Makhana ki khir

Makhana Ki Khir

Lotus seeds or makhana or fox nut is a very popular dry fruits in northern part of India.  This dry fruit is low in fat and high in carbohydrates that makes it distinct from Other nuts and seeds.  These are a good source of protein,  carbohydrates,  fiber,  magnesium,  potassium, iron and zinc. 

These nuts are known as fasting food. In navratri festival fasting people make different varieties  of makhana dish..  Roasted makhana,  makhana namkeen and sweet makhana is very famous.  But makhana ki khir is star dish. 

This navratri season I thought of trying my hand preparing makhana ki khir.  Though I never prepared this khir but I followed my instinct while preparing this.  The end result of the dish is so yumm and delicious that with or without fasting this khir became a family favorite.  Here is the recipe of makhana ki khir 

Milk - 2lits

Makhana -  1 1/2 cup 

Ghee - 2tbsp

Salt to taste (for vrat recipe one can avoid) 

Sugar -  6 to 7tbsp(depends on the taste) 

Kaji- 8 to 10

Kaju and kissing -  1/2cup

Cardamom powder -  2tsp

In a heavy button pan add milk and keep on gas to boil and reduce.  

In another kadai heat 1tbsp of ghee and add 1 cup of makhana.  Dry roast the makhana properly up to crispy and keep aside. 

In another pan heat 1/2tbsp of ghee and add 1/2 cup of makhana and 8 to 10 kaju together. These things should be dry roasted for 4 to 5mins. Then let it cool down for some time.  Then grind to a smooth powder. 

In the same pan 1/2tbsp of ghee and dry roast the kaju and kismish and keep aside.  

When milk is reduced to half of its volume add the dry roasted makhana to it.  Let the makhana cook properly and let the milk reduce even more.  After good 6 to 7 mins add sugar and let it mix.  Then add powdered makhana and kaju and mix.  Let it cook.  This will help to thick the milk even more.

Now add cardamom powder and fried kaju and kismish and switch off the gas.  Allow it to come down to room temperature.  Then serve it either in room temperature or chilled as per choice. 

Chhena payas

CHHENA PAYAS 

With lots of love and appreciation from all I received, I am celebrating my 50^th post. Today is Mahalaya Amabasya. So it becomes very special occasion for today’s post.

Mahalaya Amabasya is very special as it is last day of Pitru Paksha. In all parts of India this Amabasya is celebrated as a shradh to the Pitru Purusha (ancestors). After that Matru Paksha will start. This is the beginning of Dussehra and Navratri.

On the occasion of Mahalaya and my 50^th post celebration I am updating a special sweet dish. This is Chhena Payas or Chhena Khir or Paneer Milk Pudding. This dish is one of the favourite in my family. This recipe needs very few ingredients but the taste of the dish is divine. Here is the recipe

Milk- 2 ltrs

Sugar 7 to 8 tbsp

Vinegar- 2 tbsp

Kaju & Kismish- ½ cup

Ghee- 2 tbsp

Cardamom powder- 2 tsp

 

In a heavy bottom pan add 1 ½ lit milk. Keep the bowl on fire and let it boil and reduce. The milk should be reduced to the ½ lit in volume. Stir continuously while reducing the milk. This process will take around 45 mins.

Now add cardamom powder and sugar to it. Don’t boil milk more time after adding sugar. There is chance of sticking to the bottom. Burnt smell of milk will spoil the dish.

In the mean time take ½ lit milk in another bowl. Keep on the flame and allow boiling. Now add vinegar to it and let the milk split. Cook up to the whey water separates from the milk solid. Now strain the milk solid in a strainer and allow it to come down to the room temperature.

Heat ghee in a pan and fry kaju and kismish up to golden in color and keep aside.

Now crumble the cool paneer with hands. Mix the crumbled paneer to the reduced milk (note: add this just after adding sugar to the milk) and cook for 3 to 4 mins.  Now add fried kaju and kismish to it and switch off the gas. Let the payas come down to room temperature. It can be served in room temperature or chilled. I love Chhena Payas chilled.

Serve as your taste buds need.

Tandoori baby potatoes

Tandoori Baby Potatoes 

Tandoori dishes are originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is very popular in southasia particularly in India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is prepared with yoghurt and spices marination. Tandoori chicken is the most famous dish. But the vegetarian version is also equally famous. Tandoor or clay oven isn't easily available at home. So people are using microwave or oven for baking the same.

Vegetables and meat both can be marinated properly to get tandoori dish . Veg items like cauliflower, paneer,potates can be baked in tandoor. I prepared tandoori Baby Potatoes in microwave. I didn't get clay oven so I marinated the potatoes and baked in micro. Here is the recipe

Baby Potatoes -1/2kg

Hung curd-3/4cup

Haldi- 1tsp

Red chilli powder - 1tsp

Garam masala - 1 1/2tsp

Besan-3tbsp

Food color -2drops(optional)

Oil -2 tbsp

Ginger garlic paste -1 tbsp

Onion rings to garnish 

Clean the Baby Potatoes properly. Make holes in the baby potatoes with the help of a fork.

Put the potatoes in the cooker, add water and salt to it. Keep the cooker on flame and cook for 3 whistles. Let it release it's pressure naturally. After that let the potatoes cool down.

In a kadai add the besan ad dry roast upto the raw smel goes ad let it cool down. 

Peel the potatoes properly and keep in a bowl.

In a mixing bowl add hung curd, fried besan, ginger garlic paste and all other ingredients. Mix properly with the help of a wire whisk. Now add the boiled and peeled the potatoes and mix again. The masala should coat the potatoes properly. Keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours

After 4 hours preheat the microwave oven in convection mode for 7 to 8mins. In the meantime time spread the marinated potatoes on a microwave proof plate. Add 2tbsp of oil on the potatoes and apply properly. Now keep the plate in the microwave in convection mode for 6 to  7 mins in 200degree. After that bring out the plate and toss the potatoes and keep in the microwave again for 6 to 7 mins. One can repeat the process up to the potatoes are baked up to golden brown. Timing of the baking of the potatoes may differ from oven to oven. One has to have a watch on the potatoes while baking.

For yoghurt dip

Hung curd -3/4cup

Lemon juice - 1tsp

Salt to taste 

Chilli powder -1tsp

Roasted zeera powder - 1tsp

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and serve.

Serve this tandoori Baby Potatoes hot with onion rings and yoghurt dip.

Boondi ki sabzi

Boondi ki sabzi

Boondi is a rajasthani snack item. It can be either sweet or khara or tikha. In every ways it is very delicious dish to eat. Sweet boondi is a sweetened fried chickpea (besan) flour. It can be stored for a week. Boondi laddo is the best way to have sweet boondi.

Khara boondi is equally famous. It is prepared from chick pea flour batter mixed with spices, salt and chilli powder.it can be eaten alone as a snack item. But khara boondi is used as boondi raita. It is very famous accomplishment in an Indian thali. Here I am going to show another khara boondi dish which can be eaten with rice, pulao or biryani. Thia dish is called as kjhara boondi ki sabzi.

For boondi

Besan – 1 cup

Salt to taste

Haldi- 1/2tsp

Red chilli- 1/2tsp

Mitha soda- 1/2tsp

Garam masala- 1/2tsp

Water as required

Oil for frying

For sabzi

Onion- 2 medium

Garlic- 4 to 5 cloves

Ginger- 1inch

Tomato -1 medium

Coriander leaves to garnish

Oil- 1tbsp

Zeera- 1/2tsp

Green chilli- 1

Salt to taste

Haldi- 1/2tsp

Red chili- 1/2tsp

Peanut- ¾ cup

Garam masala- 1 tsp

For boondi

In a bowl add all dry ingredients and mix properly. Now add water to it. Add little water at time and mix. It should be medium thick consistency batter like idly batter. Too runny batter will make boondi flat and too thick batter will tail end for the boondis. So adjust the consistency accordingly.

Heat oil in a kadai and keep a holed ladle or perforated ladle or jhara on it. With a spoon add some batter on the ladle and slowly spread with a spoon. Fry the boondis till crispy. The best time to remove the boondi is when oil stop sizziling. Repeat the process to make the boondis.

For sabzi

Clean and chop onion. Peel and chop garlic and ginger. Chop green chili and tomato and keep aside. You can avoid chilli if kids will eat.

Dry roast the peanut and crush them a bit and keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai and add zeera to it. Let it release its flavor to the oil. Add chopped onion to it and let it sauté up to golden in color. Now add chopped garlic and ginger and sauté again.

When the raw smell goes from the ginger and garlic add tomatoes and sauté again. Add haldi, salt and red chili to it. When all the masala come together add crushed peanut to it and sauté. At last add boondis to  it and mix. Add garam masala and coriander leaves to it. Serve hot and immediately before the boondi will be shoggy.

Veg Kolhapuri, without onion and garlic

Veg Kolhapuri

Festival and fasting are on the way. All are gearing up for the navratri and fasting. In this fasting season no onion and garlic dishes are must. Here is my solution for these fasting recipes. Veg kolhapuri is one of the dishes I prepared for this occasion.

Kolhapuri cuisine is a style of preparation by using specific types of masalas. They belong to maharastrian cuisine. These dishes are really very tasty and only slightly hot. Lots of varieties of spices are used to make this masala. Onion and garlic ois also used in this. But I omitted these to make it a fasting recipe. Here is the recipe.

FOr masala

Scarped Coconut- 2 tbsp

Zeera- 1 tsp

Dhania- 1tsp

Poppy seed- 1tsp

Cardamom- 3

Clove- 4

Cinnamon- 1/2inch

Oil- 1tbsp

Tomato- 2

Ginger- 1inch

Red chilli- 2

Other ingredients

Cauliflower- 4 florets

Carrot- 2

Capsicum- 1

Potato- 2(medium)

Green peas- a handful

Salt to taste

Sugar- 1/2tsp

Ghee- 2tbsp

Zeera- 1/2tsp

Kashmiri red chili powder- 1/2tsp

Haldi- 1/2tsp

Oil- 1 tbsp

Heat oil in a pan add coconut, zeera, dhania, poppy seed, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, peppercorn and fry for 3 to 4 mins in low flame. In a grinder jar add tomato, ginger and fried masala and make a smooth paste.

Cut the vegetables in 1inch long pieces. Heat oil in a kadai and add the cut vegetables and sauté up to raw smell goes. Remove from fire and keep aside.

Heat ghee in a kadai and add zeera to it. Let it crackle and the masala paste and fry up to the masala separates from oil. Add salt, sugar, haldi and red chilli powder to it and sauté again.  When masala separates from add vegetables and 1 cup water.

Mix properly and cover the lid and cook up to the vegetables are cooked.  Add coriander leaves to the curry and serve hot with roti or rice.

Dahiwale Bhindi

Dahiwale Bhindi

In odisha any thali will be incomplete without any savory dish. This savory dish always goes very good with rice items. These dishes are dahiwale baigan, dahiwale bhindi, boondi raita , masala chas etc etc. except these dishes we odia people also relish some sweet and savory chutney dishes like amba khata (sweet mango chutney), tomato khajuri khata( tomato dates chutney), pineapple khata (sweet pineapple chutney) etc etc.

Once my friend invited me to her house for lunch. Her hubby is a great cook. He cooked his favourite item dahiwale bhindi or dahi bhindi. It is a simple dish but very quick and very flavourful. Fried bhindis or ladies finger in garlicky tempered dahi. Here is the recipe

Bhindi- 15nos ( small size)

Dahi- 200gms

Mustartd-1 tsp

Zeera-1 tsp

Urad dal- 1tbsp

Red chilli- 3 to 4

Salt to taste

Black salt-1tsp

Hing- 1 pinch

Curry leaves- 6 to 7

Green chilli- 1

Garlic- 4 to 5 cloves

Oil for deep frying bhindis

Oil – 1 tbsp

Wash and clean bhindis properly. Then put them on a kitchen towel and pat dry. If all these bhindis are small in size then cut head and tail. If it is bigger then cut into halves and keep aside.

Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai and add bhindis in the oil and fry them properly. Then drain on a kitchen towel.

Deseed the red chillies properly and deep fry them in the same oil and keep aside.

Peel and clean garlic properly. In a mortar pestle add garlic and green chili and crush them a bit and keep aside.

Beat the curd properly without any lumps and add salt and black salt to it and mix properly and keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan add mustard and zeera to it and let it crackle. Then add Hing,  Urad Dal and curry leaves to it and then add crushed garlic and green chilli and sauté. Switch off the gas and add the curd mixture to it and stir continuously or else it may split. Add the fried bhindis and red chillies to it and mix. Taste the seasoning and serve as a side dish

Mawa Coconut Modak

Mawa Coconut Modak

Ganeshji is very much fond of Modak. During Ganesh Puja festival, this modak is prepared. In Maharistrian culture, preparing and offering of modaks during ganesh puja is must. The sweet filling inside a modak is made up of fresh grated coconut and jaggery while the soft shell is made from rice flour or wheat flour. Modaks are of different varieties like mawa modak, motichur modak or even chocolate modak.

Mawa And Cococnut Modak is my twist to mawa modak.  Modak get its texture from coconut and crunch from cashew nuts.  For modak loving Ganesh this is my 2^nd sweet Prasad. Here is the recipe

Mawa- 350gms

Boora or Powdered Sugar- 4 to 5tbsp

Grated coconut- 3 to 4 tbsp

Cashew nuts – 4 to 5 tbsp

Ghee- 2 tbsp

Green Cardamom (choti elaichi) -  2 tsp

Mawa is also known as khoaa. It is heavily thickened milk solid.  Grate the mawa if it is hard or mash it with hands. I used homemade mawa for this so there is no need to mash.

In a nonstick kadai heat 1 tbsp of ghee add mawa to it. Sauté the mawa properly upto golden in colour. Remove from fire.

Chop the cashew nuts and keep aside. In the same pan heat 1 tbsp ghee again and add cashew nuts and grated coconut and sauté up to golden.  Add the fried mawa to it and mix properly make a soft dough out of it. Let it cool down.

When mawa mixture is warm to touch add boora to it. It is available easily in market. If it is not available then powdered sugar can be added. Sugar should be added at a proper time. The mawa should not be hot or cold. If you add in hot mawa sugar will melt and dough will be watery. If you add in cold mawa sugar won’t mix properly. It should be warm. Mix the sugar properly and knead a bit. Add cardamom powder to the mixture.

Grease the modak frame properly so that dough won’t stick to the frame. Stuff the modak frame properly and there shouldn’t be any gap while stuffing. Demould the modak from the shape carefully. Keep in the fridge to set for 2 hours.

After 2 hours Prasad is ready for bhog.