Khajoor (A deep fried sweet snack)

Khajoor is a deep fried sweet snack which is ideal teatime snack and a couple of them for breakfast with a glass of milk make a good breakfast too.  You can store them in an airtight container for a week or so.

KHAJOOR

Ingredients:
500 g of plain flour (maida)
50 g of semolina
350 g of sugar
250 g of dried milk, plain (khoya)
2 tbsp of roasted poppy seeds
6 tsp of ghee
150 mL of toned milk
1/2 tsp baking soda
Oil for frying
50 g each of cashews and raisins

Method:

• Dry mix the flour, semolina, and sugar.
• Crumble and add dried milk (khoya).
• Add the baking soda, ghee, cashews, raisins, and roasted poppy seeds and mix in well.
• Using milk as needed, make a dough of a hard consistency.  Divide into 2 equal portions and let the dough sit for 1 hour.
• Sprinkle flour on the rolling board and roll out each portion to 1/2 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes.  Deep fry on a medium heat till golden brown.

Meetha Dahi (Sweet Yoghurt)

Ramzan started today and I have this plan to try and post at least one recipe per day during this month...The first thing I made was the meetha dahi..it is such an  important part of our diet during Ramzan..its hard to get by without it...It has such a cooling effect on the body after going the whole day without water...It is real easy to make and you can store it in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.  You can use any kind of vessel to set the yoghurt, though the earthen pots gives it a different flavor...

MISTHI DOI

Ingredients:
2 L of milk
200 g of sugar
2 tbsp of yoghurt

Method:

• Bring milk to a boil in a thick bottom vessel.  Add the sugar and boil on a low flame till the volume is reduced to half.
• Remove the vessel from heat and let it cool till lukewarm.
• Pour the milk into an earthen pot and add the yogurt.  Mix well.
• Keep the pot in a cool dry place, and let the yogurt set overnight.
• Refrigerate for 2 hours and serve as a dessert.

BUTTER CHICKEN (MURGH MAKHANI)

This is probably the richest, creamiest, and calorie-laden dish I have ever eaten.  The richness of the sauce comes from the poppy seeds and the cashews (of course, the butter and the cream!!) and the vibrant color is from the tandoori/orange food coloring.  You can make the dish mild or hot and adjust the amount of chillis to suit your palate.  In most restaurants, this dish has a burnt charcoal flavor to it because the chicken would be partially cooked in the tandoor so to give the dish the smokiness, you can do the following: Form a piece of aluminium foil into a bowl shape and place it in the pan after adding the chicken to the gravy.  Then, heat a briquette of charcoal on the stove till it is red hot and then place it in the aluminium foil and cover the pan with a lid and cook for 15 minutes on a low flame.  And try to use chilled butter for the dish.  If not, the butter emulsifies into ghee and the dish tastes a little different.

Butter Chicken

Ingredients
1 kg chicken thigh fillets or 1 inch boneless chicken cubes
Marinade:
2 cups yoghurt
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon
3 tsp white poppy seeds soaked and ground to a paste
50 g of unsalted cashews paste
a pinch of tandoori coloring

Gravy:
6 medium tomatoes, blanched, skinned, deseeded, and pureed.
1 large onion, grated
100 g of butter
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
salt
50 g of single cream
1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
5 tbsp vegetable oil
fresh coriander leaves chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala powder

Method:

• Marinate the chicken in the marinade ingredients and let it sit for 4 hours in the fridge.
• Heat 3 tbsp of oil and add the marinated chicken.  Mix and cook covered on a low heat till almost done.
• Heat the remaining oil in a separate pan and add the onions.  Fry till the onions are golden brown in color and then add the ginger-garlic paste, dried fenugreek leaves, garam masala, red chilli powder, and tomatoes.  Cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the butter and mix.  Cook till oil floats on top.
• Add the cooked chicken and mix it well.  Lower the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes (You can add the charcoal step at this point in time).  Stir occasionally so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Stir in the cream and garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or naan.