Idli Recipe

A common breakfast in South Indian households, Idli is slowly becoming one of the most favorite breakfast options throughout India. Idli is very easy to prepare and is also a very healthy option of breakfast.
Idli is a very sought after dish in my house, so I finally decided to share its recipe with you today. The recipe and some secret tips to prepare prefect spongy and soft idli is directly from my kitchen. So, enjoy…
Recipe test: Tested
Yields: 35-40
Preparation time: 13-16 hours
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1.    2 ½ cup of white rice (uncooked)
2.    1 cup of urad daal (uncooked)
Appliances:
1.    Idli maker
2.    Grinder
3.    1 ladle 
Process:
1.    Wash the daal and the rice in water until the water remains clears even after cleaning the rice and daal in it. Then keep the rice and daal soaked in water overnight in two separate bowls. The bowls should have enough water to completely cover the rice and the daal.
2.    Next morning, drain the rice and the daal and grind them separately in a grinder. The grinded rice and daal should have a smooth texture and there should be no lumps.

Grinded Rice

3.    Once done, mix the daal and the rice and stir to combine both nicely. Season the mixture with a bit of salt and then keep it covered in a cool place for 6-8 hours.

Grinded Daal

4.    Then prepare the idli maker to make the idlis in that. For that, fill the base of the idli maker with 4-5 cups of water and place that over medium heat. Let the water become piping hot before cooking the idlis in that.

Water in Idli Maker Base

5.    In the meantime, grease the idli cups with a bit of vegetable oil. Then fill the idli cups with a ladleful of the rice and daal mixture.

6.    Once all the cups are filled with the mixture, insert them into idli maker and put the lid on. Cook the idlis for 8-12 minutes, or until the idlis have hardened and swelled up.

Tips:
1.    The smoother your daal and rice paste, the better will be the idlis.
2.    Stir the daal and rice mixture frequently to make the idlis fluffier and softer.
Idli tastes best with sambhar daal and coconut chutney. So, be sure to try them as well before you start making idlis.

And if you like this post then please share it and leave your precious comments to help me improve.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Recipe

Yesterday I bought some strawberries, but was wondering what to do with them. Previously I thought to use them for a strawberry cake, but then I came across this fantastic recipe on the internet. So, I thought of sharing this amazing recipe with you. And I have also shared a little tip or rather a secret to help you master this recipe. I bet this is one of the best ways of using strawberries. The frozen chocolate on the top with the tanginess of the strawberries simply gives rise to a heavenly combination.

My experience was great with this recipe. But sadly I had to use an aluminum foil instead of a parchment paper as I did not had any parchment paper at that point of time :(. However, the strawberries came up just fine and looked gorgeous.

Try it and I am sure you will love it as well.

Recipe test: Tested
Difficulty level: Easy
Yields: 10-12
Preparation time: 10-20 minutes
Cooking time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients:
1.    10-12 fresh strawberries, with leaves and stems
2.    8 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips
3.    3 ounces of white chocolate
4.    1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
Appliances:
1.    1 sauce pan
2.    2 large heat proof bowls
3.    1 rubber spatula
4.    Parchment paper
Procedure:
1.    Place a sauce pan on low heat and fill it halfway up with water. Place a heat proof bowl over the saucepan, making sure that the bowl is not touching the water in the sauce pan.

2.    Then put the milk chocolates into the bowl and stir the chocolate until it melts completely. Once done, dip the lower side of the strawberries in the chocolate and keep them on a parchment paper lined plate.

3.    Refrigerate the strawberries until the chocolate completely melts. Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate in the same way as you did with the milk chocolate.
4.    Now take out the frozen strawberries and drizzle a little amount of molten white chocolate on the strawberries as shown in the picture. Return the strawberries to the refrigerator and freeze for another 15 minutes before serving.

Tips:
1.    Add a little vegetable oil to the molten chocolate. The oil adds luster to the chocolate and makes it shiny.
Hope you enjoyed the recipe… :)

White Chicken Recipe

This is my family’s one of the most loved recipes. They simply love it and we spend approximately 3-4 days in a week gorging on this delicious chicken dish. The best thing about this dish is that it is absolutely light and healthy and it tastes simply great. The tangy flavors of the lemon blends so well with the buttery taste of the dish that you will simply want to have more. The soft chicken melts in your mouth amazingly. Serve it with rice or chapatti, and it will simply rock your dinner.
Recipe test: Tasted and tested
Difficulty level: easy
Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients:
1.    1 kg (2 lb.) of skinless chicken
2.    1 large green bell pepper (capsicum), diced
3.    3 medium sized onions, diced
4.    1 tablespoon of corn flour
5.    7-8 stalks of green onion (scallion), sliced
6.    Juice of 1 large lemon
7.    1/3rd teaspoon of MSG (Monosodium glutamate)
8.    3-4 green chilies
9.    Salt, to taste
10.    1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
11.    2 teaspoons of butter

Utensils:
1.    1 large pot or skillet
2.    1 stirring spoon
3.    1 pressure cooker
4.    1 knife

Cooking procedure:
1.    Put 4-5 cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook the chicken in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes or until the chicken is fork tender.

2.    Chop the vegetables as stated in the ingredients list.
3.    Oil the skillet with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and let the oil heat up on medium low heat.
4.    Once oil is hot, add the chopped vegetables and sauté until the onions are just translucent and the bell peppers are soft. Season the vegetables with salt so that you get a rounded taste.

5.    Add the chicken pieces to the vegetables, retaining the chicken stock in the pressure cooker.
6.     Season the chicken with at least 1 teaspoon of salt and a pinch of black pepper.
7.    Cook the chicken by adding 1/5th cup of the stock at a time. Add more stock when the chicken turns dry.
8.    Retain 1 ½ cups of chicken stock and cook the chicken in the remaining stock. Add the MSG and lemon juice and stir nicely. Cook the chicken stirring occasionally on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, or until it is soft.

9.    Then add the remaining stock and cook for another 1 minute. Dissolve the corn flour in 1 teaspoon of water to prepare slurry, and add that to the chicken. Cook the chicken for an additional 30 seconds. Finally, add the butter before serving.

Bread Upma Recipe

This recipe was one of the first recipes that I learnt in my life, and surprisingly it is also the first recipe which I posted in my blog. And guess who taught me this recipe, my sister. She is a fantastic cook. She has a passion for cooking right from her childhood. I don’t know why and how, but she developed this knack when children like us were far away from the kitchen. And it is definitely from her that I got some inspirations for cooking.
Bread upma is a fantastic recipe for breakfast. It is quite easy for even an amateur cook. The dish needs no other accompaniments and is also fine for serving as dinner. Bread upma can be prepared in many ways, but this is my (also my sister’s) way of preparing it. I love this dish and I am sure you will like it as well. Enjoy…
Recipe test- Tested
Servings- 4
Preparation time- 10 minutes
Cooking time- 15-20 minutes
Ingredients-
1.    1 ½ packets of half-pound white bread
2.    2 large onions, thinly sliced
3.    ½ cup of Indian curry leaves
4.    2 red dried chilies
5.    6 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
6.    2 teaspoons of salt
7.    3 teaspoons of sugar
8.    2 small carrots, thinly sliced
9.    1 ½ teaspoons of black mustard seeds
10.    2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, for frying
Method-
1.    Arrange three slices of bread one above the other and slice those in three vertical pieces.
2.    Then take one of the sets of the sliced breads and cut them horizontally in three more pieces as shown in the picture. Cut the whole packet of bread in the same way and then keep them aside in a bowl.

3.    Then cut the onion and the carrots into thin slices and tear off the curry leaves from the stems. Wash the vegetables and keep them in a bowl.

4.    Next, add some oil in a kadhai or skillet and let the oil heat up. Set the flame on medium and then put the vegetables in the oil. Fry the onions, carrots, red chilies and the mustard seeds in oil.
5.    Fry the onions until translucent and then season the vegetables with ½ teaspoon of salt.

6.    After that, add the chopped breads and pour the tomato ketchup over the breads. Season the upma with the remaining salt and sugar and then fry it until the breads are nicely coated with the ketchup and turn into light brown color.

7.    Once done, serve the upma in a fancy plate and garnish with a green chili and some curry leaves.