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Masoori Dal Tadka

I used the recipe from:

http://www.padhuskitchen.com/2011/08/masoor-dal-masoor-dal-tadka-recipe.html

and for the most part stuck with the recipe and the results were good.

Vegetable Biryani - Non Dum Variety

Technique:

o Cook the dish in a wide vessel
o Cook vegetables and gravy separately and rice with yogurt and stock separately and combine them
o After combining cook it in low heat or 375 deg oven for 30 mins

Veggies:
o 1 potato
o 1 cup beans
o 1 head cauliflower
o 1 cup peas
o 2 carrots cubed
Steam or boil them and set aside

Rice:
2 cups rice 4 cups liquid (stock or water 2 cups and yogurt 2 cups)
o Fry some onions in butter, add garam masala, gramb for spicing
o add herbs (mint, cilantro)
o Add rice fry and 5 mins later, add liquids, cover and cook in med heat for about 15 mins occasionally checking so the rice is not burnt

Masala: Grind well to a paste
o 2-3 tbsp coconut
o 6-8 green chilies
o 1 garlic, 1 inch ginger
o 1/4 cup mint, cilantro optionally
o 1 tsp soonf, 3 gramb, 1 inch cinnamon
o 4-5 elakkai
o 6 cashews 4 almonds

o Heat 1 tbsp butter, 1/2 onion and masala
o later add veggies
o later add cooked rice and finally cook in low heat for 15 mins or in oven

Kadi

Kadi is a very simple dish to make and a great accompaniment for Rice or flatbreads such as Roti,Chapati or Naan. 

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp besan
• 2 cups of kefir / butter milk / 1 cup yogurt + 1 cup water beaten together
• 1 inch ginger and 2 green chilies ground to a paste
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (optional)
• Tempering:
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp mustard seeds; Hing; 4 curry leaves

1. Beat Besan with kefir/butter milk, etc. using a whisk/fork. This mixes the ingredients as well as adds air to make the dish fluffy 
2. Add the paste, turmeric, curry leaves, sugar and salt and boil it in low heat
3. Heat oil for tempering and add mustard seeds; Once it crackles, add cumin seeds, hing and finally curry leaves; You can add optionally 1 red chilly for extra heat.
4. Take the dish off the heat and serve garnished with coriander

Green Pea Soup

Pea Soup

I got this recipe from nytimes. This is simple to make and is very flavorful. I use 1 packet of TJ's fresh green peas.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2rn cup finely sliced shallots (about 3)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped fine
• 1 pound shelled fresh sweet peas (or 1 packet of TJs fresh green peas)
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon. You can also use Tarragon powder 1 tsp.
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• Pinch pepper
• 1/4 cup half and half or light cream

Method

• 1. Heat olive oil in soup pot. Add shallots and garlic and cook over med. Heat until shallots are just wilted. Add 3 1/2 cups water, bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer for 1/2 hour.
• 2. Add peas, tarragon, salt and pepper and bring back to boil. Turn down heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temp.  Puree with hand blender. It is quicker and you don't even need to strain.
• 3. Stir in cream (optional). Can be reheated and served hot or chilled and served cold.

Eggplant Parm from Gabriele Corcos

I watched them preparing this dish in the cooking channel. Seems like a simple and flavorful recipe. We need to try it.

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/debi-mazar-and-gabriele-corcos/melanzane-alla-parmigiana-eggplant-parmigiana.html

Jeera Pulao

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Onion - 1 finely chopped (optional)
Butter - 2 tsp + 1 tsp oil (you can substitute butter with ghee also)
Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Spices
Cloves -2
Cinnamon -1 inch piece
Bay leaf-1
Star anise - 1 (optional)

• Soak rice in water for 10-20 mins; Drain and wash away the starch
• Add Ghee or Butter to a wide covered pan; 
• Once it is heated add Jeera and then when the seeds pop add spices;
• Add onion and sauté in high heat and caramelize the onions
• Add rice and sauté for 5 mins
• Add water (1:2) and cover with a lid
• Check on the rice after 10-15 mins; Take off the heat when the rice gets to be tender

Super easy to make and very tasty and flavorful

Add stock if you want to. You could also add Peas to the pulao before finishing

Aloo Mutter - Potatoes and Peas

• 2 tbsps vegetable/sunflower/canola oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 green chillies slit
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste (Optional)
• 2 large tomatoes diced
• 1 tbsp coriander power
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp dry mango powder
• 5-6 large potatoes peeled cut into 8-10 pieces each
• 1 cup shelled peas (you can use frozen peas as well)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsps of finely chopped coriander to garnish

Directions:

1. Pour oil into a pan; Add cumin seeds, chilies and once the seeds pop add  onion and sauté
2. Add Giner paste, garlic; After 5 minutes add the potatoes
3. Add powders to the potatoes and sauté in high heat for 10 mins
4. add 1/2 cup of water and cover
5. After 15 mins add peas and then tomatoes
6. Add salt and finally coriander for garnish

This is super easy to make and can be had with flatbread, rice or pulao

Alton Brown's French Toast

I followed Alton Brown's French Toast Recipe to the letter and the result was very good.
The recipe is at:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/french-toast-recipe/index.html

Karamani (Long beans) Curry (as in stir fry)

This is a very simple curry/fry. Long beans is very simple to cut. You chop off the ends and then chop it into bits of 1/4 of an inch (or about 1/2 centimeter). 

Ingredients

1 tbsp of oil 

Pinch of asafoetida

2 dried red chillies, broken

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp urid dal

2 cups of chopped yard long beans

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sambar powder

2 tsp fresh coconut 

Directions

1. In a large wok / kadai, heat the oil. 
2. Add asafoetida, immediately adding red chillies, mustard seeds, urid dal. 
3. Once mustard seeds splutter and dal turns golden, add the chopped beans, salt - stir well and sprinkle water, cover and cook for 8-10 minutes on a low flame. 
4. Check on the beans every 3 minutes or so, sprinkling some water, if it is too dry or catching at the bottom of the pan.
5. Once done (tender, but still retaining some crunch), sprinkle sambar powder, stir to mix well.
6. Remove from flame and garnish with coconut.

Fastest Way to carmelize Garlic

From the nytimes website:
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/04/19/dining/100000002179029/the-fastest-way-to-caramelize-garlic.html

To make it, smash several garlic cloves and then peel off their skins. Heat 1/4-inch or so of olive oil in a skillet and add the garlic. Let the garlic cook over medium to medium-low heat until the edges turn golden, about 2 to 6 minutes. If the garlic starts to turn dark brown, lower the heat.

The garlic and garlic oil will last for at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator if you don’t use it all before then. And if you do, making more is a snap. 

Veg Paella

From Mark Bittman's Paella Recipe. I have to try this yet, but recently I had Paella served during a Business Lunch. I thought it was light and flavorful and the overall texture was different than the Pulao or Biryani. I will be trying this out soon.

Paella Master Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, minced
• 2 cups rice
• 1 pinch saffron
• 3 1/2 cups liquid (vegetable stock; water; wine, etc., or a combination)
• 1/2 pound vegetables, like olives, tomatoes, snow peas, mushrooms

1.

Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add one chopped onion and some minced bell pepper at the same time if you like and cook until soft. 

2.

Add 2 cups rice and (if you have it) a pinch of saffron and cook, stirring, until shiny. Add 3 1/2 cups of your liquid of choice, heated, and stir until just combined.

3.

Cook over medium-high heat, undisturbed. If the pan is too big for your burner, move it around a little; but after that initial stirring, leave it alone. When the mixture starts to dry, begin tasting the rice; if the liquid amount seems O.K., keep going. If the rice seems quite tough, add another 1/2 cup or so of liquid. And if you can smell the bottom starting to burn, lower the heat a bit. About halfway through the cooking (about 10 minutes), add any vegetables, adjust seasonings and stir gently, just once.

4.

The rice is done when tender and still a bit moist; if the mixture has stuck to the bottom of the pan, congratulations: you have socarrat, a characteristic of good paella. This should be served in the pan, in the middle of the table, and dinner guests — up to six — should fight over it.

Vegetable Soup with a light broth

This is the soup that I made for tonite's dinner. Yum!

It is a wonder that a simple mix of vegetables add so much flavor in this simple but immensely satisfying soup.
Flavor base: 2 cloves garlic, 2 carrots; 2 stalks of celery; 1 med onion - all diced and lightly sauteed in olive oil.
To this add coarsely sliced vegetables: 3 small potatoes, 1 red peper, 1 yellow squash, 3-4 tomatos, 1/2 cup spinach, 1 cup frozen green peas (or other veggies in similar amounts, not a whole lot). Sautee some more.
Add 1 carton of veggie stock, bring to a boil and then simmer for 40-60 mins after adding Seasoning: i.e. 1 tsp of thyme powder (or dry thyme), 2 tbsp chopped basil, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tsp pepper, salt to taste

Croutons make this into a meal. Cut white bread slices to triangles (it is more fun that way), sprinkle 1 tbsp olive oil and optionally dice 1 tbsp butter into small pieces and sprinkle over the bread slices. Bake at 350 deg for 8 mins; turn the broiler on for 2 mins watching carefully in the oven so it doesn't get burnt.

Pita Bread

I got this recipe from: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread
and I am going to try this tomorrow. Since I baked Naan Bread on my pizza stone and it came out always good, I am going to try this one.

Pita Bread

Makes 8 pitas

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons active dry yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening

Steps

• Warm the water in microwave for 30 secs and add sugar/honey in it. 
• Add active dry yeast to proof it for about 10 mins. If you are using instant yeast skip this step and add the yeast to the dry ingredients.
• Mix all ingredients in a bread machine for 10 mins
• Put the dough in a bowl coated with oil/spray and cover it with kitchen towel and let it raise for 90 mins
• After this punch down the dough; divide into 8 balls; put it back into the bowl and let it raise for 30 mins.
• At this point you can make the pitas or store the dough in the fridge for several days
• Load the pizza stone into the oven and put the oven on maximum temperature, in the broil mode.  
• Roll each ball into 1/8 or 1/4 inch thick disc
• Place the discs on the pizza stone and bake for about 3 mins until they are puffy. 
• If you need them crispy bake them for an additional 3-5 mins.
• 
  

Mushroom Pulao

I made this today and it turned out to be a fairly easy recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 Med onions thinly sliced or diced
• 2 med tomatos diced
• 2 Garlic pods chopped finely
• 1-2 cups of sliced mushrooms 
• 1/2 cup of peas (optional)
• 2 Green Chillies
• 2 Cloves
• 1 Stick cinnamon
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 Star Anise
• 1 tbsp Garam Masala Powder
• Salt
• 2 cups Basmathi Rice
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp ghee/butter
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

• I used a Pressure Pan for this dish. You could use a wide skillet with a lid also but you need to adjust cooking time and water accordingly.
• Soak rice for 10-20 mins and drain water and set aside
• Heat oil and ghee in pressure cooker.
• Add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and star anise.
• After a few seconds, add garlic, onion and green chilli. Saute for a couple of minutes.
• Add mushroom and peas and Sautee for 5 mins
• Add rice and saute for 5 mins
• Add Tomato and Saute for 5 mins
• Finally add 4 cups water and cover the pressure cooker and cook for 3 whistles.
• Cool and garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve with Raita.

Naan

I adapted this recipe from Aarti Sequeira's recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/naan-indian-oven-baked-flat-bread-recipe/index.html. I reduced the yeast a bit as using a whole teaspoon will make the naan very yeasty and flaky and somewhat not Naan-like. Also I used 50% whole wheat and 50% all purpose flour to add whole grain goodness. It came out quite well. If you dont have yogurt, you could use Kefir instead. Buttermilk wont be a good substitute I think. 

• 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast (instant yeast also worked)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 cups Bread flour, plus more for rolling, (Alternatively 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all purpose)
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kalonji (nigella seeds), optional
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, optional
• Ghee or Butter for brusing on finished naans

Directions

• First dissolve 1 tsp sugar with 3/4 cups warm water and add yeast. Let it sit for 10 mins.
• Put all the other ingredients into a food processor or a stand mixer or a bread machine and mix. Add water as the flour forms into a ball of dough.
• This dough should be somewhat sticky. But if it is too sticky reduce water.
• Coat Oil in a mixing bowl put the dough in it and cover with a wet kitchen towel.
• Leave for 2-4 hours or more.
• Punch down and divide the dough into about 6 balls, You need to coat your hands with oil and dust with flour as the dough will be sticky. Leave for another 20 mins or so.
• About 1 hour before making naan, leave a pizza stone in the oven at the maximum temp in broil. Pizza can be in the top Rack in order to take maximum advantage of radiated heat from the top heating elements. If your oven is convection one, turn it into convection broil.
• Now, take a ball, moisten your hands with water and pat the dough between your hands shaping it into a tear drop shape.
• Put it on your Gaddi and then slap it into the pizza stone.
• (You can make gaddi by rolling a few kitchen towels into a small pillow shape. If you dont have Gaddi, you can use your mittens as well)
• Naan will be done in about a min or so. Keep watching it and as it turns brown take it out.
• You may want to have a flat spoon handy for taking it off the stone, just in case it sticks to the pizza stone.
• Once you take the Naan out of the oven, brush it with Ghee or butter. 
• You can have Naan with curries like Mutter Paneer, Chana Masala, etc.

Minimize the time the oven is open so that the pizza stone keeps at the hottest possible temperature. You could finish baking the whole batch of 6 naans in about 15 mins.

This Naan came out quite good and was very comparable to the Naan you get from the Tandoori Oven. It was chewy and remained moist even after cooling down. It can be reheated in the toaster oven before serving. 

Vegetable Dum Biryani

After much research, I made this dish today. Once you get the hang of the recipe this should be somewhat simple to make.

Here is the general plan.

1. Cook Rice Separately to about 50% doneness. This can be done by soaking Basmati Rice for 20 mins and cooking it in water with 1 cup rice - 1.5 cup water proportion. You should be able to cook this in about 15 mins.
2. Prepare Vegetable curry separately
3. Prepare Savory water
4. Prepare Sweet Milk
5. Layer Rice and veggies in the dish and bake for 30 mins.

Here is the recipe:

Savory Water

1. Boil 2 cups water; 
2. Add 1 tbsp mace; 1 tbsp kala jeera; 3 pieces of cinnamon stick; 5 cardamom pods; 8 cloves; 2 tsp fennel seeds; 1 tsp nutmeg; 2 star anise pods; 1 tsp peppercorns; 2 long bay leaves
3. Simmer for 20 mins; Then filter out the spices and keep the water

Sweet Milk

1. Boil 1 cups milk
2. Add few strands of saffron; 2 tbsp rose water; 2 tbsp kewra water; 1 tsp cardamom powder; 1 tbsp sugar
3. Simmer for 10 mins

Rice

Soak 2 cups Basmati rice for 20 mins; Saute 2 cloves and 1 piece of cinnamon stick and onions in 2 tbsp of ghee and add 1 large diced tomato; Add rice and when it is coated with ghee, add water and cook for about 10 mins

Vegetable Curry

A medley of veggies can be used for this. For example, you can have 2 potatoes, 1 chayote squash, 3 med carrots, 1 cup peas, 1 cup cauli flower, etc.

1. Cut the veggies to small chunks. They should not be diced too small otherwise they will lose integrity during the cooking process and will turn mushy.
2. Sautee the veggies with 1 small diced onion and 3 garlic (minced - opt).
3. Grind the following in a blender: 2 tomatoes, 1 inch ginger, 5 green chilies, 1/2 cup cashews or almonds, 1 cup cilantro, 1 cup mint. (The herbs can also be added to the curry without blending).
4. Cook for just about 10 mins in med flame so that the veggies are still crunchy.
5. Add about 3 tbsp of the savory water prepared.
6. Add 3 tbsp yogurt when the veggies are about done and turn off the flame.

Dum cooking

• Take a thick dish that you can keep in the oven. Dutch oven will be good as it has a heavy lid. 
• You can either seal it with dough or cover it with aluminium foil.
• For sealing with dough, use 1/4 cup of flour with 1 tbsp water.
• Layer Rice and Veggies with the pattern of: 1 layer rice; Savory water and sweet milk swirled over the rice; 1 layer of veggies; 1 layer of rice again, etc. Seal the dish with dough or aluminium foil.
• Bake the dish in the oven for 30 mins at around 350 deg for 45 mins.
• Unseal after removing from the oven after about 20 mins.

This dish is not very spicy and should be served with onion raita or pickle on the side. Almonds and cashews can be added for garnish.

Tikka Masala (Aloo, Gobi, Vegetables, Paneer)

The word Tikka means "bits, pieces". Masala often refers to a gravy made with tomato and spices.

"Tikka Masala" can be made with marinated pieces of Vegetables(Peppers, onions, zuchhini, mushrooms, etc.),

 Aloo(potatoes), Gobi(Cauliflower), Paneer, etc.

The recipe is actually very simple. 

Marinading

When the vegetables are used the following procedure can be used for marinading: 

o 2 cups of Vegetables or Paneer cut to pieces

o 1/4 cup of yogurt. Thick yogurt is a better option. You can either strain yogurt with cheesecloth or use greek yogurt. But if you dont have em you can use just the plain yogurt.

o 1 tbsp coriander powder

o 2 tsp paprika

o 2 tsp chili powder

o Diced ginger 1 tbsp

o 1 tbsp Kasoori methi leaves

o 1 tsp turmeric

o Juice of 1 lime

o 1 tbsp amchoor powder

o 2 tsp of flour (corn, arrow root, wheat or rice in that order of preference)  for binding

o Mix spices with yogurt and add vegetables, coat them well, cover the vessel and leave in the fridge for 1 hour or more. (If you are in a hurry, atleast 10 minutes would be needed to marinade otherwise the contents wont absorb the flavor)

Gravy

The gravy is fairly simple. Essentially, it is just pureed tomatoes and aromatics with spices.

o 1 can of tomatoes or about 1 lb of fresh tomatoes - Diced. Fresh ones are better for this dish.

o 1 big onion  - diced

o 1 tbsp of ginger and 1 tbsp or garlic (optional)

o 2 tbsp coriander powder

o 1 tbsp Garam Masala powder

o 1 tbsp paprika

o 1 tbsp chili powder

o 2 tsp turmeric

o 1 tsp cumin 

o Heat oil, add cumin and when they pop add onions. Add ginger and garlic (or ginger garlic paste) as an option.

After Onions caramelize a bit, add tomatoes

o Once the tomatoes are cooked a bit and disintegrating, add the spices with Garam masala as the last step.

o Cover and cook for 10 mins; Then use a hand blender or food processor to puree the gravy

Putting it together

o Heat some oil, add 1 tsp cumin seeds and when they pop, add the marinated vegetables and fry them for a bit until the vegetables or cooked or when paneer browns a little bit. Do not overcook.

o Add the stir fried vegetables to the gravy and cook for about 5 mins.
o Garnish with Cilantro Leaves.

Serving

Tikka Masala can be served over Basmati Rice and it makes a wonderful meal.

It can be had with Roti/Chapati/Puri, etc.

Katti Rolls

You can easily make Katti Rolls out of it with Roti/Chapathi or some flat bread 

(Pita, Middle Eastern Flat Bread, Tortilla, Lavash of these can qualify). 

Smear a bit of yogurt and optionally any kind of chutney you may have.

Place a bit of Basmati Rice, Tikka Masala and shredded lettuce and roll up the flat bread. That's it!

Puliyodarai - Tamarind Rice - Iyengar style

Dry Powder ingredients

Dried Red Chillies --- 15 

Coriander seeds---- 2 tbsp

Methi (fenugreek) seeds----1 tsp

Wet ingredients

Tamarind - One large lemon size (pulp extracted as per directions)

Dried Red Chillies --- 5 cut into half

Asafoetida – A pinch or two

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp

Urad Dal - 1 tbsp

Chana Dal (bengal gram) - 2 tbsp

Peanuts - 1/4 cup

Cashew nuts - 10 or so(optional)

Jaggery - 1 tbsp

curry leaves - 2 sprigs

1/4 cup gingelly oil (sesame oil).

Salt to taste

• This dish is most flavorful if enough time is given. It is not as tasty if prepared in a rush. Give the ingredients enough time to come together and develop flavor.
• Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of warm water; leave it for 15 mins and then use your hands to mash the tamarind into pulp. It doesnt take much effort. Leave for another 30 mins or so and then use your hands to squeeze the fruit matter to extract out the pulp and throw the fiber and seeds away. 
• Heat 1/4 cup of Sesame oil aka Gingelly Oil aka  Nallennai in a heavy pan. Add mustard Chana Dal, Urad Dall and after a few mins Peanuts and mustard and Asafoetida. After muster seeds start popping add cashew nuts and then curry leaves; Finally add jaggery and the chilies
• Finally add the tamarind pulp and turmeric; Cover and leave for 10-15 mins on low flame to reduce and to lose the raw tamarind flavor after cooking
• Dry roast the dry powder ingredients and then powder them in a coffee grinder/ Mixie
• After the tamarind pulp mixture reduces after the water evaporates, add the powder and then take off the heat. Add salt to taste. This is Pulikaichal, which will make the Tamarind Rice or Puliyodarai
• 
  
• To prepare rice: Cook 2 cups of rice in a rice cooker with about 5 cups of water.
• Once the rice is done open the lid, add 2 tbsp of sesame oil and spread the rice on a mixing bowl or plate
• After the rice cools add Pulikaichal to the rice and mix using your hands. Add salt as needed. Thee ingredients should be cool at that point. Leave the mixed rice for about 2-3 hours to develop the flavor. 
• This tastes much like the Perumal Kovil Puliyodarai.

Vegetarian Pho

Adapted from here and Mark Bittman's recipe.

For the Broth:

1 small unpeeled onion, quartered

2 unpeeled shallots, halved

8 garlic cloves, halved

a 1-inch piece of ginger, coarsely sliced

two 3-inch cinnamon sticks

2 pods of star anise

4 cloves

2 bay leaves

1 carton vegetable stock/ broth

3 tablespoons soy sauce

salt

o Add onion, shallots, garlic, ginger, spices and dry roast for a few mins

o Once they begin to char (gets a smoky flavor this way) add stock and soy sauce and bring to a boil over high heat

o Turn heat to low and simmer for 30 mins

o Strain into a clean pot, discard the solids and keep warm over low heat

o You can then serve the broth ladling it over rice noodles and add garnish as desired such as:

Tofu, peas, carrots, bean sprouts, green onions, basil leaves, cilantro, diced chilies, etc. etc.