It’s like everyone loves food. Then there are a few who are crazy – those big eaters, well I ain’t one of those. But, yes I do love to enjoy life by exploring the limitations. As when you travel, the road should have no limits, when you explore life there shouldn’t be any limits – I mean there is no limit for it…as the days may fall short, but many facets of life still remain unexplored.

Same is the case with food. People keep experimenting and come with new cuisines and provide new tastes to those who are willing to do the same and are always ready to give a try.

Alright, coming to the point – Famebox Webchef contacted me and provided a few videos to review as they have arranged an online cooking competition. Now, that most of us own a camera (though not very high end) either in our phones or a point and shoot, participating in online competitions has become easy. The best part is that every now and then there is an online competition going on.

Getting straight to the point has not always been my habit. But, today I break this trait of my characteristic nature and declare the winner – well, I was required to vote for the best video, I mean the best chef…So, you know it now!

Now, you need to know the winner. Yes the winner is – Shahi Paneer and Meenakshi Pathak…Ooops, so that’s Meenakshi Pathak and her Shahi Paneer. 

Well, it’s the same thing – as she has made it really well, the blend of her preparation and the dish itself has made me commit an error in the aforementioned lines. So, it’s like she has done the job very well.

The step by step procedure she has explained right from the required ingredients such as – 100 gm paneer, 2 tomatoes, kashmiri mirch immersed in water, chopped onion, chopped dhaniya, kaju krisht, haldi & dhaniya powder, sugar, namak, tej patta, dalchini, elaichi, laung, etc. are easy and simple to understand.

Moreover, Shaheepaneer is a kind of dish which most people are fond of. Even if I talk of myself, I love it, and most of the time wonder thinking about the ones available in the market – that what exactly they do to get the taste, though they might not be very hygienic all the time – of course, I am talking of the one’s in the market…

It seems like I’ve finally got the recipe right. So, this time I’ll try this at home – so that’s both tasty and hygienic. Well, I am getting late for the dish, I mean I’ve got the ingredients ready and the paneer is waiting for me.

What about you?

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Everything has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. That’s what I believe in. I think that is what most of you believe in. These 24 hrs of a day that we spend walking-talking, and eating-running-sleeping occupy either the first part of the day or the second part. So that’s day and night. Well, that reminds me of a movie. Anyway, the reason I have mentioned about day and night is that I have spent most of my time working in the night shift – so that’s from where most of my experience comes from.

I’ve missed a lot of sunshine, but I have glanced at the moon more than those who have enjoyed the sun. Pros and cons are in everything. Whether you compare products or nature – such is the human tendency of comparison that we miss a lot and hence the derivation of pros and cons takes place.

As my ‘about section’ reads – Different are the ways to chill out and release your stress. It’s how you find the best stress buster. For me it’s partying and that does come along with drinks. Talking about the drinks many are the favorites, but all of them are not affordable all the time. Still I’ll list a few –

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Alcoholic beverages in India such as ‘whisky’ are generally based on neutral spirits. Neutral spirits which is another name for rectified spirit or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin is nothing else than highly concentrated ethanol.

Interestingly, this alcohol is purified by distilling it repeatedly. Hence, the name of the process too is called rectification.

Few top single malt scotch whiskies –

Springbank 10 Year Old 100 Proof

Image Source – http://www.whisky-onlineauctions.com/images/auction/6244-579.jpg

Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old

Image Source – http://www.thegreenwellystop.co.uk/whiskyshop/images/uploads/Royal-Lochnagar/Sep12-Lochnagar12-1.jpg

The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old

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Bunnahabhain 18 Year Old

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Do you love cutlets? Then, let’s try out one with a combination of sweetcorn and capsicum.

• Sweet corn – 1 cup
• Potatoes, boiled – 2
• Flour – 2 tbsp
• Black pepper powder – 1/4 tsp
• Breadcrumbs made from 4 slices
• Oil – 2-3 tbsp
• Capsicum, finely chopped – 1/2 cup
• Coriander leaves, chopped – 2 tbsp
• Ginger, grated – 1/2 inch
• Green chillies, chopped – 2
• Salt as per taste

And now the method –

So, first take the sweetcorn and put it inside a mixer so that you are able to form a coarse paste. Mash the potatoes after peeling them. Take a bowl and add the potatoes and the sweet corn paste. Futher add capsicum, green chillies, salt, grated ginger, green coriander leaves, half of breadcrumbs and mix well all the ingredients.

Add flour in a clean bowl, add a little water, salt, black pepper. Mix well making sure no lumps are formed. Make a thin batter. Now, out of the sweetcorn mixture make balls of lemon size, mix them in flour batter after flattening them, keep aside after rolling them into breadcrumbs.

Finally, deep fry in hot oil and your dish is ready!

 Hey Guys,

Hope you are enjoying life. Well, the news is that I love creams, biscuits and sandwiches too. So, I thought including all these words in this recipe – Let’s check out :

Ingredients: 

• Double cream – 300 ml
• Small tin condensed milk – 1
• Crunchie chocolate – 2 bars
• Malted milk biscuits – 2-3 packets

Follow me –

Until your double cream becomes light, double in size and fluffy whisk it up. Until it becomes mix in condensed milk with the cream. Get small pieces of chopped chocolate and mix with the mixture. Take a baking tray and line it up with thin foil. Line all the biscuits very precisely – do remember where you lined them. Now, pour mixture on the aligned biscuits. Be careful and place another layer of biscuits on top of the mixture. Place all of them in flat freezer and leave for one night. When they are fully frozen cut into sandwiches. For this you may use a knife dipped in hot water. Don’t use crunchie bars. Instead you may use any other and may add fruit as well.

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I know everyone of you are fond of custards and it’s always the drinks. I’ve learnt this one recently. Let me share now:

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 kg fresh milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp vanilla custard powder
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 200 grams strawberry jelly crystals
• Red syrup for decoration

How to prepare?

Pour required amount of milk in a pot and cook for few mins after ading sugar. Take custard, mix it in little water and then slowly add in milk. Stir it continuously and remove from gas when the milk becomes thick.

Pour this into the dish. Now heat water, add the jelly crystals, pour into mould and allow it set. You may now cut the jelly into little cubes and add them to custard. Time to decorate with syrup and serve.

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So it’s time for yet another recipe as it’s my weekend

Ingredients: 

• Ginger, chopped – 2 tbsp
• Large onions, chopped – 2
• Curry leaves – 20
• Chick pea flour – 250 gms
• Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
• Cashewnuts, broken – 6 tbsp
• Chopped green chillies – 3
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Oil for deep frying
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Rice powder – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Preparation –

Apart from the oil which will be used for deep frying, start by mixing all the ingredients. Make a batter by adding a little water. For atleast 3-4 mins mix the batter by hand. Then take a kadhai and heat oil in it. Drop the batter in the kadhai, only one teaspoon at a time. Maintaining a medium flame fry around 6-10 bhajias until they turn golden brown and you are ready to serve…

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I have tasted nalli ka salan made out of mom’s hands. Now, that I have learnt it, it’s time for to you to learn the same.

Ingredients –

• Nalli, lamb shank – 180 gms (3 pcs)
• Curd – 50 gms
• Mint – 4 gms
• Mutton stock – 120 gms
• Coriander powder – 20 gms
• Ginger – 10 gms
• Garlic – 20 gms
• Brown onion – 50 gms
• Yellow chilli powder – 15 gms
• Green chilli – 10 gms
• Elaichi powder – 3 gms
• Mace powder – 3 gms
• Turmeric powder – 5 gms
• Desi ghee – 40 gms
• Saffron – 0.3 gms
• Salt – 15 gms

Follow the method –

Wash, clean nalli properly. Now, take a thick bottom pan and heat ghee in it. Add ginger, garlic, brown onion, green chilli. Saute all these items till they turn brown. Add nalli along with other powder spices and cook for 7-8 mins. Add beaten curd, mutton stock and simmer it for 45 mins. Your dish is ready and you can serve it hot with onion, coriander spring or even rogan.

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There are different ways to prepare crabs. A recent party and it’s host compelled me to learn this one. So, here it goes –

Ingredients to be used – 

• Crab meat from 4 medium sized crabs
• Medium onions, chopped – 2
• Cumin – 1 tsp
• Large tomatoes, chopped – 2
• Green chillies, deseeded and chopped – 3
• Ginger, chopped – 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Oil – 4 tbsp
• Coriander leaves, chopped – 1/2 cup
• Salt to taste

Method –

So first you need to heat oil. So take a pan and heat oil and then add few cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start spluttering, add onions. Fry these until they turn transparent. Now add green chilly, tomatoes, giner, turmeric and red chilli powder. Add a little salt and cook for 3-4 mins. Now add the crab meat, simmer for 2 to 3 mins. Do this till the crabmeat is cooked. All that is left is garnishing – for that you may add chopped coriander…

Enjoy !!