Maharashtrian Pithale

Ingredients:
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• A pinch of Hing
• 8~10 Curry leaves
• one small onion finely chopped
• 1 cup Besan
• Garlic-Green chili paste (coarsely ground)
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• Finely chopped Coriander leaves

Method:
• Heat up oil in a pan.
• Add mustard seeds and let them pop up.
• Add cumin seeds and let them splutter.
• Add hing, curry leaves and onion.
• Mix well and fry until onion gets light golden color.
• Take besan into a bowl and add water.
• Mix well to make paste. No lumps of besan should be formed.
• When onion begins to turn light golden add garlic-green chili
  paste, turmeric powder and mix well.
• Fry everything well for about a minute.
• You can use chopped garlic and green chili if you want.
• Add the besan mixture, salt and mix well.
• Cook on medium heat stirring continuously until it thickens up a
  little.
• Cover and cook on medium heat for about 7-8 minutes.
• Add lot of coriander leaves and mix well.
• Turn off the gas and pithale is already.
• Pithale goes well with any bhakari or rice and side dish.

Chicken Biriyani

HOW TO MAKE EASY CHICKEN BIRYANI 

FRIED ONIONS FOR BIRYANI

1. Heat the oil at medium high in a wide frying pan/kadai. The oil is ready for frying if you can feel the heat when you place your palm about 3 inches over the surface of the oil. 
2. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the onions in about 3 batches, depending on the size of the pan. Fry until crisp light golden brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
3. Marinade ingredients:
1. Ginger garlic paste 
2. Garam Masala
3. coriander-cumin powder
4. Chilly powder
5. Lemon juice 
6. Salt 

4. CHICKEN MARINATION

1. Combine chicken with all the marinade ingredients and 1/3 of the fried onions. Start with 1/2 cup of yogurt and increase as needed to 3/4 cup. The mixture should be thick and not runny.Marinate for 3-4 hours max.

5. BIRYANI RICE PREPARATION 

   1. Basmati rice often has some fine starch powder on it. So, rinse the basmati rice 4 to 5 times in plenty of water until it is clear. Drain well. Soak  basmati rice in water for one hour. 
   2. Add few squeezes of lemon juice to cooking water .You wont even notice the taste of the lemon juice and end up with clump-less-rice that's still fluffy and easy to portion out.
   3. Take 2¼ cups of water in a rice cooker/deep sauce pan and bring it to a rolling boil. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1½ tablespoon olive oil and whole spices. Then add the  basmati rice and stir. Once the rice is half cooked ,drain the rice and keep it covered .It should be separated .Keep it aside 

   6.ASSEMBLY OF RICE AND CHICKEN LAYERS FOR BIRYANI

   
   

   
   

   

   1. Transfer the chicken with marinade to a 4 to 5 quart wide thick bottomed .Make sure there is not too much marinade around the chicken pieces and that it is not runny.
   2. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro, mint, half the lemon juice and 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over the chicken/marinade. Then spread most of the remaining fried onions over the chicken.
   3.  Spread this raw rice over the fried onion layer. 
   4. Then layer all the cooked rice . Sprinkle, the remaining fried onions, lemon juice and saffron water. If preferred, sprinkle an extra tablespoon of ghee over the rice.

   FINAL STEAMING OF BIRYANI

   1. OVEN: Place one to two sheets of aluminum foil over the cooking pot and fit the lid tight over it. Bake the chicken biryani in a preheated oven at 350ºF for one hour, until the steam builds up well.
   2. STOVE TOP: Alternatively, this  Chicken Biryani can be cooked on a stove in a thick bottomed cooking pot. First, heat the biryani at medium high for 10 to 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to low setting and simmer for about one hour until the steam builds up well.
   3. Cool the biryani 5 minutes and gently mix the rice and chicken. Using a spatula mound the biryani on a serving plate, making sure to present the rice in various colors – white, yellow and brown. Place some chicken pieces on the top. Scatter browned onions, chopped herbs, extra saffron rice on the top.
   4. Enjoy the Biriyani with raita .

Diwali Faral

Shankarpali:

Ingredients:

1 cup of milk

3/4 cup of ghee

1 cup of powdered sugar

5 cups of maida

pinch of salt

oil or vanaspati to deep fry the shankarpali

Method:

1.Heat milk, ghee & sugar in a big saucepan

when the above mixture come to a boil ,turn off the heat

2.pour it into a wide dish .

3.once its not tooo hot to touch ,add flour ,a little at the time .

4.Kneed the flour till you get the consistency of a soft dough

5.Cover the dough with a wet tissue for 15 minutes

6.Heat the oil for frying

7.Make samll balls of the dough & roll the ball in to a circle .

8.Withe the help of pizza cutter or karanji/shakarpali cutter cut the circle into small squares or diamonds

9.Deep fry the square & drain on a tissue papper to absorb the excess greese

Kombdi Vade

For Vade

1 cup of rice flour
1 cup of gram flour
1/2 cup of raw rice
1/4 cup of urdad dal
4 tablespoon of channa dal
2 tsp coriander seed
2 tsp of cumin seed
1 tsp of whole black pepper

Procedure

1. Soak rice,urad dal,channa dal,cumin seed ,coriander seeds,black pepper for 4 hours
2.Grind the above mixture to fine paste & add the rice & gram flour to make a dough
3.Keep the above dough to ferment for 6 hours
4.Make marble sized balls. Take a plastic bag and lightly grease it.
5. Place the dough ball over it and lightly press and spread with the fingertips to a puri.
6.Heat sufficient oil in a kadai and deep-fry the vade on medium heat till golden.
7.Drain and serve hot with chicken curry or kala vatana usal

Katachi Amti

Katachi amti
Ingrediants
1 and ½ cups Katache Pani
1 piece Cinnamon2 bay leaves
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2 tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Tamarind concentrate
3 tsp Jaggery
2 tsp Cumin Seeds, roasted
3-4 tbsp Dry coconut, grated and roasted
Salt to taste
1 tsp Corriander, chopped
Oil
Water

How to proceed:
1) Grind roasted cumin seeds and coconut to a thin paste
2) In a cooking vessel, add katache pani, tamarind, jaggery, red chilli powder, garam masala and salt to it. If you have Mahrashtrian goda masala, add 1-2 tsp of it
3) Bring this to boil and then add coconut paste
4) Boil for more time, add water if its too thick
5) In a separate pan, heat oil and add cinnamon, bay leaves and curry leaves to it. Then add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and a pinch of asafoetida.
6) When mustard seeds start spluttering, transfer the tadka to the aamti
7) Mix well and boil for another 5 mins.
8) Garnish with corriander and serve hot with puran poli.

Puran Poli

Ingrediants

2 cup of chana dal
2 cup of jaggery
1/2 tsp of cardamon powder
1/2 tsp of nutmeg powder
2 cups of all purpose Flour
1/2 tsp of warm oil/Ghee
pinch of salt
pinch of tumeric

Directions
1.Boil the chana dal in 8 cups of water in a pan
2.Remove the water while the dal is cooking ,which can be used later to prepare Katachi amti
3.when the dal is half cook,add jaggery to it & stir Cotinously till all water evaporates
4.Add the cardamom & nutmeg powder.
5.Now the puran is ready
6.Mix maida,salt,warm oil & tumeric powder
7.make small puris of the dough & filll the small balls of puran in it
8.Close the puri & roll to make puran poli
9.Heat the poli on both the sides on fry pan & smear with ghee
10.Serve with amti or milk or gulavni

Sweet Appam

This dish i like most & easier to make ---and moreover my hubby's favorite sweet,as he likes very less sweets .So i like to make appam for him.This dish is dedicated to him :)

Ingredients
Raw Rice - 1 cup

Urad dal - 1 teaspoon

Grated coconut - 2 table spoons

Jaggery - 3/4 cup

Cardamom - 1 no Oil -

little bit of oil

Directions
1.Wash and soak the rice and urad dal for 1 hour

2.Grind to a smooth paste adding very little water.

3.Add the jaggery and coconut and grind to mix well.

4.Add cardamom powder.The batter should be like dosa batter.

5.Heat Vessel in which you make appam on low heat and pour ladle full of batter in the Vessel 6.Put some oil on the appam . cook both sides till brown.

Njoy you appam