Recipe for Strawberry Mousse-Valentine's Day Special

This a Valentine’s day special post. What best to celebrate this day with your valentine other than some strawberry mousse. Indulge into the creamy softness and the sensuous strawberry flavor while having a cozy and romantic time with your special one.

Ingredients:

• Fresh cream : 1 cup
• Fresh strawberries: 1 1/2 cup
• Sugar : 3-4 tbsp ( adjust according to your taste)

Procedure:

1. Cut the fresh strawberries in small pieces.
2. Grind the cut pieces of strawberries and sugar in a mixer to form a semi thick paste. Don't add any water.
3. Mix half of the prepared strawberry paste with the cream and whip.
4. Heat the mixture in low flame for around 5 minutes.
5. Pour this mixture in a bowl or a glass and cool it for some time. Refrigerate it for around 30 minutes.
6. Now take out the container and add the remaining strawberry paste on the top and refrigerate for another hour.

Garnish with chocolate chips or fresh strawberry pieces. Serve chilled.

Egg Chicken Biriyani Recipe

Egg chicken biriyani is my husband’s favorite dish. So this was one of the first recipe I learnt from my mom when we relocated abroad. You will find a variety of recipes for biriyani, however I believe this is the easiest for novice like me. It tastes really delicious and is quite healthy as it’s homemade.
 
Ingredients:

• Basmati rice: 2 cups
• Chicken pieces: 6 pcs
• Onion: 1 and half
• Garlic paste: 1 tsp
• Tomato: 1
• Ginger paste: ½ tsp
• Biriyani masala: 3 tbsp (I prefer Shan biriyani masala)
• Plain Yogurt: 3 tbsp
• Warm water: ½ cup
• Ghee: 2 tbsp
• White Oil: 2 tbsp
• Kesar: 1 pinch
• Milk: 3 tbsp
• Eggs: 4
• Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Soak basmati rice for half an hour. Boil water in a pan with 1 tsp salt in it. Add rice and boil till it is 80% done. Then strain rice and keep aside.
2. Soak kesar in milk for about 15 – 20 minutes.
3. Heat 2 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee in a kadai. Add chopped onion and fry till golden brown. Add garlic paste and stir. Add chopped tomato and a pinch of salt to soften it. Add ginger paste when tomato is soft. Add chicken pieces when oil separates. Mix well. Add biriyani masala and yogurt. Stir well. Add half cup warm water when oil separates. Add salt to taste. Let the chicken get cooked with lid on.
4. When the chicken is done, in a big saucepan spread a layer of chicken and a layer of rice alternately. Spread a little 1 tsp ghee and 1 tsp kesar milk in each layer.
5. Put the lid on and keep the saucepan on very low heat for about half an hour.
6. Boil eggs and cut them into halves. Fry them in oil.
7. Garnish the chicken biriyani with fried eggs on it.

         

           

Mutton Kasha Recipe

Mutton Kasha or Kosha Mangsho is the ideal sunday lunch for bengalis. This needs no introduction or description as I will go out on a limb and say: Its the best dish ever, period.

Ingredients:

• Mutton: 750gm
• Potato: 3(Cut into halves)
• Onion Sliced: 4 
• Ginger Paste: 2 tbsp
• Garlic Paste: 2 tbsp
• Cumin Pwoder: 1 1/2 tbspl
• Coriander Powder: 1 1/2 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
• Bay leaf: 2
• Cinnamon: 1/2 inch stick 2
• Clove: 2
• Cardamom: 2
• Garam Masala: 1 tsp
• Ghee: 2 tbsp
• Mustard Oil: 2 tbsp
• Yogurt: 1/2 cup
•  Salt
• Sugar-1/2 tsp
• Red Chilli Powder: 1 tsp
• Kashmiri Red Mirch Powder: 1 tsp

Procedure:

1. Marinate the mutton with yogurt, ginger paste, garlic paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and red chilli powder. Keep it aside for 45 mins to 1 hr.
2. Fry the Potato after marinating in salt and turmeric powder, and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a kadai (wok), add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and saute till the nice aroma comes out.
4. Add onion and cook until it turns it golden brown, and sugar and saute a little more.
5. Add marinated mutton, kashmiri red chilli powder and fried potatoes and saute in medium flame till the oil starts to separate out.
6. Add water (preferably warm), cover the lid and set it in low flame.
7. Cook until the mutton is tender and juicy. (You could also cook it in a pressure cooker, but it tastes a lot better when done in a kadai although it takes a little extra time.)
8. Add ghee and garam masala.
9. Serve hot with Basmati Rice.

You can also add boiled and semi-fried eggs to garnish.

Recipe for Chelo Kabab

Anyone who has been to Peter Cat restaurant knows this delicacy… It’s a combination of some kebabs with buttered Basmati rice topped with a sunny side up poached egg… Life becomes good just when you see it. Life becomes great when you taste it. People staying outside of Kolkata cant enjoy the authentic Chelo kebab, so here’s my home-made recipe which will get you the closest possible to the original feeling. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients:

• Chicken leg : 2
• Chicken sausage: 2
• Potato : 1
• Egg: 1
• Basmati Rice: 1/2 cup
• Butter: 3 tbsp
• Green Peas
• Beans Chopped: 1/2 cup
• Carrot Chopped: 1/2 cup
• Cauliflower cut into small piece: 1/2 cup
• Pepper: 1 tbsp
• Oil: 1 teaspoon
• Ginger paste: 1 teaspoon
• Garlic paste: 1 teaspoon
• Red chili powder: 1 teaspoon
• Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
• Salt

Procedure:

1. Marinate the chicken leg pieces in ginger-garlic paste, salt, pepper, red chili powder for half and hour and keep it aside.
2. Prepare the rice and mix well with butter and salt.
3. Fry the cut vegetables in butter. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice and mix well.
4. Fry the chicken sausage in oil.
5. Boil the potatoes, peel and mash them with butter, salt and pepper.
6. Now fry the marinated chicken pieces.You can grill it instead as well.
7. In a pan, add oil and make an egg poach with sunny side up.
8. Serve hot in a platter as shown in the picture.

Note: Vegetarians can grill paneer pieces instead of chicken and serve hot. More on the strawberry smoothie later in another post. :)

Inviting Guest Writers!!!

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for the overwhelming response shown towards my blog.
It proves that there are many hobby chefs like me. Please note that this blog does not belong to me alone. It belongs to all of us. The goal of the blog is to share the amazing cooking recipes which we either inherited from our ancestors or the ones we "created" by experimenting in the kitchen. Thus, with no further delay I invite all of you chefs out there to share your recipe on this blog so that we can all try your recipes.

PS: Please send me an email at preetha.chatterjee.blog@gmail.com if you are interested and I will add you as a guest writer.

Guidelines:
1. It is desirable to follow a particular format as : 
     A short description of the particular dish
     Ingredients
     Procedure
     Photo(s)
     How/What to serve with.

2. You are responsible of the content you write, pictures/videos you upload here. So, it should not violate any right of reproduction.It is advised to use your own captured photos.

Happy Cooking and Happy blogging!

Recipe for Aloo Paratha / Potato stuffed Indian Bread

I know its a simple one, but at one point in my life I had no idea how to prepare this. I guess some people are definitely there who does not know how to make it, yet crave for it every moment. So this recipe is for these souls...Enjoy the butter topped aloo paratha...

Ingredients: 

• Potatoes: 4 medium sized 
• Whole wheat flour/atta: 3 cups 
• Green chillies finely chopped: 3 
• Red chilli powder: 1 teaspoon 
• Cumin powder: 1 teaspoon 
• Coriander chopped(optional) : 1 tbsp 
• Amchur powder: 1 teaspoon 
• Ghee: 2 tbsp 
• Oil : 1-2 tbsp 
• Salt 
• Water 
• Butter for garnishing 

Procedure: 

1.  Boil the potatoes and peel them. 
2. Chop the potatoes now, and add chopped green chillies,amchur powder,red chilli powder,salt and cumin powder. 
3. Mash the potatoes and the spices together and form equal sized balls(a little smaller than the dough balls described in the next step). Your stuffing is ready. Make sure that there are no lumps. 
4. Knead whole wheat flour(atta) with salt,water and 1 tbsp of ghee/oil to make it a semi-soft dough and make equal sized balls. 
5. Take a piece of dough and roll out into a circle of say 4-5" diameter. 
6. Put a piece of stuffing in the center and bring together all the sides to seal it properly. 
7. Now, take a little flour and roll out again into a circle(like a roti). 
8. Heat 1/2 tbsp of oil in the tawa and place each piece and cook until both the sides turn a little brown. 
9. Add a little butter/ghee on the top and serve hot. 

Can be served with pickle/yogurt. To enhance the taste of the stuffing, you can add grated paneer and cheese to it(while mashing it).

Recipe for Chicken Rezala

I first tried Chicken Rezala at a traditional mughlai cuisine restaurant named "Sabeer's" in good old Kolkata. The aroma of the spices and the faint hint of sweetness in the gravy made my taste buds tingle. If I can describe the taste it should be something like "A spoonful of heaven in your mouth".

Ingredients:

• Cashew nuts: 10-15
• Poppy Seeds: 3 heaped tbsp
• Yogurt: 1 cup
• Chicken : 750 gm
• Fresh cream: 1 tbsp
• Onion paste: 1 cup
• Ginger paste: 1 and 1/2 tbsp
• Garlic paste: 1 and 1/2 tbsp
• Bay leaf: 1
• Dried red chilli: 2
• Cardamom: 3-4
• Cloves: 3-4
• Cinnamon stick : 2( 1/2 inch each)
• Cumin Powder: 1 tbsp
• Coriander Powder: 1tbsp
• Ghee: 2 tbsp
• Oil: 2 tbsp
• Salt
• Sugar : 1 teaspoon
• Keora water: 1 teaspoon
• Rose water: 1 teaspoon

Procedure:

1. Grind cashews and poppy seeds together in a mixer grinder, turn it into a thick paste.
2. Marinate the chicken in onion paste(take half), ginger paste, garlic paste, yogurt, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt. Keep aside for 30min-1 hr.
3. Heat 2 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee in a kadai (wok), add dried red chilli, bay leaf, cinnamon, clove and cardamom.
4. Add remaining half onion paste and sugar and cook for 1-2 minutes until it turns brown.
5. Add the marinated chicken, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
6. Add the cashew and poppy seed mixture and cook for another 10 minutes.
7. Cook in medium heat until the chicken is tender and juicy.
8. Now add fresh cream and 1 tbsp ghee, mix well and cook till the gravy becomes thick.
9. Add rose water and kewra water and serve hot.

Served ideally with biriyani or butter naan/kulcha/mughlai paratha.