Dal Paratha

I don’t know if this is a common occurrence or not but it sure happens a lot in my house. Left over dal and lots of it. My family wants a different dal every time and invariably i will have small quantities of left over dal in the fridge. So in a week i wil accumulate at least four types of dal in small quantities. And guess who wants to have the leftovers? No one!!! Yes!!! Everytime!!
The best way to use up these are to use them in parantha. It can be any kind and combination of dal. Typically i have masoor, arhar and chana dal that are left over. Whatever the tadka or flavouring you have used while making the dal doesn’t matter. Make delicious paranthas that are not only healthy but also utilize the left overs.


Ingredients

For the filling
About 2 cups of cooked left over dal
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp chopped green coriander
For the dough
2 cups atta
1 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Water to knead

Heat some oil. Add the cumin seeds. Then add the cooked dal. Cook on high flame till the dal dries up totally. Since this is already cooked dal you don’t have to add any salt or masalas. Add chopped green coriander.
Add the salt to the atta. Add the oil and rub it in. Make a tight dough.
Now make small ball of the dough. The size of the paratha is upon your preference. Roll out each ball a little. Place a tablespoon of filling inside, seal and then roll it out again. Cook on the tava.

Paneer Jalfreize

Paneer Jalfreize is a very common restaurant dish. You pick up any menu inn any hotel and 99% chances are that you will find it under the vegetarian fare. Basically it is a very simple dish. The real beauty lies in the interplay of colors of the bell peppers. I, unfortunately, could not lay my hands on red and yellow bell peppers and had to make do with green capsicums. You must try and get as many colors as possible on the palette.


Ingredients

250 gms paneer, cut into long fingers
1 capsicum, cut lengthwise
1 yellow bell pepper, cut lengthwise
1 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise
1” ginger, cut into juliennes
1 large onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, boiled and pureed
3 tbsp ready made tomato puree
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 dry red chillies
1 tbsp coriander powder
½ tbsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp kashmiri mirch powder
Salt to taste


Heat some oil. Add the cumin seeds and dry red chillies. Once the seeds start spluttering add the ginger juliennes. Now add the sliced onion and cook till translucent. Add the pureed tomato and ready made tomato puree and cook till oil starts leaving the sides. Now add all the dry masalas and sprinkle some water. Cook till the masalas are done.
Toss the sliced capsicum and bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes. You don’t want to overcook as you want the veggies to have the crunch. Now add the paneer and half a cup of water. Check the seasoning. Cook on high flame so that the water is quickly absorbed. The aim is not to cook the bell peppers and yet coat the paneer pieces with masala. You can garnish with chopped green coriander.

Chicken 65

Now why is this dish called Chicken 65? We are not using 65 spices here! And I can not think of any other explanation. Whatever the reson be the one who created the dish had the right idea. An intriguing name to catch your attention and an amazing taste to keep you hooked to the dish. Now we also have paneer 65, gobi 65, aloo 65. Why shouldn’t vegetarians have some fun??
The two distinctive points of the 65 is that one it is very soft and succulent and second that it is hot and spicy. The soft part you get by marinating the chicken pieces for a long time. I personally like marinating it overnight so that the chicken gets infused with all the flavours. The hot and spicy part comes from the use of chillies. Now this you can adjust according to your taste. I have had chicken 65 in restaurants that have made my eyes water and had steam coming out of my ears.


Ingredients 

½ kg boneless chicken, cut into small portions

Marinate the chicken in :
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp garam masala
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp cornflour
Few drops red food color
Salt to taste
1 egg, beaten

For tempering
1 onion, chopped fine
6 garlic pods, chopped fine
6 green chillies, chopped fine
1 sprig curry leaves

Sauce mix
½ tsp soya sauce
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
¼ tsp vinegar

Marinate the chicken for at least 3 hours. I do it overnight.
Deep fry the chicken pieces.
Heat some oil. Add the curry leaves, green chillies, garlic and onion and cook on high flame. Mix the soya sauces, ketchup and vinegar in ½ cup of water and add to the pan. Toss the chicken pieces in it and cook on high flame till the mix becomes dry. 

Hummus

Honest confession!! I love licking the mixie jar once my hummus is ready. I love the flavour of garlic and I use it liberally. The sharp tang of freshly crushed garlic is out of this world!! There are times when certain ingredients are missing from the pantry. In such cases make do with the next best thing. The hummus recipe requires Tahini which is a sesame seed paste. Since Tahini is not a common thing in Indian cuisine most kitchens do not stock it. Sure you can make some Tahini separately. But the problem is that while blending sesame seeds in a jar you need a certain amount to make sure that the paste is smooth. And after using about a spoonful of Tahini you are left with the rest and don’t know what to do with it. So the next best thing is to use roasted sesame seeds directly into the hummus ingredients. It doesn’t make that much difference to the taste. And if you are out of sesame seeds as well then make do without it. The hummus will still taste finger licking good.


Ingredients

½ cup cooked kabuli chana ( I usually make falafel and hummus together and so take out half a cup of cooked kabuli chana from the 2 cups i soak)
6 garlic pods
2 tbsp sesame seeds, dry roasted
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in a mixie and blend to a smooth paste. You can add some water if you want.
Drizzle some more olive oil on top.

Falalfel

So this is my newest favourit-est nibbler. Mediterranean food is awesome. Dips, salads, pilaf, simple food with exotic flavour. Falafel and hummus are a typical example of the simplicity if the cuisine. The main and the basic ingredient in both is chickpea or our desi kabuli chana. I find it very convenient to put falafel and hummus in my menu for any party. Simply soak 2 cups of kabuli chana the night before and next day a little mixing and blending and you have a wonderful dish on your table. Using the desi or local ingredients gives the dish an Indi flavour. Many people simply grind the soaked the kabuli chana and make falafel tikkis. I, personally prefer pressure cooking the chana and then making falafel.


Ingredients

Makes about 20 falafel 
1 ½  cups chick pea/kabuli chana, soaked overnight
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 green chillies, chopped fine
5 garlic pods, chopped fine
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander powder
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt to taste
Bread crumbs for binding

Pressure cook the kabuli chana with a little salt. Drain and cool. Grind to a paste. The paste does not have to be very smooth.
Dry roast the cumin seeds and crush them to a powder. Add all the ingredients and mix well. Use breadcrumbs to make sure that the mix binds well. Make small balls. Deep fry.
You have to make sure that the falafel binds well or they will burst open when put in hot oil. I prefer test frying a piece or two.

Masala Soya Chaap

I am a hardcore non vegetarian. During parties and marriages I always steer clear of any vegetarian dish. However I had to go to a friend’s wedding in Meerut and there I had the most awesomest vegetarian dishes. Two have remained in my memory since. One was a grape sabzi and the other was soya chaap. The soya chaap, when cooked properly, looks and tastes exactly like non veg. now I get hold of these frozen chaaps whenever I can and make them.


Ingredients

5 frozen soya chaap
1 bay leaf
2 green cardamoms
1” dalchini
2 onions, cut
2 tomatoes, cut
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
10 cashews, soaked and made into a paste
½ cup milk
Salt to taste

First defrost the soya chaaps. If you are running short on time you can boil them. Heat some oil in a pan and saute the chaaptill they are evenly browned. Keep aside.
Boil the cut onions and tomatoes for 10 minutes and make a puree.
Heat some ghee and add bay leaf, green cardamom and cinnamon. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute. Add onion and tomato puree and cook till the oil separates. Add all the dry masalas and cook. Add the cashew paste and saute. Add the chaap and salt and stir gently so that the chaap is well covered in the masala. Add ½ cup of water and bring to a boil. Now add the milk, cover and cook till oil floats to the surface.

Sorse Posto Chingri

It is prawn time again.
One thing I have learnt from my little culinary journey around the country is that we are most comfortable with the palette we are born with. Since childhood we are brought up on a certain style of cooking. Sure we love to try out different cuisines but then we always come back to the food from our childhood. Also i am sure genetics has a large part to play in this scheme of things. A South Indian might try out chole bhature and hakka noodles but he always finds solace in his regional food. A Bengali, likewise. Might enjoy idli and dosa a lot but will always crave for “maach bhaat”.
On our recent trip to Goa we gorged on Prawns and se fish. Totally loved the vindaloos and prawn masala fry. But finally my heart yearned for a typical Bengali preparation of prawns with mustard and poppy seeds. The thing about Bengali cuisine is that we use powdered masalas very sparingly. We let the food do the talking. The natural essence and flavour of the food is allowed to shine through instead of being swamped under lots of dhani, jeera and garam masala. In this dish too the main taste is of the fresh prawns supplemented by the mustard and poppy seeds. No other masalas.

Ingredients

250 gms prawns
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
5 tbsp yellow mustard
3 tbsp khus khus/poppy seeds
3 green chillies, slit
½ tsp kalonji
½ tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
Pinch of sugar
½ cup mustard oil

Marinate the prawns in the salt and turmeric powder for some time. Soak the mustard and poppy seeds in hot water for half an hour. Grind it to a paste along with some salt.
Heat the oil. Sauté the prawns and keep aside. In the same oil ad the kalonji and green chillies. Add the mustard paste, salt and turmeric powder. Cook on low flame till the oil separates. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add the prawns and sugar, cover and cook till the oil floats on top.

Sorse Chingri /Prawns in Mustard sauce

What is the height of your fish obsession? Mine is a bit funny and weird. Staying at 11,000 feet it is very difficult to get hold of fish. Even if I am able to get some it is mostly “rahu”. For a Bengali those ice packed days old rahu is merely pedestrian fare.
Although Delhi is just 50 minutes away by flight yet it seems like a different universe. Home reminds me of all the delectable fish dishes prepared regularly. My mom keeps the fridge stocked with at least five different varieties of fish which keep getting changed every ten days or so. When she came over to visit me I pestered her into getting at least five kilograms of fish. Those were the best two weeks I had relishing fish after such a long time. Then again came a season of fishless drought.
So when I went home for a week to celebrate Durga Pooja my main objective was to get some fish again. I brought back 7 kgs of fish and I had to ditch most of my clothes at home so that I don’t have to pay for excess baggage. My friends laughed at me. I relished the yummy fish. Bengali genes, you see!!!
This is one of the dishes I prepared from that cache !!


Ingredients

250 gms prawns, cleaned and marinated in salt and turmeric
5 tbsp yellow mustard
1 large tomato
A pinch of salt
2 green chillies, slit
½ tsp kalonji/Nigella seeds
½ tsp turmeric powder
Pinch of sugar
Salt to taste
¼ cup mustard oil

Soak the mustard seeds in warm water for half n hour. cut the tomato in four large pieces. Make a paste of mustard seeds and tomato adding a pinch of salt while grinding.
Heat mustard oil to smoking point. Lower heat and add the prawns. Saute for a few minutes and take them out. Add slit green chillies and kalonji to the same oil. Add the mustad seeds paste, salt, sugar and turmeric powder. Cook on low heat till the oil starts leaving the sides. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add the prawns, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Pepper Garlic Prawns

There are times when I get tired of planning the day’s meal everyday. Thinking up three meals a day gets so boring. So at times when hubby dear is away for a day or two I feel a sense of relief. Sonny boy and I can do with shortcuts. He will be ever too happy to have Maggi the whole day. But then that is a big no-no in the house. No fast food, no ramen noodles. The quickest thing to cook is a fish. Takes very less time to prepare it.
So today again hubby is having lunch outside. And i am making this hot pepper garlic prawns to be accompanied by steaming rice. That is it. Prawns, for me, is soul food. On a recent trip to Goa we hogged on prawns. You visit a coastal region and have chicken...that is blasphemy!! And for  a Bengali fish is fruit of the sea. And you can have as much fruit as you want.
This recipe is ridiculously simple. Just a handful of ingredients and a total cooking time of 10 minutes. And you are done!


Ingredients

10-12 prawns
4 tbsp chopped garlic
2 green chillies, chopped
1 tbsp butter
½ tsp pepper powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp chicken masala
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

Apply some salt an turmeric powder to the prawns and keep aside for some time.
Heat the butter. Add the chopped garlic and chilli. Add the prawns, pepper powder, salt, kashmiri chilli powder and chicken masala. Sauté for a few minutes. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes. Your prawns are done.

Cheese Balls

You know what is the most unfair thing in this whole world? The fact that anything that tastes good makes you fat!! In an ideal world you could eat to your heart’s content and not put on weight. I envy those people who have a high metabolism and can eat without a care in this world. In fact I fell that merely writing this post is going to add a few kilograms to my weight. And that is because i am writing about a very yummy thing. Cheese!
Who doesn’t like cheese? There are hundreds of kinds of cheese. And all these kinds come from three milk sources: cow, sheep and goat. But let us not go into a “cheesy” discussion.
This is a simple tea time snacks recipe. It is quick and easy to make. I have used the basic Amul cheese tin we get in the market.


Ingredients

2 cups grated cheese
2 onions, chopped fine
4 green chillies, chopped fine
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp chat masala
Salt to taste
¼ cup cornflour
Breadcrumbs for coating
2 tbsp cornflour+1/2 cup milk

Mix together grated cheese, chopped onions, green chillies, coriander leaves, chat masala, salt and ¼ cup cornflour. Make small balls. Make a mixture of 2 tbsp cornflour and ½ cup milk. Dip the balls in this mixture and roll in breadcrumbs. Once all the balls are done then cover them with a clingfilm. Keep them in the fridge for an hour, if possible. Deep fry the balls.

Paneer Taka-tak

Amritsar is known as the food capital of the north. And rightly so! Apart from the famous Golden Temple and Jalianwala Bag the streets of Amritsar are teeming with all kinds of food. There are food items that carry the name with them..Amritsarimachli, Amritsari naan!! What can be a greater testament of the food legacy of a place?
I really liked this paneer recipe when I first heard about it. You first marinate and grill the paneer slab. Then you add it to the gravy. There are two layers of flavour here. I simply had to try it out.


Ingredients

½ kg paneer slab

Marinate in 
1 cup hung curd
3 green cardamoms
5 cloves
1 tsp ajwain
¼ ysp cinnamon powder
1 tsp chaat masala
Seeds of 1 black cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
½ tsp turmeric powder

For the gravy
2 onions, sliced fine
2 tomatoes, sliced fine
1” ginger, grated
2 green chilies, slit
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
 1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder

Make the marinade first. Grind together green cardamoms, cloves, seeds of black cardamom. Add to the cinnamon powder, chat masala, ajwain, salt, turmeric and hung curd. Apply to the paneer slab well on both sides. Keep aside for an hour. Then heat a pan and add some ghee. Fry the paneer slab on both sides till golden brown. Cut into pieces.

Heat some oil. Add the green chillies and cumin seeds. Add the grated ginger. Now add the sliced onions and cook till translucent. Add the tomato slices and cook some more. Now add the tomato puree and all the dry masalas. Cook till oil starts leaving the sides. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add the paneer pieces and cook till the gravy thickens.