Sour Cream Cookies

 

Ingredients:-

All purpose flour 1 1/2 cup
Sour cream 1/3 cup
Sugar 1 cup
Baking powder 1 tsp
Baking soda 1/4 tsp
Salt a pinch
Butter 1/3 cup
Vanilla essence 1/4 tsp
Egg 1

Method:-

Beat sugar and butter until smooth.

Mix flour, salt,baking powder and baking soda.

Add egg and vanilla essence. Mix thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients.

Mix thoroughly. Pre-heat oven for 375 degrees Celsius.

Butter  the baking tray.

Take a small scope of the batter and place them on the tray with space between each cookie.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Beans fry with sesame seeds

It's summer time here and kids at home. They get bored sitting at home for the full week and i have to entertain them during weekends, i am not getting time to blog or do my crochet. More two week for the school and they can't wait for it. Last week done some back to school shopping and this week will be doing more shopping. Have been cooking a lot but no time to post the recipes here. This beans fry was done by husband and it tasted awesome. This fry is similar to what we used in eat in a veg thali at Amaravati in dubai/sharjah... Here is the recipe :-

Ingredients:-

Beans 1 lb
Ria/mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies 4
Curry leaves few
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Oil 2/3 tbsp

Sesame powder

Cumin 1 tbsp
Sesame 4 tbsp
Coconut powder 2 tbsp
Garlic 1
Salt as per  taste
Red chilly powder 1 tbsp

Dry roast all the above and make coarse powder.

Method:-

Take oil in a pan. When hot add mustard seeds, dry red chillies

and curry leaves.

Add beans,turmeric powder and salt.

Cover and cook until beans are tender and soft.

Sprinkle the sesame powder. Mix well and add coriander powder.

Mushroom Mint Pulao

Ingredients:-

Rice 1 cups
Mushroom 1/2 lb
Mint 1/2 cup
Ghee 1 tbsp
Bay leaf
Cinnamon 1/2 inch
Clove 3
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds 1/2 tsp
Onions 1 sliced
Salt to taste
Green chillies 2

Method:-

Heat ghee. When hot add all the masala and onions.

Saute for a while. Now add green chillies and mushroom.

Fry for another 2-3 minutes. Then add chopped mint.

Saute for another 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of water.

Add salt, when water reaches boiling point add rice.

Cover and cook on a slow flame until rice is cooked and no water left.

Mix gently and serve with curry of your choice.

Isn't the recipe very easy to make :)

Hyderabadi Dum Ka Chicken

This is one more  delicacy of hyderabadi cusine which is must for any functions in hyderabad. Chicken is cooked in a slow flame for 45 minutes. The vessel is sealed with dough similar to dum biryani preparation so that steam doesn't escape and chicken is cooked slowly. Here is the recipe:-

Ingredients:-

Chicken 1 lb
Oil 4 tbsp
Chopped mint 1/4 cup
Chopper Coriander 1/4 cup
Fried onions 2
Green chilly paste (paste of 4 chillies)
Ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp
Curd 1/4 cup
Cinnamon stick 1 inch pc (2)
Cardamom 2
Cloves 4
Shahi zeera 1 tbsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Chirongi and cashew paste (take 2 tbsp of chirongi and 10-12 cashews and make a fine paste)
Lemon juice 2 tbsp

Mix all the ingredients and add 1 cup of water. Keep in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Method:-

Take a heavy bottom vessel. Place the chicken marination in it.

Place the vessel on the flame. Seal the lid with dough such a way that the steam should not escape.

Let it be on high for 3 minutes and put it on a medium heat for half an hour.

Then place a pan under the vessel and cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve hot with rice of your choice or rotis.

Ajwain Paratha

 

Ingredients:-

Wheat flour 2 cups
Water to make dough
Salt to taste
Ajwain 2 tbsp
Oil for frying paratha

Make a soft dough with flour,salt and water. Let it rest for 1 hr.

Sprinkle dry flour on a board. Take medium size ball and roll into a round disc. Spread oil and sprinkle ajwain. Fold the round disc, first vertically both sides and horizontally both sides. It should look like a square.

Again sprinkle dry flour and roll the square into a 1/2 inch thick roti.

Place a tawa on fire. Spread a tsp oil and place roti on the oil.

Both on the both side flipping the roti couple of times.

Serve hot with any curry of your choice or just plain curd/yogurt and mixed pickle.

Fried Phool Makhana / desi popcorn

Phool Makhana is new to me. I had makhana curry in a punjabi restaurant  and loved the taste. Brought this makhana from a indian grocery store. And while browsing Vah chef videos came across this quick, easy and tasty snack. It just took 5-10 minutes to make this desi popcorn and calls for very few ingredients.

Ingredients:-

Phool Makhana 1 cup
Ghee 3 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Red chilly powder 1/2 tsp

Method:-

Mix Ghee with salt and red chilly powder.

Take a pan. When hot add makhana. Saute for 5 minutes and to check if makhana is fried, take one into your mouth and when you bite it you should hear the sound.

Add ghee mixture and mix well. Take out immediately from the stove and serve warm.

Hyderabadi Haleem

 

 When i was kid we used to eat haleem once or twice during ramazan and in my mom's friend's kids marriages. I remember my mom too made this at home. Now during ramazan you get to see many irani cafes and small restaurants sell haleem. At some outlets one has to stand in a queue to buy haleem.  They are many famous restaurants who sell haleem like Pista house, cafe 555, Shah Ghouse, cafe bahar, sarvi, paradise and bawarchi. 

I ate haleem 3 years back before coming to Canada and my fb page is getting flooded with haleem pics this year. I was going into self pity mode. Then i thought let me check if my favourite chef did any video of haleem.  Woh allll he did chicken and mutton haleem videos and he makes it so simple too. I love Vah reh vah chef and he is a boon for the people who are living outside and don't have access to hyderabadi food in particular street food. I may be wrong in saying haleem as street food but the haleem outlets can be found in each and every corner of the gallis in hyderabad. 

Making haleem is a tedious process and it does take much time. But the end results will be superb and worth the time invested in making this. This is a quick method of making haleem from sanjay thuma of vah reh vah chef. Here goes the recipe and the ingredients:-

Ingredients:-

Lentil and masala powder 

Kabab chinni 10

Pepper 10

Cinammon 1 inch

Cloves 2

Shahi zeera 1/4 tsp

Green cardamom 3

Cummin 1/4 tsp

Udad dal 2 tbsp

Seasame seeds 1 tbsp

Moong dal 2 tbsp

Masoor dal 2 tbsp

Channa dal 2 tbsp

Almonds 10 

Oats 3 tbsp

Broken wheat / dahlia/godum rava 1/2 cup

Make powder of all the above

Chicken bone less

Ghee 5 tbps

Green chillies 5

Onion 2

Ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp

Curd 2 tbsp

Chicken stock 2 cups

Mint leaves chopped

Coriander leaves chopped

Lime juice 1 tbsp

Boiled egg

Cashew

Salt to taste

Slice onions and deep fry them.

Method:-

Take ghee in a cooker. Add ginger garlic paste. Saute until ginger garlic paste loose its raw smell.

Now add chicken. Mix well. Add chicken stock. Add fried onions and keep some aside for garnishing.

Add curd,green chillies,chopped coriender and mint. Add salt.

Mix well. Now add the lentil and masala powder. Mix while adding the powder.

Let it come to boil. Mix throughly. Cover the cooker with the lid and cook for 2 whistle.

After 2 whistle reduce the flame to slow and cook for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes with a potato masher mash the chicken.

Mix throughly, adjust salt.

Once you get the right consistecny add the rest of the ghee and lime juice.

Serve haleem with egg,fried onions and cashew.

Believe me this is very simple, only hard part is mashing with the potato masher. As you mash it while it is getting cooked, there are chance of the steam hitting your hand so be careful. What i did is i switched off the stove, placed the cooker on the floor and i mashed it with potato masher, it doesnt take much time as chicken is cooked for 45 minutes.

My other hobby

Today for a change i am not posting any recipe but i am posting pictures of my other hobby that is crochet. I learnt  crochet in my school and once out from school i never did it. But blogging is a platform where you meet very talented bloggers and over a period of time you bond with them and they become your friends. One such a friend is  Crafty who re-introduced me to crochet. Intially she took pains to send me patterns and slowly with those patterns i learnt reading the patterns.

I get books from local library for the patterns and i see youtube videos for the patterns. Here are my few crochet work. The patterns are from websites,youtubes and books. The barbie dress patterns are my own.

Baingan Ka Bharta

Baingan or brinjal or egg plant is my favourite veg. Can eat brinjal in any form but sadly no one eats it. But that doesn't stop me in cooking brinjal. My most favorite  is bagara baingan and baingan ka barta. I always used to rub oil on the brinjals and roast them on the stove top. But his time i baked the brinjal. Here is the recipe:-

Ingredients:-

Brinjal (long) 1
Chopped onions 1
Chopped tomatoes 1
Green chillies 2 chopped
Garam masala 1/4 tsp
Turmeric a pinch
Coriander  powder 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder 1/2 tsp
Oil for frying

Method:-

Rub a tsp of oil on the brinjal. Place a tray in the oven and place brinjal on it and bake for 15-20 minutes on 350 degrees Celsius.

Once brinjal changes to the colour seen in the below picture, take it out and let it cool. Remove the skin from brinjal.

Take the rest of the oil in a pan. Add onions and green chillies until golden colour.

Add ginger  garlic paste,turmeric powder,coriander powder and red chilly powder.

Saute for 3-4 minutes.

Add tomatoes and mix well. Cover the pan for 2-3 minutes and saute again for 2 minutes until the tomatoes are well cooked.

Chopped the peeled brinjal into big pcs. Add it to the above gravy.

Mix thoroughly and sprinkle garam masala powder. Can add chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves.

Serve it with roti and sometimes i eat like that.

Rashmi Paneer

Before paneer dish used to be exotic dish but after living abroad for so many years paneer is like a normal vegetable i cook very often. Got a few recipes of paneer on my blog and like all this one too is my favourite. I don't use much cream in my dish as i feel it adds some sweetness to the curries. But this one i added cream and i don't regret that. This dish too added into my regular list of curries i make without seeing the recipe. This recipe is Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe.

Ingredients:-

Paneer cubes
Tomato 1 sliced
Onion 1 cubed
Capsicum 1 sliced
Ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp
Coriander powder 1tbsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Red chilly powder 1 tbsp
Cumin 1 tsp
Tomato puree of 2 tomatoes
Oil 3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Ginger  julienne few
Garam Masala 1 tbsp
Curd 2 tbsp (whipped)

Method:-

Heat oil and cumin seeds.Then add onion. Fry for while, here we are not frying until pink or light golden colour.

Now add sliced tomatoes and sliced capsicum. Fry for a while.

Add ginger garlic paste.Saute for a while.Add coriander powder and turmeric powder. Mix well

Now add tomato puree and mix well.

Add red chilly powder and salt. Mix well and add little water.Add paneer.

Now add curd and mix well.

Lastly add garam malasa powder mix well

Serve hot with roti/paratha.

Frozen Berries Pan Cake

Pan cake is my girls favourite breakfast apart from what we eat regularly (south indian breakfast). I keep on changing the flavours of the pan cake. This one i did with frozen mixed berries. Here is the recipe:-

Ingredients:-

Frozen mixed berries 1/2 cup
Plain flour 2 cups
Egg 1
Baking powder 1/2 tsp
Salt a pinch
Sugar 3 tbsp
Butter
Milk 2 cups
Maple syrup

Method:-

Mix flour, salt,sugar and baking powder.

Beat egg and add milk to the egg. Mix well.

Now add egg mixture to flour and whisk well.

Add frozen mixed berries to the flour mixture. mix well.

Take a ladle full of batter and pour on not so hot tawa/non-stick pan. Let it spread by itself. Wait for a minutes and flip it over. Again wait for another 2 minutes for the other side to cook.

Serve hot with maple syrup or with berries.

Bambino Vegetable upma/ Vegetable Vermicelli Upma

This upma is very common in south indian households. Its always bambino brand which is used mostly. Most of the time people don't say vermicelli they say bambino upma. I remember there used to be a recipe on the packet which i don't see now. Now we are getting fried vermicelli too making our life much easier. This upma husband made when i was sick but i was not that sick not to take the pictures ;).

Ingredients:-

Vermicelli 1 cup
Ghee 2 tbsp

For seasoning:-

Rai 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/4 tsp
Udad dal 1/2 tbsp
Cashew few
Chana dal 1/2 tbsp
Hing a pinch
Ginger 1/2 inch pc
Green chillies 2 chopped
Curry leaves few
Onions 1 chopped

Vegetables

Carrot
Potato
Peas
Corn

Method:-

Take ghee in a deep pan. Add vermicelli and saute for a while until vermicelli changes colour. Take if off the flame and keep aside.

Add oil to the ghee. Add rai seeds and cumin. Once they flutter, add channa dal and udad dal.

Saute for a while and add cashew and hing. Then add ginger, curry leaves and green chillies. Saute for a minute.

Add onions and fry for another minute. Add salt. Don't fry the onions to brown colour. We want the onions to be white only.

Now add all the veggies. Again saute for 1-2 minutes.

For 1 cup of semiya add 1 1/2 cup of water.

Once water boils add semiya. Mix well and reduce the flame.

Cover and cook until all the water dries up.

Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

Cheese Corn Balls

Daughter celebrated her 8th birthday and as always she wanted a small party at home with neighbor kids. She wanted a theme party and as i was sick last two weeks was not able to plan a theme party ahead. Nevertheless made all the food stuff at home much to her liking and she had a wonderful evening. I made cake pops, cheese corn balls and Oreo medals. Her birthday cake was store brought as i didn't had much time to plan and make the cake. And also i prefer store brought cake on birthdays than me making a cake and be tensed about the out come. Here is the cheese corn balls recipe :-

Ingredients:-

Corn 4 cobs
Cheese (Mozarella 2 cups)
Corn starch 1/4 cup
Boiled potato 2
Salt to taste
Oregano 1 tbsp
Chilly flakes 1 tbsp
Garlic 1 crushed
Bread crumbs
Plain flour
Oil for deep frying

Method:-

Make a smooth running paste with plain flour and water.

Boil corn and separate corn from the cob.

Gently crush corn and mash the potato.

Mix corn, potato,cheese,garlic,oregano,chilly flakes and salt.

Mix well with hands. Make small balls.

Take bread crumbs in a wide plate.

Take each ball dip the ball in the plain flour.

Rotate the balls on the crumbs and take each ball in the hand and gently rotate.

Once all the balls are done, deep fry in batches. Take them on a tissue and serve hot.

The left over balls can be refrigerated and can be fried later on.

The above pic and the below pic is of the next day i deep fried cheese balls with the refrigerated batter.

Rasam

When you google it you will get n number of rasam recipes but its always the recipe which is passed on to your  mom is used the most. This rasam is a comfort food for me. When you just want to eat something simple, something pipping hot, something for your sour throat or sometimes to go with rice and  mutton fry or sometimes just you want to drink a soup. My elder daughter just loves it. She won't  wait to eat it with the rice. Once the rasam is done, she takes it in a big glass and drinks it. I don't use store brough rasam powder and i never make rasam powder and store it. I always make rasam powder only for that day, fresh.

When i got married my sister took  all the ingredients in a small zip lock bag and told me to keep it as a ready reckoner. Here is my mom rasam recipe:-

Ingredients:-

Tomatoes  1 lbs
Tamarind small lemon size ball
Coriander leaves few
Garlic 1 crushed
Salt to taste

Rasam powder

Tur dal/kandi pappu 1 tsp
Red chilly 3
Pepper corn 10-15
Coriander seeds 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

Grind the above ingredients into a coarse powder.

For seasoning

Oil 2 tbsp
Rai 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves few
Hing a pinch

Method:-

Take out tamarind juice and discard the pulp.

Take chopped tomatoes in a bowl. Add salt,rasam powder,crushed garlic and coriander leaves. Mash it with one hand (wash your hands thoroughly).

In a pan take oil. Add all the seasonings. Once they flutter add the mashed tomatoes. Saute for a while and add the tamarind juice.

Let it come to boil and once froth starts forming switch off the flame and add more coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice or just have it like soup.