Quinoa Salad

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is such a versatile ingredient.I love using Quinoa in different forms,my favorite use of quinoa is in salads,it adds a little texture and I like that you can get creative with it,by adding your favorite add ins!

I had an abundance of apples,pomegranate seeds and pecans at home,I wanted to incorporate all these ingredients and make a simple meal.I like the simplicity of this dish and this would be a perfect side for the Summer BBQ's.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 small Apple (diced)
• 1/4 cup Pomegranate Seeds
• 1/4 cup of Raisins ( you can use craisins instead of raisins) 
• A handful of Pecans (chopped)

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons of Honey ( I used raw organic honey-adjust to desired sweetness level)
• 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• Salt to taste

Method :

1. Take 1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa,wash it with a couple of changes of water.
2. Drain all the water.
3. Add 1 cup of water,a little salt and 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a Pot.( you can add your favorite broth too and cook the quinoa in broth if you like)
4. Bring the water to a boil,once the water reaches a boil add your quinoa.
5. Cook this on medium-low heat covered,till all your water evaporates and the quinoa is cooked.
6. Once the quinoa is cooked,spread the hot quinoa on a tray or big plate and let it cool down.
7. Add the diced apples,pomegranate seeds,raisins or craisins and pecans to the quinoa.
8. To make your dressing mix olive oil and honey till they are both combined,then add the lemon juice and mix well.Add salt to taste and pour this dressing over the salad.

Tip :

• If you like more dressing,you can add your favorite dressing to it,my favorite dressing is the organic lemon seasame dressing and I love adding that to my salad!

Meatball Curry

Meatball Curry is our household favorite dish,the homemade meatballs take this curry to the next level.Making the meatballs is definitely a labor of love,and totally worth it!

My grandmother makes this curry with her sweet pulav rice and my mother-in-law makes meatball curry with her kichidi pulav,and they both are a delicious combination.Every year for my husband's birthday I make meatball curry and kichidi pulav and that's his favorite comfort food.

Ingredients :-

1lb Ground Meat (use meat of your choice)

To be ground :-

• 1 small Onion
• 2 Green Chillies ( adjust to spice level)
• 1 inch Ginger
• 6 Flakes of Garlic
• 6 Mint leaves
• 8 tender stalks of Cilantro Leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 3 Dried Red Chillies or 1/2 teaspoon Chilly Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper powder or 6 Pepper Corns
• Salt to taste

Method (to make meatballs)

1. Heat a teaspoon of oil and  saute the onions till they are translucent.
2. Add the ginger and garlic and saute till they are cooked.
3. Add the fresh herbs,green chillies and the spice powders and all the ingredients included in the "to be ground" section,and cook it till the spices are nicely cooked.
4. Once cooked,Grind the cooked ingredients without adding water (if it does not grind,add a tablespoon of water) to a fine paste.
5. Add this ground masala to the ground meat and mix it well.
6. Take a little quantity of ground meat and make tight meatballs,as big as a lemon and keep aside.

Ingredients for the curry :

• 1 Large Onion (finely chopped)
• 1 Medium Ripe Tomato (finely chopped)
• 2 Green Chillies (adjust to spice level)
• 1 inch Ginger (finely chopped)
• 6 Flakes of Garlic (finely chopped)
• 12 Mint leaves (if using tender stalks add only 6)
• 12 Stalks of tender Cilantro Leaves
• 6 Curry Leaves
• 1 inch Cinnamom
• 4 Cloves
• 2 Green Cardamom Pods 
• 1/2 teaspoon Chilly Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
• 2 teaspoon Corriander Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
• 1/4 cup of thick Coconut Milk
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tablespoon of Oil
• 1 and half cups of water

Method for making the Meatball Curry:

1. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a heavy based pot on medium heat,when the oil is heated,add the whole spices (cinnamom,cloves and cardamom) Saute the whole spices for a minute.
2. Add the Curry leaves and saute for a quick minute.
3. Add the chopped onions and saute them till they become translucent.
4. Add the chopped ginger and garlic,and saute this till the raw smell is gone.
5. Add the fresh herbs (cilantro and mint leaves).Saute this for another minute.
6. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste.
7. Add all the spice powders (chilly,turmeric,cumin,coriander and garam masala).
8. Saute this mixture,till your powders are cooked (saute this for a good 5 minutes).If the mixture sticks to the bottom of your pot,you can add a little water and continue to cook. (I usually like to transfer this masala in the blender and make a fine paste and then transfer it back to the pot,this is an optional step)
9. In another pot,boil a cup and half water.Once it is boiled,add the water to the masala.
10. Add your meatballs one by one to this curry,make sure your meatballs are far apart and do not use a ladle or spoon,or stir the curry when you add your meatballs,otherwise your meatballs will break or mash)
11. Cover your pot with a fitted lid and cook your meatballs in the curry for a good 15 to 20 minutes,until your meatballs have cooked.(to check whether your meatball is fulled cooked,take a meatball and cut it open,if its brown on the inside its cooked fully,if you see any pink spots,it needs to cook more)
12. Once the meatballs have cooked,add 1/4 cup of coconut milk,bring it to a boil and turn off the heat.
    
    Tip :
    
    • You can add potatoes to your curry,and boil them along with the meatballs.

Mutton Curry (Meat Curry)

This is my grandmother's simple mutton curry recipe,the meat is cooked
with mild spices and a ton of fresh herbs (cilantro and mint leaves).I love
the simplicity of this curry,the freshly ground masala adds to the rustic
taste,reminding me of home and home cooked meals!

Ingredients:-

• 1lb Mutton ( I used goat's meat)
• 2 Large Onions ( Sliced)
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

To be ground :-

• 2 Green Chillies (adjust to desired spice level)
• 6 Flakes of Garlic
• 1 inch Ginger (chopped)
• 4 Curry Leaves
• 10 Mint Leaves (I added tender stalks and the leaves)
• 12 tender stalks of Cilantro Leaves
• 1 teaspoon Chilly Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Pepper Powder
• 1 teaspoon Poppy Seeds
• 1 large ripe Tomato
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash the meat,strain the water,pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Add turmeric powder and salt.Keep it aside.
3. Grind all the ingredients in the "to be ground section"to a fine paste.Remove the masala and add a little water in the blender and save the masala water.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wide based pressure cooker,when the oil is heated add the sliced onions and fry till they reach a nice golden brown color.
5. Add the meat and stir fry it for few minutes till it gets a nice sear.Stir it every once in a while so that it doesn’t stick to the pressure cooker.
6. Add the ground masala to the meat,along with the masala water,make sure the meat is immersed in the liquid,allow it to boil,and then cover and pressure cook until 4-5 whistles (till your meat is cooked)
7. Once the pressure cooker has been turned off and the pressure has been removed,you can open the cooker and turn it back on the heat and heat the curry on high if you want a thicker gravy.
8. Enjoy the curry with a cup of steaming hot rice or any Indian flat bread.

Meat Chops (Mutton Chops)

This is my mother-in-law's recipe and is fondly called Jolly fry! It is a simple recipe,with very little prep time and the end result is a finger licking dish!It is a fantastic side dish accompanied with a steaming cup of rice and a simple rasam or tomato saar.

 

Ingredients :
1lb of Mutton Chops (I used goat's meat,you can also use chicken,beef or meat of your choice)

For Marination:

• I tablespoon of Vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of Ginger and Garlic paste
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• Salt to taste

For cooking the meat:

• 1 teaspoon pepper corns
• 4-6 small dried red chillies,broken into bits ( adjust to spice level)
• 1 inch piece of Cinnamom
• 4-5 cloves
• 2 green cardamom pods
• 1-2 small potatoes (peeled and chopped into chunks)
• 1 tablespoon of Oil
• 1 and half cups of water

Method :

1. Wash the meat and pat it dry with a paper towel.
2. Marinate the meat with vinegar,turmeric powder,ginger.garlic paste and salt and set aside for 30 minutes.
3. In a pressure cooker add oil,when the oil is heated add your marinated meat.Sear it,to a nice golden brown on all sides.
4. Add the whole spices ( cinnamon,cardamom and cloves).Give this a quick stir.
5. Add your pepper-corns and dried red chillies
6. Add 1 and half cups of water and pressure cook for 4-5 whistles (until your meat is tender)
7. Once the meat is pressure cooked,and the pressure cooker has cooled down,open the pressure cooker and add the potatoes and cook the potatoes in the meat broth.
8. Once the potatoes are cooked, turn the heat to a medium-high and saute the meat and potatoes until all the broth evaporates and you get a dry meat chops dish,your meat and potatoes do char a little bit,that enhances the flavor of the meat and potatoes.

Apple Cake

The first time I had apple cake was at a friend's house,and it was delicious.I came home thought about the cake,talked about the cake and also dreamt about the cake,yes it was that good! This is a very simple recipe,with little prep time and the cake bakes in 30 minutes,I love the fact that its dairy free and I'm thinking of making this again over the thanksgiving holiday.

The cake batter is not like your typically batter,it is dense and you are going to need to really give it a good couple of stirs to incorporate all the ingredients.

Recipe Source :
Thanks to Nicole!
http://www.applerecipes.us/apple-cake.html

Ingredients:

• 2 cups diced apples
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1 cup sugar (you can add 1/2 cup,adjust to desired sweetness level)
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt

Method :

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; Mix all the ingredients till they are well incorporated.
3. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes; remove from cake pan and cool completely.
   

Mutton Biryani (Rice and meat cooked with fresh herbs)

 Biryani is a rice based dish, the rice and the meat are cooked with whole aromatic spices and a lot of herbs mainly fresh cilantro leaves and mint leaves.The end result is a dish layered with flavor and aroma that will fill every room in your house!

My mother-in-law is the iron chef when it comes to making perfect biryani,
whether it is cooking for 2 or 20,she makes the art of making the perfect biryani seem effortless and easy! I've learnt a lot of my briyani making techniques from her and hope to achieve her perfection someday!

Every Sunday my mother made biryani,sweet raisin chutney and raita.The combination of the three was delicious.I have such fond memories of Sunday lunches and remember how everyone (including my grandparents) would gather round the table and it would be a nice lunch followed by an Indian movie.I'm trying to re-create the magic for my family and nothing compares to a good biryani!

Ingredients :

• 2 cups Basamati Rice
• 1 lb Mutton ( I used goat's meat,you can also use chicken)
• 2 big Onions ( finely sliced)
• 2 medium sized Tomatoes (finely chopped)
• 1 and half cups Cilantro leaves (finely chopped)
• 1 cup of Mint leaves (finely chopped)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of Ginger-Garlic paste
• 6 Cloves
• 4 Green Cardamom Pods
• 2 Black Cardamom Pods
• 2 Cinnamon sticks ( one inch each)
• 1 Star Anise (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon Chilly powder
• 2 teaspoon Corriander powder
• 2 teaspoon Cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Pepper powder
• 2 Green Chillies-Slit (add more if you want it spicier, adjust to taste)
• 3 tablespoons of Oil

Method :

1. Wash the rice with couple of changes of water and soak the rice and set it aside for 10-15 minutes.(Discard the water after 10-15 minutes)
2. Wash the meat,drain all the water and set it aside.
3. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a big pressure cooker.
4. When the oil is heated add all your whole spices (cinnamon,cardamom,
   cloves and star anise)Fry this for a minute.
5. Add the onions and saute them till they are translucent.
6. Add the garlic and ginger paste and saute till the raw smell of garlic and ginger is gone.
7. Add the mint leaves and the cilantro leaves and saute this mixture for another minute.
8. Add the green chillies ( adjust this to taste,I used two)
9. Add the tomatoes and salt and cook till the tomatoes become mushy.
10. Add the spice powers (chilly,turmeric,coriander,cumin and pepper to taste)
11. Saute this masala till its cooked well.
12. Add the meat and stir till the meat and the spices get incorporated.
13. Add enough water to cover the meat and pressure cook the meat for 4-5 whistles (my meat wasn't very tender so I needed to pressure cook it for 4-5 whistles,if you are using tender meat then you can pressure cook it for fewer whistles.If you are using chicken you need not pressure cook the meat)
14. Once the meat is pressure cooked,if there is excess gravy you can take out the excess gravy and leave only the meat pieces.
15. Add hot water to your gravy and make it 4 cups (this needs to be the consistency of water,so that your rice can cook evenly,by adding water to the gravy you are making a broth for the rice to cook in.This makes the rice flavorful)
16. Keep this broth aside,we will use it in a minute.
17. In a heavy based pan,or your biryani vessel add the meat and masala(I usually like to transfer my Meat and Masala to another heavy based pan,with a fitted glass lid,I like to peek and see how it is cooking,without having to actually lift the lid)
18. Add the rice and fry the rice for a minute with the meat and the masala.
19. Add the 4 cups of the  hot broth (that you made using the gravy)to the rice and meat and bring it to a boil (check for the salt by tasting the broth,the broth needs to taste a little salty)
20. Once it reaches a boil,lower the heat and cover the pan,with a fitted lid (do not pressure cook the rice)
21. Cook this till the water is evaporated and the rice is cooked ( will take approximately 20 minutes)
22. Stir in between once and cover and  cook (make sure the lid is fitted and does not let any steam out)
23. Serve it hot and Enjoy with a side of raita (cucumber salad)
24. Garnish with caramelized onions.
25. Garnish with fresh mint and cilantro leaves.(optional)
    
    Tip :
    
    • I also cook my biryani in my rice cooker (not a pressure cooker) and the time may vary depending on the brand and kind of rice cooker,If you are going to make it in the rice cooker,I usually stop cooking the biryani,when the rice cooker has 12 minutes left on it.(keep in mind,that my rice cooker and yours may not be the same)
    • If you want to make the biryani semi-homemade,instead of adding all the spice powders you can use half a packet or whole packet
      (depending on your spice level) of the mothers recipe biryani masala (or your favorite brand).
    • If you are using the packet,you still need to add the fresh herbs (cilantro & mint leaves),Onions,Tomatoes and the half the whole spices(cardamom,cloves,cinnamon)to give it that home-made,back home taste!
    • I know this is a really lengthy post,please feel free to message me if you have any questions!
      
      
      
      I'm taking part in the cooking with seeds (CWS)-event,hosted by The Big Sweet Tooth here.

      
      

Cardamom Chai (Cardamom Tea)

Cardamom has a unique taste,with an intensely aromatic,resinous fragrance.In South Asia green cardamom is often used in traditional Indian sweets and in Spiced Teas (Masala Chai). {source Wikipedia}

 We saw our first snow of the season yesterday,its the start of the winter and the long cold nights have begun.There is nothing more comforting than a hot cup of tea, to warm your soul and enjoy the beauty of the winter from the comfort of a

nicely heated home!

Makes two cups of Cardamom Chai (Tea).

Ingredients :

• 6 Green Cardamom Pods
• 2 Heaping Teaspoons of Tea Leaves
• 2 Cups of Water
• 1/2 Cup of Whole Milk
• Sugar to taste

Method :

1. In a sauce pan,add two cups of water and the cardamom pods.
2. Cover the sauce pan and bring the water to a boil.
3. Turn off the heat,add the tea leaves and cover your sauce pan (let the tea leaves steep for a nice long minute or two)
4. In another sauce pan or microwave heat your milk.
5. Add the heated milk to the tea.
6. Strain the tea using a  tea-strainer.
7. Add sugar to taste.Enjoy!
   
   Tip :
   
   • To make this tea a ginger-cardamom chai (tea),add 1 tablespoon of crushed ginger to the water,along with the cardamom pods and bring it to a boil,add your tea leaves,warm milk and strain.
   • For a more intense cardamom flavor,you can crush your cardamom pods,when you crush your cardamom pods,the skin and seeds will separate,add both the skin and the seeds to the boiling water.