Onion Kulchas

You Need
Dough
Whole Wheat Flour – 2 cups (plus some extra for dusting)
Milk – 3/4 cup approximately
Curd – 1 table spoon
Baking powder – 1 level teaspoon
Salt 1/2 teaspoon
Sugar 1 tablespoon
Freshcream – 1 tablespoon
Ghee – 2 teaspoons

Stuffing
Onion – 1 (finely chopped)
Coriander – a bunch (finely chopped)
A pinch of Salt
Ajwain – 1 tsp (optional)
Chilli Powder – 1/2 tsp
Butter – 1 tsp

Garnish (optional)
Sesame Seeds – 1 tbsp
Butter – 1tsp

In a large bowl, mix the Wheat Flour with salt and sugar. Rub the fresh cream into the flour.
Make a well in center, add curd and baking powder and allow to froth for 2 minutes.
Knead all the ingredients into a soft dough the flour with curds by adding the required amount of milk.
Coat with ghee and mix well. Cover with a wet cloth and leave to rise for 6 to 8 hours.
Melt some butter in a skillet, add the ajwain and coriander. Saute Onions. Add Salt and Chilli Powder. Set aside for cooling.
Divide the dough into eight balls. Take one of the portions of the dough, flatten it with the palm of your hand. Roll it into a 5-6 inch circle with the outer edges thin and thick center. Put in a tablespoon or more of the onion saute in the center. Bring the edges together and seal. Roll out into a circle using some extra flour for dusting if required.
Cook both sides on a tawa over medium heat till pink spots appear. Brush with sesame seeds crackled in some butter. Repeat with rest of the dough.
In the pic you will see there are no sesame seeds. My guests were almost about to arrive, didn't get time to sprinkle them. Will post another pic soon with complete tops :)

Palak Paneer

You Need
4 cups of fresh finally chopped spinach
1/3 lb paneer
2 medium tomatoes, pureed
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
Pinch of asafetida (hing)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour
1/3 cup heavy cream or sour cream
1/2 tomato thinly sliced to garnish


If using frozen spinach thaw and blend it just for a minute so spinach has a creamy texture but without becoming pasty.
Blend the tomatoes and ginger to make puree.
Mix coriander, turmeric, and red chili with tomato puree and set aside.
Mix whole-wheat flour with cream and set aside.
Cube the paneer in about half inch pieces and deep fry them on medium high heat just for few minutes so paneer become very light gold in color, take paneer out on paper towel so extra oil can be absorbed.
Heat the oil in a saucepan.Add hing and cumin seed. After cumin seeds crack, add the tomato puree mixture, and let it cook for a few minutes until the tomato puree is about half in volume.
Add the spinach, and let it cook on low medium heat for about 10 minutes covered.
Add heavy cream mixture and let this cook another four to five minutes.
Let cool and grind the mixture coarsely.
Add paneer and fold it gently with spinach and let it simmer for a 2-3 minutes. Pot should remain covered until the cooking is finished, otherwise the spinach will splatter.
Transfer the spinach to a serving dish and spread the tomato slices over the top, and cover the dish so tomato slices get tender with the steam from the spinach.

Mysore Pak

Didn't know this was such a simple recipe and I was not hopeful that I will succeed in the first go. But I did :)
you need
1 cup gram flour(besan)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup ghee
1/2 tspn cardamom powder

Heat 1 tbsp ghee and add flour.
On a medium flame, fry till nice aroma comes out of it and it turns slightly brownish. Take care not to burn, it burns easily, so make sure to keep stirring it. Take it out on a plate and keep aside.
Mix sugar with 1/2 cup water and bring it to boil, keep mixing with a spoon.
When it is boiling, and you can see rapid boiling, add the fried four and mix (do not wait till it forms syrup).
Now add 1 tbl spn ghee at a time, keep mixing all the time. When all ghee is done, keep mixing continuously. If you stop mixing for a min, you will see the mixture has lots of air in it and when you start mixing again, the air goes off.
When the mixture starts leaving edges and looks a bit dry, add cardamom, mix well and pour it into a greased plate and flatten immediately.
Cut into desired shapes.

Gujarati Kadhi and my tip on Tadka

You Need
1 tsp each cumin and mustard seeds
4-5 cloves
2 whole red chillies
1 inch cinnamon stick
7-8 fenugreek/methi seeds
7-8 curry leaves
a sprig coriander leaves
1 cup yogurt
4 tbsp chickpea flour (besan)
4 cups water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp each oil and ghee

Mix water,yogurt,besan,salt,turmeric and ginger so that no lumps are formed.
Transfer to a deep pan on stove top and cook stirring continuously till it boils.
This may take around 15 minutes. Remember to cook on medium heat for best results.
While stirring it, am used to multitasking this way. Heat oil and ghee in microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds.
Now add all mustard,cumin,fenugreek,cloves,cinnamon,red chillies and curry leaves.
Microwave for a minute and half till the seeds splutter and chillies turn dark.
Be careful while removing the bowl, it could be hot if its small glass bowl.
Once the kadhi starts boiling, add this tadka and stir for few more mins.
Turn Off and garnish with coriander leaves.

In the above procedure I eliminated the need for another dish to take tadka. I call it microwave tadka and use this technique most of the times as am a lazy bump when it comes to doing the dishes.


My tip for kadhi: I add a tsp of sugar or jaggery at the end just to give a sweet-sour flavor. Its very tasty and in every sip you keep guessing if its sweet or sour.

Tandoori Gobi

4 all the vegetarians out there who miss eating tandoori chicken :)

Cauliflower - 1, medium size
Marinade:
Yogurt - 1 cup
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 2 tbsp
Cayenne Pepper or Tandoori Masala - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Paprika - 1/4 tsp

Hang the yogurt in a muslin/cotton cloth for about 30-40minutes.
Mix all the ingredients of marinade.
Pull out nice finger size florets out of the cauliflower.
Dip each floret in the marinade to coat it completely and Place gently on a platter that is oven-proof.
Let the Cauliflower marinate for about an hour.
Place in the Cauliflower into the oven on broil on high.
It will take between 15 minutes for the cauliflower to get a good color (a few spots of brown on the top).
These are now ready to serve.You could use them as appetizers or sides with rotis.

Variation: You could also keep the cauliflower whole for a turkey look on Thanksgiving.I like floret better since the masala coats well and they are easier to serve.

Carrot-Spinach Pulao

You Need

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp
Onion - 1/2 med, finely sliced
Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
Black Cardamom - 1
Cinnamon Stick - 1″ pc.
Cloves - 1
Green Cardamom - 1
Bay Leaf - 1
Spinach - 1 bunch, chopped (2 cups packed)
Carrots - 2, grated
Water - 2 cups
Red Chili Powder - to taste
Salt - to taste


Wash and soak the Basmati Rice for at least 1/2 hour.
In a microwave-safe dish which is at least 4″ deep and holds at least 4-5 cups, add Oil, Fennel Seeds, Onions, Big Cardamom, Cinnamon Stick, Green Cardamom, Bay Leaf and Cloves. Mix well.
Microwave uncovered for 3 minutes.
Add in the Chopped Spinach and the Grated Carrots. Mix well and microwave for another 3 minutes, uncovered.
Drain the water from the soaked Rice and add it in the bowl.
Add Salt, Red Chili Powder and 2 cups Water. Mix well and cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring and checking every 5 minutes.
Let the Rice stand for a few minutes before you fluff it up with a fork.
Serve hot with Raita, Yogurt and/or pickle. Serves 2.

Paneer Tikka Pulao

For the paneer tikkas
1½ cups paneer, cut into 50 mm. (2") cubes
½ cup capsicum, cut into 50 mm. (2") pieces
½ cup onions, cut into thick wedges
½ cup thick curds
½ tsp Bengal gram flour (besan)
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
½ tsp garam masala
2 tbsp chopped coriander
2 tbsp mustard oil
salt to taste
For the rice
1½ cups long grained rice
½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 cloves (laung)
1 bay leaf (tejpatta)
25 mm. (1") stick cinnamon (dalchini)
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
Other ingredients
2 tbsp oil
For the garnish
a sprig of mint


For the paneer tikkas
1.Combine the curds, gram flour, ginger paste, garlic paste, chilli powder, kasuri methi, garam masala, coriander, salt and 1 tablespoon of mustard oil and mix well to prepare a marinade.
2.Add the paneer, onions and capsicum to it and keep aside for 10 to 15 minutes.
3.Arrange the paneer, onions and capsicum on 4 skewer sticks.
4.Heat 1 tablespoon of oil on a non-stick tava (griddle) and sauté the paneer tikkas till they are lightly browned on all sides (approx. 4 to 5 minutes). Remove from the skewer and keep aside.
For the rice
1.Clean, wash and soak the rice for approx.15 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
2.Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan, add the cumin seeds, cloves, bay leaf and cinnamon and stir.
3.When the cumin seeds crackle, add the rice and salt and sauté for 2 minutes.
4.Add 3 cups of hot water. Cover and cook over a low flame for 10 to 15 minutes till the rice is cooked. Separate each grain of rice very lightly with a fork and keep aside.
How to proceed
1.Heat the oil in a non-stick pan.
2.Add the paneer tikkas and rice and mix together very lightly. Cook till the rice is hot.
3.Garnish with the sprig of mint and serve immediately.