Soya Bean Curry

Soya Bean Curry
By Sandhya Khattri
Prep Time:8 Hours
Cook time:35 minutes
Serves: 4servings
Soya Bean curry is high protein recipe, Boiled soya dal simmered with roasted onion and tomato paste and other spices, this curry is perfect for Sunday Lunch. It takes time in cooking and is slightly heavy but as far as health benefits are concerned this should be included in our diet on regular basis.
Ingredients
soyabean dal -1 cup
onion-1 big
Tomatoes-4
Garlic-10-15pods
Green chillies-4
Turmeric powder-1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder-1/2 teaspoon
coriander powder-1 tablespoon
Salt-to taste
Garam masala powder-1/2 teaspoon
oil- 1 and 1/2 tablespoon
Instructions:

Wash and soak soya bean dal overnight. Pressure cook soya bean dal with salt, enough water and turmeric powder till 4-5 whistles on high flame and for 15-20 minutes on medium to low flame.This dal takes more or equivalent time to chickpeas in boiling. After boiling check whether dal is soft enough or not, else cook for another whistle.

Heat oil in a pan roast onion till golden in color, add crushed garlic roast till pinkish in color, add red chilli powder and after it immediately add green chillies and chopped tomatoes, if the mixture is dry you can add one teaspoon of water to it, add coriander powder, cover the lid cook till tomatoes are soft( approx 3 minutes) Let it cool completely, pour this mixture in a grinding jar and make a thick paste of it without adding water.

Transfer  the grinded paste again to the pan , on the high flame stirr continuously as it starts leaving the sides of the pan pour one or two ladle full of boiled dal over it mix well, add this mixture to the boiled dal mix well.

Place the pressure cooker on high flame, boil till desired consistency, slightly mash dal in between. Finally add garam masala powder to it.
Serve hot with chapati or rice. Squeezing 4-5 drops of lemon juice per serving enhances its taste.
You can also try other dal recipes like rajma urad dal or chilke wali moong dal or badhi moong dal with puri.
Notes: Overnight or minimum 8 hours soaking is must for this dal. Should be boiled properly.
Slightly heavy hence should be consumed in small portions, preferably in Lunch.

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Lauki Ke Kofte | Squash Dumplings Curry

Lauki Ke Kofte | Squash Kofta Curry
By Sandhya Khattri
May 27, 2013
Lauki or Squash kofta curry is a summer vegetable, fried squash dumplings are simmer in onion, garlic and tomato gravy, binding of gram flour and aroma of mint leaves powder gives this curry a distinct flavor, in this curry instead of boiled lauki I have used raw lauki ka lachha, koftas are further steamed for proper cooking . Ingredients required and detailed instructions for the recipe are as follows:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For Kofta:
Peel and grated lauki- 2 cups(350 gms approx)
Dry mint leaves powder – 1 table spoon
Salt –to taste
Besan or Bengal gram flour-3 tablespoon
Red chilli powder-1/2 teaspoon
Green chillies-2
Oil- for deep frying
For gravy:
Onions-2
Tomatoes-4-5
Garlic-8-10 pods crushed
Oil 1 & ½ tablespoon
Salt-to taste
Red chilli powder-1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder-1 tablespoon
Garam Masala powder-1/4 teaspoon
Instructions: Squeeze grated lauki in between your palms and preserve the juice in small katori( this will be added in gravy).

Take lauki in a bowl, add chopped green chillies, mint powder, red chilli powder mix well don’t add water to it. Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai or pan, mix salt to the lauki and quickly take a small ball of mixture form a shape of kofta, fry it in hot oil, do the same with rest of the mixture. First fry them on high flame as they start changing color , adjust the flame from medium to low.

Peel garlic and crush them, roughly chop onions and tomatoes, in a grinding jar first place onions and grind them for few seconds don’t make puree of it.(need not to add water), remove and place tomatoes in the same  jar and grind tomatoes till puree.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan on any other utensils, I am using Sipri. , add onions to oil, roast onion till golden in color stirring continuously, add red chilli powder, immediately add lauki juice taken after squeezing lauki, add tomato puree to it, add all the other spices except garam masala powder, roast till oil separates, add 1 and 1/2 cup of water to it and bring it to boil, as it starts boiling simmer the flame, put steel strainer on it and place fried koftas over it, cover them with lid, this way we are steaming koftas ( as we have not boiled lauki this step is essential).

After 7-8 minutes check the consistency of gravy. If gravy is ready switch off the flame.
Just before serving, boil gravy add koftas in it, boil for 2-3 minutes, sprinkle garam masala powder over it . Serve kofta curry with phulka or rice.
Notes: Un boiled lauki lachha in kofta gives a firm bite to it.If you want soft koftas, place lauki ka lachha in a microsafe bowl, micro high for 3 minutes with lid covered you will get boiled and cooked lauki.
Before frying kofta you can also microwave them for 1 minute on high, take a micro safe dish grease it with few drops of oil and place koftas over it, give them standing time for 2 minutes , after this they are slightly cooked and become firm, hence easily fried with less oil, with this method you can make cylindrical shaped koftas too .
You can also add fresh chopped mint leaves in koftas.

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Punjabi Khatte Chole No Onion No Garlic

Punjabi Khatte Choley No Onion No Garlic
By Sandhya Khattri
April 17, 2013

Punjabi Khatte Chole is very popular north indian recipe served with bhatura or puri, usually prepared with onion, garlic and tomatoes, but in this recipe I have not used onion and garlic , hence it comes under the catagory of Jain or Satvik recipe. For sour flavour I have used tamrind instead of anardana which gives a tangy taste to choley. Ingredients required and detailed instructions for the recipe are as follows.
Prep Time: 8 Hours
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For Potli
Tea- 1& 1/2 teaspoon
Cinamon Stick- 1
Black cardamom-2
Cloves-4
Spices to be ground to powder:
coriander seeds: 1 tablespoon
cumin seeds : 3 teaspoon
pepper corns: 1/2 teaspoon ajwain: 1 pinch
red chillies: 3-4
green cardamom-2
Cloves-4
Other Ingredients
Chole - 200gms
Bengal gram or chaney ki dal: 2 tablespoon
bay leaves 3-4
garam masala powder: 1/2 teaspoon
kasoori methi: dry fenugreek leaves
tamarind: 1 medium size ball ( soaked and puree extracted)
oil: 1 and 1/2 tablespoon

Instructions:

Soak chole and chana dal overnight in plenty of water. wash them, combine all the ingredients of potli in a muslin cloth, tie it properly. Slightly crush the potli, so that the aroma of spices mix well with chole, if not using potli, use tea bags instead but then you have to manually discard the other spices after boiling chole, adding these spices while boiling gives a nice aroma to chole.
Add salt, potli, water and chole in a pressure cooker boil for 3-4 whistles on high flame and then reduce the flame and let them cook for another 5 to 6 minutes, as they are soaked overnight they will be cooked properly. switch off the flame let it cool completely, check them whether they are tender else you have to cook till one more whistle.
Dry roast all the ingredients of masala powder on a low flame, let them cool completely and grind to fine powder.
Now heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan or kadhai , add bay leaves to it, now add spice powder roast for a minute, add chole roast till oil seprates, check salt if required add according to your taste, slightly mash some chole as we have already added chana dal to it, it will help to thicken the gravy, add 1/2 cup of water and bring it to boil, as it starts boiling, simmer the flame, cover the lid and cook for another 5-7 minutes finally add strained tamarind puree to it, boil it for 3-4 minutes,simmer the flame for 2 minutes and cover the lid so that oil seprates from chole.
Add garam masala powder to it. Heat tawa, dry roast kasori methi on it and add it to chole.
Serve hot with bhatura.

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KHOYA MATAR

Khoya matar ki sabzi is very popular dish in North India, in this festive season it is almost cooked at every house. Very easy to prepare and this dish is a no onion garlic dish hence comes under the category of  Jain or Satvik recipes. Traditionally   in this recipe, first tomatoes and spices are roasted than khoya is to be add and roasted. In this process the color of the dish comes out nice, but  I found it difficult whether khoya is properly roasted or not, if not dish will taste slightly sweet,  thus to avoid this I have made a slight variation in steps, first roast khoya properly, remove it from pan and then follow the rest of recipe. This also prevents over cooking of tomatoes and spices too.

Khoya – ½ cup
Peas – 1 and ½ cup
Dalchini or Cinnamon stick- 1” piece
Cloves-3-4
Green cardamom- 2-3
Pepper corns – 8 to 10
Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
bay leaves-2
Coriander powder- 1 tablespoon
Turmeric – optional
Tomatoes- 3-4
Green chillies- 2
Salt- to taste
Oil – 1 tablespoon
Garam masala powder: ¼ teaspoon
Green coriander –few leaves for garnishing
Cashewnuts- for garnishing
Step by Step instructions to make khoya matar

Dry roast dalchini, cloves, cardamom and peppercorns on tawa , let them cool and grind them with the help of water making a thick paste of it.
Grind tomatoes, ginger and green chillies.
Heat non stick or normal kadhai add khoya to it, and stirring continuously roast till golden brown in color remove it from kadhai.
Heat oil in the same kadhai or pan, add bayleaves and red chilli powder as it cooks , add tomato paste and grinded spices powder, coriander powder and salt, roast till oil separates.
Add khoya and peas mix well, simmer the flame roast for another 3-4 minutes, as khoya is already cooked you need to worry about roasting.
Add ½ cup of water, and allow the gravy to boil on high flame, as it starts boiling, simmer the flame, cover the lid and cook till peas are tender and gravy is thicken.
Adjust the consistency of gravy, finally sprinkle garam masala powder over it,  garnish it with green coriander leaves and cashewnuts.
Notes: You can also add paneer cubes to it.
If khoya is already roasted this dish will be ready to serve within 10 minutes.

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SOYA AALOO

Soya Aaloo  is a gravy dish, it is a good substitute of mutton keema for vegitarians, this recipe is rich source of protein. One thing that is to remember while preparing this dish is that if you want the authentic flavor in this dish you have to be patient while roasting grinded soya nuggets. Perfect roasted soya gives perfect taste.

Ingredients required for this recipe are:
Soys nuggets: 1 cup (boiled and squeezed )
Potatoes: 2 small size
Tomatoes: 4 big size
Garlic: 8-10 pods
Ginger: 1” piece
Green chillies: 2 Nos.
Pepper corns: 6-8
Green cardamoms: 2 Nos.
Black cardamom : 1 No.
Bay leaves: 2 Nos.
Onions: 2 Nos
Cloves: 2 Nos
Oil : 2 tablespoon
Turmeric powder: ½ teaspoon
Coriander powder: 2 tablespoon
Everest meat masala powder: 1 teaspoon
Kasoori methi: ½ teaspoon
garam masala powder: 1/2 teaspoon
salt : to taste

Method: grind soya nuggets in grinder. Grind green chillies, tomatoes and ginger to fine paste. Grind onions for few seconds, Crush garlic pods, pepper corns, cardamoms and cloves.
Heat oil in pressure cooker, add bay leaves and all crushed masalas, roast them for a minute add onions, stirring continuously roast till brown in color, add red chilli powder and 1 teaspoon water, add tomato paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt, roast on high flame till oil separates, add grinded soya and potatoes, roast on low flame for 8-10 minutes stirring after every 2 minutes. Add meat masala powder and one cup of water pressure cook till 1 whistle on high flame, cook for another 4-5 minutes on low flame. Garnish it with roasted kasoori methi(dry roast in tadka pan) and garam masala powder.
Soya aloo is ready to serve.

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