Home Made Curd!

Ingredients-

1 gallon whole milk - you can use 2% or skim milk
1 cup starter culture - plain yogurt at room temperature

I made curd of around 300 ml milk and used 1 tbsp of culture.

Method #1

1. Bring milk to just a boil and then set aside to cool. One can use partially hot milk (boiled before)in summers and boiled milk in winters. Discard any "skin" that may have formed on the milk. Heating the milk to boiling kills any undesirable bacteria that might be present and also changes the properties of the milk protein so that it gives the yogurt a firmer body and texture.

2. Cool the milk by using two vessels to blend it. The higher you take milk to cool it the more air enters it and more nicely curd come out. Just cool enough or until luke warm to touch. - about 110 degrees F . Never put it hot or the milk will break off.

3. Spread the starter culture into the container that you are going to make the yogurt in. Blend it nicely so it goes to all corner of the container. Pour the warm milk into it with one hand and keep mixing the milk with another. Don't stop mixing till the milk is poured. Mix well but gently. Do not incorporate too much air. If too much air is mixed in, the starter culture will grow slowly. Cover with a couple of towels top and bottom to maintain an even temperature. I set curd in a small thick bowl (mud make) and covered it tightly(2 knots) with a thick cloth and then covered it with a woolen cloth nicely. I used a hot case with a thick hot thing holding cloth inside and then cover it with 2 containers. I kept it in portion below the gas.

4.Keep covered at room temperature for 3-4 hours(summers). If we want a bit sweet yogurt one can mix half a teaspoon of sugar and set.

Yogurt containers can be kept warm in a gas oven with pilot light and electric bulb, or an electric oven with light bulb of sufficient wattage - approximately 100 watts. Wide-mouth thermos bottles, heating pads, and sunny windows also have been used. Do not stir the yogurt during this period. It takes more hours in winter and I usualy set them at night and its done by morning. Around 6 hours.

Refrigerate for 8 hours before serving. To store, keep in refrigerator. The yogurt will keep well, a week or two.


Method #2

1.Boil the milk and allow it to cool well. Use preferably whole milk to get a thick consistency of the yogurt.

2.Pour the milk to another vessel because, it might have remnants that we don't want.

3.Add cultured buttermilk 2-3 tablespoons.

4.Cover it & Place it in the oven and set oven to 350 degrees for 2-3 minutes.

5.Now switch off the oven!! Let the milk be in the oven overnight. Next morning you will have a rich thick yogurt !. Remove it from the oven and place it in the fridge.

Aloo Gobhi!

Ingredients

Cauliflower(Phool gobhi)-1

Tomato-1

Onion-1-2

Potato-1

Cumin seeds(jeera)-1/2

Black seeds(Kalonji)-1/4 tsp

Green chilly-1-2

Red chilly powder-1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Salt-1/2 tsp

Oil- 1 cooking spoon

Hing- a pinch(optional)

Water-1-2 tbsp

Fresh coriander leaves

Recipe

1. Wash gobhi and keep it in cold water with salt for 10-15 minutes so that any germ can be removed and then wash it again and cut it into small flower parts. Also cut potatoes into thin pieces.

2. Add oil in a pan and heat it. Then add jeera and kalonji to it and hing and let it saute. Then add onions, potato, green chilly, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt and mix it nicely for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add some water(2 tsp) and close lid so that potatoes gets done.

4. Once potatoes are soft done, Add tomatoes and gobhi to it and let it cook for some time till its done and all water is dried up.

5. Once gobhi is almost done, sprinkle garam masala over gobhi and mix it nicely and cook for another minute.

6. If there is some water in pan, make sure to open pan and drain off excess water .

7. Once done don't open lid for some minutes, so gobhi and aloo softens i.e. dum it for 5 minutes or till u eat.

7. Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve.

Note: If you want to make gobhi pakoras then put gobhi in warm water with salt but not for normal gobhi or else it will start dissolving too much.

Variations

Add jeera, rai and kalonji in chonk and don't add garam masala. It tastes amazing

Chicken Korma!

Ingredients

Chicken-1 Kg

Oil-1 cooking spoon

Ginger garlic paste- 1 Tablespoon

Small cardimon- 2

Salt- 3/4 teaspoon

Oil-2 cooking spoon

Masala

Onion- 2

Tomatoes- 1 -2(optional)

Coriandar Powder(Dhaniya)- 2 teaspoon

Red chilly powder- 1 teaspoon

Ginger garlic paste (or fresh 1 small piece of ginger and about 10 garlic)

Curry

Oil- 1 cooking spoon

Cardomom- 2

Cinnamon stick-2

Indian bay leaf-2

Salt- 3/4 teaspoon

Curd- 1/2 cup

Poppy seeds ( khaskas) (grinded on a grinding stone(sil batta)- 3 -4 teaspoon

Kaju, badam and cocunut all blended in grinder ( 2 tsp each)

Fresh coriander

Water- 2 cups

Smell masala

Onion- 1-2

Kevda-1 tbsp

Cooking curry- 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp

Black pepper-1/2 tsp

Small cardomon seeds- 3-4

Recipe

1. Take 2 cooking spoon oil in a cooker and let it heat.

2. Wash the chicken and put in the oil to fry.

3. Put the ginger garlic paste and 2 cardomoms. Put the cardomoms with mouth open to it . Add salt to taste too.

4. Fry the chicken nicely by mixing with spoon and then leave it with the cover on top for sometime so it leaves some water. Do it on low flame.

5. Fry it till it soaks all water and leave out nice smell.It gets fried and leaves out oil and then take it out. This takes 5-7 minutes

Curry

1. Mix all the ingredients of the masala in a blender.

2. Put 1 cooking spoon of oil and put the small sliced pieces of 1 onion and fry it deep brown and then take it out and spread out on a plate.

3. Put cardomon in the oil and then add masala ingredients to it. Fry for a minute or two. Then add cinnamon stick,indian bay leaf, poppy seed mixture and salt to it.

4. Fry the masala nicely by adding water once a while till it gets cooked nicely. This will take about 30 minutes to a hour. Keep adding water and grinding.

5. Once the masala is done, add the chicken to it and fry it with it nicely.

6. Add curd blended with a fork at this time to give a nice flavour and then fry nicely with curd till it leaves a flavour

7. Add water till chicken or just 2 cups according to consistency one wanted and let it boil

8. Once boiled, take one teaspoon of curry, fried onions, zeera, black pepper, cardomon seeds, kevda( smell masala) and grind it in hand grinder with water till done and then add it to the cooker

9. Put on the cooker lid and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes or till 3 -4 whistle.

10. Add salt if less and boil for 1-2 minutes. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Note:

Adding of tomotoes in khaskas korma is optional. If curd is not available then one can add one tomatoes or skip adding it.

Variations to make it into a Korma

1.The onions used in korma is less and tomotoes is optional. Water to be added is less too. Coriander powder is optional too or just about 1 teaspoon.

2. Take 2 tbsp almonds, cashew, cocunut along with(charo magaz) and blend in a blender and add it at same time as khaskas. If we use this mixture no need to add coriander powder and tomoto.

We can use about 2-3 onion fried onions ( in smell masala) if using this curry and add that onion like mentioned before by making paste. ad this mixture just before putting lid on the pressure cooker.