ALMOND VEGETABLES !!!!!

Its a chinese dish & i first tasted this dish at restura Ocean pearl, Udupi when we went to celebrate our son's 12th reults. I fell in love with dish as i like almonds, chinese cuisine & non spicy dishes very much. It looked very much easy to prepare at home for me. When i was searching for this recipe in google, i saw Master chef Sanjeev kapoor's recipe  & decided to try it. Ofcourse i skipped few veggies & added few veggies what i had in my fridge . & I added black pepper powder instead of white pepper powder , hence the colour :P 

INGREDIENTS:-

Almonds, blanched & peeled - 20
carrots, cut into round - 1 medium
babycorn, cut into round - 4-5
french beans, cut into 1 inch diamond shape - 4-6
green capsicum, cut into 1 inch 1 inch diamonds - 1 medium
butten mushrooms quartered - 6-8
cornflour/corn starch - 2 tblsp
oil - 2 tblsp
ginger , finely chopped - 1/2 inch piece
garlic, finely chopped - 3-4 cloves
onion, roughly chopped - 1 medium
vegetable stock - 2 cups
salt to taste
black/white pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
chilli flakes -1 tsp
fresh coriander leaves, chopped - 1 tblsp fpr garnishing

METHOD:-

1. Mix cornflour in 1/4 cup of water. Heat oil in a wok, add ginger, garlic & stir fry for half a minute.Add chilly flakes & fry for half minute. Add carrot, french beans, babycorn, mushrooms & stir fry for 2 minutes.
2. Add vegetable stock & bring it to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer for a couple of minutes. Add almonds, onion, capsicum, pepper powder, salt & mix well. 
3. Stir in the cornflour mixture & cook on high flame for about 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. 
4. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves & serve hot.

HAPPY COOKING :)))))

Note :-

1. You can add other veggies like brocoli, cauliflower, paneer etc.
2. Instead of chilli flakes, u can use chilly oil too.
3. I skipped adding MSG in this recipe as it is not good for health.

BANANA KHEER !!!!!!

Kheer is my son's all time favourite & i love to try new new type of kheers, This ime i got banana kheer recipe from AWESOME CUISINE. Made many dishes like buns, sheera , podis n all using banana but made this awesome banana kheer for the first time. Believe me it tasted excellent ! I added horlicks powder too to enhance he taste of kheer .

INGRDIENTS:-                                                                

Riped bananas, finely chopped- 6 small
Raw rice - 1/2 cup ( i used basmathi)
Milk - 4 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Almonds, chopped - 2 tblsp
Cashew nuts, chopped - 2 tblsp
Horlicks powder - 18 gms



METHOD:-

1. Dry roast the rice & grind it to course rava like consisency.
2. Mix this with milk & cook until mushy.
3. Add sugar & bring to a boil.
4. Add horlicks powder & mix well.
5, Add the chopped bananas & mix well & bring it to boil.
6. Heat ghee in a small pan & shallow fry chopped almonds & cashewnuts till light brown.
7. Add them to kheer & mix well.
8. Serve it hot, warm or chilled.

HAPPY COOKING :)))))))

DRY FRUIT MILKSHAKE !!!!!

Milkshakes are must for summer season to beat the heat. If you add dry fruits for milkshake then it is like TASTE BHI ! HEALTH BHI ! So. here i present dry fruit milkshake today. But i forgor to note down that from which blog i noted down this recipe :( But i really wana thank that person for this tasty & healthy recipe. 

INGREDIENTS:-

Almonds - little less than half cup
cashew nuts - 1/4 cup
raisins - 1/4 cup
dates, deseeded & chopped - 10
saffron strands - few for garnishing
sugar - 2 tblsp or according to your taste
milk, chilled - 4 cups or 1 litre

METHOD:-

1. Soak almonds, raisins, cashewnuts, dates in water for about half an hour.
2. Blend them in mixer adding 1/2 cup of milk + 1 tblsp sugar to smooth paste.
3. Now add remaining milk & blend it again.
4. Pour them in glasses & decorate with saffron strands & serve.

HAPPY COOKING :))))))

WHITE KURMA !!!!!!!!

I got this recipe from my dear friend UMA PREM KUMAR who lives in USA & loves to experiment in cooking. This gravy goes well with rotis/rice dishes.

INGREDIENTS:-

Boiled vegetables - 1 to 1 & 1/2 cup (use veggies like grean peas, carrot, beans, cauliflower, paneer, mushroom, sweet corn, potato etc)
grated coconut - 3 tsp
almonds - a handful
green chilly - 3 to 4
pepper corns - 1& 1/2 tsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
cloves - 3
ginger - 1/2 inch
garlic flakes - 7
onion - 1 small ( shallow fried)+2 chopped
beaten curds - 1/2 cup
salt to taste
chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

METHOD:-

1. Make fine paste of grated coconut+ peeled almonds(soak almonds in hot water for 1/2 hr & then peel them)+green chillies+pepper corns+cumin seeds+cinnamon stick+cloves+ginger+garlic+sha;;ow fried onions in a mixer. & keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan & add chopped onions & fry till light brown.
3. Add ground paste to this & fry them on low flame till oil seperates from sides of pan.
4. Now add boiled veggies+beaten curds+salt to taste & mix well & bring it to boil.
5. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

IIAPPY COOKING :))))))

BADAMI EGGS !!!!!!!!

          Actually this is badami chicken recipe from NDTV FOOD.COM But i used eggs instead of chicken here & it tasted great ! It goes well with roti/rice/idly/dosa etc. A must try recipe.

INGREDIENTS

For the roasted spice mix:

1 tsp peppercorns

2-3 black cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

1 green cardamom

1 tsp cloves

1/2 grated nutmeg

For the gravy base:

1 Tbsp ghee

1 finely chopped onion

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 finely chopped ginger

1 tsp coriander powder, heaped

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp jeera powder

Sea salt (Substitute - normal salt)

Water

1 1/2 cup yogurt

1 cup almond paste

1 cup saffron infused milk

6 whole apricots

Rock salt

8 pieces chicken or 8 eggs boiled

For the tempering (tadka):

1 Tbsp ghee

6 green cardamoms

3 dried kashmiri chillies

For the garnish:

1 Tsp ghee

Mint leaves

3-4 whole red chillies

      OR

1 tblsp chopped coriander leaves

METHOD

For dry roasting the spices:

Heat a pan, add peppercorns, black cardamom, cassia, green cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and roast them. Use a mortar and pestle to ground the spices.

For the gravy base:

Heat a pan, add ghee and sweat out the onions till they are a creamy yellow-white. Mix garlic, ginger and keep stirring. Add 2 teaspoons of the grounded spices and mix well.

Add coriander powder, turmeric, jeera powder, sea salt (to taste) and toast the spices on high flame. Add water to deglaze the pan and cook out the masala.

Add the yogurt to this mix slowly while stirring. Then mix in the almond paste. It can be prepared at home by blanching almonds, peeling them and grinding with water.

Add the saffron infused milk and stir till gravy thickens. Then add the apricots and a pinch of rock salt. Keep stirring.

Make incisions on the chicken with a knife and add to the gravy to poach. Add the cooled down tempering to the gravy. Let this simmer on low flame for 30-40 minutes till the chicken is coming off the bone. Uncover the pan for the last ten minutes of cooking till the gravy has reduced and thickened.

Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and strain the gravy on top using a colander. Garnish and serve hot.

For the tempering:

Heat the ghee in a pan for the tadka and add green cardamom and kashmiri chilli. Let it cool and ad to the gravy

For the garnish:

Put the ghee in a pan and heat it. Add chillies and mint leaves and cook till it's crispy. OR garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

HAPPY COOKING :))))))

Note : I found dis recipe sweet n sour , so added 2tsp everest chicken masala n it tasted great

ALMOND BURFI !!!!!!!!

This is my 400th post & i can't believe this :P & So, thought will celebrate this with ALMOND BURFIS. I got this recipe from my sweet firend SUPHALA SHENOY who is an cook, loving wife, devoted mother, amazing friend & a good hostess. But my burfis turned little harder as i kept them on stove for little more time. But tasted awesome ! When ever i hear the word BURFI i remenber the hindi movie in which Ranbeer kapoor & Priyanka Chopda acted & my favourate song "ithni si khushi ithni si hasi ithna tukda chaand ka" . Just loved that movie for their pure love. Sorry for going out of topic :P  OK....let's come to the topic now.



INGREDIENTS:-                  

Almonds - 1 cup
milk - 3/4 cup
sugar - 1 & 1/2 cup
ghee - 1/4 cup
cardamom - 4-5

METHOD:-

1. Soak almonds in hot water for 30 mins & peel the skin.
2. In a mixer, powder the peeled almonds adding little milk.
3. Now add sugar & cardomom & grind it further to a smooth paste.
4. In a thick bottomed pan, heat ghee.
5. When it melts, add ground paste & keep stirring till the all moisture is gone & it forms into a ball.
6. Switch off the stove & transfer it to the greesed plate.
7. Let it cool & then cut it into desired shapes & store it in container.

HAPPY COOKING :))))))

OATS KHEER !!!!!

OATS KHEER...i cant say this is for diet concious people coz i have added milkmaid & dry fruits roasted in ghee into it :P But i can say diabitic peaple can have it coz i made it less sweet & added chopped banana while sevring. In original recipe said to add sugar & dates but i skipped both & added milkmaid & added more milk too. It tasted awesome ! You can it it hot or chilled.  I adopted this recipe from Anjali Singh, SMART COOKY,  NDTV food

INGREDIENTS:-

Oats - 1 cup
milk - 1 ltr
condensed milk - 200 gm or 1/2 tin
almonds & cashewnuts, chopped - a handful
ghee - 1 tblsp
raisins - 15
bananas, chopped - as desired

Method

Roast oats for 4 to 5 minutes.

In a pan add milk, sugar, cardamom, dates, almonds and raisins. Boil for about 5 minutes.

Add oats and let it boil until it becomes thick.

Once the kheer is done add fruits if you like and serve hot or cool. 

HAPPY COOKING :))))))))