I tend to eat the following recipes with rice (Basmati cooked with ghee) and yogurt (the vegetable dishes) but they taste good with chapatti too, ofcourse:
Mom's Gobi (Cauliflower)
For one head: Heat oil with 2/3 of medium chopped onion. Stir 5-7 min. until onion is slightly browned (in between add 3-4 chopped chili peppers, to taste). Once onion is soft add 1/4 tspn ginger powder and cumin seeds (2 tspns). Stir a minute and add a few dashes of hing then the Gobi (chopped small)and salt---heat only this for a good 10 min uncovered on medium high heat. Do not add spices first ---it becomes too heavy.
Add 1/4 tspn coriander/cumin/turmeric powder. Heat 10 min covered checking/stirring every 5/7 min.. By this time, the gobi is mostly soft and I cook the remaining 10-15 min. uncovered and add a small amount of amchur and chili powder in this time. If you have the Roopak brand kashmiri masala, add a bit.
I personally prefer it when the gobi is slightly crispy at end. It is still soft over all, but overcooked just slightly (keep on pan til a lot of browning occurs - I prefer to cook til I see plenty of dark brown thru out);
Bean Aloo
Grate
ginger 1 inch
Add
oil pan 1-2 tablespoons, heat first low heat, then tspn Cumin
Seeds, ginger, 3-4 chopped mirchis
Add chopped beans (2 lbs), potato (3), Add
turmeric (about half tspn for each following), cumin powder, coriander powder, salt, chili pepper.
Cook
covered on 3/4 check every 5 minutes, add amchur in end. This dish tastes great with roti!
Gobi
(cauliflower) Aloo (potato) Bhajhee
Remember you need non stick pans for these dishes ideally
Add
oil ,then add tspn Fenugreek
Seeds, add
Fresh Ginger and saute for minute or so (do not need to brown as this will occur
while veggies are cooking), Add choppedGobi (1), chopped Aloo (2), Add
turmeric (1 tspn), cumin powder (1 tspn) ,coriander powder (2 tspn), garam masala (1/2 tspn), salt, Cook
covered for whole duration, on 3/4
check every 10 minutes.
Cook for a total of 25-35 min. If when you open it one of the times you check on it--there is too much water in the pan: cook uncovered til water evaporates. Then cover again.and keep cooking.
This dish tastes wonderful with chopped mirchi, rice, yogurt!
Yogurt Rice (south)
Cool rice (dry rice 1 cup measurement -yields 2 cups I believe), churn yogurt in a separate container(be careful to not add too much ---it should cover the rice but not be overwhelming amount (add water if needed). I would say about 1 1/2 cup yogurt for this amount of rice. Mix the yogurt and rice.
Put the salt at this time, as well mirchi (2-4 chopped).
Add about 1/2 bushel of chopped fresh cilantro and mix.
In Thurka: oil mustard seeds (1 teaspoon) let them splutter, curry leaves (6), red whole pepper (3-5), and Urad dhal 1/2 tspn (heat til golden for Urad) and 1/4 tspn of ginger.
Add this thurka to the rice/yogurt mix.
I love this rice (read below on Lemon) --what is written applies to this recipe as well.
Here are two personal tricks to make it restaurant worthy: use fresh rice which is not older than a day and is room temperature. Also use olive oil for the thurka instead of another oil.
Lemon
Rice (south)
2 Tbsn oil, warm over medium heat, add palm full Mustard Seeds, and bring them to splutter. Lower heat to 3/4, move pan away from heat and Add 2-4 chopped mirchi
6-8 Curry Leaves, whole dried Red Peppers (3-4) - put back on heat (mirchi and curry leaves might make oil pop so distance yourself after adding the curry leaves)
Add turmeric 1 tspn and half
Cook 2 minutes over Med high heat
Add cooked rice about 1 1/2 cups),2 tspn salt......add 2 tspns water if dry
when stirring --then juice of 2-4 lemons. Fresh lemons are best for this recipe. Taste as you go along to determine how lemon-y you want it.
Best lemon rice you ever had, believe me on this! :)
PS try this with roasted peanuts - just heat 2/3 cup whole peanuts on skillet for a few minutes medium heat. Add to lemon rice - very nice!
Quick Spicy Potatoes which taste great with rice and yogurt (or just roti if you prefer)
Chop 3 med. potatoes. Heat oil with 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds - add 1 tspn shredded ginger, 3-4 chopped mirchi (to taste), heat 2 minutes med. low, then add the chopped potatoes. Add salt, stir a good 10 min on medium (6), uncovered checking and stirring often.
Add spices: coriander, cumin powders (sprinkle over potatoes..about 1/2 tspn for each) and ROOPAK brand Kashmiri Masala if you can find it (1 tspn). The potatoes will be good without it, but this spice adds a wonderful dimension to them.
Cook covered 13-18 min (checking every few min) on heat 4. Once potatoes are cooked: add up to 2 teaspoons amchur powder and stir.
A delicious tip I just invented: heat some curry leaves (6-10) in a bit of oil in a separate pan and add to the potatoes. CAREFUL of heating curry leaves in oil as they will pop so make sure to stand a bit away when adding them to the warm oil.
Another tip: just found out this recipe tastes more wonderful without ginger.
