Rice

Rice – 1cup

Water- 3 cup

1. Rinse the rice nicely.
2. Soak the rice for ½ hr.

Cooking in  pressure cooker

3. In the cooker add the water and rice, close the lid.
4. Once the steam comes out of the vent, place the weight on the top of the vent.
5. When the cooker whistles thrice, switch off the stove.
6. Wait till the steam release.
7. Remove the weight and open the cooker lid and ready to serve.

Cooking directly in the pot

8. Take a pot and boil the water.
9. Now add the rice and close the lid half.
10. When all the water is absorbed by the rice, switch off the stove and close it fully and leave it for 10 mints.
11. Now it is ready to serve.

Cooking in electric cooker

12. Put the washed rice in to the rice cooker and pour water.
13. For every 1 cup of rice add 2 cups of water.
14. Now plug in the rice cooker and switch on the light.
15. When the light is switched to down button, now switch off the rice cooker.
16. Now it is ready to serve.

Chicken Biryani

Chicken Leg – 1 kg

Rice – 1 kg

Onion – 350gms (Julian)

Tomato – 350gms (Julian)

Ginger paste – 4tsp

Garlic paste – 4 tsp

Coriander powder – 3tsp

Chilly powder – 2 tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Pepper powder – ½ tsp

Garam masala – 1tsp

Curd – 1 cup

Cinnamon - 2 pieces

Cloves - 2 pieces

Bay leaves - 2 pieces

Cardamom - 2 pieces

Green chilly - 4 no

Coriander leaves - ½ cup

Mint leaves - ½ cup

Lemon – 1

Ghee – 100gm

Oil – 100gm

Water – 5 ½ tumbler

Salt – to taste

1. Wash the rice and soak for ½ hrs. Then fry it in a tsp of ghee.
2. Marinate the chicken with curd, 2tsp ginger and garlic each and Salt. Keep in the fridge for ½ hr minimum or you can keep it over night in the fridge.
3. Grind mint leaves and coriander leaves. Keep aside
4.  Now take a cooker and heat the ghee and oil together. Add cinnamon, clove, Bay leaves and cardamom.
5. Add onion; cook it till the onion changes the color to pink.
6. Now add ginger-garlic paste & the green paste which we kept aside after grinding and cook till the raw smell goes.
7. Put the tomato, cook till it mashes and add the marinated chicken with all the dry powder.
8. When chicken is half cooked add the fried rice.
9. Put the water and lemon juice and let it boil for a minute. Cover the cooker with the lid and leave till 3 whistle come and switch off.
10.  Now it is ready to serve with raitha.

Note: If you are using basmati rice reduce the water.

Sakkari pongal/Sweet pongal

• Raw rice – 1 cup
• Moong dal – ½ cup
• Jaggery – ½ -1 cup
• Dry grapes – few
• Cashew nuts – few
• Cardamom – 3 pods
• Sugar – 3 tsp
• Ghee – 3 tsp
• Milk – 1 cup

1. Soak the rice and dal for 10 min.
2. In the pressure cooker add rice and the dal with milk, 4 cup water and ¼ tsp salt. After 4 whistle and keep in sim for 5 min and switch off the stove.
3. In a mixer add the sugar and cardamom and powder it nicely.
4. When the steam is released add the jaggery according to your taste and the sugar powder also. Mix it well.
5. In another kadai add ghee, when it become hot add dry grapes fry it till it puffs up and remove it and then add the cashew nuts, when it starts to become light brown add this to the rice.
6. Now it is ready to have it with vada.

 

NOTE:

1. If you want you can reduce the quaintly of dal.
2. If you want  add eating camphor a pinch.

Idly

• Idly batter – As required
• Oil – to grease
• Idly vessel or cooker

1. Take the idly batter.
2. Grease the idly vessel nicely.
3. Now pour batter 3/4^th full.
4. Steam cook idles on medium for 10 min.
5. Use the back of spoon to remove the idlies.
6. Ready to serve with Green chutney (or) Mint Coriander chutney, Peanut chutney, Coconut Chutney, sambar etc

Drumstick Sambar

• Toor dal – 1 cup
• Drumstick – 1 cup(cut into 2cm long)
• Shallot or small onion – 10 -12 no.(full)
• Onion – 1sliced
• Tomato – 3 chopped
• Tamarind – small lemon size
• Sambar powder – 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Asafetida – ¼ tsp
• Mustard seeds – 1tsp
• Urad dal – 1tsp
• Fenugreek seed – ¼ tsp
• Coriander leaves – as required (chopped)
• Curry leaves – 1 string
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 2 tbsp

1. In the pressure cooker add the toor dal, turmeric powder, sliced onion, tomatoes, asafetida a pinch and 2 cups water.
2. Mean while soak the tamarind in the water.
3. In a kadai add the oil, when become hot add mustard, urad dal, cumin and fenugreek seeds.
4. When it starts to crackle add curry leaves, shallot and the drumstick.
5. When onion become pink add the sambar powder and salt.
6. After 1 or 2 min add the tomato let it mash nicely.
7. In mean time the drumstick will also cook nicely if not add some water.
8. Now add the tamarind water, let it boil for a min. Now add the boiled toor dal, if you want you can mash it lightly.
9. Let it boil for some time and check the seasoning
10. Now off the stove and put the coriander leaves over it. Ready to serve.

Tips:

1. I used shallot here you can also use the regular onion, but the shallot gives more taste.
2. You can use any vegetable and in any combination but all together 1 cup, but if you are using ladies finger fry it in little oil.
3. Sambar powder you can make at home. I used Shakti sambar powder

Peanut Chutney

• Peanut – ½ cup
• Tamarind – small goose berry size
• Garlic pod – 2
• Red chilly – 2
• Asafetida – a pinch
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 1 or 2tsp
• Mustard – 1tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
• Curry leaves – as required

1. In a kadai heat 1 tsp oil, add the peanuts, red chilly, garlic and tamarind. Fry it well.
2. After it became cool, grind it with asafetida, salt and little water. Transfer to a vessel.
3. In a kadai heat the remaining oil for tempering with mustard, urad dal, cumin seeds and curry leaves.
4. Now pour over the chutney and serve it with idly, dosas, chapatti etc

Dry fish curry or Nethili fish curry

Nethili fish

This a dry recipe made of dry fish. Actually I thought of making some thing else and resulted in this, new invention. You can have this as a side dish for any thing even for bread, dosa, sambar, rasam, chappati, phulka etc.

• Dry fish – 12 -13 pieces (Nethili fish)
• Onion – 4 (finely chopped)
• Tomato – 2 (finely chopped)
• Coconut – 5-6 small pieces
• Tamarind – ¼ lemon size
• Chilly powder – ½ tsp
• Cumin seed – ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 tsp
• Oil – 3-4 tsp (recommended coconut oil) 
• Salt – to taste

1. Soak the fish in water for 10-15 min.
2. Wash the dry fish nicely with generous amount of water.
3. In the mixer grind the coconut with tamarind to a nice paste, keep it aside.
4. Now in a wok add oil, let it heat.
5. Add cumin seeds, when it starts to crackle add the fish, fry it nicely.
6. Add onion. When it becomes light brown add ginger-garlic paste.
7. Now add the chopped tomatoes and all the masalas, let it cook.
8. When the tomatoes mash well add the ground paste, now taste the seasonings and adjust according to your taste.
9. When oil oz out, the curry is ready to serve hot with rice as a side dish. 

Aloo tikki or Ragda patties

 This is my favorite snack. When I was studying 7^th 8^th at that time I used to eat this daily at that time we don’t know how to cook. But now a day it is very easy to cook at home and as for hygienic reason it is good to make at home only. By the way in Mumbai it is called as ragda patties and in UP it is called as aloo tikki. Ok shall we go for the recipe.

·        Potato – 4

·        Corn flour – 2tsp

·        Salt – to taste

·        Oil – to shallow fry

·        Ragda – 1cup

·        Sweet chutney – ½ cups

·        Green chutney – ½ cups

·        Onion – finely chopped

·        Fine Sev – 1 cup

·        Cumin seed powder – to taste

·        Chat masala – to taste

·        Black salt – to taste

·        Red chilli powder – to taste

·        Thick curd – to taste

1.      For patties, boil the potato first in the cooker.

2.      Now mash it and add corn flower and salt.

3.      Check the seasoning.

4.       Make a small ball of this and flatten it as a shape of tikki.

5.      In a flat tava add oil and shallow fry this tikkis till crisp and golden brown on both side.

6.      .Fry all the tikkis in the same manner and keepit aside.

7.      Now it is the time to arrange the patties.

8.      While the patties are worm or hot place it in the serving plate.

9.      Take 2 or 3 patties in your serving plate.

10. Now add ragda over it.

11. Now some onion.

12. Now the time for chutneys one by one as you wish.

13. Add chat masala, cumin powder, red chilli powder, curd.

14. Over it add sev and serve it immediately.  

Ragda recipes

This is made from dry peas. This can be used in Pani Puri, aloo tikki, bhel puri etc.

·        Dry peas  or whole yellow peas – 1 cup

·        Asafetida powder – ¼ tsp

·        Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

·        Red chili powder – 1 tsp

·        Salt – to taste

·        Water 

1.      Soak these peas in the night.

2.      When it is fully swollen, it is ready to cook.

3.      In the cooker add all the ingredients and let  it cook for 6-7 whistle or till it cook nicely.

4.      Now open the cooker and see and taste, it should be thick, if not let it cook for some time.

5.      Now it is ready for pani puri, alootikki, ragda patties etc

Green chutney or Mint Coriander chutney

The main ingredient for this chutney is mint and coriander. This is spicy chutney used as a side dish for dosa, idly, pakoras, samosas etc.

• Coriander leaves – 1cup
• Mint leaves – 1 cup
• Tamarind – small piece (without seed)
• Green chilly – 2 or 3 up to your taste
• Salt – to taste

1.      In a mixer grind every thing to a fine paste.

2.      Taste the salt and keep in the fridge.

Brown chutney or Sweet chutney

This chutney is made of tamarind, jaggery, dates etc. This can be used for any chat item like Pani Puri, bhel puri, sev puri, aloo tikki, and even you can eat for chapatti, puri, samosas etc, as a side dish.

• Tamarind – ½ cup(seedless)
• Dates - ½ cup(seedless)
• Jaggery - ½ cup
• Red chilly – 2 or even 3 also up to your taste
• Dry ginger – ½ tsp (Sounth powder)
• Cumin seed powder – 1tsp
• Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
• Black salt – to taste (Kala namak)

1. On the stove, keep a wok add tamarind, dates, jaggery and dry chilli with some water.
2. Let it boil for 5min.
3. Let it cool.
4. Now in a mixer add this with all other ingredients.
5. Make a nice paste and filter it and taste it, if you requires any thing you can add now.
6. Store this chutney in a air tight bottle and use it for any thing as a side dish.

Chappati/paratha

• whole wheat flour – 2 cups(Gehu atta)
• Salt – ½ tsp
• Water – as required
• Flour – some (to rolling)
• Ghee or Oil – As required

1.     To make dough refer chappati batter.

2.     Divide into small ball size portions, depending on size of roti/parathas required.

3.     Heat griddle, while rolling one parathas, 
using dry flour for dusting.

4.     Roast on one side first, flip and brown other side.

5.     Now with the help of tongs, lift the roti and
 toast on both side over a direct flame 
everywhere for a few seconds until it puffs up.

or

6.     Use a kitchen brush to add minimum oil to parathas on both sides.
 Roast to golden brown, take off fire.

7.Serve hot

Phulkas.

Chappati/paratha Batter

• whole wheat flour – 2 cups(gehu atta)
• Salt – ½ tsp
• Water – as required

1. In a big bowl take the wheat flour and salt and mix well with fingers.
2. Add a little water at a time and mix to bind the dough loosely.
3. Now use both hands and knead the dough till soft, elastic, texture is obtained.
4. Cover with a moist muslin cloth and keep for 10 minutes at least before using.
5. If made many hours ahead

 or

6. If stored in refrigerator, take care to cover well or wrap in clingfilm to keep the texture same.
7. Now you can make chappaties or phulkas, paraths etc.
8. This dough will make about 15 thin phulkas.

AMANDE CRÈME BRÛLÉE

Don't be afraid! Its written in french i.e. Almond Creme Brulee or Almond burnt cream, which mean a baked custard dessert, topped with caramelized sugar crust. Actually brulee is made of egg yolk but I don't like egg in chilled form, so I tried this one in which they had used custard powder.

•  China grass - 10 gms
• Custard powder - 2 tbsp
• Milk - 6 cups
• Sugar - 6 tbsp or 100 gms
• Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
• Sugar - to caramelizing
• Almond - Few (finely chopped)

1. Soak the china grass in a cup of water for 5 - 10 min. Heat the pan, add the mixture and stir it continuesly till the grass dissolves completely. Keep aside
2. In the deep bowl, combine the custard powder in cold milk. mix it well and keep it aside.
3. In another pan, boil the remaining milk and sugar. When the milk starts to boil add the custard mix and the china grass mixture and stir it continually until it boil and cook well. 
4. Keep this mixture aside till it cools. 
5. Now add the almond and mix well. Divide it into different bowl and refrigerate it till it sets.
6. Now in a pan heat a teaspoon of sugar till it caramelize and the colour changes to light brown.
7. Now pour this over the set custard and sprinkle some almonds on top and serve it immediatly. 

NOTE: If you want to reduce the calories, you can use low fat milk.

Lehriya Mirch

This dish is inspired by Masterchief India.  

• Maida – 1cup
• Refined Oil – For frying
• Ajwain – 1 tsp
• Salt – 1/2tsp
• Ghee – 70 gm
• Onion – 1 large (minced)
• Ginger – ½” piece
• Green chilli – 1 nos. (finely chopped)
• Lamb mince – 250 gms
• Cashew nuts – 5-6pieces
• Green peas – 1/3cup (boiled)
• Salt – to taste
• Black Pepper powder – to taste
• Jodhpuri mirch or Jalapeno peppers – 4no.s (slit and deseeded)
• Egg  - 1 no.(beaten)

1. Knead a dough using maida, oil, salt, ajwain along with water into a stiff dough. Keep aside.
2. In a wok fry onions in ghee till brown, then add ginger and chopped green chillies. Cook further and season it.
3. Add minced meat and brown thoroughly, stirring all the time to prevent sticking. Cool when cooked. Break up lumps if any, then add roasted cashew bits, tender green boiled peas, salt and pepper.
4. Stuff the cooled kheema into deseeded Jodhpuri mirch.
5. Roll the dough and cut into long strips (3/4” wide) with a pizza cutter or knife. Systematically wrap the chillies sealing as you go along with beaten egg.
6. Heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry till crisp and golden brown, then drain on absorbent paper towels and serve with chutney.


Note: 
         1.If you want this dish for vegetarian people, you can use mashed potato instead of minced meat.   
         2.  To increase the value you can add more vegetables or panner also.
         3. Do not deep fry in high heat , do it medium or low heat.
         4.  For outer cover make thin strips.

Khoya paratha

• Unsweetened khoya - 1 cup
  
  
• Sugar - 4 tsp
• Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
• Wheat flour - 1 cup
• Water - ½cup (Approximately)
• Salt -  to taste
• Oil - to fry

1. In a bowl mix khoya, sugar and cardamom powder. Keep aside.
   
2. In another bowl add wheat flour and salt, mix well. Now add  water little by little and make a dough.
3. Take small ball size dough and make little flat and keep the khoya mixture in the center and close the dough and role it flat.
4. Heat the tava and put this paratha. Let it brown from one side then turn the other side.
5. Now apply oil on both the side, when cooked nicely, remove from the tava. Now ready to serve.

• TIPS:
• The dough should not be very hard.
• Khoya mixture should not be watery.

Badhusha

• Maida - 300gm
• Sugar - ½ kg
• Cardamom powder - ½tsp
  
• Vanaspathi - 100gm
• Bakking soda - a pinch
• Curd - 1 Tbsp
• Oil - deep fry

1. First we will make sugar syrup by adding sugar and water in 2:1 ratio and also add cardamom powder, it should be sticky.
2. Now in a big bowl add maida, vanaspahti, bakking soda and curd, mix all together with hand.
3. Now add water as little as possible and make a dough.
4. In a wok add oil to heat. Take a small portion of dough and make a ball and give a dispersion in the center.
5. Now deep fry it batch by batch till light brown and soak in the sugar syrup for 45- 1 hr and take it out.

Note:

1. To conform that your dough is ready, take a portion and role it, it should role with out crack.
2. Don't keep the dough for long time, other wise it will ferment.
3. Don't make the ball and keep, do it at the time of  frying.
4. You can also decorate it with colored desicated coconut by mixing the coconut with different food colors.

NLCI Bhunna Channa

You can have this with chappati, naan, puri, rumali roti, pulav etc.

• Kabuli Channa - 2 cup (Boiled)
• Coriander seeds - 2tbsp
• Cloves - 3 no.
• Bay leaves - 2 no.
• Cardamom - 3 no.
• Cashewnuts - 6-7 no.
• Sesame - 2 tsp
• Cinnamon - 2 pieces
• Black pepper - 1 tsp
• Aniseed - 1tsp
• Coconut powder - 2 tsp
• Onion - 4 no.
• Mint leaves - ½ cup
• Coriander leaves - ½cup
• Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsp
• Tomato - 2 no. (Chopped)
• Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
• Termaric powder - ½ tsp
• Garam masala - ½ tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - As required

1. In a pan dry roast Coriander seeds, clove, bay leaves, cardamom, cashew nuts, sesame, cinnamon, black pepper and  aniseeds.
2. Saute'e  1 onion julians  in 1tsp oil.
3. Now make a paste of dry roast items, fried onion, mint leaves and Coriander leaves.
4. In another wok add oil, chopped onion soute it nicely and add ginger-garlic paste.
5. After 2-3 mins. add tomato saute'e it till oil comes out.
6. Now add red chilly powder, termaric powder, garam masala powder and boiled channa, fry for some time then add the grind paste. Let it boil till the raw smell goes and when the oil comes out it is ready to serve.

Note: If you want it more spicy you can increase the quantity of red chilly powder.

Curd Rice

• Rice - 1cup
• Water - 3 cup
• Milk - 2 cup
• Curd - 1/2 cup
• Green chilly - 2 (Chopped)
• Ginger - 1 small piece (Chopped nicely)
• Dry chilly - 2
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Butter - 2 tsp
• Mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - To taste
• Coriander leaves - As required
• Curry leaves - As required

1. In the cooker put water, rice and salt. Let 3 whistle come and simmer the flame for another 5 min.
2. In the above cooked rice add milk, butter, curd, green chilly and ginger.
3. Heat the oil in the wok and add mustard seeds, let it spluter then add dry chilly,curry leaves and coriander leaves.
4. Now add this above mixture to the rice mixture.
5. It is ready to serve now.

NOTE: If you want to make it rich you can add cashewnuts, rasins in 3rd step.

Egg Potato masala

It is non vegetarian dish.  We can serve this as a side dish with roti, naan, bhatura, dosa, rice varities, rasam etc

• Egg - 4
• Potato - 4
• Shallot or Small Onion - 5-6
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 5-6
• Green chilly - 4
• Mustard seeds - ½ tsp
• Curry leaves - as required
• Red chilly powder - 2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - as required

1. Boil the egg  and keep it separately. Cut this in to 8 pieces
2. Boil the potato till 3/4th done and keep aside. Cut this in to 8 pieces
3. Take onion, pepper powder, garlic and chilly , now pond this and keep separately.
4. Heat a wok and add oil. Now add mustard and curry leaves.
5. When it starts to splutter add the pond masala, salt and chilly powder and cook it nicely till raw smell goes.
6. Now add potato and mix  with little water, so that the potato cooks well.
7. Now add the egg and mix once more and now it is ready to serve hot.