cookbypassion

Methi Malai Matar is a simple yet delicious side dish which goes very well with any Indian bread or fried rice. Fresh cream gives this dish a nice rich and creamy taste and look. Very less spices used as this dish is on a slight sweeter side. Am sure your kids and family will love it. This dish goes to day 3 week 2 of BM 105 under the theme " Easy side dishes for rice / roti". Check out the ingredients and procedure. Ingredients: Methi / Fenugreek leaves 2 cups Boiled green peas 1 cup Butter 1 tbsp Garam masala 1 1/2 tsp Cumin 1 tsp Kasuri methi 1/2 tbsp Ingredients for gravy: Large onion chopped Large tomato chopped Fresh cream / heavy cream 1 cup Green chili 2 Ginger garlic paste 1/2 tbsp Cashew nuts 10 Sugar 1 tsp Salt to taste Oil 1 tsp Preparation: Heat  1 tbsp oil in a pan, add chopped onions and cashews.  Once onions turn light pink in color add chopped tomatoes, green chili, ginger garlic paste. Cook till raw smell disappears, add sugar and salt to taste. Cook till to...

Today we are starting with 4th week of BM 70, and my theme for this week is " Cooking for One". You will be seeing single serving recipes for next 3 days. It was very difficult for me to find single serving recipes as most of the time I am  used to cook for 2 or more at home. There were very few situation when I was alone and hubby dear was travelling for work.  Only thing on my mind was to make maggi which was quick and easy to make in few minutes. If at all I had to make some other dish they turned out to be served for more than 2 people. Was new to cooking and didn't know how much quantity of ingredients I was supposed to take to cook for single serving.  Now as the time changed,  tastes changed and have experience in cooking for single person to 30 people, I am here with a recipe made with Potatoes. Rasawala Aloo, Rasawala means gravy, Aloo means Potato. This delicious gravy can be served with any Indian bread. Here goes the recipe.......... Ingredients: Potato ...

Okra has always been my favorite vegetable. Most of them do not like Okra  because of it's stickiness. But there is a small technique,  just add little lime juice to the curry  and the stickiness will be disappeared.  Today we are starting with 4th week of BM 65 and my theme for the week is cooking " One Vegetable in Different ways". For next 3 days I will be posting Okra / Bhindi  recipes.  For day 1 am here with sweet and  sour gravy dish called Bhindi Ka Salan. You might have heard about Hyderabad famous dish Mirchi Ka Salan.   Its the same gravy as in Mirchi Ka salan but we will be adding Okra instead of Mirchi.  Source of this recipe is Vahrehvah.com . Here goes the recipe..... Ingredients: Bhindi / Okra / Bendakaya  15 Peanuts 1 tbsp Sesame seeds 1 tbsp Dry coconut powder 1 tbsp Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon Fenugreek seeds 1/4 spoon Tamarind juice 1/2 cup Jaggery 1  spoon Ginger garlic paste 1/2 spoon Chopped...

Kari Ayam is a Malaysian chicken curry with is typically made with coconut milk  and some spices. We had this curry in one of the Malaysian Restaurant called "Penang". This curry is served with Roti as an appetizer. The name of the dish is "Roti Canai" which means puffed bread served hot with curry or dal.  So we were served with a creamy chicken curry along with the roti.  When we first tasted this dish, we felt as if we were eating a Indian dish. It had all the flavors of Indian Masala and the roti was a typical Kerala Parota. Our family loved this dish. Thought why not make this curry at home, so I googled the recipe and found that this recipe is very simple to make with minimal ingredients. I served this curry with home made Rumali Roti, and it tasted awesome, the same texture, flavor and color of that of Restaurant Style Kari Ayam. So this recipe goes to BM 62, week 2, Day 1, under the theme " Cook with coconut". Ingredients: Chicken 1 lb  / 500gms O...

Tilapia are mainly freshwater fish inhabiting shallow streams, ponds, lakes and rivers. Whole tilapia fish can be processes into skinless and boneless. They have very low of mercury as they are fast growing, lean and short-lived. Tilapia are low in saturated fat, calories and sodium and are good source of protein. Today I have made a delicious fish curry with Tilapia. This simple and yummy curry is my family favorite dish. So this curry goes to day 3, week 2 of BM 57 under the theme "Side Dishes". Tastes best with plain rice or any flavored rice.  I ngredients: Tilapia Fish fillets 4  Onions 1 large Tomato 1 medium Curd 1/2 cup Green chilies 4 Curry leaves 4 Ginger garlic paste 2 spoons Cumin powder 1 1/2 spoons Shan Fish masala 2 spoons Chili powder 1 1/2 spoons Haldi 1/2 spoon Cilantro 1/2 cup Salt to taste Oil  Preparation: You can use any kind of fish, but this tastes better with tilapia. I have taken 4 fillets, cut them into 2 inch pieces. I have got around 16, 2 inc...

Today we are started with 2nd week of BM 57, my theme for the week is cooking any side dishes for rice or roti.   This is one easy Indian  egg curry which is made with  boiled eggs, onion and tomato. Poppy seed and  Cashew nut paste along with other spices give nice and rich gravy to this curry.  Here goes the recipe........ Ingredients: Eggs 4 Cashew nuts 1/4 cup Poppy seeds 1/4 cup Onion 1 medium Tomato puree 1/2 cup Coriander powder 1 spoon Cumin powder 1/2 spoon Chili powder 1 spoon Salt to taste Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon Cinnamon stick 1 inch 1 Cloves 2 Bay leaf 1 Cardamom 1 Cumin seeds Ginger garlic paste 1 spoon Oil 4 spoons Preparation: Boil eggs, remove the shell and keep aside. In 1 cup water add cashew nuts and poppy seeds to boil for 15 to 20 minutes. This process with make the paste very smooth. In a pan heat 1 spoon oil and add chopped onions. Fry till golden brown and let it cool. Now add boiled cashew nuts, poppy seeds and onion to blender a...

Kashmiri Cuisine is based on the ancient traditions of the north east Asian Kashmir area. The Rigveda mentions the meat eating traditions of this area while the ancient Kashmiri epic, the Nilamat Purana records that Kashmiris were heavy meat eaters. The most notable ingredient in todays Kashmiri Cuisine is Mutton.   Kashmiri Murg Masala or Kashmiri Chicken Curry is a mild, sweet , rich and creamy chicken curry. Chicken cooked in Onion and tomato paste with Cashew and Almonds paste makes this curry very rich. Adding Little garam masala gives  very little spiciness too.   I served this Rich Gravy curry with home made Rumali roti. This delicious gravy goes well with any biryani, pulao or any kind of  rotis , parathas , naan and kulchas. Click here for the Rumali roti recipe. Here goes the recipe for Kashmiri Murg Masala......                         ...

Today we are starting with the final week for BM # 47 and of course final week for 2014 :) . And for this week my theme is "One state- different cuisines". For this I choose Telugu Cuisine, which is from Andhra Pradesh. Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, Uttara Andhra are main regions. In the region also people make the same dish in a different way.  So here are the  3 different dishes from 3 different regions.  Andhra   Cuisine is more dominant in restaurants all over Andhra Pradesh as well as Andhra Restaurants in cities like Bangalore, Chennai and New Delhi. For Day 1,am here with the special dish from Konaseema which is know as Coastal Andhra. Coastal Andhra region is dominated by Krishna and Godavari delta regions and is exposed to the coastlines of Bay of Bengal. Hence rice, dal and sea food are the staple diet of the people living here. They even cook Chicken with some special Chicken called Natu Kodi which means Village Chicken or Country Chicken. Usuall...

For the 4th and final week of Blogging Marathon # 46, am here with  No onion and Garlic recipes . Being a south Indian, I can't imagine cooking without onion and garlic. We use onions in almost all the dishes. We cook food without onion and garlic only during festivals as most of the Indians do. Not only during festivals but few communities in India do not eat onion and garlic at all. They feel that various foods and drink can influence the state of one's mind. Onions, garlic etc, are classified as foods that change one’s mind such that it becomes angry and one cannot control it.  From a social point of view eating strong tasting and strong smelling foods such, as onions and garlic can lead to bodily odours. These are both unsociable and disrespectful to others. Eating onions for example will lead to bad breath. Eating garlic even in small amounts can lead to days of an unsavoury odour coming from the skin.   So, for day 1, am here with some delicious gravy curry, Aloo ...

 For the final day of week 3, am here with the popular dish Aloo kurma. This is one of the simplest recipe ever made with very few ingredients.  Usually served hot with roti, naan or pulao. Frying the potatoes in oil and then adding to gravy makes the dish much more tasty. Here goes the recipe..... We need: Potato  2 large Onion 1 medium Tomato 1 medium Cashew nuts 10 Poppy seeds 3spoons Garam masala 1spoon Haldi / turmeric  1/4 spoon Ginger garlic paste 1/2 spoon Chili powder 1spoon Curry leaves 5 Salt to taste Oil 4 spoons Chopped cilantro 2spoons Method: Soak cashew nuts and poppy seeds separately in hot water for 1 hr. Make a smooth paste mixing both and keep aside. Cut potatoes into bite size pieces and boil till 1/2 done Now deep fry these oil till nice brown color appears on the top. Now a pan and add 4 spoons oil. Now add chopped onions, ginger garlic paste and curry leaves. Cook till onions  turn into light brown color. Now add chopped to...

For day 2, I am here with some rich and creamy dish Kadai Mushroom. This gravy curry can be served with pulao, biryani or roti.  Adding cashew and almond paste to this recipe gives some extra  taste and richness.  If you do not want to add nuts paste, replace it with some heavy cream or half and half.   Here is the recipe for delicious Kadai Mushroom....... We need: Mushrooms 2 cups Tomato puree 1 cup Chopped cilantro 1/4 cup Bay leaf 1 Jeera / cumin seeds 1/2 spoon Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon Cinnamon stick 1 small Cloves 2 Cardamom 1 Green chilies 2 Sugar 1 spoon Cashew 10 Badam / almonds 5 Chili powder 1spoon Coriander powder 1/2 spoon Garam masala 1/4 spoon Kasuri methi 1/2 spoon Oil 1/4 cup Method: Soak cashew and almonds in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes and then make a smooth paste out of it. Puree 2 medium tomatoes and keep aside. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and whole garam masala. Saute for a minute in medium flame. Now add tomato puree and let i...

Today we are starting with 3rd week of BM 40. Next 3 days I will be posting some tasty and delicious " Gourmet Gravies".  These gravies taste awesome with some pulao, biryani, roti and naan. Gravies are made with any nuts paste or with coconut milk. Nuts paste or coconut milk gives these gravies some nice and rich texture and taste. For day 1 am here with a Thai dish. Most of the Thai recipes are made with coconut milk. One such popular Thai dish is Thai Red Curry.  The main ingredients in this paste are garlic, shallots, dry red chilies, galangal, salt, coriander seeds and leaves, cumin seeds, peppercorns and lemongrass.   Gravy richness comes from coconut milk. Also added into this gravy are mixed veggies and meat like shrimp and chicken. Finally garnished with cilantro, mint or basil leaves. In this recipe I used store bought red curry paste and coconut milk.  Here goes the recipe...... We need: Thai curry paste Coconut milk 1 can( 14 oz) Salt to taste B...

  For the 4th week of BM 24 I choose to cook mixed veggies in different forms. I choose Potato, beans and carrots as my combination of veggies. We can  cook lots of varieties with these veggies. For the day 1, I made mixed veggie kurma. Super simple to make and tastes yummy with pulao, naan , roti  etc... Beans, carrot and potato are 3 different colors, so the curry is not  only tasty its also colorful. Here goes the recipe......  We need: Potato 2 small Beans 10 Carrots 2 Onion 1 large Ginger garlic paste 1/2sp Poppy seeds 4 sps Cloves 2 Cinnamon stick 1/2 inch Cardamom 2 Salt to taste Oil 3sps Coconut milk / coconut paste(fresh) 1/2 cup Haldi 1/4 sp Green chili 2 Curry leaves 4 Chopped cilantro 1/4 cup Method: Heat pan and add oil. Now add chopped onion, curry leaves and slit green chilies. Saute till golden brown. Now add chopped potato, beans and carrots.Also add salt and haldi. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes on medium flame. Now add  masala powder ( p...

This is one of the Aloo/ Potato recipe which  try to cook atleast once a month. Goes well with poori, roti or any pulao. Here goes the recipe. You can check my original recipe and picture here .   We need: Baby Potato's 8 Onion 1 large Yogurt 3sps Gingar garlic paste 1sp Cilantro 1/4 cup Cashew nuts 10 Cloves 2 Cardamom 1 Hing/ asafetida pinch Garam masala powder 1/2 sp Bay leaf 1 Cinnamon stick 1inch Coriander seeds 1/2 sp Cumin seeds 1/2 sp Haldi / Turmeric 1/ 4sp Red chili powder 1sp Sesame seeds 1sp Fennel seeds 1sp salt to taste Oil 1/4 cup    Method: Boil baby potato's with skin. Keep them aside to cool. In a pan heat 3 sps oil and add cumin seeds, coriander seeds, Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and fennel seeds. Fry for few minutes and add chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. Cook till onions turn golden brown. Now add cashew, haldi and chili powder. Mix well and keep aside to cool. Now grind this onion mixture into smooth paste adding yogurt. R...