Black-Eyed Beans Curry

Ingredients-

1 cup Black-Eyed beas/peans/Chawli(dry)

1 big Onion, finely chopped

2 Tomatoes, finely chopped

1 Green Chilli, chopped

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

2 tsps Coriander Pwdr

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/2 tsp red Chilli Pwdr

1/2tsp Cumin Pwdr

1/2 tsp Garam Masala pwdr

1/4tsp Dry Mango Pwdr

1/4tsp Turmeric

Salt to taste.

Cilantro to garnish.

Oil.

Method-

Soak the black-eyed peas for around 3-4 hrs in water.

Heat 2 tbsps oil in a Pressure-Cooker.

Splutter the cumin seeds.

Add onion and the ginger-garlic paste.

Saute till the onion is light brown.

Then put in the chopped tomatoes and green chilli.

Add turmeric and salt.

Cook till well blended.

Then put in all the other dry spices and mix well.

Then add the soaked chawli(without the water).

Roast for 5 mins.

Then put in a glass of water.

Close the lid and give 2-3 whistles(till the beans are soft).

Open the lid when the pressure drops and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Serve with Roti or Rice.

Since these beans do not need overnight soaking, ,unlike other beans. you need not plan in advance to make this dish.

This is one of the reasons, apart from its good nutritional value and good taste, I like these beans a lot!

Chole Puri

Chole Puri is a very popular dish in most of the North Indian homes.
It also happens to be one of the favourites in our home.
We eat chole i.e. white chick peas or Garbanzo beans or chana in various forms.
Sometimes I just boil the chickpeas and throw in some chopped raw onions, tomatoes, cilantro, salt, red chilli powder and some chaat masala and eat it for breakfast or as an evening snack.

At other times I cook them in a gravy form that is Chana masala and we have it with pav or sliced bread and chopped raw onions.

But at times when I am not much worried about the fat consumption, I serve it with Puris i.e. deep fried indian bread.

For making the Puris-

4 cups of All-purpose flour

2 tbsps Oil

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp of Ajwain

Water to knead the dough.

Oil for deep frying.

Method-

Mix the flour, salt, oil, ajwain and knead it into a dough using water.

And keep it aside for 1/2 an hour, covered with a damp cloth.

Then make small balls from the dough and roll them into small flat round shapes using dry flour if required.

Simultaneously, also keep oil for heating, for deep frying the Puris.

When the oil gets hot enough, drop the puris one by one. Fry them well on both sides turning once.

Tip-

Always fry the puris just before serving.

I usually roll out a few puris and keep and then fry them in batches.

For making the Chole-

1 cup dried chick peas

2 big onions, finely chopped

4 tomatoes, pureed

2 tsps ginger-garlic paste

1/2 tsp Jeera(cumin seeds)

1 green chilly chopped

1/2 tsp red chilly powder

1/2 tsp dry mango powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp chole masala powder(Everest or Badshah or whichever brand you like)

1 tsp Dhania(coriander) powder

1/2 tsp jeera powder(cumin powder)

salt to taste

Cilantro for garnishing.

2 tbsps Oil

Method-

Rinse the dried chick peas in 2-3 changes of water and soak them overnight.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add jeera.

Then add chopped onions, ginger-garlic paste, green chilly and saute till the onions turn brown.

Then put the pureed tomatoes, salt, turmeric, redchilly pwdr, dhania-jeera pwdr, dry mango pwdr and roast well till the oil seperates.

Then put in the chole sans water. But reserve the water for later use.

Add the chole masala and roast well.

Then put in the reserved water and close the lid of the cooker and give 5-6 whistles or till the chole is properly cooked.

Open the lid of the cooker when the pressure drops.

Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve with hot puris and onion tomato kachumber.

Palak Paneer

There are many recipes of palak that I make often.Peas Palak, Aloo Palak, Spinach salad but I had never tried Palak Paneer until recently.
One fine day when I opened my Refrigerator(which is usually overflowing with meats and vegetables) I only found a bunch of spinach and some paneer staring at me. So I immediately decided to try my hand at Palak Paneer.
So I scurried through my recipe books to find a quick recipe for Palak Paneer.
And I was successful! The book of Nita Mehta came to my rescue and the dish was ready in less than 30 minutes!!

Ingredients:-

1 bunch spinach(palak)
200 gms paneer-cut into cubes
1 medium onion-finely chopped
1 inch piece ginger-chopped
5 flakes garlic-chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
a pinch of asafoetida(hing)
1 tbsp ghee
salt

Method:-

Boil the spinach leaves for 5 minutes in 1/2 cup of water.
Cool. Blend in a mixer to a puree.
Heat ghee in a pan.Add Hing,Chopped ginger and garlic.
Saute for sometime and then add the finely chopped onion to it.
Reduce flame and fry onion till light brown.
Add tomato puree and mix well.
Then add the diced paneer.
Increase the flame and fry for 2 minutes.
Then add the palak paste to it.
Cover and cook for 5 minutes on low flame.
Remove from fire and serve hot with Chappati or rice.

TIP:-You can also add 1 tbsp fresh cream in the end before serving.

And this is my entry for Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables.

My First Recipe

One of my favourite recipes is Rajma Curry (red kidney beans cooked in spicy sauce).

You need:-

1 cup Rajma (red kidney beans)
2 big onions finely chopped
4 tomatoes pureed
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
Red chilly powder according to your taste
2tsp coriander powder
1/2tsp cumin powder
1/2tsp Garam masala
2tbsp oil
salt to taste
Cilantro to garnish.

Method:-
Soak rajma overnight in warm water. wash rajma and pressure cook it for 5 to 6 whistles in 3cups water.
Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions and ginger-garlic paste. saute till light brown and then add the tomato puree.Add salt and turmeric and mix well and cook till the oil seperates from the gravy. Then put in the spices-red chili pwdr,cumin pwdr,coriander pwdr. mix well. Then put in the rajma without the water.And saute well. Then add the garam masala and mix. Finally add the water in which the rajma was boiled and boil it well until it thickens a little. Add chopped cilantro and serve immediately with phulkas or rice.

Tip:- If u have not soaked rajma the previous night dont panic !! Just soak it in hot water for abt 2 hrs before boiling it. Bye the way , this tip came from my ever helpful hubby when I was feeling like having rajma for lunch and I had not soaked it the earlier night !!