Broccoli thoran is an easy, delicious & healthy way to get your greens in. So that’s we had for lunch today.

Ingredients:

Broccoli – 1 head (roughly chopped )
Onion – 1/2
Green chilli – 3

Garlic powder – 1 tbsp
Coconut flakes – 3 tbsp
Pepper – 1 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Salt – as needed

Step 1: Into a processor, add the broccoli, onions and green chilli. Chop, chop!

Step 2: Take a pan, heat some oil, add mustard seeds. Then add in the stuff from the processor. Broccoli has water from when it was washed and all that water should be more than enough to cook it through.

Step 3: After about 5 mins, mix in garlic powder, turmeric, salt, pepper and coconut. Cook for another 5 mins. Done!

Enjoy with rice and any curry of your liking! 🙂

So I was craving Chana Bhutura and instead of getting it delivered, I decided to go home-made on the Chana and instant on the Bhatura.

Ingredients:

Chana (chick-peaa) – 1 cup (washed)
Water – 3 cups
Cumin – 1 tsp
Onion – 1 (chopped)
Tomato Paste – 1 tbsp
Ginger-garlic paste: tbsp
Green chillies – 4 (slit)
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Salt – as needed
Lemon juice / conc – 1-2 tsp or as per taste
Cilantro leaves – for garnishing

Step 1: Wash & soak the chana over-night for a few hours if you have the time for it. If not, I just wash and cook it for longer. I don’t really think its a big deal.

Step 2: In a pressure cooker, heat some oil and add in cumin seeds. Once they start to brown, add in onions and saute until brown.

Step 3: Spoon in the tomato paste & ginger garlic paste along with the spices. Cook for 1-2 mins until it loses the raw flavor.

Step 4: Add in the chana and water. Cover and cook for 30-40 mins or until done.

Step 5: Adjust salt and lemon conc. as per taste. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

 

Enjoy with bhatura, rice or roti. Serve with chopped onions and lemon slices. 😉

I went to bed last night dreaming of making Avial for lunch. Work from home truly is such a blessing! I made a protein shake to suppress my hunger for a while and put the veggies in to cook, blended the gravy-ish stuff, mixed it all up, and voila! All this while getting some work-work done! 😉

Ingredients:

Avial mixed veggies – 1 pack
Water – as needed
Salt – 1 tsp
Turmeric – 0.5 tsp
Red chilli powder – 0.5 tsp

Gravy-ish stuff:
Shredded Coconut – 1 cup
Yogurt – 0.5 cup
Green chilli – 4-5
Cumin – 2 tsp
Garlic – 2 cloves
Curry leaves – a tiny handful

Step 1: Dump all your avial veggies into a pressure cooker with some turmeric and salt. Cook for about 20 mins. I let it sit for 2 whistles on the pressure cooker.

Step 2: Take the water out of this. Some of this water can be used to blend and make the gravy-ish stuff.

Step 3: Blend all of the above listed ingredients for the gravy-ish stuff.

Step 3: This goes into the cooker with the veggies. Mix well. Add a hint of turmeric, chilli powder and salt as needed.

Enjoy with rice and a nice chicken curry like we did. 🙂

Hi there! So I’ve been trying to rev up my Instagram page, got a food collab invite, trying meal pal, and with all that going on, corona happens. So … I decided I need to stay in and eat better.

I’m going to make our favorite comfort meal, warm rice and chicken curry with potatoes. (Just playing with the title up there, but simple chicken curry with potatoes is what it is lol)

Ingredients:

Chicken – 2 lbs

Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
Onion – 1 (thinly sliced)
Cardamom – 2 pods
Cinnamon – 1/2 inch
Coriander seeds – tiny handful (crushed)
Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste- 1 tbsp
Potatoes – 2 (cut into cubes)
Water – 1.5 cups
Instant Chicken curry Masala – use as per taste (if needed)
Lemon squeeze/conc. – as per taste
Chopped coriander leaves – handful

Marinade:
Tomato Paste – 1 tbsp
Yogurt – 2 tbsp
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder – 2 tbsp
Coriander powder – 3 tbsp
Salt – 1 tsp

Step 1: Mix 2 pounds of chicken with the marinade and let it sit in the fridge for a while. I do this first, so I can work on the onions and other things while the flavor infusion happens.

Step 2: In a pan, heat some oil. Add in cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let it splutter.

Step 3: Now toss in the cardamon, cinnamon and coriander seeds. Give it a minute and then goes in the onions. Sauté until brown. Add some salt to help speed this up.

Step 4: Spoon in the ginger garlic paste, mix in the marinated chicken and potato cubes. Let it sit for 5 mins. Add in some instant chicken masala as a quick flavor fix if needed.

Step 5: Add in the 1.5 cups of water. Cover and cook for 15-20 mins. Sneak in some chopped coriander leaves when almost done. You’ll know its done when you see the oil start to separate.

Step 6: Taste Test: Add salt and some lemon squeeze for tanginess, as and if needed.

…. and its ready! Enjoy with warm rice or any bread of your liking!

Happy Sunday! Stay safe & stay healthy!

So! I haven’t blogged in YEARS, and I decided its time to rev things up.

Being a Mallu, one thing I was ashamed of not making well was fish curry. Like for real! My husband makes BOMB fish curry and I would watch him make it all the time and hope to muster the confidence to try making it well myself for once. And I finally did.

Ingredients:
Serves: 3-4

Fish fillet – 4 pcs (sliced)
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder – 2 tbsp
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Salt – as per taste
Vinegar – 1 tsp + 1 tsp
Onion – 1 (chopped)
Green chillies – 3 (chopped)
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp (heaping)
Curry leaves – About 10 + 5
Semi ripe Mango – 1 (sliced)
Coconut Milk – 1 can

Tempering:
Shallots – 3-4
Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds (Uluva) – 1 tsp
Red dried chillies – 2
Curry leaves – About 5

Step 1: Add in all the initial ingredients except the coconut milk and mix well.

Step 2: Once everything is well coated in the spice mix, let it sit that way for about an hour.

Step 3: Pour in the coconut milk and give it a twirl. Heat on medium flame for 15-25 mins or until done. Add another tsp of vinegar & turn of the heat.

Step 4: In another pan, heat some oil and add fenugreek seeds, and 3-4 chopped shallots. (That’s actually the right thing to do, but if you’re lazy like me, put aside a tiny handful onions when chopping them initially and save them for tempering.) Add in red dry chillies & curry leaves. Toss this into the fish curry. Cover & let it sit for 15 mins or so.

Enjoy with warm rice.

When you’re craving fries, and realize it’s junk, so decide to have kale on the side.

Ingredients:

Potato – 2 (cut into strips)
Turmeric – a pinch
Chilli powder – a pinch
Oil – enough to fry
Salt – to taste
Chaat Masala – as per taste

Step 1: Coat the strips of potato with a pinch each of turmeric and chilli.

Step 2: Fry on low flame until done.

Step 3: Sprinkle salt and chaat masala according to taste.

This long weekend, my room-mate decided to surprise us with one of her best. The amazingly flavorful “Dum Ka Murgh”, which is a delicately spiced chicken, and a dish that bursts with flavors.

Ingredients:
Serves: 4
Cook Time: 25 minutes

For Marinade:
Yogurt – 1 cup
Salt – 1 tbsp
Chilli powder – 3 tsp
Turmeric powder – 0.5 tsp
Coriander powder – 4 tsp
Garam Masala Powder – 1.5 tsp
Ginger-Garlic Paste – 2-3 tbsp
Tomato Paste – 3 tbsp
Ketchup – 2 tbsp
Vinegar – 3 tsp
Cashew paste – 0.5 cup
Red food color – 0.5 tsp (optional)

——————————————
Chicken – 1 kg
Oil – 6-7 tbsp
Whole Spices – Bay leaf (2), Cardamom pods – 4-5, Cloves – 4-5, Cinnamon stick – 1
Chopped Onion – 2 cups
Green chillies – 2-3
Chopped Mint and Coriander leaves – a handful of each
Salt – to taste

 

Step 1: Marinate the chicken and let it rest overnight, or for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Step 2: Heat some oil in a pan. Drop in the whole spices. After a minute, add in the onions and saute until done.

Step 3: Add in slit green chillies, mint, coriander leaves, along with the marinated chicken. Cook for 10-15 minutes.

Step 4: Adjust salt according to taste. Cook until done.

The curry is best served with Jeera Rice, basically rice flavored with cumin and garam masala.

 

A simple and quick twist to a daily staple, white rice. Jeera rice or Zeera rice is an Indian dish, consisting of rice and cumin seeds, with the added flavor of garam masala.

Ingredients:
Serves: 4
Cook Time: 5-10 mins

Cooked Rice – 2 cups (dry measurement)
Oil – 6 tbsp
Chopped Onions – 2 cups
Green chillies – 2-3
Jeera (Cumin) – 4-5 tbsp
Garam Masala – 2 tbsp
Salt – according to taste
Coriander leaves – to garnish

Step 1: Heat some oil in a pan. Add in onions, green chillies and jeera. Saute until onions start browning.

Step 2: Toss in some garam masala and cook for 1-2 mins.

Step 3: Mix well with cooked rice. Adjust salt according to taste. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Over the past few decades, oats has become a very popular “health food”. We commonly have it as porridge, and these days many of us even go for “overnight oats” or instant masala oats, which are often purchased from stores and prepared within minutes at home. Why store-bought ones when the same can be made at home, “INSTANT”-ly.

Ingredients:
Serves: 2
Cook Time: 5 mins

Oil – 2 tbsp
Onion – 1 (finely chopped)
Tomato Paste – 2 tbsp
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Turmeric – 1-2 pinch
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 0.5 tsp
Jeera powder – 1 tsp
Frozen Veggies – 2 handful
Oats – 1 cup (dry)
Water – 2 cup
Salt – as per taste
Lime – 1

 

Step 1: Heat some oil in a pan. Saute chopped onions until translucent.

Step 2: Add in the tomato paste and ginger-garlic paste and cook until it loses its raw flavor.

Step 3: Toss it the veggies along with the spices. Stir them for about 1-2 mins.

Step 4: Add in oats and water and cook until done. Adjust salt according to taste. Squeeze in lime for added flavor.

 

Enjoy this quick breakfast with a hot cup of tea. 🙂