Recipe

Deep Fried Samosa
Ingredient :- 

For Cover :
1 cup all purpose flour (Maida) Water to Knead dough
2tbsp Refined Palm oil Little salt 1/4th tsp. Ajwain (optional)

For Stuffing :
3-4 Potatoes (boiled, peeled & mashed)
1/2 cup Green Peas (boiled)
1-2 Green Chilies (finely chopped)
1/2tsp Ginger (crushed)
1tbsp coriander finely chopped
Few chopped Cashews (optional)
Few Raisins (optional)
1/2tsp Garam masala
Salt to taste
Red chili powder to taste
1/2 tsp. Dry Mango powder( Amchur) (optional)

Steps for Cover :
Mix all the ingredients (salt, oil, ajwain) except water.
Add a little water at a time.
Pat and knead well for several times into a soft pliable dough.
Cover it with moist Muslin cloth and keep aside for 15 minutes.
For Stuffing :
In a bowl add mashed potatoes and all dry masalas (salt, chili powder, mango powder, garam masala) and green chilles, ginger and Mix well.
Add green peas, cashews and raisins and mix well.
Add coriander and keep aside.

To Proceed :
Make small rolls of dough and roll it into a 4″-5″ diameter circle.
Cut it into two parts like semi-circle.
Now take one semi circle and fold it like a cone. Use water while doing so.
Place a spoon of filling in the cone and seal the third side using a drop of water.
Heat Shan Refied Palm oil in a kadhai and deep fry till golden brown (fry on a medium flame).
Serve samosa hot with hari chutney, tamarind chutney.

Pakora
Ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml) :-
1 medium size potato/aloo
1 cup gram flour/besan
2 tbsp rice flour
½ tsp carom seeds/ajwain
¼ tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder
¼ garam masala powder
a pinch of asafoetida/hing
⅔ to ¾ cup water
½ or 1 tsp chaat masala powder for sprinkling on the pakoras
a pinch of baking soda (optional)
salt as required

How to make the recipe :
*mix well all the dry ingredients with water.
*check the seasoning and add more if required.
*peel and slice the potatoes thinly in rounds.
*heat oil for frying in a kadai or pan.
*dip each potato slice in the batter and place it gently in hot oil.
*do these for some 5-6 potato slices each time.
*fry aloo pakoras till golden and crisp.
*drain the pakoras on paper towels to remove excess oil.
*finish off the remaining aloo pakoras this way in batches.
*serve aloo pakora hot sprinkled with some chaat masala powder.
*you can also serve aloo pakoras with chutney or tomato sauce accompanied with slices of bread or buns.

Shahi Panner

Main ingredients:
200 gms paneer
1 tsp coriander powder
1 or 2 tbsp full fat or 70-80% fat cream (optional)
1.5 cups water
a pinch of saffron/kesar, crushed
½ cup full fat fresh yogurt/curd/dahi
¼ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp garam masala powder
½ tsp red chili powder
¼ tsp cardamom powder
1.5 cups strained stock (got from boiling the onions with dry fruits)
kewra essence , 1 or 2 drops, optional
salt and sugar as required
For the paste:
2 tbsp chopped cashews
1 inch ginger, chopped
1 medium sized onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp magaz or melon seeds without the skin
1 tbsp almonds
3-4 garlic, chopped
Whole spices or garam masala:
2-3 tbsp oil or ghee or butter
2-3 cloves
1 bay leaf
1-2 black cardamom
1 inch cinnamon
2-3 green cardamom
½ tsp shah jeera
How to make the recipe:
Boil onions, cashews, almonds, magaz, ginger and garlic in 1.5 cups water for 8-10 minutes till the onions become soft.
Strain the stock and keep aside.
Make a paste of the cooked onions, ginger, garlic along with the dry fruits adding 1 or 2 tsp of the strained water.
Fry all the whole garam masala or whole spices mentioned in the above list till they release their aroma in the oil.
Add the ground onion-dry fruits paste and saute till the oil starts to leave the sides of the paste.
Add the dry spice powders and stir.
Now add the whisked yogurt, stock + water, salt and sugar.
Stir well and simmer for 10-12 minutes or till the gravy thickens slightly on a low flame.
If using cream, then whisk the cream till smooth and keep aside.
Add the cardamom powder and crushed saffron.
Stir and add the cubed paneer. If adding cream, you can add the cream with the paneer.
Simmer for 1-2 minutes till the paneer is cooked.
Add the kewra (pandan) essence and stir – optional step
Garnish shahi paneer with some coriander leaves and serve the shahi paneer with jeera rice or rotis, naan or phulkas.

Malai Kofta

Ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml) :-

For the kofta :
  • 100 gms paneer/cottage cheese, grated
  • 2 medium size potatoes, boiled, peeled and grated
  • ¼ tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • a pinch or ¼ tsp garam masala
  • ¾ tbsp almond flour or ¾ tbsp milk powder or ¾ tbsp khoya/evaporated milk
  • salt as required
For the gravy/curry :
  • ½ cup onion paste, about 2 medium to large onions, pureed
  • 1 cup tomato puree, about 2 large tomatoes pureed
  • ¼ cup cashew paste, 12 to 15 cashews soaked in warm water for 30 minutes and then blended to a smooth paste
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • ¾ tsp red chili powder/lal mirch powder
  • 1 inch ginger/adrak – 4-5 garlic cloves/lahsun – made in to a fine paste in a mortar-pestle
  • ¼ tsp garam masala
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tsp kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves
  • salt as required
  • sugar as required (optional)
  • oil for shallow or deep frying the koftas
Whole spices/garam masala :
  • 1 bay leaf/tej patta
  • 1 inch cinnamon/dal chini
  • 1 or 2 black cardamom/badi elaichi
  • 2-3 green cardamom/hari elaichi or choti elaichi
  • a pinch of mace/jayitri
  • 2-3 cloves/laung
For garnish :
  • 1 tbsp grated paneer
  • 1 or 2 tbsp cream
  • a few chopped coriander leaves/dhania patta

How to make the recipe :-

  1. mix all the ingredients mentioned under kofta ingredient list except oil in a bowl.
  2. make medium sized balls and fry the koftas in medium hot oil till golden.
  3. keep aside.
  4. remove extra oil from the same pan and keep about 1 or 1.5 tbsp oil.
  5. add all the whole spices and fry till the oil becomes fragrant.
  6. first add the onion paste and brown it.
  7. now add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for some seconds till the raw aroma of the paste goes away.
  8. add the tomato puree and saute for 2-3 minutes.
  9. add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder and cashew paste.
  10. stir and saute till the oil starts to leave the sides of the masala paste. add water and stir.
  11. simmer till the gravy begins to thicken. takes approx 11-12 minutes on a low flame.
  12. towards the end add crushed kasuri methi leaves and salt.
  13. you can also add sugar if you want a light sweet taste in the curry. simmer for 1-2 minutes more.
  14. add the koftas in the curry if serving immediately or you can also add the curry first in the serving plate or bowl and then place the koftas.
  15. garnish the malai kofta with some cream, grated paneer and coriander leaves.
  16. serve malai kofta hot with rotis, naan, steamed basmati rice or jeera rice

Kachori

Ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml) :-
For the pastry :
  • 1 cup all purpose flour/maida (you can also use whole wheat flour or both the flours in 50:50 amount)
  • 1 tbsp oil or ghee ((i used sunflower oil)
  • ¼ cup warm water
  • ¼ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
For the stuffing :
  • 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
  • ¼ tsp red chili powder/lal mirch
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
  • ½ tsp coriander powder/dhania powder
  • ½ tsp fennel powder/saunf pwder
  • ½ tsp chaat masala
  • ½ tsp amchur powder/dry mango powder
  • ½ tsp green chili-ginger paste or crushed or minced (use about ¼ inch of ginger and ½ or 1 green chili and crush in a mortar & pestle)
  • ¼ tsp cumin/jeera
  • 1 tbsp besan or gram flour
  • 2 tsp oil or ghee
  • salt as required
For frying :
  • 2 to 3 cups oil
How to make the recipe :-
Preparing the pastry :
  1. sift the flour, salt and baking powder. add oil and form a bread crumb like mixture.
  2. add water and form a tight dough. cover with a damp cloth and keep aside.
Preparing the pea stuffing :
  1. boil or steam the peas. mash them coarsely or semi-coarsely.
  2. heat oil and fry the cumin. then add the crushed ginger and green chili.
  3. fry for a minute. now add the dry spice powders and salt.
  4. stir and add the gram flour. saute for 2-3 minutes.
  5. check the seasoning and add some more of the spice powders or salt, if required.
Preparing the kachori :
  1. make equal sized 5-6 balls from the dough. roll into 3-4 inch round on a dusted board.
  2. add some of the stuffing in the center. brush some water on the edges.
  3. bring together all the edges and pinch them. press the edges downwards below.
  4. roll into a 4-5 inches kachori. prepare all matar kachoris like these. keep the kachoris covered with a wet cloth.
  5. now heat oil. at medium flame, fry the kachoris till they become golden, flaky and crisp.
  6. serve matar kachori hot with some coriander chutney or tamarind chutney.
Notes:- 
Few tips for making kachori :
1. for making any flaky pastry, the proportion of flour to oil/ghee is important.
2. also the amount of water required to knead is another important factor that determines the flakiness. too much water will make the dough crisp but not flaky and too little can dry out the dough.
3. keep the dough covered with a moist cloth at all times.
4. next comes the frying. too hot oil won’t allow the dough to get flaky resulting in a crisp exterior with uncooked interiors and filling. too cold oil would end up the dough soaking a lot of oil and the result would be an oily pastry.
5. to check the temperature while frying, add a small piece of dough to the oil.if it comes steadily to the surface, then the kachoris are ready to be fried.
6. if the the dough comes quickly, the oil is hot. so lower the flame. if it takes a lot of time to come, then the dough is cold. increase the flame.
7. a point to be remembered is that when you add the kachoris to the hot oil, the temperature of the oil does get lowered naturally, so accordingly increase a bit of the flame.
8. the spices in the filling can be adjusted as per your preference.
9. if mango powder is not available, then add some lemon juice instead.
10. the recipe can be doubled or tripled.

Chhole Bhature

Ingredients (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml) :-
Main Ingredients :
  • 1 cup dried small chickpeas or regular chickpeas/chole/safed chana (canned chickpeas can also be used) or 1.5 cups regular dried chickpeas.
  • 1 green chilli/hari mirch, slit
  • 1 tsp coriander powder/dhania powder
  • ¼ tsp red chilli powder/lal mirch powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
  • 1 tsp garam masala powder or chole masala
  • ½ or 1 tsp dry mango powder/amchur powder
  • a pinch of asafoetida/hing (optional)
  • black salt or rock salt as required
  • 2 cups water to be added later
Whole garam masala/spices :
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
  • 1 large indian bay leaf/tej patta
  • 2 inch cinnamon/dal chini
  • 2-3 cloves/lavang
  • 2 green cardamom/choti elachi
  • 2-3 black peppercorn
Ground paste ingredients :
  • 1 medium size onion, chopped
  • 2 medium size tomatoes, chopped
  • ½ inch ginger/adrak, chopped
  • 3-4 garlic cloves/lahsun, chopped
  • 1 green chili, chopped
How to make the recipe :-
  1. first soak the chickpeas/chole in enough water overnight or for 7-8 hours.
  2. drain the water and cook the chole with water+salt in a pressure cooker or a pot.
  3. you can also add a pinch or two of baking soda while cooking the chole.
  4. strain the chole and keep aside.
  5. make a fine paste of the onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and green chili in a grinder or blender
  6. no need to add water while making the paste as the juice of the tomatoes will help in making the paste.
  7. keep the paste aside.
  8. heat oil in a pan or kadai/wok.
  9. fry the whole garam masala/spices mentioned above till the oil become fragrant.
  10. don’t burn them.
  11. add the ground paste and saute till the oil starts to leaves the sides of the paste.
  12. stir while sauting so that the paste does not stick to the pan.
  13. add all the dry spice powders – turmeric, red chili powder, coriander and dry mango powder.
  14. stir and saute for a minute. add the cooked chole and stir.
  15. pour water. add salt and stir.
  16. simmer on a low or medium flame for 12-15 minutes till the curry thickens. don’t cover the pan. stir occasionally.
  17. add slit green chilies and garam masala powder or chole masala. stir and simmer for a minute or two.
  18. check the seasoning and add more salt or spice powders if required.
  19. garnish chole with coriander leaves.
  20. serve chole with onion slices, lemon wedges along with bhatura.
  21. you can also garnish the chole with some slit green chilies and julienned gingers.
  22. enjoy the chole bhature.