If you believe that dishes including Air Dried Halwa, Strawberry Yoghurt Kulfi, Spinach Kofta Curry and Fish Curry are best enjoyed at fancy restaurants, think again. What if you are told that one could easily cook any of these in the comfort of your own kitchen? And, because you control the ingredients, you could also save on calories, fat, sodium, and sugar? What often stands between a restaurant-quality meal and a homemade dinner is an approachable, easy-to-follow recipe. Here are some quick DIY homemade recipes to try this weekend and enjoy tasty food.

Air Dried Halwa, Strawberry Yoghurt Kulfi

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For Halwa

Ingredients

Semolina: 20 gms

Ghee: 25 gms

Caster Sugar: 100 gms

Skim Milk: 250 ml

Pealed Pistachio: 10 gms

Dried Rose petals: 1 gms

Beet Root juice: 3 gms

Saffron water: 1 gms

Method

Place the semolina in a large shallow pan with the milk, sugar and ghee. Slowly bring to a simmer, then continue to cook until very stiff, sticky and the mixture forms a ball in the centre. Turn out onto a greased silicon mat. Place another silicon mat on top and roll out until very thin (about 2mm). Back onto the mixture and lightly roll the surface to set the pistachio and rose into the halwa. Allow to set and lightly dry at room temperature for 24-48 hours before cutting into rectangles for sheets. Now splash saffron water and beetroot juice on halwa sheet. Cut rectangles can be stored layered with baking paper in the chiller before use.

For Strawberry Yoghurt Kulfi

Ingredients

Fresh strawberry: 250 gms

Demerara sugar: 75 gm

Cream: 68 ml

White chocolate: 20 gms

Yoghurt: 200 gms

Liquid glucose: 18 gms

Method

Place the puree in a saucepan with the cream, glucose and demerara sugar. Gently bring the mixture to a simmer to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat. Fold in yoghurt and blend the mixture with a hand blender until smooth. Strain the mixture, pour into a beaker and freeze for 18 hours. Now churn the mixture and put in four cylindrical tubes freeze for one hour and roll into halwa sheet.

 

 

For Strawberry Tequila Compote

Ingredients

Fresh Strawberry: 100 gms

Caster Sugar: 4 gms

Tequila: 25 ml

Method

Place strawberry in a saucepan with the sugar over low heat and simmer until just soft enough. Now Pour in tequila, cover it by lid and cook for just 2 minutes. Cool it down and reserve in a glass container.

Spinach Kofta Curry

For Kofta Stuffing

Ingredients

Oil: 5 ml

Black Cumin Seeds: 1gms

Ginger chopped: 3 gm

Green chili chopped: 1 gms

Spinach blanched: 50 gms

Dried fenugreek: 1 gms

Salt to taste

Apricot: 10 gms

Almond chopped: 10 gms

Cashew nut chopped: 7 gms

Prunes chopped: 12 gms

Method

Heat oil in a pan add black cumin seeds and allow to splutter, now add chopped ginger and chill. Now add spinach and sauté for 3 minutes and turn off the heat. Now mix rest of the ingredients and reserve.

 

 

For Kofta

Grated Paneer: 225gms

Boiled Grated Potato: 25 gms

Cardamom powder: 2 gms

Mace powder: 1 gms

Corn Flour: 24 gms

Salt: 3 gms

Sunflower oil to fry

Method

Mix all the ingredients and make eight balls of 35 gm each and fill 13 gm of stuffing in each ball and fry on slow heat till kofta turn light golden in colour.

For Curry

Roasted Peanuts: 13 gms

Roasted Sesame Seeds: 10 gms

Roasted Coriander Seeds: 4 gms

Roasted Cumin Seeds: 2 gms

Roasted Kashmiri Chili: 8 gms

Fry cashew nut: 3 gms

Roasted fresh coconut: 12 gms

Fried onion: 8 gms

Turmeric: 2 gms

Ghee: 35 gms

Chopped Garlic: 12 gms

Chopped Ginger: 9 gms

Chopped onion: 35 gms

Method

Make paste of all the ingredients except ghee, ginger, garlic and chopped onion. Heat ghee in a pan and add chopped garlic and onion and sauté till onion turn lite brown. Now add chopped ginger and paste all roasted spices, and cook oil slow heat. Now add 500 ml of water and allow to simmer for 25 minutes. Now strain the sauce and put kotas into the sauce and serve hot.

Fish Curry

For Fish

Fish Baramumdi: 300 gms

Salt to taste

Red Chili Powder: 3 gms

Turmeric Powder: 2 gms

Ginger paste: 3 gms

Garlic paste: 5 gms

Mustard Oil to shallow

Method

Marinate the fish with all spice powders, salt, ginger and garlic paste and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Now heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the fish to half cook and keep aside.

For Mustard Sauce

Mustard oil: 30 ml

Yellow mustard seeds: 50 gms

Turmeric powder: 3 gms

Red chili powder: 4 gms

Red chili whole: 2 pcs

Bay Leaf: 1 no.

Ginger paste: 5 gms

Garlic paste: 6 gms

Onion slice: 1 large onion

Tomato diced: 1 large

Chopped coriander leaves: 4 gms

Method

Soak mustard seeds overnight and make a fine paste out of it. Heat oil in a pan till smoke point and allow it cool down a little bit. Now add bay leaf and red chili whole allow it release flavour in oil. Now add sliced onion and cook lite brown in colour and add ginger and garlic paste and cook on slow heat till it releases pleasant flavour. Add all powdered spices and mustard paste on this occasion and cook till fat leaves the masala. Now add tomatoes and saute till it mash. Add boiling water to masala and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Put fish pieces into the curry and simmer for 8-10 minutes and add chopped coriander and serve it with rice or roti.

 

 

Note: Traditionally rohu fish is used at our house, fort restaurant and sustainability keeping in mind we use barramundi fish in our kitchen.

(Recipe Courtesy: Chef Aditya Jha)