Dry Fruits Powder

Any kheer or payasam is always a welcome dish when it comes to a festival or party.

Ingredients:
Cashew nuts - 1 cup
Badam - 1 cup (soak and deskin)
Cardamom - 8 nos
Ground nut - 1 cup (deskinned)
Dry grapes - 1 cup
Walnut - 1/2 cup

Method:
Dry roast cashew, badam and ground nut one by one in a pan. It should be roasted in low flame. Grind it together with cardamom, dry grapes and walnut.

Add 2 spoons of this powder to 1 cup of warm milk along with a spoon of sugar. This is a very good health drink. A spoon of this powder can be added to a cup of corn flakes and milk.

Shankarapalli - A sweet tea time snack

Shankarapalli is a triangle shaped tea time snack which can be made very very easily in about 20 to 30 mins.

Ingredients:
Maida - 3 1/2 cups
Milk - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 3/4th cup
Oil to fry

Method:
Seive the maida to avoid forming lumps. In a hard bottom pan add ghee, sugar and milk and boil it. When the mixture starts boiling remove from flame and let it cool.

Mix the seived maida to the above mixture slowly and making a dough out of it. The dough have to be stiff enough to make be able to make chappatis out of it.

Divide the dough into equal parts and make balls out of it. Heat oil in a kadai and when hot reduce the flame to medium. Make chappatis out of the balls (the chappatis should not be very thin). Cut the chappatis with a knife or shankarapalli cutter into square or diamond shape. Fry it in oil in the medium heat itself. Keep turning it till it becomes golden brown in colour.

Note: If the sugar is very sweet, reduce the quantity by half cup.

Bhel Jain Style

Ingredients:

Puffed Rice - 2 cups

Cucumber - 1/4 cup (finely chopped or grated)

Tomato - 1/4 cup (finely chopped)

Carrot - 1/4 cup (grated)

Tamarind Chutney - 1 tsp

Green Chutney - 1 tsp

Fine Sev - 1/2 cup

Corn flakes - 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Lemon Juice - 1 tsp (optional)

For Decoration:

Finely chopped coriander leaves - 1/4 cup

Method:

In a large salad bowl or shallow pan add puffed rice, sev and corn flakes. Blend well. Add cucumber, tomatoe and carrot to the puffed rice and toss it well. Add tamarind chutney, green chutney (diluted in 1 tbsp of water), salt and toss again till all of them blends well. Put in individual serving bowls. Squeeze little lemon juice on top and add coriander leaves on top

Rich and Royal Milkshake

A very rich easy to make milkshake. This gives instant strength and energy too.

Ingredients:
Badam - 10 to 12 pieces (soaked and skin peeled)
Crushed Ice - 4 cubes
Pista - 8 to 10 pieces (unsalted)
Butter Scotch Ice cream - 3 scoops
Kesar - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom - 2 nos
Milk - 1 cup

Method:
Add milk, 2 cups of butter scotch icecream, badam, cardamom, pista and 4 cubes of ice. It is better to use a whipper rather than grinding it. Garnish it with pista pieces and Kesar strangs.

This makes 2 glasses of milkshake. While serving add the remaining 1 scoop of icecream, (half scoop in each glass) and serve chilled.

Pani Puri / Gol Gappe - Indian Cooking Challenge for May

Pani Puri or Gol Gappe or Mini Pooris are always great hit in our home and whenever we go to hotel, the starter dish my kids order is Pani Poori. We just try to find out shops that offer real good Pani Pooris where the Pani is not too hot or too sweet. Pani given with the poori should be of the mixture of both with an extra tinge - Comment by daughter. Though we love to eat it in chat shops or road side ones, still the best is to make at home (trying to be highly hygenic!!!! uh!!!). Many a times, my husband gets the pooris alone and I make the paani and within seconds I find the packets empty.

But whenever I make Pani Puris at home, its just my daughter Surabi and Shrawan come to help me (by rolling the dough to balls and eating a few small pieces too). And cutting the spread out dough to small puris using the small tiffin box lid (which is used to take pickles to office and school). This time it was a big competition  between my son and daughter as to who will cut out how many number of puris. (Obviously daughter won).

Eating these puris is definitely an art and I have to say that my daughter mastered it for sure.

Got the recipe for Pani Puri from my mom and here I am adding it with a few of my additions.

Ingredients for Puri:

Maida - 1/2 cup
Wheat flour or all purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Urad Dal - 1/4 cup
Rawa (Fine one) - 1/4 cup
Salt - A pinch

This quantity will make almost 18 to 20 puris.

How to make Puris:
     Mix all the ingredients together and knead well to a fine dough by adding water little by little. Let the dough set for about 1/2 an hour. Flatten the dough into chappatis and cut into small puris using the lid of small tiffin box. (If it is possible one can also make small puris and fry it out).



Fillings:
1. Channa Dal (prefrebly the brown ones which is also known as chick peas) - 1/2 cup
2. Potato - 4 nos (medium sized)
3. Sev - (better get in sweet shop, if you dont have at home) - 1/2 cup

These are the three types of fillings one can have along with finely chopped onions, coriander leaves, Bhoondi and Pani. These can be either had separately or mixed together to get a different taste.

How to make Pani for Pani Puri
Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
Coriander Leaves - 1/2 cup
Pepper - 6 nos
Jeera - 2 tsp
Clove - 4 nos(optional)
Dry Mano Powder /Amchur Powder - 1/4 cup
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Green Chilly - 1 or 2 nos
Table salt - to taste
Water - 1 litre (add more if the pani is a bit thick)
Tamrind Paste - 2 tbsp
Dates - 4 nos.
Jaggery - 2 tbsp

I normally make Pani which will have both hot and sour and sweet taste. I make only one single Pani. But in general in all shops, two types of Pani are given. Sweet Paani made of dates and tamrind and hot and sour pani made of Mint leaves.

For both the paanis to use the tamrind paste, add 1 cup of water to 1 tbsp of paste and either microwave for 2 mins or keep in stove and let it bring to a boil. Remove from flame and let it cool.

Keep 1 litre of water in fridge and let it cool.

Sweet Paani
Soak dates in hot water for about 1/2 an hour. Grind it along with jaggery and seive it to remove the waste. Add tamrind water and mix well.

Hot and Sour Pani
Mix the dry mango powder in 1/2 cup water for about 1/2 an hour. Drain it to remove the dust. Grind Pudina, Jeera, Clove, Pepper, Ginger, Green chillies to a fine paste. Add salt and cold water to the ground paste and Amchur powder. Again keep the mixture in fridge and take it out just before serving.

To make the fillings 
Channa Filling - Pressure cook the channa dal and add salt and a pinch of chilly powder to it.
Potato filling - Pressure cook and mash the potatoes. Add salt and chilly powder to it and mix in a kadai along with a spoon of oil.

How to serve Paani Puri at home
In a square or triangle plate (this is better for drinking the paani that have fallen to the plate after finishing off the puris) arrange the puris along with either or the mixture of all the filling. Add paani to the puris slowly. It is better to fill the puris after one with paani is eaten.

(Want to know who won the maximum number of Paani Puri eating Competition? There was a tie between my husband and daughter and at last daughter won by eating two more)

Aloo Raitha

To make kids eat curd a bit more I tried this recipe, and it is a real hit.

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 4nos
Curd - 2 cups thick unsour
Salt to taste
Asafodeita - a pinch

To season:
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Green Chillies - 2 nos
Curry Leaves - a few
Coriander leaves -1/4 cup

Method:
Boil, peel and dice the potatoes to small pieces. Beat the curd to make it smooth and add it to the potatoes along with salt and Asafodeita,

Slit the green chillies. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add cumin seeds. Add the green chillies. Cut the curry leaves into two and sprinkle on top of the curd mixture. Pour the seasoning on top of the curry leaves. Mix all thoroughly and decorate it with coriander leaves.

Variations:
Instead of green chillies red chillies can also be used.
Instead of chillies pepper powder can also be used
Cumin seeds can be powdered and added to the potatoes instead of adding it while seasoning.

Paneer Cutlet (Patties)

A dish that makes a great dish for evening snacks for kids. This also makes a great starter for parties too.

Ingredients:
Paneer - 300 gms
Potato - 2 big
Bread - 2 slices
Onion - 1 Big
Green Chillies - 2 nos
Corn Flour - 2 tbsp
Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste 

Method:
Pressure cook the potatoes and mash them. Mash the paneer thoroughly. In a plate add 1/4 cup of water and place the bread slices flat and after a min squeeze the water from the slices and crumble them. Cut the onions and green chillies finely. In a shallow bowl, mix the paneer, potatoes, onions, green chillies, corn flour, chopped coriander leaves, bread pieces and salt. Shape the mixture into desired shape of cutlets. (heart shape, circle, or diamond shaped).

Let them set in freezer for about 15 to 20 mins.

Heat a tawa and add oil to it. Place the cutlets in the tawa. Turn after a min. Ensure that both the sides are golden brown in colour.


Note:
   Do not add more than 4 or 5 cutlets in the tawa at a time.