Sunday, February 26, 2017

Semiya Kesari | Vermicelli Kesari | Seviyan Kesari

Semiya Kesari, an easy to make sweet recipe that you can prepare in a jiffy when you have an unexpected guests  or it's a quick fix for your sudden sweet craving.I had this semiya kesari zillion times as evening snack during my schooldays. I had seen my mom made this in minutes and in those days i even prefer this kesari over rava kesari.The preparation of this keasri is almost similar to rava kesari,but here you no need to worry about lumps formation,even beginers can make this kesari prefectly at first time without any fuss.And the other thing i like about this kesari is it doesn't need much sugar & ghee like rava kesari.Even with little sugar and ghee, it taste absolutely delicious.

Semiya Kesari

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 15 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Sweets | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Semiya/Vermicelli - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Cardamom - 2 
Ghee - 3 tsp
Cashews(broken) - 1 tsp

Procedure
Heat the pan with half of ghee , add the cashews and roast till it becomes golden brown.Add the vermicelli/Semiya and roast it for 1 mins, then add the water and mix it well.Cover the pan with lid and cook the semiya till it becomes soft,then open the lid , add a pinch of food color and mix it well.Add sugar and mix it well, keep in medium and cook it becomes thicken.Once it becomes thick, add the crushed cardamom & the remaining ghee,mix it well & switch off the flame.That's it Quick & Tasty Semiya Kesari is ready.
Notes:
  • I like my semiya to cook as soft yet retain its shape, if you want mushy semiya,add extra 1/4 cup of water and cook little more.
  • In addition to cardamom, you can use few strand of saffron to enhance the flavor.
  • I used MTR variety of semiya.
  • If you're using any other variety of semiya, add water as per the package instructions.
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Saturday, February 25, 2017

Lauki Halwa | Dudhi Halwa | Bottle gourd Halwa | Sorekai Halwa

Lauki Halwa is the classic dessert recipe made with bottle gourd and it's also known by the name as "Dudhi/doodhi/sorekai Halwa" in various parts of India. When i searched for holi sweets, i came to know that Bottle Hourd halwa is one of the sweet prepared during this festival and the preparation of this halwa is almost similar like Carrot halwa.I had prepared carrot halwa many times before, so i was confident in making this halwa. 
In traditional method of making this halwa requires lot of time to reduce the milk.But usually when i prepare carrot halwa, i use pressure cooker to cook the veggies & instead of khoya i use milk powder to make the process easy & quick.I followed the same method here and the halwa turned out heavenly delicious and seriously i couldn't stop eating it.
While eating this halwa,my mind voice was like "even with milk powder, it tastes this much good,how would it taste if prepared in traditional way😀" I think soon i will make this again in traditional way.

Lauki/Dudhi Halwa

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 35 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Sweets/Dessert | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Bottle gourd(small) - 1(yields 1.5 cups of grated bottle gourd)
Sugar - 1/4 cup(heaped)
Milk Powder - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp
Cashews(broken) - 1 tsp
Cardamom(crushed) - 3
Green food color - a pinch(optional)

Procedure
First peel the bottle gourd, cut into half and remove the seeds in the center,then grate the bottle gourd, squeeze the water and keep it aside. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in the pressure cooker.Add the grated bottle gourd and saute in ghee for 1 mins, then add the milk and bring to boil.Cover the cooker with lid,put on weight and cook it for 2 whistle.Once the pressure released automatically from the cooker, open the lid, now all the moisture from the milk evaporates and the bottle gourd is well cooked.Place it on heat agin and add the sugar & mix it well.Then add the milk powder and mix it well. Keep the flame in medium and stir occasionally to avoid sticking at the bottom.Add the food color  at this stage and cook till all the moisture evaporates.In the mean time, fry the cashews in the remaining ghee and add it to the halwa.Finally add cardamom, mix it well & Switch off the flame.That's Tasty Lauki/Dudhi/Bottle Gourd/Sorekai Halwa is ready.
Notes:
  • Make sure that the bottle gourd is well cooked before adding sugar.
  • Here i'm using non-fat milk powder, but you can use any type of milk powder or even you can use the store brought khoya.
  • I have the stock of home made food color made from spinach,so i used that here.
  • Add any types of nuts like pistachio,badam etc.
  • Squeeze the bottle gourd well,before add it in ghee.
  • If you feel that the moisture content in bottle gourd is less, then add extra 2 tbsp of milk while cooking bottle gourd, otherwise it will burnt at the bottom.
Time to dig in

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Friday, February 24, 2017

Milk Mysore Pak | Gram flour & Milk powder Fudge | Besan Fudge

Milk Mysore pak or we can say Gram flour fudge with milk powder.Two years back, when i saw the sweet in the name of "Milk Mysore pak" at a local sweet stall,i was curious and  immediately bought it just for the name mysorepak(yep,i'm a big fan of mysore pak ),but it taste nothing like mysorepak,it was like caramelized palkhova,quite unique and i liked it so much.Later when i searched online in the name of Milk Mysore, all the recipe i read was made with all purpose flour,but i'm quite sure that the sweet stall ones were made with gram flour. So i took the measurements as guidance and used gram flour in the place of all purpose flour and prepared this sweet on last diwali and it turned out super tasty and i shared few pieces with my friends, they too liked it and asked me for the recipe.
The texture of this mysore pak is hard(like the hard mysore pak with porous texture) and also it's more darker in color than the regular mysore pak because of caramelized milk powder and you can see from the pictures that the middle of the mysore pak have darker color as it takes more times to cool than the sides.

Milk Mysore pak

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 25 minsMakes : 12 pieces 
Recipe Category: Sweets | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Milk Powder - 1/2 cup
Besan/Gram Flour - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Water

Procedure
First grease the pan that you're going to pour the mixture with ghee and keep aside. Measure & take the ingredients. Heat the nonstick pan, add sugar & water(just enough to immerse the sugar) and bring into boil.Let it boil until it reaches single string consistency(if you take sugar syrup in between your thumb and fore finger,it should form single string)Then keep the flame in low & then add the milk powder and gram flour. Mix it well vigorously to avoid lumps.Again increase the flame to medium and then start adding ghee(a tbsp at a time).Once the ghee is all absorbed, add the next tbsp of ghee.Once all the ghee is added, the mixture becomes frothy and also by the time, it turns into brown color because of milk powder caramelization. Switch off the flame.Pour the mixture into the greased pan,let it aside for 3-4 mins,then make the mark on the mysore pak with knife. Once it's completely cooled, invert the pan and remove the pieces.Tasty Milk Mysorepak is ready.As it cools down, the center becomes more darker in color than the sides.
Notes:
  • Keep stirring continuously once you added the milk powder and besan.
  • When the milk powder starts to caramelize,you can see the streaks of brown color at the bottom of the pan.Don't worry,stir it continuously within few minutes,whole mixture becomes brown color and it's time to switch off the flame.
  • Once you switch off the flame, immediately pour the mixture into the greased pan.Otherwise the mixture gets cooked further from the heat of the pan and turns so hard.

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Thursday, February 23, 2017

Egg Omelette | Egg Masala Omelette | Egg Omelet

Egg Omelette, an easy and healthy breakfast/side dishes that can be prepared in a jiffy.You may think why is there a recipe needed to prepare an omelette? Is that a complicate dish? No, definitely not at all,literally you can make an omelette in hundred ways with minute variations from one another. So here i'm sharing my way of preparing egg omelette and i think it may helpful to bachelors or beginners in cooking.
Even i'm not stick to this recipe all time for making omelette. But out of all the ways i have prepared,this method is my favorite.Here i'm using green chili for spice instead of pepper powder, i personally like the green chili flavor in the omelette than the pepper powder, but you can use pepper powder especially if you're making for your kids.

Egg Omelette

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 5 minsMakes :
Recipe Category: Breakfast | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Egg - 2
Onion(small) - 1/2
Capsicum(small) - 1/2
Green chili - 1
Coriander leaves - few
Oil - 1/2 tsp  
Salt - to taste

Procedure
First chop onions,capsicum,chili and coriander leaves into small pieces. Crack open a egg in a bowl, add half of the chopped onions,capsicum,green chili and coriander leaves.Add enough salt and mix it well together. Beat the egg with spoon vigorously for 30 sec or until it becomes frothy.Heat the tava and grease it with oil,pour the egg mixture into pan and sprinkle oil on sides.Cook it for 30-40 secs,then flip the omelet on other sides and cook the other sides for 30-40 secs. Then remove it on the plate.Do the same for the another egg.That's it,Tasty & fluffy omelette is ready to serve. Serve it as breakfast along with some buns and juice .

Notes:
  • Beat the egg till it becomes frothy, it gives fluffy omelette
  • Adjust the green chili as per your taste.
  • Instead of green chili, you can add the coarse pepper powder too.
  • I have used red bell pepper here,but you can use any color you have.
  • Sometimes, i skip the capsicum and make omelette only with onions ,that too tastes great.


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Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Manathakkali Vathal Kuzhambu | Manathakkali Kulambu | Black NightShade Curry

Manathakkali Vathal Kuzhambu, a spicy & tangy curry made with dried black nightshade. Black Nightshade/ Manathakkali has wonderful medicinal value and it helps to cure mouth ulcer and indigestion problem.Include this berries at least once in a month helps to prevent mouth ulcer and indigestion problem.

Next to sunda vatha kuzhambu, this manathakkali vatha kuzhambu is our family favorite. It tastes great with steamed along with some kootu. Here in today's recipe, i have used dried black nightshade(vathal) for making this curry. But you can make this curry with fresh manathakkali too in the same way ! 


Related : How to make Sunda Vatha Kuzhambu


We are back from a short trip to San Antanio(Feb,2017), after eating continuously at restaurants for the past three days, today i was craving for some spicy & tangy home made curry.So i have prepared this simple gravy along with rice & chow chow kootu and we had a hearty meal.

This curry is very easy to make and it doesn't need any grinding work ,so it's  a ideal curry to make when you're lazy or you're out of veggies in your fridge.The flavor and the taste from the manathakkali makes the gravy so delicious.


Manathakkali Vathal Kuzhambu

Preparation Time : 30 mins | Cooking Time : 15 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Manathakkali Vathal Kuzhambu, Vathal Kuzhambu, Vatha kulmabu, Manathakkali Vathal Kuzhambu, a spicy & tangy curry made with dried black nightshade. Black Nightshade/ Manathakkali has wonderful medicinal value and it helps to cure mouth ulcer and indigestion problem.
Ingredients
Manathakkali Vathal/Black Nightshade - 2 tbsp
Tamarind - a gooseberry size
Pearl onion - 5
Garlic - 4 pods
Tomato(small) - 1 
Curry leaves -few
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Jaggery - a small piece

Procedure
Soak the tamarind in water for 30 mins, peal the onions & garlic and cut the tomatoes into small pieces. Heat a sauce pan with oil and add mustard & urad dal,let the mustard splutters.
Add the manathakkali vathal and saute in oil for 30 secs, then add the onions,garlic and curry leaves and saute it in oil for 2 mins.Now add the spices (turmeric ,red chili and sambar powder).
Saute the spices(keep the flame in low,otherwise the spices would burnt) in the oil for 30 secs and then add tomatoes and saute till it becomes mushy.
Extract the tamarind juice from the tamarind and add it.Bring to boil and then add the salt and keep the flame in medium.
Keep it in flame until it thickens, finally add the jaggery and switch off the flame when the oil floats on top.
That's it , Tasty & finger licking manathakkali vathal kuzhambu is ready.

Related : How to make Keerai Kootu

Notes:
  • Saute the manathakkali vathal in oil for few secs, it will help to reduce the bitterness.
  • Keep the flame in low when adding the spices,otherwise it would burnt.
  • Adding the spices in the oil gives enhanced flavor to the kuzhambu.
  • Pearl onion gives great taste to the kuzhambu,so don't skip it.
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