RAJMA MASALA WITH CURRY LEAVES

Ingredients

1/2 cup Red Kidney Beans (Rajma)
1/2 ginger-garlic paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
asofoetida – a pinch
salt to taste
1 tsp mustard seeds
4 cloves
1/2 cinnamon stick

To Grind :

30 curry leaves
2 onions
1 tomato
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp peppercorns

Method

Pressure cook Rajma with 3/4 cup water for 6-7 whistles. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. 
Heat oil in a kadhai and temper mustard seeds. 

Add cloves, cinnamon and saute a while. Add ground masala and cook for 2 mins.
Add cooked rajma, turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, asofoetida and salt to taste.
Add 1/2 cup water and cook it covered till the oil separates and masala becomes thick. 

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with rice.

CHILLI MUSHROOM

Ingredients

1 cup of button mushrooms (cleaned and quartered)

½ cup bell pepper/ capsicum cubed

⅓ cup chopped spring onions

1 green chili 

1 medium onion cubed and layers separated (optional)

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp soya sauce

¾ tbsp tsp chili sauce 

¾ tbsp tomato ketchup

⅛ tsp pepper powder

Salt as needed

2 tbsp water

Method

Rinse and wipe off mushrooms with a kitchen towel. Slice or halve or quarter them. If you want to remove the skin you can just peel off.
Heat a wide skillet with oil on a high flame.
Add garlic and saute for a min to get a good aroma. Add mushrooms and chili. Saute for 2 mins. Cover and cook until the mushrooms are half done.
Add the capsicum and spring onions, toss and fry till the capsicums are almost cooked but not soft. Make sure mushrooms are cooked as well.
Add the sauces to the skillet evenly. Add 2 tbsp water. Add pepper powder. Toss and fry for another min or until the sauce thickens. 
Serve chilli mushroom with hakka noodles or fried rice.

ONION TOMATO CHUTNEY

Ingredients

1 Onion , chopped 
1 Tomato , chopped
1 tbsp Ginger, chopped 
1 tsp Coriander seeds 
6 nos Red chillies 
2 tsp Chana dal 
1/2 tsp Tamarind 
2 tbsp Coconut, grated 
pinch Asafoetida 

To temper

2 tsp Oil 
1 tsp Mustard
1 tsp Urad dal 
Few Curry leaves 

Method

In a kadai, add oil, roast chilli, chana dal first 30 seconds.
Then add coriander seeds, continue roasting for 30 more seconds and then lastly add asafoetida.
Add chopped ginger, cubed onion and fry for a minute.
Add cubed tomatoes and fry until soft.
Remove on a plate to cool down.
Grind with coconut, salt and tamarind. Add little water while grinding.
Transfer to serving bowl and temper heating adding oil, splutter mustard, urad dal and curry leaves. Mix to serve.

Notes

Make sure to add enough red chillies depending on the spiciness the red chilli has.
You can skip coconut and make the same way.

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.