Spicy Shrimp Curry

I made this tonight and it was goooood:).

Ingredients:

Extra Large Shrimp - 12 cleaned, peeled and deveined
jalapeno - 1 small cut into pieces with seeds
Red Onions - 2 small finely chopped
Tomato - 1 medium finely chopped
Garlic cloves - 4 +2 Minced
Ginger - 1/2 inch stick minced
Lemon Juice - 2Tbsp.
Turmeric - Pinch
Masala Chilli Powder - 3 tsps.( My MIL sent this to me from india. I will try to get recipe soon)
Salt - to taste
coriander - 1 Tbsp chopped
Oil - as needed

Procedure:

Marinate the shrimp with 1/2 the jalapeno, 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt, turmeric, 1 tsp chilli powder and lemon juice. I marinate dit for an hour but you can even do it more.

Heat oil in a shallow pan. Place the shrimp in hot oil and cook on eac h side for 30 seconds. take them aside. In the same oil add rest of the jalapeno, garlic and ginger. Saute for 30 seconds and add onions. Add salt, turmeric and saute till soft. Add the chilli powder, shrimp and cook for 3 minutes. Add teh tomatoes 1/2 cup of water and cook on low flame covered for 10 minutes. Check in between to see the pan is not dry.

Remove teh lid and cook on medium flame till all the water is evaporated and you get a thick gravy. Top it off with freshly chopped coriander.

Leeks and lasagna soup

I wanted to make leek and potato soup. So I looked up the recipe on Williams-Sonoma but it seemed too much. I didn't have butter and cream as their recipe suggested. So I looked into my pantry and noticed I had few lasagna sheets left over. This is what I came up with. You can use elbow macaroni too if you don't want the lasagna sheets.

Ingredients:

Leeks - 2 cups roughly chopped
Carrot - 2 cups peeled and cubed
Celery - 2 cups finely chopped
Baking potato - 1 large peeled and cubed + 1 large boiled and mashed
Lasagna sheets - 4 broken into pieces
Vegetable broth - 1 8oz can
Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp
Garlic powder - 1 tsp
Dried Parsley - 1tsp
Black pepper - 2tsps freshly ground
Salt - to taste
Oil - as needed

Procedure:
Heat oil in a pan. Saute the leeks with little salt, garlic pwder, red chilli flakes and parsely till they are soft. Add carrots, potatoes and celery. Add just enough salt for the veggies and saute them for 3 - 4 minutes.

Add the vegetable broth and 1 cup of water. Bring it to a boil. Once the vegetables are tender, add lasagna sheets and 2 cups of water and the mashed potato. Check for salt and add if needed. Stir in the black pepper powder and cook till lasagna sheets are done.

Turn of the flame and serve it with garlic bread on the side:).

Peas and baby Spinach Curry

I made this last night to go with the rotis and it wasn't so bad:). I am still getting compliments from Prabu tonight for this:). You can use fresh or frozen peas but I used dried peas that I soaked over night and pressure cooked till they are a little soft but not too mushy. Also for this recipe store bought yogurt tastes better than home made curd.

Ingredients:

Peas - 2 cups cooked
Onion - 1 small finely chopped
Baby Spinach leaves - roughly chopped 2 cups
Toamtoaes - 1 large finely chopped
Garlic - 3 cloves minced
Coriander powder - 2 tsps
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 1/4 cup whipped smooth ( use st
Salt - to taste
turmeric - pinch
Oil - as needed

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic. Stir for 30 seconds. Add onions and saute till onions are translucent. Add turmeric little bit of salt and spinach. stir for a minute and add coriander powder and red chilli powder. Saute till the raw smell of red chilli powder fades off.

Add peas and tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook till tomatoes wilt and fall apart. Add the yogurt and stir and turn the stove off. Tastes good with rotis.

Capsicum Fry

Quick recipe for lunch today to go with Sambar and white rice.

INgredients:
Capsicum - 2 large cut into small cubes
Potato - 1 large boiled and water drained and crushed
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Garlic - 2 cloves minced
Split urad Dal - 1 tsp
Dried red chillies - 1
Turmeric - pinch
Salt - to taste
Red chilli powder - to taste
Oil - as needed

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard, cumin, urad dal and turmeric. Once mustard seeds start splattering add dried red chilli and add capsicum.
Add little bit salt enough for the capsicum and stir fry till soft. Add red chilli powder and saute for 1 minute. You can add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water if you think capsicum is not cooked. I used the left over water from boiling potato.
Add the potato. I microwaved the potato in a glass bowl till the potatoes are soft. and then drained the water. Now mash the potato with just enough salt for the potato. It will come out like dry powder.

Saute the capsicum and potato for 2 minutes and turn the stove off.

Kheema Khichdi

I am a sucker for anything made with rice. This recipe is in my head for a month or so. I finally decided to make it. I worked at an Indian restaurant when I was a junior in college for a month ( The owner turned out to be a pig so had to quit. That's a whole anuthe' story). I wanted to gain some experience in cooking, so I went and asked him to give me a job and worked for less than minimum wage ( talk about getting your priorities wrong:)).

Any who, they had this kheema khichdi on their menu and it tasted good. I never knew how they made it but this is what I could come up with. You can probably do the same with chicken or even with vegetables too if you are a vegetarian.

Ingredients:
Kheema - 1 lb
Rice - 3 cups
Moong dal ( pesarapappu) - 1.5 cups soaked in warm water for an hour
Red onions - 1 large sliced
Tomatoes - 2 medium - sliced
Bay leaves - 4
Cloves - 8
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cardamom - 6 pieces
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp.
Turmeric - 1 tsp.
Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala - 2 tsp + 2 tsp
salt - to taste
oil - as needed

Grind the following ingredients to a paste:
Garlic - 4 cloves
Ginger - 2 inch piece
Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 4 to 6 depending on your spice level
Mint leaves - handful
Coriander leave - handful
water - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

Heat oil in a deep pan(This should be big enough to make the entire khichdi). Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cumin seeds and bay leaves.
Add onions and saute them till they are translucent.
Add turmeric and salt just for the onions.
Add the ground masala paste to the onions and fry for few minutes till the raw smell is gone. Add kheema to this mixture.
Add red chilli powder, half of garam masala, coriander powder and mix well.
Add one cup of water and tomatoes and cook till meat is tender.
Add salt to this, the soaked moong dal and rice.
Add 4 cups of water and cover witha tight lid till water starts to boil.
Then stir once, check for seasonings ( adjust if needed), add rest of garam masala and turn the flame to low.

Cook till rice is done:)