Enjoy the veggies - Korma Recipe

Carrots, Cauliflower, Beans and all the greens are in full season these days and we all end up cooking mixed vegetable, Bhaji and many other recipes out of these. Let's try to do something different . In the morning I woke up to see that I do have carrots, cauliflower at home but was very confident that my husband won't eat the mixed vegetable sabzi I prepare and pav bhaji he has already said no last night so I decided to prepare " Korma " following one of the new recipes I found last night.

Believe me you have to give it a try it turned out awesome!!!!!!

So here's the recipe. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

Carrot – 2
French beans – 10
Cauliflower Florets – 1/4 cup
Fresh Green peas – 1/2 cup
Onion – 1
Tomato – 2
Red chili powder – 2 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Bay leaf – 1
Star anise – 1
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Salt – to taste
Oil – 1 tbsp

To be Ground to a smooth paste:

Fresh grated coconut – 1/2 cup
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts – 8 to 10
Khus- Khus (poppy seeds) – 1 tsp
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Garlic – 5 pods
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Cloves – 2
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Instructions:

Chop the carrots, beans the size you prefer. Par boil carrots, beans, cauliflower and peas  in a vessel .
Grind the ingredients mentioned under the “to be ground to a fine paste” using little water to a smooth paste and keep aside.
Chop the onions and quarter the tomatoes.
Heat a wide pan or a wok with oil. Add  bay leaf, star anise and sauté till the aroma arises. Now add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
Add onions, curry leaves and sauté till the onions turns translucent. Now add red chili powder, salt and mix well. Now add the ground coconut paste and enough water to the consistency you prefer the korma to be and mix well and cook over low flame.
Let it come to a boil. Add the par boiled vegetables, quartered tomato pieces, give it a quick stir, check the consistency of the kurma now and add more water if necessary at this stage. Close the pan with a lid leaving a small gap and let the kurma cook over medium low flame for 7-10 mins.
By now the gravy would have thickened considerably, the vegetables would have been completely cooked, the raw smell would have gone and you can smell the aroma of the kurma.
Transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot with chapathi, poori or parotta.

Enjoy!!!

Raaghav's Mom

Let's have Calizone

Holaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Italian food has always been a hit at our home but lately Domino's Calizone has become a hot favourite. Hubby dear is always finding excuses to order it so I decided to recreate it at home. Try it out you would definitely love it.

The recipe includes preparing dough for the bread , preparing the filling and then final baking.

Step 1 :- Dough for the bread

Ingredients(prepares four calizones):-

Maida / All purpose Flour - 3 cups

Active dry yeast  2 1/2 tsp

Sugar 2 Tbsp

Olive oil 2 Tbsp

Water 1 cup

salt 1 1/2 tsp

Method :- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and make a soft dough and keep it for rising for 50 minutes or untill it doubles the size. After that punch down the dough and divide it into four parts.

Take one part and roll into a thin disc.

For the filling:-

Ingredients:-

1 Red Capsicum

1 Yellow Capsicum

1 Green Capsicum

1 Onion

Hot and Sweet Chillie Sauce 2 Tbsp

sugar 1/2 Tbsp

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Method :- Heat oil in a pan and add onion and saute for a minute. Add salt and pepper and all the capsicums. Then add sauce and sugar and adjust  to taste and cook for some time.

For baking:-

Preheat the oven to 250 degree.

Divide the filling into four parts and place into one half of the dough disc. Put cheese of your choice. Seal the disc into half moon shape and drizzle olive oil and italian seasoning. bake for 15 mins and enjoy.



Cheers,

Raaghav's mom

Chinese and Korean mix

Hello !!!

Some years back my husband's job demanded a lot of travel and because of that he got an exposure to a lot of cuisines. Korea had been a major client location where he used to go very often so he always wanted to have something to eat that is like wrapped maybe in a lettuce leaf and inside we have some rice some chicken.

So this is what I tried last night. I prepared honey chillie chicken and wrapped it inside the lettuce leaves along with some white rice. My husband was delighted and so was I :-)

So let me share my honey chillie chicken/Gobhie recipe tonight.

Recipe:-

Ingredients:-

 1/2 kg chicken fillets

salt
oil (for deep frying)
1 teaspoon finely cut ginger
2 teaspoons finely cut garlic
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cornflour
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
6 shallots
Directions:

Marinate chicken/blanched gobhie (blanch in hot water with some salt for 5 minutes) in a marinate of honey,ginger,garlic,oil ,salt ,pepper and lemon. Keep for 4 hours.

Coat lightly with flour which has been seasoned with salt.

Fry chicken in batches in hot oil until golden brown or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove from oil, drain on paper towels.
Repeat with remaining chicken.

Pour off excess oil leaving one tablespoon of oil in pan.Add ginger and garlic to pan, saute gently one minute.Add honey, stir for one minute.Add combined cornflour, water, chilli sauce, lemon juice and soy sauce.Stir until sauce boils and thickens.Add chicken pieces, toss in sauce for three minutes or until chicken is heated through.Add sliced shallots, cook for a further minute.

Serve with rice or chinese noodles wrapped in lettuce leaves.

Cheers, 

Raaghav's Mom

Its brinjal this time - Baghare Baingan ( Aubergine in peanut coconut gravy)

Good Morning!!!!

My husband hardly likes anything in Indian food and baingan ( this is what brinjal is called in India) is a veggie he hates the most and for me baingan brings memories of childhood. My mother use to grow baingan in the kitchen garden and I loved the simple allu baingan sabzi she would prepare.

So last night I took up a challenge to prepare something out of baingan that my husband would love and that gave birth to "Baghare Baingan".

Whenever I am going to cook something new my mind is flooded with ideas and they come at any time while driving , while sleeping or maybe while talking to someone and my mind comes to peace when I do some action that is cook it up.

Baghare baingan is a south Indian delicacy which with little twist could be transformed to a Bengali delicacy. I will share both of them.

Please excuse me for not taking the photographs but from next time I will definately do.

Baghare baingan

Ingredients:-
Brinjal small 500gm
roasted peanuts 2 tbsp
sesame seeds / til 2 tbsp
grated coconut tbsp
whole coriander 1 tbsp
cumin 1 tsp
ginger paste 1 tsp
green chilies 2-3
mustard seeds 1 tsp
heeng
karrie patta 8-10
turmeric 1/2 tsp
tamarind pulp 1 tbsp
salt as per taste
red chillie powder 1/2 tsp
sugar 1 tbsp
coriander leaves for garnish
oil 4-5 tbsp

Method:-

Take small seedless brinjal, wash thoroughly, cut the brinjals dial downwards such that the stalks remain connected. Take ½ tsp salt and rub inside the brinjals place for about 10-12 minutes.Peel ginger, wash and take green chillies and remove their stalks and fry them in the frying pan, along with cumin , coriander,roasted sesame, peanuts and coconut without water or with  little water and grind finely.
Put oil in a frying pan and heat, then put 2-3 brinjal,and saute until they are soft

In the remaining oil, add asafetida , mustard seeds and curry leaves. After frying them,put turmeric powder,and then put ground spices and fry until the oil separates.Add red chillie powder, salt, tamarind paste and sugar. Add 1-2 cups of water and let it come to boil, then add the fried brinjal cook 5-6  on low flame till brinjal take the taste of all the spices. Let them simmer till the sauce thickens to consistency of your choice. Garnish with fresh cut coriander.

To make the bengali version replace coconut , peanuts and sesame seeds with 3 Tbsp of poppy seeds. Soak them in water and make a fine paste. Rest everything remains same.

Give this recipe a try I am sure you would enjoy. Till then happy cooking...................

The journey begins

Cooking has always been my hobby but after marriage it has become a kind of passion thanks to my husband :-). I might not be a very great cook but cooking is one thing that I enjoy the most and this blog is my attempt to share my experiences and see if I could help someone to reach someone's heart through good food because my father always says that "Way to man's heart is through his stomach" and I believe that is true for woman too.

Cheers,

Raaghav's Mom