Chef’s Nectar, ” Gulab Ki Kheer”

Gulab Ki Kheer

Gulab ki Kheer is a perfect fusion of taste and aroma, which can be prepared without putting in much efforts. Here’s how you can make this easy Gulab Kheer in a short period of time by following some simple steps given below. This delectable kheer recipe is made using full cream and condensed milk along with dry rose petals and rose water. This awsome treat is really make lots of diffrence when you are treating your love ones, enjoy this fabulous recipes and enjoy !!

Ingredients for making the Gulab Ki Kheer

1 liter full cream milk
100 gm sugar
5 drops rose water
100 gm basmati rice
400 gm condensed milk
5 gm dry rose petals

For Garnishing

1 teaspoon flaked almonds
3 to 4 rose petals

Method of making the Gulab ki Kheer

In a heavy bottomed pan, boil milk at a very low temperature for 30 minutes.
Add condensed milk, sugar and cook for another 5 minutes. Then, add basmati rice and cook till the rice is tender. Next stir-in rose petals along with some rose water.
Once done, remove from heat and let it cool for a while. Garnish with almond flakes. Your Gulab Kheer is ready to be relished.

Chef’s Nectar, ” Healthiest Tuna Bean Salad” with Avocado and Boiled Eggs !

Ingredients for making the Tuna Bean Salad

100 gms green beans
2 nos eggs
100 gms watercress lettuce
100 gms cherry tomatoes
10 gms chopped spring onions
160g tin tuna steak in water, drained
50 gms Roma tomatoes
20 gms onions rings
50 gms avocado
1 pcs grilled toast infused with pesto sauce

For the dressing

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method of making the salad

Cook the green beans in a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes. Plunge them into a bowl of cold water.
Cook the eggs in a pan of boiling water for 8 minutes. Drain in a sieve under cold running water until cold. Peel and cut the eggs into quarters.
For the dressing, whisk the oil, vinegar and mustard in a large bowl until thick. Season with black pepper.
Add the green beans, mixed beans, cherry tomatoes and spring onions, lettuce, avocado to the dressing and mix. Flake the tuna on top and add the hard-boiled eggs. Season with black pepper. and enjoy this healthy preparation before or after exercise.

Chef’s Nectar,”Shahi Tukda”

Shahi Tukda

Hyderabadi famous sweet delicacy, which is an inseparable part of their culinary heritage. ‘Shahi Tukda’ also known as ‘Double ka Meetha’ is a delicious as well as indulgent delicacy, which can be prepared very easily at home without putting in much efforts.

Ingredients for making the Shahi Tukda

5 bread slices
1/2 ml water
2 crushed black cardamom
3 cup milk
20 gms cashews
20 gms pistachios
1/2 cup ghee
1/2 cup sugar
6 strand saffron
2 pinches powdered green cardamom
20 gms almonds
2 tbsp sugar

Making of Shahi Tukda

Shahi Tukda is a simple yet delicious recipe, which makes for a delightful treat for sweet lovers. Here’s a simple recipe to make this traditional Shahi Tukda recipe at home. Take a saucepan and heat water along with sugar, once the sugar dissolves add the saffron strands. Let it boil, till the syrup achieves two string consistency. Once the sugar syrup turns a little thick. Put off the stove and keep aside.

Take another pan, boil the milk in medium flame until the milk is reduced to about 1/4th of its original quantity. Do not forget to stir continuously, once the milk is reduced, add cardamom powder, 1/4th part of sugar syrup and mix well. Continue to heat it by stirring continuously for 5 more minutes. Once done, remove the pan from the flame and your rabri is ready. Keep aside until required.

Now, take the bread slices and cut their sides and slice it as two triangles. Then, heat ghee in a pan and shallow fry the bread until they are crisp and golden brown on each side. Once the bread slices are fried, soak each slice in the remaining sugar syrup for about a minute.

Arrange it on the serving dish. Pour the prepared rabri over the bread slices and garnish with the chopped nuts.

Chef’s Nectar, “Mutabel”

Ingredients for making the Mutabel

1eggplant large (500 grams or more)
2tbsp tahini
4 tbsp yoghurt
3cloves garlic
1tsp salt or as per taste
2 pcs/nos lemon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method of making the Mutabel

Place the eggplant on open flame. Keep rotating until entire skin is charred and flesh inside is soft and pulpy. Inserting a knife or skewer inside will tell you when flesh is completely soft.
Allow it to cool for a bit and then peel the skin off, removing all the cooked, eggplant flesh in a large bowl. Discard any large chunks of seeds.
On a chopping board, add 2 pinches of salt to the peeled garlic cloves and mash them with the side of the knife blade until you get a coarse paste.
Mash the eggplant flesh with a fork, adding the tahini, yogurt, salt, garlic paste, juice of two lemons.
Remove this into a shallow bowl. Garnish with extra virgin olive oil. A sprinkling of sumac and pomegranate seeds (optional) will add colour to the dish.
Serve as a part of a Mezze platter along with hummus, tabbouleh, labneh and pita breads.
Best goes well with Khboz or pitta bread.

Chef’s Nectar, “Dashi” Japanese Stock

Dashi is Japanese soup stock that builds the bases for many of your favorite Japanese dishes like miso soup, chawanmushi, ramen, and shabu shabu. It is the essence of authentic Japanese flavor, and it tells the dishes apart if other substitutions are being used in place of the soup stock. And what defines dashi is the use of carefully selected ingredients like kombu, bonito flakes, shiitake mushrooms, and anchovies, and each ingredient is uniquely Japanese.

Ingredients for making the Dashi

⅓ dried kelp (10 g, 4″ x 4″ OR 10 cm x 10 cm)
⅓ dried bonito flakes (10 g, 1 cup)
4 cups water (roughly 1000 ml)

Method of making the Dashi

Gather all the ingredients. Most Japanese recipes would say to gently clean the kombu with a damp cloth. However, these days, kombu is pretty clean so just make sure it doesn’t look musty. do not wash or wipe off the white powdery substance (Mannitol), which contributes to the umami flavor in dashi.
Make a couple of slits on the kombu, which will help release more flavor.

Make Cold Brew Kombu Dashi

Put water and kombu in a large bottle and let it steep on the counter for 2-3 hours in the summertime and 4-5 hours in the winter time. You can also cold brew kombu dashi overnight in the refrigerator.

To Make Awase Dashi

In a medium pot, put the kombu and water. If you have cold brew Kombu Dashi (previous step), add Kombu Dashi and hydrated kombu in the pot.
Turn on the heat to medium-low heat and slowly bring to almost boil, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, clean the dashi by skimming the surface.
Just before the dashi starts boiling, remove kombu from the pot (Reserve the kombu and see below for what to do with it). If you leave the kombu inside, the dashi will become slimy and bitter.
Add the katsuobushi and bring it to a boil again, skimming occasionally.
Once the dashi is boiling, reduce the heat, simmer for just 30 seconds, and turn off the heat.
Let the katsuobushi sink to the bottom, about 10 minutes.
Strain the dashi through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl or measuring cup (Reserve the katsuobushi and see below for what to do with it). Awase Dashi is ready to use.

Chef’s Nectar, “Makhane ki Kheer”

Ingredients for making the Makhane ki Kheer

1 cup makhana (foxnuts or phool makhana)
2 cups organic milk or 500 ml organic milk
3-4 green cardamom – husked and powdered in a mortar-pestle
10-12 cashews
10-12 almonds – blanched and sliced
1 tbsp golden raisins
3.5 to 4 tbsp sugar or as required
1 pinch saffron
2 to 3 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Method of making the Kheer

Roasting of makhana and cashewsnuts

Heat 2 to 3 tsp ghee in a pan.
Add the phool makhana and cashews.
On a low flame, roast 1 cup phool makhana and 10 to 12 cashews in ghee till the makhanas become crunchy.
The cashews will also get golden. Stir often while roasting them.
Then remove them in a plate and keep aside.

Making makhane ki kheer

Heat 2 cups milk/500 ml in a sauce pan or a thick bottomed pan.

Stir at intervals so that the milk does not scorch from bottom.

Let the milk come to a boil.

Whilst the milk is getting heated up, reserve 1/3 cup makhana and add the remaining in a grinder or blender jar. Add cardamom seeds from 4 cardamom pods along with a pinch of saffron strands,Grind to a fine powder.

When the milk comes to a boil, then add 3.5 to 4 tbsp sugar or add as per taste.

Add the ground powdered makhana, Then the reserved 1/3 cup makhana, Stir very well.

Simmer till the makhane softens and the milk thickens a bit. About 9 to 10 minutes on a low to medium flame, Scrape the evaporated milk solids from sides and add to the milk.

Add the fried cashews nuts and raisins, Stir and simmer the kheer for a minute or two.

Served makhane ki kheer hot or chilled. as per your preferences, in both ways its amazing and full of After chilling, the kheer’s consistency thickens a bit.

Chef’s Nectar,”Ghevar”

Ingredients for making the Ghevar

1/2 cup ghee, also known as clarified butter
1/2 cup whole milk, cold
1 cup ice cold water, may need more
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
few saffron strands
chopped nuts, to garnish
yellow food color, optional
ghee or oil, for deep frying

for sugar syrup

1.5 cups sugar
1 cup water

Method of making the Ghevar

for Sugar syrup

First make the sugar syrup. To make the sugar syrup add sugar to a pan on medium heat. Now add water and mix till sugar dissolves.
After 4-5 minutes the syrup will develop a one string consistency which means that if you put a drop of the syrup between your thumb and index finger and move the fingers apart, you will notice the syrup forming one string/thread. Set aside while you make the ghevar.

Ghevar is the authentic Royal dessert of the Royal Soil

To a bowl add ghee. Now add 1 tablespoon of cold milk and 1 tablespoon of ice cold water to it. We are going to add the milk, flour and water in parts and not in one go.
Start beating it all together using your stand or hand mixer. Once it’s all nice and combined, add 1/4 cup of flour and mix to combine.
Add 1-2 tablespoons more of milk and water and combined. Add cardamom powder and mix.
Add 1/4 cup flour again and mix. Also add in saffron strands. Now add the remaining 1/2 cup flour
Keep adding water and milk little by little and mix till you get a completely smooth and pouring consistency batter. You may need to add more water to the batter than what is mentioned in the recipe if your batter isn’t pouring consistency. You may also add yellow food color if desired.
Now heat ghee/oil in a deep pan on high heat. I used a combination of oil and ghee.
Once the ghee is super hot, pour batter from a height of at least 6-7 inches. Pour batter little by little in a constant flow into center of the pan The batter will sizzle up and spread immediately.
Wait for a minute and then pour another ladle full from top in the center of the pan. Wait few seconds and then using a chopstick or any other elongated utensil, remove some batter from the center so what you get a hole in the center to lift the ghevar once it’s done.
Pour 2 more ladles of batter, repeating the same steps again. You may add more batter if you want a thicker ghevar. Once you are done with all the layers, take a stick and press ghevar slightly inside the oil so that the top gets evenly cooked.
Once it’s all nice and brow, very carefully insert the stick in the center of the ghevar and take it out of the pan.
Place on serving plate and drizzle evenly with warm sugar syrup. You may dip the ghevar in the sugar syrup too, either way is fine. Make sure sugar syrup is warm when you dip the ghevar in it.
Garnish ghevar with nuts, rabdi (thickened milk) and saffron sprigs, enjoy this delicious desserts with your family and friends.

Chef’s Nectar,”Hummus Crusted Grilled Chicken

Ingredients for making the Hummus Crusted Grilled Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup hummus,
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lemons
1 tsp. smoked paprika or sumac

Method of making the Hummus Crusted Grilled Chicken

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare one large baking dish or two smaller baking dishes with cooking spray.

Pat the chicken dry. Season the chicken breasts with generous pinches of salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss the zucchini, squash and onion with olive oil until evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper.

If using one baking dish, place all of the vegetables on the bottom of the dish in an even layer. Lay the four chicken breasts evenly on top, then cover each chicken breast with the hummus so that the entire breast is covered. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the chicken and vegetables. Then sprinkle the pan with smoked paprika or sumac. Thinly slice the remaining lemon, and place the slices in between the chicken and vegetables if desired.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Serve along with Hummus on the side, one of the most delicious innovation from the chef’s nectar you must try it. you will for sure fell in love with it.

Chef’s Nectar,” Chena Payesh”

Ingredients for Chena Payesh

Milk 1 1/2 litres
Saffron (kesar) a few strands
Lemon juice 1 1/2 tablespoon
Sugar 1/2 cup
Almonds blanched and chopped 5-6
Pistachios blanched and chopped 7-8

Method of making the Chena Payesh

Soak saffron in two tablespoons of warm milk and set aside. Boil half litre of milk. As it comes to a boil add lemon juice and keep stirring till all the milk curdles.

Strain the whey and tie up the chenna in a muslin cloth and dip in ice water till it cools completely. Then squeeze till all the liquid drains away. Set aside.
Boil milk, add a pinch of saffron, reduce heat and let it simmer till reduced to half the original quantity.
Add sugar, stir and simmer till it dissolves. Mash chenna in a bowl. Add it to the milk. Simmer for two minutes.
Add almonds and pistachios and the soaked saffron and take off the heat.
Serve hot or cold as per your preferences, it has unique flavor in both ways, serve hot or cold garnished with dry fruits and saffron sprigs.

Chef’s Nectar,” Shiitake Mushrooms with Silken Tofu in Black Bean Sauce”

“Shiitake mushroom are one of the specialty ingredients which is very nutritious and have the special appearance in the oriental dishes, available dry and fermented in the Asian market and in any grocery stores in the metros.”

Ingredients for making the Shiitake

18 dried shiitake mushrooms
3 cups boiling water
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp coarse salt
3 tbsp peanut oil
1 small leek (white and pale green parts only), cut into matchstick-size strips
1/4 cup Asian fermented black beans,* minced
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp chili-garlic sauce
1/4 tsp finely crushed Sichuan peppercorns (wild pepper), or coarsely crushed black pepper
2 14-ounce containers soft tofu, drained, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Fresh cilantro sprigs (for garnish)
2 tbsp assorted bell peppers (red,yellow & green)

Method of making the Shiitake Mushroom with tofu

Place mushrooms in large bowl. Pour 3 cups boiling water over; let soak until mushrooms soften, at least 25 minutes and up to 4 hours. Drain the excess water squeeze gently to remove the moisture and keep the caps.
Dissolve cornstarch in 2 tablespoons vegetable broth in 2-cup measuring cup. Stir in remaining broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and salt.
Heat oil in heavy large wok or nonstick skillet over high heat until very hot. Add mushrooms; stir-fry until browned, about 3 minutes. Add leek; stir-fry until beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add black beans, ginger, garlic, chili-garlic sauce, and peppercorns; stir-fry 30 seconds. Stir cornstarch mixture to blend, then stir into vegetable mixture. Add Diced tofu toss gently to coat with sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 4 minutes.
Spoon diced tofu into the mushroom caps into serving dish. Garnish with cilantro and assorted bell peppers pour rest of the sauce on the top of the mushrooms.
Served hot with steam or sticky rice.

Please Note

Available in the Asian markets and specialty foods stores in the oriental foods section of some supermarkets.