tawa pulao, a tried & tasted dish !

In this blogosphere, more or less we all know this month is the tried & tasted dishes from the very vibrant AIPI's blog,the usmasala chef :),I am overwhelmed to try some of the dishes from one of my favourite blogs,i  have been eyeing her blog for an year now but really never had a chance to make , now im njoying this since i have a wonderful opputurnity to make all those bookmarked recipes and will definately not let it go..:).So here is my first dish ,tawa pulao ,i tried this as in the past i never  made this pulao and was very keen to try a different flavoured rice and was really looking forward to know how a rice would taste with our very favourite and authentic street food ,paav bhaji masala.And to be very honest i just njoyed every grain of this pulao.Mmmmm still my mouth is watering with the flavour of the fantabulous multi-spiced paav bhaji masala...yumm !Thanx Aipi for sharing such wonderful and deluctable dishes with us and needless to say im sending this pulao to Priya for hosting T&T event which was started by Zlamushkha and now owned by Lakshmi.

original recipe is here.
approx for 2-3 ppl

ingredients :

2 cups basmati rice

1 cup mix veggies (  potatoes,carrot,brinjal,beans,cauliflower,peas ,capsicum etc)
1 tsp red chilli pwd
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
2-3 tsp store bought paav bhaji masala (i used everest, adjust acc to your taste )
2 tbsp oil
a pinch if hing/asafoetida
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
2 tsp ginger -garlic paste
salt to taste
lemon juice to taste
chopped corriander leaves for garnishing

method :
Cook rice and spread it ( the grains should be seperated ),let it cool down.Meanwhile heat oil,splutter cumin seeds,add hing,onions,salt and turmeric powder.Fry onions till transparentadd ginger garlic paste,tomatoes.Cook for few mins,add all the veggies and cook till tender.Add red chilli pwd and paav bhaji masala and fry for 2 mins,then add rice and mix well.Squeeze in some lemon juice and cover and cook rice for few mins.Turn off the flame ,garnish with corriander and serve hot !

aaloo do pyaaza

The name itself says everything....a potato and 2 onions ,which are very common ingredients in almost every homes ,a very simple dish with less ingredients .It gives a tinge of chinese flavour with the sauces used and is a combination of  salty,sour,sweet and hot ,basically an ultimate blend of aromatic flavours.This dish was introduced to me by my co-sister and now its very common in my kitchen,i and my hubby we both luv this simple potato and onion fry which is having a different authentic flavour of its own.Thanx Tisha for this wonderful recipe .Linking this to bookmarked recipes-every tuesday event started by priya and co-hosted by aipi,also to anyone can cook series started by taste of pearl city.

approx for 2 ppl

ingredients :

1 large boiled potato

2 large onions finely sliced

1 green chilli ,slit lengthwise

2 tsp soya sauce

2tsp chilli sauce ( pls adjust acc to taste )

2 tsp tomato ketchup

salt to taste

red chilli pwd to taste

black pepper pwd to taste

3-4 tbsp oil

method :

Peel the boiled potato,cut into cubes.Heat oil,fry potato pieces on high flame for 3-5 mins,sprinkle salt and pepper pwd, remove the pieces and keep it aside.In the remaining oil,add green chilli and fry onions till translucent,add potatoes.Mix soya sauce,chilli sauce and tomato ketch up together and add in onions and potatoes.Sprinkle salt and red chilli pwd,mix well,simmer for a while and serve hot with rotis/naans/parathas.

banana-choclate muffins

I am not fond of bananas but i definately love the flavour of this high calorie fruit in muffins,breads & cakes,it really gives a beautiful aroma and  is a fantastic replacement for eggs.Though have not used much of banana puree for my baking goodies but my earlier banana bread post was surely a hit.I actually had a fully ripened huge banana left and wanted to use it as soon as possible or else i had to throw it ,which i am strongly against and so to avoid all this i jumped on my (new..yes ,finally i got one..yay! im sooo happy) laptop to hunt an eggless banana muffin recipe,there i landed upon jayashree's space and my eyes caught on this recipe,which i found was very clear,easy , few ingredients to use,also the best part was she had used chocolate powder which is my all time favourite ingredient and i blindly can use anywhere :P and so without spending a minute i went into my kitchen and tried this  recipe immediately.Now the best part of this muffins is that being eggless also it was super moist and soft as she said in her post and was just perfect,i never ever imagined that an eggless muffin would ever turn out this good ! thank u jayashree for sharing such a wonderful eggless banana choclate muffin.

recipe source : spice & curry
dry ingredients :
11/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup chocolate/cocoa pwd ( i used drinking chocolate )
11/2 tsp baking soda
wet ingredients :
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup yogurt at room tempereature
1 cup mashed riped banana / banana pulp
method :
Sieve all the dry ingredients together for 2-3 times and keep it aside.Mix butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl,add vanilla essence and yogurt.Mix well.Add mashed banana and mix thoroughly.Fold in dry ingredients and mix well till no lumps.Grease the muffin trays or line the muffin trays and fill 3/4 th cup of the mixture .Bake in a preheated oven at 175c for 20 mins .( keep checking time varies from oven to oven ,can check by inserting a toothpick/skewers in the muffins,if it comes out  clean tht means its done. ).Cool it down for few mins and remove from the muffin trays and njoy eating !

korma rice

A big apologise from me as i was irregular and unable to blog and visit my blogger friends daily, as here in australia summer season was on ,unlike all the other countries, where they r hiding from snow falls and cold winds.My daughter was having long summer vacation for about 2 mths which  now came to an end  for good ;) ...trust me she is a big monkey i would say,she drives me crazy when she is at home all the time ,i was going nuts and moreover my laptop was going for a toss ,its completely crashed now and i am hunting for a new one.I wud be glad if anyone can  advice me for buying a new laptop...toshiba,hp,dell,lenovo,,asus,sony vayo,samsung..etc..etc..which one wud b better in all means.??..my previous one was Hp and it was my companion from the last 31/2-4 yrs so just confused wether i shud buy the same or some other will be better ...?? .Neways its been more than a month i posted any recipe as my hubby's laptop is not for a personal use,it is provided by office and he really didnt wanted  me to use it for hours and continue blogging , i  was  only checking my mails and sometimes facebooking  ,usually he is busy with his laptop even after office hours and so i hardly get it free to use it but today he had gone outskirts of melbourne to attend a clients party and i literally made full use of his laptop with ofcourse by his permission :) and sat for a couple of hrs after a month or so and had an oppturnity to  post this much delayed dish which i eagerly wanted to post since long.I am so happy to post recipe after a month and will oon continue blogging as soon as i get a new laptop.Coming towards today's recipe,iam posting korma rice  which my friend mamta (deshmukh) made for us when i came back from india and  after settling down in few days i heard this recipe from her on phone and little bit i added my own flavours and style to set this beautiful dish.It was just too filling and delicious on its own,no side dish is required with this heavy,creamy,vegetable -full of dish.I can say it was a complete one- pot -meal types.Thank u so much dear for sharing this dish with me.

approx for 3-4 ppl
ingredients :
2 cups basmati rice
2 cups mix boiled veggies ,bite size(cauliflower,potatoes,peas,french beans,capsicum)
2 tbsp fried paneer cubes ( optional )
3/4-1 cup fresh cream
salt to taste
1 tsp red chilli pwd ( add more or less acc to ur taste )
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
1-2 tsp garam masala
1-2 cloves
1 cardomon
1 small stick of cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp tomato paste
to grind :
1 large or 2 medium sized onions
2-3 garlic cloves
1 small piece ginger
for korma paste :
21/2 tbsp cashew nuts
2 tbsp poppy seeds / khuskhus
method :
Cook rice and take care not to overcook it,all the grains should be seperated enough ,spread the cooked rice in a flat dish or thali to prevent sticking to each other and let it cool down completely.
Soak cashews and poppy seeds for an hour and grind into a thick paste and keep it aside.
Grind onions,garlic and ginger into a paste .Heat oil ,add bay leaves,cloves,cardomons,cinnamon and saute ground onion paste till transparent.Add tomato paste and fry till it leaves oil from the sides.
Pour the cashewnut paste and fry continuosly till the pan/kadhai  leaves oil .
Add boiled veggies ,paneer,salt,turmeric,red chilli pwd,garam masala and mix well.Add the cream  and mix everything together nicely so that the vegetables are fully coverd with ground paste and cream.
Simmer it for a while and start layering the korma rice.
For layering or setting the dish :
Take a baking dish,spread half of the rice evenly on a level then top it with half of the vegetable korma in the same manner,again top it with the left over rice and finally spread the other half of korma gravy and bake it in a preheated oven for 8-10 mins at 200c.
pls note :
The pictures above are before baking and was not able to take the pics after baking as my guests had come,i layered and kept ready and had  baked when they were about to eat rice so that it was piping hot and not lost its flavour and aroma.
You can adjust the quantitiy of cream to make the gravy / korma in pouring consistency or to avoid more cream can use little water .
Actually i was short of gravy so you can see in the 3rd pic,i have not spreaded it completely (only in the centre )and not in level but the top layer should be evenly and fully covered with gravy.
Also you can cover the dish with aluminium foil while baking to avoid the crispyness of top layer ,and i preferably didnt cover as i love that top baked crust very much :)