Dum Aloo

Ingredients:

Baby Potatoes- 1 bag

Onion-1 large-grated

Tomato-2 -grated

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Yogurt-1 cup

Green chilli-1

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder, Coriander seeds powder, Red chilli powder, Saunf powder, Garam masala

Procedure:

1.Pressure cook baby potatoes for one whistle. Peel potatoes and fry them until done.

2. In a separate pan, add oil and then cumin seeds, the grated onion, green chillies, ginger garlic paste until raw smell is gone.

3.Now add tomato grated or tomato puree to this mixture. Mix well.

4.Add all the spices.Now add the yogurt and mix well.

5.Add the potatoes and toss with the masala.

6.Garnish with cilantro and half and half and serve hot.

Rice dishes

When you make any rice dishes such as biriyani or pulao, always saute the raw rice in little bit of ghee or oil until dry and then cook with the veggies and spices. This will avoid your dish from being mushy and the rice will fall separate from each other.

For a fresher closet

When summer comes, you can pluck some lavender flowers from the roadside and put them in your closet. This will keep the clothes and the closet smelling good.

To make cilantro last longer

Always dry pat the cilantro and wrap the cilantro bundle in a paper towel and make sure that it does not get crushed by keeping any weight on top to make it last longer. If you have the patience and time(which I don't), you can pluck the leaves from the stem and make sure its dry and store it in an airtight container.

Efficient Storage of Kitchen/Dining Linens

Use baskets to store all your kitchen wash cloths and table linens. This saves a lot of space in your pantry/storage cabinet.

Avoid bugs in Lenthils

To avoid bugs in lenthils/dals, put one or two red chillies in the storage container. This stops bugs from being in the dals.

To remove Raw Onion smell while grating

To remove the raw and strong smell from Onions, soak the onions in some warm water with salt for about 15-20 minutes before grating.

Kadhi Pakori Recipe

The first time I've had this in my life is at my dear friend's place here in Denver and I absolutely love it ever since. I was craving for the taste for a long time and finally decided to stop thinking about it too hard and just make it.

The taste resembles more kolambu but not quite.

Here goes the recipe.

KADHI

INGREDIENTS:

Yogurt-2 cups

Sour cream-1/2 cup

Buttermilk-1 cup

Besan/Chickpea Flour-1 cup

Red chilli powder-1 tbsp

Danya Powder-1 tbsp

Asafoetida powder-1/2 tsp

Salt-As needed

Turmeric Powder-1 tbsp or until the mixture turns yellow

TAMPERING:

Mustard seeds

Cumin seeds

Ginger-1/4 inch grated finely

Green chillies-1 finely chopped

Cilantro- For garnishing

Curry leaves-For garnishing

PROCEDURE:

1.Mix all the ingredients well to not form any lumps into a smooth paste until it reaches a buttermilk consistency.

2.Switch on the stove, tamper with the ingredients above and pour the kadhi mixture and stir now and then until its thick and no lumps are formed. Switch off stove.

PAKORI:

INGREDIENTS:

Besan Flour-2 cups

Onion-1/2 small finely chopped

Red chilli powder-1 tbsp

Danya Powder-1 tsp

Salt-As needed

PROCEDURE:

1.Mix into a very thick batter and pour into a pot of hot oil and fry till done.

2.Add in kadhi mixture and let it soak.

3.Eat hot with rice or rotis. Enjoy and lick away!!

Besan Ki Mirch (Peppers with Chick Pea flour)

Besan Ki Mirch is one of those "always in the fridge to go with daal roti" dishes. It goes great with any daal, any type of watery sabji, aalan ka saag (will post recipe soon), parantha's, poori's etc.

You'll need:
1) Peppers chopped - Use Bell peppers if you want to stay low on the spice quotient, If you like it spicy, use your pepper of choice. I absolutely love it with Anaheim peppers. Use 1 bell pepper, or two Anaheim peppers for this recipe. (Scale it if you want to use more)
2) Besan - Chick Pea Flour - 3 Tbsp
3) Oil - 1.5 Tbsp
4) Jeera - Cumin seeds - 1tsp
5) Red Chilli Powder - 1-2 tsp (depending on how spicy you want it)
6) Dhaniya Powder (Dry Coriander seed powdered) - 3 tsp
7) Haldi (Turmeric) - A pinch
8) Hing (Asafoetida) - A pinch
9) Saunf Powder (Fennel seeds powder) - 1 tsp
10) Salt to taste
11) Amchoor (Dry Mango powder) - 1tsp

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat, add hing and jeera. Then add the besan. You have to make sure there is enough oil to cook the besan. If things look too dry, add a little more oil. Trust me, skimping on oil while making Rajasthani dishes is not a good idea.
Stir continuously. Once the besan starts cooking, it burns very easily.

Roast the besan until it is fragrant and it changes to a light brown color.
Now add all the dry spices - chilli, amchoor, dhaniya powder, haldi, and saunf. Keep stirring until the spices are well incorporated into the besan.

Turn down the heat to the lowest you can manage.

Add the chopper peppers and salt. Stir to coat the peppers well with the besan.
Cover and cook.

Keep stirring occasionally.

The peppers take about 10-15 mins to cook on low heat.
Once cooked (should be soft) you are done. Enjoy!

Stone baked Pizza- (partly) whole wheat and (mostly) from scratch!

Note: Highlights of the recipe in 'RED' for easy re-read/reference!
I got the pizza dough recipe from @tKe and the recipe has been a regular feature in our house. There are all kinds of pizzas and all kinds of preferences. This pizza has a crispy yet soft medium crust and does not have any tomato sauce (just our family's preference). When you take a slice in your hand, it does not droop or bend. In spite of this level of crispiness, the crust is soft to the bite and not chewy. Its also fairly higher on the health quotient for a pizza due to whole wheat flour and oil, cheese, sauces and toppings being in your control. So if you think you like this kind of pizza read on. I hate asking you to buy equipment for a recipe but some inexpensive equipment makes all the difference in the crust.

• A pizza stone (I bought mine from Bed bath and beyond). A pizza stone ensures an oil-free non stick surface and even heating of the crust without burning it. It also helps the crust be crispy and soft at the same time. This is a deal clincher. 
• A surface to roll the pizza and a rolling stone. I have a marble tile and a marble rolling pin.
• A Pizza peel for handling the baked and unbaked pizza. (Optional but useful)
• A pizza cutter.

Ingredients:

Basic pizza dough:

Makes about three 12'' pizzas

Warm water (as needed - about 3 cups)

nonfat dry milk 1/4 cup or warm milk - 1 cup

salt - 1/2 tsp

bread flour/maida/all purpose flour - 2 cups

atta/whole wheat pastry flour - 2 cups
sugar - 1 tbsp

active dry yeast - 2 tsp

olive oil - 2 tbsp

dry flour/cornmeal - to dust

dry herbs (basil, oregano) - optional and to taste

Add yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk/warm milk in a large bowl. Add a cup of warm water and stir to mix well. 

Allow to sit for two minutes. 

Add olive oil and stir again. 

Add flour, water and any herbs/seasonings you may like in the crust. (We like dried basil and oregano)

Knead with warm water until the dough comes together and is soft but not sticky to the touch.

Close the bowl and leave in the oven with the light on for about half an hour or until the dough almost doubles in volume.

Pizza dough is ready

Place your pizza stone in the oven and set the 'Bake' function to the highest temperature possible (in a range of 450 to 550 F depending on level of crispness needed)

During preheat get the crust and toppings ready.

For the crust,

Lightly, roll and flatten 1/3 of the dough and dust it with dry flour.

Roll out the pizza while applying as little pressure as needed. (I cannot twirl, stretch or pat or do any of the fancy hand movements to make the pizza crust)

Dust the crust very liberally on one side with cornmeal or flour (this is important for easy transfer to the pizza stone in the oven) and place on the pizza peel with dusted side at the bottom.

For the toppings,

Apply sauce. (We like the classic basil pesto). Other ideas include white sauce, broccoli cream sauce, garlic with olive oil, or plain ole' tomato sauce. Go easy on the sauces to avoid a soggy pizza. A sauceless pizza is actually pretty tasty too with the right toppings and seasonings.

Then goes the veggie toppings. Our favorite combinations (not too many - we are creatures of habit it seems)

Pineapple chunks + red onion slices + green peppers (serrano or Thai). - Good candidate for sauceless pizza

Tomato + red onion slices + dried herbs. (excellent with pesto)

I usually add fresh basil leaves from my kitchen pot but in reality fresh basil is wasted on a pizza as it is usually overcooked and charred. Pesto is a better option for basil flavor.

Then comes the cheeses - mozzarella with a sprinkling of feta.

Brush the edges with olive oil if you really want to give it your best.

Slide onto pizza stone (DH's area of expertise) and bake for 10-15 minutes until the edges are golden brown. 

Set oven to Broil on high and broil just for a few minutes until the cheese bubbles. (Broil setting heats from above)

Time for broil!

Remove from oven using pizza peel.

Serve with grated parmigiana, crushed red peppers and/or garlic salt/ dried garlic.

Notes:

Never place the hot stone on a cold surface or a cold pizza stone into a hot oven.

I do not wash my stone with soap. I do not wash my stone, period. Leaving it in the oven at high temperatures keeps it clean after a wipe down.

Pizza dough can be stored in the fridge for a few days. Getting it to room temperature before baking is a good idea.

Adding yogurt/paneer/cheese whey (instead of warm water) while kneading makes for an unbelievably soft crust. Make sure whey is at room temperature or warm and not too cold.
@tKe swears increasing the proportion of whole wheat flour to more than half ruins the pizza! I always do a 50-50 whole-to-white mix.