Recipes
Summer Green Chilli Salad
Ingredients:
- Iceberg Lettuce
- Green Bell Peppers
- Coriander
- Cucumber
- Spanish Onions
- Cumin Seeds
- White Vinegar (not malt)
- Lemon Juice (fresh preferably)
Procedure:
In a large salad bowl, wash and cut the lettuce into shreds, add strips of green bell pepper and onions. Mix and leave until ready to serve. In another bowl prepare the dressing – add 2-3 table spoons of white vinegar, a splash of lemon juice, some salt (to taste), ground cumin, finely cut coriander leaves and finely cut fresh green chilli’s. Leave the dressing to allow the tastes to fuse until ready to serve. Just before taking to the table pour the dressing over the cut salad and serve! This is a lovely summery salad, which goes well with jacket potatoes, pizza, falafels or even on its own as a nice lunch.
Papdi Noh Loth
Serve 2-3 Peoples
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Rice flour
- 5 cups Water
- Cumin seeds (jeera – 1 tea spoon)
- Salt (about 2 tea spoons)
- Special Papdi Kharo (1/2 teaspoon)
- Oil (1 table spoon)
- Ajwain (Ajmo) (1 tea spoon)
- Hing (1/2 tea spoon)
- Sesame seeds (2 fist fulls)
- Crushed green chilli (1/2 table spoon crushed)
- 2 Cloves (to taste!)
Procedure:
In a large deep pan place all the water then add all the spices to the water – oil, cumin seeds, ajwain seeds, salt, special papdi kharo, crushed green chilli’s, hing, sesame seeds, and if you like then cloves – I prefer to leave them out!
Bring all the water and spices to a nice simmering boil.
Then add all the rice flour in the middle of the saucepan – DO NOT STIR or MIX the flour into the water, just leave the flour in a heap in the middle of the pan.
Turn the heat to medium low so that the water is not boiling vigorously – but simmering gently around the heap of flour. With a ‘velan’ (Indian rolling pin) or the handle of a wooden spoon make a little well in the middle of the flour heap so some water can seep in. Cover the saucepan with a fitted lid and leave for about 10-15 minutes without stirring or interfering.
After 10-15 minutes, remove the lid and again with the velan or the handle of the wooden spoon starting from the centre where you had made the well, start mixing and incorporating the flour with the liquid. At this stage some lumps may form – this will happen. If the lumps are too hard then add some additional hot water from a kettle, but take care not to make the mixture too soft – it should form a dough like consistency.
Allow the mix to cool slightly then with some cold water lining your hands, roll the mix into little sausages or little oval balls, you can make any shape you desire. In a separate pan, steam the balls / sausages for a further 10 minutes… after which you are ready to serve with some oil drizzled over the top!
Best served directly from the steamer – Eat Hot and with a lovely cup of masala chai!
Khamand Dhokra
Serve 2-4 Peoples
Ingredients:
- 2 Bowl Gram Flour
- Lemon Juice
- Salt
- Sugar
- Oil (2 Table spoons)
- Eno (1/2 tea spoon)
- Mustard Seeds (1 tea spoon)
- Jeera seeds (1 tea spoon)
- 3 Green chillis
- Limri (Curry leaves)
- Water
- Sesame Seeds
- Desiccated coconut
- Coriander
Procedure:
In a large bowl to prepare the batter – add 2 bowls of gram flour, ½ tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Make this into a thick batter similar to custard like consistency. After making the batter (thick paste) leave this to one side and allow to stand for about 10 – 15 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the ‘vhagar’ – Firstly in a small bowl place 3 tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1-2 tablespoons of sugar – stir the ingredients well and allow the sugar to dissolve completely. Leave this water-mix to one side.
Then the second stage of the vaghar – add 2 tablespoons of oil in a small saucepan, after the oil has heated accordingly place the mustard seeds and jeera seeds and wait for seeds to cackle and pop, then add the cut green chilli’s and limri leaves, wait a few seconds before adding the water-mix directly to the oil. Do not return too the heat and leave this special vaghar on the side for use later.
Returning to the batter – In a flat steaming dish (thaali), place 2 tablespoons of oil and 1.5 teaspoons of Eno. Place the batter into the thaali and using your fingertips, incorporate the batter, oil, and Eno into a smooth paste – whilst mixing use a continuous clockwise direction only! Don’t change directions as by doing so your khamand dhokra may turn out flat! You will notice a slight colour change in the batter and as the Eno works into the flour this will fluff up. The batter should be very light and fluffy at this stage.
Place the thaali into a steamer and leave covered for 20 – 25 minutes.
To check if the khamand dhokra are ready remove the lid gently press down on the surface, is the surface intends and does not puff up again then leave for some more time.
Remove the thaali once the khamand dhokra are cooked and allow to cool completely.
Then cut the dhokra into 1 sq inch pieces and place into a large serving bowl. Then pour the water-mix special vaghar over the top. Garnish with desiccated coconut and fresh cut coriander leaves and serve!
Best enjoyed slightly warm and fresh on the day of cooking.
Instant Home Made Shrikhand
Serves 5-10 and also can be freezed.
Ingredients:
- 1 kilo – thick bio yoghurt – needs to be bland and not sour.
- Kesar (Saffron)
- Ground Elaichi (Cardamom)
- Ground Jaifur (Nutmeg)
- Sugar
Procedure:
Place a layer of thick newspapers or towels on a flat kitchen surface. Line the top with J Cloths, which have been slightly moistened in cold water. Then spread the yoghurt in a layer over the J Cloths and cover with another layer of J Cloths on top with another thick wad of newspaper or towels on top. The main aim of this process is to remove the water content from the yoghurt.
This will take approximately 1 hour, depending on the water present in the yoghurt.
Once all the water has been sucked from the yoghurt – you will be able to tell when this is because it will feel like blue cheese – place the ‘musco’ into a bowl.
If you have one bowl of ‘musco’ then it will hold ¾ bowls of sugar. Add the appropriate measurement of sugar, ground elaichi, ground cardamom, and a little kesar to the musco and mix well.
Allow to stand for about 2 hours in the fridge before serving. You can garnish the surface with cut almonds and pistachios (to taste).
Instant Shrikhand can also be made using Curd Cheese – although this is not widely available, but if using Curd Cheese then take 2 bowls of Curd Cheese and 1 bowl of the yoghurt musco before adding the sugar and spices.
Best served cool and the perfect compliment to all Indian dishes!
If feeling adventurous all sorts of summer fruits can be added to the shrikhand mix e.g. mangoes, cherries, and grapes. – TIP – Place it into the freezer for a while and kids will love it in the summer!
Gajar (Carrot) Halwa
Serves 2-4 peoples
Ingredients:
- 10 – 15 carrots
- 20 Cardamom seeds and 1-teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon Jaifur (ground nutmeg)
- 1 cup Sugar (to taste)
- 1.5 cup Milk
- 2 tablespoons Ghee (purified butter)
- Milk powder (if needed)
Procedure:
Wash and grate the carrots into a bowl. In a largish non-stick pan place the ghee and add the carrots. Sauté the carrots and continue stirring until they soften and cook. Do this on a low-medium heat this should take about 10-15 minutes. Then add the milk, slightly warmed directly to the carrots and continue stirring – also add in the cardamom seeds. Allow the milk to evaporate (I like to add a bit more milk and work the carrots in more giving a longer cooking time) before adding the sugar.
After adding the sugar the halwa will loosen up again, so allow the sugar to evaporate slightly – If you want to stiffen the halwa at this stage then add some milk powder, although take care not to add too much as this may alter the taste and result in a very milky tasting halwa.
Once the milk has evaporated and the halwa has slightly stiffened, add the ground elaichi and jaifur (nutmeg). Garnish with some cut almonds and serve.
Best served hot with vanilla ice cream as a dessert.
Pineapple Barfi
Serves – 1 Tin pineapple (250g) = 1 thaali barfi
FOR PANEER:
Boil 4 pints milk on a medium heat, on the first sign of boiling add 1 teaspoon citric acid stirred in half a glass of water. Mix this into the milk. The milk will curd and so drain this into a sieve and rinse all the curd in cold water to wash off the excess taste of citric acid. Leave this to one side.
FOR MAVO:
Take 1 cup milk powder and roast in 1 teaspoon ghee on a medium heat.
FOR PINEAPPLE SYRUP:
Take 1 pineapple tin (in light syrup – NOT juice) and grind it in a grinder. Take 1 bowl of sugar and place with crushed pineapple in a non-stick pan. Place this on the heat and make syrup. Add a little saffron and yellow food colour and cook the syrup will you get a thick consistency. To test if the syrup is down, place a drop on the back of a clean bowl; if you then hold the bowl vertically, the drop should not run. The syrup is now ready.
Procedure:
Place paneer into the syrup and mix well. Then add roasted milk powder mavo and mix all the ingredients on a high heat until all the excess liquid has evaporated.
Add elaichi and jaifur to taste, mix well and spread onto a thaali, which has been lined with ghee. Allow the mix to solidify so place in a cool place but not the fridge! Garnish with almonds and pistachios for colour. Once solidified, cut into pieces and place into individual cake cases, for neatness and presentation.
Khajur Rolls
Ingredients:
- Vanilla essence
- White poppy seeds
- Chopped roasted nuts;
- Pistachios
- Cashews
- Almonds
- Roasted Grated Coconut (desiccated)
- 4 packets of stoned dates.
Procedure:
Grind the 4 packets of dates in a chopper (TIP – warm them slightly, this will quicken the process). Mash the dates into a smooth pulp.
Add vanilla essence to the dates and mix well. Add the chopped nuts and poppy seeds and coconut into the mashed khajur. Bind all the ingredients and form long inch wide rolls. To help with the rolling place a little ghee onto the palms of your hands. Make thick sausage like rolls and coat them in some dry desiccated coconut.
Then allow the rolls to cool and slightly harden before cutting them into centimetre wide discs, an inch in diameter.
The khajur rolls are ready!
This is a good recipe for samajri when doing prasad.
Bhada Mirch Chutney (Red Bell Pepper Chutney)
Ingredients:
- Fist full of Red peanuts
- Fist full of Sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
- 1-2 Tablespoons oil
- Salt
- 1 Clove garlic
- 2 red hot chilli’s
- 3 red bell peppers
Procedure:
In a blender, grind the cumin seeds, peanuts, sesame seeds, garlic, oil and salt into a fine paste. Don’t worry if all the ingredients are not perfectly ground. Wash and dice the bell peppers and chillies and bit by bit add them to the blender, making a smooth chutney eventually. Blend all the ingredients and taste for salt.
Chutney is ready!
Best served after 1 hour of making as all ingredients have fused better, serve with soji dhokra or fried idli or plain bhakri!
Wheat Flour Ladva
Ingredients:
- 2 bowls wheat flour
- 2 bowls medium soji (semolina)
- 1 bowl gram flour
- 1 fist ghee
- Milk
- Icing sugar
- White poppy seeds
- Gorh
- Ghee
Procedure:
Place all the flours into a large mixing bowl, place in the ghee and mix well. With warmed milk make the flour into a slightly stiff dough ball. After forming the dough, make largish oval balls in the fists of your hands. This does not need to be neat, but just for frying purposes so make the oval balls a little flat if possible i.e. not largely domed in the middle.
Deep fry all the balls in ghee (not oil) until golden brown do this on a very low heat.
After allowing the balls to cool, grind in a chopper, making them into a powder (churmu). Ensure the powder is not too course or too fine, it should roughly be about the texture of medium soji flour.
If making Gorh Ladva:
To every 4 bowls of churmu use 1 bowl of gorh (finely chopped).
Add 1-tablespoon ghee to gorh first and melt into a gorh/ghee payo. Check the payo is made. Add elaichi and jaifur to the churmu before adding the payo. Mix the payo into the churmu and make into small ladu’s. To aid this process place a little ghee on the palms of your hands. Garnish the ladu’s with white poppy seeds and serve.
If making Khand (sugar) Ladva:
To every 4 bowls of churmu, take 1 bowl of icing sugar. Add elaichi and jaifur according to taste to the churmu, then add the icing sugar – with a little ghee make the churmu into little ladu’s. Garnish with white poppy seeds and serve.
Best served cool – these ladva can be stored for a few days so you can prepare them in advance.