Banana Bread

Introduction:

"Banana bread" is an another yumilicious dish in the baking category and that too, is eggless. It's a wonderful use of fully riped bananas and a joyful accompaniment to any tea party. You can easily make this bread and can use it upto 3 days.

Ingredients:

Refined flour: 2 cups

Powdered sugar: 1 and 3/4 cups

Riped Bananas: 3

Butter: 50 gm

Fresh Malai/cream: 1/2 cup

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Baking soda: 1/8 tsp

Elaichi powder: 1/2 tsp

Milk: 1/4 cup

Vanilla essence: 7-8 drops

Preparation time: 35-40 mins

Cooking time: 35 mins-40 mins

Method:

Take the butter and let it get soft at room temeperature. Sieve the flour, baking powder and baking soda together 3-4 times. Sieve the sugar. Peel the bananas and mesh them properly with help of spatulla. Mesh them to get a smooth paste. Beat butter, cream and sugar together to get a smooth paste for 10 mins. Now mix the meshed bananas into it.Beat the mixture again. Add elaichi powder into it. Now mix the flour mixture into it adding little by little at a time. Keep beating the mixture to avoid lumps. Add vanilla essence into it. Add the milk and beat again for 10 mins. You will get a thick paste. The mixture required for making bread is thicker then we have for cake. Preheat the oven at 180 degree C for 10 mins. Now place the bread mixture into a greesed bread/cake tin. Put it in the oven and bake it at 165 deg C for 40 mins.

You can also use the conventional pressure cooker method for baking the bread. Bake it for 35 mins, if using pressure cooker.

Remove the baked bread out of the tin after getting completely cooled by turning the tin upside down. Cut it into square slices and Enjoy the delicious homemade banana bread.

TIPS:

1. You can add dryfruits, nuts and chocolates to the bread.

2. This bread remains fresh upto 3 days.

3. If you don't have Malai, then use butter instead or vice-versa.

4. Do not keep the mixture out for too long. Bake immediately as soon as the mixture is ready otherwise it will reduce the sponginess of the bread.

NaanKhatai

Introduction:

"Naan khatai" is basically an indian cookie. It adds to another recipe in baking category. This indian cookies is ultimate snack. You make it and store it upto 2 months. It makes a good combination when served with tea. I just tried it today and it was so easy to make. I made this in pressure cooker but you can try it in your Oven too.

Ingredients:

Refined flour(Maida): 2.5 cup

Gram flour(Besan):1/2 cup

Semolina(suji): 1 tsp

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Sugar: 2 cups(powdered)
Ghee: 1 cup
Green cardamon powder: 2 tsp
Milk: 4 tsp

Preparation time: 15 min

Cooking time: 10-15 min

Method:

Take melted ghee and sugar in a bowl and whisk it till a smooth paste is formed. Sieve maida, besan, suji and baking powder together. Add green cardamon powder to it and mix well. Add this mixture to the ghee mixture and mix it properly. A doughy mix will be formed. Add milk to it and make a soft dough out of it. The dough won't be like the dugh of chapatis but it will like the dough we have for laddoos.Cover it and keep aside for 2-3 hours.

Take small balls out of the dough and make a smooth ball with your palms. Press it slightly to give it a flat shpae.Try not to brake them from the ends. It's usual to have some cracks in it. Heat the oven to 180 degree centrigrade. Take a lightly greesed plate. Place the naankhatai in it leaving sufficient space between two. Place then in oven and bake for 10 mins. Check after 10 mins. It will be slightly brown. Bake for another 5 mins and take out of the oven. Let them cool completely.

If you are using pressure cooker, then bake them for 10 mins over the low flame. It will be ready.

When the Naankhatai is cool, you can store them in an air tight container or serve them right away.You can decorate them with Almonds or chopped dryfruits.

TIPS:

1.When you will take out those cookies from oven or cooker, you will find that these are soft but when they will get cooled, It will automatically turn out to be crisp and hard as biscuits. So don't overcook them to make hard.

2. Greese the tin with ghee.

3. Leave sufficient space between the two naankhatai. It expands during cooking.

4.It's usual to have some cracks in the cookie after baking.

Kashmiri Pulav

Introduction:

"Kashmiri Pulav" is another great dish in party cooking list. It's a very nice and aromatic preparation of rice with whole indisn spices and cottage cheese topped with pineapple and dryfruits.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice: 1.5 cup

Water: 4.5 cups+ for soaking the rice

Cottage cheese(Paneer): 100 gm(cut into small cubes)

Onions: 2 medium sized(sliced)

Bay leaf: 2

Cinnamon: 1 inch stick

Saffron: 1/2 tsp

Green cardamon: 5

Cloves:5

Black peppercorn(Kali mirch): 5-6

Salt: to taste

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Almonds: 6-7(broken into half)

Cashewnuts: 6-7(broken into half)

Dry grapes(Kismis): 6-7

Milk: 1 tsp(For diluting saffron)

Pineapple: 1/2 cup (Chopped)

Ghee: 3 tsp+ for frying the paneer

Red Cherries: for decoration

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Serves for: 2 persons

Method:

Soak the rice in water for half an hour. Put the 4.5 cups of water to boil. Add bay leaf, cinnamon, green cardamon, cloves,salt and black peppercorns to it. Let it boil on high flame. After one boil, simmer the flame. Cover it with a lid and let it cook for 10 mins. Meanwhile Heat some ghee in a pan for frying the paneer. Fry the paneer cubes till golden brown.Fry the onion slice in it. You can also fry the alomnds and cashewnuts in it.Keep the fried items aside.

Strain the water stock after 10 minutes of cooking. This stock will be used to cook the rice.

Heat ghee in pan for cooking the rice. Add cumin seeds to it. Now add soaked rice and the water stock to it. Cover it and let it cook on medium flame. Check every 5 mins. When the rice is almost done, gently add the diluted saffron, cashewnuts, almonds, kishmish, paneer and onion slices to it. Mix it gently.Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust the salt.

Just before serving add pineapples to it. Garnish it with red canned cherries.

TIPS:

1. While cooking the rice, if you feel the water is not sufficient, then add some wore water.

2. Add pineapple just before serving and in hot rice. Do not cook the pineapple. It may loose it's taste.

3. You can also add any fruit of your choice.

4. This pulav is not spicy. But if you like to have spicy rice, then add green chilli, instead of red chilli powder.

5. You can add dryfruits of your choice in this recipe.

How to make Chenna/Paneer

Introduction:

Paneer/Chenna is mostly used in all party vegetables and sweets. We can easily get the paneer in market but chenna(which is used for traditional bengali sweets) is not readily available. Above all, it's my personal advice t use homemade paneer for all your cooking. These days readymade paneer may not  be of god quality. I'm telling yu the recipe to make chenna/Paneer at home. Chenna can be used for all the traditional bengali sweets.

Ingredients:

Full cream milk:  500 gm

Lemon juice/Vinegar: 1 tsp

Chilled water/ice cubes: 8-10

Cooking time: 10 mins

Method:

Boil the milk. After one boil, add lemon juice to it and stirr it. You will see that milk will start to curdle. Let it happen in the same way for 5-7 min on medium flame. When all the milk will get curdled, yu will see that it will separate out. You can see that milk is splited into water and chenna. Now put off the flame.Add ice cubes/ chilled water. This will help to stop the reaction and lessen the taste of lemon.

Now take a muslin cloth. Strain the whole mixture through it. The chenna will remain in the cloth. Squeeze out all the excess water out of it. The remain in the cloth is the "Chenna" which can be used for sweets like rasmalai, rasgulla and sandesh.

If you want to make paneer, then tightly tie the muslin cloth and put the mixture against some hard structure. I use "Stone chakla" to press the paneer. Within one hour it will get tightened. Then you can freeze it or use it for any paneer dish. This recipe will make approximately 200 gm of paneer.

TIPS:

1. If you want to make low fat paneer, then use skimmed milk instead of full cream milk.

2. Do not add much lemon juice. Otherwise you will get the taste of lemon in paneer.

Tamatar ke pakode

Introduction:

You must have eaten aloo pakoda, gobhi pakoda, palak pakoda but have you ever eaten "Tamatar pakoda"?. Well it's a completely amazing recipe and a real delight to all the tomato lovers. Tomatoes are not just an add on to any vegetable. They also have ability to make a complete meal. Try these pakodas in this rainy season and satiate your taste buds with the richness of tomatoes.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes: 4 medium sized

Potatoes: 4 (boiled)

Green chillies: 1 tsp(Chopped)

Ginger: 1 tsp(chopped)

Green corriander: 3 tsp(Chopped)

Gram flour: 1.5 cup

Water: 1/2 cup

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp

Garam masala: 1/2 tsp

Chaat masala: 1 tsp

Salt: to taste

Oil: for frying

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 10 min

Serves for: 8 pakodas

Method:

Wash and dry the tomatoes: Cut each tomato into two half. Remove the pulp of tomato with a spoon from each half . Separate the shell and the pul by this way and keep both aside.Peel the boiled potatoes and mesh them. Add the pulp of the tomatoes, ginger, chillies, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, chaat masala and corriander to it. Mix it well.

Take gram flour in a bowl. Add a little salt and red chilli powder in it. add water to it and make a thick paste. The batter for the pakodas should be thick otherwise it won't stick to the surface of pakodas.

Take one tomato shell and fill the potato filling in it such that the whole hollow part is covered. Dip them in the gram flour paste.

Heat oil in a deep fry pan. When the oil is heated up sufficiently, dip the tomoato pakoda in it and fry them till light brown from both sides.Similarly make all the pakodas. Place them on absorbent paper. Serve hot with green chutney and Tomato ketchup.

TIPS:

1. The gram flour batter should be thick so that it will stick to the surface of the tomatoes.

2. You can vary the ingredients of filling as per your taste. Like you can add boiled peas or mix vegetables in it.

3. Generally i make pakodas by cutting the tomatoes into half. You can also use the whole tomato. Just remove the top of tomato and take out the pulp with a spoon. Fill the whole shell with filling and dip in the besan paste. Deep fry them.

Bhindi ki Kadhi

Introduction:

These days market is full of ladyfingers. When I was planning for dinner tonight, instantly it came to my mind to make "Bhindi Kadhi". I had it once at my grandparents home made by my aunt. It is really a very nice preparation of Bhindi cooked in sour, creamy yougurt curry.So if you are bored of eating plain kadhi, then try this one out.

Ingredients:

for Kadhi:

Bhindi(ladyfingers): 8-10

Sour Curd: 3 cups

Gram flour(besan): 2 tsp

Green chillies: 2

Ginger: 1/4 inch piece

Water: 2 cups

Turmeric pwder: 1/4 tsp

Salt: to taste

Oil: 1 tsp

For tempering:

Oil: 2 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Musturd seeds: 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds: 1/4 tsp

Asefoetida: 1/4 tsp

Carom seeds(ajwain): 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves: 5-6

Garlic: 4-5 clove

Preparation time: 5 min

Cooking time: 15 min

Serves for : 3 persons

Method:

Take curd in a bowl. Add gram flour, salt and turmeric powder into it. Add water and whisk well. You can whisk it in grinder also. When a smooth thin paste is made, then put this mixture on flame. Churn it continuously n medium flame till one boil. Meanwhile,Wash and chop bhindis in 2-3 long pieces. Heat 1 tsp oil in another pan. Add bhindis to it and cook on low flame till they get soft. It'll take 2-3 mins for the bhindis to get soft. Add these bhindis to the boiling kadhi. Add chopped green chillies and ginger to the kadhi.Adjust salt in the kadhi. Cook for one boil on low flame. Remove kadhi from flame.

For tadka, heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and musturd seeds into it. When they splutter add asefoetida and carom seeds into it. Add chopped garlic, curry leaves and red chilli powder into it and saute for a minute. Pour this tadka over the prepared kadhi and serve hot.

TIPS:

1. You can also deep fry the bhindis before adding them to kadhi.

2. If the curd is too sour, then add 1 tsp of grated jaggery or sugar in it.

3. If the curd is not sour, then add a pinch of citric acid or 1 tsp of lemon juice in the kadhi.

4. You can also add chopped onions in the tempering.

5. Keep stirring the kadhi for the first boil. Otherwise it may get granular.

5. It's important for the besan to get cooked properly. Hence cook the kadhi on low flame for another boil.

6. I'll suggest to use musturd oil in kadhi. It gives a very traditional taste to kadhi.

 

Jhaal Muri

Introduction:

"Jhaal Muri" is a famous bengali street food. It is as famous in bengal as bhelpuri to mumbai. Well it is a quick chaat or snack recipe prepared in minutes and tastes delicious. I'm sure you'll like to have it as an evening snack and spice up your time.

Ingredients:

Puffed rice(Murmura): 3 cup

Onions(chopped): 1 medium sized

Cucumber(chopped): 1 cup

Tomatoes(chopped): 1 medium sized 

Green chillies(chopped): 1-2

Sprouted Black gram(chana): 1/2 cup

Roasted peanuts: 2 tsp

Lemon: 1

Green corriander(chopped): 1/2 cup

Musturd oil(taken from pickle): 2 tsp

Black salt: 1 tsp

Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp

Roasted cummin seed powder: 1/2 tsp

chaat masala: 1/2 tsp

Preparation time: 10 mins

Serves for: 2 persons

Method:

Mix puffed rice, chopped onions, cucumber, green chillies, tomatoes and sprouted black gram and peanuts in a bowl. Add all the spices and lemon juice into it. Add musturd oil and green corriander into it. Toss well and serve.