• Basmati Rice 2 cups, soaked for about 10 minutes, washed and drained• Chopped onions 2 medium size• Crushed Garlic 6 cloves• Ginger 1″ length chopped• Mint leaves 2 cups• Ghee 2 tbs• Cinnamon 1″ length• Cloves 4 buds• Green cardamom 4 nos• Pipli(long pepper) 2 nos• Dried chilli 3 nos• Mace 1/2 flower• Aniseed 1/2 tsp• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp• Coriander powder 1/2 tsp• Salt to taste.
Heat a pressure cooker over medium flame. Pour in the gheeAdd now the whole spices and saute for about 2 minutes. Add chopped onions, garlic and ginger. Saute well till the onion water content is reduced and the raw smell is diminished. Add now turmeric powder, coriander powder and stir and saute for a minute. Add the Rice and mix well. Cook for about 2 minutes so that the Rice grains get mixed with all masala and flavor get infused. Add 4 cups of water and mix thoroughly. Now add the mint leaves, required salt and mix well. Cook for about 6 minutes or wait for 2 whistle duration. Put off the flame and allow to cool. Once the entire pressure is released, open and mix gently from sides. Serve pudina rice along with raitha Happy cooking!
Wash Chow Chow and drain. Cut in two halves vertically. Scoop out the meat 1/4 ” away from the rind. Clean the cavity perfectly so that the cooking will be evenly. Par boil chayote in salt water and leave it to dry. Heat a saucepan under medium flame. Pour in the butter. Once the butter starts melting, add chopped onion,garlic and saute for about 3 minutes. Add on the green peas, mushroom and the bell pepper.
Saute for 2 minutes and add black pepper powder, salt and toss wellOnce the mushroom is done, add in cooked rice and ricotta cheese and stir well. Add chopped celery and oregano. Check for salt. Now time to stuff Chow Chow. Fill the cavities with risotto and bake at 180° for 30 minutes. Here I have used a twin Chow Chow which is indeed unique. Happy cooking!
• Chicken Nugge Salami 250 gms• Bell peppers (RGY) • AP Flour (maida) 1tbs• Butter 1tbs• Virgin Olive oil 1tbs• Chicken stock*1 cup• Oregano dried 1/2 tsp• Black pepper crushed 1/2 tsp• Salt to taste.
* Chicken boullion cube – optional Heat a skillet on medium flame. Add the butter and once it’s melted, add flour and saute till it’s cooked. Add now the stock and seasong. Stir well and cook for about 2 minutes. Add Bell peppers and oregano.Mix well, cover the skillet and cook for another 3 minutes. The Bell peppers should be semi cooked and should retain its crunchiness. Slice Chicken Nugge salami and place on top of plated Bell pepper. Serve Mashed potatoes or Jacket potato along with. You may also serve steamed rice. Happy Cooking!
Pav Bhaji, its a very popular dish originated in the State of Maharashtra in India.
It’s considered as a street food, but it’s not exactly the same. You may find Pav Bhaji namr in certain popular restaurants as well as luxury hotels menu too.
Now lets define Pav & Bhaji. Pav is a common name for bread roll and it may have slight variations in its size and shape. That doesn’t matter at all. Bhaji word literally translate to vegetable curry and since Pav & Bhaji being served together, the combination is known as Pav Bhaji. It’s a complete meal, highly rich in butter, and finger licking masala along with select mixed vegetables makes it drooling. As this dish is so popular across the country Pav Bhaji masala is available at all grocery shop. However, I make bhaji masala on my own, to make the dish amazingly delicious.
Ingredients required for Bhaji.
• Potatoes medium sized 4 nos. Peeled and washed. • Green peas 1/4 cup• Carrots. Peeled and diced 1/4 cup• Chopped onions 2 medium sized• Ginger paste 1/2 tsp• Garlic paste 1/2 tsp• Tomatoes chopped 1/2 cup• Green chili 4 nos chopped• Bell peppers finely chopped 1/4 cup• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp• Cooking oil 1 tbs• Butter 4 tbs• Coriander leaves 1 sprig• Lemon Juice 1 tsp
Ingredients for Bhaji masala:
• Kashmiri dry chili 6 nos• Regular Dried red chilly 4 nos• Coriander seeds 1tbs• Cumin seeds 1/4 tsp• Aniseed 1/4 tsp• Cinnamon 2″ length• Green cardamom 4 nos• Black peppercorn 1/4 tsp• Cloves 4 buds• Dried Mango powder(Amchur) 1tsp • Bread Rolls 6 nos• Butter as required On a slow flame, dry roast all above whole spices until the spices release it’s aroma and you hear cracking sound. Add now the dried mango powder and grind to fine powder. Now in a pressure pan, cook potatoes, green peas and carrots for about 5 minutes. Once pressure is released, drain the vegetables and keep aside. Do not discard the water from the vegetables. Take a skillet, heat on medium flame. Once heated, pour oil. Add chopped onion and saute till it’s light brown. Add ginger, garlic paste and saute till it’s raw smell is subdued. Pour a spoonful of butter and grinded bhaji masala, turmeric powder and keep stirring for a minute. Add chopped tomatoes and saute till it turns soft and cooked. Add on the boiled vegetables and keep mashing it by using a hard wooden spatula or a potato masher. Add now finely chopped Bell peppers. Add required salt and add the preserved water according to the consistency required. Cover the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes. Mash the entire bhaji to a smooth coarse,silky texture, add on the butter, lemon juice and cook for another 3 minutes. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves, Cut the bread rolls in half, apply butter and toast it on a griddle. Serve Hot Pav & Bhaji with chopped onions and lemon wedge as accompaniment. Happy Cooking!
Idly, an ideal breakfast dish, liked by all. Even it’s popular in other countries too as it’s light,tummy friendly, no fats or cholesterol. Idly is steamed savory cake made out of fermented rice and lentils batter.
As people turning out more health conscious, it’s obvious to look out for alternatives, thus I’m trying to prepare Idly with Foxtail millet as substitute for rice. Its very delicious and easy to make breakfast.
Idly batter:
Wash 2 cups of Thinai two to three times and soak it overnight. Avoid washing thina for several times as it tends to loose vital nutrients and vitamins. The water in which it was soaked can be used while grinding. In an another container, soak 2 cup of Urid dal for about 4 to 5 hours. Soak 1/4 cup of beaten rice/poha half an hour before grinding. Grind dal and poha together in a mixer to a smooth paste. Similarly, grind thinai (foxtail millet) to smooth paste and mix both batter together and leave it to ferment for about 8 to 10 hrs. Add required salt and check for batter consistency. Ensure its not too thick or liquid. The batter consistency should be slow dripping. Heat idly steamer with 2 cups of water over low flame. Grease the idly moulds. Fill all moulds and steam cook for about 6 to 8 minutes. Put off the flame and let the steam settle and cool. Serve thinai Idly along with Sambar & Chutney.
Banana stem is rich in potassium and vitamins. It’s rich in fibre which helps in weight loss.We can use it for preparing various dishes such as Poriyal,Pachadi,Kootu,Cutlets, along with other vegetables in making mixed vegetable curry etc.
Ingredients:
• Banana Stem 10″ length, finely diced, rub with rock salt, turmeric powder and squeeze out the water content. • Channa dal or Moong dal 1 cup• Grated coconut 1/2 cup• Green chilly 3 nos• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp• Cumin seeds 1 tsp• Garlic 4 cloves• Mustard seed 1/2 tsp• Red chilly whole cut in halves 2 nos• Cooking oil 1 tbs• Curry leaves 1 sprig.
Grind grated coconut, green chili, garlic and cumin to a coarse paste.
Heat cooking pot on a medium flame. Pour in 2 cups of water and let to boil. Add in the washed dal and banana stem. Add turmeric powder. Cover with lid and cook for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally. Add the grinded paste, required salt and mix well.(We have used salt to clean the stem.Therefore adding further salt should be after checking the gravy.) Cook for about 3 minutes. Once it’s cooked, remove from stove and let’s prepare the tempering. Heat a pan over medium flame. Pour oil and wait to get it heated. Add mustard seed, dry chilly and curry leaves. Once mustard starts sputtering, switch off the flame, and pour the tempering to cooked banana stem and dal. Stir well. Happy Cooking!
Millets are traditional,oldest tiny grains known to humans as food. Its Gluten free, rich in fiber and proteins. I have been using varieties of millets since few years and developed few unique recipes. Millets are also known as poor mans food. Today I’m going to prepare a dish made out of Foxtail millet. In tamil it’s called ‘Thinai’. Since millets are husky these tiny grains need to be soaked in water for more than 6 to 8 hours which makes them easily digestible.
Ingredients required:
• Thinai (Foxtail millet) 250 gmsSoaked overnight, washed and drained. • Moong dal 125 gms, washed and drained. • Black pepper whole 1tsp ( or crushed pepper) • Cumin seeds 1 tsp• Ginger- julienne cut 2″ length• Broken Cashew nuts 1tbs• Ghee 2 tbs• Curry leaves 1sprig• Salt to taste.
Method: Heat pressure cooker on a medium flame. Pour ghee and once it’s hot, add pepper, ginger, cumin and curry leaves. Once it’s lightly fried, add the cashew and saute for a minute or two. Now add the rice and dal. Mix well and keep stirring so that the grains gets mixed well in ghee and other ingredients. Pour 4 cups of hot, boiled water. Add required salt,mix well and cook for about 6 minutes or till you hear two whistle sound and remove from stove. Wait till the pressure is released. Serve pongal hot along with Coconut chutney & sambar. Garnish with ginger julienne. Happy Cooking!
A one pot South Indian rice preparation. It’s very simple to make and it’s usually served along with raitha.
Ingredients:
• Basmati Rice 300 gms Washed and soaked for about 30 minutes. • Tomato Chopped 6 medium size• Chopped onion 3 medium-sized• Green Chilly 4 nos• Ginger 2 ” length• Garlic cloves 6 nos• Cinnamon 2″ length• Star anise 2 nos• Green cardamom 3 nos• Bay leaf 1 no• Aniseed 1/2 tsp• Mace 1 no• Coriander powder 1tsp• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp• Cooking oil 1 tbs• Ghee (clarified butter) 1 tbs• Mint leaves 1 sprig• Coriander leaves 1 sprig.
Grind ginger, garlic,green chili, coriander leaves and mint leaves to a smooth paste. Heat a pressure cooker on medium flame. Once heated, pour the oil and ghee. Add the whole spices and saute for a minute. Add the chopped onion and saute till it’s light brown. Add coriander powder and turmeric powder and mix well. Now add the chopped tomatoes and saute for about 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir well. Cook for about 2 minutes and time to add the water. Pour in 3 cups of water ( water should be double the quantity of Rice). Add seasoning as per requirement. Steam cook for about 6 minutes (switch off the flame after hearing 2 whistle sound) Serve tomato rice with raitha or yoghurt. Even Appalam can be served as an accompaniment.
I have added few garlic cloves extra while sauteing the onion for extra flavor. It’s purely personal.
Authentic Gilafi kebab is made with mince meat, however it’s also made with chicken. Gilaf’ name originated due to the covering of kebab. (Gilaf means covering) Marinated chicken mince skewered in cylindrical shape and given a covering with finely chopped vegetables and cooked on charcoal fire. Ingredients required:
• Minced chicken 300 gms• Ginger paste 1 tsp• Garlic paste 1 tsp• Black pepper powder 1/2 tsp• Garam masala* 1 tsp• Chat masala 1/2 tsp• Fresh cream 1 tbs• Lemon juice – half lemon• Salt as required.
# Ensure that the chicken mince is finely done as there won’t be any usage of binders such as egg, cornstarch or breadcrumbs. Therefore the mince has to be precisely fine.
Kebab Mix. Take a mixing bowl, add chicken mince all other ingredients. Mix well to get a smooth paste and keep it refrigerated for about 30 minutes.
Gilaf preparation.
Take Bell peppers – Red, Yellow and Green. Chop them finely and spread it on a baking tray. Take the chicken mince, wet your hands and take kebab mix, the size of an orange and roll it to cylindrical shape to a length of 6″.Ensure the shape is perfect without tapering. Now place the kebab on to the Gilaf ( the chopped bell peppers) and roll it over the chopped bell peppers to get a good covering of it on to the kebab. Place it aside and prepare the remaining kebabs accordingly. Pre heat a griddle pan, pour little oil, and place the kebab gently in it. You may hear sizzling sound. Cook for about 2 minutes. Please note that never try to turn the kebab at this moment as it’s still soft also, the covering may start falling.Wait for the bottom of the kebab to get slightly cooked. Gently turn the kebab using a tong and cook under medium flame. Keep turning the kebab all sides and cook for about 10 minutes. Once you find that kebab got golden brown color we can remove from flame. Apply Ghee(clarified butter) or Salted butter for extra flavor. Serve gilafi kebab with a splash of lemon juice over it and a sprinkle of Chat masala. * Gilafi Kebab would be much more delicious, if you use Nihari masala instead of Garam masala. Happy Cooking!
A dessert created out of a delicate combination of cheese, cream and honey perfected out with saffron Tuile and garnished with pistachio, saffron strands and rose petals.
Boil the milk, add sugar and stir till sugar is dissolved. Add cheese and keep stirring till its completely melted. Keep boiling the mixture so as to get it start reducing. Add honey, Cream and mix well. Remove from flame and allow to cool. Once it’s cooled, refrigerate for about 2 hours.
Preparing Saffron Tuile Ingredients required: • Water 3 ounce• Cooking oil 11/2 ounce• All purpose flour 1/4 ounce• Saffron 1 pinch Boil the water with saffron strands and allow to cool. Add flour, oil and mix it well. Ensure there is no lumps. Strain it through a fine sieve. Pre heat a non stick pan over medium flame. Pour 1/4 cup of tuile mixture and swirl until it spreads entire pan edges. You many observe that it starts splattering and bubbles start forming. Cook till the bubble subside and the edges getting hardened.Turn off the flame and allow it to cool. Portion out the fondue in dessert bowl or any desired plate. Garnish with saffron tuile, chopped pistachio, rose petals and saffron strands. Try it out it’s yummy.
All about Food 