The Gourmet Launchpad

Corn Palak (With whole corn cobs)

2010-05-04T11:10:00.000-04:00

Butta is my all time favorite. A trip to Juhu beach (in Mumbai) without biting on the freshly roasted corn cobs brushed with lemon, salt and red chilly is incomplete! For those who have not experienced this, you are definitely missing something! A traditional GSB recipe uses corn cobs in kandamool. For the non-GSB population - this is a type of vegetarian dish prepared only once a year during the Ganesh festival. You need 29 different vegetables to put this together. My mom makes one of the best kandamool. Its a pity being so far away from home, we have missed it for more than 7 years now!

Anyways, so just the other day, during a quick trip to Wal-Mart in their grocery section, my eyes landed on the fresh corn cobs just waiting for me to buy and all these memories came flooding by! They were really fresh and soft - so DH and I just picked up a few. Since I have been on the "Healthy Bites" bandwagon for quite some time now, I started browsing for different recipes using corn cobs and landed on Spinach and Corn recipe from Manisha (from Indian Food Rocks). The beautiful pictures and wonderful description by the author captured by attention and I decided to try this recipe. It was wonderful! DH loved it so much - he actually ate only the curry (he generally hates spinach by the way). Though my recipe is not exactly like Manisha's, it is definitely influenced by her recipe. You can check the link above to see her version of Corn palak

So here goes nothing -

Ingredients -

1 bundle Spinach leaves (picked up from a local Indian store)
2 Corn cobs (chopped into 2 inch pieces)
1 tsp Tamarind paste
3-4 Green chillies (again, from Indian store)
1 dry red chilly
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 pinch asafoetida
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
Oil for tempering
Salt to taste

Method -

Pressure cook the spinach and allow the cooker to cool. Once the cooker pops open, blend the spinach into fine paste in a blender
While the cooker is cooling off, in a pan, heat oil and add asafoetida and mustard seeds. Once the seeds start to splutter, add dry red chilly, chopped green chillies and garlic. Mix well till you get the fine garlicky aroma. Then add the blended spinach and mix well
Now add turmeric, tamarind paste and salt. Stir well
As this gravy is ready, drop the chopped corn cobs and stir. Cover with a lid. Keep the gas on medium and let the corn cook in the tangy spinach sauce for 10 mins. Stir intermittently to ensure all sides of the corn are dipped in the sauce
Serve with roti or rice

Ganpati Bappa Morya!!! (Modak)

2010-04-15T21:41:00.005-04:00

Well, I know it is not Ganesh Chaturthi yet - but that should not stop you from enjoying his favorite dessert - "modak". Although my most favorite are "Ukdiche (steamed) modak", DH loves the deep fried variety. So MIL decided to oblige. And I must say her fried modaks come out really well. I have but once prepared this variety over 5-6 years ago. So this time around, I decided to put pen to paper. The credit of preparing these go wholly to her. So what is my contribution? Appreciating her effort by generously putting 2-3 modaks in my mouth at a time!!! And ofcourse, clicking some (dare I say) very pretty pictures.

So here goes -

Ingredients (For about 10-12 modaks)

For Stuffing -
1 cup Dried Grated coconut
3/4 cup Jaggery (grated)
3 tsp Sesame seeds
3 cardomoms (powdered)
3 tsp Besan

For coating -
1/2 cup All purpose flour
1 tsp semolina
salt to taste
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk (approximately)

Oil for deep frying

Method -

Dry roast coconut in a pan. Once it is cooled, add remaining ingredients for the stuffing and mix well. Keep aside

To prepare the coating, heat 1 tsp oil and mix it in all purpose flour. Add semolina and salt. Add milk and knead it to prepare dough of the same consistency as roti flour. Keep aside for 3-4 hours

Prepare small balls (about 10-12) and roll into thin rotis. Put about 1 tsp stuffing into the dough.
Now, lightly apply milk to the edges of this roti and pull the edges to give it a shape of 'modak' (see below)

3. Once all modaks are ready, heat oil in a deep bottom pan. Once hot, toss modaks and fry till golden brown.

Hello All

2010-04-14T15:10:00.002-04:00

So after a hiatus of 5 months, I am back! The past 5 months have been very interesting. The challenges and joys of motherhood and pressures of being a working mom has left but very little time for anything else. But a smile on the little one's face washes off any fatigue you feel. And this is not the first time I have felt proud of being an Indian - for there are not many cultures in this world where family comes to aid to ease your life.

You will be surprised if I told you - I have cooked for not more than 4 times since December. That does not mean I have not had a decent home cooked meal. On the contrary, mother and mother-in-law have showered us with wonderful delicacies, long forgotten being in the foreign lands for so long. Some of the dishes that we enjoyed included -

Bhoplyacha bharit
Khatkhata
Vanga, Batata, bhoplyachi kaapa
Kaaralyachi chatni (Onion seeds chatni)
Moolyachi amti
Amboli
Bhaajnicha thalipeeth

For the non-maharashtrian followers of my blog, I will add english names to these dishes very soon. And I will try to post recipes of these wonderful dishes as I can. As for this post, I just wanted to drop a quick hello to all. Hope this new year has been wonderful for everyone so far. Keep blogging!

Mutton Suka (Goat masala - thick gravy)

2009-11-15T15:06:00.003-05:00

[pic soon to come]

There is only one place in my town that sells mutton (Goat meat). Everywhere else you only get lamb. This weekend DH and I made a trip 20 miles from home just to pick some mutton. I felt so silly initially. But after I tried this new recipe, I must say (and DH agrees) it was totally worth it! The shop sells mutton that is so fresh and tender, I did not even pressure cook it, but simply cooked the gravy on medium heat for 45 mins and the meat was perfectly cooked and falling off the bone!

Ingredients –
½ kg. (1 lb) mutton (chopped in small pieces)
12 peppercorns
4 cloves
1 tsp fennel seeds
1” cinnamon stick
1 big onion (chopped)
½ cup coconut milk
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method –

Marinate mutton overnight with red chilly powder, turmeric, salt and ginger-garlic paste.
Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add cloves and cinnamon, then add peppercorns and fennel seeds. Once the fennel seeds turn golden brown (ensure they do not burn), add onion and fry for 2-3 mins. Then keep aside to cool a bit. Then grind everything into a smooth paste.
In a pot, take marinated mutton. Add onion paste, coconut milk and some water. Mix and cover with a lid. Let it cook for 10 mins on medium heat.
Then add remaining spices and salt. Mix again and cover with the lid. Keep stirring every 10 mins.
After cooking for about 40-45 mins, the mutton should be cooked and the liquid should be reduced completely.
Serve with roti or rice

Jhatpat Dosa (Semolina crepes)

2009-10-31T13:53:00.002-04:00

Its been quite an exciting month. First Diwali celebration, quickly followed by a nice long vacation to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I am still recuperating from the intense activity every single day - be it Diwali with hanging lanterns, decorating with lights and diyas, drawing rangoli, or flying cross country to a magical wonderland of Vegas...

Me and my DH have been hogging on the last remains of faraal for the past 2 days...all that is left is chivda. I don't even feel like cooking. And since DH doesn't even step into the kitchen except to refill his bowl of chivda, its upto my imagination how to feed ourselves. Last night was kesar milk and bhel night. Today, I decided to make dosa, only to realize that I was out of GITS packets. So I decided to work up one of my friend's old recipes.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cup Rice flour

5-6 tsp Rawa (Semolina)

3 Green chillies (finely chopped)

1 tsp Mustard

4-5 Curry leaves

1/2 tsp Asafoetida

1 tsp Oil

salt to taste

Method:

Mix rice flour, rawa, water and salt to the consistency of dosa.

For preparing a tadka (tempering), heat oil. Once hot, add asafoetida and mustard seeds. As the mustard seeds start popping, add green chillies and curry leaves. Pour the hot tadka over the mixture and mix well. Let it sit aside for 2 hours.

Take a pan and spray PAM spray. Incase you don't have PAM, use regular oil. Once the oil is hot, pour 2 scoops of mixture and spread like dosa. Cover with a lid and wait for 2-3 mins. Then turn to cook the other side.

Serve hot with coriander chutney

Its that time of the year!!!

2009-10-16T09:39:00.001-04:00

ॐ Happy Diwali! ॐ

A year has passed since we relocated! Unbelievable! Time just flies... and once again, this festival of lights has come to brighten our days (especially nights) with lamps, lanterns and lots of faraal.

This year I am not making lots of faraal (unlike last year). Just chivda and amba barfi (Will post the recipe if it turns out to be a success). Our trip to Vegas and GC is just 5 days away and I haven't even started packing. DH gave me a big surprise this time - planning this trip; its amazing how much work he has put into it. I will post some pics in this space once we are back...

Till then... तुम्हा सवॉना दिवाळीच्या हादि॔क शुभेच्छा (Happy Diwali Everyone!!!)

Low fat Vegetable Lo Mein

2009-10-08T19:09:00.003-04:00

I am back! I know I have been away for quite some time. I can always blame work, but actually I have been really lazy lately. Although I have been cooking quite a bit. So keep a look out on this page as more exciting and delicious recipes will follow very soon...

Now, I am quite certain that Chinese food is universal favorite. Alter it to suit your tastes, but I haven’t come across one person yet who does not like Chinese food. Very recently I was watching an episode of “Cook Yourself Thin” and realized that the Spicy Chicken or Garlic Shrimp that I so dearly love costs me atleast a 1000 calories each month! Now, though my fascination for Healthy Bites has calmed down a tad bit, this was totally unacceptable. But in order to convince DH to let go off his favorite Chicken Lo Mein, I had to do more than talk. I had to cook.

A quick trip to a nearby grocery store solved my problem. I just picked up some low sodium Soy sauce and Oyster sauce and my problem was solved. Within 20 mins, I fixed a nice dish of Vegetable Lo Mein which DH not only loved but thought to be better than Chinese take out. Now …now… my beloved husband can be a little generous while appreciating my cooking skills. But why don’t you try this dish out and find out for yourself if you like it?

Ingredients –

½ box Whole wheat spaghetti
1 carrot (chopped into thin strands). You can buy chopped carrots from the store as well
1 cup Cabbage (chopped)
2 scallions (chopped) If you do not have scallions, use medium sized ½ onion (vertically sliced)
5-6 mushrooms (vertically sliced)
3 tsp Olive oil
1 tsp Cooking oil

Spices and Sauces –

2 tbsp Soy sauce (I used low sodium variety)
1 tsp Oyster sauce (Optional)
2 tsp Ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp (or suitable to your taste) Crushed Red Pepper
1 tsp sesame seeds
Salt to taste

Method –

Boil water in a pot and add 1 tsp cooking oil. Put whole wheat pasta and let it cook for a while. Once the noodles are soft, strain them and wash in cold water to stop the cooking process. Keep aside
In a wok, heat olive oil and add sesame seeds. Once the seeds start spluttering, add all the vegetables and ginger-garlic paste. Mix well. Add some water and cover with a lid to cook the veggies for about 5 mins.
In a small bowl, mix Soy sauce and oyster sauce. Once the vegetables are soft, add the sauce mixture, red and black peppers, salt and noodles and mix well till the noodles and vegetables are well blended and covered in the sauce.
Add very little water and cover with a lid. Reduce the heat to minimum and let the Lo Mein cook in the sauces for another 2-3 mins.
Serve Hot

Moong daal vada (Lentil fritters)

2009-05-31T23:26:00.002-04:00

Summer is just round the corner. The time has come to shed the jackets and flaunt the shorts, time for flip flops, tank tops and sun glasses! Ever since we moved to our new home about 6-7 months ago, it has been our earnest desire to sit in our patio and enjoy a nice cup of tea. Now weather hasn't permitted us this luxury so far. But this Saturday morning when the temperatures are pleasant 67 degrees, DH and I decided to realize this wish. So out we sat enjoying the weather and it was marvelous! Seriously people, if you don't have a patio and are considering moving, make sure your new home has one. It is just amazing!

For today's lunch, I decided to make a light snack of Thalipeeth and moong daal vadas. Now I know there is no real connection between the 2, but well, I just felt like eating both! So here goes my recipe for moong daal vada.

Ingredients -
1 cup moong daal (soaked overnight)
3 tsp Udad daal (optional) - Soaked with Moong daal
1 big or 2 small cloves of garlic (grated)
1 inch ginger (grated)
4-5 curry leaves
1/2 medium sized onion
2 green chillies (finely chopped)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp mustard seeds
Oil
salt to taste

Method -

Coarsely grate the soaked daals in the grinder. Add the grated ginger and garlic and onion.
In a small pan, heat oil. Once hot, add mustard seeds, turmeric, curry leaves and chillies. Once the mustard seeds start popping, pour the oil with the spices in the daal mixture. Mix well. Add salt to taste.
Ensure that this batter looks like hummus, but is coarse and not runny in consistency.
In a flat bottom pan, heat oil (I used PAM cooking spray). Make small balls out of the daal batter. Flatten it and place in the pan for frying. (If the balls are round, the mixture inside does not get cooked. You might have to deep fry to cook those)
Turn to cook the other side. Take them off the pan once the vadas are cooked and golden brown.

Ready to serve!!! Enjoy!!!

Strawberry Shortcake

2009-05-02T17:07:00.003-04:00

I have a confession to make - I have a sweet tooth! I am not proud of it and I always have made injustice to the weighing scale just by standing on it. But anyways, this hasn't stopped me from experimenting different desserts. One of my favorite when I go to Kroger or Stop n Shop is Strawberry Shortcake. Its so delightful! But when you want to have it once a week, it can be a burden on your wallet. So this weekend, I decided to make it at home. It came out just great and served as a great dessert since I had a few guests over.

If want to try it out too, don't forget to grab the following when you run to the grocery store for your weekly grocery shopping -

1 pack Sponge cake buns (Available in any store)
10-12 Strawberries
5-6 tsp Sugar (if you are short of it at home)
Whipped cream (I got the fat free version and I found it pretty good!)

In a pan, add a cup of water, strawberries and sugar. Mix well till the sugar dissolves and keep boiling on low heat. In a while, the strawberries get softer and you get a nice sauce with strawberry chunks...yummm! Refrigerate for a few hours.

Now, take a sponge bun. Fill it generously with the strawberry sauce and spray a good helping of whipped cream and serve!

Fish in Green sauce

2009-04-12T21:13:00.002-04:00

I haven't had a chance to blog a lot lately. Managing home and work has been pretty challenging. Besides, with the advent of spring, our social life is at its peak with outings, dinners, lunches and barbecue going on all time time. So blogging kind of took a back seat. I am not saying that I have stopped cooking - just that I haven't really gotten down to putting pen to paper. As I got out of my hibernation and back to the corporate world, I have learned quite a few quick meals which are healthy and really quick to make. Some hot favorites with DH are pasta marinara with a healthy dose of veggies and slight asian flavor. But that probably could be my next post. Today's menu is going to be a side dish of fish in green sauce that you can serve with some stir fried vegetables or like me, with vegetable fried rice (another recipe to be posted soon).

Now, you could use any kind of fish. Unless you are using this along with indian meals, I would recommend boneless fillets like tilapia or catfish. But if you want, you could alleviate the spice level and serve it with delicious sol kadhi and rice as well.

So getting to the recipe, you would need -

1-1/2 cup Coriander leaves
3 green chillies
1 big clove of garlic
1 inch ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1/2 lb boneless tilapia fillets (I love this recipe with Catfish as well)

Rub turmeric and salt to the fish fillets and keep aside for 1/2 hour. Grind the remaining ingredients into a smooth paste. Pour it on the fish and rub the fillets with the green sauce. Add salt as necessary. I keep the paste as smooth as a runny hummus, not too dry. Keep aside for 2 hours.

Now, heat a deep dish pan and spray cooking spray well. Then place the fish fillets next to each other. Pour in the remaining sauce and let it cook on a low flame. Cover with a lid. After 3-4 mins., turn to cook the other side. Tilapia is very tender and might break easily if not handled with care. I make this very dry - let all the water evaporate. Once cooked, serve with your meal of fried rice or stir fried veggies.

Vermicelli Pudding (in the Microwave)

2009-03-30T20:15:00.000-04:00

[Photo soon to come]

I am a big fan on kheer (pudding) of all kinds - be it rice, semolina, tapioca or good old vermicelli. I remember back in the school days, my best friend S's mom used to make the world's best vermicelli pudding! I have never tasted such good vermicelli pudding in my life! The last time I went to India for my wedding, she made it a point to prepare the same pudding for me when I visited her house for dinner one day! It is rich, creamy and just perfect!

After numerous trials and errors, I finally can proudly say that I have been able to replicate the taste. This time I tried making the pudding in the microwave. I don't normally use the microwave much except for making rice or reheating frozen food. I am a bigger fan of the oven which I use for practically everything. But when Srivalli sent me her event posting for microwave cooking, I was motivated to try this recipe out. Unfortunately, I could not post it in time for the event. But well, now that the recipe is ready, I have decided to post it anyway. It is pretty simple -

What Would You Need?
2-3 cups whole milk (depending on your desired level of thickness) - I use 2 cups since I like it thicker
1 cup roasted vermicelli
3 cardomoms (powdered)
3 tbsp sugar
diced almonds for garnish
raisins for garnish
few strands of saffron

What you need to do now?

First, take milk, vermicelli and sugar in a microwaveable container. Stire to ensure the sugar is dissolved. Then put it in the microwave to cook for 2 mins. Then remove and stir again, scraping the sides of the bowl. Place it in the microwave again. Repeat the process for another 10-15 mins, stopping every 2 mins to mix and scrape the milk. This is important or might have some burnt milk on the sides. There is also a possibility of milk boiling over from the container.

Once the vermicelli is softer, add almonds, raisins, saffron and cardomom. Mix well and microwave for another 2 mins. The pudding is ready to be served! It can be served hot or cold depending on personal preference. I personally prefer it cold. So I refrigerate it for a few hours before serving.

This was originally my post for MEC event hosted by Srivalli and announced by Jayashree. But alas, too late for that!

Chicken Tikka Burger

2009-03-15T21:40:00.013-04:00

Have you ever heard the song "Purani jeans"? That song really takes you back in time, doesn't it! I mean, of all the things the singer talks about, I am sure you have experienced atleast one. I was listening to it the other day and went into a flashback of the good old college days! The carefree, fun-filled, party hard - work hardly times (and I always thought I was very busy... :) It was fun! My memories took me back to all the different hangouts and eateries... And then among other things, I was suddenly missing the spicy, amazing (and cheap) Chicken Tikka Burger from McDonalds. Funny isn't it! In the US, McDonalds is my least favorites. I probably go there as a last resort when I am driving over the interstate and there is nothing else available and I might faint with hunger. But when it comes to McDonalds in India, its a whole another story. They have "indianized" it a lot with amazing combination of burgers.

So, in an attempt to recreate that burger, I made a Chicken Tikka Burger at home. It was ofcourse not the same. But it was quite "indianized" - which means with a lot of spice and sharp flavors. Don't get me wrong - it was not spicy, just had a variety of Indian spices. DH loved it. To take it a level up, we had it with a generous helping of Bombay Sandwich Spread (Hot) available at any Indian store. It was such an impulsive decision that we did not even have sandwich bread at home. So I just used regular whole wheat bread to make these burgers. But the patties are so delicious, you won't care about the bread :)

You would need -
1 pack lean ground Chicken
1/2 onion (medium) finely chopped
1 egg (well beaten)
2 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp tandoori chicken masala (any)
1 tsp black pepper
1 clove of garlic (grated)
1 inch ginger (grated)
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
1 cup coriander leaves (chopped)
Cooking spray or oil for frying

Once you have everything ready, it is quite simple. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl including the coriander leaves. Make sure the spices and the beaten egg are very well blended with the ground meat. Keep aside.

Spray the cooking spray in a pan. Take a tsp of meat mixture and place it on the frying pan. This is our testing burger. So it can be really small - bite size, if you will. Fry it well. Turn it to cook the other side. Once it is nice and brown, remove it and taste it. This will help you check for salt or any other missing flavors. You can correct the meat mixture if anything is missing. Now you are ready to make your burgers. Make burger sized patties and place them next to each other on the frying pan. Don't stick them too close, else you will have a problem turning them to the other side. Cover with a lid.

I use the cooking spray, so it is not greasy. Turn the burgers to cook the other side. These burgers are so nice and moist, I probably won't have a burger outside for a long time now. (It is not so modest to appreciate your own cooking - but these really turned out well). For serving, we took a slice of whole wheat bread and coated it with Bombay Sandwich Spread (Hot). Then placed slices of onion and tomatoes, then a pattie of chicken burger and splashed some tomato ketchup on it. Chicken Tikka Burger is ready!

Kolambi Bhaat (Shrimp Biryani)

2009-03-11T20:32:00.001-04:00

Kolambi Bhaat (Shrimp Biryani) is a very popular GSB dish. It is shrimp marinated in various spices, sauteed and cooked with rice and onions. My mother makes THE BEST kolambi bhaat. So she has shared her special recipe with us today on this blog. This is my entry for the BloggerAid cookbook. The proceeds from this cookbook would be donated to World Food Programme (WFP) for their programme for children and education. WFP an institute helping satisfy one of the three basic needs of life - Food!

For those of you who want to be a part of this wonderful event, check BloggerAid on how to get started. You don't have to own a blog to participate. Also, in addition to recipes, you can find numerous other ways in which you can support this noble cause. Do check their website to see how. By the way, did you know -

Facts & Figures *
• 75 million primary school-aged children do not go to school
• 97 percent of them are in developing countries
• 57 percent of them are girls
• 150 million children drop out of school before attaining basic primary education
* Source - Children are the future

The cook book is scheduled to be on sale around November/December 2009

So, coming back to the recipe, you marinate shrimp in mixture of powdered spices. Soak specified amount of rice in water. Cook shrimp with onion, tomatoes and some more spices. Add the soaked rice and salt to taste. Garnish with coriander leaves once the rice and shrimp is cooked. You could add some peas for more flavor, but that is optional.

For a detailed recipe with exact list and quantity of ingredients and steps to cook, buy the BloggerAid cookbook. This offers you a dual advantage - a book with some wonderful recipes and peace of mind for contributing to a wonderful cause.

A Healthy Bite Roundup

2009-03-02T13:29:00.002-05:00

Finally the time for the round up is here! Thanks to all of you for participating in this event. Some of you cooked just before midnight on 28th February to participate - Thank you!!! I had the best time putting this together, going through some beautiful blogs, reading through amazing recipes. This experience has added a lot to my knowledge of spices and flavors. You all have been so creative with ingredients and textures; it has indeed been a phenomenal culinary experience.

To see all the wonderful entries, CLICK HERE.

Corn chaat

2009-02-27T17:33:00.005-05:00

One of my biggest problems is feeding my family's 4 o'clock hunger pangs. So one day, I just quickly improvised on some chaat options we normally explore to make this healthy version.
For those of you who don't know what Chaat is; Chaat is an Indian snack variety. The most important ingredients are the sweet and spicy sauces that are used. Among others, some of the most popular chaat items are Bhel (made out of puffed rice, sweet and spicy sauce, vermicelli made out of chickpea flour - popularly known as sev, onion and tomatoes), Pani Puri (Made out of puffed balls - almost like a ping pong, filled with spice water and legumes or boiled potato), Sev Puri (where you made a chip out of deep fried chick pea flour and top it with boiled potatoes, onions, sauces and sev). Some varieties use sweetened yogurt as well. Chaat is very popular snack type and in India; you can find small vendors at many street corners selling different kinds of chaat.

I made a chaat out of corn kernel. For the base, instead of using deep fried chips, I used baked corn tortilla chips. To make the sauces, you would need -

Spicy Sauce:
1/2 cup mint leaves
1 cup coriander leaves
3-4 green chillies (depending on your spice need)
1 tsp lemon juice
salt

- To make this sauce, grind all the ingredients above adding little water to make the consistency of a runny paste. Spicy sauce is ready!

Sweet Sauce:
2 cups seedless dates
1.5 cup water
3 tbsp tamarind concentrate
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
A pinch of salt

- To make the sweet sauce, take water in the pot, add tamarind, dates and keep to boil till the dates are soft. While the water is boiling, add the coriander powder and salt. On the side, roast cumin seeds. Once fragrant, add the seeds to the boiling water. Once the dates are soft, set aside the pot to cool. Grind into fine paste. The sweet sauce is ready.

Note -You could make these sauces and store in your refrigerator for about a week to 10 days.

Now comes the fun part - putting together the corn chaat.

You will need:
1/2 cup boiled potatoes (mashed)
1 cup corn kernel
3-4 tbsp chickpeas (soaked overnight and cooked till soft) - You could also use other kind of beans in lieu of chickpeas
1/2 cup onions (finely chopped)
1/4 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup sev
1 tsp red chilly powder
salt
coriander to garnish

Recipe:

Mix potatoes, corn, chick peas, onions chilly powder and salt well.
Lay corn chips next to each other in a plate. Fill them with potato, corn mixture.
Add little spicy and little sweet sauce on it. Cover with sev. Add coriander to garnish
The chaat is ready to be served!

You could add other vegetables like finely chopped beet root or bell peppers if you like. The sauces add to the whole experience with the sweet and savory flavors.

I made this for my blog event - A Healthy Bite.

I believe this would also be a good dish for picnics. So this goes to Trupti for her Picnic Eats events, started by Ramki

Pesarattu (Moth bean crepes)

2009-02-25T16:31:00.007-05:00

I have heard conflicting stories of its origin. But Pesarattu comes definitely from either Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. I have always been a fan of Dosa and its variations. I got this recipe from my mom. I make it using moth beans instead of moong just because I like them better

Ingredients:
2 cups Moth beans
1 inch ginger
1 clove of garlic
3 green chillies
salt to taste
1 tsp cumin seeds

Method:

Soak moth beans overnight. Next day, tie the soaked beans in a piece of cloth and leave it for a few hours to sprout
Grind the sprouted moth beans with ginger, garlic, cumin seeds and chillies. Add water as required to make a smooth batter like a dosa batter. Once the batter is ready, add salt to taste.
Take a flat bottom pan, add some PAM spray. Spread a laddle full of batter into a dosa shape, spreading in circles inside out once the pan is hot and cover with a lid. Flip to cook the other side after 2-3 mins. Once both the sides are cooked, it is ready to be served!

Serve hot with peanut or spicy coconut chutney

This is my entry to Susan's MLLA Eighth Helping

Spicy Grilled Catfish

2009-02-20T15:27:00.000-05:00

I decided to make Spicy Grilled Catfish for A Healthy Bite event. Catfish is a good source of Thiamin, Niacin, Potassium and Selenium, and a very good source of Protein, Vitamin B12 and Phosphorus. Coming from Mumbai (or Bombay), I am very fond of seafood. Make it 5 days a week and I am the happiest.

I had made this when some of my relatives were visiting us few months ago. They really loved it. So now this is my entry for the event.

Ingredients -
1/2 lb catfish (chopped into cubes)
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

Recipe -

Mix all the powders mentioned above very well. Then mix in the ginger and garlic past and blend it well. Add the mixture to the cubed catfish. Make sure the catfish has a good layer of the mixture on all sides.

Keep aside and let it marinate for a few hours. I normally keep it overnight so that the fish absorbs all the spices and juices well.

One by one insert the catfish cubes on skewers. Pre heat oven on 350 degrees for 5 mins. Then grill the catfish in the oven turning occasionally for about 10-15 mins.

Once the catfish is cooked, sqeeze the lemon juice over the pieces. You could serve them hot over a layer of thinly sliced onions or pierce a toothpick on each piece and serve it on a platter.

Aloo Paratha (Spicy Potato flatbreads)

2009-02-19T01:36:00.005-05:00

Paratha is the best comfort food. And you can get really creative with the filling - from potatoes and cauliflower to peas or spinach and fenugreek. I absolutely love them all. I specially remember our trip to North India. While driving from Kulu to Chandigarh, we made a pit stop in Panipat (yes, the same Panipat where 3 famous battles were fought... one of the 5 cities founded by Pandavas during Mahabharat). There you can find these very small local dhabas where you get amazing parathas. Along with their traditional pickle (I just don't remember the name...can someone help?) these are little bites from heaven!

I regularly make spinach or fenugreek parathas. But the other day, I had a frozen aloo (potato) paratha from "Deep". I am not a big fan of frozen foods, but this paratha was pretty good! So I decided to try it out myself. It came out pretty well too!

What would you need?
- For the potato filling
2 big or 3 medium sized potatoes (boiled)
2 green chillies (finely diced)
1 clove of garlic (finely diced)
1 tsp ginger (finely diced)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup coriander leaves (chopped)
salt to taste

- For the dough
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cooking oil
water

Got everything ready? Alright then...

Now mash the boiled potatoes and mix all the ingredients for the potato filling and mix well. Keep aside

Mix the salt with the wheat flour. Then add some water to knead it into a smooth dough. If you are doing this for the first time, add less water to make the dough a little firmer. It helps in managing the dough while rolling it. Add oil to the dough and knead well. Keep aside for 10-15 mins to let the dough set in.

Now, divide the dough into small balls (about the size of a lemon). Roll the first ball into a small circle. Place a lemon sized potato mixture ball in the center of the rolled dough. Seal the potato mixture into the dough by pulling together the edges of the dough to form a dumpling. Lightly press it all together to ensure the potato mixture does not come out

Roll this ball into a flat bread adding pressure from the center to the sides. Heat a frying pan. Keep on medium heat. Put the flat bread on the pan. Lightly grease it with butter. Turn on the other side once one side is cooked. now lightly grease the other side with butter. Once both sides are properly cooked, paratha is ready!

Serving?
- You can serve it with pickle or yogurt
- One of my dad's best culinary discoveries includes having aloo paratha with chicken tikka! I know it sounds insane, but try it out sometime. It tastes phenomenal.

This is my entry to Ivy's Think Spice-Think Twice event. I hope she likes it

Vegetable Soup

2009-02-16T20:49:00.005-05:00

This is a quick soup I make when I have very less time but no mood for less healthy stuff. It is very healthy rich in iron and calcium and requires no oil for cooking. A quick trip to the grocery store exposes you to so many variety of soups! However, with the ad war between Progresso and Campbell and potential ill effects of MSG, I am less tempted to buy any of these. These producers now claim to have come up with 'No MSG' variety of soups, but who knows!

These days, I have started making soups atleast once a week, if not more. I used to make plain blended soups earlier. Now I have started enhancing the soups with pasta or corn and 'soup & crackers or whole grain bread' can really be a wholesome meal, if you like it - One of my favorites for dinner.

Ingredients:
1/2 medium size bell pepper
1/4 medium sized cabbage (I use the white one)
1/2 medium sized Beet Root
1/2 medium sized onion
1 carrot
1 tomato
1 big clove of garlic
4-5 peppercorns (or 1 tsp black pepper powder)
salt to taste
1 cup Corn Kernel (Optional)
1 cup boiled Whole wheat pasta (Optional)

Method:

In a pressure cooker, add all ingredients EXCEPT the optional ones. If you are adding pepper powder instead of peppercorns, do not add it now. Cook for 2 whistles. Wait for it to cool. Then in a blender, grind them into smooth paste

In a pot, keep this soup to boil. Add salt to taste and add the optional ingredients. Stir well. Now, incase you using pepper powder, you can add it at this stage. Boil and the soup is ready to serve!

NOTE - If you like a creamy soup, you can add half cup whole milk when you are boiling the soup. It gives a smooth, creamy texture to the soup.

This entry goes to SWC Soups event hosted by Neha and Cooking Station (where it originated)

This entry also goes to Siri's Corner and One Page Cookbooks for capturing simple, easy to cook dinners

Tiramisu

2009-02-13T22:16:00.011-05:00

One of the best italian desserts, Tiramisu is one of my favorites! I remember going to "Backstreets", one of the few good restaurants in Blacksburg. For those of you who don't know, Blacksburg is a tiny town in Virginia; its a university town. Everyone in the town works, studies or is in some way associated to Virginia Tech. I have spent 2 beautiful years in VTech while pursuing my MBA. The "Downtown" in Blacksburg is but a small street that might run for not more than 2 miles (optimistically).

So, as I was saying, I was introduced to Tiramisu for the first time in "Backstreets". For years, I used to make a modified tiramisu which tastes pretty well using angel food cake and whipped cream. But yesterday, I was motivated. Googled a few websites for authentic recipes on tiramisu and created my own version. There are so many different ways of making this dessert. Some people use wine, others use kalhua liquor. The recipe below just shows a basic tiramisu recipe. So lets go through this recipe step by step -

Ingredients (Original recipe):
3 egg yolks
3 tbsp Sugar
8oz pack of Mascarpone Cheese
1 tbsp unsalted butter (optional)
2 cup expresso coffee
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2tbsp Milk
24 Lady Fingers (sponge cake fingers)

Now, I have improvised a bit since I did not have all the ingredients from the original recipe. But I can tell you, I did not see any difference in the taste. It tasted great, like a regular Tiramisu!

Some of my improvisations include - the original recipe requires Mascarpone cheese. I used regular cream cheese instead. If you are planning to use cream cheese, you need an extra tsp of sugar since Mascarpone, to me, has a slight sweet taste as compared to regular cream cheese. Also, I am not a big fan of expresso, which most recipes used. I saw one italian chef use mocha coffee too. I used regular instant coffee powder, since that is all I had that time.

It is very easy to make tiramisu. To start with, separate the egg yolks from the whites and take them in a big bowl. Add 3 tbsp sugar and whip using an electrical beater. After 2-3 mins of beating, the egg yolks color changes to a lighter yellow. Add cream cheese and unsalted butter and fold in with the beaten egg yolks. Once the mixture is well folded, beat this mixture well using an electrical beater till it turns into a smooth paste. While doing this, take 2 cups water and add 2 tsp coffee. Boil for a while till you have a concentrated liquid. Add 3 tsp of this liquid to the beaten cream cheese. Keep whipping this mixture for another 2 mins.

Once you have cooled the concentrated coffee liquid a bit, add 1 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp milk and stir. You are now ready to layer the tiramisu. In a big pan or bowl, take 1 tbsp milk and spread it. Now dip the lady fingers one by one in the cooled coffee liquid and place it in the pan in a row. Don't drench the lady fingers in the coffee or they become very mushy. Once you have a nice single layer of lady fingers, create a generous layer of whipped cheese and coffee paste. Then create another layer of lady fingers dipped in coffee. Put a final layer of whipped cheese paste.

Top it off with cocoa powder. Put the pan and refrigerate it overnight. Tiramisu is ready to be served!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!

New Look!

2009-02-10T23:51:00.003-05:00

I finally found a look for my blog which I really liked. I am not a programmer. So beyond some basic HTML changes, I can't alter the free blog templates you get online. I have been experimenting in vain for such a long time. But today, I was motivated! Spent a few hours researching online and finally got a look that I am proud of! I hope you guys like it too!

Just wondering, with the existing banner, do you think a darker background would look better? Let me know your thoughts.

Mutton Curry

2009-02-10T12:08:00.001-05:00

I don't normally cook mutton a lot due to health issue. It is high on calorie count and very high cholesterol. But cooking it once in a while is OK, right! Besides AD L-O-V-E-S mutton. Actually he is a fan of goat curry, but goat meat is hard to find here. So we take use the close substitute - lamb.

I remember as a child, my grandmother used to make mutton curry when all of us cousins used to get together during vacation. She used to start early, make the whole masala at home and cook everything from scratch. It would take her 5-6 hours to make it. My grandfather used to go early in the morning to this mutton shop (that has been there forever) and get fresh mutton. If you are late, it is all gone! That shop was that popular!!! I used to go with him sometimes. The lines were endless! My grandmother's mutton curry is one of the best mutton curries I have ever tasted in my life. I have that recipe somewhere, but no patience to stay in the kitchen and cook for that long! I use the shorter recipe and SHAAN masala :-)

I used a regular small pack of lamb chops from Whole Foods for the preparation.

Spices -
6 peppercorns
4 cloves
1 tsp cumin
1 inch cinnamon stick
3 cardamoms (split)
2-3 Bay leaves
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp coriander-cumin powder
2 tsp SHAAN Chicken Curry masala
1 tsp turmeric
4 red chillies (dried)-

Other Ingredients -
2 medium sized Onions (chopped)
1 Tomato (chopped)
coriander to garnish
2" Ginger
2 cloves of Garlic
2 tsp oil

Recipe -
Wash the lamb chops in cold water and dice them into small cubes. For marinating, add yogurt, turmeric, red chilly powder, 1 clove of garlic (minced) and 1" ginger (minced), 1 tsp coriander-cumin powder. DO NOT add salt (For cooking lamb or goat meat, salt is added only after the meat is cooked. Salt slows down the cooking process of this meat). Mix the spices and yogurt with the meat and keep aside for a few hours. I normally marinate it a day before to let the meat soak in the moisture of yogurt and spices well.

Now, put the marinated meat in a pressure cooker with 2 cups water. Cook for 4-5 whistles. While that is cooking, heat oil in a pan. Add peppercorns, cloves, cumin, cinnamon stick. Once the cloves and peppercorns swell, add onions, remaining ginger and garlic and cook till the onions are transparent and soft. Then add tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes. Add some chopped coriander and mix. Keep aside for a few minutes. Then blend it into a paste in a blender.

By now, the lamb would have cooked with 4-5 whistles. Open the pressure cooker. You will see a fat layer of oil and water on the top. This is the water and oil that comes from the meat. Lets call it 'meat water'. I use this water now. Take 2 tbsp of this liquid and heat it in the pot. Add bay leaves and cardamoms. Once the water starts boiling, add the blended paste and mix well. Add SHAAN masala and salt at this time. Once this is mixed well, add the cooked lamb pieces separating each piece. Add some more meat water if you want to make alter the consistency of the curry. Cover with a lid and cook for 5-10 mins.

Serve with tandoori roti or rice

Vada Paav (Potato Fritters on a Bun)

2009-02-02T23:30:00.005-05:00

Well, my vote for the nice, healthy burger was denied and on a popular demand, I made vada paav for the super bowl! First of all I must say...Oh what a game! Cardinals gave a tough fight right till the end. But the terrible towel prevailed and the Steelers became the first team to win 6 superbowls beating the Cowboys, who have won 5. Tom Lin became the youngest coach in history to win a Super Bowl at age 36! It was simply wonderful! We were supporting the Steelers ofcourse! So I am super excited that my team won, but my diet went out for a toss! :-) I just do not fall under the category of people who can bite on a healthy carrot while others are savoring vada paav! That is unforgivable in my books! (unfortunately). To top it, my friend got kulfi sticks for everyone. And it was SOOO GOOD!!!

The funny thing is - the vada paav disappeared from the plate so quickly that I did not even get a chance to click pictures for the blog! AD is excited about that since it means I need to make them once more, atleast for the pictures! Now I am quickly going to pen down my recipe.

Ingredients:
For vada mixture -
5 boiled potatoes (I use Red potatoes, just because they are less starchy)
6 Green chillies (diced)
1 big clove or 2 medium cloves of Garlic
1/2 inch Ginger
4-5 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
For the coating -
1 cup gram flour
1 tsp chilly powder
1 tsp dhania jeera powder
1 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
1 tsp oil

Method:
For vada mixture -

There are numerous ways of makingthe potatomixture for the vadas. My mother-in-law uses onions as well. She mashes the potatoes and adds onions. Grinds ginger and garlic and mixes it with the potatoes, adds salt, turmeric and red chilly powder (she does not use green chillies or curry leaves or mustard)
I personally feel adding some tempering adds more flavor to the mixture (but that is my personal belief. You need to experiment to decide which flavor you prefer). So I mash the potatoes and keep aside. Grind ginger and garlic into paste (alternatively, you could finely dice or grate it too). For the tempering, heat some oil in a deep bottom pan. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric powder, green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Once the mustard seeds start popping, add the mashed potatoes and salt. Mix well to ensure that the tempering and potatoes have blended very well. Keep aside to cool

For the coating -

Now mix the dry ingredients and slowly add water to make it into a thick, runny paste. Heat oil in a small pan. Once hot, add oil to this paste and mix. Keep aside for 2-3 mins.

Making the Vadas -

Now, make small rounds of the potato mixture. Heat oil in a kadai. Once hot, dip the potato mixture in the coating paste and slowly release it into the kadai for deep frying. Turn occasionally to ensure the coating is cooked from all sides. Remove in plate and let the excess oil drain off on a paper towel.

Serve hot with bread. Apply spicy and sweet chutneys for added flavor.

Vegetarian Bean Burger with Corn salad

2009-01-30T22:05:00.010-05:00

As the super bowl comes close, I am experimenting some quick meals. With guests coming over, I don't want to waste too much time in the kitchen. Besides, some of my friends are vegetarians. I have always been more comfortable cooking non vegetarian food - be it chicken, seafood or lamb. But this time, I decided to make some vegetarian bean burgers. Now, I don't want to directly experiment on the guests. So today, I made a mini batch of the burgers with some corn salad and saffron yogurt on the side. It turned out delicious! AD, who is generally skeptical about my experimental cooking, was impressed too!

Bean burgers tend to get dry and bready sometimes. With so much to do today during the day, I could not decorate it with add-ons like onions or spinach. But I think adding some caramalized onions would definitely make wonders. Or like AD suggested, just some dressing, avocados or ketchup can bring down the dryness. Some people add eggs. That makes the burgers more fluffy. For me, some of our friends are 100% vegetarians - no eggs! So that was not an option we could try. But I am definitely going to try the next time.

Another new thing I tried was saffron yogurt. I am a big fan of saffron! I try to use it as much as I can, especially in desserts. Just a few strands and the whole dish is transformed. For the saffron yogurt, I just took 1/2 cup yogurt and squeezed out as much water as I could. You can do this by taking yogurt in a cloth and squeeze out the water. Alternatively, you could take the yogurt in a flat dish and absorb the water using kitchen towels. Trust me, it works very well. I use kitchen towels on my yogurt when I want to make shrikhand. Now take 2 tsp water (boiling hot) and add few strands of saffron - about 10-12 and stir into the water. Keep aside for a few minutes till the water turns yellow. Then add it to the dehydrated yogurt and mix well. Add 1/2 tsp or less sugar (as per your taste). Mix well and keep aside for a few minutes. The yellow color on the yogurt grows after some time.

Bean Burger patties -

Ingredients:
1 small can of black beans
2 cloves of garlic
2 green chillies
1/2 inch ginger
1 cup soy crispies
1/2 medium size onion (finely diced)
1 tomato (finely diced)
1 tsp coriander-cumin powder
salt to taste

Method:

Take the beans, garlic, ginger and chillies in a blender, add some water and blend. The mixture should look like a thick paste, runny in consistency
Add the remaining ingredients and leave aside for a few minutes. The soy crispies absorb the excess moisture and the mixture looks like thick paste
Divide the mixture into equal portions and shape them like burger patties. Place them in a plate and put into a freezer for an hour.
Preheat oven at 350 deg. Spray a baking dish with PAM and place the frozen patties on it. Place it in the oven. Cook both sides of the patties for 10-12 mins till they are brown and crispy. Burgers are ready!

Corn Salad -

Ingredients:
2 cups sweet corn
1/2 onion (finely diced)
1/2 tomato (finely diced)
1 cup fresh spinach (finely diced)
1 green chilly (finely diced)
1 tsp coriander - cumin powder
2 tsp french dressing
salt to taste
1 tsp black pepper powder

Making this salad is really simple. Just mix all the ingredients above and the salad is ready! And it tastes really great! It is spicy and crunchy.

The salad made in this entry goes to "Food In Color - Yellow" event hosted by Sunshinemom of Tongue Ticklers

The Burger entry in this post foes to "The Bread Mania" hosted by Sindura of Bayleaf

Have a great super bowl guys!

A Healthy Bite

2009-01-24T20:21:00.001-05:00

I have been participating in numerous food blogs. Srivalli had an interesting blog showing her Love Affair with the Legumes. My last participation was for Lisa's N o Croutons Required. Inspired by these ladies creativity, I just thought of hosting an event myself.

I have noticed, the biggest killer in any diet regime at cookouts or parties is at the snack counter. Meals can be limited to soups and salads, but a healthy snack bite is always hard for me to find. Being an Indian, most parties kickoff with a host of chicken tikkas or samosa chaats. Loaded with calories, any diet strategy goes out for a toss. So lets kickoff this event with A Healthy Bite! Bring forward any recipe that you would use as appetizers for a party - tasty and healthy.

Use any ingredients - Vegetarian or Non Vegetarian. You can submit multiple entries, if you like. But all entries must be in english. Post the recipes on your blog and provide a link back to this post. If you don't have a blog of your own, you could still send me the recipe and a picture of the recipe. Feel free to post this picture on your post. The event shall be open till February 28th.

Email me on thegourmetlaunchpad@gmail.com with "A Healthy Bite" in the subject line. Include the following information in your email -

Your Name

Name of the dish
Link to your dish

Name of your blog (if you have one)

Picture of the dish

Lets begin this party with some delicious and healthy appetizers without hurting too much on the calorie count!

Sabudana Khichadi

2009-01-22T22:31:00.005-05:00

Marathi snacks list is incomplete without 'Sabudana khichadi'. As kids, we used to have khichadi very often, at every puja or upwas (observed fasts). Sabudana or 'Pearl Sago' is used for many other delicacies like sabudana vada, sabudana kheer. My favorite though is always the good old Khichadi! This is AD's favorite too! He can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and feel sad when its over! :-)

Now, the trick always is to soak the sago well otherwise you will end up having a sticky sabudana lump, which is a disaster and pretty useless! Out of trial and errors, I have noticed the best way to soak sago is to wash it once. Then add only enough water to soak the sago just about. In a few hours, sago is rehydrated and gets softer and fuller. Soak it overnight to get the right texture on the sago. Now you should know that plain sago is pretty tasteless and powdery. So you need the right spices and moisture to bring in the flavor.

The ingredients used are -

2 cups Sago (soaked overnight)

5-6 Green chillies (chopped)

1 cup peanuts (roasted and then ground to powder)

1 small or 1/2 large Potato (finely chopped)

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tbsp Ghee

1 tsp Sugar

salt to taste

2 tbsp fresh coconut (optional)

fresh coriander leaves (chopped) to garnish (optional)

Method:

By this time, I assume you have the sago soaked and rehydrated overnight. Heat ghee in a deep bottom pan. Once hot, add cumin seeds and green chillies. As the chillies start popping, add the diced potatoes and mix. Cover with a lid and keep on medium heat till the potatoes are cooked.
Then add sago, powdered peanuts, salt and sugar. If you like it sweeter, you can add another tsp of sugar. Mix well till you have ghee on all of the sago. Then keep on very low heat and cover with a lid. Let it cook in steam till the sago gets very soft.
Finally garnish with coconut and coriander leaves.

Bon Apetit!!!

This entry goes to Alka's event Just For You

Authentic Moghlai Chicken biryani

2009-01-19T23:08:00.004-05:00

I know I know, I am supposed to be on a diet (which I am). But this is an old recipe I found after many years! I used to make moghlai biryani years ago. But then I stopped - just because it is too much of hard work! The result is totally worth it. But I just don't have that patience anymore. I got this authentic recipe from a friend A who's family lives in middle east. When I tasted the biryani cooked by A, reminded me of Delhi Durbar (if you are from Mumbai you know what I am talking about)... simply delicious! So here goes -

Ingredients
For Marinating the Chicken
1kg Chicken
1 tsp Coriander-Cumin (Dhania-jeera) powder
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Red Chilli powder
1 tsp Garam masala
2 tbsp Yogurt
1.5 tsp Ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste

For Actual Cooking
3 cups Rice (soaked in water for half hour)
2-3 big Onions (julienned)
4 tbsp Tomatoes (chopped)
4-5 tsp Oil
4-5 Cardamom
1/2 inch Cinnamon
1 tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera) (whole)
1 tsp Turmeric
1 cup Mint (Pudina) leaves (chopped)
1 cup Cilantro (Coriander) leaves (chopped)

Method

Cut the chicken into pieces of the required size and add all the marinating material. Keep aside for 3 hours.
Heat oil in a vessel, add jeera, cardamon, cinnamon sticks and turmeric and heat it till jeera turns brownish. Add onions and fry till golden brown.
Add pudina, kothimbir and tomatoes and stir. Cook till the mixture looks soft. Lets call this mixture the onion mixture.
Now take half the portion of this mixture in another vessel. Add chicken to it and cook again. Add some water. Keep cooking on medium flame.
While the chicken is cooking, take the rice that is soaking in the water. In a vessel, take some oil and heat it. Add turmeric, cinnamon and cardamom and heat. Add the soaked rice to it and stir. Keep stirring every 5 minutes so that it does not stick to the bottom of the vessel. Maintain adequate water. Do not cook completely. Switch off the gas after the rice is half cooked.
After the chicken is cooked, take a baking dish. Put a layer of rice. Add a layer of chicken preparation. Place another layer of rice. Cover it with a layer of the onion mixture. Finally complete the layers with a final layer of rice. Sprinkle some water in it. Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil and place it in the over preheated to 350 degrees. Cook for 10 mins.

Hot Moghlai Chicken Biryani is ready! Try it and let me know your feedback!

Week 1, down 2 lbs!

2009-01-18T16:07:00.010-05:00

1 Week gone, down 2 lbs! Unbelievable! I haven't been dieting at all. Eating better? Well, possibly! I have also tried to find out some options for the 4 o'clock food craving or sweet bites after meals. I think that has shown its results. So I just thought of sharing those with you.

'Hostess 100 calorie mini cupcakes' were recommended by my friend S. So far I have just tried their carrot cake flavor. It is kind of sweet, but I loved it! Definitely a good option to a muffin or bengali mithai (which I always had after meals). The best part is - these cup cakes are 100 calorie for a 3 pack! I just try to keep my intake to 1 after a meal, but even if you have all 3, its not a huge burden to shed :-)

Cheese and crackers are my all time favorites! These days, for my evening snack I have a wedge of Light Laughing Cow cheese and 4-5 water crackers. A light cheese wedge is just 35 calories and 4-5 water crackers are about 60 calories in all. So that is a good evening snack and low on calorie count too!

My long forgotten friend - Quaker mini delights! I used to keep packs of these in my purse when I travelled earlier. Now they are back in my diet regime. These 90 calorie packs are great to taste (I like all the flavors). Most importantly, I don't feel the need to finish the whole pouch in 1 go. So you can easily spread your 90 calories over a period of time!

OMG! 10 lbs!!!

2009-01-12T14:53:00.005-05:00

We moved to a new city 2.5 months ago! The first month was spent largely in setting up the house. We got everything new - from pin to piano! We would leave house in the morning and come back late evenings, mostly eating out for lunch and dinner. These were our first few weekends in a row. The relocation also affected my exercise regime - I just stopped exercising! Now, if you know me, you know I LOVE FOOD! And though I crib about weight gain all the time, it doesn't stop me from eating! Worst? I have a sweet tooth! I need something sweet after every major meal - thats lunch and dinner. Now put all that together, add Diwali, Christmas and New Years (which come with food, food and more food), 2 reunions with old friends and you have a big fat lady 10 lbs overweight! Now, I am still within the accepted BMI levels. So technically I am not Overweight. But still 10 lbs more than 2 months ago! So from today onwards, I have decided to eat healthy, go back to the gym, if only for 30 mins and lose the excess 10 lbs (and 5 more) that I have gained (unfortunately at all the wrong places)

With that, I am going to attempt to pen some healthy recipes. My friend S, who is a follower of WW just gave me some brief insights to the program. With some motivation, hardwork and delicious cooking, I hope I achieve the target pretty soon.

Misal Paav! (Moth bean snacks)

2009-01-05T22:13:00.008-05:00

If you are a maharashtrian, you know what I am talking about! My friend AS used to make the most amazing misal paav. Being from Solapur, he had a magic wand (a special masala) which added fire to the spicy misal. My mouth has already started watering! During my last trip to India, my mom handed me another magic wand and now my misal tastes as good (ah well, almost!)

If you are in Pune, don't forget to go to visit this small dhaba on Pune-Bangalore highway (about an hour away from Pune city) called "Virangula". The variety of typical maharashtrian dishes you get there (especially misal paav) is mind blowing! This small shack-like place, which is so easy to miss if you are not looking, is simply amazing. AD choses to go there instead of a non vegetarian restaurant! That says enough of how good this is!

So anyways, while we are on the subject, let me quickly pen down my recipe for misal paav -

Ingredients:
1 cup Moth ('mutki' in marathi)
1.5 cup Diced onions
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup diced coriander
2-3 cloves of garlic (finely diced)
1 tsp ginger (finely diced)
5-6 curry leaves

Spices -
1 tsp Red chilly powder
1 tsp coriander-cumin powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala
2 tsp kanda lasun masala (I got this from India)
1 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 cloves
1 tsp turmeric powder

Method:

Soak moth in water overnight. The next day, drain the water and place moth in a cloth and cover it. After a few hours, the moth has sprouts and is ready to cook. I normally cook it in a pressure cooker with 2 whistles.
In a pan, heat oil, add cloves and let them swell. Then add curry leaves, cinnamon, cumin seeds, turmeric, garlic and ginger. Mix the tempering well. Finally add onions and tomatoes. Stir well and let it cook till the onions and tomatoes are soft. Add water if required.
Once the masala is ready, add moth and mix well. Add salt and diced coriander leaves, coriander-cumin powder, red chilly powder and garam masala. Let the bhaaji cook for a few minutes.
On the side, heat 1tsp oil in a small vessel. Once hot, add kanda lasun masala and mix in the oil. Then add 1/2 cup water and let it boil. Stir occasionally to ensure the masala does not stick to the bottom of the vessel. When the bhaaji is cooked, pour this masala water on it and stir well. It should create a thin red layer on the top. Cook for a few more minutes. Then turn off the heat.

In some areas, misal is served with an additional gravy on the side. This gravy is called 'kat'. The main purpose of kat is to alter the spice level of misal since every person can handle only a specific amount of spice. I will add the recipe for kat shortly. Keep looking in this space for an update.

To serve:

I have noticed different parts of the country serve misal in different ways. I will show 2 main ways of serving misal -

Take some misal bhaaji in a bowl. Top it with finely diced onion and tomatoes. Create a final layer of shev or farsaan on it. Serve with bread. I have seen this serving method in Mumbai
This another way of serving misal is more popular in Pune. AD says most places he has visited in Pune serve misal by creating a layer of Chivda. Then adding a generous serving of misal bhaaji topped with onion and farsaan. This is then served with bread

If you guys serve it in some other way, do let me know!

This entry goes to My Legume Love Affair by Srivalli's Cooking 4 All Seasons and Susan's The Well Seasoned Cook

Spinach Soup

2009-01-05T21:51:00.003-05:00

I have always had this soup as a kid. My parents are very fond of soups and salads. My mother knows more variety of salads than I have ever tasted. That reminds me to get her amazing baked vegetables recipe. So anyways, this spinach soup is so simple to make and the total preparation time is less than 15 mins.

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh Spinach
1/2 Onion
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp Pepper
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash spinach leaves well. Take the leaves, add 3/4 cup water and onion and place it on heat to boil and cook the spinach
Once the spinach leaves and onion are tender, grind them into smooth paste. Take this mixture in a vessel and add milk. Place on medium heat.
Finally add salt and pepper and let it boil for a few minutes. The soup is ready to be served!

Its unbelievable isn't it! It is that simple...and believe it or not, it tastes awesome! AD is not really fond of spinach soups, but he loved this one. You can add a few sweet corns to the soup to add some crunch to it. I do that sometimes.

So(u)l Kadhi

2008-12-23T15:20:00.003-05:00

This is how my friend calls it! Sol kadhi (i.e. Kokam kadhi) is a typical GSB or Goan dish consumed mainly with seafood. There is a number of ways you can make it. It is considered very good for digestion. And what more... it tastes GREAT! I can drink bowls after bowls and be never satisfied. Sol kadhi-Rice and some fried fish is definitely a dream come true meal for me! :-). The basic ingredients remain the same -

1 can Coconut milk
8-9 dried kokam skins
2 green chillies
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ajwain (Ova in marathi or Caraway is english)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oil
chopped coriander for garnishing
salt to taste

Now, you don't need all of the above ingredients for every recipe for kokam kadhi.

Recipe 1:

Take a can of coconut water and add some water to make it more watery.
Crush dried kokam in warm water till the color of the water turns reddish. Keep aside for a few minutes
Heat oil for tempering, add ajwain, crushed garlic and finely chopped green chillies. Now add kokam water and the tempering to the coconut milk. Add salt to taste.
Leave it sitting for a few minutes. It gets a nice tangy flavor....yummm!!

Recipe 2:
Often my mom used to make kadhi without tempering. Here goes her recipe:

Repeat steps 1 and 2 from the previous recipe
In a spice grinder, blend cumin seeds, green chillies and garlic into fine paste. Add this paste and kokam mixture to coconut milk. Add chopped coriander and salt to taste. Also add 1/2 tsp of sugar. This gives a nice sweet and tangy flavor to the kadhi
If you like, you can make this kadhi an hour before meals and refrigerate it.

Kokam is a very common ingredient in our style of cooking. Apart from seafood, you can add it to vegetables, daals for an added tangy flavor. I just throw in 2-3 kokam skins while making bhindi sabzi, or simple daal tadka. It can be stored for over a year in a cool, dry place. It is considered healthier than tamarind (as per my mother and I just take her word for it). So if you haven't been using much of it, you can start now!

Kolambi Suke (Shrimp in dry sauce)

2008-12-18T22:33:00.006-05:00

[Picture - Soon to come]

Coming from a beautiful suburb in Mumbai, I am an avid seafood lover! But my seafood culinery skills are largely limited to Maharashtrian and Goan recipes. Other than maharashtra and goa, bengal is another state where seafood is equally worshipped, if not more! It is currently on my agenda to try out bengali fish...

So anyways, yesterday I had some nice shrimp that I wanted to put to good use. I was going through my memory bank on the various recipes I have tried and nothing seemed tempting enough. So I just put together a few things and created this whole new recipe. It turned out pretty cool, spicy and tangy. Depending on whether you want an appetizer or maincourse, you can alter the consistency of the masala. So how did I make it?

Marinate:
1/2 lb shrimp
1/2 tsp tamarind extract
1 tsp red chilly powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt to taste

Masala Ingredients:
1 onion (julienned)
1/2 tomato (julienned)
4-5 dried red chillies
3-4 cloves
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp turmeric
coriander (finely chopped)
2 tsp oil
salt to taste

Method:

Marinate shrimp and keep aside for 2-3 hours
Heat oil in a pan, add cloves and cinnamon. When the cloves swell, add cumin seeds and turmeric and stir. Then break the red chillies into 3-4 pieces each and add to the oil and mix. After you get the fragrance of the chillies, add onions and tomatoes and blend well with the tempering.
Once the onions are very soft and cooked, add the marinated shrimp and salt to taste. Blend well to ensure that each shrimp has the masala on it. Add some water and cover with a lid. Cook on low-medium heat till the shrimp is fully cooked
Serve with roti/rice

Note: Incase you wanted to make this as an appetizer, reduce the quantity of water. Once cooked, take each shrimp with some masala on it, pierce it with a toothpick and place on a serving dish.

Isn't it simple? And believe me, it tastes wonderful!

Kelyachi (Plantain) Bhaaji - simple and quick

2008-12-10T20:57:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:
2 Plantains (washed, peeled and cubed)
2 Green chillies (slit into 2 vertically)
1 tbsp fresh/frozen Coconut
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 pinch asafoetida
1 tsp oil
salt to taste
coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add turmeric, mustard seeds and green chillies
Once the mustard seeds start popping, add cubed plantains and salt and mix well. Add 1/2 cup water and cook by covering with a lid
After 5 mins, once the plantains are soft, add coconut and coriander leaves. Mix with the plantains and cook for another 2 mins covered.

Serve with chapatis

Pineapple Rice

2008-11-22T20:08:00.004-05:00

Another entry to Srivalli's Rice mela for rice dishes - it has been very popular with my friends whenever I have made it.

Ingredients:
2 bowls Pineapple (chopped in cubes)
1-1/2 bowl Sugar,
10 cardomoms (grounded)
2 bowl rice
2 tbsp ghee
6 cloves
1/2 cup coconut (freshly grated or frozen)

Method:

Cook rice after adding some salt in the water. Once cooked, remove it in an open dish and spread. This ensures that the rice does not get very sticky
Heat ghee in a pot, add cloves. Once they start spluttering, add diced pineapples and stir. Then add sugar, cardomom powder and coconut and mix well. Soon the sugar dissolves into syrup. Keep mixing occasionally and after about 3-4 mins, turn off the heat and keep the pot aside
Now, in a flat botton utensil, layer the rice and pineapple mixture, one at a time and keep the utensil on the gas (very low heat else the rice will burn). Cover with a lid.
After 10 mins, stir the rice and pineapple mixture layers to blend well. Serve hot

Daalimbi Bhaat (Rice with Bitterfield beans)

2008-11-21T22:19:00.002-05:00

We also call this "Valacha bhaat". One of my favorite rice preparations; there are many ways of making this dish. The recipe I have is my mother's and the simplest one I have seen so far. To start with, just soak 1 cup vaal (bitter field beans) over night. Next day, drain all the water and place the beans in a cloth and cover it for a few hours. Finally, take the beans in a pot, add some warm water. This helps remove the skins quickly. So, the tough part is over! Now for the recipe...

Ingredients
1 cup vaal
1 cup rice (soaked for 30 mins before cooking)
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp Goda masala (Some people also call it Kaala masala)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
3 tsp ghee
2-3 tsp grated jaggery
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 pinch asafoetida
salt to taste

Method:

Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pan. Once hot, add mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Once the seeds start popping, add turmeric and stir lightly. Then add vaal and mix well. (My mother always emphasizes the importance of mixing the tempering with the vaal well for this recipe).
Then add soaked rice, jaggery, red chilly powder, salt and goda masala. Again, mix very well for some time. While doing this, boil 2 cups water on the side.
Once the water starts boiling, add it to this pot and blend with the rice-vaal mixture

Now, if you are making this rice in a cooker, add the remaining ghee to the mixture and cook for 2 whistles
If you are cooking in a microwave or in an open pot, do not add ghee now. Cook rice on your regular setting. 5 mins before the rice is cooked, add ghee and mix. Cook for the remaining 5 mins. This adds richness to the flavor of the rice
Finally garnish with fresh grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves

This post is being submitted for Srivalli's Rice Mela

Soya Palak (Spinach with soy crispies)

2008-11-16T23:23:00.012-05:00

Palak (or Spinach) is one of my favorite veggie. As much as I love palak paneer, AD hates it. So that encouraged me to try newer recipes. I have tried making Dal Palak which is one of the most favorite spinach recipes. Yesterday I wanted to make spinach, but was too lazy to cook dal in the cooker. So I decided to try something new! I used Soya crispies. You get these in chunks as well. My grandmother used to call this "Vegetarian meat". She used to use the chunks to replace mutton in her mutton curry recipe and it tastes simply awesome. Like I said earlier, I used crispies this time instead of chunks and the dish ended up tasting like vegetarian kheema palak.

Ingredients:
2 cups palak (finely chopped)
3/4 cup soya crispies
1/2 onion (diced)

1/2 potato (finely diced) - Optional
1 clove of garlic
1/2 inch ginger
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp yogurt (whipped)
1/2 cup milk

For Tempering:
1 tsp Oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 pinch asafoetida
1 tsp turmeric
4-5 green chillies (chopped)

Method:

Prepare tempering, heat oil in a pot, add asafoetida, cumin and mustard seeds. Once the seeds start popping, add turmeric and green chillies. Then add onions, potatoes and mix well. Fry onions till they turn golden brown and the potatoes are cooked
Then add diced ginger and garlic and stir. Add spinach, garam masala and blend. Cover with a lid and keep on medium heat
While this is cooking, in another vessel, take 3 cups of water. Add 1/2 tsp salt and soya crispies. Mix and let it boil for a while. After the crispies have become soft, strain in a strainer and press to get the excess water out.
Once the spinach is half cooked, add soya crispies, yogurt, milk and salt. Blend well and cover with lid. Let it cook on low to medium heat for 10-15 mins. Serve hot with chapatis

Achari Baingan (Spicy eggplant)

2008-11-10T16:37:00.009-05:00

Ingredients:
1 small sized Eggplant (diced into cubes)
2 tsp pickle (I used mixed veg pickle from Bedekars)
1 tbsp yogurt
2 tbsp diced tomatoes
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 inch ginger (julienned)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 cup diced coriander leaves

Method:

Take some oil in a pan and add diced eggplants. Fry for a while. In a bowl, mix pickle and yogurt and blend well. Then add it to the pan with diced eggplants and half cook eggplants. Then remove from the heat

In the same pan, heat oil. Add cumin, fennel seeds and turmeric. Once the cumin starts popping, add ginger and cook for few seconds. Then add diced tomatoes and mix well. Add red chilli powder, coriander and cumin powder and diced coriander leaves. Cook the tomatoes in the spices for a while till most of the water is dried out
Add the fried eggplants to this mixture and mix well. Then cover with a lead and cook on low heat for 5-7 mins.
Enjoy with chapatis or tandoori rotis

Kadhi - Khichadi - Batata Bhaaji

2008-11-07T11:02:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was one of those days when cooking was not as exciting. I was totally in the mood for a restaurant trip, but it was Thursday and AD is all vegetarian. So we avoid eating out on such days. As I was scouting for my bottle of pasta sauce for a quick noodle meal, I stumbled on the yogurt tin. Since it was expiring in the next 2 days, I had to put it to good use. Thats when I thought of going for a simple Kadhi-Khichadi and batata bhaaji (My all-time favorite... and AD loves it too!). And what more - preparation time is less than 30 mins!

Khichadi

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1/2 cup moong daal (yellow)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp oil
1 pinch asafoetida
3 green chillies (chopped)
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste

Method:

In a pressure cooker, heat oil. Once hot, add asafoetida, cumin seeds and turmeric. Once the cumin seeds start popping, add green chillies and curry leaves and mix
Wash rice and moong daal. Add little water if you need. Finally add salt and garam masala and mix well.
Add 3 cups of water and cover with the pressure cooker lid. Cook until you get 2 whistles. Keep aside till the pressure is gone and you can open the cooker.

While the rice is cooking, lets make Kadhi.

Kadhi

Ingredients:
2 cups yogurt
1/2 cup besan (Chickpeas flour)
1 green chilly (finely chopped)
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp oil
1/2 inch ginger (finely chopped)
1 pinch asafoetida
salt to taste
1/2 - 1 tsp sugar

Method:

Blend yogurt with water till you get the consistency of buttermilk. Keep aside
In a vessel, prepare tempering by heating oil. Add cumin seeds and turmeric. Once the seeds start popping, add ginger, curry leaves and green chilly
Finally add blended yogurt and stir. Ensure that the heat is on very low else the yogurt spoils
In a bowl, blend besan with water into thin paste. Add it to kadhi and stir.
Finally add salt and sugar and mix. Wait till the kadhi comes to a boil. Note: bring it to boil on very low flame

Now, while the Kadhi is coming to a boil, lets quickly make potato bhaaji

Potato Bhaaji

Ingredients:
3 potatoes (Boiled)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
3-4 green chillies
1 tsp til (Sesame seeds) - Optional
1 tsp oil
Salt to taste
1 pinch asafoetida

Method

Chop potatoes into 1 inch cubes
In a pan, heat oil for tempering. Add mustard seeds and asafoetida. Once the seeds start popping, add turmeric, chillies, til seeds and curry leaves and mix.
Finally add potatoes and salt and mix well to ensure that all potatoes are covered with the tempering
Cover with a lid with some water on it. Stir occasionally

Yogurt Cake

2008-11-06T15:26:00.008-05:00

One of my favorite desserts that I have enjoyed as a child is "Taakpoli". My grandmother used to make it often. However this was somehow forgotten as we never made it after she passed away a few years ago. Yesterday, as I was cleaning up some old boxes, I found an envelope with her writing on it and all those memories came back. So I thought of making this today...quickly called mom (Reliance has made our life so easy, ain't it!!) for the recipe and here it goes...

Ingredients:

1 cup rawa (Semolina)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup ghee (liquified unsalted butter)

1 cup yogurt

1/2 cup milk

2 cardomoms (powdered)

Method:

Mix all ingredients except cardomoms and keep aside for 5-6 hours. I mixed these at night and let the mixture sit through the night
After about 6 hours, add powdered cardomoms and mix well. Place the mixture in the microwave for 5 mins (This is enough for my microwave. It may vary by a minute or half in different microwaves). Check with the knife. If the knife comes out clean, the cake is ready!

My aaji (grandma) served this topped with ghee. I know it sounds high calorie, but ah well, lets run an extra mile tomorrow...worth a try!

Chatpate Parathe

2008-11-02T10:05:00.011-05:00

Posted By: Urmila (mother)

Ingredients:

10 Palak leaves (Spinach)

1 bowl Methi leaves (Fenugreek)

1 bowl Coriander leaves (chopped)

2 tsp teel seeds (Sesame)

2 tsp dhania-jeera powder (Coriander-Cumin powder)

3-4 Green chilis

1/2 inch Ginger

1 tsp lime juice

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1-1/2 bowl Wheat flour

1/4 bowl Rice flour

2 tsp besan (Gram flour)

2 tsp salt

Ghee

Method:

Take all flours and mix the greens (spinach, fenugreek, coriander) well.
Grind ginger, green chillies, coriander-cumin powder, lime juice in a spice grinder and mix with the flour mixture
Finally add turmeric powder, salt and sesame seeds and kneed into a dough. Add water if required.

Make small balls and roll them with a rolling pin into chapati sized parathas. Place them on a hot pan under medium heat. Spread some ghee on one side. Once the other side is done, turn the parathas and spread some ghee on that side.

Serve with yogurt

Note: If you like, you can add full sprouted moong while kneeding the dough. It adds some crunch and adds to the taste

Almond milk

2008-10-31T15:34:00.003-04:00

It has been a tradition in my family to make masale doodh for Laxmi Pujan. Unfortunately this year, I did not have pistachios at home. So I made Almond milk instead. It tastes great with the rest of the faraal for Diwali...

Ingredients:

5-7 Almonds

2 cups milk

2 cardomoms (powdered)

4 tsp sugar

Few strands of saffron

Method:

Soak almonds in water for 4 hours. However, if you forget to do so (like me), take the almonds in a microwavable bowl and add some water. Microwave it for 1 min and let the water cool. The almond skin comes off right away

In a spice grinder, grind the almonds into paste. You can leave it coarse if you like it. But my husband prefers it finely ground

Heat milk in a pot on low heat. Stir frequently to ensure the milk doesn't burn.

Once hot, add the almond paste and sugar and stir. After the milk starts simmering, add powdered cardomon and saffron. Stir and let it cool.

Serve hot or cold as you like

Chirote

2008-10-30T17:06:00.001-04:00

This Diwali, I have decided to go all experimental. So apart from Chakli and Chivda, I have made all new recipes. Like my previous post (Tikhat Shankarpali), my other experiment this time was Chirote. I have enjoyed making them as much as my friends enjoyed eating them. This recipe is inspired by the recipe from my favorite food blog website Aayis Recipes.com. I have tried making 2 kinds of chirote - pakaatle chirote (Using sugar syrup instead of regular sugar) and regular chirote (sprinkled sugar)

Ingredients:

For chirote dough

1 cup Maida (All purpose flour)

2 tsp Rice flour

7-8 tsp ghee (clarified unsalted butter)

pinch of salt

Milk

For Sugar syrup

1 small bowl sugar

1 small bowl water

1 or 2 cardomons (powdered)

Few strands of saffron

For Sugar mixture

3/4 small bowl of sugar (powdered)

2 cardomons (powdered)

Method:

Mix the ingredients for the chirote dough, taking just 3 tsp of ghee and mix it into a dough (same consistency as puri)

Make 7 balls and roll them into thin chapatis

In a bowl, take the remaining ghee and mix it with maida and whip the mixture well. Grease the first chapathi with this mixture and put the 2nd chapati on it. Continue the process till you have all 7 chapatis covered.

Then roll them into a tube form. Cut this tube into 6-7 equal pieces

Take one piece and roll them into puri shape. Make sure you have all the layers visible. Move from the center to the side

Heat ghee in a kadhai and place chirote to deep fry on medium heat.
To make the sugar syrup, mix sugar and water and keep it boiling. Stir till the sugar has completely blended. Add saffron and powdered cardomon and stir. Switch off the heat when the sugar syrup is of 1 wire consistency.

Once the chirotes are well fried, dip them in the sugar syrup. After about 15 seconds, turn to dip the other side.

For making the powdered sugar chirote, powder the sugar in a grinder and mix powdered cardomom. Once the chirote are deep fried, place them on a kitchen towel to drain excess ghee. Cover the chirote with the powdered sugar mixture.
Pakaatle chirote can stay for about a week or so. Keep it refrigerated. The sugar covered chirote stay for about 10 days or so if stored in an air tight container

Rawa Ladoo

2008-10-27T22:41:00.003-04:00

Making Rawa ladoo has always been a challenge for me. The challenge is making the sugar syrup and somehow I can never get the perfect consistency. This time I tried something different and luckily for me, it worked! I did not make the syrup at all - instead mixed the sugar directly.

Ingredients:
1 cup semolina (sooji or rawa)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup dried coconut
50 oz can Evaporated milk (If you are using condensed milk, reduce the quantity of sugar)
3 pods cardomon
Few strands of saffron
4-5 tsp ghee
Few raisins for garnish

Method:

In a pan roast rawa till you get the aroma. Do not make it brown. Add ghee and fry for a few more minutes
Add sugar and coconut and stir. Finally add evaporated milk and mix well till the evaporated milk has blended well with the mixture. Ensure that the heat is very low. Keep mixing for a while.
Finally add powdered cardomom and saffron and stir. Turn off heat.
Once the mixture has cooled down, grease your palms with ghee and roll the mixture into ping pong size balls. Insert a raisin on each ladoo for garnish

Last year when I made these ladoos, they were a disaster since the sugar syrup was not the right consistency. This method surely works!!!

Tikhat Shankarpali

2008-10-26T12:10:00.006-04:00

Here goes my 2nd entry to the Diwali edition. I tried this for the first time this year and it has been a success. So I decided to post it here.

Ingredients:
2 vati (small bowl) All purpose flour
1 tsp ajwain
1.5 tsp red chilli powder (you can adjust as per your spice requirement)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
milk (optional)
Oil to deep fry

Method:

Take flour in a keading pan and add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Add milk to knead. Keep aside for 10 mins

Roll the dough into a chapati form (slightly thicker). I did not use additional flour to grease it. The dough did not stick to the rolling pin or the base.

Using a knife cut the dough into small rectangles.

Heat oil in a kadhai. Once hot, put the dough rectangles slowly. Fry till golden brown. Remove onto a kitchen towel to strain off the excess oil

Note: I use milk to knead since it gives an extra crisp to the shankarpali. You can use water as well.

Chakli

2008-10-19T19:08:00.005-04:00

So here it begins - my first entry in my Diwali edition. Chakli is one of the most popular diwali snack. For those who have a preference for spice over sweet, this is one might top the list of favorites. My husband can gulp down 4-5 at a time and I have a hard time controlling him. Different parts of India has given this delicacy different names. Some know it as Chakari, others might recognize the term Murukku. They are all the same.

There are many different ways of making chakli. The most common chakli is made out of bhajani (mixture of different kinds of daals - rice, jowar, bengal grams, black grams, pigeon peas etc). People also make it using rice flour, moong daal or jowar flour as well. I made chakli for the first time last year when I got bhajani in a nearby Indian store. This time, I decided to go ahead with what I have in my kitchen and finalized on making it out of rice flour. It ended up very tasty, spicy and most of all, crunchy (that is how I like it). Here goes the recipe -

Ingredients:
2 cups Rice flour
4-5 tsp besan (bengal gram flour)
3-4 tsp moong daal
2 tsp urad daal
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp ajwain
1 tsp sesame seeds
3 tsp butter or Crisco shortening (liquified)
Oil for deep frying
Red Chilli powder to taste
1 tsp Turmeric
Salt to taste
Milk

Method:

Fry moong daal and urad daal (separately) and grind into fine powder. I did not add any oil. Make sure the daals don't burn

Mix all flours, powdered daals, cumin, ajwain, sesame, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt and knead well by adding liquified butter and milk. The dough should be the same consistency as roti flour.

Take a small ball of dough and insert it into the chakli press and turn into chakli shapes on a paper. Note: incase the chakli doesnot come out well and keeps on breaking, knead the dough once more by greasing your palms with some butter. Then try making the chakli shapes with the chakli press once more.

In a deep pan, heat oil for deep frying chaklis. Do not over burn them. Remove once they turn golden in color. Place them on a paper towel to soak off excess oil

Note: You need to store it in a zip lock or air tight container else the chaklis do not remain crispy for a long time.

Deepavali - The Festival Of Lights

2008-10-18T13:02:00.021-04:00

What Christmas is to the Christians, Deepavali (or Diwali) is to the Hindus, Sikhs or Jains. Being a Hindu myself, I am more aware of the Hindu meaning of this festival. It symbolizes different episodes in history for different states in India. People from Uttar Pradesh celebrate it as the day when Lord Rama came back from his 14 years exile. For people from the south, this day marks the day when Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasur. This is why the second day of Diwali is called Narakchaturdashi. The festival also symbolizes the day King Bali returns to the earth just once a year. He was abolished from earth by Lord Krishna. Hence the day Balipratipada or Padva.

That being said, this Festival of Lights for the younger generation is mainly synonymous to fire crackers, lamps and most importantly, Faraal... I remember, I would go on a diet a few weeks before Diwali just so that I can eat my hearts content and not feel guilty about it during Diwali. My problem is - I am not fond of anything particular, but I LIKE IT ALL! I have a sweet tooth, but also a perennial craving for oily and spicy foods. So shev, chivda, chakli, shankarpali, anaarse, chirote, ladoo (besan, rawa, boondi) - you name it and I love it! For the past few years, I have made an attempt to make faraal. I have success stories for all the above except rawa and boondi ladoos. So the next few posts in my blog would be dedicated to Diwali faraal.

Ok, here are my contributions to the Diwali section of my blog -

Chakli, also famous as Chakari (for the Gujarathis) or Murukku (For South Indians)

Chivda, I have already posted a recipe for Chivda a few months ago

Tikhat Shankarpali, for those who enjoy spice more than sweet

Rawa Ladoo, a slightly different recipe, specially for those (like me) who always screw up making sugar syrup

Chirote, 2 types - in sugar syrup and powdered sugar coated

Vanga Batata Tomato bhaaji (Spicy Eggplant with potatoes and tomatoes)

2008-10-12T01:10:00.006-04:00

This one is one of my mom's best recipes which ALL my friends love. She had to give me 2 tiffin boxes in college whenever she made it. I had made it when some friends visited me last year and they loved it too! So I just thought of posting it here...

Ingredients:

Vegetables
2 Egg plants (small - ones we use for bharli vangi)
2 Tomatoes
1 Onion
2 Potatoes (preferrably smaller size)

2-3 tbsp oil

Masala
1 whole bunch Coriander (cilantro) leaves (nicely chopped)
5 Green Chillies
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder
1 tsp Dhania-Jeera (coriander-cumin) powder
1 clove Garlic (finely chopped)
1/4 tsp Fennel Seeds (badishep in marathi)
salt to taste

Method:

Chop all vegetables into thin round slices.
Mix all ingredients of masala with the chopped coriander leaves well. Then add the chopped vegetables to this mixture. Keep aside for a 1 or 2 hours.
Heat oil in a pan. It is better to have a wide based pan so that the heat is equally distributed. Arrange the vegetables in the circle growing from the center of the pan. Cover the pan with a lid. DO NOT add any water IN the pan. Instead, put some water on the lid. The vegetables should cook in the steam. Keep the gas heat on LOW. It should be ready in 15-20 mins.

Note:

Always cut egg plants in the end since they turn black quickly when in contact with air
You can enhance the taste by grinding the fennel seeds before adding them into the masala mixture
Do not stir the vegetables too often else they break spoiling the beauty of it
Do not add fennel seeds more than 1/4 tsp otherwise it turns bitter.

Chicken Biryani

2008-10-08T15:55:00.005-04:00

First job is always very special since you get to learn a lot - everything is new. My first job was very special too. I learnt a lot from my team lead, not only work related, but also a lot about cooking. She was an expert in making quick dishes and they were always so delicious that I would be running after her for recipes. One of her best and easy to make recipes was this chicken biryani. Now, I have one other recipe which takes close to 3 hours of work to have that biryani on the plate. This simple one is only 10 mins preparation time and tastes equally good. I have improvised it a little bit to suit our taste. So here it goes -

Ingredients:
1 pack Boneless skinless chicken
1 pack Shaan mutton biryani masala
3 tsp Shaan sindhi biryani masala (optional)
2 tbsp Yogurt
3 cups Basmati Rice
1 Onion
4 tsp oil
Coriander (chopped) to garnish
Baking dish
Aluminium foil to cover the baking dish

Method:

Chop chicken into small pieces. Marinate it overnight with Shaan masala and yogurt and keep aside
Next day, on a baking dish, arrange chicken in such a way that no part of the plate is left uncovered
Wash rice and soak it for 30-40 mins.
Vertically chop onions into long strands. Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add onions and fry till golden brown
Cover the chicken in the baking dish with rice. DO NOT add water. Finish the layering with a final layer of fried onions. Add chopped coriander on the top
Cover the baking dish with aluminuim foil
Preheat oven at 350 degrees for 10 mins. Place the baking dish in the oven and cook for 1 hour. Biryani is ready to be served!

Note - Do not add any water. The chicken leaves out enough water to cook the rice. I know, hard to believe, but I have tried it and it works!!!

Bon Apetit folks!!!

Coconut chutney with sesame

2008-10-01T21:20:00.003-04:00

This chutney is the most simplest ones I have made so far. It is more popular in areas like Kolhapur or Sangli. So here goes the recipe -

Ingredients:
4 tbsp dry grated coconut (available in all Indian stores)
5-6 tsp red chilli powder (or as per spice level desired)
2 tsp sesame seeds (til)
1 tsp oil
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar

Method:

Take 1 tsp oil in a pan and heat it. Once hot, add sesame seeds and fry till they are golden brown
Take coconut, add chilli powder, salt, sugar and sesame seeds. Mix really well. Make sure the sesame seeds do not form a lump. The chutney is ready to eat.

PS: You can add yogurt to this chutney and can be taken with dosa or idli. My favorite is - I add ghee to a chapati, layer it with this chutney and roll and eat...yummmm!!!!

Chivda

2008-09-30T20:27:00.007-04:00

Now that Diwali is just round the corner, the faral time is here! I remember back in India, I would wait for narakchaturdashi (first day of Diwali) when right after the puja, my mom would bring all the snacks in a big plate for all of us to devour. At the time, all I was interested was whats in the plate. Now that I am here, I know the whole process before something comes to plate :-) One of the faral my husband really loves is chivda. So we don't limit making it just during Diwali times. For those who love it but can't make it, it is really easy to make. Here goes the recipe...

Ingredients:

1/2 packet Thin poha (available in any Indian store)
1 cup Peanuts
3 tbsp Dalia (Its pre-baked chana daal - available in any Indian store near the snacks counter)
1 tsp turmeric
1.5 tsp mustard seeds
10 green chillies
7-8 curry leaves
2 pinch asafoetida (hinga)
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste
sugar to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a deep vessel. Once the oil is hot, add asafoetida and mustard. Once the mustard starts to splutter, add turmeric, curry leaves, green chillies, dalia and peanuts. Mix well. Remember to keep the gas on medium

Once the peanuts turn brownish (but not burnt), switch off the gas and let it cool.

After the mixture cools down, add thin poha, salt and suigar and mix well.

Now turn on the gas on LOW and let this mixture cook for a while. Keep mixing every 5-7 mins till the poha turns crispy. This normally takes about 30 mins.

Note:

Do not store chivda in a container when it is hot or even warm. It loses its crisp texture

In order to make the poha crisp, my mother leaves it under the sun for a few hours. This reduces the cooking time on the gas. I know of some people who also bake the poha in the oven by preheating it and setting the poha in a baking dish for around 10 mins. But I have never tried it this way

Salt and sugar can be added per personal taste and spice level

Mushroom Soup

2008-09-30T13:50:00.004-04:00

One of my mother's best recipes is Mushroom soup. I used to devour it back in the days! Few days ago, in my search of a nice soup recipe, I was going through my shelves and found this handwritten recipe from my mother dearest. Here it goes ...

Ingredients:
6 mushrooms split in halves
2 mushrooms (chopped)
1/2 onion (chopped)
1/2 cup milk (Some people also use half & half or cream instead of milk. I am a little calorie conscious. So I use 2% milk)
1tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Black pepper

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and fry till it turns pink. Then add split mushrooms and stir
Add salt and pepper and mix. Then immediately take the mixture off the stove
Once cooled, grind into fine paste in your grinder. Add milk and grind more
Take the soup in a pan and heat. Note: Do not boil this soup. Water starts separating and you are left with a mushroom lump

This entry goes into the event hosted by Lisa in her blog "No Croutons Required"

Cucumber Tausoli (Cucumber Crepes)

2008-09-28T19:40:00.002-04:00

My husband and I, though both GSB, come from very different backgrounds and this difference is very evident in our culinery habits and styles. We have found many delicacies which I have grown up eating, and he had never even heard of them and vice versa. One such novelty that I learnt from my mother-in-law is "Tausoli" (you can call it Cucumber dosa). It tastes amazing and can be a healthy breakfast too.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups rice flour
2 tsp semolina (also known as Sooji or Rawa) (Used only if the dough is kneeded a night before)
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 large cucumbers
1/2 tsp turmeric
Chopped cilantro
3 green chillies finely chopped (You can even use red chilli powder if you like)
salt to taste

Method:

Grate cucumber finely. Don't forget to remove the skin
Kneed the grated cucumber with all other ingredients. Add rice flour if required. Keep aside overnight. Note: Semolina should be used only if the dough is kneeded a few hours before use. Incase you are planning to make the dosas quickly, omit semolina. Otherwise the dosa will not be soft.
Heat a pan and spray PAM spray on it. You can also use ghee for added flavor.
Once the oil is hot, add a layer of the dough on the pan and cover the pan. Once the side is cooked, flip the dosa to cook the other side
Serve hot

Note: This dosa tastes good only when it is hot. It tastes well with some ghee or peanut chutney

Bon Apetit!

Egg Curry with a difference...

2008-09-25T11:29:00.003-04:00

I am a big fan of egg curry. It is quick and easy to make. A few years ago, I was visiting a friend and she had made this curry, however very different from how I usually make it. She did not boil the eggs, instead, dropped the whole egg in the curry and cooked it in that gravy! The egg flavor mixed together with the spices and the taste was simply fabulous. Ever since, I have been making egg curry - with a difference:

Ingredients:
1 Onion - chopped
4 Green chillies - chopped
2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin
1 big clove of garlic (chopped)
1/2 inch ginger (chopped)
2 bay leaves
1/2 inch cinnamon
2 cloves
5 eggs (whole)
2-3 spoons fresh grated coconut
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
coriander leaves to garnish (chopped cilantro)
salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Then add cumin, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves. Once the cloves swell, add green chillies,garlic, ginger and stir. Then add onion and fry till it turns pink
Once the onion turns pink, add coconut and fry for some more time. Remember to keep the heat to medium low since coconut burns quickly. Keep the masala aside to cool once done
Use a blender to grind the masala into a fine paste once it cools. Add water as necessary.
In a pot, take the masala paste. Add water (if necessary) to bring it to a curry consistency. Add salt, cumin and coriander powder and stir. Once the curry is hot, keep the gas on medium. Take one egg at a time and crack it open in the curry. Make sure you leave about an inch space between each egg so that they dont blend it together. Cover the pot and lower the heat a little. Do not touch the curry now till the eggs are cooked.
After about 15 mins, open the pot to ensure the eggs are cooked. Garnish the curry with chopped coriander leaves. Serve with hot chapatis or rice.

Spagetti Chilli - Beeerrryyy Spicy!!!

2008-09-21T22:08:00.002-04:00

I am a big fan of one dish meals. After a full work day and a full work out, it is a challenge for me to put together a meal that is tasty and healthy. Last week, I decided to make Spagetti Chilli with some leftovers in my fridge. It was a 100% experiment which ended up a success, so I just decided to put it out for you all...

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Bell pepper (chopped)
1/2 cup sweet corn
1/2 cup carrots (chopped)
Southwestern Chicken from Tysons
3/4 cup onion
1/2 box whole wheat spagetti
2 tbsp Italian style diced tomatoes
3 tbsp crushed tomatoes
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red crushed pepper
3-4 green chillies
1 clove of garlic
1/2 inch ginger (grated)
1/2 can of beer
some cheese (your choice). I just had cheese singles at home. So used them anyways.

Method:

Heat water and add 1 tsp oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Once the water is hot, add spagetti to it. Keep the heat on medium high on one of the stoves. Keep stirring periodically to ensure the pasta doesn't stick to the pot. After 10 mins, check if the pasta is cooked.
In a pan, add 2 sprays of PAM (If you don't have PAM sprays, you can add 2 tsp oil). Finely chop garlic and green chillies and add them to the pan. Once they start sizzling, add onions and ginger and stir. Keep frying till the onion turn pink
Add vegetables and chicken and stir. Once the vegetables are tender, add crushed and diced tomatoes and cook for a while.
Once the mixture looks well cooked, add crushed red pepper and black pepper, salt to taste and stir.
Check if the pasta is cooked in the boiling water. If it is cooked, strain all the water and add the spagetti to the tomato-vegetable mixture and stir. Open the beer can and pour 3/4 beer in the pan. Stir properly. Cover the pan and let the alchohol in the beer evaporate for a while. Keep the stove on low.
After about 10 mins, once the chilli is simmering, add some cheese and cover the pan. Turn off the heat. The chilli is ready to serve!!!

Bon Apetit

Coconut chutney with garlic

2008-09-18T23:50:00.001-04:00

Chutney has been an integral part of any maharashtrian meal. My grandmother used to make this lasun chutney very often. So it is an integral part of me. After coming to US however, with so many other habits, I forgot about this delicacy. But my ma-in-law reminded me of it during her short visit. Here goes the recipe -

Ingredients
1 whole Coconut
4 cloves of Garlic (chopped)
pinch of tamarind
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
red chilli powder as per desired spice level. I use 3-4 tsp

Method:

Crack open the coconut and grate it. Leave it to dry for a while
Take 1 tsp oil in a pan and roast chopped garlic
Mix the roasted garlic with the coconut. Add red chilli powder, salt, tamarind and sugar and mix well
Grind this mixture in your grinder. Do not make it too fine. The chutney tastes better with some texture to it. Use it in place of pickle with roti or rice. I even love this chutney with dosa!