One Day At A Time!

  Hey everyone! Hope all is well. Goldilocks weather in my part of the world. Not so rainy anymore.  Today, I am sharing a well known Indian flatbread - Naan. My simplified version with just three ingredients and salt. If you are trying to avoid unnecessary additives in store bought Naan, this post is for you. Do try this homemade Naan and let me know. And kneading the dough in a food processor makes it easier. Ingredients: All purpose flour/Maida - 2 cups Homemade Yogurt/Dahi - about 1 cup Baking Powder - 2 tsp Salt to taste How to make Easy Three Ingredient Naan: In a food processor jar, add flour, yogurt, baking powder and salt. Run the dough setting until mixed well. Add more yogurt or flour to get smooth, soft dough. Divide the dough into 8 dough balls. Roll each one as thin or thick you would like, dusting some flour.  Heat a cast iron pan and place the rolled naan. When small bubbles start popping, flip and roast for a few seconds. Finish cooking the Naan on direct...

Hello world! Hope you are having an amazing day! Our week long Thanksgiving break just flew by. We got to catch up with some of our friends, after ages. For one of the potluck parties, I made this quick Microwave version of North Indian Rabdi . All my friends loved it. Do try this in your kitchen and let me know! Ingredients: Full Fat Ricotta Cheese - 2 lb Whole Milk - 1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar - about 1/4 cup Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 4 pods (seeds only) Saffron/Kesar- few strands How to cook Ricotta Cheese Rabdi in a microwave: Crush green cardamom seeds in a mortar pestle. Set it aside. In a big microwave safe bowl, add milk and ricotta cheese. Stir well. Microwave this milk ricotta mix for 5 minutes.  Stop the microwave after every minute and stir. Cover the bowl with paper towel to avoid splattering in the microwave. If not a microwave, you can cook this in a heavy bottom pan as well. When you get the desired consistency, add sugar, crushed cardamom and saffron. Microwave for ...

Hey Foodies! Nice sunny weather in my part of the world. Hope all is well in yours as well. Its been a while I blogged about an Indian Curry. Since my kiddo went back to school, I get to cook spinach based recipes for lunch. Today's Mixed Vegetables Curry is a new favorite at our place.  Ingredients: Baby Spinach - about 3 cups Frozen Cut Cauliflower - 12 oz (340g) Frozen Green Peas - 1 cup Medium Onion - 1 Small Tomato - 2 Garlic/Lahsun - 2 big cloves Ginger/Adrak - 1 tsp (grated) Fennel/Badishep/Saunf  seeds - 1 1/2 tsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods (seeds only) Cloves/Lavang/Laung - 5 Black Peppercorns/Kali Miri/Kali Mirch - about 10 Roasted Cashews/Kaju - 8 Half n Half - 1/2 cup (optional) Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp Oil - 1 tbsp Salt How to cook Gobi Matar in a Palak Sauce/Gravy: Microwave frozen peas for about 2 minutes. Set it aside. Roasting Cauliflower florets: Grease the airfryer tray with cooking spray or oil. Add frozen cauliflower and spray some more cooking spray. Ai...

After eating take out for about a week, I am ready to cook and blog again. How about some simple Roti Sabzi? You guys know how I like to include greens in our everyday diet. Today's special is fresh Methi leaves. Of all leafy greens, I love Methi. If you do too, try this North Indian style Aloo Methi Masala .

Cheese and bread.... comforting and hearty! You can never go wrong with this duo. Well, my family loves Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Cheesy Quesadillas, Paneer Paratha. These are my go to meals for Sunday brunches or any special day. This weekend I made Paneer Pyaaz (Onion) Paratha. Melted butter on those golden brown parathas makes it totally irresistible. Ingredients: Paneer - 400 gm Onion - 1 big Durum Wheat Flour/Atta - 3 cups Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 tsp Chat Masala - 1 tsp Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp Green Chilies - 3 (finely chopped) Grated Ginger - 1 tsp Grated Garlic - 1 tsp Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Oil - 2 tbsp Butter or Oil for roasting How to make Paneer Onion Paratha: Start with the dough. In a mixing bowl, add wheat flour and little salt. Add little water, at a time and knead until the dough gets soft and smooth. Cover the dough with plastic food wrap and let it rest for 20 - 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the Paneer pyaaz stuffing . Finely ...

Last few days just flew by. First, prepping and celebrating the festival of lights. Next was the first long outing with our baby. One of the places we visited was BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Chicago . I had always liked the peace and quiet there. My kiddo liked it too, walking around with her tiny little feet, glancing at the beautiful idols of all the deities.

I am amazed at the variety of Indian breads one can make... Naan, Mooli Paratha, Roomali Roti, Lachha Paratha, Bhakri, Ragi Rotti, Tandoori Roti. For most weekday lunches, I generally make Phulka. I know, it becomes monotonous sometimes.  Today's special is North Indian whole wheat Lacha Paratha . These take a couple more minutes than regular roti, but can be made on a busy day. You don't need any fancy ingredients, just atta and ghee.  The same layered flat-bread when made with all purpose flour (maida) is known as Kerala Paratha .

Most days I cook a vegetarian meal for us. Beans or lentils are definitely a part of it. Today, I made a North Indian style Dal with phulka for our lunch. The most popular Indian dal recipe, known as Dal Makhani or Maa ki Dal .

Long weekend was fun. I am back to the humdrum of life, cooking and stuff. After days of eating out, we were craving for some home cooked roti sabzi. Here is a simple Gobi Matar with aromatic Kasuri Methi.  

This weekend I picked a nice fresh bunch of Methi (Fenugreek) leaves at our local Indian store. And I knew I had to make a creamy Paneer Makhani to go with aromatic Methi Thepla . That's one of the combos I like to cook. Why? Its both healthy and tasty. But today's Paneer curry recipe is without any onions and garlic.

Cold weather has arrived with the beautiful fall colors in my part of the world. Every season demands special delicacies. For this winter, I made Dry Fruits Ladoo with edible gum.  Call it Antina Unde or Kardantu  (in Kannada) or Dinkache Laadu  (in Marathi) or Gond ke Ladoo (in Hindi), this sweet is like a homemade nutrition bar made of a healthy sweetener - jaggery. Ingredients: Jaggery / Gul / Gud (grated) - 1 1/2 cups Desiccated (Dry) Coconut (grated) - 3/4 cup Edible Gum / Antu / Dink / Gond - 1/4 cup Whole Almonds / Badam - 1/4 cup Whole Cashews / Kaju - 1/4 cup Dry Dates / Khajur / Kharik - 1/4 cup Dry Cranberries - 1/4 cup Poppy Seeds / Khuskhus - 1 1/2 tbsp Ghee / Clarified Butter - 5 tbsp Green Cardamom / Elaichi - 4 pods Nutmeg / Jaiphal (grated) - 1/8 tsp How to make Dinkache Ladoo or Kardantu: Crush cardamom seeds in a mortar pestle to a fine powder. Finely chop almonds, cashews, dates and cranberries, using a knife or a food processor...

As you all know, South Indian Idli Dosa are quite common at our place for breakfast.  Now, some might find these idli dosa recipes time consuming. For them, today's Mung Cheela is perfect, which does not require any fermentation. These protein rich savory pancakes with Potato Sabji is a good way to start your day. Ingredients: Mung Dal/Split Green Gram - 1/2 cup Green Chilies - 2 Ginger - half inch piece Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Salt Oil How to make Mung Dal Cheela: Soak mung dal in plenty of water for about 4 hours or overnight. Wash the soaked dal well. Grind washed mung dal, green chilies, ginger, cumin and salt to a smooth, thick batter. Heat a flat cast iron pan for making cheela. Lightly grease the pan with cooking spray or oil. You can use butter or ghee as well. Pour a ladle full of batter on the hot pan and spread it in a circular motion to form a round dosa. Drizzle some more oil if required.  Roast both ...

Its been ages I cooked a North Indian style curry in my kitchen. But today is kind of special. My college friend is visiting us, who loves home cooked Indian food, something like Roti Sabji. A restaurant style creamy, saucy curry with soft Phulka is perfect for her.  Green peas are always lying in my freezer. With the basic ingredients in my pantry, I cooked a fairly simple, yet delicious entrée for my dear friend. Hope you all like it too.

North Indian style creamy Paneer curries like Shahi Paneer, Paneer Makhani are true vegetarian delights. These restaurant style delicacies are perfect for entertaining Indian food lovers.   Kadhai Paneer is also a popular one - a semi dry Paneer curry with a lovely flavor of coriander seeds, Kasuri Methi leaves and crunchy bell peppers.

Potatoes are every one's favorite and especially kids. Aloo Tikki Burger is a light, yet filling snack, perfect for evenings. The subtle flavors of lettuce, tomato and onion taste great with a simple potato burger. If not bread, try these potato cutlets with tomato ketchup or any condiment of your choice.

We love sea food. At least once a week, shrimp or fish is on our menu. As you all know, most of the times, a baked version. But variety is the spice of life, right? So, today we are having the restaurant style, saucy Prawn Tikka Masala with Aloo Paratha and Jeera Rice . This Indian delicacy is perfect for entertaining guests as well.

No one likes Palak (Spinach) in our family. But, everyone loves Palak when combined with Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese). Since this combo is both nutritious and decadent, its quite common at our place. I am sure, you all have tasted the famous vegetarian Indian entrees - Palak Paneer and Malai Kofta Curry . Today's delicacy is a mix of these two curries, Paneer Koftas in a creamy spinach sauce.

So far, you have seen me blog about Indian Mithai made of Italian Ricotta Cheese. Ricotta Cheese works as a good substitute for both Khoya and Paneer, which are extensively used in Indian sweets. This is the first time I tried a savory dish with Ricotta and it turned out excellent. An Indian Kofta Curry which is traditionally made of Paneer, Indian Cottage Cheese. Kofta: Ricotta Cheese - 3 cups Boiled Potato - 1 medium Besan/Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour - 1/2 cup Green Onions/Scallions - 5 Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1 tsp Salt Oil for frying Sauce/Gravy: Onion - 1 medium Tomatoes - 2 medium Ginger/Adrak - an inch piece Pistachios/Pista - 2 tbsp Milk - 1/2 cup Dry Red Chilies - 5 Coriander/Dhania Seeds - 1 tsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Fennel/Saunf Seeds - 1/2 tsp Poppy Seeds/Khuskhus - 1/2 tsp Cloves/Long - 4 Cinnamon/Dalchini - 1/4 inch piece Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 1 pod Oil - 1 tbsp Salt How to cook Indian Kofta Curry with Italia...

When we talk of healthy food, leafy greens top the list. Among all, spinach or palak is the most nutritive and is easily available. At least once a week, these healthy leaves are cooked in my kitchen, either in the form of Palak Parathas, Chana Palak  or the good old Palak Paneer or today's Aloo Palak. Potatoes, which are mostly loved by all, make a tasty addition to these greens. Ingredients: Spinach/Palak Leaves - about 6 cups Potatoes - 2 big Onion - 1 medium Canned Tomato Paste - 1/2 cup Green Chillies - 4 Ginger/Adrak - an inch piece Garlic - 3 big cloves Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp Kabab Masala or any other spice mix - 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp Kasuri Methi/Dry Fenugreek Leaves - 2 tsp Salt Oil How to cook Indian Aloo Palak Masala: Preheat the oven at 400 degrees F. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil.  In a mixing bowl, add 1 tbsp oil, salt to taste, kabab m...

One of the most popular vegetarian curries - Indian Cottage cheese cooked in a creamy spinach sauce.  Saag Paneer is another version of this entree with more veggies, where along with spinach, Mustard Greens (Sarso), Methi (Fenugreek) Leaves and other greens make it more nutritious.