Hey Friends,
I just got back from a 7-day Fantasmic Orlando vacation today. It was one of the best vacations I have ever had with so much fun, entertainment, and lots and lots and lots of walking :D. Yes, you guessed it right!! I went to all the 4 Disney theme parks, both Universal parks, and Sea world!! 7 days - 7 parks!! I am just giving you the highlights right now and watch out for the informative park details coming up in upcoming posts for each park, its attractions and shows, some very useful tips, and lots of fun!!!!
First of all, I booked my vacation through orlandovacation.com site where they have package deals of hotel + theme park tickets and you can customize how you want your tickets for however many days you want to plan for. I looked around their site, looked at which hotels they have in their list and researched some of them to find the one with lowest rate and better amenities. Also I checked the theme park ticket prices and compared them to the actual park tickets that they sell at the park. The difference is not much at all but the best part is that you don't need to worry about your tickets buying at the park (or stand in the line), instead your tickets will be delivered to your hotel. I researched around as to which hotel to choose and decided on Baymont Inn and Suites in Kissimmee (7601 black lake rd) which had the lowest hotel rate per ($47/night) day plus it had free breakfast, free wi-fi, free shuttle to the parks and parking at the hotel. They do charge a resort fee of $5.09 per night but this is something that every hotel charges, so it's not new. Now, I am sure some of the other hotels offer the same thing but since this hotel was sponsored through the site, I went with this one. I had also checked out their customer reviews and most of them were positive with some negatives here and there but all in all this hotel seemed decent, so I finalized on this one.
For theme parks, I was looking around 6 or 7 days at the park but wasn't sure. When I called orlandovacation.com customer service, they said there were having a promotion deal going on where you pay for 3-day Disney parks and you get 5-days Disney park base tickets. So then I finalized on the 7 day vacation where I will spend 4 days at 4 different Disney parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot), 2 days at both Universal parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure), and 1 day at the Sea world.
Keeping all this in mind, I call the orlandovacation.com people and book the hotel and the theme park tickets, the booking is done in no time, they gave me the reservation number, and told me that I will get the hotel confirmation in email and will get the theme park tickets directly at the hotel. Fantastic!! The booking was done in minutes and then I had nothing else to take care of except the airline booking and transportation to/from hotel/airport which we booked through Mears transportation.
This was a vacation for me and my brother for 7 days (excluding the days we get there and we leave from there) from May 23 - 31, 2011, and it was the vacation of lifetime, taking lots of memories back with us. Each park is different from one another and unique in its own way, but they all have one thing in common - lots and lots of walking!!
But more on that later, because I am going to give you a detailed update on what we covered in each park, how you can avoid long lines, and specially what you should avoid b/c you don't want to waste time on some of the stupid rides which look great but are nothing worth waiting in line for. If you have kids then my details might not be helpful for you at all because me and my brother were on foot constantly to cover as much ground as possible in one day at each park and let me tell you that we covered everything at all the parks (and skipped some of the stuff that was either silly or that we didn't care about).
So stay tuned!! :)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
A big milestone completed!!!
Hey Friends,
I write this post to let you all know with such happiness that I presented my master's project presentation last Friday and it went great. I passed the presentation and now I am officially done with my master's degree. My master's project was the only thing pending in completion of my master's degree and now it's done. It's been long wait but every second of it is worth it!! I will probably get the degree in couple of months but it's a huge relief and no more projects or assignments to worry about. It did take me little longer to finish the project since I had to extend it for couple of reasons but the end product has been great.
I want to thank my project professor who has been very helpful and supportive in everything and I have learned so much from him during my time in grad school. I have met so many people who have become my friends for life and also want to thank them for making my time at grad school so much fun and exciting! This is a major milestone completed on my part and I can't be thankful enough to all the people who have played part in it. My mom plays a big role in completion of this achievement because it was her who made me apply for masters and then supported me so much these 3 years to help me finish it. I am not the only one graduating today with masters degree, but my mom is also graduating with me who has helped me so much from time to time. Last, but not least, I feel so blessed and fortunate and want to thank God for always keeping his hand on me and showering me with blessings, giving me the push when I felt no motivation, cheering me on successful outcome....
Thanks to all my family and friends to walk this journey with me and cheering me on, giving best wishes, and all the support and love you all have given me :).
Now that I have some time on my hands, will be more active in writing the blog entries, trying new cooking experiments, and who knows what else?
Until then, see ya!
I write this post to let you all know with such happiness that I presented my master's project presentation last Friday and it went great. I passed the presentation and now I am officially done with my master's degree. My master's project was the only thing pending in completion of my master's degree and now it's done. It's been long wait but every second of it is worth it!! I will probably get the degree in couple of months but it's a huge relief and no more projects or assignments to worry about. It did take me little longer to finish the project since I had to extend it for couple of reasons but the end product has been great.
I want to thank my project professor who has been very helpful and supportive in everything and I have learned so much from him during my time in grad school. I have met so many people who have become my friends for life and also want to thank them for making my time at grad school so much fun and exciting! This is a major milestone completed on my part and I can't be thankful enough to all the people who have played part in it. My mom plays a big role in completion of this achievement because it was her who made me apply for masters and then supported me so much these 3 years to help me finish it. I am not the only one graduating today with masters degree, but my mom is also graduating with me who has helped me so much from time to time. Last, but not least, I feel so blessed and fortunate and want to thank God for always keeping his hand on me and showering me with blessings, giving me the push when I felt no motivation, cheering me on successful outcome....
Thanks to all my family and friends to walk this journey with me and cheering me on, giving best wishes, and all the support and love you all have given me :).
Now that I have some time on my hands, will be more active in writing the blog entries, trying new cooking experiments, and who knows what else?
Until then, see ya!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Corn Vegetable Soup
It's been a while since I cooked something, so I was itching to try out something else. I didn't want to make a heavy dish like previous ones but something light that can be filling and tasty. I skimmed through the list on manjulaskitchen.com and saw corn vegetable soup under soup & salad section. I tried it out and it turned out great. Here is a snap of some Corn Vegetable Soup I made yesterday.
It had right balance of vegetables and just 3 spices (salt, black pepper, and lemon juice) to make it healthy and tasty :). I followed the exact instructions from http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2008/06/20/corn-vegetable-soup/ to make this soup. Even though the process was short, the straining of mixed corn was the most time consuming and tough.
Now next I want to try out some quick snack that can be handy for either breakfast or afternoon snack :D. Till then, see ya!
It had right balance of vegetables and just 3 spices (salt, black pepper, and lemon juice) to make it healthy and tasty :). I followed the exact instructions from http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2008/06/20/corn-vegetable-soup/ to make this soup. Even though the process was short, the straining of mixed corn was the most time consuming and tough.
Now next I want to try out some quick snack that can be handy for either breakfast or afternoon snack :D. Till then, see ya!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
World Cup 2011 Champions - Team India :)
Dear Friends,
I have been away for a while now. But I am back with some BIG news!! The ICC World Cup was this year (it comes every 4 years) and INDIA won the World Cup 2011 making all of us Indians proud :D :D. I am booming with joy and pride. To give you little more details...here are some facts.
The ICC World Cup was running from Feb. 19 - April 2nd, 2011. It comprises of 14 Countries (cricket teams) and these 14 teams are divided in 2 groups. In the group stages, each team plays with every other team from their group. After the group stages are over, the top 4 teams from each group progresses towards the quarter-finals stage. The winner of each quater-final stage progresses towards semi-final and the winner of semi-finals progresses to the final of the World Cup.
I was a huge cricket fan back in India but once we moved to US I stopped following it. I had watched one game here and there during the world cup of 2003. But World Cup 2011 was the first world cup I followed closely from start to end!! I have been keeping a close eye on all of India's games and watching all the knockout games (quarter/semi/final) completely even though I had to wake up at 3 AM to watch it! And I was also keeping up with the scores of almost all the other teams' games.
Australia has been 3 times world champions since 1999 and I had a feeling that this was the year they needed to be defeated because it was like they didn't have any competition. They were winning year after year after year. And for the first time, in the quarter-final stage, India beat Australia and Australia was out of the World cup after 11 years of domination!! This victory let India to progress to the Semi-Final and the biggest game of all because the Semi-final was against Pakistan!! In all these years, India has never been beaten by Pakistan in the World Cup but this year the tension was high, the expectations were high, and this was bigger than the World Cup Final itself. Pakistan looked in good form this World Cup and looked determined too but there was no doubt that India was going to win and they did! India beat Pakistan in Semi-final on March 30th, 2011 and progressed to the Final game against Sri-Lanka. The final of the world cup was help on April 2nd, 2011 and Team India put their heart and soul in winning this game.
India beat Sri Lanka in the final and became the new World Cup Champions!! I am so proud of the team and each team member to bring us to this victory. It was a historic day for each and every Indian as the Indian Cricket Team won the World Cup after 28 years (first won in 1983). I feel so happy and proud to be part of this enormous experience!!! I have had the smile on my face since the World Cup Win and I will never forget this day!! Thank you Team India for this victory and especially to Dhoni for your true sportsmanship and leadership!!! Not to bore you guys, but I want to say something for each of the team members.
Sachin Tendulkar: He is considered the GOD of Cricket and I want to leave it at that. He is such a grounded person and he deserved this World Cup more than anyone because he has given this country so much during his entire career in Cricket. He has made the most runs, more than any cricketer and winning a World Cup was the only thing missing in his kitty...and this year he won it!! The entire team came together to win this for him, for the country. Even at the age of 38, he has managed to stay fit, bat superbly, and run and dive to save the boundaries while fielding. He is my cricket superstar.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: I didn't really know this guy much but came to know him closely in this world cup. He is one cool headed captain who led this team to the victory. I was not very fond of his batting since he didn't do so well in any of the games batting wise, but didn't know he was saving all his energy for the Final of the world cup to score 91 (not out)!! I want to thank him for all his effort and true sportsmanship to be the way he is, to make the decisions he did. Congratulations to him and to the entire team. Also I found out that under his captaincy, Team India has rose to fame, became #1 in test matches and ODI, not to mention, he is the captain who got us the World Cup after 28 years!! Keep it up!
Gautam Gambhir: This guy is completely unpredictable. For once, he takes runs blindly and runs like a cheetah but at the same time he risks being run out :-|, but he proved to everyone that he is in this business for real during the final of the World Cup. Who can forget his magnificent innings during the final where he played calmly under so much pressure and scored 97 which brought India closer to the victory? I really wish he had gotten his century but fate had it otherwise. But who cares about the century!! It's the effort that counts, not the runs (not in this final), because God knows what would have happened to the team without him! Great work Gautam, you made us proud!!
Yuvraj Singh: This is the Man of the tournament and maximum time Man of the Match! He is someone who brought India to the knockout stages when India had lost some of its earlier batsman and all the pressure was on him. He fought back against Ireland, Netherlands, West Indies, and Australia. He is an all-rounder who stroke hard in batting field as well as bowling. With his effort, India progressed to the knockout stages, so that's why his contribution is huge in this World Cup.
Virender Sehwag: The first game of World Cup which was between India and Bangladesh, this man put up a fighting score of 175 which gave a boost to the team and added to the total of 370. This gave a great start to the world cup. After that game, he hasn’t had much luck on batting field since he got out in the earlier overs but still whenever he batted he gave a good start to the Indian team to get the score high up in the first 5 to 10 overs.
Zaheer Khan: He is officially my favorite bowler in Indian cricket team, who was always consistent in all the games and someone the team can rely on. If the team needed wickets, he was the one to handle the ball to do the job. He always delivered and never disappointed. During the world cup, he has taken the maximum wickets of 21, along with Shahid Afridi (captain of Pakistan) to top the charts.
Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina: These two young guns were all rounders for this team. Virat Kohli is the youngest player in the team who can bat, bowl, and field outstandingly. On the other side, Suresh Raina is great to handle the batting even under much pressure and deliver a great partnership with the other batsman and stay on his toes while fielding. These two players along with Yuvraj Singh have delivered some great fielding which has saved many runs against different teams.
Apart from these players, other team players have done their parts when needed the most such as Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ravichandran Ashwin, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan, and Sreesanth, took the wickets when needed, saved runs (and also gave away lots of runs at a time, but the world cup made up for it), and batted runs when needed the most.
So that’s my taken on the World Cup 2011 and the World Cup Champions – Team India. Sorry for a really long entry but this was a huge victory for India and it’s hard to cover the World Cup highlights in just one or two paragraphs. I can not tell you how happy and proud it made me when the team India won the World Cup 2011 and the joy it brought to see them so happy and celebrating after the game.
See ya until the next post!!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Qatar Airways damaged our bag - resolved
Hello folks,
I had mentioned in my India Return 2010 - Part 2 that Qatar Airways had damaged one of our bags and I will post on what was the result of the inquiry and claim. Well here it is. After 2 months of back and forth conversation, this issue is finally resolved when we got the new bag from them. Here are the details.
In the beginning of December when I came back from India, our first stop in US was Washington Dulles airport and we found out that one of our bag was damaged...such that its chain was broken and the bag was wide open. Thankfully nothing fell out. I try to contact Qatar everyday only to find myself holding on the line for 35 - 45 minutes and then hanging up since no luck. Finally I get hold of someone after 40 minutes of hold and the person tells me to talk to Qatar staff at the Washington Dulles airport. I call the next day and get hold of an agent. I explained to him the situation that we couldn't file a complaint at the airport since we had to transfer the bags to the final destination and he asks me for my email address to send me the process info. I get the email within few minutes to send him the following information in order to begin to process the claim.
The same weekend, I get a call from Qatar Airways agent to get our home address to send the new bag to. The following week, I get the call from the baggage agency who asks me whether it's OK for them to send another brand bag since our bag brand was old and that she came make sure that we get something nice. I was like "No problem" (lady, you are giving me a new bag...I don't care if it's the same brand or not..just get me something nice :D ). She goes on asking me "Now, we don't have brown colored bag (my old bag color)...the only color we have is black, is that OK?"...and my reply is "Of course!!". Haha...I was pretty surprised with the treatment and the lady was really nice. She ends the conversation by confirming my home address and letting me know that we should get the new baggage within 7-10 days.
Surely after 2 weeks, we get the new bag via FedEx. The bag is actually 6 inches smaller than what we had, so it's little bit smaller but it's ok. Also one other thing I noticed is that when you open the bag, there is sometimes a clothe covering the bag which can be opened with a zipper to see the inside boards surrounding the bag. I opened that zipper and turns out that one of the side boards of the bag was broken and was fixed up by a black tape. Haha...I think they gave us a bag which must have been damaged in the manufacturing and fixed it up and gave it to us. Well, it's ok ...I mean there is nothing we can do. It's not like the board is going to break in one time use, but I just found it hillarious.
I have said this before and I will say it again to everyone that if you ever come across an issue of damaged bag by an airline, always file the complain and follow up. In worse case scenario, they will reject your claim and won't do anything, but on a positive side, you might get a new bag to replace the damaged bag. It's always worth a shot.
Wow...I didn't realize how much I wrote until I read the entire post again :P. Hope this info helps if you are ever in a similar situation.
I had mentioned in my India Return 2010 - Part 2 that Qatar Airways had damaged one of our bags and I will post on what was the result of the inquiry and claim. Well here it is. After 2 months of back and forth conversation, this issue is finally resolved when we got the new bag from them. Here are the details.
In the beginning of December when I came back from India, our first stop in US was Washington Dulles airport and we found out that one of our bag was damaged...such that its chain was broken and the bag was wide open. Thankfully nothing fell out. I try to contact Qatar everyday only to find myself holding on the line for 35 - 45 minutes and then hanging up since no luck. Finally I get hold of someone after 40 minutes of hold and the person tells me to talk to Qatar staff at the Washington Dulles airport. I call the next day and get hold of an agent. I explained to him the situation that we couldn't file a complaint at the airport since we had to transfer the bags to the final destination and he asks me for my email address to send me the process info. I get the email within few minutes to send him the following information in order to begin to process the claim.
- Scanned copy of the passport of the traveler making the claim
- Scanned copies of the original luggage claim checks for bags checked in from origin airport
- Scanned copy of the boarding pass of the traveler
- Detailed description of the damage to the luggage with photograph of the bag in question
- The age of the luggage, approximate cost of the luggage, and the brand of the luggage.
The same weekend, I get a call from Qatar Airways agent to get our home address to send the new bag to. The following week, I get the call from the baggage agency who asks me whether it's OK for them to send another brand bag since our bag brand was old and that she came make sure that we get something nice. I was like "No problem" (lady, you are giving me a new bag...I don't care if it's the same brand or not..just get me something nice :D ). She goes on asking me "Now, we don't have brown colored bag (my old bag color)...the only color we have is black, is that OK?"...and my reply is "Of course!!". Haha...I was pretty surprised with the treatment and the lady was really nice. She ends the conversation by confirming my home address and letting me know that we should get the new baggage within 7-10 days.
Surely after 2 weeks, we get the new bag via FedEx. The bag is actually 6 inches smaller than what we had, so it's little bit smaller but it's ok. Also one other thing I noticed is that when you open the bag, there is sometimes a clothe covering the bag which can be opened with a zipper to see the inside boards surrounding the bag. I opened that zipper and turns out that one of the side boards of the bag was broken and was fixed up by a black tape. Haha...I think they gave us a bag which must have been damaged in the manufacturing and fixed it up and gave it to us. Well, it's ok ...I mean there is nothing we can do. It's not like the board is going to break in one time use, but I just found it hillarious.
I have said this before and I will say it again to everyone that if you ever come across an issue of damaged bag by an airline, always file the complain and follow up. In worse case scenario, they will reject your claim and won't do anything, but on a positive side, you might get a new bag to replace the damaged bag. It's always worth a shot.
Wow...I didn't realize how much I wrote until I read the entire post again :P. Hope this info helps if you are ever in a similar situation.
Paneer Tikka Masala
So about a month ago, I had bought 1 lb. Paneer and used it to make Shahi Paneer, Vegetable Navratan Korma, and Malai Kofta. Even after making these 3 recipes, I had about 1/3 of paneer left. Mostly it was used in making Shahi Paneer, and the other 1/3 was used in making navratan korma and kofta for malai kofta. So with the remaining of the 1/3 of paneer, I wanted to try out a different paneer recipe. I looked at the options on vahrevah.com and found the recipe for Paneer Tikka Malasa. Here is the link to the recipe that I followed from the site: http://www.vahrehvah.com/Paneer+Tikka+Masala:6803. This time I did not have any variations and followed the recipe exactly as explained on the site (the video). I did make couple of mistakes which can be corrected easily but that to discuss later in the process. For now, here is a snap of delicious Paneer Tikka Masala.
Here are the ingredients, preparation, and process steps. Hope you enjoy making it if you decide to use these steps.
Ingredients:
Vegetables:
- For puree and gravy: 2 tomatoes, 2/3 to 1 onion finely chopped, cilantro for garnishing
- For marinating: 2 tomatoes cut in cubes, 1/4 or 1/2 onion finely chopped in cubes, 1/4 capsicum/green bell pepper chopped in cubes
Spices:
- Coriander powder, cumin powder, cumin seeds, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder, salt, ginger paste/shredded ginger, garlic paste, sugar (very little if it gets little sour due to curd).
Other:
- All purpose flour/maida (1 spoon), curd thick (1/2 to 1 cup), lime juice (1-2 spoons), oil, paneer finely chopped in cube (1/2 pound), cream fresh (optional).
Preparation:
- Cut all vegetables and paneer in cube shape and keep aside.
- Finely chop 1/2 to 1 onion for gravy.
- Finely chop cilantro.
Marinating Process:
- Take a bowl and add 1/2 to 1 cup of thick curd. How much curd you need depends on the quantity of the vegetables and paneer cubes. My mistake was that I took more curd and when added the vegetables and paneer, it was little liquidish.
- To the curd, add red chili powder, salt, lime juice, little bit of oil (about 1 spoon) to mix well. Mix everything well.
- Add cut vegetables and paneer to the mixture and mix it all well and keep it aside.
- One thing I wasn't sure about is if I was supposed to keep this marinated mixture aside for a while before cooking it on a pan. I read it on majulaskicten.com paneer tikka malasa recipe that it's better to keep the marinated mixture refrigerated for an hour. But I just left it aside for 15 minutes or so.
- To cook the mixture, in a non-stick pan, add some oil. Add the marinated paneer and vegetables.
- Cook them both sides, and once done, keep them aside.
Gravy Process:
- In a pan, add oil and cumin seeds. Once oil is ready, add chopped onions and pinch of salt.
- Once onions are little transparent, add turmeric, ginger paste, garlic paste, and mix it well.
- Cook for a minute or so and add 1 spoon of all purpose flour/maida.
- Add tomato puree and mix it with onions.
- Then add cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, and mix it well.
- Cook until you see small amount of oil loosing out.
- Add water as needed and bring it to boil. Once it's boiling, you can add more water if you want to for more gravy.
- Add cooked vegetables and paneer. Then add some more salt as needed (taste it before and after you add it). Add garam masala powder and mix all. Also at this point, taste the final gravy and add little sugar if the gravy is sour. It is possible that the gravy might be little sour because of the curd and all the tomatoes used in the marinating.
- Add little bit of cream if you want. This is completely optional.
- Let everything cook for 3-5 minutes and bring it to boil.
- Turn the heat off and add cilantro on top.
And....you have delicious paneer tikka masala ready. This took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes and wasn't too much of a hassle and it came out great. It serves about 4 people. Hope this helps.
See ya!
Here are the ingredients, preparation, and process steps. Hope you enjoy making it if you decide to use these steps.
Ingredients:
Vegetables:
- For puree and gravy: 2 tomatoes, 2/3 to 1 onion finely chopped, cilantro for garnishing
- For marinating: 2 tomatoes cut in cubes, 1/4 or 1/2 onion finely chopped in cubes, 1/4 capsicum/green bell pepper chopped in cubes
Spices:
- Coriander powder, cumin powder, cumin seeds, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder, salt, ginger paste/shredded ginger, garlic paste, sugar (very little if it gets little sour due to curd).
Other:
- All purpose flour/maida (1 spoon), curd thick (1/2 to 1 cup), lime juice (1-2 spoons), oil, paneer finely chopped in cube (1/2 pound), cream fresh (optional).
Preparation:
- Cut all vegetables and paneer in cube shape and keep aside.
- Finely chop 1/2 to 1 onion for gravy.
- Finely chop cilantro.
Marinating Process:
- Take a bowl and add 1/2 to 1 cup of thick curd. How much curd you need depends on the quantity of the vegetables and paneer cubes. My mistake was that I took more curd and when added the vegetables and paneer, it was little liquidish.
- To the curd, add red chili powder, salt, lime juice, little bit of oil (about 1 spoon) to mix well. Mix everything well.
- Add cut vegetables and paneer to the mixture and mix it all well and keep it aside.
- One thing I wasn't sure about is if I was supposed to keep this marinated mixture aside for a while before cooking it on a pan. I read it on majulaskicten.com paneer tikka malasa recipe that it's better to keep the marinated mixture refrigerated for an hour. But I just left it aside for 15 minutes or so.
- To cook the mixture, in a non-stick pan, add some oil. Add the marinated paneer and vegetables.
- Cook them both sides, and once done, keep them aside.
Gravy Process:
- In a pan, add oil and cumin seeds. Once oil is ready, add chopped onions and pinch of salt.
- Once onions are little transparent, add turmeric, ginger paste, garlic paste, and mix it well.
- Cook for a minute or so and add 1 spoon of all purpose flour/maida.
- Add tomato puree and mix it with onions.
- Then add cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, and mix it well.
- Cook until you see small amount of oil loosing out.
- Add water as needed and bring it to boil. Once it's boiling, you can add more water if you want to for more gravy.
- Add cooked vegetables and paneer. Then add some more salt as needed (taste it before and after you add it). Add garam masala powder and mix all. Also at this point, taste the final gravy and add little sugar if the gravy is sour. It is possible that the gravy might be little sour because of the curd and all the tomatoes used in the marinating.
- Add little bit of cream if you want. This is completely optional.
- Let everything cook for 3-5 minutes and bring it to boil.
- Turn the heat off and add cilantro on top.
And....you have delicious paneer tikka masala ready. This took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes and wasn't too much of a hassle and it came out great. It serves about 4 people. Hope this helps.
See ya!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Malai Kofta
As I told you in my last post that I am planning to cook Malai Kofta next, and two days ago my mom and I made some delicious malai kofta. Good news is that it came out really good...bad news is that it took me 2 hours to make it :P...with few problems but that to discuss later. I got the recipe from http://www.vahrehvah.com/Malai+Kofta:3262 where they show you the entire process on video. Again I didn't do everything as it was told and had few variations. I will post the preps and process that was used in making our Malai Kofta. Not to make your mouth watery or anything, but here is a snap of the Malai Kofta prepared.
Ingredients:
Vegetables:
- Grated/mashed boiled potatoes (1 cup - 3 potatoes), grated boiled mix vegetables, chopped green chili, chopped cilantro, onions - 1, tomatoes - 3
Spices:
- Cardemom (elaichi - 2), cloves (laving - 2), coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, ginger paste/shredded ginger, garlic paste, red chili powder, jeera, salt, turmeric
Other:
- Oil, cream/yogurt (1/2 cup), cashew/almonds powder (not too crushed), grated paneer (1 cup)
Preparations:
1) Finely chop cilantro and green chilies.
2) Shred ginger if you are not using ginger paste
3) Chop onions and tomatoes to make puree
4) Boil potatoes
5) Grate Paneer
6) Boil mixed vegetable and mash/grate them
Kofta Process:
1) Mix grated paneer, grated boiled potatoes, and mix vegetables together.
2) Add some chopped chilies, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, little bit chopped cilantro, little bit salt, add some crushed nuts, and mix everything well.
3) IMP: Make sure there is no moisture in the mixture you just made. If there is then add some bread crumbs which will take in the moisture and make the mixture firm. This is where I had trouble because the mixture was soft and when I tried to fry the koftas, the koftas started to break off in the oil :(. But no worries...that's where my mom came to rescue and she added the bread crumbs in the mixture to make it firm.
4) Make the kofta balls out of the mixture. Roll the koftas in corn flour or all purpose flour. Fry them in oil on medium heat and fry until they turn little golden/brownish color.
5) Keep the koftas aside.
Gravy Process:
1) Make puree from onions and tomatoes and 1/2 green chili.
2) In a pan, add oil and put it on medium heat. Add Jeera, cardamom, and cloves to the oil. Now here there are two options you can use. I used procedure A.
A) Add puree to the oil. Let it come to the boil. I used malai kofta ready-made masala from Rasoi Magic. I added that masala, garam masala powder, chili powder, and salt to the gravy. If mixture is getting dry, add little bit water (depending on how much gravy you want).
B) Add puree to the oil, add garlic paste, shredded ginger, turmeric, salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili power, garam masala powder, and mix everything well. If mixture is getting dry, then add little bit water (depending on how much gravy you want).
3) Once the gravy comes to boil, add 1/2 cup cream to the gravy.
4) After adding cream, bring the gravy to the boil and then add some cashewnut powder (2-3 spoons). and mix the gravy well.
5) Then add koftas to the gravy and let it cook for another minute or two and put off the heat.
6) Add cilantro on top for garnishing.
And Walaah! You have your malai kofta!!
After making these last two recipes, shahi paneer recipe seems like piece of cake :D. Well, don't know what I will be making next and when, but hopefully something new soon. Until then, take care and see ya :).
Ingredients:
Vegetables:
- Grated/mashed boiled potatoes (1 cup - 3 potatoes), grated boiled mix vegetables, chopped green chili, chopped cilantro, onions - 1, tomatoes - 3
Spices:
- Cardemom (elaichi - 2), cloves (laving - 2), coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, ginger paste/shredded ginger, garlic paste, red chili powder, jeera, salt, turmeric
Other:
- Oil, cream/yogurt (1/2 cup), cashew/almonds powder (not too crushed), grated paneer (1 cup)
Preparations:
1) Finely chop cilantro and green chilies.
2) Shred ginger if you are not using ginger paste
3) Chop onions and tomatoes to make puree
4) Boil potatoes
5) Grate Paneer
6) Boil mixed vegetable and mash/grate them
Kofta Process:
1) Mix grated paneer, grated boiled potatoes, and mix vegetables together.
2) Add some chopped chilies, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, little bit chopped cilantro, little bit salt, add some crushed nuts, and mix everything well.
3) IMP: Make sure there is no moisture in the mixture you just made. If there is then add some bread crumbs which will take in the moisture and make the mixture firm. This is where I had trouble because the mixture was soft and when I tried to fry the koftas, the koftas started to break off in the oil :(. But no worries...that's where my mom came to rescue and she added the bread crumbs in the mixture to make it firm.
4) Make the kofta balls out of the mixture. Roll the koftas in corn flour or all purpose flour. Fry them in oil on medium heat and fry until they turn little golden/brownish color.
5) Keep the koftas aside.
Gravy Process:
1) Make puree from onions and tomatoes and 1/2 green chili.
2) In a pan, add oil and put it on medium heat. Add Jeera, cardamom, and cloves to the oil. Now here there are two options you can use. I used procedure A.
A) Add puree to the oil. Let it come to the boil. I used malai kofta ready-made masala from Rasoi Magic. I added that masala, garam masala powder, chili powder, and salt to the gravy. If mixture is getting dry, add little bit water (depending on how much gravy you want).
B) Add puree to the oil, add garlic paste, shredded ginger, turmeric, salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili power, garam masala powder, and mix everything well. If mixture is getting dry, then add little bit water (depending on how much gravy you want).
3) Once the gravy comes to boil, add 1/2 cup cream to the gravy.
4) After adding cream, bring the gravy to the boil and then add some cashewnut powder (2-3 spoons). and mix the gravy well.
5) Then add koftas to the gravy and let it cook for another minute or two and put off the heat.
6) Add cilantro on top for garnishing.
And Walaah! You have your malai kofta!!
After making these last two recipes, shahi paneer recipe seems like piece of cake :D. Well, don't know what I will be making next and when, but hopefully something new soon. Until then, take care and see ya :).
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