Tomato Upma

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Bombay Rava

2 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped

1 medium sized onion finely chopped

2-3 green chillies slit lengthwise

A small piece of ginger

Red chilli powder as per taste

Pinch of turmeric

2Tbsp Oil/ Ghee

½ tsp Mustard

1 tsp Bengal gram

1 tsp- Udad dal

One sprig of curry leaves

About 8-10 cashew nuts

Salt to taste

Method

Heat little oil in a pan, fry the rava till it changes color. Keep it aside. In the same pan, put the remaining oil/Ghee, add the mustard., after it splutters, add cashew nuts, Bengal gram and udad dal and fry till it turns light brown, now add chopped onion, chillies, ginger and curry leaves, fry till the onions turn translucent. Now add chopped tomatoes and let it cook till it turns mushy. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. Mix well and add three cups of water and bring to boil, when the water starts boiling, add the fried rawa and keep stirring continuously, till it absorbs all the water . Now you can transfer it in a plate or a serving bowl.

Vegetable Manchuria

INGREDIENTS

MANCHURIAN BALLS

1 cup grated carrot

1 cup finely chopped cabbage

½ cup finely chopped spring onion

½ tsp Black pepper powder

2 tbsp all purpose Maida

2 tbsp corn flour

Salt as per taste

FOR SAUCE

1 Small onion finely chopped

2tbsp ginger and garlic copped finely

2 Green chillies

1 tbsp corn flour dissolved little water

½ tbsp soya sauce

½ tbsp vinegar

½ cup of vegetable stock

½ tsp black pepper ground

Salt and sugar as per taste

Spring onions for garnishing

METHOD:

Mix all the ingredients listed under Veg Manchuria balls, set it aside for about10 minutes,now shape them in round balls and deep fry them  till they turn golden brown. Set them aside on a kitchen tissue.

Heat oil in a pan, fry the onions, ginger, garlic, chilies, for few seconds, now ass vegetable stock, soya sauce and pepper powder, mix it well and let it simmer for about one minute, now add corn flour paste, so that the mixture thickens, as per your desired consistency. Add vinegar, salt, sugar and finally the fried vegetarian balls and stir gently for ½ a minute, so that the veg balls don’t break. Garnish it with green chopped green chillies and chopped spring onions

Note : If you want dry Manchuria thicken the gravy  and if you want with gravy.  The mixture be thin.

Kashmiri Pulav

Kashmiri Pulao

   Ingredients
   Basmati rice -2 cups
   Ghee  - 2 tsp
   Shahjeera-2 tsp
   Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
   Cloves – 3-4
   Bay leaf -1
   Cardamom – 2-3
   Milk - 2 cup
   Water - 2 cup
   Saffron – About 10-12 strands
   Salt to taste
   Sugar 11/2 tsp

   Carrot, beans and peas 2 ½ cup
  
   Blanched Almonds -1/4 cup
   Cashew nuts – ½ cup broken into two
   Raisins -1/2 cup

   For the seasoning 

   Butter - 2 tsp
   Shajeera-1/2 tsp
   Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
   Cloves -2
   Cardamom -1
   Star anise -1
2 inch ginger sliced finely

METHOD

Wash and soak rice for about 20-25 minutes, then drain the water. Now heat ghee in a pan and add shahjeera, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf and then the rice. Saute on medium flame for about 2 minutes. Add two cups of water and sugar, 2 cups of milk and salt to taste to the rice. Now cover and cook the rice. . One’s the rice is cooked, fluff the rice with a spoon or fork and mix in the saffron milk. (Soak saffron in a tbsp of milk for 10 minutes.)

In a tbsp ghee fry raisins till they fluff up, remove from flame then fry the other nuts, (almonds have to be soaked in hot water and peeled) Par boil carrot, beans and peas.Now add ghee in a pan, add Shahjeera, , cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise and bay leaf. Saute for a a couple of seconds then add ginger pieces. Add the vegetables, cardamom powder, fennel powder, raisins and nuts. Mix rice and cook on a low flame for a couple of minutes and take it off the flame.  It can be garnished with rose water or rose petals.

 While seasoning you can add 2-3 slit green chillies.

Indian broad bean/ Chikkudakai fry

Indian broad beans is my all time favourite .They are an exceptional source of nutrition with Vitamin A and C required for good vision, skin, and bone development. It improves your blood sugar and cholesterol levels. They also create gastric problems. The best way to cook it is stir fry.

Here’s the recipe J

Ingredients:

½ kg Gms Broad beans

½ tsp ginger garlic paste

½ tsp Mustard seeds

One big Onion chopped finely

One medium sized tomato chopped finely.

 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

2-3 dry red chillies

About 5 garlic cloves

1/4^th tsp Turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp dhania powder.

1 stalk of coriander leaves.

Salt as per taste

Curry leaves

Oil

Method

Wash the board beans, chop both the ends and remove the thin fibre that runs along both sides. Now cut the beans into thin horizontal strips. Heat oil in a pan, the add mustard seeds, when they splutter add cumin seeds, red chillies, garlic cloves and curry leaves, fry for a minute, now add onions and fry till they turn translucent, add ginger garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell goes away. Add the broad beans, sprinkle some water and cover with a lid and cook on a low flame for about 5 minutes. Now add the chopped tomatoes. One’s it’s cooked add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhaniya powder and salt. Mix properly and leave it covered till the oil surfaces. Now switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Goan Xacuti Chicken curry

After an awesome, whirlwind trip to Goa, I feel as if I came back to the spot where and how I left.Home is home, but I still have a strange craving of hunger for travel.Goa is an addicting place. Right from the stunning cathedrals, beautiful churches, those amazingly spectacular Temples structures having, Portuguese, Hindu and Islamic influence. To name a few are Mahalakshmi,Nageshi,Shanta Durga,Shri Damodar,Ramnathi, Shri Mahalasa Narayani etc. The weather was just perfect to hit the beach,Amazing blue sky and the brightly shining sun, the white sand with black lava rocks, the shimmering sands by the beaches, where we sat listening to the soothing sounds of waves, splashing sound of sea,strolling up and down the beach, watched the sunset while on cruise, with some wonderful Goan and Portuguese folk dance. The taste of actual shopping in Goa is it's flea market. You need to know the art of bargaining.There's a huge collection of, spices, crafts, jewellery,clothes,etc. A one stop shop for all your needs. But as they truly say, that there's more to Goa than just its beaches. It is a haven for foodies, with mouth watering heavenly treats. You can find fingerlicking delicacies every nook and corner. 
Goan Xacuti chicken curry caught my fancy and I got the recipe from a localite. Today I tried my hand at it and yes it indeed is awesome :-)

INGREDIENTS

FOR CHICKEN

1 Kg chicken

½ tsp turmeric

FOR THE PASTE

Salt to taste

5 ½ cm piece ginger

10 cloves garlic

1 sprig of coriander

5-6 green chillies

ONION MIXTURE

1 Tsp- groundnut oil

2 medium sized onions finely sliced

2 green chillies finely chopped.

2½ cm piece ginger

5-6 garlic cloves

1 coconut

SPICE MIXTURE

5 ½ cm cinnamon

3-4 peeled cardamoms

2 Star Anise

1 tsp Black peppercorn

1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds

1 Tbsp Coriander seeds

8-10 red chillies

1 star anise

¼ cm nutmeg

1 mace flower

¼ th cm turmeric

Finally:

2tsp groundnut oil

2 medium sized onions finely sliced.

2 green chilli

A little less than 1 litre of water

1bunch of coriander

  Wash and clean the chicken, marinate in the turmeric and salt and set aside.  Make a paste of ginger, garlic, coriander, chillies and add to the chicken and marinate for ½ hour. Heat 1 tsp oil in pan, add 2 sliced onions and sauté along with, green chillies, ginger, garlic for 2 minutes. Add 1 grated coconut and saute for another 5 minutes. Once the mixture turns crispy, remove from flame and set aside. Now dry roast cinnamon, cardamom, aniseed, black pepper corn, poppy seeds, coriander seeds, Kashmiri red chillies, star anise, mace flower, nutmeg and turmeric. Dont burn them and turm. Grind the spice mixture along with onion mixture to make Xacuti Masala. In the same pan add 2tsp oil and add the remaining 2 sliced onions and green chillies. After a minute add the marinated chicken. Cook on high flame for a minute, now add Xacuti masala and water. One’s the chicken is tender and cooked, remove from flame and garnish with coriander leaves.