Turkish Coffee

My second coffee recipe for this week is from Turkey. Turkish coffee is a method of making coffee with out milk. For this not necessary to bring coffee powder or beans from Turkey, they does not produce coffee. But there are some brands in the market for Turkish coffee. This coffee powder is freshly grounded in to a fine powder and not mixed with chicory. You can use any good quality coffee beans but freshly  and finely ground powder.

 Coffee beans are roasted and ground in to a fine powder then mix the coffee powder with required water and simmered don't boil the water first. Mix the coffee powder and sugar to the water mix well and simmer in pot called Cezve. Again not that you can't make Turkish coffee with out this pot  you can use any pot but make sure don't boil. For Turkish coffee use bottled water usually tap water contains a lot of chlorine, so bottle water gives a much better taste to the Turkish coffee.

Adding sugar to the coffee is totally depend on you I like to add a little sugar to my Turkish coffee.Usually we add sugar after making the coffee but in Turkish coffee you should add sugar before brewing the coffee. so as soon as you order your coffee at a Turkish restaurant, you will be asked you would like to have your coffee with or without sugar.   But I have seen some people they have a sugar cube in there mouth first then they drink coffee. I tried that too but I like mix in sugar with my coffee.Turkish coffee is served usually after the meal, It is also an important part of the Turkish culture.

Turkish Manual coffee grinder usually Turkish people prefer to grind coffee beans in this manual coffee grinder. you can use this grinder for grounding black pepper also..

                                                         Turkish coffee pot known as Cezev or ibrik
So let's check how to make Turkish Coffee...
INGREDIENTS:---
 Freshly ground coffee powder  ---  2 tea sp
 Water  ----  2 cups
Sugar (optional)   ---  2 tea sp (it's my choice)
You can add few cardamom pods or a cinnamon  stick to make Turkish coffee with a different flavor.
METHOD:---
1. Measure and take two cups of water in the coffee pot, add coffee powder and sugar mix well.
2. Place the coffee pot on the fire in a low flame and start cooking, mix the coffee with a thin spoon. 
Make sure the fire should be in low and don't leave the coffee on fire it will boil and spill.
You can see the foam on top before your coffee boil, now take off the coffee pot from the fire and remove this foam and put this foam in to the cups which you are going to serve coffee, and bring back the coffee pot to the flame. This you can repeat for two times then bring to boil. Don't boil the coffee for long.
Take it out from the fire and serve Turkish coffee in the cups 
Turkish coffee is always served with a glass of cold water and Turkish delight or nuts or with chocolate.
Turkish coffee never served with milk or cream.

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South Indian Filter coffee

How many of you like to have good filter coffee first thing in the morning? I have seen many people with out having their cup of coffee first in the morning .Even they get a giddiness and head ache too. My grandparents and parents are like that. My mother keeps her coffee filter, milk pan for boiling the milk clean and ready in the evening itself for tomorrow morning coffee. She makes her coffee decoction every day, My mother says that leftover decoction doesn't make good flavored coffee. My mother makes best coffee, After all this effort she will have small tumbler coffee and only one time in the morning. Some times my father will have a second cup, but I never saw my mother having second time. My grandparents used to have two or three times a day, both of them are real coffee lovers. I never seen them having tea.

In my in-lows place my father in-low used to have coffee early in the morning 5 o lock. My mother in-low she never have  coffee or tea.  Me and RG both are coffee lovers but not necessary that to have coffee first in the morning. More then in the morning we both like to have a cup off coffee with our breakfast..

Here I am giving how to make filter coffee recipe in my style. Yes Making of a filter coffee is a bit different from each person. According to each persons or each family's taste. Some like's their coffee with a bitter taste with more decoction. Some people like with more milk or with a bitter and sweet taste. 

  I like medium taste, In my view few things make a best filter coffee, A good quality coffee powder and fresh full cream milk. Coffee powder quality and percentage of chicory and coffee beans plays a main roll. I like my coffee powder with 80 - 20 percentage of coffee beans and chicory. And I always use full cream milk for my coffee. There are many shops in Chennai and Vijayawada where they ground fresh coffee powder in front of us. You just ask them to make your choice of chicory and coffee beans percentage. 

So lets check how I make Filter Coffee...

INGREDIENTS FOR COFFEE DECOCTION:--

Water   ---  100 ml

Coffee powder  ----  4 tea sp

Heat water in a pan and bring to full boil.

Put 4 tea sp of coffee powder in the upper container.

Now pour the boiling water over the coffee powder very gently.

Close with the lid and let it sit for half an hour

My coffee filter

                                                 Here you can see the decoction dripping in to the glass
FOR MAKING FILTER COFFEE:--
Full cream milk  ---  200 ml
Decoction   ----  80 ml
Sugar to taste
1. Boil the milk and bring to full boil.
Pour in to tumbler add sugar froth well with using another tumbler.
Add required coffee decoction mix well and enjoy....:)

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Malai Ka Paratha

My final recipe for this week is a Paratha recipe inspired by Panjabi cuisine. At home, we like to have phulkas for dinner with the same curry we have for lunch. This is the regular menu for our dinner. Very often I make a different curry for dinner, Idli and dosa will be there for dinner for only Thursday and Saturday. Like this special Parathas I usually make for Sunday brunch or even for breakfast.
                                                            This Malai Parathas My grandmother used to make for my grandfather with chicken kurma. I didn't have any Idea from where she picked this recipe. But now eating parathas with lots of malai and is impossible. My grandfather use to have these malai paratha with a good portion of chicken curry. But now we think about the extra workout before eating even plain parathas. 
                                                                  Yesterday I made this parathas for lunch and skipped our dinner and went for a extra walk. I am a person like eating well and go for a good brisk walk and do yoga. I don't want to keep any rolls and restrictions on my food. Any way, that's my choice, but do try this Malai Parathas you will enjoy them for sure...   

 So let's check the recipe......
INGREDIENTS:----
Wheat flour  --  2 cups
Thick cream  ---  1/4 cup
Milk  ---  1/4 cup
Sugar   ---- 1 tea sp
Salt to taste
Ghee  ---  for frying
METHOD:---
1. Take wheat flour, sugar, add cream and mix with your hand, then sprinkle milk and and knead in to a soft dough.
2. Knead this dough for 5 to 7 minutes cover with a kitchen towel and set a side for one hour.
3. Divide the dough in to equal portions and and roll in to balls.
4. Sprinkle little flour on work space and roll this dough balls in to circles.
5. Spread 1/2 tea sp ghee on the dough circle and fold from sides and make like a square.
6. Roll the each square in to a square paratha.
7. Heat the pan  and place the paratha on it and fry both sides  for few seconds the apply a1/4 tea sp ghee both sides and fry the paratha till golden.
Remove and serve hot with any curry ..
Like I served it with Kadai paneer...

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Ullikaadalu-Senagapappu-Kobbari Kura

Ullikaadalu-Senagapappu-Kobbari Kura (Spring Onion- Chanadal- coconut stirfry)
My second recipe for this week under Meal Idea is a simple side dish for rice and rasam or rice and any type of pulusu( vegetables cooked with tamarind gravy). I usually make this side dish when ever I don't have any vegetables in hand. There are few variations in this curry,usually this curry is made with only chana dal and grated fresh coconut. but you can add chopped vegetables like finely chopped beans, spring onion, carrot or cabbage. Personally I don't like to add all those vegetables other then spring onion and fresh methi leaves, any way that's my choice.
so lets check the recipe.... 

In this menu I have Bendakaya chilakada dumpa pulusu( okra and sweet potato in taamarind gravy)                      Ulli kadalu, Senagapappu- kobbari kura( spring onion chanadal and coconut stir fry) with rice..
INGREDIENTS:---
Senaga pappu (chanadal)  ---  3/4 cup
Grated fresh coconut  ---  1/2 cup
Chopped spring onion ---  1 cup
Finely chipped fresh fenugreek leaves  --- 1/4 cup
Chopped green chillies  --  1 tab sp
Finely chopped ginger  ---  1/2 tab sp
Oil   ----  2 tab sp
Mustard seeds  ---  1/4 tea sp
Cumin seeds  ---  1/2 tea sp
Curry leaves  ---  few
Turmeric powder  --- 1/4 tea sp
Red chilli powder  ---  1/2 tea sp
Salt to taste
METHOD:---
1. Wash and soak chanadal in enough water for half an hour.
2. Pressure cook the dal for two whistles, Dal should be cook but not mashy , if you press the dal in your fingers that should break.
3. Drarin the water from dal if any and set a side.
4. Heat oil in a deep frying pan add mustard seeds let them sputter then add cumin seeds, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, chopped ginger and fry for a while.
5. Now add chopped spring onion white portion and fenugreek leaves stir for 3 minutes.
6. Then add turmeric powder give good stir and add cooked chanadal, salt to taste stir well, cover with a lid, keep it like that in a very low flame for 5 minutes.
7. After five minutes remove the lid stir well and add red chilli powder again give a good stir.
8. Finally add grated fresh coconut and spring onion green part let it cook for a couple of minutes
Stir well to combine every thing, switch off the heat and let it sit for a while.
Serve hot with rice and any pulusu or simply with rice and rasam.

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Methi - Mutter wara chawaran (Sindhi Style Methi -Mutter Rice)

After a three months break I have joined Blogging Marathan this monyth. This month I am going to do third and fourth week. My third week theme is meal plan, for this theme my first recipe is a rice recipe from Sindhi cuisine.
                                                       Usually I make Methi rice with fresh fenugreek leaves, whole garam masalas and ginger garlic paste. In my recipe the fresh fenugreek leaves flavor was dominated by all these masalas. Then in last BM meet Vaishali made this rice with fresh garlic and told me that we can replace the fresh garlic with fresh fenugreek leaves. I adopted this recipe from her, this rice was totally flavored with fresh methi leaves and no other masalas were dominated!. You can use dry fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) also but the flavor will be little different. Other then green peas you can use fresh green chana (hara chana)..
So lets check the recipe...
INGREDIENTS:---
Rice  --  1 cup
Fresh methi leaves --- 1/4 cup
Fresh green peas  ---  1/4 cup
Garlic chopped  ---  1 tsp
Green chilli chopped ---  1 tea sp
Turmeric powder --- 1/4 tea sp
Oil   ----  2 tsp
Mustard seeds  ----- 1 tea sp
Salt to taste
METHOD:---
1. Heat two cups of water in a pan and bring to full boil
2. Heat oil in a pressure pan add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
3. Add chopped garlic and let it fry till golden then add chopped green chillies and methi leaves let them fry for a while.
4. Now add green peas, rice and turmeric powder, salt to taste mix well and add boiled water give a good stir and close the pressure pan lid and cook for three whistles. 
Switch off the heat and let it sit for a while and then open
you can cook this in a rice cooker or in a pan on stove top...
Serve hot with Sindhi Alloo, pickle and chaas (butter milk)
FOR SINDHI ALLOO:--
Potatoes  --- 4
Oil   ----  4 to 5 tea sp
Turmeric powder  ---  1/4 tea sp
Red chilli powder  --  1/2 tea sp
Coriander powder  ---  1/4 tea sp
Dry mango (aamchoor)powder --- 1/4 tea sp
Salt to taste
METHOD:---
1. Peal the skin and cut the potatoes in to small cubes.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan add potatoes and sprinkle salt cover and cook in a low flame till soft.
3. Remove the extra oil and sprinkle turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, dry mango powder mix well cover and cook foe 2 minutes.
Remove and serve garnished with coriander leaves.
Not only with methi -mutter rice this potato curry will be good side dish with curd rice and tomato rice also..

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