Sundried yogurt chillies| Mor milagai |Majjiga mirapakaya | chillies coated with yogurt and dried in the sun|summer special

Mor milagai  in Tamil or Majjiga mirapakaaya in Telugu is an inevitable part of south Indian cuisine .Be it the curd rice , chutneys , Dal's or lemon rice ...these chillies find their place in every dish a south Indian mom makes. When I was carrying my 2 child I was having the spiciest cravings ,I used to add chillies to every thing .....my kids and hubby being non- spice tolerators used to give a weird look!!!!I had to do some thing to satisfy my cravings and at the same time my family doesn't feel the spice in it .Suddenly I remembered these majjiga mirapakaya or dahi wali mirchi which my grand mother used to do in summers .So that I can have it when I felt to have some thing spicy. 

AAh!!those good olden days when summers symbolised a long summer vacations to schools and helping granny in making fryums,chillies on the terrace .As soon as the summer starts terrace(s) all around would be filled with muslin cloths holding these home made fryums to sunbathe. And big thalis with these chillies preparing themselves to be relished by us .Hey!! i am feeling nostalgic.

Those were the days with minimal Internet access ,so I called my mother to ask about the method and made a large batch of it which lasted for 4 -5 months .It was 5- 6 years ago .After the baby i was busy nurturing him and hardly found time to make these.

    My FIL likes to have it with plain rice and Dal .Once on our trip to India my princess had tasted it with her grandpa and she liked i very much ,after coming back she was asking about these chillies .
So tried my hands on it again and she liked it very much .This recipe calls for ample sunlight and a time of 4 days .

Pizza sauce from scratch| Home made pizza sauce| Pizza sauce free from preservatives

Pizza sauce  is the elixir of pizza !!.The magical ingredient that transforms a bread (pizza base) into pizza ,apart from the toppings . The juicy ,aromatic sauce ,together with the cheese and the toppings, gets one self  hooked to the pizza till  the last bite. 

Ooohhh!! I am literally salivating at the very description of a pizza ,I know you all will agree with me .Pizza sauce  is such a versatile ingredient  that can be used  pasta  ,spaghetti  or noodles as a sauce.

When you are really short of time just boil the pasta ,add sauce to it and serve it or pack it as a lunch box .Make ahead sauces really ease the work especially during the morning hours when every one is in a hurry to reach school or office.

To be frank I have never used bottled pizza sauce .Once when I was thinking of buying it just went through  the instructions where it was written "use it within 1 week of opening "."How can any one use the complete 500gm bottle in 1 week "...)p. Just left the bottle where i had picked it  from and with a rough knowledge of the ingredients listed on the bottle tried it at home .Surprisingly it was much better,and a super duper hit with the family .Home made is always a bliss ,apart from being with in your budget .

Since then it has been a regular one on the table ,my kids love it with their bread too!!.

So here is the way to the pizza sauce made from scratch ......with readily available ingredients ,in your pantry .

Meat tenderizer

For melt in the mouth kebabs, koftas , pasandas its a must ingredient .My Mom ,Mil have been using this since ages.  I too follow their foot steps and prep my own batch of meat tenderiser .I haven't used any store bought one so cant say anything about it ,but for sure this one is a non gmo and preservative free home made one Backhome they make this with the flower of papaya , but here I could not find it so went with raw green papaya and it worked .So here you go with this..........

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tender raw papaya (green)
• salt

METHOD

1. Peel papaya and cut it into pieces.
2. In a blender add salt (here salt acts as preservative so be on the generous side)and papaya and blend it together to a fine puree, with out adding water .
3. Make small tikkis as seen in the pic .
4. Place them on a plate and sun dry for 2 -3 days .
5. Store in a sterilised jar at room temp.
6. Use as desired or as per the recipe by just crushing it between your palm .

Pickled carrots

Pickled veggies, jalapenos, carrots are an inevitable part of Arabic cuisine .Be it in a shawarma or a kebab platter, it adds a zing to the flavour and thoroughly complements the taste of smoked meat and lifts it to a next level of taste .On one fine evening snack  Lil z was saying "Mom it would have  tasted even  better if it would have been paired with pickled carrots ".He is just crazy for it . 

When we order a shawarma he requests for an extra add of it .I had seen it on a TV show how to make pickled carrots ,so tried my hands on it and Alhamdulillah I was successful and to my surprise they tasted even better than the store bought ones .

Here's the simple way to these........

INGREDIENTS

• 1 heaped cup carrots
• 1 tsp pepper corns
• 1 inch ginger
• 1/2 C vinegar
• 1/2 C water
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tbsp sugar

METHOD

1. In a pan add all the ingredients and bring to a rolling boil .
2. Add chopped carrots to it .
3. Boil for  1 -2 mints and remove from  the flame.
4. cool it to room temp .
5. Store it in a sterilised container/ jar in a fridge.
6. Tastes best after 2 days.

NOTES

1. You can even add other veggies like turnip ,radish etc.
2. Always use better quality vinegar for best taste ,I have used sugarcane vinegar .
3. Store it in a sterilised  probably glass jar as vinegar is acidic in nature for longer shelf life .

Paneer

Paneer aka Indian cottage cheese is a household name for Indians.It is a vegetarians  protein supplement it contains all the proteins needed for the body.this North Indian dish because of its succulent,creamy  nature has become a heart throb of all irrespective of their regions .Even if we go to south Indian restaurant we can see the paneer dishes in the menu ,which shows how popular it is among the foodies.

The store paneer could not satisfy my taste buds.some had really horrible smell ,the other seemed as if all the milk fat was extracted and the residue was sold as paneer.....disgusting."Don't u agree with me"? after trying all the popular brands,I ended with trying it at home.

 Trust me once u get used to the home made paneer u will never turn back to the store brougt ones.More over it is fresh with out any additives or preservatives,unlike the packed ones,which is the best part of it.It is aversatile ingredient .can be added to a.gravy ,as an appetiser ,now a days fusion dishes    ......  r very popular,

bring out the creative being in u and explore the possibilities. S (daughter) loves paneer  so I often make it for her.So ...what are u waiting for?Just follow the recipe and u can master the art of making paneer at home....here u go......

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 Litre full fat milk
• 2 1/2- 3 tsp vinegar

                 

        

                METHOD

• 1.  Pour the milk in a pan ,bring it to rolling boil.  
  2. Switch off the burner .dilute vinegar with equal parts of water.
  3.  Add vinegar to the milk and give a stir do not stir too much.
  4. Let it stand for a few seconds.Now u can see the water(whey) separating from milk solids .
  5. Tie a muslin cloth over a vessel,strain the curdled  milk through it.
  6. Tie  a knot of the muslin cloth and hang it for around 1/2 an hour or until the water has completely drained out.
  7. Place this muslin cloth with paneer inside under a heavy weight for 40 -45 minutes ,may be a mortar or some thing heavy. 
  8. Now u can see the water has completely drained out and the paneer ball has flattened.
  9. Remove it slowly from the cloth and place it in the refrigerator for atleast 1 hour.  
  10. Now cut it into desired shapes  .......and ur paneer is ready to use.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  NOTES

  
  

  • Always use full fat milk for making paneer .Increase the milk as per your requirement,1/2 litre milk yeilds 15-20 pieces of milk.
  • The quantity of vinegar dependS on the quality of it.
  • I use natural white vinegar (from sugarcane).
  • If the milk isn't curdled  add a little more vinegar  .
  • Too much vinegar makes the paneer sour, so be careful.
  • If u want crumbled paneer u can use directly after step 6.

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  happy cooking...........

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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