From Raghavendra’s Dhaba – Bread Upma

You bought a pound of bread, and noone ate the top and bottom pieces. Also while making sandwiches for your children, they want the edges of bread-slices to be taken off. So you are left with a few bread slices and some other leftover edge pieces. Instead of throwing them as useless and uneatable, here is a recipe to put them to good use. The recipe is not just for leftovers, but can be used for good and fresh bread as well!

Ingredients:

Bread pieces/slices – 2 large cups (approx 100 Gms), cut into bite sizes

Onion – 1 medium (finely chopped)

Tomato – 1 medium (finely chopped)

Green chilies – 5 (slit in the middle)

Curry leaves – 5 leaves

Urad dal – 1 Tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 Tsp

Ground nuts -10 to 15 (Or use 7 to 8 cashews)

Turmeric Powder – 5g

Ginger paste, Salt, Sugar – 1 Tsp

Coriander (for garnishing)

Oil – 3 TblSp

Optional: Hing (1/2 Tsp), Lemon juice. You can use ginger garlic paste as well instead of ginger paste.

Preparation:

Heat 1 Table spoon of oil in a deep dish. Slow roast the bread pieces to make them crisp. Keep it aside.

Heat 1 more table spoon of oil, and roast the ground nuts/cashews and keep them aside.

Hear the last tablespoon of oil. Sputter mustard seeds and urad dal. Saute till the dal turns light golden.

Add green chilies and curry leaves. Saute for 30 seconds.

Sprinkle hing. Add onions and saute till they golden. Add ginger paste. Saute for 30 more seconds.

Tomatoes go in now. After 30 seconds of frying add salt, turmeric. Fry till tomatoes turn mushy.

Noe add chili powder and sugar. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of water. Cook for a minute. Check the taste. Adjust salt or chili if needed.

Add the bread pieces and ground nuts/cashews. Mix well to make sure each bread piece is coated with the masala. Cook for 20-30 seconds.

Sprinkle coriander leaves and lemon juice and serve hot.

 

From Raghavendra’s Dhaba – Andhra Curry Leaves Chicken

You want a hot friend to join your chilled beer. Look no more!

Ingredients:

For Marination:

Chicken – 300 Gms

Curd – 3 Tablespoons

Salt – 5g

Turmeric Powder – 5g

Ginger garlic paste – 2 Tsp

For the dish:

Onion – 3 large

Garlic – 1 bulb (loosely chopped)

Ginger – 2 inch (finely chopped)

Green chilies – 5 (slit in the middle)

Cinnamon stick – 3 inch

Black Pepper 0 1 TblSpn

Cardamom – 3

Cloves – 3

Red Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder, Garam Masala – 1 TblSpn

Turmeric – 1 Tsp

Curry leaves – 25 leaves

Coriander (for garnishing)

Oil – 3 TblSp

Preparation:

Firstly, the usual….marinating the chicken. Mix the chicken in curd, a pinch each of salt, turmeric and red chili powder. Longer the marination the better. Any marination less than 2 hours is useless.

Dice the onions and boil them in water for 3-4 minutes. Make a paste of this boiled onions. This is going to stink a bit. But it is worth it.

Heat oil in the pan. First goes the cinnamon stick, cloves, black pepper and cardamom. Then add green chilies, chopped ginger and garlic. After a minute add the curry leaves. Fry for 30-40 seconds, and then add the onion paste. Saute till the oil separates. Add the masala powders, and 2 spoons of water (not more than that). Give it a roll, add the chicken and salt. Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes. Chicken will leave some water and get cooked.

Open the lid and cook for 5 more minutes. Keep mixing the contents. This is to make sure all the water evaporates and dish becomes dry. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with chilled beer!

P.S: If you are not a fan of boiled onion (and the smell), you can saute the onions with some mustard seeds and grind to a paste.

From Raghavendra’s Dhaba – Paneer Butter Masala

You thought Paneer Butter Masala it too difficult to make? Think again!

Ingredients:

Paneer – 300 Gms

Onions and Tomato – 2 medium each

Red chilies – 5 Long

Cashews – 5 whole

Heavy Cream – 1 cup

Fennel Seeds – 1 Tsp

Kasuri Methi – 1 Tsp

Salt and Sugar – 1.5 Tsps

Garam Masala – 1 Tsp

Ghee – 3 TbleSp

Preparation:

Make sure Paneer is kept out of freezer for atleast 30 minutes. Prick it with a toothpick, and it should go in and come out easily, without breaking either of them 🙂 Then the Paneer is ready.

Get the pan heated with 1 spoon of Ghee. Sputter the fennel seeds, red chilies, cashews and then goes in the Onions. Season it with a pinch of salt and fry for 2 minutes (high flame).

Add tomatoes and again a pinch of salt. You can close the lid and cook for 3 minutes (high flame). Let the contents cool down. Once cool, grind it to a fine paste.

Heat 2 spoons of ghee. Add the ground masala and cook it till the raw smells goes away. Add the garam masala and mix well. Add Paneer and cook for 3-4 minutes with lid closed. Add cream and cook for one last minute. Add the sugar. Check for salt and add extra if needed. Sprinkle Kasurti Methi on top. Give it a stir and close the lid. Switch of the stove and leave the vessel on the cooking top for next 5 minutes.

Best with Chapati, but who am I to stop you to have it with rice!

From Raghavendra’s Dhaba – Chicken Joshila

Ingredients:

For Marination:

Chicken – 300 Gms

Curd – 3 Tablespoons

Salt – 5g

Turmeric Powder – 5g

Ginger garlic paste – 2 Tsp

For Main Dish:

Onion – 1  Medium sized (Finely chopped)

Tomato – 1 Medium sized (Diced)

Garlic – 5 buds

Ginger – 2 inch

Cumin powder, Coriander Powder, Garam Masala, , Turmeric – 1 Teaspoon each

Red Chili Powder – 1 1/2 Tablespoon

Red wine – 60 ml

Salt – As per your taste

Oil/Ghee – 2 Tablespoon

Coriander and Grated Coconut – 1 fistful

Preparation:

Marinate the Chicken in curd, Ginger garlic paste, a pinch each of salt, turmeric and chili powder. Longer the marination the better. Minimum marination of 2 hours is required.

In a pan, heat 2 tablespoon of ghee and fry the chopped onion. Once the onions are brown, add crushed garlic buds and chopped ginger. After 2 minutes add tomatoes and salt. Cook in medium flame for 5-10 minutes. Let tomatoes be reduced and a thick gravy starts forming. Add Cumin powder, Coriander powder, Garam masala and the red chilli powder. Add 2-3 spoons of water.

Add the red wine, and let it sizzle it for a minute.

Add the chicken, mix well. Close the lid and let it cook for 12-15 minutes. Add freshly chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut.

If you want it as a gravy/semi gravy item, your dish is ready. If you want a dry item, cook on medium flame for 5 more minutes without the lid.

*Viola* that is your Chicken Joshila.