• Chicken breasts : 4 thin pieces, diced
• Onion : 1 thinly sliced
• Bell pepper : 1 cut into thin strips
• Tomato : 1 diced
• Garam masala : 1/2 teaspoon
• Jeera : 1/2 teaspoon crushed
• Coriander powder : 1 teaspoon
• Black pepper : 1-2 teaspoon freshly milled
• Kasoori methi : 1/2 teaspoon
• Vinegar : a dash
• Salt : to taste

Heat some oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Saute onions and bell pepper lightly. Once the onions begin to sweat, toss in the diced chicken and tomatoes and mix well. Cook with the lid covered. Add black pepper, crushed jeera, and coriander powder. Continue to stir lightly. Once the chicken has cooked sufficiently, add a dash of vinegar and salt to taste. Finally, before switching off the stove, garnish the chicken with kasoori methi.

This is essentially a dry side dish. It can be paired with rice and any curry. I like it best with moru curry.

• Strawberries : 10-12 ripe and fresh
• Milk : 1/4 cup
• Eggs : 4 large ones
• Butter : 1 1/2, softened
• Vanilla extract : 1 tablespoon
• Flour : 2 1/4 cups
• Sugar : 1 3/4 cups
• Baking powder : 4 teaspoons

Wash the strawberries thoroughly, place in a food processor and puree. You will need around 3/4 cup of this puree for the cake. Reserve the rest of it for the frosting. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees and grease two identical cake pans. Combine milk, eggs, vanilla, and strawberry puree in a bowl, using a spatula. Now, in a larger bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and sugar. Beat in the softened butter until the mix becomes soft and crumbly. Now add the liquid ingredients and continue to beat until the batter is evenly combined. Fold the batter into the two pans equally. Bake the cakes for around 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Make sure the cake pans do not touch each other while you place them in the oven for baking. Or else, you risk a chance of uneven heat distribution while baking. Allow the cakes to completely cool down before you proceed to frosting it. You could use a frosting of your choice or you could do what I did — use the leftover strawberry puree (add a couple of spoons of sugar into it and mix well for appropriate sweetness). I even went crazy and used some jam in between the cakes!

This one is for you, AA! Happy Birthday!

Or, so the story goes.

Whether this tale is true or not, I can vouch for the simplicity of this quick and equally yummy dessert! I was particularly happy to make good use of the leftover bread slices in my pantry.

What I used…

• Bread : 3-4 slices of bread, cut into smaller pieces
• Condensed milk : 1 cup (If unsweetened, add sugar as per your taste)
• Milk : 1 cup
• Butter/Ghee : 1-2 tablespoons
• Cardamon : 2-4 pods
• Saffron strands : a few strands (optional)
• Lemon or orange zest : a few strands (optional)
• Almond shavings : for garnish

The process that is going to take the longest time in preparation, is definitely the milk. So, let’s begin by boiling sweetened condensed milk and regular milk together, in  a thick-bottomed pan. Toss in a couple of cardamon pods and saffron strands while the milk boils and reduces. Make sure that you stir the contents in the pan, regularly. While the milk gets ready, cut the bread slices into small pieces. Lightly coat the pieces with butter and fry them. Set aside on the serving plate. Once the milk has reduced into 1/4th of what it originally was, allow it to cool down to room temperature. Pour it over the bread slices and garnish with lemon or orange zest and almond shavings.

Serve chilled.

Mungochi is essentially a Kadi-Pakora moong-dal based dish, mostly made in UP and neighboring Indian states. It is lighter and smoother in texture and taste, compared to the traditional Kadi-Pakora, which is gram flour based. As is common in the traditional cuisine my husband’s family follows, we do not use onion and garlic in this recipe. However, there is no dearth of flavor and seasoning.

Now, to make Mungochi from scratch can be time-consuming and a good lesson on patience. While I enjoy cooking, I am not a fan of spending long hours in the kitchen–unless I own a restaurant or something! I normally do the prep work of deep-frying the pakoras, ahead of time and stock them in the deep freezer. And on those Wednesday nights when I want to eat rice for dinner, I simply defreeze 8-10 pakoras and prepare the gravy. It tastes just as good.

For the sake of completeness, I will be detailing out the recipe as if I made it from scratch. In fact, this time, I actually did.

You’ll need…

• Mung dal : 2 cups
• Yoghurt : 1 cup
• Water : 2 cups
• Ginger : 1/4″
• Turmeric powder : 2-3 teaspoons
• Asafoetida and Methi powder : a pinch each
• Seasoning : cumin, mustard, ajwain, dried red chillies, curry leaves
• Oil : for deep frying
• Salt : to taste
• Garnishing : kasoori methi or coriander leaves

Prep Work

Soak mung dal in water, overnight. Drain out the water completely and grind the dal into a nice fine paste. Make sure that you do not add any extra water while making this paste. Also, while grinding, if the batter is whipped well, it will ensure light and fluffy pakoras. You can also add a pinch of Eno (fruit soda) into the batter just before deep frying. Heat some oil in a deep wok that is fit for deep frying. When the oil begins to smoke, drop in dollops of the dal batter and deep fry. Reserve some of the batter for preparing the gravy, later on. Drain these pakoras of all the excess oil and set aside. In a big bowl, whisk yoghurt and the remainder dal batter together. Ensure that there are no lumps. Now add water into the bowl, mix well and set aside. This liquid of loose consistency will be cooked to form the kadi.

Final Process

Heat a few drops of oil in a deep pan. Splutter mustard, cumin, ajwain, curry leaves, and red chillies. Now, pour the yoghurt-batter mixture into the pan. While stirring continuously, add turmeric, asafeotida, methi powder, and salt. Note that the amount of turmeric used in this dish is slightly higher than in other Indian dishes. Apart from flavoring, this spice also doubles as a natural food color to give Mungochi its distinctive appearance. However, if you overdo it, every bite you take will remind you of the turmeric you added! Make sure that you prepare this dish in medium heat, while stirring constantly. Or else, the yoghurt might curdle. Allow this mixture to boil once. Now, add in the pakoras and continue to cook. I normally like to cook until the gravy thickens and the Mungochi has boiled over, twice. Garnish the dish with kasoori methi or coriander leaves.

Mungochi is best served with plain rice, the king of all comfort food. :)

I had some leftover cauliflower florets in the fridge. And I really did not want to do stuffed paranthas or the usual onion-tomato based dish. Rice is SO versatile! And together, rice and cauliflower can create simple magic. Something like this:

We are just having one of those weeks when every single day is cloudy, overcast, or with a never-ending downpour. Yes, it is ugly out there. I have just settled into the new place and still finding my way around the kitchen. The biggest plus about this kitchen is that they have installed those cool white lights overhead. Yup, perfect for a dark day with hardly any usable daylight.

While the one skillet meal pretty much got ready on its own, I whipped out the camera to test the lighting of this new space. I like. I don’t think I will need to edit my food pictures as heavily as I feared.

Enough talk. Let’s look at the recipe, shall we?

You will need…

• Cauliflower : 1 cup; finely chopped (coarsely food-processed for the lazy!)
• Onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies : Added to the cauliflower as per your taste (finely chopped)
• Rice : 1 cup; freshly cooked or leftover
• Egg : 1 (optional)
• Turmeric, red chilly powder, garam masala : 1/4 teaspoon or as per taste
• Cumin or mustard seeds : a pinch
• Oil and salt : minimal

Heat the skillet, add some oil and splutter cumin seeds. Add cauliflower, onions, ginger, and garlic into the skillet and saute. Add turmeric, red chilly, and a little bit of garam masala and mix well. Cook this for a couple of minutes. If you are planning to add to this dish, it should be right about now. Scramble the egg and mix it into the contents of the skillet. Now, add the pre-cooked rice and mix. Make sure the cauliflower has spread across evenly and also be gentle with the spatula. We still want to keep the rice grains intact. Finally, add some salt and mix well. Once the rice has been sufficiently steamed, your one-skillet meal is ready!

Serve with a light garnish of cilantro leaves or kasoori methi, and yoghurt.

Ingredients
Chayote : 1, peeled, diced
Yoghurt : 1 cup
Coconut : 4 tablespoons, grated
Onions : 1/2 cup, chopped + a few slices for tadka
Ginger : 1/4″, finely chopped
Garlic : 2-3 cloves, finely chopped
Mustard seeds : a pinch
Dried red chilli : 1, coarsely broken
Curry leaves : 1 sprig
Turmeric powder : a pinch
Red chilli powder : 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds : 1 teaspoon
Salt : to taste

Preparation

1. Dice the chayote, place it in a pressure cooker, add a pinch of turmeric and salt. Add water and pressure cook until the first whistle goes off.
2. While the chayote is cooking, let’s prepare the coconut-yoghurt mixture. Blend coconut, yoghurt, onions, and cumin seeds into a fine paste. You may add some water, if required.
3. Once the chayote is cooked, drain off the excess water. Add the coconut-yoghurt mixture to the pressure cooker and cook in medium heat, uncovered. The curry should thicken in 10 minutes. Continue simmering while you prepare the tadka (next step).
4. In a small pan, add some oil. Splutter mustard seeds and fry the dried red chilli when the oil is hot enough. Now add curry leaves, a few slices onion, ginger, and garlic. Saute this mixture for a few minutes. Add a pinch of turmeric and red chilli powder to this. Immediately, transfer the contents of this pan into the curry in the pressure cooker, and mix well.
5. Bring to a boil and switch off the heat. The Kerala-style chayote curry is now ready.

You may serve this curry with plain boiled rice.

Edit:: Hey there! I am back after a hectic week of packing, moving, and unpacking. One of the first things I actually did was to get my new kitchen to become functional. Although, baking would need to wait for a few more days, I guess! 

This is the quickest cake ever. I found this recipe on the back of the pancake box I had. :)

Ingredients

• Pancake Mix – 1 cup
• Cinnamon powder – 3/4 teaspoon
• Milk – 1/3 cup
• Honey/Maple syrup – 3 tablespoons
• Melted Butter or oil – 1/4 cup
• Egg – 1

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare the cake pans by greasing and dusting with flour.
2. Combine the pancake mix and cinnamon powder in a bowl.
3. Whisk milk, egg, honey, and butter together in a separate bowl.
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients with a spatula. Make sure there are no lumps in the batter.
5. Pour  the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 25 minutes.
6. Once the cake cools down, serve it with a topping of fresh fruits.

• Coca-cola : 2 cups
• Butter :1/2 cup
• Unsweetened cocoa powder : 1 cup
• Large eggs : 2
• White sugar : 1/4 cup
• Dark brown sugar : 1 1/2 cups firmly packed
• Flour : 2 cups
• Baking soda : 1 teaspoon
• Salt : 1 teaspoon

What You’ll Do

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare the cake pan by greasing and dusting it with flour.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in  a separate bowl and set aside.
3. Combine coca-cola, cocoa powder, and butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter is melted. Whisk in the white and brown sugars. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool. Whisk eggs and add into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined.
4. Fold the flour into the cocoa mixture until combined. Make sure you do not overbeat the batter. In fact, I would highly recommend that you not use an electric mixer for this cake. Overbeating of the batter can cause the cake to be tough.
5. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the cake to check if it done. The toothpick should come out clean. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack completely. Decorate it as per your style.

Happy Valentine’s Day, folks!

What You’ll Need

• Potatoes : 2, boiled, peeled, mashed
• Onions : 1/2 cup, finely chopped
• Ginger : 1/4″, finely chopped
• Green chillies : 2, finely chopped
• Salt : to taste
• Flour : 2 tablespoons
• Breadcrumbs : 1 cup

What You’ll Do

1. Boil and mash the potatoes. Add onions. ginger, green chillies, and salt and combine the potatoes really well. Ensure that there are no lumps in the mixture. Now make small balls of the mixture and flatten them a little.
2. Heat some oil in a deep pan. You may deep fry the cutlets if you wish, however, shallow frying works really well too. I avoid deep frying as much as I can.
3. Add a little water into the flour and make a loose paste, with milk-like consistency. Place this mixture in a small plate. Also keep the breadcrumbs ready.
4. Briefly dip a cutlet in the flour mixture and dredge it in the breadcrumbs. Gently drop it into the deep pan of oil, to fry.
5. You may fry 2-3 cutlets at a time, depending on the size of the pan. Drain the cutlets on a tissue paper to get rid of the excess oil.

Enjoy these crispy cutlets with chutney or ketchup.

Toss. Stir-fry. Serve. Well, almost!

When you are too tired on a Tuesday night, or when you are in the middle of a move (like me), simple and tasty dinners are the need of the hour. I used flat rice noodles and frozen vegetables to come up with this this dinner which is part Indian, part Thai, and part Chinese.

Ingredients

• Flat rice noodles : 2 cups, ready for stir-fry
• Mixed vegetables : 1 cup, defrosted and diced (carrots, beans, peas, capsicum)
• Sesame seeds : 1 teaspoon
• Ginger : 1″, sliced lengthwise
• Garlic : 3-4, crushed
• Soy or Schezwan sauce : 2 tablespoons (as per taste)
• White vinegar (or rice vinegar) : 1-2 teaspoons
• Salt : as per taste
• Chilli flakes : as per taste

Method

1. Let’s prep the rice noodles for stir fry. In a deep bowl, soak the noodles in hot water. Add a teaspoon of salt to this water. Allow the noodles to soak for 20-30 minutes and then drain. In the meanwhile, you can get the rest of the ingredients ready. Be careful to not oversoak the noodles. Or else, you are going to end up with a sticky mess you can use as glue some day! :)
2. Heat a wok, add a few tablespoons of oil. Toss in the ginger slices and garlic and saute for a few seconds. Now add the sauce into the wok and stir. Add sesame seeds.
3. Add the mixed vegetables and stir-fry. Add vinegar, salt, and chilli flakes into the wok. Continue stirring. Mix in the noodles and continue stir frying.

Dinner is served!