Quick and Easy, Colorful Bell Pepper Mix !!!

Diets are really hard. First it restricts so many ingredients and then you come to know that there are very little food dishes that you can really eat if you want to follow this diet. :). And I really wanted to follow this diet I did last year. I guess this was my first diet program ever and I was really excited.

I was on a non-grain diet and non-grain means you cannot have rotis. So apart from salads, I usually had moong daal cheelas as a replacement to rotis. But moong daal cheela did not taste good with various sabjis and hence I used to prepare and mix, quick and dry vegetable saute, make my cheelas and then have meal. This sabji of different capsicums tasted really well with cheelas and it made my meals more satiating during that diet.

Ingredients:

Serves 2

Bell Pepper - I used 4 colored bell peppers (Red, Yellow, Orange, Green), diced, 1 and 1\2 cup
Onion - diced, 2 tbsp
Tomatoes - chopped, 2 tbsp
Potatoes - 1 medium sized, cooked in microwave for 2-3 minutes, peeled and diced
Chopped fresh Coriander\Cilantro - 1 tbsp.
Cumin and Mustard  - Each 1 tsp seeds for tempering
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Red Chili powder - 1 tsp or as per taste

Sugar - Pinch to taste (optional)

Salt to taste

Oil - 3 tsp

Method:

1. Mix and microwave chopped capsicum for 3-5 minutes, to semi-cook it.. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, When they splutter add cumin seeds. Now add chopped onions. Saute for a minute or two.

2. Now add the capsicum, potato, tomato and mix. Add salt, garam masala, red chili powder, sugar and mix again.Cook untill capsicums are soft but not soggy.

3. Adjust masalas and top with chopped coriander. Serve hot with plain Roti or plain Paratha.

Tips:

• Make this sabji right before you are going to have your meal. 
• It will only taste better when you have at least 3 different kinds of bell peppers. The colors also add to its nutrition and presentation.

Masala Bhindi (Okra / lady finger)

I just love bhindi in any form. 'Regular, Bharva, Masala, Tava, Dahi, fried'. This is the first bhindi recipe on my blog. I will eventually add all other recipes. This recipe is one of the favorites at home. The best thing about bhindi is it gets cooked in microwave within minutes. We also get rid of that stickiness if we cook it in microwave.

Ingredients:

Serves 3-4

Bhindi/Okra - 250-300 gms
Onion - 1/2 Cup , cut into slits
Punjabi Garam Masala / Kitchen King Masala or regular Garam Masala : 2-3 tsp
Cumin Coriander Powder : 1-2 tsp
Salt and Red Chili powder to taste
Pinch of sugar
Oil
Mustard Seeds, Cumin seeds for seasoning

For Puree:
Tomato - 1 Medium size
Ginger - 1/2" piece
Cloves - 2-3 Garlic
Onion - 1/4 cup

Method:

1. Wash and dry the bhindis and take off the head of all bhindis. Also cut the bhindi into 1" pieces. Place it in a bowl and put about 3 tsp oil on them. Make sure oil spreads all over the bhindi. Now microwave it for about 6-8 minutes or till it gets cooked.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds. When they sizzle add slitted onion. Saute onion till it gets transparent.

3. Meanwhile grind all the ingredients listed under puree and make a paste. Add as little water as possible.

4. Now add this puree, all the masala powders, salt and mix well. Let the puree cook for 4-5 minutes.

5. Now check if the bhindi is cooked and if done add this to the puree. Mix well, cover and let this cook for another 10 minutes.

Tips:

Try this out with Punjabi Garam Masala or Kitchen King. These masalas are ready made masalas and you can find them in any Indian Store.

Semi-dry version of Methi Mutter Malai

This is a different version of methi mutter malai which does not have gravy and is semi-dry. I learnt it from showmethecurry site. The peculiar thing about this version is the use of red dry chillies. The taste definitely differs than the traditional sweet methi mutter malai.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

2 Cups Frozen Sweet Peas
1 bunch fresh Fenugreek Leaves (or Dried Leaves aka Kasuri Methi)
Cream or Milk as per taste or enough to reach the consistency
1 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
2-3 Whole Dry Red Chilies
1 tbsp minced Ginger
1/3 Cup chopped Onion
1/2 Cup chopped Tomato
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
Red Chili Powder as per taste
Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Wash Fenugreek Leaves well, chop finely and boil it for a while. Add 1 tsp salt to it while boiling.
Boil it for 5 minutes. This helps in removing the bitter smell from the leaves.

2. Heat oil in a medium skillet.

3. Add cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle. Immediately add dry red chillies and turmeric powder.

4. Stir and add copped onion to it. Saute till the onion turn transparent. Add ginger and mix.
While the onions are cooking microwave the frozen peas for 5 minutes.

5. Add chopped tomatoes, mix and cook for 5 minutes.

6. Now add green peas, coriander powder, garam masala, red chili powder and salt. Mix well, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in between.

7. Drain the Fenugreek Leaves and add it to the peas.

8. Cover and cook until peas and Fenugreek Leaves are cooked (3-6 minutes). Adjust masalas and salt.

9. Add in cream or milk, mix well and bring to a boil. Cook until the milk is evaporated.

Tips:

If you are using kasuri methi, make sure to break it down by rubbing in between hands and then keeping it to boil.

Bengan Masala (Bringal / Eggplants in a spicy gravy)

Bengan is a different vegetable I feel. What I like most about it is its color.... :))  Well Bengan is also cooked in lot of different ways. Bengan bharta, Bharvan bengan , Masala Bengan , Sukhi bengan ki sabzi and so many more. Bengan is also cooked in many different gravies. I got this recipe from my paternal aunt. Thanks to her :)

Ingredients:

Serves 2

2-3 Bengans (Bringal/Eggplant)

1 1/2 tbsp dry Coconut grated

2 Cups finely chopped Onion divided
1 tbsp Sesame seeds (til)
1 tbsp Poppy seeds (khus khus)
Slits of 2 Garlic Cloves
2 tbsp roasted Peanut crush
Red Chili powder as per taste
Salt as per taste
2-3 tsp Garam Masala

1 tsp Turmeric powder

2-3 tbsp Oil

Mustard and Cumin seeds for seasoning

1-2 tsp Sugar

Method:

1. Wash the Eggplants. Take off the stems and cut into 4-6 vertical slits each.

2. Heat just a 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 1 Cup onion and saute for 4-5 minutes. Now add sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic slits and coconut and saute again. We want to get the roasted flavor of these ingredients. Mean while you can microwave the eggplant slits and half cook them.

3. Now grind all these in a grinder. Add just enough water and make a paste.

4. In a same pan heat the remaining oil, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and when they sizzle add remaining onion to it. Saute again till it turns translucent.

5. Now add the paste from the step 2 and the masalas. Saute till the oil separates out from them. Stir occasionally.

6. Add about 2 Cups of water, salt,sugar, peanut crush and eggplant slits. Cook till everything blends and the eggplant cooks well

Tips:

• If  dry coconut is not available you can also use the fresh grated coconut.
• I have a masala called as Kanda Lasun masala which I use instead of regular Garam Masala. This Kanda Lasun masala is unique to Maharashtra so I guess many would not be aware of it.
• Try having curd in your meal along with this sabzi. Curd goes very well with this sabzi.

Sending to Dish out-Brinjal & Garlic guest hosted by Sangee,event by Vardhini..

Simple Mix Vegetable

Capsicum always does well with onion and also with cabbage. The combination of these 3 also tastes great. This is a simple sabzi good to go into lunch boxes. Very little preparation is required and there is lot scope for variations.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Onion Julienned
1 Cup Capsicum Julienned
1 Cup Cabbage Julienned
Red Chili powder as per taste
2 tsp Cumin-Coriander powder
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1-2 tsp Punjabi Garam Masala (if not available then regular Garam masala)
Salt as per taste
1 1/2 tbsp Tomato ketchup
Generous pinch of Sugar
Oil, Cumin seeds for seasoning

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds to it.

2. When they sizzle add onions. Saute them till they turn transparent. Now add capsicum. Saute for a while.

3. Add all the powders, tomato ketchup, sugar, and mix well. When the capsicum is about to cook add cabbage. Now mix everything well and adjust the masalas. Lid for 5 minutes or till all veggies cook.

Tips:

This is a simple and quick mix vegetable recipe. You can add your own masalas , different veggies like broccoli, carrot, peas etc. If you have more time and want to something special try out vegetable jaipuri which has a little different steps than this one.

Matki sprouts (Moth or Turkish gram Beans )

Sprouted beans are every body's favorite. Here in US we don't get ready made sprouted moth beans (matki). We make sprouts at home. It takes about 2-3 days. For this you need to soak beans overnight and the 2nd day transfer this to sprout maker. (If you don't have sprout maker tie this soaked beans in a wet cloth). Check after 1-2 days and you will find the sprouts.
Matki chi usal, misal, bhel  are popular maharastrian dishes. At home we make all of these and also a little watery sabzi of matki.

Ingredients: Serves: 4

1 1/2 cup sprouted matki
1 tbsp grated fresh coconut
1/2 cup tomatoes cut into pieces
1/2 cup potato cubes
1/2 cup fresh peas
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
Red chili powder, Dhaniyajeera powder, Salt as per taste
Oil, mustard seeds, asafoetida (hing), cumin seeds for seasoning
4-5 Curry leaves
Few drops of lemon juice (optional)
Coriander for garnishing (optional)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a skillet and add ingredients for seasoning.

2. Immediately add curry leaves and chopped onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

3. Then add tomato and potato pieces and saute till onion turns little brown. Now add peas and coconut and saute again.

4. Add all the powders and mix well till oil separates from the mixture.

5. Now add matki sprouts and saute well so that all the masala gets evenly applied to matki.Also add few lemon drops.

5. Now add water to cook matki and salt as per taste. Let matki cook for 10 - 12 minutes. Add more water if required. This curry is semi liquid in consistency.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Tips:

Tastes good even with plain rice. Also if you are a yogurt fan add it to the rice, add matki curry and enjoy the taste.

Dum Aloo...(Baby potatoes in a spicy gravy)

Dum aloo comes from a very beautiful state in India, Jammu n Kashmir but is extremely popular everywhere. There are various recipes found but shallow frying the potatoes in oil and then cooking them in a curd/tomato based gravy is common.

Ingredients:

8-10 baby Potatoes

3-4 tbsp Tomato Puree

2 tbsp Blanched Onion Puree

2-3 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

3 diced green chillies

4 tbsp yogurt (plain is preferred)

1/2 tsp fennel powder

1/2 tsp Amchur powder (dried mango powder)

1 tsp Sugar

Red chili powder as per taste

1 tsp Garam Masala Powder

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1 Bay Leaf

3 Cloves

1/2" Cinnamon stick

2-3 tbsp Oil

Salt as per taste

Lemon juice

Butter to shallow fry potatoes

Method:

1. Blanch Onions, make puree of it and keep aside. Make tomato puree as well.

2. Peel all potatoes and prick them using a toothpick or fork. Sprinkle salt over them and keep aside. In a pan shallow fry the potatoes till they turn light brown in color. Remove them.

3. Now in same pan take oil. Add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon stick in it. When the spices start crackling add cumin seeds in it.

4. Now add Onion puree and a pinch of salt and pinch of sugar. Fry puree for 3-4 minutes. Then add chopped green chilies, ginger-garlic paste an stir for another 3 minutes.

5. Then add tomato puree, saute for about 2 minutes, add garam masala powder, cumin-coriander powder (dhaniyajeera powder), turmeric powder in it and saute again.

6. Meanwhile mix amchoor powder, fennel powder, sugar in yogurt; stir it well and add it to the pan. Mixing yogurt should be fast. Saute again until the oil separates out from the gravy. Yogurt thickens the gravy giving a nice feel.

7. Add salt, sugar and stir. Add fried potatoes in the gravy and lid it till potatoes cook well. Add little milk/water as required. At the end add crushed Kasuri methi and few drops of lemon juice.

Tips:

• 
  
  If yogurt is not plain and is bit sour then reduce the quantity of tomato puree.
• 
  
  Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
• 
  
  Serve with Garam Parathas.
• 
  
  If you don't have fennel powder make one from the fennel seeds we have at home. Aamchoor powder adds to the taste but is optional.

Chole (Kabuli Chana/ Pindi Chana)

Chole are mainly liked by Punjabis from North India. You can find this in every Indian restaurant with the name just "Chole". Chole is one of the most popular dish in Indian restaurants world wide. This punjabi sabzi is generally eaten along with bhature or puri. A diet conscious mind can have this with parothas. Chole are called as Garbanzo beans or Kabuli Chana or Pindi chana as well in different languages.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpeas (Garbanzo beans / kabuli chana / pindi chana)

For Puree:
2 small Onion
1 Medium size Tomato
2-3 Garlic cloves
A small Ginger piece
2 tsp shredded Dry Coconut

For Masala:
2 Cloves
1 Whole Pepper
1/2" Cinnamon Stick
2 tsp Sesame seeds (til)

Red Chili powder to taste
2 tsp Chole Masala (If not available, add Garam Masala )
Salt as per taste
Oil, Mustard seeds, Cumin Seeds, Asafoetida (hing) for seasoning
Chopped fresh Coriander for garnishing

Method:

1. Soak Chana overnight and pressure cook till done.

2. Make puree of all the ingredients listed and keep aside.

3. Grind all the ingredients under "masala" and make a fine powder, keep aside.

4. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when they splutter add cumin seeds, asafoetida, hing and quickly add the puree. Saute for 3 minutes.

5. Now add the masala powder, salt, red chili powder, chana masala as per taste and saute till oil separates out.

6. Add boiled chickpeas and water as per requirement. Cook till all things blend. Mash some chikpeas and add to the gravy. This gives better consistency.

7. Garnish with coriander before serving.

Tips:

• Garnish with chopped onion before serving.
• You can also add potato to them.
• Mash some chickpeas and add to the gravy. This gives better consistency.

Bottle gourd - Bengal Gram Daal Mix (Lauki-chana daal Mix)

I am not going to write much about this recipe. Everyone makes this and I tried this combo after marriage. Never ate at my home just knew that this combination exists :). Such options are always good for tiffins.

Ingredients:

1 medium size bottle gourd diced
1/2 cup Bengal Gram Daal (chana daal)
2 tsp Black Gram Daal (udad daal)
1 tbsp Onion Chopped
1 tbsp Tomato Chopped
1tbsp  Yogurt (optional)
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Red chili powder
2 tsp Green chili paste
Salt as per taste
Oil, Mustard Seeds, Cumin Seeds, Asafoetida (hing)

Method:

1. Wash daal and boil it separately. You can also boil lauki and keep aside or cook it later while making the sabzi.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and hing. Immediately add udad daal saute for 10 seconds and add onion. Saute till they turn transparent.

3. Now add green chili paste and tomato and saute again. Add turmeric and red chili powders and then add cooked daal and lauki.

4. Add salt as per taste and around 2-3 cups of water. Let the lauki cook and masalas blend in well.

Tips:

Yogurt if not sour add more tomato or add a pinch of aamchoor powder.

A fabulous gataway to Olympic National Park and everyone's favorite Aloo Mutter

Hi Everyone. Hope everybody had a fantastic weekend. I had an amazing weekend, a trip to Olympic National Park. A place so much abound with the natural resources and beauties. A place with snow clad mountains, glaciers, rain forests, lakes, rives, beaches and tremendous trees. It was just wonderful. So scenic and a true heaven on earth. I felt there is absolutely no need to visit Switzerland. :) It is here in our state, WA. People do visit this Olympic peninsula if you get a chance.

I am uploading few pics of it...

Aloo mutter is made at every body's home :). I now all must be having different recipes of it. Posting mine as well.

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

2-3 Medium size Potatoes

1 1/2 cup Fresh or Frozen Peas

2 Cloves

1/2" Cinnamon Stick

2 Green Chilies sliced

2-3 tsp Garam Masala

2 tsp Dhaniyajeera powder

1-2 tsp Red chili powder

1 tsp Turmeric powder

Oil, Cumin Seeds for seasoning

Coriander for garnishing

Salt, Sugar as per taste

For Puree:

1 1/2 Medium size Tomato
1 Medium size Onion
3-4 Garlic cloves
1" Ginger piece

Method:

1. Make puree of all the ingredients listed and keep aside. Half boil potatoes in a separate utensil. Let them cool.

2. Heat oil in a skillet. Add cloves and cinnamon stick. Saute for a while and then add cumin seeds. As they crackle, immediately add chopped green chili. Saute again.

3. Then add puree from step 1 and stir for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, peel the boiled potatoes and cut them into small cubes.

4. Then add garam masala, red chili powder, turmeric powder, dhaniyajeera powder (coriander-cumin) and saute well till the oil separates from the puree.

5. Add salt to taste and pinch of sugar. Now add potato cubes and green peas in the gravy and let it cook for 5-8 minutes as the gravy thickens.

Garnish with coriander and serve with garma garam parathas.

Tips:

You can also add milk to adjust taste if it turns out to be very hot, or increase the thickness or even to increase the quantity of it. Just cook again for a while so that milk blends well into the gravy.

Couple Of Awards & Gram Flour Dumplings in Spicy yogurt sauce (Punjabi Kadi Pakora)

I  stayed in hostel for about 6 years from my 11th grade till I graduated. Hostel life is really cool. Variety of people, so many experiences and so much to learn. During my engineering we were 4 girls sharing an apartment. Those were the days when I was damn lazy about cooking. I just remember making tea and maggie most of the time :) . We had some restaurants nearby were we used to go and eat. That was pretty quick. But as we had all the things needed for cooking we sometimes tried our hands on it. There was one senior staying with us. She once made a North Indian kadhi (kari) and rice. Thanks to her for introducing us to such a nice and tasty kadi from North India. I know everyone of you must be aware of it. But during that time when I had less interest in cooking this was totally new to me. I simply love her kadi and we all enjoyed having it with rice, I remember.

Today, when I made Kari Pakora it reminded me of that day when my senior di made that kadi at hostel.

North Indian kadi is slightly thicker than the usual gujrati kadi.  It is yellow in color and has different spices in it. Simply delicious and could be eaten with rice and parathas as well.

 

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

For the dumplings:

1 cup Gram flour (Besan)

2 tsp Ginger (Adrak), chopped

1 tsp or to taste Green chili chopped

Salt to taste

Oil for shallow frying

For the yogurt curry:
2 cups Yogurt (dahi) sour

½ Cup Gram flour

4 cups Water

               For seasoning:

              1 tbsp Clarified butter (Ghee)

              ½ tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)

              Asafetida

              1/3 tsp Fenugreek seeds

              Few Curry leaves

              1 tbsp julienned Onion

              1 tsp Chopped Green Chili

              1 tsp Ginger paste

              1 tsp Garlic paste

              1 tbsp diced Tomato

              2-3 dry Red chilies

              1 tsp Turmeric powder

              ½ tsp Red Chili powder

              Salt to taste

              Chopped Cilantro for garnishing

Method:

For dumplings (pakoras):

Add water, chopped ginger, chopped green chili, salt to the gram flour and prepare a semi-thick batter.

Beat until fluffy.Heat the oil in a shallow pan. Drop small dumplings of batter with your fingers into the oil and fry till brown. Remove and immerse in cold water. Let them dip and then remove.

For yogurt curry:

Mix gram flour in 1 cup water and keep aside. Mix remaining water and yogurt and with the help of a whisk make buttermilk of it. Now heat this butter milk and slowly add the gram flour paste into it, stirring continually. Bring to boil. Keep stirring. Set aside.

For seasoning:

Heat the clarified butter in a pan. Add cumin seeds, asafetida, fenugreek seeds, dry red chilies and curry leaves. Then add onions and sauté till soft. Add ginger and garlic pastes, chopped green chili sauté again and then add diced tomatoes. Sauté again for 2-3 minutes.

Now add red chili powder and turmeric powder.

      Mix and immediately add seasoning to the yogurt mixture. Add the gram flour dumplings as well , add salt to taste and bring to boil again.

Tips:

Make sure that the dumplings get ample time to get soaked into the kadi. Otherwise they remain dry inside.I had plain yogurt, so adding tomatoes helped me to get the sour taste. You can also add a pinch of amchoor powder (dry mango powder).

Now it's the award time again:

I have received Sunshine and Thank You Cake awards from my new friends Gayatri and Beena and again a Circle Of Friends and a Thank You note from Gayatri :)

Thanks to both these lovely bloggers.

ThankYou                                                                      

I would like to pass on this award to some other bloggers :

Rachana, PanchPakwan, Jagruti, Swati, Lizy, Hamaree Rasoi, Aparna

SunShine

Passing on to:

My cooking experiments, Savi Ruchi, AvantiRao, Suja, Rupali, SS 

 

ThankYou Note

Passing this to:

Priya Mitharwal, Priya, Sushma Malya, Yummy team, Simply.food

Circle Of Friends

Want to pass on this to everyone but I am naming few here :)       

Beena, Priya Mitharwal, Priya, yummy team, Sushma, My cooking experiments, Savi Ruchi, AvantiRao, Suja, Rupali, SS ,Rachana, PanchPakwan, Jagruti, Swati, Lizy, Hamaree Rasoi, Aparna, Simply.Food

Have Fun And enjoy every bite in life !!!

My Birthday, A Japanese Treat and Simple Paneer Bhurji (Cottage Cheese Scrambled)

 

Hi Everyone. Yesterday I had a really great day. It was my first birthday after marriage and also in US..:). Kinda different but enjoyed a lot. I thought I should share the eating related part of it with you all foodies out here.

For the dinner party we decided to try out "Boom Noodle" which is a Japanese restaurant. We all knew Japanese cuisine had very few vegetarian options but my husband had already visited it once and so we all trusted him and took the chance of trying something new. After occupying a table we were handed over with the menu cards. Being a vegetarian finding a veg dish really takes lot of time. All the names where new and we started to look for the ingredients.Most of the dishes where having chicken of fish broth. Japanese also make a lot of use of ginger in their food. We could find 2 vegetarian dishes. ThankGod ..."Yakisoba" which had noodles and veggies and other one "Pho Ga". After a while the food arrived. We all were really hungry and the presentations of both the items made it very tempting. Nobody really knew how to use chopsticks and so we had to ask for forks... (I have got one of the pair and gonna practice sometime lol..may be till next birthday I manage to eat with them ).

"Yasai Yakisoba" was spicy and gingerly. The word Yakisoba means fried noodles. It must be an easy dish to make I guess. It had wheat noodles which looked dark brown, must be fried in some ginger flavored sauce. And also had lot of veggies, sprouts and fried tofu. Very satiating it was and what a different taste it had.

Now comes the other one "Pho Ga". I will never order this one again :). It was actually a soup (we were not given proper description while placing the order) containing some kinda broth, long rice noodles in it and raw tofu. I actually don't like tofu and having it in its raw form...no way :). We somehow managed to eat it.

  We were full after finishing both the items. It was great experience once again, trying different cuisines, getting to know few basics of them and then reviewing :). It was fun. I would like to have Yakisoba again or make one at home. Do try out japanese sometime and its sure a great cuisine for Non-vegetarians with diverse set of offerings.

We also made a choclate cake at home which is my favorite. You can find its recipe here. So far i havn't found an eggless option which we can get on such occasions :).

Now here comes my todays recipe : The very basic Paneer Bhurji (Scrambled Cottage Cheese)

Paneer Burji is very easy to cook. Very healthy and fulfilling. Have this with parathas or rotis. Use the leftover and make sandwiches or puffs.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

200gms Cottage gheese (Paneer) - grated

1 medium Onion - chopped

1 medium Tomato - cut into small pieces

2 Green Chili - cut into thin rounds

1 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Garlic paste

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1-2 tsp Garam Masala powder

Oil, Cumin seeds, Asafoetida, Curry leaves (optional)
Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan, add the cumin seeds. When they splutter add chopped onions and the ginger garlic paste, fry till brown.

2. Add the green chillies and tomatoes and fry till they are soft.

3. Now add turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt and little water or milk. Adding water makes sure that all the masala is well combined.

4. Add grated paneer and cook for 5-8 minutes till the paneer blends into the masala.

5. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

Tips:

You can add green peas or sliced green pepper to burji.

Spicy and Meethi Vegetable Jaipuri and A Happy Long Weekend :)

I love Jaipur, the Pink City. The Royal Rajwadas and old temples, the famous tradition, the folk dances, the Rajasthani cousin with Choki Dhani, The relishing and royal dishes like dal bati, churma, rabdi, khicdi and so much more, The flavorful mithais and Bikaner sweets ...Wow so many stories associated with Rajasthan. Every tourist here can enjoy a royal kings like treatment.

Today I made Vegetable  Jaipuri. Though this is ofcourse the variation of original one, vegetable jaipuri always consits of varitey of vegetables mixed with some kinda masalas. I have made a dried coconut and onion paste. The vegetables are not boiled but cooked in a steam on a low flame. This is a dry sabzi. Adding raisins, which is a must do step, to Jaipuri enhances the taste of it..

Ingredients:

Serves 4

1 large Capsicum

1 medium size potato

1 Onion

1 Tomato

1/2 Cabbage

Grean Peas (optional)

½ tsp Red Chili powder

1 tsp of Dhaniyajeera powder

1 tsp of Garam Masala or Onion - Garlic Chutney

1 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala

Raisins (a must ingredient)

Salt and Sugar to taste

Oil, Cumin Seeds, Asafoetida (hing) for seasoning

Chopped Corriander for garnishing (optional)

For Paste:

1/2 onion

1 small bowl dried grated coconut (you can also grind dried coconut pieces in a mixer)

3-4 garlic pods

About 1/2" piece of ginger

 

Rajma (Kidney Beans Curry) and the first Award :)

Rajma (kidney beans) is very popular sabzi in North India. But today it is known to almost every Indian foodie. Kidney beans are amongst richest source of proteins. Two variety of kidney beans are seen in market. Light-speckled kidney beans and dark red kidney beans. Both are much similar except for the cooking time they take. Light-speckled kidney beans cook faster than the other variety. I have used both of them, rather experimented with both the varieties...:)

Ingredients: Serves: 3-4

1 cup Rajma (Kidney beans)
2 cups of Tomato  puree
1 medium grated Onion
2 tsp Ginger paste (adrak)

1/4 tsp Garlic paste (lasan)

1/2 tsp green Chili paste
1 Clove
Salt as per taste

1 tsp Red Chili powder

3 tsp Coriander-Cumin powder (Dhaniajeera)
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Garam Masala powder
2 tbsp Oil, 2 tsp Cumin seeds for seasoning
Coriander for garnishing

Method:

1. Wash rajma and soak it overnight.

2. Pressure-cook soaked rajma until it cooks.

3. Heat oil in a skillet and add a clove.

4. When clove starts to sizzle add cumin seeds to it. Then add grated onion, ginger, garlic, green chili paste and a pinch of salt and saute till they turn brown. Add turmeric powder and red chili powder, mix.

6. Add tomato puree and saute till oil separates.

7. Then add cooked rajma (kidney beans), water as required and salt as per requirement and bring to boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add coriander and garam masala.

Tips:

If Rajma remains uncooked even after cooking for long then you can try adding soda to it when soaked on previous night.
If you want more puree (gravy) add some milk and cook for 3 minutes.
Rajma is usually enjoyed with plain rice or even with rotis (Indian Bread)

Light brown Rajma beans will cook in less time (2 whistles) than the Red Rajma beans.

My first Award From Yummy Team :) :)

I am so grateful to Yummy team to remember me and sharing this award. Thanks a lot, Yummy Team. This award doesn't have any name (:O) but the rules asked me to post my favorite photos and tag other blogger friends. Please don't get bored as I am going to post many of my favorite pics :)

The Pacific Ocean

The Jungle at Multnomah falls

 The Scenic River Columbia

 The amazing Lotus at Chinese Garden

Tulips at Skagit Valley

The Colorful and Charming Trees during Fall

I would like to share this award with my blogger friend Suvidha of Suvidha's kitchen, Turmeric and Spice team, Kalai of my reciepsDiary, Priya of Mharo Rajasthans recipe, Cooking Foodie of 365 days of eating, Akhila of Eatomaniac, PJ of Garlic and Ginger, Gita of Gita's Kitchen, An Open book of Look Who is Cooking, Nisha of Nisha's Kitchen Ramya of Simple Vegetarian Recipes, Deepa and Tanu sister of Hamaree Rasoi, Valarmathi of Simple and Yummy Recipes, my favorite Malar of Kitchen Tantra, Gayatri Raj of Heaven On the Spoon, Neelu of Neelu's Cuisine.