This cookbook has been compiled from various sources and primarily contains recipes for Indian cuisines. Most of the recipes have been tried and tested by several people. I request all of you to email me any recipe that you feel will be worth sharing with other people. I will post them to this site at my earliest convenience. As I keep on adding new recipes, please return to this site later, to catch up with new additions.

Contents

Veggie

Dahi Sev Batata Puri
Tomato Cabbage Broth
Dum Aloo

Non Veg

Chicken Manchurian
Chinese Fried Rice
Shahi Biryani
Chicken  Biryani

 
Ingradients for Puri

2 cups very fine semolina (soji or rava)

salt to taste

water

oil to deep fry

puri cutter

Method

1. Mix soji, salt and enough water to knead a soft dough.
2. Stand covered with wet cloth for 15-20 minutes.
3. Take a fist sized lump and make a ball.
4. With the help of some dry maida or soji, roll into big thin rounds.
5. Cut small puris from it with the cutter. Approx. 1 1/2" diameter.
6. You may use a sharp edged lid of a bottle, if the size is alright.
7. Remove the frills formed and mix into remaining dough..
8. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry puris till very light brown and crisp.
9. Keep the puris covered with a moist muslin cloth if there is delay in frying.
10. Drain and rest in a colander or over kitchen paper for awhile for oil to dry out.
11. Store in an airtight container when cool.
12. If in a hurry, just cut the big puris into small squares and use the same.
13. No dough is then put back in frill form.

1. Choose puris which have puffed.
2. Make a hole on one side by giving a sharp tap with index finger.
3. Fill in a tiny bit of moong, potato, sev, onion as desired.
4. Arrange in serving or individual plates.
5. Pour fresh beaten curds to cover each puri.
6. Drizzle a bit of green and tamarind chutneys
7. Sprinkle salt, crushed cumin and a pinch of red chilli powder.
8. Garnish with sev and chopped coriander.
9. Serve immediately.

Tomato Cabbage Broth

Serves : four

Ingredients
1 lb (1/2 Kg) small potatoes
1/4 cup sesame (til)
1/2 cup peanuts
1 tsp cumin seeds
50g tamarind
2 tbsp corriander seeds
4 whole red chilli
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1/2 inch cinomon stick
5 green cardamom
1/3 tsp cloves
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups of water
Salt to taste

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and prick them all over with a fork..
2. Deep fry the potatoes and keep them aside.
3. Stir sesame in a pan.
4. Make a paste of peanuts, corriander, cloves, cinamon, cardamom, red chilli and the roasted til.
5. Heat the oil in a vessel that has a lid.
6. Put cumin seeds in the vessel and add to it the ginger/garlic paste. Stir lightly for about 3 minutes.
7. Add turmeric and the paste as in number 4 into the vessel. Fry for about 3 minutes.
8. Add salt.
9. Add tamarind and coconut.
10. Add the fried potatoes. Stir for some time.
11. Pour 2 cups of water and close the lid.
12. Cook on low heat for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes become tender. Monitor from time to time to ensure a thick gravy. Add more water if needed.
13. Serve hot.

1. Mix minced chicken with egg and corn flour and prepare balls out of it.
2. Deep-fry the chicken balls.
3. Fry ginger (1 tbs, crushed), garlic (1 tbs, crushed), green chilli (3 nos.) and spring onion (1, with leaves) in 1 tbs of oil.
4. Mix 1 tbs of corn flour in 1 cup of water. Then add 1 tbs (or more, according to taste) soya sauce to it.
5. Add the fried stuff to the liquid and boil. Add chilli garlic sauce (2 tbs) to the boiling liquid.
6. Add corriander (optional) to the mix.
7. Add one pinch of ajinomoto.
8. Add salt to taste.
9. Add the fried chicken balls to the mix and it is ready to be served.

1. Part boil finely cut carrot (1 medium size) and beans (10).
2. Cut spring onion (2) into rings and the onion leaves and capsicum (1/2 medium size) into very fine pieces.
3. Boil 2 cups of rice with salt according to taste and drain out water.
4. Add 1 tbs of soya sauce to rice and mix uniformly.
5. Fry the vegetables slightly.
6. Add rice to the fried vegetables.
7. Add 1/2 ts of ajinomoto to rice.

Shahi Biryani

Serves: Six

Ingredients
2 lb (1 kg) mutton chops
4 large bay leaves
4 black cardamoms
4 green cardamoms
1 inch cinamon stick
3 cloves
3 large onion (sliced )
15 flakes (25 g) garlic (paste)
25g ginger (paste)
6 green chillies
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp poppy seed (khaskhas) paste - roast the poppy seeds before making the paste
1/2 cup of curd (yoghurt) - beaten
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tsp rose water
A pinch of saffron
1 lb (1/2 kg) long grain rice (basmati)
3 eggs
Salt to taste

Method

1. PRESSURE-cook the mutton chops and preserve the water (later to be used for boiling rice).
2. Heat up 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan.
3. Put bay leaves, cinamon stick, cardamoms (both types), pepper, cloves and sliced onion in the heated oil. Fry them until the onions start turning brown.
4. Add ginger and garlic pastes, poppy seed paste, chilli (both types), curd and  turmeric powder in to the pan.
5. Fry for 10 to 15 minutes - stirring from time to time.
6. Add the boiled meat and salt. Continue frying till the fried spices are absorbed well  into the meat.
7. Remove from heat.
8. Parboil the rice.
9. Take a sauce pan and pour 2 tsp ghee in it.
10. Heat it briefly.
11. Put 1 bay leaf  and a few onion slices into the sauce pan.
12. Put half the rice into the vessel and put the entire quantity of meat on top of it.
13. Add the remaining rice to sandwitch the layer of meat.
14. Mix the rose water and saffron in a small bowl. Blend it well and pour it on top of the rice.
15. Sprinkle the milk on the rice mix and close the sauce pan.
16. Leave the sauce pan for 10 minutes on very low heat.
17. Boil the eggs and cut each egg into 4 pieces.
18. Mix the rice and meat very well and put the eggs on top of it.
19. Close the lid of the sauce pan and leave it for at least an hour before serving.

Chicken Biryani

Serves : six

Ingredients
2 lb (1 Kg) chicken
200 ml vegetable oil
2 medium sized potatoes (peeled and cut into quarters)
3 medium sized onions (thinly sliced)
20g ginger
16 flakes garlic
6 green chillies
1 tbsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp corriander leaves (chopped)
1-1/2 tbsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
200 ml beaten yoghurt (curd)
1 large pinch safforn disolved in 1 tbsp hot water
1lb (1/2 kg) large grain rice (basmati)
100ml ghee
50ml milk
2 green cardamoms
Salt to taste

Method

1. Grind together ginger, garlic and chillies. Put red chilli powder, corriander leaves, garam masala powder, cumin powder and curd to form a thick paste.
2. Marinate the chicken with this paste for 4 hours.
3. In a large frying pan heat oil for about 5 minutes.
4. Lightly fry the potatoes.
5. Remove and add potatoes to the marinated chicken. Mix well.
6. Divide onions into two batches.
7. In the remaining oil in pan, fry each batch with 3/4 tsp salt till onions are golden brown and crisp.
8. Remove onions on a strainer to drain off excess oil.
9. Crumble the fried onions and mix with marinated meat.
10. Pour 6 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Bring to boil on high heat. Add salt (to taste) and rice. Stir once.
11. Close the pressure cooker.
12. Bring to full pressure on high heat. Remove cooker immediately from heat.
13. Reduce pressure by placing the cooker in a basin of cold water for about 2 minutes.
14. Open cooker and transfer the rice to a colander to drain the remaining the water.
15. Wash and wipe to dry the cooker.
16. Heat ghee in cooker for about two minutes. Add cardamoms and the marinated meat. Mix well.
17. Remove cooker from heat.
18. Tilt cooker and shift the meat to one side. Add rice to the other side.
19. Sprinkle the saffron and milk on rice. Close cooker.
20. Bring to full pressure on high heat.
21. Reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes.
22. Remove cooker from heat and allow to cool naturally.
23. Open cooker.
24. Transfer rice onto a serving dish. Top with meat and masala.
25. Serve hot with onion salad or raita.

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