22 June 2011

Naan in a Pressure Cooker

Naan is a leavened bread and belongs to the North Indian Cuisine. It is traditionally cooked in a clay oven/Tandoor. 

This is one thing that we order every time we eat out . It is kids favorite too. Their menu seems to be fixed. Butter Naan and Butter Chicken. They never seem to get bored of it. 

Like everyone I too was on the notion that Naans can be made only if I have a tandoor - until I bumped into this recipe. So now all the naan fans can surely try this at home..Even if you don't have an oven.Yes you heard me right. Convert a pressure cooker to a tandoor. :) Check it out..



INGREDIENTS

All Purpose Flour
500 gm
Curd
2 tbsp
Dry Yeast
2 tsp
Sugar
1 ½ tsp
Ghee
2 ½ tsp
Salt
1 tsp
Butter
To apply on the naans
Oil
1 tsp
Water
1 ¼ cup









METHOD

Warm 1 cup of water.

Mix the sugar and yeast in it. Stir well until the yeast dissolves. Cover and keep until its frothy. Takes about 5 minutes.

Sieve flour.

Add the yeast mixture along with curds, ghee and salt.

Mix well using little more warm water and make soft dough.

Knead the dough for 7 minutes.

Cover the dough with a wet cloth and let be for ½ hour.

Punch down the dough and knead the dough for another 1 minute.

Divide the dough into small balls and roll it into round shapes.

Take a wide, deep pressure cooker and grease it with little oil.

Heat it upside down for 2 minutes.

Place it upright and place on the stove on high flame.

Take each naan, apply little water on one side and stick the wet side on the walls of the cooker.

Let it cook and as brown spots appear it will fall off to the bottom of the cooker. Remove and grill the uncooked side for 10 seconds. It will puff up. Remove from grill.

Apply butter and serve hot.



Tips:


Tilt the cooker a bit to stick the naans to the sides of the cooker.


Grill on medium flame.


The naans fall off to the bottom of the oven when cooked on one side. You can cook the other side from the bottom of the cooker but be careful not to burn your hands. It is easier on the grill.


To give the right shape to the naans after rolling it, just pull it from the bottom to get the triangle shape. But make sure that size will fit into the cooker. Else just roll it round.

    18 June 2011

    Vada Paav / Indian Vegetable Burger

    The popular tea time snack of Maharashtra - the vada pav or I should say the famous Mumbai road side snack. The Mumbai Veggie Burger complete with toppings and a soft square bun (paav).
    It is no more the 'poor man's food'.

    Potoato Vada is sandwiched between the buns and topped with cilantro peanut sauce and roasted garlic spice blend.  Truly a mouthwatering snack !

    It is a long process to prepare them but the end result is worthy of the effort, I should say. And didn't manage to get the real paav so managed it with buns :( . Anyways I am happy with the result. Enjoy!

    So here is my first try at Maharashtrian Cuisine.






    Vadaa Paav/ Fried Potato Sandwiches


    Printable Recipe


    INGREDIENTS


    For the roasted garlic spice blend


    1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    1/2 cup raw peanuts
    1 tablespoon coriander seeds
    1 teaspoon cumin seeds
    6 medium cloves thinly sliced
    1 teaspoon coarse / sea salt ( add as per your taste)


    For the cilantro peanut sauce/ chutney


    1/2 cup cilantro leaves
    2 tablespoon shredded coconut
    1/2 teaspoon salt( add as per taste)
    3 green chillies ( the original recipe says 6-8 but I find that too hot so add as per your spice level)


    For the garlic potatoes


    450 gm potatoes boiled and mashed
    1/2 cup frozen peas (no need to thaw it)
    1 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
    1/2 cup cilantro
    1/4 cup curry leaves
    3 green chillies
    4 cloves
    2 slice ginger(1 1/2 inch long)


    For the batter


    1/2 cup  chickpea flour
    1/2 cup rice flour
    2 tablespoon cornflour
    1/2  teaspoon turmeric powder
    1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt


    10 small, paavs






    METHOD


    Roast the peanuts over medium heat in a small skillet for about 2 - 4 minutes. Roast till the nutty smell comes and the nuts turn reddish brown.Transfer half of the peanuts to a plate to cool. Put the other half in a blender jar and keep aside.

    In the same skillet add the coriander, cumin, chillies and sesame seeds and roast. The spices have to turn reddish brown ( 1-3 minutes). Add this mixture to the peanuts on the plate.

    Add the garlic to the remaining oil in the skillet and cook stirring occasionally until they are sunny brown in colour. Spread the garlic over the spices on the plate. Let it cool completely.

    To make the cilantro sauce or chutney -  pile in the cilantro, coconut, salt, chillies, ¼ cup water to the peanuts in the blender . Blend well. Transfer to a bowl. Add 2 tablespoon water to the blender and swish it again to remove any remaining sauce. Stir well.

    To make the roasted garlic spice blend transfer the spices on the plate to the blender and powder it. Make sure the spices are cooled well before powdering else it may become slightly cakey.



    To prepare the patties combine the potatoes, peas, salt and turmeric in a bowl. Combine the cilantro, curry leaves, chillies, garlic, ginger in a food processor and mince. Add this to the potato mixture to make a slightly yellow green dough.

    To make the batter, mix the two flours, corn flour, salt and turmeric in a bowl. Pour in warm water to make a smooth thick batter.  You will need about 3/4 - 1 cup water.

    Divide the dough into 16 portions. Shape it into round balls and press a bit in between your palms to make ½ inch thick patty. Set aside.

    Heat the oil in a wok.


    Line a large plate with paper towels and keep ready.

    When the oil is ready, dip a patty into the batter and carefully slide it into the oil. Fry them until they are golden brown. Fry 3-4 patties at a time and remove them with a slotted spatula.

    For assembly of the sandwich slice open the paav, spread the cilantro sauce, place the patties, sprinkle the garlic spice blend and close the bun and serve.



     Tips:

    The spice blend and cilantro sauce can be made even up to 2 days in advance.

    The sauce can be refrigerated until ready to use.

    The spice blend can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or room temperature up to a week.

    A pinch of baking soda in the batter can make the patties more crisp.

    If you are using iodized salt then reduce the quantity.


    13 June 2011

    Healthy Nutritious Pulao


    Vegetable Pulao is my all time favourite especially when there is no time for elaborate curries and rotis. A healthy and quick recipe liked by all. 

    The addition of soya chunks along with the veggies make it all the more nutritious. Soya is making headlines these days because of its nutrient facts. It is high in protein, iron, dietary fibre, vitamin C and many more...



    INGREDIENTS

    Basmati Rice
    1 ½ cup
    Soya Chunks
    1 cup
    Cumin Seeds
    ½ teaspoon
    Ginger paste
    1 teaspoon
    Garlic Paste
    1 teaspoon
    Tomatoes
    1 cup
    Carrot
    1 cup
    Beans
    ½ cup
    Peas
    ½ cup
    Vegetable stock cube
    1
    Water
    3 cups+ 1 ½ cup
    Salt
    As required
    Oil
    3 tbsp
    Bay leaf
    1
    Garam Masala
    ½ teaspoon



    METHOD

    Wash and soak rice for half hour and strain.
    Boil 1 ½ cups of water and soak soya chunks in it for 15 minutes. Squeeze out the water and chop into small pieces.
    Wash and chop vegetables.
    Heat oil. Add cumin and stir for 4 seconds.
    Add ginger garlic paste and stir.
    Add onion and stir fry till its golden in colour.
    Add the bay leaf.
    Add the vegetable stock cube, garam masala and mix well.
    Sauté the carrot and beans. Cover and cook till the vegetables are half cooked.
    Add the tomatoes and cook again till the tomatoes are mashed.
    Add green peas and let cook for 2 minutes.
    Boil 3 cups of water in a separate vessel.
    Add the chopped soya to the vegetable mixture and stir well for a minute.
    Check salt, add water. When the water comes to a boil add the rice. Cover and cook on medium flame for 10 minutes.
    Stir slowly and cook for another 5 minutes/ till done on slow flame.
    Remove the bay leaf.
    Serve with raitha and chutney.



    Coriander Mint Chutney

    INGREDIENTS

    Coriander
    1 cup
    Mint leaves( Pudina)
    ½ cup
    Grated Coconut
    1 ½ cup
    Chilly
    1 or 2 large
    Tamarind
    A small piece
    Onion
    1 medium
    Salt
    As required




    METHOD

    Chop coriander, pudina, chilly and onion.
    Grate coconut.
    Mix all the ingredients along with salt and blend coarsely.
    Check salt and serve with Pulao / Biriyani.


    Sending this recipe to Savory Sunday at The Sweet Details by Amanda


    Also sending this recipe(FB, WLI) to Anyone can cook: Series 21 by Umm Mymoonah of Taste of Pearl City.




    10 June 2011

    Kinnathappam / Malabar Style Rice Cake in an Uruli

    It is yet another famous tradional dessert famous in the Malabar region. Kinnathappam is served on all major occasions like weddings, house warming, baby shower...the list goes on. 

    Kinnathappam is a rice cake cooked in rich coconut milk, enriched with ghee, sweetened with jaggery and spiced up with cardamom. The texture is very soft and the color is deep brown.

    'Kinnam' refers to the vessel or plate in which it is transferred to and 'Appam' is the rice cake.



    I have always seen people buying it from bakeries and wondered how this soft and tasty appam is prepared and decided to find the traditional way of preparing it. The first reaction I got from all was ''ohh..that is very time consuming and takes a lot of heavy stirring.'' But I was still for it to learn a very authentic dish. Finally I got the recipe and here it is for my dear readers.



    Coming to the preparation part it is very tedious but the end result just makes us forget the time taken to prepare this yummy rice cake. It requires a minimum of 3 people just to stir. And since it requires lot of  effort it is usually prepared in bulk. Home prepared kinnthappams stay longer compared to the ones at bakeries. Here are the step by step preparation of Kinnathappam. Enjoy!!


    INGREDIENTS
    Raw Rice
    1 kg
    Jaggery
    ¾  kg light + ¾ kg dark
    Chana Dal (Kadala Paripu)
    ¼ kg
    Coconut
    5 large
    Cardomom
    5
    Sugar
    2 tbsp + 1 cup
    Water
    7 litre
    Ghee
    3 tbsp





    METHOD

    Melt jaggery by adding 200 ml water. Filter it in a sieve to remove impurities. Let it cool.




    Cook Chana Dal  with one piece of Jaggery in a pressure cooker. Add water just enough so that it sinks and cook till 1 whistle (half cooked).




    Grind the rice to a thin paste form.

    Powder the cardamom along with 2 table spoon sugar and remove skin from the mixture.

    Grate coconut and sqeeze to remove the first milk(Onnam Paal). Keep aside.

    Add 200 ml warm water to the coconut and squeeze to remove the second milk (Randam Paal) and third milk (moonam paal).




    Keep a thick bottom vessel/ Uruli ready to start the cooking process.Mix the rice batter, second and third coconut milk, jaggery, remaining water and start stirring on high flame.





    This has to be continuously stirred using a long steel spatula. It has to be steel or a heavy duty stirrer as the mixture will thicken as you stir and it will be difficult to stir otherwise.


    When the mixture starts thickening (it will take about 2 hours) add the first milk and cardamom powder. Take a small portion and hold it b/w your thumb and index finger, press it and pull. A strand consistency is formed.



    After about 15 minutes add ghee to the sides of the vessel. Add the chana dal and mix well.


    Add sugar at this stage as per your taste/or you feel the sweetness is not enough.

    This is the tradional kinnam. Keep the kinnam/vessel/ any other dish ready


     Keep scrapping off any mixture that sticks to the sides with a knife.


    The mixture will start leaving the sides and start wobbling like a jelly and leaving the sides of the Uruli.

    By this time keep the Kinnams /Brass vessels/ any dish ready with ghee smeared on it.



    The right consistency is when you hold a small portion in between your thumb and index finger and roll, it forms a ball shape without sticking to your fingers.



    Remove from fire and quickly transfer it to the vessels and flatten it so that it takes the form of the vessel.

    Cool, invert it on a plate, cut and serve.





    04 June 2011

    Chocolate Ganache Cake





    This is the cake I made for my hubby on his birthday. I don’t know why it took so long for me  to post it on my blog.
    The best part about this cake is the ganache. Just love the glossy look. No one believed it was a homemade cake.
    The base cake is the same one I had posted before, the only change is in the shape. I made a round cake. Now I wanted it to look a little different. Since I did not have any other shaped tins I made a hole in the middle J I wanted the look of a lava cake.
    So here it is.

    Chocolate Frosting Chocolate Cake

    INGREDIENTS
    Chocolate Cake
    Sugar
    2 cups
    Flour
    1 ¾ cups
    Cocoa
    ¾ cup
    Baking Powder
    1 ½ tsp
    Baking Soda
    1 ½ tsp
    Salt
    1 tsp
    Eggs
    2
    Milk
    1 cup
    Vegetable Oil
    ½ cup
    Vanilla Essence
    2 tsp
    Boiling Water
    1 cup

    Chocolate Frosting
    Butter
    100 g
    Cocoa
    2/3 cup
    Powdered sugar
    3 cup
    Milk
    1/3 cup
    Vanilla Essence
    1 tsp

    Chocolate Ganache
    1 cup heavy cream
    2 tbsp butter
    2 tbsp sugar
    12 oz. Semi sweet chocolate

    METHOD
    Chocolate Cake

    Mix the dry ingredients with a ladle i.e. flour, sugar, cocoa in a bowl.
    Mix baking powder, baking soda, salt separately and add to the other dry ingredients.
    Add eggs,milk, oil and vanilla essence and beat well for 2-3 minutes.
    Preheat oven for 10 minutes.
    Boil water and add slowly to the mixture. Now mix it with a spatula.
    Pour into a greased cake tin. (9’’ round tin)
    Bake for 30-35 minutes.
    Check if it’s cooked by inserting a toothpick. It should come out clean.
    Remove from oven and let it cool.
    Once cooled invert it on to a plate and let it cool.

    Chocolate Frosting

    I used half the quantity as that would be enough for the round cake
    Melt butter in a microwave.
    Add the cocoa powder. It should be very dark cocoa for best results.
    Alternately add sugar and milk.
    Beat till you reach a creamy consistency. Add vanilla essence and mix well.
    Spread it over the cake. Add 1-2 teaspoon milk if frosting is not of spreadable consistency.



    Chocolate Ganache
    Take a heavy bottom pan. Place the heavy cream, butter and sugar into it. Keep on medium flame.Keep stirring frequently and bring to boil.
    Microwave the chocolate for 30 – 60 secs to soften it. Pour the cream mixture into the chocolate. Mix the ingredients well and make sure all the chocolate is dissolved.
    Pour the ganache over the cake while the ganache is still warm.
    This recipe will yield 2 cups ganache which is enough is cover an 8" - 9" cake