You would require:
1 cup poha (which is flattened rice), 1 liter of whole cream milk, 5 almonds, 5 pistachios, 5 cardamoms powdered, 1 cup sugar, 4-5 cashews broken, 15-20 raisins, water and little bit of salt.

Wash and drain the poha. Leave it for 10 minutes.  Separate the poha grains using your fingers from the vessel. Boil the milk in a large vessel and when the milk starts boiling add poha and stire gently in it. Bring the mixture to boil. Simmer till the milk volume reduces to half. Stir occasionally once or twice. It is time add sugar and cardamom, stir it to dissolve. Add the raisins and cashews. Simmer the whole mixture for 2 minutes and garnish with chopped almonds and pistachios. The aval payasam is ready.

Masala Dosa

Masala dosa is a very popular south Indian recipe which you can find in almost all types of fast food joints in India and restaurants. The masala dosa is the most popular recipe among south Indian dishes in other parts of India.

You would require:
2 ½ cup uncooked rice, 1 cup of urad dal preferably whole, 2 tablespoon fenugreek, salt to taste and 2 table spoon cooking oil. For Masala you would require 3 boiled potatoes peeled and chopped, 1 onion chopped, 2 chillies, 1 tbsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp chana dal, ½ tbsp mustard seed, salt to taste and coriander leaves if you wish.

You have to soak the urad dal, rice and fenugreek seeds separately for at least 8 hours in water. Now grind them well together using the requisite amount of water to make a fine paste. Add salt and set the mixture aside for fermentation for the whole day.

Now when you are ready to prepare masala dosa, cut the onions, and arrange the rest of ingredients to prepare the masala dosa. Sauté the chopped onion in a pan with cooking oil and add mustard seeds, chana dal, and chilly to the sauté onion. Fry till they are brown in color. Add salt and the chopped potatoes, turmeric, chilly powder continuously. Cook it for few minutes. It is time now to pour the ladle on a non-stick pan and give it a circular shape. Put little oil around it and turn around while bubbling appears. Now fill the center of the dosa with the masala (one spoon) prepared. Fold the dosa to cover the masala. The dosa is ready to be served with chutney of coconut and sambhar.

Life without sweetness is boring. Sweets have always been the integral part of Indian cuisine. Perhaps no where in the world you would come across such a variety of sweets that are predominantly available in every nook and corner of the market streets in India. Along with chat-patas the sweet is another favorite item for evening snacks as well as after meal servings. The sweet dishes are different from Western dishes in the sense they are prepared never with the concept of calorie but taste and richness. They aid in digestion and are normally consumed after taking a good meal.

An Indian meal almost remains incomplete without the sweet dishes. Here are few recipes of popular Indian sweets which are available in all corners of the country.

Khir

Ingredients you would require:
milk 2 liters, 4 tablespoon of sugar, 200 gm of pure basmati rice, few raisins, dry fruits, sliced almonds, chopped cahew nuts, a little bit of permitted color if required and bay leaves.

Heat the milk in a large pan and simmer it till it reduces to 3 quarters of its original volume. Now add the rice on it and let it get cooked for 10 minutes. The milk volume will be now reduced to half. Add sugar and heat for 1 minute. It is time to add the bay leaves, raisins, cashew nuts, almonds and dry fruits. Keep stirring while you put the ingredients in the khir. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. The khir is ready. But don’t serve it hot. Khir is usually served when it is cold and the taste of cold khir is very captivating after a good meal.

Rosogulla

Ingredients you would require:
1 kg of cottage cheese, sugar 1 kg, water 1 ½ liters, ghee 5 tablespoons, semolina 2 tbsp, standard-flour 2 tbsp, rose water few drops and cardamom powder. Sometimes permitted color and flavors are also used.

How to Prepare Rosogulla?

Pour the water in a deep pan and add sugar. Boil the mixture for 20-30 minutes till the volume is reduced to ¾.  Put aside the syrup prepared. Now it is time to prepare the rosogulla balls. Take a mid size bowl which can hold the cottage cheese. Add the cottage cheese to ghee, standard flour, semolina, and cardamom powder. Mix the entire ingredients together fine that they form dough. It must be soft enough to make the balls. Knead the prepared dough evenly until your palm becomes oily.

Now you can make the balls of rosogolla using the dough. Make the balls not less than 1 ½ inches of diameter. Add the prepared balls in the sugar syrup and get them cooked again for another 20-30 minutes. Now you will notice the balls turning spongy. Put off the flame and let it cool. After 15 minutes you should add the rose water to it. The rosogullas are ready to be served after one hour.

Indeed the place is known for their variety of vegetarian food styles. Whether you talk of Lapsi which is wheat porridge or the ‘bhujia-roti’ combination, you have something to stuff in your mouth without any sort of hesitation. If you wish to learn about the taste of Rajasthan and its vivid culture which is reflected in the dishes, read the book on Rajasthan Cuisin by Maharani Gayatri Devi.

Rajasthani food is mostly known for the cooking in Royal Kitchens. Food here is a serious business because of the tourists flooding the state almost all the year round. The cooking here has its unique flavor and they use the simplest ingredients in them. Gram flour is widely used in some delicacies like Pakoda, Ghatta ki Sabji, Khata and others. They use bajra and corn to make bread (rotis). The place is also known for Khichri a particular dish prepared by ingredients like – rice, vegetables, ginger, spices, and some amount of butter. Rajasthan is also known for richly snacks like – ‘Daal-Moth’, Papad, Chips and Bhujia.

Here are few things which you always find in Rajasthan:

Lassi

This is natural yoghurt which is churned to remove the butter and make Lassi (buttermilk) a cool beverage served in summer.

Rajasthani Dal-Bati-Churma

This is a common food of Rajasthani people. Daal-Bati is cooked lentils and roasted balls of dough which is accompanies by pickle berries cooked in different methods. The Churma is a sweet dish made of jaggery or sugar in ghee. For taste and variety some ingredients like coconut, khoya and resins are also used.

Frying Puris and Chola

This is also a Punjabi favorite snack. Grams are soaked in water and later on cooked to a delicious stuffy recipe called chola masala which is served with fried white thin breads that puff like balloons when they are put on hot boiling oil in big pans.

The other common things which you would be able to taste in Rajasthan are – sweets having some spicy flavors, jalebis, mithais, faldas and glass of milk served with thick cream.

The light southerly breeze, the crooning cuckoos, the basant bahar melodies-all herald the arrival of spring season and then comes the holi festival, adding more colors to this sultry weather. No Indian festival is complete without food customized for the occasion, same goes for holi too. Each state of India has its own delicacies to add their local flavor. From sugar candies to intoxicating drinks, there is a mind-boggling range of snacks, sweets and thandais, which add more aromas to the southerly spring air. Try and rustle up these holi delicacies.

Thandai

Ingredients:
1 ½ litre water;1 ½ cups sugar;1 cup milk;1 tbsp almond paste;1 tbsp water melon seeds,skinned;1/2 tbsp poppy seeds;1/2 tbsp aniseed;1/2 tsp cardamom powder or 10 whole pods;1 tsp rose water(optional);1 tsp peppercorns;20 gm rose petals

Method:

Soak the sugar in ½ litre of water and set aside. Wash all dry ingredients (except cardamom powder), soak in two cups of water and let stand for two hours. Grind into a fine paste and mix with water. Strain till you get a dry residue. Add milk, soaked sugar, rose water and almond paste. If using cardamom powder, fold it in now. Refrigerate for an hour. Serve chilled.

Gujia (north Indian dish)

Ingredients:
500 gm Maida(flour);1 kg khoya;75 gm raisins;200 gm almonds,silvered;500 gm sugar;200ml water;200 ml refined oil

Method:

Heat six tbsp oil and mix well with the flour, using your fingers. Add some water and knead lightly into soft dough. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside.

Stir -fry the khoya till it turns light brown. Add sugar to it and mix well. Add almonds and raisins. Fry for a few minutes and remove from the fire. Roll out the kneaded dough into small rounds, thicker and smaller than normal chapattis.
Place some khoya mix in the round, fold it into half and seal it, twisting the edges in, so the filling does not ooze out. Heat the remaining oil and deep fry these gujias, till they turn deep golden brown.

Puran poli (maharashtrian dish)

Ingredients:
300 gm chana dal;300 gm jaggary;1 tsp cardamom powder; 150 gm refined flour(maida);3 tbsp ghee;lukewarm water

Method:

Boil the dal in plenty of water till soft. Drain and break it with your fingers. Mash jaggery and mix it with the dal. Put this mixture in a heavy saucepan and cook till a soft lump is formed. Stir continuously, so that the mixture is not charred. Set aside .mix 1 tbsp ghee with flour, adding enough water to make soft dough. Make small balls and roll out into 4 chapattis. Put some dal filling in the centre and seal. Re-roll into 6 chapattis. Roast on a warm tawa till golden brown on both sides. Apply a dollop of ghee on top and serve. Or, shallow fry on tawa like a parnatha. Serve hot.

It’s summer time! The scorching heat is bothering all of us. Our body consists of almost 70%of water, so it becomes very essential to maintain this content for proper functioning. Fruits are the body’s best friends as they help in maintaining the nutrient level in the body by compensating the loss of minerals due to excessive sweating in this blistering and sweltering weather. Various fruits like watermelon, musk Mellon, cucumber and others provide adequate fluids and electrolytes for the support of healthy functioning of body. No doubt they make a good snack too. Here are some refreshing delights for all you people out for who wants to beat this boiling temperature through various juicy flavorsome quenchers, lemonades which can be prepared in minutes and relished at home.

Mango mint cooler

Ingredients:
2 cup mango pulp;1 freshly pureed mango;1 sprig mint leaves shredded;1 tbsp lime juice; ice cubes as required;175 ml aerated drink of your choice;1/2 tsp chaat masala

Method:

In a blender combine together the mango pulp and the freshly made pulp with some limejuice and crushed ice. Pour a mixture in a tall glass and top with some aerated drink like orange fanta or mirinda. Serve chilled.

Melon delight

Ingredients:
2 large pieces of water melon(so as to make 300 ml of juice);2 medium size cucumber(to make 100ml of juice);1 piece of ginger; salt to taste.

Method:

Peel, remove seeds and cut into pieces the melon, the cucumber and the ginger. Blend into blender. Strain the juice. Serve with ice cubes and salt and pepper to taste.

Red riding hood

Ingredients:
200ml carrot juice; 100ml tomato juice; ice cubes; rock salt to taste.

Method:

Blend the carrot juice and the tomato juice. Mix the rock salt and add the ice cubes.
It’s now ready to savor up.

Black and white wonder

Ingredients:
1 scoop of vanilla ice cream, 100 ml of black grape juice; 100 ml soda water; some mint leaves.

Method:

In a tall glass, make 2 layers with the ice-cream at the bottom and then grape juice. Top with soda water. Garnish with mint leaves and serve as and then.

White wonder

Ingredients:
water of one fresh cocout;200 ml of pineapple juice; 2tbsp pineapple pieces,2 almonds(optional)chopped into pieces; pinch of cinnamon powder.

Method:

Mix the coconut water and pineapple juice. Mix in the pieces and almonds. Garnish with cinnamon powder and serve chilled.