Mushroom Masala

Got this recipe from my friend Adarsha exactly when I needed it. It was one of those days when I could not decide what to make for dinner and have nothing in the refrigerator other than mushrooms. This is a great recipe, the mushrooms did turn out decent even though I did not have tomatoes and other ingredients. Thank you Adarsha.


Here's what you'll need:

For the masala:
Onion coarsely chopped - 1 large
Tomatoes - 2-3
Cloves - 4-5
Cinnamon - 1'' stick
Cardamom - 2 pods
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 4-5 or red chilly powder - 1 tsp or to taste.
Cashew nuts - 10
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a pan, add cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper and fry for a few seconds. Add onion and fry till it turns golden brown.
Add red chillies/chilly powder, garam masala powder and fry for 2 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook till done.
Add cashew nuts and grind it to a smooth paste. Set aside.

Mushroom, cleaned and diced - 1 lb
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Bay leaf - 1
Butter - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Lime juice - 2 tsp/ to taste

Heat oil in the pan, add bay leaf and ginger garlic paste.
Add mushroom, masala paste, salt and cook till mushrooms are done.
Add butter and lime juice before serving.

Eerulli/onion chutney

There many ways to make onion chutney, some people use coconut and some use channa dal/urad dal. I like mine with just onion and red chillies. Here's what you'll need:


Onion, coarsely chopped - 2 large
Red chillies - 4-5 or to taste
Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2-3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Heat a table spoon of oil in a pan and add onion and red chillies, fry till onions turn golden brown. Let it cool. Add tamarind paste, salt and grind to a smooth paste. You'll not have to add water.
Heat oil in the same pan, add mustard seeds after they splutter, add hing and the onion paste. Give it a good mix and let the chutney cool before you serve.

Alugadde palya/ Potato side dish

Alugadde palya is synonym with masala dose, masala dosa minus potato palya can never exist. Another popular combination is puri and alugadde palya, you can serve it with chapatis also. This mix can also be used to make alugadde bonda.


Here's what you'll need:
Potatoes - 5-6
Onion, chopped - 1 large
Green Chillies - 6-7 or to taste
Ginger, grated - 1'' piece
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Cilantro - few sprigs

Boil, peel and mash potatoes. I find it easier to put the whole potatoes in the microwave oven and cook for 10 minutes. It is a much easier way to cook potatoes than using a pressure cooker. Let the potatoes cool, peel and mash them. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, once they splutter, add channa dal and fry for a minute.
Add chopped onion and green chillies. Fry till onion turns golden brown.
Add curry leaves, ginger and give it a gentle mix. Add salt, turmeric powder and the mashed potatoes. Mix well.
Garnish with cilantro. Optionally you can add a teaspoon of lime juice.

Dosa

Dosa is an integral part of any South Indian menu. There are hundreds of variations of dosa, simplest ones that can be made from just rice or sooji and hugely popular dosa, the Masala dosa which has red chilly and garlic paste spread on it while it is cooked and served with spicy potato. My favorite is the rupai doas (translates to Rupee dosa) which was made at home when I was a kid, its a no brainer, just small dosas the size of a rupee coin when there was very little batter left.


Here's what you'll need:
Rice - 2 cups
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Chana dal - 1/4 cup
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp (dosa turns bitter if extra methi seeds are added)
Salt to taste
Oil - 2-4 tbsp

Wash and soak all the above ingredients for 3-4 hours and grind to a smooth paste adding water as needed. Add salt and mix well. Let it ferment overnight. In cooler climate, the batter will not ferment overnight, heat the oven at 350F for 2-3 minutes and then put the batter in the oven.

Using a ladle pour the batter over a hot griddle and spread the batter to a circle. After dosa cooks flip it and cook the other side. Apply oil as necessary.

You can serve dosas with spicy potato or chutney.

Shavige kheer

Shavige/vermicelli kheer is simple, easy and can be made in a jiffy. It was the first ever sweet dish I learnt to make. And every time my college friends visited me, I would make this. This is for my friend V who'd always complain that Shavige kheer was the only decent thing that I could make back then.

Here's what you'll need:
Vermicelli - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup. I prefer less sugar, alter this according to your taste.
Milk - 3 cups
Ghee - 2 tsp
Raisin, Cashewnuts - few
Saffron - few strands (optional)
Cardamon - 2-3 few pods crushed

Heat ghee in a pan and fry raisin and cashew nut till light brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, fry vermicelli till it turns light brown. Add milk and let the vermicelli cook till its soft. You can add a little water to alter the consistency of the kheer.
Add sugar, give the kheer a good mix and throw in the fried raisin, cashew nuts and cardamom powder.
I'd like to add the saffron strands towards the end, before turning the stove off, it gives a nice look to the kheer. But this is optional.
Refrigerate it and enjoy cold shavige payasa.

Masala Puri (Puffed Rice) Voggarne

Puffed rice brings fond memories of my childhood, my grandmother used to make masala puffed rice and was served as an evening snack along with tea. My aunt would fold a paper into a cone shaped sachet and fill it with puffed rice so that I could eat it while walking around the house. Rice krispies cereal can be used as a substitute though nothing can beat the original taste of puffed rice.


Puffed Rice - 3 cups
Garlic - 6-7 cloves
Red chillies - 5-6
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Peanuts - a handful
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few sprigs
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2-3 tbsp
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a wide vessel and add mustard seeds once they start spluttering add asafoetida, garlic, curry leaves, red chillies, peanut and roast for a while. Now add salt, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and whisk for a minute and then add puffed rice and mix well. This can be stored in an air tight container for a few days.

PS: You can can add chopped dry coconut to this mixture. Add it while roasting peanuts.

Chiken tikka

Around this time last year, at a friend's birthday party I got to taste chicken tikka and was blown over by the taste. Since then I have always wanted to buy a grill to try and replicate the amazing tikka made by my friend. And even after a year, we haven't bought one. It always starts with me wanting a big grill and the husband says "We have limited space in the patio baby, thank to your plants. Lets buy a small one" and I wont let a small grill enter my house. So we go back to where we started. NO grill, NO tikka. But recently we were invited to another friend's house for dinner and my friend, God bless her, made awesome tikkas in the conventional oven. Thanks to her I tried making chicken tikka and here is the result.


You'll need:
Chicken Breast - 2. Cut into thin, long strips, Not cubes because when you roll them and put them on skewers, the outer part of the chicken that is exposed to heat is all crispy and the inner part is soft and juicy.
Red chilly powder - to taste
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Kasoori Methi - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsp
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Marinate chicken with all the above ingredients. Make sure you crush kasoori methi between your palm before adding it to the marinade. Set aside for atleast 4-6 hours.

Onion, Bell pepper, Tomatoes - Cut into bite size pieces.
Mix the vegetables with salt, pepper and olive oil, if you don't have olive oil, regular oil should do.

Roll the chicken strips and put it on the skewer and alternate chicken with bell pepper, onion and tomatoes. You can put the skewers on a try as shown so that the juice from the chicken gets collected and you don't have to waste an hour trying to clean your oven. Bake in the oven at 475 F till chicken changes color and then turn the chicken over. Brush a little oil over the chicken and cook till both sides are done.
Sprinkle chat masala over the tikkas and enjoy.

PS: My friend suggested using meat tenderizer while marinating but I could not find it in the store. If you do, go ahead and give it a try.