Creamy Cold Coffee - tips

I am sure you know how to make cold coffee, however I thought of sharing a couple of tips if you like your coffee frothy and creamy.

1. Add a dollop of vanilla ice cream for each serving.
2. Churn with crushed ice for more froth rather than only chilled milk or cubes. This applies for all shakes.

Ideas for Coolers for Summer

Kanji [drink made from small mustard seeds]

• Grind 2 heaped tb sp of rai [mustard] 
• 2-3 Black/Purple Carrots cut lenght-wise into 2 inch pieces.
• 1/2 tbsp of red chilli powder
• 1 tb sp salt, add more later according to taste

1. Stir in all the above ingredients into 3 ltrs. of water and keep in preferably an air tight glass jar [or a foodgrade quality plastic container].
2. Place this jar in the sun for 3-5 days to allow the mustard to ferment. Remember to stir the contents about thrice a day. Thats the only difficult bit!
3. After 3 days check for sourness. If ready,check for seasoning.
4. Serve chilled.
    

Onion 'n capsicum in gramflour (a spicy side dish)

This super quick recipe was given by my friend Neha. Its made in rajasthan (west india). Its yummily spicy, very easy to prepare and can be served with parantha or as an accompaniment with a curry/dal.

Ingredients:- a)

• 1/4 cup          gram flour(besan)
• 1 tb sp           oil/ghee
• 1 1/2 cup       water

Ingredients:- b)

• 1                 onion(big) sliced length wise
• 1                 capsicum sliced length wise
• 2-3              green chillies finely chopped
• 1 tsp           coriander powder
• 1 tsp           red chilli powder
• to taste       salt
• 1tb sp         oil

Prepration:-

1. Heat a tb spoonful of oil, add onions and capsicum and stir cook till light brown and soft.
2. Add the corinder powder, chilli powder, salt . Mix well and turn off the heat.
3. While the onion and capsicum is cooking, heat oil in a separate small wok.
4. Lower the heat , mix in the gram flour stirring continuously and cook till dark brown.
5. When the oil separates and the flour is roasted to a rich brown, add water and stir-cook for another 2 min. to a thick paste consistency.
6. Add this to the onion 'n capsicum . Check for seasonings.
7. Its ready to be served!

Bitter gourd [Karela] stuffed

This bittergourd (karela) recipe is healthy and will keep for a long time in a fridge. I use mustard oil for shallow frying the gourd, mustard oil is 60% monosaturated fats, has detoxifying and anti- bacterial properties. (Do not worry about the pungent smell of the oil , see the tip at the end of this recipe)

Ingredients:-

• 7-8pc.               med. sized gourds
• 4                       med. onions
• 2 tb sp              oil for cooking onion masala
• extra oil            for shallow frying
• 1/4 tsp             turmeric powder
• 3/4 tsp             chilli powder
• 1 tsp(heaped)   coriander powder
• 2 tsp                mango pickle masala or dry mango powder
• to taste            salt

Preparing the gourd for stuffing-

1. Wash ,dry, peal the bitter gourds.
2. Slit open (do NOT cut into half)each piece length wise, scoop out any mature seeds. (leave the pulp intact, its healthy and gives the gourd its flavour)
3. Sprinkle all the pieces generously with salt, put on a flat plate.
4. Keep the plate with one side slightly higher than the other (small elevated angle)
5. Keep aside the gourds for 1/2 hr. This is to drain out some of the bitter tasting juices.
6. After 1/2 hr you,ll notice a small quantity of water collected on one side of the plate. Carefully pick each piece and press firmly between the palms of your hands to squeeze out any remaining liquid. Now the gourd pcs. are ready for stuffing.

Onion masala-

1. Grind all onions to a fine paste.
2. Heat oil* and add the paste. Cook till deep brown and the oil separates.
3. Add turmeric, chilli , coriander powder, mango pickle masala and salt. Check and adjust seasoning.
4. The masala is ready! Let it cool down a little .

Shallow frying-

1. Stuff each gourd with the onion masala.
2. Secure each piece with a white thread.
3. Heat oil* in a flat pan and place all the pieces in.
4. Cover and cook on med. flame, remember to rotate the gourds every few minutes to cook evenly on all sides.
5. Its ready!

Tip-
*Bring oil to a smoking point and add a pinch of common salt , then procced. This rids the oil of its distinct odour which many dont like.

Pasta in cheese 'n tomato sauce

Hi Shubhra!
Thankyou for the encouragement. Here's another recipe for Pasta- hope you'll like it.

Ingredients:-

• 2 cups           uncooked pasta
• 1 med           onion finely chopped
• 1tsp              garlic finely chopped
• 3 tbsp           tomato puree
• 2 cups          grated cheddar
• 2 cups          milk
• olive oil/ butter for cooking
• salt and pepper for seasoning

1. Boil the pasta in lots of salted water. Drain and keep aside.
2. Heat oil/butter and saute onion.
3. Add garlic, cook for a minute.
4. Stir in the puree.
5. After a while add the grated cheese and milk, keep stirring continuously. The cheese will melt, let it simmer for a minute.
6. Add salt 'n pepper and the boiled pasta. Mix well.Its done!

Garlic Bread

We love garlic bread and its so ez to make-
All you need is-

• Crushed garlic
• Butter
• Bread

For ease of preparation I follow the ratio of 1:1:1! For 1 slice of bread you need 1 small flake of garlic and 1 small cube of butter(the amount normally used on a toast).

1. Mix crushed garlic into softened butter.
2. Spread on one side of bread.
3. Heat the griddle [tava] and cook each slice from both sides till crisp. 

Pasta [Dry]

Hi,
We eat pasta for dinner atleast once a week, its become our maggi! I prepare pasta in two ways- the 1st recipe is my sis-in-law's. It was voted as the best dish by the kids at an informal gathering at a friends house!

Ingredients:-

• 1 1/2cups          Uncooked pasta*
• 1                       Onion sliced thinly
• 1 small              Capsicum sliced lengthwise
• 7-8 pcs.            Baby corn sliced diagonally
• 2 small              Tomatoes chopped
• 1tsp                  Red chilli flakes
• to taste             Salt
• 1tbsp               Olive oil or any other
• 1/2 cup            Cheddar cheese grated

1. Boil the pasta in lots of salted water, strain it, apply a little oil to keep it from sticking and put aside.
2. Heat the oil, put in the onions, capsicum and cook for a minute. Add the baby corn and let cook till a light brown.
3. Add tomato and cook till nicely blended.
4. Mix in the boiled pasta, red chilli flakes and salt.
5. Transfer half of it into a serving bowl,  put a layer of grated cheese on top of the pasta covering the entire surface. Spread out evenly the remaining half of the pasta and put another layer of grated cheese.
6. Microwave for atleast 1 min. before serving, to melt the cheese.

* For this recipe I try to use smaller sized pasta so it gets wrapped nicely with the dry masala.

Serving suggestion: Garlic Bread goes great with pasta and makes it a fulfilling meal.
[Recipe for home made garlic bread is also given]