How to make Chai | Basic Indian Tea Recipe | Cooking Basics

Indian Tea is an essential beverage of every Indian home. India doesn’t have a long history of tea but over the years India has embraced this energizing drink as its own. India has its own way of brewing tea. Almost every Indian household have their own way of making Tea. We are presenting the basic kind of Indian ‘Chai.’

Ingredients:

·  Tea Powder – 2 ½ tsp

·  Milk – 2 ½ cup

·  Water – 2 cup

·  Sugar – 4 tsp

·  Chai Masala – 2 tsp (optional)

Method:

·  Boil 2 cups of water. Add Tea powder.

·  Let the tea powder infuse with the water and then add sugar.

·  Let everything boil for 5 mins on low flame.

·  Slowly add 2 cups of milk and keep stirring.

·  Boil till the tea rises till the brim of the saucepan.

·  Switch off the gas and strain the tea.

Chai Masala Powder - Secret Ingredient of Flavoured and Aromatic Indian Tea | Winter Special

Indian spiced Tea ‘Masala Chai’ is known across the globe for its robust flavour. Masala Chai is specially made during monsoons and winter. The blend of spices (masala) in the tea is known to have medicinal properties and energizes the body in the cool climate. The real essence of Indian Masala tea is the selective blend of spices. Every household has its own version of Masala (spice blend) for the tea. Culture Recipe gets you a basic version of Chai Masala.

Ingredients -

• Dry Ginger (Sonth) – 1 cup
• Green Cardamom (Elaichi) – 1 tsp
• Black pepper (Kalimiri) – 1 tsp
• Cinnamon (Dalchini) – 2 long pieces
• Cloves (Laung) – 1 tsp

Method -

• Crush all the spices one by one in the grinding stone. Crush them to a coarse powder.
• Mix all the coarsely powdered spices together.
• Store them in an air tight container and use them when needed.

(You could also grind all the spices together in a mixer grinder.)

Kerala Coconut Pancakes ft. Shin Chan | Children's Day Special | Kids Special | Tiffin Box Recipe

Don’t you miss your childhood days? The days when you would be free bird enjoying innocent life and amazing memories of delicious food prepared by your family.

Childhood indeed is special and India celebrates children’s day today on 14^th November. Our Home chef Leo makes for you his childhood recipe of Kerala Coconut Pancake. According to our chef this Pancake would be made by his mother whenever he would return hungry from school as an evening snack or for his school tiffin. Children usually need something that is filling and delicious. Hence these Kerala Pancake are packed with goodness of coconut, eggs and milk.

Ingredients:

For the pancake batter:

• Maida/All purpose flour – 2 cups

• Eggs – 3

• Vanilla essence – 2 tsp (optional)

• Milk – 150 ml / 1 Glass

• A pinch of salt

For the filling:

• Grated coconut – 2 cups

• Sugar – 1 cup / 6 tbsp.

• Chopped Nuts – 1 cup

• Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Method:

• Break the eggs and whisk it.

• Mix all the ingredients listed under ‘Batter’ along with the whisked eggs.

• Make a smooth batter of thin consistency and keep aside.

• For the filling, heat a pan and roast the coconut till it starts changing colour.

• Turn off the flame and add sugar, chopped nuts and cardamom powder. Mix well and let it cool.

• Heat a pan or dosa tava. Pour the batter and turn it around.

• Cook the pancake from either sides and put the filling inside and roll it.

• Kerala Pancake is ready.

Tips and Suggestion:

• Vegetarians can skip eggs and add either milkmaid or make the batter as given.

• You can also make the batter with wheat flour.

Avial | Traditional Kerala Mixed Vegetable Recipe | Healthy Recipe | Diet/ Detox Recipe

The traditional Indian food is renowned in the world for being healthy, pure, clean and wholesome. A balanced Indian diet and vegetable preparations consists of food that gives life, strength and energy to the individual.

Today doctors and dieticians are promoting strict diets of healthy vegetables often simply boiled with little spices, we tend to get bored from these kind of tasteless diets. But our own cultural and traditional Indian food is and has always been healthy, simple and easy to digest.

The food from the southern Indian state of Kerala derives a lot of influences from Ayurveda and has amazing recipes recommended for both their purity and vitality. Keralite foods are light in nature, easy to digest, mildly cooling and made with simple ingredients.

One such flavourful and healthy vegetarian dish from the state of Kerala is Avial. A simple coconut paste based preparation of local and native vegetables tempered with few spices. It is a miracle recipe for detox and diet.

Ingredients:

Vegetables ( All cut in long pieces of equal length)

• Carrot – 1
• Raw banana – 1
• Drumstick – 2
• White Pumpkin – 200 gms
• Yam/Elephant’s foot/Suran – 200 gms

Coconut Paste (to be ground together)

• Freshly grated coconut – 1 cup
• Fresh yoghurt – 2 cups/150 gms
• Ginger – 1 small piece (optional)
• Green Chillies – 5
• Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1 ½ tsp

Other Ingredients:

• Water – 1 cup
• Cooking coconut oil – 6 tbsp
• Turmeric – ½ tsp or pinch
• Fresh curry leaves – 5 – 10 pcs
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Wash, Clean and cut all vegetables in equal lengths.
• Heat 6 tbsp coconut oil in an earthen vessel (Kerala Manchatti) or in a pan. Add chopped vegetables and stir fry on medium heat.
• Add 1 ½ tsp of salt and ½ tsp of turmeric and mix. Pour 1 cup of water and close the pan till the vegetables are tender. (Note – Every vegetable has a different boiling time and some vegetables may get overcooked if boiled too much so you can also steam them.)
• Meanwhile take all the ingredients for the paste i.e grated coconut, green chillies, piece of ginger and cumin seeds/Jeera along with yoghurt in a grinding jar and mix it to get a coarse paste.
• When the vegetables are tender, keep the flame low and add the coconut paste to the vegetables and mix well. (Keep stirring on a low flame orelse the paste may curdle.)
• Adjust the salt and let it simmer for 2 minutes and take it off the flame. 
• Season with 2 tbsp of coconut oil and curry leaves. Your light and healthy Avial is ready.

Tips & Suggestions

• We have used the traditional earthen vessel ‘Manchatti’ for cooking as cooking in earthen vessels is so very Indian and eco-friendly. Moreover using earthenware is the new fad and we can’t be more happy as culturally it has always been used and clay being alkaline in nature helps in neutralising the pH balance of the food by interacting with the acid present in the food.

• We have made the Avial with 5 selected Kerala vegetables but you tweak this recipe by adding any vegetable of your choice.

• Every family and village in Kerala have their own choices of vegetable and style of cooking Avial, this recipe of Avial is given to our home chef Leo by his maternal grandmother and is his family recipe.

Rasiya | Bakhlr | Bihari Chawal-Gur ki Kheer | Rice-Jaggery Pudding | Healthy Dessert Recipe | Diwali Special | Happy Bhai Dooj

Food has always been a factor which binds India together. In spite of the cultural diversity you find in India it still all comes together in a perfect fusion through food and festivities. Diwali usually marks the start of winter season and since Diwali is all about eating sweets there is nothing better than gorging on your favourite festive delicacies and also welcoming winter.

The north Indian state of Bihar is famous for a delicious Kheer made especially during festivities like Bhai Dooj and winter season. The Kheer is called Rasiya or Bakhlr or Gur-Chawal ki Kheer. This simple yet tasty Kheer is eaten along with Puris. One interesting fact about Rasiya/ Gur-Chawal/Rice-Jaggery Kheer is that it is made across all of India with slight variations and is known by different names. In Kolkata the Rice-Jaggery Kheer is often made with Palm sugar or dark jaggery and is known as Nolen Gur Payesh, in parts of north India like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh it is known as Bakheer, Gur-Chawal Kheer and Bhuri Kheer. In the southern Indian state of Kerala, it is known as Charkara Payasam and is often made with coconut milk.

This heavenly Rice-Jaggery Kheer, Rasiya is best consumed during the winter months because winter is the season of fresh jaggery. Since it is rich in many vital vitamins and minerals, jaggery boosts immunity, keeps the body warm, helps treat cold and cough and controls the temperature of the body. This natural sweetener has been a great go-to ingredient in India since time immemorial.

Ingredient:

·       Rice – 1 cup

·       Milk – ½ ltr

·       Jaggery/Gur - 250 gms

·       Water – 2 cups

·       Cardamom/Elaichi Powder – 1 tbsp

·       Dry Ginger/Soont Powder – ½ tsp or pinch (optional)

·       Almonds – 5 pcs

·       Cashewnuts – 5 pcs

·       Raisins – 10 pcs

·       Indian Clarified butter/Ghee – 5 tbsp.

Method:

·       Wash and soak rice in water for 30 minutes. Then drain the water completely and keep aside.

·       Heat 5 tbsp Ghee in a non stick saucepan and once the pan is hot keep the flame low. Add the chopped Almonds, Cashewnuts and raisins in the ghee and saute it till it starts changing colour.

·       When the dry fruits turn light brown quickly add the rice and fry it till it changes colour and becomes light golden. (Be careful while roasting the rice, do not burn them.)

·       Put off the flame and add ½ ltr milk to the rice and keep stirring it. Switch on the gas now and keep stirring the rice every 2 minutes so that the milk doesn’t stick to the bottom and sides of the pan.

·       Keep stirring the rice and milk till the rice does not get cooked. (This takes approximately about 15-20 minutes, take a little rice and smash it on your fingers or smash little rice with the ladle to check if the rice is cooked).

·       Once the rice is done, switch off the gas and take the vessel off from the flame and let it cool till the rice and milk mixture is at a room temperature.

·       Meanwhile, heat another saucepan and add 250 gms of  Jaggery/Gur to it. Pour 1 Glass of water and dilute the Gur.

·       Once the Jaggery syrup is done, take it off from the flame and strain the jiggery syrup through a sieve/channi to remove impurities. Allow the syrup to cool and come at room temperature.

·       Once the Rice-Milk mixture and Jaggery syrup are at room temperature and cooled completely, Mix both of them together.

·       Place the mixed Kheer on a low flame. Add cardamom powder and a pinch of dry ginger/soont powder (optional) for the extra zing and keep stirring. (Keep stirring the kheer on a low flame orelse the Kheer may curdle)

·       Take out the Kheer in a serving bowl and add a few chopped nuts to garnish eat.

Tips/Suggestions:

·       We have used small variety of Kolam rice for the kheer as traditionally it is made with small rice but you can make it with basmati rice too.

·       The colour of the kheer depends on the colour of the Jaggery being used.

·       You can also make this Kheer with coconut milk.

·       The Kheer is best served cold but if you are refrgirating the Kheer and would want to reheat it then take out the Kheer atleast 30 mins before consumption and let it thaw. Reheat it on a low flame whilst stirring it continuously as there are chances of it to curdle.