Matter paneer/Mutter paneer

Matter paneer is a dish you can find in almost any Indian restaurant outside India. Most of these Indian restaurants have Punjabi dishes on their menu with dishes such as matter paneer, palak paneer, allu gobi , etc along with rice and naan. Paneer is Indian soft cheese, similar to mozzarella with no salt add. I have made a version of paneer adding salt and pepper which I have used in Matter paneer. My hubby likes all kinds of Punjabi dishes, which I try to make with novice expertise.

Matter paneer is a dish high in calories as paneer and cream are usually used. However, I have tried to reduce the calories by not using the cream. Even without cream this dish looks and tastes great. I came across lot of recipes on the web and also checked out the videos in You Tube making this dish. Finally after a few trial and errors, I have a recipe that I like.

What you need

Paneer : 1 cups cubed( Shallow fry in little oil until brown color and keep it in warm water until the time of use. I didn’t fry my paneer)
Green Peas: 1 cup
Almonds: 15 no
Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tablespoon or (Garlic : 2 cloves, Ginger : 1 inch freshly ground into paste)
Tomato: 3 no
Green chili: 1 nos
Onion: 1 no
Whole Garam masala (Bay leaves: 1, Cloves: 3 no, Cinnamon: two 1”inch stick, Green cardamom: 3 no mace: 1 no)
Cumin seeds: ½ teaspoon
Chili powder: 1 teaspoon
Cumin powder: 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder: 1 teaspoon
Kasturi methi( Dried Fenugreek leaves) : 1 tablespoon
Chopped coriander leaves: 1 tablespoon
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon
Butter: 1 tablespoon
Water: ¾ cup
Salt: 1 teaspoon or to taste
Heavy cream: 2 tablespoon (optional, I didn’t used)

How I made

Heat ½ tablespoon oil and butter in a sauce pan and add almonds and fry till they become slight brown takes about 3 minutes. Then add chopped onion and half teaspoon of salt and fry until onion become translucent or slightly brown color. Then add ginger-garlic paste and stir until the raw smell goes and then add, turmeric and chopped tomatoes to this mixture and let it fry for another 6 minutes, until tomato become soft and mixed well onion. Switch off the flame and let cool the mixture for about 6 minutes. Grind the cooled tomato, onion almond mixture to fine paste.

Heat a thick bottomed pan and add ½ tablespoon oil and butter and add whole garam masala , cumin seeds and when cumin seeds splutter add the ground paste of tomato, onion, almond, ginger-garlic along with ¾ cup water add turmeric, chili, cumin, coriander powder and green chilies boil for 15 minutes or until oil oozes on the top . Add kasturi methi (crush with hand and add) to this mixture and let it boil for another 5 minutes.
Add green peas and cooks for another 5 minutes (if using fresh give more time, or pressure cook for one hiss and add to the paste). Then add paneer and let it boil for another 5 minutes in low flame. Finally add cream and simmer it for another 2 minutes.

Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and enjoy with chapathi or nan.

Preparation time 45 minute
Yield : 4 serving
Verdict: Tasty rich dish
Will you make it again: Yes

Swathi

Homemade Paneer (Indian Cheese)

Paneer is Indian cheese made by curdling heated milk with acid, usually lemon juice or vinegar or even yogurt. It is not aged as other cheeses. It is usually not salted. I have made a version of paneer with salt and spices. It is available in Indian stores as blocks that are similar to mozeralla, but will not melt in mouth. Paneer is used in curries such Matter paneer, Palak paneer, Kadai paneer, Paneer tikka etc. I decided to make paneer at home after trying and successfully making kova for Gulab jamun. As usual I asked my hubby shall I make paneer at home. He asked what I am going to do with paneer. I told him I will make some matter paneer, and he agreed to be the tester. I made my paneer according to this way.

What You Need

Whole Milk: 4 cups
Lemon Juice: 2 Tablespoon
Salt : ½ teaspoon
Freshly Ground pepper: 1 tablespoon


How I made

Boil the milk in a thick bottomed pan. As it starts boiling add salt, pepper and lemon juice and stir until it starts cuddling.

Strain the cuddled milk using a cheese cloth/muslin cloth. Collect the both curds and Whey. Hung curd for about 10 minutes. Then squeeze excess moisture and place paneer in between a strainer and sauce plate and place a heavy objects like heavy pan of water , books or melon, on the top of plate so that paneer get crushed and drain more water . I used a melon. It takes about 2 hours get thick firmer paneer. Store it in refrigerator for 4 days and in freezer for 2 months.

Make Delicious paneer dishes with this paneer

Preparation time: 2.5 hours
Serving: 4
Verdict: Turned out good
Will you make it: Yes

 I am sending this Paneer to JFI -Paneer hosted by Cardamom.  started by Indira of Mahanandi,


 
Swathi

Kande Pohe/ Spicy flattened Rice flakes

Pohe / Poha/ aval/flattened rice flakes is commonly used in every state of India. When I was searching this recipe interesting a Marathi movie named Kande pohe showed up in web. Kande Pohe is similar to what we call it as aval upma in Kerala. When we returned from school in the evening we are yelling amma, amma give us something to eat. On reaching home, it is like hungry elephant grazing all around. We will look all containers in which snacks are usually kept at home to find something. Amma knows this and would make aval nanachathu (Pohe /aval with jaggery or sugar with coconut) or some other snacks. At that time we are not fan of the savory dish made with poha/aval.

After getting married I learnt to make the spicy version as my hubby likes spicy aval/pohe than the sweet version. May be because he likes more spicy dishes; my mother-in-law makes good sabudana kichadi( tapioca-pearl upma) which is also slightly spicy. I learnt that dish while I was visiting her after marriage.

Kande pohe is one of the favorite breakfast dish or as also eaten as a snack in Maharashtrian homes. It is really easy to make and filling. I read that in Marathi culture Kande pohe is usually given as a snack when prospective groom visit bride and her family for the first time. Nobody seems to know why Kandhe Pohe is served the first time a prospective bridegroom visits the bride’ but it is a tradition. Ok I will come to recipe; there are many version of Kande pohe, such as using boiled potato, tomato, green peas etc. I made Kande pohe this way.

What you need

Red Onion: 1 no

Phoa/Phoe/Aval/flattened rice flakes( thick) : 2 cups

Green chillies : 1 no (Serrano pepper) (Increase no if you need spicier)

Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon

Asafetodia : ½ teaspoon

Ginger : 1 inch (sliced into thin slices, optional)

Curry leaves : 1 sprig( 10 leaves)

Salt : ½ teaspoon or to taste

Sugar : 1 teaspoon

Olive oil : 2 tablespoon

Chopped coriander leaves : 1 tablespoon

Grated coconut : 2 tablespoon

Lemon juice : 1 tablespoon

How I made

Wash pohe /aval/in running water in a colander and drain the water and keep aside.

Heat oil in thick bottomed pan, add mustard and cumin seeds, as mustard starts splutters add chopped onion, green chilies, curry leaves and ginger and fry until onions become translucent or change color.

Add turmeric powder and asafetodia and fry for another 2 minutes.

Add washed pohe along with salt and sugar and mix well and let stir for another 3 minutes.

Switch off the flame and add lemon juice and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut.

Enjoy anytime with tea or coffee.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4 serving

Verdict: Tasty

Will you make it again: Sure

Swathi

Spicy onion Barley crackers

Usually when hubby comes from work in the evening I will make something, he can munch on while drinking his favorite tea. One thing in the world he can’t live without is his tea; he will drink tea day and night. Usually I make onion vada, or ethaka-appam (sweet dish made of ripe plantain). Some time I make some dosas, upma or other breakfast dishes. Yesterday my culinary intuition kicked in suddenly to bake some savory dishes. So as usual I looked into the web for recipe of crackers. Earlier crackers according to me were only “Ritz cracker” we get in Wal-Mart. I always bought a big box of the Ritz cracker thinking that I am going to eat a lot. But it will remain sitting in my kitchen table for months after opening. I get bored very soon and after a few months get tossed into the trash. Other cracker I use is Graham crackers as crust for cheese cake (which my hubby loves). When I saw baked Nippatu in Redchillies I immediately wanted to try it. Later I came to know that Nippatu is very similar to a dish called Thattai which my mom used to make it. While I was In India, I never thought about baking or cooking, because Amma did everything for me. Here I became chef of different taste as I have no choice, because I don’t like to eat out. I stopped going out to eat after trying several Indian restaurants and not liking the taste at any of them.

Madhuram  announced an egg less baking event with barley as the main ingredient. I would like to send a recipe for her event, and since she wanted egg less dish I thought about making a muffin, or a cake. Later I decided to bake some savory onion crackers using barely flour. I used the recipe from here. I substituted half of the flour with freshly ground barley flour. I made the crackers this way.

What you need

All purpose flour : 1 cup
Barley flour : 1 cup
Butter ( melted) : 4 tablespoon
Water ( warm) : 2 tablespoon
Red Onion( finely chopped) : 1 no
Sesame seeds : 4 teaspoon (I used black sesame seeds)
Baking soda :1 teaspoon
Canola oil : 1/3 cup
Red Chili powder : 1 teaspoon
Salt : 1 teaspoon or to taste
Sugar : 2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves( chopped) : 2 tablespoon
Curry leaves : 1 Sprig ( optional)

How I made

In a bowl mix All-purpose flour, barley flour, red onion, coriander leaves, curry leaves, salt, sugar, baking soda, sesame seeds, red chili powder and add oil and butter and mix well. The entire mixture become a big lump.

To this lump add warm water little by little and knead well about 2-3 minutes to form dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave it aside for 30 minutes.

Pre heat oven to 325 F

Next is to roll out dough into thin circular disc as cookie dough. Since it is difficult to rolling out the dough with a rolling pin, I used a Ziploc cover and placed small amount of dough in between and fold and applied pressure to make thin sheet in between sheets. After achieving desired thickness around ½ inches I cut them using a cookie cutter to heart shaped discs.

Place the cut discs in cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or slightly greased with oil. Using a fork poke these discs so that they won’t puff while baking.

Bake the crackers to 25-30 minutes or until they are brown.

Cool it in wire rack and store in air tight container.

Enjoy these with cup of coffee or tea.

Preparation time: 1.25 hour
Yield : 33
Verdict : Good
Will you make it again: Sure I will


Swathi

Beet Carrot Ginger Soup

Soup one of is easy and nutritious dish we both love to have once in a while. I used to make them more often, but nowadays not making them as I did earlier. This weekend my hubby bought me some beets, one of vegetable he likes to consume every other days. Usually I make thoran with them, but for a change I decided to make some soup using the beet soup recipe I had written in my note book many years ago. I am not a fan of celery, why I hate that vegetable I don’t know. Therefore I make most of my soups without celery as an ingredient. Beets are very good except their intense color has a tendency for adding color to everything, kitchen table, cloths etc.

Beets are a wonderful source of iron, capable of boosting immunity and supposedly also have anti-cancer properties along with 15 health benefits according to this source.  I used carrots along with as it is a great source of beta carotene in the form of Vitamin A. I remember watching one of action comedy movie of Clive Owen (I like him) Shoot 'Em Up (2007) , love that movie where he uses all types of gun and shooting at different ways. In that movie, he eats carrots most of time and telling one villain “Eat carrot you get sharp eye sight”

Okay I will come to recipe. I made the soup like this.

What you need

Beets (large) : 2 no
Carrot : 1
Red Onion : 1
Ginger : 2 inch piece
Pepper : 1tablespoon (reduce if you need less spicy)
Olive oil : 1 tablespoon
Butter : 1 tablespoon
Salt : 1 teaspoon or to taste
Water/ Vegetable stock: 4 cup
1% Milk/Cream : 1/2 cup
Yogurt : 2 tablespoon
Italian seasoning : 1 tablespoon (optional)


How I made

Heat olive oil and butter in sauce pan and add chopped onion fry them until they become translucent and change color (3 to 4 minutes).

Add sliced beets, carrot and ginger and fry for 5 minutes and then add 4 cup of water or broth cook till both beets and carrots become tender (20-25 min) and switch off the flame.

In blender make a puree of the cooked beet, carrots and onion along with milk and water in batches until desired consistency is achieved (I like thick not chunky).

Heat purees in saucepan and add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning (if using) along with cream for 2 minutes or until hot, switch of flame.

Enjoy soup hot or cold with dollop of yogurt and toasted bread.

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Yield : 3 serving

Verdict : Good

Will you make it again: Frequently

I am sending this beet carrot ginger soup to Lisa’s November edition of No Croutons Required challenge containing root vegetables.

Swathi

Moru curry /Yogurt Gravy

This is one of the simple dishes that you can easily make without much preparation. When I am out of vegetables or I need to make something in a hurry I will always rely on this gravy dish. You can have a full meal with rice, moru curry and a thoran or stir-fry. There are other preparations of yogurt gravies such, kalan /kuruku kalan, puliseery which contain vegetables and are common in Kerala. These dishes form an important part of daily cuisine and are a must during festivals or feast (Sadya). Yogurt is an important item in Kerala kitchen, and it is used as accompanies to rice or as an ingredient in curry or even used as a drink (sambharm, which is Yogurt –water combo).


My hubby loves simple curries compared to other dishes with masala.When I was growing up, Amma used to make puliseery more often than moru curries, my grandmother used to make all kinds of puliseery, some even with ripe plantain and mango. There are many different ways to prepare moru curry, however what I am writing below is one of my simple but tasty recipe.

What You Need
Grated coconut (fresh or frozen): ½ cup
Pearl onions( finely chopped) : 5 no if not available use ¼ of red onion
Green chilies (Serrano) : 2 no
Cumin : 1/2 tsp
Yogurt (thick) : 1 cup
Turmeric : ¼ tsp
Chili powder : ¼ tsp
Red chilies : 2 no (split halves)
Mustard : ¼ tsp
Fenugreek : 1/8 tsp
Salt : ½ tsp or to taste
Olive oil (or any cooking oil) : 1 tbsp
Curry leaves : 1 sprig ( 12 leaves)
Water : 1 cup

How I made

Grind coconut, cumin, green chilies into a fine paste with as little water as possible and keep aside

Heat a thick bottomed pan and add ¾ tablespoon of olive oil and chopped pearl onions and fry for 3 minutes .When they change to slightly brown color add ground coconut paste along with half cup of water and red chili powder. Let it boil for 5 minutes.

In another bowl mix yogurt, turmeric and water to form a thin solution. Then add this mixture to boiling coconut paste and lower the heat. Add salt and stir well to prevent curdling.

In another small pan add ¼ tablespoon of olive oil and heat oil add mustard seeds when it starts popping add halved red chillies, fenugreek and curry leaves . Fry for another 2 minutes and switch off the flame and add this seasoning to yogurt mixture and stir well.

Enjoy with rice or chapatti.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield : 4 serving
Verdict : Traditional dish it is tasty always
Will you make it again: Frequent in my kitchen



Swathi

Cabbage Thoran/Uppeari/ Cabbage Stirfry with Coconut and Spices

Thoran or uppeari is common companions of rice in vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian kitchens of Kerala. Thoran is a dish made with coconut, (as Keralites life without coconut is impossible) dry and prepare with in no time. Thoran can be made with all kinds of vegetables including exotic asparagus except water rich melon, squash etc. If you have thoran and curry in your meal then “oonu kushalayi”( means very good) and if have pappad along with it will be another plus point. I love to make cabbage thoran by itself, or sometimes I mix it with carrot or beet root. Amma used to make more often during my child hood, usually cabbage thoran and sambar are favorites in the menu. Usually thoran can be made with or without garlic.

Turmeric has important anti-inflammatory properties and it is excellent source of antioxidants according to this source. It is one of common ingredients in my diet, I make curries, even sweets ( needs yellow food coloring ) with them. I can’t think of a life without them.  Because without turmeric living is impossible.

Cabbage is also an excellent source of vitamin C. I made this way.

What you need

Cabbage head: 1 small (washed and chopped finely)
Green chilly : 1 (finely chopped)
Red chilies : 2 no (halved)
Red chilli powder: ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
Cumin powder : ½ teaspoon
Coconut : ½ cup (I used desiccated one, use fresh or frozen if you have for best result)
Urad dal : 2 tablespoon (Optional)
Curry Leaves : 1 Sprig ( 12 leaves)
Coconut oil : 2 tablespoon
Salt : ½ teaspoon or to taste
Mustard seeds : ½ teaspoon


How I made

Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, halved red chillies and urad dal as mustard seeds start popping add cleaned and chopped cabbage. Then add turmeric powder and salt and cover the lid. Let it cook for 4 minutes.

If you are using fresh or frozen coconut ground them with cumin and red chili powder to form coarse paste with less water.

Once cabbage is cooked add ground paste of coconut (as I used desiccated coconut, I didn’t grind them) with cumin and red chili powder and mix well. Add curry leaves and stir for another 2 minutes and switch off the flame.

Enjoy with curry and rice.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield                 : 4 serving
Verdict               : Traditional dish so it is good
Will you make it again:  Frequently

Swathi

Spicy Date Apple & Walnut Bread

I had earlier tried the Carrot cake with cream frosting by Ina Garten of Barefoot contessa and it came out good and both my hubby and I liked it. So when I saw the recipes for Date spice bread by Ina, I was excited enough to try it. Dates are rich in nutrients and fiber, and search of the literature reveals large health benefits of dates. In the recipe Ina used in addition to dates, pecans and orange liqueur. I did not have pecans in my hand so I used walnut.

I also had some apples which I used (I had used apples before in cakes and I loved the flavor). I asked my hubby “will you buy me orange liqueur?” Hubby replied “Ok honey I will”. Then in the evening when we went out for shopping for baby clothes we also bought some orange liqueur. When I got the time in the night, I soaked the dates for half hour in orange liqueur. I started working on the rest of ingredients around 10.30 P.M after having dinner. I mainly followed all her steps, but also made changes such as adding apples, walnut and some extra spices. I ended up getting very tasty bread with great energy.

What you need

Coarsely Chopped Dates : 1 cup (8 ounces pitted)
Chopped apple : 1 cup (1 apple)
Lemon Juice : 1 lemon
Orange liqueur (Triple Sec): 1/6 cup
Unsalted butter at room temperature : 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick)
Light brown sugar, lightly packed : 1/3 cup
Egg : 1
Pure vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon
All purpose flour : 1 and ¼ cup
Grated orange zest : ½ tablespoon (1 orange)
Baking powder : 1 teaspoon
Baking soda : ¼ teaspoon
Ground cinnamon : ½ teaspoon
Ground nutmeg : ½ teaspoon
All spice : ½ teaspoon
Ground ginger : ¼ teaspoon
Ground Cloves : ¼ teaspoon
Salt : ½ teaspoon
Freshly squeezed orange juice : 1/3 cup (1 and ½ oranges)
Toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts : ½ cup


How I made

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom of an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pan.
Combine the dates and orange liqueur in a small bowl and set aside for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add lemon juice to chopped apples and keep aside.
Beat the butter and brown sugar together in a bowl until it is well combined. Then add egg, vanilla, and orange zest and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, all spice, ground ginger and salt. Now add the flour mixture alternately with the orange juice to the mixture containing butter and brown sugar and combine well. Finally stir in the dates with their liquid, along with chopped apple and walnuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Slice the bread and serve with or without favorite spreads.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Yield                 :  4 serving
Verdict              : Good 
Will you make it again  :  Yes I will

I am sending this Spicy Date Apple & Walnut Bread  to monthly mingle Brunch    hosted by Meeta

 Swathi

Spicy Spinach-Mushroom Frittata

Frittata according to Wikipedia “Is a kind of Italian open faced omelet contain, cheese, eggs etc”. I usually make omelets, with onion, green chilies, or chill powder, when I need a side dish or to use as sandwich between breads as I get bored with using the same kind of jam. My hubby like and makes scrambled eggs more often than the omelet. I had some mushroom and spinach in hand so decided to experiment on frittata. I looked into the web for frittata recipe and end up with this one as it can be cooked on the stove top rather than the oven.  Spinach is considered to be power house of nutrients, minerals and vitamins according to this source . Spinach we used get in my home town is similar to Chinese spinach, but they are tastier than the one I am getting here.

Over the period of years, I started loving spinach that we get here and it has become one of frequently used vegetable in my kitchen. I made a really spicy frittata with gram masala, chili powder, and pepper. This dish is also very filling.

What you need:

Chopped Frozen, thawed Spinach: 4oz (½ cup)
Chopped button mushroom : 1/2cup
Chopped onion : 1
Green chilies (Serrano pepper) : 1
Eggs : 4 no (3 egg whites and 1 full egg)
Cumin : 1/8 tsp
Gram masala : ¼ tsp
Chili powder : ¼ tsp (mine is hotter variety)
Pepper powder : ½ tsp
Olive oil : 2 tablespoons
Salt : ¼ tsp or to taste


How I made:

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onions and fry for 3 minutes or until onions become soft and change color. Then add mushrooms, green chilies and spinach and cook for another 5 minutes. Add cumin, chili, pepper, salt and gram masala powder and stir for another 2 minutes.

In another medium bowl beat 3 egg whites and 1 full egg. Pour the egg mixture into the vegetables. Reduce the flame, cover and cook for another 5to 7 minutes or until the egg are firm.

Enjoy Spinach-mushroom- onion frittata hot and warm.

Preparation time: 15-17 minutes
Yield : 3 serving
Verdict : Good
Will you make it again: Frequently.

I am sending this Spicy spinach mushroom frittata to monthly mingle-brunch  hosted by Meeta.

 Swathi

Gulab Jamun

One of the Indian sweets I am very fond of. It is milk based sweet, which I usually make from instant Gulab jamun packet available in the market. It is a easy 20 minutes effort, open and mix ingredients, fry it in oil and put in sugar syrup. I am happy to be part of Indian cooking challenge conducted and hosted by Srivalli. This month she has announced Gulab jamun as dish for the cooking challenge. Thanks for selecting this dish. I was happy to take up challenge, but at the same time skeptical about starting from the scratch. As always my dear hubby give me courage, to go ahead, and I decided to make Gulab jamun from scratch.

Srivalli had suggested 3 recipes one from Yum Blog, second from Indo and third from Alka . I followed Alka’s recipe to make Gulab jamun since it uses less quantity of milk, but she has not mentioned about the process of making khova, so I followed Indo’s recipe to make Khova. The final product was amazing and tasty and easily melts in your mouth. Usually hubby comes to home to have lunch, but yesterday he has some important meeting, and did not come for lunch. So I was able to start the preparation around lunch time. I started to boil the milk at 12.35 P.M and it lasted till 3.45 P.M at which point, I was able to get Khova/mawa. I had to do some routine things with my baby and house till 5.30. I again started making Jamuns around 5.45 and was able to fry them and put it sugar syrup by 6.30 P.M. The jamuns were ready enough for tasting around 8.30 P.M. Even though Jamuns are required to be (as the saying goes) in sugar syrup for at least 8 hours, we did not wait that long time for tasting the dish. Thanks to Alka for nice recipe of Gulab jamun.

What You Need: (Measurements from Alka)

For Gulab Jamun:
Whole Milk : 6 cup (to yield 250 gm (about 1 and ½ cup) Khova/Mawa)
Khova/ Unsweetened Mawa: 1 & ½ cup
All purpose flour : 1 & ½ - 2 tsp (I used 2 tsp)
Corn flour : 1 tsp
Green cardamom : 1-2 crushed
Oil for shallow frying

Sugar Syrup:

Sugar : 2 cup (This can be reduced as per taste)
Water : 1 & 1/2 cup (bit more or less) I used 2 cup
Cardamom - 2-3 pods crushed
One spoon of milk (optional, I didn’t used)
Saffron : 2 threads
Rosewater : 2 drops

How I made:

 To make Khova/mawa: Boil 6 cups of whole milk on a medium flame in a thick bottomed vessel with 2-3 stainless spoons in the bottom. The spoons are required to prevent the milk from burning. Once milk has boiled, reduce the flame and stir more often until the whole milk reduces to cottage cheese consistency. It took me around 3 hours to get Khova.

 

Next to make sugar syrup: Boil one and half cup water with 2 cups of sugar. Add a spoonful of milk to syrup (when it is boiling) to remove the impurities (impurities if any, will form a scum on surface). I did not use this step. Add 2-3 green cardamoms and 2 saffron strings to the syrup for strong flavor. Boil until you get just a tad sticky syrup. Gulab Jamun syrup is slightly dense and not too dilute as in Rasgulla. Strain the syrup, and add 2 drops of rosewater when syrup is slightly cooled. When sugar syrup is ready, we are ready to make Jamuns.

 

 

Making the Jamuns: In a bowl mix khova with all-purpose flour, corn flour and crushed cardamoms and knead until mixture form soft textured dough. From the dough, make small round balls which are slightly more than size of pebble (I made size of ping-pong ball). These small round balls will swell up after frying and soaking in syrup. Make sure that the surface of dough balls is really smooth without any cracks. If there is crack slightly wet your palms with water and roll the flour till absolutely smooth.

Now take a little oil (for frying) in preferably flat bottomed pan, and heat the oil. The Gulab jamuns are to be fried on LOW FLAME or else the surface will be browned while the core will remain uncooked.

Fry one or 2 Gulab jamuns at a time and always remember to STIR THE OIL with slotted spoon AND NOT TO TOUCH GULAB JAMUNS, which means keep swirling the oil without tossing or turning Gulab jamun.

Fry till light brown in color is obtained, remove and keep the jamun on tissue paper and repeat the procedure with rest of dough.

Finally soak the jamuns in COOL sugar syrup for a few hours, until they are all swelled up.

These can be stored in the same syrup till consumed.

You can enjoy it hot or cold, either way it is delicious.

Tips: Always remember two things while using rose water, do not add it while syrup is bubbling hot or on fire, and be particular about the quantity mentioned in every recipe, since even few drops of excess rosewater could lend a bitter taste to the final product. In order to prevent center of jamun from not cooking, some prefer to place an unsalted pistachio in the center of every Gulab jamun while making balls, that way the core of Gulab jamun is not left uncooked. If there are cracks in the balls before frying it will burst open while frying, in that case adding a bit of corn flour will surely help.

Preparation Time: 3 hours to make khova and 15 minutes to make jamun and syrup
Yield : 20
Verdict: Good, melt in mouth
Will you make it again: Sure I will make occasionally as time permits?

Swathi

Kuih Dadar (Coconut Crepe/pan cake)

Mutta Kuzhalappam /Madaku saan / Love letter/Pola/ Tehra-ada is the name of coconut pan cakes or crepes one of the breakfast dishes from my home state Kerala. So when I heard  Apu of Annarasa hosting A.W.E.D (created by fellow blogger DK) event about Malaysian cuisine, I looked at several Malaysian dishes on the web, as I need something easy and tasty and a vegetarian one. My search ended with Kuih Dadar (Coconut Pancake) recipe. This dish in addition to being vegetarian (with egg) also had sweetness to it. Kuih means “cake ‘’in Malay, which is made with flour, egg, coconut milk, pandan leaves and coconut filling.

Interestingly I found that it is very similar to a dish we make in Kerala, the difference being the use of pandan leaves for green coloring and flavor as well as palm sugar for the filling. Instead of palm sugar the Indian dish uses sugar/Jaggery. My first attempt at making Kuih Dadar with some of my changes turned to be really tasty and yummy. I took the recipe and gave my twist to it.

What you need:

For Crepe/Pancake
All purpose flour: ½ cup
Egg : 1
Coconut milk (thinned) : 1/8 cup
Water : ¼ cup
Pandan Juice : 1/4 cup (I did not use it)
Pandan essence : 2 tsp
Green food coloring : 4 drops
Salt : ¼ tsp
Canola oil : ½ Tbsp
Oil for brushing the pan

For Filling
Palm sugar : 1/3 cup
Water : ¼ cup
Pandan Leaf knotted: 1 no (I didn’t use it)
Freshly grated coconut: ½ cup
Rice flakes : ½ cup (Optional, not in traditional dish)
Cardamom : 2 pods crushed (Optional, not in traditional dish)

How I Made:

1. Sift the flour with salt and add coconut milk, egg, water, pandan juice (if available) or pandan essence and whisk together with a whisk to form a uniform batter. Then add ½ tbsp of oil and keep the batter aside for 20 minutes.

2. In the mean time heat ¼ cup of water in pan and add palm sugar and pandan leaf (if available).

3. Once the palm sugar becomes slightly thick add grated coconut, rice flakes and cook until everything become incorporated well and all the water content evaporates and becomes a single mass.

4. Heat a non stick pan and when the pan is hot and sizzling when you flash with water, brush with little oil and pour the batter in center and swirl it in a circular motion. I used Dosa griddle so I didn’t do circular motion but spread with back of ladle towards the rim of griddle. Once the bottom side is cooked turn and let cook the other side also. Continue this until you finish the entire batter.

5. Place 2 tablespoon of coconut filling in the middle of pancake or crepe and first fold from side and again fold from opposite direction, just like a wrap to  cover the entire fillings.

6. Eat when it is hot.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 Crepes
Verdict: Yes it is tasty
Will you make it again: Yes I will

I am sending this Kuih Dadar to visit Malaysia through  AWED hosted by Apu of Annarasa.

Swathi

Ulli chammanthi /Onion chutney

Ulli chammanthi /Onion chutney (Mild)

Chammanthi /chutney made in South India is usually spicy and good accompanist of dosa, idli, rice of even kappa (tapioca). Usually they are made by grinding ingredients in ammikallu (motor and pestle. I like ulli chammanthi because it has spiciness from the red chilies and sweetness from the onions. Usually pearl onions are used make this dish; however I had no pearl onions in my hand so I used a red onion.

What you need:

Red onion : 1 nos
Red chilli : 4 nos
Salt : ½ tsp
Olive oil : 3 tsp
Mustard : ¼ tsp
Urad dal : 1 tbsp (optional)


How I made:

1. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and add urad dal and 4 red chillies fry until it changes the color
2. Add onion into this and sauté for 5 minutes or until it raw smell goes. Switch of the stove and let it cool for 5 minutes.
3. Grind everything into a fine paste add salt.
4. Heat a pan and add 1 tsp of oil and add mustard and when it starts popping add it to ground paste.
Enjoy ulli chammanthi with dosa or kappa.This version of ulli chammanthi/chutney is less spicy .

Ulli chammanthi /Onion chutney (Spicy)

I made a this version  is more spicy.

What you need:

Red onion : 1 nos
Red chili : 3 nos
Paprika: ¼ tsp
Chili powder: ½ tsp
Tamarind : Small goose berry size
Salt : ½ tsp
Olive oil : 2 tsp

How I made:

Heat the pan add 2tsp of oil and when it becomes hot add red chilies and fry for 2 minutes and then add onion and fry for another 5 minutes or raw smell of onion goes, add paprika . Switch off the stove once it cooled. Grind this mixture with red chili powder, tamarind and salt. Serve with dosa or Idly.

Preparation time: both versions 10 minutes
Yield : 6 serving
Verdict : it is good as it is a traditional dish
Will you make it again: Making more often.

I am sending this ulli chammanthi/ Onion chutney to spicy-fiery-chutneys hosted by Sreevalli  of  ammajirecipes.

Swathi

Gothambu dosa /Wheat flour dosa

Given a choice, l would love to make sada (regular) dosa made from rice and urad dal, every day. It was my staple breakfast during the first semester of my pregnancy. But by the end of second semester I developed gestational diabetics, and the dosa that I loved to eat every day, became my enemy. Eating dosas started spiking my one hour blood sugar levels. So I had to give up making dosa for a long time. Still at times when I am desperate to eat dosa, I will make gothambu dosa /wheat dosa. I remember, amma used to make gothambu dosa in order to escape from the trouble of wet grinding of urud dal and rice followed by the overnight fermentation of the combination of the two to make Sada dosa. When I was kid I used to put a lot of conditions to eat gothambu dosa such as it should be crispy and dripping in oil, and accompanied with sugar and banana. Poor Amma had to put up with all my tantrums. I would like to mention my childhood story of tasting dosa (sada) disaster. My kid sister used to eat dosa by mixing it with coffee and made into a paste. She used to say that “it is really tasty, u should try, and you will like it”. I was always tempted, but did not have courage to taste that, until that one morning when I got some courage and asked amma to give me dosa along with a cup of coffee. She warned me that “you won’t like it and if you are not going to eat the paste, I going to slap you for wasting food”. I ignored her warning and mixed two dosa with coffee, and with my sister encouraging me, I asked mom to give me two more and finally I got 4 dosa and all mixed with coffee and made into a paste. Then when I started to eat, after one bite I realized that this is not going to work. I can’t eat this paste. I was playing with my dosa paste for long time and not eating anything. Finally when amma noticed what I was doing she asked me to eat the whole thing. She also told me that if I did not eat the whole paste, she will beat me with a stick. When amma turned to make some more dosas, I sneaked out of the kitchen, and ran, with my mother following me. I got to amma’s friend’s backyard and hid there. Mom was not able to find me, for a long time. I was crying the whole time. Later she forgave me and told me not to do that again. Now after having my baby I am not able to find time to grind the rice and dal for dosa , as the baby gets scared from the sound of the grinder. Even I can’t stand the sound of the grinder for too long. So I finally started to make some gothambu/wheat flour dosa along with ulli chutney /Chammanthi.

What you need:
Wheat flour : 2 cup
Salt : ½ tsp or to taste
Water : 1 ½ cup
Gingerly Oil : Drizzling in the batter

How I made:

1. Mix wheat flour with salt and water and make batter those of pancakes.
2. Heat dosa girdle or a non stick pan to medium high heat. When you sprinkle water on hot girdle or pan it makes a sizzling noise, pan is ready to make dosa.
3. Add one soup ladle full of batter in the center of pan and slowly spread the batter in circular motion towards the rim of the pan
4. Drizzle oil along the sides of batter as well as in the center . Let it cook for 2minutes.
5. Once bottom side of dosa is done (when you able to lift with spatula) turn the other side and cook that side also.
6. When both sides are done take it out of the flame and add the next one and repeat the process.
7. Serve hot with any chutney.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Yield : 4 serving
Verdict :It will be good as it is a traditional dish
Will you make it again: Makes more often, you can add onion, and grated carrots and red chillies with the batter to make spicy


Swathi

Yard long beans Carrot stir fry / Achinga payaru carrot Mezhukkupuratti

When I thought about making something easy for lunch, I decided ok today we are going to have moru curry and some mezhukkupuratti (stir fry). If you ask any Kerala women who cook, they will be expert in making everything and anything with vegetables other than squash and melon (those which generate water while cooking) a thoran/uppeari (dish with ground coconut) or Mezhukkupuratti (made with or without coconut slices, Amma make without coconut) . Normally Mezhukkupuratti requires little seasoning and spices (most of vegetarian kerala dishes are without much spices) and are simple and easy to cook within 10 minutes. If Rachel Ray goes to Kerala she will be amazed to see that her 30 minutes cooking idea is already practiced there for decades if not centuries. We have small backyard garden at my house, where this year we planted Yard long beans (Achinga/Cow pea-beans) and Vellarikka (Yellow Cucumber). We got a good yield of both of these this year. As winter is approaching my yard long beans are becoming lazy and producing less beans. I have some achinga payar from my garden but it was not enough to make a dish so I decided to add some carrot. After I left India I learnt that marriage between carrot and any other vegetable will be good while making dry curries. There are lots of changes you can make with this dish, adding shallots, garlic, etc; I used my mother’s version here.

What You Need:

 Achinga payar/Yard Long beans : 1 Cup (cut 2 inch slices)
Carrot : 1 Cup (cut 1 inch slices)
Red Chilly : 2 no Spilt into halves (Increase no if you need spicy)
Red Chilli powder : ½ tsp
Mustard : ½ tsp
Urad dal/split black lentils : 1 tbsp (optional)
Curry leaves : 1 Sprig
Salt : ½ tsp (to taste)
Turmeric powder : a pinch
Olive oil : 2 tbsp (coconut oil will be tastier)


How I made:
1. Heat a kadai or pan and add olive oil, once oil becomes hot, add mustard, urad dal, and halved red chilies.
2. When mustard starts popping add cut and washed yard long beans and carrots into the pan and cover with lid. Let it cook in the slow flame for 7 minutes or until the carrot is cooked well.
3. Add salt and red chili powder to the vegetables and stir for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Finally add curry leaves and switch off the flame and serve with rice.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Yield : 2 serving
Verdict : As it is a traditional dish it will be always good
Will you make it again: Making every other day

 Swathi