Being in the south of USA it will be a shame if I don't write about its cuisine or at least my favorites. Chili's with corn bread or rolls are one of my favorites.  The recipe today is more or less opening cans and throwing things together, however, I will follow it some day with a more authentic' from scratch' recipe. A can of beans, tomatoes, cooked chicken and stock all thrown together can make a great chili like I have done today.  Hope you will enjoy this dish which will agree with our Indian palates with the addition of chili powder and cumin.  The combination of meat and beans too in this recipe is quite interesting you will agree.  A one pot meal, a choice on a lazy day.
       
      Ingredients:
Seasoned Southern Sytle field peas -  1 can (14 oz)
Onion                                             - 1/2 chopped
Tomato                                          - 1/2 of a big tomato chopped fine (To avoid skin showing in the dish you may blach the tomato and peel it)
Garlic                                             - 4 cloves
Cumin                                            - 1 tspn whole (powder/crush it)
Chili Powder                                  - 1/2 tspn
Pepper powder                              - as per taste
Salt                                                - to taste
Capsicum                                       - 1/2 finely chopped
Chicken Broth                                - 1/2 cup
Cooked/Grilled chicken                  - 1/2 to 3/4 cup chunks
Olive Oil                                         - 1 Tbspn

Method:
1. Heat 1 Tbspn of olive oil in a deep pan
2. Saute the onions followed by the garlic, tomatoes and bell peppers and saute after each addition
3. Throw in the can of beans and 1/2 cup of chicken broth
4. Add 1/2 cup of chopped cooked chicken (I used grilled chicken)
5. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes on low heat and serve garnished with cilantro and a dollop of whipped cream
Notes: You can eat the chicken chili like you would a soup.  You could also serve it as a side dish with baked pork, steamed asparagus and potato salad .
2. I especially find chili's very close in taste to the Indian dishes with the addition of cumin so you could even make cook kidney beans at home and then add all the ingredients as mentioned in this recipe and make a chili.

Contributor: Sunitha

Hope our friends in U.S enjoyed the long weekend. I did. We visited friends and even hit the malls to check the Memorial Day sale. By the crowd in the malls, I could see most people were making good use of the discount sales. I did not find anything I wanted so came back empty handed but had fun nevertheless being out and about.


I made some cilantro rice on Friday and had it with chicken curry. I always enjoy the Chipotle burrito, especially the rice they pack in it. To have a change from the usual white rice, I decided to try my hand at cilantro rice and what do you know, it was pretty good! When you have guests over and have too many things to cook, this rice will make be easy enough to put together, and yet keep the festivity alive because this rice has the zing of lemon and a burst of cilantro flavor.



I have seen recipes which calls for lemon zest and I say go ahead and do that if you like. I have not used it in the recipe below but I can see it will be fun to add some lemon zest to add more punch. You can play with the amount of lemon juice to make it suite your palette. Lemon and cilantro cannot go wrong in the coming summer months. Don't you agree?


The possibility of mixing this rice in your salads and wraps is endless. It's also great with chicken or any other curry.


Ingredients:
Basmati Rice – 2 C
Bay Leaf – 1
Salt – to taste
Lemon juice – 2 Tbspn
Soya sauce - 1 Tbspn (optional)
Cilantro - 1/2 C
Canola Oil - 1 Tbspn

Method:
1. Wash and soak rice for about ½ hour
2. Bring about 10 cups of water to a boil. Strain the water from the soaked rice and slip it into the boiling water along with bay leaves, and enough salt. Taste the water to make sure there is enough salt. Cook the rice al dente.
3.Chop the cilantro fine and mix it with lemon juice, soya sauce, and oil in a serving bowl which will hold all the cooked rice. Add a couple of spoons of rice and mix with the cilantro-lemon mix. Add the remaining rice on top and using a fork fluff the rice until well mixed with cilantro and lemon.

Notes:

1. If the cooked rice is not salted well enough, add more along with the lemon juice - preferably, dissolved in the lemon juice to have it evenly mix in the rice.
2. If you like the rice to be white in color avoid the soya sauce and replace it with lemon juice.

     I am quite a South Indian at heart when it comes to food.  I like North Indian cuisine and do enjoy them occasionally but I am not a fan.  However, my husband is huge on North Indian cuisine.  Rotis, parathas, rajma, dal you name it he likes it.  If there is the aroma of a good garam masala in the curry he is a happy camper.  So I put some rajma together to go with rotis for dinner. I will have him eating out of my hands (figuritively) today and I hope you get someone wound around your fingers with this curry too.  If the way to a man's heart is his stomach this dish is a definite means to that end.

Ingredients:
1. Rajma  - 1 cup (soak overnight)
2. Onions - 2 cups finely chopped
3. Tomato - 2 nos finely chopped (best when blanched and pureed)
4. Ginger  - 2 tspn finely chopped
5. Garlic   - 2 tspn finely chopped
6. Coriander powder - 3/4 Tbspn
7. Chili Powder - 1/2 Tbspn
8. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tspn
9. Cummin Powder - 1/2 tspn
10. Garam Masala - 1 tspn
11. Pepper - 1/4 tspn
12. Nutmeg Powder - 1/4 tspn
13. Shahi Jeera (Black Cummin) - 1/4 tspn (I took whole and then crushed them)
14. Canola Oil - 2 Tbspn
15. Coriander Leaves for garnishing optional

Method:
1. Soak a cup of rajma overnight.  Clean and pressure cook in a cup of water and 1/4 tspn salt
2. Heat oil in a pan saute onions till translucent
3. Add chopped ginger and garlic and saute till the onions are golden brown
4. Add all the powders either mixed together in a little water to make a paste or as is.  (Mixing in water to make a paste helps to prevent the powders from being burned off). I crushed shahi jeera and added along with the nutmeg and garam masala
5. Saute till oil leaves the pan.
6. Add chopped tomatoes (if its not pureed then the skin may float so be sure to either chop them fine or use pureed tomato or canned puree) If canned puree, about 2 Tbspn will suffice
7. Saute well and add the cooked rajma
8. Take a heavy ladle or round bottomed big spoon and mash about 1/4 of the rajma.  I like to do this to thicken the gravy as well as blend in the taste
9. Be sure not to mash too many of the rajma the nice blend a little mashed and some whole enhances taste and appearance
Notes:
1. You could add a dollop of fresh cream and chopped cilantro as garnish
2. Addition butter about a Tbspn before taking the curry off the stove butter blends into soothing and taking the curry a notch above the ordinary.
3. Serve with rotis or rice
Contributor: Sunitha

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. Just over with Christmas and a new year around the corner, I decided to share my Christmas special Hyderabadi biriyani :) By the way, I had a good Christmas with family. Lots of sofa time watching movies, indoor games etc and we also ventured out to play in the snow. Eating cookies and cakes like there is no tomorrow was also a big part of the season. It was fun!
If you have been following our blog you know most of my Hyderabadi stories and how fond I am of them. However, you should be patient with me because my culinary skills took shape while there. Also, if you have had Andhra food you will agree there is so much to be inspired by their cuisine. It leaves an indelible mark in your way of cooking, eating and your stories too :D At least it has for me.
I lived in Hyderabad for 5 years and never tried to make this world famous biryani while there. Why? Well, when you get delicious biryani from "Paradise" and "Hyderabadi House," the restaurants renowned for their biryani in Hyderabad, who wants to make it at home. I still remember how when we drove past the Paradise circle in Secunderabad my hubby and daughter would suddenly have hungry pangs. It didn’t matter if it was day or night we would have to stop and indulge ourselves. I would secretly share their feelings though I kept a ‘not interested face.’ Giving into our cravings we would walk into the restaurant like magnet attracts iron. The aromatic goodness of the rice and meat cooked to perfection readily comes to my mind.
Talking about Hyderabad Biryani, the most famous is the mutton biryani. The biryani comes from the royal kitchen of the Nizams the rulers of the historic Hyderabad state for, until the Indian Independence in 1947, almost 2 centuries. Nizams' kitchen used to serve more than 50 different types of biryanis. This is a mixture of Mughal and Telugu cuisine and there are 2 ways of preparing this biryani ; katchi biryani and pakki biryani. Katchi biryani is cooked in the dum method, as the name suggests, raw meat is cooked over the steam along with rice. All the flavors of meat and exotic spices infuse into the rice giving the biryani the perfect flavor. In pakki biryani, the meat is cooked with spices and fried onions and then layered with rice. Today, I am going to tell you how to prepare katchi biryani.



Ingredients

For marination:

Chicken (with bone; I used drumsticks)- 2 lbs
Cilantro leaves - 1bunch(small)
Mint leaves - 1 bunch
Red chilli powder- 1 Tbsp
Green chillies - 2 (cut into small pieces)
Ginger paste- 1 1/2 Tbsp
Garlic Paste - 1 1/2 Tbsp
Yogurt (preferably sour) - 1 cup
Cardamom powder- 1 Tsp
Shahjeera (Royal Cumin) - 1 Tsp
Cloves - 3-4
Cinnamon sticks - 3-4 small ones
Bay leaves -2
Salt

For Rice:

Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Salt
Cinnamon stick - 1 small
Shahjeera - a pinch
Onion (fried)- 2
Saffron milk- 2-3 Tbsp
Lemon juice - 2 Tbsp
Cashews and raisins fried - for garnishing
Ghee(clarified butter) -1 Tbsp
Oil- 4 Tbsp



Method:

1. Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients listed under the title for at least 2 hours/ overnight in the refrigerator.
2.Fry the onions and keep aside. Also fry the cashews and raisins.
3. Wash and soak the rice for half an hour.
4.Boil water in a pot along with salt,cinnamon stick and shahjeera in it. Add rice once it starts boiling.
5.Reduce the heat and cook till the rice is half done. I added 1: 1.5 , rice: water and cooked for about 8 minutes at medium heat.
6.Pour off any excess water and let the rice dry completely.
7.Pour 2 Tbsp of oil in a really thick bottomed vessel, in which you are planning to cook biryani and layer the marinated chicken.If you think the vessel is not thick enough you can keep it on a tawa on the stove top.
8.Level the top and layer it with half of the rice which is half done followed by fried onions and a Tbsp of saffron milk.Repeat this for the other half of the rice.
9.Sprinkle some cilantro leaves and mint leaves on the top.
10.Pour in a Tbsp of oil and the ghee over the top.
11.Cover with a tight lid. If you do not have a tight lid, use some dough to stick the lid and vessel tightly, so that the steam is not escaped.
12.Cook it on the high heat for the first 5 minutes, then on medium heat for 25 minutes and on very low heat for 10 minutes.
13. Wait for another 10-15 minutes before you open the lid.
14.Mix the chicken and rice together and serve hot with raita after garnishing with cashews and raisins.(I didn't use raisins)



Notes

1.Before you marinate chicken drain the water from chicken completely.
2.If you cook the rice well initially it will get overcooked when you layer it with chicken.
3.Originally this biryani is very hot, but I have added a bit less since I have kids who cannot take that much chilli.
4.The vegetarians can replace chicken with veggies.

   It has been a while since I made lamb at home.  You might know that lamb is not exactly the most famous meat in the US.  Apparently, in the early days the military used to serve mutton (considered meat of older sheep/goat) which is tough meat with a heavy flavor. So much so that, they banned it at home while on their holidays.  This is kind of a "did you know" fact I read on wikipedia.  Either ways, it helped me understand why I could never find this meat in Kroger (my staple stop).
    However, this does not mean there are no more enthusiasts.  I did find some in Sams and found out a couple more places where they are sold.  Hurray! I expressly cut them into bite size pieces and put together this dish..  Fried  onions to a golden brown.  The slightly sweet and caramalized onions paired with generous amount of cilantro takes this dish to the next level.  The flavor of lamb, onions and cilantro blends in to make this exotic treat. 
    Serve it up with some rotis, parathas or plain rice and succumb to the magic it weaves.
Ingredients:

Lamb -2 Lb
Onions - 2 nos
Tomato - 2 nos
Ginger - 2 Tbspn
Garlic - 1 whole (about 2-3 Tbspn chopped)
Coriander – 1 Tbspn
Chili Powder – 1 Tbspn
Garam Masala – 2 - 3 tspn
Cilantro (Coriander) – ½ bunch
Turmeric – 1 tspn
Oil – 2 Tbspn


 Method:

1.      Sauté onions in enough oil till golden brown
2.      Add ginger sauté followed with garlic
3.      Add chili, coriander, garam masala, turmeric and sauté
4.      Add cilantro leaves chopped and then the tomato
5.      Add the washed and drained lamb in and sauté
6.      Once oil clears the pan pressure cook on medium for 4 to 5 minutes
Contributor: Sunitha

I might be overdoing my fetish with weather a little much but if you have gone through 4 months of winter cooped up inside the house you will understand me. It’s a sunny morning with chirping birds, asphalt glistening after being washed in yesterday’s rain. Everything looks watered, cleaned, afresh and I am going out today. Ooooh! Love it!

My going out and having a little walk may also be a little more of a necessity than just smelling the flowers and watching the blue, blue sky. The rich mughlai food I have been indulging in. After gorging on Malai Kofta here is dal makhani for you, a splendid dish with rotis. It tastes good with rice or pulav but I love it best with plain rotis. No butter. No oil. I am talking about the roti. However, the dal makhani (translated as is, lentil in butter) as the name suggests is loaded with fat. Creamy with taste of beans, peas and lentils the dish is a must try.



Ingredients:

Black gram (Urad whole) – 1 cup
Split chick pea – ¼ cup
Rajma – ¼ cup
Cumin – 1 tspn
Ginger – 1 tspn
Garlic – 1 tbspn
Chilip powder – 1 tbspn
Coriander powder – 1 tspn
Garam Masala – 1 tspn
Tomato paste – 2 tbspn
Kasturi Methi – 1 tspn
Cilantro – for garnishing
Butter – ¼ cup
Fresh cream – ½ cup



Method:
1. Soak all three beans, lentils and peas overnight or at least 6 hours before you cook
2. Pressure cook or slow cook with enough water till done. I pressure cook it on high waiting for the first whistle turn the heat to medium and wait for 2 more whistles
3. In 2 Tbspn of oil splutter the cumin seeds, add ginger, garlic and onions sauteeing after each addition

4. Add all the powders like chilli, coriander and last garam masala and sauite till the raw smell is gone

5. Add tomato puree of 2 big tomatoes or 2 tbspn paste and sauté

6. Add the water from the cooked dal and get it to boil and add the butter
7. When all of the liquid boils and mixes in add the dal , stir in and let it heat through

8. The dal has a thick consistency but make sure you do all addition of water before you add the dal

9. Once you have the desired consistency of gravy and dal has heated through add the fresh cream and stir in

10. Powder kasturi methi between your palms and add atop

11. Garnish with coriander leaves and a scoop of butter and serve it hot with rotis or rice.

Contributor: Sunitha

I was never a fan of brinjals/egg plant/ baingan until I landed in Hyderabad. The city of the famous Charminar. You have heard us (both Sunitha and I have lived in Hyderabad at different times) rant about this city and it's cuisine endlessly. Being from the south of India, even if we were not in Hyderabad, I think a mention for Telangana and Hyderabadi cuisine is inevitable. They top the charts with their myriad dishes. They have used every leaf and spice culminating into their fascinating cuisine.
Biriyani, Mughalai dish, in Hyderabad is the best. And the best side dish is bagara baingan ("Gutti vankaya kura")or michi ka salan. The former, our topic of conversation today, is a gravy made with sesame seeds, peanuts, dessicated coconut, cilantro, mint leaves and a host of other spices ground to a smooth paste with stuffed, fried baingan floating.

The smooth blend of ingredients is fiery, mellow and bursting with flavor. A quintessential party dish.  Pair it with rotis, nans, parathas, or any rice and you can never disappoint your guests. On your next visit to India be sure to visit Hyderabad.  If you are already in India make a trip there and look Charminar, Biriyani and bagara baingan in pretty much this order.  If you are a lady get a mehandi design there as well.



Ingredients:

For stuffing and gravy:

Peanuts(dry roasted and skinned)- 3/4 cup
Sesame seeds-white(dry roasted)- 1/4 cup
Coconut(frozen, fresh or dried)-1/4 cup
Red chilli powder- 2 Tsp
Cumin powder- 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 Tbsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Cloves- 2-3
Cinnamon- A small piece
Salt

For the gravy:

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Onion(finely chopped)- 1/4 cup
Ginger-garlic paste- 1 tsp
Tamarind pulp- 1/3 cup
Small brinjals- 8-9
Oil- 2 Tbsp

Method:

1.Grind together everything listed under stuffing, without adding any water.Add a couple of tspns of tamarind pulp and mix it.
2.Wash and clean the brinjals. If it is really fresh keep the stalks intact.(What we get here is not so fresh , so I had to remove them !)
3.Keep the side of stalk intact and make 2 cuts ; one horizontally, and the second one vertically , making a + sign when you look from the top.
4.Immerse this in salted water for 10 minutes and wash and pat dry them before stuffing them.
5.Carefully stuff each brinjal with the ground paste.Do not break them into pieces.
6.Heat oil in a pan, splutter the mustard seeds. Saute the onion in this.
7.once the onion is done add the ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes.
8.Meanwhile in another pan, pour some oil and saute the stuffed brinjals. Be careful and use a tong to turn them around.This should be done on low heat and it takes 10-12 mintes.
9.Once the ginger-garlic paste is cooked add the remaining stuffing and the tamarind pulp into this. Add a little water to make it bit thinner.
10.Cook it slowly on low heat. It takes almost 15 minutes for the peanut to be cooked.
11.Towards the end, add the fried brinjals into this, and cook covered for another 5-6 minutes.
12.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve warm with roti, naan or biryani.



We would like to send this off to Priya's event



Thanks for hosting this fun event Priya :-)

I have always loved soup and still do. It surprises me that I have not posted more recipes for soup on the blog.

I suppose, the love started with the simple gruel and green grams that was a customary dinner at home while growing up. Thereafter, the Chinese food outlets that spawn our cities made sweet corn chicken soup and manchow soup household names. But I never tried as many variations of soup as I have since I came to the U.S.



Coming to the U.S. opened a whole new world of soup to me. Hamburger soup at my friend Janet’s palce, Kale and bean soup at Marilyn’s,are just a few to mention. Today’s recipe is from dear a friend Barbara. Her cooking is superlative, and dinners at her place and socializing are some of my fondest memories from the last couple of years. She cooks everything to perfection. The spices and flavors are always the right amount to keep you wanting more.

With bay leaf, cumin and coriander leaf to flavor this soup it is very close to Indian cooking. I hope you will enjoy this soup as much as I do.



Ingredients:

Chicken Breast - 3 - 4 large
Garlic Cloves - 4
white shoepeg corn - 1 10oz. can I sometimes put two cans]
Diced tomatoes - 1 10oz. can mild green chiles
Cumin - 1-2 tsp.
Bay leaf - 1
Black pepper - ½ t
white shoepeg corn - 1 10oz. can
diced tomatoes with mild green chiles - 1 10oz. can of

To sauté:
Olive oil - 2 Tablespoon
Onion - 1 large
Garlic Cloves - 4
Cilantro chopped - 6-8 branches

Method:

1. Boil Chicken breasts for 30 minutes in sufficient water to have about 2 qts of broth left (I boiled it in 9 cups of water) with 3-4 large cloves of garlic, salt and pepper to taste.
2. When chicken is done, remove from broth, cool slightly and cut and shred into small pieces. Return to broth.

3. In small skillet with 2 T. olive oil sauté:
4-6 large cloves of garlic chopped finely
1 large onion, chopped
6-8 branches of cilantro chopped

4. Add to chicken and broth.

Add:
1 10oz. can of white shoepeg corn [I sometimes put two cans]
1 10oz. can of diced tomatoes with mild green chiles [I prefer to blend the tomatoes completely before adding.]
[You may also add 1 can V-8 juice if you prefer more tomato flavor.]
1-2 tsp. Cumin
1 bay leaf
½ t. black pepper [or more to taste.] Also check for salt to taste.

Simmer mixture for about 30 minutes more.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve in large bowls with
--Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
--Chopped Avocado [To keep avocado from turning brown, place one of the avocado stones in the serving bowl with chopped avocado until time to serve.]
--Lime slices to squeeze on top
--Frito tortilla chips OR cut 3-4 corn tortillas into thin shreds and fry them in oil until crisp. Drain well.

Contributor: Sunitha