Indian Dessert Recipe - Lychee Kheer

Serves: 6-8
Preparation time: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients:

300 gm lychees, fresh or canned (if canned, chop into small pieces)
1 litre milk
3 tbsp khoya, grated
40 gm basmati rice
100 gm sugar
1/2 tsp green cardamom powder
A few drops of rose water
12 pistachios
12 almonds

Method:

1. Soak Basmati rice for 15 minutes, drain and coarsely grind.

2. Blanch almonds and pistachios. Remove skin and slice finely. Keep aside for garnish.

3. In a deep pan, pour milk and boil for 10 minutes stirring continuously so that the skin does not form on top. Add in coarsely ground rice and cook till the rice granules are soft.

4. Also add in the khoya, sugar, chopped lychees and stir for two minutes.

5. Sprinkle in green cardamom powder and rose water. Remove from heat.

6. Cool the kheer and pour in individual serving bowls. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and pistachios. Serve chilled.

Indian Dal Recipes - Masala Dal

Serves: 5-6
Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup toor dal (split gram)
2 medium tomatoes
A bunch of coriander leaves
2 tsp coriander powder
8-10 red chilies or 2-3 tsp chili powder
2-3 flakes garlic
A small piece of ginger
Some butter
3 small onions
1 tsp cumin seeds or powder
Few cardamoms, cloves & cinnamon
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Boil the toor dal in the pressure cooker for only two whistles. It should be just boiled and not too soft.

2. In the blender, grind together 2 onions, garlic, ginger, coriander leaves, tomatoes, cumin seeds, coriander powder and the red chilies or chili powder.

3. Slice the other onion finely and keep aside.

4. Melt butter in a pan and fry the sliced onion with the cardamoms, cinnamon stick and cloves.

5. When the onions are turning a little brown, add the ground masala and fry around 15-20 minutes. All the water should have evaporated and the paste should be dry.

6. Now add the boiled dal to it and add a little water to make gravy. Add salt to taste.

7. Boil for a while till you get the required consistency. This is really delicious if you make it right. It is also very easy.

8. The trick here is to fry the masala well. Serve hot with rice and papad.

Indian Dal Recipes - Tomato Shorba

Ingredients:

500g tomatoes
15g pepper corns
2 cloves
1 bunch of coriander & mint leaves each
20g dry methi (fenugreek) leaves
Salt to taste
1 small lemon
1/2 tsp sugar

Method :

1. Cut the tomatoes into big pieces. Add 3 glasses of water, salt, pepper corns, cloves, mint, cilantro and dry fenugreek leaves and boil for 30 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and sieve the ingredients. To this, add sugar, lemon juice, few coriander leaves and serve hot.

3. This helps as a medicine for cold and cough.

Indian Rice Recipes - Kheema Pulao

Ingredients:

1 kg kheema, cut into pieces
1 kg basmati rice
6 green chilies, sliced long
1 onion, sliced long
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 cup milk
Few coriander and cilantro leaves
6 each cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon
1 bay leaf
Few cashew nuts
1 cup ghee (butter) or oil
A pinch of saffron
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash the rice and kheema separately and keep aside.

2. Heat ghee in a pan, add bay leaf, cashews, chopped onions and green chilies and fry until brown.

3. Then add kheema with salt, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, rice and mix well.

4. For 1 kg of rice, add less than 2 kg of water including milk. Boil separately and add to the rice.

5. Add ground cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon to the rice and cook until done by covering the pan. Also add little saffron dissolved in milk or water.

6. Garnish with chopped mint and coriander leaves.

7. Serve hot with raita.

Indian Rice Recipes - Nawabi Biryani

Serves : 6
Preparation Time : 40-45 minutes

Ingredients:

325 gms basmati rice
1/2 kg mutton, cut in pieces
3 onions, sliced
1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp garam masala
3 red chilies
1" piece cinnamon
1/2 cup curd (yogurt), beaten
3 green cardamom
5 pepper corns
5 cloves
1/2 tsp shah jeera (black cumin seeds)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 pinch saffron, dissolved in 1/4 cup milk
5 jardalu (apricots)
Dry fruits, as required
Coriander leaves & pudina (mint) leaves, as required
Ghee, as required

Method:

1. Fry the dry fruits & apricots in 2 1/2 tbsp ghee with a little salt to taste.

2. Grind the fried onions and red chilies to a fine paste.

3. Marinate the mutton pieces with curd, ginger-garlic paste, onion paste, turmeric powder and salt.

4. In a pressure cooker heat ghee, add the marinated mutton and pressure cook till done.

5. Heat ghee again in another vessel, add the whole spices, fry for a while and then add the washed rice.

6. Add salt, warm water so that comes 1 1/2 inch above the rice and cook till the rice is done.

7. Remove, spread out to cool and remove the whole spices.

8. Now to assemble, apply ghee to a heavy bottomed vessel, add the cooked mutton and sprinkle little garam masala. Cover with a layer of rice, followed by a melted ghee and then the saffron milk.

9. Finally, add the fried nuts, cover tightly and keep on dum for 15-20 minutes.

10. Mix and serve hot garnished with chopped coriander & pudina.