Gajar Ka Halwa [Carrot Dessert]

My fondest memories of winters from past is of "gajar ka halwa". Winter would bring those juicy carrots in the market and at home, it would be a perfect division of labor. My dad usually bought the finest of carrots, never less than 2 kilos and of course, a good bargain. My job was to grate the carrots (whenever, I wanted to give up, I faked bruising my hands with the grating board and my Dad usually took over). And my Mom used to stand for 30 minutes or so next to the wok, stirring the milk and the carrots to make the delicious "Gajar ka Halwa".

This is also one of those dishes that Mom used to make "just to bring that sparkle in my eyes". And that makes it so special ...

Today, when carrots are available all through the year, the "all so special" feel about it is kinda gone - but, it still remains my favorite sweet dish. Let us start cooking now ... or what?
Ingredients
1. Carrots [1 lb]
2. Ghee [1/4 cup]
3. Milk [2 cups]
4. Sugar [1 cup]
5. Blanched cashews, raisins, almonds [1/4 cup] - optional

Preparation
1. Wash and peel the outer skin of the carrots
2. Grate the Carrots. [I use food processor these days]
3. In a bottomed saucepan, heat the ghee and fold in the grated carrots
4. Stir the carrots for about 3-4 minutes or until the ghee and carrots have nicely mixed
5. Pour the milk and stir occasionally till the milk starts thickening (on a medium heat)
6. Keep an eye because as the milk starts thickening, you will need to stir continuously
7. Add the sugar and stir some more
8. You may want to add some more ghee at this point of time depending on your appetite for ghee.
9. Once all the milk is condensed and the ghee starts oozing out, the halwa is complete. It will be of thick consistency
Serve hot, garnished with dry-fruits. You may preserve the halwa in refrigerator until consumed in a day or two. But serve hot each time - it tastes best when hot.
Additional tips
1. The more the ghee, the tastier is your halwa - but remember the fat quotient!
2. You may add some Khoya to add to the richer taste. If you have some sweets in your refrigerator like Kaju Katli, Milk Barfee - add 2-3 pieces of the same to the halwa - This will add to the thickening of the milk and replace the khoya.

Enjoy the delicious treat !

Yummy Chicken Sticks

This is a very interesting finger food and can be served with your drinks. Easy to make, and delicious to eat!

What you will need:

1. Chicken.
Breast Pieces cut in thin stripes. You can have about 4 stripes from one regular sized chicken breast piece. Glaze lightly the chicken stripes in 1 tbs melted butter.

2. Batter.
There will be a dry batter made with the following:
- Red Pepper [1 tsp]
- All purpose flour [2 tsp]
- Black Pepper [1 tsp]
- Grated Parmesan Cheese [2 tsp]
- Lemon Zest [1 tsp]
- Salt [to taste]

Preparation
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F
2. In a plastic pouch, put all the dry ingredients and shake well
3. Put the glazed chicken in the pouch and shake again - rigorously
4. The shaking will cause the batter to nicely coat the chicken stripes
5. Put the coated chicken stripes in oven for 10 minutes
6. Take tha chicken pieces out. They will be almost done. Glaze them thoroughly with some barbecue and spicy sauce on all the sides
7. Put the chicken back in oven and bake for another 5 minutes

Bake the chicken right before you are ready to serve, because you will not be able to resist the spicy and hot chicken for long!

PS: You can use this chicken in the quesadilla recipe, I have mentioned earlier 0r as a filling for sandwich.

Baked Spicy Fish

This is a very easy to make fish dish and it tastes awesome. It will take about 5 minutes to prepare and about 10-12 minutes to bake.

You can use sea-food spice powder to coat the fish. You can get this in any store in the Asian food section. Do not worry, if you do not have it. Follow the recipe below:

Steps
Pre-heat the oven to 350F

Mix the following ingredients together -
1. Red Pepper flakes [2 tsp]
2. Thyme [1 tsp]
3. Rosemary [1/2 tsp]
4. Black pepper [1/2 tsp]
5. Onion Powder
6. Garlic Powder
7. Salt to taste

Rub the fish fillets with the spice mixture above. Next, baste an oven proof base and put the fish fillet. Squeeze 1/2 lemon juice and cover the fish with fresh parsley and mint herbs.

Bake the fish for 8 minutes. Turn the fish once and bake for another 4 minutes. Remove the herbs from the fish and serve in a platter.
The fish should be juicy and soft and it should melt in your mouth when done!

Quick Quesadilla

This is a simple recipe to make quesadilla at home. It turns out pretty fine, the first time. A quesadilla is a toasted tortilla with melted cheese inside. Infact, 'queso' in Spanish means "cheese". Tortilla is the base used to make the quesedilla, and is usually made with corn flour. I used regular and jalepano tortillas in this recipe.

You can stuff a variety of fillings in the Quesadilla, however, this is not a requirement. In this recipe, I am making Chicken Quesadilla.

You will need:

1. Tortillas

2. Grated Cheddar Cheese

3. Grated Monterey Jack Cheese

4. Olive rings [Optional]

5. Bell Pepper rings [Optional]

6. Grilled Chicken breast pieces

Steps to make Quesadilla

1. Pre-heat the oven at 300F

2. In a working board, place the tortilla

3. On half side of the tortilla, top generously with Grated Cheese

4. Spread the chicken pieces, olives and pepper rings on the cheese. Sprinkle some more cheese

5. Fold the tortilla to cover the stuffings, quite like an omlette

6. You may combine some salsa to the stuffing.

7. Place the stuffed tortillas in the oven and bake for 3-4 minutes, or untill the cheese has melted and the tortillas are crispy

8. Once, out of the oven, cut each quesadilla into wedges. Three wedge per quesadilla is the ideal size.

The chicken stuffing can be bought from frozen food section of any food store. Or, you can make them at home as described here.

Server with Guacamole, sour cream and Salsa for a delicious meal.
You can make quesedillas with variety of stuffings, including, shrimp, other meats or vegetables.

Enjoy!

Black - Dry Garbanzo - Pindi Chana

This is the Garbanzo (chick-peas) recipe with a twist!

Ingredients
1. Chick Peas 2 cups
2. Whole Garam Masala (Spices) [3-4 cloves, 3-4 cardamoms, 1" cinamon, 1 Bay leaf, 2 Red Chillies]
3. Chopped Onions [1 large]
4. Chopped Tomatoes [2]
5. Ginger Paste [1 tsp]
6. Garlic Paste [1 tsp]
7. Turmeric Powder, Chilly Powder, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder [1 tsp each]
8. Garam Masala Powder [1 tsp]
9. Salt to taste
10. Dry Amla [Indian Gooseberry; 1 Amla broken into pieces]
11. A tea bag or 2 tsp tea in a porous pouch.

Pre-preparation
The Garbanzo Beans need to be soaked over night before they are ready for cooking. To speed up the process, wash and soak the beans in hot water. 2 Cups of water for 1 cup of peas. Add a pinch of salt to the water.

On the day of cooking, boil the already soaked peas with the Amla pieces and Tea Bag - in Microwave for 10 minutes or for 3 whistles in a pressure cooker. The peas should be soft enough to get mashed when pressed with fingers. Do not drain away the water used for boiling.
The tea will add to the dark color and the amla will add a sour-tangy flavor of the peas. The water will be added to the gravy.

The difference in the color can be seen in the image below:
Preparation
1. In a wok, heat some oils and add the whole spices [ingredient no 2] and let them to splutter
2. Add chopped onions and ginger-garlic paste. Stir well
3. When the onions look golden yellow, add the dry spices [ingredient no 7]
4. Stir and mix the onions with the spices.
5. Now, add the chopped tomatoes and fry some more.
6. When the gravy is almost ready, add the chick-peas and mix well.
7. Gradually add the water (that was used for boiling) to the wok.
8. Add salt to taste. Add the powdered garam masala.
9. Cover the wok and let it cook on low heat for 5 minutes
10. Keep it on heat until desired consistency is reached

Serve Hot
Garnish with Onions, wedge of lemon and tomato slice. A dollop of butter will add to the Steam! Serve hot with Rotis

A Turnaround Dinner [Chicken Fried Rice]

A turnaround dinner??? Yes, when instead of 'Kichdi' you have a 'Chicken Fried Rice with Red Wine' served on a candle lit table', a turnaround dinner is in the making! After all, December brings in Romance in the air, why not get some of it to your dinner table :)

The story. One look at the refrigerator and I knew that it has to be Khichdi tonight. With 1/4th of capsicum, 3-4 mushroom cuts, 3-4 florets of cauliflower, 1 egg and 2 pieces of chicken in the refrigerator, neither could I make a veggie side nor a non-veg side! But, wait a minute ... 1/4th of capsicum, 3-4 mushroom cuts, 3-4 florets of cauliflower, 1 egg and 2 pieces of chicken? Enough, when all taken together, right?. And here I go ... making an interesting Chicken Fried Rice.

The Preparation
1. Steam rice for two people, the usual way
2. Cut the two chicken pieces into small bite sized cubes. It will be about a small bowl. Mix black pepper, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt
3. In a pan, heat some oil and stir fry the chicken pieces for 3-4 minutes. Cover for 2 minutes and stir again. Add 1 tbsp of sriracha sauce. If you do not have this - add a spicy sauce that you may have at home. This is just to add spice to the chicken. Stir some more
4. At this point, add 1/2 a cup of red wine and stir again. Cover the pan for 2 more minutes. By now, the chicken will be done and will have absorbed all the flavors.
5. Take the fried chicken out of the wok
You get the point - you can serve this as an appetizer in a party by itself!
6. In the same oil, scramble the egg. When done, take out of the wok.
7. Take a deep bottomed wok, add 2 tbsp oil. Add some whole spices (3 cardamom, 3-4cloves, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1"cinnamon, 2 red chilly)
8. When the spices start spluttering, add finely chopped onions (1/2 onion) and 1 tsp ginger paste. Stir and mix nicely
9. When the onions start glazing, add the cut vegetables. Stir and cover for 2 minutes
10. Add 2 tsp 'Sriracha Sauce' and mix the vegetables nicely.
11. Mix the chicken pieces and scrambled eggs. Add some red pepper flakes and salt to the mixture in the wok. Stir some more
12. After 2 minutes, mix the steamed rice and stir nicely, mixing the rice to the vegetables and the chicken
13. Add 2 tsp of Ghee on top of the rice. This adds to the flavor of the recipe. Cover the lid of the wok and lower the flame. Keep it on heat for another 2-3 minutes.

The grand finale
Garnish the Fried Rice with some mint twigs. Pour yourselves some nice red wine and light a candle. You are all set for a romantic dinner :)

Crispy Spicy Eggplant

This is an extremely easy to make recipe that can be quickly added as a starter to your menu. And believe me, the taste is yummylicious!

What you need
1. Chinese eggplant [2 average sized eggplants will make approximately 20 pieces] cut horizontally, a diagonal cut as shown above will add to the drama!
2. Cayenne Pepper
3. Parmesan Cheese
4. Sun Dried Tomatoes
5. Salt to Taste
6. Oil [for basting]

Let's get Started
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F
2. Spray some oil on an oven proof tray [ you can use a cookie sheet]
3. Spread the cut eggplant pieces on the sheet keeping small distance between each pieces
4. Spray some cayenne pepper and salt on each eggplant piece. Turn them and repeat the same on the other side. Now the eggplants will be nicely coated with pepper and salt
5. Pour few drops of oil on each pieces
6. Keep in oven for 15 minutes
7. After 15 minutes, take out the eggplants. They will be almost cooked by now.
8. Top a tsp of Sun Dried Tomato on each piece and cover with shredded Parmesan cheese
9. Put the tray back in oven and keep it for another 10-15 minutes.
Serve hot.
This is a very easy and delicious starter. If you have kids, encourage them to make it :)