Lotus Root Gravy

Kamal Kakadi ki Rasedar Sabji

Once i had been to my freinds house for dinner, she being from Meerut, India had a very good idea of cooking the Lotus Root.She had made a mix vegetable curry in which she had added this ingredient & my husband became die hard fan of this sabji especially he loved the taste of Kamal kakdi. And i had to try it so i started making it on a regular basis.

About Lotus Root

Lotus roots or kamal kakri are eaten all over Asia. In north India, they are cooked either in a curry form or like a dry form.In some parts cooks, stuff lotus root canals with meat or spices and then cook them whole, in an oven. You can also add them in other vegetable curries or Nonveg curries. If buying fresh, select the ones with both ends unbroken, as the broken ones often have a lot of mud and rubbish inside. Tinned ones are also very good, but the flavour is not the as good as that of fresh ones. I generally buy the fozen ones from Indian store, as per the manufacturer these are freshly cut and frozen. I don't how far it is true but it has similar taste as that of fresh ones we get in India. So after searching through lots of websites for different ways of making this sabji, i invented my own recipe one day & my hubby loved it, the recipe is as follows,

Ingredients

•	340 gm. frozen lotus roots(i.e. 1 packet)
•	2 medium peeled and cut into 4-6 pieces each
•	1 large onion roughly chopped
•	1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled
•	2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled (optional)
•	2 medium tomatoes, chopped finely or 200gm. tinned tomatoes.
•	1 tbs. cooking oil
•	1 tsp. cumin seeds
•	1 tbp of Ginger Garlic paste
•	1 pinch Asafoetida 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
•	1/4 tsp. chilli powder or more if you prefer spicy
•	1 tsp. of coriander powder
•	Salt to taste
•	1/2 tsp of Punjabi garam masala or Chole masala
•	1 tbs. chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Instructions

1.	If you are using fresh ones then w ash and scrap the skin & Slice into 1/2 to 1 cm thick rings
2.	Steam or boil them for 5-6 minutes in a microwave & then drain if you are very health concious, otherwise i generally fry them as it takes lot of time to cook.( If frying then drain the oil by putting them on a paper towel). Sometimes to fasten the cooking process i also fry or boil the potatoes which ever is convinent.
3.	Grind together onions, ginger and garlic in a food processor or chop/grate very finely by hand .
4.	In the same pan in which you have fried the roots, add cumin seeds and a pinch of asafoetida powder and let the seeds splutter.
5.	Add onion, ginger and garlic paste and fry until golden to dark brown (not burnt).
6.	Add chilli powder fry for a min ( as it gives nice red color to the curry) & then add all the other spices, except garam masala and stir for 10 seconds, to release flavours. Do not burn.
7.	Add tomatoes and stir fry, until oil separates at the edges.
8.	Add prepared lotus roots and potatoes, stir fry for a minute. Add 1 cup of water, more if you like thinner gravy.
9.	Boil briskly for a couple of minutes and then simmer for 10 minutes or until roots are tender.
10.	Stir in garam masala.
11.	Adjust salt and chillies to your own taste.
12.	Turn heat off and add fresh coriander leaves. Few Suggestion:- Serving with plain roti is fine but the curry tastes better with paratha or puri. If you don't like very spicy curry you can add 1 tsp. of sweet paprika powder instead of red chilli powder or reducing the qty of it to get red color. You can also add little milk or yogurt to give richer look to the curry.

Molten Lava

I was introduced to this dessert in a restaurant in USA. Though I don’t have a sweet tooth, I cannot resist this one. I started making it at home in my own way. The way to eat is to take a plain white plate , then put the small square or round piece (which ever shape you like, I prefer the round one) of hot chocolate brownie, put one large scoop of Vanilla ice cream ,Hershey's chocolate sauce & drizzle the caramel sauce all over the plate ………..and enjoy.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE

Cooking Time:- 45min

Level :-Easy

Servings :- 8 to 10 Servings

Ingredients

• 6 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, plus 6 ounces
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 1/2 tablespoons water
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 Cup All Purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, combine 6 ounces chocolate with butter, sugar, and water. Cook over low heat, stirring, until melted. Set aside to cool a bit. Break up the remaining chocolate and stir into melted chocolate mixture. Whisk in eggs, flour, and salt. Add walnuts if desired. Batter will be thick and lumpy. Spray a 9-inch square pan with non-stick spray and scrape batter into pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

CARAMEL SAUCE

Cooking Time :- 15min

Level :- Intermediate

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful – the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt caramel very quickly. Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid any splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. Don't worry - the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.

Simmer over low heat stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits

Suggestion: -

To get the round shape either you can use a cup cake mold & put the batter separately in each of them & bake, or cut the cake with a round shape cookie cutter after baking whichever is convenient.

After making the caramel sauce you can save the unused sauce in a glass container( as it will be good for a month or two) & use it later as required.

You can also buy the Hershey’s caramel sauce from store,.

You can also put some freshly chopped Strawberries.

Facts about coffee

Hi,


This is my first post after creating my very own blog.......so kind of excited :). As this is my first article, I thought, since I start my day with coffee why not enlighten everyone about it. Like me, I am sure there are many individuals who cannot start there day without a cup of coffee. Yesterday night I was watching Discovery where I came to know some surprising facts about coffee. I used to think that having more than a cup of coffee is not good for health, but that program proved me wrong. Having 2 to 3 cups of coffee is in fact good because it contains natural antioxidants like poly phenols which is also present in grape juice and which is very good for skin(Anti-aging). The main ingredient of the coffee is Caffeine (the main reason for which some people have it too) which is also a natural component of chocolate and tea , and is used as an added energy boost in most colas and energy drinks. It’s also found in diet pills and some over-the-counter pain relievers and medicines. Because of the caffeine content, coffee is also good in reducing risk of Parkinson's, Alzheimer, Diabetes, Colon Cancer etc.


Personally i think that everything is good in moderation.


Results of some studies Coffee even offsets some of the damage caused by other vices, some research indicates. "People who smoke and are heavy drinkers have less heart disease and liver damage when they regularly consume large amounts of coffee compared to those who don't," says DePaulis.


Of course I don't support the statement above...................


There's also some evidence that coffee may help manage asthma and even control attacks when medication is unavailable, stop a headache, boost mood, and even prevent cavities.


For more information go to http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/does-coffee-have-nutritional-value-you-bet


The Japanese have been known to bathe in coffee grounds fermented with pineapple pulp for reducing wrinkles and improving their skin - http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/how-stuff-works/coffee.html


There are various types of coffee, but what a lot of people do not know is that the most expensive one is an animal coffee called Kopi Luwak. Kopi Luwak gourmet coffee actually passes completely through the digestive tract of the exotic Indonesian Palm Civet (Luwak) without being digested by the animal. Though the process of making this coffee is disgusting, I am really amazed with it's growing popularity. I can't even imagine how someone can think of trying this coffee (some have described this as a poopy coffee). Of course, I really don't see the need behind having such a expensive (and eeeeewwwww!!!).............


There are lots of other types of animal coffee - Monkey, Weasel, Bird,........


For more information go to http://www.tastesoftheworld.net/product_info.php/cPath/28/products_id/75