Sabudana Thalipeeth (thalipit)

Sabudana thaipeeth is a traditional recipe for upwas. This dish is from Maharashtra. This really good crispy, soft and spicy tiffin.

Preparation time :  8 hrs + 10 mins

Makes : 6

Ingredients :

Sabudana (or) sago (or) saggubiyyam : 1 cup

Boiled mashed potato : 2 ( or actually half the quantity of sago)

Powdered roasted peanuts : 1/2 cup

Roasted ground cumin powder : 1/4 tsp

Finely chopped green chili : 4 

Salt : to taste

Butter : 1 tbsp

Method :

Soak sabudana for 8 hours .
(Soaking time depends on type of sabudana you are using, i used small sabudana and i soaked them for just half an hour)
Take a bowl and mix all the ingredients, except butter.
Splash little water, water helps in binding the ingredients together.
Make a nice dough.
Divide dough into six balls.
Grease tawa(griddle) properly, if you don't grease it sago will stick to it.
If you use non stick tawa then you no need to worry a lot.
Take a plastic sheet, apply little oil to it, keep one ball on it and flatten it to make a round disk.
Apply oil to your hand, take thalipit from cover and place it on tawa.
With your finger make 3 - 4 small holes on it and put few drops of oil in those holes.
Cover and cook it over medium flame.
After 5 to 10 mins take the lid off, allow the moisture to dry.
Carefully flip it , cook other side for 5 to 10 more mins, but this time with out lid.
(cook on both side till you see golden brown colour)
Garnish with butter.
Serve hot.
Believe me you sure love it.

Thank you, do post your comments :)

Hummus dip

Hummus is a dip or spread. It is popular throughout the middle east and in middle eastern cuisine around the globe.

Preparation time : 10 mins
Makes : 3/4 cup

Ingredients :

Chickpeas : 1/2 cup
Olive oil : 3 tbsp
Lemon juice : 1/2 of a lemon
Garlic : one big
Roasted ground cumin powder : pinch
Toasted sesame seeds : 1 tbsp
Salt : to taste

Method :

Soak chickpeas over night. Pressure cook them with little salt till they are done.
(I actually used canned chick peas , so i used one can)
Take a food processor (or) blender add chick peas, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and cumin powder and blend them together.
Taste to check the balance of flavors and if you want to add, add a little extra of any.
If the mixture is too thick, then add one or two table spoons of hot water.
Chill it until ready to serve.
Sprinkle with paprika or toasted sesame seeds.
Serve with carrots (or) warm pitta bread (or) you can apply this as one layer when your are making sandwiches (or) you can have it with nachos (or) you can have it with roasted brinjal.

Hummus is high in iron and vitamin c and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin b6. The chickpea make it a good source of protein and dietary fibre; sesame seeds are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the chickpeas.

Hummus is useful in vegetarian diets, it serves as a complete protein when eaten with bread.

Enjoy your hummus dip.

Thank you , do post your comments.

Turkish delight

I tasted this once, then i liked the taste so much . It is pretty costly , i bought 15 pieces for one pound, and next time when i went to that shop , the guy in the shop told that they are out of stock, so i thought of preparing them and they came out really good. To know its taste, prepare them and enjoy your smooth and soft sweet.

Preparation time : 1 hr 30 mins
Makes : 50 approx

Ingredients :

Corn flour : 1/2 cup
Cream of tartar : 1/2 tsp
Water : 1 1/3 cup

For sugar syrup :
Sugar : 2 cups
Water 3/4 cup
Lemon juice : 1/2 tbsp

Rose water : 1 1/2 tbsp
Pink food coloring : few drops
Icing sugar : 1/2 cup
Corn flour : 1/8 cup

Method :

Take a medium pan, keep heat on medium, add lemon juice , sugar and water.
Stir till sugar melts.
Wait till sugar reaches soft ball stage (leta vunda paakam).

Parallely, take a small pan, add  corn flour, cream of tartar and water.
(If you don't have cream of tartar you can skip it)
Turn the heat on medium.
Continuously stir the mixture, until the lumps are dissolved.
When mixture achieves a thick glue like consistency, stop stirring.
Add this to the hot sugar syrup mixture, turn the heat to medium.
Stir for 5 mins.
Turn the heat to low, and cook for one hour, stir in between so that it doesn't stick to bottom.
When the mixture becomes golden colour add in rose water for flavouring.
Add food colouring.
Take it off from the flame.
Grease a dish , pour this mixture in it.
Keep it in refrigerator over night to cool.
Next day, take it out on to your work surface and cut them into one inch pieces.
Mix icing sugar and corn flour , roll each cube in it.
Store Turkish delight in an airtight container in the fridge or in a cool, dry place.
They will stay for up to one month.

Turkish delight makes a sweet addition to your tea or coffee.

There are so many flavors in Turkish delight, like orange, lemon, lime and so on.
This one is Rose Turkish delight.

Thank you , do post your comments :)

Beans paalesi kura (or) beans milk curry

This is really really tasty curry. The best thing is it goes well with both rice and roti or even you can have it as it is :)

You can include milk in your diet by making these types of curries, if you take milk rarely like me ;)

Preparation time : 40 mins
Serves : 2

Ingredients :

Beans : 200 grms
Milk : 1 1/2 to 2cups
Salt : to taste
Chili powder : to taste
Onion : 1/2 or 1 small
Cumin seeds (or) Jeera : pinch

Method :

Take a pan, heat it , add cumin seeds, when they splutter add onion, wait till onions are translucent.
Add chopped beans , salt and mix them good.
Cover and cook for 5 mins.
Add milk, cover and cook for one minute.
The more milk you add , the more rich the curry is ...........
Generally , i will add milk, till the beans are soaked completely.
(If you keep the lid for more time the milk may come out )
By this time the beans will be cooked.
As we added salt , the milk will crumble and becomes like paneer.
Let all the milk evaporate and the curry becomes a bit dry.
(how you like your curry texture, i.e if you want it a bit liquid texture you can stop before)
Add red chili powder, mix it once.
Take off the flame.
Serve hot with rice or roti :)

Thank you , do post your comments :)

Ariselu

Ariselu is an Indian pan fried sweet treat. It is made with rice flour, sesame seeds and jaggery. This food is often flavoured with cardamom powder. It is also called as Arisa or Athirasallu.

This dish is made for Makara Sankranti, a festival that occurs 21 days after the shortest day of the year, known as winter solstice. Though this particular dish is most common to northern and eastern - central India, similar dishes by other names are popular in other parts of India. A related dish called Athirasam is served in Tamil Nadu. The main difference between ariselu and athirasam is the addition of sesame seeds and coconut in ariselu.

Preparation time :
Makes : 8

Ingredients :

Rice : 1cup
Jaggery : 3/4 cup
Sesame seeds : 1 tsp
Ghee : 1tbsp

Method :

Soak rice in water, traditionally it is soaked overnight.
(The amount of time the rice needs to soak depends on the quality of the rice)
Next day morning, drain out water and spread that rice on a clean dry towel for 15 mins to 1/2 hour depending on humidity.
Make a fine powder out of this rice, sieve the rice powder.
Take this rice flour to a bowl and cover it with a lid and set aside.
This powder should be little wet don't leave it to dry.(we want that dampness)
Now take a pan, add grated jaggery, add water just to cover the jaggery.
When all jaggery melts strain it to remove if any dirt in jaggery.
You can skip this if your jaggery is good.
Keep the flame in medium and cook the jaggary till it foms a thick syrup ( vunda paakam).
(To check syrup take a bowl add some water, drop little jaggery mixture and if it forms a ball then it is ready)
Add rice flour to the syrup slowly while stirring it.
Remove pan from heat and add ghee and mix it well to make a soft dough, make sure that there are no lumps.
Cover it and leave it aside for few seconds to cool down, or cool it so that you can handle it.
In most households, the dough is pre prepared and chilled for quick fresh frying.
Make small balls out of this dough, roll these balls in sesame seeds.
Now heat oil in a deep frying pan.
Grease one banana leaf (or) plastic sheet and put one ball on it and press it to form a circle, do not make them too thin.
Now take it out and deep fry it.
Fry these till they are brown in colour.
While taking out, place this arise in between two ladle's and press to remove extra oil.
Take 4 kitchen tissues and keep this in between them and press them real good, this is to take excess oil from ariselu, traditionally they use arise press to take excess oil out.
If these ariselu are deep fried in ghee, then they are called as " nethi ariselu " .
Do all of them like this.
After they become cool store them in a air tight container.
These delicious Ariselu will stay for 15 to 20 days.

Thank you, do post your comments :)

Pala kova

Preparation time : one hour

Makes : 25

Ingredients :

Full fat Milk : 4 cups

Sugar : 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup

Method : 

Take a wide and heavy bottom pan.

Keep the flame in high and add milk to the pan.

Let the milk boil , while continuously mixing it.

Scrape off any milk mixture on edges.

Mix continuously to avoid any lumps or to avoid malai.

We want kova to be smooth, so stir continuously.

You need patience to make this and also time.

after 1/2 hour it will reduce and become like a thick cream.

Then add sugar.

Now keep the flame to low and mix it.

once it becomes like a dough turn the heat off.

Let it come to room temperature to handle.

Apply little ghee to your hands and take lemon size ball , press it and then make an impression at centre.

Kova is ready to serve.

This will not retain its shape at room temperature, so keep it in refrigerator for some time.

One more thing is , if it is prepared by Cow's milk it will be little chewy and if it is prepared with buffalo's milk then it will break into pieces kind...

It will stay in fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy your dish :)

Thank you , do post your comments.

Mango Rice (or) Maamidi kaya pulihora

Mango rice is one such classic dish made of fluffy rice, freshly grated raw mango and spices to give a nice tangy and flavorful dish.

Mangoes and summer season go hand in hand.Ugadi marks the beginning of the hot season or summer that coincides with the arrival of the mangoes. Raw mangoes are available in abundance only during the two months (April/ May). People in Andhra pradesh make full use of the raw mangoes to last them until the next season by preparing the famous Mango pickle.  In Andhra Pradesh, eatables such as "Mamidikaaya pulihora" (Mango rice), “bobbatlu” and preparations made with raw mango go well with the occasion of Ugadi.

Mamidikaya annam (raw mango rice), a south Indian delicacy is prepared on Ugadi to celebrate the season’s fresh produce of mangoes. This dish is the most simple and easiest recipe. It’s a wholesome tangy speciality and can also be made with left over rice for an interesting and refreshing change.

The key to this rice dish is mango which lends it a tangy flavor and is counter balanced with a fragrant tempering of dals, chilli's, hing, curry leaves, dried red chillies, slit green chillies and a good measure of peanuts or cashew nuts. The simplicity of ingredients keeps the aroma of raw mangoes mixed with turmeric intact and taste is just perfect. The most important thing in this preparation is the quality of raw Mango.  The raw mango has to be really sour, so it purely depends on the Mango taste.  If the raw Mango has wonderful aroma and sourness then the Mango rice would also have strong flavors and perfect taste.

Ingredients :

Mangoes : 1 or 2 ( depending on size and sou ness)
Mustard seeds : 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds : 1/4 tsp
Urad dal : 1/2 tsp
Chana dal : 1/2 tsp
Red chili : 3
Cashew nuts : 7
Hing (or) Asafotida : 2pinches
Green chili : 3
Curry leaves : one spring
Ginger : 1" piece
Turmeric powder : pinch
Salt : to taste


Method :

Heat a pan, add 2tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds,cumin seeds.
When they crackle add urad dal, chanadal, red chili, broken cashew nuts and saute them.
Add hing,slit green chili,curry leaves and fry them a bit.
Add chopped ginger, turmeric powder, salt and grated mangoes.

Cook till the grated mango mixture is tender.
Add this to the rice and mix it good.
Mango rice is ready to serve.

Nutritionally, mangoes are wonderful sources of minerals such as copper and potassium. It also contains traces of other minerals such as manganese, selenium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and phosphorous. Mangoes are high in vitamin A and vitamin C. Traces of other vitamins such as vitamin E, vitamin B, and vitamin K can also be found in this wonderful orange fruit. If you want more vitamin C, try eating a raw mango rather than a ripe one. The fibre content in mangoes is also higher than other fruits. Mangoes are also wonderful blood cleansers. It is also supposed to reduce excessive heat in the body and prevent body odours.

Enjoy your dish.
Thank you , do post your comments.

bisi bele bath with left overs

Preparation time : 20 mins
Serves : 2

Ingredients :

Left over cooked rice : 3 - 4 cups
Cooked Toor dal :  1 cup
Onion : 1/2 cut into big chunks
Tomato : 1 cut into pieces
Carrot : 1 cut into small cubes
Peas : hand full
Tamarind paste : 4 - 5 tbsp
Sambar powder : 1 or 2 tsp
Coriander leaves : 3 springs
Salt : to taste
Fried cashew nut : 10
For seasoning :
Mustard seeds : 1/4 tsp
Urad dal : 1/4 tsp
Jeera (or) cumin seeds : 1/4 tsp
Green chili : 2
Turmeric : pinch
Hing : pinch

Method :

Take a pan (kadai) , heat a tsp of oil, add ingredients listed for tampering one by one and saute them.
Add onions, cook till they are translucent, add carrot , cook it a bit ,then add peas and tomato.
Add tamarind paste, cooked dal and some water.
Add salt and sambar powder.
Then add the left over rice and cook it for 15 mins.
Garnish it with coriander leaves and cashew nuts.
Tasty bisi bele bath is ready , Serve this hot.
Thank you, do post your comments.

Beetroot curd chutney (or) beetroot perugu pachadi

Preparation time : 20 mins
Serves : 2

Ingredients :

Beetroot : 1
Tomato : 1
Grated Coconut : 3 to5 tbsp
Green chili : 3
Turmeric : pinch
Curd (or) yogurt : 1 cup or more approx
Lemon juice : 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander leaves : 2 springs
For seasoning :
Mustard seeds : 1/4 tsp
Jeera (or) cumin seeds : 1/4 tsp
Urad dal : 1/4 tsp
Chana dal : 1/4 tsp
Red chili : 2
Curry leaves : 6

Method :

Grate the beetroots, steam boil them with turmeric and chopped green chili, keep them aside.
Take a blender or chopper and make tomato into puree.
Take a pan, add tsp oil and then ingredients listed for seasoning one by one, saute them and keep it aside.
Take a bowl, add curd, grated coconut, beetroot, tomato puree,lemon juice,salt and mix it good.
(If you want to add you can even add grated carrot )
Add seasoning to it , mix it once again.
Sprinkle freshly chopped coriander leaves .
Serve it with rice or roti.
This tastes really good with little sweet and some sour taste.

Thank you, do post your comments.

Micky mouse cake

This is my first cartoon cake !!!

I made this cake for his birth day.

I don't have black colour at that time , so i replaced black with blue.

The Cake tasted really good and my cousins liked it so much :)

For the cake i used basic sponge cake .

Ingredients :

For Frosting :

Unsalted Butter : 250 grams
Icing sugar (or) powdered sugar : 500 grams
Vanilla extract : 1 tsp
Food colouring

Method :

For Butter cream Frosting :

Butter should be at room temperature.
Take the butter out from fridge couple of hours before.
Take a bowl, add butter and icing sugar.
Use hand whisk or electric whisk.
(if you use hand whisk it will take a little bit more time then the electric one)
I used electric whisk.
Turn whisk on and mix the mixture in low speed to make sure not to blast all the icing sugar until it start to combine. After it starts to combine keep whisk in high and beat it till it is light and fluffy for 2 to 3 mins.
When you see colour is slightly pale and the consistency is creamy, then add tsp of vanilla extract and whisk it again for one minute.
Your vanilla flavoured cake frosting is ready.
If you want to make coloured frosting, then add few drops of food colouring and then whisk again for half minute or so.
You can add other natural extracts to get other flavours such as lemon, orange, or rose.
You can store this frosting in fridge as long as your butter lasts.
When you need it take out from fridge couple of hour before to get back to room temperature and mix it up once and it is ready to use.

Cake preparation :

I prepared 3 different colours of frosting - yellow, pink and blue , keeping aside some white frosting.
I made one big cake for face and two small rounds for ears.
Chill the cake for one hour before you are working to reduce the number are crumbs.
(Only if you have domes on cakes , chill it other wise you can skip it).
Remove the domes and do the crumb coat.
Crumb coat is especially needed for any cake that has cut edges when you put a thin layer of frosting over the entire thing it will seal in all the crumbs so your final coat is really clean. Keep it in fridge for 1/2 hour.
Take the cake and put lot of frosting and flatten it with cake spatula (or) angle spatula.
Take a bowl with hot water and clean the spatula in that water while applying frosting.
First cover top and then go for sides.
If you want even more soft flatten surface let it dry for 5 to 10 minutes, take a kitchen paper towel and care fully smooth it out.
Take a non stick baking paper or a cover and make a small cone with it and fill in some white frosting into it , and make a out line with that.
Your cake is ready to use.

Thank you , do post your comments :)

Beetroot curry - 1

Preparation time : 15 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients :

Beetroot : 1 big
Mustard seeds : 1/4 tsp
Urad dal : 1/4 tsp
Jeera (or) Cumin seeds : 1/4 tsp
Green chili's : 2 (or) red chili powder : 1tsp
Onion : 1/2 (optional)
Coriander powder : 1 tbsp
Grated coconut : 2 tbsp
Roasted sesame seed powder : 2 tsp

Fresh Coriander springs : 3

Method :

Chop beetroots to cubes, pressure cook them and keep them aside.
Take a pan, heat it, add a tsp of oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds, chopped green chili's and saute them.
Add finely chopped onion, cook them till they are transparent.
Add cooked beetroot.
Add salt and chili powder.
Add coriander powder, grated coconut.
(instead you can grind coriander seeds and coconut together coarsely and all it)
Cook for one minute and take off the flame.
If using sesame powder, add it now.
Sprinkle freshly chopped coriander leaves.
Mix it well and serve it hot with rice.

Thank you, do post your comments.

Curd rice (or) daddojanam

This is my 100th post :)

Curd rice is a very popular south India dish and is truly a comfort food. It tastes great with pickle or chutney or dal's. Curd rice is also called as Dahi Chawal (Hindi), Thair Sadam (Tamil), Mosaranna (Kannada), Dahi Bhaath (Marathi) and Daddojanam (Telugu). It is most popular dish in south india.

In most of the homes of south India, it is standard to eat curd rice at the end of lunch or dinner that helps ease the effects of the notoriously spicy main dishes. They cannot do without at least a spoonful of curd rice at the end of each meal. 

The curd rice has enormous nutritional and health benefits. It helps improve the digestive system, strengthens the immune system, and helps to cope with stomach problems. It also helps to get strong bones and teeth as its calcium content is high. Coping with high level of cholesterol becomes easier with the help of curd.

Preparation time : 15 mins

Serves : 2

Ingredients :

Cooked rice : 2cups

(Generally rice : water= 1:2 but for this cook rice with i.e 1:3 = rice : water) 

Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp

Urad dal : 1/2 tsp

Jeera (or) Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp

Green chili's : 3

Red chili's : 4

Ghee : 2 tsp

Curd (or) Yogurt : 2 cups

Fresh coriander leaves : 5 springs

Curry leaves : 10

Hing : pinch

Cashew nuts : 10

Ginger : 1" piece

Salt : to taste

Method :

Take a pan heat it.

Add mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds, red chili saute them till urad dal gets nice color.

Add hing, minced ginger and cashew nuts.

Switch off the flame.

Add curry leaves.

Keep it aside to cool down a bit.

Now take a bowl, add rice, curd, chopped green chili, freshly chopped coriander leaves and salt.

(When i cooked rice, i cooked it in the old method(not using pressure cooker), that is boiling rice and water together so that we get 'Ganji', i mixed 1cup of ganji also in my curd rice and it tasted really really good)

Mix it well.

Add prepared seasoning and mix it once again.

Your curd rice is ready to eat.

In some areas curd rice is served with seasoning, some times grapes and seeds of fresh pomegranate are added to make appear appealing and enhance the taste. This can be topped with Boondi and served chilled or you can also include grated carrot. Some chopped onion, cucumber, kissmiss (dried grapes) can also be added to curd rice.To make delicious curd rice, use fresh natural curd (or) yogurt. You may also add some fresh cream or sour cream to it to make it truly yummy.

Enjoy your dish.

Thank you, do post your comments.

Bread rolls - 1

This is a healthy snack item and tastes awesome.

It is roasted and not deep fried in oil , so it is less in calories.

I used paneer , you can even use scrambled egg for this one.

Preparation time : 20 mins
Serves : 2

Ingredients :

Bread slices : 6
Paneer : 1 cup
Onion : 1 (or) 1/2 finely chopped
Red chili powder : 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder : 1/4 tsp
Garam masala : 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste : 1/2 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves : 10 springs
Tomato sauce (or) tomato ketchup : 1 tbsp
Butter : 2 tbsp
Salt : to taste

Method :

Take a bowl, Add crumbled paneer ,chopped onion, red chili powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, salt and mix it good.
Now add Ginger garlic paste , tomato sauce, freshly chopped coriender and mix again. keep aside.
Take bread slices, Remove edges of the bread.
(use regular white bread).
Now roll out each bread with rolling pin as thin as you can.
Some breads can be rolled out easily but some breads will break while you are rolling, so for those breads which are breaking you should not roll them, Take water in plate, put bread slice , immediately turn around , take it out and squeeze the liquid by pressing between your arms, then you will have thin bread slice.
Now keep that prepared paneer mixture at one end of bread slice length wise and roll it care fully.
seal the edges with water.
(If you are using dry breads then you can seal them with maida and water mixture)
Roll all the bread slices.
If you are making them with dry bread slices then wrap up these tightly rolled bread slices in a damp kitchen towel and set aside for 15 mins..
If you are making rolls with wet bread slices then you need to keep them in fridge for 15 mins.
Apply butter to rolls and roast them on tawa.
Cut them to half .
Lovely, mouth watering bread roll are ready to serve :)
Serve them hot and enjoy.
Thank you do post your comments ....

Rasmalai

Ras malai is one of the most popular Indian desserts. Originating from West Bengal.

Ras malai  comprises of sweet, cream to yellow-colored rounded dumplings of cottage cheese or ricotta cheese (called ‘paneer’ in India) soaked well in clotted cream called ‘Malai’ in Hindi). This clotted cream is nothing but sweetened, thickened milk delicately flavored with cardamom, pistachios, rosewater, and saffron. Ras malai is a Light, refreshing and truly delicious Indian dessert. It is often categorized as Milk sweet and a bit high on calorie side. It’s a very sumptuous dessert for the kids.

This is favourite sweet to my mother and to my grand mother :)

Makes : 12
Preparation time : 1hour approx

Ingredients :

For Rasgulla's :

Whole Milk : 4 cups
vinegar (or) lemon juice : 3 to 4 tbsp
Water : 3 cups
Sugar : 1 1/4 cup
cardamom powder : 1/2 tsp
ice cubes : 10

For malai (or) Rabdi :

Milk : 3 cups
Sugar : 3 tbsp
Sliced almonds and pista : 2 tbsp
Cardamom powder : 1/4 tsp

Method :

For Rasgulla's :
Take a pan and add milk.
When it started to boiling (bubbles should come) add vinegar or lemon juice till you can see clear water.
Once milk is curdled take it off the stove immediately, add ice cubes.
(To stop the process of curdling)
(If you don't have ice cubes, Strain it and wash it with cold running water)
after 3 mins strain the water , take the paneer and keep it in a cloth and hang it for 1/2 hour.
After 1/2 hour Squeeze out all the water from paneer.

Put it on a work surface and knead it well for 5 mins untill you get a nice and soft dough.

Make 12 small balls out of that dough.
(After you cook them they will double in size)

Slightly press these balls to flatten them.
Now take a cooker add 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of sugar to it.
Add cardamom powder also.
Once it started boiling add in these small paneer pieces.
(you don't want any sugar syrup consistency and if you don't put these paneer balls in hot boiling water they will break open)
Pressure cook them for 2 or 3 whistles.
Take it off the stove, Let them cool down a bit so that you can handle them with your hand.
Take those paneer pieces out and gently press them or squeeze them little bit with your hand so that the water from them will come out.

Now make Malai :

For Malai or Rabdi :

Take a pan add milk, let it boil.
Milk should be reduced to half, stir it continuously.
It will take around 20 mins.
Add sugar and cardamom powder.
Add these paneer pieces, and let it boil for one min, so that they will absorb milk.
Take them to bowl and garnish with almonds and pista's.

Then keep them in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
They should be served chilled.
Rasmalai when you eat , it will melt in your mouth.

Dal makhani

Dal makhani is one of Punjabi cuisine's most characteristic signature dishes, and is high in protein. Traditionally, this dal is cooked on low flame, for hours, on charcoal, which gives it a rich, creamy texture and enhances the flavours of the dish. Dal makhani is prepared with lentils and beans combined with cream (malai) or fresh butter. Makhani means cream or butter. When cooked at home, more moderate amounts of cream or ghee are often used.

     

Dal makhani is a treasured staple food from the cuisine of Punjab, North India. Apart from Punjab, Dal Makhani is popular all over the world because of its richness in taste and nutrition.

Preparation time : one hour
Serves : 2

Ingredients :

Whole urad dal with skin : 1/2 cup
Kidney beans (or) Rajma : 2 tbsp
Chana dal : 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
Whole spices :
Cardamom : 2
Cloves : 2
Cinnamon : 2"piece
Bay leaf : 1
Ginger garlic paste : 1 tsp
Tomato : one large
Butter : 2 tbsp
Red chili powder : 1 tsp
Coriander powder : 1tsp
Kasoor methi : 1/2 tsp
Cream : 1/4 cup
Salt : to taste
Coriander leaves :  one spring

(Urad dal : kidney beans : chanadal = 1 : 1/4 : 1/4 and urad dal : butter : cream = 1 : 1/4 : 1 )
(If every thing is in cups then you need 5 to 6 tomatoes)

Method :

Soak dal's for one hour.
(I used split urad dal with skin so i got that color, if you use whole urad dal with skin you will get even darker color!!! )
(If you are preparing in hurry, then you no need to soak dal's but you should cook them for more whistles.)
Pressure cook dals till they are really well cooked and mashed up.
We will use water from dal in cooking later.
Make tomato into puree and keep it aside.
Take a pan , heat it, add 1tbsp of oil, when it is hot add cumin seeds, when they splutter add whole spices - cinnamon, cardamom, clove and bay leaf , saute them a bit.
Add ginger, garlic paste and turmeric.
Add tomato puree, cook for 5 mins, when it comes to boil add chili powder, coriander powder, and salt.
Cover it with lid, cook it for 5 mins.
Add butter, cook it for 5 mins.
Add water from dal and bring it to a nice boil.
Add cooked dal into this mixture, mix it good.
Add kasoor methi powder mix it well.
Put the flame in low, cover and cook for 30mins, stirring for every 5 mins.
After 30 to 40 mins add cream , mix it cover and cook for 5 mins.
If you want you can sprinkle pinch of garam masala powder on top.
Garnish it with freshly chopped coriander leaves.
Yummy Yummy Dal makhani is ready to serve.
Serve it hot with rice or roti.
(You should serve this hot.)

As this dish is rich in proteins and fiber, it would also be the healthiest meal at your home too. Rajma and whole urad provide protein and calcium which are extremely important for maintenance of your body cells and healthy bones. Cooking the dal in tomato puree adds a little sharpness to this dish and also enriches it with folic acid and vitamin A.

Thank you, do post your comments :)

Prawn curry

Preparation time : 20 mins
Serves : 2

Ingredients :

Prawns : 150 grms
Onion : 1
Tomato : 2
Green chili's : 2
Ginger garlic paste : 1 tsp
Coriander powder : 1 tsp
Cumin powder : 1/2 tsp
Chili powder : 1 tsp
Garam masala : 1/2 tsp (or) you can even use paste of whole spices
Tamarind paste : 2 tsp (optional)
Coconut paste : 2 tsp
Cumin seeds : 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves : 1 spring

Method :


Take a pan, add 2 tsp of oil,add cumin seeds.
Add finely chopped onions.
Fry till they are golden brown , add ginger garlic paste,finely chopped green chili, saute them a bit.
Add finely chopped tomatoes.
Add coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, chili powder and garam masala powder.
Fry till oil oozes out.
Add prawns, salt, cover and cook for 5 mins.
Take the lid off.
Add in tamarind paste and coconut paste mix well.
Cook till prawns kind off shrink a little bit.
Garnish with freshly chopped coriander.
Serve hot with rice or roti.

Tomato bagara

For this curry the main ingredient is Tomato, that we commonly use it as one of the ingredients for other dishes .... You can use normal tomatoes but i like to use cherry tomatoes for this recipe. This curry taste really good and goes very well with paratha's.

Preparation time :
Serves : 2

Ingredients :

Onions : 1
Very Small tomatoes : 10
Tamarind : small size (or) Tamarind pulp : 2 tbsp
Salt : to taste
Chili powder : to taste
Turmeric powder : pinch
Roasted peanuts : 3 tbsp
Grated coconut : 3 tbsp
Dry red chili : 3
Coriander leaves : 1 spring
For seasoning :
Urad dal : 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds : 1/4 tsp
Jeera (or) cumin seeds : 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves : 10

Method :

Make a paste out of roasted peanuts, grated coconut, red chili and salt.
Keep it side.
For this curry you need very small tomatoes, i.e tomatoes as size of goose berry kind off .
Wash them , take a fork and make a mark with the fork on each tomato,i.e piercing the tomato. If you do so tomato flavour goes to curry and tomato gets the flavour of gravy.
Take a pan heat it, add ingredients listed for seasoning.
Add finely chopped onions and fry them till they are golden brown in color.
Add the paste that we already prepared.
Add tamarind juice, salt, chili powder, turmeric.
Let it boil.
Add water and make it to the consistency you like.
Add tomatoes.
Let it cook for 5 mins.
Switch off the flame.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve it with roti.

Thank you, do post your comments.

Left over chapati sweet

This is a nice sweet prepared with left over chapati's.

Today, i don't feel like drinking milk nor eating like cereals, so i searched my kitchen and i have a left over chapati , so i prepared this....

This tastes good..... and you can have this as break fast , as snacks or even as dessert :)

Preparation time : 15 mins
Serves : 1

Ingredients :

Chapati : 1
Milk : 1 cup
Sugar : 2 tsp
Cardamom powder : 1/2 tsp

Method :

Take a pan heat it.
Add milk , let it boil for 5 mins.
Cut chapati into small pieces and add these pieces to boiling milk.
Let it to boil for 5 to 10 mins.
Switch off the flame, add cardamom powder.
Serve it hot :)
Enjoy your dish........
Thank you, do post your comments.

Ridge gourd curry - 2

Preparation time : 20 mins
Serves : 2

Ingredients :

Ridge gourd : 2
Grated Coconut : 2 tbsp
Coriander powder : 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder : 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
For seasoning :
Urad dal : 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves  : 10
Green chili's (or) red chili's : 2

Method :

Heat a pan , add 1 tsp of oil.
Add ingredients listed in seasoning one by one , saute them till they are brown.
Add in roughly peeled and chopped ridge gourd , salt , and cook it till ridge gourd becomes soft.
Add Coriander powder, Cumin powder, grated coconut, mix it.
Serve it with rice or roti.

vusirikaya pachadi (or) goose berry pickle

Vusirikaya (Telugu), aamla (Hindi), goose berry ( English ) is a fruit which is very high in vitamin c and good for health.

In traditional Indian medicine, dried and fresh fruits of the plant are used. All parts of the plant are used in various Ayurvedic /Unani medicine herbal preparations, including the fruit, seed, leaves, root, bark and flowers.To Ayurveda, aamla fruit is sour and astringent in taste, with sweet, bitter and pungent secondary tastes .

Particularly in South India, the fruit is pickled with salt, oil, and spices. Aamla is eaten raw or cooked into various dishes. In Andhra pradesh, tender varieties are used to prepare dal (a lentil preparation), and amle ka murabbah, a sweet dish indigenous to the northern part of India (wherein the berries are soaked in sugar syrup for a long time till they are imparted the sweet flavor); it is traditionally consumed after meals.

Preparation time : 3 days + 30 mins

Serves : 8 to 10

Ingredients :

Indian Goose berry (or) Usirikayalu : 8 big (250 grms)

Fenugreek seeds (or) methi seeds : 2 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds :  21/2 tsp

Hing (or) Asfotida : 1/2 tsp

Turmeric : 1/2 tsp

Salt : 2tbsp (or) to taste

Green chili's : 12

Dry red chili's : 12

Oil : 1/4 cup

Method :

Take goose berries, wash them and dry them thoroughly.

(If they are wet, then the pickle will not stay for long)

Cut goose berries to remove seeds.
Cut them into small pieces.

Take a blender, add these chopped pieces , turmeric and grind it with out any water , to get finely grated gooseberry.
Take it out , add salt, mix it with hand nicely.
Take blended gooseberry to a glass jar and set aside for 3 days.

After 3 days,
Take a pan, heat it , add oil, Add methi seeds fry them a bit.
Add mustard seeds , wait for mustard seed to splutter.
Add cut green chili's and saute them till they change in colour.
Add dry red chili and saute them, add hing, turn off the flame.
Let these cool down, take them out from oil into a blender and grind them to a fine powder.
(keep that oil aside for later use)
Mix this seasoning into that goose berry paste.
And add that left over oil now.
Mix everything good.
Store this in an air tight container.

This will stay fresh for long.i.e. 10 to 15 days (keep refrigerated for more shelf life)
Enjoy your dish.
Thank you , do post your comments :)

Wood appple dessert (or) Velaga pandu pachadi

This is one of my favourites, usually my grand ma prepares this after Ganesha chaturdhi.

Wood apple is also called as elephant-apple , monkey fruit, and curd fruit.

It has a very hard rind which can be difficult to crack open, and contains sticky brown pulp and small white seeds.

This fruit is eaten by elephants, with out even breaking the shell. This is what we studied in our school... 

            Siri da vaccina vaccunu

            Sarasambagu narikela jalamula bhangin,

            Siri da boyina bovunu

            Kari mingina velagapandu kramamuna Sumati!

One of the poems from sumati satakam :)

The fruit is eaten plain, mixed into a variety of beverages and desserts, or preserved as jam. The scooped out pulp from its fruits is eaten raw with or without sugar, or is blended with coconut milk and palm - sugar syrup and drunk as a beverage, or frozen as an ice cream. It is also used in chutneys and for making jelly and jam.

Indonesians beat the pulp of the ripe fruit with palm sugar and eat the mixture at breakfast. Indians eat the pulp of the ripe fruit with sugar or jaggery.The raw pulp is mixed with yogurt and made into raita. The raw pulp is sour

in taste, while the ripe pulp would be having a smell and taste that is a mixture of sourness and sweet.

The ripe fruit is rich in beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A; it also contains significant quantities of the B vitamins thiamine and riboflavin, and small amounts of Vitamin C.

This is very useful fruit for diabetic disease. In addition it is widely used as a good herbal remedy for an upset stomach.

Method: The wood apple is first broken, the inside part is taken in a bowl and smashed by hand while adding some water in several doses. Then the seeds are squeezed to extract as much juice as possible and then separated by hand from the juice. The juice (Similar color as Mango or Papaya Juice) is then taken with or without sugar.

The ripe fruit is rich in beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A; it also contains significant quantities of the B vitamins thiamine and riboflavin, and small amounts of Vitamin C.

Preparation time : 5 mins
Serve : 2

Ingredients :

Wood apple (or) velaga pandu : 1
Sugar : 1/2 cup
Milk : 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup

Method :

Take wood apple and break it.

Scoop out the flush into blender.

Blend it to a smooth paste by adding milk and sugar.

Refrigerate it before serving.

Enjoy your dessert :)

Thank you, do post your comments.

Chana dal chutney

This delicious chutney (or) pachadi is prepared with chana dal and it is a great combination with hot rice.

My mom used to make small dumplings with left over chutney. We used to wait for that left over chutney , because we love to eat those dumplings :)

I am sure you will also like this for sure ........ so give it a try once :)

It is called as chenaga pappu pachadi in Telugu.

Preparation time : 15 mins
Serves : 2 to 4

Ingredients :

Chana dal : 1/2 cup
Jeera (or) cumin seeds : 1/8 tsp (or) 2 pinches
Red chili's : 5 (or) to taste
Salt : to taste

Method :

Take a pan and dry roast chana dal, red chili and jeera.
You should roast chana dal till you get nice aroma and it is slightly color changing.
(First time when i did this i roasted till it is brown color and i added tsp of jeera , then the result --- chutney is not at all good)
Let it cool down to room temperature.
Take a blender, add roasted ingredients , salt and Grind it to a smooth paste by adding little bit water at a time.(It should be very thick paste , so don't add much water)
Take it into a bowl .
Serve it with hot rice.

Now comes Favourate of my brother's and mine
Making of dumplings with left over chutney.....
We call these dumplings as " pachadi billalu ".
Heat oil in a pan, enough to deep fry.
Take that chutney little bit and drop it in oil when oil is ready.
Fry them till they are done.(It will take about 3 to 5 mins)
Serve them.
These dumplings goes well with curd rice.

(Very small dumplings , may be i took pic very near so that they are looking big i think, they are pretty small in general)

Enjoy your dish :)
Thank you , do post your comments :)