Peas Srivastava style

Recipe from my mil.

Ingredients:
1) Fresh green peas - lots of it - ful mixie
2) Lots of ginger
3) Lots of 5-6 colves of garlic
4) Cloves, jeera, kaali mirch
5) Potatoes

Method:
1) Grind 1-3. Yes grind in a mixie as smooth paste.
2) In a pan add oil and add 1. Keep cooking on low flame. For a long time- the peas paste turns brown.
3) Then add some finelly chopped potatos and let it cook for a while.
4) Add a little water and let it cook. The final dish is little liquidy.
5) My m-in-law had a huge urad dal badi that she fired in oil and added to the dish. And we ate it - it along with the main dish felt like the baati of dal baati.

Tomato murabba types

Whenever we went to eat at Masala Bay, they would serve a sweet tomato chutney that I would love. But Saurabh would say his mom makes it better and I would (as usual and as a dutiful d-in-law)dismiss it as nostalgia.
But on this visit to Delhi I asked mom to make it and when I tasted it I absolutely fell in love with it.

Ingredients:
1) Tomato(large cuts)
2) Jaggery
3) Water
4) Sauf (fennel seeds)
5) Ghee

Method:
1) In a pan in add water, jaggery, large cuts of tomato and boil it for about 30 mins on simmer (yes - I swear my m-in-law boiled it for 1 hour or so but I think she boiled it really longer)
2) In 1-2 teaspoon of ghee - add sauf and then mix it with one.

The tomatoes becomes nice and juicy with this method. And I swear - calorie count notwithstanding - I absolutely couldn't help eat a cup full of it. Yummm!

Raita - yoghurt accompaniment to various indian dishes

Sanjeev Kapoor recipe:
1) Crushed garlic
2) Kaala namak
3) Very little Red chilli powder
4) Take thick yoghurt and mix 1-3. If you want to make it thin, add milk. You can strain using a muslin cloth to make it smooth.

My pune aunt's recipe:
1)Cut kheera in very small pieces
2) Coriander leaves
3) Roasted peanuts - good amount (crushed into small pieces- she coarsely powders it but i just break it into 1/6th size and i like it crunchy)
4) Some salt
5)A bit of sugar
6) Yoghurt

Mix well and relish.

Best Hyderabadi Biryani

0) Slice onions and deep fry in oil till brown. Keep it aside
1) Basmati rice - boil till its half done.
2) Get raw papaya paste - add it to lamb pieces - and keep it in fridge for 8 hours.
3) To the marinated lamb pieces add green chillies, salt, haldi powder, red chilli powder, ginger paste, garlic paste, onions sliced and fried (dry and brown), rose petals, pudina(mint) leaves, dhaniya(coriander) add. curd. Mix well. Marinate for 30 mins.
4) On top of it add Rice add elaichi (cardomoms), cloves, kalli mirch, shaahee jeera, moti elaichi, daal chini (cinnamon stick), fried and dried brown onion, garam masala powder, kevda water, pudina(mint) leaves, saffron(mix a little in hot milk), ghee, rose petals, long cut ginger, rose water and kewra water.
5)Cover and cook for 40-45 mins in low flame. Seal it with wheat floor dough. You can put the vessel on a tava so that it doesn't get direct heat.

The Great Indian Greek salad

Low cost low fat. And I love it. I can eat it for most of my life.


Dressing
----------
Ajwain (also called carom seeds, substitute for oregano - it's stronger in taste)
Garlic (4-6 cloves) (optional)
mustard paste (optional)
2 spoons white vinegar / lemon juice
8 spoons olive oil
black pepper (optional)
Salt
(I also add flax seeds)

Mix well for a while.


Cut vegetables:
---------------
Lettuce
Cucumber
Onions
Olives (optional)
Paneer (marinated in vinegar for 2 hours - and then washed good substitute for fetacheese)
Tomatoes
capsicum (optional)

Optionals:
Bama also used to use chickpeas(boiled chole). Some of my friends used boiled chicken also. Choose anything if at all you want.

Easy to make Omlette Cheela

Something my husband loves.

Ingredients:
- Besan, salt, chili powder
- pudina chutney
- Omelette ingredients- egg, onion, green chillies


1) In a bowl add besan, red chilli powder, salt. Add water and mix well. (optional - you can add a pinch heeng also)
2) In a non stick pan - apply oil using tissue paper.
3) Pour the besan paste and spread using spathula so that it is very thin.
4) Add pudina chutney and evenly spread it over the cheela.
5) Once it looks a bit done, pour the omelette mixture (egg, green chillies onion) on it evenly across its whole diameter.
6) Pour oil for corners. Remove and serve with pudina chutney.

Eat :). Requires a bit of patience when the cheela cooks so the thinner the cheela the better it is for you. I wish there was substitute for pudina chutney - else almost everything else is super instant. I think I should try it with dhania chutney and mooli aka delhi style.

Moong Pakodas

Easy to make (though I am yet to try but saw it on food food channel in delhi)


Procedure:
- Wash and Soak Moong dal in garam water
-in kadhai add oil - caraway seeds (shaahi jeera), heeng, add soaked moong dal, red chilli powder, haldi powder, salty, saunf ka powder
- grind
- Add amchur powder, hara dhania to the mixture
- Add fresh bread crumb for binding
- Fry the pokodas in oil