Friday 6 July 2012

Black Eyed Pea Salad


Ingredients:


1 15 oz can of black-eyed peas (lobhia)
1 medium russet boiled potatoes, peeled and chopped into small cubes
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 medium seeded and finely chopped tomatoes
1 green chili seeded and chopped (hari mirch)
About 1 teaspoon thinly sliced fresh ginger (adrack)
2 tablespoon finely chopped mint (podina)
2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
1 tablespoon oil
Salad Dressing:

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon ginger juice
3/4 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon roasted ground cumin seed


Method:


Drain the liquid out of the can of black-eyed pea, wash and drain the pea.
Heat the oil on medium high; add black-eyed pea, and potatoes stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
Mix black-eyed pea with the chopped vegetables and herbs. Note: vegetables should be chopped about double the size of black-eyed pea.
Mix all the salad dressing ingredients together.
Mix the salad and dressing and let the salad sit for about 10 minutes before serving. The salad is nicely marinated

Spicy Potatoes


Ingredients:


3 medium red potatoes
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon crushed coriander seed
1 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
8 to 10 fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon shredded ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 green chilis, seeded and sliced long ways
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro


Method:


Peel off some skin in stripes from the potatoes; leave some of the skin to provide color.
Cut the potatoes into bite size cubes.
In a pot, boil about four cups of water; add one teaspoon of salt and the cubed potatoes.  make sure there is enough water in pot so potatoes are soaked. Boil the potatoes till they are tender but not mushy.
After potatoes are cooked, drain the water and set aside.
Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away oil is ready.
Add cumin seed, and as cumin seeds crack add coriander, fennel seed, fenugreek seed and shredded ginger, stir fry for half a minute.
Add potatoes and Stir-fry on medium high heat till they are light golden brown.
Add salt, black pepper and green chili and roast another two to three minutes. Turn off the heat and add lemon juice and cilantro and mix. Serve hot.
Adjust salt, lemon, and pepper to your taste.

Vegetable cutlets


Ingredients:


2 medium potatoes
1 cup chopped mixed vegetables (green peas, carrots, green beans, corn)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (green coriander)
2 finely chopped green chilies (adjust to your taste)
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon salt (adjust to your taste)
1 teaspoon mango powder
3 tablespoon All Purpose flour (plain flour or maida)
1 cup breadcrumbs
Oil to fry


Method:


Boiled the potatoes until they are tender.
Once cooked, drain the water and let the potatoes cool down.
Peel the skin off and mash the potatoes.
Steam the chopped mixed vegetables.
Make sure to squeeze the vegetables to take the excess water out and Pat dry.
Mix all the ingredients togather; adjust salt and pepper to your taste.
Add 4 tablespoons of water to the All Purpose flour to make a batter and keep aside.
With oiled hands, divide the mixture into 10 equal parts.
Shape into flat round patties about 1/2 inch thick.
Dip each patty in the flour batter, and roll the patty in breadcrumbs and set aside.
Heat the oil on medium high heat in a frying pan.
Frying pan should have atleast 1 1/2 inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in the oil, the batter should come up right away.
Fry a few cutlets at a time until they are golden-brown on both sides.
Repeat this until all the cutlets are done. Serve hot.

Vegetable Pakoras


Ingredients:


1 cup besan (gram flour)
3 tablespoons rice flour (optional)
1 tablespoon of coarsely ground coriander powder (dhania)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
2 chopped green chilies
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
3/4 cup of water (Use water as needed)
Oil to fry
1 small potato, sliced thin
8 thin slices of cauliflower
1/2 small zucchini, sliced thin


Method:


Mix all the dry ingredients together: besan, rice flour, coriander powder, and salt. Tip: rice flour adds to the crispness.
Add the water slowly to make a smooth batter (batter should be consistency of pancake batter or dosa batter)
Next, add the green chilies and cilantro. Mix well.
Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat.
The frying pan should have at least 11/2 inch of oil. (To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in oil. The batter should come up but not change color right away).
Dip the vegetable slices in the batter one at a time and slowly drop in frying pan.
Fry the pakoras in small batches. The pakoras will take about 4 to 5 minutes to cook.
Turn them occasionally. Fry the pakoras until both sides are golden-brown.
Repeat this process. The crispy, delicious pakoras are ready to serve.

California Pasta Salad Recipe


Ingredients

1 pound thin spaghetti, broken into 1-inch pieces
3 large tomatoes, diced
2 medium zucchini, diced
1 large cucumber, diced
1 medium green pepper, diced
1 sweet red pepper, diced
1 large red onion, diced
2 cans (2-1/4 ounces each) sliced ripe olives, drained

DRESSING:

1 bottle (16 ounces) Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions; Drain and rinse in cold water. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the vegetables and olives.
In a large bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients. Drizzle over spaghetti mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve with a slotted spoon. Yield: 10-15 servings.

Flank Steak


Ingredients:


One 12-ounce jar orange marmalade
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 pounds flank steak
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:


In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix them up well. Set aside 1 cup of the marinade (see step #3 & #4) and add the flank steak to the remaining marinade and coat well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
#Preheat your barbeque grill until it’s hot. Put the steak on the grill and pour some of the marinade on top. After a minute to get a good sear, flip the flank steak over and pour a bit more of the marinade on that side. Discard any leftover marinade (since it had been on raw meat). Turn the barbeque burner down to medium. Flip again after 4 more minutes, and then remove after 4 additional minutes. This will be fairly rare; add a 1-2 minutes per side for more well done.

While you let the flank steak sit for 5 minutes, microwave the cup of marinade that you put aside earlier until it’s hot.
Spread half of the marinade across the steak and cut again the grain into thin slices. Provide the last of the marinade for those that want a little extra on their pieces.
Serve immediately.

Roasted Shrimp and Veggies


INGREDIENTS

2 large heads of broccoli
1 1/2 Teaspoons of garlic powder
4 T olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
20 large raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
lemon juice (1 lemon)
1 package quick-cook brown rice
1 tablespoon of diced cilantro
1/4 red, green and yellow peppers for color


INSTRUCTIONS


Preheat oven to 425F
Grab a cookie sheet and grease with olive oil
Grab 1 large and 1 medium size mixing bowl. In the bigger one, mix the broccoli and sliced peppers with 2 tablespoons of oil, all of your cumin and coriander, 1/4 tsp of chili flakes, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper.  Toss it up so your broccoli and veggies are evenly coated.
In the other bowl, mix up the shrimp with the rest of your chili flakes, salt, and olive oil. Add in lemon juice and combine.
Place the veggies on the greased pan and place in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Then, add the shrimp into the mix and cook for 10 mins more. You’ll want to toss once about half way through.
Garnish with cilantro and serve over pasta or rice.

Garlic Shrimp Pasta


INGREDIENTS

1 clove of garlic
2 table spoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of Italian dressing
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup of diced onion
1 to 2 diced tomatoes
1 table spoon of garlic powder (we like our pasta with a lot of garlic you can decide how much you want)
1 1/2 tea spoons of Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon of cilantro leaf
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Boil water
Drizzle olive oil in a pan
Cook shrimp and drain juice
Place shrimp back in pan and add chopped garlic and garlic powder to shrimp on low heat
Add diced onion and tomatoes and let simmer for 3 minutes
Add Italian seasoning and Italian dressing
Stir in penne pasta then add ranch dressing.
Add cilantro last and serve with love.