Handhwo

I used to be very excited about April Fool's day. I would actually spend time thinking about how I would like to fool  my parents.

Maybe it was all those Enid Blyton books I was addicted to. Reading all about how those school going girls tricked their friends and family and teachers would make me yearn to pull one on my near ones too.

Of course I realized that there was no store that sold jokes or trick packs in India and had to 'compromise'.

I would do silly things like, when my parents were getting ready for work, I'd quietly open the main door, ring the bell and close the door ( very quietly, of course) and scuttle off. My Mother or Dad would go to open the door and find no one and I'd shoot out from my hiding place singing, "April fool banaya...". The other trick I had up my sleeve was, during those days ( 80's) MTNL ( the phone company) had a 3 digit number, which when dialed (and after you have hung up) will send a ring back to your telephone. I have no idea behind the logic here, but it was useful in pulling a prank.

I'd dial the number, and scuttle, my parents would come to answer the phone and I'd spring out singing the song, or I would pretend to answer the phone, and call out to my Mom or Dad and inform them that one of their friends was on the phone or my Ajji was on the phone to talk to Mom- here I would pretend that I was asking polite questions etc. and then holler for mom,  they would rush and I would wait till the first "hello" and  start singing the annoying song, again! 

I have no idea if they knew what I was doing, but they played along or they really fell for it. but whatever it was, today it is a sweet memory, one I will always cherish! 

This year, like the last few years, April Fools day was like any other day, wake up, breakfast  school bus, meals, study time, dinner, bed........... 

Maybe one day, my little boy will play a harmless prank and make me laugh out loud, again.

Innocent fun! How I miss those moments.

Not that the recipe I have for you today has anything to do with pranks or April Fool's day. 

I have another Gujarati Classic for you. A wonderful tea-time snack, Ondhwo / handhwo is a savory cake. I guess one can call it that...

It has vegetable content, so it is healthy! Do you need any further persuasion?

Recipe source: Kamini aunty 

You Need:

1 cup Rice

1/4 cup Chana dal

1/4 cup Toor daal 

1 tbsp Urad dal 

1/2 cup Plain, thick Yogurt 

1 inch Ginger piece

2-3 cloves Garlic

1-2 Green chilies ( + / - to suit your taste buds)

2 tsp Sugar ( can substitute with jaggery)

1 tsp Ajwain (Bishops weed)

1/2 tsp Pickle Masala

1 Medium Lauki / Dudhi/ Bottle Gourd, grated

Salt to taste

Few curry Leaves

1-2 Dry Red chilies ( optional)

1 tsp Mustard seeds

~2 tsp ( I did not really measure these, just sprinkled generously) Sesame Seeds

1 tsp Eno/ fruit salt, regular flavor

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Pinch Red chili powder

Wash the rice and daals and soak it for a minimum of 6 to 7 hrs.

Drain all the water the grain was soaked in and coarsely grind using  yogurt- no water. Do not use any water when grinding the rice and daals. 

Then take above mixture in a bowl and add ginger, garlic and green chillies paste and salt, mix thoroughly. Leave it over night.

Next morning add turmeric powder, sugar/ jaggery, ajwain , pickle masal and grated bottle gourd / lauki . 

Mix well . Taste it and adjust seasoning, if needed. 

Heat a small skillet, add 1 tsp oil, once the oil is hot ( not smoking) and add few curry leaves and little red chilli powder . Pour  into the batter.

At this stage, prepare a baking dish, grease it or spray it with oil. Preheat the oven (350 F)

Then add 1 tsp eno to the batter and mix well. Pour the mixture in an oven safe dish/ bakeware 

In the same skillet, make a tadka ( oil , mustard seeds, hing, sesame seeds and 1 or two whole red chillis -if using ). Pour this on the batter.

Now cover the baking dish with aluminium foil and put into preheated oven . Bake for 30 to 40 min until bottom layer is light brown in color. 

Then uncover and broil for 8 to 10 min. Watch  this broiling stage like a hawk.
The top can go from golden brown to charcoal very quickly! 

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then on a cooling rack. 

Slice in wedges and serve with a cup of tea.

Notes:

Traditionally, bottle gourd is used, however you can add different vegetables, to up the nutritive value. Add petite green peas, grated carrot or corn kernels.

If you have a lump of jaggery that is hard to crumble / grate,  place the lump in a microwave safe bowl, add a tsp water and microwave it for 20-30 seconds.  Add the melted jaggery to the mix.

My friend, Ashwini, has a recipe for Ondhwo that uses Quinoa and flax seed.

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Soft Chewy Tilwadi

Of Tilwadi, Traditions and distant memories of days gone by..................

The new year brought with it many new ideas but as a child, I loved welcoming the new year with Sankranti. To me, Sankranta, was tilgul ladoos, kites and of course haldi-kumkum! Haldi- Kumkum was actually the best part about the whole deal, according to me.

Every year, as my Mother and I sat making tilgul ladoos, I would talk endlessly about my plans of haldi-kumkum. The ladies I wanted to invite (yes, aunties of the neighborhood), the 'vaan' / gift I wanted to give, and snacks to be served. I would pester my Mom to take me to Dadar flower Market to buy aster flowers and gajras and the vaan, which was some small gift article like a spice container or steel vaati, oh, it could be anything, half a dozen steel spoons for each guest or forks.. anything that was useful.

Oh I used to be SO excited! I would help my Mom clean the house, dust all corners ( a thing I hate), get a black dress cleaned and ironed, on the day, lay a shawl of delicate design in beautiful contrasting colors on the coffee table and place the flowers on them.


On one side, we would place a small end table with the mango shaped haldi-kunku container (check the last picture in Meera's post), traditional silver attar daani- which had a cotton ball soaked in perfume (attar/ ittar) and a gulaab daani filled with refreshing rose water waiting to be sprinkled on our guests. The vaan- a symbolic gift given to the ladies and  a bowl filled with tilgul and halwa. The snack was ready in the kitchen ( usually poha/ upma/ idli- chutney or something similar) water, glasses, tea-cups all set carefully on the dining table to be carried out at the right moment.

The ladies would arrive, all wearing black saris, there would be some chit-chat and I would get antsy and  wait for my mother to start the 'function'. Sure enough, after all the ladies had arrived, we would start,  Mom would apply halidi- kunku on the foreheads of all ladies and I would be a step behind her, with the perfume and the rose water, I would diligently apply the perfume and sprinkle rose water on every lady, smiling all the while like the cheshire cat. After the perfume and rose  water routine, Mom would bring the vaan and while giving it to the ladies would touch their feet and I would carry the tilgul bowl, one step behind her, do the same.
Finally after  all the formalities, Mom would bring out the snack bowls and  we would all sit and eat, talking of this and that. It felt so good! While we followed many traditions, there was no pressure to do it for religious reasons and I guess that is why I enjoyed all these little functions and cherish the memories even today.


But these are tales of days gone by, today, many things have changed and not for the better, I'm afraid. People  are too busy, working, partying ( I am by no means an old fashioned, orthodox auntie) and not wanting to be shackled by old traditions. 
These days, my Mom tells me, the ladies straggle in for haldi-kumkum, anywhere from 5 pm to 9:30 pm, whereas earlier it was a small get together which everyone looked forward to. 

Stragglers or not, my Mother makes these Tilwadis which are divine! They are soft, chewy and addictive.

Also easy on their ( my parents) aging teeth, she tells me! And very easy to make. No need to stand by and agonise watching the jaggery cook not knowing when it will go from crunchy type to rock solid.

Here is my Mom's super easy Tilwadi recipe:



1 cup sesame / Til- roast n cool and rough grind (makes almost 2.5 cups)
2 cups Roasted peanut powder / daney kut
1.5 cup Shredded Coconut- Dry / sukka khobra powder- lightly roast and powder
1tsp green Cardamom powder / velchi powder
3 - 3.5  cups Grated Jaggery ( 3.5 cups will make it very sweet) I suggest you first check how sweet the jaggery is and then add as per taste.
1tbs Ghee
1 tbs Water


Do the prep. DRY Roast sesame till golden brown. Set aside to cool. Once cool, grind to a semi rough powder. Do not wait for it to become fine, that will result in a paste. You don't want that! 


Roast peanuts till golden brown and crunchy, set aside to cool. Once cooled, grind to a powder , if using 
ready roasted (unslated) peanuts, grind to a powder. Not too fine, we do not  want  peanut butter.


Roast dry shredded coconut, cool and grind to a powder.


To all the above, add 1 tsp. Cardamom powder.


Grate and set the jaggery aside.


Grease a plate with ghee and set aside. Keep a vaati/ steel bowl next to the greased plate. stay with me here, I'll explain why later. Keep a serrated knife or pizza cutter at hand.


Heat a wok/ kadhai over medium heat. 


Add 1 tbsp Ghee, once the ghee melts and is warm, add one Tbsp water.


Quickly add the grated jaggery and mix well.


Wait until all the jaggery has melted ( and DO NOT raise the heat, keep it at medium only) 


Once the jaggery has melted, switch off the heat and add the mixture of sesame, peanuts and coconut.


Combine thoroughly and pour the mix into the greased plate.


Now, apply a drop of ghee to the bottom of the vaati/ steel bowl and use it to flatten and spread the mixture evenly on the plate.


Let the mixture set for a few minutes. Now using the knife or pizza cutter make diamond shapes and let it cool completely.


Once cool, remove and store in an airtight container.

* Edited to add: My Mom uses 4 cups of jaggery and claims it is the perfect ratio. I probably picked a batch or type of jaggery that is cloyingly sweet and hence had to reduce the quantity.

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Chatni Pudi and Upma

The typical Indian dinner table is incomplete without it's usual set of pickles and  chutneys.

At my Mother's, we have a  small tray on which she arranges bottles of pickles and small containers like these (usually for Ghee) or these (for chutney) and is carried to the dining table for every meal (in my case, I prefer to leave it on the table to save that extra- read unnecessary, effort).
My Mother makes this awesome chutney. My Mother also makes awesome upma. The combination of Upma and Chutney (Mom made) is awesome... getting kinda repetitive, isn't it? But it is.... awesome. Honestly! 

This chutney poodi/podi/pudi (call it what you will) is a recipe handed down from Mother-in-law to Daughter-in-law.

I always referred  to the chutney as  'Bijapur' chutney. Mom almost always had a big bottle (complan/ horlicks bottles, now empty, washed and dried without a trace of the previous occupant) sitting on the shelf and would take out a few spoons in a small bowl or a container ( and sometimes a 'vati') and keep it on the dinner table. We would  help ourselves, sometimes adding perhaps a spoon of yogurt or just smearing it on the inner side of a phulka (which was already generously smeared with ghee), rolling it like a cigar to eat it or, mixing it with yogurt rice. But to me, the best combination was with either poha or upma. A small spoon of the chutney would liven up snack.

250 gms (approx 1 cup + 1tbs) Roasted Gram/ Daliya /Phutane/ DaaL ( the one used in Chivda)

1 cup Sesame / Til

2 cup grated  Dry Coconut

3/4 cup Jeere

100 gms (approx. 7 tbs)  *Byadagi Mirchi (dry red chiles)

Handful Curry leaves

1 tsp Asafetida
Salt

(*Byadagi is a variety of dry red chile)

Roast Sesame and keep it aside.

Roast grated coconut keep it aside

Roast jeera thereafter keep it aside

Add some oil to the frypan to fry the curry leaves
In the same oil(unless you added a few drops and it was consumed for the curry leaves) fry Byadagi Mirchi pieces.
Cool the mixture

Put everything together and the roasted gram (daliya)and salt and asafetida and grind it. 
Chatani is ready to serve.

For Upma: (serves 4)

1 cup Rava/ Coarse Sooji / Farina - Roast the rava to a golden color, using 1 tsp oil. Set aside.
1/2 medium sized Onion, chopped (optional)
2-3 Green Chiles (+/- to taste)
Few curry leaves
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp. Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Chana Daal
1 tsp Urid Daal
1/2 cup Yogurt
3 cups Water
1 tsp grated Ginger
Salt to taste
2 tsp Sugar
2 tbs Oil
2 tbs Ghee
Chopped Cilantro ( about 2 tbsp ) to garnish


Heat Oil in a wok / kadhai
Add the mustard seeds, chana daal and urid daal. The mustard seeds will pop and the daals will turn a nice golden brown.
Sprinkle with cumin seeds
Add asafetida, chopped green chiles and curry leaves
Add the chopped onion, cover and cook till the onion is translucent and thoroughly cooked.
Add 1/2 cup water to the yogurt and whisk. Add the grated ginger to the whisked yogurt.
Once the onion is cooked, add the water, the whisked yogurt
Add salt and sugar and bring all this to a vigorous boil
Reduce heat and slowly add the rava, stirring and mixing constantly to prevent lumps
cover and cook on medium heat until the water has evaporated 
Add the ghee ( I add it along the sides of the kadhai/ wok and then mix it in)
Cover and cook for 2-3 mins
Garnish with cilantro and serve with some chutney on the side.

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Ode to Potato with Til Aloo

So Sia has us blogging about the Potato! What could be easier? Don't we all love this tuber?

The best that happens in an emergency, no vegetable at hand, guests drop in... make a potato bhaji in a jiffy.... or if you just want to increase the volume to accommodate one more guest!

Err... vegetable side dish too salty, add potato!!

Wake up groggy in the morning to put together the husband's lunch box in a haste...

It's raining outside so you are craving for that aloo bhajji and garam chai .

If you are in India and returning from work, tired and irritated and hungry, what better than a vada-pav or a dabeli roti ?

Quick lunch? Pav-bahji ho jaye?

Fasting? Potato chips!

Burger and fries! (I mean Indian burger, potato patty!!)

Aloo ke parathe makkhan pa ke!

Sev-batata puri anyone? Ragda Patties?

So are you guys nodding reading all this? nod-nod..

Anyone remember playing 'bhaatukli' as kids? a gang of girls coming together to make lunch? Each bringing one food item... the vegetable would be potato (99.9% of the times)..nod-nod!!!


When I first came to the USA a couple of years ago we had no car to zip out and buy groceries as required, so the first thing I loaded up was potatoes, if nothing, this would come to my rescue anytime. It was the first time in my life that I also came across so many varieties of potato! White, red, Idaho, purple (?) potatoes.. Grabbing one bag of potatoes which looked like the Indian Potato we walked out confused.. purple??? potato??? Jet lag wore off a couple of days ago!! Purple?? Potato??

Then there was a time, before I started blogging, that I would visit websites, blogs (not knowing the difference between the two.. still don't as a matter of fact.. dhuh!!) and drool at recipes and take print outs like crazy and carefully file them for later. It was possibly then that I printed out the recipe...

That later happened in this post almost after 2 years ( I should be ashamed, 'cep that I am not..)

I honestly have no idea where I got the recipe from, so if it is from one of the blogs do let me know, I can link it. I am keeping the recipe as it is so as the original webmaster/ blogger can alert me.

To me puri-bahji is a classic combo and one that does not fail! so I was in the mood for deep fried food and a side which was not time and energy consuming, so flipping thru that carefully maintained file, I chanced upon the recipe that hit the mark!

You need:

4-5 medium size potatoes

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tbsp beige sesame seeds

1/2 tbsp black sesame seeds ( optional)

1/4 tsp ginger paste

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

lemon juice

1-2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

Wash and peel potatoes. Cut into wedges or large cubes and boil them in salted water until tender (they cook faster this way so keep an eye).Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they begin to splutter add cumin and sesame seeds. Add ginger paste, turmeric and red chilli powder and saute for a few minutes (on low heat or the seeds will turn bitter).Add potatoes and season to taste. Stir until they are well coated with spices. Sprinkle lemon juice and serve hot.

Simple and tasty (and not time consuming!!) this was a very satisfying meal. Add to the side a bit of pickle and it tastes even better!

Other Potato / that have potato as a necessary ingredient recipes I have blogged :

Pav Bhaji
Dabeli Roti
Batata Vada
Sabudana Vada
Aloo Tikki Chat
Sabudana Thalipeeth
Potato Dosa
Alu Ki Rasdar Subzi
Alu Paratha
Hara Bhara Kebab

Thank U Sia, for hosting this event and making me go back and look at the recipes I have blogged ! Can hardly wait for the round up to see what other super bloggers churn out!!

That's it for now folks!!!

Found it!! I mean she found me!!! Errr... what do I mean? Remember, I said I did not know the source of my recipe... well, I found it.. I mean she found me!! it is fom our own Ashwini!! Thank you Ashwini for letting me know!

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SPICY ...Panchamrit.. ??????

Many a times I have long for some accompaniment to my lunch or dinner... mostly, when I have a dry vegetable to go with rotis, like batata bhaji... at such times I feel a pickle, though always welcome, is not 'the thing'. Nor are the chutneys... my taste buds long for something a bit more on the spicy side... a little extra 'khatta-meetha', but different.. these words sound like those told by every movie director... ' this is different'.....
My Mother used to make 'panchamrit' for every festive lunch, I remember eating this with puris.... this Panchamrit however,is not to be confused with the sweet that is prepared during pooja... this is a blend of spicy, sweet and tangy chutney like consistency side item.
Not very clear, am I? Maybe the recipe will help

You need:
6-8 Green chilies chopped (vary as per taste)
1/2 spoon Tamarind concentrate / extract
Jaggery ( double the quantity as that of tamarind )
Salt to taste
1/4 cup peanut powder
3-4 tbsp roasted and ground sesame
A few curry leaves
4 tsp. dessicated coconut /shredded dry coconut
Oil to temper
1/2 spoon Mustard + Cumin seeds
Pinch asafetida
2 pinches Turmeric
Water

Heat oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds.
One the seeds pop, add asafetida.
Add turmeric
Add the chili and curry leaves. Mix well.
Add water to make a gravy.
Add the tamarind and jaggery , add salt.
Bring to boil. After the chilies are tender, add the peanut and sesame powder.
Boil for 2 mins. take off heat.

The peanut and sesame powder give this accompaniment a wonderful nutty taste and texture.

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Til Wadi

Oh well, sankranti is almost over... I know, but it was one thing after the other... and somehow I just could not push myself to finish off this post!
This was the first time I made Til Wadi... all these years my Mother used to make Tilgul ladoos... I helped roll them, but never tried making them.. plus it was complicated, melting the jaggery to a certain point / colour....(or so it seemed to me then!)

Ever eat a Tilgul ladoo which was sticky? Had your jaws stuck together and when you tried to prise them open and talk all you could do was "Abbo -obble.." Well, that happened to me last year when someone had given me a ladoo and when I was champing it the mobile rang ... and then I went "Abbo, obble.."
So last year my Jethani gave me Tilwadi, which was real nice.. I mean , colour wise, taste wise and above all crunchy!, it was natural for me to take down her recipe (she laughed and said "it's too easy for words!") that's just what I want!!!!
Her recipe is :

1 cup Sesame
1 cup sugar
Cardamom powder
Ghee

Lightly roast the sesame. Keep aside.
Grease a steel plate/ thali with ghee in preparation to make the wadis. Keep a spoon, some ghee and a knife handy.
Heat a kadhai/ wok, add the sugar and let it melt completely.
When the sugar has melted completely make sure that the stove/ flame is on low/ sim. The colour of the melted sugar must now look like light honey.
Quickly add the sesame and cardamom powder. Mix thoroughly.
Immediately pour this mixture in the greased plate. Apply some ghee to the back of the spoon and firmly pat the mixture in the shape of the plate.
With the knife make diamond shapes.
Leave it to cool. Later separate the pieces.
Store in an airtight container.

Please note, you have to be quick when adding sesame and then pouring onto a well greased plate, otherwise the mixture will dry up and become hard.

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Chakli on Padwa

The fourth day is PADWA or VARSHAPRATIPADA which marks the coronation of King Vikramaditya and Vikaram-Samvat was started from this Padwa day.

Govardhan-Puja is also performed in the North on this day. As per Vishnu-Puran the people of Gokul used to celebrate a festival in honour of Lord Indira and worshipped him after the end of every monsoon season but one particular year the young Krishna stopped them from offering prayers to Lord Indra who in terrific anger sent a deluge to submerge Gokul. But Krishna saved his Gokul by lifting up the Govardhan mountain and holding it over the people as an umbrella.

Govardhan is a small hillock in Braj, near Mathura and on this day of Diwali people of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar build cowdung, hillocks, decorate them with flowers and then worship them.

This day is also observed as Annakoot meaning mountain of food. In temples specially in Mathura and Nathadwara, the deities are given milkbath, dressed in shining attires with ornaments of dazzling diamonds, pearls, rubies and other precious stones. After the prayers and traditional worship innumerable varieties of delicious sweets are ceremoniously raised in the form of a mountain before the deities as "Bhog" and then the devotees approach the Mountain of Food and take Prasad from it.

Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in every Hindu household and her blessings sought for success and happiness. This day is looked upon as the most auspicious day to start any new venture. In many Hindu homes it is a custom for the wife to put the red tilak on the forehead of her husband, garland him and do his "Aarathi" with a prayer for his long life. In appreciation of all the tender care that the wife showers on him, the husband gives her a costly gift. This Gudi Padwa is symbolic of love and devotion between the wife and husband. On this day newly-married daughters with their husbands are invited for special meals and given presents.

Making chakli is a difficult task, or so I thought, till Mom came to the rescue ( don't they always?!?) and gave me another sure- fire recipe, which never fails and the chaklis are extremely crispy.
So if your chaklis are too hard, or crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, or you have a recipe for chakli that simply eats up oil.. then try my method!
Take :
3 cups Rice flour

1 cup All purpose flour (maida)

1/2 cup Ghee

1 Tsp. Red chilly powder

1/2 tsp. Turmeric
1 tsp. Sesame
1/2 tsp. Ajwain
1 tsp each Corriander and cuminseed powder
1/2 tsp. Asafetida
1/4 tsp. sugar
Salt to taste
Warm water to knead a dough
In a plate, take the ghee, add the chilly pwd. turmeric, asafetida, sesame, ajwain, corriander-cumin pwd., salt and sugar. Mix all the above thoroughly, using fingers. Till the ghee becomes frothy.Now add the maida and rice flour and mix well. Now, very slowly, add warm water and knead into a dough (I needed approx. 1 cup water). It looks like so...
To make the chakli, use a chakli dough press.. I have an ancient one.. looks like this
Make equal portions of the dough,like hotdog franks..
Put these into the dough press and make chaklis on a sheet of plastic, makes it easy to pick up and deep fry (whoof! my hands were aching by the time I had finished the first dozen!) Oh for a new dough press!
Deep fry the chaklis on a med-high flame to a crispy golden colour. Drain on a tissue paper.

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