Tomato Pickle

This Tomato Pickle I am talking about is my Mom's specialty and I had always wanted to learn how to make it. So this weekend was the D-Day and I can't tell you how yummy the achaar has turned up. When we were cooking the aroma that encompassed the house transported me to my childhood days. Of how we used to polish off the achaar with Mathri's & aloo paratha's....sigh!!! *this reminds me to call up my bro to tease him*

So on special request of RM here is the recipe. Do note that my Mom works on approximation (like all people of her generation used to when cooking) but she has very sweetly given me the measurement for blog purpose. So here we go..

Tomato Pickle

Ingredients

Tomato:                1 kg (ensure that you pick up red stiff ones and not the desi ones)

Refined Oil:           1/2 Cup (more if you want)
Ginger:                  1.5 Tbsp (finely chopped)

Green Chilly:       1 Tbsp (finely chopped) You can increase or decrease this as per the spice level you want

Methi Seeds:         15-20 

Mustard Seeds:      1.5 teaspoon

Salt:                      To Taste

Turmeric Powder: 2 Tbsp

Red Chilly:            1 Teaspoon

Vinegar:                 1/2 Cup

Spices to be powdered

Mustard Seeds:     1.5 Tbsp

Methi Seeds:         1/2 Tbsp

Cut the tomatoes as shown in below picture (choosing the right tomato makes your job easy coz the desi ones have more water content and will take more time for the pickle to get cooked) i.e. halve them and then slice it again in half and cut fine slices. Chop the Ginger & Chilly finely. 

Heat oil in a big heavy base vessel. When the oil is heated add the whole Mustard and Methi Seeds. As they start spluttering add the Ginger & Chilly. After a minute add the powdered spices, Salt, Chilly & turmeric powder.

Cook it for half a minute and then dump in the tomatoes

Turn the flame on high and cover the vessel.Keep checking the mixture and keep stirring it every now & then so that the tomato doesn't stick. Once the water reduces, reduce the flame on medium and cook the tomatoes. You will see how it changes colour.

Don't multitask while cooking this because tomato has a tendency to stick. Keep cooking & stirring at regular intervals till the oil separates (should take anywhere between 20 mins to 1/2 hour). Once it reaches stage 4 of the photo above, add the vinegar and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn the gas off and your pickle is ready to be savored. This Pickle needs to be stored in refrigerator

Tandoori Aloo

 Tandoori Aloo Recipe

Ingredients

Baby Potatoes - 1/2 Kg 

Hung Curd - 1 1/2 Cup

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 Tbsp

Tandoori Masala - 2 Tbsp (I used Hakim's tandoori Masala)

Salt to taste

Oil - A teaspoon

Cheese (optional)

Onion rings & Cilantro leaves for garnishing.

Clean the potatoes, poke them with a for and put them to boil. I had only par boiled them but realized that best would be put them in a pressure cooker and turn off the gas as soon as the first whistle blows so that the potatoes are neither too hard nor too tender.

Take 1.5 cup of curd and hang it in a muslin cloth for minimum 1/2 an hour.

When the potatoes are cold enough to handle peel the skin (which is actually optional), add the curd, Ginger Garlic paste, salt, oil & Tandoori Masala (you can increase or reduce the quantity as per your spice requirement level) to the potatoes & mix them well. Cover it air tight and let it marinate (in the refrigerator) for at least 2-3 hours (the more the better).

Marination Mix

Take it out an hour & half before it has to be served. Pre Heat the oven at 180 degree and grill the potatoes for 10 mins at same temperature.  Take them out turn them around bake again for 10-15 minutes. As the Potatoes were already boiled you need to worry about them being cooked properly. Take it out again, grate the cheese on it & cook it for 3-4 minutes.

Take it out, garnish with onion & cilantro leaves  and serve it with green chutney.

Mughlai Egg Paratha

My Mom is an expert cook and she makes this awesome Egg Paratha which I wanted to learn badly. I always thought that it was some rocket science till the day I saw her making it. So here is the super simple recipe for you to try. I make them regularly now specially for my brat.

Ingredients Serves One

Egg I
Wheat Dough
Salt to Taste
Black Pepper to Taste
Onions/ Green Chilly/ Cilantro leaves (Optional)

Break the egg, add salt & black pepper. You can additionally add the optional items as well.

Take the dough that you normally take for making a Paratha and the divide it into two balls. Roll both of them a little ensuring that they are more or less of same size. Apply generous oil on one of the rolled dough and put the other rolled piece on it. (Refer Images)

Twin Sisters

Well Oiled to be Co Joined

Now roll this Roti to its full stretch and put it on the heated tawa. Cook it from one side for 30 sec, turn it around. Turn the gas on low flame, take a knife and gently nudge one of the roti's away. As we have applied generous oil separating them would be a cake walk.

Waiting to be separated

Decoupled

One gets egged

The other one waits

Keep that roti aside and pour the egg on the roti that is on the tawa. Spread the egg evenly and put the lonely roti back on this one to seal the deal.

Egg Holi!

Joined back and cooking away to glory

Now apply oil and turn the roti around, increase the flame, apply oil on this side as well and cook it like a normal paratha. Serve it with tomato sauce :D Its done!

Almost Ready

And served

Egg Biryani

This one is for RM & my BFF who have been demanding the recipe after I posted some drool-worthy images of the said Biryani.

You know, I have always wanted to make this spicy-spicy Egg Biryani but never actually tried it because my In Laws don't eat egg and though they have no issues with us eating eggs I refrained from making it because I feel guilty that two of us are eating something special and rest are not. But with my parents here I decided to try the dish. I checked many recipes online and then ended up making my own version. Here is the detailed recipe

Egg Biryani

Ingredients - Serves three adults

250 Gms Rice - Basmati (preferable) soaked for 1/2 hour

4 Eggs - Hard Boiled (you can vary the number as per your requirement)

Akkha Garam Masala

• Jeera - 1 Teaspoon
• Tej Patta (Bay Leaves) - 2-3 l
• Cloves - 5-6
• Star Anise - 2
• Cinnamon Stick - 1/2 inch piece
• Big Black Cardamom - 1
• Green Cardamom - 2
• Kali Mirch (Black Peppercorns) - 5-6

Hakim's Biryani Masala - This one is a major find, if you can not find it look for some other brand but this is too good.

Onions - 4 Big Sized

Tomatoes - 2 Big ones

Ginger - 1 Inch piece

Garlic - 6-7 Pods

Green Chilly - 2 (optional)

Curd - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 4 Tbsp (yes I know its generous you can reduce if you want)

Milk - 3 Tbsp

Kesar 3-4 strands (optional)

Salt - To Taste

Method

In a big vessel put water (a lot extra than is usually needed) to boil. Drain the rice and once the water is boiling dunk it in it. Add one star anise, a little cinnamon & one tej patta in it and let it cook till the point it is 90% cooked. Drain the excess water out and spread the rice in a flat big vessel. Don't forget to add a little ghee before spreading it out.

Also boil the eggs and once they are cold cut them into slices.

Warm the milk and add the saffron strands in it.

Take one onion and cut it into fine slices. Heat the Ghee in a kadhai and deep fry these slices till they are golden brown. Remember to separate the slices before frying. Let it drain on a tissue paper and keep it aside.

Make a paste out of the ginger & garlic and finely chop the remaining onion & tomatoes.

In the ghee (left after frying the onions) add jeera, green chilly and the other garam masala. Once it starts spluttering add the ginger garlic paste, letting it cook for a minute. Now add the onion and let it cook. As it turns pinkish brown add the Biryani masala. I had dunked half of it because I wanted the biryani to be spicy. Let it cook for a minute or two and then add the chopped tomatoes. Cover it and let it cook. Once the ghee starts separating add the curd and bhunofy the masala. Turn the gas off when the ghee has separated.

The lovely simmering masala

Now comes assembling.

Keep the rice, cooked gravy, milk, eggs & fried onion at hand.

Now take a heavy based vessel, grease it with oil. Add a layer of rice, over it arrange the egg slices, then spread the gravy generously. Add a layer of rice over it pour a little milk on it and garnish with onions. Then repeat the process of layering, eggs go in first followed by gravy, rice, milk and fried Onions.

The Layering

Just before I covered it

Keep doing till the rice and gravy are finished. I had managed to make three layers. Finally at the top pour the remaining milk garnish with the fried onions and coriander leaves. Now cover the vessel with a plate and seal it either with roti ka aata or aluminium foil. Turn the gas onn and keep it on low flame, keep a tawa on it and put the vessel above it. Let it cook for 10-15 minutes (depending on how cooked your rice was). Turn the gas off. 

Open the vessel, enjoy the heavenly aroma and serve it with Raita/ Salad / Papad.

Can you see the layers

In the Plate!

Notes

• The amount of gravy that you need to spread depends on the total quantity you have in hand. 
• Same goes with rice, like in my case I had excess rice so I kept some aside because too much rice would have taken away the taste.
• In case you don't find the Biryani Masala then all you need to add is turmeric powder, red chilly powder, Dhaniya Powder and a little more of the garam masala that I have suggested. But I would recommend that you some ready to use biryani masala.
• When you put the rice to boil do add salt in it.
• Instead of cutting the slices of eggs you can even half it and use it.

Corn Masala in my Style

They say necessity is the mother of invention and this holds true for this recipe of mine. My In Laws love Corn but are unable to enjoy eating it as they want to because it gets stuck in their teeth's. I worked a way out and invented this dish. It tastes yum and is easy to make.

Ingredients

Medium Sized Corn / Maize - 2

Onions - 2 finely chopped

Ginger & Garlic Paste - 1/2 Tbsp

Tomato - 1 Finely Chopped

Jeera - 1 Teaspoon

Salt - To Taste

Chilli Powder - 1 Tsp or to taste

Dhaniya Powder - 1 & 1/2 Tbsp

Garam Masala - 1 Tsp

Cilantro Leaves

Oil - 1 & 1/2 Tbsp

How to

To begin with put the corn for boiling. I had used the normal corn, broken it into two two pieces, pressure cooked it and then removed the kernel. You can even buy the ready to use kernels and boil them.

While the corn gets boiled, we can start the gravy. Add oil in the kadhai, heat it & add jeera. Once it splutters add the ginger garlic paste and after a minute add the finely chopped onions. As they turn pinkish brown add all the spices besides garam masala. Cook it for 2-3 minutes and then add tomatoes. Cover them for 3-4 minutes and once the tomato is tender bhuno the masala till the oil seperates.

When your kernels are ready put them in a mixer and makes paste. How fine you want the paste to be depends entirely on you. You can leave it on a coarser side or you can make a fine paste like I have done. If you ask me a little coarser one tasted better.

Add this paste to the beaming masala and bhuno the whole thing. Add garam masala and garnish with Cilantro leaves and serve either with hot roti's or parathas.

Now I will let the images do the talking.

The Usual Suspects

I love the smell of onions being fried,

The masala has been dunked in

Tomatoes added & sizzling

The boiled beauties

The removed kernels

The Paste

Ready!



To be served..



Easy to make tasty to eat :) 

Mix Pakode for the Monsoon season

In my books not having pakodi's in monsoon is a cardinal sin. So here I am presenting my kind of Pakode's/ Bhajiya's. The kind which we make up North, the kind which I miss in Mumbai. Out here you get either onion bhajiya or an aloo bhajiya. You will never find Paneer/ Gobhi/ Brinjal/ Mix bhajiya's etc. So without much ado lets get on the recipe

Ingredients

Besan / Gram Flour: 2 Cups

Water: Less than a cup but honestly based on your judgement

Baking Soda: A pinch

Salt: To Taste

Ginger Garlic Paste: 1/2 Teaspoon

Ajwain: 1/2 Teaspoon

Red Chilly Powder: To Taste

Garam Masala Powder: 1/2 Tsp

Cilantro Leaves: 1 Tbsp

Green Chilly: Depending on your hotness intake capacity

Onions: 4 medium sized

Potatoes:  4 medium sized

Oil To Fry

Process

Take the besan in a big utensil, add a little water (it must be enough to move the besan around but ensure that you don't put too much water, so add little by little) and the baking soda. Start beating the besan either by hand or a whisker. The consistency of the batter is on a thicker side. Beat for at least 5-10 minutes and to check if its done there is a simple test. Take water in a glass and drop a small drop of besan in it, if the drop floats up your batter is ready. Keep it aside. It is advisable to first make the batter ready to give it some standing time.

Finely chop the Onions, green chilly, dhaniya leaves & potato. Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai in the meanwhile. Now add the ginger garlic paste, ajwain (it helps in digestion), garam masala powder, Salt, Chilly Powder & Salt in the besan batter and mix it well. Then add the onions & potatoes in the batter, mixing it well. If you feel that the batter is too thick add a little water but remember that onions & salts leave a little water after some time. If you feel the batter is runny add a little besan.

Check if the oil is well heated by dropping a small ball of besan in it, if it springs up immediately the oil is ready. Drop small small balls of onions & potatoes in the oil at high flame, let them cook for a min and then reduce the flame to medium. Turn the pakoda's around after 2-3 mins and cook from other side. When the bhajiya's start turning a little golden in color increase the flame stir for a minute & take them out spreading them on a tissue paper to drain the excess oil. It takes anywhere between 10-15 mins for one batch of pakode's to cook.

Serve with green chutney and pipping hot tea/ coffee.

Alternatively you can even add small pieces of Cauliflower / slices of brinjal/ cubes of paneer/ slices of boiled egg in the besan batter and fry them. You can even make plain onion Bhajiyas by slicing them finely and similarly plain aloo bhajiyas by cutting them in slices.

Enjoy the Rainy season this weekend :)

Katori Chat

I have now realised that there is no time better than now. I say so because I have been wanting to revive this space for long but I kept postponing it for next day but then today I thought, enough is enough lets do it now!

So let's begin with Katori Chaat! Last week I jad made Chaat at home and wrote about it here, Foodie Weekend. There few of my readers had requested for some recipes from the spread so here is how I made Aloo Katori/ tokri/ basket chaat

When I usually make chaat Aloo Tikki is constant i.e. besides golgappe. But this time I decided to make something new and googled about making this basket. The search was encouraging and thus this was made.

Ingredients (For the Basket)

Potatoes Grated - 4 Medium Sized

Cornflour - 2 Tbsp

Oil to Fry

Cold Water

Peel and grate the potatoes and put them in Cold water for 5 minutes. Drain the water out and pat it dry after 5 minutes. Add cornflour in it and a pinch of salt.

Side by side heat the oil in a deep kadhai ensuring that there is enough oil for dipping this chalni in it. Take a chalni like the above photo, take a portion of the grated potato and spread it in the chalni. Spread it in a way that it takes the form of the chalni. Just ensure that there the spread is neither too thin nor too thick. Ensure the oil is hot and put the chalni in it, be careful and put it in very slowly.

Turn the flame to medium and let the tokri get cooked. It takes anywhere between 8-10 minutes for the basket to get cooked. Keep twirling the chalni so that the potatoes get cooked evenly. Once it turns light golden in color it is ready to be taken out. Drain the oil out as in the photo below

Let the chalni rest for some time, over turn it and slowly tap it from below and extract the basket out. It requires a little gentle handling, patience & manoeuvring. I broke two tokri's and got two out intact, we live & we learn :-)

You can see the whole bunch in the right corner of the photo.

Once these baskets are ready & cool enough you can put a filling of curd, green chutney, imli chutney, anaar, boiled potato, sev, chana daal, bhujiya sev, onion and even sprouted daal. Serve it immediately before it turns soggy.