Meal Maker Curry / Soya Bean Curry

Ingredients:

Soaked Soya Chunks : Soak them for at least 30 minutes before cooking

Chopped Onion - 2
Finely Diced Tomato's - 4 Roma

Finely Chopped Spinach - 1 Bunch
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Kasoori Methi Powder - 1 tbsp
Olive Oil - 7 tbsp

Cinnamon Stick - 1/4
Crushed Cardamom Cloves - 2
Cilantro - 1 Bunch to garnish
Red Chili Powder- 1 tbsp
Kitchen King Masala - 1 tbsp

Whole Milk - 1/4 Cup

Procedure:

• Add crushed cardamom cloves and cinnamon stick in a skillet with 5 tbsp Olive oil.


• Add onions to the skillet and allow them to cook until transparent in color add a pinch of salt and turmeric.


• Add ginger garlic paste and saute the onions until they are light golden brown.


• Add finely diced tomatoes and saute them until the tomato's are finely cooked.


• Add chopped spinach and allow then to cook, add red chili powder, add kitchen king masala.


• Allow the onions and tomato-spinach to cook for some time add whole milk.


• Puree the mixture.


• Add the soaked soya chunks to the puree and allow then to cook.


• Pressure cook the whole curry (optional)


• Add crushed dried kassori methi powder.


• Garnish it with Cilantro and grated butter.

Paneer Butter Masala

Ingredients:

Chopped Onion - 2

Finely Diced Tomato's-6 Roma

Cashew Powder -1 tbsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Kasoori Methi Powder - 1 tbsp

Chopped Red and green Pepper - 2

Olive Oil - 7 tbsp

Unsalted Butter - 1/2 Cup

Cinnamon Stick - 1/4

Crushed Cardamom Cloves - 2

Whipping cream - 5 tbsp

Cilantro - 1 Bunch to garnish

Red Chili Powder- 1 tbsp

Shahi Paneer Masala - A pinch (To taste)

Kitchen King Masala - A pinch (To taste)

Home made Paneer - (See the previous blog posting for this)

Procedure:

• Add crushed cardamom cloves and cinnamon stick in a skillet with 5 tbsp Olive oil.


• Add onions to the skillet and allow them to cook until transparent in color add a pinch of salt and turmeric.


• Add ginger garlic paste and saute the onions until they are light golden brown.


• Add finely diced tomatoes and saute them until the tomato's are finely cooked, add red chili powder, shahi paneer masala and Kitchen king masala.


• Add whipping cream and allow the tomatoes to cook.


• Meanwhile microwave the diced red and green peppers until cooked partially.


• Add some unsalted butter to a skillet and fry the fresh home made paneer.


• Add the cashew powder to the onions and tomato's, puree half the quantity and leave the rest as is.


• Add the fried paneer and the microwaved pepper to the onion tomato puree, add the rest of the butter and allow then to cook.
• Pressure cook the whole curry (optional)


• Add crushed dried kassori methi powder.


• Garnish it with Cilantro and grated butter.

Tips for tasty Paneer Butter Masala:

• Take the whole curry and pressure cook it for about 5 minutes without a whistle, a nice red layer of butter and chili powder is formed on the top.


• By adding cashew powder and whipping cream, richness is added to the curry


• Add a pinch of sugar while you fry the onions to caramelize it for a better taste


• In order to retain the red color fry the Onions and tomato's and then puree them instead of using pured Onions and tomato's, this will help retain reddish orange color to the curry.

Spinach Mushroom Lasagna

Ingredients:

Chopped Spinach - 1 bunch

Sliced Mushroom -5 ounce

Lasagna Noodle - 10 ounce

Ricotta Cheese

Chopped Onion - 1

Chopped tomatoes - 4

Minced garlic - 1tbsp

Dried Oregano - 1tbsp

Fresh Parsley - 1/2 a bunch

Fresh Basil leaves - 1/2 a bunch

Olive Oil - 4 tbsp

Grated Parmesan Cheese - 1 cup

Salt- To taste

Procedure:

Cooking the pasta Sheets:

• Cook the lasagna noodle in a large pot, slightly salted.


• Each lasagna noodle has a particular cooking time check the carton for instructions. (I cooked mine for about 12 minutes).


• Rinse the pasta sheets with cool water and set them aside.

Stuffing:

• Add 4 tbsp of Oil and add the minced garlic.


• Add dried oregano leaves, basil leaves and parsley leaves, chopped onion.


• Allow the onions to cook until transparent add mushroom and the chopped tomatoes and allow them to cook until you see a layer of oil on the top.


• Microwave the spinach with a (open lid- so as to retain the fresh green color).


• Drain excess water from the spinach, this is a very important step which will help make the lasagna stand else it ends up being very soggy.


• Add ricotta cheese to the cooked spinach and mix it well, add a pinch of salt to taste.


• Meanwhile pre heat the oven to 375F


• Spread a layer of tomato puree that is cooked in order to avoid the pasta sheet sticking to the bottom


• Spread a layer of pasta sheet in an oven safe container


• Spread the cottage cheese and spinach mixer


• Spread the tomato puree


• Repeat this process, depending on how many layers you would like.


• I generally have 3 pasta sheets one in the bottom one in the middle and one on top


• Add another layer of tomato puree on the top layer of the pasta and sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese.


• Bake it for 50 minutes and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Tips and tricks for a yummy Lasagna:

• Drain all the excess water from spinach, it will avoid lasagna from being soggy.


• Cook the pasta noodle for the right time mentioned on the carton to avoid mushy sheets.


• Allow it to cool down before you serve.


• Slice the mushrooms thicker this will help then to retain their shape rather than melting away with heat.
• Spread a layer of tomato puree before you start layering the pasta sheets in order to avoid the pasta sticking to the base of the container.

Ullipaya Pakodi / Onion Pakodi

Onion pakodi is my all time faaaaaaav, so it is for Abhi. I am so glad that most of our tastes match. I guess major reason begin we are born and brought up in Hyderabad. Anyways the first thing that comes to our mind on a gloomy rainy day is ONION PAKODI.

As soon as we were engaged my BIL asked me very seriously "Do you know how to cook ullipaya poakodi" ... I was like why is he asking me this out of all the dishes. I said I love it and its my fav he asked me can you make it? I was like my mom makes it very good and I love what my mom makes....Apparently its his fav too and he wanted to rag me by making me sit in the kitchen and cooking Pakodis while everyone is enjoying the nice weather. ( Dint happen until now...he is still waiting meanwhile I am practicing :) )


Ingredients:

Gram flour - 1 Cup
Rice flour - 1/4 Cup
Onions - 1 big Chopped longitudinally
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies- 3
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
Dhanya- Jeera Powder- 1tsp
Water - 1 tbsp
Oil- 1 tbsp

Procedure:

Take a big bowl add finely chopped Onions, green chillies, salt, dhanya-jeera powder, baking powder, add little oil and leave it for few minutes
Now rice flour and gram flour and sprinkle little water if necessary ( Don't add too much of water)
Pour Oil in a pan for frying the pakodi

Tips for great Pakodi : Fry them with patience at medium heat until golden brown in color

Gummadikaya Koora / Pumpkin Curry

Ingredients :

Onion - 1 big
Tomato's- 2 Roma
Pumpkin - 1 Small
Green Chillies- 4
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder - 3tbsp



Thandka:

Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Chandal - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1tsp
Curry leaves - 10
Hinge- A pinch
Oil - 3 tbsp
Red Mirchi - A few


Procedure:

• Finely Cut the Pumpkin into small pieces
• Steam cook them
• Add the thadka to a pan
• Add chopped onions to the same pan with thadka and cook them until they are transparent in color
• Add tomato's and cook them finely add some salt
• Add paprika, sugar
• Add the steam cooked pumpkin and allow them to cook for 10 minutes you will see a fine layer of oil on top and the curry is ready.

Best when served with : Rice/ Roti

Recipie comming Ragda Cutlet -- Comming Soon

Bread O Egg

This is one kind of breakfast you could prepare especially for kids who are fussy about eating the same thing every day. (example my very own hAbhi ).

• Toast the bread
• Cut a circle / any shape in the bread and pour the omelet solution in this hole
• Let it cook on a medium flame and close it with a lid on top
• Sprinkle pepper on top along with finely chopped cilantro leaves.
• You can use the circular portion to make french toast i.e Dip the circular bread in the egg solution and put it in the pan and toast it.

Chakra Banalu

Ingredients:

Maida / All purpose flour- 2 Cups
Bellam / Jaggery Powder - 1 Cup
Elachi Powder - A few cloves
Oil - To fry
Salt - A pinch



Procedure:

1. Make a dough of maida (add a pinch of salt and very little hot oil)
2. Flatten the dough and cut into pieces (Maida biscuits) as shown in picture
3. Fry the maida biscuits
4. Add bellam to a pan and little water and make pakam / syrup (add elachi powder here) as shown in picture
5. Add 3 to 4 and Chakra banalu are ready :)


Chitti Chitkalu / Tips :

-Fry the maida biscuits well, the crispy they are the yummier it is.

-How do know the bellam pakam (Jaggery syrup) is done: Take a steel plate with water add the pakam / syrup to it TEST: If it dissolves - Not done, if it forms a ball and you hear it fall on the steel plate(tung sound) -done

Homemade-Rasmalai

Ingredients:

Milk - 6 Cups for Malai / 6 Cups for Rabdi
Badam - 10
Pistachios - 10
Sugar - 2 Cups for Rabdi / 2 cups for pressure cooking the malai balls
Vinegar - 4 tbsp
Saffron
Cotton cloth / Cotton Cheese Cloth - You get this in walmart

Procedure:

How to curdle Milk?

Boil the milk in a huge container
When you see a bump in the milk ( palu poguthunapudu), simmer the flame and stir it with a ladle
Add vinegar to it
Within a few seconds you will observe the milk has curdled

Since we have used vinegar the curdled milk might have that odour. Take a cotton cheese cloth and transfer the curdled milk into this cloth allow cold tap water to run through for some time. Tie the edges of the cloth, let the water run from this cloth by running your fingers over it for a couple of time. Place a heavy weight on this for excess water to drain off.

Malai balls:

Kneed the curdled milk as soft as possible ( until oil oozes out onto your hands)
Make round balls and flatten them with your fingers
Pressure cook these balls in Sugar Syrup

Rabdi:

Boil milk until it reduces to half the quantity, constantly stir it so that it will not stick to the pan
Add sugar, grated badam, saffron, (whatever dry fruits that you like)

Rasmalai:

Once the rabdi is of good consistency add the malai balls to it and leave it in the burner for a few minutes so that the rabdi will sink in the malai balls.

Tips for curdling the Milk:

I love the malai ballas to be as soft as a sponge. For softer malai balls add ice cubes while curdling the milk.

When to add ice cubes? As soon as you are sure enough that the milk has curdled. How can you be sure? When you see a transparent liquid separating from milk. How many to add: As many as you have in a tray.

By adding ice cubes that will curb the milk from curdling further and forming hard lumps ( which is exactly what we want for making of paneer).

Semi- Home Made Cooking:

For all my friends who want a faster method. Try use ricotta cheese and pressure cook it in sugar syrup/ bake it in an oven in cupcake pans and add it to rabdi.

The Love Cake - Tiramisu

Want to know the easiest dessert ever possible? Tiramisu!! This is the fastest dish I ever made. No baking no cooking just assembling :). Anyone and everyone can make this Dish.

Ingredients:

Mascarpone cheese - 3 Cups
Heavy whipping Cream - 1 Pint
Confectioners Sugar - 5 tbsp
Cocoa - 4 tbsp
Espresso - 2 Cups
Lady Fingers- 2 Packs
Egg yellow- 3
Marsala Wine - 3 tbsp **Optional**
Coffee bean- To garnish

Procedure:


Preparation of the Cream:

• Whip the heaving cream in an electric mixture until it forms stiff peaks
• Add mascarpone cheese to it and whip it
• Add 5 tbsp sugar
• Beat the three egg yellows and place them on a double boiler and whisk as rigorously as possible or else you will end up eating scrambled eggs **For the double boiler I got a couple with the non stick set that we purchased if you don't have one just use 2 dishes with different sizes and also make sure the water is boiling before you place the dish with eggs**
• When the color changes from bright yellow to faint one its cooked
• Add this to the cream mixture and fold it in
• Add chocolate/vanilla essence /elachi powder

Espresso:

• I prepared espresso using the percolator / Use can also go the instant route
• Add Marsala wine (optional)

Assembly:

• Dip the ladyfingers in espresso and lay them in the container you want
• Add a layer of cream and top if with cocoa using a tea strainer
• Add another layer of dipped ladyfinger's and repeat the same i.e Add a layer of cream and top if with cocoa using a tea strainer
• Top it off with coffee beans for a perfect garnishing
• Set it in the fridge for at least an hour before you serve

Where to buy lady fingers / mascarpone cheese: Best place to buy ladyfingers would be in a bakery / Deli section (Safeway /Wholefoods), as its very fresh and tasty. You can substitute it with normal yellow cake / Cake rusk that you have it with tea

Mascarpone cheese - Try it in places like Wholefoods / Fry's / Sprouts. I have seen people make mascarpone cheese, if you are really keen about making everything from the scratch then you can try it that way but before you try that route, I suggest you should do it with store brought ones which gives you an inspiration to cook rather than disappointment that you can never cook good. This is more Semi-home made dessert but for people like my husband who prefer eating at home than outside. It works great!