Category Archives: Recipes

Recipe: Tamatar Dahi wale Bhindi or Okra in a Tomato Yoghurt Sauce

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I had some Ladies Fingers or Okra going bad and so wanted to make something with them. I wanted to make a gravy dish, but was bored of making a tomato gravy, so tried something different this time. The dish was super yummy and is a definite keeper for sure! I made this for lunch with Sweet Corn and Peas Pulao yesterday.

The recipe is slightly labour intensive, but very tasty and will be a keeper in your repertoire. It also uses more oil than I am wholly comfortable with, but is still ok as an occasional treat.

Tamatar Dahi wale Bhindi or Okra in a Tomato Yoghurt Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 kg ladies fingers or okra
  • 1 pod garlic
  • 1.5 inch piece of ginger
  • 4 medium sized onions
  • 4 medium sized tomatoes
  • 1 cup plain yoghurt
  • 4-5 tbsp oil
  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • 10 pieces of cashew nuts
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1-2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp kasuri methi
  • Salt to taste
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Wash and dry the ladies fingers throughly. Top and tail them and cut into 1-1.5 inch pieces. Keep aside.
  • Peel the garlic, peel and chop the ginger, slice the onions and tomatoes separately and keep everything aside.
  • Heat about 2 tsp of oil and when the oil heats up, put in the garlic and ginger in it and let it stir for a few minutes.
  • Then add the cashew nuts and stir for a couple of minutes.
  • When the cashews start to brown add in the sliced onions and sauté till it starts to brown. Then add the tomatoes plus about a teaspoon of salt and cook till the tomatoes are cooked, soft and mushy.
  • Let it cool completely and then blend into a smooth paste, using as much water as needed.
  • In the same pan, heat around 2-3 tbsp of oil and in batches cook the chopped okra. Sprinkle a pinch of salt each time. The okra should be shiny and dark green with a slight crispy taste to it. Remove the okra and keep aside.
  • In the same pan, heat the balance oil and fry the cumin and fennel seeds. When they pop, add the blended paste and cook it till the water evaporates.
  • In the meantime, beat the yoghurt well and when the paste becomes thick and oil starts to float in the edges, pour this yoghurt over the paste and stir well.
  • Now add the fried okra and stir well. Add water if needed to thin the gravy out.
  • Add in the spices now – red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder along with garam masala. You should also check salt and seasoning at this point and add if anything seems less.
  • Let it boil on a low to medium flame till it comes to a rolling boil. Crush the kasuri methi in your palms and sprinkle it over the gravy. Let it cook for around five minutes and then switch off the gas.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or an Indian flatbread.

Note: If you make this in advance and are heating it up before serving, you may notice that the gravy has thickened because of the cashew nuts. In that case, thin it with some thinned yoghurt or milk.

Recipes: Masala Potatoes

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A very basic recipe, which can be modified to make it slightly richer as well as made with other vegetables and probably even meat, this gravy can also be made in advance and be frozen for when you need to make something in a hurry.

Masala Potatoes

Ingredients:

  • 4-5 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 3 medium-sized onions, chopped roughly
  • 3 medium sized tomatoes, chopped roughly
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Carom seeds
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 4-5 almonds
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tbsp cumin powder
  • 1 tbsp coriander powder
  • 1-2 tbsp garam masala powder
  • 1-2 tbsp Kasuri Methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp oil

Method:

  • Keep the chopped potatoes in a pan of water so that it does not oxidise while you make the gravy.
  • In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and then add 1 tsp cumin seeds and let it splutter. Then add the fennel and carom seeds and stir for a few seconds each before adding the next spice.
  • When the spices splutter, add the garlic and ginger and saute it for a few seconds.
  • Then add the almonds and stir for a minute or so.
  • Now add the onions and saute till it turns translucent. When the onions turn translucent, add the chopped tomatoes and give it a good stir.
  • Add around a tsp of salt to let the onion and tomato become mushy. At the same time, add the red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder and stir well.
  • Once the tomatoes are completely cooked and mushy, remove from the flame, let it cool down completely and then blend to a fine paste. You can add water as needed to thin it down while blending.
  • Drain the potatoes and keep aside.
  • In the same pan, use the balance oil and when it becomes warm, add the remaining cumin seeds. When the seeds start to splutter, add the turmeric powder and the asafoetida and then quickly add in the drained potatoes. Add a bit of salt, cover and cook on a low to medium flame till the potatoes are almost cooked.
  • At this point, pour in the prepared gravy and stir well, letting it come to a boil. Check the seasoning at this point and add what is missing.
  • Add the garam masala and crush the Kasuri Methi in the palms of your hands before sprinkling it over the gravy.
  • Let the gravy come to a nice rolling boil, reduce the flame and continue to boil for another five minutes.
  • Remove from the flame, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with any rice or Indian flatbread.

Notes:

  • This is a very basic gravy and if you want to make it richer, you can add cashew nuts along with almonds when cooking. Also adding cooking cream while the gravy is boiling (towards the end) will make it more rich and creamy.
  • I made this with only potatoes, but you can add any combination of vegetables, including paneer (or tofu), cauliflower, peas, carrots etc to make it more wholesome.

Recipes: Tamarind Date Chutney

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img_2125I realised when I shared my recipe for chole that I have not yet shared this easy, piquant yet sweet Chutney. This is great when paired with fried food and also makes a great spread for sandwiches. It does take a while to make but is totally worth the effort.

I made this chutney along with my Green Coriander Chutney and Dried Red Chilli & Raisin Chutney when we hosted S’ colleagues for a Diwali open house.

Tamarind Dates Chutney

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup tamarind
  • 1 cup dates
  • 2 tsp rock salt
  • 1 tbsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp cumin powder
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Deseed the dates and the tamarind. Make sure there is no fibre also in the tamarind.
  • Soak the dates and tamarind either separately or together in hot water for an hour or so.
  • When the dates and tamarind have cooled off, blend them, along with the water they were strained into a fine paste.
  • Strain this paste through a strainer into a large pot which you can put on the gas. You may need to blend and strain a few times so that you get all the paste in.
  • When everything has been strained, put the pot on the gas and add the salt, rock salt, red chilli powder and cumin powder and let it come to a rolling boil. You can also check spices at this point and add more if needed.
  • Once it comes to a rolling boil, reduce the flame and let it boil for around 5-10 mins. It will start thickening and once it is almost as thick as you require, switch off the flame. It will become thicker as it cools.
  • When cool, remove to a clean container and refrigerate. It should stay well in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Notes:

  • If you don’t have access to dates, you can substitute them with raisins. Or you can even do a combination of both dates and raisins. Just use the same quantity as above.

 

Recipes: Chole

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This recipe for Chole (or Chana Masala) is a bit different from what you typically see in recipe blogs. I have not seen something similar below and when I made this last week, I thought, I should share with you all.

This recipe was shared by our Sindhi neighbour aeons ago to my mum and I further experimented with this recipe, with this recipe the final incarnation which I have been making for years!

Chole

  • 1 cup of dry chickpeas, soaked overnight
  • 2 tbsp each of chana dal and yellow moong dal
  • 4 onions, finely chopped
  • 3 tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 1 pod garlic, chopped
  • 1-inch pieces ginger, chopped
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp amchur powder
  • 1 tsp tamarind paste
  • 1-2 tsp chole (or chana masala) powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • In a pressure cooker, cook the soaked chickpeas with the turmeric powder till they are soft
  • Cook the dals (chana and moong) separately and keep aside.
  • Heat the oil in a pan and when warm, add the cumin seeds and when the seeds pop, add the garlic and stir for a few seconds. Then add the ginger and saute for a few seconds.
  • Now add half the chopped onions and saute till it becomes translucent.
  • Next, add the tomatoes and a bit of salt plus the red chilli powder and let the tomatoes cook till it becomes mushy.
  • Remove from the flame and keep aside till completely cool.
  • In a blender, blend to a fine paste with the cooked dals.
  • In the pan, pour the blended paste and let it come to a boil. Add the cooked chole and let it blend together.
  • Add the tamarind paste if using, otherwise omit this step.
  • Add the amchur powder and the garam and chole masalas and check for seasoning at this point. Add more if needed.
  • Switch off the flame, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with puris or bhature.
  • Sprinkle the remaining chopped onions on individual servings and serve hot.
  • I usually serve it with a sprinkling of chopped onions, followed by a tsp of tamarind dates chutney and some sev.

Notes:

  • You can also cook the dals along with the chole to save time. This is how I usually do it, but this time I did as above and the result was that nobody could say there was dal in the chole and the whole gravy was super thick. Doing it with dal makes the gravy thick and you don’t need to add any thickening agents to the gravy, including blending some the cooked chole as some people are wont to do.
  • I also realised that I have not yet shared the recipe for my Tamarind Dates chutney, so will do that soon. I’ll then link this recipe to that one so you have both recipes in the same page.

Vegetable Korma without Coconut

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S has been asking me to make the south Indian version of Vegetable Korma for a few months now. But because of the loads of coconut which the recipe traditionally requires, I was very hesitant. I made this over the weekend with a slightly modified recipe which does not use coconut but instead relies on nuts to give it the creaminess and nuttiness which this recipe is known for.

img_2113.jpg

Vegetable Korma

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chopped mixed vegetables (I used cauliflower, carrots, potatoes and peas)
  • 1/2 cup frozen paneer, refreshed in hot water for 20-30 minutes to soften it
  • 2 tbsp ghee or oil
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 2 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1/2 cup cashew nuts
  • 2 tbsp white sesame seeds
  • 1 bulb garlic, chopped
  • 1.5 inches ginger, chopped
  • 5-6 green chillies, chopped
  • 1 cup yoghurt
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp garam masala powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Method:

  • Take 2 tsp of ghee in a large bottomed pan and when it warms, add the cumin seeds and then the fennel seeds, stirring for a couple of seconds before adding the other spice.
  • Then add the garlic, ginger and stir for a few seconds each before adding in the cashew nuts and sesame seeds. Saute them for a while and then add the green chillies and let the chillies slightly char.
  • Now add the onions and let the onions become translucent. Then add the tomatoes and a tsp of salt and let the tomatoes cook and then become mushy.
  • Switch off the gas and let it cool.
  •  When cool, blend to a smooth and creamy paste using a combination of water and yoghurt. You can also use the water in which the paneer had been soaked to add to the taste.
  • In the same pan, add the remaining ghee and fry the chopped vegetables and let them cook for a while. Add a bit of salt and some turmeric powder and cover and cook on a low to medium heat until it’s about three quarters cooked.
  • When the vegetables are done (they should be cooked, but still have a bite), add the blended paste and thin it if it’s too thick with some water, yoghurt or a combination of both until it comes to the consistency you need. Check for seasoning at this point and add more salt if needed.
  • Now add the garam masala and let it simmer for a while before garnishing with coriander leaves and serve hot with any Indian flatbread or rice.

Note: This dish is very rich and creamy, so do make it when you want to impress someone special. It also thickens up when cool, so if you plan to make it in advance, thin it when you heat it up before serving.