Amitabha's Kitchen Chronicles

This week I have been attacking the objective of blogging quite ferociously. Updated Jia's Blog, added recipes in the series for Kids special and some more on the recipe blog. Another long awaited was the Rajma recipe. This recipe is inspired by, you wont believe it , The Ramakrishnan Sisters ! I added some modifications and turned out to be a tasty version (Cant vouch on being tastier than the original)! Ingredients: Rajma (A cup, serves 4) - soaked overnight and more (if you want). Tips: You can soak the rajma in tea water to make it darker. Or you can add a mixture of tea and normal water while cooking in the cooker (pre-soaking is a better option as per me) . Potato - 1 medium, peeled Onions - 2 medium sized, thin sliced Tomatoes - 2 large, chopped coarse - medium Ginger - 1 inch Green Chillies- 2-3 (depends upon taste) Fresh Corriander - chopped fine for garnishing A tbsp of curd Whole Spices: Cumin - a teaspoon Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece Cardamom (black, large

Make the Idlis Once the idlis are done and you have taken them, cut them into 4 pieces each. Heat oil (you may use ghee) in a pan. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves and chopped green chillies (optional). Add a pinch of hing (asafoetida) Once the mustard starts crackling, add the idli pieces and toss it well. Keep the flam medium and let the idli pieces fry. You may add a generous helping of gun powder . Fry till the pieces brown and become a little crispy. Serve.

I named this post the Paratha warrior as Jia has been extremely fond of parathas since she started letting know about her preferences of food. These days (she is almost 4) whenever she eats what she loves, she says " Jia khaabe and strong hoye jaabe " (Jia will eat this and become strong). Aloo Parathas : The Quick Fix Option: Ready made mash potato, Onions chopped, Chat masala (replace with fried cumin and fried corriander powder and black salt), Corriander leaves chopped. Mix all the above well.  Dough: The usual aata dough used for parathas / roti (I cannot write about the process of making the dough!) Take a portion and make a nice large cavity and fill with the stuffing. Make the parathas. Serve. The lengthy version: Boil the potatoes, peel and mash finely. Take thinly sliced onions, chopped tomatoes, chopped ginger, chopped garlic and fresh corriander leaves chopped. In a pan, add oil and once heated, add the garlic and ginger. After a minute add the onion

Ingredients: Kheema (mince meat) - 200 gms approx Noodles - 2 packets (I use Ching's Egg Noodles) Eggs - 2 Carrots - 1 Medium sized; Sliced and cut into strips (thick slivers) Onions - 1 Large, medium to thin sliced French Beans - a handful (about 80 gms), sliced into diagonal, long pieces Capsicum / Peppers - 2 medium sized Cabbage: Thinly sliced Ginger: 1/2 inch, choped into long strips (slivers) Garlic: 7-8 large cloves, cut into small to large pieces Soya beans (Nutrela) - a handful (Optional). Boiled and kept aside. Soya Sauce (Chanced upon a new Malaysian product and quite impressed with the taste and aroma) Vinegar Schezwan paste / Chinese Paste (optional) (This one's courtesy my brother in law who frequently goes to China on business trips and gets me spices from there. I cant make head or tail about the ingredients, except that it is vegetarian and it tastes great!) Salt Black Pepper Note: For those who loves meat, add some sausages and bacon strip