Aval Payasam.. (Jaggery And Poha Kheer)

Aval Payasam. Last week I saw many blogger's cooking this sweet for the Ganesh Chaturthi, even I thought why not try this Aval Payasam for the Ganesh festival.. I had cooked this on Ganesh festival but din't get the time to post it on the same day... I usually cook this payasam using sugar or just add poha and sugar in warm milk and eat. Actually for me eating sweet is bite difficult but this sweet was so tasty with jaggery I really enjoyed eating it :)

Ingredient's.

1cup poha (beaten rice)

1/2cup jaggery

3tsp ghee

2cup milk

1cup water

A pinch of cardamom powder

1/4cup mix dry fruits.

Cooking Method.

Heat ghee in a pan and add dry fruits, fry till golden brown. Keep aside. Fry poha in the remaining ghee by keep stirring regularly for 2-3 minutes. Once they turn light brown turn off the flame. In a other vessel fill 1 cup of water along with jaggery, cook on low flame for few minutes.

Strain the jaggery syrup to remove any dirt or waste particles. In the same syrup add roasted poha and put it on low flame. Add milk into it and keep stirring in between to avoid getting it burnt from the bottom.

After 8 to 10 minutes add cardamom powder, fried dry fruits and mix well. Turn off the heat when you get right consistency.

Serve warm or cold.

Kasuri Meethi Chicken Curry..(Dired Fenugreek Leaves Chicken Curry. Pressure Cooker Version)

Kasuri Meethi Chicken Curry!!! I have taken this picture almost a year back and never post it.. When ever I plan to post this but some how I use to end up posting some other recipe. As I'm fully prepared to clear all my draft, so this was the first recipe to come up on my blog.. 

Kasuri Meethi has lots of medicinal value and I'm not very good at explaining but I know it is very good for health and I always make a point to add few leaves in my veg or non-veg dishes.. I really love the taste of kasuri meethi. This chicken curry is often asked to cook in my family and I'm sure once you people get the taste of it you can't stop yourself cooking this atleast twice a month..

Ingredient's.

1/2kg chicken (cut into medium size pieces)

2 medium onion, 1 large tomato (finely chopped)

2tsp ginger garlic paste

1tsp red chili powder, 1/2tsp turmeric, 1tsp coriander powder

2tsp chicken masala

2tsp kasuri Meethi (dried fenugreek leaves)

1/2tsp cumin seeds

2 bay leaves

3tbsp Oil

Salt to taste.

Ingredient's To Grind.

3 green chilli

1 black cardamom, 2 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick

1 green cardamom, 1 star anise

Handful of chopped coriander leaves.

Cooking Method.

In a mixer jar, add all the grinding ingredients and make a smooth paste by adding little water and set it aside.

In a pressure cooker, add oil, when oil is hot, add cumin and bay leaves, when they crackle. Add onion and fry to golden brown. Add the grounded paste along with red chili powder, turmeric, coriander powder, chicken masala and ginger garlic paste. and fry till the raw smell goes.. Add the tomato and fry till the oil start separating.(keep smashing the tomato in between)

Then add chicken, kasuri meethi, salt and 1 to 2cup of water and close the pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistle on a medium low heat.. Allow the pressure to escape before opening the cooker.

Garnish with some more fresh coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Rice or Roti..

Kathal Kofta.. (Jack-Fruit Dumplings In a Tangy Yoghurt Curry)

Kathal Kofta.. I had heard of this curry before but never eaten in my life before marriage and blogging.. When I had gone to visit my In-Laws place, there I had this curry and I was not knowing till they told me, that curry was made out of jack-fruit. I thought that is mutton kheem, because it was not at all looking like jack- fruit and it was tasting like mutton only. When I asked my elder co-sis then she told me that curry was not mutton kofta curry it was jack-fruit kofta curry. I was shocked and I had no words to say, then I told my MIL to bring again jack-fruit tomorrow so that even I can learn to make this curry.

From then I have cooked this curry in many other version and my H loves it... Actually there in my In-Law's house they only cook one type of green curry, some how I don't like that curry much so only I keep trying other recipes too... This recipe is the best so far, it has got a tangy taste of yoghurt and lovely reddish color...

Ingredient's For Kofta.

250 grams jack-fruit (peeled and chopped in chunks)

A pinch asafoetida

1/2tsp ginger garlic paste

1/2tsp garam masala powder

3tbsp besan (ground bengal gram)

1/4tsp red chili powder

1/4tsp salt

Oil for frying.

Ingredinet's For Gravy.

2 medium onions (grated)

1 medium tomato (grated or finely chopped)

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1/2 cup beaten yoghurt

1/2 tsp red chili powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1½ - 2 tbsp oil

1 pinch asafoetida 

1/2tsp cumin seeds

Salt to taste

2 cups water

2 tsp fresh chopped coriander (for garnish).

Cooking Method For Koftas:

Boil the jack-fruit with a asafoetida till it is tender. ( pressure cooked them till one whistle escaped)

Smack them by using fork or hands. Add the besan along with the rest of the kofta ingredients to the jack-fruit, gently mix everything together. Make balls and keep them aside on a greased plate.

Heat oil and fry kofta balls in batches on a medium low heat till golden brown. Remove on a kitchen towel and keep aside.

Cooking Method For Gravy:

Heat the oil and add asafoetida and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the onions and on medium heat fry till they turn goldenish brown.

Add 2-3 tbsp of water and add the ginger garlic paste. Fry till the masala becomes aromatic and brownish again.

Add the tomato and rest of the gravy ingredients. Fry them on low heat till the oil separates.

Add water and let the masala come to a boil. Add koftas and cook further for 3-5 minutes on medium low heat. Then add beaten yoghurt and swtich off the flame.

Garnish with chopped fresh coriander and Serve hot with chapatti or rice.

Lemon Zest And Vanilla Muffins..

Lemon Zest And Vanilla Muffins...I baked this muffins on Monday just to get my hands on oven, because I have been always using OTG not oven and I was very scared to try also it took me a long time to start baking here... I have baked this muffins many times but I have not got the result as this muffins gave me, evenly raise and perfect colour. Now I know why people prefer Oven then OTG. I have made myself very clear once I go back to India (i don't know when will that happen) I'm going to buy a oven first... I started enjoying my baking again and very happy with results...

Yeilds: 8 to 9 medium Muffins

Preparation time: 10minutes

Baking time: 20 minutes.

Ingredient's.

1/2+1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup butter

1/3cup sugar 

1tsp vanilla essence

1tsp baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1tsp lemon zest

1egg.

Baking Method.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake tin with liners and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, lemon zest and baking powder, set aside. 

In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the eggs, vanilla and cream together until you get a smooth mixture.

Add the dry ingredients and with the speed on low mix together and slowly add the milk and just mix everything to combine. DO NOT OVERMIX! Make sure you give everything a good stir with a spatula from the bottom to incorporate any bit that wasn't mixed.

Scoop the batter into your lined cupcake tin, make sure it's only filled ¾ of the way up because they will rise. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool for sometime.

Lemon Curd Rice..

Lemon Curd Rice... Usually I cook curd rice for my H lunch box and keep little for me to for my lunch.. When I cooked this time, I did not keep it for me thinking that will cook something else later.. But I ended up cooking curd rice again, with a touch of lemon. It was just a experiment and I never thought this will taste very good. I had keep little lemon curd rice for my H too and after eating he said next time you make this curd rice only, it taste much like a lemon rice with curd... If you like adding more lemon and less curd go head and cook. I'm sure it will taste awesome..

Ingredient's

1cup cooked rice

1 1/2cup curd

1 onion, 2 green chilli (finely chopped)

1tbsp lemon juice

2tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste.

For tempering

1/2tsp mustard seeds

2 red dry chilli

8 to 10 curry leaves

1/4tsp channa dal

1/4tsp urad dal

2tsp oil.

Cooking Method

In a large mixing bowl, add all the above ingredients (except tempering ingredients) and mix them nicely and set it aside.

In a tempering pan, add oil, when the oil is hot, add channa dal and urad dal, when they start turning golden, add mustard, red chilli and curry leaves, fry for 2 to 3sec. Then mix it with curd rice mixture nicely...

Serve with Pickle and Papad...