Lazeez Lauki

Name says it all for this dish. It was indeed Lazeez!!

I was wondering what other dishes we could make with Lauki, other than Lauki Dal or Lauki Kofta, but my mom mentioned about eating this at many places but she never got to make this one at home.

We followed Ayeesha Sireen's recipe but made changes at few places. We added only cashews and not the other nuts. Didn't add any meat or veggies but made Khoya from Happy Burp's recipe. In fact this recipe tasted well with the Khoya made from milk powder and not when used Khoya directly.

I think rest everything was done exactly as said. It is a 3 step easy process.

Carrot Balls

Carrot Balls

Besan: Gram Flour

This one is a great dish to those who don't like to eat Carrots, esp kids. And an awesome appetizer for any day.
Printer-Friendly Recipe: Carrot Balls

Ingredients

2 Carrots, grated
1 Onion, chopped
1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
few Curry leaves, chopped
few coriander leaves, chopped
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 green chillies, chopped
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
oil for deep frying
Besan, as needed for binding

Method

1. Heat oil for deep frying.
2. Take a bowl add the rest of the ingredients except Besan and mix well.
3. Keep adding besan little at a time to form a stiff dough.
4. Make small balls out of the dough and deep fry.

Serve hot as is or with Ketchup.

Methi Chaman

I heard that these days in India, everyone is going crazy over this curry and are ordering this whenever they go to any restaurant. I got this recipe from my sister and this tasted excellent with chapatis. Do not attempt to eat this with Rice as it didn't go well with Rice.

Heating Methi in oil removes its sour taste and grated paneer will help. I didn't have enough time, so I just crushed paneer and added to the dish. This fills you up pretty quickly and keeps you out of hunger for long.

Ingredients

1 cup Methi, chopped

1/2 cup paneer, grated

1 onion, chopped

1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 green chillies, chopped

2 tbsp watermelon seeds

1 tbsp coconut

1 tsp coriander powder

red chilli powder, little

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan, and fry in this order.
2. First add green chillies, fry for a minute.
3. Next add onions and fry till brown.
4. Add ginger garlic paste and fry again for a minute.
5. Add methi and fry again (can add little water if needed).
6. Add paneer and fry till it becomes light brown.
7. Then add salt, red chilli powder, dhania powder and coconut powder. Mix everything well.
8. Make paste wtih watermelon seeds and add to the above mixture.
9. Add butter at the end and garnish with fresh cream.

Cottage Cheese Bajji

Was craving for something nice to eat, opened the refrigerator door, stood infront of it for a long time hoping to find something nice in some corner, but nope. Since my mom is here, she empties it and keeps things clean and tidy. I found cottage cheese box that we got from the store the other day and thought of making these bajjis. This is the second time I made them and my mom loved these instantly. They are crispy from outside and soft from inside and taste sour.

To make these you need..

Cottage Cheese

Maida

Green Chillies

Coriander

Curry Leaves

Jeera

Onion

Salt

Take Cottage Cheese in a bowl. Add chopped green chillies, coriander, curry leaves, jeera, onion, salt and keep adding maida until the dough come together and forms like a bajji dough.

Take little dough at a time and form into disc shapes and deep fry in oil. Remove and serve hot with Coffee or Tea.

Aloo Manchuria

Indo-Chinese: Aloo Manchuria (Aloo: Potato: Aloo Gadda)

Aloo/Potato Manchuria is my sister's favorite dish and she has been making this for quite sometime now and each time she tried she asked me to try and see how it tastes. I told my mom that we should make that and she immediately started cutting potatoes but let me tell you that she hates potatoes big time and she ate only one piece after making it. She says one piece once in a while is ok but not everyday. Btw, Ravi commented on this and said that he found Aloo Manchuria more tastier than any other Manchuria.

Sending this over to A.W.E.D Theme: Chinese

Anyways, coming to the Recipe, here it is..

Printer-Friendly Recipe: Aloo Manchuria

Potatoes-2 (cut into any shape you want)
1 cup each of Maida and Corn flour
1 onion
1 capcisum/green bell pepper
2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce
2 green chillies, chopped (and increase according to your taste)
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp pepper
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil for shallow frying
oil for deep frying
ajinomoto, a pinch
half bunch cilantro
spring onions, optional for garnish

1. Add maida, corn flour, salt and pepper to the potatoes and mix well with very little water.


2. Deep fry potatoes in oil and keep aside.


3. Take a wide pan, pour 2 tbsp oil, add green chillies, ginger and garlic pieces and fry for a minute.


4. Increase heat and add onions and green peppers and fry them till until they turn light brown.


5. Add soy sauce, chilli garlic sauce, ajinomoto, pepper, salt and little water. Let that cook for a minute. Add cilantro and mix well.


6. Add fried potatoes and mix until the mixture coats well on all potatoes. Remove and garnish with cilantro or spring onions. Serve hot.
   

Thotakura Fry

We took our Mom to the Indian Store and the very first thing she wanted to buy was Tomatoes, those round Beefsteak ones as she didn't like Roma and she thinks they don't go well with Indian Vegetables. And the next important thing in her list was leafy vegetables. We came across Amaranth leaves and she said she can make fry with that and we took it.

Now that Mom is here, she is making sure we are eating enough greens and she stressed so many times that we should eat greens atleast 4 times a week. We ate this curry as a side dish with Dal and for the night we tasted it with Chapatis and Pita Bread and it tasted great with any combination. I think I will continue making this as recipe as long this is available in the market.

Click here to print this recipe: Thotakura Fry (Amaranth Fry)

You need..

2 cups of Amaranth leaves, cut into small pieces
1 medium onion
2 small tomatoes
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 cloves of garlic, cut into big pieces
2 tsp red chilli powder
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

1. Add oil to the pan and when it gets hot, add onions and garlic and fry them till light brown.
2. Add greens and cook them lightly.
3. Add tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt and cook until done (about 5-6 minutes).
   

Serve either with Rice alone, or as a side dish with Dal or eat with Chapatis.

Beerakaya/Ridge Gourd Rice

Since I love Ridge gourd, I keep trying different ways to make dishes with this wonderful vegetable and each time I make something different, my love for it increases more and more. This is so versatile and goes with anything or everything anytime. This dish too, surprisingly turned out very tasty but eat it when it is hot to enjoy the right taste. Add a bit of ghee for that extra taste, but beware of extra calories too!

1 ridge gourd, peeled and cut into small pieces

1 cup cooked rice

1 onion, cut length-wise

3 tbsp sesame seeds

3-4 dried red chillies

3 green chillies, cut into small pieces

few curry leaves

1/2 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

3 tbsp oil

few cashews

coriander leaves for garnishing

1. Fry sesame seeds and red chillies without adding any oil until golden brown. Cool them and grind to powder.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add onion, green chillies, curry leaves and fry until onions turn brown.
3. Add ridge gourd, salt, turmeric and cook on low flame until ridge gourd pieces turn soft.
4. Add rice and the sesame, red chilli grounded powder.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves and friend cashews.

Serve hot with plain yogurt or raita.

Alternately: Without adding rice, you can use the same thing as curry and eat with Chapatis.

Phool Makhani Masala

Many have asked me about Phool Makhana, and they are basically puffed lotus seeds. I will try to take a picture of Phool makhana and post to the site in a day or two. My roommate (Punjabi but from Hyd) used to make a variety of dishes using this. You can even make Kheer with these. It somehow stuck me at the last minute and I thought why not cook this for RCI-Punjab.

This preparation takes sometime but not like other masala curries.

You need..

2 cups of phool makhana

1 large onion, chopped

2 medium tomato, chopped

1 cup yogurt

1/4 cup poppy seeds/khus Khus, roasted

1/2 cup coconut

2 or 3 green chillies, sliced

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala

a pinch of turmeric

salt to taste

coriander leaves, chopped

oil for deep frying

3 tbsp oil for the gravy

1. Heat oil and deep fry Phool Makhana until light brown.


2. Heat 3 tsbp oil and fry onions until brown. Add ginger garlic paste, green chillies and fry for one more minute.


3. Add tomatoes, turmeric, red chilli powder and cook for 3-4 minutes.


4. In the mean while, blend poppy seeds and coconut for the gravy.


5. Add this gravy to the onion mixture and mix.


6. Lower the heat and add yogurt, garam masala and cook for 5-10 minutes. Or until you see oil floating on the sides and on the top.


7. Add phool makhana , salt and cook for 3-4 minuts. Garnish with cilantro at the end.
   

Serve with Pulao.

Corn and Palak Rice

This is a simple dish that anyone can make. I never liked the bland taste of Palak except in Palak Paneer. And with this dish, the flavor of palak came out and the taste was awesome. Enjoy.


Fry onions in oil, add little shahjeera, mint, ginger garlic paste and green chillies. Add 2 cups of spinach and 1/2 cup of corn and fry for somemore time. Add 1 1/2 cup basmati rice and mix for a minute. Add 3 cups of water and cook until done.
You can even add bay leaves, cardammon and cloves to it while frying.

Palak & Cottage Cheese Burji

Follow the same procedure as Cottage Cheese Burji but add Palak after adding onions.

Cottage Cheese Bhurji

Cottage Cheese has good amount of protein, so I am using that at least once in a day these days. I guess you will see more recipes of this in the coming days.

Instead of Paneer for the bhurji, I added Cottage Cheese to see how that tastes, this tasted similar but a little sour as I have used 2% fat. Next time I will try it with full fat, may be it will taste little sweeter. But overall result, I liked it, I ate this in the restaurants, they add fresh lime juice to it once it is done and without adding that I got the sour taste naturally.

You need…

1 cup of cottage cheese
1 medium, onion, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, chopped into big chunks. *
2 green chillies, chopped
½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tbsp oil.
½ tsp garam masala (optional)
A pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
coriander for garnishing

1. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and fry for 2 minutes. Do not brown them, just cook them till tender.
2. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute.
3. Add tomato chunks, green chillies, and cook them till done for 1 or 2 minutes.
4. Add turmeric, salt, chilli powder, garam masala and mix.
5. Reduce flame and add cottage cheese, garam masala and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.
6. Garnish with coriander.
   

Serve hot with chapattis.

* Do not use juicy tomatoes as the curry will become soggy and mushy and if you want the gravy, the milk from the cottage cheese is just enough for that.

Kottu Paratha

Kottu Paratha comes from Trichi in Tamilnadu. We have a South Indian Restaurant, Tower India Restaurant at a walking distance from my place and they make such excellent South Indian food, basically that guy is from Madurai (Temple town) and he makes sure that we get authentic food. I went there millions of times and I still love going there. The best part about them is the food tastes completely home made, not much oily but very very tasty.

We ate Kottu Paratha at this place for the first time and kept eating every time we went there. My husband used to order this and I order Gunpowder Masala Dosa and their buffet is equally good with a variety of items.

I tried Kottu Paratha last year at home and it came out exactly the same way they make at the restaurant. Since then, I stopped ordering there and I make this at home whenever I make chapatis. I keep some 4-5 chapatis aside to make this next day for lunch.

You need...

4-5 medium sized chapatis, shredded
1 medium onion, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 medium beefsteak tomato, chopped
2 red chillies
2 green chillies, chopped
1 tsp jeera
1/2 tsp rai
1 tsp garam masala
cilantro for garnishing
salt to taste
a pinch of turmeric

1. Heat oil in cooking pan, add cumin and rai and wait until they splutter.
2. Add red chillies, green chilies, onion and fry until brown.
3. Add tomatoes and keep mixing until tomotoes are cooked.
4. Add turmeric, salt and garam masala.
5. Add shredded chapati and mix again for 2-3 minutes until the masala is all coated to chapati pieces.
6. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with Raita.

I make variations whenever I make this recipe. I add some boiled Chana or Chole, sometimes I add Paneer and this time I added Govar/Gokarkaya/Cluster Beans. In case you plan to add beans, boil them and add them before adding tomatoes and fry them with onions for sometime.

Fiesta Spaghetti

Tasty, wholesome and an exciting recipe to make. Added some green chillies and red chilli powder for the Indian taste buds. I imagined it one way but it was way different when done. The kitchen was filled with such fantastic smell, Ravi kept asking me to switch on the fan when the fan was already switched on. Especialy when you combine onion, garlic and black pepper, the taste buds start dancing for some exotic food. But, I had to omit pepper tonight for the sake of adding green chillies. And green chillies in fact made complete justice to the dish. This is loved so very much at home that I guess I would be making this again and again.

I found the recipe on the back of the whole wheat spaghetti packet but I changed the recipe to suit our taste buds.

Try this and you will love it for sure.

You need...

2 bowls of spaghetti
1 cup frozen zucchni and squash (fresh can be done, I had some in the freezer)
1 small onion, chopped
1 large beefsteak tomato (the one that oozes out more juice)
1 cup yellow and red peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp italian seasoning or dried herbs
3 green chillies
parmesan cheese (optional)
salt to taste

1. Cook spaghetti according to the package directions.
2. Heat oil in a pan, saute onion, garlic and green chillies.
3. Add the veggies, zucchini, squash and peppers. Cook for 5 mins or until veggies are tender. Keep stirring in between to avoid burning.
4. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, salt and dried herbs. Cook for 2-3 mins stirring in between.
5. Add spaghetti and simmer uncovered for 5-10 mins.

Serve hot by sprinkling parmesan cheese on the top.

Tip: Sanjeev Kapoor says: add more salt while boiling pasta, otherwise no matter how much you add while cooking, pasta remains bland.

Masoor Dal Soup

Weather has been very unusual at this time of the year. There were scattered thunderstorms in the evening and rain all the night for the last two days. But, it was very hot all afternoon. Then we both craved to eat something hot, and something filling. I thought of making some soup to go with the bread that has been lying in the refrigerator from long.

I tried with Masoor Dal/Red gram this time and improvised it to make it better. I also added Cottage Cheese to this recipe to get that creamy and milky taste.

You need…

2 cups Masoor dal/Red gram dal
1 medium onion, chopped into big chunks
1 big tomato
½ cup cottage cheese
1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp cumin powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
½ tsp black pepper powder
2 tbsp shredded coconut or coconut milk
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
coriander for garnishing

1. Put tomato and onion in a bowl, add some water and microwave it for 3 mins. Check in between as tomato splits all over the microwave if kept for a long time.
2. Boil the dal with enough water till al-dente. Don’t make them too soft.
3. Remove outer skin from tomato and blend onion, tomato and half of cooked dal.
4. Add the blended mixture to the dal and continue boiling.
5. Add spices like bay leaf, cumin, coriander, pepper, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Also add coconut at this point.
6. Finally add cottage cheese and boil for 5 mins or until you get the thickness you desire.
   

Remove bay leaf and serve hot. I served with whole wheat garlic bread. I made garlic spread while the soup was boiling. I also added a piece of garlic to the soup for some garlicky taste.

To make Garlic Spread:

Take an oven safe bowl, put garlic pods with butter or olive oil. Add some Italian seasoning or all dried herbs and keep the bowl covered tightly in the toaster oven for 5-10 mins. Crush the garlic and mix. Apply to the bread before serving.

PS: this is my own version of soup and you can improvise it the way you want.

Veggie Murmure Stirfry

All last week my food mainly consisted of carbs and fats with very less fruits and somedays with no fruits at all. I was badly in need of some nutritious vegetables and I came up with this one. Didn't want to add rice to it but added a cup of murmure (puffed rice) and this was quite crunchy and tasty. And a cup of orange juice with this bowl of vegetables made me full.

You need...

2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables (add as many veggies as you like)
1 cup murmure/puffed rice (put these in the colander, sprinkle some water and remove)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 roma tomato, chopped into big chunks
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tsp of lemon juice
salt to taste
sev and cilantro for garnishing

1. Heat oil in a pan. Fry onions for a minute.
2. Add veggies and stir fry for 3-4 mins.
3. Add tomato chunks and stiry fry for another minute.
4. Add tumeric, chilli powder, garam masala and mix.
5. Add murmure, salt and sugar and cook everything for 2 mins. Add some lemon juice to it and remove.
6. Sprinkle both sev and cilantro and serve hot.

Kaju Capsicum

These days my younger sister in India is cooking some special dishes everyday in the evening. And she in turn is sending me the recipes of those dishes that she tried. This is one of the her recipes that I tried and I must say it turned out excellent. It was like a feast for us on July 4th with both kaju capscicum and bagara annam.

You need...

3 capcicums/green peppers, cut into ribbon shapes
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup kaju/cashews
1/2 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin
2 cups yogurt, beaten
1/2 cup coconut
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
4 tbsp oil
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
cilantro for garnishing

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and roast onions, tomatoes. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Remove and blend 3/4th of this mixture along with half cup kaju/cashew.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in the same pan again and add cumin and fry for a minute.
3. Add capsicum and fry until it is cooked. Add the remaining 1/4th onion mixture. To reduce the time in cooking capcisum here, you can cook that in the microwave for 5 mins after chopping.
4. After capsicum is cooked, add the blended gravy, red chilli powder, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder, remaining half cup kaju/cashew and mix everything for a minute.
5. Add yogurt and cook for 10-15 mins under reduced flame. Keep mixing in between.
6. Add salt and cilantro at the end.

Serve hot with either Rice or Chapathi.

Imam Bayildi/Fainted

This is my version of the dish (and not the authentic one). I have seen various different versions of preparing this dish and I picked up few points from each and made this. And I LOVED it so much that I ate that whole brinjal/eggplant piece at one go. Ravi couldn't eat so he took half for the lunch today. After eating this I felt that I should make this often, atleast twice a month.

The changes that I made to this dish are: I added all types of peppers (had in the refrigerator) and instead of only garlic, I added ginger-garlic paste (as I ran out of garlic pods) and then I added bread crumbs at the end and didn't put chilli flakes. Adding bread crumbs made a huge difference and made the dish much more delicious. And I didn't throw the core part, I made bhaingan bartha with it, but could not take pictures of that.

Here is the story why this name was given to this dish (copied from Asha at Foodie's hope)

TURKISH IMAM BAYILDI (The Imam Fainted!): "There are many stories about the origin of the name of this dish. One of them we heard while visiting Ankara, Turkey's capital. A long time ago a Turkish Imam (a muslim clergy man ), known for his love of good food, surprised his friends by announcing his engagement to the young daughter of a wealthy olive-oil merchant. The friends did not know about her ability to cook. But they presumed part of her dowry would include olive oil. They were right. For her father gave the groom twelve jars, each one large enough to hold a person, of the precious oil. After her marriage the bride proved to be an excellent cook and each day prepared a special dish for her epicurean husband. One of them, eggplant cooked in olive oil, became his favorite. And he ordered that his wife prepare it each night for dinner. This she did for twelve consecutive days. On the thirteenth, however, the dish was missing from the meal. Queried about its absence, the bride replied, "Dear husband, I do not have any more olive oil. You will have to purchase some more for me." The lmam was so shocked that he fainted. And since that day, according to the story, his favorite dish has been known as Imam Bayildi, The Imam Fainted!"

You need...

One large eggplant, cut into half and scoop out seeds from the center
1 large red onion, chopped
½ green, yellow and red peppers, chopped (optional-but tastes good when added)
1 or 2 roma tomatoes, chopped in rounds or into small pieces, I wanted to decorate it with tomatoes, so used round ones.
1-2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
½ cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp cumin
a pinch of cinnamon,
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup oil
cilantro, chopped for garnishing
1-1/2 cup water
salt to taste

1. Heat oil, add onions, peppers and stir fry for 2 mins.
2. Add ginger garlic paste and cook for another minute.
3. Add tomatoes and fry for another minute.
4. Add cumin, cinnamon and salt and remove.
5. To the same pan, add tbsp oil and bread crumbs with ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste and remove after a minute.
6. To arrange, fill the whole cooked mixture from step 4 into those two eggplant slices (by removing tomatoes-can be used for decoration on the top). Add bread crumb mixture on the top, arrange tomatoes and add cilantro all over.
7. Finally drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.
8. Arrange these two pieces in oven proof dish. Add water from the sides and cover it tightly and bake at 375 for 30-40 mins.

Very healthy meal and next time I will try to reduce the oil a bit.

Recipe source: From Asha of Foodie'sHope

Simple Soya Wonder

A very very simple dish that I thought of cooking since morning. There is nothing in the refrigerator except for tomatoes and little cilantro. No curry leaves, no green chillies, didn't know what to cook and no ginger garlic paste that I cherish the most. Then I remembered my mom's curry that she fixes in 10 min when she has to cook in a hurry without any vegetables, Onion and Tomato curry and I just added soya chunks to it. I have to go to Indian store tonight as they bring fresh ones today to stock up my fridge.

Cooking time is less than 10 mins and that makes it a wonder!

You'll need....

1 medium onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
10-15 soya chunks (wash them in water and cook in microwave for a minute)
1/4 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1/4 tbsp garam masala
salt to taste
1 cup water
cilantro for garnishing

1. Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Just fry them lightly, very light brown.
2. Add tomato and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Add boiled soya chunks, turmeric, chilly powder, salt and mix.
4. Add water and simmer for 5 mins.

Garnish with coriander and serve hot with hot rice.

Bagara Annam

The name itself says that this dish is from Hyderabad. You see I call myself a typical Hyderabadi because I still carry that typical language where we speak 3 different languages in one sentence etc...my friends in engineering used to just laugh at some of my words. Mostly Telugu and Urdu are mixed and formed into sentences. This one is called Bagara Annam, where Bagara as you know is seasoning in Urdu and then Annam is cooked rice in Telugu.

This is a common dish in Hyderabad for most festivals and get-togethers and even weddings. I guess this comes from Nizam zamana. You know they ruled Hyderabad for very long period and that's how those Biryanis, Mirchi Ka Salan form Hyderabad specialities.

To make this you'll need...

1 cup rice (basmati/sona masoori)
2 cups water1 cup fresh mint, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp freshly made ginger-garlic paste
4 tbsp ghee or more
2 tbsp shah jeera (small jeera compared to cumin)
3 green chillies, optional
few dry fruits kaju, almonds, optional
1 or 2 dry bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
salt to taste

1. Wash rice and keep it aside.
2. Heat the cooking pan and add ghee.
3. Add onions, shah jeera and cook until onions turn brown. You can add green chillies at this stage and keep mixing the whole thing for a minute.
4. Add freshly made ginger garlic paste and keep mixing for half minute. Don't let that
   stick to the pan.
5. Add mint and dry fruits and keep mixing for a minute. (Now you'll smell beautiful aroma in your whole kitchen). Add bay leaves and mix for just half a minute.
6. Add washed rice and mix the whole thing again (lot of mixing you see) and cook for a minute or so.
7. Add water and salt to the dish and cover it until cooked. You can even cook in a rice cooker, put the whole bagara in the rice cooker and add water and cook until done.

Things that make difference to this rice are fresh ginger garlic paste and fresh mint and ghee. At home when my mom cooks this, the aroma goes almost upto 2 or 3 houses in the neighborhood and my cousin's daughter comes running to see what's cooking in the kitchen. Goes well with the Capsicum Masala I posted below.

Try it out and see the difference.

Capsicum Masala Curry

Just the way we make Stuffed Brinjal, we make this in the same style except we add yogurt to this dish...This goes very well with Bagara Rice or any Pulao or Vegetable Biryani. But, I always liked this with those small capsicums found in India because they are so thin and have fresh taste in them. I don't like the ones found here, but something is better than nothing.

My friend Nandy came back from India and we asked him to come over for dinner. He said he wanted to come by 6.30 pm and I had just 45 mins to make these two dishes. so I quickly made these two dishes for our dinner. My friend like Capsicum Masala very much and kept on praising.

You'll need...

3 capsicums/shimla mirch/green bell peppers, chop each one vertically into 4 or 5 pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
4 tbsp oil or more
1/2 cup each mint and coriander, chopped
1 cup yogurt, beaten
salt to taste
1/4 tbsp turmeric
water

For Masala:
1/2 cup coconut
1/4 cup each of Sesame Seeds, poppy seeds, coriander seeds
1 tbsp jeera

1. Heat oil and fry peppers until light brown. Remove and keep them aside.
2. Fry onions until brown in the same oil and add tomatoes and fry them for 2 mins. Next add green chillies, turmeric and mix.
3. Roast the masala items and blend them with salt and water. Add the masala paste to the above onion mixture and add desired amount of water to get the consistency you want. (Remember if gets thick after cooling down). Keep mixing as it tends to stick to the bottom.
4. Add mint, coriander, yogurt (beat well with little water) and add to the curry and cook for about 10 mins.
5. Add capcisums and salt and cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove and serve hot.

It tastes better the next day, so if you are expecting guests next day, you can make it one day before and store in the refrigerator and reheat it just before serving.