KHEER

KHEER

 

 

Here is a sweet, creamy, yummy, thick, and ridiculously delicious rice pudding / kheer

2 cups milk

1/2 cup cooked rice

4 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

1 teaspoon pistachio’s slivered

1 teaspoon almond slivered

few strands saffron

 

Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed pan, stirring continuously. Add cooked rice, saffron, pistachio’s, almond and cardamom powder and let simmer for about 15 minutes on a low heat . Serve hot!

 

GRAVY

GRAVY

 

We recently had some guests from Columbia visit us and I decided to make my special masala potato curry. I have to tell you that this curry delighted our guests who described this as one of the best vegetarian curries they have tasted. Now our guests are non vegetarians and love their chicken and other meat cooked the Indian way.  Manu and I being strict vegetarians (meat and eggs don’t enter our house); i was a bit concerned that our guests will miss their butter chicken etc and so I decided to use my special masala recipe to cook the potato curry.

This is one of my most favorite recipes.I make this quite often as the curry goes well with Paratha’s and plain rice. A spicy masaledar gravy that can be used with paneer or potatoes and other vegetables. Its is quite a versatile gravy and can be stored (frozen) if one wishes to do so. This tomato based concoction is infused with spices, onion, garlic, ginger and simmered gently until thick and the spices are thoroughly blended.

Here is the recipe.

 

 

1 large red onion

10 Roma tomatoes quartered

10 garlic cloves

6 to 8 green hot chilies

2 inches ginger piece roughly chopped

2 tea spoon kasoori  methi

2 teaspoons salt

 

 

4 tablespoons ghee

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 stick cinnamon

5 clove

2 cardamom

2 dried red chili

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek

2 bay leaves

 

Heat the ghee in a sauce pan, add all the above ingredient once it crackles add  onions and sauté until little tender. add ginger, garlic and green chilies cook for a minute, add tomatoes and cook until tender and ghee separates from the mixture. Add salt and kasoori  methi , mix well and turn the heat off , Let it cool. Blend all the masala into thick paste. Use  as required.

 

Burrito Vithlani’s own style

BURRITO VITHLANI’S OWN STYLE

 

 

While face timing with my niece last week we were discussing Gujarati Nashto and the topic of gathia and sev mamra came up.  Minu and Manu were talking about how to eat  these snacks and so I am writing this post purely to tease Manu and my niece; to wind them up about the way they eat  Sev mamra.(Minu and Manu, this is now public knowledge)!   In fact this applies to all the Vithlani kids in the family.  Sev mamra is one of their favorite tea time snacks and is one thing that can always be found in our pantry.  Over the years I have marked how the Vithlani’s eat their sev mamra.

 

First of all, according to these guys, sev mamra only tastes good if accompanied by rotli, puri or thepla.  If none of these accompanying breads are present then they only taste good if served is a steel vatki (small streel bowl). No glass bowls or plates for these Vithlanis, oh no thank you!

When accompanied with rotli thepla or puri the way to eat sev mamra in the vithlani household is to make a sev Mamra burrito.  The soft bread is laid flat on a plate and then  sev mamra are placed in the middle.  This bread is then rolled just like a burrito and munched on.  Somehow, this is the way sev mamra are eaten at my in-laws and I am sure those Vithlani’s brave enough to do so will admit to this eating habit.

I am interest to see if anyone else eats their sev mamra in this manner or does this make the Vithlani’s unique?

For those of you who missed my post of sev mamra, here is the recipe.  Enjoy!!

3 cups gram flour

2 tablespoon oil

3 tea spoons salt

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 cup water ( can add little more water if needed)

 

 

Mix together all above ingredients and bind into a soft dough. Heat oil in a wok for deep frying. Attach a thin sev nozzle ,fill up the sev machine with dough and pipe this directly into the hot oil. Flip gently to cook on both sides. Remove sev, drain on kitchen paper. Let it cool and store in an air tight container.

 

MAMRA / puffed Rice

3 cups mamra

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 tablespoon oil

Heat the oil in a pan, add turmeric powder and salt. Add mamra and mix well on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes or till they are coated with salt and turmeric and are crunchy. Turn the hear off mix with sev and store in an air tight container.

Enjoy !!

 

 

COCONUT COOKIES

COCONUT COOKIES

Now this recipe belongs to my friend Neera Karia. These coconut cookies are stunningly delicious and easy to make.

 

2cups all purpose flour

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

1 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

 

With the hand mixture, cream butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add  flour and coconut,  knead the dough adding  milk little at a time. Roll cookies into 3/4 inch ball and place on the greased tray.   pre heat the  oven at 350 F and bake  for about 15 minutes or until bottom edges begin to brown. Rest for about 5 minutes and transfer to wire rack, let cool completely.