Vegetable Korma or "Saravana Bhavan" Korma

This is the best combination for parottas and chapathis. People who are fans of Hotel Saravana Bhavan will relish this recipe for sure!!

You will need,

potato - 1 [cubed]
tomato - 2 [diced]
onion - 1
Green peas - a handful
Green chilly - 1
cashews - 6 [soaked in warm water for 2 hrs]
kasa kasa or poppy seeds - 2 tsp [soaked in warm water for 2 hrs]
saunf- 1 tsp
krambhu or lavangam - 2
bay leaf - 1
jeera - 1 tsp
cinnamon stick - 1" piece
garlic - 3 pods
ginger - 1 " piece
grated coconut - 1/2 cup
red chilly powder - 2 tsp
dhania powder - 1/2 tsp
oil - 1 tsp
salt to taste

Method:

Grind together shredded coconut, finely chopped tomatoes, kasa kasa, cashews, ginger, garlic, green chilly, saunf, jeera, cinnamon and krambu.
In a kadaai, heat 4 tsp of oil and throw the bayleaf and saute the onion for 5 minutes.
Now add the vegetables [peas and potato] and saute for 2 minutes.
Now add red chilly powder, dhania powder and salt and saute for 2 more minutes.
Sprinkle a little water and now add the ground paste and let it boil till the raw smell disappears.
let it boil until the oil comes off the gravy.Add water according to your preferred consistency. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with parotta along with onion raitha.

Note: The parotta in the pic is the readymade frozen one we find in indian grocery stores.

Methi chapathi and paneer butter masala

Methi or Vendhayakeerai chapathi:

you will need,

Maida or all purpose flour - 2 cups
Methi leaves [fresh or frozen] - a handful
Jeera - 1 tsp
Omam - 1 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 3 tsp
Curd - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Warm water - 1 cup

Method:

combine all the above ingredients except water in a large mixing or salad bowl and mix well with your hands. Prepare a soft dough by adding warm water. leave it covered for 2 hrs.Now you can make chapathis the usual way.

Paneer Butter Masala:

You Will Need,

paneer cubes - 200 gms
onion - 1/2
tomaotoes - 2
g chilly - 2
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
cashews or badam - 5 [soaked in warm water for an hour]
ginger - 1 inch piece
garlic - 2 cloves
cinnamon stick - 1 inch
star anise - 1
laung or krambu - 2
oil - to fry paneer
butter - 1 tsp

Method:
fry the paneer cubes in oil and keep it aside.
In a mixie jar blend together onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, cashews, cinnamon, anise, and krambu into a fine paste. Heat1 tsp butter in a kadai and saute the paste well for 5 to 10 mts. Now add finely chopped g chillies, red chilly powder, coriander powder and salt. Add 1/4 cup of water and now add the fried paneer cubes and cook for 3 more minutes.Garnish with finely chopped spring onions or coriander leaves.

Masaal Vadai

Masal vadai has its own special niche in the culinary of Tamilnadu. A must in all family traditional feasts,and mostly as an accompaniment with idly, dosai and pongal or a pukka tea time snack, as its very easy to make...

You Will Need,

To make 20 vadas,
kadalai paruppu or channa dhal - 2 cups
red chilly - 5
green chilly - 2
big onion - 1 [finely chopped]
curry leaves - 10 to 15
coriander - finely chopped, a handful
pudhina - finely chopped, a handful [optional].
oil - to deepfry
salt - to taste

Method,

Soak the channa dhal for 3 hrs or more. Coarsely grind the dhal in a mixie along with the redchillies [use the pulse mode]. While grinding add as little water as possible.The dough should not be too smooth and soggy. Now add finely chopped onions, green chillies, coriander, [I also used pudhina, as I love its unique flavor] curry leaves, salt and mix well. Heat the oil in a deep bottomed kadai. Take a little amount of the dough and pat into a round shape [ easy to say though!!!]. Drop it into the oil once it is hot enough to raise the vadai immediately. Flip the vadaas till golden brown and place it ina tissue before serving. Serve with hot ginger or elaichi tea.

Aviyal - A delicacy from Tamilnadu and Kerala

You Will Need,

mixed vegetables like beans, carrot,brinjal,
drumstick, plantain, potato,
poosani, colacasia, yam, avaraikkai - 2 cups
shredded coconut - 1 cup
g chillies - 5
jeera - 2 tsp
coconut oil - 2 sp
curd - 1 cup
Method:

Cook all the vegatables in a bowl with water and salt for 20 mts or till soft.
grind together shredded coconut, jeera and the green chillies.you can also add some curry leaves to the above paste before grinding.Now, mix the ground paste with the vegetables and let it cook for 5 more minutes.Take off from the stove and add well beated curd and hot coconut oil.A perfect match for rice, paruppu adai and pongal!!

Grilled Paneer Tikka

Here comes again a North Indian Dish which we all love...

You Will need,

paneer cubes - 200 gms
capsicum, onion,pine apple,
tomatoes, mushroom,zuchinni} - cut into square pieces
yogurt or curd - 1 cup
chilly powder - 1 tsp
garam masala - 1 tsp
chaat masala - 1 tsp
ginger garlic paste - each 1 tsp
salt to taste
wooden skewers - 8

Method:

First mix together the curd, chilly powder, salt, garam and chaat masala, ginger garlic paste well. Throw all the vegetables and paneer cut into cubes into this mixture. Marinate it for 4 to 5 hours in the refridgerator. After 5 hours, poke each vegetable chunks one by one in the wooden skewer as shown and the pour the left over mixture on the veggies, if any. Preheat the grill or Conventional oven for 10 mts and and place the skewers with sufficient space in between.
Cook for 20 mts in medium heat or until golden brown.U can add as much as veggies as per your choice to this recipe. Serve with tomato sauce or green chutney.
Ideal for Parties..

Enjoy your tikkas..

Samosa and green chutney

I started with a traditional South indian Dish, "masal dosai". So now, I thought of posting a "pukka" North Indian Recipe which falls under the category of "chaat" or a spicy "evening snack". Yup.. u r right... my next recipe is gonna be "samosa" and "green mint chutney".....

You will Need,
oil - for deep fring
white plain flour or Maida - 1 cup
salt - to taste
water - to knead the dough

for the stuffing,

Large potatoes - 2
Green peas - a handful
onion - 1
tomato sauce - 2 tsp [optional]
Green chilly - 1
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp each
Salt - to taste

to season,

Jeera - 1 tsp
oil - 3 tsp

Method:

Pressure cook the potatoes, peel the skin and mash them well. in a wok, season jeera in oil and saute finely chopped onion, green chilly and the ginger garlic paste until the raw smell fades away. Now add the peas and saute for 1 more minute. Add the garam masala and the chilly powder, salt and then the mashed potatoes and mix well. The stuffing should not be soggy. If you are using tomato sauce it should be added along with the onion. Let the stuffing come down to room temperature.

Knead the flour into a tight dough using water and salt. Now divide the dough into equal parts and roll them into chapatis. [not so thin]. Cut each chapathi into a semi circle using a pizza cutter or sharp knife and place a 1 tsp of the stuffing into each semi circle . Now its easy to make a triangle shape. Seal the edges with water. Your samosas are ready to deep fry in oil. Heat the oil well in a "kadai" and deep fry till golden brown....
Now lets see the green mint chutney or the "hari chutney" which is known to be the best partner for samosa..

You will need,

Mint leaves - 1 cup
Lemon juice of one full lemon
Onion - 1/4
Tomato - 1/2
G chilly - 1
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 1 clove
Jeera - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Throw all the above mentioned except the mint leaves in blender or mixie jar and grind into a smooth paste. Now add the mint leaves and blend once more. Add enough water to get a saucy consistency.Tangy Mint chutney is ready to go with ur hot and spicy samosass......

PS: The Samosas in the picture are the frozen ones which I got from the Indian Stores and the chutney is home-made .
HAPPY EATING...!!

A typical South Indian Feast served in a banana leaf

My First Post - Masala Dosai

Hi All!!
This is my First Post!

After a long Thinking I finally decided to Post the recipe for "Masal Dosai", one of the all time favourite dish for both South Indians and North Indians.
Also one of the most ordered items in the menu cards of all Indian Restaurants Abroad.
This is the easiest and "lunch box - friendly" recipe in India, I would say.
My friends who had working moms always had this for lunch...
ok... lets see the recipe

MASAL DOSAI or DOSA
Ingredients :

for the Dosa batter,

Idly rice - 3 cups
Urad dhal - 1 cup
Fenugreek or methi - 2 tsp [also known as vendhiyum]

Soak the rice separately, and the dhal and methi together for atleast 5 hours.
Grind them into a smooth batter, separately in a Mixie or Grinder, adding water. Now Mix both the batters well together with 3 tsp of salt and leave it overnight for fermenting. [or even for a day in colder regions]. You can also place it in preheated conventional oven for 4hrs for better fermentation.
Now the batter is ready to make dosas.
Heat a dosa tawa and spread a little oil with a paper towel, or an onion cut into half.
take 2 ladles of the batter and spread it evenly into a round shape, and some oil around the edges, as u already guessed!!
After 2 or 3 minutes the dosai should be flipped, and kept in the tawa for 1 more minute.
Now ur hot dosa is ready to Serve with masala or "Aloo subji"

MASALA or ALOO SUBJI
Ingredients

Large Potatoes - 4
Tomatoes - 2
Onion - 1
Green chillies - 5
turmeric powder - a pinch
salt to taste
water 1/2 cup
oil, saunf, mustard, jeera - 1 tsp each [ for seasoning]
coriander and curry leaves [for garnishing].

METHOD
Pressure cook the potatoes and peel the skin, smash them to pieces.
chop the onion, tomatoes and g chillies finely.
In a wok, heat oil and season with mustard saunf and jeera. Add the chopped g chillies, onion and tomatoes and saute for 3 minutes in medium flame.
Now add the salt, turmeric powder and the smashed potatoes,water and mix well and cook covered for 5 minutes.
Now,cook for 5 more mintues without covering and stirring now and then.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander and curry leaves.

Tip: The best way to serve masal dosai is to wrap the masala with the dosa...

Enjoy your Masala dosas....