Corn Curry Recipe using Instant pot

Growing up this used to my favorite. My mom made this yummy corn curry cutting up the corn on the cob into chunks & cooked it in this delicious coconut gravy. This is my humble attempt at replicating that recipe. I used the instant pot to make this recipe. If you do end up trying this recipe don't forget to drop me a comment.

Zucchini Corn Fritters

Hi Friends,

I recently came across this amazing app called Quik which helps makes really good home videos using your smartphone. So here's my humble attempt at making my own recipe video for Zucchini Corn Fritters. Hope you enjoy watching the recipe Video.

Lemon Blueberry Pudding made in Instant pot

Ingredients:-

8-10 slices of Bread shredded into bits
1 1/2 to 2 cups milk
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar (or as per sweetness desired)
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 tsp Lemon Rind
Salt as per taste
6-8 tbsp Butter (unsalted) + 1 tbsp for greasing the bowl
Small sheet of aluminium foil

Method:-

In a bowl whisk the egg, sugar, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, & milk. Mix all the ingredients well until the sugar dissolves. Now to the mixture add as much bits of bread as will get absorbed in the milk (I used around 8 to 10 slices of whole grain white bread, u can use any bread of ur choice) Then to it add a pinch of salt, butter, some lemon rind and the blueberries . Lastly add some roasted unsalted cashews. Now take a pyrex 4 cup bowl and grease the inside of it with butter. Now sprinkle some granulated sugar over the butter. Thereafter pour the batter into the pyrex bowl. Grease a piece of aluminum foil and cover the bowl. Add 2 cups water to the instant pot. 

Place the bowl on a trivet. Cover the pot and seal. Set it to 20 minutes manual settings and allow NP release. Once done remove and serve .

Notes:-

• Alternatively this recipe can be made and baked in an oven at 350 Deg F for approx 40-50 mins. 
• When baking in the oven you need not cover with aluminium foil

Tarriwala Aloo Ghost

The original recipe isn't mine. I recently stumbled on this recipe in a food group but I tweaked it to suit my families tastes.

Ingredients:- 
1.5 lbs Mutton
1 big potato cut into 1/4 inch circles
2 large onions to make Birista ( Golden fried Crisp onions) set aside a little for garnish
Oil for cooking
1 tsp whole cumin
1 no. Bay leaf
1-2 tsp Ginger garlic paste
3 nos. Green Cardamom
2" stick Cinnamon
4-5nos. whole cloves
1 tsp Turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 1/2 cup tomato puree
1 1/2 cup Water Red Chilli powder (Or any spice powder of ur choice - I used homemade Bottle Masala
2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 cup hung curds
Salt as per taste
1/2 cup cilantro washed and finely chopped (optional)
Boiled egg for Garnishing.

 Method:- Wash, drain the mutton, season it with salt & set it aside. In a cooker heat sufficient oil, I used my new Instant pot to make this, but you can use any stove top cooker. Deep fry finely sliced onions to make Barista.Once the onions are fried nice and crisp spread them on a paper towel to drain the excess oil & cool. Once cool, keep them aside. Now in the leftover oil fry the potatoes till they cook to a nice Golden color, once done drain & set aside to use later. Now in the cooker add some more oil if required and fry the pieces of mutton on high flame and sear them till they are a bit brown. Then transfer the mutton to a bowl. Now in the cooker add some fresh oil, once the oil heats up add the Cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger garlic paste. Fry well, now to this crush the crisp fried Onion Birista and add to the spices. Once it is incorporated with the spices add the hung curd, red Chilli powder, Tumeric , coriander powder and Kashmiri Chilli powder. Mix well, it will look kind of like a thick paste. Once the oil starts to leave from the paste add the fried mutton to it . Thereafter add the tomato puree & water to the mixture. Now season the gravy with salt as per taste. Once the mixture starts to heat close the lid of the cooker and cook till the mutton is done. Once done, dunk the fried potatoes to the gravy along with the cilantro. Once the potatoes soak in the gravy garnish with the leftover Birista and boiled egg. Serve with hot steamed rice, preferably long grain Basmati rice.

Chowmein Noodles

Hi All,

I know its been really long since I last updated my blog. Have been busy being a Soccer mom to my now 6 year old. Almost forgot I had ever created this blog :-)
This year we've had a lot of rain in California. I'm not complaining coz we've had a drought past few years & we needed all that rain. Grateful to God that he answered our prayers and sent us all the rain we needed to end the drought.
So this morning when I got to know we were expecting a storm heading to the Bay, I thought why not make something hearty

to beat the dull gloomy weather. Checked my pantry and zeroed in on noodles as I had everything possible needed to prepare it.

Here's the recipe for my Chowmein Noodles

Ingredients:-

1/2 large Onion Finely sliced ( I used a red onion)

1 tsp Garlic minced

1/2 cup carrots cut into juliennes

1/2 cup finely chopped green beans (chopped diagonally)

1 red bell pepper cut into juliennes

1 green/yellow bell pepper cut into juliennes

Red chili sauce as per taste 

Green chilly sauce as per taste 

Red wine vinegar as per taste 

Ketchup as per taste 

Soya sauce as per taste 

Oyster Sauce as per taste 

1 packet of noodles ( I used Pancit Canton you cud use any egg Hakka noodles)

1 bunch scallions finely chopped

Oil

3 eggs

Dash of Milk for the eggs.

Shredded rotisserie /Roast chicken

Hot links- beef or chicken, cut into medium size pieces.

In a big pot heat water till it comes to a rolling boil. Season it with some salt. Then add the noodles and let it boil till 3/4th done. Now add some oil to the water to prevent noodles from sticking to each other. Drain in a bowl and add some cold water to it to stop the cooking process.

In a bowl break n beat the eggs, now add a dash of milk( milk helps make the eggs fluffy), with some salt & pepper. Heat a large frying pan with oil & fry the egg. Flip & cook on the other side. Then glide into a plate or board & cut into strips.

In the same pan heat some more oil if required and lightly fry the chopped Hot links. Once done set them aside to use later.

Now in a wok heat some oil . Now stir fry all the veggies in the hot oil on high flame , starting with the sliced onions along with the bulbs of the scallions ( Save the green part of the scallions, we will use them towards the end). Once they get a little soft add the garlic, followed by the carrots & the green beans. Drizzle some vinegar. Now drain the cold water from the noodles and add it followed by all the sauces one at a time, first the red, then the green, soya sauce, Oyster sauce & lastly the ketchup. Now add your meats , the shredded chicken and the fried links. Once everything is incorporated add the Red & yellow bell peppers. I like some crunch to the noodles so like to add the bell peppers at last so they don’t get soggy. They just cook in the steam of the noodles. Then add the egg strips followed by the tops of the scallions. Serve hot & enjoy!

Dabeli - Street food

Dabeli

Back home I had eaten Dabeli just once but tried it at a friends place recently and it brought back  memories so I thought I need to give it a try some day.

Surefed online to find a few recipes n came up with my own version of it. It was pretty simple to make as I had most ingredient easily available in my home kitchen itself.

Ingredients:-

Oil
Boiled potatoes
Dabeli Masala - I used Badshah Dabeli masala
Finely chopped onions
Spicy roasted peanuts
Pomegranate seeds
Grapes halved (Optional)
Tamarind and date chutney (I used the Deep tamarind and date chutney)
Garlic chutney (I used Deep garlic chutney)
Bhel sev ( I used garvi gujrat Bhel sev)
Finely chopped cilantro for garnish (Optional)
Pav bread

Method:- 

Mash boiled potatoes in a bowl. Now in a pan heat a little oil. To that add some finely chopped onions.Once the onions get translucent then add the mashed potatoes mix well. To this now add the date & tamarind chutney. Then add a hint of the garlic chutney. Mix well then transfer the mixture to a flat class bowl ( I used a pirex rectangle bowl with lid) Now flatten it in the bowl. Now sprinkle some spicy peanuts, pomegranate seeds , halved grapes, bhel sev & finely chopped cilantro.

Now cut pav & spread a little date n tamarind chutney on one side n some garlic chutney on the other. Now cut a slab of the potato mixture & place it in the pav. Top with some chopped onions & serve.

Homemade Mango Icecream

I love mangoes. I recently bought a can of Alphonso Mangoes from the store n decided I shud use it to make some Mango ice cream. Here's my version of a quick n simple recipe for yummy Mango Ice cream.

Quick n easy 4 ingredient Mango Ice cream recipe

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2 cups + 2 Tbsp sweetened Mango Puree

1/2 cup condensed milk

2 cups or 1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp lime/Lemon juice

Chill all ingredients n mix together. Pour in an Ice cream maker. I use the Kitchen Aid Ice cream bowl attachment. Follow the instruction by the manufacturer. 

Once done set in a Freezer safe container. I used Pirex glass bowl with lids to store them in the freezer.

Lime/Lemon juice acts as a secret ingredient. It helps bring out the Mango flavor in it.

U can substitute Mango puree for any other fruit of ur choice.

Kheema - Ground Mince

Ingredients:-

1 lb ground meat (Beef or goat)
1/4 cup frozen petite peas
1/2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 tbsp finel chopped garlic
1 1/2 tbsp Shaan Kheema Masala
1/2 large onion minced
1-2 nos. Thai green Chilie pepper finely chopped
salt to taste
1 no. medium size tomato
1/2 cup washed and finely chopped cilantro
Juice of 1/2 sour lime
1 tbsp cooking oil (I used canola)
Optional - 1 large potato diced into 1" pieces

Method-

In a pressure cooker heat oil , then to it add the minced Thai Chillie peppers, fry for 1 min then add the minced onions, fry with a hint of salt till onions turn translucent , then add the ginger,garlic , followed by the tomatoes & let it cook till the tomatoes soften. Now add the Shaan Kheema Masala. Let this mixture fry well for a 3-4 of minutes then add the washed n drained mince to the mixture along with the diced potatoes.Fry on high heat for couple of minutes & keep stirring continuously. Now add salt as per your taste (but keep in mind that the Shaan masalas already have some salt in them). Cover n cook for 8mins. Once done release the steam & open the cooker. Now add 1/4 cup of Frozen peas. I use petite frozen peas which do not take long to cook n hence cook in the steam of the mince itself. Lastly garnish with chopped Cilantro n Lime juice. Can be eaten with naan, roti , chapati or loaf (pav).

Drunken Shrimp Pasta

Drunken Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:-

12 Shrimps with Head

1 slice of smoked ham diced into small cubes

Pepper corns 8-10

Crushed Red Pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp or as per taste

1 Jar of store bought Marinara Sauce

2 spring of fresh parsley / herb of your choice

8-10 button mushrooms washed & sliced

1 box of Angel Hair Pasta

1/2 Bunch of spring onions sliced into rings

1/2 cup White Wine (I used Sherry)

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Crushed pepper

1/2 yellow onion finely chopped.

6 cloves of Garlic thinly sliced

3 tbsp for sauce +1 tbsp Olive oil to use when boiling pasta.

1/2 cup shrimp Broth

Method:-

Preparing Shrimp Broth:-

First separate the heads off the shrimp. Peel the skin of the shrimp leaving the tail then devein it. Do not discard the head & skin off the shrimp. Put it in a small sauce pot with water, pepper cloves, 1 spring parsley & 2 cloves of sliced garlic to boil. After it has boiled, strain & save the broth to use later when preparing the Pasta sauce.

Preparing Pasta:-

Follow the instructions on the box & add 1 tbsp of Olive oil to the water when boiling to prevent the pasta from sticking to each other.

Preparing the Pasta Sauce:-

In a wide nonstick pan heat the remaining olive, then add to it the garlic flakes, when it starts getting fragrant & sizzles. Now add to it the crushed pepper , then add the bulbs of the spring onions sliced along with some finely diced onion.Once the onions get translucent add the mushrooms & saute on medium high. Now add the red wine to it & let it cook for 5mins. Then add the Marinara sauce to it along with the shrimp Broth.Sprinkle some crushed pepper, cover & let it simmer till the sauce comes to a boil & all the ingredients blend. Lastly add the shrimps to the sauce , (do not stir) let the shrimp cook for 4-5mins & add the diced ham & some chopped parsley. Now give a light stir & take it off the flame. 

In a serving dish spread some pasta & top it with the pasta sauce, garnish with spring onions. 

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:
2 nos. Boneless Chicken Breast/Thighs cut into bite sized pieces
1 small onion finely chopped
Salt to Taste
Juice of 1 lemon
Chings Green Chillie sauce as desired
freshly crushed pepper
minced garlic 2 tbsp
1tbsp oil.

Method:-

Season the chicken cubes with salt & keep aside. Then in a pan heat some oil , now add the onions & let it cook till the get soft & transparent. Now add the chicken, some salt & let it cook. When the chicken is almost done add the green chillie sauce , minced garlic , crushed pepper & lemon juice. Serve hot.

Popcorn Chicken

Popcorn Chicken

Ingredients:-
2 nos. Boneless Chicken Breast/ Thighs cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Salt to taste
Crushed Pepper as per taste
Paprika/ Chillie Powder 2-tbsp (Mix 1tbsp with Chicken & 1tbsp with flour)
Oil for deep Frying
1 cup All purpose flour / Maida
1-2 egg whites
1 cup milk
Panko Bread crumbs for coating

Method:-

Marinate the chicken with salt, pepper & Chillie powder. In another bowl whisk the milk & egg whites. In a third bowl mix the all purpose flour, crushed pepper, salt, & paprika powder. Now add the marinated chicken into the milk & egg mixture & then drain & transfer it into the flour mixture. Then soak the chicken cubes back into the milk & egg mixture & thereafter coat them into bread crumbs. Once done deep fry them on medium heat & serve hot with chillie sauce or chutney.

Homemade Baked Sweet Potato fries

I came across multiple variations to this recipe on Pinterest. I improvised it to suit my taste.

Ingredients:-
1 Large Sweet Potato
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Herbs / spices of your choice (I used oregano & Crushed Pepper).
Hint of Salt

Method:-

Wash, Skin & Chop the sweet Potato in any desired form.You can slice them into thin Chips/wedges. I chose to chop them to resemble french fries. Then I drizzled some EVOO on them , seasoned them with some salt, crushed pepper & oregano.

Then I preheated the oven at 350 Deg F. I spread all of the fries on a baking sheet (if you desire you may also line the sheet with parchment paper) . Then bake till they get toasted & golden brown. Remember to flip them occasionally during the baking process. The baking time may differ depending how thin u have sliced the sweet potato. 

Baked Baby Potatoes

I got a pouch of these lovely golden baby potatoes at the grocery store last week. So decided to bake half of these. They were quick & easy to make.

Baked Baby potatoes recipe

Ingredients:-
12-15 Baby potatoes
salt to taste
3/4 tsp crushed pepper
2tbsp Extra virgin Olive oil
1/2 tbsp minced garlic/ garlic powder (optional)
1/2 tsp Chopped Rosemary (optional)

Procedure:-
Was the baby potatoes, then prick them with a fork. Now soak these in a bowl of salted water for 15-20mins. Remove & dab them to take out the moisture from the potatoes. Now cut them into halves, sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder & drizzle olive oil. Lastly add the finely chopped Rosemary. Give all of this a quick mix & spread them into a cookie sheet. Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 mins. Now place the cookie sheet in the oven & let it bake for 40-50mins or until done.You may flip the potatoes midway. Serve hot with Tomato Ketchup.

Note:-
Incase you are using minced garlic instead of garlic powder ensure that u do not add the garlic initially as the garlic will turn bitter if they are baked for too long.So add the mined garlic 10-15mins before the potatoes are done.

Mango Lassi

The weather in California has been really hot recently & since I had a can of Alphonso Mango Pulp I decided on making this drink to kill the heat.So here's the recipe, really simple & quick to make.

Ingredients:-
1/2 cup Sweetened Mango Pulp
1/2 cup Yogurt
Chilled water as required (You may alternate it with milk based on your preference)
Dash of salt
Cubes of mango (optional)
4-5 Ice Cubes(optional)

Method:-

In a blender add the sweetened mango pulp.Incase you are using fresh mango pulp or mango pieces you can add sugar based on how sweet the mangoes are & how sweet you wud like to have your lassi. To this add the pinch of salt, yogurt, chilled water , ice cubes & blend until smooth. Then pour into glasses & garnish with a few cubes of freshly diced mangoes.

This proportion makes 2 servings.

Dal Vada

My hubby has been pestering me to try making these dal wada's since a long time. Living in Mumbai I had never heard of these not seen them at any store. But here in US I have seen these in almost all chat joints. So finally last week I thot why not give it a shot. I looked up various recipes of these vada's online & finally tried a combination of few recipes.They were easy to make & turned out tasty, just that as my hubby was used to seeing them burned brown in the stores he was kinda disappointed that I fried mine golden Brown. I'm not a big fan of those charred looking vadas.So here's the recipe .....You can choose to fry them as dark as u like :-)

Dal Vada Recipe

Ingredients:-

1 cup Bengal Gram/Chana Dal (split Chick peas) soaked for 3-4hrs
1/2 medium sized onion finely minced.
2-3 Green Chillies ( I used the Thai Green Chillies)
1/2 inch Ginger finely minced.
3-4 curry leaves chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida/hing
Salt to taste
Oil for Deep Frying.

Method:-

Wash & drain the soaked gram. Make two batches when blending the first batch grind it a little smooth & the next one needs to ground coarse. Now add this mixture to a bowl to which add all of the following ingredients like the ginger, chopped green chillies,onions, curry leaves , cumin seeds,asafoetida, salt . Now form small round flat cutlets on ur palm & deep fry on medium heat in oil. Serve hot with Green Corriander & Mint Chutney or Ketchup.

This quantity will suffice for 2 individuals.

I'm back!!

I created this blog couple of yrs ago to kill my free time but haven't been able to update it for a while now after having a full time job of a 'mommy'. Had been receiving a lot of requests from friends recently to post my recipes online. So I'm trying to take time out to update my blog with all of my home cooked food.I am used to eye balling ingredients & don't follow exact measures so I will make a genuine effort to try & give precise measurement of all of my ingredients used.Please feel free to post ur comments positive as well as negative.

Cheers!

Paneer Mutter

I recently tried making Panner mutter & it tuned out yum. The recipe that I followed was from a book of sanjeev Kapoor gifted to me by a relative. Will share the recipe soon.

Fried Rice

This is something I make often becoz it tastes yummy. Although it requires a long list of ingredients its worth the effort.

Ingredients :-

1 Tbsp + 1Tbsp cooking oil for frying egg & the veggies
Par Boiled Rice 2 cups
3 Eggs 1/4 cup Green Capsicum diced into small bits
1/4 cup Red/Yellow Bell pepper diced into small bits
1/2 cup carrots diced into small bits
1 bunch Spring onions chopped
1/2 cup shredded Cabbage
4 Jumbo Chicken Franks diced into bit size pieces
2 Slices of ham chopped (optional)
1 tbsp or as per taste Soya Sauce
Chings Red Chillie Sauce 2 tbsp or as per taste
Chings Stir Fry sasuce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp or as per taste Tomato Ketchup
1 tsp Tabasco Sauce

Method:-

In a 10-12 inch frying pan heat oil.Then in a small bowl whisk the 3 eggs , add some salt & pepper as per taste & pour it into the pan.Let the egg cook ,then flip it over & cook on the other side.Toss it in a plate & let it cool, then dice it into small pieces & set aside to use later.In the same pan toss the Chicken franks or ham for 1-2mins & keep aside. In a large wok or deep pan, heat some cooking oil to which add the Spring onions, then add the carrots & gradually keep adding all of the other vegetables.Give all the veggies a quick stir on med-high heat & then add the Chicken Franks & Ham to the mixture. Don't over cook the vegges, let them be crisp.Now add the sauces starting with Worcestershire sauce, then add the Stir Fry sauce, next add the Chillie sauce followed by the Tomato Ketchup & lastly add the Tabasco sauce. Now Gradually add the cooked rice. Mix well and top with dices of Fried egg.

Cod Fish Cutlets

I love the taste of Cod Fish. If you have ever tasted the Fish Burger at Mc D's I guess this is the fish they use in it. I prefer using fish fillet's to make these cutlets.You cud choose to use any fish of your choice.

Ingredients:-
Fish Fillet of ur Choice (I used Cod Fish Fillet)
Salt as per taste
Ginger Garlic Paste 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Green Chillies 3-5 small (can be altered depending on your taste)
Water to boil /Steam fish
Potato 1 boiled & mashed
Cilantro small bunch
Spring Onions 1 Bunch or 1 big onion
1 tsp Garam Masala powder
Red Chillie Powder 1 tsp
Egg 1 whisked
Lemon /Lime Juice 1 tsp
Bread Crumbs for coating
Oil for Frying

Method:-
Season the fillet with some salt, turmeric & slit a couple of green chillies & steam it.Once done I let the fish cool & then mash it in a bowl with a potato masher. To this I add 1 onion diced into tiny pieces ( you cud alternately use a bunch of sping onions), ginger garlic paste, mashed potato, couple of finely chopped green Chillies ,Cilantro, Red Chillie powder, Garam Masala powder, salt as per taste & a dash of Lemon/Lime juice.Then I form small cutlets , dip it in a bowl of whisked egg & rolled it in bread crumbs.Lastly shallow fry these in a pan till golden brown & walah its done !! You can serve this with Mint Chutney or Ketchup .

Shrimp Biryani

I got these king size Shrimps at my local super market & decided they were good enuff to make Shrimp Biryani. Making Biryani is an elaborate process & requires sufficient time for marination , however with Shrimp its much faster as shrimp cooks real fast & needs less time for marination.It is best accompanied with corn salad or Raita.