Tofu in black bean and tomato sauce

Ingredients
1. 2 cups of pressed tofu
2. 2 tbspn of tomato paste
3. 2 tbspn of black bean sauce
4. 2 tbspn of soy sauce
5. 1 small onion, diced
6. finely chopped ginger and garlic
7. olive oil
8. 3/4 cup chicken broth
9. 1 tbspn red chili paste

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a non stick pan.
2. Add the diced onion, ginger, and garlic. Stir till onion turns soft.
3. Add tomato sauce, black bean sauce, and soy to it.
4. Cook for 5 mins.
5. Add chicken broth
6. Cook until the gravy is thick and mixed well
7. Add tofu pieces and cook for another 10 mins.

Serve hot with white rice.

Kheer - Rice pudding

Kheer is an Indian dessert. It is made of milk and rice and popular in North India. Usually, white rice is used for preparing Kheer. Many people like to use Basmati (long, slender, variety) rice but my mom uses the fat, small variety of white rice which is equally tasty, more economical and my personal favorite.

Ingredients:
1. 1 cup rice
2. 1 litre milk
3. Half cup sugar
4. Crushed cardamom
5. Strands of Saffron -10
6. Soaked almond, cut into small pieces - 10
7. Raisins
8. peeled and cut salted pistachios.

Directions:
1. Add milk and rice in a big pot and keep stirring on medium heat until rice is cooked and starts to break.
2. Add sugar, cardamom, saffron, almonds and lower the heat. Keep stirring occasionally for another 10-15 mins until sugar is dissolved and pudding starts to thickem
3. Garnish and serve cold or hot.

Chowmein

Ingredients:
Steam Fried noodles
2 tablespoon black bean sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon red chili sauce
salt to taste
Vegetables - broccolis, green pepper, carrots, 1 small onion diced.
Olive oil
Vinegar
Soya sauce

Instructions
Boil the noodles in warm water until soft.
Drain the water and keep the noodles aside.
Cut vegetables and keep aside.
Warm oil in a saucepan.
Add minced garlic and ginger in the hot oil and mix.
Add the diced onion and vegetables to the oil and mix until the onion softens.
Add chili sauce, black bean sauce, vinegar, soya sauce and mix well.
Add the noodles and mix.
Leave it covered on low flame for about 10-15min until the vegetables cook.

Serve hot!

Chicken curry

Ingredients:
Parsley
Chicken curry powder
Salt
Red chili powder
Coriander powder
Turmeric powder
Water
Chicken
Green chilies
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
Onion, chopped and diced
Tomato paste


Directions:
To be continued...

Thandai (Indian, flavoured milk)

Picture courtesy: Google images search

Thandai (Hindi) is a drink popular in many parts of India which is made by mixing almonds, spices, milk and sugar. It is often associated with the Holi festival. Some people like to mix Bhang with Thandai to get an intoxicating effect. Bhang is the leaf and flower of a female Cannabis sativa plant.

Traditionally, Thandai is served in a clay cup that keeps the drink cold and has an intoxicating fragrance to it. I miss those days in India. These days, all sorts of colorful glasses are popular and can be found in the market that can make the drink look prettier.

This recipe prepares Thandai without Bhang.

Ingredients:
1 litre milk
30 almonds blanched
10 pistachios
6 tsps whole pumpkin/sunflower seeds (unsalted)
1 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed clove powder
3 tsps rose water (or orange water as a substitute)
Crushed ice
Few strands of Saffron
1/2 tbsp Saunf (Fennel seeds)
1 tbsp peppercorn

Directions:

1. Soak sugar in 1/2 litre of the milk used. Keep aside.
2. Wash clean all other dry ingredients, except cardamom if using powder.
3. Soak in 2 cups of remaining milk. Keep aside.
4. Allow all soaked items to stand for at least 2 hours.
5. Grind all soaked ingredients to a very fine paste. (not sugar)
6. Use a stone grinder (manual or electric) if possible.
7. When the paste is very fine, mix some milk.
8. Place a strong muslin strainer over a large deep vessel. Or tie a strong muslin cloth over rim of vessel and use to strain.
9. Press through muslin with back of palms, extracting the liquid into vessel.
10. Add some more milk, a little at a time to extract more.
11. Pour back some of the extract and press, repress.
12. Repeat this process till the residue becomes dry and husk like.
13. Add the rest of the milk, sugar and rosewater to the extracted liquid.
14. If using cardamom powder mix it in with the milk.
15. Mix well. Chill for a hour of two before serving.

Gobi manchurian (Cauliflower Fritters in spicy sweet and sour sauce)

Indo-Chinese is my favorite. Playing around with traditional and non tradition ingredients is fun. I love Indo-Chinese dishes, it is easy to cook and tastes simply superb. Gobi Manchurian falls into this category. It serves as an appetizer and also a side dish. These kinds of dishes are found only in Indian restaurants.

No preparation required.

Serves 6.

Ingredients:
1 big Gobhi (Cauliflower)
3/4 cup Flour (Maida)
1 tbsp Corn Flour
Salt to taste (about 2 tsp)
2 Chopped green chili
11/2 tbsp Garlic Paste
11/2 tbsp Ginger Paste
1 cup finely Chopped Onions
Finely Chopped Coriander Leaves
2 tbsp Soya Sauce
2-3 tbsp Tomato paste
2 tbsp Oil
1/2 tbsp red chili pate

Directions:

1. For the fritters:
   
1. Make a paste of maida, corn flour and salt using water.
   
2. Take a tsp. of ginger and garlic paste, add it to the paste.
3. Dip the Gobi (cauliflower) florets in the paste and deep fry till golden brown. Keep aside.
2. For the sauce:
1. Heat oil in another pan and add the left ginger & garlic paste, red chili paste, chopped onions and green chili to it.
   
2. Now mix soy sauce and tomato paste to it.
3. Add the fried Gobi to the sauce and mix well. Garnish it with coriander leaves. Serve the gobi manchurian hot.

I am sending this over to the JFI Cauliflower event.
http://www.paajaka.com/2009/02/announcing-jfi-cauliflower.html

Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese (sometimes referred to as macaroni cheese or mac 'n' cheese in parts of the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom and Ireland) is a common dish. It's specially kid favorite.
Packaged versions are available, consisting of boxed pasta and a cheese powder, to which are added butter and milk (or water). But there is nothing like home made mac 'n' cheese made from scratch.


Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 1/2 cups cooked elbow macaroni
• 4 cups shredded low-fat cheddar cheese
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
• 2 cups fat-free evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper (fresh ground makes it really good)
• 2 eggs
  

Directions:

1. Caramelize the onions in a skillet on the stove top.
2. Add the macaroni, cheddar cheese and parsley.
3. In a bowl mix the milk, mustard, salt, eggs, and pepper.
4. Mix until it is well combined and somewhat smooth.
5. Stir into macaroni mixture.
6. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart casserole coated with nonstick cooking spray.
7. Bake, uncovered at 350 F for 20- 25 minutes or until lightly- browned.
8. Burnt cheese bits are good.

Biryani

Biryani, biriani, or beriani (Nastaliq script: بریانی; Devanagari script: बिरयानी; Bengali script: িবিরয়ানी) is a family of primarily South Asian dishes made from a mixture of spices, rice (usually basmati), meat/vegetables and yogurt. It was spread through out the Middle East and South Asia (and Southeast Asia to an extent) by Muslim travellers and merchants, and is very popular in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The name is derived from the Persian word beryā(n) (بریان) which means "fried" or "roasted". There are many kinds of biryanis and each kind has a uniqueness about it. Pre-mixed biryani spices from different commercial names are easily available in markets these days, which reduces the preparation time though the taste differs considerably.

This is a brilliant dish to make for friends because you can leave it to cook for an hour, and end up with the complete meal in one dish. Choose a light accompaniment, like a green salad, because it’s quite filling. I tend to use canned chickpeas, but if you want to use dried you’ll need to get organised the day before, to soak them in cold water overnight then, next day, simmer for 20 minutes until tender.

No preparation required.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1. 1 Red pepper chopped
2. 1 yellow pepper chopped
3. 2 small onions chopped
4. 3 teaspoons coriander powder
5. 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 1 bunch fresh coriander leaves washed and finely chopped
7. 1 teaspoon olive oil
8. 8 pieces of skinless boneless chicken thighs
9. 2 green chillies sliced and chopped with seeds intact
10. 3 cloves of garlic minced
11. 1 cup soaked chickpeas
12. 1 cup basmati rice
13. 1 big lemon juice
14. 11/2 cups of chicken stock

Directions:

1. Preheat a non-stick casserole in the oven to 400 degrees Farenheight
2. Heat a pan with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
3. Add 8 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken thighs and toss till brown.
4. Remove the chicken thighs from pan and set aside.
5. In the pan, fry chopped onions, red and yellow peppers till the ends turn brown.
6. Add chopped fresh coriander, minced garlic, 1 cup of soaked chickpeas, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 teaspoon coriander powder, and mix.
7. Add 3 cups of chicken stock, rice and lemon juice
8. Bring to boil
9. Transfer the contents of the pan into the pre-heated casserole.
10. Spread the cooked chicken over the rice mixture and cover.
11. Put the non-stick casserole back in the oven and bake for 50 minutes at 400 degrees Farenheight.