Rasgulla

Glad to share this dessert recipe with you! Rasgulla! It's one of the most popular Indian Sweets. I have tried making this sweet couple of times before, but the results were not appealing! But this time I made soft yummy rasgullas. Learnt from mistakes:) The mistakes done are given as tips in the "Note" section of this post. Kindly read through and follow to get good results. Happy Cooking! Cheers!

Ingredients:

Milk - 2 cups

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Lemon - 1
Rava - 1 tsp

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Method:

1.Bring the milk to boil, Switch off the flame and add 1 tbsp of lemon juice and stir in. The milk will curdle. If not add more lemon juice.

2. Filter it in a muslin cloth, and wash it in running water. This removes the lemony taste from the paneer and also cools it down.

3.Squeeze the excess water out and hang the paneer for 45 minutes/ You can also keep a heavy weight over it. This is done to remove the water from paneer.
Meanwhile add sugar and water and set aside.

4.Open the muslin cloth, nice ball of paneer will be ready. Check the texture, it should neither be watery nor too dry.

5. Keep the already mixed sugar and water on a stove and let it cook in low flame. Select a wide bowl for making sugar syrup.

6. Add a tsp of  rava and mix gently, then knead it with your palm. Knead only 4 to 5 times.

7. Make small balls, the size will double when the rasgullas are cooked. so decide the size accordingly

8. Stir the sugar syrup every now and then and check if all the sugar is dissolved. Add a tsp of cardamom powder. Once all the sugar is dissolved pour half of the sugar syrup to another bowl

9. To the one cup sugar syrup add the balls gently. And shake the vessel so that the syrup covers the entire ball

10.Keep the flame in low otherwise there is a chance for the balls to disintegrate!

11. In 5 minutes add the other cup of sugar syrup to the balls.

12.In other 5 minutes the rasgullas will be cooked. To check it, put one rasgulla in a cup of water, it will sink and stay there in the bottom!

13.Immediately transfer cooked rasgullas to a serving bowl and serve when the heat reduces. You can also  refrigerate and serve it cold.

Note:

1. Depending on the quality of milk the amount of lemon juice required will differ

2. Once the milk curdles quickly filter and wash it in cold water, this is important for making soft rasgullas

3. Do not apply too much pressure while kneading, if applied rasgullas will become very hard

Veg Hakka Noodles

Happy to share this Hakka noodles recipe with you! This is an Indo-Chinese recipe. 

Though cooking this dish takes a bit longer compared to instant noodles, It's worth it! If chopping of vegetables is done, it would hardly take 15 mins to cook. Happy Cooking! Cheers!  

Ingredients:

Hakka Noodles – 250gm

Onion – 1 thinly sliced

Green Capsicum – 1

Carrot – 1 

Ginger – 1 inch finely chopped

Garlic – 4 finely chopped

Soya sauce – 1 tbsp

Pepper Powder - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil – 3 tbsp

Method:

1. In a wide bowl take water in excess and bring it to boil add salt and a tsp of oil to it.

2. Now, add noodles to it. In 7 minutes it will be cooked. Immediately drain the water and add cold water to it. This avoids further cooking of the noodles. Apply one tsp of oil to it.

3. Heat a pan add 3 tbsp of  oil. let the oil heat. Add garlic and ginger. Sauté for a minutes, add onions and sauté till colour changes to pink.Now add the carrots sauté gently for 2 minutes. Lastly add capsicum to it.

5. Now add soya sauce and red chilli sauce. Saute for a minute 

6. Add the cooked noodles, salt and pepper and gently mix.

Note:

1.Cooking time of the noodles differ according to the thickness and ingredients, so check the pack of your noodles for the cooking time.

Best Practice:

1. While making noodles/Fried Rice its best to keep the range in High. It gives the crunch!

2. Use olive oil

Mathi/ Chaala/ Sardine Fish Fry

Hello! Happy to share this healthy tasty fish fry recipe with you! Basically Fish is good for health. And Sardines are best! This fish has the most concentrated source of Omega-3 Fatty acids! 
Try this recipe and enjoy good health! Happy Cooking! Cheers!

 Ingredients:

Mathi Fish - 3

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Pepper Powder - 1 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Gram Flour / Kadalai Maavu - 1/2 tsp

Rice Flour - 1/2 tsp

Corn Flour - 1/2 tsp

Salt as required

Method:

1.Mix Ginger garlic paste, Chilli, turmeric, pepper, cumin powder and salt.

2.Clean the fish and marinate it with the masala for 20 minutes.

3.Little water would have come out of the fish, drain it.

4.Sprinkle gram, rice and corn flour over the fish, gently spread it. 

5.Heat a pan. Shallow fry the fish and serve hot.

Note:

1.You can also deep fry the fish.

2. I have used the chilli powder made at home, it has both red chilli and coriander seeds in it. If you are using plain red chilli powder, add coriander powder accordingly. 

Kollu/ Kaanam Payaru/Horse gram Kuzhambu

Hi! This is a recipe using horse gram, the most Protein - rich lentil. Horse gram is also rich in iron and calcium content. So let's add this lentil in our diet! 

Also Horse gram / Kollu dishes are best suited for diabetic and Obesity patients.Happy Cooking! Cheers!

Ingredients:

Horse Gram/ Kaanam payaru/ Kollu - 1/2 cup

Shallots - 10

Garlic - 5

Tomato - 1

Tamarind - Small lemon size

Curry leaf - 1 sprig

Chilli powder - 1.5 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

To Temper:

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Soak horse gram in water overnight. In the morning drain the water, rinse it once or twice to get rid of small stones if any! Soak tamarind in hot water.

2.Put kollu in a cooker with salt and water. Cook for 3 whistles in low flame. It should be cooked to mash able consistency

3.In a pan heat 1 tablespoon of gingelly oil, add the things mentioned in "To Temper"

4.Add chopped shallots,crushed garlic and sauté. Add curry leafs

5.Add tomato and little salt. Close the pan with a lid and cook for 2 minutes.

6.Mash the tomato pieces completely and add chilli powder and turmeric powder  and little water.Mix well.

7.Add the tamarind pulp and let it cook for  a minute then add the cooked horse gram. Let the gravy boil. (This helps the gram to intake the masala)

8.Switch off and serve hot with rice

Note:

1. While cooking the horse gram we have added salt so again while adding salt to the gravy have a check! 

Vada Curry

Hello! Glad to share this vada curry recipe with you! Set dosa and vada curry is one of Chennai's famous dish. Do try and lemme know your comments! Happy Cooking! Cheers!

Ingredients:

For Vadai,

Kadalaiparuppu/ Channa Dal  - 1/2 cup

Red chilli - 2

Jeera - 1 tsp

Sombu / Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

Onion - 1

Salt to taste

For Curry,

Onion - 1

Tomato - 1

Garlic - 4

Ginger - 1 tsp approx

Green chilli - 1

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Clove - 1

Cardamom - 3

Jeera - 1 tsp

Sombu / Fennel Seeds - 2 tsp

Bay Leaf - 1

Curry leafs - 1 sprig

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

Coconut - 1/2 cup shredded

Method:

1. Soak dal for 2 hours

2. Take red chilli, sombu, jeera in mixie and grind to powder, to this powder add dal and grind without adding water

3. Finely chop the onion and add it to the ground dal

4. Make small balls or patties and steam cook the vadai in a idli pan

5. Dry roast cinnamon, cardamom, clove, sombu, jeera and grind it to powder. To this add ginger, garlic, green chilli and grind to a fine paste adding water

6. Heat a pan add 2 to 3 tbsp of oil. when the oil is hot add mustard, jeera,  sombu  and bay leaf. Then add curry leafs and chopped onion.

7.When the onion turns translucent add the ground masala. Saute till raw smell goes.

8. Add finely chopped tomato to it. Add little salt and close the pan. Wait till the tomato turns mushy.

9. Completely  mash the tomatoes and then add chilli powder and turmeric powder and 2 cups of water.

10. When curry starts to boil, crush the vadai to unequal pieces and add.

11. Grind the coconut to paste adding needed water . Add it to the curry.  In two minutes switch of the flame and serve hot.

Note:

1. To check if the vadai is cooked, poke the vadai with a tooth pick/ knife and it should come out clean

2. If the curry becomes thick before serving, add some hot water and adjust the consistency

3. For extra aroma, add a pinch of cardamom powder before switching off the flame

4. I have used the chilli powder made at home, it has both red chilli and coriander in it. If you are using plain red chilli powder, add coriander powder accordingly. ( For this recipe one spoon each will be enough) 

Pavakkai Fry / Bitter Gourd Fry

Hello! So here's a nice crispy pavakai recipe, just for you!
Bitter gourd has lots of health benefits. It enhances digestion, benefits to weight loss, boosts the immune system and lot more, Even then most of us do not eat it because of it's bitterness. But this particular dish is a "Must Try" one.Happy  Cooking! Cheers!

Ingredients:

Pavakai / Bitterguard – 200 gm

Curd – 2 tbsp

Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder -1 tsp

Gram Flour – 1 tbsp

Rice flour – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil for shallow frying

Method:

1. Cut the bitter guard in to medium thick slices

2. Marinate with curd, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt for 30 minutes

3. Little water would have come out, remove it. Add gram flour and rice flour and gently  toss the bowl for mixing

4. Heat 3 to 4 spoons of oil in a pan and gently place the bitter guard. When one side is done, turn it over.  Fry to golden brown colour on both the sides.

Note:

1. The curd used of marinating should be sour so that the bitterness of bitterguard gets reduced

2. When one batch is fried, the oil gets reduced. For every new batch add 2 to 3 spoons of oil

Oats Mixture

Happy to share this healthy mixture recipe with you! Oats have become a very popular "health food". Oats are rich in fibre called beta-glucan which is known to help lower levels of bad cholesterol. So eat oats stay healthy!

This particular recipe becomes even more healthier when olive oil is used for seasoning. Happy Cooking! Cheers!

Ingredients:

Oats - 1/2 cup
Puffed Rice - 1/2 cup
Chutney Kadalai / Roasted Gram - 2 Tbsp
Curry Leafs - 1 sprig
Garlic - 2 pods
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

1.Heat a pan, add Oats to it, Roast till the colour of changes.

2.Transfer it to a mixing bowl. Add puffed rice to it

3.Heat a small pan put 2 tsp of oil and when it's hot add chutney kadalai, curry leaf and garlic. Roast till curry leafs and garlic become crisp

4.Quickly remove it from oil and transfer to mixing bowl.Leave the excess oil in the pan. 

5.To the hot oil in the pan add turmeric and chilli powder and in few seconds that can also be transferred to the mixing bowl

6.Mix all the ingredients along with needed salt and store in a airtight container

Note:

1.If preferred ground nuts (fried in oil) can also be added

Ground nut chutney

Hi all! This is one of the simple and tasty chutney variety! 
The main ingredient here are peanuts which contain vitamins, minerals, nutrients and anti-oxidants thus are rich energy sources. So it would be perfect for breakfast. Also It lowers bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol in the body, the amino acids present in them are good for proper growth and development of body. Do give a try and let me know your feedback. Happy Cooking! Cheers!

Ingredients:

Raw Groundnuts – ¼ cup

Coconut Shredded – ¼ cup

Red chilli - 2

Salt to taste

Method:

1.Dry roast groundnuts till you get nice aroma of the nuts, simultaneously the nuts will splutter, at this point switch off the flame

2.Let the nuts cool.

3.Now add all the ingredients to a mixie and grind to a fine paste

4.Transfer it to a bowl and then add water according to your required consistency

5.Heat a small pan, put a spoon of oil and when it’s hot add mustard and curry leafs, when it splutters add it to the chutney

6.Serve with Idli/Dosa