India's Real Taste

Appams and Stew

2008-01-18T01:37:00.000-08:00

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For The Appams
1 cup raw white rice
½ cup grated coconut
½ tsp fresh yeast (khamir)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp flour (maida)
salt to taste
½ cup water

For The Vegetable Stew
3 cups mixed vegetables (potatoes, peas, carrots, beans)
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 cup thin coconut milk extracted from a medium-sized coconut in a blender

Spices
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp cumin (jeera) powder
½ tsp coriander (dhania) powder
½ tsp minced ginger (adrak)
½ tsp minced garlic (lahsun)
A few cloves (laung)
1 stick of cinnamon (daalchini)
1 green chilli, finely minced
2 tbsp fresh coriander
1 large onion
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp vinegar or ½ a lime

Preparation:

For The Appams
Soak rice overnight and grind with coconut in a blender. Put the yeast in a glass with 1 tsp flour, 1 tsp sugar and half a cup warm water. Let it bubble and rise. Then, add it to the ground rice. When it ferments, stir thoroughly. Use a ladle to pour the mixture one spoonful at a time into a greased appam pan or wok. The pan should be fairly hot and have a lid. Spread the mixture thinly like a pancake. Cover each appam while cooking, until done. It should be crisp at the bottom.

For The Vegetable Stew
Boil the vegetables in a pan with the thin coconut milk until tender. Add cloves and daalchini. Fry onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies lightly and add to the vegetables. Lastly, add thick coconut milk and simmer. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander.

Aloo Tikki

2008-01-18T01:07:00.000-08:00

Serves 2

Ingredients:

3 cups potatoes boiled and mashed
¼ cup refined flour (maida)
1 cup flaked rice (poha)
2 green chillies chopped
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
2 tsp cumin powder (jeera), roasted
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup curd (yogurt)
salt to taste
3 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup green chutney
½ cup tamarind chutney

Preparation:

Wash the poha thoroughly and squeeze out all the water. Soak it in about ⅛ cup water for 5 min so that it becomes soft and then mash it. Add mashed potatoes, refined flour and salt. Mix to a smooth mixture. Take a little potato mixture and flatten it on your palm in the shape of a circle which is about 1 cm thick. Similarly, make tikkis from the remaining mixture and keep aside. Heat about 3 tbsp oil in a frying pan (preferably flat) or non-stick pan. Fry the tikkis on medium heat until golden brown on both sides. While frying, turn the tikkis over so that they don't burn. Serve the tikkis hot. To serve, take 2 tikkis on a plate. Flatten them and then add some chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and green chillies. Add about 1 tbsp yogurt, a little green chutney and some tamarind chutney. Sprinkle a pinch of red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder and salt. Optionally, garnish the tikkis with chopped green coriander leaves.

Aam Sharbet

2008-01-18T00:57:00.000-08:00

Serves 4

Ingredients:

200 gms raw mangoes, peeled and diced
1 medium-sized cinnamon stick
½ tsp black pepper
2 tsp fresh mint, chopped
½ tsp black salt
1½ tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
150 ml water

Preparation:

Boil the mangoes with the cinnamon and black pepper. Strain and keep the water aside. Blend the pulp till smooth. Put all the ingredients into a churner and churn. Serve chilled.

Jimikand Ka Saag

2008-01-18T00:50:00.000-08:00

Serves 4

Ingredients:

250 gms yam (jimikand)
Oil to deep fry
5-6 cloves garlic
2-3 whole red chillies
A few sprigs coriander leaves
1 tbsp coriander seeds
Turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Cut yam into big pieces and boil till tender. Remove, drain, and cut into medium-thick slices. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai (Pan) and deep fry till golden crisp. Peel and wash garlic. Remove stems of red chillies. Clean, wash, and chop coriander leaves. Grind together garlic, coriander seeds, turmeric powder, and red chillies to a smooth paste using a little water. Drain excess oil from kadai, leaving about three tbsp. Heat the oil. Add cumin seeds; when they begin to change color add the masala paste. Stir fry for two to three minutes, add two cups of water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for five minutes. Add fried yam slices and salt. Cook for five minutes. Remove, serve hot sprinkled with coriander leaves.

Vengan Batata Nu Shaak

2008-01-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

Serves 6-7

Ingredients:

4 eggplant sliced
4 potatoes sliced and peeled
4 tomatoes sliced
1 tsp of red chilli, turmeric, coriander and cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
4 tbsp oil
4 cups watersugar and,
salt to taste
For garnish coriander leaves finely chopped

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan. Add tomatoes, spices and a little sugar. Fry on medium heat till the tomatoes are soft. Add potatoes and eggplant. Fry again for about 5 min. Add water and cook covered on medium or low heat till the vegetables are cooked. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Vazakkhai Poriyal

2008-01-17T03:52:00.000-08:00

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 raw bananas, peeled and cut into small pieces
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp coconut oil
½ tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black gram or urad dal
2 diced green chillies
A few curry leaves
2 finely chopped onions
Salt to taste
4 tbsp fresh coconut (grated)

Preparation:

Boil raw banana pieces with ½ tsp salt and when partially cooked, remove from fire and drain the water. Heat a frying pan, add oil and mustard seeds and once the seeds sputter, add urad dal, green chilies, curry leaves and onions. When the onions are cooked, add grated coconut and salt to taste. Add the boiled raw banana pieces and toss before removing from fire. Serve hot.

Dalma

2008-01-17T03:32:00.000-08:00

Serves 4

Ingredients:

½ cup chana dal
1 potato
150 gms yellow pumpkin
1 brinjal
1 raw banana
½ papaya
1 inch long piece of ginger
A few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
4 red chillies, whole
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp oil
1 tsp 'five mixed spices' (panch phoran)
4 cups water

Preparation:

Peel, wash, and cut the potato and pumpkin into one inch sized pieces. Wash and cut the brinjal, banana, and papaya into half-inch pieces. Peel, wash, and mince the ginger; wash and chop the coriander leaves. Dry roast one teaspoon of cumin seeds and red chillies in a pan and powder both. Boil four cups of water and add to it the dals, coconut, salt, minced ginger, turmeric, and cook until the dals are half done. Add potato, pumpkin, brinjal, banana, and papaya. Cook until the vegetables become tender. Add sugar and mix well. Add salt as per taste. Heat ghee or oil in a pan, add the panch phoran, and fry till the seeds splutter. Add the cooled dal. Sprinkle the roasted cumin seeds and chilli powder. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.

Momos

2008-01-17T02:59:00.000-08:00

Serves 7

Ingredients:

4 cups refined flour (maida)
2 spring onions
4-6 mushrooms
1 tbsp oil
½ cup sweet corn kernels
2 red chillies
1 tbsp brown bean sauce
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Sift flour in a bowl. Add sufficient water and mix into a soft dough. Peel, wash, and roughly chop spring onions. Remove stems, wash, and chop mushrooms. Heat oil in a pan and stir fry mushrooms, onion, and sweet corn kernels for two minutes. Stir in brown bean sauce, salt, and pepper and remove from the heat. Divide the dough into 16 balls. Flatten each in your palms and place one tablespoon of filling in the centre.Gather the edges to a point together and twist to seal. Steam for 10 to 12 minutes. Serve this rare Indian dish with a spicy sauce.

Masala Bhutte

2008-01-16T03:20:00.000-08:00

Serves 4

Ingredients:

6 large fresh corn cobs (bhutta)
4 tbsp oil
10-12 curry leaves
7-8 green chillies
1 inch piece of ginger (adrak)
1 tbsp mustard (sarson) seeds
salt to taste
2 tsp sugar
lemon juice to taste
2 tbsp coconut, scraped

Preparation:

Wash and grate the corn. Wash and pat dry the curry leaves. Remove stems, wash, and chop the green chillies. Peel, wash, and grate the ginger. Heat oil in a thick-bottomed kadai. Add mustard seeds. When they begin to sputter, add curry leaves and green chillies. Add grated corn, ginger, and salt to taste. Stir fry on medium heat till the corn is done. Add sugar, lemon juice, and scraped coconut. Serve hot.

Methi Papad

2008-01-16T03:09:00.000-08:00

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 papads (North Indian variety)
3½ tsp methi seeds
¾ cup oil
50 gms chopped garlic (lahsun)
1 tbsp garlic paste
Salt to taste
¼ tsp turmeric (haldi) powder
2 tsp coriander (dhaniya) powder
1½ tsp chilli powder
¾ cup curd
3 cups water

Preparation:

Dry roast the papad on an open gas flame, hot oven, or grill top and break into medium-sized pieces. Boil the methi seeds, wash with fresh water and strain. Heat oil and lightly fry chopped garlic. Now mix salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, and garlic paste in curd and simmer for 8-10 min. When the masala is fried thoroughly, add the methi seeds and cook for 2-3 min. Add the pieces of roasted papad with three cups of water. Reduce the heat and cool till the papad becomes soft. This preparation should have a gravy of medium thickness.

Raj Kachori

2008-01-16T02:58:00.000-08:00

Serves 20

Ingredients:

500 gms refined flour (maida)
150 gms semolina (suji)
25 gms salt
15 gms red chilli powder
10 gms chaat masala
10 gms chopped coriander (dhaniya)
5 gms chopped green chillies
150 gms kala chana (black gram)
150 gms moong moth
100 ml tamarind chutney (imli)
100 ml mint chutney (pudina)
100 ml hung curd, whisked
100 gms pithi
120 gms boiled and diced potatoes

Preparation:

Mix maida, suji, salt, ½ tsp baking soda and warm oil into a stiff dough. Leave to rise. Mix pithi (paste) with a little red chilli powder, salt and remaining baking soda. Make 20-25 balls of the dough and fill with prepared pithi. Roll with rolling pin. Deep fry, turning sides till evenly coloured. Cool the kachori. Make stuffing of moong moth, potatoes, coriander, chilies and black gram. Season with chat masala and red chili powder.Top the Raj Kachoris with both chutneys and beaten curd.

Sakkarai Pongal

2008-01-16T02:51:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1 cup or 200 gms raw rice
50 gms green gram dal
2 cups or 400 gms jaggery (gud)
1 cup ghee
½ litre milk
¼ cup cashew nut (kaju)
¼ cup raisins (kishmish)
2 tsp cardamom powder (elaichi)
A pinch of menthol

Preparation:

Fry rice and green gram dal in a pan with ghee on fire. Boil the milk in a thick pressure pan. Add the fried rice and dal into the milk, add water and cook under pressure. Prepare syrup with jaggery and water. Add the syrup to the cooked rice and stir well. Stir the sakkarai Pongal well while adding ghee. Mix fried cashewnuts, fried raisins, cardamom powder and menthol. Stir well and remove from fire after it becomes solid and soft. Serve hot.

Til Laddoo

2008-01-16T02:44:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1 cup white Sesame seeds
1 cup jaggery
½ cup raw peanuts roasted
¼ cup canna daal
¼ cup ghee or clarified butter
½ tsp cardamom powder

Preparation:

Roast the sesame seeds and peanuts separately. Keep aside for cooling. After the peanuts are cold, skin it and crush them in a mortar and pestle into big pieces. Heat the ghee in a vessel. When its hot, add the jaggery. The jaggery will liquefy and start to foam and froth. Remove the vessel from heat source and add the sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, roasted channa daal and cardamom powder. Mix well and keep stirring. Using a little ghee to coat your hands take a piece of the warm mixture and form very small balls/ladoos. Store in a container.

Pinni ( a punjabi sweet)

2008-01-16T02:40:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

250 gms wheat flour (atta)
250 gms clarified butter (ghee)
250 gms sugar, ground
3-4 tbsp milk
1 tsp cardamom powder (elaichi)

Preparation:

Melt ghee in a heavy pan. Add, flour and cook on medium to low flame. Stir continuously, till medium brown. Spread in a large plate. Cool till a shade above room temperature. Sprinkle cardamom powder and sugar. Mix well. Sprinkle milk. Mix again and form tight fist shaped pinnies.

Sweet Chikki

2008-01-16T02:32:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :

1 cup groundnuts, skinned, roasted, pounded roughly
¾ cup sticky jaggery
2 tbsp ghee

Preparation:

Heat jaggery in ½ cup water till the syrup is hard ball consistency. Test its consistency by putting a drop in cold water, it should remain firm. Add groundnuts. Grease a board and spread the groundnut-jaggery mixture. Roll flat to 1 cm in thickness. Cut into squares when sufficiently cool and hardened. Store in a container lined with butter paper.

Kurmura Laddoo

2008-01-16T02:24:00.000-08:00

Serve 4

Ingredients:

½ cup kurmura (puffed rice)
½ cup jaggery (gud)
2 tbsp vanaspati or ghee

Preparation:

Make syrup of one-string consistency, with jaggery and one cup of water. Remove from fire. Mix in kurmura and ghee. Form into lime-sized balls. Now laddoss are ready to serve.

Vegetable Rice

2008-01-16T01:56:00.000-08:00

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked rice
100 gms diced carrots
100 gms diced french beans
50 gms diced cauliflower
1 cup boiled peas
50 gms diced celery
1 tsp sugar
3 tsp soya sauce
pepper as per taste
salt to taste

Preparation:

Boil the rice separately. Boil carrots, french beans and cauliflower with some salt. Fry celery in hot oil (1 tbsp). Remove and keep aside. Fry carrots, french beans and cauliflower in hot oil (3 tbsp) for a minute. Add peas, celery, salt and pepper and keep aside. Fry the cooked rice in 2 tbsp oil, add soya sauce, toss in the vegetables and serve hot.

Mix-Veg (Yummy)

2008-01-16T00:34:00.000-08:00

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

¼ kg mixed vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, beans, potatoes), square pieces
200 gms rice
¾ cup toor dal
4 cups water
oil for frying
1 tbsp mustard (sarson) seeds
1 onion, chopped
4-6 tsp ready-made bisi bele bath masala
1 small ball of tamarind (imli)
2 tbsp clarified butter (ghee)
broken cashew nuts (kaaju)
chopped coriander (dhania)

Preparation:

Put the rice and toor dal in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water and pressure cook. After 3 whistles, turn off and let it cool down with the valve still on. In the meantime, boil the diced vegetables in boiling salted water till done, adding the cauliflower towards the end. In a little oil, fry mustard seeds and onions till the onion is translucent. Add bisi bele bath masala to the frying onions (according to how spicy you like it) and stir till the onions are coated. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup water, strain the water into the masala, and mix well. Cook for a few minutes, then add some of the vegetables into the masala and mix thoroughly. Combine this with the rest of the vegetables and rice. Add a little water, season with salt, and cook on a low flame for a few minutes till water is absorbed but the rice is still moist. In 2 tbsp ghee, fry the broken cashew nuts till golden and add with the ghee to the rice. Shake the rice so that the ghee blends in. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve hot.

Masaledar Beans

2008-01-15T23:51:00.000-08:00

Serves 3

Ingredients:

½ kg green beans (trimmed at the ends and cut in half crosswise)
1” long and fresh piece of ginger (adrak), peeled and chopped coarsely
1 cup water
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
2 tsp coriander (dhania) powder
3 tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
Salt to taste
Ground pepper to taste
2-3 tbsp lemon juice

Description:

Grind ginger and garlic with some water to form a smooth paste. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium flame. When hot, put in the cumin seeds. Stir for a few seconds. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Stir and cook for about two minutes. Add the coriander powder and stir for a few seconds. Put in the chopped tomatoes. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Now add the beans, salt and one cup of water. Cover, turn heat to low and cook for 8-10 min or until the beans are tender. After that add the lemon juice and ground pepper. Turn up the heat and boil away the remaining water, stirring the beans gently. Serve hot with plain rice or chapattis.

Pumpkin soup

2008-01-15T04:35:00.000-08:00

700g pumpkin
450g Jerusalem artichokes
1 large onion or 2-3 banana shallots, chopped
40ml olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1.2l chicken or vegetable stock

Cut the pumpkin into wedges and scrape out the seeds. Cut the skin away from the flesh and chop flesh into small pieces. Scrub the artichokes and cut into small square pieces. Sweat the onions, pumpkin and artichokes in the oil until soft, but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes before adding the salt, pepper and stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes (until the vegetables are soft), liquidise and push through a sieve if you’re serving it at a party.

Dry Fruit Pickle

2008-01-15T02:17:00.000-08:00

Description:

Take equal quantities of "dry dates," called the shawarah, khobanee, or apricots;
allobhokara, a species of Arabian plum or damson;
English prunes, rather of the dry sort;
Normandy dry pippins.

Wash and clean them thoroughly, particularly the Arabian dry fruits, which are very dirty, and dry them well in the sun. Stew the dry dates for ten to fifteen minutes, cut them up into rings, and throw away the stones. Make a syrup of good French vinegar, in the proportion of a quarter of a pound of good clean sugar to a quart of French vinegar. After quartering the pippins, arrange them and the other fruit in a wide-mouthed bottle in alternate layers, with finely-sliced ginger, peppercorns, sticks of cinnamon, and small sprinklings of salt; then pour over the whole as much of the vinegar syrup as will entirely cover the fruit; cork the bottle well down, expose it to the sun for a few days, and it will be fit for use in a month.

Tamarind Chutnee

2008-01-15T01:55:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

4 pounds of ripe tamarinds without the stones,
100gm ground chilies,
100gm ginger, and
100gm garlic,
2 ounces of ground cinnamon,
200gm of picked currants,
200gm raisins,
2 pounds of soft sugar,
100gm salt, and
100ml vinegar

Description:

Put the whole into a glazed earthen preserving-pan, pour over it vinegar or syrup, or as much as will entirely cover the mixture, and mix all well together; then allow it to simmer over a quick fire until the vinegar or syrup is absorbed and the chutnee thickened to the required consistency; it must be stirred during the whole time it is on the fire.

Mango Sauce

2008-01-15T01:22:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

6 pounds of peeled and sliced mangoes,
2 pounds of ground raisins,
1 pound of ground garlic,
½ pound of ground chilies,
1 pound and a half of ground ginger,
1 pound of sugar,
2 pounds of salt,
a quart of lime-juice, and
6 quarts of vinegar

Description:

Mix all the above well together, put it into stone jars, and expose it to the sun for twenty days or a month, after which drain away the liquid, which is the sauce; boil it for ten to fifteen minutes, and when cold bottle and cork it.

Apple Chutnee

2008-01-15T01:13:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

200 large ripe apples,
4 ounces of raisins,
7 ounces of salt,
4 ounces of sugar,
8 ounces of chilies, finely sliced,
4 ounces of ground garlic, and
7 ounces of ground mustard-seed

Description:

Parboil the apples in a quart of vinegar, add the other ingredients, and allow the whole to stand for ten to twelve hours; then boil it for twenty to thirty minutes over a slow fire; when cold, bottle it.

Tomato Sauce

2008-01-15T01:10:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

500 tomatoes;
2 pounds of green ginger, ground fine;
1 pound and a half of garlic, ground fine;
1 pound of chilies, ground fine;
1 pound of chilies, ground fine;
1 pound of salt;
3 pounds of tamarinds; and
3 quarts of vinegar

Description:

Steep the tamarinds for twelve hours in a quart of the vinegar; strain them through a sieve, rejecting the stones, and add the other two quarts of vinegar, all the ground ingredients, and salt; break the tomatoes into the mixture, and boil the whole, stirring it all the time until it thickens; remove it from the fire, and when cold strain it carefully and bottle the liquid, which is the sauce.

Seik Kawab

2008-01-14T06:03:00.000-08:00

Condiments
2 tablespoonfuls of mustard oil,
4 teaspoonfuls of ground onions,
1 teaspoonful of ground chilies,
1/2 teaspoonful of ground ginger,
a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground garlic,
1 teaspoonful of ground turmeric,
salt to taste,
a cup of thick tyre or dhye,
1/2 teaspoonful of ground coriander-seed,
the juice of one large lemon,
and a little ghee.

Description

Take two pounds of beef, mutton, or veal; remove the bones, and chop the meat slightly, without mincing or cutting through it; mix well together all the ground condiments, including the oil, tyre, and lemon-juice, in which steep the chopped meat, turning it over occasionally to absorb the mixture. After a while cut up the meat into squares of equal size, say two inches, and continue to keep them in the mixture for fully one hour; then pass the squares of meat either on a silver, plated, or other metal skewer, and roast or broil over a slow charcoal fire, basting the whole time with ghee, to allow the kawab to become of a rich brown colour, without burning or being singed in the basting. Remove from the skewer, and serve hot.

Mango Chatnee with Lots of Spice

2008-01-14T05:48:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 Large Onion
2 Raw mangoes - Medium size
4 to 5 full scoopes of red chilli powder
Red fresh chillis (optional)
Salt to taste

Directions

Peel the raw mangoes & onion, cut them it into pieces. Put the pieces into grinder bowl. Add Red chilli powder, fresh red chillis, green chillis & salt. Grind the above mixture. Now it can be served as side dish with any kind of food.

Malaai Gazar

2008-01-14T05:44:00.000-08:00

Serves 3

Ingredients

1/2 kg peeled carrots
sugar to taste
2 cardamom
1 liter milk
some almonds chopped
1 tbsp ghee

Directions

Thinly sliced carrots. Heat ghee in a vessel and add cardamom seeds then pour milk and bring to boil. Now add carrots, after a boil, lower the flame. Keep stirring until milk reduced to half of the volume, add sugar to taste. Cook until all milk is absorbed and mava appeares. At last Garnish with almonds