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CHICKEN KARAHI

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Chicken_Karahi-4Chicken Karahi is traditional spiced tomato based gravy that is arguably the most popular dish in Pakistan (Lahore). Karahi is a circular, thick and deep cooking pot like wok and originally was cooked in that. Karahi is like kadai or chatti in tamil. Lot of people adds onions to bring sweetness to it. There is a difference of opinion on this from me as I cook it with just spices and tomatoes only which brings that rustic color to it.

I like that there are not too many spices involved.

 Serve with hot rice, chicken biryani, ghee rice or Indian bread like naan, roti.

Other favorite chicken dishes : chicken kurma, chicken roast

 

HOW TO DO CHICKEN KARAHI VIDEO:

 

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CHICKEN KARAHI
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • • Chicken – ½ kg, cut into cubes. (Boneless/with bone works)
  • • Oil/Ghee (clarified butter) – ½ cup
  • • Bay leaf – 1
  • • Clove – 1
  • • Cinnamon stick – ½ inch
  • • Green Cardamom – 2
  • • Ginger garlic paste – 1.5 tbsp
  • (or)
  • Garlic – 3, crushed. Ginger – 2 inch, crushed
  • • Tomatoes – 2 (large)
  • • Water – ½ cup
  • • Yogurt – ¼ cup
  • • Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
  • • Coriander cumin powder – 1 tsp
  • • Pepper powder – ½ tsp
  • • Green chillies – 4
  • • Water – 1 cup
  • • Salt – 2 tsp
  • • Garnish:
  • • Cilantro – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
  • • Ginger - 1 inch, Julienne cut
Instructions
  1. HEAT; MEDIUM HIGH HEAT
  2. Crush ginger and garlic using mortar-pestle. Or blend in a blender. You can use ginger garlic paste.
  3. In a pan over medium high heat, add oil.
  4. Once oil is hot, add the bay leaf, clove, cinnamon stick and green cardamom.
  5. Add the chicken, salt and ginger garlic paste.
  6. Let it get slightly brown on few pieces (pink→white→ white with mild brown roasted pieces)
  7. HEAT: LOW HEAT
  8. Add rough chopped tomatoes , 1 cup water and close the lid. Turn the heat to low
  9. After 10 mins, open and mix well. The tomatoes at this point will be mashed when we mix.
  10. Add yogurt, red chilli powder, coriander cumin powder, pepper powder and green chillies. Mix well. Close the lid.
  11. Let it cook for 12 minutes in low heat.
  12. Open the lid, at this point all the water would gone and the gravy would have oozed out oil.
  13. Now add the ginger and cilantro. Add lime juice if you had also.
  14. Close the lid for 2 minutes and serve with hot rice or Indian bread like naan/roti.
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Senai kizhangu/ Fennel Elephant yam/Suran dry roast

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kizhanguroast-3Marinated with Indian spices & Pan roasted to a golden color in south Indian style for a delightful side.

Elephant foot yam, the name looks different right?. It is called so because the larger tuber resembles an elephant foot. It is also called as suran and senai kizhangu in Hindi and Tamil. This vegetable is good for health as contains a large amount of carbs used for vital energy, lowers bad cholesterol, and lowers blood pressure. This is my mom’s recipe. My mom does this in a style by slice them finely, marinating with turmeric and sambar powder, and pan roast with oil. Sometimes she even slices them thinly, marinate, fry it deep. It is called Yam chips 😀  Obviously that takes a lot of oil ! I used to prepare them as elephant yam grill and make them with trevti dal, rasam and curd rice.

My other favorite dry side dishes: Carrot stir fry,Beans stir fry, baby potato stir fry, cauliflower stir fry, eggplant stir fry,Bitter gourd stir fry, okra/ladys finger stir fry, raw banana stir fry
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Senai kizhangu/ Fennel Elephant yam/Suran dry roast
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1.5 cups
 
Ingredients
  • • • • Elephant yam/ senaikizhangu – ½, peeled and sliced ~ 2 cups
  • • • • Oil - 2 tbsp
  • • • • Mustard seeds - ¾ tbsp
  • • • • Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1 tsp
  • • • • Tamarind – 2 tsp ( 1 inch sized tamarind or pulp)
  • • • • Urad dal - 1 tbsp
  • • • • Curry leaves - 5
  • • • • Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
  • • • • Sambhar powder – 1 tbsp
  • • • • Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
  • • • • Sugar - 1 tsp
  • • • • Salt - to taste
Instructions
  1. • Wash Elephant yam and peel the outer layer totally. Slice them finely into small cubes.
  2. • Add turmeric powder, curry leaves, salt, sambar powder, chili powder, asafetida, tamarind and 1 tsp of oil. Marinate and keep aside for 10 mins.
  3. • Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan over medium heat, add mustard, after it crackles, add urad dal, and jeera.
  4. • Bring the heat to medium,now add the chopped raw elephant yam. Stir and sprinkle 1 tbsp of water, close the lid and cook for 5-7 minutes over medium heat.
  5. • Add 1 tsp of sugar and keep frying until the raw elephant yam gets roasted here and there in color. Change to low heat, it takes around 5-7 minutes. Switch off the flame.
Notes
1. Do not make the slice too thick then it won’t cook inside properly.
2. You can also deep fry them rather by doing them on the pan. But obviously, this is healthy.
3. Adding sugar makes retain the color and turns it crispy.
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Taste Great with Rice and Mor Buttermilk Rasam/ three lentil dal/ sambar/ curd rice

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Fennel Elephant yam Roast/ Senai kizhangu Roast/ Suran Roast

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 ElephantYamRoast3Elephant yam grilled perfectly to a golden color in south Indian style for a delightful side

Elephant foot yam, the name looks different right?. It is called so because the larger tuber resembles an elephant foot. It is also called as suran and senai kizhangu in Hindi and Tamil. This vegetable is good for health as contains large amount of carbs used for vital energy, lowers bad cholesterol, and lowers blood pressure. My mom does this in a different style by chopping them finely, boiling with turmeric powder, and pan roast with oil. Or She even slice them thinly, marinate, fry it deep. It is called Yam chips J Obviously all these takes a lot of oil :D! So I always prepare yam this way, if it is tasty and healthy this way, why not be healthy 😉 I made this with some caramelized shallot dal, rasam and curd rice.



My other favorite dry side dishes: Carrot stir fry, Beans stir fry, baby potato stir fry, cauliflower stir fry, eggplant stir fry,Bitter gourd stir fry, okra/ladys finger stir fry, raw banana stir fry

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Fennel Elephant yam Roast/ Senai kizhangu Roast/ Suran Roast
Author: 
Recipe type: main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2 cups
 
Ingredients
  • Elephant yam/ senaikizhangu – ½, peeled and sliced ~ 2 cups
  • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • Tamarind pulp – 1 tbsp (soaking a small tamarind in water and extracting the juice out of it)
  • Chilli powder – 2 tsp
  • Fennel seeds – 2 tsp, blend it or use mortar & pestle.
  • Coriander powder – 1 tsp
  • Gram flour – 1 tbsp
  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Salt – to taste
Instructions
  1. Take a pan, add the sliced yam with tamarind water, turmeric powder and salt. Boil it for around 7-10 minutes in medium flame till its boiled but not mushy. It should be in the same shape.

  2. Drain and add the Fennel seeds powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, gram flour, curry leaves and salt (if needed). Combine well.

  3. Heat a pan ( like dosa pan or a non-stick pan) , drizzle over some oil, arrange the yam pieces and cook in medium flame until it has golden brown spots on one side. Flip and cook the other side similarly.
  4. Cook in batches if you have more.
Notes
1. Do not make the slice too thick then it won’t cook inside properly.
2. You can also deep fry them rather by doing them on pan. But obviously this is healthy.
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Taste Great with Rice and Mor Buttermilk Rasam/ three lentil dal/ sambar/ curd rice

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Indian Style Mixed Veggies stir fry/ Poriyal/ Thoran

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dal&cabbage-14Steamed veggies are seasoned and  garnished with fresh coconut in this classic south Indian stir fry. Perfect Vegan healthy dry curry recipe using all veggies!

Today I wanted to post a comfort food from my home. You can make this in few minutes. This stir fry is healthy and goes well with plain rice or any gravy. I always prefer individual veggies stir fry than the combination of few veggies. But this time I wanted to have it all healthy, and tried combining all veggies that I thought of which will go well together. I was not even fond of veggies few years back. But thanks to my boyfriend for making me like it. In India, my Amma( Mom) made sure that I always had healthy food. She used to incorporate veggies into my food somehow. My dad always makes sure I have fruits. He used to chop some fruits in the morning and give us. And also whenever we have Indian breads like chapathi, parathas he used to give some cucumber and tomatoes on sides. So I was never conscious about all that. Now I make it a point to have veggies 😀 life changes once you stay far from your parents.

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Healthy and tasty! Less oil, vegan and perfect for Saturday afternoon lunch. Today I wanted to post a comfort food from my home. You can make this in few minutes. I would say the main task is to chop those veggies. But pain is gain! Have to do something to make our life healthier. Poriyal/thoran is a preparation where the chopped or grated vegetables are sautéed in spices and topped with grated coconut sometimes. You can make poriyal/stir fry with almost all veggies like beans,carrot, cabbage, chow chow/chayote, bitter gourd/pavakkai,bottlegourd,beetroot,okra,potato,broccoli,zucchini, cauliflower, arbi/seppankezhangu , raw banana/ vazhakkai, cluster beans/ kothavarangai poriyal and so on.

I have been thinking of posting this recipe for a long time, then thought it’s too simple to post. But now I thought it can surely help beginners or bachelors. You can substitute this with any veggie you fancy and make this same stir-fry. You can even use frozen veggies, then you have to just 1 tbsp. of water, add the coconut and switch off. There is no need of boiling and the whole recipe just takes 5 minutes to do. It tastes best with rasam, dal,Onion kuzhambu/curry, spinach curry, pepper kuzhambu/curry or sambhar. You can also have this with roti or just with plain rice.

Other favourite stir fry recipes are here: STIR FRY/ DRY CURRY Recipes.

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Indian Style Mixed Veggies stir fry/ Poriyal/ Thoran
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 cups
 
Ingredients
  • • Mustard seeds – ½ tsp.
  • • Urad dal/split black gram – 1 tsp
  • • Asafetida – ¼ tsp
  • • Onion – ½ cup, chopped (1 small)
  • • Green chilli – 2, chopped
  • • Curry leaves – 1 spring
  • • All veggies - 4 cups, chopped, I used beans, cabbage, carrot and peas
  • • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • • Sambhar powder – ½ tbsp
  • • Salt – to taste
  • • Red chillies -3 , broken
  • • Fresh coconut – 1 tbsp
  • • Oil - ½ tbsp
  • • Coconut oil – 1 tsp
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida, red chilli and let it splutter. Add curry leaves and fry for a min. Now add chopped onions and green chillies and salt and sauté well till onions gets slightly browned.
  2. Now add the chopped veggies, sauté for a minute. Add the turmeric powder and sambhar powder. Mix it well. Add water till it is almost covered. Close the lid and let it turn soft and raw smell leaves.
  3. Once all the water gets evaporated, add dry coconut and give a quick stir fry. Finish off by adding 1 tsp of coconut oil and switch off.
Notes
1. You can substitute this with any veggie you fancy and make this same stir-fry.
2. You can use 1 tsp of coconut oil to garnish. It gives extra flavor.
3. You can use frozen veggies also, then you have to just 1 tbsp of water, add the coconut and switch off.
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Beans Masala Stir Fry

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BeansStirFryFinalThis crunchy 30 minute beans stir fry is simple and flavor-packed.

Green beans are very healthy and one can make quick dishes with them. You can also add them in pulavs, biryani, salads, Chinese recipes, kurma and also some beans rice. Green beans are very healthy I should say. They give good antioxidant support and cardiovascular benefits. If possible, purchase green beans at a store or farmer’s market that sells them loose so that you can sort through them to choose the beans of best quality. They should have a firm texture and “snap” when broken. Purchase them if they have vibrant green color and smooth feel and also free from brown spots.

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I always tend to cook potato, okra, brinjal. I somehow don’t make beans, carrot or cabbage much. But when I make them, I cook them special by entertaining myself with some alteration each time to make it tasty and inviting for me to eat. It’s not I don’t like them, it’s just I am sooper lazy to chop carrots and beans. That’s the reason for this masala beans. It tasted really good and very out of ordinary. 🙂

This is a steamed vegetable dish made with coconut. This is called poriyal in tamil. Generally at home we make poriyal with French beans, cauliflower, caroor, cabbage, cluster beans and so on. I have already posted carrot poriyal. Whenever I add lots of spices like this, I add a bit of sugar. But this recipe already has a subtle sweet taste coming from beans, onions and coconut. I make this one, normal coconut (thoran) recipe with this beans and also one nice punjabi aloo beans curry. I will surely share that one day. Its one drooling beans recipe I have in mind to share for quite a long time. I have chopped them little long, you can chop anyways. But this looks attractive 😉 what do you think? 😉

5.0 from 3 reviews
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Beans Masala Stir Fry
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • Mustard – 1 tsp
  • Urad dal – 2 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • French Beans – 2 cup
  • Onion – ½ cup
  • Turmeric – ⅛ tsp
  • Salt – as needed
  • Oil – 1 tbsp

    To grind:
  • Shallots – 5
  • Garlic – 4
  • Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
  • Coconut – 3 tbsp
  • Red chillies – 5
  • urad dal- 2 tsp
  • Black pepper whole – 2 tsp
  • Jeera – 1 tsp
  • Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Instructions
  1. Cut the beans diagonally to 1 inch piece. And keep it aside.
  2. Dry roast the ingredients under the “to grind” table. And Grind the ingredients , without adding water.
  3. Heat oil in kadai and add mustard, urad dal and then add curry leaves and onion, fry till onion turns out golden brown.
  4. Then add the beans, salt and turmeric and fry in medium flame for 2 minutes.
  5. Now add enough water to the beans to get cooked.Mix well and cook cover with a lid in a medium flame, till the beans gets cooked.
  6. Add the ground masala powder and add two tbsp of water. Keep turning in between to avoid burning.
  7. After beans get cooked, fry till water evaporates completely and curry should be dry.
Notes
If desired, add coconut oil at the end.
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Serve this with rasam and rice or roti.

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Saag Aloo Capsicum / Spinach Potato Pepper

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Indian spiced potatoes with spinach and capsicum — a perfect side dish.

There are many ways of making aloo palak or potato spinach recipe and here is my favourite version from my kitchen. This is a dry version and this curry ought not be too soupy, as you want the potatoes to absorb all the flavors in the dish. The potatoes should be juicy from the spinach flavors but not mushy. Saag means spinach and aloo means potato. Saag is a term also used to describe other greens, such as mustard leaves. Capsicum is optional here and I just wanted to add it for more flavors.

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This will take some time but you don’t have any job in the kitchen, just simmer the spinach to the point where there is moisture left in the pan for the consistency that you find is signature to this dish. The thought of cooking curry from scratch probably scares many of us, but it’s really easy when you know the flavor combinations of the different spices. For instance, spinach goes really well with potato. And potato goes great with bell pepper. Saag aloo isn’t tricky to make at the best of times. You just need one pan and one spoon to make this and you may as well have cooked the whole meal on your one stovetop. This recipe is for those days where you literally want to dump everything on the pot and return to your dent in the sofa.

vegan Note: replace Milk with coconut milk.

4.7 from 3 reviews
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Saag Aloo Capsicum / Spinach Potato Pepper
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • Potato – 3
  • Cumin seeds (jeera) – 2 tsp
  • Garlic – 3, chopped finely
  • Onion – 1, chopped finely
  • Green chilli – 1, chopped finely
  • Capsicum/ Pepper – 1 chopped into cubes
  • Spinach – 1 cup, chopped or whole
  • Chilli powder – 1 tbsp
  • Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
  • Cumin powder – 1 tbsp
  • Milk – 2 tbsp
  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Salt – as needed
  • Lime- for garnishing
  • Corainder leaves – For garnish
Instructions
  1. Remove the skin from the potatoes and cut into small wedges,
  2. Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed non-stick skillet over medium heat, add jeera, garlic and add the onions and chillies and fry until they are golden brown.
  3. Now add the potatoes, capsicum. Salt and turmeric and fry until golden brown.
  4. Now add the chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Add 2 tbsp of water and simmer it for few minutes.
  5. Now stir in the chopped spinach to this, and add two tbsp. of milk and close it.
  6. Stir in the mixture a few handfuls at a time, until each potato is coated with the spinach.
  7. The potatoes should be little roasted and coated with spinach and have the flavors of capsicum in it.
  8. Garnish with coriander leaves and squeeze in some lime.
Notes
1. Don’t add more water, it may make the potatoes mushy.
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Perfect side dish for with rasam and rice or roti or plain rice.

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