Recipe - Kashmiri Rajma

Ingredients -
1. Rajma - 300 gms
2. Tomato - 3 medium
3. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
4. Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
5. Grated ginger - 1 Tbsp
6. Coriander powder - 4 tsp
7. Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
8. Garam masala - 1 tsp
9. salt - 2 tsp (to taste)
10. Water for cooking
11. Oil - about 2 Tbsp

Method -
1. Soak the Rajma in water for about 12 hours.
2. Put the Rajma in a pressure cooker, put 2 tsp salt and pour water till the rajma is covered completely and there's about 1 cm of water on top of it. Let the whistle on it sound about 5-6 times and then let it cook in the pressure till it cools down.
3. Meanwhile, put the tomatoes in boiling water till the skin starts to peel off. Then take the skin off and make tomato puree
4. Heat oil in a wok and put cumin seeds in it. When they split, reduce the flame and put asafoetida,  ginger and coriander powder
5. After about 15 seconds, put the tomato puree in and mix. Let it cook till the oil starts separating

6. Put Red chilli powder and garam masala in. Let it cook for another 20 seconds
7. From the rajma cooked in the pressure cooker, take about 50 grams of rajma and put in the wok. Using the back of the ladle, crush these beans and make them into a paste

8. Put the remaining rajma in and put the water in which it was cooked, also inside the wok
9. Close the lid and let it come to a boil.
10. Taste and add more salt or red chilli powder as needed
11. Serve with rice

Recipe - Gosht masala (Mutton masala)

Ingredients -
1. Mutton/Lamb - 1 kg
2. Onions - 500 gms (after cutting) which is apprx 625 gms (before cutting)
3. Red chilli powder - 4-5 tsp
4. Turmeric powder - 3-4 tsp
5. Garam masala - 3-4 tsp
6. Garlic cloves - 3/4 cup + 10 extra
7. Ginger - 1/4 cup
8. Bay leef (Tej patta)- 2
9. Black cardamon (Badi Elaichi) - 4
10. Star Anise (Chakra phool) - 3
11. Cinnamon stick (Dalchini) - 2
12. Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
13. Cumin seeds - 3 tsp
14. Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
15. Salt - 4 tsp (plus as per taste)
16. Oil - 2 Tbsp
17. Potato - 1 medium

Method -
1. Wash the mutton pieces well
2. Make a paste of ginger and garlic in a grinder
3. Marinate the pieces by mixing well with Red chilli powder, Turmeric powder, Garam masala, Ginger-Garlic paste and salt
4. Keep it in a refrigerator overnight (or at least for 4 hours)

5. Chop the onions. You don't necessarily need to chop it too fine as we are going to cook them for a long time making them soft anyway

6. Heat oil in a pan. Keep the flame on medium low.
7. Put mustard, Cumin, Coriander seeds
8. When mustard seeds split, put the extra chopped garlic
9. After about 10 seconds, put the bay leef, black cardamom, star anise and cinnamon sticks. Cook for another 2 min

10. Put the onions in. Close the lid and let it cook for about 15 min
11. Put a couple of pinches of salt and a little water. Mix again and cook them for another 20-25 min until the onions are extremely soft and cooked

12. Put the mutton pieces in. Mix it well and put warm water in it. About 3 cups would do

13. Keep the lid on and keep cooking for about 2 hours on medium low flame. Midway through this put a potato (with the skin on) cut in 2-3 pieces in the curry
14. Check if the mutton is cooked by piercing some pieces with a fork. If it goes in without any effort, then the mutton is cooked

Tip - After about 1 hour of cooking you can also taste the curry and adjust the spices accordingly
Tip - When mutton is cooked, put a couple of green chillis cut in half in it and cover the pan. Cook for 5 min. This will bring a different aroma to the mutton

**Thank you Shivangi and Kashmira for the recipe**

Recipe - Mango pickle

Ingredients
1. Raw Mangoes - 1 kg
2. Small mustard seeds - 2 Tbsp
3. Nigella seeds - 2 Tbsp
4. Fenugreek seeds (Methi dana) - 2Tbsp
5. Chilli powder - 2 Tbsp
6. Tuermeric powder - 1.5 Tbsp
7. Fennel seeds - 2 Tbsp (If you like)
8. Salt - 200 gms
9. Mustard oil (or any edible oil) - 250 gms

Method
1. Wash and cut the raw mongoes in to small pieces. Size can be as big or small as you like
2. Dry them out so there's no water on the pieces
3. Mix all of the ingredients (except oil) with the mango pieces
4. One technique is to keep this mixture in the sun for 2 days so it becomes even more drier but at the same time, the salt melts and the spices release their taste. Do remember to cover with muselin cloth so no dust gets in
5. After 2 days (or immediately if you have not kept the mixture in sun), pour the oil in and mix well again. If you like strong mustard oil taste, then do not heat it. However, if you want a slightly milder taste then warm the oil a little to make it lukewarm and them mix it in the pickle.
6. Store in a glass jar and keep mixing every one or two days. Also ensure that there's at least one centimeter oil on top of the pickle always in the jar. This ensures longer storage.

Review - Bademiya's, Fort, Mumbai

Bademiya's restaurant

Location - Fort, Mumbai.

Ambiance - ***
Menu options - ***
Taste - ****
Service - ****
Price - ***

Overall - ***1/2

Bademiyan's restaurant is located near Horniman circle in Fort area of South Mumbai. It is owned by the same guys who had been running the famous Bademiyan's kebab joint near Gateway of India for years.

The ambiance of the restaurant is ok. It's a two level restaurant with tables that are quite tightly packed. There's nothing different about the ambiance than any other regular restaurant.

We had lunch there on a working day. It's quite crowded at that time of the day. But the service is still quite ok. The meny options are a mix of Parsi and Indian food. All of the non-vegetarian dishes are quite good. Esp the Mutton Baida roti and Bheja fry. They also have a lot of types of kebabs which are quite good. Vegetarian dishes are limited.

The desserts are ok. Pineapple halwa is good. The bill was around 1000 INR for 3 people.

Overall it was a decent experience. A little classier interiors would probably increase the stars for me. However, I believe the restaurant does brisk business as it is anyway :)

Recipe - Black Chana (Chickpea) Curry

There are multiple ways of making chana. Each brings out a different taste. This is a very simple and basic way of making it.

Ingredients (Servces ~ 3)

1. Black chana (Chickpea) - 150 gms
2. Onions - 2 big
3. Tomato - 1 medium
4. Green chilli - 2
5. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
7. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Garam masala - 1 1/2 tsp
10. Chole masala - 1 tsp
11. Salt - as per taste
12. oil - 4 tsp

Method - 

1. Soak the black chana in water for about 12 hours.
2. Put the chana in a pressure cooker cook them. Let the whistle on it sound about 5-6 times and then let it cook in the pressure till it cools down.
3. Finely chop onions, tomatoes and green chillies.

4. Heat oil in a pan.
5. Put mustard seeds in till they split.
6. When they start spluttering, put the cumin seeds in and then the green chillies.
7. After about 15-20 seconds, put the onions in and let them cook till they are golden brown.

8. Put the cooked black chana in it and mix well.

9. Put the tomatoes in and cover the pan to cook it further for about 3 minutes.
10. Put the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, Chole masala and salt. Mix it well.
11. Put some water in to make a slight gravy. Cover the pan and put the burner on sim. Let it cook till the chana is soft enough.
12. If more tangy taste is needed, some amchur(dry mango) powder can also be put.
13. Serve with chapati/roti

Restaurant Review - Lai Bhari Kolhapuri, Chinchwad

Lai Bhari Kolhapuri

Location - Chinchwad, Pune.

Ambiance - **
Menu options - **
Taste - ****
Service - ***
Price - ****

Overall - ***

"Lai Bhari Kolhapuri" is located on the Aditya Birla Hospital road in Chincwad. As the name suggests it is a Kolhapuri restaurant. Not a high class restaurant. There are two sections - normal section has tables and chairs while the family section has Indian seating (it's quite comfortable). Lot of photographs from of Kolhapur adorn the walls. Though it's quite a simple restaurant, it's clean (if you are not too fussy about it).

The menu is of course limited to Kolhapuri food. There are different types of Thali available and you can order a la carte as well. In all of the thalis, you get the pandhra rassa and tambda rassa as much as you want. Oh and they also serve solkadi if you want.

We ordered three different types of Thalis. All of them were fantastic. Spicy. And the quantity is definitely enough for one person.

Thali costs around 175 INR.

Overall the experience is fine. Service is good. Ambience lets it down.

Kolhapuri Chicken Thali

Recipe - Chicken curry homestyle

Ingredients -

1. Chicken - 500 gms
2. Curd - 100 gms
3. Red chilli powder - 2 tsp (or as per taste)
4. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
5. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
6. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
7. Salt - 1.5 tsp (or as per salt)
8. Onion - 2 medium
9. Green chilli - 2 medium
10. Chana daal (split chikpea) - 2 tsp
11. Khaskhas (poppy seeds) - 1 tsp
12. Dry coconut - 4 1 inch pieces (optional)
13. Green coriander - 1/2 cup
14. Chicken masala - 2 tsp (or as per taste)
15. Oil - 1 or 2 Tbsp

Method -

1. Wash the chicken pieces well.
2. Mix the curd, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, Cumin powder, Ginger garlic paste and Salt.
3. Marinate the chicken in this mix and keep it in the refridgerator for an hour.

4. Dry roast green chilli, khaskhas, chana daal, (dry coconut) and onions separately. Cut and clean the coriander.

5. Grind the roasted green chilli, khaskhas and chana daal together to make a dry mix.
6. Make a rough paste of the onion and coriander in the grinder.

7. Heat oil in a pan. Put the dry mix in the oil. Let it cook for 2 min on low flame.
8. Put the onion/coriander paste in the pan and let it cook for about 5 min.

9. Put the chicken in the pan and mix well. Let it cook for 2-3 min. Mix well again.

10. Put chicken masala in it and also pour a cup of water.
11. Cover the pan and let it cook till the chicken is tender and cooked.
12. Serve with chapati and raita

Recipe - Amboli

Ingredients (makes about 8)

1. Rice - 150 gms
2. Udad daal - 50 gms
3. Salt - 1 or 2 tsp

Method

1. It's a 24 hour process. So plan ahead.

2. Wash rice and udad daal and then mix and put in a bowl.
3. Put enough water in it to soak it - water level about 1 cm above the mix.
4. Keep it like this for 12 hours.This will soften the rice and daal.
5. Put it in a grinder and grind it to get a medium thick batter. If it is too thick, put some water in it.
6. Put the salt, mix it well and then keep it overnight to ferment. About 12 hours.
7. Once it has fermented, heat a flat pan or tawa. Use a thick tawa.
8. Take the batter in a small flat based bowl or vati. Pour it at the center of the tawa and then using the base of the vati, start spreading it outwards using a circular motion.

9. Flip it over once the bottom side is cooked.Should take about 1 minute to cook depending on the hotness of the tava.
10. Serve with a chutney (tomato chutney or coconut chutney)

Recipe - Maharashtrian Chivda

Ok, so today I am gonna write the recipe of something that I have always loved eating, but have never attempted to make. Made it for the first time today and it turned out to be quite decent.

Ingredients: Serves many

1. Pohe (rice flakes) - 500 gms
2. Peanut oil - 5 Tab sp
3. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4. Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
5. Green chillies - 4 big chopped
6. Curry leaves - 20-25
7. Peanuts - half a fistful
8. Split Futane (no idea what it's called in English - xyz nuts) - fistful or more
9. Khas khas (poppy seeds) - 4 tsp
10. Hing (asafoetida) - 1 tsp
11. Coconut dry - 15 pieces thin 0.5 inch long
12. Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
13. Salt - 3-4 tsp (as per taste)
14. Sugar - 2 tsp

Method:

0. Ingredients are shown -

1. Take out all the small bits and powder from the rice flakes using a sieve.

2. Keep in sun light for a few hours to make them a little crispy if possible. 

3. Heat a wok and roast the rice flakes a little to make them crispier. Set aside

4. Heat about 4-5 tablespoons of oil in the wok. Put the mustard & coriander seeds in till they pop. Put chopped green chillies and curry leaves. When they start becoming crispy, put the peanuts and the futane in. Let them cook for about 20-25 seconds on low flame. Put in the poppy seeds and hing. Mix properly and put the turmeric powder. Put the salt in and mix well again.

5. Put this mixture into the roasted rice flakes in a separate pan and mix well. Sprinkle sugar over this and mix. let it cool down before storing it.

6. It stays ok for weeks and is good to eat sprinkled with freshly chopped onions.
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It's come out alright. definitely good for a first try. will modify it as i make it more often.

Recipe - Mix Veg Poriyal or Palya

Poriyal or Palya is a dish from Kerala and Tamilnadu made by shallow frying vegetables and garnished (and slightly cooked) with freshly grated coconut. It can be made using any vegetables and sometimes even made with chicken or lamb. The recipe remains pretty much the same.

Ingredients: Serve 2-3

1. Cabbage - 1 cup chopped
2. Capsicum - 3/4 cup chopped
3. Potato - 1/2 cup chopped
4. Tomato - 1 small chopped
5. Onion - 1 medium chopped
6. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
7. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
8. Curry leaves - 4-5
9. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
10. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Salt - As per taste
12. Coconut - grated 1/2 cup
13. Oil - 3 tsp

Method:

1. Chop all the vegetables into small sized pieces. Break open a ripe coconut and grate it. 1/2 cup is what we will be using in this recipe. Remaining can be stored in the fridge for use in some other recipe.

2. Heat oil in a wok. Put mustard seeds in. When they start popping, put the cumin seeds and curry leaves. Put the chopped onion after 10 seconds. When the onions turn slightly brown, put the other vegetables in and mix well. Cover the wok and let them cook for about 5 minutes. Keep checking every couple of minutes to make sure that the veggies are not sticking to the wok (the water in the cabbage should help, but still it's better to check). Put all the spices and salt in and cover again for 5 minutes.

3. Once the veggies are almost cooked, put the grated coconut in and mix well. Let it cook for another 3 minutes without covering the wok this time.

4. Garnish with fresh coriander if you like and serve with chapati or appam.

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Some chefs put the veggies in boiling water to cook them first and then just toss everything together in a hot oil. I don't like doing that. Also, like I said before, any veggies can be put in this or even diced chicken and lamb.

The nagger made this dish and I must say it tasted amazing! 

Recipe - Methi (Fenugreek leaves) Sabzi

Yesterday on the way back when I stopped to buy vegetables, I saw beautiful methi (fenugreek leaves) at the shop. As a kid, I didn't like methi. But I remember seeing fresh methi at a small grocery store in Ipswich many years ago and since it reminded me of India, I ended up buying it and making sabzi. Now, it's one of my favourite veggies. So I ended up buying it and here's the recipe of how I make it. Will upload few other ways of making it some other time.

Ingredients: (Serves 2-3)

1. Methi leaves - 250 gms
2. Onion - 1 medium
3. Potato - 1 big
4. Dry red chillies - 3
5. Garlic - 7-8 cloves
6. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
7. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 3/4 tsp
9. Salt to taste
10. Sugar to taste
11. Oil (peanut/sunflower) - 4 tsp

Method:

1. Generally methi leaves are available in a stack of full stalks. The leaves need to be plucked at their base and the stalk can be thrown away or used to make veg stock. The picture below might help in understanding what needs to be plucked. Wash them properly before using them. I hate this plucking part.

2. Peel the potato and cut it into small pieces. Don't make the pieces too thin. About 3 or 4 mm thickness is good, otherwise the potatoes will overcook as methi takes more time to cook. Cut the onion in long pieces as shown. Finely chop the garlic and break the dry red chillies into large pieces.

3. Take 4 tsp of oil in a wok and heat it. Put the cumin seeds. and quickly put the dry red chillies and garlic in. Cover the wok for 10 seconds.

4. Put the onion in and mix it well. Cover and let it cook till the onion is slightly brown. Don't keep the flame too high or the onion will start sticking to the wok.

5. Put the red chilli powder and turmeric powder and mix it. Cook for 30 seconds.

6. Put the potatoes in and mix them well.

7. Now put the washed methi leaves in the wok and try to mix it. The leaves are gonna shrink in size as they heat up when you mix them. So put them in the wok in batches instead of trying to put all of them at the same time. In the pic below, I have put less than half of the 250 gms I had. When cooked, the 250 gms would become even smaller in size than this.

8. When all the leaves are mixed in, put salt and a little water. The water is needed to stop everything from sticking to the wok. Remember, methi leaves have a lot of water in them so don't put too much water. We are not making a curry. Also, you can keep adding water later till the leaves are fully cooked. Cover the pan and let it cook.

9. One medium-low flame, methi can take about 15-20 min to cook. Keep checking every few minutes to make sure there's enough water in it to cook methi. The best way to know if it has cooked is to eating some of it. When it is soft enough for your taste, it's cooked. Just before it's fully cooked, put a pinch of sugar and mix.

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TIP:: Methi (Fenugreek) leaves can be quite bitter sometimes. One way to reduce the bitterness is to soak the plucked leaves in water mixed with some salt and sugar for 15 minutes.

Recipe - Aloo Paratha (Stuffed Indian Flatbread)

Ok, It's been more than a week since I posted anything. Was tied up with work. I did manage to have a few good dinners during the week though! Anyway, so today, I wanna post a simple recipe of Aloo Paratha. There are many variations to this; I will post the one that we tried and usually make.

Ingredients:

1. Whole wheat flour (Atta) - 150 gms
2. Potatoes - 2 medium
3. Onions - 1 medium
4. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
5. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
6. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Green chillies - 2 finely chopped (if you like them)
9. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 or 1+1/2 tsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil

Method:

1. The most important aspect of this is a well kneaded dough. Take the wheat flour in a bowl or a big flat pan with high edge. Put a pinch of salt in it and also 1 tsp of peanut/sunflower (or your favorite, but thin) oil. Now add a little water and start mixing and kneading. Keep adding water intermittently till you make it into a dough. The dough should be very soft (even a little sticky). The harder the dough, the more difficult it is to make good paratha

One suggestion is to take water in a small bowl from which you can pour in just a little bit at a time. It's very easy to over do the water. Be very careful. Make equal sized balls of it (about 1+1/2 inch diameter roughly). Let the dough rest for 15 min (or more if you are not too hungry

2. Boil the potatoes (I put them in a bowl of water and microwave for 7-8 minutes). Meanwhile, chop the onions and green chillies very fine.

3. Peel off the skin from the boiled potatoes and mash them up. Saute the onions in a little oil and also the green chillies. Mix them up with the mashed potatoes and put the chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt. Make a homogeneous mix.

4. Dust the rolling board with flour and flatten the doughball into a circle of about 5 inch diameter using a rolling pin. Apply a little oil at the center.

5. Make a small ball of the potato mix and put it at the center

6. Pull up the ends of the flattened dough and stick them to enclose the potatoes inside. Use a little oil to smooth-en out any cracks

7. Use the rolling pin lightly to flatten out the ball again into a circle of about 8 inch diameter (or as thin as you can without breaking it). Keep using flour to keep it from sticking to the rolling board or the rolling pin. This is why you need soft kneaded dough.

8. Heat a tawa or a flat thick bottomed pan and put a tsp of oil on it. Put the the paratha on it for cooking.

9. When the paratha is cooked a little on the underside, flip it around. Pour a little (1 tsp) oil around the paratha edges so it cooks better.

10. When properly cooked on both sides, serve with curd or spicy pickle :)

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This dish was made a  week ago (maybe more) but I do remember that I had a great time eating it! It's easy to make, fills the tummy and tastes amazing.

The filling can be changed to anything you want (including minced meat) and it will still taste good! The name would then change from Aloo paratha to minced meat paratha of course!

Recipe - Dodka (Ridge Gourd/ Toorai/ Turia) Sabzi

I am back. It was a short visit and now I am back to the grind. And the grind starts with getting my car repaired. So I am here at the service station, watching my baby elephant being operated upon as I write another simple recipe. Ridge Gourd is called Dodka, Toorai, Turai, etc depending on which part of the country you are in. There's another variety of this called Silk Squash (Gilka). The difference is in the ridges on the outside and also that the Gilka is much softer and squishy on the inside. You can use either of these in this recipe. This should be eaten with any bread, preferably chapati.

Ingredients - 
Serves 2 people (depending on appetite!)

1. Dodka - 250 gms
2. Moong dal (split green gram or golden gram) - 1/2 cup
3. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
4. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
5. Onion finely chopped - 1 medium
6. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (or as per taste)
7. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Salt - as per taste
9. Oil (peanut, sunflower) - 3 tsp
10. Fresh coriander/parsley - For garnishing

Method - 

1. Take the half cup moong daal in a bowl and cover it with water. Let it rest for at least 30 min. If you keep it for less time, it will be crispier in the sabzi. So adjust the timing according to your liking.

2. Peel the ridges off the Dodka

3. Chop them into small pieces. If the pieces are too small, they will get all mashed up when cooked, so about 2 cm would be the ideal size of the cubes.

4. Chop the onions (not too fine)

5. Take a wok and put oil in it. When hot, put the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start splitting, put the cumin seeds in and quickly put in the onions. Mix and let it cook for a few minutes on low flame.

6. If you are in a hurry, mix the Dodka pieces with the moong daal in a separate bowl and keep in the microwave on full power for about 5 min. By the time the onions are cooked in the wok, the dodka will be half cooked in the microwave this way.

7. Once the onions are cooked, put the red chilli powder and turmeric powder in and mix in the dodka and moong daal.Put salt as per taste and mix well. If dodka has been cooked already in the microwave for 5 minutes, then 5-7 minutes of cooking should do it otherwise about 10 minutes or until the dodka is soft.

8. Garnish with fresh coriander or parsley

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This is a very standard way of making dodka and it's the easiest way as well. It's by no means exotic. But then, you don't eat exotic food everyday, do you?