Homemade Strawberry Jam Recipe, How to make Strawberry Jam

Ah, strawberry season. The best time of the year! It’s time for strawberry and banana yogurt, cake and homemade strawberry jam. This is the recipe of old fashioned strawberry jam.

Lapsi recipe / How to make Rajasthani lapsi

Lapsi a traditional dish Rajasthani dish made with daliya (cracked wheat), gud(jaggery) and ghee. Cracked wheat, Dalia, Lapsi or Broken wheat are few names given to a form of wheat which is prepared by crushing whole wheat berries (kernels) into small pieces.

Mushroom methi masala recipe

Today I had made Mushroom Methi masala.  This weekend I purchased a bunch of fresh methi/fenugreek and some mushrooms, so thought to put them together and make something special. This combination is excellent and you can give it a try.

Pumpkin puri recipe / Namkeen Kaddu poori

Deep fried savory Pumpkin puri.

Indian pumpkin is a winter fruit, which can be used in the making of many varieties of dishes like curries, cakes and soups.

Aloo Baingan Sabji / Brinjals with Potatoes

Brinjal/Eggplant or Baingan is one of my favorite vegetables. The nice thing is; you can make it in so many ways. 

How to make Khoya/Mawa/Khoa/Khawa with milk powder

Khoya/mawa is dried evaporated milk solids. Khoya gives a richness of flavor unlike any other ingredient. Making khoya or mawa in traditional way is time consuming.

Urad dal Kachori recipe/ Deep fried lentil puffs

Kachoris are mainly made with refined flour. A spicy stuffing of lentils or vegetable are stuffed in the small portion of dough and rolled into medium thick disc and then deep fried in hot oil.

Pudina pulao recipe/Pudina Rice recipe

Pudina rice recipe- made with fresh pudina or mint leaves. You can call it a spicy one pot meal. It has rice, pudina and veggies too. So you can call it ‘Mint rice’ or ‘Pudina pulao’

Fruit custard recipe

Fruit custard is a simple tasty and relatively healthy dessert. ‘Fruit custard’ or ‘fruit salad with custard’ is a delicious dessert with creamy texture of the custard and crunch of the fruits in between.

Karela (Bitter gourd) Sabzi/ Maharashtrian style Karlyachi bhaji

This is a Maharashtrian style karela sabzi or karlyachi bhaji. 

Masala doodh recipe/ Masala milk

                           Add a special touch to special occasions

Masala means a spice blend or mixture of spices. Here, it means a ground powdered form of dry nuts and spices which is added to milk. This masala milk has got religious significance, as it is specially consumed on Sharad Purnima.

Upma recipe/ Rava (suji) upma recipe

Who doesn't like to have healthy breakfast? Let’s make a famous south Indian breakfast, Rava Upma. Rava is also called as suji in Hindi and cream of wheat or semolina in English.

Baingan curry recipe/Quick Brinjal curry recipe

This quick Baigan curry is a simple and easy dish from Maharashtra made with eggplant, spices and ground peanuts. It is called as Vangyachi amti (curry) in marathi

Jeera Aloo Recipe for Vrat/Fasting/Upvas

The festival of Navratri is around. This is one festival along with Diwali which is celebrated with lot of rigor and gusto in almost every part of India. On each of the 9 days a different form of Shakti is worshiped.

Peanut Burfi recipe/ Groundnut or Mungfali Burfi recipe

Few dishes seem long forgotten during our fast paced lifestyle. I still try my best to incorporate them and keep the cultures alive, being far away from motherland. As we get ready for the festive time, sharing here a simple fasting dessert, ‘Peanut Burfi’ or ‘Mungfali burfi’.

Singhare ki puri recipe / Singhare ke atte ki puri for Vrat or fasting

Singhare ki puri is a popular dish prepared during fast. It is a deep fried Indian bread or poori recipe which is made from water chestnut flour or singhaade ka atta.

Shakarkand / Sweet potato Halwa Recipe

Shakarkand or sweet potato is widely used during fasting/vrat/upwas. During fasting days, there are certain limitations for food consumption. Cereals and pulses and many other ingredients are not consumed on that day. For details please go through the vrat/fasting rules.

Bread Kachori Recipe

Kachori is a famous snack of India. No snack can take the place of hot kachoris served with a cup of tea. Here I am making a different type of kachori, bread kachori with the stuffing of corn and paneer.

Papdi recipe/Papdi for chaat

Papdi is a versatile snack. We can call it fried salted crackers.  It is great on its own with tea/coffee and tastes even better as papdi chaat. It lasts for weeks, as it has good shelf life, if stored properly in air tight container, so it is a great anytime snack and enjoyed every time with different variations.

Coconut and Rava Laddu

It is a traditional Indian sweet suitable for all occasions and festivals. This is the recipe which does not take a lot of time to make. I have used fresh coconut in this recipe. In Maharashtra it is known as 'rava naralache ladu'.

Methi Namkeen pare /Fenugreek savory snack recipe

Namkeen pare is a savory snack which comes in different shapes and sizes. Methi namkeen pare is a traditional tea time snack often made during festive occasions. Namkeen – savory and Para – fragment or piece. It is also known as ‘methi shankarpali’ in Marathi

Puffed rice (Murmura) Upma/Oggarne recipe

Puffed rice is made from rice, commonly used as a breakfast cereal or snack foods and served as a popular street food in India in the form of Bhel puri. This recipe is a twist to the puffed rice (murmura) with south Indian touch.

Stuffed Tinda recipe, How to make bharwan Tinda or stuffed Tinda sabzi

Tinda, also called Indian round gourd or apple gourd or Indian baby Pumpkin, is a popular vegetable in South asia.

Paneer Recipe- How to make Paneer at Home/Homemade cottage cheese

Paneer is also known as Indian cottage cheese or farmer’s cheese. It is very simple to make, only requires two ingredients that you probably already have at home, and take only a few minutes active and half an hour passive making time.

Palak Puri Recipe/ Spinach Poori recipe

Palak puri is made by mixing pureed palak/spinach with wheat flour and other spices. Puri is deep fried bread that can be prepared using wheat flour.

Amrud ki sabji/Guava curry recipe

Guava is also known as Amrud in North India and Peru in Maharashtra.

Mint raita /Pudina raita recipe

Mint raita is refreshing well as flavorful and is different from most of the raitas. Usually raitas are not very strong and have a subtle and mild flavor; but this raita has refreshing minty taste. It takes a basic and simple raita to a completely new level.

Moong dal pakore recipe

Moong dal pakora or bhajiya or vada is a very popular street food in Northern and western part of India. You will find this snack served with mint coriander chutney on the roads of Delhi.

Palak Paneer recipe

A North Indian favorite, Palak paneer is a delicious variation on saag. Palak paneer a spinach based gravy with homemade cottage cheese is a popular and recognizable dish in any Indian restaurants. It’s packed with goodness of spinach and loaded with protein from paneer.

Makki ke dhokle, Rajasthani Cuisine

One more recipe from my grandmother’s kitchen: Makki ke dhokle. Nothing can beat the taste of authentic food made by her. I don’t remember the time when I went to see her and she didn’t cooked my favourite makki ke dhokle. So this time I had decided to include it in my blog and got an opportunity to click while she makes this recipe. 

As the name says, it is made with maize flour or Makai ka atta. Makki ke dhokle is a popular recipe in Rajasthan and Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh.

Instant sweet and sour Mango pickle recipe /Aam ki meethi launji

This sweet Mango pickle is loved by all, from kids to grown-ups…as no one can resist its finger licking taste J

Namkeen papdi recipe

Papdi is round flat deep fried snack that is used in preparing a variety of Indian chaat dishes. Namkeen Papdi are Indian crackers made from wheat flour and gram flour. This is not the one used in chaat but it can be served as a tea time snack or can be relished just plain any time of the day to satisfy the taste buds! This recipe comes from my MIL's recipe collection.

Pomegranate Raita recipe, How to make Anar ka raita

Pomegranate raita is one of the fruity raita which can be make quickly and served as a side dish with veg biryani, veg pulao or even jeera rice. Like any other raita this is too easy to prepare.

Dal Chawal Kath recipe, Rajasthani cuisine

Dal –Chawal-Kath is one of the simple everyday meals in Rajasthan. Kath is also known with other names as khat or khatta. 

Rabdi Aam recipe, Mangoes with rabdi

Mango mango mango…

Summer season is best known for mangoes. This summer season, I was in India and my mom made this delicious rabdi aam with Alphonso mangoes…yumm!!

Rabdi is totally Indian..it’s nothing but evaporated milk..anyone from north India would be familiar with it.

Churma Recipe, How to make churma ladoo

Step by step recipe to prepare churma or choorma. This is a traditional rajasthani sweet recipe made by my grandmother; which we all love since years. It forms a great accompaniment to the trio dish DAL, BAATI, CHURMA. It has a rich and flavorful sweet made of whole wheat flour.

Aloo Raita Recipe, How to make Dahi Aloo/Potato Raita

Aloo raita is a side dish which goes with every savory recipe made for vrat. As aloo/potato is used in many vrat recipes, we always boil some extra potatoes.

Veg Hot Dog, How to make Vegetarian Hot Dog

Making a veg hot dog was always in my to-do list and finally last week I made it, and it was a hit. My little one always insisted me to make this dish at home and so I gave it a try. I used soya chunks which is a good protein source. You can replace it with paneer or tofu.

Lobia Curry Recipe, How to make Lobia Masala Recipe

Lobia curry recipe with step by step photos – A North Indian spiced curry made with black eyed beans. The beans are known as lobia in hindi language. Some also call it as chawali/chavali. The other English name of black eyed beans is cow peas.

How to make Ghee from butter at home

Clarified butter is known as Ghee in Hindi and several other names around the world, is used in many ways in India – in cooking, for serving, dipping into or brushing on food, for religious purpose, and also as skin softener for dry skin during winter.

Ghee made from grass-fed butter is packed with vitamin A, D, E and K leading to some interesting health benefits. A staple in traditional cooking and Ayurvedic medicine, ghee is made through a simple process of boiling butter and then pouring off the butter fat, leaving behind the proteins and the milk solids. The clear liquid we get is known as clarified butter.

In my kitchen, wherever required I replace rancid highly processed vegetable oils with grass fed ghee. May be following our traditional system of cooking is much for our benefit, which even research have proved. If I get a chance to visit India I would love to share the method to making ghee the traditional way and not from the store bought butter, which is far better in taste and health benefits. 

Homemade ghee (clarified butter) from butter:

Prep time	Cook time	Total
0 min	15-20 min	20 min

How to make ghee at home using unsalted butter

AUTHOR: Monali

RECIPE TYPE: Cooking tips

CUISINE: Indian

SERVES: approx. 1 lit ghee

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup=237 ml)

• 2 lb. unsalted butter
• A tiny pinch of salt (optional) 

DIRECTION

1. On medium heat, place unsalted butter in a pan. Let it melt and stir it once in a while. At this point it will be light yellow in color.
   
2. In 10 minutes the melted butter will form a thin foamy layer on top of light yellow liquid on the bottom.
   
3. In a while, the light yellow liquid gets translucent and you start to see some more thick milk solids at the bottom of pan. Stir once in a while.
   
4. When you see the liquid bubbling and when it starts to look transparent almost light golden yellow in color with white foam on top, the solids slowly starts to form. Continue stirring.
   
5. When you see the dark golden yellow colored clear liquid easily, the clarified butter (ghee) is ready and it is time to remove the pan from the heat.
   
6. If you heat the pan any longer your ghee will start to scorch, turn darker in color, and taste bad. turn off the heat and strain the clarified butter (ghee) through a mesh or tea strainer in a dry and clean (or sterilized) glass jar.
   
7. When ghee reaches room temperature, add just a tiny pinch of salt in the bottle of ghee and stir it around with a spoon. 
   
8. This helps to get the texture that you see in the ready made ghee. This golden yellow liquid will become grainy in a couple of hours.
   

IMP- Do NOT add salt if you want to use ghee for fasting or festival food.

Fresh homemade ghee/clarified butter is ready for use. It can be stored for several months at room temperature.

What to do with leftover milk solids in the strainer?

Well, you can add the milk solids into the dough while you knead wheat flour for making roti or eat it! …yes it kinda tastes like khoya. If you keep it out for too long, it will start to taste sour.

NOTES

• I used 2 lb. unsalted butter and it yielded 4½ cups of ghee. You can use half or double or triple amount of unsalted butter and follow the same procedure.
• The texture, color or taste of ghee depends on the source of milk from which the butter was made and the extent of boiling and simmering.
• Clarified butter has a higher smoke point than regular butter and is therefore preferred in cooking some recipes.  
• Clarified butter also has a much longer shelf life than fresh butter.