Peas - Carrots - Paneer Curry in Creamy Sauce

Hello friends,


This is one of my husband's recipe again, so need to give him the credit. I am just putting it together in black & white, that's all. When he gets in kitchen, it is all this rich, creamy kind of recipes that come out. I love them, but because these are so rich, I don't let him into kitchen that much, know what I mean?


Peas - Carrots - Paneer Curry in Creamy Sauce

Ingredients
Peas - 1 cup
Carrots - 1 cup
Paneer - 1/2 cup
Heavy Cream - 1/2 cup
Regular Milk - 1/4 cup
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Butter - 1 tbsp
For Grinding
Onion - 1 cup
Tomato - 3/4 cup
Green Chillies - 2-3
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Preparation

• Grind everything that is under "For Grinding" ingredients.
• Chop carrots not very bigger than pea size. (I prefer using frozen peas and carrots that come in the same packet in freezer section)
• Chop paneer also in the similar size.
• Add 1 tsp oil and shallow fry paneer pieces to golden brown.
• Heat remaining oil in a pan. 
• Add both cumin and mustard seeds and let them splutter.
• Now add the ground mix, cover and fry till the raw aroma is no more. Remember to close the lid as the mix will bubble.
• Add all the dry powders to the cooked paste and fry for 2 minutes
• Now, add peas, carrots and heavy cream, mix well and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add fried paneer and cook it for another 2 min.
• Adjust the gravy consistenccy by adding milk.

Serving
Serve them with roti/paratha/naan or even warm rice. It tastes yummy pretty much with anything. I ate about 1/4 cup of it just like that.


sending it to Vegetable Marathon - Beans event hosted by Anita and MLLA # 22 event hosted by Ruchika.

Updating the post to send it to Priti's Festive Food: His Cooking Event :)




That' all for now. Till next post, take care.

Chikoo Milkshake

Hello friends,


I see lots of summer fruits and vegetables around and their recipes floating everywhere. It is so nice to see and eat these juicy fruits and vegetables.


I eat chikoos (many of you may know it as sapota) but never had a milkshake before. My sister-in-law suggested making this and it really came out well.


Chikoo Milkshake - चीकू milkshake

Ingredients
Chikoo - 1 cut into slices
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 tsp (or as per your liking)
Coco powder - 1/2 tsp 
Cardamom Powder - 1 pinch
Malai (Heavy Whipping Cream) - per your liking - I skipped this step :)
Preparation

• Puree everything together (except malai and coco powder) in the bledner.

Serving
Take the milkshake in the desired cup, sprinkle coco powder and top it with malai (whipping cream). The picture I took is not at all good, so please don't pay much attention to that.


Sending this to Thanda Mela event of Srivalli. Hope you all like it.



This also goes to Cooking with Seeds - Cardamom Seeds event hosted by Priya.

Till next post, take care.

Roasted Asparagus and Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Shell Pasta

Hello Friends,


I have been planning to make these since I set my eyes on them. These are recipes are different blogs I follow. I will let you navigate to the recipe link and check it for yourself as my pictures don't do justice :)


First one is Roasted Asparagus recipe posted by Divya last week and I always wanted to actually try making asparagus. This vegetable had never made it to my house till last grocery trip. Below is the picture. Divya suggested adding any dry herbs we want while baking and I added Dry Oregano and Basil while it was being baked. It was such a wonderful evening snack for us. We loved it with our evening coffee and did not even feel bad as it was healthy. Thanks Divya for such a healthy and snacky recipe :)

Second one is Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Filled Jumbo Shell Pasta recipe posted by Jyoti V back in March 2010. I have been meaning to make it since she announced Pasta Party event and posted this in her blog. Below is the picture of my version of it. I followed the recipe from start to finish from her blog, so visit her blog for the original recipe. It was such a nice thing to make it from scratch. Yum, yum yum Jyoti. Thanks for this wonderful recipe.

That's all for now. Till next post, take care :)

Besan Laddoo and Boorelu

Hello friends,


Here is another entry of mine for JIHVA - Wedding Feasts event hosted by Priya and originally started by Indira's Jihva for Ingredients post. , because this is a must in our marriages in Rajasthan. How can you do any festival without a besan laddoo. Hmm... never though.. lol...


Besan Laddoo - बेसन लड्डू (Chick Pea Flour Sweet Balls)

Ingredients
Besan (Chick Pea Flour) - 2 cups
Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1/2 cup
Cheeni (Sugar) - 1 cup
Kaju (Cahswes) - to garnish (broken in half)
Preparation

• Add ghee in a wide pan and let it get hot.
• Add besan and fry it till nice aroma starts coming from it, it should become very light brown. Keep stirring it continuously.
• Take it off from gas and let it cool down just enough to be able to handle in your palms.
• Add sugar, mix well and make desired shaped balls from it.
• Add a broken half of cashew in the middle of the laddo.

Serving
Serve them as a dessert any day of the year.


I am also reposting one of my other old posts of Boorelu which is a must in any Andhra weddings (I am sure all Andhrites will agree) for JIHVA - Wedding Feasts event.

Boorelu (बूरेलु) - Moong Dal and Coconut Laddu

Ingredients
Moong Dal - 1 cup
Sugar - 1.25 cup
Shredded Coconut - 1 cup
Ilaichi (Cardamon) - 3-4 (in powder form)
Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 3 tsp
Preparation

• Wash and soak moong dal for 4 hours
• Grind soaked dal (don't add lot of water as dal has already soaked a lot of water)
• Add 1/2 tsp of salt, oil to the ground dal and mix well. The consistency should be that of idli batter
• Now, take your idli moulds and make idlis out of the batter
• While idlis are hot, grind them to a pulp with no lumps.
• Now, in another pan, take 3/4 cup water, heat it
• Add sugar, ilaichi, coconut and ground idli pulp. 
• Simmer and keep mixing till it is of chapati dough consistency.
• Remove from fire and let it cool down just lightly, don't cool it down all the way. 
• Grease your palms and Make lemon size balls out of it.
• Now, take flour in a bowl, add 1 tsp of salt, water and mix it to a poting consistency (enough to coat moong dal balls)
• Heat oil in a kadahi till
• Dip each moong dal ball in flour mix and deep fry them till they are golden brown
• Take them on paper towel to drain excell oil

Serving
Just enjoy it anytime with anything. You can eat it as a snack or a dessert.


That's all for now. Take care till next post.

Simple Zucchini Fry

Hello friends,


Here is another nice summer vegetable curry that we all love at our house and it is really simple and easy to make. It takes just 10 minutes from start to finish :)


Simple Zucchini Fry

Ingredients
Zuchhini - 2 cups - chopped in 1 inch squares or half circles
Rai (Mustard Seeds) - 1 tsp
Jeera (Cumin Seeds) - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 1-2 broken in pieces
Hing (Asafoetida) - 1 pinch
Salt - as per taste
Meetha Neem (Curry Leaves) - 4-5 leaves
Sugar - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Preparation

• Take oil in a pan and add rai, jeera, heeng, curry leaves and broken red dry chillies.
• Once they all start spluttering, add zuchhini, salt and sugar.
• Cover and cook for 2-3 min.
• Take off the lid and fry for 2-3 min.
• Thats all :)

Serving
Serve it with roti/paratha or rice, whicever way you like. It cannot get any simpler and healthier. Feel free to skip adding oil, if you want to make it completely healthy.

Sending this to Summer Foods and Drinks event of Indrani.

Kakdi Ki Sookhi Sabzi (English Cucumber Fry)

Hello friends,


I love summer vegetables, colorful, juicy. Today, I am posting a recipe of one of such veggies, which is versatile, we make drinks, salads, snack, curries and event raita with it. It is called Kakdi -ककड़ी  in Rajasthan and many such Hindi speaking states of India. Here, in USA, the closest veggie I found to kakdi is called "English Cucumber". In India, we get a lighter version skin of this vegetable.


Kakdi Ki Sookhi Sabzi - ककड़ी की सूखी सब्जी (English Cucumber Fry)

Ingredients
Kakdi (English Cucumber) - 2 cups diced as per liking
Hari Mirch (Green Chilli) - 1 chopped finely
Meetha Neema (Curry Leaves) - 4-5 leaves
Haldi (Turmeric Powder) - 1/2 tsp
Lal Mirch - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Amchur (Mango Powder) - 1 tsp
Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp
Jeera (Cumin Seeds) - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Mustard Oil - 1 tsp (Feel free to use any other oil if you do not have mustard oil)
Preparation

• Add mustard oil in a pan.
• Add jeera, hari mirch and meetha neem leaves.
• Once they start spluttering, add kakdi, and all dry powders..
• Mix well, cover and simmer for 10 min. The kakdi doesn't have to get mushy, so please adjust the time based on your liking.

Serving
This is best served with warm phulka or what many simply call roti. But, it will go great with paratha and rice as well.


Sending this to Summer Foods and Drinks event of Indrani.



That's all for now. Till next post, take care.

Gulab Jamuns from Sailu's Kitchen

When I was going through Sailu's Kitchen to look for what to make, almost everything was tempting, but this one stood out, especially because I so wanted to try them myself, so I jumped right on it. Thank you very much Sailu for writing such nice recipe and giving step-by-step pics. Please visit her site for more wonderful and delicious recipes. What can be a better entry than this for event Tried and Tasted which is hosted by Lakshmi and originally started by Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen.

This is the favorite dessert in my house by almost everyone I know. Before my older one was born, I loathed sweets (I wish I stayed that way forever). Anyways, the thing is that even when I loathed sweets, this was the only sweet I would eat and rest I would simply ignore and people will wonder what kind of human being I am who doesn't like sweets of any kinds (not even ice-cream or chocolates, yep, I was that weirdo). Not any more, now I drool over any kind of sweet :(


Also wanted to mention that this recipe makes 15-18 Gulab jamuns of lemon size (the yellow ones we get in India).


Gulab Jamun - गुलाब जामुन (Reduced Milk Balls in Rose Flavored Sugar Syrup)

Ingredients 
For Sugar Syrup:
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
3-4 crushed cardamoms (optional)
Saffron strands - few strands
Rose Water - 2-3 drops
For Making Jamuns
Mawa (Khoya) - 1 cup (I used store bought)
Maida (All Purpose Flour) - 1/2 cup
Cooking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Oil - For deep frying jamuns (Sailu used ghee, but I instead used oil)
Prepared Sugar Syrup (warm) - 3 tbsps 
Warm Milk - 1-2 tbsp
Preparation
For Syrup

• Put everything under "Sugar Syrup" ingredients in a deep bottomed pan and heat on medium till sugar dissolves completely and comes to boil. 
• Remove it from fire and transfer it to a serving dish.

For Jamuns

• Mix all the dry ingredients before in a bowl.
• Add sugar syrup (quantity mentioned above) and mix well.
• Now add milk little by little and make it into a soft and smooth dough.
• Immediately pinch little by little and make them into smooth balls. 
• Make sure there are no cracks in the balls or they will fall apart in oil.
• Heat oil and now deep fry them in medium heat (make sure oil is not super hot) till they turn golden brown.

Assembling Gulab Jamuns

• Immediately put them in warm syrup and let them soak till you are ready to eat them. I would say soak them at least for 4-6 hours and best if overnight.

Serving
In my house, they get emptied right from the serving dish without even letting me serve. But, anyways, if you have any left over, serve them cold or warm (in my house, we prefer warm) in a bowl byt sprinking some chopped almonds or pistachios. My husband likes to eat warm gulab jamuns with vanilla ice-cream. So, there you go, another way of serving :)


Enjoy them !!! Till next post, take care.

Beetroot Fry and An Award

Hello Friends,


So, I went and got beetroot after seeing so many of you posting beet-root recipes. It had been a while since I made it anyways. Last time I made it, my husband and son refused to eat and I was the only one left alone to consume the rest of the curry :( Anyways, I can't blame them as most of the time you will agree that it tastes bland or like mud or soil. No offense to people who love it.


When I saw this recipe @ Anita's Kitchen, I had to try it as it was very tempting. So, I gave it a try for tonight and oh boy, oh boy, was it a hit or what. My son just finished everything and guess what he is running around saying, his blood has become stronger (immediately after eating...lol). The touch of chana dal in it made it even better.
Beetroot Fry

Ingredients
Beetroot - 2 cups finely chopped (not grated, but chopped) I used 2 beetroots along with leaves.
Onion - 1 cup finely chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves
Chana Dal (Gram Dal) - 1 tbsp
Jeera (Cumin Seeds) - 1 tsp
Rai (Mustard Seeds) - 1 tsp
Haldi (Turmeric Powder) - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Amchur - 1/2 tsp
Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Preparation

• Take a pan, add oil, let it heat up and then add rai and jeera.
• Once they start spluttering, add onion and garlic and let them fry till onion is translucent.
• Add chopped beetroot and all dry powders, 1 cup water, cover and cook for about 15 minutes (or till it is well cooked).
• Remove lid and let it dry up and fry for 4-5 minutes.

Serving
Serve it with roti/rice or paratha, however you may like.

Thanks Anita for such a wonderful recipe. Had a wonderful dinner with it.

Also, want to share an award from Cooking Foodie. Thanks dear for thinking about me.

The Honest Scrap Award comes with certain rules----------

1) I must brag about it.

2) I have to display the badge on my blog and link to the one who tagged me to prove that I didn't tag myself .

3) Share 10 things about myself

4) Pass the award to other fellow bloggers by visiting their site.

You can find the 10 things I shared about me here.

I cannot tell you guys how many friends I have gained in last 3 months of my journey in to this blog world. I cannot thank you all enough for all the encouragement and inspiration you provide on a regular basis. I would like to pass all these above awards to all my wonderful blogfriends and followers.

That's all for now and take care till next post, good night!!!

Plain Mathari and few awards to brag

Hello friends, 


Here is a snack that my son simply loves and can be made anytime, though it is really famous to be made in Diwali. My son has been asking me to make this for while now, so I did it yesterday :)  The measurements given below make about 12 mathris of the size shown in the picture (about 2 - 2.5 inch diameter).

Plain Mathari - मठरी 

Ingredients
Maida (All Purpose Flour) - 1 cup
Sooji (Semolina) - 1 tbsp
Ajwain (Carom Seeds) - 1 tsp
Hot Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1/4 cup
Warm water - 1/8 cup
Salt - as per taste
Preparation

• Knead everything into a nice poori like dough.
• Roll them into real small sized thick pooris or make them into thick pooris in you palm itself. 
• Puncture them with fork or knife in some places (so that they don't puff up like pooris) - as mine were little thick, I didn't puncture them as I knew they won't puff up.
• Fry them in hot oil at medium heat till they turn golden brown.
• Drain them in paper towel.

Serving
Serve them as a snack with evening coffee or tea or kids (like mine) will love to eat it just like that every time they pass by kitchen...lol

Now, here are some beautiful awards shared by 2 of my wonderful blog friends.

First is the event participation award from Shama Nagarajan. Thanks Shama for such a beautiful award. Your Kheer Festival roundup was simply superb.

Second awards (yes, you heard it right awards with an 's') were shared with me by Kiran. Thank you very much dear for these wonderful awards.

The SunShine Award comes with a set of rules------------

1) Use the logo within your post .

2) Pass on to atleast 12 other bloggers .

3)Add a link to the nominees in your post.

4) Let the nominees know of their award

5) Share the love and link to the friend, who has passed this award to 

The Honest Scrap Award comes with certain rules----------

1) I must brag about it.

2) I have to display the badge on my blog and link to the one who tagged me to prove that I didn't tag myself .

3) Share 10 things about myself

4) Pass the award to other fellow bloggers by visiting their site.

You can find the 10 things I shared about me here.

I would like to pass all these above awards to all my wonderful blog friends and followers.

That's all for now. Till next post, take care.

Shimla Mirch Ki Launji

Hello friends,


I have already shared one Launji with you guys before (Methi Ki Launji). So, here is a second one. Launji is nothing but khatta-meetha (Sweet and Sour) combination of spices. It can be literally made with any ingredient, with these exact spices listed.


As I know most of us eat bell peppers on a regular basis, so thought will give this recipe.


Shimla Mirch Ki Launji (Green Bell Peppers in Sweet and Sour Mix)

Ingredients
Shimla Mirch (Bell Peppers) - 2 cups (chop them in 1 inch squares)
Kalonji (Nigella Seeds) - 1 tsp
Saunf (Fennel Seeds) - 1 tsp
Haldi (Turmeric) - 1/2 tsp
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli) Powder - 1/2 tsp (if you prefer, you can add chopped green chillies instead of red chilli powder)
Dhaniya (Coriander) Powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchur (Mango Powder) - 2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Cheeni (Sugar) - 2 tbsp (reduce or increase based on your palette)
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Preparation

• Take a pan and heat oil in it.
• Add both kalonji and saunf in it to splutter
• Add chopped shimla mirch, haldi, namak, lal mirch powder and dhaniya powder to it fry for 2 min.
• Add about 1/2 cup of water, cover the pan and let it simmer till shimla mirch is cooked (not mushy, but cooked).
• Add amchur, garam masala and cheeni to it and cook till cheeni is nicely dissolved. 
• Make sure the launji is not runny, so please do not add any more water than needed. It is not a complete dry curry but not even a gravy curry, somewhere in between. It should be just that the sauce has coated the shimla mirch and not more than that.

Serving
Serve it with either roti/paratha or poori. As I said for "Methi Ki Launji", this is also prepared and stored in refrigerator and used by warming it when needed. It can easily stay up in fridge for 2-3 weeks.


Sending this dish for Healing Foods - Capsicum event hosted by Erbe In Cucina, originally started by Srivalli.

That's all for now. Till next post, take care.