Gajar Halwa [Carrot Halwa]

An easy yet delicious sweet dish, perfect for all occasions and best served warm but can be had cold too.

Ingredients

• 1 kg carrots, chopped into small pieces
• ½ tin evaporated milk plus ½  cup milk
• ¼ cup milk with a few strands saffron dissolved in it for boiling the carrots
• ¾ cup sugar
• cardamom powder and some crushed almonds/pistas for garnishing
• 3 heaped tbsp. butter or ghee
• 1 tbsp. oil.

Instructions

1. Boil the carrot pieces in the quarter cup of milk and saffron for 10 minutes, then grind in a food processor.
2. Heat your pan and add the butter/ghee plus the oil, then add the crushed carrots and fry on medium heat for about 5minutes.
3. Lower the heat and fry the mixture until it starts getting dry and begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. You have to keep on stirring.
4. When it's quite dry and has started releasing some of the oil, add the sugar and cardamom. Keep on stirring and cooking on low heat until the sugar dissolves. Then add the evaporated milk and the half cup of milk and cook for about 5 more minutes.

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Pongal Recipe

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup short grain rice (substitute with basmati)
• ½ cup split moong dal (mung beans)
• ½ teaspoon oil
• 4 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) or butter
• ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 6oz fresh ginger, peeled
• 1/8 teaspoon asafoetida
• 4 curry leaves
• 3 cups whole milk
• 2 cups water
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons cashewnuts, lightly roasted in a few drops of oil or ghee

Method:

1. Rinse and drain the rice and dal and set aside.
2. You will need to use a large, deep pot or saucepan for this recipe. If you use a small pot, the milk will boil over and make a mess.
3. Heat oil and ghee in the pot . Add mustard seeds to oil & ghee. When they splutter, add cumin and peppercorns, and stir 30 seconds. Cut the peeled ginger into 2 or 3 chunks. Add ginger chunks, asafetida, and curry leaves to the oil and stir about 30 seconds or till the ginger and curry leaves are fragrant.
4. Add the rinsed rice and dal, and stir well. Pour in the milk, water and salt and bring to a boil. If the milk begins to froth and boil over, stir it till it settles down.
5. Once the milk boils, reduce heat to low, cover the pot with a lid and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally so that the milk doesn’t boil over and make a mess.
6. Pongal is done when the rice is very soft and creamy. Depending on the rice you are using, cooking times may vary. You may also need to use more water, depending the rice you are using.
7. If most the liquid gets absorbed, but the rice still isn’t cooked, just add more water and continue cooking till rice is soft.
8. Serve hot, topped with roasted cashews and sambar on the side.

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Pav Bhaji

Ingredients:

12 Pav buns
2 Onions
3 tsp Dhania Powder
5 Tomatoes
2 tsp Jeera Powder
3 Potatoes
2 tsp Chilli powder
1 cup Peas
4 tsp Pav Bhajji masala
1/2 cup Carrot
Salt to taste
1/2 cup Beans
1/2 cup Coriander for garnish
1/2 cup Cabbage
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Capsicum
1 cup Cauliflower
1' piece Ginger
Garlic optional
2 Green chillies finely chopped

Preparation:

1. Heat a pan with oil & add the onions. Fry till translucent. Add tomatoes,salt,add all the powders and fry till the oil floats on top. 
2. Steam all the other vegetables seperately & add them to the onion mixture. 
3. Add a cup of water & let it cook to boiling consistency. Then With the help of a potato masher keep mashing the mixture till it cooks nicely. 
4. When all the vegetables are cooked thoroughly garnish with coriander & lemon juice and serve with Pav. 

For the pavs:

• Slit open the pavs from the middle. Apply butter in the inside & place them on a pre-heated frying pan.When they get golden brown from the inside take them off. 
• Serve hot with bhajji.

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Chicken Biryani

What makes a good Biryani?

Everyone has their own little list. My list is simple and in order of priority follows:
1. Aroma. It must have both sweet fragrance and herbal warm aroma.
2. It should be savory, but not spicy
3. Finally, it should meet the age old test. Drop a handful of Biryani on a hard floor. No two grains of rice should be stuck to each other.

 Ingredients

•7-8 Onions (very thinly sliced and deep fried until light brown)
•10-15 Cashews (fried in a little desi ghee/clarified butter)
•1 Kg Chicken on the bone cut into 12 pieces
•1 cup yogurt
•2 Tsp Garlic paste
•salt to taste
•500 gm Basmati Rice (washed and soaked in salted water for at least half an hour)
•3-4 Tbsp oil
•Oil for frying the onions
•6-7 cloves
•2 (1 inch) Cinnamon
•4 green Cardamoms
•3 Bay leaves
•1/4 Tsp Caraway seeds (shahi jeera/black cumin seeds)
•4 large Tomatoes (chopped finely)
•1/4 Tsp of mace powder
•1/4 Tsp of grated Nutmeg
•1 Tsp Coriander powder
•1 Tsp red Chili powder (to taste)
•1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
•2-3 green Chilies (to taste, chopped)
•1 Tbsp Ginger (chopped)
•1 Tbsp Garlic (chopped)
•6-7 dried, pitted prunes
•1/2 cup of milk
•a few strands of Saffron (kesar)
•3-4 Tbsp Desi ghee (clarified butter)
•2 cups of fresh green Coriander (chopped)

STEP 1

Marination

Marinate the chicken pieces in 1 cup yogurt, 2 Tsp garlic paste and little salt, for a good 8 hours.

STEP 2

Making Barista (fried onions) for chicken biryani

Slice the onions very thinly (almost paper thin) using a sharp knife. Heat oil in a pan or kadai.
Separate the sliced onions using your finger tips. Put the onions in the oil and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Keep stirring the onions, so that they get evenly browned. The trick is to evenly and slowly brown the onions. If the flame is very high the onions will burn on the outside and remain watery on the inside.

Once a uniform color is obtained, drain on thick layer of kitchen paper, so that maximum oil is soaked. Keep these aside.

As they cool down, the onions will become crispy.

STEP 3

Boiling the rice

Boil the rice. For this take a BIG vessel (deep and wide), put lots of water in it, tip in the soaked rice along with 1 stick cinnamon, 3-4 cloves, 2 green cardamom, 1/4 tsp of Shahi jeera (caraway seeds) and more salt.

Remember that you should boil the rice in lots of water and salt (pretty much like a pasta). The rice should absorb the salt otherwise the biryani will be tasteless. Boil on a high flame and let the it boil vigorously on high flame for about 5-7 minutes.

You have to par cook the rice (meaning 3/4 cooked and rest will get cooked later). Do not over boil the rice. To check if the rice is done you can take a grain of rice out and press in between your thumb and forefinger. If the grain breaks into 3 parts, it means your rice is cooked just right. Now strain the rice and spread it out on a flat tray or surface, so that it cools faster.

STEP 4

Preparing the chicken

Heat oil in a deep pan, add the remaining bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and green cardamoms. When they crackle, add the ginger, garlic and chilies. Saute for a minute and add the marinated chicken, along with the marinade. Cook on a medium heat till all the water dries up (water from the chicken and yogurt).

Add the tomatoes, 1/3 of the fried onions, all the powdered spices, salt and cook till all the water from the tomatoes dries up. If the chicken is cooking too quickly then either cook on a high flame to fasten the evaporation or remove the chicken pieces aside.

The chicken should be just cooked and dry (because it will get
cooked further in the final step and if any water is left in it the rice will become soggy).

Once done, sneak a taste, adjust the seasoning. Mix in the dried prunes.

STEP 5

Make saffron milk

In 1/2 cup of warm milk crush a pinch of saffron strands and put some whole strands. Wait till it turns yellow. Keep on one side.

STEP 6

Final STEP Assembling the chicken biryani

Use a deep heavy bottom pan with a lid.

First spread some desi ghee at the bottom of the pan.
Second a layer of rice, followed by a layer of chicken. Now sprinkle a generous handful of chopped coriander and fried onions.

Repeat the layers with rice being the top most layer. Sprinkle the leftover onions and all the cashews.

Pour the milk and saffron on the top using a spoon, evenly covering the whole area.

Once all layers are set, take melted desi ghee and with a spoon pour it around the rim of the vessel and a little on the rice.
Close the lid and seal.

There are 2 ways to seal the lid in order to prevent the steam from escaping.

1) Take a large foil, cover the pot/vessel with it and place the lid on top.

2) Take some dough made from whole wheat flour. Roll it into a thin strip and stick it going around the rim of the pan half on the lid and half on the pan in order to seal the whole pan.

Keep this pot on a very low heat for 45 minutes. Place this pan on top of a cast iron tawa (on which chapatis are made) or another heavy bottom pan in order to prevent the bottom layer of rice from getting burnt.

After 45 minutes turn off the heat. Let it stand for 5 minutes and open.

Enjoy the delicious chicken biryani!!!

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How to make Pani Puri

Ingredients:

To make puri:

• 1 cup Semolina (Suji)
• 3 tblsp Fine Wheat Flour (Maida)
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• Oil to deep fry

To make gravy:

• Dried green peas - 100 gm
• Potato - 1 no
• Cloves(Grambu) - 1/4 tsp
• Cinnamon(Karugapatta) - 1/4 tsp
• Nutmeg(Jathikka) powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chilly powder
• Turmeric powder
• Chat masala powder
• Cornflour - 2 tsp
• Curry leaves
• Mint leaves(Pudhina)

To make pani:

• 1/2 cup Tamarind (Amilo/Imli) Pulp
• 2 cups Water
• 2 tblsp roasted Cumin Seed (Jeera) Powder
• 2 tblsp un-roasted Cumin Seed (Jeera)
• Coriander Leaves
• 3 Green Chilly (Hariyo Khursani)
• 2 tblsp Mint Leaves (Pudina Leaves) Chutney
• 1 tblsp Black Salt (Bire Noon )

How to make Pani Puri.


To make pani:

1. Measure all ingredients.
2. Adjust spices and tangyness to taste.
3. Strain through a wire strainer to remove any rough bits.

To make puri:

1. Mix sooji, maida, baking soda, salt and enough water to knead a soft dough.
2. Stand covered with wet cloth for 15-20 minutes.
3. Make small sized balls.
4. With the help of some dry maida or sooji, roll into thin rounds.
5. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry puris till very light brown and crisp.
6. Drain in a paper towel for a while to dry out the oil.
7. Store in an airtight container when cool.

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Chapati

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (you can mix half all purpose and half atta if you like)
2 tbsp. ghee (plus a bit extra for rolling and cooking)
1 tsp. salt
warm water or milk (about half to three-quarter cup)

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1

Add the salt to the flour. Rub in the 2tbsp ghee, then slowly add in the warm water or milk and knead until you have a lovely soft dough. The more you knead it the softer your parathas/chapatis will be.

Once it's kneaded, divide the dough into two balls. Now refer to Step 1 of making the parathas and keep clicking Next to view the subsequent instructions!

Step 2: Roll each ball out, it doesn't have to be perfect. Get it as round as you can. Then apply a light layer of ghee all over it. About half a tbsp. should be enough.

Step 3: Using a knife, divide the rolled out circle in half like this.

Step 4: Take the first half, and stretch it out a bit. Be gentle, we don't want it tearing...we just need it to be slightly longer. The longer you can get it, the more layers your paratha/chapati will have. Just don't make it tooooo stretched out , get it to about 1 and a half its original length!

Now start rolling the stretched out piece from one end to the other.

Step 5: Here's how it will look when it's all rolled up. You can tuck that little end bit in for a neater roll.

Step 6: Stand the roll on your board or working surface, and sort of tuck it into itself by pushing it gently and slowly down like in the pic. Use your fingers to do this. Push it all the way down neatly.

Step 7: This is how it will look when the roll is squished down. Repeat with the 2nd half of the circle.

Then do the same with the 2nd half of the dough we started with.

Step 8: So we now have 4 balls of rolled, ghee'd, stretched and squished dough from our recipe. Now set these aside, keep them covered and let them rest for about 15mins to half an hour. This helps get them super soft.

Step 9: Half an hour later, the rolls are ready for the next stage. They are now very soft to handle. I poked a finger into one of them just to indicate how soft they now are. :D

Step 10: Now one by one, roll out each ball into a circle. See the lines and layers? This is due to the ghee/rolling process we did earlier. It helps create layers so that your parathas/chapatis are really soft and crisp.

Make sure you place these rolled out chapatis on some lightly floured surface whilst you roll the rest so they don't stick.

Step 11: Once all your parathas are rolled out, heat the tava/flat pan. When it's hot, gently place one paratha/chapati on it and sort of dry cook it on both sides without adding any oil, for about a minute on either side. Do this with all the parathas, setting them aside once you're done. They should look something like this photo. Sort of half-cooked.

When all are done, replace each one on the hot tava and add a bit of ghee underneath them and a touch of ghee on their tops...rub it on using the back of a spoon even, then cook them on both sides on medium heat until they are a lovely color on either side. Turn them over a couple of times to make sure they are getting evenly colored and not getting burnt. You can even cook 2 at a time by piling them one on top of the other, I notice this keeps them even softer, but you would need to be adept at making them so don't try this on your first go. If you can pile and cook them using that method, then go ahead but be sure that you do both sides of each paratha/chapati, coz you don't want them being uncooked on one side!

Once all are done, pile them one on top of the other, bring the sides together like you're bunching them up and thump them down a couple of times. This is a trick I learnt some years back that leaves them really really soft. Careful though, coz they will be hot!

Final Result!
Here is how they will look once they are fully cooked. Beautiful and well-colored, soft yet slightly crispy around the edges.

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Rava Upma

Ingredients:
1/2 kg sooji
1 large onion (sliced)
1 large tomato (finely chopped)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder
15 black pepper corns
4 to 5 red chillies
10 to 12 curry leaves
4 to 5 green chillies (chopped)
8 to 10 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 glass of boiled water
salt to taste


Method:
1. Roast sooji for 2 minutes on low flame and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies, black pepper corns, curry leaves and mix once.
3. Add onion and saute for one minute.
4. Add tomato, turmeric powder, salt and saute for two minutes on low flame.
5. Now add the roasted sooji and mix well for two more minutes on low flame.
6. Now add boiled water, mix well and cook for one to two minutes on medium flame and another two minutes on low flame.


You're done!

The above recipe serves 4. Goes well with any pickles or any salad.

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Chicken 65

Chicken 65 is a very popular starter in most restaurants that serve non-veg in Tamilnadu. I am sure most would agree with me on this. Chicken deep fried in oil with the extra seasoning makes it tasty and lip smacking.

There’s various stories on how the Chicken 65 name evolved. Chicken of 65 days older suites well to cook this recipe or there are 65 ingredients to cook this recipes etc. I’m not exactly sure of the origins of the name, but this is indeed a true mouth watering dry chicken dish. It’s not a tough job to get restaurant quality, this is a very easy method to cook at home with a restaurant style taste.

Ingredients :
To Marinate:
Boneless Chicken Thigh 1 lb
Ginger Garlic Paste 1 tsp
Pepper Powder 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder 2 tsp
Red Chili Powder 4 tsp
Cumin Powder 1/4 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Corn Flour 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Red Food Color 1 pinch or 1 drop
Lemon Juice 2 tbsp
Egg 1 no
Oil 2-3 cups for deep frying
For Seasoning :
Oil 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds 1/4 tsp
Ginger 1 inch
Garlic 3 nos
Curry Leaves 1 strand
Green Chili 2 nos
Onion 1/2 no
Pepper Powder 1 tsp
Salt 1/8 tsp or to taste
Coriander Leaves 2 tbsp

Directions:
Step 1
Cut the chicken into small one inch bite size pieces. Wash them and keep it ready. Marinate chicken with the items given in “To Marinate” Section except the oil for about 2 + hrs. Chop the ginger garlic, onion given in the “For seasoning” section. Split open green chili.
Step 2
In a non stick pan, heat the oil to deep fry the marinated chicken. When hot, add the chicken in batches and deep fry each batches atleast for 10-15 min maximum or till when the chicken is cooked in medium flame. Stir often and cook till chicken turns crispy. Filter the excess oil by spreading it on the kitchen tissue.
Step 3
In an another pan heat oil given the section “For seasoning” and when hot, add cumin seeds. After the cumin seed splutter add the chopped ginger garlic, curry leaves and green chili. Fry for 30 sec. Add the chopped onion and fry till they are golden brown. Add the pepper powder, salt. Add the fried chicken to it. Toss them well and add the coriander leaves at the end.
Tips :
Marinate chicken overnight for best juicy taste.
Don’t re-use the fried oil for any other cooking.

(*) Serve with Onion rings and Lemon wedges.

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Bisi Bele Bath

Ingredients :

2 carrots cut into cubes
1 potato cut into cubes
5-6 beans cut into small pieces
1/4 cup of peas (frozen or soaked or fresh peas can be used). I used to frozen ones.
1cup of rice
11/2 cup of tur dal
1 cup of tamarind Juice. (medium lemon sized tamarind soak in cup of water and squeeze juice out of it.)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp of oil

Masala :                

1tbsp chana dal
1tbsp urad dal
1tbsp of daniya
5-6 Red chillies
1 Cinnamon stick
4 cloves
1/4 cup of grated coconut

Garnish:

1tbsp of Cashews
2-3 red chilies
curry leaves
2-3 tbsp Ghee

Preparation:

1. Cook dal and rice combined in a cooker for 3 whistles. ( You can always cook rice and dal separately. I cook combined to save time)
2. In a separate pan roast all the masala till it turns golden color. In mixer make a fine paste of masala keep it aside.
3. Fry the cashews ,red chilly, curry leaves in ghee and keep it aside.
4. In a heavy bottomed vessel boil the vegetables. Once the vegetables are boiled add cooked rice, dal mixture.
5. Add 1 cup of water, tamarind pulp,salt,1tbsp of ghee and the masala paste. Let it cook till all the vegetables and rice is cooked with masala. (This usually takes 10 mts).
6. Turn off the heat and garnish with roasted cashews,red chilly.

Delicious Bisi Bela Bath is ready to be served with raita and chips.

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How to make paneer

A versatile ingredient that lends itself to various dishes,ranging from simple to exotic.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (500 ml) full fat milk
1 tsp lemon juice

Method
1. Put the milk to boil. When it starts boiling, switch off the gas and wait for a while.
2. Add the lemon juice and when it curdles, strain using a muslin cloth.
3. If you want solid paneer, put some weight on the drained paneer and leave it on for some time.
4. Use as required.

Tips
1. You can also use vinegar or citric acid crystals instead of lemon juice.
2. 1/2 cup Paneer by weight is 70 gms

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