Aloo Samosa

Well, there’s not much story to it. I just felt like making samosas and I did. Hot hot samosas on a rainy day with a cup of tea/ coffee, is a deadly combo. Try out this easy and delicious recipe and make your loved ones feel special.

Ingredients

For the stuffing:

Potato/ Aloo – 1 ½ cups, peeled and cut in to small cubes

Onion – 1 cup, cut in to thin long pieces

Mustard and cumin seeds – ¼ tsp.

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp.

Red chili powder – ½ tsp.

Dhanya jeera powder – ½ tsp.

Garam masala powder – ¼ tsp.

Fennel seeds powder/ Saunf powder – ¼ tsp., coarsely crushed

Salt – to taste

Oil – 2 tbsp.

For the outer layer:

All-purpose flour/ Maida – 2 cups

Wheat flour – ½ cup

Carom seeds/ Ajwain – ¼ tsp.

Black Pepper powder – ¼ tsp., coarsely ground

Chat masala – ½ tsp.

Ghee – 1 tsp.

Oil – for deep frying

Salt – to taste

Water – enough to knead the dough

Yield – 25 – 30 mini samosas

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients mentioned in the outer layer section (except oil) and make dough. Keep it aside for about 20 – 30 minutes.

2. In the meanwhile, to make the stuffing, take a pan, heat the oil (2 tbsp.) and add mustard and cumin seeds. Once they start spluttering, add the onion pieces and saute till they become transparent.

3. Add the potato pieces along with all the other ingredients (mentioned in the stuffing section). Mix thoroughly and cook until the potato pieces are done.

4. Now, take the dough and knead it again for about 3 – 4 minutes. Divide it in to very small equal sized balls.

5. Roll out each ball in to a circle and then cut it in to half. There should be 2 semi circles.

6. Take the semi circularly rolled out dough and make a cone. Fill in the cone with potato/ aloo masala and seal the open edge by pressing it.

7. Repeat the above step for all the balls.

8. In a sauce pan, heat the oil. Once the oil is ready, put in the samosas (4 – 5) and fry them in medium flame until they become golden brown in color. Repeat this step for all the samosas.

9. Place the samosas on a paper towel so that it soaks away the extra oil.

10. Serve the samosas with tomato ketchup or mint-coriander chutney.

Masala Mathri

Homemade fried snacks are usually out of my radar. Not that I don’t like them but all I can see is the no. of calories in them. :-|

However, there was this day when I craved for something fried. Was tired of the same old potato chips and I thought, ‘Mathri’ it is.

These mathris are mouthwatering and I bet ‘No one can eat just one’. :)

Ingredients

All-purpose flour/ Maida – 1 cup

Wheat flour – ¼ cup

Carom seeds/ Ajwain – ¼ tsp.

Fennel seeds powder/ saunf – ¼ tsp., crushed coarsely

Black Pepper powder – ¾ tsp., coarsely ground

Chat masala – ½ tsp.

Chili powder – ¼ tsp.

Ghee – 2 tsp.

Oil – for deep frying

Salt – to taste

Water – enough to knead the dough

Yield - 25 bite sized mathris

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients above (except oil) and make dough.

2.  Keep the dough aside for 15 – 20 minutes.

3.  Divide the dough in to equal parts and roll them in to small thick puris.

4.  Prick both sides of the puris with a fork (so that they don’t puff up while frying).

5.  Place the puris on a plate greased with ghee/ oil/ butter. I used ghee.

6.  In a pan, heat the oil. Once the oil is ready, put in the puris and fry them in medium flame until they become golden brown in color. Repeat this step for all the puris.

7.  Once all the mathris (fried puris) are done, transfer them in to a big bowl and sprinkle a little chili powder on the top.

8.  Toss the mathris for a second or two and let them cool. Enjoy the mathris with a cup of tea. :)

Vegetarian Kheema

Ideas kick in when there is a necessity and at the same time, lack of certain resources. In this case, it was a fine evening and I entered the kitchen to make dinner. I opened the fridge and voila! No veggies. I hardly had a couple of tomatoes and an onion. Just then, these beautiful small protein rocks caught my attention. And I thought; let’s make something out of them.

I started making preparations and the rest is below! Hope you’ll enjoy this delicious recipe.

Ingredients

Soya Chunks – 1 cup

Onion – 2 cups, finely chopped

Cashews - 8 - 10, cut in to pieces

Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tsp.

Green Chilies – 3, slit vertically

Cumin Seeds – ¼ tsp.

Chili Powder – ½ tsp.

Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp.

Dhanya Jeera Powder – ½ tsp.

Tandoori Chicken Masala (optional) – ½ tsp.

Garam Masala – ½ tsp.

Vinegar – 1 tsp.

Mustard Oil – 2 tbsp.

Water – 5 cups

Salt – to taste

Servings – Serves 2 to 3

Note – I added the tandoori chicken masala just to add more flavor. It can totally be omitted in this recipe.

  

Method

1. In a saucepan, pour 5 cups of water with a pinch of salt and bring it to a boil.

2. Add soya chunks in to the boiling water and let them stay in till they become double in size (about 7 – 8 minutes).

3. Turn off the flame, drain the water and squeeze excess water from the chunks.

4. Chop the soya chunks in to very small pieces.

5. Take a pan and heat the oil. Add cumin seeds. Upon spluttering, add cashews. Once the cashews get roasted, add chopped onion and cook until it becomes golden brown in color.

6. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for about a minute. Add the chopped soya chunks and put in turmeric powder, dhanya jeera powder, chili powder, garam masala and tandoori chicken masala.

7. Mix all the ingredients well and after about a minute, add vinegar.

8. Cook covered until all the masalas mix properly with soya.

     Note: If the mixture seems to be too dry, then pour in quarter cup of water to make it a little moist.

9. Turn off the flame and serve hot with rice and tomato rasam. The combo is out this world. :)

Semolina Pudding/ Sooji ka Halwa

This dish is to new place, new life and new challenges. We shifted to Maryland about a week back. We moved in to our apartment a couple of days back and our stuff hasn’t arrived yet. With no internet and nothing else to do I decided to cook something. With minimal vessels and ingredients and an urge to eat something sweet, I decided to make sooji ka halwa.

Ingredients

Semolina/ Sooji – 1/2 Cup

Water – 1 Cup

Sugar – 1 Cup

Ghee – 2 tbsp.

Cardamom Powder – ¼ tsp

Dry Fruits (Cashews/ Sliced almonds/ Pistachios/ Raisins) – 1 to 2 tbsp.

Serves 2 - 3

Note – Pudding shown in the above picture does not have any dry fruits or cardamom powder. Trust me, it came out just fine. In fact it was delicious.

Moral of the story – Don’t let the lack of ingredients stop you from cooking. The motto of “Cooking Away to Glory” is to make delicious dishes with the least available resources/ ingredients.

Method

1. Take a saucepan and heat the ghee. Add the dry fruits and roast them for about a minute or till they become golden brown in color. If adding raisins, roast till they puff up.

2. Strain the ghee off the dry fruits and place them aside.

3. In the same pan, add semolina/ sooji and roast for about 2 to 3 minutes on low flame. It’ll give out a fine aroma.

4. In the meanwhile, heat water in another pan and bring it to a boil.

5. Once the semolina/ sooji starts giving out an aroma, add water in to it.

6. Stir the mixture until semolina/ sooji loses all the water and it starts sticking together. At this point, the semolina/ sooji should be fully cooked. You can find it out by touching it. It should be soft.

7. Now add the sugar in to the mixture. Make sure to add sugar only after the semolina is fully cooked.

8. As the sugar melts, keep stirring the mixture until it loses all its moisture and attains the consistency of a thick pudding. It should become a mass that sticks together.

9. Turn of the flame. Add the roasted dry fruits; mix well and serve hot.

Coconut and Split Bengal Gram Sautee/ Kobbari Senagapappu

Whenever I used to visit my grandparents’ place during the summer holidays, this used to be my favorite dish. I was introduced to it by one of my aunts. She used to mix it with hot rice accompanied with the delicious Andhra style mango pickle. Mmmmmm. My mouth’s literally watering while writing this.

Try this easy and delicious recipe and you will not be disappointed. :)

Ingredients

Chana Dal – 1 ½ - 2 cups, cooked

Onion – 2 cups, finely chopped

Coconut flakes/ Grated coconut – 1 cup

Green Chilies – 3, chopped

Garlic – 1 pod, crushed

Mustard Seeds – ¼ tsp.

Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp.

Oil – 2 tbsp.

Salt – to taste

Servings – Serves 2 to 3

Note - Cook the chana dal in such a way that it doesn’t become too mushy. The grains shouldn’t stick to each other.

Method

1. Take a saucepan; add oil, mustard seeds. Once the seeds start spluttering, add chilies. After about 6 – 7 seconds, add the finely chopped onions and sauté till they become golden brown in color.

2. Once the onions attain golden brown color, add chana dal and cook covered for about 6 – 7 minutes. Add salt at this step.

3. Add the coconut flakes/ grated coconut and stir for about 3 – 4 minutes. Add the crushed garlic and mix well. Cook covered for another 1 minute.

    Note - Adding crushed garlic at the end gives the whole dish a very nice aroma.

4. Turn off the flame and serve hot with rice and rasam.

Onion and Palak Parantha

My husband is sure ‘Popeye – the sailor man’ when it comes to spinach. He just loves it. He keeps asking me to make some dish with spinach. I was too tired of making palak dal and saute  So this time I tried a little mix and match. Besides, I have vivid memories of mom making palak, methi paranthas during the winter season in my childhood.

Try out this beautiful and healthy recipe and you’ll love it.

Ingredients

Palak/ Spinach – 2 Cups, finely chopped

Onion – ¾ Cup, finely chopped

Mint Leaves – 1 tbsp., chopped

Garlic – 2 pods, finely chopped

Green Chilies – 4, finely chopped

Chat Masala – ½ tsp.

Wheat Flour – 2 Cups

Salt – to taste

Water – ¾ cup or enough to knead the dough

Oil – 1 tbsp. and more for frying the paranthas

Yield – 10 – 12 paranthas

Method

1. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients properly (except water and flour).

2. Now add the wheat flour and add water in small amounts until a dough is formed.

3. Divide the dough in to equal sized balls.

4. Dust each ball with some wheat flour and roll it out in to flat round roti.

5. Take a pan, once it gets heated, place the roti on it.

6. Once the bottom part gets baked a little, put a few drops of oil on the top part, spread it and turn over.

7. Put a few drops of oil on the baked part (which is now the top part). Wait till the other side gets baked too and take the roti off the pan.

8. Serve hot with raita or a little butter. :)

Chole Palak

We had a few friends coming over for dinner and like I mentioned earlier, pulses have always been my forte. But this time I wanted something different. My husband loves palak. He kept asking for a palak dish for quite some time. I thought, okay let’s fulfill his wish and this is what was on the menu that day..! :)

Ingredients

Chole – 3 cups, boiled

Palak – 4 cups, cleaned and cut

Onions – 2 ½ - 3 cups, diced in to cubes or chopped

Tomatoes – 3 cups, diced in to cubes

Chilies – 3 to 4, slit vertically

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp.

Cilantro – ½ cup

Mint leaves – ½ cup, full leaves

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp.

Chili powder – ½ tsp.

Garam masala – 1 ½ to 2 tsp.

Dhanya and Jeera powder – ¼ tsp.

Chat masala – 1 tsp. (I used it as a substitute to amchoor powder)

Chana Masala – 1 tsp.

Cumin seeds/ Jeera – ½ tsp.

Oil – 2 to 3 tbsp.

Salt – To taste

Water – 1 ½ - 2 cups

Serves 4 to 5

Method

1. Take a saucepan, put it on flame and add oil. Once the oil gets heated, add cumin seeds, upon spluttering put chilies, onions, tomatoes and palak (in that order) and sauté until the rawness goes. Onions should become a little translucent and tomatoes should become soft and mushy.

2. Turn off the heat. Let the mixture cool.

3. Grind the onion tomato mixture along with the coriander and mint leaves into a fine paste.

4. Put the pan on heat, add a little oil and pour in the paste. Cook until the gravy loses all its water and sticks together. Keep stirring at regular intervals.

5. Once the gravy is ready, add turmeric powder, chili powder, ginger garlic paste and cook for another 5 minutes.

6. Now add boiled chana, salt, chat masala and garam masala. Mix well and add water. Let it come to a boil and cook until you get your desired consistency.

Note – The more you cook, more flavors get in to chana. Be sure not to burn your dish though. J

7. Turn off the flame and serve hot with roti/ rice.