Mooli & Spring Onion Paratha

1. Spring onion greens-1 cup, chopped
2. Onion-one-chopped
3. Mooli-grated-1 cup
4. Green chilly-1-chopped
5. Garam masala-pinch
6. Kala namak-1 pinch
7. Pepper powder-1 pinch
8. Sugar-1/4tsp

Salt to taste.

In mustard oil saute onion till transparent. Add green chilly. Add mooli and fry till it looses most of the water. Add spring onion and fry. Add the masalas. Cook for a few minutes. Switch off and let it cool.
Add salt and add flour and make a soft dough. No need to add water.

Make parathas and enjoy ;)

Til & Ginger Chutney

1. White Til - 3 tblsp
2. Ginger - 4"
3. Tamarind - lemon size
4. Jaggery - 3 tblsp
5. Red chilly - 2
6. Tempering - mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, methi seeds-pinch, hing
Salt to taste

Dry fry til.Once cool grind and keep aside.
With a couple of spoons of oil fry all tempering stuff. Take off stove, add ginger and let it cool.
Grind the tempering. Then add the tamarind and jaggery and ginger. Grind, check consistency and add water and salt.

Methi Cucumber Curry

1 bunch methi[fenugreek leaves]-chopped
1 cucumber-cut in small cubes
1 tsp pepper-freshly ground
1 tsp jeera[cumin] powder
1 tbsp peanuts
salt[ can use rock salt] to taste

Dry roast the peanuts and remove. Cool and grind coarsely.

Add a tsp of oil/ghee, add cumin powder and pepper powder and the cut cucumber. Add a little salt, just enough for the cucumber. Saute till the cucumber is still crunchy and lost a little of its water.

Remove the cucumber, add a tsp of oil, the chopped greens, salt enough for the greens and cook covered till the leaves are cooked[no water needed]. They should not be completely soft. Let them retain their shape.

Mix the cucumber, add the coarsely ground peanuts and treat yourself :)

Goes with rice, roti or add a little more crushed peanuts and eat it as is...

SImple Broken Wheat Sweet

1 cup cooked broken wheat-pick the big grained
2 tsp ghee
5 tsps jaggery powder

Heat the ghee, throw in the cooked wheat and fry for a minute or two. Add the jaggery powder, mix well and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes till all the ghee comes out...

Yumm...the slight caramelisation brings out a ton of simple flavor.

You can repeat the same with the following additions, one at a time ;)
1. safron
2. cardamom powder
3. roasted nuts

Do try the plain one first, you will NOT regret :D

Dal Makhani-Moti Mahal Style

From: http://cooks.ndtv.com/article/show/who-invented-the-dal-makhani-475860

Ingredients:
Black gram (urad whole)- 500 gm
Kidney beans (rajmah)- 250 gm
Bengal gram (channa dal) - 250 gm
Milk- 1 litre
Tomato puree- 1 ltr
Salt to taste
Red chili powder- 25 gm
Cumin (jeera) powder - 25 gm
Garam Masala- 25 gm
Cream 500 gm
Butter 1 kg

Method:

Pick and clean the dals and rajmah. Add salt and rub gently with both hands; rinse with water. Soak the mixture overnight in water.

Take a utensil with a heavy base, add the drained dal mixture and double the quantity of water; cook over low heat . At the restaurant, we put it in a tandoor for a while to simmer slowly.

Stir the mixture vigorously enough to mash it.
Once the mixture thickens add milk and cook till the milk is completely absorbed

Add the tomato puree and all spices; cook (for about 30 minutes) till grams and beans are tender.

Add butter and cook for 10 minutes. Now add cream and stir for one-two minutes.

Remove and serve hot. Don't blame your guests if they go slurp, slurp, slurp!

Picture Courtesy: IANS
The author, Monish Gujral, is the owner of the Moti Mahal chain, a restaurateur, chef and food writer.

Paal Pavakkai/Bitterguard in milk

Did not find this on the net so far, strange...

2 bitterguards-sliced into discs, leave the seeds in.
2 onions-sliced-quanity should equal the fried slices of bitterguard
1 large tomato-cut into 1" cubes
1tsp fennel seeds
1tsp jeera
1" cinnamon
2 cloves
1tsp corriander powder
2 cups milk
1tsp chilly powder
1/2tsp turmeric

oil for deep frying.

Slice the bitterguard into roundels, not too thin.
Fry them up in oil till they are brown like chips. Rest them on tissues to pull out excess oil.
In a pan heat up a tblsp of oil.
Add the cinnamon, fennel, jeera and fry. Add the sliced onions and fry till translucent. Add the tomatoes, cook till tomatoes soften.
Add the turmeric, chilly powder and corriander powder. Fry for a minute. Add the bitterguard and salt. Cook for a minute. Add the milk and reduce heat to minimum and cook with lid on till it all thickens up. The bitterguard should soften up and almost all the milk should boil away.

Enjoy with roti/toast/rice.

Sweet and sour bitter guard - Pavakkai puzhi kulambu

Bitter-guard-quartered and sliced - 2 cups
One small onion-chopped
one tomato-chopped
1/2 tsp saunf
3 tblsp of thick tamarind extract
3 tsp jaggery
coconut milk-last extract-1 cup - optional
1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
1 tsp of corriander powder
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp chilly powder

Boil the bitter guard slices in water with turmeric and salt till almost cooked
A tblsp of oil in the pan. Add the saunf, then the onion. Fry till translucent.
Add the gg paste and fry. Add the corriander, cumin powder, chilly powder.Fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and salt. Let them cook a bit and then add the tamarid extract. Cook for a minute and add the cooked bitter guard. Add a little water if needed. Once all the oil starts separating, add the coconut milk if using it. Check salt/heat. Let it come to a thick gravy and add the jaggery finally.

Pita-the eating kind :D

Found these links most informative and interesting, got to try very soon :
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/salloum135.html
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread

Spicy apple chutney

Apples-Red/Green 3 - chopped
Ginger-1 inch - chopped or julians
Tamarind extract/Vinegar - 1 tbspn
Dates - 5 chopped
Dry grapes - a dozen
Jaggery - 1 cup

Pepper - 1 tsp - dry roast and crush coarsely
Red chilly - depending on how hot they are 1 or 2, dry roast and grind coarsely
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 inch piece, dry roast, keep it whole, so it can be removed later
Cloves - 6 - dry roast, keep it whole, so it can be removed later
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Add the oil to the pan, lightly fry the ginger and cumin seeds, then add the apples, salt, turmeric and continue with a lid on the pan. Once the apple is soft add the vinegar/tamarind, dates, grapes and continue cooking for a few more minutes. Then add the pepper, chilly, cinnamon, cloves, chilly powder and continue for another 5 mins on low. Lid on all the time.

Prepare jaggery syrup by boiling jaggery in 1/2 cup water. Filter this and add to the cooking mixture. Continue cooking till most water is evaporated and the mixture gets a chutney consistency.

You can add a whole lot of things to this if you wish:
Pineapple, green peppers, chopped onion, chopped garlic, palm sugar...let your imagination run.