Shahi Khoya Matar

Shahi Khoya Matar

Shahi khoya Matar is another wonderful Mughlai dish. Mughlai food is the food that was eaten and relished by Indians during the Mughal Period. Mughal food is said to be an empress of the Indian range of cooking.

Ingredients:

• 150 grams khoya/khava (dried whole milk)
• 1 1/2 cups boiled peas/matar
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 2 green chillies
• 1/2 tea spoon jeera
• 1-2 table spoon cashew nuts
• 2 onions
• 2 tomatoes pureed
• salt to taste
•  1/2 -1 tea spoon red chilly powder
• 1/2 tea spoon garam masala
• 2 cups water
• 2 table spoon ghee

Method:

Grind green chillies, ginger and jeera into a fine paste by adding a bit of water. keep aside. Grind onions to make a fine paste.

Heat ghee, add onion paste and fry until onions turn light brown.

Mash khoya and add it to the onion. Cook on slow flame until khoya turns medium brown.

Add ginger paste. Cook for 1 minute.

Add cashew nuts cook for 1/2 minutes.

Add tomato puree and cook until its turns dry and is well fried.

Now add boiled peas/matar. Keep aside a few for garnishing. Stir for 2-3 minutes.

Add water, salt, red chilly powder and garam masala. Boil.

Cook on low flame, till gravy turns thick.

Serve hot garnished with cashew nuts and boiled peas.

 

Shahi Kofta Curry



Shahi Kofta Curry



"A very rich kofta curry recipe"

Potato koftas stuffed with paneer, khava (Khoya), nuts and raisins. I thought of making malai kofta curry but didnt have enough paneer so made shahi kofta curry as it doesn't require much paneer. But,very soon I will upload malai kofta curry recipe.

Ingredients:

For Kofta:

• 500 grams potatoes (4-5 potatoes)
• 4 tea spoon cornflour
• salt to taste

For Stuffing:

• 100 grams khoya/khava
• 100 paneer
• 2 table spoon chopped cashew nuts
• 1 table spoon raisins

For Gravy:

• 500 grams onions (4 -5 onions)
• 250 grams tomato ( 2-3 tomatoes)
• 40 grams cashew nuts
• 2 tea spoon ginger and garlic paste
• 2 tea spoon garam masala
• 1 tea spoon dhaniya powder/coriander powder
• 2 tea spoon red chilly powder
• 1/4 tea spoon haldi/turmeric
• 1 cup dahi/yogurt whisked
• 1/2 cup fresh malai whisked
• oil as required
• salt to taste

For Garnishing:

• 100 grams ready made fresh cream
• finely chopped coriander leaves

Method:

For koftas:

Boil potatoes, peel and grate. Add corn flour and salt, knead well and keep aside.

Mash paneer and khoya, add chopped cashew nuts, raisins and salt. Mix well.

Flatten the potato mixture in a semi thick round shape. Stuff it with khoya and paneer stuffing in the centre and cover nicely by joining all the edges. Make smooth round koftas. Repeat the same with all the remaining dough.

Heat oil in a kadai, deep fry all the koftas till golden brown and keep aside.

For gravy:

Cut and boil onions in water. Strain water and grind to make a fine paste. Keep it aside.

Boil tomatoes in water. Strain the water, peel and grind it into a nice puree. Keep it aside.

Grind cashew nuts into a powder. Keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add in the onion paste. Fry till the colour changes slightly.

Now add ginger and garlic paste. Fry for a minute, then add coriander powder, cashew nuts powder, red chilly powder, garam masala powder and fry for another minute.

Add curd, malai and stir. Add 3 cups hot water, salt to taste and boil till the gravy slightly thickens. Now add in the koftas, stir.

Garnish it with fresh cream and coriander leaves and serve immediately. 

Note:

• If you a serving the dish later do not add the koftas earlier. Add them just before serving as they may split into halves and might get difficult to heat. Before adding the koftas boil the gravy and then add in the koftas.
• If the koftas break while frying add some more corn flour to the potato mixture.



Khubani Ka meetha ( Dried Apricot Dessert)

Khubani Ka meetha ( Dried Apricot Dessert)

Khubani ka Meetha is a very popular and one of the delicacies of Hyderabadi cuisine. It is a common feature at Hyderabadi weddings. It is made out of dried apricots. "Khubani" means apricot in urdu language and "meetha" meaning sweet that's why it is called "khubani ka meetha".

This dessert is my hubby's only favourite which was enjoyed by all on his Birthday. I got this recipe from my neighbour who is an expert in preparing this dish. I thank her for making me learn this dish on the special day.

Ingredients:

• 400 grams dried apricots
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• juice of half lemon
• 2 drops vanilla essence

Method:

Wash and soak apricots in water for 5-6 hours or overnight. Make sure you add enough water to cover all the apricots.

After soaking them for specified time they will become soft and pulpy. Remove the apricots from the water. Do not throw the soaked water.

Now deseed the apricots. Don't throw away the seeds as there are small almond like nuts in them, which we will use in the dessert.

Crack open the seeds with a nut cracker to extract the nuts. Now blanch the nuts, remove the skin and keep aside for garnishing.

Take a vessel add sugar and around 2-3 cups water and boil it for 10 minutes to make a thin sugar syrup and keep aside.

Now boil the deseeded apricots using the same water in which they were soaked. Boil them on a high flame for 10 minutes and then reduce the flame and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Now add the sugar syrup and mix properly. Boil for another 10 minutes or till it gets completely cooked. It is fully cooked when the colour changes to  brown.

Now take it out in a serving dish. Once it turns warm add in the lemon juice and vanilla essence. Mix properly. Garnish it with the blanched nuts.

Serve hot or cold with or without ice-cream.

Bagara Baigan Type # 2

Bagara Baigan Type # 2

As you might have reviewed my earlier post of Bagara Baigan, it is known to be one of the most delightful dish in the City of Nizams-Hyderabad. In my quest to learn the exact composition of cooking bagara baigan, I came across many recipes. I know around four to five different recipes of bagara baigan and all of them have a very unique and different taste. This one is among those recipes. I shall post the remaining varieties very soon.


Ingredients:

• 8 small purple brinjals(baigan)
• lemon size tamarind
• 2 onions, ground to a fine paste
• 1 tomato
• 1/4 cup oil
• 8-10 pudina/mint leaves
• 3-4 slit green chillies
• 1 table spoon finely chopped coriander leaves
• 3 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 tea spoon shahi jeera/ black cumin seeds
• 2 tea spoon ginger garlic paste
• 1 tea spoon coriander powder
• 1 tea spoon cumin powder
• salt to taste

For preparing paste

• 2 table spoon dry roasted sesame seeds (til)
• 2 table spoon dry roasted peanuts
• 1/4 tea spoon jeera
• 1/4 tea spoon mustard seeds
• 1 tea spoon chilly powder
• 1/4 tea spoon haldi

Method:

Wash and slit Brinjals from both the sides without cutting the brinjal completely with the stem intact and soak in water.

Soak tamarind in 1 cup warm water and keep aside.

Grind mint leaves along with the tomatoes into fine paste and keep aside.

Grind all the ingredients of the paste together with a bit of water (so as to have a fine paste).

Heat oil in a kadai and fry the brinjals till they are half cooked, remove and keep them aside.

In the same oil add shahi jeera, cinnamon stick and cloves fry till they change colour. Now add the onion paste and slit green chillies, fry till it changes colour and the raw smell goes off.

Now add tomato paste and fry for 2-3 minutes, add the sesame seeds and peanuts paste and fry till oil comes out.

Add tamarind water, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt.

After one boil add the brinjals and water if required. Cover and  cook for another 5-8 minutes or till oil comes out and till it gets thick gravy like consistency.

Serve hot with rotis or rice.

Masoor Dal (Lal Split Masoor Dal)

Masoor Dal

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2cups masoor dal
• 2 tea spoon garam masala
• 2 tea spoon turmeric
• salt as required
• 2 table spoon oil
• 2 finely chopped onions
• 4-5 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 1 inch finely chopped ginger
• 3-4 finely chopped green chillies
• 2 finely chopped tomatoes
• 1 tea spoon finely chopped coriander
• 1/2 tea spoon mustard
• 6-7 curry leaves
• 1/2 tea spoon jeera

Method:

Rinse masoor dal thoroughly until water is clear. Put the dal in a vessel and add 4 cups of water, bring it to boil.

Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes and then add 1 tea spoon garam masala and 1 tea spoon turmeric. Once the dal is cooked, it will thicken, add water to keep the dal loose. When the dal is soft, turn off the heat.

Heat oil in a wok when oil gets hot add mustard, jeera, curry leaves, onions and fry until they get tender. Do not let them get brown. Add ginger, garlic and green chillies. Continue to fry onions till they get completely cooked . Add the remaining garam masala and turmeric. Fry them until the mixture starts to stick. Don't allow the spices to burn.

Now add tomatoes and cook till it becomes soft. Then pour in the cooked dal. Mix well and simmer to blend all the flavours. Add water if required. Now add salt and coriander and mix well. Once the dal boils, turn off the heat.

Bagara Baigan

Bagara Baigan

Bagara Baigan is one of the most loved and specially prepared dish in the City of Nizams-Hyderabad. To be honest, I was unaware of this dish but post wedding, the dish I was attracted to was Bagara Baigan and I always wanted to make this dish and the best person to learn was my Hubby's Aunt who is an expert in Hyderabadi dishes.

There are range of recipes available on Bagara Baigan but the dish which I feel differentiates itself from others is the one that I have mentioned in this post. One of the uniqueness of this dish is the stuffed  tomato.When it mixes into the gravy , the juicy flavor that flows out is what I love the most. It really goes well with any dish you name like Rice, Biryani, Rumali Roti, etc. I will post other varieties of bagara baigan in my next post. 

Ingredients:

• 8 small purple brinjals(baigan)
• lemon size tamarind
• 3-4 tomatoes
• 1/4 cup oil

Ingredients for paste No. 1:

• 2 medium onions
• 1 inch ginger
• 8-10 garlic cloves
• 1/4 tea spoon haldi(Turmeric Powder)
• 1 tea spoon red chili powder
• salt as required

Ingredients for paste No.2:

• 1 table spoon coriander seeds
• 3/4 tea spoon cumin seeds
• 10-12 fenugreek seeds
• 1 tea spoon khus khus
• 2 table spoon sesame seeds (til )
• 3 table spoon grated dry coconut

Ingredients for tempering:

• 2-3 dry red chillies
• 3-4 crushed garlic cloves
• 7-8 curry leaves
• 1/2 tea spoon mustard seeds

Method:

Wash and slit Brinjals from both the sides without cutting the brinjal completely with the stem intact and soak in water.

Wash and cut tomatoes from both the sides without cutting the tomato completely.

Soak tamarind in 1 cup warm water and keep aside.

Turn you stove on and roast the onions on it with the flame medium-high.This will burn off the skin of the onions but the onions will get soft and cooked from inside.As shown in the picture below.

Once the onion is roasted ,let it cool and then remove the skin and cut it. Now put it in a grinder and make a fine paste of all the ingredients in paste No.1. and keep aside.

Dry roast all  ingredients for paste No. 2 one by one and grind with tamarind water into a smooth paste and keep aside along with first paste. As shown below.

Mix both the pastes together and stuff in the brinjals and tomatoes.

Heat oil in a vessel and add mustard seeds when they splutter add crushed garlic,curry leaves and dry red chillies and fry ,then add the stuffed brinjal and cover and fry till it is half cooked.

Once done add the remaining masala and water as required .Let it boil .Once it boils add the stuffed tomatoes and cook for another 5-8 minutes or till oil comes out and till it gets thick gravy like consistency.

Now enjoy the delicious bagara baigan with rice or rotis.