Maha Bhoj

I like to call this meal 'Maha Bhoj', because this is more or less the menu that my Mom likes to make whenever we do a get together. She was in town this weekend, and obviously we cant do without one of her 'Maha bhoj' meals. :D



Here is the usual menu:
Pulau, fish for starter, Dal, a subji of some sort, and Chicken curry. Ofcourse if time permits some sort of sweet.

Here is what she made this time:


Peas Pulau

Recipe in previous post. If you want to make it taste a little bit richer, you can fry the rice for a minute or so in some ghee, whole garam masala, and jaiphal and chota elaichi powder. Once done set it to boil adding in the water, peas, salt and a little bit of sugar.

Moong Dal..



Ingredients:

Moong Dal, 1 cup.
Onion, 1 medium, chopped.
Ginger, 1 inch cube, chopped.
Garlic, 4-5 cloves, chopped.
Tomato, 1 medium, chopped.
Turmeric, 1/2 tsp.
Coriander powder, 1 tsp.
Oil, 2 tbsp.
Jeera, 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste.
Coriander leaves, for garnish.

Method:

Set the dal to boil in a pressure cooker, with some water, salt, turmeric powder and a little bit of oil. Once the dal is boiled, mix it thoroughly. Heat some oil in a pan, add jeera, once it starts to splutter, add onion, garlic and ginger. Saute for a few mins, then add the chili, the tomato, and the coriander powder. Fry for some time, and then add it to the dal. Mix it thoroughly, and then bring it to a boil again. garnish with some chopped coriander leaves, serve hot. :)


Alu phoolkopir torkaari (Potato and Cauliflower Curry)



Ingredients:

Potato, 3-4 medium, cut each into 6 pieces.
Cauliflower, 1 medium, cut into same sizes as the potatoes.
Oil, 4 tbsp
Jeera, 1/2 tsp
Ginger paste, 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp
Chili powder, 1 tsp
Jeera powder, 1 tsp
Tomato, 1 medium, pureed
Garam masala powder, 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste.

Method:

Heat some oil, and fry the potatoes and the cauliflower for a while, till they turn light brown from outside, keep aside. Heat the remaining oil, add jeera, let it splutter, then add the ginger paste, let it fry for a few seconds, add all the spices, then add the pureed tomato fry for a few mins, if needed add some water, then add the potatoes and the cauliflower back in. Mix it altogether and add some water, and salt. Simmer it till the vegitables are cooked properly. Sprinkle some garam masala powder, mix well, serve hot. :)



Chicken Curry



Ingridients:

Chicken 1 kg, curry cut.
Onions, 4 medium, chopped.
Curd, 1 cup.
Ginger and garlic paste, 2 tbsp.
Turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp.
Chili powder, 1 tsp.
Garam masala powder, 1/2 tsp.
Oil, 6 tbsp.
Salt to taste.

Method:

Marinade the chicken, with curd, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, and the chili powder, for atleast half an hour. Heat the oil, fry the onions till golden brown, add the marinated chicken, fry till oil separates. Add some water, and salt. Simmer till the chicken is cooked properly. Add the garam masala. Garnish with coriander leaves, serve hot. :)

Fish Amritsari



Ingredients:

Bhetki fish, 600 gms, boneless cut into 1 inch cubes,
Curd, 1 cup.
Besan, 1 cup.
Lemon juice, 2 tbsp.
Egg 1.
Ginger garlic paste, 1 and 1/2 tbsp
Ajwain, 1/2 tsp.
Chilli powder 1 tsp.
salt to taste.
Oil for deep frying.

Marinade the fish with 1 tbsp lime juice and some salt for 15 mins, in the meanwhile make the batter. For the batter mix in all the remaining ingredients, including the rest of the lime juice. Rinse out the excess water from the fish, may be dry them out with some tissue paper. Once done add the fish pieces into the batter, mix well and refrigerate for atleast 20 mins. Heat the oil, deep fry the fish pieces, garnish with some onion rings, and serve hot. :)