JFI GREENS - Methi Parathas in a hurry! and Daal Palak with Parathas.

This is a late post (methi parathas) .. I wanted to send it in for Nupur's A-Z of Veges... but things have been a bit hectic for me. Couple of weeks ago, I landed a full time job.. and I am still kinda getting the rythym of things. Apart from that my laptop is giving me a lot of trouble so I was off this track a bit..

I guess this entry can now go in for JFI GREENS along with another one I had planned.

Methi seeds have their own special place in our kitchens and are used for tempering in daals, dahi kadhi as well as in many vegetables, pickles and curries. As widely as it is used in the kitchen this herb has its use in the medicinal world too. Methi seeds soaked overnight and ground to a paste can be applied to hair to get rid of dandruff and is also a good conditioner. People suffering from arthritis and diabetes also benefit from consuming Methi

Methi has a bitter taste and a strong characteristic smell, that was the one reason my Mother used to be careful in just picking leaves off the stalk. In CA,I do substitute Kasuri Methi (dried methi leaves) for lack of fresh, inviting looking methi . Kasuri methi too has the same strong characteristic smell of fresh methi (if not stronger!). The only annoying thing is sometimes getting a bit of a hard stalk in the mouth... but that is not much of an issue!!

Coming to blogging.... though I am enjoying everything at office enormously, I do miss blogging the most! I have a bunch of pictures ready, but I haven't uploaded them to the laptop! Now that I am a bit strained for time (at least until I set a routine), I am also looking at 'quick fix' meals to carry in the lunch box for me and M. For one such quick fix, I made Methi Parathas. these are very flavorful and can be eaten by themselves with or without any accompaniment.... a bit of mango pickle is always welcome, though!!

For this version of Methi Paratha I have used Kasuri Methi. The taste was not compromised on at all, but if you have fresh, tender leaves... USE 'EM!!

1 cup Wheat Flour
1 tbsp. Besan
1 tbsp. Rice Flour
1/4 tsp. Turmeric
1/2 tbsp. Ginger - Garlic Paste
2 Green chillies minced (or if you prefer , grind them with the ginger-garlic)
1 bunch Methi Leaves
Salt to taste
Oil / ghee

Wash and chop the methi leaves (not necessary if using kasuri methi)
Mix the wheat flour, besan and rice flour
Add the turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, green chilly, salt, methi leaves
Bind into a dough.
Cover and keep for 15 mins..
Roll out parathas
Heat a griddle and roast the parathas drizzling oil / ghee around the corners (or use oil spray)
Serve with pickle / yogurt

My second entry is DAAL PALAK and Paratha

My motive in making daal palak was simple... daal and vegetable rolled into one! What with work and home (dishes... laundry, clearing the humongous mess) and a whopper of a migraine attack, I felt a bit overwhelmed and after shoving tablets down the throat and crankily croaking at the husband about how, now was the time for all good men to come to the aid ... rally around dear!! .. I behaved sort of like one expiring all over the carpet...

Later , revived and almost as fresh as a daisy, I steam-rolled in to the kitchen to appease the growing and gnawing hunger pangs.

I largely modelled my Daal Palak on Asha's recipe. The outcome was a delightful accompaniment to rice and parathas. But the mistake I made (and lesson learnt!) was in not using a lot more spinach! I had just one bunch of Spinach and I thought that would do! Well, there is always the next time!I also used normal Tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes. Forgot to add the sugar.... nevertheless, as I mentioned earlier... the end result was delightful!



For the Parathas

2 cups wheat flour

2-3 pinches salt

Water

Oil

Ghee / Butter

Combine the flour and salt, add enought water to make a smooth dough.

Make equal portions of the dough.

Take one portion, roll out to a thick roti, apply oil on the inside and fold over, forming a semi-circle. Brush with oil and fold again, now forming a triangle.

Dust with wheat flour and roll in to a triangle (keeping it a little thick)

Shallow fry (I use the word 'fry' because I sed a tad more butter when roasting htese parathas) on a hot griddle, until brown spots appear on the paratha and it puffs up.

Serve with daal palak

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Raw Banana Vegetable - RCI

A long, long time ago..... when I was a college student and pocket-money was a mere trickle at the end of the month.... we lived upon the mercy of our friends (Mother's) who lived nearby. Dropping in at their apartments needed no second thought.. and the yummy food was too good to resist.

On one such day, we trickled in, as was our custom to appease the pangs of hunger, gnawing at our insides.. to find Mrs. Iyer chopping raw bananas.... First though.... " umm... doesn't that look a tad too thick for kela wafer (plantain wafer) ?" second thought.... on seeing Auntie pop the plantain pieces in boiling water.... "Yow! aren't you supposed to deep fry those?" But these words were never said out aloud... curiousity as to what will happen next and delicacy prevented me from putting my foot in my mouth.

Now that Lakshmi is hosting RCI- Tamil, I thought this would be perfect time to try a recipe that I had tasted long ago and liked, despite the initial misgivings, for myself.

I used to classify everything into the 'banana' category, honestly knew nothing except the fact that the big ones are used to make chips and the regular ones that we eat.

Just some info I found on the net .. thot I should share it...
Plantains
Starchy
Used as a vegetable
Longer than bananas
Thicker skin
Resemble green bananas, but may be green, yellow or black

Bananas
Sweet
Eaten as a fruit
Shorter than plantains
Thinner skin
Color is green when not fully ripe, yellow when ripe

For the recipe... well, it was the usual 'hath ka andaz' information I got.... soak chana daal in water for a few hours. Roughly chop the plantain , and cook it for a few mins. in boiling water... grind coconut and green chilly and a bit of cilantro... temper ... cook ..add salt. You are done!!

Right... how useful is that now?

So with this information I kinda did it myself.. the result was, let me assure you, not at all disappointing!

(For 2 people)

1 big Plantain

1/4 cup Chana daal ( you can reduce this, but I like chana daal.. so i put in a generous amount)

1 Serrano green chilly

1/2 cup dessicated / fresh coconut

1/2 tsp. Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp. Mustard seeds

Dash Asafetida

1/4 tsp. Turmeric

Salt to taste

3-4 Curry leaves

1tbsp. Oil

Do the Prep:

Wash and soak the chana daal in water for an hour

Grind the coconut, chilly and cilantro (without using water) into a paste

Peel and chop the raw banana into cubes

In a sauce pan boil water.

Once the water boils, add the plantain cubes and cook them for ~ 5 mins.

Drain the water and keep aside the cubes

Heat oil

Add the mustard seeds

After they pop, add cumin seeds

Add the Asafetida

Add curry leaves ad turmeric

Add the chana daal and cook for a few minutes

Add the ground paste, salt.

Add Plantain. Mix well.

Cover and cook for a couple of minutes

Mix again... cook for another 2-3 mins.

Serve with Rice and sambar, fulkas

Lesson learnt : I bought the plantain , but left it sitting for a good 3 days, as a result it ripened and became slightly sweet (which tasted good nevertheless).. however this also had a direct impact on the cooking... 1) As it was ripe , boiling in water for 5 mins. was not necessary, infact what I did was make the cubes softer than needed

2) The final mixing and cooking time was also reduced to 3-4 mins.

3) The palntain was a bit too soft.... as in the cubes did not stay cubey... if you know what I mean.

4) End result: Very tasty despite the above mentioned points. Will make again... and keep in mind the lessons learnt!

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L is for Lal Bhoplya chi Bhaji

The everyday pumpkin is Lal Bhopla in Marathi. This is my entry for Nupur's A-Z of Vegetables....

All thru my childhood I associated 'bhopla' with a zero (that I used to get in my math paper!) my Father would count, re-count the marks and send a prayer upward for the unseen hand which guided me to passing marks , I would count the 'bhoplas' and grin impishly (and shamelessly)!

As for eating pumpkin vegetable, I did not mind it... though not a particular favourite of mine. My Mother made it with a sweet-sour tamarind jagery gravy and peanut powder. I used to call it 'Upvasachi bhaji' (vegetable consumed during a Fast).

Then came a delightful version of Gharge, which satisfied my sweet tooth and my respect for this bland vegetable went up.

Today I am trying out another version, taken from Lokpriya

1/4 kg Red pumpkin
1 tablespoon Grated coconut
2 Red chillies
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1/4 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 pinch Asafoetida
2 tablespoons Grated jaggery
1 tablespoon Oil
Salt (As per taste)

1/4 tsp Cumin - I added this

Method

Chop the pumpkin into 2 inch cubes.Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan and add mustard seed, red chillies, turmeric and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds start crackling add the fenugreek seeds. Fry for 1-2 seconds.
Add the chopped pumpkin and saute for 2-3 minutes. Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour 1/2 cup of water on top of the lid, this enhances steaming. Add water into the pan only if required.When the pumpkin is half-cooked, add the jaggery and stir well and cook covered till it is thoroughly cooked. Add the coconut and simmer for 2 minutes.Serve hot with rotis.

Verdict: Simple and Tasty! I was a bit apprehensive as there are no spices (lesson learnt... spices are not always necessary!), but the methi (fenugreek seeds) and jaggery are sufficient.

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Ruz Wa Banadoura & Falafel in Pita pockets....

Wow... I wish I had a genie like this... oh, and more than just 3 wishes!!
This is my very first attempt (like many of you) at cooking Middle Eastern food. In fact when I saw this theme on Meeta's blog I wanted to try it out! All I knew then, was that there is this dish called Falafel, which I had once seen on some Cookery Show on Star TV... that was waaaay back, when I was a student in India, and I also recollected that this was a vegetarian preparation.

So I popped into the library and made a beeline for the cookbook section... where, a few weeks ago I had seen this book on middle eastern cooking , glanced thru it, but since I had a lot of books already, I shoved it back in to the shelf!

Thankfully I found it there, grabbed it and headed home, where I could sit and go thru the whole book.

What first struck me was the simplicity of the ingredients (for the recipes I chose). The combination of two or three spices bring out the wonderful flavors of the dish. I followed the recipes to the T.

Ruz Wa Banadoura... if that has confused you, how does Rice with Tomato sound? That's just what this is!!
And here's how you make it:

1 Small Onion, chopped
1 tbsp. Olive oil
1 Small Ripe Tomato, Diced
2 cups Water
1 tbsp. Tomato Paste
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1 cup Rice
Salt to taste
Saute the onion in the olive oil until transparent.
Add the diced tomato and cook for a couple of minutes
Add water, tomato paste and pepper
Bring to a boil, then add the rice
Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 mins. or until rice is tender and the juice has been absorbed.

For the Falafel :
1 lb. dry Chickpeas (Kabuli chana / dry choley)
1 medium Onion
1 cup chopped Parsley
1 cup chopped Cilantro
1 tbsp. ground Corriander
1 tbsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tbsp. Baking powder
Salt to taste
Soak the Chickpeas in cold water for 24 hrs.
Mix all the ingredients, except, the baking powder
Grind the mixture in a food processor until it turns to a paste
Add the baking powder and let the mixture set for 30 minutes.
Then, shape into patties
Deep fry (in Olive oil)
* Traditionally falafel are deep fried, but if you want to drastically cut down on the calories, they can be broiled in the oven

For the lack of a better pic...

** Leson I learnt... I do not have a food processor... and so, I had a tough time grinding the mixture... all I have is a small Chopper and a Blender (which needs an adequate amount of water to work well!) So (after a few unladylike words!) I first ran the whole thing in the chopper.. then thru the blender, ended up using water when not required.. the end result was not disappointing ( as my friends, who have eaten falafel before, told me), but on the whole... tedious.
Falafel is served on mini pita loaves with its condiments of chopped onion mixed with sumac, sliced tomatoes, pickled turnips and tahini sauce. I liked them as they are too! As an accompaniment / dip I used (store bought) Hummus Tahina sauce, and mixed ground garlic, lemon juice and some red chilly flakes in it (for a bit of a punch!)

Till date I had only heard of Pita Bread, but never tasted, and so I was a little apprehensive of making them. So I hunted around on the net and finally settled down for this recipe and boy, was it GOOD!! I was thrilled to see the dough rise.. then the pita bread puff up in the oven!! Here's how they turned out...

For your convenience, here is the recipe ( link above )

Pita Bread

Makes 8 pitas

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening

If you are using active dry yeast, follow the instructions on the packet to active it (see the note on yeast above). Otherwise, mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water (I had to add an extra 1/4 cup).

Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or until your hands get tired). If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.

(The purpose of kneading is to thoroughly combine the ingredients and to break down the flour so that the dough will become stretchy and elastic and rise well in the oven. A simple hand kneading technique is to firmly press down on the dough with the palm of your hand, fold the dough in half toward you like you are closing an envelope, rotate the dough 90 degrees and then repeat these steps, but whatever technique you are comfortable using should work.)

When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. I use canola spray oil, but you can also just pour a teaspoon of oil into the bowl and rub it around with your fingers. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape.

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while you are preheating the oven. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.

After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.

Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn't necessary (in the batch pictured here I removed them at 3 minutes).

For the Final step... stuffing the falafel in the pita bread....
I sliced the bread in 2. Chopped a tomato in thin slices.
I had very little lettuce, so I usedthat too (but you cannot see it in the snap :( ... )
Arranging it was simple, open the pita pocket, layer with shredded lettuce, tomato, some hummus , Falafel... eat!!

Oh how I wish I could take better pics!!

This is my contribution to Monthly Mingle @ Meeta's. Thank U Meeta, for this wonderful theme which gave me an opportunity of exploring a wonderful cuisine!!

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Kothimbir Wadi

This is a typical Maharashtrian snack! The main ingredient being... you guessed it, Kothimbir (Cilantro). This savoury cake is available in most restaurants who serve predominantly Maharashtrian cuisine. Shivaji Park (Dadar,Mumbai), is where I had my first taste of this wonderful snack.We used to do our Diwali shopping in SP and after the shop-till -u-drop session we would head for the nearby restaurant and tuck in!

There is also a place on the Mumbai-Pune OLD highway, where one takes a turn for Mum-Goa road.. (DattaGuru Snacks) where brisk business happens and the snacks (the usual highway snacks batata wada, samosa, pakodas and Kothimbir wadi are sold). This is one of the BEST places to get kothimbir wadi.

The first time I made this was at my cousin's house. She had to meet this guy (the arranged marriage scenario) when just an hour before the guests were to arrive, my Grandma bustled in with 2 bunches of fresh cilantro and said, "let's make kothimbir wadi.... the usual kande-pohe is so boring!"

So while my cousin went to get ready, I made this snack with my Grandma's directions.

2 bunches (fairly big) of Cilantro

1 cup Besan (chickpea flour)

2 Green chillies (+/ - to taste, I used Serano, so 2 were enough)

1/4 tsp. Tamarind paste ( I use readymade concentrate)

1/2 tsp. Jaggery

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Oil

Sesame seeds to sprinkle on top

Water

2 tbsp Rice flour (Grandma's tip: to make the wadis crisp)

Steamer / pressure cooker (without the whistle/ weight)

Do the preparation... if you are using a presure cooker, do not use the whistle/weight, pour adequate water in the cooker/ steamer and get the water boiling.
Grase a pan ( I used a cake tin) with oil and set aside.

Wash and chop the cilantro. Keep aside 2 tsp. for garnish

Finely chop the green chillies

Add the besan,rice flour, salt, tamarind pulp, jaggery, soda

Add water and mix well.

The mixture must look like a thick cake batter at this point of time

Pour the mixture in the greased pan , sprinkle sesame seeds on top

Place the pan in the cooker/ steamer and steam for 20-25 mins (do the usual toothpick test, the toothpick should come out clean when inserted). This is how it looks:

Let it cool, then cut into squares. The traditional way is to deep fry them , but this time I shallow fried them (like patties/ tikkis) and they turned out great!

The steamed wadis and the fried wadis.. before and after

Garnish with the cilantro kept aside.Serve hot, with Coconut chutney, tomato ketchup.

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A quick snack.. Semiya upma

What do you do when you are feeling lazy? What do you do when you want to have a quick snack? I make Semiya Upma.
Until a couple of years ago I probably would have raised an eyebrow and said huh?!? if anyone would have told me about Semiya upma.Then I tasted this in a friend's lunch box,and i quite liked it... she just chuckled it and said, " you like this? its a quick fix ! who has time for more when you have to report here at 8.00 am?!" True, who has time.. hmmm..
At home, my parents are fans of the sooji upma, they did not quite fancy semiya version, so I never had the chance to make it. But now, M & I both like it, so it has become a regular evening snack.M likes it as it is, I prefer it with tomato ketchup.
So this evening I was feeling a bit lazy... maybe the weather... or maybe the book I'm reading, don't feel like putting it down, just want to curl up in the rocking chair and keep reading..but I'm hungry too, and so will M be, once he gets home from work. Lazy as I was feeling, it was definately not a chai- biscuit evening, something better... semiya upma - bingo!

SoI dragged myself to the kitchen, took out

2 cups semiya
1 med. size onion
1/4 potato
A few florets cauliflower
1 tbsp. oil
1/4 spn. cumin seeds
1/4 spn. mustard seeds
Dash asafetida
1/2 spn. cumin-corriander pwd. (optional)
2-3 green chilies
2-3 curry leaves
1/4 spn. turmeric
Salt to taste
2 cups water

Heat oil in a kadhai, lightly roast the semiya till they turn a nice light golden colour or u can just microwave it too for about 2 mins. Keep aside. Chop the green chilies,onion, potato and cauliflower. In the kadhai, add oil, once hot, add mustard and cumin seds,. After they crackle, add asafetida, green chilly, curry leaves, turmeric, onion and chopped vegs. Mix well, cover and let them cook till tender.
Add Semiya, saute. Add water, salt, dhania-jeera powder.Mix and cook till soft. If after a while the upma looks sticky, just add a dollop of butter, mix and cover and cook for a couple of mins.
Garnish with chopped cilantro.Serve hot.

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J is for...(Veg.) JALFRY & J is also for JFI !!!

Childhood is full of so many memories and so many of them connected to food.. I remember , it was always a treat to 'eat out' ! We went to restaurants near our home, within walking distance.. we had no car then. Our favourite places were 'Swagat' & 'Satkar'. I always had a fixed idea of what I was going to eat, Punjabi food and in that ... Chana Masala, Alu Palak (green vegetable), and Paratha or Naan, no variation to that. This meant my parents had to order those and another something for themselves. I remember trying to eat a whole naan(this was when I was in school class 3-4 when the appetite was not comparable to greed!)... stuffing it in and then groaning as I staggered home, to proud to admit I had overdone it!

Later when I started experimenting with other names on the menu card, my parents NEVER ordered the above mentioned veges.!!
After college, when I learnt a 'Punjabi vegetables course', I regretted it. I was the only one in my household who liked Punjabi vegetable preparations. My parents were not too keen ... they preferred the 'usual' for everyday meals.. and unfortunately, when I made anything, the quantities were strictly according to the recipe, which served 6 persons... and above!
One such vegetable I learnt was Jalfry... in fact the name itself was not too appealing to me then.... but I later came to know it is the same or similar as Jalfrazie!

All these years I kept the notes safe and now finally, when I blog, I have the opportunity to try them out.. on a rather unwilling guinea pig... I mean, subject... my dear Hubby! who wants nothing more than his 'Dal-rice' and *no spice*! ~snort~ Now, that was not so polite of me, was it?! But honestly, sometimes in a darker shade of mood, I tell him, " maybe you should have married a girl whose expertise was burning water!"

Anyway, moving on .. although the popular saying goes... dinner like a pauper.... we Indians are probably taking our time digesting that! Dinner is the only time when all of us get together and eat! And after a tiring day, of which a lot of energy, (temper), time is consumed in travelling (here I draw from my own past trials (read, horrors) of travelling in Mumbai), it is bliss to sit down to a hearty dinner.

Though we are spared of the horrors of travelling out here, the hearty dinner is a habit we cannot seem to shrug off!

So for tonight's dinner the vegetable gracing my table is JALFRY, which is also my contribution to Nupur's A-Z of Veges.
Another thing that makes this vegetable great is that, it does not use any spices, to get the taste! No Garam Masala! The Tomato & Tomato Ketchup, give it a nice tangy taste.

I would like to include this as my entry to JFI hosted by RP of My Workshop along with other tomato chutney recipes here and here which I have previously blogged ....(ek teer, do nishaan!!)
For the Jalfry :

100 gms. EACH, Carrots, French Beans and Peas (if u want a shortcut, use a can of mixed veges., like I did)

2 Potatoes

3 Spring Onions

1 tsp. Ginger chilly paste

2 Tomatoes Pureed

1/2 cup Tomato ketchup

1 tsp. Red Chilly Pwd.

1 tsp. Sugar

Salt to taste

3 tbsp. butter

Cilantro

Wash and cube the vegetables.

Steam the cubed vegetables(except the spring onion).

Chop the spring onions, do not discard the greens, keep them aside.

Heat butter, add the chopped spring onion and fry well.

Add the tomato puree

Add gin-chilly paste, chopped cilantro and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the ketchup, steamed vegetables, onion greens, salt , red chilly powder and half a cup of water.

Boil for 10 minutes.

Serve with Rotis / Parathas/ Naan

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Of lists and Tacos in a jiffy!

Of all the things to be picked up at the store, the Husband picks up a box of Taco Shells.. and in the process forgetting a few other items I 'really' needed...
Oh well..... Tacos it is then! The only hitch was, surprisingly, I have not eaten tacos here, so I was kinda foggy of what to fill them with... apart from that, I had the shell, what about the rest of the stuff? M 's solution was simply to say, "just add whatever you have"...
I liked this part.. for me it involved very little effort! What a wonderfully lazy way of fixing a meal!!

For me, eating Mexican food was, as I thought, the only 'eating out' option I had apart from Pizza hut and Subway, since I am a vegetarian.. and here, people look askance at me when I said No Meat and No Eggs please!But the fact is that this cuisine has spice, options for a limited selection eater like me and I love it!!

The little effort I had to put in was towards making Salsa.. which is practically effortless.The lettuce mix was in the fridge (practically untouched, I may add!)

First came making the salsa..I took,

2 big Tomatoes
1/2 Red Onion (as it was big)
1 Green Chilly
1 Tbsp. Cilantro
1/2 Lemon
Salt to taste
Pepper powder
1 tsp. Olive oil
(the quantity is for making about 6 -7 tacos, so please reduce the quantities accordingly)

Slice the tomatoes. De seed them. Cut into small cubes.
Chop the onion.
De seed and chop the green chilly
Chop the Cilantro
Mix the onion, tomatoes, chilly and cilantro.
Add lemon juice.
Add Olive oil, salt and pepper ( I sprayed the salsa with olive oil...)
Your Salsa is now ready


TO Fill the Tacos:

Canned Red Kidney beans / Pinto beans
Shredded Lettuce
Grated carrot, red cabbage
Guacamole (optional)
Cheese shredded
Ranch dressing


Firstly, I used Pinto beans as I did not have Kidney beans.
Also these were canned, so no prior soaking and cooking was involved.
Secondly, I like my lettuce with dressing, plain is boring... like a cow chewing cud! So I Always add a dash of Ranch dressing or (Wishbone) Italian seasoning to give it a much needed zing!

ASSEMBLY
Heat the tacos as per instructions.
In the shell, first put some beans. Top with salsa. Add guacamole / sour cream/ taco sauce. seasoning... as per your wish....
Add the lettuce. Top with cheese (I opted out... diet :( )
Eat!!

If you are open to mixing and matching the filling, this is a great meal... yes, we made a meal out of this! 2 tacos like this will keep you going for a long time!!
You can also add Taco seasoning, taco sauce, sour cream. I did not have these , but the end result was not at all disappointing.
The next time however, I am going all the way!!

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HAPPY GUDI PADWA!!!

Hope I don't get into trouble for using this pic!!

And a Potluck Lunch with Friends!!
All thanks to A, we got together to spend time together and enjoy a wonderful lunch!! A , is a mother of 2, and the baby is nearly 4 months and yet manages to organize a Pot luck! Hats off to her!!
Here is a peek at the spread...
A made Rice, Puri and Shrikhand (home made!!) which was very tasty and full of rich creamy goodness with lashings of saffron and cardamom! Bliss!!
M, made potato subzi which is a wonderful accompaniment to the puri
S, made Panchratna Daal ( talk about a ton of protein!! and delectable taste!!)
Now, all because of my absent mindedness.... my apologies .... I could not click snaps of the FULL spread...
K, made Boondi Raita, a classic to go with the jeera rice
M, made yummy green tomato chutney and 'vatleli daal'- a Maharashtrian speciality.
My own contribution was 'gulpagdi and kaayrass' or 'Appey' and bell pepper gravy to go with the appey and Tortilla / Jahtpat Samosa , Trupti, you angel!!! I love these samosas!! (again, no snaps as they were finished and ~grrr~ I forgot to carry my camera.....

Here is a look at the gulpangdi and Kaayrass:


To make Gulpangdi:
Use Idli Batter ( I use the no-fuss-no-grind method)
1 cup Urad flour
1 1/2 cup Idli rava
Mix and allow to ferment. Before making, add 3/4 tsp.cumin seeds , 1-2 Finely chopped Green Chilies, 1tbsp. chopped Cilantro, Salt to taste

This requires a special 'Tawa', which looks like this


Put a drop of oil in each slot and add batter. Cover and cook on a Medium flame/ heat. turn (it comes with a pointed wooden spatula) and cook on the other side. Serve with chutney, kaayras

For the Kayrass:

1 1/2 Bell Pepper (deseeded & fine chopped into small cubes)
Oil to temper
1/2 tsp. Cumin seeds
Pinch Asafetida
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1 -2 green chillies (slit lengthwise)
Few curry leaves
4 tbsp Roasted Peanut Powder
1 tbsp. Roasted Sesame/ Til powder
2 tsp. Dessicated Coconut Powder
1/2 tsp Tamarind pulp ( I use concentrate, which is a bit strong)
Jaggery( double as that of tamarind)
Salt to taste
Little Water to make a gravy

Heat Oil. Add cumin seeds.
Add the Chillies and curry leaves
Add asafetida and turmeric.
Add bell pepper and cook till the pepper is well cooked.
Add water, tamarind pulp, jaggery and bring to a boil.
Add roasted peanut and sesame powder and dessicated coconut.
Add salt.
Let it boil for a good 3-4 minutes. The idea is to let it thicken so that it reaches a chutney like consistency (however, do not mash the bell pepper chunks)

Serve with gulpangdi.

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MBP March-Rolling!! Gobi Parathas..

pic: Google search

Hey, that's not me!! This is the Theme for this month's MBP!!! And my prowling around took me here ! First off, I must admit, I am a huge fan of One Hot Stove! Apart from the wonderful dishes she makes, her ideas are also awesome and *must try this* variety!

Coming to rolling.... I love parathas.. in fact I like all Indian breads and like to include rotis in my everyday meals. M however, is not too fond of rotis (etc.) and proudly says that before we got married, he had successfully avoided eating any for many years! Not anymore... and twists his face into a comic-tragic look ... how cute!! But seriously, making parathas is not that easy... I mean, one can make parathas out of any stuffing, but the skill lies in the 'rolling' part! I still have trouble at times... rolling the dough (with the filling) into a round shape and uniform all over without the stuffing poking out!Whew!!

My addiction (yes, I will call it that) for Parathas started when I started visiting my best friend L in Delhi. Her Mom made the bestest (?!?!) parathas! Aaaah, I can still taste those awesome breakfasts!!! Served with a dollop of butter, yogurt and pickle.. it's a complete meal!
Soon enough, I too started making parathas, after seeing Auntie make them and also with the aid of a cookery class I attended. My parents also liked this variation from the daily roti- subzi, which is a staple in most Maharashtrian-Kanadiga homes.

I tweaked the recipe a bit... the original recipe is:

1. Make the dough: Mix 2 cups atta (see recipe introduction), 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp olive oil. Add enough water to make a soft dough and knead it for 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Cover with a damp towel and set aside in a covered bowl for 30 minutes.
2. Make the filling: This is easily done while the dough is resting. You need 2 cups of finely minced or grated cauliflower, one minced fresh green chili and 1 tsp minced fresh ginger. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds, chili and ginger and stir until fragrant (few seconds). Add the grated cauliflower, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp ajwain seeds (carom seeds, optional), salt and pepper to taste and stir well. Cook on low heat, uncovered, until the cauliflower is tender. You want the mixture to be very dry.
3. To make the parathas, knead the dough again for two minutes and then divide it into five portions.
In the skillet, divide the filling roughly into five portions too.
Take a portion of the dough and roll it out into a fat circle (try and make the edges of the circle thinner than the center). Place one portion of the stuffing in the middle and pull up the edges to cover the filling. Press down flat and roll it out gently into a flat evenly-thick circle. Fry the paratha in a hot griddle, using a few drops of olive oil to fry each side until it is golden and well-cooked.

My variation :To the dough I added 1/2 spoon of Ajwain.
Instead of Olive oil, I used Canola, which I had,for the dough and making the stuffing.
In the filling, I added a bit of dhania & jeera (coriander and cumin) powder.
And finally, I shallow fried these in butter not olive oil

End Result: The Parathas were awesome!! I had a bit of a problem with the stuffing, which was dry, but still managed to poke out of the dough cover! I served these with thick creamy yogurt and 'Shan' Mixed Hyderabadi Pickle.. I mention this particular brand and variety because it is tooooo good! The pickle contains Fennel (Saunf) and Ajwain which go very well with the paratha (and with everything else too!!)
Rooma, many thanks for hosting this event!

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H is for....... Hara Bhara Kabab!!

The Husband called up to inform me that he was going to be late.....

Me: " how late is late?"

He: "umm, a bit..."

Me:" but it is already 8 pm, later than usual..."

He: " yes, just a bit more..."

Me: "ok, lekin jaldi ana.."

He: " hunh?.. acha, ok...."

After an hour I called up to check the status...

He: " 'Lo (sounding cross)"

Me :" Main hun (it's me).. (now he won't sound cross!!)"

He : "hmm.... what?"

Me:"Ghar kab aoge? (when will you come home?)"

He: clicked his tongue in an exasperated manner... " I will come home, sooner or later"

Me : " how sooner ... or later?"

He: "If you don't disturb me, sooner... otherwise later"

There you are! Whatever happened to the... "damn the office, I wish I could be with you".. ~sighhhhh~

Now that I had plenty of time on my hands, what better to do than potter around in the kitchen?
Apart from that, for a few days now, I was wondering what dish to make starting with H..... for Nupur's A-Z of Vegetables.
The first thing that came to mind was Harbhare and Hirve Watane, the former which I could not find in the market and the latter which I assiduously avoid and when not possible,try to make their presence as inconspicuous as possible!!
And then I remembered Hara Bhara Kebab! This appetizer scores high on the list in any menu card at any restaurant. Made up of the versatile Potato also has a good amount tof vegetables in it. What an appetizing way to sneak in those greens! The kebab gets it name from the colour it has when spinach and green peas are added to mashed potatoes.
The recipe is simple and easy and not very time consuming to say nothing of lip-smacking! A sure hit when you have a dinner party!

For Hara bhara Kabab you need :

3 Large Boiled potatoes
Half cup Boiled green peas ( this is the least i added, you may want to add more if you love peas!!)
100 gms Boiled spinach
2 tbsps Chopped cilantro
1 tbsp Chopped green chili
1 tbsp Chopped / grated ginger
1 tsp Chaat masala
2 tbsps Cornflour
Oil for deep frying
Salt As per taste

Peel and grate boiled potatoes.
Mash boiled green peas.
Squeeze out excess water (very important) of spinach and chop finely or run thru' blender.
Mix grated potatoes, peas and spinach. Add chopped green chilies, chopped green coriander, chopped ginger, chaat masala and salt. Add cornflour for binding.
Divide the mixture into equal portions. Shape them into a ball and then press it in between your palms to flatten it. These are now called tikkis.
Heat oil in a Kadhai. Deep-fry the tikkis in hot oil for 3-4 minutes.
Serve hot with sauce / mint chutney.

Tip: You may also shallow-fry the Hara Bhara Kabab on a griddle plate or a Tavaa as I did , but nothing beats deep frying these!!



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What do U say?

I was thinking of changing the look of the blog these few weeks....finally today I decided, Nothing Venture - Nothing Gain! So I went right ahead and got this new template..... so whaddya think? Pin It

KOKI

Early mornings sometimes begin with a groan on my side! Getting up.. well.. no option there!! but getting the Hubby to wake up (on time) for work is ... well.. what can I say??... how he loves to cling on (and on... and on..) to those 'last 5 minutes' of sleep! Making tea, cooking and packing his lunchbox and the 'tata' are the busiest moments of my day..the rest of it seems like a week end!!
After the 'busy hour' when tranquility has made its temporary nest in my home,I start my 'cleaning up' the 'unbelievable mess 2 people can make in just a short span of a few hours'. This done and having taken up loads of time (also leaving me wondering how fast it is to mess it up!!)I saunter into the kitchen, to clean up there. On some days that I feel I need to rearrange things a bit, I usually eat lunch at the time when people have their cup of tea, at such times I prefer something quick. I usually fall back on making a paratha. M is not really a roti person. Give him his daal-rice and he is content, but I like rotis , parathas, so today after cleaning up, arranging, re- arranging stuff I made Koki for my lunch and as an evening snack for M, when he comes home, famished, after work.

Koki, is a paratha made by Sindhis (a community in India), this is a great addition to lunch boxes. It can be eaten just as it is, or with yogurt or sauce or pickles. Apart from that it is easy to make!

All you need is:

2 cups Wheat flour (atta)
3 tbsp. Oil
1 Onion grated
2 Green chillies finely chopped (+/- to taste)
2 tbsp. Grated Raw mango OR 1 tbsp. Anardana powder (pomegranate seeds powdered)
1 tbsp. Sesame
1 tbsp.chopped Cilantro
1 pinch turmeric
Salt to taste
1 tsp Red chilly powder (+/- to taste)
Ghee/ Butter

Mix all the ingredients from Wheat Flour to red chilly pwd. and bind into a smooth dough.
Roll out parathas and shallow fry in ghee / butter.
There now, that's all that there is to it!!

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JFI - BATATA, ALOO, POTATO, Pomme De Terre’.....

List of Potato items I consume regularly :
Potato bhaji,Sukha bhaji (with variations) ,Rassa bhaji,Pav bhaji,Chips,Fries and Burgers, Wedges, Alu paratha, Alu raita,Veges cooked with Potato, Samosa,Chaat items, Batata Wada
Potato sandwich,Tikkis...............

Have I forgotten anything else, must've... there are another 100 things that have skipped my mind!
I remember in my childhood, we used to have a 'summer holiday Bhatukli' (a session where I and my pint size friends would cook a meal). This was the REAL thing... each one of us would bring 1 potato each, half a cup of rice, daal and atta (wheat flour) , oil each, some sugar, enthusiastic mother's would sometimes give a bottle of pickle or jam. The menu was standard, rice and plain daal, potato subzi and pickle and puri (rotis were impossible, nobody wanted to study geography in the holidays!!) The vegetable was fixed too, had to be, age 6- 10 cannot do more!!
It was fun to have these cooking sessions, but unfortunately a HUGE problem for our Mum's!!! We usually held this activity in my home or any of my friend's whose Mother's were working for the obvious reason, no interference!
The world was shocked by the destruction caused by 'Katrina', the expression on their face was one I saw on my Mother's face all thru my childhood.... unfortunately the only help she got in cleaning up was from Dad, and that took so much time, that we always went out for dinner!
This childhood activity(not the going out for dinner!! :D) was probably what sparked my interest in cooking! Then came a time when I and my friends made patties (we could not make ragda) but the patties were easy to make. I liked them so much that the very same evening I made some more for my family... well, a lot more, come to think of it! I had no idea of 'andaaz' (sense of proportion) so I mixed everything, and finally the potato mixture was of a quantity that could probably have fed an army!!! My family, neighbors and my parents office friends got the benefit of my culinary (mis)adventures!
Years later I joined a cookery day-class and learnt a lot more. I still have those recipes and they are amazing! It was there, that I made my first successful Stuff Paratha!! That is my first contribution to JFI.

You need:

5 Potatoes
1 inch Ginger
2-3 green chilies
1 Tsp Cilantro
1/4 tsp Cumin powder
1/4 tsp Corriander powder
1/4 tsp Chaat powder
1 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour (maida)
1 cup Wheat flour
1/4 tsp Ajwain (optional)
Ghee/oil to shallow fry


Boil, peel and mash potatoes.
Grind the ginger, chilly to a fine paste.
Add to mashed potatoes, add cilantro.
Add salt, cumin-corriander and chaat powder.
Mix the flours, add oil, salt,ajwain, water and knead into a dough.
Take a small portion of the dough.
Roll into a puri, add the stuffing (do not over fill /stuff)
Seal by bringing up the corners and make a ball.
Roll into a thickish paratha, shallow fry in ghee/oil.




I also made Aloo Tikkis. These are my absolute favs for an evening snack when we decide to have a few friends over . This is my 2nd. 'peshkash'

You need:

1/2 kg Potatoes ( roughly 6 med. size )
1 inch Ginger
6 flakes Garlic
2 Green chillies
1/4 cup Bread crumbs
Salt to taste
Fine Farina/ rawa/ sooji

For the CHUTNEY
8-10 Dates
1/4 tsp. Cumin
1/2 green chilly
1 tsp Cilantro
Salt
Tamarind


Pressure cook the potatoes and dates (separately!).
Take the cooked dates (remove the seed) mix all ingredients listed under Chutney and grind to a paste. If you are using tamarind concentrate use about 1/4 tsp as it is strong)
Peel and mash the potatoes.
Grind to a paste ginger, garlic and green chillies.
Add the paste, bread crumbs , salt to the mashed potatoes.
Knead it to a firm dough.
Take a portion of this dough and make a ball of it. Flatten it on the palm and make a well of the potato mix.
Fill with the date chutney. Bring together the edges an seal.
Shape like a patty.
Pat the patty (!!) in the farina and shallow fry.
Serve hot with ketchup

Vaishali , is our hostess for this month's JFI... who by the way is going to have a tough time with the round up!! All the best to you,Vaishali!!! And many thanx for the wonderful choice of ingredient. Pin It

Red Tomato Chutney

I had recently made Green tomato chutney, and now, the everyday Red tomato found itself in this form! A few months ago, we had a pot luck, where my friend B, made this version of chutney. When I first tasted this chutney, I was amazed at the all new taste... I had never eaten something like this.... it was a blend of tomatoes, with something sweet (dates, which I first thoughtwas tamarind- jaggery! ), then the spicy red chilly reared its head in between, then again I found myself biting into fennel.... two - three helpings later I was still longing for more, but delicacy forbade me to pig out! Also telling myself that, looks, she's just a phone call away... get the recipe and make your own chutney!

Now B hails from Orissa and told me that this is a very common everyday preparation back home.... just like I would make 'Lasun chutney' back in Maharashtra! So a few weeks ago B and I spoke and I took down the recipe. But making it and blogging about it took a while. In fact, I made a mistake, I replaced the dates (as I had no stock of these at home) in the recipe with tamarind - jaggery... big mistake!! the taste was NO WHERE close to the original version and I was disappointed... and as always when a fiasco like this happens, I sit tight for a while, musing over it, till the urge to give it one more shot nags me.
Apart from that, I have this bad habit of scribbling on 'pages' which find themselves in my easy grasp when on the phone, but annoyingly disappear when I actively hunt for them and reappear when I least expect and the places where 'I swear' I did not keep it in.
So anyway, this 'page' with the tomato chutney scribbled on it with various other things among a few telephone numbers and doodles and my name in various fonts, found itself cadging for my attention once again.

Firstly, the Origin of this recipe is Orissa / Bengal. They use 'Panch Phoron' which is a mix of equal parts whole cumin (jeera), fennel(saunf), fenugreek(methi seeds), nigella(kalonji), and mustard seeds (rai). Looks like this

pic source :Google search

These 5 different tastes blend to give the chutney a twist in the taste!
For the Chutney, you need:

4 Tomatoes ( Medium size)
4 no. Dates
1 Tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Panch Phoron
1 Dry Red chilly
Few curry leaves
1/4 tsp. Turmeric Sugar (to taste, I used 1 tsp.)
Salt to taste

For Garnish:
1/2 tbsp Cumin seeds
2-3 Dry red chilies (+/- to taste)


Do the preparation. Assemble all the ingredients
Chop the tomatoes.
Heat oil.
Add the Panch Phoron.
After it sizzles , pops, sputters, add the red chilly and curry leaves and saute for half a minute.
Add the chopped tomatoes and mix well.
Add the turmeric and salt. Cook till soft.
Add the dates and sugar. Mix and cook fo a couple of mins (till the dates soften)

For the Garnishing:
DRY roast the cumin and red chilly.
Cool and grind it or pound, using a mortar and pestle to a rough powder.
Add this to the chutney after it is fully cooked.

Serve as an accompaniment to daal-rice, roti - subzi.
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