Home-made Potato Chips

Ingredients

2 large potatoes

Oil

Seasoning: Salt, pepper and chilli salt

To make the chips with baking oven

Make thin potato slices. Preheat the oven to maximum for 15 minutes. Grease the baking tray or place a baking sheet underneath. Brush little over the slices. Add little salt, pepper and chilli powder over the slices and place them in the baking tray. Keep the tray in the baking over for 10-15 minutes. The chips are ready. Keep a check as the slices may get burnt at times if its overheated. Enjoy with tomato sauce during tea time.

Deep fry

Soak the potato slices in salt water for 20 minutes. Remove them from water and pat them dry. When you think they are dry enough say after 2 hours, deep fry them in oil.  

Masala Vadai

Ingredients

1 cup Chana dal/ kadala paruppu and 1 tbsp rice – Soaked for 2 hours

4 green chillies

4 garlic cloves

1 inch ginger

Cumin seeds ½ tsp

Curry leaves

1 chopped onion

Garam masala

Salt, Oil

Directions - How to make

Keep 1 tbsp chana dal separately. Grind the remaining chana dal, green chillies, garlic, ginger and cumin seeds adding very little water coarsely in a mixer. Now add salt, onion,curry leaves, garam masala and the left out chana dal. Mix them well.

Now apply little oil in your palms and make small flat vadas to avoid sticking. Deep fry them in oil. Serve them hot with chutney or tomato sauce in the evening tea time.

Carrot Halwa

Ingredients

Grated Carrot 1 Kg                                   

1 cup sugar

1 litre milk

Condensed milk 5 tbsp

Fried cashews and raisins

Ghee 2 tbsp

Cardamom powder (1-2)

Directions - How to make
 

Boil a litre of milk in a non-stick pan. Once the milk starts boiling add the grated carrot. Keep stirring over medium heat till the milk thickens and dries up. Add sugar, condensed milk, cardamom powder to it. Keep stirring and finally add the ghee. Take off and decorate them with nuts.

Besan Ka Ladoo

Ingredients

500 gms besan ( gram flour) 

250gms Ghee (clarified butter)
Sugar to taste but at least 400gms (Powdered)
Nuts are optional. The laddus are perfect without them

Directions - How to make

 

In a heavy bottom pan warm the ghee a little bit. Add the besan and mix well.  Roast the mixture on medium heat till the color changes and the aroma fills you. The trick is to keep the flame to a medium and keep moving the mixture.The besan will become a dark yellow or maybe mustard color.The ghee will start to seperate. Turn the flame of and let the besan cool.

 Once the mixture feels like it can be touched, add the sugar. Now you need to rub the sugar and the besan well together. The mixture should look smooth and even.You can add the nuts (almonds,cashews) at this stage. Make the ladoos and store in an airtight container.

Rava Ladoo

Ingredients

2 cups of Semolina/Rava/Sooji

1 cup sugar

Ghee

Cashews and raisins

Boiled Milk

Copra (Dry coconut)

Directions - How to make

Fry the cashews and raisins in one tbsp. of ghee and keep aside. Now fry 2 cups of rava in ghee till it turns light brown. Separately fry copra. Now mix the nuts, rava, copra and one crushed cardamom. Add one cup of sugar to it. Mix well. Finally add the boiled milk to the mixture. Make balls quickly while they are hot. Cool them and store them in an air- tight container.

Diamond-cut Biscuits

This is very easy and quick to make when you have nothing to eat at home. I made these during my husband’s exam time. Here is the recipe.        

                           

Ingredients

2 cups of all-purpose flour/ maida                              

1 cup of powdered sugar

1 tsp salt

Oil

Directions - How to make

Make smooth dough out of maida, sugar, salt and water. Leave it for a while. After 10-15 minutes roll them out the way you make chapattis and cut them in shapes you desire with a knife. I generally cut them in the shape of diamond as it is easy and hence the name. Finally deep fry them in oil.

 

Green Gram Sweet

Green gram also called moong dal is of high nutritional value. It is often consumed in the form of sprouts and is very good for skin. I learnt this recipe from my mother. It is one of my favourite sweets. In my childhood days, I and my sister often used to pester mother to make it in the evening. But now living far off, I had to learn and make it myself to satisfy my tastebuds.

Ingredients

1 cup green grams

Jaggery

½ cup all-purpose flour (Maida)

Baking soda – a pinch

1 cardamom

Oil

Directions - How to make

Soak the green grams overnight. Next morning pressure cook them for 4 whistles. Cool it and grind them in a mixer. Keep aside.

Now add a glass of water to the kadhai/ wok, add some powdered jiggery. After it melts filter the mixture as it may contain small particles and dust. Let the mixture boil again. Now add the ground grams and one cardamom to it. Once you get a nice paste. Remove and keep aside.

Next make a batter out of half cup all-purpose flour, pinch of soda and salt. Heat some oil in a wok. Make small balls of the above ground paste. Dip them in the batter and leave them in the heated up oil. Once they become golden brown. Remove them. Serve hot.

Maaladu

Ingredients

Pottu Kadalai/ Chana Dal 1 cup

Sugar 3/4 cup

2-3 Cashews

Ghee/Oil

Recipe

Roast the pottu kadalai till it turns light brown and the raw smell goes. Grind the roasted dal, cashews and sugar in the mixie. Transfer the contents to a vessel. Add ghee to it and make balls while they are hot. Keep them in an airtight container.

Rasgulla

Again if you have tried rasmalai before and good in making homemade cheese/paneer, this would be very easy for you. This sweet is originally from Bihar, but often known as a Bengali sweet.

Ingredients                                                               

4 cups whole milk (use small steel tumbler for convenience)            

Lemon juice or Vinegar diluted in water

1^1/2 cup sugar

3 ^1/2 cups water

Cardamom powder or Rose water

All-purpose flour

CHEESE BALLSBoil 4 cups of whole milk. When it comes to a boil add the lemon juice while stirring. When it curdles completely and the whey water* separates filter the cheese in a clean cloth (it would come out well if you get to use your husband’s baniyan clothJ or a muslin cloth). Hang the cloth for say 20-30 minutes, so that the water drains out completely from the cheese. Rub the outside of cloth so that the cheese becomes smooth from inside. Take out and make smooth dough out of it. If it’s not smooth enough to form balls add 1-2 tbsps of all-purpose flour to it. Knead well to make smooth dough. Make walnut sized smooth balls. Make sure there are no cracks. Do not keep the balls out for a long time as it may become hard. Put it in the cooker as soon as possible.

SUGAR SYRUP

Just before you start making balls, keep the pressure cooker on stove. Add 3 ½ cups of water and 1 ½ cups of sugar. Once it comes to a boil add the balls to it slowly. Close the lid. Once the first whistle goes keep it for 5 minutes and take off. Once the pressure comes down transfer the balls to another vessel, pour the sugar syrup and the rose water over it. Once it cools, refrigerate them. Serve chilled.

Rasmalai

                                                   

This came out really well. If you are good in making homemade cheese/paneer, this would be very easy for you. All you need to spend on is 1 litre milk and sugar. Don’t ever make this in a hurry. This will make 10-12 pieces. I have written this recipe by combining 2-3 websites.

MALAI BALLS 

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk (use small steel tumbler for convenience)

1 cup sugar

6 cups water

Lemon juice or Vinegar diluted in water

Recipe: Boil 4 cups of whole milk. When it comes to a boil add the lemon juice while stirring. When it curdles completely and the whey water* separates filter the cheese in a clean cloth (it would come out well if you get to use your husband’s baniyan clothJ). Hung the cloth for say 20-30 minutes, so that the water drains out completely from the cheese. Rub the outside of cloth so that the cheese becomes smooth from inside. Take out and make smooth dough out of it. If it’s not smooth enough to form balls add 2-3 tbsps of maida to it. Make walnut sized balls and flatten them and keep aside.

Now boil 6:1 water and sugar. When it comes to a boil add the balls to it and cover it with a lid which steams. Keep it for 5 minutes. Check if it has puffed up. If the syrup thickens add some water in between as it might crack the balls. Once it puffs up to double its size, put them in lukewarm water. Keep aside.

RAS

Ingredients:

3 cups of whole milk

4-5 tbsps of sugar

Powdered cardamom

Thinly sliced almonds or pista

Recipe: Boil 3 cups of milk on high flame in a nonstick pan to avoid stickiness. Add sugar and cardamom powder. Saffron is usually used for the colour and flavor. But I used 2 pinch of vanilla custard powder diluted in 1 tbsp milk which gave the yellowish colour and taste to it.  Once the milk thickens and reduces to nearly half, lower the flame and add the balls to it. Switch off and keep aside. When it cools transfer it to another vessel and add the sliced nuts. Refrigerate. It tastes best after it is refrigerated for some time.

                                                 

Note: * You can use the whey water to wash your face (good for skin) or use it while kneading dough for chapattis.