Recipes

Recipes Tested and Tried from my Kitchen.The recipes will include appetizers, sweets, main dish, side dish,vegan recipes all around the world.

Goli baje/ Mangalore bhajji/ Goli bajje – A mangalorean spl

November 1, 2013 By

SNC Challenge -13

Hi my dear SNC group !!!Am so happy to complete the 14th challenge …As you all know there is an event going on +Divya Pramil space You Too Can Cook .. The event is all about two teams north and south team ..A member from north team and a member south team respectively will challenge the opposite team members with a recipe from their respective zone and opposite teams have to post the same recipe on their Blog .. this takes place every month .. The idea of this event is that we learn so many different recipes from different zones .. Hats off to divya for this great idea .. click here to partcipate

An update on whats going on till now in SNC challenge:

Challenge 1– October month’s challenge

North team Host shruti dhingra from ” shruti’s rasoi”- Bhel puri
South team Host divya from “Divya’s culinary journey “- Mysore pak

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 2– November month’s challenge

North team host Pallavi from “cook -eat- burrp” – Gulab jamun
South team host Yashodha from “yashodha’s kitchen” – Adhirasam

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 3– December month’s challenge

North team Host Meena from ” Random rambling ” – Misal pav
South team Host Sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” – Medu vada

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 4– Janurary month’s challenge
North team Host ” me ” (Manjula bharath) from “Desi fiesta” – Rajasthani mini ghevar topped with kesar rabdi
South team Host Ramya from ” Lemon Kurry” – Vada curry

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 5 – February month’s challenge

North team’s host Sanoli from Sanoli’s recipes- Green pea kachori with dum aloo
South teams’s host Tamil from Tamil’s kitchen- paal kozhukattai

Challenge 6 – March month’s challenge

North team’s host Kirti Choudhary Kardam from Flavour’s from my kitchen- Chana Dal Halwa/Barfi
click here
South team’s host Sawsthi from Indian healthy recipes – Vegetable Hyderbadi Biryani click here

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 7 – April Month’s challenge

North team’s host Hetal from Gjurati zaika- Khandvi click here

South team’s host Shama from Easy2cookrecipes – Palm jaggery aapam click here

Winner
South Team

Challenge 8 – May Month’s challenge

North team’s host Nabanita das from Esho-besho aahare – Dokar dalna .
South team’s host Roha from Hyderbadi cuisine – Kurbani ka meetha.

Winner
South Team

Challange 9- June Month’s challenge

North team’s host Chandrani Banerjee from cuisine delights – Channar jelebi
South team’s host Priya suresh from Priya’s verstile recipes 🙂

Winner
North Team

Challenge 10 – July Month’s challenge

North Team’s Host ” Me 🙂 ” – Rajasthani Thali

South Teams Host sowmya of Nivedhanam- Vendayakeerai Parupu Urundai Mor Kuzhambu

Challenge 11- August Month’s Challenge

North Team’s Host Divya pramil of You too can cook Indian food (Founder of SNC) – Pasiparrupu payasam
South Team’s Host Shruti dhingra of shruti’s Rasoi- Kesar pista kulfi

Challenge 12 – September Month’s challenge

North Team’s Host Viji of Viruthudhu unna vaanga – Ellu Kozhukattai
South Team’s Host Minnie Gupta of The lady 8 Home – Falooda

Challenge 13 – October Month – SNC 1 st b’day – celebration spl challenge

Challenge 14 – Nov month

North Team’s Host +Priya Suresh of Priya’s versatile recipe – Goli baje
South Team’s Host +Nupur UK-Rasoi of UK rasoi- Litti choka

After the celebration this Months North teams Host is My fav chef in blogging world +Priya Suresh of “Priya’s versatile recipes “. She had challenged a very very deliicous and esy to make tea time snack which was very very delicious. I have heard a friend tryin maida bhaji but this was the first time I tried it . They are so simple to make and I loved it a lot . Thanks to priya aks for sharing this delicious recipe .

The weather so pleasant and what better than a bowl full of hot bhajji’s to munch . These Goli baje are a famous mangalorean dish which can be served as a tea time snack.As we do medu vada in tamil nadu this similar to that bhaji but there is no soaking or grinding needed. A very simple and easy to make deep fried snack which is so delicious and a wonderful snack to munch in a rainy day.Lets Move on to the recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup All purpose flour/Maida
1/4 cup Gram flour/Besan/Chickpeas flour
1/2 cup Curd
1/4 cup Water
Few coriander leaves (chopped)
2 tbsp Coconut pieces
2 tbsp Chopped Onion
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 nos Green Chillies (finely chopped)
1/4 tsp Sugar ( Optional)
1/4 tsp Baking soda
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method

In a bowl take both the flours, add the curd, baking soda,salt and slowly whisk to form a thick paste.
Add water slowly and make a batter, batter should not be too thick or too runny.
If you are able to see the batter fall slowly from the ladle , your batter is prefect. It should be like a medu vada batter .
Cover it and keep it in a warm place overnight or keep it in a warm place for 1 hour.
Now add the chopped onion ,coriander leaves, ginger garlic paste, chopped green chillies,cumin seeds and mix well.
Now add the coconut pieces (don’t use grated coconut or dessicated coconut), mix well.
Heat oil for deep frying the goli baje, drop a tsp or if you like big bhajji you can add 1 tbsp of batter to the hot oil,continue the same process. Don’t overcrowd fry them in batches..
Fry on both sides until the bajjis turns golden brown.

Serve hot with coconut chutney or ketchup.

Tips

Originally there is no onion garlic added , you can skip if you don’t like. But it gives the baje a very delicious taste.

Sending to cooks joy

SNC turns 1 – Virtual party !!

November 1, 2013 By

Am so happy to celebrate this delightful journey of SNC till now has been so lovely . Thanks to +Divya Pramil of “You too can cook “ who is the brainchild of this group and very very kind hearted person . This is group is a very very close to my heart as this was the first group I joined when I was new to blogging . Divya welcomed me with so much of warmth that i got attached to this Group . Yes South VS North Challenge turns 1 year as you all will be knowing we are celebrating we all members of SNC are celebrating SNC ‘s first birthday virtually by revisiting the memories we have gone thru for this one year. I was so excited to see our Nort team and south team members recipes and I had bookmarked some try it but +Divya Pramil has given me a wonderful opportunity to revisit the old challenges and enjoy 🙂 Thanks for the wonderful thought divya .

Till now we have challenge 24 recipes in which I missed my first challenge and so thought making the first challenges but I couldn’t stop myself from try the other recipes which I had book marked . I wanted to bring all the recipes from SNC but time was not good to be wish I could get more 24 hours in day I would have completed all the recipes which I left 🙂 .Any ways I bought 5 recipes for this virtual party to celebrate our SNC’s first b’day :

Bhelpuri – Chaat
Mysore pak- Sweet
Gulab jamun – Sweet
Peas kachori with dum aloo – Snack
Litti Chokha
Khandvi – Farsan
Falooda – Drink

I enjoyed all the 5 a lot and thanks to the members who shared these delicious recipes . Now Coming to celebration recipes as it is Diwali tomorrow this post is also dedicated to all the readers to wish the a happy and prosperous Diwali .

HaPPy Diwali

Now lets Move to the 5 recipes I got today for celebrating SNC b’day and diwali 🙂

Bhel puri

Recipe source : shruti Rasoi

Ingredients

1 cup puffed rice
1/4 cup sev
4-5 papdi (fried )
2 tbsp fried peanuts
1 carrot ( grated )
1 boiled potato
Puri ( Pani puri one ) – 2- 3 No ( crush a little)
1/4 cup Chopped veggies (onion,tomato,cucumber)
2 tbsp Meethi chutney ( tamarind and dates chutney)
2 tbsp Green chutney
Lemon juice
Salt to taste
A pinch Black salt

For garnishing

Fresh coriander leaves
Raw mango (peeled and finely chopped)
Nylon Sev

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix gently till all the ingredients are well coated with the chutneys.
Divide the portion into two equal parts in the serving plates.
Garnish with raw mango, sev and fresh chopped coriander.
Serve immediately.

Tips

Make them only when you are ready to serve them else it will turn soggy .

Mysore pak

Recipe source : Divya’s Culinary Journey

Ingredients

Besan/ Gram flour, 1/2 cup
Oil, 1/4 cup
Sugar,1 cup
Water,1/2 cup
Ghee,1/2 cup or less

Method

Prepare a square or rectangular tray by greasing it with ghee and keep it aside.
Mix oil and Besan in a bowl .
In a non stick pan mix sugar and water, Boil them to get the required one thread consistency of syrup. Test it in between your thumb and fore finger , a thin long string is formed up to 1 inch which means it has attained one string.
Then add the besan mixture to the syrup and keep stirring.
Add ghee little by little and keep stirring with other hand mean while . At any stage don’t stop stirring .
You have to keep stirring till the mixture changes in texture and starts leaving the edges. There is light change in color too.
Pour this into the prepared pan. It hardens immediately.
Grease the knife with ghee and cut them to the desired shape. When it is still warm turn the plate and remove them.
Store them in the air tight container and enjoy.

Tips

Keep on string the the mixture once you add besan and do not leave them to stand.
As stirring, keep adding the ghee with the other hand till you get the desired consistency, not necessary you have to add all the 1/2 cup though. so it is approximate measure.
Grease the pan in which you are setting your mysore pak as the mysore pak sets immediately once it attains the consistency.
Slice it to required shape while it is still warm.

Gulab jamun

Recipe source : Thou Shalt cook

Ingredients

1/2 cup Milk Powder

1 tbsp Ghee

1/4 cup Maida

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup Milk

Oil/ghee to fry

Few drops of rose water [Optional]

1 tbsp Pistachio and almonds chopped finely

A pinch of Cardamom powder

For syrup

1 1/2 cup Sugar

1 /2 cup…Water

Method

Sift the milk powder, maida and baking powder.
To this, add the ghee and mix well. Now add the Milk , add little by little and make soft dough of it not necessary that you have to use all the 1/4 cup Milk it might take less.
Bring the dough together and with a palm greased with ghee make a balls and place on a plate.
Meanwhile, in a pan, make the sugar syrup. Bring the sugar and water to the boil. Make sure the sugar dissolves completely. Add the rose essence and cardamom pd. Keep it aside.
Make small balls out of the dough. In a wok heat the oil fry the gulab jamun balls.
Once the oil is ready simmer and drop the ball one by one into the oil.
Fry them till they are nice and brown from all sides.
Remove them from oil with perforated ladle and drop them hot on warm sugar syrup.
Garnish them with chopped nuts .

Tips

Constant attention is necessary while frying the gulab jamun balls.
The sugar syrup is required to be just a sticky consistency .

Green Peas kachori with dum aloo

Recipe source : sonali’s Kitchen

Ingredients

For Filling:

1 Cup Green Peas

2 Green Chillies

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1 tsp Ginger garlic paste

1/4 tsp red chilli pd

1 tsp Cumin pd

1 tbsp Clarified Butter (ghee)

Salt to taste

For Kachoris Crust:

2 Cup All Purpose Flour (maida)

Salt to taste

5 tbsps Oil + Oil for Deep Frying

Method

For filling:

Grind green peas along with 2 green chillies. Add few drops of water while grinding.
Grind peas to make a coarse paste, not very smooth. Set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp clarified butter in a pan or wok. Add asafoetida in it.
Now add ground green peas in it. Fold for a minute.
Put ginger garlic paste in it. Mix nicely.
Now add cumin powder, red chilli pd and salt in it.
Keep stirring continuously and let all the excess water evaporates from the pounded green peas mixture.
When the mixture is almost getting dry, remove it from heat. Filling is ready now, keep it aside.

For kachori crust:

Combine all purpose flour (maida), salt and 5 tbsps oil in a large bowl.
Knead it nicely by adding little water in it to make a smooth dough.
Now divide them into equal parts and roll them into balls from the dough . Also divide the green filling in 25 equal parts.
Grease a rolling board with 2-3 drops of oil. Place a flour ball on it.
Flat it with a rolling pin to make a circle.
Place a portion of green peas filling on the middle of the flour circle.
Carefully seal it from all edges. Close it well.
Make a round ball again.
Stuff other flour balls with fillings same way like this.
With a rolling pin flatten a stuffed ball 4″ wide pressing very gently and give a shape into a kachori. Be careful, filling should not come out.
Flatten all stuffed balls and give a shape into kachoris.
Heat enough oil in a wok/ kadai for deep frying, till smoky. Simmer the stove Add kachori in it and fr them till golden brown. Flip when one side is golden, fry both sides till it done. Drain oil and keep aside.
Continue the process for remaining kachoris.

Dum Aloo

Ingredients

10 – 12 No’s Baby Potatoes

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Fennel seeds

1 Bay leaf

Handful of Green Peas

3-4 Green Chillies (chopped)

1 large Tomato (chopped)

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Cumin powder

2 tsps Ginger paste

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Red Chilli powder

1/2 tsp freshly grounded Garam Masala

2 tbsps finely chopped Coriander Leaves (cilantro)

3/4 cup Sour Curd / Plain Yogurt (thick)

4 tbsps Oil

Salt to taste

Method

Wash baby potatoes nicely. Drain water from it.
Pressure cook potatoes, till it is tender or boil them in microwave.
Peel the skin off from the potatoes and set aside.
Heat oil in a wok/ kadai . Add potato, fry till it turn into golden. Drain oil, keep fried potatoes aside.
Temper with bay leaf, asafoetida, cumin seeds and fennel seeds in the same oil. Saute for 30-40 seconds.
Now add green peas in it. Fry for 2 minutes.
Add chopped tomato and green chillies in it. Mix well.
Put all dry spices, ginger paste and salt in it. Fold nicely for another 4-5 minutes till oil separates from spices.
Add sugar and fried potatoes in it. Mix well for another 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Add sour curd now. Fold for another 2 minutes, followed by adding 1/2 cup water in it.
Cook for another 4 minutes.
Add coriander leaves and switch off the heat now.
Serve hot Green Peas Kachori with spicy luscious Dum Aloo.

Falooda

Recipe source : The Lady 8 Home

Ingredients

1 /2 cups Evaporated Milk

1 cup Milk (warm milk)

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp Saffron

1/4 tsp Almond extract / rose essence

2 Nos Almonds (sliced)

2 Nos Pistachios (sliced)

Few Cashew (chopped)

4 – 5 tbsp Rose Sryup

1/4 cup Falooda sev ( boiled in water)

1/2 cup Basil seeds / Chia seeds

Few scoops Vanilla ice cream or Malai Kulfi

Method

Heat the evaporated milk add sugar and saffron and stir well till the sugar dissolves.
Add the cooked falooda sev to it and cool them in refrigerator .
Meanwhile soak the Chia seeds in a cup of water, It will take about an hour to double its size.

To Assemble

In two tall glasses, pour the noodles soaked Milk .
Drizzle rose syrup on it .
Top it with 2 tbsp of basil/ chia seeds.
Pour in the chilled milk into the glass.
Top it again with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Garnish it with the chopped nuts and cherry.

Khandvi

Recipe source : ( Adapted from Gujarati Zaika)

Ingredients

Besan / garam flour – 1 cup

Curd/ yogurt – 1 cup

Water – 2 cup

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Sesame seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Green chilli – 2 NO (chopped)

Coriander leaves – for garnish

Grated Coconut – 1 tbsp

Method

In a bowl mix besan, curd and water . Mix well without any lumps .
In a heavy bottomed pan Pour this mixture and in a low flame cook the mixture stiring constantly .
It will take about 5 – 10 mins to thicken and leaves the sides of the pan .
Don’t cook too longer till the mixture is too thick they should just start leaving the corner of the pan .
Now in an ungreased plate spread the mixtue as much thin as possible.
After they cool down cut them in to length wise stirps.
Roll the stirps gently .
For tempering heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, Sesame seeds, curry leaves after they splutter remove from flame and top them on the rolled khandvi’s.
Garnish them with chopped coriander and grated coconut.

Litti chokha

Recipe Source : Uk Rasoi

For Litti Dough

4 cups Wheat flour
1 tsp Ajwain(carom seeds)
4 tbsp Ghee
Baking soda – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 3/4 tsp
almost 2 cups warm water – you may not need all of it, depends on the quality of flour

For stuffing

1 cup Sattu ( I used store bought)
Ginger – 1 inch long piece
2-4 Green chillies
1/2 cup Green coriander leaves – finely chopped
1 tsp Jeera(cumin seeds)
1 tsp Ajwain(carom seeds)
2 tbsp Mustard oil
2 tbsp Pickle spiceLemon – juice of 1 lemon – almost 1 tbsp
Salt – add to taste

For Chokha

4-6 potatoes, boiled and peeled
5-6 large cloves of garlic
1 large onion, chopped small2 medium sized tomatoes
2-4 Green chillies
1/2 tsp Red chilli pd
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp Green coriander leaves
Salt – add to taste – almost 1 tsp
Mustard oil / Olive oil – 1 to 2 tsp

Method

Sieve the flour and add all the ingredients, knead it into a not too soft dough with the help of warm water. Cover the dough and keep aside for 30 minutes.

For Stuffing

Take out Sattu in a mixing bowl, add in all the spices and grated ginger, green chillies, coriander, lemon juice, and mix well. If it seems too dry, add a tbsp of water to it. the texture should be crumbly, but not runny at all. Keep aside.

For Litti

Divide the dough in to equal parts roll them and with the help of your fingers expand the pieces 2-3 inches in diameter. you may simply roll it like a small chapathi, but dont apply any extra flour to it.
Place 1- 2 tsp Pitthi / Sattu filling on it, wrap up the dough piece and close from all sides. Pinch the extra dough from top, press with your palms to flatten it a bit.
Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Place all the balls on a baking dish and bake them for 30-40 minutes.
Flip the side half way through, you may have to do it 2-3 times in between to get the even cooking done.

For chokha

Peel the boiled potatoes and mash them coarsely with hands or masher. Keep aside.
Now roast garlic and tomatoes on either the gas flame ( like I did, see the pictures below ) or simply in an oven. On the flame, it will take around 12-15 minutes on medium flame. And in an oven, it takes around 20-25 minutes but the later of course is hassle free
Allow them to cool, peel the skins, keep them in a bowl and mash with a spoon. Add in the spices, salt, oil and mix properly.
Add in mashed potatoes, just mix everything gently with hands. Chokha is ready to be served.

For Serving :

Put Chokha in a bowl, dip hot Litti in melted Ghee and serve with green coriander chutney.
Litti can also be broken at the centre and then ghee can be poured on top, this way it reaches the stuffing too and pitthi gets a bit damp. I adopt this way to serve, since I love the aroma of ghee mixed with Sattu.

Thanks you so much to all the member of SNC for sharing so many delicious recipes 🙂 . And a very happy diwali to all my readers 🙂 Hope all enjoyed this virtual treat from our SNC group !! 🙂

Linking it to priya’s versatile recipes

Combo platter 3 – Hot Dog Tikki Taco with Til Tomato chutney ( aloo tikki taco)

October 30, 2013 By

This was suppose to be my 3 day combo platter am a bit late but wanted to complete this month’s BM successfully . So this is the 3 rd combo platter which is an experiment from my kitchen again . Aloo tikki’s are all time fav for me and H so wanted to include them in this combo platter and also made a Aloo tikki taco with it which I loved a lot . Fusion cooking is always been my fantasy and this is a great theme to knock my brains door and create some unusual combination so came an idea to Mix up tikkis with taco.

I made this Hot dog Tikki Taco with the potato pattie / tikki and gave it a sausage shape , so this a pure vegetarian Hot dog taco . It was a very delicious snack time treat for us . I made the tikkis a bit spicy but change the spice level as per your taste . They are very yummy to have when they are warm. Lets move on to the recipe of my 3 combo platter in the series . Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33.

Ingredients

For aloo Tikki

Boiled Potato – 2 No
Onion ( chopped ) – 1/4 cup
Red chilli pd – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves – 3 tbsp ( chopped )
Green chillies – 2 -3 Nos ( Chopped)
Lemon juice – 1/4 tsp
Bread crumbs – 1/4 cup

Til Tomato Chutney

Tomato – 1 No
Red chillies – 2- 3 Nos
Til / sesame seeds – 1 1/2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
oil – 1 tsp
salt to taste

Hot Dog Tikki Taco

Tomato sauce
Cabbage sliced
Coriander leaves for garnish

Method

For Aloo Tikki

In a bowl mash the potatoes and Mix in red chilli pd ,turmeric pd,onion, green chilli, coriander leaves , salt and Mix well.
Divide the mixture in to equal parts and shape them in roundels or elongated shapes.
Coat the tikki’s with bread crumbs from all side and set them aside
Heat a griller or tawa and roast the shaped tikkis till they turn golden brown from both sides .
Flip the tikki’s and roast them in medium flame so that they get cooked well.

Tips

If you feel the potato mixture contains more moisture and if you are unable to shape them then you can add 1-2 tsp of rice flour for binding.

For Til Tomato chutney

In pan heat oil add red chilli , til/ sesame seeds and roast the for a while .
Then add ginger garlic paste , Tomato and saute them till the peel of the tomato is well cooked .
Add salt and Transfer this mixture to a Blender .
Grind them to fine paste , No need to add water to this .
Serve them as accompaniment for tikki/ cutlets or even with Momos.

Hot dog Tikki Taco

Follow the instruction in your taco container to heat them .
spread a little tomato sauce inside the taco and top it with some sliced cabbage.
Place the elongated tikki’s in it and at last with add some chutney on top.
Warm them in microwave and enjoy.

Tips

You can also include some beans , lettuce to the taco .

Tapioca / Yuca / Kappa Pakoda

October 28, 2013 By

Today’s recipe is for potluck party, this month Archana of tangy minds is my partner and she bought this delicious and interesting pakoda which is so very healthy . Am so happy to try it it was simply yumm . This pakoda is made with tapioca / yuca / kappa (in malayalam ) is a very very flavorful and a delicious tea time snack which needs a little time for soaking and grinding but if the batter is ready it can be prepared in minutes . Yuca as per wiki is a manioc tuber which is also known in the name of cassava.

Thanks to archana for sharing this unique and delicious pakoda which i have never ever tried . Tapioca is one veggies I haven’t tried and this was the first time i used them in pakodas. They turned out very yummy and now I will try this again and again for sure . Thanks archana we totally loved this unique pakoda and am so happy that i was able give this a try .

Recipe source : Tangy Minds

Ingredients

1 medium Tapioca/kappa. Peeled and grated.
1/2 Cup Idly rice
1/4 Cup Channa dal
2 tbsp each of Urad dhal,Toor dal,Moong dhal
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
2 no Green Chillies
3 tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped.
1/4 Tsp of Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp of Fennel Seeds
2- 3 Red chillies (adjust to your taste )
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method

Soak idly rice along with red chillies and all lentils / dals separately and allow it to rest for about 2 to 3 hours.
Grate the tapioca/kappa after you peel the skin.Keep aside.
In a blender jar add the idly rice,red chillies,fennel seeds ,ginger garlic paste and pulse it for about few seconds to get coarse batter like consistency and make sure it should not make them in to very smooth paste.
Transfer the ground idly rice mixture into the bowl.
Now grind the lentils / dals in to coarse batter sprinkle water if needed.
Combine the ground idly rice and dals together.Mix well till well combined .
Add grated tapioca to it and mix well thoroughly.
Add finely chopped onions,green chillies (chopped),coriander leaves,turmeric powder and finally add salt.
In a kadai,Add the oil for deep frying.Make sure it is on medium high heat.
Make into small sized balls and put in hot oil and fry till it gets brown in color and it gets cooked.
Serve immediately with any chutney or sauce . goes well with a cup of tea or coffee.

Sending To JCO Potluck

Tips

You can also use a paniyaram pan to fry these pakodas in a more healthy way .

Sending to cooks joy

Combo Platter 2 – Bottle Gourd and Broccoli Stalk Tikki , Tikki Sandwich With Chocolate Chai

October 25, 2013 By

Today in the second day of BM 4 th week as you all might be knowing I have chosen combo platter for this week as theme and thinking of making some innovative platter I came up with this delicious combo platter which includes Bottle gourd broccoli stalk tikki , tikki sandwich and Chocolate chai . This was an unusual combo but they went well together . In this cold weather any thing had Hot and warm feels so good so I made this delicious combo platter of tikki sandwich with chai for our evening refreshments . Chai is always a very important Indian drink which when accompanied with any savory makes it a perfect Tea time snack . Here I have accompanied Tikki sandwich , Tikki as an evening tea time snack .

Tikki’s are my all time fav i have made bottle gourd tikki’s couple of times but this time I added Broccoli stalk to it and they tasted yummy and this is the healthy way you can sneak in some healthy veggies which your kids are not a fan of. My H loved the tikki’s and sandwich where as I enjoyed the chocolate flavoured chai. I am not fond of tea but with chocolate in it I was unable to resist and taste them . So here is My second Combo platter for BM33 .Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33.

Ingredients

For Bottle gourd and Broccoli stalk tikki

Bottle gourd – 1 cup grated
Broccoli stalk – 1/2 cup grated
Bread slices – 2
Rice flour – 2-3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Garam masala – 1/4 tsp
Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp
Red chilli pd – 1/2 tsp (as needed )
Chaat masala – 1/4 tsp ( optional)
Bread crumbs – For coating
Oil for shallow frying

For sandwich

Bread slice – 2 No
Green chutney – 3 -4 tbsp ( I used coriander chutney )
Prepared Bottle gourd and Broccoli stalk tikki – 1No
oil for Toasting

For Chocolate chai

Milk – 1 cup
Cocoa pd – 1 tbsp
Chai pathi / Tea pd – 2 tbsp
Sugar as required

Method

Bottle gourd and broccoli stalk Tikki

In a bowl put grated bottle gourd, grated broccoli stalk, garam masala, turmeric pd, red chilli pd, salt , crumble the bread slice, rice flour and mix them well.
After they are well combined divide them into equal parts and shape them into desired shapes.
In a plate put bread crumbs and coat the shaped cutlets with bread crumbs from all over.
Heat a tawa place the Tikki’s drizzle some oil and shallow fry them from both sides till golden brown.

After they turn golden brown from both sides remove them from tawa and keep them aside.

To make Tikki sandwich

Take two bread slice and spread green chutney in one side of both the slices .
Keep the Tikki in a middle of a bread slice and cover it with the other slice on top of it , chutney side facing down.
Now heat a griddle / Tawa place the assembled bread slices and toast them till golden brown from both sides.Drizzle some oil if needed.
Press the toast a bit while toasting
Serve them Hot with any sauce .

Chocolate chai

Method

In a saucepan heat milk add sugar , chai pathi and boil them .
After you get a boil add cocoa pd and milk well .
Simmer the flame and boil them for 10 minutes till you get the nice aroma of tea and also when the color changes switch off the flame .
Strain it in a cup and sip this Hot chocolate tea with Tikki sandwich .

Tips

Adjust the spice level according to your taste.
In chocolate chai you can increase the amount of cocoa pd if you like.

Combo platter with Tikki / patties 1 – South Indian Idli burger with Upma cutlet and Idli french fries

October 24, 2013 By

Thinking of what to make for my BM Theme which i chose combo platter using tikkies and patties for the 3 rd week i was having lots of things running in my mind and suddenly when I went to my kitchen to check the leftovers I found leftover upma which I made and also had a small amount of idli batter in my fridge so thought of using them and so this combo platter popped up in mind .. Why not i make a south indian idli burger and also to accompany with it idli fries . They turned out so yummy I had very less leftover green chutney too so used it too 🙂 It feels so good when we use of all the leftovers in an interesting way isn’t it. They tasted so delicious and went well together .

For idli burger I used leftover spicy upma , but if you have not added any spice to the upma then you can add before turning them to cutlets. This a delicious breakfast burger you can say which i experimented and liked them. You can even add some molaga podi to this burger the will taste the south indian way :). This is my own invention, you can tweak the recipe as you like though . Lets move to this interesting combo platter which I made for 3 rd week first day for BM . Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33.

Ingredients

Idli – 4 No’s ( freshly steamed )
Leftover spiced Rava Upma – 1 cup
Rice flour -1 tbsp
Bread crumbs – 1/2 cup
Tomato ketchup – as required
Green chutney ( Mint or coriander chutney) – 2 tbsp or as required
Lettuce leaves – 1 leave
Cherry tomatoes – 4 no’s + for garnishing
Oil for shallow frying
Maida paste – 2 tbsp maida , chopped coriander, salt, pepper (if needed), water – Mix and make a thick paste (batter like consistency)

Method

Make idli in idli cooker store them in hot case.

To Make Upma cutlets

Now In a bowl take leftover upma add rice flour in it and mix them well.
Divide the in to equal parts
Shape them into cutlet shape or give them any shape as you like.

Dip the patties in maida paste and them in bred crumbs.
In a plate take bread crumbs and coat the shaped upma in it well.

Heat a tawa , add oil and place the upma cutlet to shallow fry in low flame till golden brown both the sides.
Use two ladles if necessary and carefully turn the cutlets and cook the both the sides till golden brown.
Remove them from tawa and set aside.

To assemble the Idli burger

Place a idli spread some tomato ketchup on it then place the upma cutlets .
Then place the chopped cherry tomato and lettuce leaves.
Take another idli spread green chutney on the bottom side of the idli and place it on the lettuce.
Prick a toothpick in the middle and fix an whole cherry tomato on the top for garnish.

Idli French Fries

Ingredients

Steamed idli – 2 Nos
Chaat masala to sprinkle
Pepper a pinch
salt to taste
Oil to fry

Method

Cut the idli length wise and keep them a side.
Heat oil in a kadai once it is hot enough simmer and fry the cut idli.
Once it is golden brown from all sides remove them from oil using a ladle.

Place them on tissue or Kitchen towel to absorb all the excess oil.
While it is still hot sprinkle pepper pd, salt, chaat masala and mix them well so that they are well coated .

Hot Chocolate Fudge Sauce Sundae SFC # 1

October 22, 2013 By

Hot chocolate fudge sauce is an yummy chocolate sauce usually topped on a chilled ice cream or a frosted cake 🙂 They even are yummy if you lick them as is. This fudge sauce is very smooth , fudgy, and perfect to drizzle on top of vanilla ice cream when it is lukewarm . When it cools down and sets it is super fudgy delight to enjoy them as is . This is something i love alot in a sunny day with a cup of vanilla ice cream and lots of fudge sauce topped with a cherry on top and wafer straw biscuit to sip all the melting icecream But though cold winds have started breezing here I enjoyed this delicious chilled and sinful Hot chocolate fudge sauce sundae a lot 🙂

This chocolate fudge sauce is so simple to make with very few ingredient , thanks to preeti of simply tadka for suggesting this delicious International dessert for the second day of Sweet fantasy club this month 🙂 . This was an delicious attempt and i followed the recipe which contained brown sugar making it more yummier 🙂 Lets move to the recipe…

Recipe source : Chewoutloud

Ingredients

1/4 cup +2 tbsp Milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
small pinch salt

To serve

Vanilla ice cream – some scoops
Red Cherries
Nuts chopped (optional)
Wafers

Method

To make Hot chocolate fudge sauce

Combine all ingredients in heavy bottomed saucepan set over medium heat.
Bring it to a boil, whisking constantly.
Once it reaches a boil, immediately reduce to lower the flame.
Stir it for 5 more minutes and turn off the flame
Let it cool to warm or lukewarm before serving.

To serve

Top the scoop vanilla ice cream in an bowl or glass .
Drizzle some lukewarm hot chocolate fudge sauce.
Garnish with some wafers and cherries.

Tips

Store them in sealed container in a fridge.
You can use the fudge sauce on any flavored ice cream.
You can even drizzle on the frosted cake .

Makkan Peda – Arcot spl sweet

October 22, 2013 By

Makkan peda are very very famous sweet in Arcot I first heard about this sweet in an regional tamil TV show where she used khoa for making them but I have experimented this cheat recipe for makkan peda if you are out of khoa available 😉 . I have made use of Instant home made khoa by using milk pd and cream which can an be prepared in minutes and can be used in any dessert which calls for khoa . I made the authentic Arcot , Tamil Nadu spl Makkan peda with this Instant and quick to make khoa . I was so happy after seeing the results . I bet No one will find out you have made this sweet with milk pd and cream . My H was asking me whether you made this with khoa isn’t it ??? 😉 so it tastes very very similar and thus I invented a cheat recipe for makkan peda today :).

Makkan Peda is a very popular sweet in arcot, tamil nadu ( south India) mainly in Northern part of arcot and also famous by the name of Arcot sweet . This delicious sweet is similar to khoa gulab jamun but they are given peda shape . A traditionally this sweet is made with home made khoa which is made by thickening milk in low flame till form a mass , which is a very long process.So using Milk pd and cream will make it much more easier and very quick to make .This sweet is an integrate part of arcot tradition which prepared there from generations over there and each every sweet stall will have this peda on their menu. some dry fruits are stuffed in this peda traditionally but as have done the cheat version I haven’t tried stuffing them but you can do so. My cheat method was so liked by H and he was so immersed and glad to taste this tamil nadu arcot sweet at home 🙂 They turned out super soft and delicious . Let move on to Tamizhar samayal Tuesday spl recipe – Makkan Peda

Ingredients

For Peda

Milk pd ( I used Instant Non fat Milk pd) – 1 cup
Heavy cream – 1/2 cup
Maida – 2 tbsp ( If you feel the dough is very loose after adding it to khoa and mixing them only then add extra maida else not required)
Baking soda – A pinch

For Sugar syrup

1 1/2 cup – sugar
1/4 cup – water
saffron – few strands
cardamon pd – 1/4 tsp

To garnish

Chopped nuts ( almonds, pistachios and cashews)

Method

To make Pedas

In a pan put cream and milk powder give it a mix.
Now turn on the stove and stir them constantly till they form a mass without any lumps and doesn’t stick to the pan anymore.
Switch of the flame and transfer this to another bowl.
Now let the khoa sit till it cools down a bit and is easy to handle .
After the khoa cools down a bit add maida, baking soda and knead well to form a smooth dough .
If the dough is crumbly you can add few drops of water to make it smooth .
Divide the dough into equal sized balls and form disc shape and set aside covered.

For sugar syrup

To prepare sugar syrup put sugar and water in a saucepan and heat it.
Boil them till all the sugar is melted no need to see for one or two string consistency for this .
Heat the syrup till it bubbles well and is a bit thick.
Add saffron strands and cardamom pd and switch of the flame .

How to proceed

Now heat oil in a kadai and start frying the pedas in a low flame one by one till they turn golden brown from both sides.
Once they are fried and golden brown immediately remove the pedas from oil with a ladle and transfer it to the Hot syrup ( The syrup should be hot still).
Do this till all the pedas are fried and immersed in to sugar syrup
Let the pedas sit in sugar syrup till the pedas are well absorbed with syrup.
It will take less time for pedas to absorb the syrup as the Hot pedas are immersed in Hot syrup so it helps in absorbing the syrup soon.
Serve the Makkan pedas with little sugar syrup and garnished with some chopped nut .

Tips

While making Instant khoa that is while heating up milk pd and cream stir them constantly less it might burn .
Knead the pedas well and form them in to a smooth dough. Don’t get tempted to add water in go just a drops and try to form a smooth dough.
Fry the peda’s in a very low flame till golden brown . These are very soft so be cautious while frying.
Sugar syrup doesn’t need any one or two consistency when it starts bubbling then your syrup is ready.
You can also make you of fresh khoa if have instead of milk pd and cream . You can just milk maida , baking soda and form a dough with it too by adding little water .
To avoid cracks while shaping them you can grease your palms lightly .

Linking this to Tamizhar samayal Tuesday whose brain child is +nalini suresh .

Sending to cooks joy

Raj Bhog – SFC #1

October 21, 2013 By

Raj bhog is very popular sweet in India made with homemade chenna / paneer stuffed with nuts , which is cooked in saffron flavored sugar syrup . Though I have tried this with stuffing before and my H doesn’t like the stuffing much but he likes the only the raj bhog with out any stuffing so this time I made it without stuffing . I made them same as we make for Rasgulla as traditionally they don’t add any flour to make rajbhog so I made them with only chenna/ paneer so that they turn spongy and soft.

I have joined this new group “Sweet fantasy club” whose brain child is +Preeti Garg ,a wonderful blogger author of “ Simply tadka” . This is our first challenge an indian authentic sweet dish which one of my fav . This month preeti has chosen two wonderful indian and international sweet and dessert , thanks preeti for this wonderful challenge . So coming to the challenge the first dish is an authentic North indian sweet dish “Raj bhog” which nothing but a large size cheese balls dipped in saffron flavored sugar syrup.
Lets move on to the recipe of this spongy rajbhog

Ingredients
For Chenna/ Paneer

Whole Milk – 4 cups or 1 litre
Lemon juice – 3 tbsp + water 1/4 cup ( dilute them )

For Sugar syrup

Sugar – 3 cups
Water – 5 cups

Other Ingredients

Lemon yellow color – few drops
Saffron strands few
Rose essence – few drops

Method

To make Paneer / chenna

In a saucepan boil the milk and simmer it to low.
Add the lemon and water mixture and stir .
It will curdle and the whey will get separated .
If you see the milk haven’t curdled well and you haven’t got the required paneer then add more few tbsps of lemon juice .
After the milk have curdled completely and the whey have separated , this may take only few minutes. Take a strainer and spread the muslin cloth over it strain the milk .
Reserve the whey and use it instead of lemon juice while making paneer for the next time.
Strain the chenna/ paneer and run cold water over it once so that the lemon sourness goes off from the paneer.
Tie the muslin cloth and keep a heavy vessel or any heavy thingy on it and wait till all the water drains of. But still a tiny little moisture should be in so that it is easy to knead the chenna.
Now transfer the chenna/ paneer to a plate an start kneading for 10 – 15 mins or till they form a very smooth dough.
Add lemon yellow color to the chenna and knead them again till all the dough is dyed
Divide the chenna / panner into equal parts and roll them into lemon size balls and keep it aside.

To make Sugar syrup

In a sauce pan measure and put sugar and water.
Turn on the flame and let the boil.
After all the sugar dissolves add saffron strands .

How to proceed

After the sugar syrup starts to boil add the paneer balls .
Cover the sauce pan with a lid and simmer the flame .
Now cook the paneer balls for 15 – 20 mins covered in a sauce pan.
turn of the flame and let them stand cover for 10 more mins.
After which when you open the lid you will find the panner balls would have doubled in size.

Spongy raj bhog is ready chill them in fridge . They taste better the second day as all the sugar syrup is well absorbed by the paneer balls till then.

Tips

I haven’t stuffed them with nuts mixer but you can stuff them with pistachios or mixed nuts powdered which is mixed in a small quantity chenna / panner and then stuffed in the paneer balls.

You can use even vinegar to curdle the milk about 2 -3 tbsp.
If you chill the rajbhog let them sit for 1/2 – 1 hour in room temperature before serving.
The paneer should not turn too hard so be carefully while curdling the milk , once you find all the milk have curdled switch of the flame . If you cook them after they curdle the paneer may turn hard and you rajbhog might turn rubbery . so the key to make a spongy rajbhog or rasgulla lies in how well you make you paneer or chenna.
If the chenna is too very soft then you can try adding few tsps of maida but the same results can’t be expected . Making with only panner is the key to make it really spongy .

Sending to cooks joy

Milk chocolate Fudge

October 19, 2013 By

You all have been venturing my chocolate addiction and adding to the list of chocolate recipes i am sharing this super simple , quick to make fudge which is foolproof and my fav . This recipe is so simple and anyone who doesn’t know even to cook can enjoy making them . A great chocolate treat for upcoming festivals, It can certainly made for holiday treats and enjoyed any time when you are badly craving for chocolate . These chocolate fudge are melt it mouth and not too chewy so kids will just love to have them . I bet you will not stop eating just one they are super addictive.

Chocolate fudge are very rich and addictive so you might have to do extra exercise but still they are so sinful you have to try them at least once. Lets move to the quick fudge recipe ..Made this for day 3 blogging marathon under chocolate theme. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33.

Ingredients

1 cup Milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup Condensed Milk
2 tbsp Whole Milk
2 Tbsp chopped pistachios / almonds( You can add more if you like )
Chopped nuts for garnish

Method

In an microwave safe bowl add milk chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk.
Microwave this for 1 min on high .
After 1 min give it a nice mix and see that there are no lumps in mixture.
The chocolate should be completely melted if you find any chocolate grains microwave for 30 sec more .
Add milk and give them a quick mix .
Add the chopped pistachios and mix them ,
Now take an 8*8 greased pan and transfer the melted chocolate mixer to the pan.
Level them on the top using the spoon .
Refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours . Mine was done by 1 hour.

Cut the set fudge into squares, remove all the pieces from the pan and enjoy!!

Tips

Grease the pan with oil so that it is easy to remove the fudge without damaging the shape of the fudge.
If you want add more nuts than in the given recipe for those crunchy bites in between .
As I used Milk chocolate which is already is sweet so i added only 1/4 cup condensed milk if you are using a semi sweet chocolate chip you can increase the quantity to 1/2 cup or more.

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