THE KITCHEN AFFAIRE

This is a dish I invented for my dearest hubby. Easy and yummy, thats the keyword. The best part is that your workplace is not strewn with food. Arun loves taking this to office. He can gobble this up and run for meetings. The phrase "Grab lunch" goes perfectly with "Stuffed Chappathi"!! :D  Let me start with the prep for you! Ingredients Chappathi - 4 For the stuffing Cumin Seeds - 1/2 t Onion, chopped - 1 Potato, mashed - 3 Carrot, mashed - 1 Cabbage, chopped - 1 C Cauliflower (If you have) - a few florets Turmeric Powder - 1 t Red Chilli Powder - 1.5 t Coriander Powder - 1 t Mango/Amchur Powder - 1 t Salt - to taste Oil - 2 T Method Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Add onions and fry till they turn translucent Once the onions are cooked, add all the masala powders and keep stirring. Add rest of the vegetables and saute again. Add extra oil if you feel that the vegetables are sticking to the pan. Sim the heat and c...

The first time I heard about "Chipotle" was from Arun. Now I am an ardent fan of "Chipotle" too, like him. :D Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast food restaurant chain. The name "Chipotle" means dried jalapeno chilli pepper in Spanish. For us vegetarians, this is a very relishing cum healthy fast food option. It is at "Chipotle" that I had "Gaucamole" for the first time. "Gaucamole" is a spanish dip and I have to say that it was awesome. It looked a lil' too green but it tasted too good and reminded me of "Mike Wazowski" (Monsters Inc.). :D Try this out folks. You will love it. Ingredients Avocados - 1 Jalapeno pepper/Green Chilli - 1/2/1 Red onion, chopped - 1/4 Cilantro, chopped - 2 T Lime juice - 1/2 t Salt - 1/4 t Method Shell out the avocado pulp into a bowl. Add rest of the ingredients into it and mash until it forms a smooth paste like consistency. Adjust lime juice & salt to taste. ...

I preferred making homemade Pav Bhaji Masala rather than using the store bought powder. And I can gurantee, this PBM powder is just awesome :) Seriously!! Try it out naah. :) Ingredients 1T or 2 T of all these: Cumin seeds Methi seeds Fennel seeds Coriander seeds Pepper Ajwain Chilli flakes Cloves - 4 Amchur powder Dry garlic Cinnamon - 1" pc Cardamon - 2 Method Roast the above spices in a pan for 10 mins. You will know when they are ready as a mouthwatering aroma spreads around the kitchen. :) Simply grind this in a mixer/blender. And there you go!! Fresh homemade PBM powder. Oyee!!! Chakh de phatte!!!! ;)

Pav bhaji or Pao bhaji is one of the most popular fast food items that you can find in most cities.Pav bhaji consists of a potato based curry and "pav" which is bread. Its history takes us to Mumbai.Yes, we should thank Mumbaikars on bringing out this relishing dish to us. Though Pav bhaji was introduced to the world by Mumbaikars and to me by my mom ;) Not exactly. The first timeI had Pav bhaji was on a trip to Delhi. But that was quite some while back. Don't remember much!! So I can remember onlyMoms homemade pav bhaji. Moms Pav bhaji was not the Mumbaiah one but it was yummy too.Well, I wanted to always try homemade authentic Pav Bhaji. Now that I rule this kitchen, I gave it a try.Who else could I go to for such authentic recipe other than Tarla Dalal.I was an ardent fan of her cookery show on Star Plus and still follow her website, www.tarladalal.com. Voilaaa!! The Pav Bhaji came out great. Not simply great it was fantabulous. Really guys. I loved itand so did...

There was a time when I just dint like the look of Rajma forget eating. hi hi :D But Mummy was pretty insistent on us eating all kinds of veg stuff, no matter what we said.  She would continue making everything, we like it or not. :D One cool trick to make kids eat. Well of course, I am glad Mom did coz now I just loveee Rajma. :D he he.. And here is her yummy recipe. Thank you Mommy. Ingredients Kidney beans/Rajma - 2 C Cumin seeds - 1 t Onion - 1 1/2 Tomato - 1 Garlic - 2 Cloves Ginger - 1 T Garam masala - 1/2 t Turmeric powder - 1/2 t Red chilli powder - 1/2 t Coriander powder - 1/2 t Chopped coriander - few Salt as per taste Method Cook kidney beans/Rajma with 1 t salt in a pressure cooker until soft (upto 3/4 whistles). Heat oil in a pan and fry onions in them till translucent. Keep it aside and allow to cool and grind them to fine paste. Heat the oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and allow it to sizzle. Add the ground paste, chilli, g...

The first time I tried Palak Paneer was right after marriage. It wanted to try my hands on a lot of dishes, this being one among them. :) Spinach, like any other leaf, is very good for health. It is best when had without frying. And this is one "subzi" (curry) which can be cooked without frying spinach. Of course, there are others too. :) Paneer adds to the flavor. Friends, try this out. You may not love it like others but you cant hate it. And hey, its healthy!!! :D Ingredients Spinach - a bunch Paneer - 1 C Tomato - 1 Green chilli - 4 Onion - 1/2 Ginger-garlic paste - 1/2 t Cilantro - 1/2 t Coriander powder - 1/2 t Cumin powder - 1/2 t Cashews - 1/2 C Salt to taste Method Wash spinach and cut them into several pieces. Boil a pan of water. As the water starts boiling, add the cut spinach and green chilies into it. Mix until the leaves are wilted and turn off heat. Allow the leaves to cool for a few mins. Add the leaves and salt to t...

Another of my favorite punjabi dish (curry). Chole Batura was a "sure to order" item for all of my restaurant visits in India. And of course, Mummy made really yummy Chole Batura once in a while too, mostly when we had guests coming over. In fact, I was so in love with Chole that I used to have it along with the Kerala special "Puttu". :D Another time when I had yummy unforgettable Chole experience was at one of my closest friend, Nidhi's (Punjabi) place. It had that special Punjabi touch to it. :) Ingredients Kabuli Channa/Garbanzo Beans – 2 C Water – 8 cups Black Cardamom – 1 Bay Leaf – 1 Cinnamon Stick – 1″ Pc Salt – to taste Oil – 1.5 T Asafoetida – a pinch Tomatoes(Chopped) – 2 Anardana – 1/2 t Red Chili Powder – 1/2 t Dry Mango Powder (Amchur) – 1/2 t Method Soak Channa overnight. Move Channas along with the soaked water into the pressure cooker. To this, add cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom & Salt. Cook this mix in ...