Dhoodh/Milk Peda

Who doesn't love milk sweets....:):):)
This is one of the easiest milk sweets that can be made instantaneously. This sweet is usually made as prasadham(offering to god) . For a long time, I wanted to make Peda for my dear god Sai baba. I made this on a Thursday and offered as naivedhya/Offering to the god after doing pooja. Any offering that is made with pure devotion all by ourselves to god definitely gives us pleasure and immense happiness:). Now let's look at the preparation. 

Serves: 30 Pedas

Ingredients

1. Condensed milk - 1 tin / 400 gms(Milkmaid or any other brand)
2. Milk Powder - 200 gms( Amul or any other brand)
3. Ghee - 2 tbsp
4. Cardamom powder - 1 tbsp
5. Almonds for decoration

Method

1. In a thick non stick pan, add ghee and empty the condensed milk tin and milk powder.

2. Stir continuously on low flame until there are no lumps and powder gets mixed well with condensed milk.

3. Add cardamom powder and keep stirring until the mixture thickens and leaves the side of the pan. 

4. Stir till the mixture thickens and forms a soft dough texture.

5. Switch off the flame immediately and transfer the contents to a plate greased with ghee.

6. Grease your palms with ghee, make small balls out of the dough and slightly flatten them. Place an almond in the center.

7. Delicious Pedas ready to be served now:)

Notes,Tips & Add-on's

1. Instead of almonds, you can use pistachios or cashews for decoration.

Semiya Upma (Vermicelli Upma)

Be it an evening Tiffin or a light dinner, Semiya or Vermicelli Upma is a great choice.If you have guests coming up or very less time to prepare something for dinner, go ahead with this choice for it is damn easy to make and tastes yummy.

Ingredients

1. Vermicelli/Semiya - 2 Cups (Roasted) 
2. Water - 4 cups 
3. Onion - 1 big or 2 small 
4. Tomato - 1 big or 2 small 
5. Green Chili - 2 slit lengthwise 
6. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 
7. Uradh dhal- 1 tsp 
8. Chana Dhal - 1 tsp 
9. Curry Leaves- 4-5 
10. Asafoetida - a pinch 
11. Carrot - 1 (Chopped) 
12. Beans - 4 (Chopped) 
13. Oil - 2 tbsp 
14. Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. After they crackle, add urad dhal, chana dhal, green chili, curry leaves, hing and saute for a minute.

2. Add onions, saute until translucent. Now add tomatoes and saute well for 2 mins.

3. Add other veggies and saute for a min. 

4. Add water,required salt and bring it to boil.

5. Now add the roasted vermicelli and cook on low flame until all water is absorbed and the vermicelli is cooked.

6. Vermicelli Upma is already to be served hot:)

Notes,Tips & Add-on's

1. Veggies like carrot, beans are optional. You can add Peas, Potato or any veggies of your choice or just make it with tomato and onion. It tastes great either ways.
2. If you don't get a roasted vermicelli, roast it separately on a low flame until it turns light golden brown.

Restaurant Series #4

I had prepared this dinner exclusively for my mom and dad. So this was predominantly rice as the main meal. They prefer curd rice always for dinner and hence I didn't make any Indian Breads because it might become too heavy.

The following are the items which was made

1. Carrot Coriander Soup
2. Kaju Moti Pulao
3. Baby Corn Manchurian
4. Curd Rice
5. Assorted Salad Platter

Pudhin Ki Roti

Mint is one of the most flavorful and aromatic greens packed with loads of goodness. I had once stocked some fresh pudhina/Mint leaves from market and was wondering what I can do with them apart from making rice. Just then an idea stuck, why not minty flavorful rotis instead of boring plain rotis:) Here is the recipe to a delicious minty Chapati that can make your dinner healthy and interesting.

serves: 6 rotis

Ingredients

1. Whole Wheat Flour - 1 Cup
2. Fresh Mint leaves- 1 Cup
3. Green chilies-1
4. Salt to taste
5. Ghee for spreading on roti
6. Oil for kneading- 1 tbsp
7. Water as required for kneading

Method

1. Grind Pudhina/mint leaves and chilies together.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add wheat flour, needed salt and the ground paste and knead well by adding water little by little until it forms a soft dough. Coat the dough with some oil so that moisture is retained. Cover the dough with a moist cloth or store it in an air tight container.

3. Let the dough set for 20 mins.

4. Divide the dough into equal parts and roll them into flat circular shapes.

5. Heat a tawa and place the roti on it and cook both sides until brown spots appear.

6. Spread a tsp of ghee and serve hot with any curry bowls from our menu card.:)

How to cook Basmati Rice

During my initial days of cooking, one of the most hardest thing was to get the basmati rice cooked perfectly. I was not at all sure why I was not getting it perfect and what is the real trick. It took lots of trial and error to crack the secret behind cooking the rice perfectly. When you under cook the basmati rice, they are raw when you bite and you can very well find that they are under cooked. If you overcook your basmati rice, they will breakdown and stick together and will no longer look like a basmati rice. A perfectly cooked bamati rice is where, the rice is long and does not stick together and yet remain very soft when you eat it. The flavor and aroma that comes when you cook basmathi rice is just too appetizing. I love it:):) Yum Yum.. So let me share the secret of cooking the basmati rice in perfect way for your pulao, fried rice etc which I have tried, tested and mastered after 3 years of attempt:) There are 2 ways of cooking a basmati rice. one with closed lid and other with open lid. I am here going to discuss the closed lid method of cooking basmati rice which is easier to adopt in our kitchen. It is always best to get a good brand basmati rice to yield the best results.

Cooking Basmati Rice in Electric Cooker/ Non stick Pan with lid

• Rinse Basmati rice 2 times nicely to get rid of excess starch This help the basmati rice to be cooked individually and not sticking to each other.
• Soak the basmati rice for about half hour in lukewarm water.
• Drain the soaked basmati rice and add it to Pan or electric rice cooker.
• The Rice to water ratio is 1:2 if you are not adding vegetables or if you have already kept your veggies cooked separately.
• If in case you are using combination of milk and water, you need to count water and milk together. Eg: if you take 1 cup rice, you can take 2 cups of liquid(milk+ water) together.
• If you are going to cook your rice with vegetables, then add 1/2 cup of water extra.
• Add salt such that the water tastes salty. It becomes fine when the rice and veggies absorb water after getting cooked. This salt again depends on whether you are cooking with veggies or not. Add 2 tsp more if you are going to add veggies as well.
• In electric cooker, once the rice is done, it comes to keep warm mode. This is the Indication that it is done.Close the lid and keep it in warm mode for 5 mins and later switch off.
• In Non stick pan, keep the flame in low or medium. You need to check if all the rice is cooked and water is evaporated at regular intervals. I suggest you keep the flame in low so that the rice at the bottom does not get burnt.If your Rice to water proportion is correct and you cook on a constant low flame, the rice is sure shot to be cooked properly. 
• Do not mix the basmati rice immediately after they are cooked, as they start sticking together and becomes mushy. Wait for it to cool down a bit and then gently mix it for a perfect mixing and texture in case of making Pulao/Fried rice etc.

Cooking Basmati Rice in Pressure Cooker

• Same steps as above. The Rice to water proportion is all the same.
• Transfer the rice to cooker and pressure cook for exactly 2 whistles on a medium flame and switch it off.
• Don't take off the whistle immediately. Allow the pressure to settle on its own.
• Now open the cooker and basmati rice is just cooked perfectly :)

Veggie Pasta Alfredo

White sauce that is generally used for pasta has different variations. There are different ways in making a sauce and different types of sauces that you make for pasta. These sauces need not necessarily be used only for pasta, also for sandwich, as dips and dressing for salads. One such sauce is what we will be seeing in the below post. Traditionally, this Alfredo sauce is made using eggs. I've made the egg less version. Trust me, this sauce is so easy to make with readily available ingredients in your super market. This is so Yummmy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ingredients

1. Fresh Cream- 200 ml (I used Amul)
2. Salted Butter-1 tbsp
3. Penne Pasta- 2 Cups
4. Garlic - 4 pods(minced finely)
5. Italian Seasoning- 2 tsp
6. Freshly ground pepper- 2 tsp
7. Chili Flakes as required
8. Cheese Cubes-2
9. Vegetables of your choice-(I used Onion, carrot, Capsicum)
10. Milk as required
11. Olive Oil- 1 tbsp
12. Salt as required.

Method

1. Take a thick bottomed pan or non stick pan, on medium head,add olive oil and garlic and saute nicely till nice garlic flavor comes. Remember not to burn the garlic.

2. Add onion and saute nicely till they turn translucent. 

3. Add all other vegetables and saute nicely in the olive oil.

4. Add fresh cream and bring it to boil. Use only medium heat.

5. Add cheese cubes and stir constantly until cheese is well dissolved in the mixture.You can adjust the consistency of the sauce by adding milk.

6. Add needed salt and seasoning, chili flakes and keep stirring.

7. The sauce slowly starts thickening. Add pepper to it. 

9. Alfredo Sauce is Ready:):)!!!

10. Cook pasta till Al Dente

11. Add the cooked pasta to the Alfredo creamy sauce mixture and toss well till pasta is completely covered with sauce.

12. Close the lid and allow pasta to absorb the sauce for 5 mins.

13. Serve hot with Crispy Potato Wedges

Cooking Al Dente Pasta

Cooking pasta al dente is definitely an art and comes only with repeated trial and error. Still some quick tips can definitely help you from overcooking/under cooking your pasta. When you over cook your pasta, it becomes too soft and mushy. That is not right. Neither should you under cook your pasta, which makes it raw and on the harder side when you bite it.

The right Al Dente pasta looks and feels firm, but when you bite it you will easily break it. This is the perfect state of an al dente pasta. Some of the pasta pack come with package instructions on how to cook them. Sometimes, these instructions may work out or may not. hence, it is essential that we know to cook rightly.

 

Steps

1. Take a large pan filled with water. Add salt such that the water tastes salty.

2. Bring the water to boil.

3. Now, add the raw pasta to the above pan and keep stirring occassionally.

4. Check the softness of the pasta at regular intervals.

5. When you are able to break the pasta easily with a bite and the pasta outside still looks       firm, thats when you need to drain the pasta.Drizzle some olive oil so that the pasta does not stick to each other.

6. Pasta Al Dente is now ready:)