CHICKEN BIRYANI

Ingredients

1 kg chicken
4 cups biryani rice
4 nos onion , finely sliced
1 inch piece ginger
8 cloves garlic
4 nos green chillies
2 nos tomato
1/2 cup yoghurt
1/2 tbsp chilli powder
3 tbsp coriander powder
pinch turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
3 piece cinnamon
5-9 nos cloves
5 nos cardamom
4 sprigs coriander leave
4 leaves mint
3 tbsp coconut oil
salt to taste
15 nos cashews
15 nos raisins
3 tbsp ghee

Method

Wash biryani rice , soak in water for 30 minutes and drain it well.
Grind ginger, garlic, green chilli to a paste. Add curd and salt to this paste. Marinate chicken pieces with this paste for 1 hour.
Now prepare garnish for biryani. - Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a vessel, fry cashew nut, raisins and 1 finely sliced onion till golden brown and keep aside.  ( while frying onions , when its almost done , add 1 tsp sugar so that fried onion remain crisp throughout)
Heat 3 tbsp coconut oil in  vessel, put remaining onion and salt to taste.
Saute untill golden brown. Reduce flame , add chilli, coriander, turmeric, garam masala powders. Stir it for 2 minutes. Add slicetomatoess and saute for few minutes.
To this add marinated chicken pieceanddn stir it well . Add 1 cup water and cook untill done.
Heat 1 tbsp of gee in other vessel  , put cinnamon, cloves, cardomom, and stir it. Put drained rice and stir for 2 minutes.
Pour water and salt salt as needed. Cook it until 3/4 done and drain the water.
Spread evenly 1 tbsp ghee in a vessel and layer it with rice and cooked chiken. Arrange in such a way that bottom and top layers have rice.
Garnish each layer wit onion, cashew, raisin, finely chopped coriander and mint leaves.
Pout 1 tbsp ghee on top of chicken biryani. Cover the vessel.
Heat a heavy tawa, put biryani vessel on the tawa and heat it on low flame for 15 minutes.
Turn off flame and leave it for 15 minutes.( instead of cooking on tawa, you can also cook in preheated oven)
Serve chicken biryani hot with salad, pappad, pickle.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa power
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp espresso powder
1 cup milk,buttermilk,or coconut milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil, canola oil or melted coconut oil
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
frosting

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Prepare cake pan by spraying with baking spray or buttering.
Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powdr, baking soda, salt, espresso powder to a large owl. Combine well all dry ingredients.
Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together until well combined.
Add boiling water to cake batter until well combined.
Pour cake batter into pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and allow it to cool .
Remove from pan and frost the cake.
Enjoy !!!!!

SWISS CHARD SABZI

Ingredients

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp finely chopped ginger

3-4 cloves garlic

3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 bunch swiss chard stems, chopped into 1/2 " pieces

1 bunch chard leaves, rolled into cigars and cut into strips

1 1/2 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 pinch chili powder

Method

Heat oil or ghee in a pan. Add onion, saute well.

Add ginger and garlic ans saute well.

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, spice mixture. Cover and let it simmer until tomatoes break apart easily with spoon and begin to look like sauce for 5-10 minutes. 

Add chard stems and simmer , until tender.

Add chard leaves, cover and let it simmer until leaves wilt.

Add salt to taste.

MATAR PANEER

Ingredients 

To make a paste

1 cup chopped onions
1 ¼ to 1 ½ cup ripe tomatoes
8 to 10 cashew nuts or skinned almonds (use 5 to 6 more to skip cream)
1 green chili(optional)

other ingredient for gravy

1 to 1.5 tbsp butter or oil
1 ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
½ cup green peas
1 ½ cups paneer/ indian cottage cheese
2 green cardamoms
½ tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
half inch cinnamon stick
2 cloves
½ to ¾ tsp kashmiri red chili powder
¾ to 1 tsp garam masala
salt as needed
¼ tsp kasuri methi
few coriander leaves chopped finely

¼ cup cream(substitute with 5 to 6 cashews)

Method

Make a fine paste of onions, tomatoes, chili, cashews. You can also blanch onions and use them here. Refer step by step instructions for details.
Optional step. Saute paneer in little oil and immerse them in hot water until used.
Saute cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf in oil for 1 to 2 minutes. Fry ginger garlic paste until the raw smell goes off.
Add the ground paste and fry until it leaves the sides of the pan.
Also the raw smell must disappear. Add chili powder, garam masala, coriander powder and salt. saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add peas and 1.5 cups water. Cook until the gravy thickens. When the gravy turns thick, you will also see some oil on top of the gravy. There is not much oil used in the recipe so you can see very little oil on top.
To the thick gravy, add paneer and kasuri methi. Cook for just 2 to 3 minutes.
Using cream is optional. Pour cream to a bowl, add little gravy and mix well. Stir this in to the pan.
Switch off the stove and add finely coriander leaves.
Serve matar paneer with roti or rice.

TOMATO CORIANDER CHUTNEY

Ingredients:

4 tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

12-15 mint leaves

1 tsp urad dal

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 green chilies

1 tbsp oil

salt to taste

For tempering

1 tsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 dry chili

pinch asafoetida

8-10 curry leaves

Method

Heat oil in nonstick pan. Add cumin seeds , urad dal, let it splutter .

Add green chilies and saute for few seconds. Now add coriander and mint leaves, saute for 2 minutes.

Remove and keep aside.

In the same pan, add remaining oil, add chopped tomatoes and saute till mushy.Remove and cool.

Grind cumin mixture and them add tomato mixture, salt. grind to coarse paste adding 2-3 tbsp water. Remove into a bowl.

Hat oil in pan, add mustard seeds, after it pops, add dry chili , curry leaves, and fry for few seconds. Now add asafoetida and add the seasoning to the ground mixture.

Serve with dosas and idli.

Cajun Honey Lime Chicken

Ingredients

3 pounds chicken wings
1/3 cup Cajun seasoning
1 cup BBQ sauce
2 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
1 fresh lime

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheets with cooking spray.Place chicken wings on baking sheet in a single layer, without crowding. Sprinkle each wing liberally with Cajun seasoning.
Bake on middle rack of the 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. ( you can also place the chicken in BBQ grill)
While the chicken is baking begin preparing the basting sauce.While uncut, zest the lime until you have 1 tbsp of zest. Cut the lime in half and juice 1/2 of the lime, reserving juice and setting aside the other lime 1/2 for later.
Add the BBQ Sauce, Honey, Sriracha and the juice from 1/2 of the lime to a small bowl. Stir until blended. Set aside.
After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven and baste with 1/2 of the prepared sauce using a basting brush. 
Return the chicken to the oven  for 10 minutes.Remove the chicken from the oven oand baste again with the remaining 1/2 of the basting sauce. 
Return to the oven  for a final 10 minutes to complete cooking and to caramelize the basting sauce on the wings.
Remove the chicken onto a serving tray. Squeeze the juice from remaining 1/2 of lime over the wings and sprinkle the wings with the lime zest. 
Serve hot!

OAT BARLEY ADAI

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice

1/2 cup moong dal

1/2 cup pearl bar;ey

1/2 cup cooking oats

6-7 green chili , according to your taste

7-8 curry leaves

3-4 dry red chili

1 tsp chopped ginger

asafoetida pinch

salt to taste

tsp sesame oil

Method

In a large bowl mix first four items. Wash and drain these four grains together.

Soak the grains in sufficient water for 3 hours .

Drain water and grind these in blender with curry leaves, ginger, green chili, red chili ,oats along with water.

This does not have to be ground very smooth, the grains could be texture of rava.

The batter should be of pouring consistency but not too thin and runny. Add salt to taste.

Heat a tawa on medium high heat.

When tawa is hot, pout ladle full of batter abd spread quickly and evenly to create thin circle.

Pour sesame oil on the side facing uo.

When lower side is browned, flip it over ans cook other sides for few seconds.

Serve with chutney.

Capsicum Rice

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of cooked rice
2 cups of capsicum, cut into small cubes (any colour or mixed)
1 tbsp of lemon juice
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

For tempering:
2-3 tbsp of oil
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
1 tsp of split urad dal
1 tsp of chana dal
2 dry red chillies
A few curry leaves
2 tbsp of roasted peanuts

For masala powder:
3 dry red chllies
A small piece of cinnamon
1 tsp of coriander seeds
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of split urad dal
1 tsp of chana dal

Method

Fry the ingredients for Masala powder in 1 tsp oil until golden brown.

Cool, grind to powder and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add all ingredients for seasoning. Fry until dal turns golden brown.

Add capsicum , salt, turmeric powder. Reduce heat and cook until capsicum turns softer but still retains its shape. Don't cook to a mush. 

Add cooked rice to this and mix well. Heat through.

Finally add masala powder and lemon juice and salt.

Mix well and let it sit for 10 minutes for the flavours to mingle. 

Serve warm with raits or papad.

Note

Make sue to adjust all spices to your taste.

Take care not to burn spices and dal in masala powder or the rice will taste bitter.

BOW TIE PASTA

Ingredients

1 cup Farfalle pasta (you can use any pasta of your choice)

1 onion , finely chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp garlic , chopped

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 cup peas and carrot

1/4 cup capsicum

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1/4 tsp pepper powder

pinch kasuri methi

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

2 tsp cumin seeds

salt as needed

3 tbsp olive oil

Method

Boil 4 cups of water and add pasta and salt as required. Cook for 10-12 mins or as per package instructions.

drain the pasta, reserve 1/4 cup water drained for later use. 

Heat a kadai with oil and temper cumin seeds, add garlic and stir fry .

Add finely chopped onion and fry until transparent. Add vegetables, salt and fry for 2 minutes in medium flame. 

Add tomato paste, chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric powder, kasuri methi, Italian seasoning.

Fry until oil seperates and Add chopped capsicum at the end and fry for a minute.

Add cooked pasta and reserved water . Stir well add pepper powder and garnish with coriander leaves.

ALU DAHIWALA

Ingredients

600 gms boiled potatoes (peeled and chopped in medium cubes)
1 medium sized cooking onions
2 spring onions
4 green chillies (chopped)
4 cloves garlic
1 piece ginger (minced)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala powder
a pinch of asafoetida 
16-20 curry leaves
1 tsp turmeric powder 
1 tsp coriander powder
3 cup whipped curd (plain)
2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt according to taste
1/2 tsp fennel seeds 
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp Kasuri methi 

Method:

Take  3 cups of curd, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder,  and whisk it vigorously and keep aside.
Heat oil, saute asafoetida , cumin seeds, curry leaves and fennel seeds. 

Add green chillies, ginger, garlic, spring onions, and cooking onions for about 5 minutes or till onions turns golden brown. 
Now pour curd mixture in the pan and stir till boiled.
Add potatoes into the mixture and kauri methi and let simmer for 5 minutes.
Serve hot with roti.

ORANGE POPPY SEEDS PANCAKE

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup rolled arts

1tsp orange zest, grated

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup poppy seeds

1 cup milk

1/3 cup orange juice

Method

In a medium bowl , stir tiger here flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, orange zest, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds.

Add milk and juice , stir until just mixed.

Portion out 1 cup batter into hot non stick pan and cover with lid.

Let it sit until the centre starts to bubble .

Flip pancake over and cook other side until golden brown. 

SOUTHWESTERN CHOPPED SALAD WITH CILANTRO DRESSING

Ingredients

Large head of romaine

15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 large orange bell pepper

1 pint cherry tomatoes

5 green onions

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Dressing* or other dressing of choice

Directions

Finely chop romaine, bell pepper, tomatoes, and green onions. 

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine.

Toss with desired dressing.

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Dressing

Ingredients

1 cup loosely packed cilantro, stems removed and roughly chopped

1/2 avocado (or 1/2 cup plain vegan yogurt or Greek yogurt)

2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (about 1/2 lime)

1-2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar

1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

MURGH MAKANI

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken , washed, patted dry and cut into small pieces – (feel free to use chicken with or without bones, chicken thighs or a combination of breast and thighs)
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsplemon juice
salt
butter to baste while grilling

For marinade:

3/4 cup plain yogurt, strained/hung or use 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1.5 tsp kasuri methi/dried fenugreek leaves
1/2 – 1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1.5 ttbsp mustard oil

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

For the sauce / Makani masala

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2-4 fresh green chili pepper, slit
4 tbsp melted butter
4 green cardamoms
1.5 – 2 inch cinnamon sticks
2 cloves
1 black cardamom
1/2 -3/4 tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
3-3.5 cups tomato puree (fresh tomatoes) or canned tomatoes (reduce the amount a little bit here as the water content will be less as compared to the fresh)
1 tbsp red chili powder/cayenne pepper/paprika or to taste
10 almonds, soaked, peeled and made into a paste
1 tsp garam masala

1 tablespoon kasuri methi/dried fenugreek leaves
1/2 tablespoon sugar or honey (you might need to adjust this based on how tart the tomatoes are. The dish will not be sweet. The sweet is used to neutralize the acid)
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp heavy cream

Method:

Apply red chili powder, lemon juice and salt to the chicken and set aside for 20 minutes. This is the first marination.

Combine all ingredients of the second marinade (see ingredient list). Apply this marinade to the chicken and refrigerate for three to four hours; overnight works better.

Put the chicken on  skewers and cook on a grill or a preheated oven  at 400°F,  for about 10 minutes while turning them over mid way. Cook until done. Do not overcook, as the chicken will dry out and get fibrous. Baste it with butter/ghee/oil or marinade if you want, a couple of times while cooking. Set aside once done.

(The chicken may be grilled on a skillet/cast iron pan/grill pan on the stove top  too. Heat the skillet/stove top grill pan and coat it with oil. Place the skewers and cook while turning them around and basting with oil and marinade until done, for about 15 minutes. Remove and set aside.)

Cooking the Sauce:

Heat butter or oil in a thick bottomed pan. Add green cardamoms, black cardamom, cloves and cinnamon.

 Sauté for a couple of minutes  or till they start to sizzle and get fragrant; add the methi/fenugrek seeds. When the methi seeds sizzle, add ginger paste and garlic paste, and the slit green chillies. 

Cook in medium heat for five  to eight minutes; the water from the paste would have evaporated and the ginger garlic paste would have reduced in quantity.

Add tomato puree or paste, red chili powder, and salt. Cook (may partially cover during cooking) at medium heat for about 15 – 20 minutes. The puree will reduce to a thick paste and the oil/ghee will separate from the sides of the pan.

After the tomatoes are cooked down, you might want to blend the cooked sauce (along with all the spices) into a smooth puree, if you want a restaurant like smooth texture for the sauce – especially if you are using fresh tomatoes. return it back to the pan after blending and continue with the rest of the process.

Add 2.5 cups of hot water to the pan (or if you want it less soupy and want the sauce to kind of coat the chicken pieces and have a little bit extra, add less water or simmer for longer time to achieve the pref. consistency as per your taste), add the almond paste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes; add sugar and crushed kasuri methi.

Add cooked grilled chicken pieces. Stir well to combine – the chicken will be well coated with the sauce. Cover and simmer for eight to ten minutes; Lower the heat and add garam masala and the heavy cream. Stir in the cream and simmer at low heat for about five more minutes.

Garnish with fresh cilantro and add a splash of cream before serving.

BEETROOT PULAO

Ingredients

1 cup Basmati Rice
1 cup Onion thinly sliced
1 slit    Green chilli 
1 tsp gingergarlic paste
1 Tomato chopped
1 cup Grated Beetroot 
fistful Mint leaves 
2 tbsp   Coriander leaves  chopped
1 tsp   Biryani masala
1 tsp sambhar powder
Salt as  needed
2 cups  Water
 1 tbsp Fresh Lemon juice 

For the seasoning
1 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp  Fennel seeds
1  Bay leaf  
2  Cloves 
1"  Cinnamon -1 inch piece
1 Cardamom 

Method 

Wash and soak basmati rice for 20 minutes. Drain the water and keep it aside.

Wash, peel the skin and grate or finely chop beetroot.

Heat oil in a pan, add fennel seeds, when it splutters, add cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaf.

Saute for a few seconds, then add thinly sliced onions, slit green chilli and cook until onions turn transparent.

Add ginger garlic paste and saute for a few more minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Add beetroot, coriander leaves, mint leaves, biryani masala, sambar powder and salt needed.

Mix well, add 2 cups of water and lemon juice. When water starts boiling, add soaked and drained basmati rice. Mix well and check for salt by tasting the water, if the water is slightly salty, it will become perfect once the rice is cooked. Lower the heat and cook covered until rice is done. You can pressure cook rice or cook rice in a pan with lid or use the rice cooker.

Once done, fluff it with a fork, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with raita or papads.

Add water according to the quality of your rice.(1 cup of basmati rice needs appoximately - 1 1/2 -2 cups of water. The rice I used needed 2 cups of water, moreover I like my rice to be soft.)