Friday, April 28, 2017

How to make Mango Lassi | Mango Lassi

Mango Lassi, a creamy & delicious cold drink made from mango and curd/yogurt. As Mangoes are started to arrive in abundance here, i make this delicious Mango Lassi often at home. It's so tasty & very refreshing and also helps to quench your thirst during summer.
Lassi is nothing but sweetened yougurt/curd flavored with cardamom or saffron and it's quite popular in North India where people used to have this on every meal. Now a days, mango lassi is quite popular across the world than the plain lassi. 

Here in US, every Indian restaurant menu contains Mango Lassi under Drinks section.Most restaurant use kesar mango pulp for the lassi and i too tried with mango pulp when mangoes are not in season.


Here in the recipe, i have used cardamom and saffron for flavoring and both the flavoring are really goes well with mango. But you can make the mango lassi without any additional flavoring, just mango,yogurt/curd and any sweetener you like. 

Now let's check out on how to make this delicious mango lassi !


Mango Lassi

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Mango Lassi, How to make Mango Lassi Mango Lassi, a creamy and delicious cold drink made from mango and curd/yogurt.
Ingredients
Mango - 2 
Chilled Curd - 3/4 to 1 cup
Sugar - as needed
Cardamom - 1
Any nuts - few (for garnishing,optional)
Saffron strands - few (for garnishing,optional)

Procedure
First wash the mango well,then peel the skin and chop into mango flesh into pieces roughly and discard the seed.
Add the chopped mango into the mixie/blender jar and then add cardamom & curd.
Finally add the needed sugar and close the jar with lid and grind into smooth.
Pour into glass and garnish with nuts and saffron. That's it Tasty and creamy Mango Lassi is ready.

Related : How to make Mango Kulfi 

Time to Slurppppp
Notes:
  • Use fresh curd for better taste.
  • You can skip cardamom too and make it as complete mango flavor.
  • Depends on how thick or thin you want, adjust the quantity of curd.
  • Based on mango sweetness, adjust the sugar quantity.
  • Refrigerate mango lassi and serve chilled.
  • Instead of sugar, you can use honey or any of your favorite sweetener.
  • I have used pistachio for garnishing.
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Thursday, April 27, 2017

Mushroom Biryani | Mushroom Biryani in pressure cooker | Biryani Recipe

Mushroom Biryani in Pressure cooker, a ideal one pot meal which will be ready in 25 mins and tastes super delicious.  Therefore  it's a ideal meal to pack for lunch boxes or a perfect meal for your lazy days. I'm kind of person who likes biryani only when it's made from some meat (either lamb or chicken, those are the meat only we have 😄).
Hence i'm not quite fond of other biryani made from vegetables ,soy chunks etc, expect this mushroom biryani which like a lot.I simply love the flavor of mushroom and its flavor take this biryani into next level. In this mushroom biryani, the mushroom flavor is predominant and all the other flavors are very subtle.If you like more spicy biryani, then check out my chettinad mushroom biryani.

Mushroom Biryani

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 20 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Biryani | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Basmati Rice - 1/2 cup
Mushroom - 150 to 200 gms
Onion(small) - 1/2 
Tomato(small) - 1 
Green Chili - 1 
Curd - 1 tbsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - few
Mint leaves - a handful
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Cashew - 4
Ghee - 2 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Bay leaf - 1 
Cinnamon - 1 small piece
Cloves - 3 
Cardamom - 2 

Procedure
First soak the rice for 20 mins, in the mean time, cut the onion & mushroom into thin slices, tomatoes into small pieces & slit the green chili.Remove the stem from coriander & mint leaves and keep it ready. Heat the pressure cooker with ghee,add the cinnamon,cloves, cardamom & bay leaf,saute it for 30 secs.
Broke the cashews roughly and add into the ghee and roast till it becomes golden brown, then add the onions & green chili and saute till the onions becomes translucent.Then add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell leaves.
Add the tomatoes, mushroom , coriander & mint leaves one by one and saute it well for 2 mins.
Add the spices (turmeric & red chili powder ) and salt. Give a good mix and then add the curd and mix it well.
Add the water and bring into boil and then add the soaked rice.
Put the lid & weight on pressure cooker and cook it for 3 whistles. Once the pressure automatically released from the cooker, open it & gently mix before serving.
That's it . Tasty & quick Mushroom Biryani is ready to serve.Serve it with your favorite raita.

Related : Raita Collections 

Notes:
  • I have used brown mushroom here, but you can use white mushroom too.
  • You can reduce the amount of ghee and add equal amount of oil too.
  • If you want more flavor, add 1/2 tsp of garam masala along with other spices.
  • I like the flavor of mushroom in the biryani, so skipped the garam masala. 


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Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Vada Pav | Mumbai Vada Pav | Street Food

Vada Pav is the most famous mumbai street food.You can say that it's an Indian version of burger. Just like patties in burger, vada is used in Vada Pav. Vada is made of spicy potato masala coated with gram flour batter and then deep fried in oil. Instead of sauces, here in vada pav, two varieties of chutneys are used and the way of assemble the burger and the vada pava also too similar.Though it's the famous mumbai food, now a days you can get it across India, but the preparation of vada and chutneys are slightly varies from region to region. 
ST is quite fond of vada pav, his fondness towards vada pav was developed when he was working in Mumbai for almost 2 years. Initially he thought that it was weird combination to eat bun with bonda(In Tamilnadu,it's called as Bonda,instead of vada) and hesitate to give it a try.But later when he had tried it from street vendors, he was amazed by it's taste and he started to have it as breakfast for most of the day.For his sake, i make this vada pava at home often and i must say that each mouthful is so delicious and you can't stop at one for sure.



Mumbai Vada Pav

Preparation Time : 15 mins | Cooking Time : 20 minsMakes :
Recipe Category: Snacks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Pav Bread - 7
Boiled Potato - 2
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1/2 tsp(finely chopped)
Cumin Seed - 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves - few
Oil - for frying
Green Chutney - as needed
Dry Coconut Chutney - as needed
Green chilies - few
For Batter
Besan - 1/4 cup
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Red Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Water - as needed 

Procedure
Peel the potatoes and take it in a bowl, mash it with fork, then add the spices (turmeric,Chili powder) & salt and mix it together with potatoes well.Heat the pan with oil, add cumin seed and ginger and saute it in oil for 30 secs, then add the mashed potatoes.Cook it in medium flame for 10 mins or until the raw smell leaves.Finally add the coriander leaves and switch off the flame. Let it cool completely,then make small balls from the potato masala.Now for the batter, add all the ingredients listed under "For Batter" into the bowl except water, mix it well with spoon  and  then gradually add water and make smooth batter.Heat the oil in sauce pan/kadai for frying, dip the potato balls in the batter and coat well on all sides and then drop it in oil.Cook till all the sides becomes golden brown and then remove it on tissue paper, do the same for the remaining potato balls.Finally add few green chili in the oil and fry it for 30 secs and remove it. Now it's time to assemble.Take the pav bun,apply the green chutney on both sides, then place the potato bonda inside and top it with dry coconut chutney.That's it, Home made Vada Pav is ready.
Time to dig in

Notes:
  • The besan batter neither too thick nor too thin,it should be in pouring consistency and thick enough to coat the potato balls.
  • Make the chutneys a day before and refrigerate, it will reduce the task on the day of making vada pav.
  • Add more or less of chutneys as per your preference.



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Monday, April 24, 2017

Green Chutney | Coriander & Mint Chutney | Chutney for Chaat Items

Green chutney, the most famous chutney around the world that is mainly served along with Indian chat items.There are so many variations in this recipe across the country.But here i'm sharing my version of green chutney, that our family like the most. To be honest, i'm not stick to this recipe all the time,some time i skip chat masala or use equal proportion of coriander and mint leaves. But when i prepare this chutney for some get together or to our guest, i'm strictly follow this recipe,because i don't want to take risk and i'm damn sure this recipe would yield yummy chutney.Now let's see the procedure.

Green Chutney

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 minsMakes : 1/2 cup 
Recipe Category: Chutney | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Coriander leaves - 1 bunch(small)
Mint leaves - 1/2 bunch(small)
Onion - 1/4
Green chili - 2
Garlic cloves - 2 
Salt - to taste
Lemon Juice - 2 tsp
Chat masala - 1/2 tsp

Procedure
Remove the stems from mint leaves and wash both mint and coriander leaves well. Chop the onions roughly into pieces. Add coriander leaves, mint leaves, chili,onion & garlic into mixie/blender jar and grind into coarse.Then add the lemon juice, chat masala & salt into it and grind into smooth paste.
That's it Green Chutney for your chat is ready.
Notes:
  • Onions give some body to the chutney,otherwise it will be more diluted.
  • Instead of chat masala, you can add garam masala too.
  • I personally like coriander flavor,so reduced the mint leaves proportion into half.But you can add equal proportion of both leaves.
  • Adjust the chili as per your taste.
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Saturday, April 22, 2017

How to clean & cut Bottle gourd | Sorekkai

Bottle Gourd is a vegetable with high water content and also has good source of vitamin c & k. It's good to include this veggie during summer.You may think why there is a post about how to clean & cut bottle gourd, is this such a complicate task?No, not at all. But to be honest, i never once had any dish made from bottle gourd until i got married and started to cook on my own.
Later when i asked Amma that why she didn't make anything with Bottle gourd,she told me a interesting story.In my grandma's(maternal) childhood days,they used to visit near by Ayyanar temple.Whoever worshipped Ayyanar diety in her town, try to exclude bottle gourd from their diet and also it's to be believed that if any of these people would go nearby bottle gourd plant,then the plant would  die 😇.Interesting belief, right?
With that strong belief, aachi(grandma) neither prepared nor tasted bottle gourd in her life. As Amma never grew up eating bottle gourd, she doesn't like it much and she never prepared anything with bottle gourd in our home.So when i started to use bottle gourd, i don't know how to use it.And ask my friends about how to clean & cut bottle gourd.So this post may be helpful to beginners or any one like me 😜 .


How to clean & Cut Sorekkai

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 minsMakes : 2 cups 
Recipe Category: Basics | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Bottle gourd - 1

Procedure
Take the bottle gourd and cut off the edges, then peel the skin of bottle gourd with peeler.Cut the bottle gourd into two horizontally, then again cut the one half into vertically and remove the sponge texture inside.Cut them into strips and then chop into squares or as per your recipe demands.
Chopped Bottle gourd is ready to use.
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Friday, April 21, 2017

Bottle gourd Kootu | Sorekkai Kootu | Kootu recipe

Bottle gourd/ Sorekkai kootu is an easy accompaniment for rice made from bottle gourd and moong dal. As bottle gourd has lot of water content in it, it's good to have them during summer time.
There are few veggies (Ridge Gourd,Bottle gourd etc) that i started to cook after my marriage only. Amma never used those veggies in her kitchen.First time, i bought the bottle gourd to try the famous Lauki halwa and it turned out super delicious. After making that halwa, i left out with small piece of bottle gourd, so i tried this kootu followed the same method of making  Chow Chow Kootu. To my surprise, it tasted really good and it became the part of my daily cooking.It paired well with any spicy kuzhambu and we had it with rice and manathakkali vathal kuzhambu

If you're quite fond of kootu more than poriyal or stir fry, then you can check out my other kootu recipes
Chow Chow Kootu
Keerai Kootu
Vella Poosanikai Kootu
Yellow Pumpkin Kootu
Pudalangai Kootu
Peerkangai Kootu



Sorekkai Kootu

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Accompaniment | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Bottle Gourd - 1 
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Coriander leaves - few
To Temper
Coconut Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard & urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Pearl onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Curry leaves - few 

Procedure
In a pressure add moong dal along with asafoetida powder and 3/4 cup water.Bring into boil and let it be in medium flame for 10 mins.In the mean time, chop the bottle gourd into small cubes.Check here on how to cut bottle gourdAdd the sorekkai into dal and cover the cooker with lid and cook it for 2 whistle.Open the lid and place it on heat again and add spices(turmeric,red chili powder) & salt. Bring to boil until the raw smell leaves. Finally add the coriander leaves & switch off the flame.Now temper the ingredients listed under "To Temper" and add into the kootu.That's it, Quick & Yummy Sorekkai Kootu is ready.
Notes:
  • Using coconut oil enhance the taste of the kootu.
  • Adjust the red chili powder as per your taste.
  • Adding sorekkai after 10 mins of boiling dal gives well cooked dal and not mushy sorekkai




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