Rasaswad

 In a pressure cooker, dry roast 3/4 cup thick fada (broken wheat). Take them out and set aside. Heat a tablespoon on ghee and add a small piece each of cinnamon stick and clove. Add the fads back and roast on low until it turns golden brown - about 5-7 minutes. Add tbsp each of chopped cashew, almonds and raisins and roast for another minute or two. Add 2 cups of water and 3 tbsp of milk. Let it all come to a boil. Add 3/4 cup sugar and let it dissolve completely. Add a small pinch of salt. Now close the pressure cooker and cook till two whistles on low heat. Turn off the gas and let the pressure release naturally for about 10 mins. Add ground cardamom and serve.   https://youtu.be/Q0GjlYoSjfc

 M. was super inspired by the pasta episode in Chef's table and had been after me for weeks. So here it is - 3 cups flour + 4 eggs (no salt). Make a relatively firm but pliable dough and let it rest for a 10-15 mins. Pass it through the pasta roller through increasing settings - 1-5 , cut with the fluted roller and pinch to shape into Farfalle. Boil in salted water for a couple minutes and serve with your favorite sauce. Yum! 

Take about quarter cup of plain yogurt (not sour). Add a quarter tsp of ginger garlic chili chutney, 1 tbsp dhania jeera powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp anchor, a pinch of pav bhaji masala, 1/2 tsp kasuri methi, 1/4 tsp dry mint and salt to taste. Crush 2 tbsp Dalia (roasted Chana dal) and add to the yoghurt. Add big pieces of paneer and let it marinate for a few minutes. Cut red onions, colored peppers, a tomato and a zucchini into large dices and set aside. Heat some mustard oil, and add the paneer pieces and let cook on both sides. Take it out and set aside. Meanwhile, add the onions, peppers and zucchini into the marinade. Once the paneer is out, add regular oil, add the onions and pepper and let sauté for a few. Add zucchini and tomatoes. Also add a tbsp of onion tomato masala and 2 tbsp yogurt. Add salt. Crank up the heat and let the liquid from yoghurt cook out. Add the paneer back. Let everything cook for a few minutes and serve. M.’s verdict “it’s new but I like it”. 

 Clean fresh red chillies. Grind it with a bit of ginger and garlic. Heat oil, add the paste and some salt and let it cook down. Add lime juice once it cooks  and store in the fridge/freezer. 

 Roast some peanuts and sesame seeds and crush them coarsely. In a pressure cooker, heat peanut oil, add Mustard Seeds, Cumin Seeds, Clove, Bay leaves, Hing, crushed garlic, turmeric and red chilli powder and chopped tomatoes. Let it Saute. Add Diced Potatoes and eggplants. Saute for a few minutes, add salt, peanut, sesame powder, and water and pressure cook for one whistle. Add dhania jeera powder, garam masala, some tamarind pulp and gud (optional). Add fresh cilantro and serve with Puris/Rotis.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKyaESpEPJg

 M. Is almost five and cooks truly instinctively… she wanted a cool dessert today and she asked me to make this .. the only modification I made was in whipping the cream .. the rest is exactly hers .. blend and strain the blueberries, melt the chocolate and I whipped the cream with some sugar and vanilla. Mixed all three in roughly equal proportion and we got the awesome Abuzulu from the fabled land of Abu .. I have no idea how she came up with this .. but as always, she was very clear about what she wanted and made sure that she got it …  A couple of days ago, she made an apple blue berry salad with shredded lettuce and Dalia for crunch. I made her some honey dressing, but it was a good salad. Entirely her invention. 

 Wash and chop a bunch of methi. Add it to about half a cup of atta, half a cup of AP flour, 2 tbs of sooji and 2 tbs of besan. Can also add some rice flour. Add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, corriander powder and a handful of sesame seeds. Also add about 1 tbsp of oil. Mix everything and add about half a cup of water and make a semi soft dough. Let it rest for about half an hour. Roll, dock and cut into small squares and fry in medium hot oil. Sprinkle some black salt and pepper powder. 

 Heat oil in a pan, add a few whole black pepper, 1 clove and a small piece of cinnamon. Add chopped onion and a bit of crushed garlic and sauté until onion gets soft. Take out the cinnamon, and blend it with a handful of cashews.  Heat some ghee, add cumin, one bay leaf and add the onion cashew paste. Add milk, and let it boil. Add salt, a big spoon of yoghurt, cream if you have and a tiny pinch of garam masala. Add pieces of paneer, and let everything cook for a few minutes. Serve with Parathas.  https://youtu.be/qtGz5Ve_wRk?si=Q1CVyKn8rS2UcA_g

 Peel and dice about a cup of pumpkin and steam until soft. Take it in a bowl (make sure to avoid getting any water in). Mash it wish a fork. Add about 1/2 cup finely chopped or grated gud. Let the two sit together for a few minutes and mix. Add a quarter cup of sooji, a pinch of salt, coarsely crushed fennel seeds and ground cardamom. Add whole wheat flour - around two cups, to form a semi-soft dough. Let it sit for a bit, knead and then roll into medium size puris and fry. Tasty by themselves, but also with some lime pickle.   https://snehasrecipe.blogspot.com/2016/09/lal-bhoplyachya-gharge-fried-red.html

 Take the puff pastry out for thawing and preheat the oven to 475. Boil three big potatoes in the pressure cooker, peel and mash. Dice a small onion. Heat the pan, add oil, jeera, onions and let it soften. Add turmeric, reg chilli powder, dhania powder and add the potatoes. Add salt, garam masala, chat masala, anchor powder, kasuri methi and fresh cilantro. Mix everything and let it cool down. Cut each pastry sheet into four. Make an egg wash with some cream. Put the filling, paint the edges with the egg wash, fold in a triangle, crimp the edges with a fork, paint on top with egg wash and make two slits with a knife. Bake them in an oven for about 10-12 minutes and serve warm.  https://youtu.be/PZcKNiFwd58?si=WbR9QcM86DEHfd1k

 1 tbsp butter, 2 cloves of garlic crushed, pinch of chilli flakes, oregano, salt and pepper, add 1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes, and can of chickpeas, sauté for a bit, add about  cup of veg stock and 1/2 cup cream. Let it all cook. Add a big handful of chopped basil.  https://www.liveeatlearn.com/marry-me-chickpeas/

 As M. Teaches me all about Abukana culture, on a Friday evening, when we couldn’t figure out what take out food to get, M. Decided to make a dish. We started pulling out ingredients, with me not knowing where it’s going, but trusting the process. The chef started chopping the ingredients and asked for help when she needed. But she was very particular about how each vegetable was cut. She wanted things diced quite small, and asked me which vegetables can be eaten raw and which ones needed cooking. So I gave some inputs and then towards the end, I nudged her into adding some protein in the form of Paneer and making a salad dressing that would bring it all together. The end dish was truly stunning and we couldn’t possibly have gotten something like this from takeout. The almost five year old chef had truly created a masterpiece . So here’s the recipe:  Cut green beans into an inch long piece. Microwave with a bit of water for a minute and drain. Dice cauliflower, broccoli and ca...

 Brown 11/2 sticks butter and cool. Mix 1 ripe banana, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 cup each of white and brown sugar, a tsp vanilla, 1 egg yolk, and half a tsp of salt. Mix with the browned butter. Add 2 cups flour and a tbsp of baking soda, 1/2 pack white chocolate chip cookies. Cool the doughy and bake the cookies.  https://www.bakedambrosia.com/brown-butter-banana-white-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Kernels from two ears of corn, 2 chopped scallions, hand full of chopped cilantro, 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar, 1 egg, some corn atta, about 1/4 cup AP flour, 1-2 tbsp sooji, salt and pepper. Mix everything and make small pancakes on cast iron and shallow fry on both sides.  https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/07/corn-fritters/

Mix grated paneer, grated boiled potato, grated carrots, grated/finely chopped cabbage, finely chopped green chillies, finely chopped cilantro, ginger garlic paste, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, roasted cumin powder, chat masala, pinch of garam masala, corn flour, and mix everything into a nice dough. Make flat oblong tikkis, make a paste of AP flour, salt and water. Dip the tikkis in the batter, roll in panko breadcrumbs and shallow fry on a cast iron griddle. Serve with ketchup, chutney. 

 In a measure cup, warm 1 cup water + 1/4 cup milk and heat in microwave for a minute. Add 2 tbsp sugar + 21/4 tsp active dry yeast. Add it to the mixer bowl and let it it prove fora bout 5 minutes. Add 4 tbsp room temperature butter + 1/2 tsp salt + 31/2 cups flour in stages. (I think I might have added about 4 cups) flour until you get a super soft dough. I mixed AP flour, with a few tbsp each of elmer wheat, roti atta, einkorn and spelt. Once you get the dough of good soft consistency, let the mixer knead it for another 4-5 minutes, until it doesn't stick. Take the dough out, oil the bowl and out the dough ball in there, cover and let it rise for about 11/2 -2 hours. Butter a loaf pan. Punch, and take the dough out and roll it into an 8X11 inches rectangle. Roll from the narrow side and drop it seam side down in the pan, let it rise another hour. Preheat oven to 350. Brush the bread with a bit of milk, and bake for about 25-30 minutes. let it cool for a few and take out on a coo...

 Squeeze 4-5 lemons to get 3/4 cup lemon juice. Zest one lemon. Heat 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice and zest to the syrup and remove in a loaf pan. Freeze. Remove from the freezer every half an hour and scrape. Do this for 4-5 times and freeze.  https://youtube.com/shorts/8oqrqeps3B8?si=zReeLickDB21vSKo

 In a pressure cooker, take about 1/8 cup each of toor daal, yellow moong daal,  green moon daal, and Chana daal. This should make half cup. Now add about half cup masoor daal. Wash all the daals, add water, salt, turmeric and 1 cut up tomato. Cook for 5-6 whistles and let the pressure release. Remove the tomato peels, and mix the daal with a ladle (keep some texture). Heat some peanut oil, add jeera, 1 whole red chilli, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1/4 of a chopped red onion, a big pinch of hing and let it sauté. Once the onion starts to get brown on the edges, add chopped cilantro and 1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder. Add to the daal, add some more cilantro, mix and cook for a minute or two. Serve with warm rice and ghee. 

 1 cup maida + 1/4 tsp baking powder + 1/4 cup milk powder + 1 can of evaporated milk. Mix everything and set aside for 15-20 mins. For syrup- 1 cup sugar + half cup water + pinch of saffron boil for 5 mins and set aside. Fry the malpua in oil plus ghee, soak in the syrup and enjoy.  https://youtu.be/iXCDXjHJa6Y?si=uaZwr1Tkgk3bivht

 2 tbsp chia seeds + 1/2 cup coconut milk + 1 tbsp maple syrup + 1/2 tsp hemp seeds. Mix everything in a glass. Add berries, cover and refrigerate overnight.  https://youtube.com/shorts/e6HpOBFaCxc?si=iFqJGBRm2HvhA4Y0

 2 sticks butter + 11/3 cup powdered sugar. Cream well + 2 tsp almond extract + 1 cup coarsely ground almonds + 1/2 cup almond flour + 2 cup AP flour + baking powder + 2-3 tbsp milk. Make a dough, roll between parchment, press sliced almonds and refrigerate. Cut into sticks and bake at 325.  I skipped baking powder, but it was still fine. Next time I might increase the sugar slightly, and maybe add some vanilla too.  https://youtube.com/shorts/GtU6YBctwec?si=-jd-Lles3cJrfxez

 Cut up and blend watermelon. Strain out the juice, add a splash of rose syrup and some sugar as required. Add it to a container and freeze. Use a sturdy fork to scrape the frozen juice and serve immediately or refreeze. 

 Just like from our childhood…  Heat water in a pot, add salt. Add green beans, carrot batons, cauliflower florets and potato batons. Let it cook until just soft. Strain it out and set aside in a plate. In the same water, add large dices of a white onion and about few handfuls of cashew nuts. Let it boil for a few minutes. Chop a big handful of almonds and cashews. In a small pan, heat some oil, and fry the chopped nuts. Take them out in the same plate as the veggies. In the same pan, fry some paneer. Add to the veggies. Sauté some mushrooms in the same pan and add them to the veggies too. Add some raisins to the veggie plate. Blend the onion and cashew paste. Drain out the water. Heat oil plus a bit of ghee. Add shahjeera, whole garam masala - cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and two bay leaves. Add ginger garlic paste, cook and add the onion and cashew paste. Let it cook for a few minutes on low heat. Add some water, salt, sugar, a big pinch of dhania-jeera powder, white pepper po...

Over 350, prep 2 9 inches cake pans.   I used 2/3rd of the original recipe and approximated it.  Chop and toast 1 cup pecans in 2 tbsp butter until lightly toasted. Cool.  Mix Dry: 23/4 cup flour + 13/4 tsp baking pwder + 3/4 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp baking soda  3/4 cup buttermilk (it was a tad bit more than 3/4)  Cream 2 sticks of unsalted butter + 11/2 cup sugar +3 eggs +  3/4 tbs vanilla  Alternate dry and buttermilk in batches.  Add the cooled pecans and bake until done.  Frosting - 11/2 slabs of creamcheese + 2 sticks of unsalted butter + 4-5 cups powdered sugar + pinch of salt + 1 tbsp vanilla. Mix and frost the cake. Decorate with more toasted pecans (about 1/2-3/4 cups).  It really smells and tastes like butter pecan icecream!  https://preppykitchen.com/butter-pecan-cake/

 Cut Carrots and Radishes into matchsticks and marinate in salt + sugar + rice wine vinegar for about an hour. Slice the jalapenos, cucumbers and clean out big stems of cilantro (don't chop it finely). Mix sriracha and mayonnaise. Refrigerate everything until ready to use. Wipe some extra firm tofu with kitchen towels, and slide it into thick rectangles. make diagonal cuts on one side, so marinade can go in. Mix salt, sugar, soy sauce and fermented black bean paste and marinate the tofu on both sides. Now mix som Hoisin sauce into the rest of the marinade and brush on the tofu. Bake at 375 until dryish on both sides (turn it once). Heat up some good sandwich bread roll, slice, spread the mayo, layer the cucumbers, tofu, the carrot radish slaw, jalapenos and cilantro and enjoy! 

 In a pot, add a tsp of jeera, 3 cardamom pods, 2-3 kashmiri red chillies, 1 onion - big dice, 2 fresh tomatoes, 1 can of whole tomatoes, 3-4 garlic cloves, small piece of ginger, handful of cashew nuts, handful of cilantro stems, 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, a pinch of garam masala, 1 tbsp butter, salt, and water, cover and cook for 15 mins. Blend into a puree. Heat some oil + butter, add the gravy and cook for another 10 mins or so. Add Kasuri methi, pinch of sugar, a bit more butter, and diced paneer. Garnish with Cilantro and cream.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvyuV5Bjnx8

 https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/lemon-poppy-seed-bread/

 Pressure cook mustard leaves for one whistle. Change water, and boil in an open container until cooked. Blend and set aside. Heat oil + ghee, add crushed garlic, red chilli powder, sour yoghurt or buttermilk, and add the mustard paste. Add salt and let it cook for a few minutes. Mix some corn meal or Jawar atta in water and add. Let it cook. Serve with bajra or Jawar dodo