Lauki Chana Dal/Bottle Gourd with Bengal Gram (Microwave Version)

Ingredients:
Bottle gourd - 1 (Medium)
Onion - 1 (small-chopped)
Chana dal/Bengal gram - 1/3 cup
Tomato - 1 (chopped)
Garlic - 1 (chopped)
Ginger - 1/2 tsp. (chopped)
Green chillies - 2 (slit)
Kashmiri red chilli - 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt (to taste)
Oil
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp.

Garnish:
Coriander leaves

Method:
Soak bengal gram in 1 cup of water for an hour.
Microwave high for 10 minutes (without lid).
The water dries up after 10 minutes. Add another cup of water.
Micowave high for  another15 minutes( without lid) or until dal is cooked but not mushy. Stir in between for every 5 minutes.
Remove the dish and keep it aside.
Peel the skin of bottlegourd and chop it into pieces.
Take another microwave safe dish and add chopped bottlegourd.
Micowave high till the bottlegourd is cooked (cover the corningware with a lid).
Stir 3-4 minutes in between.
Add oil and cumin seeds in a bowl and micro high for 2 minutes.
Add onions, green chillies, garlic and ginger and micro high for 3 minutes or until the onions change color.
Add tomatoes and again micro high for 3 minutes. Stir.
Add kashmiri red chilli powder, turmeric powder and micro high for a minute.
Combine bottlegourd, onion, green chillies, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, kashmiri red chillies, turmeric with cooked bengal gram.
Now add required salt to taste, garam masala and 2 tbsp. of water. Mix well.
Micro high for 3 minutes.
Cover and keep aside for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with coriander leaves and mix.
Serve with any main course.

Sent off to "MLLA-24" (hosted by Diana and started by Susan), "Think Spice Think Garam Masala" (hosted by Saraswathi Iyer and started by Sunitha) and "MEC-Delicious Dals" (hosted by Kamalika and started by Srivalli).

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Tomato Coconut Milk Pulao

Ingredients:
Basmati rice - 2 cups
Tomato - 2
Ghee
Coconut - 1/2
Green chilli paste - 1 tsp.
Garam Masala - 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt (to taste)

To garnish:
Fried onions
Fried cashew nuts
Fried raisins

Method:
Grate the coconut and take the milk.
Puree the tomatoes and run through the strainer to collect tomato water.
Mix coconut milk, tomato water and plain water  (3.5 cup).
Soak rice for 10 minutes in water.
Heat ghee in pressure cooker and add green chilli paste.
Saute in low flame (Don't saute in medium or high flame or you will end up sneezing and coughing).
Add soaked rice (discard the water) and saute for a few minutes.
Now add salt, garam masala, turmeric water and mix well.
Now add the 3.5 cup of  tomato coconut water and pressure cook upto 3 whistles. You can cook in rice cooker also.
After few minutes spread the cooked rice in a wide plate.
Garnish with fried cashewnut, raisin and onions.
Serve the pulao with egg curry, potato fry, raita or chips.

Sent off to "Think Spice Think Garam Masala" (hosted by Saraswathi Iyer and started by Sunitha).

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Dal Makhani

I didn't add too much butter for health reasons. I just added cream with some low fat milk. If you want to increase the amount of butter, just add 2-3 tbsp.
Ingredients:
Whole urad dal (black lentils) - 1 cup
Rajma (kidney beans) - 2 tbsp.
Onion - 3 (small-chopped)
Tomatoes - 3 (pureed)
Butter - 1.5tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp.
Salt (to taste)
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsp.
Cream - 1/4 cup
Low - fat milk - 1/4 cup
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Coriander powder - 2 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp. (chopped)
Green chillies - 2
Oil

To garnish:
Butter
Coriander leaves
Cream
Ginger julienned

Method:
Soak urad dal and rajma overnight. Discard water.
In a pressure cooker, add urad dal, rajma, required fresh water, salt, green chillies and 1 tsp. ginger-garlic paste.
Pressure cook up to 3 whistles and simmer up to 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and keep aside.
When pressure drops, remove the lid and lightly mash the dal and rajmah.
In a pan, heat oil and add onion, saute till golden color.
Add 1 tsp. ginger- garlic paste and saute till raw smell fades.
Remove from heat and cool it. Grind them into a coarse paste.
In the same pan, add butter and add cumin seeds.
When the cumin seeds sizzle, add the onion coarse paste and saute for few minutes.
Now add the tomato puree and saute till it releases oil (I mean butter).
Add red chilli powder, coriander, turmeric powder and salt. Stir for a few seconds.
Add the boiled dal and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile mix cream and milk in separate bowl.
Add the cream , garam masala and mix with boiled dal.
Remove from heat and garnish with the given ingredients.

Sent off to "MLLA-24" (hosted by Diana and started by Susan) and "Think Spice Think Garam Masala" (hosted by Saraswathi Iyer and started by Sunitha).

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Chicken Kuzhambu

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1/2 kg (cut into pieces)
Onions - 3 (chopped)
Garlic - 5 (crushed)
Ginger - 1.5 inches (crushed)
Tomatoes - 2 (chopped)
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Coriander leaves - a small bunch (chopped)
Kashmiri Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp.
Coriander powder - 2 tbsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Salt (to taste)
Oil

To powder:
Cinnamon - 1 stick
Cloves - 2
Green cardamom - 2
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
Black Peppercorn - 1 tsp.
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp.
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp.
Kalpasi - 1/2 tsp.
Pottukadalai/chutney dal - 1 tbsp.
Coconut flakes - 1 tbsp.

Method:
Powder the given ingredients without adding any water.
Heat oil and add onions, curry leaves and saute till golden color.
Add ginger garlic and saute till the raw smell goes off.
Add tomatoes, salt and saute for a few minutes.
Add chicken and saute.
Now add the kashmiri red chilli, coriander and turmeric powder.
Saute for a few seconds.
Now add water (3 to 4 cups) and cover it with a lid.
After few minutes, when the chicken is cooked, add the spice powder and stir gently.
Bring it to a boil and simmer it.
After a few minutes, add coriander leaves and remove from heat.
Enjoy with chapathi, idli or dosai.

Note:
Adjust the spices and chillies according to your taste.

Semt off to "CWS-Pepper" (hosted by Padma and started by Priya).

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Murungakkai Milagu Kuzhambu/Drumsticks in Pepper Sauce

Ingredients:
Drumstick (medium and long) - 1 (chopped 1.5 inches)
Onion - 2 (chopped)
Garlic - 2 big cloves (peeled and chopped)
Salt (to taste)
Tamarind - lemon size
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Oil
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.

To fry and powder:
Urad dal - 1 tsp.
Arhar/tuvar dal - 1 tsp.
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp.
Peppercorn - 1 tsp.
Fenugreek seeds - 10 seeds
Byadgi chillies - 5
Curry leaves - 3 sprigs
Oil
Asafetida - a pinch

Method:
Soak tamarind in 1 cup of water.
Fry and powder the given ingredients.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
When mustard seeds crackle, add the onion pieces and saute till they turn golden color.
Add the garlic and saute till raw smell fades.
Add 1 to 1.5 cups of water (or required water to boil drumsticks) and the chopped drumsticks.
Allow the drumsticks to cook.
When the veggie are tender add the tamarind extract, salt and turmeric powder.
Let the tamarind water boil till the raw smell fades away.
Now add the powder and stir well.
Cook till oil separates in simmer mode, remove from heat and add the curry leaves.
Enjoy with plain rice.

Note:
I didn't boil the drumsticks directly in tamarind water as it takes a lot of time.

Sent off to "CWS-Pepper" event (hosted by Padma and started by Priya).

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Chicken Biryani (Version 3)

This isn't a traditional or an authentic biryani. Whatever ingredient came into my mind, I threw them in the vessel and cooked it. And it's 0% ghee this time.

Ingredients:
To cook rice:
Basmati Rice - 3 cups
Bay leaves - 2
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Water - 5 cups
Salt (to taste)
Oil (few drops)

Method:
Boil water and add all the ingredients.
Let the rice cook in open vessel till the water is absorbed.
At this stage rice is cooked only  40 to 50%.
Spread the rice in a big plate.
.
For chicken marination:
Chicken - 3/4 kg (cut into bite size pieces)
Ginger-garlic paste - 1.5 tsp.
Mint leaves - 15
Yogurt - 2 tbsp.
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
Salt (to taste)

Method:
Clean and wash the chicken. Marinate with given ingredients and keep aside for 30 minutes.

To pound into coarse powder:
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Black cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Cloves - 2
Green cardamom - 2

For chicken masala:
Onions - 4 (sliced)
Tomatoes - 3 (chopped)
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp.
Green chillies - 4 (slit)
Oil
Salt (to taste)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp.

For layering:
Fried onions
Saffron color water
Kewra water - few drops
Mint leaves - few
Coriander leaves (alone) - few

Garnishing:
Fried cashewnuts - few
Boiled eggs
Lemon wedges

Method:
In a pan, heat oil and add coarse powdered spices , sliced onions. Saute till golden color.
Add ginger-garlic paste, green chilli and saute till the raw smell fades away.
Add tomatoes and saute till mushy.
Add the marinated chicken and saute for a few minutes.
Add the red chilli powder, little water and saute till there is no moisture.
At this stage, the chicken is 30%-40% cooked. Remove from heat.

Method for Dum Biryani:
In a heavy bottomed deep pan, add half of the chicken in the bottom and spread.
On the top, spread the rice.
On the top of the rice, sprinkle mint leaves, few drops of kewra water, saffron water, fried onions and coriander leaves.
Now spread the remaning chicken, rice, and the remaining layering ingredients.
Cover the pan with a heavy duty aluminium foil (as a double foil by folding).
Place a lid on the top of foil and keep in simmer mode for 20 to 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, remove the lid and foil carefully.
The rice and chicken is cooked fully at this stage.
Gently mix the rice and chicken. 
Garnish with fried cashews, lemon wedges and egg.
Enjoy with raita and any chicken fry.

Note:
Adjust the chillies, spices and salt according to taste.

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