Chicken & Potato Gravy

Chicken & Potato gravy is a tasty and spicy gravy which goes perfect with plain rice and Roti. Onions are ground into fine paste along with spices to give a flavourful curry. I have used very less spices ( elachi and lavang) to avoid the overpowering of masala taste. Grinding onions and tomatoes gives a thick delicious gravy and also enhances the flavour.

Ingredients :

250 gms Boneless Chicken, Cut into small piece
2 Potatoes, Cut into pieces
2 Onions, chopped
1 Elachi
1 Lavang
2 Bay leaves
2 Tsp Ginger garlic paste
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder
1 Tsp Red chilli powder ( Adjust according to taste bud )
1 Tsp Coriander powder
1/2 Tsp Cumin powder
2 Tbsp Curd
Salt to taste
2 - 3 Tbsp Oil

Method :

Grind chopped onions along with lavang ( Clove ) and elachi into fine paste. Keep aside.

Grind tomatoes into fine paste and keep aside.

Heat oil in a non stick pan and add bay leaves followed by the ground onion paste and ginger garlic paste.

Saute till the onion paste turns light brown colour and the raw smell of ginger - garlic paste goes off.

Add the ground tomato paste and cook for a minute.

Now add all the masala powders and mix well.

Add curd and cook till the oil separates from the gravy. ( add little water if the gravy is very thick )

Add chicken pieces and potato pieces to the gravy along with the required amount of salt.

Mix well and add 1 1/2 Cups of water.

Simmer the flame and cook till the chicken and potatoes gets cooked.

Adjust the quantity of water according to your required gravy consistency.

Garnish with coriander leaves and remove from the flame.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with rice or roti.

Peas & Sausage stuffed Pastry Cup

It's almost a month I did blogging. May month was really hectic for me in both health and travel wise but still, the one event which I never miss is my favourite Shhh Cooking Secretly Challenge which happens every month with an interesting theme. Likewise, our May month theme was Stuffed recipes and I was paired with a Wonderful blogger Sharanya Palanisshami from Sara's Tasty Buds. Peas and one ingredient of my choice were given as the secret ingredients by her and I chose sausage as my second ingredient. Likewise, Check out her page too to view an interesting recipe prepared by her using the secret ingredients given by me.

Sausage and Peas stuffed pastry cups is an interesting party snacks filled with pea - cheese puree and grated sausages. The fresh peas are boiled along with garlic pods and made into puree by adding cheese. I have added mozzarella cheese as it gives a nice texture to the puree. The sausages are sautéed along with fresh rosemary herbs which gives a lovely flavour to the snack. The cups are finally topped with more cheese and baked to get a delicious cheesy snack.

Ingredients :

1 Cup Green peas, fresh
4 Garlic pods, peeled
1/2 Cup Cheese, grated ( I have used Mozzarella )
2 Tbsp Oil or Butter
4 - 5 Sausages, grated
1 Tbsp Rosemary herbs, fresh and finely chopped
Salt to taste
Puff Pastry Roll ( I have used store bought Puff pastry Roll )

Method :

Boil green peas and garlic pods in a water.

Once it gets cooked, drain the water and cool it. ( The drained water can be used for kneading roti or used in rasam or sambhar to enhance the taste ).

Grind into puree by adding mozzarella cheese and little salt. Keep it aside.

Heat oil or butter in a pan and add grated sausages along with a little salt and rosemary herbs.

Saute for a minute and remove from the flame. Keep aside.

Now, take a puff pastry and roll into a rectangle shape.

Cut the pastry sheet into 6 equal squares.

Grease the muffin tray ( or use silicon muffin cups ) and place the square shaped puff pastry in each muffin moulds.

Now fill the cups with a little pea puree and then with sautéed sausages.

Finally top it with grated cheese.

Repeat the process for the remaining pastry cups.

Bake it for 25 - 30 mins at 180 degree C in a pre heated oven or till it turns crispy.

Once done, remove from the oven and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with Tomato sauce. 

Apple & Tomato Salad using Chickpeas Dressing

I was excited to get paired up with one of my favourite blogger Rafeeda from "thebigsweettooth.com" for Shh Cooking Secretly Challenge after a very long time. I love all her recipes and especially food pictures which shows the exact texture of the dish. I had to mention that she is a very cool person and also a wonderful baker.  As I had mentioned in lots of my Shh Cooking Secretly Challenge series posts about the rules, this time I was given Apple and Chickpeas as my secret ingredients. And the theme was Salads which is very much apt to this Summer season. By using Apples and Chickpeas, I prepared a quick and tasty salad and hope, I did justice to it . Instead of adding chickpeas in my salad, I gave a twist by preparing dressing using it to give a creamy texture to the salad. And also, the addition of fresh basil leaves gives a refreshing flavour.

Check out of my Co-blogger page to view a wholesome healthy and yummy salad prepared out of Avocado and Tomato, which was given by me.

http://www.thebigsweettooth.com/2017/04/simple-quinoa-salad.html

Ingredients :

2 Apples, cut into small pieces
6 Cherry Tomatoes, cut into halves
Few fresh Basil leaves

For Dressing :

2 Tbsp Black chickpeas ( soaked and cooked ) 
3 - 4 Basil leaves 
1/4 Cup Olive oil 
1 Tsp Lemon juice 
Salt to taste 
Little Pepper powder ( Optional ) 

Method :

Take cooked chickpeas along with basil leaves, olive oil, lemon juice and salt in a blender.

Blend till it turns smooth.

Once done, remove from the blender and keep aside.

Take apples and cherry tomatoes in a large bowl.

Add fresh basil leaves and chickpeas dressing to it.

Mix well and sprinkle little pepper powder.

Serve.

Note :

Cut apples after preparing dressing, else apple pieces loses its colour.

I have used black chickpeas in this recipe which can also be substituted with white chickpeas. 

Achaari Capsicum Biryani using leftover Pickle

I love adding pickle oil and leftover pickle masala to my dishes. It enhances the flavour and also gives a vibrant colour to the dish. This can be used while preparing dosa or in a gravy or as tadka for dal. My today's recipe is also using leftover pickle and 3 varieties of Bell peppers. Apart from bell peppers, any veggies like beans, carrot, peas, potato etc can be used. This one pot meal pairs up excellent with any varieties of Raita or Kurma.

Instead of throwing the leftover pickle oil and masala, try this delicious spicy biryani. Here comes the recipe...

Ingredients :

1 Tbsp Pickle Oil ( Leftover oil from pickle ) 
2 Tbsp Oil ( or you can also use 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee ) 
2 Bay leaves 
1 Onion, sliced 
2 Green chillies
2 Tsp Ginger garlic paste 
1 1/2 Tbsp Curd 
Few Mint leaves 
2 Tsp Pickle masala ( I have used Mango pickle in this recipe ) 
1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder 
1/2 Tsp Cumin powder 
1/2 Tsp  Red chilli powder ( Adjust according to taste bud ) 
Salt to taste 
1 Cup Basmati Rice ( I have used India gate brand ) 
1 1/2 Cups Water 
3 Cups Coloured Bell peppers, chopped 

To grind :

1 Onion, chopped 
1 Big Tomato, chopped 
1/2 inch Cinnamon stick 
1 Elachi 
1 Clove 
Small piece of Biryani flower 

Method :

Wash and soak Basmati rice for 30 minutes.

Grind the given ingredients in "To grind" into fine paste and keep aside.

Heat oil ( pickle oil, oil and ghee ) in a thick bottomed pan and add bay leaves followed by green chillies and mint leaves.

Add sliced onion and saute till it turns light brown color.

Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off.

Now add the ground paste and saute it for a minute.

Add turmeric powder, pickle masala, cumin powder and red chilli powder to the masala along with curd and coloured bell peppers.

Saute and cook till the oil separates from the masala.

Add measured water followed by the required amount of salt and let it boil.

Now drain water from the basmati rice and add it to the cooker.

Simmer the flame, cover the pan with an aluminium foil and place a lid on top of it.

Cook it till the water gets absorbed and add ghee along with few mint leaves on top of the biryani.

Meanwhile, heat an iron pan and simmer the flame.

Place the biryani pan on top of the iron pan and keep in dum for 10 minutes.

Once done, mix well without breaking the rice and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with Raita or Kurma.

Note :

Adjust the water quantity according to the soaking time. For example, 1 1/2 cups will be sufficient for 1 cup of Rice, if the soaking time is 30 minutes.  If the soaking time is more than 45 mins, then equal ratio of water and rice will be perfect.

One Pot Kondakadalai & Mochai Kuzhambu Satham / Bachelor Recipe

One pot meals are not only life savers for Bachelors, it is also a perfect dish to prepare during summer to avoid standing in the kitchen for a long time. I have used chickpeas and field beans in this rice but veggies like potato, sundakai, drumsticks etc can also be included. But, be little cautious while adding drumstick in an one pot meal, as it gets mushy very fast. In order to avoid it, cook the rice as mentioned below, add the drumstick pieces to the rice and cook it again for one more whistle. Dried sundakai can also be added. The addition of ghee will make a huge difference in this recipe. It enhances the flavour and taste of the rice but its purely optional. This rice goes perfect with Sutta Appalam, Fryums or any vegetable stir fries / poriyal.

Ingredients :

1/4 Cup Black Kondakadalai / Black chickpeas, dried
1/4 Cup Mochai / Field Beans, dried
1 1/2 Cups Rice 
4 - 4 1/2 Cups Water ( adjust the water quantity according to the desired rice consistency ) 
2 Tbsp Gingelly oil 
2 Tbsp Ghee ( Adjust according to taste bud ) 
1 Tbsp Vadagam ( or 1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds, 1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds and less than 1/4 Tsp Methi seeds ) 
2 Sprigs Curry leaves
2 Medium sized Onions, Finely chopped 
1 Big Tomato, Finely chopped 
10 Garlic pods, sliced
Small gooseberry sized Tamarind ball soaked in 1/2 cup of water 
1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder 
2 1/2 Tsp Kuzhambu powder ( I have used Eastern masala Kuzhambu powder ) 
Salt to taste 

Method :

Wash and soak both chickpeas and mochai over night.

Heat oil in a pressure cook and add vadagam.

Once it starts spluttering, add curry leaves followed by sliced garlic pods.

Add finely chopped onions and saute till it turns light brown color.

Now add finely chopped tomatoes and cook till it turns soft and mushy.

Add turmeric powder followed by kuzhambu powder and mix well.

Drain water from the soaked kondakadalai - mochai and add it to cooker.

Meanwhile, extract juice from the soaked Tamarind.

Add the measured water along with tamarind juice and add salt.

Let it boil and add the washed rice.

Close and pressure cook it for 3 - 4 whistles in a medium flame.

Switch off the flame and wait till the pressure of cooker gets released.

Once done, open the lid and add ghee to the rice.

Mix well and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with Papad or any vegetable stir fry / poriyal.