Kalakand with Milkmaid

Ingredients:
Milkmaid : 1 tin ( 400gms)
Milk : 2 cups
Sour Curd : 2 Tbsps
Sugar : 2 tsps

Method
Pour the 2 cups of milk in a thick vessel. Boil the milk and add the sour curd to curdle the milk. Add the milkmaid tin contents and sugar to this and keep boiling till the mixture dries up and leaves the sides of the vessel. remove from fire and set in a large greased plate with edges (not a flat plate- in Indian , a thali)When cool cut into pieces. Store in a container. Keeps for a week in cool climate outside the refrigerator, if at all people are not around to finish it in a couple of days!

Deep Fried Drumsticks

There I come up with one more of drumstick recipe. This is a very tasty fry and you will like it surely.Here's how

Ingredients:
Fresh and tender Indian Drumsticks
(Peeled and chopped into 2 inch pieces.) : 6 or 7
Red Chilli powder : 1 Tbsps
Table salt : 1 tsp or a little bit more as per taste
Rice flour or maida(all purpose flour) : 2 to 3 Tbsps spread on a plate
Refined oil 2 cups for deep frying

Method:
Peel and cut the drumsticks as shown in the picture.Wash well and let the water drain. Put these in a flat bowl. On to the drumstick pieces sprinkle the salt and chilli powder and shake the vessel up and down gently in such a way that the salt and chilli powder get adhered to the drumstick evenly. Keep aside for one hour. Just before lunch is served you must fry this.
Next roll the drumstick pieces in the rice flour and tap the extra flour off, keep all the pieces ready for frying. When the oil in the pan is hot and ready for frying, drop the drumstick pieces in the hot oil and with a strainer spoon turn over lightly.Once you drop the pieces in oil, reduce the flame of the stove slightly. Turn gently in the oil till goden brown and crisp and remove from oil and put it on the brown paper/newspaper in a plate so that the excess oil will be removed.Serve hot with a South Indian meal.I am kind of sure this is not a very common recipe.Am I correct?

Garlic Pickle

Ingredients:

1. Peeled garlic : 3 cups (200 ml cup)
2. Table Salt : 5 Tsps
3. Chillie Powder : 9 Tsps
4. Coriander seeds : 1 Tbsps
5. Jeera (cumin) seeds : 1 Tsp
6. Methi (fenugreek) : 1/2 tsp
7. Lime juice (fresh) : 1/4 cup
8. Til oil : 1 cup

Method:

Take a fairly broad vessel and fill it with water to less than 1/4 it's capacity. Cover the vessel with a thin , clean cloth .The cloth should be stretched lightly, with a slight sag in the center.Then tie a thread around the rim of the vessel so that the cloth is held in place across the mouth of the vessel. Take care to see that the cloth is not hanging too long along the sides of the vessel, lest it catches fire!

Place the peeled garlic on this and cover with a plate.Keep the vessel on the stove on sim fire and let the water boil for ten minutes. The garlic will get cooked and change color. Remove and transfer the garlic on to a dry cloth on a plate plate to cool.

Dry roast the items from (3) to (6) and powder. Put half the oil in a flat, dry vessel and add the powdered ingredients and mix well.The powder should soak in the oil. Add oil if necessary to let it soak well. Then add the garlic and lime juice and mix well. Cover and leave it aside for an hour. Take a clean bottle/jar and just pour little oil in it and turn the bottle so the the oil forms a film along the insides of the bottle. Using a spoon transfer the pickle from the vessel to the bottle. Top up with some more of the remaining oil so that it stands on the top of the pickle. You can start using the pickle in a couple of days, but should refrigerate so that it can last for 2 to three weeks.

Jaggery syrup for dosas

Children are fussy about food is it not? And if you made dosas they do not like chutney or sambar with it. Probably you serve them ghee and sugar or may be jam? But here is a simple jaggery syrup ( which is better and healthier than refined sugar).

Ingredients:

Jaggery : 500 gms.

cardamom : 3 or 4 peeled and powdered fine

Method:
Put the jaggery in a thick pan and pour a cup of water.Keep on stove and let it boil and melt. When all the jaggery is dissolved use a fine strainer or clean cloth to strain this thin syrup. In India jaggery has some impurities and small stones/sand.by straining this way you get clean syrup. Transfer this clean syrup to a thick pan and keep boiling till it thickens and forms syrup of 1 to 2 string consistency. Add powdered cardamom and stir well.When cool this syrup should be fluid enough to come on a spoon ( like honey).If not you can add a little bit of water and keep on stove for one boil.When cool store in a air tight container and serve with iddlies and dosas to the kids.See how they will love it.