Bisibele Bath

Ingredients:
oil - 2 tbsp
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Jeera,
4-5 red chillies
desired quantitly cashewnuts, groundnuts
3-4 chopped onions
3-4 chopped green chillies
few curry leaves
pinch of hing
1 tsp ginger garlic paste (Optional)
Chopped vegetables (carrot, beans, cauliflower, ladies finger, peas etc)
1 cup Dal
1 cup Rice
Water
2-3 Tomatoes
1 tbsp Sugar
Tamarind
chopped coriander
Grated coconut
Khara (spicy) Boondi

Method:
- Pour 2 tbsp of oil into a deep dish pan, add half tsp mustard seeds, half tsp Jeera, few (4-5) red chillies, desired cashews, 3-4 chopped onions, 3-4 chopped green chillies, few curry leaves, a pinch of hing, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste (Optional) - saute for few minutes until cooked.
- Add all chopped vegetables (carrot, beans, cauliflower, ladies finger, peas etc), soaked dal, rice, water - cover with lid until half cooked, now add chopped tomatoes and sugar - mix well and allow to cook for few minutes with lid closed. 
- Add ready made Bisibele Bath powder (2 tbsp or make it yourself as given below), tamarind juice. Cook till fully cooked and thick.
- Garnish with chopped coriander, grated coconut & tempering (Fried groundnuts, currleaves, Channa Dal (Kadale bele), Urad dal (Uddin bele) and red chillies).
- Serve with khara (spicy) boondi on top ;)

Bisibele Bath Powder:
Dry roast - red chillies, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cardomon 2, cinnamon 1 stick, cloves 5-6, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp of channa and urad dal, chopped coconut. Put in a blender and grind.

Nipatt (Indian Spicy Cookie)

Baked Nipatt

Ingredients:
1cup All purpose flour (Maida)
1/2cup Onions finely chopped
1-2 Green chillies chopped or 1 tsp red chilli powder
3-4 strands Coriander leaves finely chopped
1/2 cup peanuts coarsely powdered
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1tsp Baking powder
1tbsp Melted butter
salt to taste
water for making the dough(warm)

Method:
-Preheat the oven to 170* Celcius.
-Mix all the ingredients and make a soft dough.
-Divide into small balls and pat a little and make it of cracker thickness and bake them for 10-12minutes. [Bake for 2-5 minutes more if you need it crispier]

Fried Nipatt:

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup peanuts coarsely powdered
1/2cup Onions finely chopped
3-4 strands coriander leaves finely chopped
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1-2 Green chillies chopped or 1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt
Oil to fry

Method:
-Mix all the ingredients (except oil). Add enough water to make it into a dough.
-Apply some oil to a plastic sheet (or use a wax paper). Make small balls of the dough and flatten them into small discs on the paper.
-Heat oil. Fry the discs till they are crispy.
-Cool to room temperature and then store in air tight container.

Tea Cake

Ingredients:
1kg All purpose flour (Maida)
16-18 Eggs
1-1.25 kg Sugar
1kg unsalted butter
1 tsp Vanilla essence
2-3 tsp Baking powder (as per manufacturer's instructions)

Method:
1.Beat together Eggs, butter, essence and sugar.
2.Continue beating/mixing while adding to it little by little Maida + baking powder mix until all of flour is mixed up.
3.Grease a pan with oil or butter and pour the batter into it to only half its height.
4.Bake it in an oven at 180 degree Celsius for 30-35 minutes.
5.Take out the pan and take a clean knife poke right through the center of the cake and pull it out - if it comes out clean then the cake is completely baked otherwise put it back and bake for 5 more minutes or so... (use your judgement here ;-) )
6.Once baked fully, take out the pan from the oven and keep it aside to cool. Then keep a plate on top, invert the pan to get the cake out after cooled. ;) Voila your tea cake is ready.

Variation:
To the above if you can add:
1.Any food color to get a different cake
2.Cocoa to get chocolate cake
3.Plums, raisins, dry fruits and caramel mix to get Christmas cake ;)

Raitha

Ingredients:
Curd/yogurt - 1 cup
Cucumber - 1/2 finely chopped
Tomato - 1 medium finely chopped
Onion - 1  medium finely chopped
Coriander - finely chopped
Green chillies - 2-3 finely chopped (as per taste)
Salt to taste

Preparation:
- Just mix all the ingredients together and viola you have a tasty companion and a must for all India Pot meals!

Veg. Dum Biriyani

Ingredients:
Basumati Rice - 2 cups
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon stick - 1
Star Anise - 1
Cloves - 3-4
Everest Veg. Biriyani Powder - 3 tsp
Onions - 2 large
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tomatoes - 2
Curd/yogurt - 1 cup
Boiled vegetables - 1 cup (carrots, green beans, potato, cauliflower, peas)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves finely choped
Oil - 4 tbs
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Saffron strands soaked in milk - 6-7 in 1 cup milk
Butter - 2 tbs (optional)
Dry fruits - almonds, cashews, raisins
Wheat flour - 250 gm
Salt to taste


Preparation:
- Wash and boil the rice with little salt and Bay leaf till 3/4th cooked and keep aside.
- Thinly slice onions, take a pan , pour in little oil, fry a portion of the onions till golden brown and crispy, drain keep aside.
- Similarly, fry all the dry fruits (cashews, raisins and almonds), drain and keep aside.
- In the same pan, add some more oil, add cinnamon, star anise, cloves and onion, fry them. Once the onion is cooked or is slightly brown add the ginger garlic paste and stir fry, then add veg biriyani powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, boiled vegetables and 2 pureed tomatoes.
- Cook till oil separates out, add 1/2 cup of yogurt and salt... mix well.
- When it becomes slightly thick, add finely chopped coriander leaves to it.
- Now grease a cooker or any deep vessel, spread a layer of rice, top it with the above veg. mix, sprinkle some saffron+milk liquid over, top with dry fruits+fried onions+some coriander and little butter. Repeat this layering till all the rice and veg. curry mix fills the vessel in layers.
- Now knead the wheat flour to make a nice dough. Take a right fitting lid for the vessel, cover and seal the lid to the vessel with the wheat dough OR cover the lid with aluminum foil, cover it with a lid and keep a heavy weight on top of it so that the layers inside cook in its own steam and no steam escapes out. 
- Take a heavy bottomed tava, heat it and put the gas on simmer. Now keep the vessel on the tava and cook for approximately 10-15 minutes. 
- Remove and garnish with fried onions, almonds, kaju raisins and finely chopped fresh coriander.

Chicken Dum Biriyani

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 4 large cups
Boneless chicken breast - 300 gm (cut into 1" cubes)
Large onions - 3
Large Tomatoes - 2
Medium size potato - 1 (cut into 1" cubes)
Fresh curd/plain yoghurt - 1 cup
Almonds - 8 to 10 pieces 
Cashewnuts - 8 to 10 pieces
Raisins - 12 to 15 pieces
Garlic - 6 to 8 pods
Ginger - 1" inch stick
Ghee/Oil - 8 to 10 tsps
Cinnamon - 1" stick
Green cardomom - 3
Big Black Cardomom - 1
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Shahi Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Kalonji - 1/2 tsps
Dry Red chillies - 5 no's
Kasuri methi - 1/2 tsp
Dry Dhania seeds - 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Star anise - 1 whole
250 gms wheat flour/ aluminum foil and a weight
salt to taste
Fresh green coriander chopped fine.

Preparation:
- Clean and wash the chicken pieces and keep aside.
- Heat 4 cups of water in a vessel and bring to a boil.
- Make deep slits at 1" gaps on the tomatoes and blanch them in boiling water. Drain tomatoes and peel the skin.
- Cut two large onions into big pieces.
- Grind the ginger, garlic, onion and tomatoes to a smooth paste.
- Heat a kadai and dry roast dry chillies, coriander seeds, jeera, shahi jeera, kasuri methi, star anise, cinnamon,  green and black cardamoms, kalonji, and before removing from gas just add the turmeric powder and mix well.
- Grind the roasted ingredients in a mixer to a smooth powder.
- Add this masala powder to the ground onion-tomato ginger garlic mixture along with one cup of curd/yoghurt and mix well.
- Add this masala mixture to the chicken pieces,salt to taste, mix well and set aside to marinate for atleast 3-4 hours.
- Meawhile heat 6 cups of water in a vessel, add a teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil.
- Wash the basmati rice and add it to the boiling water and cook till the rice is 3/4th to almost cooked. (Approximately takes 5 to 7 mins ). Drain in a collander and keep aside.
- Cut one large onion into thin long slices. Heat ghee/oil in a kadai and seperately fry the cashews, almonds and raisins. Remove and drain.
- In the left over ghee/oil fry the thinly sliced onions till they are crisp and brown. Remove and drain.
- Now add the marinated chicken pieces along with the marinade and saute for 10 minutes till chicken is cooked and tender and the ghee/oil seperates from the gravy.
Now take a heavy bottomed vessel and coat it with ghee/oil. Add a layer of rice, top it with a layer of chicken gravy, top this with a layer of the fried onions+cashews+raisins+almonds and repeat till all the rice and chicken gravy is layered.
- Now knead the wheat flour to make a nice dough. Take a right fitting lid for the vessel, cover and seal the lid to the vessel with the wheat dough OR cover the mouth of the vessel with aluminum foil place a lid on top of it and keep some heavy weight over it - bottom is to make sure no steam escapes out and the biriyani inside cooks in its own steam.
- Take a heavy bottomed tava, heat it and put the gas on simmer. Now keep the vessel on the tava and cook for approximately 20-25 minutes.
- Remove and garnish with fried onions, almonds, kaju raisins and finely chopped fresh coriander.

Kesar Doodh Peda

Ingredients:
200gm Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 litre milk
¼ tsp citric acid
1 tsp corn flour
½ tsp Cardamom powder
1 tbsp ghee/oil
A few drops yellow food colour (optional)

Sweetened condensed milk Substitute:

-In a electric blender, pour 2 cups of powdered milk, 2 cups granulated sugar, 3/4 - 1 cup of boiling water, 2 oz/60 gm of butter and few drops of vanilla essence into blender.

-Blend until sugar is melted and mixture is smooth.

-Pour into warm sterile jars .Seal and store in refrigerator.

Method:
-Heat ghee/oil in a pan. Add milk, sweetened condensed milk and citric acid (dissolved in a little water).
-Continue heating and allow the milk to curdle.
-Make a paste of corn flour with 2 tbsp of water.
-Add this to the milk after it has curdled.
-Continue the heating on slow fire till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.
-Add the food colour and mix well.
-When cooled a little, shape in to pedas and decorate with cardamom powder/nuts.