Bhindi ki Sabzi

Lady's finger or bhindi/okra is really healthy vegetble. It provides just 30 calories per 100 g besides containing no saturated fats or cholesterol, isnt it amazing? Nonetheless, they are rich sources of dietary fiber , minerals, and vitamins; often recommended by nutritionists in cholesterol controlling and weight reduction programs. A simple and tasty recipe of okra/bhindi is given below to include in your day to day meals!

Ingredients:

• Lady's Finger/Bhindi, 250 gms (chopped into 1" thick pieces)
• Oil, 1-2 tblspn
• Cumin seeds, 1/4 tblspn
• Onion, 2 finely chopped
• Tomatoes, 2 finely chopped
• Turmeric, 1/4 tspn
• Red chilli powder, 1 tspn
• Garam masala powder, 1/2 tspn
• Ginger-garlic paste, 1/2 tspn
• Salt, to taste
• Coriander leaves, 1-2 tblspn chopped

Serves: 2-3

Category: Veg

Recipe Type: Main Course

Recipe:

• Wash and wipe all the lady's finger well.
• Chop them into 1" pieces.
• In a pan, heat oil.
• Add cumin seeds, as it crackles, add onion
• Fry on medium flame till golden.
• Add Ginger-garlic paste, stir for few seconds.
• Add tomatoes, and fry over medium until its mushy and well tendered.
• Ad turmeric, red chilli powder, garam masala powder.

• Mix over low till the raw smell of spices go away.
• Add chopped bhindi.
• Mix all well. Add salt.

• Cover the pan and cook until its tender, stirring in between.

• Add coriander leaves.
• Serve with chapati or as a side dish to dal rice!

DIY: Methi & Amla Hair Oil & Herbal Hair Pack

Hair is the one thing which frames our face. Thin and dull hair makes us look aged and clumsy whereas lustrous and thicker hair makes us feel young and enhances our appearance.
Many of us are fighting hairfall problems since long and I'm sure all of us have tried numerous products to combat this issue but all we get is unsatisfactory or temporary results!
I am a fan of homemade DIY beauty products whether its for skin issues or hair problems, I find solutions in traditional homemade herbal ingredients. However, there can be numerous other factors for hair fall like hormonal imbalance, stress, unhealthy lifestyle and other medical conditions, in that case you should not rely only on homemade things and book for a checkup from your dermatologist.
Here, I'll be posting two DIYs, one is how to make methi (fenugreek seeds) & Amla (gooseberry) infused hair oil for longer and stronger hair and other is Aloe Vera & Olive oil Hair Pack for conditioning your hair!

For DIY Hair Oil

Methi (Fenugreek Seeds):

• Helps cure hair loss & hair fall
• Makes roots stronger
• Makes hair smooth
• Cures dry & itchy scalp

Amla (Indian Gooseberry)

• Promotes hair growth
• Reduces hair greying
• Gives volume to hair

So lets begin making the Methi & Amla Hair oil...

Ingredients you need are simple

• Coconut oil, 1 cup (200 ml)
• Methi (fenugreek seeds), 1 tblspn
• Dried Amla (Indian gooseberry), 1 tblspn
• Clean bottle to store the oil

I forgot to take the picture of coconut oil!

How to make:

• Make a powder of amla and methi in a grinder.
• Take a little wide vessel, add two cup of water and keep this on a flame.
• Let the water come to boil.
• Put a stand in it.

• In a small vessel or pot, add coconut oil.
• Add amla & methi powder & keep this pot in the wide vessel in which water is boiling. Keep it as it is or on a stand.
• Make sure that water tocuhes half level of the pot in which you've put oil.

• Keep the flame on low and let the water boil for 40-60 mins.
• Add more water to it when it reduces. Stir in between.
• By now, the extracts of amla & methi must have infused with the oil.
• Take it out and let the oil cool down.
• Pour the oil in a clean bottle with the powdered amla and methi, keep this in a direct sunlight for a week or 10 days.
• Your DIY oil is ready to use.

• You can use this upto 6-8 months.

Other method:

• Other method is to boil coconut oil itself with amla & methi powder, keep it in sunlight for a week & use.
• But it's shelf is less, it is good for 3-4 weeks.

How to use:

Apply this hair oil twice a week, a night before shampooing and wash with a mild shampoo the next day.

I've been using this hair oil for 6-7 months and let me tell you its given me really effective results!

For DIY Hair Pack

Aloe vera gel:

• Makes hair shiny & smooth
• Conditions hair
• Removes dead skin cells from scalp

Olive oil:

• Provides gloss to hair
• Reduces hair fall
• Treats scalp problems

How to make: 

• Take a bowl, add 1-2 tblspn of aloe vera gel depending on hair length.
• Add 2 tblspn of olive oil. Mix well.

• Apply this all over your scalp and massage for 2 mins.
• Rinse with regular water.
• Do this once a week for stronger and longer hair that shine and bounce!

Important things to keep in mind:

• It is very important to keep a healthy lifestyle, the healthier you, the healthier your skin & hair!
• Drink plenty & plenty of water!
• Avoid junk and sugary foods.
• Have seasonal fruits.
• Try to indulge yourself in physical activity even if its just a walk around the park!
• Use mild shampoos with less chemicals.
• Limit the use of heating stylers on hair.
• Eat good, Think good, Feel good!

Tomato Pulao-Tomato Rice

We often are worried what to cook for today as we all don't want same repetitive dish, and this is the case with other woman who cooks and with every other day!
Tomato Rice is the one dish you can make at home without any prior preparation or without any hard to find ingredients as the ingredients are simple and the recipe is easy! You can make it when you have no idea what to cook or when you're in hurry. And let me tell you, It tastes like any other veg pulao! Simply Delicious!

Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice, 1 cup
• Onion, 2 sliced
• Red Tomatoes, 2-3 finely chopped
• Green chillies, 2
• Ginger-garlic paste, 1 tspn
• Red chilli powder, 1 tspn
• Turmeric, 1/2 tspn
• Garam masala powder, 1/2 tspn
• Oil, 2-3 tblspn
• Caraway seeds, 1/4 tspn
• Cloves, 2
• Black pepper, 2-3
• Cinnamon, 1 stick
• Bayleaf, 1
• Salt, 1 tspn
• Coriander leaves, handful, chopped
• Mint leaves, handful
• Ghee/butter, 1-2 tspn (optional)

Serves: 2

Recipe Type: Rice Recipes

Category: Veg

Recipe:

• Wash and soak rice for 20 mins.
• In a vessel, add oil.
• Add bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, caraway seeds and stir for few seconds.
• Add onions.
• Fry till they are golden, don't burn them.
• Add Ginger-garlic paste and fry for few seconds on low flame.
• Add tomatoes, turmeric, garam masala powder, half of mint leaves and half of coriander leaves.
• Stir over high flame, when it starts to leave water, lower the flame and cook it covered till it separates oil. It should be mushy.
• Add red chilli powder, salt.
• Cook for 2-3 mins.
• Add 1-1/2 cups of water.
• When the water starts boiling, taste it and adjust salt, and if its little less spicy add sliced green chillies to taste.
• Drain water from soaked rice, add the rice to the boiling mixture.
• Cook till all water is soaked, add ghee from sides.
• Cover the vessel with a tight lid and cook over low flame till you see air coming from sides.
• Serve hot with curd raita, sliced onions and Achar! Garnish with left coriander and mint leaves!

Notes:

• Please do not skip any ingredient in the list as they all contribute to making delicious Pulao.
• Amount of water to be added depends upon which rice you using, the amount of it etc. Usually for one cup of rice - one and half to two cups water is added.

Peanut Chutney (Shengdana Chutney)

 Peanut Chutney is made with roasted peanuts and some basic spices and is usually enjoyed with any type of khichdi, dosa or snacks!

Ingredients:

• Roasted peanuts, 100 gms
• Green chillies, 2-3
• Garlic cloves, 3-4
• Cumin seeds, 1/2 tspn
• Tamarind juice, 1/2 cup
• Red chilli powder, 1/4 tspn
• Oil, 2 tblspn
• Mustard seeds, 1/2 tspn
• Salt, to taste

Recipe Type: Chutney

Recipe:

• Remove skin of roasted peanuts.

• In a mixie jar, add these peanuts, roughly chopped green chillies, garlic cloves, cumin seeds. Grind.
• Now, add tamarind juice and grind it again to a Smooth paste.
• Add salt to taste.
• In a small pan, add oil.
• When its heated, add mustard seeds and crackle them.
• Sprinkle red chilli powder.
• Add this oil to the chutney on top.
• You can store it in the refrigerator upto 2-3 days.

Notes:

• You can increase the amount of tamarind juice to your taste if you like sour taste. It tatstes good.

Lauki Ki Daal

Lauki/Dudhi/Bottle gourd ki daal (with stepwise pictures) is yummy Indian Dal which goes well with chapati, Rice and Paratha!

Ingredients:

• Toovar/Masoor Dal, 1 cup
• Lauki/Dudhi/bottle gourd, 8-10 pieces of sliced 1" thick
• Onions, 2 finely chopped
• Tomatoes, 2 finely chopped
• Cumin seeds, 1/2 tspn
• Mustard seeds, 1/2 tspn
• Curry leaves, 4-5
• Ginger-garlic paste, 1 tspn
• Turmeric, 1/2 tspn
• Red chilli powder, 1 tspn
• Coriander powder, 1/2 tspn
• Garam masala powder, 1/2 tspn
• Amchur powder, 1/4 tspn
• Coriander leaves, chopped
• Oil, 2-3 tblspn
• Salt, to taste

Serves: 5-6

Recipe Type: Dal/Soup

Recipe:

• Wash toovar/masoor dal and put it in a pressure cooker.
• Add water so that it covers the dal above one inch.
• Cook till its done. Keep aside.

• Peel bottle gourd and make an inch thick pieces out of it. Wash and keep aside.
• In a wok or pan, add oil.
• When its hot, add cumin seeds.
• When it splutters add mustard seeds and curry leaves.
• Add onions.
• Fry till they are golden, add Ginger-garlic paste. Saute on low flame for few seconds.

• Add tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder.
• Cook till tomatoes are all tender and mushy.
• Add washed lauki.
• Cover the pan and cook till its tender stirring occasionally.

• Now, add this lauki masala to the dal.
• Mix well.
• Put the dal on flame.
• Add garam masala powder, amchur powder, coriander leaves and cook for 5-7 mins.
• Lauki ki Dal is ready!

Wheat Biscuits Without an Oven

We all are fond of cookies as we need somthing or the other thing to munch while watching tv or doing any leisure activity, especially kids are so much fond of it that they take no time to finish the cookies!
But do you know you can make the same cookies at home, even if you don't have an oven! Yes, you can! Making biscuits or cookies at home is so easy and simple that you will love to make it again and again, moreover you know what goes into the cookies you consuming!
Wheat flour biscuits are healthier version of maida or refined flour biscuits as maida biscuits are not considered healthy and wheat is high in fiber and other essential proteins which makes it tasty and healthy alternative to refined flour biscuits.
And I knew it came out good when my brother tasted one with doubt on his face and then filled his pockets with these biscuits and went! 😄

So let's begin with the recipe!

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour, 1 cup
• Powdered sugar, 3/4 cup
• Ghee/butter, 1/2 cup
• Oil, 2 tblspn
• Salt, 2 pinches
• Baking powder, 1/2 tspn
• Baking soda, 1/4 tspn
• Chilled Milk, 1 cup
• Finely chopped almonds, (optional)

Recipe:

• In a bowl, add wheat flour.
• Add powdered sugar, ghee or butter, oil, baking powder and baking soda.
• Mix it with with your fingers breaking all the lumps, it will look crumbly.

• Now, add cold milk little at a time and mix altogether to form a dough.
• The dough should be little soft.
• Keep it in the refrigerator for 30 mins covering it.
• Now take a wide vessel, in which a tray on which you'll be laying your biscuits should fit in leaving an inch gap.
• Add about 1 cup of salt and spread it evenly and keep it on low flame.

• Now, take the dough knead it again.
• Divide it into two.
• Take one portion and roll into a thick chapati or circle. You can see the thickness in the picture.
• With the help of some round circle or cookie cutter cut them into rounds or any shape of your choice.

• Grease a tray or plate with little oil.
• Arrange those cookies on it leaving some gap between them.
• In the vessel on heat, put a stand or something on which you can put this plate.

• Put this tray of plate carefully on the stand.
• I added chopped dry fuits to make it look good.😋

• Cover the lid and cook it for 10 mins on medium flame.
• After 10 mins, flip the biscuits and cook for 7-10 mins. You can see little bit goldenness.

• Take them out and let it cool to room temperature.
• Then immediately fill them in an airtight container.
•  Have them with your evening tea or serve to kids with milk!

Notes:

• You can make the same biscuits with all purpose flour if you like.
• If you have an oven, bake the biscuits following the same recipe on 160° for 15-25 mins.
• Add chilled milk while kneading the dough and knead it well.
• Cook them over medium flame and don't overcook.
• Time varies for each of us, depending which utensil you use, amount you making, etc.
• You may see its little soft when you touch it while flipping but don't worry, once it comes to room temperature it firms up.

Spring Onion Pakoda | Hari Pyaz Ka Pakoda

Spring onion pakoda or hari pyaz ka pakoda is one of my favorite pakoda, the crunchy and delicious taste of it makes me make it for every other evening snacking...
There's something really nice and satisfying about having pakodas in monsoon or when its raining outside and you sit there near the window and have hot hot pakodas with your family, isn't it?!

Ingredients:

• Spring onion, roughly chopped 250 gms
• Gram flour/besan, 1/2 cup
• Red chilli powder, 1 tspn
• Coriander powder, 1/2 tspn
• Turmeric, 1/4 tspn
• Cumin seeds, 1/2 tspn
• Ginger-garlic paste, 1/2 tspn
• Coriander leaves, 1/2 cup chopped
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, to deep fry

Recipe Type: Snack

Serves: 3-4

Recipe:

• Wash and strain all the water from spring onion.

• In a bowl, add well strained spring onions.
• Add besan, red chilli powder, turmeric, cumin seeds, Ginger-garlic paste, coriander powder, coriander leaves and salt.

• Mix well. If it looks too moist add some more gram flour.

• Heat oil in a wok.
• When its moderate hot, fry pakodas on medium high flame till both the sides are golden brown.

• Drain them on paper to remove excess oil.
• Serve hot hot with tomato ketchup or Green Chutney.

Notes:

• Wash spring onion well and make sure that all the water is completely drained before proceeding to making pakoda.
• If too much besan is added, it will lose its crunchiness.
• Do not let it sit after adding besan and all the spices as the onion will leave its water making it thin.
• Frying them over low flame will make the pakodas absorb more oil, hence it should be fried over medium-high flame.

Chana Masala Curry

Chana masala-Boiled black chickpeas are simmered in healthy, flavorful tomato gravy.

Ingredients:

• Black chickpeas, 1 cup 250 gms
• Onion, 2-3 finely chopped
• Tomatoes, 2-3 chopped
• Green chillies, 2
• Ginger, 2 peices 1"
• Garlic cloves, 3-4
• Besan/gram flour, 1 tblspn
• Cumin seeds, 1/2 tspn
• Turmeric, 1/4 tspn
• Red chilli powder, 1 tspn
• Coriander powder, 1/2 tspn
• Garam masala powder, 1/2 tspn
• Tamarind pulp, 1/2 cup
• Oil, 2 tblspn
• Salt, to taste
• Lemon juice, 1 tblspn
• Coriander leaves, to garnish

Serves: 4-5

Recipe Type: Gravy

Recipe:

• Soak black chickpeas in enough water overnight or 8 hours.
• Discard its water, pressure cook adding fresh water till its tender. Keep aside.
• In a mixie jar, add chopped tomatoes and Ginger-garlic and green chillies. Make a smooth purée. Keep aside.

• In a pan add oil.
• When its hot, add cumin seeds.
• Let it sizzle.
• Add onions and fry till golden
• Add gram flour/besan and stir for few secs. Dont burn it.

• Add tomato purée, turmeric, red chilli powder and coriander powder.

• Cook till the mixture thickens. Stirring occasionally.

• Now add black chickpeas with its water.
• Add salt, garam masala powder, tamarind pulp and cook for 8-10 mins.

• Switch off the flame.
• Top it with lemon juice and Garnish with coriander leaves. I did it with pomegranate seeds 😋.
• Serve with roti, steamed rice or just have it as a chaat.

Notes:

• Pressure cook chickpeas till its nice tender.
• Add besan if you desire, it gives nice nutty flavour.

Chicken Dum Biryani

This is a delicious rice dish which is often reserved for very special occasions such as weddings, parties, or holidays. It has a lengthy preparation, but the work is definitely worth it.
For biryani, always use long grain rice.
Eid is on it's way, and many people enjoy different different types of Biryani's with Sheer Khurma, there are specially organized parties and feasts on this day.
You can read the Mutton Biryani recipe too on the blog.

There are basically two methods of making biryani, one is Pakki Biryani in which we cook meat and then assemble it with biryani rice and another is, Kacchi Biryani Method in which in we cook meat on dum after assembling all the things.
Chicken biryani is usually made by Kacchi or Dum Biryani Method as chicken gets tender quickly! 


Ingredients:

• Rice, 1 kg
• Chicken, 3/4 kg
• Onion, 1/2 kg, finely sliced (to be fried)
• Oil, 3-4 tblspn
• Ginger-garlic paste, 1-2 tblspn
• Bay leaf-2, cinnamon stick-2, caraway seeds-2 tspn, cardamom-2-3, black pepper- 4-5, star anise-2
• Curd/yoghurt, 1 cup (250 ml)
• Green chillies, 3-4 finely sliced
• Turmeric, 1/2 tspn
• Red chilli powder, 1 tblspn
• Garam masala powder, 1 tspn
• Coriander leaves, 1 bunch chopped
• Mint leaves, 1 bunch 
• Lemon juice, 3 tblspn
• Desi ghee/butter, 3 tblspn
• Salt, 2 tspn
• Saffron color, 1/2 tspn

Serves: 5-6

Recipe Type: Main Course

Category: Non veg

Recipe:

• Wash and soak rice for 30 mins.
• In a pan, add sufficient oil.
• When its hot, add finely sliced onions and fry till nice crispy and golden.

                 

• Keep the oil in which you fried onions aside.
• In a wide bowl, add washed chicken, Ginger-garlic paste, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric, curd, garam masala powder, mint leaves and some fried onions. Mix well using your hands. Keep it for marinating for upto 2-4 hours.

Making Biryani Rice: Part 1

• In a vessel, add sufficient water to cook the rice.
• Add one bay leaf, half of caraway seeds, sliced green chillies and few mint leaves.

• When it start boiling, add rice and salt to taste and cook till half done i.e 60%.

• Strain it and keep it aside.

Making Gravy: Part 2

• In a deep vessel, in which you'll be making biryani, add oil.
• Add remaining whole garam masala i.e bay leaf, cardamoms, caraway seeds, black pepper, star anise, cinnamon sticks.
• Sauté on low flame for 30 secs.
• Add marinated mutton.
• Cover the lid and cook till masala leaves oil. Stirring occasionally.
• Cook for 5-7 mins on high flame.
• You will see chicken has left its water, and the mixture is looking like gravy.

Assembling Gravy & Rice: Biryani!

• Now taste the gravy, adjust salt and spices to taste. Note that salt and spices should be little more than taste coz we'll be adding rice to it.
• Now, Add half of fried onions, coriander leaves.
• Add boiled rice.
• Spread it evenly with the help of a spoon. Add saffron color, sprinkling it everywhere on the rice.
• Add lemon juice, sprinkling everywhere.
• Garnish with fried onions, mint and coriander leaves.

• On the top leave some, desi ghee from every sides of the vessel.
• Add 1/2 cup of Oil in which we had fried onions. It gives really nice aroma.
• Cover the lid tight and put something heavy on the lid and keep the flame high for 5 mins then lower it and cook till air comes from sides which takes around 25-30mins.
• Take out on a serving plate, garnish with fried onions, mint and coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with raita and some lemon wedges.

Notes:

• Marinate chicken for as long as you can i.e for 1-4 hours to ensure quick cooking.
• Adding desi ghee and fried onions remaining oil, in dum gives really nice aromatic touch to the biryani.
• The base of biryani is gravy, it should be nice and perfect for the biryani to come out perfect.

Sheer Khurma

Eid is incomplete without this sweet and it is a Hyderabadi special dish and Eid – ul- Fitr is always enjoyed by meeting everyone with warmth and having this sweet . I cannot imagine Eid without Sheer Khurma
Mutton Biryani and Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani
Once we taste it, we feel like having it more and more!
There are few important steps to get the perfect, authentic, creamy sheer khurma! Remember the simple and basic you keep it, you get more tasty of it.

Ingredients:

• Full Cream Milk, 2 litres
• Sevai/vermicelli, 250 gms
• Sugar, 400 gms or to taste
• Dry fruits (almonds, cashews, pistachios, raisins, dry dates)
• Butter/desi ghee, 3-4 tblspn
• Cardamom powder, 1/2 tspn
• Rose/kewra water, 1 tblspn

Recipe:

Dry Fruits Part!

• Soak almonds, cashews, pistachios and dry dates one day before.
• Cashews shouldn't be soaked for more than 2 hours as it gets soaked very easily. And soak almonds, dry dates and pistachios for 7-8 hours.
• Slice them all vertically and finely. And let it get dry a bit for 2-3 hours.

 (Almonds & Dry Dates, After soaking for 7-8 hours and slicing) 

• Do the same with cashews and pistachios.
• Heat a pan, add butter/desi ghee.
• When its hot, add the dry fruits i.e almonds, cashews, pistachios and raisins except dry dates.

• Please remember to keep the flame on the lowest and don't leave this unattended.
• Sauté them till it gets nice golden. I added dry dates when I was about to remove pan from heat, take all of them out on a plate.
• Add 1 tblspn ghee, add sevai/vermicelli and roast till golden brown.
• Take it out and let it cool.
• You can do this process a day before making sheer khurma to avoid last minute rush.

Making Sheer Khurma

• Take a thick bottomed vessel, add milk.
• Bring this to a boil, add sugar.
• Let the sugar dissolve.
• Keep stirring, otherwise it will get burnt in the bottom.
• When the sugar completely dissolves and milk starts boiling again, add sevai/vermicelli.
•  Cook for few more mins.
• Keep stirring while keeping it on high flame.
• Add raisins, and fried dry fruits (leave some for garnishing)
• Add cardamom powder.
• Keep the flame on medium high and cook for 10 mins.
• Make sure to stir while doing all of these.
• In the end add rose water/kewra water.
• Switch off the flame.
• Take it out in a serving bowl.
• Garnish with dry fruits, serve warm or chilled as you like!
• 😋

Notes:

• Use full fat milk to get that creamy texture.
• Use vermicelli which is specially made for sheer khurma, this gives nice flavour, there are many variaties available in the market.
• The real taste comes when the pure ghee is used, if not using pure ghee, please don't use oil. Use butter or dalda instead.
• Do not add vermicelli/sevai when its hot, let it cool down before adding to the milk.
• While adding sevai, don't add them all at once, add it gradually and If the thickness is what you desired for then do not add more vermicelli else the sheer khurma would thicken totally.
• Keep the consistency medium, neither thin nor thick.

Zarda Recipe

Zarda is a traditional South Asian sweet dish, made by boiling rice with (orange) food coloring , milk and sugar , and flavoured with cardamoms , raisins , saffron , pistachios or almonds . The name Zarda comes from Persian and Urdu word 'zard' ﺯﺭﺩ meaning 'yellow', hence named since the food coloring added to the rice gives it a yellow color. Zarda is typically served after a meal. In South Asia, zarda was and still remains a popular dessert on weddings.
Instead of yellow food coloring, multiple food colorings are added so the rice grains are of multiple colors.

Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice, 1/2 Kg
• Green cardamom, 2-3
• Cloves, 2-3
• Sugar, 450 gms
• Saffron, 1 tblspn
• Dry fruits, sliced 3 tblspn (almonds, pistachios, cashews, raisins)
• Kewra Water/Rose essence, 1 tblspn
• Dry coconut, sliced 2 tblspn
• Dry fruits, to garnish
• Butter/Desi Ghee/, 2-3 tblspn

Serves: 4-5

Recipe Type: Desserts

Recipe:

• Soak almonds, cashews and pistachios in water for 2 hours.
• Peel them, slice and keep aside.
• Soak rice in enough water for 15-20 mins.
• In a vessel, add 8-10 glasses of water. Add saffron.
• When the water comes to boil, add rice without its water.
• When the rice is about 80% cooked, drain all its water and keep it aside.

• In a wide wok, or vessel, add ghee.
• Add cardamom, and cloves.
• Add sliced dry fruits including raisins and coconut.
• Keep flame on the lowest.

• When they turn a little golden, add 1/4 cup of water.
• Add sugar. (You can increase or decrease the amount of sugar to your taste.)

• Mix all things well. Add kewra water.
• When the sugar completely dissolves and leave its water, add rice.
• Mix all the things very well.
• Cover the vessel with a tight lid and give 'dum' for 15 mins.
• When you see air coming out from sides, switch off the flame.
• Dish it out in a serving plate.
• Garnish with dry fruits.
• Serve hot!

Notes:

• You can increase or decrease the amount of any ingredient given above to your choice.
• Don't overcook rice, it should be "almost" cooked not completely cooked.
• You can add cherries, candies, Khoya and other garnishings of your choice.
• If you do not have rose or kewra water, add cardamom powder.

Green Chutney

Green chutney is a must have chutney for any snack or chaat recipe, there are many variants of green chutney but I am making the most basic one with few simple ingredients!

Ingredients:

• Green chillies, 3-4
• Coriander leaves, 1/2 cup
• Mint leaves, 1/2 cup
• Onion, 1/2 roughly chopped
• Garlic cloves, 5-6
• Ginger, 1" pieces, 2
• Salt, to taste
• Lemon juice, 1 tspn
• Chana dal/bengal gram, 2 tblspn (optional)

Serves: 3-4

Recipe type: Chutney

Category: Veg

Recipe:

• Wash all the ingredients given above (except salt and cumin seeds :) and put it in the mixie jar.

• Add little water, salt, cumin seeds, and lemon juice.
• Grind it to a smooth paste.
• Take it out in a bowl and serve with chaats, bhajiya, street foods and what not!