Indian Life Blog

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Semolina (suji)
  
• 1/4 cup Sugar (to taste)
  
• 1/4 cup Ghee
  
• 1 cup Water
  
• 1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
  
• 1 tbsp Raisins
  
• 2 tbsp Sliced almonds

Preparation

Mix sugar and water in a pan and heat over low flame. Bring it to boil and set aside. Heat ghee in a kadhai (a wok-like cooking utensil with circular handles on either side)- you can also use a heavy-bottomed pan. Add sooji, raisins and cardamom powder and fry until it is light golden brown in color. Add sugar water (syrup) and mix swiftly to prevent lumps. Cook over medium heat until water is completely absorbed.

Garnish with sliced almonds and serve hot with pooris.

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In the Hindi tongue shahi means Royal and paneer means Cottage Cheese. Thus giving this thick, creamy, and spicy dish the wonderful name of Royal Cheese. It is primarily a punjabi dish most popular in the northern part of India.

Ingredients

• 250 gms paneer
  
• 1/2 cup milk
  
• 1 1/2 cups tomatoes (finely chopped)
  
• 1/2 cup of onion (cut into strips)
  
• 1/2" piece of ginger (finely chopped)
  
• 2-3 green chillies (finely chopped)
  
• 2-3 cardamoms (crushed)
  
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
  
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
  
• 2 tsp tomato sauce
  
• 3 tsp ghee or butter
  
• Salt to taste

Preparation

Chop paneer into 2" cubes. Heat half the ghee. Add onion, ginger, green chilli and cardamom. Fry for 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for 7-8 minutes, covered. Add 1/2 cup water and cool.

Blend in a processor till smooth. Heat remaining ghee, add gravy and other ingredients except milk and paneer. Boil to get a very thick gravy.

Just before serving, heat gravy, add milk and paneer and boil for 3-4 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with naan.

For over a decade, IndianLife has been making high-quality gourmet vegetarin Indian food for consumers all over the world. Order our delicious products online and have them delivered right to your door.

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Indian festivals are known for their distinctive way of celebration. Apart from following various rituals and rites people also prepare special dishes to celebrate the special occasion in a more special way. The Indians celebrate all the festivals with great pomp and show.

Holi is also known as the Festival of Colors. People rub 'gulal' and 'abeer' on eachothers' faces and cheer up saying, "Holi hai". After playing color one enjoys eating these foods with great happiness. Holi is also famous for the variety of sweets that are offered to the visitors that come to apply colors and enjoy the sweets offered by the host.

Below is a variety of traditional recipes and cuisines which are prepared during Holi.

Gujia: Gujia is a sweet Indian dumpling, filled with an almond and raisin mixture.

Puran Poli: Bread stuffed with a sweet chana daal mixture called puran. Fried and served hot.

Papri: A snack containing meethi leaves savored with chutney.

Dahi Bhalle: This is also a snack which is quite popular among people. It is dunked in loads of chilled and seasoned curds and then topped with tamarind chutney and spices.

Malpua: It is a sweet dish made of flour served with rabri. This can be stored for weeks to eat.

Saffron Syrup: It is a cold drink consumed by people on Holi.

Bhang: Associated with Lord Shiva, bhang has now become synonymous with Holi. Out of several ways of preparing bhang the most popular is taking the buds and leaves of cannabis and grinding them into a green paste. Milk, ghee, and spices are added to the mixture.

Thandai: This is a cool drink made of poppy seeds, aniseeds, black peppercorns and rose petals, the buds and leaves of Cannabis using a mortar and pestle into a green paste. It is then mixed with milk, ghee, and spices, and poured over ice.

How to make Guija

• 1 kg Khoya
  
• 500 gms Sugar
  
• 500 gms Maida (highly-refined wheat flour)
  
• 200 gms Almonds, chopped
  
• 6 tbsp Cooking oil
  
• 3 tbsp Kismis (raisins)
  
• 200 ml Water

Combine maida with 6 tbsp of oil using your fingers. Make soft dough and knead it lightly. Add water if needed. Cover with a wet cloth and leave aside.

In a frying pan, deep-fry the khoya till light brown in color. Add chopped almonds, sugar and raisins and mix well. Fry again for few minutes. Allow the mixture to cool.

Prepare a small and thick chapati from the kneaded dough. Stuff half of the chapati with the khoya mixture. Fold and draw the edges of chapati inwards to close. On slow fire, deep-fry the gujia till golden brown. Take out using a sieve and drain the oil properly.

Cooking Time: 20- 25 minutes

Serves: 4-5 people

Ingredients

• 3 bunches of spinach (fresh and cleaned)
  
• 100 gms paneer
  
• 1 onion
  
• 3 tablespoons of butter
  
• 3 to 4 bay leaves
  
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  
• Salt to taste
  
• ¼ teaspoon of black pepper
  
• ¾ teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
  
• ½ teaspoon green chili paste
  
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
  
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Preparation of Palak paneer

Mix the ginger-garlic paste, green chili paste and some water with spinach. Put the mixture in a pressure cooker, and let it steam for about 7-10 minutes. Blend the mixture in a blender to make a thick spinach paste.

Cut the paneer into small cubes. Heat oil in a pan and then deep fry the paneer cubes until light brown. In a cooking pan, heat the butter and fry the bay leaves and cumin seeds. Add the chopped onion.

Add salt, black pepper, garam masala as per your taste and mix it well. Add the fried paneer cubes and cooked spinach.

Serve hot with IndianLife Chapattis.

For over a decade, IndianLife has been making high-quality gourmet vegetarin Indian food for consumers all over the world. Order our delicious products online and have them delivered right to your door.

Bring home the true taste of India with just a click of your mouse! Come see what we have for you at http://www.indianlife.com.

Preparation : 15 minutes

Cooking: 30-35 minutes (exc. time for steaming veggies)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup each of chopped cabbage, beans, carrots, potatoes and cauliflower
  
• 1 small onion, sliced
  
• 2-3 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
  
• Salt to taste
  
• Coriander leaves for garnish

Blend the following into a very smooth paste:

• 1/2 a coconut, shredded
  
• 1 small onion
  
• 5-6 flakes garlic
  
• 1 piece ginger
  
• 2 tbsp curd (plain yoghurt)
  
• 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
  
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
  
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
  
• 3 green chillies
  
• 2 dry red chillies
  
• 2-3 peppercorns
  
• 1/2 tsp saunf (fennel)
  
• 1 small stick cinammon
  
• 1 cardammom
  
• 2-3 cloves
  
• 1 tbsp cashewnuts
  
• 1 small tomato
  
• 2 tsp thick tamarind juice or 2 tsp lemon juice

Preparation

Steam the vegetables till they are about half done. Remove and set aside.
Heat the ghee and fry the sliced onion till it starts changing color. Now add the blended paste and fry till the oil starts leaving the sides of the masala. This will take a minimum of 15 minutes. Even if the paste sticks to the bottom of the pan, don't worry. The more the paste fries, the better the dish will taste.
If the paste starts sticking to the pan, lower the heat and sprinkle a little water and continue frying, stirring continously.

When the paste is fried well and turns aromatic, add the half cooked vegetables and salt to taste. Add some water to get a gravy. Mix well. Put it back on the stove and bring it to a boil on low heat. The vegetables should be done by now. Remove from heat. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapatis or plain rice.

For over a decade, IndianLife has been making high-quality gourmet vegetarin Indian food for consumers all over the world. Order our delicious products online and have them delivered right to your door. It's so easy you can bring home the true taste of India with just the click of your mouse! Come see what we have for you at http://www.indianlife.com.

Ingredients

• 200gm of baby corn, cut into 1 and a 1/2 inch diagonal pieces
  
• 4 tbsp of corn flour
  
• Oil to deep fry
  
• 2 tbsp of Sesame oil
  
• 10-12 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• 1 medium onion, quartered and layers separated
  
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
  
• 1/2 of a red capsicum, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  
• 1/2 of a yellow capsicum, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  
• 1/2 of a green capsicum, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  
• 2 tbsps of red chilli paste
  
• 1 tbsp of hot black bean paste
  
• 1 cup vegetable stock or water
  
• 1 tsp of sugar
  
• 4 tbsps of tomato ketchup
  
• Salt to taste

Shower two tablespoons of corn flour over the baby corn pieces and mix well. Heat adequate oil in a wok to deep fry the baby corn for 3-4 minutes until it is crispy.

Heat sesame oil in a wok and add garlic and saute´ for half a minute. Then add onion, spring onions, half the red capsicum, yellow capsicum and green capsicum and mix.

After mixing all, add red chilli paste, hot black bean paste and vegetable stock, or water, and mix well.

Add sugar and tomato ketchup, the fried baby corn and mix well. Add salt and cook for few minutes. Toss well to coat. Now, drizzle sesame oil and sprinkle red chilli flakes over it.

Serve piping hot with garlic fried rice and enjoy!

For over a decade, IndianLife has been making high-quality gourmet vegetarin Indian food for consumers all over the world. Order our delicious products online and have them delivered right to your door. It's so easy you can bring home the true taste of India with just the click of your mouse! Come see what we have for you at http://www.indianlife.com.

Serves: Approximately 5-6 people

Preparation Time: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup flour
  
• 1/2 tsp Chinese salt
  
• 2 tbsp cornflour
  
• 2 tbsp spring onions, chopped
  
• 2 tbsp Soya sauce
  
• 3 green chillies, chopped
  
• 4 tsp ginger-garlic paste
  
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  
• 200 gms homemade or store-bought paneer
  
• Salt to taste
  
• Oil for frying
  
• Egg white of one egg
  
• Few coriander leaves, chopped

Preparation

Cut the paneer into bitesized pieces. Apply salt on the paneer pieces along with two teaspoons of ginger-garlic paste and keep aside for 10 minutes.

Mix corn flour, flour, egg white, ginger-garlic paste, salt in a bowl and make a batter using little water. Dip the paneer pieces in this batter and fry in hot oil until they turn golden.

In another pan heat oil and fry the chopped garlic cloves and add Soya sauce, spring onions, fried paneer pieces, green chillies, salt, Chinese salt, one and a half cups of water and let the ingredients simmer.

Take three teaspoons of corn flour and half a cup of water and mix well. Add this to the boiling mixture and cook well until the sauce thickens.

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and enjoy!

For over a decade, IndianLife has been making high-quality gourmet vegetarin Indian food for consumers all over the world. Order our delicious products online and have them delivered right to your door. It's so easy you can bring home the true taste of India with just the click of your mouse! Come see what we have for you at http://www.indianlife.com.