Thursday, October 30, 2008

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

Sunday, October 26, 2008

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.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

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....

Friday, October 17, 2008

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.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

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.