Beetroot (Chukandar)Gram Flour Pancake with corainder sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup besan (chickpea flour, gram flour), sifted
• 1/4 cup rice flour (the powder type, not the slightly grainy one) - or replace with more besan
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika (optional) or 2-3 chopped green chilies
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 Tb grated fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 Tb freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup finely grated raw beet (1 medium beet, peeled,cut,pureed )
• 1/4 cup oil for cooking

Recipe:

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the water and mix to form a smooth paste. Add everything else (except oil) and mix well with a spoon.Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat. Add a few drops of oil and spread it around. Drop almost 1/4 cup batter in the centre of the pan and use the back of a spoon to quickly spread it, starting from the centre and going in circles outwards (it doesn't necessarily have to be a circular motion, as long as you quickly spread the batter to form a full, evenly thick circle). Smooth the surface. As soon as the top changes colour (no more wet batter), drizzle 1/2 tsp oil and spread it all over the surface with the back of your teaspoon. Loosen the edges with a spatula and lift one side a little bit to check whether it is browning; if so, then lower the heat. Flip the cheela over. I found that the best way to do this is to carefully lift one side with one hand and quickly slide the spatula underneath with the other, then turn it upside-down. That's because you're cooking the cheela on medium-low heat so it stays moist and so it's not easy to slide the spatula under it without a little help, or else it can break.Cook on the other side for about 30 seconds, until light brown spots appear. From time to time, press the cheela gently with the spatula, and move the pan around without lifting it off the heat, so that the whole surface gets cooked well.

Besan ladoo (Gram flour balls with dry fruits)

Ingredients:

• 2 cup gram flour(besan)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cups sugar(or more according to ur taste)
• 4 tablespoon chopped almonds
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground cardamom seeds
• chopped pistachios for garnish

Recipe:

Mix gram flour and melted butter in a large skillet.Roast the above mixture on medium heat until light golden brown in color or until you smell the roasted flour. Keep stirring the mixture so that it does not burn.This will take about 7-10 minutes depending upon the heat.Remove the skillet from the stove and let the mixture cool down a bit but still warm to touch. To this warm mixture, add sugar, chopped almonds and cardamom seeds.To make ladoos, take a spoonful of mixture in your hand about the size of a lemon and roll in between your palms to form a smooth and round balls.Keep the ladoos on a plate and garnish with pistachios on top which will stick to ladoos. Cool the ladoo to serve. This can also be stored in air-tight container for 2-3 weeks.

Badam Burfi(almond fudge)

Ingredients:

• Whole Almonds- 300 g
• Milk- 1/2 cup
• Ghee- 5 to 6 tbsp
• Sugar-2 cups
• Thick cream - 200 ml
• Cardamom powder- ¼ tsp
• Saffron- few strands

Recipe:

Soak almonds in warm water for 20 mins.Put the almonds into a blender, add milk and grind gently to make a smooth paste.Set up a deep non-stick pan on low medium heat.Add milk to it and bring it to boil.Allow it to boil in low flame, until it turns to almost half in quantity. Once, it is thickened, add the almond paste to it.Stir well and cook the paste for 3 to 4 mins. Now add ghee and stir to mix well.Add sugar, thick cream, cardamom powder and few strands of saffron.Cook the mixture on low heat, stirring constantly to prevent sticking to the pan.Add the remaining ghee and stir well.Keep cooking the mixture until most of the moisture in it dries up.It will start to thicken and becomes less pliable and starts leaving the sides of the pan now.Also you can see small amount of ghee beginning to separate from it. When there is no more sticking to the pan, you will know your Badam Burfi is ready.Grease a plate with little oil / ghee.Spoon the almond mixture onto a flat plate to cool.While the fudge / Burfi is still warm, cut it into square or diamond shapes.Serve warm or at room temperature.

whole wheat pudding (atte ka halwa)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup Ghee
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 ½ cups warm water (not boiling)
• Assorted nuts of your choice, chopped small or ground coarsely(optional)
• ½ tsp cardamom powder

Recipe:

Pour in all the Ghee in a pan and heat it. When it’s hot, add in the Whole wheat flour and roast it at a low flame. This process will take long time, around 18-20 minutes of continuous stirring should yield in the desired aroma and texture of the flour.While its getting roasted, prepare the sugar syrup. Mix sugar and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Turn the flame to medium and keep boiling the syrup until a chashni of 1 taar is formed. It should be a bit sticky when stretched between two fingers. Add cardamom powder mix and turn the flame off.Now check if the flour has been roasted properly, the fragrance should give you the hint. Carefully pour the sugar syrup into the pan, stirring the mixture rigorously else it will form lumps. Please note that while pouring in water in one go, the steam might hurt your hand.. be careful... cook further for another 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously(may add some dry fruits). Once it’s all mixed properly, turn off. Serve hot.

Boondi Kadhi without onion n garlic(Gram flour n yogurt gravy)

Ingredients:

• 4 tblsp Besan / Chick Pea Flour
• 1 cup Dahi | Curd
• 4 1/2 glass Water
• 1 cup Boondi(halirams used here)(or make at home)
• 3 Green Chillies, finely chopped
• 1/2 " Adrak | Ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Black Salt
• 1 tsp Salt or to taste
• 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 1/2 tsp Haldi | Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Dhania | Coriander Powder
• 1/4 tsp Garam Masala
• 2 tblsp Lemon Juice
For Tempering
• 1 tsp Jeera | Cumin Seeds
• 1/4 tsp Hing | Asafoetida Powder
• 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 3 Sukhi Lal Mirch | Dried Red Chilli, broken into half(i took green chilies)
• 2 Lavang | Clove
• 1 curry Patta | Curry Leaves
• 1/2 tsp Oil

Recipe:

In a vessel, whisk to a smooth consistency besan, yogurt and water. Add hing, red chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala, adrak, green chillies, salt and black salt. Mix well.Place the vessel on high flame and cook kadhi till it starts boiling, approximately 6 minutes. Stir continuously, else besan will get stuck to the bottom.Let it boil for 2 minutes, then reduce the flame to low and keep it to simmmer for 20 minutes, Stir in between.While the kadhi is simmering, in a small pan prepare the tempering by heating the oil. When oil is warm, add jeera nad hing. When jeera crackles, add kadhi patta, sukhi lal mirch and lavang. When done, stir in red chilli powder and pour the tempering into the simmering kadhi.Switch off gas and add boondhi, lemon juice and chopped dhania. Cover kadhi for 5 minutes so that the boondi soaks in all the flavours and softenes. Serve hot with plain rice.

kalakand(Indian cheesecake)

Ingredients:

• 400 grams / 1 tub of Ricotta cheese
• 320 grams / 1 can of Condensed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom powder
• Few Pistachios, chopped

Recipe:

In a microwave safe dish, pour condensed milk and combine ricotta cheese until smooth, without any lumps. Microwave it uncovered, on high for 4 minutes. Keep an eye, it should not boil over(take out n stir in between 2 mins). Put it back in the microwave and cook covered on High for 2 more minutes.Mix well again, scrapping the sides. Check the consistency.Microwave again, this time for 1 minutes, keeping an eye on it so that it does not fall over.Combine it well. Add cardamom powder. Now return to the microwave, and cook uncovered for 4-5 minutes, mixing well every 2 minutes (the mixing breaks are very important).The mixture should start looking less smooth and more granular. See the granular texture. Adjust the cooking time according to your microwave. You might need to cook for 2 to 4 more minutes or less, mixing every 1 minute or so.The consistency should be thick, creamy but granular.Transfer into a another greased dish spreading the mixture, and press it with the help of spoon. Sprinkle crushed pistachios on top to garnish and chill for one hour to get it set.Cut it into squares and serve at room temperature.

SPINACH YOGURT CURRY(PALAK KI KADHI)

Ingredients:

For batter
• Yogurt: 1 cup
• Chickpea flour (Besan): 2/3 cup
• Spinach: 200 gms(boiled and chopped when at room temperature)
• Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
• Red chilli powder: 1/4 tsp
• Water: 4 cups
(kadhi/yogurt) sauce
• Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds: 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves: 6-7
• Ginger: 1 inch, finely chopped
• Oil: 2 tsp
• Water: 2-3 cups
To temper
• Ghee or Oil: 1 tbsp
• Whole dried red chilies: 3 or green chilies
• Onion: 1, small finely chopped

Recipe:

Wash the spinach leaves and put them in a wok (kadhai) cover with a lid. In 3-4 minutes the leaves will shrink in size, switch off the flame and put the leaves in cold water(keep the spinach water aside).In a bowl whisk together chickpea flour (besan) and yogurt. Add water gradually and mix to make sure there are no lumps. Also add turmeric powder and red chili powder.Add the boiled spinach(chop when it cools down), water and mix. The batter will be very thin. I added around 4 cups of water at this step (including the chopped spinah).In a pan heat 2 tsp of oil and add green chilies and fenugreek seeds. Once the seeds crackle add curry leaves and then add ginger. Saute for a minute till the ginger turns light golden brown in color. Set the flame to medium, we don’t want the seeds/ginger to burn.Add the yogurt-spinach-gram flour batter into the pan and mix. Stir continuously till the kadhi comes to a boil. Once the kadhi has come to a boil add more water, I added around 3 cups, for a thicker kadhi add less water. Cover and let it cook for around 20 minutes on medium-low flame. While the kadhi is cooking,after 20 mins, add the finely boil chopped spinach leaves and salt into the kadhi and mix. Let it cook for another 15- 20 minutes on low flame.To temper, heat 1 tbsp of ghee or oil a pan. Once hot, add whole dried chillies(i took green chilies) and saute for a minute. Add chopped onions and fry till they are translucent. Add the onions and chilies to the kadhi and mix.Spinach yogurt curry is ready.