Rasgulla

I love rasgullas. And the recipe is not as hard as we usually think. As i have already said, we can get wonderful tasting rasgullas in Kolkata. Whenever i go home on vacation, i used to take canned rasgullas for my family.
INGREDIENTS

Whole milk 4 cups
Sugar 1 1/2 cup
Water 3 cups
Lemon juice 2 tbsp
Cardomom Powder 1/4 tbsp

PREPARATION





1. Bring milk to boil by stirring occasionally, make sure not to burn the milk. Mix lemon juice with 4 tbsp of water and add it gradually to the boiling milk. Then the milk solid starts seperating from the water. Leave it for a minute or two. Then turn off the heat and drain using a cheesecloth or a thin cotton cloth. The milk solid left is called paneer. Run some cold water on the panner to wash away the lemon flavor. Now squeeze off as much water as you can. Just to check if your paneer is ready, take a small piece on your palm and rub it with you thumb for 3 to 4 times then you should be able to make a soft ball out of it.


2. Knead the paneer for few minutes and make it into small balls because they increase in volume when cooked. So, make sure the balls are small in size.


3. Take water and sugar in a pressure cooker and bring it to boil, then add the paneer balls. Make sure there is enough space for the paneer balls to expand. Now close the lid without the whistle and cook for 8 mins and switch off the heat. Open the lid and add cardomom powder. Serve chilled.

Sambar

Kolkata is a wonderful place and that is where i tried to cook for the first time. One can taste the most wonderful sweets there, especially rasgullas. You can get the fresh, warm rasgullas there. There was a sweet shop called VIP Sweets in front of the building where we used to live in Kolkata. They used to serve rasgullas in clay pots. Not only rasgullas even tea or coffee is served in them. You see, thats a different experience for people from other parts of the country. I was fascinated.

I am very fortunate to have a great group of friends there. Except one girl, no one knows cooking. So, we are all the assistants to the head chef Subbu...:) Later on i tried to cook semya upma, rava upma etc...in the process of learning how to cook, i found my own recipe for sambar and it was my first super hit...:) Most of my Kolkata friends identifies me with sambar. Here is my recipe


INGREDIENTS

Toor dal 1 cup
Onion 1 (Chopped lengthwise)
Green Chillie 4 (Chopped lengthwise)
Tomatoes 2 (Chopped)
Tamarind - small lemon sized (soaked)
Carrots (sliced)
Raddish(sliced) You can use any vegetable u like
Turmeric
Oil 2 tbsp(optional)
Mustard seeds 1/4 tbsp
Cumin Seeds 1/4 tbsp
Red Chillies 2
Curry leaves few
Sambar Powder 2 tbsp ( I use MTR sambar powder)


PREPARATION

1. Pressure cook toor dal, tomatoes and turmeric with 2 cups of water till the dal is well cooked. Mash the whole mixture.

2. In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil and do the seasoning, add green chilli and onions. Microwave the vegetable pieces until they are cooked and add them to the cooked onions.

3. Add cooked dal, tamarind extract, sambar powder and enough water to the pan. Add salt and bring it to a boil. Garnish with cilantro.

My hubby loves to have it with idli...so its our breakfast today.

Cauliflower and Potato Curry (Alu Gobi Curry)

I am a kind person who cooks regular food which we are used to since our childhood. But its my hubby who gives me all kind of ideas to cook different vegetables together. Even my mom gives me many ideas to cook . She tells me to add grated carrot , raddish, spinach or any grated vegetable to chapathi flour to make it even healthier.
INGREDIENTS

Califlower 1 (cut into florets)
Potatoes 3 (peeled and cut into cubes)
Samll Onion 1
Tomato 1
Green Chillies 3
Ginger Garlic paste 1 tbsp
Corriander powder 1/2 tbsp
Cumin Powder 1/2 tbsp
Red Chili powder 3/4 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tbsp
Cumin Seeds 1/4 tbsp
Red Chilli 2
Curry leaves few
Oil 2 tbsp

PREPARATION

1. Heat oil in a pan, do the seasoning. Add chopped onions. When they turn light brown, add ginger garlic paste and turmeric. Fry till the raw smell of ginger garlic goes away.

2. Now add potato pieces. Fry for 2 mins and then add califlower florets, a bit of water and salt and cook on low flame till the florets are almost done. Now add chopped tomatoes, Corriander powder, Cumin Powder and Red Chili powder. Cook for 5 more minutes and garnish with cilantro.

Bitter Gourd Fry ( Kakarakaya fry)

I am a picky eater. I used to not touch bitter gourd at all. But after marriage you cant cook only according to your tastes, so that is why i started making bitter gourd fry. Slowly i realized that it tastes gud with dal rice or sambar. Now a days I found myself adding bitter gourds to my shopping cart...:)

INGREDIENTS

Bitter Gourd 1 lb
Onion 1/2 (chopped lengthwise)
Red chilli powder 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric 1/4 tbsp
Salt

SEASONING INGREDIENTS


Mustard seeds 1/2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds 1/2 tbsp.
Curry leaves
Chana dal 1/2 tbsp
Red Chilli 1



PREPARATION

1. Cut bitter gourds into thin rounds.

2. In a pan heat oil and do the seasoning. Then add bitter gourd pieces and turmeric and salt. Keep it on medium low flame by closing the lid. After 5 mins remove the lid and stir occasionally.

3. When the bitter gourds are half done add chopped onions and fry till they are done.

4. Add red chilli powder and fry for 2 more mins. Serve with rice.

Chana Masala (Chole)

I am not much fond of peas or chick peas but i use them in cooking because of kanth. He loves both of them. Most of the times he wants to cook peas and alu curry by himself according to his taste. In this way i am a bit lucky to just have a meal ready to eat..:) Last weekend I made chana masala for my cousin Shilpi, as she is a vegan. Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

Chana/ Chick Peas 1 cup (Soaed over night)
Cinnamon stick 1 inch
Cloves 3
Bay leaves 2
Cardomom 1
Cumin seeds 1/2 tbsp
Oil 3 tbsp
Big Onion 1
Tomato 1
Ginger Garlic paste 1 tbsp
Red Chilli powder 1 tbsp
Turmeric 1/4 tbsp
Corriander powder 1 tbsp
Cumin Powder 1 tbsp
Half a lime (Optional)
Cilantro
Salt



PREPARATION

1. Pressure cook chana with some salt till they are soft. Dont over cook them.

2. Take oil in a pan, add cinnamon stick, cloves,cardomom,bay leaves, cumin seeds and then onions. Fry till they are slightly brown. Add tomatoes, when they are soft add ginger garlic paste. Then add turmeric, corriander powder, cumin Powder and red chilli powder. Mix well and cook for 2 mins. Add some water then add cooked chana by keeping 3 tbsp aside. Grind these 3 tbsp of chana and add it to the mixture for thick gravy. Add salt according to your taste.

3. Add lime juice for sourness. Garnish with Cilantro.

Birthday Meal

My cousin Shilpi and her hubby visited us for the weekend. Luckily Kanth's birthday was on the same weekend, that is yesterday. Shilpi and me prepared lunch and invited a couple of their friends. We made french cake and kanth had a cake cutting at 12 Am...it was fun with my cousin around. For lunch we made
Poori
Biriyani
Mutton curry
Chana masala
Raitha
Rasagulla
and the most colourful salad.
Shilpi made this salad all by herself and it looked healthy and attractive. And you know, People did'nt want to disturb the good looking salad by taking out the veggie pieces...lol. Anyway, Kanth had a great birthday.




I will post the recipes soon.

Pani Poori (Golgappa)

Pani Poori is one of the popular Indian street snack. Oh god, one can feel wonderful eating these. When i was in Hyderabad, staying away from home in a hostel, used to crave for good tasty food. Me and my friends used to go visit pani poori stalls and feel like heaven...:) After comming to Usa within the first few months i started missing chat foods. One fine day i decided to make pani poori. With the help of dear hubby i made nice crispy pooris, stuffing and pani. It came out awesome and we had a feast. I never bother about the work of making such small pooris in a lot, bacause once we sit down to eat, we can forget about the work done by seeing people enjoying it.

INGREDIENTS

For Poori
Sooji(Semolina) 1 cup
Maida(All Purpose Flour) 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Warm Water.
oil for frying

For Stuffing
Chana Dal 1/2 cup
Potatoes 3 (boiled)


For Pani
Tamarind Extract 1 cup
Corriander Powder 1 tbsp
Cumin Powder 1 tbsp
Green Chilli 4
Cilantro 1/2 cup
Mint leaves 1/4 cup
Ginger small piece
Red Chilli powder 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Blac salt 1 1/2 tbsp

PREPARATION

Poori




Mix sooji, maida, 2 tbsp of oil and salt with warm water. Keep aside for 20 mins. Then knead the dough well and cover it in a wet cloth. Make very small balls and roll them into small pooris(small enough to be eaten whole). Fry them. Pooris have to puff up to be eaten with stuffing and pani.

Stuffing


Boil chana and potatoes together with some salt. Mash them well. You can also have some chopped onions along with the stuffing.

Pani

Grind cilantro , mint, green chilli and ginger together. Add it to the water. Add tamarind extract, red chilli powder, corriander powder,cumin powder and salt. Mix well. Adjust the ingredients according to your taste.

And ofcourse i dont have to tell you how to eat it...:)