Haven't tried anything significant in the kitchen in the last week.. not been keeping too well.. so here's something from a chit of paper my mom had given me, her all time hit - 'Atte ke ladoo' (So now I can throw away the chit of paper!)
You need:
900 gm wheat flour (preferred - punjabi atta)
500 gms pure ghee
25 gms ilaichis
1 whole jaiphal / nutmeg
Approx 150 gms badam
25 gms khus khus
500 gms powdered sugar
Fry / cook the atta in ghee until brown. (I prefer roasting atta seperately till 3/4th cooked and then frying in ghee. You may need a bit less ghee then..)
Switch off the gas and then add the remaining ingredients (except sugar) and mix well.
When cooled, add powdered sugar and shape into ladoos!
Enjoy
-Naina
P.S. Mom in law's made some yummy besan ke ladoo this week, with less ghee.. need the take the measurements from her and post it!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Bombay Khandvi
Make this amazing snack earlier this week! It turned out just perfect.. Its from a Nita Mehta recipe book I bought last week.. After so many tries, finally managed to make perfect khandvi.. I really love this, and I've even had patra and khandvi for lunch!!
You need:
1/2 cup besan
3/4 cup curds
3/4 cup water
1 pinch of asafoetida
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 green chilli crushed (I used some red chilli powder instead)
Salt to taste
1 tbsp mustard seeds
Some til seeds
Mix the besan, curd and water to a smooth paste. Microwave at 80% power for 4 minutes. I stirred once in between.
Then add the turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, chillies and salt and microwave on full power for 3 minutes or untill thick. 3 minutes was just perfect for me.
Then, spread very quickly on a greased plastic sheet.. or easier... on a slightly greased steel dinner plate. I use a flat wooden spoon to spread it. It's got to be spread before it starts cooling, else it'll set in the cooking vessel.
You may need 2-3 plates to spread the whole mixture. Let it cool and set. Should take 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small microwavable bowl, heat oil for 2 minutes. Add musturd seeds and heat for 2 minutes. Then add the asafoetida and til seeds and heat for another minute or so until done.
Once the spread mixture is cool, make slices of 1 inch thickness, and fold and roll.. (for a novice.. its like folding normal tissue paper into a toilet roll kind of shape!!)
The tempering can be put on the mixture before rolling or after making the rolls too.. The rolls can be garnished with freshly chopped coriander leaves and fresh grated coconut. (I didn't do that though..)
It was perfect.. hubby's expression said it all!
-Naina
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Quick Raitha
What if you see unexpected guests?You are going to serve them Rotis Sabsi,Dal Rice?Is tahta ll?
Here is what you can do additionally.
Incase you have a packet of kurkure/twisters/namkeens etc.Here is what you can do.
Ingredients
Curd
Jeera Powder
Amchur powder
Salt
Sugar
Red chilly Powder
Break the dahi and add all the ingredients.Mix well.
Just before Serving,add the kurkure/chips and serve as raitha.Believe me people loved it!!
Bon Appétit
Ash
Here is what you can do additionally.
Incase you have a packet of kurkure/twisters/namkeens etc.Here is what you can do.
Ingredients
Curd
Jeera Powder
Amchur powder
Salt
Sugar
Red chilly Powder
Break the dahi and add all the ingredients.Mix well.
Just before Serving,add the kurkure/chips and serve as raitha.Believe me people loved it!!
Bon Appétit
Ash
Paneer Gravy
Very Simple dish and was highly appreciated by all today:))True Punjabi flavour made me say haay rabba after having this
Ingredients
Paneer Sliced
Chopped onion
Tomatoe Puree
Ginger garlic Paste
Ajwain
Jeera
Red chilly paste
Garam Msala
Salt
Milk+ cream
Fry onions in oil till golden brown.Add Ginger garlic Paste,Ajawain,Jeera,chily powder and garm masala.Cook for sometime and then blend in blender.
Once blended put it in the pan again and add tomato Puree,salt,Milk Cream
Add paneer and cook for sometime
Serve hot with Parathas or chapatis.
Chef's Tip:You can also add Badishep(Saunf)Powder while frying onions for additional flavour
Bon Appétit
Ash
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Garlicy Baked Fries
Tried Purple foodie's Garlicy Baked Fries yesterday for dinner, paired it up with Khichdi and soup.. It came out nice, tasty and crispy, and disappeared very fast! Hubby loved it too :)
I preheated my microwave convection to 210 degree C. That's the max temperature it can enter!
I took 3 potatoes and cut them into wedges. Then took 6-8 garlic cloves and 1 tsp of black pepper and ground them. Cooked this ground stuff in 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, and added the potatoes and salt to taste. Covered and cooked for 3-5 mins. Then arranged it all on the borosil glass wide vessel that I have. Baked (on convection) for 10 minutes. Then turned all the pieces and it for 10-15 mins till nicely brown and crisp!
It sure was yumm.. The 3 potatoes seemed too less...Hubby could've eaten them all..
-Naina
I preheated my microwave convection to 210 degree C. That's the max temperature it can enter!
I took 3 potatoes and cut them into wedges. Then took 6-8 garlic cloves and 1 tsp of black pepper and ground them. Cooked this ground stuff in 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, and added the potatoes and salt to taste. Covered and cooked for 3-5 mins. Then arranged it all on the borosil glass wide vessel that I have. Baked (on convection) for 10 minutes. Then turned all the pieces and it for 10-15 mins till nicely brown and crisp!
It sure was yumm.. The 3 potatoes seemed too less...Hubby could've eaten them all..
-Naina
Friday, October 30, 2009
A great day in the kitchen!
Well..had a great time today.. Made perfect (well.. almost..) Gulab Jamuns from scratch.. for the Indian Cooking Challenge..
Mom in law made some awesome pav bhaji too.. loaded with butter here :) And believe me, she doesn't need to use pav bhaji masala, her own masalas are enough
Gulab Jamuns turned out the authentic Sindhi ones that I love (since I was born a Sindhi..)
Followed Alka's recipe, which goes thus..
"For sugar syrup:
Ingredients:
Sugar - 500 gms (This can be reduced as per taste)
Water - 1 & 1/2 cup (bit more or less)
Cardamom - 2-3
One spoon of milk (optional)
Few threads of saffron (optional)
2-3 drops of rosewater (optional but highly recommended)
Method:
Mix about 500 gms of white sugar in one and half cup water and keep it for boiling.
Add a spoonful of milk to remove the impurities (impurities if any, will form a scum on surface)
Add 2-3 green cardamoms also in syrup for strong flavor, and a tad of saffron strings (optional)
Boil until you get just a tad sticky syrup. Gulab Jamun syrup is not very dense nor too dilute as in Rasgulla
Strain the syrup, add rosewater when syrup is slightly cooled.
Always remember two things while using rose water, do not add it while syrup is bubbling hot or on fire, and be particular about the quantity mentioned in every recipe, since even few drops of excess rosewater could lend a bitter taste to the final product.
For Gulab Jamun:
Ingredients:
Unsweetened Maawa* - 250 gms
All purpose flour - 1 & 1/2 - 2 tsp
Cornflour - 1 tsp
Green cardamom - 1-2 crushed
Oil for shallow frying
* (khoya-the condensed milk thickened till it turns into moist dough, preferably made from cow’s milk, also known as Hariyali mawa)
Method:
Mix all the ingredients in a wide mixing bowl until soft textured dough is obtained (keep mixing until it is really soft)
Make very small sized balls (bit larger than pebbles) as they swell up after frying and soaking in syrup
Make sure that the surface of dough balls is really smooth without any cracks. In case the cracks refuse to go away, slightly wet your palms with water and roll the flour till absolutely smooth.
Now take little oil for frying in preferably flat bottomed pan, and heat the oil. But gulab jamuns are to be fried on LOW FLAME or else the surface will be browned while the core will remain uncooked. Some prefer to place an unsalted pistachio in the center of every gulab jamun while making balls, that way the core of gulab jamun is not left uncooked .
Fry one or 2 gulab jamuns at a time and always remember to STIR THE OIL with slotted spoon AND NOT TO TOUCH GULABJAMUNS, which means keep swirling the oil without tossing or turning gulab jamun.
Fry till light brown in colour, remove on tissue paper and repeat the procedure with rest of dough.
Now soak these in COOL syrup for few hours. They will surely swell up
These can be stored in the same syrup till consumed
If there are cracks in the balls before frying it will burst open while frying, in that case adding a bit of cornflour will surely help
You can enjoy it hot or cold ,either way it is delicious"
My experience:
First thing.. mom in law was there to guide me on intuitive things.. cos I rely a lot on her experience!
I took less than 1/2 the quantity
Sugar syrup - Took 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water and boiled it. Didn't need to add milk to clean the syrup. Added cardamom powder, and the flavor's so good, that I've not yet added rose water.. may be I'll add it later..
I'd made mawa from 1 lt milk reduced by 2 tea cups, day before yesterday.. (can't make mawa and gulab jamuns in one go, cos of routine office and house work.)
Took that mawa from the fridge, added 1.5 tsp cornflour and 1 tsp maida and kneaded it till it got soft and smooth. Added some cardamom powder to this dough. Then rolled it into small 'pebble' size balls - they just didn't crack at all
Then deep fried it in ghee in a kadhai, stirring continuously. Well, Alka says not to touch the gulab jams, but I kept stirring them all the time!! Cooked 4-5 at a time, at a very low flame till nice and brown and soaked in the sugar syrup.. and ready to eat in 1/2 an hour.
I guess, they are just a little bit hard right now (still may be to soak more syrup overnight), but the moment I microwaved them for 10 secs, they got real spongy and yummy..
So far, one of the easiest (like a breeze) and best cooking experience.. Thanks ICC!!
-Naina
Mom in law made some awesome pav bhaji too.. loaded with butter here :) And believe me, she doesn't need to use pav bhaji masala, her own masalas are enough
Gulab Jamuns turned out the authentic Sindhi ones that I love (since I was born a Sindhi..)
Followed Alka's recipe, which goes thus..
"For sugar syrup:
Ingredients:
Sugar - 500 gms (This can be reduced as per taste)
Water - 1 & 1/2 cup (bit more or less)
Cardamom - 2-3
One spoon of milk (optional)
Few threads of saffron (optional)
2-3 drops of rosewater (optional but highly recommended)
Method:
Mix about 500 gms of white sugar in one and half cup water and keep it for boiling.
Add a spoonful of milk to remove the impurities (impurities if any, will form a scum on surface)
Add 2-3 green cardamoms also in syrup for strong flavor, and a tad of saffron strings (optional)
Boil until you get just a tad sticky syrup. Gulab Jamun syrup is not very dense nor too dilute as in Rasgulla
Strain the syrup, add rosewater when syrup is slightly cooled.
Always remember two things while using rose water, do not add it while syrup is bubbling hot or on fire, and be particular about the quantity mentioned in every recipe, since even few drops of excess rosewater could lend a bitter taste to the final product.
For Gulab Jamun:
Ingredients:
Unsweetened Maawa* - 250 gms
All purpose flour - 1 & 1/2 - 2 tsp
Cornflour - 1 tsp
Green cardamom - 1-2 crushed
Oil for shallow frying
* (khoya-the condensed milk thickened till it turns into moist dough, preferably made from cow’s milk, also known as Hariyali mawa)
Method:
Mix all the ingredients in a wide mixing bowl until soft textured dough is obtained (keep mixing until it is really soft)
Make very small sized balls (bit larger than pebbles) as they swell up after frying and soaking in syrup
Make sure that the surface of dough balls is really smooth without any cracks. In case the cracks refuse to go away, slightly wet your palms with water and roll the flour till absolutely smooth.
Now take little oil for frying in preferably flat bottomed pan, and heat the oil. But gulab jamuns are to be fried on LOW FLAME or else the surface will be browned while the core will remain uncooked. Some prefer to place an unsalted pistachio in the center of every gulab jamun while making balls, that way the core of gulab jamun is not left uncooked .
Fry one or 2 gulab jamuns at a time and always remember to STIR THE OIL with slotted spoon AND NOT TO TOUCH GULABJAMUNS, which means keep swirling the oil without tossing or turning gulab jamun.
Fry till light brown in colour, remove on tissue paper and repeat the procedure with rest of dough.
Now soak these in COOL syrup for few hours. They will surely swell up
These can be stored in the same syrup till consumed
If there are cracks in the balls before frying it will burst open while frying, in that case adding a bit of cornflour will surely help
You can enjoy it hot or cold ,either way it is delicious"
My experience:
First thing.. mom in law was there to guide me on intuitive things.. cos I rely a lot on her experience!
I took less than 1/2 the quantity
Sugar syrup - Took 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water and boiled it. Didn't need to add milk to clean the syrup. Added cardamom powder, and the flavor's so good, that I've not yet added rose water.. may be I'll add it later..
I'd made mawa from 1 lt milk reduced by 2 tea cups, day before yesterday.. (can't make mawa and gulab jamuns in one go, cos of routine office and house work.)
Took that mawa from the fridge, added 1.5 tsp cornflour and 1 tsp maida and kneaded it till it got soft and smooth. Added some cardamom powder to this dough. Then rolled it into small 'pebble' size balls - they just didn't crack at all
Then deep fried it in ghee in a kadhai, stirring continuously. Well, Alka says not to touch the gulab jams, but I kept stirring them all the time!! Cooked 4-5 at a time, at a very low flame till nice and brown and soaked in the sugar syrup.. and ready to eat in 1/2 an hour.
I guess, they are just a little bit hard right now (still may be to soak more syrup overnight), but the moment I microwaved them for 10 secs, they got real spongy and yummy..
So far, one of the easiest (like a breeze) and best cooking experience.. Thanks ICC!!
-Naina
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Some cookbooks and fish curry - Crossed a century too
This blog has finished 100 posts.. without me realising it !! :) Yippee
...Back to my post..
There's this book exhibition going around near my place in my Mumbai suburb.. I surely enjoy so many books... Read '2 States' by Chetan Bhagat in 1/2 a day.. (rather night) pre Diwali.. now, Monica's got for me 'The Secret'.. and I purchased 3 cook books today!!!
I'm quite used to reading Nita Mehta's recipes, cos I had (mom still has) plenty of the small cook books of hers before my marriage, and have experimented a lots of paneer and other stuff on my brother.. Bottom line.. I like the way she explains in the books. One is on microwave recipes (everyone at home wanted this one..), and the other on cakes.. I wanted something Indian to refer to..
The 3rd book is 'Cakes & Bakes 500' by Martha Day.. seems like a lovely bible on baking.. :) Makes me really happy..
So, got back home a bit late, and mom in law was preparing for fish.. our usual one.. Just the fish breed changes, the gravy's the same, and the tastes of different breeds differ like east and west..
(sorry.. pic's not too presentable.. but the fish was mostly head pieces.. not attractive to take pics of! Will post a pic of the next make sometime later)
You need..
1/4 of a whole dry coconut (sukha khopra) - roasted to black, chopped and ground.. u can refer here..
6-8 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece ginger
1 small onion
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tsp sunday masala - this is prepared by my mil, and a similar thing is available in some local masala shops.. but no hygiene there...else you can take a mixture of garam masala powder and red chilli powder
Grind all these ingredients with enough water to get a fine paste.. like this
Heat lots of oil (say 3 tbsp) in a kadhai. Add methi (fenugreek) seeds, and when they are brown, add the masala and cook till oil seperates.. Add some water and cook if needed. Then add the cleaned fish pieces,let the masala coat it, add enough water to make a nice gravy.. we make it a thin gravy type. Add salt and cook for 5-10 mins. Finally add some kokam pieces and garnish with chopped coriander.. Yummy..
-Naina
...Back to my post..
There's this book exhibition going around near my place in my Mumbai suburb.. I surely enjoy so many books... Read '2 States' by Chetan Bhagat in 1/2 a day.. (rather night) pre Diwali.. now, Monica's got for me 'The Secret'.. and I purchased 3 cook books today!!!
I'm quite used to reading Nita Mehta's recipes, cos I had (mom still has) plenty of the small cook books of hers before my marriage, and have experimented a lots of paneer and other stuff on my brother.. Bottom line.. I like the way she explains in the books. One is on microwave recipes (everyone at home wanted this one..), and the other on cakes.. I wanted something Indian to refer to..
The 3rd book is 'Cakes & Bakes 500' by Martha Day.. seems like a lovely bible on baking.. :) Makes me really happy..
So, got back home a bit late, and mom in law was preparing for fish.. our usual one.. Just the fish breed changes, the gravy's the same, and the tastes of different breeds differ like east and west..
(sorry.. pic's not too presentable.. but the fish was mostly head pieces.. not attractive to take pics of! Will post a pic of the next make sometime later)
You need..
1/4 of a whole dry coconut (sukha khopra) - roasted to black, chopped and ground.. u can refer here..
6-8 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece ginger
1 small onion
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tsp sunday masala - this is prepared by my mil, and a similar thing is available in some local masala shops.. but no hygiene there...else you can take a mixture of garam masala powder and red chilli powder
Grind all these ingredients with enough water to get a fine paste.. like this
Heat lots of oil (say 3 tbsp) in a kadhai. Add methi (fenugreek) seeds, and when they are brown, add the masala and cook till oil seperates.. Add some water and cook if needed. Then add the cleaned fish pieces,let the masala coat it, add enough water to make a nice gravy.. we make it a thin gravy type. Add salt and cook for 5-10 mins. Finally add some kokam pieces and garnish with chopped coriander.. Yummy..
-Naina
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Karanji & Besan Ladu
These are my mom in laws belated Diwali sweets!! She's a super chef! And she's fully supportive and excited for the Indian Cooking Challenge tasks.
We'll, I've told her to write down the recipes, and I'll put them in the blog then.. may take a while.. :) Meanwhile.. have a look .. 2 ladus and a karanji
-Naina
We'll, I've told her to write down the recipes, and I'll put them in the blog then.. may take a while.. :) Meanwhile.. have a look .. 2 ladus and a karanji
-Naina
Masala Mushroom & Vegies
Tried out a simple variation in Masala Mushrooms...
Added a handful of green peas, and 1 medium potato (finely chopped)..
Had to pressure cook it till 4 whistles..
Yummy.. No doubt..
-Naina
P.S.. Notice the latest few pics :) New digi cam :) :)
Added a handful of green peas, and 1 medium potato (finely chopped)..
Had to pressure cook it till 4 whistles..
Yummy.. No doubt..
-Naina
P.S.. Notice the latest few pics :) New digi cam :) :)
Mawa
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Hyderabadi Egg Curry
Here's some lovely egg curry I made.. took this recipe from PrasuKitchen
Ingredients:
1 Onion Sliced (I took 2 onions)
1 Tsp red Chilly Powder
1/2 Tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 Tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 Tsp Cumin Powder
Cilantro Leaves For Garnishing
1 Tsp Yogurt (I took 2-3 tsps)
1 Tsp Kasoori Methi .
Salt-To Taste
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Turmeric-Pinch
Paste:
1 small Onion
1 Inch ginger
Garlic Few pods
1 Tsp Yogurt
1 stick Cinnamon
3 Cardamoms
3 Cloves
1 Tomato
2 Tbsp Cashewnuts
Directions To Prepare:
1) Boil 6 eggs , make slits on each Egg (I took 8 eggs)
2) Add oil in a Pan Add Onions Fry until brown Add Paste and fry until Oil seperates
3) Add Red Chilly Powder,Turmeric,Coriander Powder,cumin Powder
4) Add eggs So that its coated well with the Masala Stuff
5) Add salt ,Garam Masala at the end and Garnish with Cilantro And add Kasoori Methi Which adds great taste to the Curry .
Enjoy
-Naina
Ingredients:
1 Onion Sliced (I took 2 onions)
1 Tsp red Chilly Powder
1/2 Tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 Tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 Tsp Cumin Powder
Cilantro Leaves For Garnishing
1 Tsp Yogurt (I took 2-3 tsps)
1 Tsp Kasoori Methi .
Salt-To Taste
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Turmeric-Pinch
Paste:
1 small Onion
1 Inch ginger
Garlic Few pods
1 Tsp Yogurt
1 stick Cinnamon
3 Cardamoms
3 Cloves
1 Tomato
2 Tbsp Cashewnuts
Directions To Prepare:
1) Boil 6 eggs , make slits on each Egg (I took 8 eggs)
2) Add oil in a Pan Add Onions Fry until brown Add Paste and fry until Oil seperates
3) Add Red Chilly Powder,Turmeric,Coriander Powder,cumin Powder
4) Add eggs So that its coated well with the Masala Stuff
5) Add salt ,Garam Masala at the end and Garnish with Cilantro And add Kasoori Methi Which adds great taste to the Curry .
Enjoy
-Naina
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Happy Diwali !!
Happy Diwali to everyone..
Well.. this one's going to be a really long post.. Great celebrations, meeting relatives, painting diyas (one of my fav hobbies).. and tons of cooking.. - lots of snacks and sweets!!
To start with..
Some Rangoli I made..
Some Diyas I painted..
Here's all the snacks we made (recipes at the end)
Some Pedha I made..
This one was really simple.. I had 200 gms of sweetened condensed milk with me.. added to it one heaped cup milk powder.. 3/4 cup milk, 3-4 tsps sugar.. some cardamom powder and 1/4 cup butter.. put all of this in a microwaveable deep dish, and microwaved for 5 minutes, stirring after every minute. Allow it to cool and roll into pedhas.. really tasty.. and extremely easy.. Turned out like the malai pedhas you get..If you want firmer pedhas, you can perhaps skip the milk..
My mom in laws Diwali special snacks..
The rectangular ones are 'Cheesy Peas Puff Pastries'
For the stuffing.. Take heat some oil, add jeera, crushed green peas and seasonings of your choice.. like turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, garam masala and lots of chaat masala.. After cooking it, remove it from the gas, and add grated cheese. Keep aside.
For the covering.. Knead a crumbling dough of maida in oil.. Add salt..Knead with enough water to get a dough like for poori.. Now.. the secret to puff pastry.. Roll a large chapati, fold into half.. again fold into half, so you get a 1/4 looking chapati.. While you were folding, stick the chapati with a paste of ghee and cornflour. Now, roll up the 1/4 looking chapati, you'll get a cylinder.. Cut this cylinder into 4-5 pieces. Each piece is to be rolled into a poori, place the stuffing (similar to Karanji) and fold the poori into half.. stick the edges, and cut the edges into desired shape. Then deep fry in oil.. (Hope I've explained properly.. was too busy with Diwali preparations to take pics of the process...)
The other one is 'Tortillas'..
You need black gram dough, but we just used gram dough.. added seasonings.. like salt, chilli powder, and kneaded with some oil and enough water to get a poori type dough.. Roll into a chapati.. stick some coriander leaves and cumin seeds on the chapati and lighty roll it to stick them.. Then, cut into 8 pieces.. (1 lenghtwise cut, 1 horizontal cut, and 2 diagonal cuts.. ) and deep fry in oil..
Hubby made some 'Dahi Boondi' :)
Here are all the recipes for the variety in the snack tray..
Chakli (Bhajni chi)
Its in the centre of the snack tray..
This is Chakli pic taken while frying :)
500 gms Bhajni Chakli atta (got the ready atta.. no need to add salt too..)
600 ml water
Some oil for kneading
Kneed the chakli in around 1/2 cup oil. Then boil the water, and add the hot water to this chakli atta. Keep for 3 hours. Then, cook in boiling oil (at high flame), using a Chakli press. If you lower the flame.. the chakli bursts.. or absorbs too much oil and becomes soggy like jalebi :) (yes.. a handful turned that way..) But most of it turned out really nice, crispy and tasty..
Murukku pieces (Top right of snack tray)
We'll.. this one's simply from here.. Just that changed the shape, and made finger like pieces..
Mathri (Bottom right of snack tray)
You need to knead maida.. with enough ghee to have a crumbling mixture.. Then add enough water to knead a tight dough (similar to poori dough). To the maida.. add a spice of your choice and salt.. We put black pepper powder this time.. but have also tried out with jeera, kasuri methi.. in the previous years..Then, roll into small thick pooris, make 3-4 holes in each poori with a fork / toothpick..and deep fry in oil on medium heat.
Twisty crispy (Sweet - Bottom of snack tray & Chatpata - Red colored thing top left of snack tray)
This dough is exactly the same as for mathri.. But no spice or salt added at all.. Then, roll out the dough into a normal poori. Using a knife, made vertical parallel cuts on the poori, leaving the edges uncut.. Then roll up the poori, twist a bit and press the ends. It looks like a twisted up Diwali Kandil.
I was inspired by this recipe at Cooking 4 all seasons
Then I deep fried these in oil at medium heat. We'd made 2 doughs.. one normal, and to the other part, we added red food color. The red fried ones, I sprinkled generously with chaat masala, and the normal ones, I rolled in sugar powder.. really yummy and very easy!
Sweet Chakli (Bottom left of snack tray)
This one's made by my mom in law..
Same dough like the mathri.. but to the maida.. she added a little food color (yellow) and sugar powder.. as per the desired sweetness (we like it mild).. Then, used the same rolling technique as for the puff pastry thing.. Then deep fried in ghee.. Due to the stick and rolling, you get the layers thing..
Nachni Shankarpali (The blackish cubes at the top of the snack tray)
I saw this on a cookery show on television.. Take like 2/3rds nachni atta, and 1/3rds maida, and sugar powder to taste.. add enough ghee to make a crumbling mixture.. Add cardamom powder and knead with enough water to made a poori type dough. Then roll out into a large roti, thickness of 1/4 cm. Cut into cubes and deep fry in ghee on medium heat. It generally fluffs up llike pooris.. and is very nice and crispy.. biscuit like crunchiness.. Mine didnt turn out so well.. cos I used less ghee while kneading the dough.. Edible and tasty though.. just a bit hard..but good for a first timer I hope :)
All these go to Priya's Diwali 2009 contest & Purva's Dawaat
-Naina
Well.. this one's going to be a really long post.. Great celebrations, meeting relatives, painting diyas (one of my fav hobbies).. and tons of cooking.. - lots of snacks and sweets!!
To start with..
Some Rangoli I made..
Some Diyas I painted..
Here's all the snacks we made (recipes at the end)
Some Pedha I made..
This one was really simple.. I had 200 gms of sweetened condensed milk with me.. added to it one heaped cup milk powder.. 3/4 cup milk, 3-4 tsps sugar.. some cardamom powder and 1/4 cup butter.. put all of this in a microwaveable deep dish, and microwaved for 5 minutes, stirring after every minute. Allow it to cool and roll into pedhas.. really tasty.. and extremely easy.. Turned out like the malai pedhas you get..If you want firmer pedhas, you can perhaps skip the milk..
My mom in laws Diwali special snacks..
The rectangular ones are 'Cheesy Peas Puff Pastries'
For the stuffing.. Take heat some oil, add jeera, crushed green peas and seasonings of your choice.. like turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, garam masala and lots of chaat masala.. After cooking it, remove it from the gas, and add grated cheese. Keep aside.
For the covering.. Knead a crumbling dough of maida in oil.. Add salt..Knead with enough water to get a dough like for poori.. Now.. the secret to puff pastry.. Roll a large chapati, fold into half.. again fold into half, so you get a 1/4 looking chapati.. While you were folding, stick the chapati with a paste of ghee and cornflour. Now, roll up the 1/4 looking chapati, you'll get a cylinder.. Cut this cylinder into 4-5 pieces. Each piece is to be rolled into a poori, place the stuffing (similar to Karanji) and fold the poori into half.. stick the edges, and cut the edges into desired shape. Then deep fry in oil.. (Hope I've explained properly.. was too busy with Diwali preparations to take pics of the process...)
The other one is 'Tortillas'..
You need black gram dough, but we just used gram dough.. added seasonings.. like salt, chilli powder, and kneaded with some oil and enough water to get a poori type dough.. Roll into a chapati.. stick some coriander leaves and cumin seeds on the chapati and lighty roll it to stick them.. Then, cut into 8 pieces.. (1 lenghtwise cut, 1 horizontal cut, and 2 diagonal cuts.. ) and deep fry in oil..
Hubby made some 'Dahi Boondi' :)
Here are all the recipes for the variety in the snack tray..
Chakli (Bhajni chi)
Its in the centre of the snack tray..
This is Chakli pic taken while frying :)
500 gms Bhajni Chakli atta (got the ready atta.. no need to add salt too..)
600 ml water
Some oil for kneading
Kneed the chakli in around 1/2 cup oil. Then boil the water, and add the hot water to this chakli atta. Keep for 3 hours. Then, cook in boiling oil (at high flame), using a Chakli press. If you lower the flame.. the chakli bursts.. or absorbs too much oil and becomes soggy like jalebi :) (yes.. a handful turned that way..) But most of it turned out really nice, crispy and tasty..
Murukku pieces (Top right of snack tray)
We'll.. this one's simply from here.. Just that changed the shape, and made finger like pieces..
Mathri (Bottom right of snack tray)
You need to knead maida.. with enough ghee to have a crumbling mixture.. Then add enough water to knead a tight dough (similar to poori dough). To the maida.. add a spice of your choice and salt.. We put black pepper powder this time.. but have also tried out with jeera, kasuri methi.. in the previous years..Then, roll into small thick pooris, make 3-4 holes in each poori with a fork / toothpick..and deep fry in oil on medium heat.
Twisty crispy (Sweet - Bottom of snack tray & Chatpata - Red colored thing top left of snack tray)
This dough is exactly the same as for mathri.. But no spice or salt added at all.. Then, roll out the dough into a normal poori. Using a knife, made vertical parallel cuts on the poori, leaving the edges uncut.. Then roll up the poori, twist a bit and press the ends. It looks like a twisted up Diwali Kandil.
I was inspired by this recipe at Cooking 4 all seasons
Then I deep fried these in oil at medium heat. We'd made 2 doughs.. one normal, and to the other part, we added red food color. The red fried ones, I sprinkled generously with chaat masala, and the normal ones, I rolled in sugar powder.. really yummy and very easy!
Sweet Chakli (Bottom left of snack tray)
This one's made by my mom in law..
Same dough like the mathri.. but to the maida.. she added a little food color (yellow) and sugar powder.. as per the desired sweetness (we like it mild).. Then, used the same rolling technique as for the puff pastry thing.. Then deep fried in ghee.. Due to the stick and rolling, you get the layers thing..
Nachni Shankarpali (The blackish cubes at the top of the snack tray)
I saw this on a cookery show on television.. Take like 2/3rds nachni atta, and 1/3rds maida, and sugar powder to taste.. add enough ghee to make a crumbling mixture.. Add cardamom powder and knead with enough water to made a poori type dough. Then roll out into a large roti, thickness of 1/4 cm. Cut into cubes and deep fry in ghee on medium heat. It generally fluffs up llike pooris.. and is very nice and crispy.. biscuit like crunchiness.. Mine didnt turn out so well.. cos I used less ghee while kneading the dough.. Edible and tasty though.. just a bit hard..but good for a first timer I hope :)
All these go to Priya's Diwali 2009 contest & Purva's Dawaat
-Naina
Saturday, October 17, 2009
After very long...
Its the festive season and have been really busy, cleaning and cooking!! Diwali's here!
End September, went to Igatpuri for a short holiday.. very nice.. back.. and it was Karwa Chauth.. then Diwali..
Have just made several delicacies for Diwali, will post them immediately after Diwali..
Here's what I did for Karwa Chauth..
It's my fav festival so far.. I just love keeping the fast for my husband.. no food.. no water.. To sacrifice something so basic to our existence is such a wonderful and pure feeling..
Here's the prayer arrangement..
Made several delicacies, managed to cook most of it with my mom in law's help..Forgot to take a pic of the 'Baayna' (all the food together.. offered to mom in law).. hence all separate pics..
Here's 'Sev Barfi'.. Its a typically Sindhi sweet..
You need:
400 ml milk
250 gms mawa or sweeetened condensed milk
200 gms sugar / or 6 tsps if you are using sweetened condensed milk
250 gms unsalted sev
Some chopped almonds and pistas (to garnish)
Some cardamom powder
Melt the mawa and bring to boil. Else bring the sweetened condensed milk to boil. Add to it the milk, sugar and cook for 5 mins. Then add the cardamom powder and sev and cook until it leaves the sides of the vessel and turns into a thick lump. Transfer to a greased plate and let it cook. Garnish with chopped dry fruits.. Its yumm.. disappears very quickly!
Here's some 'Atte ka Halwa'
Well.. its mostly made by judgement.. and no measurements.. Take some flour in a pan.. and dry roasted untill light brown. Then add ghee and roast it till it gets a nice dark brown color.. The quantity of ghee should be such that the you can bind the mixture into a ladoo..
While roasting the flour.. take some water in a vessel, add to it jaggery to taste.. and bring to boil. Add this sweetened water and some cardamom powder to the flour mixture, and cook for a minute or untill it looks perfect! If you love jaggery flavour.. this one's for you!
Then made some simple 'Aloo ki Sabzi'
This one's just got a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, turmeric powder. Add to it boiled chopped potatoes, salt and garnish with coriander leaves..
Next was 'Paneer Mirchi Tamatar'.. my mil's and my combined innovation..
Gave a tempering of 2 cloves, added to it 2-3 tbsp of red chilli paste, paste of 2 large tomatoes and some ginger.. cooked it oil seperated.. Then added some 2-3 tbsp of cashew paste, cooked... Added some turmeric powder, coriander powder.. added water and boiled.. finally chopped paneer paneer pieces (400 gms) ..And a lovely paneer dish (without onion and garlic) is ready!
And... mom in law made all the puri's and some dahi wada..
And..to pass my time during the day.. I applied some Mehendi on my hand.. (I'm a left handed.. hence the other hand :) )
Enjoy!
-Naina
End September, went to Igatpuri for a short holiday.. very nice.. back.. and it was Karwa Chauth.. then Diwali..
Have just made several delicacies for Diwali, will post them immediately after Diwali..
Here's what I did for Karwa Chauth..
It's my fav festival so far.. I just love keeping the fast for my husband.. no food.. no water.. To sacrifice something so basic to our existence is such a wonderful and pure feeling..
Here's the prayer arrangement..
Made several delicacies, managed to cook most of it with my mom in law's help..Forgot to take a pic of the 'Baayna' (all the food together.. offered to mom in law).. hence all separate pics..
Here's 'Sev Barfi'.. Its a typically Sindhi sweet..
You need:
400 ml milk
250 gms mawa or sweeetened condensed milk
200 gms sugar / or 6 tsps if you are using sweetened condensed milk
250 gms unsalted sev
Some chopped almonds and pistas (to garnish)
Some cardamom powder
Melt the mawa and bring to boil. Else bring the sweetened condensed milk to boil. Add to it the milk, sugar and cook for 5 mins. Then add the cardamom powder and sev and cook until it leaves the sides of the vessel and turns into a thick lump. Transfer to a greased plate and let it cook. Garnish with chopped dry fruits.. Its yumm.. disappears very quickly!
Here's some 'Atte ka Halwa'
Well.. its mostly made by judgement.. and no measurements.. Take some flour in a pan.. and dry roasted untill light brown. Then add ghee and roast it till it gets a nice dark brown color.. The quantity of ghee should be such that the you can bind the mixture into a ladoo..
While roasting the flour.. take some water in a vessel, add to it jaggery to taste.. and bring to boil. Add this sweetened water and some cardamom powder to the flour mixture, and cook for a minute or untill it looks perfect! If you love jaggery flavour.. this one's for you!
Then made some simple 'Aloo ki Sabzi'
This one's just got a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, turmeric powder. Add to it boiled chopped potatoes, salt and garnish with coriander leaves..
Next was 'Paneer Mirchi Tamatar'.. my mil's and my combined innovation..
Gave a tempering of 2 cloves, added to it 2-3 tbsp of red chilli paste, paste of 2 large tomatoes and some ginger.. cooked it oil seperated.. Then added some 2-3 tbsp of cashew paste, cooked... Added some turmeric powder, coriander powder.. added water and boiled.. finally chopped paneer paneer pieces (400 gms) ..And a lovely paneer dish (without onion and garlic) is ready!
And... mom in law made all the puri's and some dahi wada..
And..to pass my time during the day.. I applied some Mehendi on my hand.. (I'm a left handed.. hence the other hand :) )
Enjoy!
-Naina
Monday, September 28, 2009
Jantikalu or Muruku
Decided to make this as a part of the September Indian Cooking Challenge
Here's the recipe
Followed the recipe, but took half the quantities.. Washed and shade dried both the rice and the urad dal, as the dal was not so clean.. Then.. roasted it.. cooled and ground into a fine powder. The grinding took a lot of time and was very noisy :(
Then, made the dough as instructed. After that, took help from my mom in law to operate the chakli press.. and once fried, it turned out reasonably good for a first timer :)
Fried just some of it, and refridgerated the remaining dough..
Will make it again tomorrow, with the remaining dough. adding to it some red chilli powder
-Naina
P.S:
This is the roasted rice and urad dal
Here's the recipe
Followed the recipe, but took half the quantities.. Washed and shade dried both the rice and the urad dal, as the dal was not so clean.. Then.. roasted it.. cooled and ground into a fine powder. The grinding took a lot of time and was very noisy :(
Then, made the dough as instructed. After that, took help from my mom in law to operate the chakli press.. and once fried, it turned out reasonably good for a first timer :)
Fried just some of it, and refridgerated the remaining dough..
Will make it again tomorrow, with the remaining dough. adding to it some red chilli powder
-Naina
P.S:
This is the roasted rice and urad dal
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Happy B'day Ash!
It's Ash's bday today (27 Sep).. She's our Lebouffe team member with the real love for cuisines, specially Italian, and prepares yummy Pasta, soups and mocktails!!
Happy Birthday Ash.. :)
-Naina
Happy Birthday Ash.. :)
-Naina
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Paneer Laal Masala
My mom in law read some recipe like this in the newspaper or saw it in a cookery show.. can't remember.. But it was really nice.. proof - the gravy got devoured by the time I took the pic above :)
Ingredients:
200 gms paneer cubes
2 medium onions - paste
2 medium tomatoes - paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp meat masala or any garam masala
1 tbsp fresh cream
1/2 tsp jeera
Salt to taste
The red masala:
4-5 red chillies soaked for an hour (the non spicy ones, may be kashmiri laal mirch)
6-8 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece ginger
Heat some oil and add jeera. When it spluters, add onion paste and cook till light brown, and keep aside.
Then heat 1 tsp oil and cook the red chilli paste till oil seperates.
Add to it the cooked onion paste, the tomato paste and the remaining spices.
Cook till oil seperates. Then add enough water for gravy, salt to taste and bring to boil.
Finally add the paneer pieces, simmer for 5 mintues and serve hot with rotis..
-Naina
Ribbon Cake
Came across this Zebra Cake at EasyCooking, and tried out the layering technique with my Eggless milkmaid cake
Made the batter for the cake, then divided it into 2 parts. Added 2 tsp of cocoa powder to one part.
The key is the assembling.. as she says (I'm reproducing it for my easy reference..):
"Scoop 3 heaped tbsps of plain batter into the middle of the baking pan.
Then scoop 3 tbsps of cocoa batter and pour it in the center on top of the plain batter.
Continue this way until both the batters are finished.
Do not spread the batter or tilt the pan to distribute the mixture. It will spread by itself and fill the pan gradually."
This is a great technique.. and though my cake didn't turn as attractive as hers, it looked nice..
Will try it with 'With Egg' version next time..
-Naina
What to do when your cake flops..
... make some 'Cake & Milk Pudding'
I really wanted to try out Madhuram's Low Fat Vegan Cupcakes.. with vinegar..but I guess I overbaked it.
I used 1/2 the quantities given in the recipe, and probably baked it an extra 5 mintues. I turned really funny and hard.. Some corners were like biscuit..Now what.. I didn't feel like throwing it away.. (Won't reproduce the recipe here, as it flopped!!)
Then, I got inspired by the several pudding recipes on Priya's Recipe blog.
Made some quick and simple milk pudding
You need:
300 ml milk (I actually used dairy whitener... and water)
4-5 tsp china grass / agar agar powder
2-3 tbsp cocoa powder
1-2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp condensed milk (you can do without it also)
Add the condensed milk and sugar to the milk and bring to boil. Stir in the agar agar / chinagrass powder till dissolved. Remove from the fire and add the cocoa powder and mix well..
Let it set in a dish.. Cool and serve.
Now, what I did is, added the edible bite sized pieces to this pudding..
Then, for the inedible hard cake, I ran it in a mixie into a coarse powder.. and layered in on my pudding
And here was a nice dessert ready to celebrate our saree day in office..
-Naina
I really wanted to try out Madhuram's Low Fat Vegan Cupcakes.. with vinegar..but I guess I overbaked it.
I used 1/2 the quantities given in the recipe, and probably baked it an extra 5 mintues. I turned really funny and hard.. Some corners were like biscuit..Now what.. I didn't feel like throwing it away.. (Won't reproduce the recipe here, as it flopped!!)
Then, I got inspired by the several pudding recipes on Priya's Recipe blog.
Made some quick and simple milk pudding
You need:
300 ml milk (I actually used dairy whitener... and water)
4-5 tsp china grass / agar agar powder
2-3 tbsp cocoa powder
1-2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp condensed milk (you can do without it also)
Add the condensed milk and sugar to the milk and bring to boil. Stir in the agar agar / chinagrass powder till dissolved. Remove from the fire and add the cocoa powder and mix well..
Let it set in a dish.. Cool and serve.
Now, what I did is, added the edible bite sized pieces to this pudding..
Then, for the inedible hard cake, I ran it in a mixie into a coarse powder.. and layered in on my pudding
And here was a nice dessert ready to celebrate our saree day in office..
-Naina
Emerald City -Easy Mocktail
No it has nothing to do with the wizard of oz..its just a welcome drink offered to all
Ingredients
Kiwi Crush
Tender Coconut water
Some tnder coconut cream
Ice cubes
Sprite
Lime juice
Cherry/Lime Wedge/Mint leaves for Decoration:)
Mix the Kiwi crush with Tender Coconut water in a blending jar.Add ice cubes and shake well.Now add Sprite and a spoonful of lime juice.
Put some coconut cream on top
Now add the whole drink in a martini glass and top up with a cherry/lime wedge/mint leaves for the decoration..
Enjoy!!
Ash:)
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