Gulab Jamuns (made with milk powder)

Ingredients

1 cup skimmed milk powder

1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

milk to knead the dough

ghee (clarified butter) for frying the jamuns

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

2 to 3 pinches of cardamom powder

4 tablespoons mixture of chopped nuts - almonds, pistachios, cashews

a few strands of saffron

Method

Mix the milk powder, baking powder and all purpose flour and knead into a dough with milk. Be careful to add very little milk - as the milk powder absorbs liquid fast and get mushy. You may not require more than 1/4 cup milk. Add 1 teaspoon of ghee and mix well - this is done to avoid the mixture from sticking to your fingers.  Leave the dough for half an hour to set.

Make a mixture of the water and sugar and bring it to a boil. When it boils - add the saffron, cardamom and the chopped nuts. Place this mixture in a serving bowl.

Make small balls of the dough - you should be able to make about 25 to 28 balls.  Fry them in ghee at medium heat - they will take about 7 to 10 minutes to get golden brown. Once done - remove them from the ghee and add it to the hot sugar syrup.

let it stand for 45 minutes to an hour - this way the sugar syrup goes deep into the jamuns.

You can eat it hot or cold.

Fish Fry - Red Masala

Ingredients

1 Black Pomfret - you get approximately 7 to 8 medium sized pieces

2 teaspoons salt + 2 teaspoons turmeric - to marinate the fish

15 dried red chillies (I used byadgi mirchi)

3 teaspoons tamarind paste

12 cloves garlic

salt to taste

a mixture of semolina and rice flour for coating

oil to shallow fry 

Method

Clean the fish and marinate it in the salt and turmeric mixture and let it rest for atleast 1/2 hour.

In a blender - make a fine paste of the red chillies, tamarind paste, garlic and a little salt - add very little water. The mixture should have a paste consistency. Add more salt if needed.

Apply this mixture to the fish pieces on both sides. store it in a glass container - cover and let it marinate in the refrigerator for atleast 5 hours - if overnight, its the best.

When ready to fry - take a pan and add oil upto 1/4 inch inside the pan. Coat the marinated fish in the semolina and rice flour mixture and fry in the oil over medium heat. It takes 10 minutes per side to get a nice crispy fried crust.

Enjoy with plain rice and yellow dal or fish curry.

Fish Curry - Coconut Gravy

I made fish curry and fish fry over the weekend. Ofcorse, had a long long chat with mom about the method and the ingredients and then finally made it.

Ingredients

1 medium size Mackerel or Black Pomfret (usually would get around 7 to 8 medium size pieces)

2 teaspoons salt + 2 teaspoons turmeric powder - to marinate the fish.

1 cup shredded coconut (fresh)

3 teaspoons coriander seeds

10 to 12 dried red chillies (I used Byadgi mirchi)

6 to 7  cloves garlic

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

2 teaspoons of coconut oil (you can use corn oil, peanut oil, olive oil, vegetable oil too)

2 teaspoons tamarind paste

salt to taste

2 to 3 kokums (optional)

to know more about kokum visit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garcinia_indica

Method

Clean the fish and apply salt and turmeric powder to it and let it marinate for about half an hour. 

In a blender - mix the coconut, chillis, garlic, corinader seeds and tamarind paste. Mix it well to make a fine paste - add just enough water to get a thick gravy consistency. The coconut must be very finely processed.

In a karahi - add the coconut oil. When it gets hot add the onions and fry till they are transparent. Then add the ground gravy paste and stir and mix well. Cover the karahi and let the mixture come to a boil. Now add the marinated fish pieces one by one very slowly. Cover and let it cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Check if fish is cooked. Be very careful when you stir/mix now - as the fish is very delicate after its cooked. Add the kokum and salt if needed - remember, the fish was marinated in salt and turmeric. 

Serve with plain white rice.

Malai Kofta

Ingredients

For the koftas

2 mashed potatoes

1 cup grated paneer

chopped cilantro

a few golden raisins 

2 teaspoons cornflour/corn starch

salt to taste

oil for frying

For the dry masala

1 star anise

4 cloves

2 green cardamoms

1 inch cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon cumin

For gravy

1 medium size onion - roughly chopped

2 medium size tomatoes - roughly chopped

5 cloves of garlic - roughly chopped

1/2 cup cashews - coarsely ground

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons oil

salt to taste

2 teaspoon chilli powder (you can use more if you wish to make it spicy)

Method

First grind the dry masala - for this dry roast all the dry masala ingredients in a karahi and then grind it to a fin powder. Keep it aside.

To make the koftas - in a deep dish, mash the potatoes, to it add the grated paneer, the chopped cilantro, salt to taste,the golden raisins and the cornflour. Mix all well together. it will form a dough. make small balls out of this mixture - the size of a golf ball. You can deep fry them or shallow fry the koftas till they turn golden brown. Drain them on a paper towel and keep aside.

For the gravy - in a karahi, add 2 tablespoons of oil. When it gets hot, add the onions and the garlic and fry till golden brown. then add the tomatoes and saute till the oil leaves the sides of the pan. To this mixture, add salt, cashews, chilli powder and the dry masala powder and mix well. Let this mixture cool. Then grind it to a fine paste, adding water only if required. This paste has to be thick like gravy.

In the same karahi - add the thick gravy and when it starts to boil, add the heavy cream and stir continuously. When the whole gravy is mixed well and has boiled - add the koftas to it. Cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Koftas are ready - can be served with rotis, parathas or jeera rice.

Usal Pav

We had a potluck lunch a few days ago - and we had this awesome usal made by a dear friend. Loved it a lot. Thanks Vandu - for the lovely usal and the recipe.

Unlike Misal which is a maharastrian delicacy - Usal is comon in Karnataka.

Ingredients

1 cup safed vatana (dried yellow peas) - soaked overnight

1 medium onion - chopped

1 medium tomato - chopped

2 green chillis - chopped

2 teaspoons shredded coconut

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

6 to 7 Red chillis - I used Byadgi Mirchi

2 teaspoons Tamarind Paste

salt to taste

2 tablespoons of oil

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 tablespoons lemon juice

For Garnish

Hot Mix

chopped onions

chopped cilantro

Method

In a pressure cooker - cook the soaked vatana along with the onions, tomatoes and green chillis and two cups of water for 3 whistles.

Grid to a fine paste the shredded coconut, coriander seeds, red chillis and the tamarind paste. Add a little water if required.

In a karahi - add the two tablespoons of oil. Then mix the pressure cooked vatanas and the ground mixture. Add salt, lemon juice and garam masala and bring it to a boil.

In a bowl, garnish it with chopped onions, chopped cilantro, hot mix and serve with pav (burger buns, bombay pav, potato buns)