Crispy Brinjal Phodi (Shallow fry)

Brinjal phodi ( Brinjal shallow fry) is a big favorite among the South Indians.. especially Konkanis!

One of the easiest, yummiest fried item to have as a side dish with rice.

Serves 2-3 persons.

Time needed - About 15 min

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Ingredients -

1 Brinjal (use big ones, not the tiny ones used in my post about Brinjal curry)
Bombay rava
Chilli powder
Turmeric powder
Salt 
Asafoetida (Hing)
Coconut oil (Vegetable oil will also do unless you're a South Indian ;-))

Method -

• Wash and cut the brinjal into pieces shown below. Make sure the pieces are thick. Thin pieces will result in sogginess when water is sprinkled on it at a later stage.

• Sprinkle salt, chilli powder and turmeric powder over the brinjal pieces and mix.

• Make sure all the pieces get almost uniformly seasoned.

• Put some rava in a plate. Use that to coat each brinjal piece thoroughly on all sides.

• Coat the frying pan with with some oil and place the rava-coated brinjal pieces.

• Cover the pan with an appropriate lid. Once it starts steaming (As in you'll see some steam blowing out from the sides of the lid), the brinjal pieces will look something like this. Refer below for an idea.

• Meanwhile have the asafoetida paste ready. Best way is to clean the bowl in which you mixed your brinjal pieces with the salt, chilly and turmeric powder using a little bit of water. Add a little amount of asafoetida(hing) to it and mix. Once you see the pan steaming, take off the lid and sprinkle this asafoetida water over the brinjals in one or two goes. Remember to SPRINKLE.. DO NOT POUR! And then cover the lid again.

• Let the brinjals fry for about 5 minutes. Check the base of a piece to see if it's well fried. If so, pour little oil uniformly over all the pieces. About 1 tbsp, not too much! And then turn all the pieces upside down so that the unfried part can now fry. Do not cover using the lid now or the steam will make the fried part get soggy!

• Let it fry for another 5 min. Now check the base to see if it's fried properly. If yes, then switch off the flame and serve crispy hot! Enjoy the delicious side-dish and observe the yummy taste of the outer crunch and the inner gooey texture of this dish. :)

Try it out yourself and mail me a picture of your preparation to princesspranita@gmail.com, and i will flaunt it on my blog. Looking forward to your valuable feedback.


Check out my post on the ever-prevailing debate of Love Marriage Vs Arranged Marriage in India. And if you like what you read, please vote for me Here. Thank you! :)

Classic Rava Sheera

When my sweet tooth seeks attention, i seek sweets which are easy and traditional to make! Rava Sheera is a good choice. It's one of those dishes that is quite nostalgic considering i've had it from times immemorial to me ;) Yellow Sheera is what i used to call it, as a kid when i demanded my mom to make it, and the name still sticks now back home!

If you've got about 15 minutes time to spare you'll have this yummy dish ready to be served or eaten.



Serves six - eight people.

Time needed - 15 minutes.






Ingredients-

1/2 cup bombay rava
3/4 cup sugar
cardamom powder
turmeric powder
cashew nuts
ghee

Method -

• Add sufficient ghee to smear the base of your pan. Add more if you don't mind putting on some calories ;-) After a minute or two, add the crushed cashew nuts to the pan and roast it.

• Let the cashew nuts turn a light brown colour.

•  Now add the 1/2 cup rava to the pan and mix well.

• Roast the rava in the ghee. Look below to see how it looks in stages before it's complete.

•  Once the rava is all roasted, add 1 cup of BOILED water to it. Sprinkle some turmeric powder and mix.

• Keep stirring to prevent any burning at the base. When the contents look almost done, add the sugar and mix. (Do not add the sugar early. It hinders the cooking process. Takes more time.)

• This is how it looks when it's done. There are little boiling bubbles. Check the consistency to see if it's well cooked!

• Now sprinkle some cardamom powder over the sheera and mix!

• Take a plate and smear a few drops of ghee on its base.

•  Transfer the contents from the pan to the plate.

• Cut the shape in which you want your Sheera pieces and leave it that way for a while for it to cool down and set well.

• Carefully separate the pieces. You can also add raisins and almonds to this. Your Sheera is ready to be served! Delicious much? ;)

Try it out yourself and mail me a picture of your preparation to princesspranita@gmail.com, and i will flaunt it on my blog. Looking forward to your valuable feedback.  

Little bowl of bliss! - Pamper your tastebuds!

What's a meal without a dessert???! How about a bowl of Fruit Salad with Ice cream and home-made Jelly??? Slurpilicious!!!! :D

At the end of this post you'll be able to make one for yourself at home and pamper your taste buds. This particular item lets you explore your creativity. There's just so many ideas you can imbibe in this little bowl of bliss!



Serves about a dozen people.

Time needed - 10 min (for the custard)







                     
Ingredients -

3 tbspn Custard Powder
1/2 lt milk
3 tbspn sugar
Rose syrup
ice cream (any flavor)
jelly (any flavor preferably one which isn't already there as a fruit form in the bowl!)
fruits (banana, mango, apple, grapes, chikoo, any other that suit your fancy)
You can include honey, cashews, nuts, cherries, wafers and everything you can think of that will make it a perfect dessert for you! Maybe choco chips, chocolate sauce..!!!

Method -

• Put 3 tbspn of custard powder into a container.

• Put some water into it and make sure all the powder gets evenly dissolved without any lump formation.

• Pour the half litre milk into a vessel, add 3 tbspn sugar to it. Stir the contents and let the milk boil on a low flame.

• Once the milk boils, add the custard paste to the milk as you stir it side by side to avoid formation of lumps. Make sure the flame is still low or you might end up burning the base of the contents. Stir constantly and check if the consistency of the custard is thick enough. 

•  If not add some custard powder into a separate bowl quickly, add some cold milk or water to it and stir well. Then add it to the vessel and mix. DO NOT add the custard powder directly to the hot milk or it will form lumps! Bring the contents to a boil and then turn the flame off.

• Your custard is ready. Place the vessel in a water bath to cool it down quickly before refrigerating it.

• When your custard is chilled enough for the dessert, start cutting the fruits and fill your bowl with it. Then pour custard over the fruits. Add some Jelly. (You can learn how to make Jelly here.) Top it with a scoop of ice-cream of your favorite flavor. Garnish it with rose syrup and top it with nuts, cherries and wafers. And your mouth watering Dessert is ready to be served! 

Try it out yourself and mail me a picture of your preparation to princesspranita@gmail.com, and i will flaunt it on my blog. Looking forward to your valuable feedback.     
 

Alu ki Sabji - The Masala used in Masala Dosa!

Masala Dosa is the most popular dish among all South Indian Cuisines. So how about trying it out at your home.

Very simple to make. In this post, i'll be telling you how to make the Potato Bhaji used in Masala Dosa.. which can also be had with chapatis, rotis etc or as a side dish with rice! Take your pick.

Serves four people.

Time needed - 15 minutes.





Ingredients -

6 Potatoes
3 onions
3 Green chillies
3 Dried Red chillies
Mustard seeds
Urad dal
Vegetable oil
Salt

Method -

• Put the green and red chillies in the mixer and crush it enough as shown below.

• Boil 6 potatoes and once it cools down, mash the potatoes. Not into a paste, look below for an idea.

• Heat some oil on the pan on low flame. After a minute or two, add about 1 tspn mustard seeds.

• Once the mustard seeds start popping, add about 3/4 tspn urad dal. 

•  When the urad dal turns a little red, add the chopped onions to the pan and mix.

•  After a minute, add the chilly paste to the contents in the pan and mix well.

•  Mix the contents well until the onion turns golden brown. Then sprinkle some turmeric powder and salt to taste.

• Then add the mashed potatoes to the pan and mix well.

• Leave the flame for a minute or two and then switch it off.

•  Place it on the dosa to have Masala Dosa, serve it with rotis, or make a potato roll using chapatis, or you can fill this between to breads and eat it like sandwich. Choose or create your own way to enjoy this dish. Do let me know though ;) 

Try it out yourself and mail me a picture of your preparation to princesspranita@gmail.com, and i will flaunt it on my blog. Looking forward to your valuable feedback.

Coconut Barfi - Janmashtami Special :)

Happy Krishna Janmashtami to all of you! 

Mom made a yummy sweet Khichdi today. But that didn't feel enough. So i went ahead and made these yummy Coconut Barfi.

I never knew it's so easy to make them. So go ahead, try it out and surprise someone special :)

Time needed : About 40 minutes.

Ingredients -

1 cup grated coconut
1 cup milk
3/4th cup sugar
cardamom powder
ghee

1 cup = 200g approx.


Method -

• Grate coconuts enough to fill a cup. Transfer it into a mixer.

• Mix it until it gets something like the picture below. Do not let it get all liquidy and gooey.. just a crushed texture.

•  Empty the contents into a pan heating on low flame.

•  Add the sugar and mix.

• Keep stirring on low flame, or the contents will get burnt at the base. Once the coconut gratings and sugar mixes and gels into each other well, add a cup of milk and mix.

•  Let it simmer on low flame and make sure to keep stirring. This is how it's gonna look when it's done. Add some ghee and sprinkle some cardamom powder and mix again. Leave it for a minute or two and then switch the flame off.

• Take a plate and coat it's base with a few drops of ghee. Transfer the contents from the pan on to it.

•  Use a knife to mark the shapes you want your Barfis to set in.

•  Let it cool and harden. Make sure the base has hardened before getting the barfis out of the plate. That taken care of, present your hand made Krishnashtami sweets to those lucky people and watch as they take a yummy juicy bite into it...!;-)

Try it out yourself and mail me a picture of your preparation to princesspranita@gmail.com, and i will flaunt it on my blog. Looking forward to your valuable feedback.