Classic Lasagne

Ingredients:
Uncooked Lasagne sheets - 250 gms (12 sheets)
Cheddar cheese - 200 grams
Mozarella cheese - 150 grams

For the Red Meaty sauce
Minced meat - half Kilo
Onion sliced thinly - 1 medium size / 1 cup
Garlic - 4 large cloves
Pepper powder - 1 Teaspoon
Carrot - 1 large,sliced thinly
Dried oregano - 1/2 teaspoon
Dried basil - 1/2 teaspoon
Red lasagne Sauce (Ragu) - 1 - 1 1/2 cups
Olive Oil / vegetable oil - 2-3 tablespoon
Salt - as required.

For the white sauce (Bechamel sauce)

Milk - 3 cups

Butter - 2 tablesppons

Plain flour - 2 tablespoons

Pepper powder - half teaspoon

Nutmeg powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - as required

Chicken cube - 1

PREPARATION:

For Meat Sauce

Heat a saucepan and add 2 tbs of oil. Saute onion and garlic until pink. When pink, add thinly sliced carrots and stir for few minutes. After that, add minced meat and mix well . Add salt,pepper,dry basil leaves and dry oregano leaves to season and cook until the meat is tender and well cooked.Add little water if needed. The Sauce should not be too dry.It should be moist but not liquidy as you can see in the picture below.When the meat is well cooked, switch of flame. Add the lasagne sauce and mix well.Keep it aside.

Minced meat sauce

For Bechamel sauce (white sauce)

Heat another saucepan, Add two tablespoon butter and melt it. When completely melted,Add 2 rounded tablespoons of plain flour and stir for few seconds for the flour to get cooked. Then add Milk slowly and whisk/stir well and make sure that no lumps are formed. Now add 1 chicken cube or 1 tablespoon of chicken powder.Keep stirring to avoid lumps.Add nutmeg powder,pepper powder and salt to season. If you find it too thick add little milk or water to loosen it.Take out from flame.
N.B: Make sure that the sauce is not too thick;else your lasagne will end up like a cake and dry!
Prepare lasagne sheet according to the packet instructions. It normally takes around 10 minutes to cook Add a teaspoon of oil in the boiling water and little salt in the boiling water while preparing it.And stir few times in between.Else the sheets will stick together. Can cook 2-3 sheets at a time also to avoid sticking.When sheets are cooked,pat them dry in a cotton towel.

Layering the Lasagne

Take a dry oven-proof dish and pour around 5 tablespoon of white sauce at the bottom of the dish and spread it all over the dish. Now place the lasagne sheets side by side to make the first layer of sheets at the bottom of dish. Divide the meat sauce into two halves. Spread the first half of the meat sauce over this sheet. Pour some white sauce all over the meat sauce. Sprinkle with a good amount of grated cheese.

Now place another layer of lasagne sheet side by side over the cheese. Spread the other half of meat sauce over the sheets and pour good amount of white sauce all over the meat sauce. Now place another layer of lasagne sheets.Pour the rest of white sauce and sprinkle another good amount of grated cheese all over.Sprinkle with oregano on top. preheat the oven at 180 degrees celcius for 10 minutes. Bake the lasagne for about 20-30 minutes or until the cheese on top starts turning golden brown.

Dal Ghosht (Meat with lentils)

Ingredients:

mutton - cut into pieces -1/2 kilo

ginger -1 inch piece

garlic -4-5 cloves

yogurt -3 tablespoonful or half cup

Red lentils(masoor dal)-1/2 cup

oil/ghee-as required

onions- thinly sliced - 1 cup

garam masala - 1 tsp

chilli powder -1 1/2 tsp

coriander powder -1 1/2 Tbsp

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

salt - as required

chopped coriander for garnishing- around 2 tablespoons.

Preparation:

1) Grind ginger and garlic to paste and marinate the meat with ginger-garlic paste and yogurt and leave for 2 hours.

marinated mutton

2) Soak dal in water for about an hour.

3) Heat ghee/oil in a deep pan or kadai and deep fry the onions till golden brown and crisp. Drain onions out of the hot ghee with a slotted spoon, and keep aside. Fried onions

4)Heat another sauce pan,add little oil(around 2-3 tablespoons). Add meat mixture in same pan and saute at very high heat until the meat is opaque.Lower the heat, add garam masala, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt, and simmer. Sprinkle little water to avoid the spices sticking to the bottom.

5) Drain dal(lentils) and add to the meat. Stir-fry a few times, add 2-3 cups hot water. Bring to boil, then simmer over low heat till Dal is cooked through. You can also pressure cook mutton,as it takes quite long time for the mutton to get cooked. When pressure cooking,add less amount of water. Optionally,You can also cook dal separately,mash them and add to the cooked mutton and simmer well before adding the blended onions.

6) Grind the onions to a paste with the help of a little water, and add to the meat. Cook some more till well blended, and serve garnished with the coriander leaves and fried onions...

Its delicious and worth a try...Enjoy!

Pineapple Souffle (serves 10-12 ppl)

My first ever post in the blog world!My dad always used to talk about this particular dessert, and used to ask me to try it out. He had it from the old work place that he woked decades ago and that old taste still made him drool. I have tried several versions of this one.Amongst all the Pineapple souffle that I have tried,my husband seemed to like this version alot...he really liked it. And this is the only dessert he asks me to make often. Even though I am a 'Sweetaholic' I am not a big fan of Pineapple souffle or any other souffles. ...Here you go, the recipe of souffle that my family love every bite.....Give it a try. This recipe is very much loved by my dad as well....he told it really tasted like the one he had ages ago!

Update: If you are using the eggs in india, u may need to use more since our Indian eggs are smaller in size.

Ingredients:
Pineapple can -1 small can
4 large Eggs
1 1/4 cup (appx 350 mls) Milk
1 1/2 table spoon Gelatin powder
8-10 tablespoons+ 2 tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Cornflour
3/4 cup (appx 200 mls) Pineapple juice (from the can)
1 tablespoon grated Orange rind

Preparation:
1. Drain the pineapple juice from the can .Mix gelatin into it and keep aside.
2. Mix cornflour in the milk and keep aside too.
3.Crush pineapple in to very small pieces keep it aside again.Dont grind it-it will be watery.You need to have the pineapple titbits in there.
4. Separete yolks from whites.Beat the egg yolk along with 10 tablespoons of sugar until light and creamy.(You can add or reduce sugar according to your taste.This is upto my taste buds).It will be light yellow in color.Add milk+cornflour to this.
5. Transfer this mixture to a saucepan and heat this mixture in low flame by stirring constantly. When the mixture starts to thicken,add gelatin+juice into this. When gelatin is completely melted,stir for a minute or two more and switch of the flame.
6. Add the pineapple titbits and orange rind to this and mix well.Keep aside to cool.
7. Beat the egg whites until the peaks form. Add the 2 tablespoon sugar and beat again until stiff. Fold this to the cooled and half-set pudding.
8. Transfer to a pudding dish and chill for a couple of hours or over night and serve cold.
Garnish with fruits and Orange peel.

Notes. Make sure you remove the white pith under the orange skin, since it is very bitter.