Chole/Channa Masala

Chole or Channa Masala is a dish which I liked since childhood.I am sure everyone gets reminded of the moment we talk about Chole or Channa Masala.This can also be used as a side dish for chappathi and poori.This is one of Kid's most favorite recipe.Let's see how this can be made in a more simple and healthy way.

serves:2

Ingredients

1. Channa/Chickpeas - 1 cup 
2. Garam Masala/Chole Masala powder - 3 tsp
3. Onion - 2 Medium sized(chopped) 
4. Tomatoes - 2(chopped) 
5. Cumin seeds/jeera - 2 tsp 
6. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp 
7. Green Chilies - 2 (slit lengthwise) 
8. Turmeric - 1 tsp 
9. Coriander Powder - 2 tsp 
10. Red Chili Powder-2 tsp
11. Coriander leaves - handful 
12. Oil - 3 tbsp 
13. Salt to taste

                                  

Method

 1. Soak channa /chole in water overnight on the previous day of cooking.

2. Pressure cook chole with water for 4 whistles. 

3. Strain the chole and keep it aside.

4. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds.Once cumin seeds crackle,add onions and green chilies.

5. Saute onions till they become transparent.

6. Now add tomatoes ,ginger garlic paste and saute well.Allow the tomatoes to be cooked well.

7. Now,add the boiled chole, masala powder,salt,turmeric and red chili powder.

8. Mix the channa gently without smashing it. Ensure the channa is fully covered and mixed with the masala gravy.

9. Add water depending on the consistency required.

10. Cook on low flame for 7 mins.

11. Serve the channa/chole hot seasoned with coriander leaves.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. You can grind the tomatoes and green chili to a puree and use it as well.
2. Adding 1/4 tsp cooking soda to chole while pressure cooking will soften the chole easily.
3. Make sure you don't add too much water that the masala taste goes off.
4. You can squeeze a tsp of lemon juice to the chole masala while serving.

Bhature

Bhature or otherwise called Channa/Chole Bhature is a great evening tiffin.I once had this at HSB and I was just in awe with the taste.It was so light and crispy.Especially,Bhature with its partner Channa is a heavenly combination.Whenever I go to HSB, this is one dish I will order for sure.

Ingredients

1. All Purpose flour/Maida-2 cup 
2. Baking powder-1/2 tsp 
3. Thick curd-3/4 cup 
4. salt to taste 
5. sooji/Rava/Semolina -1/4 cup 
6. Oil and warm water -as needed(to knead the flour)

                            

Method

1. In a large bowl,mix the flour,salt,rava,curd and baking powder and knead the dough well.Use oil and water as and when required to ease the kneading process.

2. Make a medium soft dough and cover it with cloth and allow it to rest for 2 hours minimum.

3. After 2 hrs,make balls and roll them into thin round sheets and deep fry on a high flame.

4. Serve the hot Bhature with Chole/Channa Masala.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Bhature puffs only on high flame. Make sure you quickly flip it and remove off the flame after it has puffed. If you don't remove quickly,then it might get burnt.
2. Rava/Sooji/Semolina is used to bring about crispiness in Bhature.
3. Bhature's puffness also depends on how hard you beat the maida. Knead well and beat hard so that the dough remains soft and also puffs well.
4. Bhature should be rolled into big sheets compared to poori which is small.

Vegetable Steamed Momos

I had this dish for the very first time at Bylakuppe when I had been there for an excursion. I never knew what momos were till then. My friend was insisting me to try this dish. I still remember, a gang of 8 of us had went to this small canteen like shop near that Tibetan monastery.One of my friend had ordered for a plate of momo which was 85 rs at that time.He served 8 momos which were sizzling hot with a super hot schezwan chili sauce.I was damn hungry and being a foodie, I just can't take when I have to share something that is too delicious with others:P:P Each of us had got just one piece and i had that for the very first time in my life.I closed my eyes and had the first bite of it. Oh my god!!! It was something the best I have ever tasted in my entire lifetime.If I am able to re collect so much about that day,you should realize how tasty those momos were. Till date, I have not tasted a single momo that is as tasty and delicious as the one they serve at Bylakuppe. I thought let me make these at home as the momos you get in chennai malls are so damn expensive. When something is very easy and simple to make at home, why to pay for it at hotels.:)

Serves:16 Momos

Ingredients

1. Salt to taste
2. pepper-1 tsp
3. oil-1 tbsp    *You can use either normal cooking oil or sesame oil
4. soya sauce- 1 tsp   
5.  Cabbage leaf for lining 

Vegetables used

• Cabbage -2 cups (shredded finely)
• onion-1 medium sized (finely chopped)
• spring onion- 2-3  (both onion part and the leaf part finely chopped)
• carrot-2 (finely chopped)
• capsicum-1 (finely chopped)
• Garlic - 3 pods (finely chopped)
• 1 inch ginger (finely chopped)

For dough:

1. Maida(plain flour) -1.5 cups
2. Salt - 1 tsp
3. Oil as needed
4. Warm water as needed

                             

Cooking the veggie stuffing

Momo dough is ready

Stuffed dumplings ready to get steamed

Cabbage leaf greased with oil and lined

Place the momos on the leaf for steaming

Momos after being steamed in a pressure cooker

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add garlic and ginger and saute for a minute. Then add the cut vegetables and saute for few mins till they are semi cooked.

2. Add soy sauce,pepper,salt and saute for 2 mins on high flame with constant stirring.

3. Remove the veggies from flame and keep it aside.Now the stuffing for our momo is ready:)

4. In a bowl, mix maida,salt and warm water and knead the dough well.

5. Use oil as and when you knead as it prevents your hand from getting sticky and simplifies the kneading process.

6.Once you are done with your kneading, keep the dough aside covered with a moist cloth.Now the dough part is ready:)

7. Take a small amount of dough and start rolling in a greased surface. Dust flour as needed to make a thin base for momo. Add about a tsp of stuffing. seal the dough as shown in the picture into your favorite desired shape.

8. Line a cabbage leaf and grease it with oil on a steaming pan. Alternatively, you can steam it in traditional way in a Idli steamer using a pressure cooker. Make sure you grease the container of the steaming pan so that momos do not stick to the container after steaming.

9. Allow the momos to get steamed for at least for 10 mins.The white outer layer of momos start becoming transparent. This is the indication that your momos are getting cooked.

10. Once, the momos are fully cooked, it fully becomes glossy and transparent.

11. Momos are now ready to be served hot with GB'S  spicy hot Momo Chutney.

Vegetable Fried Rice

This is an exotic recipe from the Indo-Chinese cuisine.The rice is being fried after cooked.This is also a very popular menu in most of the restaurants. In restaurants, they make small batches by tossing the vegetables and rice in a big wok high in the air. However, this can be done in a very simple way at home and yet get the same taste as that of restaurant. I have used Keya Chinese Seasoning to get the flavor more authentic. However, adding this is completely optional.
Check out Baby Corn Manchurian and Gobi Manchurian which can be used as an amazing accompaniment for this dish.

serves: 3

Ingredients

1. Basmati rice - 1.5 cups
2. Garlic Pods-3-4 (finely chopped)
3. Oil-2 tbsp *You can use either olive oil or any refined oil
4. Sesame oil - 1 tbsp 
5. Keya Chinese Seasoning - 2 tsp (optional)
6. Star Anise-2-3
7. Cloves-2-3
8. Salt to taste
9. Soy sauce-1 tsp
10. Vinegar - 1 tsp (balsamic/apple cider/white/rice vinegar) 
11. Pepper Powder-1 tbsp
12. Sugar-1 tsp

Vegetables used

• Beans-1/4 Cup(finely chopped)
• Carrot- 2 Nos.(shredded finely)
• Onions- 1 big (sliced thinly)
• Spring Onion-5 (finely chopped-both onion and leaf part)
• Cabbage-1/4 cup (shredded)
• Capsicum-1( Red,Green or Yellow -Cut into julienne)

Ready to cook the rice

Vegetables being Fried

After mixing the rice and veggies

Method

1.  Cook Basmati rice as mentioned here with star anise, cloves and 1 tbsp sesame oil.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add spring onions and onions and saute till they become transparent.

3. Add garlic pods and saute till the raw flavor goes off. Add keya chinese seasoning and saute for 2 mins on medium flame.

4. Add all the vegetables with a tsp of sugar and salt. Saute well on medium flame until they are cooked. Make sure the vegetables are not overcooked that they become too soft. The veggies should be crunchy.

5. Add soya sauce,vinegar,pepper and mix well for all the flavors to combine.

6. Add cooked rice to above vegetables and mix well. 

7. Garnish generously with chopped spring onion leaves and serve hot.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. The most important thing in preparing fried rice is that, it is being continuously stirred on a medium flame. Hence,ensure continuous stirring so that the bottom of the pan is not burnt.
2. The vegetables have to be finely chopped so that they are cooked easily and at the same time they are crunchy too.
3. Soy sauce already contains salt and adjust adding salt accordingly.
4. Ensure that the rice is dry,separate and not sticking to each other.

Cream of French Onion

This is one of the most favorite soup for both my husband and myself. I remember having this soup for the very first time at Hotel Saravana Bhavan in chennai.I was completely addicted to its  rich creamy taste.Unfortunately, this soup has been removed from the menu card and I no longer find them serving this.Whichever restaurant i go, i hunt for this soup in the restaurant menu card and its always missing.Then I decided, why not make this soup at home and relish it to heart's content.I prepared this soup for my husband's birthday and he liked it so much.

This recipe is completely conceived by me after several trials and attempts. I did google for various french soup recipes across globe and then came out with the vegetarian version of this soup that is sure to leave you cheese bombed. Trust me, this is a fool proof and a tested recipe that came out really well and delicious.  Try out this soup right away and let me know your feedback in comments.

serves:4 -5 bowls

Ingredients

1. Onions- 2 Medium (thinly sliced lengthwise)
2. Spring onions- 3 (onion part thinly sliced)
3. Spring onion greens - 2 tbsp (chopped finely)
4. Sugar - 1 tsp
5. cashews - 2 tbsp
6. Maida/All purpose flour - 2 tbsp
7. Butter-2 tbsp + 2 tbsp
8. Processed Cheese- 2 cubes( I used amul cheese cubes)
9. Fresh Cream - 200 ml
10. Milk - 1 Cup
11. Water - 1 cup
12. Garlic paste - (4 garlic pods ground with little water)
13. Salt and pepper to taste

Seasoning

• Bread-2(corners removed and sliced into desired shape)
• Butter-2 tsp
• Cheese grated - 2 cubes

Heat Butter in a pan

Fry Cashews until light golden brown

Set aside for final garnishing

Fry Onions until caramelized

Preparation of soup base

Toast bread circles on pan with butter

Add grated cheese

Close and simmer for cheese to melt

Method

1. Heat 2 tbsp of butter in a pan, Add the cashews and fry them on medium low flame until they turn light golden brown in color. Keep it aside for final garnishing.

2. Add both onions ,spring onions (both greens and onions) and sugar and saute on a slow flame for 5-6 minutes till the onions shrink and turn golden brown. Sugar helps the onions to get caramelized(as shown in the pic).

2. Keep the caramelized onions separately.

3. Add 2 tbsp butter again and add maida, garlic paste and roast them in butter.

4. Add milk, fresh cream and cheese cubes and give it a nice mixing. Ensure the maida mixes with milk without any lumps. Keep the flame in medium for the soup to reach a thick creamy consistency.

5. Add required salt and pepper and stir well.

6. Toast the bread slices with butter in a pan till it becomes crisp and slight golden brown on both sides. 

7. Add grated cheese on to the bread and cover lid for the cheese to melt.

Serving Method

Take a bowl of the prepared soup, add some caramelized onions, fried cashews, top it with cheese bread slices and serve hot :) Gooey cheese french onion soup is all ready to be relished :)

American Corn Cheese Balls

My friends gang had planned for a pool dinner and each of us had to cook some menu and bring it.I was looking out for an interesting starter which was quite easy to make as I had to make it in large numbers.I came across this recipe and found interesting. I had made this for the pool dinner and trust me...This was a super hit:):)!!!! My friends just loved it and ate in a jiffy:):)!!! You will also find this starter in the menu cards of some of the most sought after Veg. restaurants in chennai with off course an expensive price tag :P.Here is the recipe for a cheesy and crispy muchies-Corn cheese balls.

Serves 15 balls

Ingredients

1. Potato - 3 Nos (Big)
2. Corn flour-1 tbsp
3. Cheese Cubes-> cut into smaller cubes - 30 nos.
4. Sweet corn kernels-3/4 cup (I used the frozen ones)
5. Coriander-1 tbsp (finely chopped )
6. Green chilies-1 (finely chopped)
7. Mixed Italian Herb Seasoning - 2 tsp
8. Freshly crushed pepper - 2 tsp
8. Salt to taste
9. Bread crumbs-any bread for your choice powdered
10. Oil for deep frying

Batter

1. All purpose flour (maida)- 1 cup 
2. Water-3/4 Cup

Method

1. Boil the potatoes and smash them nicely.

2. Now add corn, coriander, green chilies,seasoning, pepper, cornflour and salt to the smashed potato.

3.  Combine well, the texture resembles that of soft clay as shown in the picture above.

5. Roll them into small balls and flatten them. Stuff 2 small cheese cubes and cover them to again form small balls.

6. Dip the balls into the batter and roll them over crushed bread crumbs. Ensure the ball is completely covered with bread crumbs.

7. Deep fry the balls in oil on medium or low flame till they become golden brown.

8. Serve the hot cheese balls with ketchup :) Not to forget pulling your cheese balls apart, the cheese ooozes out...yummmmy!!!!!:)

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. I used frozen sweet corns and hence I didn't have the necessity to boil them.In case you don't have frozen ones,please ensure you boil them before using it.
2. I used brown bread as they give a nice color on deep frying.
3. While rolling the cheese balls,oil your hands so that the balls don't stick to your hands.

Baby Corn Fritters

I planned to host a dinner for my in laws with end to end cooking done completely by me. I have posted my recipe and the way how I do it. This is very easy and a simple one and can be readily made even as a tea time snacks.This is again a very famous starter ordered in most of the restaurants.For all the baby corn lovers,here goes the recipe for spicy,hot crispy baby corn fritters.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1. Baby Corn - 8-10 (Slit lengthwise)
2. All purpose flour /Maida - 1/4 cup
3. Cornflour - 1/4 cup
4. Kesari/saffron powder/any red food color - A pinch (Optional)
5. Pepper Powder - 2 tsp
6. Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Water as needed

                         

                         

Method:

1. Cut the baby corns as shown in the picture. Boil them with pinch of salt for about 2 mins. Strain them and pat them dry.

2. Add all the ingredients listed to the above baby corn with required amount of water to form a thick paste. The batter should be of thick pouring consistency.

3. Baby corn should be coated well with the batter.

4. Refrigerate the content for an hour.

5. After taken out of refrigerator, deep fry them in hot oil until they turn golden brown and crispy.

6. Serve hot with ketchup :)

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. The oil should be hot wile deep frying, only then the corns will turn crispy. If oil is not hot, then they might take a lot of time to get fried and turns soggy.
2. Refrigerating helps the baby corn to get mixed with batter well and also turns crispy while dropping in hot oil.

BisiBele Bath

For a long time, I have been wanting to prepare this traditional famous recipe from the Karnataka cuisine in a very authentic way. My recent visit to Bangalore instigated me all the more to try out this dish at home. This is a very common recipe that you will find in almost every hotels at Karnataka- especially places like banglore, mysore etc..

A very flavorful rice much different from the south indian sambar sadham. There is a wide range of spices that goes into preparation of the Bisibela bath masala powder which gives this dish that unique taste and aroma. I was very particular I prepared this in a very authentic way without missing out on any key ingredients.

I have adapted this recipe from Divine Taste - Anushruti. You can watch the full video here. She has explained it in a very detailed manner and is also very authentic. Trust me, this is a fool proof recipe and was a super dooper hit. Since, I had lot of guests coming up, I doubled the quantity and prepared on a mass scale :P. You can however scale down the recipe as required. I have tried to provide as many details as possible to get the perfect taste. Let's jump into the recipe.

Serves:10

Ingredients

1. Raw Rice - 2 cups
2. Toor dhal - 1.5 cups
3. Tamarind - juice extracted from 2 lemon sized tamarind balls
4. Oil - 2 tbsp
5. Ghee - 4 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
7. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
8. Asafoetida/hing-1 tsp
9. Rock Salt - 3 tbsp
10. Jaggery - 1 tbsp
11. Water - 2 cups (depending on the consistency)

BisiBela Bath Masala Ingredients (Grinding)

1. Coriander Seeds - 1/4 cup
2. Chana Dhal - 1/4 cup
3. Urad Dhal - 4 tsp
4. Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
5. Cinnamon - 1 inch
6. Cloves - 6
7. Cardamom - 4
8. Mustard Seeds - 1.5 tsp
9. Poppy Seeds/Khus Khus - 2 tsp
10. Kapok Buds/Marathi Moggu - 6
11. Fenugreek/Methi seeds - 1 tsp
12. Dry Red Chilies - 12
13. Desiccated Coconut - 1 cup
14. Curry leaves - 10
15. Kashmiri Red Chili Powder - 3 tsp

Ingredients for Bisi Bela Bath Masala Powder
Note: Please check the ingredients column for actual measurements

VegetablesUsed(Can be anything of your choice)

• Pearl onion Shallots -2 cups
• French Beans - 1/4 kg (cut in .5 inch length)
• Carrot - 4 big size (cut round or chopped)
• Potato - 1 big (cut similarly to beans lengthwise)
• Capsicum - 1 small (chopped to small cubes)
• Green Peas - 1 cup (heaped)

Seasoning

• Roasted Peanuts/Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp
• Ghee - 1/4 cup

Method

1. Pressure Cooking Rice and Toor Dhal

1. Pressure cook 2 cups of raw rice with about 10 cups of water and 4 tsp of ghee for 5 whistles and then simmer the pressure cooker for about 5 mins before switch off.

2. This is done because the rice for bisisbela batha must be nicely cooked, smashed well so that they don't get hard as time goes by.

3. Gently smash the rice when it is hot so that they are broken into small grains. Make sure you don't smash way too much that it becomes a paste and form-less. Keep the rice aside covered so that they do not get dried.

4. Likewise, cook the toor dhal with 4 cups of water and a tsp of turmeric for 5 whistles and simmered for 5 mins before switch off. Smash the toor dha nicely as shown in the pic. Keep the cooked dhal aside.

Pressure cooked Toor Dhal

2. Cooking the Vegetables

1. Except onions and capsicum, take all other vegetables in a pan filled with water. Boil the vegetables with 2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of turmeric.

2. Cook them until they are soft. Drain the cooked vegetables and keep it aside. Do not drain the vegetable stock as you can reuse it for making the Bisibele bath Sambar.

Boiled Vegetables

3. Preparing the Bisibele bath Masala Paste

1. Heat a pan, on a low flame, saute chana dal and urad dhal until they emit nice aroma and turn slightly brown. Very mild brown. Switch off the flame and keep it aside.

2. Heat a pan, add all other ingredients mentioned under Masala(except turmeric and kashmiri red chili powder) and saute them gently on low flame for about 5 mins. The curry leaves and red chilies will become crisp and that is the right point to switch off the flame. All the contents to cool.

3. Take all the contents (including turmeric and kashmiri red chili powder) to a blender and grind to a fine paste by adding required water as shown in the pic.

                                        Freshly ground masala paste

4. Preparing the BisiBele Bath Sambar base

1. Heat a pan, add oil and mustard seeds. Once the mustard splutters, add torn curry leaves for aroma. Add capsicum and pearl onions and saute well until the onions turn translucent in color. Add a tsp of salt and saute well.

2. Add the extracted tamarind juice to the above and the cooked vegetables with rock salt, jaggery and asafoetida.

3. Cook for about 5 mins on medium-low flame for the raw flavor of tamarind to go off.

4. Add the masala paste and cooked dhal to the above tamarind mixture and mix well. Add 2 cups of water (PS: Reserved vegetable stock can be used instead) to adjust the consistency of sambar.

5. Add the cooked rice to the above sambar and mix well. Allow to simmer for 5 mins on low flame for the rice to get mixed well with the sambar base.

Saute pearl onions and capsicum in oil

Sambar base after adding masala paste and cooked dhal.

After adding cooked rice - Bisibela bath ready :)

5. Garnishing

1. Heat 1/4 cup of ghee, add mustard seeds, once they splutter, add curry leaves, cashews and red chilies. Saute well until the cashews start browning slightly. Add the tempering to bisibela bath and give a nice mix.

2. Serve hot with cold raita and papad. :):)