The Engineer's Kitchen - Cooking for beginners

So today, I was in the mood for trying out a new recipe. On browsing through the recipes on the internet, I came across a dish called Dim Posto - an egg dish using poppy seed paste. I was intrigued by the simplicity of the dish and decided to prepare it in my own style. The end result is to be seen to be believed. Ingredients  : 3 eggs, hard boiled 4 tablespoons poppy seeds 8-10 cashew nuts 2 tablespoons yoghurt whisked with a bit of water 1 medium sized onion finely chopped 1 inch cinnamon stick 1 Bay leaf 3 cloves 4 green cardamom 5 cloves of garlic 1 inch ginger piece 2 green chillies finely chopped 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon red chilli powder  1 teaspoon cumin powder 1 teaspoon cumin whole Salt to taste 1½ teaspoons sugar 2 tablespoons white oil A handful of coriander leaves finely chopped (for garnishing) 1 tablespoon cream (for garnishing) Cooking Instructions   : In a large pan, add 1 teaspoon of oil. Once the oil is...

Grilled chicken is one of my favorite chicken recipes. Its simple, its healthy and does not involve too much effort in cooking(ie frying, stirring etc). I always keep browsing for new recipes on the internet and one of the most interesting (and currently my favorite) form of grilled chicken is Curd and lemon based. Ingredients 400 gms of chicken on the bone, preferably leg pieces  Curd - 150 gms Dried Red Chillies - 3 to 4 Green chillies - 2 Lemon - 1 Salt to taste  Pepper to taste Sunflower oil - ½ teaspoon Garlic - 5 to 6 pods Fresh coriander - chopped Butter Cooking Instructions : To start off this recipe, you need to first make incisions on the Chicken pieces. Make 3 incisions on each side Next, add some salt and pepper to the chicken. Add the juice of half a lemon.  Marinate the chicken well and leave it aside for 15 minutes. Grind the dried red chillies in a grinder to prepare red chili flakes Crush and finely chop the garlic pods...

So the other day I prepared Shakshuka and since it turned out nice, I thought, "Why stop there?" I mean, why should this beautiful dish be limited to eggs only? So I decided do an experiment of preparing a mutton dish with the same underlying methodology as Shakshuka. As you can see from the photo below, the color of the dish is bright red, which for me is one of the most beautiful colors of food. INGREDIENTS Mutton - 500 grams Medium sized onions, finely chopped - 2 Medium to large sized tomatoes - 5 1 large potato diced (medium) Red bell pepper - 1 Yellow bell pepper - 1 Garlic - 5 to 6 pods crushed and chopped Cumin powder -  1 teaspoon Red Chilli powder - 1 to 1½ teaspoons Coriander chopped Salt to taste 1½ to 2 teaspoons sugar Ghee - 2 tablespoons COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: Pressure cook the mutton for 5 to 6 whistles with a bit of salt. Switch off the flame and let the pressure settle In a blender, add all the chopped tomatoes and blend till i...

My breakfast everyday day follows a similar pattern almost everyday. It's either muesli and milk or bread and eggs (poached/boiled/scrambled). Today however I was interested in trying a dish that had been in my wishlist for quite some time now. The name of this dish is Shakshuka. It is a dish of Tunisian/Libyan origin and is extremely filling. I did not even need to toast bread as an accompaniment. Ingredients   Tomatoes - 5 (medium to large), chopped roughly  Red bell pepper - half, chopped finely Yellow bell pepper - half, chopped finely Onion - 1(large), chopped  Garlic - 5 to 6 pods crushed and chopped  Oil - 1 tablespoon  Cumin powder -  1 teaspoon  Red Chilli powder - 1 to 1.5 teaspoons  4 eggs Salt to taste  Sugar to taste  Coriander chopped  Cooking instructions In a blender, add all the chopped tomatoes and blend till it becomes a smooth puree Using a strainer, strain the tomato juice ti...

One of the dishes that my mother and my aunt make exceptionally well is mirchi roast. The dish can be made using mutton/chicken. The taste is simply heavenly and will linger in your taste buds long after you have eaten it (I am salivating while I type this). So last night I prepared this for myself, using the main ideas from my mom and aunt and it turned out quite good. Warning : If you are on a diet or do not like your food to be rich, this may not be your cup of tea (or in this case, a bowl of meat)                     Ingredients : Mutton...................................................................................... 500 grams chopped into medium sized pieces Potato (Optional)...................................................................... 1 large, chopped into cubes Curd.......................................................................................... 250 grams Onion.................................