Malai Kofta with Paneer

Paneer: Bring one gallon of Milk in a big, wide pot. Add limejuice from 2 Limes to the boiling milk and wait for it to curdle, while stirring continuously. When paneer separates from the whey, pour the entire contents into a muslin cloth lined pot. Twist and squeeze the cloth to strain the paneer completely whey-free. Divide the paneer into two parts - ¾ (for koftas) and ¼ (for malai sauce).

Veggies: Wash and cut each of 5 Russet or Red Potato into two and pressure cook them till tender. Peel the skin and mash them. Peel and grate 2 big Carrots and keep aside. Cover cook 5 Roma Tomatoes as whole in a saucepan filled with water till the skin breaks. Remove from heat and puree it once cooled. Take it into a bowl. Peel the skin and cut 2 Red Onions to chunks. Heat a tbsp of Oil in an iron skillet. Add onion, and sauté to brown on high heat, stirring in-between. Puree onions once cooled and remove into a bowl.

Koftas: In food processor, add ¾ th of the Paneer made, mashed potatoes, grated carrot, Salt, ½ tsp of Red Chilli Powder, ½ cup of Cashews and ¼ cup of Golden Raisins, pulsing to combine the ingredients well. Remove the mix to a bowl and make small golf ball-sized balls. Roll these balls in Wheat Flour or All-purpose Flour,lightly coating the surface. Heat 3 cups of Oil in a skillet for deep-frying. Deep-fry the balls till golden brown and remove from oil and keep aside.

Malai Sauce: Grind ¼ cup of Cashews to a smooth paste. Add ¼ cup of Grated Coconut, ¼ cup of grated Paneer, minced 2-inch Ginger, 3 Garlic Cloves, ¼ cup of Cilantro, ¼ cup of Golden Raisins, ½ tsp of Black Peppercorn, ½ tsp of Cumin, ½ tsp of Fennel, a tbsp of Coriander Seeds, 1" Cinnamon, 6 Cloves and grind to a very fine consistency, adding water if required. Heat a tbsp of Butter in a wide pan; add roasted onion paste and the masala paste to it and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree, ½ tsp of Turmeric Powder, a cup of Milk or Cream and 2 cups of Water (if needed). Combine well and adjust Salt and Chilli Powder. Cover and simmer the sauce on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring in-between. When the sauce starts to thicken, remove from heat.

Serve: Store the sauce and koftas separately in two containers till serving. Add and dunk the balls in the gravy right before serving the dish. Serve with chapati, paratha, naan or rice.

Butter Corn

Remove the kernels from 2 fresh Corns using the knife by running it in the line. Add Salt to taste and required Water to it and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles until the corn becomes slightly soft, alternatively you can cook it in microwave for 6-7 minutes. Once the pressure subsides, drain the excess water and when it is still hot, add a tbsp of Butter to it and mix well. Add freshly ground ¼ tsp of Pepper Powder,½ tsp of Chaat Masala, Salt as required and a juice of a Lemon; mix well. Serve hot.

Brown Sugar & Pecan Chewies

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8-inch square pan with oil / butter. 
2. Melt 1/4 cup of Butter in a bowl and add a cup of lightly packed Brown Sugar and stir until smooth. Stir in an Egg. Stir in 3/4 cup of All Purpose Flour, a tsp of Baking Powder to the brown sugar mixture. Stir in a tsp of Vanilla Extract and 1/4 cup of Chopped Pecans. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Rava Pongal with Pongal Gojju

Dry roast a cup of Sooji until light brown and keep aside. Dry roast ¼ cup of Moong Dal in the same pan until golden brown and add 1 cup of Water along with a pinch of Turmeric Powder, a drop of Ghee and bring to boil. Lower the heat and cook until cooked.  Strain the dal and reserve the liquid.

Heat a tbsp of Oil in a pan, sauté ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds, a tsp of Cumin Seeds, ½ tsp of crushed Peppercorns, ½ “ of minced Ginger, 3 slit Green Chillies, a pinch of Asafoetida and few chopped Curry Leaves.  Measure the reserved water and add more water if necessary to make it 2½ cups of Water. Add to the pan and let it come to a boil. Add the cooked moong dal, Salt to taste and boil further for a minute. Now add the roasted rava to it slowly mixing avoid the formation of lumps.

Optional - In a small pan, heat a tsp of Ghee and saute few broken Cashew nuts, a tbsp of Grated Coconut and fry until golden in color. Add it to the Pongal and garnish with few Coriander Leaves and a tbsp of grated Coconut and serve hot with gojju or coconut chutney or sambar.

Pongal Gojju -                                                                 

Dry roast a tsp of Cumin Seeds and grind along with 2 tbsp of Roasted Gram Dal, a tbsp of Grated Coconut, finely chopped 2-3 Green Chillies and Salt to a coarse powder. Soak an amla sized Tamarind in water and squeeze the pulp and keep it aside.

Heat a tsp of Oil in a small pan; crackle ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds, 2 tsp of Chana Dal and a tsp of Urad Dal. Add few Curry Leaves, a pinch of Asafoetida and fry for ½ minute. Add the tamarind pulp with a cup Water and let it come to a boil. Add the ground powder, mix well, add ½ tsp of grated Jaggery, Salt to taste, a pinch of Turmeric Powder and boil for a couple of minutes until it is in gravy consistency. Serve it with pongal/rava pongal/oats pongal.

Ragi Muddhe

Boil 4 cups of Water, ½ cup of Rice and a pinch of Salt in a saucepan and covercook until rice is soft.  Simmer, add a cup of Ragi Flour over the rice mixture and cover for few minutes.  Remove the cover and using a wooden masher, stir the ragi-rice mixure thoroughly until you see no lumps adding a tbsp of Butter/Ghee. Simmer on low and cover cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat, let it cool and make muddhe balls. 

Serve hot with spicy curry or sambhar.

Mixed Dal Masala Vada

Soak ½ cup of Chana dal, ½ cup of Toor dal, ½ cup of Moong dal, ½ cup of Urad dal in water in a bowl for 3-4 hrs. Drain the excess water and grind the dals to a coarse paste in whipper mode. Do not grind to a smooth paste and don’t add water. Add finely chopped 5-6 Green Chillies, a tsp of minced Ginger, finely chopped Onion, ¼ cup of finely chopped Coriander Leaves, a tsp of Curry Leaves, 2 tbsp of finely chopped Mint Leaves and mix well with the ground dal mixture.

Heat a cup of Oil in a pan for deep frying the vadas. Add a pinch of Baking Soda to the mixture and mix well. Wet your hands and take a small lemon size mixture and flatten it with hands and deep fry until golden brown in color over medium heat. Serve them hot with chutney/tomato sauce.

Notes: If your batter is very wet add a tbsp of rice flour to it and mix well and make vadas.

Butterscotch Blondies

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

Beat 3/4 cups of Butter, 3/4 cups of Brown Sugar, 1/2 cup of Granulated Sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add 2 Eggs; beat well. Stir together 2 cups of Flour, a tsp of Baking Soda, 1/2 tsp of Salt to the butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in 1 3/4 cups of Butterscotch chips and a cup of Walnuts, if desired. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until top is golden brown and center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes about 24 bars.

Alasandula Sundal (Alasandula Guggillu) 2

Soak a cup of Alasandulu/ Black eyed-peas/Lobia overnight in water. Pressure cook them with a pinch of Salt until 3-4 whistles (it should hold its shape and should not become mushy). Drain the cooked lobia and set aside.

Heat a tsp of Oil in a pan, crackle ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds, a tbsp of Chana Dal, a tsp of Urad Dal until they turn golden brown. Add 2-3 broken Red Chillies, few Curry Leaves, a pinch of Asafoetida and saute for another minute. Add the cooked and drained lobia and stir fry slowly for few minutes. Add Salt as needed, 2-3 tbsp of Grated Coconut and mix well.  Remove from heat and add a tsp of Lemon Juice and mix well. Serve hot/warm/cold.

Kheema Matar Curry

Heat a tbsp of Oil in a pressure cooker, add a Cardamom, an inch of Cinnamon Stick, 3 Cloves and a Bay Leaf and saute. Add 3 slit Green Chilies, 2 finely chopped Onions and saute till the onions turn transparent, approx 5 minutes. Add ½ tsp of Ginger Garlic Paste and saute for 3 minutes. Add ½ Kg of washed, drained Minced Meat, a pinch of Turmeric Powder and cook on high for 4-5 minutes, stirring in between. Reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes.

Add a tsp of Red Chili Powder, ½ tbsp of Coriander Powder, ¼ tsp of Cumin Powder, Salt and mix well. Add 2 chopped Tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Add a 1½ cups of water and ¼ cup of Yogurt and pressure cook up to 3 whistles or until the meat is almost cooked. Remove from heat and allow the pressure to come down. Open lid and add ½ cup of Green Peas, cooking with lid on low heat for 10 minutes. Add a tsp of Garam Masala Powder and mix. Remove from heat and garnish with fresh Coriander Leaves and serve hot with rotis, pulao or white steamed rice.

Channa Dal Rice

Soak a cup of Basmati Rice for 10 minutes and ½ cup of Chana Dal for 30 minutes.

In a pressure cooker, heat a tbsp of Oil and crackle ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds. Add a tbsp of Chana Dal, 2 tsp of Urad Dal and saute till golden brown. Add a sprig of Curry Leaves, 4-5 slit Green Chillies, a sliced medium Onion, a pinch of Turmeric Powder and 4-5 big Garlic Pods and saute till onion are translucent.  Add the soaked and drained chana dal and fry for 2 minutes. Add 1¾ cups of Water and let it come to a boil. Add the soaked and drained rice, Salt  to taste, juice of ½ Lemon, stir well and pressure cook for a whistle and simmer 6-8 minutes or if using a regular pan, cover cook till the water is evaporated. Serve hot with raitha, papad and a gravy curry.

Cinnamon Brown Chewy Cookies

In a medium size bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup of Melted Butter,  1 1/4 cups of dark Brown Sugar until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in an Egg and 2 tsp of Vanilla Extract. Add 2 cups of All-purpose Flour, a tsp of Baking Soda, 1 1/2 tsp of Cornstarch, a tsp of Ground Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of Salt and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft, yet thick. Cover the dough and chill for 2 hours. 

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

Pour 1/3 cup of granulated Sugar into a bowl. Take 2 Tbsp of dough and roll into a ball, then roll into the sugar. Bake for precisely 8-9 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently press the top of the cookie down with the back of a utensil or even use your fingers. You're trying to obtain a crinkly top. Place back into the oven for 1-2 more minutes. Cookies will be puffy and still appear very soft in the middle. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for ten minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Oats Khara Pongal & Huli Gojju

 

Heat 2 tsp of Oil in a pressure cooker, add and saute 6-8 broken Cashewnuts until light golden in color. Remove them using a slotted spoon and keep aside.

In the remaining oil, splutter ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds, a pinch of Turmeric Powder, a tsp of Cumin Seeds, 3-4 slit Green Chillies, ½ " of Ginger, few Curry Leaves and saute. Add ¾ cup of Yellow Moong Dal and saute until golden brown. Add 4 cups of Water and pressure cook for 4 whistles.

Once pressure dissipates, add Salt, 8 crushed Peppercorns and 1¼ cup of quick cooking Oats and stir well. Cover cook on low heat for 8-10 minutes mixing well. Remove from heat when you feel the consistency is thickening. Garnish with fried cashew nuts and serve  hot with Gojju.

Huli Gojju:

Heat a tsp of Oil in a saucepan, sauté ½ tsp of Mustard seeds, few Curry Leaves and a chopped Garlic for a minute. Add a finely sliced medium Onion and sauté till they turn slightly brownish. Add 2 tbsp of Tamarind paste, 2 cups of Water, ½ tsp of Chili Powder, ½ tsp of Sambar Powder, 2 tbsp of grated Coconut, few chopped Coriander leaves and Salt, cooking for 7-8 minutes with a semi-liquid consistency.