Common East indian recipes

Potatoes and Peas Curry – Easy Vegetarian Recipes

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Aloo matar is a very common Indian dish which can be prepared with or without gravy. Here is a little twist to our usual dry sabji.
Other Simple Indian vegetarian recipes worth trying:

– Potatoes and Peas Curry with Gravy
– Bombay Potatoes Recipe
– Achaari Aloo Recipe
– Mix Vegetable Recipe

Ingredients/ Method
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 small piece of onion chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic chopped
2-3 chopped potatoes
1 tsp turmeric
Salt per taste
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup of peas
1/3 cup water to cook
200 gms of grated paneer ( Indian cottage cheese)
1/2 tsp Dry Mango Powder
1/2 tsp kasoori Methi ( dried fenugreek leaves)
1/2 tsp Garam masala

1. Heat Oil in a pan and fry some cumin seeds, onions for a min.
2. Add 2-3 cloves of garlic chopped. Mix well. Add 2-3 chopped potatoes.
3. Add Spices. Mix and add peas. Add water. Cover and cook until 80 % done ( almost done)
4. Add grated panner. Mix well. give another 2-3 mins.
5. Finish off with mango powder, dried fenugreek leaves and garam masala. Serve warm with Roti

Brad Pitt in love with Indian Food

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You might not like Brad Pitt and might not care that he was in India in 2006 shooting for his film ‘A might Heart’ but you might care of the fact that he loves Indian food as much as you do. It was during shooting of his movie ‘A mighty heart’ in 2006 that he got to truly experience Indian food and culture.

During his subsequent interviews, Brad Pitt said that he was impressed about the sheer number of people living together, living in harmony, the colours of the cities, the smell of the cities, their food and architecture. He loved Diwali and said he would very much like to be here for Holi, the other Indian festival he had heard much about.

In his own words: I love Indian food. Chicken masala, dal and nan.

So, my recipe for the day- Dal Fry dedicated to one of my favourite hollywood star Brad Pitt:

Five most simple East Indian dishes

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The most common food in the world is Potato and it is found in abundance in India too.

Five very simple and quick East Indian entree’s involving potatoes are:

1. Aloo Gobi (Cauliflower & potato dish)

2. Aloo- Shimla mirch (Potato & Capsicum/Green Pepper dish)

3. Aloo- Gajar (Potato & carrot dish)

4. Aloo- Matar (Potatoes & Peas)

5. Aloo- Baingan (Potato & Egg Plant)

Aloo- Gobi Ingredients :
1 large cauliflower
2 potatoes, peeled & diced
1 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
1 green chillies
1 onion, finely chopped (optional)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes or paprika or red chilli powder
1 tsp Garam masala
½ tsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp oil or ghee/clarified butter
2 tsp ginger-garlic finely chopped or paste

Directions :

Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, allow to splutter.
Add onion and green chilli, saute till pink.
Add ginger -garlic and all spices.
Add potatoes and cauliflower chunks.
Cover the pan and let it cook until vegetables are soft. Usually takes about 10 minutes.
Stir occasionally to avoid burning.
Garnish with coriander/cilantro and enjoy with Roti or naan.

(Note: If you want to have some gravy in the dish then make a paste out of onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes cilantro/coriander, little bit of water and 2 spoons of yogurt and add in the ghee before adding potatoes and cauliflower)

– Cauliflower can be substituted with Peas, Carrots, Green Pepper or Egg Plant to make an alternate dish.

– It is Turmeric and East Indian spices in Garam Masala (blend of various spices, easily available at big superstores or East Indian Grocery shops) that give color, taste and nice flavor to these East Indian Entrees.

Until next time, Happy Cooking!

Top 25 East Indian Recipe terms

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In your quest to discover and know more about East Indian cuisine, you may come across some East Indian recipe terms which may leave you wondering..What is that? What does it mean?

Well, we’ve got them demystified for you.

1. Rajma-Chawal – Red kidney bean and rice combination

2. Roti – Flat bread made out of Flour. Resembles Tortilla and made on Tawa which is basically a iron griddle

3. Parantha– Roti that is pan- fried. It can be stuffed too with vegetables like potatoes, radish,  cauliflower etc and usually enjoyed with yogurt

4. Kichdi – rice and lentil mix, cooked well and served with ghee. Sometimes it is given a tudka (seasoning) of  cumin seeds, onions, ginger and garlic.

5. Dosa – Pancake made out of rice powder. Commonly eaten in Southern part of India

6. Pulav – Dish made out of rice. Basically Rice cooked along with various vegetables

7. Biryani – Rice cooked in a special traditional way along with vegetables or meat

8. Shorba  – soup

9. Dal – Preparation of Lentils. There are a lot of different variety of Dals depending on which lentils are used in their preparation. One of the basic food entrees’ that East Indians normally eat.

10. Sevaiyya – Dish made out of semolina strips and milk. Sweet in taste. Cooked during auspicious occasions and festivals.

11. Puris – wheat flour flattenings, deep fried in oil. Some variations are Aloo-puri ( which is puris eaten with Potatoes) and chole puri/Puri- chole (Chick peas and puris)

12. Baingan bharta – Roasted Eggplant/brinjal vegetable dish

13. Pachdi – Curd based side dish. Cucumber and tomato chopped and a casual tempering over it.

14. Rasam – a very liquid curry (almost like spicy water) eaten with rice.

 15. Sambar – a curry basically of tamarind, tlentils and vegetables. Enjoyed with rice or dosa

16. Kheer – A sweet dish made out of rice and milk

17. Halwa – Cake in Indian style. It can be made out of semolina, wheat flour, chick pea flour, carrots (Gajar ka halwa or gajrela) etc.

18. Rabdi-jalebi – Popular Indian sweet dish. Condensed milk balls and yellow circular sweets

19. Ladoos – It’s a sweet dish. Round,  sweet balls easily available at sweet shops throughout India.

20. Dhoklas – Gujarati dish made out of chick pea flour. It is yellow in color and salty in taste. Mostly enjoyed as an appetizer.

21. Chana or chole – Whole gram from Kabul. Chick peas are also referred to as Chole.

22. Raita – similar to a pachdi but a north Indian version

23. Achaar – Pickle. Most common ones are Aam ka achaar (Mango-pickle), Nimboo ka achaar (Lemon Pickle) and gobi-gajar ka achaar (Cauliflower- carrot achaar). It is eaten along with rice and vegetables or daal-roti

24. Gulab jamun – Popular East indian sweets which resemble Tim bits but are much more sweet. Small, round balls. Can be eaten hot or cold.

25. Chutney – It is basically a sauce which is eaten along with main course. Some common chutneys are: Imli ki chutney (Tamarind Sauce), Aam ki chutney (Mango Sauce) and Pudiney ki Chutney (Mint Sauce)