Chocolate Biscut Pudding

CHOCOLATE BISCUIT PUDDING

Ingredients

1.           Marie biscuits,crushed- 200 gms( about 40 biscuits)

2.           Butter-100 gms( about 1/2 cup)

3.           Milk-1.5 Cups

4.           Sugar- 1 Cup

5.           Cocoa powder- 3 tbsp

6.           Cornflour-2 tbsp

7.           Vanilla extract-1 tsp

8.           Whipped cream-1 Cup( or as required)

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, combine together crushed biscuits and butter. Blend with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Keep aside.

In a sauce pan, combine together milk, sugar, cocoa powder and cornflour. Mix well until combined. Cook this milk mixture until it turns really thick, stirring continuously.Allow it to cool completely, add vanilla and mix well.

Place a layer of the biscuit crumbs in a large serving dish,or small individual bowls. Add a layer of the prepared chocolate pudding ,repeat layers finishing off with biscuit crumbs.

Top it with whipped cream, if desired. Refrigerated for about 3 to 4 hours. Serve cold.

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Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken

Ingredients

• 30 grams garlic (~ 5 large cloves), peeled
• 30 grams ginger - fresh (~ 1-inch piece), peeled and sliced
• 450 grams chicken thighs - boneless skinless
• 1/3 cup yogurt - plain
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
• 600 grams whole stewed tomatoes (1 1/2 small cans)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 6 pods green cardamom
• 1 pod black cardamom
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 2 fresh chili peppers
• 40 grams raw cashew nuts (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (Qasuri Methi)
• 1 teaspoons garam masala
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Instructions

1.   Put the ginger and garlic into a small food processor and puree, you may need to add a bit of water to make it go. If you don't have a small food processor, you can grate by hand.

2.   In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt, vegetable oil, salt, garam masala, saffron, and 2 teaspoons of the garlic ginger mixture together. Save the remaining garlic ginger mixture for the sauce.

3.   Put the chicken in a freezer bag and pour the marinade all over it, rubbing it into the chicken. Squeeze all the air out of the bag and seal it. Marinate for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. 

4.   For the sauce, puree the stewed tomatoes with their juices along with the tomato paste in a blender or food processor.

5.   Add the butter to a pot along with the green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Fry the mixture until the cloves are puffy. 

6.   Add the fenugreek seeds, chili peppers, and remaining garlic ginger mixture and Saute until browned, and very fragrant.

7.   Add the pureed stewed tomatoes and tomato paste and cook this mixture over medium heat until the tomatoes have become very thick and paste-like (about 45 minutes). Once the mixture starts sputtering you'll want to stir it pretty regularly to keep the sputtering under control while maintaining enough heat to reduce the liquid. 

8.   While the tomatoes are reducing, grill the chicken. You can use either an outdoor grill or broiler, but in either case it needs to be very hot. You want to get the outside lightly charred, but you don't want to cook the chicken all the way through as it will finish cooking in the sauce. If you cook it completely now, it will get overcooked in the sauce. 

9.   Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

10.               In a blender or food processor, add the raw cashew nuts along with 2 cups of water. Puree until smooth and milk-like in color.

11.               When the tomato mixture is done caramelizing turn off the heat and add the cashew nut milk, whisking it together.

12.               Pass the sauce through a wire strainer into a saucepan, pressing on the solids with a silicone spatula to get as much sauce through as you can. 

13.               Cut the chicken into large chunks and add it to the pot with the sauce along with the salt, fenugreek leaves and garam masala. Cook this for 6-8 minutes over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through. 

14.               Add the cream and stir together and then turn the heat off. Plate the butter chicken and drizzle a little extra cream on top. Garnish with some cilantro leaves.

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Besan Carrot Dosa  

Ingredients

1.  Besan (Chickpea/Besan Flour) – 1 1/4 cup

2.  Water – 3/4 to 1 cup

3.  Peeled & Grated Carrot – 1 large

4.  Finely diced Shallots – 2 small

5.  Finely minced Curry Leaves – a few

6.  Finely minced Cilantro (Malliyella) – 1 few

7.  Crushed Cumin (Jeera) – 1/2 tsp

8.  Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp

9.  Red Chili Powder – 1/4 tsp (Alternatively, use finely minced green chillies)

10.              Asafoetida (Kaayam) – 2 pinches

11.              Salt – to taste

12.              Oil/Ghee – for brushing

Preparation Method

1.  Peel the carrots and grate it, or pulse it in a food processor or mixie until it gets minced.

2.  Combine the chickpea flour, minced carrots, shallots, curry leaves, cilantro, red chili powder, cumin, asafoetida and salt in a bowl.

3.  Slowly add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water to the bowl and whisk everything to form a batter without lumps. It should have the consistency similar to Dosa batter. If you need to make thinner crepes, add more water.

4.  Heat a nonstick pan or griddle and brush some oil or ghee on the surface. Pour a ladle full of batter onto the pan and spread to form a pancake of 1/4” thickness.

5.  Cook for around 2-3 minutes on medium heat or until set. Flip and cook the other side for two more minutes. Brush more ghee on the dosa if needed.

6.  Serve these piping hot with a Chutney or Raitha. They don’t taste all that great if cold.

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Fish Masala Curry

Fish Masala Curry

Ingredients

1.  Fish – 1.5 lbs

2.  Sliced Onions – 1

3.  Diced Tomatoes – 2 medium

4.  Curry Leaves – 2 sprigs

5.  Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp

6.  Coriander Powder – 1.5 tbsp

7.  Kashmiri Chilly/Paprika Powder – 1 tsp

8.  Fenugreek (Uluva) Powder – 1/4 tsp

9.  Garam Masala Powder – 1 tsp + 1/4 tsp

10.              Fennel Seeds (Perum Jeerakam) Powder – 1/2 tsp

11.              Tamarind Paste – 1 tbsp

12.              Thin Coconut Milk – 2 cups

13.              Sugar – 1 tsp

14.              Cilantro (Malliyella) – a few for garnishing

15.              Oil – 2 tbsp

16.              Mustard Seeds – 1/4 tsp

17.              Salt – to taste

18.              Lemon Juice – 2 tbsp

For Marinating the Fish

1.  Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp

2.  Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp

3.  Red Chilly Powder – 1 tsp

4.  Kashmiri Chilly/Paprika Powder – 1 tsp

5.  Black Pepper Powder – 1/2 tsp

6.  Salt – to taste

Preparation Method

1.  Clean the fish and dice it into medium sized pieces. Soak it in water along with 2 tbsp lemon juice for five minutes. Wash it a couple of times and keep aside.

2.  Marinate the fish with the above ingredients and refrigerate it for at least half an hour.

3.  Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Saute onions and and a sprig of curry leaves until the onions become translucent.

4.  Add the tomatoes and let it cook until soft and mushy. Reduce heat and add ginger garlic paste. Saute for two minutes.

5.  Add coriander, kashmiri chilly and fenugreek powders. Saute everything until the oil begins to separate from the mixture.

6.  Next, pour in the thin coconut milk to the pan. Add the tamarind paste, 1 tsp sugar and salt to taste. Mix everything so that the tamarind dissolves.

7.  Sprinkle garam masala and fennel seeds powder. Allow the gravy to come to a slow boil on medium heat.

8.  Gently add the fish pieces and give the pan a swirl. Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally.

9.  Finally, open the pan and sprinkle 1/4 tsp garam masala powder. Remove from heat after two minutes. Garnish with another sprig of curry leaves and a few cilantro leaves. Keep covered.

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