Tag: Desi Ghee

Ven Pongal | Pongal Recipes | Sankranti Recipes

Adorned with whole black peppercorns, soft and delicious ven pongal
01/02/2017 12:40:47 PM vindhyadesai

A wholesome rice with the simplest of spices has to be pongal. Main ingredients being rice and mung/moong dal along with black pepper they make a super delicious combo. Ven pongal is a variation of khichdi from Tamil Nadu and South India. This is similar to hotel style pongal served with white coconut chutney and tiffin sambar.
Khichdi is the most common dish all over India. It is made in different ways for instance the one, I have already posted from Bengal, khichuri. These dishes are very comforting and most importantly they are one-pot meals. ... “Ven Pongal | Pongal Recipes | Sankranti Recipes”

Shenga Barfis | Kadalebeeja Barfi | How to make groundnut barfi? | Sankranti Recipes

Mini cut groundnut or shenga barfis – something for the sweet tooth
01/01/2017 12:08:59 PM vindhyadesai

New Year is here! Let’s us start this new year on a sweet note. A fun to make recipe, shenga barfis. Made with roasted groundnuts mixed into melted jaggery and ghee. Now, what can go bad with that 🙂
Sankranti/Pongal planning has to start soon. This year the harvest festival is on the 14th of January. Make simple sweets like shenga unde, shenga chikki along with these shenga barfis. They will make your Sankranti/Pongal celebration special.
These shenga barfis can be cut into any shape, I have cut them into small squares. Small squares are ideal to distribute amongst friends and colleagues. Everyone can just grab a little barfi and help themselves with more. ... “Shenga Barfis | Kadalebeeja Barfi | How to make groundnut barfi? | Sankranti Recipes”

Pudina Dal Shorba | Soup Recipes

Piping hot, appetizing, refreshing drink, pudina dal shorba
12/13/2016 8:43:51 PM vindhyadesai

Shorbas’ are a great way to start a meal. Pudina dal shorba definitely has a place at the beginning of a grand feast. Shorbas’ have their roots in Persia and the Middle East.
These are piping hot soups served as an appetizer. As we know with soups, there can be many varieties. Shorbas’ are specialty soups from Asian cuisine. It is even served just on its own with some kind of bread to soak up the goodness. ... “Pudina Dal Shorba | Soup Recipes”

Tomato Paratha | How to make tomato paratha?

Soft, delicious and filling tomato paratha for travel or lunchbox
11/30/2016 9:54:21 PM vindhyadesai

Did you know that tomatoes can be ‘grated’ into a coarse puree. I learnt this recently from an article which mentioned ingredients that can actually be grated. So these grated tomatoes add a new kind of texture to soft tomato paratha. I have used this technique to make super tasty red tomato paratha.
However, tomatoes should be firm and just ripe to be able to grate them. Of course, they should also be fresh. Nothing stops us from pureeing the tomatoes in a blender. That would work well too. ... “Tomato Paratha | How to make tomato paratha?”

Whole Wheat Papdi | How to make baked papdi?

Homemade whole wheat baked papdis/crackers for chaat
11/08/2016 9:51:16 PM vindhyadesai

Dreaming of a having a plate or two of some chaat (Indian street food) on a rainy day? Then you decide to rustle up some chaat at home, only to discover that you do not have papdis at home.
Papdis or crackers are an essential ingredient to chaats like bhel, papdi chaat, dahi papdi chaat, masala puri etc.  I say you can easily make these at home, whole wheat papdi, baked instead of deep fried.
You would probably be excited that now you can make chaat with ease. Make a batch of these and store them. This recipe yields up to 50-55, 1″ in diameter papdis.
Also this recipe can be easily doubled or tripled. You could also make this a fun activity by involving your family especially kids to carve out the papdis. Just store these in an airtight container and they are available when required. They stay good for a few months. ... “Whole Wheat Papdi | How to make baked papdi?”

Carrot Halwa | How to make carrot halwa?

Juicy moist sweet carrot halwa with cashews and raisins
10/21/2016 6:45:02 PM vindhyadesai

Carrot halwa is a famous Indian sweet made from grated sweet carrots, sugar, milk, ghee all sauteed till it turns into a sweet, soft halwa. This light orange coloured sweet is loved by children and is a good way of getting children to eat some carrots. The halwa is flavoured with elaichi and along with added cashews and raisins this halwa is fit to be laid out for a feast.
This is one of those sweets where you do not have to check whether it is set or worry about making a threaded sugar syrup. The only thing to get this halwa to a soft and moist consistency is to stop sauteing it at the right time so that it is moist enough and does not dry out. The pictures below illustrate at what stage the halwa needs to stop cooking.
This will surely be a hit with everyone and is a good sweet to prepare in large quantities. It is easily portable and is a crowd pleaser. It can be served both as a sweet or dessert. Fancy it up a bit by serving with vanilla ice cream right on top. Do try more halwa and other sweet recipes from FOI. ... “Carrot Halwa | How to make carrot halwa?”

Kaju Katli | How to make kaju katli? | Cashew Barfi

Nutty, fudgy, everyone’s favourite with the goodness of cashews, kaju katli
10/18/2016 10:21:39 PM vindhyadesai

Deepavali/Diwali is just round the corner. I started preparing for it over the weekend and with only a few days to go I have recipes lined for Deepavali to be posted on FOI. Kaju Katli or cashew barfi is the most loved sweet both by kids and adults. This is the safest bet when distributing sweets as most people love it! I am no exception to that and I can eat many of these in one day, just chew them all up (I try not to though :)). It seems like a very complicated recipe to make but with only a few ingredients it can be one of the most easiest sweets to make if you get the consistency right. Follow stepwise to ensure you get the right consistency right from making the cashew powder to making sugar syrup to the dough consistency. More Deepavali recipes and festival recipes for you try! Happy preparation for the festival of lights! Let’s begin on a sweet note. ... “Kaju Katli | How to make kaju katli? | Cashew Barfi”

Baked Aloo Samosa | How to make baked aloo samosa? | Baked Samosa

Mouth-watering super tasty and healthy whole wheat baked samosas
10/17/2016 10:12:41 PM vindhyadesai

Dreaming of eating hot samosas on a rainy evening or a cold winter? Want to bite into one but worried about the calories. Then this is the recipe for you, of course it is not completely devoid of calories as it does have potatoes as the main ingredient for the filling and also a bit of butter smeared over the samosas. But that is hardly anything compared to the calories one gets from deep fried ones. Moreover the outer covering is made  entirely from  whole wheat (atta) which makes it that much more healthy and guilt free. Ditch those office samosa parties and make them at home.  Follow stepwise to see how to fold into samosas. I am not an expert in making perfect samosas, I have tried to illustrate easy ways of folding the samosas. Doing it a few times will give you confidence. These can even be deep fried in hot oil on medium temperature till golden and crisp.
Enjoy these hot samosas with homemade green and sweet chutneys. I had made these when I had made Amrkhand at the end of last winter. The turn to post these yummy samosas has only turned up now! Dear readers, click on the links for more baked goods and more potato recipes. Try more snacks like baked nippattu. ... “Baked Aloo Samosa | How to make baked aloo samosa? | Baked Samosa”

Kayi Holige | Kayi Obbattu | Nariyal PoLi | Coconut Holige | How to make kayi obbattu?

Soft and crunchy sweet coconut/kayi holige, a special dish for the festivals
10/10/2016 10:28:16 PM vindhyadesai

Wish you all a very happy Vijayadashami/Dasara! Coconut holige/kayi obbattu/nariyal poLi is one of my favourite sweets. It is soft yet crunchy on the outside and it has the unmistakable flavour of coconut. Unlike many other dishes where coconut gets lost in between other ingredients, here it is the main ingredient and it gets due importance. Most functions in Karnataka have holige/obbattu/poLi as the main sweet. Usually beLe holige or this kayi holige steal the show and are made in the order of hundreds. They are made with maida/all purpose flour which can make the edges quite hard and the filling inside might not be sufficient to make them soft yet crunchy. I always try and make recipes with whole wheat flour, for the fibre, taste and it makes the holige so much more softer and they hold together beautifully. Make these and a few can be made quite quickly and is not all that difficult. ... “Kayi Holige | Kayi Obbattu | Nariyal PoLi | Coconut Holige | How to make kayi obbattu?”

Bengali Khichuri | Bengali Style Khichdi | Bhog er Khichuri

Bengali style khichdi or khichuri, filling and satisfying – Bhog er Khichuri
10/09/2016 8:06:47 PM vindhyadesai

Today was Durgasthami and I made a big Bengali spread for the occasion. It included, aloo posto, Bengali style tamatar chatni, rosogullas and bhog er khichuri. This khichdi is one of the many versions of khichdis one can find in the Indian cuisine. From Pongal to huggi to plain khichdi to mixed veg khichdi there are so many varieties. Every state has at least one of its own versions. This khichdi has roasted mung dal in it with some vegetables. It has some aromatic spices like laung, elaichi, dalchini. They add nice flavour to the khichdi. This is a special dish from the Bengali cuisine and is specially made during festivals like Durgasthami and Saraswati Puja making it ‘Bhog er Khichuri’. It is made with a special type of rice called GobindoBhog chaawal. Any fragrant rice like jeera or basmati rice can be used or even our good old sona masuri rice can also be used to make this khichuri. I have adapted this recipe from a blog which has some nice recipes from the Bengali cuisine. Try other Bengali recipes. ... “Bengali Khichuri | Bengali Style Khichdi | Bhog er Khichuri”