Caramel Custard

Hmm I never knew this mouth watering recipe is so easy..tried it yesterday and it came out just fantastic..thanks Clare..

You need:
Eggs: two
milk: 1 1/4 cup
sugar: 1/2 cup
vanilla essence: 3-4 drops

Preparing caramel:

• Heat 2tspn sugar in non stick pan stirring continuously. The sugar will melt. When it turns brown and the bubbles start coming take it off from fire and shift it to aluminium or steel mould.
• Keep this caramel in freezer for 5 minutes.

Custard:

• Beat the eggs with beater, add remaining sugar and warm milk and beat it again.
• Strain the mixture to remove egg threads.
• Add essence and mix it well.
• Pour it in the mould over caramel.
• Cover the vessel with tin foil, make some fine holes on the foil for steam to escape.
• Steam the custard in pressure cooker without placing weight (whistle) for 20 mins on slow flame. (Put 2 cup water in the cooker and heat it till it starts steaming. Place a hollow ring at the bottom and then place the mould. Close the lid and let it steam for 20 mins. Preferably take a deeper mould).
• After the pressure cooker cools, remove the mould from pressure cooker and take off the foil. Use a knife and gently nudge the custard sticking to the mould walls.
• Keep the serving plate or dish on mould's top. Invert the mould quickly so that the custard tranfers to the dish with caramel on top.
• Chill it for 1-2 hours and serve.

Maithi ki kadhi

Maithi ki kadhi is a curd based recipe which is one of my favorites since childhood. It is generally made in winters and tastes good with rice.

You need:
curd: 500 gms
gram flour (besan): 3 tb spn
Fenugreek leaves dried (Kasuri maithi): 3 tbspn
(You can use fresh green leaves also, will need 1/2 cup chopped)
fenugreek seeds (maithi dana): 1/2 tspn
mustard seeds (rai): 1 tspn
asofoetida (heeng): 1 pinch
turmeric powder (haldi powder): 1tsp
coriander powder: 2 tspn
green chilly chopped: 1 large
curry leaves: 8-10

How to proceed:

• Beat curd well, add gram flour and mix well so that no lumps are there. 
• Heat oil, add mustard seeds to splutter, add green chilly and curry leaves.
• Add fenugreek seeds, asofoetida, coriander powder, turmeric powder and saute.
• Slowly add the curd mixture stirring continously. Add 500 ml water, and keep stirring continuously on high flame till one boil. (The curd will split if you stop stirring)
• Add salt and let the kadhi simmer for 10 minutes on low flame. In between  add fenugreek leaves after two-three boils.
• Add garam masala and let it cook for 3-4 minutes or till desired consistency is achieved.
• Serve hot with rice.

Chilled macroni salad

I made this two days ago and it tasted awesome..My husband just went gaga over it... preferred this over dinner. Thanks to my sis Vaishali for sharing this with me..
 Dressing: Churn in mixer for 2-3 minutes- (3 tbspn chopped onions, 2 tb spn oil, 1/2 tspn each of red chilly powder, mustard powder, pepper, salt, sugar; 1 tspn oregano, 3 flakes garlic, 1tbspn lemon juice, 2 tbspn vinegar, 1/2 bay leaf crushed). Refrigerate the dressing in deep freezer for 10 minutes.

• Meanwhile, boil 1 cup macroni. Add macroni to boiling water with 1 tspn salt and 1 tb spn oil, drain when cooked.
• Saute 3 tbspn peanuts with 1 tbspn oil
• Take half capsicum chopped (1/2 " squares).
• Cut slices of one small sized cucumber.
• Mix macroni, peanuts and capsicum with the dressing. Garnish it with a cucumber slices on top and keep in refrigerator.
• Serve chilled.

Baigan lababdar (Eggplant marinate recipe)

This is a yum curry made of small brinjals/baigan/eggplant. simple and easy..just try it out...

You need:
Brinjals (Eggplant): 6-7 small sized cut into four pieces (vertically )
ginger (grated): 1tspn
green chilly: 1 chopped
Onion: 2 medium sized (thin long slices )
tomato: 1 large sized (thin long slices)
turmeric powder/ haldi: 1/2 tspn
oil: 4-5 tbspn
salt
mustard seeds: 1/2 tspn
Marinate: 1/2 cup thick curd, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tspn red chilly powder, 1/2 tspn garam masala, salt
green coriander: for garnishing

• Heat 2 tbspn oil, add brinjal pieces, turmeric powder, salt and saute. Cook covered till brinjals are cooked well. For better taste you can deep fry these brinjals...I avoid deep frying.
• Marinate cooked brinjals. Keep in refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Heat 3 tbspn oil, add mustard seeds, green chilly, ginger and saute onion till they are cooked well.
• Add tomatoes and saute for 2-3 minutes.
• Add brinjals pieces and mix well.
• Add the remaining curd mixture from marinate and half cup water, cook covered for 3-4 minutes.
• Transfer in a serving dish and garnish it with chopped coriander

Kheer

Things required:

Milk (full creme): 1 ltr

Sugar: 5 tbspn

Rice (chawal): 2 tbspn

cardamom: 1 seeds crushed

Makhane (fox nut): 1/2 cup chopped

kishmish (raisins): 15-20

Badaam (almonds): 3-4 for garnishing

• Soak rice in water for 15-20 mins.
• Also soak raisins in water to avoid splitting of milk. 
• Heat milk in a thick bottomed pan. Bring to boil and then add sugar.
• After another boil add rice. Let the kheer cook on slow flame for 20-25 mins.
• When it is a little thick, add makane and keep it simmering for another 10 mins
• Once it has reached the desired consistency, add cardamom seed powder, raisins, garnish it with chopped almonds and serve.

Besan ki papdi

Another diwali preparation... I made it today. This recipe hails from Bundelkhand in central India. Very common among Jains there, its like papad.

You need:
Besan (Gram flour): 2 cups
ajwain (carom seeds): 1 tspn
garam masala: 1/2 tspn
red chilly powder: 1 tspn
salt: to taste
Oil: to fry and for moin (binder)

Directions:

• Add 5 tbspn warm oil as moin (binder) to besan and rub to mix well. Check by binding it in fist, it should bind and take the shape of the fist (muthhi moin).
• Add ajwain, garam masala, red chilly powder, salt and knead it very tight with warm water.
• After kneading, the dough needs to be worked on more. For this I prefer to beat it with some stone. Since I didnt have big grinding stone, I used the beater of small ginger crusher at home. Beat the dough to make it flat, roll over and again beat it flat. Repeat this 7-8 times.

• Make two balls of the dough, roll them into a coil, and cut equal sized portions of 1" dia, 3/4" thickness (loi). I used a thread to cut them.

• Keep them covered for 1-2 hours.
• Coat each portion with besan and roll into a 2" dia papdi. Keep them on dry cloth for half an hour.
• Once the papdis are a little tight, roll them again to make 4" dia big papdis. The thinner they are the better they taste.
• Keep on placing all the papdis on same dry cloth and once you are done with rolling, start frying with the first rolled.
• Heat oil, and on medium flame fry all the papdis- sliding one at a time, turning each of them 2-3 times. 
• Take out on tissue paper to absorb extra oil.
• Let them cool, and then store/serve.

Shakkarpare

Shakkarpare is very common in north India . It is a sugar coated sweet made of white flour. My mom used to make them for me and I just loved them for their taste and softness. I never tried making it myself, but this Diwali I tried and it turned out well (ofcourse mom was troubled a couple of times over phone :). But then, I can take this liberty with none else but my most talented mom who taught me everything- cooking, stitching, crochet, needle work, painting, and what not. All I am and everything I know, I owe to my mother. I love you mom!
I am bringing you here one of my favorite home made sweet..

You require: 
Maida (White Flour): 4 cups
Ghee to fry and add moin (binder)
sugar: 1 1/4 cup
clove: 4-5 pices
cardamom : 2 pieces, seeds powdered

• Add 10 tbspn ghee (moin) to maida and rub well. Try to bind it in fist and it should take the shape (mutthi moin).
• Knead it with warm water (neither too hard, nor too soft).
• Make five portions. Roll one portion to make a 7" dia pancake, about 1/2 cm thick.
• Cut 1" *1/2" pieces (shaped like a parallelogram)
• Heat ghee, slide 15-20 at a time and cook on slow flame for 4-5 minutes. Before taking out increase the flame and fry for half a minute continuously turningthem, so that the shakkarpare's get a beige colour (I missed taking pics at this stage).
• Frying tip: Add the shakkarpare in high flame, later reduce the flame and fry in low flame, turning 2-3 times. Increase the flame before removing, so that the oil is hot for the next round. The colour of the shakkarpare is light beige. So take care that the oil never gets very hot to turn them brown.

For sugar coating/ chaashni chadana.

• Take sugar in a thick bottomed pan  and add 1/3 cup water. Keep it on low flame stirring in between. The sugar dissolves and starts boiling in some time. To check when it is done, take little syrup on laddle, press it between your fore finger and thumb, release them. It is about two strings and makes a ball when rubbed. Or try to cover a shakkarpara, it should coat it well and start drying. At this stage remove from  fire and add cloves and cardamon seed powder. The cloves are removed later but they add a nice flavour to the sugar coating.
• Meanwhile take all the shakkarpare in a big plate, or bowl  (Paraat). Pour the chaashni/sugar syrup on them and turn them so that sugar coats on all of them. 
• Let them cool , separate them if they stick to each other and serve.

Quick chakoli

As the festival of Diwali ushers in, we are tempted to prepare lots of mithai..Some sweets, some salty snacks-like chakoli. Its crispy and very tasty.I have never found anyone saying "No" to Chakli or chakoli.  Though it is made in many ways with different combinations of ingredients- rice, pulses, groundnut etc etc, I am putting up something hassle free that does not require any roasting or grinding. Simple ingredients: flour and dhuli moong dal (Split green gram). So here we go!!!

Take out:
Maida (White flour): 3 cups
Dhuli Moong dal (split green gram): 1 cup
Oil: to deep fry
salt: to taste
Zeera (Cumin seeds): 1 tspn
Ajwain (Carom seeds): 1 tspn
red chilly powder: 1 tspn

Get Going:

• Wash dal. Add two cups water.
• Cook dal and steam maida in pressure cooker. Take 2 cups of water at the bottom of cooker, keep dal with water in a jar at the bottom (covered) and keep maida on top (uncovered). Take 3 whistles.
• Break lumps in maida when it is slightly hot. Add zeera, ajwain, lal mirch and salt. Add boilded dal and knead it. The water added while cooking dal is enough to knead (if required you may add some warm water).
• Make small chakoli's using the a saancha (chakoli maker).

• Heat Oil, slide 3-4 chakolis at a time in hot oil. Use a jhara (flat laddle with pores) to pick the chakolis from plate and slip in oil. Fry them in low flame turning once or twice in between. Take chakolis out of oil and place them on tissue paper to soak excess oil. Store after chakolis cool down. 
• Frying tip: Add the chakolis in high flame, later reduce the flame and fry them in low flame, turning 2-3 times. Increase the flame before removing, so that the oil is hot for the next round. The colour of the chakoli is creamish. So take care that the oil never gets very hot to turn chakolis brown.

Carrot do Pyaza

This is a quick preparation and tastes well when hot. It takes 10 minutes to cook and it is advised to make it in the end and serve directly from the pan to table.

You need: 
Carrot Grated: 1 cup
Onion (sliced): 1 cup
Peas: 1/2 cup
green chilly: 1 chopped
Cumin seeds: 1 tspn
coriander powder: 1 tspn
turmeric: 1/2 tspn
garam masala: 1/2 tspn
salt: to taste
Oil: 1 1/2 tbspn

• Heat Oil in pan. Add cumin seeds to crackle, add green chilly, coriander powder, turmeric and saute for a minute.
• Add Onion, saute continuously till they are brown.
• Add peas and carrot, salt and cook covered for 5-6 minutes (stirring in between).
• Add garam masala, and cook uncovered for 2 minutes, sauting .
• Serve hot.

Suzi ka Halwa (Semolina sweet)

Things required:
Suzi bareek (Semolina fine): 1 cup
Pure ghee (melted white plain butter): 1 cup
sugar: 1 cup
warm water : 2 cups
cardamom: 2 pieces (peeled and powdered)
dry coconut grated (for garnishing)
cahewnut: 5-6, broken half
almonds: 4 pieces (cut into small pieces)
Raisins: 10-15
Preparation
Melt ghee in a kadhai, add suzi (semolina) and then roast suzi in ghee on slow flame till it turns brown. Roasting should be done on slow flame with continous stirring. Increase the flame high, add water and then sugar and stirr continously so that no lumps are formed. Reduce the flame and cook covered for 2-3 minutes. Add cardamom powder, raisins mix well. Transfer in serving dish and garnish with chopped cashew nuts and sliced almonds and serve.