Punjabi Dal Makhani.

Dal makhani is a spicy and heavy dal made with a combination of rajma / kidney beans and black sabut urad dal / whole black gram. This dal tastes much better if had the following day or after few hours of cooking, reheating properly and garnishing with cream just before serving.

So let's see how this yummy authentic punjabi dal Makhani is made.

• Take red kidney beans/rajma and whole black gram / black sabut urad dal in 1:4 and soak in water overnight or minimum 4 hours.
• After it's soaked well we need to pressure cook the same adding some salt for 20 minutes on medium flame.

Ingredients for cooking-

• 2 onions.
• 2 tomatoes.
• Green chillies.
• Ginger garlic paste.
• Cumin seeds.
• Main spices : cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala, red chilli powder 
• Salt to taste.
• Oil or ghee.
• Flavor Spices : Cinnamon, green cardamom, star anise, black pepper and cloves. Grind these spices. We use 1 small teaspoon of these ground spices in our Dal makhani.
• Heavy whipping cream and cilantro for garnishing.

• Take one tbsp oil and one tbsp ghee combining together in a pan and heat on a medium flame.
• Add cumin seeds, green chillies, ginger garlic paste. After few seconds add finely chopped onions and cook till onions are brown.
• Add all spices- Main spices and one tea spoon of the ground flavour spices.
• Add in the chopped tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes in low to medium flame covering the lid. Keep checking in between so the tempering doesn't burn. Add 2 to 3 spoons of water if required in between. It is important that we cook the onion tomato gravy well not leaving it undercooked.

• After cooking the tempering for 15 to 20 minutes, we add it in the boiled rajma and Black urad dal cooker. Add some salt and mix well adding water. Remember we have added salt before boiling the dal so add little this time.
• Simmer on low flame for another 15 minutes.
• After simmering garnish the dal with some heavy whipping cream and cilantro and serve hot with Naan, Paratha or Basmati rice.
• This dal makhani tastes much better when had the next day or after few hours of cooking, reheating properly.

Fruit loop Marshmallow treats.

Here's a 5 minutes receipy to make Fruit Loop Marshmallow treats.

It's a quick 3 ingredient receipy and kids enjoy it and also could help you make this mouth watering treat.

All that we need to make this simple treat are-

• 1.5 cup marshmallows.
• 1.5 cup fruit loops or your favourite cheerios.
• 2 tbsp  butter.

Step 1-

• Heat the butter in saucepan on slow flame.
• As the butter melts, add in the marshmallow and keep stirring till they melt.
• As soon the marshmallow melts turn off the heat and add in the fruit loops and mix well.

Step 2-

• Take a flat tray or a dish and spray oil over it.
• Spread the marshmallow fruit loop mix and press it hard over the tray.
• Spread some sprinklers on the mix and allow it to cool then cut in any shape you like.

• Refrigerate the same for some time and enjoy this treat.

Mushroom Paneer Masala

Here is a receipy on how to prepare Mushroom Paneer Masala. 

This is a very simple receipy where in mushrooms and cottage cheese are blended with the spices in the onion tomato gravy.

Lets start by learning the ingredients that we use.

• 2 small chopped onions.
• 2 small chopped tomatoes.
• Mushrooms.
• Cottage cheese.
• Spices: cumin seeds, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala.
• Ginger garlic paste.
• Green chillies.
• Salt to taste.
• Salted cashews and cilantro leaves for garnishing.

Step 1-

• Heat some oil in a pan and put in some cumin seeds and finely chopped green chillies.
• After a min add in the chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. Saute till onion is golden brown and transparent.
• Add in all the spices and cook for 5  minutes.
• Add tomatoes and let this gravy cook for another 10 minutes on medium flame with the lid covered.

Step 2- 

• As the onion tomato masala gravy is cooked we add the mushrooms and then the paneer and mix well.
• Cover the lid and cook for 10 minutes on low flame. 

• Garnish with some salted cashew nuts and cilantro leaves.
• Serve hot with Naan or Parathas.

How to cook plain rice perfectly?

Many of us face problem while cooking the perfect plain rice. Sometimes it gets overcooked or it gets sticky.  Let us see how to cook the perfect plain- Basmati Rice.

Steps-

• Take 2 cups of plain Basmati Rice and wash well.
• Drain out all the water and keep the rice aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
• After 15 minutes take a pot adding 4 cups of water and bring it to boil adding some salt to taste and 2 tbsp Olive oil / or any cooking oil.
• As the water begins to boil add the rice in it. This should be on high flame.

• As the rice begins to boil reduce the flame to medium and keep stiring carefully from the edges. Keep checking in between so that the rice is not overcooked. The process normally takes 8 to 10 minutes depending on the type of rice.
• As soon as the rice looks 90% cooked transfer it in a big siever to drain out all the water. Spread the rice gently over the siever. Set this aside for 10 minutes.
• If you feel the rice is a bit overcooked, then you need to place the siever of rice into cold running water. This will stop the cooking process of rice leaving it non sticky.

Enjoy your perfectly cooked Basmati plain rice with the gravy of your choice.

Authentic Punjabi Rajma

Punjabi Rajma or kidney beans is a famous dish in a punjabi household. It is loved by almost every one. It's a dish wherein the soaked and boiled kidney beans are cooked in onion and tomato gravy combined with the spicy masala.
There are different varieties of kidney beans that you get in the market. My personal favourite is the pink kidney beans which gives my rajma, a very authentic taste.

So what all ingredients do we need..

• Kidney beans of your choice, soaked overnight in water. 
• 2 onions.
• 2 tomato.
• Green chillies.
• Ginger garlic paste.
• Spices - cinnamon, bay leaf, green cardamom, star anise (optional) and few cloves.
• Other spices- cumin seeds, red chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, Rajma masala and salt to taste.
• Some oil for cooking.

Lets get started!!

Step 1.

• Rajma or kidney beans, needs to be soaked in water for overnight. (Or minimum 4 hours.)
• After we have soaked the same, we need to boil it adding some salt.
• Boil in pressure cooker over medium flame for 15 minutes. Different kidney beans take different time for cooking. Be very careful so as to not overcook them. 
• Later, we separate the kidney beans and it's water in 2 different pots. We would be cooking Rajma, using this water.
• Set aside.

Step 2.

• Finely chop the onions and green chillies. Puree the tomatoes. 
• Grind the cinnamon, green cardamom, star anise and cloves. For less spicy, use very little of these ground spices.

Step 3 -Tempering.

• In a pan, put some oil and add cumin seeds, green chillies and the bay leaf. Add in half teaspoon of the ground spices.
• After a minute put in the finely chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. Cook till onions turn golden brown.
• Add the tomato puree, and other spices- red chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, Rajma masala and little salt as we have already added some salt while boiling kidney beans.
• We need to cook this spicy onion tomato gravy, covered with a lid, for 15 to 20 minutes over slow to medium flame. Keep checking in between so that it doesn't burn. If you see the gravy dries out we add some rajma water in between. 

(TIP 1- The longer we cook the tempering, the better would be the taste of dishes specially when you are cooking - Chole, Rajma or Dal Makhani. Do not leave the onions or tomatoes undercooked.)

Step 4-

• After 20 minutes we add this onion tomato gravy to our kidney beans. Mix well.
• Next we add in the rajma water that we had separated earlier.
• Allow this to simmer for some time, peferably 7 to 10 minutes on low flame. 

If your rajma was undercooked before and is little hard, we could pressure cook at the end for a couple of whistles since we need soft Rajma.

(TIP 2- Keep the cooked rajma aside for minimum 2 hours. The longer you keep it, the better it's taste. I normally cook Rajma by 10 am to have it at 1pm :) This also applies for Chole and Dal Makhani.)

Garnish with some cilantro leaves and enjoy this punjabi Rajma with Naan or Basmati rice.

Pita Fillups.

To make Pita Fillups we require-
For the dough

• 3 tbsp oil.
• 1.5 teaspoon sugar.
• 3/4 teaspoon salt.
• Dry instant yeast.
• 2/3 cup very warm water.
• 2 cups all purpose flour.

 Mix the above ingredients to make a soft dough and keep aside covered, in warm place for at least an hour.

For the fillups

• 1 cup grated cottage cheese / paneer.
• 3/4 cup finely chopped spinach.
• Green chilli (optional).
• 2 tbsp cheese spread or soft cheese.
• Chilli flakes, salt and black pepper.

Mix the above ingredients to prepare the filling and set aside.

After an hour we see the dough has risen enough.
Kneed the dough again very gently and divide it into equal portions to prepare the pita.
We need to roll the bread thin.

Grease the baking tray with some oil and sprinkle some flour over it.
Place the rolled pitas on the tray and place in preheated oven at 360 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes. Baking time may differ from oven to oven.

Remove the pitas from oven and slit the top layer making pockets to add the fillups.
Add the fillups and close the above layer of pita and cut them diagonally.
Brush melted butter over these pita and place them on baking tray.
Place the tray in oven at 300 degree for another 8 to 10 minutes on the top rack.

Serve hot with Hummus.

Chicken Biryani.

When it comes to rice, chicken biryani is one dish loved by everyone. The aroma of all the spices that blends in the biryani cannot stop anyone from having it.

It's very important to use the right spices in biryani. I have made use of the following spices.

• Few cloves.
• Bay leaves.
• Cardamom.
• Black pepper.
• Cinnamon sticks.
• Star Anise.

Other ingredients.

• 1 thin sliced onion.
• Spring onions diagonally chopped.
• 3/4 cooked Basmati rice.
• Dry chicken. I have made use of- Its my cuisine special chicken that I had prepared extra for the biryani. 
• Cooking oil or clarified butter.
• Few cashews and raisins.
• Cilantro leaves.
• 3 tbsp of skimmed milk with little saffron flakes added in milk. 

Step 1- Preparing onion masala.

• In a non stick wok or vessel heat 2-3 tbsp oil or clarified butter and put in all the spices mentioned above. Add the raisins and cashew nuts.
• After a minute, add thin sliced onion and keep stiring till onion is golden brown. Add  in the spring onions and cook for 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes,  remove half of this onion masala in a separate dish while other half remains in the pan for layering the biryani.

Step 2 - Layering the biryani.

• We have some masala onions prepared in the pan. Layer this with a part of the 3/4th cooked white basmati rice.
• Layer this rice with chicken and some onion masala.
• Again we put white rice over this chicken masala and put another layer of chicken masala over the rice.
• Place the final layer of rice over the chicken. Make sure the flame is low.

Step 3-

• Put a tbsp of clarified butter on the biryani and some over the edges and sprinkle 2 to 3 tbsp of saffron milk over it and close the lid and leave it on low flame for another 10 minutes. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and slowly move the biryani from edges and mix without breaking the rice.
• Serve hot with Boondi or Cucumber Raita which is seasoned with cilantro, cumin powder, mint, chaat masala and other herbs and spices of your choice.