Daily Archives: June 19, 2014

Basboosa

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 35 to 40 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Basboosa . This is an Egyptian dessert . Its made with semolina as the main ingredient and is a sweet dish. Its light, succulent and has a slight tart of lemon along with the flavour of honey which is a clever flavour combo. I first got to know about this dessert from a satellite channel. Did take note of the recipe but didn’t know the name or find time to make it. I am a member of the home bakers guilt. There was a post by Archana kumar recently in the guilt where she posted a picture of coconut basboosa. She did mention saying it tasted similar to our coconut burfi but with a grainy consistency. I was so inspired by her post and immediately tried out this lemon and honey flavoured basboosa. All credits to my gal ANISHA as she followed the recipe and baked these basboosa’s.

Ingredients for syrup

Ingredients	Quantity
sugar	2 cups
water	2 cups
lemon	1 whole
honey	3 teaspoons

Ingredients for Basboosa

Ingredients	Quantity
semolina	3 cups
flour	1 cup
baking powder	1 1/2 teaspoons
sugar	1 cup
oil	1 cup
milk	1 cup

Method to make syrup

Peel the lemon with a potato peeler to get flat strips of peel.Juice the lemon.Bring the sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil.
Throw in the rind of the lemon. Boil until the lemon rind is hard or the mixture is a runny syrup consistency.
Add the honey.Set aside while you make the basboosa.
Mix the semolina, flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add the oil and mix until all the batter is well blended.
Grease a large cookie sheet tray (10 x 16 inches). Add the milk just before you are about to bake.
Dot the mixture into the greased pan by spoonfuls. Level the mixture with your hand (dipped in milk).
Shake the tray to level. Bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees.
Cut into squares and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes. Pour the syrup over the basboosa immediately after you remove it from the oven the last time.
Serve hot , warm , at room temperature or chill at any time of the day .

Prawn pulao

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 – 35 minutes

Serving : 6 – 8 members

Description

Prawn pulao . A light flavoured pulao packed with so much character and taste . This pulao will surely raise eyebrows at any place served. A recipe i got from my friend pallavi’s grandmother (ammuma) Pallavi is a native of kollam but lives in Delhi as a Beautician there. She is the great ambika pillas neice. a few days back was watching band, Baaja ,bride in NDTV good times. Was surprised to see Pallavi as the beautician for the bride in that episode. Pallavi is also a great foodie like me. In fact she introduced me to many new recipes and my best among them is quiche de Lorraine. I got to know Pallavi when i was in R.K Nature cure for weight reduction. We were never given food in solid form there, only liquids. But all our minds, souls,breath, thoughts, talks were filled only about food.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Cleaned Prawns	600 grams ( when you clean 1 kg of prawn you get 600 grams of cleaned prawn )
Ginger	50 grams
Garlic	50 grams
Small onion	50 grams
Bay leaf	2
Coriander leaves	1/2 bunch chopped ,
Basmati rice	3 cups
Green chillies	14
Fennel seeds	2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder	1 teaspoon
Coriander powder	1 teaspoon
ghee	3 + 3 tablespoons
Ground Coconut	2 tablespoons
Lime	1
Fried onion	300 grams ( heat oil to deep fry , fry 300 grams sliced onions to golden brown and crisp )
Cloves	8
Cardamom	8
Cinnamon	2 inch piece
Onion sliced	1/2 cup
Milk	1/4 cup ,
Cashew nuts	10 ground
Curd	1 cup
Food color	a pinch ( I used a pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tablespoons of warm milk instead )
Salt	to taste

Method

Grind ginger , garlic , small onion , green chillies , fennel seeds , turmeric powder and coriander powder together to a smooth paste .
Heat 3 tablespoon ghee in a pressure cooker . Fry the sliced onions to brown . Add the ground masala and cleaned prawns and sauté well .
Top with curd , salt , coriander leaves cover and cook for one whistle adding enough water . When prawns are cooked add cashew nut and coconut paste with a big squeeze of lime . Mix well and set aside . Wash and soak rice .
Heat 3 tablespoons of ghee in another pressure cooker add all the whole spices , once they crackle add socked rice and fry for a minute .
Add 4 cups of water along with salt to taste and pressure cook for one whistle , then simmer for 10 minutes and switch of the flame . Wait for the whistle sound to settle down .
Layer a non – stick heavy bottomed shallow vessel with little rice , topped with little prawn gravy , followed by fried onions . Keep layering till all the rice , prawn gravy and fried onions are over . Sprinkle the milk and saffron on top .
Keep on low flame for another 10 minutes making sure the bottom does not get burnt . Switch of the flame .
Toss well and serve piping hot

Moong dal halwa

Preparation Time : 1 hour + 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 – 20 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Moong dal halwa . A recipe i tried out recently, which was liked by my hubby a lot. The only difficult part of this recipe is the continuous stirring (but it helps to burn calories and give you a slim long arm). It took me some time initially to differentiate the various dals from one another. My mother in law had different coloured boxes for the various dals, that helped me identity each one. when my daughter ANISHA started cooking. She kept complaining that her sambar was not like how i make it at home. In her sambar the dal were always seperate. I asked her to pressure cook the dal for another 2 more whistles and mash the dal before adding it to the sambar. She did so and called and informed me saying that didn’t help. I really didn’t know what was wrong. My Daughter shares her food at times with her neighbour sasi, like wise she sent over her sambar. Her neighbour called bake and asked her why have you used Bengal gram dal for sambar ? So that’s why her sambar was always not getting together. Well we make mistakes and learn from it isn’t it.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Moong dal	1 cup soaked in water for one hour and ground to a smooth paste
Milk	5 tablespoons
Ghee	1/2 cup
Saffron	a pinch
Sugar	2 cups
Water	1 cup
Cardamom powder	1 teaspoon
Almonds , cashew nuts and pistachios	1 teaspoon each chopped . ( I used almonds alone as I was out of stock with the other nuts )

Method

Soak saffron in milk . Heat ghee in a non – stick kadai . Add moong dal paste and cook on medium heat , stirring through out continuously .
Dissolve sugar in hot water and boil for 5 minutes in another vessel . Add sugar syrup little by little to the moong dal paste and mix well , stirring continuously , making sure no lumps are formed .
Top with cardamom powder , soaked saffron and 3/4 of chopped nuts . Mix well .
Garnish with remaining nuts and serve hot or at room temperature .

Watermelon mock tail

Preparation Time : 8 -10 minutes

Cooking Time : nil

Serving : 2 members

Description

Watermelon mocktail . An awesome summer cooler drink made with few ingredients resulting in a light fresh fragrant mock tail.this mock tail sure will help you beat the heat of summer to an extent.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Watermelon pieces ( deseeded )	2 cups
Sugar	to taste
Salt	a pinch
Orange juice	of one orange
Mint leaves	4 leaves
Ice cubes	few
Mint leaves	few to garnish

Method

Place all the ingredients in a juice blender and blend for a minute .
Taste and adjust and blend again for another 30 seconds . Strain and pour into deserved transparent glasses .
Garnish with a mint leaf and serve immediately .

Dry Ginger chicken

Preparation Time : 10 minutes + 2 hours for marination

Cooking Time : 12 -15 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

Ginger Chicken. Recipe post by Ayesha Nazreen from USA. She didn’t send in a description. the word ginger brings me memories of the time when i had delivered my first baby ANISHA . At moms place, after delivery treatment is totally different from my in-laws place. I was forced into both the treatments and under went a lot of mental and physical strain. every morning by 4 o clock i was given a huge glass of ginger juice mixed with a lot of honey and some medicinal powder (the consistency used to be so thick that i use to find it so very difficult to drink the ginger juice).This treatment was from my in-laws place. Till date i have a disliking towards ginger because of thet. But this recipe sounds to be delicious. It’s a must try recipe folks.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Boneless chicken	1 lbs ( 0.45 kg)
egg whites	2
white pepper powder	1 tablespoon
cornflour and maida	4 tablespoon
soy sauce and red chili sauce	3 tablespoon
ginger juice	1/2 cup
Salt	to taste
coriander leaves	to garnish
onion	1 white onions finely chopped
capsicum (green and yellow)	1/2 each
garlic pods	5 crushed
green chillies	3 finely chopped

Method

Wash the chicken and marinade with egg white, white pepper powder, salt, cornflour and maida for 2 hours.
Deep fry the chicken in oil.let it cook for few mins on each side.the chicken must be 70% cooked.drain excess oil in a tissue.
In a kadai add few tablespoon of oil.let it heat then add onions, green chillies and crushed garlic.once the onion turns pink add capsicum and let it cook for 5mins.
when the raw smell of onion goes add ginger juice, soy sauce and red chili sauce.let it cook for sometime until the gravy gets thick.
Now add the fried chicken and mix it well in this mixture.let it cook for 5 – 7 mins.before turning off the stove add 1tspn of cornflour mixed with water and nicely mix it well . garnish with corriander leaves.
Serve with roti or any Chinese dish.

Stuffed Malaysian lace pancakes

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

Recipe posted by rabiya rizwana for the competition. Her Description follows. This dish is also known as Malaysian lace pancake. I had this dish in my aunt’s (sujabanu) house in chennai for the first time. I loved it so much that i kept asking for more and i even ate off my brothers share. The recipe was given to me by the same aunt ofcourse.Jalar murtabase are traditionally made with a specially designed cup. To make it less complicated i have described the dish in a simpler way. The original version only has few ingredients. I have added few more spices to make it appealing for the Indian taste buds.

Ingredients for Jalar Roti

Ingredients	Quantity
All purpose flour	¼ kg maida
Coconut	1 large
Cumin seeds	1 table spoon

Ingredients for Filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Minced lamb	¼ kg(any filling can be used like chicken or beef or just vegetables)
onion	2 medium sized
Chilli powder	as needed
Pepper powder	as needed
Cumin powder	as needed
Turmeric powder	as needed
Ginger and garlic paste	as needed
Salt	as needed

Method

For the jalar roti grind the grated coconut and cumin seeds together, take the first and second coconut milk.
Add the maida to the coconut milk and grind it once again.
Filter the milk in a double layered strainer and ensure there are no lumps in the milk. The consistency of the batter should not be very watery nor thick like dosa batter.
On a non stick tawa pour a thin layer of the batter it should be as thin as a crepe.(but in the picture u can see that I have made it the traditional way using the special cup. Either way the taste is fantastic)
Do the same with the rest of the batter
Keep the jalar rotis aside.
In a pressure cooker put the minced meat,chopped onions and the rest of the spices .let it cook up to two whistles.
Take one jalar roti keep a little amount of the filling in the centre of the roti and fold it into triangles.
Take an egg add little salt and pepper and beat it well
Place the jalar that you have filled with the meat on the tawa and brush little egg on both the sides so that the edges are well sealed .keep it on the tawa for 5 seconds each side.
Now jalar murtabas are ready to be served.

Spicy full roast chicken

Preparation Time : 10 minutes + 5-8 hours for marination

Cooking Time : 35 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

Recipe post by marju shabeer for the competition. Her Description and recipe follows. I got inspired to try this recipe from my co-sister. Just gave it a try and now it’s become our favourite family food. Every time i serve it for my guests i get showered with sweet compliments. So here it goes SPICY FULL ROAST CHICKEN though the name is roast chicken it’s more of a baked chicken.

Ingredients to Marinate

Ingredients	Quantity
Full chicken	medium size
Butter	1/4 stick
Coriander powder	2 tablespoon
Chilli powder	2 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1 teaspoon
Garam masala	1teaspoon
Pepper	1/2 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste	2 tablespoon
Curd	3 tablespoon
Lemon juice	1/2 lemon
Salt	to taste

Method for Marination

Firstly de-skin the chicken.Then thoroughly clean the chicken and pat it dry with kitchen tissues till it absorbs all the water.Set it aside.
Now mix all the ingredients needed for marination into a paste.
Once the paste is done,nicely rub it into the chicken.Spread the masala all over the chicken.The remaining masala can be stuffed inside the chicken.
Place the chicken in an oven proof dish and leave it the fridge for at least 5-8 hrs(cover the vessel with plastic wrap)I always marinate the night before and leave it the for the whole night.then the next day all u have to do is put it in the oven.
The masala’s gets absorbed really well and time saved as well.

Method to Bake

Preheat the oven to 200 c.Once it’s time to add food place the chicken dish inside and set the oven to convection mode 30 mins.(plz remember to remove the plastic wrap)When the chicken has been cooked for 15 mins carefully toss it to the other side and let it cook for the other 15 mins.
When it’s done and the oven is cooling down take a Kadai and add 2 tablespoons of oil.
Take the chicken out and carefully slide it into the kadai.After 5 mins turn it to the other side.This will give it a roasted look.
The remaining masala’s which is left over in the oven vessel can be poured over the chicken.

This chicken will taste little roasted on the outside and really soft and juicy inside.And as it is baked rather than fried it is on the healthier side as well.

Tacos

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

Recipe posted by noorie meeran for the competition. Her description follows . Taco is a traditional mexican dish which is made with ground meat filled inside crispy tortilla shells. The filling could be chicken ,fish or vegetables. I made the ground mutton version. Similarly you can use hard shell tacos (like chips)or soft tortillas (like chapathis) for this dish. The crispy tortillas and the spicy filling with salsa and cheese make it a yummy dish, kinda reminds you of street foods in india.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Ground Mutton (Keema)	1/2 kg
Onion	1 Big Chopped
Tomato	1 big / 2 small Chopped
Coriander leaves	handful chopped
Ginger-Garlic Paste	1and 1/2 teaspoon
Chilly Powder	1 teaspoon
Cumin Powder	1 teaspoon
Salt	3/4 tsp (don't add too much salt because the tacos has salt and the salsa has salt)
Ground Pepper Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Tomato Paste	3 teblespoon
water	1 cup
Taco Shells	as needed
Shredded Lettuce	as needed
Grated Cheddar Cheese	as needed
Salsa	as needed
Canola Oil	as needed

Method

In a pan, add enough oil to sauté onions. Sauté them until they are soft.Add Ginger Garlic paste and fry them well to get rid of raw smell
Now add the chopped tomatoes and coriander leaves.Add all the spices powder and stir well to get rid of raw smell
Add tomato paste and sauté well.Add the ground meat and mix so that all the spices are combined well with the meat.
Add 1 cup water and cover the pan with a lid and cook on medium heat till the meat is well cooked. Roughly about 20-25 mins
Open the lid of the pan and make sure the dish is not watery. The meat should not get too dry but not gravy also. It should be in a consistency where you can scoop for a filling.
In a oven at 200 deg C, toast the taco shells for 2 minutes. Keep an eye because the taco shells will get burned quickly.

How to Serve

Scoop few table spoons of meat mixture and fill inside the taco shell. Then add a layer to salsa on top. Then top it with shredded lettuce and sprinkle grated cheese.
To make it spicy, you can add pickled jalapeno peppers on top.

Chicken curry leaf

Preparation Time : 10 minutes + 2 hours marination time

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Recipe post by ahkila mohandas for the competition. Her Description follows. Chicken in curry leaves is a simple dish that i tried once. I am newlywed , living away from home and always have guests from both of our families and hence used to try cooking which is my passion. Curry leaves are always my weakness which i inherited from my mother, according to her it helps to reduce cholestrol and she adds it from fish fry to roasted pappadams. I always like the traditional way of cooking which uses low flame and less number of ingredients which will bring the true taste of each content which this recipe follows. This dish is highly influenced by my mother’s way of cooking biriyani masala except the ingredients. We can have this with chapathi , roti items along with raita or as a side dish with ghee rice. The rich look and aroma make the dish tempting and the very natural taste makes it yummy. Hence i wish to present this here which is easy, tasty and worth trying.

Ingredients for Marination

Ingredients	Method
Chicken	½ kg
Kashmiri chilli powder	2 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Curd	½ cup

Other Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Green chilli	1/3 cup(sliced round)
Curry leaves	½ cup
Butter	50g

Method

Marinate chicken with all marinate ingredients for 2 hours and keep it in fridge for another 2 hours(not compulsory)
Cook this marinated chicken in low flame until done and keep it aside
In a frying pan melt butter; to this add curry leaves and green chillies. Cook for 2-3 mins until a lovely aroma comes.
Add this curry leaf-green chilly mixture to the cooked chicken and close with a lid.
Mix well after 10 mins and serve hot.

Frankie rolls

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Frankie Rolls. Recipe post by arshiya Meera for the Competition. She didn’t send in a description for the dish. The first time i got to know and taste frankies were in ooty. There used to be a small eat out place called aarchies near charing cross were most of the boarding students used to eat while on outing. My aunt (nazeem Akka , moms second sister)lived in ooty and she was my guardian while at school. Every Sunday she used to visit us and in my list of wanted things. frankies were always there. the minute i get it and my aunt leaves. I used to run to my friends. The joy of sharing the frankies and eating them can’t be fitted into words.

Ingredients for Roll Base

Ingredients	Quantity
Maida	1 cup
salt	as needed
water	as needed

Ingredients for stuffing

Ingredients	Quantity
Chicken boneless	200 gms
Onion	2 medium size
Hybrid tomato	2 large
Ginger garlic paste	1 teaspoon
Lemon juice	2 teaspoon
Chilli powder	1 teaspoon
Cashew nut	4 nos
Corainder powder	¼ teaspoon
Kasoori methi	as needed
Fresh cream	beaten

Ingredients for Making

Ingredients	Quantity
Egg	1 Beaten
Chaat masala	as needed
Onion (finely chopped)	1 cup
Green chilli	1 no(finely chopped & marinate it in ½ teaspoon of vinegar & 4 drops of soya sauce)

Method

Knead the maida into a soft dough. grease it with oil & keep aside for an hour or 2.
Marinate the chicken with half teaspoon of ginger garlic paste, half teaspoon of chilli pwdr, lemon juice & salt for 1 hour. deep fry the chicken pieces and shred them & keep aside.
Saute the onion in a teaspoon of oil. Blanch the tomatoes and remove the skin. Grind cashewnut, onion, tomato to a fine paste and keep it aside.
Heat 2 teaspoon of oil and 1 teaspoon of ghee in a non-stick kadai. Add ½ teaspoon of ginger garlic paste, sautr it & add corainder powder + chilli powder & fry for a minute.
Add the ground paste to it. Simmer the masala for 5 mins. Add the shredded chicken to it. Mix well. Finally add the crushed kasoori methi and cream to it & remove from fire.
Make lemon size balls from the maida dough. Roll each ball into a round shaped chapathi. Grease 1 side wid oil & keep the other chapathi over it. Likewise make 3 to 4 layers. (i.e). The top & bottom layers should not be greased.
Heat a tawa just toss the layered chapathi. Don’t over cook it. Now it can be separated easily. Heat the tawa cook d franky base in it. Spread some beaten egg over the cooked side & turn over. Remove from fire.
Keeping the egg side up sprinkle some chat masala gently on it. Keep the chicken masala length wise in it. Sprinkle some onion &green chilli. Roll them& serve hot.