Indian Recipes to Try This Week!
- Valentina Sapia
- May 21, 2021
- 7 min read
Badam Laddu
Preparation time: 15min
Cooking time: 10min
Ingredients
1 cup almonds or Badam
3/4 cup dry coconut flakes (sweetened or unsweetened)
3/4 cup sugar (regular or Light brown)
3 Cardamom pods or seeds
1/4 cup Ghee or brown butter or melted butter (use as required)
Steps
In a pan on medium flame, dry roast the almonds until the outer skin slowly starts changing color and you get a nice aroma. Make sure not to burn them. Transfer this to a plate.
In the same pan, add the coconut flakes and saute for not more than 2 to 3 minutes on low flame. You can roast cardamom pods along with the coconut flakes. Let this cool down.
In a blender or mixer, add almonds and coconut flakes and blend them into a coarse powder. Transfer back to the plate.
Add sugar and cardamom pods, and blend them to get a fine powder. Add almond-coconut powder and blend until the mixture becomes warm and the almond starts leaving its oil. Stop blending at this stage. (Depending on the type of blender or mixer you use and its size, you may have to do this step in batches).
Transfer the mixture back to the plate and roll them into balls of the desired size. For flavor, just add 2 tbsp of ghee or butter.
If you find it difficult to bind the laddu then use additional ghee. Do not pour all the ghee at once into the mixture. Do it portion by portion, in this way the mixture remains warm plus the amount of ghee can be reduced.
Notes:
You can use dry, fresh, or frozen coconut flakes in the recipe. When using frozen coconut, thaw before use. If using sweetened coconut flakes you may reduce sugar if needed.
Laddu remains fresh for 7-10 days when using dry coconut. Make sure they are stored in an air-tight container. Ladoo remains fresh for 1-2 days when using fresh/frozen coconut.
You can even use jaggery (gud, gur) instead of sugar to make these laddus for additional health benefits.
Samosas
Ingredients
Samosa dough:
250g all-purpose flour
60ml oil
90ml water
3.7g carom seeds
3.7g salt
Potato filling:
500g potatoes
72.5g green peas
15g oil
15g ginger (paste or sliced)
1 to 2 green chilies (optional)
1 pinch hing (optional)
4 tablespoons coriander leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2.46g salt
Spices
3.7g Cumin seeds
3.7 to 5g Garam masala
3.7 red chilli powder (adjust to taste/ optional)
2.5g cumin powder
2.5g fennel powder (optional)
Steps
Boil potatoes until just done without making it mushy. You can either boil them in a steamer or pot.
Crumble them, do not mash them up. Set aside.
For the samosa dough start by mixing together flour, carom seeds, salt, and oil in a mixing bowl.
Rub the flour well for 2 to 3 mins in between the palms to incorporate the oil well.
Take a handful of flour and press down with your fingers. It must hold shape and not crumble.
Add water little by little and mix the flour to form a stiff dough. Cover and rest for 25 to 30 minutes.
For the potato filling, heat a pan with oil and add cumin seeds.
When they begin to sizzle, add ginger and fry until it smells good for about 30 to 60 seconds.
Next, add green peas and saute for 2 minutes.
Add red chili powder, garam masala, cumin powder, chaat masala (optional), and fennel powder. Saute for 30 seconds.
Next, add potatoes and sprinkle salt. Mix and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in coriander leaves and set aside to cool.
To make the samosa. Knead the dough gently to smoothen a bit. Make 5 portions and roll them into balls. Cover the dough.
Grease the rolling area and then flatten a ball. Drizzle some oil.
Begin to roll to oval shapes of 8.5 inches long by 6.5 inches wide. It should be neither too thick nor too thin.
Cut it into two parts. The 2 parts make 2 samosas. If the edges are too thick, generally roll it to thin down.
Take one part and apply water over the straight edge. Join the edges to make a cone Press down gently to seal the cone from inside as well.
Fill the cone with potato masala and press down with your fingers to push it inside as the cone. Smear water generously on both the other edges.
Bring the edges together and seal them by pinching off the edges together. If you prefer to make a standing samosa, make a pleat on one side. Bring back the pleat and seal it by pinching off the edges together.
Make sure the samosa has been sealed well. Cover them with a cloth to prevent drying.
Then to deep fry them, after you have 5 samosas, begin to heat the oil until medium-hot (to know it is the right temperature you should see a small bubble and it should take a while for the dough to rise)
Gently add as many samosas as you can to the oil and fry them on low flame, for around 10 to 12 minutes.
When it becomes firm increase flame to medium and rotate until golden.
Remove the golden fried ones with a colander. Let the temperature of the oil come down to do the next batch.
Serve samosa with mint chutney, sweet tamarind chutney, or tomato sauce.
Recipe: https://youtu.be/2oqMLr6bsqs
Butter chicken with garlic curry powder (4 to 6 servings)
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts (skinless, cut into 1-inch pieces)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
3 teaspoons curry powder (divided)
1 medium onion (thinly sliced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger (finely chopped)
3 tablespoons butter (divided)
1 pinch white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups tomato puree
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 cups cooked basmati rice (optional)
Steps
In a medium bowl, place the chicken pieces and add the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and 2 teaspoons curry powder.
Toss to coat the chicken, cover, and set aside.
In a heavy skillet over medium heat, warm up the remaining olive oil with one tablespoon of butter.
Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and saute for one minute.
Add the remaining curry powder and remaining butter. Stir well.
Add the pepper, salt, and tomato puree. Mix well and let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Stir in the skillet the marinated chicken pieces with their juices.
Bring the chicken to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 11 to 15 minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked to 165 F as tested with an instant-read thermometer.
Stir in the heavy cream and mix. Cook for one more minute.
Turn off the heat and let the chicken rest for 2 to 5 minutes.
Serve the chicken over basmati rice.
Malai Kofta (4 servings)
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 90 minutes
Ingredients
For the Koftas
2 cups potatoes (peeled and diced)
1 cup mixed vegetables (carrots, beans, peas, sweet corn; boiled)
1 cup paneer cubes
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
Salt (to taste)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, and cashew nuts)
1/4 cup of raisins (finely chopped)
3 cups vegetable (or canola or sunflower cooking oil for frying, or more as needed)
For the sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large onions (quartered)
2 tomatoes (quartered)
2 tablespoons garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon poppy seeds (lightly roasted and ground into a powder)
3 tablespoons nuts (cashews and almonds, ground into a thick paste)
1 cup water (warm)
Salt (to taste)
2 teaspoon garam masala
Steps
Wash, peel, and dice the potatoes.
Boil them in a pot of water until fork tender. Drain and set aside.
Next, boil the veggies until crisp-tender. Drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, mash the boiled potatoes, mixed vegetables, paneer, and cream together.
Add the kofta spices - cumin, coriander, and red chili powder - to this mash and mix well. The resulting dough should be firm. If not add some more boiled potato. Season with salt.
In a small bowl, combine the chopped nuts and raisins.
Make this dough into balls and put a 1/2 teaspoon of the nut and raisin mix in the center of each ball. Roll into perfect rounds.
In a large pot, heat the oil kept aside to fry the koftas, on a medium flame. Deep fry these rounds till pale golden in color.
Drain on paper towels and keep them aside.
For the sauce, heat the 3 tablespoons of oil in a deep pan and fry the onions till light brown.
In a small food processor, place the fried onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, and red chili powder, and grind into a paste.
Put this paste back into the pan and fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala.
Add the poppy seeds powder and nut paste and fry for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add 1 cup of warm water (the sauce for this dish is meant to be thick so do not add too much water) to this masala to form a gravy. Mix well. Season with salt.
Bring the gravy to a boil and then reduce the fire to a simmer.
Gently add the koftas to this gravy and cook uncovered for 2 to 3 minutes.
Turn off the fire and sprinkle the garam masala all over the top of the dish.
Cover immediately and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Serve with hot naans or jeera rice.
Punjabi-style chole chickpea curry (4 servings):
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
3 large onions, sliced thin and divided
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger paste
2 tablespoons garlic paste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or canola oil
2 bay leaves
5 to 6 cloves
3 to 4 whole green cardamom
5 to 6 peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans of chickpeas
Kosher salt, to taste
Water, enough to make a gravy
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, julienned
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped fine
Steps:
Grind 2 of the sliced onions, the tomatoes, and the ginger and garlic paste together into a smooth paste in a food processor.
Heat the vegetable oil in a deep, thick-bottomed pan on medium heat.
Add the bay leaves, cloves, cardamom, and peppercorns and sauté until slightly darker and mildly fragrant.
Add the remaining sliced onion and cook until light golden in color.
Add the onion-tomato paste you made earlier and cook until the oil begins to separate from the paste.
Add the ground cumin, coriander, red chili, turmeric, and garam masala. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 more minutes.
Drain the chickpeas and rinse them well under running water.
Now add the chickpeas to the masala. Stir to mix everything well.
Add salt to taste and enough hot water to make the gravy about 1 1/2 cups (or less if you want it thicker)
Simmer and cook covered for 10 minutes.
Use a flat spoon or potato masher to mash some of the chickpeas coarsely. Stir to mix everything well.
Garnish with juliennes of ginger and finely chopped fresh coriander leaves. A squeeze of lemon and a handful of very finely chopped onions tastes great as a garnish too.
Bibliography
Agha, E. (2018, March 6) Vegan Malai Kofta: Indian Dumplings in Curry Tomato Cream Sauce. [Photograph] The Curious Chickpea. https://www.thecuriouschickpea.com/vegan-malai-kofta-indian-dumplings-in-curry-tomato-cream-sauce/
Galu, K. (2020, July 22) Badam Ladoo | Badam Laddu | Almond Bites. Cook with Kushi. https://www.cookwithkushi.com/badam-ladoo-badam-laddu-almond-bites/
Gujral, H. (2019, March 5) Paneer Kofta Recipe [Photograph]. Fun Food Frolic. https://www.funfoodfrolic.com/paneer-kofta-recipe/
Gupta, R. (2020, April 14) Restaurant style butter chicken masala (murgh makhani) [Photograph] My Food Story. https://myfoodstory.com/easy-restaurant-style-butter-chicken-masala-murgh-makhani/
Hassan, H. (2020) Spiced Chicken and Onion Samosas [Photograph] The Splendid Table. https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2020/11/20/spiced-chicken-and-onion-samosas
Linda, L. (2021, March 2) Butter Chicken. The Spruce Eats. https://www.thespruceeats.com/butter-chicken-479366
Singh, M. (2019, August 15) Samosa Recipe – How to Make Perfect Samosa [Photograph]. Cooking with Manali. https://www.cookwithmanali.com/samosa-recipe/
Swasthi's Recipes (2019, November 29) Samosa - Make the perfect crunchy & flaky samosas at home! Youtube. https://youtu.be/2oqMLr6bsqs
Verma Sarkar, P. (2021, May 10) Indian Veggie Balls (Malai Kofta). The Spruce Eats. https://www.thespruceeats.com/malai-kofta-vege-balls-in-a-thick-sauce-1957964
Verma Sarkar, P. (2021, May 10) Punjabi-Style Chole Chickpea Curry. The Spruce Eats. https://www.thespruceeats.com/chole-chickpea-curry-1957946
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