Gajar Ka Halwa /गाजर का हलवा (Carrot dessert)

Gajar Halwa

Carrots are much sought after vegetable in winters when they come in dark red color and are extremely juicy. Apart from being used in salad and soups they are used to make cakes and desserts. In winters piping hot Gajar ka halwa is the most favorite of all Gajar preparations. Whenever carrots used to be in my vegetable basket my son and daughter would start salivating at the thought of treat of Gajar ka halwa so I had no options but to make it time and again till the red juicy carrots lasted in the market.

Nutritional Value/100 gm (approx. Value) :

Saturated Fat 0.037g,  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.117g,  Monounsaturated Fat 0.014g,  Sodium 69mg,  Potassium 320mg,  Total Carbohydrate 9.58g,  Dietary Fiber 2.8g,  Sugars 4.54g,  Protein 0.93g,  Vitamin C10%,  Calcium 3%,  Iron 2%.  Thus with nuts sugar / jaggery added to it along with the milk it makes wonderful, nutritious, healthy very filling dessert.

Preparation Time: 20 min. Cooking Time: 90 min Servings: 6 medium helpings Ingredients Required For Making Gajar Ka Halwa: 1 kg. Carrots (Gajar) Carrots 1.5 Lt. Full Cream Milk 150 gm. Sugar 10-15 Almonds 10-15 Cashew nuts 15-20 Raisins 1 Teaspoon Ghee (Clarified butter) 100 gm. Khawa (Optional) 2-3 Green Cardamom Directions for Making Gajar Halwa: Wash carrots nicely of all dirt attached to it. Grate carrots. Grated Gajar Pound the green cardamom. Cut the nuts  finely. Take ghee in a thick bottom wok and heat on high flame till it is smoking hot. Lower the flame and add pounded green cardamom and cook for 30 seconds. In one Teaspoon of Ghee 2 pounded Green Cardamom Add grated carrots to the oil and cardamom mixture. Grated Gajar added to Ghee cardamom mixture Bring the flame to high and mix the carrots and oil nicely cook for 2-3 min. on high flame with constant mixing. Lower the flame and cook till all the juices of carrots are dried up. It will take 20-30 min. After 20 min. of cooking on low flame Add milk to the Pan fried carrots and mix nicely. Bring the flame to high till the milk starts boiling. Milk added and brought boil  Once the milk boils bring the flame to low and cook with occasional stirring till the mixture dries up and the carrots get cooked. Stage when Sugar should be added  Add sugar and mix nicely. The mixture will become slightly wet again as sugar will lose its water so cook  on low flame with constant stirring till all liquid dries and the halwa becomes semi-dry. Sugar added Sugar mixed and cooked for 10 min. on low flame Stage when Khawa should be added Take a thick bottom wok and heat it on gas. Lower the flame and add Khawa to hot wok and cook it for 2 min.  Khawa being cooked for 2 min. on low flame Before the Khawa starts becoming brown add the halwa in it and mix properly. Carrots cooked with milk and sugar added to khawa Cook for 2-3 minutes with constant stirring. Khawa mixed Add finely cut almonds, cashew nuts, raisins and mix. Nuts added to Gajar Halwa Gajar ka halwa is ready to be served. Take some halwa in a bowl put some nuts on the top of it and serve. Gajar Halwa Tips: Regular stirring is a must to ensure that the halwa does not get settled at the bottom and get burnt. Cooking must be done on low flame to ensure proper cooking of carrots and halwa not getting burnt. Wok or container in which halwa is being made should be thick bottom. Suggested Variations: The amount of milk can be increased to 2-3 lt. from 1.5 lt. If you do not wish to add Khawa then milk: carrot should be 2.5: 1Kg. For making the halwa more healthy and nutritious sugar can be replaced with jaggery. Halwa with jaggery is especially good for ladies post-delivery. Before adding Khawa cooked halwa can be pan fried with 4-5 teaspoon of ghee. Green cardamom powder can be added before adding the nuts. Pistachios, Walnut can be added along with other nuts. To make halwa quickly carrots can be cooked in 1/2lt. milk and then 500 gm. milk made can be added to it and cooked to semi-dry state. Amount of sugar should be reduced I to 75 gm. if milk made is added.

Paya Soup (Mutton Shank Soup)

Paya Soup

Paya soup with extra tomato and some carrot

Why ! Why a person who is not well, should be burdened with bland tasteless food which he/she will have to force through the throat as medicine not enjoy as food.

It is really perplexing when one has to decide upon the healthy yet tasty diet for a person who is on long medication and requires diet rich in Iron, protein and calcium. This happened to me when I had to rake my brain for a tasty soup which my daughter- in law would enjoy drinking, and it would help her regain her health. She had undergone huge surgery and doctor had asked her diet to be iron, protein, calcium rich. Normally Paya soup is not so tasty of just boiled and salted and taken, so I came up with this version of Paya soup which she started looking forward rather than dreading the time I would serve the Paya soup to her. I recommend this soup for all those who have had any sort of bone problem like fracture, calcium deficiency, iron deficiency and for ladies post-delivery and in pre-menopausal stage. This soup is especially good for Tuberculosis patients.

Nutritional Value of Soup / 400ml. 
Cal 60
Fat 5.5gm.
Cholesterol 73gm.
Sodium 199 mg.
Potassium 550 mg.
Carbs  10gm.
Dietary fibers 2gm.
Protein 25gm.
Sugar 0.5 gm
Vitamin A 142%
B12 50% 
Calcium, Copper, Iron and other micro nutrients are present in the soup.
All values given above are not exact but approximation to the nearest value.
Those suffering from High BP should not add tomatoes as it has high sodium content.

Preparation Time: 10 min

Cooking Time : 15 min.

Servings : 400ml.

Ingredients Required for Making Paya Soup:

• 4 Pieces or Mutton Legs (Lower bone part of goat leg / Shank)

• 1 Medium size Onion

• 1 inch Ginger piece

• 1/2 medium size Tomato

• 5-6 Sprigs of fresh green coriander leaves

• 2-3 Cloves

• 1 cm. Piece of Cinnamon

• Salt to taste

• Water

Direction for Making Paya Soup:

• Wash the mutton bone pieces very nicely, to get rid of all hair pieces stuck to them

Cleaned Leg bone pieces of Goat

• Cut onion. 

Cut onion

• Cut tomatoes. 

Cut Tomatoes

• Peel and cut ginger piece.

Cut Ginger

• Wash coriander sprigs nicely and cut them.

Cleaned and cut coriander leaves

• Put in a pressure cooker

• Mutton pieces

• Cut onion

• Cut tomato

• Cut ginger

• Cut coriander leaves

•  Piece of cinnamon

• Cloves

Ingredients to be added along with bones and water for boiling to  make soup

• Salt

• 150 ml. water 

• Close the lid and keep on high flame and cook on high flame till pressure builds in the cooker.

• Lower the flame and cook on low flame for 5 min.

• Switch off the gas and let the cooker cool with all boiled ingredients in it.

• When cool remove the boiled material from cooker.

Boiled Bones with all other ingredients

• Remove cinnamon, cloves and discard them.

• Remove the bones and put them in a bowl with some water and with a bone scooper take out if anything is left in the bone.

• Rinse the boiled bones with some mashing action.

• Keep all liquid in a bowl and discard the bones.

Liquid form rinsing the boiled bones kept for mixing to the paste of the boiled solid

• Grind all other solid boiled material except bones in a grinder- mixer to a paste.

Solid materials except bones to be blended and bones in the bowl to be discarded

Boiled ingredients of Paya soup except bones made to paste

• Mix all the liquid and paste together and sieve it through a sieve.

• Add water to make the soup of the consistency you want.

• Give a nice boil and garnish it with a dash of lemon juice and black pepper powder.

Paya Soup

• Drink/ serve piping hot.

Tips:

• Make sure you purchase the mutton leg from a hygienic place.

• Wash and remove all dirt and hair properly.

• Get the pieces done from the butcher shop.

• Bone pieces can be cleaned and kept in deep freezer for 5-6 days.

• Garlic and ginger apart from adding to the taste help in digestion also, so if the amount of garlic/ginger becomes more no harm done.

• Do not make the soup and keep in fridge for long time prefer drinking it with in 12 hrs.

• Paya soup alternated with Hara Bhara soup

  http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/05/hara-bhara-soup-spinachpalak-soup.html

  or vegetable soup is a very good diet for a Tuberculosis patient

Suggested Variations:

• 2 - 3 Table spoons of spinach can be added to the ingredients while boiling.

• Garlic can be added this helps in digestion and reduces flatulence.

• Lemon grass can be added to the soup when final boil is being given and removed before serving. Lemon grass gives a very good flavor and has medicinal property also.

• Herbs like parsley/basil/celery can be added as per the liking to change the flavor. Always remember same food with different flavor is always welcome by one and all be it ailing person or healthy person.

• One extra tomato and one carrot can be added to paya soup ingredient mixture for boiling it makes the color of soup very attractive and the taste also changes which would be welcome by a person taking Paya soup day in day out. Addition of carrot and extra tomato increases the amount of fibers, Vitamin C and some calories. 

Paya soup with extraTomatoes and some carrot in it.

Sukha Chicken/सुक्खा चिकन ( Chicken without Gravy)

Sukha Chicken

Dry chicken is taken as appetizer as well as well as main course. In main course it goes especially well with Tandoori roti / naan. Being less oily it is easier to digest and tastes very good. My personal preference next to tandoori chicken is sukha chicken. 

Preparations Time: 10 min.

Cooking Time: 40-45 min.

Servings: 4-5 large servings

Ingredients Required To make Sukka Chicken :

• 1 kg. Chicken dressed, washed, and cut to pieces.

Chicken for Sukha Chicken

 For Marinade:

• 50 gm. Ginger-Garlic past.

Ingredients for marinade

• 100 gm. Thick Curd.
• 10 gm. Turmeric powder. 
• 10 gm. Red Chili powder.
• 1/4 Tea spoon freshly grated Nutmeg. 

For Masala/Spice mix:

• 250 gm. Onion.( finely chopped )

Finely cut Onions

• 50 gm. Ginger- garlic paste.
• 100 gm.(2 medium size ) Tomatoes.( chopped).

Tomatoes

•  2 Bay leaves.

• 3-4 Cloves.
• 1 Inch piece of Cinnamon.

Spices for chicken

•  5-6 Black pepper

• 1 Black Cardamom

• Salt to taste.
• Red chili powder to taste.
• 1 ml. Cooking Oil if cooking in non-stick wok / 10 ml. if cooking in normal wok

 Direction To Marinate Chicken 

• Poke the chicken pieces with fork .
• Mix garlic, ginger paste, curd, turmeric powder, chili powder, nutmeg.

Ingredients for marinade mixed in a bowl

• Beat them with a spoon or fork to form nice creamy mixture. 

Marinade for chicken

• Rub the mixer nicely on the chicken pieces and coat them with the mixer.

Marinade mixed with chicken and kept for marinating

• Cover and leave for 5-6 hrs. ( It can be kept in fridge ).

Direction To Prepare Sukka Chicken

• Take a thick bottom wok, put 2 teaspoon of oil in it and heat on gas till smoking hot.
• Add cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaves and black cardamom.Cook for 1/2 min.
   

  

  Spices being cooked till they splutter in 2 teaspoon of Olive oil

• Add finely chopped onions and cook till transparent.

  

  Finely cut onions added to oil and spices mixture

Onions cooked to transparent state

• Add ginger- garlic paste and cook for 1 min.
• Add finely chopped tomatoes, and cook till tomatoes turn just tender.

Onions added after adding ginger-garlic paste

Tomatoes cooked till tender

• Add marinated chicken, mix nicely.

Chicken added to cooked onion, tomato and spices mixture

Mixed and being cooked on low flame

• Add salt, red chili powder and mix.
• Cook on low flame with constant stirring for 5 min. Juices from chicken will come out.
• Cover and cook on low flame till all liquid dries.

Covered and being cooked on low flame

• Cook on low flame with regular stirring and sprinkling of very little water till the chicken becomes tender.

10 ml. Water sprinkled and being cooked on low flame

State after 5 min. of cooking (After sprinkling water)

• Add garam masala and mix.
• Cover and remove from gas.
• Keep it aside for 4-5min. so as to allow the flavor of garam masala to seep in the chicken.

Sukha Chicken

• Remove the cooked sukha chicken in a serving bowl and garnish with ringlet of onions, tomatoes, sprig of coriander / celery / parsley.

• Enjoy the sukha chicken with hot Nan, Tandoori roti, Roomali roti.

Sukha Chicken

 Tips:

• Cook in non-stick container otherwise oil requirement will become 10-15 ml.

• Let the liquid of marinade dry completely before sprinkling water first time.
• Do not add too much water at one go.
• Cook on low flame. If the heat is increased to high then masala will get burnt.

 Suggested Variations:

• Cut chicken pieces to bite size and serve it as appetizer.

• Oregano can be added to the marinade replacing nut meg for a change of flavor.

• Olive oil can be taken for cooking as it is healthy medium to cook.