Tandoori roti

Tandoori roti is made with whole-wheat flour and traditionally cooked in a clay oven or tandoor. This recipe uses a regular home oven with pizza or baking stone which provides a similar effect to the tandoor.Recipe make 4 Rotis

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoon oil
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• About 1/4 cup of water as needed

Also needed:

• 1/4cup whole-wheat flour for rolling
• 2 tablespoons ghee (clear butter)

Method:

1. Mix the flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt together.
2. 1. Heat the oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone (baking stone) for about thirty minutes so the stone becomes hot. Using a baking/pizza stone will help to give roti close to same kind of heat as tandoor.
   2. Next turn the oven to high broil.
   3. Divide the dough into four equal parts.
   4. Roll each dough piece into a smooth ball and press flat. Take each ball and press it into the dry flour on both sides makes it easy to roll.
   5. Roll each dough piece into 6-inch circles.
   6. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or rolling surface, lightly dust the dough with dry flour.
   7. Before putting the rolled dough into the oven, lightly wet your palms and take the rolled dough and flip them between your palms before placing them onto your baking/pizza stone in the oven.
   8. You can place about 2 pieces of rolled dough on the baking/pizza stone at a time. The roti will take about 2 minutes to cook, depending upon your oven. After the roti is baked, there should be golden brown color on top.
   9. Take roti out of the oven and brush lightly with clear butter (ghee).
   10. Wait for 2 to 3 minutes before baking the next roti to allow the oven to reheat.
   11. Serve the roti hot
   Serving Suggestions:
   Serve roti with dal, or any gravy base dish and a side of sukhi subji complimented with chilled yogurt raita. Next add the oil and yogurt and mix to make crumbly dough.
3. Add water as needed and mix to make smoother dough.
4. Knead the dough for about a minute. Set the dough aside and cover it with a damp cloth.
5. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes.

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is a favorite fast food dish in India. Pav is buns and bhaji is the mixed spicy vegetables. This is a very popular dish with roadside vendors.
Recipe will serve 4.

 

Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cups chopped cauliflower
• 1/2 cup chopped green beans
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 green chilies chopped
• 2 tablespoon finely sliced ginger
• 3 medium chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon fennel seed powder (saunf)
• 2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (adjust to taste)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
• 6  bread buns

For Garnish:

• 1 medium chopped tomatoes
• Few pieces of thinly sliced lemon

Method:

1. Boil all the vegetables potatoes, cauliflower, beans, peas, and beans in about 1 ½ cup of water. Don’t add too much water, just enough to cook.
2. After the vegetables are soft and tender, drain the excess water and mash them coarsely with a fork or potato masher.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
4. Add tomatoes, green chilies, cilantro, and ginger and sauté for 2-3 minutes until pasty.
5. Next add the red chili powder, fennel seed and turmeric, mix it well.
6. Add mashed vegetables.
7. Using a spatula, simultaneously mash and stir all the vegetables for 5 minutes.
8. Add salt and two tablespoons of ghee, stir-fry for another minute.
9. Add about ¼ cup of water or as needed, and let it cook for a minute.
10. Turn off the heat.
11. Add garam masala, and lemon juice, mix it well
12. Toast the halves bun over a skillet using butter over medium heat until buns are golden brown from both sides.
13. Serve toasted buns with bhaji (mixed vegetables), garnish with chopped tomatoes and sliced lemon.

Variations:

1. You can use almost any vegetables to make the bhaji, but keep the potato base. You can also try vegetables such as cabbage, bell pepper, and eggplant.
2. If you don’t eat potatoes, use green bananas for the base.
3. For vegan replace the butter with oil

Fish Biriyani

Fish Biriyani...simply awesome!!

Biriyani is a rice dish flavoured with spices and cooked with chicken or fish or meat or simply veggies. It is a very flavorful and aromatic dish .
I simply love Biriyani and my mom makes the most awesome Chicken Biriyani I have tasted until now.
Being health conscious she doesn't use too much butter or ghee in her preparation, but the spices , chicken and the flavored rice mixed together simply compensates for all that. Though I haven't mastered her biriyani yet, I also try to make biriyani now and then whenever we get cravings to have something Gourmet I would say!! :-)

2 things that make this Biriyani recipe special is the fact I made my own biriyani masala powder (as I din't have any store bought powder at hand ) and its the first time I'm making biriyani with Fish :-) And something about having made everything homemade made this biriyani so much more tastier. It was a bit on the spicier side , but then we love having spicy food once in a while!

This biriyani was the result of an instant craving to have something special for lunch. Something special means always BIRIYANI :-) But I had no chicken in the freezer and we weren't in the mood to go and buy some, but I had some Tilapia fillets and there was no thinking twice, Fish Biriyani it is....I have eaten fish biriyani only twice , one was Shrimp and another time it was King fish. Both tasted awesome and unique in its own way. 

The aromatic whole spice flavored Rice, the spicy fish and masala , the carmelised onions , small crunch from the cashew nuts and sweetness from the fried raisins all makes this dish a fantastic combo!!

The recipe description may look lengthy, but that's only because I have tried to cover each small detail of the preparation process. Most of the ingredients are commonly found or used in most Indian households, specially the spices used. I have also provided Easier versions wherever possible. But trust me, the end result is amazing and you'll love it. And like my mom I have made it with very little butter and oil.

Again, this Biriyani recipe is totally mine and I'm sure there may be several other ways to prepare it. Suggestions are always welcome!!

Fish Biriyani Recipe
Recipe source : My own
You'll need
For the rice:
Basmati rice - 3 cups
Butter - 2 tblsp
Whole Cardamom ( Elaichi) - 3nos.
Whole Peppercorns - 6-7nos.
Cloves - 4-5nos
Cinammon sticks - 1 or 2 ( one inch pieces)
Saffron - 1 pinch
Star Anise - 1
Bayleaf - 1
Water - 6 cups
For marinating the fish:
Fish Fillets (Tilapia / Salmon / King Fish ) - 2-3 lb [Cleaned and cut into small pieces]
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Homemade Biriyani masala powder: (My version)
Cardamom seeds ( Elaichi) - 2 ( only seeds of 2 whole cardamom pods)
Whole Peppercorns - 5nos
Cloves - 5nos.
Cinammon sticks - 1 (one inch piece)
Dry Red Chilli - 2-3
Star Anise - 1/2 piece
Whole Corriander seeds - 1 tblsp
Jeera or Saumf - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 3-4 leaves
For masala gravy:
Red Onion - 1 large ( thinly sliced)
Green chillies - 2-3 (cut lenghtwise) - optional
Ginger- Garlic paste - 1 tblsp
Tomatoes - 2 large
Yoghurt - 2 heaping tblsp
Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
Cilantro - 1cup
To Garnish
Red Onion - 1/2 large ( cut into thin rings or slices)
Cashew nuts - 1 tblsp
Raisins - 1tblsp
Oil (Canola / Vegetable Oil ) - as needed for frying
To color the rice yellow: ( optional )
Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
Water - 2 tblsp


Directions:
For cooking the rice:
1. Wash and soak the Basmati rice in water for 30 - 45 mins.
2. Drain the rice and spread out the rice on a clean washcloth or in a collander to dry.
3. In a deep cooking pot melt 2 tblsp of butter and put in all the whole spices except the Saffron and saute for a minute.
4. Add the rice and fry the rice by folding over gently for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Now add in the 6 cups of water , put in the Saffron strands , salt and cover the pot and cook until the rice is well cooked.
For making the Fish masala:
1. Grind together all the ingredients for the homemade biriyani masala powder and keep aside. ( Easier version : Use store bought Biriyani masla powder)
2. Grind together the tomato, yoghurt , mint and cilantro leaves without water and keep aside.
3. Marinate the fish with all the spices (red chilli powder, pepper powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek powder) and salt and mix well with some water so that the spices stick on to the fish. Refigerate for 30 mins.
4. In a non-stick skillet, on medium heat, add 2 tblsp oil and shallow fry the fish and keep aside.
5. In the same skillet add another 2 tblsp oil and saute the red onions, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste.
6. Add the Biriyani Masala powder and saute for 2 minutes.
7. Reduce the heat and add the tomato-yoghurt grinded mixture , add salt and stir the masala gravy until the gravy thickens. ( If the gravy is thick enough , you need not saute for too long)
8. Add the fried fish pieces into this gravy and mix gently.
For the garnish:
1. Slice the red onions into thin rings or cut the onion in half and slice thinly.
2. Heat some oil on high heat , in a frying pan and fry the onions until carmelised well.
3. In the same oil fry the cashew nuts and raisins and keep everything aside separately.
For setting the Biriyani:
1. Preheat the oven and set it to 200F.
2. If you'd like to color some rice yellow, roast the 2 tsp of turmeric powder until the raw smell comes off and mix with water and slowly sprinkle the turmeric water on about 1 cup 3-4 large scoops of the cooked rice and gently fold the rice over until all the rice strands are colored yellow. ( Easier version : Use yellow food color)
3. In a large oven proof vessel (like a dutch oven) make layers of rice, fish masala and garnish.
Procedure: Mix 3 large scoops of white rice with 1 large scoop of yellow rice , top the rice with 2 tblsp fish masala with 3-4 fish pieces , top it with the fried onions, cashew nuts and raisins. Again add the rice and
continue this layering until all the rice and fish masala is over and make sure the last layer ends with rice topped with the garnish.
4. Cover the vessel with a air tight lid and place it in the oven for 15 mins.
5. Biriyani is ready. Serve it with some cool Raita, spicy mango pickle and Papad...Yummmmy!!

Suggestions: 

a. While the rice is soaking in water , you can marinate the fish and start with the masala gravy preparation.

b. If you do not want to layer the rice with the fish, cook the rice and fish with masala mixed together. This makes the preparation faster.

c. You can moderate the amount of biriyani masala powder added , if you do not like too much spice.

Hotel Style Coconut Chutney

Hotel Style Coconut Chutney

Ingredients

• Coconut - 1 cup, freshly grated
• Dalia - fistful, (roasted chickpeas/putnala pappu)
• Green Chilies - 2-3 (preferably light green variety)
• Ginger - 1/2" inch
• Garlic - 1 clove
• Salt to taste
• Tempering/Poppu/Tadka:
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - a sprig
• Oil - 1 tsp

Method

1. Grind fresh coconut, roasted chickpeas, green chilies, ginger, garlic and salt to a smooth paste adding very little water. Remove onto a serving bowl.
2. Heat oil for tempering in a small pan. Add mustard seeds and allow to splutter. Add curry leaves and turn off heat. Pour the tempering over the chutney.
3. Serve this hotel style coconut chutney along side idli or dosa.

Tips

• Garlic is optional.
• Fresh coconut is essential for the best flavor.
• Scrape out the outer brown layer of the coconut for a white colored coconut chutney.

Hotel style coconut chutney recipe – Subtly spiced and tempering with curry leaves gives the coconut chutney all the charm it needs to be your favorite side with dosa and idli.

Egg Fried Rice Recipe

INDIAN RECIPES : EGG FRIED RICE RECIPE Egg Fried Rice is a perfect recipe for special days such as Mother’s Day and Birthday. Learn how to make/prepare Egg Fried Rice by following this easy recipe.

Egg Fried Rice Recipe

Ingredients:• 1 Egg, lightly beaten
• 1 Cup instant rice, uncooked
• 2 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp Vegetable oil
• 1/2 Cup green beans
• 1/2 Onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper, ground
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 Cup water

How to make Egg Fried Rice:• Take a saucepan, add water, salt and soy sauce and bring it to a boil.
• Add rice, keep stirring.
• Remove it from the flame, cover and let stand for about 5 minutes.
• Take a medium skillet and heat oil in it over medium flame.
• Fry onions and green beans for about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Pour in egg and fry for about 2 minutes, scrambling egg while it cooks.
• Add this mixture to the cooked rice, mix well.
• Sprinkle with the pepper.