Pattani Sadham ( Green Peas Rice)

This is one recipe which was  lying in my draft folder for the longest time ever.. almost or even over a year! I first picked a copy of Dakshin from the local library. Made a few recipes and then due to dietary restrictions during pregnancy cut down on a lot of stuff. Amidst all this ,  the draft lay neglected. Later when I went to the library to pick up the threads again, the book was gone..as in pinched! 

The only reason I did not buy the book was because it was so easily available, well, now it was gone (somebody pinched it) and the draft folder kept rearing its head at me. and so it came about that I ordered my copy and the recipe now makes it to the publishing stage!  

Like most of Chandra Padmanabhan's recipes, this one also involves detailed steps and preparing fresh  spice powder/ masala. The procedure looks long, but once the spice powder is ready, it's easy.

And now without any rambling I will post this.. it has taken me 3 full days just to type the recipe, what with little S crawling everywhere, and going up the stairs on all fours and flattening the laptop screen at every given opportunity and then plucking the keys out, it is a wonder that I can even use the laptop anymore!!!

You need:

1 cup Rice (I used Basmati)

1 cup Green Peas  ( I used frozen)

1 small Potato , peeled and chopped

2 small Eggplants finely chopped  ( I did not use any)

1 Bell Pepper finely chopped

1 tsp. Turmeric

Salt to taste

For the Spice powder:

2 tsp Oil

3 tbsp Coriander seeds

1/2 tsp Asafetida

2 tbsp Urad daal

3 tbsp Channa Daal

5 dry Red chiles

marble sized piece of Tamarind

Tempering:

3 tbs Oil

2 tsp brown Mustard seeds

1 tsp Urad and Channa Daal EACH

1 Red chile halved

few Curry Leaves

Cook the rice and set aside.

Make the spice powder: Heat oil in a heavy skillet. Add coriander seeds, asafetida powder,  urad daal and channa daal and red chiles. Saute for 2-3 mins. place in a blender/ food processor. Add tamarind pulp and  blend to a fine powder. I blended the dry spices in my coffee mill and added the pulp later.

TEMPERING:

Heat oil in a heavy saucepan . Add mustard seeds, daals, red chile and curry leaves. 

When the mustard seeds sputter, add the vegetables. Cook over a low heat, adding water if necessary. Add the spice powder, turmeric and salt to taste. Saute for a couple of mins. Add rice, mix well.

Serve hot.

Pin It

Some memories and a mixed up Paratha

A decade ago, when I was young and innocent (I hear you tittering..) well, more innocent than I am now and when the world was Bombay / Mumbai and Hindi, the National Language, was (and still is , I believe) , " aneka, janeka, khaneka , pineyka, bOmb (as in shout out loud) nai marneka.." See what I mean here. I met a strange girl. Short and skinny. Haughty to the last drop and with a fringe on her forehead into which her eyebrows would disappear when she disapproved or was surprised, which was often. She was a Delhiite, no doubt about it!

Then one day something happened to melt that reserve..

Yep, that is the reason!! His name is Pittu Kulkarni !! He is 16 years old and SUPER cute! Occasionally Pittu would accompany me to college, he loves a ride in the car and when in the mood would perch on my shoulder and come with me. On these days my Mom came with me to bring him back home and the driver would tag along to drive them back.

As usual, a flock of gawking admirers would collect about him and he would , basking in the admiration, showoff , make noises, call me, yell for my Mom, ask for food, wave and say good-night and good morning, and his favourite, go off into a hysterical cackle!!! One day that girl also joined the throng outside the college and stared... eyes wide with wonder and eyebrows that had long disappeared into that fringe. Slowly she walked up, curious , wondering if the bird was real or a stuffed one, and was it the bird talking or was it the girl mimicking? Pittu on looking at her showed off some more and she smiled. After that we (Lisa is her name) became friends and later BESTEST friends.

She always  raised her eyebrows at my Bambaiyya Hindi.. Perhaps a  "aarey yaar, tereko  maloom hoyenga na woh rasta??  or " chal apan na uus baju se jate hain"  was  murder of the language, if you call it a language!! 

Someone sent me an email a few days ago, reading it I felt all Bambaiyya and remembered all those incidents 

You know you are from Mumbai when.....

Stock market quotes are the only other thing besides cricket which you follow passionately.

You take fashion seriously.

You spend more time travelling than you send at home. 9:47 fast, means something to you.

You think that Delhi copied INDIA GATE from Mumbai's GATEWAY OF INDIA...

You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.

You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

Amitabh Bachan's house is a landmark

When there's no place to breathe in the trains but there's place to play cards and sing bhajans!

You refer to the city as Mumbai and not Bombay .

You say that Pani Puri is waaaaaaay better than Gol Gappa's even when they're the same thing

Every three months you look at your street and say 'Why're the digging the road again?'

You actually pay for your rickshaws by the meter.

You know what the term 'video coach' stands for in the local trains...

'Gheun Tak' is your life ideology.

You aren't surprised when somebody throws a water balloon at you while you're walking on the streets during March.

You can only smile forgivingly about the size of any other city in the world.

Every time you speak Hindi in front of a Delhitite they have the WTF expression on their face.

When while giving directions you say 'Right MARO aur wahan pe ek bridge GIREGA'

You have hung on to dear life at the local door.

When you think everyone who lives to the south(Mumbai) of you is a snob and to the north of you sucks

When u see movie names like 'shootout at Lokhandwala' & 'Ek chalis ki last local' & don't have to ask what the name means

You consider the local train 'empty' when you find a spot for your two feet to stand on.

When 'chalta hai' is the most commonly used word

Everything to the north of Mumbai is UP-Bihar and everything below is Madras

If someone calls u 'aap'-- u start laughing on their faces...

When you call the BEST bus, BST, even though BEST is painted on every single public transport bus operational in Bombay

It takes longer to get off from your house to the station than from one end of Mumbai to another by train.

Being truly alone makes you nervous. Crorepati, Lakhpati, Hazarpati, Chillarpati all travel in local Trains daily-together!

You have learnt how to stand in a queue u treat Mumbai as a country itself when you actually see random people coming to help you

When u have a problem u want to get into the train already that is already in motion & u have 5 hands taking u in..

You are back to work next day after the city is bombed - Truly the spirit of Mumbai

When you allow complete strangers to spend the night in your house because its raining outside and half the city is submerged...

And now coming to the recipe!!! I was always a fan of Parathas and  fell deeply in love with them after my first visit to Lisa's home in Delhi! One one occasion I rolled out 'nice fulka like paper-thin parathas(??)' which was something I always remember with a chuckle!! 

At times I  take shortcuts as I did with this one and  also used up leftovers !! 

I tried these Wraps and had some tofu and beans and spinach left over. 

I am copy pasting the  recipe for the  Tofu marinade and the  Beans - Spinach vegetable, but for the original recipe, step by step instructions and spectacular pictures to make the wraps please  visit Suganya's blog – 1 cup

Marinade

Coconut milk – 1 cup
Grated ginger – 1 tsp
Grated garlic – 1 tsp
Green chillies – 2, minced
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala – 2 tsp
Sugar – ½ tsp
Salt

Tofu – 1 lb, cut into 6 pieces ( I used medium- firm)
Juice of a lemon

Sautéed Greens

Any greens like chard, spinach, or kale – 1 cup, chopped (I used Spinach)
Onion – 1 small, diced
Tomato – 1 small, diced
Cooked beans like black, pinto, or black-eyed peas – ½ cup (optional) (I used Pinto)
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt
Oil

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and pour over tofu pieces. Let stand for at least 1 hour or overnight. Line a broiler-safe dish with foil. Drain tofu from the marinade and lay them in a single row. Reserve the marinade. Broil until the top of tofu develops brown spots and becomes blistered. Flip and broil the other side until brown spots appear. Let tofu rest for 5 minutes and cut into cubes. Coat the cubes in lemon juice and set aside.

Sauté onions, tomato, and greens until the greens are wilted. Add cooked beans, season with red chilli powder and salt.

While I enjoyed the wraps, I was not too keen on eating them the next day, so all I did was:

Used the mashed marinated Tofu
Mashed the beans and spinach mixture
Added salt, a hefty pinch Turmeric, 1/2 tsp (approx) red chile pwd. ,
1/2 tsp each cumin and coriander powder and a dash of lime juice.
To this mixture I added Wheat Flour and made a soft Dough.
Cover and let the dough rest for 20-30 mins.
Heat a tawah ,roll Parathas. Shallow fry with a bit of ghee /oil.
Serve hot with ketchup or pickle!

*the Wheat flour was  not measured, I used my judgement and  added only as much  as needed to yield a soft pliable dough.

These make a good quick meal, ideal for lunch boxes and are very healthy too!  The Tofu- Beans  combinaton  (I guess) make the parathas soft.

Pin It

Herbed Rice with Julienne Potatoes- Aloo Pulao

On a recent visit to the library to return movies and books ( and paying a fine for late returns) I picked up a cook book. The main library has quite a good collection of Indian cook books. That may be because there is a lot of desi population here.
Every time I step into the Indian store it is interesting to see that many non-Indians enjoying our cuisine and some even with little chits of paper, buying ingredients neatly listed.
Back to my list now! This weekend my in-laws will join us.This is their first visit to us and indeed to the USA. Things finally fell in place with their VISA and the ticket and now they are very eager to meet their Grandson! I am eager to meet them and at the same time a bit nervous.. I was a newly wed 3 years ago and stayed with them very briefly. There wasn't enough time to get to know each other and hardly any to note their likes and dislikes in re food.
Aah! here is where the hubby steps in, did you say? Naah! he has been away from home for job and projects for nearly a decade and isn't that well up in the home department. All he can guide me is, " they don't eat onion- garlic..rest, umm... dunno, you ask them"
No onion - Garlic, this opened up a new line of thought. So far I never really gave it so much thought, chopping an onion here, mincing a bit of garlic there.. you know how it is. There are dishes I make without these, but in my already nervous state of mind, I drew a blank. So I feverishly scanned the cookbook section in the library and found this and knew I had found a good thing!
Hare Krsna cuisine is famous as is their philosophy .
The recipes use simple everyday ingredients found in almost all pantries and very few which need a visit to the Indian store.
Since rice is a staple on our dining table, I tried this recipe and the resultant taste was this amazing flavorful rice that can be eaten on its own or paired with a simple raita for an enjoyable lunch or dinner.
I cannot wait to try out some more of these superb recipes!!

Recipe source here

Serves 4

1 cup Basmati Rice
2 medium size Potatoes
1 1/2 tbs, finely shredded or minced fresh Ginger
2 tsp Finely minced Green Chilies (+/- as per taste)
1/4 cup fresh grated or shredded dry coconut, lightly packed
2 tbs chopped Cilantro
3 tbs Plain Yogurt
3 tbs Peanut Oil or ghee
6 cloves /Lavang
1 1/4 inch Cinnamon stick
1 small Bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2cup Fresh or frozen Peas
1 tsp Salt
3/4tsp Turmeric
1 tsp fresh Lemon or Lime juice
2- 2 1/4cups Water
1 tsp raw Sugar
1 tbs Butter or ghee
lemon wedges for garnish

Clean, wash, soak and drain rice.

Wash, peel and cut the potatoes in julienne strips, 1 1/2 inch long and 1/2 inch wide

Combine the ginger, cilantro, green chilies, coconut and yogurt in a bowl. Mix well. Drop in the potato strips . Stir to coat and allow them to marinate and in the meantime prepare the seasoning

Heat oil /ghee in a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium high heat. Add cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and cumin. Fry until Cumin seeds brown. Add marinated potatoes and stir-fry until light brown

*Add the rice, fresh peas, salt,turmeric, lemon or lime juice, water and sugar. Stir and quickly bring to a full boil. If using frozen and defrosted peas,add them to the rice about 5 mins. before the end of cooking

Reduce the heat to low and cover with a tight fitting lid. Simmer gently without stirring for 20-25 mins. or until the rice is tender and fluffy and all the liquid is absorbed

Remove the lid, turn off the heat and add 1 tbs ghee or butter, cover and let the rice sit for 5 mins.

Serve hot with lemon wedges.

*I usually do not cook rice on the stove top, at this stage I simply poured all the ingredients in my electric rice cooker and set it to cook on its own

Pin It

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We just got back from a short and much needed holiday. A perfect way to end the old year and ring in the new one! 

We saw this  bright duck  bobbing on the water and were captivated by  it's vibrant  colors and the peaceful expression. 

That's what I'd want for everyone I know, a calm and peaceful new year!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!!

Pin It

Pearl Coucous with tomatoes

It has taken me forever to come back to blogging!Oh how I have missed this part of my life!
Couscous has long been on my list of 'must try' and the box just stood a silent sentinel on the shelf.. days passed on to weeks and weeks to months but there was no change of status.
Finally today, tired of eating the same old stuff and the urge to blog made me pick up the box and rattled the contents ( much to the amusement of Little S).. and after a game of 'shakey-shakey.. box-box' to which the little tyke roared uproariously, I got down to the prep.
I adapted the recipe from Suvir Saran's American Masala

You need : ( serves 4-6)

2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Dry Red Chile
1/2 Cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground Peppercorns
2 med. Red Onions thinly sliced
2 tsp kosher Salt ( I used regular salt)
3 med. Tomatoes chopped
1 large cup Pearl Couscous
4 cups Water
1 tsp unsalted butter

Heat Oil with chile, cinnamon and peppercorn (ground) in a large skillet on med-high heat until the cinnamon starts to unfurl. Add onions and salt and cook, stirring often until onions are soft. Add tomatoes and cook until thick and jammy.

Stir in couscous and cook for a minute. Add 1 cup water, once the water comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium. Cook until couscous sticks to the bottom of the skillet and water is absorbed, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the skillet back and forth.

Add another cup of water and cook until water is absorbed, still stirring and scraping the pan.

Add another cup of water and cook until water is absorbed , stirring occasionally.

Add 1 more cup of water and cook until couscous is very sticky, stirring and scraping for about 10 mins.

Turn heat to lowest setting and Cook for 2 mins.

Cover the skillet and turn off the heat, let it sit for 5 mins. before serving.

I did not see where the unsalted butter was used....

Saran says :

Made in Rissotto style (sometimes called Israeli couscous) has a great toothsome pastalike quality is creamy and outrageously tasty. It is an excellent side dish or can even be served on its own with some Parmigiano -Reggiano cheese, some broiled shrimp or pan- seared scallops. For even more depth of flavor use vegetable broth or chicken or beef broth instead of water.

When I had the first morsel, I was not too sure I agreed with Saran about the 'outrageously tasty' claim. 'It's OK' was my reaction. But perhaps I am being too hasty, another small voice whispered in my ear.. and after the first few tentative bites I found myself liking it very much indeed ( ummm.. still not outrageously tasty, imho..). It takes time to get used to I suppose.. or maybe it is just my taste buds 'murdered by masalas' as M puts it. The simplicity and minimal use of spices always surprises me and I have now come to appreciate it!

The year is almost at an end and 'how time flies' is something I keep contemplating! This time last year... thoughts keep coming into my head.. this time last year I had entered my 2nd. Trimester and today.. today my little baby is already 6 months old! This time last year, I felt the littlest tug in my tummy, today, he TUGS my hair.. tugs my mangalsutra, tugs my shirt...

It has been a GRAND year and despite some downs, I look back on it with great satisfaction, happy and grateful for my treasure, my Boy!!

Hope to see you all soon,hopefully before the year ends!

Pin It

Simple Pleasures :Lal Bhoplyachi Rassa Bhaaji

Hope you all had a Rocking Diwali!! So???? Did you all gorge on goodies? Deep fried, soul satisfying, crunchy-munchy stuff?? I know I did ! This year I teamed up with a couple of my friends and we made our lot of goodies together. This made it easier for me, we could keep a watch on the children and have a good time cooking, laughing and gossiping too.


But now, simple food is on my list.. I haven't really cooked a vast deal and somehow a kind of inertia has gripped me, I open my drafts folder, type a sentence and log out. Maybe it is because I am totally tied up with Little S and have little time for myself, specially since the husband works away from home and is here only for the weekend.
A simple Sambar- Rice with a side of this vegetable or something similar is on the menu when M comes home and a quick sandwich and I am done when I am on my own!

The other day I picked up a neatly cut and cored piece of Butternut Squash and came home with the intention of making one of my childhood fvourites.
Of course, back home this is made with pumpkin, but the pumpkins here are not my cuppa, I doubt if I will ever be able to chop them, so , b'nut squash is my choice.
usually made during fasting (upvaas) days, this mild vegetable is a great accompaniment to sabudana khichadi or Vari rice, but I also like it with a phulka or plain daal-rice.

I make this so often that I use andaaz, so the measures are guesstimates.

You need:

~ 2 cups of Butternut squash (peeled, cored & cubed)

1 Thai chile

1/2 tsp Cumin / Jeera seeds

2 tbs. Oil / ghee

1/2 cup powdered peanuts or Peanut butter to save time ( I used creamy peanut butter)

1 tsp Tamarind concentrate or Soak a walnut size ball of tamarind in warm water and extract the pulp.

1 lump Jaggery

Salt to taste

Cilantro to garnish

Water

Heat oil or ghee in a wok, add the cumin seeds. After they sizzle, add the chile.

Add the cubed butternut squash. Mix well, Add about 1/2 cup or less of water , cover and cook till tender ( should not be mushy).

Once the squash is tender, add in some more water ( this depends on the thickness of the gravy you want) , add the tamarind and jaggery, salt and the peanut powder /butter.

Let the whole thing come to a boil. Switch off the heat and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with rice, phulka, vari rice or sabudana khichadi.

Pin It

Tomato Chutney and Adai

My hands were itching to try this chutney! Tangy tomatoes with simple spices .. what's not to love? When I land a cookbook, I cannot rest until I have tried all those recipes that catch my fancy. What happens then, is, those recipes feature on the blog in a line!

As a child I knew of only one green chutney was the one my Mom made by grinding together coconut, green chiles, cilantro, ginger, cumin with a dash of lime juice and sugar and salt. This tasty chutney was a base for our sandwiches, to be mixed with dahi-rice, to be enjoyed with poha, upma, wada... and therefore, tomato = koshimbir or gravy or in a sandwich. The imagination did not go far beyond that!
My first taste of a Tomato chutney was about 6 years ago when a South Indian colleague had brought this in his lunch box and his Mom had given a generous helping of both dosas and chutney ( this was for our mid- night or 3:00 am snack after our shift at the call center) knowing fully well how much we appreciated it!

1/4 cup Canola Oil ( I used about 3 tbs)
36 Curry leaves torn
2 tsp Cumin seeds
2 tsp Mustard Seeds
12 Dry Red Chiles
1/2 tsp Turmeric
3 1/2 lbs ( about 6-7) Tomatoes , cored and chopped
1 (4.4 oz) tube Double concentrate Tomato Paste or 1 (9oz) Can Tomato Paste
2 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper ( I used about 2 tsp)
1 tsp Sambar / Rasam pwd. or 1/2 tsp Curry pwd. ( I used 2 -3 tsp Sambar pwd.)

Heat Oil with curry leaves, mustard , cumin and chiles in a large kadhai /wok over medium-high heat until the cumin has browned.
Add Turmeric and cook until the chiles darken
Add remaining ingredients and cook for 10 mins. stirring occasionally and pressing the tomatoes on the sides of the wok to mash them if they do not break on their own.
Reduce heat to Medium and cook till the chutney is thick and jammy stirring often for another 25-30 mins.
(if you are using hard winter tomatoes cooking time is reduced)
Taste for seasoning , transfer to a plastic container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

I made changes to the spice proportion, I prefer my chutneys with a slight kick.


I paired this fab chutney with this Golden Delicious Adai for a lip-smacking combo. I love adai, it is so convenient to make! No fermentation! And So very crisp! The perfect solution for winter when the batter takes forever to rise.

Pin It

T & T - Baby Corn Manchurian

It's that time of the month!!! Oh, C'mon... You know what I mean! It's time to Try and Taste!!!
Zlamushka has a wonderful blog up for the test! Sia churns out awesome food and warm stories about food and life.

She LOOOOOOOOVES Indo-Chinese food! So do I!

I mean, what's not to love? It's hot, spicy, tangy, everything that the spice loving Indian wants. 'Real' Chinese Food on the other hand, for us ( who want food that tickles the tongue or I can even got to the extent of saying, food so HOT that it burns a hole right thru to your sole!) is a total let down. At least it was for me. Having sworn off that Chinese food, every time I make Indo-Chinese, I have a bite and say, "Hah! THIS is the real stuff, smack! smack!"
Monsoon and Indo-Chinese food have a special place in my heart!
It was POURING! Five soaked-to- the- skin kids were walking happily along the Queen's Necklace enjoying the thrill of the lashing rain and the waves that erupted over the ledge and sprayed us with foam! Only my youngest cousin was in the danger of being blown away, she was after all very young and thin. Her elder brother was of the opinion that it wouldn't be such a bad thing if that happened. We shushed him then but secretly admitting the truth in our criminal minds. The four of us were a gang, she was an extra and not up to our 'standard'. Poor Takli as we nicknamed her! She put up a lot from us, just to be a part of our notorious gang.
After our day out in the rain , the famished five would go home to hot showers, a quick change of clothes and head out to a nearby restaurant to dig into Chinese food.
We would storm into the restaurant and place our order. The waiters would look at us with a sceptical eye.. "these bedraggled kids".. they would think," 3 skinny girls ( OK, one was a medium build- yours truly) and 2 skinny-on-the-verge-of-puberty boys. HUH!"
But once the food arrived and they saw us tuck in, they eyes would have a reverential look and they would hurriedly whisper behind their trays, " look at them go".
Our order was fairly predictable, Hot-n-sour soup, Fried Rice, Manchurian, Hakka Noodles or Schezwan Rice and Noodles ( kick up that spice level to make our wet hair stand on the end)
Repeat the same thing till we were bursting at the seams.

Sia's recipe brought back these wonderful memories and a longing to eat some spicy Indo-Chinese food and after a quick look at the list of ingredients my mind was made up!

To go to Sia's recipe click on the link above (and take a peek at the other awesome Indo-chinese recipes as well) or refer below for ease of use.

Ingredients:

10-12 Baby Corns

3-4 tbsp Flour/maida

1 tbsp Cornflour

1 tsp Dry Red Chilli powder (Adjust acc to taste)

1 inch Ginger, chopped finely

3-4 flakes Garlic, chopped finely

3-4 spring onions, diced

1 small Green Capsicum/Bell pepper,diced

2-3 Green chillies, chopped (Adjust acc to taste)

3 tbsp Tomato Sauce/Ketchup

1 tbsp Soya Sauce

2 tbsp Coriander Leaves,finely chopped

Oil for deep frying

Salt to taste

Method:
In a pan take little oil and fry chopped garlic, chillies and ginger.

To this add Capsicum and saute it for 1-2 minutes.

Add Spring Onions, Coriander leaves,tomato sauce and soya sauce(if you want it to be more spicier add chilli sauce)

Cut Baby Corns length wise and keep aside.

Make a little thick batter with maida, cornflour, chilli powder, salt with water.

Coat the baby corn with the batter and then deep fry at medium flame till they turns golden brown.

Drain them in paper towel to remove excess oil.

Add the fried baby corn with the sauce you have prepared and mix well.

Garnish them with chopped coriander leaves and greens of spring onion and serve hot.

Yummy! Nothing beats Indo-chinese food! NOTHING! Try it to believe it!

THANK YOU! Dear Sia, for this wonderful recipe!

Pin It

Moong Daal Parathas with Fragrant Gujarati Garam Masala!

As a little girl I was very fond of birthdays and birthday parties! I was the center of attraction, people would pamper me, put up with my fussing and demands.. they did that anyway.. hmmm.. the cake, blowing candles, cutting the cake and eating it and finally.. presents! If blowing candles brought a twinkle to my eyes, accepting presents brought roses to my plump cheeks! Not content at having the time of my life on my birthday, I ensured that I had the same on my cousins birthdays too! My parents had a hard time holding me back when it was time to blow the candles!
Now you may wonder where all this is leading to. A couple of weeks ago I received a parcel in the post.. I was excited , the roses bloomed again! This time however it was a parcel for Little S, from dear Trupti . She sent him the most adorable baby clothes!! But wait, that's not all!! There was something in it for me too! (Yaaaaay!!)

This beautiful little jar contains fragrant Gujarati Garam masala! I was thrilled! I confess, I did not know that there was a Gujarati Garam Masala. I tell you this stuff is amazing!


For some time now , I have been laid back about making parathas / rotis and the likes. I missed parathas and wanted to make some. Trupti's masala came in at a time when I was craving for some spicy filling enclosed in a warm toasty whole wheat cover, piping hot, off the griddle with pickle on the side...ummmmmmm!
A few months ago I made Dhal Puri and the memory lingered and I wanted to re-create it, but this time I wanted to experiment with a different daal and use the Garam Masala. So this time around I opted for Moong Daal.


For the Filling :
1 cup Moong Daal
1 Dry Red Chili
1 Bayleaf
1 tsp. Ginger - Garlic paste
Salt to taste
1 tsp Chili Garlic Sauce , alternatively use 1-2 green chilies
1/4 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala (this imparts a subtle flavor which we prefer)
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Sugar (optional)
Juice of 1/2 Lime
1tbsp Chopped Cilantro

For the Cover :
Whole Wheat Flour / Gheun ka Atta
Oil
2 pinches Salt
Water
Mix all the above and make a smooth dough (like the one made for Rotis. I did not use any specific measures for the dough. Any left over dough is used for making Fulkas.)

To make the Filling:
Pick and Wash the Moong Daal. Soak it in plenty of water for about 2-4 hours. In a saucepan add water, daal and cook till it is al dente.
Drain ALL water. Keep the daal aside for a while (after the daal was at room temperature, I kept it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours)
Grind to a coarse powder. I used my chopper.
Heat Oil in a wok/ kadhai. Add the bayleaf and red chiles.
Add the ginger-garlic paste ( keep a safe distance from the wok, this thing sputters and spatters.
Add the moong daal, chili garlic sauce. If using green chile's, add to the tempering and then add moong daal.
Mix well, add the garam masala, cumin pwd. Salt, sugar.
Do not overcook the mixture, this tends to make the filling very dry. Mix and let the spices blend in well.
Remove from heat, add lime juice and chopped cilantro. Let the mixture cool.
To make Parathas:
Heat the griddle/ Tawa.
Take a golf ball size piece of the dough and roll out a disc ( approx. the size of a puri).
Into this disc spoon the filling.
Bring together the sides and seal to make a ball.
Dust with flour and roll out parathas.
Transfer to the hot griddle and cook on both sides on Medium-High heat.
Brush with oil on both sides and cook till you see brown spots appear. Serve hot with pickle and curry of your choice or with plain Yogurt.


If you are new to making parathas, check out Cynthia's superb slide show on making parathas.
This Paratha is similar to dal puri and the subzi is a great accompaniment to the paratha.

Pin It

Veggie Enchiladas with Roasted Pepper Sauce

I was browsing thru the cook book section in the local library when I found American Masala , pouncing on it and leafing thru the contents was but natural! From there, picking out the recipes I liked most ( and of course were vegetarian) was a quick job. Selecting what to make first (and blog) was difficult!
The book has 125 recipes and pictures which are VERY drool worthy (of course they have to be, it's a cookbook Duh!!) I picked this recipe first for the simple reason, I had almost all the ingredients at hand.

M and I both like Mexican cuisine and for me, when I first came here, this was something that shared a likeness to Indian cuisine.. Tortilla= Roti. They too make Rice, Salsa = Tomato Koshimbir (Tomato Kachumber)!! I had heard of Mexican Cuisine tasted it once in Delhi ( some place where one gets Mex food served by waiters in cowboy outfits and Punabi accents) only to dismiss it all as a sorry affair. Now things were different when I had crossed borders and with a very limited choice in food I could eat outside, this soon became my option.

Then I read in another blog (which is now private) that lard was freely used in these preparations and I recoiled in horror and stayed miles off from it that day on. The only place I agreed to go into was Baja Fresh only because it clearly mentions No Lard. But somehow things changed.. I did not enjoy eating out that much. I missed the Enchiladas, Quesadillas, Tacos but nothing would persuade me to try it again. My only option was to make all these at home.

This recipe is different from what I have eaten outside, but I ain't complaining! It makes a wonderful one-dish meal and the sauce can be made ahead of time. Making the filling and assembly is not very time consuming.
A wonderful recipe and a good choice to make if one has guests coming over for an informal dinner, this taste is sure to make them enjoy every morsel.

For the Sauce ( serves 8-10)

3 tbsp. Canola Oil
1 Red Onion Chopped
4 Lare red Peppers Cored and chopped
2 Med. Tomatoes chopped
4 Garlic cloves
1 Jalapeno ( I used 3 Thai Green Chillies as I had those)
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Gropund Peppercorns
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1/4 pound Mozzarella or Queso Fresco cut into cubes

Preheat the oven to 450 deg. F. Grease a large baking dish with 1 tbs. oil, add onion, tomato, peppers, garlic, jalapeno. Sprinkle with salt and ground perrecorns. Drizzle with remaining oil. Toss to coat. Roast the veges. until soft and brown, for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 mins.

Transfer the veges to a blender along with cream and blend until smooth. Pour the puree into a med. saucepan and simmer. Reduce heat and add cheese and cook until it starts to melt. turn off the heat. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly.

This sauce is slightly sweet and has a delicate smoky flavor associated with red peppers and is a delightful chnge from the regular Enchilada sauce.This sauce can also be used as a dip with chips. For the Filling:

2 tbs Canola /Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Jalapeno finely chopped
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp. Coriander powder
1/2 tsp ground Peppercorns
10 Med. Carrots, peeled and grated
1 head Cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup chopped Cilantro
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Toasted cumin
1 tbs. Salt
Juice of 1 1/2 Lime

In a large wok or kadhai, heat Oil with Jalapeno, Cumin Seeds and ground Peppercorns on medium heat cooking until the cumin is fragrant and brown.

Add Coriander pwd. and cook for 15 secs. Add the cabbage and Carrots. Cook, stirring ocassionally until the cabbage has wilted yet is still al dente- about 4 mins.

Stir in Cilantro, Cayenne pepper, Sugar, Toasted Cumin and Salt.

Cook fo r 30 secs and then remove from heat. Stir in Lime juice.
For the Veggie Enchiladas with Roasted Pepper Sauce:
1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter at room temp.
Roasted Red Pepper Dip ( recipe as above)
8 Whole Wheat Tortillas (6 inch)
1/2 the Carrot - cabbage filling recipe as above
1 cup shredded cheese ( I used readymade Mexican blend from the store)
Sour cream to top (optional)

Preheat the oven to 450 deg. F.

Grease a 11x 9 inch baking dish with butter.

Add 1/2 cup Roasted Red Pepper Dip , spread it evenly and set aside.

Heat a griddle / Tawa. On med- high heat toast the Tortilla until it is pliable and toasty.

Roll a heaping of 1/4 cup of the carrot-cabbage salad in each Totilla and place seam side down in the baking dish.

Cove with the remaining dip and top with an even layer of cheese.

Bake until the cheese is melted and a golden brown.

Garnish with finely chopped cilantro & sour cream , if using.

And before I sign off, Rajee has honoured me by giving my humble blog this award!! Thank You ever so much Rajee! You made my day !

In turn ,I would like to pass on this award to :
Bee and Jai
Suganya
Nupur
Sia
Cynthia

Pin It

Tried and Tasted a Fabulous Jugalbandi of Okra and Spices!

This month Zlamushka has the dynamic Jualbandi blog up for her Tried and Tasted series. What makes choice SO difficult is the mind boggling variety of food these Jugalbandits have cooked! The amazing recipes are topped off with photographs of food that I had hitherto come across only on glossy cookbook covers. The dynamic duo cook, garden, travel, give photography solutions and tips.. do everything!!Looking thru their extensive repertoire, I landed on this and my mind was made up!

I had a pack of okra sitting in the fridge these many days and I couldn't really decide what to make of it. I love okra in all it's forms, not so the Husband, he will eat it, but will have some comment to pass, like this one time I made okra the Maharashtrian fasting style and in my humble opinion, it tastes good with tamarind- jaggery and peanut powder gravy, but DH had only one word to describe it 'murder', okra he maintained is best either in Sambar or dry. So dry it was! And what better than a tongue tickler with spices like fennel, nigella, cumin, amchoor?!

Every bite is a delight! I tis easy to make, not time consuming (which is a priority for me now),my only crib was, the quantity .. in this case supply did not match demand.This recipe is definitely a keeper, I will only double the quantity the next time. Thank you Jai and Bee for this wonderful recipe.

I followed the recipe with only a couple of changes. I am also reproducing the recipe here with my changes but for the original version, please click on the link in the first paragraph.

Ingredients:

About half a pound (1/4 kg.) tender okra

1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)

1/2 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

3 green chillies slit

1 tablespoon besan (chickpea flour) * I used Rice Flour

1 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp garam masala powder * I used 1/2 tsp Rajwadi Garam Masala

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/3 tsp amchur (dry mango powder) (or 1 tsp lime juice) * I used 1/2 tsp Amchur powder

3 tbsp oil

salt

Method:

1. Wash and wipe the okra and cut it diagonally into inch-long pieces. .
2. Heat the oil in a wok or pan to nearly smoking, add the fennel, cumin, nigella seeds and green chillies, after a few seconds, lower the flame and add the besan and all the powdered spices except the amchur.
3. Fry for a minute or so, until the besan stops smelling raw, then add the okra and the salt. Stir gently to coat with the spices, and spread them out in an even layer.
4. Leave the pan uncovered on medium flame.Turn them over after 3-4 minutes (maybe more if you are using a non-stick pan) cook them until crisp.
5. Towards the end, add the amchur powder. Stir for a minute, and take it off the flame.
Serve hot with rotis or with rice and plain yogurt.


Mistakes I made and Lesson I learnt: MUST use FRESH okra (I made this mistake despite the list of ingredients stating tender okra). I used a packet that was in my fridge for a few days and heaven knows how long on the Vons shelf. If you do not grow your own (like the Jugalbandits) and rely on the store, try to select by testing the okra by simply bending the end of the okra, if it snaps easily, it is fresh. I also went a little overboard with the rice flour , it did not taste bad, no way, but visually a little less appealing perhaps?

Pin It

Batata Wada for Anita's Party!

It's a Mad Tea Party and everyone is invited !!!

My blog quietly turned two in July, I was excited but I could not celebrate that special day, being Mommy is a 25 hr job! Oh well, I'm just glad that I can post something... as and when I can. So when I saw Anita's invitation, I knew, this was one party I did not want to miss!

And it was a while since I had made these! Deep frying though very gratifying to the tongue is a disaster for my waist! I am one of those unfortunate beings who magically manage to gain weight by just looking at stuff, I kid you not!

Apart form being the sole means of nutrition for 2 solid years of MBA, Batata wada, for me, is anytime food.. think picnics, guests for tea, kitty party, a savoury served on the side at a dinner, at movies, rains and hot wada-pav!

Torrential rains and Wada Pav is my favourite combo! I love the rainy season in Mumbai (except when the streets are waterlogged and life is disrupted for days) perfect time for a walk in the rain, get soaking wet, stroll to the nearest wada pav stall ( eat this snack on the roadside, restaurants do serve it on their menu, but it can NEVER taste half as good) and devour this awesome snack, standing under the awning .. with a cuppa ' cutting chai'. Warms the cockles of your heart and completely satisfies the taste buds!

For the Wadas you need:

4 Boiled Potatoes
1 tbsp. Oil for tempering
1/2 spn. Mustard seeds
4 Green chilies chopped ( +/ - according to individual taste)
A few curry leaves, torn to pieces
1/2 spn. Turmeric
3-4 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 inch piece Ginger grated
Salt to taste
1-2 spns. finely chopped Cilantro

For Covering : (No measures here, I use approximates)

Besan / Chickpea flour
Red chilly pwd.
Salt (only so much that the covering does not taste bland)
Pinch baking soda (optional)
Water to make a batter
Oil for deep frying

Mash the boiled potatoes.In a kadhai, heat 1 tbsp. oil, add mustard seeds,after they sputter, add green chilies and curry leaves, ginger-garlic, turmeric. Saute a while. Add mashed potatoes, salt. Add chopped cilantro.

To make the batter for covering, mix all ingredients listed above. Mix well to ensure that there are no lumps. Careful with the water, the batter mustn't be too runny nor too thick.Heat oil in a kadhai. Make balls of the potato vege. Dip the ball in the batter and deep fry in oil till it turns a nice golden brown. Drain on a tissue.Serve hot with garlic chutney, fries green chilly and Pav.

I served these with green chutney -Grind together 1 bunch Cilantro, 5 Green chilies, 1/2 inch Ginger, 1 small clove Garlic, Salt to taste , juice of 1/2 lime

And Sweet n Sour Tamarind Chutney : (I used approximately) Lime sized ball of Tamarind soaked in hot water for about 15-20 mins., Jaggery twice the amount of Tamarind , 1/4 tsp. red chilli powder, Salt to taste, 1/4 tsp. cumin powder
Squeeze out the tamarind pulp, discard solids. Heat a saucepan, add all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil the mixture for about 10 mins. till it thickens to the desired consistency. Cool and serve with wada-pav.

Typically Wada Pav is served with dry Garlic / Lasun Chutney

This wada pav is my contribution to Anita's Party! Do you have your platter ready??

* On a different note... the Husband gifted me a Nikon DSLR as a pregnancy + birthday gift!! I was very confused when I was asked to choose a model and so I asked the experts. Thank You Bee and Jai!!I am yet to learn everything but as of now I am just going crazy clicking Little S!!! and in between took a hasty shot of the wada pav and back to S!!!

Pin It

MBP- LESS IS MORE !!

More than 6 weeks have rolled by and I haven't posted anything! Life has been hectic, no doubt, but I am enjoying every bit of it! The sleepless nights... okay, so it's waking up just once in the middle of the night..., the diaper changes, the baby talk and the coos and gurgles in response with an occasional smile as a reward! Though I have peeped in at other blogs, I haven't done much.... no cooking, but it's time to go back to that! My parents have gone back to India and now M and I are on our own with Little S!
So while my baby is amusing himself on his play mat and conversing with the ceiling (his favourite activity) I am scribbling away at my blog!

Nupur's theme forMBP has come at the right time! Now that time is a constraint, I will have this wonderful collection of super recipes all in one place!

Before going back, Mom wanted to make sure I have some snacks at hand when hunger pangs strike me and I may not have time to make anything when tending to the baby. And since she was also handling EVERYTHING (read cooking, cleaning, all chores around the house, handling the baby and me in my hysterical moments when I'd sob when the baby cried ) else around my home, it was only fair that she save time and energy somewhere!

Among other things that she made, she was very keen on trying out Microwave Besan Ladoo, which are our favourites.

Tee's recipe is a HIT!! Mom saved a huge amount of time and also energy and arm exercise! Within no time we had the ladoos ready!

We followed the recipe with only one change, no raisins! As it is, I am not a big fan of raisins and MBP calls for 5 ingredients or less!

Thank You Tee for the wonderful recipe and Nupur for this wonderful theme!!

Pin It

Thank U & I Tried & Tested One Hot Recipe!!!

To all who sent in their good wishes and blessings for Little S !! I can hardly believe that in a few days he will be a month old! Time flies and how!!

I started this post before I clocked in to the hospital.. hoping to post it ..but the morning I was going to, I knew 'it was time'!

She asked if you have met the ridge gourd? I nodded... and replied.. from a safe distance. The only thing I had ever tasted (and did not really fancy) made from the ridge gourd was a bhajji/ fritter, where the cover is nice and crispy, the vegetable had turned soggy, limp and squishy.
Maybe it was a fact that we were all fussy eaters that the ridge gourd never made its way into my Mom's kitchen (for the same reason the Bitter Gourd, Dill and various other veges never found an entry either). My marriage and later blogging opened up a whole new world to me, M likes his vegetables and blogging showed me so many ways of making the most 'blah' vegetables good looking and yummy.
Going back to the ridge gourd, I was still very doubtful how I would like it.. I would pick it up at the store, run a tentative finger over the ridge, lightly squish it in my hand, wave it around like a mace and finally neatly stack it back and pick up the usual Bell Pepper, Opo Squash, Spinach or something 'safe'.
So when Zlamushka selected One Hot Stove , out of all the wonderful recipes Nupur makes, why did I opt for something like the ridge gourd curry? One, I wanted a 'dependable' recipe, this was my first time cooking with the ridge gourd and so make or mar type thing for me. Second, I wanted to cook and post it before I checked in to the hospital tummy n all and I also had this gourd on hand and not really in the condition to go out shopping for anything else just then! (the posting didn't happen!) I followed the recipe as it is and am only linking it to this post. The only change I made was making it a little spicy! That is all..... Goes without saying that the recipe was wonderful! Ridge gourd CAN taste wonderful! Thank U, Zlamushka for hosting this event and Nupur for your wonderful recipes!!

Other wonderful recipes I have tried over time from Nupur's blog:

Chavli Amti
Eggplant Rasavangy
Glazed Tofu
Pizza base
Carrot Pickle Pin It

It's a Boy!!

We are Blessed with a Baby Boy!!! Little S came into our life on June 5th and changed everything... made everything BETTER... PERFECT!!!

I will be back soon... right now I'm having fun with my Angel!

See you all soon!!!

Pin It

An Honour! A Snack, A Friend's 'Easy' Recipe & A Break.......

I'm THRILLED!!! Happiness and Sunshine Everywhere!!! So MANY Good ... nay... GREAT things have happened!!
First... Delhibelle has very generously passed on an award to me (making me DROOOOOOL over her dessert recipe.. how I wish I could have a portion of that....) !! Thank U so much Dear!

Secondly... my Ma-in-law sent me some stuff I (badly) wanted and shamelessly asked for!!! Why shamelessly? M was TOTALLY against 'expanding the kitchen to the size of a 5 star hotel kitchen' and it was an additional load for my parents to cart all the way from India from January to mid May... SO!
My first act,within 30 mins of my Parents arrival was to make them snap open their bags and show me 'my loot' which my in-laws sent me and the other stuff Mom- Dad got for me! I had asked for a Medu Wada Maker ( Anjali brand). I had seen this waaaay back in Apna Bazar Co-operative stores in Bombay. I wanted this, only because I am an occasional victim to deep fried wadas and have tried in vain to make round-wadas-with-a-hole-in-them (otherwise they are not medu wadas) and convinced myself that 'this' was the only way I would be successful. So a couple of evenings ago, I finally got around to making medu wadas!
I basically used my wada recipe with the addition of 1/2 cup Yellow Moong Daal soaked with the urid daal to make the batter. And yes, I added the Soy chunks as well! To the batter I also added 1/2 inch grated ginger, 2 finely minced green chilies, 2 crushed peppercorns and 2 finely chopped curry leaves.
Heat oil, not upto the smoking point, in a wok / kadhai. To test how hot the oil is, drop a very small amount of batter in the oil and if the batter rises to the top, you are set. Add the batter to the medu wada maker and press the knob on the top, directly into the kadhai. Deep fry the wadas to a nice golden brown. The first 4 wadas... not so round.. but DEFINITELY Medu wadas!! and VERY crisp!!!
Aaahhhh!! MUCH better!!! The trick was to make the batter thickish (but with a blender that one gets here, that is not possible)
Dunk the wadas in sambar and serve hot with chutney!!
Some Chutneys that go very well with medu wada smabar :
Coconut chutney- Sailu's blog
Nandita's - Coconut Chutney
And my all time fav!!
We now come to making a hearty dinner! Last night , I wanted to make something 'nice' for my parents.. and something not from my blog, I have been re-trying many dishes once again , now that I have more than 1 to cook for! and a while ago my friend Ashwini, who likes to cook, has 2 adorable boys (the younger is a few months old), but is a bit hard pressed for time had e-mailed me her super easy recipe for Daal Makhani. But I got round to trying that just about now! Thank You, Ashwini! this is an easy recipe and yummy too!
For the Daal Makhani:
1 cup Whole Black Urid daal
2-3 tbsp Rajma / Kidney beans
1 small Onion chopped
1 Tomato chopped
1 tsp each Ginger and Garlic paste
1/2 tsp Red Chili powder
1 Green Chili
Salt to Taste
1/2 tsp Garam masala
Butter for tempering
Cream / Butter

Soak the Urid daal and Rajma in water for a minimum of 4 hrs. ( overnight is also fine). Pressure cook these with salt and red chilli powder (depends on your pressure cooker, in my new Pressure cooker it took only 3 whistles and on sim for 4 mins.)
Heat oil / butter in a wok / kadhai. Add onions and saute till brown and tender. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Saute till it does not smell raw. Add the tomatoes and cook until mushy and oil starts leaving the sides.
At this point add the daal and mix well. Add Garam Masala ( I dislike the 'too strong' smell of garam masala so I use it a bit sparingly)stir and give it one good boil. Check for salt, add if required.
Add fresh cream and serve hot with rice or roti. I substituted butter for cream.

I served the Daal Makhani with this absolutely marvellous and fragrant Ghee Rice !!And FINALLY... announcing a small break! I will take a small hiatus from blogging... to WELCOME a new member into my family!

I am due in a week now and so it's time to take a break, enjoy these last few days with M ( who is biting his nails to bits) and my parents and though at a great distance, my in-laws who are very anxious for me! I've had a grand time these 9 months and once I got over my 'cry-baby' days I loved every minute! Thank God I had no nausea or any aversion to any type of smell or food! Sadly, what did affect me was high sugar levels in my last trimester ( and hence the protein diet posts!) and I was on a severe diet and could only fantasize about food, not eat anything I wanted (fret...fret...fume..)! But all is well and it has helped me and the baby is safe (touchwood) !

Before I go however, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Nupur who when I disclosed to about my pregnancy, sent me a parcel of chikki and this awesome candy! I felt pampered when I ate these.. trust me, those first trimester days when hormones play havoc with the system, and no Mommy and Daddy to hold your hand and say 'there, there' and a confused, bewildered and 'lost' husband looking at you with sad eyes , just because the volcano of emotions erupted (yet again)... something like this is a life line and even if it is splashed with a few salty tears, it tastes like heaven!!
And Cynthia .. do I even need to say anything about this warm hearted person? She immediately sent me her recipe for cook up rice (with vegetarian options) which would help me in my protein intake, sadly, I could not try it out.. my Doctor banned rice TOTALLY! But, it is bookmarked and I will try it out the first opportunity I get!!

So see you all soon.... I will not be able to post for a while and may not be able to peep into your blogs.. but I will catch up as and when I can. Have a lovely weekend!!

Pin It

Palak Methi Mudda Bhaji from Karnataka

My Parents are here!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!
Meeting them after 1 1/2 year was a treat!!! I spent the first week talking, non-stop, at all odd hours of the day/ night (like 4:00 am on the first day of their arrival) and on a volume that threatened to shatter the window panes !! Thankfully the battery ran low after the first week and now I am back to (as) normal as I can get! Their ear drums are safe and my Father sighs with relief! He confesses himself astounded at my capacity and energy to talk SO much (this is after regularly talking to them on the phone for at least 30-45 mins everyday 'to plan' their trip here).

This was also an excellent opportunity for me to pamper them a little with all the food I want to cook for them. And they in turn also wanted to do the same for me!! All in all we are having a wonderful time together!!!
My Mother had this opportunity to make one of my favorites last night, thanks to the fresh bunch of Methi/ Fenugreek I found in the Indian stores! The very sight of that fresh bunch sitting on the shelf was enough to make me pounce on it and grab it, sadly just one was available... well, something is better than ajibaat (ajibaat is a Marathi word for absolutely) nothing...

My Mother learnt this version from her Mother-in-law, who was a fantastic cook and Ma is tickled pink at the thought of having this humble recipe on the blog and wondering why I did not think of it myself.. I have made this before but it is something so routine for me... shrug... but now that I think about it, this combination is wonderful, healthy and deserves its place on the blog.

The root of this recipe is in Karnataka ( Bijapur), the simplicity and the lack of overwhelming 'masalas' is the magic of this recipe.

It goes well with chapati, bhakri and rice (heck I even eat it with whole wheat bread!)

So without further ado, here's my Ma's first presentation on my blog:

2 Bunches Palak / Spinach
1 Bunch Fresh Methi/ Fenugreek leaves
1/2 cup Cooked Moong/ Toovar (arhar) Daal
2 Heaped tbsp. Besan
Marble sized ball of Tamarind (soaked and pulp removed)
Jaggery (twice the quantity of the Tamarind)
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Oil
2 cups water

For the Tadka (tempering)
2-3 tbsp. oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
4 cloves of Garlic, sliced
4 dry Red Chilies
1 -2 Green Chilies ( sliced lengthwise)(+ / - to taste or how hot the chili is)
1/2 tsp Turmeric
a few curry leaves (if you can get them)

Do the prep.Wash thoroughly and chop the spinach and fenugreek leaves (use only leaves if you wish to avoid the slightly bitter taste fenugreek tends to impart, otherwise a small stalk is OK. Cook the daal and mash it slightly. soak the tamarind in warm water, squeeze out the pulp and discard the solids ( you can also use ready made tamarind pulp)
Heat 1 tbs. oil in a wok / kadhai, add the chopped spinach and fenugreek, cover and let it cook.Once the greens are thoroughly cooked, mash them slightly and add the Besan, mix well to avoid lumps. Add in the cooked daal, Tamarind pulp, Jaggery and salt. Add about 2 cups of water and let the mixture cook well.
Tadka: Heat Oil, add the mustard seeds, after they pop add the sliced garlic and cook till they turn golden . Add the green and red chilli pieces. Lastly add the turmeric. Pour this over the vegetable mixture. Mix thoroughly and cook for 2 mins. to incorporate the flavor of the tempering.
Serve hot with chapati, bhakri, rice.

*Points to note:

• Usually Toovar (arhar) Daal is used, but since it is acidic in nature, Yellow Moong Daal makes an excellent substitute without compromising on the taste.
• This vegetable is semi solid in consistency. After cooling down it becomes slightly solid so you might want to add extra water if re-heating.
  

Pin It

Dahi Wadas with a small twist!

I continue my quest of finding recipes or making up some with protein as the main focus or even means of making BLAH! tasting stuff YUMMY!

I prowl around blogs (and end up drooling at all the super recipes completely forgetting the quest!) pick up bits and pieces of recipes, sigh when I find a particular recipe SO tempting yet FAR from my 'must -try' list as of now.. remind myself... just a bit more.... a bit more time, then you go right back to the sinful and satisfying carbs ( in moderation whispers the Husband in my ear) POP goes my delectable dream of biting into these and digging my fork into a slice of heaven or even making a hearty meal of Good Ol' Rice!

M sniggers behind me as I type this and says.. "interesting ... how you go from desserts to main course on your wish list and not a mention of protein in there!"

I arch an eyebrow and coolly say.." as it happens, I have a recipe in mind...loaded with protein... and I was just going to make and blog about it.. and when u eat it, I'd like to serve it to you with a generous helping of your words.. compliments of the chef"...Now having said that, I HAD to work on a recipe! This recipe ( which Nupur of One Hot Stove has also tried and liked!) has been on my list for a very long time and the more I thought of it, the craving just kept growing!

I also had a packet of Ruchi Soy Chunks lying (unopened) in the pantry.. now these, I find particularly boring ( not as nauseating as Tofu though) and plain ugly and so the unopened box lay there awaiting nirvana. Well, today's your lucky day I mumbled.
So I carefully measured out:
1 Cup Urid Daal
1/2 tsp methi / Fenugreek seeds
Soak these in Water for at least 4 hrs.

Prepare the yougurt (dahi) sauce. To a bowl of plain yogurt (use any yogurt you have, regular, no fat) add water to thin it out a bit, salt to taste, crushed ginger and green chili paste and sugar (depends on how sweet you like it) and finely chop cilantro for garnishing. Keep this refrigerated. Shook out approximately 20-25 Soy chunks and cooked them as per directions on the box ( with a pinch of salt) drained and squeezed out excess water and let them sit.

Grind Together the soaked Urid Daal + Fenugreek seeds along with the moist Soy chunks to a smooth batter and adding salt. Heat the appey pan and add a few drops of oil. Gently spoon the batter and let it cook to a golden brown , flip and cook thoroughly on the other side. Once done, remove on to a tissue ( not that there is any extra oil on it, but it's a habit with me now)

Soak these wada in the yougurt sauce. It is entirely optional if you want to dunk the wada in water to soften them and then (after squeezing out the water) adding them to the yougurt. I did not go thru all that. Soaking them in the yogurt sauce was, in my humble opinion, enough. Given a bit more time, the wadas soaked up the flavor from the yogurt and became very soft. garnish with a dash of black pepper powder, a sprinkling of red chilli powder (optional) and the chopped cilantro. Enjoy! * Notes:

• The yogurt sauce was not very thick keeping in mind that the wadas were not pre-soaked, I kept it on a 'flowing but thick' side
  
• To one batch of the wadas I also added a pinch of baking soda, to make them crisp. In the end (after adding them to the yogurt) there was no noticeable difference. but if you just want to eat a couple wadas as they are, tastes better.
  
• This is just one of my whims, but I stir the batter in one direction only and gently.

Verdict: Not the perfect dahi wada, but overall VERY satisfying and so much healthier ! I am sure I cannot get over my dislike for Soy chunks, but this is a great way to disguise them and enjoy them too! Specially since I am rather partial to dahi wadas and also given to snacking, a habit, I'm afraid I will never get over.

I also realise, no matter what, I must be careful of what I eat, M is right (sigh, he almost always is, where my eating habits are concerned) I am a slave to carbs and shy away from protein. And though I cook good food, I MUST consciously consume more protein and go slow on carbs. And so my quest will continue!

Pin It