Dahi ki Pakori

Indian Vegetable Soup in Creamy Italian Broth

Hey All! I am back and I am back with this fusion Indo-Italian Soup and a wonderful news to share with you all. The good news is we are expecting OUR FIRST CHILD..... I know you all must be very surprised, isn't it, but that's true. After completing my first trimester in June, we went to India for a month to attend my sister, Neha's Wedding and have just come back on 7Th of August. Now, I'll try to be regular on my blog, but hey, still can't promise for sure. The baby has already started governing my life ;)) In my first 3 months, I was totally off food, no cooking, so experimenting with food was a far away thing for me, but now things have changed again. So, here I am..... back to share my recipes and experiences with you all. I would also like to thank all my blogger buddies for visiting my blog off and on and leaving their wonderful comments for me. So, lets start by cooking something that will satisfy your taste buds for sure...

Ingredients:

Onion (1, Finely Chopped)

Garlic (2 Cloves, Finely Chopped)

Tomato (2, Chopped)

Spinach (1/2 of the 8oz box of Frozen Spinach)

Chicken Broth (1, 8oz Can)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil / Vegetable oil (1 Tbsp)

For White Sauce:

Butter (2 Tbsp)

All-Purpose Flour (3 Tbsp)

Milk (2.5 Cups, at Room Temperature)

Cream (5 Tbsp)

Black Pepper (to Taste)

Salt (to Taste)

Method:

1. Start by making white sauce for the soup. Heat butter in a pan and add flour to it. Fry it till the raw flour taste goes away.
2. Add room temperature milk to the pan and stir until the sauce thickens.
3. Now add cream, salt and black pepper and stir again. Keep aside.
4. In a large pan, heat oil and fry chopped onions and garlic in it.
5. Now add chicken broth to it and let it come to a boil.
6. Add spinach and white sauce to it and stir well. Let it simmer for 5-7 minutes on a medium flame.
7. Serve it hot garnished with fresh chopped tomatoes and garlic bread on the side.

Tip: To make it completely vegetarian don't use chicken broth. You can also use diced Carrots and mushrooms in it to make it more nutritious. But don't forget to fry mushrooms with garlic and onion.

WHOSE GETTING MARRIED ??? ...... ;))

Hey Buddies,

This is the first wedding cake that I designed myself.... not for someone's wedding but just for trying tired cakes. One of my very good friends, Vivu, inspired me to try this type of cakes and here I am with my very first completed wedding cake.

Enjoy...

Recipe on Demand!

I wanted to take a break from painting our new home, setting it up...etc., etc., Hey buddies, the list is way too long ;). Actually the first phase of painting is done and the second one will begin after a while :)). I just wanted to come back to my blog. So, I am back here to share my thoughts and recipes with you all. Thank you all so much for keeping patience and visiting my blog off and on.

CHILLI GOBHI is the name of the sabzi (vegetable) that I am sharing with you today. Yes, yes, I know it sounds Chinese and believe it or not it is an Indian Chinese dish, that goes very well with Curds and Paranthas or hot buttered naan. I am posting this recipe on demand that came to me from my brother's friends in India. My brother NISHANT is working in a software company in New Delhi. He comes home (in Meerut) over the weekends and goes back on Monday mornings. He loves this a lot, so my mom makes this for him, mostly on every Monday mornings for his breakfast and for lunch. Then all of his friends in the office share their lunch with each other and that's how they came to know about it. All of them enjoy this sabzi a lot and they always ask Nishant for the recipe. Nishant asked me to post it on my blog so that they can show it to their moms, wives and girlfriends ;) . My mom learned this recipe from her brother's wife (my MAMI) and ofcourse I learned it from my mom. So, lets get cooking this on demand dish...

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Cauliflower (1)

Green Bell Pepper (2, Sliced)

Onions (3, Sliced)

Tomato Ketchup (1/2 Cup)

White Vinegar (1.5 Tbsp)

Crushed Black Pepper (to Taste)

Salt (to Taste)

Oil (for frying)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and deep frying the cauliflower florets until golden brown (as shown above). Set aside.
2. In another pan or wok heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry onions and bell-peppers together until slightly tender but crunchy.
3. Now add cauliflower florets, salt and crushed black pepper. Mix well.
4. Add tomato Ketchup and white vinegar, mix well and fry for 2 more minutes.
5. Serve immediately with Paranthas or Naan.

Tip: Use different colored bell-peppers to make it more colorful and a pretty presentation. You can deep fry Cauliflower florets rolled in cornflour batter. It will make them crispy. For cornflour batter, mix 2 Tbsp of Cornflour with 5 Tbsp of water but no salt. It will be watery, but thats how it should be.

My First Fondant Cake and a Home for us!

My dear friend Swapna, just left a comment on my blog to ask if I am doing Ok or not. I am good, Swapna and thanks a lot for showing so much of your concern. Its so good to have friends like you.

Actually, today I want to share something special with all my blogger and non-blogger friends and that is, we just purchased a new house and have moved in. Now we are in the process of making this house a "HOME" for ourselves and thats the reason why I couldn't post anything on my blog, Frankly speaking, I didn't even had internet for 2 days, so I was completely out of touch and I don't know how long is this going to take. I will try to keep on posting something, as and when, I'll get a chance. For now, enjoy my First Fondant Cake, which I learned in my Wilton's Fondant and Gum Paste Class and keep coming for more......

Sandesh...A Bengali Sweet

First of all, I would like to thank you all for keep on visiting my blog regularly and checking on me that why am I not updating my blog these days. Actually, now I am taking Wilton's Fondant and Gum Paste class at Michaels, The Art and Craft store and also, we are in the processing of buying a house, which is eating up all our time and most of the weekends. So time is a little short these days :) Another thing I wanted to share with you all is, I couldn't make it to the Chefs.com Treasured Recipe Contest, at the end they selected the finalists themselves after conducting an audit of votes, but I will always be greatful for all your help and support. Thanks a lot once again....

So, the recipe of Sandesh that I am going to share with you today is a quick-fix sweet and no cooking required, accept boiling milk for making fresh Paneer. This is one of the most famous Bengali sweets (all of which are my favourites :D), which is cooked in almost every Bengali family. I learned this recipe from one of my Bengali friends back in India. She used to live near to our home and also have a lot of interest in cooking. She told me that this sweet can be made in two ways, either by cooking the paneer or by not cooking the paneer. We will be making the "NO COOKING REQUIRED" method today. So, lets get started and fill our kitchens with the flavors of Traditional Bengali cooking......

Makes 15-18

Ingredients:

Fresh Paneer (made from 1/2 gallon of milk)

Powdered Sugar (3/4 cup, or to taste)

Small Cardamom Powder (1 tsp)

Pistachios (25 unsalted, 18 whole and rest sliced)

Small muffin cups (15-18, optional)

Method:

1. Make fresh paneer from 1/2 gallon of milk and press it with something heavy for 45 minutes, so that all the water come out.
2. In a large bowl, start mashing it with your hands until smooth and a ball is formed. The heat from your hand will help it in becoming soft and smooth, which is very important since we are not cooking anything.
3. Now add powdered sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well with hands.
4. Divide the prepared paneer into 15-18 equal portions.
5. Roll one of them between the palms of your hands and flatten it.
6. Put one pistachio in the middle and roll into a ball.
7. Put each one of them in the muffin cups and garnish with sliced pistachios.
8. Let them set for 3-4 our in the freeze, before serving.

CAKES..CAKES..CAKES..

Hey Friends,

Sorry for not being regular on blog, I am a little busy these days, please bear with me for sometime and enjoy these cakes that I learned in my Wilton Cake decoration Course 1.

Thanks, Nidhi.

My First Cake (Which you all have seen before also)

The Second cake with shell border and drop flowers..

Roses with shell border, the third Cake..

A closer look...

Kuch Jhatpat ho jaye...

On weekends we wake up late and then instead of having breakfast or lunch, we tend to have 'Brunch'. I know you got it, the recipe that I am presenting today is fairly simple brunch dish, which is very satisfying and can be made in number of ways. In India, generally people make it sweet with milk, sugar and dry fruits, but today we will be cooking a savory version of it. It is called Veggie Seviyan (Vermicelli). Seviyan or Vermicelli (we call them "JAVE" at home) is made up of all-purpose flour. In Indian homes, elderly women (in general) make these by hand on a piece of paper and dry them in sun for a while. Nothing like the hand-made one, you can easily make out the difference in taste and texture. Now-a-days, we get these pre-made by machines in grocery stores, but one has to roast them without oil on a gas stove or in the microwave, before using them. I do roast mine in the microwave. Back in India, at my home we have a solar cooker which is the best way to roast them without any effort. Just pour them in the solar cooker containers and forget about them. In the evening they will be ready to use, if the sun is at its best. :) So lets get cooking something colorful and delicious, anytime of the day. It also happens to be one of my hubby's all-time favourite dishes...

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Seviyan/Vermicelli (1.5 Cups, Roasted)

Yellow Bell-Pepper (1/2, Finely Chopped)

Green Peas (1/4 Cup, boiled)

Cauliflower (1/2 Cup, Par-boiled) optional

Red Onion (1, Chopped)

Tomato (2, Finely Chopped)

Green Chillies (2, Finely Chopped)

Green Onion (3, Finely Chopped, for garnish)

Black Mustard Seeds (1 Tsp)

Turmeric Powder (1 Tsp)

Red Chili Powder (To Taste)

Garam Masala (1/2 Tsp)

Salt (To Taste)

Curry Leaves (5-6)

Oil (1.5 Tbsp)

Water (3 Cups)

Method:

1. Boil Seviyan with salt and 3 cups of water in a separate pan.
2. In another pan, heat oil and put mustard seeds and let them crackle or wait till the time they become gray in color.
3. Now add onion, bell-pepper and curry leaves, fry until transparent. Then add all the other spices and fry for 30 seconds more.
4. Now add green peas and cauliflower along with Seviyan and mix well.
5. Serve hot garnished with Green Onions.

Tips:

1. Use Chinese technique (they use it for noodles) of putting the seviyan in cold water as soon as they are boiled for 3-4 minutes and then straining them. They will stop cooking immediately and it will prevent them from sticking to each other.
2. Use Ajwayan and corriander powder (1 tbsp) instead of mustard seeds and curry leaves for giving it a North Indian flavor.

Also check out something here...

Gantantra Divas - 26th January 2007

JAI HIND

Happy Republic Day!!

Proud To Be An Indian.

Lots 'n' Lots of Thanks to you all..!

My Dear Fellow Bloggers & Friends,

Today the voting phase has ended in Treasured Recipe Contest at Chefs.com.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for being my support and helping me by voting for my recipe BELL-PEPPER RINGS, through out the Voting Phase. No matter if I will make it to the cook-off or not, or if I'll win the contest or not, but I will always be greatful to those who supported me when I needed them and I will also be there for them.

I would also like to thank Lakshmi, Trupti and Asha for mentioning about this and about me on their blogs. Thank you so much.

My Mom always says, "Put in your sincere efforts for achieving your goal, some people will encourage you and some will definitely try to pull you back, have faith in yourself and keep moving".

I would again like to Thank all of "YOU".

With Best Regards,

Nidhi.

3 Things MEME & An Inspiration!

I would like to thank my friend and fellow blogger Maheswari of 'Beyond the Usual' for tagging me for 3 Things MEME. I enjoyed writing it a lot. Thanks once again... Enjoy!

Three things/ People that make me laugh

1. My sister.
2. Watching Raymond.
3. When some people say they know a certain thing for years and actually they don't have a clue of it.

Three things that scare me

1. Driving in snow.
2. Being alone at home at night.
3. Sitting in a roller-coaster ride.

Three things I love

1. Apart from cooking, I love gardening, drawing and other crafts.
2. I love Cooking for myself as well as for others.
3. I love getting dressed in traditional outfits.

Three things I hate

1. I hate Tofu, even though its very healthy.
2. I hate those who back bite.
3. I hate myself (sometimes) for not keeping my body fit.

Three things I don’t understand

1. Why I become so impatient sometimes..
2. Geeky science stuff.
3. Politics

Three things on my desk

1. Our Photograph.
2. My cell Phone.
3. Fresh Flowers.

Three things I am doing right now

1. Writing MEME for the first time.
2. Listening to some good old Hindi songs.
3. Looking back in years.

Three things I want to do before I die

1. I want to be famous ;)
2. I want to give someone deserving (who cannot afford, but want to..), a gift of education.
3. I want to see my family here in the U.S., enjoying life as much as I do.

Three things I can do

1. I can try to make someone comfortable, whose in pain..
2. I can try to learn, as much as I can, because learning never ends.
3. I can make tasty food ;)

Three things I cannot do

1. I cannot swim.
2. I cannot sing.
3. I cannot see someone suffering.

Three things you should listen to

1. Listen to your elders.
2. I love to listen to Aartis in the morning, infact I don't like Alarm clocks for making me wake up but these aartis work best for me.
3. News.

Three things I'd like to learn

1. I would love to learn, how to swim, because then I can enjoy water.
2. I wanna learn how to keep myself fit along with eating all the wonderful food I wanna eat.
3. Yoga

Three favourite foods

1. Mummy ke haath ka khana.
2. Bengali Rasgulla.
3. Idli & Dosa.

Three beverages I drink regularly

1. Water
2. Jal-Jeera
3. Milk

TV shows I watched as a kid

1. Hum-Log
2. Mungeri Lal ke Haseen Sapne
3. Nukad

Three books I read as a kid

1. Rusee Lok Kathaaye
2. Little Red Robbin hood
3. Snow White

Three fellow bloggers I would like to tag

1. Priya
2. Meena
3. Trupti

I would also like to Thank Archana of 'Spicyana' for giving me a lot of inspiration to learn how to make the wonderful cakes that she makes and posts on her blog. Hey, Archana... Thanks a lot, I am trying to follow your foot steps and here is my first attempt, my first cake that I decorated... Looking forward for your feedback and of everyone else. Enjoy!

Tomato Bisque Soup, my way..

It was a chilling winter evening and I didn't felt like cooking anything at home, but was really feeling like eating some thing hot and spicy. Abhi generally comes back home at around 6:00-6:30 and needs a hot cup of Masala Chai and something to munch, as soon as he arrives...That day it was only 5:00 in the evening, I called him and said, "can you bring something from Wendy's Carry-out??" He was a little surprised to hear that, because its always like he wanna buy stuff from outside bring it home and eat, while relaxing in the sofa and watching 'Everybody Loves Raymond' and I am the opposite of him. The moment he comes back home, I keep myself ready, so that we can go and eat out, no matter how cold it is outside.

In a rush to come back home, he forgot to bring food from Wendy's. He was trying to make it up by giving me so many different options, but...I was very upset. He knows I love soups and won't refuse a nice bowl of soup. We have a 'W.G. Grinders' near to our home, we went there had a nice 'spicy and toasty chicken sub' with a bowl of soup, which I never had before. It was looking like Indian tomato soup and was very yummy! I had the whole bowl.. :)

The other day, some of our friends were coming for dinner and I thought why not to try that soup. I searched a lot of recipes online and finally I made it. It was a big hit among our friends and specially the kids. So, here is my version of Tomato bisque soup, which is a fusion of Indian and Italian flavours...

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (8-10, Large, Red and Juicy)

Carrot (1, Sliced)

Red Bell-Pepper (1/2, Chopped)

Red Onion (1 Large, Finely chopped)

Heavy Whipping Cream (1/4 Cup)

Ginger (2 Tsp, Grated)

Garlic (4-6 Cloves, Grated)

Chicken/Vegetable broth (4 cups)

Dried Methi leaves (1 Tsp)

Mixture of Italian herbs and spices (1 Tsp)

Sugar (2 Tsp)

Black Pepper (to Taste)

Salt (to Taste)

Olive Oil (1 Tbsp)

Red Food color (10 Drops)

Cream (2 Tbsp, for garnishing)

Green Onion (2, Finely chopped, for garnishing)

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, boil all the vegetables, with a little salt and Dried Methi leaves and italian spices along with half of each onion, ginger and garlic in chicken/vegetable broth. After a whistle, put off the gas and let it cook in pressure.
2. Now open the pressure cooker lid and let it cool completely. Then puree it in a blender. Strain and Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the remaining onions, ginger and garlic until golden brown.
4. Now add salt and pepper along with sugar. Cook for 30 seconds.
5. Add the pureed vegetables along with food color and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes.
6. Put of the gas and add heavy whipping cream.
7. Reheat on low flame and serve garnished with chopped green onions and cream along with some fresh croutons.

Note: Add Beetroot for color instead of food color, it will act as a natural coloring agent. To reduce the calories even more, you can add 1/2 cup of whole milk instead of 1/4 cup of cream, but then you have to cook it more to bring it to a right consistensy.

My Experience.......

Lets start from the very beginning......I got married to Abhishek in December 2004 and came to US. I always had this passion for cooking, so I used to make a lot of traditional Indian dishes for both of us. Abhi use to enjoy them a lot, as before getting married either he use to eat frozen food or he used to cook himself...infact he is also a great cook, but at the time we got married he didn't liked sweets at all and I am a sweets person, specially Bengali Sweets.

One day I thought of making Rasgullas at home and called my mom in India to ask how to start with it. "You have to make fresh paneer for making rasgullas and than boil paneer balls in a simple sugar syrup", she said. The same day I started of by making paneer and than boiled the paneer balls in than syrup, but it was a complete disaster and I was very upset. Abhi tried to console me a lot but in my head only one thing was going on, and that was if I cannot even make a simple dish like rasgulla than how will I move forward in this field.... :O(

One day we called one of Abhi friends on dinner and she got some homemade rasgullas for us and they were awesome. Without letting a minute go, I asked her (Rashmi), how do you make it and she said I can teach you right now if you have whole milk and a big pressure cooker at home. I started to think in my head, that how can you make rasgullas in a pressure cooker. Anyways, I asked Abhi to bring milk at the same time from a nearby grocery store and we started by making Paneer and than rasgullas from it.....and thats how it all began or I can say thats how I started making paneer for all Bengali sweets.

I kept on experimenting with Paneer and making myself efficient in making these sweets at home, unaware of anything like FOOD NETWORK or any person named Emeril Lagasse. Actually, we didn't used to have additional channels at first, we just had those basic channels. So, I used to watch a lot of TLC shows and slowly it became my favourite channel.

Then one day, in the end of August 2005, someone knocked at our door and Abhi answered. A person from Time Warner Cable was there and he said there is an offer going on for free subscription of additional channels for the whole month of September and if you like them you can get them for an additional payment of just $10 per month, but this offer is for now only. Abhi immediately said yes for it and than we thought, lets see it for a month and than we'll extend it, if we'll like it.

As usual, I used to watch TLC and TLC only, but one day while flipping the channels I saw someone cooking and suddenly I stopped. That someone was Paula Deen...didn't knew at that time though and I got HOOKED on it. It was a whole new world for me. Day and night FOOD NETWORK and FOOD NETWORK only. Thats how I came to know about EMERIL Live, what a nice show.....OK lets watch it.

As far As I remember, in October, Emeril announced this contest called "Emeril Live Scratch Contest" and said they wanted something from stratch which should not be a complete dish, but can be put use for making some other dish and than Emeril will create one of his own dishes from it. Now I got something to think about and I kept on thinking that, what can I send that should just be a basic ingredient for making the dish and not a complete dish in itself. Nothing was coming to my mind and I was not even exposed to American Food that much. Never used to like Pasta or any type of cheese. But knew one thing and that was 'Americans Love Cheese'.

Abhi was in the office that day and was very busy in meetings....I called him and asked if I can send the recipe of Paneer in Emeril Live's contest, he was in a rush, so he said OK..OK, send it and I got a green signal. I wrote a small introduction about India and about my family along with the recipe of Paneer and sent it.

On 11th of February 2006, one of our very close friends Ila and Diwakar, met with an accident on their vacation and it was a big shock for us. Diwakar (Abhi's college friend) got hurt very badly but with the grace of God nothing was life threatening and all the injuries were curable. We went to see him and he was recovering fast. Everybody was trying to make him laugh and make him feel comfortable, as if nothing has happend and he was also enjoying it. Next day we were taking him out for a change and suddenly my phone rang. At first I thought of not picking it as the number was not familiar, but than I don't know what happend and I took the call.

"Hi, this is Alan Madison calling from Emeril Live, may I speak to Nidhi Gupta please", he said....I said, what??? He repeated that same thing and I said "OK, yes, this is Nidhi here"... "Congratulations Ms Gupta, your recipe has been selected as one of the 100 semi-finalists, can you tell me something about yourself, your husband and your family back in India." I immediately said, which recipe, I didn't send any recipe....actually, I totally forgot about it. Then he reminded me of sending the recipe of Paneer and I said, "Oh! yes, yes..now I remember." Everybody was waiting outside for me in the car, but Ila was there and as soon as she heard that its a call from FOOD NETWORK, she started telling everyone...."celebrity ban gayee" and I was still taking to Alen. After keeping the phone done, I thought I am a semi-finalist with 99 others...whatever.., I again forgot about it.

In May 2006, I was packing for our vacation to NY and again a call from a somewhat familiar number. "Hi Nidhi, this is Alan Madison"...he said and I said, (my heart was pounding out of my chest), "Oh! ya, tell me how are you doing?" He said, "I am good and just wanted to say Congratulations, you are one of the Four lucky winners of 'Emeril Live Scratch Contest' from 1600 entries. I'll be coming to your home along with my crew on 30th Of June 2006 to Shoot the recipe of Paneer." I was so happy....I thanked him a lot and immediately after it, I called Abhi.

At 30th of June 2006 at 8:00 am, they came for shooting of the recipe and stayed till 4:00 pm. They were amazed to see all the different Indian Spices and how Indian dishes like Palak Paneer, Matar Paneer, Rasgulla, Rasmalai etc.etc. are made from scratch in India. They were even more surprised to know that this type of cooking is a day-to-day part of Indian lifestyle. Alan asked me to speak in Hindi as well as in English and he specifically liked the word "NAMASTE". That day I prepared a lot of Indian dishes featuring paneer in them like Palak Paneer, Paneer Tikka, Matar Paneer, Rasgulla, Rasmalai, Paneer Cheese cake and some other dishes like Dal Makhani, Fruit Skewers, Jeera Rice, Naan, Chivda etc.

After the shooting of making Paneer was over, we all enjoyed all the dishes that I prepared. One of my close friends Jeene was also there with us during the shooting. Then they interviewed me for almost 45minutes, asked me all types of questions related to India. Alan said, he wanted to take some of my shots at the nearby Indian store. So, from there we went to the Indian store and did a little bit shooting there as well.

Alan and the crew had there flight back to New York at 4:45 pm, the same day, so they had to rush to the airport now. They said good bye to us and appreciated my food a lot. We both thanked them and came back home discussing each and every moment of the day that we spent with them.

On August 21st 2006, I recived a call from the same area code, different number though....again a surprise for me. I thought it was over, but no...there was something more for me in store... "Hi this is Patricia LaMorte from FOOD NETWORK, may I speak to Nidhi Gupta please", she said. I said, "yes this is Nidhi here"..."Hi Nidhi, this Patricia and I have called to say Congratulations to you and to set up your flight and hotel reservations for 21st of September 2006 (which is my birthday), you are invited on the show and the shooting will take place on 22nd September 2006 at 4:00pm. You can also bring 5 other people with you to the show".

Abhi (was sitting next to me during the show) and Two of my favourite Uncles and Aunts, my father's youngest brother and his cousin brother along with their wives, went with me to the show and we all enjoyed a lot. Rest you have already seen on the Television. In the end, I would like to say..........

..It was an awesome and one-of-a-kind experince....I will never forget it in my life.

See Me on Emeril Live............

Dear Fellow Bloggers and Food Lovers,

I am very excited to share this news with you all. I will be on TV on Emeril Live.........................

I am one of the four lucky winners of 'Emeril Live Scratch Contest'. The episode named "Emeril's Scratch Contest" with all four winners was shot in New York on September 22nd 2006. The episode will be aired on FoodNetwork channel on January 7th, 2007 at 8.00pm EST/PT. My recipe will be the first one on which Emeril will create one of his own alterations.

I feel good to see a very Traditonal recipe from India highlighted on National TV with one of America's best known chef.

See you there...

Best Wishes, Nidhi.

Happy New Year.... 2007!

The recipe that I have chosen today for the eve of New Year is Makhane Ki Kheer, which is my all time favourite. Lets start with a little introduction about Makhana, which can be used with vegetables, in sweets and also makes a nice snack when roasted.

Makhana (Euryale ferox) , a dry fruit, famed for its easy digestibility, high nutritional contents and wide use in religious fasting by people all over India is a major product in Madhubani, Darbhanga, Purnea, Supaul and Sitamarhi districts of Bihar. Also known as a water fruit, it is popped kernel of gorgon nut or fox nut, prepared from lotus seeds, is widely used for preparation of its kheer and pudding. It is considered pure enough to be offered even to the God. According to a popular adage in Mithila, betel leaves and makhana are not found in heaven. So one should relish them on earth so as not to regret later. Makhana is eaten in various forms, the commonest being salted puffs. Kheer (a dessert usually prepared with milk and rice) prepared with makhana is a mouth-watering delicacy. So lets get cooking something sweet on the first day of the New Year - 2007.

I wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year and may each day of the coming New year is as Sweet as my Kheer...Enjoy!

Serves 6-8

Serving Size 3Tbsp

Ingredients:

Milk (1 lt)
Condensed milk (1/2 Cup)

Makhana (100 gm)

Sugar (3/4 Cup, or to taste)

Almonds (2 Tbsp)

Cashews (2 Tbsp)

Pistachios (2 Tbsp)

Chironji (2 Tbsp)

Kishmish (2 Tbsp)

Cardomum Powder (1 Tsp)

Method:

1. Heat a pan and roast makhanas till they are crispy and no need to use any oil for roasting them.
2. Now put them in a food processor and grind them while pulsing the food processor. They should be coarsely ground. Keep aside.
3. In a large pan, bring the milk to boil and add coarsely ground Makhanas in it with cardomum powder and condensed milk . Simmer for almost 2-3 hours on a low flame.
4. Keep on stirring in between making sure that it doesn't burn from the bottom of the pan.
5. Coarsely chop all the dry fruits accept Kishmish and Chironji. Keep aside.
6. Now add sugar to the milk along with all the dry fruits, keeping 1 tbsp of coarsely chopped mixed dry fruits aside for garnishing later on. Simmer for another 20-30 minutes.
7. Serve hot or cold garnished with varq (silver foil/leaf) and dry fruits.

Merry Christmas !

Wish You all a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year. May the coming year brings all the joys in your life and may all your dreams come true...

With Love, Nidhi.

Hey! Also check out my recipe for Mocha Cake Roll.

Muh Meetha Kijiye...

Today, we completed Two Years of Marriage....Wonderful two years. So, I wanted to share something sweet with you all, which I have made for my Loving Husband. My Mocha Cake Roll will be a sweet ending for a wonderful day....on which we tied knots to be together for ever n ever.....and a perfect beginning of those wonderful years of togetherness, that are ahead of us....

(Servings 6)

Bake Time 15 to 20 Mins at 350ºF

Prep Time 30 Mins (including cooling)

Ingredients:

Eggs (2, Separated)

All Purpose Flour (¼ cup)

Unsalted Butter (¼ cup) Sugar (¼ + ¼ cup)

Heavy Whipping Cream (½ cup)

Vanilla Essence (½ + ½ Tsp)

Mocha Pwd or Instant Coffee Pwd (½ + ½ Tsp)

Milk (1 Tbsp)

Salt (a pinch)

Method:

1. Beat egg whites in a medium bowl on high speed, till they form soft white peaks, then sprinkle ¼ cup of sugar slowly and beat again till firm white peaks are formed.
2. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks, flour, butter, milk, ½ tsp vanilla essence, salt and ½ tsp mocha pwd or coffee pwd, till light coffee color appears.
3. Now fold in the yolk mixture in egg white mixture with the help of a rubber spatula.
4. Preheat the oven at 350ºF and grease the jelly roll pan (13” by 9”) with a non-stick spray or butter and spoon the above mixture on it.
5. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. Once the cake is baked, damp the kitchen towel and put it over the jelly roll pan to keep the cake’s upper layer moist and let it cool completely.
6. In a small bowl, beat the whipping cream, ¼ cup sugar, coffee and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence at high speed till it becomes soft and fluffy. Keep refrigerated till ready to use.
7. Lift the cake from the jelly roll pan and put on a plastic wrap.
8. Now spread the whipped cream over the cake and roll tightly.
9. Cover the roll in that plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hrs before serving.
10. Cut in ½ inch thick slices and serve cold.

Veg Dumplings

Chinese is cooking on my blog today and its healthy.....something with lots of vegetables. Guess what??? Ya, its Vegetarian Dumplings, oh! I love to eat those. Even though, I had some idea how to make them, I wasn't very sure. I searched for Wonton Wrapers for a long time but couldn't find them in regular grocery stores. Thanks to my sweet husband, yesterday evening when we were coming back from the grocery store, thinking that we can never find them, he suggested to try this New Asian Super market, near our home. He went there and after 5 mins he came back with a bag in his hand, Oh! I was so happy to see those wrapers and decided to try them tomorrow itself and this is what I have come up with. Its my postcard from China to you....Enjoy..

Makes 16
Servings 8

Ingredients:
Wonton/Dumpling Wrapers (16, At Room Temperature)
Carrot (1, Finely Grated)
Green Beans (3-4, Very Finely Sliced)
Mushroom (3-4, Finely Diced)
Paneer/Cheese (1/4 Cup, Crushed)
Onion (1/2, Finely Chopped)
Garlic (4-5 Cloves, Finely Chopped)
All-Purpose Flour (1/2 Tbsp)
Salt (To Taste)
Black Pepper (Freshly Ground, To Taste)
Oil (1 Tsp)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a small pan and fry onion and garlic till golden brown.
2. Now add salt, pepper and all purpose flour. Mix well.
3. Mix the above prepared mixture with all the other ingredients accept Wonton Wrapers.
4. Now take one Wonton Wraper and put 1 tbsp of prepared filling in the center of it and with the help of a pastry brush, put a little bit of water on all the four corners. Try to put filling in an oval shape as shown in the picture below.

1. Seal all the edges and make a triangle shape. Now take a ravioli cutter and cut the edges to make it look pretty. Repeat the process for every wraper.
2. Boil 2.5 lt of water in a deep pan and put 1/2 tbsp of salt and 1 tsp of oil, thanput the dumplings in it and let them cook for 2-3 mins.
3. Once they are done they will become tranparent and you can see the filling inside them.
4. Serve them hot with Chilli & Garlic chutney.

Tip: You can use any type of vegetables that you like but they should be finely chopped. You can even make chicken dumplings by using grilled chicken, which is finely chopped.

Thank You Lakshmi...

Thanks a lot Lakshmi (http://lakshmiammal.wordpress.com/), I am so happy to see my ‘Chefs.com: Treasured Recipes contest!' details on your blog. Your help and votes can really make me win.

With your tremendous support, I have reached the 2nd position today. Lets see what happens tomorrow. :-) I tried to leave a comment on your blog as well, but I don't know why, its not taking it. Anyways, Thanks a lot for everything.

I would also like to thank all of you, who are voting for me and have helped me throught out to come to the 1st position.

Love, Nidhi.

Its Party Time.....

Its that time of the year again. Prepartion for Christmas presents and parties....chilling winter nights, having friends and family over for dinners, sharing of your best recipes with your loved ones and exchanging presents......Isn't it??? In my Christmas party, for my American friends, I am gonno makes some mouth-watering Indian dishes and some cookies and cake-rolls for the dessert. The cookie recipe that I am going to share with you today is my "Blue-Berry Muffin Tops". You must be wondering how did I came up with this name, "MUFFIN TOPS"? When I made these for the first time, my husband said, they are soft like cake and one of my friends 'J' said, they look as if you have made muffins and cut their tops off. Then she said, why don't you call them 'Muffin Tops' and thats how we came up with this name. Try it in your Christmas party and you will be surely securing some wonderful compliments for yourself.

Makes 18 Cookies

Ingredients:

All-Purpose Flour (2 Cups)

Baking Powder (1 1/2 Tsp)

Salt (1/4 Tsp)

Sugar (1 Cup)

Butter (1 Cup, Soften)

Egg (1, At Room Temperature)

Milk (1/4 Cup)

Vanilla Essence (1.5 Tsp)

Blue-Berry (1 Cup)

Almonds (1/4 Cup, Roughly Chopped)
Pistachios (1/4 Cup, Roughly Chopped)

Method:

1. Mix the above 3 ingredients together, keep aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla essence untill it becomes creamy and all the ingredients are well incorporated.
3. Now add the mixture of dry ingredients, in butter-sugar mixture, 2 tbsp at a time.
4. It will start becoming hard, so keep on adding a little bit of milk in between.
5. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula, making sure that everything is mixed in well.
6. Now, fold the blue-berries, almonds and pistachios in the mixture. Freeze for 30 to 45 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven at 350F. On a large baking sheet, with the help of a large ice-cream scooper, scoop out the prepared cookie dough on the baking sheet, keeping each scoop at almost 1.5 inch apart.
8. Bake for 25 -30 minutes. They will become golden-brown around the edges.
9. Serve them warm with chilled vanilla ice cream.

Tips: Use craisins along with pistachios instead of blue-berries and they will be more Christmas like. Always use a cold baking sheet for making cookies, they will come out perfect everytime.