Aayi’s Recipes Konkan/Konkani food blog, Indian culinary treasures

It is very rare to get good Indian food here. We have many Indian restaurants, but food quality is very inconsistent. If we like the food once and go there hoping for good food, we get totally disappointed next time. Recently V took me to a restaurant which I never had been before. I had heard some bad reviews about this one, so I was not very keen. But he kept on insisting. Well, I was really bowled over by the flavors. They had one of the best butter chickens I have tasted in US. Another dish I loved most was their Methi chicken. I kept on eating till I could not take in one more morsel of food. I was back in this restaurant within one week with my colleagues and they enjoyed the food too. The thing I loved most about these dishes was – they didn’t have cream in them(even if they had, it was not overpowering). I don’t like creamy-gooey curries served in restaurants here.

Now, I had that methi chicken taste lingering in my mouth. I had to try recreating it at home. It was not exactly like the one we tasted at the restaurant, but very very flavorful. One of my best experiments, I must say. The taste kept on increasing as time passed. The aroma is so intoxicating. Give it a try and you will love it.

Ingredients:
0.6 lb (0.27kgs) chicken
1 tea spn ginger-garlic paste
1 and 1/2 cups chopped tomato
1 cup roughly chopped onion + 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tbl spn finely chopped fresh/frozen methi(fenugreek) leaves
1 tea spn chilli powder
Oil
Salt
Spices -
4 cloves
1″ cinnamon
1/2 tea spn poppy seeds(khus khus)
1/4 tea spn methi seeds
1/2 tea spn coriander seeds
1/2 tea spn cumin seeds

Method:
Apply ginger-garlic paste to chicken pieces and keep them aside.
Heat oil and all the spices. Take care not to burn any of them.
Add 1 cup roughly chopped onion and fry till they turn brownish. Now add tomatoes, salt, chilli powder. Cook till tomatoes are tender. Grind to a smooth paste.
Heat oil and add finely chopped onion. Add chicken pieces and methi leaves. Fry for about 2 mins.
Now add the ground paste. Cook till completely done. If required, add water to bring to required consistency.

Serves : 3-4
Preparation time : 20mins

PS: Increase onions, tomatoes for more gravy.

Weather is getting cold here. So one of the things that I make frequently these days is this hearty vegetable and barley soup. I kept on modifying it till I got something that we both really enjoy. This is so filling that, we sometimes skip dinner after this.

Ingredients:
2 cups vegetables – potatoes, green beans, carrots, zucchini
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup fresh chopped spinach
1 tea spn finely chopped ginger
1/2 tea spn finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup barley
1/2 tea spn dried basil
1/4 cup tomato
2 bay leaves
1/2 tea spn red pepper flakes
Pepper
1 tea spn butter
Salt

Method:
Heat butter and bay leaves, ginger, garlic and onion. Fry for few minutes and add all the vegetables. Fry them for a minute.
Now add chopped spinach, barley, salt, tomato, red pepper flakes, 2-3 cups water.
Cook till all the vegetables and barley is done. I cook it in pressure cooker.
Now add basil, pepper and cook for about a minute.
Serve hot.

Serves : 3-4
Preparation time : 30mins

Most of the people like to plan way ahead for dinner/lunch. Somehow, that never worked with me. So most of the time, I end up combining some unusual ingredients to make a dish. This was one such combination that I had never seen before.

I use bottlegourd (lauki/gardudde) a lot these days. I wanted to make something different with this vegetable. I thought of pairing it with something else. All the beans that I had in pantry needed soaking, then I saw black eyed peas (alsando). I am a big fan of these beans as they don’t need soaking. Taste wise also, I have always loved them. So I combined both into a standard sidedish that I make with different combinations. It came out great.

Just before posting today, I googled for these two ingredients and ended up at Sia’s blog. Check out Sia’s version too.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup black eyed peas(alsande)
2 cups bottle gourd chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup onion
1/2 cup tomato
1 tea spn chilli powder
1/2 tea spn kolhapuri masala or garam masala
1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
4-5 curry leaves
Oil
Salt

Method:
Cook black eyed peas in cooker till done.
Heat oil and add mustard, cumin seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves, onion. When they turn brownish, add bottlegourd, a little water and let it cook. Now add tomatoes, cooked peas.
Add salt, chilli powder, kolhapuri masala/garam masala. Cook for few minutes.
Serve hot.

Serves : 2-3
Preparation time : 30mins