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You must be craving an amazing meal at a beautiful restaurant but unfortunately, we are all stuck in our homes during this lockdown. But that doesn't mean you can't cook amazing meals at home and enjoy a restaurant-like experience. So here are some recipes for you to try at home that can be cooked using ingredients easily available in your kitchen.
Breakfast Meal - Veg sandwich
The veg sandwich is a healthy and nutritious breakfast dish made with simple veggies and bread.
Veg Sandwich recipe:
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- 10 slices white or brown bread
- 2 potatoes, boiled and sliced into rounds
- 1 beetroot, boiled and thinly sliced
- 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato, thinly sliced
- Butter softened, salted or unsalted
- chaat masala to taste
- black salt to taste
- roasted cumin powder, optional
- freshly ground black pepper, optional
- Tomato ketchup
- For coriander chutney
- 1 cup coriander leaves and ¼ cup mint leaves
- ½ tsp chaat masala powder
- 1 green chilli
- salt or black salt to taste
- 1 tsp water for grinding, optional
INSTRUCTIONS
- Making chutney:
- In a blender, take 1 cup of coriander leaves, ½ tsp chaat masala powder and 1 or 2 green chillies.
- Add a pinch of salt to it. Grind it until you get a smooth texture. Only add water if you are not able to grind the ingredients
- Add salt if required and pour in a bowl. Keep it aside.
- Preparing vegetables:
- Boil the beetroot and potatoes till they become tender. Thinly slice it after it gets cool.
- Peel and thinly slice both the onion, cucumber and tomatoes.
- Making the vegetable sandwich
- Trim the edges of the slices of bread and butter them evenly.
- Apply the coriander chutney and place the vegetables in the bread slices one by one.
- Sprinkle with black salt and chaat masala on them. Cover the sandwich with the other slice and cut it into triangle or rectangle pieces.
- Serve it with tomato ketchup and coriander chutney.
Lunch Meal - Bhindi masala
Bhindi or okra is a favourite vegetable for many people. It is prepared with tempered masalas and tastes good with Rotis.
Bhindi masala recipe:
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- 2 tbsp oil for frying the bhindi
- 250 grams bhindi (okra or ladyfinger)
- 1 tbsp oil (for masala)
- 1 onion - chopped
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tomatoes - chopped
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp fennel powder, (saunf powder)
- ½ tsp garam masala powder
- ½ tsp amchur powder
- salt to taste
- ½ tsp Kasuri methi, crushed- optional
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
- Rinse the bhindi in water and dry them using a kitchen towel.
- Chop them into one or two-inch pieces and remove their base and stalk.
- Chop the onions and tomatoes. Make the ginger-garlic paste in a mortar-pestle. Keep them aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the bhindi and saute it while stirring continuously until it is cooked properly.
- If the Bhindi becomes soft, it means that is cooked. Keep it aside.
- Make the bhindi masala
- Heat 1 tbsp oil to the same pan. Add the onions and fry till they turn golden in colour.
- Now, add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute.
- Add the tomatoes and saute till they become soft. If this mixture is too dry and is sticking to the pan, then add a little water and keep cooking.
- Then, add the dry spice powders one by one. Mix it well and saute it.
- Add the sautéed bhindi, crushed Kasuri methi and salt. Mix it well and Cook for 2 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Switch off the flame and add coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapatis or naan.
Dinner Meal - Veg biryani
Authentic veg biryani is slow-cooked on dum which gives it a unique flavour. Biryani is a beautiful medley of aromas, flavours and tastes achieved by blending the ingredients.
Veg Biryani recipe:
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- To cook rice
- 1.5 cups basmati rice
- 1 cup water for soaking rice
- To prepare the vegetables for biryani
- 1.5 cups medium cauliflower florets
- 2 potatoes
- 1 carrot
- 11 to 12 french beans
- 8 to 10 white button mushrooms, sliced or chopped, (optional)
- 1 green bell pepper
- ½ cup green peas, fresh or frozen
- 1 large onion
- 2 pieces of 2-inch ginger
- 10 to 12 medium garlic cloves
- 2 green chillies, slit or sliced
- To cook the biryani rice
- 3 green cardamoms
- 1 black cardamom
- 3 cloves
- 1-inch cinnamon
- 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
- 2 single mace strands
- 5 cups water
- ½ tsp salt or to taste
- To cook the biryani gravy
- 3 tbsp ghee or oil
- 1 tsp shah jeera (caraway seeds)
- 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
- 3 green cardamoms
- 1 black cardamon
- 1 pinch cinnamon
- 1 cup fresh whisked curd
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- ½ cup water for pressure cooking
- 2 tbsp cashews
- 1 tbsp sultanas or raisins
- 2 tbsp almonds, raw or blanched, peeled and sliced
- salt to taste
To assemble and layer the biryani
- ⅓ cup chopped coriander leaves
- ⅓ cup mint leaves, chopped
- 4 to 5 tbsp milk
- 1/4 tsp saffron strands
- 2 tsp kewra water or rose water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preparation
- Pick and rinse the rice in running water. Soak the rice in water for about 30 minutes. Then drain the rice and keep it aside.
- Meanwhile, prepare all the vegetables and other ingredients.
- Cooking rice
- Take a large pan. Add 5 cups of water and boil it on a high flame.
- Now add all the spices including ½ tsp salt, 1 tej patta, 3 green cardamoms, 3 cloves, 1 black cardamom, 1-inch cinnamon.
- Add the rice and give it a gentle stir. Continue to cook the rice.
- Don't cook the rice 100%. It should be almost cooked at about 70%. Drain the rice and keep it aside.
- Making biryani gravy
- Heat ghee in a pressure cooker and add the spices including 1 tsp shah jeera, 1 tej patta, 3 green cardamoms, 3 cloves, 1 black cardamom, 1-inch cinnamon. Sauté it till it crackles.
- Add onions and sauté on a low to medium flame. Meanwhile, take 1 cup of fresh curd in a bowl and whisk it till it becomes smooth.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and sliced green chillies and Sauté it. Then, add the turmeric and red chilli powder. Stir well.
- Add the chopped vegetables and sauté for about two minutes. Add the curd, water and salt. Stir it well.
- Cover the lid and pressure cook for about 1 whistle on a medium flame. Make sure that you don’t overcook the vegetables.
- Now, warm about 4 to 5 tablespoons milk. Add ¼ tsp saffron strands to it and stir. Keep it aside for later use.
- Remove the lid after the pressure settles. Check if the vegetables are not cooked properly. Simmer the biryani gravy without the cover till the veggies get cooked. It should have a medium or a little thick consistency.
- Add the cashews, raisins and almonds (blanched or raw) to the vegetable gravy. Mix it well and keep it aside.
- The layering of the biryani
- In a pan, layer the first half of the veg biryani gravy. Then make a layer of the rice.
- Sprinkle the chopped coriander, mint leaves and saffron milk. Layer the rest of the veg biryani gravy.
- Then, Layer the remaining rice. Sprinkle the leftover coriander, mint leaves, saffron milk on the top of it.
- Sprinkle 2 tsp of rosewater. Make 2 or 4 layers as per your preference. Make sure that the last layer should be of rice.
- Cooking veg biryani
- Seal the pot with aluminium foil and cover with a lid. You can also seal the pot using a moist cotton cloth and lid.
- Take a tava/griddle and heat it on a lower flame. Put the sealed veg biryani pot on the tawa and cook for about 25-30 minutes.
- After it is done, let it stay for about 5 to 7 minutes and then serve it.
- Serve the delicious veg biryani with your favourite raita, onion salad, mango pickle and roasted papad.
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