Blinkist

Came across this recipe on Food Network that I have subscribed to and had to try it from the moment I had seen it. Finally tried it today and it was as tasty as it looked.
Here is my version

Grilled Chicken with Salsa
Method
1. For the marination, take a bowl. Add 2 tsp of olive oil, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder, freshly ground pepper, some red chilli flakes, and 2 grated garlic cloves. Add 2 tsp of lime juice, salt and mix well. Marinate 250 gms of Breasts of chicken with the mixture. You can choose to butterfly the chicken as mentioned in the above recipe but I did not do that - I just cut the chicken into smaller pieces. Leave aside for 2 hours.
2. Make the salsa with 2 tsp olive oil, 2 tomatoes, 1 onion, 1/2 capsicum finely chopped. Add 2 tsp lime juice, salt and refrigerate.
3. After 2 hours, grill the chicken. I just chose to fry the chicken on a pan with olive oil on low heat , turning on both sides till cooked.
4. Serve hot with the salsa on top of each piece. You can garnish with freshly ground pepper and red chilli flakes.

Spinach Mutton

I am a fan of spinach and hence decided to make Mutton with spinach today. Most of the recipes of Saagwaala Mutton and other spinach mutton use Spinach Puree but I thought of adding finely chopped spinach instead. The dish was absolutely tasty! Highly recommended

Spinach Mutton


Method
1. Blend 1 cup coriander leaves, 5-6 cloves of garlic, 1 inch ginger, handful of mint leaves and 2 green chillies in a mixer. Add salt and marinate 1/2 kg mutton for at least an hour before cooking.
2. Take 1 tsp ghee and 1 tsp oil in a pressure cooker. When hot, add 1 bay leaf, 3-4 cloves, 1 inch cinammon, 1 cardamom, 1 tsp cumin seeds and saute till the cumin splutters. Add 1 big onion finely chopped and saute till pink.
3. Add 2 medium tomatoes finely chopped and saute till mushy. Add the mutton and saute for some time till the raw taste of ginger garlic goes away. Now add 2 cups of water to the pressure cooker, close the lid, add the weight and cook for 4-5 whistles.
4. Remove the lid when the pressure is off and add 2 cups of finely chopped spinach and 1 tsp kasoori methi and cook till the spinach is well cooked.

Serve hot with chappatis. You can add more water in case you need a gravy to go with rice.

Veg Biryani with coconut milk


Came across this recipe in my cook book and decided to cook this today for lunch. Tasty and the best part is that my 9 month old relished it. The flavor of the coconut differentiates this from the normal version.

Veg Biryani with coconut milk


Method
1. Soak 2 cups of basmati rice in water for 15 mins to remove the excess starch. Drain and keep aside.
2. Take 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp oil in a pressure cooker. When hot, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 inch cinammon, 2-3 cloves, 2-3 pepper corns, 1 star anise, 1 bay leaf and saute for a minute. Add 2 medium onions slit into long thin slices and saute till pink. Add 2 finely chopped green chillies.
3.  Add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute. Add 1/2 cup of finely chopped coriander leaves and 1/2 cup of finely chopped mint leaves.
4. Add 1 potato cut into cubes, 1/2 cup of carrots cut into cubes, 3-4 tsp pf green peas, 1/2 cup of cauliflower florets. I added some soaked black channa and 5-6 snap peas. Saute all the vegetables for 2 mins
5. Add 1 tsp chilli powder and 1 tsp garam masala powder and saute well such that the vegetables are coated with the masala.
6. Add the rice and saute till all the vegetables and rice mix well. Now add 25 gms of coconut milk powder added in 2 cups of water to the pressure cooker. Add 3 more cups of water, mix well and close the lid of the cooker with the whistle on.
7. Cook for 3-4 whistles. Remove the cooker from the flame. Remove the whistle once the pressure is off and separate the rice with a fork.

Serve  this biryani hot with Onion- Tomato Raita

Chicken Shammi Kabab


I used to always wonder how kakori kababs in restaurants melt in our mouth. Then when I saw this dish being cooked on Foodistan I was inspired to try it. I searched online and this dish is my adaptation from different recipes.
Chicken Shammi Kabab
Method
  1. Add 2 tbsp oil. Add 1 tsp shahi jeera, 1 cardamom, 1 inch cinammon, 2-3 cloves and saute for a minute. Add 2 medium finely chopped onion and saute till brown.
  2. Add 1 inch  ginger finely chopped and 5-6 pods of garlic finely chopped, ½ cup of mint, 2 green chillies finely chopped,1 tsp turmeric and saute.
  3. Now add around 300 gms of boneless chicken cut into smaller cubes (this is actually a mutton dish but I tried with chicken) and cook till the meat is tender and almost cooked.
  4. Now add 1 tbsp chilli powder, 1tsp garam masala, ½ cup coriander chopped, and 1 cup Chana Dal (which is soaked and boiled - remove all the water before adding). Saute for around 2 mins and then let this mixture cool a bit.
  5. Now grind the above mixture in a mixer grinder to a coarse paste. The strands of chicken should be seen.
  6. Adjust the seasoning if needed. Beat 1 egg in a bowl.
  7. Make small balls with the batter, flatten it, dip it in the egg and shallow fry on a pan on a slow flame on both sides till cooked.
This will make around 20 medium shaped kababs - serve with mint chutney.
I had tasted Pithla at my friend Mona's home and liked it a lot but never ventured to cook it on my own. This is the first time I tried it and I have decided that I am going to cook it regularly
So here is my modified version of Mona's Pithla recipe..

Spicy marathi besan curry - Pithla

Method
1. Add 3/4 cup besan to 2 cups water and mix well so that  you do not have any lumps. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil in pan. When hot, add 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds.  When they splutter add 2 finely chopped green chillies and 2 sprigs of curry leaves. Also add a pinch of asafoetida and saute well. 
3. Now add 1 finely chopped onion and 3-4 finely chopped cloves of garlic and some salt. When the onion is slightly pink add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and continue sauteing till onion is brown in color.
4. Add  1 finely chopped tomato and 1/2 cup of spring onions greens. (Spring onion is not part of the original recipe - but I added it for the added taste.)
5. Adjust the salt as required and 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp red chilli powder(again not part of original recipe) and saute. Now add the besan mixture and keep stirring regularly to avoid lumps 
6.  Cook for 10 mins or till the raw taste of besan goes.
7. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves, some spring onion greens and serve piping hot with Jowar Rotis (Bhakris)

Mexican Salsa

I have always liked nachos with refried beans and cheese - but what I like even more was always the salsa that came with it.
I tasted store bought nachos with this salsa recently at Deepali's place and loved it. Have tried this recipe many a times after that...is an awesome starter esp when you have vegetarian guests :) Thanks Deepali!

Mexican Salsa

Method
1. Take 3-4 tsp of olive oil in a bowl. 
2. Mix 1 onion, 2 tomatoes, 2-3 tsp of red pepper, yellow pepper and green pepper finely chopped. You can also choose to blanch the tomatoes and coarsely grind it before adding it to the mixture. But I left it like this for crunchiness.
3. Add salt, juice of 1 lemon, red chilli flakes, 1 tsp pepper, oregano and mix well (you can adjust the spices according to your taste). I also added some 2 tsp of raw mango sliced finely just for added sourness.
4. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving with Nachos

Pepper Chicken

We had ordered Miryalu kodi (Pepper Chicken) at Rayalseema Ruchulu in Hyderabad last week. The taste of this South Indian (mainly Andhra cuisine) starter with  of pepper and curry leaves was too good. I tried looking for the recipe online but could not find it.  I tried my own version of Pepper Chicken and here is how I cooked it..turned out pretty close to the original.. 

Pepper Chicken


Method
1. Marinate 1/2 kg boneless chicken with salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 2 tsp pepper powder, 1 tsp freshly ground pepper, 1/2 tsp garam masala powder  and leave aside for at least 1 hour.
2. Take 2 tsp oil in a non stick pan. When hot, add 1 sprig of curry leaves. When it splutters add the chicken and let it cook. Stir occasionally. Cover and cook on a low flame else the spices may burn.
3. Remove the lid after 15 mins and cook on low flame till chicken is cooked.
4. Sprinkle lemon juice, freshly ground pepper according to taste and serve.

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