Prawn Pickle Ingredients: 500 gms shelled, deveined and washed med sized prawns. Around 16 to 20 dry Kashmiri chillies. 1 tablespoon cumin/jeera1 cup malt or cane vinegar( I use Kohlah’s) 1 teaspoon kashmiri mirch powder.1 and a half teaspoons black mustard seeds. Half teaspoon haldi.5 pepper corns.10 cloves of garlic. 1 lemon sized ball of jaggery, crushed. 5 tablespoons of oil. Salt to taste. Method: In a glass bowl soak the dry chillies, jeera, mustard seeds,peppercorns in the vinegar overnight. Pat dry the prawns with a paper towel. Add the salt and haldi to them. Wet grind the soaked chillies, peppercorns, mustard seeds, garlic in the same vinegar.No water to be added. Heat oil in a tapeli or kadai.Stir fry the prawns for just 2 minutes and remove. Keep aside. Add the masala paste and fry it well till the oil separates. Add red chillie powder and add the sauted prawns into the masala . Add the jaggery. Taste for the sweet/sour/spice balance. Allow it to simmer for a few minutes. Allow it to cool before putting it in a jar. This stays for long in the fridge.

Chicken Vindaloo 1 chicken cleaned and cut into pieces 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste Marinate chicken overnight in 1/2 cup vinegar (we use Kohla’s) with 1 tsp haldi and 1 tsp salt. Soak 20-40 red chilles, (we use dry Kashmiri chillies) depending on how pungent u want it or the quality of red chillies+2 tspn jeera+ 1″ piece cinnamon and 4-6 cloves. Grind this paste. Fry 2-3 finely sliced onions until brown with a tspn of sugar. Now add the ground masala and cook till oil separates. Add the chicken and cook till meat is done. Never add any water to the vindaloo. Just when it is almost done add slivers of Ginger and garlic and slit green chillies. Check for vinegar, if less you can add more. Add fried potatoes..mix well..serve! Butter Chicken Ingredients

6-7 cashew nuts Coriander leaves Crushed fenugreek leaves Cumin seeds Whole garam masala Ginger garlic paste Onions Red chilli powder Tomato purée Curd Fresh cream Marination of Chicken: Salt Haldi powder Red chilli powder Little tandoori paste Mix the chicken with dahi ( curd) and marinate for one hour. Blending: Cashew nuts, whole garam masala and fenugreek leaves and cumin seeds. To make: Marinated chicken shallow fry in butter and set aside. In seperate wok add oil and onion paste and saute till pinkish color then add ginger garlic paste, cumin powder, add tomato purée, cashew paste and sauté adding little water and simmer on slow fire for 20 mts. Add 4 tbsp of fresh cream and stir till it dissolves. And then add the sautéed chicken and leave it on slow fire for half and hour. Garnish with coriander leaves and streaks of cream. Boneless Pepper Chicken Ingredients: Boneless chicken pieces (1/2 kg) Soya sauce 3 tablespoons sour lime 1/2 ground pepper 1 tablespoon salt 1/4 tsp 4tsps of oil In a non stick pan put all the above ingredients on slow fire till dry. Cover the non stick pan till dry. Chicken/Prawn/Meat/Fish Curry Parsi Style Ingredients: Coconut powder 4 tbsp Dhana Seeds (coriander seeds) 2 tbsp KhasKhas (poppy seeds) 2 tsp Red Kashmiri dry chillies 10 to 15 pcs ( you can take more or less according to your taste) Cashew nuts ¼ kg Whole jeera 1 tsp

A pinch of salt Blend all the above in the mixer. Clean and marinate the chicken/ prawns/ meat/ fish with: salt 1 tbsp of haldi(turmeric) 1 tbsp curry mixture powder 1 tbsp oil mix it well and keep it aside. Method: 1. Heat little oil in non-stick vessel (tapeli) and add 4-5 pcs of Kari patta and pour all the blended paste from the mixer. 2. Let it simmer on slow fire. 3. Once the oil comes up, pour 2 glasses of water and again let it simmer. 4. Add 1 tbsp of tamarind water to give little tangy taste and also add 5 tbsp of tomato paste and keep simmering for 20-25 minutes. 5. Add one tin of coconut milk and add water as per your consistency and requirements. 6. Add salt to taste. 7. After 25 minutes add the marinated chicken/prawn/meat/fish. 8. Let the chicken cook on slow fire till it is done. 9. Garnish with coriander leaves. Prawn or Shrimp Masala Ingredients: 1 cup de-veined and shelled shrimp/prawns 1 chopped onion 1 chopped tomato 1 cup curd lemon juice chilly powder turmeric ginger and garlic paste salt, oil and water Method: 1. Clean shrimp/prawns, de-vein and wash in cold water. 2. Marinate prawns with curd, turmeric, chilly powder, lemon juice for an hour (overnight is better). 3. Heat oil, fry onion and then add ginger-garlic paste followed by chopped tomato. 4. Add salt, chilly powder, turmeric and toss well. 5. Add marinated mixture of curd and prawns and stir nicely. 6. Add 1 cup of water and put it on medium heat till shrimp/prawns look ready.Note there is a difference between prawns and shrimps:

Mutton Cutlets with Tomato Gravy Ingredients: • 1 kg mince (lamb ) • 1 small onion, chopped • 2 tsp ginger and garlic, minced • 2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped • 4 green chillies, finely chopped • 1 tbsp garam masala powder • 1 tsp salt • 1/4 tsp turmeric • 1 tsp chilli powder • 1 tsp pepper • 2-3 slices of bread soaked in little water • Dry breadcrumbs, to coat the cutlets • 4 eggs • Oil Tomato Gravy: • 1/2 kg ripe tomatoes or 1 can chopped tomato tin • 1 cup water • 1 tbsp oil • 1 small brown onion, chopped • 3 green chillies • 1 tsp chilly powder • 1 tsp turmeric powder • 1/2 tsp cumin • Small piece of ginger, or 1 tsp ginger paste / powder • 2 tbsp sugar • 2 tbsp vinegar • Dash or Worcestershire sauce • Salt, to taste Method for Cutlets 1. In a bowl, mix the mince, finely cut onion, green chillies, and a little salt. Combine. 2. Then add the ginger and garlic paste, salt, pepper, turmeric, chilli powder and coriander leaves and garam masala. 3. Squeeze water out of the bread slices and add to the mince mixture. Mix and keep aside, in the fridge, for 1-2 hours. 4. Beat the 2 eggs. Make 10-12 round flat cutlets from the mixture. Cover in breadcrumbs, dip in beaten eggs and shallow fry in oil till golden brown . Tomato Gravy: 1. In a large saucepan, fry the onions to soft transparent consistency. 2. Add chilly powder, turmeric, cumin powder, ginger, green chillies and fry the masala a bit.

3. Add the tomatoes and 1 cup water. Simmer. When the tomatoes are cooked, remove and set aside to cool. 4. Put all through a blender. Return to saucepan. Allow to cool slightly. 5. Add the tomato juice and bring it to a boil. Add vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and salt to taste. Serve hot on the cutlets. Hyderabadi veg Biryani

Ingredients The Rice: 1 and half cup basmati rice 2 green cardamoms 2 black cardamoms 2 cloves 1 cinnamon of 1 inch 1 bay leaf 2 mace strands 3 cups water salt The Vegetable Gravy: ½ medium sized cauliflower, florets removed 1 medium sized carrot, diced 1 medium sized potato, cubed 1 cup of chopped french beans ½ cup frozen/fresh peas 1 and half onion, finely sliced 1 green chili, slit 2 tbsp julienned ginger 1 tbsp chopped garlic 1 tsp caraway seeds/shah jeera 2 green cardamom 2 black cardamoms 2 cloves 1 cinnamon of 1 inch 1 bay leaf 2 mace strands 100 gms whisked curd ¼ tsp turmeric powder ½ tsp red chili powder/cayenne pepper 2 tbsp cashewnuts 1 tbsp sultanas/raisins

2 tbsp almonds, blanched, peeled and sliced 3 tbsp ghee salt Herbs and Spices for the assembling: ½ cup chopped coriander/cilantro leaves ½ cup mint leaves 100 gms whisked curd a few saffron strands 1 tbsp milk Instructions 1. Pick and clean the rice in running water. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. 2. Now you can microwave or pressure cook the rice. You have to cook the rice till its ¾th done. The rice should not be fully cooked but almost cooked. 3. In a pressure cooker or a microwave cooker, add the pre-soaked rice, all the spices mentioned above, salt. Cook till the rice till is almost done. I microwaved the rice and cooked it for 9 minutes at full power. Fluff the rice and keep it separate. 4. Traditionally biryani were made in clay pots, known as handis. If you have a clay pot, you could use it. I did not have a clay pot or handi. But I have a pressure cooker shaped like a handi, so I used it. If you have a handi shaped pot made up of aluminium, you could use it also. 5. Heat ghee in the handi. 6. Add all whole garam masala: cardamoms, mace, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves. Fry the garam masala till they crackle. 7. Now add the onions. Fry the onions till golden brown. 8. Add the green chilli, ginger and garlic. Fry for a minute. 9. Add the turmeric and red chili powder. 10. Give the mixture a stir. 11. Now add the vegetables and stir for a minute. 12. Add the curd/yoghurt. 13. Stir and then add ¾ cup water plus salt. Stir the mixture well. 14. If using a pressure cooker for cooking the veggies, then cover the cooker with a lid and pressure cook for 2 minutes. 15. If not using a pressure cooker, then bring the entire vegetable mixture to a boil. Then simmer until the vegetables are cooked. Add the dry fruits – almonds, raisins and cashew nuts to the vegetable gravy. 16. Check the salt. Add more if required. 17. Warm the milk. Add saffron to it. Let this saffron-milk mixture cool. Add the curd to this mixture and mix well. 18. In the same handi with the cooked vegetables, sprinkle half each of saffron-flavored curd/yoghurt, mint and coriander leaves. 19. Now spread half of the rice. 20. Sprinkle the remaining saffron-flavored curd/yoghurt, mint and coriander leaves.

21. Spread the remaining rice. 22. Sprinkle rose water. This is optional and you could skip it. 23. Place a moist cloth on top. 24. Cover with a lid. 25. Then seal with wheat flour dough or keep a heavy weight on the lid. 26. This is one technique that you could use for dum cooking if you do not have the wheat flour dough. 27. Place the sealed handi on the gas stove at low fire. 28. Cook for 20-25 minutes more. If you think and feel, that you do not want the base to get burnt while cooking the biryani… there is a technique for avoiding this disaster. 29. Right at the beginning, before dum cooking the biryani……. take a tava/griddle and heat it on medium flame. Now keep the sealed handi on the tava. Keep the flame to the lowest and cook for 20-25 minutes. 30. For the first 15 minutes, I dum cooked the biryani on direct low flame and for the last 10 minutes, I placed the handi on the tava and cooked on a low flame. 31. You could also preheat the oven to 190 degree celsius and then bake the biryani in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Please remember to use an oven proof utensil like the pyrex ones for baking in the oven. You will have to assemble the veg biryani as mentioned above in the oven proof utensil and then bake it. Note: While serving, make sure you equally serve the vegetables as well as rice. Serve the vegetarian biryani with your choice of raita, onion-mint salad-kuchumber, mango pickle, roasted papad.

Dal Tadka

½ cup tuvar dal/ split pigeon pea lentils
½ cup masoor dal/split pink lentils 1 or 2 green chilies, chopped or slit lengthwise 1 medium sized onion, chopped 1 medium size tomato, chopped 1 tsp grated or chopped ginger (optional) 1 tsp turmeric powder a pinch or two of garam masala powder (optional) a pinch of asafoetida/hing 2 cups water 1 tsp kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves, crushed 1 or 2 tbsp cream (optional)

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves salt as required for the tempering/tadka 2 tbsp oil 1 tsp cumin 5-6 garlic cloves 2-3 red chilies a generous pinch of hing for garnish: 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves 1 tbsp cream (optional) Instructions 1. first pick and rinse the dals. 2. add chopped onions, tomato, green chilies, ginger, asafoetida & turmeric powder along with the dals in a pressure cooker. 3. add salt and two cups water. 4. mix well and pressure cook the dals for 4-5 whistles or till done. 5. once well cooked then beat the dal with a churner or a wooden spoon till well mashed and creamy. 6. now here you decide the consistency of the dal before you add the tempering. 7. generally this type of dal is neither thick nor thin but has a medium consistency. 8. the dal will be creamy but a little thick after pressure cooking with 2 cups of water. 9. so add some water to get the desired consistency and simmer for 3-4 minutes. 10. once the desired consistency is reached, you can add cream (optional), garam masala powder, crushed kasuri methi & chopped coriander leaves and switch off the fire. 11. mix well. 12. check salt before we add the tempering. if less than add more salt. 13. cover the dal with a lid. 14. begun to prepare the tempering/tadka. preparing the tempering: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. heat oil in a pan. add cumin and fry them. the cumin should get fried and not be raw but don’t burn them. now add red chilies, asafoetida and chopped garlic. let the garlic brown. once the garlic gets browned pour the entire tempering along with the oil into the dal. you can mix the dal or serve the dal tadka with the tempering on top it. garnish dal tadka with coriander leaves.

9. have this fantastic tadka dal with some steamed basmati rice or jeera rice. Notes few suggestions for making dal tadka recipe: 1. instead of oil you can temper the dal with ghee/clarified butter. 2. the dal tadka consistency is neither thick nor thin but medium. but if you prefer you can go for a slightly thick or thin dal consistency. 3. you can also soak the dal for 30 to 40 minutes before cooking them. 4. if you don’t have a pressure cooker than cook the dal in a pot with enough water added to the dal. in this case better to soak the dal so that the cooking is faster.

Paneer Butter Masala

Ingredients
200 or 250 gms paneer/cottage cheese, cubed or diced 2 tbsp cashew – soaked if you have time and then ground with some water to a smooth paste. if less time, then just grind the cashews to a smooth paste. 4-5 medium size tomatoes – pureed 1 or 2 green chili, slit (reserve a few for garnishing) 1 inch ginger and 3-4 garlic – crushed or ground in a mortar & pestle 1 inch ginger – julienned (reserve a few for garnishing) 1 tbsp oil + 1 or 2 tbsp butter 1 tsp kasuri methi/dry methi leaves ½ tsp red chili powder 1 tsp garam masala or tandoori masala 1 bay leaf/tej patta 1.5 cups water a few coriander/cilantro leaves for garnishing (optional) salt and sugar as required – check notes below for adding sugar Instructions 1. heat oil and butter in a pan. 2. add bay leaf and fry for some 10-15 seconds or till the oil become fragrant.

3. add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw aroma disappears. 4. add the tomato puree and stir well. 5. add red chili powder after 2-3 mins and stir again. 6. saute till the oil starts to leave the sides of the tomato paste. 7. add cashew paste and stir well. 8. saute the cashew paste till the oil begins to leave the sides of the masala paste. 9. add water and stir. 10. simmer on a low flame. 11. add julienned ginger and green chilies, salt and sugar and simmer till the curry begins to thicken. 12. add the paneer cubes and cook them for 2-3 minutes till they become soft. 13. don’t cook for a long time as the paneer will become dense. 14. lastly add crushed kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves & garam masala. stir. 15. garnish paneer butter masala with coriander leaves and serve paneer butter masala hot with plain naan, garlic naan, rotis or steamed basmati or jeera rice. side accompaniments can be onion-lemon salad or some pickle

Rajasthani Kadhi

Ingredients for kadhi: 1 cup sour full fat yogurt /khatta dahi 2 cups water 2 tbsp gram flour/besan ¼ tsp turmeric powder/haldi powder salt as required for tempering:

2 tbsp oil or 1.5 tbsp ghee ½ tsp mustard seeds/rai or sarson ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds/methi dana ½ tsp cumin seeds/sabut jeera 1 small to medium bay leaf/tej patta a generous pinch of asafoetida/hing ¼ tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder 1-2 dry red chilies/sookhi lal mirch – kept whole or halved and seeds removed Instructions preparing the kadhi: 1. mix the above mentioned kadhi ingredients till smooth in a pan. use a wired whisk to stir. no lumps should be there. 2. keep on a low flame and stir often for about 5-6 minutes till the gram flour or besan gets cooked and the kadhi or sauce thickens a bit. 3. the consistency of the kadhi is neither thick nor thin. 4. keep aside covered. tempering the kadhi: 1. heat oil or ghee in a small pan. 2. add the mustard seeds along with the bay leaf first. 3. let the mustard seeds start popping & crackling. 4. then add cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. 5. stir and add red chilies and asafoetida. 6. fry for a few seconds till the red chilies darken a bit. 7. switch off the flame. 8. add the red chili powder and stir. 9. immediately pour this tempering into the kadhi. 10. cover and let the tempering flavors infuse with the kadhi. 11. after 5-6 mins, stir and serve rajasthani kadhi hot with phulkas, steamed rice or jeera rice. Notes to make the kadhi gluten free, skip the asafoetida.