Chocolate Graham Cracker Dessert

Ingredients:
- Powdered sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Heavy whipping cream
- Plain graham crackers.

1. Use a hand held blender to mix cocoa powder, powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream to make a paste the consistency of icing.
I normally start out with the whipping cream and add sugar and cocoa powder till it tastes right.

2. Put a thick layer of icing on 4-5 graham crackers using a break knife. (almost half a centimetre thick) This is kind of messy...

3. Stack the coated crackers to get something that looks like a slice of cake. Finish by coating icing on all sides of the "cake".

4. Soak in the fridge for atleast 24 hours before serving. The cracker part needs to be thoroughly soaked and soft feeling like cake.

WARNING: Extremely addictive and super high on calories. So make in small quantities. ;)

Kada - Home remedy for cold & cough

Its pretty tasty, comforts your sore throat, unblocks your nose, decongests your chest, and provides some relief from cough.

In winters you can drink this as many times as your want in a day, but in summers limit the consumption as all the ingredients are "hot"

For 1.5 cups:

3 cups water
1.5 inch of ginger pound or grated or sliced fine
4 cloves
1 inch Cinnamon
5 green cardamom
7 black pepper corns (coarsely ground)
2 tbsp of Fennel seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tbsp sugar

Boil everything toagther until water reduces to half the original quantity.
Strain & drink HOT. If you think its too strong, mix a little milk (about 2 tbsp for 1 cup kada).

You can also add tea leaves & milk into it and drink it like spiced chai.

I usually make quite a bit and keep the left over unstrained kada in the fridge. It keeps well for upto a week.

Mughalai Potatoes

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes- 1 packet
Onions-1.5 big onions,sliced thinly
Green chillies- 3-4 slit
Ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp
Yogurt- Enough to make a light gravy
Turmeric powder,danya powder,cumin powder, chilli powder and garam masala for taste
Cilantro for garnish

Procedure:

1. Boil the potatoes lightly for one whistle in pressure cooker
2. Peel the skin and deep fry them and set aside
3. In a pan with oil,add the sliced onions,green chillies,ginger garlic paste and saute well.
4. Once done add the curry powders and mix the fried potatoes.
5. Switch off the stove and add yogurt and mix well for the consistency of gravy you would like.
6. Garnish with cilantro. You can also fry cashewnuts if you want.

Serve hot with chapathis, parathas or rice.

Ribbon Bakoda

Besan - 3 cups
Rice flour - 1 cup
Salt - to taste (3 tsp approximately)
Chilli powder - to taste
Butter - 1/4 cup
Water

Before adding water, mix in the butter and knead a little bit.
Then make a fairly stiff dough with the above ingredients.
Use ribbon press and fry in oil.

More Kolambu-Tamil Nadu Style

Ingredients:
Soak:
1.Cumin seeds-1 tbsp
2.Toor dhal-1 tbsp
3.Channa dal- 1 tbsp
4.Ginger-a chunk
Other:
1.Buttermilk
2.Grated Coconut flakes
3.Red chillies-1 or 2
4.Coconut oil
5.Mustard seeds
6.Vegetable of your choice-Okra,white pumpkin,lauki or pakodas
7.Curry leaves and cilantro leaves
8.Turmeric powder,coriander seeds powder,chilli powder
9.Asafoetida
10.Onions-Thinly sliced is optional(hotels use them but traditionally not)
11.Green chillies-4 or 5
Procedure:
1.Grind coconut flakes and green chillies and the soaked ingredients to a smooth paste
2.In a pan with oil(I mix normal oil with coconut oil),add red chillies, mustard seeds,curry leaves,onions(optional),asafoetida,vegetables and fry well.
3.Once done,add the ground coconut-chilly paste we ground before.
4.Let it come to a boil. Add buttermilk and allow to boil a little bit. Do NOT overcook the kolambu,then the coconut taste is gone. All you need to check for is the ends of the pot/pan,the kolambu should come to a boil and bubbles should move to the center. Switch off immediately.
5.Pour coconut oil after cooking for extra flavor and garnish with very little cilantro leaves.

Note:I am not able to exactly give measurement of buttermilk and coconut since I always eyeball.Its equal parts.

Non Brahmin version of Peerkankai Thovaiyal/chutney

We had this chutney with rice in one of our neighbours house. It was amazing. I got the recipe from them. From then on,Vignesh absolutely hogs on this whenever I make it. Its excellent with dosas and hot rice with sesame oil.Pretty easy too.

Ingredients:
Peerkankai/Ridge Gourd-Peeled
Garlic cloves-2 or 3
Red chillies- 5-6
Channa dal-1 tsp
Mint leaves- A handful
Tomato-1 medium optinal
Tamarind-1/2 tsp
Asafoetida
Procedure:
1.In a pan of little oil,add the peerkankai peel,red chillies and saute well till it almost loses its rawness.
2.Add asafoetida,garlic cloves,channa dal,mint leaves, tomato and saute them too along with the peerkankai peels.Make sure that the peerkankai peel is completely done or the taste is not that good.
3.Once its done ,switch off the stove and add salt and tamarind paste to the pan and let it cool.
4. Use mixie and dry grind the above with little or no water as possible. There will not be a need to add water if you add tomatoes.The chutney should be thick/solid and not watery.Its more like a thovaiyal and is meant to be thick.
5.Garnish with a few curry leaves and pour little sesame oil on top and eat with either plain hot rice or dosas.

Vegetable Semiya Biriyani

Ingredients:

Onions-1/2 medium sliced well

Carrots,peas,bell peppers

Tomato-1 medium cut roughly

Ginger garlic paste-1/2 tbsp

True or Bambino brand Vermicilli-2 cups

Green chillies- 2 split

Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp

Turmeric Powder, Chilli powder, Coriander powder, Saunf or Fenugreek powder, Garam masala Powder

Frozen Mixed Vegetables-1/4 packet

Water-4 cups

Procedure:

1.In a pan with little oil, saute the vermicelli until the raw smell is gone and keep aside.

2.Now add oil, add cumin seeds,onions, green chillies, ginger & garlic, vegetables and mix well till cooked well. Now add all the masala powders and then pour water in 1:2 ratio and bring to a boil.

3. Add the vermicelli and cook covered until done.

4.Garnish with mint leaves and cilantro leaves.

5.Serve with chutney.