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Kalakand is a famous Indian sweet dish. The best kalakand that I have tasted can be bought in Sambalpur,   Orissa. My dad would always buy those for me whenever I would visit home. I had always thought it to be a very difficult dish to prepare, but it turned out to be very easy.  After coming to USA this is my first time tasting this beautiful dish. So heres what we would need. Ingredients: Fresh Paneer (Cottage Cheese): 1cup Condensed Milk: 1 can Saffron: few strands Almond: broken 1 tbsp Procedure: Mix the paneer and condensed milk, into a smooth paste. You can use ricotta cheese instead of paneer. Microwave the mix for 5mins. Keep checking to make sure the mix doesn't over flow. Add the saffron strands and microwave for another 2-3 mins, till the mix achieves a thick consistency. Remove it to a tray, garnish with broken almonds and let it cool and then refrigerate for 1 hr.  Cut into cubes and enjoy. In case you don't have a microwa...

How many time has it happen that you crave for that chocolaty goodness of yummy  warm chocolate cake but for that either you have to drive down to a bakery or bake on on your own. That is a real mood killer. With me there is one more issue Tanmaya won't help me finish the cake and I would end up eating all of which is of course neither healthy nor figure perfect ;) Yesterday I found a great receipt for quick chocolate cake in a cup which would take exactly 5 mins and would give you a perfect 1 serving cake with just 2 items to clean afterwards. Least clean up is a bonus. Ingredients: Baking flour : 4tbsp Sugar: 4tbsp Unsweetened Coco Powder: 2 tbsp Milk: 3 tbsp Oil: 3tbsp Bitten Egg: 2 tbsp Chocolate chips: 2 tbsp Vanilla Essence: a dash. Procedure: Take a microwave safe coffee mug. Mix all the ingredients in the cup. Place the cup in the microwave and microwave for 3 minutes. You would see the batter start to crown over the top of the mug...

It was another of those days when I would keep bugging Tanmaya about what he wants for lunch. I asked him if he wants mushroom or paneer he said lets have both but in the same dish. So I decided to use both in a gravy that I would use for Paneer with a little twist. So here we go. Ingredients: Button Mushrrom : 2 cups cut into half Paneer: 1 cup cut into cubes Green Pea: 1/2 cup Onion : 1 medium finely chopped Tomato: 1 medium chopped finely Ginger Garlic Paste: 2 tbsp Poppy Seeds: 1 tsp Cashew: 1 tbsp Coriander Powder: 1 tsp Cumin Powder : 1 tsp Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Red Chili Powder: 1 tbsp Milk : 1/2 cup Whole Garam Masala : 4 cloves, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 2 cardamon  Salt to Taste Oil for cooking Procedure: Dry roast the whole gram masala, poppy seeds and cashew. Make a smooth paste of the gram masala, poppy seeds and cashew with little water. In a pan heat 2 tbsp oil and fry the paneer cubes till golden born on both sides. remove from ...

A club sandwich, also known as clubhouse sandwich or double decker, is a sandwich with two layer of stuffing between 3 slices of bread. It is a quick and healthy breakfast and snack that is filling as well as tasty. There is a theory that it was invented in an exclusively Saratoga Springs, New York, gambling club in the late 19th century. It is one of my sweethearts fav tea time snack. Ingredients: Bread: 3 slices Potatoes: 1 medium boiled Onion:1 medium finely chopped Green chili : 1-2 finely chopped Tomato: 1 thinly sliced Carrot: 1/2 cup finely chopped Capsicum: 1/2 cup finely chopped Shredded Cheese: as per your taste Salt: to taste Butter: 2 tbsp Procedure: Mash the potato, add green chili, salt, chopped onion and mix well. apply butter to one side of the bread, spread some mashed potato on it, add some chopped carrot , capsicum and few slices of tomato, sprinkle some shredded cheese. Apply butter to another slice of bread and layer it over the previous ...

Dosa is a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice and black lentils batter. It is indigenous to and staple food in the southern Indian states. It is a common breakfast and street food. There are so many variations used on the basic recipe of dosa like masala dosa, onion masala dosa, rava dosa, chilli paneer dosa, egg dosa, palak dosa and the list goes on and on. Today I would give you the recipe for onion masala dosa. This is my ultimate favorite street food for breakfast ever. I remember when I was a kid, almost every sunday we would have masala dosa.  Ingredients: Dosa Shell Urad Dal : 1 cup Rice : 1 cup Channa Dal : 1/4 cup Salt: 1/2 tsp Masala Potato : 1 large boiled Onion: 1 medium thinly sliced Green Chili: 1-2  Curry Leaves: few Mustard Seeds: 1/2 tsp Green Peas: 1/2 cup Carrot : 1 medium thinly sliced Coriander leaves : for garnish Salt for taste Procedure: For the batter soak the Urad Dal, Rice and channa d...

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...