PENNE PASTA IN WHITE SAUCE !!!!!!

My today's recipe is inspired from food blog LILY LUNA. I skipped few ingredients like chicken broth etc & substituted milk instead of it. & used italian seasoning which comes with Dominoz pizza instead of  dried parsley. An ideal dish for Potluck, kitty parties, kids bday parties. & i used button mushrooms & frozen green peas too.

INGREDIENTS:-

1 Lb penne pasta
3 tblsp butter
3 tblsp all purpose flour
2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated amul cheese
8 sliced button mushrooms
1/2 cup frozen green peas, boiled
2 tsp minced garlic
1 or 2 tsp Italian seasoning
salt & pepper to taste

METHOD:-

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan & add garlic. Cook for 1 minute over medium heat.

3. Add sliced mushrooms & cook over low/medium flame for 2 mins(close lid)

4. Add flour & cook for an additional minute stirring contantly.
5. Add milk stirring constantly until sauce boils & thickens. Add boiled green peas.
6. Add italian seasoning & parmesan cheese, Add desired quantity of salt & pepper. Stir continuousely until cheese melted.
7. Pour sauce over pasta & serve. OR mix boiled pasta in sauce well & serve.

HAPPY COOKING :)))))

VEG BUTTER GARLIC RICE !!!!!

I got this delicious recipe from my gorgeous & dear friend Mangala. She doesn't believe in clicking pics & posting them, but an ace cook & dedicates most of her time to her family which makes her ideal woman. This is a stomoch filing healthy & tasty  dish & perfect for lunch box/lunch/dinner/parties.

INGREDIENTS:-

Cooked basmathi rice- 1 cup
garlic chopped - 4 pods
spring oinions, chopped & white & greens seperated - 2
button mushrooms, chopped - 1 cup
Mixed bell peppers(to look colourful), chopped - 1 cup
byadgi chillies - 1 or 2( you can more just to get a little flavour)
salt to taste
butter - as required

METHOD:-

1. In a pan heat butter, add chopped garlic& fry until it becomes little reddish & then add chillies & fry for a minute or two.
2. Then add whites of onion & cook till transparent.
3. Then add chopped mushrooms & bell peppers & cook on medium flame till ust done(not too soft)
4. Add salt & mix well.
5. Now mix cooked basmathi rice & mix well on low flame for few minutes.
6. Garnish with spring onion greens & serve hot with gravy.

HAPPY COOKING :))))))

WHITE KURMA !!!!!!!!

I got this recipe from my dear friend UMA PREM KUMAR who lives in USA & loves to experiment in cooking. This gravy goes well with rotis/rice dishes.

INGREDIENTS:-

Boiled vegetables - 1 to 1 & 1/2 cup (use veggies like grean peas, carrot, beans, cauliflower, paneer, mushroom, sweet corn, potato etc)
grated coconut - 3 tsp
almonds - a handful
green chilly - 3 to 4
pepper corns - 1& 1/2 tsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
cloves - 3
ginger - 1/2 inch
garlic flakes - 7
onion - 1 small ( shallow fried)+2 chopped
beaten curds - 1/2 cup
salt to taste
chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

METHOD:-

1. Make fine paste of grated coconut+ peeled almonds(soak almonds in hot water for 1/2 hr & then peel them)+green chillies+pepper corns+cumin seeds+cinnamon stick+cloves+ginger+garlic+sha;;ow fried onions in a mixer. & keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan & add chopped onions & fry till light brown.
3. Add ground paste to this & fry them on low flame till oil seperates from sides of pan.
4. Now add boiled veggies+beaten curds+salt to taste & mix well & bring it to boil.
5. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

IIAPPY COOKING :))))))

BENGALI HOLUD MISHTI PULAO !!!!!!!

Bengali holud mishti pulao is nothing but saffron flavoured rice with nuts. Its a Bengali delicacy & little sweetish in taste. I adapted this recipe from ARCHANA'S KITCHEN. I skipped mace powder & added chopped almonds instead of pistachio. & added button mushrooms too.

INGREDIENTS:-              

basmathi rice - 1 cup                                                               

green peas, steamed - 1 cup
button mushrooms, sliced - 1/2 cup
salt - 1/2 tsp
star anise - 1
ginger, grated - 1 inch
sugar - 2 tblsp
nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp
cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
bay leaves -h 2
cinnamon stick, roughly torn - 1 inch
cardamom pods - 3
cloves - 3
mace powder - 1/2 tsp(i skipped this)
saffron strands - few

For seasonitng:-

ghee - 3 tblsp
cashew nuts, halved - 2 tblsp
raisins - 2 tblsp
almonds, roughly chopped - 2 tblsp or pistachio

METHOD:-

1. Cook washed & drained rice in pressure by adding 1 tblsp ghee, grated ginger + 2 cups of water until done.i
2. Once done, allow it to rest.
3, Steam sliced mushrooms & green peas, drain & keep aside.
4. In a small pan, roast he nuts & spices in ghee on medium hea until golden brown then add saffron.
5. Turn off the heat & stir in the steamed green peas & sliced mushrooms along with cooked rice & sugar into the roasted nuts.
 6. Serve hot either with Shorshe Ilish(hisla in mustard sauce) or Bengali doi maach. 

HAPPY COOKING :)))))))

SIMPLE VEGETABLE KURMA !!!!!!

My dear cousin LAXMI BHAT who is an ace cook gave me this recipe. Simplest & easiest recipe & yummy dish. Goes well with dosa/rotis.

INGREDIENTS:-                                                           

Boiled vegetables - 2 cups
(i used green peas, carrot, beans)
tomatoes, chopped - 3
salt to taste
oil - 3 tbl sp

Grind together :-

Grated coconut - 5 tblsp
roasted gram(hurigadle/putani) - 4 tblsp
onion, medium - half
garlic cloves - 5
fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
pavbhaji masala powder - 3/4 to 1 tsp ( use MTR pavbhaji masala powder for better taste)
long red chillies - 4
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

For garnishing:-

coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tblsp

METHOD:-

1. Grind all ingredients mentioned under GRING TOGETHER to a smooth paste using required water.
2. In a pan heat oil & add this ground masala & fry in low flame till raw smell disappears.
3. Now add chopped tomatoes to the masala & mix well & cook further till tomatoes gets mushy.
4. Now add cooked vegeables+ salt to tasre+required water & bring it to boil.
5. Switch off the flame & garnish i with chopped coriander leaves.
6. Serve it with dosa/rotis.

HAPPY COOKING :))))))

LEHSUNI METHI DAL !!!!!

I got today's recipe from my dear friend SHUBHA BHANDARKAR. This recipe goes well with rice/rotis. Flavour of methi leaves & garlic is main attraction of this dish. Both are good for health also. Original recipe demands for jeera powder, hing & lemon juice. But i skipped these 3 & it still tasted good. Next time will definately add these 3 & try.

INGREDIENTS;-                                                          

Toor dal - 1 cup
onion, finely chopped - 1
methi leaves, chopped - 2 bunch
tomato, finely chopped - 1
garlic - 2 pods
long red chilles - 4
green chillies - 3
jeera - 1tsp
red chilly powder - 1tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
sa;t to taste
coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tblsp
ginger-garlic paste - 2tsp
ghee - 2tsp

METHOD:-

1. Pressure cook toor dal & keep aside.

2. Heat little oil in kadai, add jeera, when it spluters add finely chopped green chillies& let it fry till brown.

3. Add gimger garlic paste & saute it.

4. Now finely chopped onion+chopped methi leaves+finely chopped tomato.

5. Mix it & saute it & cover it till tomato is mushy & methi leaves are cooked.

6. Add red chilli powder+turmeric powder+little jeera powder+hing powder. & saute for a while.

7. Then add cooked toor dal & salt to taste.& mix well.

8. Bring it to boil & switch off the burner.

9. Squeeze 1/2 lemon & cover.

10. For tadka, heat a tsp of ghee & add chopped garlic+2 whole red chillies(guntur) or 4 long red chillies & put it in on the cooked methi dal. Gives very nice lehsuni aroma. 

11. Serve it with rotis/rice.

HAPPY COOKING :)))))))

CHILLY CHEESE TOAST !!!!!

My son was craving for this & i had mozzarella cheese lying in my fridge. So,, decided to try both grilled & tawa version. I liked grilled version very much & my son liked tawa version. What i felt is i should have added little oregano & few chilly flakes to the mixture.  You can serve it as starter or for evening snacks or for kids lunch box.

INGREDIENTS:-

Bread – 6 slices
Cheese – 100gm (I used mozzarella), grated
Green Chillies – 1 (thin long variety)
Green Capsicum – half
Italian Seasoning 1/2 tsp

Chilly flakes - 1/2 tsp

Butter - 2 cubes (i used salted amul butter cubes)
Salt – if needed

METHOD:-

1. Cut green chillies finely, chop the capsicum – set aside. 

2.Take grated cheese in a bowl and mix green chillies, italian seasoning , chilly flakes and capsicum with it.

(Quantity shown here is after applying mixture to 3 bread slices)

3. Take the bread slice and apply butter to both sides.

4. Now apply the cheese chilli mixture. 

HOW TO GRILL ?

 Meanwhile preheat oven at 200 deg C for 3mins and grill it at the same temperature for 11 mins.

Cut diagonally n serve wid tomato ketch up

TAWA METHOD:-

Heat tawa and apply butter to both sides of bread and toast bread slices from one side.

Now keep flame low and turn bread slices to another side & apply chilly cheese mixture.

Now close the lid and turn the flame off when cheese completely melts (it will take 5 mins on low flame).

Cut diagonally n serve wid tomato ketch up.

HAPPY COOKING :))))))

NOTES:-

1. You can add one more green chilly minced to make it little spicy.

2. Or you can sprinkle oregano and chilly flakes while serving.

BADAMI EGGS !!!!!!!!

          Actually this is badami chicken recipe from NDTV FOOD.COM But i used eggs instead of chicken here & it tasted great ! It goes well with roti/rice/idly/dosa etc. A must try recipe.

INGREDIENTS

For the roasted spice mix:

1 tsp peppercorns

2-3 black cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

1 green cardamom

1 tsp cloves

1/2 grated nutmeg

For the gravy base:

1 Tbsp ghee

1 finely chopped onion

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 finely chopped ginger

1 tsp coriander powder, heaped

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp jeera powder

Sea salt (Substitute - normal salt)

Water

1 1/2 cup yogurt

1 cup almond paste

1 cup saffron infused milk

6 whole apricots

Rock salt

8 pieces chicken or 8 eggs boiled

For the tempering (tadka):

1 Tbsp ghee

6 green cardamoms

3 dried kashmiri chillies

For the garnish:

1 Tsp ghee

Mint leaves

3-4 whole red chillies

      OR

1 tblsp chopped coriander leaves

METHOD

For dry roasting the spices:

Heat a pan, add peppercorns, black cardamom, cassia, green cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and roast them. Use a mortar and pestle to ground the spices.

For the gravy base:

Heat a pan, add ghee and sweat out the onions till they are a creamy yellow-white. Mix garlic, ginger and keep stirring. Add 2 teaspoons of the grounded spices and mix well.

Add coriander powder, turmeric, jeera powder, sea salt (to taste) and toast the spices on high flame. Add water to deglaze the pan and cook out the masala.

Add the yogurt to this mix slowly while stirring. Then mix in the almond paste. It can be prepared at home by blanching almonds, peeling them and grinding with water.

Add the saffron infused milk and stir till gravy thickens. Then add the apricots and a pinch of rock salt. Keep stirring.

Make incisions on the chicken with a knife and add to the gravy to poach. Add the cooled down tempering to the gravy. Let this simmer on low flame for 30-40 minutes till the chicken is coming off the bone. Uncover the pan for the last ten minutes of cooking till the gravy has reduced and thickened.

Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and strain the gravy on top using a colander. Garnish and serve hot.

For the tempering:

Heat the ghee in a pan for the tadka and add green cardamom and kashmiri chilli. Let it cool and ad to the gravy

For the garnish:

Put the ghee in a pan and heat it. Add chillies and mint leaves and cook till it's crispy. OR garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

HAPPY COOKING :))))))

Note : I found dis recipe sweet n sour , so added 2tsp everest chicken masala n it tasted great