Potato Dolma Curry

I found this recipe in a magazine years ago, when I didn't cook so much. The pictures always tempted me but at that time the complex recipe intimidated my can't-boil-an-egg self. I always carried it around though waiting for the perfect occasion. At one party where I was forced to put out all vegetarian fare, I did try this and it was a success.

According to my one and half minute research, 'Dolma' is a Turkish dish from where it originated, but it is found all over the Arab world.Each country has its particular way of cooking.For instance; the Turks line the base of the pot with cleaned pigs trotters, the Lebanese with lamb chops, while the Jordanians make each Dolma so small, each one a mouthful.Basically any vegetable that can be stuffed is used; usually onions, vine leaves, courgettes, tomatoes and green peppers.Once the vegetables are stuffed they can be frozen until they are needed.
So you could say this is Stuffed Potato Curry, only I like saying Dolma. It sounds interesting and decadent.

Its a calorie laden, rich curry, and a little reminiscent of the sweetish Malai Kofta. Those who like the sweet-savory flavors will definitely enjoy this. It does have a lot of ingredients and requires some work but the results are so worth it.

So here goes
3-4 medium size potatoes

For the filling
Half a cup sweet peas-boiled and mashed lightly
2 tbsp paneer- crumbled
2 tbsp khoya - crumbled
1 tsp pistachios - chopped
1 tsp almonds - chopped
1 tsp white jeera powder - roasted
1/2 tsp red chili powder
salt to taste

For the gravy
1 1/2 tbsp ginger paste
2 medium size onions, sliced
1 tbsp green/red chilli paste
1 tbsp cashewnut paste
4 green cardommoms
1 peice of cinnamon
2 tbsp raisin
2 tbsp khoya
1/2 hung curd
Take some curd and tie it up in a muslin cloth and leave it for 3-4 hours. Once all the water drains out you will be left with thick curds.
Salt and sugar to taste

Mix all the ingredients for the filling and keep aside.
Boil the potatoes till they are soft enough to carve but firm enough to hold their shape. Cut them in halves and scoop out the centre of the potato to create a hollow space for the filling. Rub a little salt on the insides. Put the filling in and pack it really tight. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the stuffed potatoes lightly till they develop a crisp exterior. Make sure to move them around carefully so the the filling doesn't fall out. For the curry, fry the onions till they look light brown. Do not burn or caramelize them. The khoya is already sweet and caramelized onions will turn this into dessert. Add the cardamom pods and cinnamon stick. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, ginger paste, chili paste and fry for a while. Let the mixture cool for a while and then blend with the curds, khoya, raisins and cashew paste. Add some water. Heat the mixture again until its cooked thoroughly and pour over the fried,stuffed potatoes. Cover the pan and simmer till potatoes are cooked.
I like this curry with roti or naan. the curry is not thin enough to be had with rice, although you could make it thinner.

Veggie Soft Tacos

Here's a simple recipe to make Veggie. tacos.
If you use Fajita size tortillas, 6-8 tacos can be made with the measures mentioned below.

Ingredients:
6-8 Flour Tortillas (Taco size tortillas are very big, so I normally use Fajita size)
1 LB Vegetarian refried beans
1 packet of taco seasoning mix
2-1/2 to 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce
1/2 cup Chopped onion
1 green chili- finely chopped
Butter

For garnishing:
Shredded lettuce, chopped tomato and green pepper, Sour cream, shredded Mexican cheese, taco sauce

Recipe:
Filling:
Heat oil (use very little oil- about 2 t-spoons) in a pan.
Add chopped onions and green chili, saute' until onion become brown.
Add tomato sauce, refried beans and taco seasoning mix, mix well and boil.
(Make sure not to add a lot of tomato sauce so that the filling does not become a thin paste.)

Tacos:
Heat both sides of tortilla on a skillet with little butter.
Spread little sour cream on the tortilla and then spread the filling on the tortilla (in the middle portion) . Do not spread the filling near the edges.
Garnish with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, green pepper, shredded Mexican cheese and sour cream.
Add some taco sauce on the top and then fold the edges of the tortilla on top of the filling.
If you want to make it little crispy, heat the tortilla for a longer time.
Serve hot.

Anda paratha

I had some leftover hard boiled eggs the other day and wasn't in the mood for your regular egg salad. So I did my own variation of it and put it in stuffed paratha for breakfast. It turned out pretty good, the egg filling was spicy enough to hold its own. I didn't even need dahi with it. Just a dollop of melting butter.

Paratha stuffing

3-4 hard boiled eggs
1 bay leaf
1 small onion
1 clove garlic grated
1 green chilli, chopped fine
a little coriander leaves, chopped fine
a little ketchup
salt-pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 pinches chaat masala

Boil the eggs, peel them and set them aside to cool. When they are completely cool, grate them. In a pan heat some oil, add the bay leaf and the onion. Cook the onion for a short time till it turns translucent. Try not to overcook it. Just a little bit so that its not completely raw in the stuffing. Add the grated ginger and let it cook slightly. Let the onions-ginger cool. Take the bay leaf out and add it to the grated eggs. Add the rest of the spices, green chilli, coriander leaves, salt-pepper and ketchup. I like the tomatoey taste but if it makes the stuffing difficult to roll, leave it out and serve ketchup later. Put the stuffing in the paratha dough and carefully roll it out.
Serve hot.

Methi Malai Matar

Despite the decadent sounding name this is actually pretty healthy. There's no real malai but there is milk. Ok, there is some malai (look at the title) but you can easily skip that step for a nutritious everyday sabji. I wasn't too keen on methi as a kid and my mom used this recipe to get me to start eating leafy greens and I love methi in all forms now. I have this friend who doesn't cook at all, and I mean at all. So for his sake, I'm going to try and make the recipe as idiot proof as possible.

2 cups methi(fenugreek) leaves
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tablespoon oil
a pinch of mustard seeds
a pinch of jeera
a pinch of turmeric powder
a pinch of hing(asafeotida)
1 medium onion, cut really fine
1 tomato, cubed
1 cup peas
1 cup milk
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 stick of cinnamon
2-3 cardommom pods
chilli powder, salt to taste

In a pan, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and jeera. When the seeds start to splutter, add the turmeric, hing, cinnamon stick and cardommom pods. Then add the onion and saute till golden brown. Once the onion changes color, add the ginger-garlic paste and cook till looses that raw smell. Add tomato and methi leaves. Saute for a minute till methi leaves get soggy and cook down. If you are using fresh peas then add them at this stage, in case of frozen peas wait till the methi is cooked. Then add the milk, garam masala powder, chilli powder and salt. Stir this together. Cover and cook for another 5-7 minutes. The milk will evaporate and make a rich green curry. My mom used to serve it with a little bit of malai on top of the sabji but you can skip it. Garnish with more tomato peices for a little color and serve hot with rice or roti.

Gajar (Carrot) Halwa

Gajar ka Halwa is mainly made by Carrot and Milk. Do u know that Carrot is a good source of Vit. A and Milk is of Vit.D and Calcium? So u can imagine how great it can be for u and ur kids,so just try this recipe-----------

INGREDIENTS------------

-Carrots- 1 k.g

-Sugar--300gms.

-Ghee-6-7tbs.

-Milk-1lit.

-Condensed milk---10-12oz.

-Kaju--16 sliced

-Raisins-25

-Almonds-14 sliced

-Pista-10 sliced

-Cardamom 5- powdered

METHOD-----

-Wash, peel off and then grate the carrots or u can grind them in grinder.

-Put 3-4 tbs ghee in one karai or saucepan and then put the gratted carrot in it,fry them at medium flame for 5 min.

-Then add 1 lit. boiled milk,and let them cook till milk dries stirring occasionally

-Then put condensed milk,and let them cook till milk dries completely

-Now add sugar and remainning ghee,and fry them for 15 mins. stirring continuously

-Switch off the gas and then garnish with dry fruits.

-Serve hot.

Corn Chowder and Potato soup

Its getting real cold out here. Winter, it seems, is not going to go out without a fight. And what a fight it is! The wind rattles my window panes, makes my piddly heaters ineffective and when I do dare to step out, knocks my breath out. Tis the perfect season for soup, coffee and masala chai. Here are my recipes for corn chowder and potato soup which are sure to warm your innards and chase the winter chill away.

Corn chowder

1 & 1/2 cup frozen corn(duh)
2 tsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup lowfat milk
1 small white onion
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/2 cup diced carrot
2-3 stalks of celery
1 cup grated raw potato
salt-pepper-chilli flakes to taste
3 cups water/ stock
to garnish
some flatleaf parsley

This soup is super easy and has a delicate flavor. First, melt the butter in the pan. And please do use real butter as opposed to to any low fat substitute or olive oil. The buttery flavor weaves through the soup and gives it a richness that you won't get with the alternatives. Plus, you are using low fat milk. Ok then, butter melted, throw in the flour and cook it till it looks...well, cooked. Take your time or the soup will taste chalky. Next saute the onion, celery and green pepper. Once that is done, you can put in your raw potato and saute that for a minute before adding the milk and water/stock. The pototo will cook and make the soup thick so be generous with your water/stock. Add salt-pepper-chilli flakes and garnish with parsley.

Potato- Cheese soup

A friend of mine was crazy about the potato soup she had somewhere and was looking for a recipe. I loved the idea and thought it would be easy to make. So I experimented a bit and since anything potato tastes good, I didn't have to experiment more.

2-3 medium potatoes
1 small onion
1 clove
2-3 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup low fat milk
2-3 cups of stock/water
a handful of shredded cheese
sakt-pepper to taste

Stick the peeled potatoes and onion with some salt in the pressure cooker and cook them till soft. add the milk and blend together till smooth. In another pan take some butter/ oil and add the clove, pepper and bay leaf. Pour in the blended potato-onion mixture and water. Add the cheese, salt and pepper. Garnish with some more cheese and stick it in the oven till cheese melts and forms a crust on top. Serve with some garlic bread. Its a bowlful of potato heaven.
I love Amul cheese but since I don't get that here, I think Kraft also works. If you want a sharp taste you could use Cheddar. A mixture of Cheddar-Mozarella is also yummy. I tried Parmersan and despite my love for this cheese, it doesn't work in this soup. I also tried caramelizing the onions instead of cooking them with the potatoes but it added a level of sweetness that I didn't care for. If you like a little sweet in the background, then slice the onion, mix it with some oil and salt and put it in the oven till it turns brown. Then blend it.

Veg soup from leftovers

I had plenty of leftovers this weekend and I didn't want to throw it all away so I put all my veggies in a pan with some store bought veg stock and lo-behold I had delicious soup! The soup was so good that my soup non-loving husband gulped down a couple of bowlfuls. That is the acid test of my cooking. I have a fussy eater on my hands so if he eats without grumbling it is fit enough to serve to royalty. I kept a record of all my leftovers so I can make that soup again.
Here goes,

1 large onion cut in half moons
1 large bell pepper cut in slivers
Canned roasted tomato (I had the garlic roasted tomatoes but you can always use the plain and add garlic later)
a handful of packet of babycorn or regular corn
some sliced mushrooms
some fresh basil
lemongrass paste
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
2-3 whole peppercorns
3 cups vegetable stock
salt to taste

I had already roasted the onion and bell pepper with a little bit of olive oil, salt-pepper and half a teaspoon of ginger garlic paste for another dish. I'm a sucker for anything roasted. However, you can saute it in the pan with some olive oil anf fresh basil. Add the veggies, tomatoes, peppercorns, and stock. I thought homemade soups were pretty bland till I started using stock. Now I can't go back to water. You can use some stock cubes if you want or keep it basic with water instead of stock. Adding the stock gives it a flavor that only an entire day of slaving away would. Let the mixture boil and then add the chilli flakes and lemongrass paste. The lemongrass paste cuts the spice and gives soup a light, refreshing taste. Garnish with more torn up basil and cilantro leaves and serve. With a peice of some sort of crusty bread this makes a wonderfully light dinner or a good pre dinner snack.