North Indian Cooking!

The northern region of India comprises lots of varieties of food. The cuisine also varies widely in this region but the predominant one is the Mughlai one. The staple food of the Kashmiris is rice and plenty of meat dishes, The Kashmiri cuisine is a blend of its major produce, which includes red chillies, fruits, nuts, saffron and rajma.

For the Punjabis, the Rotis and Lassi give them the vigor and energy they are noted for. The sarson ka saag and the makke di roti is a good combination. The Punjabis also place a lot of stress on the ginger, garlic, onion and tomato combinations.

Altogether the northern part is famous for its tongue tickling Mughlai dishes. The succulent kababs, kormas and the parathas are good examples. The blending of spices over low heat is an important factor of the Mughal style of cooking.

Most of the vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes are famous for their distinctive tastes. Though rice is sparingly used throughout northern India, Wheat is their staple food. They take wheat in the form of rotis and chappathis. They come in a wide range, which includes parathas, puris, naans, kulchas, rotis and chapathis, and stuffed parathas.

1) Naan
Ingredients

• Maida 250 gms
• Milk 125 ml
• Butter ¼ cup
• Sugar 1 tablespoon
• Yeast 30 gms
• Salt ½ tablespoon
• Baking powder ½ tablespoon
• Poppy seeds 1 tablespoon
• Method
• 
  
  • Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar well in a bowl.
  • Mix the yeast with 2 tablespoons of milk and warm the remaining milk.
  • Add the warmed milk to the yeast with 1-½ tablespoons of butter and mix well.
  • Pour the yeast mixture into the maida and knead well to form smooth dough.
  • Cover it with a cloth and keep aside for 2 hours.
  • Divide the dough into 8 portions with floured hands, cover and keep for some 15 minutes.
  • Flatten the balls into circles of 5 inches diameter and brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle some poppy seeds over it.
  • Place the dough circles in a greased baking tray and bake for 10 minutes at 230 degrees till the naan is puffed.

2) MATTAR PULAO (Green Pea Pulao)

Ingredients

• Basmati Rice 500 gms, washed & soaked for 1/2 an hour
• Onion 1, sliced
• Green peas 2 cups, parboiled
• Ghee 170 gms
• Bay leaf 1
• Peepercorns 8
• Cinnamon stick 3 inches
• Cardamom 2
• Cloves 8
• Cashews 50 gms
• Raisins 100 gms
• Salt to taste
• Method
• • Fry the onions in a pan with the ghee till brown.
  • Fry the cashews and raisins and keep aside.
  • Add cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns and cardamoms and fry for a minute.
  • Then add the rice and fry on low heat so that the rice grains are coated with the ghee.
  • Add the green peas and fry for another 3 minutes.
  • Add salt and cover the rice with double its amount of boiling water.
  • Bring to a boil and then simmer till the water is absorbed.
  • Garnish with the fried cashews and raisins and serve hot.

3) MIXED VEGETABLE PULAO
Ingredients

• Basmati
• Basmati Rice 350 gms,soaked for 20 minutes
• Ghee 120 gms
• Onions 100gms, chopped
• Potato 100 gms, peeled and cubed
• Carrots 100 gms, cubed
• French beans 100 gms, diced
• Green peas 75 gms, shelled
• White Pumpkin 100 gms, cubed
• Green chilli 8
• Ginger, garlic paste 50 gms
• Chilli powder 10 gms
• Ginger 1 inch, cut into juliennes
• Garam masala 5 gms
• Saffron a few strands, soaked in warm milk
• Mint leaves 20 gms, chopped
• Coriander leaves 20 gms, chopped
• Cardamom a pinch
• mace powder a pinch
• Salt to taste
• Method

  • • Saute the garam masala in a pan with the ghee till it crackles. Add the onions and fry till brown.
    • Add half of the ginger, garlic paste green chillies, chilli powder and salt and sauté for 5 minutes.
    • Add the vegetables and fry till they a re well coated with the masala.
    • Add water and cook till the vegetables are done. In one litre boiling water add salt and some whole garam masala and rice and cook till half done.
    • Take the pan with the cooked vegetables and sprinkle half of the ginger juliennes, green chillies, saffron milk, mint leaves, coriander leaves and spread half of the rice over the vegetables.
    • Repeat the layers and cover with a moist cloth.
    • Seal the pan and put on dum or in a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
    • Serve hot with raitha.

4) NAVRATAN KORMA

Ingredients

• Paneer 50 gms, diced and fried.
• Mixed vegetables 3 cups, (potato, green peas, beans, carrot, cauliflower, cucumber, etc)
• Tomato 4, chopped
• Onion 3, chopped
• Ginger, garlic paste 1 tablespoon
• Milk 11/2 cup
• Fresh cream 4 tablespoon
• Ghee 4 tablespoons
• Turmeric powder ½ tablespoon
• Coriander powder 2 tablespoon
• Chilli powder 3 tablespoons
• Garam masala 1½ tablespoons
• Salt to taste
• Method
  • Fry the onions. Add the ginger, garlic paste and fry for another 2 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt and fry for 5 minutes.
  • Add all the vegetables, milk, cream and fried paneer and cook for a few minutes till the vegetables are done.
  • Serve hot.

5) Bhindi Masala
Ingredients

• • Bhindi 750 gms
  • Curd 300 ml
  • Garam masala 1 tablespoon
  • Red chilli powder 2 tablespoons
  • Green chilli 2 tablespoons, chopped
  • Ginger, garlic paste 1 tablespoon
  • Turmeric powder 1 tablespoon
  • Oil 4 tablespoon
  • Ghee 2 tablespoon
  • Salt to taste
  • Method
    • Blend the curd, garam masala, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and half of the chopped green chillies.
    • Trim the bhindis and make slant slits in them.
    • Soak the bhindis in the curd mixture for10 minutes.
    • Heat oil and fry the ginger, garlic paste, green chillies.
    • Add the bhindis with the curd mixture and cook for 10 minutes.
    • Top with the ghee and garam masala and steam on low heat for 5 minutes , covered.
    • Cook till dry and garnish with tomato slices, onion rings and serve hot.
  
  

6) KESAR PHIRNI (Rice and milk based sweet)
Ingredients

• Milk 500 ml
• Sugar 50 gms
• Rice flour 75 gms
• Saffron a few strands
• Cardamom green, 8 nos
• Pistachio 25 gms
• Almonds 25 gms
• Method
• • Boil the milk so that it reduces to half its quantity.
  • Add the rice flour to this and mix well so that no lumps are formed.
  • Add the sugar and cook for sometime so that the sugar dissolves.
  • Dissolve the saffron in warm milk and add this to the above mixture.
  • Pour the phirni in earthen bowls and garnish with pistachios and almonds.
  • Allow it to cool and set in the refrigerator and serve cold.

7) KULFI (Indian ice cream)
Ingredients

• Milk 6 cups
• Mawa ½ cup
• Cream 1 cup
• Cornflour 8 tablespoons
• Castor sugar 1¾ cup
• Keora essence a few drops
• Almonds & pistachios a little
• Cardamoms 4, powdered
• Method

  • • Dissolve the cornflour in the milk to from a paste.
    • Boil the rest of the milk and add the cornflour paste and cook till the mixture thickens.
    • Remove from fire and add the powdered cardamoms, almonds and pistachios and cool.
    • Cool it in the fridge for 8 hours to set after pouring the mixture in kulfi moulds.
• JALEBI

• Ingredients
• Maida 2 cups
• Sugar ½ cup
• Water 1¼ cup
• Curd ¼ cup
• Rose water 1 teaspoon
• Soda bicarbonate a pinch
• Oil for deep-frying
• Salt a pinch
• Method

• 
  
  • Mix the flour, salt and curd to get a thick batter.
  • Allow the mixture to ferment for 7 hours.
  • Boil the sugar to get a syrup. Cool and add the rose water to this.
  • To the batter add the soda powder and mix well.
  • Heat the oil for deep frying and force the batter through a piping bag to form spirals.
  • Deep fry till golden brown and soak it in the sugar syrup and serve.

Wow!! nice recipes.. I am north Indian ..So would give a try for sure.
Thanks for sharing it.

If possible do post some quick snacks' recipes too.

Ria

This is really great, am north Indian too thanks for the recipes.

Indian snacks are quick to prepare, tasty, spicy and eaten as a tea snack or in the evening. Many of them make a perfect side-dish.

Bhelpuri

To make Bhelpuri, you need a few cups of puffed rice, roasted and salted peanuts, 2 boiled potatoes, 1 onion chopped fine, 1 large tomato chopped fine, half a bunch of coriander leaves chopped fine, 2 green chilies chopped fine, Tamarind chutney to taste, Mint-coriander chili chutney to taste, crushed papdi (these fried salty biscuits made from wheat flour) and 1 cup of sev.
Combine the peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, coriander leaves, chilies with the puffed rice and churn the mixture well. Mix it with tamarind and mint-coriander chutney to enhance the flavor. Mix well and garnish the Bhel Puri by sprinkling sev and papdi over it. Serve and eat immediately to prevent the dish from getting soggy.

Hello Ladies,
I would like to share the procedure of Dal Khasta Kachori .

Dal Khasta Kachori

For making the famous Dal Khasta Kachori the ingredients needed are:
1 cup of skinless dried black beans (urad), 4 cups maida, 1 green chili, 1/2tsp of common salt, cooking oil for deep frying, 1tbsp of anise seeds, 1tsp coriander seeds, 1tsp cumin seeds, red chili powder according to taste, 1/3th tsp of asafoetida powder.

Method:

Soak the black beans in water overnight then rinse and drain them next day. With the flour, make soft dough. Let the dough stand for 30 minutes. Grind the drained beans, chili powder, salt and spices to make stuffing for the kachori. Diivide the stuffing into a number of portions depending o the no of kachori's you would like to prepare. Divide the dough into the same no. of portions as the stuffing. Rub some oil over each portion of dough, flatten and roll each into round shapes. Place one portion of stuffing in each piece and roll all of these into balls. Flatten these balls. Heat some oil in a deep frying pan and drop the rolled kachori balls into the hot oil. Make sure that oil is smeared all over the surface so that it swells up. Cook the kachoris until golden brown. Serve the dal khasta kachori hot with tamarind or mint-coriander chutney.

North Indian Sandwich Recepi

Ingredients:

Bread - 8 slices
Chicken breast - 1(cooked in enough water and salt)
Capsicum - 1
Onion - 1
Cabbage - 1/4 of a whole one
Lettuce - a bunch
Mayonnaise - 1/4th cup
White pepper - 1/4 tsp (powdered)
Cheese - 1/2 cup (grated)
Butter - 4-6 tbsp
Green chilies - 2 (chopped)
Salt - to taste

Method:

Take out the seeds in the capsicum and chop it.

Finely chop the green chilies.

Now chop the onion and grate the cabbage.

Shred the cooked chicken into fine pieces.

Mix chicken and all the other vegetables, except for lettuce, with mayonnaise, green chilies, salt, pepper, cheese and salt.

Butter the bread slices lavishly. Shred the lettuce finely and spread the lettuce on the bread as base.

Put the filling and again top with lettuce generously to give it a savannah effect.

Cover the savannah filling with a bread slice buttered side down.

Slightly press the sandwich and cut diagonally, with a sharp knife.

Serve with potato chips and tomato ketchup. To give more color to your 'savannah', you may also add a hint of grated carrot and thinly sliced apple

Paneer Masala(For 4 servings)

Ingredients

Paneer 150gm
Cumin 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder 2 tsp
Garam Masala 2tsp
Double Cream 3tsp
Turmeric powder 5 pinch
Salt As required
Oil 200ml

To Grind

Tomatoes(medium size) 5nos.
Onion(medium size) 2nos.
Ginger 1 inch
Garlic 3 Flakes
Green Chilli 2 nos.

Soak 25 to 30 cashews for 2 hr grind seperately keep it aside

Method of Preparation

1.Heat the kadai and pour the oil.
2.when the oil gets hot , add jeera.
3.Add the grounded tomotoes and onion paste.
4.Keep it covered with a lid, Stir the masala on and off.
5. Once the oil comes out of the masala(ie the masala are cooked well).
6. Add Turmeric powder and chilli powder, cook this for 5 minutes.
7. Add grounded cashews and cook for 2 minutes
8. Add the paneer(cut into cubes and put the paneer in hot water for 10 minutes)
9. Add the double cream and add 200ml of hot water, cook for 4-5 minutes
10. Add the garam masala and salt according to your taste,
11. Taste the masala once again and check whether the spicy is enough if not add some more chilli powder or garam masala
12.Cover with the lid and cook for 5-6 minutes.

Paneer masala is ready to eat.
It will goes out well with naan and parataa

Thanks and Regards
Lakari

Hi

Nice thread, with all the north indians coming in and sharing their fav recipes.

At our house we make a variety of things, but our fav is "Bhaingan ka Bharta", check out the recipe i'm sure you would love it. (I dont know really well how to write a recipe so please bear with me).

Baingan Bharta

1 Eggpant, big one
Dry Dhania Powder
Red chillies
Garam masala
Green CHillies
Onions
Tomatoes

Apply a li'l oil on eggplant and make vetical Cuts in it. Put the Eggplant in Micro for 5 minutes twice, as we dont have flame burners here, so micro is an easy option. when the pulp is coming off take the eggplant out of the micro. Pull out the pulp with hands, then wash he eggplant and Mash it.

In the meantime, cut onions, and green chillies, put some oil and saute them in a Pan, till golden brown.

Cut Tomatoes, add to the sauteed onions., saute some more till the oil leaves sides.

Add Coriander powder, red chillies, garam masala, saute some more.

Add the mashed Bharta, mix well. Cover with the lid for 5-10 min.

Bharta is ready.

Try it out and let me know how was it !

Thanks