Punjabi Chhole (Garbanzo Beans, or White Channa)

Chhole Chawal

I tried this one in the beginning of December. I haven't made Chhole in forever and managed with a pretty good end result. Nothing like what my mommy makes ... but passable with my modifications to the original recipe.

Prep Time: 20-30 min with canned beans

Ingredients:

1) 2 cans of garbanzo beans - if you use dry beans you may need to soak these in hot water for at least a couple of hours (or overnight at room temperature) and use a pressure cooker to soften the beans

2) 1 large diced tomato

3) 1 large diced onion

4) 1 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves (dhania leaves)

5) 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste

6)  1 tbsp channa masala

7) 1 tbsp cooking oil

8)  2 -3 pieces each of the following whole spices - cloves, green cardamom, black peppercorns,  small stick of cinnamon, bay leaves

9) 1/2 tbsp garam masala

10) salt to taste.

Directions:

A potato masher!! 

In a deep pan, heat up the oil and fry up onions until caramelized around the edges. Add ginger garlic paste, blend it in really well with the fried onions, and then add all the whole spices, fry for a few more minutes and add the tomato. Add about a half cup of water and bring to a rolling boil. If you used dry beans and pressure cooked these, use the water the beans were cooked with, instead of fresh tap water. Once the whole mixture is boiling really well, add the drained beans and turn the heat down to a good simmer. About 10 minutes later, use a potato masher (see pic) and mash some of the beans to the bottom of the pan (this was a trick my G'ma taught me and it makes all the difference in how your dish turns out!!). Then add the spices (chana masala, garam masala) and the cilantro leaves and simmer for a few more minutes.

Chhole are served best over plain white steamed rice, or over a slice of thick white bread .. or if you want to be particularly unhealthy ;-) .. with puris ...  which is basically deep fried bread. Yummy!

Cajun Red Beans & Rice

So i tried quite a few new and old recipes on li'l Nik Coder this December. I just haven't gotten around to posting all of them. Am trying today, as we wait for the ball to drop .... Happy New Year, everyone!!

Cajun Red Beans & Rice

Total Prep Time: 20 minutes with canned red beans.

Ingredients: 

1) 1 lb spicy sausage - italian, andouille etc.
2) 1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed. 
3) 1 medium onion, diced.
4) 1 large diced tomato
5) 1 tsp Zatarain's Creole seasoning (more if you want it spicier)
6) salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:
Fry up the sausage until almost done and then slice thickly. drain almost all of the drippings so the pan is just barely greased. Fry up onions in the drippings, add tomato and spices and bring to a nice simmer. Then add the sausage back in and add water, or V8 juice, for some extra flavor. Bring to a boil. Add drained and rinsed kidney beans. Cover and let simmer for the rest of the time. In a separate pan, steam white or brown rice. I served mine with steamed white rice, with some peas for a splash of color ... !!    

Maggi Night!

One of the many warm memories of growing up in a houseful of kids ... Maggi noodles (or Ramen noodles) on a cold afternoon after school. I remember we used to love Maggi noodles so much that we wouldn't let mom make multiple packs at once, because we'd feel gypped ;-) .... "Mom... but she got more than I did!!"  ... Of course, mom being a mom, didn't want to 'carb load' us - with no nutrition. So, she used to add all sorts of veggies while cooking our Maggi and it tasted delicious. So that's what Nikky and I had for dinner tonight. Dad and the older boys were at the MGHS basketball game and we had fun at home-  after the freshman game (Bryce's team) was over.

Total Prep Time: 10 min. with frozen veggies.

Ingredients: 
1) 1 packet of Nestle Maggi noodles (or Nissin's Top Ramen) - Chicken flavor
2) 1/3 cup frozen peas or french-cut green beans
3) 1/3 cup frozen carrots
4) 1 tsp Wyler's chicken flavor granules

Directions:
Prepare the noodles according to the packet instructions (add noodles to boiling water, cook for 3-5 minutes until done and then mix in seasoning packet, turn off heat, and let stand for a couple of minutes before serving), with the following exception - when the water starts to boil, add the vegetables and chicken flavoring and bring to a rolling boil before adding the noodles and cook until done. I add the extra chicken seasoning to ensure that the final product doesn't taste watery. The extra veggies need more salt and seasoning and Wyler's works great! I served the noodles with a slice of butter-bread. Needless to say, "like mommy like son". He LOVED the noodles and even got to dipping his bread in the noodles to sop of the broth!! .... and my mommy instincts were satisfied because he ate his beans and carrots too :)!!!