Celebrity Mums' Favourite Family Recipes

Manisha Pradhan

Author | 1053 Articles

Most favourite family recipes are an intriguing blend of delicious cuisine and cherished traditions. They are like heirlooms, passed down from one generation to the next, each adding their unique touch, refining the dish, and creating a history of flavour and love that’s unique to each household.

These recipes are the heart of family gatherings, the comfort in times of sorrow, and the celebration in times of joy. They are the secret ingredients that make every family unique. These celebrity new mums’ favourite family recipes are a testament to that diversity and richness, each recipe carrying the essence of a family’s love and unity, a snapshot of their life and culture.

Celebrity New Mums And Their Favourite Family Recipes

Bipasha Basu’s Favourite Malai Chingri(Prawn) Curry Recipe

*Bipasha Basu loves the Bengali food her mum cooks for her/ Image source: Instagram*

She’s a true blue Bong who loves her Bengali cuisine, especially what her mum cooks. Bipasha once shared her love for home-cooked Bengali food on her Instagram page with mouth-watering photos from her family table and left all her fans salivating.

Ingredients

500 grams prawns, de-shelled and de-veined
1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons mustard oil
2 green chillies, slit
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
2 onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
Salt, to taste
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
2 tablespoons fresh cream (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Procedure

Start by cleaning the prawns properly. Marinate the prawns with salt and half a teaspoon of turmeric powder. Set it aside for 15-20 minutes.
Heat mustard oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add the marinated prawns and fry them until they turn pink. Remove the prawns and set them aside.
In the same oil, add chopped onions and sauté until they turn golden brown.
Add the ginger paste and garlic paste to the pan and cook until the raw smell disappears.
Now, add the remaining turmeric powder and red chilli powder, and mix well.
Pour in the coconut milk and add the slit green chillies. Stir well and bring the mixture to a boil.
Add the fried prawns to the pan and mix well. Cover the pan and let it cook for about 10 minutes, or until the prawns are fully cooked and have absorbed the flavours.
Season with salt and garam masala. Mix well.
Optionally, you can add fresh cream for an extra layer of richness. Mix it well.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.

Enjoy your Bengali Chingri Malai Curry!

Remember, the key to a good Chingri Malai Curry is to ensure that the prawns are not overcooked, as they can become tough and rubbery. Also, the curry is typically mild, to let the flavours of the prawns and coconut milk shine through. Adjust the spices to your preference.

Priyanka Chopra’s Gumm Paratha Recipe

*Priyanka Chopra’s mum Madhu Chopra invented the Gumm paratha to make sure Priyanka gets her does of ghee and butter/ Image source: herzindagi.info*

All mums will relate to this one, the things mums need to invent while trying to feed fussy eaters! Priyanka Chopra’s favourite Gumm Paratha is nothing but a paratha with ghee and butter that was invented by her mother Madhu Chopra to get Priyanka to eat her daily dose of exactly that; ghee and butter!

Ingredients:

For the dough:
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (Atta)
1 teaspoon Salt
Water as required (approx. 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon Oil

For the filling:

2 tablespoons Carrom Seeds (Ajwain)
2 tablespoons Ghee
2 tablespoons Butter, melted

Instructions:

Step 1: Prepare the dough

In a large mixing bowl, add the whole wheat flour and salt. Mix well.
Gradually add water and knead into a soft dough. Add the oil and knead again until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes, covered.

Step 2: Prepare the filling

In a small bowl, mix the carrom seeds with ghee.

Step 3: Make the Parathas

Divide the dough into equal portions (usually 6-8) and roll into balls.
Flatten each ball with your palm and dust it with some flour.
Roll out each ball into a small circle using a rolling pin.
Spread the ghee and carrom seeds mixture evenly on the rolled dough.
Fold the rolled dough into half and then again fold it to make a quarter circle. (Or you can fold it like a fan and then roll it inwards to form a spiral.)
Roll out this folded dough again into a triangle or circle (depending on your initial fold).
Preheat a skillet on medium heat. Once hot, place the rolled-out paratha on it.
Cook the paratha on one side until it starts to puff up slightly and you can see golden spots appearing.
Flip the paratha and spread some of the melted butter on the cooked side. Press down the paratha with a spatula to ensure even cooking.
Flip again and now spread some butter on the other side. Cook until both sides are golden brown, pressing down with a spatula occasionally.
Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
Serve your ghee and butter parathas with carrom seeds hot, preferably with a side of yoghurt, pickle or any curry of your choice. Enjoy!

Remember, you can adjust the amount of carrom seeds, ghee, and butter to suit your taste. Carrom seeds have a strong flavour, so be cautious with the quantity if you’re not used to it.

Kareena Kapoor’s Paya Gravy Recipe

*Kareena Kapoor Khan says it’s the paya gravy which is the one dish that binds the Kapoor khandaan together/ Image source: Instagram*

The Kapoor khandaan is known to be a family of foodies and Kareena Kapoor Khan is no different. When asked what was the one dish that united the Kapoor family, Kareena Kapoor said, “I think it would have to be… the one big dish that we all love eating whenever we meet is paya… it is like a gravy, a curry. We kind of really, really trip on it.”

Ingredients:

4 goat/lamb trotters (paya)
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
2 green chillies, slit
2 tablespoons oil or ghee (clarified butter)
2 teaspoons red chilli powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
Salt to taste
A handful of fresh coriander leaves chopped
A handful of fresh mint leaves chopped
For the spice bag (potli):
2 black cardamom pods
2 green cardamom pods
2-inch piece of cinnamon
4 cloves
4 black peppercorns
1 small piece of nutmeg
1 bay leaf

Instructions:

Clean the trotters (paya) thoroughly. Usually, they are already cleaned when you buy them, but you can scorch them over an open flame to remove any remaining hair and then wash them with warm water.
In a muslin cloth, tie up all the spices listed under the spice bag (potli) and keep it aside.
In a pressure cooker, add the trotters, the spice bag, salt, and enough water to cover the trotters. Pressure cook for about 45-60 minutes or until the trotters are tender and the meat is falling off the bone. If you’re using an Instant Pot or another electric pressure cooker, use the “Meat/Stew” setting.
Once the trotters are cooked, strain the stock and keep it aside. Also, remove the spice bag and keep the trotters aside.
In a large pan, heat the oil or ghee. Add the chopped onions and sauté until they are golden brown.
Add the ginger-garlic paste and slit green chillies to the pan, and sauté until the raw smell goes away.
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they are soft.
Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, and coriander powder to the pan and sauté until the spices are well combined with the onion-tomato mixture.
Add the cooked trotters to the pan and mix well. Cook for another 5-10 minutes.
Add the stock that was kept aside to the pan. If necessary, add more water. The gravy should be of a thin consistency.
Cover the pan and let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
Add garam masala and adjust the salt as per your taste.
Garnish with chopped coriander and mint leaves before serving.
Enjoy your Paya Gravy with naan, rice, or any other Indian bread of your choice.

Anushka Sharma’s Favourite Home-Made Malai Recipe

favourite family recipes — *What Anushka Sharma loves the most is her mum’s homemade malai with sugar/ Image source: Instagram*

Even though Anushka Sharma loves momos, biryani, khichdi, and curries made by her mum, what Anushka loves the most is homemade malai. Sugar with malai was one of her favourite childhood dishes.

Here’s how you can make homemade malai.

Ingredients:

1 litre whole, full-fat milk (preferably not ultra-pasteurized)

Instructions:

Pour the milk into a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
Heat the milk on a medium flame until it begins to boil. Keep stirring occasionally to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Once the milk comes to a boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting.
Let the milk simmer on this low heat for a few hours. A thick layer of cream (the malai) will start to form on the surface.
With a spoon, gently move the cream layer from the surface to the edge of the pot.
Continue this process, letting new layers of cream form and moving them to the side, until the milk has reduced significantly and you have a good amount of cream collected.
Once the milk is reduced to your desired level, turn off the heat and let the milk cool down.
Once cooled, carefully collect all the cream (malai) from the sides and surface of the pot and store it in a separate container. You can refrigerate this malai for up to a week.
You can use this homemade malai in various recipes or just add sugar like Anushka Sharma and spread it on bread as is.

Please note that homemade malai is different from store-bought heavy cream or whipped cream. It has a distinct taste and texture that is often preferred in many traditional Indian recipes.

Whether it’s the comforting soup on a cold winter night or the lavish feast during the holiday season, or even simple homemade malai with sugar, favourite family recipes are the heart and soul of every family.