Masala dosa

The pic on the top is what I desire to achieve........on the bottom is what I actually did. Of course, my pic doesn't look as good...........its missing the banana leaf,chutney sambhar,bhaji...the works.

Ingredients
1 cup urad dal
3 cups rice ( I use Ponni raw rice
1 tsp methi seeds
1 cup poha
1/2 cup maida
2 tbsp sugar, yes, u read it right!

Soak rice and urad dal separately. Soak methi with poha. Grind about 6 hrs later. Grind Urad dal, methi and poha for about 30 mins making sure all the daal have now become into a fluffy smooth batter.
Remove the batter and then grind the rice to a paste. Rice should be ground fine. To make sure if your rice batter is the right consistency, the feel of the batter is something close to the finest rava you find in the grocery store.Add salt and let the batter ferment.
Just before u make the dosa, mix sugar and maida with a little water and add it to the batter.This helps make crispier dosa.

Flan

Ingredients
1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
10 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract for the caramel
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water

Procedure
Mix the sugar & water in a saucepan boil until the sugar caramelize.
Pour the caramelized sugar into aluminum moulds.
Spread the caramel on the bottom of the mould.

Mix the evaporated milk, condensed milk, egg yolks and vanilla by hand . Pour the mixture on top of the caramel on the aluminum moulds,halfway up.
To bake the Leche Flan, place the mould on a larger baking pan half filled with very hot water.
Pre-heat oven to 370 degrees before baking. Bake for 45 mins.
Let it cool then refrigerate.

Serving
To loosen the Leche Flan, run a thin knife around the edges of the mould. Place a platter on top of the mould and quickly turn upside down to position the golden brown caramel on top.

Kurle ghashi

This dish like many others varies at every konkani kitchen. Some add roasted ingredients along with basic coconut masala (masolu: coconut, roasted red chillies, tamarind & salt), some just use masolu with the addition of roasted onions. Many many experiments later, I stuck with this keeper dish. A perfect blend of heat from chillies & spices that goes great with the sweetness of crab meat, also let me not forget to mention the mesmerizing aroma of this ghashi is appetizimg in itself that invites crab lovers to the table.

Ingredients:

Alaskan king Crabs about 3 lbs

1 medium sized Onion, thinly diced

1/2 cup Coconut

2 tsp coriander seeds

15 seeds methi

Red chillies 7-9

Tamarind paste 1/4tsp

Oil 2 tsp

Salt

Method
Heat 1 tsn of oil and fry coriander and methi seeds. Grind them with red chillies, coconut and tamarind to a smooth paste.

Heat remaining oil and fry onions till they are slightly brown. Add ground masala, salt and cook for a couple of mins. Now add the crabs, stir, cover & cook for around 20 Min's.

Great dish with white rice .

tips:

Since I usually buy cooked crabs and it is refrigerated, I add about 2 cups of water in a biggest pan I have, place the crabs in a colander and steam the crabs for 20 mins without letting the water touch the crabs , so it is heated well throughout. Then steamed crabs are then added to the masala and brought to a rolling boil.

G's note: Traditionally, this dish has no turmeric in it, I tweaked a teaspoon of it just to brighten my dish. I'm not a rule follower anyway! :P

Kalakand

Ingredients:
1 Tub ricotta cheese (14ounces)
1/2 Tin condensed milk
1/4 Cardamom powder

For Garnishing:
2 Tblsp almond chopped finely
2 Tblsp pistachios chopped finely

Method:
Heat the ricotta cheese in a heavy pan till it gets dry and all the water evapourates.
Add half a tin condensed milk and again stir it on medium heat till it gets dried up.
To this add powdered cardamom and stir till it becomes very thick.
Grease a dish with butter and pour the mixture.
Garnish it with chopped pistachios & almonds.
Cut it into small squares.

Jeera Meeri khadi

Ingredients:
3/4 cup coconut,
1 tsp cumin
10 peppercorns
2 dry red chillies
7-8 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 tsp tamarind paste
salt to taste
2 tsp oil

Method:
Heat half a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Fry the cumin, peppercorns and chillies until well toasted and aromatic. Let cool, then grind with coconut, tamarind and 2 cloves of garlic into a fine paste
Transfer to a sauce pan, add a cup of water and simmer over moderate heat.
Season to taste.
crush 4-5 cloves of garlic.
Temper with the remaining oil and garlic cloves and place on heat . Pour the tempering over khadi and serve hot.

My Sunday lunch

Pictured here is Rice with Dalithoy,Masoor sarupkari, beans upkari ani sungta pannaupkari. It was as Yummy as it looked.

Malai kulfi

Ingredients:

8 oz mango pulp
Coconut Milk -1 can
everest masala( dry fruits mix)- 3 tbsp
cool whip- 1 tub
condensed milk -6 oz
dry nuts-pistachio,almond,cashew nuts
saffron strands- about 2 pinches.


Method:
Mix all except cool whip to a well blended mixture.Fold in the cool whip,
prepare the bowl by sprinkling a little dry nut powders and saffron strands as a garnish, then pour malai into kulfi molds or into individual ramekins.
while serving, invert the kulfi into a plate to have the bottom of the ramekin as the top to beautify your creation.

Variation:
Mango pulp can be substituted with chikoo.
Coconut milk can be substituted with evaporated milk.
There are no rules when u make this recipe as this is a no fail recipe.

In the past when I made these, I have divided the malai into 3 and added mango to one part, pistachio to another and just saffron to the third to make it tri coloured and poured it into layers into a loaf pan.Just to achievethe look of the ice cream slabs we used to eat at "Ideals" in India.

Pictured above.......mango,raspberry and pistachio kulfi.

Onion Bhaji

Ingredients:
2 medium onions, finely sliced
1 cup besan
chopped cilantro
6 minced green chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds,crushed
1 tsp coriander seeds,crushed
1tsp fennel seeds(saunf),crushed
salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Mix salt into the onions.Add the rest of the ingredients into the onions and sprinkle a little water to make a thick batter.
Heat the oil and add teaspoons of batter into the oil, fry till bhajjis are golden. Drain on paper towels. serve with ketchup and coriander chutney.

Tomato Rasam

Kamath Maayi made this especially for me this morning and I loved this Rasam with a twist.Here's the recipe.

Tomato-4
Jeera -2 tbsp
pepper -2 tbsp
garlic -10cloves
turmeric-1/4 tsp
red chillies-4
curry leaves
cilantro
salt
oil


Boil tomatoes in 3 cups of water and mash it.
Add salt.
Crush jeera and pepper in coffee grinder and set it aside.
Peel and crush garlic.
Heat oil for tempering.Add mustard seeds, redchillies,garlic,jeera pepper pwd,turmeric and curry leaves.Saute for a couple min's and add this to the rasam. Finally,add cilantro.

Banh Khoai Mi

A dear friend of mine Nuong, shared her dessert with me one afternoon and I absolutely loved this. It wasn't as sweet to be called a dessert but this is as sweet as they eat in Vietnam.

These slices of goodness was flavorful and were a perfect medley of coconut and Yucca............which are my favourite by the way. .....sort of reminded me my childhood since I remember eating something similar during the little time I spent my summer's at our farm house by the Coast.
MY memory of eating this is vague but I do remember eating this steamed and not baked................maybe it's a dream !
Either way, my friend got me a big dish of this rich goody cake and I wanted to post this before I forget. Now let me go enjoy my Banh Khoai Mi.



2 packages of frozen khoai mi (grated cassava)--found in the frozen section at most Asian markets
1 package of frozen shredded young coconut (found next to the frozen cassava)
1 can of condensed milk
2 Tablespoon of white flour

Preheat oven to 400. Combine all the above ingredients, and pour onto 2 square baking pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Don't overbake as the Banh Khoai Mi may become too dry. To serve, cut into square bars.

Surnoli

It's way early to be up on a Sunday but I have been thinking about posting this for a while and it's a good time for me to put my thoughts here when the house is creepily quiet. Maybe that's the reason I cant sleep in.This recipe should have been posted here for a while in fact this should have been my first post for my blog since I get great feedback's whenever I make this for my family and my extended family.
This is one recipe that I have done more than a 100 times in a hope to get it right. My V and M loved it so much that I was on a mission to master this and I feel confident in saying that I did.
Whenever we have our cousins and amchi families get-together this is one of the recipe that I frequently make since I am very sure of the outcome. I don't have to worry if the proportions are right or if the batter will ferment on time, I dont have to put a lot of thought into breakfast eats when it comes to idli, dosa's and surnoli's. My cousins can vouch for that.


Rice – 4 cups
coconut 1 cup
poha 1 cup
methi 2 tsp
Turmeric powder 2 tsp
Yogurt 3 tbsp
1 slice of white bread....yes u read it right !
Jaggery
Salt to taste

Method
Soak the rice and the methi seeds for 3 to 4 hours.

In a separate bowl, wash and soak the beaten rice , 15 minutes before u start grinding with warm water. Drain in a colander.Soak bread in warm water too.

Now grind together the beaten rice, bread slice and coconut to a fine paste with no water . Add rice and methi. The batter should be of thick consistency.

To this batter add yogurt, jaggery, turmeric, and salt to taste.

Leave the batter overnight in the summer and atleast 24 hrs in the winter. Make thick dosas The dosas will turn out very fluffy. Serve hot with ghee or butter.

Tips
I usually have buttermilk powder ( found in baking isle at most grocery stores) on hand for this purpose to use on the days I don't have yogurt. Use 2 tbsp while u add turmeric.

Mushti polo

There's something about this soft, spongy goodness that hits the spot. This is one among my 3 favourite kinds of dosa's that I can eat any given day............the other 2 are pannpolo and surnoli...Yum

2 cups rice
1/2 cup Urad dal
1 cup poha
1/2tsp methi seeds
1/2 cup coconut
1 fistful cooked rice
Oil
Salt

Method:
Soak rice and daals in water for around 3hrs. Grind it with coconut. Add soaked poha and cooked rice and grind to a very smooth paste. Mix salt and keep it overnight for fermentation.

I sometimes use one musti(fistful) leftover rice since that's what makes it musti polo. I remember Mauma using ukudo tandla sheath for the musti and you cant mimic the taste with surai tandulache sheath.
This dosa is supposed to be thick , not spread around too much and also not needed to turn over.

Serve hot with any chutney.
My favourite chutney is either kotombari chutney or hing chutney.

Hing-ah-chutney

This is a great accompaniment to any dosa and I especially love this with musti polo.

ingridients
1 cup shredded coconut
6 dry red chillies
1/4 tsp tamarind paste
1/2 tsp hing powder
1/4 tsp urad dal

for seasoning
mustard
2 red chillies
curry leaves
a pinch of hing


Heat a tsp of oil and roast red chillies and urad dal in it. Take it off of heat and add hing powder. Grind coconut,urad dal, tamarind, hing and red chillies into a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl.

Make a seasoning of mustard , red chillies, hing and curry leaves and garnish the chutney.

Pann polo

I always loved this dosa and couldnt decide if it was the flavour or if it is the smell that comes to my memory first.
My Mauma was so good at this and I remember seeing her sprinkling the batter on the iron griddle instead of pouring it and wondered how she got it to exactly land every droplet in the griddle. When I followed her technique at first.......Oh boy............there was more cleanup than panpolo on my plate........lol.


cup white rice
2 tbsp coconut,
salt

Soak rice in enough water for 3-4 hrs . Wash and rinse rice, grind together with coconut and water to a very smooth paste. Add salt and water to make a thin batter.

Splash a serving spoon full of batter on a hot griddle. Cover and cook on one side till the top surface is cooked. You may leave it a minute or two so that edges get crispy.

Serve it with chutney.


My M I L makes godda soi with this and in my Mom's house the preffered side is Batate Song or alambe song .
My kid's love this as is. Well, as for me............I'm in my happy place just with the polo.

Sannapolo

Mauma used to make this sannpolo whenever there was tender Karela seeds ( white spongy insides which have not formed seeds yet)or paddole seeds. I loved this roasted dosas and havent had sannapolo's as good as Mauma made since I was alittle girl.

Ingredients

1/2 cup karela/snakegourd seeds, roughly chopped
1/2 cup rice , soaked
2 tbsp coconut
7-8 red chillies
2 pinches hing
salt to taste

Method
Grind coarsely the rice ,red chillies,coconut and salt.
Add chopped seeds and hing.
Pat on a hot griddle. Poke bout 5 holes. Add few drops of oil in those holes. Cover and let it cook on a low flame.
Flip and cook till you see brown spots on both the sides.
Serve hot with DaliThoy & rice.

After posting this recipe..........a friend mentioned the use of coconut and lack thereof in my post...........lol.
After a emergency India call, had to make the correction and add the most important ingridient so here's to u my friend........2 TBS COCONUT.

Peda

I helped my friend make this on Navrathri since she planned to make sweets for all the families she knew around our town. The recipe looked easy...too easy to taste good. I was skeptical at first but it's not my place to ruin her excitement or to judge her culinary expertise. So I went ahead being the extra sets of hands with the peda making. We made 3 batches that gave atleast 150 pedas and in the meantime had a great time catching up on our lives. Peda was so-so. A runner up for the store brought( read carefully,not bakery ones)
The only alteration I would make would be to roast the milk powder in a khadai after the microwave process. It sure did need the roasty khova flavor which u don't get in the microwave.

Microwave Pedha - makes about 24

Ingredients
3/4 stick sweet cream, unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup milk powder
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/8 tsp nutmeg powder
5 cardamoms, peeled, crushed
few strands of saffron

Garnish
charoli or almond slivers

Method
1. Melt the butter by placing it in a microwave safe container. Microwave for 30 seconds or more till butter is melted.
2. Add dry milk powder, sweetened condensed milk, nutmeg, cardamom powders and saffron.
3. Microwave for 3 minutes.
4. Take out. Mix well. Microwave for 1 minute
5. Take out. Mix well. Microwave again for 1 minute.
6. Take out. Mix. Let it cool down. Pretty repetative but atlest we are not slogging at the stove.
7. Knead with your hands when it is warm to touch, not HOT.
8. Roll into pedhas of desired sizes. Flatten the pedhas.
9. Garnish with charoli or almonds on top.

Note -
1. Microwave cooking time varies for each microwave. Please use your own judgement.
2. Make sure that microwave container is deep as the condensed milk mixture tends to boil.

Ghosale ghire chutney

I always loved this chutney and never knew the main ingredient behind this delicious chutney. Cooking for myself  made me reliase how care-free my life was until a few years ago. I never appreciated the food readily made and  served on the table as much as I do now. To live a life of a child is a bliss (only to a grown up)!

Surprise ingredient,  ghosale scraps  tastes so yum? Who'd have come with such an lip smacking recipe? My favourite combination is this chutney with rice and dailithoy of course! Bhajo on the side would be heaven!

Unfortunately, right now, I dont have a pic of chutney...but will post one soon.

Ingredients:
 skin(the sharp edges) of 3 ridge gourd
1 cup coconut
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-5 green chilies
1/4 tsp tamarind paste
Ghee
Salt

Method:
Heat ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When they start popping, add green chilies and ridge gourd skin. Fry for about 7-8 min's till the color of the skin starts changing color. Keep it aside.
Add coconut to the same pan and on low heat roast it for about 5 Min's.
Grind all together with tamarind and salt.

Pineapple kesri baath

Kesri Baath is a south Indian version of the sooji halwa.
Usually served as a prasada on the Satyanarayana Swamy poojas, which I love.
My Mom use make this with a twist. Sometimes just kesri baath,sometimes with pineapple or banana peices and sometimes with cocoa powder.
I especially love this one.

1 cup Rawa
1 and 1/2 cup Sugar
Water 2 cups
Saffron 1 pinch soaked in a tablespoon of warm water
1 can Pineapple, finely chopped.
3 tbsp Ghee


In a heavy bottomed pan,heat ghee and add rawa and roast till fragrant. Take it off the heat.

Combine water, sugar and saffron in another pot and simmer till the sugar dissolves. Take the pan off of heat since adding rawa usually splatters all over the place.
Trust me on this....
Drop the warm toasted sooji into the hot syrup one tablespoon at a time stirring vigorously. Make sure there are no lumps. Put a lid and cook for a few minutes.

When this is done stir in the pineapple pieces. Cover and cook for a few more minutes. This dessert can be served either hot or cold.

Chitranna

I always loved any dish made out of rice....puliyogere,mango rice,bisibele baath, chitranna and the list goes on.............
Bottom line, I can eat rice for any meal.
Typically we make this dish when we have leftover white rice and when served would tease Mom by asking whether someone missed their dinner last night.I especially love the one with mango peices and would request to add extra mangoes for me.
Since no one in my family here eats this, I make it when I have some leftover White rice or when I don't feel like making a curry to go with it. ........and of course to relish my childhood taste.


Ingredients
cooked Rice 2cups,
Lime juice 2tsp
Mustard seeds 1tsp
cumin seeds 1tsp
Urad dal 1tsp
Channa dal 1tsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Red chillies 3-4
A small piece of ginger, finely chopped
Turmeric powder 1/4tsp
Peanuts 8-10
oil 1tsp
Salt as required
Coconut grated
cilantro


Heat oil and add dals,mustard seeds,curry leaves,cumin seeds,red chillies,peanuts and ginger.

When the dals turn brown,add the turmeric and ginger.Fry for another minute till the mustard crackles.

Now add the lime juice and reduce heat.Heat through and remove.Mix this with rice as required and add salt to taste.

Garnish with cilantro.

Khaman Dhokla

For the dhokla
1 cup besan
4 green chillies
1/4 tsp ginger paste
1/4 tsp garlic paste
3 tbsp vegetable oil
salt to taste
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

for the tempering
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 gren chillies, slit
1/4 tsp hing
10 curry leaves

Garnish2 tbsp grated coconut
chopped cilantro

Mix the ingridients for dhokla with just enough water to make a batter the consistency of idli's.
In a cooker vessel........spray it with a nonstick cooking oil and pour the batter and cook immediately on high heat in a pressure cooker without the weight on it.
Cook for 15 min's.
15 min's later take out the vessel and invert the dhokla on a flat plate to cool a bit before cutting it in squares. In the meantime prepare for tempering by heating oil in a khadai and add mustard seeds,green chillies,jeera,curry leaves and hing.
Spread on the dhokla. Garnish with coconut and cilantro.

Matki Usal

1 cup Matki (Moth beans), sprouted
1 Onion, chopped
2 green chillies, slit
1/2 tsp Garlic Ginger paste
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2 tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Cumin Powder,freshly crushed
1 tsp Corriander Powder
1 Tomato, chopped
Corriander leaves
Oil
Salt to taste


1) Wash and soak matki for 5-6 hrs.
2) Drain water and put in thin wet cloth for sprouting
3)cook sprouted matki in cooker for 1 whistle (if cooked more, it will become mushy!)
4) Heat oil in a khadai, add ginger garlic paste,green chillies and onion.
5) Saute till onions turn translucent
6) Now add all spices and chopped tomatoes mix well
7) Add matki and salt and cook covered for 5-10 mins
8) Garnish with corriander. Serve hot with phulkas

Happy Diwali!

Rasmalai

1/2 gallon milk for malai and 2 cups for ras
1 tbsp white vinegar
4 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp elaichi pwd
2 Tbs powdered cashews
1 Tbs cornflour
½ tsp saffron strands
1 tbsp finely chopped pistachio
1tbsp MTR badam feast
for the syrup:
1.5 cups water
3/4 cups sugar

In a thick bottomed pan, boil the milk.

To make the chenna, heat 1/2 gallon of milk in a thick bottomed pan, set it on medium heat,when u see tiny bubbles and milk is going to boil, add the vinegar and continue to stir, till the milk curdles and the whey is almost clear. Leave for a few minutes. Strain through a thin muslin cloth or a fine sieve. Let it drain for atleast 10 minutes till most of the water drains away. Cool it

When the chenna is cool, knead to a smooth mixture.
Divide into 12 equal parts, roll into smooth round balls and flatten slightly

To 2 cups of milk,add the cashew powder, cardamom powder, badam feast pwd,pistachios,sugar and most of the saffron (keep some for garnishing). Cook till it thickens and check for sweetness and adjust. Dissolve the cornflour in a few tablespoons of water, slowly add this to the milk, stirring constantly. Cook till the milk mixture thickens.This should take about 3-4 minutes. Make sure you don’t stop stirring,
Make a sugar syrup by adding sugar and water, bring it to a rolling boil. cook the chenna balls in this for 5-6 mins till they float on top….dont crowd them in…..add only as many as your pan can accommodate leaving enough space for them to swim around……dont stir…as this will break them.

When the chenna balls are cooked, drop them into the milk mixture, and cook, gently ,about 3-4 minutes on low heat.
Let cool. Refrigerate, serve into individual bowls granish with a few strands of saffron and enjoy!!

Tandoori chicken

Whenever I have my cousins visiting us over, tandoori is one of the chicken dish that is made for appetizer since my Bro-in-law's and hubby have an all nighter with Captain Morgan and Jack Daniel's.This has been a default chicken recipe whenever we have company over.


Since I was a fresher to meat cooking, I trust that the packaged spice mixes are best to go with as there are very few chances of messing up. I use Shaan masala to make the tandoori's since my hubby loves the way it turns out.

4 lbs of chicken (drumsticks,thighs and leg quarters)
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp yogurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt , very little since the masala's already have some salt in it.
Shaan---tandoori masala (1/2 packet)
Shaan ---tikka masala (1/2 packet).
Mix all the above ingredients and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
Grill in a preheated oven @400F for 20 Min's. Broil on low for 5 Min's to get charred edges.
Serve it with onion slices and lemon wedges

Tukudi

Whole wheat flour 1 1/2 cup
Refined flour (maida) 1 cup
Sugar 1/4 cup
Butter 4 teaspoons or 4 tsp warm oil
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Mix atta, maida, sugar, butter/oil (depending on what u are using) and salt with a little water and knead into a soft dough. Keep it covered with a damp cloth for half an hour.
Divide the dough into six equal balls and roll out each ball into a flat chappati.
Cut into diamond-shaped pieces with a pastry cutter or knife.Heat oil and fry over medium heat till brown and crisp.

Paneer paratha

1 cup crumbled Paneer
1 finely chopped Onion
Coriander leaves finely chopped
Small piece of Ginger (grated)
2 finely chopped green Chilies
1/2 tsp garam masala
Salt


Butter / Oil for frying

Make dough out of whole wheat flour (atta), as you would do for any paratha/roti.
In a bowl mix all the stuffing ingredients.
Make a medium sized chapati, spoon the filling in the centre of the chapati and cover it and make it into a ball again. Now roll it to the rquired thickness.
Cook on a pre-heated Tawa
Turn it , smear a little butter.
shallow fry over low heat.Cook on a low heat till golden brown.

Sungat pannaupkari

This is a recipe from a friend SG, who is a great enthusiast when it comes to food.
I copied and pasted it here for a quick ref...... I'm just lazy to write the entire recipe.
I plan on loading a pic...just of the dish, when I make it the next time since I was too busy savouring the dish.
G's Note: I made this extra dry since I wanted it that way but typically it has a little bit of yummilicious gravy to go with the shrimp.

The pic here shows my favourite dinner........... Rice with dalithoy and sungat pannaupkari.

1. 1 lb Shrimp cleaned and deveined.
2. 1 large onion finely chopped
3. 15 red chilly (BYADGI only) - this chillies give the richness and control the amount of spice
4. 1 tbsp coconut
5. 2 tbsp tamarind pulp
6. 1 tbsp cooking oil
salt to taste

make a paste of the red chillies and the coconut by adding as little water as possible. Heat oil in a kadai and fry onions till golden brown. when the onions are fried add the red chilly masala and tamarind. add the shrimp and see them turn pick. Add salt to taste and cook till the water evaporates.

A couple of lessons learnt
1. use only byadgi chillies else you may have to call the fireman!!
2. use as lil water for the paste..the shrimp does leave some retained water.
3. alter the ratio of chilly paste and tamarind to make the curry sour or hot.

Things I would do differently
1. to add more coconut to thicken the gravy.
2.use smallest shrimp available to achieve the taste like Indian prawns.
3. use 50/50 of byadgi and house blend or guntur chillies since byadgi gave a nice color but I felt that it missed the the rich flavour.

Batata Poha

2 cups poha
2 tbsps cooking oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
5-6 curry leaves
2 green chillies
1 medium onion chopped fine
1 large potato ,cubed
Handful of unsalted peanuts (skins removed)
Pinch of turmeric powder
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander to garnish


Put the poha in a sieve and wash under running water. Transfer to a bowl and fill with enough water to just cover the poha. Keep aside for 5 mins. Drai and set aside while u do all the chopping for tadka.
Heat the oil in a pan on a medium flame and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds,curry leaves and green chillies. Fry till the spluttering stops and then add the onion. Fry till soft and translucent. Add the turmeric powder and salt. Add the peanuts and potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the poha ans mix well.
Pour lime juice over the poha and mix well.
Garnish with chopped coriander.

Pancakes

2 eggs,
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c milk
2 tbsp buttermilk pwd



Instructions
Combine egg and sugar. Beat the egg/sugar mixture.Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, milk and buttermilk pwd. Fry on griddle until golden brown and center cooked.

Malai Kofta

For The Kofta:
3 potatoes, boiled, roughly mashed
1 cup crumbled paneer,
finely chopped cilantro
8 cashewnuts chopped.
1 tbsp raisins.
4 finely chopped green chillies.
1 tsp coriander powder.
1 tsp cumin powder.
1 tsp red-chilli powder
3tbsp bread crumbs

Salt To Taste.
3 tbsp cooking oil for gravy
Oil for frying the koftas.

For the gravy:
10 cashew nuts, soaked in water for half hr
2 medium onions, boiled in a pressure cooker and made into paste with cashew nuts
2 tbs ginger-garlic paste
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 tsp red-chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cup milk powder
2 tbsp heavy cream

Method Of Preparation :
Mix the ingredients for the kofta. shape into ovals. Deep fry each kofta till golden brown. Drain and keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai Add boiled onion cashew nut paste and cook for few mins till most of the liquid evaporates. Addginger-garlic paste, coriander powder,turmeric and salt. fry for a a couple mins and add tomato puree and red chilli powder and cook on medium heat for about 10 mins. Add garam masala powder.

Dissolve milk powder in 1 cup of water and add to the gravy, bring it to a boil and simmer for 5 mins on low heat. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and finish with swirls of fresh cream. Dunk hot kofta's just before serving.

Note:
Since I usually prepare this dish when I am entertaining friends, I keep koftas in a preheated oven to keep it warm. After the dish has been heated up, put in the koftas.

Dalithoy

Ingredients
1 cup tuvar dal
2 cup water
1/2" ginger, finely chopped
4 green chillies
salt
2 tsp oil
2 red chillies, broken in pieces
1/2 tsp mustard
1 sprig curry leaves
1/2 tsp hing

Wash and rinse tuvar dal. Cook in the pressure cooker till soft. Transfer to the sauce pan, add slit green chillies, finely chopped ginger and salt,bring it to a boil, then simmer on low flame for 10mins.
For the seasoning, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, add red chillies, hing and curry leaves. Pour it over the dal.

Chettinad Chicken

2 lbs chicken, washed and cut into medium sized pieces
1 large onions, diced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
1 sprig curry leaves
1 can coconut milk
fresh coriander leaves for garnish
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil

Make a paste:
2 green chillis
8 garlic flakes
1″ ginger
1 tsp poppy seeds, soak in warm water for 15 minutes

Roast and make a powder:
1/2 tsp pepper corns
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 1/2 tbsps coriander seeds
6-8 dry red chillies
2 cardamoms
1″ cinnamon
6-7 curry leaves
1/2 tsp oil

1.Heat a little oil and roast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, fennel seeds, red chillis, cardamoms, cinnamon and curry leaves on medium heat . Cool and dry grind.
2 Make a paste of the ginger, garlic, green chillies and poppy seeds. Keep aside.
3 Heat oil in a khadai, add onions and curry leaves and saute till transparent.
4 Add the ground paste and cook for a minute before adding the chicken and cook on high heat for approx 4 mts and do stir the chicken once in a while.
5 Reduce to medium heat, add salt, turmeric pwd and tomatoes and combine well. Let the chicken cook in this for 4-5 mts, uncovered.
6 Now add the coconut milk and transfer the contents to a pressure cooker. Pressure cook for 4 mts or until one whistle. Open lid and combine well.
7 Finally add the ground spice pwd and cook for 5 minutes.
Turn off heat and garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Batat Upkari

Mayank loves Dosa,idli,poha and surnoli the best when it comes to Amchi breakfast eats. With a lot of thought had to come up with one dish that he actually will eat without having to ask twice.Like all kids his age, will turn his nose at most food at the table. Sometimes also will give me a raised eyebrow if the food is Indian at every meal.......lol.


Batat upkari

So here's an upkari just for my babe's chatpata tastebuds.

4 medium sized potatoes, cut to look like fries
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp haldi
1/4 tsp red chillie powder
1/4 tsp jeera pwd
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Heat oil in a kadhai, season with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add all the spice powder followed by potatoes and salt. Keep sauteing till edges of the potatoes are brown and completely cooked.

Mayank loves this bhaji with rice and dalithoy

Shrimp Curry

Shrimp curry
1/2 lb large shrimps
1 red onion,finely cubed
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 a can coconut milk
1/4 tsp tamarind pulp
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
cilantro,optional


Heat oil in a kadhai and fry onion till slightly browned.
Add spices, saute till spices are aromatic, add shrimp and stir to coat it . When the shrimp turns pink, add coconut milk and salt and let the dish simmer for a few minutes to cook the shrimp.
Be careful to not cook the shrimp for longer than necessary which can toughen the shrimp.

When I made this dish a few days back, my baby....Miheer loved this dish with chapathi and went for seconds and demanded rice too... That is an awesome review itself.........also said " yummy Randai mommy"..........which translates to happy kid=happy mommy.

This is why I created this blogspot

These recipes are all fav's ....some remind me of my childhood, some I couldn't stand back then but would give anything to relish these now...........
My childhood was surrounded with my loving brothers, a few of my cousins and  my late grandmom. There always was typical amchi food cooked by my grandmom who we all called her as MAUMA.  As a little girl, I loved to watch her cook whenever I could and would demand to help her out with anything related to cooking. To not disappoint me, she would hand me a wooden mortar (golmbi, is that even a real amchi word?)  that was as big as a mixing bowl and a smooth large rock as a pestle to crush garlic for lasun pann or coconut and spices for a snack delicacy that we Amchi's call phov. I'm sure I took my own  sweet time and made enough mess to add to her work but this little time in the kitchen with Mauma was very special for me and made me feel like I really helped her in the kitchen ( especially since the boys didnt care to have me in their game).  Most of the time, she cooked while me and my siblings were at school and never realised how much thought and effort she had to put in making all the delicacies with ease and taste to die for. Reminds me how ungrateful a child can be at times!
 
Mom's cooking came many years after mauma passed away. At this stage, I didnt want any part in the kitchen as I'd rather spend my days with friends than home.  I can't picture how carefree my days were, back in the day!

 It was  years later that I had my own kitchen that I  HAD to cook which made me realise that cooking is not inbuilt  :( ......and following a recipe does not help much too. When I followed a recipe to the T, I expected the outcome to taste somewhat little like what Mauma or Mom made. Unfortunately, it was nowhere close...poor Vinu, *wink!
Many many experiments later did my cooking turn out a little bit edible and of course, I have to mention that I have a  good food critic by my side. Yes, Vinayak is great when it comes to finding out where things went wrong and the steps that could have been avoided so we could be a little successful each time we repeat  the dish. It isn't a easy task to follow instruction while I have a on the knife....kidding, of course!  :) As irritating as it was back then, I think that he really helped bringing a better cook in me. Yes, my secret's out. I couldn't even boil an egg just right ...without overcooking the yolk or make  perfect fluffy rice. I said it out aloud.....now leave this alone & lets get cooking!
Here are the  few of the dishes most preferred by my Hubby and my two brats....

Chane Pancha kajjay

Pancha kajjay's are usually a sweet offerings made to god using 5 ingredients and mostly has these five ingredients in them :- coconut,jaggrey, elaichi, poha, laayi, til, kade sakkar,sugarcane pieces,banana etc.
The recipe for panchakajjay below is what I rember fron my childhood, prepared by my Mauma on Krishna janmastami.

Ingredients:
Chana Dal - 1 cup
Jaggery - 4-6 tsp
Black til - 1 tsp
elaichi - 1/2 tsp
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 2 tbs

Method:
Dry roast til and keep aside. Dry roast chana dal and cool. Powder in a coffee grinder to a coarse consistency. The dana dal should be found in bits, not completely powdered.
Heat Jaggery and Ghee in a pan and melt the jaggrey. Add powdered chana dal, elaichi, til and coconut.
Sugar cane pieces and banana pieces are served along with this too as a prasad.

Buns

My memories bring me back to childhood since this was one of my favourite snack eats. So here my fav tea time snack as a first year anniversary entry to my blog. Enjoy!

ingredients:

Well ripen banana's - 3

All purpose four - 3 cups

Sour curds - 1 cup

Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Sugar - 6 tbsp

Baking Soda - 1 tsp

warm oil 2tbsp

Oil - For frying

Method:

Mash the bananas and make a lump free mixture.

Add all the ingredients except oil for frying and make it into a smooth dough.

Leave the dough aside for 6 to 8 hrs.

Make it into little balls and roll it out as you would for chapati except the flattened dough need to be thrice as thick.

Deep fry.

Slide it into hot oil and flip only when the buns have poofed up and the bottom is fried to a medium brown.

Chicken kabab

My Kabab/kebabs are all marinated and ready to go...just waiting for friends to come over so we can start grilling.....happy friday!