Vegetable Jalfrezi

I found this recipe in Woman's Era magazine and bookmarked it (or rather photographed it with my phone) just because it had a whole lot of veggies in it without the usual kurma base. The prep work is the time consuming part, the cooking is quite easy. The end result made for a healthy and satisfying meal. Here is how I made it:

Vegetable Jalfrezi

Ingredients
1 green chili, chopped fine
1/2 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, sliced fine
2 small carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
2/3 cup green beans, chopped into 1" pieces
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into sticks
1/3 cup fresh peas
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 capsicum, cut into long strips
1 tsp red chili powder
1.5 tsp coriander powder
1.5 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp aamchur powder
3 tbsp curd, beaten
A handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
Oil
A little water

Method
1. Coat base of a pan with oil. Toss in the ginger, garlic and green chilis and fry for a few seconds. Add in the onions, salt and fry till the onions turn light golden.
2. Add the carrots, potatoes, potatoes, peas. Add in all the spices (chili, coriander, jeera and aamchur powders) and mix well. Sprinkle a few teaspoons of water on top of the veggies, cover the pan and let the veggies cook till they are almost done (tender-crisp).
3. Add in the tomatoes, mix well, let cook covered for 3 minutes.
4. Add in the capsicum, mix well and let cook for 2 more minutes.
5. Add in the curd, mix well and cook on high flame till the liquid from the curd has evaporated.
6. Adjust salt, garnish with coriander leaves and take off heat.

Serve hot with rotis and raitha.

Notes:
1. You can use other kurma veggies like cauliflower too. The ratio and combo of veggies is upto you. However,capsicum is a must.

Paneer Kathi Rolls

I have liked most versions of kathi rolls and have been wanting to try them out at home. I found this recipe and then found reference to another recipe in the comments section of the first recipe. So I came up with a kathi rolls recipe which was a combo of the two. The end result was quite tasty while being high on the health quotient. Here it is:

Paneer Kathi Rolls

Ingredients (makes 4 kathi rolls with generous stuffing):


Marinate
1/4 cup low fat curds, beaten
1 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/4 tsp garlic  paste
1/4 tsp besan
1/2 tsp chaat masala
1/2 tsp kasuri methi
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste

Mix the above ingredients well. To this add:
1 cup medium-small cubed paneer
1/2 cup finely chopped deseeded tomato


Mix well and keep aside for at least 10 minutes.

Vegetables
1 Medium capsicum chopped into medium sized cubes
1 medium onion peeled and chopped into medium sized cubes
 
Salad
1 medium onion cut into thin slices
1 long green chilli, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small carrot shredded into large shreds (use the big-holed side of the grater)
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp vinegar
Sea salt to taste

Mix together the onion, green chilis and vinegar. Keep aside for at least 10 minutes. Just before using, pour out any remaining liquid vinegar, pick out and toss the green chili pieces. Add in the carrot, cilantro and salt, mix well and use.

For the roll
4 ready-made whole-wheat chapathis

Other ingredients
Oil
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat a non-stick pan on high and pour in enough oil to coat the  base of the pan. Add in onions, capsicum, a little bit of salt (remember the marinade has salt so don't go overboard) and stir fry till they start changing color along the edges.
2. Add in the paneer-tomato marinade and stir fry on high-heat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Lower the heat to medium and continue cooking till the raw smell of the spices has disappeared and the paneer starts getting a nice brown crust on it. This can take about 10-15 minutes. You just need to stir it from time to time. Lower heat further if you think the dish is beginning to burn. Check for salt and keep aside.
3. Time to assemble! Heat both sides of the chapathi on a tawa. Place it on a plate.  Place the paneer filling across the diameter of the chapathi. Top it with the salad.
4. Roll the kathi roll and serve hot with tomato ketchup on the side.

Notes:
1. For efficient time utilization, follow this order of cooking: marinate the paneer and tomato first and keep aside. Then chop the onion and capsicum and start cooking them. By the time they are cooked, the paneer mix will be ready to add in. While the entire mixture is cooking, chop the onions for the salad and marinate it in vinegar. Finally work on the carrots and cilantro for the salad. By the time the salad is done, the paneer mix will be ready as well and hey presto, everything required for assembly is ready!
2. The filling can be made before hand. Just reheat it before assembly. Do not make the salad too much in advance else it will lose its freshness.
3. Instead of whole-wheat chapathis, you can use maida parathas to get a more professional taste (of course, you lose the benefits of whole-wheat flour then).

Green bean potato bake

I did not use to like green beans at all. With age comes wisdom and a wider taste palette. Thus I can stand and even some times enjoy eating green beans now. This bake is one of those instances when I thoroughly savored the green beans (most probably because its distinct taste was tempered by the yumminess of the potatoes, egg and bread crumbs!).

The recipe is heavily adapted from here.

Green bean potato bake

Ingredients (makes 4 portions for breakfast or 2 for lunch):
For the potato layer:
3 medium potatoes
1 tbsp all purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste

For the green bean layer:
1/4 kg green beans
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 medium onion
1.5 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dhania powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Oil
Salt to taste
Water to cook the beans


For the egg layer
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
Salt and pepper to taste


For the bread crumb layer
2 slices bread (preferably end bread for extra crunchiness)
1.5 tsp garlic powder (optional)
1.5 tsp onion powder (optional)
1 tbsp butter

Method:
1. Boil the potatoes and peel them. Add the flour, salt and pepper and mash with a light hand till the ingredients are just combined. Keep aside.
2. Destring and chop the beans into 1/4" pieces. Pour enough water to cover, add the turmeric and a little salt and cook till almost done.
3. In a frying pan, add a little oil and toss in the ginger-garlic paste when hot. Stir fry for a few seconds and add in the onions.
4. When onions change color, add all the masala powders and salt. Stir fry for a few seconds and toss in the beans. Cook till the beans are done and the raw taste of the masala powders is gone. Keep aside.
5. Beat the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper.
6. Grease a microwave safe baking dish (mine is a round dish about 7") with a little butter or olive oil. Take half of the potato mixture and pat down on the floor of the dish to form an even layer.
7. Spoon the beans mixture evenly on top of the potato layer. Now spread the remaining potato on top of the beans.
8. Pop the dish into your microwave and cook on high for 8  minutes (timing may vary depending on the microwave).
9. While it is cooking, process the bread in a food processor into crumbs. Mix in the onion and garlic powders if using.
10. Heat the butter in a pan and when it has just melted, add in the bread crumbs. Fry on medium-low heat till the crumbs are crunchy. Keep aside.
11. After 8 minutes are up, take out the baking dish and pour the egg mixture on top spreading it as much as you can. Put dish back into the microwave and cook for 1 minute on high.
12. Take the dish out again and top evenly with the bread crumbs. Pop the dish back into the microwave and cook for 2 minutes on high.

Serve hot! It reheats very well, so feel free to pop any leftovers (or even the just-made dish) into the fridge after it has cooled down.Reheat just before serving.

Chili chicken

This recipe for chili chicken must be the easiest ever. And it tastes great too. No wonder I always use this as my default chili chicken recipe!

http://mydhaba.blogspot.com/2005/12/chilly-chicken.html

Super easy and tasty chicken fry

You can also call this chicken dish SM chicken in honor of my cousin S's MIL who came up with this ultra easy recipe to make super yummy (but non-oily) chicken fry.

Below is the recipe in its original form. I have made notes regarding minor variations at the end. Please note that a non-stick pan is a must if you don't want to be hunched over your chicken while it is cooking and/or don't want to use copious amounts of oil.

Ingredients
Chicken 1/2 kg - cleaned and cut into medium sized pieces
Red chili powder 1.5 - 2 tsp (as per your spice tolerance level)
Dhania powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
Juice of 1/2 a medium-sized lemon
1" piece cinnamon stick
5 large pearls of garlic (or 7-8 small cloves)
Oil
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Take a wide non-stick pan and add enough oil to coat base of pan. Place on medium heat.
2. Add the cinnamon stick. Crush the garlic using a mortar-pestle (or the wide edge of a knife) and add.
3. When the garlic has cooked a bit and gives off a nice aroma, add the chicken pieces, chili powder, dhania powder and turmeric powder. Mix well so all the chicken pieces are coated with the spices.
4. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce heat to low.At this point, you can leave the chicken undisturbed and simply let it cook for 15-20 minutes. No necessity to add any water.
5. Check the chicken to see if it is done. If not, continue to cover and cook.
6. Else, add necessary salt, the yoghurt and lime juice. Mix well and cook without the lid till all the liquid from the yoghurt has evaporated and the chicken is mostly dry and has a nice coating to it.
7. Turn off heat and serve hot with rice or rotis.

Notes:
1. You can use 2-3 sprigs of curry leaves as seasoning along with the cinnamon and garlic to get a nice flavor.
2. There is no necessity to marinate the chicken beforehand. However, if you are so inclined, you can marinate the chicken with all the turmeric and about 1/2 of the chili powder you are planning to use and a little bit of salt. Adjust the ingredients accordingly while cooking.
3. The original recipe tastes great as is. Really, no tweaking is necessary.

Madurai style chicken kuzhambu

This is an easy recipe for chicken kuzhambu and is pretty tasty to make too.

http://websamayal.blogspot.com/2006/09/madurai-style-chicken-kuzhambu.html

These are the minor modifications I made to the recipe:

1. Added about a tablespoon of dhania powder and 1/2 tsp of black pepper powder to the chicken marinade.
2. Added 1 tsp of roasted fried gram (pottukadalai) to the dry ingredients to be ground.
3. I added 1.5 tbsp of coconut instead of 4 tbsp (I think no coconut shd also be fine).
4. Added a handful of curry leaves and 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds (sombu) as well for seasoning the oil used for tempering. I added only 1 cardamom instead of 3.
5. After opening the cooker, I added a  handful of chopped coriander leaves and let the liquid simmer for about 10 minutes before switching it off.

Oat muffin

This is an easy-to-make mildly sweet, tasty and healthy breakfast muffin. The oats make it very filling. I eat it as a quick energy booster before heading out for my morning walk.

Recipe adapted from here.

Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup milk (fat free is ok)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 cup white sugar (can substitute with brown sugar or honey)
1/2 cup apple sauce
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (can substitute with 1 tsp pure vanilla essence)
1/2 tsp salt
Handful of chopped walnuts (or any other nut you fancy, optional)

Method (makes about 8 medium-sized muffins):
1.Start on the apple sauce if you are making it from scratch (recipe below). Make sure it cools completely before using it in the recipe.
2. Soak the oats in the milk for 15 minutes.
3. Pre-heat oven to 220C. Grease a muffin tray with cooking oil.
4. Sift together the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon powder. Mix in the sugar (if using) and set aside.
5. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and apple sauce together. If using honey instead of sugar, mix it in.
6. Add in the oats-milk mixture to the eggs/apple-sauce mixture.
7. Add in the flour mix and chopped walnuts to the above mix till just combined.
8. Fill in the muffin cups till 2/3 of the way through with the above mixture.
9. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

I personally prefer the taste of the muffin after it has cooled down a bit rather than straight from the oven. Serve as is or with a light dab of jam in the middle of a muffin cut in half if you prefer a sweeter taste.

Applesauce recipe (makes about 1/2 cup of sauce):
Ingredients:
1 apple
1 tsp lemon juice
Enough water to cover the apple pieces

Method:
1. Peel and core the apple. Chop it into small pieces.
2. Add it to a narrow pan and add enough water to just completely cover the apple pieces.
3. Add in the the lemon juice.
4. Bring mixture to a boil. Then, cover and simmer for about 20-25 minutes.
5. Turn off heat when the apple pieces are easily mashable with the back of a spoon. Mash the pieces so that you have a chunky-smooth apple sauce mixture.

Ragada Patties

Ragada patties is a quintessential Indian street food. It is usually available in places serving chaat. What first drew me to the recipe was that the alu patties (also called alu tikki) seemed so easy to make. Of course, to go with the tikkis, I decided to make the ragada as well. What a filling, tasty dish!

My final dish was a hybrid of these two recipes:

The alu tikki (or alu patties) from here:
http://www.hawkinscookers.com/8.1.receipe.aspx?rcp_cd=112

1. I skipped mint leaves as I did not have them.
2. I used only two slices of bread (I used brown) as opposed to 4.

The ragada from here:
http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/2005/11/street-food-ragda-patties.html

1. I skipped the jaggery - I usually do not like sweetness in what I think of as "spicy" food.
2. I added more chili powder than specified (about 1.5-2 tsp). I love spicy!


To serve, I topped the tikkis with the ragada mixture and some freshly chopped onions and cilantro. Yummy! I would probably stop thinking healthy and make it even more yum with sev topping when serving guests!

Green Moong dal curry

This recipe is adapted from here. It is a quick and easy side dish to accompany rotis.

Ingredients:
Green moong dal - 1/2 cup (soak for a couple of hours or just pressure cook longer)
1/2 tbsp  ginger garlic paste
2 green chilis chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 medium tomato, chopped fine
1/2 cup milk (skim milk is okay)
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp turmeric
Juice of 1/2 a medium-sized lemon
Salt
Oil

For tempering:
1 tsp jeera
2 tsp ghee
1 sprig curry leaves
1/2 tsp red chili powder (optional)

Method:
1. Pressure cook the moong dal with the milk and water on low for 10 minutes after the first whistle and keep aside.
2. In a pan, add oil to coat and place on medium heat.
3. Toss in the chillis and the ginger-garlic paste and stir fry for a few seconds.
4. Add the onions and fry till the onions change color.
5. Add in the tomatoes and cook till they turn mushy.
6. Add in the cooked moong dal, turmeric and salt and cook for on high for a few minutes till some of the liquid evaporates.
7. Lower the heat to medium, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat.
8. In a separate pan, heat the ghee and toss in jeera. When it crackles, add in the curry leaves and chilli powder (if using) and pour onto the cooked dal.
9. Stir in the lemon juice.

Serve hot with rotis or perhaps, rice.

Soya chunks recipe

The recipe comes from this blog, which has been featured twice before here. Not surprisingly, this recipe is a winner as well. I followed the recipe almost as such with some substitutions. The resulting delicious soya curry made a lip-smacking combo with wheat parathas!

Soya Chunks Curry

Ingredients (enough for 3-4):
1 1/2 cup Nutrela soya chunks
1 big potato, peeled and chopped into medium-pieces
1 big onion, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 medium tomato, ground to a paste
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp kitchen king powder (or chicken masala powder or garam masala powder)
1/2 tsp jeera
1 green chilli, slit vertically
2 sprigs curry leaves
Fresh coriander leaves for garnish
Salt
Oil

Method:
Preparing the soya chunks:
1. Add sufficient water to a pan, add some salt and bring to a boil.
2. Add in the soya chunks to the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Remove the soya chunks, squeeze out the excess water and set aside.

Main dish:
1. Use enough oil to coat the base of a pressure cooker. Heat cooker on medium.
2. Toss in the jeera and green chilli. When jeera crackles, add in the curry leaves.
3. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for 10-15 seconds.
4. Add in the onions and salt and fry till onions turn translucent.
5. Add in the turmeric, coriander and chili powders and stir for a few seconds.
6. Add in the ground tomatoes and tomato sauce and let cook till tomato paste starts to separate from oil.
7. Boil 3 cups of water in a separate pan and add to the pressure cooker.
8. Close pressure cooker, let it whistle once, bring the flame down to simmer and cook for 8 minutes.
9. Let cooker cool down. Then open lid and add in the kitchen king masala.
10. Simmer for 7 minutes and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
11. Let the curry rest for some time before serving.

Dry Aloo Bhindi (Potato ladies finger)

When we were kids, my sister's favorite veggie was potato while mine was ladies finger (okra). Though I do like potatoes a lot, okra is still probably my most favorite vegetable. I was quite thrilled when I came across this delicious sounding recipe which had both.

Here is my slightly modified take on the recipe. Basically, I cut down on the oil. Non-stick pans and low heat are the friends of low-oil cooking! Quite a delicious side it turned out to be.

Aloo Bhindi

Ingredients (enough for two):
1/4 kg Okra/Ladies Finger/Bhindi
1 medium potato
1/2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp mustard seeds
A pinch hing
Salt
Oil

For coating:
1/4 cup besan
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp kitchen king powder (optional)
1/4 tsp garam masala
3/4 tsp aamchoor
Salt

Mix all the powders above well and keep aside. Use lesser salt than you think is necessary because you will be adding a little salt while cooking the okra.

Method:
1. Wash and pat dry the okra. Remove the tops and ends and slice vertically into halves and then horizontally into halves. Wash and peel the potato and slice into 1 inch fingers.
2. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of a wide non-stick pan.
3. Add the okras to the pan and toss till the pieces are covered with a light film of oil. Spray on a little oil spray if the okra seems a little dry.
4. Toss in the sesame seeds and a little salt and stir well.
5. Spread okra in a single layer on the pan, lower the heat, cover pan with a lid and let okra cook for 5 minutes till it is almost cooked (not mushy).
6. Remove the lid and cook okra in the pan till it is completely done. Use only low heat. Set aside the cooked okra.
7. In the same pan, add enough oil to coat and toss in the mustard seeds and jeera. Add hing when they pop and immediately toss in the potatoes.
8. Cook potatoes the same way as the okra above.
9. When potatoes are done, toss in the cooked okra and mix well.
10. Now add in the coating-powder a few teaspoons at a time, gently stirring the veggies after each addition so that they are evenly coated. Use a little cooking oil spray if the powder seems too dry.
11. Cook on low heat in the uncovered pan till the coating powder loses its raw taste.
12. Adjust for salt and turn off heat.

Serve hot with rotis and dal/raita. Yummy.