Jalapeno Chutney - For the rice

This is the recipe of  jalapeno chutney which I like to mix with plain steamed rice with a little ghee.
There is another recipe of jalapeno chutney with mint which I use as dip or spread. I will blog the recipe of that soon.

Ingredients:

• Jalapenos - 8-10
• Tamarind Extract - 2 tbsp ( 1/2 tsp if using pulp )
• Garlic Pods - 3
• Cilantro - 2 springs
• Turmeric Powder - 2 pinches
• Salt - to taste
• Sugar - very little, say, 1/4 tsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp

For Tempering: 

• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
• Curry Leaves - 3-5
• Red Chili, whole - 1 ( optional )
• Hing - a pinch

Directions: 

• Chop Jalapenos. U can remove the seeds if you do not want it spicy. 
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and fry the chopped jalapenos. Fry till they look cooked and let it cool.
• Grind fried jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, tamarind extract, turmeric, salt and sugar all together till paste.
• Remove it in a bowl. Now temper the chutney.
• Heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, add urad dal and roast till reddish. Add red chili, curry leaves, hing. Pour this over the chutney and give it a good mix.
• Adjust salt.
• Serve it with plain steamed rice with a little ghee. I like to mix it in the rice and eat. You can serve with chapati as well. 

Oats Banana Porridge

A quick, easy and healthy breakfast. Oats and Banana Porridge.

Ingredients :

• Traditional Rolled Oats - 1 cup
• Milk - 1 cup
• Ripe Banana - 1
• Brown Sugar - 1 tsp or to taste ( optional )  You can replace sugar with honey. 
• Broken Nuts - for garnish ( Walnuts in pic. )

Directions: 

• Heat milk in a saucepan.
• Add oats . Let it boil on medium heat. Reduce the heat to low.
• Add mashed banana and sugar. Mix well. and turn off the heat in a minute of cooking after adding banana.
• Serve warm, Garnish with broken nuts for some crunch .

Microwave Method : 

• Take oats and milk in a microwave safe bowl. Heat it for one and a half min.
• Now add mashed banana to the porridge mixture. Stir well.
• Reheat in microwave for another 30 sec until banana is cooked along with the porridge.
• Add sugar and garnish with broken nuts or raisins. 

Note:  

• You can add more flavors to it like vanilla extract or cinnamon, etc. 
• You can add slices of banana instead of mashed banana.
• You can garnish with berries to add color and flavor. 
• You can add a dollop of yogurt to it too.

Mirchi Bhajji

Mirchi bhajji, stuffed pepper fritters, one of the most common streets foods.
mmmmm..... I remember buying this at the street vendor, he gives these bhajjis accompanied with chopped onions and roasted peanuts, all wrapped in a paper.. haha.... slurrrrp !!! How I love street food !!
This can be made at home with any type of pepper you prefer, like banana peppers or jalapeno peppers .
I prefer banana peppers.

Ingredients:

• Banana Peppers : 8 -10
• Tamarind - gooseberry sized
• Carom Seeds ( Ajwain ) - 1 tsp
• Gram Flour ( Besan ) - 1 cup
• Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp ( optional ) - This helps the make the bhajjis crispy 
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - to deep fry

Directions: 

• Soak tamarind for half an hour, remove seeds. Or for instant result, microwave tamarind with very little water for 30 secs. Stir and microwave again for another 30 secs. Keep aside. Let it cool.
• In a grinder, take carom seeds and give them a pulse. When they are crushed, add tamarind along with water and salt and grind it to a paste. Keep aside
• Now, slit the pepper lengthwise, and remove seeds from them if you do not want it to be too hot. If you like it hot, let them be. 
• Stuff these peppers with the tamarind-carom paste. Let them sit for about an hour. You can make them immediately as well but if you let them sit for a while, it taste better when the peppers absorb the flavours. Also if you are making these for a party, you can stuff and keep these ready for even 5-6 hours and fry them just before the party. 
• Now to make the batter, take besan in a mixing bowl, add salt and baking soda. Mix. Add water little at a time and mix well with the help of an egg beater. The consistency should be just right to coat the peppers, neither hard nor runny. 
• Heat the oil in a deep frying pan. To test the right temperature, add just a drop of batter into the oil. The batter should neither come up too soon nor should it sit for long. It should sizzle for about 2 seconds and then float up. 
• Now, drop the stuffed peppers into the batter and drop them in the hot oil. Deep fry till it is golden from all the sides. Fry them on medium heat. 
• When done, drain the excess oil on the kitchen towel. 

Serving Suggestions: 

• Serve them hot with Green Chutney or Tamarind Chutney 
• Or, along with finely chopped onions. Sprinkle some lemon juice on the onions and some roasted peanuts. 
• Or, after you fry the bhajjis, make another slit lengthwise and fill with these onions sprinkled with lemon juice and serve.
• Or, Slice the bhajjis into pieces and spread on the plate, sprinkle onions with lemon juice and roasted peanuts and sev and chopped cilantro. 
• Enjoyyyyyy !!!!

Variation : 

The above mentioned is usually a South Indian recipe of Mirchi Bhajji.

The North Indian recipe has a different stuffing. The stuffing of boiled potato. 

Stuffing :

• Mashed Boiled Potato - 1 cup
• Chopped Onion - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Cilantro - 1 tbsp
• Grated Ginger - 1 tsp
• Chat Masala - 1/4 tsp
• Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
• Salt - a pinch

Mix all these well and stuff in the slit peppers. The remaining recipe remains the same. 

Double ka Meetha

Double ka meetha is a very popular dessert in Hyderabadi Cuisine.
It is a cousin of Shahi Tukda from Pakistani cuisine, Very similar in taste and recipe.
Double ka meetha is a bread pudding made of fried bread  and various dry fruits soaked in milk.

Ingredients :

• Bread - 4-5 slices
• Cashewnuts - few
• Raisins - few
• Almonds - few
• Pistachios - few
• Ghee - 2 tbsp
• Milk - 1 1/2 cups
• Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup
• Cardamom Powder - 2 pinches
• Ghee for deep frying

For Syrup :

• Water - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Saffron - 1/2 tsp
• Lemon Juice - 4-5 drops

Directions :

To make sugar syrup:

• Add sugar to water and bring it to boil.
• Add 4-5 drops of lime juice to prevent sugar from solidifying.
• Add saffron to this for a nice color.
• Syrup is ready. Keep aside.

To make double ka meetha: 

• Cut bread slices diagonally into 2 halves.
• Now deep fry these bread pieces in ghee till they turn golden brown in color just for 15-20 seconds on each side. 
• Remove it from the pan and soak it in the sugar syrup while the syrup is warm. Repeat this with other slices of bread.
• Boil milk on a low-medium flame and bring it to boil.
• Add condensed milk.
• Add 1-2 tsp of sugar or to taste.
• Keep stirring. 
• Heat till the milk is thickened and reduced to 1/2 in quantity.
• Add cardamom powder.
• Add the bread pieces soaked in sugar syrup to the milk mixture and mash gently. Leave the crispy corners. It's nice to get a bite of it while eating the pudding.
• Roast all the dry fruits in a little ghee till golden. Pour this over the pudding and mix.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

Check out the recipe of shahi tukda here. 

Collard Greens Saag Paneer

Totally similar to palak paneer, cooked with just an addition of collard greens. 

Tastes good with roti or naan.

Ingredients :

• Spinach - 1 bunch
• Collard Greens - 1 bunch
• Paneer ( cottage cheese ) - 100 grams or as many as you like
• Onion - 1 Large
• Butter - 3 tbsp
• Bay leaves - 2-3
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Black Pepper powder - 1/4 tbsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
• Green Chillies - 2
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tbsp
• Amchoor Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Oil/Butter - 3 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Heavy Cream - 1/2 cup

Directions :

• Wash collard  greens and spinach thoroughly. If needed 2-3 times so that you are sure that it is absolutely clean. Then chop them roughly. 
• Boil collard greens and spinach in some water for 12-14 minutes. Grind it to a paste when it cools. (Collard greens are hard leaves so that take little more time to cook than spinach.)
• Heat butter in a pan and fry bay leaves , slit green chillies, and cumin seeds.
• Add finely chopped onions and ginger garlic paste, saute till onions turn transparent
• Add salt, black pepper powder, garam masala, amchoor powder . Stir well.
• Add ground greens and cook on low.
• In another pan, heat oil and fry paneer cubes till they turn golden brown. You can avoid this step and add raw paneer as well. Both taste equally good. 
• Now add these paneer cubes to greens curry. Cook it covered in medium flame till the butter separates. 
• Add the fresh cream and cook for just another minute or two just to incorporate the cream well with the gravy. 

Enjoy with roti or naan. 

Beerakaya Thokkala Pachadi

Beerakaya thokkala pachadi  means ridge guard skin chutney or turai ke chilke ki chutney.
We usually peel the ridge guard and trash the skin. But try this chutney making use of the peeled skin and you will never want to throw the skin away.
I sometimes add in 4-5 small cubes of ridge guard along with the skin to make the texture a little smooth, however you can avoid that and make it with just the skin.

Ingredients:

• Skin of 3-4 ridge guards
• Green Chilies - 3-4 or to taste
• Urad Dal - 1 tsp
• Chana Dal - 2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Tamarind pulp - 1 tbsp
• Garlic Pods- 3-4
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp ( optional )
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 2 tbsp

For tempering: 

• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal - 1 tsp
• Red Chili Whole - 1-2
• Hing - a pinch
• Curry Leaves - 4-5

Directions:

• Wash the ridge guard very well and peel. Use the ridge guard for making curry or dal and save the skin.
• Wash the skin once again, just to be sure.
• In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and splutter cumin seeds. Add urad dal, chana dal and fry till golden brown. Add green chilies. Saute and take it out in a plate. Let it cool.
• In the same pan, add one more tbsp of oil and fry the ridge guard skin. If you are using a small piece of ridge guard, then chop and add that as well.Fry till cooked. Let it cool.
• In a grinder, make a course powder of the fried mixture. 
• Add to the grinder, the cooked ridge guard skin, tamarind, salt, sugar, garlic pods and very little water, say about, 1 tbsp. Grind to a paste. Remove it in a bowl.
• Now for tempering, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds. Add urad dal, red chili, curry leaves, hing. Fry till urad dal starts to change color. Pour this over the chutney and mix well. Adjust salt.

Eat it with hot rice with a dollop of ghee. I promise you will find it delicious. :)

Instant Mango Pickle

This pickle made of raw mango can be made instantly and should be finished instantly too. I mean, it would not stay for more than 3-4 weeks. This is a temporary pickle which does not have the shelf life as long as the regular mango pickle ( avakaya )
I usually make this with just 1 raw mango so that it can be finished soon.
Eat it with curd rice and I bet you will be addicted.

Ingredients :

• Raw Mango - 1 ( green and hard )
• Red Chili Powder - 3 tbsp or to taste
• Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds- 1 tsp
• Salt - 2 tbsp or to taste
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Sesame Oil - 3/4 - 1 cup

Directions : 

• Wash the mango and pat it dry. Chop finely along with the skin.

• Roast fenugreek seeds till they start to change color. Add mustard seeds and roast them too for a few seconds. Remove and keep aside. Let it cool.Grid them to a very fine powder 

• Add this powder to the chopped mango. Add red  chili powder, turmeric, and salt. Mix well.

• Heat oil in a pan. Let it cool down a bit and then pour this oil over the spiced mango pieces and mix well. Alternatively ( which I prefer ) you can sputter just half a tsp of mustard seeds and one whole red chili in the hot oil. Cool down a but and add to the spiced pieces. Mix very well. 

• Store it in a glass jar. 

Note : Make sure everything you use, from mixing bowl to spoon to glass jar, every thing should be dry. Moisture can spoil the pickle.