Garlic Naan

Ingredients

1 cup maida

½  cup of curd

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp oil

salt to taste

for garlic butter spread-

4 tsp butter

1 tbsp finely chopped garlic

1 tbsp finely chopped coriander

Instructions

For garlic butter -

in a small bowl, add few tsp of garlic. along with chopped garlic and coriander leaves. Mix well and keep aside. use this butter to spread over naan.

Naan-

In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup maida, salt to taste, ¼tsp baking soda, ¾ tsp baking powder and ½ tsp sugar. mix well. Next add curd and mix well. make soft dough. If your dough seems sticky then add required amount of maida and knead dough. Punch well and make a non-sticky soft dough. Add a tsp of oil and coat well. Cover with moist cloth and rest for minimum of 1 hour. After an hour, pinch a small lemon sized ball. Dust with some maida and roll to an oval shape using rolling pin. Make sure you do not make too thin nor thick. and also keep the size in mind. it should not be larger than your tawa size. Apply water on one side of naan. make sure you coat uniformly. this helps to stick the naan to tawa. Now slowly flip over and put it on hot tawa. remember, be gentle and put the water coated side down to tawa. slightly press. this helps the naan to stick on to the tawa and when you can flip the tawa upside down it will be intact. Brush some garlic butter over the naan. be generous while applying butter.Now after a minute, flip the tawa upside down and cook naan directly on flame till they turn golden brown. Finally add some more butter.

serve garlic naan hot with your favorite curry 

Meetha Bhaat - Meethe Chawal 

Ingredients -

Basmati Rice 1 cup (Soak for 10 Minutes)

Almonds   4-5

Cashew 4-5

Raison 8-10

Cardamom Powder 1tsp

Sugar 1 ½ cup or according to taste

Desi Ghee 2-3 tsp

Food Color a pinch (Optional)

Water

Method -

Turn on the gas stove. Take a pressure cooker and heat ghee in that. Roast Almonds and cashew in ghee and take them out in kitchen paper towel. Now add rice in pressure cooker and coat them with ghee. Add sugar and water. (Water level is same which is used for normal steamed rice) Add food color and cardamom powder. Mix all the items well.  Prepare rice till 2 whistles. After 2 whistles turn gas off. Add one tsp of ghee and roasted dry nuts and mix them well with rice preparation. “ Meethe Chawal” are ready. Serve them as a dessert after lunch or dinner. You can also add pistachio or dry coconut.

Daal Sultani - Shahi Daal

Ingredients

1 cup pigeon beans (Arhar Dal)
4 garlic cloves chopped
2 green chillies sliced
1 large onion chopped
1 onion chopped
1 betel leaf
2-3 cardamom pods
6 cloves
few sprigs of mint and cilantro leaves (chopped)
1 teaspoon cumin Seeds
1 teaspoon. saffron dissolved in 1 tbsp milk
¼ tbsp. red chilly powder
¼ tbsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup cream
1 cup milk
2-3 tbsp butter or oil
1 piece of live coal

Method

 Cook the lentils in 2-3 cups of water in a large pan or handi. Meanwhile mix milk, cream and yogurt and keep in a cool place.Grind the cloves and cardamoms to a paste. When dal is cooked, water is evaporated otherwise strain away the water. Mash the dal. Place a betel leaf on the dal, over it cardamoms and cloves paste followed by a small piece of burning coal. Pour 1 tbsp of butter and cover with a lid for 10 minutes.
 Then remove the betel leaf and coal. Add salt to taste, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, milk yogurt mixture and saffron dissolved in a spoon of milk. Mix well and cook on low heat. In another frying pan add butter, cumin seeds and chopped onions. When onions are golden brown add garlic, and tomatoes.Pour this over the dal.Serve hot garnished with the chopped green chillies and mint leaves.

Kabargah- Kashmiri Mutton Ribs cookd in Milk and Spices, Fried in Desi Ghee

Ingredients:

• 1 kg Lamb Ribs, 3 inch x 5 inch pieces
• 2½ cups Milk
• 3 Black Cardamom (badi elaichi), crushed
• 2 Cinnamon (dalchini), 1 inch sticks
• 4 Cloves (laung)
• 2 Bay Leaves (tej patta)
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• ¼ tsp Asafoetida (hing)
• 2 tsp Salt
• 1½ cups Ghee
• ½ cup Yoghurt (dahi)
• ½ tsp Red Chili Powder
• 5 - 6 Silver Leaves (varq)

How to make Kabargah:

• Take a pot and put lamb ribs in it along with milk, black cardamom, cinnamon sticks, cloves, bay leaves, garam masala, asafoetida, and salt. Allow it to cook till the milk is absorbed.
• Remove from the heat and place the ribs to a large plate. Keep it aside.
• Take a pan and heat ghee in it. Whisk it with yoghurt, red chilli powder, and a little salt until it turns smooth in consistency.
• Now, dip each rib into the yoghurt mixture and fry till it gets a rich brown color. Drain excess oil and transfer to a serving dish.
• Garnish it silver leaves and serve hot, as a snack or as part of the main course.

Tofu Penne Pasta

Ingredients -

Penne pasta 1 cup

Tofu 1 cup (I used masala tofu)

Hung curd 1 cup

Tomato (finally chopped) ½ cup

Cucumber or zucchini (Finally chopped) ½ cup (I used cucumber)

Black pepper (Crushed)

Oregano or any herb 1 tsp

Salt according to taste

Coriander leaves (for garnishing)

Olive oil 2 tsp

Method -

Boil some water with the pinch of salt and few drops of olive oil. Add penne pasta and boil till pasta is chewable. Drain pasta once it’s boiled in cold water. Add few drops of oil in pasta so that it will not stick with each other. In a pan heat some oil. Add tofu (cut in small pieces). Sauté till tofu become light brown. Add pasta now. Add salt. Sauté for 2 -3 minutes.  Take pan away from heat and transfer tofu and pasta in a bowl. Now add hung curd and mix well. Add tomato and cucumber and mix well. Tofu Pasta is ready. Garnish with some coriander leaves or with sliced loaf of garlic bread. 

Eggless Tutti-Frutti Cake

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour / Maida – 150 gms ( plus 1 tblspn for dusting over tutti fruity)

Powdered Sugar – ½ cup

Oil –½ cup

Baking Powder – 1 tsp

Baking Soda – ½ tsp

Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp

Tutti Fruity –1 1/3 cup

Condensed Milk / Milkmaid –¼ cup

 Milk –½ cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.Take a round baking pan. Oil all the sides of the pan and dust it with flour.

Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda together and set aside. Take 1 tblspn of flour and add it over the tutti fruity and toss well.

Take oil, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Beat it for 3 mins.

Now add in condensed milk, milk and mix well.

Now sift in the sifted flour again and mix well. Add in tutti fruity and mix well.

Pour into the tin and bake it for 45-50 mins or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let it cool down. Now invert it over a plate and slice it.

Rauangan Chaman – A Kashmiri recipe (Paneer in tomato gravy)

Ingredients -

•  
• Paneer – 250 grams
• Tomato puree (with fresh blanched tomato)
• chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• ginger paste – 1/2 teaspoon
• cumin powder– 1/2 teaspoon
• garam masala – 1 teaspoon
• asafoetida powder / hing – a pinch
• coriander powder  – 1/2 teaspoon
• turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• salt   – to taste
• coriander leaves – 1 teaspoon (finely chopped)
• oil / ghee – 2 tablespoon

Method -

Cut paneer into 1-inch cubes and keep it aside. In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of ghee / oil.  When ghee is hot enough, add paneer pieces and fry for about 5 minutes or until it becomes golden brown all over.  Transfer it to a kitchen towel. In a bowl, mix together, paneer pieces, chili powder, ginger paste, hing / asafoetida powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt.  Keep it aside for 10 minutes. Heat the remaining ghee / oil in another pan.  Add the tomato puree. Simmer and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Now add the coated paneer pieces and add water if you feel gravy is thick. Simmer and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.  When the paneer is cooked well, garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Grilled Chicken Breast

Chicken breast 2 piece

For marination -

Curd ½ cup

Ginger garlic paste 3 tsp

Deggi Mirch 3 tsp

Lime juice 1 tsp

Salt according to taste

Kebab Masala (optional)

Dried methi 2 tsp

Procedure –

Wash chicken breast with soft hands. Make cut marks in between chicken breast so that marinate mixture can marinate well with chicken. Mix all the ingredients of marination. Marinate chicken breast in marination mixture and keep in fridge for 45 to 60 minutes.

For grill – Grill marinate chicken for 20-25 minutes in convection. Select grill mode on your convection. For oven preheat oven for 180 degree and cook chicken for 20-25 minutes. In between turn the sides of chicken. You can see beautiful grill marks on chicken breast during grill. You can check chicken in between with the help of knife or a toothpick. If knife or toothpick can easily dig in to chicken breast it means chicken is ready to eat if not then you can add 4-5 extra minutes. Juicy and spicy chicken breast is ready. Serve grilled chicken breast with chutney or dip. For mint dip you can check my recipe of fried chicken with mint dip. 

Chicken mint fried rice (Rice with left over chicken)

Ingredients -

Left over chicken – cut in to small pieces

Rice boiled 1 cup

Cinnamon one stick

Black cardamom 2 pieces

Green Cardamom 3-4

Clove 2-3 pieces

Bay leaves 1-2

Black pepper 3-4

Dried red chili 1-2 pieces 

Hing 1pinch

Mint chutney 4 tsp

Salt according to taste

Coriander for garnishing 

Butter\Oil 2 tsp

Method -

Take a pan and put oil\butter in pan. Heat oil for a minute and then add cinnamon, Green & black cardamom, cloves, dried red chilies, black pepper and a pinch of hing. Sauté all whole spices once they start crackle. Now add left over chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add cooked rice in mixture and mix well. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add salt and mint chutney. Mix well in low heat for 2-3 minutes. Coat chicken and rice mixture well with mint chutney. Take heat off. Chicken mint fried rice is ready. Serve them hot with any type of raita or curd.

For vegetarians – Instead of chicken you can use any leftover dish of paneer. 

Fried Chicken Tikka with Mint Dip

Boneless chicken ½ kg (cut into medium pieces)

Oil for frying

For marination -

Ginger garlic paste 3 tsp

Deggi Mirch 3 tsp

Lime juice 1 tsp

Garam Masala 1 tsp

Salt according to taste

Kebab Masala (optional)

Mix all the ingredients mentioned in marination. Mix well and make a paste. Now add chicken pieces and coat chicken pieces well with the paste. Keep them in fridge for 30-45 minutes.

Take a pan and heat oil. When oil is ready for frying then put chicken pieces in to oil. Keep turning them in between. When they turned dark brown take them out. Check chicken if it’s not cooked till center then fry for more 1-2 minutes more.

For fryer – preheat fryer on 180 degree for 5 minutes. Put chicken pieces in fryer’s basket and fry them for 20 minutes. Keep turning chicken in between.

Fried chicken Tikka is ready. Serve with any chutney or mint dip.

Mint Dip –

Mint puree – grind mint leaves with some water to make a puree

Hung Curd ½ cup

Black pepper ½ tsp

Red chilly ½ tsp

Salt according to taste

Mix all the ingredients together to make mint dip.

Egg less Coconut Cookies

Ingredients -

• Maida - 200 grams (1 cup)
• Coconut - 1 cup (grated)
• Butter - 1/2 cup  (100 grams)
• Sugar - a little more than 1/2 cup (125 grams powdered)
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Milk - 2 tbsp

 Method -

Mix baking powder to the flour, filter the flour and keep in a utensil.

Put Butter in any utensil and melt it, put sugar and beat properly.

Put flour in the butter-sugar mixture and mix well (there should not be any solid parts). Put coconut in this mixture and mix rigorously, knead to make dough.If the mixture seems very dry then you can add 1-2 tbsp milk to it.
Grease baking tray with Ghee. Take some mixture in your hand, give it a round shape and place it on the tray. Place cookies at a gap from each other (cookies double up after baking). Place as many cookies that can fit in the tray.

Preheat oven at a temperature of 180 degrees. Place the tray with cookies in the oven and set it for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes take the cookies out, check if the cookies have turned light brown in the center and dark brown at the edges. If yes then the cookies are baked else set the oven for 5 more minutes. Cookies are baked; take out the Coconut Cookies from the oven. After they cool off remove cookies from the tray and put them in a basket.

Similarly prepare another tray of cookies and bake them. Bake all coconut cookies in this manner.

Egg less Coconut Cookies are ready .Keep the Coconut Cookies in an air-tight container, take them out and eat whenever you want.

Methi Malai Aloo – Fried potatoes with cream and Fenugreek leaves

Methi Malai Aloo – Fried potatoes with cream and Fenugreek leaves 

Type - Main course

Ingredients - 

Potatoes 3 (peeled and washed)

Tomatoes (3)

Cream\Malai 1 cup

Turmeric Powder 1tsp

Garam Masala 1tsp

Salt –according to taste

Green chilies (2-3. Finely chopped)

Dried fenugreek leaves (2 tsp)

Curry leaves 4-5

Cumin seeds  a pinch

Hing a pinch

Coriander leaves (for garnishing)

Cream\Malai  1tsp (for garnishing)

Method -

Cut potatoes in small portion. Heat oil for frying. Put potatoes in hot oil and fry them till they turn brown. In another pan, take some oil. Add cumin seeds, curry leaves and a pinch of hing. You can add dry red chili also. In between, grind tomatoes and make a fine puree. When tadka is ready then add puree of tomato and green chilies and sauté for a minute. Now add turmeric powder, Garam masala and salt and then sauté for next 5-8 minutes. Now add fried potatoes and simmer the heat of the gas. Saute mixure for next 5 minutes or till potatoes mix-up with other mixture as well. Add 1 cup of cream\Malai and sauté with low heat for next 2 minutes. Now add dried Fenugreek leave (kasoori Methi)  and mix it well. Methi malai aloo is ready. Off the heat and take a serving bowl. Pure dish in the serving bowl and garnish with some coriander leaves and a table spoon of cream. You can enjoy it with Missi roti\pranthas\chapati.

Note – Cut potatoes in small portion so that they can fry easily. If you don’t want to use fry potatoes then boiled potatoes can be also used. Boil the potatoes and cut the in to small portion.

Besan K Ladoo in Microwave

Besan K Ladoo in Microwave 

Ingredients 

2 1/2 cups Besan 1/2 cup ghee
1/4 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder
1 cup powdered sugar

Method -

Combine the besan and ghee in a microwave safe bowl, mix well and microwave on high for 8 minutes, while stirring after every 2 minutes. Keep the mixture aside to cool completely for 1 hour.Add the sugar and cardamom powder and mix well, while rubbing the mixture in between your palms till it gets a crumbly texture.Take a small portion of the mixture and shape it into a round laddoo.( Repeat the same procedure for all ladoos). Garnish with dry fruits. Keep in air tight jaar