Getting Ready For the Wedding

My nephew is getting married and the whole family is really excited. The bride-to-be is a daughter of my very close friend, which only doubles the excitement. We will all be going to North Carolina for the wedding, arriving two days prior to the big day.

Traditionally Indian weddings have many ceremonies involving different family members. It is not just about the bride and groom getting married but also the joining of the two families. These ceremonies start before the actual wedding day. As always, it will be a lot of fun. My grand-daughter is really excited and looking forward to wearing her Indian outfits and performing a solo dance at the wedding reception.

I am busy cooking for the Godbharai ceremony, where the groom’s family welcomes the bride and her family. I am making three different sweets Gujia, Mohanthal, and Gulab Jamuns and will be taking them with me.

Following the Godbharai is the Sangeet ceremony which consists of music and dancing, late into the night. The families of the bride and groom tie a sacred thread with seven knots on the couples’ wrists. Each of the knots has a unique significant meaning. The bride and groom will open each others wrist ties just after they are married. These are just a few of the ceremonies as the list can go on and on. All of these events are a lot of fun for everyone!

I am looking forward for this trip. I will keep in touch.

Always Be Prepared

It happens to all of us, unexpected guests arrive and we often insist that they stay for a meal, whether it’s dinner, lunch or brunch. The only problem is what to make and serve in a hurry? Or there are days when we are not feeling up to cooking for ourselves and yet want a home-cooked meal. How do we keep ourselves prepared for these situations?

It helps to have a few dishes semi-ready that we prepare in advance and keep refrigerated or frozen.

These are some of my suggestions:

  1. Paneer cubed and lightly fried. You can freeze them for months or refrigerate up to a week.
  2. Tomato puree. Just boil with light salt, cook until it is pasty and freeze using ice cube trays. This comes in handy for making a gravy based dish.
  3. Dahi vada can be frozen prior to the soaking step and will keep for a few weeks. When you are ready to serve, defrost just enough vadas and soak in lukewarm water for about 10 minutes. Vadas are ready to be used.
  4. Frozen Muthias are always very handy.
  5. How about freezing half-fried samosas!
  6. Cabbage kofta. The kofta itself freezes well and when you are ready to serve, just prepare the gravy and your dish is ready. This is a real treat for any visitor or just for your family at home.
  7.  Many different desserts can be prepared well in advance, such as Gulab Jamuns, Rasgullas, Rasmali, and Burfies. Make sure you are freezing them in small batches.
  8. For side dishes, cabbage with peas, green beans and peas, paneer tikka masala, and palak paneer are some of the dishes that freeze well. Remember to always freeze in small portions.

Chutneys! I highly recommend having these ready as they come in handy. Preparing the snack becomes so easy, if the chutneys are readily available.

  1.  Hari cilantro chutney can be frozen easily freeze using ice cube trays.
  2. Tamarind sweet and sour chutney can be refrigerated as it stays well for a few months.


Everyday Menu Suggestions

Many of you have expressed interest in my suggestions for daily meals.  Below are some suggestions for dinner for the week. These suggestions are efficient and time-saving, as I know how hectic it can get with busy schedules!

Saturday is a good day to begin planning meals for the upcoming week so you can plan to do your grocery shopping and make sure you have all the necessary ingredients on hand.  Then on Sunday, you can begin preparations by chopping all the vegetables (aside from potatoes as they do not hold up too well).  Another time-saving tip is to freeze hari cilantro chutney in ice cube trays. This is a convenient way to store chutney.  Also, tamarind chutney can be refrigerated for about two months.

There are some dishes that can be prepared well in advance (about two days prior to serving).  You can always make changes to dishes prepared ahead of time so it does not seem like leftovers.

One challenge I’ve faced in preparing meals is making dishes suitable to each person’s taste. For example, I prefer spicy food, while my husband enjoys mild dishes.  What I do is prepare mild dishes, but then will also serve with ginger relish, green chili pickle, or any pickle or chutney.

For daily meals I prefer one gravy dish with another vegetable dish. I also serve with plain yogurt or raita, roti or paratha. For your convenience, you can always serve ready-made parathas.

Sample Menu #1

For this menu, you can prepare enough dal and beans to last two days. The first day you can serve dal with just tempering.  You can change the daal up the second day by adding zucchini tadka.  With green beans, on the second day, you can add them to make a sandwich or wrap, using the left over rotis or parathas.

Sample Menu #2

You can make enough sprouted moong and aloo gobi for two days.  You can change the sprouts by adding in plain rice by tempering the oil with asafetida, cumin seeds and whole red chili.  You can use the left over aloo gobi by making a sandwich or wrap using the left over parathas.

Sample Menu #3

For this menu, you can prepare enough dal and cabbage with peas last two days. You can mix cabbage with plain rice this combination taste great.

Sample Menu #4

This is good for a weekend meal and can be served as a lunch or dinner.

Sample Menu #5

This is great for a weekend brunch.

These are some easy and healthy suggestions for quick convenient meals.
Next time I can give some suggestions for get together hoping this will be a help.

Recipe For Peach Phirni (Rice And Peach Pudding)

I first tried Phirni a few years back while visiting my family in India. Phirni is considered to be a popular dessert, but it was the first time I had ever heard of it! My sister took me to a very upscale restaurant in Delhi and we decided to order Phirni for dessert. When the dessert came out, I was speechless. It looked superb and the presentation was excellent. It was served in an earthen bowl beautifully decorated and garnished with saffron and sliced pistachios. I was reluctant to try it out, but my sister, knowing my love of cooking, insisted I would love it as it is similar to a rice kheer. But instead of using rice grain as you would in rice kheer, in Phirni you use ground rice. The texture was very creamy, similar to a pudding.

I asked the restaurant for the recipe and tried making Phirni several times when I returned to the US. However, I was unable to master the same texture. It tasted fine, but it just wasn’t the experience I had at the restaurant in India. I had fallen in love with this dish and just had to master it! Finally, I figured out that since Phirni is traditionally served in an earthen bowl, the bowl absorbs some of the water, making it more firm (like JELLO). I knew it would be difficult to duplicate so I decided to give the recipe my own twist. I tried adding different fruits with it. It turned out best using peaches. It is very refreshing and great for summer.

I will be posting this recipe soon, so stay tuned! Until then, happy cooking!

Vacation to NYC

Yestrday was the second day in DC. As expected it was hot and humid, but Mansi (my granddaughter) had fun.   She didn’t mind the heat and Raghav (my grandson) was happy as long he could ride on a bus and a subway. We did a lot of of walking and that was good for me.

We saw many monument including the Old Post Office, which was a lot of fun.  When we entered the building two photographers were taking photos. Mansi had her photo taken and he made it look like President Obama was giving her a kiss on her cheek, and Raghav had a business hand shake with president, Mansi had a kick out of it.

Mansi and Rakesh (my son) went to National Art Gallery while every one else stayed back in the hotel. Before sleeping we had fun playing cards.

Today we are taking a bus to NYC, where we will spend a couple of days checking out the sites.   Meenakshi (my daughter-in-law) has planned out the trip and I have decided to lay back and enjoy.

On vacation to Washinton DC and NYC

Today was our first day in Washington DC with kids and grand kids. My grand daughter is very excited for this trip. She want to see every thing, going with her list today we went to see several museums at the Smithsonian.  She enjoyed the Natural History Museum the most.  My grandson at the end of the day insisted on going on a bus, so we took the bus through Georgetown.  The weather is hot and humid we have been spoil with San Diego weather so that made the walking outside tiresome. Tomorrow she wants to see Washington and Lincon Monument, White House and list goes on. I will be posting the photos soon and tell you about my trip.On Monday we are going to NYC for three days.

My criteria for selecting the best recipe:

The selection process is very difficult as I am receiving many deserving entries. In order to pick and select the winning recipe, I have devised a check list to help me judge each entry. In general I will only consider recipes that I feel are complete in regards to ingredients, measurement, and instruction. From there I am looking for creativity and a recipe that my viewers would enjoy to prepare on their own.

Below is my checklist:

  1. Ingredients should be listed with measurements
  2. Method is explained clearly, so it’s easy to follow
  3. Spices are used in balance
  4. Creativity


Happy Holi!!

My grand daughter is visiting me and we decided to prepare this holi plate today.


Getting Ready for Holi

I am starting my preparations for Holi, which is the festival of colors and is celebrated with great enthusiasm by farmers. Holi is known as a harvest time. It is truly a beautiful site, with green farms and colorful flowers!

Holi is celebrated as a day when everyone comes together to celebrate. Social restrictions and gaps are forgotten as people of different backgrounds and economic status celebrates together. A bonfire is prepared the night before Holi. The next day friends and family play together with specially prepared colored powders. These powders are called gulal. Colored water is playfully splashed on each other as well.

I love the spirit of the holidays! The holidays bring back a lot of fun memories from my childhood. My parents loved celebrating any occasion which made them and people around them happy. On Holi, I remember my mother being up very early in the morning to make the preparations for playing with the colors. After all the preparations were done my father would come wake my brother and sisters up by putting gulal on our faces and screaming “Holi hai!” – Which translates into “Happy Holi!”.

On Holi, family, friends and neighbors visit each other throughout the day playing colors. Snacks are offered and a special drink known as thandai (milk and almond drink) is offered.

Holi is on February 28th and today is already 22nd. I am beginning my preparations as we speak! Unless the house is full of the sweet aromas from the dishes you cook, it doesn’t feel like Holi. I like to prepare some traditional holi snacks including gujia, shakkar para, one of the burfi, namak para, and khasta kachori. I will let you know what additional snacks I make. In the meantime, please let me know how you celebrate Holi and what snacks you made!

HAPPY HOLI!

Missed Time Out With My Grandkids

For the past couple of weeks, I have been looking forward to a family trip (including grandkids) to Big Bear, which is a small ski resort near Los Angeles. The kids wanted to play in the snow, make snowmen, and go sledding. Last year was the first time they played in the snow and they had a blast. Especially my grandson!

Alex has been as excited as him and was looking forward to this trip. He is a very prepared person which is great because I tend to a last minute person. Maybe that’s because I know he is there to take care of things!

Unfortunately I had to miss this event, last few days I have came down with a bad cold and fever. I insisted they should go without me and take lot of photographs. Of course I called them often so I can hear their excitement and their screams on the phone.

My grand daughter tried to make me feel better by saying how much they missed me and reassured me that we will make the trip to Big Bear again next year and that we can also bring along my other granddaughter, Rhea, who just turned one. With that type of promise, I can’t help but look forward to next year!


Granddaughter’s First Birthday!

This past weekend was a busy one for me as it was my granddaughter’s FIRST birthday!! The party was very fun and every one had a great time. I planned the menu and prepared a variety of dishes for this special occasion. We also decided to cater some dishes.

The menu included the following dishes: mattra chaat served with toppings including tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, chopped ginger, and chutneys, mini peanut butter jelly and cream cheese cucumber sandwiches shaped like hearts and butterflies, warm gulab jamun, fresh fruit and cheese skewers decoratively placed in oranges for presentation, and a chocolate fountain, which were all prepared by us. We had pesto and tomato cream pastas and fresh vegetable and cheese panini sandwiches catered. My daughter in law’s co-worker prepared the fresh chocolate and pumpkin spice cupcakes with animal designs. We also got a two -tiered bundt cake catered. We truly had a wide variety of food and everyone ate to their heart’s content. We received a lot of compliments about the dishes prepared! The kids especially loved the desserts and had a ball dipping strawberries and marshmallows in the chocolate fountain.

I think the beauty in these dishes was in the presentation. I decided to serve the mattra chaat toppings on big collard green leaves and fruits on skewers looked really nice. You can see this in the pictures posted.

This was a very special event and I’m glad I had a big part in planning in!


Using Different Water Tempretaure For Making Dough!

A viewer asked me while making dough why I recommend different temperatures of water. For samosa dough, I say warm water while for kachori I suggest chilled water. Since I have started making these cooking videos, I am learning everyday something new about cooking and I have been paying more attention when I am cooking. I do like to experiment with recipes and enjoy modifying recipes to my taste.

So going back to water temperature, one day I was watching food network about making pastry dough where they were talking about using cold butter and water to make dough that made me think! I don’t like hard crust in khasta kachori. I always wanted its crust to be more flakey, so I went to my kitchen and tried making kachori dough with ice cold water after trying few times I thought I was happy with the crust and produced the video. But wait when you try kachori next time, wrap the dough with cellophane paper and refrigerate for half an hour or longer, before you fill the kachori, kachories will be even more flakey.

I am still attempting to try samosa dough making with chilled water. If any one of you tries before me please let us know the result.

Next time you make kachori try this variation in preparing the dough, I am convinced the crust will come out flakier.

New Year Resolution!

 

I am looking forward to 2010! The New Year is about positivity and new beginnings. And that means a resolution to actually follow through with! Last year my resolution was to organize the house and give away items that we do not need, i.e. decluttering! I think this was an achievable realistic resolution. So last year I did a pretty good job of uncluttering the house and it felt great!

 This year my resolution is to lose about 10 pounds I gained when I started making my cooking videos for You Tube. I know this is a resolution many people have! The problem is that diets just do not work for me. I have tried many times and have failed. Heavy exercise is not an option for me either.

 I examined my eating patterns and daily routine to see if I could come up with a solution. After much thought, these are the ideas I came up with.

  • Eat three meals a day using small plates – without going for seconds; enjoy two small snacks a day such as fruit or tea. This means no snacking throughout the day which I love to do!
  • No food after 9:00pm (except water)
  • Drink more water
  • Every morning do some light stretches and breathing exercises.

 

I’ll keep you posted on my results. With that, I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

The holidays are here and you can smell it in the air! It’s getting dark earlier and the days are cold. This can only mean one thing…the holidays are fast-approaching! My grandchildren enjoy this time of year, especially putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house. My granddaughter Mansi is in charge of ensuring that the appropriate decorations and tree is up! When asked what she wants for Christmas, she really couldn’t think of anything and appeared to be content with what she already has. Now that’s the spirit of the holidays!

I won’t get to spend Christmas day with my youngest, 10 1/2 month old granddaughter as she will be visiting her other grandparents and cousins. We will miss them at our family dinner this year.

I have some menu suggestions for the holidays. These menus are perfect for cold winter days! Comfort food at its finest!

You can find all the suggested recipes on my website.

 Menu #1:

 Appetizers: Masala Peanuts, vegetable pakoras with Hari Cilantro Chutney, fried papdam.

 Main Course: Lentil soup, Palak Paneer (spinach with Indian cheese), Aloo Gobhi, Gajar Pickle, spiced Yogurt, Cumin Rice, and Puri.

 Dessert: Serve hot Boondi (instead making them as ladoos), Eggless Pineapple cake.

Menu #2:

 Appetizers: Spicy Potatoes, Dhokla with Hari Cilantro Chutney. Spinach Salad

 Main Course: Butter Paneer Masala, Cabbage with green peas, Aloo Began (potato with eggplant), Yellow Fried rice, Spinach Raita, Naan.

 Dessert: Apple Crumb Pie, Kheer.

Should I Use A Pressure Cooker?

I am frequently asked about cooking with a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers are convenient and can save you a lot of time in the kitchen! Lentils and dry beans are cooked much quicker with a pressure cooker.

However, if you are not using a pressure cooker, here are some pointers:

1. Soak the lentil and dry beans for few hours before cooking. They will cook quicker.

2. Add salt after lentil or dry beans are cooked.

3. When you are cooking lentils, white cloudy foam will form as they are coming to a boil. Add one tablespoon of oil to the water. This will help to break up some of the foam. Also to prevent the foam from spilling out, use a larger pot to cook. Also remove the foam from the top as it is building.

4. After the beans come to a boil, reduce the heat to medium.

5. If you have a slow cooker, you can use it for cooking lentil and dry beans.

I know rasgullas can be made without a pressure cooker, but I feel most comfortable making them with a pressure cooker.

Please do keep the questions coming and I will try my best to answer them!