Chicken Pulao (g.f)

This one-pot meal has everything one could possibly want. It’s got looks, taste, flavour, nutrition, satisfaction and satiation. This is a Bollywood movie of a recipe and all too easy to make, to eat, to love what’s more the leftovers eaten the next day are just as delicious if not better.

The ingredients are bone-in chicken, onions, tomatoes, ginger-garlic, green chilies, vegetables of choice, yoghurt, coriander powder, turmeric, salt to taste, garam masala, black cardamom, cloves, green cardamom, cinnamon, cumin seeds, bay leaves and rice.

The ingredients are a bit much but they’re necessary for this recipe to come a full circle.

In a large pot of choice add some ghee and just as it melts add in the whole spices.

Just as the spices become fragrant add in the thinly sliced onions and the slit green chillies.

Add some salt and stir together. We want the onions to soften and colour slightly

Just as the onions get a slight tan add in the chicken pieces and the ginger garlic.

add in the turmeric powder and stir together to combine.

At this stage we want the onions to infuse their flavour with the ginger garlic and chicken and for that, we need to let them all cook together before proceeding. Adding a bit of water prevents the onions and chicken from sticking. Cover the pot and let everything simmer together for 5-8 minutes. Keep checking to see that nothing is sticking to the pot and add some more water if needed. This step is absolutely essential as it fuses all the flavours from the spices into this dish.

After some time you will see all the onions have cooked down to nothing save their delicious flavour. Now add in the tomatoes and the spices that is coriander powder and garam masala.

Stir to combine and add in the yogurt. Mix well and once again cover and let everything cook for another 5 minutes on a low flame.

Now we can add in the vegetables and the rice.

Add some more salt and water and let everything come to a boil before finally covering it and lowering the heat to its lowest possible setting and cooking for about 10-15 minutes or until such time as all the water has evaporated and the rice is cooked.

Once cooked let the pot stay covered for a few minutes before serving with some onions and chopped coriander.

This recipe once you’ve assembled all the ingredients is so much fun to cook, as the alchemy of all the flavors unfolds and everything turns into this amazingly unmatched one pot dish which is a must try!

Recipe ingredients

Bone in chicken: 500g
Vegetables of choice : carrots, cauliflower, peas etc 200g
Basmati rice : 200g
Onion: 1 large
Garlic cloves: 5-6
Ginger: 2 inch piece
green chillies: 2-3
Tomato: 1 small
Yoghurt: 50g
Ghee: 40g 
Salt: to taste ( I used 2 tsp)
Water: to cook the rice (I use twice the amount of rice)
 --
Whole Spices
Black cardamom: 1-2 
Cloves: 2-3
Green cardamom: 3-5
Bay leaves: 1 large
Cinnamon: 1 stick
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
--
Powdered spices
Turmeric: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 2 tsp
Garam masala: 1 tsp

Recipe instructions

Soak the rice at least 30 minutes before cooking.

Thinly slice the onions and green chillies. Crush or mince together the garlic cloves and ginger. Chop the tomatoes into small cubes.

In a large pot on medium flame heat the ghee and add in the spices just as the ghee melts. Stir them together until fragrant and add in the sliced onions and green chilies with some salt. Cook the onions until softened and just beginning to turn golden.

Add in the chicken pieces with ginger garlic and turmeric. Stir and cover the pot and let it cook down for about 5-8 minutes on medium low flame. Add some water if necessary and keep checking to ensure that nothing burns. This step will not only cook the chicken but also fuse its flavours with the spices.

After about eight minutes add in the tomatoes, remaining dried spices which are coriander and garam masala and yogurt and stir together to combine everything before once again letting it all cook for about five more minutes.

Now add in the vegetables, soaked rice, some more salt and water. Let it all come to a bubble before slowly cooking it all covered on a very low flame for about 10-15 minutes.

Check after the 8 minute mark to see if the water has evaporated and the rice is cooked.

Once done, keep the pot covered and let it rest for a few minutes before serving with onions and some chopped coriander or absolutely nothing because this pulao is so delicious on its own you barely need anything else with it.

Enjoy

Tomato chutney (vegan, g.f)

This multi faceted chutney almost deserves to be a side dish because that’s how utterly good and useful it is. If you’re not using it to enhance everyday foods to oomph their taste then perhaps try using it as a spread on toasts, as a topping on boiled rice, as a dip for your chips or fries or even frittatas. This chutney works wth everything and keeps well for a week in the fridge and I love to have an abundance of it because how delicious is every savoury snack eaten with this chutney? It is a revelation indeed.

The ingredients are tomatoes, tamarind pulp, green chillies, cashews, garlic, ginger, asafetida, dried red chillies, curry leaves, mustard seeds and cumin seeds.

The chutney needs to be cooked and the ingredients are simple and not as excessive as they might appear here.

Soak the tamarind pulp in hot water and chop the green chillies and tomatoes.

If you’re using ready to use tamarind pulp out of a packet then use it just as.

Heat 2 tbsps oil and add in the dried red chillies with cumin and mustard seeds. Stir around and let them come to a splutter.

Once the seeds gets cracking add in the ginger and garlic, green chillies, cashews and the tamarind pulp.

Stir around until well mixed. Add in the curry leaves and let eveything get a slight bit of colour.

Tumble in the tomatoes

Stir, add salt and let them cook until they’ve reduced. If the mixture feels dry, add in some water, I added half a cup of water to help the tomates turn into a mush, because a mush is what we need.

Let the tomatoes cook down and disintegrate completely before finally turning this tomato stew into a chutney. You can let this cook for longer to get a more enhanced taste. I let mine cook for about 10 more minutes.

Let the cooked tomatoes rest until not very hot, and blend.

And finaly here we are!

Recipe ingredients

Tomatoes: 4 to 5 medium sized
Nuts: (cashews or almonds) 30-40g
Cumin seeds: 2 tsp
Asafetida: 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds: 2tsp
Curry leaves: a handful
Garlic: 6-8 cloves
Ginger: 2 inch piece
Green chillies: 2 to 3
Dried red chillies: 2-4
Oil: 2 tbsp
Salt: to taste (I used about 3 tsp)
Tamarind pulp: 50g
Water: 100mls (if needed)

Recipe Instructions

Heat oil in a pan and add in the dried red chillies, mustard and cumin seeds until spluttering. Immediatey add ginger and garlic along with green chillies and stir around. Add the nuts along with the tamarind pulp and curry leaves and let it all cook together for a few minutes until fragarant. Tumble in the chopped tomatoes, add salt and cook until all the tomatoes have turned to a mush. Add some water if the mixture feels dry.

Once the tomatoes have cooked down, cover the pot and let cook for another ten minutes before turning off the flame and letting the mixture rest for a few minutes before blending into a chutney.

Once completely cool, store in an airtight jar. It will keep well for a week, if it lasts that long.

Chicken tikka salad

This summer had me realizing all my salad dreams. I don’t know how it came to be but I found myself wanting to eat salad almost everyday for lunch and thusly creating all my favourite preparations into salad forms. Maybe it’s the crunch that I wanted or perhaps the effects of the extreme heatwave and unforgiving humidity had me needing all that was abundant and high in water content. Whatever the case maybe, I am delighted to have actually munched my way through hundreds of lettuce heads this year.

This chicken tikka salad is no different. Abundant with fantastical spices of a traditional tikka and light in its delivery, laid on a bed of raw vegetables, this salad has it all, that is the oomph of traditional flavours with a zingy dressing that won’t make you miss the naan.

Of course there are days when these succulent pieces of chicken wrapped in naan or stuffed between a couple slices of bread do the needful, but on days when you’re looking for something light and yet special this tikka salad is an uncompromising substitute.

the ingredients are simple. Chicken, yogurt, cumin, pepper, ginger and garlic paste, red chilly powder, fenugreek leaves, lemon. yogurt and your favourite vegetables for salad.

Slice the chicken into bite sized pieces. In a bowl marinade the chicken with lemon, fenugreek leaves, ginger garlic paste, cumin, pepper, red chilli powder and yogurt. Add some oil and mix.

Once mixed, cover and let rest for at least ten minutes before cooking.

In the meantime we can make some dressing for the salad with some yogurt, black pepper, cumin powder, salt, garam masala and lemon.

Prep the vegetables for the salad by cleaning and chopping them into bite sized pieces. You can use whatever vegetables you like to eat raw.

I like to grill the chicken for tikka only because I love the stripes but it’s not needed. A regular skillet works just as fine if not better. Cook the chicken on both sides until well cooked and slightly charred for the smoky resonance.

The vegetables I’ve used here are lettuce, onions, carrots and cucumber. It’s really up to individual preference here. I have tried substituting shredded cabbage for lettuce and it works just as well.

Drizzle the yogurt dressing on top and enjoy.

This is a simple recipe with such complex flavours that you’d never realize it took you barely thirty minutes to put together this fabulous meal.

Chicken tikka salad

Ingredients

Chicken - 200-350g
Yogurt- 50g
Fenugreek leaves- 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder- 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon- 2 tsp
Cumin powder- 1 tsp
Black pepper- 1 tsp
Oil-2 tsp

-----

For the dressing

Yogurt- 1 tbsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
black pepper- 1/4 tsp
salt to taste
Lemon- 1/2 tsp

--
for the salad

lettuce- 1 head
carrots- 1 medium
Cucumber- 1 medium
Onion- 1 small
Coriander leaves

Recipe instructions

Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and mix into a bowl with lemon, fenugreek leaves, dried spices, yogurt, ginger garlic paste, salt and oil. Mix well and let rest at room temperature for ten minutes.

In a small bowl mix together the yogurt, garam masala, cumin powder, black pepper, salt and lemon to prepare dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Wash, clean and prepare the vegetables by choppin into bite sized pieces.

Heat a grill or skillet and lay the marinated chicken pieces. Cook on both sides for at least 5 minutes or until completely cooked and slightly charred and smoky. Let cool for a few minutes before adding to the vegetables.

Lay the cooked chicken over vegetables and drizzle with the yogurt dressing.

Serve.

Vegetable lentil coconut curry (vegan)

This bowl of lentil curry which is bit of a twist on traditional dahl makes for such a cozy and filling weekday dinner that can be enjoyed both with rice or just as soup and is not only comforting but also nutritious and easy, not to mention completely plant based and unbelievably delicious.

This can be tailor made to suit your taste buds. It can be made spicier or more sombre and is a great way to clear the crisper drawer of any lingering forgotten vegetables.

All you need are some vegetables of choice and here I have beans, carrots, spinach and pepper along with the very essential flavour base that’s made of onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Also soaked lentils, coconut milk and turmeric, coriander powder, garam masala, red chilli powder and cumin seeds.

chop the vegetables into bite sized pieces and boil with soaked lentils until the lentils and vegetables are soft. Do not boil spinach along with the veg and lentils.

Chop the tomatoes, onions, ginger and garlic and keep aside.

In a large pan heat some coconut oil

Add in the cumin seeds and let them splutter

add the onions

with some salt and cook until golden brown.

add the ginger and garlic

and cook until it no longer smells of raw garlic.

Now add the tomatoes followed by spices that are coriander powder, turmeric, garam masala and red chilli powder.

Stir well to combine and keep stirring until the tomatoes are cooked.

Now add the coconut milk and bring to a boil

and add in the spinach if using.

The curry at this stage will be quite thick and you might need to add water.

Let it simmer and come to a boil and this will really draw out the flavour from the coconut milk.

Add the cooked lentil and veg. I might have cooked mine too long but that’s fine.

Add some salt because the curry will need it.

I also ended up adding some more chilli powder because I like this curry a bit spicy.

Let it simmer for a few minutes before turning off the flame and putting a lid on to let it rest for a few minutes before serving.

Depending on how thick or thin you want this curry water can be added.

Serve hot with flatbreads or rice or just help yourself to a large bowl and let it nourish and heal you this winter.

Ingredients

Red lentils : 60g
Yellow lentils: 100g
Coconut milk: 250g
Tomatoes : 200g (2 medium)
Onion: 150g (1 medium)
garlic and ginger chopped: 1 tbsp each
Chopped veg: 350-400g
Coconut oil: 1 tbsp
Water: 700mls
Spinach: 100g (optional)
Salt to taste

Spices
Cumin seeds, red chilli powder, turmeric : 1 tsp
Coriander powder, garam masala: 2 tsp

Recipe instructions:

Soak the lentils overnight or at least 3-4 hours before cooking. Add the chopped vegetables to the lentils and cook until softened. Leave out the spinach if using.

For the flavour base dice the tomatoes, onions, ginger and garlic and keep aside.

In a large pan heat some coconut oil and add the cumin seeds until they splutter. Add chopped onions and some salt and cook until the onions are golden brown in colour. Add ginger and garlic and cook until the garlic no longer smells raw. (roughly a minute). Add in the chopped tomatoes along with the spices and cook until the tomatoes have softened.

Pour in the coconut milk and let it simmer before finally adding in the spinach if using. Add some water to thin out the curry and some more salt.

Let it come to a bubble before finally adding in the cooked lentils and vegetables.

Put a lid on the pan and let it gently simmer for a few minutes.

Lastly check for seasonings and add more salt or other spices as needed.

If it’s too thick then you can add some water but let it come to a boil again after that.

Serve hot.

Black pepper chicken curry

The first time I ever had this chicken curry was at my brother’s house and he’d tweaked several version over the years to find a perfect format to cook this delicacy because one bite and I was hooked, so lush and delectable was this particular chicken curry that I had to ask him for the recipe which he most graciously provided and so here I am, trying to do justice by cooking it exactly as he’d asked me, because the point of this whole recipe is the different stages and the precise ways of cooking.

The gravy is a rich velvety emulsion of tomatoes, onions and spices and the consistency can vary according to what one likes to eat it with. Thicker gravy for when you eat it with bread and a bit thinner if eaten with rice, though I must say that it’s rice which brings out, almost helps to bloom each flavour of this curry. Rice provides, in my opinion, a better base than bread for this chicken curry and so I’ve cooked this accordingly.

Spices for chicken marinade. Turmeric, Black pepper and some lemon.

add spices to the chicken

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squeeze in the lemon and throw in the rind while marinating and add some oil.

Rub the spices into the chicken and cover to let marinate for an hour.

To make onion gravy, which is really the base of this curry we need a bay leaf, a cinnamon stick, some cardamom seeds sans green shell, a few cloves, some garlic and onions which will go into a blender to get a smooth spice enriched onion paste.

So we have an onion paste made with all the spices and some crushed tomatoes which I made by blending one large tomato.

To make the curry, add some oil to a wok or pan of choice and let it come to near smoking, after which add the now marinated chicken and let sear boldly on one side until deliciously bronzed before turning.

Let it sear on the second size and bear with me while I do this because it might come as something odd, but we will make the curry in the wok with the chicken still in it instead of fishing it out.

Add the onion paste and cook continuously taking care that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.

the onion paste should begin thickening after a few minutes

Once thickened add garam masala, salt and plenty of black pepper and stir well to combine

Once all the spices are mixed in add the crushed tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until you reach a thickened gravy consistency

Once the tomatoes have cooked in with the onions add some chicken stock or water.

Little by little while continuously stirring

Add some more black pepper and stock/water until you reach the desired consistency and let cook.

Add a half teaspoon of sugar to balance out the tastes. This won’t sweeten the curry. Cook and check for seasonings. Add salt if needed and let bubble away covered for at least 5 minutes.

Serve Hot!

Ingredients

For the marinate 

Chicken: 300g
Black pepper: 1 tsp
Turmeric: 1tsp
Oil: 1/2tsp
Lemon: 2 tsp

Marinate the chicken with the spices, lemon and oil and let rest for an hour or overnight in the fridge.

Ingredients for curry

Chicken: 300g bone in 
Cicken stock or water: 250-400mls
Onion: 1 large or 2 small
Garlic cloves: 3-4
Bay leaf: 1
Cloves:2-3
Cinnamon stick: 1
Caradmom seeds: from 2-3 pods 
Black pepper: 2-3 tsps
Garam masala: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar: 1/2 tsp
Tomatoes: 1 large or 2 small

Blend together the onions, cinnamon stick, garlic cloves, bay leaf and cardamom pods to a paste and crush tomatoes separately.

Note: use only the seeds and not the green shells of the cardamom pods.

Recipe instructions

In a large wok heat oil and add the marinated chicken to sear on both sides. Once each side is evenly brown add the onion paste and cook until golden and fragrant.

Sprinkle in garam masala, salt and a teaspoon of black pepper and cook for a minute before adding in the crushed tomatoes and cook until gravy is thickened and the tomatoes aren’t raw anymore.

Add in the stock or water in small batches stirring it in continuously to homogenize with the mixture until the desired consistency has reached and add in the remaining black pepper and sugar and let the curry bubble away another 5 minutes covered.

Finally check for seasonings and add salt if needed.

Serve over a bed of hot rice or with flatbreads.

Instant chilli pickle

For when you want to add a little something-something to a dish that doesn’t taste just there yet or feels flat or maybe you just want a tiny spice kick and spicy texture to enhance and complement the food then this is the pickle of instant dreams because it adds that fresh zing and unique flavour that you could have been looking for but didn’t know where to find.

It’s quick in that it’s instant and depending on the chillies you put it can vary from anything naughtily mild to demonic hot.

Doesn’t hurt that it’s full of ingredients really good for you and how they come to marry in perfect harmony to form this delicious pickle.

Chop and dice the green chillies into smaller than bite-sized pieces and remove any seeds if you want. These chillies though large in size are rather tame in taste, in fact, they’re almost sweet and so I didn’t much bother with deseeding them.

Crush the yellow and black mustard seeds till some are fine dust and some still intact.

Find a suitable bowl for mixing the pickle.

Add crushed mustard seeds to the chopped chillies

followed by salt and turmeric

In with apple cider vinegar

mustard oil

and lemon

give everything a thorough mix

until spicily combined

This is ready to be eaten immediately. Alternatively, you can cover and keep for a day for the flavours to mingle and mellow before transferring to a clean jar. This will keep well for several weeks or you can transfer to a fridge after a few days.

(Note: the flavours will intensify with each day and the mustard seeds lend a pungent spiciness of its own which is most desirable in such pickles.)

You can add this to rice, slices of bread and anything you feel could do with a boost. I have tried mixing it with boiled pasta during days of lazy inactivity and loved every morsel of it.

Ingredients

Chillies: 250g

Lemon: 1

salt: 2tsp

Turmeric powder: 1tsp

Mustard seeds (crushed): 30g (you can use either all black or all yellow or a mixture of both)

Mustard oil: 70mls (or use olive oil if mustard oil is unavailable)

Apple cider vinegar: 60mls

Recipe instructions

Crush the mustard seeds until some are pulverized and some whole. Chop chillies into small pieces and add to a bowl.

Mix in the mustard seeds, turmeric, salt, oil, vinegar and lemon juice.

Cover and keep for a day or decant into a clean jar to be eaten immediately.

Note: The addition of vinegar increases its shelf life and this pickle can be stored for several weeks, however, you can store this in the refrigerator after a week as well.

Garam masala

I know, I know, a garam masala recipe when you can just buy one in a pinch so why bother etc, but here’s the thing, this isn’t just any other garam masala. No sir! this is garam masala with its party hat on. It’s the kind of all-inclusive, multi-purpose, dangerously fragrant aromatic that should replace any scented candle inside your home. This deep earth coloured spice melange has a disco-like quality to it which makes each dish that it’s added to get up and sing in full swing and make your taste buds dance.

The ingredients list though long isn’t out of the ordinary to make something so extraordinary. Black and green cardamom pods, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried bay leaves, star anise, black peppercorns and cloves.

Ordinarily, you’d only need put these spices in a processor and whizz to a powder but to amplify the flavours and have them announce themselves on a megaphone we need to roast these a bit, only until the oils of all the spices wake up and lose their subtlety. A few minutes on medium-low heat on a hot pan until the combined fragrance hits you. Steadily stir to keep them from catching.

Once they’ve cooled down we can grind them to a fine powder. It’s best to do it in short burst of pulses.

There shouldn’t be any lumps.

Transfer to an airtight container.

and add it to curries, gravies, roasts, cakes.

Ingredients

Cinnamon sticks: 8gms

Black cardamom pods: 5g

Star anise: 1 in nos

Dried bay leaves: 4-5 in nos

Nutmeg: 1/2 Tsp

Black peppercorns: 15gms

Green cardamom pods: 10gms

Cloves: 10gms

Recipe instructions

Roast the whole spices on a medium-low flame for a minute or two until fragrant. Keep stirring to avoid burning and let them cool.

Process to a fine powder and store in an airtight container.

This multipurpose spice blend can be used in many sweet and savoury dishes for a spicy kick.

Love letters.

How could you ever go wrong eating something so melodiously lyrical and so dramatically picturesque? These bountiful babies are rather romantically called love letters, and why not! Gracefully golden and poetically charged as they are, these fattened cigars are also tastefully sublime.

These happen to be a very popular Keralan tea time snack, of which rather embarrassingly though, I got to know of very recently through a dear friend I met on twitter called Febin Mathew, who also happens to be a fantastic writer and runs a wonderfully whimsical blog called (epicfaildotcom.wordpress.com) or you can check out his writings here

Love letters, as gorgeous as they sound are really just thin crepes that are filled in with coconuts and sugar.

the ingredients are simple enough. Sugar, desiccated coconut. flour, egg and cardamom pods.

this recipe requires cardamom powder and its a good practice to make some from scratch rather than buying the dried up bottled stuff. All you really need is a mortar and pestle.

to make a somewhat fine powder.

into a bowl, dump in your flour

crack in the egg and get mixing.

somewhere here I realized I should have used a bigger bowl, but a bit of mess never hurt anyone. we need a thin batter and an egg alone won’t thin it.

add in water, a little at a time to make a thin consistency. I ended up adding about 100mls of water, that is about 6-7 tablespoons

this is the consistency we are looking for. It should be thin and pourable, with no visible lumps.

add in about 3/4ths of the cardamom powder. Mix well and keep aside.

now this step is entirely optional and not a part of the authentic recipe, but I like to do it. Take a good heaping tablepsoon of vanilla sugar.

and half the sugar of this recipe and put it in a pot over slow flame.

until it very lightly caramelizes and just starts turning golden.

at which point we add in the remaining cardamom powder.

and all the desiccated coconut

turn off the flame and stir it all in. Put this mixture in a grinder and grind it for a couple of seconds.

and you’ll get this. It’ll have faint whiffs of caramel, vanilla and cardamom.

mix in the remaining sugar and reserve for stuffing.

put your pan on a low medium flame and add a dollop of butter/ghee. I’ve added ghee as per the recipe.

tilt it well to coat evenly.

take a ladle full of your batter.

gently on to the pan

spread as thinly as possible.

it will start cooking the moment it touches the surface

flip to cook the other side.

filling these crepes is fairly simple.

put a good heaping mound in the middle

fold over from the top and from the sides, like so

and like so.

and finally fold over to make neat little packages.

arrange on platter of choice.

sprinkle on some castor sugar and sigh a little, because this might be your only chance at receiving any love letters, and devour them with milk, coffee, tea or just plain.

this is what the insides look like.

Ingredients

all purpose flour : 100g or 3/4 cup

cardamom powder: 2 teaspoons

sugar: 80g or 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

desiccated coconut: 100g

water: 100mls about 1/2 cup

butter/ghee: 1 tablespoon

Preparation instructions: make a thin batter from flour, egg and milk. Add in 3/4ths the cardamom powder and reserve.

In a saucepan, lightly caramelize the vanilla sugar and half of the sugar from the recipe. Just as it starts melting and turns light golden, turn off the flame and in remaining cardamom powder, and the desiccated coconut and mix. Grind this mixture and reserve.

In a non stick pan, melt the butter/ghee over a low medium flame and pour a ladle full of the prepared batter. Spread evenly to form a thin crepe and flip to cook the other side.

For filling, lay out the crepe and put a heaping mound in the middle. Fold over 1/4 of the top, then fold from both sides to pack and finally fold over from the top again to make a roll.

Sprinkle with castor sugar and serve warm.

enjoy!

Spicy masala cookies

For some reason these harsh winters have put me in a cookie mode. I’ve been buying, eating and baking cookies. But aha.. these are not sweet cookies but salty spicy ones.. well not spiky salty like chips or crisps but very mildly saltish to the taste with a twang of spice. The spices being rather mellow, subtly biting and very addictive.

I had no recipe to start these cookies with so I was just trying and testing in the kitchen but accidentally or rather Fortunately these cookies turned out excellent. They tasted exactly how I wanted them to and I penned down the recipe and I’m sticking to it. I am !!!

Since these were just testing I didn’t bother with making a huge batch. You can easily double or triple the amount. These cookies are not thick and big, but dainty and petite which makes them all too easy to eat.

see !! not fat at all..

Ingredients

70 gms butter (you can also use salted butter for these cookies)

1 egg

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

125 gms flour

SPICES

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

4-5 curry leaves

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp chilly flakes

RECIPE

In a dry pan fry the spices (except pepper and chili flakes) for a couple of minutes until browned. The mustard seeds will starts spluttering and you will get the most heavenly spiced aroma. Make sure the pan is dry. You don’t need to add any oil.

Once the spices are browned and giving off their aromatics take the pan off the heat and crush the spices. You can do these win a mortar & pestle. I used my rolling-pin. Keep these aside.

In a large bowl beat the butter with the sugar and salt for a minute or so. add in the egg and beat again.

Now add the crushed spices along with the pepper and chili flakes and beat until the spices have turned your beautiful yellow butter to tarnished brackish spiced goodness. Add in the flour, and at this moment its best to use your spatula or wooden spoon to incorporate everything together.

Once it has formed a sort of dough and you can see the flecks of spices dotting your mixture, believe me it only gets better now.

Roll this cookie dough on a lightly floured surface. You can make these cookies fat or thin, depends how you like them. I roll them out quite thin perhaps 1 cm or less (you can see in the picture above)

Once they’re rolled out you can use any shaped cookie cutter and stamp out shapes. You can make them round or just basic square.

Place them on a sheet. These cookies don’t spread, so you can space them close.

bake in a pre heated oven at 180℃ for about 12-15 minutes, or until the edges have browned slightly. It also helps me to rotate the cookie sheet after 8 minutes or so.

Let them cool slightly and they are ready to eat.

You can either eat them on their on as they are or even use some dip or salsa or even this hummus

Another picture to inspire you to make these immediately..

Enjoy !!!

South Indian Sambhar

Sambhar is a very popular South Indian vegetable stew/broth/curry.. whatever you might want to call it.. Subtly sour, full of vegetables, low calorie, and the greatest accompaniment to rice

This dish has so many different ways of making depending upon where it’s made. This recipe right here is how my mother makes it, without using those boxed sambhar masala’s. I don’t really like that flavour, and this is how I have eaten this dish forever. No, I’m not some sambhar purist and It’s entirely up to you to use a packaged masala.. But this is the way I roll, or rather my mom did, and trust me you have to taste this to know how fantabulous this actually is.

Vegetables!! The main ingredient. I have used beans, green peppers, brinjals. You can easily use any vegetables you like, drumsticks, cauliflowers etc etc.. whatever you want- the onions and tomatoes are a must.

these are 200 gms of pigeon peas (split toor dal). These form the base of our sambhar.

Into a deep pot, put in all the ingredients. The chopped vegetables, the lentils and add the water. This will be 600mls of water.

Now the spices. 1/2 tsp asafoetida powder. (hing)

1 tsp turmeric powder. It does bring out the yellow, and oh boy, yellow it is.

salt- a little short of 1 tbsp. It’s a lot of sambhar, and under salted food is vile.

Mix them all together now and put it on a boil. We need the vegetables to be well cooked, in fact softened and almost not blended. Also the lentils do take some time to cook. I boiled them for about 40 minutes.

Now for part 2. and this is what makes this dish truly South Indian. These spices, sort of form the soul of this food. I have here 4 cloves of garlic. 1 tbsp of coriander seeds, 2 tsps fenugreek seeds, 1/2 cup shredded coconut.- If miraculously you happen to have fresh coconut, then nothing like it.

Into a very hot tablespoon of oil, add in the garlic cloves

Going next are the coriander seeds and the fenugreek.

in goes the shredded coconut

keep frying them all together until the mixture turns brown, like so. Now this is when your house house will smart smelling like a spice incense. It’s heaven I tell you.

Into a blender they go. Mix in about 1 tbsp of water so that everything comes together beautifully.

This is what the blend looks like.

Now if you wish to make your dish more spicy, add in some ground red chillies (completely optional). usually one adds dried red chillies before blending, but since my husband is not a friend of the spicy stuff, I like to do this to control the chilli.

The final blend.

The last in line of taste and aromatics. I have some curry leaves. It’s a handful really. But in case you have the fresh stuff 8-10 leaves will do. Also 1 tbsp of tamarind paste. This tamarind gives the sambhar its distinct subtly sour taste.

The unveiling of the vegetables and lentils. I cooked them for about 40 minutes and this is how they turned out. The vegetables were soft and mushy in golden yellow curry and the salt was just fine.

Remember the blend from the coconut etc. .. well, it’s time for it to meet its destiny. In it goes in the lentil and vegetables mixture.

the curry leaves go in.

Finally the last ingredient- the sour tamarind paste. This all needs to cook again for another 10 minutes, before you serve it piping hot with rice.

Here we go- the moment of TRIUMPH. Doesn’t this look gorgeous? It tastes even better. The best part about this recipe is that it’s not heavy, its not very oily and it can be eaten just like that- as a sort of soup. I love it, and so will you..Enjoy !!!!!

Ingredients

200 gms of pigeon peas (split toor dal)

chopped vegetables of your choice.

1 thinly chopped medium sized onion

1 thinly chopped medium sized tomato.

600 mls water

1/2 tsp asofoetida (hing)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp coriander seeds

4-5 cloves of garlic

2 tsps fenugreek seeds

1/2 tsp crushed red chillies (optional)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 tbsp oil.

8-10 curry leaves

1 tbsp tamarind paste.

In a deep pan mix the chopped vegetables, onion, tomato, water, asofoetida, salt and turmeric. Cook them on medium flame for about 35-40 minutes (covered) or until the lentils are cooked and the vegetables mushy.

In a separate pan, heat the oil, tip in the garlic, fenugreek and coriander seeds, coconut. Fry until it’s all golden brown. Once these spices are golden and fragrant, blend them with a tbsp of water. Add crushed chillies as per taste- they’re completely optional.

Into the pot of cooked lentils and vegetables, add the blend of spices, the curry leaves and the tamarind paste.

Cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve warm.

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Recipe instructions

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