CHOCOLATE

Here is a simple recipe for home made chocolate which is a great favourite with my kids.

Ingredients.

1. Milk Powder 2 cups
2. Sugar 1 and 3/4th cups
3. Butter 1 cup should be soft should be kept outside the fridge for at least few hours.
4. Unsweetened cocoa powder 4 to 5 table spoons
5. Water 3/4Th cups

Method
Mix the soft (kola kola) butter, cocoa powder and milk powder well softly and keep it in a vessel.
Keep a metal tray or plate ready greased with butter.
Take a thick bottomed pan ( a pressure cooker can be used as it has thick bottom). add sugar and water and make it into a syrup. You have to boil it till you get the right consistency. The method to test this consistency is to put the syrup a drop or two in a small cup of water. you should be able to make a small ball out of the syrup with your fingers. (If not yet the right consistency the syrup will just dissolve in the water).
Now switch off the stove and put the milk powder, butter, cocoa powder mixture into the sugar syrup and stir thoroughly for about 5 to 7 minutes.
Pour this into the already greased tray . After fifteen minutes cut them into pieces with a buttered knife. This chocolate can be decorated with grated and slightly roasted almonds or cashew nuts or raisins. This should be added immediately after pouring into the tray.
Take out the pieces after it cools and eat it.

Custard with Fruits

This is a Dessert which can be made very easily and Served
Ingredients.

1. Milk Half Litre + quarter glass
   
2. Sugar 1/2 cup (or little more if you want it to be sweeter)
3. Custard Powder 2 and 1/2 table Spoon.
4. Fruits of your Choice

Method
Cut fruits like Apple (peel the skin), Banana, Mango, Pappya, Pineapple, Grapes . Add 1 t spoon of sugar and Mix well in a bowl. for the Above quantity of Custard, One Apple, one or two banana, a few pieces of Pineapple and few grapes and a bit of Pappaya and mango (if available) will be enough.
Take a thick Vessel for boiling the milk. Take 1/4 glass of milk boil it and cool it and keep aside first and then boil the remaining milk. Once the milk starts boiling put the sugar and keep stirring. Once the sugar dissolves, mix the custard powder in the cooled milk well and add it to the boiling milk and sugar mixture. Stir well. This will thicken the milk . Stir for 2 to 3 minutes and switch off the Stove. Custard is Ready.
Cool the Custard and keep it in the Fridge. Keep the cut fruits also in the fridge.
While serving put the Cut fruits in the serving Bowl and put the Custard on the top and can decorate it with a (preserved) cherry and Serve.

Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients

1. Pulav or Basamathi Rice 1 cup
2. Beans one small bunch
   
3. Carrot 1/4th of a Whole Carrot
   
4. Peas few (can use the frozen peas)
   
5. Capsicum 1/4th of a whole Capsicum
   
6. Potato 1/4th of a Medium size Potato.
   
7. Onion 1 small
8. Pineapple few pieces. (according to taste)
   
9. Green chilli one
10. Ginger one small bit
11. cloves 3 or 4
12. cardmom 3 or 4
13. Cinnamon stick one small piece
14. Badi Elachi 1 (if available)
15. Jeera 1/2 t spoon
16. Black pepper 4 or 5
17. Raisins hand ful
18. Cashew nuts a few
19. Ghee Few T spoons
20. Salt to taste
21. 1/2 t spoon of red chili powder
    

Method
Clean the Rice in water and drain the water and keep the rice wet in the vessel for one or two hours. (can wash and use the Rice directly if no time)
Cut all the vegetables and pineapple into small pieces . Keep the Onion and Capsicum separately. Break the Cashew nuts into small pieces.
Take a Kadai or Frying pan and put some Ghee and put the Cut onions into it. Fry it for some time till it becomes light brown. Drain the rice and put it into the Kadai and Fry it with the onions for 2 to 3 minutes. Add little kesari colour and also 1/4 t spoon of salt.
Keep aside.
Put some more ghee in the kadai and put the broken cashews. Once light brown add the Raisins turn few times and keep it aside.
Put little more ghee in the kadai and put the cut pineapples and fry for 2 to 3 minutes and keep aside.
Put one table spoon of Ghee in the kadai and put the Jeera, add the black pepper, cardmom, badi elachi, cinnamon, and cloves and stir for some time. Now add cut Capsicum and turn it few times and add the other cut vegetables. Add salt to taste and also the chili powder. Fry it for some time and switch off the stove.
Now take the Electric Rice Cooker Vessel ( can do it in the Pressure cooker or in the Micro wave oven also) Add layer by layer, the Rice and Onions, the Fried Vegetables, the Fried Pineapple and also Fried nuts. Add 1 and 1/2 Glass of water. And cook till done.
Mix well and Serve Hot.
This Fried Rice can be done if one or two vegetables or not available also and cooking oil can also be used instead of Ghee.
The side dish for this is a Pineapple Raitha which is easy to make.
Pineapple Raitha.
Method
While Cutting the Pineapple cut some more and keep aside.
In the hot Kadai add some cooking oil (Don't use Ghee for this as the Raitha has to be kept in Fridge and Ghee will solidify later.) and put some jeera and once it flutters, add cut Pineapple pieces. Fry for some time. add salt and little sugar (if you like the taste) and keep aside.
Add Curd or Yogurt to this and mix well and Raitha is ready.

Rasam

This is a South Indian Soup which is normally eaten mixed with Rice. In our households normally we have three course of meals for Lunch. First course is a thick Gravy with vegetables called 'Sambhar' mixed with rice and eaten , Second is the Rasam which is more watery than the Sambhar and mixed with rice and eaten. There is always some vegetable curry as side dish. and the third is Curds or Yogurt mixed with rice and eaten along with some pickles.

Ingredients for Rasam.

Tamarind if paste 1 table spoon or 1 lemon size tamarind soak in water and take out the juice.
Sambhar powder 1 t spoon
Salt to taste
Tuar daal 1/4 cup
Tomatoes 2 or 3
for garnishing one t spoon of ghee, mustard seeds, cumin or jeera seeds and one red chilli (optional)
Asafotida powder little
finely cut coriander leaves
a little coriander powder and cumin powder will enhance the taste.(optional)
Method.
Cook the tuar daal after soaking it in water for some time. It is better to pressure cook it so that it is cooked well. keep aside.
Mix the tamarind paste in water or take the tamarind juice , add salt and sambhar powder. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces add and let it boil. set aside few pieces of tomatoes.
Add the asafotida powder.
Mix the cooked tuar dal in a cup of water.
Once the tamarind raw smell is gone, add the few tomato pieces which were set aside and add 1/2 t spoon of coriander powder and 1/2 t spoon of jeera powder, add the dal diluted in water little by little as the mixture boils. add the dal completely and when it just starts to boil add the cut coriander leaves.
and switch off the stove.

Garnishing.
put a t spoon of ghee in a garnishing spoon (or a kadai or a sauce pan) and add mustard seeds and one red chilli. once it splutters add cumin seeds and also asafotida powder (Very little) Pour this over the Rasam and Serve hot. This Rasam can be taken as Soup also.

Vetta Kulambu ( A gravy to be eaten with Rice) How to make Sambhar Powder.

Vetta Kulambu is a South Indian Tamil preparation which is eaten with cooked rice. It is simple, easy to cook, tasty dish. This can be prepared with simple variations in the vegetables or the dried vegetables (which are called Vattal) used in the preparation, there by getting variety in the same dish.
The basic Ingredients for this are

1. Tamarind one small lemon size, if it is tamarind paste 1 to 1and 1/2 Table spoon.
2. sambhar powder 1 to 1 and 1 1/2 t spoon. This is available in the Indian stores. (the method of preparing sambhar powder is given in the end.
3. salt to taste.
4. Mustard seeds 1 t spoon
5. Channa Daal 1 t spoon
6. Asafotida 1/2 t spoon (optional)
7. cooking oil 1 to 1 and 1/2 table spoon
8. curry leaves (if available)
9. Red chili 1

Normally the Vetta Kulambu is prepared using two vattals malathakali vattal or sundaikkaivattal (which are dried green seeds of plants) which are available in Indian stores (previously this was dried at home)
The method is almost same the variations I will be writing after writing the basic method.
Take a Frying Pan or a Kadai or a Iluppa Chatti.Pour Oil in the pan and put the mustard seeds and red chili (break it into pieces) when the mustard splutters add channa dal and either of the vattal a table spoon. when the channa daal turns brown add the curry leaves and the tamarind water.
(earlier put hot water in the tamarind and extract the juice about a cup or more. if it is a paste add water and mix well)
add salt and sambhar powder. let this boil well. (for around 20 minutes in medium flame) when the mixtures thickens switch off the stove. (if it is very watery, to make it thick take a spoon full of rice powder mixed with water and add it to the boiling mixture and stir well, which will thicken the Vetta Kulambu)

Coconut can be cut into small pieces and can be fried and added . This should be added when the curry leaves are added and fried for few minutes and then tamarind water should be added.

Appala vetta kulambu will be very tasty where appalam which is the south Indian pappad which is made of urad dal (available in indian store) is used.
Just when the channa daal is added instead of the dried vegetables add pieces of appalam. the appalam will get fried in the oil and once it is fried add the curry leaves and the tamarind water.


Vengaya Vetta Kulambu is prepared using onions. Cut the onions into pieces and instead of dried vegetable , add this while adding the curry leaves. Fry the onion before adding the tamarind water. While using onion no need to use asafotida. A small piece of jaggery will enhance the taste. This can also be added while adding the tamarind/salt sambhar powder.


Black chick peas can be added (kottu kadalai) this should be fried and pressure cooked earlier and added while adding the tamarind water. The coconut pieces added in the kottu kadalai vetta kulambu will enhance the taste.


Any vegetable like, drum stick, lady'sfinger (okra) , brinjal (egg plant) can be cut and added while adding the curry leaves. all of them have to be fried a little before adding the tamarind water. Each vegetable has to be added separately and prepared as separate dish.

Preparation of Sambhar powder.

1. chili powder 50 gms
2. coriander powder (dhaniya powder) 75 gms.
3. turmeric powder 1 table spoon
4. 1 table spoon black pepper
5. 1 table spoon jeera cumin seeds
6. 1 table spoon urad dal
7. 1 table sppon tuar dal
8. 1 table spoon channa dal
9. 1 t spoon methi seeds
10. 1 t spoon of asafotida

The items 4 to 9 have to be fried in a dry frying pan for few minutes and powdered in a mixi nicely. (You have to seive it with a seive so that the powder is in a nice form and the remains on the seive should be ground again and seived again. )  add this mixture to chili powder and coriander powder (available in market) and sambhar powder is ready.

Gulab Jamoon

Gulab jamoon is an Indian sweet made out of Milk Khova. Milk Khova is what you get when you go on heating the milk and it solidifies into Khova. If sugar is added to the Khova it becomes a sweet called pal khova.
In some Indian cities you get unsweetened khova which can be used to make many sweets and one of them is jamoon. Khova can be made at home but it is a laborious process.
The easiest way to make jamoons is to buy the ready to make packs of instant gulab jamoons. it is available in all Indian Stores. The method is given in the pack as to how to make the gulab jamoons.
if it is the batter from the ready pack Just mix with water (take lesser quantity of water than specified so that the batter does not become watery) and mix very lightly and add 1 t spoon of ghee and set it aside for 5 minutes. make into small round balls.
if it is the khova you are using to make the jamoons mix the khova with maida (white flour or all purpose flour) (1 or 2 table spoons for 1/4 kg of Khova ) add 1 t spoon of ghee and make into small round balls.

Sugar Syrup.

if it is ready made mix the quantity of sugar would be specified on the pack. If with Khova for 1/4 kg of khova you would require around 1kg of sugar.
mix equal quantity of water as the sugar and boil it in a hard bottomed pan. Let it boil for around 15 minutes. switch off stove.

Frying the Jamoons

In another stove keep a Frying pan and add cooking oil. once the oil is heated reduce the stove to sim postion .(lower heat) Add the round balls of jamoon one by one. when the jamoons turns dark brown take them and put them into the hot sugar syrup.
Serve the jamoons hot with the syrup .

Coconut Rice

Ingredients

1. Rice (preferably Pulav rice) 1 cup
2. Grated coconut 1 1/2 to 2 cups
3. Urad Dal 2 table spoons
4. mustard seeds 1 t spoon
5. Red chillies 2
6. Green chillies 2
7. Curry leaves few for garnishing
8. Asofotida one or two pinches
9. urad pappad one or two (optional)
10. cooking oil 1 table spoon
11. ghee one t spoon (optional)
12. salt to taste (around 1 t spoon)
    

Cook the Rice and keep it separately. Pulav rice will be better. use 1:1 & 1/2 cup water to cook rice. If it is normal rice use 1 : 2 ratio of rice to water.
Take a Frying pan (kadai or iluppa chatti)
Pour the oil into the pan and add the mustard seeds and broken red chilllies. when it splutters add the urad dal. when it turns light brown , add the asafotida powder and the raw pappad (break it into small pieces and add).Let the pappad pieces get fried in the oil. Now add the cut green chillies and also curry leaves. add the grated coconut and fry for 5 minutes. Add salt . Mix well and add the ghee.
Switch off the stove.
Take a basin or a wide open vessel and spread the cooked rice. Add the coconut mixture and mix well. Coconut rice is ready.