Baked potatoes with Anchovies

This recipe is a comfort food, and is something to eat as a side dish with rice or bread; as you like it. This is from one of the Jamie Oliver shows. Nothing fancy, just simple ingredients and steps. So here we go.

Ingredients:

• Onion - half
• Potatoes - 3 to 4 small potatoes
• Olive oil - 3 tbsp
• Butter - half a knob (optional add along with olive oil)
• Anchovies - 3 - 4 slivers
• Parmesan cheese - 4 tbsp (grated)
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• Chicken stock - 1 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Pepper - to taste

Preparation:

• Finely chop the onions, thinly slice the potatoes (like wafers) and grate the garlic cloves and set aside
• Add 3 tbsp of oil to a pan and heat it up. If you want to add butter, you can add it now. However, instead of 3 tbsp of oil use only 2.
• Add the onions and garlic to the oil and fry until soft
• Add potatoes and salt and pepper to taste
• Let them cook for a couple of minutes
• Add the anchovies, and add half a tbsp of anchovies oil as well
• Stir the pot so that everything comes together and let is simmer
• Add the chicken stock and let is simmer for 5 minutes so that it reduces down
• Preheat the oven at 400 deg
• Once everything is reduced, add them to a baking tray. Drizzle the Parmesan cheese on top and put it inside the oven
• Set timer for 10 mins or wait until cooked. Serve hot with rice or bread. Enjoy

Dum Aloo Kashmiri

I have always been fascinated by this aloo dish. It has been my favorite for a long time, and I always have ordered it from various restaurants. But finally I decided to try it at home and as always it was simple. So here is the recipe for you. 

Perfect for veg Tuesdays & Thursdays.

Ingredients:

• Small potatoes ( 6 - 7)
• Mustard oil - 1/2 cup
• Veg oil - 2 cups
• Ginger powder - 1/2 tbsp or ginger paste
• Clove powder - 1/4 tbsp
• Curd - 1/2 cup
• Kashmiri mirch - 1 tbsp
• Green cardamom powder - 1/2 tbsp
• Fennel (sauf) powder - 1/2 tbsp
• Hing - just a pinch
• Cumin (zeera) powder (roasted) - 1/2 tbsp
• Garam masala powder - 1/2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Chopped coriander
• 1 cup of water

Preparation:

• Boil the potatoes and then peel them. Leave them on a paper towel to dry
• Once dry, poke them with a fork or tooth pick to make small holes in the potatoes. This will allow the masala to get inside the potatoes when we cook the gravy
• Deep fry the potatoes in veg oil, till they are golden brown
• Leave them on a paper towl so that the excess oil is soaked
• Whisk the curd in a bowl till it becomes smooth
• Add the red chili powder, cardamom powder, ginger powder & fennel powder to the curd and mix well. (if you dont get ginger powder, its okay to use ginger paste, makes little difference)
• In a kadai pour the mustard oil and let it heat up. Let the mustard oil smoke. Bring down the gas to medium heat
• Add pinch of hing and clove powder to the oil
• Add half cup of water to the oil and let it come to boil
• Once the mix comes to boil, add the curd mix, and let it cook if required, add water - small quantities only
• Stir and mix and then add salt and potatoes
• Let it reduce, and let the oil separate out
• Add garam masala and cumin powder and mix well. Let it simmer for 2 - 3 mins
• Once done, add chopped coriander leaves and serve hot

Mutton recipe - Katra style

courtesy Chakh le India - Kacha Rasta

A very simple recipe, which goes back to making mutton the classical style using mustard oil. So I must warn all the health conscious folks, you might want to skip this one. Very rustic and earthy. Must try for a cold weekend.


Ingredients: 

• Mutton medium pieces - 1 kg
• Onion finely chopped - 1/2 kg
• 2 tbsp garam masala mixed in 1/2 cup of water
• Mustard oil - 1 cup
• 2/3 green chilies finely chopped
• Garlic cloves chopped - 8-10

• Ginger chopped - 1 inch
• 1 bay leave
• 1 brown cardamon (bada illiche)
• 2 cups of water
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Heat mustard oil in a deep pan (kadai or skillet)
• Add onion, & saute for 2 min or till brown
• Add green chilies, ginger, garlic, garam masala paste and saute
• Add brown cardamon and bay leave
• Add mutton pieces. Add salt. Saute in medium heat for 5 - 7 mins
• Add water and cover and cook on sim for 1 hour
• Stir in between, and if required add water
• Garnish with chopped coriander before serving

Cucumber, Orange juice smoothie

One of the things which health and diet advisers always keep saying, if you feel hungry instead of grabbing something to unhealthy and oily to munch on, snack on something healthy.

So here is the series on Smoothies for you. These are simple, good, tasty, healthy and they can be made really fast and without much fuss. If you have kids who tend go on battle with you once they hear about fruits and juices, this is a solution to your nightmares.

So here is a quick smoothie for your evenings. Serves 2 persons

Ingredients:

• Half of a medium size cucumber
• Orange juice - 1 cup
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Cucumber fingers
• Ice cubes
• Mint leaves

Preparation:

• Peel half of a medium size cucumber and cut it into medium pieces.
• Peel the other half and cut them vertically to make fingers out of them
• Put the chopped pieces of the cucumber, orange juice, lemon juice and ice cubes into a blender
• Hit the button and blend it for about 2 mins.
• Pour the smoothie in a tumbler. Garnish with the cucumber finger and mint leaves

There you go. Cheers... mate!

Pasta with creame & mushroom

This recipe I picked up from the tv show Everyday Exotic on TLC.The simplicity of the dish inspired me. Even though I could not  pick all the actual ingredients that were required, I did my best.

Ingredients:

• Pasta - 200 gms
• Olive oil - 5 tbsp
• Butter
• Shallot or onions - 2
• Garlic - 4 cloves
• Thyme - 1/4 tsp
• Mushrooms - 200 gms
• White wine - 1/2 cup
• Whipped cream - 1/2 cup 
• Spinach - 150 gms
• Salt & black pepper

Preparation:

• Cook pasta as per the direction and keep aside
• In a pan add olive and let it warm up. Also add butter. Adding the butter with oil, ensures the butter doesn't burn
• Stir in the diced shallots & garlic. Add the salt and pepper. Saute them over low to medium heat, until they are golden brown
• Add the thyme and diced mushroom and saute them until golden brown
• Add white wine and stir and mix them all well.
• Mix the whipped creame & stir
• Allow the sauce to reduce, it should become thick. In order to check if its thick, dip the spoon and the sauce should coat evenly on the back of the spoon.
• Dice the spinach. Add spinach to the mix and mix them well. Let the mix cook for some time over low to medium heat
• Drain the water from the pasta and mix it with the white sauce. Mix well.
• Add salt & pepper to taste

Tandori Paneer with Vegetables

Ingredients

For Marinade

• Curd – 6 tbsp
• Salt – to taste
• Red chilies – 2 tbsp
• Pepper – ½ tbsp
• Cardamom – 3
• Green chilies – 6
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Ginger Garlic paste – 3 tbsp
• Sugar – ¼ tbsp
• Lemon juice – ½ tsp

Other Ingredients

• Paneer – 300 gms
• Capsicum – 1 medium
• Onion – 2 large
• Carrot – 1 medium
• Tomatoes – 2 medium
• Oil – 5 tbsp
• Chat masala – to taste

Preparation

• Prepare the marinade
• Coarsely crush the cardamom so that the pods open up and seeds come out. Crush the green chilies coarsely (don’t make a paste)
• Mix all the ingredients together for marinade and keep aside
• Dice the Paneer to ½ inch cube; you may keep them larger as well. Dice the capsicum in large chunks however scoop out the seeds
• Similarly dice the tomatoes into large chunks, and scoop out the seeds from the inside. 
• For the onions, dice them into four large pieces
• Mix all these with the marinade and mix them well. Keep them in refrigerator for over an hour.
• Set the microwave to Convection mode. Pre-heat to 150 deg 
• On the microwave metal tray place all the ingredients so that they are nicely distributed. Sprinkle oil over the top.
• Microwave on convection mode @ 150 deg for 15 mins. After which take them out, toss a little and again microwave @ 150 deg for another 15 mins. Check if the vegetables are cooked. If not, then microwave again.
• Place your ingredients in a platter, add a dash of lime and sprinkle with chaat masala. Enjoy

Mushroom Chicken with hot sauce

This simple recipe involves slow cooking of mushrooms along with onions & chicken. The ingredients are simple and make the taste authentic. Remember this a hot dish, so we are going to put loads of chillies, both dry red ones and green ones. So here is the recipe for your cooking.

For gravy

• Onions – 2 large
• Mushrooms – 150 gms
• Vinegar – 2 1/2 tbsp
• Chicken 300 gms
• Salt – to taste
• Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
• Vegetable oil - 4/5 tbsp
• Coriander

For hot sauce

• Dry chillies – 20
• Green chillies - 6
• Tomato – half of a medium size tomato
• Garlic – 5 cloves
• Salt - 1/2 tsp

Preparation of hot sauce:

Okay, you may done this before. I am going to make the same sauce which we use along with momos. It is simple yet its ferocity can humble your palate. If you end making extra, well you can always use it as a dip for tortellas and chips

• Wash the dry chillies and tomatoes thoroughly and keep aside.
• Take whole dry red chillies and  half the tomato; add them to the water and let it boil, until the chillies and tomato are tender. 
• Drain the water; however keep it aside in a bowl.
• Put the boiled chillies, tomato, green chillies and garlic in a blender. Add salt along with 3 tablespoon of water. Use the water kept aside earlier.
• Let it run for a couple of minutes. Check for texture and taste. When you open the blender lid, be careful, don’t lean over. The chilly fumes can be "toxic"
• If required add a little more water and run the blender if it does not make a smooth paste.
• Once you have a smooth paste keep it aside in a bowl

Preparation of chicken:

• Slice the onion and mushrooms into thin slices. 
• Add oil to a kadai and let it warm up. Add onions & salt to it and saute. Once the onion starts to become tender, add the mushrooms
• Saute them so that they become tender. Turn down the oven to simmer. Add vinegar and ginger garlic paste, and allow them to fry. Also add 2/3 tablespoons of hot sauce into the mix, and allow it to slow fry.
• Once the mix has turned golden and has become dry, put it into a separate bowl
• Add 4/5 table spoon of oil to the kadai again and add a little bit of the onion-mushroom mix into the kadai, and add the chicken pieces to it. Add salt & 3/4 table spoon of hot sauce and let it fry. Cover the chicken and let it cook on simmer.
• Once the chicken has become tender, add the remaining onion-mushroom mix and mix them well.
• This is a dry recipe therefore, allow the water to dry off a little bit.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot

Simple Chicken Rice Recipe

This simple chicken and rice recipe is in order to cook chicken and rice without any masala. This recipe is inspired from a Saudi chicken recipe called "Saleeg"

Ingredients:

1. Chicken - 750 gms
2. Onion - 2 large
3. Pepper corns - 10 - 12
4. Butter - 50 gms
5. Cardamoms - 4
6. Olive oil - 4 tbsp
7. Rice - 300 gms
8. Salt - to taste

Preparation:

Chicken:

• Wash the chicken clean. In a deep pan, add the chicken, 4 cups of water, 6 pepper corns, cardamoms and one whole peeled onion. Don't dice or cut the onion, just add it whole.
• Cover the pan and let the chicken boil. It will take approximately 20 - 25 minutes for the chicken to cook.
• Once done, you would see the meet coming off the bones. Gently take the chicken pieces off the pan and keep them in a separate plate.
• Keep the water, onion and spices, we will need them later.
• Coat the chicken with butter and salt, nicely. In a microwave set it to grill and grill it for 5 mins. Turn the pieces and grill them again, till they are all nicely cooked. Keep the chicken pieces aside.

Rice:

• Wash the rice with water.
• In a pressure cooker add, olive oil and let it warm up. Add the 6 pepper corns, 1 large diced onion, and salt. Saute them till onions are soft.
• Add the rice and saute it for 1 minute. If you see the ingredients burning, turn the heat to simmer.
• Now add the water and spices left over from cooking the chicken (don't add the boiled onion left over). If you feel the water is less for boiling the rice, add a little more and let it cook.
• Take the boiled onion left over from the boiling the chicken and press it gently, it will split into smaller petals.
• Serve the rice in a platter and add the chicken and boiled onion pieces on the top. Serve hot.

Potol Bata

Potol Bata, potol means Parwal or pointed goured in English, and bata means paste. This simple recipe is of a parwal paste. It is so simple to cook and yet tasty to eat. One can make this as a side dish to the main course.

I must give due credit to my Boudi (bhabhi) in Kanchrapara. She casually gave the recipe to my Ma and she in turn suggested it to me. The recipe is quite similar to Chingri bata. So what are we waiting for, lets start.

Ingredients:

1. Potol (parwal) - 250 gms
2. Onion - 1 (large)
3. Garlic - 5 cloves
4. Ginger - 1 inch
5. Salt to taste
6. Haldi - 1/2 tsp
7. Red chili powder - 1 tsp
8. Green chillies - 5
9. Vegitable Oil - 5 tbsp

Preparation:

• Peel the potol with the help of a peeler. Once all the potol is peeled off, dice them into tiny pieces. Smaller the pieces the easier it would be to cook.
• Dice the onion, garlic and ginger. Slit the green chillies in between
• In a kadai add oil and warm it up. When the oil is nicely warmed up, add the potol, onion, ginger, garlic and all the spices.
• Mix them well. Cover the kadai and let it cook in simmer. In between stir them occassionally.
• Once all the ingredients are well cooked, take the kadai off the head and let it cool.
• Take all the contents and grind them in a stone grinder or food processor. Remember you just want to grind them once.... dont make a paste out of it.
• Serve with the main course.

Pure vegetarian pizza (Indian Style)

A vegetarian pizza made in the Indian style. Good for Tuesday s and Thursday s when you cannot have non vegetarian yet want to have something nice.

Ingredients:

• Pizza topping
• Nutrela (soya beans) – 10 to 12 cubes
• Tomato – 1 finely chopped
• Curd – 2 tbsp
• Red chili powder – ½ tsp
• Zeera powder – ½ tsp
• Dhaniya powder – ½ tsp
• Salt – as per taste
• Olive oil (for marinating) – 1 ½ tbsp
• Cheddar Cheese – more the better
• Olive oil (for frying) – 8 tbsp

Pizza Base – 6 inch base (available in bakery)

Preparation:

• First of all, take the nutrela (soya beans) cubes and crush them. Don’t crush them to dust, just make smaller pieces of them, and keep aside.

• Take all the masala, curd and olive oil and mix them together. Take the crushed nutrela cubes and add them to this. Keep this aside for marinating for about 45 minutes. In the mean time, finely chop the tomato.

• After marinating it for 45 minutes the pizza topping is almost ready

• Add olive oil to a frying pan and add the marinated mix to it. Let it fry in simmer. Add the chopped tomatoes to it.

• You may need to add water. Add a tea spoon at a time. Keep frying till the nutrela cubes become brown and soft. Once done keep aside

• Take the pizza base; grate the cheese on top of it, so that it’s covered with cheese. Don’t get health conscious, you are going to eat a vegetarian food, so keep grating the cheese till you are satisfied.

• Add the fried nutrela cubes and masala to the top of the cheese layer

• Turn you microwave oven to convection mode. Pre heat the microwave to 120 – 140 C for 4 minutes

• Place the pizza on the metal tray. The metal tray must have been provided with your microwave (use the metal tray not the grill)

• Place the tray and set the temperature for 120 C and timer for 10 minutes. Check after 6 minutes, if the cheese has melted stop, else continue. Check the sides if they have turned brown, bring down the temperature.

• You are done, sprinkle some chili flakes and you are ready to eat your veg. pizza. Enjoy

Moroccan Mutton with Caramelized Onions and Tomatoes

Description:
This classic Moroccan dish features beef, lamb or goat meat stewed in savory spices and then topped with makfoul, a caramelized onion and tomato mixture. It can be prepared in a conventional pot, pressure cooker or traditional tagine. My advice is to stick to pressure cooker, you wont find a tagine in Delhi. Trust me, I have tried for the past 2 weeks now.

The recipe calls for the Moroccan spice blend Ras El Hanout. If necessary, you can substitute a few whole cloves and a pinch of nutmeg (jaiphal) for the Ras El Hanout. Again stick with the cloves and jaiphal no kirana wala or super store has ever heard of this spice before.

Ingredients:
1. 1 kg mutton, cut into 2" or 3" pieces
2. 2 large onions (about 500 g or 1 lb.), chopped
3. 2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4. Salt – 1 ½ tsp
5. Ginger – 1 ½ tsp
6. Chilli powder – 2 tsp
7. Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
8. Ras El Hanout – 1 tsp or few whole cloves and a pinch of nutmeg (jaiphal)
9. Black pepper – ½ tsp
10. White pepper – ½ tsp
11. Saffron threads – ¼ tsp, crumbled
12. 1 or 2 cinnamon sticks - crushed
13. Chopped fresh parsley (or dhaniya) – 2 tbsp
14. Olive oil – ¼ cup

----- For the Makfoul -----
1. 2 large onions (about 500 g or 1 lb.), thinly sliced
2. 4 medium tomatoes (about 500 g or 1 lb.), thinly sliced
3. Honey or granulated sugar – 4 tbsp
4. Olive oil – 2 tbsp
5. Cinnamon – 1 tsp

Preparation of Mutton
• Mix the meat with the onions, garlic, spices, herbs and oil in a pressure cooker.
• Brown the meat, uncovered, over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add 3 cups of water, cover, and bring to pressure over high heat. Reduce the heat, and cook with pressure for 45 minutes, or until the meat is very tender. Reduce the sauce until it's thick and mostly oils.
• To serve, arrange the meat and sauce on a serving platter, and top with the caramelized onions and tomatoes.

Preparation of Makfoul:
• While the meat is cooking, make the caramelized onions and tomatoes (makfoul).
• In a large skillet with a lid, mix the sliced onions with the cinnamon and honey.
• Add the oil and sliced tomatoes, and cover. Cook over medium heat for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquids evaporate and the onions are nicely coloured.
• You can continue cooking the onion and tomato mixture until quite dark if you prefer.

Liver Onion fry - Moroccan style

Morocco is known for its culture & cuisine. From this land I accidently stumbled upon this simple yet mouth watering recipe of Liver & Onion fry. I invite you to come and enjoy the taste and flavours of Morocco.

Ingredients

1. Goat or lamb liver – 500 grams
2. Large onions – 2 or 3
3. Olive oil – 3 – 4 tbsp (for marinating)
4. Olive oil – 7 – 6 tbsp (for cooking)

5. Salt – to taste

6. Degi mirch – 4 tbsp
7. Cumin (zeera) powder – 1 ½ tbsp
8. Black pepper – 1 tbsp
9. Vinegar – 2 tbsp
10. Butter – 2 tbsp

Preparation

• Clean the liver. If the liver is not already sliced into pieces, make slices. Keep the pieces small to medium in size. The bigger they are in size the difficult and longer it take for them to be cooked.

• In a bowl, keep the liver, mix zeera powder, degi mirch, vinegar, olive oil, black pepper all together. Keep this marinated liver in the fridge (not deep freeze) for about 30 to 45 minutes

• Dice the onions finely and keep aside. In a kadai add olive oil and heat it up, so that it is warn. Do not over heat it. Add onions to it; also add a little salt and chilli powder.

• Turn the oven to simmer and let the onions cook. Occasionally stir the onions so that they are smeared in oil and fried. Once the onions turn soft and brown take them out of the oil. Make sure you hold the onions out of the oil for sometime so that oil drains out – don’t squeeze!! Keep the onions aside.

• Add a little more oil the kadai (2 – 3 tbsp) if required and add the marinated mix of liver and spices. Let them fry over simmer. Stir them and occasionally add water, only a tablespoon at a time. After about 45 – 50 minutes check if the liver has become tender, if not then keep on cooking on simmer. Remember do not cook on high; it will burn the spices before the liver is cooked.

• Once the liver is cooked, add half of the onions fried earlier and mix well. Take them out on a platter. Don’t scrap the kadai to clean the spices off it. Just take out the liver onions mix. Leave the spices behind inside the kadai; we have other plans for it.

• In the warm kadai now add 2 tbsp of butter and allow it to melt. With the melted butter now rinse the kadai well, so that you have a sauce of thick texture. Using this sauce, scrap the surface of the kadai so that no masala is left behind.

• On top of the fried liver add the remaining fried onions as garnish.

• Pour this sauce on top of the liver-onion fry. Garnish it will dhania leaves. Serve hot else the sauce will freeze over.

• Enjoy

Stuffed Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

1. Chicken whole – 1 (750 gm.)
2. Vinegar - 4tbsp
3. Thread - to tie the chicken
4. Tomato, dhaniya leaves and green chillies for dressing

For Stuffing

1. Big tomato, finely chopped – 1
2. Onions, finely chopped – 2
3. Carrots - 2 and/or beans – 8/10, finely chopped
4. Mutter (as per your taste)
5. Ginger garlic paste – 1, ½ tsbp
6. Red chilli powder – 1, ½ tsp.
7. Haldi – ½ tsp.
8. Green Chillies – 6
9. Salt & pepper (grounded) – taste
10. Chopped dhaniya leaves

Preparation:

Preparing the Chicken:

• Do not the cut the chicken, just ask the butcher to clean the cavity
• Wash chicken, inside out. Please be careful, the inside is to be cleaned thoroughly
• Pat dry with Chicken with a cloth or tissue towel (which ever is available)
• Rub vinegar on the chicken inside out
• Rub pepper and salt to the chicken inside out, immediately after rubbing vinegar
• Leave the chicken in refrigerator for 3 – 4 hours

Preparing the stuffing:

• Boil the diced carrot, mutter and/or diced beans, drain the water and allow them dry
• Heat oil in a pan, till its smoking
• Turn the gas to simmer
• Add onions to the oil to fry. Fry till they are soft. When frying the onions add ¼ tsp. salt
• Add red chilli powder, haldi power, and ginger garlic paste to the pan
• Mix well and stir and at the same time add the chopped tomatoes
• Once they start turning drown – which means they are fried, add the boiled vegies
• Be careful, u might need to add water if required. But do not add too much, as the stuffing must be dry. Once all is fried n dried, place everything in bowl and allow them to cool down

Chicken in the microwave:

• Take out the chicken from the refrigerator
• Stuff the cooled stuffing inside the chicken cavity – caution – don’t squeeze everything in, neither let it stay loosely
• If your entire stuffing doesn’t go inside the chicken, don’t get upset
• Tie the wings of the chicken with a thread, so that it doesn’t fly off
• Also, tie the legs with a thread, in case it decides to run instead
• Rub oil on the outside of the chicken – be generous,
• Place the chicken with breast side facing up on the metal tray. The metal must have been provided with your microwave (use the metal tray not the grill)
• If you have the stuffing left, place it on top and around the chicken
• Add 4 tsp. of oil on top of the chicken, so that it make a small pool of oil around the chicken on the tray
• Pre heat the microwave to 150 – 200 C for 5 minutes
• Place the tray and set the timer for 40 minutes
• After 20 minutes, take out the chicken and turn it. So that the breast is on the tray now
• Continue baking it
• After 20 minutes check for tenderness of the chicken, if leathery, then place the chicken again for another 5 – 10 minutes

Dressing:

• Cut the threads tied earlier
• Place the chicken a ceramic tray
• Cut tomatoes and onions in rings, and place them on top and around the chicken
• Cut green chillies in long slender pieces and place them around the chicken
• Sprinkle dhaniya leafs and add a dash of lemon for taste

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1. Powdered sugar (icing sugar) – 1 cup (note sugar has to be powered or it will burn)
2. Maida – ½ cup
3. Eggs – 2
4. Baking powder – 1 tbsp
5. Milk – ¼ cup
6. Vegetable Oil – ½ cup
7. Cocoa powder – 2 tbsp
8. Amul cream – 2 packets
9. Colour sprinklers – 1 packet
10. Chocolate syrup

Preparation:

Preparation of essence:

• Mix 2 tbsp of cocoa powder with 2 tbsp of icing sugar and keep aside

Preparation of batter:

• Sift maida with baking powder. Keep aside
• Beat eggs and sugar till the eggs turn fluffy and the mixture becomes more than double in volume. Add essence
• Add oil or butter to beaten eggs-sugar mixture in the bowl. Mix well
• Ideally keep on beating till your hands pain. If they don’t start paining check the clock, it should be ideally 45 minutes of beating.
• Fold in maida gradually till all the maida is used. Add milk to get a slightly thinner than a soft dropping consistency
• Grease a deep glass or ceramic bowl (microwave proof) with butter. (Melt the butter first else you won’t be able to grease). Pour the batter in it. Microwave uncovered for 4 minutes. Do not microwave for a longer time even if the surface of the cake does not feel firm and it appears wet after 4 minutes. Let it stand for 4 – 5 minutes. Let it cool for 8 – 10 minutes before removing from baking dish.

Dressing:

• Take Amul cream and hang it in a piece of porous cloth for 30 – 45 minutes
• Mix ¼ cup of icing sugar after extracting the cream. Mix well.
• Layer the cake with the cream
• Sprinkle with colour sprinkler & cocoa powder
• You can also use the cream to decorate by putting it inside a cone and make design using it.
• Also, you can buy a can of whipped cream (expensive though – 350/- to 550/-) and spray the cake with it
• Add chocolate syrup on the top as per taste.

Chicken ko momo, Khursani ko Achar

Chicken Momos and Khursani (Mirchi/Chilli achar) is a speciality from the Hills. These mouth watering delicacies are a staple diet for these people. I present this recipe on behalf of my wife, Chhaya

Ingredients:

Achar:

1. Dry chillies – 8 / 9
2. Tomato – 1
3. Garlic – 8 cloves
4. Salt – ½ tbsp (or to taste)

Stuffing:

1. Chicken keema – 250 grams (request the butcher to add a dollop of fat in the chicken while he is making the keema)
2. Onion – 3 (large) chopped very fine
3. Ginger – 1 inch, chopped very fine
4. Ajena Moto – 1 pinch
5. Maida – 2 cups

Also Required:

Rice cooker to steam the Momos or a Maktu (the utensil used to steam Momos)

Preparation:

Preparation of Achar:

• Wash the dry chillies and tomatoes thoroughly and keep aside.
• Take whole dry red chillies and boil them in water. Take the tomato and cut into half and add it in the water and let it boil. Once the water has come to boil, let it boil for 3 minutes.
• Drain the water; however keep it aside in a bowl.
• Put the chillies, tomato, and garlic in a blender. Add salt along with 3 tablespoon of water. Use the water kept aside earlier.
• Let it run for a couple of minutes. Check for texture and taste. When you open the blender lid, be careful, don’t lean over. It can cause you sneeze continuously, because of the chilli fumes
• If required add a little more water and run the blender if it does not make a smooth paste.
• Once you a smooth paste keep it aside in a bowl

Preparation of Momos:

• Chop the onions very fine and also the ginger.
• Take the keema in a bowl; add the finely chopped onions and ginger. Along with a pinch of ajena moto. Mix it thoroughly. Keep it aside.
• Take the maida and add water and knead into dough. It should be neither too hard nor too soft.
• Make small balls of the size of sparrow eggs. Make small puries out of these and keep them aside.
• Take a little bit – ½ a table spoon of keema which was made earlier and place it in the middle of the maida puri. Rap it in the shape of a leaf. And while rapping it up create some fissures on long the edges. Keep these aside
• Keep the rice cooker ON for 30 minutes before you place the momos in the steaming tray.
• Once you have about 10 – 15 of momos ready. Place them in the steaming tray inside the rice cooker. It generally takes 15 – 20 minutes for them to cook.

Donut

A doughnut or donut is a type of fried dough food popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet (or occasionally savory) snack. But you always had it from the bakery. Here is a quickie to make it at home.

Ingredients:

For the dough
1. Milk – 1 cup
2. Maida (flour) – 2 cups
3. Mashed potatoes – ½ cup ( need 1 1/2 medium sized boiled potato)
4. Salt – ½ tbsp
5. Icing Sugar – ¼ cup
6. Yeast – 2 packets
7. Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
8. Vegetable oil – 1 ½ cup (for frying the dough)

For Glazing:
Vanilla Glaze

1. Icing Sugar – 1 ¼ cup
2. Butter – 1 tbsp
3. Milk – ½ cup
4. Lemon juice – ¼ tbsp
5. Vanilla extract – ¼ tbsp (or 6 drops)

Chocolate Glaze

1. Icing Sugar – 1 ¼ cup
2. Butter – 1 tbsp
3. Milk – ½ cup
4. Lemon juice – ¼ tbsp
5. Hershey Cocoa sauce – 4 tbsp

• Preparing the Dough:

• Microwave 1 cup of milk so that it is warm (not hot). Add 5 teaspoons of yeast (2 packets) and a pinch of sugar and stir. Let stand for about 5 minutes
• In a bowl combine, 2 cups of maida, ½ cup of warm mashed potatoes, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ cup of sugar.
• Then in the bowl add 2 tablespoons of oil and slowly add the milk mixture (from above). Make sure not to add the all the milk at once.
• As you add the milk mix the dough well by hand or in a mixer with a dough hook for 3 minutes. You should have a soft texture.
• Put the dough in the middle of the flour and sprinkle a little flour on top and on your hands. Knead the dough a few times.
• Once the dough has been kneaded, spread it out to be a half inch thick with your hands or with a “belan”.
• Now it is time to cut out the donuts, you can use a donut cutter or... Just use something about the same size and then... Find something to make the hole with. Here is an example. I used a small bowl to cut the outer shape. To make the inner hole I used a champagne flute. And in the end I got the perfect ring.
• Place the donuts on a floured pan rise as you get the oil ready. Let them rise for a total of ten minutes (it takes about five minutes for the oil to heat up).
• Pour about a half inch of oil (vegetable oil) into a pan. The oil needs to be very hot. If the oil starts to smoke it is way too hot. Be careful, else you will end up burn the dough.
• Test the oil with some of the scraps of dough and when it is ready cook the donuts until golden brown on each side. Allow the donuts to cool on a rack or on some paper so that the oil soaks off.

Vanilla Glaze
In a mug, microwave half of cup of milk with a teaspoon of butter (you'll use this later)
In a bowl mix:
1 cup of powdered sugar or icing sugar
2 Tablespoons of the milk mixture
¼ teaspoon of lemon juice
¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract
If you a really thin glaze, just add a little more of the milk mixture.

Chocolate Glaze
Use the milk mixture from above.
In a bowl mix:
1 cup of powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons of Hershey Cocoa
3 Tablespoons of the milk mixture from above.
Put a slightly warm donut face down in the chocolate glaze, turn slightly and remove.

Sprinkle sugar coated colour or chocolate sprinklers. You can get them in any bakery store.

Khete Daoo

Khete Daoo!
Some of my friends would know what it means. For others it simply means "serve me food" in Bong. However you cant have something to eat, if it wasnt cooked.

So this blog is dedicated to all those who think cooking is laborious and can only be done by experts. Its not the case. I was just like you 5 years back, but now I can cook anything you ask me to.

These are a few recipes which I picked from cook books, internet, blogs, TLC, TV and most importantly my Ma and ofcourse modified them to my convenience.

Enjoy reading them and even better cook them to impress your wives, in-laws, friends and people who come to your home looking for some free food or a reason to party!