Delicious Kesari

Preparation:10 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total Time: 20 mins
Servings: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup semolina (rava)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup ghee
4 to 5 cardamoms
4 to 5 cashewnuts (kaju)
4 to 5 raisins (kismis)
1 pinch of orange food colour

Method

Heat a pan, add the semolina and roast till they turn golden brown.Boil 2 cups water in a deep pan, add the roasted semolina, while stirring constantly.Add the sugar gradually and mix well.Add the colour and ghee, mix well and remove from the flame.Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a small pan, add the cashew and raisins and saute till they turn golden brown.Add powdered cardomom and add this to the semolina mixture and mix well.Serve hot.

Aam Panna

Preparation:10 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total Time: 25 mins
Servings: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

500 gms raw mango
sugar to taste
black salt (sanchal) to taste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) powder
few mint leaves (phudina)

Method

Peel, wash and cut mangoes into pieces.Combine the mango pieces along with the seeds and little water in a pressure pan and boil for 5 minutes.Allow to cool and then strain.Add the sugar, salt and cumin seeds powder and mix well.Refrigerate till it is cool.Serve chilled in tall glasses with a few mint leaves floating on top.

Dahi Baingan

Preparation:10 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Total Time: 40 mins
Servings: Makes 3 to 4 servings

Ingredients

4 chopped brinjals (baingan / eggplant)
250 gms curds (dahi)
2 to 3 whole dry kashmiri red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp coriander (dhania) powder
1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) powder
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1 tbsp oil
oil for shallow frying
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste

Method

For deep frying the brinjals
For deep frying the brinjalsIn a nonstick pan or wok heat around 12-14 tsp of oil and let the brinjals cook till they are golden brown.This should take roughly around 18-20 minutes on medium high heat.
For the gravy
For the gravyIn a nonstick pan or wok heat around 1 tsp of oil.Add the dried red chilli and let it heat up.Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and fennel seeds and heat it up till they start crackling.Add a pinch of hing.Add haldi, jeera, dhania and red chilli and saute well for 2 minutes.Add curd and salt and saute for a minute.Add sugar/jaggery (optional) and stir for a minute.Add the fried brinjal in the gravy and mix it well for 2 minutes.Serve hot with rice.

Veg Appe

Preparation:10 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Servings: Makes 25 pieces

Ingredients

semolina (rava)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cucumber , grated
1 carrot , grated
1 onion , chopped
2 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
ghee for greasing

Method

Combine the rava,buttermilk and salt in a deep bowl to make batter of dropping consistency.Cover and keep aside and aloow it to ferment for 5 hours.Add the Cucumber,carrot, onions and chilly powder to the batter.Heat the appe mould on a medium flame and grease it with a little ghee.Pour a spoonful of the batter into each mould.Allow it cook on slow flame for 10 min then turn the appe slowly using a knife.Cook the other side for 10 mins or till it turns golden brown in colour.Check inserting a screwer if done or not.Serve hot with Tomato Ketchup.

Bendhi Masala

Preparation:10 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Servings: Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

500 gms ladies finger (bhindi)
2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
1 tsp urad dal (split black lentils)
4 curry leaves (kadi patta)
1 cup chopped onions
1 tbsp ginger-garlic (adrak-lehsun) paste
1/4 cup tomato puree
salt to taste
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp coriander (dhania) powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper powder
oil for deep frying

Method

Cut the ladies finger in criss cross lenthwise.Heat the oil in a kadhai and deep fry the bhindi till crisp.Keep aside.Heat the oil in another pan and add the mustard seeds, urad dal.When the seeds crackle, add the curry leaves, onions and ginger-garlic paste, mix well and saute till the onions turn translucent.Add the tomato puree, salt, chilli powder, coriander powder, pepper and turmeric powder, mix well and cook for 5-7 minutes on slow flame.Add the fried ladies finger and simmer for a minute.Serve hot.

Sweet Corn Appe

Preparation:10 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total Time: 20 mins
Servings: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup roasted semolina (rava)
1/2 cup curds (dahi)
1/2 tbsp chopped green chillies
1/2 tbsp chopped red chillies
1/4 cup chopped onions
2 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
1/3 cup boiled sweet corn kernels (makai ke dane)
salt to taste
1 tsp fruit salt
oil as required

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl except fruit salt and mix well.Add water if required to get idli type consistency.Lastly add fruit salt and mix well.Put the batter in the greased appe moulds and close and cook for 2-3 minutes till golden.Overturn the appes and cook again for 2-3 minutes till golden.Can apply oil on top if required for cooking the appes.Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Sweet Spring Onion Dosa

Preparation:15 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Servings: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup rice (chawal) , soaked for 2 hours
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
3 to 4 red chillies
1 tsp coriander (dhania) seeds
2 tsp tamarind water
1 tbsp grated jaggery (gur)
4 to 5 spring onion whites , finely chopped
salt to taste
oil for cooking

Method

Combine the rice with coconut,chillies, coriander seeds and tamarind and blend in a mixer into a smooth paste. Keep aside for 8 hours.Add the jaggery, spring onions and salt, mix well and prepare a batter of puring consistency.Heat a tava, grease it with little oil and pour a spoon full of batter on it and spread in a circular motion to prepare dosas.Serve hot with butter.

Flaky Lachha Paratha

Preparation:15 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Servings: Makes 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
4 tbsp butter or ghee
1 tsp salt
1 cup plain flour (maida)
1/2 cup curds (dahi)
warm water to knead
oil for cooking

Method

Mix everything together and knead the dough with warm water.Keep aside, covered for about 20 minutes at least.Again, resting of dough is important since it helps in increasing the pliability.Now, take the dough almost double the size of what’s required for a chapathi and roll it as big as you can without tearing it apart.This should not be very thin though else it will tear off in the next step.Spread some oil and sprinkle the flour over the circle.Take a knife and very gently cut the circle lengthwise into 10-12 strips.Start rolling these strips in concentric circles one around anotherOnce all the strips are rolled over, flatten the ball with your palms and sprinkle some more flour.Start rolling gently so that the strips don't fall out.Once its flattened out, flip it on the hot griddle and apply some oil on top.Flip side and apply oil on the other side.Cook on medium-low flame till both sides get cooked properly.Once cooked, take it off the griddle and tap gently between palms.This will bring out the flakes and layers out and you will get that crisp texture out.Serve hot.

Paneer Makhanwalla

Preparation:30 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Servings: Makes 3 to 4 servings

Ingredients

For Onion-cashew Paste
1 tsp oil
1 tsp butter
2 onions , chopped
8 to 10 cashewnuts
1 tbsp fresh curds (dahi)

Other Ingredients
250 gms paneer (cottage cheese) , cut in cubes
1/2 cup par-boiled green peas
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp ginger (adrak) paste
1 tsp garlic (lehsun) paste
1/2 tsp green chilli paste
1 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup onion-cashew paste , recipe above
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tspn garam masala
salt to taste
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
1 tbsp honey
1 cup fresh cream

For Garnishing
chopped coriander (dhania)
fresh cream

Method

for onion-cashew paste
for onion-cashew pasteHeat oil and butter in a pan, add the onions and saute till it changes its colour.Add the cashews and saute for a minute or two.Allow the mixture to cool for some time.Add some curds, mix well and blend in a mixer to a smooth paste, adding water if required.Keep aside.
How to proceed
How to proceedHeat oil and butter in a pan, add ginger paste, garlic paste and green chilli paste and saute for a minute.Add the tomato puree, mix well and saute till it starts leaving oil from the sides.Add the prepared onion-cashew paste, mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, salt and honey and mix well and cook for 1 minute.Add the dried fenugreek leaves and mix well.Add fresh cream and simmer for 2 minutes on medium heat.Add paneer cubes and par-boiled green peas, cover and cook on a slow flame for 5-8 minutes so that the paneer soaks the gravy.Transfer it into a serving dish.Garnish with coriander and drizzle some fresh cream.Serve hot with indian breads like roti, naan or kulcha.

South indian beeda

Preparation:null
Cook: 0 mins
Total Time: 0 mins
Servings:

Ingredients

4-5 paan leaves ( south indian variety)
these can be easily got from any south indian store. they are called vettalai.
1 tsp edilble calcium paste also called chunaambu in tamil. readily available in south indian stores.
few betel nuts.
3 tsp dessicated and flavoured coconut flakes. (optional)
4-5 cloves

Method

Wash the leaves properly and dry them. apply a bit of the edible calcium paste on the centre of the leaf with finger, put little betel nut and top with dessicated coconut. fold the leaf into pan shape and seal with a clove. serve.

Mamra Upmath

Preparation:20 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Servings: Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

2 cups puffed rice (kurmura)
2 potatoes , boiled and chopped
1 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
1/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
5 to 6 curry leaves (kadi patta)
1/2 cup broken wheat (dalia)
1/2 cup roasted and powdered peanuts
2 tsp ginger-green chilli paste
salt to taste
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp garam masala

Method

Wash and soak the puffed rice in enough water for 5 minutes.Drain and keep aside.Heat the oil in a kadhai and add the mustard seeds.When the seeds crackle, add the cumin seeds and curry leaves and saute for 10 seconds.Add the potatoes, broken wheat and groundnut powder and saute for 3 minutes.Add the puffed rice, salt, turmeric powder, ginger-green chilli paste, garam masala and lemon juice and mix well and cook for 3 minutes.Serve hot garnished with coconut and coriander.

Amla Rice

Preparation:20 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Servings: Makes 3 to 4 servings

Ingredients

7 amlas (indian gooseberries)
1/2 cup grated coconut
4 to 5 sliced green chillies
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tbsp peanuts
1/2 tsp chana dal (split bengal gram)
1/2 tsp urad dal (split black lentils)
5 dry red chillies
a pinch asafoetida (hing)
6 curry leaves (kadi patta)
a pinch turmeric powder (haldi)
2 1/2 cups steamed rice (chawal)
1/4 cup boiled green peas

Method

Wash and chop the amla around the seed and discard the seeds.Combie the amlas, coconut, green chilles and salt and blend in a mixer into paste, adding little water. Keep aside.Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds.When the seeds crackle, add the peanuts, urad dal, chana dal, chillies, asafoedita and curry leaves, and saute for a minute on a medium flame.Add the ground amla paste and turmeric powder, mix well and cook on a slow flame for 3 minutes, stirring once in between.Add the steamed rice, green peas and salt and mix gently, cover and cook for 2 minutes on a medium flame.Serve hot.

Venn Pongal

Preparation:8 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total Time: 28 mins
Servings:

Ingredients

2 cups rice (chawal)
3/4 cup moong dal (split green gram) , dry roasted to a golden brown
1 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
cumin seeds (jeera) powder and turmeric powder (haldi)
salt to taste
good bunch of curry leaves (kadi patta)
little chopped ginger (adrak)
5 to 6 tbsp ghee or melted butter
cashewnuts (kaju)

Method

Wash rice and roasted dal. add water to one inch above level of rice.Add turmeric and let it simmer.Add a little more water if not semi- solid.When done remove from heat.Warm ghee and roast cashews until a golden, remove carefully and set aside.Throw in cumin seeds, cracked pepper, curry leaves into the ghee and in a minute or two pour int onto the pongal with the cashews.Add the ginger. mix well.