Rasgulla

I found the recipe on this page. I really couldn't believe that it was such a simple recipe. I looked up on you tube for the video recipes and found that it was almost the same with small variations. So i decided to give it a try. All the recipes called for Full Cream Milk. Full Cream Milk has 6% fat. The day I made this the first time, I could only get milk with 4.5% fat. I still decided to give it a go. It came out really well. Yesterday, I made it again with Full Cream Milk. I prefer the rasgullas that were made with the 4.5% fat. Those were spongier. The one's with the 6% fat milk were slightly creamier and rubbery while chewing. I later read online that if you are using full cream milk, you should remove the fat twice or use cow's milk since it has less fat. I decided that the next time I make this, I would use the 4.5% fat milk. No fuss and very simple.

I made slight variations to the preparation based on various expert advice found online and hence am sharing what I think is the best way to make Rasgullas. Obviously, I am always open to better advice :-)

Ivy Gourd Chutney (Kovakai Chutney)

Ivy Gourd is commonly used in South Indian cooking. We call it Kovakai. I have usually tasted Kovakai Chutney at the Andhra Mess that I normally eat from. We make different dishes from this vegetable, but never the chutney, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I found this recipe online and made slight variations to the original recipe. But I really do not remember whose blog I found this recipe on to actually thank the source.

Chilly Mushroom

Okay, this is now becoming a habit. Husband cooks, I click and update this blog ;-)
Well, on the sunnier side, his culinary attempts spare a lot of time for me on weekends and that is the very reason I get time to update the blog. So, I shouldn't be complaining. And especially since he is turning out to be a master chef almost, I really really am not complaining.

We had a packet of mushroom that would have ended in a Mushroom Kurma or Biryani that my cook normally makes during the weekdays for dinner. But our man suddenly wanted to experiment. And lo behold, his version of the chilly mushroom.

Tomato Pickle

I simply luuuuurrrrveee this one and I can use it to have almost anything. I mix it with plain rice, curd rice, any rice :). Have it with idly, dosa, uthapam and even roti's. It is fairly simple to make and you can store it for a long time. If you refrigerate it, the shelf life will be obviously longer.

It is best that you use ripe tomatoes for this. You can either cut the tomatoes and marinate with vinegar, chilly powder, turmeric and salt, sun dry it and then make this or simply grind the tomatoes and finish quickly. The first method obviously takes time and I made this on a sudden impulse today, so I chose the second method.
The only downside if you grind the tomatoes and then cook is that you will have to bear with the spluttering and will have to spend some time in cleaning your kitchen tiles. Alternatively, you can chop the tomatoes and prepare with out the sun drying etc.

Chicken Ghassi

This is a Sanjeev Kapoor recipe. Thanks to the this channel "Food Food", my husband is hooked to Sanjeev  Kapoor's recipes. And now, he likes trying them out too. So this one was made by my husband. My only contribution other than clicking the picture and posting the recipe here was to eat it. And yes, it is finger licking good. God bless Sanjeev Kapoor and his timeless recipes.

Ripe Mango Curry

 This is a recipe I learnt from my mother in law. It is my husband's favourite, hence I had no choice but to learn it (lol!)

The only downside of this dish is that it can be made only during summer. Ugh, if you want to know why - Ripe Mangoes are available only in Summer!!!

You can make this with all varieties of mangoes, but the best would be the small mangoes which are usually home grown. I used this variety named "Senduram". Don't ask me the English name.

Mutton Masala

I thought I was the only one in the family who liked mutton. The rest of my family avoided it like plague. Red meat is fattening, high on cholesterol and  difficult to digest. My little fussy angel changed it all. She decided that mutton is yummy. So now, no occasion is spared! Whenever I find time, I cook something in mutton for her.

I was chatting with a friend of mine on WhatsApp one day and happened to mention to her that I was searching for mutton curry recipes online. She gave me this simple recipe that she makes for her family. I thought I would give it a shot, when my angel put her fingers together to denote excellent, my day was made :-)

Chilly Chicken

I went to the grocery store and found this packet of Chilly Chicken Masala under the Aachi Masala brand. The pack says the ingredients are Chilly Powder, Corn flour, Garlic, Cassia, Cloves, Edible oil and Salt.

Here is how I made it.

Cottage Cheese Scramble with Spring Onions (Paneer Burji)



Cottage Cheese Scramble

I have an earlier post with "Paneer Burji" as the title and the preparation is no different from this except for a few minor changes. But then these few minor changes make a world of difference in the final output, so I decided to post this as a fresh recipe.

Aloo Methi

It has been more than a year since I updated this blog- that is because it has been that much time since I cooked. Ever since I moved into my new job 18 months ago,  I have been out of time in a good way. I was enjoying the time I spent at work to focus on anything else.

Then, what prompted this sudden cooking endeavour, you may ask... The answer is the simplicity of this dish. My team member brings yummy lunch to office and I took the liberty of finding out from his better half, how she manages to send finger licking food while managing a toddler at home. She laughed and told me , "It is a 5 minute affair". I hardly believed her till I actually tried it. Well, 5 minutes is definitely an exxageration, but then it really took 15 minutes only! Really!

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 4-5 peeled and cubed (or baby potatoes - 20)
• Kasoori Methi leaves - 2 tbsp (you get the packed ones in Everest, MDH etc)
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1/2 tsp
• Corriander Powder - 1 tsp
• Chilly Powder -  1 tsp
• Asafoetida (Hing/Perungayam Powder) - 1/2 tsp
• Dry Mango Powder (Amchur Powder) - 3/4 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
• Water - 1/2 glass or less

Method

1. Peel and cube potatoes (if you are using baby potatoes, peel and prick them)
2. Heat ghee and oil in a pressure cooker and splutter the Jeera seeds
3. Add the Kasoori Methi leaves and toss them
4. Add the potatoes and the masala powders
5. Sautee them well and sprinkle water just enough to ensure the potatoes do not get burnt (too much of water overcooks them)
6. Put the lid on with the whistle and cook on low flame for one whistle (or till you get the smell of cooked potatoes)
7. Turn of the gas, wait till all the pressure is released from the cooker and open.
8. Dry the water that may be left behind, check for spices and adjust if  needed.

The person who shared the recipe with me asked me to cook in the pressure cooker for one whistle on low flame, but me being the typical, impulsive "I know it all character", I cooked on high for one whistle and then left it on low flame for 8-10 minutes. The result - over cooked potatoes - I was scared of tossing or sauteing them later for fear of mashing the potatoes. So take care of that. Since potatoes cook easily, you first try the one whistle on low flame part and if you feel your potatoes are not cooked well enough, you can always

BisiBela Bath (Sambar Rice)

Bisi Bela Bath (Sambar Rice)

This was the first recipe I posted on my blog. This is my best friend G's mom's recipe...and since aunty is a super duper cook, I thought it is an auspicious sign to start off with her recipe... Even if I become half as good as her, I would be satisfied.

Ingredients:

• Rice – 1 cup (small cup)
• Tuvar Dal – 1/2 cup (same measure of rice)
• Water – 6 cups 3 ½ cups for the rice and 2 ½ cups for the dal – total 6 cups (same measuring cup)
• Shallots (Sambar Onions) - 1/4 kgs
• Tomato - 2
• Carrot - 1 (diced)
• Potato - 1 big (cut into square pieces)
• Beans - 5-10 (cut into 2 inch pieces)
• Double Beans - 15-20
• Any other Vegetables that you want to use (If you are using Brinjal, do not pressure cook it along with rice and other veggies)
• Sambar Powder - 2 tblsp
• Tamarind - The size of a big lemon
• Salt to taste
• Ghee – 6 tbsp
• Gingelly Oil (Nalla ennai) – 4 tblsp
• Turmeric – 1 pinch
• Mustard and curry leaves for seasoning.

For the masala:

• Corriander seed - 5-6 tblsp
• Red chilly - 10-15 (adjust as per your spice requirements)
• Channa Dal (Kadala Paripu) - 2 tblsp
• Asafoetida (Perungayam) 1/2 inch piece
• Fenugreek (vendhiyam/uluva) 1 tsp
• Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
• Cloves - 2
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 2
• grated coconut 1/2 coconut shell

Method:

• Sauté the onions and the vegetables in ghee.
• Wash the rice and dal and soak for 15 minutes in water.
• Add the required amount of water, the sautéed onions and vegetables, a pinch of turmeric, tomatoes and pressure cook for 5 whistles. (Do not pressure cook the brinjals)
• Fry the masala ingredients in a little ghee but make sure they do not get blackened as it will change the taste of the rice, dry grind them first, then add adequate water and grind it to a fine paste.
• Boil the tamarind water (add lots of water as it is bound to eventually become dry) and salt.
• Then add the ground masala and bring to boil again.
• Add the cooked rice, dal and vegetables and mix well adding ghee when required and a little bit of gingelly oil.

Season with mustard and curry leaves and ur bisi bela bath is ready!!!!!!!!!! Serve with Potato Fry!


Note: Use the same measuring cup for Rice, Dal and Water. Adjust the masala quantity according to the amount of rice, dal and vegetables you have. I used a small measuring cup. Since you add so many vegetables and water, this dish usually trebles in quantity. So use a small measuring cup and retain the masala quantity according to your taste buds.

South Indian Potato Fry

The simplest and yummiest dish...you can hardly go wrong with this. You can modify it to your taste, you can keep experimenting with this dish and yet it does not fail you. Every time, i try some new concoction and am fairly satisfied with the end result... I guess it is primarily due to my bias for potatoes... Anything with potatoes are yummy for me... This can be made with South Indian Masala's and seasoning or with North Indian Masala's and seasoning... either way, it tastes great.
I made this the way the Brahman's in Chennai make it... to go along with the Bisi Bela Bath (aka Sambar Rice) I made.

Here is the recipe for this simple Potato Fry.


Ingredients:

• Potatoes - You can use the baby potatoes or the normal ones
• Gingelly Oil (Nalla ennai) - 4-5 tblsp (yeah, its Potato FRY) If you do not want to use gingelly oil, you can use normal cooking oil
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Sambar Powder - 1 1/2 tblsp
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric Paste - 1/4 tsp
• Mustard - 1 tsp
• Channa Dal (Kadala Paripu) - 1 tsp
• Broken Urid Dal - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida Powder - 1 pinch
• Curry Leaves - 1 sprig (What is south indian cooking without curry leaves?)

Method:

• Wash and Pressure cook the potatoes for 2-3 whistles. Again, you may not want to cook the potatoes and fry them directly. Another alternative is to peel and cut the potatoes and boil them in water till cooked. I prefer the pressure cooker method because of its simplicity.
• Peel and cut the cooked potatoes
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Splutter curry leaves, mustard seeds, urid dal, channa dal till fried.
• Add the asafoetida powder and then the diced potatoes.
• Saute for 5 minutes and then add the salt, turmeric, chilly and sambar powders.
• Fry for 10 minutes and then cook covered for another 5.
• Mix the tamarind paste in about 2 tblsp of water and sprinkle it over the potatoes and fry on high flame till dry.
• Remove and Serve Hot!!!

Note: If you do not wish to add Sambar Powder, you could increase the quantity of chilly powder or you could use any curry powder of your choice. Adding the Tamarind paste is optional... I like the sourness it imparts, hence I add it. You could fry onions, garlic and tomatoes and alter this dish again. As I said, you can keep experimenting with this dish.