Shahi Kaju Aloo

Ingredients:

300 gms Potato (Aloo)
4 tblsp Cashewnut (Kaju) soaked in 1/4 cup water
1 tblsp chopped Ginger (Adrak)
1 tsp chopped Garlic (Lasun)
1/2 tsp Black Cumin Seed (Shah Jeera)
1 Bay Leaf (Tej Patta)
2 chopped Onion (Pyaj)
a pinch of Turmeric (Haldi)
1/4 tsp Garam Masala
2 tblsp chopped Coriander Leaves (Dhania Patta)
1/4 cup beaten Curd (Dahi)
1/4 cup Milk
Oil for frying

How to make shahi kaju aloo:

• Wash potatoes and peel and cut them into 1 inch pieces.
• Fry the potatoes to a deep golden brown and keep aside.
• Grind cashewnuts, ginger and garlic to a paste in a grinder.
• Keep this paste aside.
• Heat some of the oil in a heavy bottomed pan.
• Add black cumin and bay leaf.
• Wait for 30 seconds till cumin seeds stop spluttering.
• Add onions and cook on low flame till onions turn soft but do not let them turn brown.
• Add turmeric and garam masala. Stir to mix well.
• Add the paste prepared earlier. Cook for 1 minute.
• Add yogurt and stir fry till water evaporates.
• Cook till it dries.
• Add milk and about 1/2 cup of water to the gravy.
• Boil and simmer for 2 -3 minutes.
• Add the fried potatoes and chopped coriander to the garvy and simmer on low flame.
• Cook on low flame till the gravy thickens and coats all the potatoes.
• Serve hot with nan or paranthas

Biryani Badshahi Recipie

1/2 kg Mutton
250 gms Rice parboiled
311/2 tblsp Lemon Juice
10 blanched Almonds (Badam)
1/2 tblsp Mint Leaves (Pudina Leaves)
1 cups Butter
1 handfuls chopped Coriander Leaves (Dhania Patta)
1/2 tblsp Cumin Seed (Jeera)
2 large sliced Onion (Kanda Pyaaz)
2 Brown Cardamom (Elaichi Moti)
1 tblsp Oil
4 pods Garlic (Lasun)
2 Cloves (Lavang)
1 " long piece Ginger (Adrak)
1/2 tblsp Saffron (Kesar)
1/2 tblsp Green Chilly (Hari Mirch) chopped
1/2 tblsp Red Chili Powder (Lal Mirchi)
1/2 " Cinnamon (Tuj/Dalchini)
1/2 kg Curd (Dahi)
125 gms Milk
3 cups Water

How to make biryani badshahi:
First wash and soak rice.
Then fry sliced onions to a golden brown color.
Soak saffron in water.
Now grind ginger, red chillies, garlic and almonds and fry these in butter.
Add it to the mutton and salt and stir for 5 minutes.
Now add water and cook onlow flame till meat becomes tender and about 1 cup of gravy is left.
Boil rice with salt in another pan.
Put curd into a piece of muslin cloth and let the water drain away.
Add cloves, cardomoms, cumin seed, mint leaves, chopped chillies and coriander in drained curd.
Strain the saffron water and add lemon juice.
Add all this to mutton.
Sprinkle half of the boiled rice over the mutton and then spread a layer of fried onion and then of rice again.
Now pour milk and some butter and cover the vessel.
Seal the edges of the pan with flour paste.
Place the can on flame for one hour.
Serve it very hot with some curry.

Halwa

Halwa is one of the quickest and easiest mithais that can be whipped up with some very basic kitchen ingredients.  Halwa embodies the simplest, the most universal idea of mithai or sweets:  Flour, butter, milk, sugar, nuts and spices!  It is amazing just how many combinations of these ingredients can be put together in various processing steps to create hundreds of tried and tested sweet recipes around the world.
To be clear, the word Halwa/Halva is an Arabic word and the sweet confection Halva is known by etymologically similar words in multiple countries in North Africa, easter Europe, Middle East and South Asia.  In the middle east and beyond, it can also refer to sweets made by using various nut butters, the most popular being the Sesame Halva made with Tahini (Sesame Butter).
In North India, we commonly make Halva with Flour, not nuts.  In other parts of the country, Halva is referred to as Sheera/Seera etc.  The preparation can differ in the extent of flour roasting or the amount of sugar/butter etc. but the essence is the same.

What's specific to every region therefore is this proportion between flour, butter and sugar etc. The Marwari halwa is traditionally quite heavy on the sugar and butter as can be seen in the couplet below: 
आटे से जल चौगुना और खांड जो दुगुनी होय 
घी बराबर डालिए और शीरा सखरा होय 
In its defence, the traditional Halwa belongs to an era when young men and women engaged in physically demanding activities in a day's routine.  Unlike today, even the urban men walked miles in the course of a day.  Without buses and cars, they embraced the autonomy of a bicycle proudly rode miles in a day.  Similarly, women did equally demanding work at home.  Such active lifestyles demanded equally rich food, and halwa was a popular addition to a meal especially in the cold winter months.  Now with increasingly sedentary lifestyles within homes and outside, it has become essential to cut calories wherever possible, and thankfully halwa can be subjected to such scrutiny and alteration without any loss of flavor.
In this section we will make three different types of halwaa made with four different ingredients: Sooji, Aata, gajar and Daal.

1.Sooji ka halwa

Ingredients: 
1 cup sooji (cream of wheat)

1 cup ghee

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk
10 pods of cardamom (powdered)
A pinch of saffron(soaked in a tablespoon of water)
20 almonds (microwave for 90 seconds and cut into pieces)
In a nonstick pan put ghee and sooji and roast the sooji by stirring continuously for ten minutes till the sooji is golden brown. 
Stir in hot milk.  After this add two cups of hot water and stir and add sugar.  Stir for next two minutes and you will see the halwa leaving the sides of the pan with ghee oozing out of it. 
Add cardamom powder and saffron water. Switch off the flame and garnish with almonds pieces. Halwa should be served hot. In Rajasthan, the popular accompaniment to Halwa is papad which helps break the monotony of eating something sweet.

2. Atte ka halwa

This halwa has same recipe as is sooji ka halwa. Sooji is replaced by atta(Wheat flour).  Atta roasts faster than Sooji due to a smaller grain size -within 8 minutes compared to 10 minutes for Sooji.

3. Moong ki dal ka halwa   (A Winter Delicacy)

Being high in calories it is prepared in winter. Preparation requires time and energy both.  But the end result melts in mouth with a buttery taste and is definitely worth every ounce of effort. This is the traditional marwari dish that has finally gained recognition in all parts of the country.
1 cup yellow moong dal

1 cup ghee

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup mawa

10 pods of cardamom

a pinch of saffaron  (soaked in water)

15 almonds

Soak the moong dal inwater for 4 hours.Drain the water and grind in a mixer making a smooth paste.
Roast the mawa in a thick bottom pan till it turns golden brown.
Making syrup
In separate pan put sugar with 1 cup of water put on the flame and stir till the sugar dissolves.When it starts boiling then take away from flame.Add cardamom powder and saffron water to it. Microwave the almonds for 90 seconds and cut into pieces.
In a separate thick bottom non stick pan put ghee and dal paste.Switch on the flame and start stirring continuously. The paste will tend to stick to the bottom of the pan but can be avoided by proper stirring and heavy bottom.It wil take full 5o minutes to roast it completely.At initial stage negligence may lead to lump formation.After 20 minutes of roasting it will become easy to stir as the water will evaporate and mixture will get fried in the ghee.Within next 25 minutes it will turn to golden  colour.At this stage put roasted mawa to it and stir.for next 5 minutes An aroma of fried moong dal paste and the color turning to brown  will tell you that it is ready.Now add sugar syrup to it stir for 2 minutes and turn off the flame .Garnish with roasted and sliced almonds.

Moong dal halwa is ready to serve. 

Khaman Dhokla

Ingredients 
For the Dhokla cakes:
1 cup chana dal
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons grated jaggery
3 green chillies (to grind in with the dal)
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

For Seasoning and garnishing
1tablespoon mustard seeds
15 curry leaves
3 green chillies
Freshly chopped cilantro (to taste)
Soak chana dal in water for 6 hours. Now grind in a paste with yogurt and jaggery and green chillies. Cover and keep the paste in a warm place for 10 hours. Add salt. In a big vessel heat water when water starts boiling then in one table spoon oil add baking soda and turmeric and stir to make a smooth paste and add this paste in the fermented dough. Grease a plate with a high border and pour the dough. Keep the plate in the vessel with boiling water taking care that water does not enter into the plate. Cover the vessel and let it steam for 8 to 10 minutes. Switch off the flame and let it cool for next 10 minutes.  Dhokala stands are also available in the market which are easy to use.

                              

Remove the lid take out the plate and cut into required size. Put all the pieces in a big plate.
Seasoning:
In a big spoon add two table spoon of oil and when it is heated add mustard seeds, curry leaves cut longitudinally in halves and the whole green chillies.  When it starts sputtering, pour the seasoning over the dhokla cakes and toss all pieces gently so that every piece gets equally seasoned. Add the freshly chopped cilantro.  Serve dhokalas with dhaniya chutney and Imli chutney.

Papad Ki Subzi

Papad is a dried rice or flour based pancake which can be consumed wither by frying or by roasting. Papad is served as a snack, an accompaniment or an appetizer. Papads are available off the shelf or you can make your own.

Ingredients : 

200 gms - Papad (fried and broken into 2/3 inch pieces)
6 tbsp - Ghee
300 gms - Yoghurt
1 tsp - Cumin seeds
2 tbsp - Coriander powder
1 tsp - Red chilly powder
4 tbsp - Ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp - Chopped ginger
1 tbsp - Chopped green chillies
2 tbsp - Chopped fresh coriander
Salt to taste .

cooking Instructions :

- Heat ghee in a pan add the cumin seeds.when it crackles add ginger garlic paste, red chilly powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder.
- Saute for 3-4 minutes over medium heat, add chopped ginger and green chillies.
- Add the beaten yogurt and saute for another 3 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
- Put the papad pieces into the boiling gravy and simmer for 6 - 7 minutes.
- Season to taste, remembering that papad is already salted. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Churma

Ingredients :

200 gms - Wheat flour
400 gms - Ghee
100 gms - Khoya / Mawa
200 gms - Sugar (grounded)
50 gms - Soaked almond (finely chopped)
4 Nos - Cardamom (small)
1 inch - 
Dalchini (Cinnamon Stick)


Cooking Instructions :

- Melt 150 gms of ghee and mix it in wheat flour
- Make a stiff dough using very little water
- Make about 15-20 balls with the dough
- Heat the rest of the ghee in a pan
- Fry the dough balls on low flame till it becomes golden brown
- After it cools down grind the balls to rough powder and mix khoya
- Heat 1 tbsp. ghee in kadahi, add cardamom seeds and dalchini
- Add the above mixture of wheat flour and khoya
- Fry it for a minute. When it cools down, add sugar and chopped almonds and mix well

Masala Paratha

Ingredients for masala paratha

• Wheat flour:2cups
• Ajwain-1/2 tea spoon
• jeera-1 tea spoon
• red chilli powder-3/4 tea spoon
• asafoetida-a pinch
• haldi powder-a pinch
• Garam masala powder-1/2 tea spoon
• ghee or oil- 1 table spoon
• Pudina leaves-1 table spoon
• curry leaves-1 table spoon
• Dania leaves-1 table spoon
• salt to taste For masala paratha

How to make masala paratha

• Mix wheat flour with ajwain, jeera, red chilli powder, haldi powder, asafoetida, Garam masala powder and salt. Knead the dough with ghee or oil. chop Pudina, curry leaves and Dania leaves. Mix them with the dough. Make 4 balls. Flatten the balls and roast it on hot tawa with ghee or oil. This paratha goes well with pickles, chutney and curd.