Veg Biriyani in Minutes

This is a dish that I prepare pretty often for lunch. I generally take this to office on weekdays. It is very easy to prepare and the best part is it takes pretty less time. So let me not waste too much time and directly come to the recipe. You can add as many vegetables as you want and need not stick to the veggies mentioned here.

Ingredients:
- Rice (1 cup preferably Basmati)
- Potato (1 diced into cubes)
- Beet (1 diced into cubes)
- Carrot (1 diced into cubes)
- Onion (1 diced into cubes)
- Capsicum(1 diced into cubes)
- Cauliflower(1 diced into cubes)
- Cinnamon (2 sticks)
- Cloves (3-4)
- Cardamom (2-3)
- Cashews (5-6)
- Oil (5 tsp)
- Coriander ( a small bunch finely chopped)
- Turmeric powder (1/2 tsp)
- Coriander powder (1/2 tsp)
- Cumin powder (1/2 tsp)
- Biriyani Masala (1and 1/2 tsp)
- Salt (acc to taste)
- Green chillies (2 slit)

Preparation:
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker.
- Fry the cashews till golden brown and keep aside.
- Add the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to the same oil. When they start to splutter add the green chilli.
- Add all other veggies and fry for 2-3 mins.
- Add the coriander and fry for 2 more mins.
- Add 2 cups of water and the rice.
- Add all the masala, salt and mix well.
- Close the lid of the pressure cooker and let it cook for 1 whistle.
- After a whistle remove it from the stove.
- Open the lid and add the cashews.

I served it with Fish Curry. It also goes very well with Raita.

Happy Eating :)

This is my entry for Cook's joy Only Vegan Event and Cook Click and Devour

Ilish Macher Shorshe Diye Jhal / Hilsa Fish in Mustard Gravy

What better than Ilish Mach for Sunday's lunch. Ilish or Hilsa is the national fish of Bangladesh and is popular in almost all parts of India specially West Bengal and Orissa. This fish is full of tiny bones and requires trained hands for eating. It is a sea fish which comes to the river to lay eggs and thats when the fishermen catch them in their nets. Padda'r Ilish from Bangladesh is known to be the best and most expensive of its kind. In bengali culture it is a custom to buy two Ilish fishes (Jora Ilish) on some auspicious occasions. The recipe I am sharing today is of  Shorshe Ilish.

Ingredients:
- Ilish Mach ( washed and cleaned 2 pieces)
- Mustard Paste ( 1 tbsp)
- Tomatoes (optinal 1/2 cut into small pieces)
- Green chilli (2)
- Salt (1 tsp)
- Turmeric Powder (1/2 tsp)
- Kala Jeera / Onion Seeds (a pinch)
- Mustard Oil ( 2 tbsp)
- Water (1/2 cup)

Preparation :
- Marinate the fish pieces with salt and turmeric for about 30 mins.
- Heat oil in a skillet.
- When the oil is smoking hot add the fish pieces.
- When the fish is fried keep it aside and add slit green chillies and kala jeera to the hot oil.
- When the jeera splutters add mustard paste and tomatoes.
- When the mustard paste starts leaving oil it means it is cooked. Add water to the paste.
- When the water boils add the fish and let it cook for sometime.
- Serve hot with rice.



This is my entry for:
Spotlight Curries/Gravies at Cuisine Delights.

Chicken Tangri Kabab

Don't these kababs look lovely... They taste as good as they look or even better.. :) The secret of making tasty kababs lies in the marination part. The more you marinate it the more tasty and soft your kabab is. So let me not waste too much time here and come directly to the recipe:

Ingredients:
- Chicken Leg pieces (4-5)
- Curd (1 cup)
- Ginger ( 1 tbsp)
- Garlic (1 tbsp)
- Tandoori Masala (2 tbsp)
- Lemon juice (2 tbsp)
- Salt (1 tbsp)

Preparation:
- Marinate the chicken with lemon and salt for about 30 mins.
- Drain out the excess lemon juice from the marination bowl.
- Now marinate the chicken with all the other ingredients.
- Keep it in the refrigerator and let it marinate for a day or you can even keep it for two days.
- Preheat oven at 200 degrees Celsius.
- Grill the chicken for 10 mins at 200 degrees in the oven.
- Grill the other side for another 10 mins.
- Try to insert a fork into one of the pieces to check if it is fully cooked.
- Serve with salad and sauce.


This is my entry for :

Bon Vivant Series: Apetizers/Starters

Divya's Culinary Journey: Showcase Fun in the Sun

Srav's Culinary Concepts: Splash into Summer

Tea Time Cake

I have lots of childhood memories attached with this cake. This is the cake my Ma always used to make. I used to take it to school for my tiffin break and all my friends would be so eager to have at least a bite of it. She also made this cake once on my birthday and she had decorated it with cream. That was the best cake I've tasted in life till now. Those days bakeries were not as many as there are today and since I have spent my childhood in a small town there were none. So on my birthdays most of the times this was the cake that I used to cut. When I asked Ma about the recipe she was also recollecting all the memories that she had of my childhood related to this cake. I had tried this cake for the first time when I was in college and I forgot to put baking powder. Then when I saw that the cake was not rising I increased the time and temperature. My brother still tells me about that disaster as you can see in the previous post. It looked as if there has been an earthquake on the cake. Thankfully I don't do all such kind of stuff now. I had made this cake last week. It was awesome. I called up Ma and told her that it was exactly like what she used to prepare. So now to the recipe:

Ingredients:
-All purpose Flour / Maida (1 cup)
- Sugar (1 cup)
- Eggs (2)
- Vanilla essence (1/2 tsp)
- Cashews (10-12)
- Raisins (a handful)
- White oil (1/2 cup)
- Butter (1 tsp for spreading on cake tin)
- Milk (1/2 cup)
- Baking Powder (1 tsp)


Preparation:
- Beat the eggs, vanilla essence, oil, milk and sugar well.I generally give it a quick whirl in the mixer. You can also use a hand mixer or do beat it well with a spatula.
- Sift the flour and baking powder together.
- Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredientsa and beat well.
- The flour should be nicely folded into the wet mixture (You are looking into for a consistency which lets you form ribbons when you drop it from the spoon).
- On your cake tin apply butter so that the cake does not stick to the tin.
- Pour your batter into the cake tin.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius and put the cake into oven in baking mode for 20-25 mins.
- To check if the cake is ready insert a toothpick into the cake and it should come out clean.


This is my entry to:
Lets Cook Kid's Special at Tickling Palattes and Favourite Cake Recipes at Zesty South Indian Kitchen

My First try at Baking

Baking is something that always fascinated me but I could not bake as I did not have an oven in my kitchen. Few days back on our marriage anniversary my husband gifted me an oven (he does good things some times). Frankly speaking it was really sweet of him. This is something that I had always wanted and since our new oven got a place in my kitchen I have been doing a hell lot of baking, grilling etc etc... These days most of our dinners are baked :). I have been making full use of my oven and I am really really happy about it.

Cooking is an art but baking is definitely a science. In baking you have to add exact amounts of ingredients and at the right temperature. That is when all the ingredients start the chemical reactions like in a chemistry lab (i know i exaggerated it!!!) and you get a perfectly baked dish. If anything goes wrong between your quantity of ingredients, temperature of the oven and the ingredients as well and the time for which you are baking it your dish is surely going to find its way to the dustbin.

This particular chocolate cake is the first thing that I tried in my oven. It was more for testing purpose. I wanted to check whether my oven is working fine and what are the features that it has. So I bought cake mix and baked one delicious cake. The cake was very soft and moist.

Ingredients:
- Cake Mix (1 packet - I used Pillsbury chocolate cake mix)
- Oil (1/2 cup)
- Eggs (2)
- Cashews (6-7)




Method:
- Mix oil and eggs together.
- Fold in the cake mix.
- Put batter in cake tin and add cashews on top.
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celcius for 10 mins.
- Bake the cake for 20 mins at 170 degrees celcius.

Your cake is ready.

This is my entry for :
Kid's Special at Tickling Palates and Zesty South Indian Kitchen's My favourite Cake recipe event

Chicken Cigar

It seems like it has been ages since I last wrote my blog. My parents had come over to my place so I was doing nothing but giving them time and eating lots and lots of Ma ke haath ka khana (mother's hand cooked food). So this time since I am writing after so many days I decided to write something very very special.

Chicken Cigar is a starter which is pretty easy to prepare and gets me appreciations whenever I prepare it. This is very tasty. The crunchy bread on the outside and juicy chicken stuffing inside add to the flavour of the dish.

Ingredients:
- Chicken Keema (200 gms)
- White Bread slices ( 7-8 )
- Salt (acc to taste)
- Coriander ( 1 bunch chopped finely)
- Onions ( 1 chopped finely and 1/2 julienned for serving)
- Coriander powder (3 tsp)
- Cumin powder ( 3 tsp)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Tomato Sauce (for serving)
- Cucumber (for serving)
- Sunflower oil (2 tbsp for stuffing and 1 cup for deep frying)
- Green chillies (according to taste)
- Cumin seeds (1/2 tsp)
- Egg (1 beaten)
- Cornflour (1 tbsp)
- Water (1 cup)

How to prepare the stuffing?
- Wash the chicken keema properly.
- Marinate chicken keema with lemon juice and salt for 1 hour.
-  Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok.
- Add Cumin seeds, chopped onions and green chillies.
- When cumin seeds splutter add marinated keema into it.
- Fry for some time.
- Add coriander powder, cumin powder, salt, turmeric powder, chopped coriander and mix well.
- Let it cook fully and keep aside to cool.
- Once it has cooled down separate the stuffing as shown below:

How to prepare the Cigar?
- Cut the sides of the bread.
- Put the stuffing in the middle of the bread along the length.
- Fold the bread like a cigar.
- Add a little water to your hands before folding it. This will help it bind together.
- Make a batter of the egg and cornflour. Add a little salt to it.
- Heat oil for deep frying in a deep wok.
- Dip the bread cigars into the batter.
- Deep fry them until brown.
- Serve hot with sauce, kasundi, salads etc.

Note: Vegetarians can use paneer and boiled potatoes in place of chicken.
          The keema stuffing can be had along with roti as a side dish.

Shell Pasta in White Sauce

There is nothing better than pasta in white sauce. You can have it for dinner or breakfast. I personally prefer having it for breakfast. Breakfast is the  most important meal of the day. It should be filling, nutritious and healthy. To make it healthy I add in a lot of fresh vegetables. You can also add some chicken or prawns if you want. This does not take much time to prepare and is very tasty - hence perfect for any weekday breakfast or dinner.

 Ingredients:
- Shell Pasta(small)  (3 cups)
- Tomatoes (small 1 julienne)
- Capsicum (1 cut into long thin strands)
- Carrots (1 julienne)
- Garlic (1 clove crushed)
- All purpose flour / Maida(1 tbsp)
- Milk ( 2 cups)
- Salt(Acc to taste)
- Cheese of your choice (2 tbsp)
- Olive oil ( 3 tbsp)
- Pepper powder (1 tsp)

Preparation:
- Boil water in a pan.
- When the water is boiling medium the flame and add in pasta. Also add in 1 tbsp olive oil. This prevents the pasta from sticking together.
- When the pasta is cooked (it should be soft yet firm; make sure not to overboil it) drain the water and put some cold water on the cooked pasta. Drain the cold water too.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil a skillet and add thegarlic to it. When garlic turns golden brown add the vegetables to it. Saute the veggies for 2-3 mins. Keep aside.
- Now for preparation of the sauce, add 1 tbsp oil in the wok. When the oil is hot add in Maida and fry it till the raw smell of flour goes.
- Now add in the milk, salt and stir so that no lumps are formed.
- When the sauce is a bit thick add the cheese, veggies and pasta. Cook together for 2-3 mins. Add in the pepper powder and mix.
- Serve hot.

:)

This is my entry for Cook Click and Devour.

Prawn in Coconut milk Gravy

Mother - She is the person who loves you all through your life without asking for anything in return. Mother , Ma, Mom, Mummy, Mamma  - these are all different words but raise the same feeling in your heart every time you say it. Today is my Ma's birthday. This post is dedicated to her.

My Ma is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in life. Whatever I am today I owe it to her.I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. She is an independent woman who has the ability to balance her work and personal life smoothly. All through my childhood she never let us feel she was busy or did not have time for us. Somehow she managed to find time for her family. I cherish each and every moment I have spent with her. She is the best mother in the world.
She has sacrificed a lot for us, for her family. "Ma if you are reading this I just want to wish you a very Happy Birthday. I want you to know that me and Arnab love you more than anything else on earth. Thanks for everything you did for us. We love you."

On my birthday she used to bake a lovely cake every year without fail. I am not very good at baking so today I tried making some Prawn curry for her. Prawns are her favourite. So I just thought of sharing the recipe with you guys.

Ingredients:
- Medium sized Prawns (10-12)
- Coconut milk (1 cup)
- Bay Leaves (2)
- Green Chilli (2-3)
- Salt (Acc to taste)
- Sugar (1/2 tsp)
- Onion paste (1 tbsp)
                                                      - Cinnamon (1 stick)
                                                      - Turmeric (1/2 tsp)
                                                      - Sunflower Oil (2 tbsp)


Method:
- Marinate the prawns with 1 tsp salt for about 1/2 an hour.
- Heat oil in a wok.
- Fry the prawns till they are cooked on both sides. drain on paper towel.
- In the same oil left in the wok add bay leaves and cinnamon.
- When it leaves a nice smell add in the onion paste, slit green chilli and turmeric powder.
- When the onion turns golden brown add coconut milk and prawns.
- Add salt and sugar and bring to boil.
- Serve hot with white rice. :)


This is my entry for :
WTML at Sizzling Veggies which is originally Gayathri's event

and

Srav's Culinary Concept:Mom's Recipe      

 

Vegetable Manchurian

So how many times have you made mistakes in your life?? This question is a pretty difficult one and most of us would choose not to answer it. But according to me its good to make mistakes sometimes in life. That is how we learn. Mistakes make us stronger. They give us the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. Life without mistakes is a life not enjoyed. Mistakes are life's own way of teaching us some impoortant lessons. So why is it that all of a sudden I am talking so much about mistakes today. Keep reading if you wanna know.....

Yesterday I had a strong craving for Chinese and prepared some Veg Manchurian for dinner. Vegetable manchurian is an Indo Chinese dish that is nothing but fried vegetable balls in Soy Sauce.

So here is the recipe for all of you :

Ingredients :
For the vegetable balls :
- Finely chopped Cabbage, capsicum, carrots, onions, green chilli ( 2 cups)
- Maida/All purpose Flour ( 3 tbsp)
- Cornflour ( 1 tbsp)
- Salt (Acc to taste)
- Garlic (2 pods finely chopped)
                                                      - Ginger (1/2 tbsp grated)
                                                      - Oil (for deep frying)

For the sauce:
- Garlic finely chopped (3 pods)
- Ginger grated (2 tsp)
- Green chilli (2)
- Capsicum (1 cut into squares)
- Sugar (1 tsp)
- Maida(1 tbsp)
- Soy sauce (2 tbsp)
- Tomato Sauce (1 tbsp)
- Water (2 cups)

Method :
- Mix all the ingredients except oil  for the balls in a large bowl.
- Heat oil in a wok for deep frying.
- Make balls from the veg mixture and deep fry the balls till brown.
- Do not add water while making the balls. Water that comes out of the veggies is enough for binding the veggies together.
- Now for the sauce in a pan add the oil.
- When oil is hot add garlic, ginger and green chilli.
- Saute in medium flame for a minute and add sugar to it.
- Now mix the water to maida and add to the saucepan.
- Add little salt if required and let it come to a boil and let the sauce thicken.
- Add tomato sauce and soy sauce and add in the fried balls.
Serve hot with a bowl of rice.

Now coming to mistakes again. By mistake in this dish I had added an extra tbsp of soy sauce and that is the reason the colour is so dark. Although the taste was good the look of the dish was not that attractive. So when you are preparing the dish make sure you add just the required amount of soy sauce so that the veg manchurian looks good too... :)

Gajar Ka Halwa...

There are some things in life that give you immense happiness no matter what situation you are in. For me even thinking of having home made Gajar ka Halwa is one of those things. I love this dessert. Although this is a dessert I also have it as a snack sometimes. This recipe is from Tarla Dalal's book "MITHAI". I followed the recipe blindly without changing even a single bit and ended up preparing super delicious Gajar Ka Halwa. :) :)

Ingredients:
- 6 medium carrots grated
- 1/2 cup full fat milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
- a few saffron strands
- 2 tbsp cream
- 3 tbsp ghee
                                                      - 3-4 cashews


Method :

- Heat the ghee in a broad non stick pan and saute the carrots for 2-3 mins.
- Add the milk and stir till it evaporates.
- Then add the sugar and continue stirring until the mixture is slightly thick.
- Add the cardamom powder, saffron dissolved in a little milk and cream and stir well.
- Serve hot garnished with cashews.

:)

This is my entry for :

- WTML at Vegetarian Food and me which is originally Gayathri's event.

 - Spring Seasonal Food at Srav's Culinary Concepts

An Award :)

I am really Thankful to Gayathri from Gayathri's Cookspot to send me the book "MITHAI" for winning the WTML Series for March 2012. It is really great to receive awards for your recipes.

This is a huge motivation. The below picture is of the book that I got.

 

The first recipe that I tried from the book was Gajar Ka Halwa and shall be posting the recipe very soon.

Pabda Machher Jhal

We bengalis can cook fish in thousand and one or may be even more ways. Bengalis are ardent food lovers and fish and sweets tops their list of favourite food. Bengal is a part of India with hundreds of ponds and rivers where you get hundreds of types of fishes. There is also a saying in Bengali " Machhe Bhaate bangali" which means a bengali is by fish and rice.
English name for pabda is pabo catfish. It is a sweet water fish and is found in rivers. It is a one bone fish with slightly slippery body but firm to touch. This is one fish curry which is often prepared when family comes together for an occassion. I love this fish curry and hope rest of the world will also like the traditional tastes of bengal.

Ingredients:

- Pabda Fish (4 washed and cleaned)
- Onion paste and ginger paste (2 tbsp)
- Green chilli (2 slit from the middle)
- Salt (acc to taste)
- Kalo Jeera / Nigella (1/2 tsp)
- Bori (6-7)
- Red chilli powder (1/2 tsp)
- Coriander Powder (1 tsp)
- Cumin powder ( 1 tsp)
- Turmeric powder (1/2 tsp)
- Mustard oil ( 1 cup)

Bori is nothing but small lentil paste cakes that we get in Bengal.

Method:
- Marinate the fish with salt and turmeric powder for half a hour.
- In a wok fry the fishes and keep aside.
- In the same oil add bori and fry it till it turns brown.
- In the same oil add the nigella seeds and green chillies.

- When they splutter add the onion ginger paste.
- Fry the paste till golden and then add red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder.If the masala sticks to the wok add little water about 1 tbsp.
- When the masala is fried add 1 cup water and let it come to boil.
- Add the fish and bori to it and let it cook in low flame for another 2-3 mins.
- Serve hot with rice.
You can garnish with coriander leaves.

Paneer Makhani in Microwave :)

 Shubho Nababarsha to all of you my friends. Today is bengali new year. According to traditions I should be making some sweets today but that did not happen. I am not keeping well and was admitted to the hospital entire night yesterday. I had prepared this easy paneer makhni dish few days back. So had no other choice but post this paneer dish to wish all of you a happy and prosperous new year. :)

As for today I could not celebrate with good food and only had to eat all boiled stuff due to my health conditions. :(

This recipe is from the recipe book which I have got with my microwave. I never thought of giving it a try as I was not pretty sure about how it would actually taste. It was awesome, even better than what is served in the restaurants and takes only half an hour to be ready to serve.

Ingredients:
- Paneer (200 grams cut into cubes)
- Tomatoes (5 chopped)
- Chopped Ginger (1 tsp)'
- Butter (2 tbsp)
- Oil (1 tbsp)
- Green cardamoms (2 crushed)
- Sugar (1/2 tsp)
- Salt (acc to taste)
- Garam Masala (1/2 tsp)
- Red chilli powder (1/2 tsp)
- Tomato Ketchup (1 tsp)
- Cashewnuts (5-6)
- Milk (1/2 cup)
- Kasoori Methi powder (2 tsp)
- Cream (1/2 cup)

Method:
- Soak the cashewnuts in milk for 30 mins and then grind to paste.
- In a deep dish cover and microwave tomatoes, ginger and 1/2 cup water for 5 mins.Let it cool and puree in a mixer.
- Microwave butter, oil and elaichi for 2 mins. Add salt, sugar and red chilli powder and garam masala.Mix.
- Add fresh tomato puree and tomato ketchup. Mix very well. Microwave covered for 4 mins. Stir once and microwave uncovered for 4 mins again.
- Add cashewnut paste and Kasoori methi. Mix well and add half cups of water. Microwave for 3 mins.
- Add paneer. Add enough cream to get a thick red gravy. Microwave 2 mins and serve.

This tastes superb when served with roti. :)

This goes off to :
Vegetarian side dishes at Zesty Pallette and Priya's easy and tasty recipes

 

 at Saras kitchen and Sizzling Tastebuds









Microwave Easy cooking event at Nalini's Kitchen

Grilled Egg Sandwich

Hello Friends!! I am here after quite some time.. was bit busy wid work.
Today I have decided to share with you a sandwich recipe which is very easy to make and makes a great breakfast on a weekday when you are in a hurry to leave for work.I don't know why but I always leave for work in a hurry as I am always late. I have a habit of packing lunch and taking to office everyday. Not only because eating out everyday is not good for health but also the food at my office canteen is horrible. You can't eat a single thing there.... even the sight of food there will leave you feeling sick... its full of oil and red in colour. I had lunch there once and ended up having severe heartburn. That was the day when I decided I am not going to eat canteen food no matter what!!! In the morning when my gas oven is occupied with the lunch dishes it is convenient to prepare something in the microwave or the sandwich maker for breakfast. I got this sandwich maker as a gift from my husband's friends during our marriage and I really feel blessed that I have one of these.

Ingredients:
- Boiled Eggs (1)
- Cucumber - (1/2)
- Tomatoes (1)
- Capsicum (1/2)
- Tomato sauce (2 tbsp)
- BlackPepper powder(1 pinch)
- Grated cheese (1/2 cup)
- Grated carrots (1/2 cup)

Method :
- Cut the boiled egg, capsicum, tomatoes, cucumber in your choice of shapes. Make sure the slices are pretty thin.
- Take a slice of bread.
- Put all the veggies and the egg over the slice. Add the tomato sauce.
- Now add the grated carrots and cheese, sprinkle some black pepper powder and put another bread slice on top of it.
- Now put it in the sandwich maker for grilling.
- After it is grilled take it out and cut it diagonally into two halves.

Your sandwich is ready. Have it at home or on your way to office like I do. :)

This goes off to Sumee's Culinary Bites Breakfast Ideas and Lets Make Sandwich Event at Simply Food and Cook Click and Devour.

Easy Cheesy Pizza Without Oven

This is a recipe for pizza without an oven. It can be prepared on stove top in a jiffy. It takes very little time and is a hit snack item among kids as well as grown ups. :)

Ingredients:

- Pizza Base (3 small ones/ one large)
- Tomato sauce (2 tbsp)
- Chilli Sauce (2 tbsp)
- Cheese (1 cube)
- Capsicum / Green bell pepper (1 chopped finely)
- Onion (1 chopped finely)
- Carrots (1 chopped finely)
- Corn Kernels ( 1/2 cup)
- Mozzarella cheese  / Any cheese of your choice( 1 cup grated)
- Butter (1 tbsp)

Method:
- Take a frying pan / tava and put some butter on it. Heat it.
- When the tava is hot enough put the pizza bases on it.
- After some time turn the pizza base to other side. When both sides are baked i.e brown in colour turn off the flame.
- Now take the pizza base and apply the tomato sauce and chilli sauce on it.
- Put some grated cheese .
- Now put chopped capsicum, onion, carrots, corn or any other veggies of your choice. You can even put chicken but make sure the chicken is cooked before it goes into your pizza.
- Now add some more grated cheese on top of the veggies.
- Put the pizza in microwave for a min on high so that the cheese melts and the veggies are cooked a bit. Veggies should be crispy that is not totally cooked. If you do not have a microwave put the pizza on a tava and cover it with lid. It will take 2-3 mins to be ready.
- Add some more cheese if you want, add chilli flakes and oregano flakes.

Enjoy your pizza.. :)

This goes off to :
Say Cheese event at daily cuppa , LunchBox Ideas at Cuisine delights and Recipe Junction,
Kids delight at Rujuta and Srivalli at Spice your life and Cook Click and Devour.

First Award :)

Thanks Resh from Daily Cuppa for this wonderful award. Its really an honour to be chosen.

Now I have to share this award with 5 other bloggers who each have a wonderful blog worth a visit.
The chosen ones are :
1 - Laura from Lauralicious Recipes
2 - Rochelle from Chef - Al - Dente
3 - Chicken and Apples
4 - Tanzif at My Recipe Notebook
5 - Ramya from Ramya's Kitchen Recipes

If you accept the award:

• Copy and paste the award on your blog. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
• Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers who deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
• Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five moreblogs.

Rosh Bora - The traditional bengali sweet

Bengalis are famous for their sweet tooth.For a bengali, sweets are a must in the platter.
Bengalis just love anything sweet, be it rosogolla, mishti doi, sandesh, payesh or simply any pithe.

Rosh bora is a bengali dessert which is not so famous outside bengal. But is indeed very famous in the bengali household. This is a particular dessert that you won't get in the sweet shops but is prepared at home very often.
It is very simple to make and is a bit crispy in nature.

Ingredients :
- Urad Dal (1 cup)
- Water (2 cups)
- Sugar (2 cups)
- Cardamom powder (1 tsp)
- Sunflower oil (2 cups)


Method:


- Soak the urad dal in water for 4-5 hours.
- Now strain the water and make a paste of the dal in the grinder with minimum water possible. You shall get a creamy paste.
- Take the paste in a bowl and beat it. This will give the bora a crispy texture when you fry it.
- Now lets make the sugar syrup. Take 2 cups water in a bowl and add 2 cups sugar to it.Let it boil on high flame.Dont make the sugar syrup too thick. Sugar syrup tends to become thicker as it cools.
- Take oil in a wok and heat it. Make balls of the dal paste and drop it into the oil for deep frying.
- When the bora (urad dal paste balls) turn golden brown take it out from the oil and put it in the sugar syrup.
- Let it cool in the syrup before you taste it or serve it.

So next time you are planning to make dessert try this unique and simple recipe. I am sure you will love it.
:)

This is my entry for the following blog events:

Just "4" Fun at Good Food

 
  Vegan Diet at Srav's Culinary Concepts

 Love Lock Series: Legumes at Zesty Palette and Sweet Karam Kapi

Mishti Doi - The famous Bengali dessert

Mishti doi is almost synonymous with Bengal. Bengalis are very well known for their sweet preparations and mishti doi is among one of them. A bengali puja, or function never ends without mishti doi. Be it bhai phota, kali puja, durga puja or any marriage you shall surely be offered mishti doi in the end.
As a kid I used to love this dessert. You get this in almost all the sweetmeat shops in Bengal. I would have  tasted it there for the first time as a kid. As I asked for this dessert too often Ma started preparing it at home.
I still love mishti doi. It is the easiest dessert that you can prepare and shall never let you down. It tastes heavenly when chilled. So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:
- Milk (1 litre full cream)
- Sugar (1 and 1/2 cups)
- Curd (3-4 tbsp)
- Cardamom (2 pods)

How the magic happens?
- Add one cup sugar to the milk and bring it to boil. Continue boiling for 10-12 mins.
- Meanwhile caramelise the sugar. Now how you should be doing that? Put remaining sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Heat on high stirring continuously . Once it  becomes brown like caramel, add water and stir well till it starts boiling.
-  Add the caramelised sugar and cardamoms to the milk and mix well stirring continously.
- Boil the mixture for 5 more minutes.
- Let the mixture cool.
- Take a bowl preferably made of clay or glass. It helps the yoghurt to set properly.
- In the bowl add the curd. Now pour the mixture in the bowl and stir well.
- Cover with lids and keep in a warm and dry place.
- Once the yoghurt is set place it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours and serve chilled.


This is my entry for  :
- Summer splash at Spicy Treats hosted by Sangeetha and event of Kalyani's from Sizzling tastebuds.


- Beat the Heat at MyCookBook.

- When I saw the announcement for A walk through the memory lane event at Roshan's Cucina and Gayathri's Cookspot I knew I would send in this entry.