chole (garbanzo beans)

Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 katori chole
•  1 onion
•  1 tomato
•  1/2 inch ginger
• salt 1 tsp
• red chilli 1/4 tsp
• butter ckn masala 1 tsp
• olive oil 1 tbsp
• cilantro (for garnishing )
• 1 green chilli sliced

Procedure:

     1) Wash and soak chole for overnite or 6 hrs.

     2) Add 1/2 tsp salt and boil chanas in soaked water in a pressure cooker. Get 1 whistle and slow for 10-15 mins.
     3)  Once steam is out check for softness. Chole should be soft enough.
    4)  In a mixer, add onions, tomato, ginger and make a puree. In a pressure cooker, add olive oil once hot add puree, sliced green chillis and saute.

5) Add chkn masala , once masala leaves oil add salt, red chilli. Add boiled chole to it.

   6) Stir and add 1 tbsp more water than required consistency. Add cilantro  and close pressure cooker. Get 5-6 whistles and its done.

7) Delicious chole is ready. Enjoy with rice and aybe a glass of coke like I did ;)
  

Karela (Bittergourd) masala

Ingredients

•   6 karela pcs (cut into small round sections and deseeded)
• 1 1/2 onion sliced
• 1 tomato sliced
• 1 green chilli sliced
• salt 1 tsp
• haldi 1/4 tsp
• methra 1/2 tsp
• saunf grinded 1/2 tsp
• olive oil 1 tbsp
• cilantro for garnishing

Procedure:
  1. Keep karela pcs in salt for 4 hrs or overnite to remove bitterness. After that wash and use it for this recipe. Deep fry karela till little red for 2 mins and keep it on a paper towel to soak oil.




2.  Now in a pan heat oil, add onions, tomatos.

3.  After onions and tomatoes start browning, add haldi, salt, methra and saunf.

4.Then after few mins after karela is done, add cilantro and your delicious karela sabji is done.

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of baby spinach
• 1/2 inch pc of ginger
• salt  1 tsp
• hinger 1/4 tsp
• 1/2 onion sliced
• 1 tomato pureed
•  ghee 2 tsp
• paneer 200 gms (roughly 1 bowl of paneer pcs)
• yogurt 1 tsp

Procedure:

1. Wash the baby spinach. In a pressure cooker add washed spinach, 1 tbsp water, salt, hing. Get 1 whistle and slow for 4-5 mins.
2. Once steam is out, let it cool. Then puree it in a grinder.

3. In a pan, add ghee. Once hot add onions and saute till they turn little brown. Then add tomato puree.

4. Once the puree leaves ghee, add in paneer cubes and spinach puree.

5. Keep it on low flame. Add yogurt and keep stirring till the puree leaves ghee.

 6. Stir for another few mins till its done. Delicious palak paneer is ready.



Crispy Gobhi mom style

Here's my mom version of gobhi. I love it, it tastes so crispy awesome. I dont know if its the ghee or mom's love. Make it and decide for yourself.

Ingredients:

• half bunch of gobhi (cut into small pcs)
• 1 small onion sliced
• 1 green chilli sliced
• 1 1/2 inch ginger small pcs
• peas  1 small bowl
• ghee 1 tbsp
• hing 1/2 tsp
• salt 1 tsp
• haldi 1/2 tsp
• garam masala 1/4 tsp
• cilantro for granishing

Procedure:

1.  In a pan heat ghee. Once hot add hing, washed cauliflower, peas and sliced onions, ginger pcs.

2.  Once cauliflower turns little brown, add haldi, salt. You can add 1/4 tsp red chilli if you want to make it spicy.

 3. Once ghee seperates, then add cilantro and garam masala. 

4. Delicious gobhi is ready.

5 min Feng shui

This is a term often used by my Darling Husband (DH) and me. Before our baby, we used to really take time on organizing and decorating home. But as life got busier, we call it 5 min Feng shui. When we utter this word....it means we will both get up, find a nook or corner, give it a good 5 mins and make it an organized one. Over the years, we have realized, there's no point doing it all at once, 5 mins several times over  a weekend or a weekday can do wonders. ofcourse to reach to a organized state first would be helpful to maintain it. But if you cant then try this. This also works when someone is about to visit our place. I tackle bathroom and kitchen and DH does all heavy duty like vaccuming ;) Now this section of my blog will have all helpful tips to getting you and me organized.If I am really stressed/depressed, I try this trick which I read in amagazine. Just get up, find a drawer or a shelf and organize it. It really makes me happy at end. Afterall its the chaos that adds to stress :)

My house is super organized on days when internet is not working :)

Quick Kadhi

I have always loved home made kadhi. But the very fact that I will have to fry pakoras for it, made me never try it more than a few special days. So when I started this search for under 20 mins recipes, I knew this sure has to have my moms recipe for a quick kadhi. We lovingly call it chatti chukao (cant explain that to all of you, its too personal ;)). Lets just say that we used to feel so bad requesting our mom to make this till we realize how easy it is. It tastes delicious even though it doesn't have pakoras, it has what requires to make a delicious kadhi. So enjoy this  recipe from my mom which you can make in 10-15 mins.

Ingredients (makers for 2):

• 10 tsp yogurt
• 7-8 tbps water
• half small onion slit into long slices
• 3/4 inch ginger sliced into small pieces
• 1-2 pcs of garlic sliced into pcs
• salt- 1 tsp
• haldi- 1/4 tsp
• garam masala- 1/4 tsp
• hing- 1/4 tsp
• ghee- 2 tsp
• besan- 1 1/2 tsp
• sauf powder
• methra- crushed
• cilantro for garnishing

Procedure:

• In a pan heat ghee, once hot add ginger, garlic and onions. Then add hing and saute till onions turn brown.
• In parallel, whip  yogurt, besan and water.

•  Once onions are brown, add yogurt blend to pan. Keep stirring.
• Add haldi, garam masala, saunf, methra and slowly bring the mixture to boil.

• Now simmer for 2 mins or till gravy thickens. Make sure you dont thicken too much since once the kadhi cools it gets little bit more thicker on its own.
• Now add salt and keep stirring. Dont add salt before it or it can spoil the kadhi.

•  Once done add cilantro. Enjoy delicious quick kadhi with rice. Hope you like it the way we did.

Okra (Bhindi) Masala

I love okra in long pieces but I hate to do it the long way my grandmom used to do (by filling masala in each piece of okra). It sure tasted good but I am too lazy to do the long version. So heres a fast and easy way and still get a tasty recipe.

Ingredients:

1.   Okra (roughly 25 pieces)
2. olive oil (1 tbsp)
3. 1/2 onion (cut into long thin pieces)
4. 1/4th slit capsicum (or maybe 2 tbsp of frozen one)
5. cumin seeds (1/2 tsp)
6. salt (3/4th tsp)
7. haldi (1/4th tsp)
8. coriander powder (1/2 tsp)
9. hing(1/4th tsp)
10. Green chilli (1 split into half)
11. besan (1 tsp)

Procedure:

1.  Wash the okra and pat dry with a towel. Drying is important or else it would be very sticky.

2. Cut the okra pcs top and bottom . Then slit each pc into half.

3.  In a pan heat oil and then add cum seeds, okra and hing. saute and cover pan for 4 mins till okra  has  a little brown sides.

4. Then add onions, capsicum. cover for 5 mins on med- low flame  and keep frying.

4. Add green chilli, salt, haldi, coriander powder and keep fryin, covering the pan ocassionally to save in flavors. Keep frying till everything looks almost done.

5. Now add besan and saute for 2 mins or till it looks ready. Its done, njoy delcious bhindi masala :)