Dhaba Style Capsicum curry

 Capsicum curry - another dhaba style curry that everybody simply loved in my family. I  added potato extra which was not in the original recipe. Here is the link for Dhaba style bhindi masala. 

Looks like dhaba style curries use gram flour to get the thickness. I personally liked this feature of adding gram flour as it doesn’t affect the taste of the curry while giving it the creamy texture, secondly you get quite an amount of curry for couple of tbsp of flour. Do try! 

Capsicum Rice Bath

Here’s another unique rice bath with simple taste and simple flavors. Very easy to make, and tastes like a variation of vangi bath. Makes for a great lunch box item. Onion can be skipped for festivals. Do try! 

Vegetable Spring roll

I was planning on making some special Indian sweet or savory snack for Deepavali. Since Deepavali is already here, I’ll go with whatever I have on hand :) 

I had tried this recipe sometime back and it turned out to be very tasty. The procedure is fairly easy and although tedious, makes a great appetizer for a dinner party/potluck. Rolling takes a lot of time, and if you have some help in that area, making this is very easy. You can also roll this and freeze before hand, frying just before serving. 

Do try!

Happy Deepavali!!

Capsicum dal(tovve)

Looks like I’m having a marathon of recipes from oggarane dabbi!! Here comes one more! and there are many more :)

My love for dal makes me try every other variation I come across... It’s amazing how such a humble dish can be presented in so many varieties by just changing few ingredients here and there.  

This dal is made from moong dal and capsicum. It has onion, but can easily be skipped for festivals. Healthy, tasty and can be cooked in no time. Perfect for busy weekdays. 

Do try!

Avalakki(Poha) bisi beLe bath/BBB

This recipe is again from Oggarane Dabbi cooking show. 

This is one flavorful dish made with fresh spices and vegetables. It is also much lighter on the tummy since it is made with poha and moong dal. There is onion in the recipe. But you can easily skip it for festivals. Original recipe makes everything in the cooker directly, but I made it separately. Have it with some ghee, chips/boondi. 

Enjoy!

Peanut-Capsicum Kurma

Capsicum always suits well in curries for chapathis. This recipe is from one of my favorite blogs, where in almost all the dishes I have tried have turned out good. 

Generally we use cashews to get the thickness in North Indian gravies. But this recipe uses peanuts! This gives a very unique taste and also a nutty taste in every bite. It turned out very tasty. And the second time I made, I added some panner cubes(not in the picture) as per my daughter’s wish. Even that tasted very good in the gravy. Do try! 

Kothu Parotta

I have never tasted kothu parotta before. I am always skeptical trying out new dishes at restaurants. Lest I try something new and it doesn’t turn out as good as my expectations, then my whole “restaurant going” experience is ruined. The kind of hunger I’m in when I go to restaurants, I’m in no mood to wait nor to try out anything new.

For new dishes, either I try from frozen section at Indian stores, or I try to make it at home, or I taste from my husband’s plate when he is trying out something new :)

So I find this kothu parotta in frozen section. I bring it home and open it, only to realize that it’s just plain parotta cut into fancy strips. That's when I googled for it and found out about salna. 

Parotta(malabar parotta) is basically maida based flaky paratha(bread). It is little time consuming to make from scratch. But is easily available in frozen section at Indian stores. Kottu parotta(vegetarian version) is made by sautéing parotta pieces in salna(tomato based gravy) and some vegetables. 

It turned out very tasty. Both my husband and daughter loved it. Do try!

Corn Capsicum Curry

Life’s become busy... doing what? can’t tell for sure :) There is nothing in particular I can account for, just busy running errands, daily chores, being a soccer mom, setting up a routine for daughter’s homework and MAKING SURE SHE FOLLOWS IT!!  

A spring break thrown in the middle didn’t help much either. It’s funny how children when home = all your free time spent on them. Blogging has taken a back seat. I am not trying out many new recipes lately. Whatever little I try, I am not finding the time nor energy to set up and wait for the pictures to be taken by hubby. Anyways break is over and we are slowly crawling back to our routine.

I was digging out my drafts to see if I can post some of the old dishes I tried. I found this capsicum corn masala. Even though the masala used is pretty common among many north indian curries, addition of corn makes it taste slightly different. And corn makes it likable by kids too. It goes really well with Chapathis and fried rice. Do try!

Easy Capsicum Curry

Capsicum Gravy is a good side dish for Chapathi and fried rice. It’s unique in the sense that it has white gravy than the regular tomato based gravy. A paste made out of sesame seeds, ground nut, cashews and coconut serves as the base. Sesame seeds provides nice nuttiness to this dish, and hence the uniqueness, which goes really well with the crunchy spicy bell pepper. Perfect for the cold winter holidays. 

Enjoy with hot chapathis or parathas. 

Happy Holidays!! 

Capsicum Biriyani

We are in the middle of a move right now, and needless to say it’s a very stressful time for me. It’s not just the actual work that stresses me, but more so the anticipation of the work, because I know exactly what to expect. You see, within a span of 11 years, we have relocated to 6 different cities and within a city we have shifted form one house to another at least 2 times.. and we are not minimalists you know, we have stuff and it needs to be shifted... and it’s all manual labour!!!

In chaotic times like these, I take refuge in food. 

If generally I prepare just sambar and rice for dinner, during these times I prepare an elaborate meal, like chapathi, sabzi, and rice bath.

It’s not only during shifting, it could be during any boring or tiresome activity. Even when I am vacationing, my first priority is food :) 

It’s not junk food that I look for, just some comfort food. Knowing that I’ll be eating something nice gets me through the day. I have something to look forward to, some assurance that all this stress is temporary, to know that there is light(aka good food) by the end of the day. 

Thank you food! 

And incidentally I came across this, which brought a huge smile on my face :)

“But the one thing that has stayed consistent through our crazy transient life is the hand of our Lord over it all. We've seen it day in and day out. Moving in and moving out.

He stays the same and we can be confident as we can rely on Him as our Rock when the storms pick up and toss us in a new direction” (read full story here)

Okay, it’s food and God! Thank you God :)

Well, moving on from my love affair with food..

Capsicum Biriyani is again from “YummyTummy..”, my favorite blog. It tastes heavenly. 

The recipe asks to pressure cook the whole thing directly, but I loved it more when I cooked the rice separately and mixed it with the masala paste. 

Do try!