Potatoes and Dill Indian Style

June 19, 2021 No Comments

Potatoes and Dill Indian Style is an easy recipe. The combination of potatoes and dill is really like a match made in heaven! Have you ever paired the 2 together? I have heard of dill with potatoes in salad and have only cooked Dal (lentils)with dill before. I have never cooked them together this way with Indian Spices, until now.

That being said Dill is an acquired taste, not everyone likes it. So if you and your family like dill, make this simple dish and you will really enjoy it. This is a great article all about Dill and its benefits.

This dish is really easy to make with minimal ingredients. Sometimes the dishes with the least amount of ingredients are the tastiest!

Dill and Potatoes really prove it.

Ingredients required for Dill and Potatoes:

Potatoes – I used regular Idaho potatoes. But I’m pretty sure it would taste even better with baby potatoes.

Dill – Leaves, discard the woody stems. Dill has a very strong taste and flavor, so a little goes a long way.

Cumin seeds – give it a nice flavor.

Turmeric powder – gives it a nice color and it is very good for health too!

Kashmiri Chili Powder – Has a lovely red color and not as spicy as regular chili powder.

Salt to taste

Olive oil

That’s it!

How do you make Potatoes and Dill Indian style?

Heat up oil in a pan. When hot add cumin seeds, add potatoes, and mix well. Add all the spices except salt. Cover and cook till potatoes are done. Stir occasionally so it does not burn. When almost done, add chopped dill leaves. Mix it well and cook for a few more minutes adding salt to taste.

The potatoes should be tender and the dill leaves should not be cooked for too long as they lose their flavor.

Your potatoes and dill Indian style are ready!

Serve hot with rice and dal, roti, paratha, or peas rice.

Makes a great side to any meal.

Potatoes and Dill Indian Style

Potatoes and Dill cooked with mild Indian Spices, a delicious combination!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Author Nandini

Ingredients

1 large Russet Potato
1 handful Dill leaves
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Turmeric powder
½ tsp Kashmiri Chili powder (use more if you like it spicy)
Salt to taste
2 tbsps Olive oil (any cooking oil)

Instructions

Chop the potatoes into small cubes, Make sure they are all more or less the same size.
Wash and chop the dill leaves.
Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds. Stir.
Add in the potatoes along with turmeric, and chili powder. Mix well, cover, and cook on low flame.
Stir in between so that it does not burn.
Once the potatoes are cooked, add the salt and chopped dill. Mix very well.
After 2 minutes take it off the fire and serve.
Your delicious Potatoes and Dill Indian Style are ready.

Notes:

This recipe is for 1 large Russet/Idaho potato, feel free to use small white or red potatoes.
You can also use a preboiled potato to make things quicker, the cooking time will be reduced.
Using too much dill can overpower the dish as dill has such a strong taste and flavor. Fresh dill is always great but if you do not have you could substitute it with powdered dill. I have not personally tried it but I think it could work.
You could skip the cumin seeds if you do not have them, but I do recommend using them.
This dish goes very well as a side to rice with dal(lentils), or it can be eaten with paratha, or with Instant Pot Peas Pulao.

Please do try out this simple side dish of Potatoes and Dill Indian Style. Let me what you think in the comments below. I am always happy to hear from you!

If you like potatoes, you can check out my other recipes using potatoes Air-Fryer Potato Wedges, Potato Masala

and Air Fryer Tortilla Samosas.

Thank you for visiting! Have a great day! Here is today’s inspiration:

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Crochet

10 Easy Crochet Earrings (All Free Patterns!)

June 17, 2021 2 Comments

These 10 Easy Crochet Earrings are beautiful and can complement any outfit. I love making earrings as they are simple and quick to make. You do not need a lot of thread, so they are a great scrap yarn/thread project! You can make all 10 pairs in probably an hour!

The fun part about making your own earrings is that you can customize them to the outfits you already have. The availability of different colors of threads makes it possible to have beautiful handmade earrings in any color imaginable!

All these 10 pairs of earrings are from free patterns that I will share with all of you. A big thank you to all the designers for sharing their talent with the world for free!

These earrings mostly use magic circles, chains, single crochet, double crochet, treble, and picot., most of them start with a magic circle. All of them have been tried and tested by me, so I am recommending the ones that I found easiest to do.

Magic Circle:

I actually did not know what a magic circle was until recently! That is a true story! Lol

I always started my projects with a series of chains joined with a slip stitch.

When I saw a magic circle in so many patterns, I decided it was time to learn a magic circle! So after a lot of tutorials and practice, I finally managed to figure it out.

Any pattern started with a magic circle can be tightened to the point where the center of the circle kind of disappears, so your work looks much neater.

I am sharing the tutorial that helped me the most. You can check it out here.

What are the supplies you need for making these 10 Easy Crochet Earrings?

Crochet thread size 10 or Embroidery thread, different colors

Crochet hook – size 1.5mm or 1.65mm

Scissors

Earring hooks

Jump rings (5 mm jump rings)

Pliers (to open and close the jump rings)

(The above links are affiliate links, if you choose to buy any product using these links, I will receive a small commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you. Please know that I only recommend products that I love and know to be of great quality. Thank you for your support)

If you would like to try Amazon for free for 30 days, sign up here!

How do you make these earrings?

Once you have finished your crochet earring, you can use a jump ring to join the little crochet motif to the earring hook. Using pliers, open the jump ring, and attach it to the crochet motif. Put the earring hook also onto the jump ring and close it up. Make sure that it is closed. Your earring is ready! Each earring is different, and each is finished in its own way, so please visit the websites mentioned below to get the exact pattern. Thank you!

Let’s get to these 10 Easy Crochet Earrings and their free patterns!

Caribbean Wave Hoop Earrings:

These are from the Fiber Flux blog, one of my favorite blogs for all yarn-related content. There is an easy-to-follow video for these earrings, so you can watch and learn! You can check out the video here.

Crochet Button Earrings:

This pattern is actually for a crochet necklace, but I followed this pattern to make 2 different color buttons and joined them together with jump rings to make earrings. The pattern is for a beautiful necklace using colorful Crochet buttons The pattern for the little crochet buttons is from the blog Marrose, Colorful Crochet Crafts and can be found here. You can mix and match colors, just make one color, make only one button. You can pretty much customize your own earrings!

Granny Square Earring:

This granny square earring is cute and very easy to do.

I will try to explain how I made these., I have not written out a pattern before but will try my best to explain. If you have any questions, please leave me a comment down below, I will get back to you.

Start with 4 chains, and join with a slip stitch. That’s your beginning circle.

2nd round – start with 3 chains (counts as the first DC), 2 more DC, 3 chains, 3 DC into the chain circle of 1st round. Repeat 2 more times and join with a slip stitch to the top of the 3rd chain from the beginning. Your 2nd round is finished.

3rd round – Start with 3 chains ( counts as a DC), *3 DC into the 3 chain space of the 2nd round, 2 chains, and 3 DC into the same space. ( this is your first corner), one chain and repeat from* to the last chain space. For the last chain space, make 3 DC, 2 chains, then 2 DC, and finish with a slip stitch to the top of the 3rd chain that you started with. Fasten off. One earring is ready! Make another one and you have a pair of Beautiful Granny Square Earrings!

Flower Earrings:

These cute flower earrings are the easiest of them all, you can make them in every color you want. It takes hardly any time to make one pair, I’d say less than 10 minutes! You can find the pattern at CrochetAdventures.

These flower earrings are available in my shop! Visit my shop here if you would like to take a look!

Sunburst Earrings:

These earrings are really cute and are just 3 rows. The easy pattern can be found at youshouldcraft.com

Micro Heart Earrings:

These are micro earrings as the name suggests, but I made mine with size 10 thread. The pattern is from yarnpunk.com

Round Earrings:

This next pattern can be found here at livingthecraftlife.com. It is a basic round earring pattern. I just did it with 2 colors.

Heart Earrings:

This can be made following a diagram found on this website, it is an amigurumi pattern of a bear with a heart on it. I followed the heart pattern and made 2 earrings using Size 10 thread.

Birthday Earrings:

These earrings can be found here. The only change that I made was for the last row, I did not make any DCs into the previous row, I just made chains and a picot, then chains again, and joined it at the end with a slip stitch.

Double Circle Earrings:

This last one is kind of made up by me, it is a very simple, double crochet in rounds. Make one big circle and one small. Put a jump ring through both circles so that they are joined together. Make the circles in different colors or the same color.

For the small circle: Start with a magic circle, 3 chains to start(counts as 1st dc), 23 DC into the magic circle. Finish off with a slip stitch to the top of the 3rd chain. (24 DC)

For the big circle: Make the small circle, but continue for the 2nd round. For the second round, alternate 1 DC, then 2 DC into each DC of the below round. (32 DC)

Hope you liked these Easy Crochet Earrings and will try them out. They are so easy to make.

I would like to mention that my daughter Rhesa has been so patient and helped me by modeling all these earrings for me! Thank you Rhesa!

UPDATE: It has come to my attention that my pictures are being used to promote other people’s content on PINTEREST. Please do not use my pictures as your own, I have really worked hard to put these posts together and it is really discouraging when people steal your pictures to promote their own content.

You are welcome to use 1 picture in your blog post, but please link back to my blog. I would really appreciate that.

If you do not know how to Crochet and would like to learn, please check out my beginner Crochet posts:

Learn How to Crochet

Learn the Basic Crochet Stitches

Easy Crochet Chain Earrings

Here are some other recent Crochet projects I tried that you might like:

5 Useful Crochet Projects

Independence Day Crochet Coasters

Easy Crochet Hair Accessories

Organizing with Crochet Baskets!

Beginner Velvet Crochet Scarf

Mini Crochet Pumpkins

3 Easy Crochet Potholders

Crochet Bath Scrubbers

Thank you for visiting! And have a great day!

Please follow me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM & PINTEREST @lovetostayhomeblog to get the latest content!

Until next time know that:

Photo by Felicia Buitenwerf on Unsplash

Recipes

Sausages and Peppers

June 15, 2021 No Comments

Sausage and Peppers is a simple delicious meal that can be cooked up in no time. It is lightly spiced with a bit of turmeric and chili powder.

Even though we use hot and spicy sausages, they are not spicy for us! So adding a little bit of chili powder gives it the right amount of spice.

To give these sausages a little bit of gravy, adding onions and tomatoes is a must. It gives it a nice bit of gravy but not too much. It’s nice and tasty when eaten with bread.

You can use all the colors of bell peppers. I usually use about 1/3 of each pepper if using different colors of peppers. If using just 1 you can use the whole pepper cut in thin slices.

If you like sausages with grill marks, you could grill the sausages first and then put them into the gravy. Either way, it tastes great!

You can use any kind of sausages, Chicken sausages or even Vegan Sausages if you are vegetarian.

Ingredients required for Sausage and Peppers:

Sausages: I have used Italian hot and spicy sausages in this recipe but I have also used mild sausages, firecracker, and Bratwurst.

Bell Peppers: Any color bell pepper is fine or a combination of two or three. Whichever way you use them, we use one whole bell pepper for this recipe, thinly sliced. I have used 3 different colored bell peppers, about 1/3 each sliced into strips.

Onions: 1 large yellow onion, sliced

Tomatoes: 1 large tomato or 2 medium size tomatoes.

Spices:

Kashmiri Chili Powder- I have mentioned in my other recipes, that I Only use Kashmiri red chili powder in my cooking because of its mild taste and deep red color.

Turmeric powder- Just a little turmeric powder for color.

Salt to taste

How do you make Sausages and Peppers?

In a wide pan, heat up about 2 tablespoons of oil.

When the oil is hot, add onions and fry till translucent.

Add tomatoes, turmeric, and chili powder.

Cook this masala for about 5 minutes till the tomatoes turn soft.

Move the masala to the side and put the sausages in the pan.

Adding sausages to pan — Adding the sausages

Cook them on both sides.

Cover them with the onion tomato masala, put the lid on the pan, lower the flame and let the sausages cook for about 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in between so the sausages don’t t stick to the pan.

Add the bell peppers on top of the sausages, cover them, and let them cook. Check for salt and adjust.

Once the peppers are cooked give it a good mix. If you feel there is too much gravy, you can boil it down to the consistency you want. Do not add any water.

Your delicious Sausages and Peppers are ready.

Eat them with bread or in a sandwich, in a hot dog bun, over rice, or with paratha.

Sausages and Peppers

Sausages cooked in an Onion Tomato gravy, with bell peppers added, a great taste combination!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Author Nandini

Ingredients

1 pack of Sausages
1 onion sliced
2 tomatoes sliced
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri Chili powder
2 tbsps Olive oil
Salt to taste

Instructions

Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and fry till translucent.
Add tomatoes, turmeric powder, chili powder, fry till the tomatoes turn soft.
Move the onion and tomato masala to the sides of the pan, and add the sausages to the pan.
Fry the sausages on both sides.
Cover the sausages with the masala, put the lid on and, let them cook on low flame. Maybe around 25 to 30 minutes.
When the sausages are almost done, add the peppers on top, cover the pan and cook for a further 10 minutes till peppers have softened. Add salt to taste.
Mix it all up, if there is too much gravy, turn up the flame and cook till some of the gravy evaporates.
The consistency should be more like a masala than a gravy.
Enjoy your sausage and peppers with bread, rice, or paratha.

Notes:

Any kind of sausages can be used, even those with added flavor, it just adds to the taste.
Substitute vegan sausage if you are a vegetarian.
If you do not eat pork, you could make this dish with chicken sausages.
Do not add water at any time when cooking this dish as the sausages and peppers do leave out some water when cooked.
Adjust the gravy according to your liking.
If you like it really spicy add more chili powder.
Add salt to taste, remember that the sausages already have added salt in them.

If you like recipes like this, please do check out some of my other simple recipes Simple Chicken Curry, Instant Pot Peas Pulao, Instant Pot Spanish Chicken Pulao, Indian Lime/ Lemon Rice

Thank you for visiting my blog! As always I appreciate every one of you!

Have a great day!

Until next time…

Photo by Brigitte Tohm on Unsplash

Recipes

Jalapeno Poppers

June 14, 2021 No Comments

Jalapeno Poppers are a delicious appetizer that you can make to impress your family and friends!

They are so easy to make and taste amazing!

You can make them in a big batch and bake them in your oven. If you are making them just for your family you can bake them super quick in a toaster oven or Air Fryer!

So without further ado let’s see what ingredients you need to make this deliciousness!!

( The above links are affiliate links, if you choose to buy these products, I will receive a small commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you. Please know that I only recommend products that I love and are of the best quality. Thank you for your support.)

Ingredients for Jalapeno Poppers:

Jalapeños of course! I like buying the bigger ones as you can stuff more of the filling in there, but you can buy any size you get by all means.

Try to keep them all more or less the same size so they cook evenly. Also, Please wear gloves while handling the Jalapenos. Or be sure to wash your hands really well after you cut and de-seed them. It can really sting if you happen to touch your face or eyes. Yes! It happened to me! True story! Definitely not going to happen again! LOL

For the filling:

Cream cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Scallions or Spring onions chopped

Bacon/ ham chopped into bits

(If you are vegetarian you can try grilled mushrooms chopped up)

Mexican blend cheese – that’s what I had. You can certainly go for any cheese that you have on hand. Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella are all good options.

How do you make these Jalapeno Poppers?

Wash and dry your Jalapenos. Cut off the top stalk, then cut them in half lengthwise, scoop out all the seeds. If you like it spicy you could leave a few seeds in there.

We basically want a hollow space where we can stuff the filling into.

I used a spoon to scoop out the seeds or just use a knife to get everything out.

Make the filling by combining all the filling ingredients.

Use softened cream cheese so it’s easier to mix.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add scallions chopped both white and green parts. Last, add the bacon bits or mushrooms chopped. Add some cheese and mix it all up.

You can taste and add more seasoning if required.

Stuff the jalapeños with the filling. Do not overfill, just make it full and flatten it out.

Add some cheese on top of each Jalapeño, drizzle with olive oil.

Put the jalapeños on a baking tray and bake in a toaster oven at 400F for about 10 minutes till the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

If using a regular oven follow the same directions, and broil for a few minutes to brown the tops a little.

For the Air Fryer, I recommend adding some foil to the bottom, so that the cheese does not melt all over the air fryer

Remove from the oven and serve your appetizers. They taste so good, the baked Jalapeno pepper along with the creamy filling and melted cheese make for a really yummy appetizer that anyone would love.

Jalapeno Poppers

Jalapeno Peppers stuffed with a creamy filling, topped with cheese, and baked to melted perfection!

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Author Nandini

Ingredients

4 Jalapeno peppers
2 tbsps Shredded Cheese (Mexican blend/Cheddar/Monterey jack or Mozzarella)for the topping

Ingredients for the filling

2 oz Cream cheese (approx 4 tablespoons)
2 Scallions or Spring Onions
Salt and Pepper to taste
Bacon bits or ham
Grilled mushrooms chopped up (Vegetarian option)
¼ cup Shredded Cheese (Mexican blend/Cheddar/Monterey jack or mozzarella)

Instructions

Wash and dry your Jalapeno Peppers. Cut off the stem, then cut the Jalapeno in half lengthwise.
Remove the seeds and scoop out the insides.

To make the filling:

First chop up the scallions, both white and green parts.
Chop up the bacon, ham, or mushrooms into little pieces.
Put the cream cheese into a bowl, add the chopped scallions and bacon or ham or mushrooms. Add the cheese, salt, and pepper to taste.
Mix everything well and your filling is ready.

To stuff and bake the Jalapeno Peppers:

Stuff the filling into the Jalapeno halves.
Sprinkle with grated cheese and drizzle with olive oil.
Bake in a toaster oven at 400°F for about 10 minutes.
Once the cheese has melted and the tops are slightly brown, take them out of the oven.
Serve hot and enjoy!

Notes:

I shared the filling recipe for only 4 Jalapenos, but feel free to double or triple ingredients if you are making it for a party.
You can bake them in a toaster oven, regular oven, or an Air Fryer.
If you like it spicy, you could leave a few seeds in the Jalapeno.
You can serve these with a dip or sauce., but they are delicious just on their own.
Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature so it’s easier to mix.
You could add breadcrumbs on top to make it crispy and crunchy.
The amount of cream cheese you need just depends on the size of the peppers you use, I used just 2 oz but use more and adjust seasonings depending on the size of the Jalapenos you are using.
If you have any extra filling left, you can make a really delicious grilled cheese sandwich! Just spread the cream cheese mixture on 2 slices of bread, put a slice of cheese on one side. Put the 2 slices of bread together and toast in on a pan or in a sandwich maker. Enjoy the deliciousness!!

Try them out for your next party! Do let me know how they turn out for you. Please rate the recipe and comment down below.

Check out my other easy appetizer/snack options: Air Fryer Tortilla Samosas, Pan-Fried Crispy Shrimp, Air Fryer Salmon Fish Fry, and Air-Fryer Potato Wedges

Thank you for visiting and please do come back for more! I post at least 2 to 3 times a week.

Have a wonderful day! Until next time, here is some inspiration!

Art/Crafts & DIY

DIY Beautiful Envelopes

June 12, 2021 2 Comments

These DIY Envelopes can be used to wrap gifts, package jewelry/ stickers, etc. They are so easy to make and you can make them in different sizes depending on your needs.

It’s a great way to use up any scrapbook paper that you have lying around. You get some beautiful prints and you can customize them according to different seasons/ occasions.

What supplies do you need for these DIY Beautiful Envelopes?

Scrapbook paper – 12inch by 12inch is the most common I think. You get scrapbook paper books in Michael’s, that is where I got mine from. Use your 40% off coupon to get them cheaper!

I’m sure you could get these in any craft store or Amazon too.

An alternative that you could use is gift wrapping paper, it may not be as strong as the scrapbook paper but it should work.

Scissors

Ruler/pencil

Glue/ Double-sided tape – in the video, she used double-sided tape. I found that it worked out quite expensive if you make a lot of envelopes, so I used glue.

That’s it!

Grab your supplies and let’s start making these beautiful Envelopes!

How do you make them?

First, you need to decide what size you want to make these envelopes?

I made small, medium, and large. For all the sizes, I did not follow any set measurements, you just have to cut a rectangle that is big enough to fit your gift.

For the sake of this tutorial, I am going to make a small one giving you the measurements I used.

Find a page of scrapbook paper that you like, tear it out of the book.

Cut one rectangle 10inches by 4.5inches.

2. Fold the rectangle leaving 1 inch from the top.

3. Open up the top fold, and cut 1/2 inch on both sides up to the fold.

4. Fold up the flap. Cut a little rectangle out of the top corners as seen in the picture below.

5. Cut the corners at an angle on all sides of the flaps. Refer picture.

6. Glue the side flaps.

That’s it your envelope is ready! Put your gift in and wrap them up with tape, or a thin ribbon.

Make different sizes and keep them on hand so you can give them to your friends and family, I’m sure they will be impressed by your beautiful packaging!

Notes:

Using a ruler, bend the paper at the folds.
I kept the envelopes under a heavy book for some time to be sure that the edges were glued well.
If you don’t have scrapbook paper, you can use wrapping paper to make envelopes like these. The only thing is it might not be as strong as the scrapbook paper ones, but it will still make a pretty gift!
I used a DIY felt flower for the center of my gift-wrapped envelope, they are so easy to do, you can find the tutorial Easiest felt flower tutorial here.
These envelopes are based on this tutorial by Makena Makes on YouTube, if you like watching videos to learn, you can find the video here.

Hope you enjoyed this easy DIY and you are inspired to elevate your gift wrapping to the next level!!

Thank you for visiting and please come back for more!

You can follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook @lovetostayhomeblog. Thank you so much for your support! It means a lot to me!

Recipes

Simple Chicken Curry

June 10, 2021 No Comments

I am not kidding this Simple Chicken Curry really is the Simplest Chicken Curry you will ever make!!

No onions or tomatoes! No chopping and so quick to put together. Now that I have your attention, you can read on! 🙂

I have to admit sometimes I just want to make something simple that my family loves, but does not take much effort! For those lazy days, this Simple Chicken Curry is a lifesaver.

What are the ingredients for this Simple Chicken Curry?

The chicken is marinated for 15 minutes in turmeric powder, Kashmiri chili powder, ginger garlic paste, salt, and coconut powder.

Chicken – I recommend using chicken thighs because they are much more tender than chicken breasts. You could also use a whole chicken cut into pieces as well.

Kashmiri chili powder – I only use this chili powder as I like its deep red color and its mild taste. You could use regular chili powder.

Ginger garlic paste – I used store-bought ginger garlic paste because of convenience sake. You could use homemade ginger garlic paste.

Coconut powder – I use Maggi coconut powder in my cooking instead of canned coconut milk or making my own from shredded coconut.

This coconut milk powder is so easy to use. You just have to mix the powder with warm water to make coconut milk. You can make thin or thick coconut milk depending on your recipe.

Alternatively, you can use canned coconut milk or make your own with desiccated coconut.

Potatoes – I used one regular Russet Potato cut into 4. ( Optional but recommended)

That’s it!

How do make this Simple Chicken Curry?

Cut the chicken into medium-sized pieces. Marinate for 10 to 15 minutes with Ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, Kashmiri chili powder, salt, and coconut milk powder.

In a pan, heat a tablespoon of oil. When hot, add the marinated chicken. Stir well and fry for a few minutes. Add about 1/2 cup of water. Cover and let it cook.

I added one potato cut into 4 pieces., I love adding potatoes to all my curries as they soak up all the flavors of the Curry.

After about 15 minutes, the chicken and potatoes should be cooked. Check for salt and if it needs a few more minutes, let it cook. Once done switch off the flame. Transfer to a serving dish and add cilantro leaves to garnish.

This chicken curry goes very well with rice, bread, or parathas.

Simple Chicken Curry

The simplest Chicken Curry you will ever make!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Author Nandini

Ingredients

4 Chicken thighs Cut into medium-sized pieces
½ tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri Chili powder (or regular chili powder)
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Coconut milk powder (or canned coconut milk/homemade coconut milk)
1 tbsp Olive Oil (or any cooking oil)
1 Potato (optional but recommended)
Cilantro for garnishing

Instructions

Marinate chicken thighs with turmeric powder, chili powder, ginger garlic paste, salt, and coconut milk powder. Leave aside for 15 minutes.
Heat up oil in a pan, when the oil is hot, add the marinated chicken. Fry for a few minutes.
Add ½ cup water, mix it well. Add peeled and cubed potatoes. Cover and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Once the chicken and potatoes are cooked, transfer to a serving dish.
Garnish with cilantro. Enjoy your Simple Chicken Curry with rice, bread, or parathas.

Notes:

You can add more or less water for the gravy depending on whether you want more or less gravy.
If you do not have coconut milk powder. You can use canned coconut milk or make your own coconut milk and add it in at the end after the chicken is cooked. Bring it to a simmer and switch off.
To enhance the taste you can add some garam masala powder.
To avoid overcooking the potatoes, You could add the potato after the curry is cooked. Just microwave them with a little water for about 5 minutes, drain and add to your curry.

Tip: Did you know if there is too much salt in your curry, add a potato, peeled and cubed. The potato absorbs the extra salt in the curry!

Hope you will try this Chicken Curry. It goes very well with Peas Pulao or Indian Lime/ Lemon Rice.

Also 2 ingredient Naan will be a great option!

Please let me know if you do try it out, I would love to hear from you!

Thank you for visiting! I appreciate every one of you for being here.

Have a fantastic day!

Recipes

Chicken Shawarma Pita Wraps

June 9, 2021 No Comments

These Chicken Shawarma Pita wraps are so flavorful and easy to make. Last week I tasted a really great shawarma wrap, It was so fresh and tasty. I wanted to recreate it at home. So I started looking out for recipes that were easy to follow.

Chicken Shawarma

I came across this Chicken Shawarma recipe for the marinade of the chicken. In this recipe, the chicken was baked in the oven. I decided to use the Air Fryer instead. If you are a regular visitor to my blog you know I love my Air Fryer!

My marinade is based on the above recipe, but I changed it up a bit.

The spices that I used are:

1 tsp Kashmiri Chili powder

1 tsp Cumin powder (Jeera powder)

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala powder

1/4 tsp Pepper powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Mix all these spices with olive oil and marinate the chicken. Keep covered overnight in the refrigerator.

2 Ingredient Pita Bread

For the pita bread, I wanted something quick and easy as I am all about quick and easy recipes!

This 2 ingredient naan recipe on my blog was surprisingly soft and easy to make. Feel free to use the naan recipe, it is just as good!

I thought there might be a 2 ingredient Pita bread! So I tried these Yogurt Flatbreads from one of my favorite baking websites Rockrecipes.

If you have not tried 2 ingredient recipes, you must! They are so easy to make and you do not have to wait for the dough to rise like yeast recipes. And a bonus is they have a good dose of protein from Greek yogurt!

Of course, you could always use store-bought Pita Bread to save on time!

How do you make the Chicken Shawarma?

Marinate the chicken with marinade ingredients. Keep it overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, take out the chicken about half an hour before cooking it.

Put the chicken in the air fryer in a single layer. Switch on the air fryer to 350F, and bake the chicken for about 12 to 15 minutes turning once in between.

Please use chicken thighs as they are much more tender than chicken breasts.

Once done cover the chicken with foil and set it aside. Just before assembling your wraps, cut the chicken into thin slices.

Pita bread:

You could follow the above-mentioned recipe to make the pita bread or use store-bought pita bread.

If you are making the pita bread, mix the self-raising flour and greek yogurt to make the dough, divide it into 8 balls. Roll them out and fry on a cast-iron skillet. There is no need to use any oil/ butter or oil. It turns out really soft.

What are the toppings?

Lettuce – Lettuce leaves chopped

Onions – sliced red onions

Tomatoes – Sliced tomatoes, I used Roma tomatoes, but you could use any tomato.

Tzatziki sauce – This sauce is a must. It is basically Greek Yogurt with cucumbers and dill. This Tzatziki sauce from FoodCharlatan.com is the real deal!

Since I did not have all the ingredients, I made my own cucumber sauce.

Grate one cucumber. (It is better to use an English cucumber as they do not have seeds like the regular ones). Since I did not have an English Cucumber, I took out the seeds from a regular cucumber and used a box grater to finely grate it. Add a little salt and keep it aside. This is basically to bring out all the water from the cucumber so the sauce is not watery. Greek yogurt is usually used for this sauce, but I used regular whole milk yogurt.

How do you make the cucumber sauce?

First, squeeze out all the water from the cucumber and place it in a bowl. Add about 1 cup yogurt to it. Mix it up. Add salt to taste, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, and 1 tsp lemon juice. Lastly, add chopped cilantro.

How do you assemble these Chicken Shawarma Pita wraps?

Take the pita bread, add some chicken slices. Put some tzatziki sauce on top of the chicken.

Add your other toppings.

Fold the pita bread in half. Enjoy your delicious wrap!

Hope you will try out these easy and tasty Chicken Shawarma Pita Wraps. They are so worth it! Please let me know how it turned out for you in the comments below. I love hearing from my readers.

Do check out my other easy Chicken recipes:

Quick Chicken and Egg Noodles

Instant Pot Spanish Chicken Pulao

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Instant Pot Chicken Pulao

Thank you for visiting my blog. I am grateful for each and every one of you! Have an awesome day!

Recipes

Instant Pot Peas Pulao

June 7, 2021 2 Comments

This Instant Pot Peas Pulao recipe is so simple yet delicious. Pair it with a good side dish and you have a great meal!

I make this at least once every week. My kids love it, and it has at least one vegetable, so why not?! 😁

Instead of making just plain white rice, make this Peas Pulao and you will not be disappointed.

I have made it in the Instant Pot, but you could use a rice cooker or a pressure cooker if you do not have one.

If you wish to buy one, This is a 6 quart Instant Pot available here on Amazon. There is also a smaller one which is Instant Pot Duo MIni.

I use both these Instant Pots myself, they are a great addition to any kitchen for easy quick one-pot meals!

( The above links are affiliate links, which means that if you decide to buy the product using the above links, I will receive a small commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you. Please know that I only recommend products that I love and know to be of great quality. Thank you for your support!)

What are the ingredients for Instant Pot Peas Pulao?

Basmati Rice – Definitely use the king of rice! Its long grains yield a delicious Pulao.

Ghee – Gives this Pulao its rich taste so please do not skip it. But if you do not have ghee on hand, you could use oil.

Peas – I have used frozen peas for convenience sake. I always have a bag of peas in my freezer.

You could definitely use fresh peas, I am sure the taste would be even better.

Whole spices – Cardamom pods, Cloves, Cumin seeds ( jeera), Cinnamon stick, and a Bay leaf.

Salt to taste.

Water to cook the rice.

Bonus tip! If you do not like whole spices in your rice, put them in a closed tea strainer into the Pulao, so you get the goodness of the spices without actually biting into them!

You could always do it the old-fashioned way and pick out the spices before serving the dish like me!

How do you make Peas Pulao?

Wash Rice, drain, and set aside.

Switch on Instant pot on sauté mode. Pour the ghee into it. When the ghee is hot, add all the whole spices.

Next, add in the frozen peas and mix. Let them cook for about 3 minutes.

Add in washed and drained rice, salt to taste.

Mix it well. Add 1 1/2 cups water for every cup of rice.

Stir it gently. Check for salt and add if necessary.

Close the Instant Pot and pressure cook on high for 4 minutes.

Once done, press cancel, wait for 10 minutes, and then do a quick release of steam.

Open the Instant Pot, gently mix the rice, and transfer to a serving dish.

This recipe is super simple yet tasty!

Instant Pot Peas Pulao

A simple and easy one-pot Peas, and Rice recipe.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Author Nandini

Equipment

Instant Pot

Ingredients

2 cups Basmati Rice
1½ cups Frozen Peas ( can use fresh also)
2 tbsps Ghee
Salt to taste

Whole Spices

1 Bay Leaf
4 Cloves
3 Cardamom pods
1 inch Cinnamon stick
1 tsp Cumin Seeds (Jeera)

Instructions

Wash the rice well, drain and set aside.
Heat the ghee in the Instant Pot. When hot add all the whole spices. Give it a mix.
Put the frozen/fresh peas in the pot and fry for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Add drained rice and 3 cups water. ( 1½cups water for every cup of rice)
Season with salt. Mix gently.
Close the Instant Pot, set it to high pressure for 4 minutes.
Once done, press cancel. After 10 minutes release the steam and open up the Instant Pot. Mix the rice and peas gently, and transfer to a serving dish.
Enjoy your simple and easy Peas Pulao with any side dish.

Enjoy your simple Peas Pulao with any side dish. It goes really well with Palak Paneer

If you like Instant Pot recipes, do check out my Instant Pot Spanish Chicken Pulao and Instant Pot Chicken Pulao

If you try out any of these recipes, please let me know by commenting down below.

Thank you so much for visiting!

Recipes

Instant Pot Spanish Chicken Pulao

June 4, 2021 2 Comments

DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you choose to buy products I recommend using these links, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I love and use myself. Thank you for your support.

This Instant Pot Spanish Chicken Pulao is another one of my go-to meals on a lazy Sunday morning. Let me start by saying I do not know why it is called Spanish Pulao! I don’t think it has anything to do with Spain! But anyway that’s the recipe name and I will stick to it. I shall find out why it has this name and update my post soon!

This recipe I learned from my Mom, she is an awesome cook and anything that she makes is amazing.

So this is one of those one-pot meals for a great Sunday lunch but without much work. I made this in the Instant Pot.

I highly recommend the Instant Pot, it is a lifesaver when you need quick one-pot meals! You can buy it on Amazon, I have both sizes! The 6 qt is good when you have guests over and the small one is great for everyday cooking.

6 qt Instant Pot

3 qt Instant Pot

What are the ingredients for Instant Pot Spanish Chicken Pulao?

Basmati Rice – it’s important to use long-grain rice as the grains turn out fluffy and nice. I use this Royal Basmati Rice

Chicken – I used a full chicken cut up in medium pieces. You could use just chicken thighs or chicken drumsticks.

(Vegetarian options – you could use mixed vegetables, paneer, tofu, chickpeas, etc )

Onion – you need just 1/2 an onion sliced

Tomatoes – 2 tomatoes sliced ( you could chop them if you don’t like to see the tomatoes in the finished dish)

Green chilies, cilantro, and mint – chilies as per your spice level, I used 3. A handful of cilantro and a few mint leaves. All these ground to a paste. Used a little water to make a paste.

I left out the mint as I did not have any.

Whole Spices – cardamoms, cloves, and cinnamon.

Ghee – use ghee for the best flavor. But you could use any cooking oil as well.

Salt to taste

Juice of 1 lime

Coconut Milk/Water – I used a combination of coconut milk and water, I used 1 cup coconut milk and the rest water. You could use canned coconut milk, but I prefer to use coconut milk powder. You just mix it with warm water and you get your coconut milk.

How do you make this Pulao?

Heat the Instant pot on sauté mode. Add ghee to it, add whole spices.

Fry a little, then add sliced onions, fry till translucent. Add tomatoes.

When tomatoes are soft, add the ground paste, mix well. Add chicken and salt. Mix well and let the chicken cook till almost done.

Add rice, coconut milk according to the liquid in the pot. For 1 cup of rice, you should add 1 1/2 cups liquid.

So depending on the gravy in the pot, add liquid accordingly. For 3 cups rice, I added 3 1/2 cups liquid, as there was already 1 cup gravy in the pot.

Check for salt and add the juice of one lime. Close the Instant Pot and pressure cook for 4 minutes.

Once done, press cancel. Do a quick release after 10 minutes. Open the Instant Pot and mix the Pulao.

Put it in a serving dish and serve hot with Raita or any gravy dish on the side.

Instant Pot Spanish Chicken Pulao

Rice and Chicken with mild spices, a one-pot meal that comes together in a hurry!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Ingredients

3 cups Basmati Rice ( I use the cup that comes with the rice cooker)
1 Whole Chicken ( cut in medium pieces)
½ Onion sliced
2 Tomatoes sliced
Handful of Cilantro
3 Green Chilies
A few Mint leaves
2 tbsps Ghee
Salt to taste
1 Lime
4½ cups Coconut milk or water

Whole Spices

1 inch Cinnamon Stick
4 Cloves
4 Cardamom pods

Instructions

Switch on the Instant Pot, press saute, and pour in the ghee. When the ghee is hot, add the whole spices.
Add in sliced onions and fry till translucent.
Put the tomatoes in and fry them till soft.
Blend the cilantro, green chilies, and mint to a paste.
Add this paste into the Instant Pot. Fry a little bit and add the chicken.
Mix it well, add salt to taste. Cook until the chicken is almost done.
Add in drained rice and coconut milk or water. The amount of liquid is 1½ times every cup of rice. In this case, we are using 3 cups rice so the liquid will be 4½ cups. Take into account any liquid in the Instant Pot before adding the coconut milk or water.
I added only 3½ cups as there was already 1 cup of liquid in the pot.
Squeeze the juice of 1 lime into the Pot.
Check for salt, if needed add more.
Close the Instant Pot and pressure cook on high for 4 minutes.
Once the Instant Pot beeps after the 4 minutes, press cancel, and do a quick release of steam after 10 minutes.
Open your Instant Pot, mix gently, and transfer to a serving dish.
Enjoy your Instant Pot Spanish Pulao with some Raita.

If you like one-pot meals, please check out this Instant Pot Chicken Pulao

Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you will give this recipe a try. Let me know how it turns out for you by commenting down below!

Recipes

Easy and Tasty Chickpea Burgers

June 3, 2021 No Comments

These Easy and Tasty Chickpea Burgers are such a breeze to make as all the ingredients go in a food processor! It’s that easy!

All you have to do is make your patties. They freeze very well too. So make a big batch and enjoy them for weeks! You can have a great-tasting Chickpea Burger at any time, just pull out your frozen patty and fry in a skillet with a little oil.

What goes into these Easy and Tasty Chickpea Burgers?

Chickpeas – I use soaked and boiled chickpeas for these. You can use canned chickpeas for a quicker version, but be sure to wash the chickpeas well after draining out the liquid. As mentioned in the original recipe you can use black beans, or red beans as an alternative.

I am going to try my next batch adding quinoa as well to make it healthier. I will update this post after I try it that way.

Oats – Whole-grain Heart-healthy Oats is a great addition to this burger patty.

Onion – I used half of a yellow onion just roughly chopped into chunks, as the blender does the job.

For seasoning – chili powder, salt, and pepper

Egg – one egg to bind everything together. I think a good substitute for an egg would be a mashed potato.

Cilantro – I added cilantro for some freshness, it adds a nice taste. If you do not like cilantro you could leave it out.

How do you make these Easy and Tasty Chickpea Burgers?

In a blender/ food processor, add all the ingredients. Turn it on and blend it all into a coarse mixture. Do not make it a paste.

If needed you can add a little bit of water/ cooking liquid from the chickpeas to bind it. I actually did not use any liquid. It came together very well.

Keep the mixture in the fridge for about 20 minutes. After that take it out and make patties, dipping your hand in a little water, shape the patties, and keep them on a baking sheet lined with cling wrap. I got 9 patties out of the quantity mentioned in the recipe.

If you want to make your burgers immediately, you can fry them in a pan with a little oil.

They turn out really crispy on the outside and soft on the outside, they are full of flavor.

Make a burger with lettuce, tomato, the patty, red onion, mayonnaise, etc. You can customize your own!

This is based on the recipe from Mom Trends, you can find the original recipe here – The best Veggie Burger

Can you freeze these Patties?

Yes!! That’s exactly what I do! Just freeze them individually on a sheet pan, once frozen, you can put them in a ziplock freezer-safe bag or a freezer-safe container.

It’s important to freeze them separately first so that they do not stick to each other and become a big mess.

You can freeze them for up to 3 months.

Frozen Chickpea patties — Frozen Chickpea Patties

These are great for kids too! My kids actually love it, so I am more than happy to have this on hand to make a quick burger for them.

Since it is so healthy, I am all for it!

Easy and Tasty Chickpea Burgers

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Ingredients

2 cups Cooked Chickpeas (can use black beans/pinto beans/red beans)
½ cup Whole Grain Rolled Oats
½ Onion
1 Egg
1 tbsp Chili powder
Cilantro ( about 3 stalks with leaves)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil for frying them

Instructions

In a blender or food processor, add chickpeas, oats, egg, chili powder, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Process until it comes together to a coarse mixture. Do not puree into a paste.
You can add a little cooking liquid or water to make it mix, only if required. I did not have to.
Keep this mixture in the fridge for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, with wet hands make patties out of the mixture.
Heat a pan, add oil to it, when the oil is hot add the patties and fry on both sides till they turn golden brown.
Remove onto a paper-lined plate. Make your burgers with these crispy and tasty veggie burgers!

Notes:

I added the cilantro. As it adds some freshness to the patties. The original recipe does not use cilantro.
Adjust the chili powder according to your spice level, I used Kashmiri Chili powder which has a bright red color but is not very spicy.
I did not have burger buns, so just used sandwich bread that I had on hand.
You could just use lettuce leaves for a bunless burger!
Or use the 2 Ingredient Naan as the bread.

Do try it out and let me know what you think? I would love to hear your feedback.

As always thank you for visiting and have a wonderful day!!

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