Beetroot Leaf (leaves) Salad

This is a delicious and fresh way to use beetroot leaves. Ever since we started growing beetroots, I have been able to have harvests of fresh leaves throughout the growing season. I used to use these in stir fries and curries. And then I ate this delicious salad at my friend K. J.'s house and I was hooked. I think if you have fresh, tender leaves, this is the most delicious way of enjoying them.

The dressing here is  heated oil which is seasoned, but if you don't have the seasoning ingredients, then just heat up the oil and pour it over.  Just the salt, sugar and lemon juice can be used as dressing. The peanuts add a crunchiness as well as some creamy texture. I love it as a salad ingredient. You can add whole roasted peanuts too instead of powdering them.

Here is a video on the salad preparation

Ingredients

10-15 beetroot leaves

2 tsp oil

1/8 tsp mustard seeds

1/8 tsp cumin seeds

pinch of asafoetida/hing

2 tbsp roasted peanut powder (or use whole roasted peanuts)

lemon juice, to taste

1/4 tsp sugar, to taste

salt to taste

Method

Wash the leaves thoroughly and chop them into bite sized pieces. Grind the peanuts into a coarse powder. You can also leave them whole. In a small pan, heat the oil and add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the hing and turn off the heat. Pour the oil over the leaves. Add the salt, sugar, lemon juice and peanut powder and toss well together. 

A delicious salad is ready to eat. 

Tips

Place wilted leaves in ice cold water for a 10 mins to perk them up to their original crispiness. If you want to add some spice, you can also add a finely cut chili into the oil after adding the hing. Let it cook for a minute before pouring the oil over the leaves. 

Steamed Drumsticks/Moringa Pods

We have several moringa trees and this year we are reaping great harvests from them. One of the things we do is share these with our friends and others on gardening groups. But given the health benefits of the morninga pods and leaves,  I am trying out different recipes to include these. This recipe is a most basic method of cooking the moringa pods. Once they are cooked you can add it in soups, and curries or stir fries. All you need to remember is that the outer covering of mature pods cannot be eaten. Only the inside fleshy part should be eaten.  This recipe also includes a video on how to cook moringa pods and how they should be eaten.

This is probably the easiest and shortest recipe on this blog!

Ingredients
moringa pods/drumstricks/shevga chya shenga
water

Method
Cut the pods into 2/3 inch pieces, lengthwise. The pods should be about 2-3 cms in diameter and if they are really big, they may be too mature and very fibrous. One of the tests is to see if you are able to cut them. If it is really very difficult, then don't use the pod.
Pods that are 2-3 cms in thickness will still feel slightly fibrous while cutting them, but it will be possible to cut them through without excessive pressure on the knife.

Place these in a steamer and steam them for 10-15 mins. The pods should be tender.

You can also use your Instant Pot and pressure cook them for 2 mins on high setting with the vent closed. Or use your traditional stove top pressure cooker and cook them till 1 whistle. Let the pressure release naturally.

The pods will be tender and easily split open. Now they are ready to be used in other curries or eaten as is. I love eating them with just a sprinkle of salt and pepper or dipping them in a dressing or dip.

Use your bottom teeth to scoop out the inside fleshy parts. You can chew on the outer fibrous pod, but make sure to spit it out as the fibers are sharp and can hurt you if swallowed

Tips
Use a variety of dips and dressing to eat these pods.

Cluster Beans with Carom Seasoning - Gavar Bhaji

I have come to the conclusion that distance (and time) makes the heart grow fonder. When I was a child, this was not a vegetable that I liked. I remember a frown on my face when I looked at this vegetable on my plate. Fast forward several years, after not having seen these beans for the longest time, I was surprised that I go so excited to see a packet of the frozen beans. I immediately wanted to cook it just like my Mom used to make it. I rushed home and all I could remember was the taste and the distinct smell of the caraway seeds. So, I let my memories of the taste guide me to make this and it turned out just the way Mom used to. 

These days this has become much more accessible and I can even find the fresh beans in the Indian grocery stores here. I still enjoy eating it though it is commonplace now, because whenever I make it, it takes me back to my childhood days.

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil 

1/8 tsp mustard seeds

pinch of hing/asafoetida

½ tsp carom/ajwain/owa seeds 

1-2 green chilies slit lengthwise

½ lb gavar/ cluster beans, diced

¼ tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

½ tsp sugar (optional)

1 tsp goda masala (optional) – If goda masala is not available, substitute with ½ tsp cumin/jeera powder and ½ tsp coriander/dhania powder

1-2 tbsp water if needed

Method

In a pan, heat the oil and then add the mustard seeds. Once they crackle, add the hing and ajwain. Then add the green chillies and let them cook a little. Then add the turmeric powder, stir and add the cut gavar. Stir to coat the gavar well. If using, add the goda masala or the cumin-corrianger powder and mix well. Add the salt. Cover the pan, switch to low heat and let the beans cook stirring frequently to make sure it doesn’t burn. Once the gavar is cooked, add the sugar, stir well. Serve hot with roti/chapati.

Tips

If the gavar is not tender, and fibrous, it takes longer to cook. In this case, you can add a tbsp. of water to increase the moisture content and to help cook the beans.  

Mixed Vegetable Kurma - Coconut Based Curry

This is a delicious, vegetable rich curry with a coconut base which forms the gravy. I ate this for the first time in a South Indian style restaurant with Uttapam (thick rice pancakes). I absolutely loved it. I  then started making it at home whenever I would have grated coconut on hand. I believe this has its origins in Karnataka. It is very different from the mixed vegetable kurma which is found in North Indian style restaurants where the gravy base is onions and tomatoes.

This pairs very well with phulkas, uttapams and is worth being on a feast menu when served with puris. If is also a great gravy accompaniment with simple pulao. I love this preparation and hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, cut into small cubes

15 green beans, finely diced

1 potato, cut into small cubes

¼ cauliflower, cut into small florets

½ cup peas

2 tbsp oil

¼ tsp cumin seeds/jeera

2 bay leaves/tej patta

salt to taste

water to form the gravy

For the gravy masala paste

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup fresh coconut

4-5 garlic cloves

1 inch ginger

1-2 green chillies (to taste)

¼ cup cilantro/coriander leaves loosely filled (approximately leaves yielding from 10-15 stems)

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp tamarind paste (soak tamarind in warm water and once it is softened, remove seeds and any fibers and extract the pulp from the tamarind)

1 tsp garam masala (optional)

water to grind the ingredients together to form a thick paste

Method

Blend all the ingredients listed under the fresh coconut masala paste into a fine thick paste. Cut all the vegetables into approximately similar sized pieces. To reduce the overall cooking time, you can steam cook these or cook these in the microwave till partially cooked. Do not overcook them. It is not necessary to semi-cook the vegetables. It will just take a little longer for the kurma to cook if raw vegetables are added. If using frozen peas, just thaw them. Do not cook them with other vegetables as thawed peas cook really quickly.

Heat a pan. Add oil and then cumin seeds and bay leaves. Once the cumin seeds crackle, add the coconut paste and cook it till the raw smell of onion and garlic goes away and it starts to brown slightly. Next add the cut vegetables – the carrots, beans, peas, potato and cauliflower. Stir to coat these in the coconut masala and let these cook for a few minutes. Then add about ½-1 cup of water to create a gravy, based on your preference. Add salt to taste. Let the vegetables boil till completely cooked.

Serve hot with chapati, puri or uttapam.

Tips

Do not use cold or frozen coconut directly when making the masala paste. Thaw it and warm it a little. If it is very cold, the oil will separate out during the grinding process. Also, use warm water to grind the masala. You can also add 10-12 cashews (not roasted, raw) to the paste to give it a richer taste.

Achari Aloo - Potatoes tempered with Indian pickle spices

I am updating my blog after several months. As it happens, things have become very hectic and I haven't had the energy to update the blog. I have received some really nice feedback on my site in the past few months and I have been motivated and looking for some spare time in which I could compose a recipe. I am hoping I an interrupted hour as I type this.

For those that are regular readers of my blog, you know that I recently started cooking and experimenting with chicken dishes. Also, that some members of my family are vegetarian while others relish chicken and other meat. So, when I make chicken, I need to make sure that I have a good vegetarian meal by its side as well. I decided to make "achari chicken" earlier this week. I thought what I could make as a vegetarian entree and I thought why not make "achari potatoes" using the same gravy base. It turned out to be a great idea and both turned out lip smacking delicious.

So what is "achari"? "Achar or Aachaar" in Hindi means pickle. The concept behind Indian pickles is the same as everywhere else, it is used to preserve some kind of a vegetable in brine. However, this brine is also tempered with different spices. The spices used vary from region to region and every household has their own special recipe. So, this dish uses the same spices that are used for pickles that are usually made in Northern part of India and have components like onion and fennel seeds. If you have a mixed Punjabi pickle which uses a similar spice profile, addition of a little of this pickle to finish the dish gives it a restaurant quality taste.

Ingredients

For the gravy
1 tbsp oil
1 large red onion, finely chopped
3 tomatoes (canned or fresh), finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
1/ 2 cup yogurt, well beaten
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/8- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder - to taste
1-2 green chillies - to taste
4-5 potatoes - peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
salt to taste
1/2 cup water (more if gravy becomes to thick)
1 tbsp Punjabi mixed pickle (same spice profile) - optional

For the tempering
1 tbsp oil (mustard if available)
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
10-12 black peppercorns
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/8 tsp kalonji/onion seeds
1-3 red chillies (dried), to taste
1/4 tsp crushed coriander seeds
6-8 methi/fenugreek seeds

Method
Heat oil in a pan and add the onions. Saute them till they start to brown and add the ginger garlic paste. Cook till well browned and then add the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are cooked down add turmeric, chilli powder and the green chillies. Mix well and let this cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the yogurt and let this cook till the mixture thickens a bit and the yogurt starts to look cooked.

While the gravy is being cooked, heat oil for tempering in a separate pan. Add the mustard and cumin and once it starts to crackle, add the rest of the spices and then turn the heat off. Let the spices bloom in the hot oil.

Add the potatoes to the gravy and salt to taste. Add some water and stir. Then add the tempering, cover the pan and let the potatoes cook. Keep stirring and cook till the potatoes are cooked through but stop before they over cook or get mushy.

If you have Punjabi mixed pickle, add a tbsp of this to the curry just as the potatoes are done cooking and mix well. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve hot with white rice or naan or chapati.

Tips
To shorten the time needed to brown the onion, add some salt after you add the chopped onions. This helps pull out the moisture from the onion and helps in browning the onions faster.  Canned tomatoes are precooked and will cook faster. A good ingredient to have on hand when you need to cook something elaborate in a short amount of time. To crush coriander seeds, use whole seeds and lightly pound them in a mortar and pestle to open them up. Do not grind them into a powder form. Fenugreek is bitter, so use a little. Avoid the temptation to increase the amount a lot even if you scale up the quantity of the dish. Beat the yogurt well and make sure it is smooth before you add it to the gravy to reduce the curdled look. As the yogurt gets cooked down, it will get an even look. Use mustard oil for the seasoning if possible to get an authentic flavor. 

A Simple Mixed Salad

It has been a long while since I last updated my blog. Well, as they say life happens and I have barely been able to come up for a breather, least of all update my blog for a while. So, I must say that this is possibly my return to blogging post. With the advent of the new year, it feels that I must get back to things that I have fun doing.

As you may have noticed, as soon as January starts, there are advertisements for gym memberships and almost every magazine that I have glanced at has had something related to healthy eating. Getting into the same spirit, I thought it  best to start off with a very simple but delicious salad recipe.

This has to be one of the easiest salads that you can make. It is a combination of vegetables, leafy vegetables and fruits. Because of the flavor combinations of these components, you don't need additional dressings for the salad. You can always dress it with balsamic vinaigrette, or sesame ginger dressing or even a creamy dressing, but it will taste great with just salt and paper too. It is a great summer recipe, since a plethora of vegetables and fruits are available in this season. You can modify the recipe based on what fruits and vegetables you find as well. It is a perfect light meal or snack.

Ingredients
1 cup grapes, sliced in halves
1 cup raspberries
3 cups organic mixed greens, chopped
1/2 cup of mixed sweet bell peppers (yellow, red or orange), sliced
1 orange, sliced and diced into bite sized pieces
1/4 cabbage, sliced
salt to taste
pepper to taste
readymade salad dressing (Optional)

Method
Toss the veggies together along with the cut grapes and orange pieces. Sprinkle salt and pepper and mix well.  Add the raspberries, the last after the heavy all the ingredients are tossed well and then gently mix them into the salad.

Serve cold.

Tips
Raspberries are fragile, so it is best to keep them last and adding them just before you intend to serve the salad. If you use a dressing (I would recommend a light dressing like ginger sesame or balsamic vinaigrette or italian dressing), then too toss the raspberries gently with a little dressing, just by themselves and add them to the salad.

Caramelized Sweet Potatoes - No Sugar Added

Sweet potatoes is a root vegetable which is loaded with nutrients. It is very popular in India as a food to be eaten the days when one is fasting. Growing up I ate several versions of this. Boiled with milk, boiled with sugar sprinkled on it, and also cooked in ghee, with sugar. The one cooked in ghee was my  favorite version of this until I came across this recipe. This has got to be the best recipe that I have come across for cooking sweet potatoes. Before this, I hadn't realized how sweet, sweet potatoes really are. This is a recipe from my Cook's Illustrated book, that I came across when I was trying to select sides to go with a meal I was making, when entertaining a few friends. It was a festive occasion and I wanted to make an elaborate meal with new dishes. This is an easy, recipe. The cooking time is lengthy, but the preparation time is very short and there is really very little you have to do when the potatoes are cooking.

I made this the first time around, but ever since then, my husband has always made them and he will always get sweet potatoes every time he goes grocery shopping. It is so delicious and sweet, that you could also eat it as a dessert sometime. And it is completely sugar free!! Can you believe it? If not read on and do give it a try. This is my favorite sweet potato recipe and it may become your favorite recipe too!

Ingredients
4 large sweet potatoes
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Method
Wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly, scrubbing them well to remove any dirt. You can leave the skin on or peel them. Cut these into 1/2 inch thick disks, discard the ends. Drizzle the oil on it, sprinkle some salt and pepper on it and toss these well together, to coat all the slices.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Spray oil on the foil. Line the potato slices in one layer on the foil. Then take another piece of foil and cover the baking sheet with this foil, crimping it on the sides with your fingers, so that it is nicely fitted around the sheet and forms a seal.
Now place this baking tray on the center rack of your cold oven. Do not pre-heat the oven. Once the potatoes are in the oven, set the temperature to 425F and let these potatoes cook for 30  minutes. Then remove the tray from the oven. Remove the foil covering the potatoes and then place the tray back into the oven for 10-20 minutes. Keep a check on the potatoes after 10 minutes and once you see the bottom of the slices caramelizing, remove it from the oven. Then flip all the potato slices and cook these for another 10-20 minutes till the slices have caramelized on the other side.

Serve warm, though these taste great even when cold.

Tips
You can scale this recipe up or down easily. Just make sure to scale the oil accordingly. You need a quantity of oil that is just enough to coat the slices.

Make sure to clean the potatoes really well if you plan to keep the skin on. Spraying the foil is important to make sure the potatoes do not stick to the base as they caramelize.
Once the caramelizing process starts, it is important to keep a check on the potatoes, as they can burn easily. Hence the range of 10-20 minutes is given. I have sometimes seen caramelizing occur in 10-12 minutes and sometimes at 18 minutes depending on the number of potato slices being cooked.

The original recipe called for the potatoes to be peeled and the oven to be cold at the start of the cooking process. However, through the months that we have made this, we have been successful at getting a great end result even with leaving the skins on and putting the potatoes in the oven after it had preheated to 425F. We have even cooked it with covering it with the foil and the result was still delicious. So, overall I think this is a very forgiving recipe and an easy one to make.

Butternut Squash Soup

I have been unable to update the blog during the past couple of months. However, it was for a very good reason. I participated in my first Art fair where I presented jewelry designed and created by me. So, I spent most of my nights and weekends working on these jewelry  pieces. It was a great experience and it felt good that so many people appreciated my work. I have also been working on my first video post, but that still needs a bit of work, before I can publish it. So, that is something else that I am looking forward to. With those updates I will go onto the recipe.

This is a wonderful, velvety soup. Butternut squash is a kind of pumpkin that can be found in the grocery stores almost through the year. I use it to make a pasta sauce, as well as, stir fry it. It also makes a great side dish. It makes the most delicious soup. The sweet taste of the squash is balanced using the onions. This is a great winter soup and since it is a thick soup, it can also be a light meal. 

Ingredients

1 butternut squash

1 small red onion or 2 shallots, diced

1 tbsp butter or oil

2-3 cups of water/vegetable broth

salt to taste

Method

The butternut squash has a very tough exterior skin and it is difficult to slice it through or to peel it. So be careful when you are handling the squash. Cut the squash along the length of the squash. Remove the strands and the seeds at the center of the squash. Apply a little oil to the squash (inside and out) and then bake the two pieces, cut side down, in the oven at 350 F. Alternately, make a few more pieces and pressure cook the squash. It takes about 30-40 mins for the squash to get cooked and softened in the oven and about 15 mins in the pressure cooker. Then, take the squash out and once it cools, scoop out the squash with a spoon. Discard the skin/peel. 

In a saucepan, heat the butter and add the diced onions. Once the onion is cooked and softened, add the scooped out squash. Cook the butternut squash for a couple of minutes and then add the water or broth. Add salt. Let it boil for a minute and then puree the mixture, till you get a fine velvety consistency.  This is a thick soup and it will taste watered down if it is made too thin. Garnish with some cream and pumpkin seeds. Serve hot.

Tips

The easiest way to remove the strands and seed is to use a spoon with sharp edges and scoop it out. If the soup is watery, boil it for a few mins. You can also dissolve a little cornflour in water and then add the paste into the soup to thicken it if it is too thin. If it is too thick, then add some additional water.

Green Peas Gravy - A Rich Peas Preparation for Special Occasions

This is a recipe made using fresh green peas. I remember the good old days, when I used to spend, what seemed like hours, shelling peas with my mom. When the peas were tender and sweet, most of them used to end up going into my mouth rather than the bowl. And it always seemed unfair that the heap of shells used to be much larger than the small mound of peas in the bowl. Ah the good old days. I haven't done this for several years now because all I can find in the way of fresh peas in the local grocery stores in the US are snap peas or snow peas. These are so tender, that the peas are barely formed and they are meant to be eaten, shell and all. The frozen peas, which I use instead, are a great convenience and make it much easier to make any dish with peas. However, these are generally sweet and not best suited for spicy curry preparations. But one must make do with what one can find and try to make the best of it.
I am always on the look out for fresh peas, shelled or un-shelled and am hopefully that I will run across this sometime soon.

This is my Mom's recipe and a fantastic one. It needs time and preparation before you can start the cooking process, and the cooking process is lengthy as well, but the end result is finger licking delicious. If made with fresh peas and fresh coconut,  a lot of manual labor is involved, in terms of shelling peas and grating the coconut. That was probably the reason that my Mom made it as a treat and it has been my most favorite peas preparation to date. It tastes amazing with puris or hot chapatis and I too save it for celebratory occasions when I have time to make it right. The last time I made it was a few months ago when I had invited my friends over for lunch and it was a great hit. I hope you make it and it becomes one of your favorites too.

Ingredients
1.5 tbsp oil
1 large or 2 medium red onions, diced finely
1 cup fresh coconut, grated
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1-2 green chillies to taste
1/8 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp dhania jeera/ corriander cumin powder
1/8 tsp turmeric
2 cups frozen peas, washed
salt to taste
2 tbsp to 1/4 cup water to grind ingredients
1- 2 cups water for the gravy

Method
Grind together the coconut, green chilli, cumin seeds and some salt. Add water to the mixture depending on your blender. Add as little as possible to get a smooth paste.
In a pan, heat oil and add the onion to it. Fry the onion till well cooked. Then add the coconut paste as well as ginger and garlic. Fry this mixture, stirring the ingredients often so they don't burn, till it is well browned. The ingredients need to be so well cooked and fried, that you can see the oil start to separate out.  Do this on low heat. If this is done on high heat, the ingredients at the base of the pan will start to burn while the ones at the top will remain under cooked. Then, add the turmeric powder, garam masala and dhania jeera powder and fry this for a couple of minutes. Finally, add the peas and stir to cover them well with the spices. Frozen peas don't need a lot of time to cook through. Finally, add enough water to form a semi thick gravy. Add salt to taste and let the gravy boil for a few minutes. Serve hot with puris or chapati.

Tips
Since you cook the recipe on low heat, it takes about 20-30 minutes for the ingredients to brown. Avoid the temptation of turning up the heat. Cook it on a day when you have the luxury to spend a lot of time to prepare this dish.
You can also use fresh peas instead of frozen peas. If you use fresh peas directly, then it will take longer for the peas to get cooked through as they boil. To speed you the process, you can also boil the peas in a separate pot while your onion mixture gets cooked. Add a tsp of salt to the water. Use enough water to cover the peas. Cook till soft. Then, put them in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain and keep aside. You can use these instead of the frozen peas.

Navratan Korma - A Royal Vegetable Dish

I wish all the readers of my blog a very Happy New Year. I hope 2013 brings you good health, happiness and great food. Since food tastes good only when the cook is happy, I hope each day of yours is filled with great joy which in turn will lead to tastier food.

I have been wondering what recipe I should start the new year with and I couldn't make up my mind. Should I start with a starter and follow through with a complete meal or shall I start with a decadent sweet? Well inspiration just struck and I sat down to pen down this wonderful recipe. This is a medley of vegetables, in a rich, flavorful sauce which is also a little sweet. The dish is called "Navratan Korma". "Navratan" means nine gems and "Korma" means a medley. So literally it is a dish which has at least 9 starring ingredients, mainly vegetables, fruit or dry fruit and paneer. It is cooked in a rich cashew based sauce traditionally with cream added to finish it off. I wanted to lighten the recipe. Also, as I was planning to serve this to many people, I did not want to use any nuts in case of allergies. It was a great success and I must say that I received the best compliments from my friend's nine year old who not only ate all the vegetables, but asked for seconds and told her Mom that this was one of the best vegetable curry she had ever tasted.

Ingredients
1 large red onion, finely diced
1 tbsp + 1tsp butter
3-4 canned whole tomatoes (puree it)
1 tsp corriander/dhania powder
red chilli powder to taste
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp corriander-cumin powder (dhania jeera powder)
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 green chilli, sliced into 2 pieces
1 potato, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 cup peas
1/4 cauliflower, florets separated into medium size pieces
1/2 cup  green beans, diced
6-7 baby corns, diced into 1 inch pieces (I used canned baby corn)
1/2 cup paneer, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
3-4 sliced of pineapple (I used the ones which are canned, but not in syrup)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup low fat milk
3/4 cup cream
salt to taste
1 cup water

Method
Heat 1 tsp butter in a flat pan, sprinkle some salt and shallow fry the paneer pieces till they are lightly browned on all sides. Keep aside.

Heat the butter in a pan which will be able to accommodate all the vegetables. Add the red onion and saute it till it is softened and translucent. Then add the ginger garlic paste, and the green chilli and fry this till the raw smell goes away. Next, add the tomato puree and cook this mixture for a few minutes. Stir and do not let this brown. Then add the turmeric, garam masala, dhania jeera powder and dhania powder. Stir and fry these spices for 2-3 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup water. Then, add the potatoes, green beans, carrots, cauliflower and red bell pepper and boil this for a few minutes, till the vegetables a partially cooked through. Then, add the rest of the vegetables, the corn, pineapple, and the peas. And finally add the paneer. Cook all of the ingredients together till the all the vegetables, especially the potatoes and cauliflower are cooked through. Then, in a small bowl, mix the milk and cream together and slowly add this mixture to the gravy. Add salt and raisins and boil for a couple of minutes. Serve hot, with some naan or tandoori roti. You can garnish this with some grapes.

Tips
Feel free to choose any combination of vegetables. You can use fewer than 9 ingredients as well. If you do not want the sweet tinge, then don't add the pineapple and raisins. If you want a richer gravy, then soak 1/4 cup of raw cashews for a couple of hours and make a paste of these cashews.  Add this paste along with the cream instead of milk. You can also add yogurt instead of cream. Make sure to whisk it till it is smooth.
I used canned baby corn and pineapple. If you use the fresh version, then remember the cooking time will increase and you should either add it in along with the potatoes (specially the corn) or may be semi-cook these in the microwave for a minute before adding to the gravy.
If you don't have canned tomatoes, then you can use fresh tomatoes. To peel them, boil water, then add the tomatoes to the boiling water. As soon as you see the skin is starting to tear up, remove these and put them in a bowl of cold water (ice water is preferred). It will be very easy to remove the skins then.

Vegetable Dum Biryani - Exotic Basmati Rice Dish with Vegetables

This is the third recipe from the first menu : a rice dish. Rice plays a prominent role in an Indian menu. Just as Naan/Roti or Chapati is necessary in an Indian meal, so is rice. If it is an elaborate rice preparation with lots of spices and vegetables or meat, then it is generally served along with a raita or yogurt. Else, you would serve plain or lightly flavored rice with a dal preparation.

Biryani is a very flavorful recipe that has its origin in the Mughal cuisine. Dum (which means pressure) Biryani traditionally is made by cooking the rice with vegetables or meat in an earthen pot, which is sealed and cooked on hot coals. It is an elaborate recipe and again a popular feature in restaurant menus. When you look at the rice section,  you will find many variations listed on a restaurant menu, which are mainly based on the ingredients that are cooked along with rice. Vegetable biryani is my favorite rice dish. I had tried to make this a few years ago, however I found the process very laborious. So, I was reduced to relying on ordering it at restaurants.

A couple of years ago my friend made a delicious vegetable biryani and she swore that it was a very easy method that she used, with lots of shortcuts. And, of course I kept requesting her to make it every chance I got. Then I spoke to another friend about the way she makes her vegetable biryani and she also said that it is a simple recipe and gave me the detailed method of making it. Finally I was convinced and decided to give it a try. So, I  married the two recipes, using the short cuts that my first friend suggested and using some of the additional exotic spices and yogurt from the second recipe and the result was absolutely delicious and also very easy to make. With this recipe I am no longer daunted by this exotic rice dish and I can't wait to make it  again.

Ingredients
for the garnish
2 large red onion, sliced into thin slices
1/4 cup cashewnuts
1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

for the marinade
1/2 cauliflower, separate into florets
1-2 carrots, cut into thick slices or diced into thick pieces
1 cup peas
1/2 cup french/green beans cut into 1/2 inch long pieces
1 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
2 green chillies
4 garlic cloves
1.5 inch ginger
3 javentri flowers (optional - see tips)
3 tbsp biryani masala
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup mint leaves, cut chiffonade style into thin ribbons
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped finely
1/4 cup fried onion
1 tbsp oil

for the rice
2 cups basmati rice
2 bay leaves
2 javentri flowers (optional)
2  inch long cinnamon pieces
2 black cardamoms/badi elaichi
5 cloves
2 cups of vegetable broth (optional. replace with water if not available)
2 cups water
salt to taste

Method
Slice the red onions. Separate the slices out and let it dry for a couple of hours. Then deep fry the onion till golden brown and crisp. Drain on a paper towel and keep aside. Use 1/4 cup of this in the marinade and the rest as garnish. Roast the cashew nuts in a little oil till lightly brown.

Make a fine paste of the green chillies, ginger and garlic.
Take yogurt in a bowl deep enough to hold all the vegetables. Then add in the chilli, ginger and garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, salt, lemon juice, biryani masala, mint leaves, cilantro leaves, javentri flowers, crushed fried onion, oil and mix well. Then add the vegetables to this mixture and set this aside for at least an hour up to 8 hours (or overnight).

Wash the rice three times and discard the water. Then add in the 2 cups broth and 2 cups water. If you don't have vegetable broth, add 4 cups of water. Add the bay leaves, javentri flowers, black cardamon, cinnamon, cloves and salt to taste and cook the rice using your preferred method. Be careful to not overcook the rice. In fact you want it a little underdone as it will finish cooking with the vegetables in the oven.

Now, take a deep oven proof glass dish or an oven proof deep pot with an oven safe cover. Next, we need to layer the vegetables and rice alternately and then cook this in the oven. Start off with layering the vegetables at the base of the pan. Then garnish this with a handful of crushed onion, cashews and some mint and cilantro leaves and then spread a layer of rice on top of the vegetables. If it is a large pan, you may end up with just these two layers. If it is a narrower pan, then you may get two vegetables layers alternated with two rice layers. Keep layering till you are done. The base layer should be vegetables and the top layer should be the rice layer. Finally garnish the top with fried onions, cashews, cilantro and mint leaves.

Now, cover the pan completely with aluminium foil. There shouldn't be any vent created in the foil, so double wrap it if needed. If  the pan has a lid, then place this oven safe lid on the foil covered pan and cook it in the oven for about an hour at 350F. The vegetables will create steam as they cook in the heat and that will help complete the cooking process for the rice (creating the "dum" effect). Serve hot with raita or yogurt.

Tips
Javentri flowers are difficult to find, even in the Indian stores. I couldn't find them here and when I was visiting San Jose, I chanced upon them at an Indian store there, I bought a large packet. These have a mild nutmeg like smell and their main function is to add a nice fragrance to the rice. However considering there are several other spices that are used, it is not an essential ingredient, so don't let that stop you from making this recipe.
I prefer to cook the rice in a pressure cooker for one whistle and then I take it completely off the heat and let   it cool.  Sometimes, I just boil it in a saucepan, keeping it partially covered and take it off the heat when it is semi cooked. Initially, I  used to use a glass oven safe dish to cook the biryani, however I realized that my cooking pot is also oven safe and have started using that as it is a wider and deeper pot.
You can use frozen vegetables as well instead of using fresh vegetables. Just rinse them in water and then add to the marinade.
If you are using broth, then be careful about adding salt when rice is being cooked. Broths are already salted, even the low sodium ones.
If you can find fried onions and roasted cashews, you can directly use those and skip the step of preparing the garnish.

Aloo Gobhi - Curried Potatoes and Cauliflower

This is the other curry dish that I had in the first menu list. Aloo in Hindi means potato and Gobhi is cauliflower. It is again a very popular dish. Aloo gobhi can easily be found on any Indian restaurant menu, especially in the US. It is a great preparation. It is simple to make, and very tasty. It has very few components and is probably one of the simplest recipes in the Indian cuisine. I always wonder how and why such a simple dish finds such prominence on Indian restaurant menus and perhaps it is because of the simplicity that it is such an attractive dish. Well whatever the reason, it is great on a party menu or as part of your weekday dinner. It also doesn't need a lot of fussing with and you can let it cook, while you get other things ready.

Ingredients
2-3  tbsp oil
1/8 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1 inch ginger, cut into thin strips
2 potatoes, diced into medium pieces
1 cauliflower separated into individual florets
1-3 green chillies, to taste, slit along the length
salt to taste
cilantro to garnish (optional)

Method
Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds to it. Once they start to crackle and turning a light brown, add the asafetida, green chillies, ginger. Fry for a minute till you can smell the fragrance of the ginger and then add the turmeric. Immediately add the potatoes and stir well. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the cauliflower florets. Next add the salt. Stir so that the cauliflower florets are also well coated with the tempered oil and salt and then let it all cook till the vegetables are cooked through. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Tips
You can reduce the oil to 2 tbsp when using a non stick pan. You can cover the pan to speed up the cooking process. However, be careful and remember to take if off every few minutes and check. It is easy to overcook the potato when the pan is covered and it will get mushy.