Tabouli

Looking for a tasty way to incorporate more grains into your diet? Try this recipe for tabouli, a healthy salad composed of bulgur wheat and diced vegetables.

Aloo Tamatar

six medium potatoes
two medium, ripe tomatoes
half inch ginger
one medium onion
jeera
haldi
garam masala
salt to taste
two green chillies
four tablespoons cooking oil
Method
Peel the potatoes, cut them in four pieces each and soak them in water.
Slice the onion thin and mince/grate ginger.
Cut tomatoes in six pieces each.
Heat oil in a cooker on medium high and add jeera, onion, ginger, tomatoes, haldi,
green chillies and garam masala.
Stir everything till this "masala" sweats.
Add the potatoes, mix them well with the masala.
Add one cup water and close the lid of the cooker. Remove it from heat after two
whistles. Open the cooker after fifteen minutes.
Eat this delectable dish with hot, fresh chappati and curds.

Chicken Pulao

1/4 kg basmati rice
1/2 chicken
2 onion chopped finely
3 cloves
1" cinnamon
2 black cardamoms
4 bay leaves
4 tbsp ghee
Chopped corriander leaves
Make a paste of:
2 tsp cummin seeds
5 black pepper
7 green chillies
3 garlic flakes
1/2" ginger
1 tbsp corriander seeds
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt as per taste

Method

Wash the rice and soak it for 1/2 hour.
Cut chicken into small pieces.
Heat oil in a kadai.
Fry the onions till golden brown.
Add the grounded masala and simmer for 2
minutes.
Add cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms, and
bay leaves.
Fry chicken pieces for 5 minutes.
Add rice to it and add water required to
cook the rice.
Stir well.
Let the chicken and rice cook.
Once done garnish with corriander leaves.
Serve hot. 

ALOO PALAK

2lb Spinach (chopped)
1lb potatoes (quartered)
2 green chilies
1 tbsp melted butter
A pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp white cumin seeds
Salt To Taste
Garnish :
Tomato slices
Lemon wedges

• Heat the butter in a sauce-pan and fry the asafoetida and cumin seeds and fry for 2 minutes.
• Add the spinach, potatoes, salt and chilies.
• Cover and cook over a moderate heat for about 10 minutes.
• Stir several times and then arrange the tomato and lemon slices over the mixture.
• Cover, lowering the heat and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Serve the aloo palak hot as a side dish. 

HYDERABADI MUTTON BIRYANI

1 kg Rice
1 kg Mutton
10 gms Cardamom
10 gms Cinnamon
10 gms Cumminseed
10 gms Cloves
40 gms Ginger
20 gms Garlic
100 gms Green Chillies
50 gms Fried Onion
1 bunch Coriander Leaves
1bunch Pudina
2 Lemon
1/4 Curd
1/4 kg Ghee

How to make meat biryani:

• Wash mutton and take it in a vessel.
• Grind green chillies, ginger, garlic, spices, fried onion, and mix them all, then add this mixture to the meat.
• Then add curd to it, mix the stuff thoroughly. Leave the material for half an hour.
• Take 2 litres of water in a vessel and put it on the stove.
• When water boils well put the rice in the vessel. Take out the semi-cooked rice and spread it on the meat and spices mixture as a layer. Take some more rice and spread as second layer. Finally, spread the fully cooked rice.
• Prepare a mixture of one cup of boiled water and 1/4 kg ghee and spill it on the rice.
• Now put a plate on the vessel and seal the edges with dough. Put the vessel on the stove, cook for 15 minutes on medium flame.
• Then turn off the stove. Leave the stuff for 15 minutes.
• Hyderabadi mutton biryani is ready to serve. 

MACCHER JHOL (FISH IN BENGALI SAUCE)

800 gms white-fleshed fish
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 mustard oil or vegetable oil
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp finely grated ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp kalonji
4 whole red chillies dried
2 bay leaves
1 large onion peeled, chopped
3 whole green chillies

How to make bengali fish fry:

• Cut the fillets in about 4cm size.
• Rub the fish well with the 1/2 tsp of turmeric and 1/2 tsp of salt and set aside for 10-15 minutes.
• Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium flame. If you are using mustard oil, let it get smokingly hot.
• Now put in the fish pieces and brown lightly on all sides without cooking them through.
• Gently lift the fish out of the oil and put it on a plate. Turn off the heat.
• Combine the ground coriander seeds, the cumin, ginger, 1 tsp turmeric,chilli powder (cayenne pepper) and 1/2 tsp of salt in a small bowl. Add 3 tbsp of water and mix.
• Remove all but 5/6 tbsp of oil from the frying pan. Heat the frying pan over a medium flame.
• When hot, put in the nigelia seeds. A few seconds later, put in the red chillies.
• As soon as they darken a bit, put in the bay leaves. When the bay leaves start to darken, put in the onion.
• Stir and fry the onion, lowering the heat, if necessary, until it is translucent and lightly browned. Add the spice paste. Stir and fry it for about 1 minute.
• Now put in the fish in a single layer as well as 1 cup of water. Lay the green chillies over the fish.
• Simmer over a medium heat for 2 minutes, spooning the sauce over the fish pieces as you do so. Now cover, turn the heat to low and cook the fish for 10-15 minutes or until it is just done.
• Serve machher jhol (fish in bengali sauce)with rice. 

BUTTER CHICKEN

1/4 pint/150ml natural yogurt
2 ounces/50g ground almonds
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp crushed bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp garam masala
4 green cardamom pods
1 tsp ginger pulp
1 tsp garlic pulp
14 ounce/400g can tomatoes
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 pounds/1kg chicken, skinned, boned and cubed
3 ounces/75g butter
1 tbsp corn oil
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
4 tbsp cream

How to make butter chicken :

• Place the yogurt, ground almonds, all the dry spices, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and salt in a mixing bowl and blend together thoroughly.
• Put the chicken into a large mixing bowl and pour over the yogurt mixture.
• Set aside. Melt together the butter and oil in a medium karahi, wok or frying pan. Add the onions and fry for about 3 minutes. Add the chicken mixture and stir-fry for about 7 to 10 minutes.
• Stir in about half of the coriander and mix well. Pour over the cream and stir in well. Bring to the boil. Garnish the indian butter chicken with the remaining chopped coriander to serve the chicken curry.