kala jamoon

for jamoon

• jamoon mix + sugar + food color + cardamom powder + milk + water

make 2 portions of the jamoon mix (in 1/3rd and 2/3rd ratio). To the 1/3rd mix add food color, make a smooth dough for jamoon with very little kneading. Use 50%milk and 50% water and 1 tsp of sugar to make the dough,.also add some cardamom powder while mixing.

remaining 2/3rd mix, mix sufficient moisture and 2 tsp sugar and mix to form a smooth plain dough.

pinch a small ball of plain dough, give it a sound shape, fatten and place a smaller pinch of colored dough and roll up neatly. Repeat the procedure to make all the jamoons

sugar syrup

• add sugar to water in 1:1 ratio and bring it to a boil.. Once boiling, add a pinch of cardamom powder and saffron.

frying the jamoons:

heat oil in a pan for deep frying and once the oil is medium hot (not very hot). On a low flame fry the jamoons to golden brown, take out and drain excess oil over a kitchen towel. Deep fry the other batches, take additional care to avoid clustering too many jamoons in a batch and keep rotating the oil gently for even coloring and uniform frying. Fry the cooled jamoons again. This time they will fry to be dark brown/black. The sugar in the dough gives this color after caramelizing. 

while the (twice fried) jamoons are still warm add them to the hot syrup and keep the syrup warm. You can either keep it in a rice cooker or keep the stove on very very low flame to keep the syrup warm. Let the jamoons soak all the syrup for a minimum of 2 hrs.

Transfer the jamoons on to a plate/serving dish discarding the excess syrup. Make sure the syrup is well coated on all sides of jamoon. 

chill in the refrigerator and top it with finely grated/powdered coconut and sugar before serving

paneer do pyaza

All that you'l need

• One big (or 2 medium sized onion) very finely chopped, better minced in a blender/chopper without water.
• 1 green chili minced
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder (optional to taste)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4th green bell pepper finely chopped
• paneer as much as u like, more the merrier :) chopped into small pieces or better crumbled.
• 2 tbl spn oil for cooking
• touch of ghee/butter
• 2 tbl spn cream
• 2 tbl spn curd/yogurt, well beaten
• salt to taste
• 1 small tomato finely chopped
• chopped cilantro for garnish

Heat oil in a pan, add ginger garlic paste, onion, green chili and cook until the onion turns golden brown add in capsicum/bell peppers and stir fry well until the mixture leave out oil.

Add paneer and mix, add garam masala, coriander powder and red chili powder and mix. Finally add in tomato and cook on a low-medium heat. The mixture should be dry and a lil greasy. Once tomatoes turn soft add in curd and mix well, add cream and give it a good stir. Add sugar and salt to taste, give it a touch of ghee/butter (optional) and let cook on low heat for 5 min, with frequent stirring.

Give it a taste check and adjust spices to taste. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot as a side dish with roti/naan/chapati..

PS> You could also add some green peas!

Bijapur Koli Saaru / Chicken curry

Cut chicken into 1" cubesand set aside.

In a pan dry roast a small stick of cinnamon, 2/3 cloves, 2whole cardamom, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1/2 cup fresh/frozen grated coconut, 1 tsp grated dry coconut. Toast all of these together  on a low flame until the coconut turns reddish brown. Cool and ground to a smooth paste adding very lil water.

In a pot heat 3 tsp oil. Add in chopped onion (i used half of a large one, if using small variety add 2 full onions chopped) Saute for a while. Mix 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, stir and fry until onion turns brownish. Add the ground coconut paste and mix, cook for a minute or two, add 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp (more as per taste,spicier the better),1 tsp garam masala and salt to taste.Mix and cook until oil separates. Add 1/2cup tomato puree (puree made from 1 and a half tomatoes).Mix and bring it to a nice boil. Add in chicken pieces, sprinkle some black pepper powder over the chicken pieces, cover with a lid and cook on medium heat, for 10min, gently stirring in between. Add a hand full of fresh chopped cilantro, a few strands of mint leaves chopped and pieces of a slit green chili ( authentically a bijapur hasi mensinkayi). Add some water to get the desired consistency of curry (saaru) and cook without covering until it comes to a good boil and its DONE :) Garnish with a strand of cilantro and serve with hot steamed rice! also jawar rotti (Jolada riotti) with cucumber and fresh onion slices makes an ideal combination :)

blackforest cake.. Valentines' special :)

I know its been a month ro Valentine's..but yesss I am running a month slow in posting recipe.. there are few more pics and quick delicious recipes waiting in queue.. including PINEAPPLE pastry :), daal bhati and more! will try to catch up soon :)


here's blackforest cake..

ingredients

For sponge cake: 

 1 cup maida/all purpose flour

 1 tbl spn baking powder

 2 tbl spn cocoa powder (i used unsweetened.. if it is sweetened add less sugar)- no need of cocoa if you want plain sponge cake for other cakes...non chocolaty ones!

 3/4th cup sugar (granulated/powdered sugar)

 2 tsp ghee (or unsalted butter at room temperature), may add some drops of fresh oil as well

 1 tsp vanilla essence

 3 eggs

For icing

 1 small cup of water

 3/4 tsp sugar

 1tsp vanilla essence

 whipped cream (you get ready whipped cream- more convenient..or you may buy heavy whip cream can and whip it yourself-very tideous)

 1 tbl spn chocolate chips- (just grate any hard chocolate at home :)

Procedure

Pre heat oven at 350 F for 10 to 15min meanwhile..

break 3 eggs carefully separating the whites and yolks. Add whites in a blender and whisk well for around 4-5 min, until its thick and frothy, . If you whisk by hand may take very long! Beat egg yokes separately in a large mixing bowl. (you may mix dry ingredients-flour,baking powder together separately.. i dint). Mix sugar with egg yolks and gently whisk. Add oil+ghee/butter and keep mixing gently. Add the frothy egg whites and be very gently while you mix. Add dry ingredients slowly taking care not to form lumps and not to over mix.. 

pour the batter into baking tray (you can line tray with wax paper or grease with ghee and dust some flour.. I use a silver/aluminium foil lining.. keeps tray clean and cake comes out clean and easy). 

bake for 15-20min..after 15min keep checking and take out once a toothpick pierced at the center comes out clean

cool completely ..cut into half (if you want layered). In a bowl mix water, sugar and vanilla extract to form a syrup (recipe asks for some liquor.. i did not have any.:) ) spread the sugar syrup generously over a layer (makes it juicy and keeps moist). Spread generous layer of whipped cream.. using a bread knife or back of wide spoon.Place another layer repeat procedure with sugar syrup and cream... spread cream neat and clean over the sides too.. and finally sprinkle grated chocolate!.. cherry and strawberry pieces gain you extra credit on decoration :)

to cut in heart shape.. soon after the cake cools and you cut into 2 halves..you need to draw top 3/4th of heart on a paper and cut the layers with knife, keeping the paper on the top layer..use the remaining cut pieces to finish the bottom triangle (1/4th) of th heart :).. i went wrong in the bottom part :( sob sob...but Taste was none the less Purrrrfect :)

This may seem lengthy but apart from 20min baking time and 15-20min cooling time.. you need hardly 20 min to get it done

apple pie

I always wanted to try this.. apple pie from scratch.. sounds tedious but believe me is simple and all your efforsts are worth it :)

It does not consume much of effort.. but does consume time!!.. wondering how is that possible.. yes it is.. time consuming but not effort consuming.. as most of the time that it consumes is in refrigerator and oven.. nothing much in your hands you see :)

here are the ingredients.. i took the recipe from a link i stumbled upon in search of it.. and added some improvisations to suit our taste buds :)

for crust:

• 2 cups of flour - 1cup of all purpose (maida) flour and 1 cup of wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1tbl spn butter, or a lil more but not melted (i used ghee, which was solid because of weather.. you may refrigerate ir for a while and then use)
• 5 tablespoons of cold water- i refrigerated water for some minutes
• 1 egg (for brushing, helps the surface get golden, i used milk instead)

for filling:

• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2/3 cup of white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (i used jam instead see below)
• 1 and a half medium-sized apples (peeled and copped 1" pieces)
• 2 tsp mixed fruit jam (optional, the original recipe did not mention this, I used it as it had perfect flavor of cinnamon and fruits)
• crushed nuts and raisins

Place the flour, salt, and butter in a large bowl. With a pastry blender or fork, smash up the butter until it forms tiny balls with the flour. Then slowly add the cold water.

Knead with floured hands until a large dough ball forms. Split the ball in half and wrap one of the piece in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped dough in the refrigerator(freezer for 30min).

On a floured counter-top, begin to roll the rest half dough out into a think circle shapeed about the size, lil larger than pie pan(i used a wide glass bowl). Some people prefer to place a layer of plastic wrap on top of the dough as it's being rolled so that it doesn't stick to the rolling pin

place the rolled dough over the pan, being careful not to let it tear. Fit it into the pan, pressing it against all the sides

Place the pie shell in the refrigerator (freezer)

Make the filling. Peel and slice the apples into pieces about 1/8 of an inch thick or chop them into 1/2" cubes. Put them into a large bowl and mix with sugar, salt, lemon juice, flour, and cinnamon (again as i mentioned earlier I used 2 tsp of mixed fruit jam)shake over to cover the top of mixture. Place in refrigerator(freezer)

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Roll out the remaining ball of dough on a floured surface, just like you did before


cut it into 1" thin long strips .

Pour the filling into the pie shell, spreading it out with the back of a spoon. There should be enough filling to fill the entire pan and stack up above the edge at least an inch in the center


Brush the edges of the pie shell with milk


place the strips in criss cross fashion as shown in the pic  Cut out edges if they are long and make designs with fork while attaching strips to the base of crust.


Sprinkle milk over the top or brush the lattice with the egg wash. This will help to brown the crust. Dust sugar over the top crust for an extra touch


Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) for 15 minutes. Turn down the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) for 45 minutes.

Allow pie to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature before serving.

home baked pizza with tandoori paneer topping- Indian Ishtyle ;-)

1. in a mixing bowl take 1 cup warm water [luke warm..hot water will kill the yeast!!]

2.add 2tsp yeast [1tsp per cup of flour], add 2 tsp sugar and salt to taste, mix slightly add 1/4th cup of all purpose flour on top and set aside for 10-15 min..preferably in a warm place.

3. you will notice some froth on the yeast mixture..add 3/4 cup of all purpose flour and 1 cup of wheat flour [you may add entire all purpose flour alone.. but wheat flour is generally considered healthy and easy to digest] add 2 tsp of thick yogurt/curd knead to form a very sft dough. [dough tends to be sticky!] If the dough is tight you may add some water or milk to make it soft.

4. apply some oil on the surface of the dough, cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let it rest in a warm place for a minimum of 1 hr.

5. mean while marinate cubes of paneer, bell pepper, tomato and mushrooms in a mixture of 2tbl spn thick yogurt, 1/2tsp cumin pwder, 1/2 tsp corriander powder, 1/2tsp garam masala powder 1/2tsp crushed kasoori methi , 1/2 tsp chili powder and salt to taste. set aside for 30min

6. chop onions and slightly saute them add the marinated mixture and cook for a while.

7 prepare pizza sauce by blanching tomatoes and removing the skin. puree one peeled tomato and finely chop one more peeled tomato.

8  in a saucepan add smeolive oil [i used  normal vegetable canola oil :) but olive oil is preferable] add some chili powder, minced garlic, garam masala and chopped green bell pepper saute for a while.

9  add chopped tomatoes and tomato puree cook on a low flame for almost 20min, get the consistency of sauce to medium thick

10. once the dough is puffed up, punch in a lil to remove uneven air bubbles, knead a bit and set aside for another 10min

11. pre heat the oven to 400F-450F ..mean while on a work space spread some dry flour and roll the dough over it, place the mass of dough over round tava(flat pan) and spread to give the shape of the tava. Slightly heat the tava, with some ghee/butter applied on the dough, on small flame. make sure you just heat the base and slightly cook one side of it [the bottom side] while it is being heated add topings. spread the sauce first, you may mix some store bought tomato ketchup with it. Evenly spread the topings

[if you do not wish the tandoori paneer topping, feel free to add your own.. just raw pieces of onion, bell peppers, bla bla bla..your favs would be just fine]

12. add the greated cheese [i did not cos i already used paneer-lots and was happy with that],spread evenly, sprinkle some olive oil on top [again i used regular oil..big deal!! :)], gently brush some milk on the peripherals of the crust..to enhance rich brown color!

13  the tava can go in the oven if its oven safe along with the pizza.. which acts like pizza stone..else what i did was carefully shift it on a aluminium foil and place it over an inverted baking tray in the oven.

14  in 20 min or whn you notice the melted cheese turning brown at the crust.. you are ready to bring your pizza out of oven..:) let it cool for 10 min and then cut and enjoy munching home baked PIZZA..with all your fav sauce/ketch ups,

if you are interested in thin crust pizza.. thats coming up soon :)

chocolate brownie

this is a recipe inspired from one of the blogs, i stumbled upon searching for a brownie recipe, It sounded simple and assured good results and hence i went ahead with it.. so here is the recipe with a lil bit of improvisations from my end

1/2 cup ghee (or melted butter, i mix some vegetable oil with ghee..)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup maida (all purpose flour)
1/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
some almonds, walnuts chopped

Preheat oven to 350F / 180. Grease and dust some flour on the pan you would use. I use the aluminium fil wrap when i bake it in glass dish,since metal is supposed to work better and faster in oven. Mix ghee+oil, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one by one and mix well after each addition. Add the cocoa powder mix thoroughly.Lastly add the flour, baking powder and salt mix very well. Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until done.


Let it cool completely and you may add frosting if you wish. I was happy with enough chocolate in it and so i dint :)