Gulab Jamun (Dough Balls Soaked in Sugar Syrup)

Gulab jamun  is a dessert which is popular throughout the Indian Subcontinent made of a dough consisting mainly of milk solids (often including double cream and flour) in a sugar syrup flavored with cardamom seeds and rosewater or saffron.
I made this on occassion of diwali with GITS ready mix which is available in all Indian stores.
I made them exactly as per the packet instructions and the result was too Yummy !!

Tips n Tricks: The only change I made to the recipe is by adding pancake syrup(butter flavour) to the sugar syrup.This gave a little twist to the regular gulab jamoons and they disappeared into our tummies very quickly.

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Chana Dal Vada (Fried Lentil Patties)

Yaadein.....
   Though I was born in Northern part of India but I feel bangalore as my home town as I got married and settled there. I miss the pleasant weather, Adigas, Brigade Rd and street food (chana dal vada,bonda,bahjji). The convinience of getting them at the corner of the street made me too lazy to try these then. But now with only ingredients at hand I decided to make them after such a long time.
Although this vada tasted best when made with Dill leaves but coriander can be used instead if you can't find them. Dill leaves have a very strong taste when fresh thus minimizing the need to add many ingredients in a recipe.
Since I could not find dill leaves here so I used lots of coriander leaves instead.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Chana dal
• 1 large Onion chopped
• 1 Small bunch of fresh cilantro/coriander
• Green chillies chopped (as required)
• Salt (as per taste)
• Oil for frying

 Method

1. Soak chana dal overnight ( so that the US made blenders/mixies are
2.  able to take the load and grind it easily :) )
3. Remove the water and keep a small fistfull of dal separately. Grind the dal coarsly in as lilwater as possible .
4. In a bowl mix remaining dal( which we kept aside),chopped onion, green chillies,salt and chopped coriander.dill leaves.
5. Take a small portion of the mixture and flatten it on your palm.
6. Release it into oil for frying. Fry until golden brown.
7. Serve with tea or chutney of your choice.

I served them with coconut chutney which was a magic bullet disaster (it became coconut puree )

Chutney Courtsey : Hiren Bhai (My brother-in-law)

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Peas Pulao

The one single recipe that comes to my mind when I feel too lazy to cook is peas pulao.Though it is one of the easiest n simplest of all recipes but still writing it just for my son (his favorite menu item). He asked me to write this recipe on my blog as he wants to cook for his wife and kids when he grows up !! And I want to let you know he is 6 now !
I still remember when my friend kavita first tasted this pulao how excited she was and ga-ga all over the recipe. May be since she is a jain (who do not eat under ground grown veggies), this was perfect dish for her.
Being in US gives the advantage of having frozen vegetables at hand , so I added corns also and my kids eat it for the sake of peas n corns !!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Basmati Rice
• 2 Cups Water
• 1/2 tbsp Cumin(jeera)
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1/2 Cup peas
• 1/2 Cup Corn kernels (optional)
• 3 tsp Canola oil( or any vegetable oil)
• Salt (as per taste)

Method


1. Wash and soak the rice for atleast 20 minutes in advance.


2. In a pan add oil and when it is hot add cumin and bay leaf. Add the water and let it boil.


 3. As the water boils add rice( drained) ,peas and corns to it.Add the salt , cover it and put it on low for 15  minutes.


 4. Serve with raitha or potato curry ( pulao tastes best with it than any other curry)

Raita: I chopped cucumbers,red onion and red bell pepper (not tomatoes) ,added salt n pepper to the yougurt. Add green chillies if u like hot.


Tips n Tricks:
     Instead of using oil just use one tbsp ghee and see the difference in taste !

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Garden Salad

Last weekend we made a visit to local farms for some maze fun.I was very excited to go there and so was my sister with her 1 yr old daughter.As we started for the farms, her daughter slept in the car forcing them to head back to home.

First we went to Stony hills Farms for some maze fun .We tried our legs at rope maze. My son followed me trying to find the way (as he thought I am the smartest one in the family). But after spending 10 minutes trying to reach to the bell at the center, he decided to use his own brains. Soon his theory (of me being smartest in family) changed as he reached the bell and came out leaving mom n dad struggling to find the way !!

I saw the Big corn maze it seemed "difficult" (or should I say taller :)) and so I decided to go into mini corn maze.Every one followed me and after pushing my daughter's stroller through the rough terrain we realized that all the people are going in opposite direction except us ! I made another decision to change our direction as well and my army followed me.After 10 more minutes we were out of the maze ! Hurray I shouted but soon my joy disappeared and realized we entered through the "Exit" of big corn maze.That was enough to prove my son's belief wrong.

I had enough of maze fun so we headed for fruit picking.The trees were loaded with varieties of apple .Soon the kids started to fill the bags as much as they could.With bags weighing more than their own weight I decided to intervene.As I said one has to eat all the apples he/she picks ,the bags became lighter and I could see 1-2 apples in the bag!

After that we picked some yellow cherry tomatoes from the vines.



Had a lovely day and then I decided to make a colorful salad with freshly picked tomatoes.

Ingredients

1 Cucumber
Few Cherry Tomatoes
1 Red onion
1 tsp Olive oil
Black Olives
1 tsp Lemon juice
Salt (as per taste)
Pepper
Parsley (1-2 sprigs)

Method
1. Cut the cucumbers and cherry tomatoes into halves, red onion into thick lengths.Cut the olives.
2. Mix all together in a bowl. Add salt, pepper,lemon juice,olive oil.
3. Add the chopped parsley and toss it well. Refrigerate for at least half an hour before serving.

Tips n Tricks : Do not peel the cucumbers to add color n nutrition to the salad.

Chana Masala

Finally I decided to get back into action and do something after spending some lazy days.I arranged a play date for my 6-year old son at a friend's house as the school was off on account of jewish holiday.My friend decided to make lunch for all of us and gave an idea of preparing dinner while kids wud be playing.

But since I have a 2-yr old daughter who is socially under-developed (she has come from Victorian era so gets scared watching genetically transformed humans of 21st century), I decided to make something special for my friend in my kitchen -a take out chana masala.

Chana masala or chole masala is a popular vegetable dish in Indian cuisine. The main ingredient is chickpeas. The dish is particularly popular in India and Pakistan. It is usually cooked dry and spicy.Chola-Kulcha is a very popular street food in North India or otherwise it can be enjoyed with naan (Indian flat-bread), puri or bhature !!




Ingredients:
2 Cup boiled chick peas( white chana)
2 Onions, chopped
1-2 Cloves of garlic
2-3 Whole green chilies
2-3 cm Ginger( cut into julienes)
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Chat masala (I used MDH brand )
1/2 tsp Garam masala
3 Tomatoes (chopped )
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tbsp Chana masala (I use MDH brand)
2 tbsp kasoori methi (dry-I use MDH brand)
a little paprika (or red chilli powder)

Method:

1.In a pan heat the oil and then add cumin.Fry the onions until they start turning golden. Then add garlic, chilies and ginger, and continue frying until the onions are brown.

2. Add tomatoes, chana masala, coriander powder,red chilli powder(optional),turmeric to it. Sprinkle a little water and mix all the spices thru.Cover and cook for a few minutes until the oil starts to separate, and then add chickpeas. Cook for a further 10 min.am

3. Add garam masala and chat masala to it.Sprinkle kasoori methi crushing between your palms .

4. Decorate with green chillies,onions or tomatoes as desired.





Tips n Tricks: I always like to add a personal touch to my dishes by adding some green herbs.If you are not a methi fan then you may add fresh coriander which really addes to taste and appeal.