Khaju Korma/Cashew Korma/Cashew in Red Gravy

 When I hubby came back from Goa he got a big bag of Cashews. Usually whenever I have lots of Cashew I usually make Cashew Barfi or Halwa. However, my microwave is not working so I was in no mood to cook Cashew in Stove top.

So I decided to make this recipe. Believe me, I have made this in White Gravy and had,however the cashew in Red Gravy is amazing.

Ingredients

Khaju/Cashew - 1 Big handful

Poppy Seeds - 1/2 Teaspoon. 

Onion - 1 Big (Finely Chopped)

Tomato Purée - From 1 Big Tomato

Dry Fenugreek Leaves/Kasoori Methi - 1/2 Teaspoon

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 Teaspoon

Chilly Powder - 1 Tablespoon

Turmeric - 1/2 Teaspoon

Garam Masala - 1/2 Teaspoon

Corinder Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin Powder -1/2 Teaspoon

Oil and Salt - As required

Method

In a kadai, heat a tablespoon of oil and add the onion and fry them till they become transparent.

Add the tomato Purée to the onions in the kadai and sauté well.To this add the ginger Garlic paste and sauté well.

To this add all the dry masala powders (Chilly powder,Corinader powder,turmeric,garam masala,Cumin Powder) and cook them well. 

Now add the Poppy seed-Cashew-onion paste (See Notes) and sauté well till the raw flavour is gone.

Crush the Methi Leaves/Kasoori methi and add it to the mixture.

Then add some water and bring to boil and keep it aside.

Just 5 minutes before serving bring the mixture to boil, add the cashew and cook for a minute or 2 and serve. 

Notes

• For the Cashew Paste:

Remove a tablespoon of fried onion in a mixer. 

Dry roast the Poppy seeds. Be careful while doing this as it may burn quickly.

In a mixer, add the fried onion,roasted poppy seeds and 4-5 cashews and grind into a smooth paste.

• The paste will make the Gravy quite thick, so If you plan to have the gravy little later after cooking, make it slightly watery than you want it to be.
• Grinding the Poppy seeds is tricky. So either Dry roast them or soak them in water for sometime. While grinding first grind them and then add the cashew and then the onion. If you add everything together grinding the Poppy seeds would be impossible. 

Sprouts Salad

 I am not a great fan of salads,however I love this. It is packed with vitamins and lovely flavour of olive oil and walnut.

Ingredients

Green Moong Dhall - 1 Cup
Vegetables of your choice - 1 cup (I have used Carrot,Cucumber)
Walnut - 2 Kernels
Apricot - 1 (Finely Chopped)
Olive oil - 1 Teaspon
Black pepper,Salt and chilli Flakes  - To taste.

Method

In a mixing bowl, add olive oil,black pepper,chilly flakes,salt and mix well. To this add Green Moong dhall,Vegetables,walnut and apricot and toss well.

Healthy,tasty Salad is ready.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I love the upside down cake. I think it is the adrenaline rush that I get when I flip them. I had a Kiwi upside down cake and from then I was wanting to make a upside down cake at home.

In this recipe I have used canned pineapple as I was unable to find fresh Pineapple.They will taste even more divine with fresh Pineapple.

This cake tastes delicious and it cuts like butter. It tastes even better the next day. The brown sugar gives a fantastic taste to this cake.

Ok lets get to the recipe.

 Ingredients

Maida/All purpose flour - 100 Grams
Butter - 100 Grams
Sugar - 100 Grams (Powdered in Mixer)
Brown Sugar - 80 Grams
Pineapple Slices - 7
Pineapple essence - Few drops
Eggs - 3
Baking powder - 1 Teaspoon

 Method

Pre heat the Oven at 180 c and greast the baking pan using some butter.

In a mixing bowl, cream the Butter and sugar well. To this add egg one by one and whisk well. Also add the Pineapple essence.

Meanwhile, sift Maida and baking powder.Add this dry mixture little at a and mix in the butter-sugar-egg mixture.

In the greased baking pan, sprinkle the Brown sugar and then arrange the Pineapple slices and then pour the prepared mixture.

Bake this for 20-30 minutes at 180 C or till it is done.

Once it is done, rest it for 5 minutes and De-mould the cake.

Idly

Being a tamilian, If I don't put the recipe of Idly/Dosa it will be bad on me.It is a very simple and healthy recipe as Idly is steamed. 

Ingredients

Idly Rice - 4 Cups

Urad Dhal - 1 Cup

Fenugreek Seeds - 2 Teaspoon

Salt - as per taste

Method

Wash the Idly rice and soak it for 6 hours. Wash the Urad Dal and soak it separately with Fenugreek seeds for 1-2 hours.

In the Wet Grinder, grin the rice first till it becomes into a smooth,thick batter. add water as necessary. Please ensure that you check the grinder often. If the Grinder gets heated up then it will affect the quality of batter. 

Once the rice is done into a thick batter, remove it into a tall vessel.

Now add the urad dhall into the grinder and grind it well  using as much as water as required. While grinding the Urad dhall we will grind the Fenugreek seeds as well. 

Now add the Urad Dhall batter to the Rice Batter and Mix it well. 

Please ensure that the vessel is tall enough as the batter will ferment and will double in quantity. 

If you dont put the batter in a tall vessel it may spill all over your counter and cleaning the kitchen counter would be a task. 

Cover and keep aside the batter to ferment may be overnight or a minimum for at least 7-8 hours. The time taken to ferment differs from place to place and season to season, so sometimes it may also take 12 Hours in some places. 

Once the Batter is fermented, it is ready to use to make Soft Idly. 

Take the Idly Mould and grease it with very little oil. This will keep the Idly soft and it will be easy for us to de mould the idly. Now pour the batter onto the Greased Idly mould and steam for 15 - 20 minutes. 

You can check whether the Idly by inserting a toothpick. If the Toothpick comes out clean it is done. 

Enjoy with Coconut Chutney/Mint Chutney/Sambhar/Vadacurry. 

Urad Dhall Vada

Who does not like this crispy,crunchy Vada? Thanks to the rain, I felt to eat something crunchy and made it for evening snacks.

Ingredients

Whole Urad Dhal - 1 Cup

Green Chillies - 3-4 (Finely Chopped)

Onion - 1 (Small,Finely Chopped)

Asafoetida - pinch

Salt and Oil - As needed

Curry Leaves - 3

Method

Soak the Dhall for 1 hour. Then drain the water completely and grind it in the Mixer.

Do not add too much of water as I would soak too much of water. Just sprinkle water to grind the Dhall.

To this mixture, add onion,curry leaves,asafoetida,curry leaves and mix well.

To make the vadai, traditionally my mother uses Banana Leaf, however I was unable to find it so I used, Aluminium Foil.

To wet your hand during make the Vada, keep water in a deep vessel. You need to wet your hand before making each Vadai.

Take a medium sized ball sized bater in your hand and place it in the aluminium foil. 

Pat the batter slightly and make a hole in the centre.

Before making the Vada, keep oil in the Kadai and heat it. The oil should be very hot.

Once the oil is hot, place the Vada carefully in the oil and reduce the flame to medium flame.

After 2 minutes flip it and cook it till it is golden brown.

If the oil is too hot then the Vada will be cooked from outside and wont be cooked from inside.

If the oil is not at teh right temperature, then the Vada will drink too much of oil and become soggy.