How to make Greek Yogurt at home | Homemade Greek Yogurt

Greek Yogurt is nothing but plain yogurt that has been strained so that it becomes so creamy and spreadable. 

Making Greek yogurt at home is so easy if you're already familiar with making yogurt at home. Even if you don't make yogurt at home, don't worry!! Here i'm guiding you to step by step methods to make perfect yogurt as well as greek yogurt.

Yogurt culture

First thing first, to make yogurt at home, first you will need yogurt culture. Yogurt culture is nothing but a small amount of plain yogurt. If you have a favorite store bought yogurt, then store a couple of tbsp of that yogurt aside before finishing it off :-) Because we're gonna use that as a starter to make our yogurt at home. 

Make sure to use good quality yogurt as a starter because the yogurt is gonna taste exactly like the starter we're going to use.

Milk

Second, we need milk. For making yogurt , you can use full fat, 2% or 0% milk. Yogurt made from the full fat milk obviously tastes so rich compared to the low fat version. 

If you're making it for growing kids, i would recommend to use full fat milk. Because you can use this as spread(on bagels) or dipping sauce(for patties) or as dessert( with berries and a splash of maple syrup) and kids would absolutely love it. And for adults, you can use whatever the milk as per your diet requirements.

Pro Tips

• Depending on how thick you want the greek yogurt, you can strain the yogurt between 12- 24 hrs. I strained mine around 14 hrs.
• While boiling the milk, make sure that the bottom won't get burnt. So keep an eye and stir the milk now and then especially if you're using the full fat milk because the chances of burning at the bottom is high when using high fat content milk.

Ok, Now let's check out how to make the perfectly creamy Greek Yogurt at home.

How to make Greek Yogurt at home

Preparation Time : 24 hrs | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Diary | Recipe Cuisine: Greek
Homemade Greek Yogurt, Greek Yogurt,How to make Greek Yogurt at home Greek Yogurt is nothing but plain yogurt that has been strained so that it becomes so creamy and spreadable.

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

Ingredients

Milk - 2 cups
Yogurt - 2 tsp

Procedure

Pour the milk into sauce pan, let it bring into boil.

Once the milk is about to boil, switch off the flame and let it cool a bit.  Take the yogurt in a bowl and whisk it well without any lumps and keep it ready. 

Pour the yogurt into bowl which you're gonna set the yogurt, check the milk temperature by placing your finger in the milk. It should be hand bearable but still it's warm, that's correct temperature. Pour the milk into the yogurt culture. 

Mix it all well together and partly cover the bowl with lid and place it in the warm place. I kept it in oven with lights on. 

After 6-8 hrs, the yogurt would be set beautifully.

Next take a colander and line it with cheese cloth. Add the yogurt into that colander. 

Place the colander over a bowl to catch the dripping water and then cover the yogurt with the hanging cheese cloth and keep it inside the refrigerator for 12-24 hrs.

After a day, take the colander out and you can see how much is dripped from the yogurt in the bowl. 

That's it. Delicious and creamy Greek Yogurt is ready to use. For later use, transfer the yogurt to the refrigerator save bowl and store it in the refrigerator.

Related: Homemade Soft Paneer

Notes:

• Keep the yogurt in the refrigerator once it set to avoid the further sourness.
• Cheese cloth works better for straining. But you can't find it near you, use any cotton cloth like idli cloth.
• It stays well in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

 

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Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs | How to boil eggs in Instant pot

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs, an easy and the most effective way to boil the eggs. Truly, Instant pot has just revolutionized the way that we boil the eggs. 

It gives perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs with firm yolk and no grey around the yolk every SINGLE time. 

Boiling eggs is no brainer task, however how many times did you face the following issues ?

• The egg shell cracks when you drop it into the boiling water and the white leaks into the boiling water
• Over boiled with grey color around the yolk or under cooked with running yolk
• Hard to peel egg shells.

If you nod your head to 'yes' for all these questions, then Instant pot will definitely make your egg boiling method a lot easier and solve all the problems that i had mentioned above.

Related: How to make Egg Coconut Curry/ Muttai Kurma

Actually, I'm new to Instant pot cooking and have been cooking it for the past 4 months only (as of March 2021) and during this time, not even once I had boiled eggs in an open pot. Even if i need just only one egg to boil, i would prefer to use the Instant Pot, because it's a lot easier. 

I'm not saying that it's the only way to get perfectly cooked eggs, but it's the easiest method to make boiled eggs that I have tried so far and I doubt that I will ever use the traditional method again of boiling eggs. 

Instead of adding the eggs in the boiling water, here in an instant pot, we're actually steaming the eggs and the eggs don't even touch the water. When I read about this steaming method in the Instant pot booklet, I was  skeptical on how it would be. But i was totally impressed with the output ! 

 

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Preparation Time : 1 min | Cooking Time : 6 mins | Serves : 3 
Recipe Category: Eggs | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs, How to boil eggs in Instant Pot Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs, an easy and the most effective way to boil the eggs.

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

Ingredients

Eggs - 3 

Water - 1 cup

Procedure

In the instant pot, pour 1 cup of water and then place the trivet in it. Place the eggs on the trivet.

Close the instant pot with lid and make sure the whistle is in sealing position. Press the steam button and set the time for 6 mins. 

Once the time is up, cancel the warm mode and the gently release the pressure manually.

Open the lid and remove the eggs into a bowl of cold water. Let the eggs sit in cold water for 2-3 mins. 

Then peel the egg shells and cut into desired shape. 

Perfectly cooked eggs with no grey around the yolk. 

Related: How to make Egg Puffs / Muttai Puffs

Related: How to make Egg masala / Muttai Thokku

Notes:

• Instead of trivet, you can use any steamer basket too.
• Be careful when you release the pressure manually.
• You can add more eggs on the trivet if you need.

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Dosa Recipe and Dosa Batter | How to make Crispy Dosa

Dosa, a staple South Indian breakfast made from the fermented rice and urad dal batter. Making dosa batter and dosa at home is super easy and the dosa tastes best when it's homemade ! 

Till today, where ever i'm, at least once in two week, I would make idli and dosa batter at home. Having dosa batter in the refrigerator would actually ease the answer to the question "What's for breakfast or dinner"? :-) 

Even though I have already shared my go-to-recipe for idli and dosa batter, here in today's recipe, I'm sharing the recipe for making perfect crispy dosa. Every time I share my dosa platter on IG, I get few requests for sharing the recipe for making crispy dosa.  

Honestly, most of the time, i use the same batter for idli and dosa, but when i want uncompromised delicious dosa, then i would make this batter for dosa. It's one of the amma's foolproof recipes and I have been using it for years without any change in recipe. 

Compared to my idli batter recipe, there is a slight variation in the ingredients for this dosa recipe and that's key to make a perfect restaurant style golden crispy dosa.This dosa batter can also be used for making any type of masala dosa.  This dosa holds the shape well hence it's so easy to fill with the stuffing without tearing apart the dosa :-)

Related: How to make Masala Dosa

Rice 

For this dosa recipe, I have used the combination of idli rice and raw rice. Idli rice is a parboiled rice and it's pale in color, it gives softness to the dosa. On the other hand, raw rice(pacharisi) is pure white in color and it's mainly used in south India for making idiyappam and kozhukattai. Here in this recipe, raw rice gives crispness to the dosa. Adding a small quantity of raw rice is enough to achieve the crispy dosa. Additionally, it makes the batter so easy to spread thinly compared to the idli batter. 

Urad dal

Urad dal, an another key ingredient for dosa recipes. I have used whole skinless urad dal for today's recipe. But you can also use the split variety of urad dal too. Both work really well and don't make any difference in the output. 

Related: How to make Idli batter using blender/Mixie

Fenugreek seed 

Fenugreek seeds in the recipe serve a couple of purposes. First it helps to ferment the batter quickly. Second, it gives a wonderful flavor to the dosa.  Finally it gives that golden brown color to the dosa. 

Back in the days, Amma added fenugreek seeds only  to this dosa batter recipe, never to the idli batter recipe. So I fondly associate the fenugreek flavor to this dosa recipe.

Dosa Pan 

Highly recommend to use the iron pan for making dosa. The texture and the color of the dosa are better when it's made in an iron dosa pan. But, if you're a beginner, I would recommend using the non stick pan for making dosa without any hassle. 

Related: How to make Barley Dosa

Cooking Oil 

Let's be honest here, for delicious dosa, you should be a little generous with oil. I personally like sesame oil for making dosa because of its flavor. The aroma from the dosa making on an iron pan with drizzle of sesame oil is purely divine. 

But it's really up to you ! Use whatever the cooking oil you have. Any flavorless oil/peanut oil/ coconut oil all works for making dosa.

 

Related: How to make Ragi Dosa

Fermentation 

Compared to the idli batter, this batter ferments quickly. However, here are a few tips to ferment the batter well. 

• Make sure to mix the salt with the batter using your hand. It's believed that the warmness in the hand helps to ferment the batter quickly and this one tip that we have been following in our family for generations.
• Keep it in a warm place undisturbed for 6-8 hrs. During winter days, usually I keep it in the oven with the lights on or keep near the heater vent .
• Don't skip the fenugreek seeds, as said earlier, in addition to the flavor, it helps to ferment easily.

Dosa or Dosai 

The name "Dosa" comes from the Tamil word "Dosai(தோசை) pronounced as "dow-sei"  and still we Tamil people use the word "Dosai  for this dish. But people outside Tamilnadu usually refer to it as "Dosa". In conclusion, both dosa and dosai refer the same dish but the original name is "Dosai"

 

 

Dosa Recipe and Dosa Batter

Preparation Time : 8 hrs | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 6 
Recipe Category: Dosa | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Dosa Recipe,Dosa batter,How to make crispy dosa, dosai recipe,Tamilnadu dosai,crispy dosa description.

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

Ingredients

Idli Rice - 2 & 1/2 cups

Raw Rice - 1/2 cup

Urad dal - 3/4 cup

Fenugreek seed - 2 tsp

Water - as needed (to grind)

Salt - 2 & 1/2 tsp

Procedure

In a bowl, add idli rice, raw rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds. Wash it thrice or until the water runs clear and then soak it with water for overnight. 

Next day, drain the soaked water &  put a batch of soaked rice and urad dal in a blender/mixie/wet grinder along with fresh water and grind into smooth batter.

Pour into a vessel and add the salt. Mix it well with your hand. Cover it with lid and let it ferment for 6-8 hrs.

Once the batter is well fermented, take the needed batter in a separate bowl and add water if needed and make a free flowing batter.

Heat the dosa pan and pour a ladle of batter and spread it in a concentric circle. Drizzle some oil on and over the edges of the dosa. 

Once it starts to brown on the bottom, flip to the other side and cook it for a min.

Tasty & crispy dosa is ready !  Serve it with sambar and/or chutney

Related: How to make Rava Dosa

Notes:

• Instead of oil, you can use butter or ghee also while making dosa
• Don't add more raw rice than the mentioned, it will affect the softness of the dosa.
• You can use either mixie or wet grinder for making this batter

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Granola, a delicious and healthy breakfast/ snack food made from rolled oats, nuts and dried fruits.The flavor and the taste from the home made granola is really amazing !! Make them in bulk and store them comes handy for breakfast on busy mornings. 

When we were newly married, most of the days, our morning breakfast was some kind of  store bought cereal. Before marriage, ST was so used to having cereals for morning breakfast in the US, so later when i had joined him, i too followed the same because i didn't know anything in cooking back then. Initially i liked it without bothering much about how healthy it is for breakfast and all. Later it's kind of bored and started to make the typical tamilnadu breakfast such as idli/dosa for breakfast. 

Now it's more than 3 years since we bought a pack of cereal from the store. Instead i have been making this granola at home and we liked it so much more than any store bought cereal that we had tried so far. It's such a simple recipe and ready in 20 mins, it can be served with milk  for breakfast or with yogurt as a snack.  Before moving to the recipe, let's answer all the basic questions that might have popped in your head about granola.

Which oats is best for granola?
Old fashioned rolled oats is best for making granola. Don't use the quick 2 mins oats for this recipe

Which oil is best for making granola?
My personal choice is coconut oil. I love the mild coconut flavor in the granola. But you can use the olive oil, canola oil or any flavorless oil also.

What are the nuts taste best with granola?
In today's recipe, i have used almonds alone. But you can use whatever nuts you like.  Almonds, pecans, cashews and walnuts also taste good with granola.

Honey or maple syrup for granola?
Again it's purely a personal choice. I like maple syrup over honey any day. Also i have read that using honey helps to clump the granola together, so if you're into clumpy granola, use honey or half and half of both

How to make clumpy granola ?
Personally i don't like clumpy granola, so haven't tried all those tips available online for making clumpy granola. Like i said before honey helps to make clumpy granola. Another tip is to press the oats well and bake it. Once it's out of the oven, don't stir it immediately, let it cool naturally, all these help to get clumpy granola.

When to add dried fruits in granola?
Add the dried fruits into the granola once it's baked, no need to bake them, it's easily burned in baking. 

What are the other things to add granola?
Seeds can be added in granola. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and sesame seeds are taste great with granola. 
In addition to that coconut flakes or slices can be added. Personally i like to add desiccated unsweetened coconut flakes into my granola. The flavor of coconut goes well with the oats and it's my favorite ingredient in making granola.

Homemade Granola | How to make Granola

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Breakfast | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Homemade Granola, How to make granola, Granola with almonds, Granola with coconut, Maple Syrup,Coconut oil Granola, a delicious and healthy breakfast/ snack food made from rolled oats, nuts and dried fruits.The flavor and the taste from the home made granola is really amazing !!.

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

Ingredients
Rolled Oats - 2 cups
Almonds - 3/4 cup
Raisins - 1/2 cup
Desiccated Coconut - 3 tbsp
Coconut Oil - 1/4 cup
Maple Syrup - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1/4 tsp

Procedure

First take the coconut oil and maple syrup in a bowl, add salt & vanilla extract into it.Mix it all well together. Then add the oats and almonds(i have chopped them into half). Mix them well until all the oats coated with oil & syrup mixture.Preheat the oven @300 F. Line the baking tray with parchment paper and transfer the oats mixture into it. Spread them evenly as single layer and put it in the oven and bake it for 20-25 mins. Half way through take the tray out and mix it well and press it again and put it back in oven.Once the oats are out of oven, add the raisins and coconut. Mix it well. Let them cool completely and store it in air tight container.Healthy Granola is ready !! 

For more international breakfast recipe, check out here or if you do like pancakes, check out this amazing oats pancakes made from rolled oats.


Notes:

• Other than raisins you can add whatever the dried fruits you like
• Every oven differs slightly and so keep an eye on the oats while baking. 
• When the oats is well toasted, it's crunchy when it's cooled.  
• Instead of using chopped almonds, you can use as it as whole also.
• If you're coconut oil is frozen, put it in a bowl of hot water or microwave it until it's all melted.
• If you're making in large quantity, use large pan or do it in batch for even roasting of oats
• In addition to the vanilla extract,you can add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon flavor also for extra flavor.
• 

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Whole Wheat Bread, a simple brown bread made from whole wheat flour without any all purpose flour. I have been baking this bread at home for months now, you might knew already this if you have followed me on IG. 

It's such a fool proof recipe and yields perfect loaf for every SINGLE time. Ever since i have started baking this bread, the ingredients list from the store bought bread really scary me to buy one of the those. 

Seems like i'm in the beginner phase of bread baking and comparing every commercial bread with the home made ones, guess it takes time to get over this !!! 

Coming to the today's recipe, it's a basic recipe of wheat bread with only handful of ingredients. Honestly i had so many failed attempts in making whole wheat bread before. All these years of cooking & baking, the one thing that i have learned through this journey is that the staple foods made from the basic ingredients are the hardest one to nail. 

Often we(including me) blame the recipe and claim that it doesn't work easily. It's like saying that i have used the same quantity of rice and dal but my idli doesn't turn out soft or have used the same brand of aata but my rotis/chapatis are not soft.  More than the ingredients and techniques, it's the personal experience and repeated attempt only we learn a lot. 

So if you're beginner in baking/cooking, don't lose hope with your failed attempt, as like always i say, if i can do it, you can also do it.  Ok, before move on to the recipe, i'm trying to comprehend all the answers to the frequented questions that pops up in my head when i had started baking breads initially.  Hope this helps to all beginners and if you have any more questions, do leave it in comment.

Is Whole Wheat flour same as Atta used in Roti/Chapathi?

No, i don't think so !!! The whole wheat flour that i'm using in this recipe has lot of bran and the texture is slightly coarse compared to the aata/indian wheat flour.  
Indian Wheat Flour/ Aata is more smooth in texture and it's completely free of bran. 

How do get dome shape in bread loaf?

Right loaf pan and proper proofing is necessary to get that dome shape. While proofing the dough second time in the baking pan, the dough should rise above the pan about 1 inch before going into the oven. 
Even if your dough is well proofed but your pan is way too big, then the dough would not have chance to rise above the pan, so it doesn't have that dome shape.So proper pan is must for getting that classic dome shape on the bread

Do i need dough making machine to make this bread?

Absolutely not !! You can make super soft breads by kneading with your hands alone. Think of it as arm workout of the day :-)

Is it as soft as store bought wheat bread ?
To be honest, it's soft and so flavorful but not as soft as commercial ones. Heard that adding wheat gluten helps to make bread as soft as store bought, haven't tried on my own. If i do, will let you guys know !!! But think of all those preservatives and unknown ingredients that goes into the store bought bread, so i would prefer home made bread than store bought on any day.

How long can i store this bread ?
It stays good for up to 3-4 days in room temperature. For more days, it can be refrigerated or even put it in freezer for even longer days.

Whole Wheat Bread | Mini Wheat Loaf Bread

Preparation Time : 2 hr | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Makes : 2 mini loaf 
Recipe Category: Bread | Recipe Cuisine: General
Whole Wheat Bread, Honey Wheat Bread, Mini Bread Loaf, Mini Bread,Mini Wheat bread Whole Wheat Bread, a simple brown bread made from Whole wheat flour without any all purpose flour.

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

Ingredients
Whole Wheat Flour - 2 cups
Water(room temperature) - 3/4 cup +2 tbsp
Instant Yeast - 3/4 tsp
Honey - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Melted Butter - 1 &1/2 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Procedure

In a bowl, add water, yeast & melted butter.

Next add the honey and mix it all well together.

Then add the salt and flour  and mix it well  until it all comes together as a single mass.

Transfer the dough into the working surface and knead for 10- 15 mins until the dough is super smooth and non sticky.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with cling wrap and set it aside for 1&1/2 to 2 hrs or until it's doubled.

After 2 hrs, remove the cling wrap and punch out the gas from the dough and transfer into working surface.

Divide the dough into two, take one half of the dough and spread it gently with rolling pin.

Fold the dough from one end to another and place the dough log into the baking loaf pan.

Do the same for the other half of the dough.Cover it with cling wrap and set it aside for 30 mins. Preheat the oven @ 375 F.

Put the bread in the oven and reduce the temperature to 350 F. Bake it for around 25 mins or until the bread sounds hallow when tapping.

Slice and serve. Healthy home made Whole wheat bread is ready. 

Related : How to make white Sandwich bread 

Notes:

• You can add up to 3/4 tsp of salt for the given quantity. We don't like much salt in the bread, so reduced the amount
• I have used my mini loaf pan. The dimension is  5.75 x 3
• You can double the recipe and bake it in the regular loaf pan.
• Mix honey and yeast well before adding the salt.
• It's must to knead the dough for minimum 10 mins.
• Don't add more flour to avoid sticking. With continuous kneading it become non sticky and smooth
• I have used Miller's pride brand whole wheat flour.
  

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