Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup flour (maida)

1/2 tsp baking powder

75 gms butter

1/2 cup chocochips

2 tbsp rice flour

6 tbsp castor sugar

1 tsp vanila essence

milk (as required)

Method:

• Sift the maida, baking powder and rice flour and keep aside.
• Mix the butter and sugar and whisk for 5-10 mins till its light and fluffy. Add vanilla essence.
• Mix the maida mixture and the butter with the help of a beater.
• Add the chocochips to the mixture and gather the flour with the help of hands to make a soft dough. Add milk if required.
• Roll the dough of 1/8" thickness and cut with the help of a cookie cutter. Prick the cookies with the help of a fork.
• Place the cookies on a baking tray and bake in a preheated over at 155 degree centigrade for 30 mins.
• Remove the cookies from the oven. Place the cookies on a wire rack and let them cool.
• Store in an airtight container once they are cooled.

Tips:

• You can use ready-made chocochips or chop the dark chocolate.
• Add one teaspoon of milk at a time to make the dough.
• You can use white butter instead of butter.
• Once the cookies are out from the oven, let them rest for 10 minutes, then with the help of spatula transfer them on a wire rack.
• Each oven has its own way of functioning, you will have to try out a few times before you start to understand. I have a small oven. If your oven is of a medium size you may have to bake the cookies at 160 degree centigrade for 25-30 mins.
• You can put a plastic or a cling film on the rolling board and then cover the dough again with the plastic or cling film and roll. This will make it easy.
• You may also make small ball place them on the aking try and with help of the back of a bowl press the ball of dough to make a cookie.
• All the ingredients should be at room temperature.
• The above recipe makes 15 cookies.

Dahi Chivda (Beaten Rice in Curd)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chivda (poha/beaten rice)

3/4 cup dahi

sugar 1 tbsp

pinch of elaichi powder (optional)

Method:

• Wash the chivda and let it drain in the colander for sometime.
• Whisk the dahi.
• Once the chivda has soaked the water and is soft add to the dahi.
• Add sugar and elaichi powder(green cardamom powder).
• Serve!!!

Tips:

• The time that the chivda should be soaked in water would depend upon the quality of the chivda. Some take very little time whereas some take a longer time.
• You can have this very chilled. Just add chilled dahi.
• this makes for a quick breakfast.
• You can replace sugar with honey.
• You can also add fruits of your choice. Fruits like mango, chikoo go well with dahi.
• You can also add a spoonfull of cornflakes or chocos for the crunch.

Watermelon Granita

Ingredients:

1 cup watermelon cubes

2 tsp strawberry crush

2 drops of ginger juice

1/2 tsp lemon juice

sugar(optional)

salt(optional)

Method:

• Make cubes of watermelon and discard the seeds. Place the cubes in airtight box and freeze it.
• In a blender add the watermelon cubes, strawberry crush, lemon juice, ginger juice, salt and sugar(optional).
• give a quick churn and serve.

Tips:

• Watermelon cubes should be granular hence do not blend the watermelon cubes too much.
• You can add fresh strawberry instead of strawberry crush.
• To make the ginger juice, grate the ginger and squeeze the juice.
• You can add black salt instead of normal salt.
• You can also add chaat masala.
• You can avoid the lemon juice.
• Sugar should be added depending on the required sweetness.

Methi Matar Malai

Ingredients:

1 cup methi leaves, chopped

1 "ginger, crushed to paste

4 cloves of garlic, crushed to paste

1 medium sized onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup green peas

1 /2 tsp shahi jeera

1 tsp fresh cream

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp white pepper powder

1/2 tsp kasoori methi

1 1/2 tsp oil

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1/2 tsp amchoor powder

pinch of cardamom

salt to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a kadai on a medium high flame, add the shahi jeera, when it crackles add onion, cook till the onion turns translucent. Add the ginger and garlic and stir well.
• Add the methi leaves, green chilli and matar. Stir fry till the methi leaves and the green peas are cooked.
• Add the amchoor powder, white pepper powder and salt, mix well.
• Add fresh cream, milk and water and let the liquid reduce.
• Once the cream and milk reduces switch off the gas and sprinkle cardamom powder and kasoori methi.
• serve hot!

Tips:

• To give a rich texture increase the amount of oil and the cream. Add atleast 1 cup of cream and skip the milk however if the mixture is too thick add water.
• You can add sweet corn, baby corn instead of green peas.
• Methi should be cooked uncovered, it would normally take around 10-12 mins to cook.
• You can add a pinch of sugar to balance the flavours.
• Serve methi matar malai hot with roti or paratha!!

Mutton Curry With Fried Onion Paste

Ingredients:

1/2 kg mutton

2 tbsp coriander powder

1 tbsp jeera powder

2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder

3 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 medium sized onion sliced

1/4 cup curd

2 tbsp meat masala

2 tsp garam masala

1 bay leaf

2 black cardamom

1 cup water

4 tbsp oil

salt to taste

to garnish

coriander leaves

Method:

• Wash the mutton and pat dry. Marinate the mutton with ginger garlic paste and keep aside.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry the onions till golden brown. Grind it to a paste.
• Mix fried onion paste and curd together.
• Heat a pressure cooker. Add 2 tbsp of oil. Once the oil is heated add the bay leaf and black cardamom. Once it releases its flavour add the marinated mutton and stir fry on high heat. Stir well.
• Add the dry masalas- coriender powder, jeera powder, red chilli powder, kashmiri red chilli powder, meat masala, garam masala and stir well on medium high heat. Let the masala cook for 5 mins on sim. Add salt and mix well.
• Add the curd and the onion mixture and stir well. Let the liquid dry up.
• Once the liquid dries up, mix well and add 1 cup of water, mix well.
• Cover the cooker with the lid and cook till one whistle on high and then cook on sim for 8 minutes.
• Let the pressure drop by itself, garnish with coriander and serve hot.

Tips:

• Do not add salt unless the mutton has been cook well with the masala.
• After the onion has been ground to paste its very important to mix the paste with dahi, it helps stop further cooking of the onion.
• If after the pressure has dropped the mutton is not tender, cook the mutton without the lid for some more time.
• Since this preparation has brown onion paste it cannot be stored for too many days as it will spoil the taste of the mutton.
• You can use meat masala of any brand.

Chikoo Shake

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

ice cubes

2 medium sized chikoo

pinch of drinking chocolate/coffee

sugar as per taste

Method:

• Peel the chikoo, deseed and chop it
• In a blender add chopped chikoo and blend till the chikoo is pureed. Add milk, ice cubes, sugar and a pinch of drinking chocolate/coffee and blend it for a minute.
• Transfer in a serving glass and serve chilled!!

Tips:

• I feel a dash of drinking chocolate /coffee gives the chickoo shake a fantastic taste, however you can avoid it.
• If you want to give an Indian taste you can add cardamom powder.
• Sugar would be as per the sweetness of the chikoo. Castor sugar/ powdered sugar is best as it dissolves faster.
• You can retain the peel of the chikoo.
• You can top the chikoo shake with whipped cream or ice-cream. Chocolate flavoured ice-cream really taste well with chickoo shake.

Chicken Cafreal

Ingredients:

1/2 kg chicken

To be ground into a paste

15 cloves of garlic

2" ginger

3/4 cup coriander leaves

8 pepercorns

1" cinnamon

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp tamarind pulp

1 lemon(juice)

5 green chillies

5 cloves

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp khus khus

1/2 tsp jeera

1/4 tsp haldi

salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp butter

Method:

• Wash the chicken and pat dry.
• Make incisions on the chicken.
• Add all the ingredients of the ground masala in a mixie and grind to a fine paste.
• Apply the ground masala along with salt to the chicken and marinate for atleast 4-5 hours.
• Heat a pan on medium flame. Add the oil and butter, once its heated add the marinated chicken along with the marination.
• Fry the chicken on a high flame for 2-3 mins. Then turn the flame to sim and cover the pan. Let the chicken cook on a low flame.
• Once the chicken is cooked, turn the flame to high and dry the entire marination. Once the marination has dried, fry all the chicken pieces on a high flame for 2-3 mins.
• serve with french fries and goan ooney !!!

Tips:

• You can marinate the chicken overnight. The more time it marinates the better will be the taste.
• You can also add vinegar esp. the goan vinegar, that will give an authentic taste, however if you do not have it you can skip..like i mostly do.
• This is a dry preparation.
• You can preserve some of the marinate and once the chicken is cooked, take another pan add a bit of butter and oil and on a high flame add the remaining marinate also add sugar and salt and little bit of garam masala and add the chicken and see that all the masala coats the chicken. This way it really taste good.
• The amount of green chillies can be varied according to your taste.
• Squeeze lemon before serving it balances all the flavours.
• To make the tamarind pulp soak tamarind in hot water for sometime, squeeze well and sieve. Alternatively, add water to the tamarind and microwave covered for 1 minute. Keep aside for 2 mins, squeeze well and sieve.
• This prepartaion can be served as a starter.
• The garam masala powder can be avoided.