Instant Rawa Mix for making different dishes

Ingredients:
Rawa - 1 kg
Mustard seeds - 2 tbsp
Urad Dal - 6 tbsp
Channa Dal - 8 tbsp
Cashew Nut - 24 nos
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 8 nos
Asafodeita - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 6 tbsp
Oil - 4 tbsp

Method:
Fry Rawa in a dry pan and let it cool.

Add ghee and oil to the pan and add mustard seeds when it splutters add Urad dal, channa dal and cashew nuts. When the dals start turning  golden brown in colour add the red chillies. Reduce the flame to medium and add the rawa and fry well. Remove from flame and add asafodeita and mix well. Store in airtight container.

Can be used to make rawa idly, rawa upma or rawa dosa whenever needed.

Instant Rice Payasam - Make it in a jiffy recipe

My MIL makes it whenever there is a need to do instant Neivedhyam. Most of the time, she will do some prayers or the other and as an offerring prepare this in a jiffy.

Ingredients:
Cooked Rice - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
or
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 pinch
Cashew Nuts - 4
Ghee - 2 tbsp

Method to prepare Instant Rice Payasam:
Mash the cooked rice with the back of a laddle. Heat milk and when hot add the mashed rice, sugar or jaggery and keep stirring. Remove from flame. Add cardamom powder. Fry cashewnuts in ghee and add it to the payasam.


This can be done very easily in about 10 mins.

Home Made Badam milk mix recipe

CBadam Milk is one of the favourite drinks in our household. To make any occassion special, either Badam Kheer or as a dessert Badam milk is served. This is one recipe that I learnt from one of my friend's mom which can be stored in fridge and use whenever needed.

Ingredients:
Almonds - 1 cup
Saffron - 1/2 gm(fresh)
Sugar - 2 cups
Water - 1 1/2 cups
Badam essence - 1 tsp (optional)

How to make Badam Syrup:
Soak almonds in hot water and peel them. Add 2 tbsp of warm water to saffron. Grind both almonds and saffron to a very fine paste. Better to avoid water but if needed, a little water can be added. In a heavy bottom pan add sugar and add 1/2 cup of water to make sugar syrup. Add the paste when the syrup starts boiling. Keep stirring so as to no lumps are formed. (Essence can be added when the mixture starts boiling again).

Let it cool and refrigerate it.

How to make Badam Milk using Badam Syrup:
Add 2 tsps of syrup to warm milk. (Though no sugar is needed, if you have a sweet tooth 1/2 spoon of sugar can be added).

How to make Badam milk shake:
In a blender add Badam syrup, ice cubes and milk and whip once or twice. Pour in a glass and add Vannila or Butter Scotch Ice cream. Serve chilled with Wafer Biscuits

Onion and Tomato Paste - A Basic paste recipe for all North Indian Dishes

All the north Indian side dishes use this Onion and Tomato paste in the cooking process. This paste can be made and stored for almost 15 days in freezer. If there is party or if you are planning to make North Indian Dishes quite regularly, then this is the best thing one can make use of.

Ingredients:
Onion - 12 nos
Tomatoes - 18 nos
Oil - 6 tbsp

Method:
Cut all the onions and tomatoes into pieces.  In a heavy bottomed flat pan add oil and when hot add the diced onions.When they turn golden brown in colour add the tomatoes. Mash the tomatoes and stir well. Keep cooking till the oil starts coming out. Once done, remove from flame and let it cool. Use a hand blender to mash the mixture thoroughly.

Store in dry air tight containers so that it can be used when ever needed.

When you are cooking vegetables or meat based dishes. Finish off all the other cooking process like adding the spices, boiling and blending and add this paste at the end and stir well.

Benefits of using this paste:
Saves time and saves cutting of onions and tomatoes daily.
Uses less oil.
Vegetables or meat get cooked well in concentrated spices as the onion is added at the end in the form of paste.
The gravy is thick.

How to make Instant Idly Mix

This recipe is definitely a boon for the working women. 

Ingredients:
Boiled Rice - 2 cups
Raw Rice - 2 cups
Urad Dal - 2 cups


Method:
Wash and soak the dal and rice for about 1/2 an hour. Drain the rice and dal. Spread them in a clean cloth and let them dry. Grind the dal and rice together into coarse powder and store it in freezer. 

When it is needed to make dosa or idly, the required quantity can be taken and add hot water to it to make the right batter. Add right kind of salt. 

To make dosas let the batter set for 3 to 4 hours. To make idlies set the batter for almost 12 hours.

How to make Instant Sambar

When there are guests at home, or when there is a need to make Sambar fast and instantly, then the following can be done with easily.

Ingredients:
Moong Dal - 1 cup
Green Cillies - 2 nos
Tomatoes - 2 nos
Salt - To taste
Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp

To Temper
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tbsp
Hing - one pinch

Method:
  Pressure cook moong dal and mash it thoroughly. Add salt, diced tomatoes, and green chillies to tamarind water and boil it for a few mins. Add the cooked dal and mix well.

   Remove from flame and temper.

How to make processed rice flour at home

Ingredients:

Raw Rice - 2 cups

Water - 1 cup

Method: 
Wash and soak rice for about 20 to 30 mins. Drain the water and spread the rice on a clean cloth under fan. Let it dry for almost 4 hours. Dry them in a mixie to a fine powder. If the powder is not fine, use a sieve to get a fine raw rice powder. One can make about 1 1/2 to 1 34th cups of flour.

This powder can be used to make Karadai, bakshanams like Murukku, Thenkuzhal etc 

Processed Raw Rice flour

Soaked raw rice spread in shade

Photos by Vasan Srini 

How to make Tomato Puree

When it is tomato season and when they are available in large, one can make tomato puree at home and store it to be used in different gravies, especially North Indian Gravies and also can be used while making Rasams (South Indian Soups which is eaten with rice)

Ingredients:
Ripe Tomatoes - 1/2 kg or 6 nos

Method:
Boil 2 cups of water. When the water boils add the tomatoes. Remove from flame and cover it.
When cool add it to juicer blender (which have the option of straining the waste). Do not add water while grinding. Get a thick paste.

This can be made in large quantities and stored in freezer too for future use.

How to make Tamarind Paste at home

Though now a days, we get ready made Tamrind pastes from brands like Homemade or Mallika Home Products, still it is better to prepare our own Tamrind Paste at home. This tamrind paste is helpful for south Indian dishes like Sambar, Rasam, Puli kootu etc.

Ingredients
Tamarind - 1/4 kg
Hot water - 1/2 ltr

Gingely oil - 1 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Method
Soak the tamarind in hot water for half an hour. And when the water is warm enough, use the mixer and grinder to extract the tamarind juice. Don't add more water to grind but grind the tamarind so that you get thick water. Heat a hard bottom pan, add the oil add add turmeric and salt to it and bring it to a boil. Reduce the flame and leave till the water is evaporated and till the tamarind becomes thick and is in a paste form. Remove from flame, let it cool. Store it in an air tight container. The extract can be stored in fridge for about half a month. 

Recipe for Coffee Syrup

South Indians without coffee is something unimaginable. This is definitely a sort of mixture of 2 or 3 recipes that I have seen in the net. When my brother came to know that Cold Coffee he wanted me to add this coffee syrup recipe. This can be used to make coffee milkshake, or used as topping in ice creams.

Before making this syrup it is better to check out the capacity of the coffee maker or coffee filter and the quantity of syrup one wants to make.

Ingredients:
Filter Coffee Powder - 24 tbspns
Hot Water - 2 cups
Sugar - 12 tbsp

How to make coffee syrup:
In a coffee filter or coffee maker, add enough spoons of coffee powder and add hot water to it. When the decoction is ready remove and keep it separately. To the coffee powder add 1/2 of the original amount of water. You will get a second decoction. Again add the same quantity of coffee powder and add the second decoction first and half of the first strong decoction to the coffee powder. The resultant decoction will be extra strong and thick. Use the same decoction and prepare decoction one more time with fresh coffee powder. There will be a triple strength coffee powder.

For the total amount of decoction add half the quantity of sugar. For example if there is 2 cups of decoction, 1 cup of sugar is to be added. Stir constantly till the sugar is dissolved. The sugar is to be added to the hot decoction and to be ensured that it dissolves completely. Store the syrup in airtight jar and refrigerate it.