Mint Chaas | Masala Chaas | Savory Buttermilk

Chaas is nothing but flavored buttermilk.During summer, buttermilk is quite popular across India and made in different flavors across the region. In Tamilnadu, it's called as Neer moor  and it's quite different from North Indian version of savory buttermilk, here we do basic tempering with oil,mustard & curry leaves and add into the buttermilk and i'm big fan of that tempered buttermilk.
But in North India,they add cumin powder into buttermilk to enhance the flavor. I love both version of buttermilk because of their unique flavor.Here in this recipe, i added few mint leaves into the buttermilk and it was super hit, the mild mint flavor in this buttermilk is so yummy and also wanting it more.As buttermilk is a natural coolant, having it during this summer helps you to keep hydrated and cool. Now let's see the recipe.

Mint Chaas

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Curd - 1/2 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Coriander leaves - few(optional)
Mint leaves - 2 to 3

Procedure

Add curd,cumin powder,coriander & mint leaves, salt and water into the mixie/blender jar and blend it well until it becomes frothy.
Tada, Your Mint Chaas is ready.

Notes:

• Instead of regular salt, you can use black salt also.
• You can add more or less of mint leaves as per your preference.
• You can omit mint leaves and make it as plain chaas.

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Sweet Corn Masala | Corn Masala | Side dish for rotis

Sweet Corn Masala, a delicious side dish for your rotis,naan,chapathi or mild puloa.Though i had tasted sweet corn masala in restaurant many times and liked it much, i haven't tried my hands on it till last month. As we both love to have sweet corn as boiled or grilled,i haven't thought much about making this curry. But last month, i bought 6 corns/dollar and we got bored of having as it,so made this curry along with some rotis. The combination was so delicious and we love it to the core. Now let's see now to make this curry.

Sweet Corn Masala

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Sweet Corn Kernels - 1/2 cup
Capsicum - 1(small)
Onion(large) - 1
Tomato(medium) - 2
Garlic - 5 pods
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Cumin seed - 1/4 tsp
Fennel seed - 1/4 tsp
Cashew - 5
Oil - 2 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Cloves - 2 
Cardamom - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste 

Procedure

First peel the onions,garlic & ginger and chop them along with tomato roughly into pieces. Heat the pan with 1 tsp of oil, add the cumin & fennel seed let it fry in oil for 30 secs.Then add the onions, ginger & garlic along with 1/4 tsp of  salt and saute till the onions become translucent.Then add the cashews and tomato and saute till the tomato becomes mushy.Switch off the flame and let it cool completely.Put the onion & tomato masala into mixie/blender jar and grind them into smooth paste. Heat the pan with remaining oil and add the whole spices(cinnamon, cloves and cardamom),let it fry in oil for 30 secs.Then add the masala paste and spice powder(turmeric, red chili & coriander powder) and salt.If needed add some water and cover the pan with lid and cook for 8-10 mins in medium flame. By the time, the raw smell of the masala is gone,open the lid and keep in low flame until the oil separates on the top. Finally add the garam masala & mix well.In an another pan, add 1/2 tsp of oil and add the chopped capsicum and saute till it becomes soft . Keep the cooked corn ready too.Add the capsicum and corn into the masala and mix well.Let it be in the flame for 5 mins and switch off the flame. Delicious sweet corn masala for your rotis is ready.

Notes:

• Adding cashews give creaminess & richness to the gravy.
• If the tomato has more tart taste, add 1/2 tsp of sugar to balance the gravy.
• To make the gravy even more richer, add 2 tbsp of cream at the end.
• The color of gravy depends on red chili powder and the tomato, so to get bright red color, always use well ripe tomato & good quality red chili powder.
• Cook the corn till it becomes soft.
  

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Black Chana Masala | Chick Peas Curry | Chana Masala

Chana Masala, a chickpeas curry in onion tomato masala.As i have already shared the basic onion tomato masala that you can use in variety of India Curries as base masala. Here in the recipe, i have used the same recipe of base masala and make this chana masala and it turns out super delicious.It goes very well with roti, chapathi or with any Indian flat breads. 
Even without coconut or cream, this curry turned out so creamy, if you like chana masala with coconut, then check out the delicious kadala curry here. As i have already mentioned   in my onion tomato masala post, you can prepare & store this masala ahead of time,at the time of need, bring the masala to boil and add cooked chana,that's it,your chana masala is ready.

Chana Masala

Preparation Time : 8 hrs for soaking | Cooking Time : 30 mins | Serves : 4 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Black Chana - 1/2 cup
Onion(large) - 1
Tomato(medium) - 2
Garlic - 5 pods
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Cumin seed - 1/4 tsp
Fennel seed - 1/4 tsp
Cashew - 5
Oil - 2 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Cloves - 2 
Cardamom - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste 

Procedure

Soak  the chana for overnight or atleast 8 hrs and put it in pressure cooker along with 1/4 tsp of salt & water(just to immerse the chana) and cook it for 3 whistles & keep it aside until use. It should be mushy when pressed it with fingers.Peel the onions,garlic & ginger and chop them along with tomato roughly into pieces. Heat the pan with 1 tsp of oil, add the cumin & fennel seed let it fry in oil for 30 secs.Then add the onions, ginger & garlic along with 1/4 tsp of  salt and saute till the onions become translucent.Then add the cashews and tomato and saute till the tomato becomes mushy.Switch off the flame and let it cool completely.Put the onion & tomato masala into mixie/blender jar and grind them into smooth paste. Heat the pan with remaining oil and add the whole spices(cinnamon, cloves and cardamom),let it fry in oil for 30 secs.Then add the masala paste and spice powder(turmeric, red chili & coriander powder) and salt.If needed add some water and cover the pan with lid and cook for 8-10 mins in medium flame. By the time, the raw smell of the masala is gone,open the lid and keep in low flame until the oil separates on the top. Finally add the garam masala & mix well.(That's it, this is your base masala,you can store this for later use too.)Now add the chana along with the cooked water(transfer the masala to bigger pot for easy stirring) and let it be in flame for 5 mins,finally add coriander leaves and switch off the flame.That's it,Tasty & Creamy Chana masala is ready.

Notes:

• Cook the masala till oil separates before adding chana.
• Chana should be mushy when pressed between fingers.
• If the tomatoes have more tartness, add a tsp of sugar in the masala to balance the gravy.
• Use well ripe tomatoes and good quality chili powder to get bright colors.
  

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Basic Onion Tomato Masala | Base Masala for Indian Curries

Onion Tomato Masala, is the base gravy for many indian dishes,you can make paneer butter masala, mushroom masala ,aloo curry & many more with this one base gravy. When we were in bangalore, i had a chance to sneak peek into the kitchen of the restaurant where we usually brought the north indian curries. They had the large vessel of some gravy, so depends on the order, they sauted the veggies and add the already prepared gravy & some spices. That's it ,pipping hot gravy is ready to serve. And even you can see the same procedure in any road side food stalls in India. 

This gravy idea is totally inspired from those restaurants & stalls. After so many trials, i'm able to achieve what i'm looking for.This gravy is so versatile, just play around with the spices as per your liking. You can prepared this gravy ahead and store in refrigerator for weeks, when you need some gravy,reheat the gravy & saute the veggies or panner and add into gravy. Stay tuned,will share soon, how i prepared mushroom masala with this gravy.

Onion Tomato Masala

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Onion(large) - 1
Tomato(medium) - 2
Garlic - 5 pods
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Cumin seed - 1/4 tsp
Fennel seed - 1/4 tsp
Cashew - 5
Oil - 2 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Cloves - 2 
Cardamom - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste 

Procedure

First peel the onions,garlic & ginger and chop them along with tomato roughly into pieces. Heat the pan with 1 tsp of oil, add the cumin & fennel seed let it fry in oil for 30 secs.Then add the onions, ginger & garlic along with 1/4 tsp of  salt and saute till the onions become translucent.Then add the cashews and tomato and saute till the tomato becomes mushy.Switch off the flame and let it cool completely.Put the onion & tomato masala into mixie/blender jar and grind them into smooth paste. Heat the pan with remaining oil and add the whole spices(cinnamon, cloves and cardamom),let it fry in oil for 30 secs.Then add the masala paste and spice powder(turmeric, red chili & coriander powder) and salt.If needed add some water and cover the pan with lid and cook for 8-10 mins in medium flame. By the time, the raw smell of the masala is gone,open the lid and keep in low flame until the oil separates on the top. Finally add the garam masala & mix well and switch off the flame.That's it, Basic Onion Tomato masala for indian curry is ready.

Notes:

• Adding cashews give creaminess & richness to the gravy.
• If the tomato has more tart taste, add 1/2 tsp of sugar to balance the gravy.
• To make the gravy even more richer, add 2 tbsp of cream at the end.
• The color of gravy depends on red chili powder and the tomato, so to get bright red color, always use well ripe tomato & good quality red chili powder.
  

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Neer Moor | Spicy Buttermilk | Masala Buttermilk

Neer moor or spicy butter milk is the excellent thirst quencer for the summer and it's really a good body coolant too. Neer moor or panagam always remember me the "Therottam" festival (car festival) in my city(Tirunelveli Town).During the car festival in Tirunelveli Town,all the shops in the four car streets (ratha veethi) are closed & lot of free stalls are opened  by individuals or by any organizations in the platform to distribute food, neer moor, panagam etc for the devotees on that particular day and it's really delicious to have that on scroching sunny day.
This post is being in draft for quite a long time and also it's been raining here for past 4 days,i couldn't get a single decent picture because of very low sunlight,so thought of posting this today.

Neer moor | Spicy Buttermilk

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients
Buttermilk - 2 cup
Green Chili - 1
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Curry leaves - 2
Coriander leave - 1/2 spring
Salt - to taste
To Temper
Oil - 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1/4 tsp

Procedure

Take the buttermilk in a bowl, add the green chili,ginger,curry leaves and coriander leaves in the mixie jar, grind into coarse mixture.

Add the chili mixture into the buttermilk, add enough salt.Mix it well. Finally temper the ingredients listed under "To Temper" and add into buttermilk.

Tasty & cooling Buttermilk is ready.

Notes:

• If you don't have buttermilk, take 1 cup of curd and add 1 cup of water into it , whisk it well and proceed as above.
• Instead of grinding, you can also finely chop the ingredients and add it.
• Adjust the spiciness according to your taste.

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Pav Bhaji | Pav Bhaji Masala | Home made Pav Bhaji Masala

Pav Bhaji is a famous street food from the Indian City, Mumbai. Pav Bhaji is a combo dish and it has pav (soft buns) and bhaji( mashed & spiced vegetables). 

Bhaji is the marathi word used to refer to vegetable based dishes. Hence the word Pav Bhaji refers to the curried vegetables served along with pav bread and as well as the combo in terms of the context. 

All the north Indian street foods were introduced to me when i was in chennai for work. Before that I never knew about pav bhaji back in my hometown, Tirunelveli. Initially I thought that the combination of bread with some vegetable curry is a weird combo, all those thoughts were gone, when i had first tasted this. The slight sweetness from the bread goes very well with the spicy masala, surely it's my kind of food.

After marriage, I started to make pav bhaji frequently at home ,at least twice in a month. One time, during my parent visit to our home in Bangalore, I made pav bhaji for dinner. To my surprise, even Appa liked it very much although he didn't like many of the famous north Indian dishes like Naan, roti or any kind of  paneer dishes. 

After that he kept on insisting me to make this whenever he visits me or me visits my parents house. Honestly I feel elated when people start to like certain dishes because of my cooking. Anyone with me? 

Ok, Now coming back to the recipe, there are so many different ways you can prepare the pav bhaji, some prefer to grate the vegetable instead of chopping and saute till it becomes mushy. But i've been making pav bhaji using pressure cooking vegetables for years now and it tastes so awesome. 

Although I never tried any other way of making pav bhaji, I can assure that this is the one of the tastiest pav bhaji that can  be made in very less time. 

Related: How to make Vada Pav 

Is Pav Bhaji masala / Spice mix is essential to make the pav bhaji?

No, Not at all. I have made the pav bhaji so many times with garam masala for flavor and never felt any difference in the taste. So, if you're not making pav bhaji at home frequently, then no need to buy a pack of pav bhaji masala. Garam masala works well equally.

Check out the video recipe for making Pav Bhaji

What vegetables can be added in Pav Bhaji ?

Personally, I like to add more vegetables in my pav Bhaji. Potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, peas & capsicum are the most common vegetables used in the street food carts. 

Depending on the amount of vegetables added in the pav bhaji, the taste and the color differ mildly. I would highly recommend adding capsicum for pav bhaji because of its flavor. 

And, to get bright red color, instead of using  kashmiri chili powder, i like to add a small piece of beetroot. But don't add too much that will affect the flavor.

Ok, now let's check out on how to make this famous street food, Pav Bhaji.

Related: How to make Crispy & Juicy Jalebi

Pav Bhaji

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 3 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Pav Bhaji, Pressure cooker Pav Bhaji, Indian Pav Bhaji, Tasty Pav Bahaji, Easy Pav bhaji, Street food Pav Bhaji Masala is a famous street food from North India.Using pressure cooker, you can make the delicious bhaji in minutes and it tastes awesome.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Potato - 2
Carrot - 1
Peas - 1/4 cup
Cauliflower florets - 1/2 cup
Capsicum - 1
Cabbage - 1/2 cup(sliced)
Tomato - 2 
Beetroot - 1(small)
Red chili powder - 3/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Pav Bhaji Masala/Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Butter - 2 tbsp
Onion  & lemon - for serving
Butter - 1 tsp(serving) 

Procedure

Wash and cut all the vegetables(Potato,Carrot,Peas,Cauliflower, Capsicum,Cabbage,Beetroot) & tomato in to small pieces.Put all the vegetables & tomato into the pressure cooker with enough water(1 cup approx),put on lid and weight and cook for 3 whistle or until all the veggies are cooked softly.

Once the pressure from the cooker automatically released, open the lid, remove the vegetable stock from the vegetables(don't discard it, gonna use it later).Mash the vegetables with masher well.

Now keep it in flame & add the vegetable stock(if needed add more water) and all the spices(turmeric,red chili,coriander, garam masala powder).

Add enough salt and mix well. Bring the masala to boil and add the butter 1/2 tbsp at a time, once it melts and incorporate with masala, add another 1/2 tbsp.Same way add all the butter.

Once all the butter is incorporated,keep the flame in medium and cook for 8-10 mins, after that the masala becomes thick , finally garnish with coriander leaves & switch off the flame.

Serve it along with butter toasted pav bread ,onions & lemon wedges. 

Related: How to make Pav Bread at home

Notes:

• Usually i use all the vegetables mentioned in the ingredients list.
• If you're not having all vegetables , still you can make it with the available vegetables in your pantry.Potatoes, peas & capsicum are the must.
• I love to add beetroot especially for the color.
• It's a bit difficult to mash the beetroot with masher even after cooking too, instead you can pulse the beetroot alone once and add with remaining veggies.
• Mash the vegetables more or less as per your preference texture.
• I used garam masala powder here.
• Instead of butter, you can use oil too, but butter gives richness to the masala & i highly recommend it.

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