Mushroom Matar Masala with Malvan Zest.

Few days back I cooked spicy and creamy Mushroom Matar, Today is another version..this time I didn't use cream and made it more spicier with Malvan Spice zest made from scratch. Try this if you want to enjoy intensely spiced aromatic Matar+Mushroom curry.

Ingredients :-

• 300g button mushrooms (12-15) - cut each mushroom in 4 pieces.
• 1 Cup frozen green peas.
• 2 medium size onions - one cut length wise and one another chop finely. (Total yield -little over 2 cup)
• 4 medium tomatoes - cut in one inch cubes.
• 4-5 garlic cloves - finely crushed.
• 1 inch piece of ginger - finely crushed.
• 2 Tb.spoon oil.
• 1 Cup - fresh cilantro finely chopped.
• 1 T.spoon - brown sugar or jaggery.
• 1 T.spoon - red chili powder.
  

Malvani Spice Blend

Malvani Masala Blend :-

• star anise - half piece
• 1/4 T.spoon shahijeera
• 2-3 pieces of Dagad phool.
• 3-4 Nagkeshar
• 1 Tb.spoon corriander seeds
• 1/2 T.spoon whole black pepper.
• 1 T.spoon fennel seeds
• 1 inch long Bay leaf
• 2 Green cardamom
• 1 inch long cinnamon stick.
• 5-6 cloves.

Gently roast all above spices on medium heat for two minutes and ground to fine powder.

Cooking Method :-

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in heavy gauge pot. Add onions and saute till they turn soft and translucent - about 3-4 minutes.
2. Add crushed ginger and garlic - saute with onions for one minute.
3. Add ground Malvani masala blend and saute for one minute.
4. Add diced tomatoes -Saute for 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup water. Stir and Mix well with onions and simmer on medium heat for 3-4 minutes without lid on top.
   
5. Add mushrooms , red chili powder, jaggery and salt - Let it cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat with covered lid.
   
6. Stir in one cup green peas. Combine all well and cook for 3-4 minutes. Mushroom increases liquid in curry so if necessary cook little more on high heat till you get desired thick gravy.
7. Lastly garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and enjoy this spicy mushroom matar curry with Roti / poori and rice.
   

Griddle fried chicken thighs with Worcestershire sauce marinade.

Today griddle fried chicken thighs with worcestershire sauce marination prepared with generous quantity of ginger,garlic,green chilies,red chili powder . This sauce has nice tangy,bitter,mild sweet,salty taste and acidic aroma . It infused well with other marination ingredients and helped to enhance taste and texture of chicken and made caramelized marination mixture more zesty.

Ingredients :

• 4 Chicken thighs - boneless cut into two pieces each.
• 1 Tb.spoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 inch piece of ginger - finely crushed
• 7-8 garlic cloves - finely crushed
• 4-5 green chilies - finely crushed
• 1 Tb.spoon red chilli powder
• 2 Tb.spoon cooking oil

Method of cooking :-

1. Take 4 chicken thighs and debone them. Make 2-3 pieces in each thigh.Wash it under running water and place them in a bowl or plate. Sprinkle little salt over thighs and rub with fingers. (Worcestershire sauce has mild salt content so use less salt)
2. Pour 1 Tb.spoon Worcestershire sauce, Add crushed giner+garlic+green chilies,red chili powder. Rub it thoroughly over chicken. Set aside for half an hour.
3. Heat griddle ( anodized metal works great for Indian Tava recipes) and pour 2 tbspoon cooking oil. Maintain medium temperature.Place chicken pieces on griddle. Make sure you coat them neat with marination masala. Save leftover marination masala for blasting chicken pieces during later stage of frying.
4. At regular interval turn chicken pieces with tongs. After ten minutes reduce heat to medium low. You will notice that little marination mixture sticks to the griddle..sprinkle little water and avoid marination mixture from burning.
5. After 15-20 minutes apply remaining marination liquid over chicken to retain moisture.Keep turning chicken at regular interval.
   
6. It will take total 30 minutes to fully cook chicken thighs. Once they are done place them in a plate...gently scrape stuck marination from pan and apply over chicken pieces and serve with roti /rice or enjoy as appetizer.

Marination Stage

Griddle Frying Stage

Note :- This Tava recipe will work best for lean, boneless pieces of chicken which are not thicker than half an inch. If you wish to use big bone-in pieces like chicken drumsticks,leg quarter,whole breast then use oven or out door grill for frying by using the same marination mixture.

Singoda & Rice flour Eggless Mini cakes with Dates & Pistachio

Today I enjoyed baking eggless cake without using All purpose flour (Maida). There was no exact recipe to follow...Singada flour was in mind...with mix and match of few Indian ingredients at end, I baked mini eggless cakes in heart shaped muffin pan. Lovely cardamom aroma, light delicate texture of singada flour, dates, pistachios all together gave very delicious Indian twist to the cake.

Ingredients :-

• 1 Cup Singoda/singada flour (water chestnut flour) - Roasted
• 1/2 Cup rice flour
• 1 Tb.spoon Soy flour
• 1 Tb.spoon golden flaxseed meal - soaked in 3 tb.spoon hot water for 10 minutes.
• 1/4 cup Pistachio - roughly chopped
• 10 Dates - cut into tiny pieces ( 1 cup yield)
• 10-12 Cardamom - finely powdered
• 1 Cup dark brown sugar
• 1 Tspoon - baking soda
• 1/4 Tspoon - baking powder
• 1/2 stick butter
  
• 2 Tb.spoon Ghee or butter for roasting chestnut flour.
  
• 2 Tb.spoon oil
• 1/4 Cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup milk

Method Of Baking Cake :-

1. Roast singada flour in heavy gauge pot for about 10-12 minutes on medium heat by adding 2 tbspoon Ghee or butter. You need to stir frequently till color changes to one shade and flour releases aroma. Keep it aside to cool.
2. In a deep bowl add half stick butter - beat it for 1 minute. ( I used hand mixer)
   
3. Add soaked flaxseed meal and cardamom powder - beat along with butter for 1 minute.
4. Add 1/4 cup whipping cream and 2 tbspoon oil - beat for another 2 minutes.
5. Add brown sugar and half cup milk - beat until incorporated.
   
6. Mix water chestnut flour,soy flour, rice flour and baking soda, baking powder - stir in with spatula. Beat with hand mixer for 30-40 seconds.
   
7. Mix chopped dates and pistachios - Fold in with spatula until evenly distributed. Scrape down all sides of the bowl with spatula. Your cake batter is ready.
   
8. If you are using similar muffin pan or mini cake pan scoop the batter in each greased mould and smooth the top. Sprinkle few chopped pistachios. Place rack in center of the oven and Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes . Reduce oven heat to 300 and let it bake for another 5-6 minutes. To check for doneness insert toothpick in the center of the cake; if the toothpick comes out clean, you can remove the cake from the oven after two minutes.
9. I poured remaining cake mixture in small loaf pan. It took 20 minutes to bake @ 300 degrees F . Once toothpick came out clean, I left cake pan in oven for another five minutes and then removed out of oven.
10. If you are using cake pan then don't fill cake batter more than 1 1/2 inch thickness. My loaf pan cake took more time to bake than muffin pan mini cakes. Adjust your baking time based on your pan and thickness of batter.
11. After cake is cooled down cover it with plastic cling wrap. Enjoy!! these light and rich mini cakes as snack or dessert.
    

Green Split Peas & Whole Masoor Dal Curry with kalonji tadka

Pressure cooker is one of my best gadget in the kitchen. I cook lentil/bean dals, soups, sambar, non-veg curries, rice, pulav, biryani, Kheer in pressure cooker. Today I cooked delicious Dal with Whole masoor and green split peas. This combination was easy and quick One-Pot-Recipe. I made slight variation to this Dal by giving kalonji tadka (nigella seeds), it infused curry with nice aroma. I avoided using any masala powder but spiced it with ginger and green chilies. Green split peas bring mushed up texture and brown lentils stay intact yet soft and tender.

Ingredients :-

• 1 Cup Whole Masoor Dal (brown lentils) - picked and rinsed.
• 1/2 Cup Green split peas - picked and rinsed.
• 1 medium size onion - finely chopped. ( 1 cup yield)
• 1 inch piece of ginger - finely crushed
• 6-7 Garlic cloves - finely crushed
• 5-6 green chilies - finely crushed
• 1 large size tomato - diced
• 1 Tb.spoon oil
• 1 Cup fresh cilantro - finely chopped
• 1 T.spoon - turmeric powder
• 6-7 Cups water

Whole Spices for Tadka /Tempering :-

• 1 Bay leaf - 2 inch long
• 1 T.spoon - Kalonji
  
• 5 cloves

Method of Cooking :-

1. Thoroughly rinse masoor dal and green split peas - Soak them in 5 cups water. Keep it aside.
2. Finely crush ginger,garlic and green chilies - Keep it aside.
3. Heat 1 Tb.spoon oil in pressure cooker or pressure pan (4 liter size). Add Kalonji - let it sizzle for 20 seconds. Add bay leaf and cloves - Saute for 15-20 seconds.
4. Add chopped onions - saute for 3-4 minutes on medium high heat.
5. Add finely crushed ginger, garlic, green chilies - Mix with onions and stir fry for one minute.
6. Pour in rinsed brown lentils and green split peas with total 5 cups water. Add 1 tspoon turmeric powder and salt. Leave it to simmer on high heat for 10 minutes.
7. Once it reaches boiling point - close pressure cooker lid with whistle on top. Maintain medium high heat, after it blows two whistles and as pressure starts building for third whistle - shut off the gas. It is o.k if third whistle blows. Transfer pressure cooker on heat proof surface.
8. Once it cools down transfer it back on stove. Add diced tomatoes, little chopped cilantro. Adjust salt level and add 1-2 cups water. Let it simmer on medium heat for 10-12 minutes without lid. Keep stirring at regular interval.
   
9. Add remaining cilantro and shut off the heat. Enjoy with rice, roti or as delicious soup.