Aloo masala is a nice compliment for any kind of dosa. The Aloo Masala can be rolled in the dosa or served as a side dish.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 2 large potatoes
• 1 tablespoon oil
• Pinch of asafetida (Hing)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (Rai)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (Haldi)
• 1 finely chopped green chili (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Method

1. Boiled the potatoes until they are soft and let cool.
2. Peel and chop the potatoes in small pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil. If it cracks right away, the oil is ready.
4. Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and asafetida. As the seeds crack, add turmeric, potatoes, green chili, and salt.
5. Stir-fry for a few minutes.
6. Add lemon juice and cilantro.
7. The potatoes should be slightly moist and not very dry.
8. Serve hot.

Variations

Try adding 2 tablespoons of shredded carrots and 1/8 cup of green peas to potato mixture.

Aloo baingan (potato and eggplant) is a great main dish. It’s easy to make and can be served with any bread.

This recipe serves 3 to 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium purple eggplant (baingan), un-peeled, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 2 medium russet potatoes (aloo), peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 4 medium tomatoes (tamatar) cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• Pinch of asafetida (hing)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1 chopped green chili adjust to taste
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste (adrek)
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika (dagi mirch)
• 1 teaspoon salt, adjust to taste
• 2 tablespoons water

Also needed:

• Oil to fry

Method

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
2. Frying pan should have at least 1 1/2 inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one piece of potato in the oil. The potato should sizzle right away. If vegetables are fried in low heat they will be very oily.
3. Fry the potatoes till they are cooked through, turn the potatoes few times while frying. Take out potatoes with a slotted spoon (this allows excess oil to drip back into the frying pan) and place on a paper towel.
4. Test the oil again with a piece of eggplant. Fry the eggplant pieces same way.
5. In a small bowl, mix the shredded ginger, green pepper, coriander powder, paprika, turmeric, and 2 tablespoons of water to make a paste.
6. Heat the 1-tablespoon of oil in a pan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready.
7. Add cumin seeds and asafetida after seeds crack add the spice mixture and stir-fry for a minute until you see the oil start to separate from the spice mixture.
8. Add chopped tomatoes stir-fry for a minute.
9. Add fried potatoes and eggplant mix it gently, let it simmer for three to four minute on medium low heat.
10. Subji should be not very dry if needed add three to four spoons of water.
11. Turn off the heat and add chopped cilantro mix it well.
12. Left over makes great sandwiches
13. Enjoy!

This is an exotic delicious main dish. Just the smell of aloo dum can make you hungry! To make this dish, potatoes are fried and then soaked in the spicy aromatic gravy. This is a perfect dish for any dinner party.

Recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium size russet potatoes
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
• 1/8 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
• 1 tablespoon gram flour (basen)
• 6 whole red chili
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon coconut powder
• 1/4  inch of ginger
• 1 green chili adjust to taste
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)
• 1 tablespoon funnel seed powder (saunf)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder adjust to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika (dagi or kashmiri mirch)
• 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 1/2  garam masala
• about 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
• oil to fry

Method:

1. Peeled and cut the potatoes into ½” cubes.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
3. Frying pan should have at least 1inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one piece of potato in the oil. The potato should sizzle right away. If potatoes are fried on low heat they will be very oily.
4. Fry the potatoes till they are cooked through; turn the potatoes few times while frying. Take out potatoes with a slotted spoon (this allows excess oil to drip back into the frying pan) and place on a paper towel. Keep aside.
5. Heat the pan on medium heat and stir-fry the sesame seeds for about a minute until seeds lightly change color. Take them out and keep aside.
6. Blend sesame seeds, coconut, ginger, green chili, and make it into a paste. Use water as needed to blend into paste.
7. In a small bowl mix, sesame paste, yogurt, ginger, green chili, coriander powder, funnels seed powder, paprika, red chili powder, and turmeric into a paste. Keep aside.
8. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready.
9. Add the cumin asafetida and cumin seeds. After the cumin seeds crack, add whole red chili and besan (gram flour). Stir-fry for about half a minute until the besan (gram flour) is golden-brown.
10. Add the spice paste and stir-fry for about 2 minutes on medium heat until the spices starts to separate from the oil.
11. Add the potatoes, mix it well and add about 1cup of water. After the gravy boils, let it cook on low-medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Adjust the water in gravy to your liking.
12. Add the cilantro and garam masala cover the pan and turn off the heat. Let it sit for few minutes before taking of the cover. This helps bringing the color on the top of the dish.
13. Serve with any bread.

Aloo Gobi is a delicious main dish made with potatoes, cauliflower, and a great blend of spices. Aloo Gobi can be served with various breads, such as rotis, parathas, and puris.

Serves between 2-4 people.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of cut cauliflower (cut into small florets)
• 2 medium potatoes (cubed into bite sized pieces)
• 1/2 inch shredded ginger
• 3 teaspoons coriander powder (dhania)
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper ( lal mirch)
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons oil
• Pinch of Asafetida (Hing)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2 green chilies, sliced in long pieces
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
• 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro (green coriander)
• 1/4 cup water as needed

Method:

1. In a small bowl, mix the shredded ginger, coriander powder, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and 3 tablespoons of water to make a paste.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Test the heat by adding one cummin seed to the oil; if seed crack right away oil is ready.
3. Add hing and cumin seeds to the oil after seeds crack add the bay leaves and green chilies and stir for a few seconds.
4. Next, add the spice paste and stir for a minute until spices start leaving the oil.
5. Add cauliflower, potatoes, 2 tablespoons of water and salt. Mix well. Cover the pan and let it cook on medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Make sure to stir gently every 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Lastly, add the mango powder and fresh cilantro (green coriander). Mix everything and cover for a minute. Adjust the salt to your taste.

Variations:

Add some green peas and/or sliced red bell peppers. The red bell peppers should be added at the end of the recipe as they cook quickly.

Tips:

Making a paste with the spices will prevent the spices from burning.

Baingan Bharta is mashed eggplant cooked with spiced tomato very flavorful dish. Traditionally bharta is made with charcoal roasted eggplant but I have adopted it to the modern kitchen. This is a very popular dish in Punjab usually served with roti.

Recipe will serve 2 to 3.

Ingredients:

• 1 Eggplant (should be big and fat)
• 2 medium size tomatoes
• 1/2 cup green chopped red bell pepper (capsicum)
• 1 green chili
• 1/4  inch piece of ginger
• 3 tablespoons oil
• Pinch of asafetida
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2  teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2  teaspoon red chili
• 1 teaspoon sat adjust to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro to garnish

Method:

1. Cook the whole eggplant (put it on a microwave safe dish) in microwave for 8 to 10 minutes until it is tender. If you are using an oven, preheat the oven at 400 degrees F and bake it for about 45 minutes turning the sides every fifteen minutes. Be sure to first put the eggplant in an oven safe shallow bowl or a cookie sheet.
2. Let it cool and peel off the skin then chop the eggplant in small pieces and keep aside.
3. Blend the tomatoes, ginger and green chili.
4. Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium high and stir fry the bell pepper for about a minute. Take out the bell pepper from pan and keep aside.
5. Use the same saucepan with remaining oil heat the oil little more. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away it is ready. Add asafetida and cumin seed.
6. After cumin seeds crack, add tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, red chili, and salt and let it cook for a few minutes until tomato puree has started leaving the oil.
7. Add eggplant let it cook on medium heat keep stirring the eggplant and mashing the eggplant as it cooks.
8. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes.
9. Add bell pepper, fresh cilantro, and garam masala to the eggplant and mix it gently.
10. Bharta is ready serve hot with rotis, parathas, or naan. Enjoy!

Bhindi (Okra) saute with spices is a delicious main course vegetable dish.

Serves 2 to 3.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb okra (bhindi)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
• Pinch of asafetida (hing)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
• 1 tablespoon gram flour (besan) (optional)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper

Method:

Wash the okra and pat dry. Make sure to completely dry the okra as wet okra will be sticky when cutting.

 Cut off the both ends of the okra, and slice lengthwise in halves. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Test the heat by adding one cummin seed to the oil; if seed crack right away oil is ready.

Add the cumin seeds and asafetida (hing). When the cumin seeds crack, add the okra.

Stir for a minute and reduce the heat to medium.

Cover the okra for two to three minutes.

Remove the cover and add the coriander powder, red cayenne pepper and turmeric.

Next add gram flour (besan) and continue to stir-fry until the okra is tender. Add the salt, mango powder and bell peppers, cook for another minute. Salt is added last to avoid the okra becoming lacy.

Variations:

1. Adding colorful bell pepper is a great garnish for the okra and adds flavor to the dish.
2. You can substitute the bell pepper with sliced tomatoes as a garnish.
3. You can also slice the okra in 1/4 inch pieces and follow the same method above.

Koftas are fried dumplings in a variety of spicy gravies. The dumplings can be made using a variety of vegetables and some popular ones are cabbage, laucki (bottle  guard), zucchini, or a potato-paneer mix. This particular recipe uses cabbage.

Recipe serves will 4.

Ingredients:
For Koftas (dumpling):

• 2 cup shredded cabbage (patha gobhi)
• 3/4 cup gram flour or as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
• 2 teaspoon chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
• 1 teaspoon shredded ginger
• 1 chopped green chili
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Oil to fry

Gravy:

• 3 medium tomatoes
• 1/2 inch ginger (adrak)
• 1 green chili
• 2 tablespoon yogurt
• 2 tablespoon oil
• Pinch asafetida (hing)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
• 1 tablespoon gram flour (basen)
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
• 2 tablespoon finally chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Method:
Koftas (dumpling):

1. Mix together all the kofta (dumpling) ingredients. Adjust gram flour (besen) as needed to make a texture of very soft dough. Note: make this mix just before you are ready to fry the kofta otherwise it will become watery.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat.
3. The frying pan should have at least 1½ inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, just put one small piece of the mix in the oil, it should sizzle and come up right away.
4. Slowly drop about 1 tablespoon of the dumpling mixture into the frying pan one at a time.
5. Fry the koftas (dumpling mix) in small batches, avoid overcrowding the frying pan.
6. Turn the koftas occasionally. Fry the koftas until they turn golden-brown all around.

Gravy:

1. Blend the tomatoes, green chilies and ginger to make a puree. If you prefer a milder version, take the seeds out of the green chili before blending.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium-high. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away oil is ready.
3. Add the asafetida, cumin seeds and gram flour (basen). Stir-fry for a minutes.
4. Add the tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, paprika, and cook on medium heat until the tomato mixture starts leaving the oil and reduces to about half in quantity.
5. Next add yogurt and cook for another minute.
6. Add about 1½ cups of water and the salt. As it comes to boil reduce the heat to medium-low and let the gravy cook for few minutes.
   Note: adjust the thickness of the gravy to your taste by adjusting the water.
7. Add the prepared koftas and let it simmer for another 7 to 8 minutes.
8. Turn of the heat and add the cilantro and cover the pot.

Variations:
Using the same recipe you can make these koftas replacing cabbage with laucki (bottle guard) or zucchini.

Tips:
Koftas can be refrigerated for 5 days or freeze for a month.

Bund gobi with matar is a delicious main dish with mild spices, which is a nice compliment to any meal, simple and easy recipe to make.

Serves 3 to 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of cabbage slice into fine long shreds (discard the stalk and thick stems)
• 1 1/4  cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Pinch of asafetida (hing)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1/2  teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
• 2 green chilis half the way slit
• 1/4  teaspoon ground turmeric (haldi)
• 1/4  teaspoon cayenne pepper (lal mirch)
• 3/4  teaspoon salt
• 1/4  teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (hara dhania)

Method:

1. Heat the oil on medium high in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready.
2. Add asafetida, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds after seeds crack add green peas and green chilies, stir for a few seconds.
3. Add the cabbage, turmeric, cayenne pepper, sugar, and salt. Mix well.
4. Cover the pan and let it cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes until the cabbage is tender. Occasionally stir it. Turn the heat off when done.
5. Next add the lemon and cilantro.
6. Serve hot.

Chickpeas and spinach is a great combination and a healthy, protein rich dish. Chickpeas immersed with spicy spinach gravy. This dish can be served with roti, naan or any other bread.

Recipe will serve 2 to 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 15oz can of chickpea (chole, garbanzo)
• 3 cups finely chopped spinach (palak)
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 1/2″piece ginger (adrak)
• 1 green chili
• 3 tablespoon oil
• 1/4 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper adjust to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Method:

1. Drain the liquid out of the chickpeas and rince the chick peas well.
2. Blend the tomatoes, green chilies, and ginger to make a puree.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready.
4. Add the asafetida and cumin seeds.
5. After the cumin seeds crack, add the tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, red chili powder and cook for about 4 minutes on medium heat.
6. Tomato mixture will start leaving the oil and will reduce to about half in quantity.
7. Add spinach, and salt and one half cup of water and let it cook covered for 4 to 5 minutes on medium heat covered.
8. Add the chickpeas and mash them lightly with a spatula so they soften Note: add more water as needed to keep the gravy consistency to your liking, and let it cook on low heat for 7 to 8 minutes.
9. Add the garam masala and let it cook for another minute.

Green beans and peas is healthy side dish with mild spices, which nicely compliments kadhi or any dal.

Recipe serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups or 16 oz frozen French cut green beans
• 2 cups or 6 oz frozen green peas
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Pinch asafetida (hing)
• 2 teaspoons cumin seed (jeera)
• 5 red chilies (lal mirch)
• 2 tablespoons washed urad dal
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder (dhania)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice adjust to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium-high heat. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil. If the cumin seed cracks right away, the oil is ready.
2. When the cumin seeds crack, add hing, red chilies and urad dal.
3. Stir-fry for half a minute, stop if the urad dal changes color.
4. Add green beans and peas, mix it well, and cover the pan. Turn down the heat to medium.
5. Let it cook for five to six minutes until the peas and beans are lightly tender. Do stir once in between.
6. Remove the cover and add the coriander powder, salt, and turmeric.
7. Let beans and peas cook without cover to allow the water to evaporate, this way the beans don’t become mushy. Stir the beans occasionally. Beans and peas should be lightly moist.
8. After turning of the heat add lemon juice.

Suggestions

1. Urad dal can be replaced with washed moong or chana dal.
2. Use as a filling to grilled sandwiches.