Recipe Aloo Chat : Take 1½ potato per person. Peel and cut into ¾ inch cubes. Heat sufficient quantity of edible oil or ghee in a frying pan & fry potato pieces on low flame till they are golden & tender. Strain & transfer into a large bowl. Add 1 tspn. Chunky Chat Masala & 2 tspn. lemon juice. Stir well & serve hot. l To make FRUIT CHAT take 1½ cup per person, peeled & de-seeded assorted fruits, cut into ¾ inch pieces & add Chunky Chat Masala & lemon juice. l Sprinkle over waffers, savouries, fried nuts, grilled or roasted delicacies such as Tikkas, Kababs, fruit or vegetable salads, sandwiches etc.

Recipe : Soak 200g Chick Peas overnight with extra water. Strain. In a large pan heat 50g cooking oil. Fry 120g chopped red onions till golden brown. Add two chopped tomatoes (120g) and stir. Add 20g Chana Masala, 1 tspn. salt, and Chick Peas. Stir for 5 minutes then add 800 ml fresh water. Mix ½ tspn. baking soda. Bring to boil & cover. Simmer for 40 min on low heat. Alternately pressure cook for 20 min. with 400 ml water & ½ tspn. baking soda. Read cooking instructions on Chick Peas packet also.

Recipe : Cut 500g chicken pieces and marinate them for half an hour. Mean-while make paste of 100g onions and 120g tomatoes. Also blanch, peel and grind 10 almonds into a fine paste adding ¼ cup water. Alternately cashew nuts or 20g poppy seeds can also be used. In a flat pan heat 50g edible oil and cook chicken pieces & onion paste till light pink for 10 min. Add tomatoes, almonds paste & 15g Butter Chicken masala. Add water. Cook for 15 min. till right consistency. Check seasoning. Serve with 1 tspn. cream poured on top.

Recipe : Amongst spices blends, Garam masala is a speciality of North India. It is a powdered blend of highly aromatic spices & Black Pepper to make it hot. It is sprinkled in small quantity, when the dish is nearly ready, be it curried or dry, lentils, meat or vegetables, to pep up the spicy aroma for which Indian food is renowned all over the world.

Recipe : Grind 15g. ginger, 6 cloves of garlic, 15g. boiled & skinned almonds, 15g. coconut powder and little water to form paste in a grinder. In a pan, heat 50g. oil and fry 100g. chopped onions in it till light golden. Add the paste in it & fry for 5 minutes. Then add 20g. Meat Curry Masala and fry further for 2 min. Add 120g. natural yogurt pouring little quantity at a time. Add 60g. tomato puree, & salt to taste. Stir for 3-4 min. Add 700g. mutton pieces and brown them turning occasionally on medium flame. Lastly add 250 ml. of hot water. Cover & simmer on low flame. Add more water if required & cook for about 45 min. or till it is tender.

Recipe : Cut 500g Paneer in triangular pieces of 4 cm. base. Make paste of 100g onions and 120g tomatoes separately. Also blanch, peel and grind 10 almonds into a fine paste adding ¼ cup water. Alternately cashew nuts can also be used. In a flat pan heat 50g edible oil and cook onion paste till light pink for 10 min. Add tomato puree and 15g Shahi Paneer masala. Cook for 5 min. Add the almonds paste, 1 cup water and Paneer pieces. Simmer for 5 minutes till right consistency. Check seasoning. Serve with 1 tspn. cream poured on top. (Tip : Paneer pieces can be lightly fried, strained and separated from oil before cooking onion paste and added at the last stage.)

Recipe : Soak 200g. Red Kidney beans in 300ml. water over night. Boil the beans in 650ml. water for 20 min. Chop100g. red onions and 150g. tomatoes. In a large pan heat 50ml cooking oil and fry onions till golden. Add tomatoes, salt 7g. or to taste & 15g. Rajmah masala. Stir to form paste. Transfer boiled beans along with water and stir. Let it simmer for 15 min. or till the beans are soft & tender. Similarly, Black Eyed beans can also be made using same spice blend.

Recipe : Potatoes, Peas & Cheese : Cut 200g. Cheese (Cottage) into ½ inch cubes and fry them in ghee/oil till golden. Separately saute 2 chopped onions till golden in half cup ghee/oil. Add 2 chopped tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes. Add salt to taste, ½ tspn. Deggi Mirch 3 tspn. Kitchen King and cook for 3 minutes. Add 4 peeled potatoes, cut lengthwise, and half cup full of peas. Stir for 3 minutes. Add cheese cubes and simmer further for 5 minutes till the potatoes are tender. Sprinkle pinchfull of Kasoori Methi leaves, stir and serve.