Chapati

Many of my friends asked me for how to make chapati. Since it goes extremly well with all curry's  its good to know how to prepare them. Here is the recipe.

Preparation -5 mins
cooking time- 10 mins
Serves- 5 chapatis medium size

Ingredients:
Whole wheat fine flour- 2 Cups
Water- 1/2 cup or little more
Salt- 1/2 Tsp
Ghee- 1 Tbsp

Preparation:

• Mix flour salt and ghee in a mixing bowl, gradually add water and knead a fine, slightly soft dough.(Adjust the amount of water as per required)
• Make logs out of the dough.
• Cut the logs into  1inch balls.
• Dust this ball with flour.
• Flatten the balls with the help of pin-roll.
• Heat tawa in medium heat . Place the chapati over the heated tawa.
• Wait for 10 seconds. Flip on the other side.
• Wait for another 10 seconds and flip it back.
• Press the chapati from the edge of one side until it puffs up with the help of spatula or dry cotton cloth. Flip and do the same on the other side. By this time your chapati must get cooked evenly.
• Take it off the pan and grease it with butter.

Chapati is ready to be served. 

• Repeat the process with other balls until you get desired no of chapati's.

Serve it hot with any curry. Enjoy :-) and Happy cooking.

Tip: Leftover dough can be kept in refrigerator in an airtight box and can be consumed until next day.

For the Prawn curry:http://wahsushkitchen.blogspot.de/2013/01/prawn-curry.html

By-Sushmita Pandit

Palak Paneer(Spinach and cottage cheese curry)

Palak paneer is an authentic Indian cuisine. It has got all the goodness of Spinach and cheese. 

It had been a month since i started craving for the palak paneer. Its great with chapati and nan.

In Germany we get frozen spinach as "spinat gemuse".  I really like them, its so easy to cook with the frozen cubes. But fresh spinach are always better and healthy. 

Here's is my version of Palak paneer.

Preparation Time- 15 mins

Cooking time- 30 Mins

Serves- 4

Ingredients:

• Spinach leaves/ frozen spinach- 500 gms
• Paneer- 250 gms
• Green Chilly- as per taste
• Onion- 1 large, finely chopped
• Ginger garlic paste- 1 Tbsp
• Tomato -1 finelly chopped or pureed
• Cream- 2Tbsp
• Salt as per taste
• Water for cooking
• Oil for cooking
• Butter- 1 Tbsp
• Cinnamon sticks or cinnamon powder

Masalas/Spices

1. Turmeric powder- 1Tsp
2. Cumin powder- 2 Tsp
3. Coriander powder- 1.5 Tbsp
4. Pepper Powder- 1Tsp
5. Pesto- 1 Tbsp(optional)

Mix all the masala and prepare a fine paste by adding water to it or with the help of tomato puree.

Preparation:

• If you have whole spinach leaves- Wash them and boil them in water by adding little salt to it for 10 mins. Once boiled let it cool off a little and then in a blender , prepare its puree. If you have frozen cubes of spinach that is all fine.
• Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a pan or kadai,  add cinnamon powder or stick, let the oil absorb the flavour. 
• Add the onion,salt for the onion and green chillies, saute until onions are golden brown.
• Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 mins.
• Add the masala paste and the remaining tomato puree, fry until oil separates from the masala.
• (optional- add pesto and fry for 1 minute. )
• At this point of time add the pureed spinach or frozen cubes of spinach, add little water, let it simmer in low heat for 2 mins. 
• By the time simmering happens, cut the paneer into cubes, heat butter in a pan and fry the paneer cubes until they get coated with light golden brown crust. season with salt.
• Once done add the fried paneer in the spinach. stir well and turn off the heat.
• Drizzle the cream over the curry.

Palak paneer is ready to be served. Serve it hot with Nan, Chapati or parotha.

Enjoy. :-) and Happy cooking.

How to make paneer????? checkout http://wahsushkitchen.blogspot.in/2012/09/paneercottage-cheese-how-to-prepare.html

By: Sushmita Pandit

Adrak and Masala chai(Ginger Masala Mix Chai)

Chai is Refreshing and stress releasing. In the morning it gives me a kickstart on the otherside in the evening , a cup of chai do wonders releasing my all day long stress. Necessary to mention, Chai has several types "mamuli chai", "chalu chai", "masala chai", "herbal chai", "darjeeling tea", "green tea","Cough reliving Kada"and "The ghar wali adrak ki chai(Ginger Tea)".

In general at our home we prepare the "The ghar wali adrak ki chai(Ginger Tea)". Whilst at the kiosk we can find the very tasty"chalu chai",Hotels and resturant specializes in "Masala tea", Grandma and kids would always prefer the "herbal tea", And during cold and cough it becomes a medicine which we call kada(greatly helps in reliving cough ) .

This is my version of Ginger and masala Chai.

cooking time 5 minutes

Serves- 2 tea cups

Ingredients:

• Water- 150 ml
• Milk - 120 ml
• Ginger- 1 inch(crushed or minced) or Dry Ginger powder- 1 Tsp
• Basil leaves- 3-4 leaves or Dry basil leaves- 1Tsp
• Pepper cons- Freshly crushed(1/2 Tsp)
• Chai patti(Tea leaves)- 1 Tbsp[Red label, Tata tea or any other brand will do]
• Sugar- 1Tbsp or adjust to your taste

Preparation:

• Heat water in a saucepan.
• Add sugar, chai patti, ginger, pepper and basil leaves at medium heat.
• Bring it to boil. 
• Once the colour becomes dark red add the milk.
• Bring it to boil twice or thrice for the perfect taste.(Keep an eye on your chai, since once it comes to boil , there are good chances that it may spill off the pan)
• Turn off the heat once done. let the chai rest for 10 seconds
• Use a seive to filter out the chai in a cup, and serve it hot.

Enjoy your cup of tea. Thank you for reading. 

Happy cooking :-)

By: Sushmita Pandit

Til K Ladoo (Sesame Sweet savory)

Wishing everyone a very Happy and prosperous Makarsankranti and Happy Lohri. 14th of January in India is a day where whole India celebrates sankranti in inumerable ways. In Punjab people celebrate Lohri, in east India as makar sankranti , in south India as pongal and in Gujrat the whole sky is filled with kites :-).
On this very day people do eat varity of dishes made with the Sesame seed. One of the most popular dish is the Til k ladoo. In this post i will be detailing the recipe. Its sweet and mouth watering dish.

Ingredients:

• Sesame seed - 200gms
• Jaggery - 125gms
• Water- 90 ml

Preparation:

• Roast the sesame seed until they turn crispy and light brown in color.
• Once roasted cool them off.
• Heat one kadai, switch to medium flame, add water and jaggery.

• Keep on stirring until the jaggery melts and a syrup kind of solution appears.
• To check weather right consistency of syrup is achieved or not , we can do a water test. Take water in a bowl. To this add one drop of syrup with the help of spatula. if it spreads in water we have to wait for little more. Once the drops settles at the bottom, rub it between your fingers if u find it sticky and also string like ....that's it ... u have reached to the right consistency of syrup.

•  Immediately turn off the heat or take the kadai off the heat. Add the roasted sesame seed. mix well.
• Now grease your palms with water and make small rolls while the mixture is still warm or little more than warm. Be careful dont burn your hand.

voila! Ladoo is ready to be served :-)

Let the balls cool off. store them in an airtight jar or box. This will last for atleast a month.

Happy cooking and wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous Makarsankranti :-)

Lukin forward to take a dip in the Rhine...only if it is not Frozen :D

By: Sushmita Pandit

Aloo Sarson-Posta(Potato mustard&poppyseed curry)

It had been nearly more than six months since i had tasted poppy seeds. It was only in this Christmas time that i could get some of it at cheaper price at an Indian store in Brussels. So i grabbed a few packets just to make my traditional Aloo posta . The best thing about this dish is that you do not need many ingredients and its just too quick and fast in preparation. However i customized this dish by adding some mustard to it as i love the taste of mustard too. Some like it with purely poppy seed paste while others just like me incorporate almond and cashew nuts too.

This recipe serves four
Preparation & Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 4 Large sized, sliced into 1/2 inches
• Onion -1 medium size ,sliced thinly
• Chilly- 1 chopped
• (optional)Paanch Foren(mixture of Fenugreek seed, cumin seed, mustard seed,fennel seed ,kalongi seeds ) 1 tsp each, mix them well and keep it in a closed container for future use.
• Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
• Pepper powder- 1 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• oil for cooking
• Paste- (Add 1 tbsp poppy seeds+1 tbsp crushed almonds + 3/4tbsp mustard+ green chilly 1 in a grinder jar. Add little water and then grind to make a consistent paste)
• water for cooking

Preparation:

• Heat oil in a kadai or pan
• Add 1 tsp of Paanch foren, allow it to crackle
• Now add green chillies and sliced onion, fry until onion turns tender
• Add the sliced potatoes
• Add salt ,stir and cover, wait until potatoes are half cooked
• Now add turmeric powder and pepper powder
• cook until turmeric gets fried.
• At this point add the paste, Add water to adjust the consistency of the gravy and then stir.
• Simmer in low heat for 5 mins.
• Turn off the heat once you see gravy of desired consistency .

The Aloo sarson-posta is now ready to be served. Serve it hot with hot rice or chapati.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking :-)

By: Sushmita Pandit

Prawn curry

In my last post i told you about how to prepare prawn chilly, in this post we will see how to prepare Indian prawn curry. This is a spicy curry yet not hot. This can be well served along with rice, nan or chapati or any other flat bread.

This recipe was given to me by my landlord where i used to stay during my school days. At one point of time our mess was close and i had still some days left to go home, thats wen she prepared this and also shared its secret recipe , i absolutely love this prawn curry,  Here is its RECPIE:
This will serve Three
Cooking time - 30 mins

Ingredients:

• Prawn - 250Grams(washed, deveined and dried)
• Boiled Potato-5(cut into cubes) (optional)
• Lemon juice - 1 TBSP
• Onion- 1 large chopped
• Spice mix(Turmeric- 1 Tsp, pepper powder- 1 Tsp, cumin powder-1/2 Tbsp, Coriander Powder- 1 Tbsp)
• Green chilli- 2
• Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 Tbsp
•  Salt as per taste
• Oil for cooking
• Tomato puree - 1 medium sized tomato
• Garam masala(cloves, cinnamon, cardamom )
• Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add all the garam masala.
• Add chillies and onions.
• saute onion until golden brown.
• Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes.
• Prepare a paste with tomato puree+ spice mix+ Salt.
• Add this paste and fry until oil gets separated from the fried masala.
• Add the boiled potatoes.
• Add the prawns .
• Add lemon juice. Mix well.
• And then add 1/2 cup of water. Adjust the amount of water as per the consistency of the gravy
• Cover the pan and let the dish simmer for 5 minutes at low heat.
• Turn off the heat and sprinkle coriander leaves all over.

Serve hot with rice or chapati.... enjoy!!!!

Happy cooking :-)
For the chapati: http://wahsushkitchen.blogspot.de/2013/01/chapati.html
By: Sushmita Pandit

Carrot & Potato Puree (Baby food)

With the teething of my baby i had to cook up many dishes for my baby.My primary concern was that the food should be nutritious. So i picked up carrot and  potato. 
My experiment was successful in the sense that my baby really enjoyed eating the puree, Here is the recipe that suits kids of 1 year age.

Ingredients:

• Potato -1 boiled
• Carrot -1 boiled
• quarter of medium sized onion - chopped thinly
• salt
• pepper
• butter or ghee- 1 TBSP

Recipe:

• Heat ghee or butter in a pan
• saute onions until they turn golden brown. Add little pepper if your kid likes little spicy food.Turn off the heat once done.
• Using a mixer grinder or blender make a puree of potato,sauted onions and carrot.Add little water to adjust the consistency.
• Take the puree in a bowl and add salt to adjust taste.

The puree is now ready to be served.

By: Sushmita Pandit

Orange Flavoured Cake

Recently on Deepawali me and my hubby prepared the orange cake . It came out to be really awesome.
I  have been trying my hands on preparing the cake for so long time, i must say that orange cake is one that is appreciated by a large age group.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour- 3cups
• Sugar- 2cups
• Egg- 2
• Butter/Refined oil- 1 cup
• vanila Essence-1 tsp
• Baking Powder- 1tbsp
• Baking Soda- 1tsp
• Cinnamom powder-1/2 t

For icing

• Orange juice- 1cup
• Whipping Cream -200ml should be very cold at the time 
• Hand mixer/Beater kept in freeze for 1 hour before whipping
• Vessel in which we will prepare the icing should also be kept in freezer for 1 hour before.
• Powdered sugar- 1 Tbsp

Baking :

• Grease the baking tray with butter
• preheat the oven at 180 Degree C.
• Beat all the ingredients until you can see some bubble inside the mixture.
• Place the mixture in the baking tray, give the tray some tap before placing it in the oven.
• Place the tray in the oven at 150 Degree C for 25 minutes to 30 minutes.
• Check the cake at 20-25 minutes, insert a toothpick inside the baked cake if it comes out clean take out the cake and let it cool off.
• Once the cake cools off, cut it into two layers, remove all uneven layers.

Icing:

• Whipp the cream and sugar until the milk ends up in a foam. With hand it will take around 1/2 hours and with electric beaters hardly 2-3 minutes.
• Pour evenly the orange juice on all the layers of the cake.
• With the help of the flat spatula start placing the whipping cream over the bottom most layer, spread evenly on the upper surface.
• Place the other layer of cake over the whipping cream And again place the half of the whipping cream, this time cover the upper surface as well as the side surface of the cake with whipping cream.
• Now place the left whipping cream in a cone, place a star tip at the mouth of the cone and make some good shapes at the edge of the cake or what so ever way you want it . 
• You can also place some choclate chips over them
• Kiwi, strawberry, and orange looks really good when thinly sliced and placed over the cake.
• Freeze  the cake for around 2 hours atleast before serving.

And thats how the Orange cake is Baked and dressed.

Thank you for reading my blog, Happy cooking, enjoy :-)

By: Sushmita Pandit

Jalebi

Happy Deepawali to all.
Make jalebis today and celebrate this Deepawali .
Such is the power of Jalebi. watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8Z0WbSWV0&feature=colike just love it. Finger Licking, Mouth Watering Garma Garam Jalebiyaan....Whola. As soon as i hear the name jalebi , i start Craving for it.

So i prepared the batter and have kept in refrigerator ,Next time whenever i feel like having it i can prepare it in no time.

For perfect shape, Try preparing jalebi often :-)

Ingredients: Batter

• 1/2 cup of all Purpose flour
• oil- 1 tsp
• Sugar- 1 tsp
• 1 Tbsp yeast , activated in 2 Tbsp of lukewarm water
• luke warm water

Sugar syrup:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Frying and shaping:

• plastic cone bottle or any cone
• Oil for frying

Preparation:

Batter preparation-

mix all the ingredients by adding little amount of luke warm water unless paste kind of consistency is reached.

Let the mixture rise for atleast 30 min to 1 hour

Syrup preparation:

mix the sugar and water , heat until it becomes little thick, keep the heat at low

jalebi Preparation:

once the batter is ready, put the batter in the cone and adjust the nozzle size.

Heat oil in a skillet for deep frying, keep the heat at medium.

make swirling round shapes and fry until golden brown in color

Take out jalebis and put them in warm syrup for like 10 seconds and take them out.

Jalebi is ready to be served : serve it hot and enjoy Deepawali, it tastes awesome :-)

Enjoy and Happy cooking .
By: Sushmita Pandit

Khandvi

The khandvi is an awesome steamed food, Absolutely delicious and extremely Healthy. This Gujrati recipie is now one of the world wide famous dish and is being served in Cocktail partys where people are just loving it.

However the preparation of Khandvi needs whole lot of Patience and hell Lot of Strength.

Am writing this for those for whom the above two barriers are way far to be considered when it comes to making an Exceptional dish.

And Obama Wins the Election once again, Congratulations to America for successfully electing its President.

One more thing about Khandvi, babies will be loving it too, just like My baby Darsh do.

Ingredients:

• Chick Pea Flour - 2 Cups
• Yogurt- 2.5 cups
• Water - 6 to 7 cups
• Salt as per taste
• Ginger Chilli paste - 2 Tbs

For Tempering:

• Mustard seeds- 1tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Dry Red Chillies 
• Curry leaves
• Grated coconut 

Preparation:

• Mix all the ingredients in a Bowl and beat them well so as to ensure the batter is lump Free
• Once the batter is ready heat a kadhai
• Pour the batter, keep the flame medium to low
• Keep on stirring until the batter thickens to a paste
• To check wheather the batter is ready , make a thin layer of rectangle over the Aluminium foil, let it cool of, try to peel the layer off from the Foil, if you are able , your batter is ready.
•  In a table spread the Aluminium foil and grease it with oil
• Spread the hot batter as quickly as possible over the foil, repeat until you are done with the whole batter. let all the layers cool off for 5 minutes,
• Take a knife and start cutting 1 inch long strips over the layers. gently peel and roll them as seen in the picture. Repeat with all.

Tempering

• Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a pan
• Add the mustard and cumin seeds, wait for them to splutter
• add the chillies and curry leaves
• pour this evenly on all over the rolled khandvis with them help of spoon.
• Finally spred some grated coconut over the khandvis

voila!!! Khandvi is now Ready to be served.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking :-)

By: Sushmita Pandit