Aaloo Paratha

Ingredients:
For Stuffing : 

• Medium size Potato : 4-5
• Onion : 1 finely chopped.
• Green Chili : 3-4
• Ginger-Garlic paste : 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp
• Mustared Seeds : 1/4 tsp
• Salt : to taste
• Oil : 2-3 tsp

For cover dough:

• Wheat flour : 2 cups
• Chili Powder : 2 tsp
• Sesame seeds (til) : 1/2 tsp
• cumin seeds : 1/4 tsp
• Ajwain (Carom Seeds) : 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp
• Salt : to taste
• Water : to knead dough

Aaloo Paratha

Preparation: 

To prepare the stuffing : 

1. Boil potatoes in pressure cooker upto 3-4 whistles.
2. Peel the potato cover and cut them into small pieces. 
3. Heat the oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. 
4. Add chopped green chilies.
5. Then add ginger-garlic paste.
6. When mustard seed splutter, add finely shopped onion. Saute it till becomes golden brown. Then add turmeric powder.
7. Now add cut potatoes and saute for a while. Try to mash them with spatula so that they make a soft mixture and wont break while rolling parathas.
8. Cover the pan with lid and let it cook on a low flame for another 5 minutes.
9. Switch off the flame.

To Prepare dough :

1. Take all ingredients from above (For cover dough), dry mix them  and knead the dough. Make sure dough is not too soft otherwise it will be difficult to roll parathas.
2. Let the dough sit for half an hour to one hour preferably in a refrigerator. 

Making parathas : 

1. Make small round balls of dough (like we take for chapati), press them with palm and make a small round. 
2. Fill in the stuffing and bring all sides together and seal it properly.
3. Now roll the paratha with rolling pin with the help of little flour. 
4. Cook the paratha on a hot tawa (griddle) using oil or ghee. 
5. Serve hot with curd, pudina chutney etc.

Pudina (mint leaves) Chutney

Ingredients:

• Pudina (mint leaves) 1 bunch
• 7-8 garlic cloves 
• ginger
• 2 green chilies
• salt
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Pudina / Mint leaves Chutney

Preparation:

1. Remove Pudina stems, take only leaves and wash them thoroughly. 
2. Put all ingredients in the mixer and  grind it together to make a smooth paste.
3. Adjust the salt.

Note: 

1. You can use this chutney to prepare sandwiches, bhel, pani puri or serve it along with samosa. vada-pav, dosa  etc.

2. You can also serve it with indian side dishes like tikkas or kababs

Masala Taak /Masala Butter Milk/ Masala Chaas

For 2 Glass.
Ingredients: 

• Curd or plain Yogurt : 1 cup
• Water : 3 cups
• Green chili: 1/2
• Ginger garlic paste : 1/2 tsp
• Black pepper powder : 1/4 tsp
• Cumin powder / Chat masala : 1/4 tsp
• Coriander finely chopped : 2 tsp
• Pudina leaves (optional) :4/5
• Sugar :1 tsp
• Salt : to taste

Preparation:

1. Add all above ingredients except Pudina and Coriander into a blender and blend it together for 2-3 minutes. 
2. Adjust the salt and other ingredients as per your test.
3. Let it become chilled in the refrigerator for half an hour or add chilled water while blending it to avoid wait time. 
4. Serve in glasses with fresh mint leaves and some finely chopped coriander sprinkled on it.  

Upma

Ingredients:

• One cup Semolina
• One big Onion
• 3-4 green chilies finely chopped
• Udad daal
• 2 tsp of peanuts
• Half tomato finely chopped
• Ginger (optional)
• half tsp mustered seeds
• Pinch of asafoetida
• 5-6 Curry leaves
• 1 tsp Ghee
• 3-4 tsp oil
• salt to taste
• 2 cups water

Upma

Preparation:

1. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan and saute semolina in it for 5 minutes in slow flame. Take it out in a bowl.
2. Now clean the pan and add 3-4 tsp of oil in it. Heat the oil and shallow fry peanuts in it till they become golden brown.
3. Take out the peanuts in another bowl. Now add mustered seeds, let them crackle. Then add green chilies, curry leaves, asafoetida, ginger. 
4. Then add finely chopped onion and saute it till becomes transparent and slightly brown, add 1 tsp of sugar if want.
5. Then add 2 cups of water and bring it to boil. At this point add salt. 
6. Now add the semolina slowly. Keep stirring continuously while adding semolina so that the mixture wont form any lumps.
7. Stir continuously till the mixture become thick. Then cover the pan for 3-4 minutes. Garnish the upma with coriander and server hot with or without coconut chutney.

Note: 

You can add turmeric if you want your upma of yellow color.

Fish Fry

Ingredients:

• Surmai (King fish) cut - medium pieces
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tsp rice flour
• 3 tsp semolina
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• salt to taste

Fish Fry

Preparation:

1. Marinate fish fillets with ginger garlic paste, turmeric, salt, chili powder. Keep it in refrigerator for half an hour at least. Do not marinate for longer time.

2. take rice flour, semolina, red chili powder and salt in another plate and mix it together.

3. take the marinated fish fillets one by one and coat it with the dry ingredients mixed in step 2.

4.heat the non stick griddle and put 1 tsp of oil. then keep the coated fish fillets on pan and pour little oil around it.

5. cook the fish from low to medium flame till semolina shows golden brown color from one side.

6. then flip it carefully and cook the other side. Apply little oil on the other side as well. 

7. remove and server hot.

(fish fry and be served as starter or a side dish)

Fish Curry

Ingredients:

• Surmai cut - medium pieces
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 4 tsp dry coconut
• 2 tsp fresh coconut
• 1 cup coconut milk according to taste
• 1/2 cup coriander
• 1 small tomato
• 1 big onion
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 turmeric
• 1-2 green chili

Fish Curry

Preparation:

1. Marinate the fish with ginger garlic paste+turmeric+salt+chili powder. Keep it in refrigerator for half an hour at least. Do not marinate for longer time.
2. Grind to smooth paste dry coconut, fresh coconut, onion, garam masala, chili powder,coriander,tomato, turmeric powder and green chili.
3. Heat oil in deep pan and put the masala from step 2. Let the masala cook for 5 minutes. Put little amount of water in between if required so that masala won't burn or stick to the bottom of pan.
4. Now add enough amount of water to make it a gravy. Add salt to taste.
5. Let it boil for 4-5 minutes.
6. Add marinated fish to the gravy,cook for not more than 10 minutes. (As fish fillets are tender, they tend to break if cooked for longer time.)
7. Adjust the salt and turn off the flame.
8. Fish curry tastes delicious with white rice or chapatis.

Coconut Burfi

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh grated Coconut.
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp Cardamom powder
• Fresh mango pulp (completely optional)
• Saffron (optional)

Coconut Burfi

Preparation:

1. Grease a plate with ghee and keep it aside.
2. Take a think bottom pan and pour 2 Tsp of ghee. Once ghee is hot add coconut and saute it for 2 mins. 
3. Then add Sugar. Again saute the mixture on medium flame till the mixture starts to leave the bottom of pan and forms a single dumpling. (at this point you can add fresh mango pulp and stir for a minute to make it thick. The coconut and mango combination tastes divine together. You can also add few saffron strands.)
4. Now pour the mixture onto the greased plate(no 1) and spread the mixture to thick layer with spatula.(apply some ghee to spatula as well to avoid sticking)
5. After 5 minutes when the mixture is still hot/warm, cut the spread into pieces like in above picture.
6. Sprinkle finely chopped almonds/cashews for decoration if desired.
7. Let it cool down completely then store in airtight container.

Gulamba

Happy to return to blogging after a while. Today I am posting my ultimate favorite seasonal preparation preserved from generation to generation, Gulamba i.e raw mango jam. Its tangy and sweet taste is treat to taste buds. It is served side to main dish like pickle and can be served with hot chapati/puri/paratha.

Ingredients:

• Raw mango 2 cups peeled and grated. 
• Jaggery 2/3 cups grated as per the sweetness desired.
• cardamom powder.

Preparation:

1. Peel the raw mango and grate it. Squeeze the grated mango slightly to remove some juice out of it, to reduce the sourness.
2. Grate the jaggery.
3. Mix them together and keep aside for 2 hours so that jaggery and mango gets mixed well.
4. Now add cardamom powder and keep the mixture on low/medium flame till mixture gets thicken.(it gets a silky texture and thick consistency). Stir in between to not stick to bottom of pan.
5. Let it cool down completely and store it in glass jar. It can be refrigerated for 4-5 months.