Steamed Broccoli with garlic and cashewnuts

There are times when i do not feel like looking at spices anymore. These are the times when i prefer healthy steamed vegetables. I prefer steaming rather than boiling as nutrients remain intact so that i benefit the most out of these vegetables. My family eats vegetables most of the days except on weekends. It sometimes turn boring preparing the curry every time . Moreover there are very few ways i like having broccoli, either steamed or saute. I do not like it in curry at all as i strongly feel that Broccoli has its own taste and adding too much of spices to it kind of loosen that original taste.
My kid 18 months like having it steamed too along with carrots and potatoes. So i steamed broccoli along with carrots and potatoes.
For the sauce i used olive oil instead of butter and made a kind of sweet, tangy and crunchy sauce by adding cashew nuts to it. This was perfect for our dinner and had great taste. I found this way of making everyone eat broccoli. It was very nice and i hope it works for you too.

Rajmah curry(Kidney beans curry)

Kidney beans are quite popular everywhere. I just love this rajmah curry with rice. It is a superb combination. I know like me there are many rajmah curry fans.
This dish is quite popular in Indian restaurants. My hubby loves it and therefore i prepare it every now and then. Preparing it becomes easier with the canned kidney beans. Otherwise the kidney beans need to be soaked in water overnight and then boiled before it can be assembled along with the spices.

Kaddu chana dal Curry(Bottlegourd and Lentil curry)

While i was in Bangalore i usually prepared this curry for my Lunch box. This is a pretty simple and straight forward curry which requires no cooking mastery.Talking about the end product, i bet you will always prepare this because its tasty as well as easy to prepare.

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom pasta

My kid loves chicken dishes. Last night i decided to prepare something that's not spicy yet tasty and delicious . I have been preparing bechamel sauce  for quite a long time. So i decided using the same sauce for the chicken and mushroom. The dish came out really good and both my hubby and my son enjoyed it to the fullest. I would love to share this quick and tasty chicken recipe with you all.

Sattu k Parothe (Lentil stuffed flat bread)

Am back from my home and already feeling nostalgic . Anyways i enjoyed a lot during my stay. It was killing summer with some cats and dogs pouring rain in between. Sattu is the famous lentil powder of bihar and jharkhand, India. It is made from roasted chana dal. It is perfect for summer as it keeps the stomach cool and filled.

Lets take a look at the recipe
Serves- 10 Parathas
Preparation time- 10 minutes
Cooking time- 2 minutes for each paratha(filling, flattening and cooking)
Level of difficulty- medium

Ingredients:

• Chapati dough
• Sattu/Lentil powder(chana dal roasted and then powdered)- 1 cup
• Onion- 1, chopped thinly
• Green chillies- 1, chopped
• Ajwain or carom seeds
• Ginger minced- 1 Tbsp
• Garlic minced- 1 Tbsp
• salt as per taste
• Ghee or butter for cooking
• Water

Preparation:

Sattu masala preparation(filling preparation)

• To make a perfect sattu filling, add ajwain seeds, salt, onion, green chillies ginger and garlic to it, add little water and come up  with moist sticky sattu powder ,slightly like a dough.

Filling and flattening

• Now take handful of chapati dough and make balls out of it. Fill in the sattu masala and roll it flat.
• Heat a tawa or a pan in medium high heat.
• Place the chapati over the tawa, wait until some brown spots hit below, flip on to other side and wait until the brown spots hit on the other side too. Now flip again and add a tsp of butter or ghee. Grease both side well and take the paratha out off the pan.

Your sattu paratha is ready to be served. Serve it hot with any curry, sauce or pickle. It always tastes great.

Enjoy and happy cooking.

By- Sushmita Pandit.

How to make Nan.
How to make chapati . 
How to make aloo paratha.
How to make puri.
Radisch Chapati

Dhokla in 5 minutes(Microwave Recipe)

My hubby kept asking me to prepare dhokla since last few months. It was high time to fulfil his desire to have dhokla. I prepared this dhokla in just 5 minutes. My mother always prepared the dhokla using rice and lentil. Each time she prepared it had great taste. I prepared this dhokla using Besan(Chick pea flour).
This Gujrati recipe is superb and tastes wonderful. I am looking forward to learn more and more Gujarati recipes as most of them are vegetarian and have wonderful taste. My mother and mother-in-law both love having vegetarian food, serving them some of the most delicious recipe will make both of them happy, this is what i aim at for the moment.

 

Matar Chicken(Green Peas Chicken)

My sister-in-law is a great cook. She always have some or the other great idea of cooking. This time she suggested me to prepare the matar chicken. At first i wasn't sure of this idea but as i proceeded i was happy to see the outcome. 

I have a kind of tendency to prepare food that are mostly influenced by the Bengali culture and cuisine though i myself is not Bengali. The reason might be i was born and brought up in a small town that lied on the border between the two states of India ...Jharkhand and West bengal called as Muri. I am lucky to be the one who had the opportunity to be a part of this beautiful  small place that lie on the banks of River Swarnrekha. I miss me no more staying there. I miss my childhood days that i spent there. The celebrations that no longer takes place and those dahlia flower that no longer blossoms as once they used to.

Gajar Ka Halwa(Carrot sweet delight) - Mothers Day special

Happy Mothers Day to everyone. This is my mother and mother-in-laws favorite sweet dish. I dedicate this recipe to both my mother. Its a very famous sweet dish of India. Enjoy .

Mixed Dal /Mixed Lentil recipe

Lentils are rich source of protein. I always feed my baby some or the other lentils. I myself like it very much with rice and chapati. This is a quick and easy mixed lentil/dal recipe. I am using three commonly used lentils in this recipe. They are masoor dal, moong dal and arhar dal. Addition of vegetables like eggplant and tomato adds to the taste  and makes it an awesome finger licking Dal.

Dal Makhni(Lentil Dish)

Punjab's most famous maa ki dhal is full of protein. This is very easy recipe yet full of nutrition and excellent in taste. My husband loves this dhal a lot. Dal makhni is king of all the lentil's in India.
Lets quickly get on the recipe.

Chicken Teriyaki with Rice Noodles

I have always been a great lover of east Asian foods. Recently i came to know about this saucy dish called as chicken teriyaki. Its so much flavorful that its almost hard to resist. I paired it with some rice noodles and to my grace it came out really superb. So enjoy this teriyaki recipe.

Rice Noodles(Chinese) with Chicken Teriyaki

Being a die hard Chinese cuisine fan. It was time to prepare something more than the regular items. I bought a packet of rice noodles to go with my chicken teriyaki . This is plain simple and easy recipe.
I hope you like it.

Chawal ki roti(chilka roti)(Rice pan chapati)

Hi this is a very famous cuisine from Jharkhand, my native place. This roti is prepared by soaking the rice and chana dal for minimum 5 hours or overnight and then it is grinded into very fine paste to make the roti over tawa. This is well served along with mutton curry or chicken curry. People prepare it on some special ocassions. They call it the Chilka roti. A bowl of chana dal ki chutney along with this add's a lot to this recipe.
Here is the recipe, hope you like this roti recipe from jharkhand,India.

Dahi Chicken(yogurt or curd Chicken )

Dahi or yogurt is said to soften the flesh or meat. Indian preparations often incorporate the use of curd in number of non-vegetarian dishes as well as vegetarian dish. In this recipe i use yogurt to make the chicken soft as well as to enhance the flavors of the spices. I also use the spices in a particular way while marinating which makes this dish taste wonderful.

Stuffed Bittergourd(Karele ka bharwa)

As i told in my previous post i really like stuffed bittergourd. Here it is. This is the recipe of stuffed bitter gourd. It is boiled and then spiced which is later on stir fried. I know like me there are so many out there who love this stuffed bitter gourd. For all the bitter gourd fan's out there.

Drumsticks Curry(Sahjan ki sabzi or Sutti ki sabzi)

Drumsticks in India is called by so many names like "sahjan", "sutti", "Murungai" and so on. It is said as power house of minerals. This is a tree whose every part is brought into use. The pods, drumsticks are used for making curry and sambar. The flower are used in making dumplings, curry and in so many other ways. Leaves are used along with lentils and sometimes served as just stir fry. All these parts are used in different ways in Ayurveda to cure diseases. 

Hainanese Rice(Singapore Style)

I have been hunting for some other ways to prepare the flavored rice other than the regular biryani and fried rice. This led me to search for some east Asian food and to my luck i found this really awesome recipe. This is basically served with chicken or a combination of sauce but i gave it a twist and served it with cauliflower Manchurian. This rice goes perfect with any spicy curry or veggies or any meat.

Gobi Manchurian(Cauliflower Manchurian)

I am a great fan of Indo -Chinese cuisine. I have always loved all kinds of Manchurian dishes. Say it and i start craving for them. I love Chicken Manchurian, Vegetable Manchurian and Gobi Manchurian.  For the add on with this Manchurian i prepared some famous singapore recipe, Hainanese Rice.

This flavoured rice is a add-on for the saucy dish. 

French Beans and Potato Stir Fry Curry

French beans are one of my favorite vegetable. I really like them in noodles , spaghetti  and also in mix vegetable. But today i prepared the french beans with potato, the stir fry style. My mom prepares the beans curry which is always the best. I really like the beans curry gravy with chapati and rice.
My mom's kitchen garden bean plants where like super plants. On a plot of 2 meter square they yielded like 2 to 3 kilo grams of beans per day. Everyday i plucked them and i would also pluck some tender ones with a thought that the next day these plant doesn't make me work again so much. But to my dismay i had to just keep plucking them the other day also.I just miss my good old days and those super plants. Now i don't even get to see kitchen garden any more. These days like all i head to the supermarkets and grab a kilo of them at an obvious high rate.

Karela Bhaja- Bitter Gourd Curry(dry)

Karela or the Bitter Gourd is of course bitter. But what if i just compress its bitterness and present it to you.

I always frowned whenever my mother prepared the karela/bitter gourd curry back home in India. But not any more. I found ways to minimize the bitterness and also thereby preserving the goodness of karela in it.

There are several ways this bitter gourd or karela is prepared. One of my favorite is the stuffed karela. I  like it very much but it being too rich in fat ,i cook it occasionally. I also like the bitter gourd pickle which is not bitter at all and is quite tasteful. Apart from this there are famous south Indian bitter gourd masala chips, they are just awesome in taste.