Krishna & Maria's Kitchen

Ingredients:

• Curry leaves (10-12)
• Mustard seeds (1 Tbsp)
• Onion (finely chopped – 1/4 cup)
• Carrots (finely grated – 1/3 cup)
• Tomatoes (1-1.5 cups: I usually chop  3 medium sized)
• Green peas (1/3 cup)
• Semolina/Sooji (1 cup)
• Chana dal or broken peanuts – a handful
• Green chilly (optional – chopped 1)
• Oil – 2 Tbsp
• Water – as required ( I usually need about 1.5 to 2 cups)
• Salt – as required

Cooking method:

1. Heat oil in a wok/skillet/saucepan to medium high
2. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves – Allow to sputter
3. Add the dal or peanuts and dry roast for 1-1.5 mins
4. Add the onion and chilly (if using) and wait till the onion turns translucent
5. Add the semolina and dry roast until it just starts to turn light brown – Stir once in a while to prevent it from getting burnt and lower the flame when the color is uniformly very light brown
6. Add the carrots and green peas – Mix and continue to stir for a minute or two
7. Add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle salt
8. Mix everything thoroughly
9. Gradually add water in different sections of the mixture and continue to stir to avoid lump formation – Don’t add too much water in a section, it’ll become watery – You’ll notice that the semolina starts coming together and becoming soft in the areas where it moistens – You want to make sure the water is added very slowly and uniformly across all areas of the mixture
10. Once desired softness in consistency is uniformly achieved, turn off the flame and serve yourself a hot bowl!

Ingredients:

• Potato
• bitter gourd
• oil
• salt
• turmeric powder
• Kashmiri mirch powder

Cooking Method:

Cut potato into thin long pieces. Also cut bitter gourd in similar pieces. Make sure to remove the seeds inside the bitter gourd. You can cut circles first and then slit them in thin pieces.

Heat a little oil in a vessel, add appropriate quantity of salt, turmeric and Kashmiri mirch powder in low flame. Stir a little and quickly add the washed bitter gourd pieces. Stir again and add washed thin long pieces of potato. Stir , cover and cook in medium flame for 3 to 4 mins.

Open the lid, mix well and fry till brownish in colour. Serve with hot rice.

Ingredients:

• Radish
• tomato
• potato
• bay leaf
• turmeric
• cumin
• coriander
• chilli
• garam masala powder
• oil
• salt
• lime

Cooking Method:

Grate or cut the radish into fine strands after washing. Finely cut tomato. Cut potato in small cubes.

Heat some oil in a vessel, add the finely cut tomato, add some salt and water, bring it to a boil. Cover and cook in low flame for about 7 mins. Open the lid, mash the tomato with a spoon to a paste.

Add bay leaf. Mix little water with the dry spices and add to the vessel, saute a little . Then add the grated radish and potato pieces, add salt and little water. When the mixture boils, cover and cook in low flame till the radish and potato are cooked. Open the lid, dry off excess water to make a dry prep.

Serve with bread or rice and squeeze a little lime juice on top if you prefer the taste.

Ingredients:

• Pieces of fish
• bunch of spring onion
• tomato
• turmeric powder
• chilli powder
• oil, salt.

Cooking Method:

Coat the fish pieces with salt and turmeric powder and shallow fry them. Keep them aside.

To some oil in the same vessel, add finely cut tomato pieces, salt ,enough for a semi dry prep, some water. When the mixture starts boiling, cover and cook the tomato in low flame for about 7 mins. Open the vessel, mash the tomato pieces to make a puree. Cut spring onion in 1 and half inches long pieces. Mix some turmeric and chilli powder with little water and add to the cooking vessel. Saute, add the washed spring onion and fish pieces. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and cook in low flame for about 10 mins.

Serve the semi dry prep with hot rice.

Ingredients :

• Potato
• eggplant
• peas ( optional )
• tomato
• bay leaf
• turmeric
• cumin
• coriander
• chilli powder
• oil, salt

Cooking Method :
Cut potato and eggplant in cubes. Cut tomato in fine pieces. To some oil in a vessel, add the potato and eggplant pieces, peas , sprinkle little salt and lightly fry them. Then put them aside.

Add the finely cut tomato pieces to the vessel, add enough salt for a semi dry prep, little water. When the content boils, cover and cook the tomato in low flame for 5 to 7 mins. Open the lid, mash the tomato finely. Add little water to the spice mixture and pour into the vessel. Add bay leaf. Saute a little. Add the lightly fried potato, eggplant and peas. Add enough water to form a semi dry prep. When the mixture boils, cover and cook in low flame for about 12 mins. Serve with hot rice or bread.

Ingredients:

• Boneless Chicken pieces
• Basmati rice
• cardamom
• cinnamon
• cloves
• cumin seeds
• mace
• bay leaf
• mint leaves
• turmeric
• chilli
• coriander
• cumin
• garam masala powder
• curd
• fried onion
• ginger
• garlic paste
• salt
• oil
• butter

Cooking Method:

Wash the chicken and cut into small pieces. Add cut mint leaves, little cumin seeds, little turmeric, chilli, cumin, coriander powder, some garam masala powder, fried onion, ginger, garlic paste, curd, salt and oil. Mix well and marinate in fridge for 2hrs or more.

Wash 2 heaped cups of basmati rice and drain off the water. To a vessel, heat some oil, add bay leaf, 4 split cardamom, 4 cloves, a piece of cinnamon and mace. Saute in low flame. Add the washed rice, add 2 and half cups of water, salt, some mint leaves, little butter. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and cook in low flame for 5 to 10 mins until water in the vessel is dry. Dip a spoon to check it. The rice this way is 75% cooked. Make sure to check remaining water often as there is a chance the rice might burn if cooked for too long.

After opening the lid, try to remove the pieces of cardamom, cloves, mace, cinnamon and bay leaves if possible to avoid them coming in the mouth while eating. They are normally on the top.

In another vessel, where the biryani is to be made, arrange the marinated chicken at the bottom of the vessel. Add 1 cup of water. Cover and cook for 10 mins, until till the chicken is tender. Remove the lid and make a semi dry preparation.

Then arrange neatly the 75% cooked rice on top, covering the chicken. Add little oil and add 1 and half cups of water. Add some fried onion on the top. Cover and cook in low flame for another 5 mins. Open the lid and check if the water inside has dried by dipping a spoon. Cook the rice with open lid until there is no water remaining. The rice of the biryani should be loose. Pay close attention that the bottom of the rice does not burn due to over-cooking.

Gently serve the hot biryani with the chicken so that the colour of the biryani is white with streaks of yellow.

Raita Ingredients:

• Curd
• finely cut cucumber
• tomato
• onion
• salt
• chat masala ( optional )

Cooking Method:

Take required amount of normal curd, beat it with a spoon to a smooth consistency. Add washed pieces of the above vegetables. Add some salt and chat masala (optional ). Mix well and keep in fridge before serving with biryani.

Ingredients:

• Potato
• pumpkin
• pach foran
• bay leaf
• 1 green chilli ( optional )
• turmeric powder
• oil
• salt

Cooking Method:

Cut off the skin of pumpkin, peel potatoes. Cut them into small pieces. To a little oil in a vessel, add some pach foran and bay leaf as seasoning and saute.

Add the washed potato and pumpkin pieces and fry them lightly. Add salt, turmeric powder and little water. When the mixture boils, cover and cook in low flame for about 10 mins.

Open the lid and make a semi dry prep. Serve with bread.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes 
• onion
• ginger paste
• garlic paste
• mustard seeds
• cumin seeds
• dry red chilli
• turmeric
• chilli
• coriander
• cumin powder
• kasoori methi
• salt
• oil

Cooking Method:
Cut potatoes in cubes, grate onion finely. Heat some oil in a vessel and fry the potato pieces lightly and keep aside. To the oil, add little dry red chilli, mustard and cumin seeds as seasoning and see them splutter.

Saute grated onion till golden brown in colour. Add ginger, garlic paste and saute again. Mix turmeric, chilli, cumin, coriander powder with little water and add to the vessel. Heat a little in low flame.

Then add the half fried potato pieces, salt, some water as required for a semi dry prep. Bring to a boil, then reduce the flame, cover and cook for about 10 mins. Open the lid , dry off excess water, sprinkle some kasoori methi leaves, mix in low flame and serve with rice or bread.

Ingredients:

• Assorted vegetables like, spinach leaves
• egg plant
• green beans
• radish
• carrot
• potato
• pach foran
• small dry red chilli
• pinch of hing
• little ginger paste
• turmeric powder
• salt
• oil
• lime

Cooking Method:

Cut the egg plant in cubes , slit the beans and cut them in medium long pieces. Similarly cut the radish and carrot also into thin long pieces. Cut the potato in medium size slices. Wash these vegetables with the spinach leaves.

Heat some oil in a vessel. Add pach foran, dry red chilli, little hing and ginger paste. Saute in low flame. Add some turmeric powder in little water. Stir a bit.

Add the washed vegetables, and salt. Bring the mixture to boil. Cover and cook in low flame for 10 min. Open the lid ,dry off excess water in the vessel and make a dry prep. The dish can be served with rice or bread.

Ingredients:

• Chicken pieces
• grated onion
• ginger paste
• garlic paste
• cinnamon
• cloves
• turmeric
• chilli powder
• coconut milk
• curd
• salt
• oil

Cooking Method: Heat some oil in a vessel and lightly fry grated onion. Add ginger, garlic paste and saute a little. Add appropriate quantity of cinnamon and cloves. Mix some turmeric and chilli powder with a little water and add to the cooking vessel.

Beat 1 tbs curd and add to the mixture. Add chicken pieces , salt and fry in low heat for a while. Add enough water, bring to a boil, cover and cook till the chicken is tender.

Open the lid, add some coconut milk ,simmer for few minutes and keep enough gravy to be served with rice.