Chicken cardamom curry

I started cooking once I came to Germany. before I was pampered by my mom enough. Though she did expect something in return that I do something meaningful in my life, study, at least be qualified enough to be independent and follow my own chosen way. She always said " cooking is no big deal, you will learn it one day once the need arises." I still learnt a lot of cooking through watching and, of course, we were allowed to cook during the summer vacations if we felt like it and we - me and my sisters, did make use of these opportunities, even if not so often. Usually we would look up some yummy recipes from the magazines like Femina and try it. Sometimes some of my mom's recipes if I liked them a lot. Those were the times. Sigh!
Since my parent's were vegetarians - now, for those not from India- it is no big deal in India, as it is a way of life there and you really don't have to make any compromises of any kinds. So, I didn't get exposed to eating chicken until I went to college and lived in a hostel with friends from Manipur (India) who cooked during the summer break when the canteen closed for a couple of weeks. Once I came to Germany I also tried cooking chicken myself from what I had learnt from them and from the recipes in the Hawkins recipe book which I got with the pressure cooker I brought from India with me. I was told that pressure cookers are different and not so good outside India. Well, the pressure cooker got damaged after using it a couple of times, but at least I could make use of the book!! :D
This is my very first trial at making an Indian curry other than Chicken Makkhan. If I make chicken Indian style I usually just marinate it with some Indian spices , fry it and add some veggies to it. That's it! On seeing Soma's beautiful pictures of this wonderful looking curry, I thought that I had to try it. I did not make it exactly like hers, but I tried to keep the spices the same.

Chicken cardamom curry

Recipe by PG of My Kitchen Stories

Based on the recipe at Soma's eCurry

Ingredients:

3 chicken breast fillets, washed, pat dried and cubed into 2-3 cm (1/2 ") pieces
3 medium potatoes, washed, peeled and cubed into 2-3 cm (1/2 ") pieces
1-1/2 cups green beans, washed, ends cut off and cut into 4 cm (1-1/2 ") pieces
1 heaped tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp powdered jaggery
salt to taste
oil for frying

Marinade:
1/4 tsp turmeric
1-1/2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp salt

Onion paste:
2 medium onions, chopped coarsely
3 cm piece ginger (about 1"), chopped coarsely -I used up the last 1/2 " piece remaining in my basket
3 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 heaped tsp tamarind paste
1" piece cinnamon stick (half) -use one whole, as per your liking
1 dried red chili, broken into large pieces
2 cloves, (I ground them before adding)
6 green cardamoms, the seeds, (I ground them before adding)
1 tsp turmeric
1 heaped tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp dried coconut (as a substitute for 3/4 cup coconut milk)

chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) for garnish (optional)


Method:

• prepare chicken and marinate (marinade above) for 10 to 20 minutes
  
• in the meanwhile prepare the onion paste by grinding everything together or first the dry ingredients in the dry grinder and then together
• heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and fry chicken on medium heat, covered, till almost done, turning once
  
• take out of the pan, clean it
• now heat 2 tbsp oil in the pan and add cumin till it splutters, add the potatoes and green beans along with turmeric and fry on medium heat till done, stirring in between
• in the meanwhile, in another pan using 2-3 tbsp oil fry the onion paste on medium heat, stirring in between, till roasted (about 10 minutes), add a few drops of water if required
  
• mix everything together (chicken, potatoes, and fried onion paste) in the pan and add 1/2 cup water and cook for about 10 minutes till you get a nice thick gravy
• if required, add some more water
• serve warm garnished with cilantro along with warm Indian rotis (flat bread) and steamed basmati rice
  

It's no doubt a wonderful curry. Since then I have tried it twice already and I will surely be using this recipe often. Hubby loved it and was very pleased at how well it had turned out- you see I'm not so good at satisfying hubby with food. :D
I liked it a lot and honestly I was a bit skeptical initially, as I always believe that I don't like green (sweet) cardamom in savoury food. Well, until now. :)
Soma, thank you for this wonderful experience. I'm sure if you were on my side while I prepared it, you would have pointed out many improvements. But, I'm learning by doing. The picture doesn't look so perfect and a bit too dry as I had added lesser water and didn't use any coconut milk this time and by the time I took the picture - we had had our lunch- the leftover chicken had even lesser water. But what lovely leftovers for the next day! Delicious!

Some good information on Cardamom at Gernot Kratzer's spice pages:
Cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.)

If you want to try the curry, go to Soma's Curried Chicken in Cardamom Infused Coconut Sauce at eCurry. You will not only get the recipe but a beautiful story behind it too.

Related posts:
Chicken makkhan

Multi-grain cheelas

Cheelas, simply put, are North Indian pancakes (or crêpes) made with un-fermented batter, usually these are savoury, made with salt and spices and I actually haven't come across any sweet Indian recipe so far. I have eaten cheelas at home made with simple semolina batter (un-fermented) or ground mung beans, sprouted or un-sprouted, and most often, the quick fix besan cheelas (chickpea lentil flour - I'm using the word lentil, as the flour is made with the skinned black chickpeas). I loved them all. But, somehow I haven't made cheelas since a long time. Before my son, I did make them a couple of times with sprouted mung beans, which are quite easy to grind and although it was a sticky business and required a lot of oil. Somehow, I hadn't figured out the right way of doing it, I guess.
So, cheelas were somehow pushed deeper and deeper into my memory, locked some cupboards of the brain. You know what I mean? Old forgotten recipe you made so often before life changed with a child. But, now that sunny boy is growing up and things are again becoming easier - in some ways at lest - and, of course, the motivation of this this blog has surely added to the enthusiasm.
I saw these cheelas at Monika's blog and liked them so much as they also appeared so healthy too. I knew that it is not going to be a ditto copy of the recipe, but, I wanted to try making it as balanced as this one was. But, somehow I never came to doing it until recently. That too very spontaneously, only to find a couple of ingredients missing or only too little. But, I felt it was still a good idea and went ahead with making cheelas. And this is how I made them:

Another important thing about these is that I wanted to purposefully keep them gluten free and therefore did not use any ingredient with gluten, otherwise I consider using barley and oats as a wonderful addition too. I think wheat is eaten so much that we can easily do without it once in a while, especially in these savoury pancakes, the cheelas, as they are called.

Multi grain Cheela

Inspired by the recipe at Monika's World and Thoughts

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped green beans
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp heaped cumin
1 heaped tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
2-3 small carrots, peeled and coarsely grated (depending on how much you eat up while grating them!)
1/4 zucchini, very finely cubed or grated
300 g multi-grain flour*
1 pinch asafoetida
1" piece ginger, grated
1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

water to make a very thick pancake like batter, which should not be too runny
3-4 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)- optional - I didn't have any
rapeseed oil to fry the pancakes
1/2 onion sliced horizontally and a fork stuck into it from the back (rounded side), to be used for rubbing the pan with the flat / cut side in between two rounds of baking


*Multi-grain flour**
(mix everything together)
400 g Brown rice flour
100 g fine ground whole grain cornmeal
100 g Buckwheat flour
100 g sorghum, ground in a coffee mill (DE: Hirse)
100 g gram flour (besan) - use garbanzo beans flour or chickpea flour
50 g skinned sesame seeds, ground in a coffee mill
50 g Urd lentils (skinned black gram), ground in a coffee mill
2 tbsp flax seed meal
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric

**NOTE: the amounts can be varied and the grains and lentils too, as per liking. Using coarsely ground home made sprouts, like mung bean sprouts, is a wonderful addition too.


Method:

Batter:

• heat oil in a pan and reduce heat to medium
• add mustard seeds and cumin in hot oil to let them splutter
  
• add the green beans with turmeric and cook till done, stirring in between
• once done switch off heat, add salt to taste and mix with carrots and zucchini
  
• in the meanwhile prepare the batter with the flour, remaining spices and water to make a thick batter
  
• add the vegetables to it and adjust salt to taste
• the dry ingredients should have been dissolved in water for at least half an hour
  

Baking the pancakes :

• heat a clean fry pan, a crêpe pan or skillet
  
• add 1 tsp rapeseed oil and spread with the cut side of halved onion
• reduce heat to about medium high (on my ceramic cook top with 9 divisions / levels 6 1/2 works quite well)
  
• add a ladle of batter over it and spread carefully moving very slowly in circles to make a pancake
  
• cover with a lid with holes to allow steam to escape
• loosen the cheela from the base carefully with a very flat and clean spatula and change sides
• if it does not work, spread some oil on the sides around the cheela and try again, it should work
  
• cook further for another minute and remove - either serve directly or store in a dish, covered, and keep warm
• rub the base of the pan with the cut half of the onion nicely and remove any (burnt) residues sticking to it
  
• pour a ladle of batter and repeat the process, as mentioned above
• the cheela may still require some oil before turning, but after the third or fourth, it may not be required any more

We ate them with the chutneys I have talked about before and a quick fix coconut chutney. We enjoyed the cheelas a lot. Yes, hubby too! :) But, sunny boy wasn't as fond of eating them, but I'm not counting him in this time, as it also had to do with other factors like there were too many veggies in the cheela and he was tired and sleepy. But, he ate one! So, it couldn't have been that bad. I, I looooo....ved them. After a long time I had had cheelas and I think the combination of flours was wonderful.
But, the best thing I liked about them was that after the third cheela, I didn't require any more oil and they all came out so good. They were not sticky at all afterwards. But, I think the reason could have been either the proportions of the ingredients or the onion I used. I really rubbed it on the pan and could see the juice coming put a little while doing it. This is one trick I have learned in India, I don't remember from where, about keeping the pans clean and making the dosas and cheelas not to stick onto the pan.
This is how my onion looked after it had done all its work, i.e., making all the cheelas.

Bharma Bhindi (stuffed okra) - my favorite

Yes, this is one of my favorites! Now, it is already a while ago that I took these pictures and that too hurriedly, but then I didn't get time to post about this favorite food of mine - Bharma Bhindi (stuffed spicy okra), but then on hearing about Ivy's Weekend Herb Blogging , an event i have been wanting to take part in since a while now, this was just the right opportunity and motivation needed to finally post this recipe.
I got to eat it after such a long time. Hubby went to the Asian grocery store recently and got me these and even karela (Bitter melon)!! You can't imagine how happy I was. I love both these vegetables and it had been ages that I had eaten them. I will post about the karelas some other time, but here is the bharma bhindi recipe which I have learned from my mother, but this time I realised that it has been so long that I didn't even remember how to make it and some how the timing was so bad that I couldn't even call any of my sisters at that time, so I just thought hard and got it more or less right. Although, I did make a variation: I also added coriander powder which my mother didn't use while making Bharma bhindi. Another thing, which I wouldn't do next time: I roasted my spices before. I think this step is not necessary, as the okras get roasted long enough in the pan for the spices to be roasted separately.

Before I begin, I have to tell you something about the traditions of cooking in my family, which is not unique to my family alone but probably more to the region from where my family originates - the state of U.P., India. I still remember my mom telling me that my father's (paternal) grandmother - my great grand mother, was very particular about the kind of food served to her when she came to visit his mother - my grandmother. Over a short period of time we - my parents and us children- and my grandparents lived together and I remember the visit of my great grandmother - yes, I got to see her for quite some time of my childhood - something I was always so proud of, as I didn't know many friends or classmates who had great grandparents and I had two great grandmothers -one on maternal side and one on the paternal side with both of them we children had a lot of fun! :)
So, coming back to the topic, she was very particular about eating food which was cooked without any onions and garlic. If she ever saw a skin of onion or garlic in the house when she came to visit us, then she would surely not touch the food, that strict she was. My grandparents were one of the first generation of people who deviated from this culture and started including onions and garlic in their food. In contrast to his mother, my grandfather was a big garlic lover and attributed it many health properties. I still remember, how he used to say that one should swallow 1 clove of garlic (from the variety with very thin and tiny cloves) every morning and drink a large glass of water afterwards. His favorite chutney was also coriander(cilantro)-garlic chutney.

So, maybe you can guess that this is one of those recipes of okra I grew up eating which does not use any onions or garlic, but still is very tasty, being so full of spices.

Here it goes...

Bharma Bhindi (stuffed Okra)

NOTE: Recipe requires the use of latex gloves, if you don't want the yellow colour of turmeric to stay on your hands, which is otherwise quite healthy actually. I don't use it though, as it goes away after a few washings, which may however take a day.

Ingredients:

20-25 okras, washed, pat dried
2 tbsp oil for frying
1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds) (optional)
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro, for garnishing

Stuffing:
1 heaped tsp turmeric
2 heaped tbsp coriander seeds, ground (optional)
3 heaped tbsp fennel seeds, coarsely ground
4 tsp Amchur (dried unripe mango powder) - sour in taste as it is made from unripe very young sour mangoes
1/4th tsp red chili powder (or more - to taste)
1/2 tsp black salt
2 tbsp oil, just enough to bind the powdered spice mixture
2 tsp salt, or to taste


Method:

• mix all the spices and enough oil to bind the mixture
• then add enough salt that it tastes a bit too salty, but not too much, as when okra dries out while frying, it does not require as much salt
• check each okra for freshness while preparing it, if it is fresh then you will be able to cut it easily with out it showing any resistance
  
• carefully cut off the lower tip of the okra, if required - sometimes it has become dark in colour and it is a good indication if it can be easily cut off that it is still fresh otherwise it has become too fibrous to be eaten
  
• cut off the caps of okras so that a thin layer of it is left behind to hold it together once they are slit in the middle
• slit the okra deep along the length on the concave side (inner side of the curve it often has), but not the ends - the caps and lower tips - keep them intact - prevents the stuffing to come out while frying.
• fill the stuffing with hands by taking a small amount between the fingers and pressing it gently into the slit in the middle and then pressing and moving your fingers on the filling sidewards in both the directions -sounds easier than it appears!
  
• Fill all the okras like this
• heat 1 tbsp oil in a shallow pan and add ajwain till it splutters, remove ajwain immediately and set aside
• add 1 more tbsp oil and put all the okras into the pan, keeping the stuffed / slit side upwards or sidewards
• fry on medium heat initially and then medium low heat, turning each one of them carefully once or twice till they turn soft
• if the pan gets too hot sprinkle with a tbsp of water in between
• as per your taste, you can either remove the okras once they are cooked or let them fry further till they start turning crispy
• serve warm (or even cold), garnished with cilantro, with any kind of toasted bread - Indian or others, or rice and daals as an option
  

Typically it is a part of an Indian Thali, where you have some cooked vegetables, daal (lentils), Rotis (Indian flat bread) and rice as the main ingredients. But, it can be eaten in any way as a spicy accompaniment to the food and is quite flexible and can be combined with meat or vegetarian dishes, as a stuffing for a nice sandwich or would make a wonderful combination with couscous.


I'm so happy to send this over to Weekend Herb Blogging, my first ever participation to it, and this time it is being hosted by dear Ivy of Kopiaste!

Going green...

....NO! not with envy!:)
But, with broccoli for an Event. These pictures were mainly inspired by this event started by the wonderful Sunshinemom at her blog Tongueticklers . Unfortunately I didn't manage to post them in time.
But, then I don't want it going waste. Delicious as it was.
It is a very simple recipe, but my favorite way of eating broccoli: when it is still crunchy, stirfried with lots of freshly ground coriander seeds and rape seed oil.

Ingredients:

1 broccoli , washed and cut into small florets
1 large red onion, sliced into thick pieces
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 inch ginger, peeled and julliened finely
2 small tomatoes, sliced into wedges (I used two from my kitchen garden)
2 tbsp rape seeds oil
1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
2 tbsp corinader seeds, ground
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder, or to taste (I used a little lesser for my sonny boy!)
salt to taste

Method:

• heat oil on medium heat in a wok or saute pan, add all the spices, stir once - the spices will throw out bubbles and cumin should splutter and add turmeric, garlic and ginger, stir once again shortly and add onion and keep stirring
  
• soon after the onion starts to turn golden brown add the broccoli and stir again.
• reduce heat, add a few tbsp water and salt and cover for about five minutes
• remove lid and stir, if required one more tbsp of water let cook uncovered stirring in between for another few minutes
• add tomatoes about a couple of minutes before the broccoli is done and has turned soft.
• eat it with some basmati rice, or some daal (lentils) of your liking

NOTE:

• cook broccoli to your desired crunchiness or softness. It can also be blanched before stir frying - thast helps it to turn softer from inside as well than stir frying. The crunchier, the healthier, and the rest depends on your liking.
• before adding the spices in the first step, make sure the oil has turned hot. To test this, add one or two cumin seeds into it, they should immediately turn whitish because of throwing out steam bubbles in the oil and maybe make some noise too, if that is the case don't wait and have everything ready to add the spices to prevent the oil from getting too hot and preventing the spices to burn.
• keep the vegetables ready before adding the spices to the oil. add them as soon as the spices have been stirred once and have spluttred (if that is the case, depending upon the vegetables), to prevent the spices from burning.
  

Although the broccoli turned out to be crunchier than expected (for hubby, for e.g., :I) Rishab enjoyed them, just like me. I find it hard to get the broccoli right and I try to keep it crunchier than making it too mushy, as that is something which none of us like. So, if you like it, keep it uncovered throughout, to prevent it from loosing its fresh green colour, which happens really fast.
But, on the whole it was just wonderful and we had it with arhar (toor) daal, my favorite daal and steaming hot basmati rice for dinner.

Rice Pilaf in my rustic way...

Rustic, because it is not one of those delicate preparations of a typical rice pilaf, but a quick fix for a simple dinner. However, despite my rice getting clumpy, the end result was just wonderful! In fact, quite good, if you don't mind the clumpyness of the rice, to which I had added too much of water so that by the time it cooled down it had become clumpy.

Before I continue further, I have to mention that I am a 'nutty' kind of person. No..no.. not the nutty you are thinking! It is just that I love using nuts and seeds at any opportunity I get, be it cooking savoury food or baking some sweet dishes or just eating them like that (If only they were not so rich -those calories....!). Hubby had brought a large packet of peanuts from the Chinese shop at walking distance from his office. And I was quite enthusiastic about using them in all kinds of dishes I prepared. So, a bunch of them came into use here as well.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Basmati rice, washed and soaked in water for about 10-15 minutes
a few tbsp oil, for frying
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into large and thin slices and rinsed quickly in some water
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground - divided
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp peanuts, skinned
2-3 spring onion, chopped
8 peppercorns
2 medium carrots, cut into thin round slices
2 cups beans, chopped
10-12 crimini mushrooms, quartered or halved
1/2 zucchini, diced
1 pinch red chili powder (optional)
1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder
salt to taste
a few sprigs mint leaves, washed thoroughly and chopped (optional)










Method:

• cook rice in about the same quantity of water (1 1/2 - 2 cups) on high heat till it starts to boil. Reduce heat to the lowest and simmer till the rice is done and the water is all absorbed. Remove from heat and keep warm
  
• In the meantime, fry the potato slices in some oil along with turmeric and 1/2 tbsp ground coriander seeds in a fry pan on medium heat till done and keep warm
• heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and let cumin seeds splutter, reduce heat to medium and immediately add while stirring peanuts, sesame seeds (be careful! they will splutter and fly! - keep a lid handy to cover), black peppercorns and spring onions and fry till the onions are golden in colour. Take out and mix with the potatoes and keep warm
  
• add the beans and carrots to the pan and fry on medium heat till done and mix with the potatoes and keep warm
• now fry the mushrooms in some oil on high heat, add the zucchini, fry further and add remaining 1/2 tbsp ground coriander seeds, stir further for a minute
• put all the fried vegetables back to the pan along with chili powder and salt to taste and stir once
• crumble the rice before adding to the vegetables and mix carefully.
  
• Serve garnished with roasted cumin powder and mint leaves (optional) along with Raita as a side (yoghurt stirred with salt and roasted cumin powder)

Note:
As you see, my rice has become sticky. Due to these reasons that I know:

1. I added too much water - Basmati requires little water and little time to cook - and I cooked it for too long
2. I didn't take it out of the pan immediately after it was done - I wasn't done with cooking the vegetables - would have made the rice go cold
   
3. I could have added some butter to the rice after it was done, stirring it in gently - I didn't want that.

• To make it remain fluffy and single grained one needs to avoid the above two points and a lot of feeling is required for the amount of water required. If not sure, use lesser amount and check in between and add more water, if required. Switch off heat five minutes before the rice is completely done and let stand on the stove till done.

• Another option would be to use natural (brown) or parboiled rice. It is a better option than polished rice because it is not so sticky like polished rice and it is healthier too!
  

But we enjoyed the meal despite the clumpyness. Hubby did complain about the slightly burnt (oops!) peanuts - he does not like even a single black spot on food. He does not like peanuts in rice in any case (and I love them with rice), but otherwise, I felt, the rice tasted actually very good as it was, still warm and made a very good combination with the potatoes and vegetables, the peanuts and sesame seeds, and the roasted cumin gave the final touch to it.
Later on I was thinking that I could have added some fresh mint leaves from my garden, but the pilaf was already so rich in flavours that we didn't really miss anything and enjoyed this simple, wholesome and delicious meal.
After writing this post, I feel I have to try it with brown rice too.
Yes, I'll do that............ :)

I'm sending this over to Srivalli's Rice Mela!

Chard Bhujia

Chard, or mangold - as it is called here, is a vegetable which grows in Germany too. And it being summers we are getting it at local markets everywhere. Otherwise half of the things that you find in the markets are not grown here, as the climate does not allow it.
On seeing fresh and crispy mangold in the market, I quickly bought 1 kg of it and used it on two consequtive days making two different recipes, both of which turned out good.
One very easy but lovely recipe is the simple Indian Bhaji. Last year was the first time that I made chard in an Indian style, otherwise I always made it with spaghetti, which was delicious too. But last year I had bought this variety from someone selling organic demeter vegetables and very spontaneously decided to make it like a bhujia as we call it at home, or as I remember it from my childhood days in Calcutta - Bhaji, fried shortly in rapeseed oil, and it had turned out so good.
Making and above all eating it gave me one of the feelings I get from some Indian dishes which make me feel so close to home, or should I say, to my childhood! This was a very good compensation for "muli ki bhujiya", both my mom and my grandmother used to make and I just loved it, and which I cannot make here as it is very difficult to get radishes with leaves.


While making chard bhaji this time, impulsive as I am, I did a small experiment, which was only half an experiment, as I felt good about it turning out right. Although, I had become doubtfull, after tasting it in the beginning. Read on to see what happened...


Ingredients:

3 Mangold / Chard (roughly 500 - 700 g, more than a pound)
1-2 tbsp Rapeseed oil (canola oil)
1 pinch asafpetida
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp freshly ground fenugreek seeds (the spontaneous experiment!)
1 middle sized onion, cut into thin stripes
1 small clove garlic (optional)
1/4 th tsp chilli powder
1 medium tomato
1/3 rd tsp Amchur /Mango powder( optionally lemon juice)
salt to taste
(be careful with its use, as just like spinach, the volume of chard reduces a lot at the end)


Method:

• Clean the chard thoroughly of sand and gritt and chop into thin stripes, including the stem
• Heat oil in a sautè pan or a wok (Kadhai) and let the cumin seeds splutter, add hing and ground fenugreek seeds and turmeric and stir once*
• Immediately add onion, garlic and coriander powder, stir further till onion is golden brown
• add the chard to it and chilli powder and reduce heat towards low
• cook covered, stirring in between
• Add the chopped tomatoe and Amchur and salt as per requirement. Cook till done
• Serve warm with daal and rice or roti (Indian flatbread)
  

*add the spices along with the onion garlic and ginger, if cooking this type of Indian dish for the first time, as one needs to be careful not to burn the spices.

We ate it with Arhar daal and chawal (rice) for dinner and it was throughly enjoyable. Rishab, my son, finished off his plate and left behind only the tomatoes and some pieces of onion (as expected!). That made me especially happy.
Now coming back to the experiment, just when I had added some oil into the pan, I opened the cupboard to take out something and saw this bottle of fenugreek seeds and felt like adding it to the bhaji I was preparing. So, I quickly ground some seeds in the cofee mill - my spice mill, and used it for the recipe. Initially, when I had just started cooking the chard I tasted it and was a bit surprised at the bitter taste of fenugreek seeds which I could taste distinctly. But, then I felt that it just needed some time to cook and absorb some moisture and I was right, thankfully!
The bhujiya was very pleasant and enjoyable just because of the flavours of fenugreek and the nutty flavour of rapeseed oil, which reminds me distinctly of mustard oil, both being quite similar in taste.

Now, I am aware of all the controversies which surround rape seed oil or canola oil or for that matter mustard oil in India because of their erusic acid content and its harmful effects. But, I see the matter a bit differently. Mustard oil, which is quite similar to Rapeseed oil in its constituents, the proportions may be different, and flavour, is being used since ages in India and in my opinion these are one of the healthiest plant oils for cooking purposes, next only to olive oil. A ver interesting article on this is here.
What makes cold pressed virgin rape seed oil so good is that it by nature contains omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, in very good proportions just like mustard oil and is one of very good plant sources of Omega 3 fatty acids as it can be used regularly for cookig food. One needs to store it in airtight containers in a dark and cool spot, just like olive oil and if possible in dark bottles. That prevents the oil to loose its goodness, i.e., prevent damage caused otherwise by sunlight or heat and oxygen, which all lead to rancidity.
If you want to cook or shallow fry or sauté with the oil, it is very good, but for deep frying one should use oils with a high smoke point, like sunflower oil or peanut oil, as these do not degrade so easily into toxins at higher temperatures, which are produced while heating oil, which in turn depends on the the degree of saturation in the fatty acids in the respective oils.
To put it in short, I consider a good quality virgin (cold pressed) rape seed or mustard oil a very good cooking medium for ones health, if used appropriately and in moderation.

Puri Aloo: Indian fried bread with spicy potato curry

Puri Aloo. Just the name of it makes my mouth water. The memories of the lovely street food of Uttar Pradesh and many other places where we accompanied our parents on pilgrimages. The steaming hot puffed balls of puri and daal-katchauris, fried at many places in ghee, and the flavours of spicey mathwan aloo ki sabzi. Served with hot mixed- or mango pickes and Indian style onion, tomato and cucumber salad. What else can you ask for! It was total bliss for me and my sisters as children. We enjoyed these meals to the full. My mom made them at home too, though on occasions like some festivals which we always looked forward to, not only becaue of the food , but the food was always the big attraction!

It is summer time here and I had been wanting to fullfill my craving for fried Indian food, be it pakoras or puris before the summers are over. I have made pakoras already this summer and now it was time to make puris as well. As in the winters you can't open the windows like you can now and none of us at home like the fried and oily smell in the house, which is not healthy either. I had bought a bottle of sunflower oil just for this purpose and kept it aside, so that I can be spontaneous enough for frying. But, somehow my craving for it wasn't as big.
Not until I saw these beautiful puris on Jai and Bees Jugalbandi and the lovely combination with aloo bhaji , or mathwan aloo as I know them from my home. And the use of nigella seeds in the puri and the idea of kneading the urad daal into the dough was as great. Now, why spend hours filling the katchauri when it is that easy to make them so delicious. I knew, I had to make them that very day. I guess, had it not been for Zlamushka's monthy event, I would have probably never noticed this recipe.
Their recipe called for soaking the urad daal for some time, but I had no time for that, as it was already afternoon. But then, I remembered that my sister had told me about her making urd daal katchauris by grinding the skinned urd daal in her coffee mill which had turned out great. So, I had my solution to the problem.

So, here it goes, my version of the lovely recipe from Jugalbandi which I modified slightly as it was required and partly on a whim...

Ingredients:

Urd daal Puri:

1/2 cup skinned black gram, ground into a fine powder with a coffee mill /dry grinder
2 cups whole wheat flour or whole wheat atta ( I used whole wheat flour and whole grain missa atta* in the ratio 2/3 and 1/3)
1/5 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, ground
1 tsp ajwain (as a replacement for nigella seeds, which I don't have right now and couldn't find them locally here)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 pinch red chilli powder
water

* whole grain Missa Atta: whole channa (with skin) and whole barley in rougly 2:1 proportions, My father got it grounded from the local mill right in front of him, got them double packed in small packets and gave them to me before we left India.

Method:

• mix all the ingredients for puri thoroughly
• add water slowly and knead into a stiff dough and keep aside for 20 to 30 minutes
  
• heat about 600 ml of oil in a wok or deep frying pan for frying the puris on high heat, reduce to about medium-high later, if required
  
• In the meantime make small round balls out of the dough
• flatten them with your fingertips using some oil and roll out round, uniform and thin puris with a rolling pin and using drops of oil when required on a clean and smooth surface
  
• deep fry in hot oil and take out with a skimmer and let drip on two layers of kitchen roll before serving
• Eat when still warm
• If made in advance, store in an airtight container and warm slightly before eating on a pan or in the microwave for a few seconds

How to get the puris right :

• If the oil is not hot enough, the puris will not puff up.
  
• To promote a uniform puffing of puris, keep the skimmer on top of the puri in oil as soon as it comes up on the surface, especially when using a ceramic or electric cooktop.
• turn it around as soon as it puffs up and take out after a few seconds
• if the oil is too hot the puris will become brown too fast
• here a video on making puris at about.com

Mathwan Aloo (Aloo Bhaji):

4-5 large potatoes, washed, scrubbed clean and boiled (I used a floury potato variety)
2 tbsp oil or ghee (I used both)
1 tsp ajwain (mustard seeds were then on my list of things to buy from the Indian shop)
1 large pinch crushed asafoetida
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, ground
2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
1 inch (2 cm) piece ginger, scraped and grated
1/2 cup natural yoghurt (I used soya yoghurt)
1 pinch red chilli powder
1 tsp salt

Method:

• boil and peel the potatoes when still hot. Wash them once quickly in cold water before peeling them
• heat oil+ or ghee in a deep saucepan, add ajwain, it should immediately start spluttering (check if the oil is hot enough by first adding one seed into the oil), add asafoetida, ground fenugreek seeds, ground coriander seeds and grated ginger, stir to still they start smelling good (be quick and careful not to burn them!)
  
• add potatoes and crush them lightly with the wooden spoon or spatula and stir to coat them with the spices
• add the yoghurt and stir further
• add fenugreek, chilli powder, salt and water, and cook on low heat till the potatoes take the flavour of the spices
  
• serve with hot puris and as per choice with sides like achaar and chutneys

This was a lovely combination. The flavour of kasuri methi in the aloo gave it a very good "pepp", as we call it here - "liveliness" is one good translation. It was a good decision and the gentle flavour of methi seeds also added to the flavour. Now, this is something I have learned from my mom, who regularly used ground meethi seeds in daals.
Now, if I have a favorite Indian leafy vegetable then it is Fenugreek, methi as it is called in Hindi. And my liking for it has grown with time as it is imossible to get it here in any form except as Kasuri Methi (a variety of dried Fenugreek). Well, better than nothing. I stuffed myslef with Methi when I went to India this year. But I still crave for the flavour of fresh methi. Next year I plan to try out growing my own methi in my kitchen garden, but then that is another chapter of the book, as these summers are slowly coming to an end and the sun God has been playing games, or should I say peek-a-boo with us this time much too often.

So, I keep a good stock of Kasuri methi in my pantry. Lately I had been seeing the bottle every time I would open the door and realised that I hadn't used it since a while, but it was never the right moment to use it. But, thanks to the Fenugreek herb mania at Redchillies I read about a few days ago, it is on my mind all the time and I am discovering new ways to use dried Fenugreek and the seeds in many dishes, like here too.

So, this is my entry for Redchillies' Herb mania- Fenugreek!

And of course also to Zlamushka's monthly event Tried and Tasted where the blog of the month is none other than Jai and Bee's Jugalbandi.