Gulabi Paneer - Paneer cooked in beetroot sauce

Inspired by my Mom's Beetroot halwa , i got some beets ..
From somewhere got the image of how beautiful paneer would look
in a pink coloured sauce .. And Lo we go





Ingredients:

Beet Root - 2 medium sized chopped to small pieces
Onion - Big sliced
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Chilly Powder - 1 1/4 tsp ( use half more than the usual ,as beets are sweetish )
Garam Masala - 3/4 tsp
Yogurt - 3 tsp
Paneer - as much as u want .. I like slices than the usual cubes
Salt
Oil.

Flavoured Milk:

Cardamom - 2
cinnamon - a very small piece
Milk - 1 1/2 cups

Boil milk with the cardamom and cinnamon for 2 minutes.


Method:

1) Heat oil , Add onion slices and half of the garam masala.
2) Cook on low heat. When onions are light brown add ginger garlic paste.
3) When there is no raw smell add chilly powder , salt.
4) Stir in chopped beetroot.
5) Increase the heat , make space in the middle and add yogurt tsp by tsp
each time waiting for the water to evaporate and mixing it with the masala.
6) Add remaining garam masala and cook covered for 10 minutes.
7) When beets are cooked , switch off , cool and grind to a smooth paste.
8) Heat oil , add the paste , saute for few seconds. Remove the caradmom and cinnamon and add the milk and stir well
till you get a thick gravy. This should take less than a minute.
9) Add paneer. Garnish with corriander leaves

Green Mutton Curry

Mutton pieces and Chana dal cooked to perfection in a green gravy
made of mustard greens. Sounds good doesnt it ..

B4 going to the recipe lets read some facts about Mustard greens.Summarized from http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=93

Mustard greens

Are packed with nutrients. They are a good source of vitamins , minerals and dietary fiber.

Are rich in antioxidants Vitamin E.

Promote the health of Lungs.

Delays the loss of mental power.

Supports womens health with its calcium content.

Produce Sulforaphane when chewed, this causes the liver to produce enzymes thatdetoxify cancer causing chemicals and cause colon cancer cells to commit suicide.

Phew !!!

Green Paste:

Chopped Mustard Greens - 1 cup
Onion - use 1/2 of a small onion , rouchly sliced
Green chilly - 4 ( whole)
Sugar - a pinch
Oil - 2 tsp

Heat oil , fry the green chillies , add the mustard greens and onions.
Saute till there is no raw smell. The leaves should retain their color , it should not
become brown.
Grind to a paste with 1 tbs water.

Mutton Gravy :


Mutton - 200 gms
Chana dal - 1/2 cup
Bay leaf - 1
Cardamom - 4
cloves - 5
Cnnamon - 1 inch stick
Onion - big sliced thinly
Tomato - 5 tsp puree
Corriander leaves - 2 tbs chopped
Mint leaves - 5
Corriander pwdr - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 4 tsp ( Mix mutton with yogurt and set aside )
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Green chilly - 4 , Sonf - 1/2 tsp and Jeera - 1 tsp ground together coarsely
Salt
Oil


I used mutton that needs 15 whistles to get cooked..


1) Heat oil , add bay leaf , cardamom , cloves and cinnamon
2) Add onions and cook in low heat till light brown.
3) Add the green chilly mixture and ginger garlic paste
4) Add Corriander leaves , mint , tomato , salt , corriander pwders
5) Raise to high heat and add mutton yogurt mix.
6) Keep stirring till all water evaporates.
7) Add 2 cups water and pressure cook mutton.
8) Cool , remove and add green paste , chana dal , water if required
If you are not confident about the green paste , u can saute it in oil for few seconds
b4 adding.
9) Pressure cook for 3 whistles.
10) Garnish with corriander leaves

N is for Niligiri Korma and Niligiri Curry

I made two N dishes ,
Nilgiri Korma - vegetables cooked in a flavorful onion sauce
Nilgiri Curry - potatoes simmered in a green corriander sauce topped with coconut milk
This is my entry for Nupur's A-Z event for Letter "N"








Nilgiri Korma:

Dry red chilly - 5
Corriander seeds - 2 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 1/2 tsp
Sonf - 1 tsp
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cardamom - 4
Cloves - 5
Bayleaf - 1
Onion - 1 big , cut roughly , boiled and ground to a paste
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Vegetables chopped - 1 cup ( I used soya balls , lauki )
Thick Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Corriander and Mint - 2 tbs chopped finely


Method:

1) Dry roast red chilly , corriander seeds , cumin seeds , saunf , poppy seeds.
Grind to a paste with some water.
2) Heat oil add bay leaf , cinnamon , cloves and cardamom. When aromatic add onion paste
3) Saute till light brown. Add ginger garlic paste. Fry till there is no raw smell.
4) Add salt , spices paste.
5) Add vegetables. Cook covered for 5 minutes.
6) Add a cup of water, Cook the vegetables.
7) Add coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes.
8) Add corriander and mint.

I did not want too much of coconut , so i used dal as a thickening agent.
I cooked masoor dal , mashed it well with a few drops of ghee and
added it to the korma instead of coconut milk.




Nilgiri Curry :

Corriander - a small bunch
Mint - 2 springs
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Shredded coconut - a handful
Onion - half of a small onion
Green Chilly - 6
Poppy seeds - 2 tbs ( soaked in warm water)


Grind the above to a paste.


Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Onion - a small one chopped
Onion - a medium one chopped roughly , boiled and ground
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Potato - 2 medium sized , boiled , peeled and cubed


Method:

1) Heat oil , mustard seeds , fry chopped onions. Add onion paste.
2) Saute till light brown , add green paste , corriander powder. Fry well.
3) Add Curd and potato. Fry for 2 minutes. Add garam masala , coconut milk. Simmer for
5 minutes.

I added some fish to the curry as i cant survive without non veg..

Murg Musallam - Whole chicken in gravy

Served this for a newly wedded friend..

As i was busy with making all the dishes and was on a time crunch , did not take

many pics. Delegated the job to my hubby ...

I initially wanted to make baked chicken , but thought cooking it in gravy

will make it tastier. After cooking it in gravy i stuffed it with come rich mixture...

Perfect for new weds ....

Chicken has to be marinated in the fridge for atleast 24 hours.

Marinade:

Chicken - Whole chicken weighing 4 lbs

Curd - 5 tbs

Ginger garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Corriander pwdr - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Salt.

Beat curd , add all the marinade ingredients and mix well.

Remove the skin of chicken , wash down with vinegar or lime juice.

Clean the inside cavity well.

Wash thoroughly to remove the smell of vinegar.

Make cuts uniformly on the chicken. Smear the marinade on the chicken.

Let it in the fridge.

Fry Chicken:

Heat some butter or oil ( 1 tbs ) in a big nonstick vessel.

Roast Chicken , flipping it regularly till it is evenly browned,

All the marinade should now be collected in the oil and aromatic.

Remove and set aside.

Gravy:

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Corriander seeds - 1 tsp

Cloves - 5

Peppercorns - 8

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Cashews/ Almonds - 10

Roast the above till aromatic and grind to a powder.

Onion - 2 large onions , sliced

ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Fry onions till light brown. Grind onions with spice powder , ginger garlic paste

and little water to a smooth paste.

Making Gravy:

Tomato sauce - 1 cup .. I used 16 tsp

paprika - 1 1/2 tsp

Milk - 1 cup

Saffron Strands - few

Stuffing Mixture:

Mix a handful of crumbled khova with some deep fried onions ,

chopped green chillies , yellow of 2 hardboiled eggs

Heat the same oil that we used to fry chicken ,

Add the onion paste , fry well , stir in tomato puree , paprika.

Add a cup of water. A cup of milk , Saffron strands.

When it boils , add the chicken and reduce the heat. Cook Covered for 50 minutes.

Flip it at intervals to make sure all the sides are cooked.

Once cooked remove chicken carefully , stuff the mixture in the cavity.

Drop it back. Garnish with corriander leaves and the egg whites.

Murg Musallam

Will post the recipe soon ..

Till then u an all drool

Meen Paruppu Usili - Fish Dal Usili

This dish is specially done for my Dad.

My mom and dad have entered the stage where they have to eat healthy ,

low fat food to keep a check on their cholestrol level.

This might be easy for those who have already developed love for vegetables.

My family thrives on non-veg.... I came up with dish as it is healthy , requires very very little oil and is healthy as well.

Before going to the recipe , i would like to write a few lines about my dad..

He came to Chennai , then it was Madras , as a 15 year old boy with just 5 Rs.From there on his life had some twist and turns. He managed to get PUC seat in chennai , did his engineering in the most respectable university "Anna University".

Got a job abroad. Now most people will stop here. My dad did not... he came back to india when i was 3 years old , started a business of his own.

My mom learnt screen printing so that we can print catalogs for his business at home. He did not have the luxury to get his catalogs done from professionals.

My mom used to print the catalogs , me and my sis would take it carefully and arrange it for drying :-) ... Those were the days....

I've seen how much he had to work to develop his company and get to where we are now...

Not only did he take care of his business , he took utmost care of his wife and three daughters...

He used to drop and pick us from school , at time even to my collge which is 20 kms from my house....

Though he had to concentrate full time on his business he always made time for us ..

which makes him special...

here after i would be writing at least one recipe a week for my daddy..

Here we go

This dish twists the traditional paruppu usili , by using mashed fish instead

of vegatables..

Recipe:

For the paruppu usili:

soak 1/2 a cup each of tur dal and chana dal in warm water overnight.Grind to a paste with 3 dry red chillies , salt , a pinch of hing and turmeric powder.Steam it for 10 minutes.Cool and crumble it to small grains.Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan , splutter mustard seeds , curry leaves. Add crumbled dal and fry till it becomeslight brown.

Putting it together with fish:

I used anchovy fish as i dont have o bother much about its bones...

If you are using any other fish , take the flesh part alone ( by cooking it )

Mix 1/4 tsp chilly pwdr , turmeric pwdr , corriander pwdr , salt as required to the

fish. Heat a tsp of oil ( preferable mustard oil ) , add the fish and mash it well.

Let it fry for a minute. Add the paruppu usili we prepared in the previous step...

Fry for few seconds. Serve.

M is for Masoor dal Kebab

Inspired by shikampur kebab i wanted to make vegetarian kebabs with dal.
Chose Masoor dal for the following reasons
1) Requires very less soaking time
2) Gets cooked quickly
3) Last but not least , the letter of this week is "M"

A short description of the dish

Masoor dal , ground to a paste , fried delicately in ghee ,

Mixed with seasoned potato to form a dough ,

shaped to kebabs with a rich stuffing of khoya, egg yolk and onions.

Deep fried , garnished with fried onions and egg white

This is my entry for "A-Z of Indian Veges Letter M" hosted by Nupur
This makes 6 kebabs.

Preparing Dal:

U will need

Masoor Dal - Filled in a cup of volume 300 ml apprx 300 gms
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Ginger flakes - 3
Green Chilly - 3
Red Food Color - a pinch
Ghee - 1 tsp
Salt

1) Soak Masoor dal in water for 2 hours.
2) Grind with green chilly , salt , ginger garlic paste , ginger , red food color.
You should have a smooth paste now.
3) Heat ghee in a non stick pan , add the paste and fry for few seconds.
Do not fry for too long , the dal should have dough consistency, if you over fry
the dal will be reduced to grains .. you cannot make kebabs with it :-(.
Set aside.

Peparing Potato:

Potato - 2 medium sized , boiled , peeled and mashed really really well.
Do not use too much potato. The dish should have a predominant taste of dal.
After you mash the potato , the quantity should be about half of the masoor
dal paste.

Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Onion paste - 2 tsp ( grind 1/2 of small onion )

Make powder of the following Spices

Cloves - 5
Cardamom - deseded , 4
Cinnamon small stick
Kala Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Sonf - 1/2 tsp
Mace - 1/4 tsp
Aamchoor - a pinch
Red Chilly Pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Corriander pwdr - 1/2 tsp


1) Heat oil , add onion paste. When there is no raw smell , add ginger garlic paste.
Fry well.
2) Add the spice pwdr.
3) Mix salt with the potato evenly.
4) Add potato. Fry for few seconds.
5) Mixing Dal and Potato
Mix potato with dal evenly.
Make the dal paste after making the potato mixture.
Do not let the dal dry.
6) Add some chopped onions and corriander to dough.

Make the stuffing:

Boiled eggs - 3 , the yellow part chopped finely , reserve the white
Khoya - 3 tbs
Onion - 1 small , sliced thinly , fried and half of it crushed.
Green chilly - 1 chopped
Mix the above well.

I did not have khoya , so i made some egg sauce , refrigerated it for 30 minutes.
Cut it into small pieces for the filling

Make the kebab:

Oil - for deep fry

1) Take a small ball of dough , flatten it , place some filling in the center.
2) Take another ball , flatten , place on the above , seal edges and shape to ovals.
3) Fry the kebab one by one in the oil. The heat should be high when you drop the kebab.
Once the outer crust is cooked , reduce heat to low.
If the heat is low initially , the kebabs will break.

Garnish with fried onions , egg white.

JFI - Greens - Malai Mustard Greens Gravy

I wanted to try a palak gravy like aloo palak or palak paneer...

I started to cok at 10 pm , i realised i had no spinach :-(..

I had a big pack of mustard greens though ....

Thought why not try the green gravy with mustard greens...

Delicious and Nutritious ... What more do u need

This is entry for JFI-Greens hosted by Mahanadi.

B4 going to the recipe lets read some facts about Mustard greens.
Summarized from http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=93

Mustard greens

Are packed with nutrients. They are a good source of vitamins , minerals and dietary fiber.
Are rich in antioxidants Vitamin E.
Promote the health of Lungs.
Delays the loss of mental power.
Supports womens health with its calcium content.
Produce Sulforaphane when chewed, this causes the liver to produce enzymes that
detoxify cancer causing chemicals and cause colon cancer cells to commit suicide.

Phew !!!

Ingredients:

Mustard greens - 1 cup ( I used the frozen one )
Green chilly - 5
Onion - a small one chopped finely
Tomato puree - 5 tsp
Cumine pwdr - 1/4 tsp
Corriander pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Cashews - 7-10 and Poppy seeds 1 tsp both soaked in little warm water
Milk - 1 1/2 cup warm for soaking jaggery
malai - 3 tsp ( I tied a handful of cottage cheese tightly in a cloth , left it for 10 minutes
to drain all the water. Now grind it, U will get a creamy paste )
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Aaamchoor - a pinch
Turmeric - a pinch
Jaggery - little soked in the warm milk
Corriander leaves - 2 tsp chopped
Butter - 2 tsp ( I used "I cant belive its not butter" )

Method:

Mustard greens have a slight bitter taste , to compensate that i used some jaggery.
Another way to level the bitterness will be to use swetish vegetables like
louki or peas. I used to cashews and butter as i was sceptice about how it will
turn out. After all its an experiement.

1) Heat a tsp of oil in a pan , Add green chilly , when they begin to turn white
add mustard greens , butter. Saute till there is no raw smell.
Take care not to brown it. If it loses all its water content , u will not
get a paste while grinding.
2) Grind the above with 2 cashews and a tsp of milk.
3) Heat oil in a vessel, saute onions. Add corriander leaves and ginger garlic paste.
Add cumine pwder , corriander pwdr .
4) Grind the cashews and poppy seeds to a paste.
Stir in mustard greens puree , tomato puree and salt.
5) Let fry till there is no raw smell. Add cashew paste, garam masla and aamchoor.
6) Fry for few seconds. Add milk. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
7) You should have a thick gravy now. Add malai, boiled aloo or fried panner.
I added boiled soya balls as i did not have stock of the above.
Simmer for 4 minutes. Serve

Simple Tamil Recipes

These are some simple tamil recipes.

Paruppu usili - a delicious and filling dish made of dal and vegetables.
Egg Spinach - spinach sauteed with scrambled eggs to give a "i cant blieve its spinach" taste
Kabbage Kothavarangai - shredded kabbage , chopped vegetable and shredded coconut
combined in a tasty poriyal
Potato fry - boiled potatoes , cubed and fried till crisppp



Paruppu Usili


soak 1/2 a cup each of tur dal and chana dal in warm water overnight.
Grind to a paste with 3 dry red chillies , salt , a pinch of hing and turmeric powder.
Steam it for 10 minutes.
Cool and crumble it to small grains.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan , splutter mustard seeds , curry leaves. Add crumbled dal and fry till it becomes
light brown.

Take a cup of vegetable of your choice ( french beans , kothavarangai or beans )
Cook it in little water with turmeric and salt.
Heat 1 ts oil in a pan , add a dry red chilly broken , add vegetables and fry for sometime.
When it becomes light brown , add the dal mixture. Mix well.

Egg-Spinach - Muttai Keerai

Take 1 1/2 cups of frozen spinach. Thaw it.

Heat 1 tbs oil in a pan , splutter mustard seeds , add a spring of curry leaves chopped.

Add 2 dry red chilly broken , a small onion chopped , 1/2 tsp of turmeric and salt.

Add spinach. When it is almost cooked , make space in the middle and add an egg beaten with

a tsp of yogurt.When egg gets almost cooked mix it well with spinach.

Kabbage Kothavaranga poriyal

Heat 1 tbs oil in a vessel. Splutter 1/4 tsp kallonji ( onion seeds / nigella ) ..

Add 1 small onion sliced. Add a pinch of turmeric powder , salt , 1/4 tsp cumine powder,

1/4 tsp coriander pwdr. When there is no raw smell , add a cup of shredded cabbage and 1/2 cup chopped kothavarangai. Add a pinch of garam masala and aamchoor.

Cook covered. Add a tsp of shredded coconut.

Potato fry

Boil , peel and cube 2 medium potatoes.

Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Mix 1/4 tsp chilly pwdr , 1/4 tgsp turmeric pwdr , salt.

Add the powders to potato cubes and shake well till all cbes are evenly coated.

Heat 1 tbs oil in a pan , splutter mustard seeds , add a spring of chopped curry leaves.

Add potato cubes. When they begin to get light brown sprinkle rice powder.

Fry till it gets golden brown and crisp.

Muttai Kothu Parotta - Egg kothu parotta

Layered parotta , shredded to small pieces , fried till crisp , enhanced with
scrambled eggs , topped with a spicy gravy ...
Sounds yummy doesnt it
My 50th post . Boy am i excited ...

This serves 3 people who are not thatt hungry
or 2 people really hungry :-)

Gravy preparation:

Small red onion - 7-10
Tomato - 1/2 diced ( 3 tsp if using puree )
Red Chilly Pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Corriander Pwdr - 1 tsp
Turmeric Pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Pepper poswer - 1/2 tsp ( use indian pepper pwdr )
Curry Leaves - 1 spring
Vinegar - 1/2 tsp ( i used rice vinegar )
garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
yellow onion - 1 finely chopped.
aniseed - 1/4 tsp
Oil for cooking

Dry roast the following for a minute
Dont let any of the ingredients burn.
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp
Split Black Gram dal - 1/2 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp
Jeera - 1/4 tsp
Aniseed - 1/4 tsp
Poppy Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1) Grind the dry roasted ingredients to a powder.
2) Grind the spice powder with red onions , tomato , chilly pwdr , corriander pwdr, garlic paste , vinegar to a smooth paste.
3) Add some curry leaves to the above paste . Mix well and set aside for 5 minutes.
4) Heat oil , add turmeric pwdr , curry leaves and onions.
5) When onions turn brown add pepper powder and paste. Reduce to simmer and cook covered for 10 minutes.
6) When the oil comes on top half cup water , curry leaves , aniseed.
7) Cook covered for 5 minutes.

Kothu parota preparation:

Ingredients:

Layered Parotta - 5 ( shredded to small pieces )

Egg - 3 beaten

Curry leaves - a spring chopped

Onion - a small one finely chopped

oil

Method:

1) Take a larges skillet , heat little oil , Maintain the heat on high. fry curry leaves.

2) Add 1/3 rd of the parotta and fry till crisp.

3) Add the remaining parotta , fry for few seconds.

4) Clear the center of the skillet and pour the beaten eggs. When the eggs are nearly

Cooked mix it well with the fried parotta pieces.

5) Add onions. Add the prepared gravy little by little and keep stirring.

6) Kothu parotta is ready.

Egg/potata Roast

I came across the recipe for Egg roast in one of the blogs .. I've forgotten which one :-(

Extrapolated that and came up with this one

Ingredients:

Potato - 1 large or/and Eggs - 2

Onion - 1 big thinly sliced and cut to 1 ''

Tomato - 1 big ( 5 tsp if using puree )

Curry Leaves - 1 spring

Chilly pwdr - 1/2 tsp

Corriander pwdr - 3/4 tsp

Pepper pwdr - 3/4 tsp ( I used aachi pepper pwdr from india )

Garlic - 1 clove sliced to 3 pieces

Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Sonf - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Prepare potatoes , eggs as follows

1) Boil egg , cut lengthwise. Add a pinch of chilly pwdr , turmeric pwdr , salt and shallow fry

in little oil till it browns.

2) Boild potatoes , peel , cut to cubes , refrigerate for 15 minutes ( makes sure that the potato does not lose its shape ) , add a pinch of chilly pwdr , turmeric and salt.

Shallow fry in little oil till it browns evenly.

Gravy Preparation:

1) Heat oil , add curry leaves , saute onions.

2) Add all the powders except pepper pwdr , salt , add tomatoes.

3) Fry till the mixture becomes dark brown. This gives the dish all the taste.

Do not miss on this.

4) Add pepper, sonf.Fry for few seconds. Add 1 cup water.

5) Cook on high for 5 minutes.

6) Add garlic and prepared eggs oo/and potatoes.

7) Simmer for 2 minutes.

Vegetable Korma

This is my long time dream ... I tried making veg korma 6 months back , didnt quite like it ..
I guess its because i did not like vegetables 6 months back :-) ..
This new recipe worked out like a charm ...

Ingredients:

To be roasted and ground to a powder

Bayleaf - a small piece
Elaichi - 2
Cloves - 5
Cinnamon - 2 inch stick
Aniseed - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Ajwain - 1/3 tsp
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Corriander seeds - 1/2 tsp

Dry roast the above for less than a minute and grind to a powder.

Aamchoor - 1/4 tsp
Mace - a pinch
Ginger - 1cm * 1cm piece
Garlic - 2 cloves
Onion - a small one chopped roughly
Tomato - a small one , chopped
Cashew - 5 - 10
Shredded Coconut - 2 tbs
Green Chilly - 7
Salt

Add the above ingredients to the powder and grind to a smooth paste.

Onion - a small one chopped finely
Bay leaf - 1
Corriander pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Curry leves - 5
Coriander leaves - few springs chopped finely

Vegetables
potatoes - 2 small , boiled , cubed , refrigerated for 10 minutes
carrots , peas , beans , lauki , cauli flwr - half boiled.

Method:

1) Heat oil , Add bayleaf . Saute onions.
2) Add curry leaves and corriande leaves , corriander pwdr.
3) Add masala paste. Cook covered till there is no raw smell.
4) Add a 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to boil.
5) Add vegetables and cook covered on low heat for 10 minutes.

Gulab Jamun

This is my try and it turned out pretty good.

The charcoal is my first jamun ... Thats a nice way to realise the heat is high ..

Sugar syrup:

Heat 1 cup water , 2/3 cup sugar till you get a syrup like consistency.

Add 2 crushed cardamoms , a tsp of rose water and few saffron strands.

Jamuns:

Milk Powder - 1 cup ( I used non fat )

All purpose flour - 1/3 cup

baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Melted Butter or Ghee - 2 tbs

Evaporated Milk - 2 tbs

Whole milk
Oil for deep frying

Mix Milk powder , maida and baking soda thoroughly.

Add ghee into the mixture till you get coarse bread crumbs like texture.

Add evaporated milk and enough whole milk to get a slightly sticky dough

Make walnut sized balls and deep fry on low heat till it browns evenly.

Take it out of oil and put it in the sugar syrup.

Leave for atleast an hour.

Tatsty jamuns .. yummy...

MLA Pesarattu or Upma Pesarattu

This is like adai stuffed with upma...
It goes well with ginger chutney.
The original recipe doesnt use any dal other than moong , but i add these
for taste.

Ingredients:

Whole moong dal - 1 cup
Split gram dal - a handful
Cooked Chickpeas - a handful
Split Dalia - a handful
Green Chilly - 5
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Egg - 1 beaten

Soak dals , chickpeas and dalia for 8 hours and grind with salt , green chilly
and ginger to a slightly coarse paste adding as little water as possible.
Add egg and mix well.

Garnish:

Onion - 1 small finely chopped
Corriander leaves - a handful chopped
Curry Leaves - a spring chopped
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp

Heat a pan , smear oil , add pesarattu batter and cook like a dosa.
When one side is half done , garnish with the above mixture and flip.
When done , flip again , keep the upma in the centre and fold like a masala dosa.
Serve with ginger chutney or with nothing like how i did :-) :-)

Lazeez Lauki

This is my entry for Nupur's A to Z of Indian Vegetables for the Letter 'L'....
Just realised there are double L's in the title..

Lazeez Louki or delicious lauki is cooked as a whole ,
stuffed with khoya and nuts is filled with suprises.
Should we stop here .. ne lets take it to the next level ....
Cook lauki in a mild spices onion based sauce ....
Is so much enough ... ne how about giving the dish a rich saffron taste...
Lets serve this with lacha paratha ...
Shall we?

For Lauki

Lauki - 1 about 500 gms
cashew /pine nuts / pista - 10 pieces
Khoya - 200 gms ( I made khoya from Happy Burp 's recipe )
Onion - 1 small chopped finely
Corriander leaves - few leaves , chopped finely
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp
Chilly pwdr - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Ground meat or chopped veges of your choice (optional) - use as little or lot as you want
Do not use potatoes please ... Use chopped cabbage or capsicum
I used 20 gms of ground beef
Sonf - 1/4 tsp
Yogurt - 2 tsp
Salt

Method:

1) Heat oil , fry cashews , sonf , saute onions , Add ginger garlic paste
2) Additional meat or vegetables , curd , all powders and salt.
3) Cook till all water evaporates. Crumble Khoya and stir well.
Set aside.

Preparing Lauki:

1) Peel lauki , remove the center portion , make hole on the outside evenly
with a fork. Smear little salt on the outside.
Set aside for 10 minutes. All the water from the lauki will come out.
2) Heat oil in a pan , Add lauki and brown it evenly throughout.
3) Let it cool and stuff the khoya mixture tightly into the lauki.
Set aside

For Gravy:

Onion - 1 big sliced thinly
Cloves - 4
elaichi - 1
mace - 1/4 tsp
poppy seeds - 1/2 tsp
Yogurt - 1 tsp
Chilly pwrd - 1/4 tsp
Saffron - few strands crushed
Kewra water - 1 tsp ( optional )
Milk - warm 1 cup and dissolve crushed saffron in it set aside for 10 minutes

Method:

1) Fry onions till light brown. Set aside
2) Grind cloves , elaici , mace and poppy seeds.
3) Add yogurt , fried onions. Grind to a smooth paste.
4) Heat oil , add onions paste , chilly pwdr and saute till there is no raw smell.
5) Add half of the saffron milk. Bring to a boil . Reduce to simmer and add the stuffed lauki
carefully
6) Cook covered for 10 minutes.
Flip the lauki so that the othet side gets coked. Add remaining saffron milk and
Kewra water. Cook covered for 10 minutes or till lauki is soft.
7) Serve on a platter garnished with corriander leaves.
Cut the lauki before serving.

Fish Podimas/Poriyal

Ingredients:

Fish - 4 pieces of your choice , boiled , keep the flesh

Kothavarangai - a handful chopped finely

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Dried Red chilly - 3

Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Shredded coconut - 2 tsp

Hing - a pinch

Jeera - 1/4 tsp

Sonf - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1) Mix fish with turmeric.

2) Heat oil , splutter mustard , curry leaves. Brak red chilly and drop in oil.

3) Add hing , jeera and sonf.

4) Stir in vegetable , salt and fish.

5) Cook for few minutes. Add coconut.

6) Remove after a minute.

7) Garnish with chopped onions and corriander

Vatral Kuzhambu : Tamil Cuisine

vatral Kuzhambu .. hmm ...

A hot spicy kuzhambu made with dried vegetables ...

It is best when had the next day ... I guess the spices get really comfortable

with each other during that time :-) ...

So whats new with this vatral kuzhambu .. I used dalia to make the kuzhambu powder...

It came out extremely yummilicious.....

This is my entry for RC1 TamilCuisine Event hosted by Lakshmi

Ingredients:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Split gram dal - 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper Corns - 6
Dried Red Chilly - 5
Curry Leaves - a spring
hing - a pinch
Onions - 2 medium sliced thinly to 1 inch length
Tomato - 2 ( 6 tsp if using puree )
vatral of your choice - i used kothavangai vathal , few
Tamarind water - lemon sized ball dissolved in 2 cups warm water
Brinjal - 2 , cut to 4 pieces. ( can use okra or tindora instead )
Sonf - 1/2 tsp
garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Garlic - 4 pods , each sliced to 3 pieces
Rice powder - 1/2 tsp dissolved in water
Gingelly oil - 1 tbs
Oil of your choice

Spice Paste:

Chilly Pwdr - 1 tsp
Corriander pwdr - 3 tsp
Mix the above , add enough water to make a paste

Spice powder:

Roasted channa dal - 1 tsp
Roasted split gram dal - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
Sonf - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp
Split Dalia - 1 tsp
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece

Grind to a fine powder.
Add a tsp of vinegar and mix well.

Method:

1) heat oil , splutter mustard seeds , split dal . Add curry leaves , red chilly , hing.

Ading red chilly to the oil gives the kuzhambu a pungent smell....
2) Add vathal.saute onions till light brown. Add garlic paste , spice powder. Saute for 3 minutes.
3) Add spice paste. Saute till there is no raw smell.
4) Add tomato , salt . Mix and cook covered for few minutes.
5) When oil comes on top add brinjal , gingelly oil ,tamarind water , sonf , few curry leaves.
6) Cook covered for 15 minutes.
7) Add garlic , rice powder mix and cook till desired consistency is reached.

Peas Puree Cutlet

I had some left over peas stuffing from my previous post.

Added some bread crumbs and soaked bread to it and made cutlets.

Stuffed eggs in carrot gravy

Lined up to be baked

Baked eggs

Eggs in carrot gravy

Ingredients:

Eggs - 3 boiled , cut beadthwise , yolks removed

Peas - a handful

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Green chilly - 1

Elaichi - 1

garam masala - a pinch

Cottage Cheese - 1 tbs

Milk - 2 tsp

Salt.

For stuffing :

Boil peas in microwave for 7 minutes with sugar.

Drain and puree peas with green chilly, salt , elaichi and milk.

Mix puree with cottage cheese , garam masala.

Crush 2 egg yolks and mix it to the above.

Spoon stuffing in egg and bake at 300 for 15 minutes.

For Gravy :

Onion - 1 big finely chopped

Tomato sauce - 6 tsp

Carrot - 3 ( cooked in microwave for 6 minutes and pureed with a tsp of milk )

Chilly pwdr - 3/4 tsp

Corriander pwdr - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

GingerGarlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Heat oil , saute onions till brown , add ginger garlic paste

Add tomato sauce and all powders.

Saute for 2 minutes. Add carrot puree and saute for 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups water. Reduce to simmer and cook covered for 30 minutes.

Drop the eggs. and serve

Soya Balls W Peanuty Palak

I always liked soya.... Ne not because of its nutritious value etc etc ..

It looks like meat .... :-) ... My dad hated it for the same reason :-( ...

So Mom used to make it rarely ...

Suddenly thought about soya and did this ..

Ingredients:

Soya Balls - a handful ( Microwave in water for 4 minutes )

Peanut Oil - 2 tsp +2 tsp

Palak - a handful ( sauteed in 2 tsp peanut oil till light brown )

elaichi - 1

Onion - 1 1/2 big sliced thinly

GingerGarlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Tomato sauce - 7 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Aamchoor - 1/4 tsp

Cashew - 6 soaked in warm water do this b4 u start cooking

Paprika - 1 1/2 tsp

Coriander pwdr - 1 tsp

Method:

1) Fry palak in 2 tsp peanut oil till light brown. Set Asie.

2) Heat oil in a pan , add elaichi , saute onions , add ginger garlic patse .

3) Add tomato sauce , all powders , salt garam masala , aamchoor.

4) Simmer for 15 minutes.

5) Let cool and grind with soaked cashews to a smooth paste.

5) Heat peanut oil in a pan , add the paste. Saute for few minutes.

6) Add 2 cups water , soya , palak.

7) Cook covered for 10 minutes.

Fish with mustard oil

It was one of those lazy days .. dint really feel like cooking anything ..
was planning t have just bread and omlette...
But hubby comes home hungry , Bread n omlette is not considered food....
I had to fix something good within 10 minutes...
Lo goes the recipe.. It is very simple to make but delicious.
The mustard oil gives the dish a very different taste.
Did the same with brinjal ....



Ingredients:

Nethili Fish (anchovy fish) : 20 pieces
mango - 2 small pieces
Onion - 1 small , chopped finely
Tomato puree - 1 tsp
Aniseed - 1/2 tsp
Corriander pwdr - 1 tbs
Chilli pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric pwdr - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Vinegar - 2 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Mustard oil - 2 tbs
Gingelly oil - 1 tsp
Salt

Method:

1) Mix all the ingredients except mustard oil.
2) Heat mustard oil. Add the mixed ingredients.
3) Set flame on high. Cook for a minute.
4) Reduce to low , cook for 5 minutes.
5) Add 1/2 cup water. Cook for 5 minutes.
6) Add some hing and serve.

Naan At Last

I once tried making naans without yeast !!! Dont ask me why i even tried it..

It came out like a cheap cake :-( ...

I found this recipe in Asha's blog which in turn is from Paati's en veetu samayal....

The Naan turned out like Naan and i liked it a lot ...

Boy am i excited ...

Ingredients:

Bread Flour - 2 cups

Warm Milk (135F) - 1/2 cup

Active dry yeast - 1 tsp

Sugar - 2 tsp

Salt - 1 1/2 tsp

Dried Parsley - 2 tsp

Melted Butter - 3 tbs

Yogurt - 3 tbsp

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

1) Take Milk in a big vessel , Add yeast and sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes till yeast foams.

2) Add salt , parsley , butter , yogurt , oil and mix slightly.

3) Add bread flour and knead to a soft dough.

Transfer the flour to a soft surface and knead for 5 minutes.

Transfer back to vessel. Cover and let it stand for 2 hours till the dough doubles.

Punch down and let stand till it doubles again.

4) Divide dough into 5 parts.

5) Roll to a tear shaped naan.

6) Heat Oven to 550F. Cook naan for 4 minutes on a baking sheet, till the naan puffs up.

7) Remove , flip it on tava and brown it on medium heat.

8) You can brush some melted butter for a richer taste... I did not do it as the

naan was rich enuf already.