Assorted Archives - Dees Platter

Moong daal ki khichdi

Moong daal ki khichdi is a very simple meal and you can call it ‘one pot meal’ also. Usually, moong daal ki khichdi is cooked in the house if someone is having upset stomach or wants to have light meal.

In our house, khichdi is prepared if we will have lunch at a restaurant or have attended some marriage or similar kind of function. Then dinner will always be khichdi to keep stomach light or balanced.

But actually it is not the same in all communities. Bengalis prepare khichdi during special occasions also.

Khichdi basically is a mix of rice and lentil. Lentil can be of different kind as per different communities. In UP, green split moong daal lentil is used. In MP, people use urad daal for khichdi. In Rajasthan, bajra (pearl millet) khichdi is also prepared during winter season and is very tasty. In Gujarat, toor daal khichdi is also prepared. In Andhra Pradesh, masoor daal is used for khichdi.

Nowadays there are restaurants that serve only different varieties of khichdi. This shows the popularity of this simple meal. Or probably, those bachelors who can’t cook, and are completely depending on restaurants for their food, find these khichdi restaurants very useful for them.

Khichdi is very easy to cook. Ratio of daal and chawal is also not something which is fixed. Rice and lentil can be taken 50:50 or 60:40 or 70 :30, depending on how one likes. Spices also depend on how simple or spicy khichdi one wants to cook. One can completely omit adding any types of chilies. You can add a few vegetables like beans, potatoes, carrots, onions, bell peppers to add more nutrients and colours in khichdi.

Tadka can be added in khichdi in the beginning or in the end, when khichdi is boiled. Adding tadka later gives more flavour.

Khichdi is usually cooked with little loose consistency (or a bit diluted), but to attract kids you can cook it with thick consistency (similar to boiled rice), along with vegetables. It will give kids an illusion of vegetable pulav and probably they wouldn’t say no to khichdi.

Come, let’s cook this simple meal in a very easy manner.

Ingredients:

Split green moong daal 1/2 cup

Rice 1/2 cup

Asafotida 1/8 tsp

Salt, as per taste

Red chili powder 1/2 tsp (optional)

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Dry red chilis 2 small pieces (optional)

Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

Rai seeds 1/4 tsp

Curry patta 5-6

Oil 3 tbsp

Water as required

Process:

Take rice and moong daal in a big pan and wash them nicely, at least two times.

After washing, soak mong daal and rice for an hour.

Take pressure cooker and add mix of moong daal and rice along with the water. Switch on flame to medium heat. Water quantity should be four times more than mix of moong daal and rice. Add salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Mix it well and put the cover on cooker.

Let it cook for three whistles and open the cooker only when all steam settles down.

Now take a small frying pan. Heat oil on medium flame and crackle rai, cumin seeds, asafotida, curry leaves and dry chilies. Instantly add this tadka to khichdi.

Serve hot khichdi with a few spoons of desi ghee, pickle or curd along with roasted papad.

July 22, 2022

Deeksha Pathak28 Comments

Homemade Kasuri Methi(dry fenugreek leaves)

Have you ever thought if we can prepare Homemade Kasuri Methi(dry fenugreek leaves)? Probably we never think about it as it is very conveniently available in the shops. Whenever we have to use Kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) in our dishes, we always open a market bought packet. But preparing homemade kasuri methi is not all a difficult or time consuming task.

I believe we all keep kasuri methi in our kitchen as it gives wonderful flavour to our dishes. As fresh green fenugreek leaves are not available all year round so kasuri methi works as a wonderful substitute to fresh leaves. Remember my post on Homemade Dry Mint Powder/ Podina ka powder . We have to follow exactly the same process and homemade kasuri methi will be ready! The only difference you might find in homemade and market bought would be that homemade has stronger flavour than market bought. So, use it carefully in your dishes. The only work is cleaning methi leaves. That you can do even while watching TV or just chatting with your neighbour!!

It has been continually overcast in Bangalore for the last month or so. So I faced difficulty in drying up Methi leaves. I could have used my OTG, but that also is not working and I couldn’t call a technician as we had a covid case in our apartment. So for a few days visitors entry is prohibited. Therefore I kept all semi dried leaves in a steel plate and kept that plate on hot milk vessel. I did that for two days and methi leaves were crisp dry.

But if you have nice sunny days, fresh leaves will dry nicely indoors itself. Never keep leaves to dry out in direct sunlight. Sunlight kills the aroma and the colour of leaves fade. If you are in a hurry, then can use microwave or OTG to dry up leaves faster.

Process:

Pluck out fresh leaves of methi from the stems and wash them with running water. Let them stay in the sieve till the water dries out completely.

Later, spread these leaves on a newspaper or dry cloth to dry out.

Don’t keep these leaves under the direct heat of Sun as that will diminish the flavor. You can keep them under the fan. In the heat of summer, leaves will dry out inside the house too. Leaves will shrink in a day or two.

Now keep them in a broad bowl and let them dry till they become crispy dry. Because of overcast conditions leaves did not become crispy dry. Keep them on top of a hot vessel 3-4 times a day, or use microwave or oven to dry them in case sunlight is not bright enough.

Rub dry leaves with your palms or use them just like that.

Homemade Kasuri Methi or dry fenugreek leaves are ready to use!!

As no moisture is left in the leaves, these can be easily stored in an air tight container without fridge.

August 23, 2020April 28, 2022

Deeksha Pathak83 Comments

Chane ki daal with louki

Chane ki Daal with Louki (split baby chickpeas lentil with bottle gourd) is traditional North Indian cuisine. Louki (Bottle Gourd) is not a welcome vegetable for most of the kids. Well, if there is Lauki ke kofte ki sabzi (grated bottle gourd dumplings in curry) then its a different story altogether. But as kofte ki sabzi involves deep fried preparation we cannot prepare this in our daily regular meals.

Then how to feed kids this very nutritious vegetable? Try to add chana daal along with louki and this dull vegetable will turn into a delicious dish. Just before serving, add one spoon of pure ghee (clarified butter) in this daal and the taste goes to another level.

There is one more variety of chana daal/split baby chickpea lentil with spinach in the blog – If you are interested, please take a look…Daal paalak (split chickpea lentil with spinach)

Ingrediants:

Chana daal 3/4 cup

Louki 200 grams

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Salt 1 tsp

Water 2 cups

Tadka (seasoning)

Rai (small mustard seeds) 1/2 tsp

Jeera (cumin seeds) 1/2 tsp

Hing (Asafotida) 1/8 tsp

Oil/ghee 3 tbsp

Red chilly powder 1 tsp

turmeric powder 1/8 tsp

Puree

2 tomatoes, 1 onion, 3-4 green chilies, tiny piece of ginger

Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

A few points….

You can reduce the quantity of louki.
Cook chana daal on sim heat for at least 15 to 20 minutes as it takes slightly longer time to get cooked compared to other lentils.
You can also add garlic in the puree.
Ghee can be used to prepare tadka in place of oil.

Process:

Wash chana daal nicely and soak it in two cups of water for an hour. It will puff up nicely in one hour.

After an hour, wash, peel and chop louki in small pieces. Add turmeric powder and salt in chana daal along with louki pieces and pressure cook it till chana daal becomes soft.

While chana daal is getting cooked, we will prepare tadka. Wash and chop onion, tomatoes, green chilies and ginger and grind them in a mixer. Heat oil in a pan or wok and crackle rai, hing and jeera.

Add grinded puree in the oil and add turmeric and red chili powder. Cook till the water evaporates leaving only oil.

Daal must be cooked by now. Switch off the heat and remove the lid off the pressure cooker once it cools down.

Add this louki – daal in the ready tadka. If you feel that consistency is too thick, add hot water. Shift chane ki daal with louki in serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.

August 2, 2020

Deeksha Pathak97 Comments

Homemade Cream Cheese

Why do we need to prepare Homemade Cream Cheese? Well, In India good quality cream cheese is very costly, and if you want to prepare cheese cakes, frosting for carrot cake or filling for tarts, you need cream cheese. Can we get the same consistency as market bought? No, homemade cream cheese doesn’t have the same consistency but it comes very close. For the recipe of cream cheese I have followed the post from Gayathri Kumar’s blog https://gayathriscookspot.com/

Preparing cream cheese is not a difficult task. It just takes one day for the final result, and it is not strenuous work. All you need is full fat hung curd and paneer (cottage cheese). You can prepare these both in your kitchen; so first step is over. Second step is to drain out water content from paneer and hung curd. Third step is to mix both of them and again drain out extra water. Final step is to grind them together and cream cheese is ready. To make it more creamy, add some cream in it. I had prepared this homemade cream cheese first time when I wanted frosting for carrot cake!! How smooth and creamy it is!

During these hard times we don’t know when we will be able to go back to the grocery store and purchase items without any fear. But till then we can keep our spirits high and try certain things which we never thought could be homemade. Good food gives us happiness and positive thinking. So try to prepare this simple recipe of cream cheese and give yourself a treat of wonderful dishes…!

Ingredients :

Full fat milk, vinegar/lemon juice, curd

Process :

Boil milk in a pan and let it cool down after boiling till it is slightly warmer than lukewarm. Add half tbsp curd in it, cover the pan and keep it at a warm place to set. Curd will be ready within 3-4 hours. Pour this curd in a sieve along with muslin cloth spread on it and hang it for 2-3 hours so that water drains out. Later, take out the curd in a bowl and hung curd is ready. Keep this in the fridge until we prepare paneer.

Refrigerate hung curd — Store hung curd in refrigerator

In another pan, boil milk once again and switch off the heat the moment milk is boiled. Immediately pour vinegar or lemon juice (1 tbsp vinegar for 1 litre milk OR 1 tbsp lemon juice with one tbsp water for 1 litre milk) in hot milk. Milk will curdle – pour it in a sieve with muslin cloth on it. Wash this curdled milk (or chenna in Hindi) nicely in running water so that no taste of vinegar/water remains. Squeeze out water and hang this muslin cloth for 1 to 2 hours so that the remaining water drains out. Paneer will be ready in two hours.

Now measure equal quantity of hung curd and paneer.Mix both of them nicely and again keep it in the fridge overnight wrapped up in a muslin cloth in with a bowl and a strainer.

Take out the bowl in the morning and grind this cream cheese into mixer till it is no more grainy.

Smooth cream cheese is ready!!

To make it more creamy, add little bit of cream and prepare your favorite cheesecake recipes.

Khoya Cheesecake (fusion dessert)

Coconut Cheesecake

June 7, 2020April 28, 2022

Deeksha Pathak81 Comments

Homemade Paneer/Indian Cottage Cheese

Is Cottage Cheese the right English translation for Paneer? We can say both yes and no. Preparing cottage cheese is a long process that also has cream which provides the rich and creamy texture. Compared to Cottage Cheese, paneer preparation is not complex and it is easy to prepare Homemade Paneer. As both paneer and Cottage cheese are prepared by curdling the milk I took the liberty of calling Paneer as Indian Cottage Cheese.

In India, specially in North India, paneer dishes bring smile on dining table. Starting from the breakfast, lunch, evening tea snacks, dinner and even in desserts we can prepare dishes from paneer like Rasgulla and Rasmalai.

Though many brands are available in the market for Paneer, items disappear quickly from shelves courtesy the current lockdown we are going through. So why wait till next delivery time – prepare paneer in your kitchen and cook your favorite paneer dish with homemade fresh paneer!!

Ingredients :

Full fat milk and Vinegar/Lemon juice

For 1 litre milk one tbsp vinegar is required. If you are using lemon juice, add one tbsp water in one tbsp of lemon juice.

Process :

Boil milk in a pan.

When milk is boiled, turn off heat and add vinegar or lemon juice. Milk will curdle immediately.

Spread muslin cloth on a sieve. Pour everything over this muslin cloth and wash this chenna nicely in running water so that no taste of lemon or vinegar remains. Squeeze out all water from chhena.

Now hang this chhena in muslin cloth for one hour so that the rest of the water drains out. If you still find chhena too wet, squeeze water with your hands.

Mash chhena properly. Rub it nicely with your palms so that all the grains of chhena become soft and you can collect it like a dough.

Now shape it in square or round shape and keep it in a strong rimmed steel plate.

Keep this upside down on another flat plate.

Now keep some heavy weight on this and let it settle down for 4-5 hours. I have this water can, so I used it as heavy weight. Heavy weight will help in squeezing out the rest of the water and chenna will firmly settle down.

Remove the weight after 4 hours and Homemade Paneer will be ready. Cut it into cubes and keep it in the freezer in a ziplock bag.

If you are not sure about the firmness of paneer, fry a few pieces. If paneer is not firm, it will scatter else it will remain intact.

Now you don’t have to rush to the shop if your family wants paneer with gravy at the dinning table.

May 27, 2020May 27, 2020

Deeksha Pathak52 Comments

Homemade Condensed Milk/Milkmaid

Is it possible to prepare Homemade Condensed Milk/Milkmaid? Yes, it’s a very easy process and it takes only half an hour for the whole process. Homemade Condensed Milk/Milkmaid is very economical and can be stored in the fridge for further use.

What is the shelf life of homemade condensed milk?

I am not sure about it. But what is the point in keeping in the fridge if it can be prepared so easily – just prepare whenever you need and enjoy!! Make fresh for a new dish.

Where should condensed milk be used?

There is a long list of desserts in which you can use condensed milk or Milkmaid. As an example, you can bake a cake with condensed milk Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake with Condensed Milk. Moreover, the long traditional method to prepare a few Indian sweets and desserts can be reduced if you use that in your recipe Naariyal Ke Laddoo

The best part about preparing condensed milk is that it needs only 3 ingredients. These 3 ingredients are always available in your kitchen. So come, let’s prepare Homemade Condensed Milk from scratch…

Ingredients :

Full fat milk 1/2 litre

Sugar 170 gm

A pinch of baking soda

A small note:

As we are preparing condensed milk or milkmaid at home, we have the liberty to control the quantity of sugar here. Depending on your taste bud, you can use 150 to 200 gram of sugar for 500 millilitre of milk.

Process :

Start boiling milk in a pan. As it begins to rise, add sugar and keep stirring on medium to high flame for 15 – 20 minutes. We can keep the flame on sim heat too but the process would take a much longer time.

The colour of milk will start changing once it starts thickening.

Milk will become quite thick or condensed after 15-20 minutes – switch off the gas at this time and add a pinch of baking soda. There will be some foam after adding baking soda, but that will settle down. Let condensed milk cool down completely.

Once it cools down, there might be a layer of cream (malai) on top of it. So just give it a quick churn in a mixer and you will have smooth, creamy luscious Homemade Condensed Milk.

Fill it in a dry bottle, keep in the fridge and use in any delicious dessert.

May 14, 2020April 28, 2022

Deeksha Pathak49 Comments