Cabbage Dumplings recipe....

Ingredients :
1/2 of a medium cabbage, chopped finely
1 cup idli rava
1 cup grated coconut
5 to 6 roasted red chillies
1 marble sized tamarind
1/4 tsp haldi
1 tsp hing
Salt

Method :

Soak idli rava in water for 15 minutes. [The water should just cover the top].

Grind grated coconut, red chillies, turmeric powder and tamarind, with very little water - just enough to get a smooth paste. Drain any extra water from the idli rava, add to the above and grind again. Do not add too much water. The batter should be thick.

Add salt and hing and mix well. Add chopped cabbage into the batter [only as much cabbage as the batter can accommodate]. Shape into balls.
Grease the steamer basket lightly. Place undis atleast half an inch apart as they will slightly increase in size. Steam undis for 25 minutes, or till toothpick inserted comes out clean. [You can even use an idli stand to steam].

To serve - In a bowl, pour some coconut oil, mix a pinch of hing. Pour on top of the undi.

2 naan recipes + Onion Kulcha Recipe

NAAN                      (makes 6-8)

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp fresh yeast

¾ cup warm water

1½ cups all-purpose flour

plus extra for dusting

1 tbsp oil

1¾ oz/50g unsalted butter plus extra for greasing

1 tsp onion seeds

salt to taste

GARLIC NAAN  

For garlic naan add 3-6 chopped garlic cloves to the dough.

• Place the sugar and yeast in a small bowl or measuring cup, add the warm water and mix well until the yeast has dissolved. Let stand for 10 minutes, or until the mixture is frothy.
• Sieve the flour. Place the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, add the oil and salt, and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix with your hands to form a dough, adding more water, if necessary. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth.
• Return the dough to the bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1½, or until it has doubled in size.
• Preheat the broiler to high, and grease a sheet of foil. Turn a dough out onto a floured counter and knead for 2 min. Break off small balls with your hands and pat them into circles 4½ inches/12 cm in diameter and ½ inch/1 cm thick. 
• Place the dough circles onto the grassed foil and cook under the very hot broiler for 7-10 minutes, turning twice, brushing with the butter and sprinkling with the onion seeds.
• Serve warm or keep wrapped in foil until required.

ONION KULCHA        (makes 6)

1½ cup flour

2 onion, chopped

3 green chilies, chopped

2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp grated ginger

2 tbsp melted butter

salt to taste

vegetable oil

• Sieve the flour.
  Mix all ingredients thoroughly and make a stiff dough by adding just enough water.
  Knead the dough and divide it into 6 portions.
  Roll out each portion of the dough into a thin round with the help of a little flour.
  Make a few light, horizontal slits on one side of each round.
  Cook on a hot tawa (griddle) on both sides using a little oil until golden brown spots come on top.
• Serve hot.

Chum Chum...Paneer and Coconut sweet

For the paneer balls (makes 20 balls)

½ kg paneer

8 tbsp powdered sugar

2-3 tsp rose water

a few drops rose essence

For the coconut mixture

2 cups dried coconut

1½ cups granulated sugar

2 pinches saffron

a little milk

For decoration

4 -5 blanched and chopped pistachios, silver foil

• For paneer balls
• Mix all the ingredients very well and make a dough.
• Divide the dough into 2 portions and shape into small round balls.
• For the coconut mixture
• Cook the coconut and sugar for 10 minutes on a slow flame. Cool.
• Warm the saffron in a small vessel. Add a little milk and run in until the saffron dissolves.
• Add the saffron mixture to the coconut mixture. Mix well.
• How to proceed
• Make a covering of the coconut mixture over each paneer ball using hand pressure.
• Arrange the balls in a plate and cover with silver foil. Chill.
• Cut each ball into 2 parts. Decorate with pistachios.
• Serve cold.
• Preparation time:20 min, Cooking time: 10 minutes

Mutton Curry

2 Ib4oz/1 kg goat, with bones

1 cup yogurt

2 tsp garam masala

2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

2 tsp crushed fresh garlic

1½ tsp chili powder

salt to taste

2 onions, finely chopped

4 green cardamoms

2 bay leaves

3 fresh green chilies, chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

 ½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves

• Using a sharp knife, cut the goat into small pieces.
• Mix the yogurt, garam masala, ginger, garlic, chili powder and salt together in a large bowl, stirring to mix well. Put goat to the yogurt mixture. Marinate for 1 h.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottom pan, add the onions, cardamom, green chilies and bay leaves and cook until golden stirring constantly.
• Add the marinated mixture to the pan and stir fry for 3-5 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, and the lemon juice and stir fry for 5 minutes.
• Add the water, cover and let slimmer over low heat for 35-40 minutes.  (If the sauce it too watery them remove the lid, increase the heat slightly and cook until the sauce has thickened to the correct consistency).
• Transfer the curry to to serving plates, garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with rice.

Kesari Kheer

½ cup rice

4 cups milk

8 tbsp sugar

6 cardamoms

½ tsp saffron

¼ cup pistachios

pistachios to decorate

• Soak pistachios in the water for at least 3 hours.
• Rinse the rice under water and place into the pan.
• Add the half of the milk and stir. Cover and cook for 15-20 min until soft.
• Then add saffron, cardamoms, sugar and remaining milk. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes or until the rice is quite thick in consistency. If the rice pudding is to thick, add a little extra milk or water.
• Decorate with whole pistachios. Serve hot or cold.

Gulab Jamun Recipe...

1¼ cup sugar

3 cups water

4 drops rose water

7 tbsp powdered milk

3 tsp self-raising flour

1 tsp semolina (Sooji)

3 tsp butter 

8 cardamoms

pinch of saffron

milk to mix

oil for deep frying

• Put the sugar and water in a heavy base or nonstick pan and heat to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat and boil for 2-3 minutes to make a syrup. Mix in the rose water and set aside.  
• Put powdered milk, flour, semolina, butter, ground cardamom, and saffron in a bowl. Mix well with a little milk to make a soft dough.
• Divide into 18-22 equal portions, and roll each portion into a ball.
• Heat the oil and gently deep fry the balls until golden brown.
• Remove with slotted spoon and put into the syrup.
• Bring the syrup to a boil, then remove from the heat.
• Transfer the balls to a large shallow serving dish.

Seviyan Kheer...Vermicelli kheer

9 oz/ 250 gms vermicelli (broken)
8 cups of milk
1 cup sugar (or to taste)¼ cup of raisins
1 cinnamon stick
10 green cardamoms (coarsely grounded)

pinch of saffron

• Soak raisins in water for at least 1 hour.
• Pour the milk, and stirring constantly bring to boil.
• Add cinnamon stick, cardamoms and cook for about 30 minutes or until the milk is slightly thickened and  that the volume get reduced to 1/3.
• Add the raisins, pinch of saffron and sugar, Cook for 5 minutes.
• Next add roasted vermicelli, reduce the flame and stir 6 to 8 minutes.
• Now turnoff the flame and pour it in a serving bowl. Let it cool and then put into refrigerator. Serve chilled.

Aluminium foil...different uses

• Sharpen the scissors – If due to constant use of your scissor, it has become blunt. Then take some aluminum foil and make 6 to 7 neat folds and cut them together with the scissor. It will sharpen your scissor again.
• Jewelry cleaning – Wrap your gold and silver jewellery in an aluminum foil and keep it in solution of salt and water for overnight. Your Jewelry will come out shining the next morning.
• Fix loose batteries – If the springs in your MP3 player have become loose, fix some aluminum foil to them and place their batteries. It won’t let your batteries fall again.
• Soften brown sugar– If the brown sugar has become hardened and you need to soften it up, then take some hardened brown sugar and wrap it in a foil. Bake it at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes.

1. Frosting a cake but you’ve run out of pastry bags? Just grab a double thickness of aluminum foil and roll it into a cone shape, leaving a small opening at the point. Fill with frosting of spreading consistency. Twist the top to close the cone and use the device to make pretty frosting designs on your cake. Admittedly, this whole process is easier with a plastic zip-close bag with a corner snipped off, but when aluminum foil is all you’ve got it can be a lifesaver!

2. Sharpen your scissors. In between professional sharpenings (or for those 99 cent pairs of scissors that you don’t want to pay to have sharpened), use aluminum foil to keep your scissors in top form. Cutting through 6-8 layers of aluminum foil will improve the cutting surface of most scissors.

3. Make an Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie. You know, for protection from mind control enemies.

4. Shine up rusty chrome. With a bit of water on a wadded-up piece of aluminum foil, you can rub most rust spots off of chrome car parts.

5. Keep your oven clean. Tired of scraping burned-on food out of the bottom of your oven? Line it with aluminum foil before making something particularly messy. Don’t leave it in there permanently, however, because it can lead to oven damage over time.

6. Protect the heating element in your electric oven. For those times when you have to scrub burned-on crud out of your oven, cover the heating element with long strips of aluminum foil before spraying the inside of the oven with oven cleaner.

7. Make your soap last longer. Put a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom of your bar of soap to keep it from sitting in a puddle of water and wearing away quickly.

8. Make interesting cakes. Novelty cake pans in odd shapes are expensive. Get the same effect by using a regular cake pan but making a shaped liner for the inside. Make sure the liner is at least as tall as the edges of the pan and several thicknesses so it will hold its shape. This makes it easy to make that snowman or heart-shaped cake without spending a lot of money on a new pan.

9. Make a sun box for seedlings. If your plants are growing crooked or looking less than healthy, cut off the top and one side of a cardboard box, then line the bottom and remaining sides with aluminum foil. Place your plant inside and put the entire operation in the window with the open side facing the window. The sun will reflect off of the foil and cause your plant to grow up straight.

10. Make a portrait reflector. Forget those super-expensive professional photography reflectors. Just cover a sturdy piece of cardboard with aluminum foil and you’ll have an excellent light reflector for portraits and still lifes.

11. Keep birds out of your fruit trees. Hang twisted strips of aluminum foil all over your fruit trees using fishing line. The light reflections and the sound will keep birds away from your fruit.

12. Protect saplings. Rodents and other animals sometimes chew on young trees in the winter. Protect your saplings by covering their bases with aluminum foil. Remember to change the covering periodically as the tree grows.

13. Re-soften hard brown sugar. Many people put hard brown sugar in the microwave to soften it up, but this can actually backfire and make the sugar harden even more. Instead, wrap the block of hardened sugar in some aluminum foil and bake in a 300° (Fahrenheit) oven for 5 minutes.

14. Keep the bottom of your fireplace or charcoal grill from becoming encrusted with soot. Line the bottom of your fireplace or grill with aluminum foil before starting a fire, then dispose of the foil after the fire is out and the coals are completely cooled.

15. Protect your furniture. Pets can’t stand the feeling or the sound of crinkling aluminum foil. If you want them to stay off of your furniture, cover the seats with clean aluminum foil whenever you’re not using the furniture. Your pets will learn within a couple of days to avoid sitting up there. You can also prevent them from scratching or biting furniture legs by covering them in aluminum foil.

16. Avoid moving the heavy furniture. When you want to quickly shampoo your carpets but don’t want to lug all of the furniture out of the room, simply cover the legs with aluminum foil to avoid getting shampoo on them.

17. Although we haven’t tested this tip (and it seems a bit dubious), it’s said that you canput a wadded-up ball of aluminum foil in your dryer with a load of clothes to reduce static cling.

18. Get creative and make fun sculptures with your aluminum foil.

19. Remove daily buildup on silver jewelry. With some common kitchen items you can make a simple but effective way to clean your jewelry at home.

20. If your TV and DVD player are stacked one on top of the other, you may find the picture is a bit fuzzy. This often happens when the electromagnetic fields from both devices interfere with each other. Place a sheet of aluminum foil between them to cut down on the interference.

21. When ironing, put a piece of aluminum foil under the ironing board cover.The foil will reflect the heat from the iron so you can essentially iron both sides at once.

22. Steam your silk or wool garments by placing a piece of aluminum foil on top of the ironing board and under the garment. Pass the iron over the garment from a few inches above the fabric while holding down the steam button. The steam will remove wrinkles without harming the cloth with direct heat.

23. Use it as wrapping paper in a pinch. You can glue or tape interesting cut-out pictures onto the aluminum foil to make it even more personal.

24. Make interesting Easter eggs.

25. Reflect heat into your house. Put a layer of aluminum foil behind your radiator when it is off and completely cool. When the radiator is turned on, more of the heat will be directed into the living area and less will be absorbed into the wall behind the radiator.

26. Keep pie crusts from burning. This may be one of the oldest aluminum foil tricks in the book, but it’s a good one. When baking a pie, cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil at the very end of the baking time to keep it from browning too much.

27. Make a cool noisemaker with your kids.

28. Make a solar cooker. You’ll cut down on energy costs and experience a traditional way of cooking.

29. Use strips of aluminum foil to wrap your hair, then coil them up to make impromptu curlers.

30. Cover doorknobs and hinges with aluminum foil to avoid having to take them off while painting.

Bonus Tip: In many locations, aluminum foil can be recycled along with all of the other household recycling. When you’ve used it for cooking and all of the other interesting projects listed here, just throw it into the bin along with all of your other recyclable materials to keep it out of the waste stream.

• Make special pan cakes – You can make a special valentine’s cake or a teddy bear birthday cake or whatever shape you may like by using aluminum foils. Take a double thickened aluminum foil and fold it into the desired shapes and fill it with the cake batter and bake it.
• Polish silver – If your silverware has lost its shine, then you can create an ion exchange molecular reaction. In this reaction, aluminum will act as a catalyst. This method will require a pan lined with aluminum foil filled with cold water. Mix 2 teaspoons of salt and then drop your tarnished silverware in it and let it sit for 3 minutes. Now, rinse off with clean water and pat dry. This will polish your silverware and will give a shine to it.
• Scrub your pots – When you run out of scrub pads, then crumple up some aluminum foils and make its use to clean your pots.

Baked veggies with Sausage links..in a jiffy meal..

• 1 Package of Italian Sausage (about 5 links)
• 2 Bell Peppers (Can use one yellow, one green for color)
• 1 Sweet Onion
• 1 lb Red potatoes (cut in quarters) about 4 potatoes
• 1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
• ¼ tsp oregano
• 1 tsp Garlic salt
• Dash of pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash a cut Peppers and onions into strips.  Wash and cut potatoes too.

Place all of the cut veggies onto a large baking sheet.

Toss veggies with olive oil and seasonings.

Cut sausages into 3 or 4 pieces per sausage.  Place the sausage pieces on the pan with the veggies.

Place pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove and serve!

Makes enough for 4-6 people