Rava Ladoo -- Indian Cooking Challenge

Indian cooking challenge is the event started by srivalli where in she features a recipe all the members have to prepare it and post it before the deadline.I came to know about this from my dear friend rekha.

Ingredients:-

Rava / Semolina - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 25 gms
Milk - 25 ml
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Cashew nuts - 10 whole nuts
Raisins - 10 nos
Grated fresh coconut - 25 gms

Method:-

1.Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a kadai, roast cashew nuts and raisins.
2.Roast the coconut. Keep aside.
3.Add the remaining ghee and roast the Rava till nice aroma starts coming.
4.In a bowl take all the roasted Rava, Nuts, Coconut and add the Cardamom powder.
5.Then add the sugar. Mix well.Then slowly add the warm milk into the bowl. Check if you are able to gather as balls. When you find that milk added is enough to get you laddos, transfer it back to the kadai and cook in sim for 2 mins. Mix well and then cover it and let it rest for 2 mins. Then immediately make balls or laddoos.

PS.I followed srivalli recipe.But when i started making the balls milk was not enough so i sprinkled 4-5 tbsp of hot milk and made the ladoos.

This laboo is my entry to indian-cooking-challenge

Gongura Mutton-- Mutton cooked in sorrel leaves

Ingredients:-

Mutton 1/2kg
Red sorrel leaves/gongura 1 1/2 cup
onions, finely chopped 2
Green chillis slited 3
Coriander pwd 1 tbsp
Cumin pwd 1tsp
Garam masala pwd 1tbsp
Oil 4 tbsp

For marination:
Curd 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt as per taste
Red chilli pwd 1 tbsp
Juice of small lemon



Method:-

*Marinate mutton pieces in curd, salt, turmeric pwd, chilli pwd, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice and keep aside for half an hour.

*Pressure cook till the mutton is half cooked

*Heat oil in a vessel,add onions and green chillis and saute till transparent.

*Add the sauted onions to the half cooked mutton and cook on high heat for 3-4 mts.

*Add coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala powder and mix well. Add a cup of water and adjust salt.

*Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cook for another 10-12 mts.

*Add the washed gongura leaves by roughing tearing them and mix well.

*Close the cooker with a lid and cook till the mutton pieces are soft and well cooked and the leaves have blended well with the mutton masala base.

*Serve hot with rice or roti

Mixed Fruit Halwa

Ingredients:-


Ripe mango pulp 1 cup

Pineapple peeled and chopped finely 1 cup

Green grapes seedless and finely chopped 1 cup

Banana ripe finely chopped 1

Sugar 1-1/2 cup


Method:-

Cook all the fruits together on low heat till very soft and pulpy.

Add sugar and continue to cook till it begins to leave the sides.

Let it cook and then chill.

Serve cold.

This halwa goes to srivalli's Mango Mela

Paneer Peshawari

Ingredients:-

Paneer cubed 250gms

Onion chopped 1

Tomatoes chopped 1

Onion sliced 1

Tomatoes sliced 1

Capsicum sliced 1

Green chillies chopped 2

Oil 3-4tbsp

Jeera 1tsp

Ginger garlic paste 1tbsp

Turmeric powder 1/2tsp

Jeera powder 1/2tsp

Garam masala powder 1/2tsp

Kasoori menthi 1 tsp (roast on a hot tawa for 10-15 secs.Remove and crush in between hands)

Pepper powder 1/4 tsp

Boiled cashew paste 1 tbsp (boil 5-6 cashew and then grind to a paste)

Butter 1 tbsp



Method:-

*Heat oil in a kadai,add jeera and allow it crackle

*Then add chopped onions and saute until light brown colour.

*Add ginger garlic paste and chopped tomatoes.

*Cook till oil comes out.

*Mix turmeric powder,jeera powder,garam masala powder and pepper powder with 2 tbsp of water and add to the gravy.

*Now add green chillies and saute for 2 minutes.

*Then add sliced onions,sliced tomatoes,capsicum and 8-10 tbsp of water.

*Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes.

*Add cashew paste and salt taste.

*Cook for another 4-5 minutes.

*Lastly add crushed kasoori menthi and paneer cubes and cook for another 5 minutes or until panner is soft.

I got this recipe from ndtvcooks. And dish is going to the event hosted by priya's AFAM – BELL PEPPER EVENT

Mango Jam Cake

Things required :-

Self raising flour - 2 cups

Eggs - 3 nos

Butter 1/2 cup

Mango jam 6-7 tbsp

Tutty fruity- few

Vanilla essence 1/2 tsp

Sugar 1 1/2 cup

Baking powder 1/2tsp

How to make:-

*Sift the flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl and set aside.

* Cream the butter and sugar till creamy (about 5 mins), then slowly add in the egg mixture

*Grease the tin with butter and dust it with some flour.

*Divide the dough into two equal parts.

*Pour the one part of the dough in the tin and spread the mango jam on top of it.

*Then pour the other part carefully and sprinkle tutty fruitys on the top.

*Bake at 200 degree for 50minutes.If the tooth pick when inserted comes out clean than the cake is done.The temp setting depends on the microwave/oven used.

This cakes goes to srivalli's Mango Mela

Paneer Pudina Paratha

Ingredients:-

Wheat Flour 250gms
Pudina 1 cup (chopped finely)
Panner 1-1/2 cup (grated)
Salt as per taste
Oil
Method:-

*Combine wheat flour and salt into a smooth dough.

*Mix grated panner,pudina and salt.

*Roll out small disc, place 2tbsp of the stuffing and close the edges

*Flatten it and dust it with more flour and roll out until the stuffing is not seen

*Fry on non-stick tawa with oil.

This is my entry to And also to EFM "Breakfast Recipes" hosted by Srilekha of Me and My Kitchen. and to Show Me Your Breakfast! by Divya of DilSe

Musti Dosa

Ingredients

Raw rice 2 cups
Urad dal 1/2 cup
Methi seeds 1 tbsp
Poha 1 cup
Grated coconut(fresh) 1/2 cup
Salt as per taste

Method

1. Soak rice+ urad dal+methi seeds for 2hrs in water .
2. Grind the above with the grated coconut.When half done add washed(soaked) poha &
   grind to a fine thick batter.
3. Add salt & mix well.Keep aside for 6-8hrs to ferment.
4. Preheat a non-stick tawa & spread out a ladle full of batter into it. The dosa should be of
   medium thickness.
5. Heat it on one side only and serve it hot with onion coconut chutney.

This is my entry to Show Me Your Breakfast! by Divya of DilSe.....

And also to EFM "Breakfast Recipes" and "Variety Rice Recipes hosted by Srilekha of Me and My Kitchen.

Healthy Ladoo

Last one week was very boring as my laptop has gone for a toss and i was not able to figure it out what went wrong.I changed the adapter and battery and at last hubby's friend took the laptop and fixed the errors.I was not able to read or comment on any of the blogs which i visit regularly and my apologies to everyone.

My elder daughter used to very thin and very bad eater.She just hates dal and vegetables.My younger sister gave me this ladoo recipe when i went to hyderabad and my kid liked it very much and i make it a point to give her one everyday.

What you need :-

Udat dal 1 cup

Peanuts 1/2 cup

Oats 1/2 cup

Rice 1/2 cup

Cashew 1/4 cup

Jaggery 1-2 cups (crushed) Quantity can be changed according to ones taste

Ghee 1-2 cups

How to make:-

*Fry all the above ingredients except jaggery and ghee.

*Remove skin of peanuts.Let all the ingredients cool.

*Make coarse powder of all the ingredients and add crushed jaggery and ghee.

*Make the laddoos by shaping the mixture between your palms into round balls

*Store in a air tight container.

Hyderabadi Dum Gosh Biryani

Eddited to add the new pictures

Warning:- Post is very lengthy but worth reading and making it.

When we think of biryani the first thing we get in our mind is the famous dum biryani of hyderabad.Apart from pearls hyderabad is famous for its dum biryani.Biryani is of two types pakki and kacchi gosh biryani.Pakki biryani is where mutton/chicken is cooked and layered with half cooked rice and kacchi gosh is where raw mutton/chicken is layered with half cooked rice.

Both of these types are cooked in dum i.e. bowl in which the mutton and rice are layered and sealed with chapathi dough and hot charcoal is placed above that and the flame should be kept at low so that the mutton and the rice is cooked in this slow process. We must ensure that vapours do not escape. Sealing with the dough is a cumbersome process, so I use aliminum foil to seal it and don’t use charcoal. I have been cooking this biryani every Friday since last 5 years, one can only close to the art of mastering biryani by preparing it regularly.

Learnt this biryani from a aunty in Muscat (oman) who is from Hyderabad. Had many disaster with this like once forgot to add oil,didn’t add salt, didn’t add lemon. Now I can say with convection that I have come close to perfecting the art of preparing Dum biryani.This is my mom’s and m-law favourite biryani.

The taste of biryani depends upon the rice used.I use Pakistani basmati rice, which is one its kind.

Before I start writing recipe, I am happy to share with you all that I made century with this post.And thank you all for your encouraging comments and your support has helped me to reach here.Now coming to the recipe.

Ingredients:-

For the rice
Basmathi rice 1/2 kg
Cinammon 3 pcs
Cloves 4
Shahi zeera 1 tbsp
Green chillies 4
Big elachi 1
Small elachi 2
Pudina 1/2-1 cup
Soak rice with all the above ingredients for 2-3 hours.

For mutton/chicken/lamb
Mutton 1/2 kg
Onions 4
Ginger garlic paste 1tbsp
Curd 2 cups
Cinammon 2
Cloves 3
Shahi zeera 1/2 tbsp
Japatri little
Lemon 1 big
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Elachi small 1
Pudina 1/2 cup
Green chillies 2 slited
Salt as per taste

For layers:-
Lemon 1/2
Garam masala 1 tsp
Saffron a pinch Milk 1/2 cup Oil 1/2 cup
Coriender 1 cup
Fried onions

Method:-

Step 1
*Chop onions and deep fry onions.Keep half of the onions aside.
*Mix all the above ingredients and half of the onions and marinate for 2-3 hours preferably over night. (I usually soak it at night and next day i prepare biryani)
*Soak safforn in the milk for 2-3 hours.

Step 2*Cook soak rice and add salt.Cook till rice is half cooked.
*Drain all the water in a strainer

Step 3*In a thick bottom vessel spread 2 tbsp of oil.Spread half of the marinated mutton.
*Spread half of the rice.Squeeze 1 tbsp of lemon juice,sprinkle garam masala,2tbsp of oil.
*Then spread rest of the mutton followed by rest of the rice.Squeeze 1 tbsp of lemon juice,rest of the garam masala and 2 tbsp of oil.

*Now spread fried onions over the rice and sprinkle safforn soaked milk.
*Then spread coriender leaves. Step 4
*Cover the vessel with aliminum foil and put it on the stove.

*Firstly put on high flame for 30 sec and reduce to low flame and cook exactly for 30 minutes.
*Once switch off the flame,don't open.Let it stand for another 10-12 minutes.

This is best served with mirchi salan and raita.Mirchi salan recipe is here.

Note: Oil which is used to deep fry onions can be used in the layers.

Vapours should not escape, the foil should be very tight and if possible place a container with water above the foil so that vapours doesn't escape.

enjoy biryani.................................

EDITED to add few new snaps..

Alo Fry

This is simple alo fry yet delicious. My mom did this when she was here.

Ingredients:-

Potatoes 1/2kg
Black pepper powder 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Salt as per taste
Oil 3 tbsp

Method:-

• Chop potatoes into thin pieces. Put all the chopped pieces in a bowl with water for 2 min,and wash thoroughly.
• Heat oil,when hot add potatoes with very little water.If much water is added, potatoes pieces will become mushy. Add salt.
• Fry till they are golden brown in colour and add pepper powder.
• Mix throughly and enjoy with hot chapattis

Bhindi Kurkuri

I had my eyes on this fry since i got married.Had to wait for seven long years to make this and eat.This was served in my wedding dinner,sob sob i was the last one to eat my wedding dinner and believe me i was served only two bendis.

Got this recipe from a book which i own since long but never attempted it.When i did it came out very well.Will write about the book review soon for the event at EC.This recipe is not for the health conscious people.

Ingredients:-
Lady fingers (okra) 1 kg
Chickpea flour (besan) 1 cup
Red chilli powder 2 tbsp
Ajwain (caraway seeds) 1 tsp
Rice powder 2 tbsp
Coriender powder 2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Dry mango powder (amchur) 1 tsp
Garam masala powder 1 tsp
Salt as per taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:-

1. Wash and dry the okra
2. Chop off heads and tails of the okra and slit lenghtwise into 4.
3. Take 1/2 cup of besan and mix all the ingredients in a bowl except rice powder and oil.
4. Add okra to the bowl,mix well and refrigerate for 2 hours
5. Mix remaining 1/2 cup besan,rice powder and little salt and toss with okra.
6. If the okra are too dry and besan is not sticking to it,sprinkle little water and mix it.
7. Be carefull while mixing it.
8. Deep fry in batches until crisp.

I have just copy pasted the recipe from the book and only addition i did is that i sprinkled little water as the bendi was too dry and besan was not sticking to it.

Nalla Karam/Black Red Chilly Powder

This is done by mom, the taste is awesome. Usually Andhra lunch starts with hot rice and nalla karam,then follows other dishes. This can be eaten with idly and dosa as well.The taste is awesome when sprinkled on hot pongal.Before my mom came here we used to buy priya nalla karam, now i no longer buy this. Now the recipe

Ingredients:-

Red chillies 50gms
Coriander seeds 50 gms
Cumin seeds 1 tbsp
Tamarind little (can be adjusted according to the taste)
Salt as per taste
Garlic flakes 5
Oil 1 tbsp

Method:-

Heat oil in a pan, fry the red chillies for a minute. Remove and keep aside.
In the remaining oil, fry coriander seeds, cumin seeds and grind with red chillies until smooth.
Add salt, tamarind, garlic and blend to a smooth powder.

This goes to the JFI event hosted by queenspice and started by Mahanandi.