Khasta Dhania Mathri - For SNC

Hi everyone ,

 Feeling very happy to be back to blogging ( where I feel I belong ) after a very long time.

 Today I am posting a very delicious snack item from Bihar-Uttar Pradesh for The  south-vs-north-challenge an event started by Divya Pramil . This month the North team was challenged by none other than  Priya Suresh with Cashew pakodas and we the South team were challenged by   Nupur of ukrasoi.com. with these crispy addictive and  flaky mathris .

 I was unable to blog for many weeks due to vacations, some family functions and above all wanted to devote some time to my craft venture. I am very glad that I am getting a very good response to my handcrafted items . Would really feel very happy if you visit my new FB page  https://www.facebook.com/NayanasKreativeKrafts  and give your valuable opinions.

Ingredients :

1 cup....................wheat flour
1 cup....................maida
4 tbsp..................oil
2 tbsp................ghee
1/2 cup.............chopped fresh coriander
4 tbsp................dried kasuri methi
1/2 tsp each ......pepper powder, jeera powder, chilli powder
1/2 tsp..............ajwain
3/4 tsp..............salt
water for kneading
oil for deep frying

Method :

Mix all the above ingredients first with fingers to form a coarse mixture.
Now slowly add water and knead to a hard dough.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth for half an hour.
Heat the oil for frying.
When the oil is hot lower the heat to medium.
Make small balls of the dough and flatten them with your palm.
Drop them 5 to 6 at a time in the frying pan and fry till crisp on slow medium flame.
As the mathris are thick they need to be fried for a longer period .
If you high the flame then the mathris with become brown  outside but remain soft inside.
Serve these crispy yummy mathris with a steaming hot cup of tea or coffee.

Mawa Gujiya

Today is Holi and here I am with one of the most popular sweets which is enjoyed during Holi . I know I am late in posting as Holi is almost over but then better late than never . The day went in celebrations and making of the sweets and so have to post the entry this late.

Some of the savory items which are enjoyed during this day are kachoris, samosas and among the sweets are  puran polis in south and jalebi and gujhias in north. 

These mawa gujhiyas are relished all over North India on the day of Holi and are the must for this special occasion.  And this is the reason why we were given this lovely and apt challenge by  santosh bangar our host for  south-vs-north-challenge an event by Divya. They were simply heavenly.

Ingredients :

For the cover :

2 cups......................maida
4 tbsp ...................ghee
a pinch ..................salt
warm water


For the filling : 

200 gm .....................mawa
1 cup........................fresh grated coconut
2 tbsp.....................ghee
100 gm ....................sugar
1 /2 tsp....................saffron extract
1/2 tsp....................crushed cardamom seeds
2 tbsp....................almond slivers
2 tbsp....................raisins

Oil for deep frying .

Method :


Add ghee in maida and salt and rub with your fingers.

Add water and knead a semi soft dough.

Cover the dough with wet cloth and keep aside for 1 hour.

In a pan heat 2 tbsp ghee and add crumbled mawa into it.

Roast mawa till it becomes light golden.

Now add sugar and coconut and fry till sugar melts and mixture thickens.

Switch the gas and add saffron, almonds, raisins and cardamom powder.

Mix everything and let the mixture cool down.

Now make approximately 15 balls of the dough.

Also divide the mawa mixture into 15 equal parts.

Roll each ball into a round puri.

Keep the mawa mixture in middle of the puri and apply water on half edge of the puri .

Now fold the other half of puri on it to make a semicircle.

Press with your fingers to seal the ends or fold the edges and seal them.

Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry 2 to 3 gujias at a time.

Fry on  a medium flame till the gujias are golden and crisp.

Remove with a slotted spoon draining out all the oil.

Serve hot or cold as you like.

Malai Kofta

Malai Kofta needs no introduction as I think it is the most popular vegetarian dish from North India. Deep fried koftas made of paneer in a rich creamy gravy is very irresistible . This month we were challenged by  Nupur  with this yummy dish for SNC   a well known event started by Divya Pramil .

Making  this was a very wonderful experience and we all loved it. But since I made this dish on the day when we were fasting I had to omit the onions and garlic but still the dish was unbelievably tasty. Thanks Nupur for this wonderful challenge.

Recipe Source : www.ukrasoi.com

Ingredients :

For the Koftas :

100 gm ..................paneer ( cottage cheese)
2 to 3 ...................boiled potatoes
2 tbsp...................instant milk powder
2 tbsp..................corn flour
1 tbsp each .........cashews, raisins, grn chillies, coriander
salt
oil for deep frying

For the Gravy :

5 to 6 .....................tomatoes ( pureed )
1 tbsp......................ginger paste
1 tsp.......................chilly powder
1/2 tsp...................turmeric powder
1 tsp......................dhana jeera powder
2 tbsp each............instant milk powder, cashews, poppy seeds
2 tbsp...................thick fresh cream
1/2 tsp...................jeera
2 .........................bay leaves
fistful...................chopped coriander
1 cup or more ....milk
4 tbsp................pure ghee
salt


Method for Koftas :


Peel the boiled potatoes and mash them well.

Add paneer , salt, milk powder, potato mash and cornflour .

Mix properly and make lemon sized balls.

Mix separately cashew pieces, raisings, finely chopped green chillies and coriander.

Make a dent in the paneer ball and fill 1/4 tsp of cashew mixture in it.

Close the ball from all sides and give it a little elongated shape.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the koftas till golden in colour.

Method for Gravy :

Heat ghee in a pan and add jeera and bay leaves.

Then add tomato puree and stir fry till the water evaporates and raw smell disappears.

Ghee will start separating from the puree.

Add ginger paste  and all dry masala powder and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

Grind a paste of poppy seeds, cashews and instant milk powder.

Add this to the pan along with 1 cup milk and cook till the gravy boils and thickens.

You can further dilute the gravy with milk if it is too thick.

While serving boil the gravy add fresh cream, chopped coriander and carefully add the fried koftas.

Give just one boil and serve hot with parathas or naans.

Do not boil the gravy again and again or the koftas will bread as they are very soft.

Rajasthani Mini Ghevar

For the south-vs-north-challenge   group started by Divya Pramil  this is a celebration  month and we the members are posting the recipes we have missed .

Since few days back I posted a delcious recipe of    green-peas-kachori-with-dum-aloo  by   Sanoli Ghosh    so today I decided to chose this Rajasthani sweet Ghevar which was challenged by Manjula of Desi Fiesta in the month of January . As I was not a member that time I did not get the chance to make this delicious sweet. So decided to grab the opportunity and try out this sweet for celebration month.

 Though at first I thought that the recipe was very complicated and tricky I must admit that Manjula has explained it in such details that if you follow all the instructions by her you will never go wrong. These ghevars though need lot of patience while frying as they are very fragile and careless mishandling will yield you nothing but pieces of ghevars which too were equally tasty.


The only different thing that I have done is adding ice cubes while whisking the ghee. I also added some milk and reduced water by that much amount. This tip I read in www.vahrehvah.com  a blog by a well known chef  Sanjay Thumma .  I find this blog very helpful and the tips given by him have never ever failed me.

The end result was just mind blowing and I was mighty satisfied at myself for successfully recreating this delicate sweet.

Ingredients :

5 tbsp.....................maida
1 tbsp...................solid ghee ( used homemade)
2 ..........................ice cubes
1/2 cup ...............milk
1/4 cup..............water
few drops.............liquid saffron essence
oil or ghee for deep frying


For the sugar syrup :

2 cups ..................sugar
3/4 cup ..............water
1/4 tsp.................cardamom powder

Boil sugar and water till the mixture is semi thick ( 1 string consistency ) . Sprinkle cardamom powder and keep the syrup aside.

For Garnish :

few.....................almond slivers
few....................pistachio slivers
1/2 tsp..............crushed cardaomoms
edible silver foil

Method :

In a vessel take 1 tbsp solid ghee and add to it 2 ice cubes.

Now with your hands mix both very well for five minutes.

The ice cubes will melt and mixture will become very white and fluffy.

Now start mixing maida in this ghee one spoon at a time along with some milk.

Keep on mixing with your hands.

At first it may seem that the mixture is curdling , but don't worry.

Keep on mixing to avoid lump formation.

When all the maida and milk is over you will get smooth mixture like that of pancake batter.

Now add water 1 tsp at a time to get pouring consistency .

Take a tall vessel and fill it 1/4 with oil or ghee.

When the ghee is smoking hot pour a ladle full of the batter from as high as possible.






It will fall in ghee and spread out to the sides of the vessel.

Pour till the surface of vessel is covered with batter.

Lower the flames and fry till golden in color and crisp.

Now slowly and very carefully  lift the ghevar with a skewer and let the ghee drain out .






Then dip it gently in sugar syrup.

Spoon some syrup of top of the ghevar without turning it.

These ghevars are very delicate and may crumble while turning.

After few minutes take them out of the syrup carefully with a large perforated spoon.

Lay them on plate and spread the edible silver foil on top.

Garnish them with almond and pistachio slivers.

Serve these melt in mouth ghevars to all your near and dear ones.

Green Peas Kachori With Dum Aloo

This month for the south-vs-north-challenge  an event started by Divya Pramil   it was decided that the members will post any of the previous recipes which they had missed out .

So I chose this yummy Kachori with Dum Aloo recipe which was challenge by a dear blogger friend  Sanoli Ghosh   for the month of february and at that time I had not joined the group .

 I am so glad that I tried it as  turned out to be one hit recipe .The kachoris were simply delicious and combined with Dum Aloo they were simply irresistible.

This was really a wonderful dish Sanoli . Glad that I got a chance to make it.

Ingredients :

For the outer cover :

 2 cups .....................maida
4 tbsp........................oil
1 tsp........................salt
oil for deep frying

Knead a soft but firm dough using water and keep aside covered with a wet muslin cloth
till further use.



For  the filling :

2 cups ..................shelled green peas
2 tbsp...................ginger chilly and coriander ( roughly ground )
1 tsp....................cumin seeds ( roughly crushed)
1 tsp....................fennel seeds ( roughly crushed)
1/2 tsp....................cumin - coriander powder
1/2 tsp...................turmeric powder
2 tbsp....................oil
salt

Method :

Par boil the green peas and when cold grind them coarsely in the grinder without water.





In a non stick pan heat oil and add cumin seeds.

Then add ginger chilly coriander paste and saute till it gives out nice aroma.

Now add roughly ground peas and saute till the rawness disappears.

Add all masalas and salt and stir for 5 minutes.

The filling for kachoris is ready.


To make kachoris :

Make 15 to 16 balls of the dough .

Also make same number of balls of the filling.

Roll the balls into puri shape.



Put the filling and cover from all sides.



Press and roll the puri taking care that the filling doesn't come out.

Deep fry in hot oil till golden and crisp.

Serve hot with dum aloo.

For Dum Aloo :

5 to 6 .....................potatoes ( boiled)
2 to 3 ....................tomatoes (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp..................cumin seeds ( roughly crushed )
1/2 tsp .................fennel seeds ( roughly crushed)
2..........................bay leaves
2 to 3 .................cinnamon pieces
3 to 4 ................cloves
1 tsp....................ginger and chilly ( finely chopped)
1 tsp..................cumin coriander powder
1/2 tsp...............garam masala
1 tsp...................red chilly powder
1/2 tsp..............turmeric powder
1 cup................sour yogurt
4 tbsp...............oil
oil for deep frying potatoes
chopped coriander leaves ( for garnishing)
salt

Method :

Peel and cube the boiled potatoes.

Deep fry them till golden and keep aside.




Heat oil in a pan and add cumin , fennel , cloves , cinnamon and bay leaf.

Now add tomatoes and saute till oil separates.

Add all the masala powders and saute till it gives out nice aroma.

Add whipped yogurt and saute for 5 minutes.

Add fried potatoes and stir for 2 minutes.

If too thick add little water .

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with peas kachori.

Litti Chokha ( For SNC )

For this month's Divya's south-vs-north-challenge  we were challenged by   Nupur of uk-rasoi  to make a Bihari dish called Litti Chokha which was a totally new name for me. Then when I read how to make this dish it almost sounded as if I had to recreate a dish like Rajasthani Daal Baati. But when I actually made and tasted them they were very very different and had a unique taste.

Litti Chokha is a traditional Bihari dish and I wonder how come I hadn't come across this till now. This dish was an instant hit with my family and the taste of Chokha ( Bihari Potato Bharta) was divine.  I have however fried the Littis though I personally would have preferred to oven bake them but then unfortunately my oven is giving me some problems and had no choice but to fry them. Though they tasted yummy I kept on feeling guilty eating these fried liitis.

 The Littis or the stuffed wheat balls are in themselves a treat and can be had with pickle for breakfast. Though the dish sounds complicated it is very easy to make provided you get ready made Sattu ka Atta at your grocery shop.

Thanks to Nupur for suggesting such a wonderful dish and introducing us to the unknown wonders of Bihari cuisine.

Ingredients :

( For the Littis cover ) :

2 cups ..................wheat flour
1/2 tsp..................owa ( ajwain seeds)
2 tbsp....................ghee
1/2 cup .................warm water
1/4 tsp..................baking soda
salt

Mix wheat flour and ajwain with soda and ghee and knead a smooth and firm dough and keep aside.


For the Pitti (or filling ) :

1 cup .......................sattu ka atta
1 tbsp......................finely chopped ginger
1 tbsp....................finely chopped green chilly
1/2 cup..................finely chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp.......................cumin seeds
1 tsp.......................ajwain seeds
2 tbsp.....................lemon juice
1 tbsp.....................vegetable oil
salt

Add all the ingredients together and mix well.

Add little water if necessary and mix gently with fingers to resemble bread crumbs.

To make the Littis :

Make 10 to 12 equal sized balls of the dough.

Press these balls on your palms to the size of a small puri.

Put 1 to 2 tsp pitti on this and close the dough from all sides.

Make a ball and press it a little to resemble the shape of a big pedha.

When all the littis and filled in such a way deep fry them in oil on a slow flame till golden in colour.

You can also bake them in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes by applying oil on surface.

Take care to turn them once or twice while baking to ensure even baking on both sides.

These are the littis or the stuffed balls.

For the Chokha :

4 to 5 .....................boiled potatoes ( skin peeled and mashed)
2 ............................onions finely chopped
2 ............................tomatoes
5 to 6 ....................garlic cloves
2............................green chillies finely chopped
1 tbsp....................grated ginger
2 tbsp....................finely chopped coriander leaves
2 tbps....................mustard oil
salt

Roast the tomato and garlic on the gas on direct flame till almost burnt.

When the tomato cools remove the black roasted skin.

Now mash the tomato and garlic with your hands .

Add all the other ingredients well and keep aside.

This is called chokha and is to be served with Littis.

How to serve :

Place some chokha in a bowl.

Break the littis and add a spoon full of ghee on top of them.

Serve these hot ghee dipped littis with chokha.

Mysore Paak - Celebration post for SNC Challenge

Last year when I first read about Divya's North And South Challenge I was in two minds . This wonderful group was started by a dear friend Divya Pramil  . She was one of the first few persons with whom I really became comfortable because of her friendly and helpful nature. But whether to be a part of the team or no was a very confusing decision . Because I thought that some months I may not be able to do the dish that is asked due to my other commitments . But then after two months I became a member of this group and since then enjoyed myself a lot.

 I feel very proud to be the member of this group as this is the first group which I joined after entering this blogging world , so obviously SNC  group is very close to my heart.

And now as the group has completed one year successfully I am celebrating its birthday by a very popular south sweet Mysore Paak though I too am from the south team. But then who can resist making this lovely melt in the mouth sweet.

It turned out to be superbly delicious but it hardened immediately, whereas I like the soft version.

Ingredients :

1 cup .....................besan
1/2 cup..................oil
3/4 cup ...................ghee
1 cup .......................sugar
1/2 cup.....................water

Method :

First grease a plate with ghee and keep it ready.

Mix besan and oil and keep aside.

In the mean while heat ghee .

Heat sugar and water, let it boil and thicken.

Test the two string consistency with your fingers or put little syrup in cold water.

It should not dissolve .

Add the besan oil mixture and keep stirring without stopping.

Go on adding a laddle of hot ghee to this mixture every 1 minute.

The ghee as soon as put should sizzle .(It should be that hot)

As soon as the mixture starts leaving the sides immediately put it on a greased plate.

This ensures that you get a soft texture.

Do not go on stirring after it starts leaving sides this may give you hard mysore pak.

Within 1 minute start cutting in desired shapes as it hardens immediately.

Falooda ( for SNC )

Falooda is a very popular North Indian Drink and usually is had along with ice- cream or kulfi. Though traditionally it is made using rose syrup , chia seeds and sevaiyya , you can make it more royal and tasty by adding dry fruits and jelly of your choice. I added blue colored jelly which looked very nice and tasted good too.

My idea of a perfect Sunday night is having some chaat like sev puri or papdi chaat and then ending it with this sinful falooda. So this month when Minnie our this month's host suggested Falooda as a challenge for the South-vs-North- Challenge started by Divya Pramil  I was very pleased because we all love falooda a lot.

 But because of my busy schedule during Ganeshotsav I could not make it. Finally I made it yesterday along with a chaat which I will soon be posting . 

Ingredients : 

1 small pack ......................Falooda Sevaiyya

2 tbsp.................................Chia seeds ( Sabja seeds)

4 to 5 tbsps........................Rooh Afza ( Rose syrup)

4 to 5 scoops....................ice - cream ( any variety preferably vanilla)

2 tbsps..............................dry fruits chopped ( almonds, raisins, cashewnuts)

2 cups .............................chilled milk

1 small pack....................jelly ( any variety I used blue colored)

Method : 

Prepare jelly as per the instructions on the packet and chill till set.

Boil water and add sevaiyya to it.

Cook for 5 to 10 minutes till done and cool them completely.

Soak the sabja seeds in 1 cup water .

When they swell keep the cup in fridge and chill.

While assembling falooda take a glass .

 Preferably take a  tall glass but as I didn't have one I used normal size glass.

Put 4 to 5  tablespoon of sevaiyya and sabja seeds in each glass.

Add a tablespoon on  rooh afza .

Pour chilled milk till the glass in 1/3 rd filled.

Now add cut pieces of set jelly and few pieces of dry fruits.

Again pour the milk till glass in 3/4 th.

Top with a scoop of ice cream and sprinkle remaining dry fruits and jelly on top.

Serve immediately before the ice cream melts.

Kesar Pista Kulfi ( For SNC )

Icecreams and kulfis are my favourite desserts and are welcome any time. But still surprisingly this is my first kulfi post in my blog .

 So a bunch of thanks to shruti who suggested this kulfi recipe  for august SNC Challenge for the Southern team members. SNC is an event started by a dear friend and a fantastic blogger Divya Pramil . This is one event which is very dear to me. Here we , the members of Southern team get to make one Northern dish and Northern members make a Southern dish. Thus we learn each others cuisine and dishes enriching our  culinary skills.

Kulfi makes me very nostalgic and reminds me of the school vacations . So once again a big thanks to Shruti n Divya for this lovely challenge. Enjoyed making and eating this delicious kulfi.....



Ingredients :

4 cups .....................full fat milk
1/2 cup ...................sweet condensed milk ( Used Milkmaid)
4 tbsp......................sugar
1 tbsp.....................pistachio slivers
1 tsp.......................Cardamom powder
few drops................Yellow food colour
1/4 tsp....................saffron strands

Method :

Boil milk and sugar .

Add condensed milk  and continue to boil stirring continuously.

The mixture should almost be reduced to less than half.

Add cardamom powder, saffron strands and yellow colour.

Heat for 2 / 3 more minutes and then add pistachio slivers.

Cool the mixture and fill in the kulfi moulds.

Deep freeze it overnight.

When set take it out by pressing the mould and serve immediately whole or sliced.

Also sending this to :


tribute-to-my-mom @ Gayathriscookspot

and also to

walk-through-memory-lane @ priyas-virundhu 

Chennar Jalepi ( Paneer Jalebi For The SNC Challenge)

Who doesn't love bengali sweets... Rosogolla, malai sandwich , rasmalai Oh just the mention makes my mouth water. I have never been able to resist bengali sweets . So when these yummy chenna jalebis were suggested by   Chandrani  of Cuisine Delights for the  SNC Challenge  this month  I was very delighted. This is the best part of being a member of this group started by Divya  . Here we get a chance to make such lovely and varied dishes.

But these jalebis were different from the typical begali sweets make of paneer . Here it included frying the paneer and so I was excited to try out this dish. It turned out to be a super successful dessert with all the family members asking for more. Sadly I had used only 1 litre milk and had to promise to make them again soon in future.

Thanks Divya and Chandrani for giving me this chance to make such a yummy treat.

Ingredients :

1 litre..................milk
1.......................lemon
2 tsp.................maida
a pinch..............baking soda
1 cup...............sugar
1/2 cup water
5 - 6 strands..........saffron
1/2 tsp...................cardamom powder
few....................crushed cardamoms

Method :

Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan , when it starts boiling add the juice of lemon and stir it.
The milk will curdle and the whey will be separated.
Put the curdled milk in a muslin cloth and hang it for 15 minutes to drain out excess water.
Now in the meanwhile make sugar syrup by boiling sugar and water till thick.
Now to this home made chenna add maida, soda and cardamom powder.
Knead very well for 10 minutes till the dough is very soft and smooth.
Now make small balls, roll them and shape them like a pretzel.
Deep fry them in ghee or oil.
Fry them very carefully as they are very soft and may break if not handled delicately.
Dip them in the prepared sugar syrup .
The fried jalebis will absorb the syrup and swell .
Sprinkle some crushed cardomom on top.
They taste better if chilled .

Dhokar Dalna ( SNC Challenge )

Dhokar Dalna a Traditional begali dish was our SNC  challenge for May 2013. Those who are unaware  SNC challenge is a very interesting event started by Divya Pramil of  You Too Can Cook . In this there are two groups Northern Group and the Southern Group. Every month one member of each team challenges the other team with a recipe . This month it was  Nabanita Das of eshoboshoaahare who challenged us (the southern team)  with Dhokar Dalna and Roha of hyderabadicuisinerecipes who challenged the northern team with Qubani Ka Meetha . Both are lovely challenges .

I made Dhokar Dalna according to Nabanitas instructions and the dish was wonderful. Immensely enjoyed making it and everyone at home was full of praises .


Ingredients :

For the Lentil cakes :

1 cup ..................Chana daal
1/4 cup...............fresh grated coconut
1tsp...................ginger
1/4 tsp................asefoetida (hing)
1/2 tsp...............onion seeds (kalounji)
2.....................green chillies
1/4 tsp.............baking soda
1 tbsp...............oil
salt
oil for deep frying




                                                                          Method :

                                                          Soak chana daal for 2 to 3 hour.
                                        Except hing and oil grind everything with very little water.
                                Now heat oil in a non stick pan add hing and add the ground mixture .

                                          Go on stirring it till it starts leaving the sides of the pan .
                                          Now grease a plate and spread this mix on the plate.
                                                   After 10 minutes cut it into square shapes.

For the Gravy :

2 ....................potatoes ( peeled and cubed)
2....................tomatoes (chopped finely )
2 tbsp..............cashew
1 tbsp................raisins
2 cups ...............coconut milk
1/2 cup...............fresh grated coconut
1/2 tsp..................grated ginger
1tsp.....................cumin seeds
2......................bay leaves
1/4 tsp...............asefoetida (hing)
2.......................green chillies slit
1 tbsp..............( clove, cardamom and cinnamon powder)
1 n 1/2  tsp......chilly powder
1tsp...................turmeric powder
2 tbsp...............oil
salt


                                                                    Method :

                                         Deep fry the potatoes till golden brown and keep aside.
                                            Also deep fry the dhokar squares till golden brown.

                          Now heat oil and add hing, cumin, bay leaves , slit chillies and grated ginger.
                         Stir for 2 minutes and add chopped tomatoes and haldi, chilly pd, and masala pd.
                                                               Saute till oil separates.
                        Now add the coconut and coconut milk along with ground cashew raisin paste.
                                           Saute for 2 minutes and add the fried potato cubes.
                             Add water if needed as the gravy should be semi thick in consistency.
                        While serving again heat the gravy and add the dhokas and serve immediately .



Note : Do not add the dhokas and boil the gravy. The dhokas may break and melt in the gravy.
Also dont add dhokas in advance as they may soak up all the liquid and become too soft and the gravy
will dry up.

 Linking this to :  SNC Challenge  at eshoboshoaahare

Khandvi - SNC Challenge

When I read that we have to prepare Khandvi for the the SNC challenge started by Divya Pramil   for the month of April 2013  I was both happy and apprehensive. Happy because finally due to these wonderful challenges I would be trying out the dish which I liked so much and at the same time apprehensive because I thought that the procedure was little tricky ( the spreading and the rolling part ). But  Hetal Acharya  from the northern team who challenged the southern team with this dish,  has explained every thing in so much details that there was no chance of making a mistake and so mistake I did not make. The resulting dish was so soft tasty and eyepleasing that it vanished in few minutes and my family has ordered me to prepare it in huge batches in future ( None of them was satisfied with just 3 to 4 peices ).
For those who are unaware  - SNC challenge is an event started by a dear friend and fellow blogger Divya Pramil at her place youtoocancookindianfood . For more details please visit her blog .

Ingredients :

For Khandvi :

1 cup ....................besan (gram flour)
1/2 cup ...................curds
1 and 1/2 cup..........water
1/2 tsp....................turmeric powder
1 tsp.........................sugar
salt.

For Tempering :

1 tbsp...................oil
1/2 tsp.................mustard seeds
1/2 tsp................sesame seeds
1/4 tsp..................asefotida (hing)
1....................green chilly (finely chopped )
1...................red chilly (broked to pieces )


For the Garnish :

2 tbps .....................freshly grated coconut
2 tbsp........................cut coriander leaves

Method :

Mix all the ingredients given under the Khandvi and make a smooth paste without any lumps.
Stir the mixture continuously on a non stick pan on slow flame till it becomes thick ( about 8 to 10 minutes).
Spread a tsp of mixture on greased surface and after 1 minute try rolling it out.
If you are able to roll it the mixture is ready.
Now spread the mixture on the kitchen platform and spread it as thinly possible with the back of the spoon.
Do it very fast since if the mixture starts drying up it becomes difficult to roll.
Cut the spread layer into 2 inches broad stripes.
After 2 / 3 minutes start making the rolls out of  the mixture.
Arrange the rolls in a plate.
Now heat the oil and add mustard seeds, sesame seeds, hing, green chilly and red chilly and sprinkly this tempering over the arranged rolls evenly.
Finally garnish with grated coconut and coriander leaves.

Also sending this to following events :


Srivallis kid delight at simplytadka

favourite-street-food 

my-event-spotlight  hosted by cuisinedelights 

Chana Daal Halwa ( The SNC Challenge - Mar 2013)

Hi friends ,

At last I could complete my March SNC challenge , i. e. Chana daal halwa which was given by Kirti  of the Northern team.Ever since this challenge group was formed by Divya  of You too Can Cook Indian Food ,
I had been eagerly wanting to join it, but due to some other personal priorities always kept on postponing the idea of being a part of this lovely group.

But now finally  I am able to be  the part of this lovely event. In future as and when I get time would love to try out some of the challenges met by members for the previous months  as they are too good to skip.

Now about the Chana daal Halwa ; frankly speaking till I read this challenge I didnt know about this recipe. I only had been a fan of Marwari Moong Daal ka halwa. But trust me this chana daal halwa was equally delicious and is quite easy to prepare too, thanks to the detailed instructions provided by Kirti. I have followed her instructions fully and the result was too good.

Ingredients :

1 cup....................chana daal
3/4 cup ...............ghee
3/4 cup .................sugar
2 and 1/2 cup..........milk
1 tbsp.................cardamom powder
1 tbsp...............almond slivers
1 tsp................pistachio slivers
4 to 5 ...............saffron strands

Method :

Soak Chana dall in water for 2 to 3 hours and pressure cook it for 2 whistles or till just done.
Smash it with a spoon , taking care not to make it into very smooth paste.
Heat ghee in a non stick pan and add the mashed daal.
Keep on high flame and go on continuously stirring.
Within 5 to 6 minutes the daal will give out a beautiful aroma and ghee will start separating.
Slightly dry roast the saffron for a minute and dissove it in 1 tbsp hot milk.
Mix this milk to the remaining milk.
Now add 1/2 cup milk and again stir the daal continuously till the milk is absorbed and ghee separates.
Continue adding 1/2 cup milk and repeat the the procedure in above line till all the milk is over.
Now add sugar and cook till the halwa is done.
This hardly takes 4 to 5 minutes.
Add cardamon powder, and serve garnished with almonds and pistachios.

Also linking my entry for these events :


sumeesculinary kids-delight

foodabulous-fest-celebrate-march-masti

lets-cook-for-kids at simplysensaionalfood

  jagrutis event  know-your-dairy-series-ghee

my-event-spotlight  hosted by cuisinedelights 15th april

celebrate-easter-event of jagrutidhanecha