Traditional Indian Cooking

Many people love to experiment with different foods from different cultures and ethnicities. Some people love to go out for dinner and experiment with foods they’ve never had before. Other people like to reproduce their favorite dishes at home. Experimenting with cooking from other regions and cultures can be an exciting and fun process. Many cuisines have subtle differences from region to region. Or sometimes the ethnic cuisines are based strictly on different geographic areas.
Indian cooking is as complex and diverse as India's geography, climate, religion, and culture. The variety of dishes is extensive: from warm tandoori dishes with meat of Northern India, to the, saucy Southern mostly vegetarian dals , you’ll find incredible diversity and great taste.
Many people are mystified by traditional Indian cooking and cuisines and a little somewhat confused with the varieties of curries and spices used . Some may even think the traditional Indian cooking is mostly about vegetarian dishes and curries.
India has one of the finest and richest culinary histories. Contrary to popular belief, Indian cuisines are not complex or too confusing to cook. It can also be as elaborate as you want it to be. If you understand the diversity of the country, which is divided into four regions, north, south, east and west, you will appreciate the varieties of dishes, exotic spices, cooking methods, etc.
Northern India: This region of India offers the some of the more familiar mix Indian dishes, including the popular tandoori-style of cooking. This region offers the dishes that are found in most Indian restaurants of the West, such as koftas (spicy meatballs), kormas (meats braised in creamy sauces with yogurts and fruits), and the delicious chewy, leavened bread, naan. The blend of spices used to flavor these dishes is Garam masala, more warming than fiery. You may also add Basmati rice for a regional flare, but breads are the primary starch in this wheat-growing region.Southern India: Some people think of Indian food as extremely spicy. Southern Indian cuisine is probably the cuisine most people think of, the spicy dishes such as vindaloo, a dish that relies legumes, including lentils and chickpeas. For the most part, the dishes from Southern India are primarily vegetarian, but you can certainly adapt the recipe to include meat for celebrations and special occasions. Rice is an essential ingredient in these dishes, especially the fragrant jasmine variety which is used in almost every dish during a meal, even dessert!
Eastern India: The region is most known for Darjeeling tea. In addition to tea, this hot, humid region near the Bay of Bengal cultivates rice, as many as 50 different varieties. Coconuts and bananas are popular ingredients in the cuisine of this area; in fact, coconut milk is often used as a substitute for cow or goat's milk.Western India: This region of India incorporates a great deal of dairy products in their dishes: including yogurt, buttermilk, cow's milk, and goat's milk. Along the coastline of the Arabian Sea, you’ll find a popular dish referred to as “Bombay Duck," which, despite its name actually refers to a small, transparent fish. Pickles are all an essential part of the meal from this region. India boasts a variety of cuisine that is as complex and unique as the country itself. There’s no reason to be intimidated by Indian food, not all of it need be hot and spicy, and most can be adjusted for adjusted for personal preferences.

Chill Out With Delicious Desserts In The Summer

It is the summer here once again and the hot noons are just around the corner to make you feel thirsty and to make you crave for delicious desserts. Licking a delicious desserts preparation, trying to finish it off before it gets melted is one very common scene during the summer, when the mercury level is on a desperate rise.

Summer is the peak time for the ice cream parlors to earn huge amount of money. But it would be wise enough to prepare the yummy summer dessert recipes at your home to beat the summer heat. Here are some of the awesome summer dessert recipes, you can try out to strike your friends and family with sudden wonder this summer. Don't worry if you do not have an ice cream make at your home. Ice creams can also be prepared at home without an ice cream maker. The only things you will be required are patience, time, effort and an eagerness to come up with some unusual flavor of ice creams.

Beat The Heat With These Ice Creams


Chocolate ice cream :

Ingredients:

5 egg yolks
Double cream milk – 250 ml.
Condensed milk – 1 large can
Sugar – 55 gms
Cocoa Powder – 3 1/5 table spoon

Method:

Create an ice cream base. This is one of the most significant part of the story because it will make your ice creams creamy and yummy.
Mix the milk, egg yolks, condensed milk and sugar properly, stir it well.
Heat the mixture until it gets slightly thicker.
At the point where you stop heating the mixture add the the cocoa powder.
Put the mixture in the freezer and let it freeze for at least for one and a half hours.


Home Made Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. Coffee Can3 lb. Coffee Can1/2 cup Rock salt1 pint Half and Half1 1/2 tsps. Vanilla1/3 cup + 2 tblsps. Sugar

For flavored ice cream, choose one:

3 tblsps. of your favorite flavor of instant pudding
1/3 cup of fruit (such as, bananas, strawberries, peaches)
3 of your favorite cookies, crushed into pea-size pieces
1/4 cup finely chopped

Method:

Mix the first three basic ingredients together and pour into the one pound coffee can. Add flavorings if desired. Place the lid on securely and set inside the three pound can.
Add ice, and alternate layers of ice and salt outside the small can and inside the large can. When totally full, secure the lid on the large can. You may wish to add duct tape for good measure.
Now here comes the fun part! Place a sheet on the floor or wrap the can in a large towel. Let party guests roll the can back and forth for at least 10 minutes. Open the cans and check the ice cream.
If it is not starting to freeze, replace lids and roll 10 minutes more. The ice cream should be frozen to the sides and bottom of the can. If not thick enough, place in freezer and check every 10 minutes or so.

Don't Waste Your Hard Earned Money Going Out to Eat

Imagine it's Saturday night and your husband just calls to tell you he's invited friends to go out to eat... what should you do? Should you go out and spend about 1000 rupees for a fancy meal that you really can't afford or should you offer to cook? You should offer to cook!

Why waste your hard earned money on going out to eat, when you can easily prepare the same meals, right from the comfort of your own home? It's so easy you'll wish you'd thought of it sooner!

I offer you a super recipe that you're sure to find the exact one that you are looking for. My entire family loves the Tandoori Chicken and they have asked for this recipe over and over again!

TANDOORI CHICKEN :

Ingredients:

6 pieces Thawed chicken, skinned
2 tsp Ground Coriander
2 tsp Masala (Tandoori paste is available)
Red pepper powder
Dash Garlic powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp Ground jeeraSoy sauce (or yogurt needed only if tandoori masala is used)

Method :

If you are using the ready made tandoori paste then life is a lot easier. Replace all occurrences of masala and soy sauce (or yogurt) with the tandoori paste. Take the chicken and make deep cuts in it (so that the Masalas seeps in quickly). If you are using soy sauce as the base, put some on the chicken pieces and let it seep in the cuts. Rub in the Masalas as a mixture or one at a time. The idea is to let the Masalas seep in the cuts with the soy sauce. You can leave it for little while to seep in. If you are using yogurt, you'll get a more authentic taste since the original TC is after all marinated in it. In this case, mix the Masalas in the yogurt first and then rub the stuff into the chicken cuts as before. The yogurt tends to leave a considerable amount of water behind. DON'T THROW THIS AWAY. Let it evaporate in the oven with the chicken. This will keep the pieces from getting dry if over-cooked. Cook the chicken until it starts turning brown and the cuts you made start "expanding."

DELICIOUS CHICKEN

Try your favorite dishes, that you can make right in your own home.

FRIED CHILLI CHICKEN

Ingredients :

200g mange tout

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

6 spring onions

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 red peppers

5 cm/ 2in piece of ginger peeled and crushed

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

2 tsp corn flour

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

Salt and black pepper

Method :

Slice chicken breasts. Slice mange tout length ways into strips. Trim spring onions and cut into pieces. De-seed pepper and cut into strips.
Heat the oil in wok or suitable frying pan. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken strips and stir-fry for a further 3 minutes. Add mange tout, red pepper and spring onions and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.
Mix the corn flour, soy sauce together with 2 tablespoons of cold water to form a smooth paste. Pour in the chicken and vegetables and stir – fry for 2 minutes. Season and serve.

Tip: Add more chillies if you like it hot! Serves 4

RESTAURANT NOW AT YOUR HOME

Now a day’s people are going out to eat more often, and spending more money to satisfy their cravings. People all have their favorite restaurants that we like to go out to eat at, and often times we will be willing to go out of our way just to go to certain ones.

What compels people to go out to certain restaurants over others though? Undoubtedly, it is a signature dish that they are in the mood for that particular night. One dish is all that it can take for restaurants to make a name for themselves and build a large customer following. Many restaurants are built completely around just one particular dish or type of dish.

But what makes these dishes so special, that we the consumer go out of our way to get. chances are it is a secret sauce, a taste that you have never been able to create at home, or a style of food that you never thought that you could create. If you thought you could make it yourself at home, then you would. It would be a whole lot cheaper that is for sure, not to mention more satisfying that you created such a delicious meal all on our own.

Maybe you can create those tastes, and styles of foods right in your own home though. It all comes down to a willingness to try, and having the right resources at your disposal. But why would we want to do this when we can just go to the restaurant and pay someone else to do it? Well, there are a number of reasons, and I’ll tell you them right now.

The best reason is definitely the money that you will be saving by not going out to restaurants all of the time. Not only will you spend money on the food and drink that you purchase, but the gas to drive there. Also, if you have a big family, or even a modest family of four, you would be hard pressed to spend under fifty dollars for a night at your favorite restaurant.

The next great reason is that you can impress all of our friends and family with your new found cooking abilities. If you had a friend visiting from out of town that you knew loved Olive Garden bread sticks, you could make them some, and tell them how easily they could do it themselves. Perhaps there is a potluck coming up; why not bring some KFC style chicken that you made. The responses you will get are priceless.

Lastly, if you are watching your weight, you can control what goes into your favorite dishes. Instead of using gobs of butter, substitute some Olive Oil. Why use two percent milk when you can use non-fat milk to make that cream sauce that you love. You can maintain the great flavors, often times for half of the calories.