Go Green with some Lauki Ka Halwa

I have been wanting to try this recipe for a long time now. I remember this friend of mine making this for me when I was in college but when I saw her make it I never thought I would ever get down to making this sweet treat the reason being the elaborate procedure. I could not manage stirring this the Lauki with milk and sugar for an hour or so in a hot Indian kitchen. Mind you its really hot here..Uff!!!... So I swore to find a easy alternative to this recipe where I could make it in a jiffy.. My desire came true the other day when I made it in my kitchen. I did not get this idea all by myself so I cant shout Eureka Eureka :(... I saw one of my favorite chef cooking this on TV.. Yes.. Aditya Bal of NDTV Good Times and I said to myself 'this is so simple and a must try'.

Thus this sweet treat reincarnated in my kitchen... As sweet as the traditional version..LAUKI KA HALWA...

You need:

1 small Lauki, Bottle Gaurd

3 Tbsp sugar (depends on how sweet you want it)

2 cups milk

4 pods of cardamom (remove the seeds and pound it)

3 tbsp clarified butter or ghee

Salt to taste

Make it:

Take a wok and add ghee to it.

Once the ghee is hot add the Lauki and cook till it changes colour to a brownish green. Add salt while cooking it

Then add sugar and cook.

While the Lauki is cooking, take another vessel and heat milk to half its original quantity.

When the milk has started simmering add the cardamom seeds. This will infuse the milk with the flavor and your kitchen will be hit with a sweet aroma.

Once the Lauki is cooked add the milk and let it cook till all the milk evaporates.

Milk will Evaporate in 5 to 10 min.

Garnish it with cashew nuts or any nut you like.

NOTE:

Let the milk condense to half, this will make the last procedure fast. You will not be in the kitchen stirring it for long

Keep stirring the Lauki when you are cooking it. Chances are that it may burn if left unattended.

I used Jaggery instead of sugar. It tasted awesome :)

You can fry the nuts with ghee  at the beginning and then use it for garnishing. It brings out the flavor of the nut.

To make pounding of the cardamom seeds easier, heat the seeds in a pan and then pound it. It will powder in no time.
Top it with a dollop of ice cream for extra sweetness.

Indulge!

BITE INTO SOME MUTTON CUTLETS...

"Make beef cutlets for me when I come tomorrow", said Natasha. Whose Natasha? Yup she is my younger sister and those where the exact words she said when she spoke to me over the phone day before yesterday. My sis is working in Mumbai and was coming to Mangalore to give her CS exams. She wanted to have something special so now that she asked me to make these for her, how could I refuse.

So, my dad and I went to the supermarket to get some minced beef...oooops we forgot that beef is band in the state of Karnataka and I had no other choice but settle in for some mutton mince. But no regrets coz these turned out just the way I wanted it to.. A juicy filling with a crunchy coating. Sounds tempting? Well.. then make these, they are super easy. And yeah this one is my own creation (I can finally own something).. off course this recipe came to me after loads of trial and error. So do try these at home and let me know what you think???

MUTTON CUTLETS

You need:

400 grams mutton mince or ground meat (you can use beef or chicken too)

4 cloves

1tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 inch cinnamon stick

2 cardamom or elichi

Ginger Garlic paste

2 tsp pepper powder

lil turmeric powder

1 small onion

lil coriander leaves

3 small potatoes

salt to taste

For Coating

Maida or all purpose flour

Egg white

Bread crumbs

You make it:

• Wash the mince and let it drain completely.
• Then grind the cloves, cinnamon, elichi, cumin and coriander in a spice blender and keep separate.
• In a vessel take some oil. Now add the ground powder and cook for sometime. Then add the ginger garlic paste and cook for a min.
• Then add the mince. When it is half done add turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt.
• Let it boil. Do not add water.
• Turn it off them done and let it cool.

• Now cut the onions and coriander leaves and keep them.
• Once the mince has cooled completely add the onions and coriander leaves and mix. Keep aside.

• Meanwhile boil potatoes with some salt.
• Once done let it cook. After it has cooled, mash it. Check the salt. Add if you need more salt.
• Add the mashed potatoes to the mince and mix well
• Refrigerate for 1 hour.

• Then remove the mixture for the refrigerator and make round balls and flatten it with your hands.
• Dip it with Maida and then the egg whites and then with the bread crumbs. Dust off all the excess bread crumbs from the cutlet.
• Refrigerate for another hour.

• Then deep fry with oil. You can shallow fry it too.

NOTE:

• Refrigeration of the mixture is very important for the mixture to set. If you do not do it the cutlets will break open when you fry them.
• Yes the onions are raw and will cook when you fry it. The onions give them an additional crunch and taste.
• Deep frying the cutlets make them more crispy.
• Serve immediately.

Enjoy your snack.

CHICKEN BIRYANI FOR THE SOUL...

Who does not like rice cooked in tender spices and layered with creamy chicken? Who does not like the aroma of basmati rice? who does not like to come home to a delicious home cooked aromatic Chicken Biryani? Who Who Who???....

While I was changing the channels on my television on a lazy afternoon, I stopped at a channel called NDTV Good Times.. Why you ask me.. There I saw a chef cooking my favorite food.. Chicken Biryani. I quickly made a note of the ingredients and the method and decided that this recipe will be cooked in my kitchen. This one is not my creation, my post says it all, but I have tried it and this recipe is sure to please your taste buds

So for all you biryani lovers.. Here's presenting the special nawabi treat -

CHICKEN BIRYANI

Courtesy: Aditya Bal, NDTV Good Times

Ingredients:

½ kg basmati rice
1 kg chicken
2 onions - chopped
½ tsp saffron
1 cup milk
juice of 1 lemon
fresh green coriander - chopped
2 green chillies - chopped
1 tbsp refined oil

Ingredients for the marinade:

2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 ½ cup curd
1 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste

Spices for chicken:

4 cloves
1” cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2 green cardamoms
1 black cardamom
½ tsp cumin seeds

Whole spices for rice:

2 cloves
½ “cinnamon
2 green cardamoms
salt - to taste

For the Dum:

Dough made of atta and water

METHOD:
Soak the basmati rice in water for 20 minutes to half an hour.

Marinate the chicken with curd, turmeric, salt, chilly powder and ginger-garlic paste.

Grind all the spices for the chicken in a mortar and add to the marinade. Leave the chicken to marinate for an hour minimum or up to four hours.

Heat two tbsp of refined oil in a pan. Sauté the onions, till they turn golden brown. Keep aside.

Put the rice into the cooking vessel and add the requisite amount of water. Add the whole spices and the salt. Cover and let it cook till the water is absorbed.

Put the milk into a saucepan and heat till tepid. Add the saffron and stir till the milk takes on the colour of saffron. Keep aside.

Crumple half the burnt onions and add it to the marinated chicken. Put back in fridge for half an hour.

TO LAYER THE BIRYANI:
In a handi or an appropriate biryani cooking vessel: put 1 tbsp oil and heat. Add the chicken and cook on high heat till chicken takes on a light brown colour and is half cooked.

Lower the flame; flatten the chicken to form a layer. Put chopped coriander, remaining fried onions and green chillies on top.

Put all the rice on top of this layer and smoothen out. Pour in the saffron infused milk over the rice and add the lemon juice.

Cover the vessel and make long snake off the dough by rolling in on the counter and use it to seal the top of the cooking vessel.

Let the biryani cook on a very slow fire till the seal is hard and the rice looks fully cooked.

Serve hot.

NOTE:

If using 1 cup rice, in the same cup measure 2 cups water for cooking the rice.

Remember that you have marinated the chicken. The chicken is already tender so if you cook it more it will burn (you don't want that)

Cook the rice to 80% initially. The rice will cook a 100% when you dum it.

I did not use saffron as I did not have it in my kitchen. If you do not have it you can leave it, but add the milk as it enhances the flavour.

Its ok if you don't have a biryani vessel, I dint have one. Use any vessel you think is appropriate.

Enjoy your meal :)

MY GODS OWN CITY - MANGALORE

Its been a decade, at least it feels so, I haven't written or updated. Well, don't blame me coz I am in mere bliss, serenity and peace. Yes, I'm in Mangalore - the city I love the most, the city I grew up in and the city I will always live in no matter which part of the world I am in. Its a long vacation for me... a very long one... but I'm loving every bit of my stay here.

Mangalore is a city that has grown so much today. I came here with my family in the year 1991 to settle down for good and I must say I am still settling. When I say still settling I mean the changes this city has come across after so many years is tremendous. The lush green fields, the mud roads, the 'goodu angadies' have now changed into high raised buildings, concrete roads and not to mention the 'internationa'l look alike Malls. So much has changed in so little time and yes I'm still settling in.

2 years have passed since I settled in the US and when I stepped foot on my land, the feeling was something I cant express. I remember leaving my home as a newly wed while I returned as a mother. Time seems too small when I think of this big change in my life. Giselle is enjoying her stay here. She is being pampered on the house and has turned into a stubborn lil cute devil. But I wont stop her. I love it when she plays her tricks on me or on her grandparents - it makes me fall in love with her all over again. Her demanding attention, wanting new toys, the need to be carried unnecessarily, the spilling of food and all her 'nakras' are so beautiful, a phase that I can never forget.

Foodies so here I am in the land of kori rotties, kori sukka, buns and goli bajje. Oh! how I relish the food that has been cooked everyday. I now realise the worth of a home cooked moms handmade food. Ghar Ka Khanna as they call it. Gone are the days where I craved for some delicious mangi food and I'm not gonna crave for it in a long time I guess coz I'm gonna relish the food so much so that I'm gonna get sick of it at some point ;). I shall post some recipes of mangi food in my blog here so keep watching this space. I don't think you wanna miss this.

But, if I vanish again for a long period of time, as I said - don't blame me coz I'm in mere bliss, serenity and peace. I'm in MANGALORE.