Gulab Jamboo / Jamun revisted

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups full cream milk powder
1/2 cup plain flour
1 table spoon semolina
1/2tspn roughly ground cardamom
1/4 tspn saffron
1 heaped teaspn baking powder
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup whipping cream

Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 tspn saffron
yellow food colouring (optional)

Oil for deep frying

Method

For Jamboos

1. Mix together milk powder, flour, semolina, cardomom, 1/4 tspn saffron,and baking powder.
2. Add warm oil to the mixture, mix, until you get a crumbly consistency.
3. Bind the mixture with the whipping cream into a soft dough (not sticky). Add a little milk or flour if necessary.
4. make 1 inch sausage like shapes


5. Deep fry at a very low temperature, otherwise they will brown and the centres will be uncooked.
Syrup
6. To make the syrup, boil the water, saffron, yellow colour (optional) and sugar over medium heat for 5 minutes. Pour into a bowl

7. Use a thin cocktail stick to make a hole horizontal through jamboo, to facilitate absorbtion, place in the syrup.


8. The jamboos need to soak in the syrup for at least 2 hours.

Methi Peas and Mushrooms

Ingredients
2 cups chopped methi / fenugreek leaves
2 cups chestnut mushrooms; quartered
3 cups fresh or frozen peas
1 medium onion; finely chopped
2 small potatoes; cubed
2 large tomatoes; finely chopped
1 red pepper; cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic; minced
1 inch ginger; grated
green chillis, minced
2 tspns cumin and coriander powder
1/2 tspn tumeric
salt to taste





Method

1. Fry the onions until golden brown
2. Add the mushrooms and fry until brown
3. Add the potatoes mix until they are coated with all the juices
4. Add the Methi / Fenugreek, cook for about 5 minutes
5. Add garlic, ginger and chillies; stir and cook for about 5 minutes
   
6. Add the tomatoes and the spices, mix and cook for 5 minutes
7. Add the peas and a little water if neccessary
8. Add the red pepper
9. Cook until the potatoes are done, about 10 more minutes
   

Serve with chapatis, paratha or rice

Methi Prawn and Mushrooms

Ingredients
2 Onion; finely chopped
1 cup Fresh Methi (Fenugreek); choped fine
6 cloves Garlic (minced)
3 inches Ginger (grated)
5-6 Green Chillies; minced
4 large tomatoes; blanched, peeled and chopped
1 lb Tiger Prawns; peeled, deveined and washed
8 oz Mushrooms; washed and sliced
2 tblspns oil
1/2  tspn tumeric powder
2 tspn cumin/coriander powder
salt to taste

Method.
1. Fry the onion in hot oil until transparent, add the mushrooms and fry till brown


2. Add the chopped methi, garlic, ginger and green chillies and fry for a few minutes,.
3. Add the tiger prawns and fry for a few minutes until they are pink.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes, add the cumin and tumeric powders; cook for 5 minutes and serve with chapatis or rice.

Garlic Herbed Pilau, with coriander / Cilantro, mint and Spring Onions

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice; washed and soaked for 30 minutes

3 cups water

2 tbspn olive oil

5-6 garlic cloves; sliced

½ tspn cumin seeds

1 cup coriander; chopped fine

2 tbspn chopped mint

3 spring onions; chopped fine
Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan, add the garlic, fry for a few minutes.

2. Add the rice, mix, until all the rice is coated by the oil

3. Add water, bring to boil, reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes

4. When the rice is nearly cooked, heat the rest of the oil, in a small pan, add the cumin seeds. Let them pop, add the coriander, mint and spring onion, stir and pour this mixture on to the rice and mix.

5. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve.

I served it with Tandoori Chicken

The Food

I find it very difficult to take good pictures of food in the evenings, when there is little or no natural light.
Has anyone got any hints?

Anyway here is the final menu of the Triple Birthday Party:

Starters
Meze consisting of Hummus, Tzaziki and Taramasalata with hot pitta bread
I did not make any of the above, as I did not have enough time, there is a great recipe of hummus on Aly Khan's A treat a week blog
Chilli and Garlic Olives
Bharela Mircha / Stuffed Chillies
Main Course
Tandoori Chicken
Roast Potatoes with Tandoori Masala
Greek Salad - recipe to follow
Herbed Pilau
Chana batata
Chevro / Chevda - great recipe by Trupti on The Spice who loved me
Blackcurrant Cake - recipe to follow
Pistachiou Kulfi - recipe to follow

Triple Birthday Party at our house tomorrow

Menu
Tandoori Chicken
Roast Potaotes in Tandoori Masala
Greek Salad
Herby Rice Pilau
Spicy Chickpeas
Blackberry Cake

Recipes to follow

Mixed Vegetables and Punjabi Wadi Curry

I spotted some Punjabi wadis in my local Indian grocers. Wadis are dry lentil cakes, the ones I bought contain: lentil flour, coriander, cumin, salt, black pepper, sodium bicarbonate, huskless blackeye beans and crushed chillies. Don’t they sound tasty?



Anyway I searched the web for recipes and found many amongst my fellow bloggers, all of whom have lots of info on their blogs, so I won’t repeat it.
Mika of The Green Jackfruit
Indira in Mahanandi
Asha from Foodies Hope on her Aroma blog
Anita of A Mad Tea Party
Indosungod in Daily Musing
Musical’s Kitchen



Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 aubergine; cut in batons
2 courgettes; cut in batons
5 mushrooms; sliced
1 green pepper; cut in long strips
3 small potatoes; cut like chips
4 5 large tomatoes; blanched, peeled and liquidised
1/4 tspn tumeric
salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil, and fry the wadis until, you can smell the spicy aroma.
2. Add all the vegetabes, stir fry for a few minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, mix until all the vegetables are coated.
4. Add the tumeric and salt, mix
5. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potaotes are cooked.
Serve with chapati
Verdict: very tasty, the wadi were soft and chewy, with peppercorns which were very hot.