100 gm Kashmiri rajma

½ medium size capsicum finely chopped

½ medium size tomato finely chopped

1 medium size onion finely chopped

1 tsp chilli finely chopped

3 tbsp of refined oil

Salt to taste

2 tbsp grated cheese

1. Wash and soak rajma for about 6 hours.
2. Wash again and cook with ½  tsp of salt in the pressure cooker. 
3. After the first whistle, reduce the heat and cook for about 3 minutes.  Allow it to cool.

4. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.  

5. Add the onion and sauté for few seconds. 

6. Add the capsicum and chilli and stir fry before adding the tomato. 

7. Add tomato to the spices and cook it for a minute or so.

8. Add the cooked rajma.

9. Mix it well with the spices and continue to cook for another minute and then transfer to a bowl.

200 gm flour

25 gm butter

½ cup milk

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp dried active yeast

¼ tsp salt

1. Melt the butter in a pan. 
2. Add milk, sugar and yeast. 
3. Mix lightly and set it aside for 10 minutes to froth. 

4. Add the salt to the flour and slowly mix it with the yeast mixture to form dough. 

5. The dough would be sticky at this stage. 

6. Cover it with cling film or a wet kitchen cloth or with the pan cover and leave it for an hour to double its size.

7. After that, take out the dough on a floured surface and knead gently for about 5-8 minutes.

8. Bring the dough to a ball size and cover it with cling film and leave it aside for another hour to double its size again.

1. Oil the baking pan and cover its base with buttered paper.
2. Dust it with flour.

1. Press the dough to let out all the gas inside the dough. 
2. Place it on a floured surface and knead lightly. 
3. Divide into four pieces. 

4. Take 1 piece and roll it out to a rectangular shape, keeping the other 3 balls under cover so that they do not dry. 

5. Place the filling at the centre.  Add little grated cheese. 

6. Cover the filling with the top side flap. 

7. Make narrow slits on the other as shown in the picture. 

8. Carefully roll the filled portion over the slits.  

9. And then turn the roll upside down.

10. Place the roll on the prepared baking pan. 

11. Repeat the same steps for the other three balls and place them on the tray. 

12. Cover with cling film and leave it for 1 hour to proof.

1. After 1 hour, melt 1 tbsp of butter and drizzle over the rolls. 
2. Sprinkle few finely chopped coriander leaves or parsley over them.

3. Bake in a hot oven 200 degree C for 30 minutes. 

4. Remove the rolls from the baking pan and serve hot.

40 gm urad dal

75 gm sugar

215 ml milk

25 gm butter

1tsp corn flour

1 tsp lemon rind

Wash and soak the dal for 4 hours.  Rinse and cook with minimum water possible in a pressure cooker.  After the first whistle lower the heat to its minimum and cook the dal for 1 ½ minutes.  Switch off the heat and allow it to cool.

Grind the dal with milk to a fine mixture.  Add corn flour and sugar during grinding.

Heat a pan over medium heat and add the butter.  Pour the dal mixture into the pan.  Cook till it begins to thicken and boils. Add the lemon rind and remove it from the heat.

2 slices of bread

1 Tbsp butter

2 small removable base flan cases (base 3 cm diameter)

Take the measurement of the base of the flan case on a piece paper.  Make the round 1 cm wider and cut out the circle.

Take a slice of bread and flatten with the rolling pin.  Place the paper circle on it, and cut out a bread circle. 

Butter the flan case and the bread.  Place the bread at the base and press it evenly into the case.  Do the same for the other case as well.

Spoon the prepared filling into the cases to the top.

1 green apple

1 tsp icing sugar.

1. Wash and cut the apple into halves and then into quarter.
2. Cut out the core of the apple from each piece. 

3. With a potato peeler or a sharp knife slice the apple vertically as thin as possible and arrange them as the petals of a rose as shown in the picture.  Repeat the same for the other case.

Preheat oven for 5 minutes at 200 degree C and bake them both for about 20 minutes.

Remove them from the oven and sprinkle the tops with icing sugar. Remove the cases and serve with cream.

75 gm moong dal

2 Tbsp finely chopped onion

½ tsp finely grated garlic

 ½ tsp finely grated ginger

2 Tbs finey chopped capsicum

1 Tbsp refined oil

1 tsp soya sauce

½ tsp black pepper

Salt to taste

1. Wash the moong dal and place it in a container with just enough water to immerse the dal.  Add ¼ tsp salt to the dal. 
2. Now place the dal container into the pressure cooker. This method was followed because the dal should be soft yet retains its shape.
3. After the first whistle lower the heat to its minimum and cook the dal for another 1 ½ minutes. 
4. Switch off the heat and allow it to cool. 

5. Heat a pan with the oil.

6. Add onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and pepper one by one, stirring all the time over low heat.  

7. Add the soya sauce.

8. Mix the soya sauce well and stir fry the spices for few more seconds. 

9. Add the cooked moong dal. 

10. Mix it well with the spices.   Adjust the salt. Keep it aside.

100 gm flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp oil

Warm water for the dough

1. Sieve the flour and salt together into a big bowl. 
2. Add oil and mix well. 
3. Slowly add warm water to make the dough soft. 
4. Knead the dough well for few minutes and then cover it with cling film and keep it aside for 30 minutes.

1. Knead the dough well and equally divide into 8-9 pieces. 
2. Take 1 piece and keep the rest covered in the bowl.

3. Roll the ball flat to the size of a 3 inch circle.

4. Further roll only the edge as thin as possible to make it to about a 4 inch circle.   

5. Place the filling at the centre.  

6. Bring the opposite ends of the circle and press together as shown in the picture. 

7. Press together the remaining part of the semicircle to seal the filling.

8. Now bring the two ends of the straight side together and press the ends to form a rose bud. 

9. Oil the steamer container and place the momo.

10. Repeat the same with the other dough balls and place them side by side keeping little space in between them.

11. Steam the momos for about 10 -12 minutes. 

12. Serve hot with tomato sauce or chilli sauce.

Flan cases

Filling made from rajma

White sauce made from urad dal flour

Grated cheese for the topping

75 gm Kashmiri rajma

25 gm finely chopped oinion

25 gm finely chopped green capsicum

1 tsp finely chopped green chilli (optional)

2 Tbsp of refined oil

Salt to taste

1. Wash and soak Kashmiri bean for about 4 hours.
2. Rinse and pressure cook with little water and ½ tsp of salt.
3. After the first whistle lower the heat to minimum and cook for about 5 minutes.  Switch of heat. 
4. Allow to cool.  The rajma bean should be soft. If it is not, then cook for another minute.  
5. Drain and keep it aside.

6. Heat the oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. 

7. Add the onion and sauté for few seconds. 

8. Add the chopped chilli and then the capsicum. Stir-fry for few seconds. 

9. Add the rajma bean and mix well. Continue to stir-fry for a minute. 

10. Remove from the heat and keep it aside.

10 gm/1 Tbsp of  urad flour

250 ml milk

15 gm butter

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix the urad flour with milk to a fine paste. 
2. Beat it well for few seconds and then add the remaining milk.

3. Heat a pan over medium heat.  Add the butter. 

4. When it melts add the urad-milk into it. 

5. Cook to a smooth consistency.

6. Add salt and pepper to your taste. When the sauce thicken switch off the heat. 

7. Allow it to cool.

120 gm flour

60 gm butter

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp of salt

3 Tbsp of cold water

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together.  You can make the dough with your hand, but in a blender it is much easier and faster.
2. Place the sieved flour and the cold butter into the blender.  Just give 3 short pulses, the flour-butter will combine and resemble like that of bread crumbs. 
3. Add 3 Tbsp of cold water to it and give another 5 short pulses. 
4. Take out the mixture from the blender.  Make a ball and wrap with cling film. 
5. Keep it in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

6. Take out the dough from the fridge and divide into 4 equal pieces. 

7. Make them into balls.

8. Cover with cling film again and keep them in fridge.

9. Take a ball, flatten and roll out to round shape.  The round should be about 2 cm larger in all direction than the base of the flan case.

10. Trim the sides.  Carefully drop the pastry at the centre of the case and press it well into the case. 

11. Put the flan case back into the fridge. 

12. Repeat the same process with the other three balls.

13. Preheat the oven to 200 degree C. 

14. Prick the pastry base and line with butter paper.

15. Fill the cases with rice and blind bake for 10 -15 minutes until slightly browned.

16. Remove the paper and rice before filling.

1. Spoon the sauce and then the filling into the flan cases.

2. Top with grated cheese. 

3. Bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes until the cheese melts. 

4. Serve hot.

30 gm urad dal

½ litre milk

120 gm sugar

10 gm corn flour

15 gm butter

½ tsp vanilla essence

2 medium size ripe and firm mangoes

1. Wash and soak urad dal for about 4 hours. 
2. Grind it with little water to a fine paste. 
3. Add 100 gm of sugar and corn flour to it and mix well.  Keep it aside.

4. In the meantime, wash and peel the mangoes. 

5. Chop them into small cubes.

6. Place them in a pan and sprinkle the remaining 20 gm of sugar over it. 

7. Cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.   Stir gently without crushing the mango cubes.  

8. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.

9. Warm the milk slightly in a heavy pan. 

10. Add about 4 Tblsp of  warm milk to the urad mixture and stir well. 

11. Pour the mixture into the remaining milk and stir well. 

12. Cook the same over medium heat stirring continuously to a smooth consistency.

13. When it begins to thicken add the butter and vanilla.

14. When the mixture boils with big bubbles and coats the back of the spoon then remove the pan from the heat. 

15. Allow it to cool.

16. When both the mixtures – urad and mangoes are cool enough, put spoonful of them alternately into glasses, reserving some mangoes for decoration on the top.

17. Decorate the top as you like it.

For the Mocha-moong cream

30 gm moong dal

10 gm corn flour

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp coffee powder

½ litre milk

100 gm sugar

25 gm butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

50 gm cream

Few pistachios for garnishing

For the aquafaba meringue

4 Tbsp aquafaba

1 Tbsp powdered sugar

½ tsp lemon juice/pinch of cream of tartar

1. Wash and soak moong dal for about 6 hours. Rinse and grind the dal with little water to a very fine paste.

2. Add the corn flour and sugar to the moong paste and mix well.

3. In a blender, blend cocoa and coffee powder with ¼ teacup of milk.  Set it aside.

4. Bring the remaining milk to boil. 

5. Add the moong mixture slowly into it.  Stir and cook to a smooth consistency. 

6. When it thickens a little remove from the heat.

7. Add the cocoa-coffee liquid to the cooked moong mixture and mix well.   

8. Cook further over medium heat until big bubbles form on the surface. Switch off the heat. 

9. Add the butter and vanilla essence.  Mix well.

10. Rinse a serving dish with cold water and pour the moong mixture into it.

11. When the mixture cools down completely, beat the cream slightly and spread a thin layer over it.  Keep it in the fridge.

12. Remove the shell and chop the pistachios finely. Set aside.

13. Beat aquafaba for a while and then add the powdered sugar and lemon juice. 

14. Continue to beat till peaks form.

15. Spoon the aquafaba mixture on the moong cream and cover it up. 

16. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios on top.

1 litre milk

30 gm moong dal

5 gm corn flour

100 gm Sugar

8 green cardamom

Few pistachio for garnishing (optional).

1. Remove the shells of the pistachios and chop them finely. Set them aside for garnishing.

2. Wash and soak moong dal for about 2 hours. Grind to a fine paste.

3. Add the corn flour and mix well.

4. Grind sugar and cardamom together. 

5. Sieve the mixture and discard the skins of the cardamom if any.  Set aside

6. Bring milk to boil in a heavy pan. 

7. Lower the heat and let it  simmer until milk reduces to half.

8. Switch off the heat. 

9. Add the moong paste and mix well.

10. Switch on the heat again to medium and continue cooking until the mixture begins to thicken.

11. Add the sugar.  Keep cooking and stirring until the mixture is thick enough to cover the backside of the spoon.

12. Remove the pan from the heat. Strain and cool the mixture.

13. Fill the kulfi moulds with the mixture and then cover them. 

14. Refrigerate for about 2 hours till the kulfis are partially set.

15. Take the kulfi tray out of the freezer. 

16. Insert sticks at the centre of each kulfi. Partially set kulfi will hold the sticks vertical.

17. Cover it with foil and refrigerate again for 6-8 hours to set completely.  Overnight is always best.

18. To remove the kulfis – dip a kitchen cloth in hot water. Wring and wrap around the moulds.

19. Hold the stick and give a slight twist.  The kulfi will come out easily.  

20. Do the same for the others. Sprinkle few chopped pistachios and serve chilled.

1. After washing, soaking and grinding into fine paste the moong measured 141 gm. 
2. Divide the same into 2 parts of 70 gm each. 
3. Used one part and kept the other half in the refrigerator for future use.

100 gm flour

1 tsp baking powder

50 gm butter

75 gm sugar

50 ml milk

4 Tbsp of Aquafaba*

½ tsp lemon/almond essence

1 tsp lemon juiced/ a pinch of cream of tartar

1. Sieve flour and baking powder together and keep aside. 
2. Line the base of the baking tin, grease and dust it with flour.

3. Bring butter to room temperature and beat with ¾ of the powdered sugar till fluffy and creamy.

4. Add the flour mixture gradually to the creamed buttered alternately with milk.

5. Beat aquafaba till foamy. 

6. Add lemon juice and the remaining sugar. Beat further until peaks are formed.

7. Fold in the foamed mixture into the cake batter with a small amount at a time. 

8. Preheat oven to 350 degree F, for 5 minutes prior to your baking. 

9. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.  Tap the tin on a hard surface to remove air pockets if any. 

10. Bake for 30 minutes.

11. Cool it on a wire rack.  When cooled you may spread the cake with an icing of your choice

1. Wash and soak chickpeas for about an hour. 
2. Cook in a pressure cooker with water just enough to immerse the chickpeas. 
3. After the first whistle,  lower the flame to its minimum and cook for another 40 minutes. 
4. Switch of the flame and let the cooker cool.

5. Place a strainer over a bowl and pour the cooked chickpeas into it. 

6. Allow the liquid to drain out completely.  The liquid collected in the bottom bowl is the aquafaba.

You can store the aquafaba for some time in the deep freezer and use when necessary.

Store the aquafaba as ice cubes of 1 Tbsp each on ice trays or in small containers with 3 to 4 Tbsp aquafaba in each. 

100 gm flour

30 gm urad dal

50 ml milk

75 gm sugar powdered

50 gm white butter

1 tspf baking powder

1 tsp lemon essence

1 tsp lemon juice

1. Wash and soak urad for about 6 hours and then grind to a fine paste with as little water as possible.
2. Beat urad paste until light and creamy.
3. Sieve flour and baking powder and set it aside. Prepare your tin for baking. (Using 12 cm diameter tin).

4. Bring the butter to room temperature and beat with powdered sugar till creamy and fluffy.

5. Add urad paste to the creamed butter.

6. Add lemon essence and mix it well. 

7. Fold in flour to the buttered mixture using milk alternately to a smooth batter.

8. Preheat your oven to 350ºF, 5 minutes prior to your baking.

9. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes.

10. Cool it on a wire rack. You may wrap the cake while still warm to trap the moisture inside.  Urad dal enriches the cake also.

150 gm Urad dal/white lentil

250 ml dahi/curd

100 ml refined oil for frying

Tamarind Sauce*

1 Tbsp whole jeera/ cumin seeds

1 tsp paprika powder

Salt and sugar to taste

1. Wash and soak urad dal for about 6 hours.
2. Grind it with as minimum water as possible to a very fine paste.  Keep it in the fridge for an hour.
3. Add little cold water if it is too thick and beat to a creamy thick mixture. (If a small portion of the mixture is dropped in water floats, then beating is complete.)

4. Roast  jeera on a heavy pan over medium heat till the aroma of jeera is released. 

5. Allow it to cool and then grind into fine powder. 

6. Add salt to taste and ½ tsp of jeera powder to the creamy dal mixture and mix well.

7. Make the dahi-water: take 2-3 Tbsp of curd and beat it until smooth.  Add 1 cup of water to it.  Add salt and sugar to your taste and ½ tsp of the jeera powder and mix well.  Pour dahi-water onto a wider container as shown in the picture.

8. To shape the baras/dumplings: cover the bottom side of a tea mug with cling film as shown in the picture. 

9. Heat a heavy pan with the oil. Reduce the heat to medium. 

10. Oil the cling film on the mug. 

11. Spoon a small portion of the dal mixture on it and with a wet finger make a hole at the centre. 

12. Carefully slide over the bara into the hot oil.

13. Fry the bara over low heat until golden brown on both sides, turning it once. 

14. Remove from the oil and place it in the prepared dahi water. 

15. Let it get soaked for some time and turn over to the other side. 

16. When the bara is completely soaked, remove it to a dry plate. 

17. Repeat step 10 to step 16  til the mixture is done.

18. Place all the baras on a serving dish. 

19. Beat the remaining dahi well with salt and sugar to your taste. Add 1/2 tsp of little jeera powder and mix well. Pour the dahi over the baras. 

20. Lightly pour tamarind sauce over the dahi.  Sprinkle the remaining jeera and paprika powder on top and serve.

75 gm tamarind

120 gm sugar

1 Tbsp refined oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½  tsp sauf/aniseeds

½ tsp kaljeera/black cumin seeds

½ tsp salt

1 tsp finely chopped green chillies

1. Soak tamarind in 1 cup of water for about 30 minutes. Squeeze out the pulp and strain it.

2. Heat a heavy pan with 1 Tbsp of refined oil.

3. Add ½ tsp of mustard seeds.  When the mustard seeds crackle add the chopped chillies and then the tamarind pulp. 

4. Add ½ tsp of salt and allow it to boil. 

5. Add the sugar and simmer for about 3 minutes.

6. In the meantime roast kaljeera and saunf over low heat. When the aroma comes out, switch off the heat and allow to cool.

7. Grind to fine powder.

8. Add 1/2 tsp of the kaljeera  mixture to the tamarind sauce and remove from the heat. It is yummy !