SHAHI ALOO MASALA

The word Shahi means Royal. Yes, its the most popular Mughlai dish prepared with cashew nuts plus the addition of main ingredient. My daughter just loves the gravy when its mixed up with cream, cashew nut paste plus milk ..u know all rich ingredients ;)...Most of the time very rarely I make shahi paneer but this time I taught of substituting paneer with potatoes which was equally tasting good. Ready in no time and hard to resist. Do try this royal rich curry and would act as a best combo with roties and pulao.

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Boiled Potatoes.

2 Onions.

1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste.

1 Green Chilly.

20 Grams Cashew nuts.

1/4 Cup Yogurt.

2 Cloves

1 inch Cinnamon.

1 Star anise.

Pinch of Garam masala.

1/4 Cup Fresh cream.

Pinch of Cardamom pd.

1/4 Cup Milk.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

1 tsp Oil.

Coriander leaves for garnish.

METHOD.

Soak cashew nuts in 1/4 cup of warm milk for about 20 25 min and grind it into smooth paste. Keep it aside.

Cut boiled potatoes into small pieces. Deep fry or shallow fry those pieces adding 2 tbsp of oil in a kadai and keep it aside.

Cut the onion into chunks and boil into water till the pieces becomes tender. After it gets cooled, drain the water and grind the onions with green chilly into smooth paste.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add the whole masala and fry for a min. Then add ginger garlic paste and onion paste till the raw smell disappears. Then add cashew nuts paste and cook them under low flame.

Add yogurt , garam masala and fried potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Now you could c the gravy becomes thick. Cook for a min till everything is mixed up. Add water if needed.

At the time of removing from flame, drop in fresh cream and sprinkle with some cardamom pd. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with roties,naan or pulao. I like to add extra cream as a topping :)

CARAMELIZED PINEAPPLE CHUNKS

Pineapples are just all time favourites of our family. We try making different sort of recipes out of it. The simple most tastiest goodies among is the ''Caramalised Pineapple''. Caramelized is nothing but melting sugar until it becomes caramel liquid. Can have any time as you prefer though its quick to make cum delicious. Here I have posted 2 different pic which is of same method but of different size. That's up to ur choices :). In the first pic I have fried the chunks in a kadai where as in second I grilled the pieces then mixed up into caramelized sugar. May be whatever the method is, the taste remains the same. Yummy :) :)

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Pineapple ( Chopped or sliced one as shown in pic)

1/2 Cup Sugar or less ( Depends on sweetness of the fruit)

2 tbsp of Water.

A drop of Lime juice.

Pinch of Cardamom pd. (optional)

1 tsp Ghee.

METHOD

In a non stick pan put ghee, add and fry the pineapple chunks till slight brown. It might take 10 to 12 min nearly under low flame. Keep it aside.

In the same pan, add sugar and water. Bring the mixture to boil without stirring. Then lower the heat and cont boiling. As the colour changes, stir so that the caramel colour is evenly cooked. Make sure you don't cook it for long as it would turn into dark and becomes hard. Soon as the colour changes, drop in the fried pineapple chunks and sprinkle with cardamom pd. Turn off the heat and remove.

Serve on a plate and drizzle with lime juice. Can also garnish with strawberry jam :)

CHICKEN KOLHAPURI

Chicken Kolhapuri is an exotic dish from the city of kolhapur. It is a classic spicy chicken recipe for the chicken lovers if they love the traditional taste of maharastrian recipe. This is acutally made using a special fragrant dry masala named Goda masala which is very aromatic mixture of spice and a base for most of maharastrian curries and dal.  A teaspoon of this masala in any dish just brighents the whole dish.

INGREDIENTS FOR MARINATING CHICKEN

500 Grams Chicken.

2 tbsp Yogurt.

2 tbsp Red chilli pd

1 tsp Turmeric pd.

1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste.

Salt to taste.

3 tbsp Goda masala.

INGREDIENTS FOR GRAVY.

2 Onions.

3/4 Cup Tomato Puree.

1 tsp Ginger garlic paste.

1/2 Cup Coconut milk.

1/2 Cup Coriander leaves.

INGREDIENTS FOR GODA MASALA.

11/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Fennel seeds.

4 Cardamoms.

8 to 10 Cloves

1 Blade Mace.

6" stick Cinnamon.

3 tsp Black pepper.

3/4 Cup Coriander seeds.

5 Whole red chillies.

1/4 Cup Kopra. (dry coconut)

1 Star anise.

1 tsp Sesame seeds.

Pinch of Hing

1 tsp Oil.

METHOD

Roast all the ingredients in 1 tsp of oil  for goda masala and grind into fine powder. Store it in an air tight container and it remains fresh and good nearly for a month.

Marinate chicken with the ingredients given above.

Heat oil in a pan and saute ginger garlic paste followed by onions. When the onions turns golden brown, switch off the flame and allow it to cool. Blend half of fried onions along with coriander leaves into smooth paste.

Heat oil in a kadai, add the marinated chicken and fry for a min. Remove and keep them aside. In a same remaining oil, add the half of fried onions, grounded onion paste, tomato puree and cook till the gravy thickens. Add the fried chicken pieces along with the remaining masala and cook for about 10 to 15 Min's. Once the chicken gets cooked add coconut milk and garnish with coriander leaves.

Enjoy!!

SWEET POTATO BONDA

Just as the normal potato bondas we make at home, I tried preparing the same out of sweet potatoes which came out so well. Crispy on outside and soft inside. Perfect snack during rainy season :)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING.

2 Sweet potatos (boiled)

1 tsp Mustard seeds.

2 tsp Urad dal.

1 tbsp Grated Ginger.

2 Green chilly

1 tbsp Chopped Curry leaves.

Pinch of Turmeric pd.

Salt to taste.

1 tbsp Coconut oil.

Oil for deep fry.

INGREDIENTS FOR BATTER.

1 1/2 Cup Gram flour.

2 tbsp Rice flour.

2 tsp Chilli pd.

Pinch of Hing.

Pinch of Cooking soda.

Salt to taste.

Water as needed.

METHOD.

Heat oil in a kadai. Drop in mustard seeds and allow them to dance in the oil. :) Add urad dal and fry till the dal turns slight brown followed by ginger. Then add the curry leaves and green chilly and fry until chilly turns slight crisp. Now add the turmeric powder and finally the boiled mashed sweet potato. Season them with salt and mix well. Remove from fire and allow them to cool. Make sure its not soggy or loose. Shape them into round small balls and keep aside. Meanwhile prepare the batter adding all the ingredients as mentioned above. The batter consistency should be slightly thicker than the idly batter.

Heat oil in kadai for deep frying. When the oil becomes hot, dip the potato balls into batter and slide them carefully into the hot oil. Turn them after a couple of minutes and keep on turning very carefully till the bondas turns slight brown in colour.

Serve hot with green chutney or tomato sauce.

Enjoy!!

APPLE BEETROOT MILKSHAKE

Beets are excellent and versatile veggie that can be used in making both savoury and sweet dishes. Here I tried something different drink with beets plus a fruit (apple) which makes a very good, healthy, refreshing drink which would be always an ideal choices better than soft drinks. Additional of milk and dates gives you a creamy texture which is just perfect to have. Always opt for other alternatives when the kid is really stubborn towards milk.  This is the best way to serve ur kids with all essential nutrients and vitamins to make them strong and healthy :)

INGREDIENTS

1 Medium Grated Beets.

1 Apple.

2 Cups of Chilled Milk.

5 Seedless Dates.

METHOD

Boil grated beets and dates adding half cup milk for about 8 to 10 min. Let it cool.

Now grind the beets mixture along with the remaining milk, apple chunks and blend them adding milk in between.

Strain and serve cold.

Enjoy!!