Aloo Peas Masala | Batani Bangala Dumpa Kura | Side Dish for Chapati

This simple version of Aloo peas masala uses a different ground masala from my regular one. This is what my sil made for me, while it was a non veg feast for the rest of the family. They served it with Chapati and it was really very delicious. I am sure butter Naan would have been even better.

I already make Aloo Matar Masala in couple of different ways. It was interesting to note that raw peanuts made gave this such a different and yummy taste.

The other Aloo Matar Recipe is what I made with Appam

Aloo Peas Masala

Ingredients Needed:

For the Masala:

Raw Peanuts - 2 tbsp
Coconut - 1 tbsp
Clove - 2
Cinnamon - 2"
Coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tbsp
Green Chilies - 2 -3 medium

For the gravy:

Potato - 3 medium
Fresh Peas - 1 cup
Onions - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Water - 1 cup

How to make the Aloo Peas Masala

Grind the ingredients listed for the paste to a smooth texture using water. Keep it aside.

Wash and shell the fresh peas. Peel the skin off the potatoes. Cut into medium size chunks

In a pressure cooker, add oil, saute the finely chopped onions till they start turning colour. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till it's done. Takes about 2 mins or so.

then add the tomatoes, saute well. Once the tomatoes are soft, add the ground masala, salt to taste, turmeric powder, simmer and cook till the oil starts leaving the sides. Keep stirring in intervals to make sure the bottom doesn't get burnt.

Then add the peas, potatoes, saute for couple of mins in the masala. Add water and cover with the lid.

Pressure cook for 2 -3 whistles. Once the pressure falls, check if the potatoes are cooked. Cook further if you want a thicker gravy.

Serve with rotis /naans.

Notes:

If you want the gravy to be little thick, mash couple of potato pieces and continue cooking in low flame.


So along with this classic ground masala paste, this can also be considered as a variation if you want to try for vegetarian gravies.

Vankaya Bangaladumpa Koora | Brinjal Potato Curry | Step by Step Recipe

Vankaya Urulagadda Kura is one of those most frequently made side dish in our house. Though Amma used to make a variation of this at home, the typical Brinjal Potato Curry per se according to hubby dear started after I got this introduced by Athamma. She makes this side dish for Sweet Poli, the combination I got to know after my marriage. I must say it does taste great!

I know I have been so behind my posts here, not sure how exactly I missed out so many days. But it struck me very strange and I thought I could at least share the pictorial I took while I was making the festival dishes, Athamma was making this. Funny part was, I completely forgot to take the final gravy and then it became that I wasn't cooking brinjal or potato at home, so will click another one when I start making the vegetables.

Meanwhile enjoy the pictorial! The recipe for Vankai Urulagadda Kura as we call, is exactly the same as I have already published.

I also completely forgot about preparing for the Christmas Cakes. So here's what I had made last year!

• Eggless Butterless Rum Fruit Cake 2 | Christmas Fruit Cake
• Eggless Fruit Cake 1 | Eggless Christmas Cake

Have a great week ahead.

Aloo Paneer Kofta Curry Recipe ~ Weekend Cooking!

Last weekend when I made the Tomato Pulao in microwave, I was thinking what should be done as the side dish for the pulao. Hubby dear doesn't like just Onion raitha being served along with the pulaos as they hardly ever spicy. So a spicy gravy is what he expects most times. Normally with the ground masala that we make for the tomato pulao, we make cauliflower curry. But this time thought should make something different.

Amma had made this Koftas with Aloo and Paneer. The curry made a great pair with the tomato pulao. I was sure it would have been ever more delicious if you were to serve this with Naans or even plain rotis. Try this for this weekend, I am sure you will love it!

Saturday is going to be an off and I already have fully packed plans. With the Blogging Marathon getting into its final few days, I still have one more dish to make for the final day. I am sure I will finalise by tomorrow.

Now let's get to the recipe!

Aloo Paneer Kofta Curry

For the Koftas
 

Paneer  1/2 cup
Aloo - 2 medium
Maida - 2 tbsp
Green Chilies - 1
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

For the gravy

Onion paste - 1/2 cup
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tomato puree - 1 cup
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Curds - 25 gms / 1.4 cup
Cashewnut paste - 10 nos
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp

How to make the Koftas

When you make the paneer, it's better if you don't try to make a cube out of it. Just store it as such, since you will anyway need to crumble it for the koftas.

Take everything in a bowl, mix well. The maida and aloo should hold the mix well. Shape them into balls and deep fry, Keep it aside.

How to make the Gravy:

Heat a non stick pan with oil. Add the onion paste, saute well. Then add the ginger garlic paste. Keep stirring till the mix is well cooked.

Then add the tomato puree, and chili powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt. Simmer till the tomato is well cooked. Simmer and add beaten curds. Make sure to quickly mix everything.

Finally when the tomato sauce is well cooked, takes about 10 mins, add the cashew nut paste.

Simmer for couple of mins.

Finally add chopped coriander.

How to serve the Aloo Paneer Kofta Curry.

Place the fried koftas in a bowl, pour hot sauce over it and serve right away.

Notes: If you are not planning to eat the dish right away, it makes sense not to add the koftas as it will absorb all the sauces. Just before serving, heat the sauce again, if required, pour over the koftas to serve with Rice or roti.

Have a great weekend!

Microwave Khoya Aloo Matar Recipe | Potato Peas curry with Khova | Step by Step Recipe

When Monika decided to showcase Potatoes for this month's Microwave Easy Cooking Event, I planned that I should make atleast couple of them for the event. Though I made a very quick Potato Roast, which I had sent for Konda's lunch, I couldn't make anything. When I suddenly realized that it was almost the end of the event deadline, I quickly wanted to make something.

I took out the cookbook that came along with the microwave and flipped through it. I saw that there weren't that many Potato recipes that I could make. Then I saw this Khova Peas Curry. I had the left over Khova that I used to make the Kesar Kulfi, so it was good that I get to use it in another new dish. Since the recipe ought to be more of a potato, I thought I should make a kofta and use the base. But seeing that I didn't have that many fresh peas, this dish can be called Potato as it had more Potato in it.

Step by Step Recipe with pictures to make Khoya Aloo Matar at home:

Ingredients Needed:

Potatoes - 2 large
Peas - Handful
Tomatoes - 2 medium
Salt to taste
Khoya - 100 gms
Cashew nuts - 10

For the paste
Onions - 2 medium
Red chilis - 2
Ginger - 2"

Spice powders

Red Chili powder -1  tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch

How to make Khoya Aloo Matar:

Before starting with the paste, make sharp marks with knife on the potatoes and microwave the Potatoes for 6 mins. Once done, soak in water, peel the outer skin.

Meanwhile, make a paste of onions, Red chilies and ginger. Keep it aside.

Microwave cashews, cubed potatoes, peas for 2 mins.

Then in a microwave safe bowl, add 2 tsp oil and the onion paste. Microwave for 6 mins.

Next add the tomato puree, spice powders, micro for 2 mins. Once done, add 1 cup water and microwave for 6 mins.

Then add the khova, mix well. Micro for 2 mins. Finally Add the cashew, potatoes and peas. Micro for 3 mins.

Serve hot with rotis.

Sending this to Monika who is guest hosting the MEC themed on Potatoes this month.

Will be back tomorrow with a quick Roast.

Microwave Roasted Potatoes with Herbs

With so much of potatoes that my brother got us, it was natural that I find different ways to use up those spuds. They were sprouting already and I was in a haste to use it up. After making those chips, seeing how much the kids loved it, I wanted to store them for a long time. Imagine my bad luck that somehow one important step in making the chips stay for longer shelf life, was overlooked. This was my first kitchen failure and I was badly affected. I have been upset over this for the last two days. Never imagined that I would be affected so much. One reason would be that my brother got it all the way and second would be that the kids loved the potatoes chips so much, third would be facing a failure and accepting is always such a hard lesson to learn!

Anyway certain things just happen, no reasons to explain why. I thought I should just move on. Athamma had stored some potatoes for making a gravy and I ended up making something else. So I had that share on hand and decided to bake some in microwave. As you know I always microwave the potatoes, instead of using pressure cooker. It's such a time saving, fuel saving method. So I thought baking them in microwave would be a great option. To make it even better, I baked it in butter and some spices. It was very delicious to say the least. While this didn't mitigate the pain I feel every time I remember my whole lot of potato chips that might go down the drain, this dish surely ends up being very satisfying.

Sending these to Lavanya who is hosting the MEC this month themed on Party Appetizers.

Ingredients Needed:

Potatoes - 5 medium
Butter - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - 1 tsp (as per taste)
Herb Mix - I used Thyme, you can mix in rosemary, Oregano. anything that you have on hand.

Method to prepare:

Wash and cube potatoes into 1 inch pieces.

In a microwave safe bowl, add butter and the cubed potatoes. Toss well. Microwave for 10 mins.

After 5 mins, open and toss again. Sprinkle the salt and pepper and other spices you are going to add.

Microwave again for remaining time.

Tastes great as an appetizer and very quick to make if you plan for a party.

 

Enjoy as a side dish too!

Check other Potato Recipes

Aloo Gobi Pulao | Potato Cauliflower Pilaf ~ Weekend Cooking

This weekend we had gone for a temple visit early morning and thought we may not be on time for lunch at home. Since it was to be a quick visit and had to leave early, we went by ourselves without taking the kids. They had field day enjoying Amma's cooking and we were overjoyed that we could reach early and spend the rest of the day with the kids. 

Amma made this for us and Athamma insisted I take pictures and record so as to make it again. Because the boys caught us coming down, Chinnu won't let us in and we had to convince him saying we will take him for swimming. After that every other word was coined with the expected swimming in mind. Imagine our disappointment when on reaching we found that the swimming pool closed and the kids were so upset. So we again do something to please them, which resulted in going to their favorite food joint.

Coming to the recipe on hand, it was a combo of Aloo Gobi Pulao with Cashewnut Pakoda Curry

 

Alu Gobi Puloa ~ Potato Cauliflower Pilaf

 

Rice - 3 cups
Potato / Aloo - 3 medium
Cauliflower / Gobi - 200 gms
Onions - 1 medium
Green Chilli - 3 nos
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Bay leaf
Shah jeera - 1 tsp
Clove, Cardamon, cinnamon - 2 each
Coriander leaves & Mint leaves - handful
Salt to taste
Oil & Ghee - 4 tbsp

Method to prepare:

Wash and soak the rice for 20 mins.

cut cauliflower into small florets, soak in hot water.

In a pressure cooker, add oil and ghee, add all the whole spices, shah jeera, bay leaf and saute.

Then add julienne onions, green chilies, saute till they turn colour, then add the ginger garlic paste.

When the ginger garlic paste is cooked well, add cubed potatoes and drained cauliflower. Saute well in sim flame.

Then add water, along with chopped coriander and mint leaves. When it starts boiling add the rice. Bring to a boil, add salt and cover with lid. Pressure cook for 2 whistles.

Enjoy and have a great week ahead

Aloo Palak Recipe | Potato Spinach Masala

The rare times when you actually pause and think you will realize that Life has gone a fast forward track much faster than you expected. That was what happened to me too. With kids having their holidays, we finally had our interiors done. Our relatives left after Konda’s birthday and Athamma went with them for a short trip.

So you can imagine the work that was meted on us. This brought back to force our thinking that no matter what, life goes on. A day passes off too quickly for us to even ponder much. We feared so much on how we handle so many things, yet we pass them as surely as the night dawns to give way to light.

I haven’t cooked much these past few days after my relatives left. I really had to get myself prepare the Ras Malai because of the challenge; else I know I may never have made it. I was happy having attempted it though. It tasted very good, well considering the fact that the paneer was hard. Well next time maybe, you can’t get everything prefect at the first attempt right.

We took the kids to a park nearby and spent almost 2 hours playing. It was my first time, whereas hubby dear had taken the kids many times to that place. Imagine visiting a park nearby that you are not familiar with and your kids show you the way! With a pang of remorse, I realized I may have missed lot of activities with the kids because I was busy doing other things.

But on the other hand, I felt happy seeing the merry my kids had in showing me the way through the park. Small happiness goes long way in mending the hurts you otherwise feel…

I know it’s been a while since I actually posted a recipe per se. So here’s a classic dish that Amma prepared the other day for us vegetarian. I really enjoyed eating this with Hot Chappati off the pan, that I can associate myself when I eat at parents home.

Aloo Palak | Potato Spinach Masala

Ingredients needed:

Potato - 150 gms / 2 big
Palak / Spinach - 2 bundles (1 cup paste)
Onions - 150 gms
Tomatoes - 150 gms
Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 3/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Sugar a pinch
Ghee to roast the potatoes

Method to prepare:

Wash and cook the palak leaves in little water for 5 minutes. Once its cool, grind to a fine paste and keep it aside.

Chop Onions, Tomatoes into fine pieces.
Peel and cube into inch sized potatos.

If you are using ghee, then heat in a non stick pan saute the potatoes till done. This should almost be a roast. Remove and keep aside.

In the same pan, heat 2 tsp of oil, add onions, fry till they are gold in colour and add ginger garlic paste. Fry for few mins.

Add the tomatoes, sauté well. If the tomatoes are very firm, add the salt right now to get them soft, else can be added in the end.

Add chilli pw, turmeric pw. cook well for 5 mins. Then add the palak paste. Bring to boil. Simmer for 5 mins or till the gravy is thick enough. Add the garam masala at this stage.

Just before switching it off, add the potato peices and cook it for 5 mints. Finally add sugar to retain the green colour of the spinach.

Serve with Rotis.

It was interesting to note how well aloo got paried with spinach. Though we normally make Palak Paneer, this was the first time we did with Potato. I thought the taste would be very similar but I was in for a surprise when I tasted it to be completely differently and at the same time very delicious. You should surely try this to know the difference!

Aloo Matar Tikkis Recipe ~ Potato Peas Patty Recipe Step by Step

I never realized so many things can happen almost at the same time. One moment you are overjoyed, the next moment upset over illness.

This is what happens when you are high or rather loose track of events. Saturday was full of spirits as I was trying to make 5 different dishes for the book, only to know kids will be back by 1 pm. You know how time flies right. And the phone never stopped ringing. Hubby dear was most amused knowing so many friends called in to wish me. While most of them were my childhood friends, it pleased me no end to realize how many wonderful friends blogging got me. I was really touched with those lovely 4 blogger friends who called me in to wish me.

After the crazy cooking, managed to click some pictures. I was really happy that the day was productive. Konda had planned for some gala birthday party. I refused to let her invite elders, saying I no longer feel like a teenage gushing to celebrate birthdays. When finally it was over, we went out for dinner and a movie in the open air. But when we came back home we saw that Peddu was not keeping well. He threw up whatever he ate which was only a cake. Sunday was spent washing up everything, finally we had to take him to hospital. Thank God, he is doing fine today. Still we didn't send him to school, and Chinnu missed him so much at school, when I called him in the morning.

Missing out on work the past two days, I really had so much to do. So I thought I will share this simple aloo matar tikkis that I made for the burgers. This recipe is something like you just make with whatever you have.

Aloo Matter Tikkis Recipe

Step by Step for those of you who wanted to learn!

Boil Potatoes, peas and Carrot till tender

  

In a pan saute onions ginger garlic paste, coriander leaves, green chili paste till done. then add boiled vegetables.

  

After the onions are browned, remove to a bowl and allow to cool. Then add about 1 tbsp of All purpose flour!

  

Mix everything together.

  

 Then make big balls and flatten over your left palm.

  

 Continue with the rest of the mix

  

You will have like this ready

  

Then make a batter of Maida/ All purpose flour with water. The batter should be quite thick. Then have bread crumbs ready.

First dip the Alo batter in the Maida batter, then press over the bread crumbs till you have the tikkis are rolled up like this!

  

 Flatten using your palms

  

 Heat a non stick pan with little oil, place the tikkis over it.

  

 

Simmer till each side is well done. It will turn colour like this.

 When you have the colour like the above you are done!

As I said this is a very simple recipe, but anybody wants in exact proportions, just leave comment, else I will assume the pictures are self explanatory!

Have a good week ahead.