Smashed Spicy Baby Potatoes

Oh this one is just yum! We finished a plateful only a few hours ago and as I write this I am craving bad for another bite of these cuties. Yes, no kidding, they are that good. With their super crispy skin coated and infused with spices that carry a kick that could lift any spirit, warm creamy insides that are ever so slightly crunchy with all the roasting, they are so good I could bet you would fight the others at the table for the last one. Do try these especially with my homemade Tandoori masala.

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Bhindi/ Okra Masala

There are a couple of posts in which I have used okra as the primary ingredient. Every time I use okra, I try to make it a point to clarify that it is a tricky vegetable to cook with. If not done right, it can get slimy and texturally unappealing. A simple trick can get it right and avoid keeping you from liking an otherwise wonderful vegetable. The trick is as simple as dry them completely after washing and before cooking and always cook them uncovered. Most people just fry them to avoid the slime but using these two simple tricks, you can uncover a whole new side of okra. This okra preparation is tangy and mildly spicy and one of my personal favorites. Even though you will intend to serve it as a side to a meal, they tend to be more popular as finger food and will be gone before you get a chance to serve!

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Gobhi Takatak / Stir fried Spicy Cauliflower!

This is the flower that is bought the most often into our household. No offense to dear hubs, the red rose is in fact a close second. Jokes apart, the cauliflower is indeed a versatile vegetable. At least in India, the cauliflower, which is mostly available during colder weather, is cooked many different ways, liked by most and is eagerly awaited to be available in the local markets. To be honest and no offense to anyone, I believe not enough justice is done to the cauliflower here in the US. The few things that I have seen made with it like mashed, baked with cheese or even served raw with a dip just does not extract enough mileage from this vegetable.

This recipe is one of my most favorite cauliflower dishes. A nice big floret, all wrapped in the thick gravy just explodes with flavor in your mouth and if you added enough heat in it as I do, the kick of the heat with the spices just makes you want to do a happy dance. If you a fan of curries, this one is a must-try.

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Masaledar bharwan baingan/ Spicy Stuffed Eggplants

Eggplants in my home is always about hubs.The little one and I like it too but with hubs its like nothing I can explain in a few words. Guess the only way he wouldn't eat them is raw. To go on a little more, he loves all different kinds of them, the italian, chinese, indian, purple, green, white and most likely any other kinds that he and I haven't even seen yet. His most favorite kind however are these baby eggplants just the way I make them *smirk*. You do have to give him some credit though, the eggplant is no doubt a very versatile vegetable. Fry them, saute them, bake them or even mash them and they always come out a winner.
I make them many different ways and this way is one of the most frequent as this one is my favorite eggplant preparation too. The eggplants are thoroughly soaked in spices and yet retain their beautiful petite shape making them very presentable for when you are entertaining. The kick of the spices and tang from the lemon juice and amchur along with the creamy texture of the nicely cooked eggplant make them ideally suited to be eated either with parathas or with rice and some daa. And yes, remember to leave the stems on to make them extra fun to eat.

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Spicy Roasted Baby Potatoes!

This one's for hubs. Granted potatoes are very versatile and well liked but he is something else. You could write songs for his love for potatoes. There are only two ways he does not like potatoes, in the raw and in the vodka form. If you are not so much of a potato fan, don't lose heart as these little guys here might just win you over. Coated with spices and slightly crispy from being sauteed and nice and tender and juicy from the inside, they are the perfect snack. Use it when entertaining guests or heck teach him how to make it so he can use it to get some points with you every now and then.

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Jeera Aloo/Cumin Flavored Stir Fried Potatoes

 If you are ever in a rush but still want to eat a tasty, savory home-cooked meal - sounds like most of the time, doesn't it - this dish might just be your perfect answer. Ready in under ten minutes if you have the ingredients and very versatile in what it can go with. Hubs tells me he relates to this dish in a rather strange sort of way. In his single days in India, when he almost always ate out at restaurants, he always saw this dish in most every menu but always ignored it - who goes to a restaurant to eat sauteed potatoes, right? Well right until he got so sick of eating the same paneer and mushroom every single time that he finally ordered it with some plain rice and yellow daal and loved it. That's how he says he remembers this dish. Not a very fun way to remember such a flavorful preparation, I tease him, and we have a good laugh about it.
Indeed, there is something to be said about the versatility of this dish. Eat it as a side with some rice and daal or just with your humble roti and it becomes lunch or dinner, wrap it up with some lettuce and onions in a tortilla and it makes for a great wrap or just stick some toothpicks in them and they are a great starter. What's more is that they are a great picnic food too and can be carried in a lunchbox for a few hours without the need to be refrigerated. This makes them great for short trips as well. Give it a try and it tends to stick with you for those times when you cannot think of anything else or those when you simply crave them.

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Parval/Patal Dopyaza

arval or Patal, as it is sometimes also referred to as, is a common green vegetable that most if not all folks from India are familiar with. I looked around on the web and there seems to be a lot of confusion on its english name so I would rather not mention any here. It is especially common in northern and eastern part of the country and definitely well loved in the region in India where I come from. Growing up parval used to be abundant during the summers. So much so that it almost became a staple for those couple of months. It would either be aloo-parval with rice for lunch or parval bhunjiya with roti for dinner or even sauteed stuffed parval as a side, it would show up in some shape or form with every meal. You got tired of eating it eventually but you still liked it.
Coming to the US, I was pretty disappointed that folks here did not even know what parval was let alone eat it or even sell it. I would occasionally find the frozen kind in the freezer, tried a few times, but was even more disappointed. For someone trying parval for the first time, I would strongly advise not trying the frozen ones, not even close. We had to go without the fresh ones for a few years until we started seeing it in little containers in Indian grocery stores, tucked away in a corner as if it were an orphan vegetable that no one desired. The first time I laid my eyes on the little box in the corner seemed like a distant dream. I picked one up and held it close to my eyes turning it in different directions until my senses told me I was in fact looking at a fresh parval (aah the things you take for granted). The excitement however was short lived as almost immediately my sight fell on the little handwritten price tag that read $6.99/lb. "You gotta be kidding me", I thought and with a heavy heart put the one I had in my hand back in the basket and passed it by. Yes, I did turn around.
Since then I do buy a couple of pounds every now and then and handle it like gold. Hubs and I both enjoy it with rice or roti while chatting through our meal on everything I just wrote above.

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Chilli Paneer dry/Paneer cheese in a spicy chilli soy sauce

o tantrums and food have any relation for you? Well, in my case, growing up they had quite a lot to do with each other. This is what my dear mom used to cook especially for me when me - the brat - used to tell her "mom, you don't love me anymore", count to her all the occasions when I was refused an ice-cream, a barbie doll, Shahrukh's poster and the bestest most expensive dress in the mall! She knew how to get me back to behaving normally... lol.

I love Chinese food but I have a certain (very strong) bias towards Indian-Chinese (aka indo-chinese) cuisine. We Indians have had a long-lived love affair with Chinese food. Long before pizzas, burgers and junk food became popular, it was Chinese food that most of us wanted when we craved something exotic and different. One may argue that Indo-chinese is not really chinese food as it is not very close to authentic chinese food. It has been totally adapted and re-flavored to suit an Indian palette. But hey, that is what fusion food is all about, right? Who knew the marriage of a little soy sauce with Indian spices could be so delicious! A big bright star of the Indian Chinese cuisine, featured on almost every menu of an Indian restaurant, be it upscale or roadside.

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Gobhi 65/Spicy Cauliflower Tempura Indian Style

ummer is at its peak and the sun scorches the earth every day. Its almost midnight here and its 86 degrees outside *phew*. In the relentless heat however the rain gods do peek in every other day to provide some very welcome relief.
It was such an afternoon on Saturday this past weekend when the rains were especially merciful. As it rained cats and dogs, we sat on our patio on a Saturday afternoon - which usually means shopping afternoon - and marveled on how beautiful nature was (yes hubby and I still get corny sometimes about that stuff). Somehow the conversation changed very quickly to food (are you kiddin' me) and we were talking about how nice it would be to get something hot and crispy to munch on. I was immediately like 'lemme go and make some pakoras'. Hubby not being that much a fan of pakoras, I instantly sensed that on his face. That is when I was reminded of this fabulous appetizer that we had had at an Indian restaurant during our last vacation a couple of months ago. I had totally loved it then and my analyzing taste buds had read the recipe right then and there and kept it somewhere in my head. Yes I recalled it then and here's the result for you to see and enjoy.
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Paneer Jalfrezi/Cottage cheese in spicy tangy sauce with bell peppers and onion

uite unlike the super-star butter paneer masala which is practically synonymous with Indian cuisine, the jalfrezi is mellow but very much like any Indian curry. It has a burst of flavors, is full of aromatic spices with an exotic taste that is bound to take you by surprise. Cubes of succulent home made cheese are simmered in a fragrant garlic tomato sauce with loads of colorful peppers and freshly ground spices that will make you mop your plate clean and ask for more. Unlike a few other paneer dishes this one is not very rich or laden with butter and cream to make it tasty.

A common dhaba dish all over India ~ dhaba is a Indian equivalent to the American road-side diner. Known for its rustic, simple, basic, inexpensive yet flavorful original dishes and very popular among long distance roadies and truck drivers. Whenever I go to India I make it a point  to take a drive with hubs and kiddo to the nearest dhaba on the national highway just to have some of their dal makhani, kadahi paneer and fresh out of the tandoor (clay oven) those buttery flaky tandoori rotis ~ ahh.

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Achari Baingan (Eggplant curry with pickle spices)

aingan or eggplant, might not be the favorite of all, but is definitely a favorite of few and in that category comes my dearest hubby... both are thick pals :) He just loves them (I call him eggplantaholic - lol..:)) and can't get enough. He can eat it every single day and in all its forms. Before we got married I didn't detest this vegetable but it was definitely not my favorite. Now, I always try different ways to make eggplant and this was one of the few dishes I made for him after we got married. He was mighty impressed and was hooked big time. Now he ALWAYS makes me buy the baby eggplants from the store and to make this :)
It is basically a tangy and spicy dry curry flavored with traditional indian pickle masalas.  The panch phoran is the secret behind  the unique flavor in this dish as it imparts the awesome achari flavor to the oil when heated and infuses a very distinct aroma and taste to the dish. Panch Phoran is a spice mix used in Eastern Indian cuisine (Bengali cuisine) and is a mix of the five whole spices – nigella seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and cumin seeds all in equal quantities. Panch is Five in hindi and Phoran is Spice seasoning, so it literally means five spice seasoning. This spice mix can be used with any kind of vegetable stir fry/roasted vegetables. Just put them in hot oil till the mustard seeds splutter, so as to release the aroma of the spices. Add any vegetables you want, stir fry, serve. It really is as simple as that. I have already posted Achari Aloo and Achari Paneer so here is the eggplant version.

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Paneer Tawa Masala

ot starting with my usual gaga about my fascination with paneer everytime I post a paneer dish, let me cut straight to the chase. The idea occurred to me when I was making my Tawa Pulao dish that I posted a few days ago. Why not make paneer with the same masala combination! This gives the dish the sophistication of paneer yet the charm of street food, making it taste like paneer bhaji chaat (drooling yet?) and equally suitable as a snack as it would for dinner. The other cool thing about this dish is that it is ridiculously easy to make, literally fifteen minutes from start to finish if you had all the ingredients. The fact that you can whip up this flavorful dish in a jiffy makes it a very suitable roadside street food. If you walk the streets in India, you would find road side food vendors with huge iron griddles on open flame cooking this away with reckless abandon for a queue of hungry people that have their eyes fixated on the sheer skill with which the chef tosses the dish around on the griddle while they talk about the movie they just came out of. So without further ado, here goes.

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Paneer Manchurian

love Chinese food but when it comes to Chinese-fusion food, I have a certain bias towards Indian-Chinese (indo-chinese) cuisine. We Indians have had a long-lived love affair with Chinese food. Long before the pizzas and burgers and junk food became popular, it was Chinese food that most of us wanted when we craved something exotic and different. Indo-chinese is not very close to authentic chinese food. It has been totally adapted and  flavored to suit an Indian palette. Who knew the marriage of a little soy sauce with Indian spices could be so delicious! A big bright star of the Indian Chinese cuisine and it has always been one of my favorites are the chilli and manchurian varieties. “Manchurian” dishes may be made with cauliflower, paneer or chicken and are extremely popular in India. The sauce has no basis in the historical Chinese region. In India this ever popular dish is served at glamorous restaurants as well as by the street side vendors and is consumed with vigor and excitement among all class of people.

The paneer has a crispy coating and is tossed with a mouth-watering spicy sauce. These are perfect for appetizers or may even be served as a side dish.

Use a toothpick or a fork as you please and enjoy with cocktails during or before a meal.
These are really easy to make at home, taste awesome and are always a big hit with guests. They are often paired with Chinese style fried rice. These are great for potluck parties and will be gone in seconds! It can be made dry or with gravy, the recipe below talks about both versions. Food coloring is normally used to give this dish a brighter appearance, I have used a little beet juice instead. I was pleased with the color but it is obviously optional.

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Kadahi Bhindi (Okra curry)

adahi bhindi or bhindi masala always brings a smile to my face. Why? You ask. Its only bhindi after all. Well you are absolutely right. That is exactly why. Read on.

The story is from the first few days after coming to the US after getting married. Dear hubby, trying to show me around and to take his lady out to wine and dine, offered to take me out for dinner to our local Indian restaurant. I obliged. The menu was like any regular Indian restaurant, the usual paneer and mushroom dishes, biryanis, naans, parathas. He asked me what I wanted and we waited for the waiter to show up. I can't remember exactly what I had... it was some paneer dish I think... but to my utter dismay, hubby ordered bhindi masala... and I went... WHAT! I mean who orders bhindi in a restaurant! Moreover when you are paying fifteen bucks for an entree, wouldn't you rather eat paneer or atleast something more exotic.

Let me explain. Back at home, when okra was in season, mom would always make bhindi masala for lunch or dinner. Every restaurant you went to, had bhindi masala on the menu and we conveniently chose to ignore it... of course. Hence my reaction.

When hubby explained, it actually made sense. I still don't agree with him... but it made sense. During his bachelor days in India, he ate all three meals in restaurants and well... like me he always ate paneer. So much so that he could not longer stand it.

We agreed silently to disagree. Since then he has warmed up to the idea of paneer (thankfully!) and doesn't order bhindi at restaurants anymore (he claims its because I make a killer bhindi masala at home :)

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Achari Paneer (Paneer curry with pickle spices)

 am a big fan of Paneer (read: paneer monster lol:) so I am always looking for new and exciting ways to eat and make them. This is my new favorite. Achari paneer is basically a tangy and spicy dry paneer curry flavored with traditional indian pickle masalas. I love the fennel and achari flavor in this dish. It is also always hit with guests, great for potlucks and picnics too, as it tastes great both hot and cold. Goes with almost anything but we like it best with pooris... mmmm! This is ridiculously easy and super fast to make.

This dish tastes like Indian pickle :) so all the pickle and paneer lovers here's a real treat! Enjoy!!

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Aloo Bhaji/bhunjiya and Ajwain Paratha

After a dash of the exotic, its time to have something that is closer to home and to the heart... and when you talk about close to home you often think of simple things that mom made that you enjoyed growing up.

You may find this a little unusual but the thought of this dish puts me on a train with my family... the train speeding through the country and I find myself sitting on the lower berth (after of course having fought with my brother for the window seat) with my gaze fixed outside staring at the lush green crop fields that race past us and the warm yet cool breeze rushing in as we wait for the train to take us to our destination... then you are suddenly pulled out of the trance by the loud sound of your name... thats mom demanding we get together as it was lunch time... and there it is... she opens her tote bag and pulls out a couple of boxes. Wrapped in tinfoil in those boxes are these wonderful flat breads and the awesome dry potato curry. The already beautiful breeze is now filled with the wonderful aroma of the roasted fennel and carom seeds from the bread and the potatoes.

Mom almost always made these as lunch and as dinner when we traveled. She claimed they stayed nice and fresh even after being packed for several hours... and fresh they were... gone in minutes. Of course I didn't think much of it those days... after all that was mom and this is what she always made, right? ... aah... the things we take for granted...

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Gobhi Masala / Caulifower cooked with cashew and spices

"What to make for dinner tonight?" A thought which haunts me immediately after having finished with lunch. Asking hubby usually is returned with "just make anything" or "can we order some takeout" (he is sweet I know)! Hmmm... I usually know I will make rotis but what do I make to go with it. I do try to come up with something new every now and then but being a vegetarian sometimes limits your choices. I face a similar situation when I find myself deciding on what to take for a potluck, or a  get-together which  should be  different and not the same old paneer and regular veg preparations.
Now cauliflower is everyone's favorite but how many times can you make and serve the same aloo gobhi, bhaji or parathas for that matter. So in my quest for making something different yet elegant, simple yet exotic and of course quick 'n easy, I tried to glamorize the cauliflower here a little.. hubby was pleasantly surprised and I was more than pleased with the results and a new find :)

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Baingan bharta/ Roasted Mashed eggplant

aingan or eggplant , might not be the favorite of all, but is definitely a favorite of few and in that category comes my dearest hubby... ohh he just loves it and can't get enough. He can eat it every single day and in all its forms :) Before I got married to him I didn't detest this vegetable but it was definitely not my favorite, until one day when he made this lip smacking baingan bharta.. and boy, I was hooked. This is his famous recipe (yeah!! the man can cook :)) from his good old bachelor days and without doubt and bias I can say this is is THE BEST Eggplant bharta recipe you will ever make and taste!

It is basically a mashed roasted eggplant mixed with several spices, (lots of) garlic, tomatoes and preferably some other veggies.

The way he tells me about its origins is totally believable. Not having any clue about what goes in a classic bharta recipe he decided to add any veggies he had at the time in the refrigerator and as well every spice that he was familiar with (adding Hing and Amchur were my touch to it).

He basically messed up by making it this one time for me. Now if there is ever eggplant bharta made in my household, it is him at the stove battling it out. Of course I am there to help out, like roasting the eggplant in the oven was my idea (he used to roast it on the stove-top and make a mess ;)

Can be served with roti, paratha or rice, for lunch or dinner.You can also serve them with flat breads or crackers and they make for a great appetizer.  personally like to eat it rolled up inside a paratha :)

So here it is... enjoy!

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Kadahi Vegetables/Mixed vegetable curry

Yesterday I was at our local farmer's market. They have the most beautiful and colorful stuff all around. I go crazy around all the fresh produce they have. The sight, the smell, just too good to resist. I began picking all different kinds of vegetables. The pretty one... the colorful... the new kind (which I had no idea what to do with) whatever I could get my hands on. Hubby was watching from a distance... waiting with our daughter... pretending he don't know the crazy lady raiding all the vegetables... ha ha. As we were driving back home... thinking in the car about the dishes I could make (yup... I always think about food :D). The more I thought, Kadahi vegetables seemed the most logical choice.
It is a colorful dish consisting of lots of seasonal vegetables and exotic Indian spices. A very famous 'dhaba' dish. It is a classic north Indian dish but can be found all over the country.
The vegetables are cooked in a kadhai or wok (hence the name kadhai vegetables) in a spicy onion-tomato based sauce with lots of ginger, garlic, cilantro leaves and flavored with kasoori methi. It has a distinct fresh spicy aroma and flavor that compares to nothing else. So I made it the same night for dinner. I realise prepping is the lengthiest part of this dish so I did what I often do, you guessed it got my hubby to work (I had to sweet-talk him into it ;)

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Paneer Bharvan Bhindi (Paneer stuffed Okra)

Humble okra gets a  glamorous makeover with this recipe and gets a "WOW" from whomever you are serving it to. A very innovative and always popular recipe from my mom's cook book (the best there is). This recipe came to existence one day when some special guests arrived and mom had only bhindi in the fridge... which is not always considered the best vegetable to offer to special guests at our home. So she made some paneer added some masala in it and stuffed the okras and boom... okra got a makeover. Guests loved it. My papa became its biggest fan and now he always asks mom to make these whenever we have guests over. In fact if we were out of bhindi, he would go and get some from the market. He just loves it :). Mom used to fry the bhindis first then stuff them then saute again with the masala in a makhani kind gravy (which I will be posting soon). I use my microwave for this and it becomes so quick and easy. It is great for lunch and dinner when paired with either rice or roti..have served as an appetizer too.

Here goes the recipe (see notes for the 'microwave-only' version) -

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