Anshu's Food Odyssey

Sheer Khurma or Sheer Korma is a delicious traditional Mughlai dessert made on the festival of Eid . A creamy, thick pudding made with milk and roasted sewai (vermicelli) topped with whole lots of nuts and dry fruits, it surely makes for a palatable treat for all those with a sweet tooth. So, on my blog today, is indeed a detailed recipe on how to make Sheer Khurma at home... Sheer Khurma | Vermicelli Pudding | Sheer Khurma Recipe | How to Make Sheer Khurma Well, the term, Sheer Khurma comes from Persian language wherein 'Sheer' refers to 'Milk' and 'Khurma' refers to 'Dates', and hence Sheer Khurma can be deciphered to 'Milk cooked with Dates'. According to legends, Sheer Khurma came to India with the Turk and Mughal rulers, and in the beginning, it was just the thickened milk with dates that was consumed first thing in the morning to celebrate the joyous festival of Eid . However, with years passing, vermicelli and nuts beca

Malai Peda is one of the most popular Indian sweets . These little discs of deliciousness are primarily made using fresh chhena (cheese curd), khoya (dried milk solids) and condensed milk. There are numerous variants of Malai Peda that are available in the sweets shops these days; while the plain peda and kesar peda are the most common, what I am fond of the most is the chocolate flavored one. Absolutely decadent and melt-in-mouth, these chocolate pedas make for an apt sweet for any festival or special occasion.  Well, I am making them for the upcoming Raksha Bandhan , if you too are looking for some homemade sweet recipes, do try them out. I promise, you won't be disappointed. Chocolate Milk Peda | Milk Peda Recipe Before I jump to the recipe, let me tell you that I have used fresh chhena. For that, bring about a liter of full fat milk to a boil. Let it cool for 5 minutes and then slowly start adding a little vinegar until the milk is nicely curdled.

Arbi ke Patrode as called in Hindi, Patra in Gujarati and Alu Vadi in Marathi, whatever you name them, these colocasia fritters make for an uber delicious snack to be munched anytime of the day. The vegan, gluten free and  savory fritters are made using leaves of colocasia or taro root, which are smeared with a thick gramflour batter, stacked on top of each other, rolled, steamed and finally tempered with aromatic spices like mustard seeds, curry leaves and white sesame seeds. Arbi ke Patrode Recipe | Patra Recipe | Alu Vadi Recipe | Colocasia Leaves Fritters Please note that colocasia leaves or arbi ke patte are mostly available during the monsoon season . And don't you think that perfectly adds to the monsoon fun leaving you with yet another beautiful variant of fritters to enjoy with that hop cup of evening tea, while simultaneously soaking your soul in the lovely weather and pitter patter of the rain drops pouring in the balcony?  I am sure by now, you

Imli ki Chutney or the Sweet Tamarind Chutney is one of the most basic chutneys in Indian cuisine. This lipsmackingly delicious sauce or dip is made using tamarind pulp and jaggery, then spiced with aromatic spices like fennel, roasted cumin powder and dry ginger powder. Any Indian Chaat like Bhel Puri, Dahi Bhalla , Paapdi Chaat and Aloo Tikki are absolutely incomplete without this luscious sweet & sour chutney. If you are making khatta meetha pani for pani puri   or making some samosas, this chutney is definitely gonna come handy. You can prepare it in a big batch and freeze a part of it for later use anytime. And let me tell you, even if you are not freezing, imli ki chutney would easily last in the fridge for about 2 to 3 months; just store it in a clean sanitized glass bottle or jar. This blog post today, talks about how to prepare this beautiful Imli ki Chutney at home. Do try and I am sure, you are gonna love it. Imli ki Chutney | Sweet Tamarin

Poha or Pohey is an easy and healthy recipe that comes together in no time. The dish makes for a  quintessential breakfast in Maharashtra and Gujarat ; and if you happen to visit these states, you would find them being served in every nook side eating joint and restaurant. Cooked with beaten rice that are tossed with peanuts, veggies/sometimes just onions and a subtle hint of spices, they absolutely make for a delicious meal. I first happened to savour pohey during my visit to Ahmedabad 5-6 years back. My husband was deployed on a project there and right across our house, was this busy breakfast corner that used to serve poha and fafda/jalebi during morning and evening hours. Packed with lovely flavors with a little hint of sweetness and tartness, topped with chopped onions, coriander, green chilies, pomegranate pearls, beetroot juliennes and a whole lot of nylon sev, oh! poha instantly became my favorite recipe to devour with a hot cup of ginger tea. Not to mention, it is f

Chholey Palak , Chane Palak , Saag Chholey or the Spinach and Chickpea Curry is a delectable North Indian Recipe that is seasoned with some freshly ground fragrant spices, making it oh so flavorful and yummilicious. This beautiful curry makes for a perfect treat to be served on special occasions and dinner parties along with aromatic zeera rice, garlic naan or lachcha parantha on the side. It pairs really well with some crisp pooris too. Not to mention, chholey palak is packed with whole lots of nutrition and goodness of spinach, making it an ideal meal to be served to kids as well. You may notice that this recipe is bit lengthy so, to ease my job, I often keep a batch of blanched and frozen spinach puree stored in my refrigerator. Trust me, the frozen puree provides me with all the convenience and flexibility of using it anytime in any recipe that I wish to, be it PALAK PANEER , ARBI PALAK MASALA or PALAK CHICKEN. You may also go ahead and store the puree frozen; and I

Our summer vacations in childhood days ought to be spent at our Nana Ji's (maternal grandfather) place in Delhi. And often the vacations coincided with the arrival of monsoons, which necessarily meant a trip to the famous Roshan Di Hatti in Karol Bagh to relish the shop's crisp tikkis and gorge on their ever popular and melt-in-mouth kulfis. I still remember how we all cousins would barge into the shop and fill the place with our non-stop chit chats and endless fun & masti while hogging onto their chatpata stuff. Oh, what fun days were those!! ironically, things have changed these days with everyone getting so busy in their jobs and family lives; and those fun gatherings being taken over by just whatsapp group messages and forwards.  Coming back to the Aloo Tikki , well, you all must be thinking what made the ones served by Roshan Di Hatti so special? Number one: a super crisp crust with a subtle seasoning and number two: a super spicy and tongue tickling chana da