Choco-Shrikhand

Summers are almost here and it's time to cool off by gobbling up some yummy cooling delicacies instead of hot curries. And dessert! Because calories don't count while eating dessert, isn't that true? ;) And even though everyone is fond of ice-creams in summer, this is another low-calorie, no sugar, quick and easy dessert to fill up your sweet cravings after dinner.

I have always been making shrikhand from fruits and I have already shared Strawberry Shrikhand, Mango Shrikhand and Cherry shrikhand. But then I tried this yummy dessert and fell in love with this. Try this, you're sure to love it!

Ingredients:

Hung yogurt/thick Greek yogurt: 1 cup
Milk: 6 tbsp.
Cocoa powder: 3 tbsp.
Honey: 4 tsp.

1. Take the milk in a bowl and slowly mix in all the cocoa powder, stirring nicely so there are no lumps remaining. 
2. Microwave the milk for 1 minute on high to cook the cocoa powder and then let it cool down completely. 
3. Slowly add this to the hung yogurt or Greek yogurt and mix completely. Add the honey to this mix and stir well so that it mixed in uniform manner. 
4. Take out the mix in serving bowls and refrigerate for about 4-6 hours. 
5. Remove from the fridge, decorate as you wish and serve shrikhand chilled immediately.

Loved the recipe? Please do leave a comment/feedback in the comments section below as it really motivates me. And do connect with me on Facebook for yummy updates. 

Chettinad Fish Curry

Hot and spicy curry with a beautiful fiery color, without the use of much spices and red chilis, this fish curry is a yummy and wonderful companion with boiled rice and makes for an awesome meal for those who love Indian style fish curries (and those who don't are sure to fall in love with this one)!!

Ingredients:

Fish: 400 gm (I used salmon fish)
Curry leaves: a handful
Fenugreek powder: 2 tsp.
Lemon juice: 2 tsp.
Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Fennel seeds: 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp.
Dried red chili: 1
Onion (chopped): 1 large
Ginger-garlic (crushed): 4 tsp.
Tomato (chopped): 2
Salt to taste
Red chili powder: 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp.
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.
Tamarind: 2 tsp.
Coconut milk: 1/2 cup

1. Clean and cut the fish into desired size and marinate it with fenugreek powder, half the curry leaves and lemon juice and leave for 30 minutes. 
2. Heat oil and fry the marinated fish from both sides until crispy and golden. Remove from the pan and keep aside. 
3. Heat up the same oil on medium flame and splutter mustard seeds and fennel seeds. Add the dried red chili. 
4. Add the chopped onions and fry until the onions are transparent. 
5. Add the crushed ginger-garlic and fry until the raw smell disappears. 
6. Add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle salt. Cover and let cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. 
7. Remove cover and add the dry spices: red chili powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Mix well. Add the tamarind and mix well again. 
8. Add the coconut milk, mix everything well and cover again. 
9. Remove cover after 5 minutes and add 3 cups of water. Cover again and let simmer and boil for 10-12 minutes. 
10. Remove cover and let cook open for another 5 minutes. Give a good stir and add the fried fish. Turn off the flame and cover. 
11. Remove cover after 10 minutes and the yummy, spicy curry is ready to eat. Serve with plain boiled rice or jeera rice. 

   
Loved this recipe? Please leave a comment/feedback in the comments section below. And don't forget to connect with me on Facebook if you're still not connected for more yummy updates.

Chicken Biryani in Slow Cooker

Biryani !! The mention of this dish always makes me drool and undoubtedly I can have a serving of biryani even with a full stomach. And I know nobody can resist a plate full of yummy biryani. But whenever I think about preparing the same, I feel really tired by thinking the elaborate process involved in cooking of biryani and I can totally not prepare it, no matter how much I'm craving for it. I'm sure you know the feeling of craving something and then not being able to have it because you are too tired to prepare it and you know you won't get that awesome dish anywhere else.

But now, you actually can! And without tiring yourself out and also without putting in much of an effort and time. Believe me, we had this biryani on a weeknight dinner which was a working day, all because my slow cooker was putting in all the efforts to make this yummy biryani, bursting with flavors, while I was at work. It's so simple you could actually put in just 15 minutes of your time and can relish this dish any day. It requires some before hand preparation though, but 15 minutes, for a biryani, I'm sure that's not asking a lot.

Ingredients:

For marination:

Chicken: 300 gm
Ginger-garlic paste: 6 tsp.
Yogurt: 1 cup
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Cumin powder: 1 tsp.
Coriander powder: 1 tsp.
Garam masala: 1 tsp.
Mango powder: 1 tsp.
Lemon juice: 4 tsp.

For masala:

Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Onion (chopped): 1
Ginger (chopped): 6 cloves
Garlic (chopped): 1 inch
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Tomato (chopped): 2
Butter: 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Garam masala: 1 tsp.
Kasoori methi: 1 tsp.
Yogurt: 1/4 cup

For biryani:

Rice: 2 cups
Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Onion (sliced): 2
Cashews: a few
Home made biryani masala: 2 tsp. (Recipe: Home made biryani masala)
Milk: 1/4 cup
Saffron strands: a few
Mint leaves: a handful
Coriander leaves for garnish

1. Wash and clean the chicken and marinate the chicken in marinating ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight or 8 hours. 
2. Take out the marinated chicken 30 minutes before you begin the preparation to bring it to room temperature.  
3. Turn on your slow cooker and add oil to it. Add the marinated chicken and mix it. 
4. Add the chopped onions, garlic, ginger, green chili and mix well. 
5. Add the salt and red chili, mix well. Add the dollop of butter and cover the slow cooker. Turn it on the low mode and leave for work. Let it cook slowly for about 8 hours. 
6. After 8 hours, add the chopped tomatoes and the yogurt. Mix well and cover again and turn on the mode to high. 
7. Boil rice: How to make the perfect boiled rice. 
8. Turn off the slow cooker. Take out all the contents in a big bowl. Now layer the rice at the base of slow cooker bowl and then a layer of chicken. Add another layer of rice and sprinkle the mint leaves. Add the remaining chicken and cover it with another layer of rice. 
9. Sprinkle the biryani masala over this rice layer. Add the saffron strands and sprinkle the milk. Cover the slow cooker and turn on again on slow mode. Leave for an hour. 
10. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan and fry the sliced onions until they are brown and crisp. Toast the cashews in the same oil. 
11. Open the slow cooker, add the sliced onions and cashews, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot !! 

Loved this recipe? Do leave your valuable comments/feedback in the comment section below and don't forget to subscribe via Facebook for regular yummilicious updates! 

Rajasthani Gatte Ki Sabzi

Gatte ki Sabzi is an authentic Rajathani dish and is an essential part of a Rajasthani Thali food. Well I belong to Jaipur (Rajasthan) and even though we had the authentic Punjabi dishes being cooked all the time, it was totally normal for us to eat Rajathani dishes as much as our Punjabi dishes. The one most popular dish was Panchmel Dal with Baati and another was this: Rajasthani gatte ki sabzi. Mom used to prepare this regularly and Rajasthani food was even served at weddings so it's all the more favorite.

Gatte is basically cylindrical rolls made of chickpea flour and boiled, cut and added to a wonderful yogurt-based flavorful curry. This can be savored with roti, paratha or even jeera rice (as my husband loves it).

Ingredients:

For gatte:

Chickpea flour (besan): 1/2 cup
Red chili powder: 1 tsp.
Carom seeds: 1 tsp.
Fennel seeds: 1 tsp.
Yogurt: 6 tsp.
Oil: 2 tsp.

For the curry:

Cooking oil: 2 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp.
Asafoetida: a pinch
Onion (grated): 1 big/2 small
Garlic (chopped): 4 cloves
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Red chili powder: 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Yogurt: 1 cup
Chickpea flour: 2 tsp.

1. Add besan in a bowl and mix all the dry spices: red chilli, carom seeds, fennel seeds. Add the yogurt and oil and mix well. 
   
2. Make a dough using a little water if required. Divide the dough into equal parts and roll them into cylindrical forms. 
   
3. Boil water on high heat and add the cylindrical rolls to the water. Let boil until they are floating to the top of the boiling water. Drain the water and remove the cylinders. Now the gattas are ready. Let them cool down. 
4. Now we prepare the curry: Heat oil and crackle the cumin seeds and add asafoetida. 
5. Add the grated onion and mix well. Let cook until the onion turns brown. 
   
6. Add the chopped garlic and mix well, let cook for a minute. 
   
7. Add turmeric powder and red chili powder. Mix well. 
   
8. Mix the chickpea flour with the yogurt nicely and add this mix to the masala. Mix very well and add two cups of water. Add salt and bring to a boil. 
    
   
9. The boiled cylindrical rolls (gattas) would be cooled by now; cut them into small rounds. 
   
   
   
   
10. Add these rounds to the boiling curry. Mix well and let cook for 5 minutes.  
    
11. Turn of the flame and serve hot with jeera rice or chappatis (flat bread). 

The gatte ki subzi is typically made with the yogurt based curry and no tomatoes are added. But you can also make tomato based curry. Follow the same steps till step 7. After that add puree of two tomatoes and mix well. Let cook it completely so it blends in the masala. After that follow same steps from step 8. Wonderful gatte ki subzi with tomato base is ready! You can even alternate between sometimes making yogurt base curry and sometimes with tomatoes as both give distinctively different flavors.

Loved this recipe? Do share your comments and feedback in the comment section below. And don't forget to connect with me on Facebook for regular yummy updates.

Whole wheat banana chocolate muffins

If you have been following my posts, then you might have read my post about How I took a leap towards baking and the recipe of  one-minute chocolate cake. I had always wanted to bake but was always scared to, and finally took the leap on the leap day: 29th of February.

So after I did my first bake, One minute chocolate cake, I was obviously motivated to try my hands on more baking. And I had few over-ripe bananas which nobody was eating. So I decided to use them and bake some muffins using those. I had seen so many recipes left, right and center of cakes, cookies, muffins but they were so many I had no idea which one to follow. So I called up my sister who bakes the best of the goodies and she told me it's really easy and gave me this simple recipe for beginners like me which obviously turned out so yummy I couldn't believe myself that I have ACTUALLY baked something, and something so soft, moist and yummy.

I have been baking these every week ever since and these have turned out to be the perfect tea-time snack and also on-the go snack. They stay good for up to 2 weeks when refrigerated.

So here's the basic simple recipe for these muffins.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: 1 cup
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder: 2 tsp.
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp.
Over ripened bananas: 2
Egg: 1
Oil: 1/4 cup
Yogurt (beaten): 2 tsp.
Vanilla essence: 1 tsp.
Chocolate chips as per requirement

1. Pre-heat the oven at 200 C for about 20 minutes while you prepare the mix. 
2. Begin by sieving the whole wheat flour in a big mixing bowl. Sieve in cocoa powder and the baking soda. 
3. Mix everything slowly but really well so that there are no lumps remaining. Keep aside. 
4. In another big mixing bowl, add the sugar. Break the egg in the bowl and beat it well. Do not over mix. I used a hand whisk. 
5. Now add the well mashed bananas and again mix well. 
6. Add the oil, yogurt and vanilla essence. Mix everything slowly with the help of whisk. You can also use the electric mixer. 
7. Slowly begin to add the flour mix to this mix. Add a little at a time and keep on mixing but remember not to over mix. Just mix it until you see no lumps. The mix should be little flowy and not dense. 
8. Spray the muffin molds (I used paper molds) with very little oil. Fill in the mixture in all the molds up to half. 
9. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the forms filled with mixture. I have used small chopped pieces of dark baking chocolate. 
10. Bake for 30 minutes at 200 C. Then do the toothpick test. Insert a toothpick in the middle of the muffin, it should not have the batter stuck to it, it should come out clean with little crumbles. If not done, bake for a little more time until the toothpick comes out clean. 
11. Remove and serve warm with tea. Let cool completely and it can be stored for many days in the refrigerator in air tight container. Enjoy! 

Loved this recipe? Do leave your comments/feedbacks in the comments section below and don't forget to join me on Facebook for regular yummy updates. 

Versatile Vegetable Curry

Many a curry recipes have been shared by me previously but this one is nothing like any other: it's a totally different curry; a versatile vegetable curry. So what is this versatile vegetable curry? It's a curry base for so many dishes but totally unlike any other curry base. I have prepared and shared many curry bases like tomato base, yogurt, cashew curry, green curry and so on.. But this base curry contains vegetables. Yes, vegetables which are not liked, hidden in the base curry and more visible vegetables added to the curry in form of koftas etc. So, how about vegetables inside vegetable curry? A double dose of vegetables in a single meal, isn't it?

This curry is prepared adding vegetables which can be carrots, beetroots, zucchini, peas, pumpkin, bell pepper, or any other greens etc. which are usually eaten less or straight away disliked: both by kids and adults. This is also a great way to add nutrition to the diet by adding vegetables which are otherwise lying in the refrigerator and nobody is agreeing to eat, which happens with everyone at some point of time. I have used carrots and beetroots in this recipe but you can use any disliked/less preferred or to-be-used-soon vegetable to this curry. The fun part? Nobody can make out the taste of vegetables in the curry.

This curry can then be used as a base for so many vegetables like zucchini kofta, potato kofta, paneer kofta, paneer, base for egg curry and even as masala base for tempering dal. You can also use it with any simple stir fry like potato and peas stir fry: just add this curry base and voila! your potato peas curry is ready (which has more vegetables in it.. shhh don't tell anyone). Stir fry any vegetable: zucchini, brinjal, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and add this base to make vegetable curry inside vegetable curry (inception). This can also be used to transform any left over subzi. You get the idea..

So how to prepare? Here's a description:

Ingredients:

Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp.
Asafoetida: a pinch
Onions (chopped): 1
Ginger-garlic paste: 3 tsp.
Tomatoes (chopped): 4
Beetroot (chopped): 1
Carrots (diced): 3
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp. (optional)
Coriander powder: 1 tsp.
Garam masala: 1 tsp.

 

1. Make a puree of the beetroot and carrots with enough water (grind in a mixer until smooth, there should be no chunks of vegetable otherwise it will no longer remain a secret). Keep aside. 
2. Heat oil in a deep pan/kadhai. I used my cooker without lid. Crackle the cumin seeds and add asafoetida. 
3. Add the onions and saute until they are transparent. Now add the ginger-garlic paste, tomatoes, salt, red chili, turmeric and coriander. Mix and let cook on low flame. 
4. When the tomatoes begin to soften, add the vegetable puree. Mix well. Let cook on low flame for about 20 minutes until the gravy begins to thicken. 
5. Add garam masala and mix well. Turn off the flame. 
6. The curry base is ready. Congratulations, you have now hidden the vegetables inside a curry and nobody will ever know. Add some paneer or koftas and serve with chappatis or rice. 
7. If someone asks why the taste is different, just be really confident and say you experimented a new curry base today and you think it's awesome. Don't tell about this recipe to your husband/kids. Enjoy!

Loved this recipe? Do share your valuable comments and/or feedback in the comments section below and do share a picture if you try this recipe. Also, don't forget to connect with me on Facebook for regular yummy updates. 

Instant Rice Flour Dhokla (3-minute recipe)

Dhokla recipes have always been a hit on my blog and the Instant Microwave Dhokla is the most viewed recipe as well. I have tried many versions of instant dhokla for tea time snacks because I'm always looking for easy snacks recipes. I have tried Dhokla in idli stand, Instant khatta dhokla, Instant Methi dhokla, Instant Poha dhokla, Instant rawa dhokla and Instant Beetroot dhokla.

This is another instant dhokla recipe which is very light and quick to make. It turns out super awesome and I have tried it a lot of times and finally found the time to post it.

Ingredients:

Rice flour: 2 cups
Semolina: 1 cup
Yogurt: 1/2 cup
Sugar: 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Cooking oil: 2 tsp. + for greasing dhokla mold
Lemon juice: 3 tsp.
Asafoetida: a pinch
Eno (fruit salt): 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp.
Desiccated coconut to garnish
Chopped coriander leaves to garnish

1. Mix rice flour, semolina, salt and sugar in a wide bowl. 
2. Add in the yogurt and make a batter by adding enough water. Add 1 tsp. oil and mix well. 
3. Add asafoetida and lemon juice and mix well. Leave for about 20 minutes. 
4. After 20 minutes, mix it well again. Add little more water if the batter feels dry. It should be like idli batter: not too thick and not too flowing and watery. 
5. Add the Eno and sprinkle little water. Bubbles would start to form. Lightly mix in the eno with the batter and pour the complete mix in a greased microwave safe mold. 
6. Cover and microwave it at high power for 3 minutes. 
   
7. Remove and let cool for about 5 minutes and then remove from the mold and transfer to the serving plate or tray. Cut in desired shape. 
   
8. Sprinkle red chilli powder. 
   
9. Heat the remaining 1 tsp. oil and crackle the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add 2 tsp. water and turn off the flame. Pour this mix over the dhokla. 
   
10. Garnish with desiccated coconut and freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve with Mint-coriander chutney and hot tea! Enjoy! 

Loved this recipe? Please leave your comment/feedback in the comment section below. 

Don't forget to connect with me on Facebook for yummy updates.