cauliflower in mughalai gravy

Ingredients:

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• Cauliflower florets - from 1 cauliflower
• tomato puree - 1 cup
• water - 1 cup
• milk - 1 cup
• red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• garam masala powder - 1 tsp
• turmeric powder - a pinch
• salt - to taste
• cottage cheese ,grated - optional,for garnishing
• corn flour - 1 tsp
• Elachi - 5
• cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
• clove - 1
• cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• coriander seeds - 2 tsp
• cashews - 1 to 2 tbsp
• onions - 1 big,finely chopped
• ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
• green chillies - 2 to 3
• oil - 4 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tsp

Method:

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• Wash the cauliflower florets well.
• Boil water with a pinch of turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp of salt.Switch off the flame.
• Add the florets into boiling water and close it with a lid.Set aside for 15 min.
• 
  
• Drain the excess water and dry them with a towel.

• Heat 1 tsp of oil in a kadai.
• Add cumin seeds and coriander seeds .Saute till it turns light brown.
• Add cashews ,cinnamon,clove,elachi and saute till cashews turn golden brown.
• Saute onions separately till it turns pink.
• 
  
• Set aside to cool.Grind the roasted ingredients with green chillies,ginger garlic paste,onions into a smooth paste.Add little water.
• Heat 2 tsp of oil in the same kadai.Add the tender cauliflower florets and keep sauting till it gets roasted lightly.You can sprinkle little corn-flour on the pieces.
• Heat 1 tsp of oil and 1 tsp of ghee.Add the ground paste,turmeric powder,garam masala powder,red chilli powder and saute till oil separates.
• Add the tomato puree .Mix well and cook till raw smell goes off.
• Add salt .Pour milk slowly, stirring well.

• Cook till the gravy becomes thick.
• Stuff in the thick gravy into the roasted cauliflower florets and between the stems.
• Pour water into the remaining gravy and cook till you get a gravy consistency.
• Drop in the stuffed cauliflower florets and cook for 3 min.
• Garnish with grated cottage cheese.This is optional.

Note:

It will take some time for the cauliflower pieces to absorb the gravy.So prepare this dish 3 hours before serving.You can re-heat and serve with rotis.

Garlic Babycorn gravy

This gravy goes excellent with chinese noodles.Can be had with roti also.

Ingredients

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• capsicum(red,yellow,green) - each 1
• onion - 1 big
• baby corn - 10
• garlic - 12 cloves
• oil - 2 tsp for gravy
• til/ sesame seeds - 1 tsp
• corn flour - 2 tbsp
• Oil - for deep frying
• Green chillies - 3 to 4 ,chopped and crushed
• Tomato ketchup - 2 tsp
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Red chilli powder - 1 to 2 tsp

Method:

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• Chop babycorn into 1 inch pieces.
• 
  
• Sprinkle 1 tbsp of corn flour over baby corn slices and mix well.
• 
  
• Deep fry the marinated baby corn slices in oil.Drain the excess oil with a tissue paper.
• 
  
• Chop the tri colour capsicums and onions into small pieces as shown.
• 
  
• Chop the garlic pieces and grind into a paste with green chillies .
• Add oil in a kadai.When its hot add sesame seeds.
• When it bursts,add onion slices and the ground paste.Saute till raw smell goes off.
• Add all the capsicum slices and fry till till becomes tender.
• Add red chilli powder,sugar,salt,tomato ketchup and fry for 3 min.
• Add water and cook for 5 min.Dissolve 1 tbsp of cornflour in water and pour it to the gravy.
• Stir well and add the fried babycorn slices.
• Stir gently and cook till it thickens.
• 
  

Switch off and serve hot with noodles/roti.

Chakara pongal

This recipe serves four

Ingredients:

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• Rice - 100 grams
• Split moong dal - 50 grams
• Jaggery - 100 to 120 grams(based on one's taste)
• Milk - 1 cup
• Elachi powder - 3 tsp
• Pachai karpooram/edible camphor - a pinch(powdered)
• Ghee - 50 grams(adjust according to taste)
• cashews and raisins - 2 tsp each

Method:

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• Dry roast moong dal till golden brown.
• Wash the roasted dal and rice well.
• Dilute milk with water .Add 3 cups of diluted milk for every cup of rice and every cup of dal)
• Pressure cook rice and roasted dal together in diluted milk.(one whistle on a high flame and switch off after 15 min)
• Mash the cooked mixture.
• Pound the jaggery with a pestle.Boil water and add the powdered jaggery.
• Stir well and when it melts,switch off the flame.
• Strain the dirt from the jaggery solution .Add the strained solution in a kadai.
• Add the mashed rice-dal mixture to it.Mix well and cook on a medium flame till it thickens little bit.
• Add ghee and mix well.
• Sprinkle elachi powder,edible camphor and switch off the flame.(Do not thicken it very much as the pongal thickens with time)
• Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a tadka pan.Add cashews and roast till golden brown.Add raisins and when it puffs up ,pour it over chakara pongal.
• Mix well and serve hot.

Puliodarai/Puliogare

This recipe serves 3.

Ingredients:

==========

• Rice(sona masuri/basmati) - 1 cup
• Gingelly oil - 4 teaspoon

Method:

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• Soak rice for 15 min.Drain the excess water.
• Add 2 tsp oil of oil in a kadai and saute the drained rice till water evaporates completely.
• Boil water(rice : water=1:2) and add the rice to it with 1 tsp of oil.
• Cook covered.
• Set aside to cool and pour 1 tsp of oil .The grains should be separate.

For the tamarind paste

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• Thick Tamarind juice - extracted from a ball of diameter 3 cm
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
• Chana dal - 1 1/2 tsp
• Groundnuts - 1 handful
• Red chillies - 3 ,broken into halves
• turmeric powder - a pinch
• jaggery - 1 tsp, powdered
• salt - 1 tsp(can be altered according to sourness of tamarind)
• oil - 3 to 4 tsp

Method:

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• Add oil in a kadai.Add mustard seeds.
• When it splutters,add chana dal,groundnuts,red chillies,hing and saute till golden brown.
• Add tamarind juice extract,jaggery,salt,turmeric powder.
• Stir well and cook on a medium flame till it thickens into a paste.
• You can store it in an air tight container in refrigerator.

For the powder

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• Dhania/coriander seeds - 2 tsp
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper - 10 to 15 peppercorns(depending on one's taste)
• Red chillies - 8 to 10
• Til / sesame seeds - 2 1/2 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Dry coconut,shredded - 3 tsp(optional...If you wish to store the powder,avoid coconut)
• Chana dal - 1 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 1/2 tsp
• Hing - 1/2 tsp

Method:

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• Heat 1 tsp oil in a kadai.
• Add urad dal,chana dal,fenugreek seeds,coriander seeds and saute till golden brown.
• Add peppercorns,til,jeera and saute till it bursts.
• Add red chillies,hing,dry coconut and fry for another 3 min till all the ingredients get roasted.
• Set aside to cool.And grind into a coarse powder in a mixer.

For puliodarai:

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• Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a kadai.
• Add mustard seeds.When it splutters,add curry leaves.
• On a low flame,add cooked rice to it .Add 2 to 3 tsp of paste.
• Mix well with a flat spatula.Do not mash the rice.
• Add 3 tsp of powder too.Mix well.
• Adjust the quantity of paste,powder,salt according to taste.

Serve hot with curd and potato chips.

Chana Batura

I got this recipe from whereincity.com.It was very tasty.I am writing it down so that all of you can try it out.

For chana

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• 1 cup kabuli chana , soaked overnight
• 2 large tomato
• 2 large onions
• 1 1/2 tbsp chopped coriander
• 1 tsp ginger grated
• 1 tsp garlic crushed
• 1 lemon ( juice extracted)
• 2 tbsp oil,1 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp tea leaves tied in a pouch or 2 tea bags
• 4 green chillies slit
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp each cinnamon-clove powder
• turmeric powder-a pinch
• 1/4 tsp garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• salt to taste

For Batura

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• Maida - 1 cup
• Rava - 1/2 cup
• curd - 1 1/2 tbsp
• salt - 1 to 2 tsp
• sugar - 2 tsp
• yeast - half a pinch dissolved in warm water-2 tsp
• Butter - 1 tbsp
• milk - to knead dough
• Oil - for deep frying

Method:

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Batura

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• Sieve maida.
• Add salt,sugar,maida flour,rava,butter,curd into a bowl.
• Add the yeast solution.
• Knead into a soft dough by adding milk little by little.
• Cover with a wet cloth and set aside for 6 hours.
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• Make sure the cloth does not dry dry.Wet it as it becomes dry.
• Smear oil on your palms,roller and on the base where you are going to roll the batura.
• Take a round ball of dough(big or small..I have made small baturas) and roll it like a roti.Do not make it too thin or too thick.
• Fry in hot oil turning only once till it gets a light tinch of brown colour.
• Serve hot with chana with chopped onions,green chillies and lemon.

For chana

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• Pressure cook the soaked chana with tea bag,bay leaves and 1/2 tsp of salt.( 1 whistle on a high flame and switch off after 15 min on a low flame).
• Set aside to cool about 2 tbsp of chana for grinding.
• Drain the water completely from cooked chana and save the stock.
• In a mixie,grind together 1 tomato,1 onion ,cooled chana and 1/2 tbsp coriander leaves.
• Chop the other onion and tomato into small pieces.
• Heat oil in a kadai,add cumin seeds.
• When it splutters,add ginger -garlic and fry for a min.
• Add chopped onions and tomato and saute till it becomes tender.
• Add the ground paste and fry for another 3 min.
• Add red chilli powder,turmeric powder,pepper powder and garam masala powder.
• Stir and fry till the oil separates.
• Add the drained chana and 2 cups of stock.
• Bring it to boil and cook on a medium flame till it thickens.
• When the gravy thickens,change it into a serving dish.
• Heat oil in a tadka pan,add green chillies,cinnamon-clove powder,chopped coriander leaves and immediately pour it over chana.
• Squeeze lemon juice on top.Stir in gently and serve with batura.
• 
  

Cream of broccoli soup

Ingredients:

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• Broccoli - 1
• Onion - 1
• Garlic - 6 cloves
• Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
• Salt - to taste
• Pepper powdered - 1 tsp,according to taste
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• sugar - 1/4 tsp
• Butter - 2 to 3 tsp
• jeera - 1/2 tsp

Method:

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• Separate the florets of broccoli.Wash well and soak in water for 15 min.
• Chop onion,ginger and garlic into small pieces.
• Boil enough water and when it starts to boil,add the florets of broccoli and onion slices.
• Let it get cooked on a medium flame for 5 to 10 min.
• Set aside to cool.Drain the excess water and save the stock.
• Grind together cooked broccoli,onion,ginger,garlic.jeera with little stock.
• Heat a kadai and add butter.When it melts ,add the ground mixture.Dilute it with the stock.(Do not make it too watery)
• Add salt and pepper according to taste.
• Cook on a medium flame for 10 min.When it thickens slightly,add milk.
• Mix well and cook for 3 min.(Do not over cook after adding milk).

Switch off the flame and serve hot.

Chana kuruma

Ingredients:

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For the masala paste:

===============

• Onion - 1 big
• Tomato - 2 big
• Green chillies - 2
• Ginger - a 1 inch piece
• garlic cloves - 5
• whole spices - 2 cloves, 1/2 inch cinnamon stick,2 elachi
• poppy seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Chana (small variety) - 3/4 cup , soaked overnight and pressure cooked with little salt
• oil - 2 tsp

Method:

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• Separate the stock after cooking chana.It can be used instead of water for making the gravy.
• Soak poppy seeds in warm water for 5 min.
• Add oil in a kadai.Add the whole spices,saute for 2 sec.Add half of onions,crushed ginger garlic,green chillies and saute till the raw smell goes off.
• Add tomatoes,poppy seeds and saute for 5 min.
• Add 2 handful of cooked chana and saute for another 3 min.
• 
  
• Switch off the flame and set aside to cool.
• Grind the above ingredients into a fine paste with water/chana stock.
• 
  

For the gravy

==========

Ingredients:

=========

• Jeera/cumin seeds - 2 tsp
• oil - 1 tsp
• bay leaf - 1
• potato - 1 big , diced into cubes
• remaining onion and chana
• turmeric powder - a pinch
• coriander powder - 2 tsp
• pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp
• sugar - 1/2 tsp
• salt - to taste
• thick coconut milk - half a cup

Method:

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• Add oil in a kadai,then add cumin seeds.When it starts popping ,add onions and saute well for 3 min.
• Add the diced potatoes to it.Add little water and cook covered till its 80% done.
• Add the ground paste,mix well.
• Add the chana stock,turmeric powder,coriander powder,pepper powder,red chilli powder,garam masala powder,salt,sugar to it.
• Mix well and cook covered for 10 min.You can now smell a nice aroma from the gravy.
• Add the remaining chana,mix well and let it boil for 5 min.
• Add thick coconut milk,mix well and switch off in 3 min.Do not cook for a long time after adding coconut milk.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis.