Rajma pakode (Red Kidney bean fritters)

What you would need:

For the fritters:
Rajma (red kidney beans), soaked overnight- 2 cups
Onion - 3 large
Green chillies - 2 to 3 big sized
Ginger - 1 inch
Almonds - 10
salt to taste
Coriander leaves - 1 small bunch
Vegetable oil for deep frying the fritters (You can use Olive oil as well)

For the dip:
Yogurt - 1 cup
Processed cheese - 2 tbsp
Capsicum (finely diced) -for garnish

Prep:
For the fritters:
Coarsely grind the soaked kidney beans, mix in finely chopped onions, fresh chopped coriander leaves, ground chillies, ginger, salt and coarsely ground almond.

Heat the oil in a deep pan, and deep fry the fist sized flat fritters made of the above batter.

For the dip:
Heat the cheese in a microwave oven for 20 seconds till melted, quickly blend in the yogurt, whisking to avoid cheese lumps. Garnish with chopped capsicum.

Serve the fritters hot with the dip.

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Quick and easy, this snack is a welcome break from the traditional chilly/onion fritters.

Pasta Mania -2

So, here is another quick easy and smoking version of a hot Pasta Salad.

What you would need : As always I recommend that you use your flavour profile to mix and match the quantities, just be careful not to overdo it though :).

Pasta- 2 cups (I used a combination of penne and fusilli)
Red Onion - 1 small
Tomatoes - 4 large
Capsicum - 3 large
Spring onion whole - 3 sprigs
Milk cream - 2 tbsp
Cheddar cheese - 1/2 cup
Green Olives
Black Olives
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper

Prep :
Cook the penne and fusilli in water with a little salt and a drizzle of oil (to avoid the pasta from sticking) - drain and keep a little stock aside.

In a wok, heat some olive oil add finely chopped red onion and half of the tomatoes. Toss around till they blend into a course sauce, add the milk cream and allow to thicken. Now add the chopped spring onions and toss. Remove from heat, add the capsicum and mix so that it absorbs the heat of the sauce. Toss in the pasta and mix. Put on slow flame and top with the cheese. In a bowl mix the remaining tomatoes(big chunks) and medium size chops of capsicum, add some olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix and add to the pasta. give a quick stir and serve hot.
I enjoy mine with a lot of fresh tomato and capsicum. Do try and let me know :).

Sunday lunch recipe - Tomato chicken

I am always looking for ways to incorporate vegetables and fruits in the food that I cook.

Tomatoes are one of the most versatile of vegetables ..... oops fruit ;) .
If used right they can give a instant face lift and flavour boost to any dish.

The many , many varieties of tomatoes available only adds to the possibilities of using them to complement any meal in endless and fun ways :D.

Here is a super quick and simple recipe of chicken with fresh ripe plum tomatoes .


What you would need :

Ingredient Quantity
Chicken - 1/2 kg
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Whole black peppercorns- 3 nos.
Whole dry red chilli - 3 nos.
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 7 to 8 cloves
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Onion - 1 medium
Plum tomatoes - 2 large
Salt As required
Fresh coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Prep:

Dry roast coriander and cumin seeds along with the peppercorns and grind. Keep aside.
Grind the red chillies, ginger and garlic to make a fine paste.Keep aside.
Heat oil and ghee in the pan that you will use to cook the chicken. Add onion and saute till translucent, now add half of the dry ground powder and half of the paste.

Stir and saute till aromatic, now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they soften. Add the chicken (thoroughly washed and chopped evenly) along with salt and give a quick stir. Add the coriander leaves** and the remaining spices and let the dish simmer away till the chicken is well done. You can add 1/2 a cup of water, if you like to have a little bit of gravy.

**You can also optionally add the red chilli powder at this point.

Garnish with tomato slivers and enjoy with rice or roti/bread!!! :)