INSTANT SWEETS WITH MAWA ( MILK POWDER)

Hi all, So this Diwali, my mom was making all the sweets and savories the traditional style and I was looking to make something that was quick and tasty as well. I will tell you this, whenever you want to make a quick milk based sweet, buy a packet of Mawa ( milk powder) and keep it ready. I cannot tell you how useful it turned out to be. Just a few creative touch here and there, to give it an added taste and look. So here it goes , 3 simple recipes for 3 quick sweets.

Chocolate Mawa Barfi & Sweet Spring Rolls

Coconut Balls

COCONUT BALLS

Desiccated Unsweetened Coconut : 2 CUPS POWDERED

Condensed Milk : 1 CUP

Mawa ( milk powder) : 1 Tbsp

Cardamom powder : 1/2 Tsp

Fried cashews

MAKING

Simple mix all the above ingredients. Make small- medium balls of it. You could add your own decorative touch to it by adding food color or placing a nut in the middle. You could also add Vanilla essence to it. 

MAWA CHOCOLATE BARFI

MAWA : 2 cups

Condensed Milk : 1/2 to 1 cup

Cocoa Powder : 2 tsp

Butter : 2 tsp

MAKING

In a pan, add all the above ingredients and mix them well until the mixture comes to a dough like consistency not sticking to the sides. Make sure the gas is in low flame, It hardly takes about 5-10 minutes. Switch off the gas, set aside the pan. Grease a plate with butter/ghee and pour this chocolate mawa dough into it and flatten it. Allow it to cool down, cut it into the desired shape. Delicious Mawa chocolate Barfi is ready.

SWEET SPRING ROLL

INGREDIENTS

SPRING ROLL SHEETS : 2 SHEETS
MAWA : 1 and 1/2 CUP
SUGAR : 1/2 CUP
ELAICHI/CARDAMOM POWDER : 1/2 Tsp
MILK : 2 TBSP
OIL for FRYING
BUTTER for STICKING

MAKING

In a pan, heat the above ingredients in a low gas. Once you see the mixture leaving the sides, not sticking to the pan, rolling well without sticking on to the pan. Switch off the gas and keep it aside. Defrost the spring roll sheets, cut it into rectangles or squares. Take a spoon of the mawa mix and place it at the top of the spring roll sheet, roll it over and use butter as the sticky agent to close the sheet on the sides and top. Fry it in oil. Delicious sweet Spring Rolls are ready. The best part is that it does not require a lot of oil and it fries very quickly ( in a few seconds)

ONION TAMARIND GRAVY

Hi all, this recipe is fresh from my mother's kitchen, she had made it today and we all loved it. Very easy to make, its a multi purpose dish which could be used as a side dish or something that could be eaten mixed with rice. Its called

ONION TAMARIND GRAVY ( Onion Pulikachal)

INGREDIENTS

ONION : 1 Large Chopped into small pieces

GREEN CHILLI: 2 slit

TAMARIND : Quarter sized (25 cents) soaked in water. Squeeze the tamarind and use the juice after removing the tamarind pulp : 1 1/2 to 2 cups Tamarind juice

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/8th tsp

OIL : 1 TBSP

MUSTARD SEEDS : 1/2 Tsp

FENUGREEK SEEDS : 1/2 TSP

RED CHILLI : 2 Medium

SALT as required

JAGGERY if needed : 1/2 Tsp

Onion Tamarind Gravy

MAKING

Take a pan, add oil, once heated, add in the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, Red Chilli. Once the Mustard seeds splutters, add the chopped onion, slit green chilli's with turmeric powder. Fry the onions in oil for about 3-4 minutes until the onions are soft. Pour in the Tamarind juice and cook the onions in the juice until the gravy becomes thicker and the onions are fully cooked.

That's it, delicious Onion-Tamarind gravy is ready. You can mix it with rice and eat it as it is or use it as a side dish.

VARIATIONS/TIPS

You could add a bit of Jaggery to add a bit of sweetness in case the tamarind gravy is a bit tangy.

METHI MALAI MATAR

Hi All, so I came across this recipe from a popular chef who had posted it in his video. It was tempting and I got in the mood when I finally had all the ingredients to make it. It turned out good. So here it is.

METHI MALAI MATAR 

INGREDIENTS

METHI LEAVES ( Fenugreek leaves): 1 cup blanched
MATAR ( Peas): 1/2 CUP blanched
MALAI ( Fresh Cream) (Half n Half): 1/4th cup
Cashew nuts : 1 tbsp 8-10
Onion: 1 big or 2 medium
Bay leaf: 2 medium
Cinnamon stick: 1 medium
Jeera: 1 tsp
Black Peppercorns: 2-3
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1 pinch
Ginger chopped: 1 tsp
Garlic chopped: 1 tsp
Salt as required
Butter/Ghee: 1 tbsp
Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp
Coriander Dhania powder: 1/2 tsp
Water for blanching and boiling

Methi Malai Matar

MAKING

First, in boiling water, blanch the Methi Leaves, drain all the water and set it aside. Similarly, blanch the Peas and set aside. Now take a pan, add 2 cups of water, add chopped onions, cashews, bay leaf, cinnamon stick and boil the same for about 25 minutes. The Onion would have turned soft white at the end the cashews would have become soft as well. Drain all the water away. Remove the Bay leaf and the Cinnamon stick as we need only the flavour of it. Grind the Onion mix with chopped ginger garlic with a little bit of water, into a fine paste. Keep aside.

Now take the same pan, add butter/ghee, add tsp of Jeera, a pinch of turmeric, red chilli powder, Dhania-Jeera powder and saute it. Now add the onion paste, saute it in low flame for a few minutes until the raw smell of the onion goes away. Now add the blanched Methi leaves and Peas, add some water and allow all this to cook with required salt and Garam Masala. Once the gravy is thick and cooked, switch off the gas and add some fresh cream. 

Delicious Methi Malai Mutter is ready. Serve it hot with Roti's or Chapathi's or Naan or Paratha's.

TIPS/VARIATIONS

1:You could also add some cardamom pods when boiling onion. 
2:You could also add some yoghurt and reduce the quantity of cream accordingly.
3:Instead of Cashews, you could add slivered almonds. 
4:This gravy has a very subtle taste to it. Very rich because of the usage of cashews and fresh cream. The methi leaves and peas add a dash of green to the white gravy.
5:Make sure you don't over blanch the peas or Methi leaves and drain the water away, we will not use the water in the gravy. 

Mixed Lentils Rice Balls

Hi all, its been a while with the summer vacations done and kids back to school. This recipe is from my mother's kitchen. It's simple, easy healthy and a perfect dinner recipe. So without waiting any more, let's get straight to it.

Mixed Lentils Rice Balls

INGREDIENTS

RAW RICE : 1 CUP
CHANA DAL: 1/4th CUP
TOOR DAL: 1/4th CUP
RED CHILLI : 2 Medium
HING/ ASAFOETIDA : 1/4th TSP
PEPPERCORNS : 2-3
SALT AS REQUIRED
OIL FOR TADKA AND GREASING
CURRY LEAVES: 6-7
MUSTARD SEEDS : 1/4 TSP
WATER: 2 CUP

Mixed Lentils Rice Balls

MAKING

Grind rice, lentils with red chilli, and peppercorns into a dry coarse powder. In a pan, add a Tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds splutters, add water. Add required salt. once water starts boiling, add in the coarse lentil rice powder and mix it well until it thickens. Take it off the stove, make it into medium balls and place it in the greased idli plates into the pressure cooker and steam it for about 5-7 minutes. Switch off the gas, and delicious lentils rice balls are ready to eat. Serve it hot with coconut chutney or Sambhar. 

TIPS/ VARIATIONS

When you place the idli plates in the pressure cooker to steam, make sure to not keep the whistle. 

AVOCADO PARATHA

AVOCADO ROTI"S WITH RAITA

Hi all, this is something which is easy and healthy. I had bought a couple of Avocado's and wanted to use them in such a way that the kids would eat it without realizing that it had avocado's in it.

AVOCADO PARATHA OR ROTI"S

INGREDIENTS

AVOCADO : 1 to 2 (mashed)
GARLIC : 2 pods
CILANTRO: 2 TBSP chopped
LEMON JUICE : 1 tsp
WHEAT FLOUR : 2-3 CUPS
WATER AS NEEDED
OIL and GHEE as required
SALT as required

MAKING

Firstly open the Avocado's and scoop the pulp and put it in a bowl, hand mash them or grind it. Either way, make sure the Avocado pulp is mashed, add to it some chopped garlic, cilantro and lemon juice with 1/4 tsp of salt.

Now in a big bowl, add the wheat flour, oil or ghee, a little bit of salt and then add the Avocado mix. knead it well with required water to make a nice dough, the consistency should be just like how we prepare the dough for Roti's or Paratha's or chapathi's. 

Now take a small medium ball and flatten it with a roller pin ( belan) and cook them on both sides.

That's it, serve it hot with Raita or any side dish that you normally make with Roti's or Paratha.

AVOCADO PARATHA

TIPS/VARIATIONS

You could add just plain Avocado and make it.
You could also add cheese if you are giving it to kids in their lunch box for school.
Avocado's usually doesn't give much flavor on its own that is why I added the garlic, cilantro to give some flavor to it. 

PANEER CURRY SOUTH INDIAN STYLE

Hi all, so wanted to make a paneer side dish for roti's and I wanted it to be different than the usual tomato based curry. This recipe ,I found it on the internet but made some changes based on the ingredients I had in my pantry at the time. In the end, it came out well and the verdict was a thumbs up from my family so here it goes

PANEER CURRY (SOUTH INDIAN STYLE)

INGREDIENTS

PANEER : 2 CUPS CHOPPED INTO SMALL_MEDIUM CUBES
ONION : 1 MEDIUM CHOPPED
BAY LEAVES : 1 TSP CRUSHED
GREEN CHILLI'S : 2 SLIT
GINGER : 2 TSP CHOPPED
GARLIC : 2 TSP CHOPPED 
GHEE/OIL : 1 TBSP
SALT AS REQUIRED
CURRY LEAVES : 10-12
CILANTRO ( Coriander leaves/ Kothamalli) : 2 TBSP CHOPPED

FOR THE CURRY PASTE

COCONUT : 1/2 CUP GRATED
CLOVES : 3-4
CINNAMON STICK : 1 MEDIUM
CARDAMOM : 2 
JEERA : 1 TSP
DHANIA (CORIANDER) : 1 TSP
RED CHILLI : 1-2 MEDIUM
PEPPER CORNS: 2-3
FENNEL SEEDS: 1 TSP

PANEER CURRY SOUTH INDIAN STYLE

MAKING

Take a pan, pour 1 TBSP of Ghee/Oil, once heated, add the slit green chilli's, crushed bay leaves, chopped ginger and garlic, curry leaves, finally add the chopped onions. Saute for about 5 minutes in low to medium flame until the onion turns golden brown. Grind the above mentioned curry ingredients with a bit of water into a nice paste.  Now add it to the sauteed onions and cook for an additional 3 minutes in low flame before adding the paneer cubes. Mix it up well, add a cup of water , salt and allow it cook for about 5 minutes ( low flame) until the paneer is soft and the gravy thickens. Garnish it with freshly chopped cilantro and that's it, delicious paneer curry is ready. Serve it hot with Roti's.

TIPS

You could add chopped tomatoes to make it a bit tangy. I did not. You could also add dessicated coconut instead of normal grated coconut. This was a nice change from the usual tomato based paneer curry. Try it 

PEPPER GARLIC RASAM

Hi all, this recipe comes from searching the refrigerator and trying to make something quick with minimal ingredients. So I decided to make a combo and it was delicious, aromatic and perfect to have in cold weather or even otherwise. Here it goes, its called

PEPPER GARLIC RASAM

Rasam is a traditional south Indian dish using tamarind juice as its base.It can also be presented as an appetizing soup.

INGREDIENTS

TAMARIND JUICE with WATER ADDED : 1 cup tamarind juice with 2 cups water

TOOR DAL : 1/4th cup boiled and cooked in a pressure cooker 

SALT as required

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4th TSP

GHEE: 1 TSP

ASAFOETIDA : 1/4th TSP

MUSTARD SEEDS and JEERA for TADKA (tempering)

FOR RASAM PASTE

DHANIA : 1 TSP

TOOR DAL : 2 TSP

DRY RED CHILLI'S : 2-3 medium

JEERA : 1/2 TSP

PEPPER : 1/2 TSP

GARLIC : 2-3 Pods medium

PEPPER GARLIC RASAM

MAKING

Take the Tamarind Juice with water, add turmeric powder, salt and asafoetida and allow it to boil it for about 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, grind the above mentioned ingredients into a coarse paste like consistency, you could add a few sprinkles of water if needed or could grind it into a dry powder. Both works. Add the paste to the boiling tamarind juice. Boil it for an additional 5-7 minutes. You can smell the aroma of the garlic and pepper coming together. take a small tempering kadai, add the ghee, once heated, add the mustard seeds and jeera. Once the mustard seeds splutter , pour the tadka into the Rasam. Garnish it with fresh curry leaves and delicious hot pepper garlic rasam is ready. Serve it with rice or as a soup. 

TIPS/VARIATIONS

You could add vegetables, like I added pieces of Yam to it. You could even dry roast the spice ingredients before grinding. This dish is perfect on a cold day or days when your not feeling well or enjoy it as a soup on any day. The aroma in itself will make your mouth water, believe me. Enjoy !

CARROT HALWA

Hi all,

Here I am back again with a recipe that's simple, pretty much everyone knows how to make it. My son's birthday was celebrated recently and this is what I had made for him but the difference was in the way I presented it. He liked it so here it goes

CARROT HALWA

INGREDIENTS

CARROT: 2 CUPS GRATED
EVAPORATED MILK: 1/2 CUP
SUGAR: 1/2 CUP
CARDAMOM POWDER: 1/2 TSP
GHEE: 1 TBSP
CASHEWS: AROUND 7-10
PASTRY SHELLS: STORE BOUGHT AROUND 1 DOZEN

CARROT HALWA

MAKING

In a pan, add ghee, once hot, add in the grated Carrots and saute it until the raw smell of the carrot is gone. Now, add in the evaporated milk, sugar and keep stirring it until the sugar and the milk is absorbed and the halwa is thick. Add the cardamom powder and the roasted cashews. Now take the pastry shells, put it in the oven at 325 degrees F for 5-7 minutes until the shells are crispy. Take them out, allow it to cool. Now take a scoop of halwa and place it in the center of the shell.

Delicious Carrot Halwa in pastry shell is ready to eat. I loved the crispy texture of the shell and the gooey texture of the halwa blending beautifully in your mouth giving it a great taste.

TIPS

Add milk and sugar as required. Also, make sure the shells aren't overheated. Keep checking the oven for the right texture. Make sure you saute the carrots well, the raw smell kind of ruins the halwa.

GOTHSU ( A side dish for Pongal)

Hi all, let's start the New year with an easy dish that I had prepared on the auspicious festival of Pongal. Its a side dish to Venn Pongal and I was happy that it came out really well. It's a Tamarind based gravy Its called

GOTHSU Or KOTHSU

INGREDIENTS

MOONG DAL: 1 cup soaked in water for an hour or two
VEGETABLES: 1/4 cup of any vegetables like small onions, eggplant(brinjal), white pumpkin, potato, carrot, flat beans (avarakkai) etc
TOMATO: 1 Cup chopped into small pieces
TAMARIND JUICE: 1/4th CUP 
GARLIC: 2 pods
ONION: 1 small chopped
GREEN CHILLI: 1
RED CHILLI: 1
MUSTARD SEEDS: 1 TSP
JEERA: 1 TSP
CURRY and CORIANDER LEAVES chopped
OIL and SALT as required

KOTHSU/GOTHSU

MAKING

Pressure cook the Moong dal with the chopped veggies and salt until the dal and the vegetables are fully cooked. You could also cook the vegetables and the dal in a separate pan with enough water and salt. You could use whichever method you want as long as the dal and veggies are fully cooked and soft.

Now take a Kadai, heat 1 Tbsp of oil, add jeera, mustard seeds, chopped garlic pods, green chilli, red chilli and chopped onions. Saute the onions until it turns golden. Add the chopped tomatoes, saute it until the tomatoes are blended with the tadka mixture. Add the tamarind juice, the cooked dal and veggies gravy. Add the required salt and cook for about 5-10 minutes in low flame. Garnish the gravy with freshly chopped curry and coriander leaves. Delicious Gothsu/Kothsu is ready. Serve it with hot Pongal, vada, Idli or Dosa. 

TIPS/VARIATIONS

The only veggies I used were small onions, white pumpkin, carrots and potato. I cooked the dal and the veggies separately in a pan. That's because I was using the pressure cooker to make Pongal. Add the garlic pods gives good flavour. Usually we make sambhar with toor dal but Kothsu is usually made with moong dal and the most prominent vegetable used for this is eggplant /kathirikkai/brinjal