Shrimps Tandoori Style

Goes well with Naan bread or Chapati.

Attention! The shrimps have to marinade 1 to 4 hours!

Preparation You'll need: A large bowl A wok or pan
Ingredients (for 2 persons) ca. 400 g large shrimps 8 Tbsp. plain yogurt 4 green chilis 3 cm ginger 4 cloves of garlic 2 capsules of black cardamom 1 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds 2 small tomatoes  1/2 tsp. turmeric 1/4 tsp. salt 1 tsp. chili flakes 1 Tbsp. ghee or oil Lime cut in halves or lemon wedges
Preparation Check that there is white wine in the fridge! Preheat dinner plates at 60℃ in oven. Chop the chilis and ginger, press the garlic, peel the tomatoes, remove the seeds and purée them. Grind the cardamom seeds (remove from the capsules), cumin, chilis with a pestle. Give everything together with salt turmeric and yogurt into a large bowl and mix well. Remove the shell of the shrimps (if necessary) but leave the tails. Also add them to the bowl and stir well. Close the bowl and let it marinade in the fridge for 1 to 4 hours. Heat up ghee in wok. Take the shimps and roughly remove the marinade. Quick fry them on both sides in the wok until the gain a nice colour. Set them in preheated plates aside. Now bring the marinade in wok to boil, put in a bowl. Serve all together with a cool white wine or beer.

Naan - Indian Flatbread (Updated - v2)

You can start this 2 or 3 hours before the meal and just let the dough sit for the appropriate amount of time.

Preparation You'll need: A Chamotte stone 2 small bowls
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 250-260 g flour 1/2 TL salt Some icing sugar 15 g melted butter or ghee, plus around 1 Tbsp. to spread on the flatbread 2 Tbsp. milk 90-100 g mild yoghurt (Bulgarian yoghurt) 1 egg (L) 6 g yeast 7 cloves of garlic 2 red and 2 green chillies
The dough The pizza stone should be preheated at over 250℃ (grill; the higher the temperature, the better) for about an hour (lowest setting). Take a small bowl, dissolve 6 g yeast in 2 Tbsp milk, add the icing sugar (mix well), and put it in a warm place for 10 minutes. In a second bowl, liquify 15 g ghee (microwave, but should not get too hot). Add 90-100 g yoghurt, mix. Now add the egg, beat the mixture with a whisk. Now heat the mixture slightly in the microwave (lukewarm!). Then mix with the milk and the yeast. Put 250-260 g flour in a large bowl, add ½ tsp salt, add the yoghurt mixture and knead vigorously for a few minutes (a kitchen machine is almost mandatory for the moist dough). Cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm place for half an hour (e.g. in the oven at 35℃). Meanwhile, you can crush the garlic and chop the chillies. Then flatten the dough with your hands on a lightly floured work surface and shape it. The dough should be approx. 3-4 mm thick up to the edge. Now spread liquid ghee (approx. 1 Tbsp) on it with a pastry brush and add the crushed garlic and the finely chopped chillies.
Baking the bread Put the flat-bread on the stone and keep a close eye on it, it goes rather quickly, thanks to the pizza stone also the underside.

Chicken Indian Style (Updated - v2)

 

This goes best with Naan, but also with Chapatis.

Preparation time around 90 minutes!

Preparation You'll need: A wok A large pot A pan or a pot to precook the legs A small bag for spices
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 2 or 3 chicken legs (around 900 g, at least 700 g) 2 medium-sized onions Around 350 to 400 g of large tomatoes 3 Tbsp. seed oil (sunflower, walnut) 2 centimetres fresh ginger 4 cloves of garlic 150 to 175 g yoghurt 30 to 50 g Cashew seeds (for want of that take pine nut) 150 g farmer cheese or cream cheese. fresh coriander leaves 2 tsp. coriander seeds 1 tsp. black cumin seeds 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds ½ tsp. mustard seeds 2-3 chillis, red and green 1 bay leaf 4 cloves ½ cinnamon stick 1 tsp. turmeric 1 tsp. ground coriander ½ tsp. chilli flakes 1-2 tsp. Garam Masala ½ tsp. salt
First steps Bring enough water to a boil in a large pot so that the tomatoes (350-400 g) are completely covered. Add them to the water only when the water is boiling. After 15 to 25 seconds (depending on ripeness and kind of tomato) take the tomatoes out and rinse with cold water. Put them on the side. Now cook the chicken legs in enough water for 20-25 minutes. Also rinse with cold water. Remove the skin.
Separating the ingredients on different plates
1st plate: Put all spices here, that are not ground: 1 table spoon fresh coriander leaves, hacked 2 tsp. coriander seeds 1 tsp. black cumin seeds 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds ½ tsp. mustard seeds 2-3 chillis, red and green
2nd plate: Peel the 2 medium-sized onions and dice them.
3rd plate: Cut 3 cm ginger in small cubes. Press 4 cloves of garlic. Now peel 350-400 g tomatoes and dice them roughly.
4th plate: The cooked chicken legs
5th plate: Here go all the ground spices and the salt. ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. turmeric 1 tsp. ground coriander ½ tsp. chilli flakes 1-2 tsp. Garam Masala You should put these spices in a tea bag or similar: 1 bay leaf 4 cloves 1 small cinnamon stick
6th plate: The yoghurt, the cashew seeds and the farmer cheese go here. Put the coriander leaves here, too. Put the plate back into the fridge until you need it. 150-175 g yoghurt 150 g farmer cheese 30-50 g cashew seeds Coriander leaves
Preparation Now that you have done all the preparations and are starting the actual cooking, it will take another 1 hour. Heat oil in a wok and fry all the spices from plate 1 in it - for about a minute. Then add the onions from plate 2 and fry for approx. 5-10 minutes over a good medium heat., at most until they are lightly browned. Put the tomatoes, the ginger and the garlic of plate 3 into the wok and cook for three minutes, stir frequently. Place the mallets together with the spices (plate 5, loose and in the sachet) in the wok, stir and simmer the dish covered over a low to medium heat for about 35 minutes. In the meantime, you should pluck the coriander leaves, this takes some time (with the amount, that we want, it takes 15 to 20 minutes!). Also stir from time to time (after 20 minutes check how much liquid is there, shouldn't be too much, otherwise just raise the temperature a bit and remove the lid). As soon as the meat is cooked through (it is best to check on several pieces), remove teabag, add the yoghurt (150-175 g), 30-50 g cashew seeds and 150 g cream cheese (plate 6) and stir everything well and let it boil up briefly. To serve, sprinkle with the coriander leaves.

 

Bhuna Lamb (Updated - v2)

This goes well with rice, Chapati or Naan

Attention: If you are making chapatis to go with it, you should start with that - then as soon as the dough snails are to rest for half an hour, start with this recipe.
In total, the cooking time for bhuna lamb and chapatis is 2 hours.

Preparation You'll need: A large pan or a wok (no lid necessary) A hand-held blender (for the tomatoes)
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 650-850 g lamb from the shoulder or shank (cut into small cubes) - weight also depends on the size of the bone . Alternatively: lamb salmon - but we find that the lamb flavour is simply not as intense - 500 g 150 to 200 g plain yoghurt 6 Tbsp oil The following ingredients I was already sorting in 'plates'. It's best to prepare the spices already according to that, it will make it very easy to just add the right ingredients at the right moment.
Dish 1 3 bay leaves 1 black cardamom pod, or a tsp of cardamom powder 1 cinnamon stick 10 peppercorns 6 cloves
Dish 2 1 large onion (diced)
Dish 3 Cut the meat into small cubes (around 1 to 2 cm) 9 cloves of garlic 25 g fresh ginger 3-4 green chillis
Dish 4 (use the mortar) 1 tsp. salt 1 scant tsp. coriander seeds (crunch in mortar) 1 scant tsp. ground turmeric ½ tsp. red chilli flakes 2 tsp. Garam Masala
Dish 5 200 to 250 g tomatoes, peeled and puréed
Dish 6 1 bunch of coriander leaves (pluck the leaves)
Preparation Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan. When hot, add bay leaves, cardamom and cinnamon stick, as well as peppercorns and cloves (plate 1). After about 1 minute, add the onion and sweat over a good medium heat (6) for about 5-10 minutes until light brown (plate 2). If you're doing Chapatis, you should start baking them in a pan by now. When the onions are browned, we add the lamb, ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry everything, stirring frequently, at medium temperature for about 20 minutes (plate 3) - without a lid. Always scrape the spices from the bottom of the pot. If the whole thing gets too dry, you can add 2 Tbsp water. Now we add the turmeric, coriander, chilli flakes, salt and Garam Masala and let it cook for five minutes, stir frequently (plate 4). Add the pureed tomatoes and let it cook for five minutes, stir frequently (plate 5). The sauce must simmer here until it is no longer really liquid, but sticks to the meat as a thick marinade! Add joghurt (around 150 to 200 g), stir everything well and let it simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. Place the plucked coriander leaves on the table, so that everyone can serve themselves (plate 6).

Rava Dosa (Quick Version)

 

One can eat it like that, but also with a spicy dip or chutney
Could be just a snack during the day, or serve as an entrée for an Indian dinner.

My version of this Recipe

Preparation You'll need: A large frying pan, or Tefal Astucio, or something similar. A large bowl A pastry brush
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 120 g Semolina (Rava) 120 g rice flour 35 g standard wheat flour (or maida, if available) 2 centimetres fresh ginger (chopped) 2 cloves of garlic (chopped) 1 small onion ½ tsp. cumin Salt, Pepper 3 to 4 chilis, chopped Around 500 to 550 mL water Ghee, or simply oil, like peanut oil, to spread on the dosa
Preparation Dice the onion, cut the chilis and put it on the side. Give the other ingredients (but the ghee/oil) into a bowl and mix well. Das ergibt eine sehr dünne Mischung - und so soll es auch sein :-) Bring the pan to high heat and spread some oil on it. Sprinkle some of the chopped onion and the chilis on the pan, then sprinkle with your hand the dough onto the hot pan. Not too much, so that the dosa don't get too thick, but enough that there are no large holes in the dough. As soon as the dough looks dry on the surface, spread some ghee/oil over it. Fry until the bottom side gets brown, that takes some time. Then fold it once and put it on a plate. Repeat all steps.

Samosas

Sweet Chili Sauce or a Yoghurt sauce goes well with this.

I first learned about Samosas many years ago in Kenya and liked them quite a lot. Finally I got around to making them on my own, after looking at several recipies and videos. Most helpful about them Samosas themselves (how to do the dough and how to shape them), I found this video of an Indian Cook, whose web site I like to visit every now and then. His videos are well made and the food always looks so tasty. If you are into Indian food, you should stop by at his site, too.
Here's the video about the Samosas.
The stuffing with minced meat I came up with on my own. Certainly you can stuff them with everything you feel like - potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, fish, shrimps ...

Preparation You'll need: A pan
As an appetiser, you should calculate 3 or 4 per person, for a main course 8 samosas per person. Ingredients for the dough (for 4 samosas) 150g flour ½ tea spoon salt ½ tea spoon cumin seeds 50 millilitres water 50 millilitres sunflower oil
Ingredients for the stuffing (for 4 samosas) Stuffing with minced meat and chickpeas. 80g minced meat 3 table spoons chickpeas ½ small carrot 2 stems Italian parsley ½ spring onion 2 cloves of garlic ½ tea spoon Garam Masala ½ tea spoon turmeric ¼ tea spoon ground coriander ½ tea spoon chili flakes A few pinches of salt Sunflower oil
Ingredients for the stuffing (for 4 samosas) Stuffing with shrimps and feta cheese. 60g small shrimps 2 green Thai chilis 6 or 7 mint leaves 1 lime ½ small onion 2 cloves of garlic 40 g Feta cheese A few pinches of salt and pepper Sunflower oil
First steps First prepare the dough: Give all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. The dough should be not too soft. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes. Set it aside for half an hour. The minced-meat stuffing: Cut the carrot in small pieces, pluck the leaves of the parsey and chop finely. Cut the full spring onion into small pieces. Mash the chickpeas with a fork. Press the garlic or chop it finely. Add 5 table spoons of sunflower oil into the pan, plus all the ingredients of the stuffing, but the spices. Fry until the minced meat starts lose the pinkish colour. Add the spices, mix well and set aside. The shrimps stuffing: Sauté two table spoons of finely chopped onion with the chopped garlic in a small amount of oil. Put in a bowl. Add chopped chilis and mint leaves, 1 tea spoon of lime juice, a bit lime zest and the crumbled Feta cheese. Mix well. Set aside together with the shrimps for the samosas. Making the Samosas Separate the dough (should be around 240 to 250 grams) into six equal parts (ea. 40 grams). Form into small balls and process each as following: Put a piece of dough on your work top (no flour!) and spread it very thin. It should get to a diameter of around 20 centimetres, in a more oval shape. Cut through the middle (along the short axis) for two Samosas. Wet the rim of such a half disc with a little bit water so that the dough gets sticky. Fold it and glue the straight edges togehter so that you get a cone. Hold this cone in your one hand and fill it with around two table spoons of stuffing. While filling, push it down with your finger to make it compact and get more into the cone. Finally press the left and right thirds of the remaining open upper edges together, and shift them together, so that the middle third gets closed, too. Best is, to watch the video of the Indian cook, that I linked to on here. Generally, Samosas should be deep-fried in oil. Since I am not such a big fan of deep-fried things, I put them in the ofen at 200℃ for 15 to 20 minutes until they start to get brown.