Malai Kofta

A royal,delicious and a very famous menu in every restaurant. These succulent juicy kofta immersed in rich creamy gravy is sure to leave your mouth watering. Malai means cream, in other words richness or royal. This combines everything that is rich like cashews, fresh cream and paneer as main ingredients.You can make this either as a white gravy completely by ignoring tomatoes as well.However, I have used tomatoes as I had some fresh tomatoes in stock with me. Either way, this will taste awesome. This is a mildly sweet gravy very similar to paneer butter masala.This goes very well with Butter Naan or any other Indian Breads. Learn to make this simple easy recipe at home without much fuss.

Ingredients

Base Onion Tomato Gravy

1. Onions - 3(Big)
2. Banglore Tomatoes - 2 (Big)
3. Cashew Nuts - 12-15
4. Poppy seeds/Khus Khus - 2 tbsp
5. Green Chili - 2 small or 1 big
6. Water - 2 cups

Kofta

1. Paneer - 200 gms (Grated)
2. Raisins - 2 tbsp
3. Cashews - 2 tbsp (chopped)
4. Potato - 3 big(boiled, peeled and smashed)
5. Needed Salt
6. Corn flour - 2 tbsp (for binding)
7. Maida/All purpose flour - Dusting
8. Oil for deep frying

Other Ingredients

1. Butter - 2 tbsp
2. Bay leaf - 1
3. Green Cardamon - 2
4. Cloves - 2
5. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
6. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
7. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Needed salt
11. Sugar - 3 tsp
12. Fresh Cream - 2 tbsp
13. Kasuri Methi (crushed) - 1 tsp

Method

Gravy Preparation

1. Boil all ingredients under "Gravy" for about 5 mins. The skin of tomatoes come off. Once the contents are cooled, blanch the tomatoes. ( see more on blanching tomatoes).

                              

2. Grind the contents to a smooth paste.

3. Heat butter in a pan, add bay leaf, cloves and cardamom and saute well.

4. Add ginger garlic paste and saute well for the raw flavor to go off.

5. Add the ground gravy mixture to the pan and saute well.

                             

6. Add all the powders mentioned in other ingredients and needed salt to saute well.

7. Cover the lid and allow it to simmer for 10 mins.

8. After 10 mins, the gravy would have cooked well and the raw taste would have gone completely.

9. Mix well and add needed water (if gravy has become too thick).

10. Add sugar and fresh cream and give it a good stir.

11. Add some crushed kasuri Methi and switch off the flame.

Kofta preparation

1. Mix mashed aloo,grated paneer and corn flour together. Combine well so that the contents mix homogeneously.

                              

2. Add green chili, cashew bites and raisins and combine well as shown in the pic.

3. Form cylindrical shape koftas with hand and dust them evenly in maida flour. The koftas should be uniformly coated well with flour.

                                 

4. Deep fry them in hot oil till the koftas turn golden brown. ensure the flame is medium so that the koftas do not turn black immediately.

5. Keep the koftas aside.   

                       

Assembling

1. On a plate, gently pour a ladle of the creamy gravy. Place the koftas above it.

2. Garnish with beaten fresh cream and serve them hot with Butter Naan or any other Indian Breads.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Presence of cashew makes the gravy thick. You can adjust water accordingly to make it  a creamy consistency.Make sure you don't add much.
2. Dusting the koftas helps in uniform covering of koftas. While frying, it gives uniform coloring.

Kabuli Channa Salad (Black Channa Salad)

Black channa is definitely a healthy option when compared to white channa due to presence of high fiber in it. Presence of high fibre helps you keep satiated for long hours. Also, helps in bowel movement and indirectly in weight reduction. Low in carb, absolutely vegan,no fat and high protein and fibre makes this an ideal snack for weight loss. A complete sin-free and tasty indulgence.

Serves:2

Ingredients

1. Uncooked Black chana/chickpeas - 1 cup
2. Onions - 1 small/medium sized
3. Banglore Tomatoes - 1 big/medium sized
4. Carrot- 1/4 cup chopped
5. Capsicum - 1/4 cup (chopped)
6. Cucumber - 1/4 cup (chopped)
7. Raw mango - 1/4 cup (chopped)
8. Red chili powder-1/2 tsp
9. Chat Masala Powder - 1 tsp
10. Cumin powder - 3/4 tsp
11. Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
12. Crushed Mint leaves - few
13. Salt as needed
14. Black salt as needed

Method

1. Soak the channa overnight for about 8-9 hours.

2. Pressure cook channa with 2 tsp salt and enough water for 7 whistles.

3. Drain the cooked chickpeas/channa.

4. Mix all the ingredients mentioned along with black channa. Crushed pudhina leaves add nice aroma and flavour to this salad.

5. Enjoy snacking this healthy salad.

Dal Methi Soup - Vendhayakeerai Soup

This is a very healthy and nutritious soup that can be given to lactating mothers and toddlers as well. Fenugreek leaves are known to boost milk production for breastfeeding mothers. This is absolutely kids friendly. I gave this to my son and he simply loved this soup.

Due to the inherent bitter taste that it posses, it is highly good for Diabetic patients. It also lowers cholesterol, increases blood circulation thereby giving a good skin. The advantages are numerous and goes on...:)

Methi/Fenugreek leaves can be used in different forms like for paratha, gravy, Pulao etc. I will soon post more recipes on Methi/Fenugreek.

Ingredients

Serves:3 bowls

Ingredients

1. Fenugreek leaves - 1 cup tightly packed
2. Butter/Oil/Ghee - 1 tbsp
3. Yellow Moong Dal - 3 tbsp
4. Tomato- 1 Big (chopped)
5. Onion - 1 medium size (chopped)
6. Garlic Pods - 3
7. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
8. Salt as per taste

Method

1. Rinse the fenugreek leaves well and strain them.

2. Heat some oil in a pressure pan, add onions and garlic and saute well until it becomes transparent.

3. Add fenugreek leaves, moong dal and tomatoes and saute for about 2 mins on low flame.

4. Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

5. Let the pressure release, allow the contents to cool down and then grind the contents in a mixer. Adjust adding water depending on the consistency required.

6. Heat the ground mixture in a pan with needed salt and pepper.

7. Dal Methi Soup is ready to be consumed hot.

Sauteing

Pressure cook

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. I have not ground the the contents in a mixer. Instead, I have just smashed the contents after pressure cook and added water to adjust the consistency.

2. If you are giving it for kids,  grind the contents in a mixer and then give.

Mixed Vegetable Raitha

Raitha are an excellent accompaniment to not just briyanis but beyond that. I love to pair them up with poha, pulao, briyani, paratha, upma and what not. This is a very crunchy delicious raitha that has goodness of all crunch vegetables. Let's jump to the preparation.

Serves: 3 bowls

Ingredients

1. Thick Curd - 2.5 cups
2. Roasted Cumin Powder - 1.5 tsp
3. Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Black salt - 1/2 tsp
5. Needed Table salt
6. Coriander leaves - few for garnishing

Veggies

• Carrot - 3 tbsp (chopped)
• Cucumber - 3 tbsp (chopped)
• Onion - 3 tbsp (chopped)
• Capsicum - 3 tbsp (chopped)

Method

1. Whisk curd well and add all the chopped vegetables, coriander leaves,salt and mix well.

2. Sprinkle roasted cumin powder and red chili powder as shown in the picture.

3. Serve chilled with any Pulao or Briyani varieties.

Buttered Vegetables in Fresh Cream Dressing

Buttered Vegetables are classic salad recipes which you can find in any buffet spread. The first time when I tried this was at Taj Fishermen Cove.I simply loved it. The veggies were fresh, crunchy and delicately cooked in butter. Salads are never boring if you find your own way of tossing them in your favorite dressing. Here, I have used fresh cream dressing to toss the vegetables in addition to butter and this just tasted yummy. Fresh Cream and butter are source of good fat. Fat is never an unhealthy option. Good fat taken in the right amount helps in absorption of proteins,amino acids and also reduces risk of stroke.

This is highly low in carbohydrates and high in good fat making it ideal for Ketogenic Diet.

Serves:2

Ingredients

1. Unsalted Butter - 2 tbsp
2. Mixed Italian Herb Seasoning - 2 tsp
3. Pepper - 1.5 tsp
4. Fresh Cream - 2 tbsp
5. Water - 1/4 cup
6. Sugar - 1/2 tsp
7. Needed Salt

Veggies Used

• Red Bell Pepper - 1/3 cup(cubed)
• Yellow Bell Pepper - 1/3 cup (cubed)
• French Beans - 4 (cut in 1 inch length)
• Baby corn - 4 (cut lengthwise)
• cauliflower - 6 florets
• Onion - 1 (sliced thinly)

Vegetables sauteed in butter

Method

1. Rinse all the vegetables nicely. Soak cauliflower in hot water with a tsp of rock salt for 15 mins. If there are any worms inside the cauliflower, it will come out in this process. After 15 mins, rinse and strain the cauliflower once again.

2. Heat butter in a non stick pan, add all the veggies and saute well on a medium-low flame.Add needed salt,sugar and saute well until onions turn transparent.

3. Add water to the above pan and cover the lid. Allow the vegetables to be steamed on low flame. Ensure the vegetables are not overcooked and they are just cooked 90 percent.

4. After the veggies have cooked, add the fresh cream, mixed herb seasoning and pepper. Give a gentle mix. 

5. Serve the salad warm with sprinkled pepper/ seasoning of your choice.

Nizami Sarkari Briyani - Dum cooked Vegetable Briyani

I have been wanting to try briyani for a long time at home. But I was not very sure what is the right method of making it and how to get the perfect dum cooked style briyani. Predominantly, briyani is always done with non veg items and is never considered an ideal vegetarian dish. But when made in the right way, Vegetable briyani can be as tasty as its non veg counterpart. I haven't tried Briyani at hotels much as the Veg Briyani they serve at veg hotels are very average. I wanted to make the best one at home and relish to my heats content.

When I googled to find the perfect recipe,I found Chef Venkatesh Bhat had made a special episode on briyani where he had made this nawabi sarkari briyani. You can watch the episode here. 

I have been a great fan of him. In the world of fast cooking and 1 minute cooking videos, one really can't learn the right techniques of cooking. He teaches you the perfect techniques and why it is done that way. This helps us to understand and learn better and fine tune our cooking. All the recipes tried from watching his samayal samayal has been a great hit. If you blindly follow his techniques, I am damn sure you can never go wrong in getting the right taste and texture.

This is a hyderabadi style dum cooked vegetable briyani. I have explained the techniques that suits the best for a perfect home cooked dum style briyani. Making this has been a great learning experience for me. I will try to provide as much details I can to make the best briyani easily at home.

serves:3

Ingredients

1. Good quality Basmati Rice - 1.5 cups ( I used Kohinoor Briyani rice)
2. Ghee - 3 tbsp
3. Unsalted Butter - 3 tbsp
4. Green Chili - 2 big
5. Tomatoes - 3 big
6. Ginger garlic paste - 2.5 tbsp
7. chopped mint leaves and chopped coriander - 1 cup each
8. saffron strands - 4 soaked in 1/4 cup of warm milk
9. Whisked thick curd - 1/2 cup
10. Needed salt

Masala Ingredients

1. Shahi jeera- 2 tsp + 1 tsp
2. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
3. Black cardamoms- 3
4. Green cardamoms - 3
5. Cinnamon stick - 1 inch piece
6. cloves- 3
7. javithri/Mace-2
8. Bay Leaf - 1 
9. Star Anise - 2 for cooking rice

Powders

1. Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
2. Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
3. Garam Masala - 1 tbsp
4. Red Chili Powder - 3 tsp (depending on how spice you want)

Vegetables Used

1. Potato - 1 big (cubed)
2. Cauliflower - 7 florets
3. Green Peas-1/4 cup
4. Carrot - 1 big
5. Beans - 6 (chopped big)
6. Onions - 2 (Thinly sliced)

Method

1. Rinse the Basmati rice for 2-3 times to remove the excess starch from rice.

2. Soak the basmati rice for 20 mins in normal water.

3. In a pan, heat ghee and butter on a low medium flame. Add all masala ingredients and give a good saute.

4. Add onions and saute until nice golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute well for the raw flavor of the paste to go off.

5. Grind Tomato with green chili to a puree and add it to the above pan and give it a good mixing.

6. Add all the powders. Add whisked curd and 1 tbsp salt.

7. Cook the vegetables in gravy with closed lid for about 7 mins on medium low flame.

8. Switch off the flame after 7-8 mins and garnish with some mint and coriander leaves.

Cooking the Basmati Rice

1. In a big pan, take 4 cups of water, add a tbsp of ghee, tsp of shahi jeera,2 star anise and 1 tbsp of salt. Bring the water to boil.

2. Strain the soaked basmati rice and add it to the above boiling water. 

3. Add some chopped mint and coriander leaves to the above.

4. Cook for 5 to 6 mins with occasional stirring. Please Note: Rice should not be fully cooked but only 90 percent done. The remaining cooking will happen during the dum process.

5. When the rice is 90 percent done, you can feel it with hand. The rice should break yet it should not be too soft.

6. Strain of the rice and washe once again in cold water to prevent further cooking.

Layering and Dum cooking

1. Take a heavy bottomed vessel, I used my pressure cooker bottom for layering.

2. The first layer will be vegetable gravy followed by layer of rice.

3. Another layer of vegetable gravy followed by layer of rice. Add the saffron milk, a tbsp of ghee, some crushed mint and pudina leaves.

4. Seal the vessel tightly so that no heat is escaped. You can use wet cloth, atta dough or any mechanism, but the criteria is heat should not escape.

5. Heat a dosa tawa and place the pressure cooker bottom/heavy bottomed vessel on top of it.

6. Dum cook on low flame for about 20 mins. 

7. Open after 20 mins.There you are into heaven of aromatic rich flavorful Briyani.

Serving Suggestions

1. Take some layer of rice and some layer of vegetable and place it on a plate. Do not completely mix it. Briyani should be served layered and that is the best presentation way.
2. Serve with Mixed veg raita or cucumber raita.

Cook the vegetables in in tomato butter gravy with spices

Subzi ready to be layered

Basmati Rice ready to be layered

Alternate layers of rice and subzi

Warm milk with soaked saffron

Adding fresh chopped coriander and pudina leaves

Dum cooking

After 20 mins of dum cooking

Yummmmm Briyani Ready:)

Semiya Payasam/Vermicelli Kheer

Be it any happy occasion, festivals or pooja at home, sweets are an integral part of south Indian cooking. Kheer is especially made on auspicious days, religious festivals and on any other occasion and offered as naivedya to god. My husband loves kheer and I made this on his birthday as a surprise. We really don't need an occasion to make sweets if we have sweet craving :) do we?? This is a very easy kheer recipe that can be made with easily available ingredients at home quickly. We often make this at home even on ordinary days and have it chilled.

The best part is this can be either served hot or chilled depends on how you prefer. Let's jump to the recipe.

Serves:4 bowls

Ingredients

1. Roasted Vermicelli - 1 Cup ( I used Bambino Roasted Vermicelli)
2. Ghee - 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp
3. water-1/2 cup
4. Milk-1 litre ( Full fat preferable)
5. Sugar-3/4 cup
6. Raisins-2 tbsp
7. cashews-2 tbsp
8. cardamom powder-2 tsp

Method

1. Take a thick bottomed pan, wok or kadai. Heat a tbsp of ghee and fry the cashews and raisins until the cashews turn golden brown and the raisins puff up on a medium-low flame. Keep it aside for final garnishing.

2. Add another tbsp of ghee and roast the vermicelli until they turn golden brown. Make sure the flame is medium low and keep stirring it continuously.

3. After it turns slightly golden brown, add water and cook until the vermicelli turns soft. This will take about 5 mins.

4. Add milk completely to the above and cook the vermicelli on medium low flame. Stir the contents intermittently by scraping off the sides of the pan. The cream gets deposited on the sides and hence ensure you keep scraping it off and give a nice stir. Do this until milk is reduced to half the quantity.

5. The milk gets reduced to half the quantity, by now the vermicelli is also cooked nicely and the mixture is thickened well.

6. Add cardamom powder and switch off the flame.

7. Add sugar and mix it well.

8. Garnish with roasted raisins and cashews and serve either hot or chilled :)

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

The kheer becomes thick in consistency with time. You can add milk and sugar and adjust the consistency accordingly.