Hi friends,
You must be missing dessert recipes..sorry...I am not too much into sweets..not that I don't love them but I am a little careful with calories but then nothing is bad in moderation so today I would let you indulge...try this lazeez dessert recipe called Shahi toast/ Shahi tukda.
SHAHI TOAST/ SHAHI TUKDA:
INGREDIENTS:
White bread slices
Cheeni (Sugar)
Kesar (Saffron)
Badam (Almonds)
Pista (Pistachio)
Tel (Oil)
Doodh (Milk)
METHOD:
Remove the hard edges of bread slices and cut them diagonally. Deep fry them till golden brown.
Put the milk to boil and let it thicken till it looks like rabdi or condensed milk. Add some saffron strands and sugar in this thickened milk.
Make sugar syrup of double strand consistency- for this we take sugar and water in equal quantities and boil it in a thick bottomed pan. For testing the consistency take a drop of sugar syrup on a plate and touch it with your finger...be careful, it's hot. Now lift the finger and see number of strands that are being made between your finger tip and sugar syrup drop. Thicker the sugar syrup, more strands it will form.
Now soak the golden brown bread slices in this sugar syrup for 2 minutes..take them out and arrange on serving platter.
Garnish with thick saffron milk, shavings of pista and badam and some strands of saffron.
You can serve it hot or cold as per your loved ones taste.
TIP:
To avoid the lengthy process of thickening the milk, you can also use condensed milk but remember that will add up to sweetness of the dish. I usually balance the sweetness of this dish by the quantity of sugar I use with thickened milk...most of the time I don't use sugar in the milk.
You can also use silver foil over the garnishing to give it that extra traditional look.
Enjoy...
Hi Friends,
A very popular recipe of north India is Kadhi...you can easily find this dish in almost all the restaurant menus. Apart from north India, variations of kadhi is also found in Gujarat and Maharashtra...may be some more states too. Here goes the basic recipe of kadhi and I will also suggest the variations you can do.
KADHI:
INGREDIENTS:
Besan (Bengal gram flour)
Mattha (Butter milk)
Haldi (Turmeric) powder
Lal sabut mirch (Whole Red chilies)
Namak (Salt)
Heeng (Asafoetida)
Methi (Fenugreek seeds)
Tel (Oil)
Baigan (Egg plant/ brinjal)
Hara dhaniya (Coriander leaves)
METHOD:
Take a little besan and and mix it with lots of mattha.Chop baigan in 1" cubes. Take a little oil in a pan and heat it properly. Add heeng, methi dana and sabut lal mirch..add chopped baigan, haldi powder and salt and let it cook.
Once baigan is cooked add the besan and mattha mixture into it. Adjust salt as per your taste and let the kadhi boil for at least 10 minutes...if water evaporates, add some more water but good taste of kadhi comes only when it's cooked on slow heat for a little longer time.
Garnish with chopped hara dhaniya and serve hot with rice.
TIPS:
Instead of baigan you can use other vegetables like Phool gobhi (cauliflower), Hari matar (green peas) or pakodas of your choice but pakodas should be added just after the first boil of kadhi. Once kadhi thickens, it won't get absorbed into pakodas and they will become hard.
Enjoy...
Hi Friends,
Writing the blog in the evenings usually remind me evening snacks and today I am sharing a traditional recipe of moong daal pakode which will make you drool on rainy evenings.
MOONG DAAL PAKODE:
INGREDIENTS:
Moong daal (Split green gram)
Pyaz (Onion)
Hara dhaniya (Coriander leaves)
Hara mircha (Green chilies)
Namak (Salt)
Tel (Oil)
METHOD:
Soak moong daal overnight and grind to fine paste.
Chop pyaz in fine long strands. Finely chop hara dhaniya and hara mircha.For this recipe we need to use pyaz, hara dhaniya and hara mircha in good quantity.
Mix moong daal paste, pyaz, hara dhaniya, hara mircha and namak in a mixing bowl. Consistency should be semi solid and mixing has to be thorough...more the air trapped , more crispy the pakode will be.
Heat the oil in a pan and fry pakodas till crisp and golden. Drain extra oil on tissue paper.
Serve hot with green chutney and garma garam chai.
TRICK:
For the crispiness of pakodas, use moong daal with chilka. The chilka not only adds up to nutritional value of pakodas but also make them crispy. The long strands of pyaz also make the pakodas crispy.
Enjoy....
Hi friends,
Though it's a very basic recipe but everytime I cook an omelette, my daughters want me to start an Omelette joint and that made me think that there may be something which is making them stand out and so today I am sharing my omelette recipe with you and you can tell me if you find it special..
VEGGIE OMELETTE:
INGREDIENTS:
Ande (Eggs)
Shimla Mirch (Capsicum)
Lal Shimla Mirch (Red bell pepper)
Peeli Shimla Mirch (Yellow bell pepper)
Gajar (Carrots)
Patta gobhi (Cabbage)
Hari Mirch (Green chilies)
Hara Dhaniya (Coriander leaves)
Pyaz (Onion)
Namak (Salt)
Tel (Oil)
METHOD:
Dice all the bell peppers in about a square inch pieces...gajar in thin slices and patta gobhi, onion, hara dhaniya and hari mirch can be chopped finely or as per your liking.
Take atleast 4 eggs and separate the whites...beat nicely till it gets fluffy.
Take a little oil in a frying pan and saute all the vegetables except hara dhaniya and hari mirch...saute till half done. Here you will have to add vegetables in order of the cooking time they take....one that takes more time, will go first.
Add egg yolks, hara dhaniya, hari mirch and namak in nicely beaten egg whites and immediately pour it over sauteed vegetables. Remember to evenly spread the sauteed vegetables before pouring the eggs on it.
Cook on slow heat till done and then carefully turn it and let it cook for another minute.
Serve with vegetables side up with brown crispy toasts.
TIPS:
1.You can add some grated cheese on top when omelette is still hot and it will add up to the taste.
2.If you are a non vegetarian, you can also add bacon or small pieces of your desired meat along with vegetables.
TRICK:
The trick to make the omelettes fluffy is beat egg whites till they get fluffy and add yolks and salt just before pouring it in the pan...the fluffiness is due to trapped air in egg whites and it quickly goes once salt and egg yolk is added.
Hi friends,
After so many recipes which are tasty but not very healthy, let me balance by sharing a very healthy as well as tasty recipe of Soybean cutlets that can be served as breakfast, kid's tiffins as well as evening snack... so here goes the recipe...
SOYBEAN CUTLETS:
INGREDIENTS:
Soybean granules
Aaloo (Potatoes)
Hara dhaniya (Coriander leaves)
Hara mircha (Green chilis)
Lehsun (Garlic)
Garam Masala
Namak (Salt)
Aamchur (Dry mango) powder
Tel (Oil)
METHOD:
Soak soybean granules in salty warm water for 10 minutes. Squeeze the granules and throw away the water. Boil the potatoes- peel and mash. Chop hara dhaniya, hara mircha and lehsun...for this recipe I use lot of finely chopped lehsun.
Now in a mixing bowl mix soaked soybean granules, mashed potatoes, lehsun, hara dhaniya, hara mirch, namak, garam masala and aamchur powder.Make cutlets of desired size and shape and deep fry in hot oil till crispy golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper and serve hot with hari chutney.
TIP:
You can use these cutlets along with lettuce, tomato & cheese slice to make healthy burgers for kids..this is an easy way to trick kids to eating healthy soybean which they usually avoid.
Hi friends,
Today's recipe is for my puri lovers...puris seem to be incomplete if they are not accompanied with kaddu ki sabzi (pumpkin curry). In North India people prefer green pumpkin but yellow pumpkin, which is ripe pumpkin, is my daughter's favourite and I too love it a lot with puris as well as rice- here goes the recipe...
PEELE KADDU KI SABZI ( RIPE PUMPKIN CURRY):
INGREDIENTS:
Paka peela kaddu (Ripe yellow pumpkin)
Methi dana (Fenugreek seeds)
Pyaz (Onion)
Hari Mirch (Green chilies)
Hara dhaniya (Coriander leaves)
Haldi (Turmeric) powder
Lal Mirch (Red chili) powder
Namak ( Salt)
Pisi khatai (Dry mango powder)
Tel (Oil)
METHOD:
Peel and dice peela kaddu in small pieces. Take some oil in a pan and add methi dana. Once methi dana stop spluttering, add chopped onion and fry them till they get translucent and pink. Add kaddu, haldi, lal mirch and namak- for this curry I keep salt to a little lower side...cover and cook till kaddu is almost done. Now add hari mirch chopped in long thin strips- the purpose of adding hari mirch at this stage is to retain the flavour of hari mirch. Now cook the kaddu till it's fully done.
Now add pisi khatai and garnish with hara dhaniya.
Remember that this sabzi will taste sweet and sour. In case kaddu does not have enough sweetness, we can always balance by adding a little sugar or jaggery.
Serve this sabzi with hot puris and green chutney. This sabzi also goes great with plain rice.
Hi friends,
It has been a long time since I communicated with you and it was due to my travels. Now I am settled for few months and so can resume writing my blog.
Let me share a tasty recipe for evening snacks..it's called sweet corn pakodas and here it goes...
SWEET CORN PAKODAS:
INGREDIENTS:
Bhutta (Sweet corn)
Corn starch
Chaat masala
Tel (Oil)
METHOD:
Take out the kernels from the corn cobs...take enough corn starch to bind the kernels and add chaat masala to taste.
Take oil in a frying pan...let it heat properly and make pakodas/ bhajiya (fritters) of corn mixture...fry the pakodas till they get golden brown and crispy and take out on absorbent paper to get rid of that extra oil.
Serve these yummy pakodas with green chutney....remember to make them in large batches so you don't disappoint your loved ones.
TIP: You can add coriander leaves, green chillies and ginger too in these pakodas but I like mine without any of them.
