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SUGAR AND SPICE Lay it all out for the festival table

Here are a few easy-to-cook recipes that can be whipped up for any festival. Treat your family to a yummy lunch.

Chicken (cut into 8 pieces): 1 kg

Onion (medium-sized) finely sliced: 3

Garlic paste: 1 tbsp

Ginger paste: 1 tbsp

Tomato paste: 2 tbsp

Salt: to taste

Ghee: 60 gm

Water: 1 cup

Chilli and coriander powder: 2 tbsp

Pepper and turmeric: 1 tsp

Juice of one lemon

Desiccated coconut: 2 tbsp

Potato and carrot shredded: 1 cup each

Curry leaves: a few

Ghee: 1/2 cup

Heat a tawa, pour ghee and fry onions. Grind all the ingredients of the curry paste and add ginger, garlic and tomato paste to the curry paste and sauté for five minutes. Add the chicken pieces (pricked all over with a fork), add salt to taste and a cup of water. Mix well, cover the pan lightly and simmer for about 45 minutes till the chicken is cooked. Fry shredded carrot and potato, add dessicated coconut and curry leaves and stir for two to three minutes. Garnish the chicken roast with potato, carrot, coconut and curry leaves and serve with the bread.

Basmati rice: 5 cups

Ghee: 500 gm

Ginger (chopped): 2 tsp

Garlic (chopped): 2 tsp

Green chillies (chopped): 2t sp

Cinnamon: 2 two inch pieces

Saffron: few strands

Cloves: 12

Onion (finely chopped): 500 gm

Yoghurt: 4 tbsp

Lemon: 1

Mutton minced: 1 kg

Pepper crushed: 1 tsp

Coriander powder: 1 tsp

Garam masala powder: 1 tsp

Eggs (boiled): 3

Carrots (grated): 1 cup

Nuts and raisins: 50 gm each

Fry the onions in the ghee till golden brown and add chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies and crushed pepper. Stir well and add minced mutton, garam masala, coriander powder and salt to taste. Cook till the minced mutton is nicely browned. To this add yoghurt and fry till rich brown. Soak the saffron in water (two tbsp) and add to the mince and stir well. Add cleaned rice, cloves, cinnamon, and salt to shallow pan. Pour enough water to cover rice by atleast 6cm and bring the water to boil. Cover the pan and simmer till the water has almost evaporated and rice nearly cooked. Remove from heat. Take a casserole and put in a layer of rice then a layer of mince and so on till finished, the last layer must be rice. Keep this covered and place in an oven set to165 degree celsius for five to six minutes. Grate the boiled eggs using a grater. Take two tbsp ghee and sauté the grated carrots till crisp. Add chopped nuts and raisins into it and stir well till light brown. Garnish the kheema casserole with grated eggs, crisp carrot, nuts and raisins.

Dates: 12

Small onions: 10

Garlic: 6 cloves

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Juice of one lemon

Cumin seed: 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Soak dates in water after removing the seeds. Peel garlic and onion. Mince all the ingredients except lime juice and salt, which should be mixed in well after mincing.

Cucumber (grated): 1 cup

Coriander leaves (finely chopped): 1/2 cup

Onion (chopped): 1/2 cup

Green chillies (chopped): 2

Capsicum (finely chopped): 1/2 cup

Yoghurt: 1 cup

Salt to taste

Salad oil: 1 tsp

Take a shallow bowl, pour yoghurt into it. Add salad oil and salt to taste and blend well. Keep this in the refrigerator. Add chopped onion, coriander leaves, capsicum and grated cucumber just before serving and mix well.

Arrowroot biscuit: 500 gm

Milk: 1 litre

Honey: 200 gm

Sugar: 150 gm

Chopped nuts, dates and almonds: 25 gm

Raisins: 50 gm

Corn flour: 3 heaped tsp

Vanilla essence: 1 tsp

Gelatin: 2 tsp

Fresh cream: 250 gm

Sugar: 150 gm

Cherries: 50 gm

Chocolate: 50 gm

Add corn flour to the milk, stir well and boil it over a slow fire. After boiling remove from fire, add honey, sugar and all the dry fruits and stir till sugar has dissolved.

Crush the biscuits. Take a pudding dish, spread the crushed biscuits and pour the milk mixture into it. Boil the gelatin in three tbsp of water and pour this into the biscuit-milk mixture. Blend well till biscuits are well soaked.

Whip the cream with sugar and spread evenly over the soaked biscuits and bake at 180 degree Celsius till the cream is light brown. Serve chilled with grated chocolate and cherries.

LEENA LEON

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