Stuffed Chili Bajji

Ingredients
Baji Chilis: 10
Gram flour (besan): 1 cup
Rice flour: ¼ cup
Carom seeds (Ajwain): 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Salt: To taste
Oil: For deep frying

For stuffing
Peanut: 2-3 tsp
Sesame seeds: 2-3 tsp
Dry coconut powder: 2-3 tsp
Tamarind juice: 1 tsp
Coriander seeds: 1 tsp
Salt: To taste

Stuffed Chili Bajji

Method
Dry roast peanut, sesame, coconut, coriander and grind it to smooth powder adding tamarind paste. Do not add any extra water.

Wash and pat dry the chilies. Make a vertical slit with a sharp knife in the middle of the chili. Remove the thick vein with seeds if you do not want bajjis to be too spicy. Stuff the peanut paste in the chilies and keep aside.

Meanwhile, mix gram flour, rice flour, cumin, ajwain and salt and prepare medium thick batter.

Heat oil in a pan on medium high flame. Dip the bajjis in the flour batter and deep fry till golden colour. Serve hot with onion and tomato slices.

Spinach Dip

Ingredients

Chopped fresh spinach: 1 cup
Sour cream: ¼ cup
Cream cheese: ¼ cup
Yogurt: 1 cup
Chopped fresh mint: ¼ cup
Soy sauce: 1 tsp
Honey: 1 tsp
Red chili flakes: 1 tsp
Salt: To taste

Method
Mix all the ingredients and chill for at least 4-5 hours before serving with crackers.

Milk Peda

Ingredients

Paneer: 2 cups

Milk powder: ¼ cup

Milk: ¼ cup

Sugar: ½ cup

Butter: 2-3 tsp

Cardamom powder: ¼ tsp

Saffron: 2-3 strands

Sliced pistachios or almonds: 2-3 tsp

Milk peda

Khoya

Sugar and cardamom to be mixed with khoya

Peda garnished with sliced almonds

Method:

Prepare paneer from milk. Heat a thick-bottomed pan and melt butter. Add milk, milk powder, saffron and paneer and mix well. Keep stirring continuously till the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan and becomes like dough. This dough is called Khoya. Transfer khoya to a bowl and allow it to cool. Add sugar and cardamom powder and knead the khoya for 2-3 minutes so that everything is blended well. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll them into small balls. Lightly press them and garnish each peda with sliced pistachios or almonds. 

Note: If you add sugar when the khoya is hot, it becomes too soft and will be difficult to make balls.

Paneer

Ingredients

Milk: 1 litre

Lemon juice: ¼ cup

Water: 1 cup

 

Method

Boil milk in a thick bottomed pan and bring it to a boil. Mix lemon juice in one cup of water and add it to the boiling milk stirring the milk gently. The milk curdles and will start separating from the whey. Once the milk water looks pale green, remove from the heat and drain it using a strainer with muslin cloth. 

Wrap the muslin cloth and rinse well in cold water so that the lemon smell goes out from the paneer. Squeeze the cloth thoroughly to remove excess water. You can keep the wrapped paneer under a heavy object for about an hour, but this can remove all water and paneer can become little hard. 

After removing water from the paneer, take a pinch of it on your palm and rub with your finger for about 10 seconds and see if you are able to make a firm, but a smooth ball. After removing all the excess water, place the paneer on a dry clean surface and knead it well for 5-6 minutes. This helps to smoothen the paneer like soft dough. If the paneer is too crumbly, you can add half a tablespoon of water.This can be used to prepare sweets or any veg curries.

Grilled Apple

Ingredients

Apple: 1-2 (peeled and sliced into ½ inch thick round)
Oil: 1-2 tsp
Sugar: 1-2 tsp
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese: 2-3 tsp (cut in thin strips)
Chopped peacons: 2-3 tsp
Honey: 2-3 tsp

Method
Preheat grill on medium heat.

Toss apple slices with oil and sugar in a large bowl. Grill the apple slices till tender and lightly golden, turning once. It takes about five minutes in total.

Transfer the grilled apple slices to a serving plate and sprinkle cheese, nuts and drizzle honey.

Note: Instead of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, you can use Cheddar cheese also.

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
Potatoes: 4-5 (washed, peeled and quartered)
Minced garlic: 2-3 cloves

Grated Parmesan cheese: ¼ cup

Butter: ¼ cup

Cream: ¼ cup

Pepper: To taste

Salt: To taste

Method

Cook potatoes in salted water till tender. Drain water and add garlic, cheese, butter, cream, salt and pepper. Mash the potatoes till smooth. Sprinkle coriander or Italian seasoning if you wish, before serving.

Crispy Chicken Strips

Ingredients
Boneless chicken breasts: 6 (sliced in strips)
Spicy mustard: ½ cup
Breadcrumbs: 2-3 cups
All-purpose flour: ½ cup
Italian Seasoning: 1 tsp
Garlic powder: 1 tsp
Water: 2 tsp
Salt: To taste
Pepper: 1 tsp
Oil: For frying

Method
Heat oil in a pan. Mix flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the spicy mustard and water. In another bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Roll all the chicken strips one by one, in the flour mixture first, and then in the mustard mixture and then in breadcrumbs, and deep fry in oil till golden brown.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients
Butter: ½ cup
Peanut butter: ½ cup
Sugar: 1 cup
Egg: 1
All-Purpose flour: 1 ¼ cup
Salt: ¼ tsp
Baking powder: ½ tsp

 

Method
Whisk together butter, peanut butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. 

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into batter and refrigerate the mixture for one hour.

Roll the mixture into equal size 12 balls and flatten them lightly with your palms and put on a greased baking sheet. Make criss-cross pattern with a fork. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F for 10 minutes or till the cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake.

Onion Dosa

Ingredients
Rice: 2 cups
Urad dal: 1 cup
Chopped onion: 1 cup
Cumin powder: ¼ tsp
Sesame seeds: 1 tsp
Chopped green chilies: 2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves: 2-3 tsp
Salt: To taste
Oil or butter: As required

Method
Soak Urad dal and rice separately for five to six hours and grind them separately to make a smooth batter. Add salt and allow it to ferment overnight.

Mix chopped onion, green chilies, coriander leaves, cumin powder, sesame seeds and salt in a bowl and keep aside.

Heat a non-stick tava and drizzle little oil. Pour one ladle full of batter and spread it evenly in a circular shape and spread out little onion mixture and press lightly. Drizzle oil or butter and cook for a few seconds. Turn over the dosa and cook on the other side for a minute before transferring it to a serving plate. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Red Chili Chutney

Ingredients
Grated coconut: ½ cup
Red chili: 7-8
Roasted split chickpeas: 2 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Tamarind: ½ tsp
Chopped coriander leaves: 2 tsp
Salt: To taste

Method
Grind all the ingredients using little water at a time and prepare thick chutney. Serve with dosa or idli.

Potato Bhaji

Ingredients
Potatoes: 3-4
Chopped onion: ½ cup
Chopped green chilies: 1 tsp
Split Bengal gram (chana dal): 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Asafoetida: A pinch
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
Chopped coriander leaves: 2-3 tsp
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Salt: To taste
Oil: 1 tsp

Method
Boil potatoes, peel and chop them. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when they splutter, add asafoetida and split Bengal gram and sauté till golden brown. Add green chilies, curry leaves and onion and sauté till onion is translucent. Add potatoes, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well. Sprinkle a tablespoon of water and cook till the potatoes are heated through. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice and mix well. Serve with chapati or dosa.

Crispy Masala Dosa

Ingredients
Parboiled rice: 3 cups
Rice: ½ cup
Urad dal: 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp
Salt: To taste
Oil or butter: As required

Method
Wash both the rice well and soak in water for four to five hours. Wash and soak split black gram with fenugreek seeds in water separately for four to five hours.

Drain and grind the rice and split black gram separately to a smooth texture. Add salt and mix both the batters thoroughly. Keep the batter in a large vessel and close the lid tightly and allow the batter to ferment overnight.

Mix the batter well and adjust to pouring consistency. Heat a non-stick tava and grease with a little oil. Pour a ladle full of batter and spread as thin as possible. Sprinkle oil around the dosa and cook till it becomes crisp on the edges and turns golden brown. Apply Red Chili Chutney on the dosa and place about four tablespoons of Potato Bhaji in the centre. Fold the dosa to the desired shape and serve hot with coconut chutney.

Chicken Dum Biryani

Ingredients

Basmati rice: 4 cups

Chicken pieces: 1 kg

Mint leaves (Pudina): 1 cup

Coriander leaves: 1 cup

Chopped onion: 2 cups

Yogurt: 2 cups

Ghee: 6-7 tsp

Ginger Garlic paste: 2-3 tsp

Lemon juice: 4-5 tsp

Coriander powder: 2 tsp

Garam masala powder: 1 tsp

Chili powder: 2-3 tsp

Bay leaves: 5

Cinnamon: 5-6 medium sized

Cloves: 8-10

Caraway seeds (Shah Jeera): 1 tsp  

Black cardamom: 2-3

Green cardamom: 2-3

Star Anise: 2-3

Mace: 2-3

Nutmeg: ¼th piece

Salt: To taste

Method

Grind mint and coriander leaves. And the grinded paste, ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, garam masala, lemon juice, chili powder and salt to yogurt and mix well. Marinade chicken in this paste for 5-6 hours.  

Heat 2-3 tsp of oil in a vessel and add onion, sauté till golden brown, remove from the heat and keep aside. Heat another 2-3 tsp of oil and add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, black cardamoms, green cardamoms, star anise, mace, nutmeg and caraway seeds. Sauté well and remove the spices from heat and keep aside.

Wash basmati rice, add the fried spices and cook the rice and keep aside.

Heat ghee in a vessel and add the marinated chicken pieces. Cover the lid and cook till the chicken is tender. Remove lid and cook till water evaporates and chicken is left with a thick gravy. Keep aside.

Take a large vessel and spread a layer of chicken with gravy and top it with some fried onion. Spread some cooked rice on this layer. Again spread a layer of the remaining chicken with gravy and top it with some more fried onion and spread the remaining cooked rice over this layer. Top it with the remaining fried onion. Cover tightly with the lid so that the steam does not escape (I use flour dough to seal the lid tightly around the vessel). Cook on a very low flame for 10 minutes (I keep the vessel on a hot tava and cook it for 15 minutes. When cooked on indirect heat, the rice and chicken does not get burnt). Remove from the flame and serve with cucumber raita.

Rasgulla

Ingredients

Milk: 1 litre

Lemon juice: ¼ cup

Sugar: 2 cups

Water: 4 cups

Cardamom powder: ½ tsp

Cooked Rasgullas

Paneer

Method

First prepare the paneer. For that boil milk in a thick bottomed pan and bring it to a boil. Mix lemon juice in half cup of water and add it to the boiling milk stirring the milk gently. The milk curdles and will start separating from the whey. Once the milk water looks pale green, remove from the heat and drain it using a strainer with muslin cloth. 

Wrap the muslin cloth and rinse well in cold water so that the lemon smell goes out from the paneer. Squeeze the cloth thoroughly to remove excess water. You can keep the wrapped paneer under a heavy object for about an hour, but this can remove all water and paneer can become little hard. 

After removing water from the paneer, take a pinch of it on your palm and rub with your finger for about 10 seconds and see if you are able to make a firm, but a smooth ball. After removing all the excess water, place the paneer on a dry clean surface and knead it well for 5-6 minutes. This helps to smoothen the paneer like soft dough. If the paneer is too crumbly, you can add half a tablespoon of water. Now the paneer is ready for rasgullas.

Prepare small and smooth balls of equal size. I prepare 15 balls of equal size. While preparing these balls apply some pressure in the beginning and release the pressure when forming the balls. The size can be of desired ones as the cooked rasgullas will double in size.

Mix sugar and water in a large pressure cooker and bring it to a boil on a medium high flame. Add the paneer balls and close the lid. Do not cover the whistle. When the cooker starts steaming, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 7-8 minutes. 

Remove from the flame and wait for 4-5 minutes before opening the lid. Add cardamom powder and stir gently before transferring them to a bowl. Cooked rasgullas should be spongy. Refrigerate them before serving. Chilled rasgullas will have soft texture and be less spongy.

Rava Dosa

Ingredients

Rice flour: 2 cups
Rava/ Semolina: 1 cup
All-purpose flour: ½ cup
Salt: To taste

Chopped onion: ¼ cup

Mustard seeds: ½ tsp

Chopped green chili: ½ tsp

Pepper corn: 5-6

Cumin seeds: ½ tsp

Chopped curry leaves: 1 tsp

Chopped ginger: ½ tsp

Chopped coriander leaves: 2-3 tsp

Oil and ghee 

Method

Mix the rice flour, all-purpose flour, semolina and salt well. Add water and prepare a very thin batter, thinner than the normal dosa batter. 

 

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add curry leaves, chopped onion, chopped green chili, chopped ginger, pepper corn and chopped coriander. Saute till the onion turns translucent and then add this seasoning to the batter.

Heat the tawa well.  Rava dosa cannot be spread like ordinary dosa from the middle to the sides, so take one ladle full of batter and spread it on the hot tawa starting from the sides and finishing off in the middle. Sprinkle ½ tsp of oil and ½ tsp of ghee on the sides. When it becomes golden brown turn it over. Serve hot with coconut chutney.