Gajar Halwa!

If asked what do you do when it snows? I would say I stare out of the window, wait for spring!!

And then turn around to do what I enjoy most – cook!!

The weekend saw flurry of activity in the malls, grocery stores, all because snow storm was expected. It’s the season so there is no escape.  The prediction came true. We were holed up inside our homes. This is when the carrots that I bought just a day before were beckoning me – the bright pinkish orange colored fresh carrots. The decision was made – I decided to make Gajar ka Halwa. One dessert that never fails to attract attention.

If you put your heart and soul the efforts are rewarding and the way the gajar ka halwa turned out seals it.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

Grated carrots 1kg

Sugar – 150 – 2oo gms

Ghee/clarified butter – 2 tablespoon

Mava/ Khoya – ¼th – ½ cup

Orange peel – half of the orange.

Eliachi/ cardamom powder – ¼th teaspoon.

Method: To start the process, prepare the orange peel. Make sure to remove the white flesh from underneath the orange skin and make thin slices like juliennes . In a pan add the orange peel and two teaspoons of sugar and one cup of water, cook on medium heat until the aroma is released from the orange peel and the syrup is reduced to half.

In another wide mouthed pan add the grated carrot and sugar ( if you have a very sweet tooth than use upto 200 gms of sugar or adjust according to taste.) Let this cook on medium heat stirring from time to time to ensure even cooking. The coming together of carrots and sugar will release moisture and this moisture will help tenderize the carrots. Let this cook until the moisture evaporates. At this point add the sugar and orange peel syrup. Mix well and cook to ensure the moisture is all absorbed.

Add ghee/clarified butter and fry for a couple of minutes only – over frying will darken the color of the carrot mix. Frying just for couple of minutes is sufficient. Switch of the heat and add the crumbled khoya/mava, lightly mix and let it cool. Add eliachi/cardamom powder. Garnish with slivered pistachios and almonds.

Enjoy this dessert topping with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream – yummmmmy! 🙂

 

Paneer ke raang!

Tandoori paneer.  
Hope  everyone is doing well and must have welcomed winter! 🙂  So I am back and today I would like to share a very simple but very tangy recipe, as the name suggests ‘tandoori paneer,’full of flavour of tandoori spices and then grilled to that smokey effect.  Every time I have prepared this dish it has been a great hit in my family.
Paneer is fresh cheese and does not have rennet as the coagulation agent, thus making it rich in protien and good for vegetarians.
To prepare paneer, food acid (usually lemon juice, vinegar, citric acid or yogurt) is added to hot milk to separate the curds from the whey. The curds are drained in muslin or cheesecloth and the excess water is pressed out. The resulting paneer is dipped in chilled water for 2–3 hours to give it a good texture and appearance.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ingredients:
Paneer cubes: 150 gms
One and half inch ginger.
Green chillies 1-3
Cumin seeds 1teaspoon
Garlic 3flakes
Salt 3/4th teaspoon
1/4th teaspoon red chilli powder
1 green bell pepper sliced in rings
1medium sized onion sliced in rings
few drops (4-5) of orange color
2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon lemon juice.
Method: Grind ginger,garlic,jeera, green chilli to a fine paste. Also make a paste of red chilli powder, lemon juice (1tablespoon,)salt and food color. Mix the two paste together.
Apply 3/4th of the paste to the paneer cubes. In an oven proof greased dish put the marinated paneer cubes and setting the oven to broil, grill the paneer cubes for about ten minutes or until the paneer cubes are crisp and the marinate dries.
In a pan heat two tablespoon oil and saute onion and bell pepper rings, remove when translucent and a little caramalized.
To the remaining oil add the left over paste, lemon juice, salt to taste and the grilled paneer cubes, sprinkle some tandoori masala and mix well, fry for 1-2 minutes till well blended.
In the serving dish, garnish the tandoori paneer with the onion and bell pepper rings!

My blog in a new avatar!

My belief “don’t be afraid of change — .”

I felt the need to make a change to the blog  http://foodhomestyle.blogspot.com

There is so much to experiment, explore and make an attempt to be creative.

https://spiceyourflavors.wordpress.com

is an attempt in that direction. I seek your feedback to incorporate suggestions and idea which may have not struck me!!

A BIG THANK YOU!

Chickpeas Delight.

 

 

 Chickpeas Delight

First an apology because there has been  quite a  gap since my last post on recipes. Now  I am back on home turf and as promised I will share with you some recipes that I have been making and being complimented for the taste and looks of the  recipes..  Chickpeas Delight is indeed a delight to make and with a promise that you will not have to sweat out in the kitchen.,
Chickpeas Delight is a page from my food dairy, recipes that I have collected over the years, This one in particular, I learnt from a very dear friend, my association with her dates back to my early years of marriage!
The beauty of this dish is, it is hassle free, can be prepared in advance, dry ingredients like cumin and coriander seeds along with whole red chillies can be replaced with chaat masala if you have, though I highly  recommend following the recipe to get the real taste!
Here’s what you would need:
Chickpeas: 250gms
Lightly roasted cumin seeds: 2 tablespoon.
Lightly roasted coriander seeds: 1teaspoon.
Lightly roasted whole red chilli: 2-3(depending on your spice level.)
Very finely chopped onions: 2tablespoons
Amchur powder/ lime juice: 1/2 teaspoon or juice of half a lime.
Grated ginger: 1/2″ inch ( optional)
Very finely chopped green chillies 2-3
Finely chopped cilantro.
Salt to taste.
Oil: 2-3 tablespoon.
To start: 
1: Soak the chickpeas overnight in sufficient lukewarm water. The following morning drain the water and pressure cook with fresh water with a  about half a teaspoon of salt and cook until 3/4th done, ensuring the chickpeas retain their shape yet are soft enough.
2:In a grinder,ground the roasted spices cumin and coriander seeds along with whole red chillies to a medium fine powder.
3: In a wide pan heat the oil, to this add the finely chopped onions along with a half of the chopped green chillies, retain the other half for garnishing. Fry until light brown. At this point add the chickpeas and fry. Simultaneously add the roasted and ground spices. Also add salt and amchur powder or lime juice. Blend well and keep frying until all the spices coat the chickpeas. Fry on medium to low heat till the chickpeas are well coated and browned with spices.
4: Before serving garnish with chopped green chillies, grated ginger and chopped cilantro!
This can be served as appetizer. Topping it with tamrind chutney and also adding lightly crushed chaat papdi would enhance the flavor all the more.
*Using the pressure cooker would reduce the cooking time. Alternatively you can boil the chickpeas if a pressure cooker is not available.
*Tip for roasting the spices – Heat the pan on medium heat and first dry roast the coriander seeds as coriander seeds would need more time to reach  the stage of  getting well browned, then roast the cumin seeds and whole chillies together as these two spices take less time to roast.
Acknowledgement: Thank you Iram for introducing me to this simple yet delectable recipe and also  letting me have the opportunity to share it on this blog!

Helpful tip: When soaking chickpeas it’s a good idea to add soda bi carb (to this quantity of 250gms I would add ¼th teaspoon,) the following morning drain the water, rinse the chickpeas to remove traces of soda bi carb and then boil/cook as directed. Adding soda bi carb when boiling/cooking the chickpeas will spoil the texture as the skin of the chickpeas gets removed in the process.