Daily Archives: September 5, 2017

lapsi

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes
Serves : 4 members

Description

I am sure we all Indians with no difference in caste and creed were die hard fans of the movie hum apke hai kuan. I am no exceptional to this. I really lost count of how many times I must have seen the movie. The [salty] Halwa scene.. one of the most memorable scenes from the film and a classic has always wanted me to try the North Indian version of the halwa. I ask my North Indian friends about this recipe. Each person gave me a recipe that’s a slight variation of its own. I decided to try a recipe to my convenience. As making the halwa, the salt halwa scene was playing in mind. The halwa was made with a big fat smile on my face.All I hoped for was Just a little bit of sparkling romance like Prem and nisha to happen at home after hubby dear would relish the halwa. The results of the halwa look wise was just perfect. The confident me waiting for hubby dears verdict …
He eats it with out uttering a word .. not even knowing it was a new sweet dish served to him ..
well that’s the level of romance that happened.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Qunatity
Wheat semolina	1/2 cup
Sugar	1/2 cup
Ghee	3 tablespoons
Almonds + pistachios	little to garnish
Water	2 cups
Cardamom powder	1/2 teaspoon

Method

Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel. Fry the wheat semolina in low flame for seven minutes making sure the bottom does not burn.
Add water and cook over medium heat for 15-18 minutes until well cooked.
Add sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well and cook further for another seven minutes until the ghee separates.
Garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve hot.

Notes

The same can be done using jaggery instead of sugar.
Once cooled, to reheat the lapsi. Add 2 tablespoons of milk and re – heat.

Chutney stuffed squares

Preparation time : 40 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Serves : 5 members

Description

In my early days of blogging and exploring of food recipes through the world wide net, my favourite interest’s were filled and stuffed Indian snacks ( it’s still my favourite though ). I used to take note of all the recipes that interested me in my hand written cook book. Recently while cleaning my cook book shelf in the kitchen … dusting and wiping the cook books. I just flip pages of all my hand written cook books. This very recipe caught my interest at that moment. Well, the next thing was to try it. The long process and stages of this very recipe did get me tired but it all vanished away until I had my first taste bite of this divine stuffed square. I swear .. it was a perfect all in all one bite with taste and flavour. As I am typing, there is a tsunami of saliva in my mouth .. As a matter of fact, I have to have this snack right now.

Step 1

Ingredients for the crapes

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour / maida	1 cup
Salt	to taste
Water	1/4 cup or more
Oil	little to grease

Method for crapes

Mix all the mentioned ingredients together except for oil to get a lump free loose batter.
Heat a griddle. Grease with oil. Pour a ladle of the loose batter and rotate the griddle making sure the batter is spread evenly through out to get a thin crape. Once cooked on one side, flip over and cook further for 30 seconds. Remove and keep aside . Do the same with all the batter.

Step 2

Filling ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Chicken or meat mince	boiled 1/4 kg
Ginger garlic paste	1/8 teaspoon each
Salt	to taste
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Onions	5 big chopped
Green chillies	4 chopped
Mixed vegetables	carrots , beans , cabbage , green peas , capsicum ( red , green , yellow ) , mushrooms chopped and boiled in water with salt - 3 cups
Celery	chopped 1 teaspoon
Tomato sauce	1 teaspoon
Light soya sauce	1/4 teaspoon
Vinegar	1/4 teaspoon
Red and green chilli sauce	1/4 teaspoon each
Pepper powder	to taste
Red chilli flakes	to taste
Oil	2 tablespoons

Method for filling:

Heat oil in a non stick pan. Add onions and fry to translucent.
Add green chilies,boiled chicken or minced meat, boiled chopped mixed vegetables, celery, salt, chilli flakes and pepper to taste. Add all the sauces and vinegar.
Mix well and keep stirring for 3 minutes letting all the flavours infuse together.
Remove from heat, cool and set aside.

Step 3

Chutney ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Coriander leaves and stem	1 bunch
Garlic	4 cloves
Red dry chillies	10
Tamarind	goose burry size
Grated coconut	1/2 coconut
Oil	1 teaspoon
Jaggery	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste

Method

Heat oil, fry the red dry chillies to golden. Remove, then fry all the other ingredients except for jaggery to golden separately. Remove and cool completely. Grind together along with jaggery and salt to taste in a food processor adding very little water to a coarse paste. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Step 4

Other ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Boiled eggs	3 cut into half
Eggs	2
Salt + pepper	to taste
Bread crumbs	2 cups
Oil	to shallow fry

How to proceed

Place one crape over a clean work surface. Top with 1 tablespoon of cooled filling mix in the middle. Spread it out to a square shape with in the crape.
Top with 1 teaspoon of coriander chutney and spread it over the filling.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over the cut boiled eggs. Place one half of boiled egg over the chutney. Fold the sides of the crapes towards the center. Now fold in the top and down portion of the crape in wards to get a square shape stuffed square. Do the same to all the crapes, filling, chutney and boiled eggs. Keep aside.
Beat 2 eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the folded stuffed squares with beaten eggs. Remove and toss over bread crumbs making sure the bread crumbs has stuck all around well. Do the same to all the stuffed squares. Keep aside.
Heat a griddle with little oil. Shallow fry the stuffed squares to golden and crisp on both sides. Remove from heat. Cut into triangles and serve hot.

roof afza lassi

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : nil minutes
Serves : 2 members

Description

Those days of video cassette recorder’s ( VCR) where we would get a black flat box called a tape to watch movies or other recorded visual treats. It mostly would be movies. All video tape movies would have advertisements in between at least twice. Those days we could count the number of advertisements that we had the privilege to watch. I some how found all the limited edition advertisements to be so interesting. To name a few .. sionara TV, Rasna drink, Amul butter, Natraj pencil, Vicks action 500 …. oops and the Rooh afza advertisement too where a young fair good looking dude holding half a dozen of Rooh ahza sherbath in his hands along with a charming smile (he sure did melt a hell lot of teenage hearts like mine ) And then there is a voice saying …
” Greatness needs greed. Don’t let your thirst for greatness fade away. Stay refreshed and re- energised with Rooh Afza with coolest blend of 13 herbal ingredients to quench your thirst .. yet leaving you asking for more.”
( Gosh , not bad I remember every bit )
I would rewind this advertisement and watch it over and over again is when my brother would start a fight with me asking for the remote control .. which always leads to a pillow fight and then wrestling … either of us getting hurt badly and I get shouted at by mom no matter what as I am the elder sibling ( cliche happenings at most homes ).
With all theses thoughts in my mind, I ended up making this awesome lassi. Happy .. joyful moods do help to create lovely dishes always.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Curd	1 cup
Rooh afza	4 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons to garnish on top
Sugar	4 tablespoons
Sweet Milk kova	1 tablespoon
Saffron strands	few
Ice cubes	6
Ice water	2 cups
Vanilla ice cream	2 scoops
Almonds + pistachios + cashew	nuts Chopped - 2 tablespoons together

Method

Blend curd, sugar and 4 tablespoons of rooh afza together until smooth. Add ice water and ice cubes and blend further.
Pour the blended mix into two tall glasses. Top with sweet milk kova equally.sprinkle chopped nuts and place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Pour remaining rooh afza on top. Finally sprinkle few saffron strands and serve chilled.

Mirchi ka salan

Preparation time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 15-20 minutes
Serves : 6 members

Description

Hyderabad is one place, I have not visited yet. Every holiday we plan a trip there but some how or the other it does not work out. Having a huge gang of my school mates from Hyderabad kept me glued ( and is still ) to what they all had to say all about this age old city. Though I got to hear so much about its rich cuisine, never did I get a chance to relish it. Once , at my home town in Tirunelveli. We were invited for a wedding who’s native was Hyderabad. They had served us authentic Hyderabad meal for lunch. The entire wedding hall was filled with the aroma of the Hyderabad biriyani. At the lunch table we were served a grand feast. The mirchi ka salan was my favourite that helped me to gulp in a lot of the mildly flavoured Hyderabad biriyani. Later, I managed to get the recipe from our friend’s family. Once in a while I substitute the regular ennai katharikaaei or katta with this mirchi ka Salan as an accomplishment for biriyani. When ever … where ever served it’s always followed with a “recipe please .. umm and ahh’s “.
Do I need to brag any more about this dangerously delicious side dish.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Bangalore chilly / Italian pepper ( bajji milagaaei in Tamil )	1/2 kg slit from the tail up to the middle of each chilly
Curd	300 grams
Ground onion paste	1 cup
Tamarind pulp	1/2 cup
Curry leaves	few
Poppy seeds	1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1 teaspoon
Cumin powder	1 tablespoon
White sesame seeds	1 tablespoon
Coriander powder	1 tablespoon
Tomato	4 ground to a paste
Fenugreek seeds	1/4 teaspoon
Ginger and garlic paste	1 teaspoon
Red chilly powder	2 teaspoons
Groundnut	1/4 cup powdered coarsely
Grated coconut	2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds	1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves	few chopped
Oil	4 tablespoons
Salt	to taste

Method

Grind white sesame seeds, grated coconut and poppy seeds together adding little water to get a smooth paste.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once they crackle, top with onion paste and ginger + garlic paste. Sauté until raw smell vanishes for about five minutes, stirring constantly making sure the bottom does not burn and oil separates.
Add red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, groundnut powder, ground tomato, curd and salt to taste. Sauté for seven minutes until oil floats on top. Add ground coconut mixture paste and mix well. Boil further for two minutes making sure the bottom does not burn.
Top with slit Bangalore chillies, tamarind paste and water as needed to cook the chillies. Mix well, cover and cool. Once the chillies are cooked, Simmer for five until oil separates. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot as a side for biriyani, plain rice and pulao.

Hyderabad lukme

Preparation time : 40 minutes
Cooking time : 20 minutes
Serves : 6 members

Description

This Hyderabad version of the mince samosa made me raise my eyebrows when I first got to see it in made in a television show. From then it was added to my to try list and only recently did I take the efforts of fulfilling it. Made with cupboard friendly ingredients with just the folding of the samosas being a tedious job. All that hard work sure flies away when you bite into the lukme with the fatty mince in it. A must try snack that sure will be added to your regulars at home.

Ingredients for the lukme cover

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour / maida	1 cup
Wheat flour / atta	1 tablespoon
Semolina	3 tablespoons
Salt	to taste
Oil	1 tablespoon
Water	little as required

Method for lukme cover

Mix flour, wheat flour, semolina, salt to taste and oil together. Sprinkle water and knead to get a smooth and tight dough for ten minutes. Keep covered for 1/2 an hour.
After 30 minutes knead the dough once again for five minutes. Roll into equal lemon size balls.

Ingredients for the filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Mutton mince	1/4 kg
Onion	1 chopped
Green chillies	1 chopped
Ginger and garlic paste	1/2 tablespoon
Red chilly powder	1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Lemon juice	1 tablespoon

Method for filling

Marinate mutton mince with red chilly powder, ginger and garlic paste, turmeric powder and salt to taste for 1/2 an hour. Pressure cook for one whistle with out water . Boil and reduce the water in the mutton mince to get a dry consistency mutton mince mixture.
Heat oil, add onion and green chillies. Sauté to golden. Add the cooked dry mutton mince and mix well to combine in low heat for five minutes. Remove from heat. Cool completely. Add the lemon juice. Mix well . Check seasoning and keep aside.

Other ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Oil	to deep fry
Flour	to dust

How to proceed

Roll out the lemon size balls to a big circle. Cut the circle with the help of a sharp knife into equal three portions.
Place one tablespoon full of mutton mince on to one cut portion in the middle. Bring both sides of the cut dough towards the centre over lapping the mutton mince to get a triangle shape. Wet the edges with water and stick together keeping the filing inside intact.
Do the same to all the dough and mutton mince.
Heat oil to deep fry. Drop the lukme in batches and deep fry to golden and crisp. Drain and serve hot with curd, coriander chutney and tomato sauce.