Aalu Methi Fry (Potato tossed with Fenugreek leaves)

I never have liked Methi so much.. Surprisingly though, I have been encountering it in the aisle of the fresh produce section, each time I visit the Indian store. Known as Fenugreek in English, it is used in Indian cuisine quite often, both in a dry form as well as its fresh leaves to make many types of curries. Methi may be bitter to taste but then it has its unique flavour to it. Its seeds are used for tempering many Indian dishes.

Couple of things that I like done with fresh Methi leaves -

Methi paratha - Indian bread stuffed with Methi leaves

Methi matar malai - Green peas with gravy of Methi leaves and cream

Abhishek likes Aalu a lot, so many a times I just toss and stir fry some potatoes in the morning rush and pack his lunch... Some day suddenly he asked me ''make something different with Aalu today''. And out of the blues all I could think of was trying it out with Methi..

What all I used :

(Serves 3)

• Potato - 2

• Methi (Fenugreek) leaves - 1 cup

• Dry red chilly - 2

• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

• Amchur powder - 1 tsp

• Oil - 2 tsp

How I made it :

• Clean the Methi -  Cut out the roots, use the stem only where the leaves are there - discard the rest of the stem, wash the leaves thoroughly under flowing water, soak it in water for some time so that all the dirt settles down, wash again. Thorough cleaning is necessary to make sure clean it nicely.

• Heat oil in a pan.

• Take 2 large sized potatoes. Peel them and cut them into small cubes.

• Once the oil is hot, break the dry red chillies and put them in.

• Add in the cumin seeds now. Just give them about 10 seconds (to get fried) as the oil is already hot.

• Put in the cut potato pieces. Mix well.

• Let it be on medium heat, uncovered. Keep stirring in between.

• Chop the Methi leaves while the potatoes get cooked.

• After about 5 minutes of cooking, the potatoes would have started turning softer. Add in turmeric powder and the amchur powder (green mango powder). I am using the Amchur to counter the slight bitterness of the Methi leaves. Mix well.

• In another 3-5 minutes the potatoes would have turned lovely brown. Toss in salt as per your taste.

• Now that the potatoes have been almost cooked, add in the chopped Methi. 

• Let us give the Methi about some 5 minutes on medium heat.

• The leaves will start losing their light green colour, slowly sinking in volume and turning into dark green. And this should be done now.

Eat with a hot plain paratha.

Note :

• To remove the bitterness of the Methi leaves, you could toss some salt on the chopped leaves and leave it for about 10-15 minutes before you cook it. Try and see if it helps.

Crunchy Karela (Bitter-Gourd)

I know, I know, most of you don't like Bitter-Gourd. And I (or no one) won't blame you for this..This vegetable is one of the most bitter things you could have ever tasted in your life!! 

Bitter-Gourd - It basically looks like a cucumber but has tapering ends and has small bumpy things (rinds / gourds) all over it. 

This is very commonly found in Asian countries and hence the popularity. Due to its bitterness I bet it will surely never be liked by any Westerners. But we should not forget the health benefits that we get from this un-sweet thing, most importantly its benefits to diabetic patients. 

In India it is more commonly know as 'Karela', and in my state Orissa (east India) we call it 'Kalara', almost sounding similar.

Many a people wonder - where is the dearth of things to eat that one has to resort to eating THIS!!!! I guess that argument holds good too. But I happen to like Karela and this one's for all those people like me.

Best way to kill the bitterness is to soak the cut pieces in salt water for about an hour before cooking.

A tip from my house-maid (from Chennai, India) - Since I was making this quite regularly in summers, she once told me ''This generates quite a bit of heat, so don't eat this so often in  this hot summer weather''. So my suggestion, keep your consumption under limits :):)

A word or caution to all the pregnant ladies out there - Avoid taking bitter-gourd as it is not good for you!!

Now enough of research on a simple vegetable which does not have a huge fan following..But then me too never liked it much, but then one day I had it the crispy way at one of my friend's place (can't remember who it was). Since then I make it this way and really relish it. I have offered it to many a people and they too have not disliked it..(If I say 'liked it', it would be an over-statement). Anyway try it this way, it is quite simple and you may just like it.

What all you need :

(Serves 3-4)

• Bitter-gourd 2

• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

• Red chilly powder - 1-2 tsp

• Oil - 2 Tbsp

• Salt - 2 Tbsp

• Water - 2 cups

First look for all those who don't know what a Bitter-Gourd is -

Bitter Gourd

How to make it :

• Take the Karela. Keep it horizontal on a chopping board and cut very thin slices out of it - refer picture below.

• Take about 2 cups of water (should be enough to soak the cut pieces) in a bowl.

• Put the salt and and mix well.

• Soak the pieces of Karela into this salt water, on room temperature. Keep it for about  an hour.

• Take a pan. Put the oil in it and warm it.

• Strain the Karela pieces out of the salt water, making sure all excess water is drained out.

• Put the pieces into the pan. Keep the heat on high.

• Stir and keep stirring in between, as we have the heat on medium-high range.

After 5 minutes of stir-frying

• Slowly they will start to turn brown and dry. Just in case they get too dry, add a little more oil.

• In about 10-15 minutes they would be almost cooked and no trace of that light green (their original colour) can be seen in them.

After about 15 minuted of stir-frying

• Add turmeric and red chilly powder.

• Toss and mix well. Let it be for another 5 minutes.

• Now it would have turned into a lovely colour of dark green with tinges of brown. Add in salt now, according to your taste.

• In about 2 minutes switch of the gas.

Goes best with Plain Rice and Daal. 

Note :

• Eat hot else it will lose its crunchiness.

• This is served as a side, so make sure you have another dish to go with your main dish (rice / daal).

• Serve little quantity of it.

• Take the shop keeper's help in case you are unable to pick up right ones.

• While cutting these, if you happen to get red seeds just discard those.

• Some people like it without seeds, you may take them out if you wish so.

• The thinner your slices, the crunchier they will cook.

• Keep additional oil handy as to make this perfectly crunchy, you may need to add a bit extra of it..

Chicken Jhalfrezi

Jhalfrezi basically is a curry with a thick gravy and mostly dry, main ingredients being onions and green pepper (capsicum) which is cut in chunk sized pieces. This kind of curry is generally spicy, anything from medium to very hot. You could also relate the word Jhal (of Jalfrezi) to the Bengali (part of east India) word which means hot / spicy.  Of course you always do it your way when you making it in your kitchen :)

And for a change who doesn't like a bit fiery taste to their tongue.

I had never tried it at home but eaten it many a times at restaurants so I had a good idea of the taste. Could not have been that difficult to make it when you have tasted it at various corners of the world!! And again all that I used for this dish comes right out of your kitchen shelves / refrigerator, with no special needs. This dish of chicken is best made with boneless chicken, that is how I have eaten all the time.

Green peppers add their own flavour to the whole curry, which is the best part of this dish. They  remain fresh and crunchy by the end of cooking (that is how you should cook them). 

What to use :
(Serves about 6)

• Boneless chicken - 1 lb

• Onion - 1 (large)

• Ginger garlic paste - 2 Tbsp

• Tomato - 2 small

• Green pepper - 1 (big), basically 1 cup of it chopped

• Green chilly - 2-4

• Cumin powder - 1 tsp

• Coriander powder - 1 tsp

• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

• Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

• Oil - about 4-5 Tbsp

• Salt - to taste

• Water - for gravy

Garnishing - 
Chopped fresh coriander leaves

How to make it :

• Cut the chicken into 1 inch sized pieces.

• Take about 2 Tbsp of the oil and warm it up in a skillet, on high heat.

• Add the chicken to the skillet, once the oil is hot. Stir on medium heat, for about 5 minutes. We are not trying to cook the chicken fully but just trying to sauté it till it turns light brown. 

• Remove the chicken pieces from the gas and keep aside.

• Chop the onion.

• Pour in another 2-3 Tbsp oil in the skillet. Once its hot add the onions.

• Sauté it for about 5 minutes, on medium heat. They should basically turn golden brown by now.

• Add in the ginger garlic paste now. Stir nicely. Let the pungent smell of the paste go away. It should take about another 5 minutes.

• Cut the green pepper into chunks and add them to the pan.

• Put in the spices - cumin / coriander / turmeric / red chilly powder. Add salt according to your taste.

• Chop or slice the green chillies and add them in.

• Give the spices a minute on medium heat.

• Chop the tomatoes and toss them into the skillet. Mix well.

• After you let all of this to cook over medium heat for another minute, add in about 1/2 cup of water.

• Turn the gas to high and bring it to a boil.

• Now add the chicken pieces. Mix well. Let it simmer (without a cover) for about 10 minutes on medium heat.

• Make sure the green peppers are not too soft, and their green colour does not pale down, as we want to be chewing them with the chicken pieces.

• In that 10 minutes we will make sure that the gravy thickens.

I would any day prefer eating this with any kind of Indian bread, perfectly with a Butter Naan.

Note :

• Chop a few sprigs of coriander leaves and sprinkle while serving. 

• Make it little little spicy, that is the best way for Jhalfrezi.

• Keep in mind not to leave too much gravy as it should all dry up thickening the sauce.

Chocolate Mousse Tart

We had to visit a friend and I wanted to take some home-made thing with us. Then came the idea of making a tart. With some research and discussion I decided on making a Chocolate Mousse Tart. Yes, we never happened to go to that friend's place(for some reason), and the whole tart was ultimately ours!!

By the way, Tart is a pie filled with various kinds of fillings, usually with no top crust.

The crust was the most difficult part for me in the sense I needed Amaretti cookies for it and finding it was really a big deal, and so I ended up baking it at home. I also used Graham crackers, which is easily available in the market. 

In case you don't find Graham crackers, any cookie crumbs would do, and also that you can use macaroons, chocolate / vanilla wafers. (Or may be soon I will post the recipe for Graham crackers too)!!

What all I used :

(makes a 9'' round pie of 1/2'' thickness)

• Amaretti cookies - about 4-5 (120 gms)

• Graham crackers - about 8 long ones (120 gms)

• Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick)

• Semi sweet chocolate - 8 oz (226 gms)

• Milk chocolate - about 5 oz (130 gms)

• Egg - 3

• Sugar - 1/4 cup

Decoration -

• Chocolate flake bars

Baking utensil - 

• 9'' spring-foam pan 

How I made it :

• Let us make the tart base first, the shell as they call it.

• Take the Amaretti cookies, put it in a food processor and grind it to a fine powder consistency.

• Likewise, make a fine powder out of the Graham crackers.

• Measure and take 1 cup each of the the powdered Amaretti cookies / Graham crackers. Mix them well.

Powdered Amaretti cookies (L)

Powdered Graham crackers (R)

• Melt the butter in a microwave. (take a considerably large bowl when you do this as the melted butter will spill otherwise).

• Mix the melted butter with the powdered cookies.

Pour the butter-cookie mixture into the cake pan. Spread out to cover the whole base and press well to make it even throughout.

• Put the cake pan in the refrigerator for about an hour at least for it to become hard.

• Now let us make the topping for our tart. We need the semi-sweet and the milk chocolate for this.

• We need to melt these chocolate so take a saucepan and heat some water in it.

• Once the water starts boiling in the saucepan, put a heat prof bowl in it, and reduce the heat to medium.

• Break the semi-sweet chocolate and the milk chocolate into smaller pieces. Put them into that bowl (placed in the saucepan with simmering water).

 

• Keep stirring in between. This will take about 5 minutes. Once the chocolate has melted take the bowl out of the saucepan and let it rest for just about a minute.

• Break the eggs one by one and separate the yolks from the egg whites.

• Now put in the egg yolks into the melted chocolate and mix well.

• Take the egg whites in a separate bowl and whip it until they become fluffy.A hand mixer makes this easier to do.

• Add the sugar to the beaten egg white and mix well till the mixture becomes stiff (using a hand mixer).

• Put in the fluffy egg-sugar mixture into chocolate mixture. Mix well (using a hand mixer).

• Now take the tart base out of the refrigerator. It would have turned nice hard.

• Pour the chocolate mixture into the tart shell.

• Just shake the pan lightly to spread the chocolate mixture evenly on all sides.

• Let this chill in the refrigerator overnight (about 8 hours).

For serving the tart, take it out of the baking dish (remember we used spring-foam pan so its so much easier to take this out) and transfer it to a serving dish. Cut pieces out of it.

For decorating the tart, crumble the chocolate flake bars, over each piece. (ooops, I did not do that myself as I could hardly wait to eat it)

Note -

• Remember at no stage did we do any baking. So the quantities of each ingredients can differ a little bit from what I have suggested. So a little more of the cookie crumbs or a little more of any chocolate is fine.

• You can just use one type of chocolate if you don't have the other.

• This tart can be kept in the refrigerator for more than a week.

You might also like:

Amaretti Cookies