Saag Aloo is a delicious spicy blend of spinach and chunky potatoes, and goes very well with parathas or naan.

Dals (pronounced Daals) are dried legumes, belonging to the pea family. They are available in great variety all over India and make a very healthy alternative to meat dishes. The following recipe uses “chana” (pronounced chun-ah) dal, which is yellow in color. It is similar to, but not exactly like, dried yellow split peas. You must buy the genuine yellow chana dal from an Indian grocery store. The taste will be different if you use yellow split peas.

Directions

Clean and wash the (dried) dal and soak it for 30 minutes in the water.

In a saucepan put the dal and water and add the salt and turmeric and cook over medium-low heat until dal is tender (60 minutes)

In a separate small pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onions and fry until lightly browned. Next add the tomato (chopped) and the red chile powder and fry for another two or three minutes. Pour this mixture over the prepared dal, mix well and serve immediately.

Serves four.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
pinch of cumin seed
2 cardamom seeds
1 stick of cinnamon
2 or 3 bay leaves
2 whole cloves
1 teaspoon each fresh ginger and garlic
1 small fresh tomato, sliced
1 teaspoon black papper
1/2 pound fresh spinach, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon tomato puree
fresh cilantro leaves
Paneer

Directions

Heat oil in saucepan and saute chopped onion until light brown. Add cumin seed, cardamom, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cloves, ginger, garlic, sliced tomato and black pepper and saute about 30 seconds. Add chopped spinach and saute, stirring until it begins to change color. When it goes dark green, it means it is about half cooked and still remains crunchy.

Add salt, cumin, turmeric, coriander powder and garam masala. Mix well with spinach while it is sauteeing. Add cream, tomato puree, cilantro and cubes of cheese (paneer). Cook it well, stirring so it doesn’t scorch. When cream boils, cook another 1 1/2 minutes over high heat.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tbsp oil
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp sugar, optional
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Directions

Mix dry ingredients. Heat oil in pan. Heat beaten egg, milk and yogurt until barely warm. Add to flour mixture. Mix the dough, kneading just enough to hold together. Add water if necessary. Add cumin seeds. Let dough rest, covered, 35-40 minutes in a warm spot. Divide into 20 small balls. Roll each ball to 1/8″ thick. Broil, turning once.

It is easy and excellent, not hot. Serve it with rice or couscous.

Ingredients

1 kg chicken
4 tbsp curd (plain yoghurt)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsps chilli powder
2 tsps coriander powder
1/4 cup oil
salt to taste

Directions

Cut chicken into pieces and marinate with curd and salt and keep aside
for an hour.

Heat oil and fry turmeric. Add onion and fry till light brown. Then add
ginger and garlic mixed in a tbsp of water and stir well. Then add
chilli and coriander mixed in 4 tbsps water. Stir well till oil comes
out clear. Now add the chicken and sufficient water to make good sauce.
Cover and let cook on gentile fire till chicken is done.

———- Notes ————-
1) Cooking is about a half hour to 45 minutes, depending on size of
chicken pieces and level of heat.

2) All of the curd (we used plain yoghurt) curdled (no pun, I think this
is how you would describe it). So, we made another batch of sauce, using
all of the ingredients except the chicken.

3) This was not hot, just spicy enough. You could probably spice it up
with more chilli powder and more garlic, or fresh garlic instead of
powdered.
——————————–

Preparation time: 2 hours

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 3-4

Required ingredients:

Set 1:

Cumin — 2 tsp.

Black Pepper — 1 tsp.

Cinnamon — 1 inch stick

Cardammom — 3

Cloves — 6

Nutmeg — a pinch

Set 2:

Chicken — 1 pound (about 450 grams)

Dry Red Chilies — 4

Vinegar — 1/3 cup

Ginger Paste — 1 tsp.

Garlic — 5 cloves

Oil — 0.5 cup

Onions — 2 (medium)

Sugar — 1 tsp.

Salt to taste

Directions:

Cut meat into small pieces. Soak chilies in vinegar for 10 minutes.

Blend until smooth: chilies, vinegar, ginger, garlic. Ground the spices in set 1.

Marinate the meat pieces in the paste, salt and ground spices for about two hours.

In a skillet heat oil, fry chopped onions until brown. Drain meat from marinade and add to skillet. Fry until meat changes colour and then pour in the marinade and cook on low heat until meat is tender. Add sugar before removing from heat.

Goes well with Nan, Paratha, Pita Bread, Rice, etc..

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Required Ingredients:

Chopped/Minced Chicken — 500 grams

Oil — 1/3 cup

Sugar — 1 tsp.

Red Chili Powder — 1.5 tsp.

Turmeric — 1/4 tsp.

Ginger — 2 inch piece, julienned

Cashew Nut Pieces — 2/3 cup

Garlic Paste — 1 tsp.

Onion — 1 medium, chopped

Cumin Seeds — 1 tsp.

Cloves — 4

Salt to Taste

Set 1

Altogether, 3 cups of the following vegetables, cut to bite sized pieces:

Capsicum

Cauliflower

Carrot

French beans

Directions:

Heat oil on medium in a skillet and when oil is hot add cumin seeds, cashew nuts and cloves. Fry until the nuts turn light brown and then add onion, ginger pieces, garlic paste, salt, turmeric and red chili powder. Fry for three minutes.

Next add vegetables and sugar. Fry for 5 minutes on medium heat and later add chicken pieces, stir well, cover and let cook on low heat for 15 minutes.

This dish is good as a stuffing for sandwiches.