May 31, 2017

Easy Chana Masala Recipe Using Pressure cooker – How To Make Chole Masala Recipe

You will not believe if I say this is the first time I am trying North Indian style Chana masala recipe using a pressure cooker. Usually I make South Indian hotel style chana kurma for chapathi.Even though I have tasted chana masala ( Kabuli chana curry) in Punjabi and other North Indian restaurants,I haven’t tried at home. Recently my friend Shalini was suggesting me to try this easy chana masala recipe using Everest Chana masala/Chole masala spice mix powder. She told me to follow the recipe given on the pack. As I had already tried Chole recipe using homemade chole masala powder in my Punjabi thali post, I wanted to find the taste of chana masala using store bought powder.So I tried Chana bhatura for our weekend breakfast. I prepared few poori as well. We all loved its taste and I prepared again for their lunch box too. Actually I wanted to post both Chana masala and bhatura recipes today but bhatura din’t come out so well as expected.I will try to make a perfect bhatura recipe and share it soon. So today I am sharing this easy, one pot chana masala gravy using a pressure cooker. If you have homemade or store bought chana masala powder and cooked chickpea in hand, making this recipe is a breeze.This is a perfect bachelor style recipe. As a disclaimer, I would like to mention that this is not the authentic chana masala recipe or restaurant style one. This is just a simple, no grind version that would help working women, busy housewives and bachelors to make a quick side dish for chapathi, poori and bhatura. If you like, you can have it mixed with rice as well. Lets see how to make easy chana masala at home with step by step photos and video.
Finally, do check out my Kabuli biryani recipe ( chana dal biryani) and chana sundal recipes if interested !

Chana masala recipe - Easy chole masala in a pressure cooker

Easy chana masala/chole masala recipe in a pressure cooker using storebought chana masala spice mix powder.

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Side dish for roti/chapathi

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml

Kabuli chana/ white chickpeas - 3/4 cup ( soaked for 8 hours)
Cooking oil + ghee - 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Big onion - 1 no ( finely chopped)
Ripe tomato - 3 nos ( finely chopped)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Dhania powder - 1 tsp
Chana masala powder - 2 tsp ( I have tried Everest & MDH brand, Both are good)
Green chilli - 1 no
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Chat masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Kasoori methi - 1/2 tsp ( crushed)
Coriander leaves - to garnish

METHOD

Wash and soak white chickpeas/kabuli chana in water for 8 hours or overnight. It gets doubled after soaking. Pressure cook in low flame for 3 whistles adding required salt and water. Take 1/4 cup cooked chana and mash it well. Set aside.
Heat oil + ghee in a pressure cooker. Saute finely chopped onion, slit green chilli and thinly sliced ginger. Saute for a minute. Add finely chopped tomato and salt ,saute until mushy.
Now add the red chilli powder, dhania powder, chana masala powder. Mix well. Add 1 cup of water, 1/4 cup mashed chana, 1 cup cooked chana and mix well. Note that you can also add uncooked chana directly after soaking but chana won;t cook soft.In that case, u should add a big pinch of baking soda in the gravy.
Pressure cook in low flame for 2 whistles.Remove the lid after steam is released. Add chat masala powder, crushed kasoori methi. Mix well.Garnish with coriander leaves if you like.
Mix well and serve with poori, chapathi or bhatura ! Enjoy !

Note

Adjust the quantity of spice powders as per your taste.
You can add the spice powders after sauting onion, then add tomatoes. This was given in the Everest pack.But I added the masala powders after adding tomato.
If you want to replace chana masala powder, add 1 tsp garam masala powder + 1/2 tsp aamchur powder.

Try this easy, one pot chana masala for poori/bhatura or Chapathi !

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May 29, 2017

Indian Vegetarian Avocado Sandwich Recipe – Guacamole Sandwich Recipe

After a long gap, I am sharing a recipe with avocado because this healthy fruit is very rarely available in my place Sad

. So whenever I see it in Reliance fresh, I take one to try some interesting recipes with it. Avocado is popularly known as “Butter fruit” in India. So far I have tried and posted avocado paratha, avocado milkshake and Guacamole recipes and that too very long back. So this time I made Indian style, vegetarian avocado sandwich for a change. This no cook sandwich is a quick and easy breakfast/dinner recipe. Its a vegan recipe as well. You can use whole wheat bread to make it healthy and low in calorie. I don’t think kids would like this sandwich. If you use milk bread, add lots of grated cheese to the sandwich filling and toast it with butter, kids may like to have it Winking

. But this is an ideal recipe for adults who look for weight loss. One sandwich, a banana and a glass of milk was very much filling for me Happy

. You too give a try ! Lets see how to make this easy and quick Indian style vegetarian Avocado sandwich recipe with step by step pictures.

Indian Avocado sandwich recipe

Indian vegetarian style avocado sandwich recipe - A very healthy breakfast/dinner recipe !

Cuisine:Indian

Category: Sandwich Recipes

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 5 Minutes

Total time: 10 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Ripen avocado - 1 no ( Big)
Green chilli - 1 no ( finely chopped)
Big onion - 1 no ( finely chopped)
Grated carrot - 1/4 cup
Lemon juice - Few drops
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp (finely chopped)
Chopped capsicum - 2 tbsp
Ripe tomato - 1/2 no ( finely chopped)
Salt - As needed
Pepper powder - 1/2 to 1 tsp
Chat masala powder - 1/2 tsp ( add more if needed)
Olive oil or cooking oil - 1 tsp

METHOD

In a plate, wash and cut the avocado into two pieces vertically.Remove the seed with a knife. Scoop out the pulp and discard the skin.
In a wide bowl, take the paste, grated carrot, finely chopped green chilli, onion, tomato, coriander leaves, required salt, chat masala and pepper powder. Mix well.
Take two bread slices, trim off the sides if needed. Apply butter on one bread if needed.Apply the sandwich filling on the other bread.Cover it and grill or toast the sandwich if needed. I served it raw.

Try this easy, healthy avocado veg sandwich for your breakfast or dinner. You will like it for sure !

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May 25, 2017

Khoya Kaju Recipe – Restaurant Style Khoya Kaju Gravy Recipe

I have never heard about khoya kaju gravy until my reader friend Dheepika requested me to try this recipe after having in an Indian restaurant. When she told me about this recipe, I browsed and shared the recipe links from 2 different websites to her. She went through them and told me about the color & texture of the gravy along with a picture of one she had in the restaurant.When I browsed for the recipe, I found khoya kaju gravy tastes sweets with mild spices basically.But Dheepika told the restaurant people made it red in color by adding red chilli powder as they asked for a spicy version. Based on her inputs, I followed the recipe of white based khoya kaju curry from spice up the curry and I used red chilli powder in place of green chillies.I tried it yesterday for our dinner.After tasting this, Sendhil told Khoya kaju curry would be white in color in most of the hotels. Some people may add food color to present it red in color, he added. Whatever it is, gravy came out delicious and very flavorful.We loved it with roti. Thanks to you Dheepika for making me try this restaurant style gravy. Soon I will try to share the recipe of khoya kaju white gravy. Though this gravy is very high in calories with full of ghee, cashews and khoya, everyone must give a try at home as it tastes so good & delicious Love Struck

. We can indulge in these type of gravies at least once in a while for celebrations and occasions.So friends, do try it and share your feedback with me Happy

.Lets see how to make this restaurant style khoya kaju gravy with step by step pictures and video !

Khoya Kaju Gravy Recipe

Khoya kaju gravy recipe - Side dish for roti, naan, kulcha

Cuisine: North Indian

Category: Side dish for roti

Serves: Serves 3-4

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml

Cashew nuts - 1/2 cup
Unsweetened khoya - 1/4 cup
Ghee + Cooking oil - 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Bay leaf - 1 no
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Cardamom powder – a pinch (optional)
Fresh curd/yogurt – 2 tbsp
Sugar – 1/4 tsp
Water – 1 cup
Kasoori methi – 1/2 tsp ( crushed, optional )
Fresh cream - 1 tbsp

To cook & grind

Big onion - 1 no or 1/2 cup (chopped)
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 1 no
Pepper corns - 2 nos
Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup

METHOD

In a wide bowl, take the chopped onion, cashews, pepper corns, cinnamon, cloves along with water. Boil and cook for 5 minutes till onion turns soft. Grind everything to a smooth paste and keep aside.
Heat oil + ghee in a good non-stick pan and roast the cashews till golden.Remove in a plate. In the remaining oil+ghee, saute bay leaf and add the ground onion paste. This paste gets stuck to the bottom easily as it has cashews.So keep the flame very low and mix it till thick. Scrape the bottom and sides if needed and mix well.
Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, sugar, cardamom powder and garam masala powder. Mix for a minute in low flame. Then add curd and mix well. Add 1 cup of water and boil the gravy till oil starts to float on top.
Lastly add the crumbled khoya and mix well. Gravy look orange in color. Add the roasted cashews,mix well and switch off the flame. Then add crushed kasoori methi, fresh cream and mix well. Serve with roti, naan or kulcha !

Enjoy !

Note

Reduce the quantity of red chilli powder if you want mildly spiced gravy.
Skip red chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala powder and add green chillies while boiling onions to make a white based gravy.
You can add more khoya if you want more creamy gravy.
Adding kasoori methi is optional. But it adds flavor.

Try this yummy, creamy, rich & delicious Khoya kaju gravy at home !

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May 23, 2017

Aloo Dum Biryani Recipe – Baby Potato Biryani – Small Potato Biryani Recipe

In my veg biryani series, I had already shared a Chettinad style baby potato biryani in pressure cooker. But this baby potato Dum biryani is a completely different version. I tried this recipe after watching this video. Usually aloo Dum biryani is prepared by shallow or deep frying sliced potatoes, marinated in curd+ spices mixture, made into a gravy and then layered with parboiled basmati rice. When I was browsing for various small potato biryani recipes, I was scared to see the tedious process because I had very less time in hand to prepare our Sunday lunch. But convincingly, I got this recipe.Feedback from readers made me try this recipe without any second thoughts. I loved the idea and simplicity of this recipe.Yes, This baby potato biryani is a much simplified version when compared with the traditional ones.This recipe involves no marination, no frying and taste wise there is no compromise at all. It tasted great just like Hyderabadi Veg Dum biryani. We all loved it & relished with onion raita. You can try this biryani for any special occasions like birthdays, wedding anniversary to treat your family. Kids would love this biryani for sure as it has their most favorite vegetable – Potato Winking

. You can try this biryani in a pressure cooker using regular potato as well. Lets see how to make aloo dum biryani recipe using baby potato with step by step pictures and video !

Pressure Cooker Cake Recipe – How To Make Eggless Vanilla Cake In Pressure Cooker

Eggless vanilla cake using a pressure cooker is my long time pending readers requested recipe. Many readers who tried my eggless cakes using convection oven had requested me to share some eggless cake recipes using a pressure cooker. Long back I had shared an eggless chocolate cake in a pressure cooker. But its procedure and recipe is completely different from the usual cooker cake. I used water in the bottom of cooker instead of salt or sand. Today I have shared the proper & perfect pressure cooker cake using powdered salt. I followed my eggless tutti frutti cake recipe and made it using pressure cooker instead of baking in oven. This simple, eggless cake recipe is made without using condensed milk or butter. Curd and cooking oil are the major ingredients. Cake came out really well, spongy and very soft as expected Love Struck

. The texture of the cake is equally great with the oven ones. There is no much difference in baking time as well. This vanilla sponge cake can be used as the base, decorate it with simple frosting and enjoy for birthday & anniversary celebrations Or it can be relished as simple tea time cake as well.For variations, you can mix in some tutti frutti to make this cake colorful. Friends, do try this cake during this vacation for your kids. I am sure you will get perfect results. I tried frosting the cake using Amul fresh cream.It tasted great but its texture was not so perfect. Soon I will try to make a simple and easy frosting recipe using fresh cream and share here. Lets see how to make eggless vanilla sponge cake in a pressure cooker with step by step pictures and video !

Vegetable Sagu Recipe – Karnataka Style Saagu Recipe - Side Dish For Poori, Set Dosa

Sagu is the most popular side dish for poori, set dosa, rava dosa & even for rava idli in Karnataka hotels just like vegetable kurma in Tamil nadu.It is served along with coconut chutney.In Kannada Sagu means Kurma.Being in Bangalore for the past 10 years, I had tasted this saagu ( mixed vegetable sagu) several times in restaurants, marriage functions here.In some places, potato sagu is served instead of vegetable sagu.During avarekalu season ( Field beans), avarekalu sagu is served. Recently I got the recipe from Nagalakshmi ( one of my friends in School moms group). Actually she shared two versions. One is the green version and the other one is red.But I wanted to try the hotel style sagu recipe.So I chose the green version and tried it for Ragi Poori. It came out really well. Before posting here, I shared a picture of this sagu with my friends in Whatsapp, got their approval about the color & texture and posting it confidently Happy

. The flavor and texture of this sagu is very similar to south Indian veg kurma.Coconut, poppy seeds are the most important ingredients.It forms the base for this gravy. You could find many variations in sagu masala.But tastes good in all the ways ! Lets see how to make Karnataka style mixed vegetable sagu recipe with step by step pictures.

Saagu recipe / mixed vegetable sagu recipe

Karnataka style mixed vegetable sagu recipe - side dish for poori, set dosa, rava idli and rava dosa

Cuisine: Karnataka

Category: Side dish for poori, dosa

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250 ml

Mixed vegetables - 1 cup ( 1 medium carrot, 5 beans, 1 potato, handful green peas ) ( Cauliflower, knol khol can also be used)
Big onion - 1 no
Tomato - 1 small ( optional)
Salt & water - as needed

To Grind

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Green chillies - 3 nos ( use 2 for less spicy taste)
Poppy seeds/Khus Khus – 1.5 tsp
Fried gram dal – 1.5 tsp
Big onion – 1/2 no (medium sized)
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Garlic cloves - 2 nos
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 2 nos
Cardamom - 1 no
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Tamarind – A pinch (Optional)

To Temper

Cooking oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Curry leaves - Few

METHOD

Wash and chop all the vegetables finely. Grind all the ingredients given under “ To grind” to a smooth paste. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker base. Temper mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.Add the finely chopped onion and saute till transparent.
Add the chopped vegetables and required salt. Mix well and add ground paste.Saute till raw smell goes off.
Lastly add 1 cup of water. Mix well and Pressure cook for 1 whistle in low flame. Open the lid after the steam is released. If its watery, boil for a minute. If its too thick, add some water to adjust the consistency. Mix well and serve with poori, set dosa or rava idli.
Enjoy !

Note

Adjust the quantity of green chillies as per your spice level.
Adding tamarind is optional while grinding masala.
You can add 1 tsp of ginger,garlic paste instead of ginger & whole garlic.
You can also add few mint leaves while grinding.

Try this easy, Karnataka special vegetable sagu for poori, dosa. Its flavorful and healthy too!

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May 16, 2017

Ragi Poori Recipe – Finger Millet Poori – Ragi Recipes

I am happy to share a millet recipe after a long time in my space. As you all know, I have been trying varieties of Poori recipes during weekends and sharing the same in my web page. Soon I will make a collection of them in my page for quick reference. Last weekend I tried ragi poori for our Sunday breakfast. Ragi (Finger millet in English, Kezhvaragu in Tamil, Mandua in Hindi, Ragi in Kannada, Koovaragu in Malayalam, Ragulu in Telugu) is a very healthy millet that is rich in calcium & iron.Usually I make recipes with ragi flour at least once in a week to include it in our regular diet. Most of the time I prepare ragi dosa as its a quick, easy and instant dosa recipe. Sometimes Ragi porridge/Ragi kanji and ragi idli. Recently I came across this finger millet puri in some websites. I quickly browsed for the recipe, made some changes and tried it. It came out really well and soft.Though it looks hard & dry in the picture, the actual texture and taste was really nice. We are adding equal quantity of wheat flour to the ragi flour to give a binding to the poori dough. Rava is used to maintain the puffiness of poori for long time. Ghee is to give softness.Do try this poori for a change with a healthy addition of Ragi.You will like it I think :). Lets move on to the recipe of how to make Ragi poori with step by step pictures ! Please watch my basic Poori video for reference as the ingredients and the method of making this ragi poori is almost the same.

Ragi Poori - Finger Millet Poori Recipe

How to make Ragi Poori/Finger millet poori recipe for breakfast - Basic poori recipe with a healthy addition !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Breakfast Recipes

Serves: 9 nos

Prep time: 20 Minutes

Cook time: 2 Minutes

Total time: 22 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml

Ragi flour / Finger millet flour - 1/2 cup
Wheat flour / Atta - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 1/2 tsp
Rava/Sooji - 1 tsp ( I used upma rava,coarse ones)
Salt & water - as needed
Cooking oil - to deep fry poori

METHOD

In a wide bowl, take the ragi flour, wheat flour, required salt, rava, ghee and mix well. Now add water gradually and make a thick dough.No problem if the dough is slightly sticky and have cracks.
Now grease your hands with oil lightly.Knead the dough very well for 5 minutes.Dough will become smooth and non-sticky. Do not rest the dough. Make poori immediately else it may drink oil.
Make small balls from the dough and set aside.Keep it covered with a plate. Take one ball, dust in wheat flour and roll into small, thick poori. Poori won’t puff up if rolled thin.
Heat oil in a kadai and when it gets heated , drop a pinch of dough.If it rises to the top immediately, oil temperature is right.Oil should not be smoky hot.Drop one poori and when it starts to float on top, press it with a ladle gently. Poori puff up well. Flip the poori and lower the flame to medium.
Cook the other side and remove in a tissue paper. Again increase the flame and drop another poori. Repeat this and make all the puri. Serve hot with kurma! I made Karnataka style vegetable sagu as side dish.
Enjoy !