Punjabi Kadi Pakoras for Indian Cooking Challenge

The monthly cooking challenge is hosted by Srivalli of Spicing your life.  The challenge for September was "Punjabi Kadi Pakoras" and the recipe was adapted from Simran of Bombay Foodie. This was an interesting challenge and a special treat for my daughters.  We loved this fried dumpling soaked in a yogurt based gravy.  Thanks Srivalli!

   

Ingredients:

For Pakoras:

Besan - 1/2 cup
Onions - 1 medium
Salt to taste
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Water to mix
Oil for Deep frying

For Kadi:

Yogurt - 1 cup
Besan - 1/3 cup
Water - 3 - 4 cups
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp
Ajwain/Carom Seeds- 1 tsp
Methi /Fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
Onion -1 large sliced
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Amchur powder - 1 tsp

Method:

For the Pakoras

1.  Slice onions finely. In a bowl, take besan, add salt, red chili powder.
2.  Make a batter with water to get a semi thick consistency.
3.  Heat a pan with oil. When it is hot, dip onions in the batter and gently drop into the hot oil.
4.  Deep fry until crispy.
5.  Drain and keep aside.

For the Kadhi

1.  Make a paste with yogurt and besan, then mix with water to make a very thin batter.

2.  Heat a tbsp of oil.  Make a seasoning of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, carom seeds and methi.
3.  Add onion slices and fry till light brown.

4.  Pour in the yogurt/besan batter, add turmeric powder, salt and red chilli powder.
5.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for at least half an hour. Keep stirring occasionally.
6.  When the gravy is thick, add the pakoras and bring it to a boil.
7. Add garam masala and amchur powder to the gravy just before removing from stove.

Spicy Dhokla

I tried this favorite recipe recently.  I tried making it spicy adding the green chilli and ginger paste.  It turned out to be fabulous.

Ingredients:

1 cup besan
1 cup yogurt cheese
Salt to taste
Eno fruit salt 1 tsp
Sugar 2 tsp
Green chilli and ginger paste - 1 or 2 tsp

Seasoning:
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Sesame- 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tp
Green chillies -2 sliced

For the Garnish:
Grated coconut - few tsp
Chopped Corriander leaves

1.  Tie yogurt in  a cheese cloth to get the cheese
2.  Mix this to the besan with a little yogurt  and add salt, sugar, chilli and ginger paste and rest for a 3-4 hours.
3.  Just before steaming the dhoklas add the eno fruit salt and steam for 10 minutes till toothpick comes out clean.
4.  After it cools makes a seasoning of mustard, asafotida, jeera, turmeric, sesame, green chillies and pour on the dhoklas
5.  Cut to pieces, garnish with grated fresh coconut and chopped corriander leaves.

Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cream

On our last visit to National Harbor, a waterfront resort destination on the banks of the Potomac River, Maryland, my daughter, Samantha, tried strawberry lemonade gelato. She absolutely loved it and asked me to make the ice cream version of it. Here is what I came up with it, loved and approved by both my daughters.


Ingredients:

Heavy Whipping Cream - 1 cup
Fresh Strawberries - 1/2 cup
Frozen Strawberries - 3/4 cup

Ice Cubes - 1/2 cup
Lemonade powder - 1 tblsp or juice of one lemon

Sugar - 5-6 tblsp.

Method:
1. In a heavy duty blender, add whipping cream, fresh and frozen strawberries, ice cubes, and sugar (ingredients should be added in this order)
2. Blend the ingredients together until the mixture has reached ice cream consistency
3. Scoop the ice cream, and serve IMMEDIATELY!

Sending this to Food palette series pink hosted by TorviewToronto

Tri Colored Rice

The National Flag of India is a horizontal rectangular tri colour of deep saffron, white and green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in blue at its centre.  I made the orange rice with tomatoes, carrots and spices mixed with rice and the green rice with spinach, cilantro, onions, ginger and spices.

Bari for Indian Cooking Challenge

Every month, Srivalli of Spicing your life hosts the Indian Cooking Challenge (ICC). This past month of July, the challenge was "Bari". I had never tried nor tasted this recipe before, but I was up for the challenge! Though at first, I was skeptical, looking at the level of spices added, I kept following the recipe. To my pleasant surprise, the end result was fabulous! I then began adding baris to many of my subjis and pulavs, and I loved the extra zing it gave to the taste. Baris are absolutely delicious, and they will definitely be found in my future recipes!


Ingredients
Black gram dhal - 500 gms
Ash gourd - 375 gms
Ginger - 125 gms
Green chillies - 175 gms
Coriander leaves - 125 gms
Black cardamom seeds - 50-60 gms coarsely ground
Panch Phoran - 60 gms whole
Red chillies - 200 gms coarsely ground
Black pepper -100 gms coarsely ground
Saumf (fennel) -60 gms coarsely ground
Cloves - 25 gms coarsely ground
Cumin seeds - 25 gms
Cumin powder - 10 gms
Black cumin seeds -25 gms
Mace powder - 1 tsp
Nutmeg freshly grated -1/4
Asafoetida - 15 gms
Cinnamon powder - 15 gms

Method:

1. Coarsely grind urad dhal in a coffee mill
2. Soak in enough water to cover half inch above the dhal and leave for a couple of hours
3. Add asafoetida powder to it
4. Leave it overnight in a warm place to rise

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5. Grate the ash gourd
6. Chop ginger, green chillies and coriander leaves in a food processor
7. Measure all spices into the bowl with the dhal
8. Mix all ingredients with the dal .
9. Add a little water if it is too stiff. Adjust it to dropping consistency.
10. Lightly grease cookie sheets with oil
11. Drop small amount of the dough on the cookie sheet
12. Dry them in the hot sun and store in airtight containers or plastic bags.

Blueberry Ice Cream

This ice cream is a fun and easy treat that takes less than 10 minutes to make! I love sharing this mouth-watering dessert with my family and friends in the summertime as a refreshing treat.

Reviews from my daughters:

"This is a cool summery retreat from reality!"
- Samantha

"I beg for my mom to make this every night!"
- Nikita



Ingredients:

Heavy Whipping Cream - 1 cup
Frozen Blueberries - 3/4 cup
Ice Cubes - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 5 tblsp.

Method:
1. In a heavy duty blender, add whipping cream, frozen blueberries, ice cubes, and sugar (ingredients should be added in this order only)
2. Blend the ingredients together until the mixture has reached ice cream consistency
3. Scoop the ice cream, and serve IMMEDIATELY!

Kara Sev for Indian Cooking Challenge

The cooking challenge for June is Kara Sev. This event is hosted by Srivalli of Spicing Your Life. This recipe was quite easy to make and turned out very crispy and tasty.

Kara Sev Recipe

Besan - 2 ½ cups
Rice flour - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Soda - 2 pinches
Salt
Oil - to deep fry

Grind fine with water:
Red chillies - 6
Pepper - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Sieve both flours together.

2. Cream ghee and soda well till the paste looks white.

3. Add flours and salt to this.

4. Strain the chilli paste and add, mixing everything well.

5. Add enough water to make a soft yet stiff dough.

6. Heat oil and press the dough with the muruku maker

7. Fry well and remove to a kitchen tissue

8. Store in airtight container.