Here is a recipe for a simple Rice Kheer

Ingredients
# 3 Litres Milk
# 100 Grams Rice
# 100 Grams Sugar
# Kesar (Saffron )
# Elaichi (Cardomom)
# Badam (Almonds)
# 2 Tbsp Water

Method
Boil Milk. Add rice to the milk when boiled. Stir the milk until it gets thick and of dropping consistency.
Allow the milk to cool. When the milk mixture is at room temperature, Add Saffron, and Sugar to it and mix it well. The Milk mixture will get a good colour. Top it with Almonds and Cardomom Powder.

Tags: naan, kulfi, sambhar, dosa, handi, chettinad, desi, roti, palak, tandoori

Simple Yoghurt appetizer made from Tiny Dumplings of Besan (Chickpeas flour) put in Yoghurt.

• 600 ml Yoghurt
• 1/4 tea spoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or coriander

Method

Soak the boondi in water for about 10 minutes.
Squeeze lightly and set aside.
Beat the yoghurt smooth with fork, add the salt, pepper and sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Fold(put in and mix well) the moist boondi in yoghurt.
Refrigerate. Sprinkle with chopped mint or coriander leaves.
Serve chilled.

Tags: gosht, chana, karahi, vindaloo, dhokla, kulfi, tikka masala, tandoori, curries, idli

Bhatura is a fried indian bread made from refined wheat flour, typically served with chickpea curry.

Ingredients

• 1 Kg. Maida flour
• Sooji flour (Rava) 100 Grams
• 1 Spoon Baking Powder
• 2 Tbsp. Fat or Ghee
• 1 Cup Curd
• Salt To Taste
• Oil for Deep Frying

Method
Mix all the Ingredients.
After Mixing, make a dough out of it.
Leave the Dough so that it can ferment(because of Baking Powder and Curd) for 6-7 hours.
Make Pedas (small round balls )out of the dough and make Oval shaped Rotis or Chapatis ready for Deep frying.
Deep fry the kneaded Rotis out of the dough.
Serve hot with Khatte Chane.

- Sonzy.

Tags: karahi, tikka masala, tandoori, indian curry, tandoor, chettinad, murgh, handi, naan, dal

Ingredients

• 1/2 Kg. Small Long-shaped brinjals/eggplants (Baingan - Indian Eggplant)
• 2 Onions
• 6 Tomatoes
• 1 Small Garlic
• Whole Black Pepper
• Cumin Seeds
• Methi (Fenugreek)
• Curry Leaves
• Oil for frying
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Vinegar
• Ghee

Method
# Cut Brinjals into Half from the middle.
# Fry the Brinjals in oil.
# Brinjals are not to be fried for long so take them out and keep them aside.
# Take some ghee in a pan and put in Onions, Garlic, Cumin Seeds, Methi(Fenugreek), Curry Leaves, Salt to taste, Black Pepper, Red Chilli Powder, Haldi.
# Fry for 2-3 minutes and put in Brinjals and Tomatoes
# Put in a little of water to make gravy.
# Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.
# Add Vinegar to it and keep it for a while before serving.

Tags: vindaloo, gosht, murgh, indian curry, dosa, desi, handi, tikka masala, kebab, naan

Tags: roti, tandoor, handi, gosht, naan, indian food, indian curry, chicken, karahi, murgh

A reader asked us a question which is quite common :

Q - Once while in singapore, i had an excellent paneer dish, where the paneer was so soft and melts in my mouth. How do I get this? Could it be the curdling agent (I always use lime/vinegar, but I’ve read that curd is the best agent). I’ve also tried frying the paneer, and soaking in water for a softer texture,but to no avail. How do I get that soft, melt in the mouth texture?

Kuntal answers :

1) Always use the full cream milk instead of toned milk for making your paneer as the higher fat content keeps paneer moist and soft.
2) Yes, curd is the best curdling agent but you can still use lime/ vinegar to curdle the milk for the paneer. Try using the whey (drained liquid of solid paneer) for curdling the milk.
3) When you drain the liquid and collect the solid content in a muslin/ cheese cloth, dip the content (paneer) in the ice-chilled water to stop overcooking and hardening. The chilled water lowers the internal temperature and retains the moisture inside.
4) Add the pieces of raw paneer, if the recipe demands, towards the end of the cooking process and avoid reheating your dish containing paneer.

Enjoy and take care.

Khatte Channe (Chholey, Chickpeas) is a typical Punjabi dish served with Pakwan, Matthhi, Bhatura or a Kulcha. There would be lot of variations to this, but this is the way my mom cooks for me.

Ingredients
# 250 gms. Chana Dal White
# 1/2 Cup Tamarind Pulp or Juice.
# 2 Medium Sized Onions
# 4 Tomatoes Sliced
# 3-4 Green Chillies Chopped
# 1 Ginger Chopped Fine
# Chana Masala
# Salt to Taste
# Masala : Red Chilli Powder, Roasted black Cumin Seeds, Dry Coriander fine powdered
# Oil 2 Tbsp

Method
# Wash Chana Dal and soak it overnight.
# Boil the soaked Chana Dal in a Cooker for 15 Minutes.
# Leave the Chana Dal aside and allow it to cool.
# Heat a Pan or Karahi or Cooker with 2 TbSp. Oil, Jeera(Roasted Black Cumin Seeds), Dhania (Coriander Powder),Chana Masala, Red Chilli Powder, Salt and fry for 1-2 minutes.
# Put in Adrak(Ginger) and Hari Mirch(Green Chillies) and continue frying.
# Add Imli Juice(Tamarind Juice) in the Pan and mix them well.
# Bring the Mixture to a boil.Add Chana dal to the mixture.
# Cook for 5-6 Minutes.
# Garnish with Onion, Tomato Slices, and Fresh Coriander.

(Khatte Chane is Ready.Serve with Kulchas,Bread, or Bhaturas.)

Home Improvement : Lentil Stock is good for plants !

a. Use the water used for washing dals and rice to water the plants. This water is very rich in nutrients and acts as a fertilizer.
b. Remove yellow food stains from table mats, etc., by applying a paste of detergent and water to the stained areas and keep in the sun for an hour. Wash like your other laundry.

Next time, do not throw away the Lentil Stock…

Buzzword : Chakla-Belan and Sil -Batta
Chakla-Belan : Chakla is a small marble or wood platform, belan, the rolling pin , is usually made of wood. The two are used for rolling dough to make various Indian breads.

Sil-Batta : Two pieces of stone, one is a flat platform or sil, and the other — batta — which is much smaller, is a akin to a rolling pin without the handles. The sil-batta is used to grind fresh masala and other pastes.

Cooking Tip: Choosing Good Eggplants In sync with the theme, here’s more on eggplants or brinjals. Everyone has a different method of identifying good eggplants. One way is to see that is is shiny and deep in colour. Also, the most important thing you should do is lighlty toss it in your hand and try to estimate its weight. The ones with less weight to size proportion are better — reason being they contain less seeds (seeds weight more than fleshy part).

Quick Tip: Keeping garlic fresh for a longer period of time: Peel and mince a full garlic clove, then place it in a small jar and cover with olive oil. You can refrigerate it for about one week, and to your great surprise, it will remain fresh and will give you the same garlic flavor.

Pakwan Buzzword: Degchi/Pateela/Handi/Deg
These all belong to the same family of pots and are traditionally made of brass or copper. Nowadays, the use of stainless steel and aluminium is also widely used. The shape of the vessel may vary. The pateela has straight sides and the bottom is slightly rounded. The handi, on the other hand, has a neck that is more
narrow than the base. A deg is a bigger version of the handi.