Ingredients: Sugar- 1 cup Fried Gram (Pottu kadalai)- 1 cup Cardamom- 10 Cashew nuts -8-10 Raisins-8-10 Ghee- 1/4 to 1/2 cup (Recipe Courtesy Prabha’s Palumma)

Method:

Powder fine sugar and fried gram separately and mix well. Powder cardamom seeds also and mix. Break cashew nuts into small bits. In a spoonful of ghee, roast cashew nuts until golden and add raisins and remove from fire. Add this to the powder mixture and mix well. Heat the rest of the ghee. Add a little warm ghee at intervals, mix with the powder and make into a ball. If ghee is not enough, you cannot make the ball stand. If ghee is too much, it will be too sticky.

Ingredients: Semolina- 200 ml Sugar- 300 ml Ghee- 100 ml Cashew nuts- 10 Raisins- 1 tablespoon Saffron- 2 pinches Cardamom powder- 1 tspWater/ milk- 400 to 500 ml depending on the texture of the Rava

Method:

Break cashew nuts into 4.Dissolve saffron in a little warm milk and keep aside. Heat a pan, add a little ghee and roast cashew nuts and raisins and keep aside.
Boil 400- 500 ml water in one stove.
Heat the balance ghee and roast semolina until golden. Add 400 ml hot water/milk and cook on low heat. If semolina is very coarse add the extra water also, then close the lid and cook for a minute. The mixture will be soft. Add the sugar and keep stirring to prevent burning. When the Kesari is done, add saffron milk, cardamom powder and fried nuts and raisins. If needed add another spoon of ghee.

Ingredients:
French Beans- 100 gms
Carrot- 100 gms
Shelled peas-75 gms
Potato- 200 gms
Apples- 2
Pineapple-2 slices
Lettuce leaves-3 or 4
Fresh cream- 100 gms
Mayonnaise- 2 tbsp
salt, white pepper, sugar to taste

Method:

Peel and chop carrots and potatos. Chop beans into half inch lengths. Boil all the vegetables and keep aside. Peel and chop apples into cubes. Chop pineapple slices. Mix the cream, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and sugar well. Add the boiled vegetables and fruits. Mix well. Arrange the lettuce leaves in a dish and transfer the salad onto the leaves. Alternatively, serve the salad with tomato slices on the side. If desired, you can add boiled cauliflower florets also.

Ingredients:

Cooked pasta- 100 gms
Capsicum- Red, yellow and green- one each
Carrot- 1 medium- cut into juliennes
Tomatoes- 3 medium- dice or cut into strips
Spring onions- 5 nos- cut into long pieces
Cucumber- Peel and cut into strips
Lettuce- a few leaves- chopped

For dressing:

Peanuts- 4 tbsp- Dry roast and coarsely crush
Garlic- 1 clove- chopped fine
Sesame seeds- 2 tbsps- lightly roasted
Coriander leaves- 2 tbsp- Remove all stalk and chop
Lemon Juice- 2 tsps
White pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Olive oil- 1 tbsp
Sugar- 2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Mix well all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Prepare the dressing and mix with the vegetables. Toss lightly and serve.

For pastry:

Plain flour- 240 ml
Butter or ghee- 2 tbsp
Salt to taste.
Water- 2-3 tbsp

Sift the salt and flour into a bowl. Rub in the ghee until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add water little by little and knead well to a very smooth dough. Cover and chill while preparing the filling.

For stuffing:

Potatoes- 2 medium
Carrot- 1 medium
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
Chopped Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp
Oil- 1 tbsp
salt

Grate the potatoes and carrot. Heat oil, saute the grated vegetables for a few minutes; then add all the powders and coriander leaves and mix well.

Divide the dough into 15 portions. Dust with flour and roll into small rounds of about 5 inches. Cut the round into half and with one half make a cone. Fill with stuffing and seal the opening firmly by dampening. DO NOT OVERFILL. Prepare all the samosas the same way. Deep fry until crisp and golden. Serve with tomato ketchup or date chutney.

Ingredients:

Semolina- 160 ml
Oil- 2-3 tbsp
Mixed cubed vegetables- 160 ml (Beans, Carrot, potato, peas)
Chopped onion- 160 ml
Hot water- 320 ml
Mustard- 1/2 tsp
Black gram- 2 tsp
Bengal gram- 1 tsp
Cashew nut- broken – 1 tbsp
Curry leaves- 10-12
Green chillies- 2- chop
Ginger- grated- 1tsp
Asafoetida- 2 pinches
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Ghee- 1 tbsp (optional- reduce oil)
Salt- 1 tsp
Sugar- 1 tsp

For garnish:
Coriander leaves chopped- 1tbsp
Grated coconut- 1 tbsp

Method:

Boil or microwave the mixed vegetables till just soft and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, black gram, bengal gram, cashew nut and allow to splutter/ brown. Add curry leaves, green chillies, ginger, asafoetida and saute for a minute. Add chopped onion and saute further. When onion turns translucent, add the semolina and roast on low heat for two minutes. Add the mixed vegetables, turmeric powder, salt and sugar and mix. Add the hot water, reserving a little. Mix well and close the pan. Cook on low heat until all the water is absorbed. Add the remaining water if needed. If semolina is not so fine, more water may be required. Finally add shredded coconut, coriander leaves and ghee (optional) and cover. Switch off the stove. Mix well after 5 minutes.

Ingredients:
Baby potatoes, Small Brinjals and Baby onions- 500 gms in all
Coriander leaves- 1 big bunch- Remove any stalk and Chop leaves
Grated dry coconut- 4 tablespoons
Roasted Peanuts coarsely powdered- 4 tablespoons
Haldi powder- .5 teaspoon
Sugar- 1 teaspoon
Garam masala- 1 teaspoon
Oil- 3 tablespoons
Salt to taste

Method:

Slit the vegetables twice such that the pieces do not fully separate and are attached at one end and soak in salted water for 15 minutes. Mix half the oil and the rest of the ingredients into a mixture for stuffing. Stuff the vegetables with this, reserving some mixture to sprinkle on top. Heat the balance oil in a kadai and add the stuffed vegetables. Cover the kadai with a plate and pour some water on the plate. This will ensure that the vegetables stay moist. Cook over slow heat. Remove lid and gently turn the vegetables a few times. When the vegetables are done, add a dash of lemon juice to the balance masala mixture and add to the contents. Remove and serve.

Ingredients:
Boiled Rice- 1/2 cup
Urad dal- 1/2 cup
Salt- 1 tsp
Pepper corns- 10-12
Cumin seed- 1tsp
Hing- 2 pinches
Ginger powder- 2 pinches
curry leaves- 2 sprigs
Curd- 2 tbsp
cooking soda- 1/4 tsp
Oil- 3 tbsp
ghee- 2 tbsp

Method:

Wash Rice and dal together and soak for 4 hours. Grind to a coarse consistency- like rawa. Powder pepper/ jeera coarsely and add to batter as also ginger powder, hing, curry leaves. Also add cooking soda, curd, oil, ghee and keep for 3-4 hours.

Grease the bottom and sides of a flat pan which you can keep inside the pressure cooker. Pour the batter in this and steam in the cooker. DO NOT PUT THE WEIGHT OF THE PRESSURE COOKER. Steam for 20 minutes. (Keep enough water in the cooker since the steaming duration is long).

Check if cooked by inserting a needle or knife which should come clean. Cool for some time and turn over to a plate and cut into pieces.