Rajma is a popular Indian vegetarian dish consisting of red kidney beans in a thick gravy with many Indian spices. Although the kidney bean is not of Indian origin, it is a popular dish in Northern India, and is prepared on several occasions.

This recipe is the usual rajma with a pumpkin twist 😀 . No overnight soaking, made without oil, and without any stirring or sautéing.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin – 500 gm
Red Kidney Beans – 3/4 cup
Water – 1 cup
Ginger-Garlic Paste – 1 tsp
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Cumin – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Salt – as per taste

Step 1: Wash & chop the pumpkin. Wash the kidney beans. Toss them into a pressure cooker.

Step 2: Add in all the remaining ingredients. Cook on low flame for about 10-12 whistles.

Step 3: Mash the pumpkin using a spoon. Serve hot with rice or roti.

At our place, chicken or fish is always compulsory. But every once in a while, we like to switch it up a bit.

This weekend, it was a simple, yet, lip-smacking mutton curry.

Ingredients:

Mutton – 1 kg
Oil – 5 tbsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 0.5 tsp
Green chillies – 2 (chopped)
Curry leaves – 6-8
Onions (medium sized) – 3 (chopped)
Shallots (small onions)– 6-8 (chopped) //optional
Ginger-Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp (heaped)
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Water – as required
Meat Masala Powder(I used ‘Eastern’) – 1/4 cup

Step 1: Heat some oil in a pressure cooker, and splutter some mustard seeds.

Step 2: Add in cumin seeds, green chillies, curry leaves. Saute for a minute.

Step 3: Toss in the onions, shallots and ginger-garlic paste. Cook until translucent.

Step 4: Place the mutton pieces in the cooker, along with all the masala powders. Mix well. Pour water up to the level of mutton.

Step 5: Cover and cook on high flame, up to the first whistle. Switch to low flame and cook for another 4 whistles, or until done.

The weather in Saudi now, is the best I’ve seen lately. Its breezy and rainy.
Last night, I went to bed with plans of waking up early and making something usual for lunch. Rice, moru, beetroot-potato stir fry, and a simple chicken curry. This morning I couldn’t pull myself up.  All I wanted to do was stay wrapped in the blanket for as long as I could. So I stayed in bed for an extra hour and then decided to cook a chicken curry with chopped beetroot in  laban/buttermilk.
Basically, a quick 3-in-1. I had my moru, beetroot, and chicken, all in one. 😀

It turned out pretty amazing, so I thought of sharing it with y’all. 🙂

Ingredients:
Serves: 2-3

Chicken – 500 gm
Oil – 3 tbsp
Mustard – 0.5 tsp
Onion – 1 (chopped)
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Maggi Chicken Stock – 1 tablet
Beetroot – 1 (finely chopped/grated)
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – 3 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp (heaped)
Laban/Buttermilk – 1 cup ( = 3/4 cup yoghurt + 1/4 cup water)
Mint leaves – 2 handfuls (chopped)
Salt – as per taste

Step 1: Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add mustard seeds and watch them splutter. Add in the chopped onions and saute until translucent.

Step 2: Tip in the finely chopped/grated beetroot along with some ginger-garlic paste and the chicken stock tablet. Stir until the tablet is well incorporated.

Step 3: Toss in the chicken, mint leaves, laban/buttermilk and masala powders. Mix well.

Step 4: Cover and cook until done. Add salt according to taste.

In Kerala, chicken curry is cooked in coconut oil, and one of the major highlights of this curry is the strong flavor imparted by the curry leaves you add to it.

Every time we go to India for our summer vacations, Dad goes on and on, praising my aunt’s chicken curry. This one is her recipe, which I’ve tweaked a little, here and there, based on the ingredients I had in hand.

Ingredients:
Serves: 2-3

Chicken – 500 gm
Coconut oil – 3 tbsp
Curry leaves – 5-6
Onion – 1 (chopped)
Green chillies – 2 (chopped)
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Tomatoes – 2 (chopped)
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – 2 tsp
Cumin powder – 1.5 tsp
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp (heaped)
Water – 0.5 cup (boiled)
Salt – as per taste

Step 1: Heat coconut oil in a non-stick pan. Add in curry leaves. After a minute or two, add in the onions and saute until translucent.

Step 2: Tip in the green chillies and ginger garlic paste.

Step 3:  Stir in the chopped tomatoes along with turmeric, chilli, cumin and coriander powder. Mix well. Cook until the raw tomato flavor is lost.

Step 4:  Add in the chicken pieces, and coat well with this prepared masala. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.

Step 5: Now add the boiled water to this along with the garam masala powder and  continue to cook until the chicken is done. Add salt according to taste.