Amla Curry - Healthy Curry

This is also another of those fruit which I could not think where a curry would be made but here is the ingredient of the Amla Curry, very simple very easy.

Ingredients:

1. 6 Pieces of Amla
2. Oil
3. Salt, Red Chilli Powder, Turmuric, Jeera, Hing, Sauf, Sugar all things according to taste

How to Make:

1. First we will need to steam the amla this is an important process.
2. Take a pressure cooker and then pour water in the base. Take a plate with holes in it and put it over the water. Note that water should not touch the plate.  Do not cut the Amla just drop them over the plate
3. Close the pressure cooker lid and steam the Amla till 2 whistles.
4. Open the lid you will see that Amla is all soft and broken up. Clean up the seeds of Amla.
5. Keep it to cool in room temperature. 
6. Add Oil in another Kadai and then add 1 tea spoon of jeera, sauf and hing. 
7. Cook till you hear pop sound of Jeera.
8. Then add Amla in the Kadai
9. Cook for sometime and then add Red Chilli Powder, Turmeric and Salt according to taste.
10. Cook again for sometime and then add Sugar according to the taste just to give a sweet flavor to the Amla
11. Cook for a min and remove the kadai from the heat. Put the lid over the kadai just to that the flavors mix together. 
12. You can eat with Roti or Rice. 

You will have the typical Amla Taste with a bit of sugary flavor.

Papad Curry - Simplest and Quickest

Papad is one thing which we eat just with dinner which is roasted or fried but today I shall write about the most simplest curry known as Papad Curry.

Ingredients:

1. Papad - 4 Pieces
2. Red Chilly Powder
3. Turmeric
4. Jeera
5. Oil
6. Water
7. Salt

How to make:

1. Put in 2 teaspoon of Oil in a pan and heat it up with Jeera.
2. Cut papad in small pieces almost 1/5th of actual size of each papad.
3. Put them in the Pan and cook it with the oil for a minute medium heat
4. Add Red Chilly powder and turmeric.
5. Add salt but not too much as papad already has too much salt in it.
6. Add water and then cook again for 2 mins. Stir slowly.
7. That is it...step 7 is eat

The full flavor of the curry is based on what Papad you use as there are many flavors. We make it with the marwadi style papad which is generally roasted.

Aloo Kachori - Agra

It was a pretty decent Sunday October morning in Agra temperature hovering around 25 degrees celcius and right opposite our hotel was a place known as Pappu Kachori at Baluganj road opposite Lavania Villas.

Kachoris In the process

We were walking randomly in Agra and we asked where can we find an awesome breakfast he pointed us the place from where we started.

The Team

The place is just 8 x 8 place where inside 1 person is filling up the dough, 2nd person rolling up the dough in small circles and putting them in hot oil and 3rd person taking order from hungry junta. This is the first time I have seen a complete process of Kachori making it just looks like you are making Puri. But here they have to be cooked for a longer time. People are getting stressed, hungry, more people join in. And outside I see the 4th person making Jalebis and almost everywhere in India people do not say no to Jalebi in the morning. But for the first time I have seen them it having with Aloo Bhaji yes Jalebi mixed with Aloo Bhaji.

People waiting for the Kachori

Finally after 20+ min wait we get hot hot kachoris in our hands with Aloo bhaji curry in a small bowl. You have to crack open the Kachori let the heat out and dip it in the curry and enjoy it. Note: the curry is a spicy mix of red chilly powder, pieces of green chillies and other masalas. The 75+ odd kachoris got over in 10 mins.
We had 4 Aloo kachori, 1 dal kachori and 2 bowls of Jalebi total bill Rs. 36 and satisfaction priceless

The final product photograph were not taken as we were very very hungry and ate it. 

Guava Curry/Peru Curry Recipe

I did not know that there used to be Guava Curry/Guava Bhaji which is a specialty of Rajasthan. It is one the rare fruit where curry is made and enjoyed with Roti.

The taste of the curry is a mix of tanginess, sweetness, saltiness. The full flavor of Guava/Peru is there and it really feels like you are having them raw. So here is the Recipe.

Ingredients:

1. 4 Peru aka Guava (Green or Ripe peru/Guava)
2. Salt to Taste
3. Sugar
4. Lime Water
5. 2 Tbsp Oil
6. Turmeric
7. Jeera Seed
8. Red Chilli Powder
9. Dhanya powder
10. Water

 How to Make:

1. Pour Oil in the Pan and heat it.
2. Put Jeera seed and let it crackle
3.  Peel and cut the Peru in small cubes. Add them in the pan.
4. Then add Turmeric, Chilli Powder, Dhanya Powder and Salt to taste
5. Mix well and add little water.
6. Cook on a low flame till the Guava/Peru cubes are soft.
7. When it is nearly cooked add Lime Juice and Sugar
8. Then continue cooking for one minute.

Next one will be Raw Banana Curry.

KongPoush - Food on a Shikara

The only place in proper Mumbai to serve authentic Kashmiri food with Shikaras (real wooden boats in which you sit and dine) as the USP with the well known Kashmiri hospitality to match.

This is what they claim and it is true to a point, finally after deciding so many times me and my sister ended up going to KongPoush as no one was home to serve us food as we enter. I used to pass this place often but in the morning so always used to miss it and in the evening you can never miss this place all tress nearby are lighted and so is the entry.

The restaurant is on the first floor and the place was super well done. They have created Shikara (a Kashmiri boat ) and big photos everywhere displaying Kashmiri Beauty.

Time for food now, we were thinking of going for a'la Carte but the steward suggested to go for Kokur Thaal and Gaad Batta which we did and we were surprised.

Kokur Thaal, this dish started with Chicken Tikka with a different flavor and 3 different chicken curries and 1 veg curry (Lotus Stem with Spinach). The food was delicious and tasted totally different from the actual fares what you get in other hotel.

Same thing with Gaad Batta, which was a fish plate again Lotus Stem and 3 fish curries.

The good part is unlimited roti and unlimited rice with the plate and firni to top it off.

Kokur Thaal: Rs. 349.00
Gaad Batta: Rs. 379.00

A bit steep but good for having once in a while.