We, Bengalis, when we talk about mutton recipes, we mostly talk about either Mutton Kosha or Mutton Curry or Mutton Jhol. I have cooked Mutton Kosha and Mutton Curry or Mutton Jhol lots of times. So, this time I wanted to cook something different as my father wanted to eat a different mutton recipe.
I always cook Mutton in wok and never use Pressure Cooker. So, please watch this video and follow the steps to cook delicious Dhaba Styled Mutton Masala at your home from now on.
Soya Seekh Kebab
Kebabs have always been a favorite evening snack recipe for most of us. However, talking about kebabs, most of us think of mutton kebabs. So, this time I wanted to make a kebab recipe for my vegetarian friends who have asked me to make something for them. This is a very simple recipe and I am sure this will become a handy snack recipe for most of us going forward. Unlike, other non-veg kebab recipes, this seekh kebab takes very less time to prepare and cook.
Ingredients:
Preparation:
One of the most important and common ingredients of Indian cuisine is Onion. 
Most of the vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian dishes are cooked with onions. They are used extensively to enhance taste of vegetables / meat / poultry, render bulk to the gravy, to make some of the most delicious soups and chutneys, as well as consumed even raw in Indian salads.
You’d rarely see Indian recipes that do not contain Onions. But what are the factors that make onions a healthy addition to Indian cuisine? This post is dedicated to exploring this aspect.
Botanical Roots
Onion is also known as bulb onion, garden onion and just onion. Botanically, Onion – Allium Cepa – belongs to a large varied family which includes more than 500 species. It’s available in various forms, such as – fresh, frozen, canned, pickled, chopped plus a few more, and used for both culinary and non-culinary purposes.
Onions are an exceptional resource of natural vitamins like B6 and C, chromium, biotin, and fibers. As such the health benefits of onions are vast. Ranging from normal cough & cold to diseases of heart, diabetes, bacterial infections, breathing problems, asthma, bronchitis, etc. onions have proved to be real effective even for poor appetite.
Thus not only for culinary purposes (as vegetable ingredient), Onions are also used for adding medicinal value to food, because of their rich content of sulfides, sulfoxides and other sulphur composites. Studies have proven that together with garlic, onions help to keep up blood levels, avert blood clot formation, lower levels of pressure & sugar in blood, and cure many other diseases.
Types and methods
Onions are found in varied colors, red, yellow, white, and green, each possessing their individual distinctive essence, from very strong to slightly sweet. They are eaten in various ways – raw, cooked, fried or roasted – each has its own different taste and effect on your health. Other than the common bulb onions, spring onions are also used in cooking purposes. Spring onions are green and add a different taste and color to your recipes.
In case of Red Onions, the smaller it’s cut, the more widespread is the variation of the sulfur substances. The more powerful the odor of Onion and its impact on your eyes, the more healthy it is, since it’s believed to contain more vitamins and minerals. So while cutting onions, if it makes you cry with the pungent odour, it will make you healthier.
There are many ways you can cut onions, depending on the dish you’re cooking. When cut in larger blocks, it stores the vitamin and mineral capacity to the maximum while cooking. On the other hand if you finely chop it and keep in room temperature for sometime before cooking, it makes the onion turn golden brown quickly and reduces your cooking time.
Spring onions on the other hand add a very mild taste to the food. It is used raw and preferred fried compared to the red onions. Noodles, sandwiches, soups and curries are cooked using spring onions.
Treating onions in different ways while cooking, implants a specific flavor and releases a specific aroma. For example, proper Sautéing of the onions is very important as it can add a different dimension to your favorite dish. Sautéing for 5-7 minutes is considered apt for cooking most Indian dishes. Light golden brown should be the only color after you are done with sautéing the onions. If the color turns dark brown it will leave you with a bitter taste and the recipe could get spoilt totally.
So the next time you feel like crying when cutting onions for your favorite dish, do remember that you’re crying in favor of health and taste!
My culinary adventures as a hobby started off as an experiment in my home kitchen. After gathering working knowledge from the lessons I took from my mother, one fine Sunday morning, I popped into the kitchen. I wanted to try my newly acquired skill and cook something for Sunday lunch – which was a sort of a challenge!
After a very nervous beginning, I went on with it and started getting the rich aroma of fresh spices and the spicy flavor, which stayed on my hands. At this point I became more and more confident that my first recipe was well on its way to the dining table! It was therefore a mini success achieved from an innate desire to re-create my mother’s magic for a Sunday lunch!
What’s so great about Indian cooking?
Indian food is all about its herbs, spices and their rich aroma, which are very hard to find in western food in general. Indian food is very easy to cook and this is one vital reason that makes Indian cooking attractive and hassle-free for any newbie!
Indian cuisine differs across the country’s myriad cultures flourishing across its regions and locations. It also varies seasonally, depending on which fruits or vegetables are available at the time. Therefore, not only the spices but the various seasonal fruits and vegetables do add that extra flavor to, and liking for Indian food. The ingredients and the seasonal variances are thus the exotic life-force of Indian food.
My attraction towards Indian cooking was also founded on its inborn simplicity. You can literally play with the spices and ingredients and cook a different Indian dish every time; or even by treating each spice a little differently, you can create a completely different taste of the same recipe, which stays on the tip of your tongue! Further, I also came to understand that while some of the ingredients are common for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian preparations, some others are unique to each type of preparation.
Therefore, the lessons from my mother, the experimentation with the ingredients and an understanding of the role of each of the ingredients and spices, made me discover my zeal and aroused my urge to dive deeper in taking Indian cooking as a hobby.
This blog is all about these personal experiences of a simple individual who wanted to live his hobby of cooking. I can gladly add that if you have an enthusiasm to create and enjoy new food regularly, then cooking as a creative art is something which will always bring a broad smile on the faces – of yours as well as your loved ones!
FoodieTintin 
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