Kitchen Simplified

As much as I hate to admit, but I was a bad cook before marriage. I didn't pay much attention to details or rather didn't want to. My mum did her best to teach me but I simply wasn't into it. She was a bit short on patience too and in case of any mistakes she took law in her own hands. And did all the cooking by herself.  

My real growth in cooking department was after I got married. Not that my mother-in-law was lovey dovey about me, not that she had loads of patience.  She had some great practical kitchen hacks and was focused on training me. On my part, I was a devoted student. So as I developed my cooking skills, I came up with some of my own shortcuts. Please note that these are shortcuts only to save time. Loss of nutrients or taste perfection is not expected. 

  There are some common gravies which you can always keep ready in your refrigerator like sauces to prepare curries.  Like for example this is my favorite Punjabi gravy. I have a habit of studying YouTube recipes and after a small mix-n-match I come up with my own average. Mind you, this is not an authentic Punjabi gravy, it's an easy substitute or a quick fix. 

Ingredients:
Tomatoes
Onions -
Cashews
Whole spices - Dalchini, elaichi, lavang, star anise (dagad phool). Crush these spices into a coarse powder in mortar and pestle.
Garlic
Ginger
Kasuri methi
Coriander leaves
If you feel its too spicy,  you can ditch ginger and garlic. Also take care to get all ingredients fresh because if you use spices' powders or ready-made ginger garlic pastes, the gravy doesn't taste that good. Coriander leaves are optional too. 

Fry roughly cut tomatoes, onions, ginger garlic, whole spices in oil till light brown and oil starts oozing at edges. Put cashews at last and fry a bit. Cool a bit and grind into a fine paste. No need to fry coriander leaves, it can be directly ground to paste. 

As this paste is roasted in oil and its water content has been reduced to a great extent, the paste can be preserved for nearly a week in refrigerator. Lesser the water content, the better. 

While preparing the main dish, oil fry the veggies, the paste, a pinch of turmeric, Chilli powder or green chillies, rai, jeera and coriander leaves. 

You can add a spoon of  Kasuri methi leaves and  fresh Cream to give finishing touches.  






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