Tag: mushrooms

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Mutton Pepper Fry

At the very beginning, know that this isn’t the classic recipe. Given the primary ingredients, I had no choice but to name it so.

I do like this recipe, because I used to look at such dishes and think it certainly must take quite a while to cook it and also need a load of preparation. As we found out, it doesn’t have to.

Ingredients:

  • Boneless meat, 1 kg, soaked in mild brine for an hour
  • Dhania-Lal Mirch masala, 2 tbsp
  • Red Chilies, 2 – 3 pieces, dried
  • Mushrooms, 1 cup, finely chopped
  • Ginger garlic paste, 1 tbsp
  • Black peppercorns, 3 tbsp, pounded
  • Onions, 1 medium, finely sliced
  • Salt to taste
  • Lemon juice to taste
  • Oil to cook

Method:

  1. Add washed meat to a pressure cooker with a little salt and cook until tender. Use your own estimation please. I use a Hawkins Futura and it took about 20 minutes, though this will vary from cooker to cooker and meat to meat. Reserved drained meat, use water someplace else, like making rajma for instance.
  2. Fry onions, add the ginger garlic paste, fry a bit more, add the dhania-lal mirch masala and fry some more, add the mushrooms, red chilies and black pepper and fry for a bit more.
  3. Add the meat and keep frying on high heat until the color of the whole concoction deepens and the masala tastes cooked.
  4. Squeeze on a generous amount of lemon juice. Season.
  5. Serve hot

Notes:

  • A bowl of thick (half hung, half normal) curd on the side will taste good.
  • If you’re going to use chicken, use thighs and skip pressure cooking. Instead, just keep going on a lower flame until the chicken is cooked. If you use breast in this process, it is likely to dry out.
  • Use any red meat you want.
  • If you want to lower the spice, start with reducing the dhania-lal mirch masala a bit, then the pepper, then the dhania-lal mirch masala again, and then the pepper. Reducing chili heat this way will keep the basic nature/flavour of the dish as well as bring down the spiciness.
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Chicken and Vegetables in Alfredo Sauce

Sometimes, we feel the need to eat rich foods without compromising on flavour in the name of health. I do that too every so often, and dishes like this are the end result – loads of calories packing a bunch of flavours and textures.

You can choose any pasta of your choice to go with this dish. We chose penne and next time, may go with hand-made noodles, which always taste so very good!

chicken and vegetables in alfredo sauce on a bed of penne.

Ingredients:

  • Broccoli, 1 medium sized piece, trimmed and finely chopped
  • Bell pepper, red, 1 medium sized piece, trimmed and finely chopped
  • Mushrooms, button, 1 packet, trimmed and finely chopped
  • Chicken breast, optional, 250gm, finely chopped
  • Garlic, fresh, peeled and finely chopped
  • Garlic, powder, 1 tbsp
  • Italian spice, per taste
  • Chili flakes, per taste
  • Salt, per taste
  • Cream, 200 gm pack
  • Butter, 100 gm pack
  • Cheese of your choice, 100gm, grated

Method:

  1. Melt butter in pan
  2. Saute the garlic first, then the mushrooms and then the chicken
  3. When the chicken is no longer pink anymore, add the bell pepper and broccoli and mix a bit.
  4. Add the cream, mix in all the spices (garlic powder, Italian spice, salt, chili flakes), lower the flame to a simmer.
  5. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes to soften the bell peppers a little.
  6. Stir in the cheese.
  7. Serve hot on a bed of rice or pasta.

Notes:

  • We used Domino’s spice sachets. If you don’t have any of the two, basil+oregano works well. Fresh basil, even better.
  • You can also add onions if you like to the initial mixture
  • You can also add other vegetables like peas, finely chopped cauliflower, blanched spinach among others to increase the nutritional density.

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Phat Green Mama

Yesterday I went to a shopping complex and remembered we didn’t have any vegetables at home. There was a shop in the complex, and I went there, and left in perhaps 5 seconds. Nearly every vegetable there was not only high priced, but wilted and quite sad. You see, the mandi tends to spoil us and that’s where I headed to next. When there, nearly every stall had crisp, fresh greens discarded alongside that apparently no one wanted to pay for or eat. The healthy cheapskate in me took over and I asked for them and every vendor happily stuffed my bag, no questions asked. Now greens tend to wilt and go yellow and other such undesirable colours quite quickly and so we made a lunch almost entirely out of them. I call it, the Phat Green Mama. These are the type of meal changes that have helped me and my clients lose oodles of weight, feel better and ultimately, live better.

Phat Green Mama tastes cool, refreshing, crunchy, very green and is almost entirely guilt free. There’s crunch coming from the fresh greens, warm comfort from the eggs and the not-totally-dry yolks, the mushrooms have their own lovely flavour enhanced by butter and garlic and no carbs. When you’re done eating, you’ll feel fulfilled, satisfied and not at all heavy.

Ingredients:

  • 6 – 7 Beetroot greens, washed
  • 2 – 3 Radish greens, washed
  • 1 packet Mushrooms, washed and trimmed
  • 2 tbsp Garlic, chopped
  • 1 medium Onion, sliced
  • 1 medium Tomato, quartered
  • 400gm Yogurt
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • 1 tbsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
  • 2 Eggs, boiled
  • Half a lemon, quartered

Preparation:

  1. Beetroot greens: Separate leaves and stalks, chop stalks, chiffonade leaves, except for four large ones.
  2. Radish greens: Separate leaves and stalks, chop stalks, tear leaves
  3. Mix the olive oil black pepper and salt to taste into the yogurt

Cooking:

  1. Melt butter
  2. Add garlic, brown slightly
  3. Add onions, keep till transparent/pinkish
  4. Add mushrooms, cook for 3 minutes on gentle heat or until cooked
  5. Add salt, mix well.
  6. Take off the heat and add all the chopped stalks.
  7. Set aside.

Assembly:

  1. Place two large beetroot leaves in every bowl
  2. Add beetroot leaves (chiffonade) at their base, to one side
  3. Place mushrooms alongside
  4. Add tomatoes, radish leaves, eggs and lemon as you see fit.
  5. Top with or serve accompanied by the cool yogurt sauce.