Stuffed parwal and aloo

DRY FRUITS AND KHAS KHAS STUFFED POTATOES AND PARWAL

INGREDIENTS

1. 
   
   
   
   
   Aloo - of a uniform smallish size, to match the size of the parwals - 20





2. 
   
   
   
   
   Parwal - tender, light green, again smallish - 15-20 (ppl like aloo more!)





3. 
   
   
   
   
   Oil - enough to bhuno the veggies above





4. 
   
   
   
   
   Salt to taste





5. 
   
   
   
   
   Green coriander - as a garnish





6. 
   
   
   
   
   Tomatoes - about 1/2 kg boiled and pureed





7. 
   
   
   
   
   Cream - one cup





8. 
   
   
   
   
   ghee - one tbsp

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING

1. 
   
   
   
   
   KHAS khas - 2 large tbsp. Roast and powder fine





2. 
   
   
   
   
   kajoo-pista-peanuts : I roasted only the peanuts and then coarsely ground all three till the mixture looked like bread crumbs





3. 
   
   
   
   
   Kismis - a few - cut into fine pieces ( i like the slight sweet flavour they impart-optional)





4. 
   
   
   
   
   Chilli powder - to taste





5. 
   
   
   
   
   Jeera - dhania powder - 2 tsp





6. 
   
   
   
   
   green coriander - chopped fine





7. 
   
   
   
   
   green chillies - 6-7 chopped fine





8. 
   
   
   
   
   garam masala powder

HOW TO COOK

• 
  
  
  
  
  Par boil the potatoes till just soft BUT NOT COOKED COMPLETELY (raw potatoes take a long time to cook and consume more oil)





• 
  
  
  
  
  Wait till they are quite cold, then chop from one end and make hollow inside - save the soft potatoes to use as cover





• 
  
  
  
  
  Leave parwal raw - do not skin either. Just wash thoroughly and dry. Then chop one end and again remove meat inside - if u find this difficult, u could also slit them lenght wise.





• 
  
  
  
  
  Mix all the masala for stuffing - add salt, sugar to taste and a little cream to hold it together.





• 
  
  
  
  
  Stuff the aloo and parwal with this, closing the hollows with the mashed potatoes





• 
  
  
  
  
  USE A FLAT PAN LIKE VESSEL FOR COOKING, NOT A KADHAI





• 
  
  
  
  
  Heat pan, pour oil and then gently arrange the potatoes and parwal evenly in the pan





• 
  
  
  
  
  Leave gas on sim and let cook slowly, rearranging veggies once or twice.





• 
  
  
  
  
  When almost cooked, add tomato puree and finally cream





• 
  
  
  
  
  At the end, pour one tbps ghee, add garam masala and chopped coriander.

( tip - do add a little salt over the pan so that the exterior of the veggies do not taste insipid)

Serve with parathas or garam phulkas

Makhana kheer

INGREDIENTS

1. 
   
   Soft white Makhanas - quantity depending on qty of kheer ( i used 100gms for 8 cups milk)


2. 
   
   Milk - 4 litres


3. 
   
   Condensed milk - one tin


4. 
   
   Sugar - to taste


5. 
   
   Cardamoms 8 to 10


6. 
   
   Saffron - few strands


7. 
   
   2 cups nuts of your choice (I used badam, pistachios, cashew nuts and kismis)


8. 
   
   Ghee - 2 tbsp

HOW TO MAKE IT...

In a kadhai large enough to take all that milk, I put the ghee. I had shredded the makhanas into smaller pieces with my hand ( very imp. since they bloat on boiling and folks may not like the blatant taste of makhanas in the kheer). These i put in the hot ghee and let redden slightly. Poured in the milk and let boil for a long time. Put in the saffron, powdered cardamom and nuts after about 20 minutes. When the kheer was almost ready, poured in the condensed milk - if u add it earlier, it tends to scorch at the bottom of the pan, wasting the entire contents with that obnoxious burnt milk taste! After the condensed milk has mixed thoroughly, check for the sugar - since c.m. already contains a lot. Add more according to your taste - i mean sugar. Since my qty was so huge, i added two cups more.

Kheer is ready to be served!

Fusion Chicken

Had to make chicken in a hurry yesterday for three very important persons: my sister
in law Selvi and my two brothers in law, one of them visiting from New York.
The whole family is rather fussy about their food - most of them my husband! - and the 'farmaish' was for chicken with 'Russa' (gravy).
I am a cook who cooks by instinct, often using net recipes as guides, but today just nothing inspired me when i google searched for various chicken curry recipes. So I decided to go with my own, adding ingredients as I went along. Here in short is my recipe:

INGREDIENTS FOR MASALA (for 2 kg of dressed chicken)

• Three large onions - chopped fine


• ginger garlic paste - two tea spoons


• khas khas- three tea spoons


• peanuts - 1/4th cup

I roased the ingredients ( exept garlic-ginger which i ground raw and separately) together in a little oil in a 'kadai' till it was nicely browned.

Then ground it into a paste using a little water to get a fine paste.

• DRY MASALAS & other ingredients


• Safflower oil - one large cup


• turmeric powder


• chilly powder - 3 tea spoons


• coriander powder - 2 tsp


• Goa garam masala - 2 tsp ( since i've just come from Goa)


• Ready made paste of 'Goan roast'


• curds - one cup


• one large chopped onion


• handful of green chillies


• JUICE of one large lemon


• large pinch of pepper powder

PROCESS -

After washing the chicken properly and letting it dry i rubbed it with lots of turmeric powder and juice of one lemon - as i didn't like the strong broiler odour! ( I also used pepper powder). Left it for about 15 minutes while i prepared the masala etc.

Then i heated oil in a large kadhai. First put in the chopped onion and fried them till crisp and red. Then put in the ginger garlic paste, chilli powder and paste. Let it brown and then added the chicken - also added the Goan masalas at this stage. Added the coriander powder - which was freshly ground - in the last to preserve the flavour. DO NOT ADD SALT YET.

After the whole mixture is 'bhunoed' properly, then add the salt. Add bioling water - i added almost 3 cups since the peanuts in the masala tend to make the gravy thicken quickly.Cover and simmer till done.

Must say it turned out quite tasty - It was fed to all the above in laws, plus my parents, plus my cousin Radha, her husband Pavel, her brother Eshan and Meena, my aunt.

Pavel commented that it was the most "different" chicken he had had and it was really nice.

Therefore i am posting this for my own future reference too, since i tend to forget what i had put and how i had made it...