Tostada- a total delight

Tostada
This is such a great delight. A large crispy tortilla with all the stuffings on it and topped off with condiments like olives and jalapenos. My mom loves this.
Recipe:
4-6 tostadas, find them in any grocery store
2 cups shredded, boneless chicken any way you like it - my recipe follows
1 cup guacamole, homemade or store brought
1 cup salsa , homemade or store brought
small can olives chopped
cilantro chopped
smal container mexican sour cream or regular sour cream
green onions chopped
1 can mexican black beans, drain of the liquid and rinse the beans
jalapenos if you desire
kraft or any company mexican blend of cheese
Procedure:
My roast chicken recipe:
Clean and cut chicken breast. marinate with salt, pepper, cumin powder, garlic cloves and the brine from jalapeno jar along with few jalapenos and veggies like carrots, bell pepper, onions and tomatoes.
Bake in oven at 350F for 45 mins.
Pan roast with little oil to get crispy dry shredded chicken.
Tostada Layering:
Take a single toastada and add the chicken as the bottom most layer. then the beans. Then the gucamole and salsa, top it with cream cheese. Garnish with jalapenos, olives, shredded cheese and green onions. Serve immediately or the tostada will get soggy.
For a vegeterian meal, add grilled veggies like onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, zuccini, eggplant, mushrooms etc instead of chicken.
Enjoy
Dipti!

Fish Cutlet

Cod Fish Cutlets

Cutlets before frying
Here's how it goes at my house.

my duckie: I want fish. mamma!! I WANT FISH FRYYYYY!!!

me: ok, I will ask baba to go and get some from that shop which is 25miles drive away.

my duckie: no, i want it. fishieeeeeeeeee!!!

me: Ok, I will get some tilapia/salmon/cod fish for you. my poor kid, you wont know the enjoy of eating Arabian sea fish like pomfret, bombil, ravas, surmai and ghol..

So, I drive alll the way upto either meijers or jewel and pick up whatever fresh fish they have. Mind you, the fish we get here isnt exactly as fresh as the fish we get in India..I miss fresh fish.

So i get home some fresh cod and decide what to do. Curry making is out of question because duckie had demanded something fried. So I flash back to my office colleague who had gotten this absolutely fantastic ghol fish cutlets for lunch one day. I think I had gobbled up her entire lunch. So now thinking back and scratching my brain, I tried to remember the ingredients and the -procedure. Of course i trolled the internet too. What I did was an amalgamation of my preferences and few recipes tossed around.

The verdict: both hubby and son loved it. I froze some and fried them on a later day when I was in dire need of snacks.

Recipe:

1/2 lb cod fish, cleaned

marinate with:

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp tumeric powder

2 tsp ginger-garlic paste

salt to taste

1 large potato

1 tsp garam masala powder

handful bread crumbs

1 bunch green onions- only the green onions part, diced

handful chopped cilantro

oil for frying

Procedure:

Marinate the fish the usual way. Pressure cook the fish and the potato seperately. Drain water from fish. Heat oil, add cooked fish, garam masala and saute till fishy smell disappears. Add green onions, breadcrumbs, potato and cilantro. MIx well. Make small patties and dredge in rice flour. Shallow fry till brown and crispy on both sides. Serve hot with ketchup. Makes around 20 patties.

Stuffed Eggplant

Eggplants with dried shrimp

Eggplant stuffed with dried prawns, onions and spices

Yum yum yum. This is my mom's speciality. I remember when as a kid I used to wait for my mom to make this absolutely delicious recipe of eggpplants stuffed with dried shrimps and potatoes. Alternately, this recipe can be made with roasted peanuts. S has an aversion to eggplants but I make sure to add lots of potatoes and he loves it. My little duckie loves to eat this too though he is not fond of the dried shrimps in it. And me, I love the entire thing. So it just works well for the three of us.

Recipe:

4 small eggplants, washed and cut at the top into slits.

2 large potatoes cut into 1/4" rounds

2 medium onions, minced

1 handful dried shrimp, soaked in water and marinated w/ 1/2 tsp red chilli, 1/4 tsp tumeric powder, salt to taste and some tamrind pulp and paste made of 2 cloves garlic, 1/2" ginger, 2 green chillies and some chopped cilantro.

1 cup masala powder of dried dessicated coconut and fried onions

salt to taste

1 tsp garam masala

little sugar to taste
4 tsp + 2 tsp oil for cooking

Preparation:

Heat a heavt bottom pan with 2 tsp oil. When hot, add a pinch of asafoetida to it. Then add the marinated shrimp to it and roast till cooked. When cold, add onions, coconut masala powder, garam masala powder, salt and sugar and mix well. Stuff the eggplants with this mix. Heat the pan again with 4 tsp oil and when hot gently lower the eggplants into it along with the potato rounds and the leftover mixture. Cover and let it cook on low flame. When cooked, serve hot with chappatis and rice and varan.

Enjoy

Dipti!!

I know this recipe seems a little lengthy, but its definetley worth it.

Spaghetti and Chicken Meatballs with Sweet and Spicy sauce.

Chicken Meatballs and Spaghetti- A favorite of mine.

Cooking the meatballs in the sauce itself gives a great flavor to the sauce

The meatball mix

This is one of the easiest pasta dishes I have every made. To save time, you can make a great quantity of meatballs, a big amount of pasta sauce and freeze them both seperately. The whenever required, just cook the meatballs, thaw the sauce, boil the pasta and toss it together and serve it with a helping to parmesan cheese. Dinner is ready within 30 mins.

I always promise myself that the next time I would make big quantities of meatballs and sauce but it never happens.

Recipe:

For the sauce, just follow the red basic sauce recipe saved under pasta/noodles.

for the meatballs:

1 lb minced chicken breast

1 small onion minced

1/4 cup green scallions if you have any on hand

3 cloves of garlic minced

handful breadcrumbs

salt to taste

fresh black pepper

1 tsp dry basil

1/2 container ricotta cheese- this makes the meatballs delightfully moist

1 egg

2 tsps olive oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F Mix all the ingredients except for the minced chicken in a large mixing bowl. Then add the minced chicken to it and mix. Donot over mix otherwise the meatballs would be tough. ball them into lime size balls. Arrange on a baking sheet. You can bake these directly or pour some spicy pasta sauce around it so that the juices flavor the sauce. Bake for 35 mins. Remove and let it stand for 5 mins and then mix it with the sweet sauce.

Now for the spicy pasta sauce:

I usually serve this pasta with 2 sauces, sweet and spicy. So when I make my basic red sauce, before adding sugar, I divide it into 2 parts. To part A I add more sugar and to part B, I add 1/2 tsp red chiilli flakes.

Boil the spaghetti per instructions and toss with little butter and 1 tsp dry basil. Heat up a sauce pan and add the sweet pasta sauce to it.

To serve: Take a plate, serve pasta on it. then serve some sweet pasta sauce, then meatballs and then some spicy pasta sauce around it. garnish with parmesan cheese and serve immediately:)

You could omit all the sweet-spicy pasta sauce instructions and stick to just one.

Remember to serve with red wine though!!

Enjoy

Dipti!!

Grilled Chicken Sandwich...ciabatta bread and grilled veggies too.

Sandwiches are a great fav at our place. My little duckie calls them as "sammich". He doesnt eat the entire sandwich but just the most interesting part in it- chicken or tomatoes as the case may be. My hubby S loves them. He loves to watch tv/surf the internet while eating his sandwich or two. And praising me on my culinary skills at the same time. Making sandwiches is really easy for me but the key part is, to eat it as soon as assembled. I mean, who likes a soggy, falling apart kind of sandwich??? The best side dish with a sandwich? A soup or a salad or just a bag of chips. My perfect way to eat a sandwich is a hot soup on a cold day or a light salad on a summery day and always a bag of chips. Ever tried laying crispy chips in middle of sandwich and then eating it??? It tastes great.
The above sandwich is a grilled chicken sandwich. I grilled chicken breasts in oven with marinade of olive oil, salt, pepper and a mix of dried basil and italian herbs. At the same time, I roasted few veggies- onions, red bell pepper and tomatoes. I used green salad as a healthy base for my ciabatta bread. Now something about this bread. This bread can be grilled little in oven with olive oil drizzled on it and then eaten as a sandwich or just make a sandwich as it is. Be careful while grilling ciabatta bread though, a little too much time turns it into a teethfalling-extra crispy-extra hard kind of bread. I hated it the first time I made it. Got it right on the second try though.
Recipe:
1 pack ciabatta bread - I got mine from Jewel bakery.
1 chicken breast- cut into strips
Marinade ingredients:
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp italian herb mix I used mccormick mix
1 tomato, washed and sliced
1 red onion sliced
1 red bell pepper cut into strips
greens-mix of spinach arugula, romaine or whatever suits you
part skim mozzarella cheese
my sandwich dressing:
I used Italian dressing, mustard, heinz ketchup and little hot sauce. eyeballed all the ingredients for 1 Tbs each. added little olive oil and salt/pepper/dried basil. then added 1/4 cup each of ketchup and italian dressing to give it a sweet-creamy taste with a little sourness.
It doesnt matter if any of the ingredients are missing. The easiest thing is to play around with them and pick a taste that suits you.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F. Slice horizontally through the ciabatta bread if not already sliced. Brush the inside of both sides with olive oil and sprinkle little dried basil on it. Grill just the lower halves of sandwich bread in the oven per instructions on the packet. Keep an eye on them all the time because the tend to crisp quickly. Marinate chicken with marinade ingredients. Keep aside for 15 ,mins. Mix the veggies with the chicken and grill till meat is cooked. Let it cool for 5 mins. In mean time, take the upper halves of sandwich bread and on the inside layer the cheese, grill till the cheese melts Get your bread base ready. Layer the lower half of the bread with salad greens, Then add the meat and the roasted veggies to it. Then Drizzle or apply liberally the dressing. Put together the ttwo halves of bread and enjoy with a bag of chips or as it is.
Dipti

MInced Chicken Meatballs- Served with Basil Pesto Sauce and Sundried Tomato Sauce

Pan - Fried Chicken Meat Balls

These minced chicken meat balls are the easiest to make. They tasted great too. The sad part? i dont have enough pictures to describe what i did to these meatballs. I made these meat balls the way i make them for my spaghetti but instead of serving with pasta and sauce, i served them with basil pesto sauce and sundried tomatoes pesto sauce. They taste great as a snack/appetizer. Add a salad to it and it becomes a light meal, minus the pasta carbs.

Recipe:
1lb minced chicken
8oz whole ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tsps dried basil or italian herbs mix
1 small minced onion
1 tsp red chilli flakes- I take 4 red chillies and make my own in mortar and pestle
oil for shallow frying

Preparation:
Mix all the dry ingredients except the chicken first. Then add the chicken, donot over mix the chicken, the meatballs tend to get tough. Heat a pan and add oil to it. Drop lime size meat balls in the pan and fry them till well done. Remember, when you bite through the meatball, the meat should be juicy and succulent, not tough and hard.
Serve hot with Basil Pesto Sauce and Sundried Tomato Sauce.

Enjoy
Dipti

Sweet Corn Chicken Soup

Go to any Indo-Chinese restaurant and Sweet corn chicken soup is one of the most ordered thing on the menu. Go to any Chinese restaurant and you wont find any such soup on the menu. Egg drop soup yes. Chicken noodle soup yes. Sweet Corn Chicken soup definetly NO. So, after coming to the US, this was one of the first things I surfed on the internet for and called up my mom for. After a lot of trial and error, a little luck and lots of force feeding (forcing my hubby S), I finally got lucky with my recipe. I prepare this soup whenever its cold outside or I / my hubby have cold or whenever I cook indo-chinese food. The best part- my little duckie loves it too. He, ofcourse, eats the chicken first and then I have to make him finish the rest of the soup.

Recipe:

1 skinless chicken breast, cooked (either pressure cooked or boiled)
1 can 16oz cream of sweet corn. (I use del monte)
1 can chicken broth -use same quantity as the sweet corn( I use swanson-I use the salt free and fat free product)
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 eggs well beaten
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Preparation:
Heat a soup pan and when warm enough add cream of sweet corn to it, and then add the broth. Mix well and add ginger-garlic paste and chicken to it. Let the mixture come to a rolling boil. Then add the eggs slowly and keep on mixing with an egg whisk. The eggs get cooked and form a stringy mixture. Let it cook a little, add water per the consistency you need, add salt and turn of the flame. Serve hot with a dash of pepper, garnish with soy sauce, vinegar/green chillies and see those sniffles vanish.

Prawns Biryani

There are different kinds of biryanis that I make. And thankfully S loves all of them. This Prawns Biryani is my mom's recipe. I dont remember eating it much as a kid. But my mom is a great magician, one day she just came up with this delicious dish and has been my favorite since. She had made it the first time my husband and in-laws had visited us after the engagement. Not as heavy as mutton or chicken biryani, very easy to make and served with just a tomato-onion raita or fried fish, this is one of my best recipes:) To tell you the truth I think my husband likes it better than my prawns curry. If done at a stretch, then this biryani can be done in under 1 hour. My duckie isnt a big fan of biryanis yet, but I am hoping that he grows up to like this biryani. I usually have prawns in my freezer, so whenever I am in a crunch as to what to cook and all I have is rice, onions, masalas and the occasional potato, guess whats right on the top of my list??

Recipe:
For the Rice:
4 cups of uncooked basmati rice
5 peppercorns
5 cloves
4 cardmoms
1" cinnamon stick
4-5 bay leaves
4 tsps clarified butter (oil will do but the flavor differs)
8 cups of hot water
salt to taste

For the Prawns:
1 lb cleaned, deveined prawns
2 large onions, diced
handful of cilantro for garnishing
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 TBS green masala( handful cilantro 2-3 green chillies. 2" ginger and 1 cup peeled garlic cloves pureed together. If you dont have this masala, use ginger garlic paste.)
salt to taste
oil for cooking
2-3 bay leaves

For Garnishing:
2 onions
1 large potato
2 hard boiled eggs

Preparation:

Garnishing: Slice the onions thinly. Microwave them for 5-6 mins till they turn soft, this way they fry quickly. Save your time, energy and gas. (thanks, MIL for the tip) Heat a large pot and add enough oil to it for frying. Once hot add the onions to it and fry till golden brown and crunchy. Take care they donot burn. Transfer to a plate and season with salt. Slice the potato french-fries style and fry till golden brown and crisp. Peel and slice the eggs. Keep this aside for garnishing.
Wash the rice in water and set aside. Marinate the prawns with salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, green masala. Set aside for 15 mins. Heat oil in a pan. When hot add bay leaves and then onion. Cook till light brown and soft. Add the prawns and cook well. Add garam masala and turn off the flame.
Heat a large pot and add clrified butter to it. Add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorn, cardmoms in quick succession taking care that it doesnot burn. Then add rice. Saute the rice till light pink. Do this on medium flame. Then turn on high flame and add 8 cups of water to it. Let it come to a rolling boil. Add salt to the water. Let the water boil for few seconds, then turn the flame on medium low and cover the pot. Once the water disappers, turn the flame on low and cook for few mins. Turn off the flame and remove from the stove when the rice is completely cooked. The rice shouldn't remain aldente. It takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, its really easy. Keep the rice pot covered.
Layering: This is the most important part of biryani. Take the same pot in which you have cooked rice. Empty the pot, put the rice in other bowl. Apply a think layer of clarified butter or oil at the bottoom. collect all the bayleaves used for cooking prawns and rice and arrange them in a circle at teh bottom. Divide the rice into 3 portions. Divide the prawns into 2 portions. Divide the onions into 2 portions. Layer one portion of rice at the bottom, then a layer of prawns. Then layer again with rice and then one portion of fried onions. Layer the onions with layer of prawns and then the last layer of rice. Layer the top most layer of rice with onions and french fries. Arrange the egg slices in a circle on the very top. Drizzle little warm clrified butter on the top. Cover the pot and let it cook on medium-low flame till it steams. Turn off the flame once it steams, let the stem settle for 10 mins and then serve hot with raita.
I know this might be a lengthy process for some, but it is definetly worth it. The delicious aroma of cooked basmati rice, masalas and prawns always get me salivating. My stomach starts growling as I cook and layer it. I love this biryani, and I am sure so will you:)
Dipti

Butter Chicken

This is one delicious recipe. I hit the jackpot. Thanks to Deeba of PassionateAboutbaking for the - original recipe. I tweaked mine a little to suit my taste. Do u remember ordering butter chicken in India??? Not all the places serve great butter chicken. Infact the taste varies from one place to other. And people get confused between the butter chicken and chicken tikka masala recipe. And to top it all, there are hundreds of butter chicken recipes floating around the internet, none of which suited my palate. But this, is definetly a keeper. Infact I , to date, have made it thrice in a short span of 3 months of finding this recipe. Each time it gets better and better. And yes, it does taste better with on bone chicken. But if you are out of it and are in a crunch, go ahead and use boneless breast, I wont tell. :)
Btw I am planning on using this recipe for paneer-veggie variation too. I like my butter chicken a little on the sweeter side and thats how I made it. I am waiting for my mom to get here so I can make this dish for her.

Recipe:
For the tandoori chicken
1 lb chicken on bone or boneless chicken breast
1 packet shaan masala
1/2 cup thick yogurt or ricotta cheese (it turns out creamier with cheese)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste - fresh is better
2 tsp oil for marinating

Preparation:
Marinate the chicken with the above ingredients and let it sit aside for atleast 1 hr. heat the oven to 350F and cook the chicken till tender for around 20mins. Donot overcook the chicken or else it will turn tough.

For the Gravy:
4 nice red tomatoes
1 medium onion
2 tsp oil for cookingr
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
handful of cashew powder
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp kasoori methi
Handful cilantro for garnishing
1/4 cup heavy cream add more if you like it creamy
2 tsp honey
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Heat the oil in a pan and when hot add onions to it. saute it for few minutes and let it cook. Then add the bayleaf and the tomatoes. Cook well till the oil seperates from the sides and the onion-tomatoes turn out to be one big mess. Let it cool. After sometime, discard the bayleaf and puree the tomato gravy mix. Return it to the pan. Add all the spices. Then add the tandoori chicken and let it simmer for 3-4 mins. Be sure that you have added cashew powder, kasuri methi and garam masla. These are very important ingredients (I nearly forgot to add them to my sauce - twice). Then add the butter. Stir in the heavy cream and mix well. cover and remove from heat. Garnish well with chopped cilantro and cream.
I served my Butter Chicken with whole wheat naan. It was totally out of this world.
Dipti

Carrot-shrimp Spring rolls

Spring Rolls all ready to be eaten

Folded and ready to be fried

The start

Spring Rolls to me are an essential part of Indo-chinese cuisene. Whenever we go out to a chinese restaurant in India, we ALWAYS used to order this crispy fried roll of either vegetables or meat-veggie combo. The most difficult part is to do the wrappers right. In Indian restaurants, these spring roll wrappers are always made fresh from scratch using all-purpose flour and egg mixture. I have done that twice or amybe thrice in my cooking lifetime. But somehow, it always misses its mark. The wrapper doesnot turn out that great.

One fine day on my visit to our local supermarket. I literally stumbled upon these organic ready to be fried and eaten wrappers. Welcome to the Nasoya brand of goodies. These were really good as compared to the other brands I have tried. And since these were made of soy, I felt less guilty of eating fried rolls. Though I am sure these can be oven-fried, I was impatient enough to try them fried.

Made them on my whim and they were great. I used the basic recipe given on the back of the wrappers. ofcourse, I made my own changes.

Recipe:

6 wrappers

1 cup grated carrot

2 tsp grated ginger

1 bunch spring onions finely chopped

salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

2 tsp oil for cooking

6 shrimps finely chopped

2 tsp oyster sauce

Oil for shallow frying

Preparation:

Heat a wok and add oil to it. Once hot, add shrimps and ginger and let it cook. Then add carrots and spring onions and stir fry on high heat for 2-3 mins. Turn of the flame and then add salt, pepper and oyster sauce to taste.

Let the mixture cool.

Take a single wrapper and scoop 1 tsp of mixture onto it. Fold and roll the wrapper and seal it with water. Finish folding all the wrappers per the packet directions. Heat a frying pan and add oil to it. When hot enough fry rolls in it. Fry on medium heat so that the wrappers are cooked from inside too and are golden-brown crispy on the outside.

Serve hot with ketchup or any other of your fav sauce.

Dipti

Chicken jalfrezi

The final product

Cooked chicken pieces

Veggies being cooked
The credit for this awesome recipe goes to my mother-in-law, who on her first visit to the US taught me this very simple and delicious recipe. This is a favorite of S. Because it contains tomato ketchup, tomatoes, little soy sauce and spices, it is a balance of sweet and sour and spicy chicken. I used boneless chicken breast for this but you could use bone-in meat and then shred with hand after it is cooked. The best part of recipe..??? it requires less amount of chicken because of the veggies in it, so make this when you have less chicken on hand.

Recipe:

1 lb boneless chicken breast.

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1tsp red chilli powder -increase/decrease the spice level as you want

1 tsp roasted cumin powder

1 tsp corriander powder

salt to taste

1/2 cup yogurt

oil for cooking

for veggies:

1 large onion sliced thin

2 small tomatoes sliced thin

1/2 green or red bell pepper sliced thin

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder

1/2 tsp corriander powder

salt to taste

2 TBS tomato ketchup

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar to taste ...adjust quantity accordingly:

oil for cooking...2 tsp

Preparation:

Dice the chicken into bite size pieces and marinate with all the spices, yogurt, salt and ginger garlic paste. Heat some oil in a wok and once hot, add the chicken pieces to it. Cook it done and the liquid evaporates. Remove and keep aside. Heat the remaining oil in the same wok and once hot add all the veggies at once. Cover and let cook till done. Add the spices and salt to taste. Cover and let it steam once. Then add the cooked chicken and mix well. Add the ketchup and soy sauce along with sugar. Cover and let it steam once. The final taste of the dish should be sweet-savory with hint of sourness.

Enjoy hot with naans, rotis or parathas.

Dipti

Kheema Samosas / Minced Meat Samosas

Samosas before frying Samosas after frying ...and after a bite.

Hmm Kheema Samosas. Anything nonveg is welcome at my place. But this was so awesome that S just finished up everything. I had to steal his plate to take a picture. This samosas are really very smalls and can be classified as cocktail samosas. Perfect for a gathering. But it does take a long time to make these. Ofcourse there is appreciation at the end. And the best part is duckie loved them too!!! They were a little spicy for him, but you know how it is with kids and nonveg food. Even if it is spicy he will eat it. But give him spicy veg food- he hates it.:) I read somewhere that you can also freeze these samosas. Just fry them till light brown and when cold, ziplock them and pop it in the freezer. Wouldn't that be great? I have to give it a try sometime. For this I used minced lamb meat marinated few days earlier.
I remember my mom trying to make kheema samosas once...a long time ago..She couldnt get the pastry puff right, but they were awesome just because she made them:) So mamma, this one's for you.:)

Recipe:
1lb minced meat either chicken or goat or even beef will do.
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
salt to taste
1 medium onion.
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
handful chopped cilantro
4 tsp oil for cooking

for the pastry cover:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sooji (wheat creamlets)
salt to taste
1 tsp ajwain
1 tsp hot oil while kneading.

Oil for frying samosas.

Preparation:
Wash the minced meat properly. Dice the onion. Heat oil in kadai. When hot, add onions to it and fry till cooked/golden brown. Then add minced meat and rest of the ingredients and cook till the meat is tender. If any water is there, then cook on low flame till the water evaporates and the meat is dry. Let the mix cool. Garnish with cilantro.
Mix whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and sooji together with ajwain, salt, and oil. Add water as required and knead properly. Cover it and let it rest for 15-20 mins.
Take a small portion of the dough and divide it into 2 balls. Roll out one ball into a small pancake / puri size circle. At the same tme warm up a frying pan. Roast one side of the puri on the frying pan. This is done so that the samosas cook from inside too, because sometimes while frying, they remain raw from inside. But this takes some work, the next time I am going to fry it directly on high heat and lets see how it works out. For now, I will stick to pre-raosting and post-frying.
Divide this into 2 portions (2 semi circles). Take one half of the semi circle. Fold it into a cone, seal the edges of the cone, make sure that the roasted side is inside. Fill up little minced meat inside the cone and seal it completely. Complete all the samosas this way. It takes a little time, but it is definetly worth it.
Heat up wok with oil in it and fry all the samosas on medium heat. The inside has to get cooked too. Serve hot with ketchup or mint chutney.
Dipti

Chicken Pot Pie

The veggies in the skillet


The veggies and white sauce bubbling together merrily

The final product...Awesome Chicken Pot Pie

Apple pie, hot dogs, and then Chicken Pot Pie. Thats the American food that i know of. I had heard so much about chicken pot pie that i wanted to try it out for myself. Instead of getting any packaged stuff or ordering in a restaurant, I just thought it would be much easier if I made it. I had seen a show on foodnetwork which focussed on chicken pot pie. I went to the website, found the original recipe and tweaked it a little to suit my taste. The end result was as good, if not better and the best part - both S and duckie loved it. This dish is very hearty and filling and perfect on a cold winter night. This is a very "American" dish and I absoultely loved it.

I made this dish in a hurry...we were on our way to Michigan. I wasnt even going to make this dish but S saw the google window I had opened and decided to postpone the road trip for few hours just to eat this dish:)

The original recipe is here .

Recipe:

Dipti's Chicken Pot Pie

1 sheet frozen Puff pastry

4 tsp Olive Oil

1/2 roasted chicken ( I used rotisserie chicken from Meijer)

1 small yellow onion thinly sliced

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Salt to taste

1 tsp All purpose mcormick seasoning

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 cup whole milk

1can chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cups peas - blanched

3/4 cups carrots- blnched

3/4 cups celery - blanched

handful pearl onions blanched

8-10 mushrooms.

1 egg well beaten for eagg wash

Preparation

Thaw the pastry sheet to directions. Preheat the oven to 425F.

Heat up a large skillet and add the olive oil. Add the sliced onion to this and stirfry for few mins. Add the mushrooms and cook till the liquid from mushrooms disappears. Then add all the veggies and stir fry for few mins. Then add the shredded chicken to this. Add salt and pepper.

Take a large pot. add the chicken stock to this, and let it boil. when it reduces a little add the cream and milk. Let it simmer for few mins. Then add the all purpose flour to this and let it become thick and bubbly. Add the all purpose seasoning to this. If you have any fresh herbs then add those instead of the seasoning. Pour this sauce mixture over the chicken-veggies mix and blend well. Let it rest for few mins. Take a baking dish and pur the entire pie filling in this.

Lay the pastry puff sheet on top and close the ends well. brush the egg wash on the top of the sheet and pierce the top with a fork for steam to escape.

Bake in the oven till the pastry sheet is golden - brown. Let the pie cool for 15-20 mins.

Cut into portions and serve "hot"

Enjoy.

Dipti

Harayali Chicken Tikka

This is not a great picture. I was in a hurry to grill this skewer:)

But the chicken tasted great:) This is an easy recipe. I had this kababs first at a place in Pune. A puree of spinach, mint and cilantro with few green chillies for heat gives it an excellent taste. There are no complex masalas used so you can be sure of the taste each time you make it.

Recipe

1 lb boneless breast chicken

few sprigs mint

some cilantro

bunch of spinach

3-4 green chillies

salt to taste

ginger-garlic paste

2 tsp yogurt

2 tsp oil for marinating

Wash, clean and cut the chicken into small pieces. Blend mint, cilantro, spinach, green chillies, ginger-garlic paste and yogurt together to get a smoot marinade. MIx this with the chicken. Add salt and oil to this chicken. Refrigerate for atleast 1 hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 350f. You can skewer this chicken and grill them in the oven or just bake them on a steel plate( the one you have at home works) Cook the chicken for 20-25 mins till the juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink inside. Broil it for 5-7 mins for the charcoal flavor. Keep a close eye on it.

Serve this warm with mint chutney garnished with onions.

enjoy

Lamb liver cooked to perfection:)

I know...When people think of liver EWWWWW is what comes to mind. But not in our household. Liver is a rich source of iron and most of the people in my household love this simple dish. Mind you I said "most".
This dish is a "dry" appetizer, but my son loves to eat it with chappati. S loves to eat it as it is. At my mom's place a delicious curry is made instead of the appetizer.
This recipe is very simple to make once you get over the queasiness of it.
Recipe:
1 lb lamb liver or goat will do. Salt to taste.
Black pepper to taste
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
clarified butter for frying/cooking

Wash, clean and cut the liver into small bite size pieces. marinate with salt and pepper and ginger-garlic paste. Heat a kadai on medium flame. Once hot, add ghee to it. Then add the liver pieces to it and stir it well. Keep on stirring till the ghee separates from it and the juices run clear. The meat is well cooked when it is no longer pink inside. Fry for few more mimnute if you want the meat to be extra well done.
Serve hot immediately. This can be eaten as it is or served dry with chappati.
ENjoy

Chicken Malai Tikka

Now tikka is a general term. When anyone says tikka, the only thing people think of is the red colored chicken tikka. But there are so many different kinds of tikka. My fav beinig malai tikka, harayali tikka and ofcourse the "red" chicken tikka.

I had made this tikka for a barbecue party we had at my place. I marinated this chicken 2-3 days in advance and used ricotta chese for this recipe. The end product was creamy juicy melt-in-your-mouth Malai Tikka. The best thing is, this tikka is very mild and because of that kids enjoy it. My duckie loved this tikka and so did S.

Recipe:

1 pound boneless chicken cut and washed

1/2 container of low fat ricotta cheese

1/2 cup hung yogurt

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

salt to taste

1 tsp white pepper (black will do) more if you want spicy tikkas

2-3 tsps oil for marinating

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp corriander powder

1/4 cup cashew powder

Preparation:
Marinate the chicken with all of the above ingredients and refrigerate for atleast 1 day. I grilled the chicken instead of baking it. My hubby S helped me with grilling. Skewer the chicken with an oiled skewer. Retain the leftover marinade. Turn the chicken twice on the grill making sure that it doesnt overcook. Baste the chicken with some oil and the leftover marinade. Serve hot with naan and onions or as it is.
If baking in oven, preheat the oven to 350F. Bake on a greased baking sheet till cooked. It takes approx. 25 mins. Broil for 5 mins to get the charred flavor.
Enjoy
D

Chicken Tikka

Everyone loves chicken tikka. Haven't met a chicken eating person who doesn't like chicken tikka. The best chicken tikka should have an explosion of flavors including the charred flavor from the charcoal. In INdia chicken tikka is mainly prepared in a tandoor oven. which is basically an open oven with burning coal. Chicken tikka tastes great as an appetizer, with a naan or even as a sandwich.
Chicken tikka is found in indian restaurants all over the world and my guess is it would be the most commonly ordered nonveg dish in any restaurant. My son loves chicken tikka and so does S. He loves to eat chicken tikka with naan and raw onions. That is a complete meal for him. While my little duckie loves to eat chicken tikka as it is. If it is too spicy then he doesnt eat the masala exterior but just the white meat inside.

In India there are many small places which sell just tandoori chicken and assorted tikkas. There was one near my place which me and my sister would often visit. Even now, whenever I go back, it is definetly on my to-do list.

For the above chicken tikka recipe, I have used couple of shortcuts. LIke use packaged masala instead of making my own masala. I really like shaan masalas. These masalas come with a direction on how to use it and if you follow the directions then the dish turns out excellent. These masalas are found only in U.S. and not in India. Till now I have sent my mom many masala packages. I have used hung yogurt for this recipe because the normal yogurt gets runny for marinating and its too much of wastage. If you dont have any time for hung yogurt then greek yogurt will do and if not then plain yogurt will do. Once I made the same dish with ricotta cheese instead of yogurt and the tikkas turned out melt-in your mouth creamy and delicious.

Recipe:

1 pound boneless chicken breast washed and cut into medium pieces.

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

half packet of shaan tandoori chicken masala..more for spicy

2 tsp oil for marinating

1/2 cup of low fat hung yogurt

Preparation and Cooking

Take a mixing bowl and mix all the above ingredients together. Salt is not necessary as the masala packet already contains salt. Marinate the chicken for 1 day. If cooking the chicken on a grill, skewer the chicken and ask hubby for help with a cute smile. If cooking in a oven pre-heat the oven at 350F for 10 mins. Either use a skewer or oil a baking dish for the chicken. Cook the chicken till the chicken is just done around 20-25 mins. Then put the chicken in the broiler for the charred effect. Do this for just 5 mins as the chicken browns very quickly. If the chicken is kept for longer then it gets tough to chew and loses its moistness.

Enjoy the chicken with naan, onions, mint chutney.

Chicken Biryani

India should be called as the land of biryani instead of the land of curry. There are so many different kinds of biryanis, I havent been able to try all of them out...yet. THe biryani shown above is very easy to make, doesnt take a lot of time and everyone likes it. This particular kind of chicken biryani is not my own recipe but given to me by S's friend and borrowed from SHAAN masala packet. There's a little story as to how I got this recipe. I have a great mutton biryani recipe, awesome prawns biryani and amazing vegetable biryani. I was in search for a good chicken biryani. S always used to reminisce about the great chicken biryani his friend used to get for lunch. So when we went to visit her, we asked her to make the biryani. And it was great. I hadn't eaten such good biryani in a long time. So many helpings and spoonfuls later I asked her to email me the recipe and she is such a sweet person, she sent me the recipe. This recipes has been tweaked a little to suit my taste. S loves this recipe. My parents loves this biryani, his parents love this biryani, everything is good.:)
Recipe:

FOR CHICKEN
1 whole chicken cut into medium pieces and washed.
2 large tomatoes
2 large onions
1 laarge potato
1 packet shaan bombay biryani masala
oil for cooking
1 cup yogurt
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 bay leaves
2-3 peppercorns
2-3 cloves
1-2 cardamom pods


FOR RICE
5 cups basmati rice
6 cloves
6peppercorns
1" cinnamon stick
4 cardamom pods
4-5 bay leaves
3-4 tsp ghee
few strands saffron-soaked in water/milk for 30mins.

Wash, clean and cut the chicken into medium pieces. dice tomatoes into small pieces. Slice the onion thinly and fry them in kadai till golden brown. Take care that they do not burn or will taste bitter. ONce the onions are removed from the kadai, season them immediately with salt. Divide the fried onions into 2 portions.
Cut the potato french - fries style and fry till golden brown and keep aside. Wash and chop the cilantro.
Marinate the chicken with the following: ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, entire packet of shaan masala, half the portion of fried onions, tomatoes, entire chopped cilantro 5-6 tsps oil from the fried onions kadai and yogurt. Set this aside for atleast 45 mins.
Meanwhile cook rice in a thick-bottom pot. First wash the rice and keep aside for 10 mins. Heat the pot and add ghee to it. Then add bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick and peppercorns. Saute for 10 secs. Already the ghee will start smelling of the wonderful spices. Then add rice and saute for 2 mins till slightly pink-brown. Then add twice the amount of water. So since I used 5 cups rice, I used 10 cups of warm water. When the water comes to a rolling boil season with salt. Remember that the chicken already has salt in it and the onions/fries are also salted. So add salt accordingly. The rice for this biryani is cooked less than aldente, so when it feels raw. turn off the flame and drain of the water from the rice. Divide into 2 portions and keep aside.
Take a large thick-bottom pot for layering of biryani. OIl the bottom of the pot with 2 tsp of oil. Then put the entire chicken mixture on it. Then add one portion of rice and level with chicken. Sprinkle water-saffron mixture on the rice evenly. Saffron gives a lovely yellow-orange color to the rice while the water helps in cooking the rice over steam. then layer with half portion of onions. Then again layer with rice and saffron-water mixture and top with onions and fries. The seal the pot with aluminum paper and cook it over medium flame. when the chicken and rice are done -usually around 30-40 mins then you will be able to smell and see the steam rising from the pot. This biryani cooks mainly over steam and needs very little oil.
Serve hot with extra crunchy fried onions garnished on the top and side of tomato-onion raita(salad) .

Kheema Pattice / Minced Meat Patties

What can I say about this totally yummy dish??? Everyone in my family totally loves it. Its basically just a ball of mashed potatoes stuffed with minced meat, in this case kheema i.e. minced goat. This dish is very versatile and can be stuffed with peas, paneer, cheese, minced chicken etc.etc. My mom makes this whenever there are unexpected guests ( she usually has a stock of fish/meat in the freezer) or when there is very little kheema left. My mother-inlaw is very good at making this and I think even I am getting better day by day.
S loves this and I havent given this to my son yet, but I hope that some day my duckie would love it too.
Recipe
For the kheema
Minced meat 1/2 lb
1 large onion, minced
1 tsp ginger garlic pastealt chilli powderred 1/2 ticrmertsp tu
1/2 to taste
2 tsp garam masala...i like it spicy, reduce the quantity if you dont want spicy
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil for cooking

for the pattice
3 big boiled potatoes
salt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg roughly beaten
1 cup coarse sooji
oil for frying

Preparation
Wash and drain the minced meat thoroughly. Marinate with salt, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, turmeric and garam masala. Mince the onion. In a kadai, heat the oil. When it is hot enough, add the onions and cook well. Add the marinated meat and mix well. Cook till the meat is competely done. Do not add any water while cooking. Infact dry up whatever "gravy" is created. Let the meat cool completely. When cooled it should look like separate granules and that means the water/gravy is evaporated. Set this aside and work on the potatoes now
Boil, peel and mash the large potatoes. Add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder ( i like it spicy, if you want less spicy dont add red chilli powder), bread crumbs and mix well. If the mass is too mushy to work with, put it in the refrigerator for 30 mins and work with it later.
Oil your hands before working with this so that the potato doesnt stick to the hands. Take a golf ball size of potato mix on your left palm and with your right hand fingers press the middle of the ball in such a way that a hollow is created. Work it a little so a little "bowl" forms. Fill this up with 1 tsp of minced meat. Now press the mouth of the bowl close together using the fingers. This entire procedure has to be done in quick succession so that it is easy to work with and there is no spillage. Make rest of the pattice in similar way. HEat up a frying pan with oil. Take the roughly beaten egg in one bowl and coarse sooji in another bowl. NOw dip one patty in egg and then immediately roll it in sooji and let it gently on the frying pan and fry it. Fry both sides till golden brown and crispy. Serve hot with ketchup/ mint chutney.
S loves eating this with bread and it serves as a complete meal for him.