Semiya aka vermicelli

Tring Tring
Tina:: Whats up?
aisha :: Planning to make semiya today.
Tine:: awesome..Can you teach me as well.
aisha :: Whatttttttttttt!!!Dont you know how to prepare semiya ???huh

Were you in this situation before?I was very well in this situation.The only time i entered kitchen was to eat food all those 17 years i was at home.Girls should not be pampered so much was what my granny used to spill the beans on my mom :)

Hmm but i always argued with granny that its no big task.i shall learn when needed.Yes folks for all those who are new to cooking...It is very easy to cook anything in the Internet world.

*****Semiya***

I never thought i would post a recipe for semiya.But i am dedicating this to all those amateur cooks who are completely new to cooking :)..
Also i try to cut down the calories in it a lot by?....wait and watch how?

Ingredients

1/2 cup Vermicelli (thin long vermicelli would be best)

sugar to taste

2 cups milk( use 2% fat milk to reduce calories)

nuts(cashew,almonds,raisins)

1.5 tsp ghee

Usually people tend to use lots of ghee to fry the dry fruits(nuts) .But that is not really required.Talk a little ghee and heat it in a pan.add the raisins to the ghee and keep the flame on low.wait until the raisins are puffed .Now add the remaining dry fruits and roast them an low flame.Once they turn brown all the vermicelli(we also get roasted vermicelli these days.I personally find the thin long vermicelli more tastier than the mtr vermicelli).once the vermicelli appears to turn brown in color add the milk immediately and increase the flame to medium.Add sugar as per your taste.

Cook the vermicelli until done.It should not be too liquid with milk nor too thick.Maintain a semi solid consistency as it would get think and hard upon cooling.

Kalakand/Milk burfi

Dal Makhani

******Dal Makhani/Maa ki Dal******

Utterly butterly delicious Dal Makhani! This dish is my personal favorite of all Dal's or Lentils because of its creamy taste and also its nutritional value.This aromatic mildly spicy dish is prepared by a combination of Kidney Beans(Rajma) and Urad dal ,both of which are a high source of Protein and fiber.

How many of you out there might have craved to eat this awesome dish and failed to make it so yummy?I am sure there are plenty.So was i many a times.Finally i have zeroed down to the below recipe after trying it multiple times.YOU gotto try this and i am not gonna make you FAIL this time baby!

I will have to specially thank papa (my father in law) for bringing us this organic urad dal from a tiny village in the Himalayas.I feel sorry sometimes that we have multiplied into such a huge population and it makes it difficult to produce organic food to meet the demand vs supply.

Ingredients

Urad dal - 2 cups

Rajma(kidney beans) - 3/4 cup

chana dal - 1/4 cup (optional)

large onion - 1

medium tomatoes - 2

tomato puree/paste - 1 tsp

ginger/garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

oil - 3 tsp

cumin(zeera) - 1/2 tsp

milk/heavy cream - 1/2 cup

Butter - 2 tsp

salt - as required

green chillies - 4-5

chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

Combine all dal's and soak them overnight. Add 1tsp of salt and boil the mixture with atleast 9 cups of water for 25-30 mins on a medium flame. In a separate pan,heat the oil,add zeera and wait until it splutters.Now add green chillies and ginger garlic paste .Chop the onions as small as you can and fry the onions until they become brown.Now add chopped tomato and cook it till it becomes soft and forms a paste.Add the tomato puree to this mixture and cook it for 5 more minutes.Transfer the boiled dal into this pan and add water if required. Close the lid and cook it on a medium flame for another 15 minutes.

Now add milk or heavy cream and butter to the dal and mix well.Heat this mix on a medium flame for 10 minutes and now reduce the flame to low.Let the dal simmer for another 20 minutes.Keep stirring it in between.Finally after its complete,you can garnish it with some fresh coriander leaves and some heavy cream

Presenting...Mouth watering chilli chicken! Need i say more??

******chilli chicken*****

The best part of this Dish is that its super simple to cook yet mouth watering.I call it simple as any first time cook can crack the show with this recipe.I am sure you will love me for this dish
The very first time i cooked the chicken,it was a big hit.Why not !Has to be as i tried out my mom's recipe.My husband says i cook the best chicken ,but i bet my mom always cooks The Best chicken by far among all the chicken dishes i have had until now.Guys dont you agree to nod when i say "Moms are the best chefs"..huh i can feel all your reactions and before you get nostalgic and transcend to your sweet old childhood let me drag your thoughts back to me.

Want to know the secret?Keep it simple :).So here goes this recipe.

First lets come to the

Starring******Ingredients

3 chicken breasts

6-7 cloves of minced garlic

1 whole onion

1 capsicum

3-4 green chillies

1.5 tsp red chilli powder

salt to taste

oil as required

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp tomato puree

1 tsp chilli garlic ketchup or 1 tsp soy sauce

Method

Cut the chicken into small pieces.Now add chilli powder, half of minced garlic,salt to taste and 1 tsp of oil.Mix all of it well and marinate in the fridge for a few hours(minimum 30 mins)

Now heat some oil in a pan and once it is hot,add the marinated chicken and let it cook with the lid closed until done on a medium flame.Keep mixing it in between.It is ok if the chicken gets a little burnt towards the end.Cut a piece of cut with a spoon/fork and make sure its cooked.Keep the chicken aside.

Cut the onion and capsicum into small squares.Saute them in a little oil with green chillies and remaining garlic until they turn soft.Mix the tomato puree/tomato ketchup and add a little water to it.Add the cooked chicken to the onions,capsicum mix and pour the ketchup mix over it.Mix all the ingredients well and cook it for 5 more minutes .

****You can garnish it with some chopped spring onions,chilli flakes

Chilli Chicken

soo Yummy was my chocolate walnut cake

*****Chocolate Walnut Cake*****

Its Thanksgiving evening and i baked this yummy chocolate walnut cake which is one of the first postings into my Blog.Starting my own food blog has been on my list from long time.This request came from my sweet cousins back in India.Everytime we spoke,i used to narrate some recipes to them on the phone so that they can try them later.But i wonder if at all they ever got the ingredients right nor did they try them out.Why would they without knowing how it would turn out.I would not if i were them.Do you ever know how would a dress look on you without wearing it?So is the outcome of a recipe.I never try out any recipe without seeing the photo of how it would turn out.So the recipes i am posting today are all dedicated to those loving cousins out there.

Ingredients required to make the cake

1 cup all purpose flour(maida)

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup (oil/butter/ghee)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 eggs

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

handful of walnuts

1/2 tsp orange zest(optional)

pinch of salt

Now the Question is How to make it

Well its really simple.Whisk the eggs in a large bowl and combine the oil or ghee or butter into it.Now add the sugar and beat the mixture well.Add vanilla extract,baking powder,orange zest,salt,cocoa powder and combine the mixture well.Finally blend in all purpose flour and mix all the ingredients well.The batter should have a consistency similar to dosa batter.

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease the baking pan with a little butter and pour the batter into the baking pan.Place it in the middle rack of the oven.After 30 minutes prick the cake with a toothpick or knife and see that it returns clean.If it is not clean and has some batter around it,it would require another 10-15 minutes.Keeping checking until done.

There it is finally this delicious cake.I am sure it will fill in some amazing aroma in your house and a delight in your heart :)