Saturday, November 1, 2008

Chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup Fine Wheat Flour (Maida) ,1/2 tsp Baking Soda ,1/2 tsp Salt ,1/2 cup Butter,1/2 cup Brown Sugar,1/4 cup Sugar,1 small sized Egg, 1 tsp Vanilla Essence,1 cup Chocolate Chips, 1/2 cup chopped and roasted Walnuts.


Steps:

First blend the flour, baking soda and salt uniformly in a bowl. Then thrash butter, sugar and brown sugar as one until creamy and velvety. Put in the egg and vanilla essence. Now adjoin flour. When flour is completely blended then mixes up the chips and walnuts. On a tray of a preheated oven lay a huge ungreased cookie piece. At this time drop a spoonful of the butter on the sheet 2 inches thick and leave to bake it for 10 -1 2 minutes.

Black Forest Pastry

Ingredients:
For chocolate sponge:
Eggs- 6, Sugar - 100 gm, Refined flour - 125 gm, Coco powder - 30 gm, Vanilla essence - a few drops

For pastry:
Cream - 350 gm, Cherry - 50 gm, Sugar - 150 gm, Chocolate flakes - 75 gm, Chocolate essence-a few drops

Steps:
Spread bakery paper or papers used in bread in the edges of the baking tray. Heat the tray in 180°C. Beat sugar, eggs and vanilla essence in a pan so that the mixture blends properly. Add slowly coco powder and flour in the blended mixture. Pour the mixture in the baking tray and bake for 45 minutes. Leave for 5 minutes after removing from the oven. In a separate container beat thoroughly 100gm of sugar with cold cream. If the cream is not cold mix a few cubes of ice. Add a few drops of chocolate essence in the cream. Boil water adding remaining sugar to make syrup. Slice the cake in three layers horizontally. Spread the syrup over each layers. Replace the slices one after the other. Spread the cream over the cake. Slice it in shapes of pastry. Decorate with grated chocolate and cherry. Serve.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Lankaa Achar(Green Chilli Pickle)

Ingredients: Green chillies: 1 kg cut in 1/4 inch rounds, Ginger paste: 50gms, Shredded Ginger: 50gms, Chilli powder: 50gms, Garlic paste: 100gms, Turmeric powder: 30gms, Mustard seeds: 60gms,a tsp set aside and the rest ground to paste, Vinegar: 2 cups, Mustard oil: 3 cups, Non-Iodised salt to taste. Ordinary sea salt is a good preservative, Sugar: 2 tbsp

Steps:
Add about a level tbsp of salt to the chillies, mix and set aside for a few hours or overnight. Grind the masala paste with vinegar instead of water. Heat half the oil to smoking in a pan and fry the chillies in this for about 10 minutes. Remove chillies to another dish. Add three- quaters of the remaining oil to the pan. Allow this to become smoking hot. Add the teaspoon of mustard seed and when it stops spluttering, add the shredded ginger. Fry for a minute and then add the other masala pastes, ginger and garlic. Fry for a good 10 minutes or more until the masalas change colour, then add the remaining vinegar and 2 tbsp of sugar. Add the fried chillies to the masalas in the pan, fry for another ten minutes. Adjust seasoning. Just before removing from fire, add the remaining oil and mix well. Cool and store in jars.

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:
250 gms tomatoes, cut in four, 1/4 ts of ginger cut into strips, 1/4 ts red chilli powder or chopped green chill. 1 tbls raisins, soaked and cleaned in water, 1/8 ts panch phoron, 1 ts mustard oil, salt and sugar to taste.

Steps:
Heat mustard oil in a pan. Add panch phoron to hot oil and fry till spluttering stops. Add chopped tomatoes. Stir well. Add salt, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Remove cover. Add ginger strips, chopped chilli and raisins. Add 2-3 tbls sugar and a cup of water. Continue simmering until tomato chutney thickens and is cooked. Serve cold.

Aamer (Mango) Chutney

Ingredients:
4 large green mangoes, 1 tbls mustard oil, 2 dry red chillies, 1/4 ts panch phoron, 2 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar, salts to taste, 1 tbls dry fried and powdered cumin seed, 1 tbls dry fried and powdered mustard seed.

Steps:
Cut the mango into 6 pieces. Heat oil in the pan. Fry the mango slices in the hot oil until slightly brown. Remove mango pieces and keep aside. To the same pan add the dry red chilli and panch phoron. Pour in two cups of water, the sugar and the salt. Let this boil then add the mango slices. Simmer over medium heat until the sugar syrup thickens to your desired consistency. Pour in a serving bowl and sprinkle the dry grounded spices. This can be kept under refrigeration for a week.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Keema Rice

Ingredients:
Minced Mutton /Keema – 250gm, Dehradun rice – 2 cup, Plain yogurt – 2 cup, Kasundi – ½ cup, Shah jira – ½ table spoon, Ghee – 3 tablespoon, Green chili – 4, Salt – according to taste, Onion paste – ½ cup, Ginger paste – 2 teaspoon, Garlic paste – 2 teaspoon, Chili paste – 1 teaspoon, White oil – ¼ cup, Mustard oil – 2 tablespoon, Garam masala powder – 1 teaspoon, Sugar – according to taste

Steps:
Soak rice for ½ an hour. Boil water in a container and cook the soaked rice in it. Boil the minced mutton. Heat white oil and cook the pasted spices. Add keema and cook for another 10 minutes. Reduce heat. When the aroma of spices comes out add garam masala and a spoon of ghee and remove the preparation from heat. Heats the rest of the ghee with shah. Add rice, sugar and salt and remove from fire. Spread a layer of rice in the serving dish. Cover it up with cooked keema. Again cover it up with rice. Decorate with lemon leaf before serving. Blend yogurt, kasundi, mustard oil. Add a small amount of chopped chili to it and serve with keema rice.

Kabuli Khichuri

Ingredients:
Rice - 150gms, Masoor dal - 150gms, Minced Mutton/ chicken –200gm, Mustard oil - 2 table spoon, Ghee - 2 table spoon, Bay leaf (tej pata) - 2pcs., Onion (chopped) – 4pcs., Ginger paste – 4tsp., Garlic paste – 4tsp., Coriander paste – 1tsp. Cumin paste – 1tsp., Turmeric paste – 2tsp. Red chili paste – 2tsp., Garam masala paste– 2tsp., Tomato purée – 2tbsp., Jaiphal (nutmeg) – ¼tsp., Jaitri (mace)– a pinch of. Sugar –1 ½ tsp., Salt – accord. to taste., Water – as required. Coriander leaves - 2tbsp (chopped)

Steps:
Heat oil and ghee in a wok with bay leaves. Add to it chopped onions and all the pastes. Cook it adding tomato puree and sugar. When it gets cooked add the keema or minced mutton/chicken and continue cooking. Add washed and drained rice and lentil (dal) to the curry. Stir for some time and then add water. Transfer the khichuri from the wok to a pressure cooker and steam boil for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add ghee, jaiphal, jaitri and garam masala. Serve hot spreading chopped coriander leaves.