Poori Kesari / Semolina Pops

        Today my niece is taking her 10 std board exam in India (finals). She is a v.smart and a v.sweet child, she enjoys sweets. I love her writing style, she has a way with words, she'll captivate the audience with her story. I'm sure she'll become a great author. She's having a story blog and started an interesting story, but was not able to finish it because of her hectic school work. God bless her!
        When i was young, we enjoyed summer holidays. My mom used to take us to a drive-in restaurant, my fav item was *poori *kesari (rolled poories stuffed with kesari). I love poori and i love kesari. 

Poori Kesari!

         Instead of rolling the poori with sweet kesari, i filled the dough with kesari and fried it. This bite size pops can be enjoyed as an appetizer or as a dessert. It won't fill us like a full poori. We can fill it with potato curry too. Click for potato masala recipe
*Poori: deep fried Indian flat bread
*Rava kesari: An Indian sweet made with semolina. 
Ingredients:
to make poori
1/2 cup             wheat flour/ atta
1-1/2 cups        all purpose flour/ maida
1/2 tsp              salt    
1 cup                hot water
2 tsp                 oil
enough oil to deep fry the poories.
to make kesari
1 cup                rava/ semolina/ suji
1 cup                sugar
1cup                 ghee/ melted butter/clarified butter
2 cups               water
1/4 tsp               powdered cardamom
10                     (chopped) cashews
10                     (chopped) raisins 
few strands        saffron (or) 1 pinch orange food color  
1 pinch              salt   
Method:
 To make poori dough:

1. In a bowl, combine both flours with salt.
2. Add water to it (few spoons at a time) and knead it till it becomes a firm dough.
3. Add oil and knead some more. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel and leave it for 20 mins.

Yummy!!!

Kesari:
1. Heat 1/4 of ghee/ clarified butter and fry the cashew and raisins, when it becomes golden brown remove it from the pan.
2. Add the rava to the same pan and roast the rava/ semolina till fragrant (nice roasted smell). Remove the rava/semolina from the pan.
3 In the same pan, heat 2 cups of water. Add sugar, cardamom powder and food color (if using saffron strands, soak it in 3 tsp of warm milk for a few minutes and add it to the water) 
4. When the water starts to boil, lower the heat. Add the rava/semolina gradually to the water with one hand and stir the pan in a circular motion with the other hand, making sure it doesn't form any lumps.
5. Switch off the heat when it starts to boil, stir continuously till the mixture becomes dry. Add ghee/clarified butter, fried cashews and raisins, mix it well and keep it aside.
6. In a separate pan heat oil to fry the kesari pops

Poori kesari pops:
1. Keep the poori dough on a slightly floured surface, knead it some more and divide it into two equal sized dough balls.

2. Roll out the dough into two circular discs- as thin as possible.
3. Scoop the kesari with a small spoon, make it into a ball and place it on a dough disk, repeat this process with the remaining kesari, allowing few inches of space between them.  

 

4. Cover the kesari with the remaining dough disk. Press the dough around the kesari balls.

5. Cut each kesari ball with a round cookie cutter or any small bowl. I used a plastic bottle cap.

6. Fry it in hot oil for few minutes, remove with a slotted spoon before it gets crispy. Place it on a paper towel lined tray.

7. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the kesari pop and serve it warm.

Thanks for visiting this page. Feel free to comment, i love your feedback. Enjoy ur cooking! Hav a blessed day :)

                                 

Naan Bowls/ Bread Bowls/ Roti Cups

           Naan is a leavened flat bread popular in West, Central and South Asia. It's very popular throughout India. I love this soft and thick bread. It pairs nicely with almost all the Indian curry i make. It's getting popular in United States too, now i can find naan in my local stores. 
          I made naan in the shape of a bowl. I love bread bowls with hot chilli or chowder. I fill the naan bowls with vegetarian and non-vegetarian stews i make.

Bread bowl!

Ingredients: 
2 cups       all purpose flour/ maida
1 tbs          wheat flour
3/4 tsp       yeast
2 tsp          yogurt/ curd   
1/2 cup      lukewarm water
1/2 tsp       sugar 
2 tbs          oil
1 tbs          melted butter/ ghee
1/2 tsp       salt

Cute & yummy bowls

Method:
1. Mix yeast with water and sugar, let it stand for 10 mins/ until frothy.
2. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients with the yeast mix, except melted butter.
3. Knead it for 6- 8 mins or till the dough becomes soft and pliable.

4. Make it into a ball and keep it in a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap or damp kitchen towel, set it aside for at least 1 hr.

5. Knead the dough again for few minutes, turn the dough on a floured surface and divide it into lemon sized balls.

6. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for another 10 minutes.
 7. Pre heat the oven to 350*. Roll the dough balls into 1/2 -1/4 inch discs.

8. Make sure the outer side (circumference) of the disc is smooth.
9. Take 6 - 10 oven safe bowls and place it upside down on a baking tray. Slightly coat the bottom of the bowl with oil.

10.  If using cupcake pan, turn it over and brush oil slightly to the mold. 

 11. Place the discs over the upturned bowls/ cup cake pan. Gently pat the dough disk, on the top and around the side of the bowl or the upside down cupcake pan.

 12.  Bake for 10- 12 mins. Remove the bread/ naan cups from the mold and brush them with melted butter.

Yummy bowl!!!
11. Fill the bread bowls with your favorite soup or stew and serve. 

Bunny Bread Rolls

I made this sweet rolls for my li'l neighbors. They are very sweet, loving and well behaved kids and i'm very proud of them. 

Warm bunny rolls!

Ingredients: 
2 cups        all purpose flour/ maida
3/4 tsp        yeast
1                egg (beaten)
1/4             sugar
1 tbs          butter
1/8 tsp       salt
2 tbs          warm, whole milk 
1/4 cup      warm water  
1 tbs          melted butter

cuties!

1. In a bowl, soften the yeast with 2 tbs warm milk(should not be            hot) for 5 mins. Mix it nicely with a fork.
2. In a large bowl cream sugar and butter.  
3. Add the lukewarm water, salt and egg and beat it nicely.
4. Add the flour and beat till it's well blended. 
5. Place the dough in a bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rise (it should double in size). We can store this dough in the refrigerator upto a week.

6. Pre-heat oven to 350*.
7. Turn the flour onto a  floured surface, dust some flour if the dough feels sticky.

8. Gently roll it into a log, cut 2" discs from it.
9. Make egg shaped balls with all the discs, place the dough balls on a baking sheet and cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 3 hrs. 
10. For bunny's ear: With a sharp knife, snip the dough on one side of the ball, and leave it hanging like a rabbit's ear (from the wide side of the ball towards the narrow side, refer the photos below). Repeat it on the other side too.

Snip  2" at the right side of the egg shaped dough. Cut from the back (wider end of the dough) towards the front (narrow end) and leave the end on the front attached to the dough.

11. For bunny's fluffy tail: Snip slightly at the centre of the broad side of the dough ball, and roll the cut dough over from the tip, towards the top and press it. 

snip 2'' of the dough from the middle of the dough ball (opposite side of the ears)... 

and roll it over from the tip, towards the top to form a ball...

11. For bunny's eyes, place two black peppers under the ears. 

cute bunny dough

ready for baking!

12. Bake  for  10- 12 mins or until lightly browned. Brush the bunny rolls with melted butter and serve it warm.    

sweet bread rolls!

Feel free to comment, i love your feedback. Enjoy ur cooking! Have a blessed day :)                         

Fish Puttu made with Canned/ Tin fish /Spicy Scrambled Fish

         I love the dry and spicy scrambled fish my mother used to make with fresh shark or king fish (sura puttu). We can make this scrumptious dish with canned/ tin fish or frozen fish fillets too.

Fish puttu/ Spicy scrambled fish!

        If using fresh fish, we have to clean the fish and rub it with salt, cumin seeds and turmeric powder then steam the fish till it becomes flaky. Remove the skin and bones. Flake the fish and add the ground masala. Finally scramble the fish with fried onions and eggs(optional).

canned fish

fish fillet

     This post is a quick version of the scrambled fish/ fish puttu. I used can/ tin fish, instead of the fresh one. This dish can also be used as a filling for fish sandwich or fish tacos.

spicy scrambled tuna!

Ingredients: 

2             5 oz- canned tuna fish / any variety of fish

15 - 20    shallots/ small onions/ sambar vengayam 

1             small- green chilli

1/2 inch   ginger

2 cloves   garlic

1 tsp        red chilli pwdr

1/2 tsp     turmeric pwdr 

1 tbs        coconut

1 tsp        fennel seed/ sombu/ saunf

1 tsp        mustard seed

2 tsp        urud dal

2 tbs        oil

1handful  cilantro/ coriander leaves   
salt          to taste       

Meen puttu!

Method:

1. Grind the ginger and garlic. Finely chop the onion/ shallots and green chilli, grind the coconut with fennel seed. 

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and urud dal. When the mustard starts to pop add the chopped onion and green chilli. 
3. When the onion turns brown, lower the heat and add the rest of the ingredients, except cilantro leaves.
4. Use a fork and scramble the fish mixture till it becomes soft and dry.
5. Transfer the scrambled fish/ fish puttu to a serving bowl and garnish it with finely chopped cilantro leaves.

steamed fish!

           Feel free to comment, i love your feedback. Enjoy ur cooking! Have a blessed day :) 

Moist Chicken Biryani- made in Rice Cooker

This is an easy method (10 easy steps) for making chicken biryani in a rice cooker. Prepare and add: (chicken) masala + chicken + water + rice, put everything together in a rice cooker and cook. Enjoy a moist, flavorful, colorful and yummy biryani.

                                                                  Yummy Biryani!

A great tip from my sister in law for moist biryani :) - Add some of the chicken pieces with skin or add some chicken skin in the masala and remove those skin before serving, it really makes a (great!) difference. 

To cook 1 cup of rice, we have to add 1 and a 1/2 cups of water. 1 cup of uncooked rice gives 2 cups of cooked rice.  

Ready for a party :)

Ingredients:
2 cups/ 400 gms basmathi rice
1 lb - 1/2 kg       chicken (legs and breasts)
1 med                 onion (thinly sliced)
1                        tomato (finely chopped)
6                        green chilli (finely chopped)
1 handful            mint leaves (finely chopped)
1 handful            cilantro leaves (finely chopped)
few                     curry leaves - optional
4 tsp                   chilli powder
2 tsp                  *biryani masala powder / curry pwd     
1"                       ginger    (ground)
2-4 cloves           garlic    (ground)
1 tbs                   yogurt/ curd
1 pinch               red/ orange food color 
2 tsp                   lemon juice 
* In USA, almost all the indian grocers carry biryani masala powder and the dry spices given in this recipe. Biryani masala powder can be substituted with curry powder or garam masala pwdr. 

Chicken Biryani! 

for seasoning:
2 tbs                   oil
2 tsp                   ghee (clarified butter)
2                        cardamoms, cloves
1                        star anise, bay leaf
1"                      cinnamon stick
salt                    to taste

Biryani made in a rice cooker

Method:
1. Heat the ghee and oil in a pan. Add the dry spices given under -seasoning.
2. Add chopped onion and green chilli and fry (med/high) till it becomes soft and golden brown, add chopped coriander/ cilantro, curry leaves and mint leaves, stir well until it gets soft and blends well with onion.
3. Reduce heat and add  ginger & garlic paste, stir it well,
now add chilli powder and biryani powder stir  for sometime.
Add tomato and cook, till it gets incorporated with masala (the onion masala should look like a paste).
4. Add chicken and mix nicely in the onion masala, sprinkle salt and add yogurt, mix it well and cover the pan and cook till the chicken is half done. Remove the pan from stove.

5. The chicken masala should be dry. If it has any extra liquid remove and reserve it for cooking rice.

6. Wash the rice and drain it, add it to the dry chicken masala and mix it thoroughly. Measure and add 3 cups of water (including any reserved liquid from the chicken masala) to the rice mixture.

7. Put the chicken masala- rice and water into the rice cooker and set it in the regular rice cooking setting.

8. This step is optional: When the rice is half cooked, sprinkle  food color and mix it with  fork (it should cover only 2-4 tsps of rice- see the above pic). This gives the biryani a colorful look.

9. Add lemon juice, check for salt and stir it gently one more time and close the lid.

10. When it's done, open the cooker and stir it gently with a fork, making sure not to break the rice. Remove the biryani from the cooker and serve it with raitha, boiled egg, and eggplant fry :) 

Ready to eat!

         Feel free to comment, i love your feedback. Enjoy ur cooking! Have a blessed day.