Kofta-e-Lazeez

Koftas are my all time favorite and a delicacy in my house since they are so rich in flavor. In my below recipe I have added a couple of other ingredients to make the koftas extra soft & smooth so that they melt in your mouth.. It's an all time hit!

Ingredients:

For the Koftas

• Lauki( Bottle gourd) - 1 medium Grated (makes around 10 koftas)
• Green chillies - chopped ( deseeded if you want less spicy)
• Ginger Grated - 1 teaspoon
• Besan ( chick pea flour) - 3-4 tablespoons
• Paneer grated - I small cup
• Boiled and mashed potato - 1 small
• Ajwain ( carom seeds) - 1 teaspoon
• Sauf (Fennel seeds) - 1 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Add the below ingredients to give it a Shahi Touch - These are optional but go a long way in  increasing the richness of koftas.

• Cashews halves and pieces - around 8
• Raisins - about 6

How to prepare the koftas:

First wash and peel the lauki, then using a grater, grate the lauki drain excess water ( store this water to be used later for gravy)

 Mix all the kofta ingredients in abowl and mix them well using your hands , make small balls of around 3 inches diameter. If you feel that the mixture is runny with water then add a little more besan/corn starch to it. Do not leave it aside, immediately deep fry it so that the lauki does not leave more water and makes it soggy.

For the gravy

• Onion - 2 medium (Pureed )
• Tomato - 2 medium ( pureed)
• Ginger garlic Paste - 2 tablespoons
• Cream  / Thick milk Half and Half - Half cup
• Garam Masala - 2 tablespoons
• Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
• Cumin Poeser - 1 table spoon
• Hing - 1 pinch
• Sugar - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste
• Black cardamom powder - 1 pinch
• Crushed Black pepper powder - 1 pinch
• Crushed Red pepper powder - 1 pinch
• Lal mirch -1-2
• Bay leaves - 1 -2 small
• Vegetable oil - 4-5 tablespoons
• Butter - 1 tablespoon

Heat oil in a pan and add butter when hot, Add the bay leaves, cumin seeds and hing. When the seeds crackle add onion and sauté till the paste starts leaving oil on the sides. Now add the tomato puree and ginger garlic paste and suate till the oil starts to leave on the sides after 4-5 minutes.

                           

Take the pureed onion and add it to the pan, after sauté for around 5 min when the oil starts leaving the edges of the pan, add the tomatoes and sauté them together for another 4-5 minutes.

Now add the Garam masala, coriander and cumin, black cardamom, black pepper, Kashmiri mirch  powder and mix them all well. 

After 4-5 minutes of cooking add the cream/milk and 1 cup of water. Let it come to a simmer, keep stirring so that the milk does not disintegrate.

After 3-4 minutes of simmer should be good to go!

 Now add the koftas and put the lid on and switch it off, Let the koftas absorb the richness of the gravy and server hot. If the koftas are too soft they tend to break in the hot gravy, so sometimes it's better to add the koftas directly while serving, use your cooking judgment for this :-)

To add more richness to the gravy you can also add about 10-15 pureed  cashews to the gravy.

 Garnish with coriander leaves and grated paneer and cashews.

Corn Palak & Methi

I love corn and recently have started to cook more greens for my daughter who is turning 10 in march and I am trying to keep it simple and healthy for her.

So, here it is a very simple recipe which turns heads around when served.

Ingredients :

Corn : 2 cups
Fresh Methi leaves / / Kasuri Methi - a bunch, washed and cut
Fresh Spinach Leaves - a bunch, washed and cut / Handful
Garlic - 4-5 cloves of garlic minced

Oil - 2-4 teaspoon to sauté based on your preference

Onion - 1 medium diced in small pieces
Tomato - 1 medium diced in small pieces

Zeera - 1 teaspoon
Heeng - 1 pinch

Lemon Juice - 1 teaspoon

Dry Masala :





Garam Masala - 1 teaspoon
Dhaniya power - 1 teaspoon
Black pepper poder - 1 teaspoon
Red chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - To Taste

 

 

 

 

Method:

Put a non stick pan on heat and pour the oil

 

 

 

 

When hot, put the cumin seeds and hing powder, When they start crackling, put the onions and sauté till golden

 

Put the tomato and sauté till they blend together for 3-4 minutes on high flame, then put the dry ingredients from above and sauté it for 2-3 minutes till the oil starts to leave on the sides

Put the corn, methi and Spinach and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle some water and put a lid on and let it simmer on low heat for 4-5 minutes.

Sprinkle the lemon juice and Serve it hot with your favorite Nan/Roti ... Enjoy a healthy and Yummy dish..

Paneer Hariyali

 

Paneer Hariyali : This is a super healthy entree, full of greens and loved by kids and grown-ups.
This is one of my personal favorites since it adds so much color to the dinner/lunch table. Its also interesting how you can experiment with the variations of the green color of the curry by putting in a variety of greens.
 




Ingredients:

From The Green World:

1. Fresh Dhania (Coriander ) leaves cut in small pieces - 1 bunch
2. Methi ( Fenugreek ) leaves - washed and cut 1 bunch
3. Palak ( Spinach ) leaves -washed and cut 1/2 bunch
4. Pudina ( Mint ) leaves - 6-7
5. Green peppers - 1 medium  diced very fine
6. Green Peas - 1 cup
7. 2 green chillies - diced

The regulars:

1. Onion - 2 medium diced
2. Tomato Cut in small cubes - 2 medium
3. Paneer ( Indian Cheese ) - 500 gms

Dry Masala:

1. Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons
2. Cummin Powder - 2 teaspoons
3. Chili Powder - 1.5 teaspoon ( to taste)
4. Chat Masala - 1 teaspoon
5. Garam Masala - 1 teaspoon
6. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon
7. Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon ( ground )
8. Salt - to taste

Tadka:

1.  Oil - 3-4 tablespoons
2. Cummin seeds
3. Hing - a pich (astafotedia powder)

Optional ( if gravy is needed)

1. Cream - 1 cup
2. Milk - 1/2 cup

Wash and get the green leaves and the other ingredients ready as shown below.

 

 

 

 

Heat Oil in a skillet and put in the hing & cummin seeds till the seeds crackle. Now  saute the Onions and till they turn translucent and brown..

 

 

 

 

Then add the remaining greens.. you can add / modify this recipe to ad the greens of your choice and Paneer.Put the dry masala and stir well.  Now put the Ginger garlic paste and salt. Stir well. Cook on medium flame and keep stirring every 2 min so it does not stick in the base. Do this for 4-5 min till the curry paste mixes well with the paneer.

 

 

 

 

 
Cover it with a lid and on low flame cook for 2-3 min.

 

Server it hot with Chapati / Tandoori Rooti / Pooris.

 

For a gravy version, put 1 cup of cream and 1/2 cup of Milk(2%) and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.

 

 

 

Enjoy the awesome green delicacy.
Note : Sometimes you can also add grated celery with the greens to trick your children into eating a healthy dish.. I do that!! Just make sure that the quantity is not overpowering i.e. 1/4 cup or less.

To get a greener version : you can make a paste of the green leaves and use it.

Pulao Jayekedar

                                                                      

Pulao is  generally served hot with raita , also referred to as rice Pilaf and a very common delicacy meal for north Indians for lunch and dinner. I love this specially on a on a sunny lazy Sunday afternoon! Why don'y ou try this super simple recipe and enjoy this aromatic dish!

Ingredients

Tadka

• Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 teaspoon
• 1 large Onion
• Ghee -3 tbsp
• Bay Leaves - 3-4
• Coriander seeds - 1 tables poon
• Black Mustard - 1 table spoon
• Garlic cloves cut into small pieces - 4-5 for the tadka
• Green chillies - 2 slit by length
• Cinnamon sticks -2
• Cloves  - 6-7
• Black and green Cardamoms - 2 each\
• Garam Masala - 3 tablespoons

Masala

• Nutrella powder for protien - 1 small cup
• Paneer grated - 1 small cup
• Cashewnuts - per taste
• Raisins -per taste
• Salt To Taste
• Sugar - a pinch
• Fresh Lemon juice - 1 table spoon
•  Mint leaves - a handful
• Fresh cut Coriander leaves  a handful

Basmati Rice - 2 cups , water 4 cups

Wash the rice and then soak it half an hour in warm water.This helps get the right texture of the Pulao.




Heat 1 Tbsp of ghee is a pan, fry cashewnuts and raisins and take it out for later. Heat the remaining ghee add the tadka, as soon as it crackles, add the rice and other and saute them.

   Add rice, salt, water and stir well. Cover and cook   
   until the rice is done on slow flame. Stir once a while .




Add the masala and stir well. Add 4 cups of water. Cover and cook
until the rice is cooked on slow flame.

You can also add a couple of sauted vegetables like carrots, greaan peas, cauliflower etc. to make it healthy dish before dding water





Stir once after 10 min, you can taste the water to see if the salt/sugar is OK..

After 20-25 min, stir the Pulao so that the rice is flakey.and leave it to cool a bit.



Garnish with Cashews, raisins, mint & Coriander leaves.

Enjoy the steaming hot pulao with raita with your family!

26 Jan Special -Tiranga Rice

Today is India's 61st Republic day - a special day which commemorates the date on which our current constitution came into force. To celebrate this occasion I decided to make Tiranga special Rice.





Ingredients

1. Long grained Basmati Rice 3 cups
2. 1 small Lemon / 2-3 Teaspoons Lemon Juice
3. 1 bunch Spinach cleaned
4. 5 medium size Carrot - Finely shredded
5. 1 medium sized Onion - thinly sliced
6. Salt to Taste
7. 2 teaspoons of Garam Masala powder
8. A handful of Green Pea
9. Non sweet Coconut flakes (optional)

Tadka

1. 4 Tablespoons of Cummin
2. 3 Tablespoons Indian Ghee / sunflower oil
3. 4 cloves
4. 1 black cardamom
5. 1 Cinnamon wood stick
6. 3 Bayleaves

Saffron White Rice :


Take 2 cups of basmati rice in a bowl and wash it in warm running water. Keep aside the 1 cup for later.

Fill a meduim sized Pan with 2 spoons of Indian Ghee (Sunflower oil can be also substituted here for figure healthy ideas) Put the cumin seeds and when they start to crackle, take out half of these for garnishing later on the rice.Add the thinly sliced onions. Fry them until light brown.

When done take out in a dish 2-3 spoonfuls of this mixture to be used for the other portion of rice which we are not cooking here. Add the 2 cups of washed rice and fry on low flame for 4-5 minutes. Then fill it up with 4 cups of water, add the lemon juice and cover with a lid. Let it cook for 20 min on low flame. Do not stir in between.

When the water has evaporated from the rice we have our aromatic rice ready for more....Slighly fluff the rice with a fork so that it does not stick together.





Saffron colored Rice :

Fry the shreded carrots 2-3 tablespoons of oil , Add salt to taste. Take out half of the rice cooked above and fry with the mixture.. this will change the appearance of the White rice to saffron rice. Fry for 5 min and then set aside.

Note : I have used Saffron food color at times when carrots are not available but this is a more healthy recipe.

Now for the extra yummy and healthy green Rice :

Very carefully clean the spinach ( can use frozen Spinach if you have less time ). Chop the spinatch and in a blender pour the cut spinach. Add salt to taste and water just enough to let it blend. Pour about 2 cup of water and blend it well. Put 2 teaspoons of Garam Masala and blend it well.

 
Now we use the earlier set aside mixture of Oil, cummin seeds and fried Onions and heat them in a skillet. Pour the spinach mix and cook for 2 min.




 Place the remaining 1 cup of basmati rice in the vessel to cook rice, and carefully measure the spinach water to be 2 cups only

Pour this blended spinatch mix in rice. Add some Lemon juice for flavouring. Mix the greenpeas and cover with a lid. Let it cook for 15 min on low flame. Do not stir in between.


When the water has evaporated from the rice we have our aromatic rice Slighly fluff the rice with a fork so that it does not stick together.


For the presentation

In a flat base serving dish carefully place rice in order of the color Saffron, White and green mimicing the Indian flag colors. The green rice can be garnished with finely chopped Coriander leaves and the on the white rice carefully sprinkle the fried cummin seeds to make the circle as shown. Shredd some coconut flakes on white rice, and some carrots on the the saffron rice.


There we have our tiranga special rice !! Enjoy this with boondi Raita.

God Bless India...Jai Hind from one Indian to Another...
Pallavi