Rajasthani Food Festival, Ramada Plaza

Rajsthani Food Festival, Ramada Plaza Chennai

Last weekend I received an invitation from Ramada Plaza, Chennai to taste their Rajasthani food at the Rajasthani Food Festival. This festival is happening from 15th feb to 24th feb.

People eat through their eyes first and the taste is also most crucial. In a food festival the decor and ambience matters a lot. My experience at that beautiful place.

While entering the Hotel, on the left side you will find there arrangements for the Rajasthani Food Fest. That decor is way too good. You will feel the vibe of Rajasthan there. Dolls, Hukkah, Badhini Dupattas, cute Umbrellas, pictures of the Rajasthani people, Char pai in the corner and camel cut out are just the perfect prop. They have put table piece, decorated as rajasthani man and women on a pencil is very beautiful and tempting.

The behaviour of the staff is very cordial and good. They are dressed up as Rajasthani male and female. Their dress is too colourful and enough for you to give the feel of Rajasthan

Now comes the food. I have tried their veg thali. I personally feel it’s the best Rajasthani food in town.  Here is What I had on that day

*Soup- Tamatar aaur Tulsi ka Shorba

*Salad- Moong Mogar Kachori

*Main course

Paneer Palak ki Bhurji

Ker Sangri

Gulab Jamun ki Sabzi

Rajasthani kadi

Dal Dhokali

Bhati/Ghee

Makkai Roti/ Do Pad Roti

Gatta Pulao

Malai Ghewar

Churma Ladoo

Non Veg Main Course

Murgh ka Swetha

Fish Jai Sambandi

I like each and every dish from the thali. Spinach and paneer ki bhurji is very tasty. Gulab jamun ki sabzi is super. Ker sangria gives the perfect feel of Rajasthan. Gatta pulao is just perfect. Bhati is also very tasty. Desserts are mind blowing. The best ghevar abd churma ladoo. But my personal favourite is moong kachori, ker sangria, gulab jamun  ki sabzi and malai ghevar. Master Chef Virendra Joshi, who came all the way of Rajasthan to prepare this meal, Also he came and described each and every dish he curated for the thali.

Gulab jamun ki sabzi and ker sangri is the most amazing and interesting dish I have had in that thali. Deep fried gulab jamuns are not with their best friend, sugar syrup. Rather in a sweet, tangy and makhani tomato gravy. That dish is perfect side dish for any pulao or biryani. It just tempted me to cook that dish. In my upcoming blogs I will share that recipe. Another dish is Ker sangri. It's basically a typical Rajasthani dish. It's a mix of 5 items which is called as panchkut in Rajasthan. It usually come in dry form. Chefs used to soak it before cooking. Chef Virendra Joshi made that dish some achari spices. It's literally a very tasty and tangy dish. Even this recipe will come in the upcoming blogs.

Price of the thali which we ate is 1099/- but at discount they are giving at 599/-. At night they are having dinner buffet which costs 1400/- but at discount they are giving 999/-.

Above all value for money, tasty and super delicious food, perfect ambience and most cordial staff. Worth visiting place..

Some more pics from that day

Basic eggless vanilla cake

https://youtu.be/GT8csUWCja4

Dry Fruits Modak and Ladoo

Dry Fruis Modak and Ladoo

Modak is Lord Ganesha's favourite sweet dish. Every year I used to prepare modak. In this process I have made boondi modak, sesame and peanut modak, carrot and paneer modak and mawa and coconut modak. This year I have cut my sugar intake. But I still wanted to eat sweet modaks. So made this protein and calcium loaded modak. It is very good for the diet watchers. They can eat this without any guilt. So lets see the ingredients and recipe of the dish. 

 Mix Dry fruits- 2 cups

Deseeded Dates- 1cup

Raisins- 1/2cup

Desiccated Coconut- 3tbsp

Sesame seeds- 2tbsp

Cardamom Powder- 1/2tsp

I have taken 2cups of dry fruits. I have taken cashew, almond, pistachio, walnut, watermelon seed, sunflower seed, pumpkin seed and roasted peanut. In this combination i have used less amount of cashew.

In a blender jar add dry fruits and make a coarse powder and bring out to a bowl

in the same jar add deseeded dates and blend up to smooth. Then add raisins and blend. Raisins should be coarse. Bring this out to the same bowl. 

Add desiccated coconut to it.

In a pan add 2tbsp sesame seeds and dry roast it foe 3 mins. Add this to the same bowl and also add cardamom powder to it.

Now mix everything properly. Stuff this mixture in a modak mould and remove careful. It will shape like modak. Make some ladoo out of the mixture too..

It is a perfect ladoo with high protein. Very tasty too.. For those who are in diet can also eat this, A total guilt free dish

Sweet and Sour Brinjal Curry (Bangladeshi Style)

Sweet And Sour Brinjal Curry

Brinjal is my favourite vegetable. I love experimenting with brinjal. With this process I got this interesting recipe. This recipe is from the village of BanglaDesh. Very simple recipe with lovely 

flavors. 

Brinjal- 11 small

Salt- 1/2tsp

Haldi- 1/2tsp

Red chili Powder-1/2tsp

Oil- 2tbsp

Oil- 1tbsp

Onion- 2 small

Green Chili- 2

Tomatoes- 2small

Tamarind- a Lemon Size Ball

Haldi- 1/2tsp

Red chili Powder- 1/2tsp

Salt- 1/2tsp

Sugar- 1tbsp

Coriander Powder- 1tsp

Cumin- 1tsp

Garlic- 3 to 4 tsp

Cut the brinjal lengthwise keeping the head intact. As shown in the pic

Wash and clean brinjal and pat dry.

Keep cut brinjal in a bowl and add red chili powder.

Also add salt and haldi.

Mix everything and keep for 10 mins.

Heat oil in a pan.

Add marinated brinjal 

Add all the brinjals together

Cook up to soft

Keep aside when cooked

Soak tamarind in 1/2cup of water. Then make a smooth pulp.

Clean and cut green chili and tomatoes

Arranage every ingredients. Make a paste of cumin and garlic.

Again heat oil in a kadai

Slice onion and add to the kadai. 

Saute onion up to pink in colour

Add green chili.

Add cubed tomatoes.

Saute for 3 to 4 mins. Also add 1/4 cup of water.

Add salt

Add haldi, red chili powder and coriander powder

Add sugar also

Add cumin and garlic paste

Saute

Cook up to everything incorporated properly

Now add tamarind pulp to it

Now add cooked brinjal

Add all the brinjals

Cook up to you get the required gravy

Serve hot with rice or roti.

No Oil Chicken Curry

No Oil Chicken Curry

In general perception, nonveg dish will be very spicy and oily. It would be full of calories. But here I am going to share a recipe of chicken without oil. Yes, heard it right. There is not a single drop of oil used. But the taste and colour won't affect with it. No one can guess that it is prepared without oil as long as you mentioned it.

Some weeks back I wanted to lose some weight. But being a foodie I didn't want to curb my eating tasty food. So I took this midway path. So I come out with this lovely recipe. Here is the recipe....

Chicken- 1 kg

Curd- 1 Cup

Onion- 2 large

Ginger- 1 inch piece

Garlic- 10 cloves

Tomato- 2 Medium

Green Chili- 2

Coriander Seeds- 1tbsp

Cumin Seeds- 1tbsp

Kshmiri Red Chili- 4

Turmeric- 1tsp

Kshmiri Red Chili Powder- 1/2tsp

Green Cardamom- 4

Clove- 4

Cinnamon- 1 inch piece

Salt- 1/2 tsp or as per taste

Chopped Coriander for Garnishing

Clean and cubed the onions. Chop ginger and garlic. Then boil all these along with red chili for 10 mins with 1 cup of water and let it cool down. After cooling down make a paste.

Dry roast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds up to slightly change in colour. then powder it to a coarse powder.

Hung curd for half an hour so that excess water will be drained of.

Clean and cube tomatoes and make a smooth puree without adding water.

In a big bowl add cleaned chicken, hung curd, onion paste, tomato puree, salt, haldi, red chili powder, coriander and cumin powder. Mix everything properly and marinate it for at least 3 hours or over night in fridge.

Bring out the marinated chicken from fridge one hour before cooking.

In a heavy bottom pan add the chicken with marinate and cook for 10 mins in high. Add bay leaf to this.  After 10 mins you can see water released from the stuff. Now lower the flame and let it cook.

In the mean time dry roast cinnamon, green cardamom and clove up to nice smell comes. Then make powder of these.

Add the above garam masala mix to the curry. Cook this up to the chicken is cooked properly. Adjust seasoning and gravy as per your taste.

It is best served with plain rice or roti.

Paneer Parcha

Paneer Parcha

For a special occasion we went to restaurant for dinner. It was a vegetarian day for us. My hubby surfed the menu card to order something unique that day. On that day we are not in mood to eat something regular. He saw a dish named as PANEER PARCHA. That name sounded innovative, unique and very different. We called the  waiter to know more about the recipe. He said it is a sandwiched paneer dish in a silky creamy tomato based gravy. We ordered that. We all loved the flavour and texture of the gravy also the sandwiched paneer.

Back home kids wanted that same dish in dinner. I thought of trying that recipe depending on my and hubby's taste buds. But it came out perfectly tasty. Kids loved that a lot. Here is the recipe of the dish...

FOR PANEER SANDWICH

Paneer- 400 gms
Crumbled Paneer- 200 gms
Oil- 1 1/2 tbsp
Chopped Ginger- 1tsp
Chopped Green Chili- 1tsp
Carrot- 1 (grated)
Beans- 3 (Chopped)
Sweet Corn- 3 tbsp
Green Peas- 3 tbsp
Chopped Cashew- 1tbsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Pepper Powder- 1/2tsp
Garam Masala- 1/4tsp
Corn Flour- 3tbsp
Raisins-2tbsp
Oil- 2cups for Deep Frying

For Gravy
Oil-1 tsp
Onion- 2 medium
Curd- 1/4 cup
Cashew- 8 to 10
Kashmiri Red Chili- 3
Tomatoes- 2 Medium
Oil- 2tbsp
Cinnamon- 1inch
Clove- 3
Green Cardamom- 3
Bay Leaf-1
Cumin- 1tsp
Ginger and Garlic Paste- 1 1/2tbsp
Salt- 1/2tsp
Haldi- 1/2tsp
Sugar- 1/4tsp
Red Chili Powder- 1/2tsp
Cumin Powder- 1/2tsp
Coriander Powder- 1/2tsp
Garam Masala Powder- 1/2tsp
Butter- 1tbsp
Kasoori Methi- 1/2tbsp
Cream- 3tbsp

In a pan heat 1 1/2tbsp oil and add chopped ginger and green chilies and saute. Then add grated carrot, chopped beans, sweet corn and green peas and saute. again add salt, pepper and garam masala and also 1/4cup of water and cook up to soft. Add 200gms of crumbled paneer to it. mix properly and cook up to dry. Then let it cool down. Now pulse this mixture for once or twice to a semi coarse paste. Now add chopped cashew and raisins to it.

Now take 400 gms of paneer and cut in slices. Then stuff he above stuffing like a sandwich.

 Heat oil for deep frying.

In a bowl add corn flour and water, also little salt and pepper. Make a runny slurry. Dip the paneer sandwiches in the slurry and deep fry in hot oil. keep these aside.

Heat oil in pan add sliced onion to it and cook up to brown. Let it cool down. Now add curd to it and make a smooth paste.

In a small bowl add cashews and whole red chili and boil it for 7 to 8 mins. Then let it cool down. Make a smooth paste.

Make purees from the two tomatoes.

Heat 2tbsp oil in a pan add cinnamon, clove, green cardamon, cumin and bay leaf and let it infuse in oil.Then add ginger and garlic paste and saute up to raw smell goes. Now add onion curd paste and saute.

When it is bit dry add cashew and chili paste and saute. Now add tomato puree, salt, sugar, haldi, red chili powder, cumin and coriander powder and saute up to dry. Add 1/2cup of water to it and let it boil. Switch off the gas and let it cool down a bit. Then strain the  gravy and discard the whole masalas.

Now in the same pan heat 1tbsp of butter and add the strained garvy. Add cream, garam masala and kasoori methi to it and let it boil. cook this for 3 to 4 mins more. Now add the fried Paneer pieces and cook for a min. Then switch off the gas and garnish with coriander leaves.

It can be served with plain roti, nan or any rice.