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Pakora is a fried snack found in south Asia. Pakoras are an all-time favorite snack in India. Perfect for a rainy day or a cocktail party. Pakoras are delicious paired with a cup of hot spicy Indian Chai. Pakoras are made with different vegetables, which are dipped in a spicy besan (gram flour) batter and deep-fried. When onions, on their own, are prepared in the same way, they are known as onion bhaji. My friend Sunita is our bhaji queen. She prepares awesome bhajis and in every party or potluck we have her bhajis are a must. Today the recipe has more than just onions. It have a lot of vegetables and you can always add or remove what ever you want. Ingredients: Besan: 1/2 cup Onion: 1 large Thinly Sliced Onion: 1 large cut into small cubes Cauliflower: 1/2 cup broken into small florets Carrot: 1 medium size cut into small cubes Green Peas: 1/4 cup Ginger: 1/2 inch finely chopped Green chillies: 2-3 finely chopped Cilantro : 1 tbsp finely chopped Salt : as per taste Cumin Seeds : 1 tsp

Papri Chaat, Paapri Chaat or Papdi Chaat is a North Indian fast food. Chaat is an indic word which literally means licks , is used to describe a range of snacks and and fast food dishes; papri refers to crisp fried dough wafers made from refined white flour and oil. Ingredients: Paapri Boiled Potato: 2 mashed Chickpeas: boiled 1/2 cup Sev: 1 cup Chopped Onion: 1 cup Green Chillies: Chopped 1-2 Chopped Tomato: 1 cup Coriander leaves: chopped 1/2 cup Green Chutney Sweet Chutney Curd: 1 cup sweetened. Green Chutney Recipe Ingredients: chopped fresh coriander leaves: 2 cups fresh pudina/mint leaves: 1 cup 2-3 Grren chillies: 2-3 lemon juice: 2 tbsps water: 2 tbsps sugar: 1 1/2 tsps Salt: 1 pinch Sweet Chutney Recipe grated jaggery (adjust): 3/4 cup dates : 10-12 tamarind (de-seeded) : small orange sized chilli pwd: 3/4 tsp saunf pwd (optional): 1/2 tsp cumin pwd: 1 tsp Water: as required Salt: as per taste. Procedure: To make green chutney grind together all the ingredients f

Halwa refers to many types of dense, sweet confections , served across the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, and the Jewish world. Various types of halva from India are distinguished by the region and the ingredients from which they are prepared. The most famous include sooji (or suji) halwa, aate ka halwa, moong dal ka halva, gajar halwa , dudhi halwa, chana daal halwa , and Satyanarayan halwa (variation of suji halwa, with the addition of detectable traces of banana), and kaju halva (cashew nut). Today I would be sharing the recipe for sooji ka halwa. Ingredients: Suji : 1 cup Milk : 1cup Sugar: 3/4 cup Ghee: 2 tbsp Salt : 1 pinch Cashew : broken 2-3 tbsp Procedure: Heat the ghee in a pan, add the Suji and roast it till it turns in light brown color. Remove from the pan and keep aside. Combine 1 cup of water, milk, sugar, and pinch of salt, mix well bring it to boil. Add the roasted sooji and stir continuously till sugar syrup and suji get mixed

Paneer butter masala is also known as Paneer Makhani is a popular vegetarian dish. This dish combines paneer in a butter sauce. Butter Paneer Masala is a rich entree made with Indian cheese and a creamy sauce. It can be prepared either with store bought cheese or home made cheese. Ingredients: paneer: 1/2 lb (cubed) tomatoes:2 medium Butter: 1/2 tbsp green chili: 1-2 ginger: 1/4 inch green peas (optional): 1/2 cup yogurt: 1/2 cup whipped oil: 2 tbs Pinch of asafetida (hing) cumin seeds (jeera): 1 tbs coriander powder (dhania): 1 tbs turmeric (haldi): 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder (lal mirch):1/2 tbs bay leaves (tajpat): 2 salt: as per taste garam masala: 1/2 tbs cornstarch: 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro (Green coriander): 2 tbs sugar (optional): 1 tbs Procedure: Deep-fry the paneer on low-medium heat until the paneer has a little gold en- brown color. Set aside. Blend tomatoes, green chilly and ginger to make a puree. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to

I bought a new rice cooker few days back and since then haven't stopped experimenting on it. I used to think its just for cooking rice or steaming meat and veggies. I went through the whole recipe book that came along with it but ended with nothing. It has great recipes but they are not exactly what we prefer to eat. So I did a little research on my own. I have always made biryani the same way layering the half cooked chicken and half cooked rice and cook it over the heater in a cover pot. But most of the time I ended up with a small of portion of the masala, chicken and rice burning .So would go to a restaurant and eat briyani rather than going through all the trouble. After buying the rice cooker I decided to give chicken biryani one more shot in the rice cooker. I thought what the heck it can't be any worst :) And I am glad that I tried. It turned out amazing. It had every thing one looks for in a good biryani, aroma, flavor and juicy chicken. So here we go... Ingredients: C