Chole Nawabi

This receipe is adapted from an old magazine and been perfected and fine tuned...Just follow the measures and you'll breeze through.. You'll have the best and yummiest chole, cooked nice and soft with the right amount of masalas coated.. Try this and you will never go wrong with the pressure cooked Chole Nawabi..

Ingredients :

1/4 kg of Kabuli Channa (pre-soaked in water for 6-7 hours)

Onions (big) - 2 (finely chopped)

Tomatoes (big) - 3 (chopped)

2 tbsp corainder leaves, 6-7 mint leaves

1 tbsp of oil, 1 tbsp ghee

1.5 cup of water, salt to taste

1 tsp of cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp - red chilli powder

lemon juice - 1 tsp

Masala : (to be pounded coarsely)

Ginger piece - 2 " piece

Garlic - 3

Green chilli - 1

3 bay leaves

3 cloves

1 tsp garam masala

Method :

1. Heat the pressure cooker pan. Add the oil and ghee.

2. Add the cumin seeds, fry till they splutter and then add the coarsely pounded masala.

2. Add the diced onions, fry till light brown. Add the tomatoes and saute for a minute.

3. Add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder.

4. Add the kabuli channa, water and close the pressure cooker.

5. Put the pressure cooker weight on and leave to cook till about 15 whistles. Reduce the flame after 6-7 whistles.

6. After it is done, check whether the coating is thick enough.. if its a little watery, then pressure cook for some more time (Its worth the effort, you see!)

7. Once its done, transfer the chole nawabi in to a serving bowl, garnish with coriander and mint leaves, onion rings and lemon pieces. (alternatively add lemon juice)..

Your finger licking chole nawabi is ready to be served with puris or bhatura!

Strawberry-Muesli Power Drink

No No, its not Complan or Boost! My version of power drink! Made out of Muesli - the breakfast cereal with oats and dry fruits and nuts, Strawberry preserve, chilled milk and honey, for extra
sweetness..


Ingredients :

Muesli
Strawberry Preserve - 2 table spoon
(I used Karen Anand's preserves (available at Nuts and Spices).. yummy!)
Chilled milk
Honey

Method: In a blender just run through all these ingredients just for 2-3 rounds.

Your breakfast is ready!

Crispy Baby Corn Fritters

Yummy baby corn crispies, goes well with fried rice! This was last weekend's creative output!

I was too lazy to make the original sweet chilli dip to go with the fritters. So I just took out the Schezuan ready made stir fry, sauteed in a hot oil (about 1 tsp of oil) for less than a minute, and mixed 2 tsp of sweet chilli sauce and my lip smacking dip was ready!

For the coating batter for baby corn, instead of maida, you could also try out with corn flour.. but make sure its served hot!


Baby Corn - 1 cup (sliced lengthwise)
1 tablespoon maida
Ajinomoto - A Pinch
1 tablespoons, garlic finely chopped
1 tsp, fresh red chillies, finely chopped
Green chilli paste - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil
Lemoneez - 1 tsp

Method :

1. Add little water to maida and add all the rest of the ingredients.
2. The coating should not be too thick (Nor too thin)
3. In a pan, heat the oil, fry the baby corn fritters.
4. Serve hot immediately with a sweet chilli dip (Schezuan Sauce Stir Fry + Sweet chilli sauce)

Nellikkai Aracha Kalaki

This recipe is posted on demand, for my brother Sriram...

Nellikai used is in this recipe are the larger vareity (Amla / goose berry). This is like a spicy raita or Mor Kuzhambu and a traditional item in Kerala cuisine. "Aracha" means "to grind" and " Kalaki" is to mix. The combination of coconut, green chillies and nellikai alongwith curd imparts special taste to this recipe.

Ingredients :

Nellikkai - 5 /6 ( deseeded and cut in to pieces)
Dessicated cocount - 2 tbsp
Green chillies - 4-5
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Salt
Thick Curd - 1 cup

For seasoning : Oil, Mustard Seeds & Curry Leaves

Method :

1. In a blender, add nellikai, green chillies, asafoetida and grind it coarsely.
2. Now toss in the coconut and just blend it for 2 seconds.
3. Take this mixture out and mix well with the curds alongwith salt.
4. Do the seasoning.
5. The trick of this recipe is to keep the aracha kalakki coarse and the curd should not be too sour. If need be, you can add a small pinch of sugar for balancing out.

Godhumai Dosai

The unbeatable dosa in yet another form - The thumb rule is to have the correction proportion of Godumai maavu (wheat flour) and arisi maavu (rice flour) so that we have these golden crispies !

Ingredients :

(wheat flour : rice flour = 1 : 1.25)

Wheat flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1.25 cups
Onions (finely chopped) - 1
Jeera - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 3 and small piece of ginger , both finely chopped
Sour buttermilk / water - 2 cups
Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry leaves - a few springs
Salt to taste


Method :

1. Mix all the above mentioned ingredients. Add water & butter milk to the flour. The batter should be thinner than the usual dosa maavu.

2. Heat the tawa or the dosai kal and pour the batter from outside to inside. Do not spread it like the usual dosa. Because of thin consistency, the batter would flow and spread while tilting the kal or swirling the pan.

3. Mastering the trick is to have the batter of the right consistency and heating the tawa at the right temperature. You would see tiny holes in the batter. (For first timers, non-stick pan would indeed be a blessing. But the dosa done on the kall is ultimate..)

4. Add oil on the edge of the dosa batter. Cook this on medium heat, once the dosa becomes golden and cripsy, flip it over to the other side.

5. Godumai Maavu dosai goes will with sambar, idli molagai podi or thakkali thokku.