Moong Dal Halwa

Note: This dish is NOT meant for the calorie-conscious, mostly because it has 6 tbsp of ghee. And a cup of sugar. Bwahahahaha!!

You'll need:

* 1.5 cups soaked moong dal
* 1.5 L milk
* 1 cup sugar
* 3/4 cup well-crumpled khoa (or mawa)
* 1/2 tsp saffron soaked in milk
* 6 powdered cardamoms
* 6 tbsp ghee
* Chopped almonds

And here's how:

1. Sabse pehle, grind the moong dal coarsely. Then, heat the ghee in a dekchi & fry the moong dal till it turns golden.

2. Now, add the milk & cook till it is absorbed. Then, add the khoa & cook on a low flame, STIRRING CONSTANTLY :P till the moong dal & khoa blend together. Once done, remove from flame & keep aside.

3. Iske baad, make a thin sugar syrup & add the saffron & cardamom powder to it. Finally, add the moong dal & stir quickly till it mixes WELL :D Then garnish with the chopped almonds.

MDH done!! TipToEat - Piping hot is when you want to have it ;)

Jeera Rice

The slightly fancier plain rice ;)

You'll need:

- 1 cup basmati rice (if you are weight conscious but can't resist rice, use Arise from Saffola - a healthier rice option)
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 sliced onion
- 2 tbsp cashew nuts
- 3 peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 tbsp ghee
- Salt to taste
- Coriander leaves

And here's how:

1. Sabse pehle, wash the rice & drench it in water for half an hour.

2. Heat the ghee in a saucepan. Then add the cashew nuts & fry till they turn brown & take them out & keep them aside.

3. Now, to the same ghee, add the onions, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds & peppercorns and fry for a while.

4. Then, add the rice, salt & water, and stir. Now cover it & simmer the flame. Keep cooking till the rice is done.

5. Finally, garnish with the coriander leaves & serve with love!

TipToEat - Jeera Rice goes best with any spicy gravy :)

Khandvi

The yummylicious Khandvi!! Here goes.

You'll need:

* 1/2 cup besan
* 1 cup thin buttermilk
* 3 pinches turmeric powder
* 2 tbsp cooking oil
* Salt to taste
* 1 tsp sesame seeds
* 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
* 1 tbsp scraped coconut
* 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
* 2 pinches asafoetida
* 2 finely chopped green chilies
* 1 stalk curry leaves
* Cumin

1. First of, mix water, besan, salt, buttermilk & turmeric powder to form a batter. Then, heat the cooking oil in a pan & add the batter to it. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. No one wants lumpy khandvi!! :P

2. After 8 min, pour this mixture on a large plate. Spread this out as this as possible with the back of a flat spatula. For better ease, use circular outward movements (remember Dosa?) :)

3. When this cools down, cut it into 2" wide strips. Then, carefully roll each strip. Repeat for the remaining strips. And, sprinkle the scraped coconut & coriander on to these. 

4. Then, heat oil in a small pan & add the cumin, mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves & green chilies. Finally, add the sesame seeds & immediately pour this on to the rolls.

Khandvi done!! TipToEat - Serve with garlic or mint chutney. Smack!!

Badami Phirni

The quintessential almond kheer :D Super simple to make, super awesome to taste!!

You'll need:

- 2 tbsp rice
- 2 cups milk
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp crushed green cardamom
- 1/4th cups blanched & sliced almonds
- 1/2 tsp kewra essence

Here's the recipe:

1. Soak the rice in water for a few hours. Then, drain the water & grind the rice in a smooth paste.

2. Now, in a stick pan, boil the milk. Then, bring the flame to low & add the rice paste, sugar, kewra essence & cardamom.

3. Keep stirring till the milk turns thick. Then finally, remove from flame & add the almonds.

BP done. TipToEat - Serve cold; as cold as your ex's heart ;)

Paalak Paneer

Apparently, PP has some Pakistani origin, too. Yikes!! :P However, my version is from Chattisgarh.

You'll need:

* 1.5 cups pureed spinach

* 500 gm paneer, cubed & lightly fried

* 1 tsp finely chopped ginger

* 1 tsp finely chopped garlic

* 1/2 cup grated onions

* 1 cup finely chopped tomatoes

* 1 tsp cumin seeds

* 2 bay leaves

* 1/4 tsp garam masala powder

* 1/2 tsp red pepper powder

* 1 tsp coriander powder

* 2 tsp salt

* 1/4 cup cooking oil

Here's how I made it:

1. In a kadhai, heat the oil & add the cumin seeds. When it begins to sputter, add the bay leaves, ginger, garlic & saute till it turns light brown.

2. Then, add the  onions & saute again till it turns golden brown. This, followed by adding the tomatoes & stir frying over a medium flame.

3. When this mixture begins to leave moisture, add the salt, garam masala powder & red pepper powder. Key - stir & mix well ;)

4. Finally, add the spinach, saute for 3 min then add the paneer. Turn around a few times till then paneer absorbs a tad bit of the mixture.

PP done!! TipToEat - We had it with roti jaise parathe (don't ask me what that means) :P

Nenua With Kaala Chana

To my surprise & shock, apparently you DO get nenua (ridge gourd) in Bangalore, that too on a day of national shutdown! So here's Bihari style nenua with kaala chana :D

You'll need:

* 1.5 cups kaala chana, soaked overnight
* 1kg peeled nenua
* 1 large onion, finely chopped lengthwise
* 1/2 tsp jeera
* 2 bay leaves
* 2 red chilies
* 1 tsp turmeric powder
* 1 tsp coriander powder
* 1/2 tsp jeera powder
* 1 tsp red chili powder
* Salt to taste
* Cooking oil

1. Sabse pehle, pressure cook the chana with 1 tsp salt in 1.5 l of water for 5 min. Just ensure that the chana is a little tender but its shape is still intact; it shouldn't become slush/pulp/mulch :P

2. Now, heat 4 tbsp cooking oil in a kadhai & add jeera & the bay leaves to it. When this begins to sputter, add the onion & saute for a while on a medium flame till the onion turns translucent & pink.

3. Post this, add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, jeera powder & red chili powder & saute for 2 min. Then add the nenua, chana & salt.

4. Now saute this for 5 min, cover & then cook on a low flame till the nenua becomes tender.

5.Once done, take off from the flame.

TipToEat: Serve piping hot with off-the-tava rotis. Heaven!

Masala Dosa

Dosa. Dose. Dosai. Dhosha. Dosay. Dhosai. Tosai. Dvashi. Thosai. Toshay. Staple dish down south (of India) ;) And with variations, and how!!

* Quinoa
* Moong dal
* Chili
* Open - chutney powder is spread on it while cooking, before serving, spiced and mashed potato is placed on top.
* Onion
* Ghee
* Butter
* Roast
* Kerala - a different kind of traditional dosa - small, thick, soft and spongy. More like a pancake and somewhat similar to appam, but dal is used in the batter for appam, and the appam is not flat.
* Family roast - :| a long dosa which can be spread over 2 or 3 ft!!
* Paper - a long and very thin, delicate dosa which can be spread over 2 ft. And my favorite among dosas :)
* Green - stuffed with fresh vegetables and mint chutney.
* Thalir - made of Maida and is very soft and delicate, eaten with sugar.
* Chow-chow - stuffed with (Indian flavored) Chinese noodles.
* Methi
* Cone
* Rava
* Wheat
* Vella - made of jaggery with ghee.
* Ragi
* Muttai - eggs are added to the regular batter; the word muttai in Tamil means "egg".
* Set - a popular dosa in Karnataka, it is cooked only on one side and served in a set of two to three, hence the name.
* Benne - similar to masala or set dosa, but smaller in size, it is served with liberal helpings of butter sprinkled on it.
* Cabbage
* Neer
* 70 mm - similar to masala dosa, it is larger, about 60 cm in diameter.
* American chopsuey - served with a filling of fried noodles and tomato ketchup.
* Uppu puli - made by adding uppu (salt) and puli (tamarind) to the batter, it is a part of Udupi cuisine.

But as you all know, the lazy chef will always cook the classics (read: the easiest) :P So, here's Masala Dosa!!

You'll need:

* 1 tbsp cooking oil
* 1 tbsp mustard seeds
* 1 tsp chana dal, soaked & drained
* 8 curry leaves
* 1 tsp chopped green chilies
* 1/3 cup sliced onions
* 1 1/4 cups boiled, peeled & finely chopped potatoes
* 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
* Salt to taste
* 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
* 2 cups dosa batter (NO I didn't make it from scratch! Am WAY too lazy, remember? Got it fresh from a store) :D
* 4 tbsp butter for cooking
* 6 tbsp finely chopped onions

And here's how:

1. Sabse pehle, heat the cooking oil in a kadhai. Then add the mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle, add the chana dal & saute on a medium flame till it turns light brown in color.

2. Then, add the curry leaves, green chilies & sliced onions, MIX WELL :D & saute on a slow flame for 5 min.

3. Iske baad, add the potatoes, turmeric powder, salt, coriander leaves & again, MIX WELL on a medium flame for a min, while stirring occasionally.

Masala is done. Now for  the dosa.

4. Heat a non-stick tava, then sprinkle a little water on it. Thoda sizzle hoga then wipe off with a cloth.

5. Now, pour 1/4th of of the batter on the tava & spread with a katori to make a 9" dosa (obviously maine measure nahi kiya) :P Andaaz se kiya.

6. Then, smear 1 tbsp butter & spread 1/4th of the masala evenly over the dosa with a spatula (evenly, my ass :| I think I made continents, not a circle).

7. Iske baad, sprinkle 1.5 tbsp of the chopped onions EVENLY over the dosa till it (dosa) turns brown in color.

8. Tricky Part - fold over while pressing the dosa lightly using the spatula to make a flat roll and cut into 4 equal pieces using sharp edge of the spatula on the tava.

9. Repeat the procedure for the remaining batter & masala.

Masala Dosa done!! Serve immediately with sambhar & chutney (whose recipes am not posting) :P