Vegetable Pulao Rice

This is a classic variation on the regular plain white rice and a sneaky way of getting your kids to eat veggies.

Note! this is not a fried rice. With a fried rice, you boil white rice first and then stir fry in the veggies and add to the rice. This rice is cooked along with the veggies. A one pot dish that saves you a lot of washing up too!. I have cooked this in my regular pressure cooker in exactly 10 minutes! A quick and easy recipe using store bought frozen veggies. I usually keep a packet handy in my freezer for exactly this!

Vegetable Pulao Rice

Ingredients:

4 cups of uncooked rice

3 tbsps of oil

2 medium onions chopped fine

1 tomato chopped fine

9 1/2 cups of water

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cardammom pods

4-5 whole cloves

1 mace (outer covering of the nutmeg)

5 maggi stock cubes. (There are usually 2 in a small box)

1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables 

1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

1 tsp of cumin seeds

Method: 

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add in the cumin seeds. When you start to smell their aroma, add the rest of the whole spices, i.e. the cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves and mace. 

Add in the onions and saute till nice and golden. Add the chopped tomato next and the stock cubes. Saute till the cubes have melted and been absorbed into the onion tomato mixture. 

Add in the rice next, and the water. I usually add 1 1/2 cup water more than the doubled amount, so that the rice can fluff up nicely. Add in the frozen mixed vegetables. I usually throw them in straight from the freezer without defrosting. If you don't like mixed veggies, you can substitute it with just corn, or peas, whatever you fancy.

Give it a quick mix and then close the pressure cooker. Remove the whistle. This recipe does not require you to use the whistle of the pressure cooker. 

Put the heat on the highest setting. Stay in the kitchen as you will need to monitor it from now on. When you start to see a steady stream of steam coming out from the vent (wait for those little bursts of steam to flow in a straight line), then lower and time for 10 mins. 

As soon as 10 mins are over, open the rice cooker and remove from the heat. 

Note! These timings and water quantities are for cooking in a pressure cooker and may vary if you cook it in a regular casserole dish.

You will find most of the spices have floated their way to the top. This makes it a lot easier to remove them at this stage so that the kids don't make a fuss later about biting into them. 

Fluff up the rice with a fork and your rice is ready to eat. This recipe will stay nicely in the fridge too, for a couple of days. 

Vegetable Pulao Rice

Baby eggplant with spices/Baingan masala

Eggplant is one of my favourite vegetables, and I love all things eggplant. But this recipe is one that I especially love. You need the small round baby eggplants for this recipe which are fairly easy to find in the supermarkets today.

Baingan Masala

Ingredients:
500 gms of baby eggplants
2 large onions
2 green chillies roughly chopped
1 heaped tsp of ginger garlic paste
2 tomatoes
1 small tetra pack of tomato paste (135gms)
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
few curry leaves
1/2 tsp of kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
Pinch of sugar
salt to taste

Method:
Keep the stalk of the eggplant intact. Do not remove the green part on the top as this will hold the whole eggplant together. You can chop off a bit of the stalk if it is too long and leave just a bit near the eggplant.

Make 2 slits in the shape of a  +  at the bottom of each eggplant. This will help the eggplant to absorb some of the goodness of all those spices later. 

Grind the onions to a paste in a mixer and reserve. In a casserole, heat oil. When hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Then add in the onion paste, green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Cook till the onions are transluscent. 

In the same mixer, add in the tomatoes and blend to a puree. Add the blended tomatoes to the onions in the dish. Then add in the spice powders ie. chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and turmeric powder. 

Now add in the tomato paste and salt to taste. Add a pinch of sugar, to balance out the sourness from the tomatoes. 

Add in the eggplants and give it a good stir. Then cover with a lid and cook on low for 10 mins. Take a peak ever so often as you want the eggplants to be soft and cooked but not falling apart. They should hold their shape. 

Serve hot..

Palak Paneer (Cottage cheese with Spinach)

This is one of India's favourite vegetarian dishes. Paneer or cottage cheese as its also known, can be used fresh or frozen for this recipe. It is a simple quick version packed with a lot of flavour.

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:
1 packet 250 gms of frozen paneer cubes (I used Amul)
2 bundles of spinach leaves
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tsps of coriander powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp of garam masala
3 tbsps of cream
salt to taste
1 tsp of kashmiri chilli powder
1 large onion chopped fine
2 green chillies coarsely chopped
2' piece of ginger chopped fine.

Method:
Defrost the paneer by leaving it out on the counter for an hour or so.

Wash the spinach leaves carefully, and remove any thick stringy stems. Blanch in hot water for a minute. (Blanching means quickly immersing the spinach in a big pot of boiling hot water and then immediately removing).
Keep another bowl of cold water with a few ice cubes ready. Once the spinach has been in the boiling water for a minute, then add it into the cold water. This will help preserve the green colour of the paneer, and stop it from cooking any further.

Blitz it in a mixer or food processor till you get a puree. You can add a bit of water if the puree is too thick. Reserve and set aside.

Saute the onions in a casserole. When it turns transluscent, add the ginger and green chillies. Add your spice powders, i.e. the turmeric powder, coriander, cumin, garam and chilli powder. Add salt to taste.

Add in the pureed spinach and cook for about 10 mins on a medium low heat. Add in the cream. You can add a little cream and some milk instead of all cream, if you would like to keep the calories on the dish low.

Gently add in the defrosted paneer cubes and give it a stir. Cook for a further 5 mins and once the paneer has softened turn off the heat. Check for seasoning and serve.

Rice Pulao Parathas

Love parathas, but looking to try out some new versions of it? Look no further. A friend of mine gave me this idea and it instantly got me hooked. My kids love parathas and chappatis, and they love the mince, potato or paneer stuffed ones. Though not too keen on the mooli (daikon) ones or any such strong flavoured ones.

I was looking to find alternative stuffings so when I heard about this recipe I knew I had to try it out. She made this with white cooked boiled rice and some left over dal but mentioned that you could use leftover khichdi (pulao, or vegetable rice) as well.

I happened to have some pulao rice sitting in the fridge (which I also added a bit of the orange masoor dal to, when making) and since the kids had already eaten the pulao the day before, I thought it would make an interesting change for them.

I made roughly around 20 or so of them, and was hoping to have a few left over to put in their lunchbox, but there wasn't a crumb left! All gone! Vanished! Into their little tummies.

So here's the recipe. My advise would be to add ingredients slowly as you may need a little more or a little less, depending on how moist or soft your rice is, and how much quantity you have leftover.

Rice Pulao Parathas

Ingredients:
5 cups of cooked pulao rice (you could use khichdi, or just dal mixed with rice)
1/2 tsp of salt to taste
2 cups of wheat flour and some more for dusting.
3 -4 tbsps of water
4 tbsps of ghee and some more for frying.

Method:
Warm the left over rice, so that it's easier to mash. Mash it nicely and add the salt and ghee. Add the flour slowly to the mixture and see how it binds together. You can add more or less than what I specified. Add the tbsps of water as and when you need it to help in the binding process. Form a big ball of dough, similar in texture to a regular chappati dough.

Form smaller dough balls and keep ready for rolling. Cover with a tea towel so they don't dry out.

Keep your rolling pin and board ready and your frying pan heated on a medium heat. Keep a small quarter plate of flour for dusting. I also used some ghee for frying. You could use oil instead if you would like it to be more healthier.

Dust one small ball in some flour and then roll the ball into a nice round shape. Put on the frying pan and add just a little ghee to help it get that nice paratha like texture. Keep doing the same for all the balls. Once the parathas are made, store in a foodwarmer container lined with cloth, to absorb any moisture.

Indian Stir Fried Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower rice seems to be the new thing at the moment. A fabulous way to avoid eating rice and believe you me, you won't even notice the difference. I thought I would give it a shot and see what the fuss was all about. I made this recipe in a similar style to the way I make my tomato rice, but you could treat it like you would any fried rice, whether you want to keep it simple or in an asian style with egg and spring onions or like I did, in an Indian way.  I have seen some just made with cilantro and lime and sounds great with a fillet of fish or a piece of steak! Go ahead and experiment!

I used a medium large cauliflower head and if you plan to eat it in a similar portion as rice, it would suffice for max 2 to 3 people. I grated the cauliflower in the food processor or you could chop it really fine with a knife to achieve that rice like texture. 

Indian Stir fried Cauliflower Rice

Ingredients:
1 medium large cauliflower
3 small onions
2 tomatoes
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
2 Maggi vegetable stock cubes (there are 2 cubes in one small box) or use salt to taste
few fresh curry leaves
handful of raisins
fresh chopped coriander leaves to garnish
squeeze of lemon

Indian Stir Fried Cauliflower Rice

Method:
Wash the cauliflower. Break into smaller florets and grate in a food processor until it resembles something that looks like coarse breadcrumbs. 

Keep all the ingredients prepped for your fried rice. Chop your onions and tomatoes and set aside. In a large wok, heat oil. Add in the mustard seeds. Once you hear them start to pop, add in your curry leaves. Be careful though, as it will splutter. Add in your chopped onions. Saute till translucent. Then add the tomatoes and the stock cube or salt. Saute well, then add your spice powders, i.e. coriander, cumin and turmeric powder. Once nicely incorporated into the onion and tomato mixture, add in your raisins. 

Next add in the grated cauliflower. Give it a good stir so that the masala is well mixed into the cauliflower. Cover and cook on a medium low heat for about 10 minutes.

NOTE: No additional water is required in the cooking process, as we have already used tomatoes when cooking this dish. The steam from covering the dish while cooking will also help soften the cauliflower.

Indian Stir Fried Cauliflower Rice

Once the cauliflower rice is ready, add in the chopped coriander leaves and a squeeze of lemon to freshen it all up, then transfer to a serving dish  and serve hot with some nice kebabs on the side.

Goan Red Pumpkin Vegetable with Coconut

Pumpkin is an amazingly sweet vegetable once cooked. The hardest part about this dish is probably peeling the skin. It doesn't take long to prepare and is a nice addition to the table. Even though this dish is Goan, it would go nicely with a roast dinner as well, just because it isn't spicy at all.

You do not need to add any water while cooking as the pumpkin will naturally release it's own water and cook in its own steam.

Goan Red Pumpkin Vegetable

Ingredients:
900gms red pumpkin
2 medium to large onions finely chopped
2 dry red Kashmiri chillies
salt to taste
5 tsps. of dessicated coconut
oil

Goan Red Pumpkin Vegetable

Method:
Remove the seeds from the centre of the pumpkin. Peel the pumpkin skin off with a sharp knife and cut into 1" cubes.

Put a large cooking pot on the heat. Add some oil. If you have coconut oil, it would lend a better taste to the dish. Fry the onions in the oil till translucent. Add the dry red chilly and some salt to taste. Add in the pumpkin pieces and cover and cook till almost done.

Lastly add in the dessicated coconut. You could use fresh coconut as well, but I always have dessicated coconut on hand in my pantry so it's a quicker alternative if you don't have the fresh one.

Once you've added the coconut, cook for another 5 mins so that the coconut absorbs all the flavours of the pumpkin and then serve.

If you do like to have this dish more spicier, then add a few more red chillies. Overall it should be a mild sweetish dish with a hint of chilly coming out in the background.

Goan Red Pumpkin Vegetable

#ericasyummyfood #goan #redpumpkin #goanfood

Goan Red Coconut Chutney

This was one recipe that was handed to me just by word of mouth. I had heard so much about it, but somehow my mom never made it at home. This was made back in the good old days in my grandfather's time.

My grand Aunt used to make this chutney. Mom remembered having it and how it was made, but unfortunately didn't have any exact measurements to give me. She remembered that it was a cooked chutney, very unlike the green version. They used to carry it with them on their train holidays up north so maybe it was cooked so as to last for a longer period of time.

This is my version, going based on what she told me, with a few adjustments of my own.

Goan red coconut chutney

Ingredients:
1 freshly grated coconut
6-7 Kashmiri dry red chillies
1 " piece of ginger
5-6 cloves of garlic
salt to taste
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of tamarind paste (I use a ready Priya's one)
1 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp of coriander seeds
pinch of turmeric powder
1 tbsp. of coconut oil
water as required

Goan red coconut chutney

Method:
In a mixer, grind the red chillies, the ginger, garlic, cumin and coriander seeds, adding a bit of water as needed to get a fine paste. Add in the sugar, salt, turmeric powder and tamarind paste. Make sure the first paste is nice and thin and smooth before you add the coconut. Add the grated coconut next.

Grind the coconut paste till you get a beautiful red thick paste. Check for seasoning.

In a small pan, add a tablespoon of coconut oil. Put the heat on medium low. When the oil is warm, add in the coconut paste and slowly add a little water at a time, till you achieve a thick gravy like consistency. Cook it for about 5 minutes and your chutney is ready to serve.

Cooking this chutney matures its flavour and complexity giving it a wonderful taste.  Store in the fridge in a glass container.

Homemade Ginger Garlic Paste

Ginger garlic paste is the base ingredient for almost any Indian food. Whether you are making a curry or a vegetable, it always comes in handy. And there's nothing better than the homemade stuff right? 

The more involved I seem to get with food and cooking, the more I value the whole concept of trying to make as much as possible at home without having to buy store bought products. In today's world, where we are never really sure what goes into anything we eat, its best to try and make as much as you can at home. 

I know most of us are really short on time, so make larger quantities that can stay for a while, instead of small bottles where you find yourself having to make a new fresh batch every week. 

Ginger Garlic Paste

The basic principal of this recipe is to use equal quantities of ginger and garlic. Some recipes call for water, but I don't see the need for it, as water will naturally come out from the ginger and garlic. 

I recommend grinding the ginger first, and pre cutting it in smaller pieces before you throw it into the mixer. If you are dealing with larger quantities like I did in this recipe, I grind the ginger first and remove, and then grind the garlic, just to make sure there are no chunks of either in the paste. 

Turmeric is a natural preserving agent. So add a little to help keep it for longer. For my quantity I found that 1/4 tsp was more than enough. You want a very slight yellow tinge to your ginger garlic paste. Don't over do the turmeric. The way I looked at it, is, you don't want it to change the colour of a dish that you might be preparing later, so keeping that in mind too, just add a little.

Ginger garlic paste 

Oil is also a natural preserving agent. You can't go wrong here in how much you add.. For this quantity I've added 5 tbsps but if you are making lesser, then 2 to 3 tbsps should suffice.

Salt is another preserving agent. Again, don't add too much as you do not want it affecting the dish you use it for later.

I DON'T add vinegar to my paste when making it. It will slowly turn the whole paste an alien bright green and unless to want to show your kids a bit of cooking magic or some science fun, I wouldn't recommend adding any vinegar at all.

Always store your ginger garlic paste once made in the fridge. You can store it in a glass bottle, and it will sit nicely in the door of your fridge for as long as you want. Make sure you use a clean spoon when taking it out, and that the spoon doesn't come into contact with any other food item to avoid contamination. 

This recipe makes for 2 mayonnaise sized - 750ml bottles of paste. If you would prefer to make less, just use half the quantity of all the ingredients. 

Ingredients:
700 gms fresh whole ginger
700 gms fresh garlic
5 tbsps of oil
1/4 tsp of turmeric
1 1/2 tsp of salt 

Ginger garlic paste

Method: 
Peel the ginger and garlic. The best way to peel ginger is to use a teaspoon. It helps to get into all those nooks and crannies of the ginger root. But if you want somthing faster, then use a sharp knife to slice away the skin. I find the later way, always creates a bit of wastage that I like to avoid.

Garlic is best peeled by twisting the skin in an anti clock wise motion to remove the skin. Another alternative is to give is a small bash with the palm of your hand to release the skin.

Cut the ginger into smaller pieces and set aside. Grind the ginger in the mixer to a fine paste. Remove in a bowl and set aside. Add the garlic next, into the mixer. Grind to a fine paste. Now add the ground ginger back in, and add the rest of the ingredients. ie. the salt, turmeric and oil. Blend till smooth. 

Store in a glass air tight bottle in the refrigerator. 

Ginger Garlic Paste

Goan Tendli (Ivy gourd) Vegetable with Coconut

Most Goan vegetable dishes are usually made with coconut. You could use fresh coconut, but for those who don't have it readily available, dessicated coconut will do just fine. 

The classic way to cut this vegetable is in long juliennes. It's a simple, easy dish to make, that is also very mild and a great accompaniment to any curry and rice.

When buying the tendli vegetable at the supermarket, make sure you don't buy the very fat ones. A nice medium slender size is what you should be aiming for. 

Tendli bhaji with coconut

Ingredients:
250gms tendli (topped and tailed)
1 large onion chopped fine
2 green chillies, cut in large 1" pieces
3 tbsps of dessicated coconut
pinch of turmeric  powder
Oil
Salt to taste

Tendli

Method:
Top and tail the tendli vegetable. Simply put, it means removing the two end bits of the vegetable. Cut in slivers or juliennes and set aside.

In a casserole, heat oil. When hot, add the onions and green chillies. Saute till the onions turn a nice golden brown. Add the salt or stock cube if you prefer, turmeric powder, and the sliced tendli vegetable. Saute for a few minutes and then add the dessicated coconut. 

Cover and cook on low till the vegetable softens. Make sure you keep stirring and checking once in a while to make sure it doesn't burn at the bottom. If you find it getting too dry, add a splash of water to create a nice steam for the vegetable to cook. 

In about 10 - 15 mins, open and check for softness and taste. Adjust the seasoning if needed and serve. 

Tendli bhaji with coconut

Coriander Mint Chutney

This bad boy is my husband's invention. How does he come up with these awesome recipes, without any effort? It got me scrambling to jot down this recipe as fast as I could...

You just have to trust me on this.. This thick green goodness is nothing short of finger licking good. Serve this as a filling on a buttered bread sandwich or as a dip for kebabs, or just on the side as a chutney. 

A slight variation from most of the other recipes that call for coconut. This doesn't have any coconut in it! Even without the coconut, the consistency is still nice and thick, so for those of you who don't like coconut or can't get access to it, this is a wonderful alternative.

Also the fact that there's no coconut in it, gives it a longer shelf life. It will store easily in the fridge for a couple of weeks. I've added a wedge of lemon,  with it's skin and all. Just removing the seeds. Lemons are so good for you and full of lots of nutrients.

This is probably the first time, my method is just a couple of lines! 

 It's that easy! So go ahead and try it.. I promise you, its awesome!

Coriander Mint Chutney

Ingredients:
1 bunch of washed mint leaves (discard the stalks, just pull out the leaves and use)
small handful of fresh coriander leaves, washed
1" piece of ginger, peeled
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 whole green chillies (I used the milder light green variety)
1 tsp of salt
4 tsps of sugar
2 tbsps of olive oil
2 tbsps of balsamic white vinegar
1/4 wedge of lemon (deseeded, but skin and all)
pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 tsp of cumin powder

Method:
Cut some of the bigger ingredients into small pieces (ginger, green chillies, lemon etc) and blend all the ingredients together in a mixer, till you get a nice thick paste. Bottle and refrigerate. 

Coriander Mint Chutney

Yellow Plantains (long bananas) cooked with dessicated coconut and curry leaves

Plantain bananas cooked with dessicated coconut and curry leaves. A Goan speciality. Great way of having plantains the savoury way. These are the very long yellow bananas that you see in the supermarket.

The best time to use them for this vegetable is when they are ripe but still firm. They will soften as you cook them. This vegetable has a sweetish taste to it that takes you back to the beach!

Yellow plantains cooked with dessicated coconut and curry leaves

Ingredients: 

2 plantain bananas, peeled and diced in cubes
1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
3 to 4 broken red chillies
A small handful of curry leaves 
Salt to taste
Pinch of turmeric powder
Pinch of curry powder
Pinch of methi powder
2 tbsps of dessicated coconut 
1 tbsp of edible coconut oil 

Yellow plantains

Method:
Put a little regular oil in a pan and add the coconut oil as well.. I wanted the coconut oil more as a flavouring so I added just a little. Add the mustard seeds and broken red chillies and curry leaves. Add the spice powders and salt into the oil so that the mixture coats the bananas nicely later but be careful not to burn the spices on too high a heat..  add the bananas and give it a quick toss on high heat..  add in the dessicated coconut and give it another couple of minutes till the bananas soften and remove..

Tip: Adding the coconut oil gives this dish a nice oomph and enriches it's flavour so it's a definite must add..

Yellow plantains cooked the savoury way

Stir fried Cabbage with whole spices

This is a recipe that I learnt and modified slightly from Anjum Anand, a famous Indian chef in the U.K. Its simple to make but has lots of flavour. 

The main seasoning here is panch phoran - a five spice mix of mustard, nigella, fennel, cumin and fenugreek seeds. If you go to any indian store, you should find a ready packet of the panch phoran mix. If not, I've given you some substitute ingredients and quantities you can use..

Stir fried Cabbage with Whole Spices

Ingredients:

 1/2 head of Cabbage

1 onion chopped fine
1 1/2 tsps of panch phoran ( the indian whole five spice mix, mentioned above)

1 green chilli roughly chopped

salt or cube to taste
pepper to taste

Note: If you do not have access to panchphoran, you can substitute with the following:

1 tsp whole mustard seeds

1/2 tsp nigella seeds

1/2 tsp whole fennel seeds (badishep)

1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/4 tsp whole methi seeds (fenugreek)

1/2 tsp of coriander seeds (optional). This is not part of the panch phoran, but you can add it to give it another boost of flavour.

Method:

Shred or finely chop the cabbage. If you have a large cabbage, half of it will suffice. You can store the remaining half, cling wrapped in the fridge for later. Heat oil in a casserole, when hot, add in your whole spices.

 When you can smell their lovely aroma, taking care not to keep the heat too high or else the spices will burn, add in the onions, salt or cube if you are using, and the chilli.

When the onions are transluscent, add in the cabbage and give it a good stir. Cover and cook for about 10-15 mins till the cabbage is tender. Season with freshly ground pepper and serve.

Alternatively, store in an airtight container in the fridge. Can last easily for a couple of days. 

Spicy Eggplant Pickle

There are no words to describe this pickle. It has a whole bunch of notes that hit your palate, starting with sweet when you first taste it to a complex depth of flavours, and finally finishes with a spicy tingle in your mouth, making you want to dig in more!

This is a typical Goan pickle that is always a favourite with most locals. This version has just  the right balance of sweet and spicy. Once you make it, I will guarantee you, you will make sure there's a bottle of this goodness always in your fridge.

Spicy Eggplant/Brinjal Pickle

Ingredients:
4 thin long brinjals
20 cloves of garlic
2 sticks of ginger, each about 3 "long
1 tsp fenugreek powder
1 tsp of cumin seeds
12 cloves
4 tsp chilli powder
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of oil
2 heaped tsp of mustard seeds
a handful of curry leaves
4 1/4 tsp of salt
1 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1 cup of vinegar

Method:
Cut the eggplant into small cubes.. sprinkle with 4 tsp of salt (reserve the rest for later) and set aside for 1 to 2 hours..

Chopped Eggplant

In the meanwhile, prep the rest of your ingredients. Peel and roughly chop the ginger and garlic and set aside.

In a mixer, blend to a paste the ginger, garlic and turmeric powder, chilli powder, fenugreek powder, cloves, cumin seeds and vinegar.

After 1-2 hours, you will notice that the eggplant has released a lot of water.. drain off this liquid. Squeeze the eggplant cubes lightly, drawing out any more water left..

Diced Eggplant

Heat the oil in a pan. When hot, add the mustard seeds. When they begin to splutter, add the curry leaves. Be careful at this point that your heat is not too high or your spices will burn.

Spice Paste For Brinjal Pickle

Add the paste mixture in and cook on a low to medium heat for around 10 mins.. cooking the paste first, helps cook off that tart taste of the vinegar. Add the drained eggplant cubes and cook for a further 10 mins till tender. Add the sugar at this point. Cook for another 5 mins till you start to see oil leave the sides of the dish. Turn the heat off and spoon hot into cleaned glass bottles. Cover the bottle and leave to cool.

Brinjal Pickle

Note: I added the sugar at the end as once you add it the masala colour darkens and starts to almost caramelise. The picture above is not the final colour of the pickle, it was taken before adding the sugar. Adding it at the end, meant I made sure all the rest if the ingredients were cooked before so it didn't need a lot of extra cooking time once the sugar went in..

With regards to the heat, you can reduce the amount of chilli powder to say 3 tsps and see how comfortable you are. Sugar should then be adjusted as well, reducing it to half a cup or 3/4 cup. So my suggestion for a lower spice level, would be to start with 3 tsps of chilli powder.. cook as normal and then when  you add the 1/2 cup of sugar, taste it and see. If it's too mild then add in the extra tsp of chilli powder and balance sugar.

Bottling the pickle while it's hot and quickly covering it creates a vaccum which will help prolong it's shelf life. Once cooled, you can store it out for a day or two to let it's flavour mature, then store it in the fridge.

On another quick note, I have never sterilised glass jars when I make pickle or jam. Take an old glass bottle and make sure you have rinsed it out well with soap. Ensure it is properly dry and that there's no moisture and you are good to go.

Homemade Freshly Ground Coriander Powder

You will not believe the difference in flavour till you try grinding your own spice powders. It is addictive, and you suddenly find yourself wanting to do the same for all your other spices. You start researching on the net, different other possible blends you can make on your own... Like I said before, its nothing short of addictive!

The store bought spice powders come no where close in aroma. I'm not sure why it took me this long to get around to grinding my own spices but there's no looking back now.

Home made Freshly Ground Coriander Powder

Ingredients:
1/2 packet of coriander seeds


Method:
Dry roast the coriander seeds in a pan on a low heat till you can smell the aroma around you.

Wait for it to cool down.

Grind it in a mixer and store in an air-tight glass bottle.

Potato Curry

This is a more curried version of the Bombay potato bhaji, with a lovely gravy that lends itself nicely to scooping up in a nice paratha or chappati. It's usually served as a breakfast dish, but could easily be enjoyed at any meal time with a nice dollop of pickle on the side.

Potato Curry/Bhaji

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes, boiled and diced after removing the skin
3-4 kashmiri chillies
1 tsp of panch phoran (a five blend mix of whole spices like cumin, nigella seeds, mustard seeds etc)
1 tbsp of ghee
1 green chilli cut in big slices
a handful of curry leaves
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1/2 tsp of curry powder
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:
In a wok, heat the ghee till hot, add in the panch phoran, kashmiri chillies and curry leaves. Add the green chilli and the spice powders into the oil. Make sure the heat is not too high or the spices will burn. Add the salt at this point, so it will coat the potatoes nicely.

 Add 1/2 cup of water just to get a slight gravy to start with. Add in the diced boiled potatoes and give it a good stir. Add more water (roughly at least another 2 cups or more) till you get a nice consistency on the gravy, thin but still with a slight body to it. 

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves. Check for seasoning and serve hot with parathas.