Thursday, October 10, 2013

Asoka /Ashoka Halwa



Ashoka Halwa is a festive sweet and is very popular in Tamil Nadu.. The dish can well be called the emperor of sweets, for its rich taste. It is more in the genre of halwa. “It is popular in the delta region particularly in the Thiruvaiyaru area. As much as Tirunelveli halwa taste divine, this too equally nice variation and this halwa just melts in your mouth and the taste lingers on;I make this halwa often for my family since my husband likes this lot. This time  along with other Neividhyam I Prepared this halwa for Navarathri .



Ingredients:
Moong dal - 100 gm
Wheat flour – 50 gm
Maida/APF - 50 gm
Sugar – 11/2 cup
Warm milk - 2 tbsp.
Saffron strands - a pinch
Saffron food colour - 1 tsp.
Roasted cashewnuts – 1/4cup
Roasted raisins - 15
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp.
Ghee – 11/2 cup
 
Method:
1. Dry roast the Moongdal in a kadai till it releases a nice aroma.
2Then cook moong dhal with enough water till it is soft. Mash the dhal and keep aside.
3. In a pan, add little ghee and roast cashew & raisins Keep aside. Add saffron strands and saffron colour to the warm milk. Mix them & keep aside.
4. Add 2 more tablespoons of ghee and fry the wheat flour/maida until it becomes light brown
5. Take 1/4 of water and add the sugar. Boil the sugar syrup until 1 string consistency is reached.
6. Add the wheat /Maida flour and the mashed dhal in sugar syrup and mix well without lumps &Stir the mixture continuously until it thickens.

 7. Add the saffron and milk and also kesar color and stir well. Add ghee in regular intervals and keep stirring, till the ghee oozes out of halwa and the halwa rolls like a ball without sticking on the sides of pan.
8.When the halwa leaves the sides of the pan and releases ghee, add the cardomom powder and swtich off the flame.Garnish with fried cashews& Serve warm

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Shahi Tukda/ Shahi Tukra



Shahi Tukda/ Shahi Tukra is a very exotic, a rich dessert that originated in the royal Mughal kitchens as a way to use up the left over bread from the emperor’s meals. And It is very popular in Hyderabadi cuisine, served at weddings and parties. It's simple to make and a great dessert and that can be easily made at home.  When fried bread slices are soaked in warm milk with cardamom, saffron and sugar for enriched flavor and garnished with nuts is a royal treat to taste buds at anytime. . This dessert is one of my all time favorite Sweet dish.

Ingredients
Milk – 1 lr[I used full cream milk]
Condensed milk – 1/4 cup (I used Amul Milkmaid)
Bread slices –5 to 6pieces, cut in triangles
Ghee- ¼ cup
Nuts - 2 tbsp (Pistachio& Badam chopped finely)
Saffron - 3 to 4 strands
Cardamom-1tsp
For the sugar syrup:
  Sugar - 1/4 cup
 Water - 1/2 cup





Method:
1.First cut the edges of the bread. Thereafter, cut it diagonally to form 2 triangles& keepaside.
2.Place milk in a thick bottomed pan and bring to a boil. Reduce flame and allow it to reduce to ¼ of its original quantity. 
3.Keep stirring the milk continuously from time to time. Now, add pista and few strands of saffron to the thickened milk.
4.In another bowl, place water and sugar. On low to medium flame, let the sugar dissolve completely. Add ½ tsp of Saffron. Once it dissolves completely, allow to cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat. Keep aside.
5.Now Heat a pan, add ghee. Once it's hot, place all the bread pieces and fry over slow flame. After couple of minutes, flip to the other side. Fry the bread pieces to a golden shade on both sides. Remove and place on a plate.
6.Dip each bread piece in the sugar syrup to coat both the sides and remove onto a serving dish.
7.Arrange the fried bread on a plate. At the time of serving, pour the thickened milk over the bread slices, garnish with toasted nuts and saffron strands over it and  Serve Warm or Chilled.
Yummy Shahi Tukda is ready... Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Mixed Vegetable Kurma



Mixed Vegetable Kurma is a simple but elegant rich and creamy gravy dish cooked with different vegetables in tangy tomato and cashew paste. It goes well with Indian Breads or even Rice Dishes. It is full of nutrient rich dish and makes a colourful platter We had this with chapati.


Ingredients

Potato medium peeled and diced- 1 no

Green beans finely chopped- 6 nos

Carrot medium finely diced- 1 no

Green peas- 1/4 cup

Onion small finely chopped- 1 no

Tomato medium chopped- 1 no

Tomatoes puree - 2 big tomatoes

Red chilli powder- 1 and 1/2 tsp

 Fennel seed /Sombu thool/- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

For the Masala:

 Coconut, cut into small pieces - 1/2 cup

Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp

Poppy seeds / Khus Khus - 3 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Sesame seeds - 1 tsp

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Cashew nuts, dry roasted  -10 to 12

Onion, browned - 1 big (half to be used for the ground masala, rest for the gravy)

Water - 2 cups



Method:

1. Wash and chop the vegetables to almost equal size. Microwave the vegetables for 10 - 15 mins to be fully cooked.

2.  In a non stick pan, dry saute poppy seeds along with whole cashew nuts for couple of minutes. Remove and keep it aside.

3 In the same pan, add 1 tsp oil and saute half of the onion till brown. Once done, allow it to cool.

4.       Wash and chop the coconut into small bits and Then take the coconut, roasted poppy seeds, cashew nuts, coriander powder, garam masala, ginger garlic paste and sesame seeds in the mixer and grind to a smooth paste using water.

5.  In a non stick pan, heat oil, saute the remaining onions till they turn colour.

6.  Then add the tomato puree, turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt.Once you see the tomato colour changing, add the ground masala.and saute well onlow heat for 2 min

7. Add the rest of vegetables and tomatoes to the grounded masala and saute well.

8. Add a cup of water to the pan, stir well, increase heat and bring the gravy to boil. everything together. Cook for 5 mins, till the masala gets cooked properly and change colour.

9.   Then add enough water to get the consistency you want and bring to boil. When kurma starts boiling add required salt to the kurma stir well. 

10.   Reduce the heat again, cover pan with tight lid and cook the kurma on low heat for 7 mins or until the vegetables are soft and tender. Add chopped coriander leaves.

11.   Serve hot kurma with chapathi, parota, idly, dosa or with rice