nepali chia (chai)

CHAI CHAI CHAI.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Train journeys in India are incomplete without this sound buzzing in the morning...its a unique experience in itself....When I was a kid, On weekends I used to make tea for my mom dad and serve them saying chai chai in the same manner...funny na...Well tea is something magical .... something which is so much a part of our daily lives.....our mornings...our evenings..our get togethers...our celebrations...something which you can have anytime anyday..and.. gives you ultimate comfort specially after a hectic day.

The nepali chia is a bit different from the regular tea...basically its a sweetened masala chai!!!

So try out this delicious cup of sweet Nepali Chia  to make your day feel just warmer!!Its aroma will definitely make you feel brighter !!!

Ingredients

1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Milk
2 Cardamom pods
1 small Cinnamon stick
2-3 Cloves
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Tea leaves
 Ginger slices (depending on your taste)

Method 

Put equal parts milk and water in a pan. Add a few crushed cardamom pods, whole cloves and cinnamon (crushed bark is nice, but powdered will do) and a few slices of fresh ginger.

Now bring the half milk-half water (with spices) mixture to just short of boil. Stir it every so often.Add sugar.When this mixture is hot, add some tea. Keep the heat up.Boil till you get the right colour.

Enjoy your Chia with your favourite snack.I like it with murukku!!!

I am sure after reading this you won't wait a minute and just rush to make this hot cuppa chia !!!

Tea vapours

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Flavours of Nepal by UK Rasoi 

chilli tofu

Well when I came to London I remember our first outing was to the supermarket....as that's the first step one takes to  set up  a household and it was a completely different experience  from the Indian ones...it was like it could take a whole day to stroll around and shop...yes this is how big some of the  supermarkets are..!!

So this weekend was one of the days when we went for that kind of shopping(yes we really enjoy it unlike the boring online shopping) and there you look for ingredients which you usually don't find in neighbourhood stores..TOFU was one such item on my list and yes I found it !!

And so I could not restrain myself from trying a tofu dish and went ahead and cooked  chilli tofu.

We also baked chocolate chip muffins..Post dinner we were craving for something sweet so we baked these super quick muffins  and it was so much fun...I just love cooking with hubby ...!!

Our weekend dessert

Coming to the point lemme share with you the recipe of chilli tofu:

Ingredients

200g tofu
2 spring onions
1 Onion Sliced
3 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce 
1/2 cup Veg stock
1/4 cup Mixed bell peppers
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp cornflour mixed in 2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp pepper
Salt to taste 

Method

Cut tofu into small pieces and shallow fry till light golden.Marinate the fried tofu into a mix of  2 tbsp soya sauce, 1/4 tsp pepper and  1tsp ginger garlic paste for 20 minutes.You will surprised to see how tofu soaks up the soya sauce.

In a pan saute some garlic and spring onion whites and onion.Add bell peppers ,soya sauce,chilli garlic sauce(I used maggi chilli garlic sauce).Add salt, pepper and veg stock.Let it boil and add cornflour. Mix lightly till the mixture thickens.

Turn off the heat,garnish with spring onions and serve it with rice/ noodles.

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Hot and spicy treats by Food corner