Shrikhand

Ingredients:

1/2 kg. curds
300 gms. sugar
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
Few strands saffron
1/2 tbsp. pista & almond crushed

How to Make:

Tie curd in a clean muslin cloth overnight. (6-7 hours).
Take into a bowl, add sugar and mix.
Keep aside for 25-30 minutes to allow sugar to dissolve.
Rub saffron into 1 tbsp. milk till well broken and dissolved. Keep aside.
Beat well till sugar has fully dissolved into curd.
Pass through a big holed strong strainer, pressing with hand or spatula.
Mix in cardamom powder and dissolved saffron and half nuts.
Put into a glass serving bowl, top with remaining nut crush.
Chill for 1-2 hours before serving.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Makes: 6-7 servings
Shelf life: 3-4 days refrigerated

Variations: To make fruit flavored shrikhand eg. mango, add pulp at the stage of adding cardamom and saffron.

Adai

Ingredients

Rice - ½ cup
Urad dhal - ¼ cup
Chana dhal - ¼ cup
Thoor dhal - ¼ cup
Yellow Moong dhal - ¼ cup
Red chilies
Salt

How to Make:

Wash and soak the following in in 4 cups of water for 3-4 hours - Rice, Whole Green Mung, Toor Daal & Channa Daal.
Drain out the water.
Add the rice and dhal mixture and all of the remaining ingredients (except for oil) in a blender and grind using a little fresh water. The consistency should be that of pancake batter.
Heat a griddle/skillet/tava on medium to high heat.
Heat a couple of drops of oil on the griddle and once it is hot, smear and wipe off the oil with a paper towel.
With a flat-bottomed ladle, pour a scoop of batter in the center of the griddle.
Place the bottom of the ladle flat on the center of batter. In an outward circular motion, spread the batter evenly.
Drizzle oil sparingly on the Adai and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes.
Run the tip of your spatula around the outer edge of the Adai allowing it to flip over easily.
Flip the Adai to the other side. It should be golden-brown in color.
Serve immediately with a blob of butter or chutney.

Ulundu vada

Ingredients

Urad dhal
Hari mirch
Salt

How to Make:

Soak dhal in water over night. Grind dhal in little water.
Then make vada shape and deep fry in oil.

Sarson Ka Saag

Ingredients

1 bunch Sarson greens
1 bunch spinach
1 onion grated
1/2 tsp. each ginger & garlic grated
3 green chilies
1 tbsp. grated cheese o r paneer (optional)
1/2 lemon juice
salt to taste
2 tbsp. ghee
1 tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. gram masala
1 tbsp. maize flour

How to Make:

Chop greens, wash, drain.
Heat oil.
Add both greens, green chilies, stir.
Add ginger, garlic, stir.
Add few pinches salt, 1 cup water.
Pressure cook till done. (2 whistles).
Mash well.
Heat ghee in a pan, add onion, saute till brown,
Add all other ingredients, except cheese.
Stir well and cook till oil separates.
Garnish with cheese.
Serve hot with makki ki roti, or paratha.

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Makes: 3-4 servings
Shelf life: Best fresh

Green All-Purpose Chutney

Ingredients:

15 green chilies
1/2 cup coriander
1/2 lemon
1 tbsp. Sev or potato wafers crushed
1/2 tsp. Jaggery
Salt to taste
1 tsp. oil
1 clove of garlic

How to Make:

Put all the ingredients, except oil and asafetida, to a small mixer.
Heat the oil and add the asafetida and put into the mixer.
Run the mixer till smooth chutney is obtained.
Try using no water or as little as possible to make the chutney keep longer.
Add water as and when required.
Store in a clean glass bottle.

Note: Sev is a fried Indian snack made of gram flour.

Makes 1/2 cup chutney
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Shelf life: 1 week (refrigerated)

Hot Kachori

Ingredients

For cover:

1 1/2 cup plain flour
3 tbsp. oil
Salt to taste
Cold water to knead dough

For filling:

1 cup yellow moong dhal washed and soaked for 1/2 hour
1 tsp. gram masala
1 tsp. red chili powder
1/2 tsp. coriander powder
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds crushed coarsely
1/2 tsp. fennel (saunf) seeds crushed coarsely
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tbsp. coriander leaves finely chopped
Salt to taste
2-3 pinches asafetida
1 tbsp. oil
oil to deep fry
1 tbsp. plain flour for patching

How to Make:

For cover:

Mix flour, salt and oil, knead into soft pliable dough.
Keep aside for 30 minutes.

For filling:

Put plenty of water to boil. Add dhal.
Boil dhal for 5 minutes, drain.
Cool a little. Heat oil in a heavy pan.
Add all seeds whole and crushed allow to splutter.
Add asafetida, mix. Add all other ingredients.
Mix well. Do not smash the dhal fully.
But enough to make the mixture hold well.
Remove from fire, cool.
Divide into 15 portions.
Shape into balls with greased palms.
Keep aside.

To proceed:

Make a paste with water, of flour for patching.
Keep aside.
Take a ping pong ball sized portion of dough.
Knead into round. Roll into 4" Diam. round.
Place one ball of filling at centre.
Pick up round and wrap ball into it like a pouch.
Break off excess dough carefully.
Do not allow cover to tear.
Press the ball with palm, making it flattish and round.
Repeat for 4-5 kachories.
Deep fry in hot oil, on low flame only.
If the kachori get a hole anywhere, apply some paste.
Return to oil and finish frying.
Turn and repeat for other side.
Fry till golden and crisp. Small bubbles must appear over kachori.
Drain and serve hot with green and tamarind chutneys.

Preparation time: 1 hour (excluding soaking and cooling times)
Makes: 10-12 pieces
Shelf life: 2-3 days

Note: Take care to fry on low. Hurried frying will result in soggy and oily kachories.

Malai Kofta

Ingredients:

Gravy:

125 gms. Cream
75 gms. khoya or paneer
150 ml. milk
50 gms. Cashew nuts
3 tsp. White pepper powder.
2 1/2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. grated ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. garlic crushed
1" cinnamon
6 cloves
6 cardamoms
salt to taste
3 tbsp. ghee

Kofta:

50 gms. Khoya
50 gms. Paneer
5 medium potatoes
20 gms. cashew nuts
20 gms. Raisins
4-5 green chilies chopped fine
1/2 tsp. ginger grated
1 tsp. coriander chopped
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
Salt to taste

Garnish:

1 tbsp. grated cheese or paneer
1 tbsp. chopped coriander

How to Make:

Koftas
Boil the potatoes, peel and smash them.
Mix together all the ingredients except raisins and cashews.
Take ping-pong ball sized dough in hand.
Flatten. Place 2-3 cashews and raisins in the centre and shape into a ball.
Repeat for remaining dough. Keep aside.

Gravy:
Roast the cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves together.
Dry grind and keep aside. Wet grind all the other ingredients, except ghee, to a paste.
Heat ghee in a skillet, add powdered spices and fry for 2-3 seconds.
Add paste and fry further for 5-7 minutes stirring well.
Add 2 cups water and simmer on low for 15 minutes.
Warm the koftas either in the oven or on the tava.

Optional: You can deep fry the koftas also.
To serve place warm koftas in a casserole.
Either pour boiling hot gravy on the koftas or pour and bake in hot oven of 5 minutes.
Garnish with grated cheese and chopped coriander.
Serve hot with naan or parathas.

Preparation time: 45 minutes.
Makes: 10 koftas with gravy.
Shelf life: Best fresh.

Shahi Paneer

Ingredients:

250 gms. Paneer (cottage cheese)
3 tbsp. ghee or butter
1 onion chopped into strips
1/2" piece ginger chopped fine
2 green chilies chopped fine
4 tomatoes chopped fine
2 cardamoms crushed
1/4 cup beaten curd
1/2 tsp. red chili powder
1/2 tsp. gram masala
Salt to taste
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. tomato sauce
To garnish:
2 tbsp. grated paneer
1 tbsp. chopped coriander

How to Make:

Chop the paneer into 2" fingers.
Heat half the ghee. Add onion, ginger, green chili and cardamom. Fry for 3-4 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook for 7-8 minutes, covered.
Add curd and cook for 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup water and cool.
Blend till smooth.
Heat remaining ghee; add gravy and other ingredients except milk and paneer.
Boil till gravy gets very thick.
Just before serving, heat gravy, add milk and paneer fingers and boil for 3-4 minutes.
Garnish with chopped coriander and grated paneer.

Preparation time: 45 minutes.
Makes for: 6
Shelf life: best fresh.

Sindhi Sai Bhaji

Ingredients:

1 each - carrot, capsicum, onion, small cabbage, potato, brinjal, tomato, ladyfinger (okra)
100 gms. French beans
1/2 bunches each spinach, coriander, khatta (3 leaved) greens.
1/2 bunches any other leafy greens.
1 cup green gram dhal
1/2 cup horse gram dhal (channa dhal)
4-5 green chilies
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. red chili powder
1 tsp. coriander seed powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. turmeric
3 tbsp. oil
1/2 tbsp. ghee
2 pinches asafetida

How to Make:

Clean and wash dhal.
Clean, wash and chop spinach and vegetables except tomato.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker; add all the vegetables, spinach and dhal.
Mix well; add enough water to cover the contents.
Add all masala and mix.
Place whole tomato on top, cover and pressure-cook for 3 whistles.
Cool the cooker, open and hand blends the contents.
Heat 1/2 tbsp. ghee add a pinch of asafetida add to the mashed vegetable.
Serve hot with paratha or steamed rice

Preparation time: 30 minutes (excluding cooling time)
Makes for: 6
Shelf life: Best fresh

Gobi Manchurian

Ingredients:

1 medium. Cauliflower (clean and broken into big florettes.)
1 small bunch spring onion finely chopped
2 tsp. ginger finely chopped
1 tsp. garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup plain flour
3 tbsp. corn flour
1/4 tsp. red chili powder
2 red chilies, dry
3 tbsp. oil
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp. milk

How to Make:

Boil the florettes for 3-4 minutes in plenty of water, to which a tbsp. of milk has been added.
Drain and pat dry on a clean cloth.
Make thin batter out of flour and 2 tbsp. corn flour, adding 1/4 tsp. each of ginger and garlic and red chili powder and salt to taste.
Dip the florettes in the batter one by one and deep fry in hot oil. Keep aside.
In the remaining oil, add remaining ginger, garlic and crushed red chili and fry for a minute.
Add the salt and spring onions.
Stir fry for a minute. Add 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil.
Add 1 tbsp. corn flour to 1/4 cup water and dissolve well.
Gradually add to the gravy and stir continuously till it resumes boiling.
Boil till the gravy becomes transparent. Add florettes and Soya sauce.
Boil for two more minutes and remove.
Serve hot with noodles or rice.

Variations:

Dry Manchurian can be made by omitting the gravy.
Make florettes as above and instead of adding water as above, add fried florettes, spring onions and Soya at this stage.
Sprinkle 1 tsp. corn flour on the florettes and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Serve piping hot with toothpicks or mini forks and chill garlic sauce or tomato sauce.
Same procedure for vegetable Manchurian (with gravy or dry), but instead of using only cauliflower, use finely chopped minced vegetables and bind with some corn flour or bread crumbs and make small lumps the size of a ping pong ball.
Fry as above and proceed as above.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Sufficient for: 6
Shelf life: Best fresh

Ulundu Vada

Ingredients:

Urad dhal - 1 cup
Big Onion finely chopped-1 medium size
Green Chilli finely chopped-1 medium size
Ginger finely chopped-half inch
Curry leaves finely chopped-2 table spoons
Baking soda - 2 pinches
Salt to taste
Oil as required for frying

How to Make:

Soak urad dhal in water for 5 hours.
Grind the soaked urad dhal into a fine paste (The batter should be thick. It should not flow freely from the spoon when you pour it down.)
Mix Onion, Green Chilli, Ginger, Curry leaves and Salt together.
Add the above mixture to the batter and mix well.
Add baking soda to the batter and mix well.
Heat oil in a kadai.
Dip your hands in water.
Take the batter of the size of a small ball in your palm and pat it to form a circle.
Dip your index finger in water and make a hole in the patted batter in the center.
Fry the patted batter in oil till golden brown on both sides

Vada Tips you should know

To get soft, puffy Vadas the batter should be very fine without grains.
Add baking soda just before cooking. Do not mix baking soda with the batter and leave it for a long time before cooking.

Pear and Mango Chutney

Ingredients:

250 gms. raw firm mango
250 gms. pears.
500 gms. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. red chilli powder
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tbsp. marshmelon (kharbooja) seeds.
1 tbsp. raisins.
2 cloves powdered
8 each almonds and cashews chopped finely.

How to make:

Peel and mash and pear.
Put 1 tbsp. sugar in a heavy saucepan.
Heat on a low flame, stirring and cooking till it turns brown.
Add 500 ml. water and boil.
When the sugar has fully dissolved in the water add remaining sugar.
When it begins to boil again add the mashed fruit, cashew, raisins, seeds, chilli and salt.
Boil till a thick jam consistency is obtained. Stir occasionally.
Add the clove powder and garam masala.
Cool a bit and transfer to clean airtight jar.

Time take for preparation: 1 hour
Shelf life: 1 month
Makes 1.5 kgs. chutney.

Spicy Sev

Ingredients:

2 cups gram flour (besan)
1/2 tsp. ajwain (omam) seeds
1 1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
1 tbsp. oil
salt to taste
2-3 pinches asafoetida
water to make dough
oil to deep fry

How to Make:

Mix the chilli, oil, salt and seeds into the flour.
Add enough water to make a dough which is quite gooey.
It should not be pliable but sticky.
Grease the inside of a Sev-press, fill with the dough.
Press into hot oil, and fry lightly on both sides.
Drain well and cool before storing.

Variations

You may adjust the chillies as per taste.
You may omit chillies to make bland sev.
You may add finely crushed dried herbs (eg. mint) for add flavour.
Note: A sevpress is similar to a vermicelli press, but it should be small enough to handle over hot oil.

Time taken for preparation: 15-20 minutes
Makes: 250 grams approx.

Sweet Pongal

Ingredients:

Moong dhal - 1/2 cup.
Rice - 1/2 cup.
Milk
Coconut
cashew
jaggery
raisins (khish-mish - dry grapes)
cardamom
ghee.

How to Make:

Fry the moong dhal (before washing) till it becomes little light brown (it will start smelling). Then soak rice and dhal separately for 10 minutes.
Thoroghly wash and keep it in cooker with the right water (lesser is o.k) and cook it seperately (in two different containers).
Meanwhile cut coconut in very small pieces and fry in ghee.
Fry cashew and raisins also separately.
Break the jagerry and put in water (very little) and make a syrup. This is done because sometimes jagerry has mud and stones. After we make the syrup strain it through tea strainer. Put the rice and dhal in a big vessel and add milk (may be one cup) and cook it till all the milk gets absorbed.
Add jaggery syrup and again cook till even it gets absorbed.
Add three big table spoons of ghee, powdered cardamon and cook again for a while.
Add fried coconut, cashews and raisins.
Serve hot in two cups with a spoon of ghee.

Enough for two people

Masala Vada

Ingredients

1 cup yellow gram (chana) dak
1/2 cup onion finely chopped
1/2 cup coriander finely chopped
1/2 cup dill leaves finely chopped
3-4 green chillies finely chopped
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
oil to deep fry

How to Make:

Wash and soak dal for 3-4 hours.
Keep 2 tbsp. dal aside, grind the rest,coarsely.
Mix all other ingredients, including whole dal.
Add 2-3 tbsp. hot oil to the mixture.
Heat oil, make pattie shaped rounds with moist palm.
Let carefully into the hot oil.
Fry first one side then the other till golden brown.
Serve hot with green chutney, tamarind chutney, or ketchup

Time taken for preparation: 20 minutes (excluding soaking time)
Makes: 15 vadas (approx.)

Navratan Korma

Ingredients:

2 cups peas boiled
1 large carrot chopped and boiled
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup curd
1/4 cup malai(cream)
3 tbsp. butter
1 small sweet lime
1 small apple
1 banana
2 slices pineapple
10-15 cashewnuts
20 raisins
2 glaced cherries for decoration
1 tbsp. coriander chopped
1 tbsp. ghee
salt to taste

Dry Masala:

1 tsp. cuminseeds
2 tsp. khuskhus (poppyseeds)
1 tsp. Cardamoms

Wet Masala:

1 large onion
1/4 cup coconut shredded
3 green chillies

How to make:

Grind the dry and wet masalas separately.
Chop all the fruit fine. Heat ghee and fry cashews, drain and keep aside.
Add butter to ghee and heat, add the wet masala and fry for 2 minutes.
Add the dry masala and salt and fry 2 more minutes.
Add the carrots and peas, mix together curd and cream and add to gravy.
Allow to thicken a bit, add fruit, cashews and raisins and boil till the gravy is thick and the fat separates.
Garnish with grated cheese ,coriander and chopped cherries.
Serve hot with naan, roti or paratha.

Time taken preparation: 45 minutes
Makes for 6 people

Potato in Curd Gravy

Ingredients:

3 medium. potatoes boiled and peeled
1 cup curd or yogurt beaten
1 tsp. red chilli powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dhania powder
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
1/4 tsp. garam masala
2 pinches asafoetida
1 stalk curry leaves
1 tbsp. coriander leaves chopped
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. each ginger, garlic grated
2 green chillies slit
1 tsp. each cumin, mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. wheat flour
1 tbsp. oil

How to make:

Cut potatoes into big pieces. Mash 3-4 pieces fine with hand.
Keep both aside.
Mix all the dry masala in 1/4 cup water. Heat oil.
Add the seeds (cumin and mustard). When they splutter, add ginger-garlic, chilli and curry leaves. Add the masala mixture and fry for 2 minutes.
Add beaten curd and fry for 5 minutes or till the curd loses its whiteness.
Stir continuously after adding curd.
Add the remaining water and all the potato and flour. Stir well.
Boil and simmer for 10 minutes or till gravy thickens.
Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot with thin wheat chappaties and rice.

Making time: 30 minutes.
Makes for 5 people