batata bhajji or aloo pakora

ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

• 1 medium size potato/aloo
• 1 cup gram flour/besan
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• ½ tsp carom seeds/ajwain
• ¼ tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder
• ¼ garam masala powder
• a pinch of asafoetida/hing
• ⅔ to ¾ cup water
• ½ or 1 tsp chaat masala powder for sprinkling on the pakoras
• a pinch of baking soda (optional)
• salt as required

how to make the recipe:

1. mix well all the dry ingredients with water.
2. check the seasoning and add more if required.
3. peel and slice the potatoes thinly in rounds.
4. heat oil for frying in a kadai or pan.
5. dip each potato slice in the batter and place it gently in hot oil.
6. do these for some 5-6 potato slices each time.
7. fry aloo pakoras till golden and crisp.
8. drain the pakoras on paper towels to remove excess oil.
9. finish off the remaining aloo pakoras this way in batches.
10. serve aloo pakora hot sprinkled with some chaat masala powder.
11. you can also serve aloo pakoras with chutney or tomato sauce accompanied with slices of bread or buns.

spinach dal or palak dal

ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

• ½ cup tuvar dal/pigeon pea lentils
• ½ cup masoor dal/pink lentils
• 2 cups chopped spinach/palak
• 1 green chili/hari mirch, chopped
• 1 inch ginger/adrak, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds/sabut jeera
• ¼ tsp asafoetida/hing
• ½ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
• ½ tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder
• 2 cups of water for pressure cooking the dals
• ¾ or 1 cup water to be added to the dal in the last step
• 2 or 3 tbsp ghee
• salt as required

how to make the recipe:

1. pick and wash the lentils. take the lentils in a pressure cooker with turmeric powder. add 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 3-4 minutes or till the dals become soft and mushy. mash the dals and keep aside.
2. in a pan, heat ghee. fry the cumin and then add the chopped ginger and fry for a minute.
3. now add the chopped chili and fry for half a minute. fry for a minute.
4. now add the chopped spinach. add red chili powder and asafoetida
5. saute for 7-8 minute till the spinach becomes soft and stops releasing water on a medium flame.
6. its time to add the mashed lentils now. mix the lentils with the spinach.
7. add water around ½ cup to 1 cup depending on how thick or thin you want the dal to be.
8. finally add salt and simmer the palak dal for 6-7 minutes.
9. serve palak dal hot with rice and a side vegetable dish or salad or raita.

methi matar malai

ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

Main ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped fresh fenugreek leaves/methi
• 1 cup boiled green peas/ matar
• 1 cup fresh cream/malai
• 2 tbsp ghee or oil
• ¼ or ½ cup water
• sugar as required (optional)
• salt to taste

Ingredients for the paste:

• 1 medium size onion, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 inch ginger, chopped
• 1 or 2 green chilies, chopped
• ½ cup cashewnuts

Garnish:

• a few coriander leaves, chopped

how to make the recipe:

Making the paste:

1. add all the ingredients to make the paste in a blender. grind without adding water. if need arises, add some little water while grinding.

Making the matar methi malai:

1. heat ghee or oil in a pan or kadai.
2. add the ground paste and fry the paste 6-7 minutes till it starts giving a fragrant aroma.
3. keep on stirring in between to avoid the paste from sticking to the pan.
4. add a little water if it sticks to the pan.
5. add chopped fenugreek leaves and ¼ cup water or more.
6. mix well and simmer for 10 minutes.
7. add the boiled peas and cream.
8. simmer for 5-6 minutes on a low flame.
9. add the sugar and salt and mix well.
10. garnish with coriander leaves and serve methi matar malai hot with naan, parathas or phulkas.

notes

if using fresh homemade cream or malai: freeze the cream and then whip it till it becomes smooth and soft. don't add warm malai or without whipping it as this won't give you a good creamy texture. i used ready made amul fresh cream but you can get the same results with fresh malai. you don't need to whip or beat the cream if you are using ready made cream.

navratan korma

ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

the veggies

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped, 70 grams or about ½ cup chopped carrots
• ½ cup shelled peas or frozen peas
• 1 large potato or 2 medium potato, or ¾ cup chopped potatoes or 150 grams potatoes
• ¼ cup chopped green beans or 40 to 50 grams beans or 10 to 12 beans
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower/gobi florets (optional)
• 8-9 babycorn, chopped (optional)

for the korma:

• 2 medium sized onions, sliced or ½ cup thinly sliced onions
• 2-3 green chilies/hari mirch, chopped
• ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste or 5 to 6 garlic and ¾ inch ginger, crushed to a a paste in mortar-pestle
• ½ cup fresh curd/dahi/yogurt, 100 grams
• ⅓ cup fresh low fat cream or 3 to 4 tbsp whipping cream
• ¼ to ½ garam masala powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
• 1 tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 cup water or add as required
• salt as required

for the royal paste:

• 1 tbsp poppy seeds/khus khus
• 10 to 12 almonds/badam
• 10 to 12 cashews/kaju
• 1 tbsp melon seeds/magaz
• ¼ cup water for grinding to a paste or add as required

whole garam masala:

• 2 to 3 green cardamom/choti elachi
• 1 black cardamom/badi elachi
• 3 cloves/lavang
• 1 inch stick of cinnamon/dal chini
• 1 bay leaf/tej patta
• 2 single strands of mace/javitri

for the garnish:

• 1 tbsp ghee
• 6 to 7 almonds, blanched and peeled
• 10 pistachois
• 10 cashewnuts
• 10 walnut halves
• 1 tbsp raisins
• ½ cup chopped pineapple or 2 to 3 pineapple slices, chopped
• ½ tbsp melon seeds
• 1 tbsp mint leaves
• a pinch of saffron strands/kesar
• 2 tsp ginger julienne

how to make the recipe:

preparing the paste:

1. soak all the dry fruits and seeds in hot water for 30 to 40 minutes.
2. remove the peels from the almonds and add the peeled almonds in a grinder jar.
3. then drain the remaining nuts-seeds mixture and also add them to the grinder jar.
4. add ¼ cup water and grind to a smooth fine paste. add more water if required while making the paste. keep this paste aside.

preparing the korma:

1. heat ghee in a handi or a deep pan. add all the whole garam masala mentioned above and fry till they crackle and become aromatic.
2. add the sliced onions and saute them till they turn golden
3. now add the ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chilies. saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
4. now add the nuts-seeds paste and curd. stir well.
5. then add turmeric and red chili powder. stir again.
6. stir and saute for 3 to 4 minutes on a low flame. do stir often so that the mixture does not get stuck to the bottom of the pan.
7. then add the mixed veggies. stir.
8. next add 1 cup water. season with salt. mix very well.
9. cover and simmer the veggies till they are cooked.
10. once the veggies are cooked, add the cream and stir it with the rest of the korma, switch off the flame.
11. sprinkle garam masala powder. cover and keep aside.

preparing the garnish:

1. heat 1 tbsp ghee in a small frying pan. add 6 to 7 blanched almonds (you can soak these almonds when soaking the nuts for the paste).
2. saute almonds till they turn a pale golden.
3. take them to one side of the pan and now add 10 pistachios, 10 cashews, 10 walnut halves. saute till the cashews turn a light golden.
4. now add 1 tbsp raisins & ½ tbsp melon seeds. saute for some seconds.
5. then add ½ cup chopped pineapple cubes. saute for a minute.
6. next add 1 tbsp mint leaves, a pinch of saffron strands/kesar and 2 tsp ginger julienne.
7. saute for half a minute.

serving:

1. while serving garnish the korma with the sauteed garnishing ingredients. serve navratan korma with tandoori roti, naan, chapatis or parathas. it also goes well with jeera rice.

bombay veg sandwich

ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

for the mumbai veg sandwich

• 8 to 10 slices of white or brown bread
• 2 small to medium potatoes, boiled and sliced into rounds
• 1 medium sized beetroot, boiled and thinly sliced
• 1 cucumber thinly sliced
• 1 small to medium onion thinly sliced
• 1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
• butter softened and at room temperature, salted or unsalted, as required
• chaat masala as required
• black salt to taste
• roasted cumin powder as required- optional
• freshly milled black pepper - optional
• tomato ketchup or sauce to be served with the sandwiches

for the mint cilantro chutney:

• 1 cup tightly packed coriander leaves
• ½ tsp chaat masala powder
• 1 to 2 green chilies
• salt or black salt as per taste

how to make the recipe:

making the mint cilantro chutney

1. in a mixie or blender grind all the above ingredients to a smooth paste using no water or just about 1 to 2 tsp water. keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

preparing the veggies:

1. boil or steam the beetroot and potatoes till they are tender.
2. once cooled, thinly slice the beetroot and slice the potatoes.
3. peel and thinly slice onion and cucumber. thinly slice the tomatoe as well.

assembling the bombay sandwich:

1. trim the edges of the bread slices if you want.
2. butter the bread slices evenly and very well.
3. now apply the coriander chutney to the slices.
4. place all the veggie slices one by one.
5. sprinkle the black salt and chaat masala on each one of them or alternately.
6. cover the sandwich with the other bread slices.
7. slice the sandwich into triangles and rectangles.
8. serve veg sandwich immediately with tomato ketchup and the coriander chutney