Jalebi

My husband and I love sweets and he loves Jalebis as much as he loves rasgullas. I wanted to make jalebis for him for some time now. Somehow I never got around it due to some reason or the other. Finally I found the ketchup bottle with the round pointy nozzle at walmart and got it and  decided to make these yummy treats yesterday. They turned out pretty good and tasty for a first time jalebi maker

Ofcorse the recipe - various recipe books that I own and my moms old recipe book came to my rescue - Used the yeast to make the batter ferment quickly to make instant jalebis. I remember Mom making this and letting the batter ferment overnight 

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons yogurt
3/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoon besan/gram flour
2 tablespoons rice flour
2 teaspoons melted ghee
1 teaspoon yeast
1/4 teaspoon yellow food color (optional)
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 tablespoon rose water
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
8 to 9 strands of saffron
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
oil for deep frying
chopped nuts for garnish

Method

Mix yeast and 2 teaspoons of warm water and let it ferment for about 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, add all purpose flour, gram flour and rice flour and mix well. To this and add yogurt, melted ghee and food colour along with the foamed yeast and the rest of the water and mix well with a spoon in a circular motion to form a smooth batter with no lumps. Let this batter stand for an hour and ferment - it will double in size. Mix this fermented batter again to get it smooth. Spoon the batter into the Icing bag/ketchup bottle with a small hole nozzle to get jalebis in the hot oil.
In a saucepan, add sugar and water and bring  it to a boil. Add cardamom, saffron, rose water and lemon juice and mix well for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to a very low flame or if you are using an electric stove keep it on a warm side.
Heat oil in wide pan - it should be about an inch oil from the bottom of pan. Heat the oil at medium temperature. Check the temperature of oil by dropping a tiny drop of batter into it - the batter should immediately come to the surface of the oil without changing the color. Take icing bag/ketchup bottle with the batter in it  and squeeze out the batter in circular motion into the hot oil. Turn the jalebis around to cook the other side. Fry till they are golden and crispy. Drain excess oil into the pan and place the jalebis in the sugar syrup for a minute flipping the jabeli so that sugar syrup coats both sides evenly.
Transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with chopped nuts and serve warm or cold.

Lal Bhaji / Red Amarath Leaves Kholomba (Konkani Sambar)

Ingredients

1 cup toor dal
1 onion - chopped
1 tomato - chopped
1 bunch Red Amaranth leaves
3 teaspoons kholomba masala
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon cumin/jeera
5 to 6 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1 tablespoon oil/ghee
salt to taste



Method

Clean the Red amarath leaves - only leaves and wash them very clean and then roughly chop them. Take the tender stems of the amarath and wash then and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces. Wash and cook the dal along with the amarath stems and 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker upto 3 whistles.
Once the dal is cooked - just mash it with the bottom of a ladle/spoon. To this add the kholamba powder and tamarind pulp.
In a karahi add the oil/ghee. Once it gets hot add the mustard seeds and let them splutter, then add the jeera and the curry leaves. Then add the chopped onions and mix well till they sweat and become transparent. Then add the tomatoes and mix for about 5 minutes. Then add the chopped amarath leaves and mix well and let it cook covered for about 5 to 7 minutes. To this add the dal mixture and bring it to a boil and then lower the heat and let it simmer covered for about 15 minutes. Serve with rice.

Leftover Rice Appe

I just had a i/2 cup of rice leftover from previous nights dinner. What do I do with 1/2 cup rice? 

Well, just added a few things together and pulled out my appe/paniyaram pan and made these savory appes. Well, they were delicious and made a good snack with chai/tea

Ingredients

1/2 cup cooked rice
1 small onion - chopped fine
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup besan/chick pea flour
2 tablespoons rice flour
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida/hing
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon dhania jeera powder
salt to taste
cooking spray like PAM

Method

Mix the rice and yogurt along with the asafoetida, chilli powder, turmeric, dhania jeera powder, salt and mix well. Mash the rice with the back of the spoon. Let it stand for 15 minutes. To this add the chopped onion, chopped cilantro and the besan and the rice flour and mix well. Add salt to taste.
Heat on medium - high heat a non-stick paniyaram pan (http://www.hotdishes.com/Paniyarampan_guntapanganalu.htm) and spray it with oil. Add the batter one tablespoon in the pnaiyaram mold. After 5 minutes turn them carefully on the other side and let it cook for another 5 minutes. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or green mint chutney.

Moo Shu Pork

This was cooked by me for the Daring Cooks challenge in October 2011. I know I know I am posting it late - but as they say 'better late then never'

Well, I googled a lot to see how to cook Moo Shu Pork and ofcorse there were the recipes provided by  "Shelley" from "C Mom Cook" who had set up the challenge. Moo Shu Pork is nothing but pork, eggs and veggies together.

I used bits and pieces from the various sites and came up with a mixed concoction of moo shu pork my way.  It was  easy to make the Mandrain pancakes that accompany it. They are actually like thick roomali rotis with a strong seasme oil flavor

I used the recipe here "lotus-pad-mandarin-pancakes" for the mandrain pancakes.

Ingredients

1/2 lb pork loin, cut into strips
4 tbs soy sauce
2 cups shredded napa cabbage (you can use regular cabbage too)
4 eggs beaten
1 bunch of green onions/scallions - cut into 1/4 inch pieces diagonally - leave a few of the green leaves for garnishing
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sriracha - you can add more if you like
salt to taste

Method

marinate the pork in soy sauce, garlic powder, little salt and rice wine vinegar and let it stand for 1/2 hour. In a wok add 2 tablespoons of oil and stir fry the pork till its well done. Remove the pork on a plate. Then add 1 tablespoon oil and add the beaten eggs with a pinch of salt and scramble them well. Remove it in the same plate as the pork. Now add the remaining oil in the wok and add the scallions and napa cabbage and the sriracha and stir fry for 2 minutes. To this add the pork and the eggs and mix well. Add salt if required. Moo Shu Pork is ready.
Make a burrito roll with Moo Shu Pork on a Mandrain Pancake and enjoy.

You can add mushrooms, bean sprouts, bell peppers and even tender bamboo shoots to this (cook it along with the scallions and cabbage)

Surlichi Vadi / Khandvi

Ingredients

1 cup besan/bengal gram glour/chickpea flour
1 cup yogurt
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida/hing
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
5-6 curry leaves
1 green chilli chopped
2 tablespoons chopped coriander/cilantro
2 tablespoons oil

Method

Prepare a clean surface for spreading the gram flour mixture - something like a cookie sheet (I used my huge glass cutting board and a cookie sheet) big enough to spread a wide spread of mixture. If you have a granite counter top thats the most ideal as you will be able to spread the entire batch of mixture on it and get this done in one go. I had to make 2 rounds to finish making my khandvi on a cookie sheet and a huge glass cutting board.
Whisk the yogurt, water and gram flour. Add asafoetida, turmeric powder and salt. Whisk until well blended. Transfer the mixture into a non stick pan and heat on medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent the formation of lumps. The mixture will slowly begin to thicken. After about  15 minutes of stirring, taste to see if the gram flour is cooked or yet smells raw - if its raw cook for another 5 minutes or so. To check if its the right consistecy - take a small teaspoon of the mixture and spread it on a flat plate - let it cool and if it easily rolls when you try to then the batter is perfect.
Spread the hot mixture on the prepared surface with a flat spatula and spread it as thinly as possible. Allow it to cool a little and settle down. Once it is cooled, take a knife and cut long strips about 1 inch apart. Roll these pieces into a khandvi and take them out on a serving platter.
If you are doing this in batches - keep the remaining mixture warm over the stove at very very low heat over by placing the non-stick pan over a tawa.
Heat oil in a karahi -add mustard seeds and when they splutter add the cumin seeds and sesame seeds and then add the chopped chilli and curry leaves. Sprinkle the seasoning over the khandvi and garnish with chopped cilantro.