Stir Fry Vegetables with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Happened to try Stir fry a few months back, came out real good, but since then the quality went down in the subsequent shots. Couldn't figure out what was wrong. Seems that was the reason i stayed out of the kitchen for so long. Today, went through the process slowly and have to say the outcome  was finger licking goood...

Ingredients:

Spices: Everything to taste, for 2 servings, I used a table spoon of everything, slightly less on pepper and chilli

• Dry Basil
• White Pepper Ground
• Chili flakes
• Garlic Powder
• Mixed Seasoning
• Himalayan Salt (Taste)
• Sweet and Sour Sauce
• Corn Starch

Veggies: Any you like, I am more into proteins so lots of tofu and mushrooms for me. This time 

• Tofu -  Medium Slices Toasted on a lightly brushed pan
• washed and chopped Mushrooms(type you like) - 1 cup
• Long cut (Brunoise) Belle Pepper (several colors) - 2 Cups
• Roasted Peanuts (Optional) - handful
• Broccoli (Optional, if you do, use small / medium flowers 5-7 per plate)

Oil/Butter as needed/preferred: I use minimal.

Process:

• Dry roast the spices on a pan at medium flame. 5-7 Mins
• grind the mix to powder 
• put it back on pan on medium flame and mix with Sweet and Sour sauce and / or any other sauce you want. mix for 2 mins 
• Add water to make the sauce. 

At this point, I personally like to bring the mix to boil and reduce the water to half. It just makes the mix more consistent and rich.Once done, keep aside.

Use a Skillet to roast the medium slices. Roast them to taste and liking. Keep aside.

Use a flat pan to saute the veggies. First goes the peppers. Run it dry on the pan for 3-4 mins. Since Pepper will release some water, make sure move it enough so it does not burn. Add Mushrooms to the mix and add a little butter, just enough to glaze the mix. Saute it for another 5-6 mins.

While the veggies are getting saute, take one tea spoon of Corn starch, mix it well with warm/lukewarm water and add to the gravy. This is used to thicken the gravy. Bring the gravy to a good consistency. Add a few pinches of Himalayan salt to both the veggies and gravy.

Mix the veggies into the gravy and stir it lightly for a min.

Dress the plate and throw some peanuts on top. Serve it hot 

PS: I sometime top it with grated cheese :-)😋😋😋😋😋

Various tries below.

Some more tries in the past .

Chocolate Parantha!! Desi Bidesi Fusion!!!

I havn't been very fond of letting Saanvi ooze on chocolates. But as she grows there is less of controlling and more of making lecturing for her on what why how much she should eat. Chocolates being one of her not so good friends but she still ensures she gets one with "Papa...only one plllsssss" :-). We always have dozens of chocolates at home but i am really impressed with this little fella for not digging in.

So have to let her enjoy chocolates in different variations. One such I thought she would like in her favorite morning meal - Parantha (Stuffed Tortilla)

What i used was

1 Small 4gm Orange Flavored chocolate. You can chose any plain chocolate (Non Caramel, Non Nutty...). Try classic Dairy Milk. If you have a nutty chocolate too, grate the nuts along with the chocolate.

Regular Wheat Dough. I am hoping you know how to prepare one.

• Use a thin grater or a sharp knife to grate the hard chocolate. 
• Take a regular size tortilla dough and roll it into a 6 inch circle.
• spread the grated chocolate over it and very gently press the chocolate in the dough, so it just sticks to the dough and doesn't fall around.
• move over the sides towards the center and make a smaller rectangular or square shape.
• Roll to flatten it to about 8-9".
• Do not flatten too thin or too long.
• Now make it like any other parantha on a flat pan (Tawa)

Serve the little one and see how surprised they are by eating chocolate in a healthy way. 

Cheers!!!

Paneer Parantha

With wify +Divya Upadhyay out for a month long holiday, a forced married bachelors have all the kitchen to themselves to make whatever mess they can, cook whatever they want to and still not get raised eyebrows. Isn’t that every married man’s dream – Not get raised eyebrows.

One such fine morning, woke up and a good friend showed me the Garma Garam Wada Pav she had early morning and made me dig deep into my cooking mind to decide what to have for breakfast and tease her back. I think I took the challenge little too far and ended up winning( I guess).

End Product: Paneer Parantha, Lassi, Chai, White Butter (Home Made) and Dahi.


Here is the recipe of Paneer Parantha!!

Ingredients:

• Fresh Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) – 100gm
• Onion – 1 medium
• Green Chilli – 1 or 2 (to taste)
• Coriander Powder – 2 TSP
• Garam Masala – ¾ TSP
• Red Chilli Powder – ½ TSP (To Taste)
• Salt – 1 TSP
• Garlic Powder, Ginger Powder, Asafetida (Hing), Black Pepper Powder –for flavoring
• Chopped coriander leaves if you like
• Carom Seeds (Ajwain) – to taste
• Aata (Wheat Floor) Dough, Fresh s good.
• Oil to Fry the Parantha
• A flat pan (Tawa) to cook/bake paranthas

I already made my dough and mixture before the thought of sharing it came up. so pls excuse / ask me for procedure. Keep aside the Wheat Dough.

Finely chop Onion and Green Chilies. Crush Paneer into a bowl and mix with all remaining dry ingredients above. Nicely mix them together. The mixture will look like the one in image.

Take a small piece of Wheat dough and make a ball of it. Flatten it a little and put some mixture on one center of the flattened dough.

Lift the sides slowly and cover it like a dumpling ball. Close the top nicely and gently press it down by patting over it slowly. Use dry flour to keep it dry. Use the roller to flatten the dough into a circular shape like a tortilla. Make sure you don’t use heavy hands and use enough dry flour to not let the dough get stuck on the flat board(Chakla).

Roll it nicely to a 8-10” pan sized tortilla.

Check the pan, if it is hot enough transfer the tortialla to the pan and bake it from both sides.

Fry it using little bit of oil on both sides. Some people like it un-fried and eat it with butter/ghee. Do as you prefer.

If your mixture is wet, while adding it to the dough add a little bit of dry wheat flour in it. It will absorb the moisture and help prevent the dough from breaking.

End result. Yum Yum paneer Parantha.

Use some white/yellow butter to serve it with Chai/Lassi/Pickle/Dahi. whatever your hungry tummy craves for.


Bon Appetite!!

Tips:

The quality of your parantha will depend on three main factors

• How well soft/hard the aata is. I prefer a little tighter dough for Paneer Paranthas.
• Is your mixture wet? There is a work around if it is so, I’ll tell later in the post.
• Is your pan hot enough? Wave your hand slowly about 4-5 inches of the pan, if you feel it hot enough to bake the parantha. Use it. (we need not too cold, not too hat – releasing black smoke)
• Accidents do happen. Sometimes parantha’s break, sometimes, the dough don’t come nicely,  don’t get disheartened. The most common reason is wet mixture

• 
  

Gaajar Halwa (Carrot Pudding)

Ingredients: 

Serves 6-8 people

• Regular Carrots : 6 (grated to 4 cups of unsqueezed watery lumps)
• Sugar : 1/2 Cup
• Green Cardamom Powder : 1TSP
• Almonds : 10-12 
• Cashew : 10-12
• Golden Raisins: 10-12
• Desi Ghee: Just enough on how fat cautious you are :-)
• Full Fat milk - 1/2 Cup.
• Optional : Coconut Powder

Preparation:

1. Nicely wash the carrots and then peel the skin off. Use a regular grater to grate the carrots. Do not grate too thin or the Halwa will become squishy. 
2. Warm a cup of water and soak the Raisins in it, leave it aside.
3. Put a deep pan on the burner with medium flame. Add 4 TbSP of Ghee. Add all the grated carrot in it. Mix it well. With Ghee mixed with Carrots, it will give a shining glow to the carrots. Cover the mixture with a pan and let it on the flame. Occasionally toss the carrots so it don't stick to the bottom of the pan, if you see it sticking, add a TbSp of Ghee and mix well. The reason I do not add all the Ghee in the start is to use less of Ghee.
4. We have to make sure that the carrots are nicely cooked and do not give a dry taste/smell. So it will be wise to taste a little of the mix after every 2 mins. It should take around 20 mins (+/- a few) for carrots to cook properly.
5. When you feel the carrots are getting done / almost done, spread the sugar uniformly over it and mix it well. That should make the mix even shinier. Cover the pan again for a minute or two.
6. While the carrots are getting cooked, use a mortar-pastle (इमाम दस्ता) to crush the almonds and cashews. Do not crush very fine. Keep aside a little amount and crush it fine.
7. Use a small frying pan, add 1 TbSp Ghee, heat it on a low flame (4-5) and add the almond/cashew mix to it. Fry it till the mixture absorbs all the oil. Add it to the carrots and mix it gently. 
8. Rinse the excess water of the raisins and add that to the mix.
9. Now the milk. The purpose of the milk is to get smoothness to the Halwa. Some use sweetened condensed milk too, but i prefer regular milk (If you use sweetened condensed milk, you will not need any sugar.) The trick to adding milk is to not add cold milk. Warm/Boil the milk separately before adding it to the mixture and mix it gently.
10. Take a spoon of Halwa and taste for sweetness. If you need it more sweet, add more sugar and let it cook for another minute, otherwise, Halwa is ready for Garnish.
11. Use the pinch of powdered cardamom and mix it nicely with the carrots. Green Cardamom will add to the aroma of the Halwa itself.

Halwa is best served Hot but alot of Indians would love to eat it cold:-). Serve as you like.

Traditionally, we also use खोया or खोए , but it is difficult and costly to find it here in US. If you do find it, add it instead of milk. 

I just made it last night cause my wife happened to crave for it, no it is not the pregnancy. She just likes sweet. Served it hot with a pinch of coconut powder to garnish. 

Of course she wanted it more sweet and with खोये :)...Bon Apetite!!!

The Chronicles of San: The Twos Xpress

The Chronicles of San: The Twos Xpress: talk slowly, Mommy, and let me play i usually ignore what ever you say be it night or be it day all i wanna do is scream and play ...

Pesto Mushrooms

I was just sitting around, talking to her highness about her dislike of mushrooms, and then I recalled that she has a dislike for Pesto sauce too.

So, why not combine a few dislikes to make something that she likes! And I chose the day when a very sweet couple visited us.

Taadaaa!!!! PESTO MUSHROOMS!!! Lightly sauteed mushrooms in Pesto Sauce. Here is what I did.

Ingredients:

• Mushrooms             1 Cup Button Mushrooms (Halved)
• Onions                    1/2 Cup Sliced or Diced
• Red Bell Pepper        1/2 Cup Sliced or Diced
• Green Bell Pepper     1/2 Cup Sliced or Diced
• Pesto Sauce             4-5 TBSP

Seasoning:

• Salt (optional - Pesto sauce contains some salt. If you want the dish to be extra salty, add more salt according to taste)
• Red Chili Flakes
• Black Pepper (I have Garlic Pepper and I used that. Tastes great!)
• Ginger Garlic Paste or Chopped Ginger and Chopped Garlic
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 3 TSP

Procedure:

Heat the oil slightly in a non-stick frying pan. Add onions and saute for 1-2 Mins. Add the bell peppers and mix. Saute the mixture until the bell peppers become slightly tender, but not mushy. We need to retain their crunch.

Add the ginger-garlic paste and mix well. Add the chilly flakes and salt (if needed).

Add Pesto sauce and mix well. Lastly, add the mushrooms and mix well to coat everything nicely with the pesto sauce.

You may add the mushrooms first and then the pesto sauce, but mushrooms tend to shrink and lose water very fast, so they need to stay in the pan for a very less amount of time.

Take the mixture off the heat and serve hot.

If you like, you may top it up with some grated Parmesan cheese.

Daal Makhani - 2

In the earlier version of Dal Makhani, I talked about the the dhaabha version/quick recipe of Dal Makhani. Here is another one that is a little more spicier and tangy. You will find this flavor in executive restaurants serving traditional recipes (sometimes served in Haandi/Matki etc). This preperation method takes A LOT of time so one have to be very patient.

Ingredients

• Black Whole Urad Dal: 2 bowls
• Garlic: 5-6 cloves 
• Ginger: same quantity as Garlic, chopped
• Red onions: 2 medium ( Chopped 1/2 cm Julian)
• Salt: to taste 

For Puree

• Tomatoes: 4-6 medium and blended into a paste
• Desi Ghee: (4 TSP)
• Red Chili Powder: 2 TSP
• Asafoetida (Heeng): 1/4 TSP
• Coriander (Dhaniya) Powder: 1 TSP
• Roasted Cumin Powder: 2-3TSP
• Garam Masala Powder: 2 TSP

For Garnish

• Whipping cream: 1/4 bowl
• Ginger: Julian Cut 10-12 picks
• Whole Green Chili: Slit from center: 4-5
• Red Chili Powder: 1 TSP

Pre-preparation

Wash and Soak the Dal , Cloves and Garlic Chopped in the warm water over night. ( water level should be 2-3 times the depth of dal). In the morning(around 10hrs of soaking) use the same mix of dal and with water and put in a pressure cooker. Add more water to the cooker. Keep in mind it takes a lot of whistles depending on a variety of things. The traditional way is to make Dal Makhani is boiling it in open pot, but that would take a few days to cook (Yes, Few Days). Pressure cooker reduces the time to 7-8 hours of continuous cooking.

Also, chop onions in Julien style with half cm wide. Wash and Soak in water for a few mins to reduce the acidic smell. Check the mixture every 10 whistles. 30 mins interval, open the cooker, stir the mixture(20 mins), add more warm water if the water is less. In between, add the chopped Onions to the mix and let it boil with the Daal. Taste the daal and if you feel more whistles are required, so be it, do it. After 2-3 hours of pressure cooker cooking, open the cooker and add salt, chilli powder.

Let the mixture boil uncovered now for an hour. Stir regularly. In between, use a masher to mash some daal, it will help make the daal thicker. Taste the daal and if you feel more cooking is required, let it stay on flame for 10 more minutes. If you feel salt/spice is less, add it in the puree. like wise if it is more, add less in puree.

Puree Preparation
In a separate open pan, Heat Ghee/Butter in a pan. Add cumin seeds and let them splatter for a few secs. Add Garam masala,  Asafoetida(Heeng), Coriander Powder, Roasted Cumin Powder and let it crackle for few secs. 

Make a fine puree of the tomatoes and add to the pan and stir for a few minutes. Add salt to taste. Add the puree to the Daal. After around 30 mins of cooking the mixture, take the open cooker and transfer the mixture to a wide pan and let it cool. When the mixture is cool enough, put the flame on low heat to keep it warm and add the whipping cream to the mixture and mix it slowly. 

**The mixture should not be too hot while adding the cream. You may chose not to use whipping cream and just add butter to make it tasty.

Turn off the stove and transfer the daal to serving bowl.

Garnish
Heat Butter in a small pan. Add cumin seeds and let them splatter for a few secs. Add green chilis, Red Chilli Powder, Julien cut ginger and let it crackle for a few secs (10-15). 

Use a spoon to spread the garnish the daal in the bowl. Use 1/2 spoons of whipping cream to garnish daal.

I nicely cooked daal goes best with Naan, Rice and almost everything else:-)


Bon apetite 

Bharvan Baingan - Stuffed Eggplants

Here's another one for the Eggplant lovers... a recipe of Bharvan Baingan with a couple of twists.

What you need:

• 6 Baby Eggplants
• 1 Big Red Onion
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1 TBSP Coriander seeds (Dhaniya) 
• 1 TSP Mustard seeds
• 1 TBSP Fennel seeds (Saunf)
• 1/2 TSP Fenugreek seeds (Methi)
• 1 TBSP Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 1 TSP Onion Seeds (Kalounji)
• 2 Dry Red Chilies
• Salt - to taste
• 1 TSP Mango Powder (Amchur)
• 1 TSP Lemon Juice
• 6 TBSP Mustard Oil 

Dry roast all the dry spices (except Amchur, Salt, and Onion Seeds) on a low flame until a nice aroma comes out from them. Let the spice mix cool a bit and then grind it to a fine powder. Finely chop half of the red onion and garlic cloves. Heat 1 TSP of oil in a pan and add garlic. Saute it on a low flame until it turns light brown. Add onions and saute until they become translucent. In a bowl, mix the onions and garlic with the spice powder that we prepared. Add Amchur, Salt to taste, Lemon Juice, and 2 TBSP Oil. Give it a good mix. The oil and lemon juice help in binding the stuffing so that it doesn't fall out of the eggplants later.

Wash the eggplants and slit them partially into quarters. Stuff the eggplants well with the Masala that we prepared. Cut the other half of the red onion into long slices.

Heat the remaining mustard oil in a non-stick pan. When the oil is hot, add onion seeds, and let them crackle a bit. Add the eggplants one by one and arrange them in a way so that each eggplants gets enough space to cook. Do not clutter the pan with too many eggplants. Now add the sliced onions around the eggplants and let them cook on a low flame. Keep turning the eggplants in between to make sure that all the sides get cooked. It might take around 30-45 mins for the eggplants to get cooked completely.

Serve them hot with Lachha Paranthas/Chapatis. You may even have them with rice!

Microwave Cooking

Continuing on the road of sharing the tips on Microwave cooking. Here are a few more...

Why I like microwave cooking? The simple answer is that once the method is perfected, I don't have to worry about turning off the gas or overcooked food ;-). And while the dish is being cooked, I don't have to bother looking/checking, and I can spend that much time in cooking/doing something else.

I use microwave cooking for very basic items, nothing fancy. Although, I know that there are a lot more items that can be cooked in the microwave. The things I prefer doing in microwave are:

• White Rice
• Jeera Rice
• Boiled Potatoes
• Tea ;-)
• Pasta (boiling)

Rice / Jeera Rice:

Cooking time: 12-15 mins, depending upon how much rice you cooking.


You would need:

• Oil: 2 TBSP
• Salt: 1 TSP
• Basmati Rice: 1 Cup
• Water 2.25 Cups
• A large microwave-safe bowl ( should be able to hold more than double the amount of water and rice combined)
• Cumin Seeds (Jeera) – 1 TSP (if you making jeera rice)

Wash the rice and then soak it in the given amount of water for 15 minutes. In the microwave-safe bowl, add oil and cumin seeds, and keep the bowl in the microwave for 30 secs. Take out the bowl and add rice (along with the water) to it. Put the bowl back in microwave for 12-13 mins approx and relax! When the microwave beeps, take the bowl out of the microwave using mittens or a kitchen towel, because the bowl will be very hot. Serve the rice hot!

Boiling Potatoes: 

Peel and cut the potato(es) into small cubes and put them in a microwave-safe bowl. Add water to the bowl till a level where the potatoes are completely immersed in water. If you are going to use the potatoes for a salty dish, it’s a good idea to add the salt now. Put the bowl in the microwave and run it for around 15 mins. It may need more / less time depending on how much potato you used.

I do around 15 mins for 3 large Russet Potatoes.

Boiling Pasta:

Different types and shapes of pasta take different amount of time to cook. I will use the simple elbow pasta as an example here. It's the one that we cook a lot for our daughter.

You would need:

• 1 cup Elbow Pasta / Farfalle Pasta
• 3 cups water
• 5 TSP Salt
• 1 TSP Olive Oil

Combine the pasta, salt, and water in a microwave-safe bowl and run it in the microwave for around 12-14 minutes. Once done, carefully drain the HOT WATER. Toss the pasta in a pan with a good amount of Olive Oil. This method prevents the pasta from turning sticky if you aren't using it immediately.

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

• Ripe Roma Tomatoes - 10 (Quartered)
• Garlic cloves - 5-6  (Chopped)
• Urad Daal (Black Gram) - 2 TSP
• Chana Daal ( Bengal Gram ) - 1 TBSP
• Curry Leaves – 1 stem (8-10 leaves)
• Small Green Chilies - 4-5 ( Chopped )
• Dry Red Chilies - 2
• Cumin Seeds - 1 TSP
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 TSP
• Tamarind Pulp - 2 TBSP
• Sugar - 1 TBSP
• Salt - To taste
• Vegetable Oil – 2 TBSP
• Asafetida – ½ TSP

In a medium-large frying pan, heat 1TBSP Vegetable Oil. When hot, add Mustard and Cumin seeds and let them crackle for 15-20 seconds. Add Asafetida, Chopped Garlic and Green Chilies and sauté for a few seconds. Once the cloves and chilies turn slightly brown, add Chana Daal. Stir continuously until the Chana Daal turns slightly brown. Now is the time to add Urad Daal. We add Chana daal before Urad as Chana daal takes more time to cook. When Urad daal turns light brown, add the dry Red Chilies and Curry Leaves. Let the mixture cook for a few minutes. Stir continuously so nothing gets burned.

Add the Tamarind Pulp. After 15-20 seconds of stirring , add Tomatoes, Salt and Sugar(you may also add jaggery). Cover the  mixture and let it simmer at low flame for around 20-25 mins. Mix occasionally so that nothing gets stuck to the pan. The water released from the tomatoes helps the mixture stay wet.

Take the pan off the flame and let the mixture cool for a few minutes. Then run it in a blender.

The Chutney is ready. It goes well with Idly, Dosa, Rice....I guess anything you like! ;-)

Microwave Cooking: Quick Paneer Snack

The frozen paneer (Cottage Cheese) that we get in US doesn't taste as good as the homemade paneer. It is kind of rubbery! I love eating raw paneer and so does my daughter. 


For a quick paneer snack, cut the frozen paneer into small cubes, put in a bowl, add a spoon of butter salted/unsalted, and microwave it for 15-20 seconds. Larger quantity would need more time. Take out the bowl from microwave and mix the melted butter and paneer nicely. Put it back in the microwave for 10 secs or so.

Take out the bowl, sprinkle some salt, black pepper and/or chat masala over it and it's ready to snack on!

I Love it and so does my 1 year old daughter. :-)

Microwave Cooking: Indian Milk Tea

I would be amused to see an Indian who has never had tea in his life, barring the ones who may have had medical conditions. It's our wine, our tobacco (for the teetotallers like me).

And tell me how many of you have not boiled the tea off the pan and then cursed everything around the world! :) Well, I have now turned myself onto making tea in the microwave. The procedure is very simple and the taste is as good as you can get.

For two cups of tea:

• Milk- 1cup
• Water- 1.5 cups
• Tea Leaves- 2-3 TSP (depending on how strong you want your tea to be)
• Sugar- 2 TSP (or as per taste)

You can add Tea Masala, crushed or grated ginger, green cardamom Powder, cloves, or anything else that you like in your tea.

Procedure:

Combine everything in a large microwave-safe bowl and run it for 3 mins and 30 secs. In the meantime, you can do whatever you want to, without worrying about the tea. When the tea is ready, the microwave will beep. Use mittens or a kitchen towel to take the bowl out. Filter and pour the tea in the mugs, and enjoy!

Do tell me if it tastes any different from regular stove tea. :-)

Cooking Tips: Microwave Cooking

Do you know how much time and electricity/power you spend when you use a conventional stove/electric stove? Well neither do I;-). But I do know is when we cook on a conventional / electric Stove, a lot of energy is wasted because it is open and it also needs a lot of manual monitoring to make sure things don't get over cooked or may not burned.

Lately I have started increasing the use of Microwave in my cooking. Here on, I am going to share my experience with microwave cooking. I have till now done tea,rice, potato,daal, vegetables etc in microwave.

Watch for the procedure, very simple they are and the time required for it.

The Benefits are huge. Most importantly, it saves a lot of Power and personal time.

Cheers!!!

Nitin

Dahi Vade/Bhalle

Say "Dahi Vade" and my mouth starts watering! Dahi Vade (also known as Dahi Bhalle) is a popular Punjabi side dish. The best description I can give of it is "lentil dumplings soaked in yogurt with sweet and sour chutneys". Sounds yummy? ;) Here is how we prepare it.

Ingredients

• Urad Dal (white): 1 cup
• Moong Dal (yellow): 1/2 cup
• Fresh Yogurt: 1 Pound (1/2Kg)
• Vegetable oil for deep frying
• Salt: to taste
• Red Chilly Powder: to taste
• Cumin powder: to taste
• Tamarind Chutney
• Coriander/Mint Chutney

Preparation


Mix Urad and Moong Dal and soak them overnight. Wash the dals thoroughly and then grind them to a fine paste. Be careful while adding water to the dals when you grind the dals. The batter should be thick enough to make dumplings.


Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. When the oil is hot, drop ping pong ball sized dumplings into it. Fry them until they turn golden brown, drain them, and keep them aside. Do not fry them on high flame otherwise the dumplings would not cook properly and stay raw inside. Take ample amount of water in a large bowl and soak the dumplings for around 10 minutes.


Beat the yogurt very fine and make sure that it has no lumps. Take the dumplings out of the water, squeeze each dumpling lightly between your palms to drain the water, and drop them in the yogurt. Don't squeeze them so hard that they break. Let them stay in the yogurt for a while so that they soak it. If you aren't planning to have them immediately, refrigerate them and let them become chilled.


Serving


Take the dumplings out of the yogurt carefully and put them in the serving dish. Pour yogurt over them evenly. Sprinkle salt, red chilly powder, and cumin powder on them, all to your taste. Pour the chutneys in the end. Some people like to decorate the Vadas with the spices and chutneys by making designs out of them. It's quite a colorful sight! :) You can also garnish the vadas with chopped coriander leaves and Sev.


Dahi Vadas taste the best when serve chilled.

Fundooo Fried Rice

I'd earlier posted a recipe of Sweet Cardamom Rice that used leftover rice. Here is the salty version of the leftover rice.


Pre-Preparation


The best way is to use the leftover plain white rice from the earlier meal that you don't want to throw. :) Crush the rice with hands to remove any lumps. If you want to use fresh rice, cook rice separately in an open container or in the microwave. For one bowl of rice, add two bowls of water and a little oil. Put in the microwave for 17-18 mins. I use Pure Basmati Rice that is the best for Fried Rice/Biryani.


Ingredients

• Basmati Rice - 1 Bowl
• Pure Ghee - 2 TSP
• Chopped Onion - 1 Small
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 TSP (Jeera)
• Brown Cardamom - 2 (Crushed)
• Cumin Powder - 1/4 TSP (Jeera)
• Cardamom Powder (Elaichi) - Crushed cardamom is also OK to have - 1/2 TSP
• Raisins - (Kishmish / Saungi) - 10-15
• Turmeric(Haldi) Powder - 1/2 TSP
• Dhaniya Leaves - Small Bunch, Chopped
• Chilli Powder 1/4 TSP
• Salt - To taste

Procedure


Chop onions into thin long slices of appx 1" size. Chop the Green Chillies into small finely.


Heat Ghee in a non stick frying pan. Add Cumin seeds and let them crackle for a couple seconds. Add onions and chillies and sauté them until onions turn light yellow. Add Brown Cardamom (Large Cardamom/ Elaichi ) and golden raisins and sauté them for a few seconds.


Add the cooked rice and mix well to make a homogeneous mixture.


Add Turmeric Powder, Chilly Powder, Cumin Powder, and Salt. Mix well. Make sure not to leave any lumps.


Let the mixture cook for a while. Before serving, garnish the rice with chopped Coriander leaves.


Serve Hot!

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is one of the favorite street foods in India. It tastes wonderful and provides a lot of nutrition in the form of all the vegetables that you put in the Bhaji. It's as simple to prepare as the name sounds! :)

Ingredients

• Potatoes - 4 Large
• Cauliflower - 1 Small Flower
• Carrots - 2 medium
• Green Peas - 1 cup (frozen/fresh)
• Beans - half a cup
• Onions - 2-3 medium - chopped
• Tomatoes - 3-4 medium - chopped
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 11/2 TSP
• Green Chillies - 6 Small - finely chopped
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 TSP
• Turmeric Powder- 1/2 TSP
• Salt - to taste
• Pav Bhaji Masala - 1 TSP
• Butter - 50 gm
• Lemon - 1
• Pavs

Pre-preparation
Boil the vegetables (except onions and tomatoes) together and mash them.

Bhaji Masala
Heat half of the butter in a pan on medium heat. Add ginger-garlic paste and chopped onions. Saute the onions until they become light brown. Add tomatoes and mix well. Add turmeric powder and red chilly powder. Cook this mixture on a medium flame with frequent stirring for about 10 minutes. Add the mashed vegetables, salt, and pav bhaji masala. Stir well and let it cook on medium flame for another 10 minutes. Keep stirring the bhaji frequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Pavs
Cut pavs into halves horizontally and fry them on a non-stick pan with some butter. They are ready when they get a light brown color on both sides.

Serving
Transfer the bhaji into a serving bowl. Garnish it with chopped coriander. Cut the lemon into wedges and serve them with the bhaji along with some chopped onion. And last but not the least, don't forget to put some butter on the hot bhaji so that it melts down slowly and enriches the flavor!

Baingan ka Bharta

After Baingan Pathankoti, here's presenting the best and the most popular dish of Eggplant (Baingan) - Baingan ka Bharta. It's extremely mouth-watering, quick and easy to prepare, and loved even by many eggplant-haters. :-)

Ingredients

• Fresh Eggplant: 1 big or 2 medium-sized
• Red Onions: 1 big (I prefer red onions to white onions in the Bharta)
• Tomatoes: 4 medium-sized
• Green chilis: 3-4
• Cumin (Jeera) seeds: 1 TSP
• Red Chili Powder: 1/2 TSP
• Coriander (Dhaniya) Powder: 1/2 TSP
• Asafoetida (Heeng) - a pinch
• Turmeric (Haldi) Powder: 1/2 TSP
• Salt: to taste
• Garam Masala Powder: 1/2 TSP
• Coriander Leaves
• Butter (to garnish)
• Vegetable Oil - 1 TSP

Preparation

Roast the eggplant on a medium flame till its skin become dark and wrinkled. Keep turning the eggplant frequently over the flame so that it gets roasted evenly. Alternatively, you can also microwave the eggplant in a large microwave-safe bowl for about 15 minutes. before putting the eggplant in the microwave, put horizontal slits on it with a knife otherwise the eggplant will burst (yes, it actually bursts! we're experienced! :D ) After the eggplant is roasted, run cold water over it and peel off its skin and mash its flesh (sounds gross, isn't it?) :-)

Chop the tomatoes and green chilis very finely. You can also microwave the tomatoes for 10 minutes and mash them (we prefer it this way cuz' it cooks faster). Chop the onions into thin slices.

Heat a pan and put oil in it. When the oil is hot enough, put in the cumin seeds, let them splutter, and turn dark brown. Add asafoetida and then add the tomatoes and green chilis. Stir for a few seconds and let the tomatoes cook for a while.

After the tomatoes are fully cooked, add the mashed eggplant. Mix them well, add the remaining spices except salt, and mix again. Add the onions now and mix them well with the eggplant. The reason for adding the onions at the end is to keep them a bit crunchy. Keep stirring the mixture to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the onions become pale, add the garam masala and mix well.

Serving

Transfer the Bharta to a serving bowl and garnish it with chopped coriander leaves. Take a small piece of butter, put it in the middle of the Bharta and let it melt. Serve hot with Paranthas!

Besan ke Laddoo

This is the second time Divu tried Besan ke Laddoos and they came out real nice! The first time, it became something else (rather, she had to make it something else) Will tell you how... :-)

So here's the recipe.


Ingredients

• Gram Flour (Besan): 4 cups
• Semolina (Sooji): 1/2 cup
• Sugar: 2 cups
• Ghee: 2 cups (melted)
• Almonds and Cashew nuts: 20 pieces (crushed)
• Cardamom (Elaichi) powder: 1 TSP

Preparation


Heat a large pan on a medium flame. Add gram flour and semolina and roast the mixture for a minute. Add ghee and mix it well with the mixture. Keep stirring the mixture continuously over medium flame to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan and getting burnt. Make sure that roast the mixture on medium flame so that it gradually becomes light brown and cooks well. You would need to cook this mixture for around 10-15 minutes.


Remove the mixture from the pan and let it cool. Add crushed almonds and cashew nuts, sugar, and cardamom powder to the mixture and mix everything well. Prepare small-sized balls from the mixture. The laddoos are ready!


If, somehow, you end up putting more Ghee in the mixture and it seems like a paste, which isn't good enough to prepare balls, don't lose heart. Do this (that's what Divu did when she prepared laddoos for the first time):

• Spread the mixture evenly in a plate and let it cool. You may also refrigerate it for an hour or so to harden the paste.
• When the paste is hard enough, cut diamonds out of it. You now have "Besan ki Barfi" instead of laddoos! :-)

Rice Pudding - Kheer

It was a surprise some days back when one of my clients came to me and said, "I heard you are a good cook?" And I was like "where in the world did she hear that... hmm???" But then, I had to behave in office and said, "Yea, not good but OK." ;-)

The conversation went on and she asked me the recipe for rice pudding that she would have had somewhere, and I offered to make rice pudding for her along with providing the recipe. I didn't get enough time to cook it myself as some of my old friends turned up for dinner, so I cooked dinner that night for my old friends who also wanted to taste my food and Divu prepared the delicious Rice Pudding.


We are going to use cooked steamed rice for this pudding as it takes lesser time to cook than cooking raw rice in milk.

Quantity: Serves 5-6 - size does matter :-)
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:
Plain Steamed Basmati Rice : 3 Servings

Whole Milk : 1.5Lts ( Just less than 1/2 gallon)

Sugar : 8-10 TSP ( depends how sweet you want it)

Green Cardamom : 5 pcs (Crushed)

Golden Raisins : 20 Pcs

Almonds + Cashew nuts : Coarse Grind - a bunch

Almonds + Cashew nuts : a bunch (Sliced for garnishing)
Surprise item : will tell later :-P

Pre-preparation

Steam Cooked Rice

Slice almonds and cashews

Cooking
Use a large vessel as the quantity is large. You may proportionate the quantity for preparing lesser amount of pudding.


Boil the milk and let it simmer for 2-3 mins on low flame, and while it is on heat, add sugar, crushed cardamom, almonds, cashews nuts, and raisins to it. After a while add cooked rice into the mixture and let it simmer for 10-15 mins. The reason we let it simmer with rice is to let the rice grains nicely soak milk and sugar. Before taking the mixture off the flame, check the rice by crushing it between your fingers or tasting a spoonful.

Also, make sure that the rice is thoroughly mixed with milk and is not settling down very frequently.

Just a while before you want to take down the mixture off the flame, add little bit of chocolate powder (surprise item) to give it a special taste.

Let the mixture cool for a while. The milk will now give a feel as if it is condensed milk and not regular whole milk.

Garnishing

Transfer the mixture in a serving bowl slowly. Garnish with sliced almonds, cashew nuts, and crushed cardamom.


Keep the bowl in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. This will condense the milk and make the pudding thicker.

Serving
Serve chilled. This dish is best when served chilled!

Daal Makhni

Dal Makhni is one of the popular dishes of Punjab. People cook it with a lot of variations and a variety of ingredients. It's quite rich so the people who're dieting might feel guilty! :P But then, it tastes so good, you'd always feel that you haven't had enough! :)

Ingredients

• Black Whole Urad Dal: 2 bowls
• Black Kidney Beans (Rajma): 1/2 bowl (it's optional though)
• Red onions: 2 medium finely chopped
• Garlic: 5-6 cloves finely chopped
• Ginger: 1 TSP grated
• Green Chilis: 2-3 finely chopped
• Tomatoes: 2-3 medium and blended into a paste
• Whipping cream: 1/2 bowl
• Vegetable Oil: (2 TSP)
• Salt: to taste
• Red Chili Powder: 1/2 TSP
• Turmeric (Haldi) Powder: a pinch
• Asafoetida (Heeng): a pinch
• Coriander (Dhaniya) Powder: 1/2 TSP
• Cumin (Jeera) Seeds: 1/2 TSP
• Whole Garam Masala consisting of Whole Black Cardamom (Badi Elaichi), Cinnamon (Dalchini), Cloves (Laung), and Bay Leaves (Tejpatta)
  OR
  Garam Masala Powder

Pre-preparation


Soak the Dal and Kidney beans overnight. Boil it in a pressure cooker with around 6-7 whistles. The number of whstles required to cook the Dal depends on the quantity of it. If you haven't soaked it overnight, you might have to use a couple of more whistles. Make sure that the Dal is not overcooked. It should becomed soft without getting mashed.


Masala Preparation


Heat oil in a big pan/cooker. If you want the Dal to be richer, you may also prepare the tadka in Ghee or Butter. Add whole garam masala and let it crackle for half a minute. Add cumin seeds and let them splatter till they become dark brown. Add the chopped onions, garlic, ginger, and green chilis. You may also grind onions, garlic, ginger, and green chilis together and prepare a coarse paste. We like them chopped! :)


Saute the mixture till it turns light brown and starts leaving the oil from the sides. Add the tomato paste and stir for a minute.


Dal Preparation


Add the boiled Dal to the mixture and stir well. The density of Dal Makhni is thicker than the normal Dals so add or reduce the amount of water accordingly. Add whipping cream now and let the Dal come to a boil. Reduce the flame now and let the Dal simmer for about half an hour. It is said that the more you simmer the Dal, the tastier it becomes!


Serving


When you feel that the Dal is ready, garnish it with chopped coriander leaves, dry and crushed fenugreek leaves, and some whipping cream. It goes best with Rice or Naans. Enjoy! :)