Bisi Bisi Coffee

Dry fruits Laddoo – Super delicious snack / No added sugar   Ingredients: Pitted dates – 1.5 cup Large Apricot – 5 Large Figs – 5 Cashew nuts – 2 tbsp, broken into smaller bits Almonds – 2 tbsp, sliced into smaller bits Sunflower seeds – 1.5 tbsp Black sesame seeds – 3/ 4 t b sp White sesame seeds – 3/ 4 t b sp Cranberries – 1.25 tbsp Large Golden Raisins – 1.5 tbsp Poppy seeds – 25 gm Flax seeds powder – 1 tbsp Grated coconut – 1 cup Ghee/ Clarified butter – 2 tbsp Instructions:          In a non-stick pan add poppy seeds and saute under medium flame. When they slightly change the color to brown dish t hem out into a clean big bowl. A dd a table spoon of flax seed s powder into this bowl . A dd white and black sesame seeds into the pan and saute until they puff up. When their color slightly changes to brown dish them out into the large bowl.    ...

Millet Pumpkin rice Ingredients:  Barnyard millet – 1/2 cup, washed and pre-soaked for 20 to 30 mins  Grated Pumpkin – 3/4 cup  Spicy green chillies – 2, small size, thinly sliced  Red onion – 1/2, small size, thinly sliced  Green bell pepper – 1/2, small size, sliced  Baby corn – 2, medium size, diced and pre-cooked  Cumin seeds – 1 tsp  Black pepper powder – 1 tsp  Dry coconut powder – 1 tsp (optional)  Salt as per taste  Oil for stir fry  Instructions:         Cook the barnyard/oodhalu millet rice along with a teaspoon of oil and a pinch of salt. This makes the grain non-sticky and will be separated out from each other. This way of cooking millet rice is most preferable for any stir fried dishes.         In a thick bottomed pan, add some oil and heat it. Now, add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add gr...

Brinjal Egg tawa fry: Easy and tasty snack Ingredients: Eggs - 5 Egg plant – 1 medium size, cut into medium thick round slices Red tomatoes – 1 big size, finely chopped Red Onion – 1 small size, finely chopped Green bell pepper – 1/2 small size, finely chopped Coriander leaves – 1 small bunch, finely chopped Shrimp chillie paste – 1/2 tbsp (optional) Cheese – 3/4 tbsp Pepper powder – 1/4 tbsp Salt as per taste Oil for shallow frying Instructions: In a bowl add tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, coriander leaves, shrimp chillie paste, cheese, pepper powder, salt, cracked eggs and mix well. Take the sliced egg plant and dish out the center fleshy part using a knife or spoon in order to make a round hole. Follow the same process for all the egg plant slices. NOTE: You may also add the cut egg plant slices in water to avoid oxidation. Make sure to pat dry the egg plant slices using a cloth or tissue before using it for this prepar...

Crispy Mysore bonda/ Mysore bajji   Ingredients: All purpose flour/ Maida – 1 cup Sour yogurt – 3/4 cup Red Onions – 2 medium size, finely chopped Green chillies - 5 medium size, finely chopped Cilantro/ Coriander leaves – 1 small bunch, finely chopped Cumin seeds – 1/4 tbsp Cooking soda – 1/2 tsp Salt as per taste Oil for deep frying Instructions:         Take a bowl and add all purpose flour, cumin seeds, salt, sour yogurt, chopped green chillies, onions, coriander leaves, cooking soda and mix well. If the batter consistency is thick you may add some water and mix well. Make sure that all the ingredients are mixed well. The batter should be smooth, lump free and not runny.         In a thick bottomed pan, add sufficient oil for deep frying and heat it. When the oil is hot enough, turn the flame to medium. Take small portions of spiced batt...

Mutton Dum Biryani Ingredients:  Basmati Rice – 4 cups  Fresh Mutton/ Lamb – 1 Kg  Red onions – 2 big size, thinly sliced  Red tomato – 1 big size, finely chopped  Green chillies – 8 medium size, vertically slit  Mint leaves – 1 big bunch, finely chopped  Coriander leaves – 1 small bunch, finely chopped  Garlic cloves – 12 big size  Ginger – 2.5 inch, thinly sliced  Lemon – 1 medium size, 1/2 slice  Turmeric powder – 1/4 tbsp  Coriander powder – 1 1/2 tbsp  Red chillie powder – 1 1/4 tbsp  Fresh coconut – 1/3 cup  Cinnamon stick – 1/2 inch cut into smaller bits  Cloves – 6  Black pepper corns – 20  Green cardamom – 2, crushed  Brown cardamom – 1, crushed  Fennel seeds – 1/2 tbsp  Cumin seeds – 3 tsp  Shahi jeera – 2 tsp  Bay leaves – 4  Mace/ Javithri – 2, crushed  Marati moggu – 6  Star Anise – ...

Spicy & Salty Butter Pop corn   Ingredients: Dry Corn – 100 gm Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp Red chillie powder – 1/5 tbsp Butter – 2 tbsp Oil – 2 tbsp Salt as per taste Instructions:        Take a thick bottomed pan with wide mouth. Add oil, butter and heat it. When the butter starts to melt add turmeric powder, red chillie powder, salt and mix well. Add corn and saute under medium flame. Keep stirring. When the corn starts to pop, lower the flame and close the lid with a little gap to let the steam to escape. Keep stirring so that the corns pop. In no time, the pan will be filled with popped spicy and salty butter corns. Dish them out into a clean dry container and se rve hot!        There will be few corns which aren’t popped yet. Place them back on heat and stir fry. They would start to pop. Once done, switch off the flame and serve hot. If there are some more...

Okra spicy fry/ Bhindi masala/ Ladies finger masala Ingredients: Fresh ladies finger – 500 gm, finely chopped Red onion – 1 medium size, finely chopped Red tomatoes – 2 medium size, finely chopped Coriander leaves – 1 small bunch, finely chopped Turmeric powder – 1 tsp Coriander powder – ¼ tbsp Red chillie powder – ¼ tbsp Biriyani masala – ½ tsp (optional) Super Garam masala – ½ tsp Mustard seeds – 1 tsp Curry leaves – 3 sprigs Salt as per taste Oil for tempering and sautéing Instructions:        Being rich in nutrients and beneficial antioxidants, this dish is the simple way to introduce kids to healthy eating.          I am using 2 varieties of ladies finger for preparing this dish as they were grown in our terrace garden. One is original/nati variety (pale yellow/light green) and the other one is hybrid variety (dark green) which you often find in the super markets. You may use which ...

Cookies and Cream Ice-cream: DIY at home Ingredients:  Vanilla ice cream – 350 gm  Oreo vanilla cream biscuits – 1 packet  Instructions:       Crush the Oreo vanilla cream biscuits into coarse powder using a roller pin or a blender.       In a large bowl add some crushed powder of Oreo cookies. Scoop out some Vanilla ice cream and drop them over the crushed powder covering the cookies completely. Now, sprinkle some generous amount of crushed Oreo cookies over the Vanilla ice cream. Follow the same process of layering (cookies then cream) until the bowl is full. Tada! Simple and easy Cookies and Cream ice-cream is ready within 5 minutes. Enjoy!        Amaze your friends, guests or kids with this simple yet classy way of serving ice-cream.       I always prefer DIY method than buying it ready from the shop. By thi...

Bombay Toast: Super quick and easy breakfast or snack Ingredients:  White bread slices – 5  Milk – 1 cup  Eggs – 2  Sugar – 4 tbsp  Oil for pan fry Instructions:        In a big bowl add fresh milk, sugar and mix well. Break open two eggs into this mixture and separate the shells. Using a spatula/ whisker mix or whisk well until smooth. Cut the bread slices into the required shapes as per your preference. I have cut them into rectangular shapes. You may cut the slices diagonally for more appealing looks.       Add some oil on a flat pan and spread across. Let the pan be heated for a while. When the pan is hot, dip the bread slices in the egg mixture and allow it to soak up/ coat well on both sides. Place this egg dipped slice on the hot tawa and roast them under medium flame. Flip them on to the other side for even roasting on both sides. When the bread slices ...

Gongura Chutney recipe: Andhra style Ingredients:   Gongura/ Sorrel leaves – 2 medium size bunches  Red onion – 1 big size, cubed  Garlic cloves – 12, medium size  Red chillie powder – ½ tbsp  Split bengal gram – ¼ tbsp  Split black gram – ¼ tbsp  Cumin seeds – ½ tbsp  Mustard seeds – 1 tsp  Dry red chillies - 3  Curry leaves – 3 sprigs  Salt as per taste  Oil for tempering and sautéing   Instructions:          Separate the gongura leaves from the stem and set aside. You may add young stems too, but I prefer using only the leaves for cooking this dish. Add enough water and rinse the leaves to get rid of any dust and soil. In a thick bottomed kadai, add some oil and heat it. When the oil is heated, add red onions and saute until they turn translucent. Add some oil, add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add gongura/ sorrel leaves an...

Non-Veg Lunch Platter Shrimp Masala: Easy and tasty DIY recipe Ingredients: Fresh shrimp – 300 gm, deshell and devein Red Onion – 1 big size, finely chopped Red Tomato – 1 medium size, finely chopped Coriander powder – 1⁄2 tbsp Red chilli powder- 1⁄2 tbsp Turmeric powder – 1 tsp Fennel seed powder – 1⁄2 tsp Biryani masala powder – 3⁄4 tbsp Garam masala powder – 1⁄2 tsp Chaat masala powder – 1 tsp Black pepper powder – 1 tsp Cumin powder – 1⁄2 tsp Dry coconut powder – 1 tbsp Kasuri methi – 1⁄4 tbsp, crushed Food color – 1 pinch (optional) Fresh yogurt/ curd – 1 scoop Curry leaves – 2 sprigs Salt as per taste Oil for tempering How to deshell/peel and devein shrimps?   1. To deshell/ peel a raw shrimp, firstly cut off the head completely. Then, hold the legs underneath along with small portion of the shell and pull off gently. The entire shell peels off along with their legs and tail. If you like, you may leave the last tail segment on for looks. I a...

Ellu Bella: Sankranti special Ingredients: Polished sesame seeds – 250 gm Split fried gram – 200 gm Split roasted peanuts – 250 gm Copra/ Dry coconut – 1 Golden Jaggery cubes – 2 Jeera peppermint – 50gm Sakariya big - 150gm Instructions:        Take copra and remove the dark skin either by scraping or grating. You may use as-is with the skin but i prefer to remove the skin. Once done, start working from the edges to cut out thin slices using a knife. Cut these slices into more tiny bits of coconut pieces.         Take cubed jaggery and scrape out any dirt or dust. Cut it into smaller pieces. Lot of jaggery will be crushed to powder while cutting if you apply too much force. Be careful and apply less force. This way, you would get more cut jaggery pieces than the crushed powder. Separate the powder and the pieces. You may use the powdered jaggery to make...