Cashew Barfi

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups of unroasted unsalted cashew - grind this finely in a mixer into soft paste (do not add any water)

2. 1/4 cup milk powder

3. 1/2 cup granulated sugar

4. 1 cup water

5. One pinch of saffron - optional

6. Rose water - 3-4 drops - optional

Preparation:

1. Hand mix very well the smoothly ground cashew powder and milk powder in a  mixing bowl.

2. Dissolve sugar completely in water, and bring it to a boil at high. Stir continuously for 8 minutes until the syrup starts to form a single-strand consistency as you drip it from the spoon.

3. Reduce the heat to medium, and mix  in the cashew+milk powder mix (along with saffron & rose water drops -optional) very well until the syrup is fully blended in.

4. Grease a large flat bottom stainless steel plate or glass plate with some unsalted butter or ghee. Pour the hot mixture into it, and flatten evenly to shape. Let it cool for 30 minutes.

5. Loosen the sides using a knife, and move the cooled mix to your greased counter top. 

6. Roll with a pin to smoothen both sides. Using a large knife, or pizza cutter, cut out equally spaced vertical bars. Run the puzza cutter at an angle to shape the bars into diamond shapes.

Kaju barfi ready!!

Pepper Beef

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 500gm

2. 2 Large onions sliced & chopped thin

3. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tblspn

4. Red chilli powder - 1 tspn (adjust to your taste)

5. Black pepper powder - 1 tspn

6. Coriander powder - 2 tblspn

7. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn

8. Curry leaves - 8 to 10

9. Thinly sliced coconut pieces - 4 tblspn

10. Salt - 1 tspn (adjust to your taste)

11. Coconut oil - 3 tblspn

Preparation:

1. Clean beef very well - rinse & drain 4-5 times. Chop into 1/2 inch cubes.

2. Heat oil in a pan.

3. Add salt, curry leaves, and ginger garlic paste. Saute for 2 minutes.

4. Now, add thinly sliced coconut pieces. Fry till golden brown, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn't get burnt.

5. Stir in chopped onion, and fry until light brown.

6. Add items 4 thru 7, and saute for 3-4 minutes. The mix for masala is ready.

7. Now add the chopped beef, and mix in very well to the cooked masala in the pan. Close the pan with its lid and cook in medium high for 10-12 minutes, letting it cook well in the heat & steam.

8. Open the lid, and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occassionally, until most of the water evaporates. Turn off the stove, and leave the pan open for another 5 minutes - let it sit there dry a little more. Serve hot with steaming hot rice, or rotis.

Enjoy!!

Easy tasty brown chana curry (kadala curry)

Prep time: 20 minutes (with cooked chana)

Serves: 4 adults

Ingredients:

Group 1)

1 cup small brown chana (dry)

- soak in water overnight to yield 2 cups

- rinse and drain in water 3-4 times

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or red chilli powder

Group 2)

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

2 tablespoons coconut oil

Curry leaves (optional)

1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder

1 tablespoon coriander powder

Group 3) 

1/2 medium tomato

1/4 large onion sliced big

1/2 inch ginger peeled & sliced

2 large garlic cloves

Group 4)

80 grams shredded coconut (or 1/6th of a 1lb frozen grated coconut pack, defrosted)

Preparation:

Cooking chana: 

In a small size pressure cooker, add group 1 ingredients with 1 cup water, tighten the lid and put the whistle. Heat on high. It takes 5-10 minutes for the first whistle. Switch off the stove, and let it pressure cook until pressure completely dies (~30 minutes). I usually do this step at least 5-6 hours before I plan to cook the curry.

Now the fun 'n exciting part begins:

Preparing the masala:

 Group 2 ingredients: Heat on medium high coconut oil, and add musard seeds. Add curry leaves once it sputters. Add garam masala and coriander powder. Stir lightly for 2 minutes. 

Now lets use our group 3 ingredients:

Grind the group 3 ingredients into a fine paste without adding any water (the tomato will serve that purpose). Mix it well into the paste on the stove.

 Keep cooking on med high for 5-7 minutes until the oil seeps out, and the mix resembles a thick paste. 

Group 4 ingredients:

Grind to a fine paste the coconut and 3 tablespoons of cooked chana in a small mixer, along with 2 tablespoons of water from the pressure cooker.

Add this paste to the mixture on stove, and cook in medium high for another 5-7  minutes, stirring frequently.

Now, add the cooked chana with the water remaining in the pressure cooker mixing in well into the cooked masala on the stove. Cook to boil (bubbles up a little), then turn off the stove. Add salt to your taste (we go low on  sodium for health reasons).

Tasty chana curry ready! 

Easy, isn't it? Serve with cooked rice or puttu or upma. Let me know how you like it.

Easy To Bake Tasty Vanilla Sponge Cake

Super easy and delicious vanilla sponge  cake.. takes less than an hour for prep & baking.

1.5 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Mix all the above ingredients into a smooth paste with an electric beater.

bake at 365 degree F for 35 minutes on a 9x5 inch pan greased with butter or coconut oil.

Enjooooy!

Veggie noodles with shrimp

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Servings: 3 adults

Ingredients:

Group 1)

3 t-spoons coconut oil

1cup frozen salad shrimp

3 tablespoons marinara sauce

Juice squeezed from 1/2 of a lemon

Group 2)

2 zucchinis - made into noodles using spirulizer

1 large carrot - peeled into thin ribbons using potato peeler

4 broccolet heads - sliced long and thin

4 brussel sprouts - grated thin (optional)

Preparation method:

Heat a large pan on medium high, and add coconut oil

Now add marinara sauce and let it simmer for a minute or two; add a teaspoon of crushed black pepper.

Next, add the frozen shrimp and lemon juice. Mix it well with the marinara sauce.

Stir occassionally, and cook for a couple of minutes. Now, add carrot ribbons, followed by broccolets, followed by zucchini noodles.

Cover with a lid and cook for another 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, mix up the veggies and shrimp, turn off the heat, serve & enjoy!!

Potato Mushroom Masala Curry

Preparation time: 35 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients: 

Group 1)

2 medium potatoes

4 large white of brown mushrooms

 

Group 2)

2 tblspoons coconut oil

3 tblspoons onion paste

2 t-spoons ginger garlic paste

1 tblspoon tomato paste

Group 3)

2 t-spoons salt

1/4 t-spoon turmeric powder

1 t-spoon cayenne pepper powder

2 t-spoons coriander powder

Preparation:

Heat coconut oil in a stainless steel bowl on medium-high until it melts. Add onion paste and saute for a minute.  

Now add ginger+garlic paste. Saute for 3-4 minutes.

Add items in group 3 and saute for 2-3 minutes before adding tomato paste.

 

Mix well and cook for few minutes until oil starts to form around the masala. 

Now, add a cup of hot water to this mix and bring to boil. 

Add chopped mushrooms and potatoes.

Mix it well with the masala.

Close with a lid and cook for 10 minutes on medium high and our curry is ready!!

Serve with steaming rice, or with a plain nan with yogurt on the side!

Easy Peasy Healthy Indian Pizza

Welcome back! Here is a special pizza made using the Indian Dosa base.  I make it when my kids get tired of eating plain dosa and start demanding other interesting but not-so-healthy foods :) They request the same for lunch, and brag about it to friends! 

(Btw, for those of you who are new to the Dosa world, here is what one-of-the-Indian-foods-to-die-for is made of: urad dal or skinned black gram and basmati rice in 1:2 proportion (1 cup urad dal for 2 cups of basmati rice) is soaked for 8 hours, then rinsed off really well, and ground together with water and 1-2 teaspoon salt into a fine pancake like batter. The batter is then left to ferment overnight, and cooked the next morning. Refrigerate the left-over batter for later use).

1. To make dosas, set a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. If using cast-iron skillet, brush with about 1/4 teaspoon coconut oil or butter. I use an non-stick electric griddle and skips the oil brushing part.

Ladle 1/4 cup dosa batter (you can get this batter in any Indian store) in the center of griddle. Using bottom of ladle, quickly spread batter outward in a circular motion to a diameter of about 7 inches. The thicker you can make it the firmer will be the pizza base.

2. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon oil over the top. Leave dosa batter to brown gradually until outer edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes, cooking on one side only.

3. Add one teaspoon of tomato paste and spread it on the top using a spoon

4. With a spatula, carefully loosen dosa from griddle. Bottom should be crisp and beautifully browned. 

5. After a minute turn it back

6. Add shredded cheese and toppings of your choice. (I added some turkey bacon strips)

Doesn't it sound easy peasy and healthier compared to regular pizza? Let me know what you think!