Theatre Style Buttery Popcorn | Home made Popcorn

How many of you like theatre style buttery popcorn ?? If you're one of them, then this recipe is for you. Trust me, once you have tried this way of making popcorn at home, you never ever thought of buying one of those ready made microwave popcorn. The recipe is so simple and the key ingredients here is Coconut oil, it gives that wonderful aroma to the popcorn just like how you get it in movies.
In addition, if you want those extra buttery flavor, then add a tsp of ghee at the end to make it even more delicious and buttery.I have tried this with and without ghee, either way, it tastes good, so if you're diet conscious and don't want to add those extra fat from the ghee in to your diet, feel free and skip it altogether, still it tastes as good as those movie popcorn. Now let's check out the recipe.

Theatre Style Buttery Popcorn

Preparation Time : 2 mins | Cooking Time : 03 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Snacks | Recipe Cuisine: International

Ingredients
Dried Corn kernels - 1/4 cup
Coconut oil - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Ghee- 1 tsp(optional)

Procedure

First take a large pot and put it on flame, add the coconut oil and let it hot,then add few corn kernels into it.Wait till it pops, now it's time to add all the corn kernels, mix it with oil well.When it starts to pop, cover it with lid and let all the corns to pop. It takes around 1 to 1.5 mins. Once all the corn kernels are popped, switch off the flame & open the lid, add the salt.Shake the pot to mix it well.Finally add the ghee and cover the pot with lid and shake it well. It helps to coat the popcorn with ghee evenly.Tada Tasty Theatre Style Pop Corn is ready. Serve it immediately.

Notes:

• Ghee is optional, without ghee also it tastes good.
• Use fine salt, it helps to season the popcorn evenly.
• Serve it immediately, it tends to become soggy when it sits for hours.
  

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Sambar Powder | Home made Sambar Powder

Sambar powder is a flavorful South Indian spice mix made from coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard, lentils and red chilies. It's used in many South Indian curries and vegetable stir fries.. Each household in Tamilnadu has their own recipe for making sambar powder. 

When I was in India,  Amma made the sambar powder in large batches and passed it to me therefore I never had the chance to make on my own or even tried the store bought sambar powder until i was in India. 

But after moving here in the US, I tried a few brands of sambar powder available here and i was not impressed with any one of those. Hence I thought of making it on my own and searched for recipes online.

That's when i happened to see the latest recipe from Chef Venkatesh Bhat for sambar powder. It sounded promising so immediately gave it a try. Though it's flavor is a bit strong  from my mom's sambar powder, it tastes good and very flavorful.  

Related : How to make Idli Sambar/Tiffin sambar

It's perfect for a small family and can easily make it in mixie which is a big plus for me now. It lasts me for about one month which is again so perfect for me because the flavor fades away when stored for a longer time. I personally prefer small fresh batch of any spice mix. 

As i said earlier, Amma's sambar powder is very subtle and she used to grind all kinds of spice mix in grind mill back in India, will share that recipe  next time when i'm in India. 

If you're looking for flavorful sambar powder recipe in small batch, then give this recipe a try. Now let's check out on how to make this sambar powder

Sambar Powder

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Makes : 1 cup 
Recipe Category: Powder | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Sambar Powder,Indian Spice Powder, Sambhar Powder, How to make sambar powder, Sambhar powder in mixie Sambar powder, a must have masala powder for making sambar and many other South Indian dishes.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Coriander seed - 3 tbsp
Toor Dal - 1&1/4 tbsp
Chana dal - 1/2 tbsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek seed - 1/4 tbsp
Pepper corns - 1/4 tbsp
Mustard seed - 1/4 tbsp
Cumin seed - 1 tbsp
Curry leave - 1 spring
Red chili - 15
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoedita powder - 3/4 tsp

Procedure

Measure all the ingredients and keep it ready. Heat the pan , first add coriander seed and roast till it's aromatic, remove it on plateThen add all the dals(toor dal, chana dal & urad dal) and roast till the dal have sightly changed its color.Remove it on plate.Add fenugreek seed, peppercorns, cumin seed & mustard in the pan, roast till the mustard stops spluttering and nice aroma comes from fenugreek seed and cumin seed.Remove it on plate.Then add the curry leaves, roast till it becomes crispy.Finally add red chili and roast till it becomes crispy.

Spread all the ingredients in the plate and allow to cool completely. Then put all the roasted ingredients into mixie jar.Add asafoedita powder & turmeric powder in the mixie jar.

Related : How to make South Indian Mix Veg Sambar with Coconut

Grind into smooth powder, cool it completely and then store in masala box.Flavorful sambar powder is ready.

More basic recipes like basic spice mix and other Indian masala

Related : How to make small onion sambar 

Notes:

• Roast all the ingredients in low flame to ensure even roasting.
• If you're making in large quantity, grind it in mill.
• If the sambar powder is not smooth, sieve it to get fine powder and grind the leftover once again.
• All masala powder loses its aroma when you keep it for longer days, so it's better to make in smaller batches and try to finish within few months.

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Homemade Ghee with video | Clarified Butter | Grainy Homemade Ghee

Ghee is nothing but clarified butter used in Indian cooking extensively.It's so flavorful and stays well at room temperature for months unlike butter. Making ghee at home is super easy and way cheaper and flavorful than the store bought ghee. All you need is butter!!! For aromatic ghee, i would recommend to use cultured butter, but sweet cream butter also works fine. 

I have been making ghee at home for years now and can't remember when was the last time i had bought at store. If you can make it easily at home why do you need to buy at store ,right??  Here in the post/video i have included all the tips to make ghee, even beginners can't go wrong with this.

After lot of trials, i had came to know that the slow cooking and the cultured butter gives the exact grainy texture of ghee.So be patient and don't leave the butter unattended not even for a min while making ghee. And also, you have to very careful at the end of the ghee making process.

Once the sizzling sound stops and the foam raise up in the sauce pan(you can see the details in the ghee making picture/video below), immediately switch off the flame.If you're using electric stoves like me, remove the pan from the stove top and place it on kitchen table counter immediately because the residual heat from the stove top cook the ghee further and there is a chance of burning even after switch off the stove.

Homemade Ghee

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Makes : 1 cup (approx) 
Recipe Category: How to/Basic | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Homemade Ghee, How to make clarified butter, Ghee ,Ghee from butter, Ghee is nothing but clarified butter used in Indian cooking extensively.It's so flavorful and stays well at room temperature for months unlike butter.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Home made Butter -2 cups

Procedure

First take the butter from the freezer and let it comes to room temperature.Heat the heavy sauce pan in low flame.I have number setting in my stove and i use 4 setting throughout the process.Add butter into the pan and allow to melt.

Once the butter is completely melted,you can see the thin white foam on top, below the foam you can see the melted butter as yellow in color.

Once the butter gets heated, it will start to boil and you can hear the sizzling sound.

Allow the butter to boil for minimum 12- 15 mins,once the butter is fully clarified, the sizzling sound will stop and also it forms lots of small bubble like foam and it's started to rise up in the sauce pan.

At this stage, add the drumstick leaves and switch off the stove and place it on kitchen counter. Moisture from the drumstick leaves makes the ghee to splutter for few secs and then it stopped.

Once the residue settles at bottom and the ghee comes to room temperature, strain the ghee from residues and the drumstick leaves and store in clean container. Dont discard the residues and drumstick, it will be very tasty when you mix it with rice and season with pinch of salt.

Yummy, Flavorful ghee is ready, it solidifies after few hours. For more kitchen basic recipes, check out here 

Notes:

• Stir the ghee in between to avoid burning at the bottom.
• Cooking on the low flame helps to get grainy texture.
• Adding drumstick leaves enhance the flavor of ghee.
• Making ghee from the cultured butter is more flavorful than sweetened butter.
• Keep the flame in low medium for the entire cooking time.

see those grainy texture, my favorite

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Homemade Butter & Buttermilk | Cultured butter | Gokulashtami recipe

Homemade Butter is so flavorful than the store brought ones. Here in US, Sweet Cream Butter only available in general and i hardly find the "Cultured Butter" in grocery stores ,so thought of making my own.But making butter at home is very time consuming process and also need lot of patience and in the end you have sink full of greasy dish to wash :-).Is it all worth the effort? Yes, definitely100%. 
Quality of the butter is depends on Milk's or Cream's quality.So buy the best quality of cream that you can afford.To make cultured butter, first we need the fermented cream. Before making cultured butter, let see what is "Cultured" Butter"? 
As per wiki
"Before modern factory butter making, cream was usually collected from several milkings and was therefore several days old and somewhat fermented by the time it was made into butter. Butter made from a fermented cream is known as cultured butter. During fermentation, the cream naturally sours as bacteria convert milk sugars into lactic acid. The fermentation process produces additional aroma compounds, including diacetyl, which makes for a fuller-flavored and more "buttery" tasting product"

Yeah, what you're guessing is right, our old way of making butter is known as "Cultured Butter". My favorite part of making the butter is the left over buttermilk after churning the cream. To be honest here, I don't use lot of butter in my cooking,but i use ghee(clarified butter),so i churn the cream regularly at my home.
And also this year, Krishna jeyanthi/Gokulashtami falls on next Thursday(Aug 25,2016), butter is the most important offering to the Lord Krishna ,so this post will be helpful to make the homemade butter and also it gives immense satisfaction, while offering the home made Butter to God.

Homemade Butter

Preparation Time : 24 hr | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Makes : 2 Cups of butter & 61/2 cups of Buttermilk 
Recipe Category: Basic/How to | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Heavy Whipping Cream - 1 quart(approx 1 litre)
Curd - 2 tbsp
Ice cold water - 6 to 7 cup

Procedure

First remove the cream & curd from the refrigerator and allow to come room temperature.Pour the cream in a bowl and add the curd into it and mix it well.Cover the bowl with the lid and place it in warm place for fermentation.I keep it in oven with lights on.After 24 hrs, the cream becomes thick and taste like sour curd(see the difference in the pictures).Now keep cream,mixie/blender & jar, ice cold water are ready and a bowl with water to collect the butter.Put 1/3 of cream in a mixie jar and add 1- 11/2 cup of ice water.Make sure that you don't fill more than 2/3 of mixie jar.Run the mixie slowly.After 1 1/2 to 2 mins, the butter will float on the top, Remove it carefully and put it in water.
Repeat the same process for the remaining cream.Every time after removing the butter, collect the remaining butter milk in separate bowl.After all the cream was churned, carefully wash the butter in the water to remove the extra buttermilk(if it has) and collect it in freezer safe bowl.Totally i have 2 cup of butter and 6 1/2 cup of buttermilk.To freeze the butter, put it in parchement paper shape as per your wish and roll it tight & freeze.
Tasty and flavorful Butter & butter milk is ready.

Notes:

• Make sure that you use ice cold water for churning.
• If the butter is not floated after 2 mins of running the mixie/blender, add some more cold water and run the mixie/blender again.
• Don't run the mixie/blender continuously, give a break in between.
• Don't fill more than 2/3 of mixie/blender jar.
• At any point of time, make sure that the mixie/blender & jar shouldn't get heated.
• Make sure that the cream is fermented well before starting the process.
• Squeeze the butter as much as possible before storing.
  

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