Q. What is Agin-o-motto, where can i find it?

Agin-o-motto or Aginomotto is also known as MSG (monosodium glutamate). This can be purchased at Chinese stores and is used in very small quantity in Chinese and Japanese food, mainly fried rice. It is mainly used as a flavor enhancer and really does make a difference. But use this with caution, as using a lot may cause minor side effects.

Q. How to make Fluffy Poori's ?

To make Fluffy poori's you have to add white rava 1/2 cup for 1 cup of wheat flour. Then add 1/2 tsp of oil and then knead the flour well for about 12 minutes.

Q. What are Ricotta Cheese and also half & half cream used in Ras Malai?

The ricotta cheese, is a kind of cheese you get in different weights in all departmental stores, you will find it in the diary section. And the half & half is half cream and half milk (you will also get this in a departmental store) if not available you can use milk, and whipping cream

Q.  To make rasaghulla, I was trying to make with milk Paneer but its melting in the sugar syrup do I need to add any maida or rava if then how.

There should not be any water in the paneer , after squeezing the water from the paneer , take some heavy object and place it on top of the paneer and then make them into balls, Then don't add the paneer balls into the sugar syrup when they are hot , wait till the sugar syrup cools down so that the paneer will not get separated.

Q. For soft and fluffy Idlis

Rice (Idli Rice) you can find in all Indian stores - 4 cups

Urud dal - 1 1/2 cup

Soak them separately for about 5 hours and grind the Urud dal and Rice separately each for about 20 - 25 minutes in Grinder or 10 - 12 minutes in a blender. Then Mix them both well and add salt to them, place them in room temperature for about 10 - 12 hours until the dough ferments.

Q. How do we use cardamoms? Do we use it with or without the skin?

When using cardamom in curries most people would remove the outer skin, but there is no harm in using them. But you can use the cardamom's both skin and pod when preparing Indian chai or Tea. That will bring a good flavor in tea. And when preparing Indian sweets both the pod and skin can be used, but skin can be removed when serving.

Q. Conversion of kilograms into pounds?

Conversion

1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds

500 gms = 1.1 pound

Get a measuring cup that has all the measurements.

According to our recipe approx the cup size is 250 - 300 gms

Q. How do we make Homemade Paneer?

Paneer Ingredients:

Full fat Milk - 1/2 gallon

Lemon juice - out of 4 lemons

Paneer Preparation:

Heat the Milk in a pan for about 20 minutes and then add the Lemon Juice and when the Cheese separates from the milk then take out the Solids and place them in a thin cloth to drain the excess water. And then place a heavy solid on top of the milk solids in order to remove the excess water from it. Cut them into desired shapes. You can fry them in oil and can use them for curries

Q. Making Soft and fluffy Rava Idli's

Add the same amount of yogurt as the rava and keep the flour aside for about 20 minutes and then add the same amount of water. And mix the flour well.

Q. To make soft chappathis

To make soft chappathis or rotis , Add fresh yogurt to knead the dough instead of water , and cover the dough with a  light moist cloth,. And also after making chappathi's cover them with a soft cloth

Q. Secret to South Indian Cooking

The secret to Indian Cooking lies in the flavoring of the oil. Follow the recipe and if the recipe recommends 1 tsp of urud dal for seasoning add 11/4 tsp. And also all the ingredients contribute to the taste. To fry onions, add enough oil for the recipe and add the onions and let them stand for about 2-3 minutes in medium heat and then turn the heat to high for about 2 minutes with enough oil you will get your onions nice and brown.

You will get the taste once you start to get the taste of the food. Try different ratios of ingredients and you will find which suites you. More oil will increase the taste as well as the fat.

 For Rasaghulla's

You can use Ricotta cheese instead of Paneer, but the taste still differs a lot. But you can try using Ricotta cheese with the same process for Rasaghulla.

http://www.hotdishes.com/rasaghulla.htm