ALOO SHIMLA MIRCH

Aoo Shimla Mirch is one of the easiest recipe for a side dish or you can serve it as a main dish with other accompaniments like raita etc. This recipe doesn’t take much time to cook and don’t need any preparations. The detailed recipe and instructions are as below:Ingredients:


Potatoes - 3 to 4 medium size
Capsicum -1 big
Green chillies -2
Ginger ½ each piece(grated)
Tomato -1
Salt- to taste
Turmuric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Red chilli powder- ¼ teaspoon
Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Oil- 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder- 1 tablespoon
Besan – 1 tablespoon
Garam masala- ½ teaspoon
Subzi masala(optional) – 1 teaspoon (any brand if you like spicy food)
Method:
1- Peel potatoes, wash them, let them air dry for 5 minutes and then cut them in lengthwise slices.
2- Slice shimlamirch.
3- Chop green chillies
4- Heat oil in a pan or kadhai, add cumin seeds as they crackle, add potatoes and shimlamirch
5- On a high flame fry them, stirring continuously as the color changes to golden, add salt and besan to it , mix well , simmer the flame and let it cook uncovered for 3-4 minutes, stir twice in between.
6- Check if potatoes are almost cooked, if not cook them for another a minute or two.
7- Within a pan , with the help of spatula, shift the cooked vegetables to one side making a place for tomato to come.
8- Now to this place add chopped tomato,green chilles and ginger .
9- Sprinkle the other spices( red chillies, coriander, turmeric and sabzi masala) over the veggies and tomatoes.(don't mix them)
10- Cover the lid and cook vegetable for 2 minutes.
11- Mash the tomatoes with the help of spatula and then mix the whole vegetable along with tomatoes. 12- On a high flame, cook for one minute, sprinkle garam masala powder over it, serve hot.
Notes Besan give a nice texture and binding to the dish and also reduces the strong taste ( tekhapan) of shimla mirch. By shifting vegetables to one side, tomatoes are thoroughly cooked. If potatoes are dried they will never stick to the pan. I have mentioned the way in my previous post taryal patata

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METHI ( FENUGREEK) MATAR PULAO

Methi matar pulao is very simple and easy to follow rice recipe, goes well with dry or gravy dishes. I usually prepare this with Ras wale Gobhi Aloo.
Ingredients required for the recipe and the detailed instructions are as follows

Ingredients:
Basmati rice: 2 cups
Fenugreek (methi)leaves : 1 cup chopped
Green Peas: 1 cup
Cumin seeds: 1 tespoon
Whole garam masala: dalchini one stick, green cardamom-2, cloves-2, bay leaf 2, black cardamom-1, pepper corns: 8-10.
Coriander powder: 2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder: 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
Salt : to taste
Garam masala powder: 1 teaspoon
Onion: 1 big
Oil : 1 tablespoon
Water : 2 cups (or little less than 2 cups)
Method: wash and soak basmati rice for ½ an hour, chop and wash methi leaves, chop onions.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add cumin seeds and whole garam masalas, roast for a minute add sliced onion, stiring continuously cook till they are golden brown in color, add methi leaves mix well , cook till methi starts changing the color add peas , salt, red chilli powder coriander powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder, if it is dry sprinkle some water to it, cover the lid a cook for 2-3 minutes , add soaked rice to it, mix gently and cook for another 2-3 minutes, add 2 cups of water to it, cook uncovered on a high flame as water starts boiling and almost dried up simmer the flame, cover the lid and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Check rice is cooked completely and water is dried up. Your methi matar puloa is ready serve this with ras wale gobhi aloo, or fried potatoes .

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RAS WALE GOBHI ALOO

Ras wale gobhi aloo & methi matar pulao is a perfect combination for winter dinner , as it includes – veggies, rice and protein content(peas). If you have small preparations ready , this can be prepared with ease. Ingredients required and detail instructions for the recipe are as follows:
Ingredients:
Cauliflower: 1 medium size( cut into medium size florets)
Potatoes: 2 medium size(cut into cubes)
Onion : 1 big ( sliced)
Ginger 1” piece
Garlic: 8-10 pods
Tomatoes: 3 big
Green chillies: 2-3
Salt to taste:
Turmeric powder: ½ teaspoon
Red chilli powder : ½ teaspoon
Coriander powder: 1 & ½ tablespoon
Garam masala powder: ¼ teaspoon
Everest kitchen king Masala : 1 teaspoon
Kasuri methi: 1 teaspoon
Oil: 2 tablespoon ( ½ for frying gobhi and aloo and remaining for curry)

Method: Peal and cut potatoes, extract florets from gobhi, crush ginger & garlic,
Wash gobhi and potatoes in vegetable strainer, water should be completely extracted , place a bowl below the strainer to collect water you can air dry them for 5 minutes while making other preparations. Heat ½ tablespoon of oil in kadhai( preferably nonstick) on a medium to high flame fry gobhi aloo, all in a single time, stirring continuously till they are pinkish in color. Remove from kadhai,
Heat remaining oil in a pressure cooked, fry onion slices as they are golden brown in color, add crushed ginger garlic and cook till raw smell of garlic disappears, add red chilli powder to it as it starts frying immediately add one tablespoon of water, mix well, add chopped tomatoes, green chillies, coriander powder, turmeric powder and kitchen king masala and salt to it mix well ,add some more water to it.cover the lid and cook till one whistle, switch off the flame, let it cool completely. Open the lid blend the entire mixture with the help of hand blender( alternatively shift the mixture to grinding jar and grind for few seconds).Add gobhi aloo to it, mix well and on a high flame roast for 5-6 minutes as oil starts coming out, lower the flame, cover the lid( don’t lock it, simple put over it) cook for another 3-4 minutes, now add water according the consistency of gravy you require. Lock the lid and cook only for 1 whistle, switch off the gas. As the vegetables are fried earlier they will easily cooked, over cooking will mesh up the entire dish. After opening the lid, you can boil the gravy for 2-3 minutes, heat tawa, roast kasoori methi over it, as aroma spreads, add this to gobhi aloo. Mix gently.Finally add garam masala to it. Serve hot with methi matar pulao.

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KHURAK: SINDHI RECIPE

Khurak is a sindhi sweet recipe, basically it is a dry fruits and wheat flour fudge, prepared in winter season.
From the childhood days, we are enjoying this recipe, For a long time I wanted to post this on my blog, and here is the time to share this with all of you.

Ingredients required for this recipe are:
wheat flour: 1/2 kg
mix dryfruits: 1/2 kg (dry coconut grated, almonds, cashewnuts, raisins, muskmelon seeds : (25gms)poppy seeds: (25 gms)
sugar: 600gms
refined oil or ghee: 350gm ( it is needed more than this but i use less, you can also take 50:50 ratio of ghee and oil)
edible gum: 1/4 cup
water:  200ml
green cardamom : 15 - 20 (powdered)
Preparations:
fry gum or microwave them on turntable on high for 40-50 seconds they will pop up depending upon the power levels of your microwave. Grind them to fine powder , and pass it through strainer. preserve  powder of it
Mix sugar and water boil it till one string consistency.
Grind all the dry fruits (except poppy seeds , grated coconut and muskmelon seeds they are to be added later, ) you can either powder them or coarsely grind them if you like the chunks. I preferred coarse grinding.
Grease 2 or 3 three thalis with oil for setting the khurak

Method:
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan , be sure to take the big one,(i would suggest you if you are trying for first time just take half measures of all ingredients and then try, they will be plenty) as it has to contain all the ingredients.
Add cardamom powder and wheat flour to it,( if you find that it is difficult to stir the mixture you can add some ghee at this time, if you are easy than its ok.,)  on a medium heat roast wheat flour continuously stirring till it is golden in color this will take approx 20-25 minutes or more( you have to be patient while roasting , ). Add poppy  muskmelon seeds and  grated coconut and roast again for just 3-4 minutes, add dry fruits powder, gum powder mix well and stir once, simmer the flame, carefully add sugar syrup to it, at this stage temperature of mixture is very high so it can splutter, mix well till it starts to leave the sides of pan.
Quickly pour it on greased thalis, flatten it with the help of spatula, after 5 minutes with the help of knife make marks on it. Let is cool completely as it sets. Finally cut the pieces and store in a container.

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Tomato & Beetroot soup

Tomato &  Beetroot Soup is one of the easiest soup recipe I use to prepare. It is easy because it doesn't need any preparations and with the help of available ingredients you can make it in very short time.

Ingredients require for this recipe are as follows
Tomatoes: 8-10 medium size.
beetroot : 1 big
garlic: 8-10 cloves
ginger 1"piece
green coriander roots with some stems: 1/2 cup (usually we through it but  they are very rich in Vitamins, folic acid and other nutrients, wash them properly and use them , this also gives a nice aroma to soup)
salt: to taste
pepper powder: for garnishing
coriander leaves : for garnishing
bread slices: 2 (substitution of corn flour)
Method:

• crush ginger and garlic
• break bread into pieces
• wash coriander roots
• roughly chop tomatoes and beet root.
• place them all in pressure cooker with 1 glass of water
• cook on a high flame till 3 whistles
• let is cool completely
• open the lid and remove all the coriander roots
• with the help of hand blender, blend  till smooth puree
• pass it through soup strainer
• again boil it for 3-4 minutes, add salt
• garnish it with pepper powder and coriander leaves
• you can have a teaspoon of butter over it

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PUDINEY WALEY AALOO

This is a side dish , you can say it a chaat recipe, easy to prepare , in Uttarpradesh dhania waley aaloo is a famous recipe, pudiney waley aaloo is slightly different but loaded with the health benefits of mint, an easy way to include fresh mint leaves in your diet.

Ingredients required for this recipe are:
For masala to be grind to paste:
Mint leaves: ½ bunch
Garlic pods: 8-10
Ginger: 1”piece
Tomatoes: 2 Nos
Green chillies: 4 Nos
Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
Baby potatoes: 12-15 (boiled)
Salt : to taste
Cumin seeds: ½ teaspoon
Chaat masala: 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice: 1 tablespoon
Oil: 2 tablespoon
Method:
Make a fine paste of masala(from mint leaves to cumin seeds). Cut each potato in two, no need to peel them.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds as they crackle, add grinded masala paste, mix well roast for 3-4 minutes, add boiled potatoes and salt mix well,cook potatoes on low flame for 5-7 minutes, oil will leave the sides of pan. Add chaat masala to it. Mix well, remove from flame. While serving mix lemon juice to it.
Serve as a side dish.

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