Paal Khova

Paal khova is also called as Doodh Peda in Hindi. I am from Bangalore and I am absolutely in love with Nandini Paal Khova that we get there. Since I live very far from home, occasional cravings to eat the sweet crops up in my mind and makes my mouth water. One day while talking to my cousin brother, he mentioned to me about how he tried to recreate the paal khova. After a lot of trials with measurements of the ingredients, I finally found the right way to make it. It tastes absolutely fabulous and just melts in your mouth. This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

Sweetened condensed milk - 1 can (14oz)

Milk - 2 tbsp

Yogurt - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients together in a microwave safe bowl.
• Microwave it for approximately 5-7 minutes in 30 sec intervals.
• Stir it well each time a 30 sec microwave cooking is done.
• It will start to get solid and small granules of khova starts forming.
• The Paal Khova is done and ready to be served.
• A tbsp of this yummy dessert goes a long way!!
• Try this and enjoy..And yes, let me know how it was.
  
  
  
  
  

Notes:

• Different microwaves come with different powers. So use your judgement to keep it for 5 mins or more or even less.
• Always remember to NOT microwave for more than 30 sec.

Kesari Baath

Hello all..

Happy Republic Day!!

 Welcoming fellow bloggers and all lovely readers with my first recipe post of the year. A sweet post. I made Kesari Baath, DH's favorite sweet.  It had been a while since I had prepared anything good for DH. A sudden wave of sympathy for him and Lo and Behold..Came out this yummy Kesari Baath..A very simple recipe and easy quick steps. The final product, I promise, will be a yummy, mouth melting Kesari Baath.

Ingredients:

Sooji/Semolina/Rava - 1 cup
Milk - 2 cups
Ghee/ Clarified Butter - 1and1/4th cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cashews - 7-8
Golden Raisins - 7-8
Orange Food color - 1 drop

Method:

• In a shallow fry pan, add 2 tbsp of ghee and roast the cashews and raisins, drain out the ghee from them and set it aside.
• In the same pan and with the same ghee, add the sooji / rava and roast it till a nice aroma comes out of it and set it aside.

• Heat milk in a sauce pan and allow it to boil. Once the milk boils, gradually add the sooji and keep stirring it well ensuring no lumps form and a creamy consistency is reached.
• Also add the cup of ghee right after this step and blend all the ingredients well to make a smooth and a creamy  mixture.

• Keep stirring the mixture gently for about 5-6 minutes to avoid burning of the mixture at the bottom of the pan.
• Once the sooji is cooked, add the sugar, food color and the roasted cashews and raisins.

• Mix all the ingredients well and serve hot.
• Hot, yummy and delicious Kesari Baath is ready to melt in your mouth.

Serving Tip:

• Before serving, warm the Kesari Baath (if cold) and add a tsp or two of ghee on top and garnish with silvered almonds.

Notes:

• You can add any food color of your choice.
• You can adjust the level of sugar according to your sweetness level.
• You can also choose to NOT add food color and make it a white sheera.
• You can add small pineapple pieces or banana pieces to have a different variety of Kesari Baath (add it before adding the food color).
• The quantity of Ghee can be altered but the taste may not be as good as the one with the required quantity of ghee specified here.
• Best to serve it hot with an additional tsp of ghee.

Avacado and Spinach Salad

Eating healthy is very important. In the present day scenario, everyone is leading a very busy and a fast life. It has become a burden for many to cook, go to work and manage home well. Salads come in handy in similar situations. Chop a couple of fresh veggies, empty a pack of store bought greens and toss it well with a few other ingredients from the pantry. Trust me, you will end up with a delicious and a wholesome dish that will satisfy your appetite.

Avacadoes are one of my favorite fruit and I live to have it as a milkshake and enjoy eating it with salads. The fruit is very buttery and smooth. The fruit can turn brown on exposure to air due to oxidation. To prevent this just coat with with lime juice and I will stay fresh. It has a lot of health benefits associated with it and considered to be very healthy (though it is high in its fat content).

Here is the recipe to a healthy and a delicious salad.

Ingredients: 
(Serves 2)
Avacado - 1 Ripe
Baby spinach - Cleaned,washed and chopped - 2 cups
Spring onions - 4 stalks
Red onion - Medium sized -1
Ripe tomatoes - medium sized - 2
Salt - To taste
Lime/Lemon juice - from 1large lime/lemon
Chat masala - 1/4th of a tsp
Ground black Pepper - 1/4th of a tsp

Method:

• In a large bowl add the chopped spinach, red onions, tomatoes and spring onions.

• Then add ground black pepper, chat masala, salt and lime juice.

• Toss the salad and serve it with avacadoes.

• Enjoy the salad.

Notes:

• You can use cherry tomatoes if you like.
• You can use spring mix, arugula or watercress instead of spinach or with spinach.
• You can prefer to add or skip chat masala.
• Use raw veggies of your choice to make the salad more interesting.

Venn Pongal

Its been a while since I cooked patiently, clicking away pictures and doing things at leisure. Just got back from a beautiful short vacation and still in the holiday mood. DH wanted to have vathakuzhambu. Luckily had butternut squash at home and made it in a jiffy. The best complement to vathakuzhambu couldn't be better than a plate of hot venn pongal. Realized quite late that I had not posted pongal on the blog and was just in time to click a couple of pictures for the same.

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)

Moong dal - Split - 3 tbsp
Rice - 1 cup
Black peppercorns - 1 tbsp
Crushed black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - A few
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green chillies - A couple (optional)
Butter / Ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

• In a pressure cooker or a pressure pan, heat the butter / ghee and once it gets hot add cumin seeds, black peppercorns, grated ginger , curry leaves, green chillies, and crushed black pepper. Then add the moong dal and rice and roast all the ingredients well on medium flame for 3-4 minutes.

• Then add water and salt and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

• Pongal would have cooked well  after 3 whistles. You can adjust the proportion of water depending on whether you prefer it to be semi-solid or solid.

• Serve it hot with coconut chutney , tomato gojju or vathakuzhambu..

• Enjoy the hot and tasty pongal.

Notes:

• Adding green chillies is optional. If you prefer spicy pongal you can add it or you can omit it.
• Addition of crushed red pepper gives it a real pepper taste. You can add it according to your preference.
• You can cube up ginger and add or you can julienne it. Grated ginger blends well with rice and will not be felt while eating.

Chocolate Cheese Macaroni

A relaxing afternoon..Lazing on the couch..Watching food network and watch the pretty and overly expressive (it is nice though) Giada De Laurentis cook with mascarpone cheese, ricotta cheese, pasta and yummy cake laden with chocolate. My stomach rumbles and craves for cheese and chocolate (though I kept reminding myself that I need to work out and lose some fat). Finally something flashed in my occasionally brilliant mind and EUREKA!!

I went into the kitchen and picked exactly 3 ingredients from the pantry. And a delicious Friday night dessert was ready in less than 15 minutes. Lets take a look at how this yummy delicacy is made.

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)

Elbow Macaroni - 1 cup
Nutella Chocolate and Hazelnut spread - 2 tbsp
Ricotta cheese - 1/3rd cup

Method:

• Add the elbow macaroni in a pan of boiling water and cool till it is Al-dente. Drain the pasta and transfer it into a bowl.

• Add 2 tbsp of Nutella and mix well. The Nutella will melt with the heat of the pasta and become a creamy sauce.

• Finally add the ricotta cheese and mix well.

• Add chopped walnuts and garnish. Serve it warm or chill it and serve it cold.
• Enjoy your Chocolate Cheese Macaroni!!

Notes:

• You can use any kind of pasta to make this dish.
• You can alter the amount of Nutella and cheese depending on your taste.
• Add a pinch of salt and a tsp of ghee or melted butter to the pasta water so that the pasta does not stick together.
• You can add chopped nuts of your choice.

Mixed Dal Tadka

I have been so crazy busy from the past few days. All I am thinking and dreaming is about classes and assignments. Spending the entire day at school and getting back home hungry and starving....aaaaahhhhh... I craved for good home food prepared by Mom. But life as a wife in America is all about food cravings and missing dear ones. Left with no choice I had to prepare some yummy but simple food for myself and DH. What better dish could be comforting than making Dal and Rice. I made this yummy dinner for the both of us and trust me..It was so very relaxing!!

Ingredients:

Toor Dal - 1/4 cup
Moong Dal - 1/4 cup
Masoor Dal - 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
Medium Tomato - 1 - Chopped
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Red chillies - 3-4
Curry leaves - A few
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - A pinch
Cilantro - To garnish
Oil / Ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

• In a vessel combine the three dals and add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt and pressure cook it for 3 whistles.

• In a wok, heat oil/ghee. add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies and curry leaves.

• Once they crackle and splutter, add the chopped tomato and cook on medium heat until the tomatoes are cooked well.

• Add asafoetida, red chilli powder and turmeric powder to the tomato mixture.

• Mash the cooked dal and add the dal to the tomato mixture. 

• Mix it all well.Garnish it with cilantro.

• Serve hot with Rice and Roti.. Enjoy the simple and comfort food that gets ready in no time.

Capsicum-Mushroom Rice

I have so fallen in love with mushrooms!!Oyster mushrooms are my favorite!! I have always used mushrooms to make dry curries and used it as toppings on pizzas. I just tried using it along with capsicum, peas and carrots and made a spicy rice. It tasted Awesome!! This is a very easy recipe to make and gets done in a jiffy!

Ingredients:

Mushrooms - 2 Cups (You can use any kind of mushrooms)
Capsicum - 1 medium sized - Diced
Green Peas and Carrots - 1 cup (I used frozen)
Cooked Rice - 3 cups
Butter - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - According to taste


Method:

• In a pan, melt the butter and add the cumin seeds. Once the seeds start to sizzle, add the capsicum and saute it for a few minutes.

• Once the capsicum is cooked halfway through, add the sliced mushrooms and mix well.

• Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt.

• Mushrooms release a lot of water and get soft as they are being cooked.

• Once the mushrooms are cooked, add the frozen peas and carrots and mix all the veggies well.

• Once all the veggies are cooked, add the Garam Masala powder and mix well and turn off the flame.

• Mix the veggie masala with the cooked rice.

• Serve hot with Raita and enjoy your quick fix meal!!

Spinach Rice

Spinach Rice is a very easy dish to make and requires no much prior preparation. A quick fix solution for those who cannot wait for long to eat good food. I usually make this after I am back from a tired day of work. I have provided a very simple and step-by-step procedure to make the Spinach Rice

Required Ingredients:

Cooked Rice - 3 cups

Baby spinach - 2 cups

Oil/Butter - 2tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1  1/2 tsp

Red chillies - 4-5

Asafoetida - a pinch

Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat a pan and add the butter (or oil). Then add the cumin seeds, red chillies and asafoetida.

• Once the cumin seeds start to crackle, add the chopped spinach to the seasoning . Add salt according to taste and mix well.

• Cook for 5-7 minutes on medium flame. The spinach will wilt and reduce in quantity.

• Spinach takes very less time to cook. Once the spinach curry is done, add the cooked rice. Mix the rice and the curry well. 

• Let the cooked rice cool for a while before adding to the spinach rice. Otherwise the rice may get lumpy and mushy.

• Hot spinach rice is ready to serve.

• Spinach rice can be enjoyed best alone. There is no side-dish required. Raita can be used as an accompaniment if needed. Enjoy your spinach rice!

Notes : 

• Usually red chillies are added while cooking greens due to the fact that people who do not want to eat chillies can easily separate red chillies from the green curry as opposed to finding Green Chillies in Greens!