Rajasthani Jungli Laal Maas (Red Meat)

Hi Friends!!! How are you all doing? After a long time, finally managed to shake off the lethargy that bugged me for several months and return to blogging. Have cooked quite a few dishes in this stretch but most of the time either forgot to take pictures or was too indolent to write up a recipe and post. Here’s one of them that I cooked on the day of Kali pujo/Diwali which tasted absolutely brilliant. It’s an authentic Rajasthani dish…the popular Laal Maas or Red Meat.

Rajasthani Laal Maas

Sattu (Toasted Bengal Gram Flour) Poori and Mughalsarai Station's Alu Subzi (Potato Curry)

India is a treasure cove of several lip smacking regional delicacies. Different regions have their own ingredients, style of cooking and delicacies. Those on an Indian culinary tour must not miss these rustic tastes or their gastronomic journey would be incomplete. One such food is Sattu Poori which is a jewel from Bihar. Sattu is toasted Bengal gram flour which is healthy, delicious and filling, a staple of Bihar, Jharkhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh region. With this I served the famous Mughalsarai Platform’s Alu Subzi, a heavenly potato curry often served with pooris at the Mughalsarai station platform. Mughalsarai is a major junction in Eastern UP and the platform food is very popular among those frequently making train journeys through this station. This Alu Subzi is so simple and tasty, you will be amazed at the rustic flavour of this dish with such few ingredients. Both of these delicacies made an incredible matching and we had a dinner to remember. However you can savor this magical alu subzi with plain pooris or paranthas too.

 

Sattu Poori

Restaurant Style Shahi Paneer (Cottage Cheese)

Shahi Paneer (Cottage Cheese) is one of the best and most glamorous North Indian paneer dishes. Though this dish needs no introduction just writing a few lines for those who are not familiar with it.  Essentially Punjabi, Shahi Paneer has become popular owing to its super delectable taste and magnificent color and texture. This dish has a thick, smooth gravy of tomatoes, cashew nuts, fresh cream and different condiments. The beautiful mix of flavors makes this dish unique, the tomatoes give the tanginess the cashew and cream give the richness to the gravy and justify the name ‘Shahi’ given to it. It is a must-feature in any north Indian thali in a restaurant and goes brilliantly with any Indian bread, but you can try it out with jeera rice or pulao too.

Shahi Paneer

Rava Kesari (Golden Semolina)

Rava Kesari is a delicious South-Indian sweet dish mainly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka made usually on religious festivals or auspicious occasions. This is the simplest of desserts that can be made and one of the regulars in my kitchen. The addition of saffron or kesar, the most expensive spice in the world makes the dish breathtakingly beautiful and gorgeous. Naturally it conquered the hearts of Indians from other parts of the country as well, gained fame and is now loved all over India. Though the golden semolina is thought to be most befitting as an offering to the Almighty, you can treat this vegetarian dessert to your guests too any time because it’s so easy to make and is ready in a jiffy.   

 

Rava Kesari

Hyderabadi Mutton

Hyderabad, the land of the Nizams has the flavour of Royal Gharana in its cuisine. All the exquisite flavours thus incorporated into the various dishes originating from this part of India mirror the glamour of the Nawabs. This dish is no exception either. The mutton is most beautifully cooked with the choicest of spices resulting in an outstanding flavour and incomparable texture. Obviously you don’t have to go by my words only, you just have to try it out yourselves. This region adopts ‘Dum’ cooking in most of the dishes including Biryani. ‘Dum’ means steam, the food is cooked in its steam. Here I have pressure cooked the mutton instead of slowly simmering it following Sanjeev Kapoor’s way of cooking this dish.

Hyderabadi Mutton

Pao Bhaji~Street Food (Mumbai)

Mumbai is a city garlanded with innumerable, iridescent food stalls, an ever bustling city always on the move where street food has thrived over decades and has become so famous that now Mumbai can’t be thought of without its street food. Among the array of vendors or hawkers that line up the streets of Mumbai the ones selling pao bhaji or vada pao are where the vehicle are brought to a halt for a quick nosh. I never fail to miss these whenever I make a trip to the city. Hygiene can’t be an issue whenever you are on tour especially if you have street food on your mind. So closing my eyes to it I gorge on the steaming plate of mashed, curried vegetables served with a generous scoop of Amul butter on top and pao buns or soft fluffy rolls smeared with butter at the side. Yes today I’m talking about the Mumbai Pao Bhaji….

Pao Bhaji

Dum Aloo Amritsari

Dum Aloo Amritsari is a dish I learnt from one of my neighbours in Amritsar during my two years stay there. A lovely dish, sits pretty on the table as a side dish either with pulao or any Indian bread. Superb in taste and color this dish is essentially Punjabi with a thick gravy of tomatoes and needless to say is slightly on the oily side. So don’t count your calories in this carb platter, there is no harm in indulging in the richness of taste once in a while.

Dum Aloo Amritsari

Punjabi Kadhi Pakora In The Microwave

One of the most popular dishes of North India is Kadhi Chawal, a soul food of the Punjabis, and a frequent dish in their kitchen. I often make this delicious dish but this time made use of the microwave and it cooked so fast!! Absolutely hassle free and had amazing flavours too, try out this simple, easy and failproof recipe in your microwave.

Punjabi Kadhi Pakora

Kolhapuri Mutton/ Tambada Rassa ~ a Maharashtrian delicacy

Happy New Year to all my readers!!

Kolhapur, situated in the southernmost district of Maharashtra is an ancient city on the banks of the river Panchaganga and is also known as Dakshin Kashi. It was the main centre of power in the Shilahara dynasty and one of the important cities of the Maratha Empire, just to give you a brief brush up of Indian history.

Kolhapuri Mutton

Chicken Dak Bungalow ~ An Anglo-Indian Delicacy

The name itself takes you back to the British colonial era, you can picturize a quaint loghut with British architecture amidst a dense forest. The Dak Bungalows or the bungalows on the postal (dak) route served as rest houses during the hunting trips or long journeys to the remote places for the British officers who spent some days in the serenity of the woods and enjoyed country fowl curry whose more popular Bong term is ‘Bon Murgir Jhol’ cooked by the caretakers or the ‘Khansamas’ of that bungalow. This special curry was cooked with the elementary spices freshly ground, potatoes and boiled eggs.

Chicken Dak Bungalow

Mutton Rogan Josh ~ A Kashmiri Delicacy

#Mutton Rogan Josh #Kashmiri mutton curry recipe #Popular Indian Curry Recipe

This dish needs no introduction. Rogan Josh is a signature and the most popular dish from the land of ethereal beauty and fabulous cuisine, Kashmir. Though most of you know about the origin of this dish I would like to resonate the same lines for those who don’t know. Rogan or roughan means ‘fat’ in Persian and Josh means ‘cooked at a very high heat’.  So its presumed that the dish was brought to Kashmir by the Mughals whose cuisine was again influenced by the Persians. Another interpretation of the word Rogan is ‘red color’ and Rogan Josh is meat with a red color. But Rogan Josh got a different dimension altogether later from the Kashmiri Bramhins who cooked this meat without onions and garlic. So if you come across a recipe of Rogan Josh with onion and garlic or tomatoes that’s not Rogan Josh though many eateries you come across nowadays rarely serve the authentic one. It’s best made at home.

Mutton Rogan Josh

This dish essentially is accentuated with the flavours of soonth (dry ginger powder), saunf (fennel seeds) powder, hing (asafoetida) and mustard oil. Another important spice for this dish which lends to the striking red color of the mutton is ratanjot. It’s very difficult to get hold of ratanjot in the regular grocery stores. So you can use Kashmiri red chilli powder in generous amount in lieu of ratanjot to bring the same color. But no tomatoes please. This dish is not cooked with tomatoes and neither has the red color anything to do with it.

For making this dish I have followed Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe which seemed to me the authentic one, with a few variations here and there. While buying mutton for this dish choose the portions with more fat and preferably meat from a baby goat. I have marinated the mutton with yogurt for over two hours for that soft, juicy and succulent meat. Rogan josh is best when accompanied with plain hot steamed rice but you can also serve it with naans or pulao.

Here comes the recipe of this amazingly aromatic and delectable dish….

Mutton Rogan Josh

Mutton Rogan Josh

Mutton Rogan Josh

Ingredients:

• 800 gms mutton
• 200 gms yogurt whisked to a creamy texture
• 8 black peppercorns
• 6 green cardamoms
• 2 sticks 1 inch each cinnamon
• 5-6 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 black cardamoms
• 4-5 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 2 tsp saunf powder
• 2 tsp soonth powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp asafoetida
• Salt n sugar to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement

 

Mutton Rogan Josh

Process:

Step:1

Marinate the mutton pieces with yogurt for 2-3 hours

Step:2
 

Heat oil in a thick bottomed skillet and throw in the whole spices cardamoms, cinnamon peppercorns, bay leaves and asafoetida. Wait for the crackle.

Step:3

Add the marinated mutton and stir on high flame for quite sometime. Add the powdered masalas, salt and keep stirring for a few minutes more.

Step:4
 

Add water about 2 large cups and let the mutton get cooked covered until it gets tender. The dish should ideally have a thin gravy with a layer of fat/oil on the top.

Prawn Butter Masala (Amritsari)

#Pujo Special 2 –Prawn Butter Masala(Amritsari)
 

Here’s another exquisite dish specially to infuse variety into your palate. This is a real quickie can be dished within 15 minutes roughly but doesn’t compromise with the taste and flavour. So take some time out of your pandal hopping and serve this stunner as Ashtami lunch….The recipe…

Prawn Butter Masala

Prawn Butter Masala

Prawn Butter Masala

Prawn Butter Masala

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 gms medium to large prawns deveined and cleaned with warm water
• 2-3 onions finely chopped
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 2 tblspns cashew paste
• 150 gms yogurt beaten to a creamy consistency
• 3 green cardamoms
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• 3-4 cloves
• 1/2 tsp kashmiri red mirch powder
• A pinch of turmeric powder
• 2 -3 tblspns butter
• 2 tblspns fresh cream
• Salt n sugar as per taste

Procedure:

Marinate the prawns with a little turmeric and salt. Heat 2 tblspns butter in a skillet and sauté the prawns for 2 minutes and take out. Add the rest of butter in the same skillet and splutter whole garam masalas. Add the chopped onions and fry till translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste, sauté. Now add the cashew paste, salt, sugar keep stirring. Lower the flame and slowly add the whipped yogurt. Add Kashmiri red chilli powder and the prawns. Mix them well and let the prawns simmer for 4-5 minutes. Top it up with some fresh cream and your dish is ready to be served. Goes well with pulao/ steamed rice/ naans/ paranthas….

Prawn Balchao ~ A Goan Delicacy

Sunday had put me in the mood for something Goan. Had luckily come across a recipe book with Goan cuisines and was dying to try a dish from it. Much similar in food habits to the Bongs the Goan staple diet includes fish and rice. But their cuisine amalgamates both Hindu and Portuguese flavours beautifully. Prawn Balchao is one such dish with the Portuguese flavour and is one of the obvious dishes that come to mind when speaking of Goa. The condiments required are more or less readily available in all Bong kitchens so didn’t have to buy anything special for this dish. It’s a very easy recipe and is lip-smacking enough to be gobbled up in a second and preferably should be savored with plain steamed rice for the gastronomic pleasure. The recipe…

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 gms medium sized prawns deveined and cleaned with warm water
• 2 onions chopped
• 8-9 pods of garlic
• 8-9 whole dry red chillies
• 1 inch ginger
• 2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 3 tsp whole jeera/cumin seeds
• 1/3 cup white vinegar or malt vinegar (whichever you prefer, I used white vinegar)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 big tomato chopped
• Salt to taste
• White oil as per requirement

Procedure:

Soak ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies in vinegar with some salt for 45 minutes. Now make a smooth paste in the mixie.Your Balchao masala is ready. Smear some salt on the prawns. Heat oil in a skillet and sauté the prawns for 2 minutes. Take them out and in the same oil add the onions, when golden add the tomatoes. When the tomatoes are well fried add the Balchao masala. Add salt and sugar. Keep stirring for1 minute and add the prawns. Add a little warm water and let the prawns simmer for 5-7 minutes before turning off the flame. Serve with plain hot rice…..and ENJOY!!