Kesar Badam Milk...

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups milk
10-15 almonds
1/6 cup pistachios
a few saffron strands
1/4 tbsp cardamon powder
1/4 cup sugar
water as required


METHOD:

• Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed pan.Continue heating even after the milk boils.
• Heat about a liter of water in another pan and add the almonds and the pistachios. Continue heating until the almonds expand.
• Drain off the water and wash the nuts with cold water.
• The skin of the almonds and the pistachios can be easily removed now.
• Now grind the almonds and pistachios into a smooth paste and add it to the milk and stir well.
• Add the saffron strands,sugar and cardamon powder and mix well.
• Continue heating the milk for a few more minutes.
• When the milk becomes a little thicker than before,cool it .
• Refrigerate it for 1-2 hours and serve it cold.

Butter Chicken Masala

Butter Chicken Masala is a all time favorite dish in Indian cuisine. Lightly seasoned chicken dish enriched with butter and cream. Butter Chicken Masala recipe love by all age people.Serve with any Indian bread of your choice with Naan, Butter Naan or Garlic Naan.


Ingredients to cook Butter Chicken Masala:

• 1 kg    - Boneless chicken skin removed
• 2 tsps  – Garam masala
• 2 tsps  – Coriander powder
• 1 tsp     - Cumin powder
• 1 tsp     - Red chilli powder
• 1 cup     - Fresh yoghurt
• 1 nos    – Lime
• 1/4 tsp – Turmeric powder
• 8-10     - Peppercorns
• 6 nos     - Cloves
• 1 inch  stick – Cinnamon
• Cardamom  – Seeds from 3-4 pods
• 2 nos   - Bay leaves
• 2 tsps – Garlic paste
• 1 tsp – Ginger paste
• 8 to 10 – Almonds
• 2 nos – Onions chopped
• 1/2 litre – Chicken stock
• 3 tbsps    - Oil
• 3 tbsps – Butter
• Salt as per taste
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Direction to cook Butter Chicken Masala:
1. Marinate the chicken with lime juice, salt and red chilli powder in a bowl for an 1 hour.
2. Roast the cloves,cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorns, bay leaves and almonds till they brown slightly and then powder coarsely
3. Prepare the marinade by mixing the yoghurt, whole spice powder and all the other spices together and Marinate the chicken with the above for another 1 hour.
4. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions till golden brown before adding the ginger and garlic pastes. Fry for a minute.
6. Add only the chicken from the chicken-spice mix and fry till chicken will turn opaque .Now add the chicken stock and remaining part of the mix to the chicken.
7. Cook till the chicken is done and stirring frequently. gravy is reduced to half its original volume.Now Melt the butter and pour it over the chicken.
8. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and green chillies. Serve with any Indian bread of your choice like Naan ,Butter Naan or Garlic Naan.

Jevnache Taat

Jevanache Taat

A festive Maharashtrian meal can be very elaborate. It contains arrays of different vegetables, pulses, sweets and salads. The order in which the thali is presented is also given utmost importance. When arranging a meal, consider thali as a clock, the number 12 position is salt, to its left is a lemon wedge, and then to the left are array of chutney,pickels,(loncha) and salad koshimbir. To the right side of salt are different vegetables like paatal bhaji (vegetable curry),paale bhaji (leafy greens), suki bhaji (dry stir fry), usal (sprouts),amti (daals). Cooked white rice is molded in a small mound called bhatachi mood, with a bright yellow plain daal (varan) annointed with a dollop of clarified butter (toop).
There may be another variety of spicy rice dishes like masale bhaat. There could be two three types of chutneys typically a green chutney and tamrind,jaggery chutney. Koshimbeer – raw salads generally paired with roasted peanut powder (daanyache koot) and flavored with either lemon juice or a plainyogurt based koshimbeer. Mattha – a spiced buttermilk is always served with such an elaborate meal along with a variety of sweets like jalebi, shrikhand, modak, puranpoli etc. There could also be some fried crispies like bhuji (fritte rs), kothimbeer vadi or papad or saandge & Kurdaya.
If the meal is for any religious festivities, onions and garlic are avoided. I have eaten elaborate meals during weddings and big family functions. There are some other mandatory rituals before actually eating the meal as well. You need to pay your respects to food which is considered poornabramha – God. My grandfather used to recite the following Marathi prayer:

Kitchen Vastu

LOCATION OF A KITCHEN:

• First Preference: South-East corner.
  
• Second Preference: An alternative choice is the North-West corner.
• Avoid: North-East is not preferred in most parts in India.
  

DOOR POSITION TO THE KITCHEN:

• Preference: In the North, East or in the North-East corner of the Kitchen.
• The door should open in a clockwise direction.

WINDOW LOCATION IN A KITCHEN:

• The ventilators and larger Kitchen windows should be in the East direction.
• The smaller windows can be in the South.
• There should be adequate provision for cross ventilation.

COOKING STOVE POSITION:

• The cooking stove is best placed in the South East.
• One should cook facing East as much as possible.
• The stove should not be visible from the outside.

KITCHEN SINK POSITION:

• The ideal position for the location of the Kitchen sink is in the North East.
• The cooking gas and the washing sink should be kept away from each other.
• Water taps should not be in the corner.
• There should be no leaking taps in the kitchen.

WATER FILTER LOCATION:

• The water filter and drinking water should be stored in the North East corner. 

ELECTRIC APPLIANCES LOCATIONS:

• The Refrigerator can be placed in the North-West or the South-West.
• Electrical appliances like microwave can be put in the South-East corner.
• Exhaust fans in the eastern walls in the South-East corner. 

KITCHEN STORAGE:

• No overhead storage cupboards, or shelves above the the cooking stove.
• It is useful to have overhead storage in the rest of the areas.

EATING IN THE KITCHEN:

• According to Vastu, the Kitchen is the best place to have the daily meals.
• If there is a dining table in the kitchen, it can be in the North West corner.
• Avoid a dining table in the center of the room.

COLORS IN THE KITCHEN:

• It is good to have a lot of green color in the kitchen. For example green granite for flooring or green pictures, as this helps improve the appetite of the family members.
• Other suitable colours are soft pink and orange.

POSITION OF THE KITCHEN:

DIRECTION	POINTS
SOUTH-EAST	10
NORTH-WEST	9
EAST	8
WEST	7
SOUTH	6
NORTH	5
NORTH-EAST	4
SOUTH-WEST	3

Chettinad Mushroom Masala

Ingredients  
Mushroom - 2 cups (chopped)
Tomato - 1
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 strand
Oil - 2 tblsp
Cilantro - for garnish
 
Spice Mixture
  Peppercorns- 1 tsp
Dry red chillies - 2
  Coriander seeds - 1 tblsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Shallot onions - 2-3
Garlic cloves - 2

Method
1. Roast all the ingredients under 'spice mixture' separately till a nice aroma is released. If you do not have time roast everything together.
2. Once it cools, grind it to a coarse powder and keep aside.
3. Clean the mushroom using a paper towel and chop it lengthwise.
4. Heat oil in a pan, splutter the mustard seeds and curry leaves.
5. Add the chopped mushrooms to this and saute for 5 minutes till the mushrooms get a
nice color. Do not add water. The water from the mushroom is sufficient.
6. Add the tomatoes  required salt and turmeric powder. Cover and let it cook for a few minutes.
7. Add the spice mixture and mix everything for a minute.
8. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve as a side-dish for rice or roti or use as a stuffing for mushroom puffs or masala dosa.

Tips
   - A tblsp of grated coconut can also be added along with the spice mixture for added flavor.

Papad Sabji

 

 

Ingredients:

2-3 medium sized papads

1 tbsp curds
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1-2 pinches turmeric
1-2 pinches asafoetida
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 mustard seeds
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp chopped coriander
Salt To Taste
1 cup water

Preparation:

• Break the papads into 1 inch squares.
• Heat ghee in a saucepan, add seeds.
• Add asafoetida. Add chilli powder and curds simultaneously. Stir till curds brown
• Add turmeric, water and salt. Boil.
• Add papads and coriander.
• Boil for 3-4 minutes.
• Serve papad ki sabzi hot with chappatis.

Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:4 cups all purpose flour (I used unbleached all purpose flour)
1 and 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
2 cups sugar
1 tea spn baking soda
2 cups butter
1 tea spn cardamom powder
Few raisins

Method:Preheat the oven at 275F for 10mins.
Melt the butter. Add it to all other ingredients(except raisins) and mix.
Line the cookie sheet with silver foil (for easy clean up). Make small balls of the dough and keep it on the sheet. Leave around 2 inches space between two cookies.
Keep a raisin on top of each ball and slightly push it in the dough.
Bake for about 20mins or till done.
Makes about 80 cookies