Vanilla Ice Cream

Gosh this has turned out to be a sweeter weekend than I thought! (blog-wise, not otherwise) :P

No, not dishing out any trivia about ice cream. If you HAVE TO know, might as well click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_cream :)

I had thought that this will take a while, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it didn't; the prep time was exactly 10 min!

Get these first:

- 2 cups milk

- 1 cup milk powder

- 100 gm fresh cream

- 1/3 cup powdered sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Mix all the ingredients together & whisk well till the sugar dissolves.

2. Once done, pour the mixture into a shallow container, cover & freeze for half an hour.

3. Half an hour ke baad, run a blender through this mixture so that the ice crystals break down.

4. Transfer this to ice cream containers (which I don't have) :| & then freeze it again for half an hour.

Ta da! Vanilla ice cream is now ready to be scooped & served, but not without my TipToEat!

With chocolate sauce, with nuts, with a brownie, with gulab jamun, with jalebi, with chocolate chips, with sprinkles, with fruit salad, but definitely with someone you love :)

Sevai

Realised I haven't posted a dessert recipe in a while now, so here goes - simple (and sweet) Sevai! :)

You'll need:

* 3/4 cup sevai (vermicelli)

* 1l milk (not skimmed; the taste won't be that good)

* 1/2 cup sugar

* 1 tbsp ghee

* 3 tbsp chopped dry fruits (cashews, almonds & raisins)

* 1/4 tsp cardamom powder

1. Get started by melting ghee in a kadhai. Once done, fry the sevai on medium heat till it turns golden brown.

2. Iske baad, add milk, cardamom powder & chopped dry fruits. Now bring it to a boil.

3. Then, simmer over low heat till it becomes thick & creamy. (Bihar/Jharkhand mein isey sevai ko aunttaana kehte hain) :|

4. Finally, add sugar & stir thoroughly.

Sevai is now done! You can either have it hot or you follow my TipToEat: Let the sevai go cool, refrigerate it for a while, add more chopped cashews to it & THEN have it. If it doesn't taste like a spoonful of heaven, mera naam badal dena ;)

Gatte Ki Sabzi

Although Gatte Ki Sabzi owes its origin to Rajasthan, I've attempted a Bihari version. You let me know how it turned out for you :)


You'll need:


- 200 gm gram flour (besan)
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 250 gm curd
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp oil
- 2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 pinch turmeric powder
- Jeera


1. Start off by mixing the besan with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder & ghee.


2. Then, make a stiff dough out of this (mere haath dukh gaye par yeh hard nahi hua mujhse :| ho sakta hai aapse ho jaaye). Once done kneading, make 6 long, thin strips of the dough.


3. Iske baad, put these strips in boiling water & cook for 5 min. Then, cut these strips into small gattas.


4. Now, strain the curd in a strainer & add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder & turmeric powder. Mix well (and avoid lumps!) :D Then add the little gattas to this.


5. Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add jeere ka tadka, followed by the curd-gatta mix. Cook this for 7 min, stirring constantly till it comes to a boil.


6. Get the flame to simmer & cook for another 7 min. Shut the flame & finally add the tadka of red chilli powder. GKS done!!


TipToEat: If you want to go the extra mile, you should serve Gatte Ki Sabzi with Missi Roti. But since rice is my soul food, I'd suggest piping hot steamed rice :)

Idli

Idli or Idly or Iddly owes its origin to 700 CE aka Calendar Era (I had to Google this) :| In fact, the whole process of steamed food stemmed from Indonesia, giving rise to the modern day Idli.

Idli has various alterations, but a rookie like me likes to stick to the basic version :D

You'll need:

* 2 cups rice

* 1 cup urad dal

* 1.5 tbsp salt

* A pinch of baking soda

* Oil for greasing

1. Sabse pehle, you need to pick, wash & soak the dal for 8 hrs.

2. Then, pick, wash & drain the rice. And grind it coarsely in a blender.

TipToCook - If you are a tad lazy or don't have the time or a food processor, you can pick up ready-to-use idli batter from a store, too :P But that's not what I did. Am serious!

3. Post 8 hours, grind the dal into a smooth & frothy paste. Then, mix the ground rice & dal together into a batter.

4. Iske baad, add salt to this & set aside in a warm place to ferment for 9 hours. (Yes, that's how long these little rice cakes take. I think.) :P

5. 9 hours baad, grease the idli stand with oil & fill each section 3/4 with the batter. Then, steam cook the idlis in a pressure cooker on a medium flame for 10 min.

6. Once done, use a butter knife to remove the idlis. And enjoy with sambhar or chutney or ketchup (whose recipes am not posting here; yet.) ;)

Sultani Dal

I donno why, but each time I read the words SULTANI DAL, I think of Razia Sultana :P Like this dish was made especially for dacoits or rebels or something :D But that's also probably because the dish is from U.P. & I recently watched Gangs of Wasseypur (which isn't in U.P. but was shot there).

You're gonna need the following:

- 1.5 kg arhar dal
- 500 ml hot milk
- 125 gm cream
- 250 gm curd
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp saffron
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- Salt to taste
- 25 gm pure ghee
- 2 green chilies
- 1 betel leaf
- 10 cardamoms
- Mint leaves
- 6 cloves
- A muslin cloth
- A piece of charcoal :D

And here's how to make it:

1. Wash & soak the dal for 10 min.
2. Strain the milk, cream & curd through the muslin cloth & keep in a cool place.
3. Grind the cardamoms & cloves to a paste.
4. Finely chop the chilies & mint leaves, then cut fine slivers of the garlic (the garlic for the baghar).
5. In a patila, take 5 cups of water & boil the dal, salt & chili powder; keep this covered & cook on a slow flame till the dal is done.
6. Once cooked, drain the extra water. Follow this up by mashing the dal till it becomes consistent.
7. Now, place the betel leaf on the dal & put the charcoal in it (Just don't ask me how I managed to get the charcoal; I just did) :P Then, pour 1 tsp ghee in it, cover & keep for 10 min.
8. Add the milk-cream-curd, clove-cardamom, milk & saffron to it. Then cover & simmer for 5 min on a super slow flame.
9. Finally, for the baghar - heat the remaining ghee in a karchi, add the cumin seeds & garlic. Once it turns pink, immediately put the karchi in the patila & cover.
10. Then stir lightly & garnish with mint leaves. Voila! The dacoit dal is done :D