# Tasty Recipes

Chena Poda / Chenna Poda

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 04:37:00 +0000

Chena Poda is a very famous and delicious dessert from Orissa. I might have had it earlier , but the one I remember was having it at my DSIL home. She had prepared it while we visited them for holidays. I was overwhelmed by all her preparation and she told me it was actually very simple to make. Like even my BIL can make 😜 My hubby who is born and brought up in Orissa, relished his childhood memories while having it, so I did had to try it. And this is actully simple and easy recipe. Chenna poda is a delicious dessert popular in Odisha. Its made with chenna or fresh paneer. The entire dish is baked and can also be called paneer cake or roasted cheese.

Ingredients:

For Chena poda

Milk 2 litre or 250 grams Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese)

Juice of 2 lemons

1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons Sugar 1

1/2 tablespoons Ghee

4 tbsp milk or whey water

2 tbsp Sooji (Semolina/ Rava)

1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder (Elaichi)

Cashew nuts choppen in big pieces

Raisins 2 tbsp

For caramelizing

Ghee 1tsp

Sugar 2-3 tsp

Method:

1. Make Fresh Paneer. You can refer to recipe here.

Add the milk in a pan and bring it to a boil. Lower the flame and add lemon juice. the milk will begin to curdle. Add more juice if it doesnt curdles completely. Switch off the flame and drain the paneer with a muslin cloth. Wash it with water to remove any sour taste of lemon.

2. Take the fresh paneer or store brought one and crumble it well. Mash it well.

3. Add sugar and Semolina and mix it all well.

4. Mash it with a spoon or with hands till all the sugar dissolves and it is like a smooth dough consistency.

5. Slowly add the whey water or milk to make the cake battery consistency batter.

6. Add chopped cashews, raisins and cardamon powder.

Preparing the Pan:

Apply ghee at the base of the 6 inch pan. Add about 2-3 tsp of sugar and put the outside of the pan over direct flame. Keep rotating the pan over the heat , so as sugar starts melting and gets caramelized. Keep rotating the pan so as a thin layer of caramelized sugar is formed in the pan. Pan is ready.

Preheat the oven to 190 F . Add the prepared batter in the pan, tap it twice and bake the cottage cheeses cake for about 25-30 minutes, till the toothpick comes out clean and a light brown layer is formed at the top.

Once cooled, cut the cake into cubes and take it out of the baking pan

Tips:

1. Preparing the pan is not so easy and can be skipped, till we get an hand of it. Chena poda tastes equivalent good without it too.

Instant Mathura Peda or Milk peda

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 14:19:00 +0000

From last year. I started bringing Ganpati to our home. Its such a joy to welcome Bappa into our home, our lives and celebrate those days with him. Also its a wonderful opportunity to treat Bappa with all the sweet goodies which he loves ( we love :P)

I was looking for some easy and quick recipes, so as I can made them fresh for daily bhog. And then though of making this instant peda. Its just 3 simple ingredient and a 15 minute recipe.

Traditionally Peda is made by slowly simmering milk till it thickens and khoya is formed. And then its used to make peda. But it takes long and now with a buys lifestyle we don't have so much time or patience. So here comes a fast, easy and perfect recipe for making pedas

Ingredients:

Khoya- 200 gms

Condensed milk -1/2 tin - 200 gms

Cardamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Chopped pistachios 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Defrost the khoya and let it come to room temperature, either by just letting it out for dew hours or can you microwave. Crumble it nicely or you can also chose to grate it for uniformity.

2. Add khoya in a pan. Just let it warm and then add milkmaid.

3. Cook in a slow flame stirring continuously . It will become sticky initially and then slowly start to thicken up

4. Once it starts leaving the side of pan( 7-10 minutes) , and becomes like a soft dough, add cardamon and take it out of the heat. Let it cool a bit

5. While its still warm grease your hands with ghee, make small balls and shape them as pedas (with a small dent in center )

6. Add chopped pistachios in center, pinch them in.

Tips:

1. Make sure to take dough out when still soft, it will harden a bit once its starts to cool.

2. Variations for chocolate peda : just sieve a bit of cocoa powder before making balls and mix well.

3. We can make this instant peda with milk powder and sugar as well. I will post the recipe soon

Sabji Kachori or Club Kachori, a street food

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Sun, 30 Aug 2020 05:13:00 +0000

Posting a recipe which is a real relish in my house. Serves as a filling breakfast, or a Sunday brunch. Actually, it can be enjoyed anytime of the day. Call it a Sabji kachori, Club kachori or Puri kachori. It’s an extremely popular street food in Kolkata.

I had it first at my Masi's place in Kolkata, and then and there got its recipe from my dear SIL. Since then it is our favourite Sunday breakfast. Sabji Kachori are small pooris prepared from a club of ingredients served along a simple and fast to cook potato curry. Fried foods appear very rarely at my home but when they are, we relish them to the fullest extent. YUM!!

Ingredients:

Kachori

Sooji or Semoli - 1 cup
Urad dal flour 1 cup
Oil -1 tbsp
Kala Jeera 1tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Potato curry

3-4 potatoes (medium sized) boiled
Panch Phoran Masala - Nigella (⅛ tsp) + Fenugreek Seeds (¼ tsp) + Mustard seeds (¼ tsp) + Cumin seeds (¼ tsp) + Fennel (¼ tsp)
Dry fenugreek / methi leaves - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
Red Chilli powder - ½ tsp
Coriander powder 2 tsp
Mango Powder - ¼ tsp
Garam Masala - ¼ tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Add the ingredients for Kachori in a bowl. Add water and make firm dough.
Do take note that the dough gets a bit sticky, so grease your palm with some oil as required.
Set aside the dough for 20 minutes

Potato curry:

1. Meanwhile chop the boiled potatoes into medium sized cubes. Also take about 1/4 potato and mash it finely.
2. Mix all the spices with about 2 tbsp of water and set aside.
3. Add oil in a pan, once hot add panch poran. Once it splutters add the spice mix and then add washed fenugreek leaves, let it cook for 1-2 minutes till aroma comes.
4. Add chopped potatoes, mix well. Cook
5. Add water, salt to taste and cook until water boils
6. Lastly add garam masala and the mashed potato.

Frying pooris:

1. Knead the dough once and then make small pedas( balls) out of it
2. Grease your hand and chakla with some oil and make small pooris about 1.5 inch in diameter and thick (about 1 mm) as in parathas.
3. Deep fry in hot oil (as we do for pooris) untill golden brown on both sides.
4. Serve with hot potato curry.

Tips:

1. Mashing the potatoes and adding it , gives it nice thick gravy texture
2. In case Urad flour is not available, you can soak dal for an hour, drain, grind and use as well.
3. Adding a bit of green chill and ginger in the dough can enhance the taste of pooris
4. Wheat flour can be used instead of refined flour
5. Press the pori with ladle if it floats on top, to puff it. And just try to turn only once. Turing again and again makes it absorb more oil.

Yogurt cake with Crumb topping

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Sat, 30 May 2020 16:27:00 +0000

Staying at home during this COVID outbreak has aggravated everyone's itch for cooking and baking is top in the list of all the wonderful new chefs.

With no need to commute to and fro from office and no where else to go after my wfh has given me too a lot of time in hand. So I thought of trying new recipes. But to tell you the real reason, it was my 2 brats who are always looking around in kitchen for food. Their number of trips to kitchen, with a face back that there is nothing good there ( though I always have enough variety of food in my pantry) , which actually meant that they need something new.
So finally I am back in kitchen with my love for baking and here are the few new recipes. More to come

Staring with something sweet.The beauty of this cake is its topping, sweet crunchy crumbs make this cake irresistible.

Ingredients:

Crump topping:
Plain flour - 1 1/2 cups (195 gms)
Firmly packed light brown sugar -3/4 cup (155 gms)
Powdered Cinnamon 1tsp
Salt 1/4 tsp
Unsalted butter, melted - 10 tbsp (140 gms)

Yogurt Cake:
All purpose flour - 1 2/3 cups (225 gms)
Baking powder - 1 tsp(4 gms)
Baking soda- 1/2 teaspoon (2 gms)
Salt 1/2 tsp(2 gms)
Powdered cinnamon -1/4 tsp
Instant coffee powder -1/2 tsp (optional)
Eggs -2 large
Oil - any flavorless -1/2 cup (120 ml/gms)
Greek Yogurt -3/4 cup (180 ml/gms) room temperature
Pure vanilla extract -1 tsp (4 gms)
Granulated white sugar -1 cup (200 gms)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C)
2. Prepare the baking pan ( 8x8 inch) . Butter or spray with a non stick vegetable spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

Crumb Topping:
1. In a bowl add the flour, sugar, ground cinnamon and salt.
2. Then add the melted butter and mix it until all the dry ingredients are just moistened. I used my hand to do so as it was easier.

Yogurt Cake:
1. Take a large bowl and add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and espresso powder (if using).
2. In another bowl beat the eggs with a whisk and then add oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract.
3. Stir in the sugar.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. the mixture would be sticky and a bit thick.
5. Add the batter into the prepared pan. Evenly scatter the crumb topping on top of the batter with your hand, braking lumps if any.
6. Press lightly so the crumbs adhere to the batter.
7. Place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Bake in preheated oven for about 40 - 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Tips:

1. You can reduce the quantity of overall crumb topping, if you like less of it.
2. We can just make a plain yogurt cake, without topping. Just use a smaller pan.

Eggless walnut cake with coke

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 10:26:00 +0000

Having tried cakes with the full-proof never go wrong recipes of Rich Chocolate banana and Carrot cake, tried this egg less cake recipe from one of my gujju friend. She is great cook and actually loves cooking. Her recipes never fail me. And the best person to have a easy egg-less recipe is definitely her :)

She told me lots of variations too that can be done in the same recipe ( tried and tested by her). This cake is very heavy and filling to eat and after eating this, we don't feel like eating anything else. I think that's why my kids names it as cursed caked, so funny and weird. They just cant resist the temptation to eat it and after eating this they don't have any appetite left to eat anything else.

And the best thing I like about this cake is, its full of nuts, a healthier option to give to kids.

Ingredients :

All purpose self raising flour 2 cups
Milkmaid 1 tin ( 397 gms)
Butter 125 gm
Baking soda 1 tsp
Khane ka soda 1 tsp
Dry fruits mix 250 gms
Coke 125 ml
Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius
2. Grease a 6 x6 inch baking dish and set aside.
3. Take flour , baking soda and khane ka soda and mix well. Pass it through sieve 3 times so as it mixes completely .
4. Add softened butter in a deep bottom bowl and whisk it with an hand mixer or electric mixer for 2-3 minutes, until soft and frothy
5. Add milkmaid and mix well
6. Add the dry fruits ( I used roasted and chopped walnuts)
7. Add the issuance and finally add coke.
8. Pour the batter in the prepared baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the skewer comes out clean .
9. Let it be in oven, a standby time of 10-12 minutes and we are done.

You can see how much soft and spongy the cake looks. These were the only slices left in the whole cake, that was left for me to pack and store, rest all was gone directly from the baking dish.

Tips :

1. Keep the nuts of choice ready , roasted and chopped in advance.
2. We can have variations by using fanta, instead of coke and adding orange Zest , orange essence to have orange cake.

Rock Cake or Rock Buns

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 03:08:00 +0000

I stumbled upon these when when my DS, who is now in lower secondary, brought a few buns that he baked in school. I was amazed that he can do some baking/ cooking on his own, as at home he rarely steps in kitchen. :P
Okies, so we tried them and liked them instantly. So I asked him to bake a fresh batch at home as well. " Ohh, its very simple recipe, lets make it " . He took out a printout of the recipe with the ingredients and its amount and viola, there was no butter/ margarine in the list. Other ingredients were sure out of proportion as well. :(

But since we loved the buns and he insisted the recipe is simple and need not to be so proportionate, I decided to google the recipe and try it. Upon searching I came to know that all lower secondary kids are taught to make rock buns to demonstrate the rub-in method. There is actually no specifics to the amount / ingredients used. Its depends upon your taste buds how you want to it soft , hard, crunchy, nutty ....
They got there name, as they are rough looking and hence dont soomthen them down.Rock buns are a specific type of pastry, distinguished by the hard, crust-like texture and sweet taste. Good Old Rock Cakes These were once economy cakes, not too expensive, providing cake for large families.

Ingredients:

200 gms ( 1 1/3 cup) All purpose flour
75-80 gms Melted Butter
75 gms Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Egg
75 gms Berries/ Raisins
1 Tbsp Milk
1tsp Vanilla essence

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F and grease the baking tray
2. Sieve the flour in a large bowl
3. Pour melted butter over it and with hands rub the butter over the flour. All grains of the flour should be coated with butter and resemble breadcrumbs
4. Add sugar and dried fruit mix.
5. Finally add egg, milk , vanilla essence and mix thoroughly.
6. Using two forks, lift up small portions of the mixture and place on the baking sheet more than an inch apart.
7. Place the tray in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Leave it inside oven for about five more minutes, then transfer to a wire tray to cool.

Tips :

1.The buns need to be rough looking, do not smooth them down while placing them in baking tray
2. You may vary the ingredients / proportion , depending upon you like harder or softer buns.

Healthy Oatmeal cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 04:11:00 +0000

During the last year end holidays, ventured back into baking after a long time with kids. There were many incentives to do so. It was New year and Christmas time, with kids eager to try their hands out with some baking. And also, I had bought my new Panasonic Convection cum microwave oven a few weeks back, which was looking at me with anticipation to get its first baking done :D

So eventually thought of baking some cookies, as my previous attempt with baking Choco chip cookies was not so exciting due to the older oven with its round tray :( . So I was sure , my new oven would be far better and we wont be disappointed with the results . And viola, it was a breeze making these cookies. The faster I made them, even faster all the cookies were gone.

Below measurement yielded me about 27 medium sized cookies, which I baked in 3 batches. By the time, I put in my 2nd batch, my first batch was already gone ;)

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup (105 gm) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

3/4 cup (170 gm) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (210 gm) packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups (260 gm) old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup white or dark chocolate chips (optional)

Method:

1. Toast the nuts and then chop into pieces after its cooled . Set aside.
2. Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until creamy and smooth (about 2 - 3 minutes).
4. Add sugar and mix for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
6. Add the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated.
7. Finally stir in the nuts, oats, and dried cranberries or chocolate chips.

Now our batter is ready. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours , so that the butter hardens back.

Preheat oven to 190 degree C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Use a spoon or a ice-cream scooper to scoop a spoonful of the batter in the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
With your fingers slightly shape and flatten the cookies to be about 1/2 inch thick.
Bake the cookies for about 10 - 12 minutes or until it gets a light golden brown color along the edges and is still soft and a little wet at the center.
Remove from oven and let it cool a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Tips:

1. We ca replace chocolate chips with dried cranberries or raisins o make it even more healthier.
2. If we don't have unsalted butter, use salted butter and omit the salt added n dry ingredients.
3. Batter can be mixed and kept in refrigerator ahead of time.
4. If we need to bake the cookies in batches, keep the batter back in refrigerator, else the cookies flatten a lot gets cooked really fast ( may burn)

Chiwda: Cornflakes mixture

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 05:24:00 +0000

This is a very simple mixture recipe, which can be made very fast and easily at home. It has minimum of spices , so nothing can go wrong with the recipe. Kids love to eat it, as it simple, less spicy, crunchy and filling. My next door neighbor taught me this, before I moved out, and re-located to a bit distinct place.( Earlier either she used to pack and bring it or come at my place and make it for me :) )This assorted mixture is mixed with crunchy bites like roasted peanuts, cashew-nuts, fried beaten rice and cornflakes. What you want to add in your mixture is individuals choice. Here in India, we have assorted styles of mixtures which can be prepared with numerous flavors to choose from; sweet, spicy or tangy.

Ingredients:

Raw Corn flakes (Talne wala makka) 2 cuos
Sago
Peanuts 3/4 cup
Curry leaves 1/2 cup
Rice flakes , medium (Pooha) 1 1/2 cups
Potato chips, dried (optional)
Coconut dry sliced
Cashew nuts 1/4 cup
Garlic paste
Green chilies

Black pepper powder
Sugar powdered
Salt to taste

Method:

In a heavy bottom pan , add enough oil to deep fry.

One by one deep fry all the ingredients ( Better in this order :cornflakes, flattened rice, sago, peanuts, cashew nuts and coconut) and take it out in a tissue paper.

When hot itself, add salt to taste and black pepper.( Later when it cools and extra oil absorbed by tissue paper, it gets tough for the salt to stick to it.)

Turn off the fire and fry curry leaves.

Lastly fry the garlic paste too and add all the fried ingredients to it.

Add sugar. Mix well

Let it cool before storing in a air tight container.

Eat it with a cup of tea, or just like that.

Tips:

We can add home made sev, murukku too to it
Can add raisins too to this mixture for those having sweet tooth

Rice with Vegetable Nawabi

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 04:53:00 +0000

Nawabi curry, basically a Mughlai dish, characterized by its rich and creamy sauces. This one is one of the Nita Mehta's cookbook recipe. Recently I have been liking all the recipes by her. This one has a medley of vegetables. Although this is a bit low-calorie version, the authentic taste is retained by using an array of selected spices. Rather than fried vegetables, I have used boiled vegetables to cut down the calories. Enjoy this great recipe, rich in taste with plain white rice or hot parathas.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups vegetables, Chopped in big pieces (Cauliflower, French beans, carrot, Potatoes, Green Peas etc.)
1 big Onion chopped
2 big tomatoes
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 green chillies
1 tbsp cumin seeds
Coriander Leaves – 1/2 bunch, small

Cashew nuts 8, soaked
2 tbsp fresh cream
2 tbsp oil/ ghee
Salt to taste

1/2 tbsp poppy seeds (khus khus)
2 tsp Aniseeds (Saunf)
2 to 3 Cardamoms
2 Cloves
1 inch Cinnamon

Garnish
Coriander Leaves – 1/2 bunch, small

Method:

Blanch the vegetables in hot water with a little of salt and sugar. Make sure that the vegetables are cooked and not overcooked. Should be crunchy, so as they are done, immediately pour cold water. (Ideally ,we need to deep fry them)
Blanch the tomatoes, for 4 to 5 minutes or till the tomatoes soften. Peel off the skin and keep aside to cool. Later blend in a mixer to a smooth purée. Set aside.
Heat the ghee in a non-stick pan, add all the spices one by one, when done add green chillies and then add cashew nuts.
Later add the onions and sauté on a slow flame for 2 to 3 minutes.
Set aside to cool and then grid to a smooth paste.
Heat the ghee in a pan. Add ginger garlic paste, when done add onion paste.
Add the prepared tomato purée, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 to 2 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
Add the mixed vegetables, fresh cream and salt to taste, mix well and cook on a medium flame for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Serve hot with rice or parathas and salad.

Mint pulao / Pudina rice

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 03:00:00 +0000

Rice can be cooked in so so many different ways, and pulav is something that's easy to make, and really nice as a one pot meal for lunch/ dinner. I mostly prefer cooking rice separately and then mixing it with masala, so it has nice flavor of basmati rice as well as masala. I have made this mint pilaf ample of times, and this one is always loved by all.
This is a full proof recipe which always amuse my visitors, family and friends and everyone keeps asking for more.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice 1 cup
2 tbsp cashew nuts,broken
3-4 cloves
1/2" cinnamon
2-3 green cardamom
1 bay leaf
Onion,1 big,finely sliced
Fresh/ frozen peas 1/3 cup
2 tsp lemon juice
2 potatoes, boiled or 1/2 cup soya nuggets,soaked in hot water
2 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Masala:
1 bunch (1 cup) fresh mint leaves
3 tbsp fresh grated coconut
1/2" ginger piece
6-7 green chillies
1 tsp oil

Method:

Wash and soak the rice in water for 10-15 mins(soaking enhances the aroma of basmati rice) and cook it until done.
Spread the rice over a plate, adding a tsp of ghee all over it ,it will keep the rice granules separate.Let it cool .
Cut potatoes in small cubes(/ squeeeze excess water out of soya nuggets, and set aside).
Clean and wash the mint leaves and let them drain excess water.

Heat a tsp of oil, add mint leaves and saute it for about a minute until they wilt.Add green chillies,ginger and grated coconut and cook it a bit.
Let it cool and then grind it into a paste. Add half of the lemon juice. Adding lemon juice will help retain bright green color of mint.

Heat ghee in a thick bottom pan. Add cloves,cardamom,cinnamon and bay leaf, then add chopped cashews and fry until light brown in color.
Add sliced onions and fry until they turn a bit dark brown in color and then add peas to it and fry well.
Add potatoes/ soya nuggets now and let them roast a bit(brown patches on potatoes/ soya nuggets)
Add ground paste and fry well until the raw smell goes away.This takes a couple of minutes.
Lastly add cooked and cooled rice,salt to taste and lemon juice and mix carefully until everything is mixed well.
Serve hot with raitha.

Tips:

Can replace potatoes/ soya nuggets with paneer cubes or baby potatoes instead.
I have also tried it with dry dissected coconut too, and i came out equally well.

Navratri series: Singhara Pakodi's

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 06:27:00 +0000

This is one of the delicious deep fried delicacious for navratri, apart from Sabodana Vada's and others. Its very simple , and a real tasty treat .Singhara or Water Chestnut, are eaten raw, or after boiling in most parts of India, and its flour is used for making food during fasting time. For fasting we do not used normal salt , but use what we call Sendha namak, also known as Rock salt. Looking around for info about rock salt, i came across this informative article. Basically , rock salt crystals are larger, less refined, and more discolored than purified ‘table salt’ and does not contain additives such as iodine or anti-caking agents commonly found in table salt.

Ingredients :

Singhara flour(atta) 1 cup
Potato 3 medium, boiled
Green chilly 2 Finely chopped
Cumin powder (Jeera powder) 1/2 tsp(optional)
Sendha namak ( rock salt) to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Boil the potatoes and peel the skin, mash the pottoes well.
In a large bowl mix well mashed potatoes, Sindhara flour, chopped green chillies , roasted jeera and salt (Sendha namak for fasting).
Adding little water, make a thick batter.
Heat oil/ghee in a deep pan for deep frying the pakodas.
When the oil is ready , deep fry the pakodas on medium flame. Fry until they turn golden brown in color.
Remove pakora's in kitchen napkin to remove excess oil.
Serve with plain yogurt or chopped tomatoes mixed with little salt.

Tips:

If not fasting, you can sprinkle a little black salt on top of the pakodas.
Kattu pakora's are also made in exactly same way.
Can check for other fasting recipes, which i poated earlier.
1) Sabodana Khichiri
2) Sabodana vada
3) Dry fruit Kheer

Navratri fasting series: Dry fruit kheer

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:38:00 +0000

Soon Navratri is coming, which is a festival of worship, dance, music and of course - food. ...and like most years, we ( me n hubby) are planning to do the 9 days Navratri vrat, i.e, fasting. The fasting food is all so yummy, that it itself is a motivation to do fast . ;) During Navratri fast , we can eat , what we call Faalhari Food only, i.e, fruit based one. So what all comes in faalhari, all fruits, dry fruits, potato, tomato and flour made out of fruits, like singhara (water chestnut), also known as kuttu ka atta, phaphad etc. Soon i shall be posting other upvas recipes too, so can know what all we can eat. :) . This year navratri is from 28th Sep to 6th Oct 2011.

Firstly ,starting with a dessert, here's is dry fruit mix kheer,

Ingredients:

Milk 1 L

Dry fruits:
Makhana cut in halves, 2 cups
Almonds 15 – 20, slivered
Cashew nuts 15 – 20, broken in small pieces
Chironji / Chiraunji 2 tbsp
Raisins 10-12
Pistachios, 10-12, slivered

Cardamom powder 1 tsp
Saffron threads a few
Sugar 3 tbsp (or as per taste)

Method:

Soak saffron threads in 2 tbsp of warm milk.
Put 1 tsp ghee in a heavy bottomed pan, and stir fry all the dry fruits.
In the same pan heat milk. When it comes to a boil, add all the dryfruit mix.
Let it cook on low heat, stirring occasionally.
When the milk thickens and reduces to almost half add sugar, saffron threads and cardamom powder.
Keep stirring till the sugar is mixed completely. Let it cook for another 3 – 4 minutes.
Serve hot or chilled.

Tips:

Makhana ,are referred to as Popped / puffed Lotus Seeds/ fox nut.
Chironji is also referred to as Chiroli.
Can reduce milk by 250ml, and omit sugar and instead can add ¼ cup condensed milk.
Instead of frying, also can just soak raisins beforehand or also can just add all dryfruits in boiling milk.

Yummy Egg rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:14:00 +0000

After so much sweet, chocolates and baking, and getting into these sinful indulgences, i thought of posting these yummy egg rolls, which are indeed more tantalizing to my taste buds. And whose recipe was in my drafts for so so long, just taking its snap was an issue. Whenever I make egg rolls, I just go on making, and they just go on vanishing. And as they are more delicious when eaten piping hot, I couldn't endure my share too to get cold. :-)

Being vegetarians we never had egg at home as kids. The first time i tried it was after college with my friend at a road side stall in a perfect rainy day. And it was love at first bite.. I did had it many times after that. Now that I am not in india, I miss those road side stalls so so much.

Going by the book, egg roll is referred to a wrap, which is dipped in egg and then deep fried, a variant of spring roll. But the one I make is typical of Kolkata and originates from there itself. The egg roll in Kolkata is similar to Frankie of Mumbai. A "Mexican egg roll", also referred to as burrito, is an egg roll wrap filled with beans, cheese, and, optionally, meat, as well as various peppers and spices. And so are its versions in other parts of the world.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour(Maida) 1 cup

Eggs 3
Green chili 2 or more chopped
Coriander 1 tbsp chopped

Onion 1 medium, chopped finely
Tomato 1 small finely chopped
Capsicum abt 1/2 chopped
Lettuce or cabbage shredded

Oil for shallow frying
Salt to taste
Tomato sauce and green or red chilli sauce

Method:

Add salt to taste to the flour and knead the flour well with required water.
Take a small ping pong sized ball and roll it as thin as possible to about 6 inch diameter chapati's. It makes about 6-7.
Cook on a hot driddle , lightly from both sides( no need to puff them up over direct the flame). Set aside.

Beat the eggs; add salt to taste, chopped chillies and coriander.
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add about half of 1 beaten egg to it, spread it slightly so as to have almost the same diameter as that of chapati.
Place one thin chapati over the half fried omelet and slightly rotate it,pressing from centre to out, so as both the diameters are same, and egg is evenly spread and sticks over whole chapati.
Allow it to cook for about two more minutes.
Slowly with the help of spatula turn it around and cook the other side for a minute and take it out.

Place the chapati on a flat surface with the egg side up.
Apply sauces as per your taste on the egg side.
Add chopped onions, capsicum, lettuce and tomatoes at the centre of the chapati to make the filling.

Roll the chapati tight and cover it with an aluminum foil or kitchen paper.
Serve piping hot.

Tips & Notes:

I do use a non stick pan, so only the first roll need oil, rest can be cooked oil free.
The filling can be varied , as per availablity, I do add Corn, olives, cucumbers too.
Instead of sauces I do prefer home made green coriander chutney.
To make healthier version, I mixed flour with whole grain wheat aata in 1:1 ratio..

Choco Chip Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:57:00 +0000

After baking the Indian eggless cookies, i.e, Nankhatai's, here comes my next attempt at baking cookies, and that too on demand by kids, 'Choco Chip Cookies'. The cookies came out perfect, both taste and look wise, though with a bit of hiccups. As I am new at baking and also am using convection microwave oven for baking , the setting and all while baking needed to be varied accordingly.

The recipe makes about 40; 3 inch cookies. I did made half batch only, as this was my first attempt at baking cookies, so made 20 only. Also I did baked it in 3 small batches, out of which one batch got overcooked, and thus got burned at the bottom :(

The recipe is very easy and it takes very little time to bake these cookies. Its one of the easiest, most delicious and a basic choco chip cookie recipe. It uses a combination of white and brown sugars, producing a rich and chewy cookies with caramalised edges.

Ingredients:

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter @ room temperature
3/4 cup (160 grams) firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
2 eggs large
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (270 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degree C (375 degree F). In a bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add both the white and brown sugars and beat. Then beat in eggs, slowly one at a time. Add Vanilla extract and mix. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt and baking soda and then add this to the egg mixture and beat well. You can use a hand mixer or a kitchen aid as the dough tends to be a bit stiff at this stage. Lastly fold in choco chips and make sure they are evenly dispersed so we have enough chocolate in each cookie. The dough is now ready.

Now before baking the dough needs to be a bit stiff, if you find the dough a bit soft, refrigerate until firm (upto 2 hours) Drop dough on a lined baking sheet by 2 rounded tablespoon about 2 inches apart . The chocolate chip cookies need to be this far apart because the dough spreads during cooking. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or untill golden brown on edges.At this stage the cookie may look a bit uncooked but they will finish cooking through out of the oven.

As for my oven i did baked it in cookie mode for 10 minutes. It has a auto preheat and after preheating cookie balls in a parchement paper along with the tray needs to be placed inside the oven. Finally cool on a wire rack completely before storing as the cookies are very soft when hot.

Tips:

If you are using kitchen aid, better use the butter still in quite firm state, though not cold, and thereby aviding the need to refrigerate it. Just take it out from fridge and microwave it for 10- 15 sec.
You can use a icecream scoop for dropping in the small balls of dough. Its very convinient and mess free.
You can also add about 1 cup (100 grams) walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped after adding chocolate chips.
Also, you can make balls and freeze them for future. Just bake the frozen balls directly, adjusting the time a little more.

Chocolate banana cake

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:39:00 +0000

Now after baking something tried and tested (nankhatai's), as my confidence grew; i thought of baking a cake. While searching for the recipe; i was looking for something healthy, with easy to find ingredients and minimal effort. And then i got this one . The recipe looked very easy and all the ingredients i did had at home. This one is a moist, sweet and healthy banana cake, and really very chocolaty one too.

The recipe uses a simple concept of 2 bowls, one for wet ingredients and the other for dry ones.

The two are then mixed together and you are done. The first time i tried, it did tasted yum, and was soft too, but didn't got the sponge. Then afterwards i realized that my Baking powder had just expired, and had read somewhere that expired BP has this effect on cakes... hehe. So for trying again, I thought of some occasion, and then there was father's day last weekend, so i did tried it again, and this time it came out just perfect.

All the ingredients are just the same as from source,i.e, joyofbaking, its just that it was a big cake, and so i just exactly halved every ingredient for my smaller version. As we did cut the cake in the evening, and everyone was ready to eat..snaps didn't came out so nice.. But cake really tasted very yummy and was really moist. Just perfect. The best banana cake recipe.

Ingredients:

DRY:
Granulated white sugar 2 cups (400 grams)
All purpose flour 1 3/4 cups (245 grams)
Unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 cup(75 grams)
Baking powder 1/2 teaspoons
Baking Soda 1 1/2 teaspoons
Salt 1/2 teaspoon

WET:
Eggs 2 large
Ripe bananas 1 cup mashed(about 2 medium ones)
Warm water 1 cup (240 ml)
Milk 1/2 cup (120 ml)
Oil 1/2 cup (120 ml) (any flavorless oil)
Pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 teaspoons

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Place the rack in the centre of the oven.
In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients, and sieve it 2 -3 times with a sieve.
In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Pour the wet mix over the dry one slowly and mix nicely.
The batter is ready; it should be quite thin in consistency, easy pouring one.
Pour the batter in a pre greased baking pan, and bake it for about 35-40 minutes.
Do check with a skewer , if inserted in center comes out clean , its done.
Remove it from the oven and let it cool before taking it out from the pan.

This one was my first attempt, taste was yum, but as you can see no sponge was there,due to the baking soda. You can see my oven too in the backdrop.

Tips:

Never open the oven in between, at-least in the starting 25-30 minutes.

Nankhatai, Indian eggless cookie

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:20:00 +0000

I wanted to try baking for a long long time and finally ventured into it, when my new Sharp Convection oven finally came into my life (read house). The first thing that i tried baking were the traditional nankhatai's, the one's as seen in my chilhood, my mom and my elder sis baking, and eventually its aroma filling the whole house. And voila, my first attempt at baking was succesful. The recipe is indeed very simple and easy. My mom used to make a small cross in between and then press a cubed red cherry nut, which i didn't had,so i just pressed some choco chip instead, giving it a more cookie like look...

For others who do not know about Nankhatai, can say its a eggless indian biscuit.

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter –1/2 cup,at room temperature
Powdered Sugar 1/2 cup
All Purpose Flour (Maida) 1 cup
Nutmeg Powder 1/4 tsp
Cardamom Powder 1/4 tsp
Baking Powder 1/4 tsp
Salt 1/8 tsp

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degress F.
Combine softened butter and sugar slowly until mixture is light and creamy.
Then add Nutmeg Powder and Cardamom Powder and mix well.
In a separate bowl, sift all purpose flour with baking powder and salt and then slowly
combine flour mixture (little at a time) with butter mixture to form a soft dough.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and leave for 15-20 minutes.
Knead dough once again and divide into 12 portions of the size of tennis ball and roll without any cracks.
Press lightly between the palms, can put a small cross in the centre and then press choco chips, or cherry or chopped almonds and pistachios
Put Nan khatai on a lightly greased cookie sheet leaving enough space between dough balls and
bake on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes.
Remove from oven and let it cool completely before storing in an air tight container at room temperature.

Tips:
Nankhatai is meant to be white, so do not let it get brown and adjust the time of baking.
If you don't have unsalted butter,you can used any salted one like amul butter, and omit addition of salt.
You can also omit the addition of salt altogether.

Garlic Butter Naan - Simply delicious

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:23:00 +0000

NAAN' , a leavened Indian flatbread, is made with yeast and all purpose flour with/without flavorings and is made in tandoor. It bears a resemblance to pita, but is softer in texture. In Persia the word 'Naan' literally means "Bread".

Though i wanted to post this recipe for a long time, but as i could never click the step by step pictures, so couldn't post it till now. This time too ; its not all perfect but still better. First time before making these delicious garlic naan's ,I browsed the net a lot for all the possible ways of cooking them; in tandoor, oven or stove top. Tandoor one is obviously the best and the correct way, but that couldn't be done at home. And out of the other two, i felt that stove top one gave better results, more softer and more tandoor like cooked. So i made these naan over the stove and believe me, they come out perfect everytime.

I sticked to yeast as I simply love the dough getting double in volume and the aroma of yeast that fills the whole house. Also i wanted to make it as perfect as possible, we don't make them often at home , so whenever we make it should be a treat, all perfect... isin't it.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour 3 cups
Active dry yeast 1 tsp
Warm water 2/3 cup
Sugar 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves(cilantro)
1/2 tsp Kalonji (onion seeds)
Salt to taste

Garlic-butter topping:
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp minced garlic

Method:

Take warm water; mix yeast, salt and sugar in it until the yeast has dissolved. Set aside for 10mins till the yeast gets activated(forms a froth).
Sift the flour and add coriander leaves , mix well.
Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture.
Mix well to make a soft dough. Add more warm water if required.
Knead for 3-4mins. Cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place for about 2 to 3 hrs till the dough doubles in volume.

Now punch the dough again for 2- 3 more minutes .
Make balls from the dough and roll them. Roll them into a oblong with a rolling pin dusting with flour.
Sprinkle kalonji over it, press a bit.(optional)

Cooking over stove top:

Heat the pan on high.
Apply a little water on one side of the naan (uncooked naan only) .
Put the naan on the tava(avoid non stick pan), with the wet side down. Press it slighly with a cloth or a napkin, so as to stick it on the pan.
Within seconds , you can see small bubbles, turn the pan upside down, so as the naan is over the direct fire.
Cook it rotating the pan a bit , so as to cook the naan uniformally all over.
Check for brown spots. The naan starts to fall down by its own when cooked.
Turn the pan again and apply garlic butter mixture over the charred cooked side.
Serve hot with any curry of your choice.

Tips:

Do not make them too thick as they puff up when baked.
For oblong shape, roll it circular and while putting on the hot griddle pull it from one side to get the shape.
If using oven, set to broiler and place the Naan on a baking sheet, top the naan with some butter and put it inside the broiler. Check for dark spots, turn and repeat the procedure.

Moong Daal Halwa

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:53:00 +0000

Moong ki dal ka seera or halwa is a diwali special sweet, as its made as a bhog for prayers of divas on the eve of Deepawali in our marwari customs. This authentic Rajasthani recipe is very popular in winter in wedding dinners too. This was the first time i made it, as till now i never ever dared to make this labour intensive and high in calories sweet. I remember my mom making it, and her hands, red, after stirring it continously for so long (she used to make the delicious halwa in huge quantity, as we as kids used to love it, and needn't to be calorie consicious then)..

Every year i used to make the easy one, Aate ka halwa, in its place, but this year somehow decided to give it a try, though in a very small quantity. And believe me, all the effort it takes is worth it. It came out really delicious, and as i made it in less quantity, so it wasn't so much work too.. :)

Warning: This recipe needs a high amount of ghee and therefore ,should not be eaten in large amount.

Ingredients:

1 cup Dhuli Moong Daal (split yellow lentils without skin)
1 cup ghee (clarified butter)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 pods green cardamom split
1/2 tsp Saffron, soaked in a little milk
1/2 cup khoya (/mava)
1/2 cup chopped mixed dried fruits

Method:

Wash the moong daal and soak it in plenty of water overnight.(or atleast 3-4 hours)
Grind the daal into a coarse paste without adding any water while grinding.
Prepare a sugar syrup of 1 thread consistency and add saffron strands and cardamom pods to the syrup. Cover and set aside.
Now, warm the ghee in a heavy-bottomed (can use non-stick) pan on a medium flame.
Add the moong daal paste to this ghee and stir to mix. Cook the moong daal, stirring frequently (almost continously) on a medium flame to avoid sticking at the bottom till it begins to turn golden brown and the aroma eludes.
This step takes time and energy, and one needs to be patient..;)
Now add the khoya (/mava) and mix well. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Finally add the sugar syrup (cardamom pods removed) and mix thoroughly. It gets softer after this.
Cook on a medium flame for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.
Lastly add the dried fruits and switch it off.
Garnish with chopped nuts and serve.

Tips:

If halwa is dry , as per ur taste, can add more water while making sugar syrup.
At last, if you feel its still a bit dry, can add milk to it too to get the desired consistency.
If initially the ghee is too hot, lumps may get formed, don't worry keep stirring and break the lumps.
In this recipe sugar is on a bit lesser side, can add more if u have a sweet tooth.
Since i didn't had the khoya i added 3-4 pieces of Haldiram's kesari peda(grated) into it. It gave a nice taste as well as color to it. But yep sugar needs to be adjusted accordingly..
It takes a long time and lot of patience to saute the dal and prepare this halwa, so don't rush up.
You can make a larger quantity of this recipe and store it refrigerated for several weeks. Just add a little milk to the halwa before reheating it.

*********
These are few other Diwali Farsans ,that i did made.. Chiwda, Mathri's, Nimki(or salted sakarparee), Dahi wade, Besan ke ladoo, Moong daal Halwa and lastly Haldiram's Kesari peda's..(ofcourse i can't make something so perfect)

Wishing all my readers a very Happy and prosperous Diwali ...

*******************************

Sending this to Diwali Dhamaka at Purva's Daawat.

Yogurt Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:11:00 +0000

For a healthy balanced diet we do need to incorporate some salad varieties in our diet. Having same salad daily too won't help us much. And as, nowadays we do eat a lot of spicy as well as junk food, so a great way to cool our stomach is a Yogurt based salad, and that too with a combination of cucumbers, is the best to cool ourselves. This salad goes perfectly with our indian food. We can say its a sort of Tzatziki , a Greek starter dish, which basically contains cucumber with yogurt, olive and herb dressing as its main ingredients...It itself is quite filling, so can be made for light meals too.

Ingredients:

Fresh Yogurt 1/2 cup
Tomato 1
Onions diced 1
Cucumber, deseeded 1
Fresh corn kernels 1/3 cup
Lettuce(/Cubed cabbage leaves)
Capsicum 1 small
Mixed herbs
Feta cheese(/ crumbled paneer) 1 tbsp
lemon juice 1 tsp
Extra Virgin olive oil 1 tbsp
Crushed fresh pepper 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Firstly make hung curd. Simply put the curd in a muslin cloth and hang it at some convinient location, so as all the water drips, needs to be done for atleast about 15-20 minutes.
Next chop the tomato into small cubes, remove all the seeds and the juice .
Deseed cucumber with the help of spoon and chop it too into small cubes.
Chop capsicum into small pieces.
Also shred 3-4 lettuce leaves( or can make big squares of cabbage leaves instead).
Take fresh corn and cut corn kernels out of it with a knief( better don't use canned ones, it makes a huge difference in taste)
Now, mix all the other salad dressing ingredients(except salt), and toss gently.
Chill in refrigerator till the time of serving.
Before serving add salt to taste.

Tips:

DO NOT add salt beforehand , as the whole salad gets watery, and looses its texture.
Do remove all the water from tomato , as well as washed lettuce leaves(better dry it with paper towel, as it may contain lots of water after washing)
Best served chilled.

Sending this to
EC of simple indian Food for WYF: Light meals Event.
Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes for No Croutons required.

Pickled onions

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:24:00 +0000

Whenever i used to go to resturants , was always fascinated by these red small cute onions, and liked them a lot. By tasting it i could only understand that they are vinegar soaked, but how??, Can i do it at home?? howa'z the color so bright red?? So just browsed , and got to know that as simple they look, they are as simple to make, and can be stored for later use too...

The seasonings can also be varied as per your taste, so enjoy these pickled onions...

Ingredients:

Shallots 10 -15 in number
Sugar 2 tsp
Whole black pepper 10-12
Bay leaves 2-3
Cinnamon 1 piece
White rice vinegar 1/2 cup
Beetroot, small cubes 3-4
Salt to taste

Method:

Simply peel the small onions, set aside.
In a small non reactive bowl add vinegar, sugar, whole black peppers, bay leaves, cinnamom and bring it to a boil.
Add small onions and salt to taste.
Add canned cubed beetroot, and let it simmer for some time(4-5 minutes).( Your whole house would be filled with the aroma of vinegar...)
Switch off the gas and allow it to cool.
Have it as side dish with your daily menu.

Tips:

You can store it it fridge for upto a month in sirtight jar
If beetroot is not there , you will get a slight pink color, and not much difference in taste. For red color , you can add etable red color to it.
These vinegar soaked pickled onions can also be made with thinly sliced onions rings in a similar fashion.
Can be done with red wine vinegar too..
Also read somewhere , you can also make pickled red beet egg , by replacing onions with hard boiled eggs. I shall also try it out soon..

Aloo tikki chaat..

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:18:00 +0000

Few weeks back invited some of my friends for dinner, so thought of making chat in starters, and guess what, they came out perfect (though they turned out to be too filling). For making tikki chat, if you think of making everything from scratch, than indeed we feel it's a long long process, but as i already had my tamarind as well as green chutney ready in my fridge, and one of the dish in the main course as chole itself, so it was a lot easier... :). Even though, if it needs to be done at one go, still its worth the effort.

Ingredients:

For Aloo Tikki:

Potatoes 5 large
Bread Slices 2 -3
Garam Masala pwd ½ tsp
Roasted Jeera/Cumin Pwd 1 tsp
Coriander Powder ½ tsp
Corn Flour 1 tbsp+
Oil, for shallow frying
Salt to taste

For Date and Tamarind Chutney:

8 10 deseeded dates
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
1/4 cup jaggery
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste

Chole
Green chutney

Curd, beaten till smooth
Cumin powder
1 tbsp sugar
Finely chopped Onions
Fine sev to garnish
Red chilli powder
Chopped coriander leaves.

Method:

1. Prepare green coriander chutney

2. Prepare tamarind chutney.(better make both chutney's one day in advance)

Bring tamarind pulp to a boil. Add date paste and jaggery.
Then add red chilli powder , cumin powder and salt to taste. Adjust the spices and consistency, switch off the gas and let it cool. This can be stored in the air tight jar in the fridge for later use.

Alternatively, grind all the ingredients, along with little water, to make a thick chutney.

3. Make spicy Chole.

4. Yogurt Filling:

Beat the curd till its smooth without any lumps(add a bit water ,if too thick). Now mix in roasted cumin powder, sugar and salt to taste.

5. Aloo Tikki:

Boil potato till tender, peel and mash well(or better grate them for even consistency).
Remove the edges of bread slices. Dip the slices in water and squeeze them between your palms to remove the water. Crumble them with hands and add to the mashed potatoes. Also, bread crumbs can be directly added to mashed potatoes.
Mix in all the spices ; garam masala, roasted cumin powder, coriander powder, salt to taste and corn flour and mix well. Adjust the corn flour as required, it helps in binding and hence proper shape of tikki's.
Take a small lump and make a small ball. Press it down to shape it into round shape (about 1 cm thick ) to amke a tikki.
Heat tawa/griddle , put about 1 tsp oil, and shallow fry all the tikki's on medium to low heat on both the sides till they turn golden brown in color.
Repeat with all the tikkies and place them in a paper napkin to remove excess oil.

Assemble and Serve:

Place 2-3 hot Aloo Tikkies on serving plate.
Pour about 2 ladles full of Chole. Then add about 2 tablespoons of spiced yogurt.Then drizzle about a spoon each of Sweet Date-Tamarind Chutney and Green Chutney.
Finally garnish with chopped onion, sev and chopped coriander leaves.
Sprinkle a bit of red chilli powder and cumin power on top of it and serve immediately.

Tips:

Instead of bread slices can add one cup Bread Crumbs too
For oil consicious people, can also bake the tikkies till they turn gold and crisp on both the sides

Kheer, Rice Pudding, Indian sweet

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:31:00 +0000

Its been quite some time that i posted any recipe, and all is due to the fact that i don't get enough time to blog. I do have lots of snaps of recipes that i do make, but couldn't blog about them. So now when i had time , though of posting some sweet recipe.

Recently have been regularly watching ,"Yeah rista kya kahlata hain", in Star plus; and seeing Akshara making kheer for more then 2 episodes.. ;), though of making myself too. And then on the eve of rakhi got the occassion to make this. So here it comes, with the measurements... :) "100 gram chawal aur 150 gram shakkar, char logon ke liye.."he he....

But firstly something about kheer.., It's a popular Indian sweet, made for all happy ocassions. It is also called as ‘payash, payasa, payasam' in other Indian languages.

Kheer or payasam generally has a consistency of porridge. You can keep it plain or make it as rich as you like with the addition of nuts like cashews, pistachio, almonds etc. Most commonly made kheer is Rice Kheer or the Vermicelli kheer which is also called sevai or semiya payasam.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup rice
4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar (adjust to taste)
A pinch of saffron(soaked in little hot milk)
2-3 crushed cardamom
2 tbsp sliced almonds
1 tbsp sliced pistachios
1 tbsp raisins (optional)
1 tsp ghee

Method:

Wash rice, drain and set aside.
Better use a non-stick frying pan to make kheer.
Melt the ghee(/butter) in a frying pan on medium heat, add rice and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Then add milk and boil till rice is fully cooked and the milk is reduced to half ,on a medium heat, stirring often to ensure the milk does not burn in the bottom of the pan.
Finally add the sugar, saffron, cardamom, mixed nuts(almonds, pistachios) and let it simmer for a few more minutes.
Turn off the heat.
As kheer cools off it will become thicker in texture.
Kheer can be served chilled or warm.

Tips:

Rice can be replaced with Vermicelli.
If you will be serving chilled add 1 teaspoon of extra sugar
Instead of cardamom you can add your favorite essence, rose or almond or vanilla essence if you wish
Jaggery(brown sugar) can be added as a sweetener depending on personal choice.

CFK:healthy lunch boxes, Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:00:00 +0000

After a long time i am blogging, so firstly i would like to say sorry, for the late roundup and my slow responses to all your mails. Actually from July onwards my younger kid also started going to school, so (instead of having more time )now i have even lesser time, .., as his play group is only for one and a half hour.., So picking and dropping the two takes all my time... :(

Also my elder one did had his 5th b'day party in july, so was busy few days with it, ( i shall upload some snaps soon)... Also 1st week of august was a week with one by one all getting sick..

Now now; enough of my excuses..hehe, getting over to the roundup of Cooking For Kids.. One thing that I wanted to ask all you bloggers , on behalf of Sharmi , the event starter, is for the future guest hosts of this event from september onwards. Whoever wants to host future CFK, please do contact her at cookingforkidsevent@gmail.com

And about this roundup, i did the roundup; in the same order as i received the entries.. Do remind me if i missed some entry.... Here are some cool and healthy lunch box ideas for all the kids and their mom's....

1. Oats rava idli by EC of Simple Indian food

2. Nameless Delight! by Sharmistha of COOK-A-DOODLE-DO

3. Tomato Masala Rice by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

4. Semiya Uppma by Vidhas of Appetizing Recipes

5. Whole Grain Pizza by Sadhana of A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine

6. Gobi manchurian fried rice by Andhraruchulu

7. Whole Moong Dhal Idly (Green Gram Idly) by Hemamalini of Salt to Taste

8. Dalia Upma with veggies by Pavani of Cook's Hideout

9. Pav Bhaji by Deepti Srivastava of Dipskitchen

10. Veg Vermicelli by Deepti Srivastava of Dipskitchen

11. Sooji Halwa by Deepti Srivastava of Dipskitchen

12. Colorful Vegetable Rice by Suparna Shaligram of Mirch Masala

13. Potato Stuffed Bread Rolls by Pari Vasisht of Foodelicious

14. Boiled egg Sandwich by Sudeshna of Cook Like a Bong

Also there are some few intresting and helpful tips for packing lunch boxes for kids by Sharmistha of COOK-A-DOODLE-DO at Tiffin Trouble!!

Announcing CFK: Healthy Lunch Boxes

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:09:00 +0000

Finally this month i got the oppurtunity to host the event Cooking for Kids (CFK), a monthly event started by Sharmi @ Neivedyam. Sharmi wanted some time to get settled in her new home, and what i wanted was this oppurtunity to guest host this event . Seriously being a mom of 2 picky ,fuzzy eaters(5 yrs n 3 years ), and wanting them to have a proper balanced diet is really no joke.

Soon my kids too would start half day schools, and i would need a lots n lots of ideas to pack their lunch boxes. So, thought, why not have this as theme for July's edition of Cooking With Kids. When we were kids , we used to have whatever mom used to put in tiffin boxes, but now a days with so much junk food around, kids have gone so choosy, and we feel , how to somehow give them whatever healthy is possible.
So all you need is to cook something which goes as a healthy lunch box. It could be anything that can be packed and given to the kids for their lunch or snack time, and ofcourse is healthy.

Some simple guidelines for the event :

Make a vegetarian dish which can be packed in a tiffin in the month of July and post it in your blog before 31st July 2009. Eggs & Cheese are allowed.

Multiple entries are most welcome. You can also send from archieves, provided it should be properly updated and reposted. Posts should be linked back to the event's announcement post(this post) and Sharmi's blog.

Send the following details to neha.agrawal.2610(at)gmail(dot)com with the CFK: Healthy Lunch boxes as its subject line

Your Name
Blog name
Recipe Name
Recipe URL
A Photo of any size

The use of logo is optional, if you use good, if not then also good.:)

If you are a non-blogger and you wish to participate, send in the above details with the recipe. I will post them in the round up.
If you don't wanna post any recipe, but just some tips on how to pack lunch boxes for kids , that too is welcome.

Last date of this event is July 31st, 2009. So ,please all moms do share your yummy and healthy lunch boxes here with me, for all the other mom's to get benefit from.

Crunchy and Nutritious Soya Kababs

noreply@blogger.com (Neha) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:44:00 +0000

Few weeks back was watching Sanjeev Kapoor's 'Khana Khanzana' and came across this recipe. Looked nice and healthy too and luckily was having all the ingredients at home, so that evening itself tried them out and they came out really well. All the ingredients were i felt healthy, and were the ones that i wanna add to my diet, and the best thing it's a shallow fried snack, unlike most indian snacks. Healthy ingredients like sago Sabudana or tapioca or pearl sago, soya nuggets and tofu . Do try out, it really taste yum...

Ingredients :

Soya chunks, soaked and drained 2 cups
Onion, finely chopped 1 large
Green chillies, finely chopped 2
Coriander powder1 tsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp
Red chilli powder ½ tsp
Ginger, grated 1 inch
Chaat masala 1 tsp
Dry mango powder (amchur) ¼ tsp
Tofu(extra firm), grated 150 grams
Poha, soaked ½ cup
Sago (sabudana),soaked 3-4 tbsp
Garam masala powder 1 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil to shallow fry

Method :

Blend soaked soya chunks, onion, green chillies, coriander powder, salt, cumin powder, red chilli powder, ginger, chaat masala powder and amchur powder in a blender.
After that in same blender add tofu and continue to blend for two more minutes.
Transfer the mixture into a bowl, add soaked poha, sabudana, garam masala powder and chopped coriander leaves ; mix well .
Divide the mixture into equal portions and shape them into round kababs.
Heat oil in a shallow frying pan. Gently lower the kebabs in the oil, and shallow fry them till they are golden brown on both the sides.
Drain on absorbent paper.
Serve hot with tomato sauce or green chutney.

Tip:

Breadcrumbs can be used in place of (and also along with) poha.
If you don't like tofu, can add paneer too to it.