharashtrian Kichdi is very different from what Tamilians make. This is one of my favourite's because it is wholesome and extremely simple and quick to make. This recipe is my own, it is a combination and modification of various recipes.

Ingredients:

Moong dal - 1/4 cup [Can also use lentils]

Rice - 1 cup

Onions medium size (Sliced) - 1

Tomatoes (finely chopped) - 1

Peas - 1/2 cup

Potatoes (Diced) - 1

Carrots (Chopped) - 1/4 cup

Beans (Chopped) - 1/4 cup

Green chilli (Slit) - 1 or 2

Ginger (Sliced) - 1 small piece

Garlic (Optional) Crushed - 2

Masalas

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Goda masala - 1 tsp

Salt to taste 

Oil to fry

Method: 

• Heat oil in a pressure pan and add sliced onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry till the onions turn transparent. 
• Add finely chopped tomatoes and allow it to cook in medium heat. 
• Once tomato is cooked, add diced potato and cook for 3mins and then add all the vegetables. 
• Wash rice and dal [lentils] and add to the pressure pan. Sauté this nicely.
• To this add all the masalas and sauté for 2mins.
• Add 3 cups of water and allow it cook in the pressure pan till 4 whistles.

Note:

• You can use any vegetable as per your taste.
• For people who don't know or have goda masala, you can substitute with chole masala or a mix of garam masala, cumin powder and amchur. It tastes different but is very nice.
• Any dal or lentils can be used instead of moong dal.
• If you do not have pressure pan, fry everything in a pan separately and shift it to the rice cooker and cook it.

Garnish: 

You can garnish this with some grated coconut. 

Serving suggestion:

Serve hot with plain yoghurt.

Hummus - Dips

Today's recipe is Hummus. This is a famous Middle Eastern dip which is very simple to make. I learnt to make this from a friend of mine who is an amazing cook.

Ingredients:

Chickpeas - 1 can
Tahini sauce - 1-2 tbsps
Juice of lemon - 1 lemon (4-5 tbsps)
Garlic - 2 minced or crushed finely (Fresh)
Salt - To taste

Method:

Blend the chickpeas in a blender till it becomes a coarse paste. Add Tahini sauce, crushed garlic, juice of lemon and salt and blend it again for couple of minutes.

Serving: Serve it with hot pita bread / carrot sticks

Note: If you wish to have some spice in your Hummus, blend in some red chilli or red pepper (depending on you tolerance to spice).

Kheer - Pal payasam - Rice pudding

Being a typical tam brahm in many ways, I'd wish to start with a sweet and this is one of my favs

Ingredients:
Whole milk - 2L
Sugar - 1 1/2 tbsps
Rice - 1/4 cup
Cardamom (crushed/pounded) - 4 pods
Pistachios - handful

Method:
Wash the rice nicely and keep aside. Pour milk in a thick bottomed utensil and add the washed rice. Once the milk begins to boil, add the sugar. Keep stirring constantly to avoid spilling of milk. When the rice ids 1/2 done, add the crushed cardamom and sliced pistachios. Keep boiling with constant stirring till the milk turns golden brown. Garnish on top with sliced pistachios.

Serving: serve either hot or cold.

Cooking

Cooking relieves stress...my grandmother was a great cook and I learnt to cook from my aunts.. they actually taught me that the taste of food changes when you are dedicated and sincere.. it is like any job that you have in your office, dedication changes everything...