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Homemade Spice Rub

June 16, 2016 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

Spice rub for everything from Vegetables to meat and seafood

Elevate the taste profile of your grilled or roast vegetables ( or seafood or meat) with this delicious homemade spice rub.

Now I have tried this spice mix on broccoli, kale, and roast potatoes and it always works wonders. But we have loved it most with fish. Grilled, BBQ’ed, fried, steamed, or baked – we love eating fish in our house and I have created my own recipe for an Indian spice rub. I used this on haddock fillets on the BBQ this Sunday and the result was very satisfying. Even with frozen fish fillets straight out of the freezer onto the hot grill, the spice mix hit all the right notes.

Spices - fragrant, warm and fresh

It was incredibly easy to create this spice rub at home using my Optimum G.21 Platinum blender, the panel has six pre-programmed functions which are a real no brainer and one of those functions is ‘Grind’. I try and use my Froothie blender as much as possible and not just for my morning smoothies, it has just made my life that much simpler!

Homemade Spice Rub

Manjiri Chitnis
Homemade spice rub – Versatilespice mix works perfectly well for vegetables like cauliflower, mushrooms,potatoes. Great with chicken chicken , lamb and seafood especially for fishsteaks and prawns
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 mins
Total Time 2 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Indian
Servings 2 people

Equipment

  • High-speed blender

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 tsp Peppercorns
  • 2 Cloves
  • 1 Dry Kashmiri Red Chilli
  • 1 Badi Elaichi or black cardamom
  • 3 Green cardamom – without the outer green pod
  • 2 cloves Garlic peeled
  • Cinnamon stick – roughly the length of the tip of your thumb
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp Cumin/ jeera
  • 1 tsp Amchoor powder / dried mango powder
  • 1 tbsp Kasoori methi
  • 1 Heaped tbsp fried onion
  • 1 tbsp Coriander seeds lightly roasted on a pan
  • 1 Whole round Red Chilli
  • 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
  • a tiny pinch of Asafoetida

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients into a grinder and blend till you get a grainy consistency
  • Do not grind to a very smooth paste because the texture this consistency will lend to the fish, will hit the right spot on your palate. A finer texture I think would work better for meat
  • Though this spice rub is suitable for freezing, since it contains garlic and fried onion, I would not advise keeping in the freezer for over 10-15 days
  • If you make a small batch and little remains, try adding into your curry for a lift in flavour
  • If you do not deal well with spicy red chilli flavours, then rule out the whole round red chilli completely and instead add a small pinch of paprika just for a hint of flavour
Keyword Spice mix

Homemade spice rub for grilling vegetables, meat, and seafood

These quantities yield enough spice mix for 2 medium-sized fillets with a little leftover. If you want to use it for 4 or 6 fillets simply double the quantities.

Fresh spices

Why not try my recipes for Tandoori spiced grilled Lobster tails and Haddock fillets with this spice rub?

Homemade spice rub

*This post has affiliate links.

Filed Under: Featured Food and Drink, Food, Indian, Recipe Index, seafood Tagged With: cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin, dried red kashmir chillies, fried onion, garlic, Homemade Spice Rub, kasoori methi, recipe development, red chilli, special spice rub for sea food, travels for taste recipe development

Roast Lamb Shoulder

January 7, 2016 by manjirichitnis 6 Comments

Succulent, delicious and easy to cook – Roast shoulder of Lamb

Happy New year everyone! 2015 has sped past at lightening pace and lots has happened offline and as well as online too. My blog has a new name and a new home and so do we, we finally decided to move ur from our tiny but very pretty flat to a new place with a proper kitchen for a change! Exciting times! I was not blogging as frequently as I would have liked to though but hope to put that behind me and regularly share my food and travel adventures with all of you. Speaking of travel I am happy to report that I started 2015 with a month-long trip to India and visited Chennai and Pondicherry apart from my usual trips to Mumbai and Pune! Very exciting and I have finally managed to write up some posts about Pondicherry – more later! We also did our first ever trip across the pond to the Big Apple and managed to squeeze in four days at Washington D.C too – was so exciting, but the best bit, of course, was that we spent Thanksgiving with our family and caught up with friends after many years – what a treat! 2015 was kind to me in other ways too, I was invited to many foodie events and met some really cool master chefs, tried exotic food and reviewed many restaurants and bars too – will soon share more as the year unfolds 🙂

On the very first of the New Year, I experimented with a cut of lamb that I haven’t before – a large shoulder of lamb that I decided to roast. Here is an easy to follow a recipe, the only tough bit – waiting for the meat to cook 😉

I wanted to use a cheaper cut than the usual ones, a lamb shoulder seemed like a good place to start – this joint cost me £7.99 per kilo from my local butcher. For that price, this cut gives some much more ‘bang for your buck’

Lamb’s shoulder is quite fatty so there is no need to add too much oil, the meat pretty much cooks in its own fat and the port wine I have used adds deep rich flavours to this very succulent cut of meat. A joint of this size also allows for a lot of leftovers and therefore a great way to make a range of other recipes – think stews, casseroles, curries, pulavs, tikkis (a mashed potato fritter stuffed with meat – a great tea time treat) and so many more. Great on the pocket and a great choice for winter recipes.

Try cooking with this highly underrated cut of Lamb today

How to make a great roast lamb shoulder
How to make a great roast lamb shoulder

I am happy that the baster I purchased for my Christmas roast chicken is proving to be very handy. I have to say that I am so proud that my Roast Chicken turned out absolutely fab and delicious – it was another experiment and the pork and cranberry stuffing and all the sides were made at home by me with lots of chopping, peeling and cutting help by the OH.

Juicy roast Lamb shoulder recipe

Easy recipe for Roast shoulder of lamb
Easy recipe for Roast shoulder of lamb

Roast Lamb Shoulder

Manjiri Chitnis
Deliciously succulent joint of lamb – cheap and cheerful roast
5 from 4 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 2 hrs 35 mins
Total Time 2 hrs 40 mins
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 kg Lamb Shoulder
  • 2 medium-sized red onions
  • 15 -18 cloves
  • 6- 8 cloves of garlic
  • Sea Salt as per taste
  • 500 ml A generous glug of ruby port wine – approximately a pint
  • handful Fresh rosemary
  • 2 – 3 spritzs Oil – from a spray bottle

Instructions
 

  • Wash the lamb shoulder and place it on a tray.
  • Make cuts on both sides with a knife.
  • Peel and cut the garlic cloves in half. Stud the joint of lamb with cloves and garlic in the cuts made by the knife.
  • Sprinkle with sea salt. Tear the rosemary leaves from the stem and sprinkle them on both sides. (lamb and rosemary – a classic combination – just about to be made better with a little twist!)
  • Peel the onions, half, and then roughly chop them.
  • Place the onion on a roasting tray – I recycled my foil tray used for my making roast potatoes for our Christmas dinner.
  • Place the seasoned and prepared lamb shoulder on the onion and spritz with oil – I used oil very sparingly and find using oil from a spraying bottle ideal for this recipe.
  • Then pour a generous glug of ruby port wine onto the lamb – I didn’t measure this but added enough to ensure that the meat is totally wet and there is enough to make a gravy – allow for enough so that you can baste the meat at least twice while it is roasting in the oven. Roughly 500ml or one pint should suffice.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 220° C.
  • Cover the roasting tray with a foil such that the foil covers the edge of the tray like a proper lid.
  • Roast in the preheated oven for 2 hours, basting at least twice to allow the meat to cook thoroughly and ensure you get a succulent soft roast that simply falls off the bone.
  • After 2 hours check the roast and adjust cooking time accordingly – I needed about 40 mins more for a soft roast.

The lamb should now be at the ‘melt-in-your-mouth stage – serve with warm bread and steamed veggies on the side – ideally beans, carrots, and peas, or broccoli. Hubster is not fond of peas but I would be very happy lots of them 😉

Roast shoulder of lamb
 Roast shoulder of lamb

The leftovers will get a rub of my home-made hot spice mix that adds a warming touch to my curries and stews – leftover lamb curry – can’t wait to share that recipe – it’s definitely a winter warmer and a firm family favourite.

Inspired to give Lamb meat a chance? Then why not also have a look at other Lamb based recipes:

  • Smoky and spicy lamb burgers
  • Hot and spicy lamb chops in apple sauce
  • Smoky spicy lamb chops with wild rice and gravy

Also, have a look a my easy recipe for an aromatic and delicious recipe for a cracking home-made spice rub that will work to elevate the flavour of any cut of lamb!

  • Homemade spice rub

Happy New Year once again folks and a lot of new and exciting recipe and travel posts coming up! wooooohoooo!

Filed Under: Food, Meat, Recipe Index Tagged With: 2016, 220° C, America, baster, beans, Big Apple, broccoli, carrots, casseroles, Chennai, Christmas roast chicken, cloves, curries, food blogger, garlic, happy new year, Incredible India, Indian fried fritters, leftover lamb curry, local butcher, New Year, peas, Pondicherry, pulavs, red onions, Roast Lamb Shoulder recipe, roasting tray, rosemary, ruby port wine, stews, tarvel blogger, tikkis, tourist, U.S.A, Visit New York, Visit USA, Washington D.C

Vin Chaud – Hot French Mulled Wine with Red Wine

November 25, 2014 by manjirichitnis 14 Comments

Last week Sunday was mostly grey and rainy , but I wasn’t feeling blue about the weather, I spent the day mostly curled up with a good book watching Netflix with the hubster around. We also decided that since it was the day the lights went on at Regent’s street it was the perfect day to get out the ladder and reach for the large brown carton which contains amongst other odds and ends our plastic Christmas tree neatly folded and wrapped, all our precious baubles and ….the neatly wrapped bundle of lights…..

As the crowds gathered around to watch the lights go on at Regents Street around 3pm, as hubster was gently snoring away after a rather delicious (if I may say so myself) meal of fried king fish, red lentil curry and rice, I decided that it was perfect time to take stock of what was in my store cupboard and check on my dried fruits which are now steeping in a rather rich alcohol base – ready for the day I will make the Christmas pudding. It was then that I found a beautiful tin with 2 packets of gorgeous spices to make Mulled wine, which was part of my goody bag given during July at the Christmas Show by waitrose.

There is something absolutely magical and heartwarming about opening a packet of spices , it is like flipping through an old album, happy memories of holidays spent with family , turkey carved, gifts unwrapped on Christmas morning….. all seem to come tumbling out of my blue tin spice jar which has a picture of Santa pulling his sleigh along the snow. The light brown tightly curled cinnamon sticks and hard dried orange sitting amongst deep red dried berries and fragrant cardamom… like a bouquet of aromas…

Waitrose Cellar had sent me a case of carefully picked red wines to let me experiment and come up with a recipe for mulled wine, from a country of my choice and taking inspiration from their Mulled wine page .They have a beautiful collection of recipes for mulled wines from around the world.  They also sent as part of the case a bottle of wine that was mulled by their team of wine experts.

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I remembered reading a recipe for Vin Chaud  or Hot French Mulled Wine on  David Lebovitz’s blog long ago and I knew I wanted to pick this French version of mulled wine and create it using the red wine – Marqués de Calatrava Organic Selecci´on Reservada Tempranillo from my wine case sent by Waitrose. Priced at £8.99 it is described as having notes of juicy strawberry with subtle spices and vanilla. This  fruity red made from Tempranillo grapes grown in the La Mancha region. It is a medium to full-bodied wine with a rich palate. It sounded apt for making Vin Chaud as it would marry well with the ginger and pepper required in the recipe used by David Lebovitz, which was inspired by a recipe Food52 cookbook. He has very rightly mentioned that adding cinnamon into the Vin Chaud which is actually made with white wine, overpowers the taste of the other warming spices in the hot French mulled wine.

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I also found another recipe for Vin Chaud by Rebecca Franklin a French food expert on about.com and it recommends the addition of cinnamon and cognac –  now Cognac –  I am a huge fan of. Friends who know me well, tire of my boring old way of almost always ordering a large peg of cognac with hot water when we go out during winter season. It’s just something to do with the rich, strong ,smooth and warm drink sipped slowly that warms my blood ,like a mini warm toasty log-fire inside my body, an internal thermostat of sorts…  🙂

So I decided to use combine both the recipes and both hubster and me are really satisfied with the end result. So much so that we ended up greedily pouring ourselves a more than generous portion of the Vin Chaud to perilous after effects which involved both us falling fast asleep while the tv played a few episodes of Breaking Bad to no one in particular – humm

Note to self – do not guzzle wine on an empty stomach especially Vin Chaud made with a large ‘splash’ of Cognac added in….

This warm festive mulled wine infused with hot spices and spiked with Cognac, honey and pepper is a great choice for serving at Christmas Parties and for sipping on co during cold, winter evenings – imagine drinking this fab French mulled wine in the dead of winter when you have just stepped in after braving the wretched winter winds , as the heating and warm socks work their effect on the outside, the hot wine induces a sense of warmth and festivity within – no one will judge you if you do go a bit overboard…

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Vin Chaud – Hot French Mulled Wine

Serves:6

Ingredients:

  •  1 bottle of Marqués de Calatrava Organic Selecci´on Reservada Tempranillo
  • 3 cardamom pods
  • 3 cloves
  • 2 slices ginger
  • 1 whole star anise
  • 1/4 cup i.e 60ml Cognac
  • 1 dried orange slice
  • a generous sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper

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Method:

  • Pour the red wine into a saucepan add in all the ingredients and simmer over the lowest setting on your hob.
  • Keep stirring and do not allow the wine to boil
  • Heat until the wine begins to bring up steam
  • Strain using a sieve or a cheesecloth lined funnel
  • Pour into glasses and enjoy the warm, spicy mulled wine.

I do hope this festive Hot French mulled wine warms the cockles of your heart this winter. Cheers!

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*With thanks to Waitrose Cellar . No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own. Thanks to David Lebovitz for his inspiring post on Vin Chaud.

Filed Under: Food, Product Reviews Tagged With: aromatic, cardamom pods, christmas, cloves, Cognac, easy mulled wine recipe, Food52 cookbook, France, French recipe, freshly ground black pepper, fruity red, ginger, honey, juicy strawberry, La Mancha region, magic of christmas, Marqués de Calatrava Organic Selecci´on Reservada Tempranillo, medium to full-bodied wine, rich palate, Santa Claus, spices, subtle spices, vanilla, Vin Chaud - Hot French Mulled Wine with Red Wine from Waitrose Cellar, Vin Chaud easy recipe, Vin Chaud recipe, winter recipes, winter warmer

Tomato and Lentil Soup

March 8, 2014 by manjirichitnis 61 Comments

Sometimes the guilt of eating too many wrong things just gets to me and I need to balance the scales internally. This calls for a comforting and filling soupy treat with a pinch of something yum thrown in. Also, all those gorgeous cherry tomatoes and vine tomatoes sitting in my fridge were begging to used -asap or risk being dumped into my green food recycle bag. Thrifty that I am, I will not allow that to happen in my kitchen! And I always turn to my stored lentils for something comforting and homely.

This recipe is perfect for making ahead in a larger batch and freeze some for later.

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Tomato and Lentil Soup

Manjiri Chitnis
Wholesome and delicious, this vegetarian and vegan friendly recipe is as easy on the tummy as it is on the pocket
5 from 7 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Fusion Indian
Servings 2 people

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker / Heavy-bottomed pan
  • Knife and chopping board
  • Kadhai or any pan
  • Potato masher or a large ladle
  • Blender / Mixer

Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup Red Lentils/Masoor split without skin
  • 1/4 cup Yellow Lentil/Moong – split without skin
  • 4 – 5 medium-sized Tomatoes
  • 1 pinch Asafoetida
  • 2 Red Onions
  • 5 – 6 Garlic cloves
  • 2 tsp Coriander Powder
  • 2 tsp Cumin Powder
  • ½ Thum-sized Fresh Ginger – peeled
  • 2-3 Cloves
  • 1 tsp Pepper powder
  • Red chilli flakes – optional
  • 3 large tbsp Oil for frying
  • 1 tbsp oil for the tadka
  • Salt to taste

Instructions
 

  • Wash the lentil through a sieve and pressure cook – 3 whistles
  • Let the steam escape and then loosen cooker lid
  • Remove cooked lentils and allow to cool completely
  • If you are not a pressure cooker lover then cook the lentils in a big saucepan with exactly two times the water than the quantity of the lentils
  • Lentils cook quickly in a pan, cover and cook and keep an eye as water may boil over
  • Finely chop red onions chopped into long slivers
  • Chop the tomatoes into 4 pieces – just for ease of blending
  • In a kadhai or wok heat the 3 tbsp oil and deep fry the garlic chopped into fine strips
  • Add the red onions and sauté are absolutely crisp, the aroma is delicious
  • Puree the washed tomatoes with the deep-fried red onion and garlic (leave some for garnishing)
  • Use a potato masher ( or the back of a large ladle) and roughly squash the cooked and cooled lentils and mix them with the tomatoes puree
  • In the same kadhai/wok or pan used to fry the onions and garlic – heat about 1 to 1.5 tsp oil
  • Add asafoetida, whole cumin, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, cloves
  • Sauté the spices in the oil for under a minute
  • Add the cooked lentils and tomato puree
  • Add water if the mixture is too thick
  • Cover and cook on a low flame for 5 -8 minutes
  • Season with salt as per taste
  • Garnished with the remaining crispy fried onion and garlic bits
  • Sprinkle some freshly cracked pepper
  • Serve hot
  • Best accompanied by hot buttered toast
Keyword Lentil soup

Wholemeal bread, a crusty baguette, or a soft cheesy loaf – all make for great accompaniments with this soup. Indulge yourself by adding a blob of butter on top of the soup before serving.

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Tomato and Lentil soupy broth

Filed Under: Food, Healthy, Recipe Index, Soups Tagged With: A pinch of, asafoetida, cloves, coriander powder, cumin powder, deep fried garlic, deep fried onion, freshly crushed ginger, Masoor split and without skin, moong, original recipe from sliceoffme, pepper powder, recipe development, red chilli powder, Red Lentils, split and without skin, Tomato & Lentil Soupy broth

Chai Concentrate

January 5, 2014 by manjirichitnis 7 Comments

Its been a very hectic year and I was really looking forward to a festive break. In the run up to Christmas I was gifted some really tempting edible gifts. I then took to Pintrest to find something that called out to me and ask me to make go make it ! I found a beautiful photograph of Chai Concentrate here . It was an easy to prepare recipe and so I started to get all the ingredients together and wasn’t able to get my hands on orange pekoe tea bags so I decided to make a few modifications of my own.

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups water
  • 5 English breakfast tea – tea bags
  • 5 mulled wine spice  bags
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 12 whole cloves
  • 9 cardamom pods split open and the seeds powdered
  • 8 coriander seeds or 1/4th tbsp of ground coriander powder
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 star anise pods
  • 1 vanilla bean sliced in half
  • 1.5 tbsp orange zest
  • 1 inch piece of ginger,skinned n cut into thin strips
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/2 tsp black peppercorns

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Method:

  • In a large sauce pan bring the water to boil and reduce the heat to a minimum
  • Add the spices, tea bags,orange zest and ginger and cover with lid and let it simmer for 25 minutes.
  • After 25 minutes take the saucepan off the flame and let it stand for 10 -15 minutes.
  • Then add the honey and stir it in along with all the beautiful spices which have steeped in well into the mixture.
  • Let this cool completely , the  strain the chai concentrate through a large sieve lined with a fresh cheesecloth. The spices are to be discarded.
  • Add the strained chai concentrate into clean glass bottles.
  • Decorate the glass bottles with pretty tape and add a small name tag with a bit of coil.
  • This mixture stays for 2 weeks in the fridge and can be had as hot winter drink with 1/3rd parts concentrate and top it off with hot milk, it also is good with a glass of cold milk and ice with a dollop of honey stirred in!
  • I loved the idea that the chai concentrate can be added into cookie dough for an extra zing – I am going to try that soon!

After making this gift I feel so good inside that I have taken an extra effort to actually create something unique, I think am going to make a habit out it and make delicious little treats for birthdays and anniversaries too! 

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Filed Under: Food, Indian, Recipe Index Tagged With: allspice, boil, brithday and anniversary edible gift ideas, brown sugar, cardamom, Chai Concentrate, cheesecloth, cinnamon, cloves, coriander seeds, decorative tape, delicious, edible gifts, hot drinks, mulled wine spice bag, orange pekoe, recipe, strain, zest of orange

Egg Curry/Anda Curry/अण्डा कारी from my college days

October 13, 2013 by manjirichitnis 2 Comments

Egg curry and soft paav or square buns are the most common hostel food that one can make with a saucepan, some eggs and a few basic ingredients. It is hugely popular as a filling, tasty curry and there are as many variations as the imagination, one’s budget and availability of ingredients on a particular day will allow 🙂

This version is what I always make and is sort of derivative of what would be made in the North of India. I sometimes like to make it into a coastal flavoured one by adding freshly grated coconut but that’s only if I want to make it posh but that’s very, very rare. After all, this is a quick, save the evening sort of curry!

It’s National Curry Week and it’s wonderful to see how Britain has embraced an Indian food habit and made it, its own over the years, spinning off British Indian versions of popular Indian home-cooked curries.

I wanted to start off my posts for National Curry Week, with this one because of how easy it is to make and a great recipe for students everywhere 🙂

Serves:2

Total Preparation Time:20 Minutes

Ingredients:

  • 4 eggs and use the same proportion of 2 eggs per person to scale up (for very hungry fells the more the merrier 😉
  • 2 medium-sized red onion finely chopped
  • 2 medium-sized tomatoes
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 heaped tsp garam masala
  • 1 heaped tsp cumin powder
  • 1 heaped tsp coriander powder
  • 2 green chillies
  • 1 tsp ginger paste
  • fresh coriander to garnish
  • 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
  • a pinch of asafoetida
  • salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp olive oil – it’s easier on my conscience , use any oil or butter or ghee in dire straits!

Method:

  1. Boil the eggs in an open saucepan and leave aside to cool
  2. Roast the chopped red onion on a saucepan and spritz it in the mixer with the chopped tomatoes and green chillies. (If you want a coastal touch add 2 tbsp of freshly grated coconut in this mixture and puree it together, ensure to use at least 3 finely chopped garlic in the pan as they set off the taste of fresh coconut beautifully)
  3. In a saucepan heat the oil and add a pinch of asafoetida, then add the chopped garlic and roast till it’s a light brown, then add the ginger paste, turmeric, red chilli powder,garam masala, coriander and cumin powders.
  4.  Stir in the onion and tomato puree.
  5. Cook on a low flame for 2 minutes.
  6. Then add some water to make a gravy-like consistency and ad the boiled, peeled eggs after cutting them in half, add salt and cook for a further 5 – 6 minutes.
  7. Serve with hot chapatis/naan bread,paav, soft fresh wholemeal bread or with steaming hot boiled white rice – to make the rice taste heavenly drop a blob of butter, the steam trapped in the grains of rice will melt the butter into a golden pool of gooey goodness – pour the egg curry into this and enjoy the best and simple pleasures of curry!
Anda Curry

Looking for a Curry Recipe? You might also like:

  • Masoorachi Aamti or Red Lentil Curry
  • Field Beans curry – VALACHE BIRDHE (वालाचे बिरडे) – MADE IN A TYPICAL C.K.P WAY
  • Pomfret Fish Curry
  • Pomegranate Chicken Curry
  • Punjabi Kadhi

While we are talking things curry, do also check out this interesting Mapo Tofu curry from one of my favourite blogs 🙂

Egg-citing egg recipes to inspire you!

  • Indian Masala egg omelette
  • Turkish Poached eggs
  • Smoky chorizo and chives with eggs oven-baked in pots
  • Soft-boiled eggs and asparagus soldiers
  • An omelette with a twist

Filed Under: Food, Indian, Recipe Index Tagged With: Anda Curry, anda curry recipe, asafoetida, boiled, Britain, British Indian recipes, butter, cheap eats, cloves, coconut, coriander, crushed, cumin, curry, easy recipe, easy student recipes, Egg Curry, finely chopped, fresh, garam masala, garlic, garnish, ghee, ginger, grated, green chillies, hostel foods, mixer, naan bread, National Curry Week, north indian anda curry, olive oil, paav, paste, puree, quick and easy egg curry recipe, ready in 20 minutes, red onion, rice, spicy, tomato, wholemeal bread, अण्डा कारी

Shahi Khichadi

April 9, 2012 by manjirichitnis 9 Comments

I have decided to finally upload some of the recipes which received a lot of comments on my Facebook food album and I ended up sending out the recipe by email to many of contacts. Here is one of the easier and more popular ones . When I was a kid when my mother said ”khaichadi” in response to what’s for dinner ? it usually meant that one of us feverish and needed something gentle on the tummy or one of us was trying to recover from an upset tummy .Of course the taste of the boiled rice and green gram halved and with skin on or the yellow version without skin , is ultimately satisfying a great comfort food when served piping hot with a dollop of ghee and some warm milk ,a good night’s sleep guaranteed !

But my version is spicy ,with a tasty twist and a lot of fun to cook and even more fun to eat .

I adopted this recipe from the way my mother makes khichadi and also from how my pal S of www.jainfoodie.com makes Jain Dal Khichadi . I choose to call it Shahi meaning Regal or Royal here because it is rather a posh version of the humble boiled version. Khichadi meaning an Indian for a slurpalicious RICE and lentil dish cooked like a pulav /pulao/pilau /pilaf.

Ingredients (enough to serve 2 with second and maybe a third helping !)

  • Rice 1 cup
  • A Mix of the following in equalish parts in the same cup used to measure the rice – Massor Dal also called Red Lentils-split and skinless, Moong Dal also called Green Gram yellow we will use the  spilt skinless variety and the split green moong dal with green skin on , Urid Dal also called Black Gram halved with skin ,some Toor Dal also called pigeon peas – yellow spilt and skinless .
  • 1 large red Onion
  • 1 medium tomato
  • 2-3 Bay leaves
  •  Bits of Cinnamon bark
  • 2 cloves of garlic smashed with skin on
  •  2 green chillies
  •  Jeera / Cumin
  •  Hing / Asafoetida
  • Salt to taste
  • Red Chilli Powder
  • Turmeric Powder
  •  2 small potatoes
  •  Few Curry leaves
  •  Few Cloves
  •  Few black whole peppercorns
  • 18. Oil for sauteing
  • Some Ghee – maybe 2 spoons – Clarified Butter

Method :

  • Wash the rice and lentils and place them in a pressure cooker ,add 4 cups (use same cup as the one used to measure the rice and the dals) of water and another to make it a little softer than regular rice ,pressure cook till 4 whistles are done.
  • Once the steam slowly releases from the cooker , you can open the lid and it will look like the picture below but a bit different in colour because when I made this I was short on red lentils so didn’t add them . Actually even you make this dish with rice and only yellow moong dal it will taste just as good 🙂
  • While the cooker is cooling down ,chop the potatoes into longish strips and stir fry them in hot oil till they turn brown, add some salt, sprinkled over them just as they get done, these potato fries are our garnishing to add that REAL REGAL or SHAHI touch to the dish . Once done keep them aside and STOP yourself from munching on them before your dish is ready , my husband managed to gobble quite a few ,pretending he was helping me ”stir” the onions while I clicked pictures ..grrrrr
  • Now Lets prepare the tadka /tarka or the tempering. First slice the onion and the tomato vertically into thinish slices .
  • Add oil about 2 large tablespoons into a pan and one teaspoon of ghee just for flavour and aroma , when this mix is hot add some hing , then add the jeera and the crushed garlic and the 2 green chillies spilt along the middle lengthwise as it opens them up and allows the pungent seeds to spread through the tempering , one kick ass way to add that hotttt KICK to the dish ,trust me this one is explosive spicy HOTT as it has all the ingredients to help the taste explode in your mouth, saute till the garlic is brown and the garlic’s skin starts to crackle , then add the cloves, the whole black peppercorns , bits of the barks of Cinnamon ,curry leaves, bay leaves and keep stiring this mixture to prevent charring or over heating ,it will look like in the picture below :
  • Then add the chopped onion, It should look like the picture below:
  • Then after a while when the onion has begun to turn a lovely pinkish ,brownish colour and looks the picture below it’s time to add the tomato .
  • Now add the vertically sliced tomato slices , I can assure you that now the potent aroma of all those lovely spices and the onion are stirring up quite an appetite inside you and making you hungrier every passing minute .
  • I dislike chunky bits of tomato floating in my mouth while I gobble up the khichadi so I jus a flat wooden spatula and gently ensure that the tomatoes are totally mashed  in a way that allows the mixture to become one entity, it should look like in the picture below :
  • Add just a bit of red chilli powder and some turmeric powder to the mixture above and add salt to taste ,Now add the cooked rice and lentil mixture to the above tempered mix of spices ,onions and tomatoes ,mix well stirring well, add salt again enough to flavour the rice and lentil mix .
  • It’s almost done , just keep this on a low flame for about a minute or two to allow the flavours of the spices to penetrate deep inside the rice and lentils .
  • The SHAHI KHICHADI is now ready to be garnished! Yay 🙂
  • WOW now doesn’t that look awesome ? I am quite proud about this creative production from my kitchen , hope you relish it as much as I did errr we did , hubby had to agree 🙂
  • If you fear that all the spices may be a bit too much for your sensitive palate prepare a quick cooling cucumber and curd accompaniment . Beat 2 spoons of set yogurt or thick flowing yogurt and add tiny square bits of fresh cucumber , season with a bit of salt ,some sugar and some jeera powder to taste .

Enjoy !

Filed Under: Food, Indian, Recipe Index, Vegetarian Tagged With: bay leaves, chilli, chop, cinnamom, cloves, cooker, cucumber, cumin, curd, curry leaves, dal, flame, fry, garlic, ghee, green chilly, hot, jeera, khichadi, kitchen, lentils, masoor, moong, oil, onion, peppercorns, pictures, pilaf, Pilao, potatoes, powder, pressure, pulao, Pulav, recipe, red, regal, rice, royal, salt, shahi, spicy, sugar, tempering, tomato, toor, turmeric, urid, yogurt

Masoorachi Aamti or Red Lentil Curry

January 23, 2012 by manjirichitnis 10 Comments

Akkhe Masoor or whole red lentils

Masoorachi Aamti or Red Lentil Curry – Recipe adaptation from Mother, Mother in Law and a close C.K.P friend – who loves to stir up some spicy CKP fare and generally succeeds at it 🙂

Masoorachi Aamti or Red Lentil Curry

Delicious, easy and quick recipe for using whole red lentils with skin on
Print Recipe
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 portions

Equipment

  • 1 Pan with lid
  • 1 Knife
  • 1 Chopping Board
  • 1 Spatula

Ingredients
  

  • 300 Grams MasoorDal (Red Lentil) with their brown covers intact and whole
  • 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
  • 3 cloves Garlic with skin on
  • 5-6 Curry leaves
  • 2-3 Green Chillies
  • 1 tsp Cumin
  • 1.5 tbsp freshly grated soft white coconut
  • 1.5 tbsp Goda Masala
  • 2 tbsp Coriander Powder
  • 1.5 tbsp Ginger – Garlic Paste
  • 3 mediumsized Red onions, chopped fine
  • 1/2 tsp Asafoetida
  • 1.5 tsp Turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
  • Jaggery to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 – 3 petals Garcinia Indica – wet, salt preserved
  • Fresh leaves of Coriander chopped fine for dressing
  • 2 tbsp Sunflower Oil

Instructions
 

  • Soak the washed lentils in luke warm water for about 20 minutes. You can par-boil the lentils too, to save time. t
  • Heat two large generous tablespoons of oil in a wok, no weight loss tip this, huh? Indeed!
  • Add mustard seeds and wait for them to pop.
  • To this hot oil, dd Asafoetida, crushed garlic cloves , let the skin remian attached.
  • When the garlic is starting to brown add the curry leaves, green chillies, cumin and then the fresh grated coconut.
  • Now stir in the Goda masala, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste and coriander chilli paste and mix well.
  • Now add the chopped onion and cook them on a low heat until they begin to break down and caramelise.
  • Drain excess water from the lentils and add them into this spice and oil mix. Stir well. Cover and cook on medium to low heat until almost done. Check occasionally and stir as so to ensure it does not burn.
  • Add the soaked Garcinia Indica alongwith the water it was soaking in. Mix well. Cook without the lid on low heat until fully cooked.
  • Season with finely chopped fresh as ever coriander andserve piping hot with phulkas dripping with ghee (clarified butter) or the plain old boiled white rice.
Keyword Masoor

Recipe Notes

  • Goda Masala – this is a mix of various spices readily available in Asian Grocery stores it’s basically a mixture of dry coconut roasted with a mixture of at least 10 different spices, best of all it’s available to buy online at Red Rickshaw – previously called itadka.com. Refrigerate this pack to increase shelf life,yayay so many tips from me, don’t YOU just LOVE me if u better don’t just READ this make n slurp it all ALONE, drop me A LINE and thank meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) Better still make your own, recipe coming soon – watch this space!
  • Aamsul / Amsul – also known as Kokum or Garcinia Indica, is a plant belonging to the mangosteen family (Clusiaceae). This is one of those revered ingredients that is commonly used in Indian cooking especially in Maharashtra, along the coast. Much like my beloved coconut this fruit has multiple applications and is very versatile, besides it is such a good-looking gorgeous and delicious tropical fruit.
  • Coriander and Chilli paste – 2 small-sized bunches of coriander pureed with 2-3 green chillies – freeze and use on demand, handy and 1 of my 5 “save your face” purees for unwanted guests popping in at odd hours – the other 4 are listed at the end of this recipe.
  • The other 4 SAVE ME NOW pastes are: a garlic ginger coarse paste, Finely grated fresh white coconut paste, Tomato red onion puree -1:3, And the best one for last aye? – a few onions chopped lengthwise n lightly roasted in a kadhai (wok) with fresh white coconut finely grated till they turn slightly brown, then churned into a paste in the mixer.
  • The masoor dal can be done 2 ways for stage 1 of this process, 1st is the short cut which I love as I suddenly get an urge mid-evening to cook this typical CKP recipe to appease my urges to run to Heathrow n take the next flight to my parents home in Pune, hummmmm, so we soak the masoor dal 2 measures feeds 2 adults with a ravenous appetite and leaves some to spare.

Key

This is the key to a mystical tropical paradise…. errrr… sorry but it is not, it is simply the key to some important words that you will encounter pretty often while reading my posts or watching my videos. I am after all a student of Chemistry and treat my kitchen like my personal laboratory where I create my own kitchen experiments! This is why the word ‘Key’ reminds me of my Chemistry textbook in my school years 😉

  • C.K.P stands for Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu a sub-section of the Maharashtrian community in India and they generally hail from the coastal regions and hence are rather partial to freshly grated coconut and amsool in their food, not to mention their love for fresh fish and mutton, oh yeah!
  • Daal is used to loosely to refer to the uncooked Lentil and AAMTI is a Marathi word meaning cooked curry.
  • Coriander for my friends from across the pond is Cilantro.
  • Phodni – Marathi for tempering, also one of my favourite words to say. Follow my hashtag on Instagram #phodnitales , please pretty please? 🙂
  • Kadhai – The Marathi pronunciation sounds like it ends in ‘ee’, while the Hindi pronunciation stretches the first ‘a’ following the ‘K’ to sound like ‘aaa’ , easy or what?!
  • Phulkas – Also called chapattis or the delightful Indian Bread soft and fluffy and fresh off the pan has ghee smeared on it to pack some punch and many, many calories 🙂

EXPLORE MORE RECIPES FROM MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

  • Valache Birdhe – C.K.P style recipe -वालाचे बिरडे
  • Konkani Pompfret Fish Curry पापलेटचं कलवण
  • Prawn Khichadi – कोळंबीची खिचडी
  • C.K.P Style King Fish Curry – सुरमई चे कालवण
  • C.K.P Style Prawn Curry

Random Thoughts

I would totally rechristen the word ‘Method’ in a recipe post with the name ‘Process ‘ Why, well once a Chemistry student and a retail employee I guess some things just stay with you forever. Also, instead of “PREPARATION” I choose the word ”Process” which is drilled into a Retail Managers brain like young parents making their kids rote learn alphabets)

Pic 1: The saucepan contains oil heated and then the asafoetida, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, then the garlic, chopped green chillies and curry leaves and last but the best one is GODA masala

Pic 2 :Chopped red onion added to the mix

Pic 3: That’s the dal cooking

Pic 4 & 5: All done , the AROMA is filling my senses and transporting me into my MIL’s kitchen , I want to HUG her nowwwwwwwwwww

P.S: Will post pictures to compare the 2 sizes of Mustard seeds at a later date , I am now going to be too busy slurping my Aamti off the plate 🙂

Filed Under: Curry - Vegetarian, Food, Indian, Recipe Index, Vegetarian Tagged With: aamsul, allergic, amsul, amti, aromatic, asafoetida, Atyamala, birund, blog, boil, Bollywood, bread, busy, butter, calories, chillies, chukra, CKP, cloves, clusiaceae, coarse, coastal, coconut, cook, corainder, curry, dal, dance, dhania, dish, dried, easy, elastic, fast, food, food blog, garcinia indica, garlic, ghee, goda masala, green, Gujrat, heeng, Hindi, hing, hot, hug, hurry, internet, itadka, jaggery, jeera, juices, Kadhai, Karnataka, kokum, konkan, laptop, leaves, lentil, lick, link, Madame Tussads, Madhuri Dixit, maharashtrian, mangosteen, Marathi, masoor, men, MIL, moi, Murgal, Murgala, mustard, mutton, Orissa, palate, paste, phodni, phulkas, piping, pour, powder, process, Punampuli, Pune, pungent, Raktapurak, ratamba, Ratnagiri, raw, recipe, red, region, rice, Sanskrit, season, seeds, slurping, song, Tamil Nadu, tasty, tease, tempering, Tintali, tintidika, tomato, tumeric, turmeric, typical, Vrikshamla, waist, water, wax, wet, white, wiki, wok

An Omelette with a twist

January 23, 2012 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

Your regular omelette but better

Easy omelette recipe

What’s life without a bit of a twist I say!

So here’s one of my “different” omelette recipes, I love eating eggs in all shapes and forms and am more so obsessed with omelettes and scrambled eggs.

This recipe is for hungry morning times when you have a rumbling tummy and need time to hold the tummy quiet and prepare for rest of the day. It is a filling, satisfying yummy start to the day, I serve this with 2 slices of toast buttered with a generous blog of organic grass-fed butter and a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice to wash it down 🙂

Ok so you will need the following ingredients and a really easy short process to cook this yummy egg omelette

An Omelette with a twist

Fluffy, delicious egg omelette
5 from 6 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 6 mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Fusion
Servings 1 person

Equipment

  • 1 Non-stick frying pan
  • 1 egg-whisk or fork
  • 1 Spatula
  • 1 Knife
  • 1 Chopping Board

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 large Red onion chopped lengthwise
  • 1/2 Garlic cloves sliced very fine lengthwise again
  • 1 Chicken Sausage
  • 2 Green chillies
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder
  • Olive Oil as required or unsalted butter
  • Salt as per taste

Instructions
 

  • Chop the red onion lengthwise and so also the garlic clove.
  • Heat frying pan over medium heat.
  • Sauté the red onion n garlic slices in a generous blob of butter on a pan until the onion starts to reduce turns a mild brown n stays ab it soft.
  • Transfer the onion and garlic onto a creamic plate and allow to cool down a bit.
  • Crack two eggs in a mixing bowl, beat them well using a whisk or a fork until you see loads of bubbles forming and the eggs have a nice thick consistency.
  • Now mix in the onions and garlic into the eggs, add the chopped chillies, red chilli powder.
  • Roughly chop the chicken sausage and add into the egg mixture, mix well
  • Heat the same frying pan on a medium add and add some more butter if you like, when the pan is hot , pour the egg mixture into the pan.
  • Cook with a lid for a few minutes, then using a wooden spatula loosen the omelette around the eggs, flip and cook until done on the other side without a lid, reduce the heat as required.
  • Serve hot with toasted sourdough smothered in butter, a nice strong cup of masala chai and some freshly squeezed orange juice or a slice of grapefruit.
Keyword Omlette

Recipe Notes:

  • I like to chop the red onion and garlic lengthwise. Why, you ask? Because in an omelette the tiny square bits will loose themselves and vanish I like to chomp on and feel the taste of all the ingredients as I eat the omelette and appreciate each and every ingredient, it’s just so much more fulfilling and creates an immense feeling of happiness as a creator of a true mouth-watering masterpiece.
  • The red onion should be sauteed to the point it is still soft and light brown so that when you bite into it, it releases a sweet burst of onion taste on your palate.
  • Feel free to swap the butter for olive oil or an oil spray.
  • I prefer to use unsalted butter, I mean who wants to pump their body with extra sodium, not me, hellow normal blood pressure!
  • A fluffy, well-cooked omelette is a joy to cook and serve and even nigger pleasure to eat so it is imperative to get the timing of flipping it over absolutely spot-on and correct, it comes with practise and you will love it!
  • Feel free to innovate and improvise this recipe, throw in bits of sweet pepper, sweet corn, spinach that is about to go off, or some kale that is looking tired, add in your favourite cheese or not. I leave that to your imagination, creativity, and what is available at hand!

AAAHHH pure omelette pleasure.

If you do make and enjoy eating this share your partner or husband or children’s reactions, it will surely make me smile.

Egg-citing egg recipes to inspire you!

  • Indian Masala egg omelette
  • Turkish Poached eggs
  • Smoky chorizo and chives with eggs oven-baked in pots
  • Masala egg curry, a recipe famous on the street-food stall in Mumbai
  • Soft-boiled eggs and asparagus soldiers

Filed Under: Food, Recipe Index, Vegetarian Tagged With: blob, breakfast, butter, caramelise, caramelize, chicken sausage, chillies, chopped, chubbybrown, cloves, cut, delicious, eat, eggs, enjoy, fat, finely, food, food blog, fork, fresh, garlic, green, guilt, hot, immense, ingerdients, juice, low, Lurpack, mashed, masterpiece, mix, omlette, onion, orange, pan, powder, red, salivate, salt, squeeze, tatsy, toast, tongue, twist, yummy

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