Rava Dosa - Restaurant style (South Indian Crispy Savory Crêpe)

Have you ever wondered how those Rava Dosas in restaurants have that beautiful net like texture. Well, I discovered that recently! I know, some of you may already know the trick, but coming from a North Indian family (where Idli, Dosas were the weekend highlights!) meant limited access to those secrets and tips. There was no Internet and google search my mom could depend on like we all do. She still keeps reminding me how lucky we are to have all this information at our finger tips, while in their times it was only friends, books, magazine and of course the Trial & Error method! :)

Still remember as a kid, mom painstakingly making dosa and idli from scratch. For Sunday breakfast, preparation would start from Friday! - The soaking, grinding and fermenting. I used to be so impatient to try some dosas, would pester mom to make at least an uttapam (soft savory pancakes with vegetables) soon after the batter was made. Mom would keep telling me to hold on till the batter ferments, but me-being-me, would not listen and get it my way. Oh, I can't stop writing stories and my life around food, can I!

OK so back to the recipe. This is super quick, super easy. Go ahead and treat yourself to some nice homemade, hot rava dosas – with texture and taste – restaurant style!

Just add onions to make an onion rava dosa, or stuff masala after it is ready to make a rava masala dosa! 

You need:

Maida/ All purpose flour - 1/2 Cup

Rice flour – 1 Cup

Rava/ Suji/ Semolina – 1 Cup

Ginger – 1 tsp (very fine chopped or grated)

Green chilies – 1tsp (very fine chopped)

Cumin – 1tsp

Crushed Pepper – 1 tsp

Salt – 1 tsp (adjust to taste)

Hing – ¼ tsp (I know a lot of you may not like hing, but it does make a difference here)

Fresh coriander/ Cilantro – handful (fine chopped, try using only the leaves, but that's OK! :) )

Dry grated coconut – 2 tsp (optional)

Buttermilk/ Curd – optional

Onion – 1 medium (finely chopped)

Ghee (clarified butter) or Oil – as much or less as you like. :)

1. Mix all ingredients other than Ghee/Oil and Onions (last two from the list of ingredients above)
2. Add water and make a very thin batter. Almost that of buttermilk consistency. Don't worry, rava dosa batter does in fact look like the buttermilk you get in south indian darshinis!
3. Ok, now to making the dosa restaurant style, heat a nonstick tava/ griddle.
4. Uniformly spread some chopped onions (depending how much you would like) on the tava. Skip if you don't like onions in your rava dosa.
5. Hold the bowl containing the batter close to the griddle (this is to avoid messing your kitchen counter and stove top as the batter is too thin, but please keep safe distance!). Now scoop out the batter in the cup of your palms and sprinkle over hot griddle. Yes, just keep scooping and sprinkling till the entire tava is covered, and that is the only way you will get that nice net like texture. (If it is not a non stick pan , spray non-stick spray ,wipe clean and sprinkle the batter, but this would mean a lot of effort !).
6. Cook on medium high flame. Don't add the oil/ ghee immediately and wait for a while for the dosa to cook a little. This trick makes  it nice golden brown and crispy! And remember, this dosa takes a little longer than regular dosas to get that golden brown color, so be patient. And don't worry about the dosas breaking, they will eventually hold very well once cooked.
7. I have found a nice way to stop my dosas from falling apart. After spreading the dosa, I trickle some batter along the circumference as if joining the edges with dots. And this stopping the net texture from breaking when you are removing the dosas.
8. Serve hot with pickle, or chutney. 

*Please mix the batter with a whisk. I know some of you may be too lazy to use a whisk but trust me it makes the whole process so risk free of those annoying lumps. Last thing you want to do in this quick recipe is searching for lumps and removing them! Use a whisk, in fact for any recipe that requires making a batter, it will save you a whole lot of unwanted effort. Stressing on this of course means I have been lazy before and learnt it the hard way :)

** You can use potato stuffing, the same one you use in masala dosa to make a nice rava masala dosas.  

Quick Gajar Halwa (Carrot Pudding)

As mentioned in my Fat-free & Sugar-free Gajar Halwa post, I made two batches of gajar halwa to experiment/ compare. Half of the grated carrots were used to make the diet version and the second half to make the rich, creamy gourmet version. This sure is a party winner. Serve this hot halwa with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or gulab jamun (deep fried dumplings in sugar syrup)!

It's a quick recipe if you have khoya (khoa) or mava ready. See my note below to make quick khoya in microwave.

You need: (serves 2)

Carrots – 7-8 nos. (preferably the red variety, grated - use the thick grater in your food processor or hand grater)

Sugar- 4 Tbsp

Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

Ghee/ Clarified butter – 3 Tbsp

Khoya/ Mawa – 1 Cup

Dry fruits- ¼ Cup (Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins, Cashew nuts, roasted in a little ghee)

1. In a pressure cooker add the grated carrot, sugar and about 2 tablespoons of water. Give a pressure on high flame. Switch off as soon as the second whistle goes off. Immediately ease off the pressure by either lifting the weight or running under cold water. Be careful if you using a big pressure cooker and the carrots are very few, they may burn by the time the second whistle happens. So depending on the kind of cooker you may have to adjust the timing.The idea is to quickly get the moisture out of the carrots and not cook them too much. That is how you will get a juicy halwa but with a good texture. 
2. Add ghee, khoya and cardamom powder. Mix well.
3. Now cook till you get gajar halwa with consistency of your choice.
4. Add the dry fruits once its ready.
5. Serve hot or chilled.

*Remember the halwa will thicken a little once it cools down. So if you plan to eat chilled then stop cooking a little before the consistency you would like to eat your halwa. But if you plan to eat hot, then dry it till the consistency you would want.

**To make instant khoya take a cup of full cream milk powder and add whipping cream enough to get a thick batter kind of consistency. Heat in microwave oven for approx 3 min. Depending on you microwave oven time may vary. When the mixture becomes a little thick and has khoya consistency, it is ready.

***Another way to make khoya - Take full cream milk in a deep bowl. Cook in a microwave oven for 30 min, giving it a stir every 6-7 min.

****Finally one more option – Reduce whole milk on a low flame, stirring intermittently till it reduces to khoya consistency.

Chicken Hara Masala

I loved this chicken curry. That's all I can say!!

A true Hyderabadi delicacy, for the nawabs! Well, since we are no nawabs, regular yogurt is replaced with no fat yogurt, 1 cup almond is reduced to 10 almonds (limiting consumption to 5 almonds per person, which is considered a healthy portion! Feels good, isn't it!) and doing away with cream altogether.  But feel free to add if you want it real creamy.

For those who may want to know what taste and flavors to expect, let me do that quickly as I can't wait to share this awesome recipe with you all. Its nice refreshing and a very mild yet flavorful chicken curry. This is one of those recipes in which, the spices are so few that you begin to wonder if the curry will have any taste/ flavor at all (there are no whole spices too!) and within the first 5-10 min, you will know you are making something special! 

And for those who are curious about food, it's interesting how there is always some science behind food preparation. When the royal chefs/ khansamas prepared food for the royals, they carefully chose ingredients that would go in a specific dish. For this recipe, the heat of the almonds is compensated with the cooling property of the coriander and mint! 

You need:

Chicken – 500 grams 

Fresh coriander leaves/ Cilantro – ½  Cup

Fresh mint leaves – ¼ Cup 

Green chilies - 4 Nos. (adjust to taste)

Coconut, scraped – ¼ Cup

Almonds – 7-8 (peeled and made into a paste)

Yogurt – ½  Cup (I used no fat yogurt)

Salt -to taste

Oil- 3 tablespoons

Onion -  2 medium (thin sliced)

Ginger paste – ½ Tbsp

Garlic paste – ½ Tbsp

Curry leaves – 7-8 nos. 

Coriander powder – 1.5 tablespoon

Cumin powder – ½ tsp

Turmeric – ¼ tsp 

Fresh cream - 1 cup (Optional, I skipped this in my dish as it was creamy enough)

1. Grind the coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilies, scraped coconut, with minimum amount of water to a very fine paste. 
2. Grind almonds to paste.
3. Marinate chicken with 2 tsp of yogurt, salt, a pinch each of turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala. Cover with a cling wrap and keep it in the fridge. 
4. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onions and sauté till brown. The onions should be slightly dark brown(see my note below to cut down on oil consumption). Add ginger paste, garlic paste and sauté for 1-2 min.
5. Add curry leaves and mix well. 
6. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, salt and mix well. Fry for 1 min. 
7. Add the chicken and fry for 2-3 min till it coats all the masala.
8. Add yogurt and mix well. 
9. Add the ground green paste
10. Cover and cook for 5 min on medium high. Make sure you check in between so that it doesn't burn.
11. Add almond paste, mix well, cover and allow to cook on a slightly lower heat for 5 minutes or till chicken is cooked through.  
12. Lastly add fresh cream and mix well. (adding cream is optional, I had skipped in mine :) )
13. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of garam masala, mix well and remove from heat. 
14. Serve hot.

*To peel almonds – In a bowl take enough water to cover the almonds and microwave for 45 seconds. Remove and check if the skin peels off when almonds are pressed. Be careful as the water may be hot. If not ready, heat a little more. Keep checking as different ovens may have different settings and it also depends on how many almonds you are trying to pee. It's important to check every 15-20 secs after the first 45 seconds, as you don't want to dry out the almonds by over cooking. 

**As soon as you tip in the onions, add a little salt. This will sweat the onions, release all the moisture and onions will not soak oil. Once the onions are brown, pull them to the side/ rim of the pan, let the oil ooze out of the onions and collect in the center. Remove this extra oil leaving just a little to cook the remaining ingredients that you will add later. This  makes sure your onions are nicely browned and at the same time no extra oil remains in the curry.

Channar Payesh / Chenna Kheer (Cottage Cheese Pudding)

You know India is not just a big, but a diverse country too, when words like Chennar / Channar / Chenna, paneer, all essentially mean cottage cheese and Payesh, payes and payasam refer to pudding. OK now to the food! :)

Its delicate, its super delicate. Not only in the context of texture or the way it should be handled, but in taste too. Very refreshing almost like a palate cleanser kind of dessert. Everything is in such harmony - the texture, the look, the taste. You wonder if you could compare it to fine wine. 

It would be an amazing dessert for diabetics and the calorie conscious too! You can cut down on calories to bare minimum and still find this dessert delectable. But remember, its not a typical super sweet, syrup-y, sticky, deep fried Indian dessert,  it's 'paneer- ki-kheer'. Made from cheese and should be savored liked fine cheese.

In my personal opinion, its again one of those desserts that would also be enjoyed by people  who are not used to typical Indian sweets or even those who don't have a very sweet tooth.

One request! Please, please, please don't use store bought paneer/cottage cheese. Making fresh paneer is the only way to do it right. Spend extra 15 min making paneer, and you won't regret it! For those who have never made paneer at home, just follow the steps as is, and you won't go wrong!

You need: Serves 4

For paneer/ cottage cheese

Milk – 1 Ltr. (you can use whole milk or 2% , for diabetic use 2% milk)

Lemon juice of 1.5- 2 lemons. (yes, you do require that much, sometimes even more)

For the payesh/ kheer:

Milk – 500 ml

Evaporated milk – 200 ml (Can replace this with another 500 ml of milk but then you will have to reduce this till half in quantity over low flame. Adding evaporated milk makes my job easier and faster too)

Light brown sugar – 2 Tbsp (replace with regular sugar but the brown sugar gives a nice earthy, nutty taste and works as a substitute for date-jaggery which is traditionally used for this recipe, but don't panic, regular sugar works just fine! For diabetics or weight watchers, replace with sugar substitute)

Saffron – 6-7 strands

Chopped dry fruits like Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins and Cashews

Making the paneer:

1. In a deep heavy bottom sauce pan bring milk to a boil. 
2. Now add the lime juice and continue boiling till the whey completely separates from milk solids. You know all the milk has curdled, when milk solids are lumpy and the whey  becomes pale yellowish transparent liquid and has absolutely no milky texture at all.  In fact the whey will almost seem, as if screaming – I have no more left in me!! :). 
3. Pass this over a cheese cloth placed on a colander. 
4. Run cold water over it quickly. This helps in keeping the paneer soft and creamy.
5. Hold the end of the cheese cloth and squeeze out all the water. Just be careful when you do this as the heat of the paneer can sometimes be harsh. 
6. Transfer to another bowl and lightly crumble it with your fingers. Keep aside.

Making the payesh:

1. In a heavy bottom pan (preferably non-stick) bring milk to a boil. Reduce flame to simmer and let it reduce to almost half the quantity. Stir intermittently to avoid sticking to the base and burning. 
2. Optional step for calorie conscious folks or diabetics – Cut down both milk and evaporated milk to half.  Boil on low flame to reduce to 3/4th of the quantity. Add 1 slice of bread (with brown edges removed) that has been blended with a little milk to form a smooth paste. This will give the same texture of reduced milk and the flavor will come from the saffron anyways. This is a nice cheat sheet for most recipes that call for reduced milk !:)
3. Add saffron strands, sugar. Boil for another 7-10 min making sure the milk and sugar doe not stick to the base of the pan. 
4. Add paneer and dry fruits. Stir for 1 min. This payesh thickens a little when chilled. So adjust the consistency at this stage by adding a little milk or evaporated milk. 
5. Switch off, cool and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill for 2-3 hours. 

*The milk in India curdles very fast, but in the US, I have no idea what gives milk so much strength to resist curdling :). It takes 2-3 big lemons to do the job. So don't worry, just add more lemon juice if you are not sure if it has curdled completely. You can always wash it off under water to remove too much lemony taste later.

**Make sure you don't use the same spatula used to make paneer while making payesh. You don't want to make more paneer!! :)

***Unlike most Indian sweets, there is no cardamom used. This is to retain the delicate taste of saffron and paneer. Though I am a cardamom addict in sweets, personally prefer this without cardamom. But then, you are free to use it if you like. 

****While there is a lot of debate over sugar substitute not being good for health,  I use Truvia as a sugar substitute whenever required. Not that I am endorsing this product but it does claim to be made from plant extract. I still need to read up more to know how genuine these claims are. Till then, Truvia it is! 

Gajar halwa- 'Fat-free & Sugar-free'! Oh Yeah!!! ( Carrot Pudding)

Yeah! That's true! And trust me, it tastes decent enough too! In fact made two batches of gajar halwa today to experiment/ compare. Half of the grated carrots were used for nice rich creamy halwa and the other half for diet halwa. And it feels nice to say diet halwa was no disappointment. Of course you can't expect the diet one to beat the real stuff, but can you imagine eating gajar halwa to your heart's content with absolutely NO guilt! This is like dream come true! 

Its super quick, super super low calorie dessert. Don't need many things to make it! You still don't believe me when I say its awesome, do you! ;) I am in awe myself! Try it out!


You can also try the regular Gajar Halwa recipe which has all the richness your guests may be looking for!

You need: (serves 2)

Carrots – 300 grams (grated - use the thick grater in your food processor or hand grater)

Sugar-substitute – 4- 6 Tbsp (adjust to taste)

Non-fat milk powder – 12- 14 Tbsp

Cardamom powder – pinch (since there are very few ingredients, be careful while adding as even a little cardamom gives a lot of flavor)

Butter flavored spray or spread  - Totally optional (just to give it a glossy texture, treat this like make-up to please your eyes! :) )

Dry fruits- Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins, Cashew nuts (totally optional)

1. In a pressure cooker add the grated carrot and a tablespoon of water. Give pressure on high flame. Switch off as soon as the second whistle goes off. Immediately ease the pressure by either lifting the weight or running under cold water. Be careful if you are using a big pressure cooker and the carrots are very few, they may burn by the time the second whistle happens. So depending on the kind of cooker you have adjust the timing.The idea is to quickly get the moisture out of the carrots and not cook them too much. If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can use a wide pan to dry out the carrot moisture. Do not cook with a lid on, that's it! 
2. Now you can either continue cooking in this pressure cooker or transfer to a non-stick pan. I just continue in the pressure cooker to avoid extra cleaning. Just that you will have to be a little extra watchful to not let it burn or stick to the bottom when it dries out. 
3. Once all the moisture has disappeared, add the sugar and milk powder and stir well. 
4. Once it's almost dried up add the cardamom powder and adjust sugar and milk powder to taste. Some like it real sweet, and some don't. 
5. If you feel it looks too crumbly and dry, just dissolve a little milk powder in some water and add. Mix well and adjust the consistency. But this preparation will be kind of crumbly since there is no fat!! No Fat - Ah nice!
6. Spray the butter flavored oil (e.g., PAM)  or the butter flavored vegetable oil spread at this stage and switch off. Mix well. (this is totally option as mentioned before)
7. Adding dry fruits is totally optional.  

* While there is a lot of debate over sugar substitute not being good for health,  I use Truvia as a sugar substitute whenever required. Not that I am endorsing this product but it does claim to be made from plant extract. I still need to read up more to know how genuine these claims are. Till then, Truvia it is! 

Sabudana Khichri/ Upma (Sago/Tapioca Pearl Snack)

 A popular breakfast or snack that has a very nice balanced taste of sweet (sugar), salt, tang (lime juice) and heat (green chilies). As you bite into this crunchy yet moist savory dish, all these tastes unfold one by one.

There is one doubt I have always had - why is it called khichdi (gooey sticky porridge), and why not upma (dry granular porridge) because, both preparation and texture is more like upma. Never mind, it tastes good and that's what matters.

In different states of India, its prepared differently. In fact it is a very popular dish eaten during religious fasting. If you are making this for someone who is fasting, then skip the lime juice and replace salt with rock salt (sendha namak). As I write this I realise 'food for fasting' is a complete opposite of 'fast food'! Anyways, that topic for another day, now for the recipe!

You need:

Sabudana (Tapioca/Sago) – 1 Cup (when soaked plumps up to 1.5 – 2 times. So based on that you can decide how much you want to use, please follow soaking instructions to get best and foolproof results)


Powdered Roasted Peanuts – ½ Cup (You can adjust this to your liking, but it tastes good with lots since it makes it crunchy, don't make a very fine paste, make a crumbly kind of powder)

Whole roasted peanuts – 8-10 nos.

Lime juice – 1.5-2 Tbsp (you can adjust this to taste, traditionally its high on tang)


Sugar – 1-1.5 tsp (you can adjust this to taste, traditionally its has enough sugar to balance the tang from the lime juice and heat from the chili)


Oil – 1 Tbsp (typically 2 Tbsp would be used but I tend to go a little shy on this)

Ghee – 1 tsp (optional but does make a big difference)

Cumin Seeds – 1/4 tsp

Salt – to taste


Green Chillies – 3 nos (finely chopped, adjust to taste, though traditionally its made pretty hot)

Potato – 1 medium (boiled peeled and cut into small cubes)

Fresh shredded coconut – 1/3 Cup

Fresh green coriander/ Cilantro – handful (needs generous helping and use only the leaves)

Black pepper powder – ¼ tsp (optional, check my notes in the bottom to read why)

1. Wash sabudana for 10-15 sec. Soak it in water completely immersed for 30 min. After 30 min, drain out all the water. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 6-7 hours. Make sure you keep it covered at all times, else the sabudana will dry out and get chewy while cooking. If possible gently mix the sabudana with a fork without damaging them every 1-2 hours. This is not mandatory but keeps the sabudana moist uniformly.
2. Once the sabudana is all plumped up, mix salt, sugar, lime juice and powdered peanuts. Remember you can always go a little conservative with sugar and lime juice at this stage and add later if you feel the need. These measurements are adjusted as per my taste.
3. In a nonstick pan, heat oil and ghee. You can always add ghee instead of oil for better taste. But I have mixed the two to cut down on ghee and still have that fragrance.
4. Add cumin seeds. Once they splutter add green chilies. Fry for a min.
5. Add sabudana mixture to the pan. Mix well. Reduce flame to low, cover and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add shredded coconut and the potatoes. Fry for another min. Mix gently as the the sabudana can break easily. Adjust salt, lime and sugar at this stage.
7. Cover and cook till the sabudana is cooked through. The best way to judge if its cooked well is when all the sabudana beads become translucent and none of them remain opaque white. This process may take anywhere between 7-10 min depending on how much moisture they had while soaking. Remember, cover and cook but stir intermittently so that it doesn't stick to the bottom and burn. You can always sprinkle very little water in between to add a little moisture to cook. But just sprinkle else they will get sticky and gooey. Last this you want is to chew gum after all that effort! :)
8. Add whole peanuts. I add them in the end as I prefer them crunchy and not the soft steamed feel they get, while cooking with lid on. Mix them 
9. Add coriander leaves and serve hot.

*There might be many ways to soak the sabudana, but this has been a fool-proof method for me. It gives perfect moisture to sabudana without making it too soft or gooey.

**Are you are wondering if it makes sense to buy one full packet of sabudana (the Indian store here sells nothing less than a 2 lb pack, smart!!) just for this one odd khichdi? Well good news, I will soon be posting recipes for yummy sabudana kheer, sabudana vada and a few more recipes that call for sabudana. So go ahead and pick that sabudana packet this time!

*** The starchiness of tapioca is complimented by pepper. Try adding a pinch to a small portion. And if you like the taste, go ahead add to all. I like mine with a hint of pepper.  

Nargisi Kofta (Chicken and Egg Curry)

It's funny how some dishes can be inspiration from music! To cut the long story short, I was trying to google this old Bollywood number - Ae Nargise Mastana. Some typo and there you go..Google suggests Nargisi Kofta!! The music hunt stopped right there and I was busy looking up for all the ingredients in my pantry to make this Mughlai dish. 

While the traditional recipe calls for almond paste, cream and a lot of oil/ ghee for deep frying and cooking, unfortunately, there was no birthday celebration or party tonight. So order of the day was to get a nice rich tasting kofta curry without the almond paste, cream and deep frying. Trust me, this recipe will take your taste buds for a ride. It's difficult to believe, this recipe could be so tasty and creamy, without all those forbidden ingredients! 

You need:

For the Egg Kofta :

Chicken keema (mince) – approx. 250 grams for coating 3 eggs (egg size keema ball for every egg is a good way to measure how much keema you need. And I used lean mince)

Besan/ gram flour – 1.5 Tbsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Red Chili powder – ½ tsp

Salt – ½ tsp

Eggs – 3 nos.

Corn flour – 1 Tbsp

Oil – 3-4 Tbsp

For the Curry:

Onions – 2 large (thin sliced)

Salt – to taste

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Onion - 1 medium (fine chopped)
Ginger - 1 tsp (grated)
Garlic - 1 tsp (grated)
Mint - 1 Tbsp (fine chopped)

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Red Chili powder – ½ tsp

Garam Masala – 1 tsp

Bay leaf – 1

Cinnamon – 1 inch

Green cardamom – 4-5 (will be used in parts)

Black cardamom – 2  (will be used in parts)

Sugar – ½ tsp

Oil – 2 Tbsp (you can reduce this too, will be used in parts)

Poppy Seeds – 2 tsp (optional if you are going really healthy)

Yogurt – 2 Tbsp (should not be sour)

Tomato Paste – ¾ tsp (adjust to taste)

Kasuri Methi/ Dried fenugreek leaves – ½ tsp (substitute with fine shredded mint leaves)

To make egg kofta:

1. Boil eggs – In a pan bring water to a boil, gently immerse the eggs. Cover and boil for 3 min. Now switch off the heat. Let the pan stay with lid covered just like that for 15 min. Rinse under cold water and remove the shell. 
2. In a bowl add the chicken keema, besan, onion, garlic, ginger, mint, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, salt, eggs, corn flour. Mix well with hand as if kneading a dough.
3. Divide the dough in 3 equal parts (since you are making 3 eggs). As I mentioned earlier, to coat one egg, take one egg size keema ball.
4. Damp your hands with little water since this stops the keema from sticking to your palms. Place the keema ball on your palm. Now flatten the keema ball using the finger of the other hand uniformly into a circular thin disc. Flatten enough so that when you place an egg in the centre of the keema and fold the sides, the egg can be covered with the keema from all sides.
5. Heat 2-3 Tbsp of oil a non stick pan. Gently place this keema-egg roll and cook till golden brown on all sides. 
6. Remove from the pan and reserve.

Making the kofta gravy:

1. In a wide pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil.  Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, 2 green and 1 black cardamoms seeds. Fry for 30 sec.
2. Now add onion, salt, poppy seeds, ginger chunks and garlic cloves. Adding salt as soon as you add onions helps in sweating the onions and stops them from soaking the oil.  (you may add garlic pods without chopping as they will anyways be blended with onions later). 
3. Once the onion is golden brown, push them to the side of the pan. All the extra oil will ooze out which can be used to cook the gravy. Once cool transfer the onion mixture to a blender. 
4. Blend the onions with the yogurt to a very fine paste. 
5. In the remaining oil add the remaining green and black cardamoms. Now add sugar and fry till it caramelizes, ie; becomes golden brown. 
6. Now add the blended onion paste. Fry for 4-5 min.
7. Add turmeric, coriander, cumin and red chili powder and garam masala. Fry for 2-3 min. 
8. Add tomato paste and cook for 1-2 min.
9. Now add the egg koftas and mix gently. Cover and cook for 8-10 min or till the inside of the keema ball is cooked.
10. Crush kasuri methi powder between your palms and sprinkle on the kofta curry once done. (If you are a cream lover, go ahead, drizzle that lovely silky stuff!! )
11. Serve hot with flaky parathas!

*If you don't have tomato paste or puree, give a gentle cut using a knife on the tomatoes to only cut the outer thin skin. This is done so that the it becomes easier to peel off the skin of the tomato after blanching it. In boiling water add the tomatoes and boil for 2 min. When you see the skin is peeling off, remove from heat. Peel off the skin. Remove the seeds from inside and blend. You can now use this tomato puree to make a  smooth creamy gravy.

Lahori Chana Dal

One of my friend's who has her origins from Lahore (Pakistan) gave me this recipe. There is something very nice about the tangy taste you get in this kind of preparation. The chana dal doesn't get gooey, retains its texture and taste. When you are looking for a dal dish, that is not rich (dal makhni, ma-ki-dal etc.) and yet tastes different, go for this variation. I won't promise a whole new taste that you would have never imagined, but give it a try, its refreshing . Awesome with Paratha (flaky Indian bread) on one of those days when you want to eat simple but delicious comfort food. 

You need:

(Serves 2)

Chana Dal/ Bengal Gram – ½ Cup (soaked in water for 30 min)

Coriander powder – ¾ tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/3 tsp

Red chili powder – ½ tsp

Yellow onion – ½ medium size (I have never made with red ones since I was told to make with yellow)

Garlic – 2-3 cloves

Ginger – ½ inch

Tomato – 1 (medium to large)

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp 

Green chilies – 2-3

Salt 

Fresh coriander leaves/ Cilantro – Handful

Lemon juice – ½ Tbsp (adjust to your taste)

1. In a pressure cooker add chana dal, 1 cup of water and ½ tsp salt. On high flame, cook till 3 whistles. Let the pressure ease on its own. You want dal that is cooked but not too soft and gooey. (this works for my pressure cooker, you may want to check for yours) 
2. In a blender make fine paste of onion, ginger, garlic, tomato and 1 green chili. Add ¼ cup of water if required.
3. In a heavy bottom pan, without adding any oil cook this paste. 
4. Once the water content reduces to half add turmeric, coriander powder, red chili powder and salt to taste. Cook till all the water evaporates and the masala starts sticking to the base slightly. 
5. Now add oil and cook well. The oil should start separating from the masala. Usually takes 3-4 min on medium high heat.
6. Tip in chana dal and cumin seeds. Let it cook for 2-3 min. 
7. Now add the remaining 2 green chilies and lemon juice. Cook for a min or two.
8. In a separate pan, in minimum oil fry ginger juliennes. Add to the dal. Remove from heat.
9. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with hot parathas.

Bharwan Karela (Stuffed bitter gourd/ Bitter melon)

I am sure a lot of us would have never eaten karela/ bitter gourd out of choice during childhood! Maybe even now!! :) But this is one preparation that will change your perception about karela. For some strange reason, I have always loved this vegetable. But stuffed variety a little more than the simple stir fry. The bitterness in this preparation reduces drastically, but if you are the kind who absolutely hates the idea of  even the slightest bitterness of karela, marinate it with one tablespoon lime juice and a teaspoon of salt for an hour. Squeeze out all the juice from karela and rinse under hot water. The karela would have transformed as if  straight out of a cosmetic surgeons clinic! 

Would recommend you to try this recipe without marinating the karela and use a little extra oil instead. All the bitterness will  be gone and you will see this 'generally hated' veggie called karela in a new light. :)

You need:

Karela – 2 (scrape the rough surface outside to smoothen it, this will help even browning)

Mustard Oil – 3 Tbsp

Onion seeds/ Nigella seeds/ Kalonji – ½ tsp

Onion – ½ medium size (thinly sliced)

Salt – to taste

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Ajwain/ Carrom seeds – ½ tsp

Fennel seed powder – ½ tsp

Cumin powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – ½ tsp

Aamchoor / Dry mango powder – 1 tsp

Red chili powder - ½ tsp

Besan/ Gram flour – 2 Tbsp

1. Slit the karela on one side so as to form a pocket to stuff the filling. Carefully remove all the seeds and flesh to form a hollow space. Don't discard the seeds and flesh as it will be used for preparing the stuffing.
2. In a non stick pan heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add onion seeds and ajwain. 
3. Once they splutter add onion, turmeric, coriander, red chili, fennel, cumin powder, aamchoor. Fry till onions become translucent.
4. Now add the besan and roast till the raw taste of besan is gone. This takes about 1-2 min on low flame. Transfer to another bowl since you don't want the besan to burn from the heat of the pan. 
5. Once the stuffing has cooled down adjust salt. It should be on slightly higher side as there is no salt in karela. 
6. Now stuff the karela with filling. Stuff as much as you can, however you should still be able to close the slit. 
7. Using a thread tie the karela all over so that the slit doesn't open and stuffing spills, when you fry them.
8. Heat oil in a non stick pan. Add karela and gently stir to coat oil evenly. Cover the lid and cook.  Intermittently stir gently to brown all sides evenly. 
9. When you see karela is dark brown on all sides uniformly and the skin as becomes soft, you will know its cooked well. 
10. Now cook the karela with lid open to make it a little crispy on all sides. 
11. Serve hot. 

*You can see the way I have used thread to tie the karela. Please follow the same style to avoid the masala spilling out while frying. 

Arabian Night - An All Mediterranean Dinner

The Mediterranean dinner menu consisted of:

Appetizer :: Hummus 

A creamy chickpea dip served with crispy Pita bread or nachos

Entree :: Chicken Shawarma

Pita bread filled with grilled chicken, grilled eggplant, garlic based sauce, pickled vegetables like cucumber, gherkins, (fresh tomatoes and lettuce- optional)

Side Dish 1 ::  Mutabbal (Baba Ghanoush)

A roasted eggplant based garlic infused creamy dip

Side Dish 2 :: Tzatziki 

Cucumber, yogurt dip infused with lemon zest

Dessert :: Baklava 

A rich, pastry made of layers of phyllo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup 

Wine :: Sherry - Palo Cortado 

This aperitif compliments olives, nuts, meatballs

Post Dinner :: Darjeeling  Tea and a Majid Majidi movie

Relaxing tea with an uplifting movie :)

Other options:

*Add crispy nachos with the hummus 

or 

Eat hummus with vegetable sticks (healthier option) 

**Cut leftover phyllo sheets from baklava in squares, big enough to cover the cups of the muffin tray. Make several such cups by placing a layer of 2-3 phyllo sheets and gently pressing them to take shape of the cup. Now bake this at 350 F till it becomes crisp and golden brown. Fill with dips of your choice, like hummus, mutabbal, tzatzik.