Carrot Halwa

Time Taken: 30 min
Cuisine: North Indian

Ingredients:

Carrot 250gms
Sugar 250gms
Cashew nuts 50gms
Dry grapes 25gms
sweetened kova 50 gms
elachi pwd 1\2 tps
Milk 1\2 ltr
few strands saffron (optional)
Ghee 3tps

• Heat 3tps of ghee in a pan, fry cashew nuts and Dry grapes and keep aside.
• With the left over ghee fry the carrot for few min, later add milk and boil until the carrot mix up with the milk.
• Add sugar, sweetened kova, elachi powder and few stands saffron(soak in milk) and mix well.
• Garnish with fried cashew nuts and Dry grapes.
• Ready to serve with vennila ice cream(Optional)
  

Moong Dal Halwa

Time Taken : 20min
Ingredients:

100 gms Moong Dal
200 gms Ghee
100 gms Sugar
1/2 glass Water
10 pieces Badam
5 pieces Pista
4-5 Currants

Preparation:

• Soak moong dal for two hours and then grind it and keep aside. Heat ghee in a pan and put the moong dal in it.
• Saute on low flame till it turns golden brown and leaves a distinct aroma. Remove from the flame and set aside.
• Heat water in a pan, add sugar and boil the mixture till sugar melts.
• Put the moong dal mixture in this sugar syrup and cook on a low flame till the dal and sugar blends well.
• Remove moong dal ka halwa from the flame and decorate it with chopped dry fruits. Serve.

Wok Stir Frys tips

• Prepare the ingredients in advance .Woks cook so quickly that you'll need everything ready before you start cooking.
• Prepare vegetables correctly. Firm vegetables such as carrots, courgettes and peppers should be cut into thin strips or pieces. Leafy ones like broccoli, Chinese leaves (or Chinese cabbage) or, pak choi (otherwise known as bok choy) need to be cut diagonally to increase exposed area and decrease cooking time. Smaller, bite-sized vegetables like baby corn, water chestnuts and beansprouts can be left whole.
• Cut meat correctly . Fish, poultry and other meats should be cut into thin slices across the grain to ensure it cooks quickly and evenly. Cutting across the grain will also prevent the meat falling apart during cooking. Prawns can be cooked whole.
• Choose the right oil. Use a bland oil, typically a vegetable or sunflower oil. This will not compete with the tase of your ingredients.
• Get your wok ready. Make sure it's clean and dry. Place over a high heat, and, when its hot, add the oil and swirl it around so that all surfaces of your wok are coated. Any flavourings, such as ginger, chillies, garlic or onions should then be added and tossed around for about a minute.
• Add ingredients in the correct order. Those foodstuffs that require more cooking time, such as meat or poultry, should be added first. Followed by firm vegetables (carrots, peppers, etc). And then leafy vegetables (spinach, beansprouts, etc). Toss all the time. At the last minute add any flavourings such as soy sauce, chile oil, or herbs.
• Cook in batches. Large batches cooked at the same time will come out stewed.
• Don't add unnecessary liquids . In particular, do drain any foods that have been marinating thoroughly.
• Keep your wok hot. At all times during the cooking process, to ensure the food remains sealed and succulent.
• Warm your plates . And enjoy!

Carrot & Cauliflower pickle

pickle made with carrot and cauliflower by vahrehvah.com. I like his videos very much. Soon i am planning to do videos like him. Wish me luck. Enjoy the video.

Hot & Spicy Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients
3 cups cooked rice
4 eggs, beaten well
1 onion, chopped finely
1/2 cup boiled peas
1/4 cup finely chopped french beans, boiled
1/4 cup carrots, chopped and boiled
1" ginger, grounded
4 garlic flakes, grounded
3 green chillies, chopped finely
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp oil
salt as per taste
chopped coriander leaves for
garnishing
1 tsp soy sauce (optional)

Method

• Heat oil in a pan. Fry onion till golden brown.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies, simmer for a minute.
• Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and simmer for 2 minute.
• Add the beaten eggs and stir continuously till well set (for about 5 min).
• Add chopped and boiled vegetables and stir for 2 minutes.
• Add Salt and garam masala. Add cooked rice and mix it well.
• If soy sauce needed add it and stir once again. Cover the pan and let it cook for 5 minutes
• Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Badam Milk

Time taken : 20 mins

Ingredients

Almonds, blanched and roughly chopped	1/4 cup
Milk	4 cups
Green cardamom powder	a pinch
Nutmeg powder	a pinch
Honey	3-4 tablespoons
Silver warq	1-2 leaves

Method

Heat milk in a thick-bottomed vessel and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add chopped almonds and simmer on low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Add green cardamom powder and nutmeg powder and continue to boil for another two minutes.

Remove from heat, add honey and stir.

Serve warm in individual earthenware glasses, garnished with silver varq.

Cooking tips for Healthy Meal

One of the best things you can do for your family is to cook healthy, nutritious and delicious meals. Science is proving what we have long suspected: the food you eat is largely responsible for how healthy you are. In addition, the eating habits you instill in your children are likely to be with them for the rest of their lives. Those are some very good reasons for serving your family the most nutritious meals that you can possible make. These tips will help you make sure that you are cooking and serving healthy meals to your family.

• Serve whole grains like brown rice, bulgur wheat and kasha.
• Include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in your meals.
• Steam veggies and fish to preserve nutrients
• Add spices to your cooking arsenal.
• Send healthy lunches along to school and work.
• Grill meats instead of frying them in their own grease.
• Serve fresh fruits for breakfast, desserts and snacks.
• Control what goes into your family's foods by making supermarket staples at home yourself.

Spicy Hyderabadi Shazani Biryani

Servings : 4
Time Taken : 15-30 mins

Method

• To basmati rice, add salt, cinnamon stick, add required water and cook it.
• Once it is cooked strain all the water.
• Now add ghee and mix it well.
• Make the rice into 3 equal parts and keep them in 3 different bowls.
• In one part of rice mix it with kesar milk.

For Last Layer:

• Grind poppy seeds and green chilly into a paste.
• Take a kadai heat ghee in it, now fry this prepared poppy seeds and chilly paste till you get a good flavour.
• Remove the seeds from peach and plum fruits, chop it and boil in water added with salt.
• Remove after 3 minutes.

For Middle Layer:

• Fry the boiled corn in ghee and then add jeera powder to it.
• Mix well and keep it aside.

For First Layer:

• Fry the Paneer cubes in ghee
• Add chilly powder, jeera powder, salt and garam masala.
• Mix well and remove once they are golden brown in colour.

For Biryani:

• Take a thick bottomed bowl, spread a layer of cooked rice.
• On this, spread the layer of fruit mixture
• Next spread kesar rice on it.
• Mix the second part of rice with boiled corn mixture and spread this layer.
• Finally mix the 3rd part of rice with paneer mixture and spread this layer.
• Finally sprinkle rose water and milk on it.
• Now cover it with a clean cloth or aluminum foil.
• Cook on low flame for about 20 minutes.
• Transfer the entire contents into a serving bowl and serve.
• Serving tip - Tastes best with any Masala curry.

Facts About Organic Milk

The biggest different many consumers note regarding organic and non-organic milk is the expiration date. Organic milk is able to sit for long stretches of time and for those used to having less than a week to consume their milk, this is quite a mystery. But there are many other differences between traditional and organic milk including the vitamin count and levels of toxins.

Milk and Contaminants

When you drink milk, you're consuming one of the healthiest foods for your body with calcium, protein and plenty of other vitamins that can ensure good health. Unfortunately, in most cases, you're consuming at least two types of pesticides arising from the feed consume by the cows, possibly strong antibiotics used to treat the animals and genetically modified hormones used to accelerate the growth of the animals.

Vitamins and Nutrients

In most cases, organic food is equitable in nutritional value to the non-organic varieties. In the case of milk, however, there are increased vitamins and nutrients in organic milk versus traditional milk. This was observed in the same USDA study that found an average of 2.5 accounts of pesticide residue in every samples of regular milk tested. The protein and vitamins are higher in the organic milk and this can only be attributed to the ultra pasteurization process, or more likely the higher quality diet of the organic cows.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Casey_Yew

Chicken Masala Curry

Ingredients:

• Marinate
• ½ kg chicken,
• 3 tbsp curds
• 1 table spoon chilli powder
  
• ¼ table spoon turmeric powder
• salt to taste
• Make a paste:
• 6-7 cashew nuts
• 4-5 table spoon milk
• Dry roast and make a fine powder:
• 1” cinnamon
• 10-12 curry leaves
• 3 cloves
• Rest of the ingredients:
• 3-4 table spoon oil
• 2 big onions finely chopped
• 1 large tomato finely chopped
• 1 table spoon ginger-garlic paste
• 1 table spoon powder
• 3/4 table spoon black pepper powder
  
• ¼ table spoon cumin powder
• coriander leaves for garnish

Preparation:

preserve chicken pieces in chilli powder, turmeric powder, curds and salt for 20 minutes. While the chicken pieces are marinating, make a paste of cashew nuts and milk. Keep aside. Dry roast cinnamon, cloves and curry leaves for 1 minute and make a powder of them. Keep aside. Heat 1 1/2 table spoon of oil in a cooking vessel. Add the onions and sauté till pink. Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté further for another 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, pepper powder and combine well and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Combine well and cook till oil separates. Turn off heat. Cool and grind the cooked masala. Keep aside this masala paste. Heat 1 1/2 table spoon oil in a cooking vessel and add the marinated chicken and cook on high flame for 4-5 minutes, reduce heat and cook covered for another 4-5 minutes. Add the ground masala paste, cashew nut paste and ground powder of cinnamon, cloves and curry leaves and combine well. Cook till chicken pieces are soft and you get the desired curry consistency. Adjust salt. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.