Amitabha's Kitchen Chronicles

This Sunday the ladies unanimously voted for a lighter lunch menu and rather preferred a brunch. We finally decided to have a noodle and a fish based side dish. The dish that got finally served was a Bean, Ginger & Coriander Noodle alongwith Sweet & Sour fish. Bean, Ginger & Coriander Noodle Elements: Noodles Chicken: debone and cut into small pieces Egg: 2, beaten, and scrambled (with salt and pepper) Beans: 1" pieces, cut in a slant fashion Ginger: Around 2", cut into fine slivers Cabbage: thinly sliced Dark Soy sauce Coriander, a handful bunch, chopped; for garnishing In the Reactor:  Boil the noodles, wash it in cold water, toss it with around 2 tbsp oil and pepper and keep aside. Heat oil in the wok [I use the simple Kadai :)]. Add the ginger and stir fry for about half a minute. Add the chicken pieces and fry till it is half cooked. Add the beans and fry till about 70% cooked. Add about 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce and toss on a high fla...

During the weekend, one of the dishes on the menu was Pindi Chhole (I prefer to go by Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe for this). Monsoons had just started and by evening, we planned to make some quick aloo tikkis and have it with the chhole (chat style). The Tikkis: 3 Potatoes - Boiled and mashed; chopped onions; Rock Salt (to taste); Roasted Cumin and Coriander powder (1 tsp each); Amchur (1/2 tsp); 2 slices of bread. Mix all the above except the bread well to make it a nice mix. Once thoroughly mixed, add the bread soaked in water and squeezed) and mix to the mixture. Make small portions and flatten out into tikkis. On a non stick pan, add a little bit of oil, and place the tikkis and fry till well done, adding few drops of oil before turning. Once done, take them in the bowl you want to serve. The Dressing: Before you start, keep the tamarind chutney ready. In case you want to avoid making the chutney, you can use the tamarind sauce available in the market...

COMING UP

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...