50 gm moong dal

1 Tbsp refined oil

2 Tbsp sugar

7-8 cardamons

1. Wash and cook the dal with as minimum water as possible. 
2. Grind it into a fine paste.

3. Grind sugar and cardamom finely. 

4. Remove big pieces of cardamom skin if any.

5, Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. 

6. Add the moong paste and fry until the oil is absorbed. 

7. Add the sugar mixture.  Keep stirring until the sugar melts and the dal partially dries up. 

8. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

120 gm flour

60 gm butter

½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp powdered sugar

3 Tbsp of cold water

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and sugar together. 
2. Cut cold butter into cubes. 
3. Place the flour in the blender. 
4. Add the butter and give just 2-3 quick pulses. 
5. Add cold water and give another 3-4 quick pulses.

6. Turn the dough onto a surface and knead lightly. 

7. Make 8-9 equal balls and keep them in the fridge.

8. Take a ball and roll out to the size of a 2 inch circle.  Further roll only the edge as thin as possible. 

9. Place the filling at the centre. 

10. Collect the edge of the circle and bring it to centre and press it to seal the filling.  

11. Turn the ball over to the smoother side and flatten with your hand. 

12. Make a dent on side like a heart.  

13. Oil the heart shape cutter and carefully place the ball into it, as shown in the picture.   

14. Gently press the ball into the heart mould. 

15. Carefully remove the cutter and place the heart shape on a greased baking tray. 

16. Repeat the same steps with the other balls.

17. Brush the top with milk and sugar mixture.

18. Bake in a hot oven 200 degree C for 35- 40 minutes, until slightly browned.

19. Remove them from oven and brush the top with butter.

100 gm masoor dal

½ medium size onion finely chopped

1 green chilli finely chopped

1medium size potato(100gm)

1 tbsp corn flour

50 gm cheese( use 15 gm, remaining for topping)

½ tsp baking powder

Salt to taste

½ cup refined oil to fry

1. Wash and soak dal for 4 hours. 
2. Drain it and grind finely with very little water.

3. Wash, peel and grate the potato.

4. Add grated potato, onion, chilli, salt, corn flour and baking powder to the dal mixture. 

5. Grate the cheese. Add about ¼ of it, to the dal mixture and mix well.

6. Form balls of a walnut size. 

7. Deep fry them over low heat. It takes about 3 to 4 minutes for a batch of three balls.  

8. When slightly brown on both sides, remove them from the oil and keep them on a tissue paper. 

9. Repeat the same for the other balls.

4 medium size ripe tomatoes (approx. 300 gm)

2 green chilli chopped

½ of a medium size onion finely chopped

½ tsp sugar

1 tbsp vinegar/ lemon juice

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

1. Wash and chop tomatoes coarsely.
2. Grind it together with the chopped chilli in the grinder.

3. Heat the oil in a pan. 

4. Add onion and sauté for a minute or so. 

5. Add the tomato puree and stir well. 

6. Add salt to taste and ½ tsp sugar and keep cooking, stirring occasionally, till the sauce thickens. 

7. Add vinegar and stir well.  Cook for a minute and switch off the heat.

8. Transfer ¾ of the tomato sauce to a bowl.

9. Add 1 cup of water to the remaining sauce. 

10. Add ¼ tsp of salt and bring it to boil. 

11. Add the balls and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes turning the balls carefully once or twice. 

12. Let the water be absorbed by the balls completely.

13. Arrange the dal balls on a baking dish. 

14. Pour the prepared sauce over it. 

15. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top and grill for 10 minutes until the cheese melts.  Serve it hot.

100 gm moong dal

50 gm sugar

20 gm butter

20 gm refined oil

8 cardamoms

15 gm crushed walnuts

Wash and cook dal with as minimum water as possible.  Drain off excess water.  Mash dal to a smooth and fine paste.

Grind sugar and cardamom together.  Remove if any skin of the cardamom pod is left in the sugar mixture.

Melt butter in a non-stick pan over medium heat.  Add oil and then the moong paste.  Keep stirring till the dal absorbs the oil. 

Add the sugar.  Keep stirring until the mixture stick together.  Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the moong mixture to a bowl.

200 gm flour

25 gm butter

½ cup milk

1 tbsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp dried active yeast

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

Add salt to flour and mix slowly with the yeast mixture to form dough.  Cover it with cling film or a wet kitchen cloth or with the pan cover and leave it for about 20 to 25 minutes to double its size.

Take out the dough on a floured surface and knead gently for about 8-10 minutes. Bring the dough to a ball shape and cover it and leave it aside in a warm place for another hour to double its size again.

Knead the dough lightly and roll out to a rectangular shape.  Trim the sides. 

Spread the moong mixture over the dough evenly.  Sprinkle the crushed walnuts over it.  Roll the dough as in Swiss roll, starting with the shorter side. Leave it in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Cut the roll into slices of 2 cm thickness with a sharp knife.  Grease and line the baking tray with buttered paper.  Place the sliced pieces on it.  Cover with an oiled plastic sheet and leave it in a warm place for 1 hour to for proofing. 

Before baking place one or two pieces of chopped pistachios on each slice. (Optional)

Preheat oven 10 minutes prior to baking to 200 degree C.  Bake the roll slices for 25 minutes until lightly brown.  Brush them with melted butter and cool them on a wire rack.

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.