Paneer Paratha

This paneer paratha is made in a style that is easier and less time consuming. What is more, it is tastier and healthier than the usual stuff paneer paratha.

Ingredients:
Cottage cheese 200 Gm
Wheat flour
Half onion finely chopped
Green chilli according to taste
Chopped green coriander
Ajwain seeds 1 tbsp
Lemon juice half tbs
Oil for frying

Method:

Crumble the cottage cheese in a big bowl. Add two cups of wheat flour, chopped onions, chillies, ajwain, coriander, salt and lemon juice and mix well. Knead a dough with this. You can add a little water if you need. Usually the cottage cheese is moist enough to knead the dough without needing extra water.

Keep it aside or in the fridge for one hour. This will help release the flavor.

Now take a ball sized portion, dust it with some dry flour and roll it round like a chapati. It won't be rolled a neat round and will also be extremely crumbly. Roll out a thick round paratha. Dust it properly so that it doesn't stick. You can use a flat spatula to lift it up off the rolling board on to the pan.

Shallow fry it with oil. It will turn out golden brown and very crumbly.
Serve it with chutney.

Oats uttapam

Oats are healthier than you give them credit for. They are easily available, very cheap or at least not costly at all and packed with fiber and other valuable nutrients. They are usually eaten in the form of porridge but can be cooked in a variety of other ways.

If you want to enrich your diet with oats or just want to try something different and innovative, oats uttapam is just the thing. It gets ready in a jiffy and tastes awesome.

Oats soaked in yogurt

Ingredients:
2 cups normal oats which are used for porridge
200 gms yogurt
1 large onion finely chopped
2 big tomatoes finely chopped
2 green chillies finely chopped
A few curry leaves chopped
A little green coriander chopped ( optional)
1 tbsp whole cumin seeds

Method:
Soak the oats in the yogurt for 1 hour or more after which run it into a mixer to get a rough textured paste.

Add the chopped onions, tomatoes, curry leaves, coriander leaves, chillies, salt and cumin seeds and mix them together in the batter.

Heat a nonstick pan. Drop a ladle spoonful of this batter and spread it in a round shape. Sprinkle a few cumin seeds on top. When the upper part begins to harden drop a tbsp oil round it. Flip it and cook the other side till golden brown.

Serve it with green chutney, tabasco or pickle whichever you prefer.

Besan Curry/ Gram flour curry

If you have a taste for spicy strong flavored curry than you are not going to forget this curry recipe. Arguably Rasaj is supposed to be one of the tastiest traditional curries in north India and one that you won't come across in any restaurant or hotel.

Ingredients:

200 gms Besan/gramflour
1 large onion chopped finely lengthwise
2 tbsp garlic ginger paste
Chilli powder according to taste
1 small tbsp haldi powder
Jeera seeds
Hing
salt
lemon juice as per taste
Oil

Method:

Heat a little oil and give the tadka of Ajwain. Now lightly dry roast the besan adding a little salt and turmeric stirring constantly to avoid uneven roasting/burning. When it begins to look slightly browned ( very light brown) pour one glass yogurt using one hand while stirring with the other to make a thick hard paste. The besan at this time starts curdling very quickly so you have to keep stirring to avoid lumping and burning. It is easier to remove the pan from heat and then do this mixing. Once the besan and the yogurt are mixed properly you can put it back on heat. If the paste is too dry you can add more yogurt or even a little water.

Remove the besan from heat. Grease your palms with oil and talking a small bit of hot besan paste, roll it between your palms to make smooth balls the size of tiny potatoes or standard koftas. The balls form easier while the besan is hot.

When all the balls have been made, cut these balls into small pieces like a potato. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a nonstick pan. Add jeera and hing when the oil is hot enough. Add the chopped onions and ginger garlic paste and fry them till golden brown. Add the diced besan balls and mix well. Add salt, chilli powder and haldi  and garam masala and mix well till all the cubes get evenly coated. Add lemon juice and chopped green coriander.

Fry this till the cubes start browning from their edges.

Serve with plain boiled rice or parathas.

Note:
You can also make it into a gravy curry by adding tomato puree and water in the last and cook till they are cooked.

Stuffed Red Chilli Pickle

Stuffed red chilli is a popular pickle eaten widely all through Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar region. My father was very fond of all sorts of pickles and he worked hard to prepare a colossus batch of 4-5 different varieties of pickles every year. This recipe is straight from his personal collection of valuable pickle recipes.

Nowadays, this delicious pickle can be easily purchased ready made in most grocery shops in North India.

Ingredients:

250 gms big red chilli

Spices ( He loved to prepare all the spices at home which means roasting, crushing and mixing!)
1. Methi powder - 6 small tbsp
2. Rye/mustard powder - 10 small tbsp
3. Saunf powder - 8 small tbsp
4. Black pepper powder - 2/3 small tbsp
5. Cloves powder - crush 3/4 cloves only into powder
6. Jaifal /nutmeg powder -  ( 1/4 nutmeg only)
7. Jeera powder - 6 small tbsp
8. Javitri powder - Only a small piece
9. Hing - 1 tbsp
10. Salt - 4 big tbsp for mixing in spices
11. Salt - 4 big tbsp for oiling the red chillies
12. Mustard oil - 1 cup
13. Lemon juice - 4-5 big tbsp

Method: 

Wipe hard all the red chillies with a clean dry cotton cloth to clean their surface (Any desire to wash them can leave the pickle exposed to the dangers of developing fungus) and keep the red chillies in the sun to further dry them out. Any moisture just invites fungus.

The next day cut off their tops and empty their seeds in a separate container. The tops are the useless part and can be thrown whereas the seeds are to be mixed with the spices. Another procedure however states that you need not cut off the chilli top; instead just slit open the chilli length wise for stuffing the spices. Both methods produce the same taste.

In a large basin mix together all the spices mentioned in the list including oil which helps bind the powdery form. If you have emptied the chilli seeds, mix them too in this mixture now.
It is advisable to taste this mixture. It is important for it to taste a bit extra salty; the extra salt disappears after 4-5 days and becomes normal.

Now stuff this spice mixture into the chillies to the fullest capacity using a small spoon. This is by far the most difficult part of making a red chilli pickle and requires a lot of time and effort.

Keep all the stuffed chillies in a glass jar, pour in the mustard oil ( some also use a slightly heated mustard oil for rapid ripening and preservation of the pickle) and keep it in the sun for ripening.

The pickle is usually ready to eat after 2 weeks.

It tastes extremely tasty with parathas, puris, with plain rice-toor dal, while mashed in toor dal, or using it as a separate ingredient in lemon rice/fried rice.

Tangy Carrot curry

This carrot curry is really unique as it doesn't have that inevitable sweet carrot taste which compels most housewives to think twice before cooking carrots for a curry. What's more it still doesn't require a truck load of ingredients and is surprisingly very easy to make and very tasty too.

Ingredients:

1/2 Kg carrots or less, washed and chopped in small cubes
3 tbsp full dry dhania powder
3 tbsp full dry cumin powder
2 tbsp crushed ginger paste
Half tbsp turmeric powder
Chilli powder according to taste
Half tbsp lemon juice
Salt
Oil for frying
Fine chopped green coriander for garnishing

Method:

Wash the carrots and chop them finely in small cubes suitable for curry.


In a nonstick pan dry roast dhania and cumin powder together till dark brown. Remove from heat and keep aside.


Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, put the carrots cubes in and fry them for 15-20 minutes stirring now and then until they are lightly and unevenly browned and a bit shrunk. Now add half a glass of plain water, salt, haldi, ginger paste and red chilli powder and stir well. Then add roasted dhania jeera powder, lemon juice and mix well. Let it cook until all the extra water has been absorbed and the carrot cubes are evenly coated with the spices. Add the chopped coriander leaves and remove from heat.

It tastes best with plain rice and yellow dal, as well as chapati and yellow dal.

Uttapam

A lot of people think Uttapam can be made with only that 'rice-urad' mixture meant specially for Uttapams. This is not true. You can make delicious Uttapams with Dosa batter, idly batter, vada batter or multi purpose flour too. In fact if you are short of ingredients or time you can also make them with plain semolina too!

Another point: An authentic uttapam is, of course, made with the right batter and the batter is first poured on the pan and then the chopped vegetables are added.  I however differ without any valid reason.

Ingredients: 
Regular dosa batter/ vada batter/ uttapam batter or coarse semolina soaked in yogurt for at least half hr- 250 gms
2 fine chopped onions
3 fine chopped tomatoes
fine chopped green chillies
fine chopped green coriander( this lends a special flavor however it can be safely skipped)
Whole jeera seeds
A few curry leaves chopped or whole
Salt
Oil for frying

Method:
Mix the chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, coriander, curry leaves, jeera salt and green chillies into the batter and stir well so that the batter is thick.
Heat a non stick pan. Pour out this batter and spread it to make a round shape. Sprinkle whole jeera on the wet top and let it cook. The top part will begin to harden a bit. Drop a few oil drops all round and on the small holes popping up.
When it is hardened enough to be lifted without breaking, then flip the side and cook the other side using oil.

Serve hot with coconut chutney/ green coriander chutney/ green mango chutney

Tip:
The batter tastes and cooks even better if you mix all the ingredients and keep it in the fridge for 5-7 hours.

chana dal pan cake

This is a particularly tasty dish and one good for diabetics.

Ingredients:

2 cups chana dal soaked for over 3 hrs.
Chopped green coriander
Fine chopped small onion
1 spoon ginger garlic paste
Whole cumin seeds just a pinch
a pinch of haldi
Oil for frying

Method:
Soak the chana dal for at least three hrs. Throw it in a mixer together with chillies, ginger and garlic paste and make it into a thick paste. Add whole zeera seeds, green coriander, haldi, chopped onions and salt and mix well.

Heat a nonstick pan. Ladle out 1 tbsp oil, then put a medium size portion of the batter onto the pan and spread it evenly in a round shape. When one side is cooked golden brown, flip over and cook the other side too.

Serve with green coriander chutney or sauce of your choice.

Dal Pasta or Dal ka Dulha

I have no idea why this simple yet ingenious rural dish is called Dal ka Dulha which would literally translate as "Groom of the pulses". I do conjecture however, that this dish must have originated due to people's need to produce a meal somewhat similar to Dal - Roti- Sabzi combo without actually being one.

Check it out:

Ingredients 


Toor Dal 250 Gms cooked with turmeric and salt
Regular roti dough
1 fine chopped (lengthwise) onion
1 spoon ginger garlic paste
Whole red chillies or fine chopped green chillies according to taste
1 spoon ajwain
Pinch of hing
Desi ghee for tadka

Method:


Cook the Toor dal as it is normally done in a pressure cooker till it is done. Then open the lid of the cooker, pour in more water and let it simmer on low/medium flame.

Meanwhile, roll out a big plate sized, about quarter inch thick roti. Take a knife and cut it criss cross like 'namak para'. Stick the two opposite ends of this 'roti para' and plop them into the simmering dal. Keep plopping till you have finished making all of them.
Let it simmer for another 25 minutes till it gets cooked.

In another wok, heat desi ghee. Add hing, ajwain, a little jeera and red chilli. Add the chopped onions till they are golden brown. Now you can pour the simmering dal into this wok or empty the tadka mixture into the cooker whichever you prefer.

It tastes best with red stuffed chilli pickle or boiled potato bharta.

Method to make potato bharta:
Boil a few potatoes and peel and mash them. Add in roughly chopped 4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped green chillies and 2 tbsp mustard oil to give it that special tangy flavor.

Lauki Methi Curry

Ingredients:


500 gms lauki
4-8 cloves garlic
1 bunch methi leaves or 5 spoons dry kasuri methi
Green chillies as per taste
One small onion
Chopped green coriander
1 cup thick yoghurt
2 tomatoes
Haldi and salt
Garam Masala

Method:
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Give the jeera tadka. When the jeera is nicely roasted add cubed lauki and fry for 5-8 mins. Add 2 chopped tomatoes and fry for another 5 mins or till done. Add crushed garlic, methi , green chillies, haldi, yoghurt, garam masala and salt and cook for 5 min. Add about a cup or more of water and close the pressure till it give off 3-4 whistles. Garnish with chopped coriander.

You can dry off excess water by further cooking or let it remain like a gravy. It tastes better with excess water dried.

Carrot sesame pancake

This one is easy to make, delicious in taste, full of healthy nutrition and especially beneficial to those who require iron rich foods. What's more, it doesn't need a plethora of ingredients.

Ingredients:
2-3 medium sized carrots
3-4 medium sized scallions ( spring onions)
2 cloves of garlic
a small piece of ginger
1-2 green chillies
2 spoonful of sesame seeds
half a cup yogurt
half a cup coarse/fine semolina
salt as per taste
oil for shallow frying

Preparation:
Grate the carrots and finely chop the scallions.
Dry roast the sesame seeds till golden brown.
Crush ginger and garlic or use the ready made ginger garlic paste.
Fine chop the chillies

Method:
Mix the grated carrots, scallions, ginger garlic paste, chillies, and the sesame seeds. Add salt, yogurt and semolina and mix well together to form a thick batter. It should be thick but understandably neither runny nor clumpy. Add a little water if required to make it smooth. keep aside for 15 minutes for the semolina to fluff up.

Heat a nonstick pan and make a pan cake like uttapam is made.

Serve with tabasco or green chutney or any other sauce of your choice.