Channa Tondak | Blog Hop Wednesday

How time flies by? It feels as if it was only yesterday that Radhika had sent us a mail regarding Blog Hop and we had some interesting email exchanges and then everything got finalized and is in full swing now. I can’t believe we are already into the 3rd week of Blog Hopping. Through this I have been introduced to many new blogger friends.

This time around, I landed in Raksha’s space. I came by her space through the blog hop and am glad to have found it. She has a good collection of recipes with a few traditional Goan recipes. I wanted to try out something different and Goan recipes are something very new to me. I decided to try out this simple but authentic recipe of Channa Tondak. I have followed her recipe to the T adjusting only the spice levels. You can find the original recipe here.

The result was something very similar to the Kerala Kadala Curry with flavors of Whole coriander seeds and peppercorns. I also loved the addition of tamarind in it rather than always using tomatoes for the tanginess. Now to the recipe:

Serves: 3 – 4

What you’ll need:

1. Brown Channa - 1 cup
2. Potato – 1 medium
3. Onion - 3 medium sized
4. Scraped Fresh Coconut – ½ cup
5. Whole Coriander Seeds – 2 tsps
6. Black Peppercorns – 7 to 8
7. Dried Red Chillies – 2
8. Cloves – 2
9. Garlic – 4 pods
10. Tamarind - marble sized ball
11. Turmeric Powder – a big pinch
12. Salt to taste
13. Oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Soak Channa overnight. Drain the water, wash well and pressure cook it with the potato. Keep aside.
Heat Kadai, dry roast the coriander seeds, peppercorns, red chillies and cloves till nice aroma comes. Transfer to a plate and keep aside.

Now add ½ tbsp of oil in the same Kadai, add the sliced onions and sauté for few minutes next add the chopped garlic and fry for another 2 minutes. Now add the scraped coconut and fry in medium flame till the coconut changes color slightly, finally add the tamarind and switch off the flame. This is to ensure that the tamarind becomes soft.

Once the above ingredients have cooled, grind everything, i.e, the coriander seeds, peppercorns, red chillies, cloves and the fried onion, coconut and tamarind to a fine paste using little water.

Now heat a Kadai, with the remaining oil, add the ground paste, a pinch of turmeric powder, cooked Channa , diced potatoes and salt to taste. Add about ½ to 1 cup of water depending upon the consistency and let everything boil together for about 5 to 8 minutes in medium flame. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Hot and tasty Channa Tondak is ready. Serve with rotis or phulkas.

Note:

You can use any variety of legumes for preparing this like dried green peas, Kabuli Channa etc.

Now let's check out what our other blogger friends are upto.

Linking this to Blog Hop Wednesday and MLAA - 38

hosted by Preeti started by Susan

Green Moong and Mixed Veggie Pulao

I love cooking one pot meals the reason being very obvious – healthy and quick. So here is yet another healthy and nutritious one pot meal that gets ready in minutes – Moong Dal and Mixed Veggie Pulao.

A well balanced vegetarian meal should always have a rice, dal and veggies combo, (Carbohydrates, Proteins and Vitamins) which is fulfilled by this dish. All this sounds very good, but how many of our kids have rice and dal when given as such? At least my daughter can’t even stand the sight of the regular yellow dal. Now with this recipe at hand, I know how to sneak in my dal and veggies. This pulao was a super hit with both my daughter and H. It is a perfect healthy lunch box recipe and is a keeper for me. Now to the recipe:

Serves: 3 to 4

What you’ll need:

1. Basmathi Rice - 1 ½ cups
2. Whole Green Moong – ¾ cup
3. Carrot – 1 medium
4. Potato – 1 medium
5. Fresh or Frozen Green Peas – a handful
6. Onion – 2 Medium
7. Tomatoes – 2 to 3 Medium

For Grinding

1. Ginger – a small piece
2. Garlic – 3 to 4
3. Green chilles – 2 to 3
4. Scraped Fresh coconut – 1 tblsp
5. Fresh Coriander Leaves – a small bunch

For Seasoning

1. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
2. Bay Leaf – 1
3. Cloves – 2
4. Elaichi – 2
5. Cinnamon – a small piece
6. Cashewnuts - a few
7. Oil and ghee – 1 tbsp

Method

Soak the whole moong for 3 to 4 hours. Grind the items mentioned under to grind to a fine paste without adding water. Wash, peel and chop the veggies into cubes. Wash and drain basmathi rice.

Heat a pressure cooker with the oil and ghee. Add the items mentioned under (for seasoning). Fry for a minute. Now add the sliced onions and fry till onions turn light brown. Next add the chopped tomatoes and fry till they are soft. Next add the veggies one after the other and sauté for another minute. Now add the ground paste and fry for about 2 minutes on medium heat. Next add the soaked moong and the rice. Saute for about 2 minutes or till all the moisture is evaporated. In the meanwhile, boil about 2 ¼ cups of water. Add the boiling water to the rice and veggies as soon as the moisture is evaporated. Now add salt to taste Stir well and cook covered for about 2 whistles.

Healthy and tasty Moong dal pulao is ready. Serve with a raita of your choice.

Notes

1. Though I did not have the time to sprout my moong, feel free to use the sprouted one too.
2. You can use other vegetables like, French beans, cauliflower or capsicum.

Some Useful Tips

1. Always soak any kind of legume for at least 20 to 30 minutes in warm water to get complete benefit out of it.
2. Always drain the water in which the legumes are soaked, wash it again and use fresh water for cooking. It is said that legumes leave out some toxins upon soaking.

Sending this to Smita’s Healthy Cooking Challenge hosted Anamika and to Susan’s MLAA 38 hosted by Preeti

7 Links Game and Awards

Hello Friends!

Today’s post is nothing to do with any new recipe…It’s about an interesting game – The 7 Links Game. I was tagged by Shobha of Good Food. She has such a lovely space with very healthy and innovative recipes. Please to check out her space. Now coming to the game:
The blogger who is tagged in this game has to choose the most apt posts from his/her blog and provide links for the following categories:

1. The most beautiful post
2. The most popular post
3. The most controversial post
4. The most helpful post
5. The post that was surprisingly successful
6. The post that did not get the attention it deserved
7. The post I am most proud of

Then the blogger needs to publish these with a brief write up as to why they have chosen it. Finally the blogger has to tag 5 other bloggers who would continue this interesting game of 7 Links.

Now that my space has around 80 recipes, this game gave me a chance to revisit my older posts. It just brought back some good memories as to how this blog came into being in the first place. The story for later though.Now let’s get with the job at hand:

The most beautiful post: Thenga Podi/Coconut Powder<

I took a lot of time photographing this Podi and this especially close to my heart because it is the first picture that got selected in the Kitchen Artistry. I was elated.

The most popular post: Peanut Chutney

This post has got the maximum number of hits till date. This is also chutney which I keep making very frequently and it is a family favorite.

The most controversial post: I don’t think I have one

The most helpful post: Karadayan Nonbu Adai

I had posted this just 2 days before the festival, so that it would be of help to the beginners. And I think it did help many.

The post that was surprisingly successful: Barley Coconut Milk Payasam

This is recipe is kind of innovated by me. Though we all loved it. I really did not expect that it would be so well appreciated. One of blogger friends even tried it out and has posted it her space.

The post that did not get the attention it deserved: Navarathri Pulinkari

I really spent a long time writing this post. It is one of my longest posts and is one of favorite traditional recipe. I thought it deserved more.

The post I am most proud of: Rasagulla

Rasagulla was something which I never imagined I would try making at home. And the first time I tried I got it very right. I kind of liked the clicks as well. I have followed this same procedure and made it 3 to 4 times now and the recipe never fails me.

Now coming to the next part of the game, selecting 5 blogger friends:

Shylaja of South Indian Home

Jay of Tasty Appetite

Sravani of Srav’s Culinary Concepts

Vidhya of Sugar N Spice

Khusi of A Girl’s Diary

Hope you guys will participate. Waiting to see your posts.

Now to the Awards

Jay of Tasty Appetite has showered me with these beautiful awards.

Jay is a great blogger, blogging for around 2 years now. She has a wide range of recipes to choose from. Please do visit her space. Thanks Jay for thinking of me. An award always makes you feel honored.

I would like to pass on these awards as a token of recognition to a few of my friends. Now here is the toughest part of choosing a few among so many good friends..

1. Shobha
2. Suhasini
3. Priya
4. Priya Sreeram
5. Priya Mahadevan
6. Reshmi Mahesh
7. Sangee Vijay
8. Premalatha Aravindan
9. Anu

Thanks for reading through this lengthy post guys!

Dahi Kebabs

Kebabs to my mom usually meant something non vegetarian and we being strict vegetarians, eggetarian rather, she never ventured to learning to make it neither did we try it anywhere outside cos we had so many other not so ambiguous yummy dishes to choose from. Kebab, according to Wikipedia is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Iraq and later on adopted by the Middle East and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. My mother was not wrong after all.

I love watching cookery shows, reading magazines like Femina (mainly for their recipe section) and of course! sit and surf the net that too for the same thing: new recipes. So now you know how much I love cooking, and trying out different things. But these things are not working out very much now a days, since my younger one wants all my attention all the time. (She’s sleeping rite now!). In one such T. V. show, I saw the recipe for some vegetarian kebabs and just liked the look of it. I tried it at once and the result was awesome and since then I always jump with joy when I hear the words Vegetarian Kebabs.

When mom, was visiting my aunt, she made these yummy Dahi kebabs for her. My mom too loved them and she immediately noted down the recipe for me and I made them yesterday evening as an after school snack for my paneer loving daughter. They were very very yummy, crispy and crunchy on the outside and soft inside. My daughter just couldn’t stop eating them.

Makes about 10 medium sized Kebabs

What you’ll need

1. Paneer – 250 gms
2. Hung curd – 4 tblsp
3. Bread Slices – 2
4. Chutney Dal – 2 tsps
5. Coriander Leaves – ½ a bunch
6. Green chillies – 2
7. Garlic – 4 to 5 cloves
8. Chaat Masala – ½ tsp
9. Pepper Powder – ½ tsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil for shallow frying

Method

Crumble the paneer well. Powder the bread slices and chutney dal separately. Grind coriander leaves, green chillies and garlic to a fine paste without adding any water.
In a bowl, add the paneer and hung curd and mix it well with your hands. Next add the coriander, chilli and garlic paste. Mix well. Now add the bread powder and chutney dal powder. Mix well. Finally add in the salt, chaat Masala and pepper powder. Give everything a good mix.
Heat a frying pan with oil for shallow frying, pinch out big lemon sized balls and shape them into tikkis. You could also make them oblong shaped. Shallow fry them in medium flame.

Tasty Kebabs are ready. Enjoy it with tomato ketchup or green chutney with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

Notes:

For making hung curd at home, I used Nestle Set Curd and poured it in a sieve and allowed it to drip for about 1 hour. Alternately you can tie the curd in a muslin cloth and hang it, till the whey water drips completely and you are left with creamy hung curd.

The paneer mixture feels a little wet, pinch out a small ball pat them into tikkis, if they don’t stick to your palms and come out easily then its ok else you can add a little more bread crumbs or chutney dal powder.

While frying, make sure that the oil is hot enough, if the oil is not hot then the kebabs may spilt in the oil. You could use a non stick tava and pan fry them too using just about a few spoon of oil.

The kebabs will be slightly dark colored on the outside.

Sending this to Khushi’s What’s on your Kebab Platter, Sravani’s Cooking Concepts#2 – Appetizers, Sukanya’s Monsoon Medely, Jabeen’s Iftar Nights and Ayeesha’s Anyone Can Cook – Series 31

Mangai Kootan

Kootan in Palakkad lingua means Kuzhambu, something that’s like gravy and can be mixed with rice. As I have mentioned in one of my previous posts, I mostly like North Indian cuisine and so I never learnt to cook any of our day to day dishes which mom used to make on a regular basis. Then, once marriage got fixed, and I came to know that hubby dear is a diehard fan of our regular homemade food and does not prefer other cuisines, I had to equip myself with the bare minimum, i.e molagootal, Sambar and Rasam. I have a diary in which I sat and noted all the Palakkad recipes. Though I don’t use that diary very often these days, but it has helped many of my other newly married cousins and also hubby dear, when I am not around.

H is really fond of these yogurt based Kootans, like Mor Kuzhambu, Rasakalan, and this Mangai Kootan. Actually, mangai kootan is everyone’s favorite in our house and once the mango season starts, its mango dishes all the way till the end of the season.

Though the mango season has come to end, my hubby found some mangoes in a Kerala shop nearby, and could not resist his temptation to buy it. So, came hubby with these perfectly green raw mangoes. (I wonder though, how the shop keeper managed to get them in this season.) But they tasted quite good. One of them was straightaway cut and eaten as it is. With the remaining I made this Kootan about 2 or 3 times. So here is the recipe:

Serves: 4

What you’ll need:

1. Raw Mango – 1 Medium size

2. Malabar Vellari /Ash gourd - 1 cup cubed

3. Drumstick - 1 cut into finger sized pieces
4. Beaten Curds – 1.5 cups
5. Jaggery – 1 Tbsp
6. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
7. Salt to taste

To grind

1. Fresh scraped coconut – 1 cup
2. Fenugreek Seeds/ Methi – ½ tsp
3. Dried Red Chillies – 3 to 4

For Tempering

1. Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
2. Curry Leaves a few
3. Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Method

Wash, peel and cut the mango into medium sized pieces. In a vessel, cook the mango pieces, along with the ashgourd and drumstick pieces with salt, turmeric powder and enough water.

Once the mangoes are half done, add the jaggery. And stir well. Let it boil till the mangoes and vegetables are fully cooked.
In the meanwhile, heat a small frying pan, and fry the methi seeds and red chillies taking care not to burn the methi seeds. Allow to cool. Then grind these with the coconut adding little water, into a fine smooth paste.

Once the mangoes are done, add the ground paste to it and let it boil for about 2 minutes. Finally, reduce the heat to low and slowly add the whisked curds and blend well. Check for salt and add it if required. Simmer for about a minute or till the gravy just starts foaming. Remove from heat. Garnish with curry leaves. Temper with mustard seeds.

Yummy Manga Kootan is ready. Serve with steaming rice and any stir fry of your choice.

Notes:

1. If mangoes are not sour, you will have to use sour curds else  a day old curd will do.
2. Adjust quantity of jaggery according to sourness of the mango. Add more if required.
3. Do not boil, after adding the whisked curds else, the curds will split. ( you can turn off the heat and add it too)
4. If you want to reduce the quantity of coconut, add a tsp of raw rice while grinding the paste.
5. Make sure the methi seeds are fried will but not burnt, else the kootan will turn bitter.

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Vidhya and to CWS - Fenugreek seeds hosted by Priya started by Kiran Also sending this to Flavors of South India hosted by Nayana

Garlic Mushroom Rice

This is the 2nd week of blog hopping an event started by Radhika and this time I found myself in Priya Mahadevan’s space: Now Serving. I am always amazed at her innovativeness. With a few ingredients at hand she creates wonderful dishes. Many of her dishes caught my eye like the Almond Cashew Falafels, Hanuman Vadai,Cocktail Veggies and Paneer hor d’oeuvres.

I decided to try out this simple yet flavorful and delicious rice from her space. Mushrooms are liked well by my daughter and hubby, also I tend to prepare a lot of flavored rice varieties for my kiddos and H’s lunch box and hence the choice. By the time I finished making the rice; my daughter had come a dozen times and checked if it was ready. All of us simply loved it. This recipe is going to be a regular at my place. You can find the original recipe here.

Serves: 3 – 4

What you’ll need:

1. Basmathi Rice – 2 cups
2. White Button Mushrooms – 10 to 12
3. Garlic – 4 to 5 cloves
4. Green Chillies – 2 to 3
5. Tomato – 2 medium
6. Spring Onions – 4 to 5 stems
7. Black Pepper Powder – ½ tsp
8. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
9. Salt to taste
10. Oil – 2 tsps

Method

Cook rice separately, cool and keep it aside.

Chop the spring onions, green chillies and garlic. Slice the mushrooms. Puree the tomatoes.

Heat a Kadai with oil, add the chopped garlic and sauté for a minute. Next add in the chillies and spring onions. Fry till the onions turn pink. Now add the sliced mushrooms and turmeric powder. Fry till the mushrooms are done. Now add the tomato puree and stir well for few minutes or till the puree is almost absorbed. Now add the cooked rice, salt and pepper powder. Stir well on high flame till the flavors blend.

Garlic mushroom rice is ready.

Let's check out what's cooking in the other Blog Hoppers Spaces.

Linking this to Radhika's Blog Hop Wednesdays, Jabeen's Iftar Nights and Ayeesha's Anyone Can Cook Series - 30 Also Linding this to Sameena's Rice Event And to Herbs and Flowers Garlic hosted by Vardhini originally started by PJ

Badami Peas Masala

My cooking endeavors started when I was in my 11 std. I love north Indian food, be it there rotis, naans or the wide variety of subjis. I was never a rice person, i.e never liked to have the regular Sambar and rice though fried rice, biriyanis and pulaos were always welcome. So the first things that I learnt to make were rotis and few north Indian curries like Chole, Matar paneer etc. And since I am a roti person, I am always on the lookout for easy to make and tasty gravies.

Today’ s recipe is one such, which I saw on TV very recently. It is a very simple dish and requires very few ingredients. This is different from the regular onion tomato based gravy and it goes very well with rotis and flavored rice. Do try it and let me know how you liked it :)

Serves 2

What you’ll need

1. Fresh or Frozen Peas – 1 cup
2. Onion - 1 medium
3. Green chillies – 2 or 3
4. Almonds/Badam – 10
5. Milk – 1 ½ cups
6. Bay Leaf – 1
7. Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
8. Oil – 2 tsps
9. Salt to taste
10. Coriander leaves for garnish

Method

Slice the onions lengthwise, slit green chillies and keep aside. Soak almonds in hot water for about 10 minutes. Remove the skin and grind them along with about ¼ cup of milk. Boil the green peas.
Heat a Kadai with oil. Add the bay leaf and cumin seeds. After a minute, add the sliced onions and the slit green chillies. Sauté till the onions turn pink. Now add the almond paste and sauté for few more minutes. Now add the boiled peas, salt and the remaining milk. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Badami Peas Masala is ready. Serve hot with rotis or any flavored rice of your choice.

Note:

Increase number of almonds to get richer and thicker gravy.

You could also add other vegetables like Carrots, Beans, potatoes etc.

Linking this to Radhika’s Let’s Cook – Subjis for Rotis and Ayeesha’s Anyone can Cook

Chammanthi Podi/Thengai Podi/Roasted Coconut Chutney Powder

Palakkad Chamayal, my blog, was started with the intention of preserving traditional age old Palakkad recipes. Though I have posted a number of Palakkadan recipes, but for quite some time now I have not been doing enough justice to the name of my space. So when I came across the Kerala Kitchen Event announcement at Vidhya’s space, I was very happy. Now I have every reason to post some Palakkad Special recipes.

Here is one such recipe- Chammanthi Podi or Thengai Podi. Found in almost every Kerala household. There are many different versions of this podi. Some use, Coriander seeds, ginger, garlic etc. The recipe I have blogged here has no onion or garlic. I got this recipe from my Sis – in –law’s Mother. This Chammanthi Podi is a blend of roasted Urad dal, Dried Red Chillies, Tamarind and coconut. Again, the proportions of Urad Dal vary from house to house. It comes in very handy when you are not in mood for elaborate cooking. Just mix a few spoonfuls of the podi with some steaming hot rice accompanied by papads. It also goes well with idlis and dosas or with curd rice.

Makes about 250gms

What you’ll need:

1. Fresh grated coconut – 2 cups
2. White Urad Dal – ¾ cup
3. Dried Red Chillies – 15 (adjust according to your spice level)
4. Tamarind – gooseberry size
5. Hing – a small piece
6. A big handful of curry leaves
7. Oil – 1 tsp
8. Salt to taste

Method

Heat a Kadai with a tsp of oil, add the piece of hing and let it puff up. Once puffed, remove it onto another plate. Add the urad dal and fry till continuously on medium flame, till the dal turn golden brown. Remove it on to the plate. Now fry the red chillies (I used the long variety). Transfer this also onto the plate. Turn off heat and add the tamarind piece into the Kadai. Turn it around for about a minute. Also add the curry leaves and let the leaves wilt. Heat the Kadai again, and fry the grated coconut. Fry continuously, till the coconut has browned well. This could take anywhere between 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a different plate and allow to cool.

Now in a mixie jar, add the red chillies, urad dal, hing, tamarind, curry leaves and salt. Grind till all the ingredients are powdered well. Finally add the roasted coconut and pulse it for a few seconds.

Tasty Chammanthi Podi is ready.

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Vidhya originally started by Rose and Ria

Mushroom Matar Masala

My father was a person who used to love food. He had certain favorites like Verum Arisi Adai, Adai, Egg Curry etc. Actually my mother was a pure vegetarian before her marriage. After tying the knot with my father, she was introduced to many things which she had not tasted before. One of the items was eggs. My father himself was a good cook and he used to love making dishes out of eggs like Egg Fried Rice, and Egg Curry. So out of compulsion my mom became an eggetarian, though she never enjoyed it very much. But we kids loved eggs. Now after my marriage, my husband and his family are strict vegetarians, so I have stopped having eggs. (With the exception of baked goodies, of course!)

Another such item which my father introduced us to was Mushrooms. In the beginning none of us liked it. But he did not give up on us, and slowly over the years, I and my brother started liking it, but still my mom does not like it very much. It’s been thirteen long years since my father left us and I dedicate this post to my dear father.

So here is a Mushroom recipe which I tried from Sanjeev Kapoor’s Cook Book. I have tried it umpteen numbers of times and it never fails me. It is a simple and yummy side dish for rotis. You could also serve it with some Jeera Rice.

What you’ll need:

1. Fresh Button Mushrooms – 200 gms
2. Fresh or frozen green peas – 1 cup
3. Onion – 2 medium
4. Tomatoes – 3 medium
5. Ginger – a small piece
6. Garlic – 2 cloves
7. Cashew nuts – 6 – 8
8. Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
9. Bay Leaf – 1
10. Elaichi - 2
11. Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
12. Dhaniya Powder – 1 tsp
13. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
14. Oil – 2 tblsp

Method

Finely chop onions, and garlic. Grate ginger. Grind tomatoes and keep aside. Clean, wash and cut mushrooms into quarters. Also soak the cashews in hot water for 5 minutes and grind it into a smooth paste.

Heat a Kadai with oil. Season with cumin seeds, bay leaf and Elaichi. Add onions and sauté until light brown. Next add the garlic and ginger. Fry for about a minute. Next add in the tomato paste and fry till all the moisture is absorbed and oil starts leaving the sides. Now add in the spice powders – Chilli powder, dhaniya powder and garam Masala powder fry for about 2 minutes. Now add the cashew nut paste mixed with about 1 cup of water. Once it starts boiling, add the mushroom and green peas. Cover and cook till the peas done. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rotis or parathas.

Linking this to Aipi and Priya’s Bookmarked Recipes and Radhika’s Let’s Cook – Subzis for Rotis

Blog Hop Wednesday - Khira/Chenna Payesh/Paneer Payasam

Finally, it’s time to post for the Blog Hop Wednesday. I am enjoying every moment of this event, from the day, I received an invitation then being paired with fellow bloggers, trying out some new recipes and now to be posting them. This event has been conceived by Radhika of Tickling Palates and I am truly excited to be a part of it.

For this week I have been paired with Mugdha of Cooking Fundas. She has a lovely blog with many traditional Orissa recipes. I had a wonderful time browsing through her space and finally zeroed in on Khira also known as Chenna Payesh or Paneer Kheer.. Khira is an Orissa Special and is offered as Mahaprasad to the Lord Jagannath of Puri. My pictures don’t even speak half of how it tasted. I am definitely going to make this again very soon (Just waiting for the earliest occasion) and will definitely update this post with some better pics. I have halved the quantity and changed the recipe a wee bit just to reduce the time consumed, but otherwise made it in pretty much the same way. You can find the original recipe here.

What you’ll need

1. Milk – 1 liter (about 4 cups)
2. Paneer crumbled – 1 cup
3. Cornflour – 4 tsp
4. Sugar – 6 tbsp
5. Elaichi Powder – ¼ tsp
6. Cashewnuts and Raisins – a few
7. Ghee – 2 tsps

Method

Dissolve the cornflour in about ¼ cup of milk. Bring the remaining milk to boil in a heavy bottomed vessel. When the milk starts boiling, add the cornflour dissolved in milk and stir continuously for about 3 to 4 minutes. You’ll see the milk thickening slightly and getting a nice creamy texture. At this stage add the crumbled paneer and mix well without any big paneer lumps. Next add in the sugar and stir well. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
In a small frying pan, heat ghee and fry the Cashews and nuts. Add these to the kheer. Also sprinkle the elaichi powder and mix well.

Yummy Khira is ready. Serve warm or chilled.

Note:

1. The original recipe called for reducing the milk to half. The texture would have been definitely better but since I was pressed for time I used the shortcut of adding cornflour.
2. The paneer should be crumbled very well, you could also pulse it in the mixie for just about 30 seconds so that the paneer blends well in the kheer.

Check out what's cooking at my fellow blog hoppers spaces.

Linking this to Indian Mithai Mela happening at Kalyani's space.