Double Ka Meetha

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Now let me tell you something...this was my first attempt at making double ka meetha on my own and I must say that I did good...infact I did very good :) At first I was apprehensive but I finally gave in since I wanted to make it for my hubby on his BIRTHDAY!!!

Anyways, I looked for the recipe all over the net and bugged my aunt with innumerable calls. And finally made it with a combination of everyone's ideas...


Just out of the oven

Ingredients:
clarified butter/ghee/olive oil
12-15 bread slices with their corners intact

Milk Khowa mixture:
4 cups milk
250 gms khowa
a pinch of saffron

For sugar syrup:
2-3 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 tsp ground cardamom

Garnishing:
10-15 almonds, cashews and pistachios each


Method:
Heat ghee in a pan and deep fry the bread slices till they turn a lovely golden brown. Place them on paper towels to remove excess ghee. Set them aside.

Boil the dry fruits in batches, slice them in thin strips and deep fry them seperately.

In another pan bring water to a boil and add sugar and cardamom and keep stirring until the syrup turns sticky...keep this aside too.

In yet another pan bring milk to a boil and add saffron, slide in the khowa and let it simmer till the mixture thickens.

Preheat the oven on 350 degrees.


Place bread slices in a baking dish, pour the sugar syrup and top it off with the khowa milk mixture. Keep repeating by placing the bread slices in layers. Finally sprinkle half of the dry fruits on it and bake for 10 min's.


Spoon it out in serving bowls and garnish with the remaining dry fruits.

Red Bean Curry

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This is another quickie recipe I make when I'm out for the day or when I'm feeling too tired to cook, I like the ready to use beans as they take less time.
Another thing about the beans and tomato combo is that you can make it with a lot of variations, like using fresh tomatoes, to cherry tomatoes to even canned tomatoes with jalapeno peppers.

Ingredients:

4-5 tomatoes, or 1 lb cherry tomatoes

15 oz canned kidney beans
2 tsb oil

1 onion, sliced

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 green chilli, slit and deseeded

Cilantro for garnishing

Method:

Rinse the kidney beans under cold tap water and drain.

In a deep pan heat oil and slip in the onions, as they start to turn slightly brown add the ginger garlic paste and fry further, add turmeric powder and salt.

As the onions start to turn a golden brown add red chilli powder and immediately slide the tomatoes and green chilli.

Simmer a while and as the oil starts to seperate at the corners add the kidney beans. Add 1/4 cup water and shut the lid.

Check to see if the beans are tender enough, stir in the cilantro and serve with roghani naan.

Chicken Jalfrezi

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A Jalfrezi is a stir-fried which has onions, ginger and garlic in a rich pepper sauce.

Ingredients:
11/2 lb chicken breast portions
1 tbs oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped ( I used an orange bell pepper)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 ginger root, finely chopped
1 tbs Madras curry paste
1 tsp chillil powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
14 oz canned tomatoes (I used 3 fresh tomatoes)
a few sprigs of cilantro for garnishing

Method:
Skin the chicken and remove any visible fat and cut into 1 in cubes.

Heat the oil in a karahi and fry the cumin seeds, when they begin to splutter add the onion, peppers, ginger and garlic. Fry for 10 min's.

Add the curry paste and fry for 3 min's. Stir in the chilli powder, ground coriander, cumin and salt and splash a little water and fry further for 2 min's.

Add the chicken cubes and mix in well with the ingredients, finally add the tomatoes and some cilantro. Cover the karahi and cook for 15 min's or until the chicken is tender. Garnish with the leftover cilantro. Serve with hot rice.

Khagina

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...Or EGGS WITH ONIONS is a traditional Hyderabadi dish, made mainly in breakfast. The best way to get a good taste of it, is to make it with less onions and more eggs....and of course the milk.

Ingredients:
5 eggs
3 average onions
2 tsp oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ginger-garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cup milk
1 green chilli
Cilantro for garnishing


Method:
Heat oil in a deep pan and slip in the thinly sliced onions, saute them till they start to get a brown tinge. Add the ginger-garlic paste and keep stirring. Add the turmeric powder, salt and milk and lastly red chilli powder.

Break the eggs and let them cook on top of the onions. Slit a green onion and pop it on the eggs. Keep checking to avoid the onions sticking to the pan. After about 10 min's or so...or if the eggs seem to cook through, break them with a wooden spatula.

Avoid cutting them into too small pieces, otherwise when you finally stir them together with the onions they break even more and just disappear.


Finally add cilantro and serve hot with rotis or parathas.

Khatti Dal

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This is another versatile dish that goes good with anything. I usually cook it up every other week to break the whole mutton, chicken routine. Its always nice to slurp on some dal when there's too much meat doing the rounds. Anyways, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 tsp oil
2 cups tuvar dal
2-3 tsp salt
2 tsp red chilli powder
3-4 whole garlic cloves
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 green chilli
2-4 cups water
1 cup tamarind paste

For tempering:
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup mustard seeds
a few curry leaves
2 dried red chillies
1 garlic clove, cut length wise

Method:
Wash the tuvar dal in several changes of water and place it in a pressure cooker, add 2 cups of water, garlic cloves, salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder and pressure cook for about 15-20 min's.

Let off the steam on the pressure cooker, if the dal seems to be a bit undone add the remaining water and cook a little more.

Finally add the tamarind paste. Using a blender, blend them all together.

Throw in the green chilli and cook the dal for as long as the chillies turn yellow, set aside in a serving bowl.

In a small pan, heat oil and add cumin and mustard seeds, as soon as they start spluttering, add the remaining ingredients and splash in onto the dal.

Serve with plain rice, achaar and papad.

French Toast

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This is one snack anyone can munch on. A rainy days or a rumbling stomach...be it any excuse, its always a winner. But even on a hot day like today you can enjoy it for breakfast :)


Ingredients:
2 tsp oil
2 eggs
4 bread slices
2/3 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2/3 tsp ginger-garlic paste
sprigs of cilantro


Method:
In a bowl take milk and add ginger-garlic paste along with red chilli powder, salt and cilantro. Break the eggs and beat them together.

Soak the bread slices in the mixture, and immediately transfer to a heated flat pan and keep flipping them till both the sides are glazed brown.


Serve hot with ranch dressing and maggi hot and sweet tomato chilli sauce.

Fried Bhindi (Okra)

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Another breakfast number my mom used to prepare...

Ingredients:
1 lb Bhindi/Okra
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 onions, chopped
1 green chilli, slit

Spices all mixed up:

Method:
Chop onions finely and heat oil. Add them along with the okra and green chilli to the oil and keep stirring. As the onions and okra start to brown slightly, add ginger-garlic paste.

Slowly put the rest of the spices except red chilli powder, which needs to be added just before you remove it from fire.

Stir in all the spices well and serve hot with parathas or naan.

Tomato Chutney

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Tomatoes are abundant come summer and I always stock up loads of them for a spicy chutney which is so versatile, it can be eaten with toasted bread to even biryani. So here is my version of tomato chutney...

Ingredients:
6-7 vine ripened tomatoes
2 tbs oil
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin mustard powder
1 green chilli slit in halves
Cilantro sprigs for garnish

For tempering:
generous amount of curry leaves
2 dried red chillies
1 tsp each-cumin and mustard seeds

Method:
Chop tomatoes finely and keep aside.

Heat the oil and add cumin and mustard seeds, as they start to splutter add the dried red chillies. Finally throw in the curry leaves.

Slip in the chopped tomatoes and add ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt and shut the lid.

When it starts to leave oil on the sides add the green chilli and cilantro.

Finally add the cumin and mustard powder and mix in well. Here I served it with Chicken Biryani.

Qeema

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The secret to an excellent Qeema, as I recently found out :P was to have lots of onions...this not only makes the dish tasty but also makes it juicy.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground lamb
2 tbs oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
4 cardamoms
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp black cumin seeds (shahzeera)
4 cloves
4 whole black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 green chilli
Cilantro for garnish

Method:
Heat oil and add onions, as they begin to slightly brown add ginger garlic paste and stir in salt, turmeric and the rest of the spices except red chilli powder.

Add it when the onions have totally gone brown, immediately add the qeema and stir briskly.

Immediately add water and shut the lid, cook until the qeema is tender.

Slice a green chilli and add cilantro for garnish. Cook further till oil starts to seperate.

QEEMA WITH POTATOES AND PEAS:



Similarly you can try a number of other variations like qeema with qasoori methi, potatoes, peas or with tomatoes. Here I have added both potatoes and peas before serving.

Tomato Chicken

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Here is one recipe that I can wholly take credit of. I mixed up couple ingredients and the end result was simply delicious.


Ingredients:
4-6 medium sized tomatoes
1 lb boneless chicken, cut in cubes
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tbs oil
1 green chilli
cilantro for garnish

For tempering:
5-6 curry leaves
1 tsp each, cumin and coriander seeds


Method:
Heat oil in a deep pan and add cumin and coriander seeds as they begin to splutter add the curry leaves. Slip in the onions and stir briskly, as the onions turns slightly golden brown add the ginger garlic paste and continue stirring. Put the salt, red chilli powder, turmeric and green chilli and let the spices coat the onions. As soon as oil starts to seperate from the spices, add the tomatoes, if you are using Campari tomatoes, add just a little amount of water, maybe half a cup.



Finally add chicken along with 1/2 cup water. Place a lid and let in cook for sometime, or until the chicken is tender and has absorbed the flavors well. Serve hot with either rice or naan.

Stir Fried Chilli-Garlic Prawns

The spice coated prawns make a mouth watering appetizer, light lunch or as a main dish. I love the sweet tingy taste to this dish and thought it tasted better with rice rather than naan which the recipe suggested.

Another rejoinder...this is the only recipe which makes my hubby rush straight home :p

Ingredients:
16-20 cooked king prawns, rinsed, deveined and tails clipped.
1 fresh green chilli
1 tbs vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves roughly halved
3 tomatoes finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried red chilli powder
1 tsp lemon juice
Mango chutney to taste
fresh coriander sprigs

Method:
In a wok, heat oil over low heat and fry the garlic halves until they are tinged with golden brown.

Add chopped tomatoes, salt, crushed red chillies, lemon juice, mango chutney and chopped fresh green chillies. Stir the ingredients well.

Add the prawns to the wok, increase the heat and stir fry briskly, mixing the prawns with the other ingredients until they are heated through.

Transfer the prawns with the sauce to a serving dish and garnish with fresh sprigs of coriander.

Madras Sambal

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Now you'll wonder what a madrasi dish is doing in a hydro foodie's blog. But the recipe is so good I had to share it with everyone. You can use any combination of vegetables that are in season.

Ingredients:
1 cup tuvar dal or red split lentils
2 1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 large potatoes cut in 1 in chunks
2 tbs oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
4 curry leaves
1 onion thinly sliced
4 oz green beans cut into 1 in length (I used the french cut green beans)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tbs lemon juice
toasted coconut to garnish

Method:
Wash the lentils in several changes of water. Place in a heavy pan with the measured water and turmeric. Bring to boil and reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 30-35 min's until the lentils are soft.

Par-cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for 10 min's, drain well and set aside.

Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry the mustard, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves for 2-3 min's, until the seeds start to splutter. Add onions and green beans and stir fry for 7 -8 min's. Add the par boiled potatoes and cook a further 2 min's.

Drain the lentils and stir them in the potato mixture, with salt, chilli powder and lemon juice. Simmer for 2 min's or until heated through. Garnish with toasted coconut.

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

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There are many ways to prepare Biryani, one is the pacci akhni (which means cooked meat) and the other kacchi akhni (which means uncooked meat). I personally find the 'pacci akhni' to be a better bet, since I'm sure the meat is well done and also coz you can spice it up a bit more while its still cooking, according to your individual taste ;)

This is the most easiest and the most tastiest method my Mom taught me. And I must say I have perfected it quite well. Here are the ingredients...

Ingredients:
2 lb boneless chicken
7 cups rice
10 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
3 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbs ginger garlic paste
Ground garam masala:
(1 tsp black cumin seeds, 8 cardamoms, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 bay leaves, 3 cloves and 6 black pepper)
8 curry leaves
3 average onions
2 cups yoghurt
Lemon juice and cilantro for garnishing
saffron soaked in 1/2 cup milk

Method:
Fry onions until they are golden brown, freeze the onion for an hour or so, this makes them more crisper (thank you mom).

Marinate chicken with yoghurt, salt, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste and turmeric. Heat oil and add the marinated chicken saute it for some time and add some water. Cook until chicken is tender. Let the water dry and until the oil seperates from it.

Meanwhile boil rice, add salt and ground garam masala along with the curry leaves and cook until the rice is half done.

Drain any excess water using a collander or strainer. Preheat oven on 350 degrees.

Put one half of the rice in the baking pan and top it off with the marinated chicken, garnish with lemon juice, crushed fried onions and cilantro. Add the milk soaked saffron. Finally add the other half of the rice and any leftover garnish.

Bake for 1/2 hour on 350 degrees or until its starts to smell breathtaking. Serve hot with raita, tomato chutney or mirchi ka salan.

Memorial Day BBQ

Let's begin with BBQ 's and long weekends...where you can't help but think of food and more food. We had a couple of relatives and friends for a two day BBQ and boy was it fun. As for the menu we had chicken and lamb one day and salmon the other...quite a combo!


Now we were trying BBQed salmon for the first time and it turned out to be so juicy and absolutely delicious. Here are some pictures.