Kalakand

Ingredients:
Condensed sweetened milk - 1 can (400 gm)
Fresh paneer - 500 gm
Milk powder - 30 gm
Ground cardamom - few pinches
Pistachios (chopped) to garnish

Method:
Mash or grind paneer. Add the paneer, condensed milk and milk powder in a non-stick kadai. Start to stir constantly. After few minutes, when the kalakand starts to leave the sides of pan i.e it forms like a dough oozing out lot of oil, remove and spread the kalakand on the greased plate. Sprinkle ground cardamom and chopped pistachios. Cool and cut into desired shape. Serve immediately or chilled.
Recipe: Nestle

Sent off to Jay's "Let'z Relish Paneer" event.

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Almond Chewy Macaroons

Ingredients:
Ground almonds - 200 gm
Superfine sugar - 200 gm
Egg whites - 2
Ground Cardamom seeds - 1/4 tsp.
Rose water (to moist the hands)
Blanched almonds - 18 to 20

Method:
Preheat the oven at 200°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, add ground almonds, ground cardamom seeds, sugar and egg whites and mix together. Knead with hand or with the mixer till you get a coherent paste. Moist your hands with rose water and form a walnut sized ball out of the paste. Place them on the paper and lightly press them flat. Place the balls each 1 inch apart. When you are finished with the paste, place one blanched almond in the centre of each macaroon. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes (But mine took 15 to 18 minutes) and remove from oven when you see the golden color around the edges. Carefully lift them with a spatula (they're fragile) and place it in another sheet and cool completely.The macaroons at this stage will brown more at the edges.  After cooling, store them in an air tight container. Enjoy the chewy macaroons along with their crispy coats!

Recipe: Nigella Lawson

Sent off to Akila's Dish Name Starts with 'A' event.

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Fried Yam

Today, I cut my finger while opening a can of condensed milk and the scratch was so deep. After a while, I gradually recovered but the horrible pain still refused to vanish. So my husband took in charge of the kitchen and for lunch and one of the goodies he made are these fried yams. Being curious, I asked him what the ingredients and their measurements were. But to my dismay, he only gave the ingredients and said that he didn't measure them. So I renounced pestering him for estimating the measurements (For my blog's sake, I'm always armed with spoons and cups and generally I don't do so for a normal cooking). Here's the recipe though.

Slice the yam in desired shape. Steam and cool them. In a bowl, add gram flour/besan, corn flour, red chilli powder, salt and a dash of baking soda. Make a thick batter out of the ingredients. Dip the yam in the batter and deep fry them. Serve as a snack for tea time.

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Chana Palak

Ingredients:
White Chickpeas/Chana - 1 cup
Spinach/palak - 1 small bunch
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp.
Onions - 2 (chopped)
Tomatoes - 2 (chopped)
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
Coriander powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp.
Green chilli - 1 (slit lengthwise)
Chana masala - 1/4 tsp.
Cream (25% Amul) - 1/3 cup
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp. (chopped)
Salt (to taste)
Oil

Method:
Soak chickpeas in sufficient amount of water for at least 8 hours or overnight. Pressure cook the chickpeas with fresh water and little salt. Cut the spinach roots with kitchen scissors and wash the spinach. Place the spinach in a strainer for a few minutes and then chop them into pieces.
Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When the seeds splutter, add ginger-garlic paste and saute till golden color. Add the onions and green chillies, saute till the onions are translucent. Add tomato pieces and salt and saute till mushy. Now add the chopped spinach, coriander leaves and saute till it wilts. Now add the powders and mix well. Add the boiled chickpeas (without the water) and saute. Simmer and add chana masala and cream. Mix and remove from heat. Serve with rotis.

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Gujarati Daal

Ingredients:
Arhar dal/toor dal - 1 cup
Ginger - 1 inch (finely chopped)
Tomato - 1 (diced)
Jaggery - 1 tbsp. (grated)
Kokum - 3 to 4 (soaked)
Peanuts - 2 tbsp.
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
Cumin powder - 1 tsp.
Coriander powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp.
Salt (to taste)
Oil + Ghee
Coriander leaves - few (chopped)


Tadka/Tempering:
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp.
Asafoetida - a pinch
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Curry leaves - few
Whole dry red chillies - 2

Method:
Dry roast the peanuts. Cool and blow off the skin. Pressure cook the dal, tomatoes, peanuts with sufficient water.
Mash the dal (if required, add some water). Heat ghee + oil in a deep saucepan and do the tadka with given ingredients. Now add the powders, mashed dal, ginger, kokum, jaggery and salt. Simmer for 10 minutes or till it reaches required consistency (i.e., dal should not be thick nor thin). Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with bhakri or with rice and ghee.

Sent off to "Flavours of Gujarat" event hosted by simply.food.

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Bitter gourd Fry

Ingredients:
Bitter gourd - 4
Onions - 3 (chopped)
Garlic - 10 (crushed)
Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Salt (to taste)
Fennel seeds (saunf) - 1 1/2 tsp.
Coconut flakes - 2 tbsp.
Tamarind/Imli - 1 tsp.
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
Besan/Gram flour - 1 tbsp.
Oil

Early Preparation:
Slice the bitter gourd and remove the seeds. Coarsely ground the fennel seeds and keep aside. Grind coconut flakes and tamarind together without adding water.

Method:
Heat a generous amount of oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds.When the seeds splutter, add the crushed garlic and saute till golden color. Add onion and saute till translucent. Now add the bitter gourd slices and curry leaves and saute for 2 minutes. Now cover the pan with a lid and saute every 2 minutes. Continue this process for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add red chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder, coarse fennel powder and saute in low flame for 2 minutes. Continue cooking till the bitter gourds are tender. After that, add the coconut and tamarind paste, gram flour and saute for 5 minutes or till it becomes crisp. Serve as a side dish for rice.

Sent off to Priya's "CWS-Fennel Seeds" event

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