Saturday, August 31, 2013

Beaten Coffee - Video recipe ..




This video demonstrates an easy and fast way to prepare Beaten Coffee with minimal ingredients and without any special/high end appliances.



Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Paav Bhaji ..



Serving : 2
Cooking level : Easy

For Paav :

Ing :


Dinner rolls : 4
Butter : 1 table spoon

Method :

* Heat nonstick griddle.
* Slit the dinner rolls into half and spread butter.
* Roast the dinner rolls till it turns little golden in color.

For Bhaji :

Ing :

Paav Bhaji spice powder (Recipe) : 3 table spoon (click on the "recipe" for homemade paav bhaji spice powder)
Cooked potato : 1 cup (coarsely mash it) 
Cooked carrot : 1/2 cup (coarsely mash it) 
Cooked garbanzo/chickpea : 1/2 cup (coarsely mash it) 
Chopped cilantro : 2 table spoon
Chopped onion : 1/4 cup
Chopped tomato : 1/2 cup
Chopped spring onion : 1/4 cup (optional)
Salt : 1/4 table spoon (adjust accordingly)
Water : 1/2 cup (adjust accordingly)
Sugar : 1/4 tea spoon
Turmeric powder : 1/8 tea spoon
Ginger-Garlic paste : 1 tea spoon
Butter : 2 table spoon
Vegetable oil : 1/2 tea spoon
Lemon juice : 1/4 tea spoon

Method :

* Heat 1 table spoon butter and vegetable oil in a nonstick wok at medium-low flame.


* Add in onions and saute till onions turn slightly brownish. Then add ginger-garlic paste and saute for 1 min. 


* Add in tomatoes and fry till tomatoes are tender.


* Now add in all the vegetables along with garbanzo. Saute this for 2 minutes.

* Add salt,sugar,paav bhaji masala into the mixture and mix it well. Then add 1/2 a cup of water.

* Add a 1 table spoon of butter and cilantro, cook this bhaji masala for 4 to 5 minutes in a low flame. Switch off the flame and add lemon juice and mix it very well.




Some TIPS :

* Serve paav bhaaji HOT !

* Before serving sprinkle some chopped onion,cilantro and lemon juice on Bhaaji.(I garnished Bhaaji with Carrot,White onion and Cilantro just because to give Indian Independence Day feeling :) )

* I have already posted Paav Bhaji recipe in my blog (Recipe) using store-bought Paav Bhaaji Masala powder. But i feel homemade Masala powder tastes 200% better than store-bought powder.


* Follow the recipe. For best result use  Homemade Paav Bhaaji Masala Powder which i mentioned. :)






Pav Bhaaji Masala Powder | Paav Bhaaji Spice Powder ..



Ing :

Cardamom : 1
Cinnamon stick : 2 inch piece
Black pepper : 6 no.s
Coriander powder : 1 table spoon
Fennel seeds : 1/4 tea spoon
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tea spoon
Red chilli powder : 1 table spoon
Tamarind : 1/2 tea spoon

Method :

* Heat a non stick pan in low flame. Add in cinnamon stick and cardamom (make sure to tear them before putting in pan) and roast it for 15 seconds.

* Add in fennel seeds,cumin seeds and black pepper, roast them for 40 seconds.

* Now add rest of the ingredients into non stick pan and roast till you get a good aroma from coriander powder. (approximately 45 seconds to 1 minute). Switch off the flame and transfer the roasted spices to a tray.

* Once the spices turns into room temperature transfer them to a blender and make a very fine powder.




Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Baby Corn Manchurian ..




Servings : 2 people

Ingredients :

Baby corn : 12

* Make a slit lengthwise at the center to get two equal parts from baby corn. Now hold both the parts together cut them into dices at equal intervals or according to size required. (You will get around 40 diced pieces from 12 baby corn)

* Now place the diced baby corn in a sauce pan containing boiling water(around 4 cups). Allow to boil for 30 seconds. Once done, remove and transfer baby corn into a sauce pan containing cold water. This will refresh the baby corn and also it will maintain its color
and baby corn will not get overcooked.

Ingredients For Batter :

All purpose flour / Plain flour : 2 table spoon
Corn starch : 1 table spoon
Salt : 1/8 tea spoon
Red chilli powder : 1/8 tea spoon
Cold water : 5 table spoon

For deep frying baby corn : 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Method :

* Once the baby corn is blanched,drain the water and keep it ready to use.

* In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients mentioned in "Batter" and slowly add in the water and make a batter.
Once the batter is ready add in baby corn,mix it well with the batter for marinating upto 10 to 12 minutes.

* In the meantime chop all the veggies required for Manchurian sauce.

* In a non stick pan heat vegetable oil for frying the baby corn.

* Once the oil is heated add in about 12 diced baby corn pieces at a time and fry them until golden brown. Then remove baby corn from oil and drain in paper towels. Keep it aside. Repeat this procedure until all the marinated baby corn get fried.

Manchurian Sauce : 

Ingredients For Manchurian Sauce :

Finely chopped spring onion : 1/4 cup (Separate white and green parts of chopped spring onion and keep them in different bowl)
Finely chopped white onion : 1/8 cup
Finely chopped green chilli: 1/2 tea spoon (Adjust according to your taste)
Finely chopped ginger : 1/4 teaspoon
Finely chopped garlic : 1/8 tea spoon
Finely chopped bell pepper : 1/8 cup (I used orange bell pepper)
Vegetable oil : 1 table spoon
Corn starch : 1/2 table spoon
Cold water : 2 table spoon
Dark soy sauce : 1/4 tea spoon
Tomato ketchup : 2 table spoon (I used Nestle hot n sweet tomato ketchup)
Salt : 1/8 tea spoon (Adjust accordingly)
Sugar : 1/8 tea spoon
Red chilli powder : 1/8 tea spoon (Adjust accordingly)


Method to make Manchurian sauce :

* In a small bowl mix corn starch and water,keep it ready to use.

* In a non stick pan heat vegetable oil. Add in ginger,garlic,green chilli,onion and spring onion white part. Saute for 30 to 45 seconds in a low flame.

* Add in sugar,salt and bell pepper and suate for 1 minute.

* Now add soy sauce,red chilli powder and tomato ketchup and mix it well with the veggies in a medium-high flame.

* Add in corn starch and water mixture and continuously mix it well with the veggies until it turns into a sauce consistency. Then add fried baby corn and mix it well again for 2 to 3 minutes for all the flavors to get blended well with baby corn. And suate this until baby corn becomes little crisp and not soggy at this stage.

* Finally add spring onion green part and saute for 30 seconds then switch off the flame.

* Serve Hot !!

Some TIPS :

* Once the baby corn manchurian is done serve immediately because later it becomes soggy.
* DO NOT saute veggies for long time.
* Follow the recipe :)




Thursday, August 1, 2013

Mysore Pak | A Royal Sweet from Mysore | Gram Flour Fudge | ಮೈಸೂರ್ ಪಾಕ ..




The following recipe makes around 20 medium sized pieces.
Recipe source : My mother

Ing :

Gram Flour : 1 and half cups
Powdered Sugar : 1 and half cups
Ghee (clarified butter) : 1 and half cups + 2 table spoon for roasting gram flour and 1/2 tea spoon for greasing
Cold water : 1/2 cup

Method :

* Heat 2  table spoon of ghee in a non stick pan and add in gram flour. Roast this continuously in a low flame until you get a good aroma from gram flour. Switch off the flame and transfer the flour into Metal sifter.

* Sift the flour to remove any lumps and divide the flour into 3 batches.

* Grease the steel plate with 1/2 tea spoon of ghee.

* Heat a  large non-stick pan in a medium flame and add in sugar and water to it.

* In the mean time heat ghee in a non stick pan at medium-low flame.(Do not switch off the flame until you completely finished adding ghee into gram flour-sugar mixture)

* Sugar will start to dissolve and it becomes bubbling sugar syrup. Make sure to stir it continuously until it forms one string consistency. ( (In a small bowl keep some cold water to check the sugar syrup consistency)put a drop of sugar syrup to the bowl with cold water and check if the sugar syrup will immediately turns into small crystal balls. if yes then it is done. or else keep stir it for another 30 seconds or a minute or until you reach this stage)

* Once the sugar syrup is ready, slowly start adding sifted gram flour in batches. As soon as one batch of gram flour is mixed with sugar syrup add in the next batch until all the gram flour is mixed well without any lumps.

* Keep stir the mixture for 2 minutes.

* Now comes the hardest stage of adding ghee mixture in batches. With a help of a ladle, add half a cup of hot ghee into the gram flour and sugar mixture. (The minute you add ghee to the gram flour-sugar mixture, it will start to froth up and make sure that you keep stirring the gram flour-sugar mixture in other hand)

* As soon as the ghee mixture gets mixed well with the gram flour-sugar mixture(which will take 10 to 15 seconds), add another half cup of ghee into this gram flour-sugar mixture.(And again gram flour-sugar mixture will froth up and it continue to absorb the ghee and become slightly thick.)

* Repeat this process until all the ghee added into gram flour-sugar mixture.

* Once all the ingredients are added, continuously stir it for 1 minute.

* Now yellow color of gram flour-sugar and ghee mixture will change color  and become thicker.  And also this mixture will start to leave the sides and bottom of the pan.

*  Keep stir the mixture for 45 seconds or 1 minute and switch off the flame and IMMEDIATELY transfer this mixture to already greased steel plate.

* Let the mixture to cool down for 3 to 4 minutes and cut them into desired shapes.

* Let the Mysore Pak to cool down completely before taking them from steel plate. Store them in a air tight container.

Some TIPS :

* Use a same cup to measure ingredients.
* Keep everything ready before you start preparing Mysore Pak.
* Be very careful while adding hot ghee into gram flour - sugar mixture.
* Follow the steps. :)

Some more information about Mysore Pak :

Mysore Pak was first prepared in the kitchen of the Mysore Maharaja.

Kakasura Madappa who was the cook at the Mysore Palace kitchen sweets department simply tried a combination of gram flour, ghee(clarified butter) and sugar.
When the King asked for dish name,Madappa simply named it as a ‘Mysore Pak’,a delicacy from the Mysore Palace.
Then Mysore Pak attained the position of a Royal Sweet.






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Parceling Mysore Pak to Anu,Soumya&Recipe Junction.