Indian Food , Indian Cooking , Indian Recipes, Recipes

Indian recipes

2010-08-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

Indian Recipes
Indian Recipes
Indian food recipes or Indian cuisine recipes are often most searched by food lovers, even thought there are many free Indian cooking recipes available on the web the easiest is to follow simple video instructions, that's where Recipes Indian or others, Vahrehvah stands out in delivering highest user satisfaction in the recipe world, our Indian curry recipes are easy to follow and are explained at every step of cooking so you could modify the dish to your taste at different phases of cooking.
Indian vegetarian recipes
Indian vegetarian cooking offers a wide range of Indian vegetarian delicacies because many Indian religions practiced by majority of India's populace, encourages vegetarian diet many of which is suitable for Vegans.
Vegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes any meat or sea animals, there are several variants of the diet, some of which also exclude eggs and/or some products produced from animal labor such as dairy or honey. Those who practice to be vegan for ethical reasons often excludes animal products from their diet as part of a larger practice of abstaining from the use of animals for any purpose
Classic Indian Vegetarian dishes and grain cooking can be found among South Indian Vegetarian Recipes and North Indian vegetarian Recipes many of the Indian vegetarian food recipes can be found in many cooking websites and in Indian vegetarian cookbooks .
Indian Non Veg Recipes
Our Non veg recipes include Indian chicken recipes, Indian Lamb recipes & Mutton Recipes, Indian Seafood's recipes and also other non veg preparations, if you are looking for my favorite non veg jokes or sms you have to look elsewhere and if you laugh your guts out ,make sure email them to vahchef.
Indian Chicken Recipes
Indian chicken curry recipes � most favorite Indian chicken preparation is Tandoori chicken and undoubtedly the best in the world, and among the Indian chicken curry is the most famous Indian butter chicken. Indian chicken curry recipes are easy to accomplish and can be made tasty with minimal spices, at vahrehvah- vahchef provides recipes to some of the exotic Indian chicken Dishes and many of them come with video tutorials, they include Indian Chicken Kebabs recipes, Indian Chicken fry's recipes, Indian chicken curries, Stews, Indian chicken gravies, South Indian Chicken Recipes and North Indian Chicken Recipes.
Here is the complete list of Indian chicken Recipes for you. Click on any recipe below to view the directions to create these delicious Indian chicken dishes.
Indian Lamb Recipes & Mutton Recipes
Indian lamb curry& mutton curry, Indian goat Indian lamb dishes include lamb chops, lamb stews, lamb curries, lamb curry recipe, lamb korma recipes, Indian roast leg of lamb, baby lamb cuts for Biryanis.
Indian Seafood's Recipes
Fish recipes and prawn recipes are delicate and need special attention while preparation and cooking, that is the reason many specialty restaurants employ chefs who are seafood specialists. Our Seafood Recipes section contains a number of mouthwatering and healthy seafood recipes. All you have to do is follow our video recipe instructions and you will have a pot of sinfully good�and authentic Recipe for cooking some yummy Indian Seafood dishes.
South Indian Recipes & North Indian Recipes
South Indian Recipes and North Indian Recipes are incredibly popular all over the world. Vahrehvah has a wide assortment of Easy Indian Recipes and dishes, subtle and sophisticated use of a variety of spices and cooking techniques. Most of the recipes and spicy Traditional Indian Recipes are tried and tested recipes and are written in an easy-to-follow manner.
South Indian recipes are rice and coconut based. Rice is combined with lentils to make wonderful dosas, idlis, vadas and uttapams. These items are glorious and delicious besides being nourishing and digestible (due to the fermenting process). They are combined with sambhar (dal), rasam (tamarind dal), dry and curried vegetable and pachadi (yogurt).
Their rice preparations are also masterpieces like biryani from Hyderabad, lemon rice and rice seasoned with coconut, peanuts, tamarind, chilies, curry leaves, urad dal and fenugreek seeds.
Coconut water straight from the nut is a common beverage and sight in South India and ground coconut is used in most variety of curries . Coffee is very popular in South India and Madras coffee is popular in South Indian restaurants throughout the world. The South Indian food is a brilliant blend of flavors, colors, seasoning, nutritional balance, fragrance, taste, and visual appeal.
North Indian recipes is distinguished by the proportionally high use of dairy products; milk, paneer, ghee (clarified butter), and yoghurt (yogurt, yoghourt) are all common ingredients. Gravies are typically dairy-based. Other common ingredients include chillies, saffron, and nuts. The Mughal influence has resulted in meat-eating habits among many North Indians. Also, a variety of flours are used to make different types of breads like chapathis. rotis, phulkas, puris naan.
Indian Sweets Recipes / Indian Desserts
Indian sweets recipes or Mithai recipes, are a type of confectionery that rely heavily on sugar, milk and condensed milk, and cooked by frying, however the bases of the sweets vary by region. In the Eastern part of India for example, milk is a staple, and most Indian dessert recipes from this region are based on milk products. While Indians love their vast array of Indian sweet dishes, their second love without a doubt, is the love for colorful sweets made at home or the complicated ones bought from nearest sweet shop .We make, making of those sweets easy with simple to do instructions. Also check our photo gallery for dessert recipes with pictures.
Indian Rice Recipes
Rice's & Biryanis made with brown basmati rice are a specialty as one need to adjust the spices and condiments with meats or vegetable to perfection. Nothing less is acceptable and easily written off as not to the mark
The difference between biryani and pullao is that while pullao may be made by cooking the items together, biryani is used to denote a dish where the rice is cooked on separate or many layers from the other ingredients. You can see our basmati rice recipes and rice pilaf recipes.
We have many varieties of rice's and biryani videos to choose from and will amaze your creative taste buds.
Indian Breakfast Recipes
Breakfast, the first meal of the day, can mean many things to many different people. Breakfast is regarded by many nutritionists as the most important meal of the day. Vegetarian breakfast recipes, quick breakfast recipes, breakfast recipes for kids, breakfast meals , Indian breakfast food.
Indian Fry Bread Recipe
Many of the popular Indian bread recipes are deep fried � poori, bathura , Deccan paratha, vada, lukmi Indian puffs and some are shallow fried such as aloo paratha , mooli ke paratha.
Indian Snacks Recipes, Easy Indian Recipes
Socializing and snacks is the lifestyle of any average Indian , it is tradition of any Indian home to serve you a snack on even a surprise visit and every home is loaded with variety of snack and dipping pickles to accompany them and many are very easy and quick to make in few minutes.
Indian Chinese Recipes
Recipes from other parts of Asia like chinese and thai are some of the most delicious you will find anywhere in the World. The variety of spices and their combination from subtle to the hottest is unique to Asian foods. In India, Chinese food like Manchurian, chowmein, chilli chicken, Noodles schezwan and Hakka and fried rice are the staple Indo-Chinese foods and are liked by one and all. Our Chinese Recipes section contains recipes of traditional Indo-Chinese cuisine which is a Spicy Fusion Food Melded from two world's greatest cultures.
More Of Indian Recipes

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Indian Food Recipes
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Indian Cooking
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Hyderabadi Biryani , Hyderabadi Dum ka Biryani

2010-08-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

sometimes referred to as Beriani or Biryani or Kachhi Biryani, this dish possibly is on the top of the list when it comes to most searched items on the Internet and it makes the grade for a reason. A meal in itself, this dish is not kidding when it is referred to as fit for a king. Hyderabadi Dum Biryani or Hyderabadi Dum ka Biryani traces its roots back to what is known as Nizami food. It was a staple Khandaani dish that was found on the tables of Nizami banquets in the days of the spread of Mughal cuisine or what may be referred to as Deccan cuisine.

Hyderabadi cuisine takes pride of place in Southern or South Central India. I suspect mostly that it is because of its jovial people and I also suspect it is because my heart and my soul belongs to these vivacious people who simply make eating an art form.

India shares some beautiful secrets with Pakistan and the rest of the volatile sub-continent. The bone of contention that hit headlines a few years ago when it came to branding a type of scented and rich rice called Basmati rice. Basmati gives Biryani what Peat or Scottish water gives Scotch. They cannot exist without the other.

Biryani derives from Berya which legend hands over to and Persian origins. Berya indicated the virtue of frying or being slow roasted over fire. Between Basmati and Berya, this dish and its excruciating method of preparation have made Biryani a sought after dish. If there is one dish to die for in Indian cuisine, Biryani must make it to the top of the heap.

Biryani was arguably the confluence of Persian invaders, Muslim rule and Moghul infiltration of Deccani cuisine brought to the sub-continent as a result of wars, inter-marrying and sheer love of good food. Thanks to the Moghlai foodies, Biryani now is a household name and didn’t remain a secret of the Nizami kitchen

Biryani can be made in two distinct ways and if you check with a connoisseur of Indian food you will know the passionate fellow from the fraud with the kitchen-geek talk. When the fellow asks you what kind of Biryani do you prefer? You are wading into deep territory my friend – Kachhi Gosht ki Biryani and Pakki Biryani? Kisku kya maalum Miya? Oops, your Vah Chef is getting ahead of himself.

Authentic Indian Kachchi gosht ki biryani

Kachchi Biryani or Kachhi Gosht ki biryani is very loving prepared. Like all lovers dishes, it is marinated with oozing loads of time. Meat, usually mutton and young tender choices of meat cuts are used with Goat or Mutton or tender veal (and rarely Chicken) marinated overnight (this is killer difference) with carefully selected spices soaked in curd or yoghurt. This overnight marinade Is layered between Half cooked Basmati rice with a bouquet of spices. Note the key difference is that the marinade is uncooked before layering. The other key differentiator is that the Kachchi stuff – often touted as the most authentic is cooked strictly by using dough to seal the layered rice and meat in what is known as a handi (a special shallow wide bottomed vessel) slow cooked on a dum – Dum cooked usually refers to anything cooked slowly over steaming coals. The enthusiasts have coals put on the top lid to ensure heat is provided from both sides.

The funny thing here is that through my time with various enthusiastic dum biryani cooking chefs, home owners, Arabs, Muslims, wannabe Hyderabadis and Asli Hyderabadis, I have a few observations.

· Most insist the sealant should be dough, when any proper sealant will work nicely.

· Usually Kachchi Dum ki Biryani would be cooked in the hotel often over night with smells wafting through the kitchen. I would land up early the next morning, crack open the Handi and get a taste of the first delicious juicy melt in the mouth Biryani and the escaping aroma would often get me into trouble. I was the bad boy in the Indian Kitchen. Actually any kitchen!

· All Dum Handis are invariably black bottomed. The hated vessel among kitchen stewarding guys. They would be the only ones to groan. But even the handi was finger-lickin good!

· If you fall in love with a Hyderabadi, this page is the way to his heart. So listen up and listen carefully sista.
Authentic Indian Pakki biryani

This is the short, quick and dirty way to the great dish. Your Hyderabadi lover boy gave you just a couple of hours notice. You have to get to his heart and then this is your best bet.

The marinating time for the meat is shorter. Because he never gave you all night, you’ve got to ensure the meat is cooked before you throw it into layers with the Basmati rice and for effect, you still make the stuff cook in a dough-sealed Handi. In this variant, (all you geek Chefs listen up) Pakki Yakhni (Yakhni is nothing but pre-cooked meat gravy), all meat gravy is already cooked before the Dum process.

Vegetarians don’t despair. In fact the time to cook Vegetarian Biryani and Chicken biryani varieties are shorter simply because the time to cook Vegetables and Chicken is shorter

The Kachchi Dum ki Biryani recipe may be found here but the spices and ingredients used are usually a mixture of Mace, Cumin, Cloves, cardamom, cinnamon,(The combination for Garam Masala) Bay leaves, Mint, Coriander powder, dried Onions, Ginger garlic Paste, Saffron, Yoghurt, Plums (Kashmiri) and in the case of Hyderabadi varieties dried Apricots. Coriander or Coriander leaves and Fried Onions make their way to the garnish.

Basmati Rice is a standard base.

Accompaniments to a rollicking good course of Hyderabadi biryani usually include Mirchi ka Salan, Dhanshak or Baghare Baingan which is a Hyderabadi Eggplant speciality.

For those of you wondering why your Pulau or Pulav does not turn out like Biryani, learn that Pulav does not slow infuse the flavours of one to the other. That is the secret of a Biryani. Slow. Layered. Infused. Lovingly made.

Types of Biryani

There are many types of Biryani other than Hyderabadi Biryani and you can go to the TYPES OF BIRYANI

to lean of the different variants found in India.

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Naan

2010-08-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

It is one of the most popular varieties of South Asian Breads. It is considered a typical bread of Northern India and many regions of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and few regions of Former Russia and china. The popularity of Nann reached many corners of the world and is served in United States, UK, Canada, Australia and served with kebabs and curry.

A typical naan recipe involves mixing white flour (all purpose flour) (maida) with salt, yeast culture, and enough yogurt or milk to make a smooth, elastic dough. The dough is kneaded for a few minutes’ couple of times, then set aside to rise for a few hours. Once risen, the dough is divided into balls (about 100 grams), which are flattened and cooked in Tandoori clay oven. Nigella seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds are commonly added in Naan Breads as cooked in many Indian restaurants throughout the world

Naan Recipe by vahchef

Naan ingredients

All purpose flour- 3 cups, yeast(dry) 1 tsp you could also use fresh Active Yeast ,yogurt or milk to make soft dough , oil- 1 tsp, salt- to taste, sugar ½ tsp

Milk and eggs are used to make the naan bread rich and with more flavor, and in my experience I have found many restaurants in India and abroad use Eggs in making Naan, so make sure to ask the restaurant staff if eggs are being used to make Naan in their Restaurants if you do not eat eggs. You could also use baking powder if yeast is not available.

Basic Naan Recipe

1. Sieve the flour.
2. Now add 1 cup warm water into dry yeast and set aside.
3. Add sugar, oil into salt and mix well with yeast and water.
4. Now add water, milk or yogurt little at a time to make soft dough.
5. If dough sticks to hand too much then use little bit of oil on hand and then punch into dough. .
6. Now to make naan, set oven at broil and roll oval shape out of dough. Then place it into oven and flip it after 2 min. after taking it out apply some butter on them. And they are ready to eat.

Cooking naan

Making naan at home in Gas or electric oven

Its beyond imagination for many to thinking of making Naan at home, but making Naan at home is made easy with Vah chef video on how to make naan without tandoor clay oven. Just watch the video and you will learn to make naan with ease either in gas or electric oven or pressure cooker

Making Naan on Stove top

Indian bread Naan is usually made in tandoor but can also be made on stove top and oven, I find it easy to make naan on stove top and the results are stunning and the bread just melts away with your curry and can be made in minutes without the stress of constant vigil

Pressure Cooker Naan

This is another easier way to make naan at home using the thick walls of pressure cooker, the 15 yr old pressure cooker at my home is only used to make naan, while the recipe remains the same as basic naan recipe, the methods involves heating the pressure cooker without the lid and when hot attach the flattened naan dough to the inner wall of the pressure cooker

Cook till you see wall side dough cooked and turn the cooker upside down and cook the inner side facing the flame ( the dough hitting the flame directly ) the same way we do on the stove top method till you get the desired color – the entire process should not take more than 90 seconds

Naan Video Recipe

Step by Step Instructional Video tutorial on Naan by vahchef sanjay thumma is easy to follow, but I recommend watching the video at least twice and understanding the simple instructions so you get perfect homemade Naan

Naan and Curry

When made perfect I love to eat Naan more than curry or kabobs, but there are many curries that go perfect with Naan, to list few of my favorites Includes

Butter chicken, malai kofta, paneer tikka masala, spicy dal makhani, paneer butter masala, navrattan korma, palak paneer , aloo gobi, matter paneer, methi chaman, any dry kabobs with nice gravy accompaniment will make eating Naan a special meal.

Naan Calories

Calories in naan may vary from 100 to 350 calories per serving based on the recipe used and how rich it is made, if you are calorie conscious just avoid stuffed or buttered naans and just order plain Naan

The calories and nutrition in Indian foods like Roti / Naan / Chapatti / Parathas depend on the way they are cooked. Indian parathas are very high in calories as these are fried in ghee or butter whereas tandoori Naan is baked in tandoor so these are supposed to be low in calories. But this is not so because after baking they are coated with ghee or butter to improve their taste. However, it is possible to have traditional Naans with very less fat and keeping the natural nutrition values and low calories.

Types of naan

Tandoori Naan plain, Butter Naan, Garlic naan, Kashmiri Naan, Pudhina Naan, Masala Naan

Paratha Naan ,Peshawari Naan

There are many naans which fall under catogery of Kulchas (stuffed Naans) such as

Kheema naans, onion and potato kulchas, Paneer naans, and also not to forget unleavened breads such as chapatis, rotis,parathas.

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Shami Kabab , shammi Kabab

2009-07-11T22:39:00.000-07:00

A Shami Kebab (Urdu: شامی کباب, Hindi: शामी कबाब) or Shami Tikka (Urdu: شامی تکہ, Hindi: शामी टिक्का) is a popular Pakistani and Indian kebab, that is composed of small patty minced mutton or beef ground chickpeas and spices. Shami kebabs are an extremely popular snack in Pakistan and India. They are often garnished with lemon juice and/or sliced raw onions, and are usually eaten with chutney made from mint or coriander. They are also served along with Sheer Khurma on Muslim Eid Days. A variation of Shami Kebab is also found in the Bangladeshi cuisine. The recipe is almost the same but it tastes different from the original version. Beef Shami Kebab is the most popular source - wikipedia

http://www.vahrehvah.com/ Truly, it lives up to its punch line.

2009-07-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

July 03

VahRehVah...Inspiring others to cook!!

http://www.vahrehvah.com/

There are very few things more pleasurable than good food. After all, we work, slog, struggle and at the end of the day, all of it boils down to have good food!

Now there are countless number of websites online about food and cooking. With YouTube becoming a popular tool to reach out to millions of people around the world, more and more people keep posting recipes and cooking tips on how to make many mouth-watering dishes, which you thought you could only get to taste them in some posh hotels!! You probably can find a video recipe for any food in the world, showing you a step-by-step procedure on how to make them...

So when there are soo many of them, what's soo special about VahRehVah.com...Well VahRehVah is all about inspiring others to cook :))

Truly, it lives up to its punch line..By just looking at the man responsible for VahRehVah (Sanjay Thumma) cook, and make delightful gestures on how tasty the food will turn out is enough for you to put your cooking hat (apron) on!!

His recipes range from mouth watering Indian dishes to Italian, Chinese and even the very famous Southern Fried chicken..

And the best part of all these cooking videos is that he makes it very simple. You need not have special equipment or difficult-to-find ingredients to cook these dishes. You can manage with what's available around you and pick up most of the ingredients required from your local grocery store.

And do the dishes turn up as tasty as Sanjay's gestures….??The answer is a BIG YESS!!!

All his recipes are very easy to cook and at the end they taste like if they are cooked by Pros!!

So, Kudos to Mr. Thumma for introducing these simple but extremely tasty recipes and maintaining a great website http://www.vahrehvah.com/

[All of this for Free, though you can make a (truly deserving) donation by hitting the thank you button of his homepage]

I feel all you guys, especially all NRI's should check his recipes and try them.

Also, all the English folks who feel that the pre-cooked 'n' packed Chicken Tikka Masala from local superstore is great..then just wait till you see the Videos and try it out...You will be amazed by the end result!!

Some of my favs from Sanjay's recipes:

Curry/Egg Puff, Chicken 65, Mysore Bhajji, Chicken Drum-sticks, Chinese Chicken, Chilly Paneer...

chicken tikka masala - ha ha very much Indian

2009-07-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

read comments
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,Nankhatai nan katai

2009-07-09T05:26:00.002-07:00

Nankhatai are easy-to-make semolina “cookies” from the Indian tradition

Dahipuri, or Dahi puri

2009-07-09T05:05:00.001-07:00

Dahipuri, or Dahi puri

The round, hard, puffy puri shell is first broken on top and partially filled with the main stuffing of mashed potatoes or chickpeas. A little haldi powder and/or chilli powder may be added for taste, as well as a pinch of salt. Sweet tamarind chutney and spicy green chutney are poured into the shell on top of the stuffing. Finally, sweetened beaten yoghurt is generously poured over the shell, and the finished product is garnished with sprinklings of crushed sev, moong dal and finely chopped coriander leaves.
Dahi puri typically comes 5 or 6 dahi puris per plate. Unlike pani puri, dahi puri is not served one morsel at a time, but all at once. Each dahi puri is intended to be eaten whole, like the pani puri, so that the spectrum of flavors and textures within may hit the mouth together for full effect
source -wikipedia

collection of Indian Food videos

2009-06-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

Indian Food, Indian Food Cooking Recipes, Indian Cuisine Recipes, Indian Recepies, Indian Cooking.
ndian foods are very tasty, tempting and spicy. No where else but in India you find such a great variety of dishes being served. Gujarati Thali and Punjabi Dishes are House hold names everywhere in the world. Celebrities all over the world insist on Indian Curry. Even in White House during Diwali , Indian Food recipes are in great demand. Don´t believe? Just try one of these Indian Food recipes mentioned above. Indian food preparation and taste vary with region and climate. From Dum Aloo in Kashmir to Idli Dosas in Tamil Nadu. And Dalbati of Rajasthan is equally mouth watering as Rosso Goollo and Misti Dohi of WB. Not to forget Aloo Chat of Punjab and North India. Learn more of Indian food and its cooking techniques with small tips in each video by your vahchef Sanjay Thumma yes its Indian Food Made Easy.

VahrehVah.com mission is accomplished

2009-06-17T00:41:00.000-07:00

Namaskaram Sanjay Garu,

First of all, I'm a great lover of delicious food. I like more of Indian style especially Andhra and Hyderabadi style food. After I have been to US I also started liking Mexican style food. But, I was always thinking, honestly to say dreaming about me cooking and enjoying it. Even I tried once but that has become a big mess. Ever since then I did not get chance to spend more in a kitchen.

Initially when I was on shot trips to US, I was bit worried about the food as I had earlier suffered eating Pizzas, salads or frozen food everyday.When I moved to Chicago, I started cooking my self but something like eat to live. Though I was reading many web sites on recipes and cooking instructions, that did not really push me relinquish the my old worries.

That one day, when one of my friend suggested the site www.vahrevah.com, I had the same mind set as earlier, but gradually I was developing interest in trying various recipes. But, when I start watching your videos (honestly speaking) I got "inspired" and started developing passion towards cooking. Today, I spend my weekends and holidays cooking and trying various stuff withing my reach. It brought flavour to my life in US. Every now and then, when i chat with my friends, I keep bringing about asking for new receipies.

I like your presentation (trust me, it adds up to the reason to be Inspired), your cooking tips for cooking beginners and way content on the site is organized and inviting others to be part of mission at ease.

Started with Upmas to Rices and curries to beverages, today I am completely enjoying cooking today. When my mom came to know that I am cooking here and enjoying it she started also inspired and suggesting the best way to cook. She is a great cook when there is a family gathering her Dosakai Sambar with Sweet onions along with a Spicy chicken curry and Chicken pulao are the best. In fact, that will be the motivating factor to form a gathering.

I greatly appreciate your passion to cooking and enjoying to the extent what you believe upon. VahreVah.com mission is accomplished. Wish that VahreVah.com will continue on the mission to keep inspiring generations to come.

Though, I am not done with my words to express my gratitude, I will limit this here.

I wish you all the best in your mission and journey of life.

--
Thanks,
Murali Krishna

Chef Sanjay Thumma, who has found himself catapulted to stardom

2009-04-24T18:25:00.001-07:00

It’s cooking on YouTube

SHONALI MUTHALALY

Junk your dog-eared cookbook. Log onto YouTube instead and serve up a meal

Live demo Sanjay Thumma

Sauté onions till brown. How brown? I’ve-spent-a-week-in-Goa brown? Or smoke-alarm-shrieking brown?

Recipes can be infuriating for amateur cooks. All those annoying professional terms: chiffonade the herbs, add a bouquet garni, julienne the vegetables. How many times have you been bent over a glossy cookbook, double-boiling and basting away like some 21st Century witch, wishing that you could bubble, bubble, broil and etouffe the writer? Fortunately, the YouTube generation has come up with a solution.

Between all the videos of apparently unbalanced young men having astonishingly idiotic accidents and stammering adolescents showing us how to use iPhones, there are now heaps of kind chefs and accomplished home cooks who record their recipes, demystifying the kitchen for once and for all.

People such as Chef Sanjay Thumma, who has found himself catapulted to stardom thanks to YouTube, are quietly revolutionising the way people cook. Sanjay began recording and posting his recipes online just two years ago on http://vahrehvah.com. His lemon rice alone prompted 10,000 instant hits. Sanjay says that he now gets an average of one lakh viewers a day from all over the world.

Cooking styles have certainly changed. The dog-eared, turmeric stained, well-loved family cookbooks, passed down generations might just become a thing of the past. I, for instance, take my dinky iPod Touch into the kitchen and balance it on the microwave when I cook. The ability to view Sanjay, and cook simultaneously, makes following a recipe as easy as boiling an egg.

Sanjay says written recipes are really for professionals. “Home cooks tend to make mistakes,” he says. “With a recipe, one in 10 people can make it good. With a video, 99 out of 100 can make it good.” Especially, with Indian food. As anyone who’s ever tried to learn how to cook from their grandmother knows, Indian food involves a lot of “one pinch of this, a handful of that and a fistful of curry leaves.” Sanjay does precisely the same thing — but you now have the option of pausing, grabbing the mustard/ turmeric/ salt and then mimicking him perfectly.

“Indian food is all about adding things at the right time, cooking to the right texture, to get the right results,” Sanjay adds, explaining why it’s beneficial to actually see for how long he fries onions, blends cucumber or churns yoghurt.

Sanjay’s an interesting example of how much professional chefs can do to reach out to the public in these times, when the Internet makes all barriers obsolete. He studied hotel management in Hyderabad and then worked for the ITC hotels in Gurgaon, Chennai, Agra and Jaipur. He then moved to Chicago in 1998, where he eventually started his own restaurant Sizzle India. It was successful enough to become a chain, but four restaurants and seven years later, Sanjay decided life was getting monotonous. “I decided to sell all of them and take a two-year vacation. Food is my passion — doing business is not… All I wanted to do was cook.”

During the vacation, he bought himself a video camera. By September 2007, Sanjay had set up a slick studio in Chicago and began recording his first 150 recipes. “I just used the restaurant favourites,” he says, “Because everyone wants to know how to make butter chicken, chicken 65, chicken tikka.” Then came the basic cooking: pakoda, sambar, chutneys. The show is largely based on requests from his large and loyal fan following.

Now, he’s moved back to India, to Hyderabad, and his website’s finally making money, though the videos are still free. “People who like the recipes donate money. And, there’s also some advertising on the site.”

The best part? The excited emails from people all over the world. We’ve always known food can break barriers. Teamed with YouTube, it’s clearly unstoppable.

Hatsoff to Mr. Sanjay Thumma of Varehvah.com

2009-03-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

http://myworldofrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/02/vahrehvah-recipes.html
Preethi's Kitchen

Friday, February 20, 2009
Vahrehvah Recipes

Hatsoff to Mr. Sanjay Thumma of Varehvah.com . He inspired many people through his great cooking . Many times i thought that we can not prepare certain dishes in restaurant style at home like chicken tikka , egg puffs , chicken dum biryani , pav bajji , ....etc,. But he made them easy to cook with his great tips .

Today morning i thought , why shouldnt i post the dishes i experimented from vahrehvah.com and immediately i started collecting all photos and started posting this .
I tried chicken tikka , pav bhajji , double ka meeta , chicken dum biryani , egg puffs , cauliflower milagu curry , kadi pakodi , aloo paratha , indo chinese chilly chicken , veg puff , veg dum biryani , curry leaves rice , jeera rice ,Brinjal tomato curry, capsicum masala rice and tindora chana dal curry.
As a blogger when i get compliements like ' i tried ur recipe and turned out good ' , i feel so happy . I always feel that i succeeded something from my blog that gives me immense satisfaction and in same way i thought i should say sanjay with these photos that all ur recipes turned out great and could able to do them with ease.

Sanjay these pics are for u . If ever u visit my blog i wish u see ur recipes done by me . Thank u Sanjay .

Aloo Paratha

Veg Dum Biryani
Double Ka Meeta
Egg Puff
Indo Chinese Chilly Chicken

Capsicum Masala Rice

Cauliflower Milagu Curry

Jeera Rice

Veg Puff

Tindora And Chana Dal curry

Curry Leaves Rice

salutations to our beloved Senior Citizens

2008-12-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

We all know that age is inevitable, as we grew up the same with age also. There is growing number of elder people . Though, they might have struggled all along life for their better future to spend rest of it with happiness and prosperity. But now-a-days many parents are being sent to old age homes, because the children of such parents after reaching their heights don’t even look after them. Just send them to old age home are care centers and they will forget about every thing that their parents have given birth and brought up. Of course this is what actually new generation is following. The pain which they feel is inexpressible. money, health are not only components but the main thing they need is love of children and grand children.
Mr. Sanjay thumma, in meeting Taralu-Antharalu arranged by YSSR Foundation, -has pin pointed the main problems of our senior citizens. In many cases, grandchildren are denied to meet the grandparents for no faults and have no custodial rights to acquire them. The only fault of these senior citizens is being old ,on behalf of CRISP India, he is fighting against this prejudiced corner for to give equal rights to both the grandparents.
.
He opined” The society in India need to accept the challenge on the following two main issues of :
(i) To provide a fair-deal to the senior citizens so that they are able to peacefully, constructively and satisfactorily pass their lives; and
(ii) How to utilize the vast treasure of knowledge and rich life experience of the older people so that they are able to utilize their remaining energies and contribute to the all round development of their nation.
We also know that we are nothing with out our Elders, as they are enlightened with knowledge, hard work and especially with great experience. They are like a living guide for our bright future. (We need to take guidance)

DeepthiMacha

60th Human Rights Day Celebrations on 10-12-2008

2008-12-10T20:29:00.001-08:00

Mr.Sanjay Thumma also known as vahchef in the internet world took to stage at 60^th Human Rights Day Celebrations on 10-12-2008 ,while talking to dignitaries, distinguished Guests ,members of electronic and print media and other invitees ,

Sanjay Thumma emphasized how many of us waste a valuable portion of our life in bickering and complaining ,instead how we can use the same time doing good to the community we live in .

The Government of Andhra Pradesh provided a meager amount of 97 lakhs as budget for A.P. State Human Rights Commission Hyderabad. For want of adequate funds, the commission could not take up any training program during 2007-2008

Sanjay Thumma felt the need of every citizen to create awareness among common people about the Rights of every human being ,women, child , man, mother ,father, sister and specially senior citizens . Soon after coming from USA Sanjay felt the need to start a NGO to cater to the need of victims of some biased laws and to educate people on Right To Information. .

The commission has also dealt with several sensitive issues such as marital disputes, child marriages, environmental concerns, ragging in educational institutions, malpractices in corporate colleges/ schools, religious practices entrenched in rank superstitions, long delays in getting the terminal benefits, long pending in Freedom fighters pensions cases, police excesses, even the crimes during the land disputes etc. come to the commission daily. The citizens have tremendous faith in the commission for two important reasons;

The people are getting speedy justice through the commission by direct accessibility and
Redressal of grievances is free of cost.

Hon’ble Sri Justice P. Ramkrishnam Raju ,Lord Hon’ble chair person Subashan Reddy, MR.Ismile,Mr.Vittal,DGP Yadav , Heads of various Goverament Institutions where others among few key note speakers.

Santh Ravi

Devi Food: Best Recipe Site Ever

2008-10-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Devi Food: Best Recipe Site Ever

My father has rarely cooked a meal during his 70-plus years. In that regard, he’s a pretty typical Indian male in his generation. It just wasn’t done in India, and by the time we migrated to America, he was in his 40s and well-indoctrinated into the “Real Men Don’t Cook” school of thought.

Thirty years later, he’s been treated to some spectacular meals by his son and son-in-laws. I mentioned before that we’re a cooking family, but it still wasn’t enough to get him into the kitchen.

Then one day, he and my mom went to dinner at the home of a couple they had newly befriended. They were eating an amazing meal of chicken and biryani when my father started complimenting the wife on the food. “Don’t tell me,” she said, “tell him.”

To my father’s (and my mother’s) amazement, she said her husband, who is my dad’s age, had made all of the food. And suddenly, as I like to imagine it, a light switched on in my dad’s head. The Light of the Enlightened Indian Man. Real men can cook, he realized, and really well!!

My dad and his friend spent the rest of the evening talking about cooking (!), and the secret to this man’s culinary success was revealed: a website that showcases simple Indian cooking videos. The key is that the chef in the videos is an Indian guy. (Clearly he brings out the “if he can do it, so can I” male competitive hormone.) So my dad went home, watched some of the videos, and started cooking. My mom, needless to say, is thrilled.

News of the website caught on among his friends, and before long they decided to have a dinner party in which -- and I love this part -- all the husbands cooked instead of the wives! The photo here is from their dinner night. Can you imagine how psyched their wives were?!

When I heard all of this, first of all, I brimmed over with pride for my dad. I can imagine it's not easy to develop a completely new hobby -- not to mention overturn a mindset -- at that point in life. Secondly, I figured if this website inspired my father to start cooking, it must be pretty good. So I went on and took a look myself, and seriously: I am willing to guarantee that, if you cook even just a little right now, this website will inspire you to try a dish you've never made before.

It’s called VahRehVah.com, and it features 5-to-10 minute videos of everything from chilli paneer to banana dosai (“your kids will go crazy about this item”). Some of it is way too complex for me – I don’t think I’m going to be making jalebi any time soon. But the vast majority of the recipes are easy. The most-viewed section includes butter chicken, egg biryani, and vegetable puffs (an easy appetizer for parties – buy frozen pastry sheets and fill them with any type of vegetable or meat filling, then bake). The recipes are in written and video form. I love the videos because they show details, like the exact size chopped potatoes should be, or what a “gravy” should actually look like.

The cook in the videos cracks me up as much as the name of the site. “Vah-Chef” Sanjay Thumma, who could easily be one of my cousins in India, has an infectious excitement about food. His down-home attitude about the whole thing is refreshing. He’s got a special kids’ corner, named after his daughter Shreya, featuring dishes that kids like. Best of all, the site is dedicated to his mom, “who inspired me and introduced me to this awesome world of cooking and culinary art. My house always smelled good. It wasn’t the smell of room fresheners or incense sticks. Rather, it was the smell of fresh baking and cooking.”

Check it out, and while you're at it, call your husband/fiance/boyfriend over. You never know when that male competitive hormone will kick in!

Vahrehvah.com: A superb resource for Indian cooking

2008-10-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

Vahrehvah.com: A superb resource for Indian cooking

by Abha Malpani Oct 16th 2008 @ 12:00PM

Finding this Indian cooking website has changed my world. I can cook basic Indian food, thanks to my mum, but when it comes to anything a little complicated, I get a lazy -- especially because (from experience) -- after a hours of work, the end result has not been worth the effort. I would also blame the disaster dish on me living in Spain: "All the spices are not available and what are available just don't taste the same." It's all rubbish. What I needed was a good guide and I think this is it!

A bad translation of "vah reh vah" in English would be "that's just awesome", but it's enough to give you the gist. The website has recipes of over 230 Indian dishes, but the best part is that many of the Indian recipes have a video guide to go with them.

The "Vah chef" Sanjay Thumma is a great host. Very Indian. But great. His passion and talent for cooking is evident in the videos. For example, in his video that teaches you how to prepare Hydrabadi Biryani (one my favorite Indian dishes), he gets a little emotional in the end; when he tastes what he made, I'm pretty sure that his eyes welled-up with joy!

Another element key in making this website a super hit: Since it is targeted towards non-resident Indians, he often mentions in his recipes ingredient replacements should you not be able to find something specific in your country. You can also help yourself on this front by checking out the site's Cook's Thesaurus.

You can also access Sanjay Thumma's video channel on YouTube. He is quite a personality, you will enjoy watching him. He has won a gold medal for his recipes in the All-India Chefs competition for culinary arts, and all the video work is his own production done in his digital studio, that by the way, has just gone HD!

Other than Indian food, there are recipes for other cuisines; however they don't have video content. A must visit if you want to cook some good Indian food.

Filed under: Food and Drink, Asia, India, Video

Websites I Love: Vah Chef

2008-10-03T06:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Websites I Love: Vah Chef

I do a lot of Indian cooking at home. For me it's an area of constant exploration and discovery that is further rewarded with great food that I prepare in my own kitchen. I started my education of Indian food with several good books. I will certainly review them here in future posts.

Cookbooks are of course indispensible when learning to prepare new foods. A great cookbook will not only teach you how to prepare certain dishes, but will offer photos and even a history of the food and processes involved. Some will even give you a philosophy lesson. Books are not the only route in the age of the internet though and sometimes you can find a great source for recipes, tricks, secrets, alternatives and details there.

I stumbled upon Chef Sanjay Thumma while looking on YouTube for a good way to prepare naan in a conventional oven. Sure enough he had a couple of alternatives for preparing it and they worked out really well. What I like about Chef Thumma is that he presents his video recipes in a friendly, dynamic and easy-to-follow format. His enthusiasm is engaging and his knowledge is extremely helpful.

I had mentioned in an earlier post how I had been chasing and tinkering with a chicken makhani recipe for a long time and that I had finally gotten it to where I liked it. Well, in Chef Thumma's video on chicken makhani he mentioned that Indian restaurants around the world add a little ketchup to their recipes. Sure enough, it was a very important addition to my recipe for chicken makhani and was the missing element I had been searching for! Our recipes for this dish do differ, but I wouldn't love mine if it wasn't for this little gem of knowledge I got from Vah Chef.

His videos are full of similar tidbits and he's very entertaining to watch and listen to. If you're into cooking Indian and you want to augment and polish your skills, I highly recommend Chef Sanjay Thummas website and blog. It is definitely a website I love!

Visit vahrehvah.com to see Chef Sanjay Thumma's instructional videos and recipes!

A Guru which puts him into even Higher Grade

2008-07-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

Experiment Food

Have you noticed I have added few links to side bar, which are excellent. Well adding just other url's are not for looking, trying is an art. So coming to this web-site by Sanjay Thumma, what an excellent chef! I would say a Guru which puts him into even Higher Grade. His enthusiasm in cooking, just loved it. Well one day decided to give it a shot, whether what he says really works or not. The first thing I tried was Rava Dosa (quick version), by tweaking a little bit by adding yoghurt as I always do. I would say Wow Wow..........He is genius :-) Sanjay If you ever read this Thanks dude, you rock and I wish you well.

Well eating Rava Dosa is just like that is not what we Indians do, we add bit of pickle or chutney to go with. This time in my kitchen Shyamala comes to my kitchen thrice. Have you remembered I made Egg Puff and Adai, got it, she is the one. This time to pair it up I made Cabbage thogayal (chutney) from her blog. Well, this is the best combination to go with Rava Dosa. I really loved it. Thanks Shyamala..........

Posted by Rajani Rayudu at 10:59 AM

snack recipes --came across this one at Vahrehvah.com. by Maya Shanbhag

2008-05-31T04:50:00.000-07:00

May 30, 2008

Fresh Corn Pakodi/Patties..

Well, its the season of Corn. I was looking for some easy snack recipes with it and came across this one at Vahrehvah.com.

The first time I made it last week when my friends were over, but that time they turned out pretty hard as I added too much flour to make the batter thick and hold shape.

Today I tried it again and instead of adding flour, I decided to use bread crumbs for the binding. The patties turned out to be great in taste, even my son liked them a lot ( ya, usually it takes a lot to get him to eat something which I take pains to make ;) .

So here goes..

Ingredients

Fresh Corn - 1

Green Chillies - 2

Dalia /Putani/ Split dehusked Chana Dal - 1/4 cup or more

Mint Leaves - a handful

Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Ginger - 1/2 piece
Garlic - 2 cloves
Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp
Bread Crumbs - as needed for binding. Alternatively, use maida/all-purpose flour.
Oil - to fry
Salt - to taste

Method

- Using your knife, scrape the kernels off the corn. Just hold the corn vertically with one hand and run your knife through it with the other. Keep aside.
- In a mixie/blender, add the dalia, green chillies, cilantro, ginger, garlic, garam masala powder, and jeera and pulse till a dry coarse mixture is formed. DO NOT ADD WATER during this.
- While still retaining the mixture in the mixie, add the scraed corn also to it and pulse again till its all well combined but the mixture is still slightly coarse.
- Remove from the mixie into a bowl ( it might be little wet at this point). Add salt and bread crumbs/all purpose flour accordingly so that the mixture holds and you are able to hold shape.
- Now, take a small ball of mixture, flatten it with the palm of your hand and place on hot tawa. Drizzle oil all around and on top of it. When one side is browned, turn and fry till done on other side too.

- Serve hot with chutney or ketchup.

Note: Deep frying gives them get a better color, but I made the shallow fry ones so that little less oil. So you can use the same mixture and make slightly thick and oval shape patties or balls and deep fry them till they turn golden brown in color.

I found bread crumbs give a better taste than flour, so I prefer bread crumbs.

Even though these vadas here don't look as good as the deep-fried version, they were very good in taste. So do try them :)..

Currently Loving: Vahrehvah by AnnaLiza

2008-05-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

Currently Loving: Vahrehvah

I'm currently loving people who are passionate about life and share their successes, free of charge, to the entire world in order to help others.

One is this chef I found to Youtube. Since I loove Mideastern cuisine, I want to start cooking it. It's no easy task, thus the videos. There's no one more passionate about food that i've ever seen or known than Rachel Ray and Chef Sanjay at vahrehvah.com. He's as exciting and amusing to watch as Rachel Ray is. Have a look at this:

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 | Posted by AnnaLiza at 6:36 PM

cooking Vahchef way

2008-04-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you Vahchef

A few months back I came across the channel Vahchef on Youtube and from that day I have been regularly watching all his cookery videos and eagerly wait for new ones.He has videos on the making of many restaurant favourites and also few traditional Andhra dishes.

I have tried some of his recipes,keeping his valuable tips in mind and the results were much better than what I had expected.

Puris for making Pani Puri

Palak Paneer

Rasmalai

I have also tried several other recipes from his site such as naan,batura,aloo gobi,tomato dal,lamb fry and tandoori chicken and they were all so delicious.Do check his site vahrehvah if you haven't already.I certainly did learn and am still learning lots from him.I thank Chef Sanjay Thumma immensely for being so generous and sharing his knowldege with the entire world.

Hi Sanjay, I cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooompletely love ur show

2008-04-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

Hai Vahchef

Hi Sanjay, I cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooompletely love ur show.I am a student here in the US and not the best cook.And it doesnt help too much that as a student you cannot afford to go to a restaurant too often to eat indian food.Actually I have managed to live on just dal and rice for about a year now and not daring to cook anything new. There are no decent indian restaurants anywhere nearby where i live. :-(( And of course your website is free.That is so cool.I cannot think of one other webiste where people are truly interested in inspiring people to cook.They always seem like they are out there to make money.Nothing wrong in that although you would like to think "may be free would make me want to look again and again and learn". It is only recently that the craving for real food took over very stronlgy and i started experimenting.I happened to watch one of ur shows on sulekha.com by mere chance and have been hooked ever since.Your shows are so lively and u make everything look so simple,u truly inspisre us all to truly cook.And it helps to know that I dont have to miss home made food too often ,now that I can make most of those dishes right here .I watch the videos everyday.And the nice part is u seem like such a simple guy, no trims and frills!! like most of the other oh so boring "I am such a sophisiticated " chefs and the bestest part is u do not have an accent which makes ur shows sooooo much more fun.And u r a foodie too.the way u tatse and enjoy ur dishes soon after u cook them.That is so unlike any chef i have seen so far.You seem to so genuinely enjoy cooking and eating what you cook.Keep up the great work.Could you please sometime demonstrate how to make idlis,dosas and the regular breakfas t dishes that we south indians are so famous for.I hope someday I shall be able to dine in your restaurant. P.S : I ventured into making samosas after watching one of ur shows and shocked every family member and friends ,especially when i told them they turned out exactly as samosas should be.i shocked myself the most though!! :-)))) Dhanyavadagalu, Take care Sincerely, Nirupama

Sincerely,

Nirupama.

Vah reh vah yemi tastu...chaala super ga undhi bossu

2008-04-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

Scattered Thoughts

Thursday, April 17, 2008

VahRehVah - one of the best Indian Cooking Channel on youtube

Today I remembered the delicious Chettinad Chicken, which I used to have quite often at Karaikudi restaurant in Chennai. Just the thought of it was mouthwatering. So I decided to make it no matter what. I tried searching on the web to get recipes and tips as to how to make it. Then for some reason I was bored. I wanted someone to show me so that I can make exact replica of that. Also that way I know my progress and can achieve the end result as shown. Thats when I thought of the greatest site Youtube.

And thats how I came across the awesome Culinary Show by Sanjay, the host / VahChef of www.VahRehVah.com

There are about 214 various Indian Dishes presented in his youtube channel. The best thing about this is he not only showcases the famous dishes like Chicken Tikka or Tandoori Chicken, but also several regional and quite unknown yummy ones such as coriander chicken, methi chicken, Grandma's curry chicken and last but not least my favorite Chettinad chicken. For all veggies there are many dishes too.

Here's his youtube channel - http://youtube.com/profile?user=vahchef

I've introduced his videos to my wife and she loves it. Infact I got new energy to cook newer recipes. His presentation is also pretty cool. He takes his time and explains each and every detail as to why we do this, what happens when we put this, and so on. So for beginners and newbies to Indian cooking, this is a great channel, and for already experienced ones, you should certainly visit this site if you are bored with your cooking or wanna try something new. On the whole a very informative and entertaining culinary site which can bring lotsa fun to your everyday cooking.

Vah reh vah yemi tastu...chaala super ga undhi bossu

Begun Bhaja (Bengali Eggplant Fry) VahRehVah

2008-04-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Mar 28, 2008

Begun Bhaja (Bengali Eggplant Fry) Source:
VahRehVah

To read this recipe in Marathi CLICK HERE

Ingredients
Big Purple Brinjal (Eggplant): 1
Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder: 2 tsp
Sooji (Semolina): 1 tsp (Optional)
Rice Flour: 1 tsp (Optional)
Jeera (Cumin) Powder: 1 tsp (Optional)
Dhania (Coriander) Powder: 1 tsp (Optional)
Salt to Taste
Oil

Procedure
1. Wash eggplant and cut it into around 1/2 inch round slices.
2. Mix all dry ingredients very well.
3. Apply this mixture on the both sides of all eggplant slices.
4. Heat oil in frying pan. Place eggplant slices one by one in the pan. Make sure oil is coated on each slice. Cooke these slices on slow flame. Turn 2-3 times until they become littlebit brown. Follow this procedure for all slices.
5. Sprinkle some coriander leaves on cooked slices and serve hot with rice and daal or you can eat this as appetizer.

Note:
If you want you can bake these in oven or grill it.

This is my entry for Sandeepa's RCI:Bengal Event

Source:
VahRehVah

The Cook In Me..

2008-03-30T01:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday, February 21, 2008

The Cook In Me..

I have always been a good eater and of late the cook in me sprang up to life..the physics involved in dosas ,the artistry in samosas etc have always fascinated me...but whenever ive tried to cook something i get chased out of the kitchen.Maybe the ladies in my home are afraid of my talents.
And who says interest is enough to achieve things??all my attempts in serious cooking have ended up in vain.Perhaps theres much more involved in this than mere interest-the right recipe,utensils,timing,ingredients,quality all seem to play a role in this..
My friend Dhivya today gave me this wonderful link to aid me in cooking...www.vahrehvah.com ...this site provides excellent demos of numerous Indian recipes with videos and clear explanations .For those who dont want their preparations to end up before dogs or cats,,do visit the site...

My favorite Indian Cooking Site,Mittagessen mit Antares

2008-03-30T01:29:00.000-07:00

My favorite Indian Cooking Site, with the recipes demonstrated on VIDEO!

"Oh I am trying to selling the world on healthy, authentic and fresh cooking with fresh ingredients and today it was "Chicken 65" which I just finished demonstrating and recording", he says with a faint smile."

"Vahrehvah.com has the potential to shake up the Internet food portals like no other Food site has."

Vahrehvah.com is my favorite cooking site! If you would like to learn authentic indian cooking simply and easily and like being around happy, fun, glowing, passionate people, even if they are virtual, then you will love it too! Actually, it is not just for indian food "Your vah-reh-vah chef" teaches indian foods (he comes from Hyderabad) and is growing the site to include many other cuisines and even asks you to post your recipies.

I coppied all the rest from an interview on the site, if you want to read some more, but really, you should just get on there and get cooking!

"...the layout and design is built intuitively with allocated space for recipes classified by their origin and place on the food chart as well as by course on the menu. So for instance if you were to have a craving for Shahi Nizami cuisine and had some Chicken in the freezer and felt like making a lip-smacking entree out of it, all you have to do is access vahrehvah.com and search by chicken for an entree and Voila! You not only have the detailed recipe and cooking method and ingredients listed out but the amazing thing is you also have a video demonstration of the dish being prepared in Sanjay's chirpy and laughingly humorous manner. That is what is interesting too."

"...What I like about Sanjay's site is that the video actually takes me through a step-by-step process to explain exactly how to go about acomplishing this. For someone like me-and for you too I am sure, looking at it being prepared tells you exactly when to throw onions into the pan or why does mustard have to crackle or even what exactly goes into the Tandoori Masala you go and buy at the store. To me that rocks! It quite simply allows Mr. Nobody to impress friends and family with learnings from a gourmet. Suddenly I am chef somebody and my kids love it. I dare say I even have my wife talking about it with her girlfriends.

"...What I truly like about the site also is that it is participative. It does not lock the user out. In fact it locks them in. They register, they get hooked on his easy style and humor and ability to laugh at himself. Before they know it they are enthusiastically commenting and he is inviting them to post their own recipes on the site. A separate section on the website allows the user to claim their own spot of fame by posting recipes and videos that contribute to even more participation from fellow users. "This is going to be a food community soon" I inform him.
"I know", he says"

Bagara Baingan Source: VahRehVah

2008-03-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

Bagara Baingan Source: VahRehVah

Ingredients
Small Fresh Young Brinjals: 8 - 10
Roasted Peanuts: 1 Cup
Roasted Sesame Seeds: 3 tbsp
Roasted Dry Shredded Coconut: 2 tbsp
Finely Chopped Onion: 1 Big
Finely Chopped Coriander Leaves: 1 tbsp
Sliced Green Chilllies: 2
Ginger Garlic Paste: 1 tsp
Tomato Paste: 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves: 1 Spring
Tamarind Paste: 1 tbsp
Jaggery or Sugar: 1-2 tsp
Cumin Powder: 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder: 1tbsp
Red Chilli Powder: 1 tbsp
Whole Garam Masala Powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric: 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds (Jeera): 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds : 1 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds: 1 tsp
Asafoetida (Hing): 1/2 tsp
Cloves: 3-4
Cinnamon Stick: 1 (cut into pieces)
Elaichi: 3
Bay Leaf: 1
Salt to Taste
Water

Procedure
1. Grind peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut with water. Make a smooth paste. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and when they start spluttering, add cumin seeds and curry leaves. Add cloves, bay leaf, cinamon stick, elaichi. Fry for a minute. Then add chopped green chillies, onion and hing. Fry onions till it gets golden brown.
3. Add turmeric powder, ginger - garlic paste, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala. Fry for a minute. Then add tomato paste and some salt. Add some water and bring it to boil.
4. Then add paste of peanuts, sesame seeds & coconut powder & water. Cook for 10 minutes.
5. In mean time, make slits to eggplant (don't cut end). Shallow fry or deep fry them till they are 80% done.
6. Add these brinjals to gravy. Then add salt, tamarind juice, jaggery. Cook this gravy on medium heat till brinjals are 100 % cooked.
7. Garnish this with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with pulao, biryani or chapati.

This is called Vah chef so the appropriate name

2008-03-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a review that made my day

Title : Got interested in cookingReview : Hi Sanjay I have never cooked in my life. I am 67 years old and you got me interested in cooking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks a million. Now I will never go hungry or never eat in restaurant. My wife is a great cook so I never got in to cooking. By watching your videos I started cooking. I made Nan, Dosa, Tandoori Chicken, Meduvada and Dahivada, Sambhar etc. Ev ery item I cooked from your video came out excellent in first try only. This is called Vah chef so the appropriate name. I am so excited that I even cooked for my friends and guess what they enjoyed it. They didn\'t believe me at first since they know I never cooked before in my life and they were scared to eat whatever I cooked. So Thanks Sanjay I appreciated your video and keep it coming. I am going to tell my wife to post her some great recipes.. All your recipes are great.

Jay Desai

my beloved hubby kumar made this for me from his favorite cookery show(Vahrehvah)

2008-03-04T15:31:00.000-08:00

http://dhivyaskitchen.blogspot.com/

This is an easy to make eggplant fry, which goes extremely delicious with rice and dhal. We really enjoyed this combination.BTW I didn’t make this,,,my beloved hubby kumar made this for me from his favorite cookery show(Vahrehvah). I am just posting this recipe to encourage him (hope he like the encouragement and will make more yummy dishes like this..he..he).Here is recipe how he made this….

INGREDIENT:

Eggplant – 1(big)
Chili powder – 2tsp
Turmeric Powder – 1/2tsp
Salt – 1tsp
Rice flour – 2tsp

Eggplant Before cooked

METHOD:

Cut the eggplant into thin slices (1/2'' thickness) as shown in picture.

For marinating mix chili powder, turmeric, rice flour and salt. Apply this dry mixture on the eggplant both sides.

In the pan add 3tsp of oil and let it heat. Now put the eggplant pieces one by one and cook it on a medium flame. Turn frequently until brown color.

Once its cooked remove from the pan and do the same with rest of the pieces. Serve it with hot rice and dhal.
I am sending these eggplant dishes to pooja's Vegetable Of The Week-Brinjal.

Sanjay Thumma's Chicken Tikka at www.taosdining.com

2008-02-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

http://www.taosdining.com

Sanjay Thumma's Chicken Tikka

Sanjay Thumma

Sanjay Thumma's Chicken Tikka is chicken cubes marinated with Indian spices and cooked in oven. Traditionally they are cooked in clayoven called tandoor. "Today I'm going to show you how to make another kabob, Chicken Tikka... For chicken tikka, I usually use thigh meat.

"...You need to remove any moisture that is there on the meat because you want the marination to stick well. So, I did that with this chicken and I cut them into nice, small pieces. Now, I'm going to make the marination to go along with this.

"Half a teaspoon of chili powder, a little bit of cardamom powder, a little bit of the --- mehti powder - that is the fenugreek leaves. And use a little bit of garam masala (hot masala). And use half a teaspoon of Coriander powder. Remember one thing, do not add to much of these masala powders because when you make chicken tikka, you want a less masalas possible, because you don't want these masalas to get burned and that could make it a little bit bitter..."

Sanjay Thumma has graduated from India's Top "the Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition". He Won the prestigious Gold Medal All-India chefs competition for culinary arts for his Recipes. Been "Chef"ing in "7 Star Hotel Restaurants" serving Heads of the Nations, at Delhi. He is a computer techie. Created his own Digital Video Studio. Licensed to fly solo. He is not only a great chef but a connoisseur. Passed out from nations top Management Institute (Welcomgroup Management Institute)

Being a chef, Sanjay has lot of valuable information

2008-02-18T19:49:00.000-08:00

Learning to cook the new way

Posted on February 17, 2008
Filed Under entertainment |

In recent times, I have been noticing a huge paradigm shift when it comes to online recipes. In the past, anyone who wanted to cook something would go to a recipe site, print out the recipe and then try to follow it. In the last couple of years, I have been noticing that the shift is towards online video recipes. The difference now is that instead of just having a recipe to print, you can also view the video and see how the recipe author intends for you to make the recipe. This is especially useful for new cooks, bachelors and people who are not familiar with all the ingredients in a recipe. With the popularity of blogging and podcasting, the trend these days is for recipe video podcasts and video blogs.

In my quest for Indian cooking videos, I discovered that there are a couple of online websites that are mainly video recipe blogs. A site I found called Sailus Food has mouth watering pictures of recipes. There are no videos of recipes on this site though. For video recipes, there is a site called VahRehVah.com which is run by a chef named Sanjay Thumma. Being a chef, Sanjay has lot of valuable information on his website and has plenty of videos to chose from.

The other site that I really liked is called ShowMeTheCurry.com. This one was started by two Texans, Hetal and Anuja who demostrate how to make various Indian dishes in layman terms. Besides, they have great personalities. I happened to watch a live video chat they were having with their viewers and I was amazed by how they could keep their viewers engaged for a whole hour.

This past weekend, I made Chicken Biryani, a tasty Indian recipe that is very popular among those who love Indian food. I followed each of the steps outlined in the video and guess what, my dish turned out fantastic. My family could not beleive that I had made it by following a video.

After this experience, I am convinced that this is the way to go when it comes to recipes.

The chef, Sanjay Thumma demostrates excellent recipes.

2008-02-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 7, 2008

chicken chettinad and karela curry- cooking from other blogs and websites

I love trying out new recipes from blogs and other websites. One such website is vahrevah.com. The chef, Sanjay Thumma demostrates excellent recipes. These can also be found on youtube, rediff and some other websites. I love this recipe for chicken chettinad, which is different bcos it does not use coconut and is therefore healthier.

The recipe for karela curry is from one of my fav blogspot, Shaheen's. The recipe can be found on Shaheen's blog. Thanks Shaheen.

http://malluspice.blogspot.com/2006/10/pavakka-curry-biitergourd-with-yogurt.html

Chettinad chicken

250 grams chicken cut into small pieces (boneless or boned)
2 piece cardamom
2 stick cinnamon
3 piece cloves
2 tsp coriander pdr
1 tsp red chilli pdr
2 tsp coarsely crushed pepper corns
1 tsp cumin
2 springs curry leaves
1 tblsp fresh chopped coriander
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
3 gr chillies
1 tsp mustard
2 tblsp oil
1 large onion
2 tomatoes
1 tsp lemon juice
Heat the oil in a large pan. add mustard and cumin Add finely chopped onions, and fry till the onions turn light golden brown. Add turmeric, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves, and green chilli and saute for a while.
Add chopped tomatoes . . Then, add the coriander powder and salt and mix well. Add the chicken to the frying pan and mix well, and cover and cook over a low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add a little water only if u need it. The chicken gives out some water. When the chicken is almost done, add the ground pepper into the mixture and mix well. Garnish with green dhania. sprinkle some lemon juice on top.

Posted by vimmi at 3:30 PM

"Sanjay Thumma the menace"

2008-02-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

What a way to remember "Sanjay the menace"!

It has been so long and I have been wondering where you were. It is so weird. I have been married for about 10 years now Sanjay, and one fine morning my wife suddenly announced that she was interested in learning to make new dishes. I was thinking to myself that finally good times have arrived.

Imagine my surprise when I went to Youtube to search for Indian cooking, and clicked on the first video that came up! I was shocked to see the face of my dear childhood friend. I knew you were a good cook, but I am really excited and happy to see your website and your videos. Obviously things have changed since we last met.

I wish to tell all your vahrehvah users - I AM PROUD TO SAY THAT I AM PROBABLY THE FIRST PERSON OUTSIDE SANJAY'S FAMILY TO EXPERIMENT AND SURVIVE HIS COOKING HOBBY. Those were the good and happy days and I wish to share some very intimate moments of our childhood to give you a glimpse of this man. Sanjay me and other friends spent a lot of time together as young boys and had very happy days going out hunting, fishing and biking in the wilderness around our homes. Almost 27 yrs ago, with home-made bows and arrows, home-style kind of airguns, and our friends parents calling us 'dennis the menace' characters, we proudly roamed the streets of this beautiful green township called BHEL. We had so much freedom in this township and if at all a kid had to grow up and be a kid it was this place. My childhood was beautiful and I am so glad I spent it with sanjay that you know today as 'Vahchef'. Yes Sanjay Thumma was a good childhood friend! - Maybe not the model kid, but so much fun to be with!
I don't think I should elaborate too much and describe ALL the adventures we did and how many times we were caught red handed by our parents. (We were called pittala doras :) because all the time we used to carry catapults at our waist and hunted for birds. His hunting skills extended beyond just the birds that fly and I must say there are a lot many girls who still remember this crazy hunter : )

I was so happy to see that you mentioned my name together with all our friends when you shot the Sooji Halwa episode at Vahrehvah. You actually remember all our friends and that is so good. While my wife and I were watching you skin a chicken you claim to have learned this "fine skill" at catering college , but I think all your friends will testify that at age 10 we saw you do it similarly with the birds we caught. I can go on and on with adventures of our childhood – but all I want to say is that I am so happy to see you play this role on the world stage and internet these days. Instead of just influencing me and few others pals, it is nice to see you influencing what happens in so many kitchens.

Why are you not telling your audience the truth about the fishing and fish eating episodes. I remember that eating fish we caught on the spot was your specialty- I still can remember when you would lit a flame even before we put the bait for fish! I remember how much fish used to be your passion. So when I saw you eat the fish and show the full bones – I was thinking that only your friends would understand where that devotion came from! Good show!

Anyway keeping aside my friendship. Honestly I think this is a wonderful service to the food loving community and I sincerely hope that you make it to the top and stay there. As some of your visitors have indicated, it is indeed addictive.

My wife may not realize it, but she is helping me to relive my childhood adventures and giving me the true taste of my memories literally.

Best Wishes

Phani Koganti

Restaurant" delight at home. Via Vahrehvah.com

2008-02-08T07:46:00.000-08:00

Restaurant" delight at home. Via Vahrehvah.com

Tandoori Turkey - http://simpleindianrecipes.com/tandooriturkey.aspx

'Tandoori Chicken', the name itself makes mouths water. It is a traditional chicken dish and originated in India. The chicken is marinated in yogurt and tandoori masala and cooked in the 'tandoor'. Tandoor is a cylindrical oven with a very high temperature. The tandoor generally maintains temperature as high as 800 degrees F. Those of us who know about 'tandoori chicken' know it as a restaurant delicasy.
My knowledge about 'tandoori chicken' is that it is a restaurant dish made in the tandoor and cannot be made at home. After I started cooking, I've made tandoori chicken with the store bought 'tandoori chicken' masala. It tasted excellent. But I never even imagined that we could make the same tandoori chicken at home from scratch with ingredients on hand. It was only after I saw the 'big' chefs video that I knew about this. I did gave a try and guess what??? The results were more than excellent. It is so easy to make for pot luck parties because everything goes into the oven in one shot.
Being from kanyakumari district, I'm a strict non vegetarian. I've had all kinds of non veg dishes. One of my favorites is 'turkey'. Coming to the US, I was very very fascinated by the 'Turkey' legs. I always wanted to try making that at home with indian spices but had many doubts about whether the spices would enter the meat etc. After seeing vahchefs video, I became really confident and went on to try 'tandoori turkey'. His idea of making slits really worked and even the innermost meat was full of flavour. Now tandoori turkey has become one of our new family favorites.

but I found yet another amazing video cooking site www.vahrehvah.com

2008-02-08T06:01:00.000-08:00

http://sreevadlamudi.blogspot.com

Shrimp Biryani!!

This net is surely an amazing place, making a non-cook like me brave enough to try and experiment with stuff that actually tastes good is not an easy task.

Well, this happens once in a while with www.sailusfood.com

but I found yet another amazing video cooking site www.vahrehvah.com

Check out the pictures and judge for yourself..

Fry marinated shrimp 450 gm (corriander powder, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste) in oil, few at a time and keep them aside.

Soak Basmati Rice for 30 minutes and cook with oil, spices, and salt only 85%, do not cook rice completely.

Fry yoghurt, spices, green chillies, corriander, mint, biryani powder, etc. and add fried shrimp to the mixture, stir it once and add the semi-cooked rice and cook it for not more than 10 minutes.

That rose is also by me... yay!!! (patting myself on the back)

Scribbled By Sree at 8:59 AM

No higher compliment can be paid to the Artist - the Master - the Chef Sanjay Thumma We love you so much

2008-02-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

Hai Vahchef

Dear Sanjay,
This is Aruna here from Troy, MI…It was wonderful to watch your video demos. Very userfriendly website you have. I too have a great passion for cooking and always love to make restaurant style food. I learnt many many many many tricks from you. You are awesome sir. I am addicted to your website. See… one day I was surfing the net for Diwali dinner menu and some how I ended up on your website. I felt like I got the Alibaba’s khajna(treasure)..I was so much exited and felt like I should cook all those recipes in one day…Immediately I emailed your website to all of my friends and relatives and now some of them are addicted to your website like me I tried your Veg pulao, Naan, matar paneer, Malai Kofta, beerakai chutney, Chicken Biryani, cucumber dal and jeera aloo. All came out fantastic..everything was perfect. I love naan and now I learnt the perfect naan from you. Only thing is my chicken biryani was burnt but I got an explanation for it from you only, in your next cooking demo…so next time I will be careful about it. I have taken some pictures of the dishes I cooked according to your videos demos and I will send it you. I have posted a recipe of Veg hakka noodle on your website which I learnt when I was in India last year…I had it at one restaurant in Kolhapur where they are using star anise to spice up the noodle and it really goes well. Also I will post the recipe of pandhara rassa(white goat curry kind of soup and tambadda rassa(red goat curry) very soon This is a specialty of kolhapur you might have heard about it. There are many people out there, who have a passion for cooking, but very few can show it by putting their own efforts in to it for free and you are one among them. Hats off to you sir. Actually I was thinking how I can appreciate your great work and then I found a poem on internet that goes perfect for you…

This is my small token of appreciation especially for you from me and my hubby Raj (Basavaraj)……by the way My hubby loves you so much…

Like an artist with blank canvas, he creates a masterpiece His goal - to provide his guests with an unforgettable feast With skillful hands and talent, he makes light work of it Chopping, mixing and stirring until all the pieces fit With pride he serves each dinner, inspecting each fine detail It must look flawless in his eyes if he is not to fail His reward is smiling faces, empty plates with nothing left

No higher compliment can be paid to the Artist - the Master - the Chef Sanjay Thumma We love you so much. ……When I saw Dahi-wada 100++ I was thinking ye 100++ ka funda kya hai? But now know………..Congratulations on completing 100 video demos…...Keep up the good work…… I would love to say Thank you from bottom of my heart to your Father who inspired you. You guys are great. Regards to your parents, Regards to you and your friends who are helping you with this great work. Aruna & Raj.

Sincerely,

Aruna Kalahal

Vah-Photos a free lunch - Free Indian food photos

2008-02-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Chef,

I am a new member at Vahrehvah.com and I am not that great a cook (I will be some day)– but right now I love food to no end. I also got my mom to try out some of your creations and now I have not only got her hooked onto my favouite website, but I also enjoy some superb cooking.

But I am writing to you not because of the videos – which are no doubt great…But I am most excited about the link "Vah photos" – The reason is that I am a self proclaimed restaurant critique and am putting together a collection of food reviews for restaurants in the greater New York area. I also enjoy photography a great deal but I am yet to see food pictures that have the same quality that is in Vah Photos. This link is truly amazing. I could not believe my eyes when I saw that you have allowed these pictures to be royalty free. That is practically giving it away! And that is most generous. Not many people who take pictures of this admirable quality allow it's free use. The fact that you not only allow its royalty free use, but have posted such multitude of breath-taking shots, goes to prove that you practice what you preach about inspirational cooking.

I was brought up to believe that there is no free lunch – but I am so thrilled to see that it is not the case on your website. Not only is the lunch free, but it is in beautiful glorious pictures for all to enjoy! What can I say?!! Vah reh vah… truly!

And as a gesture of gratitude for your generosity in distributing royalty free food pictures, I have decided to do you a favour in turn and tell all my friends and acquaintances of your website so that you have a bigger fan following, a much larger community and everybody benefits in turn.

This is community at its best. Hats off!

Sirish Datey

The recipe here is adapted from a food video prepared by Chef Sanjay Thumma

2008-02-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 03, 2008

http://saffrontrail.blogspot.com/2008/01/low-fat-restaurant-style-matar-paneer.html

Low fat - restaurant style Matar Paneer

Hello and glad to see you in the new year. Trying to stick to my resolutions (to blog more regularly) - I was ready with the draft 3 days ago, but that's when respiratory infection and bronchitis caught up with me and has kept me down for over 3 days. In Bombay, the temperature difference is well over 15 degrees between day and night, leading to an epidemic of sorts in respiratory infections. The only times in the last three days I've managed to drag myself into the kitchen, is to make a huge pot of Molagu Rasam (Clear pepper soup), and keep warming it up in the microwave, sipping the spicy liquid through the day. Apart from that, my diet has generally been antibiotics, antihistaminics, expectorants and mucolytics. Sounds like quite a spread right??

Back to the topic of the post - this is one dish that is an extremely popular Indian curry - the origins as far as I know being Punjabi in nature, the land where paneer has been predominantly used since many years. If one has paneer and frozen peas, this can be made out of the stuff you'd normally have in your pantry, bailing you out, if you got a day late in replenishing your stock of vegetables.

For a person who cooks almost 3 meals each day, it's odd that I rarely make the typical restaurant style Punjabi dishes like Malai Kofta, Makhanwala and the likes, going mostly with the more earthy simple dishes, where veggies are not drowned in rich gravies and recipes which give veggies more respect than that! However on a whim I decided to try out this matar paneer curry, also since I had nothing else in my refrigerator that evening, except for the staple onions-tomatoes-ginger and garlic.

The recipe here is adapted from a food video prepared by Chef Sanjay Thumma. You'll find plenty of his videos on rediff iShare, youtube and his own site. Ofcourse, this is a much calorie cut version of the same. You could watch his video for a richer, creamier version of the same. But hey, does the title of the post - 'low fat' 'restaurant style' sound like an oxymoron? Well, if you ever try this recipe, you'll know what I mean :)

Matar Paneer ( Indian curry with green peas and cheese )
Category - Vegetarian side to be eaten with rotis, parathas or rice
Time taken - Around 30 minutes
Serves - 3 to 4 people

Ingredients

1 tsp oil
1 tbsp broken cashewnuts
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes finely chopped
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp finely chopped garlic cloves
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1-2 tsp coriander-cumin powder or 1 tsp each
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup frozen or fresh boiled peas
200 g paneer cut into 12 cubes
1 tsp kasoori methi - dried fenugreek leaves, crumbled into a rough powder

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed wok. Start by sauteeing the broken cashews till lightly golden.
2. Next, add the chopped ginger-garlic and onions and cook on a low flame with a pinch of salt till they soften and turn light brown.
3. At this stage, add the tomatoes with the turmeric powder. Stir well and cook for 5-7 minutes, till mushy.
4. Remove the contents of the wok and blend to a fine puree in a blender, once cooled throughly. You may use upto 1/2 cup water to aid the blending process.
5. In the same wok, transfer the fine puree. Season with spice powders (red chilli powder, cumin coriander powder, garam masala) and salt. Simmer for 3-4 minutes till the gravy is infused with the spices.
6. Add the frozen / boiled green peas to this gravy and simmer for 5 minutes, after which the paneer cubes go in. Simmer for another 2 minutes, check for salt, sprinkle crushed kasoori methi and give it a stir.
7. Matar paneer is ready to be removed in a serving bowl.

Notes
Serve hot with rotis, parathas, naan or plain steamed rice seasoned with cumin seeds.

I personally prefer to have this with a plain tandoori roti or a phulka as the dish is quite heavy, it is better balanced by a lighter bread. A raita on the side would be nice too, or a simple cucumber salad.

Health tips

It's perfectly okay to use store bought paneer.Using paneer made from skimmed milk at home will further reduce the calories from fat keeping the protein content intact. In restaurants, this dish is made with plenty of ghee /butter, a large chunk of nut paste (almond or cashew) plus a dollop of fresh cream added towards the end to make it even richer.

This version uses just one teaspoon of vegetable oil and the small quantity of cashewnuts are enough to provide the rich creamy restaurant taste without the added calories from fat. The key to a delicious gravy is to not skimp on the onion sauteeing and make a really fine puree using a good quality blender. The pinch of kasoori methi in the end makes all the difference in giving that 'restauranty' flavour.

Vegans can substitute the paneer with tofu or boiled-drained soya chunks (sold in Indian stores under the brand Nutrela).

Youtube den Inder Sanjay Thumma GRATIS, SUPER und COOL -CROSSING OCEANS

2008-01-30T08:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.feinheit.ch/blog/2007/12/02/wieder-mal-auf-wikipedia-und-was-sehe-ich-da/
Wieder mal auf wikipedia und was sehe ich da!
von Thileeban
Okey,...ich hole etwas aus!Es ist Sonntag 16.14 Uhr – ich bin noch im Bett – habe vom Tag nichts gesehen...ausser die Sonne, die am Morgen aufging als ich auf dem hei(ve)-weg war – jetzt ist diese nämlich auch wieder weg...scheisse!Was macht man an solch einem Tag ausser nachdenken, falls das noch möglich sein sollte!...man geht surfen! Das ist der Vorteil eines Sonntags...man hat keine Verpflichtungen und fragt sich auch nicht wieso niemand anruft! Super, die besten Voraussetzungen sind gegeben um sich im Internet zu verweilen! Achtung, die eigentliche Post kommt gleich ;-)Ich muss zugeben, die meiste Zeit verbringe ich auf Youtube, aber auch auf Wikipedia.Seit ein paar Monaten bin ich ja vom Koch-virus infiziert worden – es ist wirklich krankhaft – ich möchte immer kochen: vor der arbeit, während der arbeit und nach der arbeit...manchmal auch nach dem ausgang, aber das ist eine andere Geschichte!Seit ich auf Youtube den Inder Sanjay Thumma traf, ist der Virus endgültig ausgebrochen – ich glaube, die Krankheit ist unheilbar!!!Sanjay gibt Kochkurse im Internet – GRATIS, SUPER und COOL! Ich schaue mir seine Sendungen soooo gerne an, weil sie «einfach» awesome sind!Geile Rezepte super professionel vorgezeigt!Die Gratis Kochsendungen – vahrehvah.com Ich finde es nett, wenn andere Menschen ihr Wissen im Internet veröffentlichen oder eine Plattform dafür bieten...das muss man unterstützen!Aber bei mir hat es erst so richtig «klick» gemacht, während ich bei meiner Sonntags-Kochlektion nach der Gewürzmischung «Garam Masala» suchte! Wie immer gehe ich folgendermassen vor: Neues Fenster, wewewedotgoogledotcom, «suchgebriff», klicke «Auf gut Glück!» und lande meistens auf wikipedia...hmm!Ich lese den Eintrag und was sticht mir plötzlich ins Auge?! Ein Name, Moritz Zumbühl!! ich konnte es fast nicht glauben – gäll, das glaubsch sälber nöd mo...es war lustig und ich war irgendwie nicht mehr alleine ;-)Jetzt muss ich auch mal Spenden! Hier ist noch der Post von Moritz mit der aufforderung zum Spenden. Fertig! Ich muss jetzt kochen!! Habe es für euch festgehalten...

We were looking for a good recipe for butter chicken and came across VahRehVah which looks to be a great resource for Indian cooking ideas.

2008-01-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:6f728B8q80IJ:www.hungrybastard.com/+vahrehvah&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=237&gl=us

We were looking for a good recipe for butter chicken and came across VahRehVah which looks to be a great resource for Indian cooking ideas. Many of the recipes have videos including this one. I think we’ll be looking there often for inspiration since we are so into Indian food lately.
Ingredients
4 tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 c. cashew nuts, chopped
1/3 c. cilantro leaves + a few sprigs for garnish
1 jalapeño, diced
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. ginger paste+ 1 tsp. ginger paste for another step
1 tsp. garlic paste + 1 tsp. garlic paste for another step
1/2 pt. fresh cream
4 tbsp oil
2 sm/med. onions, chopped
2 lbs. chicken breast
1/4 c. water
4 tsp. Red chili powder divided into two 2 tsp. piles
Salt to taste
1 tsp Sugar
1 lb. tomato, chopped
a few squirts of tomato ketchup
Directions
In a medium size bowl add 1 tsp. ginger paste, 1 tsp. garlic paste, salt, 2 tsp. red chili powder. Cut chicken into small bite sized pieces and thoroughly coat in the mixture.
In a good skillet, add 4 tbsp. oil and fry the coated chicken in the oil until the pieces are about 3/4 of the way done. Remove from pan and set aside.
To the leftover oil add cumin seeds, cashews, coriander powder, 2 tsp. red chili powder. Roast mixture, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. Add onion to the mixture and saute to soften (2-3 minutes).
Add 1 tsp. ginger paste, 1 tsp. garlic paste, chopped jalapeño, and chopped tomato, cilantro leaves & 1/4 c. water to the mixture and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes (or until tomatoes have broken down), stirring occasionally.
Now add the mixture to a blender or food processor and add melted butter and cream. Blend until a smooth consistency. Now taste the sauce for the right amount of spice & salt. If it’s not spicy/salty enough add cayenne pepper and/or salt, to taste, and blend some more.
Return the sauce to the pan and add chicken (and any liquid that has settled from the chicken) and a few squirts of tomato ketchup.
Stirring occasionally, cook for another 10 minutes over medium-low heat (or until the sauce is thick to your liking).
Serve over Jasmine rice and garnish with cilantro.
image from vah-photo's

I discussed about vada with so many. But finally I learnt it from Vahrehvah.

2008-01-30T08:01:00.001-08:00

http://sailurecipes.blogspot.com/2007/12/vada-vadai-gaarelu.html

In Telugu there is a saying for Vada or Gaare “ Thinte gaarelu thinu … vinte Bharatham vinu.” Which means tht “Do either of the things … Listen to Bharatham or Eat Gaare.” They compared the taste of Vadas with the holy bharatham.Any festival is not complete at my house without these vadas. We used to eat hot when my Mom used to prepare. I know only eating at that time. After marriage I didn’t made my husband’s favorite vada for 8 months. Now, for Pongal I made vadas and took them for a get together too.Learnt From:I discussed about vada with so many. But finally I learnt it from Vahrehvah.As per my view Vada is very tough. Keeping that impression in mind … I have not even tried it for 8 months which is my husband’s favorite dish. Later I made a trail of it. Actually I have grinded the batter very tight without adding any water. I don’t know how to dip the batter in the oil to fry. So I made punugulu on that day with tht batter. When I was doing for the second time my husband told me how to dip the batter in the oil. But the taste was not good.After that I came to know about this Vahrehvah site.. After watching that site again I made an attempt. He demonstrated in a very nice way. What he told about aeration has worked out for me. Vadas has come very soft and fluffy. My friend Kalyani told me to mix chopped onions, ginger, and coriander leaves. The taste is good. But still shape of the vada was not good.In the forth trail when I made for Pongal gathering … I was able to dip the batter in his way. That made me happy. Now I am confident in making vadas. Click on this link to watch his video. Type "Medu Vada" in his 'Recipe Search'. Try making vadas after watching his video.

Sanjay Thumma- Redefining Indian Food Teaches self-catering.

2008-01-30T05:45:00.000-08:00

Sanjay Thumma- Redefining Indian Food Teaches self-catering.
The Indian Chef is now a Million Hit Net Wonder!
What made him a phenomenon in such a short time? He even had to upgrade his web servers to cope with the deluge! Yes he is different. How different? To know firsthand you must log on to his site www.vahrehvah.com.
But let me continue, there you will see hundreds of very high quality web videos, many of them guarded top recipes straight from the kitchens of highly acclaimed and world famous "seven" star restaurants. Equally presented are many secret "Home Cooking" recipes from the kitchens of moms and grandmas. These videos became such a big hit in the net, even India' NO.1. news portal in the web decided to invite him to be a content partner and his Lemon Rice recipe received 10,000 instant hit on their homepage. The step by step details shown in these videos and the many intricate "secrets" revealed along the way has created many fans among the net generation, who is after him asking for more!
Where does he come from and what makes him click? Here is what I found out-
Sanjay has graduated from India's Top "the Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition".
He Won the prestigious Gold Medal All-India competition for culinary arts for his Recipes.
Been "Chef"ing in "7 Star Hotel Restaurants" serving Heads of the Nations, at Delhi.
He is a computer techie. Created his own Digital Video Studio. Licensed to fly solo.
He is not only a great chef but a connoisseur. Passed out from nations top Management Institute (Welcomgroup Management Institute)
Now, let me go into the details...
Indian food has never hit as high a peak as it is doing today. There is a great fan-following as well. Many new Indian restaurants are showing up all over the world but many of them with a standardized Indian Menu without many choices.
Enter Sanjay Thumma. A rising bet on the food market. This story goes beyond accomplishments. It goes on to pre-view the fact that he has outgrown many admirable
milestones to spill over into the world canvas. And even that somehow sizzles. Many professional chefs have contributed by writing books and doing shows. But I get this feeling in my gut that this time he has the formula to put it all together. You can get fragments of putting together Indian food from You tube, Google or browsing the shelves at "Borders". But then you crave to get it all in one place. Your couch..
I had a chance to meet this phenomenon called Sanjay Thumma recently when I was hunting for advances on great, authentic, Indian fare. As the world does these days, I headed to my address book and contacted the Mid-West food gurus and heard the new buzz surrounding this gourmet guy. Some thing is in the air they said. So like any self-respecting journalist I decided to check my facts on this other buzz called Google.com . And Lo and behold!! I quickly set up an appointment to meet face-to-face because this promised to scream for really big attention on the food channels.
If you have been googling food and food videos or if you are an ardent food enthusiast and love experimenting anything Indian in your kitchen at home, I suspect this story will only help sI had a chance to meet this phenomenon called Sanjay Thumma recently when I was hunting for advances on great, authentic, Indian fare. As the world does these days, I headed to my address book and contacted the Mid-West food gurus and heard the new buzz surrounding this gourmet guy. Some thing is in the air they said. So like any self-respecting journalist I decided to check my facts on this other buzz called Google.com . And Lo and behold!! I quickly set up an appointment to meet face-to-face because this promised to scream for really big attention on the food channels.ubstantiate what you already know and add to the buzz that had existed as a beta out there for a little while now.
It is called www.vahrehvah.com Your ultimate destination on the web for anything that is culinary or culinary Indian on the world-wide-web.
I quickly fixed a date and time and waded my way through four cameras, the maze of wires and stacks of recording equipment at his set in the heart of down-town Chicago. I wondered if I had come to the wrong place. The strains of someone faintly singing wafted through the outer receptacle. I quickly recognized the Bhairavi from "Shankarabharanam".
"So this is what you have been up to", I told the culinary sensation when I finally dragged him away from the hustle and bustle of the spanking new culinary studio.
"What was with the music"? I asked him as we sank into a sofa nearby.
"Oh it helps me relax between shoots" he tells me. I raise my eye-brows.
I can actually smell the rise of stardom. I can smell that over the other aroma in the air. Somewhere in my sub-conscience I am also distracted by the aroma of garlic swimming in traces of chili and curry leaves .
"What's cooking?"I asked Sanjay.
"Oh I am trying to selling the world on healthy, authentic and fresh cooking with fresh ingredients and today it was "Chicken 65" which I just finished demonstrating and recording", he says with a faint smile.
I am tempted to ask him if I can stay back for lunch. He eases my discomfort.
"Would you like to stay and get a taste of the fiery Chicken 65?" he volunteers.
The "Sure" came out faster than I intended.
We walked past a sound engineer lost in adjusting what seemed like a million dials on a computer monitor and sat down to a simple meal of white rice, yellow dal, Egg Pulusu and a very large tub of Yogurt. I later found out that this gourmet likes to eat simple food with his trademark generous scoops of yogurt.
"Why so much yogurt?" I ask.
"Oh, we grew up on it at home" he volunteers. It turns out that the home of this fantastic cook has roots in yogurt-lovingwww.vahrehvah.com Hyderabad in the Southern, Deccan plateau of India. In the heat of Hyderabadi summers where he grew up, yogurt pretty much starts and ends lunch and dinner I find out.
"So where did you get your inspiration to cook?" I gush. I want to know what makes this man ? or any great chef for that matter, to devote a entire life and what they do to a passion such as what goes on over a hot, burning, uncomfortable stove.
"That would be my mom", he says. It turns out that Sanjay eagerly jumped into the kitchen at a tender age of 8 when his favourite person and his mother - the chef in his life; was hospitalized for a month. He jumped right in and took over. I was amazed. I learned that he was learning how to make rice, basic dal, vegetable preparations and even chappatis at 8 years of age!
It naturally led to a passion to make it to Culinary school. In 1989, the Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition" ? a large name for an institute I must admit ? was a rather difficult place to get admission. Approximately few 100 thousand aspirants all over India battled a written exam and then went through the coals by a very determined, famed and respected author called Thangam Philip who was one of many on the selection panel who in the midst of squinting, analyzing and grilling youngsters, decided on 900 of them that would make it to go through a gruelling culinary course and join the glamorous profession. I somehow felt that in the depths of a kitchen or in the nooks of a hotel room all glamour becomes work. How else would you explain the passion of the hospitality crowd?
"So tell me more about life at Culinary school?" I am eager to know.
"3 years of basic, quantity and exquisite, specialized cooking eventually in the final year" I learn. That is amidst hard and long hours with hands-on field experience in 7-star kitchens across the country. The whole thing is administered by the Ministry of tourism which at that time was nudging the Hotel Industry to churn out world-class products to put Indian hospitality on show at the world stage.
Sanjay was an amazing product of the Food-production lab. A friend and old time colleague who was watching his production unfold on the set tells me that Sanjay was a bit of an extrovert - jovial, enthusiastic, hard working academic who not only went on to win the gold medal in 1991 at an All-India competition for culinary arts with a dazzling array of original recipes but then also managed to come out right on top when he got selected from among thousands of campus and other applicants to join the prestigious "Welcome Group Management school" with its haloed portals and training labs located within the revered portals of the 7-star "Maurya Sheraton" in New Delhi.
Much of what he teaches the world and dishes out as fare at his restaurants was learned at the feet of renowned Chefs and tried and tested on elite guests that frequent Delhi?s Maurya Sheraton (Bill Clinton was apparently a fan?.all presidents from G8?.wow!). he quiet calmly tells me that the high point of his career was making the simple and humble omlette ? for none other than 7 heads of nations at a G15 summit in New Delhi. Whew! And later at the 5 star property of the group at Park Sheraton in Chennai. A lot more got added along the way when he moved to other properties within the group like the Rajputana Sheraton in Rajasthan and the Moghul Sheraton at Agra. The last pit stop was at the Welcome Group property at Vadodara. Moving to Chicago in 1997 set Sanjay up on the ramp to much bigger things when in 2 short years he wowed Chicago with what would be billed as the most authentic taste of India in the chain of restaurants that he set up. He decided to elevate his status from chain restaurateur and decided to take an early retirement.
I could have laughed. Geniuses do not retire. They take long business-plan vacations. One lazy morning he woke up to put his dreams into a studio of all things. Complete with camera, lights, wires and plenty of action.
Restauranting is limiting to an extent. It takes every moment of your waking day leaving very little time for new things. So I am not very surprised at Sanjay?s shift to something much bigger on the world stage.
The dawn of the internet has made a few stars out of ordinary people with access to a decent camera, and bandwidth to the great www. The sprouting of YouTUBE and the social network has every enthusiast searching for answers out there.
It was only a natural progression to see this gourmet hit the airwaves with all guns blazing. On September 10, his gourmet site went into a soft launch. Vahrehvah.com has the potential to shake up the Internet food portals like no other Food site has.
We were interrupted (TWICE!) Once by an international phone call. It was an excited young desi viewer from Germany who called to tell him that she loved his show. I was not surprised. Then he gets a call from Dubai. I smile. "Move to Hollywood" I tell him. It would suit the lifestyle. He shrugs it off.
I spent a couple of hours on the site this afternoon and the layout and design is built intuitively with allocated space for recipes classified by their origin and place on the food chart as well as by course on the menu. So for instance if you were to have a craving for Shahi Nizami cuisine and had some Chicken in the freezer and felt like making a lip-smacking entree out of it, all you have to do is access vahrehvah.com and search by chicken for an entree and Voila! You not only have the detailed recipe and cooking method and ingredients listed out but the amazing thing is you also have a video demonstration of the dish being prepared in Sanjay's chirpy and laughingly humorous manner. That is what is interesting too.
I am an amateur cook myself who loves experimenting with odds and ends in the kitchen and sometimes I fancy walking into my kingdom and churning out a Nizami delicacy. What I like about Sanjay's site is that the video actually takes me through a step-by-step process to explain exactly how to go about a www.vahrehvah.com acomplishing this. For someone like me-and for you too I am sure, looking at it being prepared tells you exactly when to throw onions into the pan or why does mustard have to crackle or even what exactly goes into the Tandoori Masala you go and buy at the store. To me that rocks! It quite simply allows Mr. Nobody to impress friends and family with learnings from a gourmet. Suddenly I am chef somebody and my kids love it. I dare say I even have my wife talking about it with her girlfriends.
"So what are the plans for the future?" I want to know. "Are you going to be on Oprah?"
He smiles. "A long way to go", he tells me . The plan is the way most websites go. It's a free lunch for now. Literally!!! His pal having lunch with us said "Well free for now". But Sanjay shot me a glance. "I will keep it free for always he says". I have my doubts. It is a large venture with real costs for electricity, ingredients and manpower, hosting and development for the website and constant maintenance. Its a tall order to keep it free. Sanjay wants to eventually do DVDs next year to generate a revenue stream. But for now, you are in control. You want your lunch free, log on, register and enjoy it while it's still free out there. Sanjay hopes to perhaps get food majors and constituents interested enough to allow him to keep the venture free.
His true passion is to get the word out about how we can cook and eat healthier with fresh food and authentic recipes. What I truly like about the site also is that it is participative. It does not lock the user out. In fact it locks them in. They register, they get hooked on his easy style and humor and ability to laugh at himself. Before they know it they are enthusiastically commenting and he is inviting them to post their own recipes on the site. A separate section on the website allows the user to claim their own spot of fame by posting recipes and videos that contribute to even more participation from fellow users. "This is going to be a food community soon" I inform him.
"I know", he says.
It was irresistible. I had to go back and see what was being made today. So here I am. I am going home to try and make the Dum ka Murg tonite. The aroma on the set got to me. It looks good on the site when it was uploaded. Maybe I need to pick up some Dalchini on the way home. Thanks to Sanjay I know it's not going to be authentic without these seeds of Cassia. And now this amateur chef is empowered!
Go check it out yourself. And you will be too!
2/12/2007 by Joseph R Lima

KQED Food Blog: Bay Area Bites: Indian Food on YouTube: The Vah Reh Vah Chef#comments

2008-01-01T05:48:00.000-08:00

KQED Food Blog: Bay Area Bites: Indian Food on YouTube: The Vah Reh Vah Chef#comments
It's refreshing to watch someone demonstrate mouth-watering dishes with uninhibited joy, a matter-of-fact globalism and minimal make-up. It helps that I love so many cuisines in India, but what immediately appealed to me is his stance as a teacher. It's a very different experience to learn about traditional foods from someone who assumes, from the beginning, that his audience is not comprised of outsiders. Like a student whose teacher sets high expectations, viewers and home cooks rise to the challenge.His balance of expert advice with friendly reassurance is neither oversimplified nor condescending. He's a professional who knows his stuff, yet he doesn't gleam with that over-polished, over-packaged look of television. Each video, from 2 to 10 minutes, covers one specific dish -- just enough for a mouth-watering work break if not dinner inspiration. Don't expect super-high production value. Two still cameras and a complete lack of location shots does not a sexy food show make. But what Thumma's demos lack in glamour, he more than makes up with passionate enthusiasm (a taste of Hydrabadi mutton biryani literally brings him to tears), humor and generosity. Both veg and non-veg recipes appear in his demos, and he discusses the food of diverse communities across India.Thumma seamlessly blends traditional techniques and modern adaptations. His simple yet brilliant two-step rice cooking for biryani ensures perfectly cooked basmati throughout the pot. His secret ingredient for butter chicken reveals the wonderful ways that food crisscrosses the oceans. Mentioning Indian restaurant cooks in the U.S. and England, Thumma holds up a bottle of "tomato ketchup" and squirts some into his sauce to finish it with just the right texture and tangy flavor.While cooks already familiar with basic Indian spices will have a headstart, the demonstrations are geared to beginners, whether you're mixing your first raita, simmering a batch of comforting chana masala, making your own herb-infused paneer or--for the ambitious--rolling and stretching roomali roti to serve with kebabs. There are many, many cooks demonstrating recipes on YouTube. I'm looking forward to watching the better ones emerge as new stars of the wide, wild culinary world.
Labels: india, recipes, thy tran, video, youtube

chicken tikka masala video recipe

2007-11-15T06:20:00.000-08:00

More Indian cooking recipe videos at www.vahrehvah.com

The origins of chicken tikka masala are disputed. At least one source has the dish originating in New Delhi in 1947[3], but it also has been suggested that chicken tikka masala originated from the kitchens of Bangladeshi chefs in the UK,[4][5] with many restaurants throughout the country claiming to have invented it. The recipe's age is also unproven, with claims ranging from the 1970s back to the 1950s.[1]
A widely reported explanation of the origins of the dish is that it was conceived in an Indian restaurant in Glasgow in the late 1960s, when a customer, who found the traditional chicken tikka too dry, asked for some "gravy".[1] The chef improvised a sauce from tomato soup, yogurt and spices.[2]
Another theory is that it originated in British India to adapt local dishes to the British palate. A prototype may be Murgh Makhni (butter chicken), a dish from the Punjab region of India. (wikepida) cooking video by sanjay thumma

spring roll recipe video

2007-11-13T03:28:00.000-08:00

For more Indian cooking videos log in at www.vahrehvah.com
Spring rolls are fried pastries that can be found in several Asian countries, most notably China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia . The Chinese Eggroll differs from the Chinese Springroll, however other cultures do not necessarily have both variants of the Eggroll or Springroll. However, since both the eggrolls and springrolls do use egg in its content, the word "Eggroll" isn't necessarily incorrect. Some spring/summer roll wrapper are made out of rice, as well as some egg roll wrapper is wheat-based. Some vary based on culture and individual choice.
Spring rolls are usually eaten during the Spring Festival in China, hence the name. However, that does not necessarily apply to the other cultures who have their own version of the Eggroll/Spring Roll. This is why there is a confusion to the English translation of Spring Rolls/Egg Rolls/Summer Rolls.(wikepedia)
the recipe shown here is the Indo-Chinese version -videos by sanjay thumma vahchef

Malai Kofta recipe video

2007-11-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

no more boring recipes , now enjoy free cooking videos
secrets behind cooking silky sauce malai kofta---answered , cook and enjoy this tasty dish , you can also visit www.vahrehvah.com for more video recipes by sanjay thumma

vahrehvah.com vahrehvah 46th most subscribed site on youtube

2007-10-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

2007-10-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

2007-10-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

53rd Most subscribed youtube channel

2007-10-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

Dear friends WWW.vahrehvah.com is 53rd most subscribed channel on youtube for the month of september

thanks to you all food lovers

Cooking Videos Free To Download

2007-10-06T04:48:00.000-07:00