1 pound boneless chicken(small pieces)
2 tablespoon maida(all purpose flour)
2 tablespoon corn flour
1 egg
2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon red chilli powder
1 tablespoon black pepper powder
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon chicken masala or tandoori masala
1 tablespoon khus khus(poppy seeds)
3 tablespoon lime juice
Red colour(optional)
Salt according to taste
Oil for frying
Onion and lime wedges for garnishing
Chat masala

Method:

Clean and cut the chicken to small pieces.
Mix lime juice,ginger garlic paste,garam masala,coriander powder,chicken masala or tandoori masala,black pepper powder,red chilli powder and salt in bowl and coat each chicken piece with the mixture and refrigerate the chicken for 2-3 hours.
When you are ready to fry,beat the egg and mix corn flour,maida flour,khus khus and the red colour(optional) with it.
Heat oil in a kadhai(wide mouthed vessel) and dip each chicken piece in the mixture and deep fry it on medium flame so that the chicken cooks properly till inside.
Garnish with onion and lime wedges,sprinkle chat masala and serve hot.

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes(boiled)
1/2 cup green peas(frozen or boiled)
3 cups maida(all purpose flour)
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds(saunf)
Few mint leaves
1 inch grated ginger
4 green chillies
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon red chilli powder
1 tablespoon amchoor powder
1 tablespoon ajvain seeds
1 cup milk
Salt according to taste
Oil
Coriander leaves

Method:

Boil the potatoes and peel off and mash them.
Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a wide vessel.
When hot,add cumin seeds,fennel seeds,green chillies,ginger and few mint leaves.
When cumin and fennel seeds splutter add the mashed potato and peas to this and mix it.
Add garam masala,coriander powder,red chilli powder and salt and keep frying till the potato changes colour and is fried properly.
In the end add amchoor powder and garnish with coriander leaves.
Now for preparing the cover of the samosas,add salt,ajvain and 2 tablespoon of oil to the maida.
Mix it well and knead the dough using milk.(The dough should not be watery)
Make balls of the dough and roll it to round shape.Divide it into two using a knife(two semi-circles)
Make a thick solution of maida and water and apply it to the straight edge of the semi-circle using a earbud or cotton on a matchstick.
Fold it bringing the two edges together.It will form a cone.
Fill it with the potato filling and again use the solution to stick the upper edges.
Now fill all the samosas as described above and heat oil in kadhai(wide mouthed vessel) for frying the samosas.
Once the oil is heated,fry the samosas on low flame so that the maida is cooked properly.
Serve hot with green chutney.

Ingredients:

1 cup of urad dal
A pinch of asafoetida powder
2 green chillies(finely chopped)
1 inch ginger(finely chopped)
Dry fruits like cashews,raisins(if desired)
2 cups of curd
Cumin Powder
Red chilli powder
Black salt(if desired)
Salt according to taste
Coriander leaves
Oil for frying

Method:

Soak the urad dal for 5-6 hours after washing.
Grind the dal to a fine paste.(Do not put too much of water for grinding)
Add asafoetida powder to the paste.
Put oil in vessel and heat it.
Take a wet cloth and put one spoon of paste on it.Flatten it with wet hands to make a circular shape.
Put some chilli,ginger and dry fruits in the centre and fold the cloth to make a semi-circle of the paste.
Now take the semi-circular batter on your fingers and put it in the oil for frying.(Wetten your fingers before picking up the batter to avoid sticking to your hand)
Fry it till it turns light brown and put it in cold water.
Now whip the curd and add salt,chilli powder,cumin powder and black salt if desired.
Take the vada out of water after it softens pressing it with hand to remove extra water.
Sprinkle some cumin powder and red chilli powder and serve chilled with sweet tamarind and jaggery chutney.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Daliya [ Cracked Wheat / Wheat Porridge ]
1/4 cup Moong Dal [ Daliya : Dal ratio is 2:1 ]
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 cup veggies [Any veggies like parval, lowki, tindora, kundroo]
Chopped green chillies to taste
Grated ginger to taste
Salt to taste

Method
Wash daliya and dal.
Put daliya, moong dal, tomato, veggies, ginger, salt and water in the pressure cooker and pressure cook on medium flame for about 10 minutes.
[You can also fry the daliya in half teaspoon of oil for added flavor and a more crispy taste ]

For tadka ( sautee ):
Put some oil in a frying pan, add jeera to taste. Add ginger.
Optionally add turmeric.
Sautee onions and green chillies.
Pour the cooked daliya mixture onto the sautee and bring it to a boil.

Serve piping hot. Also makes for a healthy and filling brunch.

Ingredients:

1 cup Besan [ Gram dahl Flour ]
1 cup water
1 finely chopped onions
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped coriander leaves
Pinch of hing [ Asafoetida ]
Pinch of Ajwain
Chopped green chillies to taste
Salt to taste

Optional: Grated veggies like carrot, beet. Anything that does not need a lot of cooking.

Method:
For the batter:
Mix besan with water, adding a little water at a time to avoid formation of lumps. (Remove any lumps from besan by breaking them with hand or a spatula even before adding water).
Get to a dosa like consistency. ( Pancake batter consistency ).
Add remaining ingredients.

To make the Cheela:
Heat a non stick tava. [ Pan used to make dosa / pancakes ]
Pour the batter in the center of the pan.
Spread it with a spatula to get a round shape.
Wait till the edges are slightly golden brown.
Add a little oil around the edges for a crispier taste.
Flip it around when one side is done.
Remove from tava when the other side is done.

Serve with green chutney Or tomato sauce.

My personal Thai favs in the South Bay area is Krung Thai, followed by Amarin Thai.

Krung Thai:
I have been to TheNewKrungThai and the OrginalKrungThai. Not sure if both are operated under the same management, however, I haven’t found much difference in terms of quality and taste. The new one definitely has more dishes to offer, but I usually stay with the tested vegetarian stuff.

Great lip licking food, quick service, reasonable rates. However the staff is not very friendly. Also, Fridays and weekends are usually very crowded, finding a parking spot is a hassle. Staff and the seating arrangement is not very kid friendly.


Amarin Thai:
I have tried the one in Prospect Road, pretty good food. But I would give it half a star less than Krung Thai. Very friendly service, staff, seating arrangement very kid friendly. I am hearing raving reviews about the Mountain View Amarin Thai restaurant. Must check it out.

The only thing that irks me about Amarin thai is their serving style. I have failed to understand why they serve curries in a tiny bowl with the curry spilling over the bowl into the plate. Traditional?


Here are some useful links:
NewKrungThai - Restaurant, Menu
OriginalKrungThai - Restaurant, Menu
Amarin Thai: Restaurant, Menu


More reviews on these restaurants:
Amarin Thai review @ Fun and Food
KrungThai @ UrbanSpoon
KrungThai @ MetroActive


* Choo Chee Tofu: Fried tofu and mushrooms sautéed in light red coconut curry sauce with bell peppers, sweet basils & fine kaffir lime leaves.

I make it very less oil and no cheese as I freeze them into cubes. Once they are frozen, I transfer them into zip locks, for ease of use. Freezing them into cubes makes it easy to thaw only as many as needed, instead of the whole container.
Also, I almost always make pasta with veggies. Veggies are sauteed or grilled, so there is always a little oil used for that. One of the reason, I make the sauce with very little oil.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves. (hard stems cut)
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 4 medium sized garlic
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Lemon juice (optional)

Method

Wash and remove the hard stems from basil.
Put the basil in the food processor.
Add olive oil as the processor is running.
Add pine nuts and garlic.
If the mixture is too thick, add water or some more oil.
You can also blend it in a blender if you don’t have a food processor. Comes out just fine.

Immediately transfer into freezer cubes.

Pesto sauce can be poured over boiled pasta. I also throw in few sauteed broccoli and asparagus. Makes for a delicious and healthy meal.


Tips taken from Taste Buddies and No Fear Entertaining Blog.

Ingredients:

2 cups Besan
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup ghee
1 teaspoon elaichi powder(green cardamom powder)

Method:

Take ghee in a kadhai and heat it.
Add the besan and continue frying till the flour changes it to a darker colour and a strong smell of cooked besan comes.
Remove it from the flame,add sugar and elaichi powder.
Roll the besan to ping pong size laddoos.
Store it in an airtight box.

2 cups Chole(soaked overnight)
2 tablespoons oil
2 onions (medium sized)
2 green chillies
2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
2 tomatoes(medium sized)
1 bay leaf(tejpatta)
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1″ cinnamon stick
2 black cardamom(badi elaichi)
4 green cardamom(choti elaichi)
4 cloves(laung)
1 tablespoon cumin seeds(jeera)
1 teaspoon mango powder(amchoor)
1 tablespoon chole masala
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1/2 tablspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
Salt according to taste
Red chilli powder according to taste
Coriander for garnishing

Method:

Pressure cook the chole with peppercorns,2 green cardamom,2 cloves and 2 black cardamom.Chola has to be cooked enough to crack the the outer shell.(I generally give one whistle on high flame and then two whistles on low flame)
Grind 1 1/2 onions and green chillies to from a smooth paste.Slice the remaining onion.
Heat oil a a wide mouthed vessel.Add cumin seeds,bay leaf,cinnamon stick,green cardamom and cloves.Add the sliced onion and fry until golden brown.
Add onion and green chillies paste and ginger garlic paste and fry until it becomes light brown in colour.
Grind the tomatoes as well.Add this paste as well for frying.In the meanwhile add coriander powder,red chilli powder and salt.
When fried,add boiled chole removing the water(Do not throw the water).Fry the chole with masala making sure that chole do not break.Add the garma masala and chole masala.Keep frying.
WHen chole are fried well,add the water left after boiling and amchoor powder.Let it come to a boil and your chole are ready.
Granish with coriander leaves and serve.

Ingredients:

2 cups of wheat flour
1 tablespoon ajvain
1/2 bunch of bathua
1 tabelspoon salt
3-4 green chillies
Oil for frying

Method:

Remove the leaves of bathua from the stalk and wash nicely.
Pressure cook the leaves with a single whistle.
Remove the water and grind it with the green chillies (Do not throw the water).
Take the wheat flour and add this grinded bathua, salt, ajvain. Make a dough (shown as below) using the left over water while boiling Bathua.

Roll them like puris and deep fry them.
Serve hot with pickle

Tips:

If you do not want to take too much oil, you can make even chapattis of this.