What do you need?

• 1 LB spinach, 2 large onions, 1 large tomato, 1 green chili
• 1 spoon freshly chopped ginger, half spoon minced garlic, dried fenugreek ( kasuri methi). Kitchen King Masala (purely optional)

Step by Step

1. Step 1 – Boil spinach in a large utensil for 3-4 mins. Remove and Strain spinach.
2. Step 2 – Use a Blender – make Purée of the boiled spinach (add 1/2 cup water,  1/2 green chili, some salt). Mix until pureed. An option to frying your tomatoes (step 3), is to simply puree them along with the spinach. There’s no downside to this – and the paste is a little more consistent (instead of having pieces of tomatoes floating around).
3. Step 3 – In a separate cooking pot – Fry 2 chopped onions, 1 spoon freshly chopped Ginger, half spoon minced garlic, spoon of kasuri methi ( dried fenugreek) , half green chili. Add 1 spoon garam masala, 1/2 spoon of kitchen king masala ( both available at Indian grocery stores….this masala is optional).  To the fried mixture above, add 1 chopped tomato. Fry all this till onions are brown and tomatoes are more or less blended into the mixture.
4. Step 4 –  Add pureed spinach to the cooking pot containing onions and spices. Add salt.
5. Wait Step – Simmer mixture for 5 minutes.
6. Step 5 – Add paneer ( cottage cheese) and cook on medium to low heat for another 5 minutes.

It’s READY!

The post Palak paneer ( spinach and cottage cheese) – Quick Recipe appeared first on Anuj Varma, Hands-On Technology Architect, Clean Air Activist.

Method: Prepare in a shaker
Glass: Cocktail
Recipe:

1. Add all ingredients to shaker with plenty of ice.
2. Shake well, serve and enjoy.

Ingredients

1 oz Gin
[ Add ]

¹⁄₂ oz Cointreau
[ Add ]

4 oz Pineapple Juice
[ Add ]

¹⁄₂ oz Lime Juice
[ Add ]

¹⁄₃ oz Grenadine

The post Simple Sling Cocktail appeared first on Anuj Varma, Hands-On Technology Architect, Clean Air Activist.

The entire process takes about 30 minutes. This is a red chilli and red tomatoes based curry. No yogurt. For a yogurt based curry, see this recipe.

1. Fresh garlic – one clove – chop into small pieces
2. Fresh ginger – one inch branch – chop or grate
3. In a large pressure cooker (enough to hold 4-6 pieces chicken and 3-4 small potatoes), add cooking oil.
4. To the oil, add the fresh ginger and garlic.
5. Take the chicken drumsticks, make incisions on each drumstick – and then add them to the oil.
6. Now, you are ready to add the spices (since the chicken pieces are ready to soak them up). Red chilli powder one large teaspoon, turmeric – one small teaspoon, dhania powder (coriander powder) – 1 small teaspoon. 1 large bayleaf.
7. Add the spices – and let it all fry for about 8-10 minutes. The spices should soak into the chicken well within 8-10 minutes.
8. Chop tomatoes (red roma or green tomatillo or combo of both) – and add to the fry. Add salt now.
9. Let it all simmer for another 5 minutes – till the tomatoes have let out all their water – and there is a discernable amount of gravy (from the onions and tomatoes).
10. Now , add water and cover the pressure cooker. Pressure cook (on the highest pressure) for about 8-10 minutes.
11. Switch the gas off. Let the pressure escape.
12. Serve with rice or bread.

The post The really quick, short-cut chicken curry appeared first on Anuj Varma, Hands-On Technology Architect, Clean Air Activist.

And when you consider that the country has over 1 billion people, chances are that Starbucks sales do not even come close to the number of cups of chai served daily in India.

Often, people have two to three cups daily. My own family starts the day with chai – and has one towards the evening.

If a social visit happens in between (someone drops in – or you drop in somewhere), add another cup of chai for each visit.  That’s just in the house – when you are not doing much.

At work, given long, crazy work hours and often challenging work, chai becomes more of an addiction – with work people ‘ordering’ chai every couple of hours (there is usually a dedicated chai guy – whose sole responsibility is to take chai orders).

So – India runs on chai. But more importantly, chai is a super food that can boost your immunity and fight a lot of minor illnesses (headaches, fevers and bad throat type of illnesses)

This post will teach you how to make chai – as well as some variations to tackle headaches, sore throats and what not (also read, boosting immunity tips).

Ingredients 

Raw Ginger (Optional), Tea Leaves, Sugar, Black Cardamom (optional), Whole Milk (preferably, though any type of milk will work)

Crush some fresh ginger and grind it (see image below). A small amount is all that is needed – maybe a couple of pinches worth. Ginger is not always part of chai, it is a matter of preference. For treating a cold or sore throat, definitely add ginger (and black cardamom).

Black Tea Leaves

Steps (for 1 cup chai)

1. Bring 1.5 cups of water to a boil.
2. Add crushed ginger and ONE heaped spoon of black tea. Add a whole black cardamom. Let it all boil for about 90 seconds. Add a spoon of sugar (I like to add it upfront so it dissolves well).
3. Add HEATED milk.  Add it little by little so that you never lose the boil in the liquid (not crucial to do it this way – you can add all the milk and let the boil return in a minute or so). How much milk you add depends on how strong you want your tea (more milk will make it slightly weaker….).
4. Once the milk plus tea mixture is boiling  – lower the flame to medium. Let the mixture continue boiling  – how long depends on the COLOR of the liquid. Dark brown is how I like it (strong). Dark Brown would take about 2-4 minutes of additional boiling time AFTER the milk has been added (on medium flame).
5. Once the desired color is attained, COVER the POT for about 2-4 minutes – do not let the steam escape.
6. Filter the chai into a mug (Add saffron to the empty mug before, if you want some ROYALTY in your tea)

The Finished Product

Once you have a darkish brown color, your chai is ready. Before pouring it out, try and cover the pot for a few minutes (4-5) for an extra seeping in of the FLAVOR.

For a Headache or low grade fever

Add cloves to the boiling tea.

For a sore throat and/or cold

Add fresh, raw ginger to the chai . Also try adding one whole black cardamom.

Before going to bed

Saffron (the king of spices) is a great flavor enhancer and also has sleep inducing qualities.

The post Staying healthy with Chai (black tea with cardamom and ginger) appeared first on Anuj Varma, Hands-On Technology Architect, Clean Air Activist.