Pani Puri

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Tandoori Paneer with Veggies

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Baked Aloo Tikki

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Stuffed Tandoori Aloo

Ingredients

1. Big Russet Potatoes - 4
2. Green Peas - 2 tbsp
3. Finely Chopped Red Onion - 3 tbsp
4. Serrano Chilli - 1
5. Mozzarella Cheese - 6 tbsp
6. Coriander Leaves - 1 bunch
7. Turmeric - 1 pinch
8. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
9. Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Garlic - 4/5
11. Ginger - 1 tbsp
12. Amchoor Powder - 1 tsp
13. Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
14. Tandoori Masala - 1 tbsp
15. Oil - 2 tbsp (Olive/Vegetable/Canola)
16. Salt - To Taste
17. Cashew - 6 to 8
18. Raisins - 1 tbsp

Before Baking...



Procedure

1. Clean the Russet potatoes well in cold running water. Then, steam the potatoes with water and salt for like 5 minutes. You can 0it (or) put it in a cooker
2. When its done, peel the skin and cut the potatoes into two, length wise. Scoop the inner portion of the potatoes slowly with a spoon so that the scooped potatoes look like a small boat (Lousy example, I know, but for the lack of a better explanation, I had to do it!)
3. Don't throw away the scrap that you've scooped, we're going to need that for the filling
4. For marinating, grind the ginger, garlic, amchoor powder, chilli powder, tandoori masala, oil, a pinch of salt and a little bit of water in a blender. Take the cut & scooped pieces of potatoes and apply the above ground mixture on all sides of the potatoes. Set it aside for a few minutes
5. For the filling, take a bowl and put the scrapped potatoes, green peas, red onions, serrano chilli (chopped), mozzarella cheese (3 tbsp), Turmeric, Garam Masala, Chilli Powder, a pinch of salt and mix it really well. If you want to add little bit of hot water, please do, so that it'll jell better
6. Now, take the marinated potatoes and put the hollow portion with the filling you've prepared in #5 above. Be a little generous when you fill it
7. When you're done with the stuffing, lay the potatoes in a baking dish neatly. Garnish each filled potato with finely chopped cashew, raisins and mozzarella cheese
8. When you're done garnishing, shove it in the oven which is presumed to be preheated at 400F and ready!
9. It takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes depending on the oven, so, after 20~ minutes, keep looking to see if they're done or not
10. Serve it with Tomato Ketchup (or) Green Chutney (the kind you get in a chaat shop)

PS: The 'After Baking...' picture is not here because we ate the potatoes when they were done. Yup! the usual ஆர்வ கோளாறு!

Punjabi Kadhi with Spinach Kofta

Ingredients

For Spinach Kofta

1. Spinach - A couple of bunches, say about 1 lbs
2. Gram Flour - 1/2 cup
3. Breadcrumbs - 3 tbsp
4. Salt - To Taste
5. Serrano chilli - 2 Nos.
6. Oil - 2 tsp

For Punjabhi Kadhi

1. Gram flour - 1 cup
2. Chopped Onions - 1/2 cup
   
3. Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Yogurt/Buttermilk - 1/4 gallon
5. Salt - To Taste
6. Turmeric powder - 1 tbsp
7. Asafoetida - A small pinch
8. Dry Red Chillis - 2 nos.
   
9. Oil - 2tbsp

Before Baking...



After Baking...



In the Punjabi Kadhi...



Procedure

For Baked Spinach Kofta

1. Parboil the spinach and have the Green Chillis finely chopped
   
2. Put the parboiled spinach and green chillis and grind it really well
   
3. Mix the ground mixture with gram flour, salt, oil, breadcrumbs with little bit of water
   
4. Keep mixing the above things until you feel you can make nice balls of kofta
5. Rub oil in your hand and make small kofta balls as shown above and place it evenly on a baking sheet
   
6. Bake it at 300F for about 15-20 mins

For Punjabhi Kadhi

1. Add turmeric powder, gram flour, salt and red chilli powder to the Yogurt/buttermilk and beat it really well so that there are no lumps
   
2. Take a cooking bowl and sauté the onions until it turns golden brown
3. Now, add the mixed yogurt/buttermilk to the onions and keep the stove in low-medium flame for about 10 minutes
4. Let the Kadhi thicken a bit and then do a Tadka with dry red chillis and asafoetida and pour it on the boiling Kadhi
5. By this time, the baked kofta should be ready and simmer those kofta balls in the kadhi for about 30 minutes before serving
6. Makes an excellent side dish for Roti's or Jeera Rice

Oh btw, the guilt feeling is a little less even after eating a lot of kofta's this way as its not deep fried. Obviously, the baked kofta's aren't as nice as the deep fried ones, but is definitely a healthy substitute and really, its not as bad as you think it might be. So, give it a shot.

Aloo Vindaloo

As I don't eat the the things that come in Animal Planet, I had to customize and replace the lamb with potatoes. The major difference between other North Indian side dishes and a Vindaloo is that the latter is more a ginger based gravy. Lets get into the details.

Ingredients

1. Baby Potatoes - 1 lbs
2. Onion - 2 nos.
   
3. Green Chilli - 4 nos.
4. Garlic - 6 cloves
5. Ginger - 200 gms
   
6. Jeera (Cumin) seeds
   
7. Red Chilli Powder
8. Dhaniya (Corriander) Powder
9. Tamarind Paste - 1 tbsp
   
10. Turmeric Powder
11. Salt
12. Oil - 2 tbsp
13. Garam Masala Powder
    

Procedure

1. First of all, we have to marinate the potatoes in a mixture and leave it in the refrigerator for atleast 12 hours.
   
2. Marinating Procedure
• Peel off the skin from the Baby Potatoes and cut them into two pieces. With a small needle put some tiny holes in the potato pieces so that when we marinate the juices will get in nicely
  
• Chop the ginger, garlic and green chillis into pieces
  
• In an air tight bowl, add the tamarind paste, the above finely chopped items, potatoes, salt, turmeric powder and mix well
• Marinated Aloo...
  
  
• Close the bowl fully and put it in the refrigerator for atleast 12 hours
  
3. When the mixture is properly marinated, carefully remove just the potatoes from the mixture and set them aside.
   
4. Now, grind the rest of the mixture in a mixie so that your gravy doesn't have the ginger, garlic or green chillis in a chopped fashion
5. Add oil in a pan and add onions and cumin seeds
6. Add the grounded paste when the onions turn golden brown color
7. Let the gravy boil for a few minutes, then add garam masala and chilli powder. Also, add a little more salt to taste
8. Gravy for Vindaloo...
   
   
   
   
9. After a few minutes, add the potatoes and keep the stove on medium flame. Close the pan with a lid.
   
10. Leave it on medium flame until the potatoes are well cooked
11. Your Aloo Vindaloo is all set and garnish with a little bit of fresh coriander leaves.
12. A very nice side dish for Rotis and Peas Pulao
    
    
    
    

Dahi (Curd/Yoghurt) Aloo

This is not as difficult as you might think it is, lets dwell right onto the details.

Ingredients

1. Potatoes - 2 lbs
   
2. Green Chilli - 4 nos.
3. Garlic - 4 cloves
4. Ginger - same amount as Garlic
   
5. Jeera (Cumin) seeds
   
6. Red Chilli Powder
7. Dhaniya (Corriander) Powder
   
8. Turmeric Powder
9. Salt
10. Wheat Flour - 2 tbsp
    
11. Oil - 1 tbsp
12. Garam Masala Powder
    
13. Thick Dahi a.k.a. Curd a.k.a. Yogurt - 1.5 cups
    

Procedure

1. Pressure cook all the potatoes with a salt and turmeric powder for 3 whistles. While the potatoes are in the cooker, prepare the gravy
2. For gravy, beat the thick curd into a less viscous liquid. Not as watery as butter-milk, but somewhere in between
   
3. Add Chilli Powder, Turmeric Powder, Garam Masala, Dhaniya Powder on the curd and beat again. Set this aside
   
4. When the potatoes are done, peel the skin and mash half the potatoes and cut the other half of potatoes into uniform sized cubes
   
5. Add green chilli, finely chopped ginger & garlic, wheat flour to the mashed half of potatoes
6. Add oil in a pan and add cumin seeds
7. Add the mashed potatoes mixture onto the pan
8. Add the curd immediately and stir it pretty well until the mashed potatoes and the curd mixture jell well. Add salt as needed.
   
9. Keep the stove on medium flame and close the pan with a lid. Leave it for 10 minutes
10. After 10 minutes, add the other half of the cubed-potatoes and stir well. Leave the whole mixture for another 10 minutes on medium flame
11. Your Dahi aloo is all set and garnish with a little bit of fresh coriander leaves.
    
12. A very nice side dish for Rotis and Parathas.
    

Vegetable Jalfrezi

This is a no-brainer, as long as you have some time, these ingredients you should be, as how they say in Taco Bell, good-to-go.

Ingredients

1. Vegetables, a lot of them (Potato, Carrot, Bell Peppers, Onion, Tomato, Green peas, Cauliflower, Broccoli etc)
2. Green Chilli - 4 nos.
3. Garlic - 4 cloves
4. Ginger - same amount as Garlic
   
5. Jeera (Cumin) seeds
   
6. Red Chilli Powder
7. Dhaniya (Corriander) Powder
   
8. Turmeric Powder
9. Salt
10. Oil - 1 tbsp
11. Garam Masala Powder (or any Jalfrezi mix. I used 'Khana Khazana')
12. Water - 2 tumblers

Procedure

1. Cut vegetables into cubes (as shown above) and keep them aside
2. Add oil in a pan and add cumin seeds
3. Add onion, green chilli, ginger, garlic and fry till it changes color a bit
4. Add the bell peppers, tomato and saute` the mixture a bit
5. Add rest of the vegetables
6. Add all the above mentioned powders in any order as you desire
7. Sprinkle 1/2 tumbler of water and mix everything together
8. Reduce the flame to medium and close the pan with its lid, keep mixing it every 5 minutes by adding water as needed
9. In 20 minutes, this is what you get...

A very nice, easy to make sabjhi for Roti's, Peas Pulav, Tacos.

Aloo Methi

Ingredients

1. Potatoes - 1 lbs
2. Red Onion - 1
3. Tomatoes - 2
4. Green Chillis - 2
5. Methi (Fenugreek) leaves - 1 bunch
6. Garam Masala - 1 tbsp
7. Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Salt - To Taste
9. Oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure

1. Boil/Steam the potatoes, peal the skin and keep them aside
2. Finely chop the onions & green chilli and sauté them till they turn golden brown.
3. Add the finely chopped tomatoes & Methi (Fenugreek) leaves to the onions continue to sauté them
4. Now, add the boiled potatoes with all the powders and keep stirring it until the masala's are properly cooked
5. Serve with hot Roti's or Peas Pulav.Not a great delicacy, but works like a charm when you don't have a lot of things at your disposal.
   

Milagai (Mirch/Chilli) Bajji

Ingredients

1. Mini Bell (Green/Red/Orange/Yellow) Peppers - 5
2. Paprika powder - 2 tbsp
3. Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
4. Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Corriander Powder - 1 tsp
6. Crushed Peanut Powder - 2 tsp
7. Besan Flour / Chick Peas Flour / Kadalai maavu - 1 cup
8. Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Salt - To Taste
10. Oil - 1/4 lbs.
    

Before Frying...

After Frying...


Procedure

1. The smartest way to make this Bajji is to buy the right kind of peppers. If you buy an Anaheim Chilli or a Jalapeno, you can reserve the loo for the next morning and take the day off from work, because you ain't coming out of that haven. Try to select mini bell peppers or pepper specifically for the the Bajji. You can check this in your Produce department and they should be able to help you with the Pepper's spiciness level.
2. You have to make a batter with Besan Flour, Chilli Powder & Salt. Make it a little viscous.
3. Make a paste/mixture with the rest of the powders (Paprika, Cumin, Turmeric, Corriander & Crushed Peanut Powder) & oil
4. Now, cut the peppers length wise and stuff the above mixture onto the peppers
5. Dip the above stuffed peppers onto the batter and deep fry them
6. This would be a wonderful afternoon snack especially when its cold outside. Ofcourse, its not a healthy snack, otherwise it wouldn't taste this good.