Indian Food

Can any one tell me some vegetable based indian dishes (for rice meal) and chicken or sea food Indian dishes recipes.


Or help me to find a person who can cook these dishes for my graduation party. But should be very reasonable price as I am still a student.

Easy chicken recipe



This dish goes under various names like chicken 65 and madras chicken - but the concept is the same



One kilo of skinless chicken cut into 3cm cubes

Chilli powder - 3 teaspoons -or more if you like it to be spicy

finely ground ginger paste - 2teaspoons

Cornstarch - 2-3tablespoons

Salt to taste

Oil for deepfrying.


Wash and dry the chicken pieces well - add chilli powder, ginger paste and the cornstarch and marinate min 3hours, or if possible overnight.


When you are ready to fry, heat oil in a pan, add salt to the chicken and fry until a nice golden red colour. Sometimes people add colouring - to make it look redder but you don't really need it.


Serve with lemon slices so that those who want can squeeze some lemon onto it.

Hi

Thanks. No need to any curry powder?

Acutally most indians i know don't use any such thing as 'curry powder'.

No - u don't need to use it.


Just be careful with the chilli powder as the strength varies from brand to brand.

I like my food to be spicy so i add generous qties.


Dhaal recipe


Split mung beans (yellow in colour) 1 cup

mustard seeds one tsp

cumin seeds 1 tsp

dried red chillies - 2

Fresh curry leaves -abt 10 leaflets

Big ripe tomatoes -2 (cut into 1cm cubes - don't drain the juices)

Red onion - one (sliced fine legthwise)

Fresh coriander - tthe tops of about two plants

Olive or any cooking oil

butter one tablespoon.

salt to taste



Wash and boil (15min) or pressure cook (5min) the dhaal with twice the qty of water until it is very well cooked and can be mashed with a spoon (pressure cooking is quicker)


Heat the oil in a pot that's big enough to hold all the dhaal.

Add the mustard seeds, cumin and dried chilli. The mustard seeds should pop and the chilli should darken in colour


Add the chopped onion and also the butter and fry until onions become brown at the edges

add curry leaves and fry for 5 seconds

add the tomatoes and a couple of pinches of salt

stir and cook till tomatoes soften a bit but not till they are too cooked.

While the tomatoes are cooking mash the dhaal

Add to the oil,onion tomato mix

Add salt to taste - and if it's too thick add some hot water till you have the desired consistency.

bring to boil and switch off after two minutes


Add the coriander leaves (washed and cut into two inch lehgths) and stir in immediately after you switch off the fire).


fresh curry leaves are important for this recipe - they are available at chung king mansions - once you buy them they can be washed and the water patted dry and stored in the freezer in ziploc bag. whenever you need them - take a bit from freezer immediately before throwing into the pot - if u leave them outside they become black and lose the flavour.

Here are a few easier recipes. Most of my other ones require hunting down of lots of ingredients.



Vegetable biriyani


Ingredients (serves 4)


225g basmati rice

55g peas

25g French beans - chopped

25g carrots - cubed

25g potatoes - cubed

25g green and red pepper - chopped

1 tsp tomato paste

2.5ml salt

2.5ml red chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala

1.25ml turmeric

55g finely chopped onions

2.5ml roasted cumin seeds

4 roasted chopped cashew nuts


Method

1. Rinse and cook the rice. Drain well.

2. Cube the carrots, potatoes, peppers and beans and cook in a saucepan of boiling water until soft. Add the tomato paste, salt, chillies, garam masala, turmeric and onions.

3. In an ovenproof dish place half the rice at the bottom of the dish, spread the vegetable mixture on top, then put the rest of the rice on top, spread it evenly.

4. Sprinkle the top with chopped cashew nuts and roasted cumin seeds, pinch of salt and red chilli powder.

5. Cover with foil and warm in an oven at 140C for 15 minutes before serving.



And if you want another side dish, other than the rice...


Bombay Potatoes


Ingredients (serves 4)

4 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

2 pinches of chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

350g potatoes, boiled and quartered

salt to taste


Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan on a medium heat setting.

2. Check that the oil is hot enough by sprinkling in a few mustard seeds. If they pop the oil is ready. Then add the remainder of the mustard seeds.

3. Add the chilli and turmeric powders to the frying seeds, and salt to taste.

4. Fry this mixture of oil and spices for 1 minute then add the potatoes. Fry for about 4 minutes until the potatoes are smothered in seeds and appear to have crispy edges. They will look quite yellow in colour. Cover the pan and on a low heat, cook the potatoes for another 5 minutes.

5. Serve right away.



And a drink for your friends...


Mango Lassi


Ingredients (makes two glasses)

1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped

150ml milk

175ml natural yogurt

2 tsp sugar


Method

1. Put all the ingredients into a blender and blitz them.

2. Pour into glasses and add some ice cubes.

yummm....thanks for all .I love to eat indian biriyani.

Could let me know some other easy cooking vegetable curry type dishes! I would like to suprise my Indian friends!

any chicken or sea food specials?

See this thread for a few more ideas.

http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/recipes/threads/92235.asp

Actually both recipes i've posted are really easy and quick. They are south indian recipes and not what you would normally eat in restaurants as most tend to serve a few standard north indian dishes.


They may look complicated - but they are aren't at all.


The only 'unusual' ingredient to find is the fresh curry leaves that are easily available, and easy to store for future use.


Both recipes work really well on non-indians and indians alike.


Here's one more vegetarian recipe with winter melon


You need


1 kilo of winter melon - deseaded peeled and cut into 2inch cubes

Onion - a teaspoon of finely chopped onions

1 red/green fresh chilly.

1 tsp cornstarch


1 cup natural yoghurt


2 or three dried chillies.

1/2tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

3 tablespoons of oil

fresh/frozen fresh curry leaves.



Put wintermelon cubes, onion and fresh chilli in a pot. Add enough water to cover the vegetable, add salt and boil for about 10 minutes till the vegetable is cooked and soft. While it is boiling add the cornstarch dissolved in a bit of water.


Once cooked - remove from fire - drain two thirds of the water out and allow to cool for 5 minutes.


Beat the yoghurt with a fork and add to the vegetables.


At this point you can transfer to your serving dish - check for salt and add more if necessary.


In a small shallow pan - heat oil - add the dried red chilli, add mustard seeds and the cumin (oil must be hot enough for the mustard seeds to pop)

Add about 10 frozen or fresh curry leaflets (take care as oil tends to splatter) - pour this mixture over the wintermelon and yoghurt.


It's one of my husband's favourites (i've tried it on europeans, chinese and indians - they all like it)- no matter how much i make of this he finishes it all in a go.


Normally eaten with rice.