500 gram(s) lobsters shelled and meat washed
1 big onion finely chopped
2 medium tomato(es) blanched and chopped
2 teaspoon(s) coriander powder
1 teaspoon(s) cumin powder
½ teaspoon(s) turmeric powder
1 teaspoon(s) red chilli powder
½ teaspoon(s) black pepper powder
½ teaspoon(s) garam masala (hot spice mix)
2 tablespoon(s) yoghurt
2 tablespoon(s) oil
4 tablespoon(s) water
salt to taste
finely chopped fresh coriander to garnish Grind to a fine paste:
1 cup(s) grated coconut
2 flakes of garlic
1 teaspoon(s) chopped ginger
2 green chilli(es)
1 teaspoon(s) poppy seeds

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and saute the onions on medium heat for about 3 minutes or till the onions are light brown in color. Add the ground paste and fry till it is golden-brown. Add the tomato pieces and fry till the oil leaves the sides. Add all the spice powders except for the garam masala (hot spice mix) and mix well.
Mix in the lobster meat, salt and the yoghurt. Stir-fry on high heat briefly. Stir in the water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes or till the lobster meat is cooked and tender. Sprinkle the garam masala (hot spice mix) and garnish with finely chopped fresh coriander.
TIP:

It is important that the lobster is fresh because its meat is easily removable then.
Serve hot with: steamed rice and / or slices of bread, rotis

3 cups rice (not basmati!), soaked overnight — room temp. water. 1 cup urad dal (a specific type of lentils avail. at Indian grocery stores— no substitution; other dals will not work like this)
Soaked separately overnight — room temp. water
Traditionally, stone grinders (huge mortars) and rolling pestles are used to grind the rice and the urad dal and motorized versions of those are now available at Indian elcetronic stores in D.C. A mixie
or a blender cuts the grains into fine pieces, but does not “mash” them like the stone grinders do. So there is a good deal of difference taste when you use a blender. But still, it is not bad at all if you make sure that you grind the rice really fine. Cover the rice with water just 1/2 “above the rice line in the blender.
Grind till Sssssmooth.
Grind the dal separately, with water that barely covers it. Grind a long time (be patient!), stirring once
in a while and grinding again. When
the dal is ground very well, and small air bubbles appear once you stop running the blender, it is enough. Add more water if necessary. But this should be very thick.
MIx the rice and the urad dal pastes, with 1/2 tsp salt.
Add one tablespoon beaten yogurt, and mix well.
Keep covered to let oit ferment fro at least 5 to 8 hrs or more. (Keep it close to a heater or in any warm place).

Once it has risen, stir briefly, and keep it oin the fridge.

You have the batter now.

Grease a griddle with plain sesame oil or peanut oil if you care about max. flavor; if not use veg. oil. The heat should be medium or slightly higher. When hot (a few drops of water will sizzle gently and disappear), using a metal ladle, pour one ladleful over the griddle; with quick and even and gentle strokes, spread the batter out
with the ladle as if you are drawing concentric circles on the batter. Do it either clockwise OR anticlockwise else you get lumps.
It takes a few tries believe me, and some of us who are trained well in this mess up occasioanlly. drizzle oil around edges, and on top. Once the bottom is cooked, turn it over, and cook the top. Be careful when using your spatula (metal preferred) to take it out to flip it.

This can be served with chilli-dal-spice powder and oil or ghee, coconut chutney, cilantro or mint chutney, onion chutney, or
red garlic chutney, and/or saambar. (If you want their recipes, email me) This is standard breakfast or supper fare for us, growing up in the south.

Else, as in your restaurant, make a filling as follows:

1. Take 2 large boiled potatoes, peel and mash coarsely.
2. Thinly slice one large red onion, 2 cloves of garlic (optional) and 3 or 4 green chillies.
3. Grate a 1″ piece of ginger.
4. Cut up a tomato if you want.
5. Take a sprig of curry leaves and chop them coarsely.
6. Heat some veg. oil, add some fennel seeds, and cummin seeds (1/2 tsp. each) 7. Add 1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds.
8. When they crackle, add the green chillies, ginger, garlic (if used), and onions and fry them with a little salt for a while till
onions are transparent. Add curry leaves.
9. Next add 1/2 pkt of frozen peas, tomatoes (if you choose), and fry for 5 minutes.
10. Add the potatoes, and more salt if desired. stir well till blended 11. Add some chopped cilantro if you want.

When making the dosai, spread the batter out as mentioned earlier, drizzle oil, and keep the skillet or griddle covered (any
cover will do as long as the dosai area is covered; just be sure the cover does not touch the dosai). In less than a minute, the dosai will be cooked with oil on the bottom, and its top will be cooked by the steam that is generated when you cover it. The color is now not the white of the batter but kinda dull; you’ll know)

Turn the heat down, place the cooled filling acrooss the center along the diagonal, and fold both sides overlappingly over it
to form a cylindrical shape. Increase the heat slightly, drizzle more oil, and cook both sides till golden.

Else, place the filling in the center, and fold from three sides, forming a triangle, overlapping and covering the filling.

Cook as above.

If you have left over batter, and really fermented, make “OOTHAPPAM”: Chop some onions, green chillies, and cilantro really well, mix with salt.Soon as you spread out the pancake, sprinkle the chopped stuff on top. Drizzle oil on top, flip it over carefully when the bottom is cooked, and cook the other side. Serve with coconut chutney.

If you are into a health-diet, do not drizzle oil over and around pancake. Just grease the griddle lightly with a paper towel; in this case, cook just one side of the dosai on the greased surface, covering the dosai to let the steam cook the top. This dosa is very soft and tasty.

Back home, we add some fenugreek seeds to the urad dal, soak and grind them together for a superior texture, flavor, and color.

Hope that helps! I have babbled too much, but really, it is very easy to make once you have the batter.

8 chicken drumsticks with skin
1 teaspoon(s) garlic paste
½ teaspoon(s) ginger paste
1 tablespoon(s) blackpepper powder
salt to taste
2 teaspoon(s) lemon juice
2 egg whites
breadcumbs to roll

Wash the chicken drumsticks and pat dry. Rub all the ingredients except egg whites and breadcrumbs into the chicken and leave to marinate for about 2 hours.
Beat the egg whites well with some salt and pepper. Dip each chicken drumstick in the egg white, roll in bread crumbs and deep fry in hot oil three to four drumsticks at a time till they are cooked through, crisp and golden. Drain into a bowl lined with paper towel and keep warm till the remaining chicken drumsticks are fried.
TIPS:

The drumsticks can be skinned if desired.
The amount of blackpepper powder can be increased or decreased as desired.
Serve hot with: a mayonnaise based dip or salad like coleslaw.

Ingredients

3 in piece of fresh ginger peeled and coarsely chopped
3 tbsps peeled and coarsely chopped garlic
6-8 lamb chops from the ribs, remove all extra fat
8 fl oz grated or finely chopped tomatoes
2 medium sized onions very finely chopped
1 tbsp cayenne
12 fl oz Greek yoghurt beaten
1 1/2 tsps salt
1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
1-2 tsps Punjabi garam masala
3 tbsps lemon juice
2-3 tbsps chopped fresh green coriander

Method

Put the ginger and garlic into the container of an electric blender with 2-3 tablespoons of water and blend to a paste. Put the chops, tomatoes, onions, cayenne pepper, yoghurt, salt and ginger-garlic paste into a large wok or heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 50 minutes or until the chops are almost cooked. Add the cumin seeds and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meat is tender and the sauce thick. Add the garam masala and lemon juice and stir. Sprinkle fresh coriander over the top and serve.

TIPS
In the Punjab, tomatoes are grated to make a puree. Don’t be tempted to use ready-prepared tomato puree instead of fresh. The spice combinations in garam masala vary in different parts of India. In the Punjab this one which you can try making yourself is common: 5 tbsps coriander seeds, 3 tbsps cumin seeds, 2 1/2 tbsps black peppercorns, 2 1/2 black cardamom seeds, 2 in cinnamon stick, 4-5 cloves, 1/6 nutmeg. Put the coriander and the cumin into a cast-iron frying-pan over a medium heat. Stir until lightly roasted. Allow to cool. Grind with the remaining ingredients in a clean coffee grinder and store in a tightly lidded jar.
Copyright of the British Broadcasting Corporation

Posted by RB on Friday, January 18, 2002
Comments (2)
Chicken Curry with Tomatoes (Murgha Kari)
This dish from the Punjab takes only 30 minutes to prepare. In India fresh tomatoes would be used in this dish.

Ingredients

4 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 cup butter or cooking oil
1 cup or 1 can (8 ounces)tomato sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1 frying chicken (2 to 3 pounds)
3/4 cup hot water

Method

Use a casserole or large skillet with lid. Cook onions and curry powder in butter for 10 to 15 minutes. Add tomato sauce and salt. Disjoint and skin chicken, and place in sauce. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat, turning frequently until sauce becomes quite dry and chicken tests done with fork, about 15 minutes. Add hot water, cover pot, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Puri:
Fine semolina (Sooji) 1/2 cup
Plain Flour (maida) 1/2 tbsp.
Clubsoda 3 tbsp.
Salt to taste

Pani:
Chopped Mint Leaves 1 1/2 cups
Chopped Coriander Leaves 1 tbsp.
Tamarind 1/3 cup
Ginger 1″
Green Chillies 4 to 5
Ground Cumin Seed (roasted) 1 tsp.
Black Salt 1 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste

Other Things:
Mashed slightly cooked potatoes with salt to taste 2 small
Tamarind Chutney

Method:

Puri:
1. Mix semolina, plain flour, soda water and salt. Knead well to make a semi-stiff dough. Cover it with clean wet cloth for about 10 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into forty equal portions and roll each portion into circles. Place each circle under damp cloth right after rolling.
3. Heat oil in a kadhai. Deep fry these circles, slightly pressing with a slotted spoon, until they puff up and are golden brown.
4. Place the puffed circles (“puris”) on absorbent kitchen tissue. Extra puris should be stored in an air-tight container.

Pani:
1. Soak the tamarind in ½ cup of warm water for approximately 45 minutes. Strain out the pulp to get tamarind water.
2. Add mint leaves, chopped coriander, ginger, chillies and cumin seed. Add a little water and mix to a smooth consistency using a blender.
3. Transfer the paste into a large bowl. Add 1 litre of water, continuously mixing the contents with a spoon. Add black salt and salt. Mix well.
4. Refrigerate for about 2 hours to ensure proper blending.

To Serve: Pani-Puri is to be eaten as soon as it is served.
1. Poke a small hole in the center of each puri.
2. Add small quantity of mashed fried potatoes as filling. Add a little imli chutney. Dip in pani so that puri is filled with it. Serve.

Okra (bhindi) 1/2 kg
Tomatoes 3 (medium)
Onions 2 (large)
Green chillies 3
Cinnamon 1 piece
Cloves 3
Bay leaf 1
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder 1 tsp.
Oil 2 cups
Garam masala powder 1 tsp.
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Cut the onions, tomatoes, okra & green chillies.
2. Heat the oil in pan and add the okra pieces. Deep fry.
3. Remove fried okra and place on kitchen tissue or table napkin so that excess oil is removed. Keep it aside.
4. Heat 3 spoons of oil in a pan. Fry the cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf for 30 seconds. Now add onions, green chilli pieces and fry them until onions turn light brown.
5. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for one minute.
6. Add tomato pieces, red chilli powder and salt, cover the pan and cook for a few minutes until tomatoes become soft. Stir twice or thrice to prevent the mixture from sticking to the pan.

7. Add fried okra and mix slowly. Keep on heat for two more minutes and then remove the pan.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Lady finger (okra / bhindi) 250 gms.
Gram flour 1 tbsp.
Thinly sliced onion 1
Thinly sliced green chilli 1
Mango powder 1/2 tsp.
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp.
Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp.
Garam masala powder 1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds 1 tsp.
Turmeric Powder 1/4 tsp.
Vegetable oil as required
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Cut lady finger into thin long slices.
2. Heat oil in a kadhai. Deep fry lady finger until crisp and light golden brown.
3. Keep the fried lady finger aside. Just leave 2 tbsp oil in kadhai, remove the rest.
4. Add cumin seeds and green chilli and fry for 30 seconds. Add sliced onion and fry until golden brown.
5. Add gram flour, mango powder and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add lady finger and the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Heat for a few seconds and then remove from heat.

Garnish with green coriander leaves and serve hot (if possible in a copper base kadhai).

Carrots 2
Cauliflower florets 8 – 9
Green beans 11 – 12
Green peppers, small 2
Green peas 1/2 cup
Tomato, small 1
Onions, medium 2
Almonds 7-8
Cashews 7-8
Ginger 2 inches
Garlic 2 – 3 flakes
Cumin seeds 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder 1 tbsp.
Coriander powder 1 tbsp.
Lemon juice 1 tbsp.
Coriander leaves, chopped for garnishing
Salt to taste
Water 1 cup

Method:

1. Cut vegetables into 1 inch pieces.
2. Grate one onions and keep aside. Make thin slices of the second onion. Keep aside.
3. Make paste of almonds and cashews. Keep aside.
4. Make paste of ginger and garlic. Keep aside.
5. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. Wait till they sputter.
6. Add grated onions and stir till lightly cooked.
7. Reduce flame. Add ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, chilli powder and coriander powder. Stir. After a minute, add almond-cashew paste. Stir the mixture till it is barely dry and starts separating from sides of the pan.
8. Add carrots, cauliflower and green beans. Mix well. Now add water. Stir, cover and let boil for 4-5 minutes.
9. Add green peppers, tomato, green peas and sliced onions while continuously stirring.
10. Cook till vegetables are tender. Now add salt.
11. Leave on heat for a minute more.
12. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Paneer 200 grams
Cooked green peas 1 cup
Onion 1
Tomatoes 1
Bay leaves 2
Cloves 3-4
Black pepper powder 1/4 tsp.
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp.
Green chilli 1
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp.
Red chilli powder 1 tsp.
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp.
Poppey seeds 1 tbsp.
Roasted cumin powder 1 tsp.
Garam Masala Powder 1 tsp
Vegetable oil 5-6
Salt to taste
Green coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan / kadhai.
2. Cut paneer into small cubes. Fry over medium heat until light brown. Turn pieces while frying. Be very careful as it splatters. Keep aside the paneer pieces.
3. Cut onion, tomato and green chilli. Grind it in mixie and make paste. Add ginger-garlic paste.
4. Heat remaining oil and fry bay leaves and cloves for 30 secs. Add the paste and fry on medium heat until golden brown (The oil starts separating from the mixture).
5. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala, black pepper powder, poppey seeds and salt. Mix well. Add green peas and fry for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add water just enough to make thick gravy. Bring the gravy to boil.
7. Add paneer pieces. Stir well and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Garnish with chopped green coriander leaves and serve hot.

Chick peas (kabuli chana) 1 cup
Onion 1
Tomato 1
Green chilli 1
Garlic 4-5
Ginger an inch
Bay leaves 2-3
Red chilli powder 1 tsp.
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp.
Coriander powder 1 tsp.
Garam Masala Powder 1 tsp.
Tea 1 tsp.
Vegetable oil 3 tbsp.
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

1. Soak chick peas in water for overnight.
2. Take a small piece of white cloth. Place some tea leaves in the centre, gather the cloth and seal its mouth so that tea leaves don’t fall out. Keep this in the pressure cooker along with chick peas. Pressure cook until tender. Tea adds brown color to the chick peas
3. Cut onion, tomato and green chilli. Grind it in mixie along with ginger and garlic and make paste.
4. Heat oil in a pan and fry bay leaves for 30 secs. Add the paste and fry on medium heat until golden brown (The oil starts separating from the mixture).
5. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well. Fry for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add water enough to make thick gravy. Bring the gravy to boil.

7. Add cooked chick peas (along with the water in which it was cooked, remove tea cloth). Stir well and cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes.

Garnish with chopped green coriander leaves and serve hot.