Scullery experiments : Bengali style prawn curry

Off late, I have become a fan of the prawn curry prepared at my home. Yummm....

Every visit home, I make sure to prepare this dish with some help of course! :)

Here is the quick look at the recipe.

You would need the following ingredients :

• 500 gms of small sized prawns - we usually get it cleaned by the prawn seller 
• 3 Diced onions
• 7-8 pieces of garlic
• 1 Chopped ginger
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 3-4 red chili pieces
• 1 potato cut into cubes
• Turmeric powder
• Chili Powder
• Salt 
• Coriander powder
• Mustard Oil - prefer to cook with mustard oil, it imparts special flavor

But prior to all it, you should marinate the cleaned prawn pieces with turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt as per your taste for about 30 minutes.

Once done with the preparation of the above ingredients:

1. Heat the kadhai and add about 3-4 table spoons of mustard oil in the kadhai. Allow the oil to heat up.

2. Fry the prawns for about 10 minutes.

3. In the meanwhile, prepare a masala using the blender from the following ingredients:

• 2 Diced onions
• 7-8 pieces of garlic
• 1 Chopped ginger
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 3-4 red chili pieces

     Set this masala aside .

4. Once the prawns are fried enough, you will notice the size of the prawns reducing, and its color would become brownish. Turn off the stove once you notice they have been fried aptly – use your judgment. :)

5. Now take another pan or you could use the same pan. Add about 2-3 teaspoons of oil, once hot - add the potato cubes. 

6. Add bay leaf and diced onions and fry them for 5-10 minutes on low flame. The potato should get cooked by this time.

                                                              

7. Pour the prepared mixture of the masalas over the top.

8. Add the required spices like 1 teaspoon each of the turmeric powder, chili powder and little coriander powder.

9. You need to stir and mix the ingredients well. Make sure the masala does not stick to the kadhai.
The sign that the masala is done - the masala will start reducing and the oil will separate from the masala.

10. We are nearing the final steps - add about 1 glass of water and the prawns to the mixture. Add salt as per taste. Cover the lid, allow it all to get cooked for 10 minutes – bring it to boil.

11. And finally the lip smacking crunchy prawn curry is ready.

 ~Bon Appétit!!

P.S All the pictures have been taken by me. :)

Scullery Experiments : Mixed Vegetable Sandwich

Another of my favorite recipe - easy and quick to prepare Mixed Vegetable Sandwich.

Starting with the ingredients:

• 1 finely chopped onion 
• 2 Chilies
• 1 Sliced capsicum
• Finely diced beans
• Finely diced carrots 
• Finely diced 1/2 a slice of potato
• Grated cheese
• Bread
• Amul Garlic and Herbs buttery spread
• Olive oil

Procedure:

- Place the cooking pan on the stove, allow it to heat up - in the mean time you could dice or chop the required vegetables as per your choice.

- Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil, followed by sliced onions and the chilies.

- Allow the onions, chilies to fry for about 2-3 minutes - we need not get them to golden brown.

- Next add the diced potatoes - let it fry for 3-4 minutes.

- Then add the sliced capsicum, finely diced beans and carrots.

- Allow the entire mixture to fry finely - make sure you do not lose the crunchiness.

- Garnish it with chili flakes, Italian seasoning and salt as per taste - and your filling is ready.

Filling

Now we start with the grilling process:

      1. Heat the grilling pan and add about 1 table spoon of olive oil.

       2. Now on each slice of bread, spread the butter on both sides. And place butter coated side of the bread on the pan. I used the Amul Garlic and Herbs buttery spread - it added the extra flavors           to the sandwich.

       3. Stuff the slices of bread with the vegetable filling. Add grated cheese on top and cover it with   another slice of buttered bread.

       4. Grill the sandwiches for about 4-5 minutes, and flip it to help the other side to be grilled equally.

The sandwiches go perfect with a bowl full of smoking hot tomato soup garnished with pepper.

Absolutely healthy and can be had as breakfast or a snacking option.

~Bon Appétit!!

P.S All the pictures have been taken by me. :) 

Scullery experiments : Eggless Chocolate Cake

So an attempt at egg less cake for the occasion of my DAD's birthday - I never believed home made  cake without eggs could even taste good. But to my surprise - it was just flawless!

Here is the recipe for the egg-less cake which I tried my hands at.

You would need the following ingredients:

• 3/4 cup maida
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter/oil/ghee
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup sugar(powdered) - you can make this 3/4 cup if you prefer little less sweet
• 1 cup curd

Get the above ingredients ready. Along side mix the curd and the sugar.

Set the microwave oven to preheat mode. By the time you will be done with mixing the ingredients the microwave will be set for baking.

• Now take a baking bowl and add oil,baking powder,baking soda and a pinch of salt,next add the essence and maida in the above given measurements. 

• Slowly add the curd and sugar mixture.

• Mix the batter well in one direction - and see that you get the proper folds while whipping. You can add little chocolate powder also to make it more chocolaty. :D :D

• Now dress the baking bowl with oil or butter with dab it with maida. This will prevent the cake from sticking to the base, while you are trying to get the cake out of the bowl.

• Transfer the mixture into your required size baking bowl, atop you can add dry fruits like - almonds,raisins,walnuts and cashew nuts. 

Yummy!! I am already drooling thinking about it. :P :P

By now the microwave oven must be preheated with the required temperature. The next step of course would be putting the baking container in the microwave. 

You would need to set it to convection mode for 20 minutes at 220 degrees.You might need to set it for another 10-20 depending on your microwave settings. My microwave oven needs 40 minutes of the convection time.

Do not rest in peace while this is being done. Keep checking at regular intervals if it is getting done appropriately or not.
Use a toothpick rather than a knife to check if all the sides and center of the cake is getting baked aptly or not. You might end up with few tiny-miny holes but never mind. 

By 15 minutes, you would see that the cake is rising.
A tip : never fill the mixture in the baking container till the brim. Always leave room for it to rise.

Use your judgement to find the perfect moment to decide when it is done.

And finally VOILA - you have the cake ready!

Jump on.....

In the microwave

Once out of the microwave

All decorated!

Enjoy!

Another version which I made was adorned with red cherries and grated Hershey's chocolate.

~Bon Appetite!!

P.S.All the above photos have been clicked by me. :D

Scullery experiments : Rajma Masala

Kidney bean popularly known as Rajma. It is majorly cooked and eaten in the northern parts of India.
It is high in nutritional content, and is one of my favorites as well!

It can be served along with rice or roti. For me it goes best with rice. :)

So here is detailed look into the procedure of making our very own desi rajma.

Ingredients needed :

1. Rajma - 1 bowl (soaked overnight for over 8-9 hours)
2. Tomatoes - 1 large
3. Onion - 1 large
4. Ginger - small piece
5. Garlic - 8-10 pieces
6. Chilly - 1
7. Sukhi mirchi
8. Jeera
9. Asafoetida
10. Coriander powder
11. Turmeric
12. Garam masala

First of all you would need to boil the rajmas in a pressure cooker, after having soaked them overnight for over 8-9 hours. Be sure to rinse it prior to boiling.
Your pressure cooker must cry till you get almost 8-10 sittis :P. Do add salt during boiling the rajma itself.

Rajma takes quite some sittis to soften.  It is too adamant you see. :D

As you are boiling the rajmas, you can do few things along side

• chop the onions finely
• chop the tomatoes finely
• slice about 8-10 pieces of ginger - 1 inch in length
• grate the garlic and the chilies together to create a paste

After about 10-12 sittis, if you still see that the rajma hasn't par soften , you can allow one more sitti - do make sure to add more water to the pressure cooker.
Don't let it completely soften, because after adding all the masalas and cooking for a while in the pan - the last step would be to give 2 more sittis.
My mom always follows this - and this somehow has always made the dish more flavorsome for me. :)

Now take a pan, heat some oil. Now add jeera, once in splutters, add sukhi mirchi - this is absolutely optional.
Then add the  finely chopped onions. Saute it for about 5-10 minutes, till they are golden brown. Take care that they do not get burnt - else it would leave a bitterness to the taste. While you are saute-ing the onions, add the salt - this aids in the browning of the onions easily and faster.

Once the onions have turned golden brown and start to caramelize,add the thin slices of ginger and the grated paste of garlic and chilies. Again saute it for about half a minute.

Next step would be to add to it, the tomatoes. Saute for about 2-3 minutes. 

Once the tomatoes soften,now it is time to splurge on the secret ingredients.

Add  

• 1 tea spoon of Coriander Powder
• 1 tea spoon of Garam Masala
• pinch of Asafoetida
• 1/2 a tea spoon of Turmeric powder
• 1/2 a tea spoon of Chili Powder.

Saute the whole mixture gracefully, such as to mix all the ingredients properly. You would need to saute it for about 5 minutes - to make sure the mixture doesn't get burnt.

In the mean while,drain the water of the boiled rajmas and store it - you can use this as a vegetable stock to make the gravy. The stock contains all the needed vital nutrients.

Coming back to our pan :),once you see the oil leaving the masalas, add the boiled rajmas.
Before that make sure that the smell of the masalas vanishes - so give it time to cook. Use your sense of smell, to check for the rawness of the masalas. :D

Add the stock to it.

Stir and mix.

Place the lid on the pan and let it simmer for about 6-7 minutes.

Finally, you need to transfer the contents to the pressure cooker again.Give about 1-2 sittis - use your judgement to get to the right softness of the rajmas.

Serve with garnishing like finely chopped coriander leaves and finely chopped onions(optional)!

And here you are ready with a healthy dish.

~Bon Appetite!!

P.S All the pictures have been taken by me. :D

Scullery experiments : Soya chunks Pasta

 

What do you cook, when you have the urge to have both pasta and soya chunks.

Voila!! Cook a dish, combining both these items - Italian stylo!

I had never cooked this combo ever before, so today I thought to give it a try - and it turned out to be really tasty.

Here is a recipe by a novice cook:

First boil the pastas and the soya chunks, till they are cooked.
Add to the water:
- oil doesn't allow the chunks to stick to each other
- salt of course for the taste.
Remember do not over-boil them - keep checking on it from time to time.

Once the soya chunks are boiled perfectly, soak out the excess water and place them in a separate bowl and add the following to it:

• corn flour or you could use maida also(although it makes kind of sticky)
• soya-sauce
• garlic paste
• ketchup

Note: Use your judgement to add the amount of the above. It may vary with the amount of soya chunks being cooked.

Mix the ingredients well, and set it aside. 

Next, heat a pan with oil. Once it is hot enough, put the mixture of soya chunks for frying. Fry them till they are golden brown.
Note : You need not deep fry them, it should be done on the pan.

Fried soya chunks

Now chop the following ingredients :

• two large onions - cut into square pieces
• garlic - do not slice them, use them as whole. Just use the knife and press the knife's body against the garlic
• ginger - 4-5 long slices
• 2 chilies - sliced open from the center
• one small capsicum(green/yellow/red) - cut into square pieces
• one tomato - chopped into small pieces
• you are free to add other vegetables like broccoli, mushrooms etc.

Chopped onions -garlic-ginger-chilies

Re-heat the pan with oil.

Once hot, add the garlic and chilies - wait till it turns slightly brown, then add the onions and garlic.

Fry them for about 3-4 minutes, allow them to turn golden brown.

Add the capsicum and other vegetables to it.
Cook them for few minutes, but make sure the crunchiness of the vegetables is not lost. 

Add the sliced tomatoes, you could use puree instead.

Let the ingredients cook for few minutes, till the tomatoes have been mashed up.
Add salt to taste.

Finally add the pasta and the fried soya chunks.

Mix all the ingredients together nicely, with a little soya-sauce and ketchup.

Let it cook for about 3-4 minutes.

You can add Italian seasoning and oregano for garnishing and better taste.

And we are done!!! :)

We have a yummy pasta with soya chunks made in a quick 20 minutes.

Yummy pasta with soya chunks

 

~Bon Appetite!!

P.S All the pictures have been taken my me. :D

Scullery experiments : Palak ka paratha

Palak the wonder leafy vegetable having lot of nutrient values. But sadly many don't like to consume it - and among the many is me as well. :D

An innovative way to have it is - Palak Paratha. 

I found it pretty interesting, when one of my room-mates told me about it's recipe. I personally don't like having palak in any other form other than dal palak. :D

But one step at a time for a healthy lifestyle - isn't it?!

Ingredients needed:

• palak - finely chopped
• amchur powder- about 1/2 teaspoon
• ajwain - about 1/2 teaspoon
• red chilli powder
• onion - finely chopped

Make sure to clean the palak leaves extra carefully and before chopping it - squeeze out all the water from it.
Now knead the dough using atta, oil, salt, water and add the above said ingredients to it as well. Try to prepare a soft dough,although the dough would seem to be little sticky because of the palak. Use your cooking skills to judge the amount of water that should go in the dough.

Once knead, leave the dough covered for about 5-10 minutes - this helps in softening of the dough.

- Pre-heat the tawa.

- Divide the dough into small pieces, and carefully roll it to round shape.

- Place the paratha on the tawa, and let it get cooked little bit - flip to check if both sides are equally cooked.

- Once partially done, add oil/ghee as per your choice till both the sides are golden brown and cooked.

- It would take a while for both the sides to get cooked, since it has palak in it. :)

Palak paratha is good snacking option either to be served as breakfast or dinner. It goes best with pickles/sweet chutney or ketchup by far is my best liked option.
It could also be served along with a onion salad,prepared obviously with onions - cut into round shape - and sprinkled with some lime juice and salt .

Just yummy-licious and equally healthy too!! :)

Do try it. :)
 

The dough





~Bon Appetite!!

P.S All the photos have been taken by me. :D

Scullery experiments : Sattu ka paratha

Sattu - is nothing but finely grinded chana dal.Sattu has lot of health benefits and is very nutritious.

Having stayed in Ranchi which was in Bihar earlier and now in Jharkhand, this delicacy is very popular there. Sattu is widely eaten in Bihar and Jharkhand mostly.

Here is the recipe for sattu bhar ke paratha.

Ingredients needed:

• sattu
• garlic -finely chopped
• garlic - 2 slices finely chopped
• mustard oil
• pickle and its oil
• amchur powder- about 1/2 teaspoon
• ajwain - about 1/2 teaspoon
• red chilli powder
• onion - finely chopped (optional - I usually don't add onions)

Mix the above said ingredients nicely, and if the mixture is dry you can add little mustard oil or pickle oil to make it little moist.

- Now knead using atta,oil,salt and water, and prepare a soft dough. Keep the dough covered for some time - this will ensure that the dough becomes soft.

- Pre-heat the tawa.

- Divide the dough into small pieces, and carefully fill it with the stuffing and roll the paratha.While rolling the paratha,be careful - sometimes due to air locked inside, the paratha tears and the stuffing comes out.

- Place the paratha on the tawa,and let it get cooked little bit - flip to check if both sides are equally cooked.

- Once done,add oil/ghee till both the sides are golden brown and cooked.

It can be served as breakfast or dinner with pickles/sweet chutney/curd.

You can also have slices of onions cut into round shape - with some lime juice and salt added.

Just yummy-licious!! :)

Do try it. :)

~Bon Appetite!!