Long Shelf Life of Green Chillies

To extend the life of green chillies :

• Remove the stem of the chillies and then store them in a zip lock cover, if you want to store them as a whole.
• Or, make chillie paste, add some salt and store it in air tight box.

If you know of any other tip, please mention in the comment section.

Sarson Ka Saag

Sarson ka saag is an authentic Punjabi dish traditionally paired with Makki ki roti ( Corn Bread ).


Ingredients:

• Mustard Greens - 1 bunch
• Spinach - 1 bunch
• Fenugreek Leaves - 1/4 bunch ( optional )
• Green Chillies - 2
• Grated Ginger - 1 tbsp
• Ginger Juliennes - a few
• Minced garlic - 1 tbsp
• Grated Onion - 1 medium
• Garam Masala - 1 tsp
• Maize Flour - 1 tbsp ( optional )
• Ghee / Butter - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste

Directions:

• Wash and clean mustard leaves. Separate the leaves from the stems. Use the top half of the stems if they are tender. Discard otherwise.
• Wash and clean spinach leaves. Spinach stems are usually tender, so they can be used.
• Similarly, separate fenugreek leaves from stems. Fenugreek leaves are optional.
• Chop all the leaves finely and cook them with 1 cup of water . Add ginger, garlic and green chillies into the pan while boiling the leaves. Cover and cook for around 10-12 minutes. Let it cool.
• Grind it into a coarse paste. Do not grind it into a smooth paste.
• In a separate pan, heat ghee or butter , add grated onions and saute till reddish brown. Add garam masala.
• Add ground greens, and give it a good mix.
• In a small bowl, take maize flour and add 2 tsp of water and make it into a paste. Add this paste into the greens. Mix well. This step will give thickness to the gravy. However, I have made even without it and it turned out good. The onion mix makes the gravy thick. So you can avoid it, if you do not have maize flour.
• Add salt. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Garnish with ginger juliennes and a dollop of butter.
• Serve hot with makki di roti. It tastes good even with simple chapati or naan.

Variation :  You can add paneer cubes to the curry to make Saag Paneer.

Enjoy !!!

Chickpea Guggilu ( Sundal )

Chickpea Guggilu or Sundal is nothing but tempered chickpeas with some spices and coconut. It usually is made during navratri as an offer to goddess ( Naivedyam ) in South India. It is a very healthy snack , loaded with protein. Kids love it because it is very simple dish and not spicy.

Ingredients :

• Chickpeas ( Kabuli Chana / Garbanzo Beans ) - 1 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
• Green or Red whole Chili - 1-2
• Asafoetida ( Hing ) - 1/4 tsp
• Curry Leaves - 1 spring
• Coconut powder / Fresh Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp or to taste

Directions:

• Soak chickpeas overnight and pressure cook till done. Alternatively, you can use the canned garbanzo beans , washed and drained for a quicker method.
• Heat oil in a wide pan for shallow frying.
• Sputter mustard seeds. Add urad dal and fry till they turn reddish brown.
• Add curry leaves, chillies, hing and saute for a few seconds.
• Add the cooked chickpeas, and slightly roast it , say for 2-3 minutes. Add salt.
• Turn off the heat and  add fresh grated coconut or coconut powder and give it a good mix.

Pineapple Rasam

Ripe pineapple added to spicy rasam brings out the excellent flavours of sweet and tangy rasam.

Ingredients:

• Toor Dal ( Red Gram Dal ) - 1/2 cup
• Tomato - 1
• Pineapple Puree - 1/4 cup
• Pineapple Chunks or cubes - 4-5
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Rasam Powder - 1 tsp
• Jaggery - 1 inch cube Or Sugar - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Water - 4 cups
• Chopped Cilantro - 1 tbsp

For Tempering:

• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida ( Hing ) - a pinch
• Red Whole chillies - 1 or 2
• Curry Leaves - 1 spring
• Ghee - 1 tbsp

Directions :

• Cook dal , mash it up with a whisk , keep aside.
• In a pot, add water, dal, chopped tomato, pineapple cubes, turmeric powder, jaggery and rasam powder and bring it to boil.  Cook till pineapple cubes are soft and tender.
• Add pineapple puree, salt and cook for another 5 minutes.
• For tempering, heat ghee in a small pan, splutter mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Then add torn red chillies, hing, curry leaves. Pour it over the rasam and mix well.
• Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Gulab Jamun

Gulab Jamun is the most popular dessert in the countries of Indian Subcontinent and is a part of most of the festivals and weddings and other functions. Oh who doesn't love gulab jamuns. I am sure Gulab Jamun has innumerable fans. These milky balls soaked in rose scented sugar syrup makes an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G dessert.


Ingredients:

• All Purpose Flour ( Maida ) - 1 cup
• Khoya ( Mawa ) - 1 1/2 cups
• Baking Soda - 2-3 pinches
• Oil / Ghee - for deep frying

For Syrup:

• Water - 1 cup
• Sugar - 2 1/2 cups
• Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Saffron - a few strands
• Rose Water - 3-4 drops
• Lemon Juice - 2 drops

Directions :

For Syrup :

• Take water in a pan and mix sugar in it. Heat it on medium , till all the sugar dissolves and it reaches one thread consistency.
• Add cardamom powder, rose water, saffron and lemon drops and mix it. Lemon drops is to avoid the sugar from solidifying.
• Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and let it be. We need the syrup to be warm when we drop the jamuns in them.

For Jamuns :

• In a mixing bowl, add maida, khoya and baking soda and knead gently.
• Add little by little water ( may be 1 tsp at a time ) to form a smooth pliable dough.
• Make smooth balls out of the dough of the size smaller than a ping pong ball. They will rise after they are soaked in the syrup, hence keep that in mind while making the balls and keep them small.
• Grease your palms with ghee, while making balls, that would make them smooth with no cracks. Also roll them very gently, do not apply too much pressure.
• Heat the oil for deep frying on medium heat. Test for the right temperature. Drop a pinch of the dough into the oil. It should reach the bottom of the pan and come up in 4-5 seconds sizzling. It should neither pop up immediately nor should it sit at the bottom for long.
• If the oil is smoking hot, it will brown the jamuns fast, but will be uncooked from within. So make sure the oil is at the right temperature.
• Drop 4-5 jamuns at a time in the oil depending on the size of your pan. Do not over crowd them. That would bring the temperature of oil down.
• Fry the jamuns over low-medium heat till golden brown. You don't really need to turn the jamuns. These jamuns have the tendency to turn themselves floating in the oil. You might just want to rotate the oil once. The jamuns float in the direction of oil.
• Once they are golden brown uniformly, remove them from oil and drop them in the warm sugar syrup.
• Fry the remaining jamuns and soak all of them in the syrup for atleast 2 hours. I know it looks very tempting and you want to pop it in your mouth right away, but No cheating , Be patient. Let the jamuns absorb the sweet syrup before you eat this heavenly dessert.
• You will notice the size of the jamuns is almost doubled after sitting in the syrup for 2 hours.
• Gulab Jamuns can be store in room temperature for about 4-5 days or in fridge for longer period.

Serve them warm, or at room temperature or cold.

Enjoy !!!!!! :)


Note : Do not put too much baking soda. Jamuns will ger disintegrated in the oil while deep frying.

Tip : Sometimes it so happens that the jamuns are turned out to be hard. Microwave them for 8 -10 sec just before serving, that will make the gulab jamuns softer.

Chole / Chana Masala ( Chickpea Gravy )

Chole , also known as chickpeas or garbanzo beans or kabuli chana is used to make this extremley tasty dish, chole masala or chana masala. This is a very popular dish in Indian and Pakistani cuisine, especially in Punjab.
This is the best side dish for puris or bhaturas or even rice.
You can get the dry chickpeas in any Indian grocery store which need to be soaked overnight.
Alternatively, I sometimes use the canned garbanzo beans when I am in a hurry and I do not have time to soak them overnight.
So here is the recipe for this delicacy:

Ingredients:

• Chole (kabuli Chana ) -  1 cup
• Tea Bags -2 ( optional )
• Cloves - 3
• Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch
• Green Cardamom - 4-5
• Bay Leaves - 2
• Pomegranete Seeds ( anardana ) - 1 tsp
• Onion - 2 medium
• Tomato Puree - 1 cup
• Green Chillies - 2-3
• Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
• Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
• Red Chili Powder - to taste
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Garam Masala Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Cumin - Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chole Masala - 1 tsp ( store bought )
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Baking Soda - a pinch ( optional )

For Tempering :

• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Slit Green Chillies - 2 ( deseeded )
• Ginger - 1 inch  ( cut into juliennes )
• Carom Seeds ( Ajwain ) - 1/2 tsp

Directions :

• Wash and soak chole or kabuli chana in enough water overnight.
• In a pressure cooker, add soaked chana, with aound 4 cups of water, tea bags, and baking soda and cook for around 30 minutes till the chickpeas are soft and cooked. Press one chole in between your fingers to test if they are done. You should be able to squeeze it easily.
• Tea bags are totally optional. The only purpose of those is to add color to the chole. And the purpose of baking soda is to cook chole a little faster. You can avoid it, if you don't like it.
• In a pot, heat oil, add bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cardamoms and cloves. Saute for a few seconds.
• In a grinder, coarsely grind chopped onions, green chillies and anardana. Add this paste to the pot. Saute till onions mixtue is cooked.
• Add garlic paste, ginger paste. Keep stirring till the raw flavour of ginger, garlic are gone.
• Add tomato puree and cook covered till the mixture oozes oil. Keep stirring.
• Add all the dry powders ( red chili powder, garam masala, cumin- coriander powder , salt, turmeric and chole masala ). Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Discard the tea bags from the boiled chole and add the chole along with the left over water in cooker.
• Cook covered on medium heat for about 20 minutes, till the chole is very tender. Mash few of the chole with the back of the laddle. This will thicken the gravy.
• For tempering, heat ghee in a small pan, add carom seeds, green chillies, ginger juliennes. Saute for just 15-20 seconds and pour it over the chole and give it a mix.
• Serve hot with puri or bhatura or steamed basmati rice.

Note:  Adjust amount of water according to your choice. I like it more watery if I eat with rice. I like it with less water if I eat with puri or bhatura.

Egg Shells Crack While Boiling ??

To avoid egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard boiling.






If you know of any other tip, please mention in the comment section.