Dal Tadka

This recipe is a staple dal recipe, which is loved by all.  It's wholesome, loaded with proteins, and a hearty bowl of dal goes with almost everything.Just some fresh hot phulkas with this and you are good to go. Add some vegetables of your choice to this and it just goes one  notch upper with regard to health without any compromise in taste.

Getting ready :

Masoor Dal (or Arhar Dal) - 1/3 cup
Onions(chopped) - 1 large
Garlic(chopped)- 8-9 cloves
Green chillies (chopped) - 1
Tomato (Chopped)- 2 small or 1 medium
Oil- 2 tbsps
Curry powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Zeera(Cumin seeds) - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish
Water- 1 cup


Lighting the stove:

Boil the dal with water, salt and turmeric powder for 2.5 whistles (I know, you are asking how is that? Do I ask the pressure cooker to give off half of the whistle and digest the other half ☺️) No, you don't have to chit chat with the pressure cooker at all . It just means you have to give one whistle on high flame(which counts for the half whistle and rest 2 whistles on low flame). 
I have used yellow masoor dal here, but you can use the normal pink one as well.

Heat oil in a pan or kardhai, add zeera, onions, garlic, green chillies and fry till onions are golden brown.

Now, add the curry powder, turmeric powder, chilli powder and the tomatoes.

Cook till the tomatoes are mushy and oil oozes out of the sides.

Then, pour the boiled dal. 

Cook on high heat till you get the desired consistency and then, sprinkle coriander leaves on top.

This tastes lovely and fulfilling with phulkas or rice.

Source: My creations

Cabbage sabzi (Bandhakobi Tarkari)

This is a very regular recipe with our moms. Hubbo really likes it, but I am not a big fan for regular eating. I just like to have it occasionally and that too after crushing 1-2 green chillies in it just before eating. Ah ! The smell of green chilli with this, heavenly :)
  You can add green peas to it, but I made this with avarekalu today. Green peas give a nice fresh colour boost to it.

Getting Ready :

Cabbage - 100 gms
Avarekalu (Hyacinth Beans) - 20 gms
Potato- 1 medium
Onion - 1 medium
Tomato- 1 small
Garlic- 5-6 cloves
Black pepper- 5-6
Zeera(cumin seeds) - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil- 2 tbsps
Coriander leaves for garnish
Salt - To Taste
Water- 1/3 cup


Lighting the stove :

Chop the cabbage in thin strips. Peel the potato and chop them. 
Pressure cook the cabbage, potato and avarekalu in a pressure cooker with salt, water and turmeric powder for 1-2 whistles.

Now, roughly chop the onion, peel the garlic, and pulse(roughly grind) them along with black pepper and zeera.
Heat oil, add the rough paste, fry till they turn pinkish brown, now add chilli powder and chopped tomatoes. 

Splash some water and cook covered till tomatoes turn mushy.

Add the boiled cabbage, potatoes and avarekalu. Mix well till water is dried up.

Now, sprinkle coriander leaves and mix well.

It cooks very quickly and makes for a great curry or side dish with either chapati or rice. As I said, it's a regular in normal households. 

Source: Ma's cooking

Dahi chicken roast

This recipe was initially cooked as an afterthought after having a proper chicken curry ready, but ended up to be the primary dish while eating. It was absolutely lip-smacking.

Getting ready :

Chicken leg pieces - 200 gms
Cardamom, Cinnamon and Cloves - 3 pieces each
Oil - 6 tbsps
Onions - 3
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Curry powder - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 2 tsps
Cornflour - 1/2 tsp
Curd - 1/2 cup
Fresh cream - 2 tbsps
Coriander leaves for garnish

Salt to taste

Lighting the stove :

Wash 200 gms of chicken drumsticks or any normal medium sized pieces and mix with salt and turmeric powder 
Heat oil in a pan and fry lightly for 5-10 mins and remove from pan.
In the same pan, add some more oil and throw in some Cardamom, Cinnamon and Cloves. Add sliced onions and fry for 5 mins and then add ginger-garlic paste and fry 2 mins more.
Add the chicken pieces and cover and cook till chicken is almost soft. 
Then, mix the curry powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder and cornflour in curd and mix well. Pour it into the pan while keeping the flame low.
Cook for 5 mins covered and then add fresh cream. Add coriander leaves and serve hot.

It is definite worth serving the guests in a party or any special occasion. Just don't make it a gravy dish. It tastes best when it is mostly dry.

Source : My experiments

Egg fried rice

This is a simple version of egg fried rice and not the roadside fast food corner type. But it is pretty satisfying and goes well with anything or just as itself.

Getting ready :

Eggs - 2
Cooked rice - 2 bowls
Onion - 1 medium/large
Green chillies - 2
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1tsp
Coriander leaves or spring onions for garnish
Salt to taste

Oil - 3 tbsps

Lighting the stove :

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and break 2 eggs into it, sprinkle a pinch of salt and scramble it but remove it when it is still soft and slightly runny.
Heat oil in a pan, add one large finely chopped onion, 2 chopped green chillies and fry till onions are pinkish in colour.
Add the Scrambled eggs, sprinkle 1 tsp of pepper powder and 1 tbsp of soya sauce, and salt to taste. Mix well.
Add 2 bowls of cooked rice to it and mix well. Sprinkle coriander leaves or spring onion greens and serve hot.

The taste was just perfect. If you make this with basmati rice, it will be exactly as the restaurants serve. So, it is a must try especially since it is so damn easy.



Source : Peeking into the kitchen in restaurants

Tawa roasted gobhi

Nowadays I have been obsessed with tawa cooking. I am absolutely loving the charred flavour that it imparts to the dish. Also, it is so much healthier than deep frying. So, I am hoping to include a lot of tawa recipes in my life pretty soon.

Getting ready :

Cauliflower florets - 1 bowl
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tandoori masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Hung curd/Curd - 2 tbsps
Coriander leaves or kasuri methi to garnish
Salt to taste

Oil as required

Lighting the stove :

Break the Cauliflower into 1 medium bowl of smaller florets.
Boil the cauliflower florets with water and salt on medium heat for 5 mins. It should not be completely soft, but it should be cooked. 
Now, take the cauliflower in a bowl and add 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste, 1/2 tsp Chilli powder, 1/2 tsp tandoori masala powder, salt(to taste), 1/2 tsp pepper powder, 2 tbsp hung curd (i used normal curd as i didn't have hung curd at that time). Marinate for 15-20 mins in refrigerator.
Now heat some oil on a tawa and add the marinated cauliflower to it. Cook on low to medium heat (yes, this is necessary, medium heat makes sure it is charred well, but not burnt) for about 10 mins.
Sprinkle coriander leaves or kasuri methi on top and serve.

It is a pretty quick method and acts as a great side dish. I added it to a masala gravy which made it almost like a tikka masala. If I do that again, I will share that recipe. For now, keep healthy with this.

Step by step pics will be uploaded on request 


Source : Basic idea from Life with spices. Love her LCHF diet recipes

Tawa Egg Fry

When I made this for the first time I was searching for a recipe that is good to eat as a side dish, can be cooked without any careful preparation, and also be ready in 10 mins. After searching around for some time, I decided to let my hands do all the creativity and put my mind to rest. So, here is the product created by my hands, leaving my mind mostly unused. Lol...

Chop 6 boiled eggs in 4-6 pieces lengthwise (yes, with the yolk, unless you are health conscious and want to skip it, or just don't like the taste if it. In that case, remove it away as much as you like)
Now, heat oil in a iron tawa(again yes, directly on the tawa that you make roti on. Nonstick tawa might not be a good idea for this). Add 2 large sliced onions and fry for 2 mins.
Then, add 1/2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste,  2 chopped green chillies, salt and mix well.
Add thinly sliced tomatoes to the tawa and fry on high heat. You can sprinkle water at intervals if you want to keep it slightly moist.

Once the tomatoes are mushy, add chopped eggs, turmeric powder, curry powder, chilli powder, tandoori masala powder(optional) and salt. Mix well.
Now, add 2-3 tablespoons of water and cover it and cook on medium heat.
Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve.

It is good to use as a side dish and as a stuffing for sandwiches as well. 
Source: My creations

Chilli yoghurt mushroom

Hello... I realized that i don't post my food recipes here mainly because it does take a lot of time and patience to actually take all the step by step pictures. So, I am gonna try a different approach this time and see if that helps me stay more regular. I will just post the final picture and any other in-between pics if I have, but but but i will post all the step-by-step pics for any recipes that you request for. It might take me a bit of time, so an advance Thank you for your patience. 😊

On to the recipe now - >

The other day, I came across a book called Curries in the library. The recipe that struck me the most was the Chilli Yoghurt Mushroom. Thought of trying it out, but was busy with few other books. Finally, when I felt like giving a little rest to my mind, I picked up this book and the recipe I tried out first was this one.

Heat oil or ghee in a pan, add 1 cubed onion and fry till they are golden.

Add 2 chopped green chillies too and add 1/2 tsp of ginger-garlic paste.

Fry well and then add 3 small chopped tomatoes. Fry them well.

Now, add turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder and fry nicely for 1 min.

Add 200g mushrooms cut into 4 pieces each. Cover and cook on low flame for 5 min.

When mushrooms are soft, open the cover and cook on medium flame for 2 min.

Then, bring the pan down from flame and pour curd beaten with 1/2 tsp cornflour.

Mix nicely and put back on low flame. Add some pepper powder and salt.

I added some Amul fresh cream at last. You can skip this also if you don't want it real creamy.

Sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

I guess this would taste best with roti, paratha, poori but we just had it with zeera coriander rice and it tasted yum. Hubbo gave 9/10. We gobbled up the food so fast that it seemed as if we were on some food eating competition.

Source: Curries(Book by Parragon Books- Love Food)