Nankhatai (Indian cookies)

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour (maida)

1 cup gran flour (besan)

2/3 cup powdered sugar

A pinch of powdered cardamom

1 cup cooking oil (do not use strong flavoured oils like olive oil or sesame oil)

Sliced almonds or pistachios 

Mix together all ingredients except sliced almonds and pistachios. Knead to form a dough.

Preheat oven for 15 mins at 180 Celsius.

Form small discs and slightly flatten the top. Then draw a cross with a knife. Garnish with chopped nuts and bake for 12-15 minutes.

The nankhatais will double in size. The bottom will brown slightly and the top will turn a little goldenish.

Let cool on a wire rack. When hit the cookies will be soft and will crumble when tried to touch. They harden when cooked.

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons milk powder

2 tablespoons flour (maida)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoons milk

2 spoons oil/butter

Make a dough and small balls (they expand in sugar syrup) 

Fry in slow heat till golden brown.

Syrup 

2 cups sugar

2 3/4 cup water

A pinch of ground cardamom

Saffron

3-4 drops rose water 

Heat till sugar melts and another 2-3 minutes (about 15 minutes on medium flame).

Add fried balls to the hot syrup cover and heat for 1 minute.

Switch off gas and let remain for 1/2 to 1 hour.

If the balls are hard and the syrup hasn't penetrated, boil the syrup until it covers all the balls. Cover and let remain (not usually necessary).

Lachha paratha

Lachha paratha is a flaky Indian paratha.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons salt

Water

Oil

Ghee (clarified butter, can substitute with oil or butter)

Some more flour

Add salt to the wheat flour and about 1 tablespoon oil and knead with water into a soft dough. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 30 minutes.

Divide into 7-8 equal sized balls and roll each in a thin round shape about 6-8 inches in diameter. Spread a thin layer of ghee all over one side and sprinkle flour. Then make small folds like a fan. Pull the ends to stretch and roll like a coil.

Sprinkle some flour and roll into a paratha about 6 inches in diameter. You can make it larger or smaller (larger will have more layers but tougher to cook).

Heat a griddle and put the paratha. Once you see small bubbles forming, flip it and let cook on medium to low heat. Generously apply ghee or oil on the semi cooked side and flip and then apply oil or ghee on the other side. Keep pressing while cooking to get a crispy and flaky cover.

Methi mutter malai

Ingredients:

1 medium onion chopped

12-15 cashewnuts

1 cup methi (fenugreek), finely chopped

1 cup green peas boiled

100ml cream

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 green chillies

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

2 teaspoons chopped ginger

1 bay leaf

A piece of cinnamon

2-3 pods black pepper

2-3 pods cardamom

Oil

Salt

Garam masala

In a wok heat oil and add while spices. When fragrant add onion,green chillies, ginger and garlic and cook until translucent and soft.

Let cool. In a blender add the onion mixture and cashewnuts and grind to a smooth paste.

Chop methi finely and sprinkle some salt and leave aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze to remove water. This is to remove any bitterness from the methi.

In a wok heat oil and add cumin seeds when hot. Once they begin to crackle add the onion and cashewnuts paste and cook, stirring continuously until oil starts to leave sides. At this point the paste will start changing colour becoming slightly sand coloured. Add some water (not too much, about 1/4 cup should suffice), green peas and methi.

Add salt to taste, garam masala and cream and let simmer for about 5 minutes.

Serve hot with roti or paratha.

Dinner Rolls/ Pav (Indian bread)

Ingredients:

500 grams all purpose flour (maida)

20 grams fresh yeast

1 cup lukewarm milk

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons melted butter

Oil

In a large bowl (large, since the dough needs space to rise) take 450-475 grams flour, yeast, sugar, salt and biter and knead with milk. I used skimmed milk, but regular milk works just as well. You may even use water instead of milk, but the bread is softer of kneaded with milk.

Knead into a soft mixture. The mixture will be wet and sticky but will come together as you knead it. It must be very soft and slightly sticky. Then on a work surface smear flour and knead the dough. You may need to smear flour 2-3 times. Knead for 5-7 minutes.

Oil a large bowl (the bowl you used initially is fine) and add about half a spoonful of oil the the dough and knead it to mix the oil with dough. Let this rest for 2-3 hours in a dry and dark place (inside the oven or a kitchen cabinet). The dough will double in size (maybe even more than double). Knead it again to take the air out, but only for a minute. Do not over knead.

Shape it into the desired shape and put it on your baking tray and let rest inside the oven (not switched on) for 45 mins approx.

Then bake at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes. You will notice the top changing colour. When you get the bread out of the oven they will look hard and dry, but are actually soft of you press them. Brush some oil or butter in the dinner rolls and enjoy!

PS:  you may add herbs, olives, caramelised onion, sun dried tomatoes to

give your dinner rolls a different flavour.

Whole wheat chocolate and cinnamon cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour (refund flour may be used)

2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 spoon cinnamon powder (you may use 1/2 cinnamon and 1/2 nutmeg if you wish)

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

4-5 drops vanilla essence

1/4 cup oil

Sieve together dry ingredients, except sugar.

In a bowl take sugar and water and stir till sugar dissolves. Then add vanilla essence and oil and stir well.

Add this liquid to the dry ingredients and whisk well to ensure no lumps are formed.

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes and bake for 15-20 minutes (if cupcakes) or 30-40 minutes (if in a cake mould).

Insert a toothpick in the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is done.

Gajar ka halwa

Ingredients -

1 kg carrots, peeled and grated (red carrots work better)

250gms sugar

1 litre milk (you may use skimmed if you choose to)

4 tablespoons ghee/oil

1 teaspoon powdered cardamom powder

1 tablespoon poppy seeds (khuskhus)

Nuts to garnish 

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. When hot add cardoon powder and a minute later add the carrots. Cook carrots until the water evaporates completely. This could take about 20-30 minutes. Must be done on slow/medium flame.

Then add milk and cook on low flame till the milk evaporates completely and the mixture is dry again.

Then add sugar and poppy seeds and cook on low flame for another 5 minutes till done.

Garnish with chopped nuts.

Serve warm.

Can be stored in the fridge for upto week.