Pudina Paratha (Mint Roti/Paratha) with Jeera Aloo & Carrot Raita

This my favorite recipe love the mint flavor throughout the rotis for some reason my dad did not like garlic in it people who hate garlic flavors can avoid it this is a good recipe for breakfast or lunch...

Video demo posted subscribe for more video recipes....:)

For mint roti:

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 Fist Full Mint(Finely Chopped)

1 Cup Yogurt

1 Tbsp Cumin

1/2 Tsp Chat Masala

1/2 Tsp Pepper Powder

4 to 5 Green Chilies (Finely Chopped)

5 to 6 Cloves Garlic(Finely Chopped)

2 Tbsp Ghee

1 Tsp Salt 

Oil for frying.

Method:

• Add all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl leaving the ghee out knead to a soft dough if yogurt is not enough little water can be sprinkled to knead into a soft dough.
• Add Ghee and knead the dough further for 5 minutes cover allow the dough to rest for atleast an hour
• Take a golf size ball portion of the dough dip into flour and roll out into roti add to a hot tava start to toast the roti and oil and fry toll the roti is cooked serve hot with jeera aloo and raita...Enjoy...:)

For Jeera Aloo:

2 Potatoes (Cubed into bite sized pieces)

2 Tbsp Cumin

3 Green Chilies (Finely Chopped)

2 Sprigs Curry Leaves

1/4 Tsp Chat Masala

1/4 Tsp Chilly Powder

2 Tbsp Oil

Salt as per taste

Method:

• In a wok heat oil on medium flame add asafoetida and allow to crackle a bit add the cumin and allow to splutter add the potato and salt stir and cover keep stirring occasionally till the potato cooks.
• Add chilly powder chaat masala chilies and curry leaves stir and serve along with roti.

For Raita:
2 Carrots (Grated)
1 Cup Yogurt
1 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Cumin powder

Method:

• In a mixing bowl add all the above mentioned ingredients stir well refrigerate serve along with roti...Enjoy...:) 

Smashed Spicy Baby Potatoes

Oh this one is just yum! We finished a plateful only a few hours ago and as I write this I am craving bad for another bite of these cuties. Yes, no kidding, they are that good. With their super crispy skin coated and infused with spices that carry a kick that could lift any spirit, warm creamy insides that are ever so slightly crunchy with all the roasting, they are so good I could bet you would fight the others at the table for the last one. Do try these especially with my homemade Tandoori masala.

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Spicy Roasted Baby Potatoes!

This one's for hubs. Granted potatoes are very versatile and well liked but he is something else. You could write songs for his love for potatoes. There are only two ways he does not like potatoes, in the raw and in the vodka form. If you are not so much of a potato fan, don't lose heart as these little guys here might just win you over. Coated with spices and slightly crispy from being sauteed and nice and tender and juicy from the inside, they are the perfect snack. Use it when entertaining guests or heck teach him how to make it so he can use it to get some points with you every now and then.

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Jeera Aloo/Cumin Flavored Stir Fried Potatoes

 If you are ever in a rush but still want to eat a tasty, savory home-cooked meal - sounds like most of the time, doesn't it - this dish might just be your perfect answer. Ready in under ten minutes if you have the ingredients and very versatile in what it can go with. Hubs tells me he relates to this dish in a rather strange sort of way. In his single days in India, when he almost always ate out at restaurants, he always saw this dish in most every menu but always ignored it - who goes to a restaurant to eat sauteed potatoes, right? Well right until he got so sick of eating the same paneer and mushroom every single time that he finally ordered it with some plain rice and yellow daal and loved it. That's how he says he remembers this dish. Not a very fun way to remember such a flavorful preparation, I tease him, and we have a good laugh about it.
Indeed, there is something to be said about the versatility of this dish. Eat it as a side with some rice and daal or just with your humble roti and it becomes lunch or dinner, wrap it up with some lettuce and onions in a tortilla and it makes for a great wrap or just stick some toothpicks in them and they are a great starter. What's more is that they are a great picnic food too and can be carried in a lunchbox for a few hours without the need to be refrigerated. This makes them great for short trips as well. Give it a try and it tends to stick with you for those times when you cannot think of anything else or those when you simply crave them.

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Aloo gobhi masala

loo gobhi, always a crowd pleaser, is a combination of two most universally loved vegetables potato and cauli cooked together with various spices in an onion tomato base. This humble dish is staple in many Indian homes - except of course those times of the year when gobhi is ridculously expensive - and can be made many different ways. Aloo gobhi rose to international fame in Gurinder Chadda's movie "Bend it like Beckham". It is weird but every time I make aloo gobhi it reminds me of the famous dialogue from the movie where the mom tells the football playing daughter "aloo gobhi banana seekh le warna shaadi kaun karega" (learn to make aloo gobhi to get a prospective groom which she can only get by knowing how to cook this and not playing football, HA HA)!
I like the simplicity of the dish and the amazing taste. Can be served as lunch or dinner accompanied with roti, paratha or rice. They make a great filling for wraps and a great pizza/tart topping for that matter. Now there are a number of ways in which I make Aloo Gobhi - the party or potluck way, with gravy, without gravy, my mom's way the Bihari way. This I guess is the way I make it that I have developed on my own having eaten it at several restaurant and adding my own twist.

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Pan Roasted Tandoori Potatoes

y experience with food over the last several years tells me that people love potatoes. Plain and simple, they do. Especially the dry roasted and crispy kind. For one thing, the potato appetizer recipes on US Masala get more hits from people all over the world than all other dishes combined (nutella based recipes being a close second). Serve some crispy baked potatoes in a get-together and I have seen people flock to that tray first. Then of course the ever popular french fry does deserve a mention which however you should avoid for them being soaked in oil and all. I have sung praises of the potato in some of my other popular posts. You can find them here -
Roasted baby potatoes Indian style
Garlic masala baked potato wedges
Samosa
Masala potato cake with ginger walnut cilantro pesto
Hubs is also a big fan of this vegetable. In fact they had a cook off at his office in one of those annual office events where he looked up my recipe on his iPhone and made the roasted baby potatoes. As he tells me, they were a hit and were gone in no time. I believe him.
Here is another potato snack which is a treat to the senses. Being pan roasted with only 2 tbsp of oil, you can enjoy a few. Pick one up with a fork (a toothpick makes it more fun) and enjoy the savory goodness of the creaminess of the baby potatoes soaked with the flavors of an exotic tandoori marinade, made crispy on the outside with a quick pan roast. For this dish, make the reach for your share from the platter because if you snooze you will lose - they will all be gone.

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Garlic Masala Baked Potato Wedges

here is something to be said about the versatility of potatoes. Fry 'em, bake 'em, roast 'em, saute 'em, cook 'em in a curry, mash and stuff 'em, well just mash 'em, heck if you fermented them right, you could even drink 'em :) There are a few people I have come across that don't like them but I can count them on my fingers. The biggest potato lover I have seen among them all is hubs, so much so that his friends tease him of being one. This will give you an idea - I make these baked garlicky potatoes very often especially on  Sunday afternoons intending them to be a side with lunch. He and kiddo will eat a whole piled plateful and he emphatically declares that to be their lunch. And yes, the 'baked' in the title must have given you a clue - yes these are not fried but baked instead. That way I don't mind their occasional gluttony as well. Very simple and elegant, completely full of garlicky flavor, crisp and addictive with an added twist of Indian masalas, I bet you cannot stop at one if you tried. My family loves what I cook for them. Then there is that occasional dish that stands out. After that there is that dish which I get special requests for remakes. This is one of those. So get to it, you will know what I mean.
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Roasted Baby Potatoes Indian Style!

here is something to be said about the versatility of potatoes. Fry 'em, bake 'em, roast 'em, saute 'em, cook 'em in a curry, mash and stuff 'em, well just mash 'em, heck if you fermented them right, you could even drink 'em :) There are a few people I have come across that don't like them but I can count them on my fingers. The biggest potato lover I have seen among them all is hubs, so much so that his friends tease him of being one. This will give you an idea - I made these roasted potatoes this past Sunday afternoon intending them to be a side with lunch. He ate a whole piled plateful and he emphatically declared that to be his lunch.
It wasn't just his love for potatoes, this recipe is out of this world. Very simple and elegant yet completely full of flavor with an added twist of Indian masalas. This recipe is out of a cookbook from the celebrity Indian chef Suvir Saran. I recently became a proud owner of one of his best work, (incidentally) named 'American Masala'.
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Potato/Aloo 65

Ingredients:

2 Medium Potatoes (parboiled)

2 Sprigs Curry Leafs

4 Green Chilies (slit in middle or finely chopped)

5 Cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

2 Tsp Corn Flour

2 Tsp Maida/All Purpose Flour

1 Tbsp Chilly Powder

1/2 Tsp Garam Masala

1/2 Tsp Coriander Powder

1/2 Tsp Ginger & Garlic Paste

1 Cup Yogurt

Orange Color(optional)

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Method:

• Cut the parboiled potatoes into cubes.
• In a mixing bowl  add the potatoes, corn flour, maida, ginger garlic paste, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder, salt and mix with half cup of yogurt.

• Allow the marinated potatoes to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before frying.

• Heat oil in a wok start frying the marinated potatoes.
• Once the potatoes turn golden brown drain and reserve.

I tasted the potatoes just as it is....it was super you can serve this hot for coffee or tea...:)

• Heat a wok with 2 tbsp oil add the finely chopped garlic and fry a bit.

• Add the chilies and curry leafs fry for a second add the 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 tsp chilly powder with salt as per taste stir well.
• Add orange food color to the yogurt and mix add the fried potatoes to the yogurt and mix well allow the moisture to reduce and go dry. this super side dish goes well with south indian meal garnish with coriander serve hot...Enjoy...:)

Demo video in english...:)

Blackeye Pea & Potato Curry/Lobia Aloo

hildhood memories are always fun and sometimes they have a thing or two to teach us too. You probably wonder why I say this for a humble curry. Growing up, my mom always made this curry. It was not my favorite but I did like it. However every time mom made it, I would give her a hard time. I would pick another dish that I liked better and asked her to make that instead saying I did not like lobia very much. More often than not, she did. Now I actually crave for it sometimes. I sit back and think about all those times with mom and get up and make it for myself. Watching hubby and my little princess eat this and enjoy always brings a smile to my face.

The exotic combination of spices and other ingredients gives the humble lobia a grand makeover. You can enjoy it with roti, paratha or simple steamed white rice. It is a great way for vegetarians to get their fix of protein too.

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Papdi Chaat from scratch with Tamarind and Date Chutney

his again is a story related to me coming to the US after getting married.

Ask anyone who has grown up or lived in India for a while (especially the female kind :) and they will swear by the taste of this roadside delicacy and will have a story or two to tell you with a twinkle in their eye (while their taste buds start to tingle). And my dear friends, that is no exaggeration.

During my college days, I got my fix of chaat atleast once every week. I took it for granted as it was available everywhere. When I got married and was preparing to come to the US with hubby, he gave me this shocker (among a few others). Very calmly he announced that I should get my fix of as much chaat as possible as I would not find it in the US. I was taken aback but underestimated the truth in his statement, after all there were Indian restaurants in the US and they sold chaat... I was gonna be okay. Never had I been so wrong. I found the so called chaat here to be not even close to being worthy of being called chaat. It simply was some papdi with boiled potatoes and a chutney that tasted like tomato ketchup :o

Anyway, long-story-short, I decided to make my own. Here goes the recipe. If you really want your chaat to taste awesome, pay special attention to the chutney recipe.

Chaat is a generic name for a plate of savoury, spicy, tangy snack, typically served at road-side stalls or carts in India. Originally a street food, now it can be found in high end restauarants too. There are dozens varieties of chaat like pani puri or phuchkas, dahi bhalla, sev puri etc. All these are made with almost the same ingredients (with a different base), main one being the tamarind dates chutney. It is a thick tangy, spicy, sweet and sour sauce made out of tamarind pulp, dates and jaggery. Papdis are deep-fried pastry roundels that add the crunch to the chaat.

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Beetroot cutlets

utlets is a famous street food that is found almost all over India, with minor differences in ingredients here and there. It is often overshadowed by its close and notoriously famous cousin, the Samosa. I personally have always preferred these over the samosas. Whenever I think of them, I go back to my college days and to my college canteen, they served the meanest cutlets.. they were to die for.. yum! Hubby also remembers it as his favorite street food from his home town. An absolute favorite with everyone, they are very versatile too; serve them with some ketchup or chutney as an appetizer or for a change, stuff them inside a bun and it morphs into an amazing veg burger and a quick fix meal. You can also serve them as chaat with some chhole and chutney and enjoy the compliments. They can be made using different vegetables or whatever you have in your refrigerator (except I think the beets are a must, its a beet cutlet after all ;) Perfect for a rainy day they are addictive.

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Braided Bread with Paneer Stuffing

Welcome back friends to the start of a brand new year. Yes of course the holidays are over :( but then again 2011 fills me with enthusiasm and hope, all 365 days worth of it!

The mercury is steadily dipping and in the past couple of weeks we've seen some of the coldest weather in my few years in this part of the world... but I'm not complaining... totally loving it sipping hot coffee, getting to wear all the winter gear which have been bought and boxed up for a while, being lazy, cooking only occasionally and enjoyed the holidays to the fullest with family.
Now, coming back to the kitchen, there’s something about baking bread that gives me a high. And when I bake one, my fingers itch to make another one. I still jump for joy when I watch the dough rise, as I did the very first time.
There are hundreds of temptations all over the web that keeps me motivated to bake a new and different kind every time. I have been eying this beautiful braided bread for sometime now and finally tried it this weekend. I was a bit unsure as to how it would turn out, but was not in the least bit disappointed. Of course, I still have got a long long way to go and I don't claim to be a bread baking veteran but I do enjoy my little experiments now and then. My family adores them all… and I graciously take all the compliments :)
My brother is visiting us for the holidays and he was totally *wowed* by what he called one of my masterpieces straight out of an upscale bakery! lol... (he is still getting over the fact that his sis can cook ha-ha)... we had it fresh out of the oven and later pan toasted with some butter and the the whole big loaf was finished in no time... when that happens, I know it was good for sure... loved it!!

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Aloo Bhaji/bhunjiya and Ajwain Paratha

After a dash of the exotic, its time to have something that is closer to home and to the heart... and when you talk about close to home you often think of simple things that mom made that you enjoyed growing up.

You may find this a little unusual but the thought of this dish puts me on a train with my family... the train speeding through the country and I find myself sitting on the lower berth (after of course having fought with my brother for the window seat) with my gaze fixed outside staring at the lush green crop fields that race past us and the warm yet cool breeze rushing in as we wait for the train to take us to our destination... then you are suddenly pulled out of the trance by the loud sound of your name... thats mom demanding we get together as it was lunch time... and there it is... she opens her tote bag and pulls out a couple of boxes. Wrapped in tinfoil in those boxes are these wonderful flat breads and the awesome dry potato curry. The already beautiful breeze is now filled with the wonderful aroma of the roasted fennel and carom seeds from the bread and the potatoes.

Mom almost always made these as lunch and as dinner when we traveled. She claimed they stayed nice and fresh even after being packed for several hours... and fresh they were... gone in minutes. Of course I didn't think much of it those days... after all that was mom and this is what she always made, right? ... aah... the things we take for granted...

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Whole Wheat Stuffed Buns

ince the past few days I was craving those spicy veg stuffed buns which we used to always eat from our local fav bakeries back home. These are basically soft buns stuffed with a spicy veg filling. Also the fact that Mr. Yeast  and I are now on good terms... in fact we are now friends :) gave me some added courage to try it for myself. Let me tell you, if you are yeast skeptic as I was before, once you start getting comfortable with yeast you will want to use in everything... they are addictive. After making the pav buns a few weeks ago I thought to give this a try and boy I was glad I did as these turned out fantabulous... and so perfect we loved it. They were tasty to the last bite and very very addictive.  Smelled heavenly while baking and were gone in no time once they came out of the oven. A super hit!!!! The best part my hubby said these are the best buns he has ever eaten and they tasted better than the store bought ones ;D

I tried  to make them little healthier by using whole wheat  flour... so that I can continuously convince myself while gobbling them up that these are healthy and so ok to eat and not feel guilty afterwards... he he which I did!!

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Easy cheesy stuffed peppers

Hubby makes a killer eggplant bharta. Why the mention of eggplant bharta in the stuffed pepper recipe, you ask? It is because this one time he decided to use these anaheim peppers in his bharta and that is when I got the idea that these peppers will be absolutely fabulous when stuffed. I will definitely post his eggplant bharta sometime soon but for now here is the recipe for the stuffed peppers. They are anaheim peppers (you could use practically any 'stuffable' ones) stuffed with a spicy potato cheese filling and baked to a perfect crust. They are perfect as appetizers or as a side to a nice homey rice daal meal (or anything else you like).
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Aloo matar paratha

loo parathas are something that don't need any introduction. These are the most popular of all the stuffed parathas in India. Can be found in high-end restaurants as well as at the road side dhabas. I have not met a single person in my life who doesn't like it. It is basically an indian unleavened and pan fried flat bread stuffed with spicy potato filling, generally served with pickle, yogurt or just a little pat of butter...mmmm! It is a staple dish in almost all indian households with minor variation in the recipe here and there.
I remember mom often used to make it for breakfast and also sometimes for dinner with tomato chutney during winter times and it was soul satisfying. She also sometimes used to add peas in the filling and I always liked that better as i love green peas... so here is my mom's recipe of my fav aloo matar de parathe!
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Samosa

he 'KING' of Indian street food.. hot yummy samosas are the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Indian appetizers. I believe samosas have now gone global. How can you not love a samosa, crispy fried shell/pastry filled with amazing spicy potato filling.. total yum! there are over a dozen samosa recipes. Today I am giving my mom's recipe here. She used to add a little sooji in the dough to make it more crispy.. and her samosa filling I think is the best ever. I always thought of samosas as something that mom makes. Not even in my wildest dreams I had thought I will ever attempt making them.. and here I am.

Serve it hot with green chutney, tamarind chutney or just plain ketchup. They are also great to serve when you are entertaining guest. They will be gone in seconds!

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