Baingan Bhurta or Bharta

Baingan Bhurta recipe

Ingredients:
Eggplants – ½ kg, large and round
Onion – 2, small, chopped
Tomato – 1, chopped
Green chillies – 3-4 or as desired, finely chopped
Salt – 1 teaspoon, to taste as desired
Oil – 2 table spoon.

Method: Grill eggplants on a direct fire or grill until the skin becomes black in color. Remove skin and mash them well. In a griddle, heat the oil and fry onions for one minute. Add green chilli and tomato and fry for another 2 minutes. Add mashed eggplants, salt, and mix well. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Stuffed Baingan (Brinjal)

Stuffed Baingan recipe

Ingredients:
Eggplants – ½ kg, round and medium-sized ones
Split peas dal – 2 teaspoons
Urad dal – 2 teaspoons
Coriander seeds – 2 teaspoons
Red peppers – 8-10 whole
Salt – 1 teaspoon or as desired.
Oil – one teaspoon

Method: Fry coriander seeds, split peas dal, and red peppers in oil. Grind them into a thick paste. Cut eggplants into two or three cylindrical pieces by making vertical slits at right angles. Do not cut through. Stuff the eggplants with the ground paste. Use one teaspoon or two for each piece. Heat oil in a non-stick fry pan and fry stuffed eggplants keeping the stove at low heat. Cook it covered with a lid for approximately 10 minutes or until the eggplants turn almost black in colour and the skin shrivels. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Stuffed Baingan

Butter chicken recipe

Have you cooked butter chicken at home? It is yummy and a hot favorite all over the world. Find below the recipe.

Butter chicken (Makhani chicken) recipe
Serves - 4

Ingredients:
Chicken – 1 kg, skinned, boned, and cubed

For marinade:
Yogurt – 5 tablespoons, plain, thick; use fat-free yogurt if you would like to reduce the fat content of this dish
Tandoori masala – 1 tablespoon
Garam masala powder – 1 tablespoon
Lime juice – 2 tablespoons
Salt – 1 teaspoon, or to taste
Cummin powder – 1 teaspoon
Orange color – ½ teaspoon (optional)

For sauce:
Oil – 1 tablespoon
Butter – 2 tablespoons
Onions – 2, sliced
Ginger – 1 inch piece, crushed into a fine paste
Garlic – 6 cloves, crushed into a fine paste
Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
White pepper – 1 teaspoon
Cashew nuts – 10
Almonds – 5; made into a thick paste along with cashew nuts and water
Tomatoes – 2, pureed
Cream – 2 tablespoons, single (optional)
Coriander leaves – 2 tablespoons, fresh, chopped, for garnishing

Method: Marinate the chicken in the smooth paste of marinade, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Heat oil and butter in a medium wok and fry onions for 3 minutes or until golden. Add the ginger and garlic paste along with a little water and fry till oil separates. Add the marinated chicken mixture and stir-fry for 8-10 minutes. Add chilli, coriander, turmeric, and white pepper powders, tomato puree, cashew and almond paste, and mix well and cook for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of water, mix well, and bring it to boil. Cover and cook in a low flame until chicken is done. It takes approximately 10 minutes. Pour over the cream and stir in well. The sauce will start to thicken. Garnish with coriander leaves and a dollop of fresh cream. Serve hot with rice, roti, paratha, or naan. Enjoy!

Cauliflower manchurian (Chinese-style) with Video

Gobi (Cauliflower) manchurian recipe (Chinese-style) - Video here
Serves - 2
Preparation time - 10 minutes

Ingredients:
Cauliflower – 1 medium size, cut it into small flowerets
Green chillies – 3-4, mild to moderate hot ones
Onions – 1 large, green or white
Garlic – 3 flakes, finely crushed; 4-5 flakes, finely chopped
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece; ¼ inch piece finely crushed and ¼ inch piece finely chopped
Tomato-Chilli sauce – 2 teaspoons
Soya sauce – 2 teaspoons
Corn flour – 3 tablespoons
Wheat flour – 2 tablespoons (optional, to make it more crispier)
Red chilli powder – 2 teaspoons
Egg – 1 (optional)
Stock – ½ cup or 2 teaspoons stock powder (optional – substitute it with hot water if stock is unavailable)
Red colour – a pinch (optional)
Salt – one teaspoon or as desired to taste
Oil – 2 cups

Method: Bring together 2 tablespoons of cornflour, wheat flour, crushed ginger and garlic, red chilli powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon soya sauce, egg, 1 teaspoon tomato sauce, and cauliflower flowerets. Mix it well by hand. Heat 2 cups oil in a skillet and deep-fry the flowerets until golden brown being careful not to black them. Drain and keep aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet and add onion, green chillies and chopped ginger and garlic. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Meanwhile dissolve 1 tablespoon of corn flour in 2 teaspoons of hot water. Add dissolved corn flour, remaining ½ teaspoon of soy sauce, ½ teaspoon salt, stock, 1 teaspoon tomato sauce, and lower the heat. When the sauce is thick, add fried flowerets. Mix well and remove from the heat source. Serve hot and enjoy! Goes well with fried rice.

It takes approximately 10 minutes – 5 minutes to bring all ingredients together and 5 minutes for preparation.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Gobi Manchurian

German salad

Chicken fried rice (Chinese-style) with video

Chicken fried rice recipe (Chinese-Style) - Video here
Serves - 3-4

Ingredients:
White rice – 4 cups, cooked
Chicken – 1 cup, cut into small pieces
Egg – 1
Oil/butter – 2 teaspoons
Garlic – 4 cloves, chopped
Ginger – ½ inch piece, chopped
Spring onion – 4 stalks, cut into ½ cm pieces
Cabbage – 1 cup, chopped
Carrot – ½ cup, finely diced
Soy sauce – 2 tablespoons
Pepper – 1 teaspoon
Tomato sauce – 1 tablespoons
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Chicken stock – 1/3 cup or 2 teaspoons chicken stock powder

Method: Cook the rice and put aside. Heat oil/butter in a wide skillet at a very low heat. Add garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds taking care not to brown it. Add egg, 1/4th of the spring onions, and fry until the egg turns into small pieces. Add chicken pieces, bring the skillet to full heat, and stir rapidly for 30 seconds. Add ¾ of the remaining sping onions, cabbage, and carrots and stir everything together. Add chicken stock, stir, and cook for two minutes. Add cooked rice, soy sauce, tomato sauce, and stir-fry for another 3 minutes and serve on a rice plate. Garnish with the remaining spring onions. Chicken fried rice is a complete meal by itself - good combination would be with a soup and/or a vegetable side dish. Enjoy!

Plain rice

Chicken Xacuti recipe

Have 30 minutes time and you want to prepare something special for your lunch? What would you do? We have made the Chicken Xacuti at My Dhaba today - an excellent combination with plain rice. It took us exactly the same time. Here is the recipe.

Chicken Xacuti recipe

Ingredients:
Chicken – 1 kg
Coconut – 1 cup, fresh, grated; 1 tablespoon, fresh, diced
Coriander seeds – 3 teaspoon
Cummin seeds – 1-1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
Dried red chillies – 6-7
Star aniseed – 5
Fennel seeds – 2 teaspoons
Nutmeg powder – 1 teaspoon
Onions – 2 large, finely chopped
Green chillies – 6, finely chopped
Tamarind extract – 2 tablespoons
Salt – 1 teaspoon, to taste
Water – 3 cups
Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Method: Clean chicken pieces, apply salt, and keep aside. On medium heat in a flat fry pan, fry and brown the grated coconut, coriander seeds, cummin seeds, turmeric powder, red chillies, aniseed, and fennel seeds for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat source and grind the mixture to a thick paste. Heal oil in a wide-bottomed thick pan and saute green chillies and onion. Add the grounded mixture and fry for a minute. Add the chicken pieces, diced coconut, nutmeg powder, and tamarind extract. Fry for 2 minutes. Add 3 cups of water and cook for 15 minutes on a low flame stirring occasionally. Remove from heat source when oil rises to the top. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice, naan, or rotis.

Sunday special

On this sunday, we have plans to concoct the following favorite food items. Mohammed Hussain, one of my friends, is joining us to assist at My Dhaba.

1. Hot and sour soup.
2. Chicken fried rice.
3. Cauliflower manchurian.
4. Curd-onion salad/raita.

I will add all the the pictures and recipe details here. So you know what is coming. Hope it helps you in some way.

Look forward to Sunday. Cheers!

Food&Health news and articles

Food Industry Defends Marketing to Children

Milagai bajji recipe

Ingredients:
Green chilly – 6-8, mild or moderately hot, big size ones preferred

For the bajji batter:
Gram flour – 1-1/4 cup
Rice flour – 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
Asafoetida – a pinch
Saffron – a pinch
Ginger – ¼ inch piece, crushed finely
Garlic – 1 clove, crushed finely
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Water – as needed

For the stuffing:
Potatoes – 3-4, boiled and mashed
Green chillies – 2-3, finely chopped
Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
Cummin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Coriander leaves – a small bunch
Curry leaves – 6-8
Oil - 1 teaspoon

Oil – 2 cups, for deep frying

Method: Make longitudinal slits to the green chillies and remove the seeds. Soak these in salted boiling water (salt – 1/2 teaspoon) for 5 minutes. Drain and keep them aside.

Mix gram flour, rice flour, salt, red chilli powder, asafoetida, ginger, garlic, and saffron with water to make a loose paste and keep aside.

Heat one teaspoon oil in a frying pan, pop mustard seeds, and fry green chilles, cummin seeds, curry leaves, coriander leaves, turmeric powder, and salt. Add and mix potates well. Turn off the heat source and allow it to cool.

Stuff the green chillies with potato mix. Heat oil in a deep frying pan. When the oil is hot enough, dip each stuffed green pepper in the bajji batter, and put it in oil immediately. Deep fry till golden brown. Serve hot with your favorite chutneys or tomato sauce. Enjoy!

Vegetable bajji recipe (brinjal/onion/plaintain/potato)

Ingredients:
Gram flour – 2-1/2 cups
Rice flour – 1 cup
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
Asafoetida – a pinch
Saffron – a pinch
Vegetable – Brinjal/Onion/Plaintain/Potato
Oil – 2 cups, for deep frying

Method: Mix gram flour, rice flour, salt, red chilli powder, asafoetida, and saffron with water to make a loose paste. Slice your chosen vegetable into thin slices longitudinally or as you desire. Dip it in the flour mixture. Deep-fry until cooked and serve hot with coriander chutney or garlic-tomato sauce.

Tomato chutney recipes

Tomato chutney recipe:

Ingredients:
Tomatoes – 5, big size
Oil – 2 tablespoon
Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds – ½ teaspoon
Asafoetida – ½ teaspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon, or as desired to taste
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder – 2 teaspoon
Tamarind extract – 2 tablespoon

Method: Chop the tomotoes into small pieces. Heat the oil and pop mustard seeds and fry asafoetida and fenugreek seeds being careful not to brown them. Add chopped tomatoes and stir fry it now and then. Cook till tomatoes are soft and the mixture becomes a thick paste. Add turmeric and red chilli powders, salt, and tamarind extract and boil for 10 minutes. The tomatoe chutney is now ready to serve.

Tomato-coriander chutney recipe:

Tomatoes – 2, big size
Coriander leaves – 1 cup, fresh, remove stem
Coconut – ½ cup, grated, fresh
Oil – 2 tablespoon
Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
Urad dal – ½ teaspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon, or as desired to taste
Green chilli – 2-3, medium size
Tamarind extract – 1 tablespoon

Method: Chop the tomatoes into medium-sized pieces. Grind tomatoes, coconut, coriander leaves, green chilli, and tamarind extract in a blender into a thick paste. Add a tablespoon of water if needed. Heat the oil and pop mustard seeds. Add urad dal and fry being careful not to brown them. Add the ground paste and stir fry it now and then. Cook for 5 minutes till the raw smell disappears. The tomatoe chutney is now ready to serve.

PS: These chutneys can be stored in a dry container keeping it in a refrigerator.

Coriander chutney recipe

Ingredients:
Coriander leaves – 2 cup, fresh, remove stem
Coconut – 1 cup, fresh, grated
Green chillies – 3-4, medium size
Ginger – ½ inch piece
Garlic – 3 cloves
Onion – 2 small, chopped
Cummin seeds – ½ teaspoon
Lemon juice – 1 teaspoon
Sugar – 1 teaspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon or as desired to taste

Method: Grind all the ingredients in a blender into a thick paste. Add a tablespoon of water or as needed. Serve it raw. Coriander chutney is an excellent side dish as a dip for french fries or pakoras or as a spread for sandwiches, etc.

Ginger chutney recipe

Ingredients:
Ginger – 3 teaspoon, chopped
Jaggery – ¼ cup
Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Bengal gram dal – 2 tablespoon
Black gram dal – 1 tablespoon
Red chillies – 5
Asafoetida – a pinch
Salt – 1 teaspoon or as desired to taste
Tamarind extract – 1 teaspoon

Method: Heat the oil and pop mustard seeds. Add Bengal gram dal, black gram dal, red chillies, asafoetida, and fry being careful not to brown them. Remove from heat source and allow it to lukewarm. Grind the mixture into a powder. Add ginger, jaggery, tamarind extract, salt, and water. Grind again to a thick paste. Ginger chutney is ready, which is an excellent side dish for pesarattu and upma.

Coconut chutney recipes

Chutneys are terrific accompaniments to dosa, idli, poori, rotis, meat, and poulty of any kind. Here is one of My Dhaba’s favorite coconut chutney recipes.

Coconut chutney recipe

Ingredients:
Coconut – 1 cup, freshly grated
Dry red chillies – 5 to 6
Urad dal – 1 teaspoon
Fried Bengal gram dal – 3 teaspoon (optional)
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida – one pinch (optional)
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Tamarind extract – ½ teaspoon

Method: Heat oil in a fry pan and fry coconut, red chillies, urad dal, and fried Bengal gram dal for 2 minutes. Add asafoetida, salt, and tamarind to the mixture, grind it smooth, and serve.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Coconut chutney

Chicken curry recipe (Kerala style)

Here is My Dhaba's favorite Kerala style chicken curry recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken – 1 kg, cut into medium pieces
Curd/yogurt – half cup
Lime juice – one teaspoon
Salt – 1 tablespoon
Oil – 2 tablespoon
Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves – 8
Onion – 3, large, chopped
Garlic – 6 cloves, chopped
Ginger – 1-1/2 inch piece, chopped
Green chillies – 6, small, spilt
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 3 teaspoon
Garam masala powder – 2 teaspoon
Coconut milk – 2 cups, from fresh grated coconut
Potatoes – 2 large, diced
Hot water – 2 cups

Method: Clean and marinate chicken pieces in curd/yogurt, salt, and lime juice mixture for one hour. Heat oil in a large vessel, pop the mustard seeds being careful not to burn the seeds. Add curry leaves. Add onion, ginger, garlic, and green chillies, and stir fry until golden brown. Make a paste of red chilli, turmeric, and coriander powder. Add the paste and fry for a minute. Add the chicken pieces and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add garam masala, coconut milk, hot water, and potato. Cover and cook for about 25 minutes or until chicken pieces and potato are cooked and tender. Serve and eat hot with rice, rotis, or naan. Enjoy!

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6

Garam masala powder recipe

Ingredients:
Cummin seeds – 5 teaspoon
Fennel seeds – 3 teaspoon
Black peppercorns – 3 teaspoon
Cloves - 15
Cardomom pods – 6, deseeded
Cinnamon sticks – 4 inch piece, made into smaller pieces
Oil – 1 teaspoon

Method: Fry spices in oil on low heat. Do not let them turn brown. When lukewarm, powder it in a blender at high speed to a fine powder. Store in an air-tight container.

How to extract the coconut milk?

Grate one cup of coconut and add one cup of boiling water on it. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Grind it well in a blender. Hand-squeeze the milk out from the pulp and filter. Add anonther half cup of boiling water on the precipitate and grind once again to extract the second milk.

Rasam recipes

Rasam is a South Indian dish which follows the sambar course and is in turn followed by curd rice. It is eaten mixed with rice or drunk by itself which makes for a very good appetizer. There are various ways of preparing rasam. Find below few My Dhaba's rasam recipes without using a ready-made rasam powder. Enjoy!

Paruppu rasam recipe

Ingredients:
Tuvar dal – ¼ cup
Masoor dal – ¼ cup
Water – 2 cups
Salt – 1 teaspoon, to taste
Tomatoes – 3, medium size, dice into small pieces
Tamarind extract – 1 teaspoon
Chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder - ½ teaspoon
Garlic – 3 cloves, crushed
Cummin seeds – 1 teaspoon, crushed
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Hing powder – ½ teaspoon
Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
Saunf – ½ teaspoon
Dry red chilli – 3
Methi seeds – ½ teaspoon
Oil – one teaspoon
Curry leaves – 8-10 leaves
Coriander leaves – a bunch, for garnishing

Method: Cook the dal well in water. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, turmeric powder, and tamarind extract. Add garlic, cummin seeds, and black pepper powder. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add hing powder. Keep it aside. Heat oil in a fry pan and pop the mustard seeds. Remove the heat source and add methi seeds, saunf, dry red chilli, and curry leaves. Add this mixture to the rasam. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Parippu (Lenthil) Rasam

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Strawberry ice cream recipe

Let us discuss today about making our own icecream. Find below a recipe for strawberry icecream.

Strawberry icecream recipe:

Ingredients:
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 4 tablespoon or as desired
Full cream milk - one cup
Whipping cream - 1-1/2 cup
Strawberry essence - 1-2 teaspoon
Red food coloring - 1/2 teaspoon

Method: Whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl. Warm milk in a pan. Pour the warm milk into the egg and sugar mixture slowing. Stir constantly. Heat the mixture again in the pan. Stir constantly until it begins to thicken slightly. Do not let it boil. Allow it to cool down. Mix in the cream and strawberry essence. Freeze the mixture in a covered vessel. After approximately one hour, remove the icecream and grind well to avoid crystalized icecream. Then freeze it and serve chilled.

If you like a little crunch, add a cup of chopped nuts, chocolate chips, candy, chopped fruits, shredded coconut, etc., to the mixture either before or after freezing, as desired.

Enjoy! Your feedback is appreciated.