Saturday, October 4, 2008

Instant Peda

Instant Peda

Preparation Time : 10 min
Cooking Time : 15 min
Serves / Makes : 30 pedas
Ingredients
50 gms butter
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 can(same as above) dry milk powder
cardamom powder
saffron
almonds and kaju for garnishing
Method
boil the butter to liquid in a bowl
add condensed milk and dry milk powder to it
add cardmom powder and saffron.. and mix well

heat in the microwave oven for 5 min.(stirring in between every minute)

let it cool for 5 to 10 min
and make small balls of the batter.
garnish with dry fruits and cardomom powder
User Comments & Tips
at every min open the oven and stir the mix so that it doesnot over flow

Instant Tamarind Rice

instant Tamarind Rice

Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Cooking Time : 30 minutes
Serves / Makes : 4
Ingredients
1 glass of rice
1 lemon sized ball of tamarind
4 red chillies + 2 chillies sep. for seasoning
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp. channa dal
1/2 tsp. urad dal
little hing(asfatodia)
curry leaves little
salt to taste
til oil
peanuts( a handful)& turmeric powder
Method
wash and cook rice separately and keep it aside by pouring little til oil on it.
grind tamarind,coriander seeds, red chillies, hing and curry leaves.
Add this mixture to the rice alongwith the salt according to the taste.
Then season it with mustard seeds, urad dhal, chana dhal, peanut, red chillies and curry leaves with little turmeric powder.Heat little til oil and mix well to the rice.
User Comments & Tips
tangy yummy instant tamarind rice is ready.
goes well with fried papads/chips.

Instant Dosa

Instant Dosa with Sambar and Chutney

Ingredients for Dosa:
3 cups rice flour
2 ½ cups urad dal flour
1 tsp yeast
Salt to taste

Method:
Mix the rice flour & urad dal flour in a large bowl making sure to break up any lumps.

Add water to this to get the consistency of a batter. This should neither be too watery nor too thick. Mix well.

In a small bowl, add a tsp of yeast & add 2-3 tsp of warm water to this to make a paste.

Add this to the prepared dosa batter. Mix well. Allow it to stand in a warm spot for about an hour or so while the yeast goes about doing its business. (I usually leave this in my oven on the “warm” setting).

After fermentation for an hour, the batter rises significantly. Mix well. Add the required amount of salt, mix again & now you are ready to go ahead and make your dosas!

For step by step pictures and instructions on how to make dosas, please see
this.

Serve hot dosas with some sambar & chutney

Tip:
* Keep the vessel containing the batter on a very large plate while it is in the oven so that it does not spill over as it rises. I learnt this the hard way :-(

*Use a cast-iron pan. It gives excellent results when compared to a regular non-stick pan.



Ingredients for coconut chutney:
2 cups fresh, grated coconut (I use the frozen one)
3-4 red chillies
1 Tbsp peanuts
2 shallots
¼ tsp tamarind paste
Salt to taste

For the seasoning:
1 Tbsp Oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp urad dal
2-3 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida/hing
Salt to taste

Method:
Grind all the ingredients for the chutney to a smooth paste using very little water.

Heat the oil in a small pan & add all the ingredients for seasoning.

Add this to the chutney. Mix well.Heat for about 3 minutes or so.
This chutney is not “cooked” & hence does not last for more than a day or two.



Sambar can be made in different ways using a variety of vegetables. This was how I made mine.
Ingredients for Sambar:
1 cup toor dal
1 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped in big pieces
4-5 drumsticks (I used the frozen ones & thawed them before use)
½ tsp tamarind paste
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp coriander powder
1 ½ -2 tsp sambar powder
A pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste.

For the seasoning:
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal
2-3 red chillies
3-4 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida/hing

Method:
Cook the dal until soft & mushy and keep aside.

In a pan, heat the oil and add the ingredients for seasoning in the order listed above.

Add the chopped onions, sauté for a bit. Add the tomatoes, cook for a minute or two and then add the drumsticks.

Add the chilli, coriander, sambar & turmeric powders & mix well. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes allowing all the flavors to blend in before adding the tamarind paste. Cook for another 2 minutes.

To the vegetable mixture, add the cooked dal and blend well adding the desired amounts of water to get the right consistency.

Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Serve hot.