Badam halwa

Merry Christmas. we all get into holiday mood. My kids love to have Christmas tree and decorate the tree with their gifts under the tree :). I have promised them to do next year.

Actually I did this halwa for Diwali and was lying in the draft. So thought for posting it on Christmas. Badam halwa - a grand and rich sweet. You can do this with almonds alone. But I added besan flour and cashews. The taste was perfect. Since I distributed this sweet to my friends I packed in wax paper, you can do this in parchment paper or butter paper too. Cut the paper and give to your kids, they will enjoy packing and eating in this way of serving. Give a try you will love it.....

Mixture

Mixture is the combination of all snack. Home made mixtures are very flavorful. There is no hard and fast rule for mixture whatever snack you have in hand you can mix it. I was in need of more quantity, so I combined Murukku too. If you are not feeling like to do or don't have the kara boondhi ladle, you can use the store bought and do the other snacks at home.

Paal payasam | Rice kheer

When I have been to Navarathiri, many of my friends did this pressure cooker method. The taste and color was unique which you don't get in normal way. While pressure cooking for long time the milk changes to light pinkish color. The milk will not reduce, only the rice in it gives the thickness. Personally I don't like garnishing with ghee and cashew. I feel the milk and ghee doesn't combine, it just floats. If you are interested you can garnish.

Chana masala | Chickpeas masala

Chana masala is the best side for roti, poori or any type of Indian breads. Mostly chickpeas used in many of chaat items. If soaked and pressure cooked chana masala can be done quickly, rather you can used canned beans. Personally I don't like canned foods except tomatoes that too for color only :). I did not add any tea bags for the color, I like as it is. If you want you can add 1 tea bag while cooking chickpeas.

Oats porridge

Breakfast is breaking up the fasting from prior night. So most of the experts refers breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Whoever want to reduce weight should not skip breakfast. I don't skip any meals :) This is the simple breakfast in the morning without sucking up you time too.

Many of them take oats with milk and sugar and top it with nuts. Adding buttermilk is really a good way to avoid sugar.  Mostly oats will be our breakfast. Even my kids love this way of porridge. 

The time of cooking oats really depends on the type of oats you use. I usually use normal Quaker oats. But if using steel cut oats the cooking time will be more. One minute oats are very quick. Try using different oats depending on the time you have. Check Granola with oats.

Mirch ka salan

Mirch ka salan is a famous Hyderabadi dish, whole green chilly stir fried and simmered in peanut and sesame sauce. It is usually a best combo with dum briyani. This spicy dish can be served with rice or roti. Originally it is made with long chillies available in India which are used to prepare fritters or bhaji. The long chilly will not be more hot compared to small ones. Mine was not spicy, so I added red chilly powder top of that. The best alternate for long chilly is Jalapeno. 

Malai kofta

Malai kofta - is a classic Moghul dish. Usually we order this as a side for naan in Indian restaurant.  Never imagined I can do this home. Whenever I think of doing this, I avoid because of the big process. But it's worth trying at home. It was my little angel's B'day, I wanted to do something rich and special for my friends.

Kofta's are balls mixed with little spices and some veggies or any choice. Kofta's are usually soft and combined in gravies, whereas the drier versions are called kebabs. If you are so specific about oil you can shallow fry in pan. Since I was doing for a party and doing it very rarely, I don't want to compromise it. If you are panning this dish for a party, prepare koftas and gravy ahead. Refrigerate it. While it's time for party deep fry the koftas and add in the warm gravy.

Kara boondhi

For last Diwali, I wanted to do mixture, so tried this kara boondhi. The process is very easy until you get a desired consistency. To say, first I had tails then added water. Then it became watery, so added flour. While I got perfect boondhis my batter was over :( Since I mixed in mixture(will post soon) the tails and thins didn't get into eyes much. Try doing in small batches, till you get the perfect consistency.