Sarvana bhavan rava Kesari

Sarvana bhavan rava Kesari

Sooji / Rava / Semolina - 1 Cup

Water - 3.5 cups

Sugar - 1 cup 

Ghee - 1 tsp + 1 tsp ( for roasting cashews and sooji)

Food color - 2-3 pinches or 1/8 tsp ( red or yellow)

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Rose essence - 1/8 tsp (optional)

Cashews - 8 broken into tiny pieces

Raisins - 8 small ones

Ghee - 1 tsp ( to add in water)

Oil - 2 tsp ( to add in water)

See notes for special instructions.

1. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan and add cashews and raisins and roast them till light brown color and take in a plate and keep aside.

2. In the same pan, add 1 tsp ghee and add shoji/rava, and roast on a low flame for 4 mins and keep aside on a separate plate.

3. Now in the same pan, add water and let it boil on medium flame.

4. Now add oil and ghee n mix well.

5. Now add yellow food color to water and mix.

6. Now add sooji/rava in boiling water and mix it well without leaving any lumps.

7. Now make the flame low and close the pan with a lid till shoji/rava is cooked (2-3 mins)

8. Now add sugar and mix well for a minute.

9. Now sugar will start melting and will feel watery but keep mixing it for 5 mins.

10. Now add cardamom powder, roasted cashew, raisins, and rose water and give a mix.

11. Serve hot or cold and enjoy.

Notes - 

1. adding completely ghee instead of oil will make you feel satiated while eating
   
2. when roasting sooji / rava, don't wait for the color to be brown it's just that aroma should be coming out of it.
   
3. Water should be boiling when you add sooji / rava
4. Sooji/ rava should be cooked well before adding sugar

South Indian Dahi vada / Perugu vada

South Indian Dahi vada / Perugu vada

Vada's 

Vada - 20 make them small in shape not like donuts 

Soda - 2 pinches

Salt - 1 tsp

 

Method:

1. Soak Urad dal for 4 hrs or over night

2. Drain off the water and transfer into the grinder and grind to a thick paste with very less water.

3. Transfer urad dal batter into a larger bowl and add soda and salt

4. Mix everything for 5 - 10 minutes with a spoon or your hands

5. Heat oil into a wide pan and keep it low medium flame

6. Drop tbsp full of batter in oil and deep fry till light golden brown

7. Take out vada/donut into a plate with a paper towel so that it can soak excess oil.

Perugu mixture

Curd / Yogurt - 2 cups 

Water - 1 cup

Salt - 1/2 tsp

 

Tadka / Tempering:

Oil - 4 tbsp.

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Green chilies - 2 whole

Curry leaves - 2 tbsp. chopped

Coriander leaves -  2 tbsp. chopped 

Ginger - 1 tbsp. very finely chopped 

Dry red chili - 1 broken

Hing - 2 pinches

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

 

Method:

1. Whisk curd/yogurt, water, and salt and keep aside.

2. Now add seasoning to curd base and mix well.

3. Make sure salt is little tiny bit higher side 

4. Make vada's as above

5. Add vada's to a bowl of room temparature water and lightly squeeze them immediately.

6. Place them in a wide square bowl and add to 1/2 of yogurt mixture on top of them

7. Now fry more vada's and add vada's to a bowl of water and squeeze them immediately.

8. And place them in a square bowl and add rest of the yogurt mixture on top and let it soak for 5-20 minutes and serve them.

 

Perfect Plain vada / Urad dal vada

Plain Vada (Urad Dal Vada)

Set 1: Batter

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole urad dal
• A few tablespoons of water (for grinding)

Set 2: Seasoning

Ingredients

• 2 green chilies, very finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp curry leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger, very finely chopped
• 2 pinches baking soda
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 tbsp rice flour (optional)

Additional

• Oil, for deep frying

Method

1. Wash and soak the urad dal in water for 4 hours.
2. Drain the soaked dal completely and transfer it to a grinder. Grind into a smooth, thick batter using only a few tablespoons of water as needed.
3. Transfer the batter to a large mixing bowl.
4. Beat the batter vigorously with a spoon or your hands for 5–10 minutes. This helps incorporate air, resulting in soft and fluffy vadas.
5. Add all the ingredients listed under Set 2 and mix thoroughly until well combined.
6. Heat oil in a deep, wide pan over medium-low heat.
7. Lightly wet your hands with water. Take a small portion of batter, shape it into a ball, flatten it slightly, and make a hole in the center to form a traditional vada (donut shape).
8. Carefully slide the shaped vada into the hot oil and deep-fry until light golden brown and crisp on both sides.
9. Remove the vadas using a slotted spoon and place them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
10. Serve hot with peanut chutney, coconut chutney, or sambar.

Note

For another variation, add 2 cups of finely chopped spinach to the prepared batter and mix well before frying. This makes delicious and flavorful Spinach Vadas.

Palak and spring onion pakodi

 Palak and spring onion pakodi

Spring onions or garlic chives  -  1 cup

Palak or methi - 1.5 cups

Coriander leaves - 1 cups ( optional)

Ginger ( 2 inches) and Green chili (4) - Grind to paste 

Coriander powder  - 3/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp or to taste

Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp crushed

Hing - 1/4 tsp

lemon juice - 1 tbsp ( optional)

Besan - 1.5 cups

Water - 2 tbsp

Oil for frying - 1 cup

Method:

1. In a big bowl add Spring onion, Palak, Coriander leaves, ginger-green chili paste, coriander powder, cumin poser, salt, carom seeds, hing, lemon juice, and mix well for 2 mins.

2. Now add besan little by little and mix well like a  thick batter. 

3. If needed add 2 tbsp of water and mix well 

4. heat oil in the pan, now keep the heat in medium and drop pakaodi batter with a small spoon and fry in medium heat.

5. Once they turn light brown, take them out and serve with your favorite chutney

Sreshta Lunch Box Series - 8 - Chole rice / chana rice

 Sreshta Lunch Box Series - 8 - Chole rice / chana rice

Choley - 1/2 cup boiled
Rice - 1/2 cup cooked

Onion  - 1/4 chopped
Green chili - 1 deseeded and chopped
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as needed ( 1/2 tsp)
Choley masala - 1/4 tsp

Lemon - 1 tbsp

Seasoning :
chana dal - 1/4 tsp
urad dal - 1/4 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/8 tsp
cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp


method :

1. Heat oil in a pan
2. Add seasoning items, let them fry till golden brown

3. Now add onion, green chili and fry nicely
4. Now add turmeric, red chili powder, salt n mix well
5. Now add cooked chole, chole masala, and fry for 1 min
6. Add Rice, lemon juice and mix well and pack in lunch box.

Bottle guard curry / Soraya curry

 Bottle guard curry / Soraya curry 

Set 1:

Oil - 2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Onion 1 small chopped

Curry leaves - 10

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Ginger garlic - 1 tsp

Bottle guard - 1.5 cups chopped

Salt - 3/4 tsp or little more

Milk - 1/2 cup

Set 2:

Grind below ingredients roughly

Green chilies - 3 or 4

Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup

Garlic - 4

Cumin - 1/2 tsp

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan, add cinnamon, cumin seeds, onion, and fry till light brown
   
2. Now add curry leaves, turmeric, ginger garlic paste and mix well.
   
3. Now add bottle guard pieces, salt and mix well and cook for 2 mins
   
4. Now add green chili, garlic paste and mix well and cook for 5 mins and bottle guard is cooked perfectly
   
5. Now add milk and mix and cover and cook for 3 mins
   
6. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve

--

Kimchi fried rice

Kimchi fried rice 

Set 1:

Day-old rice - 1 cup ( or hot rice keep aside to cool down)

Set 2: Mix everything in a bowl and keep aside

Kimchi - 1/2 cup chopped (cut it with scissors )

Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp

Soya sauce - 1/2 tbsp

Oyster sauce - 1/2 tbsp ( optional)

Msg - 1/4 tsp ( optional)

Set 3:

Oil - 2-3 tsp

Spring onion green and white parts - 1/2 cup chopped

Green chili - 1 chopped

Mushroom - 1 cup sliced small

Cabbage - 1/2 cup sliced very thin strips

Spring onion greens - 1/4 cup

Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp (option)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, from set # 3 add spring onions fry for a min, now add green chili, mushrooms, cabbage and fry for 5 mins until mushrooms are cooked.
2. Now add set #2 ingredients and mix well. 
3. If you feel ingredients are getting burnt add 2 tbsp of water and cook for 1-2 mins to avoid burning
4. Now keep it low heat, add set #1 rice, and mix well.
5. Sprinkle sesame oil and mix well.
6. Now serve with a fried egg on top and sprinkle spring onions greens,