Chole

Ingredients

Chickpeas – 250 gm

Tea bag – 1

Onion – 3

Tomato – 2 medium

Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder – 1 ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Cumin powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tbs

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Chole masala – 1 tbs

salt

Coriander leaves

Oil/ghee

To serve

Sliced onions

lemon wedges

Method

• Wash and soak chana/ chickpea for 7-8 hours or overnight.
• Pressure cook chana  by adding enough water and  tea bag  for 4-5 whistles or until it’s cooked well.( Tea bag gives a nice colour to the dish)
• When the pressure releases discard the tea bag.
• In a pan add some oil and saute the finely chopped onions until it’s brown.
• Add ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell goes.
• Add the spice powders (except garam masala) with a few sprinkle of water and cook until raw smell goes.( sprinkling water to  avoid the masala burning )
• Add tomatoes and cover and cook until it’s mashed.
• Allow it to cool down for a little bit and then blend it in a blender by adding 3 tbs of cooked chickpea  to a paste. ( you can skip this step if u want , but this gives thickness to the gravy )
• In another pan add some oil/ghee and add the  ground paste. Rinse the blender with some warm water and add it to the gravy  and adjust the consistency.
• Add the cooked chana/chickpea from the cooker to the gravy.
• Let the gravy boil for 10 mins.
• Add garam masala and let it boil for another 4-5 minutes.
•  Remove from fire and add finely chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with sliced/chopped onions and lemon wedges on the side. Curry tastes better with freshly chopped onions and dash of lemon juice, It's highly reccomended !

 Enjoy with poori/roti/naan or rice. 

Pressure cooker Vegetable Pulav ( step by step ) and Autumn in Pictures

Eventhough autumn comes as a warning of the next horrible 4-5 months of chilly weather, I love the season for its beauty ! For us its almost like a ritual every year going out to enjoy the season to  capture the  fall colours. This year we went to a nearby park and the park was so beautiful with a big carpet of yellow leaves scattered all over. We walked through the crunching leaves watching squirrels rushing off with Acorns storing up for the harsh winters. They seemed very dedicated and hardworking ! Lil A wanted to help the squirrels as well, so we picked up few acorns and kept it outside the squirrels little cosy house ! I tried hard to take a look inside the house, but it was way too dark inside for us to see :)

Coming to todays post, its such an easy pulav anyone can make in less than 30 minutes if you  soak basamathi rice beforehand. This pulav finds it way to my hubbys lunch box often and he loves it.

Ingredients ( serves 2-3 )

Basmathi rice - 1 1/2 cup
Fennel seeds/ Perum jeerakam - 2 tsp
Cinnamon stick/ patta  - 1 small stick
Cloves/ Grambu - 2-3
Cardamom/ Elakka - 2-3
Star Anise/ thakkolam - 1 ( optional)
Bay leaf - 1-2
Chopped beans - 1/2 cup
Chopped carrot - 3/4 cup
Fresh/ frozen Green peas - 1/3 cup
Potato -1 ( chopped)
Green chillies - 3 ( optional, I didnt use it )
Boiling water - 2 3/4 - 3 cup
Ginger - garlic paste(Inji - veluthulli paste ) - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/ 2 tsp
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp or as required
Ghee/ oil - 2 tbs

Method

1. Soak Basmathi rice for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile chop beans, carrot, potato and keep it aside.

1. In a pressure cooker add ghee/ oil and add the whole garam masala's ( cinnamon, fennel, cardamom,star anise, cloves, bay leaves  ) and saute until it releases nice smell ( for a minute or so).                                            
   
   
   
   
2. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute until raw smell goes.                                       
   
   
   
3. Add chopped carrot, beans, potato and Green chillies (if using ) and  saute for 5- 10 minutes.                                                      
   
   
   
4. Add Green peas, turmeric powder  and stir.                                                                                                                                                                                                               
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Finally add soaked rice and stir for a minute.                                                                                      
   
   
   
6. Add boiling water, salt and mix. Cover the pressure cooker and put the weight on. Turn off the flame when the first whistle comes.
7. Open the cooker when the pressure releases and serve immediately.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
   

Tadka Dal

  

       

Ingredients

Toor dal - 3/4 cup
Onion - 2
Tomato - 1
Ginger -garlic paste - 1 tbs
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Green chilly -3 

Kasoori methi - 1 tsp( gently heat it in a pan until warm to touch and then crush it into powder)
Salt
Water
Coriander leaves

For tadka
Mustard seeds -  1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Finely chopped ginger - 1 tsp
Whole red chilly -2
Curry leaves

Method
1.In a saucepan add little oil and saute onions until light brown..
2.Add ginger garlic paste, chopped green chillies  and fry for 1-2 minute.
3.Add chopped tomatoes, all the spice powders and cook until raw smell goes.
4. Meanwhile pressure cook the soaked dal for 1-2 whistles. Do not over cook the dal. 

5.Add cooked dal to masala and boil for 5-10 mins.  Add in kasoori methi  powder and let the dal boil for another minute or so. Remove from fire.

6.For tadka add some oil in pan and sputter mustard seeds, followed by jeera, add ginger and once they are fried add whole red chillies and curry leaves.
6.Add tadka to dal and garnish with some coriander leaves.

Palak Paneer

Ingredients

Palak - 2 bunch

paneer -250 gm( cubed)

Onions -2

Tomato -1

Green chilllies -3

Chilly powder -1/2 stp

Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp

Corainder powder - 1tsp

cumin seeds -1tsp

cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Salt

Preparation

In a saucepan cook palak with little water for 2 minutes with lis open , if you overcook you wont get the green colour for the dish.

Allow it to cool down for a bit and then blend  with some water into fine paste .

Shallow fry paneer for few minutes,flipping the sides over .

In a sucepan take some oil sputter cumin seeds.

.Add chopped onion and saute well till the onions becomes soft. Add chopped green chillies, ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute.

Add all masala powders and cook until raw smell goes.

Add chopped tomatoes and saute again for few minutes until it becomes a fine paste.

 Add palak to the gravy and  add water if required. 

When it starts to boil, add paneer .Cook covered for 2-3 minutes.