Peas Pulav

Ingredients:-
Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
Green peas (shelled) - 1 cup
Small onions - 1/2 cup
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Refined oil - 1 tbsp
Bay leaf - 1
Cardamon and cloves - 2 each
Salt to taste
Sugar - 1 tsp (optional)

To Grind:-
Small onions - 10 nos
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Green chillies - 5 nos
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Preparation:-

• Wash and soak the rice for 10 minutes.
• In a pressure cooker take ghee and oil and heat it.
• Then add the cardamon, cloves and bay leaf and saute it for 1 minute.
• Add the onions and saute till it turns golden brown.
• Then, add the peas and grinded paste and cook them in a low flame till the raw smell goes out and a nice flavour reaches your nose.
• To this, add the coconut milk, water with enough salt and sugar and mix it thoroughly.
• When the mixture starts boiling, add the rice into it.
• Cover the cooker with lid and pressure cook for 10 to 15 minutes in a low flame.

When done, serve hot with onion raithas or vegetable kurma.

Potato Masala

Ingredients:-

• Boiled potato - 1/4 kg (smashed)
• Onions - 3 nos (cut into long thin slices)
• Tomato - 2 nos (chopped into small cubes)
• Green chillies - 4 or 5
• Turmeric power - 1/2 tsp
• Musturd, Urid dhal - 1/2 tsp each
• Refined Oil - 1 tbsp
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
• Salt to taste
• Water - 1 cup.

Preparation:-

• In a microwave bowl add musturd and urid dhal with one tsp of oil and cook in a micro medium high for 3 minutes. (cover the bowl half while cooking).
• When done, add the chopped onions, green chillies and tomatoes with one tbsp of oil to the bowl and cook them in a micro high for 4 minutes. (without covering the bowl and stir it in between once).
• Finally, add the smashed potatoes, turmeric power, salt, water and cook at micro high for 5 minutes.
• As a final touch, add coriander leaves and serve after 3 minutes.

As this potato masala is cooked in a unconventional way, it retains the flavour and goes well with chappathi and puri.

Bread & Nuts kozhukattai

Ingredients:

• Bread slices - 5
• Cashewnuts - 15
• Almonds - 10
• Dry grapes - 1 tbsp
• Black dates - 4 to 5 (seed removed !)
• Sugar - 1 tbsp (to be powdered)
• Ghee - 1 1/2 tbsp.

Preparation:

• Cut the bread edges and put it in a blender to make them crumbs.
• Roast cashews and almonds in ghee and grind coarsely.
• Slightly fry the grapes and dates in ghee and also grind to make them bits and pieces.
• Mix all the grinded ingredients with sugar and bread crumbs.
• Heat a tbsp of ghee and pour it over the mixture and mix well. (use hands to mix well (:-)
• Make them into a desired shapes (like kozhukattai )

See, this is a instant dish and here there is no steaming business. Indeed it is very tasty and rich diet, especially for kids

Carrot Halwa

Ingredients:

• Grated Carrot - 3 cups;
• Milk - 11/2 cups;
• Sugar 11/2 cups;
• Ghee - 2 tbsp;
• Cashewnut - 10 to 12;
• Badam - 10 to 12;
• Pista - 10.

Preparation:

• Saute the grated carrots in a two teaspoons of ghee for a few minutes.
• Add milk to this and pressure cook it until one whistle.
• Put the resultant mixture in thick bottom pan and saute till it thickens.
• Then add sugar and mix well till we get the halwa consistency.
• While doing the above process, add ghee now and then.
• Stir well till the ghee separates.
• Finally, give a finishing touch to the halwa with the roasted nuts.
• Wow, that is the colorful carrot halwa that absorb your kids like a magnet.

(to get the fine taste and flavour, use Delhi carrot)

Vadai Curry

Ingredients:
Bengal gram dhal - 1 cup;
Onions - 2(finely chopped);
Onions - 4 (cut into long thin slices);
Garlic - 2( separate the pods and peel);
Tomatoes - 4 0r 5;
Cashewnuts - 10 or 15;
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp;
Sugar - 1 tsp;
Salt to taste.

For Grinding:
Onion - 1;
Red chillies - 5;
Green chillies - 4;
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece;
Garlic - 5 flakes( finely chopped);
Cardamom - 2;
Cloves - 3;
Chutney gram - 1 tbsp;
Aniseed - 1/2 tsp.



Preparation:

• Wash and soak the dhal for atleast two hours. Drain and grind it coarsely with enough salt.
• Mix the finely chopped onions.
• Heat oil in a pan, and drop the dough into small rounds and deep fry.
• Remove the vadas when it turns into golden brown ( do not fry the vadas to deep brown) and keep it aside.

For the gravy:

• Blanch the tomatoes in hot water, remove the skin and make it into a smooth paste.
• Heat 3 tbsps of oil in a pan and fry the garlic and the onion.
• When it turns to golden brown in colour, add the ground mixture, and fry it till the oil separates from it.
• Now add the tomato puree and fry till a good smell comes out.
• Add three cups of water with turmeric powder, and enough salt and sugar.
• When the water starts boiling add the fried vadas and let it boil for a few minutes.
• If the water is not sufficient, add little more water, otherwise the vadas absorb the water and the gravy becomes very thick.
• When the gravy is thick and is of flowing consistency, remove from fire.
• Convert into the serving bowl.
• Add the cashewnuts soaked in water( the taste would be different);
• Garnish with finely chopped coriander.

Cashewnut Burfi

Ingredients:

• Cashews - 100gms;
• Milk - 1 litre;
• Sugar - 21/2 cups;
• Ghee - 200 gms;
• Saffron - a pinch;
• Caradamom - 2 (to be powdered).

Preparation:

• Make a smooth paste with the cashews adding little water to it.
• Place a kadai in the heat, pour the milk into it, when it starts toboil add the sugar to it.
• Then add the saffron, and let the milk boil until reduces to one-third.(Keep stiring the milk, otherwise it would get burnt).
• When milk gets to thick consistency, add the cashew paste and keep stiring.
• Keep adding ghee to it little by little, until the mixture reaches a thick consistency(that of an halwa)
• Sprinkle the caradamom powder over it and mix well.
• Pour the entire content, to a greased plate.
• Cut into your desired shape.

• Now the tongue tickling cashewnut burfi is ready.

Paneer Surprise

Ingredients:

• Paneer - 200gms;
• Onion - 3big;
• Tomato - 5;
• Ginger, garlic paste - 2 tsps;
• Coriander powder - 2 tsps;
• Chilli powder - 2tsps;
• Garam masala - 1 tsp;
• Fresh cream - 2 tbsp;
• Ghee - 11/2 tbsp;
• Cashewnuts - 12;
• Butter - 1 tsp;
• Refined oil - for frying the paneer;
• Sugar - 1 tsp(optional);
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp;
• Coriander leaves;
• Salt to taste.

Preparation:

• Cut the paneer into cubes, deep fry them in oil, and plunge them in warm water and keep them separately.
• Blanch the tomatoes in hot water, peel the skin and grind into a smooth paste.
• Heat the ghee in a pan, add the cumin seeds, when it starts to splutter add the grated onion and saute them in a low flame.
• Add the chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and enough salt fry till the ghee separates from it.
• Now mix the tomato paste and boil till the gravy thickens.
• Add the fried paneer cubes with butter and sugar and mix well, reduce the flame completely, and keep it undisturbed for a few minutes with the lid on.
• Finally add the fresh cream, before removing from the fire.
• Garnish it with fried cashews and finely chopped coriander leaves.
• This dish goes well with chappatti or poori.

Hurry up friends, rush into the kitchen and try out this recipe and enjoy it with your family. If you were really impressed with my recipe, please do post your feedback.
Bye!!!!!!!!!!!