Dahi Bhalla

Ingredients

For preparing Vadas"

Black gram lentil - 1 cup, urad dal without skin, washed, soaked for 3 hours

Yellow moong dal - 2 tbsps, soak for 2 hours (optional)

Ginger - 2″ piece

Green chilies - 2 to 3

Salt to taste

oil for deep frying

To prepare dahi bhalla chaat:

Fresh curd - 2 cups, thick yogurt (it should not be sour)

Water - 1 1/2 to 2 cups

Powdered sugar - 1 1/2 heaped tbsps

Red chilli powder - 1 heaped tbsp, approx

Roasted cumin powder - 1 heaped tbsp, apporx

Chaat masala powder -1 heaped tbsp, approx

Pomegranate seeds - 1/2 cup

Green chutney - 3/4 cup, approx

Sweet tamarind chutney - 3/4 cup, approx

Sev for garnish

Fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Method

Grind the urad dal, moong dal, green chilies, ginger and salt together to a fine pase.

 Add very very little cold water while grinding. (approx 2-3 tbsps). Remove to a wide bowl. 

Using your hand or hand beater, beat the batter for a good 5 mts till it is airy and light.

Pre-heat oil in a deep frying vessel, slowly drop large lemon sized quantity of batter into the 

hot oil. Deep fry on medium heat for sometime and then fry on high heat till golden brown.

Remove these deep fried vadas into a bowl of luke warm water and place them in it for a 

mt. Remove and gently press between your palms so that excess water oozes out. Keep 

them aside.

Finish making vadas with the rest of the remaining batter and put them in water like you did 

for the earlier batch, remove excess water and keep aside.

Beat curd well till smooth and add the water as required, 1/4 tsp red chilli pwd and 1/4 tsp 

cumin pwd and salt to taste.

Place the vadas in a serving bowl and pour the chilled curd mixture evenly all over the 

vadas, covering them completely.

Chill the vadas for sometime before serving. At the time of serving, take 2-3 vadas and place 

them in a serving plate, pour 2 tbsps of green chutney followed by 2 tbsps of sweet imli 

chutney, sprinkle some chaat powder, roasted cumin powder and and garnish with sev, 

fresh coriander leaves and pomegranate seeds.

Corn Manchurian Fried Rice

Ingredients:

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 30 min

Yield: 4

Main Ingredients: sweet corn rice

For Corn Manchurian:

Sweet corn - 1 1/4 cups, coarsely ground
Maida - 2 tbsps
Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green chilies - 1, finely chopped
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

For Fried Rice:

Raw rice - 1 1/4 cups, cooked till each grain is separate or use left over cold rice
Spring onions - 3, finely chop the whites and greens
Carrot - 1, (small) finely chopped
Capsicum - 1, (small) finely chopped
Garlic - 3 cloves, finely minced
Dry red chilies - 2, tear into pieces
Soy sauce - 1/2 tsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat oil for deep frying the corn manchurian. While the oil is heating, take a bowl and mix in the coarsely ground sweet corn, green chilies, ginger garlic paste, coriander leaves, salt, maida and corn flour. Make small balls and deep fry to a golden brown shade. Drain the manchurian and place on absorbent paper. Keep aside.

In a cooking vessel, heat oil, add the minced garlic and saute for a few seconds. Add dry chilies and spring onion whites and saute on high flame for 2 mts, tossing the contents constantly.
Add the finely chopped carrots, beans and capsicum and saute for 7 to 8 mts on high flame, constantly mixing the contents so that they do not burn. Add salt, vinegar, pepper powder and soy sauce and mix.

Add the corn manchurian and mix. Add the cooked rice and mix well for a mt. Adjust salt and turn off flame.

Remove onto a serving bowl and garnish with spring onion greens.

Matar Kachori Recipe

Ingredients

Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 20
Main Ingredients: flour green peas

Plain flour - 1 1/2 cups (maida)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Ghee or oil - 6 tbsps
Water as required to make a dough
For filling:
Green peas - 1 1/2 cups, boil for 8 mts in salted water, let them sit in hot water for 10-12 mts, drain and mash lightly
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chili-ginger paste - 1 1/2 tsps
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Saunf powder - 3/4 tsp (aniseeds)
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsps
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchur powder - 3/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp (optional)
Besan - 2 heaped tbsps, (roasted chickpea powder)
Ghee or oil - 1 1/2 tbsps

To prepare the dough, place the flour in a wide bowl. Add salt and ghee (or oil) and mix well. Rub with your palms and fingers such that the dough appears like bread crumbs. Slowly add water to make a firm dough. Cover and set aside. Prepare the filling.
To prepare the green peas filling, heat ghee or oil in a pan. Once hot, add the cumin seeds and allow to splutter. Add ginger green chili paste and asafoetida and saute for few secs. Add the mashed green peas mixture and saute for 5-6 mts.
Add red chili powder, coriander powder, saunf powder, garam masala powder and amchur powder and mix well. Add the besan and sugar and saute for 5 mts and turn off flame. Allow to cool.
To prepare the kachoris, pinch out large lemon sized balls off the dough, shape them into rounds and set aside. Take each ball and roll it to approx 3"-4" round roti. Place a tbsp of the green peas filling in the center and gather the edges of the roti to form a potli (a small pouch). Twist the top to seal and pinch off excess dough.
Press the ball gently with the heel of your palm to flatten it. Press in the center and do not press the edges too much. Set aside. Prepare with rest of the dough.
Heat enough oil for deep frying. Once the oil is piping hot, turn off flame and allow the oil to cool down for 2 mts. Turn on flame to low-medium and place 3 to 4 kachoris in the oil based on how wide the vessel is. The kachoris will sink to the bottom of the pan and float up slowly. Once they come to the top, increase flame to medium high and deep fry the kachoris so that its cooked all over evenly. Once they turn golden brown, drain and remove onto absorbant paper. Prepare kachoris with rest of the rolled out balls.
Serve them warm with sweet imli chutney or a thin gravy of aloo sabzi.

Vegetable Kati Roll Recipe

Ingredients:

For rotis:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour/atta
1/2 cup maida/all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
water to knead the dough
For filling:
2 cups julienne mixed vegetables, beans, carrot, capsicum, beans and cabbage
1 tsp ginger-green chili paste
pinch of turmeric pwd
1/2 tsp chaat masala pwd
1 tsp Kitchen King Masala (optional)
2 eggs, beaten (optional)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 onions, finely sliced
few tbsps of green chutney
few tbsps of guacamole
2-3 tbsps olive oil
salt to taste

1 Add salt to the wheat flour and maida, combine, slowly add water to form a soft yet

 slightly firm dough. Cover and let it rest till you get the stuffing ready.

2 Blanch the french beans for 3 mts and keep aside. Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a vessel, add the ginger-green chili paste and saute for few secs. Add carrots, cabbage and capsicum and saute for 7-8 mts. Add the blanched beans and saute for another 3 mts. Add turmeric pwd, kitchen king masala and chaat masala pwd and combine. Turn off heat.

3 Add the lemon juice and salt to taste and mix. Keep aside.

4 In a separate bowl, combine the raw sliced onions with 2-3 tbsps of green chutney and keep aside.

5 Beat eggs in a bowl, add salt and pepper and keep aside. (Vegetarians can omit this step)

6 To prepare rotis, pinch a large lemon sized ball of dough, dust the working surface with some atta and roll out the stuffed dough to form 6″-7″ diameter circles.

7 Heat a iron tawa and once its hot, place a parantha and let it cook lightly on both sides. Prepare all the rotis and place them in a casserole to keep soft.

8 At the time of serving, drizzle some oil on a tawa, fry the roti on one side for 4-5 secs and on top pour 2-3 tbsps of the beaten egg and flip over the roti so that the egg gets cooked.

9 Remove from tawa, place the egg coated side of the roti up and sprinkle some lemon juice on the egg coated side. Spread some guacamole or you can skip this part if you do not have guacamole. Place 3-4 tbsps of vegetable filling in the middle of the roti and sprinkle the onion-green chutney filling over it and roll the roti tightly to form a roll. To serve, wrap the lower part of the rotis in a butter paper or tissue. Enjoy!

Grill Fresh Fruit

Bananas: Cut bananas in half lengthwise. Brush lightly with a mixture of honey and melted butter and grill until browned and heated, turning once during grilling. Great with jerk chicken, fish or pork or as dessert. Try banana splits with them, adding scoops of ice cream, fresh strawberries and a tad of chocolate syrup in between grilled bananas, or slice the grilled bananas and make banana s’mores.

Pineapple: Sprinkle ground cinnamon on 3/4 to 1 inch thick fresh pineapple slices and grill on directly on grates or perforated rack until warm, about two to four minutes, turning once. Enjoy with Thai Tuna Burgers, as a side dish for any summer meal, or chop and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Peaches, plums and nectarines: Halve and pit any of these stone fruits. Brushing lightly with melted butter isn’t necessary but adds great flavor. Grill, cut side up until just beginning to char, for about two minutes. Turn and cook until fruit is soft, about three to five minutes. Serve with fish, chicken or pork or as dessert alone, or with pound cake or ice cream.

Caramel Apples: slice and peel apples and toss with brown sugar and honey. Put apple mixture in foil pouch (see potatoes directions above), dot with diced butter, seal tightly and grill until apples are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve as a side dish or with ice cream.

Coriander Lime Chicken

Ingredients

• ½ cup fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon fine pepper
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• ½ cup coriander, chopped
• ½ cup olive oil
• 6 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 
  

• Instructions

  
  
  1. Place chicken breasts in zipper-seal bag. Using a rolling pin or similar implement, flatten the thicker parts of the chicken so they match the thinner parts. You want a consistent thickness (no thinner than 3/4 of an inch) throughout to ensure the chicken cooks evenly.
  
  
  2. Mix marinade ingredients and pour over chicken. Marinate at least 2 hours or overnight.
  
  
  3. Remove from bag.
  
  
  4. On gas grill over medium-high heat, grill chicken breasts with lid down for six minutes. Turn and grill with the lid up 6 to 10 more minutes or until chicken reaches 170 degrees on a meat thermometer.

You May also like: 

Ginger Honey Chicken
Andhra Chicken Fry 
Drunken Chicken
Capsicum Chicken Masala
Badami Chicken

White Bean Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 
  
• 2 cups leftover chicken
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon Olive oil 
• 6 cups chicken stock (leftover or canned)
• 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) great northern beans
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 ½ tablespoons ground cumin
• ¼-½ teaspoon Black pepper, optional
• 6 green onions, finely chopped
• ⅓ cup fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
• sour cream for garnish, optional
• 
  
• 
  

Instructions

1. In a large, heavy frying pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon Olive oil and the chicken. Brown chicken slightly to bring out the flavor. Add the onion, 1 teaspoon salt, several grinds of pepper and sauté until the onion is soft. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin and pepper to taste, and stir together for 2-3 minutes to release the flavors.


2. Transfer contents to the slow cooker. Add the chicken stock, beans and bay leaf. Turn slow cooker on high and let cook for 6 to 8 hours.


3. Discard bay leaves. Ladle the chili into bowls. Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with green onions and coriander.

Mango Summer Drink

Ingredients

Serves: 4 

2 raw mangoes 

Water

2 tsp Salt (or to taste)

4 tbsp sugar (more if mangoes are sour)

1 tsp roasted cumin seeds

1 pinch cracked pepper

Mint for garnish

Directions

Cook:10min  ›  Extra time:1hr chilling  ›  Ready in:1hr10min 

Wash and scrub the mangoes. Boil them in a deep pan for 5-7 minutes or in the pressure cooker for 1 whistle. Take mangoes out, let cool, cut and take all pulp out.

In a "moti chalni" (sieve with big holes), strain the pulp well. To this pulp, add 4 cups water, salt, sugar, mix well. Now, add cumin and pepper. Mix well. Chill and serve. Garnish with mint spring.

Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian

Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian

Ingredients:

20 cauliflower pieces cut

 into medium size florets
   
   For Sauce
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon ginger paste or

  finely shredded ginger (adrak)
1 green chili chopped
1/4 cup celery finely chopped
2 tablespoons red chili sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons corn starch or arrow root powder
Approx. ½ cup water

    For Batter
1/3 cup all purpose flour (plain flour, maida)
3 tablespoons corn starch or arrow root powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Approx. ½ cup water

   Method

Mix the corn starch with water and set aside.
Heat the oil in sauce pan over medium high heat; add ginger, celery and green chili stir for about two minute. Add all the ingredients for sauce except corn starch, (chili sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, tomato paste, and sugar).
Stir for 2 minutes add corn starch and cook for another two minutes, sauce should be thick, consistency of a dosa or pancake batter. If needed add more water, sauce gets thicker as it sits.
Sauce is ready, set aside.
To make batter mix flour, corn starch, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the water slowly to make a smooth batter (batter should be consistency of pancake batter or dosa batter).
Heat at least one inch of oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Oil should be moderately hot. (If oil is not hot cauliflower will be greasy).
Dip the cauliflower into the batter one at a time, making sure it is completely covered by the batter. Then drop the cauliflowers slowly into oil in the frying pan. (do not overlap them)
Fry the cauliflowers in small batches, four to five minutes per batch. Fry them turning occasionally, until they are all sides golden brown. Take them out over paper towel.
Repeat this process for the remaining cauliflowers.
Fold fried cauliflower/ gobies into gravy and serve hot.

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Chick Pea Salad ( Desi Khana)

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cups soaked and boiled kabuli chana (chick peas)
1/2 cup boiled and peeled potato cubes
3/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander (dhania)
2 tsp finely chopped green chillies
1/2 tsp black salt (sanchal)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp powdered sugar
2 tsp chaat masala
salt to taste

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients in a deep bowl and mix well.
2. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
3. Serve chilled.

Baked Rice with Green Curry

Baked Rice with Green Curry

Preparation Time: 25 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins
Makes 4 servingsIngredients

To Be Ground Into A Smooth Paste For The Curry (using Little Water)3/4 cup roughly chopped coriander (dhania)
1 tbsp chopped mint leaves (phudina)
5 green chillies , roughly chopped
4 garlic (lehsun) cloves
1 tbsp poppy seeds (khus-khus)
25 ginger (adrak)
1/2 cup roughly chopped onions
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

For The Curry1/2 cup chopped paneer (cottage cheese)
1/2 cup boiled green peas
2 tbsp ghee
2 cardamoms
1/4 cup whisked fresh curds (dahi)
1/2 tsp sugar
salt to taste

For The Rice2 1/4 cups cooked long grained rice (basmati)
1 1/2 tbsp ghee
3/4 tsp caraway seeds (shahjeera)
50 cinnamon (dalchini)
2 cloves (laung / lavang)
salt to taste

Other Ingredients2 tsp ghee for greasing
2 tsp milk

For The Garnish1/4 cup boiled green peas
2 tbsp potato salli

Method 

For the curry

1. Heat the ghee in a broad non-stick pan, add the cardamom and prepared paste and sauté on a medium flame for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add the curds and sugar, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 minute.
3. Add the green peas and paneer, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 minute. Keep aside.

For the rice

1. Heat the ghee in a broad non-stick pan, add the caraway seeds, cinnamon and cloves and sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds.
2. Add the rice and salt, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 to 2 minutes, while stirring continuously.
3. Divide the rice into 2 equal portions and keep aside.

How to proceed

1. Grease a deep microwave-safe bowl using ghee, put 1 portion of the prepared rice in it and spread it evenly using the back of the spoon.
2. Put the prepared curry over it and spread it evenly using the back of a spoon.
3. Put the 2nd portion of rice over it and spread it evenly using the back of a spoon.
4. Pour the milk over it, cover with a microwave-safe lid on high for 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Just before serving, turn upside down on a big serving plate.
6. Serve immediately garnished with green peas and potato salli.