Thick Capsicum Chicken Gravy

Here is a recipe which I have tried at my home.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken peices - 500gms
2. Green Capsicum - 1nos(chopped)
3. Garlic - 4-5 cloves ( smashed)
4. Ginger paste - 1/3rd tsp
5. Onions - 2 nos(small) (chopped)
6. Onion paste - 2 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
8. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
9. Red chilly powder - 2tsp
10. Green chillies - 4-5 nos(slit vertically)

For batter -

1. Rice flour - 1/2 cup
2. Maida - 1cup
3. Corn flour - 1/2 cup
4. Turmeric powder - 1/3rd tsp
5. Ginger - 2-3 pinch
6. Garlic - 2-3 pinch
7. Water
Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.Add sufficient water to make a batter.

Cooking Instructions:

Sprinkle turmeric powder,cumin powder,salt on the chicken pieces. Boil them so that they get soften. You can also use pressure cooker.Dip the chicken pieces in batter.Heat oil a wok.Deep fry the chicken pieces and keep aside.Pour oil in wok and heat it.Put green chillies,capsicum and chopped onions.Stir gently.Add onion paste,garlic paste and ginger paste to it.Stir it.Add turmeric powder,cumin powder and red chilly powder.Keep stirring.You may add little hot water to keep it moistened other wise the spices will be burned.Once oil separates add the fried chicken pieces.Stir well till all the spices adheres to the pieces.Add hot water to it.Stir well till you get a thicken gravy.You may sprinkle little corn flour to make the gravy thickened.Add salt to taste.

Enjoy Capsicum Chicken Gravy.

Chilly Paneer(Spicy Cottagecheese)

Chilly paneer is a very famous item served in Indian restaurants.It may be gravy or dry.Here is a recipe which may be tried at home.

Ingredients:

1. Cottage cheese(paneer)- 200gm (diced into cubes)
2. Capsicum - 1 nos. medium in size(cut vertically)
3. Onions - 2 nos . Small(chopped)
4. Onions - 1 nos . big(paste)
5. Garlic - 2 clove(smashed)
6. Green Chillies - 4-5 nos
7. Turmeric powder - 1tsp
8. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Red chilly powder - 2tsp
10.Oil
Salt to taste

For batter:

1. Rice flour - 1/2 cup
2. Corn flour -1/2 cup
3. Maida - 1/2 cup
4. Water - 1 (1/2) cup
5. Turmeric powder- 1/3rd tsp
Salt to taste
Mix up all the ingredients to get a thick batter

Cooking Procedure:

First make the batter in a mixing bowl. Dip the diced paneer in the batter. Heat sufficient oil in a wok. Fry the batter covered paneer cubes and keep aside.Heat some oil in the wok.Add green chillies,chopped capsicum,chopped onions.Add little salt to it.Stir well.Add onion paste,garlic paste and stir well.Add turmeric powder,cumin powder and red chilly powder.Keep stirring.When you see oil separates add fried paneer cubes.Mix well with the spices.Once the spices gets adhered to paneer pieces add little amount of hot water. Add salt to taste.You may sprinkle little corn flour.Stir well.Add 2-3 pinch sugar.

Spicy Fried Egg Curry

Spicy egg curry is mouth watering item which goes very well with seamed rice, veg pulao,veg rice, rotis,parathas etc

Ingredients:

1. Boiled Eggs - 2 nos (make some slits vertically)
2. Potato (medium) - 1 nos. (diced into pieces)
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
5. Green chillies - 7-8 (chopped)
6. Bay leaf - 1nos
7. Cinnamon -1 medium stick
8. Cardamon - 1 nos
9. Dry red chilly - 2nos
10. Cloves - 1nos.
11. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
12. Onion (medium)- 1nos (paste)
13. Onion (small)- 1nos (chopped)
14. Oil
15. Ghee - 1/2 tsp
16. Tomato puree - 1 tap

17. Garlic paste -2 clove
18. Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Pour oil in a wok and heat it. Lightly fry the boiled eggs and potatoes and keep aside. Add little more oil. Add cinnamon,cardamon and clove to the heated oil. Fry them till they turn golden color. Take them out. This will leave a mixed flavor of the spices.Add bay leaf , dry red chilly , chopped onions and chopped green chillies.Stir them till the onions are golden brown in color.Add garlic paste and stir well. Add onion paste.Stir it.Once they are slightly fried add ginger paste.Add turmeric powder , cumin powder and red chilly powder.Stir it well.Once they are fried and oil separates add tomato puree to it.Add the fried potatoes and fried eggs.Keep stirring till the spices adheres to egg and potato.Add warm water to it and stir it.Add salt to taste.Simmer under low heat.Once the gravy thickens add ghee to it.Stir well. Serve hot.

Cauliflower Balls(Gobi Pakoda)

Pakodas are well known with tea. Here is a simple recipe of Cauliflower balls which you may try.

Ingredients:

1. Fresh Cauliflower (10-15 petals)
2. Turmeric powder
3. Red chilly powder
4. Flour (maida) - 5 tsp
5. Poppy seeds (posto) - 2 tsp
6.Oil
Salt to taste

Cut  the cauliflower petals and wash them thoroughly. Half boil the pieces for 2-3 minutes. Take the half boiled cauliflower petals and drain the excess water and make them dry.Sprinkle turmeric powder , red chilly powder and salt to them and lightly fry them.
Take flour and poppy seeds in a mixing bowl.Add water to make a batter.Sprinkle a pinch of turmeric powder and red chilly powder.Add chopped green chillies to the batter.
Pour oil in a wok and heat it.Dip each petal one by one and put them in the wok.Deep fry them till they turn golden.

Enjoy with tomato paste / ketchup , mint paste.

Rava (Semolina/Sooji) Upma

Semolina / Rava / Sooji Upma is a delicious healthy item for breakfast/snack item.Here is recipe for you to try at home.

Ingredients :

1. Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1 cup (approx. 200gm)
2. Water - 3 cups ( three times the amount of rava/sooji/semolina)
3. Carrots, beans - chopped
4. Green peas
5. Onions (small)- 1 (chopped)
6.Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
7. Green chillies - 2 -3 nos(chopped)
8. Coriander leaves
9. Roasted Cashew nuts / peanuts
10.Vegetable oil
11. Ghee - 2 tsp

Pour 2tsp oil in a wok.Heat it and put rava to it to fry.Stir it and fry it lightly.Constantly stir to prevent rava getting burned.Once the rava is lightly fried keep aside.Pour little oil in the wok and add mustard seeds to it.Stir it for few seconds and add chopped onions,carrots,beans, green peas(other chopped seasonal vegetables may also be added).Cook till they get fried.Add previously fried rava and stir it.After few seconds add water to it.Add salt to taste.Keep stiring till rava absorbs the water and gets cooked. Add roasted cashew nuts /peanuts , coriander leaves and ghee to it and mix well.

Rava Upma is ready within few minutes.

Doodh poli ( Bengali Sweet)

Sankranti is a well known festival in middle and east India. In northern part of India a similar festival Lohri is celebrated. In Assam it is Magh Bihu and in South India it is Pongal. But whatever festival it may be sweets are one of the main items. Here is a simple recipe of making a traditional Bengali sweet Doodh poli.

Ingredients:

1. Flour (maida) - 250 gms
2. Khoya/mawa - 200 gms
3. Milk - 1ltr
4. Sugar - 100 gm
5.Cardamon - 2-3 nos
6. Bay leaf - 1nos.
7. Raisin and Cashewnut
8.Vegetable oil - 1tsp

Take the flour in a mixing bowl. Add vegetable oil and mix it. Now add water and mix it to get a smooth dough. Make small balls from the dough and spread the balls with hand and stuff khoya in between.Fold them and seal the edges as shown in picture.Steam the pulis in a vessel for 10minutes.This will keep the pulis softer for a longer time. You can also directly boil in milk.

Boil milk in a container till it reduces to half and gets thicken.Add sugar,bay leaf and cardamon to it.Stir it for some time.Now add the pulis one by one and cook for 15 minutes.Add raisins and cashewnuts for garnishing.

Serve it cold.

Chicken Curry

Chicken curry is famous among all of all age groups specially the teens. Here is a recipe for that.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken pieces (cut into medium pieces) - 500 gms
2. Garlic - 8-9 cloves(crushed to paste)
3. Onions (big) - 1 nos (chopped)
4. Onions(medium) - 2 nos (paste)
5.Ginger paste - 2 tsp
5. Bay leaf - 1 nos
6. Green chillies - 8-9 nos
7. Dry red chilly - 1 nos
8. Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
9. Red chilly powder - 2 tsp
10.Cumin powder - 1 tsp
11.Oil
12.Curd (sour)- 3 tsp
13.Cardamon - 3 nos
12. Cinnamon - 2 stick
Salt to taste.

Serving pax - 2 to 3

Wash thoroughly the chicken pieces. Add  half of each garlic paste,ginger paste,onion paste to the chicken pieces.Add add chopped onions to it.Add 5-6 green chillies, turmeric powder,red chilly powder,cumin powder and salt.Add sufficient  oil (20ml) to it.Mix all the content well.Add curd to it.Mix well and keep aside.You may also keep in refrigerator for the content to get marinated.It is always better to marinate for minimum 30 minutes. After the chicken gets marinated well pour oil(about 20 ml) in a wok.Heat it.Add cardamon and cinnamon to oil.Fry them and take them out from the oil.A flavor would be left behind in the oil.Add dry red chilly,bay leaf and remaining chopped onions and cook till it turns into golden.Then add the remaining garlic paste,onion paste,ginger paste.Stir well till oil separates. Put the marinated chicken pieces in the spice mixture.Mix well.Cover the wok with a lid so that no steam comes out of the wok.After every 3minutes stir the whole content from bottom to top.Care to be taken so that the chicken pieces do not stick at the bottom of the wok.Keep stirring and check till the chicken pieces gets cooked.You may add hot water. Boil it till the gravy thickens.Add salt if required.

Enjoy your chicken curry.

                                                                             Raw chicken pieces

                                                                    
                                                                               Marinated Chicken

                                                                                 Chicken in wok

                                                                                   Spicy chicken curry

Chilly Prawns (Chilly Chingdri)

Prawn in well known for its variety in food recipes.Here is a recipe which may be a side dish.

Ingredients:

1, Prawns (small) - 300 gm
2. Turmeric powder - 1tsp
4. Red chilly powder - 2 tsp
5. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
6. Green chilly - 10-12 nos (chopped)
7. Bay leaf - 1nos
8. Dry red chilly - 1 nos
9. Onion (medium) - 1 nos. chopped
10.Onion (small ) - 1 (crushed to paste)
11..Garlic - 2-3 cloves(crushed)
12. Oil
13.Tomato puree - 2tsp
14. Potatoes (small) - 1 . Diced to small cubes and fried.(optional)
Salt to taste.

Wash the prawns.Remove the hard crust of the prawns to get the flesh.Sprinkle turmeric powder, red chilly powder and salt on the prawns. Mix well and keep aside for 5-6 minutes.Pour oil and heat it.Fry the marinated prawns lightly.Keep aside once the prawns are lightly fried.Pour little oil if required and heat it.Add dried red chilly and bay leaf.Add chopped onions and green chillies.Stir it till the onions change to light golden color.Add crushed garlic to it.Stir till garlic gets fried.Add onion paste.Stir well for few seconds.Add turmeric powder , red chilly powder and cumin powder.Stir the mixture till oil separates.Add tomato puree and stir it.Immediately add prawns and fried potatoes.Stir well till all spices adheres to the prawns.You may add little water if required and cook till no water remains.

Enjoy Chilly Prawns...

Cashewnut Rice

Here is simple recipe for a different variety of rice which you may try in your kitchen when your juniors and your husband suddenly want something different for their regular dinner.

Ingredients:
1. Basmati Rice - 250gm
2. Cashew nuts - according to your choice
4.Fried  Peanuts - according to your choice
5. Green peas - according to your choice
6.green chillies - 5-6 nos
7. Dry red chilly - 1nos
8. Bay leaf - 1nos
9.Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
10.Garlic - 5-6 cloves (crushed)
11. Oil
12. Ghee - 1tsp
Salt to taste

Wash the rice and drain thoroughly and keep aside.Pour 5-6 tsp oil in a wok and heat the oil.Add dry red chilly, bay leaf , crushed garlic and fry them.When the color of garlic changes add the drained rice to wok.Stir it well.Sprinkle turmeric powder and stir it.Add fried peanuts, cashew nuts , raisins and green peas.Stir them well till the rice gets fried.Add ghee to it.Once the rice is fried add hot water to it and boil till the rice gets cooked. You may add 1 pinch  sugar.

                                                                    Fried Rice

                                                                         Cashewnut Rice